Hookah or cigarette, what’s more harmful?

The debate on whether smoking a cigarette or Hookah is more harmful has been an endless one. However, researchers may have finally found an answer to the same.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have found that smoking Hookah for 30 minutes resulted in the development of cardiovascular risk factors similar to that of cigarette smoking, thereby implying that smoking Hookah is more hazardous to one’s health.

They measured measuring heart rate, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, blood nicotine and exhaled carbon monoxide levels in 48 healthy, young Hookah smokers before and after 30 minutes of smoking.

It was found that a single session of Hookah smoking increased heart rate by 16 beats per minute and blood pressure; and significantly increased measures of arterial stiffness, a key risk factor in the development of cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack or stroke.

The increase in arterial stiffness was comparable to data seen from cigarette smokers after smoking a cigarette.

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Urban, wealthy, educated Indians at higher risk of heart disease: Study

In the 30 to 74-year age group, the overall 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease in women was 12.7% compared to 21.4% in men

Heart disease is the highest killer among Indians but the risk of heart disease varies across states, with wealthier and more urbanised states having higher risk, according to a new study.

The 10-year risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) occurrence ranges from 13.2% in Jharkhand to 19.5% in Kerala, according to a study by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), an advocacy, and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, published in PLOS Medicine, a medical journal, in June 2018.

The risk was higher in northern, north-eastern and southern states. It was also higher for those living in urban areas and belonging to wealthier and more educated families.

Heart disease killed 1.7 million Indians in 2016, IndiaSpend reported in September, 2017. In 2016, the share of non-communicable diseases had increased to 61.8%–causing six in ten deaths in India–an increase of 23.9 percentage points from 1990, we reported in November 2017.

The PHFI study pooled data of 797,540 people aged 30-74 years from two large household surveys in India, the District Level Household Survey–4 (DLHS-4) and the second update of the Annual Health Survey (AHS) conducted between 2012 and 2014..

News Source :- BS

Common sleep disorders and how you can cure them

Sleep deprivation can lead to not only various medical problems but it can also severely diminishes the quality of life of an individual.

 

health news :A good night’s sleep is essential for good health and wellbeing of a person. Sleep deprivation can lead to not only various medical problems but it can also severely diminishes the quality of life of an individual. Common sleep disorders are the primary reason for sleep deprivation in a good number of people. There are many disorders that can be classified as sleep disorders. Some are common others are rarer, some are acute others are severe; some are chronic whereas others are temporary. Various sleep disorders can result in difficultly in sleeping, disturbed sleep, frequent and irregular sleep-wake patterns, bad quality of sleep and much more. Adults require 8 hours of solid sleep each night; short-term sleep deprivation can lead to issues such as mood swings, tiredness, drowsiness, reduced alertness and more. But in the long-term it can lead to serious issues such as weakened immune system, reduced life span, diabetes, hypertension, weight gain, impaired brain functions and accelerated aging. Sleep disorders can affect anybody irrespective of age, gender, social background and more. There are many reasons that can cause various sleep disorders; the foremost of them being stress, other factors that affect sleep negatively are excessive caffeine intake, hectic schedules and lifestyle including late working hours, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, physiological disorders and more.

Most Common Sleep Disorders

There are a total of 81 sleep disorders identified by experts. Some common sleep disorders are insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, sleep walking, sleep terrors, snoring, narcolepsy, nightmares, bedwetting, teeth grinding and more. Below are some details on some common sleep disorders.

Insomnia: Insomnia is the most common sleep disorders found in the general population today. Individual affected by the said condition have difficulty falling and then staying asleep. Insomnia can be an illness in itself or it can be a symptom of some other sleep disorder. Insomnia is roughly divided in to temporary insomnia and chronic insomnia. Temporary insomnia can last for few days, weeks of months whereas chronic insomnia is a more permanent condition.....READ MORE