Young mice separated from their mums for longer periods could develop tumors twice as fast as mice that experienced short or no maternal separation, according to a new study.

The study was conducted by Leslie Kerr of the Trent University and colleagues and added to the growing amount of research evaluating the effects of stress and other social experiences on cancer development.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Examining environmental effects related to breast cancer development is of increased interest because, like the brain, breast tissue develops postnatally.

This means that changes in developmental environment including changes in hormonal activity may increase an animal’s risk for developing breast tumours, said Kerr.

Two other studies published in Cancer Prevention Research within the last year explored whether social isolation- another psychosocial stress-affected breast cancer risk.

“In contrast to these studies, ours was designed to show whether neonatal experiences, including either mild or moderate stress because of maternal separation experiences, affect normal breast development or predisposed the animal to carcinogen-induced breast cancer,” said Kerr.

Kerr and colleagues examined how either brief maternal separation – for 15 minutes daily – or prolonged separation – for four hours daily – during the first three weeks of life influenced the development of normal and cancerous mammary gland development in female mice.

The research was published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Multivitamin supplements that are gaining popularity in today’s busy world where people do not have enough time to eat right, sleep well, and exercise constitute a good choice according to medical practitioners.

This is simply because these supplements make up for all the vitamin deficiency caused by missing important meals of the day or nutrition through healthy food.

From Timesofindia.indiatimes.com:

With high stress and less nutrition, this is just what one would resort to – the multivitamins supplements. With men and women sharing equal amounts of stress at work and home, couples are missing out most on a healthy diet and the right nutrition. And it all begins by missing out on breakfast to reach office on time, to skipping lunches and dinners and more.

“And that’s just how the problem of vitamin or calcium deficiency creeps in. This deficiency is also prominent in people who’re completely vegetarians, people who’re averse to having even eggs. Add to that, the lifestyle people have today, doubles the reason as to why an increasing number of people are deficient in vitamins,” says Dr Rohit Kumar, consultant, Artemis Hospital.

And so, Dr Kumar, suggests, “Multivitamin supplements, recommended by doctors, do good in such a scenario. They make up for all the vitamin deficiency caused by not having important meals of the day or nutrition through home-made healthy food.”

The fact that multivitamin supplements are an equivalent substitute for the vitamins gained through the food that we eat means that it makes sense to use one tablet a day for three months and give a break of one month after every months of such intake.

The boxing ring, which was once considered as a good way of working out the stress by men only, is today appreciated by many women for beating stress.

The only thing, differentiating between the two sexes, is the chest protectors ladies wear underneath their bras.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

“Boxing’s changed my life. I needed a way of coping with work stress and this gives me the buzz I need,” News of the World quoted Simons as saying.

Begum agrees with her, saying: “Training gives me a high and landing punches makes me feel good.”

Their sparring in the ring is very much admired by the men.

“You’ve got to have a lot of balls to get into that ring. I admire any woman who can do it,” Dan Walker, 28, a banker who’s watching the pair spar, was quoted by the report, as saying.

Sports psychologist Professor Andy Lane, from the University of Wolverhampton, isn’t surprised female boxing is becoming more popular.

“Boxing involves a great deal of emotional control, confidence and mental toughness,” he said.

“These are also key attributes for women in high-powered jobs. They’re used to working in male-dominated environments and going into the ring in a traditionally male-dominated sport is another way of proving they can take on the boys,” he added.

Lane remarked that boxing could help women enhance their confidence for confrontations at the workplace since they are less likely to get and feel intimidated.

If you have always dreamt of a fit, healthy, and flexible body but could not find easy ways to realize the dream, this blog will be useful to you in more than just a way.

By observing small measures such as eating more of whole foods such as vegetables, nuts, fruits and whole grains, you can get a healthy skin and a well-tuned digestive system besides staying in good shape.

From Timesofindia.indiatimes.com:

Walk tall: Going by the increasing rate of people suffering from back problems, we all know that it’s very critical to ease the burden on your lower back. So it’s best to walk tall to distribute the load. Experts believe that standing straight is an easy way to not only exercise your back but to also trim down.

Lift heavy weights: This one is especially for women. Do you often find yourself saying no to heavy weights? Well, it’s a proven fact that lifting heavy weights strengthen your muscles. When you lift only light weights, some muscles remain untrained and turn into flab. Hence, include a heavy weights routine in your week’s workout regime and see the results.

Run and jump: Belly fat is the most common problem these days. While painful ab exercises and other techniques do exist to burn it out but the best, and simplest way is to walk, run and jump as much as you can. Make yourself get a total of 60 minutes of workout in a day. It could be done while walking your pet, walking up to the super mart, running on the treadmill or doing intensive house chores. Just ensure that this quota is met!

So you take the stairs? You have heard that one must take the stairs. But did someone tell you that just taking the stairs is not enough. Every step can give good results if done in a desired manner. The best way to climb the stairs is to run on it or take two at a time. Experts say that it also slows down the ageing process.

One of the other ways that can be made a practice is deep breathing since it helps in erasing stress and banishing wrinkles besides paving the way for a free mind and healthy body.

Human beings hate to grow old as that may mean many things such as weakened muscles, fading vision, dependency on others, inability to walk and run, and proximity with many health complications.

A large Gallup poll has, however, found that people get happier as they get older and this measurement can be experienced by almost any measure.

From NYtimes.com:

In measuring immediate well-being — yesterday’s emotional state — the researchers found that stress declines from age 22 onward, reaching its lowest point at 85. Worry stays fairly steady until 50, then sharply drops off. Anger decreases steadily from 18 on, and sadness rises to a peak at 50, declines to 73, then rises slightly again to 85. Enjoyment and happiness have similar curves: they both decrease gradually until we hit 50, rise steadily for the next 25 years, and then decline very slightly at the end, but they never again reach the low point of our early 50s.

Other experts were impressed with the work. Andrew J. Oswald, a professor of psychology at Warwick Business School in England, who has published several studies on human happiness, called the findings important and, in some ways, heartening. “It’s a very encouraging fact that we can expect to be happier in our early 80s than we were in our 20s,” he said. “And it’s not being driven predominantly by things that happen in life. It’s something very deep and quite human that seems to be driving this.”

Arthur A. Stone, the lead author of a new study, said the state of happiness “growing” with age may be due to psychological changes about the way we view the world, or biological changes such as brain chemistry or endocrine changes.

In a world characterized by stress, Migraine is one of the most common complications to happen. Read on!

Migraine is one of the common types of headaches, which actually is a vascular disorder that causes a strong ache in the head occurring in one side of the brain and then moving to the other parts of the body, normally shoulder and neck. There is no specific reason what causes this pain but experts believe that it is due to a blend of the expansion of blood vessels and the discharge of unsure chemicals, which causes inflammation and pain leading to migraine.

Migraine attack can occur at any time of day or night and at any age. This recurring pain is usually severe, powerful and tends to be connected with nausea, dizziness and many patients feel calmed after a vomit.

There are various reasons that are considered to be behind the development of migraine but they may vary from person to person. They could be because a person might be sensitive to light or sound changes in weather, there are also certain foods that lead to migraine like chocolate, alcohol, nuts, cheese and even missing on meal. Migraine can happen even if the person is allergic to something like smell or food. Menstrual periods and use of oral contraceptive pills are the common reasons which may help to cause Migraine in women.

One other major factor or cause is increase in physical and emotional stress, disturbing sleeps and life style. Migraine can be avoided by having adequate sleep on time and not taking too much of stress and tension.

In a world often characterized by stress and mental unrest, Yoga is a powerful self-healing medium to get rid of all worries and anxieties. Read on!

Yoga has benefits for one and all. It is a great medium to work towards inner peace and betterment without making many efforts. Moreover, one can do Yoga at any time and without any space constraints.

Let us read about some benefits of Yoga to develop a clear and complete understanding about its usefulness, especially in today’s stress and occupied world.

The health benefits of Yoga include domination of subcortical regions of brain and parasympathetic nervous system, which are good for the body and mind. By engaging into Yoga, one can reduce the chances of injuring muscles and ligaments to a considerable extent. In addition to that, following Yoga on a regular basis promotes limitless possibilities for growth in self-awareness and normalization of muscle tone, which means that the body is in a better position than ever to deliver dramatic performances on a continuing basis.

Not only this, Yoga facilitates enhancements in the levels of lymphocyte count, cholinesterase, HDL cholesterol, hemoglobin, and hematocrit to name a few. Meanwhile, levels of total white blood cell count, catecholamines, VLDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and sodium get reduced with regular Yoga activities.

With these and many more benefits, Yoga is one medium that can easily take one to greater heights. This is the reason why it has been receiving wide acclaims these days.

You will be surprised to know that the power to prevent ailments and grow in a balanced manner lies solely with us only. And the best part is that we can do that easily, incrementally, and fairly painlessly. It is important to remember here that making efforts to do this is all about taking small and not giant steps.

From simple and effortless activities such as waking early, sleeping early, having an early morning bath, walking to pick the morning newspaper, spending time at the home garden, commuting to workplace, and household chores – that’s all you do and need to do but with less use of automatic devices and in a natural manner. Remember, wheat grass and heading to the gym are not the only things that are going to make you happy and strong.

If you can do that, you would be really surprised to experience that you unknowingly add endless meaningful changes to your life and capacity to deal with stress. You would enjoy a good sleep and more satisfying and happy in relationships & to and for the society.

Do not forget that good health can come in small tidbits; it is just how you take life, happily or with grudges and blaming destiny.

We hope that these small tips could change your outlook to life and you would stay healthy without trying.

We all are so busy with unnecessary things in life that we fail to understand the importance of real life. Alcohol, parties, and social networking have taken so much of ourselves that we fail to understand the significance of personal relationships.

Between all these things, we forget to remember the basic lessons of life. Peace of life and contentment with what we get are two things ignored by us. While there is nothing wrong with thinking and asking for more, yet the stress these expectations bring is more than enough for most of us to handle.

Stress Management:

Start your day early and engage yourself in some exercises. These may be swimming, walking, jogging, or working out in the gym. If you do not get enough time to do any of these activities, try spending some time with the nature. Eat and drink healthy and never indulge into alcohol, caffeine, food, or steroid abuse. If possible, try to meditate for about 25-40 minutes a day and spend some quality time with yourself and your loved ones. Leave those social networking sites for a while, which take too much of your time.

If you can follow these small yet effective tips about stress management, you can once again come back to lead a normal life to stay close to people and things that matter the most.