24th Feb

Completed morning program. Spent the day reading magazines and newspapers. 2 boycame requesting donation for "Cry". Gave them a small donation.Retired to sleep at 10.45 pm.

News of the day : 1."Early life stress may up risk of heart disease

Washington: Early life stress like that experienced by ill newborns appears to take an early toll of the heart, affecting its ability to relax and refill with oxygen-rich blood, researchers have revealed.

The researchers found that pat pups separated from their mothers a few hours each day, experienced a significant decrease in this basic heart function when - as life tends to do - an extra stressor was added to raise blood pressure, said Dr. Catalina Bazacliu, neonatologist at the Medical College of Georgia and Children`s Hospital of Georgia at Georgia Regents University." ZNews.com, Health,24th Feb.2013. on line

2 : "Malfunctioning glands linked to kidney stones

Excessive calcium levels, linked to formation of kidney stones, can be traced to the over activity of parathyroid glands (hyperparathyroidism), affecting women and the elderly, suggests a new study. 

Researchers from the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles, (UCLA) determined that hyperparathyroidism is the leading cause of high blood-calcium levels and is responsible for nearly 90 per cent of all cases. 

Calcium loss from bones often leads toosteoporosis and fractures, and excessive calcium levels in the blood can cause kidney stones and worsening kidney function, researchers from the UCLA said, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism reports. 

The four parathyroid glands, located in the neck, next to the thyroid, regulate the body's calcium levels. When one is dysfunctional, it can cause major imbalances -- for example, by releasing calcium from the bones and into the bloodstream, according to an UCLA statement. 

"The findings suggest that hyperparathyroidism is the predominant cause of high calcium levels, so if patients find they have high calcium, they should also have their parathyroid hormone level checked," said Michael W. Yeh, associate professor of surgery and endocrinology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, who led the study. 

Researchers utilized a patient database from Kaiser Permanente Southern California that included information on 3.5 million individuals. 

Using data from lab results, researchers identified 15,234 cases of chronic high-calcium levels. Of those cases, 13,327 patients (87 per cent) were found to have hyperparathyroidism. The incidence of hyperparathyroidism -- reported as the number of cases per 100,000 people per year -- was found to be highest among African Americans, followed by Caucasians, Asians and Hispanics."The Times of India, Health, dt.24.02.2113 on line