Obesity epidemic of India

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Obesity in India is on the rise. It has reached enormous proportions. As I sit and count at airports, the number of women who look obviously overweight and obese, the figures I get is 8 out of 10. And this is around same in children of all sexes and around 6 in 10 men show clearcut overweight and obesity that is obvious even to naked eye. Anthropometric measurements might reveal more of them.  What are the likely causes? I have a theory that starts analysing these cases right from the 2000s or previous century. Junk food eating and sedantry lifestyle had already given an upward push to obesity in last century. And this also gave rise to diabetes mellitus in both men and women. Hence, such mothers also had diabetes in pregnancy. Some who did not have diabetes otherwise had gestational diabetes. From 2000 to 2026 prevalence of gestational diabetes has risen in india. It has even spread to rural areas and recent national data gives a figure of 22.4% which is almost 1 in 4 pregnant mot...
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Henna hair dye: safety, usefulness, and limitations.

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 Henna is a natural temporary coloring agent obtained from leaves and tender stems of the plant,  Lawsonia imtermis. Used on skin and hair, it gives a typical brownish orange hue to the part. 

Henna and hair color

Henna gives a typical color to the hair. It hides whites but does not blacken it unfortunately. Hence it is not a versatile hair dye. It also takes many hours to produce effect. The color though natural is not permanent. But how safe is it?


Henna for hair and its safety

Since henna is natural, it is a natural tendency to think that it is a safe option to the chemical dyes for hair. But is it so really?

Henna does not penetrate into hair shaft and only remains on the hair surface. Hence it sits there preventing any hair conditioner to reach the hair cuticle. Hence hair could become lifeless and brittle with repeated use. Henna per se does not condition the hair. 

Though predominantly non-allergic, henna does have a low allergic tendency. But some cases of allergy could be due to the other components mixed in the henna-based hair dye mixture including contaminants such as nickel and cobalt. 

Henna does have some action against Malassezia furfur, the fungus causing dandruff. 

Remember 'black henna' has PPD in it in high concentrations. Hence for people allergic to it or looking for PPD free hair dyes, it is best avoided. 

Coronavirus vaccines and people's and expert opinion on it


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