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HEALTH FACTS

Orly Borges Personal Collection

Some amazing events
that happened during
the last years

TAKE A HIKE
British researchers have concluded that one long walk is much better for your body than a series of short walks (adding up to the same distance). Healthiness was measured in terms of alterations in blood fats. However, the same researchers conclude that some exercise, even short walks, is much better than no exercise.

ROLLER COASTER ALERT
Riding a roller coaster will give you an adrenaline rush, but it may also cause serious neurological damage. Scientists at the Lariboisiere Hospital in Paris studied four cases of illness that followed roller coaster rides. All of the patients, who were between 20 and 55 years old and otherwise healthy, developed a severe headache within a few hours or days riding on a roller coaster. When examined, it was discovered that three had bleeding within an artery in the head and two had had small strokes.

Such news wouldn't have disturbed Jonathan Thompson, Darthy Brown and Dion Hughes. Six Flags over Georgia, an American amusement park offered a Jeep to whoever rode their roller coaster, for the longest time. The three men tied for first place, each having spent 17 hours a day - for 60 days! - riding the rails, with only breaks for food.

KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SMOKING?
The British Department of Health has released a list of the 600 additives contained in cigarettes - and it's very shocking to read. Your average cigarette contains acetone (= paint-stripper), ammonia (= toilet cleaner), hydrogen cyanide (= what the Nazi used in the gas-chambers), beta-naphthyl methylether (= mothballs), arsenic, carbon monoxide (= car exhaust). The full list is available of the Department from Health's website.

HEALTHIER DOWN SOUTH
Southern European teenagers are much healthier than their North European and North American equivalents. Moreover, Mediterranean adolescents drink much less than their British equals. A recent study by the WHO of children from 11 to 15 from North America and Europe suggests that the heaviest drinkers are found in the UK and Denmark. However, the US kids had the worst diet, took least exercise, consumed more medicine and had more health problems!

FLYING DANGER
Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen have published findings which suggest that airline pilots are more likely to suffer from myeloid leukaemia and skin cancer thar the rest of the population. The study involved nearly 4000 pilots and other members of the cockpit crew. The leukaemia is believed to be caused by prolonged exposure to cosmic radiation at high altitudes. However, the skin cancer may simply be because pilots tend to spend more time at holiday resorts, according to the epidemiologists.

YOUR TOOTHBRUSH COULD BE YOUR BEST FRIEND
A British company, Cambridge Silicon Radio, in collaboration with the technology giant Intel, is about to revolutionise toys and gadgets. They have invented a new kind of chip called Bluetooth. This chip is only a few millimetres in diameter but it is also equipped with a radio transmitter allowing it to interact with a minicomputer. The result? Well, for example, a tooth brush which tells you if you have halitosis, sports shoes which pace you or refrigerators which tell you when the milk has gone off. The chip, for some obscure reason, is named after a 10th. Century Danish Viking called Harald Bluetooth.

MALNUTRITION ACCUMULATES
A study by a US research group, Worldwatch Institute, reveals that for the first time ever there are as many people in the world who are overweight as those underweight. Using UN data the study says that 20% of the world's 6 million inhabitants is underfed - reflecting a fall over the last 20 years. On the other hand, the number of people who ar overweight has increased to 1.2 billion. Both phenomena are considered to be malnutrition and both reduce life expectancy and productivity. Over half of those underweight 790 million people to be exact - are chronically hungry. At the same time, 55% of the US population is overweight.

OVERDOSING ON VITAMIN C
People who consume too much vitamin C may be risking a heart attack. Excessive quantities of the vitamin thicken the arteries. For example, the arteries of people who take 500 milligrams of vitamin C - equivalent to 10 oranges - are 2.5 times thicker than those who do not. The arteries of smokers who do the same are five times more obstructed. The research was undertaken by the University of South California. The researchers recommend that people avoid taking excessive quantities of vitamin C supplement.

GIVE YOUR TEETH SOME STICK
In many parts of Africa, people clean their teeth by chewing a twig from a "toothbrush tree". South African and American scientific research has now shown that the sticks contain six compounds which kill off the bacteria that cause cavities and gum disease. Chewing may also stop you going senile. Japanese research on mice suggests that tooth-loss is related to short-term memory-loss. Chewing stimulates the hippocampus which is a cavity in the brain where new memories are briefly stored. Furthermore, it is believed that chewing reduces stress. And if you want to keep your teeth, one way is to take small doses of aspirin every day. Research at the Australian University of Adelaide suggests that aspirin helps to prevent periodontitis, a disease which affects 600 million people in the world and causes teeth to fall out.

DANGEROUS SPORTS
A study in America concludes that the three most dangerous sports for children are basketball, cycling and American football - in that order. The research was done by studying admissions to seven American hospitals over two years.

SHORT STROKE
Research at the University of Bristol has identified that short men are more likely to suffer strokes than tall men. The medical histories of nearly 5000 men were analysed in the study. The report suggests that there is a 16% reduction in the risk of having a stroke for every 10 cm. a man is taller.

SMOKE SIGNALS
Japanese scientists have proved that smoking prematurely ages skin by disrupting the body's mechanism for renewing skin. Smoke reduces the production of new connective skin tissue (called, collagen) and increases the destruction of old tissue. The research suggests that as a result, smokers have more wrinkles.

FAT CYCLE
Women's thighs and waists are fatter at the beginning of menstruation, than at other times in the menstrual cycle, according to French research. Layers of fat, which are typically 25 mm. thick, vary by about 1.5 mm. through the monthly cycle. The changes are due to the hormone oestrogen.

THE AGE OF YOGA
You are never too young to start doing yoga; that seems to be the opinion of many parents in Britain. Yoga for toddlers is becoming increasingly popular. Yoga probably started in the Indus River Valley over 5000 years ago but it has not traditionally been practised by small children. Now kids between the ages of three and seven are learning to combine relaxation, meditation, breathing and movement. More and more British primary schools are also teaching yoga to help children with their concentration and memory. Sadly, the local council in Swansea (Wales) recently banned Nena Joyce, aged 82, from teaching yoga. They say she is too old.

OLIVE SKIN
Japanese researchers say that applying olive oil into your skin after sunbathing can protect against skin cancer. Skin cancer can appear as a result of the ultra-violet rays of the sun which create atoms in the skin which activate abnormal growth. Antioxidants, such as the vitamin E in olive oil, seem to protect against ultra-violet damage. The Japanese scientists came to their conclusions after experiments on mice. The bad news is that the olive oil has to be virgin extra to be effective.

Source: Think in English - Speak Up

GLOSSARY

take a hike: take a long walk in the countryside (sale a pasear)
fats: grease (grasas)
bleeding: losing blood (pérdidas de sangre hemorragias)
tied for first place: were even (empataron)
breaks: pauses (unas pausas)
paint-stripper: chemical substance used to eliminate paint (removedor de pintura)
mothballs: naphthaline (naftalina)
car exhaust: gases ejected from cars (escapes de gases)
cockpit crew: people who work in the front of a plane, pilot, co-pilot and navigator
(tripulación de cabina)
gadgets: small machines (aparatos)
halitosis: bad breath (mal aliento)
pace you: measure the speed your are running (marcan el ritmo de tu paso)
gone off: become putrid (putrefactado)
is named after: receives the name of (se lo llama como)

is underfed: receives too little food (es alimentado deficientemente)

thicken: make denser, thicker (espesan)
by chewing a twig: by masticating a small branch (masticando una ramita)
cavities: holes (caries)
gum disease
: gum infection (inflamación de las encías)
mice: [singular: mouse: plural: mice] rats (ratas)
strokes: thrombosis (trombosis, ataques cardíacos)
skin tissue: covering of cutaneous cells (capa de la piel)
wrinkles: lines on the face (arrugas)

thighs: upper leg, above the knee (muslos)
waist: circumference of the body above the pelvis (cintura)
layers: coverings (las capas)
due to: because of (debido a)

toddlers: young children who have just learnt to walk (chiquillos que acaban de aprender a caminar)
banned: prohibited (le prohibió a)

 

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