Researchers in India who compared the heart rate variability of men who practised yoga regularly and men who did not, concluded that practising yoga was associated with a healthier heart because the heart rate variability of the yoga practitioners showed evidence of stronger control by the parasympathetic (vagal) nervous system.

The study was the work of Ramesh Kumar Sunkaria, Vinod Kumar, and Suresh Chandra Saxena of the Electrical Engineering Department, at the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee, in Uttrakhand, and is to be published in a forthcoming 2010 issue of the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.

Heart rate variability is a measure of the beat-to-beat changes in heart rate. In healthy people it is high, whereas people with cardiac abnormalities generally have low HRV.

The autonomic nervous system regulates heart rate via two routes: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

The sympathetic nervous system causes HRV to go up, while the parasympathetic depresses it. When working well together, the two ensure that the heart rate is steady but ready to respond to changes caused by eating, the fight or flight response, or arousal, the researchers told the press.

Earlier research suggests that HRV is also a marker of dynamic and cumulative load. As a measure of dynamic load, it responds to stress, such as when we are under pressure to make a complex decision quickly, our HRV drops.

As a marker of cumulative load, it declines with age, in contrast to heart rate which rarely changes signficantly with age. Research suggests that regular physical activity (which also slows down the aging process), raises HRV, presumably by improving parasympathetic control which raises "vagal tone".

Many yoga practitioners believe yoga improves health through regular practice that focuses on breathing, stretching, postures, relaxation and meditation.

For the study, the researchers analyzed the HRV spectra of the electrocardiograms (ECGs) of 42 healthy male yoga practitioners and 42 healthy male non-practitioners aged from 18 to 48 years. All participants were volunteers.

The researchers said that HRV spectral analysis is an important way of exploring heart health and how the heart is regulated. By looking at different frequency bands of HRV in short term episodes, it is possible to see for example how well the heart responds to changes in the body controlled by the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems.

For example, very low frequency (VLF) variations are linked to temperature control changes. while low frequency peaks are linked to sympathetic control and high frequency peaks with parasympathetic control, explained the researchers.

Over 100,000 types of cancers are caused by obesity, according to an American study.

Excess body fat makes a person vulnerable to cancer by increasing the amount of hormones like estrogen circulating in the body and disrupting how the body processes insulin, which is linked to higher risk of cancer. It also triggers low-grade inflammation in the body, which is increasingly being found to play a role in cancer.

Researchers from American Institute for Cancer Research suggest that people should maintain a normal body weight and remain physically active throughout life. Weight gain after a cancer diagnosis is also likely to affect the outcome, say researchers.

"An increasing number of studies suggest that regular physical activity improves cancer survival, even among survivors who are overweight or obese," the Independent quoted AICR researchers as saying.

"Public awareness of the link between obesity and cancer risk is alarmingly low," said Alice Bender, MS, RD, Nutrition Communications Manager at AICR. We are working towards a day when obesity is right up there with tobacco in the public eye," Bender added.

The AICR estimates show that excess body fat is linked to 49 per cent of endometrial cancers , 35 per cent of esophageal cancers 28 per cent of pancreatic cancers, 24 per cent of kidney cancers, 21 per cent of gallbladder cancers, 17 per cent of breast cancers and 9 per cent of colorectal cancers.

Circumcision does not decrease a man's sexual pleasure or function, but it does help reduce his risk of contracting the AIDS virus and suffering a penile injury, according to two new studies.

Austrian researchers analyzing biopsies from 20 circumcised and uncircumcised men found that the inner foreskin of the penis contains a higher concentration of Langerhans cells -- a prime target of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV -- than any other part of the male foreskin. Because this would make the inner foreskin more susceptible to HIV, removing it through circumcision would help lower a man's risk of contracting HIV, they concluded.

In the second study, a two-year study of nearly 3,000 Kenyan men found that those who were recently circumcised were less likely to suffer coital injuries, such as scratches, cuts, scrapes or soreness, than those who had their foreskin intact. Sexual function was determined to be similar between the circumcised and uncircumcised groups, according to the research team, which was from the United States, Canada and Africa.

The studies are to be presented this week in Chicago at the annual scientific meeting of the American Urological Association.

"These are important reports which support the concepts that circumcision does not interfere with sexual function and that circumcision is an important element of HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa," association spokesman Dr. Ira D. Sharlip said in a news release issued by the organization.

"At the same time, it should be emphasized that circumcision must be combined with other techniques of HIV prevention, such as safe sex and voluntary testing," he said. "It is not sufficient to rely on circumcision alone to prevent HIV transmission."

Obesity in pregnant women is fast emerging as major threat for successful deliveries and the changing life style is likely to compound
the problem in future, says Dr Reena Srivastava of BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, while delivering Dr Meena Mukherji oration on the concluding day of the three-day 21st annual conference of UP chapter of Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society of India (FOGSI) in Banaras Hindu University on Sunday.

"Traditionally, the Indian women carry excess total body fat (truncal obesity) and more cases of abdominal obesity are pouring from urban areas and metropolitan cities, she said on the occasion. A high percentage of urban as well as rural women have greater body mass index (BMI) and it makes the antenatal and delivery services even more difficult," she added.

"Ideally, the waist to hip ratio should not be more than 0.9 in pregnant women, but high number of overweight and obese pregnant women, especially from the urban areas, are coming to us, enough to raise concern," she said. "It is mostly related to wrong choice of food and improper diet during pregnancy. Similarly, sedentary life style and restricted activities also aggravate the problems during pregnancy," she added, while referring to recent studies and surveys on Indian pregnant women.

Stressing that a number of risk factors including diabetes, hypertension, cardio-vascular diseases, respiratory problems and haemorrhage were associated with obese women, she also emphasised that complications such as more blood loss and prolonged labour pain pose challenge to gynaecologists.

India's most frightening epidemic, which isn't just robbing people of their lives but also their families of livelihood - is expected to get worse over the next decade, especially for women.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) projection in a landmark Trends in Cancer report, yet to be made public, the country will see a 21 per cent overall increase - over 1.06 lakh additional cases of cancer every year in women by 2020, as against 79,000 new cases of cancer in men during the same period.

This landmark analysis, based on the pattern of cancer incidence between 1982-2005 (24 years) in India, has made some startling revelations. Cases of leukaemia or blood cancer will increase by almost 77 per cent in women by 2020, followed by cancer of the colon (69 per cent) and liver (61 per cent). However, in sheer numbers, the main culprit in the next 10 years will be breast cancer.

While India is expected to see a 41 per cent increase in breast cancer cases by 2020, in numbers it would mean almost 36,000 additional women falling victim to it. In comparison, cervical cancer, which has been Indian women's real curse will show a dip in actual number of cases. Cancer in other common body sites - uterus, ovary, gall bladder and stomach will see a 21 per cent increase. According to Dr Vinod Raina, head of medical oncology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), though leukaemia may see the maximum increase in incidence rates, in sheer numbers it is still uncommon. Breast cancer, on the other hand, will form the lion's share of new cancer cases in the next 10 years, which will be primarily due to India's ageing population.

Says Dr Raina, "Cancer is age-related . So, the longer women live, the more will be their chances of suffering from cancer." He goes on to add, "Colon cancer cases will increase due to a change in Indian dietary habits. High meat intake is known to cause colon cancer. That's why vegetarians usually don't suffer from it. The main culprits behind liver cancer, however, are Hepatitis B and C infections."

According to Dr Shyam Aggarwal, medical oncologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, late marriages, delayed child bearing and giving birth to lesser number of children, besides ageing are leading to an increased risk of breast cancer. "Almost 70 per cent of these cases are dependent on the female hormone - oestrogen . Giving birth breaks the hormonal cycle that reduces the chances of breast cancer. The sooner a woman breaks the cycle of oestrogen formation with early pregnancy, the greater the chances of a reduction of cancer cells, which multiply under the influence of oestrogen."

Increased obesity too is a major risk factor. In India, nearly 6 crore women are believed to be overweight and studies have shown that about one out of 12 new cases of cancer is because of excess weight. Adds Dr Aggarwal, "Fat cells also produce oestrogen. A diet full of fat is also not helping matters." According to an elite international panel that analysed over 7,000 studies in the last 40 years, over 40 per cent of all cancers are a direct result of our diet, body structure and exercise habits.

The panel in its 521-page report - Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer - prepared after five years of analysis , made crucial recommendations that people across the globe must follow to minimise their chances of getting cancer. However, Indians fared badly with regard to most of the recommendations . Studies revealed they consume just 130 gm of fruits and vegetables a day as against the recommended amount of 400 gm. While salt consumption shouldn't be more than 6 gm a day, Indians consume anywhere between 10-15 gm.

Consumption of red meat was found to have a direct link with cancer - with over 64 per cent of non-vegetarians in India consuming more than the recommended amount of under 500 gm a week. The same is the case with the consumption of soft drinks and fast food as well. Then, while more than 30 ml of alcohol a day is dangerous, binge drinking is on the rise here.

New mothers should ideally breastfeed their children for six months, but Indian mothers do so for just about two months, on average. So, only 51 per cent of the infants are breastfed for the first six months.

Treat these statistics as a wake-up call and start making small changes to your lifestyle to keep cancer at bay.

Cancer, a generic term for a group of more than 200 diseases that are expected to kill 84 million people between 2005 and 2015, 70% of whom will be in low and middle income countries

At any given time, there are 25 lakh cancer patients in India

It is the third biggest killer in the country, claiming 4 lakh lives every year

About 7-9 lakh new cancer cases are detected in India annually

Every hour, cancer kills at least 50 people in India, and 100 new cases are detected

Early detection is vital to fight cancer, especially of the breast, cervix, mouth, larynx, colon, rectum and skin

At present, in India, over 70% cases are detected at the terminal stage

The current oncologist-patient ratio is 0.98: 1 lakh cases

With regular screening, mosts cancers can be prevented

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare