Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Herbalure



As health conscious people, these days, are gaining quick internet-knowledge from various vague web-pages, they are falling prey to all sorts of the pseudo-convincing ads, raking up their brains, through various marketing gimmicks and professional media. According to The New York Times, Americans spend an estimated $5 billion a year on unproven herbal supplements that promise everything from fighting off colds to curbing hot flashes and boosting memory. But now there is a new reason for supplement buyers to beware: DNA tests show that many pills labeled as healing herbs are little more than powdered rice and weeds. Some herbal remedies may do more harm than good. Researchers, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, report that 20 percent of herbal medicine products sampled contained dangerous levels of heavy metals. Some Ayurvedic herbal medicines and bhasma contain dangerously toxic heavy metals. As gullible consumers rely on the catchy-phrases for health benefits, printed on the label, they unknowingly risk their health and waste money by consuming these medicines.
It is a more human than academic responsibility of researchers, specialized in the relevant fields, to expose formulations of such so-called herbal medicines and supplements, alarming people against the lurking danger. It is also imperative on the part of drug control governmental agencies to take the stringent punitive actions against the erring pharmaceutical companies.       

Friday, November 1, 2013

Pollution Boom at Deepawali Dhoom

                                                                       By Saleem Saim

Deepawali, a Hindu festival of resplendently-shimmering lights, presents enticing festivity everywhere, be it residential colonies, shopping complexes or markets. The warmth of love that the people exchange in the form of greetings and gifts makes Deepawali all the more brightly beautiful.
Over rejoicing at the celebratory occasion with increasing amount of fire-work is deleteriously telling on the fragile health of both people and the environment alike. Over-zealous children, youngsters and reckless parents get bent upon to mar the serenity of the festival by resorting to play with varied high-decibel-high-polluting fire-crackers and bombs, even several days before Deepawali and obliviously continue to pollute the environs and destroy the peace, tranquillity and health of the ailing and the normal people alike. The highly toxic gases produced by burning of the gun powder billow into the atmosphere and trigger the latent respiratory diseases in the exposed people.
 The unbridled functioning of unsafe furnaces in the factories as well as the ever-increasing vehicular traffic spews tons of litres of deadly intoxicants into the atmosphere. To make matter worse, enormous burning of fire-works on the eve of Deepawali vitiates the already-insulted atmosphere with dangerous intoxicants like sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide (the silent killer), oxides of nitrogen, fumes of poisonous oxides of heavy metals like chromium, manganese, nickel, copper, lead, and cadmium.  The toxic gases having high density tend to remain in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, called Troposphere, and concentrate in the congested areas of the city and houses. These pollutants irritate the skin, mucous membranes of eyes, ears, nose and throat, causing multiple morbid problems and diseases like asthma, damage to cornea, ear drum, heart diseases, headaches, and dizziness in addition to a spate in the accidental burns.
 Large volumes of sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emitted during the play of fire-work dissolve in the water vapour and turn into tiny droplets of pure acid floating in the smog (smoke plus fog). The airborne acid and particulate matter are dangerously irritating to the lungs. The airborne acid also slowly defaces the costly buildings and other property.
Air Pollution can expand beyond a regional area to cause serious global problems. The pollutants (CFC's) are responsible for damaging the vital ozone layer, spread by God for our protection from the most energetic UV radiations of the sunlight. That is why there is now more news of skin cancers, cataracts and reduced yield of some crops. Carbon Dioxide is the main culprit associated with global warming. The increasing levels of this gas retain the heat of radiations which should otherwise escape from the earth into the upper atmosphere after the day's heat.

Surging to dangerous levels of several ppm above the indicated safe limit by WHO, sulphur dioxide is the major polluting gas during the Deepawali days, in the air we are forced to breathe in. Another serious problem is of the noise pollution that is caused by explosion of the high decibel bombs. Human ears cannot tolerate noise louder than 80-90 dB. The government has so far been unable to put a check on the sale and use of these high intensity bombs. The undeterred explosions of these bombs are making the people partially deaf.   The horrendous surge in levels of air pollutants scares away the older and asthmatic people to flee to safer destinations in the countryside or sparsely inhabited parts of the town. To the ailing and suffering patients, approach of Deepawali gives them nightmares of discomfort and sufferings.   

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Softy Ice-Cream

(Taken from ‘Blooming Buds’, written for KG students by Saleem Saim) 


I am a softy ice-cream         
I live in a biscuit-cone                
Strawberry, cocoa, vanilla
Are my flavory tone

Hey………………. 
                                              
Open your mouth          
Take me in………
Loll, roll and roll
Eat me up all

Hey……………

Eat me up you
Girls and boys
Eat me up all                                                       
Eat me up all

Hey…………….

I am a softy ice-cream
I live in a biscuit cone
Strawberry, cocoa, vanilla
Are my flavory tone

Hey………......                      

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Water-The Best Zero Calorie Drink



It is amazing to think that 65-75% of our body weight is due to water, the elixir of life without which our body cannot pull on even for some days. Scientists rank it as second only to oxygen as essential for life. Water is a fat-free, cholesterol-free, low in sodium and zero calorie drink. Cold water has more dissolved oxygen that is why it quenches thirst more refreshingly.

It is a medium for various enzymatic and chemical reactions in the body. It transports nutrients, hormones, vitamins, antibodies and oxygen through the blood stream and lymphatic system. Apart from helping in digestion and absorption of food, water regulates body temperature through perspiration which dissipates excess heat and cools our bodies. It also eliminates toxins and other waste byproducts through urination and perspiration. It moistens lungs for their efficient working, lubricates joints and protects tissues and organs, including the spinal cord, from shock and damage. It keeps internal organs from sticking together and skin from shrinking and drying out.

Hard working people particularly require drinking large amounts of pure and fresh water. Generally samples from ground water show presence of highly toxic arsenic beyond permissible limits of 0.05 mg/l as recommended by WHO. Arsenic is a documented human carcinogen. It is well known as slow poison and its toxicity first manifests itself as lesions on skin. Therefore water must be treated to make it safe for drinking.

We need lots of fresh water to stay healthy; the daily requirement being about eight glasses. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, sports persons and hard working people need extra amounts. Drinking more water helps to reduce water retention by stimulating our kidneys. It is not the water that makes us feel bloated, but rather salt that holds large amounts of water in our body. If our food has less salt, any extra water we consume will be quickly washed out of our body. Soft water (water which has been treated to eliminate minerals) fails to supply the body with required dose of essential minerals and is linked to higher incidence of hypertension and heart disease. A recent study in the journal of The American Dietetic Association established that drinking hard water may actually reduce the risk of heart disease. Fluoridated toothpaste is recommended for those areas where drinking water contains very less fluoride salts to prevent the incidence of tooth decay.  

Water plays a major role also in weight-loss. Since it contains no calories it can be taken in large amounts to make less room before gobbling high calorie food. It suppresses the appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat. When taken while eating food, it does not dilute digestive juices; rather it serves as a vehicle for best performance of enzymes and prevents indigestion and undue gas formation due to bacterial decomposition of undigested food.

Drinking inadequate amounts of water contributes to muscle fatigue, poor performance and water retention. Dehydration leads to excess body fat, poor muscle tone and size, increased toxicity, joint and muscle soreness.   

It is yet a sordid fact that most of us do not care to know its worth. Although water covers more than 70% of the earth's surface, only 1% of the earth's water is potable. Conservation of ground water by rain harvesting and maximizing the uses of available water are the potential remedies to contain the alarmingly increasing water scarcity.


Friday, November 9, 2012

Pollution Boom at Diwali Dhoom


Diwali as a festival of resplendently shimmering lights presents enticing festivity everywhere, be it residential colonies, shopping complexes or markets. The warmth of love that the people exchange in the form of greetings and gifts makes Diwali all the more brightly beautiful.
Over rejoicing at the celebratory occasion with increasing amount of fire-work is deleteriously telling on the fragile health of both people and the environment alike. Over zealous children, youngsters and reckless parents get bent upon to mar the serenity of the festival by resorting to play with varied high-decibel-high-polluting fire-crackers and bombs, even several days before Diwali and obliviously continue to pollute the environs and destroy the peace, tranquility and health of the ailing and the normal people alike. The highly toxic gases produced by burning of the gun powder billow into the atmosphere and trigger the latent respiratory diseases in the exposed people.

Air in Moradabad is already replete with pollutants and effete for the healthy breathing. The unbridled functioning of unsafe furnaces in the factories as well as the ever-increasing vehicular traffic spew tons of litres of deadly toxicants into the atmosphere. To make matter worse, enormous burning of fire-works on the eve of Diwali vitiates the already-insulted atmosphere with dangerous toxicants like Sulphur Dioxide, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide (the silent killer), oxides of nitrogen, fumes of poisonous oxides of heavy metals like Chromium, Manganese, Nickel, Copper, Lead, Cadmium, Iron, etc. The toxic gases having high density tend to remain in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, called Troposphere, and concentrate in the congested areas of the city and houses. These pollutants irritate the skin, mucous membranes of eyes, ears, nose and throat, causing multiple morbid problems and diseases like asthma, damage to cornea and ear drum, heart diseases, headaches, dizziness, etc, in addition to a spate in the accidental burns.

Areas around Ramganga river have higher percentages of water vapour in the air. Large volumes of Sulphur Dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emitted during the play of fire-work, dissolve in the water vapour and turn into tiny droplets of pure acid floating in the smog (smoke plus fog). The airborne acid and particulate matter are dangerously irritant to the lungs. The airborne acid also slowly defaces the costly buildings and other property.

Air Pollution can expand beyond a regional area to cause serious global problems. The pollutants(CFC's) are responsible for damaging the vital ozone layer, spread by God for our protection from the most energetic UV radiations of the sunlight. That is why there are now more news of skin cancers, cataracts and reduced yield of some crops. Carbon Dioxide is the main culprit associated with global warming. The increasing levels of this gas retain the heat of radiations which should otherwise escape from the earth into the upper atmosphere after the day's heat.

Surging to dangerous levels of several ppm above the indicated safe limit by WHO, Sulphur Dioxide is the major polluting gas during the Diwali days, in the air we are forced to breath in. Another serious problem is of the noise pollution that is caused by explosion of the high decibel bombs. Human ears cannot tolerate noise louder than 80-90 dB. The government has so far been unable to put a check on the sale and use of these high intensity bombs. The undeterred explosions of these bombs are making the people partially deaf.   The horrendous surge in levels of air pollutants scares away the older and asthmatic people to flee to safer destinations in the countryside or sparsely inhabited parts of the town. To the ailing and suffering patients approach of Diwali gives them nightmares of discomfort and sufferings.  


Dr Saleem Saim is an Ex Research Fellow of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi and a PhD from Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow, India.





Saturday, September 29, 2012

On World Heart Day



Aey Dil-e-Nadan…



Aakhir is dard ki dawa kya hai?...My heart is beating…, keeps on repeating…I'm waiting for you…these are the simple yet magical words of age old songs that still echo in our ears and instill melody in our heart. From times immemorial, the poets of all tongues have associated the heart with the emotions of love and dejection. Fine, lexicographers also use such words as hearty, heartfelt, heartless, heart-rending etc, etc. I feel this is justified as the first symptom of any irresistible reaction seems to rise in our heart and not the brain: heart pounds, sinks, fills with disgust, hatred, ennui, feels elated and lovelorn.

We know that heart is really an ugly looking 340g piece of flesh, just a tirelessly working four-chambered pump that circulates about 15100 litres of   blood to all parts of the body through 90,000 kilometres of blood vessels. This World Heart Day is once again here to remind us of the most precious organ that we are endowed with by the almighty God. As the good heart is to good health, it is also more prone to suffer from the insult of corrupt atmosphere, physiology and sociology.

Hurry, worry and curry are the three alarming words that may run your heart hypertensive. God forbid, the eminent cardiologists are there to take care of your ailing heart and tell about heart matters… they may try hard to scare you, but don't lose your heart, with a steadfast mind you can still begin to take care of your loving heart. You should listen to them intently. Adieu.     

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Saudi National Day





Saudis make it a joyous day
Sworn lover, loyal to land
September three twenty sweet
Army plays patriotic band

Founder king Abdul Aziz Al-Saud
Saudis adore in heart ‘n’ soul
His royal race is cheered loud
Green flags gaily fill Saudia whole

Excited youths ride pompous parade
Festivity flashes every where
Gaudy kids party savory treats
Joy with nations Saudis share