Author Archives: Manbir & Gurpreet

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About Manbir & Gurpreet

Gurpreet Kaur’s journey in this world .... Gurpreet Kaur was a Musician. She was a singer and a composer of music. Her interest was composing and singing Gurbani Shabads in Indian Classical style. She sang Shabads in All the Raags mentioned in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. She also taught Gurmat Sangeet at Gurmat Gian Missionary College, Jawadi, Ludhiana. Elder child to Pushpinder Kaur and Dr. Brig. Harminder Singh, was born in Amritsar on 13th Jan 1962. She attended various convent schools as a child because her father would get frequent Army postings as a dental surgeon. She graduated with Music Honors from Govt. College for Women, Chandigarh. Music was her hobby and she composed and sang Raag based Gurbani Shabads. Doing Kirtan was part of growing up nurtured by her parents. She learned music from her father Dr. Brigadier Harminder Singh who was a dental surgeon in Indian Army and a very good singer himself. Gurpreet’s Bhua (father’s sister), Ajit Kaur retied as a Head of Department of Music from Govt. College for Women Ludhiana, and was a renounced Punjabi singer of her time. Gurpreet Kaur also learned nuances of Indian Classical Music from Pandita Sharma. She was a mother of three children, and a grandmother. Her daughter Keerat Kaur is a Computer Engineer. Her two sons Gurkeerat Singh and Jaskeerat Singh are doctors in USA. Her daughter Keerat Kaur too was part of her group ~ Gurmat Gian Group. Gurpreet Kaur left this world at the age of 54yrs on 12th Sept 2016 in Baltimore USA. She had recorded around 25 cds of Gurbani Keertan. 'Raag Ratan' Album (6 CDs) is a Compilation of Shabads in All the 31 Sudh Raags of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. 'Gauri Sagar' Album (3 CDs) is a Compilation of All forms of Raag Gauri in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. 'Nanak Ki Malhaar' ~ ((3 CDs) is an album of Raag Malhar Shabads in various forms of Malhar. 'Gur Parsaad Basant Bana' ~ (3 CDs) is an album of Shabads in Raag Basant sung in various forms of Raag Basant. Har Ki Vadeyai Sarni Aayea Sewa Priya Kee Preet Piyaree Mohan Ghar Aavho Karo Jodariya Mo Kao Taar Le Raama Taar Le Tere Kavan Kavan Gun Keh Keh Gawan Mera Baid Guru Govinda Saajanrraa Mera Saajanrraa

Stroke ~ Risk Factors

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Stroke ~ Risk Factors
There are many factors which increase the risk of Stroke

  • Increasing age – The chance of having a stroke more than doubles for each decade of life after age 55. While stroke is common among the elderly, substantial numbers of people under 65 also have strokes.
  • Male sex – Overall, men have about a 19 percent greater chance of stroke than women. Among people under age 65, the risk for men is even greater when compared to that of women.
  • Heredity (family history) and race – The chance of stroke is greater in people who have a family history of stroke. African Americans have a much higher risk of death and disability from a stroke than whites, in part because blacks have a greater incidence of high blood pressure.
  • Prior stroke – The risk of stroke for someone who has already had one is many times that of a person who has not.
  • High blood pressure – High blood pressure is the most important risk factor for stroke. In fact, stroke risk varies directly with blood pressure.
  • Cigarette smoking – In recent years studies have shown cigarette smoking to be an important risk factor for stroke. The nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke damage the cardiovascular system in many ways. The use of oral contraceptives combined with cigarette smoking greatly increases stroke risk.
  • Diabetes mellitus – Diabetes is an independent risk factor for stroke and is strongly correlated with high blood pressure. While diabetes is treatable, having it still increases a person’s risk of stroke. People with diabetes often also have high cholesterol and are overweight, increasing their risk even more.
  • Carotid artery disease – The carotid arteries in your neck supply blood to your brain. A carotid artery damaged by atherosclerosis (a fatty buildup of plaque in the artery wall) may become blocked by a blood clot, which may result in a stroke.
  • Heart disease – A diseased heart increases the risk of stroke. In fact, people with heart problems have more than twice the risk of stroke as those with hearts that work normally. Atrial fibrillation (the rapid, uncoordinated beating of the heart’s upper chambers), in particular, raises the risk for stroke. Heart attack is also the major cause of death among survivors of stroke.
  • Transient ischemic attacks (T.I.A.s) – TIAs are “mini strokes” that produce stroke-like symptoms but not lasting damage. They are strong predictors of stroke. A person who’s had one or more TIAs is almost 10 times more likely to have a stroke than someone of the same age and sex who hasn’t.
  • High red blood cell count – A moderate or marked increase in the red blood cell count is a risk factor for stroke. The reason is that more red blood cells thicken the blood and make clots more likely.
  • High blood cholesterol and lipids
  • Physical inactivity
  • Obesity or overweight
Other factors can affect the risk of stroke?

  • Geographic location – Strokes are more common in the south-eastern United States than in other areas.
  • Season and climate – Stroke deaths occur more often during periods of extremely hot or cold temperatures.
  • Socioeconomic factors – There’s some evidence that people of lower income and educational levels have a higher risk for stroke.
  • Excessive alcohol intake – Excessive drinking (an average of more than one drink per day for women and more than two drinks per day for men) and binge drinking can raise blood pressure, contribute to obesity, high triglycerides, cancer and other diseases, cause heart failure; and lead to stroke.
  • Certain kinds of drug abuse – Intravenous drug abuse carries a high risk of stroke from cerebral embolisms. Cocaine use has been closely related to strokes, heart attacks and a variety of other cardiovascular complications. Some of them have been fatal even in first-time cocaine users.
 Stroke

Stroke

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Stroke
Older men and women are always at a risk of Heart Attack, Cancer and Stroke. Heart attack and stroke are inter-related in many aspects.Hypertension is the cause in both these lethal conditions.

  • Anything that reduces Blood Pressure makes a person less vulnerable to both Heart attack and Stroke.
  • Vigorous life and a Healthful diet protect you from both Heart Attack & Stroke.

Being careful about Lifestyle adds to protection against Stroke & Heart Attach.

  • Lifestyle choices should be the first consideration for most men over 40. That means exercise. It’s important for a man to get enough exercise.
  • Be careful of Hypertension.
  • Obesity is an important risk factor for Cardiovascular Diseases.
  • Watchout for your Blood Cholesterol Levels. Eating less of the foods heavy in artery-clogging cholesterol and fat.
  • Stop Smoking all together. Smoking constricts the blood vessels.
Doctors advise men over 40 to take a low-dosage, coated Aspirin – 81 mg. is standard daily to help prevent cholesterol build-up and blood clots.
Types of StrokeStroke can present in various forms. Diseases of Carotid arteries, that run along each side of neck, are mainly involved in the genesis of Stroke. These arteries supply blood from heart to the brain.Stroke is clinically of three types:

  • TIA – Transient Ischemic Attack or Mini Stroke
  • Evolving Stroke
  • Completed Stroke

TIA – Transient Ischemic Attack or Mini Stroke:

In this type of stroke Fatty plaque is formed in the carotid arteries, and when it is sufficient enough to reduce critical amount of blood flow to the brain this type of transient ischemic attack occurs.

TIAs are extremely important stroke warning signs. Don’t ignore them!

Symptoms of TIA are

  • Sudden weakness or numbness of the face or a limb
  • Difficulty in speaking
  • Dimmed, blurred or double vision
  • Balance problems
  • Severe headache
  • Sudden changes in personality and mental ability

The effects of TIA are usually brief, but cannot be ignored because they indicate the possibility of a full-blown stroke in the future, or a heart attack. About a third of those suffering from TIA will have a stroke, often within a year.
About 10 percent of strokes are preceded by TIAs.

Evolving Stroke:

In some patients the symptoms develop in the matter of hours or days. This may be due to cerebral tumour or subdural hematoma or may be due to slow occlusion of major cerebral vessels.

Completed Stroke:

This is an episode of focal cerebral dysfuction due to cerebral infaction or haemorrhage, with symptoms lasting for longer than 24 hrs. Stroke usually evolve rapidly over a few minutes, and reach maximum disability within an hour or two. Sometimes a slower course occurs.
Headache is a common symptom of acute stroke. Vomiting and epileptic seizure with depressed consciousness may also occur.
The precise features of stroke depend upon the territory of the brain involved.

Cerebral Thrombosis: is caused by blood clot in one of the arteries in the brain. The clot may have travelled in the neck or the brain from other part of the body.

Hemorrhagic Stroke: involves a blood vessel in the brain which may have burst or leaked blood.

Both these types cause destruction of the crucial brain cells by depriving them of oxygen and sugar, which may take few minutes to hours.

Table of Height & Weight

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Table of Height & Weight

Height without shoes Weight (Kg)
Meter Feet,Inches Acceptable Obese Grossly Obese
1.45

4.9

 42-53 64 85
1.48 4.10 42-54 65 86
1.50 4.11 43-55 66 88
1.52 5.0 44-57 68 90
1.54 5.1 44-58 70 93
1.56 5.1 45-58 70 93
1.58 5.2 51-64 77 102
1.60 5.3 52-65 78 104
1.62 5.4 53-66 79 105
1.64 5.5 54-67 80 106
1.66 5.5 55-69 83 110
1.68 5.6 56-71 85 113
1.70 5.7 58-73 88 117
1.72 5.8 59-74 89 118
1.74 5.9 60-75 90 120
1.76 5.9 62-77 92 122
1.78 5.10 64-79 95 126
1.80 5.11 65-80 96 128
1.82 6.0 66-82 98 130
1.84 6.0 67-84 101 134
1.86 6.1 69-86 103 137
1.88 6.1 71-88 106 141
1.90 6.3 73-90 108 144
1.92 6.4 75-93 112 150

Medical Tidbits

Cola Drinks ~ Harmful Effects

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Cola Drinks – Harmful Effects
Look at the wrapper on a Coca-Cola 1.5 litre bottle and in the ingredients you will find phosporic acid in it. Minute quantities of ethylene glycol is also used (which is acknowledged in the soft drink world for making it “really chill”). This is popularly known as anti-freeze which prevents water from freezing at 0 degree C and instead drops it by 4-5 degrees with minute quantities. This chemical is a known slow poison in the caliber of arsenic (which is popularly used to kill RATS!!!). So, if you manage to drink about 4 litres of Coke within an hour or so, you can die.
A 12 oz can contain 45.6 mg of caffeine. That amounts to about 200 mg of caffeine in a 1.5 litre bottle.
Caffeine is deliberately added to all kinds of soft drinks to make it addictive. Read along and give up these dangerous things. Be natural; have flavoured milks, tender coconuts, butter milk, lassi, and plain water instead of these cold drinks.Guess what’s the pH of soft drinks like Coke is ? Its 3.4 ! This acidity is strong enough to Dissolve Teeth and Bones ! Our human body stops building bones at the age of about 30.
Soft drinks do not have any nutrition in terms of vitamins & minerals. They are high in sugar content, carbonic acid, & chemicals as colouring agents.
Some people like to take cold soft drinks after each meal. Guess what’s the impact of such a habit ! Our body needs an optimum temperature of 37 deg.Celsius for digestive-enzyme to function. The temperature of cold soft drinks is very much below 37 deg or even close to 0 deg Celsius. This will dilute the enzymes & is stressful for the digestive system. The food ingested would not be digested properly. In fact it may undergo fermentation. The fermented food produces gases and produces toxin which get absorbed in the intestine and circulate in the blood stream and is carried to the whole body. Hence toxic substances get accumulated in various parts of the body which may help in the development of various diseases.Think before you drink Coke/Pepsi (or any soft drinks) the next time. Have you ever thought of what exactly you are taking into your system when you drink an aerated drink? You are gulping down Carbon Dioxide. Nobody in the world would advise you to drink CO2.
Two months back, there was a competition at Delhi University among the students – “Who could drink the most Coke?” The winner drank 8 bottles and fainted on the spot — too much CO2 in the blood. Thereafter, the principal banned all soft drinks from the college canteen !
Did you know that soft drinks use chemicals in them that cause immense harm to you.
Someone put a broken tooth in a bottle of Pepsi, and in 10 days it DISSOLVED ! Can you believe it? Teeth and bones are the only human parts that stay intact for years after death. Imagine what the drink must be doing to your soft intestines and stomach lining!

Contributed by Dr. S.S Sibia

Ludhiana

sibia@vsnl.com

Medical Tidbits

Tea may protect elderly Bones

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Tea may protect elderly Bones
A daily cup of tea may protect elderly women from osteoporosis. New research suggests that daily tea-drinking makes the aging bones of elderly women look five years younger and significantly reduces the risk of bone fractures. Elderly tea-drinkers have 5 percent higher mean bone-mineral density than non-tea-drinkers.The apparent benefits of drinking tea are independent of whether women smoke, drink coffee or use hormone replacement therapy. It also makes no difference to the bone-mineral density increase if women drink one or two cups or several pots of tea a day.The positive effects of tea on bone density may be caused by the presence of isoflavonoids. Flavonoids – brightly colored chemicals found in fruit, vegetables and herbs – are being credited with an increasing number of positive effects on health.