New Delhi, July 28:

The stalled Indo-Pak composite di-alogue process is all set to restart in August with Islamabad pro-posing dates for water secretary level talks — meant to address the Wullar Barrage issue — and New Delhi "actively considering it".Pakistan, in fact, has also pro-posed a meeting between the two foreign secretaries but, as diplo-matic sources confirmed, only af-ter talks over water and Sir Creek issues are held, said an Indian me-dia report.The dialogue process with Paki-stan was thrown off the track by the January ceasefire violations, which led to killings of both In-dian and Pakistani soldiers. The water talks that were to be held in late January were the first casu-alty of the impasse that followed. India decided to postpone the talks saying that its water resources secretary was retiring and instead proposed that the dialogue be held in March.The postponement came days after then Pakistani commerce minister Makhdoom Fahim called off his visit to India. "There are some proposals from Pakistan for the resumption of dialogue and dates are being

worked out through diplomatic channels," TOI quoted an Indian government source as having said.Diplomatic sources said Pakistan has sent a list of dates to India for all government-level dialogues, which are to be held in Islamabad. Pakistan wants the water talks to be held in the last week of August and Sir Creek in mid-September.

It has also said that foreign sec-retaries could meet in October to take stock of the overall situation. It has suggested that PM Manmo-han Singh could visit Pakistan around the same time to further bolster the peace process.Indian government sources said there is no questioning of not responding favourably to the proposals by Islamabad as India has already agreed to a meeting between PM Manmo-han Singh and his counterpart

Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of UNGA in New York late Sep-tember.Sharif's special advisor on foreign affairs Sartaz Aziz had proposed in a meeting with foreign min-ister Salman Khurshid that the two PMs meet in New York to fast track the CBMs and composite dialogue process. Speaking after Aziz, Khurshid had said India was looking forward to meetings be-tween the various joint-working groups in July itself.The list of dates for talks is yet another initiative by Islamabad to put the peace process firmly back on track after the victory of Sharif in the recent general elections. Sharif maintained throughout his election cam-paign that he wanted to repair ties with India.While he insisted after taking over that Singh keep his long-standing promise to visit Pakistan, Sharif accommodated his counterpart's reluctance to go there by propos-ing that the two meet in New York for the time being.The Pakistani PM then went ahead and appointed former Paki-stan foreign secretary Shaharyar Khan as his special envoy for re-viving the track II dialogue pro-cess with India.

Kashmir resolution PDP's core agenda: Mufti

Srinagar, July 28:

Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Sunday said that settlement of Kashmir is-sue is the core of his party’s political agenda and they would strive hard to pur-sue its policies and pro-grammes in this regard by taking all the relevant stake holders on board.Addressing a function on the 14th foundation day of the party at party’s head-quarter Srinagar, Mufti said the issue of J&K can be resolved only by addressing it and any attempt at push-

ing it under the carpet was bound to fail. “My sole aim in life is to bring J&K out of uncertainty and the re-sultant darkness that has engulfed it for the last 65 years,” he said. Seeking a decisive mandate for his party Mufti said it would provide legitimacy to his resolution efforts. “I have no hesitation in promising a dignified solu-tion to this vexed problem if the people repose their faith in my party,” Mufti said and added that very

positive beginning in creat-ing an atmosphere condu-cive to resolution had been made in 2003 with the wa-tershed Vajpayee visit.

He said for arriv-ing at a resolution we have to create an internal atmo-sphere of trust and having an exter-nal environment of understanding between India and

Pakistan is essential. “Dur-ing our brief tenure we had attempted this and achieved a breakthrough. This pro-cess needs to be carried forward and the PDP would

pick up the threads again with the support of people.”Mufti claimed PDP had emerged as a credible voice of J&K and even though it hopes to receive a decisive mandate we will create an inclusive atmosphere to take very stake holder on board. “We don’t claim to have monopoly on all wis-dom, popularity or repre-sentation but we will seek every body’s help in arriv-ing at a just and practical solution of the Kashmir is-sue,” he said.The PDP patron said though governance is important

See Mufti on Pg. 7

Srinagar, July 28:

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Com-mittee (JKPCC) chief Saifuddin Soz on Sunday termed the National Food Security Ordinance land-mark step. Addressing a party func-tion at Shastri Nagar in Jammu Soz said it will to ensure legal guarantee to provide adequate quantity of quality food at afford-able prices to the people which would benefit more than 81 crore population in the country.Prof Soz said that after ensuring Job Guarantee to the poor people under

MGNREG Act, this is an-other unique initiative of the Congress party to give legal right to the country-

men through a legisla-tion for food at affordable prices. This will cover 75 percent of rural and 50 per-cent of urban population of

the country and the entire additional financial bur-den would be borne by the centre government.The function was orga-nized to pay tributes to Mo-han Lal Sharma on his 5th death anniversary, who served the party for a long time as President BCC Gandhi Nagar-Jammu.Prof Soz said that Congress party has the vision for the welfare and upliftment of each section of the society and for ensuring the over-all progress and prosperity of the country, which has emerged as a major econo-my in the World. It is only the Congress party

See Soz on Pg. 7

Hajin, July 28:

Police and Para-mili-tary Forces ransacked scores of houses and beat inmates to pulp after the violent pro-tests erupted in North Kashmir’s Hajin area of Bandipora on the second consecutive day. Scores of youth appeared on roads af-ter the news spread that Minister for High-er Education, Muham-mad Akbar Lone is visiting Banayari area of Hajin.Youth resorted to heavy stone pelting

while the men in uni-form went for tear gas shelling to disperse them. Agitated youth, amid pro-freedom slo-gans burn down tyres on roads. They fought pitched battles with the police and CRPF personnel deployed in the area.A police official on condition of anonym-ity told CNS that Min-ister for Higher Educa-tion was supposed to visit Banayari area of Hajin. “Keeping yes-terday’s occurrence in mind we had decided

See Protests on Pg. 7

Violent protests in Hajin

Srinagar, July 28:

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Sunday inau-gurated a modern testing gadget at G.B. Panth hos-pital for which Union Min-ister for New and Renew-able Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah has donated Rs. 30 lakh out of his MP Local Area Development Fund. The Minister for Medical Education, Taj Mohi-u-Din was also present on the occasion.The new medical testing gadget known as Bact Alert is a comprehensive

machine that would un-dertake the culturing of

blood sample within 24 to 36 hours isolating the bac-

teria and its specie, and See Omar on Pg. 7

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

MOnDAY July 29 | 2013 | 19 Ramzan 1434 AH | PAGES 8 | VOL nO: 3 | ISSUE nO: 184 | RS: 2/- (AIR SURCHARGE FOR JAMMU /DELHI/LEH 50 PAISA)Pen For JusticeLargely Circulated, No. 1 Bilingual Daily of J&K

Indo-Pak to restart composite dialogue in August

Srinagar, July 28:

Suspected militants on Sunday shot dead a young Special Police Of-ficer (SPO) in Sopore town of north Kashmir.Superintendent of Police Sopore, Imtiyaz Hussain Mir told KNS that the pis-tol borne militants fired upon the 25-year-old out-side his residence at On-too Hamam, Chanakhan Sopore around 0950 hours. After sustaining multiple wounds, the SPO— Mu-dasir Ahmad Dar son of late Gulzar Ahamd Dar—was shifted to Sub-

District Hospital where he was declared brought dead by the doctors who attended upon him, Mir said. The SPO is survived by a widow, mother and two minor siblings, he said. Police has registered a case and investigation has been started, the SP added.Meanwhile, soon after the incident, Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifles, 189 Bat-talion of paramilitary CRPF reached the spot along with SOG of police and launched a manhunt to trace the attackers.However, when reports

last came in, no arrests were made. No militant outfit has claimed the responsibility for the at-tack so far.The attack comes two days after a Sarpanch was injured when mili-tants fired upon him at Krankshivan Colony in the town. Meanwhile, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Mr. Ali Mohammad Sagar has condemned the killing of (SPO) Mudasir Ahmad Ontoo who was killed by unidentified gunmen at Sopore in Baramulla

See SPO on Pg. 7

Young SPO shot dead in Sopore

Srinagar, July 28:

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Sunday claimed that New Delhi was ready to talk to separatists “but the latter were reluctant to talk to them and were in-stead holding meeting with agencies in closed rooms.”“Our job is just to facilitate talks between center and Hurriyat and we did that. Talks on Kashmir issue had to be carried by Hurriyat people. New Delhi is ready for that but separatists are not,” Omar told KNS in an exclusive interview.“In closed rooms they (separatists) meet differ-ent people. But people like Ramjeth Malani who come without anything they talk to him. They (separatists) take tea with agency people in restaurants and five stars and hold secret talks. But they don’t want to talk with center in open,” he said and added “Center is ready for talks, but with whom they will talk. NC, PDP,

Congress and BJP say we will solve the issue within constitution and they are talking with center. But those who want to solve it outside constitution (Sepa-ratists) they are not ready for talks.”Asked to comment about

separatists claims that New Delhi wasn’t serious on dia-logue, Omar said, “Here lie is repeated so many times that people start thinking it is truth. Last time Prime Minister told them (separat-ists) that they should put their demands in shape of a memorandum. Let them

show it to the people wheth-er they have put it before the PM. Center told them to give charter of demands on record which they didn’t.”Asked to comment on his recent statement that some elements within Hurriyat were ready to contest elec-tions, the Chief Minister said, “What I said is some elements like Sajjad Lone are ready. He contested parliament elections in 2009 also. Others should fol-low. Some separatists are fielding proxies. But people know that.”Without naming Jamiat-e-Islami and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, he said, “There target has always been NC. They help other parties through back channels. They give boycott call on one side and use militants to threaten people then on the other side they ask their people to vote for those par-ties. Omar said that they have talked about Kashmir issue

See Meetings on Pg. 7

Hurriyat leaders hold meetings with agencies behind closed doors’

Omar inaugurates latest gadget in G.B Panth Hospital

http://www.zabarwantimes.com

Srinagar, July 28:

Stating that ‘communal thinking’ was attached to the institution of Village De-fence Committee, chairman of his faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Sunday demanded disbanding of VDC forth-with. Terming the Kishtwar gang rape incident as “shameful” and “aggression against the chastity of Kashmiri wom-an,” Mirwaiz said it was not the first time VDC mem-bers were found involved in criminal acts. Earlier also, he said, many VDC members have been found to have committed accesses against the com-

mon masses. In reality, Mirwaiz said a communal thinking is at-tached to the very founda-tion of VDC as an Institu-tion. “Hence it has become very important that VDC should be disbanded to pro-tect people from their op-pression,” Mirwaiz said in a statement to KNS. He said “brutality and ag-gression” of VDCs against common people is not less than ‘infamous SOG.’“So we demand these com-mittees should be immedi-ately disbanded,” Mirwaiz said, adding, “The accused should also be sternly pun-ished”. While delivering a sermon

See Mirwaiz on Pg. 7

Mirwaiz demands immediate disbanding of VDC

national Food Security Ordinance landmark step: Soz

Srinagar, July 28:

Minister for Tourism, Ghulam Ahmad Mir has said that the economic welfare of rural and kandi areas is the top priority of the govern-ment adding that special schemes launched time to time to uplift the ru-ral and hilly areas have started yielding positive results.Addressing a public meeting today at villag-es Omoh in Dooru, the Minister said govern-ments’ priority is to up-grade communication,

education and health cover in these areas and extend help to generate economy and give fillip to education and health care facilities. He said the government would work consistently to give special attention to development in these areas.Reiterating the com-mitment of the state government towards holistic development of all the regions of the State with special focus on far-off and hilly areas, the Minister said the government’s pro-people

policies and exemplary initiatives have placed the State on the track of peace and prosper-ity. He affirmed that this “would be carried for-ward with a mission to ensure all-round devel-opment of rural as well as kandi areas.” The Minister said the initiatives taken by the government during the past over four years to-wards bringing account-ability and transparency in the administration is worth appreciating. “The Right to

See Policies on Pg. 7

Pro-people policies led J&K towards peace, prosperity: G A Mir

CM rules out possibility of assembly elections in March-April next year

Minister forced to change the route

Body recovered from Dal lakeSrinagar July 28: The body of 20 years old Shabir Yousf Rather son of Mohammad Yousf resident of Tengpora Pulwama was recovered from Dal Lake at Dhobi Ghat, in the jurisdiction of Police station Nigeen. The body has been kept in mortuary at Panthachowk after comple-tion of post mortem. Police has initiated inquest proceedings under section 174 CrPC to as-certain the cause of his death.

Girl ends her life in AnantnagSrinagar July 28: A 16 years old girl (name withheld) resident of Watnad committed suicide by hanging herself at her home, in jurisdiction of Police station Kokernag. She was shifted to hospital where she breathed her last. Kokernag Police has registered a case under section 309RPC in this regard.

Boy drowns in Jehlum in SrinagarSrinagar July 28: A 16 years old boy, Liyakat Ahmad Mir son of Bashir Ahmad Mir resident of Khahmowa Baramulla was drowned in river Jehlum near Pather Masjid, Zaina Kadal, in the jurisdiction of Police station M.R Gunj. He was working in a Bakery Shop at Fateh Kadal. The body of deceased was fished out and handed over to his relatives for last rites.

Attention selected Hajj pilgrimsSrinagar, July 28: According to the Executive Officer, State Hajj Committee, all selected pil-grims of Hajj 2013 are informed that the last date for submis-sion of Balance Hajj Amount has been extended upto August, 05, 2013.

Prof. Bhim Singh meets GovernorSrinagar, July 28: Prof. Bhim Singh, Chief Patron, J&K Na-tional Panthers Party, called on Mr. N. N. Vohra, Governor, at Raj Bhavan here today.During his meeting with the Governor, Prof. Singh discussed various matters concerning the efficient and timely implementation of the major welfare and development schemes and programmes and other issues relating to the interests of the State.

1 Die, 7 injured in road mishapsSrinagar July 28: One person died and seven others were in-jured in different road accident across the valley.A Santro car bearing registra-tion number JK05C/0636 hit and injured a pedestrian, 11 years old Reyaz Ahmad resi-dent of Shangergund, Daligund near Chatroosa crossing, in the jurisdiction of Police station Dangiwacha, Sopore. The injured boy was shifted to Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Dangiwacha Police has registered a case in this regard.Meanwhile, a Maruti car bearing registration number Jk02F/5529 met with an acci-dent near Army Camp in Beer-wa, resulting in injuries to two persons travelling in the car. Both the injured were shifted to hospital for treatment. Beerwa Police has registered a case in this regard.In another accident, a Maruti car bearing registration num-ber Jk01G/2645 skidded off the road near TCP, in the jurisdic-tion of Police Station Kralpora, Kupwara, resulting in injuries to two persons who were travel-ling in the car. Both the injured were shifted to hospital for treatment. Kralpora Police has registered a case in this regard.A Bus bearing registration number JKF/0934 hit and in-jured Saif-u-Din Khan age 70

See Mishaps on Pg. 7

Monday | 29 July 2013

Is Binge Eating a Mental disorder?

BMI may be understating obesity epidemic

Early cancer detection is the key

Always be good to your stomach

drug therapy can cut malaria infections

Stop a weak bladder from ruling your life

air pollution: Impact on heart health

Fat cells protect our body against diabetes

Body-mass index BMI, the 200-year-old formula widely used by medical ex-perts, health insurers and the fitness industry, may be categorising almost half of women and just over 20 per cent of men as healthy when their body-fat composition suggests they are obese, a US new study has found.

The study uses a patient’s ratio of fat to lean muscle mass as the “gold standard” for de-tecting obesity and sug-gests that it could be a better bellwether of an individual’s risk for health problems. The research-ers suggested that body fat would predict individuals’ health risks better than the BMI, the LA Times report-ed. To measure fatness, they used a costly diagnostic test called dual-energy X-ray ab-sorptiometry, or DXA, and calculated subjects’ level of obesity based on fat-compo-sition standards used by the

American Society of Bariat-ric Physicians.

The results also suggest that the BMI is a poor mea-sure of fatness in men - but not always in a way that un-derestimates their obesity.

In all, 20 per cent of the study’s men shifted from normal and healthy into the obese column under the new measure.

But far more frequently than was the case among women, men who were obese by the BMI standard were reclassified as normal and healthy when they were measured with the DXA.

“We may be much

further behind than we thought” in addressing the nation’s crisis of obesity, the researchers wrote.

In an interview, Braver-man derided the BMI as “the baloney mass index”

and said that its wide-spread use was “feed-ing the failure” of pub-lic health policies and treatments aimed at fighting obesity. The 1,393 patients in the study were from his Manhattan practice.

Efforts to get pa-tients to shed extra pounds have produced

weight loss in the short term but fatter patients in the long run as weight is re-gained, Braverman said.

Medical interventions would be more successful if, instead of focusing on weight, they encouraged patients to shift their body composition toward lean muscle mass by recom-mending more exercise, more sleep.

Self-medication is common for gastrointestinal ailments like heartburn, heaviness of the stomach, indigestion, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

People think nothing of popping antacids or an-tibiotics for these ailments. Some even try stronger anti-diarrhoeal drugs for these symptoms without consult-ing a doctor. In emergency conditions, occasional use of antacids is okay, but reg-ular use without consulting a medical practitioner is not good.

Diarrhoea may be a result of a viral or bacterial

infection, or of intestinal diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, parasitic in-festation , food intolerance and reaction to different medicines. Different treat-ment strategies are required for different causes of diar-rhoea.

Diarrhoea caused by viral infection does not need medicine but only fluids as it resolves in a few days. However, diarrhoea caused by bacterial infections may require antibiotics.

To treat diarrhoea by self-medication , a person must be able to differentiate various causes of diarrhoea on the basis of symptoms,

and this is usually not pos-sible for someone without a medical background.

Let the infection out:

Some drugs reduce diarrhoeal frequency by reducing the speed and fre-quency of gut contraction, but if the diarrhoea is caused by an infection, then it may

aggravate and also lead to complications as the infec-tious agent remains inside the intestines as the stools are suppressed by medica-tion .

Hence, the infection keeps multiplying inside the gut and may even penetrate the gut wall to reach other areas, leading to serious in-fections . Dosage and dura-tion is important, so let the doctor decide this according to symptoms . Self-medica-tion may even lead to resis-tance .

Beware of antacids:Antacids are also used

carelessly for treatment of

heartburn, heaviness and indigestion. Some of these medicines neutralise the acid produced in the gut, while others decrease acid production.

These medicines may temporarily control the primary disease respon-sible for the symptoms, but sometimes, the primary dis-ease might be serious - such as oesophageal cancer.

Antacids may decrease the abdominal pain, but won’t cure it completely. So a thorough investigation of these should be done by a doctor to know the exact cause of the diarrhea so that the right treatment is give.

Researchers have shed light on how fat cells protect the body against dia-betes - the finding that may lead to a new therapeutic strategy for prevent-ing and treating type 2 diabetes and obesity-related metabolic diseases.

In the last decade, several re-search groups have shown that fat cells in people play a major role in controlling healthy blood sugar and insulin levels throughout the body.

To do this crucial job, fat cells need a small portion of the sugars derived from food.

Obesity often reduces the dedi-cated sugar transport molecules on fat cells, blocking the glucose from entering fat cells. As a result, the whole body becomes insulin resis-tant, and blood sugar rises, leading to diabetes.

The new study by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) revealed why glucose is so important to fat cells.

The team discovered a new ver-sion of a gene inside fat cells that re-sponds to sugar with a powerful sys-temic effect.

“If we change that one gene, that makes the animal more prone to or more protected from diabetes. Many

foods get converted into sugar, so there is no need to eat more sugar,” said senior author Barbara Kahn MD, the George R. Minot Professor of Med-icine at Harvard Medical School and

Vice Chair of the Department of Medi-cine at BIDMC.

In the study, the BIDMC research-ers pinpointed the fat gene and its ef-fect in mouse models of human obesity and insulin resistance and reported supporting evidence from fat tissue samples from both lean and obese people.

“Two things were surprising - first, that a lone gene could shift the me-

tabolism of the fat cell so dramatically and then, that turning on this master switch selectively in adipose tissue is beneficial to the whole body,” Kahn said.

Twelve years ago, Kahn first demonstrated that fat cells are a master regulator of healthy levels of glucose and insulin in mice and require sugar to do the job.

In the latest study, evidence suggests the newfound gene also may account for the protective ef-fect of glucose uptake in human fat. German collaborators found more gene activity in people with greater insulin sensitivity, based on 123 adipose tissue samples from non-diabetic, glucose toler-ant people. The fat gene activity also correlated highly with insu-

lin sensitivity in obese, non-diabetic people, as measured in 38 fat samples by another pair of co-authors based in St. Louis.

In fat cells, the newfound gene acts as a glucose sensor that converts the sugars into fatty acids, which may play a role in the powerful systemic ef-fect. In response to rising glucose lev-els, the gene makes a more active ver-sion of itself.

One in four women suffer from incontinence. It’s a nuisance and an embar-rassment and yet hardly anyone talks about it

Urinary incontinence is an occupational haz-ard for women. The after-math of pregnancy can be quite a physical burden for some - weight gain, droopy breasts, a painful episioto-my scar and urinary incon-tinence.

The latter is always on the horizon. One in four women get it and it’s a nui-sance, an embarrassment and hardly anyone talks about it.

It’s all down to damage of the pelvic floor muscles, which hold up the bladder and help to stop leakage,

being stretched during pregnancy and the birth of the baby.

Those stretched mus-cles may never regain their former tone, especially if a woman fails to do pelvic floor exercises.

They are crucial in the six weeks after delivering a baby, if you want to avoid incontinence for the rest of your life. But pregnancy isn’t the sole cause.

After the menopause, lack of oestrogen weak-ens the exit valve from the bladder and it may leak if pressure inside the abdo-men increases (coughing and sneezing). That’s called stress incontinence.

Post-menopause, the lining of the bladder may

become unduly sensitive to the presence of any urine and try to empty itself - that’s irritable bladder. Either of these two con-ditions is made worse by obesity.

Fat will compete with the bladder for space, re-ducing its volume and increasing its internal pressure. Firstly, a urine infection must be ruled out or treated.

An examination will reveal a bladder prolapse, which can be repaired sur-gically. The next step is re-ferral for a bladder X-ray, a cystogram and EMG to trace the muscular con-tractions in the wall and exit valve by a bladder spe-cialist.

Malaria infections among infants can be reduced by up to 30 per cent when anti-malarial drugs are given inter-mittently over a

12-month period, a new study has

revealed. A three-year clinical trial in Papua New Guinea showed the drug regime was effec-tive against both Plasmo-dium falciparum and Plas-modium vivax malaria, the first time antimalarial

drugs have been shown to prevent infections by both species of malaria. The treatment regime, called intermittent preventive treatment (IPT), protected the infants against malaria for at least six weeks af-ter the end of treatment, showing that it had an on-going protective effect and did not hinder the develop-ment of natural immunity.

Lead author Professor Ivo Mueller from the Wal-ter and Eliza Hall Insti-tute’s Infection and Immu-nity division, said that the findings could lead to trials of IPT in other regions, in-cluding South-East Asia and South America, where malaria, particularly P.vivax, is a major health problem.

IPT has been used for number of years in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 80 per cent of all deaths from malaria are in children under the age of five. “Plasmodium vivax

is the main cause of clinical malaria in infants outside of Africa,” Professor Muel-ler said.

“What this study has shown is that IPT can be useful in regions other than sub-Saharan Africa, that it can be an effective tool against P.vivax, and reaffirms that we need to effectively tailor preven-tive drugs to different ma-laria species in different regions.” IPT uses sporad-ic, short courses of com-bined antimalarial drugs to provide protection against malaria infection.

“IPT is a cheap and easy way to decrease the burden of malaria in those most susceptible to clinical illness, such as young in-fants and pregnant wom-en,” Professor Mueller said. As part of the clinical trial, infants aged three to 15 months were treated with a long-lasting antimalarial drug combination at three, six, nine and 12 months.

Professor Mueller said the most effective drug combination in the trial was the long-lasting anti-malarials sulfadoxine/py-rimethamine and amodi-aquine (SP-AQ), which act against the two most lethal species of malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax.

In the trial, SP-AQ treatment decreased in-fant infections by 35 per cent for Plasmodium falci-parum and 23 per cent for Plasmodium vivax.“These are quite remarkable fig-ures,” Professor Mueller said. “Different treatment strategies are required for different regions, depend-ing on the dynamics of disease. The drug combi-nation that was most ef-fective in PNG was very different to the drugs you would use to treat malaria in Africa and also differ-ent to the drugs currently recommended for treating malaria in PNG.”

It’s a known fact that heart attacks are linked to hypertension, diabe-tes and smoking. Now

urban India can add one more cause of concern to heart health disease, air

pollution.It affects the expansion and con-

traction of the blood vessel as a result affecting blood pressure. According to French researchers from the Paris Cardiovascular Research Center, the high levels of main pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and soot particles adversely affect the heart.What is more unnerving is the fact that if each of the main pollutants is increased by 10 micrograms per cu-bic metre, you won’t know the differ-

ence in the air you are inhaling. But this heavily polluted air increases your chances of having a heart attack by 1-3 percent.

According to cardiologist Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, “Particulate matter absorbs ultraviolet B waves, responsible for vi-tamin D. This deficiency leads to heart diseases. Exposure to high pollution level also increases chances of throm-bosis (blood clot) and blockages in the heart.”

There are four ways pollutants can increase your chances of cardiovascu-lar diseases.

- If your blood pressure increases, your heart rate increases and constricts

blood vessels.- The number of blood clots increases

as the stickiness of the blood increases.- It results in the thickening of the

arterial wall.- Lead is an agent that triggers high

blood pressure.

However, there is something - al-beit very little - that you can do about combating air pollution’s effects on your heart health. Dr. Aggarwal ex-plains, “One can practice simple ex-ercises and take some precautionary measures to avoid diseases caused by air pollution.”

- Use air conditioners to filter the air during times of peak symptoms.

- Close your windows at home as well as when you’re in the car.

- Showering before going to bed washes allergens from your hair and skin which helps reduce contamination of the

bedding.- Use saline sprays and rinses to

wash off the allergens from the nasal lin-ing after you have been outdoors.- Practice Pranayama and Jalneti to

cleanse your cardiorespiratory system.Dr. KK Aggarwal, Padmashri and Dr. B C Roy National Awardee, is a con-sultant for Medicine and Cardiology at Moolchand Heart Hospital, New Delhi.

According to the latest draft of the Diagnostic and Sta-tistical Manual of Mental

Disorders (DSM) in the American Psychiatric Association (APA), binge eating is a mental disorder. Health professionals refer to this document to conclude whether an individual is suffering from a men-tal disorder or not. In the manual, binge eating shares place with grave medical conditions such as substance-related disorders, sleep disorders and anxiety disorders. But does this mean that if you chug cheese burgers, you are suf-fering from a clinical eating disor-der? Let's find out...

Binge eating depicts a lack of control over one’s eating habits, a feeling where one has no con-trol over how much or how many times one is eating.

The top characteristics which distinguish binge eating from nor-mal eating are:

•Eating food much more quickly than normal.

•Eating food until feeling awk-wardly full.

•Consuming large amounts of food when not feeling hungry.

•Consuming food in a separate room, or in isolation so as not to feel embarrassed by the quantity or style

of eating.•A binge eater tends to feel very

appalled with oneself. A deep feeling of depression or guilt lingers on after

the completion of an eating spree. Here are a few tried and tested

ways to avoid binge eating: •Distract yourself from the

food and indulge in an activity you love. Rush for a warm water bath when you think food is overpow-ering you. Go for a nice chocolate pedicure session or may be light some nice scented candles in your room and play some light music rather than eating.

•In other times, you might

find this a tad bit boring, but sip small amounts of water whenever you feel you are in the mood to in-dulge.

•Always choose healthy food and drink. Ensure that something healthy is always available to you, like a glass of milk, whole grain pasta, reduced fat cheddar cheese, eggs, lean meats, fruits and veg-etables. These good foods will en-courage fullness by keeping you energized all throughout the day.

•Trick your mind into eat-ing something that is healthy in the middle of your binge. For ex-ample, if you start by munching on a handful of cookies, gather the strength to add a pear and nut but-ter in between your cookie eating act. This will switch things in your mind for a bit and will ultimately keep binge eating at bay.

•In the end, have a backup plan. Binge eating is normal. We all do it sometimes. Once a binge

begins, it is difficult to control it, so stay away from triggers and avoid that in-between compulsive bite.

If your top four weaknesses in food are pizza, ice cream, deep fried snacks and chocolates, here's how to deal with them in a healthy way:

•Pizza: Go for healthy topping pizza such as healthy eggplant piz-za recipe and healthy mushroom and gouda pizza recipe.

•Ice cream: Who doesn’t love ice cream? Made from dairy prod-ucts, artificial preservatives and white sugar, they only wreck your weight loss plans. Go for healthy probiotic varieties which are made using skimmed milk and light sug-ar substitutes.

•Deep fried snacks: Replace deep friend evening or mid-morn-ing deep fried snack temptations by eating roasted vegetables, roasted moong dal, roasted or boiled tangy channa, plain murmura.

•Chocolates: Often considered healthy, too much of this deadly sin is sure to show on the luxury of your waistline. Go for dark variet-ies of chocolate if you want to eat one as it helps in lowering blood pressure by improving your con-centration levels. Replace sweet temptations with healthy yogurt recipes, which are not only healthy but will satisfy your sweet tooth too.

If you think you are too young to be afflicted by cancer of the colon and rectum, here's some expert advice - Colon cancer can strike anyone. A check-up to detect colorectal cancer can diagnose early symptom-less cancers - or even pre-cancers when they are in highly curable stages.

Here's a list of risk fac-torsEnvironment : The inci-dence of the disease is much greater in industrialized countries.

Family History : The risk of developing colorectal cancer is greater if there is a history of cancer incidence in close relatives (parents, children or siblings)

Age : Beginning at age 50.Preventive measures

Early-detection test : Don't delay getting the screening test.

Estrogen Replacement

Therapy (ERT): Women who take ERT to alleviate symptoms of menopause may have a significantly low-er risk of fatal colon cancer. Take your physician's advice before getting it done.

Aspirin : People taking an aspirin every other day for 20 years may cut the risk of colon cancer almost in half, according to a study published in The New Eng-land Journal of Medicine. However, consult a doctor before taking any medica-tion.

Exercise and Weight Control : The risk of devel-oping colon cancer may be lower inwomen who enjoy regular physical activity and avoid obesity.Eating Hab-its : Research suggests that eating low-fat, high-fiber foods would help lower the chances of developing colon cancer.

Get rid of those love handles

Love handles are nothing but a roll or a layer of fat that gets stored on the sides of the waistline. This spilling tyre of body fat can be embarrassing and tricky to get rid off, and is a very common problem area for many people's physique.

Love handles also pose sev-eral health risks. People who have love handles are overweight and have excess of abdominal fat. This unhealthy combi-nation of being overweight and excess abdominal fat make one prone to a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. Also, blood pressure, hypertension and heart-related diseases. Here are some ways how you can get of them:

Stand with your feet apart at about shoulder width. Twist and move your waist and upper body to face your left, keeping your legs intact. While twisting to the left, swing your arms to right. Next twist to your right and swing your arms to the left. Do 20 repetitions and gradually increase the number of sets.

Stand straight with your legs apart at about shoulder width and the knees slightly bent. Lower your upper body sideways towards your left then slowly rise up and then do the same towards your right side. Do 20 repetitions and gradually increase the number of sets.