Speaking on a cellphone while driving, quadruples the chance of having an accident, and could be as dangerous as driving while drunk, a researcher said. Dr Paul Treffner from Griffith University in Queensland state said that his research could lead to governments implementing stiffer penalties for people caught using cellphone while driving. Holding and speaking on a cellphone while driving is already banned in Australia, but motorists are allowed to use devices such as headsets.

Treffner gathered data from drivers who held conversations on cellphones while motoring at a driving training centre. Special sensors monitored the drivers' movements and handling of varying conditions in the vehicle while talking on a handsfree phone.

The study found people were easily distracted from driving and less capable of handling changing road conditions when using a cellphone. "Talking to a passenger allows the driver to regulate the conversation to what is happenning on the road, but it's harder to modify your conversation to what's happening on the road when you are talking to someone who is far away," Treffner said.

If you are habituated to fatty meals make sure you supplement your daily diet with about 5 gm of ginger to protect against heart diseases, according to a report published in the Indian Medical Association (IMA) journal. Ginger protects against coronary artery disease (CAD) that normally results in individuals who consume fatty food. A rice fatty meal if consumed frequently for long time lowers the fibrinolytic activity of the blood. In other words, blood clots if formed, do not dissolve easily thereby making an individual prone to CAD says the study conducted at RNT College of Udaipur. Doctors have also discovered that ginger increases the fibronolytic activity and thereby protects against CAD.

courtesy: The Hindu

High school students who watch wresting on television may also be more likely to drink, chew tobacco, carry gun and fight with their dates, according to North Carolina researchers who presented their findings at the Paediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Maryland. Questionnaires completed by 2,228 students measured the amount of professional wrestling they watched on TV in a 2-week period and compared it with other behaviour, such as alcohol consumption, fighting, illegal drug use and carrying a weapon.

For 63 per cent of boys and 35 per cent of girls who were recent viewers, watching wrestling was associated with having started a fight with a date or being a victim, as well as with carrying a gun or other weapon, using chewing tobacco and driving after drinking alcohol.

In a study that followed more than 900 older adults for 11 years, researchers found that those who exercised regularly at the study's start but later quit were more likely to develop depression compared with those who stayed active. Men and women who were consistently active and who exercised during the study had the lowest depression scores. The test gauged depressed mood, not clinical depression. There is substantial evidence that exercise elevates people’s moods and may even improved clinical depression. In one study of older men and women diagnosed with depression, researchers found that four months of aerobics worked as well as antidepressant drugs in treating patients' symptoms. Theories on why exercise improves mood range from the feelings of control it gives people to the effects of hormones that are released during activity. So, starting exercise at an older age can be as beneficial, though older people should consult their doctors first.

The next time you rise above the defence to score a winning goal at a soccer match, celebrate carefree - players do not increase their chances of brain injury while heading the ball, according to a research.

Heading is safe when the player is prepared for it, said Dr Donald Kirkendall, a clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

Soccer moms should only really worry if little Johnny or Joanne is involved in a head collision, he added.

"In purposeful heading, where you're actually trying to head the ball and actually do head the ball, the impact is spread out over the whole body because your head is fixed to your body by a tensed neck," said Kirkendall, the lead author of a study in the journal Sports Medicine. "People ask the question, `Can heading a ball cause a head injury?' In purposeful heading, we don't see that. In accidental ball contacts, yes, it is possible."

That's an important distinction, Kirkendall said. Accidental heading can lead to injuries because the neck and body are not braced for the impact of the ball.

(courtesy: The Time of India)