Medicine Hack

A Mediterranean diet is one which comprises of fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, olives, and olive oil along with some cheese, yogurt, fish, poultry, eggs, and wine. A recent study has shown that this diet if adopted and followed leads to a slower decline in the cognitive function. The two main hypotheses are that it has a lot of anti-oxidants which prevent cell death in the brain and secondly it has a protective effect on the vasculature of the brain and thus prevents vascular dementia. Thus, the Mediterranean diet not only improve your looks and protects your cardiovascular system but also your brain cells benefit from it.

Figures till November 2012 show that the top 5 countries with the highest prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus are from the pacific islands. They may be the smallest islands but the epidemic of diabetes is one of the worst there. More than a third of adults in some of these countries have diabetes and the combined toll of complications, deaths and loss of income make diabetes a real threat not just to the individuals experiencing the disease but also to the economies of the countries themselves. Above is an image showing the locations of the pacific islands.

Data till November 2012 showed that together, these 10 countries make up 75% of the total prevalence of diabetes in the world.  Urbanisation and the accompanying changes in lifestyle are the main drivers of the epidemic in addition to changes in population structure where more people are living longer.