Medicine Newbie: August 2013

Friday, 30 August 2013

Why Students Slack

10 Silent Disruptors of Student Academic Performance

http://www.teachthought.com/learning/10-silent-disruptors-of-student-academic-performance/

Monday, 26 August 2013

Free Book Zone

Medical books
http://www.freebookzone.com/medical/index.htm

Thursday, 22 August 2013

Since my gallbladder problem, I went on an 'alkaline residue' drink daily. If I can find a lemon, I add a drop of lemon juice to my drink. If I have green salad, I add lots of lemon juice and salty black olives in addition to salad greens and tomatoes. I take very little rice to avoid feeling too full after lunch or dinner. I can go without rice - I get a lot of problems with rice. I snack on some meruku and walnuts after my usual breakfast meal (I have to force myself to eat these dried stuff) so I won't feel hungry for at least 4 hours. I can go up to 6 hours without food but I try to stop work and take a drink every now and then or else I don't have urine.

STEP 2

I recently drank something nice in Penang and asked for the recipe. It is a nutmeg drink which I like. I add some fresh juice from belimbing besi, some pure nutmeg juice, bottled honey, sugar and lots of cold water. It is difficult to dissolve honey in this mixture. I have to stir it for a long time for the honey to dissolve. Even if the honey is dissolved, the drink is still not sweet. I then add 1-2 tablespoonful of granulated white sugar. The sweetness adds to palatability. It looks like vomitus! I keep it cold in the refrigerator to let the sediment sink and not look like vomitus. I take a sip or two every now and then. I don't feel hunger or pain.

STEP 3

I'm trying to lose 10 kg. I am starting on RealDose today, which I ordered from the Internet via Amazon.com. I mixed approx. 1 tablespoonful of dried RealDose strawberry flavoured powder with a cup of cold water. It doesn't mix well in cold water at all - indicating low or nil levels of phospholipids, a necessary emulsifier in all instant drinks. I mixed it by stirring hard with a plastic spoon - it didn't all dissolve, and looked ugly, quite uninviting. I drank and partly choked on it. I then washed down the residue remaining in the cup and consumed that too. All is well and I am still all right.

STEP 4

I eat less chicken curry, less roti Benggali, less spaghetti, less cakes, less Raya biscuits, and none of the good stuff. I try not to enter the kitchen between meals unless I have to do some cooking for my family - I only cook dinner. I don't have the big tummy I had before. My tummy has reduced in size and doesn't look like a balloon anymore. I can see my own navel.

STEP 5

My HOD said to cut down on oily foods. But I showed her the Hari Raya table in front of us contained the best oily foods! She shrugged.

STEP 6

I weighed myself on 26 August 2013; I am now 74 kg (totally overweight and becoming obese if I don't do something). I fasted one month for Ramadan and took my olive oil softgels as described on the MinSyam package. I gained approx. 4 kg after taking 15 packs of this olive oil @ 1 softgel at breakfast. I still need to work on the inflammatory factors; I'm itching from whatever I ate - seafood! I use a stem cell cream to overcome itchiness, even a mosquito bite.

STEP 7

I weighed myself on 19 September 2013; I am now 75.5 kg. I feel very heavy and it is very difficult to balance myself when I stand or when I walk. My tummy bulges so big like I ma 12 months pregnant when I am not. The Indian lady at Cameron Higlands also asked if I wanted a pregnant mother's dress or T-shirt because she thought I was pregnant. I told her I was not pregnant but fat. I have become fat for reasons of overeating. I am really fat and heavy now. My legs swell when I sit or stand too long. I feel comfortable on an empty stomach but feel terrible after eating; so I eat a little instead of overeat at a single main meal. The RealDose is no good - I have stopped taking it and forgotten about it altogether. I changed my diet and drank more fluids - mostly ginger tea and blended belimbing buloh juice minus sugar. I learned to cook a quick vegetable dish made of brinjals (terung), potatoes (ubi kentang) and greens (daun keloh, small sayur sawi or daun cekak manis). I add tomatoes or carrots when they are available. I saute or fry the sliced garlic, shallots and a big onion for added fiber, and so that the vegetables become palatable. I then add the potatoes and brinjals and cook them till they are brown and softened a bit. I then add salt, soy sauce and tomato. I take the vegetables with rice and fish or a piece of chicken, so I have proteins. I can last 5-6 hours in between meals. I take fluids every few minutes so I remain hydrated. This is a bit difficult because I don't take fluids in my office when I am at work.

Saturday, 10 August 2013

Drinking Water Deficits and Crisis

The Earth is mostly water and less land. We still have plenty of rivers and vast oceans. What we have less of or don't have today is abundant clean drinking water supply.

Malaysia still has plenty of water when it rains but it doesn't have an efficient system of providing clean treated drinking water; it depends on Singapore to provide that. Singapore has a shortage of clean water and it must buy raw water from Malaysia and treat it for its people to drink. So far, the problems between the two countries are ok.

In the USA, even though there are so many water sources, USA is a vast farmland. As farmland, the USA depends on pesticides and weedkillers to save the crops it grows. The widespread use of chemicals leach and get into underground water systems, including aquifers. So in the USA, farmlands have contaminated water due to pesticide and weedkillers residues.

A problem with living too close to oil and gas drilling wells is the possibility of the oil and gas leaking into drinking water systems. Hotels and homes are hardest hit. There are reports of hotel occupants dying after drinking tap water in the hotel rooms. People have been known to fall sick from drinking contaminated water.

Living too near a large waste treatment plant can possibly give contaminated drinking water. The water may contain extra salt. If used for mechanical parts, salty water will cause rusty parts in machines, including washing machines and dishwasher.

Many areas which were once with luxurious plant growth have now turned into dry lands and deserts. It won't be a surprise if we use Google Map and suddenly find many areas becoming dry and new deserts. This is the bleak future if we don't take care of the environment. The water sources must be kept safe for drinking. There should be plenty of free drinking water for everyone.

In Adelaide, residents tap rainwater into metal tanks at a corner of their houses. Water is precious. Houses have good clean water, including drinking water.

Perth uses underground water to water its parks and gardens. This is putting natural rusty water to good use. It makes certain structures look rusty but these blend with the environment.

Marshes and too many rivers and lakes at Mandurah (south of Perth) form a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Residents complained of mosquitoes and have to depend on netting. They depend on oil lamps to kill the mosquitoes, especially in mid-summer, for al-fresco dining and BBQ.

It is our job to protect our water sources and systems if we don't want other people (or countries) to determine our water prices and how much water we get to drink daily. We cannot survive without clean drinking water.

External link:

http://www.onepennysheet.com/category/environment/water-environment/

Damages to DNA

In the event of a nuclear disaster, radioactive materials are released to the atmosphere, the surrounding ground and nearby water systems (rivers and ocean).

The last two nuclear disasters should teach us some good lessons. The Chernobyl, Ukraine in the USSR catastrophic nuclear accident occurred on 26 April 1986. The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear meltdown occurred on 11 March 2011, following earthquake and tsunami.

What lessons have we learnt?

Radioactive wastes and emissions can go anywhere, and appear anywhere, even in our foods - leafy vegetables such as spinach, and milk
In the event of a nuclear disaster, it is expected to find high levels of radioactive materials in the atmosphere
The rain will wash down air-borne radioactive materials onto land, rivers and the sea
There are reports of radiation contaminating food sources from Japan
China has reported radiation in her domestically grown vegetables
There are no reports of human deformities or increased in congenital malformations from Japan or China
Plant DNA is more susceptible to damage compared to human DNA; we expect to see more damages to plants and the foods which farmers grow
Scientists have predicted a rise in thyroid problems and cancers but they are no reports yet
Water systems remain contaminated for quite some time following a nuclear disaster. Turnover for a water system or body of water depends on how it is fed and how adequately it is drained
Ocean currents will carry radioactive materials in the sea, a long distance from the nuclear disaster site
Many countries have reported a rise in detected radioactivity of their seawater, indicating contaminated seawater
Which way radioactive materials in the sea travel depends on currents, how planet Earth turns, the seasons and tides
If we don't monitor the seawater near us, we won't know whether our seawater around us is contaminated or not
There are limits set for background radioactivity for seawater and foodstuff
Detecting increasing amounts of radioactivity in seawater means contamination by a far away or nearby source