Smoking ups heart disease risk in women

Women who smoke have a 25 per cent higher risk of developing heart disease than men smokers, scientists have warned.
Toxins in cigarette smoke appear to affect women more badly, and the risk takes into account that women tend to get through fewer cigarettes than men.
The findings by Dr Rachel Huxley, of theUniversity of Minnesota, and Dr Mark Woodward,Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore from a massive meta-analysis of 86 international studies involving 2.4million people add to evidence that women's health is worse affected by smoking, reports the Daily Mail.
Women smokers have double the risk of lung cancer compared with their male counterparts, and often suffer more aggressive forms of the disease.
The latest review looked at 75 sets of data, which included 67,000 coronary heart disease events such as heart attacks.
The risk ratio of smoking compared with not smoking for coronary heart disease was found to be 25 per cent higher in women than men.
This increased by 2 per cent for each additional year of follow-up, meaning that the longer a woman smokes, the higher her risk of developing heart disease becomes compared with a man who has smoked the same length of time.
The study has been published on Online First by the Lancet medical journal.

Easy ways to cure acidity

We've all suffered from it at some point or the other. We share tips to cure acidity ... 

Acidity occurs when there is excess secretion of acids in the gastric glands of the stomach. When the secretion is more than usual, we feel, what is commonly known as heartburn, which is normally triggered off by consumption of spicy foods.

Here are some home remedies to cure acidity...

- Skip the aerated drinks as well as the caffeine. Opt for herbal tea instead.
- Have a glass of lukewarm water everyday.
- Include banana, watermelon and cucumber in your daily diet. Watermelon juice is great for curing acidity. 

- Nariyal paani is known to soothe the system if you suffer from acidity.
- Drink a glass of milk - everyday.
- Have your last meal at least two to three hours before you hit the sack.
- Keeping long intervals between meals is another cause for acidity. Have small but regular meals.
- Try to avoid pickles, spicy chutneys, vinegar, etc.
- Boil some mint leaves in water and have a glass of this after meals.
- Sucking on a piece of clove is another effective remedy.
- Jaggery, lemon, banana, almonds and yogurt are all known to give you instant relief from acidity.
- Excessive smoking and drinking will increase acidity, so cut down.
- Try chewing gum. The saliva generated helps move food through the esophagus, easing symptoms of heartburn.
- Ginger aids in digestion. Either buy powdered ginger in capsule forms or add the herb to your recipes.
- A simple preparation of lemon water with sugar can be sipped on an hour before lunch to reduce uneasiness.
- Have vegetables like drumsticks, beans, pumpkin, cabbage, carrot and spring onions.