Hard work really can kill, as longer hours increase risk of stroke

By Telegraph

It is thought that the stress of long hours can trigger biological changes in the body which lead to deadly disease

It is said that hard work never killed anyone, but a new study suggests that staying late at the office could have a deadly impact on health.

Working just one extra hour a day increases the chance of suffering a stroke over the next eight and a half years by 10 per cent while people who toil away for 55 hours raise their risk by a third.

Those who spend longer at work were also more likely to develop heart disease. Worryingly it is heart surgeons who work some of the longest hours in Britain, with the average consultant spending 61.5 hours at their post each week, the longest of any medical professional. Sudden death following long working hours is often caused by stroke, due to long and repeated periods of stress Dr Mike Knapton, British Heart Foundation.

It is thought that the stress of long hours can trigger biological changes in the body which, over time, can lead to deadly disease.

“Health professionals should be aware that working long hours is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke, and perhaps also coronary heart disease,” said Mika Kivimäki, Professor of 

Epidemiology at University College London.

Researchers looked at 25 studies involving more than 600,000 people across Europe, the US and Australia who had been followed for an average of 8.5 years. 

The higher risk remained even when taking into account factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and lack of physical activity which are often associated with stressful jobs and longer hours.

Crucially the study showed that the longer people worked the higher their chance of having a stroke became. Compared with people who worked standard hours, those working between 41 and 48 hours had a 10 per cent higher risk of stroke, and those working 49 to 54 hours had a 27 per cent increased risk. Working 55 hours or more per week was linked to a 33 per cent greater risk of stroke.

Although the researchers could only say that long hours were ‘linked’ to strokes, health experts said it was ‘plausible’ that the stress of working too hard was to blame and urged doctors to take extra care to check for signs of heart problems in those with the most demanding jobs. 

Dr Mike Knapton, Associate Medical Director, British Heart Foundation, said: “This research shows an association between long working hours and an increased risk of having a stroke and heart disease.

“It is plausible that there could be a causal relationship behind the link as sudden death following long working hours is often caused by stroke, due to long and repeated periods of stress, although that was not demonstrated in this study.

"This study highlights to doctors that they need to pay particular attention to cardiovascular risk factors when they advise people who work long hours."

The average Briton works 36.7 hours per week, six hours more than people in the Netherlands. The Greeks put in the longest working week in Europe, averaging around 42 hours.

Previous studies have shown that working long hours can lengthen the time it takes for a woman to get pregnant. The University of California also found that workers who clocked more than 51 hours a week were 29 per cent more likely to have high blood pressure than those who worked 39 hours or fewer.

Dr Tim Chico, Reader in Cardiovascular Medicine / consultant cardiologist, University of Sheffield, added: “For many people, reducing their working hours would be difficult or impossible, and this study does not show that it would reduce the risk of stroke. 

“Most of us could reduce the amount of time we spend sitting down, increase our physical activity and improve our diet while working and this might be more important the more time we spend at work.

“We should all consider how the working environment could be altered to promote healthy behaviour that will reduce strokes, irrespective of how long we work.”

Writing in a linked Comment, Dr Urban Janlert from Umeå University in Sweden said the study showed it was more important than ever for companies to stick to the EU Working Time Directive which limits the working week to 48 hours.

The research was published in medical journal The Lancet.

Female 'Viagra' will take years to reach India

By TOI,

Research on long-term effects of the drug Addyi and social unacceptance will delay the entry of the drug into Indian markets.

While women in the United States rejoice the approval of Addyi, the female 'Viagra', there's no reason for women back home to cheer as the drug may take at least three to four years to be introduced in the Indian market as trials are still on to ascertain its long-term effects, say doctors.

To add to their woes, the existing social unacceptance will further delay the use of the drug, which increases libido in females as has been claimed, say doctors.

"It will take three to four years for the female viagra to come to India as the clearance by the Drugs Controller General of India is a must," JB Sharma, a professor of gynaecology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, tells IANS.

"Also there exists a lot of social unacceptance in the Indian society, which needs to be overcome before making the medicine a success," Sharma says.

He says approximate 20-30% of the Indian female population suffer from problems related to lack of sexual desires.

Addyi is the first drug developed to address low libido conditions in women and to be approved by the US-Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

Under a US FDA-imposed safety plan, doctors will only be able to prescribe Addyi after completing an online certification process that requires counselling patients about the medicine's risks. 

Pharmacists will also need certification and will be required to remind patients not to drink alcohol while taking the drug.

Nupur Gupta, a consultant gynaecologist at Gurgaon-based Paras Hospital, says that as the drug is new and still under trial, the introduction of the medicine in Indian market will take time.

"Sales in India will be slow initially. Although Indian mindset is changing as per world's advancements, we will take time as we still think that treatment is possible without medication," Gupta tells IANS.

Men are happy with the female 'Viagra' for gone are the days of the 'fake headaches' and recurring periods. Women are happy that there's an alternative to oyrsters and champagne. 

Rejoice women, the magic pill, the pill that makes your little man in the boat float, is now a thing of reality. The much-awaited female 'Viagra' is finally available for you to purchase in hushed (slightly sheepish) tones over seedy counters. (The crowd cheers and all the women raise ecstatic toasts to the FDA approval of the little pink pill that promises sexual bliss. Men heave a sigh of relief that all those 'fake headache' days are a thing of the past. Or are they?).

It is unfair that Viagra, the blue diamond-shaped magic pill crafted by Jupiter himself, has been giving out a helping hand for about three decades, but no counterpart for the fairer sex has been found. (Viagra never worked on us girls. Well, we've always been notoriously difficult to please. Am I right guys?)

Before you start making plans for the night and get your poor man's hopes up, know this: Addyi tablets, produced by the wise hakims at Sprout Pharmacy (and we hate to be the bearers of bad news here, by the way. It gives us no pleasure at all doing this) DO NOT work the same way as Viagra. Cue the silence.

But don't get us wrong. It's going to take a lot more than pedantic nomenclature from stopping us calling it female 'Viagra' (because Aphrodite knows we've waited too long).

It's always been different for men. Like everything else man-related, their libido is also not that complicated. Viagra helps them get an erection by increasing blood flow to the penis. It really is that simple. As long as real emotions aren't involved, guys are happy. Am I right again?

But flibanserin, the generic drug which is packaged as Addyi, works differently. It essentially increases sexual desire in women, which may sound like a win-win situation for both sexes.  So you've heard about that weird 'fact' that a text notification on your phone sends a rush of dopamine (the sexy hormone) to your brain? That's basically what this pill does.

So there's my man, perched on his elbow on the side of the bed, a thousand-dollar grin plastered across his smug face and then there's little old me, faking my third period of the month. You know he'll buy it. Stupid man. He's even bought some scented candles and tried his hand at what he thinks is 'foreplay'.

So logic dictates I pop the pill right? That's what you thought too, right? WRONG! Stupid woman. That Addyi, unlike Viagra, does not work instantly might come as a MILD disappointment if you thought that all it took to turn up the kink was popping one of those pills. Don't lose hope ladies, you stand to gain a staggering half an orgasm a month(read: 'sexually satisfying experience') and that's when you pop the pill daily for 30 days. The number might dramatically increase to one (that's one added orgasm for you) if you're one of God's chosen few. (Wow!)

To put it boringly, sexual desire is, after all, a mere game of hormones and a slight tweak of hormones can do no one any harm.

Yeah you might faint or feel drowsy once in a while. (Side-effects are worse if combined with alcohol or other medications. There goes the occasional glass of wine. Ah, but who cares if there's pure sexual bliss to be had. We'd sacrifice entire wine cellars for that).

Meanwhile, it would be perfectly understandable if you wanted to congratulate Even the Score, a women's group, for bringing justice to women. It was on this group's insistence that the FDA, an organisation they described as sexist, approved Addyi, because approving a drug is all about sexual discrimination. Medical research is secondary when it comes to gender equality.

And how can we not thank Sprout Pharmacy for creating the wonder drug, and funding Even the Score (happy coincidence?)

Here's your reality check. Sexual desire is an important factor in a relationship but not the core of it.
Desire is a strong emotional attraction and not a hormonal kick induced by a shady pink pill.

Let us not forget we live in a society where women are advised (often by great-great-grand-aunts) to keep their men sexually satisfied otherwise the innocent men could fall prey to other 'attractions'.

Meanwhile oysters (or goat testicles, for that matter) are good commonly acknowledged aphrodisiacs, or so we've been told.

Get your beauty fix from the benefits of seaweed

By Ismat Tahseen,  Want some TLC for your skin? Forget that exotic Moroccan rose soak or a mint chocolate wrap.

Of late, the new skin pampering comes in the way of seaweed. More people are waking up to the benefits of the stringy, green algae that may look gross, but has powerful ingredients that help to tone and repair the skin. Here's what's the lure is about...

Party quick-fix
Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton reportedly pampers herself with seaweed facials. Closer home, several people in Mumbai are going in for a 'seaweed wrap' before a night out, reveals skin expert, Dr Rashmi Shetty. "It's a no-harm quick-fix for the skin and people are trying this just before they have to get into their dress for a party or walk the red carpet. The wrap is applied to the body and as it's warming, it causes the person to sweat. During this process, the body eliminates excess toxins, urea creatinine and water. This temporarily reduces puffiness and redness (if any), as well as the appearance of cellulite. You feel lighter and drop half an inch all over. But to see extended benefits, one has to try this more often — once a week is quite safe to do so," she says.

Post-holiday skin recovery
Seaweed is also increasingly being touted as the solution to ease skin stress after a holiday. "During this time, various factors like harsh climate, humidity levels, water, an erratic lifestyle, even dehydration on flights — all play havoc on the skin. Seaweed helps to re-mineralise the skin and combat the damages due to these conditions. It has a kind of restorative ability," affirms spa expert Nisha Jhaveri. "People use it on the face, but I recommend it more on the body. What's popular is the seaweed body scrub or polish, which removes dead cells and helps even out the skin tone. You can also try the body envelopment, which has seaweed extract."

FIXING OUR BODY OF WORK

By Nasrin Modak Siddiqi, 

 

 Sore wrists, persistent backaches and pain around the shoulders and neck — these are all common effects of sitting in an office chair for too long. Offering solutions and insights, our experts weigh in.

A cursory glance around an office space invariably reveals rows of hunched colleagues. Their posture instantly seems pained. It doesn't come as a surprise that the most common hazard of a desk job is now the 'office bod', a recently coined term that collectively refers to a camel's hump, wide hips, a flat behind and a paunchy midsection. When the number of hours you spend at your desk are more than the hours you spend sleeping in bed at night, the repercussions are evident.

It's perhaps hard to think of your posture with impossible deadlines looming large. Moreover, stretching exercises can never be a viable alternative to social networking. The sad truth, though, is that such neglect is a sure ticket to future suffering. "Most of us spend hours chained to our desks. We forget to sit straight. Taking a short walk seems impractical. But over time, all that slumping and peering takes a toll. Unused muscles weaken, joints lose their lubrication and as a result, your back begins to ache," says Dr Abhay Nene, a senior spine surgeon at Wockhardt Hospital.

If you sit on a chair all day, your body gets so acclimatised that it makes you less adept at standing, walking and running. Physicians point out that our spine was meant for hunting, not sitting. "This is why we must understand the crucial role the spine plays in shock absorption and in holding one's body weight," says Dr Anjana Laungani. When the consultant physiotherapist and rehab specialist started her practice 20 years ago, most of her patients were above the age of 45. Today, most of them are under 30. That fact alone is a fitting representation of modern-day life.

Straightening up

People spend a fortune on ergonomically designed office furniture, but doctors find that they invariably don't know how to sit on it. Laungani, for instance, first does a workstation analysis and asks several key questions. Do you work on a laptop or a desktop? Do you use an inbuilt or an external mouse? How many hours do you spend in front of a screen? To understand a body's slouching pattern, she asks for candid pictures to be taken at different times of the day. A tailormade programme is then designed to correct postures with a mirror demonstration of how one must sit, stand or walk. Languani, though, thinks education is only a start. You need to train your brain to function in accordance with the prescribed postures. "That can be daunting."

Long commutes only add to the damage. Advocating precaution, Nene says, "Adjust the car seat in such a manner that you can reach the pedals without having to bend forward. Also, make sure that your seat allows you to look around without straining your neck. Both hands should be on the steering to avoid additional shoulder strain, Women are also advised to trade their one heavy bag with two lighter ones. To avoid straining one side, they are asked to switch the bag from one shoulder to the next.

One size doesn't fit all

Because a man's body is different to that of a woman's, they react differently to external pressures. "Women are more flexible, which leads to hypermobility. They sag in their posture whereas men's joints and muscles are stiffer. So, if I ask both to look up at the ceiling, a man would only look halfway up, whereas a woman would look too high and both would be in pain," explains Laungani.

Similarly, different frames are affected equally, but the extent of damage depends on the external surroundings like the length of a desk or the height of the chair. "People with heavier chests tend to hunch more than others. The smaller built ones want to look taller and the taller ones often slouch to accommodate themselves on a desk or in a cab. Both aren't good for the spine," says Languani.

Eat all the way back up

If the spinal arteries are clogged, they activate inflammatory chemicals in the back, which trigger nerves to send pain signals to the brain. Thankfully, you don't have to think too much about this because foods that are good for you heart, weight and blood sugar are also good for your back. All you need to do is eat well. "To reduce inflammation, include foods rich in Omega-6 fatty acids, like oily fish and flax seeds. Turmeric, has anti-inflammatory properties so add that to your food. Try and include as many different varieties of berries as you can in your diet," says Nene.

Yoga as precaution and cure

Yoga instructor Anshuka Parwani prescribes asanas that could help ease those niggling work-related aches and pains

» Balasana (child's pose) can put the mind at ease and it also opens up the back, hips and shoulders.

» To improve flexibility and make the hips more active, try the Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, a half pigeon pose. This also opens up the chest and shoulders.

» Long hours of commute makes the hip tighter. Try Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose). It will help open the hips and ease sciatica discomfort that can be made worse by sitting for long periods.

» Ananda Balasana (happy baby pose) opens the hips and groin and is also very calming.

» Marjaryasana and Bitilasana (cat and cow tilts) can be effective headache relievers. In addition to opening up the back and stretching the spine, they bring the neck back into position over the spine.

» For most office goers, sore wrists and hands from typing is a common complaint. That soreness even extends to the legs because of the long hours that are spent sitting in front of a computer. To counter this, try the Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward-facing dog posture). It helps lengthen and strengthen muscles in the body. It reduces tension in the shoulders, relaxes the neck and allows more blood to flow to the brain. It also helps stretch the legs, wrists and hands.

» If you are facing troubles with your spine and are suffering aches in you upper and lower back, Bhujangasana (cobra pose) can help. It lengthens the spine, opens up the chest and counters the hunch.

» For stress and anxiety due to work, try the Uttanasana (standing forward fold) as a forward bend provides a soothing feeling of release. The pose is therapeutic. A standing forward bend variation provides a deep shoulder stretch as well. If you have tight shoulders, hold a belt between your hands. This will lessen the intensity of your shoulder stretch.

CLIMAX IS THE BEST PART

By Ektaa Malik

Elusive at times, but always pleasurable, the orgasm is also advantageous for your health. These nine benefits highlight the importance of sexual satisfaction.

Remember that iconic scene from When Harry Met Sally? Meg Ryan holds an entire restaurant captive as she demonstrates an orgasm, albeit a fake one. It might be useful to have more such reminders in today's hectic day and age. Given our high levels of professional stress and a lifestyle that perpetuates too many tasks and affords very little time, orgasms have never been more essential. One might blush, nudge and wink in embarrassment, but the myriad benefits of The Big O are too far-reaching to be ignored.

1 On top of the world

Next time around, don't unwrap the chocolate or watch that soppy rom-com while binge eating a tub of ice cream. You should gift yourself an orgasm instead. The hormones and endorphins that are released after an orgasm helps uplift one's mood. The feeling is that of undeniable happiness, helping one feel entirely satiated and content.

2 Helps with that beauty sleep

People tend to sleep more soundly after they have an orgasm. The sleep is often dreamless. After all the muscles of the body are relaxed, the body falls asleep easily. "The sleep that one has after an orgasm is like that of a child. The feeling is that of sweet intoxication," informs sexologist Dr Rajan Bhonsle from the Heart to Heart Counselling Centre.

3 The new body cleanse

You have tried the water, the juice and the glutenfree cleanse. It's time now to try the orgasmic one. Orgasms are inherently cleansing in nature. "Physically, the whole body is active. The muscles are working. They contract and spasm. The result is much like a satisfying cleanse of the body," says Dr Mahindra Watsa, sexologist and author of It's Normal!

4 Letting all those creative juices flow

Orgasms tend to unleash creativity in many individuals. People have written poetry, painted their best work after a toe-curling orgasm. They feel more creatively inspired. "," shares Dr Prakash Kothari, who teaches sexual medicine at Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital.

5 Tackling pms and other aches and pains

Often, women experience lower back pain when burdened with a bout of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Mood swings are also very common. Orgasms help alleviate the pain. "It has been found that orgasms relieve the pain that women suffer during PMS. The pain is psychosomatic. For men, orgasms help relieve the tension that gets built up in the body," says Dr Bhonsle

6 In the mood for love

Orgasms often help in bringing couples closer and strengthening their bond. Having simultaneous orgasms makes them connect on a deeper level. They take care of one another's needs. "An orgasm makes a couple reconnect. One feels loved and also cared for. They are also sharing this pleasurable act together. They are giving top priority to one another," explains Dr Watsa.

7 Bust that stress

Had a tough day at work? Are you facing the brunt of financial troubles? Stuck in your car during peak hour traffic? The stress factors are endless. Orgasms are great stress busters. They wash your worries away. "Orgasms relax one's self. One also feels very refreshed. We feel better prepared to take on the challenges of the world," shares Dr Kothari.

8 Will burn those calories away

Orgasms can sometimes be the fruit of hard work. Your whole body has to labour for it. The side effect — a full body workout. "Orgasms provide a good cardiovascular workout. The heart is beating at 150 beats a minute. The heart is pumping more blood and giving more oxygen to all parts of the body than usual. Orgasms are great for the overall health of the body," informs Dr Bhonsle. Besides, an orgasm is far more pleasurable than an evening run.

9 Anger management

People who are generally aggressive and have anger management issues often feel much calmer after experiencing a good orgasm. Women, who are prone to being abrasive, sometimes turn more accepting. "I had a client who told me that his wife used to be very controlling and angry at all times. But for 1-2 days after an orgasm, she would be in a good mood. She would humble and very loving. Orgasms help people mellow down," shares Dr Bhonsle.