Family values come first

by Nilma DOLE

In today's modern age, the smallest unit of society - the family - is at bombarded with several influences that compromise ethics in Sri Lanka.

We have seen the influence of television, media and now the Internet, taking shape into our rather traditional society which are slowly breaking down ethics, barriers. While being open-minded on certain anti-societal values, how do we bring up children to face the world in a modern era.

The Committee on Values in Family Practice of the College of General Practitioners have published a book titled, 'Advising Ourselves about Values in the Family Practice' which culminate into advising and enlightening the public about values and how best we do not give into different elements that would affect our well-being. From the simplest form of peer pressure to decisions that could separate families, values are addressed in this book.

A brief introduction shows us that Dr. Eugene Corea of the Sri Lanka College of General Practitioners said, "We often lose sight of the foundations that build our family and give in to more quick-fix alternatives. If we think carefully about our values and our ethics as humans, then we would lead better lives mentally and physically." He said that the family practice is the medical specialty that offers continual and comprehensive healthcare where values are not really highlighted. However, as Sri Lanka's healthcare is one of the best in the South Asian region, and as medical advancements are heavily invested in, will genetically-designed embryos and latest developments that were seen only in the West, penetrate our medical industry too? Here we take a look at the main sections of the book that deals with ethics and values:

1. Gratitude - Being grateful is one of the fundamental aspects of learning to be happy in the world that you live in. Being grateful to the people of Sri Lanka, your family and everyone around you is the first step in attaining happiness and peace. If we aren't grateful to the world we live in, what's the point of life anyway?

2. Loyalty - The doctor-patient or client-practitioner relationship takes pride of place in all professional matters. Therefore, trust is a vital factor in promoting loyalty. We should make sure that our personal beliefs and attitudes do not prejudice the care we give others.

3. Advocacy - We should safeguard the health and welfare of people and shouldn't waste public funds. Cultivating an interest in community and social service organisations is vital as well as protecting the public from misinformation and misinterpretation of professional matters and issues regarding their health.

4. Decency - We should conduct ourselves in a manner that would maintain our dignity and should not engage in bad behaviour or bad habits whilst in the workplace. We should also refrain from using undue influence to fulfil our aspirations.

5. Respect - We should respect human rights and listen to others with respect.

6. Compassion - We should realise that to treat others with compassion at all times and act accordingly.

7. Empathy - We should recognise the ideas, concerns, fears, expectation of others

8. Integrity - We should be honest and trustworthy and accept responsibility for our judgment and actions in professional matters.

9. Competence - We should be competent when it comes to handling other people's problems.

Brain underpinnings for auditory and visual illusions

New research indicates that the integration of senses and functions in the brain is common. About two percent of the population has a condition called synesthesia, in which two different sensations, like colour and sound, are experienced at once.

Although this condition is rare, the new findings suggest the brain is wired in complex and sometimes overlapping ways to help people interpret and understand their environments. The research was presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news on brain science and health.

The new findings show that:

* Researchers have pinpointed the brain region responsible for the McGurk Effect, an auditory phenomenon in which viewing lips moving out of sync with words creates the perception of other words. A brain area known to play a role in language and eye gaze processing is the hub of the sensory overlap (Michael Beauchamp, PhD, abstract 400.2).

* People adjust the perceived location of sensory stimuli faster than previously thought. Results show that exposure to light for only a fraction of a second alters the perceived source of a subsequent sound. The findings have implications for the development of hearing aids and rehabilitation from brain injury (Ladan Shams, PhD, abstract 125.1).

Other recent findings discussed show that:

* Synesthetes who describe colours as either inside their minds or outside in the world have distinct brain structures and processes (Romke Rouw).

* People who share one type of synesthesia, in which letters and numbers create the experience of colour, describe drastically different sensations from one another. This indicates that synesthetic experiences are more idiosyncratic than is commonly realized (Avinash Vaidya).

* In people with synesthesia, scientists found the brain’s colour-processing area was active five to 10 milliseconds after the visual processing areas, suggesting synesthesia occurs through direct communication between the senses (David Brang).

“While synesthesia reflects an extreme manner in which the senses communicate, there’s evidence that synesthesia operates through mechanisms present in all individuals,” said press conference moderator Vilayanur Ramachandran, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego, an expert on visual perception and behavioral neurology. “Understanding these mechanisms can help us answer fundamental questions about how the brain works.”

This research was supported by national funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, as well as private and philanthropic organizations.

Source: Kat Snodgrass Society for Neuroscience

Is there such a thing as ‘junk food’?

by Larry Lindner

A number of nutrition professionals fairly bristle at the term “junk food.” There are no good foods or junk foods, they say, just junky diets. In other words, it’s the overall eating plan that counts, not the stray high-sugar, high- fat, low-nutrient item that gets indulged in here or there.

Many have got the message - so much so that you might say we’ve thrown out the baby but kept the bath water. According to a study on the eating habits of more than 15,000 adults more than 25% of our calories now come from items such as cakes: pastries, ice cream, puddings, sugar, syrup, soda sweetened noncarbonated beverages, potato chips, dressings, gravies, butter, margarine, and oils.

Fully a third of Americans, according to calculations made as part of the research, average an astonishing 45% of their calories from those foods. Another study of 4,700 found that soft drinks were the greatest source of calories - providing more than 7% of daily calorie needs.

All of these items - whether referred to as “junk foods,” “high-calorie-low-nutrient foods,” or, as some of their most charitable defenders call them, foods of “modest” nutritional value - have few vitamins and minerals for the caloric wallop they deliver. A single slice of cheesecake, for instance, has almost 500 calories and nearly half the saturated fat that someone eating 2,000 calories a day should average.

A can of soda pop has about 150 calories and virtually nothing else (check out all the zeroes on a label). And a 150-calorie serving of ice cream, which some people justify as being a reasonable source of calcium, contains as much of that mineral as you could get in 20 calories’ worth (4 tablespoons) of skim milk.

“These choices are not without nutritional consequences,” says study author Ashima Kant, an associate professor of nutrition at the City University of New York’s Queens College. Not surprisingly, she found that the more of those foods that make up one’s diet, the more calories consumed; also, the more fat (and saturated fat) eaten, and the less fiber.

Moreover, Kant found, as junk food in the diet goes up, down goes the consumption of vitamins A, B6, B12, C, folate, calcium, and iron. The lower the blood levels of many of those nutrients, too.

Furthermore, people who eat more junk food have lower levels of “good” HDL-cholesterol that works to clear junk from the arteries. And they have higher levels of homocysteine, a blood chemical that researchers are finding is significantly associated with increased heart disease risk.

Fats and sweets get all the attention

Fuelling the penchant for less nutritionally desirable choices, Kant believes, may be the fact that “there is very little advertising for the healthier foods.”

Indeed, when she systematically evaluated the ads in some health-oriented magazines a couple of years ago, she found that fats, oils, and sweets accounted for nearly 30% of all food advertisements, whereas the grain, fruit, and vegetable groups combined accounted for only 6% of food ads.

“You ask people, ‘Are you influenced by the ads that you see?’” Kant notes, “and they say, ‘Never.’ But they perhaps are influenced.” Studies have shown that children are heavily influenced by food advertising. Researchers in Australia found that children who watched a lot of TV had more positive attitudes toward and higher intakes of junk food.

The accessibility of junk foods may also influence people’s choices, she reports, commenting that getting your hands on high-calorie, low-nutrient items is “much easier than to find a vending machine that has apples in it.”

But Kant doesn’t like the term “junk foods” because, as she puts it, “it labels foods. I have nothing against any of these foods,” she says. “They give us a lot of pleasure. Unfortunately,” she adds, “we are eating a lot more of them and paying less attention to more nutritious choices.”

Courtesy: A HealthyMe

Cricketers support people living with HIV on World AIDS Day

CRICKET: International cricket showed its support for people living with HIV last week as leading players wore red ribbons on their playing shirts in intranational matches to help celebrate World AIDS Day as part of the Think Wise partnership.

Players and match officials wore red ribbons in the Tests and One-Day International matches being played on December 1, 2010 between Bangladesh - Zimbabwe, India - New Zealand and Sri Lanka - West Indies, as well as on the opening day of the Ashes Test Match between Australia and England on December 03.

In addition, Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran will travel to Papua New Guinea to help take part in a variety of education and fundraising activities promoting World AIDS Day.

Sri Lanka captain and Think Wise champion Kumar Sangakkara believes it is vital that cricketers show their support for the Think Wise initiative, a joint partnership between the ICC, UNAIDS, UNICEF and the Global Media AIDS Initiative that has been running since 2003, that aims to raise awareness around HIV prevention and reduce discrimination towards those living with HIV and AIDS.

The dash diet

by Karen Schroeder Kassel

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, which is the name of the research study that looked at the effects of eating patterns on blood pressure. From this study came the DASH diet - a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods, and low in saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol.

This diet was shown to significantly reduce blood pressure. The DASH diet combined with a low sodium intake can reduce blood pressure even further.

Researchers believe that it is the combination of nutrients from this eating pattern that helps to lower blood pressure. Specifically, magnesium, potassium, and calcium, as well as protein and fiber may act together to achieve this goal.

In addition to helping you manage your blood pressure, the DASH eating plan is a healthy one that will help you manage your weight and possibly reduce your risk of other chronic diseases. For example, research suggests that women who follow the DASH diet can reduce their risk of heart failure.

A registered dietitian can help design a DASH meal plan that will work for you. Check out the one-day sample menu at the end of this page for an idea of what is in a DASH meal plan!

How many servings do you need?

Depending on your calorie needs, these are the number of servings of each food group you should strive for each day:

- A HealthyMe