Wii..IT HURTS!

A healthy 14-year-old girl in the United Kingdom suffered a fracture in her right foot when she fell off a Wii Fit balance board, says a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Highly popular Wii interactive games allow players to participate physically in games and sporting events, and not just with their fingers or by moving their hands and arms to swing virtual sports equipment like tennis racquets.

A Wii Fit balance board replaces handheld controls with a pressure-sensitive board about 2 inches off the ground that lets the user try to improve balance. The little device, which resembles a skateboard, allows players to control movements on-screen via balancing movements, twists, and turns.

It’s been touted as another health-promoting Wii game that forces people off couches and into action that burns calories.

But sometimes such play can cause problems, Karen Eley of Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust in Oxford, England, writes in a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Other reported Wii-associated injuries have included traumatic hemothorax (from a fall while playing), dislocations, and head injuries (from being struck accidentally by a gaming partner).” A hemothorax is a collection of blood in the space between the chest wall and the lung.

Eley writes that “Nintendinitis” was described in 1990 in a patient with pain in a thumb tendon after five hours of playing a video game. And after the introduction of Wii, Eley says, clinicians started to see patients with what they called "Wiiitis.”

A study published in October 2009 suggested that 12% of young video game players have finger pain, enough to limit gaming time; and 10% have wrist pain.

Sources:

Eley, K. New England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 4, 2010; vol 362 : p 5.

WebMD Health News: "Nintendo Game Sparks Acute ‘Wiiitis.'"

WebMD Health News: "Video Games May Cause Kids Pain."

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Zeroing down at 'Size Zero'

Size zero, size zero, size zero...seems to be the buzz word everywhere, whether its the bollywood beauty Kareena Kapoor who just got famous because of it, or Louise Redknapp who dieted till she starved to get into a size zero! The fad is spreading out fast ( or maybe I am a liltle wrong at saying 'spreading' because it has already spread and is now killing people around!)


I am sure by now everyone knows about the size zero; and even those who prefer to remain untouched by the 'health world terms' have a fair idea as to what it is..thanks to our celebraties. So I really won't bother to talk about that here.What really amuses me is that how fast people get carried away by such fads and become desperate to achieve a phsique like their much hyped celeb idols!I have come across various  perfectly healthy people come up to me and beg and plead to shell out the secret of getting into a size '0', and i find myself a little 'word deficient' when I want to tell them that You are mad! It's plain stupid, I would say to, to want to achieve something worse when you already have the best.Celebs, I can still understand, not because it is harmless for them  but because -
a. They have a cut throat competition around and being a good actor is just not enough.
b. They do not have to travel in rush hour by trains, or do any laborious work- they have helpers for everything.
c. It works as a free and the best PR tool for them; and finally
d. They get paid for it !


So it's irrelevant for the common realistic people to even want to achieve such insensible aims in life! It will only leave them struggling with food and exercise, or impatient, or depressed or in worst case fatter if you succumb to binging! We also hear news about celebs suffering anorexia nervosa and bulimia due to the killing competition, yet this evil doesn't seem to drill in our heads. We only like to be associated with the more socially appealing and acceptable ways.


We have better things to do in life than being stick things and looking like hangers in the wardrobe.Why don't we aim for more realistic and achievable things like eating healthy and staying fit, by simple everyday measure of keeping a check on our diet and making sure that include little bit of exercise in our schedule.
So forget the size zero, the curves are back ladies...ask any man and he would second me! 

The New ,Old Fad...Organic Food!

When it come to clothes and dressing up, I love to be in fashion always..no matter what.But there are some things where I love to be the plain old traditional me. Take food for example.Everybody seems to talking about what's new and what is fashionable in the 'dieting' department. I somehow managed to escape the mad race and stick to my simple four square meal comprising of freshly grown veggies and pulses. (since I was born and bought up in a small town, we had the privilege of growing food in our kitchen garden and eating them fresh!) I always believed what my mother and my granny used to say,"fashion is a cycle. You think our style is outdated?well you would be raving about it in the future!"


Now when I hear the word organic food these , my mother's words ring in my ear, for organic food is nothing but the pure fresh clean food the oldies used to eat. In organic production, the use of conventional non-organic pesticides, insecticides and herbicides is greatly restricted and saved as a last resort.For the vast majority of human history, agriculture can be described as organic; only during the 20th century was a large supply of new synthetic chemicals introduced to the food supply.


Its good to eat organic food no doubt about that as you are saved from eating all the other harmful pesticides and chemical which can lead to diseases like cancer and other digestive tract related diseases.Going organic is good for you and the Earth, but if you can't always afford it -- since organic can cost 50%-100% more , I suggest spend most of your organic food money on foods you eat most often.eg:

• Apples: most of the pesticides are on the pel so a good scrubing under water can make your regular apple near to organic.
• Bell peppers and celery are among the "dirty dozen" with higher pesticide residues. In fact, in 2004 the USDA Pesticide Data Program found 49 pesticide residues on sweet bell peppers.
• Strawberries and cherries are a great source of vitamin C. And while buying organic berries may give you a lot of bang for your organic buck.
• Grapes:Consider buying organic grapes for children and if you're pregnant. If buying conventionally grown, wash them well before consuming.
• Green leafy veggies: Buy organic or grow your own (greens do well even in large patio containers).a great source of protein, vitamins A, C, E, and K, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and manganese -- has about 7 calories a cup.
• Potatoes: Potatoes are a good organic purchase -- especially since most conventional potatoes are pesticide intensive crops.
• Milk:Cows raised on conventional farms are often given recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to increase the amount of milk they produce. Does rBGH pose a health hazard to humans? Scientists don’t agree. But if you have an infant or child who drinks milk, consider taking precaution and choosing rBGH-free or organic.
• Some others: Beef, peanut butter and baby food.

So go organic and live the happy traditional way!

Eternal love- Women and Choclate!

Sinful- is how women have always described chocolate!But despite this, about 99% of all women love chocolate.Ever wondered, what is it about chocolate that it is so wonderful? Its wonderful taste aside, chocolate contains phenylethylamine - the same chemical that is released in your brain when you fall in love; leading to that increase in the pounding of your heart, feeling of a sudden gush of excitement. “Love Chemical” is what some would call it. It is also believed by researcher that phenylethylamine in turn causes the brain to release mesolimbic dopamine in the pleasure centers of the brain.
Nevertheless, the sweetness from chocolate also triggers the release of endorphins.The blissful feeling that you feel after eating that big bar is because of this endorphins.Perhaps that is why some women actually remarked that they felt a feeling of elation when eating chocolate.
Well, a perfect gift for your love, chocolate will be. Just like buying roses during Valentine’s Day, chocolate can never go wrong. In fact, the both could be the best combination ever. Incidently, roses also contain the “Love Chemical”, Phenylethylamine. That also explains for its distinct scent.
Also for those who still feel its a sin here are some more facts-
•Chocolate doesn’t have the teeth-rotting propensities of other sweets.
•Cocoa in chocolate contains high amount of antioxidants-great for your skin and heart.
•And lastly, its proved that women who eat more chocolates have better love life!

One tip though;try and eat more of dark chocolates.....the bitter the better!