Category: Health

{A new study in rats could begin to explain why allergies during pregnancy are linked to higher risks for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism in children.}

Researchers at The Ohio State University found significant changes in the brain makeup of fetuses and newborn rats exposed to allergens during pregnancy.

Animals that lived to adulthood after allergen exposure before birth showed signs of hyperactivity and antisocial behavior and decreased anxiety, found a research team led by Kathryn Lenz, an Ohio State assistant professor of psychology.

“This is evidence that prenatal exposure to allergens alters brain development and function and that could be an underappreciated factor in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders,” said Lenz, who presented her research Nov. 16 in San Diego at Neuroscience 2016, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Though there are established links between allergies and ADHD and autism — as well as between inflammation and risk of autism, schizophrenia and ADHD — the cellular-level changes that could contribute to those connections largely remain a mystery.

Autism and ADHD are both three to four times as common in boys than in girls, Lenz said. And so she and her collaborators set out to look for sex differences in the rats as well.

“We’re really interested in figuring out unknown factors in psychological disorders and in differences between male and female brain development as it relates to autism, ADHD and other disorders,” Lenz said.

To study the effects of allergies on offspring, researchers sensitized female rats to ovalbumin (found in egg whites) before pregnancy. Then, 15 days into their pregnancies, they exposed them to the allergen, prompting an immune response in the animals.

They analyzed whether prenatal allergen exposure changed the number and behavior of immune cells in the developing brain of offspring. They explored possible changes in young rats’ physical activity, anxiety-like behavior, ability to learn and sociability. And they examined the density of dendritic spines in the juvenile animals’ brains. The spines protrude from neurons and are vital to cellular-level communication in the brain.

Rats exposed to allergens before birth had higher levels of immune cells called mast cells in the brain and lower numbers of immune cells called microglia, regardless of the animals’ gender.

Animals with allergic mothers were hyperactive, but had lower levels of anxiety-like behavior. When they interacted with other juvenile rats, the males in the allergen group were less likely to roughhouse with their peers.

“Young rats engage in social play and males are more rough and tumble and usually play much more than females,” Lenz said.

“The males born to the allergen-exposed mothers looked more like females. They were more socially reserved. They were really hyperactive, but socially disengaged. That looks a bit like ADHD.”

And when the researchers looked at the animals’ ability to be mentally flexible, the rats born to allergic mothers had a tougher time, Lenz said.

“They have to use rules to find a reward — a Cheerio in a terracotta pot — and the rules we give them keep shifting,” Lenz said, explaining that in one test the treat might be in a pot covered in sandpaper and in another test it might be in a pot covered in velvet.

The rats in the allergen group weren’t as capable of adapting to the changing parameters of the test, and the males had deficits that were more significant than the females.

Early data from the study shows that the dendritic spines — the points of synaptic connection between cells in the frontal cortex of the animals’ brains — were decreased in males with allergy exposure and increased in their female counterparts.

{A large number of mouth cells exposed to e-cigarette vapor in the laboratory die within a few days, according to a study conducted by Université Laval researchers and published in the latest issue of Journal of Cellular Physiology.}

Dr. Mahmoud Rouabhia and his team at Université Laval’s Faculty of Dental Medicine came to this conclusion after exposing gingival epithelial cells to e-cigarette vapor. “Mouth epithelium is the body’s first line of defense against microbial infection,” Professor Rouabhia explains. “This epithelium protects us against several microorganisms living in our mouths.”

To simulate what happens in a person’s mouth while vaping, researchers placed epithelial cells in a small chamber containing a saliva-like liquid. Electronic cigarette vapor was pumped into the chamber at a rate of two five-second “inhalations” per minute for 15 minutes a day.

Observations under the microscope showed that the percentage of dead or dying cells, which is about 2% in unexposed cell cultures, rose to 18%, 40%, and 53% after 1, 2, and 3 days of exposure to e-cigarette vapor, respectively.

“Contrary to what one might think, e-cigarette vapor isn’t just water,” explains Dr. Rouabhia. “Although it doesn’t contain tar compounds like regular cigarette smoke, it exposes mouth tissues and the respiratory tract to compounds produced by heating the vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, and nicotine aromas in e-cigarette liquid.”

The cumulative effects of this cell damage have not yet been documented, but they are worrying, according to Dr. Rouabhia, who is also a member of the Oral Ecology Research Group (GREB) at Université Laval: “Damage to the defensive barrier in the mouth can increase the risk of infection, inflammation, and gum disease. Over the longer term, it may also increase the risk of cancer. This is what we will be investigating in the future.”

{Occasional smokers can avoid some harmful effects}

Drinking red wine is widely regarded as protective against cardiovascular disease. A new report in The American Journal of Medicine found that a glass or two of red wine before lighting up a cigarette can counteract some of the short-term negative effects of smoking on blood vessels.

Cigarette smoke causes acute endothelial damage, vascular and systemic inflammation, and cellular aging. Red wine stimulates the formation of endothelium-dependent relaxation factors such as nitric oxide, which improve endothelial function in coronary arteries possibly because of the high phenol concentration in red wine.

“However, sparse data exist on the short term potential vasoprotective effects of red wine in smoking-healthy individuals,” explained lead investigator Viktoria Schwarz, MD, of the University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany. “The aim of our study was to investigate the acute vascular effects of red wine consumption prior to ‘occasional lifestyle smoking’ in healthy individuals. We found evidence that preconsumption of red wine prevented most of the vascular injury caused by smoking.”

The study examined the effects of smoking on various biochemical processes in the blood and vessels of 20 healthy non-smokers who volunteered to smoke three cigarettes. Half of the subjects drank red wine one hour before smoking, in an amount calculated to result in 0.075% blood alcohol content. Blood and urine were collected before and after drinking and smoking and continued until 18 hours after smoking.

Smoking is known to cause microparticles to be released into the bloodstream. These particles come from endothelial cells, platelets, and monocytes and indicate that cells in the blood vessels are being damaged. Researchers found that in subjects who consumed red wine before smoking, these cellular changes did not occur.

Another biochemical process affected by smoking is telomerase activity. Telomeres can be thought of as “protective caps” on chromosomes. During aging, these caps can shorten and lose their protective ability. By measuring telomerase activity, investigators determined that the group that smoked without drinking red wine showed a 56% decrease in telomerase activity while the drinking group showed only a 20% decrease.

Inflammation puts stress on cells due to an imbalance in reactive oxygen species production and the body’s antioxidant defenses. According to Dr. Schwarz, “We observed acute proinflammatory changes, namely, leukocytosis, neutrophilia, upregulated levels of IL-6 in serum, and enhanced messenger RNA expression of IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Our study adds to the present evidence that the proinflammatory effects in nonsmokers with ‘occasional lifestyle smoking’ could be prevented by red wine consumption.”

Since the study was limited to young, healthy nonsmokers, it is not clear whether these findings apply to the elderly, the ill, or chronic smokers. There was no comparison to different alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages or whether the results would apply to more than just occasional smokers and drinkers.

These findings underscore the magnitude of acute damage exerted by cigarette smoking in “occasional lifestyle smokers” and demonstrate the potential of red wine as a protective strategy to avert markers of vascular injury. Dr. Schwarz and co-investigators emphasized that they do not intend to motivate occasional smokers to drink or occasional drinkers to smoke. “Nevertheless, this study identified mechanisms suitable to explore damage and protection on the vasculature in humans, paving the way for future clinical studies.”

The number of people in the world with high blood pressure has reached 1.13 billion, according to new research.

The study, led by scientists at Imperial College London, reveals the number of people with high blood pressure has nearly doubled in 40 years.

The team studied changes in blood pressure in every country in the world between 1975 and 2015.

The largest ever study of its kind, the research involved the World Health Organization and hundreds of scientists throughout the world, and incorporated blood pressure measurements from nearly 20 million people.

The findings, published in the journal The Lancet, showed that while blood pressure has dropped sharply in high-income countries, it has risen in many low and middle-income countries, especially those in Africa and South Asia.

The UK was found to be the European country with the lowest proportion of people with high blood pressure in 2015, while South Korea, USA and Canada were lowest in the world.

Professor Majid Ezzati, senior author of the study at the School of Public Health at Imperial said: “High blood pressure is no longer related to affluence — as it was in 1975 — but is now a major health issue linked with poverty.”

The authors say the reason for this finding is unclear, but it may be linked to overall better health and increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. The condition is also caught more frequently, and earlier, and managed with medication in high-income countries. These factors may have helped counteract rising obesity, which is a risk factor for high blood pressure.

Professor Ezzati added that poor nutrition in childhood in low income countries may also play a role in the study findings: “Increasing evidence suggests poor nutrition in early life years increases risk of the high blood pressure in later life, which may explain the growing problem in poor countries.”

The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, also revealed men had higher blood pressure than women in most countries in the world in 2015. Globally, 597 million men had raised blood pressure, compared to 529 million women.

Over half of the world’s adults with high blood pressure in 2015 lived in Asia. Around 226 million people in China have high blood pressure, along with 200 million in India.

The study showed that much of the rise in the number of people with high blood pressure over the last 40 years is also due to a larger, and older, world population.

High blood pressure puts extra strain on the blood vessels and major organs such as heart, brain and kidneys. It is the world’s leading cause of cardiovascular disease, which leads to stroke and heart attacks, and is thought to cause 7.5 million deaths a year across the globe.

Blood pressure is defined by two numbers: systolic pressure, which represents the force your heart pumps blood into the blood vessels, and diastolic pressure, which is a measure of the resistance to the blood flow in the body’s blood vessels. Both numbers are measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). High blood pressure is defined as 140/90 mmHg or higher.

The team explained the condition is caused by a number of factors including dietary influences, such as eating too much salt and not enough fruit and vegetables, obesity, insufficient exercise and some environmental factors such as lead exposure and air pollution. The condition is more common in older ages.

Countries with the highest pressure

The country with the highest age-corrected proportion of men with high blood pressure in 2015 was Croatia (38 per cent of the population), while Niger had the highest proportion of women with high blood pressure (36 per cent).

Tackling the epidemic of high blood pressure in low and middle-income countries is one of the most pressing global health challenges, added Professor Ezzati.

“We need economic means and regulation to improve access to high quality food, especially fruits and vegetables, and reduce excessive salt in food. We also need a stronger healthcare system, to identify people with high blood pressure earlier, and improve access to treatment and medication. Without these measures, the world is unlikely to achieve the World Health Organization’s target of reducing the proportion of people with high blood pressure by 25 per cent by 2025.”

The other findings of the paper included:

• In the UK, in 2015 the age-corrected proportion of people with high blood pressure was 18 per cent for men and 12 per cent for women, making the UK 195th in the world for men (6th lowest), and 194th for women (7th lowest). In 1975, 38 per cent of UK men and 28 per cent of UK women had high blood pressure, placing men at 48th in the world (153rd lowest) and women at 96th in the world (105th lowest).

• Average blood pressure for men in the UK in 2015 was 126/72 mmHg (in 1975 it was 130/78 mmHg). Women’s average blood pressure was 117/71 mmHg in 2015 (in 1975 it was 124/77 mmHg).

• The country with the lowest proportion of people with high blood pressure in Europe in 2015 was the UK for both men and women (in 1975 it was Cyprus for both men and women).

• The top five countries with the highest proportion of men with high blood pressure in 2015 were all in Central and Eastern Europe: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, and Slovenia. Nearly two in five men in these countries had high blood pressure.

• The top five countries with the highest proportion of women with high blood pressure in 2015 were all in Africa: Niger, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Somalia. Around one in three women in these countries had high blood pressure.

• The five countries with the lowest proportion of people with high blood pressure in 2015 were: South Korea, USA, Canada, Peru, and Singapore. Around one in six men and just over one in ten women have high blood pressure in these countries

• In the USA, the age-corrected proportion of people with high blood pressure was 15 per cent for men and 11 per cent for women in 2015, placing them 2nd lowest in the world. In 2015, men’s average blood pressure in the USA was 124/74 mmHg, while women in 2015 had an average blood pressure of 117/71 mmHg.

• In 2015, 258 million (23%) of the 1.13 billion adults with high blood pressure lived in South Asia (200 million in India) and another 235 million (21%) lived in East Asia (226 million in China).

The team added there were limitations of the study, for instance some countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, had less data than others or the data were older. Furthermore, the equipment used to measure blood pressure has changed since 1975 — with most monitors now.

{Potatoes are one of the healthiest foods in the world. Potatoes are packed with numerous nutrients the body needs.
}
Below are 4 reasons why you should eat potatoes today

{{1. Helps lower blood pressure }}

According to researchers at the Institute for Food Research in Norway, potatoes help regulate blood pressure because they contain kukoamines. Ensure you eat a good amount of potatoes regularly to benefit from its blood-pressure lowering properties.

{{2. Potatoes are rich in vitamins }}

Potatoes are rich in immune-boosting vitamin C. Potatoes are also a rich source of vitamin B, folate and minerals such as potassium, magnesium and iron.

{{3. Helps you deal with stress }}

Eating potatoes will help you deal with stress because potatoes are rich in vitamin B6 which is needed for cellular renewal, a healthy nervous system and a balanced mood.

{{4. Potatoes are good for the heart }}

Potatoes contain flavonoids which help protect against cardiovascular-disease by lowering levels of bad LDL-cholesterol and keeping arteries fat-free.

High homocysteine levels are associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Potatoes contain vitamin B6 which helps reduce homocysteine levels in the body.

{Bras are important pieces for most women, and while some cannot do without it, there are a few who would rather leave their boobies hanging free. People who fall In the last category have more often than not, come under fire for daring to go against the ‘normal’, however, according to research, there yet may be more to ‘bra-lessness’ than a lot of people know.}

I have put together 5 solid reasons why I think it’s not always a bad thing for a woman to leave her boobies hanging free.

{{ It’s more comfortable }}

Obviously, comfort is relative, while someone may find going bra-less more comfortable than wearing one, there are women who feel exactly the opposite. That said, I’ll still go on to tell you why I think the former gives you more day long comfort than the latter. Most of the women I have come across have always given me the impression that they feel suffocated in a bra. Hence, they feel great joy whenever they finally take it off.

Bras are made with intention of keeping the breasts from dangling, meaning that they’re made to be tight. The straps, the under wire, the band, all make it really tight on the body. That can be stifling for most women, especially when you have to wear one all day long.

{{Your boobies are perkier and firmer }}

Jean Denis Rouillon, a professor at Frenche Comte University conducted a research (which lasted for fifteen years), and found that wearing a bra actually adds no value to a woman. This discovery brings into question the notion that wearing a bra actually adds meaningful value to women. According to Roullion, going without a bra would actually allow for more muscle tissue to build, and that of course would make the boobies firmer and perkier.

{{Less cance risk }}

You go without a bra, and you expose your boobies to much more air than they’d get with one. You sweat less, and chances of germs building up around your breasts are reduced too.

{{Better circulation}}

Due to the tight form of bras, it’s very difficult for the body’s blood circulation level to be at its best, but without a bra, you get the opposite. Your muscle tissues are better, and blood circulation is better.

{{You save more money }}

It’s no secret that the best bras come at a high price, but if you don’t have to wear one, it would mean that you channel that money elsewhere — maybe save it, even.

Now, that you’ve known some of the benefits of going bra-less, you go on ahead and choose whichever makes you more comfortable.

{A year after the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine and other institutions identified 14 individuals previously unknown to have had the disease in a Sierra Leone village that was an Ebola hot spot.}

These individuals had antibodies to the virus, suggesting they had been infected at one time. Yet 12 of these individuals said they had had no symptoms during the time of active transmission in the village.

The research confirms previous suspicions that the Ebola virus does not uniformly cause severe disease, and that people may be infected without showing signs of illness, said Gene Richardson, MD, a former fellow in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford who is now a PhD candidate in anthropology at the university. The findings also suggest that the epidemic was more widespread than previously believed. Based on the results of the study, the researchers calculated the prevalence of minimally symptomatic infection to be 25 percent.

“The study corroborates previous evidence that Ebola is like most other viruses in that it causes a spectrum of manifestations, including minimally symptomatic infection,” Richardson said. “It provides important evidence on that front. It also means a significant portion of transmission events may have gone undetected during the outbreak. This shows there was a lot more human-to-human transmission than we thought.”

The study will be published online Nov. 15 in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The study also will be presented Nov. 14 at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s annual meeting in Atlanta. Richardson is lead author of the study, and Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, a Harvard professor and director of Partners In Health, is the senior author.

Testing individuals

The research was done in the rural village of Sukudu in Sierra Leone, a country where Richardson and his colleagues cared for hundreds of patients in Ebola treatment units managed by Partners In Health.

The village, with about 900 residents, had been one of three major hot spots in the Kono District, in the eastern part of the country, during the heat of the Ebola crisis between November 2014 and February 2015. There were 34 reported cases of Ebola in the village, including 28 deaths.

More than 28,000 cases of Ebola infection were reported in Africa during the epidemic, the largest and longest in history. More than 11,000 people are estimated to have died because of the disease.

In the aftermath, Richardson and his colleagues decided to go back to the village to try to determine whether the Ebola infection could be minimally symptomatic, as previous studies have suggested. He worked with a local physician and two community health workers in gathering data for the study, a process that was approved by the local village chief.

They used a test known as the ELISA assay, a technique that can detect the presence of an antibody. They first made sure the test was accurate by comparing results from 30 Ebola survivors in Sukudu with those of 132 people in other villages where the virus had not been reported.

Richardson said the test proved to be a reasonable measure of viral antibodies. The researchers then recruited 187 men, women and children from Sukudu who had likely been exposed to Ebola, either because they were living in the same household or had shared a public toilet with a person confirmed to have had the disease.

Of these, 14 were found to be carrying antibodies to Ebola, suggesting they had been infected at some point, though they had not been included in the original count. Twelve of them said they had had no symptoms of the disease, which typically causes fever, unexplained bleeding, headache, muscle pain, rash, vomiting, diarrhea, breathing problems and difficulty swallowing. Two recalled having had a fever at the time of the outbreak, the scientists reported.

Public health efforts not entirely effective

In combining the initial reports of 34 infections with the 14 newly identified cases, the researchers calculated the prevalence of minimally symptomatic infection in the village to have been 25 percent.

Richardson said it is unknown if an asymptomatic individual is capable of transmitting the virus. Because these individuals did not have an active case of the disease, “They were not passing it along in the usual way, through vomiting or diarrhea,” he said. “It’s unclear if they can pass it along it sexually.”

The virus has been shown to hide out for months in semen, even after symptoms have subsided, with some published cases of survivors transmitting the virus through sexual contact.

Richardson said the study indicates that public health efforts to prevent infection and contain the virus during the epidemic were not entirely effective.

“It reminds us that we need to do a much, much better job in future epidemics,” Richardson said.

He and his colleagues are now working in other villages in Sierra Leone where public health surveillance was poor during the epidemic, testing and interviewing individuals to get a better handle on the true number of people affected during the crisis.

“We expect to find a lot more undocumented survivors, so we can begin to answer the question of what was the true burden of disease,” he said.

{Repeated binge drinking during adolescence can affect brain functions in future generations, potentially putting offspring at risk for such conditions as depression, anxiety, and metabolic disorders, a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study has found.}

“Adolescent binge drinking not only is dangerous to the brain development of teenagers, but also may impact the brains of their children,” said senior author Toni R. Pak, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

The study by Dr. Pak, first author Anna Dorothea Asimes, a PhD student in Dr. Pak’s lab, and colleagues was presented Nov. 14, 2016 at Neuroscience 2016, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

The study, which was based on an animal model, found that adolescent binge drinking altered the on-off switches of multiple genes in the brains of offspring. When genes are turned on, they instruct cells to make proteins, which ultimately control physical and behavioral traits. The study found that in offspring, genes that normally are turned on were turned off, and vice versa.

Teenage binge drinking is a major health concern in the United States, with 21 percent of teenagers reporting they have done it during the past 30 days. Among drinkers under age 21, more than 90 percent of the alcohol is consumed during binge drinking episodes. Binge drinking is defined as raising the blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 percent, the legal driving limit, within two hours (generally about five drinks for a male and four drinks for a female).

In the study, one group of adolescent male and female rats was exposed to alcohol in amounts comparable to six binge drinking episodes. The rats mated after becoming sober and the females remained sober during their pregnancies. (Thus, any effects on offspring could not be attributed to fetal alcohol syndrome.) The alcohol-exposed rats were compared to a control group of rats that were not exposed to alcohol.

In the offspring of alcohol-exposed rats, researchers examined genes in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain involved in many functions, including reproduction, response to stress, sleep cycles and food intake. Researchers looked for molecular changes to DNA that would reverse the on-off switches in individual genes. They found 159 such changes in the offspring of binge-drinking mothers, 93 gene changes in the offspring of binge-drinking fathers and 244 gene changes in the offspring of mothers and fathers who both were exposed to binge drinking.

The study is the first to show a molecular pathway that teenage binge drinking by either parent can cause changes in the neurological health of subsequent generations.

While findings from an animal model do not necessarily translate to humans, there are significant similarities between the study’s animal model and humans, including their metabolism of alcohol, the function of the hypothalamus, and the pattern and amount of binge drinking, Pak said.

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. It is titled “Binge alcohol consumption during puberty causes altered DNA methylation in the brain of alcohol-naive offspring.”

{Active marijuana use may double the risk of stress cardiomyopathy, an uncommon heart muscle malfunction that can mimic heart attack symptoms, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2016.}

The researchers found that marijuana users were almost twice as likely to develop stress cardiomyopathy compared to non-users, even after taking other cardiovascular risk factors into consideration. Active marijuana use was identified either by information provided by the patient in their medical history, or by a marker in the patient’s urine.

“The effects of marijuana, especially on the cardiovascular system, are not well known yet. With its increasing availability and legalization in some states, people need to know that marijuana may be harmful to the heart and blood vessels in some people,” said Amitoj Singh, M.D. study co-author and chief cardiology fellow at St. Luke’s University Health Network in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Stress cardiomyopathy is a sudden, usually temporary, weakening of the heart muscle that reduces the heart’s ability to pump, leading to chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness and sometimes fainting.

Data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample identified 33,343 people who were hospitalized with stress cardiomyopathy between 2003-2011 in the United States. Of those, 210 (less than one percent) were also identified as marijuana users.

Compared with non-users, researchers found that marijuana users were more likely to be younger, male with fewer cardiovascular risk factors, including less high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.

However, despite being younger and with fewer cardiovascular risk factors than non-users, during stress cardiomyopathy the marijuana users were significantly more likely to go into cardiac arrest (2.4 percent vs. 0.8 percent) and to require an implanted defibrillator to detect and correct dangerously abnormal heart rhythms (2.4 percent vs. 0.6 percent).

“This development of stress cardiomyopathy in younger patients who used marijuana suggests a possible link that needs to be further investigated,” said Sahil Agrawal, M.D., co-author of the paper and also a chief cardiology fellow at St. Luke’s.

Marijuana users were more likely than non-users to have a history of depression (32.9 percent vs. 14.5 percent), psychosis (11.9 percent vs. 3.8 percent), anxiety disorder (28.4 percent vs. 16.2 percent), alcoholism (13.3 percent vs. 2.8 percent), tobacco use (73.3 percent vs. 28.6 percent) and multiple substance abuse (11.4 percent vs. 0.3 percent). Because some of these can increase the risk of stress cardiomyopathy, the researchers adjusted for known risk factors to investigate the association between marijuana use and stress cardiomyopathy.

“If you are using marijuana and develop symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath, you should be evaluated by a healthcare provider to make sure you aren’t having stress cardiomyopathy or another heart problem,” Singh said.

The study has some limitations. Because this was a retrospective study, the researchers could not determine how frequently the marijuana users were using marijuana, or what the timeframe was between the use of marijuana and occurrence of stress cardiomyopathy. Observational studies are not designed to prove cause and effect; therefore, it cannot be said that marijuana is or is not a direct cause of stress cardiomyopathy. In addition, because the database the researchers used reports regional but not state-by-state statistics, the researchers could not analyze whether possibly marijuana-related heart problems are increasing where use is legal.

{We all want a set of white teeth but many unknowingly destroy their teeth through everyday habits listed below.}

{{1. Chewing ice cubes }}

Chewing ice cubes will damage your teeth. Chewing ice cubes can cause microscopic cracks in the surface of the enamel, which could lead to bigger dental problems over time.

{{2. Swimming }}

Swimming is an important exercise the body needs but according to studies published in both the American Journal of Dentistry and the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association, chemicals put in swimming pools, particularly chlorine, are linked to enamel erosion.

{{3. Eating too much fruits }}

Your doctor might have advised you to eat lots of fruits daily, dentist are saying the opposite. This is because fruits are extremely acidic and harmful to the teeth. Drinking water while eating fruits or immediately after will help reduce the negative effects of fruits on your teeth.

{{4. Using a hard-bristled toothbrush }}

Many prefer using a hard-bristled toothbrush because they believe it brushes their teeth better. Using a hard-bristled toothbrush may irritate the gums and lead to sensitive teeth.

{{5. Brush too soon after eating }}

I have seen people brush immediately after eating but this habit will damage the teeth. Brushing within 30 minutes of eating a meal or drinking fizzy or acidic drinks will damage the enamel. Wait for at least an hour before brushing.

{{6. Swirling wine }}

Wine experts encourage us to swirl a good wine around the mouth to bring out the flavour of the wine but according to dentists, doing this is bad for the teeth because wine is acidic and swirling ensures more of your teeth are covered in the acid.

{{7. Using your teeth as a tool}}

Many use their teeth as a tool to open drinks but this is bad for the teeth and can cause fracture.