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Showing posts from February, 2013

A CLASSIC VIDEO

Children are always a treat to watch, especially when they are playful. Here is a classic British video: " http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=_OBlgSz8sSM " You will like the step by step reaction of the big brother, Harry and the climax is the last-laugh of the baby boy, Charlie.

Senior Volunteerism Linked to Health Benefits.

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Parsons House Austin, an assisted and independent living community, knows that community service can have substantial health benefits – especially for seniors. The healthy benefits of volunteering for seniors includes social engagement, helping to keep our aging loved ones from the isolation that seems to come with growing older. Engagement with a purpose can provide a focus that reduces stress, and with that reduce the risk of illness. The Corporation for National and Community Service reports in their study on senior volunteerism, that adults age 65 and older found the positive effect of volunteering on physical and mental health was due to “the personal sense of accomplishment that an individual gains from his or her volunteer activities.” According to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics “Volunteering in the United States 2010” report, 23.6% of all seniors in the U.S. aged 65 and older volunteered at least once that year, while the majority logged 100 or more

Family Lives Without Money—By Choice—and Thrives

A Berlin family of three has been living on practically nothing but love and the goodwill of others for more than two years and counting—not as a victims of the rough economy, but as activists who are on a money strike to protest what they call our “excess-consumption society.” “As consumers, we support the system, and we are all responsible for making a wasteful society,” Raphael Fellmer, 29, told Yahoo! Shine. “This strike is to inspire other people to reflect about our other possibilities.” Fellmer, who said he’d held jobs since he was 12 years old, began his protest after years of working in hotels, bars, restaurants and various offices. In 2010, after graduating from college in the Hague as a European Studies major, he and two friends embarked upon a 15-month “journey of humanity” to raise awareness of environmental destruction and of society’s many wastes, including estimates that about one-third of all food produced worldwide (valued at about $1 trillion a year) gets wasted.

Meditation and Music

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Mindfulness Meditation Primes Brain to Appreciate Music By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on January 31, 2013 A new study suggests that mindfulness meditation can be used as a method to improve attention and heighten appreciation for music and other activities. University of Oregon researcher Frank Diaz, Ph.D., dabbled in using yoga and meditation as a means to heighten music engagement when he was a high school orchestra and band educator. The techniques seemed to improve student attention. Diaz, a professor in the UO School of Music and Dance, is now evaluating if mindfulness meditation may enhance both music engagement and performance. In a study appearing online ahead of publication in the journal Psychology of Music , he reports a rise of focused engagement for student participants who listened to a 10-minute excerpt of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La Boheme” after listening to a 15-minute recording of a se

Tongue of the slip

There may be many a 'slip between the tongue and the lip' sorry “between the cup and the lip”, but all are not same. For example there area few categorizations like 1. Spoonerism 2. Malapropism 3. Freudian Slip 1.Spoonerism: MEANING: The transposition of (usually) the initial sounds of words producing a humorous result. For example: "It is now kisstomary to cuss the bride." (Spooner while officiating at a wedding) "Is the bean dizzy?" (Spooner questioning the secretary of his dean) 2. Malapropism MEANING: The humorous misuse of a word by confusing it with a similar-sounding word. For example, "pineapple of perfection" for "pinnacle of perfection". Usage: "Mayor Thomas Menino is sometimes made fun of for his malapropisms; He once said the city's parking shortage was 'an Alcatraz * around my neck' (instead of Albatross around my neck)." 3. Freudian Slip: MEANING: An error that re

BALANCE DISORDERS

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A balance disorder is a disturbance of the body systems controlling balance. This disturbance can make people feel dizzy, unsteady, or as if they were spinning. Balance disorders are a common cause of falls and fall-related injuries, such as hip fractures. Having good balance means you are able to control and maintain your body's position, whether you are moving or still. An intact sense of balance helps you walk without staggering, get up from a chair without falling, and climb stairs without tripping. There are many types of balance disorders. One of the most common among older adults is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo or BPPV. With BPPV, you experience a brief, intense feeling of vertigo when you change the position of your head. Click image for description You may also experience BPPV when rolling over to the left or right upon getting out of bed, or when looking up for an object on a high shelf. In BPPV, small calcium particles in the inner ear become
Telling a lie is a... ******************* Sin for a child. Fault for an adult. An art for a lover. A profession for a lawyer. A requirement for a politician. An accomplishment for a bachelor. A management tool for a Boss. An excuse for a subordinate. A matter of survival for a married man

Raw or Cooked, an uncooked Statement

Surprising Benefits of Cooking Food Thursday, 14 Feb 2013 09:01 AM By Dr. Blaylock How you prepare your food, as well as the choices you make, determines how much you stand to gain from a healthy diet. I often recommend that people blenderize their fruits and vegetables into a liquid. Blenderizing allows the body to absorb a much higher concentration of the beneficial flavonoids, vitamins, fiber, and minerals. But this doesn’t mean that you should avoid cooked foods. There are many surprising benefits from cooking fruits and vegetables. Over the years, some studies have shown that while cooked vegetables had a potent anti-cancer effect, some raw vegetables didn’t. The reason is that cooked vegetables release the flavonoids that are found locked inside plant cells, beyond human digestive capabilities alone. Nutrients in raw vegetables are so difficult to release by normal chewing that we have to eat at least five servings to

Indian Doctors bent on Stent

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Unnecessary stent usage worries doctors across India Stents, the scaffolding devices inserted into blood vessels to keep them open, are used if the patient has more than 70% block of an artery. Lured by freebies and kickbacks from stent manufacturers, an increasing number of doctors are using the device even on heart patients who don't need them. So blatant has this practice become that in Hyderabad, eminent cardiologist Dr D Seshagiri Rao, head, department of cardiology,(Nims), was caught red-handed on Monday while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.6 lakh from a stent supplier. He was arrested. Stents, the scaffolding devices inserted into blood vessels to keep them open, are used if the patient has more than 70% block of an artery. But doctors confide that stents are used even when the block is less than 30%. This not only inflates the bill, but increases the risk of a heart attack, say cardiologists. In fact, a study byNational Heart and Lung Institute in the US found that

SARCOPENIA?!!

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Got Muscles? Don’t Let Sarcopenia Sneak Up On You Sarcopenia is derived from the Greek meaning “poverty of flesh.” In medical terms it means the age-related decline in muscle mass which is typically at a rate of 0.5-1 percent muscle loss each year after age 25. This slow atrophy of our muscles is subtle enough that it may not be cause for immediate attention, but eventually it leads to early muscle fatigue, problems with balance, and increased sports injuries, since we lose our supportive muscles when we try to perform exercises and activities that require more agility (skiing, snowboarding, dancing, basketball, etc.). Have you noticed how you or your parents walk now compared to earlier in life? People become less sure-footed, they may walk with their legs a little wider apart to provide more support, and eventually the use of canes and walkers may be necessary. Many elderly people who fall frequently are a victim of age-related sarcopenia. Sedentary Muscle Fatigue

(Apna) sleep apnea

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Sleep is common to all human beings. We know we need it, and we know what happens when we don’t get enough or are deprived of sleep for a long period of time. Most of us take a good night’s sleep for granted. We wake up refreshed and ready to start another day. For a small but growing segment of the population who suffer from a sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea, however, lack of quality sleep affects not only lifestyle, but also, as more and more studies are showing, a person’s health. In sleep apnea, the amount of air going into the body during sleep is restricted by an obstructed upper airway. Individuals with sleep apnea experience pauses in breathing or low breathing during sleep, with episodes lasting seconds or up to minutes, with this happening from 5 to 30 times or more an hour. This results in low night time oxygen levels. If we don’t get the oxygen our bodies need, the consequences can range from lifestyle annoyances or disruptions, for example low energy lev

MUSIC & MEMORY

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Music & Memory is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life. We train nursing home staff and other elder care professionals, as well as family caregivers, how to create and provide personalized playlists using iPods and related digital audio systems that enable those struggling with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other cognitive and physical challenges to reconnect with the world through music-triggered memories. By providing access and education, and by creating a network of certified Music & Memory elder care facilities, we aim to make this form of personalized therapeutic music a standard of care throughout the health care industry. Help Spread the Music—and Give New Life to Someone You Love No one wants to end up alone and isolated in a nursing home. It’s hard enough to lose someone you love to Alzheimer’s or other form

Keep Gut Bacteria Healthy

The most critical part of preventing dysbiosis—an imbalance between good and bad bacteria in the gut — is maintaining a healthy diet. High-fat, high-sugar diets can rapidly cause dysbiosis and lead to a leaky gut, which will set the stage for a life of chronic inflammation and poor health. (For a detailed discussion on inflammation and its role in many diseases, see my newsletter .) Fiber is also critical, especially vegetable fiber. Other important guidelines: • Avoid regular use of antacids and medications that lowers stomach acid, especially if you are older. If you are having problems with digestion and reflux, take either a capsule of betadine HCL or use a teaspoon of organic vinegar mixed with 4 ounces of water with each meal. • If you take an antibiotic or are being treated with chemotherapy/radiation, take two capsules of probiotics twice a day during the treatment, and then one capsule three times a week thereafter. As a maintenance dose, take tw

Meditation - rejuvenation for a healthy mind

Does meditation rewire the brain for love? Dr. Marsha Lucas, psychologist and neuropsychologist, has written "Rewire Your Brain for Love". The book explains how our brains operate and teaches how meditation actually does change the way anxious, wounded, stressed brains work. Dr. Lucas delves into the neuroscience of what happens when we meditate. Her interview with Karah Pino introduces the thinking in the book, establishing just how much we can change in our relationships with the practical help of a daily meditative practice. Dr. Lucas also establishes the important link between a brain wired for love and a life free of self-sabotage. What better gift to celebrate this month than the knowledge that we have this powerful tool at our disposal? Meditation can be a central element of unwinding years of “bad” wiring – and it’s something we can do for ourselves. (courtesy: wilddevine.com)

TINNITUS

Supplements for Tinnitus By Dr. Blaylock Question: Do you have any new information on treatment for tinnitus? Tinnitus is a persistent ringing sensation in the ears that can result from a wide range of causes. Ginkgo treatment works, but only with early onset. Other things that may help include avoiding excitotoxins, DHA in a dose of 2,000 mg twice a day, magnesium citrate/malate, curcumin, high-dose vitamin B-complex, methylcobalamin (10,000 mcg a day), folate (400 mcg a day), and pyridoxal-5-phosphate (50 mg a day). Baicalein is a powerful protectant for nerves. All of these things have also been shown to improve nerve function

How Doctors Die

     Dear fraternity members, I received this from a friend and I remember an ex-colleague whose family spent RM500k trying to keep him alive in a specialist hospital in Subang Jaya.  He only lived another 5 months after his brain tumour was removed. Before we 'kick the bucket,' maybe we should read this… Many doctors make dying very costly, e.g. more than $100,000, $500,000, a few million of dollars, (or if the family is unlucky) $24,000,000. After spending most or all of the family money the patient dies like all poor people without doctors and hospital. Staying at home in the last days may be more meaningful and caring. An expensive doctor may ensure that huge sums of money is spent and the patient NEVER COMES HOME ALIVE. How Doctors Die... It’s Not Like the Rest of Us, But It Should Be by Dr Ken Murray Years ago, Charlie, a highly respected orthopaedist and a mentor of mine, found a lump in his stomach. He had a surgeon explore the area, and the diagnosis was pan