Eating almonds has a positive effect on reducing low density cholesterol and also improves insulin sensitivity & helps in reducing diabetes

As India grapples with a major public health problem, being home to an estimated 50.8 million diabetic population, the largest in the world, experts say "consuming a few almonds daily can help combat the lifestyle disease."

"Eating almonds has a positive effect on reducing low density cholesterol and also improves insulin sensitivity; so it does help in pushing diabetes away," says Ritesh Gupta, head of clinical operation at Fortis C-Doc Hospital.

"It is a healthy source of fibre, protein and calories and has been found to have a positive effect in reducing bad cholesterol and improved insulin sensitivity," Gupta told.

Diabetes is caused when there is deficiency of insulin hormone, which controls blood sugar level. Its symptoms include fatigue, excessive thirst and frequent urination.

"With an estimated 50.8 million people living with the disease, India has the world's largest population of diabetics in the world, followed by China with 43.2 million," says the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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Investment under Section 80C to save tax : PF & VPF, PPF, NSC, ELSS, Life insurance premiums, Home loan,Stamp duty, registration charges, Fixed deposits (FDs) and Interest paid on education loan

To encourage savings, the government gives tax breaks on certain financial products under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. The section helps you save taxes on investments up to 1 lakh - if you are in the highest tax bracket of 30%, you can save Rs 30,000 in taxes. Here are the options available under the section:

PF & VPF: Provident Fund (PF) is deducted from your salary. Your employer also contributes to it. While the employer's contribution is exempt from tax, your contribution is counted as investment under Section 80C. You can also contribute additional amounts to Voluntary PF (VPF). The EPFO has announced a 9.5% rate of return on deposits for 2010-2011. Also, the interest earned on the investments is tax-free.

Public Provident Fund (PPF): A PPF account can be opened with a nationalised bank or a post office. The rate of interest earned is 8%, which is tax-free, and the maturity period is 15 years. The minimum required contribution is Rs 500 per year and the maximum allowed is Rs 70,000.

National Savings Certificate (NSC): This is small-savings instrument for a period of six years. The rate of interest is 8%, compounded half-yearly. The interest accrued every year is liable to tax, but the interest earned is also deemed to be reinvested and, thus, eligible for tax deduction.

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The ancient art of yoga appeared to halve the number of episodes of a potentially dangerous irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation also improved quality of life, lowering levels of the anxiety and depression

In a small preliminary study, the ancient art of yoga appeared to halve the number of episodes of a potentially dangerous irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation.

Three sessions of yoga a week also improved quality of life, lowering levels of the anxiety and depression which often plagues patients with this condition, according to research to be presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans.

"These are exciting results," said Dr. Raul Mitrani, director of the cardiac rhythm device clinic at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Although it didn't cure atrial fibrillation, he added, it did seem to cut the number of "a-fib" episodes.

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Fasting for 24 hours may cut your risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

LONDON: It seems your grandmother was right  fasting for a day is good for your health. And, now a study says that going without food for 24 hours may cut your risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

Researchers have based their findings on an analysis of health and habits of over 200 residents in Utah. X-ray scans revealed narrowing of arteries in 75% of those who didn't fast. Clogged arteries affected 63% of those who said they often skipped meals.

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Decrease in protein levels in kids a sign that the child will develop diabetes.

A study has found that the decreasing blood levels of a protein that helps control inflammation could be a sign that a child will develop diabetes.

Georgia Health Sciences University researchers are looking at blood levels of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, or IL-1ra, in children because their genes put them at risk for type 1 diabetes.

They are also looking at diabetic mice missing IL-1ra to see how the protein deficiency affects immune function and destruction of insulin-producing islet beta cells.

“We want to know if we can use IL-1ra levels to identify children who will soon develop the disease, then use IL-1 inhibitors to prevent it,” Dr. Sharad Purohit, biochemist in the GHSU Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, said.

IL-1ra helps reduce inflammation and Purohit’s preliminary evidence suggests that low levels predict inflammation is increasing and the immune system is going to attack insulin-producing cells. 

Il-1 inhibitors already are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, where inflammation destroys joints. Clinical trials are underway in type 1 diabetes and to see if an inhibitor can halt the islet cell destruction that occurs in type 1 diabetes as well.

Dr. Jin-Xiong She, Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine said while acknowledging the inhibitor may improve type 1diabetes outcome, GHSU scientists want to know if it can also be used preventively.

IL-1ra competes with its counterpart IL-1beta for the IL-1 receptor. In type 1 diabetes, inflammation-promoting IL-1beta appears to be winning.

“It’s a balance; it’s a competition. There is always a balance between beta cell production and destruction and any process that can change the balance can push you to disease or help you recover from it,” she said. 

“In this case, we believe that knowing the balance is off can actually help prevent disease,” she added.

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India's highest civilian honour- the Bharat Ratna for batting maestro Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

The demands to decorate batting maestro Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar with the country’s highest civilian honour- the Bharat Ratna – has gained momentum ever since Team India lifted the prestigious Cricket World Cup trophy after toppling Sri Lanka in the finals held in Mumbai.

Voices in favour of Sachin are coming from all walks of life and several former cricketers, eminent sport personalities, Bollywood stars and even political parties have now joined the chorus to bestow him with the top honour.

Going by Sachin’s extraordinary accomplishments and the numerous accolades, which this living legend has won for his team and India, he is already a "Bharat Ratna" in the eyes of his admirers whether he actually gets it or not. So felicitating him with the country’s top civilian honour will just be a fitting tribute to this God of cricket for achieving many milestones in his over two-decade long career.

The demand to decorate the batting maestro with the Bharat Ratna was first made way back in the year 2003 by the Shiv Sena and seconded by the then Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Murli Manohar Joshi.

The talks to confer upon him the Bharat Ratna again gained momentum after Sachin became the first batsman in the history of One-Day International Cricket to score a double hundred. Sachin achieved this rare feat, while tearing apart the strong fielding set-up by the South African team at Gwalior in February 2010.

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The government is replacing all engineering entrances, including Indian Institutes of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) and All India Entrance Examination for Engineering (AIEEE), with one National Aptitude Test (NAT).

The reform is likely to benefit more than 10 lakh students every year, who at present have to take multiple examinations to get into engineering courses.

In a meeting, which was attending by the directors of IIT Delhi, Kanpur and other engineering institutions, the government broadly agreed on “one nation one examination” policy. Dr T Ramaswamy, secretary, department of science and technology was entrusted the job to re-look at the test methodology of selecting students and have a common system for admission. According to sources, NAT will be similar to the single medical entrance test that the Medical Council of India (MCI) will conduct from next year.

The state governments may not approve the idea of NAT and the IITs do not want the JEE system to be destroyed. “You already have a good system working, why destroy it,” an IIT director said.
During the last meeting of the IITs council, there was no consensus on having a single entrance examination for admissions. Seven out of 15 IITs favoured having a separate “add-on” examination in addition to the NAT. However, HRD minister Kapil Sibal is of the view that if IITs have an additional exam then nothing stops other institutions like planning and architecture colleges etc to have their own exams.

The Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister in its recommendations has also favoured a single entrance examination for engineering.

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