Category: Business

Are you stressed? If so, your chances of heading to an early grave are significantly higher. New research has found that people who reported feeling anxious and overwhelmed were 27 per cent more likely to suffer a heart attack.

The study, led by Columbia University Medical Centre researchers, was published in the American Journal of Cardiology. American researchers found people who reported feeling stressed were 27 per cent more likely to suffer a heart attack

The researchers looked at six previous studies where people had been asked about their perceived stress with questions such as ‘how stressed do you feel?’ and ‘how often are you stressed?’

The groups were separated into high and low stress scores and then followed for 14 years to track the number of heart attacks. The effect of stress was so profound that the researchers compared it to smoking more five cigarettes a day.

It was also likened to a 2.8mmol/l increase in LDL cholesterol and a 2.7/1.4 mmHg increase in blood pressure. The British Heart Foundation says that people who are at high risk of, or already have, heart disease should aim for an LDL cholesterol level under 2 mmol/l.

Stress has also been found to increase levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol and blood pressure, which are risk factors for heart disease

Therefore, it says the figures suggest a 2.8mmol/l rise is more than double the recommended cholesterol levels for heart and stroke patients.

A healthy blood pressure reading should be below 140/90mmHg. LDL cholesterol is considered a risk for heart disease that can lead to heart attack because it contributes for narrowing of the arteries that supply blood flow to the heart from plaque buildup, or atherosclerosis.

Higher blood pressure puts stress on the heart and contributes to stiffening of the arteries, making them more susceptible to blockage. It is thought to be responsible for 50 per cent of all heart attacks and strokes.

The researchers did further analysis to try to learn what might unpin the link between stress and heart disease. They found that while gender was not a significant factor, age was.

Among older people, the relationship between stress and CHD was stronger, suggesting the effects of stress compound over time. They also noted that older people tend to have worse risk factors such as high blood pressure and raised cholesterol to begin with, and that stress may interact with those risk factors to trigger a heart attack.

‘These findings are significant because they are applicable to nearly everyone,’ said study author Safiya Richardson.

‘The key takeaway (message) is that how people feel is important for their heart health, so anything they can do to reduce stress may improve their heart health in the future.’

Her co-author, Donald Edmondson, assistant professor of behavioural medicine at CUMC added: ‘This is the most precise estimate of that relationship, and it gives credence to the widely held belief that general stress is related to heart health.’

Heart disease is Britain’s biggest killer. Around 270,000 people in the UK suffer a heart attack every year and and nearly one in three die before they reach hospital.

Source: www.bhf.org.uk

If the Federal Government puts the necessary infrastructure in place, Nigeria could become Africa’s e-commerce hub, an online marketing specialist, has said.

Managing Director/ Chief Executive, sunglasses.com.ng, said with the potential in terms of demographics and Internet dynamics, the government could power Nigeria to become the African hub for e-commerce, adding that the push has the potential to boost employment and generate revenue.

Allowing the benefits of technology start-ups in the country to permeate the industry will definitely attract foreign investment and will help Nigerian and international entrepreneurs to grow and create successful companies.

“Also facilitating fast, reliable and affordable internet to Nigerians will help boost e-commerce, and this, the Federal Government is trying to do through various initiatives by the Ministry of Communication Technology and other agencies, such as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency of Nigeria (NITDA) and others,” he said.

Hr said in the UK, e-commerce accounts for about 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), translating to $200 billion, adding that by 2016, it is expected to contribute more than construction, healthcare and the education sectors to the economy.

“UK has 52 million internet users, while Nigeria has 48 million, and most likely, Nigeria will surpass UK in terms of the number of internet users by the end of 2013. That means a lot in terms of potential contributions to the economy. This underscores the potential Nigeria has and where it could be heading to in few years time,” he said.

He explained that lack of awareness and distrust are some of the challenges confronting operators in the segment. “That is why we allow customers to pay on delivery. Nigerians are afraid of being duped,” he added.

The 13-member Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) have agreed to work together to achieve a “fair price,” the group’s Secretary-General Leonid Bokhanovsky has said.

“Once the majority of gas exporters agree and commit on uniform behaviours in the market, we could be expecting desirable decisions to be made and effective actions to be taken which is in line with the objectives of the forum,” Bokhanovsky, said in an e-mail, on the fourth anniversary of the group.

He said GECF has been less effective than the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which meets twice yearly to tweak crude-oil output quotas with the aim of influencing prices, and has been in existence since 1960.

GECF’s members, who hold almost 60 per cent of the world’s gas reserves, said at a summit in November 2011 that they should cooperate to raise prices and boost supply, yet they disagree on how that can be achieved, he lamented.

Qatar’s Emir, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, said at a summit earlier that the group shouldn’t try to limit output, while Iran’s Oil Minister, Rostam Qasemi called for the group to develop a “market management plan.”

The majority of gas is sold in long-term contracts tied to oil and is expensive to transport, making the market for the fuel more regional than crude, which is mainly bought and sold on the spot market.

GECF members defended oil-linked contracts at their most recent meeting in Equatorial Guinea on November 21.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) yesterday appealed to the inbound passengers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, who have difficulties reclaiming their baggage to be patient, saying it is trying to solve the problem.

Its General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Yakubu Dati, who said the conveyor belts had been malfunctioning in the past few days, attributed this to the ongoing remodelling at the airport.

He assured that on completion of the exercise, passengers would not have problems.

He said: ”Yes, there was a breakdown recently and we have rectified it. We have equally told the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company of Nigeria (NAHCo) Plc to move people to the D-Wing incase of a breakdown. Machines will always be machines and they can breakdown at anytime, but whenever this happens, we try to rectify it immediately.”

Passengers arriving the country had gone through some harrowing experiences at the arrival hall of the terminal sometime last week when they could not reclaim their checked-in luggage at the baggage reclaim area due to faulty conveyor belts.

A source close to FAAN confided in our correspondent that the conveyor belts at both the D and E wings had broken down completely, which made it impossible for them to reclaim their luggage on arrival.

There are two conveyor belts each at the D and E wings of the airport while the E- Extension Wing, close to the diplomatic car park was last week installed and put to use with a short conveyor belt, which has since been under test run by FAAN.

According to sources at the airport , two days ago, only one of the two conveyor belts were working at the D and E wings, which regularly cause delay at the peak period at the airport.

On Sunday, Delta Air Lines passengers arriving fromAtlanta, Georgia experienced over two hours delay at the baggage reclaim area until FAAN had to use the short conveyor belt at the E wing extension to complement the collapsed one.

The luggage of the Business Class (Priority) passengers were mixed with that of the economy at the reclaim centre, which made some of the business class passengers uncomfortable with the situation.