Eating More Plant Protein May Help You Live Longer

In a Japanese study, researchers concluded that eating more plant protein helps one to live longer compared to obtaining protein needs from meat. The study
followed 71,000 middle-aged persons for about 20 years. A comparison was made between those who eat the smallest amount of plant protein as those who consume the largest amount of plant protein. The study showed that the people who eat more plant protein are 13 percent less likely to die. Frank Hu, nutrition department head at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, also said that meat protein is usually linked with chronic diseases and death and that plant protein comes with lower health risks. In the study, around 12,000 people have died due to various diseases. Hu was not part of the research conducted but was able to say that eating more plant protein food is really good for the health as it also contains other beneficial nutrients. Also, the study conducted has its limitations because the diets of participants were only considered once. This is not conclusive as these
people may have changed their diet over time.

Should You Exercise While Sick?

“People cannot deny that exercise is good for our health. Doctors suggest that a human body should be engaged in a medium physical activity for at least 150 minutes every week. It is easy to achieve for a lot of people as most have a daily exercise routine. But during times when one is sick, should he/she continue engaging in physical exercise? Does exercising help the person recover easier or will it delay the healing process? Health expert Dr. Edward R. Laskowski says that mild to moderate exercise is actually beneficial with common holds as it helps open nasal passages allowing the person to breathe more easily. Geralyn Coopersmith, a physical fitness trainer, says that as a general rule it is okay to work out if it is just some cold and the person does not feel sick. Both Laskowski and Coopersmith say that one should be more cautious when the pain is experienced below the neck. Other signs include a higher-than-normal body temperature, fatigue, widespread muscle pain, and tightness in the chest. Experts say that taking a break while sick will not affect one’s performance as he/ she can always go back to his/ her normal routine once he/ she is feeling better.”

Many People Don’t Know the Dangers of Alcohol

Alcoholic beverages have been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2012. According to WHO researchers, drinking
alcohol can cause at least seven different forms of cancer. However, according to WHO health experts, many people are unaware of the association between alcohol and cancer. They think it is important to warn people that alcohol is a carcinogen that has been linked to an increased risk of cancer. Some scientists are hesitant to suggest a connection between alcohol and cancer. One of them is not Dr. Jernigan. He focuses on one form of cancer in particular: breast cancer. Because of the way alcohol interacts with the female sex hormone estrogen, women are particularly vulnerable. The WHO has urged countries to take concrete steps to curb overall
alcohol consumption. Dr. Jernigan refers to these criteria as the “three A’s”: attractiveness, affordability, and availability. According to him, research indicates that addressing these three A’s will help reduce alcoholism. He claims that if you deal with attractiveness by restricting ads, affordability by dealing with price and raising alcohol taxes regularly, and physical availability by dealing with price and increasing alcohol taxes regularly, it is possible to eliminate alcohol issues. It is not a difficult job.

WHO: Possible to Defeat Malaria, But Probably Not Soon

“The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that it is possible to eradicate malaria, but this is unlikely to happen using existing methods. In 2017, the disease malaria infected about 219 million people. In that year, 435,000 people died as a result of the epidemic. The vast majority of the victims were babies and children from Africa’s poorest regions. These figures haven’t changed much since 2016. However, the figures are lower than the 2010 figures of 239 million infections and 607,000 deaths. Officials from the World Health Organization have long desired to eliminate malaria. In 1955, the United Nations launched a program to combat the epidemic, but it was halted in the 1960s. Malaria can be effectively treated with a number of medications. In order to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes and infections, sleeping under chemically treated bed nets has proven to be safe. GSK, a pharmaceutical firm, has also developed a malaria vaccine that has shown to be partially effective. Ghana and Malawi are now using the vaccine. However, according to the WHO report, these tools will not be enough to completely eliminate the malaria threat. It calls for further research and development of “transformative technologies and expertise” to combat mosquitoes and produce more effective vaccines and treatments. Sian Clarke is the co-director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s malaria center. Since mosquitoes transmit malaria by infecting people with a parasite, she believes that eradication would be feasible only if there is a sense of urgency.”