How do painkillers know where you hurt

"Show me where it hurts."

Once that painkiller moves from your hand to your mouth and to the inside your body, how does it know where to go?

For all of its painful associations, it's a tender phrase, one we associate with parental love and the occasional doctor's visit. As children, we couldn't use fancy words to describe our scrapes, but we could point and wince, and somehow the medicine knew where we hurt.
Or so it seemed. In reality, painkillers are less magic bullet and more shotgun blast: They cruise through the bloodstream, mixing metaphors and sabotaging the machinery of pain wherever they find it. So, if your head happens to be splitting when you pop a pill for your aching back, you get a twofer.
If you picture your body's nervous system like a series of Civil War telegraph wires, then you can imagine a series of dispatches coming into headquarters reporting damage from all over the country, which the president -- your brain -- experiences as pain. If you want to relieve the president's pain, you need to stop the sender, interfere with the wires or post a spy to intercept the messages. If you get really desperate, you can always knock the president unconscious.
Various pain meds adopt each of these approaches. Analgesics lessen pain without blocking nerve impulses, messing with sensory perception or altering consciousness. They come in many varieties, including anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce pain by shrinking inflammation. Analgesics also include COX inhibitors, which stop the signals, and opioids, which decrease the severity of pain signals in the brain and nervous system. When these just won't do, doctors turn to anesthetics, which just block all sensations, pain or otherwise, by knocking you out or numbing a particular area [sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica; Ricciotti and FitzGerald; Wood et al.].
So these treatments don't zero in on pain; rather, they wander along the transmission right-of-way, looking for pain-carrying messages and then blocking, destroying or intercepting them. To understand how this works, let's take a closer look at the physiology of pain.

Getting the Message

Illustration of the pain pathways

Understanding pain has challenged philosophers, doctors and researchers for centuries. In the Far East, it began with the idea of imbalanced yin and yang forces. The ancient Greeks thought it arose from out-of-kilter bodily humors. The Muslim physician Avicenna saw it as arising from some alteration in physical condition. And, of course, numerous cultures believed that gods doled out pain as punishment and demanded it as penance [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica].
Pain research and theory began in earnest in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the medical and technological advances of the past 40 years have revolutionized the field [sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica; Craig]. A prevalent model of how pain works goes as follows.
Let's say you touch a hot stove and burn your hand. Instantly, your arm recoils and you feel pain because a network of specialized nerves called nociceptors (from the Latin noci- "harm" + receptor) has activated. Unlike other nerve types, nociceptors only trigger when they detect a harmful event, such as too much heat or pressure. When this happens, these nerves convert the noxious stimulus into an electrical signal that zips to the brain with the bad news. How? Their nerve endings change shape, creating pores that let positive ions like sodium and calcium surge in. This influx of ions drops the voltage across cell membranes and generates electrical potential. The worse the injury, the bigger the signal [sources: Wood et al.; Woolf and Ma].
That takes care of how pain nerves alert the brain and spinal cord, but how do nociceptors detect injury in the first place? In several ways, some of which we're still figuring out. Often, they detect wayward chemicals like prostaglandins. These are not "pain molecules." Rather, they are chemical substances that aid in a variety of vital bodily functions. But they should not be out bouncing around where the nociceptors can pick them up unless something has gone wrong, so they make good damage signals [sources: Ricciotti and FitzGerald; Wood et al.].
Nociceptors don't always need such chemicals to do their job; they can also detect some harmful effects directly. Excessive heat, for example, can open signal-producing ion channels on its own. So can the capsaicin in a chili pepper, which explains why, to quote Ralph Wiggum, of "The Simpsons," "it tastes like burning" [source: Wood et al.].
Personal Pain: It's Not Just for Goths
Studies show that people of different sexes, races, experiences and cultures feel pain differently. In part, this is because severe pain can alter your nervous system at a molecular level, especially if you experience it frequently and/or at a young age. Moreover, pain exists entirely in your noggin -- it's how your brain interprets a particular set of nerve signals -- and its intensity keys off emotions and mental states (indeed, psychological factors can cause pain). In short, no two people feel pain the same way [sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica; Cleveland Clinic; Craig].

Haven't Got Time for the Pain

 Pain keeps us out of trouble. When it isn't busy preventing injury, it's lessening it or reminding us to let it heal. But sometimes pain becomes a nuisance, like an alarm bell that keeps clanging away long after the fire dies out.

One way to mute this din is to cut the signal off at the source. That's ibuprofen's party trick: It stops banged-up cells from ginning up or sending out more prostaglandin. Ibuprofen belongs to a whole category of pain medicines called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. NSAIDs also relieve the swelling and inflammation that can cause pain. NSAIDs include aspirin and naproxen sodium (aka Aleve) [sources: AHFS; McNicol].
Other analgesics ignore the pain signal but muffle the bell. Acetaminophen, aka Tylenol, works in the brain and central nervous system to deaden pain, although researchers do not fully grasp how it works [sources: AHFS; McNicol].
Both NSAIDs and acetaminophen belong to a category called non-opioid analgesics. Most non-opioid analgesics work by inhibiting cyclooxygenase (COX) or COX-2 enzymes, which kick off the process of converting arachidonic fatty acid found in cell walls into the prostaglandins that activate pain nerves. No prostaglandin means no nociceptor activation and therefore no pain [sources: AHFS; McNicol; Ricciotti and FitzGerald].
For more severe short-term pain, as after an operation, or long-term pain, many doctors turn to opioids. Opioid drugs plug into an existing network of receptors located in your brain, spinal cord and body. Under normal conditions, this system works with your body's naturally produced opioids to control all kinds of processes, including pain. Natural opiates, like morphine and codeine, as well as synthetic opioids, mimic the structure of these naturally occurring neurotransmitters and hijack the system. Like spies who knock out the guards and then man the gates, they keep out other signals, including those associated with pain. They also plug into the body's reward system, producing potentially addictive euphoric effects [sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica; Fine and Portenoy; NAABT].
More intense medical procedures, like surgery, involve general, regional or local anesthesia. General anesthesia involves a mixture of drugs that calms patients, keeps them unconscious, lessens or relieves their pain, relaxes their muscles or blocks their memories from forming. Regional anesthesia locks down sensation from a whole section of the body, e.g., from the waist down, while local anesthesia numbs a small portion, like a foot or spot of skin. This might seem highly localized but, again, the painkiller doesn't know where you hurt -- the person applying it does [sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica; Mayo Clinic].

10 Things Doctors Have Changed Their Minds About This Century

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 Models display a body composition monitor equipped with an optical subcutaneous-fat scanner that measures a user's weight and body-mass index (BMI) among other features. Doctors have changed their minds about BMI measurement in the 21st century. See heart health pictures.
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We've seen this many times before. One day doctors say X, Y and Z are good for you, only to change their minds a few months or years or decades later. How do we ever know what to believe? There's really no answer to this, of course. Physicians and other medical professionals work hard to learn all about the human body and how it responds to everything from food and exercise to drugs, tests and medical interventions. Sometimes their advice is good, sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's neutral.
Although the 21st century is still in its infancy, doctors have already changed their opinions on many things. Here are 10 of the more prominent medical issues where they've rethought conventional wisdom -- or at least they're vigorously debating it. Because even doctors can't always agree with one another.

• Mammogram Frequency

 Some health organizations and doctors have changed their yearly mammogram recommendation to a biennial checkup.
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For decades, women were urged to have annual mammograms -- tests that screen for breast cancer and abnormalities -- starting at age 40, and then yearly afterward. Most women don't exactly enjoy undergoing a mammogram, as the standard film test involves squishing your breasts in between two plates. So women rejoiced to hear the latest medical thinking: that they may not need mammograms quite that frequently.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in 2009 updated its recommendations to biennial film mammograms and only for women ages 50-74. The reason for the change? The Task Force says studies show that while mammograms do a good job detecting early-stage breast cancer, they don't spot advanced cases any earlier. False positives, common in mammography, are also more typical in those 40-49; these erroneous results can cause much anxiety, plus unnecessary additional procedures such as more imaging or biopsies. Finally, some of the women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and subsequently treated may not have needed the treatment, as their cancer may have been slow-growing and would never have resulted in death.Screening every other year, says the Task Force, maintains the benefits of mammograms while reducing its harmful effects by nearly half [sources: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Pruthi].
While the evidence may seem compelling, not everyone agrees. The American Cancer Society, for example, continues to push for yearly mammograms starting at 40 [source: Pruthi]. Best advice? Consult with your physician and make your own decision.

• Medical Marijuana

 Since 1996, some 20 U.S. states have passed laws allowing marijuana's use for medicinal purposes.
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Marijuana is the most common illicit drug used in the U.S., although the federal government classifies it as a Schedule I substance. This means it has no medicinal uses and carries a high risk for abuse.
Studies show that when young people are heavy users, IQ loss often results. Smoking weed also carries the same risk as cigarette smoking: constant coughing, lung irritation, susceptibility to lung infections and cancer [source: National Institute on Drug Abuse ].
However, people have long clamored for the government to allow marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes, citing its help in treating seizures, medication-induced nausea and chronic pain from injuries. But physicians ignored these pleas, insisting the drug was far too dangerous.
Since 1996, some 20 states have passed laws allowing marijuana's use for medicinal purposes, and medical professionals are witnessing its often-positive results. As a result, many physicians are changing their minds about legalization. Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Mehmet Oz are two prominent physicians who say they now support medical marijuana [source: Baca]. Gupta, for one, said in 2013 that he should have considered some of the "remarkable research" coming from smaller labs in foreign countries, plus the scores of patients testifying to how much medical marijuana helped their symptoms before making his decision. And in a 2014 survey, 56 percent of physicians said medical marijuana should be legalized nationwide [source: Rappold].
If nothing else, legalization allows researchers to study the drug's interaction with the body; only 6 percent of current marijuana studies look at its medicinal properties [source: Welsh].

• Transgender Classification

Transgender actress and advocate Laverne Cox, who is in the Netflix series 'Orange is the New Black' met with student journalists at Emerson College for a group interview in 2013.
Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

People who are transgender -- that is, those who self-identity doesn't match their biological sex -- were long classified as having a psychological disorder. Specifically, the American Psychiatric Association called the condition "gender identity disorder" and added the term to its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, in 1980 [source: Glicksman]. Although assigning transgender people this label ensured they had access to medical care, the term "disorder" carried a certain stigma.
In the fifth edition of the DSM, published in 2013, the term "gender identity disorder" was replaced with "gender dysphoria," a less stigmatizing term [source: Lowder]. This is an acknowledgement that being transgender is simply something that can happen to human beings. It's not a disorder in and of itself. You can be transgender and not seek or need treatment of any sort. However, if you have such intense distress being in the "wrong" body that you want to transition to the male or female form, that is considered having gender dysphoria. Physicians with transgender patients who have gender dysphoria are generally required to first be assessed by a mental health professional before undergoing any kind of medical intervention.

• Value of Saturated Fats

 Although calorie consumption from fat in America has fallen from 40 to 30 percent since the 1980s, obesity rates have soared. Doctors are rethinking the traditional advice to lower fat intake in order to lose weight.
Samuel Kessler/E+/Thinkstock

Saturated fats were given the heave-ho in the 1970s, when a landmark study linked coronary heart disease with high levels of total cholesterol. People were advised to reduce their fat intake to 30 percent of total calories and limit saturated fats to a mere 10 percent[source: Willey]. Reduced-fat products flooded the market -- remember Snackwell cookies, anyone? -- and we gobbled them up.
In 2014, some doctors say that was possibly the worst medical advice given in the past 40 years [source: Willey]. People gorged on low-fat products, which typically had loads of extra sugar to compensate for the flavor lost when saturated fats were lessened or removed. Obesity became an enormous problem. (The obesity rate among U.S. adults has more than doubled since the 1960s, from 13.4 to 35.7 percent [source: National Institutes of Health].) And heart disease didn't diminish. Additional studies haven't shown any significant link between saturated fats and higher risks of cardiovascular disease [source: Willey].
The current advice is to eat your fruits and veggies, eat healthy fats like those found in avocados, nuts and seeds, and enjoy saturated fats -- like meat, cheese and eggs -- in moderation. It's the fats that keep you feeling fuller longer, and less prone to snacking. And when you do snack, pass on the sugary, highly-processed foods [source: Northrup].

• Hormone Replacement Therapy

 A variety of hormone replacement products are displayed. A 2002 study on the dangers of hormone replacement therapy caused women everywhere to stop taking it.
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Menopausal women were overjoyed when hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was first rolled out in the early 20th century. After all, bolstering their declining estrogen levels with synthetic versions helped reduce hot flashes, mood changes and other annoying symptoms of menopausal and postmenopausal life. By the late 20th century, HRT doses were tailored to each woman, included progesterone and lower doses of estrogen, and were viewed as a way to combat osteoporosis. Vast numbers of menopausal women were taking HRT.
Then in 2002, a large hormone trial conducted by the U.S. Women's Health Institute (WHI) was stopped early when it overwhelmingly showedHRT could cause heart disease, stroke, blood clots and breast cancer if taken on a long-term basis. Women worldwide panicked and stopped HRT [source: Bouchez]. But subsequent studies in the U.S. and U.K. say the issue is a bit more complex.
The original WHI study looked at women from age 50 to 79 and lumped their results together. Yet most of HRT's harmful results occurred in the older women studied, not the typical HRT patients -- women in their late 40s or early 50s.In 2012, international experts said HRT actually poses few risks for women in the latter age group [sources: Bouchez, Hope].
Today most physicians recommend using HRT if it's needed, but for the shortest time possible, assuming you have no particular health risks.

• Pulmonary Artery Catheters

 Starting in the 1970s, patients in shock were often given a pulmonary artery catheter; later studies showed it did not improve patient outcomes.
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Since its introduction in 1970, patients who landed in a hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) were often given a PAC, or pulmonary artery catheter. The catheter, threaded into the right side of the heart via a blood vessel in the neck or groin, was a monitoring device that measured the pressure in the patient's heart and lung blood vessels [source: NCIB]. By 1986, 20 to 40 percent of all ICU patients got one -- surprising, since the device's safety, accuracy and benefits were never proven [source: Marik].
Although complications from the use of a PAC were uncommon, and PAC-associated deaths rare, patients sometimes suffered from bleeding in the lung and changes in heart rhythm [source: NCIB]. Eventually, studies from 1990s and early 2000s showed the routine use of a PAC with patients in shock was actually inferior to less-invasive strategies, as the PAC could be unreliable and inaccurate and did not improve patient outcomes. Further, newer devices were developed that produced better results and were less invasive. In 2014, the device is rarely used on patients in shock [source: Marik].

• Asperger's Syndrome and Autism

 This man with Asperger's syndrome outlines a picture in his studio. Asperger's used to be considered a separate disorder from autism but the 2013 DSM merges them together under the "autism spectrum disorder" category.
Huntstock/Getty Images

Asperger's syndrome was officially recognized in 1994, when it was added to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM), the diagnostic guide recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. Although sometimes referred to as a high-functioning form of autism, the guide specified Asperger's was a distinct disorder [source: Hamilton]. Those with Asperger's have a hard time interacting with others and often are intensely interested in a particular topic, say trains, talking about them nonstop. While autism is also a developmental disorder, its symptoms are more pronounced. Autistic people tend to have more difficulty interacting with others -- sometimes they simply can't -- and often exhibit repetitive behaviors, such as flapping their arms or rocking.
In 2013, the DSM's fifth edition was published. Asperger's and autism were merged into the guide's new "autism spectrum disorder" category. The change was one of the most controversial in the new DSM-5 [source: Parry]. While many people with Asperger's don't see themselves as autistic at all -- most can function independently in society -- the broader category was seen by health care professionals as more reliable. Previously, when trying to diagnose a patient with one of these disorders, clinicians mainly relied on the patient's language skills. Reasonably good skills could mean Asperger's; less-developed ones might mean autism [source: Hamilton]. But that's a subjective call, and someone's language skills can change over time. With one category, the hope is to focus on how to best help the patient, not the specific label.

• Body Mass Index (BMI)

 Even if you can pinch more than an inch, it doesn’t necessarily mean you're fat. The body-mass index is under fire because it doesn't factor in your age, gender or muscle mass.
Steven Puetzer/Photographer's Choice RF/Getty Images

Back in the old days, doctors looked at life insurance tables to determine healthy weights for patients. These listed healthy weight ranges for men and women based on their heights. But life insurance companies had their own tables, and they weren't always the same. So in 1998 the National Institutes of Health unveiled the Body Mass Index (BMI) as a way for everyone to figure out healthy weights in the same manner. To calculate someone's BMI, you divide the person's weight in pounds by his height in square inches, then multiply the result by 703. A good BMI is 18.5-24.9, according to the National Institutes of Health, while a BMI of 25-29.9 means you're overweight. Anything 30 or more? Obese. BMI was quickly adopted by most health professionals [source: Zelman].
In 2014, the BMI was under fire because it doesn't factor in your age, gender or muscle mass. There's also no distinction between lean and fat body mass. Basketball superstar Michael Jordan, for example, had a 27-29 BMI in his prime -- meaning he was overweight -- despite sporting a chiseled frame and less-than-30-inch (76-centimeter) waist. Similarly, elderly people on the roly-poly side might have normal BMIs because they've lost muscle mass, and muscle weighs more than fat. Many health professionals now say you should use BMI as just one measure of health and fitness, along with factors such as body fat percentage, waist circumference and level of physical activity

• Stenting for Stable Coronary Artery Disease

 Until 2006, many patients with stable angina (chest pain from overexertion) were given stents, tubular supports that prop open blocked arteries, but 2007 studies showed stents are helpful mainly for patients with unstable angina or heart attacks.
PIXOLOGICSTUDIO/ Science Photo Library/Getty Images

If you develop stable coronary artery disease, also called stable angina, you'll notice chest pain when you exert yourself. This is because your arteries are narrow or blocked, reducing the amount of oxygen-rich blood your heart can receive. The pain will go away when you rest and reoccur when you exert yourself the same amount and/or the same amount of time.
Today's standard treatment for stable angina includes lifestyle changes (such as quitting smoking, losing weight and exercising) and medications, including aspirin, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers and statins. But as recently as 2006, many patients with stable angina were also given stents, which are tubular supports that prop open your narrowed or blocked arteries, allowing more blood to reach your heart [source: Mitka]. Stents are placed during a procedure called angioplasty.
Stents are great when used in those who have had a heart attack or develop unstable angina, which is chest pain that occurs suddenly and frequently with little or no exertion. But studies dating from 2007 revealed stents don't offer any additional help at all if you've got stable angina. All you need are some lifestyle changes and maybe some of the medicines listed above [source: Mitka]. Good news for those who hate to go under the knife.

• 
  Use of Pain Pumps in Joints

  
  

Dr. K. Dean Willis takes an X-ray of an implanted pain pump in a patient at the Alabama Pain Center in 2014. The FDA now requires pain pump and local anesthetic manufacturers to warn against pain pump use in joints.
Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

In the late 1990s, orthopedic surgeons began using pain pumps in some of their procedures. The postsurgical devices pump local anesthetics through a plastic tube to a specific area of the body for pain relief. By inserting pain pumps after surgery, patients were able to avoid long hospital stays. The pumps were also considered safer for pain relief than prescription narcotics [source: Thomas]. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) never cleared the use of pain pumps in joints, surgeons eventually began using them in shoulder surgeries, and to a lesser extent in knee surgeries. (Physicians are permitted to use FDA-approved devices in such an "off label" fashion, which means for another purpose than that which the FDA originally indicated.)
But after they started using the pumps in joint surgeries, orthopedic surgeons began noticing many young, active patients developing post-surgical chondrolysis, a rare ailment where joint cartilage dies. The pain pumps and their medications were blamed. Those in the medical profession now say exposing sensitive cartilage to local anesthetics for up to 72 hours can destroy the cartilage, and most surgeons no longer use them in this fashion. The FDA now also requires pain pump and local anesthetic manufacturers to warn against use in joints

Cheer-Up 10 Common Foods That Improve Your Mood

In today’s fast and cutthroat competitive world, depression is a common problem. It begins with little anxieties, and then spreads into a big health issue. Well, there are many things that you can do to make sure that you find your way out of such feelings as quickly and 'positively' as possible. And, one such thing that you can try at this time is, eat foods that will make you and your body happy. Yes, you might find it surprising but you can actually eat your way out these unhappy times. Here are some tasty solutions to fight away those "blue" feelings in a healthy way.


Strawberries
Strawberries are a good source of potassium, which helps in the generation of nerve impulses. It is also a rich source of vitamin C, which also help in changing our mood for better.

Bananas
Like strawberries, bananas are also rich in potassium. They also contain tryptophan, which helps in the production of the "happy hormones", serotonin, in your body. Apart from this, once the natural sugars that are present in bananas are released into your bloodstream they leave you feeling more energetic.


Sunflower
Sunflower seeds contain selenium and magnesium. These compounds are believed to give you an instant 'feel-good' rush. Also, these seeds are rich in amino acids that help in serotonin production, which is a hormone known to be associated with good mood.

Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes can be like soothing music to your brain. They are a rich source of lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant, which reduces inflammation in the brain and is good for your mental health.

Oregano
Oregano is good for more than just pizza seasoning. It contains caffeic acid, quercitin and rosmarinic acid. These compounds are known to be effective in combating depression. They also help you in rejuvenating and calming down.

Eggs
Eggs contain zinc, vitamin B, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids, and protein. All these compounds, present in eggs in various amounts, are good for brain activity and also give you an energy boost.

Asparagus
Asparagus is rich in folate and tryptophan. According to a recent research, low levels of folate is a condition found common in half of the cases of depression. On the other hand, our brain uses Tryptophan to produce serotonin, which is a mood-stabilising neurotransmitter.

Honey
We all know that honey scores over regular sugar when it comes to health issues. Honey contains compounds such as kaempferol and quercetin, which reduce brain-inflammation. This helps in preventing depression and keeps brain healthy. Honey is also better for your blood sugar levels.

Coconuts
Coconuts contain medium-chain triglycerides. These are special fats that generate better moods and are good for general health of the human brain.

Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolates have anadamine, which improves the blood flow to the brain. Chocolates are also good for an instant boost in mood and energy. However, as chocolates are rich in calories, we suggest, you should not go overboard with this one.
Apart from snacking on these mood-friendly foods, you can also try some mood-boosting yoga poses. And for that, Also Read: 5 Best Yoga Poses to Boost Your Mood
   

How Sleep Keeps You Healthy Helps You Heal

 We all know that we're supposed to rest when we're sick, but let's face it: few of us do.
With the flu still surging above epidemic levels, we talked to two sleep experts to explain the science behind the immune and restorative properties of sleep. Dr. Stuart Quan is the clinical chief and medical director of Brigham and Women's Hospital Sleep Disorders Service, and Bob Rosenberg is the medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center of Prescott Valley, Arizona, and author of Sleep Soundly Every Night; Feel Fantastic Every Day.
Sleep probably gets less credit than it should for battling illness since much of its work is under cover, so to speak: sleep is essential to your immune system in warding off sickness before you can sniffle.

A 2012 study on responses to vaccines illustrates exactly how closely sleep is linked to the immune system: Researchers found that those who got the hepatitis B vaccine after sleeping fewer than six hours that week were much more likely to be unprotected from the disease six months later. And each extra hour of sleep correlated with a 56 percent increase in secondary antibody levels, they reported in the journal SLEEP.
Previous laboratory studies showed similar results with the flu vaccine.
What scientists don't know for certain is just how sleep confers its benefits. It's likely, though, that inadequate sleep affects the number and type of immune cells in your body. T-cells, for example, help prevent infection, but their numbers fall with sleep deprivation, Quan said.
Lack of sleep can also mess with concentrations of cytokines, proteins that signal cells, resulting in a less-than-adequate antibody response. It may take as little as a single night to prompt those responses.
"One night of bad sleep can make a lot of difference," Quan said.

And chronic lack of sleep may manifest itself as unexplained aches and pains, Rosenberg said, referring to a study in which severely sleep-deprived college students reported symptoms similar to fibromyalgia.
Sleep is equally essential in helping you recover if you do get sick, Rosenberg said.
"Sleep is important for healing because slow wave or deep sleep is when tissue repair occurs," Rosenberg said. "We put out most of our growth hormone in deep sleep, and growth hormone is important in terms of repairing tissue, muscle, everything you could think of that has to do with repair."
Most of us are conditioned to fight or ignore sickness, putting off resting by working at home or muddling through a day at the office.
"We look at sleep as a hindrance rather than an important time of restoration and brain growth," Rosenberg said.
The vast majority of us need between seven and nine hours of sleep a night. Chronic sleep deprivation usually refers to fewer than six hours, Rosenberg said. When we're sick, that number may shift, so it's especially important to listen to your body. The good news is that our bodies clue us in by making tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) proteins, which trigger sleepiness and fatigue, when we're ill.
"Many think that may be protective," Rosenberg said, so "ride with it. The bottom line is if you're sleepy or fatigued, get sleep and rest -- that's what your body is telling you."

Health benefits of Custard Apples

You’ll all have eaten custard apples (commonly known as Seethaphal in India) at some point of your life. If you have a grand mom around, she’d even have stopped you from eating them saying you’ll catch a cold or a sore throat. Well, we cannot tell you if that is just an old wives’ tale or there is some truth to it because your grand mom is almost always right!

However, what we can tell you is that the fruit is packed with anti-oxidants and an excellent source of vitamin C.  So your next question would be what custard apples do for your health. Continue reading and we’ll tell you all about it:
Dental care
If you are suffering from bleeding gums, here’s a tasty, yet healthy way to stop it now – the skin of the custard apple is helpful in stopping bleeding gums and tooth ache.
Weight gain
Well everyone’s always struggling to lose weight. Have you ever wondered that there might be some who may be trying to put on weight? Yes, for those who want to put on weight, custard apple is an ideal snack or dessert as it is sugary sweet, peps up your metabolic rate and increases your appetite.  Increase in appetite means you’ll eat more and gain weight.
Strong immune system
Custard apples are known for their anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties. Make sure to add this fruit to your diet. This will help your body build resistance and protect you against infections.
Brain health
This white fleshy fruit is packed with B complex vitamins. Adding custard apples to your diet can help you reduce stress and tension. Research shows that this fruit may also have properties that can help protect you from Parkinson’s Disease.
Strong bones
Adding custard apples to your regular diet can reduce the risk of rheumatism and arthritis. These fruits are also an excellent source of copper and brittle bones is caused due to lack of copper. So for strong bones, make sure you eat custard apples. However, if you are obese or diabetic, you may want to exercise caution.

Want six-pack abs? Here are some diet tips you should follow

You may have heard the saying, abs are made in the kitchen, and not in the gym. Well, it’s true and without a healthy diet, no amount of exercise can help you lose weight. Ekta Tandon, who is a nutritionist at Fitness First chain of restaurants, lists out a few things you should know about eating for six-pack abs.

First things first – we all have abs but they are hidden due to the coverage of fat. In order to define and flaunt them, one must eat right and exercise.
Here’s how you can do it:
Eat small meals: The rule is to eat small meals at equal intervals. So if you are eating often and eating good food, you would not have cravings for any kind of junk food. It will also help regulate your body’s blood sugar, which stabilises the release of insulin. This helps promote the use of fat as fuel and helps prevent it from being stored in the body. When excess fat isn’t stored, the abs are more prominent.
How to do it: Eat three standard meals and three smaller snacks. For example:
    Early morning: 1-2 glass water
    8-9 am:  Breakfast
    11-12 pm: Snack
    1-2 pm: Lunch
    4-5pm: Snack
    7-8 pm: Dinner
    9-10 pm (if hungry): Milk  
Importance of protein: Protein plays a very important role during workout. The recommended daily intake of protein for a person is 1g/kg body weight. It increases or decreases according to the activity done by the person.
Protein acts as the building block for muscles but doesn’t bulk up the muscles, a myth that many people carry. The only way to bulk up muscles is to hit the gym and perform progressive resistance exercises. Protein helps provide the raw material to build muscle, but the protein has to be pulled into muscles through exercise.  You may also read how important is protein for bodybuilding.
Non-vegetarians can get their share by eating white meat like chicken, fish, eggs, etc. For vegetarians the choice is no less, they can have cottage cheese, soya, sprouts, milk, curds, etc. One can even have protein shakes if needed. According to celebrity fitness trainer Kris Gethin, ‘A palm-sized portion of protein with every meal will help your muscles rebuild and recover from the stress placed on them during workouts. Since eating protein six times per day can get a little inconvenient, you can try drinking it occasionally.’ Here are some diet tips for non-vegetarians.
Hydration: It is very important to keep yourself hydrated. Water is an essential nutrient that is involved in every function of the body. Except for oxygen, there’s nothing your body needs more than an adequate supply of water. And the more you exercise, the more important it is to drink the right amount of water before, during, and after your workouts. Dehydration can make it hard to get the most out of your workout and in extreme situations, can even be dangerous to your health. 
Good carbohydrates: Carbohydrate is arguably the most important source of energy for workout. No matter what exercise you do, carbs provide the energy that fuels muscle contractions. Once eaten, carbohydrates breakdown into smaller sugars (glucose, fructose and galactose) that get absorbed and used as energy.
Any glucose not needed right away gets stored in the muscles and the liver in the form of glycogen. Once these glycogen stores are filled up, any extra gets stored as fat. Adequate carbohydrate intake also helps prevent protein from being used as energy. If the body doesn’t have enough carbohydrate, protein is broken down to make glucose for energy.
Fruits and veggies: Fruits and veggies provide you with all the nutrients and fibre which is required by our body. They are a storehouse of various nutrients and are a must-have if you want a fit body with six-pack abs.
Following a well-balanced diet and exercising can help you get the abs you desire.

Exhaled Pounds: How Fat Leaves the Body

When you lose weight, where does it go? Turns out, most of it is exhaled.
In a new study, scientists explain the fate of fat in a human body, and through precise calculations, debunk some common misconceptions. Fat doesn't simply "turn into" energy or heat, and it doesn't break into smaller parts and get excreted, the researchers say.
In reality, the body stores the excess protein or carbs in a person's diet in form of fat, specifically, as triglyceride molecules, which consist of just three kinds of atoms: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. For people to lose weight, their triglycerides must break up into building blocks, which happens in a process known as oxidation.

When a triglyceride is oxidized (or "burned up"), the process consumes many molecules of oxygen while producing carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) as waste products. 

So, for example, to burn 10 kilograms (22 lbs.) of fat, a person needs to inhale 29 kg (64 lbs.) of oxygen. And the chemical process of burning that fat will produce 28 kg (62 lbs.) of carbon dioxide and 11 kg (24 lbs.) of water, the researchers calculated.
"None of this biochemistry is new, but for unknown reasons it seems nobody has thought of performing these calculations before," study authors Ruben Meerman and Andrew Brown of the University of New South Wales in Australia, said. "The quantities make perfect sense but we were surprised by the numbers that popped out."
The researchers showed that during weight loss, 84 percent of the fat that is lost turns into carbon dioxide and leaves the body through the lungs, whereas the remaining 16 percent becomes water, according to the study published today (Dec. 16) in a special Christmas issue of the medical journal BMJ.
"These results show that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for weight loss. The water formed may be excreted in the urine, feces, sweat, breath, tears or other bodily fluids, and is readily replenished," the researchers said.
The calculations also show the frightening power of, for example, a small muffin over an hour of exercise: At rest, a person who weighs 154 pounds (70 kg) exhales just 8.9 mg of carbon with each breath. Even after an entire day, if this person only sits, sleeps, and does light activities, he or she exhales about 200 grams of carbon, the researchers calculated.

A 100 g muffin can cover 20 percent of what was lost.
On the other hand, replacing one hour of rest with exercise such as jogging, removes an additional 40 g of carbon from the body, the researchers said.
Even if one traces the fates of all the atoms in the body, the secret to weight loss remains the same: In order to lose weight, one needs to either eat less carbon or exercise more to remove extra carbon from the body.

At Least 26 US Kids Die of Flu in Bad Season

A flu shot helps fend off common strains of influenza.

A particularly bad flu is sweeping the United States, killing 26 children so far this season and nearly doubling hospitalizations among people over 65 in the past week alone, officials said Friday.
The reason is the predominant strain of flu this year is H3N2, a variety that has shown itself in prior years to be more virulent than other kinds.
Even more, the vaccine that is supposed to protect against the annual flu is missing its mark because two-thirds of the H3N2 strains that experts are seeing were not included in this year's flu shot, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It is shaping up to be a bad year for flu," said CDC chief Tom Frieden in a conference call with reporters.
"H3N2 is a nastier flu virus than the other flu viruses."
At week seven of the typically 13-week flu season, the virus "is now widespread in almost the entire country," he said.
Flu typically infects five to 15 percent of the population. It can be dangerous in those with weak immune systems, including the elderly and children.
Frieden said hospitalization rates among people over 65 "are rising sharply," going from 52 per 100,000 last week to 92 per 100,000 this week.
"That is high but typical for H3N2 seasons," Frieden said.
The last H3N2 season was in 2012-2013, and the cumulative hospitalization rate among the elderly that season was 183 per 100,000.
Flu Shots May Not Work Well This Year
"We wouldn't be surprised to see something similar happen this year," Frieden said.
An update on the effectiveness of this year's vaccine will be released in the coming weeks.
While Frieden said he expect to find the vaccine to be weaker than usual, he said authorities are still urging people to get their flu shot because it may offer some protection against other strains of the flu that are circulating.
He also called for doctors to give antiviral drugs, like Tamiflu, to patients if they get sick.
"In the context of an H3N2 predominant season, with a less effective vaccine, treatment with anti-flu drugs is even more important than usual," he said.
Scientists have found that anti-flu drugs can reduce symptoms, shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce the risk of complications, he said.
"Anti-viral flu medications are greatly under-utilized but if you get the flu and you get medicines early they could keep you out of the hospital, they could keep you from having to go into the intensive care unit and they might even save your life."
Most people do not know the anti-viral drugs exist and fewer than one in five high-risk patients get treated, he said.

Revolutionary New Antibiotic Kills Drug-Resistant Germs

Scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics that can kill a wide range of dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria.
Moreover, in lab experiments, bacteria didn't develop resistance to the new drug, called teixobactin, and in fact may need several decades to do so because of the drug's special mode of action, the researchers said.
"Teixobactin is a promising therapeutic candidate; it is effective against drug-resistant pathogens in a number of animal models of infection," the researchers wrote in their report.

A superbug is a hardy and dangerous infectious disease.

The problem of drug-resistant bacteria is a serious public health threat, and finding new antibiotics to tackle resistant bacteria is a difficult job. Existing methods for isolating promising compounds from bacterial cultures often turn up only the types of antibiotics already in use, according to the study. [6 Superbugs to Watch Out For]
In the new study, however, the researchers developed fresh methods to find antibiotics. They studied 10,000 strains of bacteria that live in the soil, and grew them in their natural habitat. The researchers then isolated compounds made by the bacteria and tested them against disease-causing bacteria.
The new antibiotic, named teixobactin, was one of those compounds. In experiments in mice, the researchers showed teixobactin was effective in treating animals infected with bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculous (which causes tuberculosis) and Staphylococcus aureus (which can infect people's skin and other tissues). Some strains of these bacteria are already resistant to one or more of antibiotics, making infections extremely difficult to treat in people.
"Although still in the early stages of research, the discovery of a potential new class of antibiotics is good news: the development of new antibiotics has stalled in recent decades, while resistance to existing drugs becomes an ever more serious threat to human health," said Dr. Richard Seabrook of the Wellcome Trust in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the new research.
Teixobactin kills bacteria by binding to fat molecules on their cell wall, causing the wall to break down, according to the study. Most other antibiotics target proteins in bacteria, and the bacteria become resistant when the genes that code for those proteins mutate. But targeting fat molecules may make it a lot harder for the bacteria to develop resistance, the researchers said.

Another antibiotic, vancomycin, uses a mechanism similar to the new antibiotic and it took 30 years for resistance to vancomycin to emerge, the researchers noted.
The research, published today (Jan. 7) in the journal Nature, is still in the early stages, and it's not yet clear yet whether the antibiotic is effective in treating infections in people.
"It is likely that additional natural compounds, with similarly low susceptibility to resistance, are present in nature and are waiting to be discovered," the researchers wrote.

Why Viruses Prefer a Cold Nose

It's cold outside in many parts of the country today — and that's just right for common cold viruses.
New research from Yale University School of Medicine shows that most rhinoviruses reproduce more efficiently in the cooler temperatures found inside the nose (on cold days) than at core body temperature.

While it has been known that common cold viruses prefer the cooler environs of the nose, this new research explains that behavior by showing that the body’s antiviral immune response is lower in the cooler nose cavity than in the lungs where it’s warmer.
The team, led by senior author and Yale professor of immunobiology Akiko Iwasaki, conducted their research on cells extracted from the airways of mice. Airway epithelial cells, the cells that form the lining of the nose and the other airways, are the main target of rhinovirus infection. In order to spread and cause disease, the virus must enter these cells and make more copies of itself.
The Yale team analyzed how well the immune response performed in cells that were incubated in the typical 33-35-degree C (91-95 F) environment of the nasal cavity, compared with cells that were held in the 37-degree C (98.6 F) temperature that's typical of the lungs.

They found that when a virus invaded warmer cells, they produced more interferons -- proteins that help block the spread of a virus by warning healthy cells and setting off an immune response. In the cooler nasal cavity cells, this warning system was less efficient and the virus was able to spread more easily.
The finding, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reaffirms the age-old motherly advice -- if you're feeling under the weather, don't linger in the cold. Go inside, eat soup, stay warm.

10 Bedtime Rituals For Better Sleep

 Photo By Getty Images

You have a regular morning ritual that helps you launch your day feeling energized and alert, then an after-work routine that eases the transition from the professional world to your personal life. But if you haven’t adopted some specific nighttime habits that prime you for deep, restful sleep, then you’re shortchanging your health.

“Trouble falling and staying asleep can set you up for chronic fatigue, mood and memory issues, a slower metabolism, even reduced immune-system functioning,” says Lisa Medalie, PsyD, a behavioral sleep medicine specialist at the University of Chicago.

An hour before you plan to hit the sack, start taking on these research-backed pre-sleep rituals. Making them part of your nightly routine will help you drift off to dreamland and score the restorative sleep your brain and body need. 

 Photo Courtesy of Darren Lehane / Getty Images
Dim the Lights
Think of darkness as nature’s sleeping pill, cueing your body to crank out melatonin, the hormone that helps you wind down. Turning down the lights ahead of your bedtime ramps up melatonin production, so you can successfully doze off, says Steve Orma, Psy.D., a San Francisco–based psychologist specializing in anxiety and insomnia. Research backs this up: a 2011 study from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that exposure to bright electric light between dusk and bedtime can suppress melatonin levels and leave you wired. 

 Photo Courtesy of Thomas Northcut / Getty Images
Turn Down the Thermostat
The ideal snooze temperature is about 65 degrees, according to the National Sleep Foundation. That’s because the cooler you are, the sleepier you become. No wonder your body is designed to experience a natural temperature dip at nighttime, says Medalie. If the room is too hot or you’re wrapped in too many blankets, your body temperature will rise, and that can make you restless.

Steer Clear of the Bedroom
You know how Pavlov trained his dogs to associate a ringing bell with eating? That’s what you want to do with your bedroom and feeling sleepy. “Not using your bedroom for anything but sex and rest will create a mental association between the bed and fatigue,” says Orma. “Working, watching TV, or other pre-bedtime activities should be done anywhere but the bedroom, so when it’s time to turn in and get under the covers, your body takes it as a signal to sack out.”
Power Down Your Digital Devices
Save your Netflix binge or email catch up time for earlier in the evening. “The light from the screen of your computer, tablet, or phone is called ‘blue spectrum light,’ and it’s particularly dangerous because it tells the brain to stop secreting melatonin,” says Medalie. “Even a few minutes of exposure to it signals your brain to stay awake.” 

 Photo Courtesy of Frederick Bass / Getty Images
Keep Out of the Kitchen
Finish dinner no later than three hours before bedtime, so you give your stomach time to digest, and you won’t be kept awake by heartburn, gas, or a sugar- or caffeine-fueled energy surge. One exception: if your appetite kicks in again. “Going to bed hungry can keep you awake, so grab a small snack that’s part protein, part complex carbs with no added sugar, caffeine, or anything spicy, which can block sleep,” says Medalie. Good choices: a couple of pieces of jerky, a banana or apple, or a handful or two of nuts. 

 Photo Courtesy of Mikhail Kalakutskiy / Getty Images
De-Clutter Your Sleep Space
You don’t have to be so messy that you’re a candidate for Hoarders for this ritual to work. Neatening up your bed covers and bookshelves or putting away laundry piles or other ordinary bedroom clutter has the weird effect of also de-cluttering your brain. “It subconsciously helps get rid of the anxiety and stress swirling in your mind that can keep you up when it’s time to sleep,” says Orma. 

 Photo Courtesy of Thomas Vogel / Getty Images
Make Last Call a Lot Earlier
Alcohol plays a nasty trick on your body. Drinking within three hours of bedtime helps you nod off — booze is a depressant, after all. But once the alcohol is metabolized hours later, you’re more likely to wake up or start tossing and turning, says Medalie. That’s because while any amount of alcohol can increase short-wave sleep — the kind you get in the first half of the night that repairs body tissues and boost your immune system — it can disrupt REM sleep, the later sleep stage that encourages learning and memory formation, reports a 2013 review of studies from the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 

 Photo Courtesy of Mikhail Kalakutskiy / Getty Images
Save Stressful Activities for the Morning
The whole point of a bedtime ritual is to relax your body and set the stage of nodding off. So fighting with your significant other, paying off cringe-inducing bills, or doing any other activity that has the potential to raise your blood pressure should be put off until the next day if you can help it, says Orma. Wait until you’re refreshed and ready to handle heavy topics.

 Photo Courtesy of Getty Images
Face Your Alarm Clock to the Wall
Nothing sets you up for insomnia quite like watching the minutes tick away on your alarm clock as you lie in bed, growing increasingly more anxious as you wait for sleep to hit. But if you can’t see the time, you’ll have a smoother transition to dreamland. The other thing is, even the light from a your clock’s LED display is enough to put the brakes on melatonin production, says Medalie. As long as you can hear the alarm in the morning, you don’t need to actually see the numbers. 

Photo Courtesy ofJohn Ormerod / Getty Images
Ban Pets From the Bedroom
A 2014 study from the University of Kansas found that 57 percent of pet owners surveyed shared their bed with their dog or cat, and a third of these pet parents reported being awakened at least once per night by their furry buddy. The researchers suggest that pets may be a little-known factor contributing to human sleeplessness. So as much as it hurts, ban Fido or Fluffy from the bedroom, or at least set them up in their own sleep space on the opposite side of the room.

Thats Sick: 6 Nastiest Illnesses of 2014

Ebola

 The ebola virus is one of the deadliest known viruses and there is no cure for it.

Even if you haven't been watching the news this year (and we know you have), you couldn't miss the horrifying outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa. But Ebola wasn't the only scary sickness to raise its foul head in 2014; take a tour of other nasty-baddies that attacked the young, the old and ... well, anyone, really.
Of course, we'd be remiss not to kick off with Ebola. The current outbreak of one of the most deadly, and cure-less, viruses known to humans seems to have started in March, possibly when a 2-year-old boy came in contact with an infected bat. From there, the highly contagious disease spread quickly. By Dec. 26, Ebola had killed 7,693 people in West Africa and had spread, in isolated cases, well beyond those borders.
Worst-case predictions by the world's top experts are that the Ebola virus will infect almost a million and a half people by the end of January 2015. How many will die? The death rate is over 50 percent. You do the math.

The Flu

The flu comes in many forms, none of them good.

2014 kicked off with a nasty influenza season and it's bookending with another one. But back in January, H1N1 -- swine flu -- was the culprit. Rounding out the year, H3N2 is leading the charge that has so far this season killed 15 children and sent scores to the hospital. The CDC strongly recommends getting flu shots, even though this year's vaccine is only partly effective due to a small difference between the H3N2 in the vaccine and the H3N2 that's making the rounds.
Birds have been striking out with avian flu, too, and the latest strain of the bird killer, around since 2013, finally made its way to U.S. shores in the Pacific Northwest. H7N9 has killed around a hundred people in China, but experts stress that bird flu is not yet transmittable from human to human.

Skin Cancer

 Skin cancer is the fastest-growing cancer around, especially among young white women.

Skin cancer rates jumped more than 200 percent from 1973 to 2011, making it the most common kind of cancer diagnosed among U.S. teens and young adults, it was announced in July. It's also the most preventable. Despite warnings from the Office of the Surgeon General to cover up and use sunscreen, every year more than 63,000 melanoma cases are diagnosed in the United States and nearly 9,000 people die from it.
Here are some more alarming numbers: One-third of young white women in the United States uses indoor tanning devices each year. Using a tanning device before age 30 increases the risk of developing melanoma by 75 percent, the Melanoma Research Foundation says.

Norovirus

 Norovirus is so hardy that it can live for up to a week on inanimate objects, waiting to jump on the next passing person.

It just wouldn't be a complete year without an outbreak of widespread norovirus-inspired vomiting on a cruise ship and 2014 did not disappoint. Back in January, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship carrying about 3,000 passengers suffered a norovirus outbreak that sickened 626 people. The outbreak was so bad that CDC officials boarded the ship and stayed there, accompanying the ship back to dock in New Jersey.
Norovirus is a tough bugger: Alcohol doesn't kill it, so hand sanitizers are useless; it can live up to a week on objects like doorknobs; it passes through touch, sneezing or consuming tainted food or drink. It also kills 800 people a year in the United States and sickens about 20 million.
Be careful out there.

Salmonella

Watch out for bearded dragons; some of them carry samonella.
This perennial illness raised its barfy head in 2014 too. Tainted mung bean sprouts felled 87 people earlier in December. Just today, Fisher walnut and pecan pieces were recalled for salmonella concerns. Not even the dogs are safe: A dog chew out of Virginia has tested positive for salmonella and has been recalled.
Even pets can carry the bacterium, which causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Turtles are probably the best-known pet carriers of salmonella, but baby chicks and ducks carry it too. So do bearded dragons, that popular lizardy pet. In April, a mysterious, two-year-long salmonella outbreak that sickened 132 people in 31 states was finally traced to bearded dragons. It's still not clear why some of the lizards transmit the bug; the CDC is still working on that one.

 

Brain-Eating Amoeba

These are brain-eating amoebae under a microscope.

This critter might not be something most of us have to worry about. But hey, it's good to be safe, right? In July, a young girl, Hally Nicole Yust, was doing what kids do when it's hot -- swimming in lakes. During one of those outings, an amoeba went up her nose, probably when she accidentally inhaled the lake water. The one-celled organism traveled to her brain, where it consumed her brain cells. Tragically, the girl died.
These amoebae can lurk in warm, moist places for extended periods. Something to think about before swimming in warm watering holes or using a Netipot with your home tapwater.