Police raided the village on Monday and during a search, they recovered a total of eight drums filled with raw liquor buried underground or hidden under fodder in agriculture fields.
"A hand pump attached with the drums of raw liquor hidden underground was also recovered. When police personnel started pumping it, liquor started coming out from the other end (joined by a pipe)," said Guna superintendent of police, Pankaj Shrivastava.
Police also recovered huge quantities of country-made liquor stored in drums which were hidden under the debris of fodder in farms.
"Prime facie, people dealing in illegal liquor trade had dug underground pits to hide liquor-filled drums. They were using a hand pump to take out liquor from these drums which are then filled in pouches and five-litre cans," Shrivastava said.
He said police conducted the raid on a tip-off but the persons involved in the sale of illegal liquor managed to flee.
"Police have identified eight persons and a search is on to nab them," the police officer said.
He said the village is dominated by a community and country-made liquor is being produced in almost every household there.
Shrivastava said the police had conducted raids in the past also.
The findings can help policymakers and researchers identify key risk factors that could be targeted in efforts to reduce deaths and ill health from cancer regionally, nationally, and globally.
"This study illustrates that the burden of cancer remains an important public health challenge that is growing in magnitude around the world," said Christopher Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, US.
"Smoking continues to be the leading risk factor for cancer globally, with other substantial contributors to cancer burden varying," said Murray, a co-senior author of the study.
Using results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) 2019 study, the researchers investigated how 34 behavioural, metabolic, and environmental and occupational risk factors contributed to deaths and ill health due to 23 cancer types in 2019.
Changes in cancer burden between 2010 and 2019 due to risk factors were also assessed.
Estimates of cancer burden were based on mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), a measure of years of life lost to death and years lived with disability.
In addition to 4.45 million cancer deaths which made up 44.4 per cent of all cancer deaths in 2019, risk factors included in the analysis accounted for 105 million cancer DALYs globally for both sexes in 2019 -- 42.0 per cent of all DALYs in that year, the researchers said.
Behavioural risk factors such as tobacco use, alcohol use, unsafe sex, and dietary risks were responsible for the vast majority of cancer burden globally, accounting for 3.7 million deaths and 87.8 million DALYs in 2019, they said.
The study shows that almost 2.88 million deaths in men (50.6 per cent of all male cancer deaths) could be attributed to the risk factors studied, compared to 1.58 million deaths in women (36.3 per cent of all female cancer deaths).
The leading risk factors globally for cancer deaths and ill health for both sexes were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI, the researchers said.
The leading cause of risk-attributable cancer death for both men and women globally was tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer, which accounted for 36.9 per cent of all cancer deaths attributable to risk factors, they said.
This was followed by colon and rectum cancer (13.3 per cent), oesophageal cancer (9.7 per cent), and stomach cancer (6.6 per cent) in men, and cervical cancer (17.9 per cent), colon and rectum cancer (15.8per cent), and breast cancer (11 per cent) in women.
Ill health attributed to environmental and occupational, behavioural, and metabolic risk factors increased with age, peaking in the 70s depending on countries' socio-demographic Index (SDI), with countries on the higher end of the spectrum tending to peak at later ages.
The five regions with the greatest cancer death rates due to risk factors were central Europe (82 deaths per 100,000 population), East Asia (69.8 per 100,000), high-income North America (66.0 per 100,000), Southern Latin America (64.2 per 100,000), and Western Europe (63.8 per 100,000).
Patterns of cancer deaths and ill health due to environmental and occupational, behavioural, and metabolic risks differed around the world, with unsafe sex a leading risk factor for ill health in locations at the lower end of the SDI spectrum.
Between 2010 and 2019, cancer deaths due to risk factors rose by 20.4 per cent globally, increasing from 3.7 million to 4.45 million, according to the researchers.
Ill health due to cancer increased by 16.8 per cent over the same period, rising from 89.9 million to 105 million DALYs, they said.
Metabolic risks accounted for the greatest percentage increase in cancer deaths and ill health, with deaths increasing by 34.7 per cent and DALYs by 33.3 per cent.
"Policy efforts to reduce exposure to cancer risk factors at the population level are important and should be part of comprehensive cancer control strategies that also support early diagnosis and effective treatment," said Lisa Force, Assistant Professor at IHME.
According to the World Health Organisation, the European Union is the heaviest-drinking region in the world.
While it is well recognised that long-term heavy alcohol use can cause a type of heart failure called alcoholic cardiomyopathy, evidence from Asian populations suggests that lower amounts may also be detrimental.
"This study adds to the body of evidence that a more cautious approach to alcohol consumption is needed," said Dr. Bethany Wong of St. Vincent's University Hospital in Ireland.
"To minimise the risk of alcohol causing harm to the heart, if you don't drink, don't start. If you do drink, limit your weekly consumption to less than one bottle of wine or less than three-and-a-half 500 ml cans of 4.5 per cent beer," Wong added. The findings were presented at Heart Failure 2022, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Wong noted that as the mainstay of treatment for this group is management of risk factors such as alcohol, knowledge "about safe levels is crucial".
The study included 744 adults over 40 years of age either at risk of developing heart failure due to risk factors (e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity) or with pre-heart failure (risk factors and heart abnormalities but no symptoms). The researchers analysed the association between alcohol use and heart health over a median of 5.4 years.
The results suggest that drinking more than 70 grams of alcohol per week is associated with worsening pre-heart failure or progression to symptomatic heart failure.
"We did not observe any benefits of low alcohol usage. Our results indicate that countries should advocate lower limits of safe alcohol intake in pre-heart failure patients," Wong said.
Moreover, the agitating women visited all the shops in the area as a part of their awareness campaign to stop sale of liquor.
The protestors have been demanding a ban on alcoholic beverages and other narcotic substances.
The agitators claimed that lack of action from police and excise department have led them to the streets to press for their demands.
"Alcohol consumption is leading to violence and we want all the alcoholic substances to be banned. Families are being affected due to rampant sale and consumption of liquor," said a protestor.
The agitators have threatened to take the law into their own hands if steps are not taken to prohibit sale of liquor in coming days.
https://youtu.be/ikoei4jSfFA
The new study highlights the limited positive effect of alcohol. However, the researchers are keen to stress that this limited positive effect should be considered alongside the well-established negative effects of excessive alcohol on memory and mental and physical health.
Although the cause of this effect is not yet known, the researchers explained that alcohol blocks the learning of new information and, therefore, the brain has more resources available to lay down other recently learned information into long-term memory.
"The theory is that the hippocampus -- the brain area really important in memory -- switches to 'consolidating' memories, transferring from short into longer-term memory," said Celia Morgan, Professor at University of Exeter in a paper published in Nature journal Scientific Reports.
For the study, 88 social drinkers (31 males and 57 females, aged 18-53) were given a word-learning task.
Participants were then split in two groups at random and told either to drink as much as they liked (the average was four units) or not to drink at all.
The next day, they all did the same task again -- and those who had drunk alcohol remembered more of what they had learned.
"Our research not only showed that those who drank alcohol did better when repeating the word-learning task, but that this effect was stronger among those who drank more," Morgan said.
In a second task, the participants were asked to look at images on a screen.
This task was completed once after the drinkers had drunk alcohol and again the following day, and the results did not reveal significant differences in memory performance post-drinking.
With IANS Inputs
Rout was talking to media after Agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy informed the newsmen that Chief minister Naveen Patnaik was considering waiving off farm loans in the State.
“Farmers are taking agriculture loans. But unfortunately they are using the amount to marry off their daughters. It is also observed that they consume alcohol from the loan amount,” Rout stated. He mentioned that a farmer never commits suicide, unless a ‘very adverse situation’ prompts him to do so.
Asked about Union Minister Jual Oram’s statement that BJD leaders including some MPs and MLAs are in talks to join the saffron party, Rout hinted in affirmative about the possibility.
‘’There are some ‘BJP loyalists’ in BJD. How can we deny such developments? Everybody knows the May 21, 2012 coup bid. Surprisingly people who had gone against CM Naveen Patnaik, are now safe in BJD...Naveen is my ideal and I will be loyal to him forever,” Rout said.
However, the Paradip legislator was sarcastic about the party affairs post panchayat elections. He criticised the party for not holding a review meet to analyse the poll debacle. “Where is the party meeting after panchayat polls? The party president along with other party functionaries must have done that to review where we faltered,” he said.
The increased risk of death from these causes may be related to the mental health of patients, which may be adversely affected by the psychological burden of living with and self-treating this debilitating disease, with potentially serious complications.
"We know that living with diabetes can lead to a mental-health strain. Having to monitor their glucose levels and injecting themselves daily with insulin has a huge impact on daily life; simply eating, moving and sleeping all affect blood glucose levels," said Leo Niskanen, Professor at the University of Helsinki in Finland.
"This strain combined with the anxiety of developing serious complications like heart or kidney disease may also take their toll on psychological well-being," he added.
Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes are highly prevalent global diseases, causing millions of deaths every year. However, more recently diabetes has been linked to an increased risk of depression, but how poor mental health may affect patients with diabetes has not been fully investigated.
For the study, published in the journal European Journal of Endocrinology, the team assessed suicides, alcohol-related, or accidental causes of deaths on over four lakh people with or without diabetes.
"The study highlighted a need for effective psychological support for people with diabetes. If they feel like they are under a heavy mental burden or consider that their use of alcohol is excessive, they should not hesitate to discuss these issues with their primary care physician," Niskanen said.
The study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, suggested that they are also at higher risk of poly substance use than their heterosexual peers.
"This data shows definitively that polysubstance use is an issue among many youth who identify as sexual minorities, meaning they are facing added health risks," said Sarah Dermody, Assistant Professor at the Oregon State University in the US.
"But there are also differences among the subgroups of youth who identify as sexual minorities, suggesting we need to look beyond the averages to understand what factors may be influencing substance use in this population," Dermody added.
Sexual minority is an umbrella term for those who identify with any sexual identity other than heterosexual or who report same-sex attraction or behaviour.
For the study, the team involved more than 15,000 lesbian, gay or bisexual youth. The goal of the study was to better understand the risks associated with polysubstance use, or the use of three or more types of drugs, among sexual minority youth.
The data showed that there is a sizeable number of youth, both heterosexual and sexual minority, who don't use any substances at all, Dermody said.
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But among those who do, she found that those identified as sexual minority youth were at higher risk of using each type of drug -- alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes -- compared to heterosexual youth.
And within the sexual minority youth population, some groups were at more risk than others for using one, two or all three substances, the researchers found.
Bisexual youth faced the largest increase in risk of polysubstance abuse as well as combinations of two substances, while those who identified as lesbian or gay were only at higher risk for some combinations, the team said.
The disparity may be due in part to stress from discrimination, violence and victimisation rooted in their sexual minority status, Dermody noted.
The findings showed that any health benefits of alcohol against heart disease and diabetes are outweighed by its adverse effects on other aspects of health, particularly cancers.
"The conclusions of the study are clear and unambiguous: alcohol is a colossal global health issue and small reductions in health-related harms at low levels of alcohol intake are outweighed by the increased risk of other health-related harms, including cancer," said Robyn Burton, from the King's College London.
Globally, one in three people (32.5 per cent) drink alcohol -- equivalent to 2.4 billion people -- including 25 per cent of women (0.9 billion women) and 39 per cent of men (1.5 billion men).
Consequently, 2.2 per cent of women and 6.8 per cent of men died from alcohol-related health problems each year.
"Policies focussing on reducing alcohol consumption to the lowest levels will be important to improve health.
"The widely held view of the health benefits of alcohol needs revising, particularly as improved methods and analyses continue to shed light on how much alcohol contributes to global death and disability," said lead author Max Griswold, from the University of Washington in the US.
The Global Burden of Disease study estimated the level of alcohol use and health effects in 28 million people across 195 countries between 1990 and 2016.
For people aged 50 and older, cancers were a leading cause of alcohol related death, constituting 27.1 per cent of deaths in women and 18.9 per cent deaths in men.
"Worldwide we need to revisit alcohol control policies and health programmes, and to consider recommendations for abstaining from alcohol.
"These include excise taxes on alcohol, controlling the physical availability of alcohol and the hours of sale, and controlling alcohol advertising. Any of these policy actions would contribute to reductions in population-level consumption, a vital step toward decreasing the health loss associated with alcohol use," the researchers said.
The study found that heavy alcohol intake at ages 15-19 was not associated with overall prostate cancer. However, consumption of at least seven drinks per week during this age increased 3.2 times the odds of high-grade prostate cancer.
"The prostate is an organ that grows rapidly during puberty, so it's potentially more susceptible to carcinogenic exposure during the adolescent years," said co-author Emma Allott, assistant professor at the University of North Carolinap.
"For this reason, we wanted to investigate if heavy alcohol consumption in early life was associated with the aggressiveness of prostate cancer later," Allott added.
For the study published in the Cancer Prevention Research, the research team evaluated data from 650 men undergoing a prostate biopsy between January 2007 and January 2018.
These veterans had no prior history of prostate cancer, and their ages ranged from 49 to 89 years old. The population was racially diverse -- 54 per cent of patients were non-white.
Men completed questionnaires which assessed the average number of alcoholic drinks consumed weekly during each decade of life to determine age-specific and cumulative lifetime alcohol intake.
Those who consumed at least seven alcoholic drinks per week at ages 20-29, 30-39, and 40-49, resulted in 3.14, 3.09, and 3.64 times the odds of high-grade prostate cancer, respectively, when compared with non-drinkers.
However, the current alcohol consumption was not significantly associated with high-grade prostate cancer, the researchers said.
The team also evaluated the association between cumulative lifetime alcohol consumption and prostate cancer diagnosis.
Compared with men in the lowest tertile of lifetime alcohol intake, those in the upper tertile had 3.2 times the odds of being diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer at biopsy, the team said.
Mixing energy drinks with alcohol tricks users into feeling more awake and less drunk than they really are.
However, the study on zebra fish showed that taurine -- a key ingredient of many energy drinks -- together with alcohol seemed to increase the fear-reducing properties of alcohol and also affected social communication.
"This study shows that the two together may be exacerbating some of the negative effects of binge drinking; that is reduction of fear and problems in social communication while intoxicated, which collectively increase the risk of fighting, violence and participation in risky behaviours," said Matt Parker, from Britian's University of Portsmouth.
In the study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, the team tested how taurine and alcohol affected the behaviour of 192 zebrafish.
The fish were divided into shoals (with four fish per shoal) and were exposed to either just water, taurine and alcohol separately or taurine and alcohol for one hour.
Besides analysing their shoaling behaviours, the fish were also tested for their fear-like responses to a predator by dividing the tank into four areas, with the farthest area used to mimic a predator fish.
The fish that were exposed to both alcohol and taurine had fewer interactions with other fish in the shoal compared to those exposed to water alone or just alcohol. These fish also showed more "risky" behaviour, spending more time in the predator zone than other groups.
"Alcohol reduces our inhibitions, and in low doses can cause relaxation and euphoria. However, in higher doses this low inhibition can cause problems with fighting or risky behaviour," Parker said.
However, the researchers warned that the results do not encourage people who do not drink to start drinking.
"The findings strengthen the evidence that excessive alcohol consumption is a risk factor for dementia" and "encourage use of lower thresholds of alcohol consumption in guidelines to promote cognitive health at older ages", said the researchers including Severine Sabia from the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in Paris.
"The study should not motivate people who do not drink to start drinking given the known detrimental effects of alcohol consumption for mortality, neuropsychiatric disorders, cirrhosis of the liver, and cancer," they added.
As people live longer, the number living with dementia is expected to triple by 2050. So understanding the impact of alcohol consumption on ageing outcomes is important.
For the study, published in the journal THE BMJ, the team analysed data from 9,087 participants aged between 35 and 55 years. They were assessed at regular intervals between 1985 and 1993 on their alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence.
The analysis showed that out of the 9,087 participants, 397 cases of dementia were recorded over an average follow-up period of 23 years.
The team found that abstinence in midlife or drinking more than 14 units a week was associated with a higher risk of dementia compared with drinking one to 14 units of alcohol a week.
Among those drinking above 14 units a week of alcohol, every seven unit a week increase in consumption was associated with 17 per cent increase in dementia risk.
The authors acknowledged that this is an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and the researchers cannot rule out the possibility that some of the risk may be due to unmeasured factors.
Chronic alcohol consumption modulates a host of immune defense mechanisms and increases susceptibility to infections with various pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) -- the TB-causing bacterium.
In the study, the risk was seen in young mice, not in older ones.
It was due to the production of a protein IFN-a -- involved in innate immune response against viral infection -- in the lungs by a subset of immune cells that express molecules called CD11b and Ly6G, explained researchers, led by Deepak Tripathi of the University of Texas.
For the study, published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, young and old mice were fed alcohol or control diets for one month and then infected with MtbH37Rv.
The analysis showed that 80 per cent of Mtb-infected alcohol-fed young mice died within 6 months, while the death rate was 25 per cent in Mtb-infected alcohol-fed old mice.
Further, among patients with latent tuberculosis infection, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from young alcoholic individuals produced significantly higher amounts of IFN-a than those from young non-alcoholic, old alcoholic, and old non-alcoholic individuals.
This suggests that young alcoholic individuals with latent tuberculosis infection have a higher risk of developing active tuberculosis infection.
According to the researchers, the study could facilitate the development of therapies for alcoholic individuals with latent and active Mtb infections.
In the study, the researchers noted changes in the working of the prefrontal cortex -- the brain area involved in tempering a person's levels of aggression, cognitive behaviour and decision making -- in participants just after two drinks.
While being provoked was found to have no influence on participants' neural responses, but when behaving aggressively, there was a dip in activity in the prefrontal cortex of those who had consumed alcoholic drinks.
This dampening effect was also seen in the areas of the brain that are involved with rewards. Also, heightened activity was noted in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with memories.
"Although there was an overall dampening effect of alcohol on the prefrontal cortex, even at a low dose of alcohol, we observed a significant positive relationship between dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity and alcohol-related aggression," said Thomas Denson, Associate professor at the University of New South Wales in Autralia.
"These regions may support different behaviours, such as peace versus aggression, depending on whether a person is sober or intoxicated," Denson added.
The findings, published in the journal Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioural Neuroscience, may help reduce alcohol-related harm.
The team recruited a small group of young men, who were either given two drinks containing vodka, or placebo drinks without any alcohol and then underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan.
There is a need for "large-scale investigations into the neural underpinnings of alcohol-related aggression with stronger doses and clinical samples. Doing so could eventually substantially reduce alcohol-related harm", Denson said.
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera signed an excise notification gazette extraordinary under the Excise Ordinance revoking the ban, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to a Sri Lankan law passed in the early 1950s, any alcoholic drink could not be sold to women and they were not allowed to work in any alcoholic manufacturing outlets or retail stores.
Under the new law, women will no longer require the approval of the Excise Commissioner in order to work or drink "in licensed premises", including restaurants.
"These findings indicate that insomnia may be a unique risk marker for alcohol use among young adolescents," said Naomi Marmorstein, professor at Rutgers University-Camden in the US.
The researcher examined the associations between alcohol use and sleep-related issues on seventh and eighth grade students.
When sleep problems were found to be associated with frequency of alcohol use, the researcher examined whether symptoms of mental health problems or levels of parental monitoring accounted for these associations.
The study, published in the Journal Addictive Behaviours, examined the development of mental health problems and resilience among at-risk youth.
The participants of the study completed questionnaires that asked how long it took for them to fall asleep, what times they usually went to bed on a weekday and on the weekend or vacation night, how often they experienced sleep disturbances and whether they ever fell asleep in class or had trouble staying awake after school.
They were also asked the frequency of any alcohol use in the previous four months.
The researcher determined that symptoms of mental health problems and parental monitoring did not account for the link between insomnia and alcohol use.
Overall, there were associations between alcohol and both insomnia and daytime sleepiness.
"Parents, educators and therapists should consider insomnia to be a risk marker for alcohol use and alcohol use a risk marker for insomnia, among early adolescents," said Marmorstein.
Teenagers downing over 10 beers in one night and high on pot were less likely to go to college, get full-time work or even get married, it said.
The findings showed that dependence on alcohol and marijuana might affect young boys more severely as they were more likely to achieve less across all four measures on achievement of life goals -- education, employment, marriage and social economic potential.
"This study found that chronic marijuana use in adolescence was negatively associated with achieving important developmental milestones in young adulthood," said lead author Elizabeth Harari, psychiatrist from the University of Connecticut.
Given the current move in the US toward marijuana legalisation for medicinal and possibly recreational use, awareness of marijuana's potentially deleterious effects will be important moving forward, Harari added.
The results were presented at the American Public Health Association 2017 Annual Meeting and Expo in Atlanta.
For the study, the team included 1,165 young adults from across the US whose habits were first assessed at age 12 and then at two-year intervals until they were between 25 and 34 years old.
Previous research had shown that heavy use of alcohol or marijuana in adolescence affects people developmentally.
This study followed up on that, to look at what happens after age 18, the researchers said.
The findings, led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, showed that within two years of the dental procedure, fillings failed more often in patients who drank alcohol, while the overall filling failure rate was higher in men who smoked.
Furthermore, people with a difference in the gene for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP2) -- an enzyme found in teeth -- were at increased risk of filling failure.
This could be because MMP2 might be able to degrade the bond between the filling and the tooth surface, potentially leading to failure, the researchers said.
The results, published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, suggest that genetic analysis might help dentists to personalise treatments for their patients, which could lead to improved outcomes.
"A better understanding of individual susceptibility to dental disease and variation in treatment outcomes will allow the dental field to move forward," said Alexandre Vieira, a researcher from the varsity.
"In the future, genetic information may be used to personalise dental treatments and enhance treatment outcomes," Vieira added.
For the study, the team from America and Brazil analysed dental records of 807 patients.
Fillings can fail for a variety of reasons, including re-emergence of the initial tooth decay or the filling becoming detached.
The researchers also examined if newer composite resin fillings are as durable as traditional amalgam fillings, which have been in use for more than 150 years but which contain mercury, a toxic metal.
The researchers found that overall, there were no major differences between patients receiving amalgam or composite fillings in terms of filling failure rates.
Researchers said it was well known that alcohol impairs cognitive, motor functions as well as executive mental functions, which include the ability to remember, pay attention and inhibit inappropriate behaviours.
Executive functions are also important when speaking a second, non-native language, so alcohol was expected to reduce the ability to speak a second language.
However, the findings showed that alcohol increases self-confidence and reduces social anxiety, both of which might be expected to improve language ability when interacting with another person.
"Our study shows that acute alcohol consumption may have beneficial effects on the pronunciation of a foreign language in people who recently learned that language," said Inge Kersbergen, from the University of Liverpool.
"This provides some support for the lay belief (among bilingual speakers) that a low dose of alcohol can improve their ability to speak a second language," Kersbergen added.
Furthermore, many bilingual speakers believe that alcohol can improve their ability to speak a second language, the researchers said, in a paper published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
For the study, the team tested the effects of a low dose of alcohol -- just under a pint (460ml) of 5 per cent beer, for a 70 kg male -- on participants' self-rated and observer-rated ability to converse in Dutch.
Participants who had consumed alcohol had significantly better observer-ratings for their Dutch language, specifically better pronunciation, compared to those who had not consumed alcohol, the researchers found.
One possible reason could be the anxiety-reducing effect of alcohol. Nevertheless, "we need to be cautious about the implications of these results until we know more about what causes the observed results", the researchers noted.
The findings showed a link between the brain's immunity and the motivation to drink alcohol at night.
This may be because our body's circadian rhythms affect the "reward" signals we receive in the brain from drug-related behaviour and the peak time for this reward typically occurs during the evening or dark phase, the researchers said.
"Alcohol is the world's most commonly consumed drug and there is a greater need than ever to understand the biological mechanisms that drive our need to drink alcohol," said lead author Jon Jacobsen, PhD student at the University of Adelaide, Australia.
"We wanted to test what the role of the brain's immune system might have on that reward and whether or not we could switch it off," Jacobsen added.
In the study, published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity, the team switched off the impulse to drink alcohol by giving mice a drug that blocks a specific response from the immune system in the brain.
The researchers administered the drug (+)-Naltrexone, which is known to block the immune receptor Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in mice.
The results showed a significant reduction in alcohol drinking behaviour by mice that had been given (+)-Naltrexone, specifically at night when the reward for drug-related behaviour is usually at its greatest.
"We concluded that blocking a specific part of the brain's immune system did in fact substantially decrease the motivation of mice to drink alcohol in the evening," Jacobsen said.
These findings point to the need for further research to understand the implications for drinking behaviour in humans, the researchers noted.
A new data from more than 190 countries presented on Saturday at the International Liver Congress 2017 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, suggests that every increase in temperature of one degree Celsius was linked with a decrease in the alcohol-attributable fraction (AAF) of cirrhosis of 0.3 per cent.
Heavy alcohol intake causes a perception of warmth, while fewer sunlight hours have been linked to depression, which, in turn, may lead to alcohol abuse. As a result, the researchers hypothesised that colder countries would have higher rates of alcohol consumption and therefore an increased burden of alcoholic cirrhosis.
"Our research reveals that a country's climate and geographical location have a startling influence on the burden of liver cirrhosis," said lead author Dr Neil D. Shah, and senior author Dr Ramon Bataller from the University of North Carolina.
"As average temperatures and yearly hours of sunshine decrease and latitude increases, rates of alcohol-attributable cirrhosis increase. This suggests that drinking alcohol excessively to combat the cold and dark could put people at increased risk of suffering from alcoholic cirrhosis."
In the univariate analysis conducted by researchers, there was an inverse association between mean average temperature, mean annual sunshine hours and a positive association with absolute latitude with AAF.
In the multivariate analysis, average temperature and sunshine hours remained independently associated with the burden of alcohol-attributable liver cirrhosis or AAF after adjusting for the percentage of binge drinkers among active drinkers and alcohol consumption.
Researchers at Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) in the US discovered a gene that had lower expression in the brains of non-human primates which voluntarily consumed heavy amounts of alcohol compared to those that drank less.
Furthermore, the team unraveled a link between alcohol and how it modulates the levels of activity of this particular gene.
Researchers discovered that when they increased the levels of the gene encoded protein in mice, they reduced alcohol consumption by almost 50 per cent without affecting the total amount of fluid consumed or their overall well-being.
The study modified the levels of the protein encoded by a single gene known as GPR39.
The prevalence rates of co-occurring mood and alcohol use disorders are high, with individuals with alcohol use disorder being 3.7 times more likely to have major depression than those who do not abuse alcohol.
Using a commercially available substance that mimics the activity of the GPR39 protein, the researchers found that targeting this gene dramatically reduced alcohol consumption in mice, showed the findings of the study published in the journal, Neuropsychopharmacology.
"The study highlights the importance of using cross-species approaches to identify and test relevant drugs for the treatment of alcohol use disorder," noted senior author Rita Cervera-Juanes, Research Assistant Professor at ONPRC.
Anshuman has always been concerned about the effects of alcohol on human health and society. He also wants the public to become aware about the negative effects of alcohol consumption and convert Odisha to an alcohol free State.
To incorporate this move in a more widespread and effective manner, Anshuman decided to set out on foot so that he can reach out to the public, especially the youth masses personally and make them aware about the perils.
"The society is on the path of destruction. The world we live in is no more in a good condition. Women are getting exploited, youth is going astray, the main reason being alcohol. To avoid this state in future and to bring the youth on the right path so that they can bring progress in society, I have set out on foot to meet the Governor with a strict memorandum," said, Anshuman Das, the man behind the move.
Das' padyatra will conclude at Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar on the World Women's Day (March 8).
The team at US-based Scripps Research used a laser treatment to temporarily inactivate a specific neuron, which not only reversed alcohol-seeking behaviour but also reduced the physical symptoms of withdrawal.
"This discovery is exciting. It means we have another piece of the puzzle to explain the neural mechanism driving alcohol consumption," said Olivier George, Associate Professor at Scripps.
Although the treatment is far from ready for human use, George believes identifying these neurons opens the door to developing drug therapies or even gene therapies to control alcohol addiction.
For the study, reported in Nature Communications journal, the team tested the role of a subset of neurons in the ensemble, called corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons. They found these CRF neurons make up 80 per cent of the ensemble.
Rats were surgically implanted with optic fibres aimed to shine light on the CRF neurons -- to make them inactive at the flip of a switch.
Once rats were alcohol dependent, the researchers withdrew alcohol, prompting withdrawal symptoms in rats. When they were offered alcohol again, rats drank more than ever. The CeA neuronal ensemble was active, telling rats to drink more.
When the CRF neurons were inactivated, rats immediately returned to their pre-dependent drinking levels. The intense motivation to drink had gone. Inactivating these neurons also reduced the physical symptoms of withdrawal, such as abnormal gait and shaking.
"We were able to characterise, target and manipulate a critical subset of neurons responsible for excessive drinking," said Giordano de Guglielmo, staff scientist at Scripps.
The findings showed adults under 35 years with a hearing loss were 2.5 times more likely to have a prescription opioid use disorder.
In addition, those between age 35 years and 49 years who had hearing loss were nearly twice as likely as their hearing peers to have disorders related to both prescription opioids and alcohol, said the study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
For the study, the team included 86,186 adults.
"Hearing loss is connected with a variety of health problems, including mental and physical health, which may place these individuals at risk for pain disorders. Also, the marginalising effects of hearing loss, such as social isolation, may be creating higher rates of substance use disorders too," said Michael McKee from University of Michigan in the US.
For those whose health care providers know of their hearing loss, McKee suspects that the higher rate of prescription opioid use disorder may stem from a higher rate of being placed on controlled substances to quickly address pain issues, perhaps because of communication barriers.
"That means that consequently, even relatively small preventable proportions translate into large numbers of preventable breast cancers," said Maarit Laaksonen, from the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Over the next decade, drinking alcohol will lead to 13 per cent increase of breast cancer cases in pre-menopausal women and six per cent in post-menopausal breast cancers. Being overweight or obese will contribute to 13 per cent cases.
Together, these modifiable risk factors -- regular alcohol consumption and excessive weight gain -- will be responsible for nearly 30,000 cases of breast cancer by next decade, noted the study published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Further, the use of menopausal hormone therapy was found to account for seven per cent of post-menopausal breast cancers, with over 90 per cent of this burden caused by a long-term use.
Similarly, long-term use of oral contraceptives accounted for seven per cent of pre-menopausal breast cancers.
However, it is not recommended that women restrict their use of oral contraceptives as they are actually cancer-protective and provide long-term protection against endometrial and ovarian cancers, suggesting that the potential benefits, including reproductive benefits, outweigh the harms, Laaksonen said, adding that further studies are needed to confirm the results.
Maintaining a healthy weight and not consuming alcohol regularly could help prevent thousands of breast cancer cases, he suggested.
The excitement of being a mother is incomparable. But, alongside, numerous thoughts must be streaming in your mind. It is likely to develop the urge to learn everything-good and bad, about pregnancy. As you are stepping into an incredible journey of bringing an angel into your life, you must be aware about everything related to pregnancy.
You must give high efforts and get prepared to handle the responsibility. But, before that you need to ensure about your health as well as health of the new life growing in your womb. Balanced and healthy lifestyle choices are essential for proper growth and development of the foetus. Don't leave a stone unturned for ensuring healthy pregnancy as it determines the new life's health.
Here we bring a collection of the best tips for ensuring healthy pregnancy and healthy baby.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Expecting mothers should gain the right weight during pregnancy as it helps the baby to grow healthy. But remember, gaining too much weight or too less can lead to serious health ailments for you as well as your baby. The risks associated with gaining too much weight are diabetes and high blood pressure. Excessive weight may also cause complication during delivery and would raise the requirement of cesarean section. Healthy weight of the mother helps for easier pregnancy and also reduces the risks of weight-related problem or obesity in your child. Consult a certified health care provider to know how much amount of weight you should gain periodically. The health care provider will suggest the right weight gain amount after analyzing your age, current weight and health condition. Don't lose weight in the pregnancy period as it may affect the baby's growth.
Eat Healthy Food
Eating healthy food is for overall wellness. But, for expecting mothers, right amount of calorie intake is essential. Eat right food and forbid fat and sugar from the list. Pregnant women as well as the growing baby require vitamin, calcium, iron, protein, fiber and other essential nutrients. Make sure to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, calcium rich food, whole grains and foods with low saturated fat. You need to add spinach, broccoli, oranges, kidney beans, yogurt, milk, peas, beans, eggs, seafood, almond, rice, oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat bread, carrots, bananas, melon, etc in your plate. Don't skip your breakfast and limit consumption of salt, solid fats and restrict soft cheeses and uncooked meat and seafood from your plate. Make sure to add mushrooms, yeast, beans and leafy vegetables in your diet as these are rich source of folic acid which prevents birth defects.
Stay Hydrated
Pregnant women must intake more water than normal. Your body must remain hydrated as the impacts of dehydration will affect the baby. Consume water in intervals.
Adequate Sleep and Rest
You must get adequate sleep and rest during pregnancy. Sleeping for 7-9 hours a day is essential for you as well as your baby. Sleep to your left side as it improves blood flow in your body and also in your baby. Apart from adequate sleep, make sure about sound sleep with specific arrangements.
Restrict Awful Habits
If you have the habit of caffeine or alcohol consumption or smoking, stop that right away. Women should stay away from alcohol, smoking and caffeine before and during pregnancy and also continue the habit until the baby breastfeeds. Alcohol consumption increases the risk of affecting the baby with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder which causes learning disabilities, abnormal facial features and behavioral issues. Smoking increases the risk of SIDS- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, miscarriages, premature birth as well as several other terrible outcomes. Passive smoking also is dangerous for your baby's health.
Stress Management
Stress affects every person. But, building stress during pregnancy affects the health condition of both the mother and baby. You must opt for stress management to improve the birth outcomes. Avoid stressful situations and be with your loved ones.
Physical Activities
Remaining physically active during pregnancy is essential. Regular physical activity will help you as well as your baby to gain right amount of weight. Apart from gaining weight, physical activities will reduce backaches, bloating and leg cramps which are common during pregnancy. Physical activities will also reduce the risks of gestational diabetes. Consult a certified healthcare provider to learn the limitations of physical activities and the to-do list. Physical activities including aerobic and exercises at least for 30 minutes a day will help.
Disclaimer: This piece of information is an informative one only. It is always advisable to consult an experienced healthcare expert and seek the best suggestions to get the best benefits.
People, certainly, plan for family vacations, outdoor water sports, swimming, biking, and even a hangout at beach or exploring the rich flora. However, the excitement over the wish lists evaporate, once one steps out into the scorching Sun. The gruelling Sun rays suck the enthusiasm in no time. Apart from extinguishing the thrill of the vacation, fuming Sun accelerates dehydration and also causes electrolyte imbalances in you. This state of imbalance in body minerals make you feel somewhat un-spirited. Not only that, extreme heat may also cause heat stroke which can be life-threatening for you.
Not all is gloom and doom about summer. You can enjoy the summer, provided you stay hydrated. Following are the best tips to boost up your hydration level and make this summer enjoyable and a memorable one with your family.
Drink Plenty of Water
You never know how much water your body excretes. Naturally, in summer the excretion rate gets higher making your body dehydrated. Drink plenty of water in summer. The intake quantity of water must be more than the usual. Make sure to take water in regular intervals during the day. Our body also requires electrolytes and carbohydrates. So, make sure to consume plenty of water along with electrolytes and carbohydrates for healthy muscle and nerve function, which will keep you rejuvenated in summer.
Know the Right Quantity of Water Your Body Needs
Usually, an average adult requires 3.7 litres of water daily. But elderly people or individuals having diabetes or heart complications need drinking more water. If you have complaints about certain health conditions, consult a doctor and seek suggestions to determine the right quantity of water. The doctor may advise you to follow special precautions for avoiding dehydration.
Note down How Much you Sweat
Perspiration is a natural activity which increases in summer days. Sweating is the mechanism through which the body cools itself. The more you sweat the more fluid your body excretes. Athletes loose more fluids or even you can face the same instance after extensive gym workout. If you are in extreme temperature, you may miss to note how much you sweat. The simple way to know how much you sweat is to weigh yourself before and after the physical works. You need to replenish the excreted fluid.
Verify your Urine Colour
Urine colour is the key indicator of determining dehydration. If urine colour is pale yellow and clear, your body is properly hydrated. If the colour is dark, it is a possible warning sign of dehydration. Don't ignore the signals of dehydration and take steps for immediately rehydrating your body.
Stay Away from Alcohol
Cool individuals prefer taking a cold beer being near the beach. Though chilled beer is tempting, you are wrong if you think, you can get a relief from the heat with a beer. Alcohol accelerates dehydration and you will soon regret for it, if you intake more than moderate quantity. If you are drinking during the summer days, make sure to drink extra amount of water to compensate the effects caused by alcohol.
Keep Hot Drinks in Limitation
Summer is all about cool and refreshing drinks to rejuvenate your mood. If you are addicted to hot drinks like tea or coffee, make sure to keep your habits in limitations. The benefits of water for hydrating the body are unmatched. Don't ruin your plans by taking a tea or coffee in hot summer.
Follow Precautions While Performing Exercise
Individuals with the habit of performing exercise regularly to stay fit must be extra cautious. Physical work-outs increases the body temperature. Avoid work-out session during times of high temperature. You can set your schedule in cooler times of the day or even opt for indoor exercise.
Add Food with High Water Content
Certainly, water is the main constituent that keeps your body hydrated. But, water is not the only source of hydrating your body. You can add certain fruits with rich water contents. Research and find out the list of ideal fruits with rich water content. You can take such fruits without any second thought.
Take Showers to Stabilize Your Body Temperature
Bathing or taking a shower normally increases with the rising temperature. Cool bath will not hydrate your body but will reduce the sweating tendency, which will prevent the body from losing excessive sweat.
Disclaimer: This piece of information is an informative one only. It is always advisable to consult an experienced healthcare expert and seek the best suggestions to get the best benefits.
The study showed that in some cases this is characterised by a lack of problem-solving and high avoidance coping strategies like drinking alcohol when having a problem and experiencing very frequent negative emotions.
"Overall, our results show the need to consider not only exposure to and types of bullying but also their associated consequences," said Roberta Fida, Professor at the University of East Anglia in England.
"In particular, the findings highlight that victimisation is associated not only with health problems but also with a greater likelihood of not behaving in line with the expected social and organisational norms," Fida added.
Bullying is one of the major occupational stresses for employees and the effects can compromise their development and health, as well as interfere with the achievement of both personal and professional goals.
In the study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the researchers identified different configurations of victims by considering not only exposure to and types of bullying, but also health problems and bad behaviour.
The researchers asked more than 1000 Italian employees about their experiences of workplace bullying, counterproductive behaviour and health symptoms.
They were also asked about their coping strategies, negative emotions experienced at work and moral disengagement.
"The greater the intensity of bullying and the more the exposure to different types of bullying, the higher the likelihood of engaging in counterproductive workplace behaviour," said study lead author Fida.
"In addition, it is essential to also promote behavioural regulation strategies to reduce moral disengagement, as well as negative compensating behaviour, such as drinking more alcohol and taking more risks," Fida added.
An analysis of US national survey data showed that some 21 per cent of women and 23 per cent of men -- an estimated 53 million adults -- experienced harm because of someone else's drinking in the last 12 months.
These harms could be threats or harassment, ruined property or vandalism, physical aggression, harms related to driving or financial or family problems.
The most common harm was threats or harassment, reported by 16 per cent of survey respondents, said researchers led by Madhabika B. Nayak of the Alcohol Research Group, a programme of the Public Health Institute in Oakland, California.
The specific types of harm experienced differed by gender. Women were more likely to report financial and family problems, whereas ruined property, vandalism and physical aggression were more likely to be reported by men.
There is "considerable risk for women from heavy, often male, drinkers in the household and, for men, from drinkers outside their family," wrote the authors in a paper published in Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
Additional factors, including age and the person's own drinking, were also important.
People younger than age 25 had a higher risk of experiencing harm from someone else's drinking.
Further, almost half of men and women who themselves were heavy drinkers said they had been harmed by someone else's drinking.
Even people who drank but not heavily were at two to three times the risk of harassment, threats and driving-related harm compared with abstainers.
"Control policies, such as alcohol pricing, taxation, reduced availability, and restricting advertising, may be the most effective ways to reduce not only alcohol consumption but also alcohol's harm to persons other than the drinker," said Nayak.
Making a statement in response to a calling attention motion introduced by BJP MP RK Sinha, Social Justice and Empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said over 16 crore people in the country consume alcohol, around 3.1 crore use Cannabis and about 77 lakh people take opioids.
More than 5.7 crore alcohol users, 72 lakh cannabis users and about 77 lakh opioid users are addicted and need help, the minister said.
Gehlot said the findings were part of a national household survey conducted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in 2018.
"The report establishes that a substantial number of people use psychoactive substances in India and the substance use exists in all the population groups with adult men bearing the brunt of substance use disorders," Gehlot said.
The survey also indicates that around 1.18 crore people between the age group of 10-75 years are taking sedatives and 77 lakh are using inhalents.
Children and adolescents were found to be using inhalents more than others.
Gehlot said the household sample survey covered all the 36 states and union territories of the country .
It was done in collaboration with the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), ten other medical institutes and a network of 15 NGOs.
Over 1,500 personnel were involved in the data collection from population of age group between 10-75 years, he added
During the survey over two lakh households were visited in 186 districts of the country and a total of 4,73,569 individuals were interviewed, he added.
Gehlot said the government is also conducting a survey in ten cities across the country to assess the pattern and profile of substance use among school and college students.
The study is part of a national survey conducted last year.
"Total sample size for this survey would include 6,000 students and 2,000 college students. The report of this survey is expected to be received by November this year," he said.
The study covers cities like Srinagar, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Ranchi.
Elaborating on various actions being taken by the government to curb the drug addition menance, Gehlot said it has prepared a National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction (NAPDDR) for the period 2018-2025.
As part of the NAPDDR, the ministry is undertaking focussed intervention programmes in 127 high risk districts, he added.
During 2018-19, the government released Rs 112.33 crore for the programme while in the current fiscal an outlay of Rs 135 crore has been allocated, Gehlot said.
Initiating the discusson on the matter, RK Sinha said the problem of drug addiction has reached even villages with many children falling prey to the menace. He sought capital punishment for the people involved in drug trade.
Elamaram Kareem (CPI-M) said that efforts need to be put in to make the educational campuses more vibrant in order to check the problem.
TKS Elangovan (DMK) sought severe punishment for people involved in narcotics trade. D Raja (CPI) said the problem also needs to dealt at social level.
Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD), Veer Singh (BSP), Vijaysai Reddy (YSRCP), A Navaneethakrishnan (AIADMK), Ravi Prakash Verma (SP), Sushil Kumar Gupta (AAP), Shamsher Singh Dullo (Congress), Kahkashan Perween (JDU) and Ram Vichar Netam (BJP) among others, participated in the debate.
The entire drama lasted for over 30 minutes. As the woman hurled abuses, nobody dared to get close to her.
Soon a team of cops from Khandagiri Police station arrived in a PCR van and took the girl into custody. However, the cops too had a tough time in controlling the woman.
COMT is the name of a gene that helps the body manage dopamine, a chemical that is released when a person drinks alcohol or takes a drug like amphetamine.
The research by William R. Lovallo from the University of Oklahoma's College of Medicine focused on a small mutation of COMT.
People with this mutation of the COMT gene are more vulnerable to the effects of stress in their early lives.
That heightened vulnerability often leads to consumption of alcohol and drugs younger than age 15, which is one of the biggest independent predictors of addiction, said the study published in the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
"Early-life adversity doesn't make everyone an alcoholic," Lovallo said.
"The study showed that people with this genetic mutation are going to have a higher risk for addiction when they had a stressful life growing up."
Because the COMT gene is involved with how well dopamine works in the brain, the behaviour of the genetic mutation is especially revealing.
"This one random mutation makes a difference in how the COMT gene works fine in one person but not as well in another person," Lovallo said.
Many of us know people who drink alcohol moderately and never have any problems. And we know people who drink a little and then go down the path toward alcoholism.
"There is no such thing as a gene for addiction, but there are genes that respond to our environment in ways that put us at risk. You have to have the right combination to develop the risk factors," he emphasized.
The report attributed the decline in what was considered to be one of the heaviest-drinking countries in the world to a series of alcohol-control measures implemented by the state, especially under then President Dmitri Medvedev, and a push towards healthy lifestyles.
According to the WHO, the drop in alcohol consumption was linked to a significant rise in life expectancy in the country.
"Alcohol consumption has long been recognised as one of the main driving factors of mortality in the Russian Federation, especially among men of working age," the report said, adding that from 2003 to now, both alcohol consumption and mortality rate decreased.
In 2018, life expectancy in Russia reached a historic peak, at 68 years for men and 78 years for women.
Alcohol-control measures introduced under then President Medvedev included advertising restrictions, increased taxes on alcohol and a ban on alcohol sales between certain hours.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder and raises the risk of stroke by five-fold. Symptoms include palpitations, racing or irregular pulse, shortness of breath, tiredness, chest pain and dizziness.
"Our study suggests that drinking less often may also be important to protect against atrial fibrillation," said study author Jong-Il Choi, from Korea University College in South Korea.
For the study, published in the journal EP Europace, researchers examined the relative importance of frequent drinking versus binge drinking for new-onset atrial fibrillation.
The analysis included 9,776,956 individuals without atrial fibrillation who underwent a national health check-up in 2009 which included a questionnaire about alcohol consumption.
Participants were followed-up until 2017 for the occurrence of atrial fibrillation.
The number of drinking sessions per week was the strongest risk factor for new-onset atrial fibrillation.
Compared with drinking twice per week (reference group), drinking every day was the riskiest, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.412, while drinking once a week was the least risky (HR 0.933).
Binge drinking did not show any clear link with new-onset atrial fibrillation.
"Our study suggests that frequent drinking is more dangerous than infrequent binge drinking with regard to atrial fibrillation," Choi said.
The number of drinking sessions was related to atrial fibrillation onset regardless of age and sex.
Repeated episodes of atrial fibrillation triggered by alcohol may lead to overt disease, the research notes.
In addition, drinking can provoke sleep disturbance which is a known risk factor for atrial fibrillation.
There was a two per cent increase in the risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation for each gram of alcohol consumed per week.
Compared to mild drinkers, those who drank no alcohol, moderate, or high amounts had 8.6 per cent, 7.7 per cent, and 21.5 per cent elevated risks, respectively, the study said.
The father was arrested from Kerikerijhola village under Sheragada police station limit on the charge of the killing that occurred on Monday night.
Inspector in-charge of Sheragada police station Ramesh Chandra Pradhan said 25-year-old Pintu Gouda used to come home drunk and create nuisance in the house.
Gouda, who was married, also regularly demanded money from his father. He had attacked his father for refusing to give him around two months ago, Pradhan said.
On Monday night, Gouda demanded Rs 10,000 from his father who told him to quit liquor first. That led to an argument and he was hacked to death.
The police registered a murder case against the accused.
In a recent study by Sealy UK, over 65 per cent of the 2,058 Britain citizens surveyed had admitted to waking up feeling tired on at least three days every week, Mail Online reported.
The research found that vegans fared worst of all when it came to sleep quality. They woke up feeling tired -- on an average -- four days a week. More than one in five admitted to feeling sleepy every morning.
So, can eating certain things help us sleep better?
Sleep expert Holly Housby points out that foods can indeed help us get us a better night sleep.
One of them is cheese, especially mozzarella, a source of tryptophan that plays a vital role in the production of serotonin and in turn sleep-inducing hormone melatonin.
Carbohydrates have been shown to make tryptophan more available to the brain, so your late-night cheese toast may actually be beneficial for sleep, the report added.
Oats can also help improve the quality of sleep due to vitamins and minerals that support relaxation. These are a natural source of melatonin -- a hormone that regulates our sleeping and waking cycles.
Salmon, especially the wild variety, is a source of nutrients that encourage sleep-regulating hormone serotonin. Salmon is a good source of omega 3, magnesium, Vitamin B6 and tryptophan, all of which encourage serotonin.
Milk is another good source of melatonin and tryptophan. This is because cows are milked at night when their melatonin is naturally higher.
Soy products are a good source of tryptophan. Tofu is also rich in protein and can contain calcium, both of which are sleep-promoting compounds.
Eggs are high in vitamin D and contain tryptophan, both renowned for sleep-inducing properties.
Cherries contain antioxidants like anthocyanins, which work alongside melatonin to help you maintain a deeper sleep for longer, the daily report said. Like oats, cherries are extremely high in melatonin.
Avocados contain magnesium that decreases your levels of cortisol -- the stress hormone -- thus helping to calm the nervous system in preparation for sleep.
Discussing the findings of the Sealy UK survey, nutritionist Dr Tom Hill was quoted: "Whilst the evidence for a role of nutrition in sleep is limited, it is well recognised that being very overweight may reduce sleep quality.
"Therefore, maintaining a healthy weight through a balanced diet may be beneficial to maintaining healthy sleep in the long run."
Holly said: "Many of us are desperate to achieve a better night's sleep, but seemingly, lots of us are unaware of how the foods we eat during the day can have an impact on us during the night.
"However, it's not just about your diet. Those looking to improve their sleep should look to do everything possible to create an environment which makes top-quality sleep more likely.
"This could include investing in a comfortable and supportive bed, avoiding alcohol in the hours before bed, or implementing a regular pre-sleep routine."
(IANS)
In the study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, researchers used a framework developed to show causality between tobacco advertising and youth smoking and applied it to alcohol advertising.
According to the researchers, youth are particularly vulnerable to the influence of advertising due to their potential for forming brand loyalties at an early age, limited skepticism, and high use of social media--where alcohol marketing is increasingly found.
"The association of alcohol and tobacco advertising exposure and adolescent perceptions, knowledge of, and use of these substances are remarkably similar, adding to the much-needed evidence that the association between alcohol advertising and teen alcohol use is causal in nature," said the study's researcher Michael Weitzman from New York University in the US.
In this study, the researchers used one of the key elements of the Bradford Hill criteria -- a well-known framework for determining causal links between environmental exposures and disease -- to determine whether marketing is a cause of youth alcohol use, focusing on the criterion that relies on analogous relationships already established as causal.
They found that, in every aspect studied, the influence of tobacco and alcohol advertising on teenagers were analogous.
For instance, both tobacco and alcohol companies have used mascots in advertisements, which research shows are easily recognised and trusted by children.
In addition, both tobacco and alcohol companies use or have used movies, television, and sporting events as opportunities for advertising and product placement, with studies showing that exposure to smoking and drinking increases the risk for youth initiation.
The researchers also found that neighbourhoods with large numbers of tobacco retailers expose youth to more tobacco advertising and make it easier to buy cigarettes.
Finally, the researchers found that exposure to tobacco and alcohol advertising and teen knowledge, attitudes, initiation, and continued use of the products are extraordinarily similar.
Many studies show that advertising is a risk factor for both smoking and drinking, with several studies showing a dose-dependent relationship, with more exposure to advertising increasing consumption, the researchers said.
(IANS)
A substance called ethanol or ethyl alcohol present in alcoholic beverages harms the immune system of an individual. Other toxic substances that smell like ethanol are also added to adulterated beverages.
Ethyl alcohol is also one of the key ingredients to prepare hand disinfectants that are in high demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Social media is filled with memes and messages around consumption of alcohol to kill viruses inside a human body, but the fact remains that consuming alcohol will increase the risk of contracting infections," said Santosh Kumar Enaganti, Senior Consultant Medical Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist at Continental Hospitals.
"Liver is a sensitive yet vital organ and there are numerous risks like jaundice, cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer etc. caused due to heavy consumption of alcohol. In fact, binge-indulgence with alcohol results in significant bodily impairment. Hence, it is best advised to stay away from alcohol, avoid risks, at least during these times when a pandemic is knocking on the doors," he said.
Alcohol and smoking are associated with the dangerous progression of COVID-19. Those with existing liver disease and those above 60 years of age should be extra careful as these patients are more likely to have adverse outcomes if they contract COVID-19.
Read: Scientists Confirm Smell And Taste Loss As Early Signs Of COVID-19
According to Sudheer Vinnamala, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Hepatologist and Therapeutic Endoscopist at KIMS Hospitals, Kondapur, liver diseases can result from several causes such as alcohol, viral infections (hepatitis B, hepatitis C), autoimmune drug/ medications etc.
"Every year about 10 lakh patients are newly diagnosed with liver cirrhosis around the world. Recent World Health Organization data shows liver disease-related deaths in India has reached 259,749 per year that is A2.95% of total deaths," said Vinnamala.
Liver disease ranges from mild spectrum of self-limiting illness due to infection or fat deposition in liver to the severe form with cirrhosis, acute or chronic liver failure requiring transplantation.
With advancing age and increasing epidemic of obesity, more and more people are now developing obesity-related liver disease called NASH or Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis.
He pointed out that there is a shift from traditional infection-related liver disease to the 21st century causes like weight gain, decreasing exercise, increased alcohol consumption, increased incidence of diabetes and longer life expectancy leading to advanced liver disease in patients with multiple other comorbidities.
According to Vinnamala, people with suppressed immune systems due to immunosuppressive medication, over 60 years of age, people with other comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease or as a component of other illnesses are at elevated risk of both contracting COVID infection and having more severe disease.
While most patients with mild liver disease do not require any additional precautions other than social distancing and general safety measures, people with cirrhosis or those taking immunosuppressive medications such as steroids, and patients awaiting liver transplant or already those who have received one are at high risk of developing a severe form of the disease if they are infected with the coronavirus.
(IANS)
Also Read: COVID-19 Can Spread Even Before People Show Symptoms
When hungover, individuals have a reduced ability to retain information in their short-term memory - for example retaining a telephone number whilst taking a message at the same time. They also highlight impairments when it comes to individuals' ability to switch attention between tasks and focus on a goal. Such individuals face problem to plan or set goals and make decisions.
Published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, the study highlights the true impact of heavy drinking and provides new evidence as to why hangovers cost the wider economy so much.
A recent report, which involved the same team, found that hangovers cost the UK economy 1.4 billion pounds a year in wasted productivity, including people working while hungover.
"We know that hangovers can have a big economic cost, but we did not know how hangover affects our ability to switch attention from one task to another, update information in our mind, and maintain focus on setting goals," said study lead author Craig Gunn from the University of Bath in the UK.
Read: Drinking Alcohol Will Not Protect You From COVID-19: WHO
"Our study asked participants to complete tasks measuring these processes when they had a hangover and again when they had not consumed alcohol. The results suggest that all of these processes are impaired by a hangover, which could have consequences for other aspects of our lives," Gun explained.
The latest study involved thirty-five 18 to 30-year-olds who had reported experiencing a hangover at least once in the past month.
Individuals completed measures which assessed their ability to switch attention between tasks, to update and process information from multiple sources and to guide and plan behaviour, whilst experiencing a hangover.
Few studies have explored how hangover affects key cognitive processes, the so-called 'core executive functions', which we use in daily life to planning, set goals and make decisions.
"Our data show that this impairment is likely the result of reduced capability in several core executive functions, which are important for tasks such as workplace performance and driving," said study senior author Dr Sally Adams.
(IANS)
Also Read: Exposure To Alcohol Ads Can Lead To Teenage Drinking
The remarks came from a bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B.R. Gavai during the hearing of a PIL through video conferencing. The PIL complained of indiscriminate flouting of all social distancing norms at the liquor vends after they were reopened on May 4.
The top court observed that it is not feasible to pass orders on the PIL filed under Article 32 and instead asked the state governments to consider selling liquor through other viable options, keeping in place social distancing norms.
The court said, "We will not pass any order. States should consider indirect sale or home delivery of liquor to maintain social distancing."
Advocate Sai Deepak, representing the petitioner, submitted that the opening of liquor shops should not meddle with the lives of the common people.
The petition under Article 32 of the Constitution sought direction from the apex court to the Centre in order to declare the new COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Union of India, which permit the sale of liquors at liquor vends through direct contact sales during the lockdown period "as unconstitutional, null and void".
The petition argued that prohibition of sale of liquor for human consumption at liquor vends through direct contact sales during the lockdown period would eventually contribute to containing the spread of Covid-19 in India, until the National Disaster Management Authority or the Centre declares India to be COVID-19 free.
Serpentine queues were reported across Delhi and many other parts of the country after the liquor vends opened in the third phase of the lockdown. At many liquor vends in Delhi-NCR, people disregarded social distancing norms while queuing up to purchase liquor.
Liquor shops had been shut down across India after the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24 midnight. They reopened on May 4.
(IANS)
Drunkorexia is a damaging and dangerous behaviour where disordered patterns of eating are used to offset the negative effects of consuming excess alcohol, such as gaining weight.
After examining the drinking patterns of 479 female Australian university students aged 18-24 years, researchers found that a staggering 82.7 per cent of students surveyed had engaged in drunkorexic behaviours over the past three months.
And, more than 28 per cent were regularly and purposely skipping meals, consuming low-calorie or sugar-free alcoholic beverages, purging or exercising after drinking to help reduce ingested calories from alcohol, at least 25 per cent of the time.
"Due to their age and stage of development, young adults are more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviours, which can include drinking excess alcohol," said study researcher Alycia Powell-Jones from the University of South Australia.
Excess alcohol consumption combined with restrictive and disordered eating patterns is extremely dangerous and can dramatically increase the risk of developing serious physical and psychological consequences.
The study, published in the journal Australian Psychologist, was undertaken in two stages. The first measured the prevalence of self-reported, compensative and restrictive activities in relation to their alcohol consumption.
The second stage identified participants' Early Maladaptive Schemes (EMS) - or thought patterns - finding that that the subset of schemas most predictive of Drunkorexia were 'insufficient self-control', 'emotional deprivation' and 'social isolation'.
The researchers said identifying the early maladaptive schemas linked to drunkorexia is key to understanding the harmful condition.
These are deeply held and pervasive themes regarding oneself and one's relationship with others that can develop in childhood and then can influence all areas of life, often in dysfunctional ways. Early maladaptive schemas can also be influenced by cultural and social norms.
The findings showed that drunkorexic behaviour appears to be motivated by two key social norms for young adults - consuming alcohol and thinness.
"This study has provided preliminary insight into better understanding why young female adults make these decisions to engage in drunkorexic behaviours," Powell-Jones said.
(IANS)
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Starting with Bhubaneswar, Zomato said it will soon expand to other cities like Rourkela, Balasore, Balangir, Sambalpur, Berhampur and Cuttack.
"We're happy to be of service to our users in Odisha who can now use Zomato to get alcohol delivered in addition to grocery and food delivery," Rakesh Ranjan, Vice President at Zomato, said in a statement.
"We are working very closely with excise departments to ensure end-to-end compliance to the safety guidelines and are also introducing consumption and identity verification protocols to promote responsible ordering and consumption," Ranjan said.
Users can avail the service from 9 am to 6 pm as permitted by the state authorities, Zomato said, adding that the app will only feature licensed retailers, who have applied for the service.
There would be age checks at the time of ordering as well as when the product is delivered, the company said.
Users will be required to upload a valid ID proof to be eligible for ordering which would later be verified by the delivery partner at the time of handing over the order.
There would also be product category limits to promote responsible ordering, it added.
Swiggy and Zomato last week said they had received permissions to start alcohol home delivery service in Jharkhand.
Earlier, the Excise Commissioner had issued a statement informing about commencing home delivery of liquor in 29 excise districts.
It also stated that around 8,420 orders were delivered on 1st day. While Cuttack, Khurda & Sundergarh registered highest sale.
Home delivery of liquor started in 29 excise districts. 8,420 orders delivered on 1st day. Cuttack, Khurda & Sundergarh registered highest sale. Swiggy & Zomato are in process of tying up with retailers & expected to start their operation from today: Excise Commissioner #Odisha pic.twitter.com/peNVEKJcGb
— OTV (@otvnews) May 26, 2020
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(IANS)
"Cognitive aptitudes of young women appear to be more affected than for men with high alcohol use," said study lead author Lina Begdache, Assistant Professor at Binghamton University in the US.
"These behaviours are regulated by the limbic system of the brain. However, the cognitive functions for high alcohol use among the young men and women were different," Begdache added.
For the findings, published in the journal Trends in Neuroscience and Education, researchers sought to compare neurobehaviours and academic effort among college students with low alcohol use with those of high alcohol consumption and build conceptual models that represent the integration of the different variables.
They sent an anonymous survey to assess college students' alcohol use and frequency along with questions on sleep, academic performance and attitude toward learning. They compared gender responses and found that both young men and women exhibit common behavioural responses to high alcohol use such as abuse of other substances and risk-taking.
The findings showed that young women reported generally less interest in the academic work and performance than young men. The latter reported more risky behaviours, such as being arrested, from excessive drinking.
The study also found that young women are more likely to depend on alcohol to improve mental well-being, which is also concerning, as they may self-medicate through drinking. In both genders, the researchers reported an increase in impulsive behaviours, which are under the control of the limbic system (the oldest part of the brain, evolutionary speaking).
Another reason for the difference seen is the differential metabolism of alcohol. Women metabolise alcohol at a slower rate, therefore, they are more likely to feel the effect of alcohol. Consequently, their brain is more likely to accumulate a toxic metabolite, acetaldehyde, which may be altering brain chemistry further to add to the differential behaviours identified in this study.
"Academic performance and risky behaviours among college students may be linked to their drinking habits, so more education and awareness should be shared with college students," said Begdache.
"These findings are also explained by the fact that women tend to have higher connectivity between cortices, while men have a large cortical volume in the areas on the limbic system that support impulsivity," Begdache added.
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Moderate drinkers "are not insulated from harm," said researchers led by Adam Sherk from Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.
"Don't drink or, if you do, drink no more than one drink per day," said Sherk.
Overall, the best advice for drinking is to err on the side of caution.
"When it comes to alcohol use, less is better".
The Canadian government's low-risk drinking guidelines state that women should consume no more than about 10 drinks per week and men no more than 15.
During the research, Sherk and colleagues found that a significant portion of alcohol-caused death and disability was experienced by those drinking within guidelines.
For example, more than 50 per cent of cancer deaths resulting from alcohol use occurred in people drinking moderately.
Further, 38 per cent of all alcohol-attributable deaths were experienced by people drinking below the weekly limits or among former drinkers.
However, for women, alcohol consumption within the guidelines did offer some protection from death from a heart attack, stroke and diabetes.
Nonetheless, "This protective effect did not appear to hold for men who experienced harm at all drinking levels".
According to the researchers, some drinking guidelines, which are published by many countries to help drinkers make informed health decisions, may still be high.
(IANS)
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