Updated Trends: The common cold is the most irritating ailment that one can have. Though it does not do much harm to the body, it can make a person irritable and leave the person with an infection, a stuffy nose and even cough. Things become even worse while sleeping as one usually faces problems while breathing. Here are a few ways to get rid of common cold.

1. Plug your ears – It may sound silly, but plugging your ears with cotton before going to sleep can help in preventing the condition from worsening. Ears and nose have a connection and plugging the ears can prevent the ventilation of the air, which helps in preventing further infection.

2. Drink fluids – Make sure that you drink enough water or fluids so that the throat as well as nasal passages are well hydrated. It is best to have drinks rich in vitamin C as they are good in building your immunity to fight common cold.

3. Comfortable environment – Make your environment warm and comfortable so that you get sound sleep which is important to get rid of common cold. Turn off the TV, phones and the lights so that your sleep is not interrupted.

Updated Trends: A recent study has mentioned the importance of making love in order to lead a happy life after retirement. A study has found that people who have an active sex life after the retirement are more likely to enjoy their life as well.

The researchers found that there was a direct link between the number of times over the age of 65 having sex and their chances to lead a content life and a happy marriage. According to the figures, older couples who make love more than once a more were 50 percent more likely to describe themselves as happy.

The research that was lead by Adrienne Jackson, said that the study would help in opening the lines of communication and would also spark the interest in developing the outside the box approaches which dealing with the issues like preventing or limiting the older people in indulging in love making.

For the study, more than 238 married people over the age of 65 were studied in the US. It was found that the frequency of sexual activity was directly linked to the general happiness and the marital happiness. Figures said that 60 percent of the people who had sex more than once in a month were very happy in their general life.

Updated Trends: Apart from unhygienic public doors and lifts, infection can also be spread through food. Contamination through harmful bacteria can cause illness and sometimes even death. One should make sure to take some preventive measure in order to escape from the infections that spread rapidly through food. Here are a few ways to avoid food-borne infection.

1. Wash hands – Before cooking or after cooking, wash your hands thoroughly with a good antibacterial soap. Even while cooking and after washing vegetables/meat, wash your hands before you proceed to the next procedure.

2. Cooking temperature – The food should be cooked at an appropriate temperature so that the heat kills all the harmful bacteria, if any. The temperature of the food can be checked by inserting a thermometer when it is being cooked.

3. Refrigeration of food – The left over food should be refrigerated immediately. If left outside then the bacteria starts building immediately even at room temperature, not forgetting dust and germs.

4. Frozen food – After the frozen food is thawed, it should be cooked fully and should not be refrigerated again.

5. Check expiry dates – While purchasing frozen food, make sure that you check the expiry dates of the package. If the frozen food is expired then it must be thrown out immediately.

Updated Trends: A new study in the UK has mentioned that screenings of bowel cancer can cut the number of deaths by more than a quarter. The National Cancer Research Institute had mentioned evidence which states that the risk of death had reduced by 27% if people attended screening compared to those who did not attend screening.

In the process of screening of bowel cancer, the patients are made to use faecal occult blood test, which the people carry out at home. The research was funded by the Scottish government which had helped to show the impact of the screening in bowel cancer.

Robert Steele, the author of the study, said that for the first time they can see the effect of a FOBt based colorectal cancer program in the real world of the NHS. About 370,000 people aged between 50 to 69 had participated in the pilot study of bowel screening.

The study ran between 2007 and 2009, before the national program was introduced. The researcher then also observed people who did not belong to any health boards and did not take part in the pilot study. The figures had given evidence that the screening of bowel cancer had helped in lowering the number of deaths.

Updated Trends: For years dentists have always been telling people about the benefits of getting teeth professionally cleaned regularly. A new study says that regular cleaning of teeth gives a radiant smile and also decreases the risk of heart attack or stroke.

The recent study was presented at the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida and was conducted by the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. Researchers observed that people who regularly got their teeth cleaned and scraped by a dentist or a dental hygienist had a 24 percent lower risk of stroke when compared to those who had never been for a dental scraping.

For the study, more than 1,00,000 people were observed for an average of seven years. The researchers said that people should get their teeth scraped at least twice in the year and had called it ‘occasional’ if it was less than two times in a year.

Emily Chen, a cardiologist from the Veteran General Hospital, said that protection from heart diseases and stroke was pronounced in the participants who had got the tooth scaling done at least for once in a year. The professional tooth scaling helps in reducing the bacterial growth, that can lead to heart strokes.

Updated Trends: A recent report from the UK stated that lung cancer sufferers in the most deprived areas were more likely to die of the disease compared to those who live in other parts like Scotland. According to a report by the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, the people from deprived areas were almost twice likely to have lung cancer than someone living in the urban areas.

The study also showed that once people living in the deprived areas got the disease, they are more likely to die of the disease than those living in the better areas of the United Kingdom. In Scotland, lung cancer is considered as the major cancer killer. On an average, 11 people die of the disease every day and in total more than 4,000 die in a year.

On the other hand, reports have also shown the importance of the geographical significance estimated in a year’s survival. It was found in Fife that one in four lung cancer patients are alive for a year after being diagnosed with the disease.

In Borders and Lothian, one in three people survive for at least a year after they are diagnosed. The NHS Border has the highest survival rate estimated in a year at 35.6%.

Updated Trends: A new study has shown that women who use contraceptive pills might be indirectly responsible for the global increase in prostate cancer. It was found that the regions where the use of contraceptive pills was higher, there were higher incidents of this type of cancer.

Scientists argue that they still cannot be sure about what causes the link. At the same time, the scientists also say that the male exposure to oestrogen could increase the risk.

It is already known that excess amounts of oestrogen exposure leads to cancer and that widespread use of these pills can lead to more oestrogen. This cannot be broken down easily and can enter the water and food chain.

In order to reach to the conclusion, researchers used the findings of the International Agency of Research on Cancer and also the United Nations World Contraceptive Use reports that pointed out the rates of prostate cancer and the associated deaths. This data was compared with the women who used contraceptive pills. The researchers found that the use of condoms, coil and other barrier devices were not associated to the risk of prostate cancer. But it was observed that the use of pills had significant link with the deaths from prostate cancer.

Updated Trends: Sore throat is a condition that is commonly suffered by people suffering from the much dreaded flu. Most of the time, a sore throat is also combined with pain in the throat and difficulty in swallowing food. But there are several remedies that can help the condition to be eased.

1. Saline water – Mix some table salt in a glass of luke warm water and rinse and gargle at least five to six times in a day. This is one of the most effective and simple remedies for sore throat. The salt water helps in clearing the mucus and soothes throat tissues.

2. Plenty of water – The best way to calm that sire throat is to keep yourself hydrated so that the throat is lubricated and this also helps in the immune system to run smoothly. Try having hot soup and drink lots of warm water instead of dry food that can further irritate the throat.

3. Lemon and honey treatment – Prepare a mixture of honey and lemon juice and slowly drink the solution. Lemon helps in clearing the mucus and honey coats the throat and provides relief.

4. Plugged ears – As far as possible keep the ears plugged with ear plugs or cotton balls, especially while sleeping. Plugging your ears can help to avoid the condition to worsen.

5. Cinnamon treatment - Not many people are aware of the fact that this spice can work wonders in getting rid of that irritating sore throat. In order to make the best use of cinnamon, you need to take one teaspoon of roughly powdered cinnamon, and boil in a glass of water with a little pepper powder. If you want, you can also add two teaspoons of honey with it as an effective way to treat your sore throat.

Updated Trends: Technology has become another reason to give rise to new problems to humans in their daily life. Stress is one such problems. Due to stress in the everyday life more and more people are now sending text messages while in their sleep. Shocking, but true!

According to the experts, a new phenomenon has arisen due to more work during the waking hours. This is a rare condition when the sufferers send messages to friends and family, while they are completely unaware what they are actually doing.

Dr. David Cunnington, a sleep specialist, said that people should keep their cell phones outside their bedroom if they want to have sound sleep. David is a sleep expert at the Melbourne Sleep Disorder Centre Centre in Australia and has said that people are nowadays doing too much of work during the day and the cell phones make them feel that they are at work even during the night.

The cell phones and the smartphones have made communication so easy that it has now become difficult to draw line between work and rest. Till now, no studies have been conducted about sleep texting, but a report in 2008 said that a woman in America sent 44 emails while in her sleep.

Updated Trends: For those women who are trying to lose some weight, it is not advisable to have snacks between breakfast and lunch. A new study has mentioned that those who binge in between breakfast and lunch time tend to lose less weight than those who do not.

Some of the diet plans suggest that it is better to eat snacks between meals so that the person does not overeat during the normal meal time. But according to research conducted by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, the value of snacking depends on the hunger of the person.

The research observed 123 adult women aged between 50 and 75, who were either overweight or obese. The participants were randomly assigned a diet plan that had restricted on their calories. They were not even given any specific instructions over snacking.

When the data by the participants was observed, it was found that those who had a mid morning snack lost on an average of 7% weight while those who did not eat any food or drink between breakfast and lunch lost 11% of their weight. Dr. Anne McTiernan, opined that it is not the time of the snack that is responsible but it is the short interval between the snacks.