Health
Health
Fair Observer's analysis of issues in medicine, public health, disease prevention and disease control, drugs, nutrition, and fitness.
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Politics / United States / Europe / Finance & Economics / 360° Context / BRIC / Global Change / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Business & Entrepreneurship / Africa / Global Security / Asia / Science & Technology / Health / Oceania / Environment & SustainabilityFair Observer's Top 15 articles of 2012. Click here to view the "Fair Observer: The Year in Pictures" photo feature. As we wind down the old year and ring in the new, it is time for some reflections. Like any year, 2012 was packed with events, some of which will go down as historic while others will fade away with time. For Fair Observer, it is a time to thank everyone in our team, our contributors and our readers for taking us another step forward. The past year has confirmed that our community is our greatest source of strength. For years, the world has assumed that rigorous analysis of global issues is possible only if there is a huge...
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Faced with a deadly and expensive diabetes epidemic, Gulf states are looking at innovative business marketing techniques to promote healthy behaviour and keep a cap on spiralling health costs. By Jane Williams Strong oil prices have bankrolled an affluent lifestyle in the Middle East’s Gulf region, with deadly consequences. Rich foods, decreased physical activity and high smoking rates have exacerbated a genetic predisposition to diabetes, fuelling an epidemic responsible for 10 percent of all adult deaths and sucking up a major chunk of the region’s healthcare budget. Five of the six Gulf countries are now listed among the top 10 worst afflicted places in the world, according...
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360° Analysis / BRIC / Asia / HealthThe scarcity of food, water, education, and transportation is negatively affecting both urban and rural populations in India. More than sixty percent of the Indian population depends upon agriculture and agriculture-related activities for their livelihood and live in rural areas. When they followed traditional practices, all agricultural inputs were locally available such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. But, after the green revolution, while crop yields increased very significantly, all inputs became commercial commodities to be purchased seasonally from the market. Seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides – all specific to each crop separately – have to be purchased by...
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By Norman FarbHow can meditation make us happier? There are a lot of advantages to modern living. Advances in nutrition and sanitation have increased the human lifespan almost threefold compared to ages past. Modern technology provides widespread conveniences historically reserved for the aristocracy. Modern medicine can cure an increasing variety of ailments. Around the world, billions of people have access to all manner of materials needed for a happy life. And yet with these benefits come new challenges. The pleasure of getting a promotion at work or eating a good meal are all too often fleeting, replaced by some other concern or deadline. We lucky billions, the world’s most privileged citizens...
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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar discusses a new era of spirituality that is compatible with modern, western living. Interview conducted by Aaron Prosser. Question 1: It seems like more people are searching for inner peace and meaning in their life. This is especially true in the western world. Many westerners are drawn to India, in search of spiritual teachers like yourself. Why do you think this is happening? Sri Sri: Well, the world goes through different phases in turn. There was an age of exploration several centuries ago, followed by an age of economy and industry, followed by technology and so on. I think we may well be entering the age of spirituality. When people become saturated by so...
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Why have these traditionally eastern practices gained such popularity in the West? The West is experiencing a rapid growing popular interest in meditation and the eastern traditions that developed these methods. The rising interest has mainly focused on the Buddhist and Yoga traditions which, although quite distinctive, share much in common. Both originated in the Indian subcontinent over two thousand years ago. Buddhism began with the life of Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of a Hindu tribe in what is now Nepal, who lived around the time of Socrates (approximately 500 BCE). He gave up his royalty in favor of a contemplative life which led him to be eventually called the “Buddha”...
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360° Analysis / Politics / Africa / HealthWith a rapidly ageing population and high youth unemployment, Africa must evolve its social safety nets for the elderly. About Ageing: Facts and Statistics If you ask people on the ground in Africa about the ageing population, the response is, “So? People must get old and the older they can get, the better.” Growing old is a matter of respect, achievement, satisfaction and family legacy. The elderly in any community on the African continent are held in high regard. By default they are bestowed the family role of patriarch or matriarch of a clan or community. This leaves the rest of the community with an unspoken responsibility to take care of them. An ageing population can be...
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By Yuri FuchsThe recent Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has inspired a great deal of fervor, but its impact on health care and government power is far from lucid. Concluding with the statement that “the Court does not express any opinion on the wisdom of the Affordable Care Act,” Chief Justice John Roberts and the four Justices from the Supreme Court’s liberal bloc upheld the Affordable Care Act – pejoratively known as Obamacare. Ever since its enactment in 2010, the legislative cornerstone of the Obama Administration has come under attack in the courts. The 900 page colossus expands the provision of Medicaid, requires chain restaurants to display...
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360° Analysis / BRIC / Asia / Science & Technology / HealthWhen talking about agriculture in China, you are likely to hear two statistics over and over again: China is home to 22% of the world's population and has less than 10% of the world's arable land. In a country that has vowed to maintain 95% self-sufficiency in agriculture, this gap has put agricultural reform at the top of the China's political agenda. And it makes China one of the prime spots in the world for the adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops. Over the past five years, research into GM crops has become a pillar of China's agricultural reform strategy. Government investment in the technology has increased steadily, and more and more multinationals are investing...