Do You Need To Sleep Longer? Your Genes Can Tell

Are you used to burning the night oil? Or are you a morning person?

Do you wake up refreshed? Or do you feel sleepy all through the day?

All these traits are related to your genes, and you can know a whole lot about yourself by uncovering the information in your DNA. Your ability to sleep, and your body’s response to inadequate sleep are mapped to certain genes in your DNA.

How does sleep work for your body?

An adequate amount of sleep is required to prevent chronic lifestyle health conditions, and maintain health of the body and mind. Sleep duration is genetically connected to  insomnia, smoking, schizophrenia, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. 

These genes not only influence your sleep pattern but also regulate your body’s temperature and hormones.

What kind of sleep do you need?

Sleep can be categorized into stages/cycles:

• REM sleep: this cycle is characterized by the rapid eye movement and the most vivid dreams occur during this time.

• Deep sleep or delta sleep: this cycle occurs just before the REM sleep stage. This is the deepest part of the sleep cycle. ADA gene that produces adenosine enzyme influences how deeply you sleep. Along with sleep, it also influences your sense of touch and iron metabolism. 

 

Find your way to a deep sleep and healthier body with a genetic test.

A genetic test analyses your DNA to find genes that are related to various traits related to your health, nutrition, fitness, and habits that influence your body and mind. Genetic test is a one-time, non-invasive test that can be booked online, and taken at home. You can find out a lot of crucial information about yourself from a genetic test. You can live a longer and better quality of life if you follow your genetic test report’s recommendation, and personalize your food, exercise, sleep and lifestyle according to it.

Know more about genetic testing.

7 Mental Health Misconceptions And Myths

  

1. Mental health problems are not common

According to WHO, it is:

• “1 in 4 people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives.” 

• “Among the leading causes of ill health and disability worldwide.”

Depression is one of the most common mental health issues, it affects 200M+ people around the globe. 

2. People with mental health disorders can’t function normally

Only those affected with severe mental health disorders might be unable to perform their work duties in a normal way. But most of the people with mental health problems can be as productive and focused as individuals without such disorders.

3. Friends can be the therapists for people with mental health disorders

Although talking to friends can help, it is not as helpful as professional therapy. Therapy is a confidential and objective driven process.

4. Panic attacks are fatal

Panic attacks increase the heartbeat and the sense of fear but they are not fatal on their own. Finding a safe space while having a panic attack can help in reducing the risk of any fatality.

5. Mental health issues cannot be cured

Everyone with mental health disorders experience the symptoms differently. Individual focused treatment procedures like medication or speaking therapies can help in bringing back balance to their lives.

6. Eating disorders are because of one’s lifestyle

This is completely untrue. Eating disorders are major mental health disorders, and in severe conditions they can be fatal.

7. Thinking positive can cure depression and other mental disorders

Depression is a grave medical condition that adversely affects the functioning of the body. Therapy and medications are important for treating the underlying causes of depression.

The most important thing for anyone suffering with a mental health condition is not to self diagnose and self medicate. Seeking help from a professional is the best treatment plan. Along with that regular full body health checkup is also important to find any chronic health disease that might be developing in the body due to the effects of mental disorders, or lifestyle. Find out more about the health conditions that can develop because of mental health disorders.

How Does Yearly Preventive Health Checkup Help In Reducing Healthcare Costs?

What is a ‘preventive’ health checkup?

It is a combination of diagnostic and laboratory tests to check the health of all the organs and body to identify the risk factors and lifestyle diseases that might be developing in the body, at an early stage. Lifestyle diseases or non-communicable diseases are completely preventable and curable if detected early. 

Why go for health checkups every year?

• Your body, and its health undergoes changes every day. Your daily lifestyle and your surrounding environment is continuously affecting your health. 

• Your lifestyle is composed of the food you consume, your physical activities, stress levels, sleep cycle, your habits like smoking or drinking alcohol, etc. 

• Your environment is everything around you, like pollution, sound, etc. Being healthy is a state of complete wellbeing in terms of your body, and mind. 

• You might not have much control over your environment, but you have complete control on your lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle leads to a healthy body. Regular health checkups are a part of a healthy lifestyle.

Any disease or abnormality developing in your body because of your environment, lifestyle or  genetically passed on from family can be detected with full body health checkups. You need to get yourself checked at yearly intervals because your daily life affects your health. Your health checkup report shows you the picture of your current health.     

How does yearly health checkups reduce costs and save lives?

Medical and financial research has shown that yearly preventive health checkups are more of an investment than an expense. Lifestyle diseases like cancer do not show any symptoms in their beginning stages, they show signs only when they reach a fatal stage. Sadly, most of the time, it results in loss of life, and immense out of pocket expenses, along with mental trauma for the family.

On the other hand, with yearly checkups, you know your health status - therefore you are empowered to make informed decisions about your health. In case of any disease detected in your reports, you can quickly consult your doctor about the changes you should be making to your lifestyle, and planning a possible treatment plan. Treatment at an early stage is cost effective and non-invasive, and can lead to a complete cure.

Want to know a fun fact - yearly full body health checkups can also get you an income tax rebate. Book your preventive health checkup now.

Why You Should Never Place Your Laptop on Your Lap ?

 Laptops bring convenience to us and make our work quicker. However, it exposes you to some harmful electromagnetic radiation that can be detrimental to your health. With work from home becoming the new normal in the post Covid world, many people have taken to sitting on bed and using their laptops on their laps. Let’s look at these 4 reasons why you should not be doing that.

 It can cause cancer: The heat from the laptop for a long period of time can lead to skin damage of your lap, and might develop into skin cancer. It can also cause testicular and ovarian cancers.

 

It can damage your reproductive organs and cause pregnancy problems: The nearness of the laptop, when placed on your lap, to your reproductive system can impact the sperm count and egg release, thereby affecting fertility, and ability to conceive.

It can result in pain in the back and neck: Bending over while using a laptop on your lap results in pain in your back and neck. Maintain posture while working on your laptop - using a table and chair while working is suggested.

 

It can cause laptop thigh: Prolonged use of laptop on your lap can result in mottled patches that feel like burn.

 

‘Health is wealth’ - that is why you should take out time to set up a workplace that helps you keep your posture straight, and keep away devices that emit radiation away from your body. Along with that follow a lifestyle that includes a healthy and nutritionally balanced diet, regular exercise, and yearly full body preventive health checkup or screening. Health screening is an important part of your lifestyle because it helps you access your body’s health and functioning of the organs. Early detection of any developing health condition can aid in planning a treatment and cure for it. Find out the best complete body checkup near you.

Low Glycemic Foods That Can Help You Control Your Blood Sugar Levels

Glycemic index (GI) is the measurement of the effect of various foods on your blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates that you consume through food are broken down into simple sugars by your digestive system. Different types of carbohydrates have different effects on your blood sugar levels.

The three types of GI levels are:

• Low - 55 or lower

• Medium - 56 to 69

• High - 70+

Foods that have a higher GI are digested and absorbed by the bloodstream quickly therefore resulting in a rapid change in blood sugar. Foods having a low GI index are digested and absorbed slowly causing your blood sugar levels to be normal for a longer period. The glycemic index of foods is influenced by the build of the starch, type of sugar it has, and the way it was cooked.

Effect of low glycemic foods on diabetes

Diabetes makes the body unable to process sugars in an effective way thus making it difficult to maintain a healthy blood sugar level. People having diabetes should keep their blood sugar in control to prevent health complications like heart ailments, and damage to the kidneys. Consuming low GI foods can help in managing the blood sugar levels.

Benefits of low glycemic diet

• Improvement in the blood cholesterol levels

• Reduces cancer risk

• Enhances weight loss

• Reduces the risk of heart diseases and stroke

Foods having low glycemic index

• Fruit like apples, pear, strawberries, peaches, plums

• Cereals like oats, bran-flakes

• Vegetables like broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, zucchini

• Legumes like lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans

• Grains like quinoa, barley, buckwheat, semolina

• Dairy products - milk, cheese, yogurt

Add these low glycemic foods as snack in your diet if you have diabetes

• Hard boiled egg

• Unsalted nuts

• A cup of berries with cheese

• Greek yogurt 

• Apple slices 

• Whole wheat toast with almond/peanut butter

Just remember a healthy lifestyle goes a long way in keeping your body in good health, and increasing your lifespan. A healthy lifestyle includes:

• Balanced and nutritious meals

• Being physically active

• Sleeping well at least for 7-8 hours

• Keeping stress levels low

• Regularly getting complete body preventive health checkup done

Know your current blood sugar level with a full body checkup now.