Therapist Unlimited Blog

A popular saying state that the eyes is the windows to the soul.
But recent medical research has shown that eyes is more than just a window for the soul since it can also offer important clues  to your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Researchers of the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) are currently doing an extensive study to prove that blood vessels in the retina at the back of the eye reflect changes in blood vessels in other parts of the body, especially the brain, kidneys and heart.
The team of medical experts believed that that blood vessels in the retina can be photographed and the images analysed by a computer to accurately determine a person’s risk of heart attack or stroke cardiovascular diseases that change the appearance of blood vessels in the eye.
Lead CERA researcher, Professor Tien Wong, explained through their study they wish to show that that combining this non-invasive retinal scan with the results from current risk assessment methods will improve precision and reliability in predicting cardiovascular disease.
Wong and his team has taken thousands of eye images and created a program that recognises common features of conditions that cause damage to be seen on the retina.

Your eyes is not only the window of the soul but also an indicator if a man suffers from a form of heart disease.

Once a person has symptoms of cardiovascular disease, damage has already been done to the body. So finding and treating high risk people early, even before they have symptoms, could minimise blood vessel damage and potentially avoid heart attack or stroke.
At present, doctors estimate a person’s statistical chance of developing cardiovascular disease by looking at individual factors such as whether they smoke, their family history, weight, blood cholesterol and blood pressure. Once you get symptoms, more extensive and sometimes invasive tests, such as angiogram are needed to confirm the result and assess severity of damage to the arteries of the heart or elsewhere.
Professor Wong said, "Results from the retinal scan would be delivered to GPs for a better picture of their patient’s health.
Dr. Christine Bennett, chair of the MBF Foundation Steering Committee and Bupa Chief Medical Officer*, went on to say, "This early assessment of the likelihood that a person will develop diseases like heart disease, stroke or even type 2 diabetes has the potential to significantly improve quality of life, reduce hospitalisations and the 50,000 deaths each year caused by cardiovascular disease."
Once a person knows their risk they may be able to delay the onset of developing cardiovascular disease by modifying their lifestyle accordingly.
"We know that smoking, too much alcohol, inactivity and poor nutrition are bad for our health but seeing the evidence not with, but in, your own eyes could be the wake-up call that triggers change," Bennett said.
 

Recent medical studies has shown that being circumcise will not protect gay men from Human Immuno Virus (HIV) if ever they engage in sex with another men.
Based on the research conducted by CDC researchers involving 4,900 men who had sex with HIV-positive men, it was discovered that the infection rate, about 3.5 percent, was approximately the same whether
the men were circumcised or not.
Peter Kilmarx, chief of the epidemiology branch in the CDC’s HIV division, explained that circumcision is not considered beneficial in preventing the spread of HIV among men who have sex with men.
Kimarx concluded CDC is still considering recommending it for other groups, including baby boys and high-risk heterosexual men.

Gay men who engage in sex with another men better be careful since circumcision is no protection against HIV.

Aside from CDC, the Boston Globe editorial also discussed circumcision and HIV.
According to the editorial, there is no evidence that circumcision protects against male-to-male transmission of the virus, or from men to women.
Still, a technique that reduces the prevalence of the disease will ultimately benefit all groups.
Furthermore, the popular US newspaper revealed while a majority of U.S. parents already circumcise their babies, rates are lower among two groups that suffer disproportionately from HIV/AIDS: African-Americans
and Hispanics.
The  Globe concluded, no one should be forced to circumcise a son.
 

Medical researchers has recently discovered that men diagnosed with infertility suffer intense negative sexual, personal and social strains that might be considered typical for other medical illnesses, including cancer.
Based on the study, the researchers found out that from being a "silent disease" in men the findings makes clear, for the first time, that male infertility is a ‘disease’ like any other, silent or not, and can have a serious effect on the overall well-being of the individual, the couple, and the family.
The researchers revealed the study also shows that the diagnosis of infertility increases social strain in male partners of infertile couples.
The team who conducted the study explained male partners in couples with perceived, isolated male factor infertility have a lower sexual and personal quality of life compared to male partners of couples without perceived male factor infertility.

The family of those men suffering from infertility should provide 100 percent love to their loves ones since these people are suffering big due to their medical condition.

According to the latest statistics, about one in eight couples around 7.3 million Americans have trouble conceiving.
It is said that half of those cases have male infertility issues often easily treatable ones.
Furthermore, the statistics also shows that male infertility affects 10% to 15% of reproductive aged couples worldwide and is treatable in many cases.
The medical experts hoped the data gathered in the research should serve as driving force for the family of men facing infertility to understand and care more this person in connection with the ordeal he is facing.

Those men who are too focus on their physical appearance better be careful since they are at high risk of suffering from eating disorders.
In a recent study he conducted, Dr. John Morgan, a consultant psychiatrist and director of the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders in Leeds revealed a growing numbers of young men are increasingly dissatisfied with their bodies.
Morgan said because of their dislike to their body, a number of young boys engage in unhealthy eating habits, just to be thin and sexy.
However, it is a sad note that due to these unhealthy eating habits these young men eventually suffer from eating disorders.
He added some men who showed signs of eating disorders even refused to undergo treatment since they are afraid to be stigmatized as the only man in the clinic.

Those men who are too conscious on their body better be careful since they are prone to eating disorders.

Moreover, Morgan explained the definition of sexy body as beautiful by the society drove many men to engage in unhealthy eating habits, which would later result in a disaster among them.
Morgan said this medical finding should serve as eye opener to men around the world that a healthy well-being is far more important than their physical image.

The strong chances that they will have beer bellies and man boobs lead many men across the globe to stop their drinking addiction.
In the recent study conducted by Know Your Limits campaign it was discovered that more than one in three men (37%) have claimed that they would reduce their drinking to reduce the number of calories they consume.
Based on the survey conducted on 1,000 male drinkers over 18 in England it was also discovered that one in six men (17%) are worried their drinking will lead to man boobs.
The same survey also showed that one in four men or (27%) are worried about getting a beer belly.
The survey also revealed that more than one in eight men or (13%) think their boozing is affecting their appearance.

Those men who do want to have beer bellies and man boobs better stop your drinking habit now.

Furthermore, it was also discovered that nearly one in ten men or (9%) worry that excessive drinking is affecting their sexual performance.
The medical experts advised that in order to avoid chances of getting fat because of drinking just limit your drink to only three to four glasses everyday.
On the other hand, health officials in England hoped the survey would encourage regular drinkers to kick the habit for good only because of its possible effects on their physical appearance but more importantly on its impact on their health.
The health officials said if the urge in drinking could not be stopped, it would help if drinkers do it in a minimal level.

Women around the world should strive hard to achieve ample time of sleep ideally eight hours a day to avoid chances of suffering from heart related medical problems.
According to the research conducted by the University of Warwick and University College London it was discovered that women who get less than the recommended eight hours sleep a night are at higher risk of heart disease and heart-related problems than men with the same sleeping patterns.
The researchers have found out that levels of inflammatory markers vary significantly with sleep duration in women, but not men.
The researchers revealed they found Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a marker related to coronary heart disease, were significantly lower in women who reported sleeping eight hours as compared with seven hours.
Lead author of the study, Associate Professor of Biochemical Medicine at Warwick Medical School Michelle Miller said short-term sleep deprivation studies have shown that inflammatory markers are elevated in sleep-deprived individuals, suggesting that inflammatory mechanisms may play a role in the cardiovascular risk associated with sleep deprivation.
The lead researcher said their study could provide some insight into a potential mechanism for the observation in previous studies, which indicates an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease in individuals who have less than five hours sleep per night, and increased risk of non-cardiovascular death in long sleepers.

Women need to have adequate sleep to avoid suffering from heart related diseases.

She said this is the first large-scale study to describe the associations between measures of inflammation and sleep duration in both men and women.
To get the data, Miller said they carefully evaluated 4,600 white participants from the University College London-based Whitehall II cohort study; 73% were men.
She said participants between the ages of 35 and 55 years were recruited between 1985 and 1988 from 20 London-based civil service departments.
Data for this study is from the phase 3 follow-up (1991-1993). Sleep duration was determined by subjective questionnaires, and general health was assessed during a screening examination.
Furthermore, Miller said the findings add to the growing body of evidence, which suggests that there is a non-linear relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and duration of sleep. She said her team fully support the idea that short sleep is associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk and that the association between sleep duration and cardiovascular risk factors is markedly different in men and women.

 

Men around the world should take many antioxidants since low doses of such kind of chemical compound could affect the quality of their semen.
According to the report posted on the online journal Fertility and Sterility it was discovered that low antioxidant intake is associated with low reproductive capacity in semen.
The researchers lead by Jaime Mendiola said their study has shown that men who eat large amounts of meat and full fat dairy products have lower seminal quality than those who eat more fruit, vegetables and reduced fat dairy products.
Mendiola revealed those men who ate many fruits and vegetables are ingesting more antioxidants, which is why their sperm quality is good.
Mendiola said he and his team have allocated four years of their time examining the link between dietary habits or workplace exposure to contaminants and the quality of semen among men attending fertility clinics.

The male population around the world should eat more fruits and vegetables to ensure they have sufficient antioxidants in their body to keep their semen quality healthy.

He explained their objective was to find out whether a higher or lower intake of vitamins, which act as antioxidants, could affect semen quality.
Moreover, the lead researcher said molecules, which are present in foods such as citrus fruits, peppers and spinach, work by lowering the level of oxidative stress that can affect semen quality, and improve sperm concentration parameters as well as sperm mobility and morphology.
The lead researcher said the study was carried out among 61 men, 30 of whom had reproductive problems, while the remaining 31 acted as controls.
He said a healthy diet is not only a good way of avoiding illness, but could also have an impact on improving seminal quality.

The women population in this planet need to be extra careful since according to a recent medical study there are more prone to migraines than men.
Migraines are the constricting of blood vessels in the brain that cause intense, recurring vascular headaches.
Medical reports state that migraine headaches affect millions of Americans each year they are the most common type of headache that sends patients running to their doctor’s office.
According to research, like other forms of headaches, women suffer from migraines more frequently than men do.
It is said that approximately three out of four migraine sufferers are women.
Researchers have often cited hormones as a possible explanation.
Based on the data gathered by
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than half of migraines in women transpire right before, during or after a woman has her menstrual period.
In addition, although some women experience migraines throughout their cycle, menstrual-related migraines may explain one trigger of the condition.
The researchers noted right before a woman’s cycle begins, the levels of estrogen and progesterone drop sharply.
This decrease in hormone levels may initiate migraine headaches because estrogen has been shown to control brain chemicals that affect pain sensation in women.
The medical experts revealed although hormones are unlikely to explain the entire picture, a recent study revealed that women with a history of migraines might be less likely to develop breast cancer than other women.
Because breast cancer has been linked to higher lifetime exposure to estrogen, the fact that migraines are more common when there is a drop in estrogen may support the hormone theory.

Latest medical data has shown that more women are suffering from migraines than men are.

The symptoms, duration and frequency of migraines can vary greatly from person to person. They may be debilitating for some people. Often times, migraines can come along with sensory warning signs such as seeing flashes of light, blind spots or feeling nauseous (with or without vomiting). Other symptoms include:
– Intense, throbbing pain on one, or sometimes, both sides of the head.
– Feeling "pins and needles" in a limb.
– Sensitivity to light or loud sounds.
– Pain that worsens with physical activity and/or interferes with daily functioning.
In some people, the pain lasts for a short period of time; other patients describe lingering symptoms that can last up to three days. In addition, some people get migraines on a regular basis, yet others may experience them much less frequently.
Currently, there is no cure for migraine headaches, but the symptoms can be managed effectively with pharmaceuticals and lifestyle changes made under medical supervision
In addition to pharmaceutical treatments, migraine sufferers should not discount the value of lifestyle changes. Many experts recommend keeping a diary to record potential triggers, so patients can attempt to avoid them.
Behavioral changes that have been proven effective include limiting caffeine and alcohol, engaging in regular physical activity and coping with stress.
 

Old men who have breathing problems in sleep more likely to suffer from irregular heartbeats.
This was the findings of a latest research conducted by medical experts who discovered that increasingly severe sleep-related breathing disorders in older men appear to be associated with a greater risk of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias).
It is said that sleep-disordered breathing is a common condition that causes a number of physiologic events that could be stressful to the cardiovascular system, including inadequate blood oxygen levels at night and activation of the sympathetic nervous system (associated with the body’s fight-or-flight response).
Reena Mehra, M.D., M.S., of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, and colleagues studied 2,911 men who underwent sleep testing by polysomnography between 2003 and 2005.
The number of times they experienced apnea (brief pauses in breathing) or hypopnea (shallow breathing) during sleep was recorded, as were any periods of time in which the oxygen level of blood in their arteries dipped below 90 percent (hypoxia).
The researchers said having more episodes of paused or shallow breathing was associated with increased odds of two types of arrhythmias-one involving the heart’s upper chambers (atria) and one involving the heart’s lower chambers (ventricles).
The team revealed obstructive sleep apnea-the most common type, involving a partial or complete blockage of the airways-was associated with irregular heartbeats caused by a problem with the lower chambers or ventricles.

Old men who have breathing problems in sleep need to go to the doctor fast to determine if they are also suffering from irregular heartbeats.

The researchers also discovered that lower blood oxygen levels also appeared to be associated with this type of arrhythmia.
However, central sleep apnea, involving a malfunction in brain signals controlling breathing muscles, was more strongly associated with arrhythmias in the atria or upper chambers.
Furthermore, the researchers explained more severe cases of sleep-disordered breathing were associated with higher odds of arrhythmia.
The researchers added there also seems to be a threshold effect such that moderate-to-severe sleep-disordered breathing confers the greatest increased odds of clinically significant arrhythmias independent of self-reported heart failure and cardiovascular disease.
The team concluded that the line of investigation also identified hypoxia as the possible culprit pathophysiologic characteristic of sleep-disordered breathing that may serve as the trigger of ventricular cardiac arrhythmia development in older men.
With this, they said the strong associations between central sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation [arrhythmia originating in the heart's upper chambers] suggest that central sleep apnea may be a sensitive marker of underlying abnormalities in autonomic or cardiac dysfunction associated with atrial fibrillation.
 

Recent studies have shown that there is no truth to claim to some men that when they get drunk they could not anymore guess the exact age of a woman.
Based on a data gathered in the research it was discovered that that drinking alcohol and use of make-up had a minimal effect on the men’s perception of the ages of the photographed women.
Dr. Vincent Egan who wanted to determine if there is truth to the defence of those men accused of having unlawful sex with a minor that they were not aware that the girl was underage did the study.
To ensure truthfulness, Egan also look into other factors that may influence his perception would also be taken into account, such as how much alcohol he had drunk or how much make-up the girl was wearing.
To get the data, he wanted Egan asked 240 people to look at photos of women and then comment on their age and attractiveness.
All the participants were heterosexual, aged between 18 and 70 with an equal split between men and women. Half of the participants had consumed alcohol before the task.

According to a latest study, most drunk men could still recognize the age of women despite their drunkenness.

The participants looked at photographs of ten young women (aged 17). Some of the photographs were digitally altered to give the faces a younger or older appearance and in both some make-up was applied digitally.
After looking into the photographs, Egan said he found out majority of them could still recognize the age of the women in the photographs.
Egan explained the study suggests that alcohol consumption and make-up use do not interfere with how old we perceive someone to be.
He said another interesting finding was that overall participants who drank alcohol actually rated all the women in the photos as less attractive (compared to the participants who had not drunk alcohol).
He said this seemingly flies in the face of the commonly held notion of ‘beer goggles’.