Ganja Yoga Gains Popularity: But Marijuana and Yoga Harmful, Experts Claim

Ganja Yoga? Marijuana and yoga seem liked a good combination to Dee Dussault, a woman that specializes in yoga and has been smoking pot for four years. The idea: "When you're high, you can focus on your breath."

Some experts ask her - are you high? According to Right Pundits, Monica Voss, also a Toronto-based yoga instructor with 30 years of experience, thinks it could be dangerous.

"Some people might not be aware of their body when they're high and maybe they would injure themselves." 

While certainly that seems possible, the classes are reportedly popular.

The UK Independent reveals a class includes "a vaporizer café and chat (approximately 30 minutes), followed by a profoundly trippy yoga class, set to mystical music (approximately 75 minutes). Light munchies served afterward."

Via : nationalledger.com

Getting to the root of your stress

Researchers at The University of Western Ontario (Western) in Canada and Meir Medical Centre in Kfar-Saba in Israel collaborated to test a new method of measuring the stress hormone cortisol in strands of hair from 56 male patients experiencing a heart attack.

"Intuitively we know stress is not good for you, but it's not easy to measure," explained Gideon Koren, MD, FACMT, FRCP(C), a pediatrician, clinical pharmacologist, and toxicologist and Ivey Chair in Molecular Toxicology at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

"We know that on average, hair grows one centimetre (cm) a month, and so if we take a hair sample six cm long, we can determine stress levels for six months by measuring the cortisol level in the hair." 

The data analysed in 56 male patients showed "hair cortisol content emerged as the strongest predictor of heart attack" above other "known risk factors," including smoking, diet, inactivity, genetics and hypertension.

Perhaps in the future, stress tests will include plucking a few strands of hair. However you shouldn't ignore other signs that a heart attack could be near like shooting pains (neck, jaw, shoulders, arms), difficulty catching your breath and chest discomfort.

Via : hindustantimes.com

Hormone In Hair Could Indicate Heart Disease Risk

A new study has found that levels of cortisol in the hair shaft can indicate a higher risk of heart attack.

In the new study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, scientists examined the levels of the stress-marking hormone in the hairshaft to provide a long-term assessment of stress levels.

A three-centimeter hair sample was found to indicate the levels of stress in an individual over three months, since hair grows at a rate of approximately one centimeter per month.

Redford Williams, MD, director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., told WebMD in response to the study: "This is yet another nail in the coffin of those who believe that stress is not a risk factor for heart attack. More research is needed before we get to the point that we routinely measure cortisol in the hair, but we are getting there."

The study was published online in the journal Stress. 

Via : Stress

Stress increases 'risk of death five-fold'

Researchers have found that people aged 65 or older were five times more likely to die within the six year follow-up period if they had high levels of stress hormones. 

They were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease, such as heart attacks, heart failure and strokes, but not more likely to die from other causes such as cancer, it was found. 

Short-term stress is thought to be good for health but chronic long-term stress can lead to damage in the lining of the blood vessels. 

Stress can also raise blood pressure and cholesterol which are known to be harmful to the heart and stressed people tend to eat a poorer diet and may be more likely to smoke. 

Researchers at VU University Medical Center in The Netherlands, measured levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in the urine of 861 people aged 65 or older. The measurement was taken once over a 24-hour period. 

They were then tracked for six years and any deaths recorded.
It was found that those with the highest levels of cortisol in their urine were five times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those with the lowest levels. 

They took into account other factors that could influence cardiovascular disease, such as socio-economic status, health problems such as obesity and high blood pressure and lifestyle factors such as smoking
The findings are due to be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 

Dr Nicole Vogelzangs, lead author of the study, said: "Previous studies have suggested that cortisol might increase the risk of cardiovascular mortality, but until now, no study had directly tested this hypothesis. 

"The results of our study clearly show that cortisol levels in a general older population predict cardiovascular death, but not other causes of mortality. 

"Cortisol is an important component of the stress system of the human body but in higher concentrations can be harmful. 

"Our study shows that older persons with high levels of cortisol have an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. This finding significantly adds evidence to the belief that cortisol can be damaging to the cardiovascular system." 

One in three of all deaths in Britain are caused by cardiovascular disease, accounting for more than 200,000 deaths per year. 

Ellen Mason, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Stress is already associated with an increased risk of heart disease and this study throws up more evidence about the role of cortisol.
“However, there are other chemicals in our body besides cortisol which play a part when we’re stressed out. So although this study helps, there is still a lot left to learn. 

“It’s important we all try and find ways to cope with stress which don’t involve unhealthy habits that increase your risk of heart disease, such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol and eating foods high in saturated fat and salt.”

Via : telegraph.co.uk