Sleeping easy

Sleeping is essential to your health but certain sleeping positions can either heal or harm you. 

If there’s one thing we have in common it’s that we all enjoy sleeping. There’s nothing quite like waking up from a good night’s rest feeling fresh and enthusiastic about what the new day has to offer. 

If you followed your doctor’s orders and got the required eight hours of sleep per night, you’d spend a third of your life asleep. While it may sound like a lot, getting enough rest is vital to keeping your body healthy. 

But it’s not just the quality and quantity of your sleep that matters – the position you sleep in is also very important. Here’s a look at the health pros and cons of your favourite night-time positions.

The recovery position is great for those who suffer from acid reflux and indigestion. These conditions occur when stomach acid splashes up the oesophagus (the tube that carries food from the mouth down to the stomach). This acid is caused by a weakness of the muscle between the stomach and the oesophagus and triggers the pain. 

In a study of heartburn patients, American doctors found that patients who slept on their right side suffered more discomfort, as sleeping on your right side allows the leaked stomach acid to drain out of the oesophagus slower. If you enjoy sleeping in this position, try sleeping on your left side.

However, this posture can cause wrinkles. British researchers warn that this position increases pressure on the folds that run from the corners of your nose to the sides of your mouth – known as laughter lines. Depending on the side you usually sleep on, the laughter line may be more pronounced and deeper from your face being squashed against the pillow. 

The corpse position is good when you suffer from arthritis and joint pain. Try sleeping on your back as it will distribute weight evenly throughout your body, without putting strain on any specific area. But this position can worsen snoring as the muscles in your jaw and tongue are relaxed and the jaw and throat sag under gravity. When this happens, the throat produces air turbulence which leads to vibration and snoring. 

Sleep apnoea – a serious condition where the throat closes off completely and leads to sporadic breathing which lasts for 10 seconds or more – is also aggravated in this position. Sleeping on your side can help sleep apnoea sufferers but in more severe cases, medical treatment is needed. 

Experts say people who sleep on their backs also breathe faster than in any other sleeping position. Because the body’s tissues become de-oxygenated, sleeping in this position can amplify respiratory and circulatory problems such as asthma and heart disease.

What about the fetal position? During the day, our spines experience gravitational forces that put a lot of pressure on the pads of cushioning between the bones of the back. When we sleep there is no compression on the back and water in the body is attracted to the discs, which helps repair wear and tear. Sleeping in the fetal position is ideal as curling the body inwards opens up your back and reduces pressure on the disc, allowing repairs to take place.

Make sure your neck is aligned with the rest of your body and that your pillow is not too high or too low, as this can strain muscles and nerves in the neck, which can lead to head and neck pain or tension headaches in the morning. If you have lower back pain it’s especially important to make sure your neck and spine are in a straight line and that there is no twisting at the hips and pelvis.

What's your eating style

IF THERE’S one thing doctors agree on, it’s that piling on the kilos will send you to an early grave. Countless studies have shown how dangerous excess weight is, with clear links to death from diabetes and heart disease.

There are plenty of diets you can try, but experts aren’t convinced they offer a solution. What happens when you stop the diet? If you go back to your old eating habits, you’ll be back at square one sooner or later.

It’s better to make small but permanent changes to our eating habits, experts say. It’s these habits that got us to where we are, so it makes sense to change the source of the problem.

Nutritionists believe many people are overweight or obese not because they binge on fatty meals but because they constantly “graze” throughout the day. This pattern is called automatic eating – we eat without thinking about it – and that’s why we end up with extra padding around our middles.

So if you want to shed excess weight, it may be as simple as thinking about what you put in your mouth.

These days we have a snacking culture, with plenty of options to choose from – and many of them are not healthy. Chips, chocolates, biscuits and pastries are all loaded with fat, salt or sugar.

Eating a mid-morning and afternoon snack is a good idea as it will help balance your blood sugar, but you have to choose the right kind of food.

Read on to see what kind of eater you are and what you can do to make your diet healthier.

THE AUTO-EATER

You eat whether you feel hungry or not and without actually thinking about whether you need food. Experts believe thousands of people may be obese or overweight simply because they eat like this. This kind of constant grazing means you underestimate your kilo joule intake. Solution Eat a filling breakfast, such as a bowl of oats, and when you feel the need to reach for a snack ask yourself how hungry you really are. Try drinking water instead.

THE CHAOTIC EATER

Highly-stressed career types often fall into this category. They have no eating routine, often skip meals and frequently eat on the run. Many are unaware of their unhealthy eating habits. Solution If you think you do this, keep a diary of what you eat for a week and calculate more or less what your kilo joule intake is. The results could shock you into taking control of your diet.

THE EMOTIONAL EATER

You use food as a crutch or as a distraction to stop you from confronting your feelings. It’s possible for you to eat an entire packet of biscuits or a big slab of chocolate without realizing it. Solution Recognize that you’re an emotional eater and prepare for when you know the need is likely to strike. It tends to come on suddenly – but at predictable times – and usually involves a desire for one particular type of comfort food. Have a strategy to deal with it: keep healthy snacks handy, for example.

THE WASTE-NOT EATER

You may have been taught never to waste food and so don’t like to see food left on your plate – which means you’ll eat what’s there whether you want it or not. Solution Eat slowly and let your brain judge when you are full.

Sex and power: why women are missing out on jobs

It has been a dismal week for women in the workplace. A study revealed that more than 5,400 women are "missing" from Britain's 26,000 most powerful posts, according to a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Sex & Power 2011 survey measured the number of women in positions of power and influence across 27 occupational categories in both public and private sectors since 2008. It concludes that although more women than ever are graduating from university, with a high number gaining better degrees then men, not to mention the vast number of women entering law, accountancy and medicine, they are still not taking up management roles at the same rate as their male counterparts.

Although women now represent 22.2% of MPs, which is up from 19.3% in 2008, only 17.4% of the coalition's cabinet are women, a decrease of 26.1%. In better news, more women are now directors at FTSE companies, but there are fewer female national newspaper editors than three years ago. The number of female teachers, head teachers and university vice chancellors have gone down too, but there are gains in the public and voluntary sector, where women represent 12.9% of senior members of the judiciary, up from 9.6%.

Kay Carberry of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's expressed her disappointment in the report's findings: "We had hoped to see an increase in the number of women in positions of power, however this isn't happening." Justification for the absent women has been put down to part-time working, inflexible organisations and outdated working patterns.

Although the report suggests that the glass ceiling is still very much a problem for women, Heather McGregor of the 30% Club – a group committed to bringing more women on to corporate boards in the UK – does not believe this is the case: "It's not a glass ceiling stopping women from getting to the top, but the fact that they are less likely to build networks, focus on their career priorities, and spend a substantial proportion of their time on their own PR. How will you ever be picked for a good job if no one knows about you?"

In Monday's Guardian, Madeleine Bunting admitted that her generation has "failed to break through" into those positions of power, but also highlighted her peers' achievements over the past 25 years, namely the part-time working arrangements that make motherhood alongside a high-flying career an option. "We're delighted to see others forging ahead and crashing through the prejudices," she wrote, "but we shiver at the price it might exact in our own lives."

Equally a cause for concern are the latest unemployment figures, also out this week. Of the 38,000 increase in people out of work over the last quarter, 21,000 were female, and more women (5.6%) are unemployed than has been the case since 1988.

Anna Bird of the Fawcett Society argued that something should be done immediately to address both alarming sets of figures: "This report must act as a call to arms; the government and others can no longer turn a blind eye to this injustice, wishing and hoping it will sort itself out."

Via  The http:guardian.co.uk

GMOs: Is it a silver Bullet for Africa’s poverty and Hunger Quagmire?

The recent extreme hunger in Kenya is horrifying. It has put households in vicious cycle of poverty, starvation and utter desperation. Households trapped in abject poverty continue to grapple with the horrendous effects of extreme hunger and starvation and the diversity and statistics of such households are dazzling.

Hunger is used by proponents of Genetic engineering as a pretext to introduce GE food and seeds into Africa. However, increasing the production of GE food or cash crops will do very little to alleviate hunger or achieve food security in Africa. Those in favor of GE claim that by transferring genes from one organism to another, “improved” GE crop plants can overcome the constraints of conventional agriculture such as pesticides, tilling, weeding and low production. In this way, they argue food security in developing countries will be achieved and hunger will be eradicated.

However, GMOs impact on several fundamental human rights derived from the universal declaration of human rights. Amongst these are the rights to nutritious, safe and culturally acceptable food, the right to informed choice, the right to democratic participation, the right to safe and healthy environment and ethical objections.

On a high political level, Africa has been deeply embroiled in the GE debate. However, the public and farmers are still kept in the dark about GMOs and the risks that GMOs pose to human health, biodiversity and society.

GE alone does not and cannot form part of the solution to address poverty, hunger and food insecurity in Africa. Hunger and poverty are complex problems requiring appropriate solutions that address social, political and economic factors. These factors include equity, gender equality, power and control over resources. The government should actively involve in adopting a precautionary approach to GMOs while building on alternative sustainable solutions that responds to the needs of consumers and majority small holder farmers.

Eradication of extreme hunger is a major recipe for development. There can be no motivation for development among the poor if extreme hunger is not eliminated. This misfortune can be attributed to failure by development actors to identify appropriate hunger reduction programs for households affected by extreme hunger. The millennium development goals: status report for Kenya 2005 observes that the number of people living in extreme poverty increased from 44.7 percent in 1992 to 56 percent in 2002. The report concludes with the projection that this number will increase to 65.9 percent in 2015 if the current situation persists. Based on this prediction and if poverty will increase, then achieving MDG 1 will not be possible.

Irrigation should be the song that experts should drum into the government to seriously consider. Rain-harvesting techniques such as building of dams should be improved to store water for irrigation during the dry seasons. In the dry regions like North-Eastern, boreholes and wells could be dug for this purpose.

The government of Kenya should therefore design appropriate policies and /or implement existing ones to help reduce hunger and stimulate increase in food production 

Citizens and civil society organizations must join hands to ensure that the government is on track towards fulfilling the MDGs. We must stand together as Kenyans and challenge our leaders to keep their promises.

“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest” Nelson Mandela

AIESEC International Congress 2011, Kenya my Experience

A wise man once said that for one to map the future, they must first look to the past. With this in mind, the concept of “change agent” has lingered in my mind for far too long. Classic definitions bring out the aspect of one who brings change, be it positive or negative. My focus however is not the nature of the change but rather the “location” where the change took place, takes place and perhaps will take place. Looking back to 1948, in the midst of the turmoil, suffering and heartache, 7 change agents formed AIESEC, the change agency we now love so much. Present in over 1,700 universities and encompassing over 35,000 members, AIESEC is the world’s largest youth-run organization focused on providing a platform for leadership development over 7,700 leadership opportunities each year, in addition to over 5,500 global internship opportunities annually. AIESEC offers Change agents because they chose not to conform to the current pattern of their world. Change agents because they dared to envision a different world from their own. Change agents because they set out to crystallize their dream and make it a reality, the reality we now live. The question then becomes, “do we still live this reality?”

AIESEC rushed into my life 6 months ago. There I was, looking at the AIESEC website and came across a really interesting item, “Do you want to be a teamster in the International Congress 2011, Kenya?” I can say with certainty that the opening ceremony attended by more than 700 delegates on 20^th August 2011 was a success. Meeting and interacting with energetic young people who are passionate about changing the whole world and making it a better place was an eye opener. Only then did I understand, this was my place, this is where I want to be. My dream is to be a registered member of AIESEC – Be among the energetic and passionate young future leaders as well as play my role and contribute to the future development for the whole organization! AIESEC International Congress 2011 presents a great opportunity for AIESEC members to build a future path for not just AIESEC but also for Kenya as a country. The theme of the congress this year is “Carving Young Leaders for a Sustainable Future”, and it will focus on a multitude of issues like sustainability, technology, youth led impact movements, emerging markets, ethical business etc.

Real change starts like wild fire, with just a small spark but within no time a whole forest is ablaze! True impact is never spoken of but felt. My duty as a youth interested in being an AIESEC member is to impact as many people directly and indirectly as I can. As with everything else, change is a process that takes time. 

AIESEC community are role models, ready to take up the responsibility of transforming Countries and in the long run do what we are good at…changing the world

Did you know that the Former President Bill Clinton and former secretary general Koffi Anan are Alumnae of AIESEC? The world has seen their contributions in changing the world and hence taken up leading roles in our society. The AIESEC platform is a unique environment that enables people to explore and develop their potential and creates the opportunity for development of defined leadership competencies.

This life-changing experience will continue to reinforce my belief on ‘give and take’. I always hold that belief when I am helping other people. Do not focus on how much you can gain and how much you can take from that, but focusing on how much you can give to others. This attitude really makes me reflect on my own living values and views about true friendship. That is what a life changing experience means to me.