The research team analysed the licenses granted and the police-reported crash data. They got the license receivers to fill a questionnaire about their daily habits.

On an average, those who slept six hours or less at night had an increased risk for crash compared with those who slept more than 6 hours. Also, less sleep on weekends was related strongly with an increased risk for crashes where the vehicle veers off the road. There was also a timing factor. The crashes seem to happen more between from 8pm and to 6am. Probably, the fatigue of not having slept properly the previous night and the need to compensate for the sleep may be the reasons for the crashes being observed at these times.

“This provides rationale for governments and health care providers to address sleep-related crashes among young drivers,” the study concludes.

—EurekAlert!

And then, it starts to rain. A few drops splattered across the windshield give way to a steady drizzle. By the time we take the sharp curve that takes us to our hotel on an incline, the hills are drenched in a downpour.

It’s the sort of welcome that takes the strain out of travelling along long, desolate and dusty roads on a hot afternoon. It’s a stiff and sore 10-hour ride from Delhi that is leavened only by a lunch break. Before the ride, of course, was the air travel from Mumbai. So if our tired minds are to work at the math, it’s been close to 16 hours worth of being in transit. 16 hours across a buffet of climates—humid, hot and arid, and now cold, drenched…and dreamy.

We awaken to a dream. The hotel is sprawled luxuriously, straddling the hills, and ensconced in mist. Dew drops cling to the air, and if we just turn our faces upwards, we can feel their soft, cool presence. The air is so fresh, that your senses are instantly revived. It’s as if a gurgling swift clean stream passes through the mind and washes away all that is clogged and cumbersome.

There’s clearly something uplifting about being in Nainital.

Snugly situated in a valley in the Kumaon foothills of the outer Himalayas, Nainital is called the Queen of the Lakes. And not without reason. Several lakes, their surfaces rippled only by a passing boat or by a crane swooping down to catch a fish, dot this hill station. One of the lakes is Naini lake, host to several romantic notions and the source of several backdrops to Hindi film songs. It is pear-shaped and is flanked by mountains on all sides—as if the ranges are standing sentinels to the misty, mesmerising, shimmering and delicate waters. Really nothing comes between you and the serene view of the cloud-topped mountains, except for the passing mist.

The gentle boat, the lapping of the oars and the view through this chiffon of mist—you get the strange feeling sometimes that you are directing your own dream.

Getting back to the famed Naini Lake, according to local lore, it is one of the 64 Shakti Peeths, or religious sites where parts of the charred body of Sati [Parvati] fell on earth while being carried by Lord Shiva. The spot where Sati’s eyes [or nain] fell, came to be called Nain-tal or lake of the eye. Even today, the goddess Shakti is worshipped at the Naina Devi Temple on the north shore of the lake.

[contd.]

Our life revolves around numbers—phone numbers, birth dates and bank account numbers. In diabetes management too, numbers are key. Call it numerology of diabetes management if you will, but if you follow these numbers, diabetes will never come in the way of living a happy, fulfilled life.

Four pillars for leading a healthy life with diabetes are: a healthy diet, regular exercise, appropriate medication and diligent monitoring.

Eat six small meals instead of three large ones as eating smaller, frequent meals reduces the burden on the pancreas. It also helps keep the metabolism up to speed. For diabetics, both fasting and feasting are best avoided.

Aim for BMI [Body Mass Index] of less than 25. BMI is a crucial factor for diabetics. Lose weight if your BMI is more than 25. For non-diabetics or the insulin resistant too, BMI of less than 25 is ideal. However, if it is more than that, even if you lose up to 5 per cent – 10 per cent of your body weight, it will cut back your risk of developing type-2 diabetes by up to 50 per cent.

Zero tobacco. For a diabetic, smoking is an invitation to all sorts of health problems. It damages blood vessels, doubles your risk for heart disease and reduces your body’s ability to use insulin by 15 per cent.

One annual check-up. Since diabetes brings along a whole array of health complications, a total health check-up helps keep important parameters such as blood pressure and cholesterol in check, avoiding problems. It’s the best way to keep a tab on the status of your diabetes. Get tests once a year [at least]:

• Fasting lipid profile
• Dilated eye exam [where the doctor places drops in the eyes] to examine the retina [the inside of the eyes].
• A urine test for protein [called the microablumin test].
• Foot examination for altered sensation and decreased circulation.

Less than 120 mg/dl of fasting or pre-meal blood sugar levels. If you manage to maintain this level, you won’t have a worry.

You must eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruits every day.

Your postprandial capillary glucose levels should be less than 180 mg/dL. This is the sugar that is found in your blood two hours after the start of a meal.

[contd.]

That however may change when a particular nanogel engineered by researchers from MIT will be available for use in humans.

Daniel Anderson, an associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT, Zhen Gu, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of North Carolina and others have developed a gel that mimics the pancreas – it detects the sugar levels in the blood and secretes insulin accordingly.

Their system consists of an injectable gel-like structure with a texture similar to toothpaste.The gel contains a mixture of oppositely charged nanoparticles that attract each other, keeping the gel intact and preventing the particles from drifting away once inside the body.

In tests on mice having Type 1 diabetes, the research team discovered that a single injection of the gel maintained normal blood-sugar levels for an average of 10 days. The nanoparticles were bio-compatible and hence do not harm the body.

—EurekAlert!

People tend to react in similar ways when they are working for a company that manages by intimidation or are working or living with someone who puts them down on a regular basis. There is very little joy to be found in such a situation and it can easily shatter your self-confidence. This isn’t about having the occasional bad day or moment. It’s about living and/or working in an environment that puts you down. When someone is constantly telling you that you’re not good enough, eventually, if you stay around awhile, you will start believing it.

Under these circumstances, most people are unable to find the strength to battle the forces that are attacking them. This is because they have simply run out of energy. And when no one tries to lift them out of the pain, it lowers their self-worth to such an extent that they even lose their will to live.

The trick here is to step back far enough to get some perspective and, if such circumstances truly exist, and if counselling hasn’t worked or is refused, the best move may be to just leave. I know that’s drastic, but staying in a negative environment or relationship because you are afraid to leave is also known as “battered persons syndrome,” like in the case of abused women who continue to return.

They do it because the devil they know is better than the one they don’t [that’s how they mistakenly think]. They are returning to what is familiar.

Leaving may be the answer to find yourself and rebuild what has been taken from you, because confidence cannot exist in an aura of meanness. But leaving requires a type of inner strength that you find only in desperate moments—the strength that helps you believe in yourself and to know that you do not deserve to be treated badly, no matter what the other person says. You have finally had enough and you reach down to the depths of your soul and pull up whatever shreds of self-respect you can find. The feeling may only last for a few hours, but use that time to write your resignation because you will never be able to flourish where negativity and horrific behaviour is allowed to run rampant.

Once most people get out of a negative environment or relationship, one of the first things they do is castigate themselves by saying, “Why did it take me so long?” This thought is totally self-defeating. It took as long as it took; do not waste any more time feeling beat up. At this point, you may actually be used to it and not even see that you are doing that to yourself. As soon as you are aware you’ve changed the behaviour, all you have to do next is whatever is in front of you.

Leave the past and the old behaviours behind. Accept that you had the strength to change your life. It’s okay to feel good about yourself.

This was first published in the December 2010 issue of Complete Wellbeing

The more foam, the better the results

Don’t be fooled by models in shampoo commercials lathering up huge amounts of foam on their scalp. This may cause you to overuse your shampoo. A coin-sized amount of shampoo is enough to lubricate both hair and scalp. In fact, too much foam means a helping of shampoo that is way more than what is required. It’s the ingredients in the shampoo and not the foam that cleans the hair.

Medicated shampoos are the best

Medicated shampoos are used to treat scalp problems and shouldn’t be used as regular shampoos. Moreover, they should only be used on the recommendation of a doctor and should be discontinued once the problem has been solved. Also, it’s recommended to avoid using conditioners while using medicated shampoos.

Baby shampoo is great for adults because it is gentle

All shampoos contain some proportion of detergents. The amount of detergents in baby shampoos is low, which is what makes them milder than adult shampoos. However, they may not be sufficient to clean adult hair that is exposed to dust, pollution and styling products. Baby shampoos may suit some people with very fine hair but are not the best option for all.

Combing your hair after you’ve shampooed it helps in even distribution of shampoo

Wet hair is fragile and prone to breakage. Also, the combing after applying the shampoo does not help in any way. Once the shampoo is evenly applied on the hair and scalp, use finger tips to gently massage the scalp and clean the hair. Any detangling hair should be done before one gets into the shower or after the hair has dried.

The less frequently you shampoo, the more the oil on your scalp

Our scalp secretes the same amount of oil every day irrespective of our hair wash routine. So cutting back or increasing the frequency of washing your hair has no effect on the sebaceous gland’s ability to secrete oil. It’s important to rinse the hair well and not leave any residue of shampoo as it can cause itching and lead to dandruff.

For best results shampoo twice

Not necessarily. It depends on how greasy your hair is or if your hair contains oil or styling products. If your hair is dry or has been recently shampooed, then the second helping only strips the natural oils and will make your hair frizzy.

This was first published in the July 2012 issue of Complete Wellbeing magazine

The goodness of peaches

• Peaches are good for one’s overall health as they are rich in vitamins A and C, potassium, niacin and dietary fibre and are low in saturated fats, cholesterol and sodium.
• They are good for the skin and are known to add colour to the complexion. The protein content helps tissue repair, while vitamin C boosts production of collagen.
• Being a rich source of dietary fibre, they are considered a good weight loss food [as well as in a diabetic’s diet plan]. If consumed on a regular basis, the fibre in the peaches also ensures smooth bowel movements.
• Peaches possess strong diuretic and mild laxative properties, making them a good fruit to eat in case of gout.
• Being a dense source of vitamin A, they help prevent cancer.
• Peaches due to their high potassium content help in maintaining healthy blood pressure as well as aid in prevention of kidney stones and bone loss.
• Peaches contain essential minerals like zinc, magnesium, manganese that are required by our body in trace quantities to support red blood cell, bone and nervous system health.
• Peaches are rich in vitamin C, which strengthens the immune system and inhibits the impact of free radicals by acting as an antioxidant.
• Peaches have effective antioxidant properties, strong anti-microbial properties and good tumour-growth inhibiting properties. In the old days, they were consumed to eliminate worms from the intestinal tract.

[contd.]

I was walking through a mall, and saw a mom shaking her 8-year-old a few inches from her face and screaming, “How many times have I told you not to hit your sister?” Hmm… wonder where he learned to use physical force to make his point?

One of my clients hates it when her husband yells at her. So, she yells at him, “I hate it when you yell at me!” The woman yells at her husband because she thinks she has the right to do so, since he did. The odd part is, in a previous session, she said, “That’s it! I’m never going to yell at him again! It doesn’t work!” So I asked her about that promise.“Well, yes, I did promise, but really, anybody would have yelled over that!” Not much of a promise, eh?

The reason relationships get into trouble is often that one or both of the parties think their job is to ‘sort out’ their partner. One of my clients refers to her husband as her ‘fourth child.’ Nothing he does is right, and she endlessly tells him so.

I think the purpose of a relationship is to relate. And to do that, I have to meet my partner as my equal, not as someone I need to fix. Here’s the truth: Your partner isn’t broken, and your job is to work on yourself.

Here are five ideas to help you make that happen:

[contd].

Before I begin, you must understand your environment [living space]. It is divided into two halves—external and internal. External feng shui features would include your main gate, nearby buildings, roads, man-made or natural structures and features like bridges, lakes or ponds. Internal feng shui features are your immediate living space, of which the three most important factors to consider are the main door, bedroom and kitchen.

Visualise your home as a human body, the main door/ gate would then represent the mouth. Just as our health is dependent on what we eat, similarly the quality of feng shui of a house is determined by its main entrance. This area is considered a yang feature as there is constant activity with people going in and out of the home. It is generally responsible for the wealth aspect and the quality of qi that enters your home. The bedroom and the kitchen are considered yin features and play a vital role in maintaining harmony and health.

[contd]

• Feng Shui for the living room
• Feng Shui for the bedroom
• Feng Shui for the kitchen

University of Illinois psychology professor Florin Dolcos, graduate student Nicole Llewellyn and their colleagues found that those who use an emotional regulation strategy called reappraisal suffer less anxiety. Picture credit: L. Brian Stauffer.

How do you deal with problems tells a lot about whether or not you will suffer from anxiety. According to a study published in the journal Emotion, those of us who plan ahead and consider how to respond positively to challenging times tend to suffer less from anxiety than those who ignore, hide or suppress their feelings.

In a series of questionnaires, researchers asked 179 healthy men and women how they dealt with their emotions and how anxious they felt in various circumstances. The team analysed the results to see if different emotional strategies were associated with more or less anxiety.

The study revealed that those who engage in an emotional regulation strategy called reappraisal tended to also have less social anxiety and less anxiety in general than those who avoid expressing their feelings.

Reappraisal involves looking at a problem in a new way, said University of Illinois graduate student Nicole Llewellyn, who led the research with psychology professor Florin Dolcos, an affiliate of the Beckman Institute at Illinois.

“When something happens, you think about it in a more positive light, a glass half full instead of half empty,” Llewellyn said. “You sort of reframe and reappraise what’s happened and think what are the positives about this? What are the ways I can look at this and think of it as a stimulating challenge rather than a problem?”

Study participants who regularly used this approach reported less severe anxiety than those who tended to suppress their emotions.

“The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, anxiety and depression –which tend to co-occur – will be among the most prevalent causes of disability worldwide, secondary only to cardiovascular disease,” Dolcos said. “So it’s associated with big costs.”

Not all anxiety is bad, however, he said. Low-level anxiety may help you maintain the kind of focus that gets things done. Suppressing or putting a lid on your emotions also can be a good strategy in a short-term situation, such as when your boss yells at you, Dolcos said. Similarly, an always-positive attitude can be dangerous, causing a person to ignore health problems, for example, or to engage in risky behaviour.

Previous studies had found that people who were temperamentally inclined to focus on making good things happen were less likely to suffer from anxiety than those who focused on preventing bad things from happening, Llewellyn said. But she could find no earlier research that explained how this difference in focus translated to behaviours that people could change. The new study appears to explain the strategies that contribute to a person having more or less anxiety, she said.

“This is something you can change,” she said. “You can’t do much to affect the genetic or environmental factors that contribute to anxiety. But you can change your emotion regulation strategies.”

—Eurekalert!