Friday, March 27, 2009

BALDING CAN BE REVERSED

Balding at whatever age is not without trauma. You may agree to live with it but it can’t stop bothering you. It is that visible handicap that is constantly nagging by the way people look at you, the way they judge you or the way they perceive your personality, ability and acceptability. Contrary to belief, men and women are equally susceptible to social negativity attached to baldness. Women actually are known to go into irreversible depression and tend to withdraw themselves from social mainstrain exposure. Men who are more prone to what has come to be known as malepattern baldness, lose self esteem and confidence and could become ‘losers’ in all aspects of life. The metrosexual male as we know the modern male urbanite is however no longer looking at baldness as ‘fait accompli’ and is willing to alter his hair status if he can. Same is true about his female counterpart who wants to look beyond covering her head with a dupatta. Fortunately for the present times, the solutions of the last century no longer finds favour with the new generation of hair loss victims, because those solutions never worked. Today, there is hope, for, the world is rediscovering the magic of Ayurveda all over again. Dr Raksha and her research team have been doing a lot of work in the field of hair Regrowth Syndrome and have based all their researches on cure for baldness on the time-honoured wisdom contained in Ayurveda. Her treatment centre, Amazing Herbal Remedies (AHR) has treated many men, women and children for baldness, alopecia and patchy baldness besides premature graying and scalp infections. The Ayurvedic methods used for curing baldness and other hair related maladies have been effective in all age groups. Dr Raksha’s treatment is totally herbal and safe. She has not come across any side effects so far. Her formulations are closely guarded family-secrets while the research findings are often shared with Ayurveda professionals. The most wonderful thing about AHR however is that they have been able to apply Ayurveda in combination with lifestyle correction methods in the modern perspective. The fusion of modern technologies in processing Ayurvedic formulations has made immense difference in quality of their products.
Dr.Raksha and her team can be contacted in person for consultations and check-up at: D-13, G.F., South Ext. I. New Delhi 110047. Appointments can be sought at 011-24648617/18; 41646192.
She also offers online consultations at www.amazingherbalremedies.com / www.herbalhaircure.net - TNN/TOI

Sunday, March 22, 2009

How to get your teen to lose weight

Tell your teenaged child to go slow on junk food and aerated drinks. Kids wouldn’t like to give them up altogether, but that’s okay – only these things shouldn’t be part of their regular everyday diet. Your teen must also cut down on tea and coffee intake. Drive home the benefits of stuff like green tea. Gently prod them onto this path and it will work if done subtly. Tell your child how good he or she will look minus all those extra kilos. Change your own eating and exercising patterns. In fact, if you’ve been neglecting yourself lately, this will be a motivating factor for you too. One way of losing weight safely is to have the last meal of the day before 7.30 pm. If your kid feels hungry later in the night, he/she can snack on a fruit or a glass of low fat milk. Vary the exercise routines so that they do not get boring. Incorporate a regimen of walking every day for at least half an hour. As the stamina increases, you could combine brisk walking with jogging for a longer period of time. Get your kid to also join a gym. Meeting other youngsters will also certainly help him or her to feel inspired enough to continue. TOI
EAT FAT STAY THIN

You needn’t cut down on your favourite foods as long as you eat them the right way. Here’s how to have what you want and stay slim .

• SUGAR Go for foods such as fruit yoghurt, sweetened breakfast cereal or even jam, which will satisfy a sweet tooth but aren’t packed with fat and calories. For women on a diet, up to 35 grams of added sugar per day should be fine.
• ALCOHOL A couple of small glasses a day won’t usually cause weightgain as long as that’s your limit and you ideally drink it as an accompaniment to a healthy meal. Alcohol doesn’t get stored directly as fat in the body but if you take more than your safe calorie intake, you’ll ultimately put on weight.
• PEANUTS If you’re strict about having just a handful, nuts can easily be incorporated in your ‘get-slim’ diet. In fact, nuts make a good snack for people trying to shed weight and can help weight control because they are so filling.
• BREAD It can actually be valuable for weight-watchers as it is filling while being relatively low on calories. Your best choice is a grainy type, as it’s digested more slowly and produces a smoother blood sugar and insulin response.
• CHOCOLATE A 30 gram daily serving provides about 150 calories and nine grams of fat and is an acceptable daily treat.
• CHEESE Go for a strong cheese so you get maximum taste. You’ll only need a matchbox-sized serving that provides less than 150 calories. TNN

HOW TO PREVENT EYE STRAIN

Hours of consistent hard study is the only recipe for achieving good grades in an exam. However, sitting at a desk or computer screen for hours on end can be stressful. The reason for eyestrain is that our eyes are designed to constantly shift their focus between objects that are near and objects that are far away. Eyestrain results when the eyes focus on a single close-up object for extended periods of time. Let us consider some practical steps to prevent eyestrain:
STEP 1: It is a fallacy that sitting in front of a wall improves concentration. The eyes must be able to relax for distant and near objects. Sit facing a corridor or even next to a window where you can relax your eyes by looking far. In case your room does not permit it, place a mirror above you.
STEP 2: Take a five-minute break after every 40 minutes of study as a regular routine of study. Get up and walk around the room for a while. The eyes get tired from being anchored in a fixed position for any prolonged period of time.
STEP 3: Schedule study sessions starting early morning rather than late night. The common concept is, ‘At night, I concentrate better’. For an exam, it’s not how much you read, but what you can remember and most important of all ‘reproduce’ on call. Studying in the daytime is better as you’ll study faster, with a far better reproducible memory than the same amount at night when fatigue causes loss of ability to concentrate.
STEP 4: Adjust the lighting. Though you want the area in your study to be well-lit, make sure it has enough ambient lighting. Studying in a dark room leads to eye-strain as the contrast between the lit and unlit areas is too much. Light coming from a lamp at your side and back is easier on the eyes.
STEP 5: When we concentrate hard, the blink rate of the eye drops significantly. This leads to dryness, blurring, and diffused vision. Blink frequently whenever you study for long periods at a time. Blinking helps to keep the eyes moist. Dry eyes lead to tired eyes. Using tear lubricants is a good idea.
STEP 6: If you need to work on the computer monitor, position your computer monitor or laptop so that you are not looking at the screen straight on. Your eyes are designed to work in a position of ‘depressed convergence’. The top of the screen should not be higher than your eyes. You should be viewing the screen at a slight downward angle.
STEP 7: The brightness of the screen should be the same intensity as the lighting in the room. Increase the font size for easier reading. If you experience a ‘flickering’ sensation from your computer screen, try lowering the screen’s brightness control or increase the ‘refresh’ rate. STEP 8: Cut down on large meals. It simply slows you down and loses concentration. Small meals, preferably non-oily, at regular short intervals is far better. Cut down on excess tea and coffee. It only gives temporary boost. Take your multi-vitamins regularly (shortage of Vit B1 leads to eyes tiring earlier and even slows the memory). If you end the day feeling tired, try incorporating some of these tactics into your schedule. You may be surprised what a difference such minor adjustments can make.
– DR KEIKI R MEHTA, ophthalmologist , TOI