Revealed - How sex makes you more intelligent

 

Sex not only helps decrease stress levels and burn away calories, but boosts your intelligence too!

 

Love-making proved to greatly increase the creation of new neurons located within the hippocampus – an area of the brain that is responsible for the formation of long-term memory, say researchers.

 

‘We discovered that even though there had been the production of new neurons, the cognitive abilities acquired during the experiment decreased once the mice were subjected to long periods without sexual activity,’ psychologists from the University of Maryland in the US were quoted as saying. Read more about reasons why your sex life may have fizzled out.

 

Increased sexual activity floods an individual’s brain cells with oxygen, they noted. Another study by Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea, provided further substantial evidence. According to the Korean study, sex increases intellectual functions. Sexual activity buffers the creation of neurons in the hippocampal region of the brain, which acts against detrimental functions caused by extreme stress. Older couples that are more sexually active have less odds of getting dementia which is due to a variation of complicated reasons, said a report in Glamour magazine.

 

Other health benefits of sex

Besides making you intelligent, sex has some other health benefits too that you probably didn’t know about.

 

1. Makes you look younger

Yes! Believe it or not, sex can make you look younger. According to a study conducted by Dr David Weeks of Royal Edinburgh Hospital, people who had sex more than 4 times a week, felt as much as 10 years younger. Besides having sex, you can do the following things to look younger.

 

2. Boosts your immunity

While eating fruits and vegetables are known to boost your immunity, having sex can have a similar effect. A research conducted at Wilkes University, Pennsylvania, revealed that people who had more sex had 30% higher levels of the antigen immunoglobin A, as compared to people who didn’t. The higher levels of antigen improves our body’s defence against cold and flu. Read more about the health benefits of sex.

 

Categories: activity, Health Benefits, higher levels, nbsp, sexual, sexual activity, university, younger

Could Your Child’s Five-A-Day Give Him Leukemia?

Giving your child plenty of fruits and vegetables is vital to ensure their wellbeing, but what if this produce is potentially cancerous? According to a new study, published in the journal Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, the most common form of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), is linked to higher levels of pesticides. Fortunately, a few simple changes around your house can lower your child’s risk.

 

For the study, 112 mothers – 41 of whom had children with ALL – filled out questionnaires asking about use of indoor pesticides, pet products, and lawn services, and how frequently they were exposed to these products before conception, during pregnancy and at the time of the study. While 33% of mothers of the children with ALL reported using pesticides, only 19% of mothers in the healthy group reported likewise. The researchers also took urine samples of the children, and although pesticide residues were present in 99% of the urine samples, levels of two specific pesticides were 25% higher in the children with ALL.

 

The two major pesticides detected in the ALL children are part of a group of chemicals known as organophosphates. The fact that these pesticides harm human health is nothing new, as they’ve long been known to interfere with your nervous system. However, this doesn’t stop organophosphates from being used in 70% of the insecticides in this country. Most notably, these chemicals pop up in chemically grown fruits and vegetables and flea and tick products. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has even banned two forms of organophosphate pesticides for indoor use.

 

According to Warren Porter, PhD, professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the findings aren’t surprising, as his own research has found that pesticides affect human health, interfering with your immune system and hormone levels. He warns, ‘Once you start messing with hormones and immune systems, you raise the risk of cancer.’ So what can you do to enhance your environmental wellness, and protect your family against exposure to organophosphate pesticides?

 

1. Start at your front door: Even if you don’t use pesticides in your home, chances are you have higher levels of them inside than outdoors as people track pesticides in on your shoes. Porter explains, ‘You get pesticides on the soles of your shoes and then it dissolves in the waxes on your floors and in the fibers of your carpet. Taking your shoes off at the front door is a critical first step – pardon the pun.’

 

2. Check your pets: You often find organophosphates in flea and tick products, so you should avoid collaring your pet with a band of chemicals. Instead, use flea combs, regular baths and less-toxic chemicals to keep pests away.

 

3. Be careful with your home-grown fruits and vegetables: As organophosphates are common in chemical lawn and garden sprays, they can contaminate your home-grown produce. Porter recommends spraying vinegar on weeds, as this ‘destabilises the waxy coating on plants that are sprayed with it, and they simply dry up and die.’ He adds that encouraging wasps in your garden can help to eliminate other bugs without destroying your plants. ‘People think we’re crazy,’ he admits. ‘But we’ve never had a problem with cabbage worms.’

 

4. Go organic: UK studies have proved that at least 50% of foods have measurable levels of pesticide residues. The authors wrote, ‘Chronic residential use and the heavy agricultural use of these chemicals on crops, fruits, and vegetables continually expose humans to pesticides via the food chain, air, and water supply despite their short half-lives.’ Porter adds, ‘Anyone concerned about pesticide exposures ought to eat organic foods.’

Categories: acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), grown fruits, higher levels, home-grown, human health, organophosphate pesticides, pesticide residues, Pesticides, Research, tick products

Does Lack of Vitamin D3 Increase Children’s Asthma Risk?

Children whose vitamin D3 levels are low face an increased risk of asthma. Research suggests that higher levels of vitamin D3 improves the effectiveness of the corticosteroids prescribed in the most severe cases of asthma.

Asthma is the most common long-term medical condition affecting children worldwide. The condition is a chronic inflammation of the airways leading to the lungs, which causes difficulty in breathing, wheezing, coughing, tightness in the chest and excess mucus.

Research carried out at the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the National Jewish Health Research Institute, in Denver, showed that almost half of the children in their study (all aged under 18) had insufficient levels of vitamin D3 with 17% completely deficient in the vitamin.

Vitamin D3 is known as the sunshine vitamin because it is produced by the body when exposed to sunlight. Dark-skinned people are known to have lower levels of vitamin D3 and this was confirmed in the study, which showed that 86% of the black children taking part were substantially deficient in vitamin D3.

The study also revealed that the children with the most active inflammation had lower vitamin D3 levels while higher levels of vitamin D3 improved the ability of the corticosteroids to suppress inflammation.

Vitamin D3 supplements may be required for children who have asthma and low levels of the vitamin in their blood levels.

 

Does Lack of Vitamin D3 Increase Children’s Asthma Risk?

Does Lack of Vitamin D3 Increase Children’s Asthma Risk?

Categories: Asthma, asthma risk, Children, d3 increase, d3 levels, higher levels, increase children, vitamin, vitamin D3