(¯`•¸•´¯) Health Benefits Of Drumstick (¯`•¸•´¯) .▂ ▃ ▅ ▆ █ எண்ணற்ற வியாதிகளுக்கு மருந்தாகும் முருங்கை! █ ▆ ▅ ▃ ▂

சாப்பிடும் தட்டில் காய்கறி இருந்தாலே ஒதுக்கும் நம்மக்களுக்கு இதன் அருமை அறிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டும் , எண்ணற்ற மருத்துவ குணங்கள் உள்ளது , உங்களுக்கு இது பிடித்திருந்தால் உங்களால் முடிந்தவரை மற்றவரிடமும் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளுங்கள் 
பிறருக்கும் உதவுங்கள் 

Drumstick Is very useful Natural Medicine for health have to know, and known to 
all Try to share be humanity helping others to known 

எண்ணற்ற வியாதிகளுக்கு மருந்தாகும் முருங்கை!

பச்சைக் கீரைகளில் எவ்வளவோ எண்ணிலடங்கா பயன்கள் இருக்கின்றன.
 நாம்தான் அதனை முறையாகப் பயன்படுத்துவதில்லை. கீரை வகைகளை 
உணவோடு சேர்க்கச் சொல்லி சும்மாவா சொன்னார்கள் நம் மூதாதையர்கள். கீரை வகைகளில் இரும்புச் சத்து கணிசமாக உள்ளது. அந்த வகையில் முருங்கைக் கீரையின் பயன்களைப் பார்ப்போம்.

முருங்கை மரம் முழுவதும் மனிதனுக்கு பயனளிக்கிறது. முருங்கைப் பூ மருத்துவ குணம் கொண்டது. முருங்கை கீரையை வேகவைத்து அதன் சாற்றை குடித்து வந்தால் உடல் சூடு தணியும். வெப்பத்தின் காரணமாக உடலில் ஏற்படும் மந்தம், உட்சூடு, கண்நோய், பித்தமூர்ச்சை இவற்றை நீக்கும் குணம் படைத்தது முருங்கைக் கீரை.

சாதாரணமாக வீட்டுக் கொல்லைகளில் தென்படும் முருங்கை மரத்தை, மருத்துவ பொக்கிஷம் என்றே சொல்ல வேண்டும். ஏனெனில் இது எண்ணற்ற வியாதிகளுக்கு பல வகைகளில் மருந்தாகிறது. அதுபற்றி சற்று விரிவாக காண்போம்.

இது ஒரு சத்துள்ள காய். உடலுக்கு நல்ல வலிமையைக் கொடுக்க வல்லது. இதன் சுபாவம் சூடு. ஆதலால் சூட்டு உடம்புக்கு ஆகாது. இதை உண்டால் சிறுநீரும் தாதுவும் பெருகும். எனவேதான், இக்கீரைக்கு 'விந்து கட்டி' என்ற பெயரும் இருக்கிறது. கோழையை அகற்றும். முருங்கைக்காய் பிஞ்சு ஒரு பத்திய உணவாகும். இதை நெய் சேர்த்தோ அல்லது புளி சேர்த்தோ சமைப்பது நலம்.

முருங்கைப் பட்டையை நீர்விட்டு அரைத்து வீக்கங்களுக்கும் வாயு தங்கிய இடங்களுக்கும் போடலாம். முருங்கை இலையை உருவி காம்புகளை நறுக்கி விட்டு பின் மிளகு ரசம் வைத்து சாப்பாட்டுடன் சேர்த்து உண்டு வந்தால் கை, கால் உடம்பின் வலிகள் யாவும் நீங்கும். அதே வேளையில் சிறுநீரைப் பெருக்கும்.

முருங்கை இலைகளில் இரும்பு, தாமிரம், சுண்ணாம்புச் சத்து ஆகியவை இருக்கின்றன. இந்த இலைகளை நெய்யில் வதக்கி சாப்பிட்டால் ரத்த சோகை உள்ளவர்களின் உடம்பில் நல்ல ரத்தம் ஊறும். பல் கெட்டிப் படும். தோல் வியாதிகள் நீங்கும்.

முருங்கைப் பட்டை, உலோகச் சத்துக்கள் நிறைந்தது. உணவில் கலந்த விஷத்துக்கும் நரம்புக் கோளாறுக்கும் இது நல்ல மருந்து. கடுமையான ரத்த சீதபேதி, வயிற்றுப் புண், தலைவலி, வாய்ப்புண் ஆகிய வியாதிகளுக்கெல்லாம் முருங்கைக் காய் கை கண்ட மருந்து.

முருங்கைக் காயை வேக வைத்து கொஞ்சம் உப்பு சேர்த்துச் சாப்பிடலாம். முருங்கைக் காய் சாம்பார் எல்லோருக்கும் பிடித்தமானதே. இந்த சாம்பார் சுவையானதாக மட்டும் இருந்து விடாமல் மலச்சிக்கல், வயிற்றுப் புண், கண் நோய் ஆகியவற்றுக்கு மருந்தாகவும் பயன்படுகிறது.

வாரத்தில் ஒருமுறையோ இரண்டு முறையோ முருங்கை காயை உணவாக உபயோகித்தால், ரத்தமும் சிறுநீரும் சுத்தி அடைகின்றன. வாய்ப்புண் வராதபடி பாதுகாப்பு உண்டாகிறது. முருங்கைக்காய் சூப் காய்ச்சல், மூட்டு வலியையும் போக்க வல்லது.

முருங்கை விதையைக் கூட்டு செய்து சாப்பிடலாம். இது மூளைக்கு நல்ல பலத்தை தரும். தாது விருத்தியை உண்டு பண்ணும். ஆனால் மலபந்தத்தைச் செய்வதில் முருங்கை விதைக்கு முதலிடம் தரலாம்.

முருங்கை மரத்திலிருந்து கிடைக்கும் பிசின் நல்ல டானிக்குகள் செய்ய பயன்படுகிறது. பச்சைப் பிசினை காதில் ஒரு சொட்டு விட்டால் போதும், காது வலி உடனே நின்று விடும்.

இந்த மரத்தின் வேர் மற்றும் பிசின் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட டானிக்குகளை அல்லது லேகியங்களை அடிக்கடி சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால் நரை சீக்கிரம் வராமல் தள்ளிப்போகும்.

மேலும் இந்தப் பூவுக்கு தாது விருத்தி செய்யும் குணம் உண்டு. முருங்கைப் பூ உஷ்ணத்தை உண்டு பண்ணக் கூடியதுதான் என்றாலும் அதனால் கெடுதல்கள் எதுவும் இல்லை. முருங்கைப் பிசினில் அரை லிட்டர் நீர் விட்டு புதுப் பாண்டத்தில் வைத்திருந்து காலையில் இரண்டு அவுன்ஸ் நீருடன் கற்கண்டு சேர்த்துச் சாப்பிட்டால் தாது கெட்டிப்படும்.

முருங்கை இலை சாறுடன் பால் கலந்து குழந்தைகளுக்கு தந்தால், இரத்த சுத்தியும், எலும்புகளையும் வலுப்படுத்தும். இதில் கர்ப்பிணிகளுக்கு தேவையான கால்சியம், அயன், வைட்டமின் உள்ளது.

கர்ப்பப்பையின் மந்தத் தன்மையை போக்கி, பிரசவத்தை துரிதப்படுத்தும். இதன் இலையை கொண்டு தயாரிக்கப்படும் பதார்த்தம், தாய்ப்பால் சுரப்பதை அதிகப்படுத்தும். ஆஸ்துமா, மார்சளி, சயம் போன்ற சுவாசக் கோளாறுகளுக்கு முருங்கை இலை சூப் நல்லது. முருங்கைப் பூவைக் கொண்டு தயாரிக்கப்படும் சூப் செக்ஸ் பலவீனத்தைப் போக்கும். ஆண், பெண் இருபாலரின் மலட்டுத் தன்மையை அகற்றும். முருங்கை இலை இரத்த விருத்திக்கும், விந்து விருத்திக்கும் சிறந்தது.

முருங்கை இலைச்சாற்றுடன் எலுமிச்சை சாறு கலந்து தடவ முகப்பருக்கள் மறையும். முருங்கைகாய் இருதயத்தை வலுப்படுத்துவதுடன், இருதய நோய்களை போக்கி இரத்தவிருத்தி தாதுவிருத்தி செய்யும். முருங்கை இலை சாறுடன் தேனும், ஒரு கோப்பை இளநீரும் கலந்து பருக மஞ்சள்காமாலை, குடலில் ஏற்படும் திருகுவலி, வயிற்றுப்போக்கு கட்டுப்படும். விதையில் இருந்து என்னை தயாரித்து வாயுப்பிடிப்பு, மூட்டுவலிகளில் பயன்படுத்தலாம். முருங்கைவேரில் இருந்து சாறெடுத்து பாலுடன் சேர்த்துப் பருகிவர காசநோய், கீழ்வாயு, முதுகுவலி குணப்படும்.

வைட்டமின்கள் :

முருங்கை இலை 100 கிராமில் 92 கலோரி உள்ளது.

ஈரபதம் - 75.9%

புரதம் - 6.7%

கொழுப்பு - 1.7%

தாதுக்கள் - 2.3%

இழைப்பண்டம் - 0.9% 

கார்போஹைட்ரேட்கள் - 12.5%

தாதுக்கள், வைட்டமின்கள்,

கால்சியம் - 440 மி.கி

பாஸ்பரஸ் - 70 மி.கி

அயம் - 7 மி.கி

வைட்டமின் சி 220 மி.கி

வைட்டமின் பி காம்ப்ளக்ஸ் சிறிய அளவில்

Health Benefits Of Drumstick:

Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) is a widely cultivated variety of therapeutic plant that has been known for its medicinal properties since a long time. It belongs to the plant family Moringaceae and the genus Moringa. This variety of plant is cultivated in the semi-arid, tropical and subtropical areas of the world. It is fast growing and highly nutritious and hence, has a variety of uses. Native to the southern foothills of the Himalayas, in the north-western zone of India, drumsticks are now widely cultivated in the African continent and Middle East as well. The plant is usually very slender, with an average height of about 10 meters. The branches are drooping and the pods of the plant are used for different purposes. To explore the nutrition value and benefits of drumstick, read the information given below.

Nutritional Values Of Drumstick

Amount of Drumsticks: 100 grams
Nutrients Pods Leaves

Basic Components:

Protein 2.5 g 6.7 g
Carbohydrates 3.7 g 13.4 g
Water 86.9% 75.0%
Calorie 26 92
Fiber 4.8 g 0.9 g
Fat 0.1 g 1.7 g

Vitamins:

Vitamin A 0.11 mg 6.8 mg
Vitamin B (choline) 423 mg 423 mg
Vitamin B1 (thiamin) 0.05 mg 0.21 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) 0.07 mg 0.05 mg
Vitamin B3 (nicotinic acid) 0.2 mg 0.8 mg
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) 120 mg 220 mg

Minerals:

Calcium 30 mg 440 mg
Magnesium 24 mg 24 mg
Phosphorus 259 mg 259 mg
Potassium 110 mg 70 mg
Copper 3.1 mg 1.1 mg
Iron 5.3 mg 7 mg
Sulphur 137 mg 137 mg

Amino Acids:

Arginine (g/16g N) 3.6 6.0
Histidine 1.1 2.1
Isoleucine 4.4 6.3
Leucine 6.5 9.3
Lysine 1.5 4.3
Methionine 1.4 2.0
Phenylalanine 4.3 6.4
Threonine 3.9 4.9
Tryptophan 0.8 1.9
Valine 5.4 7.1

Nutrition & Health Benefits of Eating Drumsticks

Drumsticks are known for their high nutrition content and almost all the parts of the plants have therapeutic value. Its leaves serve as an excellent health tonic for maintaining and enhancing the strength of the skeletal system. They are also used for the purpose of purifying the bloodstream.
The plant is extremely useful during pregnancy and lactation and regular intake of a tonic made from its leaves provides expectant mothers with necessary calcium, vitamins and iron. This particularly helps to control the sluggishness of the uterus, ensures smooth flow of the delivery process and decreases post-delivery complications.
The leaves of the plant are used to curb digestive disorders and are regarded as one of the best known herbal treatment for diarrhea, cholera, dysentery and jaundice.
Drumstick soups are considered as a good cure for any kind of chest congestions, sore throats and coughs.
Asthma and such other lung problems can be cured to a great extent by inhaling the steam of water, in which drumsticks have been boiled.
The juice of the plant is great for the skin and helps to add glow to a person’s face. All you need to do is blend together some drumsticks and lime juice and apply the paste all over the face. This also helps to treat pimples, blackheads and such other skin problems.
A soup made from the plant greatly helps to prevent infections of the skin, chest and throat. This is basically because of the fact that the plant has vital anti-bacterial properties, which are very much similar to penicillin and other antibiotics.
A soup made from drumstick flowers, boiled in milk, helps to cure sexual debility and is also useful in functional sterility of both males and females.
A powder made from the dark bark of the plant helps to cure premature ejaculation, impotency and thinness of the semen.

Drumstick Vegetable Health Benefits: 
1.Finally drumstick juice greatly adds to the glow on one’s face. Make a mixture of drumstick and limejuice and dab it on your face. You will find your face glowing greatly. 
2.Inhaling steam of water in which drumsticks have been boiled helps ease asthma and other lung problem. 
3.Drumstick soup helps ease any kind of chest congestions, coughs and sore throats. 
4.Pregnant women should often eat drumsticks as it helps ease any kind of pre and post delivery complication. 
5.Juice of Drum stick when mixed in milk and offered to children greatly helps by strengthening their bones as it is said to be a great source of Calcium. Also drumstick is said to be a great blood purifier.

Positive feedback in the developing brain

 
The output of this indirect-pathway neuron in the striatum of a mouse brain has been genetically silenced. The neuron has been filled through the attached electrode with a red fluorophore to measure its spine density and the number of active synapses. In the background, other indirect pathway neurons are seen in green and red.
Credit: Bernardo Sabatini

(Medical Xpress) -- When an animal is born, its early experiences help map out the still-forming connections in its brain. As neurons in sensory areas of the brain fire in response to sights, smells, and sounds, synapses begin to form, laying the neuronal groundwork for activity later in life. Not all parts of the brain receive input directly from the external world, however, and researchers have wondered how these regions build their wiring early in development.

New research from Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Bernardo Sabatini and colleagues on the basal ganglia, a region of the brain that controls motor planning, indicates that development here follows a different strategy. The new findings suggest that wiring of the basal ganglia during early development is driven not only by experience, but also by a self-reinforcing loop of neuronal signaling. As the loop strengthens, more synapses form.

“What we found is that silencing these neurons doesn’t really change their output patterns — of course they are silenced, but they still find their targets and survive — but instead drastically influences their inputs,” said Bernardo L. Sabatini.

The basal ganglia help an animal select its actions based on sensory and social context, as well as past experience. The new clues about how the basal ganglia gets wired shortly after birth, described in the May 13, 2012, issue of the journal Nature, may help scientists understand what happens when the area goes awry, such as in Parkinson's disease, when degradation of neurons in the basal ganglia interferes with patients’ ability to initiate appropriate movements, or drug addiction, where overstimulation of the basal ganglia spurs inappropriate actions. Sabatini says his team’s findings also suggest that the process can be easily perturbed during development, and may contribute to human disorders such as cerebral palsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Although the basal ganglia do not receive direct messages from the external world, this region of the brain is by no means anatomically isolated: it receives signals from all over the cortex, and its output eventually returns to the cortex. Sabatini, who is at Harvard Medical School, explains that to select a motor action, the brain likely signals through that whole loop. “The question is, how do you lay down the circuits for those patterns?”

The basal ganglia are complex, containing many clusters of cells, some of which send excitatory signals and others inhibitory. Sabatini’s group focused on the basal ganglia’s main input station, the striatum. The striatum uses the information it receives to help direct movement in two ways: a ‘direct’ pathway stimulates motor actions and an ‘indirect’ pathway inhibits them. To learn how striatal activity affects circuit development, Sabatini’s team studied mutant mice whose indirect or direct pathways were turned off (because they were unable to release the inhibitory chemical messenger, GABA).

The group expected that silencing these neurons would prevent them from forming connections with the neurons that should have been receiving their signals. To their surprise, the silenced neurons survived and wired themselves to their targets normally. Unexpectedly, however, silencing the striatum’s direct pathway seemed to prevent formation of the connections sending input to the striatum. Silencing the indirect pathway upped the number of inputs. “We went into this study thinking completely differently,” says Sabatini. “What we found is that silencing these neurons doesn’t really change their output patterns — of course they are silenced, but they still find their targets and survive — but instead drastically influences their inputs.”

To see whether individual cells help set up the basal ganglia circuit, Sabatini’s group turned off a select few striatal neurons, rather than whole pathways, in the mice. They found that silencing these neurons did not affect excitatory connections to the area, suggesting that circuit-level activity patterns set up the basal ganglia’s wiring, rather than individual genes or molecules within cells. “It’s hard to believe that there are molecular cues that specify these structures, because it would be way too complicated,” Sabatini says.

When the group dampened activity in neurons that project from the brain’s cortex to the striatum during development, then examined the brain when the mouse had reached early adulthood (25 days after birth) they saw fewer neuronal connections in the striatum compared to mice that had developed normally suggesting that early perturbations in development can have lasting effects. “That experiments is what told us that it’s the ongoing activity of cortical neurons that is driving this process in the striatum,” Sabatini says. The axons — the slender processes of the neuron that carry electrical impulses — stimulate striatal cells by releasing the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, telling them to make more synapses and stabilize them, he adds.

Sabatini believes that the basal ganglia tests random connection patterns after an animal is born and reinforces the correct ones. This type of plasticity of the basal ganglia probably lasts into adulthood, because animals are constantly learning to take new actions. Using genetically engineered mice that allow researchers to control exactly which neurons to inactivate and when, Sabatini’s group is now studying how perturbations affect the wiring later in life.

Sabatini expects that these results will get us a step closer to understanding human disease. “Maybe we will show that there’s hope for therapy,” he adds. “If it is plastic, maybe we can recover.”

Provided by Howard Hughes Medical Institute

"Positive feedback in the developing brain." May 16th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-positive-feedback-brain.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Acid in the brain: Team develops new way to look at brain function

University of Iowa researchers have developed an MRI-based method to detect and monitor pH changes in living brains. The image shows MRI brain scans of human subject breathing air (left) or air containing 7.5 percent carbon dioxide (middle). The difference between the two scans (shown right) shows increased brain acidity in red caused by carbon dioxide inhalation as measured by the new MRI-based strategy. Credit: Vincent Magnotta, University of Iowa

University of Iowa neuroscientist John Wemmie, M.D., Ph.D., is interested in the effect of acid in the brain. His studies suggest that increased acidity or low pH, in the brain is linked to panic disorders, anxiety, and depression. But his work also suggests that changes in acidity are important for normal brain activity too.

"We are interested in the idea that pH might be changing in the functional brain because we've been hot on the trail of receptors that are activated by low pH," says Wemmie, a UI associate professor of psychiatry. "The presence of these receptors implies the possibility that low pH might be playing a signaling role in normal brain function."

Wemmie's studies have shown that these acid-sensing proteins are required for normal fear responses and for learning and memory in mice. However, while you can buy a kit to measure the pH (acidity) of your garden soil, there currently is no easy way to measure pH changes in the brain.

Wemmie teamed up with Vincent Magnotta, Ph.D., UI associate professor of radiology, psychiatry, and biomedical engineering, and using Magnotta's expertise in developing MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)-based brain imaging techniques, the researchers developed and tested a new, non-invasive method to detect and monitor pH changes in living brains.

According to Wemmie, the new imaging technique provides the best evidence so far that pH changes do occur with normal function in the intact human brain. The findings were published May 7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Early Edition.

Specifically, the study showed the MRI-based method was able to detect global changes in brain pH in mice. Breathing carbon dioxide, which lowers pH (makes the brain more acidic), increased the signal, while bicarbonate injections, which increases brain pH, decreased the MRI signal. The relationship between the signal and the pH was linear over the range that was tested.

Importantly, the method also seems able to detect localized brain activity. When human volunteers viewed a flashing checkerboard -- a classic experiment that activates a particular brain region involved in vision -- the MRI method detected a drop in pH in that region. The team also confirmed the pH drop using other methods.

"Our study tells us, first, we have a technique that we believe can measure pH changes in the brain, and second, this MRI-based technique suggests that pH changes do occur with brain function," Magnotta says.

"The results support our original idea that brain activity can change local pH in human brains during normal activity, meaning that pH change in conjunction with the pH-sensitive receptors could be part of a signaling system that affects brain activity and cognitive function," Wemmie adds

A new way to view brain activity

Importantly, this technique may also provide a new way to image the brain

Currently, functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting a signal that's due to oxygen levels in the blood flowing to active brain regions. The UI team showed that their method responds to pH changes but is not influenced by changes in blood oxygenation. Conversely, fMRI does not respond to changes in pH.

"What we show is our method of detecting brain activity probably depends on pH changes and, more than that, it is distinct from the signal that fMRI measures," says Wemmie. "This gives us another tool to study brain activity."

pH and brain function

Wemmie's previous studies have suggested a role for pH changes in certain psychiatric diseases, including anxiety and depression. With the new method, he and his colleagues hope to explore how pH is involved in these conditions.

"Brain activity is likely different in people with brain disorders, such as bipolar or depression and that might be reflected in this measure," Wemmie says. "And perhaps most important, at the end of the day; could this signal be abnormal or perturbed in human psychiatric disease? And if so, it might be a target for manipulation and treatment?"

Provided by University of Iowa

"Acid in the brain: Team develops new way to look at brain function." May 18th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-acid-brain-team-function.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

SHIMLA INDIA

SHIMLA

SHIMLA IS THE CAPITAL OF HIMACHAL PRADESH [ INDIA ]. A POPULAR TOURIST
DESTINATION, SHIMLA IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE "QUEEN OF HILLS".

WHY WE SHOULD VISIT TEMPLES?

(Scientific Reason)

There are thousands of temples all over India in different size, shape and locations but not all of them are considered to be built the Vedic way. Generally, a temple should be located at a place where earth's magnetic wave path passes through densely. It can be in the outskirts of a town/village or city, or in middle of the dwelling place, or on a hilltop. The essence of visiting a temple is discussed here.

Now, these temples are located strategically at a place where the positive energy is abundantly available from the magnetic and electric wave distributions of north/south pole thrust. The main idol is placed in the core center of the temple, known as "*Garbhagriha*" or *Moolasthanam*. In fact, the temple structure is built after the idol has been placed. This *Moolasthanam* is where earth’s magnetic waves are found to be maximum. We know that there are some copper plates, inscribed with Vedic scripts, buried beneath the Main Idol. What are they really? No, they are not God’s / priests’ flash cards when they forget the *shlokas*. The copper plate absorbs earth’s magnetic waves and radiates it to the surroundings. Thus a person regularly visiting a temple and walking clockwise around the Main Idol receives the beamed magnetic waves and his body absorbs it. This is a very slow process and a regular visit will let him absorb more of this positive energy. Scientifically, it is the positive energy that we all require to have a healthy life.

Further, the Sanctum is closed on three sides. This increases the effect of all energies. The lamp that is lit radiates heat energy and also provides light inside the sanctum to the priests or *poojaris* performing the pooja. The ringing of the bells and the chanting of prayers takes a worshipper into trance, thus not letting his mind waver. When done in groups, this helps people forget personal problems for a while and relieve their stress. The fragrance from the flowers, the burning of camphor give out the chemical energy further aiding in a different good aura. The effect of all these energies is supplemented by the positive energy from the idol, the copper plates and utensils in the *Moolasthan*am / *Garbagraham*. *Theertham*, the “holy” water used during the pooja to wash the idol is not
plain water cleaning the dust off an idol. It is a concoction of Cardamom,*Karpura* (Benzoin), zaffron / saffron, *Tulsi* (Holy Basil), Clove, etc...Washing the idol is to charge the water with the magnetic radiations thus increasing its medicinal values. Three spoons of this holy water is distributed to devotees. Again, this water is mainly a source of magneto-therapy. Besides, the clove essence protects one from tooth decay, the saffron & *Tulsi* leafs protects one from common cold and cough, cardamom and *Pachha Karpura* (benzoin), act as mouth fresheners. It is proved that *Theertha* is a very good blood purifier, as it is highly energized. Hence it is given as *prasada* to the devotees. This way, one can claim to remain healthy by regularly visiting the Temples. This is why our elders used to suggest us to offer prayers at the temple so that you will be cured of many ailments. They were not always superstitious. Yes, in a few cases they did go overboard when due to ignorance they hoped many serious diseases could be cured at temples by deities. When people go to a temple for the *Deepaaraadhana*, and when the doors open up, the positive energy gushes out onto the persons who are there. The water that is sprinkled onto the assemblages passes on the energy to all. This also explains why men are not allowed to wear shirts at a few temples and women are requested to wear more ornaments during temple visits. It is through these jewels (metal) that positive energy is absorbed by the women. Also, it is a practice to leave newly purchased jewels at an idol’s feet and then wear them with the idol’s blessings. This act is now justified after reading this article. This act of “seeking divine blessings” before using any new article, like books or pens or automobiles may have stemmed from this through mere observation.

Energy lost in a day’s work is regained through a temple visit and one is refreshed slightly. The positive energy that is spread out in the entire temple and especially around where the main idol is placed, are simply absorbed by one's body and mind. Did you know, every Vaishnava(Vishnu devotees), “must” visit a Vishnu temple twice every day in their location. Our practices are NOT some hard and fast rules framed by 1 man and his followers or God’s words in somebody’s dreams. All the rituals, all the practices are, in reality, well researched, studied and scientifically backed thesis which form the ways of nature to lead a good healthy life.

The scientific and research part of the practices are well camouflaged as “elder’s instructions” or “granny’s teaching’s” which should be obeyed as a mark of respect so as to once again, avoid stress to the mediocre brains.

Umbrella of Protection

“He is called the well-wisher for the devotees only. He appears to be partial to His devotees, but factually the matter rests on the living being to accept or reject equal treatment by the Lord.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.16.26-30 Purport) It’s pouring rain outside. There is nothing you can do to avoid the downpour because you have to make the walk to your intended destination. You have just exited a shopping center and your car is parked a long ways away, as this was a particularly busy shopping day. The forecast didn’t call for rain, so you’re a little surprised that so much rain has come by unannounced. If only you had an umbrella at this moment when you really need one. Oh, but you could have brought one with you. You keep a spare umbrella in the trunk of your car for emergency situations like these. But you didn’t remember to bring it with you as you left the car. Since you were entering a shopping center, you intended to carry at least one bag in your hands, if not more, on your way out. A closed umbrella, though compact, would have added to the burden of items to carry around, and since it was sunny outside when you parked your car, you paid no attention at all to the umbrella. Ah, but now you desperately need one. To make matters worse, you see other people who have their umbrellas; thus they are safe from the pouring rain. They can make it to their cars without a problem. They will not be soaking wet when they sit behind the wheel to drive home. In this scenario, is the umbrella to blame for your misfortune? Obviously it is an inanimate object, so it can’t make any decisions of its own, but if for argument’s sake we say that the umbrella is capable of hearing your complaints, should it consider them valid? From the rational human being’s perspective, it is understood that the fault lies completely with the person who forgets the umbrella. The umbrella gives protection from the rain, but it is still impartial. It doesn’t only protect one type of person. It does not look down to see who is holding it and then decide whether or not to block the scorching rays of the sun or the falling raindrops. In fact, you know that the umbrella gives protection; that’s why you kept one in your car. But in this situation you forgot, and though the umbrellas seem to be partial when they protect others, they are simply fulfilling their role. This hypothetical situation and the analysis of the umbrella’s function help to explain the Supreme Lord’s position and how He diffuses His energy. These points are worth understanding because only in ignorance does the human being blame the higher authorities for their troubles. “Oh God, why did you let this happen to me? How could you do this to me? I never did anything to deserve this. You favor everyone else except me.” In reality, when someone accepts the gifts of God already available to everyone else there is only the appearance of favoritism. The highest pleasure comes in the transcendental arena, where the previously conditioned living entity associates with Supreme Spirit and His direct energies. Something that is completely knowledgeable, blissful and eternal can share its transcendental radiance with others, provided they choose to interact in the proper mood. To understand what the proper mood is, we can use a crude example like a lavish ice cream cake. The cake is meant to satisfy hunger and be enjoyed by the taste buds at the same time. But what if we used the ice cream cake as a tray, something to hold our other food items. We place whatever it is we want to eat on top of the cake, but this is actually not the proper use. The cake is meant to be consumed, and by its constitution it cannot remain in its ideal state for too long without melting. When taken out of the freezer and used as a tray, once the melting cake sinks and thus fails in our desired use as a tray, the blame for our troubles actually lies with us. The cake had its ideal role, and we rejected it. The Supreme Lord lives inside of us as the Supersoul and outside as the soul of all creatures. He is the existence of all existences, and not a blade of grass can move without His influence. Nevertheless, that influence is difficult to spot if we don’t know the proper use of objects. The hands we’re provided are meant to be used for such things as clapping along to the congregational songs glorifying the Supreme Lord. The eyes serve their ideal purpose when used to look at pictures of God and His beautiful form. The legs allow for travelling to places where the Supreme Lord is glorified, and the taste buds can eat the remnants of food first offered to Him, prasadam. The tongue can also be used for chanting the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. This simultaneously takes care of hearing, for Krishna and His name are non-different. The name Krishna indicates that God is the most-attractive, that His features are perfect in every way. Those features give pleasure to the devotees, and hence He is also known as the reservoir of pleasure. The results of utilizing the various body parts in an ideal way are peace of mind, the removal of stress, and an invigorated spirit that is ready to take on new tasks in the discipline known as bhakti-yoga, ordevotional service. Thus far there has not been any mention of caste, color, ethnicity, age, or country of origin. The holy name can be chanted by any person, and the beautiful deity in the temple is the sight for any person’s sore eyes. Even if the houses of worship unjustifiably deny entry to some, the mental pictures of the Supreme Lord based on descriptions and accounts of His activities found in the sacred texts can be drawn and enjoyed. “I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.”  (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.29) In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna’s song that touches on the meaning of life, it is said that the Lord does not envy anyone, and neither is He partial to anyone. Nevertheless, He still shows favoritism to the devotees, who are friends to Him. This apparent contradiction is resolved by the fact that the offer for protection and favoritism is open to any person; but there is the requirement that they make the conscious decision to accept it. The Supreme Lord proved to be an umbrella of protection for the distressed Queen Draupadi when she surrendered everything to Shyamasundara and asked for His help as she was being disrobed by wicked-minded family members in an assembly. Prahlada Maharaja was protected by Krishna during trying times because he only thought of the Lord. The residents of Vrindavana were saved from a torrential downpour, which was instigated by the king of heaven, when they went underneath the umbrella Krishna created by lifting the massive Govardhana Hill and holding it over His head. That same protection is available to anyone who recites the holy names with love, faith and humility. Those who refuse to accept this protection cannot blame Krishna for their troubles. How kind then are the Vaishnava saints who try to spread the holy names to as many people as possible? They know the tremendous protection that God provides through His personal energies, so they selflessly try to share the knowledge on how to utilize nature’s gifts properly to as many people as are willing to listen. The Vaishnava, the devotee of Krishna, hopes that no one will reject the kind treatment offered by Krishna to all. The distresses relating to temporary conditions arise from ignorance of the true meaning of life, which is to become God conscious by the time death arrives. Through the holy names and the proper implementation of bhakti-yoga learned from a bona fide spiritual master, the divine umbrella resting within opens up to protect you from the many rainy days the material land has to offer. Under that protection the protector’s company is cherished and appreciated daily. In Closing: Umbrella meant to block out falling rain, Shields you from wetness’s pain. But what if umbrella you should forget, Pummeled with rain, in your trunk it rests. Others took theirs, you could have done the same, But you forgot, so is umbrella to blame? Know that Supreme Lord to all His glorious light diffused, Pain only comes when His protection refused. Chant holy names for transcendental shelter to gain. And thus make sunny even a day filled with rain.

GPS for the brain: Researchers develop new brain map

University of Georgia researchers have developed a map of the human brain that shows great promise as a new guide to the inner workings of the body's most complex and critical organ.

With this map, researchers hope to create a next-generation brain atlas that will be an alternative option to the atlas created by German anatomist Korbinian Brodmann more than 100 years ago, which is still commonly used in clinical and research settings.

Tianming Liu, assistant professor of computer science in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and his students Dajiang Zhu and Kaiming Li identified 358 landmarks throughout the brain related to memory, vision, language, arousal regulation and many other fundamental bodily operations. Their findings were published in the April issue of Cerebral Cortex.

The landmarks were discovered using diffusion tensor imaging, a sophisticated neuroimaging technique that allows scientists to visualize nerve fiber connections throughout the brain. Unlike many other neuroimaging studies, their map does not focus only on one section of the brain but rather the whole cerebral cortex.

"Previously, researchers would examine at most three or four small brain networks," Liu said. "We want to examine the whole brain connection, and this is the so-called connectome."

The new map provides a clearer picture of how different areas of the brain are physically connected and how these connections relate to basic brain function. Liu and his team examined hundreds of healthy young adults to establish the landmarks, which they call dense individualized and common connectivity-based cortical landmarks, or DICCCOL.

After extensive testing and comparison, the team determined that these nodes are present in every normal brain, meaning they can be used as a basis of comparison for those with damaged brain tissue or altered brain function.

"DICCCOL is very similar to a GPS system," Zhu said, "only it's a GPS map of the human brain."

Now, thanks in part to a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Liu and collaborators Xiaoping Hu and Claire Coles at Emory University are preparing to test their brain map by comparing healthy brains with those of children whose brains were damaged by exposure to cocaine while in the womb.

Prenatal cocaine exposure, or PCE, can cause serious damage to brain networks. Because of this, analysis of the damage provides Liu and his team with an excellent opportunity to evaluate the usefulness of their map.

After comparing the PCE brains to those of healthy individuals, they hope to determine the segments of the brain responsible for physical or mental disabilities observed in children exposed to cocaine.

"The PCE brain is disrupted in a systematic way; the whole brain is wrongly wired," Liu said. "We want to test our map in one of the worst cases, and then we will know if it will work in other cases."

Once the robustness of their map is established, Liu and his team hope that it may prove useful in the evaluation of many other brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or stroke.

"This really is a fundamental technology," Liu said. "When we establish these DICCCOLS, we can very easily extend this project to other populations, to other brain diseases."

More information: Liu's team published their DICCCOL data sets, which includes the source code and diffusion tensor images, athttp://dicccol.cs.uga.edu so other researchers may use the findings in their own experiments.

The article, "DICCCOL: Dense Individualized and Common Connectivity-Based Cortical Landmarks," is available at http://cercor.oxfo … bhs072.short .

Provided by University of Georgia

"GPS for the brain: Researchers develop new brain map." May 22nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-gps-brain.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Stress shrank brain area of Japan tsunami survivors: study

Emotional stress caused by last year's tsunami caused a part of some survivors' brains to shrink, according to scientists in Japan who grasped a unique chance to study the neurological effects of trauma.

On a quest to better understand post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the researchers compared brain scans they had taken of 42 healthy adolescents in other studies in the two years before the killer wave, with new images taken three to four months thereafter.

Among those with PTSD symptoms, they found a shrinking in the orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in decision-making and the regulation of emotion, said a study published Tuesday in the Nature journal Molecular Psychiatry.

"The changed volumes in the orbitofrontal cortex are correlated to the severity of PTSD symptoms," author Atsushi Sekiguchi told AFP.

Previous studies had already suggested that PTSD patients undergo changes to the brain, but this is the first to pinpoint which part of the organ is altered by trauma.

The full implications of these findings are so far unclear, but there could be an early benefit for doctors and patients. Telltale changes in brain volume may help easier diagnoses of PTSD and timely treatment with psychotherapy.

The researchers also found that people with a smaller anterior cingulate cortex before a traumatic event were more prone to develop PTSD thereafter.

This part of the brain is also believed to be involved in decision-making and emotion.

"We think these changes are not permanent, because many past studies showed that brain changes were recovered by some therapies or interventions," said Sekiguchi.

"To confirm this, we have already started to follow up the subjects."

None of the 42 had been diagnosed with full-blown PTSD, but displayed symptoms to various degrees of severity.

Symptoms of PTSD, a severe form of depression, include flashbacks, emotional numbness, sleepnessness and hypervigilance caused by the horrors a person had experienced.

Sekiguchi, from Tokohu University's department of functional brain imaging, conceded the sample size was small, but insisted "there is some mathematical validity to generalise to a broad population from our data".

The subjects all lived in an inland area of the quake-ravaged city of Sendai.

"Not only the earthquake itself, but also frequent after-quakes, radioactive materials leaked from nuclear plants, and many inconveniences after the quake, such as stopping utilities, caused stressful periods," for the subjects, the scientist said.

Some 19,000 people died when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake off the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 triggered a tsunami, followed by a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

"This extremely miserable episode provided a rare opportunity for investigating brain structural changes associated with such a disaster," the authors wrote.

(c) 2012 AFP

"Stress shrank brain area of Japan tsunami survivors: study." May 22nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-stress-shrank-brain-area-japan.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

King Fisher

Alcohol intake in the elderly affects risk of cognitive decline and dementia

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other types of dementia are most common in the very elderly, and are associated with huge health costs. With a rapidly ageing population throughout the world, factors that affect the risk of cognitive decline and dementia are of great importance. A review paper by Kim JW et al published in Psychiatry Investigation on the association between alcohol consumption and cognition in the elderly provides an excellent summary of the potential ways in which alcohol may affect cognitive function and the risk of dementia, both adversely and favourably as alcohol may have both a neuro toxic and neuro protective effect, depending on the dose and drinking pattern. Longitudinal and brain imaging studies in the elderly show that excessive alcohol consumption may increase the risk of cognitive dysfunction and dementia, but regular low to moderate alcohol intake may protect against cognitive decline and dementia and provide cardiovascular benefits.

Studies published from 1971 to 2011 related to alcohol and cognition in the elderly were reviewed using a PubMed search. At present, there are no proven agents to prevent cognitive decline or dementia, although a number of prospective epidemiologic studies have shown a lower risk of such conditions among light to moderate drinkers in comparison with non-drinkers. Other studies have found that beneficial effects are seen only among certain sub-groups of subjects. A recent meta-analysis by Peters et al of subjects over the age of 65 in longitudinal studies concluded that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, in comparison with abstinence, was associated with approximately 35-45% lower risk of cognitive decline or dementia.

This paper provides a summary of what is known about the mechanisms by which alcohol consumption, especially heavy drinking, can be neurotoxic, and how light-to-moderate drinking may help protect against cognitive decline and dementia. The authors state that their intent is to determine if there is an "optimal pattern of drinking" that may protect the elderly against such conditions.

At present, the mechanisms by which the moderate intake of wine and other alcoholic beverages reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases are much better defined than they are for cognition. Forum members agree with the authors that further research is needed to evaluate a potential role that alcohol may play in reducing the risk of dementia.

Forum members also agree that, at present, the specific mechanisms of such putative protection are not well defined, and it would be premature to recommend light-to-moderate drinking for reducing the risk of dementia. On the other hand, current biomedical data supports the concept that regular, moderate intake of ethanol is not simply less dangerous for cognitive function, but is positively protective. This is the same conclusion reached by epidemiologic studies."

More information: Kim JW, Lee DY, Lee BC, Jung MH, Kim H, Choi YS, Choi I-G. Alcohol and Cognition in the Elderly: A Review. Psychiatry Investig 2012;9:8-16; http://dx.doi.org/ … i.2012.9.1.8

Provided by Boston University Medical Center

"Alcohol intake in the elderly affects risk of cognitive decline and dementia." May 22nd, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-alcohol-intake-elderly-affects-cognitive.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek