Cholesterol

The estimates for diabetes are as bleak.

More so because India already boasts of the largest diabetes population in the world with close to 35 million people affected by the disease.

“With the increase in adiposity and cardiovascular risk factors in childhood mainly due to marked shifts in dietary and lifestyle practices, we believe that a programme focussing on the primary prevention of obesity and inculcation of healthy diet and lifestyle practices is urgently needed”, says Prof Anoop Misra, director, Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Fortis hospitals.

“We are witnessing a large scale pandemic in terms of obesity and related chronic diseases.

Raised body mass index is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

Therefore if we are to succeed in our efforts to stem the rising burden of diabetes, obesity, hypertension and heart diseases, we must at least ensure that the coming generation learn to live a healthier lifestyle”, says Dr Anil Kapur, managing director of the World Diabetes Foundation in Denmark.

While we blame children for eating unhealthy things, we seldom realise how often we tend to overfeed them.

Like ten-year-old Ankit who suffered his mothers’ overzealous nature every meal of the day till he became overweight by the age of nine.

Most parent...

We wonder if combining the two medicines would bring our numbers down faster and lower.

Would it?

- J.A.

A: It is sometimes useful and necessary to combine different However, the combination of Mevacor and Lopid is not a good one.

Lopid can increase Mevacor's potential to injure muscle.

That potential is quite small.

However, increasing the chance of a side effect isn't a good idea when other solutions work.

Send me your numbers.

Both of you might be doing quite well with only the one drug you are currently taking.

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The brain operates on the “use it or lose it” principle, says Carol Dallas, a neurotherapist.

Depending on what we use or don’t, the network of highways carrying information in the brain can be reduced to a few roads and sidewalks, she says.

So, eat your veggies, add folate to your diet (this B vitamin helps slow cognitive decline in older people.

Good sources of folate, aka folic acid, include fortified breakfast cereals, dark-green leafy vegetables, asparagus, strawberries, beans and beef liver), and get vitamin E and C.

Studies suggest that, when taken together, these vitamins may lower the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Food sources include oranges, grapefruits, asparagus, brussels sprouts, broccoli, bell peppers, collard greens, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, potatoes, spinach and turnip greens.

Also, stay connected.

Join a book club or a volunteer group and interact with the world around you.

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