Curbing NCDs in the South East Asian region :

Sri Lanka ahead in controlling communicable diseases

By Nilma Dole

The NCD problem

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death in Sri Lanka, causing more death than all other causes combined. Commonly known as chronic or lifestyle-related diseases, the main non-communicable diseases are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory disease. Such diseases could be significantly reduced and prevented, with thousands of lives saved and untold suffering avoided, through proven and affordable measures many of which are complimentary to health efforts already underway.

The knowledge and technology to fight the onset and effect of non-communicable disease already exist. It's time to act to save the future generations from the health socio-economic harm of such diseases.

Preventing and controlling NCDs will greatly depend on action taken by non-health sectors. The health sector, acting alone, can't curb the threat. All sectors of the government and the society must work together to start fighting the epidemics of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic lung diseases and diabetes.

NCD prevention is everybody's business and every sector/partner can help in the prevention and management of NCDs. Non-communicable diseases have now become a development and political problem in addition to being a public health problem of immense magnitude. That is why the UN general assembly in September is focusing on NCDs because they threaten development gains, particularly the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) addressing poverty and health problems.

Dr. Firdosi Mehta

Sri Lanka's health is the nation's wealth, but maintaining its stringent health indices and keeping it at an optimum level is a formidable task. While the country has successfully eradicated all vaccinable diseases, reduced maternal mortality rates among other health issues, Sri Lanka has effectively curbed and controlled communicable diseases to a great extent as opposed to its neighbouring countries.

However, controlling and preventing NCDs or non-communicable diseases is the battle we're facing now and if we don't address the issue, it might be too late. WHO (World Health Organisation) representative in Sri Lanka, Dr. Firdosi Mehta said that, "We applaud Sri Lanka for its joint initiatives in combatting vaccine preventable and communicable diseases but suffice to say, non-communicable diseases are brought on by society itself."

It is imperative that society takes heed of NCDs by changing their lifestyle instead of just accepting fate without controlling it.

He said, "Today, the common cause of all deaths is in the form of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes - most of which are preventable and curable".Sri Lanka has an impressive track record of achieving MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) earlier than others in the South East Asian region and as an emerging nation; the island has achieved middle-income status in a short time.

However, the economy and health budget is at a risk of weakening because a considerable portion of expenditure is wasted on health issues that have to be nipped in the bud.

According to Dr. Mehta, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are quickly becoming the leading cause of death in Sri Lanka, causing more deaths that all other causes combined. "Recent statistics show that Sri Lankan women are more obese than men with nearly one-quarter of the population of women being overweight," he said.

This goes to show that not just middle-aged women but newly-married women too accept their fate as being 'fat' and don't do anything to control it. Accepting your plump image after child-birth isn't healthy at all for it can lead to other complications. Not investing a few hours of exercise a day could lead to deadly diseases later which is a money-burner.

In this aspect, the Ministry of Health together with the WHO and other health authorities have started a campaign to make Sri Lanka a path finder in NCD prevention. The theme will revolve around combatting four deadly types of NCDs; this includes preventing cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and respiratory diseases. The campaign will focus on getting people to make the conscious decision to save their lives by avoiding tobacco use, preventing alcohol misuse, eating unhealthy diets and having an exercise regime in place.

The campaign puts into limelight the affect such diseases have on society as it could be significantly reduced and prevented, with thousands of lives saved and untold suffering avoided, through proven and affordable measures.

The knowledge and technology to fight the onset and effect of NCDs already exists without special requirements or expenses because it's time now to act to save the future generations from the health socio-economic harm of such diseases. In Sri Lanka, the action plan for prevention and control of NCDs means that it's not just the public blaming the government for not doing anything. As an individual, it is our duty to ensure that we set our own standards of healthy lifestyles and a health policy.

The NCD unit of the Ministry of Health together with various health organisations and decision-makers are always here to help people with advice on what is the best practice of having a healthy lifestyle.

'Gone are the days when people thought NCDs were a Western condition and that it only affects those in the developed countries. Today, a significant proportion of the Asian population is affected by NCDs and with globalisation and modern trends, it has become a worldwide policy to win the NCD war,' said Dr. Mehta.

Courtesy: Ministry of Health

Psychology:

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery

but clueless copycatting comes at a cost:

As anyone who has been subjected to the mocking playground game knows, parroting can be annoying. Yet gentle mimicry can act as a kind of "social glue" in human relationships.

It fosters rapport and trust. It signals cohesion. Two people who like each other will often unconsciously mirror each other's mannerisms in subtle ways - leaning forward in close synchrony, for example - and that strengthens their bond.

A form of imitation

The benefits of body-language mimicry have been confirmed by numerous psychological studies. And in popular culture, mirroring is frequently urged on people as a strategy - for flirting or having a successful date, for closing a sale or facing a job interview.

But new research suggests that mirroring may not always lead to positive social outcomes. In fact, sometimes the smarter thing to do is to refrain. In a study to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, it is noted that in real-life situations there are often observers to the mirroring that takes place between two people. This led them to wonder whether mimicry sometimes comes at a reputational cost.

Are there cases in which an observer might actually think less of a person for mirroring the behaviour of another? Results of three experiments suggest that mimicry is more nuanced than previously thought and not, the authors write, "uniformly beneficial to the mimicker." "Mimicry is a crucial part of social intelligence," said Winkielman, UC San Diego professor of psychology. "But it is not enough to simply know how to mimic. It's also important to know when and when not to.

The success of mirroring depends on mirroring the right people at the right time for the right reasons. Sometimes the socially intelligent thing to do is not to imitate." Participants in the study were asked to watch several staged and videotaped interviews. Some saw videos in which the interviewer was cordial and others saw videos in which the (same) interviewer was unfriendly. The people being interviewed in the videos either mirrored the interviewer's simple mannerisms, such as chin-touching or leg-crossing, or they did not.

After watching each video, participants evaluated the interviewee on general competence, trustworthiness and likeability.Despite the fact that the participants were not instructed to watch for mimicry and reported no awareness of it, it still influenced their evaluations: Interviewees who mimicked the unfriendly interlocutor were judged to be less competent than those who didn't.

That is to say, in the eyes of the outside observers, the imitators of the undesirable model incurred reputational costs - their unconsciously observed mirroring registered as a kind of error.

In a second corollary experiment, participants were exposed to the same videos but with the interviewer obscured. In other words, they couldn't see any evidence of mimicry, and the results support the researchers' hypothesis: It is not merely interacting with negatively perceived people that has a social cost; you pay a price for aligning with them through body language.

Interestingly, an additional experiment showed that the reputational cost of mimicking an unfriendly interviewer disappeared when participants read positive information about that interviewer - i.e., that he was engaged in humanitarian work - before watching the video.

"It's almost as though mimicry of a condescending interviewer was forgiven when he was judged to be good at heart," Winkielman said. Our social lives are incredibly complex, said Winkielman, and in order to build or maintain relationships we have to keep in mind a variety of factors.

"It's good to have the capacity to mimic," he said, "but an important part of social intelligence is knowing how to deploy this capacity in a selective, intelligent, context-dependent manner, and understanding, even implicitly, when mirroring can reflect badly on you."

Source: Inga Kiderra University of California

Selecting a good backpack for children

Source: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Most children and teenagers carry their schoolbooks and other supplies in backpacks during the school year. When used correctly, backpacks are the most efficient way to carry a load and distribute the weight among some of the body's strongest muscles. However, parents need to carefully select a backpack to ensure that they are comfortable and do not cause injury.

Simple guidelines have been put out to prevent any unnecessary injuries throughout the school year:

* Look for a backpack that is lightweight - no more than 15-20 percent of body weight. It needs to have two wide and padded shoulder straps, a cushioned back, and waist straps.

* Encourage children to use both shoulder straps and make sure the straps are tight.

* Organise supplies and books so that the heaviest items are closest to the centre of the back and all compartments are used.

* Persuade children to stop at their lockers often so they're not carrying all of their books throughout the day.

*Remind children to bend using both knees when lifting a backpack.

* Remind children to not leave backpacks on the floor where others can trip over them, and not to swing them around where they may hit others. Back and shoulder discomfort is common with heavy backpack use. If children complain of persistent back pain, consult with their pediatrician or family physician.

Source: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Research reveals clues to the formation of heart, and other organs

How do the intestines in tiny birds or large mammals form intricate looping patterns? How do hearts and vascular systems form? Why do some large dog breeds succumb to gastric torsion while others don't?

Newly released research provides some key clues to these natural phenomena.

The research is based on a model that mimics how developing intestines in vertebrates form the characteristic looped pattern in the body cavity.

That model not only provides a template for organ asymmetry; it also could lead to better diagnosis of veterinary and human maladies such as malrotation of the intestines in babies and gastric torsion in large-breed dogs such as Labrador retrievers. "By understanding the patterns of loops, we could better identify and more accurately diagnose these conditions," research author Kurpios said.

"This also gives us hints to the formation of other organs, such as the heart and the vascular system."

Source: Cornell University