Top 10 Causes of Death (Men and Women) In America - Since 2010

1) Disease of the Heart

2) Malignant Neoplasms (Cancer)

3) Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease

4) Alzheimer's Disease

5) Accidents (unintentional injuries)

6) Cerebrovascular Disease

7) Diabetes Mellitus

8) Influenza and Pneumonia

9) Intentional Self-harm (suicide)

10) Nephritis, Nephrotic Syndrome and Nephosis

The good news is, there are many things we can do to avoid becoming a victim to the above awful diseases/circumstances - Sometimes life throws us a curve ball but not all the time. There are certain things we can do to help our selves -

1) get educated, don't be an illiterate
2) make certain lifestyle changes geared toward making you healthy and fit
3) eat well - We live in a world where there are now variety of good food in abundance.
4) go out, see people, make friends - Don't die alone

Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved

Kicking Off Toxins

It’s time for detox and all it will take is just 10 days! Learn how to go about it

After each celebration, the effects of the revelry starts showing on one’s health and mind. Late nights, impromptu snacking, partying, binging on high-calorie foods and innumerable rounds of drinks, can take a toll on one’s health. Antioxidant levels become low and trans fat levels shoot up. Instead of running for help, go for a detox.

Detox, short for detoxification, is the body's natural, ongoing process of neutralising or eliminating toxins from the body. A diet that lacks certain nutrients may also impair our natural ability to detoxify chemicals, which further leads to their build-up in the body. The cumulative load, called the "body burden", is thought to lead to illness and can lead to hormonal imbalance, impaired immune function, nutritional deficiency, and an inefficient metabolism. Signs are thought to include indigestion, bad breath, fatigue, poor skin, and muscle pain.

According to Priyancka Jaieswal, a nutritionist, “Detox should be started within two to three days of high-partying, and once started the feeling of being on a diet must be banished.” Detox diet improves energy, clears skin, regulates bowel movements, improves digestion, and increases concentration and clarity. Priyancka also reminds one to incorporate yoga and light exercises as a daily ritual.

Detox should be started within two to three days of high-partying

There are many different types of detox diets. Generally, a detox diet is a short-term diet that:

Minimises the amount of chemicals ingested (for example, by the use of organic food).

Emphasises foods that provide vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants that the body needs for detoxification.

Contains foods, such as high fiber foods and water that draw out and eliminate toxins by increasing the frequency of bowel movements and urination.

Day 1: Go easy on the first day. There must be no sudden changes in the diet. Have normal food. Go for yoga, and brisk walk. Incorporate green tea or herbal tea with lime. Instead of snacks, go for gourd juice.

Day 2: Breakfast can be soya yogurt with about 150-200gms raw fruits.

For mid-morning snack, amla and orange juice. Amla is great for food absorption and reduces body heat naturally, and orange being a citric fruit, is high on anti-oxidants.

For lunch, have brown bread and tofu with a bowl of fresh fruit salad.

Mid-afternoon snack would include a handful of nuts or seeds.

Dinner must be over by 7pm after which there must be no carbohydrate intake.

Have loads of fruits and juices

Day 3: Breakfast would include porridge with fruit and soya milk.

Mid-morning snack would include a handful of grapes.

For lunch, say no to cereals, instead go for raw salad with cabbage.

Dinner can be green soup or boiled green vegetables.

Day 4: Breakfast would include whole wheat porridge with fruits. Mainly yellow or red coloured fruits like papaya, strawberry, water melon etc.

Mid-morning snack can be cucumber and carrot sticks.

Lunch: Spinach and tomato soup.

Dinner: One piece brown bread, raw salad with cabbage.

Day 5: Breakfast would mean, brown bread with tofu and grated capsicum.

Mid-morning snack would be, fresh fruit juice.

Lunch: Would include wheat spaghettis or wheat pasta with boiled or baked vegetables or raw salad.

Dinner: Boiled vegetables.

Instead of dieting, keep an eye on what you are having

Day 6: Repeat the chart of day 2.

Day 7: Repeat the chart for day 4.

Day 8: Repeat the chart for day 3.

Day 9: Repeat the chart for day 5.

Day 10: Repeat the chart for day 1.

Rina Das, a regular party animal, feels that detox makes one feel lighter and unlike a diet, which has to be regular, detox can be done once in a while to purify the system.

Reshmi Roy Chowdhury, dietrician, suggests banning dairy products except tofu and soya products, and non-vegetarian items except sea-fishes, for the detox to work out. “One can take two to three almonds or walnut soaked in water for breakfast. Also instead of caffeine, go for warm water with lemon or lemon tea,” feels Reshmi.

Do incorporate breathing exercises

The key to making sure the detox works is changing the timings and the food style often, so that the body doesn’t get accustomed to a particular table. With this easy to follow 10-day regime, one can be sure what to do when a festive season is round the corner.

Source The Kolkata Mirror

Copyright 2010

New plasma device may soon be used to eliminate superbugs in hospitals

New plasma device may soon be used to eliminate superbugs in hospitals

The rise of the superbug MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in hospitals may soon be a threat of the past. A new technology prototype is being tested in England that will kill drug resistant bacteria without drugs.

The device depends on the use of a plasma containing an air suspended mixture proven to be lethal for bacteria of many types. Plasmas are common in the cosmos, usually where high-energy processes produce them. But rather than using the high energy sources necessary to strip off a whole group of atoms, this device strips off electrons from just a few of the atoms. Those electrons fly off and collide with unchanged atoms creating a gaseous cocktail of charged particles that roam about freely rather than remain contained within atoms.

This is similar to the expensive method currently used to disinfect surgical instruments. But now there is an economical delivery system for this plasma that will enable more widespread use. The economy of the delivery system is more the breakthrough than the technology itself. This new technology's delivery system can be hand held and used for less serious issues such as eliminating bad breath or underarm odors.

As researcher Gregor Morfill of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics explained, "The plasma produces a series of over 200 chemical reactions that involve the oxygen and nitrogen in air plus water vapor - there is a whole concoction of chemical species that can be lethal to bacteria".

This procedure can eliminate the need for long periods of washing and scrubbing with no guarantee that all the bugs are killed. There may soon be no need for concerns about patients or visitors who come and go, as well as health care workers who visit different facilities as part of their duties.

In the foreseeable future, this new affordable technology can be placed in hospital halls and doorways. Everyone who walks through would be disinfected from potentially lethal superbugs that are immune to antibiotics.

Source Natural News.com

Copyright 2010

Health Care and Kidney Disease

More than 26 million Americans—one in nine adults—have kidney disease. Millions more are at increased risk for getting it, and most don’t know it. Kidney disease can be found and treated early to prevent more serious kidney disease and other complications.

Chronic kidney disease includes conditions that damage your kidneys and decrease their ability to keep you healthy by doing the jobs listed, according to the National Kidney Foundation. If kidney disease gets worse, wastes can build to high levels in your blood and make you feel sick. You may develop complications like high blood pressure, anemia (low blood count), weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage. Also, kidney disease increases your risk of having heart and blood vessel disease. These problems may happen slowly over a long period of time. Chronic kidney disease may be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders.

Early detection and treatment can often keep chronic kidney disease from getting worse. When kidney disease progresses, it may eventually lead to kidney failure, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life. Chronic kidney disease is a growing health problem in the United States. A report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) determined that 16.8% of all adults above the age of 20 years have chronic kidney disease. Thus, according to eMedicineHealth.com, one in six individuals have kidney disease, and over 400,000 patients are on dialysis or have received kidney transplants. About 67,000 people die each year because of kidney failure.

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease has increased by 16% from the previous decade. The increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, and an aging population have led to this increase in kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease is more prevalent among individuals above 60 years of age (39.4%). Kidney disease is more common among Hispanic, African American, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Native American people. Much info is located on their website about kidney disease: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/chronic_kidney_disease/article_em.htm .

The kidneys, a pair of bean-shaped organs, are located at the bottom of the ribcage in the right and left sides of the back, according to LabTestsOnline.org. Although the body is equipped with two kidneys, you can function with one reasonably healthy kidney if the other is damaged or removed. The kidneys receive blood from the aorta, filter it, and send it back to the heart with the right balance of chemicals and fluid for use throughout the body. The urine created by the kidneys is moved out of the body via the urinary tract.

According to LifeOptions.org, many people who have chronic kidney disease don't know it, because the early signs can be very subtle. It can take many years to go from chronic kidney disease (CKD) to kidney failure. Some people with CKD live out their lives without ever reaching kidney failure. However, for people at any stage of kidney disease, knowledge is power. Knowing the symptoms of kidney disease can help you get the treatment you need to feel your best. If you or someone you know has one or more of the following symptoms of kidney disease, or you are worried about kidney problems, see a doctor for blood and urine tests. Remember, many of the symptoms can be due to reasons other than kidney disease. The only way to know the cause of your symptoms is to see your doctor.

Note the following 10 symptoms:

1.) Symptom 1: Changes in Urination. Kidneys make urine, so when the kidneys are failing, the urine may change. How?

--You may have to get up at night to urinate.

--Urine may be foamy or bubbly. You may urinate more often, or in greater amounts than usual, with pale urine.

--You may urinate less often, or in smaller amounts than usual with dark colored urine.

--Your urine may contain blood.

--You may feel pressure or have difficulty urinating.

2.) Symptom 2: Swelling. Failing kidneys don't remove extra fluid, which builds up in your body causing swelling in the legs, ankles, feet, face, and/or hands.

3.) Symptom 3: Fatigue. Healthy kidneys make a hormone called erythropoietin (a-rith'-ro-po'-uh-tin) that tells your body to make oxygen-carrying red blood cells. As the kidneys fail, they make less erythropoietin. With fewer red blood cells to carry oxygen, your muscles and brain become tired very quickly. This condition is called anemia, and it can be treated.

4.) Symptom 4: Skin Rash/Itching. Kidneys remove wastes from the bloodstream. When the kidneys fail, the buildup of wastes in your blood can cause severe itching.

5.) Symptom 5: Metallic Taste in Mouth/Ammonia Breath. A buildup of wastes in the blood (called uremia) can make food taste different and cause bad breath. You may also notice that you stop liking to eat meat, or that you are losing weight because you just don't feel like eating.

6.) Symptom 6: Nausea and Vomiting. A severe buildup of wastes in the blood (uremia) can also cause nausea and vomiting. Loss of appetite can lead to weight loss.

7.) Symptom 7: Shortness of Breath. Trouble catching your breath can be related to the kidneys in two ways. First, extra fluid in the body can build up in the lungs. And second, anemia (a shortage of oxygen-carrying red blood cells) can leave your body oxygen-starved and short of breath.

8.) Symptom 8: Feeling Cold. Anemia can make you feel cold all the time, even in a warm room.

9.) Symptom 9: Dizziness and Trouble Concentrating. Anemia related to kidney failure means that your brain is not getting enough oxygen. This can lead to memory problems, trouble with concentration, and dizziness.

10.) Symptom 10: Leg/Flank Pain. Some people with kidney problems may have pain in the back or side related to the affected kidney. Polycystic kidney disease, which causes large, fluid-filled cysts on the kidneys and sometimes the liver, can cause pain.

According to eMedicineHealth.com, although chronic kidney disease sometimes results from primary diseases of the kidneys themselves, the major causes are diabetes and high blood pressure. Note the following medical issues that can cause kidney disease:

--Type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus cause a condition called diabetic nephropathy, which is the leading cause of kidney disease in the United States.

--High blood pressure (hypertension), if not controlled, can damage the kidneys over time.

--Glomerulonephritis is the inflammation and damage of the filtration system of the kidneys and can cause kidney failure. Postinfectious conditions and lupus are among the many causes of glomerulonephritis.

--Polycystic kidney disease is an example of a hereditary cause of chronic kidney disease wherein both kidneys have multiple cysts.

--Use of analgesics such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) regularly over long durations of time can cause analgesic nephropathy, another cause of kidney disease.

--Certain other medications can also damage the kidneys.

--Clogging and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) leading to the kidneys causes a condition called ischemic nephropathy, which is another cause of progressive kidney damage.

--Obstruction of the flow of urine by stones, an enlarged prostate, strictures (narrowings), or cancers may also cause kidney disease.

--Other causes of chronic kidney disease include HIV infection, sickle cell disease, heroin abuse, amyloidosis, kidney stones, chronic kidney infections, and certain cancers. If you have any of the following conditions, you are at higher-than-normal risk of developing chronic renal disease, according to eMedicineHealth. Your kidney functions may need to be monitored regularly if you have any of the following medical issues:

--Diabetes mellitus type 1 or 2.

--High blood pressure.

--High cholesterol.

--Heart disease.

--Liver disease.

--Kidney disease.

--Amyloidosis.

--Sickle cell disease.

--Systemic Lupus erythematosus.

--Vascular diseases such as arteritis, vasculitis, or fibromuscular dysplasia.

--Vesicoureteral reflux (a urinary tract problem in which urine travels the wrong way).

--Problems of the joints or muscles that require regular use of anti-inflammatory medications.

--If you have a family history of kidney disease.

Important treatments for kidney disease are tight control of blood glucose and blood pressure. Blood pressure has a dramatic effect on the rate at which the disease progresses. Even a mild rise in blood pressure can quickly make kidney disease worsen. Four ways to lower your blood pressure are losing weight, eating less salt, avoiding alcohol and tobacco, and getting regular exercise. Not everyone with diabetes develops kidney disease. Factors that can influence kidney disease development include genetics, blood sugar control, and blood pressure. The better a person keeps diabetes and blood pressure under control, the lower the chance of getting kidney disease.

According to the American Diabetes Association, once kidneys fail, dialysis is necessary. The person must choose whether to continue with dialysis or to get a kidney transplant. This choice should be made as a team effort. The team should include the doctor and diabetes educator, a nephrologist (kidney doctor), a kidney transplant surgeon, a social worker, and a psychologist. Kidneys are remarkable organs, according to the American Diabetes Association. Inside them are millions of tiny blood vessels that act as filters. Their job is to remove waste products from the blood. Sometimes this filtering system breaks down. When our bodies digest the protein we eat, the process creates waste products. In the kidneys, millions of tiny blood vessels (capillaries) with even tinier holes in them act as filters. As blood flows through the blood vessels, small molecules such as waste products squeeze through the holes. These waste products become part of the urine. Useful substances, such as protein and red blood cells, are too big to pass through the holes in the filter and stay in the blood. In time, the stress of overwork causes the kidneys to lose their filtering ability. Waste products then start to build up in the blood. Finally, the kidneys fail.

This failure, ESRD, is very serious. A person with ESRD needs to have a kidney transplant or to have the blood filtered by machine (dialysis) as previously noted. Treatment varies depending on the type of kidney or urinary disease present, according to LabTestsOnline. In general, the earlier kidney or urinary disease is recognized, the more likely it is to be treatable. Dietary restrictions, drug therapy, and surgical procedures may be appropriate. If the kidneys can no longer effectively remove waste and water from the body, a dialysis machine used several times a week can take over kidney filtration. Also, as previously mentioned, kidney transplant surgery is another option when kidneys fail. If you have diabetes or hypertension, control of your blood pressure and blood sugar is extremely important to prevent or minimize kidney damage. Until next time.

Your Best Health Care is a blog that was created in 2007 to relay information to readers interested in how to navigate various health care topics. The notes contained on each topic are credited to sources relative to the material. Not all information is original, but the blog references additional sources that have been edited for the benefit of readers. Over the past 10 years as I have been involved in the health care industry, I have found that good information gives value to people who need help finding out how things work in the health care market place. This Blog also links to other valuable sources for health care information from sources like the CDC, the Mayo Clinic, Time, CNN, and many other news feeds. This material is for informational purposes only and should not be used for medical advice, which is only available from your doctor or a licensed health care professional. I hope you find the topics informative and helpful.

Source - Cypress Times

Copyright 2010

Questions About Swine Flu

How Can I Avoid Catching It?

Good standards of hygiene can help protect you from catching Swine Flu.

1/ Wash your hands frequently with soap and water and carry an alcohol-based hand gel to use if water isn't available.

2/ Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, using a tissue if possible

3/ Dispose of used tissues quickly and carefully

4/ Make sure you clean hard surfaces like door handles frequently.

How Do I Know If I Have Swine Flu ?

Just like normal Flu, the symptons of Swine Flu include:

1/ a sudden fever (a high body temperature of 38C/100.4F or above)

2/ a sudden cough

Other symptons may include:

* Headache

* Sore throat

* Tiredness

* Runny nose

* Chills

* Sneezing

* Aching muscles

* Loss of appetite

* Limb or joint pain

* Diarrhoea or stomach upset

If you think you have Swine Flu, do the following:

Stay at home and check your symptons on government (or your National Pandemic Flu Service) regulated websites.

Only call your doctor, if:

1/ You have a serious underlying illness

2/ You are pregnant

3/ You have a sick child under one year old

4/ Your condition suddenly gets much worse after 7 days (or 5 days for a child)

PLEASE DO NOT GO STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOCTOR OR PHARMACIST, AS YOU MIGHT INFECT OTHERS OR BE SENT BACK HOME TO AWAIT YOUR ANTIVIRAL.

Please remember to plan ahead

1/ Ask a fried or relative to be your 'Flu friend'

2/ If diagnosed, you will be given information on how your 'Flu friend' can pick up your medicines.

Also note, when collect the Antivirals, your 'Flu friend'will need to show some form of ID for themselves and for you.

Millions at risk from fake drugs

Do not under any circumstances buy antiviral drug from unregulated websites - You may be gambling with your life.

About 1 in 7 adults admitted to avoiding the healtcare system to get 'Presciption Only Medicine' which could be counterfeit.

Fake medicines can contain harmful ingredients such as rat poison, lead paint and the insecticide additive Boric Acid.

DO NOT BE A VICTIM

For further advice and information on Swine Flu, contact your regional (or local) National Pandemic Flu Service.

Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved

Proof Mounts On Restricted Diet

Cutting calories may delay the ageing process and reduce the risk of disease, a long-term study of monkeys suggests.
The benefits of calorie restriction are well documented in animals, but now the results have been replicated in a close relative of man over a lengthy period.

Over 20 years, monkeys whose diets were not restricted were nearly three times more likely to have died than those whose calories were counted.

Writing in Science, the US researchers hailed the "major effect" of the diet.

It involved reducing calorie intake by 30% while maintaining nutrition and appeared to impact upon many forms of age-related disease seen in monkeys, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and brain atrophy.

Whether the same effects would be seen in humans is unclear, although anecdotal evidence so far suggests people on a long-term calorie-restricted diet have better cardiovascular health.

The precise mechanism is yet to be established: theories involve changes in the body's metabolism or a reduction in the production of "free radical" chemicals which can cause damage.

Seventy-six rhesus monkeys were involved in the trial, which began in 1989 and was expanded in 1994.

Half had their diets restricted, half were given free rein at feeding time.

The rate of cancers and cardiovascular disease in dieting animals was less than half of those permitted to eat freely.

While diabetes and problems with glucose regulation were common in monkeys who ate what they wanted, there were no cases in the calorie controlled group.

In addition, while most brains shrink with age, the restricted diet appeared to maintain the volume of the brain at least in some regions.

In particular, the areas associated with movement and memory seemed to be better preserved.

"Both motor speed and mental speed slow down with ageing," said Sterling Johnson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine.

"Those are the areas which we found to be better preserved. We can't yet make the claim that a difference in diet is associated with functional change because those studies are still ongoing".

"What we know so far is that there are regional differences in brain mass that appear to be related to diet."

Earlier this year, German researchers published findings from their study of elderly people which suggested that calorie reduction appeared to improve memory over a period of just three months.

Various studies on the positive effects of calorie restriction on the life spans of various organisms - from yeast to dogs - have been published over the last 70 years

But dieticians sounded a note of warning.

"Monkeys may be a close relation but there are significant differences which means not everything we see in them can be translated to humans," said Catherine Collins, spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association.

"And there should be some serious reservations about cutting calories so dramatically, particularly for anyone under the age of 30. Any such diet would need to be very balanced to avoid malnutrition, and it would be a long-term commitment".

"People would have to weigh up whether they are prepared to compromise their enjoyment of food for the uncertain promise of a longer life, and a life which could be dogged by all sorts of problems - including osteoporosis."

Source - BBC

Copyright 2009

Obesity Drug Fears Investigated

US authorities are investigating concerns an anti-obesity drug widely available over the counter at chemists may cause liver damage.

Orlistat went on sale under the brand name Alli without the need for a prescription in the UK in April.

The US Food and Drug Administration has received more than 30 reports linking the drug to serious liver injury.

However, manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline said there was no evidence the drug caused liver damage.

In six of the cases reported to the FDA patients went on to develop organ failure.

The pill, which works by blocking the absorption of fat in the body, is aimed at adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28 or more. It is also available on prescription as Xenical.

Clinical trials suggest adding orlistat to a reduced-calorie, lower-fat diet, can help people lose 50% more weight than dieting alone.

Big sales

Since going on sale at UK pharmacies around 200,000 people have bought the drug.

Diarrhoea and gas problems are to be expected if users persist in eating fat while taking the drug.

However, concerns have been raised over the medication's other possible side-effects.

The FDA said the most commonly reported adverse reactions included the yellowing of skin or whites of the eyes, weakness and stomach pain.

Between 1999 and 2008, the agency received 32 reports of liver damage, 30 of which occurred outside the US. Of these 27 resulted in hospitalisation.

The agency said it was now conducting a review of the safety of the drug, but stressed no definite association with liver damage had been established at this stage.

It advised people who used orlistat to seek medical advice if they experience possible symptoms of liver injury, in particular weakness or fatigue, fever, jaundice, or brown urine.

Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, light-colored stools, itching, or loss of appetite.

However, the number of reports of liver damage is very small when compared with the many thousands of people who have used the drug.

Experts also stressed that it is possible that many obese people have underlying physical problems which could increase their risk of liver damage.

Safety a priority

In the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had received a total of 1,295 suspected adverse drug reaction reports associated with orlistat, including 137 involving suspected liver damage, since it was licensed in 1998.

The European Medicines Agency said there was no plan to change the product information at present - but the situation was under review.

In a statement, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said patient safety was its top priority, and reports of side effects were constantly monitored.

The statement went on to say the drug had been extensively tested in clinical trials involving 30,000 patients.

"Alli is a 'non-systemically' acting medicine - it is minimally absorbed in the blood and works locally in the gastro-intestinal tract.

"There is no obvious biological mechanism to suggest liver damage can occur with Alli" - GlaxoSmithKline

LIVER DAMAGE SYMPTOMS
* Weakness
* Fatigue
* Fever
* Jaundice
* Brown urine

Source - BBC

Copyright 2009

Eating Late At Night Adds Weight

Late-night snackers are more likely to gain weight, research suggests.

A team from Northwestern University, Illinois, found that when you eat, not just how you eat, could make a big difference.

Scientists found that when mice ate at unusual hours, they put on twice as much weight, despite exercising and eating as much as others.

The study, in the journal Obesity, is said to be the first to show directly that there is a "wrong" time to eat.

Recent studies have suggested that circadian rhythms, the body's internal clock, have a role in how our bodies use up energy. However, this had been difficult to definitively pin down.

Deanna Arble, lead author of the study, said: "One of our research interests is shift workers, who tend to be overweight".

"This got us thinking that eating at the wrong time of day might be contributing to weight gain."

The experiment looked at two groups of mice over a six-week period. Both groups were fed a high-fat diet, but at different times of the mice "waking cycle".

One group of mice ate at times when they would normally be asleep. They put on twice as much weight.

This was despite them doing the same level of activity, and eating the same amount of food, as the other mice.

Groundbreaking

The findings may have implications for people worried about their weight.

"How or why a person gains weight is very complicated, but it is clearly not just calories in and calories out," said Fred Turek, from the Northwestern's Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology, where the research took place.

"Better timing of meals could be a critical element in slowing the ever-increasing incidence of obesity."

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, agreed. He said: "It is groundbreaking. It really gets you thinking why this has not been done before.

"It could be very dramatic if it affects whether you are going to get fat or not."

At this stage, the results could still be interpreted as controversial when applied to humans.

The scientists now hope they can find out more about how the process works. It is thought that sleep, hormones and body temperature all play a part in how we gain weight.

Source - BBC

Copyright 2009