Showing posts with label Scotland. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Research Backs a Traditional Balm: Nature

English: unidentified plant in Singapore Botanical Garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dawn crepuscule in the Singapore Botanical Gardens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

orchid (Singapore botanical gardens) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Singapore Botanical gardens (Photo credit: j0055)

Singapore Botanical Garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

July 29, 2014
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And as if to say, health can't be bought, nature comes to the rescue - abundant, free, natural... and it just doesn't soothe tired eyes, but green, leafy scenery soothe tired brains as well...
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by Gretchen Reynolds

Scientists have known for some time that the human brain's ability to stay calm and focused is limited and can be overwhelmed by the noise and hectic demands of city living, sometimes resulting in a condition informally known as brain fatigue. With brain fatigue, you are easily distracted, forgetful and mentally flighty.

But a new study from Scotland suggests you can ease brain fatigue by simply strolling through a leafy park.

Researchers have long theorized that green spaces are calming, requiring less of our directed mental attention that urban streets do. Instead, natural settings invoke "soft fascination," a term for quiet contemplation, during which the brain can reset overstretched resources of attention and reduce mental fatigue.

But this theory has been difficult to put to the test. Previous studies have found that people who live near trees and parks have lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in their saliva than whose who live primarily amid concrete, and that children with attention deficits tend to concentrate and perform better on cognitive tests after walking through parks. Scientists have studied volunteers and found that brain wave readouts show that the volunteers are more calm when they view natural scenes.

But it had not been possible to study the brains of people while they were actually outside until the recent development of a lightweight, portable version of the electroencephalogram, a technology that studies brain wave patterns.

For the new study, published in March in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh attached these new, portable EEGs to the scalps of 12 healthy young adults. The electrodes sent brain wave readings wirelessly to a laptop carried in a backpack by each volunteer.

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Essential body renewal
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The researchers then sent the participants on a short walk throguh Edinburgh, first through a historic district, then through a parklike setting and finally through a commercial district. Afterward, the researchers looked for wave patterns that they felt were related to measures of frustration, directed attention, mental arousal and meditativeness or calm. What they found confirmed the idea that green spaces lessen brain fatigue: in the commercial area their brain waves were aroused; in the park the readings became more meditative.

The study was small, more of a trial study of the new EEG technology than a definitive examination of the cognitive effects of seeing green.

But even so, said Jenny Roe, a lecturer at Heriot-Watt who oversaw the study, the findings were consistent, strong and valuable. The study suggests that, right about now, you should consider "taking a break from work," Dr. Roe said, and "going for a walk in a green space or just sitting, or even viewing green spaces from your office window." This is not a waste of time, Dr. Roe said. "It is likely to have a restorative effect and help with attention fatigue and stress recovery."

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Taken from TODAY Saturday Edition, 13-April-2013

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Thanks for not smoking…

The No Smoking sign, designed by one of the me...

Image via Wikipedia

BENEFITS OF BANS
Heart attacks reduced considerably in countries where lighting up is banned

LONDON - The ban on smoking in public places could reduce heart attacks by more than a third in some parts of the world, say researchers.

Two independent health reviews have found that heart attack rates dropped steeply in areas where bans have been introduced, with one reporting 36 per cent fewer cases three years after smoke-free legislation came in.

Smoking in pubs, restaurants and other public spaces was banned in England and Wales in July 2007, a year after similar laws were introduced in Scotland.

The Scottish ban led to a 14 per cent fall in the number of people being admitted to hospital with a heart attack the following year.

A Department of Health study of heart attack rates in England and Wales is not due to report until next year, but experts believe the number of cases in the regions has already fallen by around 10 per cent as a result of the smoking ban.

The latest reviews, which draw on published studies from the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Ireland and Scotland, suggest heart attacks in Britain will fall even further over the next two years.

"While we obviously won't bring heart attack rates to zero, these findings give us evidence that in the short to medium term, smoking bans will prevent a lot of heart attacks," said Dr James Lightwood, a health economist at the University of California in San Francisco, and co-author of one of the reviews, published in the US Journal Circulation.

Dr Lightwood analysed 13 published reports on heart attacks in countries or states where smoking bans have been introduced.

A year after the bans were introduced, heart attacks had fallen by an average of 17 per cent. After three years, the number of heart attacks had dropped by 36 per cent.

"This study adds to the already strong evidence that second-hand smoke causes heart attacks, and that passing 100 per cent smoke-free laws in all work places and public places is something we can do to protect the public," Dr Lightwood said.

Heart attacks may fall more modestly in Britain than other European countries because many workplaces imposed smoking bans before nationwide laws were passed.

A second review, by Mr David Meyers at the University of Kansas, drew on 10 studies from the same regions.

His report, which is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found heart attacks had fallen by 17 per cent on average a year after smoking bans were imposed.

Most of the benefit was seen among young people and non-smokers.

While smoking doubles the risk of heart attack, passive smokers, who regularly inhale tobacco fumes from others, have around a 30 per cent higher risk of getting a heart attack. The Guardian

From TODAY, News – Wednesday, 23-Sep-2009

Sunday, June 14, 2009

First death of A(H1N1) flu patient in Britain

Posted: 15 June 2009 0519 hrs

People wear masks as they stand outside the Houses of Parliament in London.

LONDON: A patient suffering from A(H1N1) flu died on Sunday in hospital in Scotland, authorities there announced, in the first death of a patient with the virus in Britain and the first outside the Americas.

"With regret, we can confirm that one of the patients who had been in hospital, and had been confirmed as suffering from the H1N1 virus, has died today," said a statement issued by the Scottish Government.

"The patient had underlying health conditions."

The statement said that no further details would be released on Sunday to give the family time to come to terms with their loss.

The World Health Organisation on Thursday declared the first influenza pandemic in four decades, saying the further spread of A(H1N1) flu was "inevitable".

The A(H1N1) virus has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries since it was first detected in Mexico in April, according to the latest WHO figures released on Friday, which put the death toll then at 145.

Up to now the deaths had been limited to the Americas.

In Scotland, the patient who died was one of 10 people diagnosed with A(H1N1) flu who had been hospitalised, out of almost 500 cases across the country. In Britain as a whole, 1,226 people have been confirmed to have the virus.

Scottish Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon sought earlier on Sunday to reassure the public, saying: "We remain one of the best prepared countries in the world.

"As in every other country, the vast majority of people contracting the virus are experiencing relatively mild symptoms." - AFP/de

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Friday, May 29, 2009

2 Greek students catch swine flu in UK

Main symptoms of swine flu in humans "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention > Key Facts about Swine Influenza (Swine Flu)" . . Retrieved April 27, 2009 . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

05/29/2009 | 08:19 PM

Release Date: 29 May 2009 12:13:21 GMT
AP

LONDON – Two Greek students caught swine flu in Scotland last week, proof that the virus is circulating more widely than European authorities admit.

The two men, students in Edinburgh, were diagnosed with swine flu when they returned to Greece last week. Neither reported any known contact with a confirmed swine flu case or any history of travel beyond Scotland in the last 15 days.

"This is definitely an indicator the virus is spreading in the community," said John Oxford, a professor of virology at St. Bart's and Royal London Hospital. "Most of the time, this virus is like an iceberg. You can only see the tip but there is a big iceberg below the surface."

The two students went to several parties last week and fell ill about the same time, meaning they probably did not infect each other. Their cases were described in an article published online Thursday in Eurosurveillance, a publication of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The researchers wrote there was a possibility that widespread transmission of swine flu exists in Edinburgh, which led to the two men being infected. The researchers added it was the first time swine flu had spread from one European country to another.

Britain's Health Protection Agency, which is coordinating the United Kingdom's response to swine flu, denied that the virus was circulating in the general public.

"We have no evidence to suggest that the virus is spreading in the community," a spokesman said on condition of anonymity, in line with agency policy.

Britain has 203 confirmed cases of swine flu, the highest tally in Europe. The World Health Organization reported Friday that its global tally of swine flu cases rose to 15,510, in 53 countries around the world. It says 99 deaths have been linked to swine flu, mostly in Mexico, but the US has the most confirmed cases worldwide.

If there were community spread of swine flu in Britain, that would theoretically satisfy the World Health Organization's criteria for declaring a pandemic – a global epidemic.

At the moment, the virus appears only to be causing big outbreaks in North America. But once swine flu is proven to be spreading easily in another world region, the agency's pandemic criteria will be fulfilled.

WHO, however, says it is convening an expert panel to determine new criteria for announcing a global outbreak. The agency caved to pressure from member countries, including Britain, who urged the UN heath agency not to declare a pandemic.

Oxford said several of the confirmed British and Scottish swine flu cases have no known connection to confirmed cases or travel history. These sporadic cases – where there is no clear chain of transmission – are considered to be evidence a virus is widespread.

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the agency was working with national authorities to see if swine flu is spreading more widely in Europe. At the moment, most European countries are only testing for swine flu in people with fevers or coughs or have a travel history to North America.

Scientists say that means authorities could be missing big outbreaks since they are not testing for the virus' spread in the general community.

"Based on WHO's current definitions, we are in a pandemic," said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota. "To say it is not entrenched in Europe is like denying that the sun rises." - AP

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Greece confirms 3rd swine flu case

05/27/2009 | 04:24 PM

ATHENS, Greece – Greek health authorities have confirmed the country's third case of swine flu.

Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said Wednesday the patient is a Greek student who recently returned from Edinburgh, Scotland, along with another student who was diagnosed Tuesday as suffering from swine flu.

One of the students is being treated in a hospital in Athens, and the other in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Last week, a 19-year-old Greek student was confirmed as having the virus after flying home from the United States. He has since been released from the hospital.

Avramopoulos said neither of the two hospitalized students were in serious condition. - AP

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.