Sahayathri

From time immemorial exercise is considered essential for the maintenance of health. People of all walks of life encourage games of various kinds for different age groups. Exercises tones up muscular system; aids to increase the efficiency of heart, lungs, and the whole system of man. Not only individuals but also the whole society become healthy, by interaction between individuals while playing together. Besides the benefits known hither to, the recent discovery of endorphin emphasizes the necessity of doing exercise.

Here under are quotations from Encyclopedia and Internet regarding Endorphins. These opioid neuropeptides were first discovered by 1975 John Hughes and Hans Kosterlitz in the brain of a pig. They called their endorphins “enkephalins” (from the Greek egkephalos, “in the head”). Several other types of endorphins were discovered later. The word endorphin itself is abbreviated from “endogenous morphine”, which means a morphine produced naturally in the body. The main substances identified as endorphins include the enkephalins, beta-endorphin and dynorphin, all discovered in the 1970s.Endorphins are distributed in characteristic patterns throughout the nervous system, with beta-endorphin found almost entirely in the pituitary gland.

Endorphins have been found to be clearly involved in the regulation of pain; Such substances are also believed to have some relation to appetite control, the release of sex hormones through the pituitary, and the adverse effects of shock. There is strong evidence that endorphins are connected with “pleasure centres” in the brain. Knowledge about the behavior of the endorphins and their receptors in the brain has implications for the treatment of opiate addictions and chronic pain disorders. ( Copyright 1994-1999 Encyclopædia Britannica) Endorphins ARE Neurotransmitters found in the brain that have pain Relieving properties similar to morphine.

There are three major types of endorphins:

• beta-endorphins, found primarily in the pituitary gland;
• enkephalins
• dynorphin, both distributed throughout the nervous system.

Endorphins interact with opiate receptor neurons to reduce the intensity of pain: among individuals afflicted with chronic pain disorders, endorphins are often found in high numbers. Many painkilling drugs, such as morphine and codeine, act like endorphins and actually activate opiate receptors.

Besides behaving as a pain regulator, endorphins are also thought to be connected to physiological processes including euphoric feelings, appetite modulation, and the release of sex hormones. Prolonged, continuous exercise contributes to an increased production and release of endorphins, resulting in a sense of euphoria that has been popularly labeled “runner’s high.”

One of the most general and repiticous reason people use or why they smoke is because it makes them feel better. Many people claim that it helps relieve stress and it makes them feel good. Yes, cigarettes can do that, but so can many other, healthier, choices.

Exercise is a great way to relieve stress and it is proven that exercise produces endorphins which make you happier.

“Endorphins are natural pain killing substances found in the human brain” (www.worldofalternatives.com). Different types of exercise such as running, “runners-high,” or aerobic exercise produce endorphins, “body chemicals that induce euphoric and pleasureable feelings” (Vauthey). Another very common response to the burning question of why people smoke is that it helps keep body weight down.

That isn’t medically proven and it is crazy to think that some people would give up years of their lives, and others, just to keep off a few pounds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphin Endorphins Q &A by Nathaniel Altman Copyright 2002 by Nathaniel Altman

Q: Are endorphins related to the famous “runner’s high”?

A: In contrast to short-intensity workouts like sprinting or weightlifting, prolonged, continuous exercise like running, long-distance swimming, aerobics, cycling or cross-country skiing appears to contribute to an increased production of endorphins

Q: Is a prescribed amount of exercise needed before endorphins are released?

A: Endorphins release varies according to the individual: one runner may have an endorphin rush (experienced as a second wind) after running for ten minutes, while another may need to run for thirty minutes before feeling a second wind. There are no major doubts behind the physical affects of exercising. But how does exercise affect us mentally? Most scientific research on this subject looks into the hormonal responses to physical activity. Levels of endorphins, enkephalins, catecholamines and serotonin have been studied. Endorphins are neurohormone polypeptide molecules, synthesised by the hypothalamus of the brain and secreted into the bloodstream by the pituitary gland. There are four different types of endorphin produced in the body:Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Sigma Beta endorphins consist of 30 amino acid subunits and it is the beta endorphins which show the greatest increase in plasma concentration during times of exercise. Endorphins are thought to be released from the pituitary during times of pain or stress. Studies have also looked into the affect of acidosis, caused by exercise, on endorphin release(2). Exercise induced acidosis of the blood appears when prolonged exercise has occurred and oxygen flow to the muscles has decreased. Anaerobic respiration occurs causing lactic acid accumulation, which results in acidosis. This acidosis is then thought to stimulate the pituitary to release the endorphins. Exercise produces endorphins. That’s what all the magazine articles say. That’s what the exercise physiologists say. It’s universally accepted that rigorous physical activity creates endorphins that make you feel happy – dare I say, even euphoric … Also, exercise stimulates endorphins, for example the expression “runners high.”

Exercise is valuable to strengthen the heart, immunity, bones, and many other … www.restoreunity.org/recovery_burnout_heroin.htm

Endorphins Body’s Stress Fighters … this response has been debated extensively in the literature, it is known that the body does produce endorphins in response to prolonged, continuous exercise. … stress

Physical exercise endurance with … By helping endorphin release, the Panacea makes our bodies happier about … The stimulation prepares the body for a workout. … www.naturalhealth.org/articles/exerciseandskin.htm -

ProTeamPhysicians.com … Significant endorphin release has only been shown during peak exercise levels. A regular workout may not be enough to achieve the endorphin sensation called … www.proteamphysicians.com/patient/article/ index.asp?showarticle=yes&articleId=191&articletype=13

Ten depression tips … Exercise releases endorphins, improves your health, and helps you feel a sense of accomplishment. … Dancing, much like exercise, releases endorphins. …

www.ivillage.co.uk/print/0,,611635,00.html the pattern of tolerance to endorphins follows a similar path (3) .

The more regularly you exercise, the higher the body’s natural tolerance to endorphins. … www.portfolio.mvm.ed.ac.uk/ studentwebs/session5/26/HORMONES.html Welcome to H Magazine – The Pulse of Today’s Health …

Exercise creates endorphins, which not only puts us in a better mood but triggers our immune system as well, protecting us against disease. … www.hforhealth.com/features/Sept2004/Bliss.html

Similar pages

Endorphins … All exercises were performed at 80% of maximal … cycling, 24 repetitions of resistance exercise represents fairly … to keep referring to post-workout pleasure as … www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0430.htm

Exercise is a great way to relieve stress and it is proven that exercise produces endorphins which make you happier. “Endorphins … www.beavton.k12.or.us/sunset/Webfolio/ Trisstin/trisstinm_files/persuasive.htm

 

Kerala Government and Many local bodies are encouraging Kudumpasree, and other organizations and firms to demolish waste materials, and keep our land healthy and clean. Mathrubhoomi Canannore edition on 12/2/2005 reported that occurrence of lung diseases has increased in Kerala especially in Canoor district. Two hundred and fifty out of 1000 Keralians suffer from difficult breathing. And it is due to atmospheric pollution. After the rainy season we see any where in Kerala, waste materials are being burned. Of course these wastes would be containing plastics and other dirty materials. When these are burned dioxin, carbon dioxide and other harmful gases are produced.

What is dioxin?

Dioxin is one of the most toxic chemicals known. A draft report released for public comment in September 1994 by the US Environmental Protection Agency clearly describes dioxin as a serious public health threat. The public health impact of dioxin may rival the impact that DDT had on public health in the 1960′s. According to the EPA report, there appear to be no “safe” level of exposure to dioxin. The EPA report confirmed that dioxin is a cancer hazard to people;and that exposure to dioxin can also cause severe reproductive and developmental problems (at levels 100 times lower than those associated with its cancer causing effects); and that dioxin can cause immune system damage and interfere with regulatory hormones. The International Agency for Research on Cancer [IARC] –part of the World Health Organization –announced February 14, 1997, that the most potent dioxin,2,3,7,8-TCDD, is now considered a Class 1 carcinogen, meaning a “known human carcinogen.” Dioxin is a general term that describes a group of hundreds of chemicals that are highly persistent in the environment. The most toxic compound is 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin or TCDD. The toxicity of other dioxins and chemicals like PCBs that act like dioxin are measured in relation to TCDD.

What health effects are related to exposure to dioxin and dioxin-like compounds?

• Sperm count in men worldwide has dropped to 50% of what it was 50 years ago.
• The incidence of testicular cancer has tripled in the last 50 years, and
• prostate cancer has doubled.
• Endometriosis – the painful growth outside the uterus of cells that normally line the uterus – -which was formerly a rare condition, now afflicts 5 million American women.
• In 1960, a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer during her lifetime was one in 20. Today the chances are one in eight.

How are we exposed to dioxin?

The major sources of dioxin are in our diet. Since dioxin is fat-soluble, it bio-accumulates up the food chain and it is mainly (97.5%) found in meat and dairy products (beef, dairy products, milk, chicken, pork, fish and eggs in that order..). In fish alone, these toxins bioaccumulate up the food chain so that dioxin levels in fish are 100,000 times that of the surrounding environment.

In EPA’s dioxin report, they refer to dioxin as hydrophobic. This means that dioxin, when it settles on water bodies, will avoid the water and find a fish to go into. The same goes for other wildlife. Dioxin will find animals to go into, working its way to the top of the food chain. Men have no ways to get rid of dioxin other than letting it break down according to its chemical half-lives. Women, on the other hand, have two ways which it can exit their bodies:

• It crosses the placenta… into the growing infant
• It is present in the fatty breast milk, which is also a route of exposure

which doses the infant, making breast-feeding for non-vegetarian mothers quite hazardous.

Where does dioxin come from?

Dioxin is formed as an unintentional by-product of many industrial processes involving chlorine such as waste incineration, Dioxin is formed by burning chlorine-based chemical compounds with hydrocarbons. The major source of dioxin in the environment (95%) comes from incinerators, burning chlorinated wastes.

Basic Information

Backyard burning refers to the burning of household trash by residents on their own property. Trash typically burned can include paper, cardboard, food scraps, plastics, and yard trimmings—essentially any materials that would otherwise be recycled or sent to a landfill. Burning usually occurs in a burn barrel, homemade burn box, wood stove, outdoor boiler, or open pit. Air emissions from backyard burning are released directly to the atmosphere without being treated or filtered.

Why People Burn their Trash?

Backyard burning is common in many areas of the country. People burn trash for various reasons—either because it is easier than hauling it to the local disposal site or to avoid paying for regular waste collection service. In the past, backyard burning may have been the only way that many could get rid of their waste. Today, however, almost everyone can obtain reasonably priced waste collection or take their waste to a conveniently located drop-off center as alternatives to backyard burning.

It’s a Health Hazard

Most people who burn their waste do not realize how harmful this practice is to their health and to the environment. Current research indicates that backyard burning is far more harmful to our health than previously thought. It can increase the risk of heart disease, aggravate respiratory ailments such as asthma and emphysema, and cause rashes, nausea, or headaches. Backyard burning also produce harmful quantities of dioxins, a group of highly toxic chemicals that settle on crops and in our waterways where they eventually wind up in our food and affect our health.

Burn Barrel Science

Typically, dioxins do not exist in materials before they are incinerated, but are produced when waste is burned. Significantly higher levels of dioxins are created by burning trash in burn barrels than in municipal incinerators. Household burn barrels receive limited oxygen, and thus burn at fairly low temperatures, producing not only dioxins, but a great deal of smoke and other pollutants Backyard burning is also particularly dangerous because it releases pollutants at ground level where they are more readily inhaled or incorporated into the food chain.

For more information on dioxin formation and sources,

http://www.epa.gov/garbage/backyard/basic.htm