Coffee and green tea may help lower stroke risk

Green tea and coffee may help lower your risk of having a stroke, especially when both are a regular part of your diet.

• People who drank at least one cup of coffee daily had about a 20 percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who rarely drank it.
• People who drank two to three cups of green tea daily had a 14 percent lower risk of stroke and those who had at least four cups had a 20 percent lower risk, compared to those who rarely drank it.
• People who drank at least one cup of coffee or two cups of green tea daily had a 32 percent lower risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, compared to those who rarely drank either beverage. (Intracerebral hemorrhage happens when a blood vessel bursts and bleeds inside the brain. About 13 percent of strokes are hemorrhagic.)

Gene Regulates Heart's Ability to Regenerate After Injuries

 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a specific gene that regulates the heart's ability to regenerate after injuries.

The function of the gene, called Meis1, in the heart was not known previously. The findings of the UTSW investigation are available online inNature.

"We found that the activity of the Meis1 gene increases significantly in heart cells soon after birth, right around the time heart muscle cells stop dividing. Based on this observation we asked a simple question: If the Meis1 gene is deleted from the heart, will heart cells continue to divide through adulthood? The answer is 'yes'," said Dr. Hesham Sadek, assistant professor of internal medicine in the division of cardiology, and senior author of the study.

In 2011, Dr. Sadek's laboratory showed that the newborn mammalian heart is capable of a vigorous, regenerative response to injury through division of its own cells. As the newborn develops, the heart rapidly loses the ability to regenerate and to repair injuries such as heart attacks.

The research team demonstrated that deletion of Meis1 extended the proliferation period in the hearts of newborn mice, and also re-activated the regenerative process in the adult mouse heart without harmful effect on cardiac functions. This new finding demonstrates that Meis1 is a key factor in the regeneration process, and the understanding of the gene's function may lead to new therapeutic options for adult heart regeneration. The findings also provide a possible alternative to current adult heart regeneration research, which focuses on the use of stem cells to replace damaged heart cells.

"Meis1 is a transcription factor, which acts like a software program that has the ability to control the function of other genes. In this case, we found that Meis1 controls several genes that normally act as brakes on cell division," Dr. Sadek said. "As such, Meis1 could possibly be used as an on/off switch for making adult heart cells divide. If done successfully, this ability could introduce a new era in treatment for heart failure."

Coronary thrombosis

    Coronary thrombosis is a form of thrombosis affecting the coronary circulation.
    A blood clot in the arteries supplying the heart, which can lead to a heart attack. Around 30 per cent are caused by smoking.

Cardiovascular disease

     Cardiovascular disease is one of the main cause of death due to smoking. Hardening of the arteries is a process that develops over years, when cholesterol and other fats deposit in the arteries, leaving them narrow, blocked or rigid.

     When the arteries narrow (atherosclerosis), blood clots are likely to form. Smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing process in your arteries: it starts earlier and blood clots are two to four times more likely.

     Cardiovasular disease can take several forms depending on which blood vessels are involved, and all of thet forms are more common in people who smoke.

Smoking affects the life span

          Smoking reduces life duration by seven to eight years. More than 300 people dies every day in the UK as a result of smoking, many are comparatively young smokers.

         The number of people under the age of 70 who die from smoking-related diseases exceeds the total figure for deaths caused by breast cancer, AIDS, traffic accidents and drug addiction. Non-smokers and ex-smokers can also look forward to a healthier old age than smokers.

How do cigarettes damage health?

     Cigarettes contain more than 4000 chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic substances.

When you inhale, a cigarette burns at 700°C at the tip and around 60°C in the core. This heat breaks down the tobacco to produce differnet kinds of  toxins. As a cigarette burns, the residues are concentrated towards the butt.

The most damaging products are:
 -  tar, substance that causes cancer - a carcinogen
 - nicotine is addictive and increases cholesterol levels in your body
 - carbon monoxide reduces oxygen in the body
 - chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) which are caused by components of the gas and particulate phases.

    The damage caused by smoking is influenced by: the number of cigarettes smoked whether the cigarette has a filter how the tobacco has been prepared.

Why quit smoking?

   

      Most people know that smoking can cause lung cancer, but it can also cause many other cancers and illnesses.
      Smoking directly causes over 100,000 deaths in the UK each year and contributes to many more. Of these deaths, about 42,800 are from smoking-related cancers, 30,600 from cardiovascular disease and 29,100 die slowly from emphysema and other chronic lung diseases.

Demand

    Definition of demand is at the heart of the marketing concept (customer focus). This approach assumes that the shortest path to profit is possible to determine exactly what are the real needs of consumers and then to profitably satisfy them. This contributes to the popularity of the market research. 

    The organization is focusing all efforts to obtain and correct use of information in order to justify the expectations of the consumer, the entire staff of the company is focused on the formation of long-term client relationships.

Focus on sales

       Manufactured products need to sell, and if there is sufficient demand, it must be created using the active policy sales. Manufacturing conditions still imposes a strong imprint on the character of the products, but manufacturers have become clearly aware that the products can not be sold by itself.  

      Therefore, the dominant trend is the concept of intensification of commercial efforts (focus on sales). Began to occupy a prominent place advertisements, promotion and labeling. For most business leaders today, this concept has become paramount.

The concept of improving the product (product orientation)

     However, in pursuit of the increasing speed of production and reduce the cost of production is important not to forget that the ultimate goal is customer satisfaction. Therefore, the next step in the development of marketing is the concept of improving the product (product orientation). According to this concept, the consumer will choose one of the many products, quality and other properties are better than others. Thus, the physician and the patient interested in a product that would be easy to use and it can be assigned and to take a short course, it is desirable to 1 every day, which will improve patient adherence to treatment, and, therefore, its effectiveness. However, improving the quality of the product, one can not but notice that the competitors offer a totally new product.  
       For example, Company X has introduced antibacterial II generation in the form of MS (1 per day), involves taking one pill a day. At the same time, the company introduced the Y-generation antibacterial III, which due to its pharmaceutical and pharmaco-dynamic properties is enough to take one every day. At the same time, it is more effective against strains that are not susceptible to fluoroquinolone Company X. Therefore improvement of the product does not always lead to the satisfaction of consumer demand, but also innovation and variety of help in this.