Indians walk less than 30 min a day
walk for a minimum of 30 minutes a day at a brisk pace. The online survey was conducted by international Internet-based market research firm YouGov on behalf of the World Heart Federation. As many as 1,021 adults (above 18 years of age) in India were surveyed. The study shows that 46 per cent of the respondents walked less than half-an-hour at a brisk pace on a given day. “Earlier studies have shown that walking is associated with reduced cardiovascular risk in the Indian population. Everyone should walk at least a total of 30 minutes at a brisk pace to lead a healthy and stress free life,” Monika Arora, director, Health Promotion, Public Health Foundation of India, said in a statement.
tight belt and throat cancer risk
Experts believe wearing a belt can force acid into the oesophagus, damaging the cells and increasing the risk of throat cancer. They found people who are overweight and wear belts are more at risk. The researchers, from Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities and The Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, tested 24 people with no history of acid reflux. They asked them to swallow a probe, which took measurements before and after each person had eaten a meal. Half of the participants were normal waist sizes and the other overweight and readings were taken when they had a belt on and off. They found that even in healthy people, wearing a tight belt caused a partial hiatus hernia, which makes acid reflux more likely. A hiatus hernia happens when part of the stomach squeezes into the chest through an opening in the diaphragm.
Depression doesn’t lead to cancer
Researchers investigating whether depression is linked to developing a cancer found that there is no significant association between the two. The results of the study by Cedric lemogne, a member of the team headed by Marie Zins, did not indicate any significant association between a person experiencing the symptoms of depression during their lifetime and their subsequently contracting cancer. Zins, who monitored 14,203 people between 1994 and 2009, including 1,119 who developed cancer as diagnosed by a doctor. The researchers explored the links by conducting the most robust epidemiological study. From this point of view, it was important to have data available, from quite a large cohort that was validated for both the advent of cancer and with respect to depression-causing events.