MEDSKIL - healthyLiving...

Why Coca-Cola is bad for you and other health cornucopia

2009-11-25T04:34:00.000+01:00

I was just reading up about water purification systems when I learned that Jessica Hamzelou says that many clean water systems designed for the poor do not work at all because their benefits may be overstated.

The relevant excerpt listing such water purification systems is as follows. "....Most of these systems work either by disinfecting the water – using chlorine tablets or by allowing the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight to purify stored water – or by passing it through ceramic or sand filters to remove microorganisms......"

A below second excerpt emphasizes the fact that the root cause of human diarrhea lies in food-borne bacteria and not in the water-borne variety.

"....Meanwhile Cairncross says the spread of diarrhoea-causing bacteria through water shouldn't be the main focus of research. "Food is a more important carrier of bacteria than water," he says. "Faecal bacteria are in heaven in cooked food – they can multiply very easily, which doesn't happen in water." Funding should be diverted towards this cause of diarrhoea, he says....."

Now, about that Coca-Cola and similar pop or sugared drinks.... In discussing the potability of Martian and lunar water, Daniel Engber reveals that any drink with a pH level or reading below 5.5 will eat away your teeth in the long run.

The most relevant excerpt is as follows. ".....That's not the only reason to think the space water would be unpalatable. Mineral specimens collected by the Mars rovers (on other parts of the planet) have turned up significant quantities of jarosite, a salt deposit that tends to form only in very acidic solutions. Researchers guess that the jarosite precipitated from a liquid with a pH of between 0 and 4. For comparison, a human can handle an acidic beverage like Coca-Cola, which has a pH of about 2.4, but more concentrated acids will cause mucosal injuries to the esophagus, stomach, and intestines......"

Did you know that teeth grinding is called bruxism? I can really guess that Jesus Christ gave the Pharisees a good dose of that as his preaching gave them many anxious moments of gnashing of the teeth. Ha-ha...

Anyway, according to this BBC article about Grindcare, a biofeedback device made in Denmark and currently being tested in Britain, small electric shocks are sent out to the sleeping patient at the onset of tense moments and tensed muscles.

What are the benefits? Well, apart from not having to wear plastic dental covers at night and the absence of "....headaches and stiff necks, as well as [not] irritating a sleeping partner.....", the main advantage is that the possibility of using an overdose of painkillers is eliminated.

Very soon, all things being equal, Fred will get you out of any emergency situation at the touch of a button.

Who's FRED? Paul Marks says that FRED is a hand-held satellite-radio which uses several technologies to get out a distress call or to help you dial for help.

The most relevant excerpt about the European Fast Response Emergency Device is as follows. "....Using 3G, GSM and Iridium phone technology, alongside GPS and Galileo satnav receivers, FRED will do its utmost to alert a rescue centre of your plight...."

According to this Washington Post article by David Brown, the major difference between the death toll from seasonal flu and swine flu is that swine flu attacks younger people below 18 years of age, while seasonal flu affects mainly older people above 65 years of age.

However, those figures are not cast in stone, as revealed in the excerpt below. "....

The total number of people who have been hospitalized is 98,000, with 36,000 of them age 17 and younger. The vast majority of deaths -- about 2,920 -- have been in people age 18 to 64.

In an average flu season, the seasonal virus contributes to the deaths of about 36,000 people -- 90 percent of whom are 65 or older. Many are close to death, with flu being only one factor leading to their demise. That is not the case with H1N1's victims, most of whom are much younger, and about 20 to 30 percent of whom were healthy before contracting the virus.

All of the estimates come with substantial uncertainty. For example, total H1N1 cases in the United States range from 14 million to 34 million, and total deaths from 2,500 to 6,100.

The CDC had previously said 129 people younger than 18 had died from H1N1 flu. That is compared with 88 deaths from seasonal flu in 2007-08 and 78 deaths in 2006-07 -- the most recent two flu seasons before the H1N1 strain emerged.

The new estimate includes deaths that occurred outside hospitals, patients who tested negative for H1N1 but almost certainly had it, and other overlooked cases....."

Finally, before I end this post, I must mention that Christopher Shay has raised an alarm about a rogue strain of malaria that may render artemisinin impotent in treating the viral disease caused by Plasmodium falciparum - the deadly strain that affects the brain of sufferers.

The major relevant excerpts are as follows. "....Globally, only 3% of malaria patients receive the proper artemisinin combination therapy....It's not random that dangerous new strains of malaria continue to crop up on the Thai-Cambodian border. In addition to having longer years of exposure to the miracle drug, residents like the gem-mine workers rely on an unregulated, informal health sector, rife with cheap counterfeits and improper treatments. ..... Even for experts, it can be impossible to tell the difference between the fakes and the real article just by looking at them. What's so important about this is that when you have thousands of people taking improper or low dosages, the malaria parasite develops resistance more quickly......Modeling by the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit published in the Malaria Journal in February predicts that if nothing is done in the next two decades, "resistance to artemisinins will be approaching 100%." And if that happens, it won't be long until the resistant strain spreads from Cambodia's precious gem mines to Africa, putting half the world's population at risk of catching what would be an untreatable, deadly disease......."

Well, I say that climate change should have been factored into that vaunted model. Mosquitoes cannot survive in cold environments; so, perhaps, if the tropics became more temperate in weather, malarial parasites would have to find a new home or just lay down and die....

Cheers, to that hopeful future!

Healthy cornucopia

2009-11-21T22:15:00.000+01:00

It's really amazing how a little gift and a little adjustment in attitude can bring out a grin from an otherwise bored disposition.

Not that my father's birthday today was boring. I had wondered whether to give a card and a gift or just a card - I had been trying to think up what to give him that he didn't already have.

My wife had advised that a gift is a gift and the receiver would still appreciate it - even if he already had more than one of a similar item.

To cut to the chase, my dear over-seventy year-old father loved his new steel wine opener with the corkscrew and plastic ring around the stainless steel rim. We all had a great time...

And then it was time to leave. I handed out bubble gum packs to everyone to clean out the palate.

To my surprise, my sister said she doesn't buy chewing gum for her kids, even though they accepted my gift readily.

So, I had to tell her the benefits of chewing gum, including teeth whitening, plaque removal, breath freshener, savings on toothpick purchases, aids digestion as saliva is swallowed periodically as a recycled fluid, exercising the facial and jaw muscles, and teeth strengthening - quite different from the general negative impression of a gum chewer resembling a goat chewing the cord in most places in my country today.

One more thing: she immediately asked for some for herself. And their smiles broadened as they drove off when I drummed a little ditty on the cover of the large gum container and yelled out, "Chew gum!"

How's your attitude to health? These nine Jodi Helmer diet tips state that you should include in your diet whole grains, eat at home to control the ingredients used in the recipe, vary your diet to prevent the temptation of going AWOL - or on the lam - on a boring diet, avoiding alcohol and other calorie-uppers like sugary or caffeinated drinks, and exercise to avoid getting fat.

Donna Freeman lists twelve cheap healthful foods that can actually keep you and your foor budget slimmer - grains, fruits, vegetables, and proteins that can be found at supermarkets, "....drugstores, grocery outlets, big-box stores and dollar stores.....", ethnic and other specialty food stores.

Do you want soft and callous-free feet? Then throw out the pumice stone and the foot file, and make room for the very effective ped egg foot softener.

Let me stop right here for now - more tips in my next post....

Quirky angles to health issues

2009-11-15T20:25:00.000+01:00

I have had a busy weekend - recovering from the past week, putting in some time publishing posts, and working out indoors.

In the course of all that, I noticed two articles that I thought that I should respond to. One had the simple question: Should Football Players Ditch the Helmets?

My contribution here is just this. It does not really matter whether helmets are allowed or not - accidents will always happen and injuries sustained.

American football is, to me, a much safer version of rugby union. Have you seen the result of one of those rugby headbutts?

Believe me, it's all really bloody sometimes for the nose and faces involved. And yet, those headbutts and body slams form part of the defensive strategies to frustrate opponents.

If you ask me, helmet manufacturers should put in more reinforcement and cushioning pads, as well as use more high tech materials to make their product lighter and stronger.

After all, chain mail armor did foil a few ripostes during the Crusades...

Now, did you know this: RNC Insurance Plan Covered Abortion, Until Thursday? Yes, since 1991, the Republican National Convention, or the Republican Party of the US, never opted out of insurance coverage for medical procedures that included D & C!

Can you imagine how embarrassing that is? In that time ex-President Bush denied funding for stem cell research on ethical grounds and the Republican Congressmen generally are seen as anti-abortion and voting against pro-abortion.

Oh well, that's life. You never know what skeletons are lurking in the closet until the cupboard door is held or yanked ajar...

Medical updates

2009-11-15T09:59:00.000+01:00

"Don't take it personal...Take the bitter with the sweet...Good things come to an end..." Those Jermaine Jackson lyrics are so predictive!

There will be days like this, when the bitter-sweet will have to co-exist, unfortunately. No, I am not going anywhere.

In fact, I like it just fine here right now. Have you noticed the change from medscil.blogspot.com to medskil.com? Yes, I have come quite a long way, haven't I? Hurray! Ha-ha.

However, there is nothing funny about this little five-year old girl's condition. Her name is Lillie, not Crystal, but her rare kidney disease condition, if left untreated, could turn her to biblical pillar of salt.

the whole thing kind of reminds me of the comic book and movie superhero The Iceman - a rather more immobile and terminal version though. Most victims are said to live only up to age nine.

Yes, she has cystinosis, which turns cells in all her organs into crystalline cystine, an amino acid. Here's a relevant excerpt about the condition: ".....The condition is so rare, it is estimated that only about 2,000 people worldwide suffer from it, although the numbers are unclear because the conditions is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed....."

According to this news item, the US FDA is looking into the safety inherent in imbibing a cocktail comprising caffeine and alcohol.

The famous song with the lyrics, "Should I stay or should I go....Oh baby, won't you let me know...." comes to mind when I think of the conflicting actions of these two ingredients in one drink.

In my humble opinion, that highball energy drink is as ineffective as tea or coffee loaded with full cream milk and sugar to a dieter.

In fact, according to an old episode of the Hawaiian detective movie starring Joe Penny - Jake and the Fatman, I believe - a person who creams his or her tea can be indicative of a spendthrift capable of pinching a penny or two when the pennies begin to pinch.

The swine flu pandemic is easing off in the colder northern climes, according to this report from the World Health Organization - ostensibly because of the early onset of winter this year.

Yes, the first case in tropical Nigeria was reported a week or two ago in Lagos, I think, on the local television news.

The H1N1 score card so far, from the WHO, is as follows:

"....The pandemic virus has now spread to 206 countries, with the latest reported laboratory-confirmed cases in Somalia, Nigeria and Burundi. There have been more than 6,250 deaths to date, mostly in the Americas region, according to the WHO toll....."

A closer look at waistlines

2009-11-15T00:33:00.009+01:00

My waist size is 36 but I prefer 38 to 40 inches for freedom of movement, depending on the clothing designer or label, of course.

One would have thought that by now the world textile and design groupings would have come together to agree on sizes globally - instead of XXL in the US being the same as XL in Britain and something else generally on the European continent.

Anyway, I was a bit taken aback when I saw this advice from a president to his people in Venezuela: Chavez Urges Venezuelans to Trim Their Waistlines.

Ah! Do Venezuelans have a problem with obesity? I never knew that till today. More advice from the politician?

Well, apart from doing sit ups, only this: "...Chavez suggested rice pasta instead of spaghetti made from wheat, and recommended drinking soy milk, saying soy products help fight aging...."

Anyway, perhaps, the president should have read this report that says specifically: "....The recommended daily intake of calories could be increased by up to 16%, a draft report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition said....."

that's roughly 2,500 calories for women and 3,000 calories for men per day - with exercise, of course!

Just ask about how important that regimen is for a certain unique American multiple Olympic and world record holder in swimming at the last Olympics in Beijing.

We all really do learn something new everyday. I remember learning from a BBC report some years ago that Argentinians do a lot of kissing - from parents to uncles and friends and acquaintances!

.

We are expecting and expectant

2009-11-07T21:57:00.000+01:00

Strange, isn't it, how some words trigger only one meaning? Yes, 'expecting' after a verb usually implies pregnancy, while 'expectant' is mere English for a hopeful feeling.

My wife is expecting! Praise God! As the doctor said after the test confirmed it, "you can start celebrating now".

For scoring a touchdown or hitting a home run? After two issues already, I jokingly replied that I would celebrate even more if we would get twins this time around.

Ha-ha. He asked if there was a history of twin births in my family. Hee-hee. I was in my most teasing frame of mind last week...

So, I said, 'Not really.' And I then reminded him that Adam never had any twins. Twins must have come from somewhere after Adam's time.

Twin births are evolutionary and not hereditary? Makes sense to me... After all, Esau and Jacob were the first set of twins reported in the Bible. What do you think?

Where are those filthy rats?

2009-11-02T18:50:00.000+01:00

Someone can be born in the year of The Rat, and yet not necessarily become a rat later on in life, according to Chinese Astrology.

Ha-ha... Yes, being called a rat is usually quite derogatory in any language or tongue. That's just how low we humans regard rats, in general - the rodents, I mean.

A stool is usually quite a handy perch for most ladies screaming out their lungs at the sight of one or more of these home bred critters.

As would be expected, old settlements, towns, cities, and 'untidy' - that is, poorly built or kept or maintained - homes are usually the most likely hideouts for rats.

There is some corroboration. In the USA, the rodent risk report has the following as the top twenty rat infested cities:

01 New York, NY
02 Atlanta, GA
03 Houston, TX
04 Louisville, KY
05 Philadelphia, PA

06 Chicago, IL
07 Boston, MA
08 San Antonio, TX
09 Milwaukee, WI
10 Detroit, MI

11 Columbus, OH
12 Baltimore, MD
13 Oklahoma City, OK
14 Memphis, TN
15 Portland, OR

16 El Paso, TX
17 Nashville, TN
18 Ft. Worth, TX
19 Jacksonville, FL
20 Dallas, TX

Yuck! By the way, my neighborhood has rats, too. You know what they say about rats being more abundant in places where there is a lot of dirty open gutters or drains, uncleared garbage or refuse, wasted or overflowing wealth, or putrefying or uncovered food.

Ha-ha... These days, even the poor church rats are not poor any longer - in fact, some have become fat cats in their own right!

Why not decode the swine flu gene?

2009-10-17T21:14:00.003+01:00

Sometimes, the most obvious answer is usually the right one but it usually eludes even the experts in the field mostly because they are still thinking within the system box - unlike someone like me, who is deft at observing trends and finding a new solution quickly, if I may say so myself.

I was reading this - Canadian medical scientists have decoded all the three billion letters in the DNA sequence of the breast cancer gene - the other day and wondered why the same procedure could not be used for this pesky and mutating swine of a flu!

Surely, in my humble opinion, that should put a stop to all the controversy surrounding the possible side effect any mandatory but hurriedly produced and untested swine flu - or any other kind of preventive cancer - vaccinations.

What kind of controversies? Well, see for yourself below:

Pregnant Teenager Dies After Contracting H1N1
US, Mexico face shortage of H1N1 flu vaccine
Feds approve new HPV vaccine

Hundreds make strides against cancer
3 pigs at State Fair may have had H1N1, tests by the U, CDC show
Overwhelming demand, crowded clinics turn some flu shot-seekers away
FDA warns against fake online H1N1 remedy claims

Swine Flu Hits Early, Claims 11 More U.S. Kids

Flu, Me? Public Remains Wary Of H1N1 Vaccine

UPDATE - Sunday, October 25, 2009:

Well, things appear to be really moving now in the fight against the swine flu confupandemic - yes, the reaction to it is so confusing that some, who should know better, seem to be suggesting that a hand wash with 'Dettol' will do the magic by putting up an impregnable barrier against the swine flu.

Anyway, I have included below a glossary of some of the latest developments since this post was published.

Flu scare is highly contagious
Obama: Swine flu a national emergency
Obama declares H1N1 emergency

Old System Hampers Rush to Produce H1N1 Vaccine
1 in 5 U.S. Kids Had Flu-Like Symptoms This Month
Parents infuriated over wait for swine flu vaccine
H1N1, Emergency in US, Is Still Spreading Globally
FDA Warns of Bogus Swine Flu Products
Get H1N1 vaccine: health minister

H1N1 Flu Risks Spread To The Internet

Obama Declares Swine Flu A National Emergency
Invited To A Swine Flu Party? CDC Says Don't Go

U.S. declares H1N1 emergency

Obama: Swine flu a national emergency

Why should you worry about climate change?

2009-10-15T00:01:00.007+01:00

justA famous American guitar-ballad musician, George Benson, once sang a hit song about hindsight being in twenty-twenty vision - yes, 'had I known...' always comes after the realization of a mistake or misstep.

So, this post is for your information, so that, in being forewarned, you would become fore armed with greater awareness, so to speak - a word is enough for the wise.

Ha-ha... Now that the theatrics are done and out of the way, we can get down to the business of talking about the potential health problems from climate change phenomena.

Simply put, climate change can result in global warming from a combination of such factors as the emission of greenhouse gases, environmental pollution, and so on.

The resulting atmospheric heating effect leads to strange weather phenomena, melting of the polar ice caps, flooding and other devastating natural disasters.

In order to mitigate some of these possibilities, some people have invented very innovative ways to detect illegal toxic waste pollution sites and increasing the chances of apprehending the perpetrators of such heinous environmental crimes.

In other scientific developments, this is a warning about the unknown possible effects of nanomaterials - materials with a size on the same scale as the width of a human hair divided ten thousand times - on the users of such products like sunscreens and industrial adhesives.

The basic lesson from the above is: ".....Little is known about whether substances engineered at the nano scale persist and accumulate in the environment in unusual and potentially harmful ways.....people to avoid sunscreens containing nano-forms of zinc oxide....."

Now, if you think that is nothing to worry about, you can just think again. Take this, for example, did you know that a sprinkling of carbon nanotubes on synthetic soil makes tomato plants sprout and grow faster?

Sounds wonderful, right? Unfortunately, some scientists warn that such carbon nanotubes may have a similar effect in our bodies - from eating such food - as asbestos fibers would, while others think that the fast growth of plants in natube growth media is quite abnormal.

The latest source of worry, in my humble opinion, is the fact that NASA has bombed the moon in order to find out the stuff of which its hidden south pole is made of - ostensibly in order to drill for water to quench the thirst of its future colonizers from Earth.

Preliminary results show that there was a flash after the first of the two serial hits - both faster than twice the speed of a bullet - and there was no upshot of debris into the sunlight as expected.

What have they done now? Since there was a flash - and not a splash - after the first bombing of the remote lunar surface, it means that the hydrogen detected was not in the form of water, I think. Drink at your own peril...

Honestly, I am surprised that recently Greenpeace only stormed the roof of the bastion of British democracy - the House of Parliament - to protest about the need to shout from the roof tops for more attention to be paid to climate change.

Now, I am protesting about the potential climate change on the moon from this exploratory but reconnaissance bombing mission - yes, the use of planes at the destroyed World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11 proved conclusively, if infamously, that flying craft are potential bombs.

What if other national space agencies followed suit - what will be the ultimate fallout on Earth? Is there a probable reason why everyone is hitting on the moon now?

What if there is no water anymore but only lunar hydrogen in a yet-unknown form - better suited as rocket fuel?

Since the ocean tides ebb and flow with the moon, what if there is a relationship between the store of expectantly frozen hydrogen on the moon and the availability of water on Earth?

Anyway, let's just wait and see how it shall go with the United Nations and climate change this year at Copenhagen in December...

UPDATE - Saturday, October 17, 2009:

More upshoots regarding the nearly $80 million 2-tonne bombing of the moon. Some interesting facts were thrown up as follows:

The moon belongs to no one – yet

Was moon-smashing mission doomed from the start?

Hunting for water on the moon: a brief but splashy history

Eating your cake and having your shape

2009-10-14T14:32:00.000+01:00

Yes, you guessed it. That's my take on the old adage. Can you imagine eating 'all you want' and not worrying about fitting into your old clothes tomorrow?

Philips, the electronics giant from Holland, once was known for great and long-lasting light bulbs.

Then, everybody got onto the lighting bandwagon. Philips chose to leave and focus anew on health technology.

I was one of those who had not seen any synergy in the new move. Then, the new developments from Philips came fast and thick.

Like its DirectLife, which literally gives you a life - if you didn't have any, what with watching your weight and worrying about what not to eat - of ease.

A new lease on life, in which all you have to do is put a little device in your pocket or hang it somewhere on your person, and watch it tell you what activities caused you to lose the most weight.

That's really like directing your life towards the most useful exercise activities for you to participate in routinely - and even unconsciously - in order to keep that great shape and keep the muscles firm and ready for any relevant or needed action...

Probing genetic material reveal secret future ailments

2009-10-10T22:35:00.000+01:00

There is still a lot of research work going on right now at the genetic level of human existence.

Diachloroacetate appears to suppress tumor growth, two breasts on one woman can have two very different kinds of cancer, identical twins have identical DNA but why one of them should be autistic while the other isn't cannot be explained by DNA action alone...

Gene targetting and the production of any DNA map for health reasons has become big business now - they call it retail genomics.

For a relatively paltry $1,000.00, these 'guys' will sample your DNA and tell you what you shall be suffering from because of what ailed your progenitors, while this team will scan your DNA and inform you of your calculated risk level for any disease or medical condition!

The most important news right now in all this gene probing to oust cancer of all types is this landmark Canadian discovery: "...becoming the first to decode the DNA of breast cancer cells. ...." - both the original cancerous tumor all its various mutations. Wow!

Such groundbreaking work are the stuff that dreams are made of, especially for brave and super-heroic little boys - like Dominic the 'Dominator', who has a brain tumor.

What distinguishes you from all others?

2009-10-10T12:31:00.067+01:00

I was just wondering about the marks on my body today - old healed wounds and minor scars, and other forgotten scratches and scrapes.

I know that some people have skins as smooth as a baby's bum-bum. Well, lucky you - congratulations!

Most people have a distinguishing mark on their body to set them apart from the crowd. Some tribes have a tradition of inflicting unique wounds on their offspring - so that the secret or coded scars on their arms, thighs, cheeks, or elsewhere would help in identifying children if they go missing through child trafficking or kidnap.

Using 'Bronx' as my username, I asked a group of online bloggers a simple question related to this some years ago and got the following torrent of responses.

I hope you enjoy the interesting exchanges and the insightful information made available by the participants - my original post has been republished below and you too can join in below.

GOT ANY TATTOOS, BIRTHMARKS, AND/OR SCARS?

Bronx posted on Jun 09, 2007 | views: 6772 | Tags: scars birthmarks, tattoos

Well, do you or not?

IMHO, they are often reminders of how unforgiving, rough, crazy, pleasant, and unkind this world has been to each one of us!

So, each tattoo, scar, or birthmark has it’s own unique story – nothing so much to regret or be ashamed of as memories of our past and its ups and downs!

I’ve got no tattoos – David Beckham and many other stars already blazed that path very/too famously – but cute and freckles-like birthmarks appear on the LHS of my arm, which I’ve promptly passed on to my children.

Scars I have aplenty – relatively minor juvenile and adult injuries/wounds from boyish rascality, teenage sports, and accidents involving hot water and other kitchen incidents!

Nothing like the Frankenstein monster or anything – you’d need to look very hard to see any one of them. Mind you, look any closer and it mayturn to love! Haha!

You’ve just got to see this: Tattooed workers are leaving a mark.

Amazing how scars seem to blend with the skin and disappear with time, isn’t it?

So, which do you have on you and where exactly – tattoos, birthmarks, scars….or something/nothing?

Do you hide them or do they show when you’re all dressed up?

Comments

NotSoSinglechick25 said on Jun 09, 2007....
I've got two tattoos. So far. I've got a blue flower with green vines on my left ankle and a red and black butterfly on my right clavicle. I love em so I let them show when I'm not at work. Scar, my goodness, I was a tomboy as a child so I've got scarred up knees and elbows. My favorite scar is a burn on my right wrist I got during a battle otherwise known as Thanksgiving Dinner with my family. And I've got a birthmark in a place unmentionable.
J
polarheart said on Jun 09, 2007....
Bronx, I was such a tomboy when I was little. I had lots of scars on my knees, but thankfully they have faded. I have a couple of small marks on my stomach from when I had chickenpox at the age of 18. And then I have my caeserian scar from when Tigger was born by emergency C-Section. . .that is a very special scar to me :-)
queenparanoia said on Jun 09, 2007....
i dont have tattoo. i have a mole though on my right shoulder... it means i will carry all the problems if i'm in a relationship.. =(
destinydiva said on Jun 09, 2007....
I have a scar across my neck from an operation to remove my thyroid gland due to cancer.....At first I always wore a necklace to cover it, hide it away so nobody asked questions. It took me quite a few years to stop feeling badly done too...
But eventually I overcome that...and now I'm proud of my scar.....I've overcome something and it is my medal.
This scar saved my life...so now its no longer the enemy but my friend.....
Destiny x
MissMimi said on Jun 09, 2007....
I have scars from three surgeries. One is on my left ankle, from a surgery I had when I was 13. One is from a C-section. And the biggest one is from kidney surgery. That one is about 13 inches long and goes from front to back, around my waist.

No tattoos. *sigh*
sweet_cookie01 said on Jun 09, 2007....
i have plenty of small moles all over my body... they are small like the tip of a pen! sometimes they were mistaken as mosquitos biting me and they would slap it only to find out that it was my mole! i dont have any scars or tattoos even stretch marks from my pregnancy but if i look closely i think there are some near my butt but they say its just my imagination... oh well....
Danj3ris said on Jun 09, 2007....
I have a scar. It runs from the left edge of my nose down to the edge of my upper lip. When clean shaven, it isn't visible. But the second I have a 5 o' clock shadow, it shows.

I've grown so used to it I forget about it. But many women have found it to be quite sexy. As of yet, I haven't landed any modeling contracts. But if you know of someone who might be interested, let me know.
Eilan said on Jun 09, 2007....
No tattoos.

I have two very small scars on my lower belly from a laparoscopic tubal ligation. I have a couple of scars on my right hand, one from burning myself on an oven when I was in high school and the other from scraping my hand on a brick wall when I fell down the stairs at work (my hand was caught behind the handrail).

I have a dimple on one of my thighs that was, apparently, caused by a vaccine I received when I was a baby.

I have a couple of café au lait birthmarks on my left leg. I hate them.
genalonewolf said on Jun 09, 2007....
I don't have any tats, but scars oh yeah have some of those. One on the back of my knee where I was attacked by a dog. Two on my forehead and one on my nose from a head on collision. I have an assortment of littl scars on both hands from various blades, knives, exacto blades, carpet knives, drill bits, glass and a few I can't remember.
Pickle is the one with the tats. She has four.
boyzmom said on Jun 09, 2007....
I have an oval shaped birthmark on my left hand. Various scars on my knees from being a clumsy kid, on my hand from playing with firecrackers, on my abdomen from surgery, on my breast from a lumpectomy and some I can't remember where they came from.
the_infernal_optimist said on Jun 09, 2007....
No tattoos at this point, and I really don't expect that to change, as my DH prefers me without (though he'd never tell me what I couldn't do - I just respect him enough not to go against his wishes there).

Birthmark - I have a small patch on the back of my left hand, near my wrist, that's about two shades darker than the rest of my skin.

Scars - the only one I can consistently find these days is a small mark on my right knee from childhood. I fell and split it open on the bridge piece of our Domino Rally set. I used to have one about four inches long on my right forearm from an unfortunate incident (before I was a pacifist ;-)) with someone with long fingernails. I also have a "chicken pox scar" (basically a tiny, circular dent) above my right eyebrow.

~Infernal
WindRider said on Jun 09, 2007....
I have a tribal spider on my right shoulder for my mentor, Jim, who was teaching me how to wrench my bike before he passed. R.I.P., my friend.

I also have a labrys on my right shoulder blade. Back in the 80's/90's there was a trend for lesbians to tattoo the double-bladed battle axe that was the Amazon Warrior's favoured weapon of choice, on their shoulders. I knew I might not want it quite that visible later on down the line, but I did want it... so I put it on my shoulder blade. Odd... I can't find one of those women with the labrys on her shoulder, today! I made that comment once, "Where are those women". and some young whippersnapper standing next to me said, Dead!"... smart ass.

I have a knife blade scar on my left thigh a few inches above my knee. Not gonna say much about that.

I have a two inch scar in the palm of my hand where I hit a side view mirror on a car while riding a friend's brother's bicycle when I was 10. Friend failed to tell me the brakes didn't work...

That's it.
Glamourgirl said on Jun 09, 2007....
No tattoos, wasn't burn with any birthmarks and the only two scars I have (which are now almost invisible) are from laparoscopic surgery in 1998 to remove my gallbladder. They made three incisions (really four but the other one is in the belly button, therefore invisible), but the third one has faded completely and I can't find it anymore.
CreativeWoman said on Jun 09, 2007....
No tattoos. I have a beauty mark right between my breasts and a birthmark in the center of the small of my back. I have two scars on my left knee from a fall last summer.

CW
SophiaLouise1990 said on Jun 09, 2007....
I have three tattoos. The first one I got when I was 25, just months after my third child was born. It is a sun with orange and yellow rays. The face has a Native American or Eskimo look to it. It is very comforting and wise looking.
Tattoo number two was a gift from my husband. We had been dating about six months. I had wanted an ivy wreath around my ankle for some time but my ex felt it was a waste of money, so he never "let me." My husband and I were visiting a client of his, a tattoo artist, and the appointment was made. He even went with me and held my hand a few times. The ankle can be a very tender place.
My third tattoo is a very special one in two ways. It is a drawing of an angel, sitting on the moon, holding a star. It is my guardian angle. It is named "Ruth" after my grandmother who died when I was pregnant with my first daughter. Ever since she died I have never worried about my children, knowing my grandmother would watch over them like she always did me. The other reason this tattoo is important is because I got it on the same day I found out I was pregnant with my son.
Birthmarks - I have one about the size of a quarter in the middle of my back, along my spine. I have a mole on my left hip and one on my left breast which I use to gauge if my shirts are too low - if it shows, its too low.
Scars - One under my chin from falling in the tub when I was about three. I have gravel in my knee from touch football in 8th grade and a pencil lead in my right hand from bouncing a pencil on the eraser.
There are a few other small scars and marks from time. They make for great conversation pieces some days.
mirrorimage said on Jun 10, 2007....
I got a tattoo while I was in college. It is just a little bit bigger than a quarter and is over my appendix... It was done on a whim. A friend and I skipped class to get our tongues pierced and I got a tattoo instead....I'm grateful for that! lol... I have no idea why I wanted my tongue pierced!

I have a lot of scars. One from a c-section that you probably would not even notice...they did a great job with it. I have three tiny marks from a laparoscopy but the largest mark is inside my belly button so it isn't even noticeable. And three on my shoulder blade from minor surgery. One of them looks like a tattoo of a catepillar instead of a scar which is kind of cute. I don't mind having all the marks on my body, except the tiny little freckle on my upper lip. If I don't wear lip stick or lip gloss it looks like I have food on my face LOL
Zayda said on Jun 10, 2007....
I have a tattoo, several scars, and a couple of birthmarks. I have a tattoo on my lower back that has been there for almost 11 years now.

I have a scar from my c-section, several fine scars under my chin from accidents as a child, a scar on my right forearm from a burn, scars on my knees from being a tomboy when I was little. I also have several scars from an event in my life that doesn't need to be talked about here right now. I've written about aspects of it in the past in my blog.

I'm planning at least three more tattoos as soon as I complete the design on them and save up the money for them.
mommyof2 said on Jun 10, 2007....
I have 3 tattoos, 2 birthmarks, and too many to count on the scars!
silverwhisper said on Jun 10, 2007....
i don't do tats. however, i have several scars, mostly the results of minor wounds that looked innocuous but later scarred anyway. except for the one on my hand which was from someone with whom i was once involved back in the bad old days.

ed
fearing said on Jun 10, 2007....
Bronx, No tattoos for me. I've thought about it but I don't think I will.
Scars - I have lots of those to due to being a tomboy with an older brother as my hero. I have a scar on my left elbow from winning a game of jumping from the swing. The arm was broken but I beat my brother for the first time. The worst of my scars is on my left shoulder. It has been there so long I don't see it but people will sometimes ask about it. It is a burn scar. When I was 3 I pulled a pot of hot coffee on me. The coffee burned my face too but it didn't scar there - only my shoulder. I wanted pancakes and wouldn't wait for my father to fix them. I've hated pancakes since and for years my dad wouldn't allow an electric coffee pot in our house.
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
Notso: wow...that's incredible: sounds like a full life you've got going on there! ; )
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
polar: hi...those two are special scars - you've just confirmed what someone said about chicken pox always leaving a mark or two when it's gone!

But that's better than having it again, right?
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
queen: uh oh, that doesn't sound too encouraging for you, IMHO!
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
dd: you know, that's very inspiring, IMHO!
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
MissMimi: hi...wow...I've not been to surgery, yet - I'm sure you'll find time for a tattoo or two one of these days. Haha......
genalonewolf said on Jun 10, 2007....

Pics of pickles tats.
genalonewolf said on Jun 10, 2007....
ok that didn't work, gimme a sec.
genalonewolf said on Jun 10, 2007....
www.flickr.com/photos/genalonewolf
ok try that one
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
sweet: nice moles and.....the lucky few probably know what they're talking about. ; D
hunter_boyce_chandler said on Jun 10, 2007....
I have tattoo on my right arm of a tribal sum with a reverse moon and gecco in the center.
On my left I have a tribal dragon that starts at my elbow and ends around my neck.
I have a gunshot scar on my stomach and an exit wound on my lower back.
I have a stab scar from a pocket knife in my back near the top of my spine.
I have hernia scars that go from hip to hip.
I have a 12 inch surgury scar on my lower lumbar when they fused my blown back.
I have spot burn scars on my face and neck and across the top of my back.
Both knees have been enhanced by road burn.
And my sternam has been cracked.
Other than that I'm just normal.
HBC
lauraisme said on Jun 10, 2007....
I have two tattos that are easy to cover up. One is a butterfly on my chest and the other my prince charming in frog form on my leg. As for scares I have several coming from a very clumsy childhood but my favorite one would have to be where I ran out in front of my uncle and father playing horse shoes and got knocked senseless at three years old, because that one can be used when I am in trouble to say, " Dad you remember that time that I was three...." lol As for moles and birthmarks I am covered in time and cursed my kids for it too. Of course some of them make really cool shapes.
hottips4u said on Jun 10, 2007....
Have a stemmed rose on my back shoulder blade, a couple lil moles here n there, no stretch marks, guess I just don't mark easily so far, anyways. See what the next 20 to 50 years brings.

jessi
gingersoul said on Jun 10, 2007....
Bronx..... i dont do tattoos.
I have a lot of small moles scattered all over my body, specially my back....some lovers like to play "connect the dots" on my body...lol......the real hunt is for locating my big one......it is under my left breast....you have to look very well....lol...
I have several scars: one on the top of my left hand because i am clumsy with the knives when i cook. One on the back of my rigth ear caused by my close to death fall from a cliff 15 years ago. A small one on my chin, after a car accident. A c-section one. luckily very small. No stretch marks and no birth marks.
Three tiny barely visible ics crossed scars on my left kne for a surgey (i had a torn meniscus).
And, like Destinydiva, i have a tiny scar on the right side of my neck due to a minisurgery to remove a tyroid cyst potentially cancerous.
Artemis223 said on Jun 10, 2007....
Hey Bronx - great post!
I have many scars - two that I am particularly proud of ...
I have a scar on my breast that few people get to see - it's from my rape at age 20, and though I used to hate it, it has become a poignant symbol of my personal strength.
The other scar is right above my bikini line where the surgeon removed the cancer that threatened my life ... I consider it his personal signature and a reminder that I better not waste the extra time I've been given.
No tattoos - but a lot of shadows of childhood scrapes and cuts - I was also a bit of a tomboy and daredevil.
I believe that most people's worst scars are invisible and only show when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable with others.
- A.
hottips4u said on Jun 10, 2007....
Life etchings are your first tattoo.

jessi
kingcobra said on Jun 10, 2007....
No tattoos
MoonMommy said on Jun 10, 2007....
I've got one tat of a ladybug, and plenty of scars from childhood, no, I don't cover them up!
husbandhater said on Jun 10, 2007....
A beauty mark square on my left tit. And I always Loved that one. 3 tats,2 of the 1st 2 kids names encased in a heart on each shoulder. On the left upper arm reads the youngest child's name across my arm!
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
Danj: haha..sounds like you're a dead ringer for Humphrey Bogart's biog.

Good luck but find a good agent first!

BTW, WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
Eilan: hi....sounds unique to me - I guess their shape is not the only problem?
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
gena: that's a lot of scars!

Thanks for the beautiful pics - I was just wondering about seeing only 3 of 4 tattoos?
Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007....
boyzmom: hi....some scars do tend to leave no memories behind, don't they?

TIO: don't you just hate those nail fighting people - wish they'd fight fair?
botoni said on Jun 10, 2007....
Tat free here but lots of scars. One are the stitch marks under my eye because I left my face right where someone put their fist. A lovely pair of pin dots on my torso where my mother took 'pin the diaper to the baby' seriously. A mark on my forehead where I parked a pencil eraser when deep in thought as a teenager. (Its my proof that I studied scar.) Then a whole batch of scrapes, scratches, cuts etc.
botoni said on Jun 10, 2007....
Tat free here but lots of scars. One are the stitch marks under my eye because I left my face right where someone put their fist. A lovely pair of pin dots on my torso where my mother took 'pin the diaper to the baby' seriously. A mark on my forehead where I parked a pencil eraser when deep in thought as a teenager. (Its my proof that I studied scar.) Then a whole batch of scrapes, scratches, cuts etc.
botoni said on Jun 10, 2007....
Tat free here but lots of scars. One are the stitch marks under my eye because I left my face right where someone put their fist. A lovely pair of pin dots on my torso where my mother took 'pin the diaper to the baby' seriously. A mark on my forehead where I parked a pencil eraser when deep in thought as a teenager. (Its my proof that I studied scar.) Then a whole batch of scrapes, scratches, cuts etc.
Holly-Go-Lightly said on Jun 10, 2007....
bronx!! great topic!
I have a tat that I designed myself of pink-y colored cherry
blossoms intertwined with green vines & tiny little buds of
the flower. Its really cool because he did lots of tiny dots
within the vines so it looks kind of like its sparkling.
I have a beauty mark near my mouth on the left side. I have
a scar from when I was 3 and fell and cracked my head open
on my G-ma's porch. Stitches. I have a scar from when I was 18
and my friend & I were out partying. She had to use the bathroom
so we went to Taco Bell since they had an outdoor bathroom,
since we were in no condition...when me friend opened the door
it was one of those heavy metal doors that slam back closed
by itself. On my finger!! This was so long ago and that dent is
still there. The last one I'm still dealing with because I'm not
proud of it, but I am vain. I have a 9 inch scar down my left leg
from hip bone through thigh area. I broke my hip & femur, so
emergency surgery and that godawful scar. Its faded, but it healed
funny I think. I haven't worn a bikini to the beach since then.
Bronx said on Aug 21, 2007....
botoni: ha-ha....yeah, no doubt about it - you went to the school of scar. ha-ha.
Bronx said on Aug 21, 2007....
Holly: hi....thanks. Oh, so sorry about all those dreadful accidents. Good to hear that you never lost anything permanently. Cheer up.
tbs230 said on Sep 01, 2007....
I have a birthmark shaped like a tiny heart on my right wrist. A beauty mark under my left breast. Two tiny scars from when I had the chicken pox on my left cheek...a three to four inch scar where I had knee surgery, six hole-shaped scars on my leg where I had leg lengthing surgery. And a tiny scar where they drilled a screw into my ankle...(all on the left leg)...a dark patch on my right arm, right above the inside elbow where I was burned by hot grease (but that faded a while ago)...

And finally various faded healed cuts, all of which occurred before I was 13. I learned to be more careful!
Bronx said on Sep 01, 2007....
tbs: hi...you're quite lucky with scars.

How did you get into that leg lengthening problem - just curious?

I saw a program about it on TV with a focus on the Chinese version full of hit-or-miss cases - that was years ago though.

BTW, WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
tbs230 said on Sep 01, 2007....
Hey Bronx, thanks for the welcome!
hmm, I got hit by a car when I was 10 and broke my tibia (I have scars from where they fix the break, but those are covered over by the hole scars)...that was in August, then in October of the same year I slipped on a wet floor that was just waxed and broke my knee.
Two years later, my knee healed inward, which gave me a limp and prevented my leg from growing properly. So I had leg lengthing surgery. They basically broke my leg again, drilled six holes and inserted "pins" (these metal sticks) that were attached to each other by this monstrosity of an object. They also place an L shaped pin in between my knee joints to straighten it and screwed a screw into my ankle (I don't quite know why about that one). That lasted for about six months.
It was hell having to stretch my leg every day with this little pin screw (eek!)...and that's how I spent my preteenage years, sexy huh?
blind_guardian said on Jul 01, 2008....
i have a scar about the size of cell phone on and above my ankle. two years ago i had a bouldering (rock climbing with out a harness) accident; lost my footing, slid down the rock face. i lost ALOT of skin on the outer side of my left leg. my entire leg healed great, the scarring was basically invisible, EXCEPT on my ankle. here i lost the most amount of skin and had the most trouble healing the wound b/c i run and running shoes rubbed against it. i was not in a position to stop running. most ppl think its an unusually colored birth mark (its dark brown, pink, and purple), or a bad bruise. the fact is im a girl. do guys think a scar like this sexy. or not? i can leave it or use scar patches.
Bronx said on Aug 16, 2008....
blind_guardian: hi. Sorry this reply is coming just now. Life has come before blogging over here for me now.

Anyway, you are very lucky to have survived such a scrape. I can imagine how painful that kind of injury would be around the sensitive ankle area.

You must have been in your teens or tweens then for the healing to have been so complete so fast.

I wouldn't worry about whether such a scar were sexy or not. Some guy will tell you that one day, especially if you don't mind showing it off.

However, from your words above, I would think that your ankle scar was very sexy. ;)

Heard of or seen a Fountain of youth or any buzz lately?

2009-10-08T13:58:00.000+01:00

The fountain of youth coupled with a buzzing in the ear? How likely is that supposed to be and what are the chances of that happening to you or me?

Actually, very high, in deed. The proverbial fountain of youth may have been discovered through genetic manipulation in the laboratory.

Human ageing has always been a problem. My brilliant Calculus One lecturer in college was a beautiful model of a woman; but when she did not wear her makeup to class, it was usually quite depressing to see her change into someone else much older.

So, I was particularly glad to read about this new way of tinkering with genes by emulating the effects of a low-calorie diet and prolonging life by about twenty per cent - imagine that, a life expectancy of 120 years instead of just 100!

How was that achieved? In short, British scientists simply ".....blocked the production of the S6 Kinease 1 protein, otherwise known as S6K1. This reduced the number of age-related diseases affecting mice and extended their lives by a fifth....."

Other reported benefits of the new gene therapy procedure, deduced from experimenting with laboratory rats, include "....stronger bones, were leaner and were protected from Type 2 diabetes. They also performed better at motor tasks, and had better cognition......"

As for the buzzing.... Well, if it is real, you may be reading Blogger or Yahoo Buzz; or, you may be too near a swarm of bees or hornets - just take to your heels and get indoors ASAP with your shirt pulled over your head. Ha-ha....

However, if the buzzing in your ear is somehow imaginary, then you may have tinnitus - electrical noise from surging brain waves - or some lingering bath water in your ears!

Supersized weight gain problems

2009-10-01T13:23:00.011+01:00

If you just wait, your weight will remain; but if you will only act on it, your weight will get lost over time.

That's my little contribution to the boundless collection of poetry on how to stay in shape and enjoy life's offerings for as long as possible.

I saw two stories recently that touched me enough to write this post. The first was about a mammoth sized baby delivered by cesarean section - how else could a 19.2-pound kid be born?

The second was about a teenager - just 13 years old and 383 pounds actually - who died from being overweight and participating actively in sports.

Apparently, newborn and already almost two-foot tall Akbar The Great had imbibed a little too much glucose from his mother during his gestation period.

The main excerpt from the Indonesian giant baby story - or baby giant story - is as follows: "....Guinness World Records cites the heaviest baby as being born in the U.S. in 1879, weighing 23.75 pounds. However, it died 11 hours after birth. The book also cites 22.5-pound babies born in Italy in 1955 and in South Africa in 1982...."

Football player Anthony Troupe Junior was 6 feet and 2 inches tall and probably had a case of diet related hereditary clogged arteries and died of hypertension according to the following excerpt:

"....The St. Louis County medical examiner has ruled that a 13-year-old football player who collapsed during practice in August died as a result of hypertensive cardiovascular disease — high blood pressure....."

You may want to read the much more detailed stuff below about diabetes and big babies, etc.:

Relationship between diabetes mellitus, impaired glucose tolerance and age, menopause, …

When the home becomes a prison: living with a severely disabled child

Giant hemangioma in the newborn and infant: complications and management

Why have bread when you can have a schadenfreude?

2009-09-22T11:58:00.005+01:00

Bread. That delicious and healthy breakfast, appetizer, and lunch sandwich veteran, and any-time toasted or fresh snack food.

It is so special that even our spiritual Saviour Jesus Christ compared its life-prolonging and health-giving qualities to Himself when He said that He was the "bread of life".

And, true to the myth, the British have proved during their World War II food rationing period that bread really is healthy.

It is also special because its other names and types make it comparable to the Shakespearean quote, "What's in a name? A rose is still a rose...", no matter its name.

So, a loaf is usually associated with bread much more than to an oaf. Yes, bread is made from any cereal flour, water and other leavening and unleavening agents and organisms.

You may be asking by now what a schadenfreude is. I did not quite know myself, until I saw the following definition for the German word: "....pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.....".

In my humble opinion, you shouldn't have schadenfreude at all. However, I think that bread and schadenfreude are related in the sense that, in order to live long, a human being should always show empathy towards his/her fellow citizens or neighbors, just as Jesus, the Bread of Life, who did nothing without compassion, reminded us all in the Bible to "...do unto others as we would have them do unto us...." - as opposed to the usually impatient 'tit for tat' mentally of the human struggle for existence.

South Africa Sports belies real Semenya sex verification

2009-09-22T01:51:00.018+01:00

Why am I doing this post? I saw this news headline and decided not to ignore the Semenya case any longer: Seizure Makes Woman Mistake Herself for a Man.

Now I am seeing this new headline for the first time: Semenya's coach lied to her that the test she would take would be for dope screening and not gender certainty!

Gender issues and the determination of gender can be quite touchy issues. So much so that the South African Sports Minister has been noted to have declared that there would be a Third World War if any body prevents Semenya from running as a teenage girl, or casts aspersions on her femininity.

Are you male or female? What makes you so sure? Most people may find that question very easy to answer - "Are you blind?" may often be the quick indignant retort.

However, others may just become mum for uncertainty and self-consciousness - like the current Women's 800 meters World Champion from South Africa, Caster Semenya.

Let's just say that s(he) has been a special case. When I first saw her backward-braided hair, taut face and high cheek bones, impossibly tight torso, and heard her deep voice on television, I muttered something to myself about a fellow man in the ladies dressing room.

You know...something like a rooster in the hen pen... wolf in sheep's clothing...

I suspect that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) somehow felt violated and decided to investigate, especially concerning her/his brewing mustachio and sideboards or facial sideburns and prominently flat bosom.

Finally, the truth is out in recent news that the South African sports authorities had known about her man-woman condition even before the World Athletics Championships began but had decided to bluff their way through, no matter whose ox was gored.

However, the IAAF will let the cat out of the bag much later on this year, when they would have been sure of their facts after the results of the gender tests done so far have been interpreted by the relevant experts.

Meanwhile, holidaying Diego Amando Maradona, the Argentinian soccer legend, has had his diamond studded earrings confiscated by Italian local government district Police as part payment for his outstanding tax indebtedness while playing professionally for Napoli ages ago.

The wearing of earrings by sportsmen obviously often compounds the issue of gender identification.

What does it mean when a man wears an earring on either ear? Does it mean something else when it is worn on both ear lobes?

I recall here a television documentary I saw a decade or so ago about how homosexuals identify sexual preferences amongst themselves - I think the Gay Rights issue had not cropped up then - by checking to see whether the exposed hankie in the back pocket was hung on the left or right hand side, looking from behind.

I think I remember the commentary being that the left-hung meant preference for the male role and vice versa...

Anyway, the following are interesting articles about gender determination issues:

A note on "gender tests"

Is it a boy or a girl?

SparkLife Gender test

Trans Gender Test

Gender Prediction Test

First Woman Ascends to Top Drill Sergeant Spot

First woman to take top drill sergeant spot

Let Semenya run’

The complexities of sexual identity

Crowds greet gender-test athlete

Swine flu develops transforms and variants

2009-09-11T20:48:00.014+01:00

The swine flu epidemic still rages on globally... I am beginning to get convinced that nobody really knows too much about swine flu and that even the best laboratory eggheads have been taking it for granted.

Granted, when related to annual malarial deaths and cancer and cardiac arrest figures, the global death toll from swine flu of just over three thousand people - actually 3,205 according to the World Health Organization - pales in comparison.

However, perhaps it is also true that many governments are using scare tactics to deal with a medical condition that is still not yet fully understood.

My country's health minister goes a stride further into the funny zone with his solemn televised advice about swine flu - with a 'Dettol' advertisement in the background, as if washing with the soap or antiseptic solution is a sure way of eradicating the viral infection!

The result may be too much panic and misinformation and so many, even within the supposedly research-based environment of the universities, are actually falling victim to the disease unwittingly.

In other developments in the global flu pandemic, somebody has even come up with a software version of the swine flu virus to infect your computer system - just detected in Spain!

Finally, unfortunately the dreaded occurrence has happened, according to news from Australia.

Yes, there exists now a drug-resistant version of the swine flu virus - perhaps a variant from a mutant pig or an escapee from a mutation laboratory?

The worst part about this whole global SNAFU, if you will pardon the pun, is that the WHO says that its studies so far reveal that the best way to tackle a swine flu outbreak in schools is to close them down totally for each incidence!

Perhaps, in my humble opinion, swine flu should be tackled more seriously so that the 'swine' behind it can be arrested ASAP before the kids also become well-read but un-schooled children...

Otherwise, most of the developed world would get an instant insight into what education has become in Nigeria - courtesy of the strike actions of academic and non-academic staff unions of the Nigerian federal and state government universities, which perennially go AWOL for anything between three to six months at a stretch: demanding ever bigger salary increments but rejecting the responsibility of university autonomy...

To get a good idea of how the blood pressure and pocket books of most Nigerian students and parents have been affected by the above-mentioned labor-related prolonged strike actions and the attitude or inclination of university staff bent on striking it rich within the citadels of knowledge, you only need to look at the following catalog of strikes - by no means a comprehensive list, by the way - as supplied on page 41 of Daily Sun, Tuesday, September 1, 2009:

As a parent or guardian, can you imagine paying for room and board for seven or eight years after paying for tuition for a four or three year college course or program?

Update - Thursday, October 08, 2009:

I came upon the following link today and thought it could be useful to you - Think You Have Swine Flu? Ask Your Computer.

Other interesting links are listed below:

Wary Americans Told: H1N1 Vaccination Is Safe, Get It

As H1N1 vaccines go out, questions answered

A wish to live under Arizona weather

2009-08-22T21:52:00.003+01:00

The weather usually dictates where people live during the year. In my neighborhood, those who can afford it travel abroad during the summer holiday months, which actually coincides with the onslaught of the Rainy Season.

Our version of the rainy season is particularly abhorrent because the roads are often flooded and most people cannot go out when they want to because almost every outdoor function is rain delayed, every other parade rained on, and children catch the cold or mothers are just simply inundated with drenched or muddy clothes to take care of.

So, I was quite pleased to find out an interesting oasis in the sun under Arizona at SFP. You must be wondering more about my choice of potential residence.

Well, let me tell you more about Arizona. You may have heard about its dust storms and other severe weather stories.

Actually, urban areas in Arizona are a lot safer than that. Did you know that the US state began keeping weather related data in 1865?

Just take a look at these residential offerings and tell me that you are not tempted. Not even a little tiny bit in need of relocating?

Honestly, there are still other newer real estate developments ....

Fungal electric power, artificial cigarettes, and hypnotized tuberculosis

2009-08-22T20:37:00.007+01:00

Don't laugh, it's all true. Honestly. New research has shown that electronic cigarettes are as hazardous to your health as the real thing.

The US FDA has given its own warning: smoking the smokeless electronic cigarettes is bad for your health because they contain carcinogens like nitrosamines and even DEG or diethylene glycol, the stuff of which antifreeze is made.

Here's how the high-tech battery-operated e-cigarettes work. In fact, the most worrisome part is that with sales on the Internet growing and the introduction of candy and fruit flavored e-cigarettes, even children are not protected from exposure to a chance introduction to smoking.

Read more about this development:Web sites selling cigarettes: how many are there in the USA and what are their sales ….

According to this, there is a reesei - sorry, there is a reason - for hope that a new kind of cheap renewable biofuel can be produced from agriculture and plant wastes by simply forcing fungi to have open and human monitored sex!

Currently, this microscopic orgasmic achievement is being carried out by mating the masculine Trichoderma reesei strains with the wild Hypocrea jecorina female species. Ha-ha...

And, lastly, there is good news about a new and quick method of detecting tuberculosis. It used to take up to two weeks for the testing to become conclusive, but now, with this non-invasive method that requires just a sample of sputum - a spit, that is - the testing process would take only thirty minutes to complete.

That achievement is all thanks to the use of "...a solution containing nanoparticles with an iron core encased in iron oxide...", which literally uses its very persuasive component antibodies to bind the TB germs.

UPDATE - Tuesday, September 22, 2009:

FDA Bans Flavored Cigarettes

Remaining worry free after signing up for Web hosting

2009-08-16T22:12:00.003+01:00

You know what a little stress can do to your overall well being. Take my father-in-law, for example. Just last week, he slumped and collapsed while giving his car the once over with a wet cleaning cloth.

He was rushed to the hospital with the left side of his body paralyzed and spittle dripping from the left side of his mouth...

He has recovered the use of all his affected limbs now and will be discharged tomorrow. By the way, the real problem was that one of his sons had not yet brought him the vehicle particulars and he was so eager to take the new car for a spin!

Why am I painting you that somewhat upsetting picture of a rather amusing but serious and life threatening situation?

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Nutritional Information

2009-08-13T18:33:00.005+01:00

I got an e-mail from my sister recently urging me to pass on the following information about the nutritional benefits of various fruits, foods, and condiments.

I looked carefully at the tabulated data - shown below - and observed some glaring omissions. I have no idea where the information came from.

First of all, the vitamin A content of mangoes was not mentioned - practically everyone in the tropics recalls that little fact during the mango harvesting season.

Secondly, my favorite fruit, carica papaya or paw-paw, did not even get an honorable mention - though it has more vitamin C than an orange and more vitamin A than a mango, I think.

In my humble opinion, carica papaya is a complete nourishing meal and it helps the digestion of food, especially proteins, and is an excellent inducer of bowel movements, if you understand what I mean.

In fact, according to this report on a study about beets, drinking beetroot juice could give you enough stamina to go out and win a marathon on the tracks or even in the pool - at least, to attempt it anyway, if you have been wont to do so in the past...

I can just see your mind popping over to the image of Popeye The Sailor Man gulping down his can of spinach to transform into the legendary incredible super slugger a-la The Fantastic Four's stony faced 'The Thing'! "It's clobberin' time...."

So, is your favorite listed below? Are there any omissions, errors, or inaccuracies? The edited e-mail message follows:

Date: Monday, August 3, 2009, 10:24 AM

Subject: FW: Nutritional Chart

Share this Chart with everyone

apples	Protects your heart	prevents constipation	Blocks diarrhea	Improves lung capacity	Cushions joints
apricots	Combats cancer	Controls blood pressure	Saves your eyesight	Shields against Alzheimer's	Slows aging process
artichokes	Aids digestion	Lowers cholesterol	Protects your heart	Stabilizes blood sugar	Guards against liver disease
avocados	Battles diabetes	Lowers cholesterol	Helps stops strokes	Controls blood pressure	Smoothes skin
bananas	Protects your heart	Quiets a cough	Strengthens bones	Controls blood pressure	Blocks diarrhea
beans	Prevents constipation	Helps hemorrhoids	Lowers cholesterol	Combats cancer	Stabilizes blood sugar
beets	Controls blood pressure	Combats cancer	Strengthens bones	Protects your heart	Aids weight loss
blueberries	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Stabilizes blood sugar	Boosts memory	Prevents constipation
broccoli	Strengthens bones	Saves eyesight	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Controls blood pressure
cabbage	Combats cancer	Prevents constipation	Promotes weight loss	Protects your heart	Helps hemorrhoids
cantaloupe	Saves eyesight	Controls blood pressure	Lowers cholesterol	Combats cancer	Supports immune system
carrots	Saves eyesight	Protects your heart	Prevents constipation	Combats cancer	Promotes weight loss
cauliflower	Protects against Prostate Cancer	Combats Breast Cancer	Strengthens bones	Banishes bruises	Guards against heart disease
cherries	Protects your heart	Combats Cancer	Ends insomnia	Slows aging process	Shields against Alzheimer's
chestnuts	Promotes weight loss	Protects your heart	Lowers cholesterol	Combats Cancer	Controls blood pressure
chili peppers	Aids digestion	Soothes sore throat	Clears sinuses	Combats Cancer	Boosts immune system
figs	Promotes weight loss	Helps stops strokes	Lowers cholesterol	Combats Cancer	Controls blood pressure
fish	Protects your heart	Boosts memory	Protects your heart	Combats Cancer	Supports immune system
flax	Aids digestion	Battles diabetes	Protects your heart	Improves mental health	Boosts immune system
garlic	Lowers cholesterol	Controls blood pressure	Combats cancer	kills bacteria	Fights fungus
grapefruit	Protects against heart attacks	Promotes Weight loss	Helps stops strokes	Combats Prostate Cancer	Lowers cholesterol
grapes	saves eyesight	Conquers kidney stones	Combats cancer	Enhances blood flow	Protects your heart
green tea	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Helps stops strokes	Promotes Weight loss	Kills bacteria
honey	Heals wounds	Aids digestion	Guards against ulcers	Increases energy	Fights allergies
lemons	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Controls blood pressure	Smoothes skin	Stops scurvy
limes	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Controls blood pressure	Smoothes skin	Stops scurvy
mangoes	Combats cancer	Boosts memory	Regulates thyroid	aids digestion	Shields against Alzheimer's
mushrooms	Controls blood pressure	Lowers cholesterol	Kills bacteria	Combats cancer	Strengthens bones
oats	Lowers cholesterol	Combats cancer	Battles diabetes	prevents constipation	Smoothes skin
olive oil	Protects your heart	Promotes Weight loss	Combats cancer	Battles diabetes	Smoothes skin
onions	Reduce risk of heart attack	Combats cancer	Kills bacteria	Lowers cholesterol	Fights fungus
oranges	Supports immune systems	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Straightens respiration
peaches	prevents constipation	Combats cancer	Helps stops strokes	aids digestion	Helps hemorrhoids
peanuts	Protects against heart disease	Promotes Weight loss	Combats Prostate Cancer	Lowers cholesterol	Aggravates diverticulitis
pineapple	Strengthens bones	Relieves colds	Aids digestion	Dissolves warts	Blocks diarrhea
prunes	Slows aging process	prevents constipation	boosts memory	Lowers cholesterol	Protects against heart disease
rice	Protects your heart	Battles diabetes	Conquers kidney stones	Combats cancer	Helps stops strokes
strawberries	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	boosts memory	Calms stress
sweet potatoes	Saves your eyesight	Lifts mood	Combats cancer	Strengthens bones
tomatoes	Protects prostate	Combats cancer	Lowers cholesterol	Protects your heart
walnuts	Lowers cholesterol	Combats cancer	boosts memory	Lifts mood	Protects against heart disease
water	Promotes Weight loss	Combats cancer	Conquers kidney stones	Smoothes skin
watermelon	Protects prostate	Promotes Weight loss	Lowers cholesterol	Helps stops strokes	Controls blood pressure
wheat germ	Combats Colon Cancer	prevents constipation	Lowers cholesterol	Helps stops strokes	improves digestion
wheat bran	Combats Colon Cancer	prevents constipation	Lowers cholesterol	Helps stops strokes	improves digestion
yogurt	Guards against ulcers	Strengthens bones	Lowers cholesterol	Supports immune systems	Aids digestion

7 don?ts after a meal

* Don't smoke-Experiment from experts proves that smoking a cigarette after meal is comparable to smoking 10 cigarettes (chances of cancer is higher).
* Don't eat fruits immediately - Immediately eating fruits after meals will cause stomach to be bloated with air. Therefore take fruit 1-2 hr after meal or 1hr before meal.

* Don't drink tea - Because tea leaves contain a high content of acid. This substance will cause the Protein content in the food we consume to be hardened thus difficult to digest.

* Don't loosen your belt - Loosening the belt after a meal will easily cause the intestine to be twisted &blocked.

* Don't bathe - Bathing will cause the increase of blood flow to the hands, legs & body thus the amount of blood around the stomach will therefore decrease. This will weaken the digestive system in our stomach.

* Don't walk about - People always say that after a meal walk a hundred steps and you will live till 99. In actual fact this is not true. Walking will cause the digestive system to be unable to absorb the nutrition from the food we intake.
* Don't sleep immediately - The food we intake will not be able to digest properly. Thus will lead to gastric & infection in our intestine.

Healing rat race ailments fueled by rats?

2009-08-09T14:59:00.005+01:00

Rats! Is it 3:00 PM already? How time flies...There was a time when certain phrasings implied one thing generally.

Being called a 'rat' was definitely not a nice name to answer to - unless, of course, you happen to "Ben" in the classic Michael Jackson hit song.

A guinea pig used to be just that: a live object for laboratory experimentation. Now, it seems the tables have turned: rats are the proverbial guinea pigs today, while guinea pigs have strictly become pets. What has happened to the guinea pig?

An except from page two of The laboratory guinea pig by Lizabeth A. Terril, Donna J. Clemons, and Mark A. Suckow may give a little pointer: modern studies of mammalian DNA and RNA sequences more or less show that guinea pigs are not as closely similar to humans as are rats.

Small wonder then that lab rats have come to prefer the real rodents and pigs that actually more easily pass on to humans several deadly plagues and disease epidemics.

Hence, pigs have provided decellularised scaffolds for organ and tissue xenotransplants that do not cause auto-immune system organ transplant rejections, while rats have helped to explain exactly why it is our nerve cells or neurons that cause us to feel an itch on the body!

Wow! Don't you just dislike those scratchers? Learn to steel your itchy nerves, if you please....

Anyway, I always had an inkling that the best thing to do was to rub an itching spot with an appropriate medication rather than scratching it...

What do Tamiflu, stem cells, and love have in common?

2009-08-01T07:58:00.006+01:00

This post was partially inspired by CNN's svelte Becky Anderson. She has this section in her 'CONNECT' news segment in which she asks viewers to provide six bits of information that connect or relate two apparently unrelated people, places or events.

It is quite a great brain teaser or memory stimulator. For example, two people may be connected because they attended the same hallowed institution, have a friend in common, and so on, even though neither one ever actually met the other physically.

In my case, Tamiflu, stem cells, and love have mainly this post in common. Can you think of the other five connectors?

Meanwhile, the newly prescribed Swine flu wonder drug Tamiflu has been found to cause insomnia, nausea, stomach cramps, and nightmares in more than 50% of the children who took it to combat the epidemic.

Really scary, isn't it? No rest awake or asleep after taking a medication? That's not a medication, it's more like a poison!

In other developments in stem cell research, a team from Newcastle that claimed to have created human spermatozoa has seemingly thrown black coal in the face of the scientific community by being forced to retract its publication from a scientific journal because the introduction was plagiarized - thus casting doubts on whether or not the rest of the data was fabricated.

And, if you have often wondered how come nobody has really found a safe and non-tablet alternative to Viagra, this article recommends a few tips for getting the elixir of love, including hydrating yourself adequately and eating slow-releasing energy foods like grains and others low in carbohydrates.

So, have you found the other five connectors?

UPDATE - Friday, September 25, 2009:

I saw the following headline news and wanted to share it with you. That is, if you care for such a fling as - sorry, such a thing as - an all-night "love-a-thon."...

Now I know better why many peachy people literally go nuts, bananas, and gaga over and about mangoes, strawberries, celery, oysters, avocado, chocolate, garlic, figs, and so on....

11 Foods to Increase Libido

7 Things Men Fear About Sex

The secrets of longevity?

2009-07-18T22:55:00.007+01:00

Hey, I am not a guru on the subject but I saw a documentary on one of the cable news channels about Henry Allingham, who was born in 1896!

That's not a typographical error - his life of 113 years actually spanned three centuries! He just died.... May his soul rest in peacr.

Several things struck me about the British world War veteran - he fought in the airforce in WWII certainly could have been in WWI.

He had been the reigning oldest man in the world. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he deflected the question and humbly said that it was the others who had fought alongside him and died who should be remembered....

He also had a ready quip when he was asked what his longevity secret was: wild women, whiskey, and something else I cannot quite remember right now....

Ha-ha....He might as well have added a large heart, public attention/gratitude, and a good sense of humor. I believe the recently late great journalist Walter Cronkite also had a similar disposition - may his soul rest in perfect peace at the ripe old age of 92 years.

You know, while watching the documentary on Walter Cronkite as The Most Trusted Man in America, I saw somehow a bit of CNN's Christiana Ananpor in him. The Most Trusted Investigative Journalist...Weird, isn't it?

Long may she live to give her powerful investigative reports. Amen. She is to Journalism what Elsa Klensch had been to Fashion, in my humble opinion...

I guess she too has her own nine lives to live through till old age -remember how she narrowly escaped a shelling/bombing incident some years ago on assignment in the Middle East, I think, before wisely getting married to start a family with the main Clinton-era Treasury Secretary?

UPDATE - Friday, September 11, 2009:

Abstinence and religion have been given as the twin peaks of her longevity by the recently-late Gertrude Baines of Los Angeles, USA, and erstwhile current oldest woman in the world at 115 years of age...

Read more: World's Oldest Woman Dies at 115‎.

The nutty things people get up to getting into the good books of Guinness

2009-07-17T07:47:00.005+01:00

Guinness book of World Records. Even when there is no drop of the dark ale in the veins of most people participating, there seems to be no limit to the number of annual attempts.

From the largest group to dance to Michael Jackson's own sales-record-breaking 'Thriller', through the largest number of people to gather and dance for days, to the oldest woman to give birth, perhaps it underscores the innate need in all humans for uniqueness in achievement.

So, there is no need to ask "Why" and there might not really be a need for a naughtiness or nuttiness test to be developed for these record breakers after all. Ha-ha....

The oldest woman to give birth was 66 - yes, it's in the past tense because she just died this week at the age of 69.

Despite that, already there is a 72-year old raring to go for the otherwise vacant throne of active motherhood, even if through fetus implantation via in vitrio fertilization or IVF - as would be expected, she would have seen her last period only ages/decades ago...

To get a feel on the moral and other health issues associated with this brave - Jenny Brown - woman's latest $60,000.00 attempt, just follow the links below:

MEDSKIL - healthyLiving...

Why Coca-Cola is bad for you and other health cornucopia

Healthy cornucopia

Quirky angles to health issues

Medical updates

A closer look at waistlines

We are expecting and expectant

Where are those filthy rats?

Why not decode the swine flu gene?

Why should you worry about climate change?

Eating your cake and having your shape

Probing genetic material reveal secret future ailments

What distinguishes you from all others?

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