CONTENTS: (BLUE indicates recently posted)
1. Higher Cancer Rates
2. Bacteria on Cellphone Worse than Men's-Toilet Flush Handle
3. CPR - what you need to know
4. Tips to Stay Cool in the Heat
5. Older Brain More Vulnerable to Fraud
6. In Honor of our Veterans
7. Don't be Just a Taker - Sea of Galilee & Dead Sea
8. April Fool's Day Tsunami
9. Halloween Tsunami
10. Brown Rice - what you didn't know
11. Beriberi
12. Preventing Shark Attacks
13. Holidays Can be Dangerous for your Heart
14. The Real James Bond, 007
15. Cold & Flu Season - some things to know
16. Heat
17. Type O Lowest Heart Disease Risk
18. Amazing Deals - can't find prices like this anywhere else
19. Happy Holidays gift cards give-away details
This blog is under Hawaii Institute of Integrative Health dba Hawaii Health Foundation, 501(c)3 non-profit organization, funded by contributions from Dr. Terry Shintani and Dr.D, and donations from individual donors. Hawaii Health Foundation receives no other funding. If you enjoy or benefit from this blog, please consider making a tax-deductible donation (click Donate button - secure payment processed by PayPal.)
Higher Cancer Rates
I subscribe to MDedge which
reported, data show people
under 50 are experiencing higher rates of cancer than any
generation before them. According to the American Cancer society,
recent findings reveal incidence of at least 17 of 34 cancer types
is rising among Generation X and Millennials. This article also
appeared on Medscape.comFor some additional information, click
the “Dangers” tab above, near the top of this blog and
read, “Higher Cancer Rates Than Any Previous Generation.”
Bacteria
on Cellphone Worse than Men's-Toilet Flush Handle
I
subscribe to Scientific American. See this information
in their publication. This is a colored scanning electron micrograph
of bacteria cultured from a cell phone. Tests show the average
cellphone handset carries 18 times more potentially harmful germs
than on a flush handle in a men's public toilet.Scientific
American reported, “With
frequent use phones remain warm, creating the ideal breeding ground
for bacteria. With touch-screen phones, the same part of the phone
touched with fingertips is pressed up against the face and mouth,
increasing chances of infection. In tests E. coli, Haemophilus
influenzae and MRSA were amongst the infectious bacteria found on
handsets.”
CPR – what you need to know
I subscribe to The NY Times. The
following information is from Dr. Dhruv Khullar in the NY Times who
wrote, “At most hospitals, it's routine to ask patients
about their resuscitation preferences when they're admitted,
regardless of how healthy they are.” This is more important
than you may know. Dr. Khullar said, “consistently, most of
the patients I talk to don't understand what exactly CPR is, what
it's for, and what its risks and benefits are.”
CPR can be a lifesaver, but it does have risks. This may be one reason American Medical
Association recommends patients' preferences be documented in their
medical records. “CPR is one of the few treatments that
patients must expressly opt out of instead of opting in to and as
such carries a special burden of explanation.” It has been
found “almost all people have unrealistic expectations of
CPR.” We need to have an understanding of CPR and you can
get that from talking with your doctor. There is risk for
complications like rib fractures, damaged airways, internal bleeding,
and possible serious long-term consequences like brain damage from
extended oxygen deprivation.
Dr. Khullar said the first time he saw
a patient who had received CPR, it wasn't what he expected. He wrote,
“a frail woman in her mid-80s, barely conscious, vomiting,
with broken ribs and a bruised lung. Her stomach was bloated and her
chest was bleeding. She looked more like a survivor of CPR than of
cardiac arrest . . . When she died a few days later, I couldn't help
wondering if she really knew what she was getting herself into.”
It can
be a lifesaver, but people need an accurate understanding of CPR. “We
should know what we're getting in to.”
Tips to Stay Cool in the Heat
Washington Post reported, “Fans
don't cool the room temperature, so turn them off when you leave.”
A fan
keeps you cool while you are using it, but if you leave it running
when you are not there, the only thing you do is waste energy.
Sweating cools you when moisture on your skin absorbs heat from your
body for energy to evaporate. Fans make you feel cooler because they
create a breeze, which moves moisture away from your skin more
efficiently than still air, making you feel cooler.Cotton
is a natural fabric that's breathable and absorbs moisture, helping
to keep sweat from building up on your skin. Cotton is commonly a GMO
crop, sprayed with powerful herbicides while it's growing. Organic
(no herbicides)
cotton may be hypoallergenic. Linen
tends to wrinkle but it's a natural plant fiber that may not feel as
heavy as cotton, and also absorbs sweat.
Athletic clothes
tend to be made with synthetic fabric because this kind of material
tends to wick moisture from your body and dries quickly. Synthetic
fabric sheds a lot of microplastic particles each time it's washed, polluting rivers, the environment, and ultimately the ocean.
If you care about the environment, please consider wearing clothes
made from natural fabrics like cotton or linen.
Older Brain More Vulnerable to Fraud
I subscribe to NY Times. Judith
Graham reported, research published in Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences showed
old people's “vulnerability
to fraud may be rooted in age-related neurological changes.”
Researchers
at University of California, Los Angles found the brain's anterior
insula
was muted when old people looked at photos of suspicious-looking
people. Graham said this part of the brain activates gut-level
feelings that help people interpret reliability of other people and
assess potential risks associated with social interactions. Old
people don't respond as readily to visual cues that suggest someone
“might
be untrustworthy, and their brains don't send out as many warning
signals that ignite a danger ahead gut response.”
Younger
adults (ages 23 to 46) and older adults (ages 55 to 80) were asked to
evaluate trustworthiness of people in photographs while undergoing
brain scans.
When the younger adults saw a person as “not
trustworthy”
their anterior insula lighted up. This did not happen for the older
adults. Dr. Shelley Taylor, professor of psychology at UCLA, the
study's lead researcher, said, “The
warning signals that convey a sense of potential danger to younger
adults just don't seem to be there for older adults.” [If you cannot see the caption below the 2 photos, this is what it says: "Would you buy a used car from this man? Spotting an untrustworthy face, like that of the legendary fraudster Charles Ponzi (right), may depend on activation in the brain's anterior insula (left)."]
In Honor of our Veterans
For those of us who have not
experienced war in the military or don't know someone who was in
combat, what we know of war is what we see in movies, which is not
real. Military journalist, Thomas J. Brennan, gives us a glimpse of
what it's like to be in real battle in a real war, in “The
War Horse” documentary, “Shadows of Fallujah,”
the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War. We Americans owe it to our
military to watch this 26 minutes video to learn what happens to
our young people we send to war.
Watch “Shadows of Fallujah.”
(26 minutes). Click
this LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dd05RORpfA
Watch this Thomas J. Brennan interview
(15 minutes) for a deeper understanding of the documentary. Click
this LINK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJi-sQGZ_5E
Don't be Just a Taker - Sea of
Galilee & Dead Sea
The Sea of Galilee is a fresh
water lake fed by the Jordan River. It's the main water source for
all of Israel. Joyce Meyer [Joyce Meyer Ministries] said an abundance
of fish live in it, its banks are green and lined with beautiful
trees, “everything
around it lives and thrives, and children love to play on its
shores.” The Dead Sea has no fish, nothing near it is
green, no birds nest nearby, children seldom play on its shores, and
the air above it hangs heavy.
The Sea of Galilee receives and gives
water. Water flows in and flows out. Meyers said the Dead Sea “hoards
its water---it keeps every drop it receives.”
Bob Dodson teaches Bible study at
Christ's Church in Roswell, New Mexico. He explained, “The Dead
Sea is dead because it is so salty. . . . The water is clean and
beautiful looking, yet it is bitter and nauseuous to the taste. The
salts in the Dead Sea are worth billions of dollars.” He
said, “The Dead Sea
is so salty because it has no outlet. The reason the Sea of Galilee
is so sweet, is that it has both an inflow and an outflow. It both
receives and gives. The Dead Sea only receives and never
gives. It is full of riches but there is no life in it.”
Please Help
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Click DONATE button near top of this page.
Donations go to Hawaii Institute of Integrative Health
dba Hawaii Health Foundation
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization - tax deductible
April Fool's Day Tsunami
On
April 1, 1946 Hilo was hit by the most devastating tsunami in
Hawaii's modern history. Death toll was 158. The tsunami was
triggered by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Alaska. Some
experts now say it was closer to 8.5-magnitude. The tsunami reached
Hawaii in less than five hours.The
massive tsunami arrived as high as a 3-story building. Maximum height
recorded in Haena was 45 feet. James DS Barros, administrator of the
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said, “Tsunamis can
strike with very little warning and cause enormous destruction.”
He said, “We observe Tsunami Awareness Month every year
in Hawaii, starting on the anniversary of the deadly April Fools' Day
Tsunami that caused so much sorrow and damage . . .”
Hawaii
Emergency Management Agency defines a tsunami as a series of ocean
wave masses generated primarily by earthquakes or underwater volcanic
eruptions and landslides. Tsunamis can strike any time of the year
and any time, day or night. Dr. Laura Kong, director of the
International Tsunami information center said, “We
don't know when and where the next big one will occur, so we need to
be prepared.”For
more information and 14+ photos from the tsunami aftermath, click this link:
https://docdeetipsforyourhealth.blogspot.com/p/april-fools-day-tsunami.html
Halloween Tsunami
October 27, 2012, a few days before
Halloween, Hawaii received a tsunami alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center after a strong magnitude 7.7
earthquake occurred somewhere off the west coast of Canada. People living in coastal
areas were told to move to higher areas. In Waikiki, residents of
high-rise buildings were told to go up to the third floor or higher.
Tsunami warning sirens blared across Honolulu. There was a traffic
jam on some roads as people evacuated to higher ground.
Many cars lined up at service stations attempting to fill
gas.
Waves that arrived were small, 6 inches in Waianae, 1.5 feet in Makapuu, 8 inches in Hilo.
This is fortunate because Hawaii news media reported people were
swimming at Waikiki beach despite the tsunami warning. On October 31 Star-Advertiser showed results from “The Big Q”
(question) subscribers were asked: “What was your
main response to the tsunami warning Saturday night?” 13%
said, “Evacuation.” 5%
said, “Went to get
gas, supplies.”
79% said, “Didn't
leave home.” 3%
said, “Headed to
shore to see” (not what you should do).
Brown Rice - what you didn't know
The first vitamin was identified in
1912, but it was not chemically defined and isolated until 1926. In 1942, Robert R. Williams was granted one of the first patents
for chemically or artificially synthesizing a vitamin. That was
vitamin B1 or thiamine.
Thiamine (vitamin B1) is in brown
rice. Today we can find brown rice all over Hawaii, in many homes
and restaurants, but there was a time few people knew about it except
hippies and health advocates. It wasn't until Dr. Terry Shintani
began telling people in his seminars about health benefits of brown rice that people became interested in brown rice, wanted to eat it and began asking for it. People now take for granted that it's widely available in many places that sell food in Hawaii, but they don't know it's because of Dr. Shintani.
Long before there was white rice, brown
rice was what people ate. In the 1800s the Germans perfected rice
milling machines that stripped the bran and germ from brown rice to
make white rice. One reason they did this was to extend the
shelf-life of rice.White rice was more expensive and
advertising told people it was superior to brown rice. This was
during European colonization of Asian countries and European
colonists saw white rice as more desirable and of better quality compared to cheap brown rice eaten by the common local people.
White rice caused the disease beriberi. No one noticed the poor local people who ate brown rice were not getting
beriberi. Some symptoms include fatigue, irritability, poor memory,
sleep disturbances, anorexia, abdominal problems, and neurological
problems like burning sensations in feet; calf muscle cramps;
weakness. It can affect the heart and can lead to death if
not treated. No one knew how to treat it.
This was when Dr. Louis Pasteur was famous
so people were afraid beriberi was caused by germs and that it was
contagious.
Beriberi
In the 1890s during a beriberi
epidemic among Dutch colonists in Java, people with beriberi were
quarantined at a hospital and research facility deep in the jungle to
keep them from spreading beriberi “germs.” Dr.
Christiaan Eijkman headed the facility. They had a flock of
healthy chickens. When they ran out of the cheap brown rice used for
chicken feed, they had to feed the chickens the “good”
white rice. The chickens subsequently displayed the same kinds of symptoms as the
beriberi patients. The facility staff were alarmed because they
thought the disease was so contagious even the chickens were getting
infected by the beriberi “germs.” They didn't want to waste white rice on sick chickens so they stopped feeding them
white rice. By then new supplies reached the facility, including brown
rice so the chickens were fed brown rice again and the chickens
regained their health.Based on this evidence, Dr. Eijkman
proposed beriberi was really a nutritional deficiency and not
caused by germs and that something in rice bran prevents beriberi. No
one believed him and he was relieved of his duties and sent back home
a failure. That was before he received the Nobel Prize.
Preventing Shark Attack
Rick Sobey reported for Boston Herald
that researchers in Australia found LED lights on surfboards
“could be the key to preventing great white shark bites.”
They published results from a 6-year shark study “that could
lead to a revolution in surfboard design.” Dr. Nathan
Hart, professor at Macquarie University said, “What we've
been trying to do is understand how sharks see their prey. And with
an understanding of that, see if we can create some shark deterrents,
which protect people and also sharks.” They
went to shark-infested waters to test how lights affect great white
sharks.
The researchers
used seal-shaped decoys and saw how the sharks responded to the
decoy. Seals are one of the primary food sources of great white
sharks. Dr. Hart said, “What we found out is if you put
lights on the bottom of the decoys, the sharks leave them alone.”
Holidays Can be Dangerous for Your
Heart
A
study in the Journal
of the American Heart Association
found the holidays can be a dangerous time for your heart.
Heart-related deaths rise during the holiday season in the U.S. One
reason may be rich holiday food. Holiday parties are more than about
food. It’s about enjoying warmth and comfort of family &
friends; but many people over eat. Big meals can raise risk for heart
attack,
blood
clots, and
gallbladder
problems,
especially for older folks, for whom risk is higher. Enjoy yourself,
but it's safer to not overeat. A study presented at an American Heart
Association scientific meeting, found heart attack risk can be four
times higher in the 2 hours after a large meal. Eating a heavy meal
may act as a trigger for heart attack essentially the same way as
extreme physical exertion and outbursts of anger in someone with
heart disease.
Enjoy
yourself, but it's safer to not over eat. Don't stuff yourself.
The Real James Bond, 007
Women want to be with him, men want to
be him. Maria Cheng reported for Associated Press, “He may
have a license to kill, but is he sober enough to shoot straight?”
Real-life British doctors studied author Ian Fleming's James Bond
novels and published their research in a lighthearted Christmas
edition of BMJ (British Medical Journal). They analyzed 14 James Bond
books, documenting every drink Bond drank. They found he drank about
92 units of alcohol a week. One unit is about 8 grams of pure
alcohol. (A large glass of wine has 3 units of alcohol.)The doctors said Bond's drinking put
him at high risk for numerous alcohol-related diseases and an early
alcohol-related death. They concluded, “The level of
functioning as displayed in the books is inconsistent with the
physical, mental and indeed sexual functioning expected from someone
drinking this much alcohol.”
Steve Mirsky
reported for Scientific American, “Bond imbibed so much
alcohol that he would be at high risk for malignancies
(cancers), depression, hypertension, and cirrhosis,
according to the report in BMJ.”The other
researchers were emergency physician, Dr. Graham Johnson and
hepatologist Dr. Indra Neil Guha, both in the UK. They referred to
another paper, “Sexual Dysfunction in Male Alcohol Addicts:
Prevalence and Treatment” as additional evidence Bond should be experiencing erectile dysfunction. With his history of
sexual activity, he also had many opportunities for sexually
transmitted diseases.
Cold & Flu Season – some things
to know
It's that time of year when colds and
flu are spreading. You may not know some common things harbor a lot of germs. Here are some things you can do to
protect yourself. Soap dispensers in public
restrooms can be germ-infested because people touch them to get soap
after they use the toilet, before they wash their hands. One
study found 25% of restroom soap dispensers had fecal matter on them.
That's fecal as in feces, from wiping after using the toilet. After
you touch the dispenser to put soap on your hands, do not touch the
dispenser again after you wash your hands. Restroom door handles are dirty.
Some people do not wash their hands after using the toilet. Then they
grab the door handle to leave the restroom, leaving a dirty handle
for others to grab. On your way out, use a paper towel to grab the
door handle. If there is no paper towel, use clean toilet paper.
Restaurant Menus are essentially
never cleaned. Cold and flu viruses can survive up to 18 hours on a
hard surface. Bring wet wipes to wipe the menu before using it or to clean your hands after you are done looking at the menu.
When you are taken to your table, if there are plates or
silverware already set on the table, do not let restaurant staff put the menu on your plate or silverware.Condiment dispensers may not be
regularly washed, if at all. They are often merely refilled when nearly empty. How many people do you know wash their hands before eating in a restaurant? Many people use condiments, including salt, pepper,
mustard, shoyu (soy sauce) chili sauce, ketchup. Use a wet wipe to clean your
hands after using the condiment dispenser, before you touch your
food.
Some studies found grocery-store
carts can contain more germs
than some public restroom door handles. Fecal matter was cultured
from the baby seat on some carts. That could be from baby diapers or
from dogs people allow to ride in the cart. Bring disinfectant wipes
to wipe the cart handle before you use the cart. Wipe the baby seat
before you put your groceries in it. If you use a store-provided
basket, wipe the basket handle.
HEAT!
People expect Hawaii to be hot because
it's in the tropics, but the ocean and the trade winds help moderate
the temperatures, more so than many places on the continental U.S.,
even at higher latitudes. Years ago I was talking to a guy from
Florida and I said I heard Florida is humid like Hawaii. He said,
“Hawaii is not humid.” He meant,
compared to Florida, Hawaii is not humid.
I subscribe to The Atlantic. In the July/August 2024 issue, “America – A Dispatch from the
Near Future,” George Packer writes a Pulitzer Prize worthy
article, “The Valley” (pages 52 to 93). This is how
he described Phoenix, Arizona. “Last summer---when the
temperature reached at least 110 degrees on 55 days . . . heat
officially helped kill 644 people in Maricopa County. They were the
elderly, the sick, the mentally ill, the isolated, the homeless, the
addicted . . . and those too poor to own or fix or pay for
air-conditioning, without which a dwelling can become unlivable
within an hour. Even touching the pavement is dangerous . . . A woman
. . . [showed] me a large patch of pink skin on her calf---the scar
of a second-degree burn from a fall she'd taken during a heart attack
in high heat . . .
Blood Type O Lowest Heart Disease Risk
People with type O blood may have lower
risk of developing heart disease than people with type A, B, or AB.
Dr. Lu Qui, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed
heart disease risk in two large, multi-decade health studies
involving 62,073 women and 27,428 men. After adjusting for heart
disease risk factors such as diet, diabetes, gender, race, the
researchers found participants with Type AB had the largest heart
disease risk, 20% greater, than people with type O. Type B had 11%
greater risk. Type A had 8% greater risk. This research was published
in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular
Biology.
When the researchers compared their
results with several other population studies, across seven studies,
increased risk for non-O types continued to be higher compared to
people with type O. Rh factor was not correlated with difference in
heart disease risk.
People who are not type O have higher
levels of two proteins involved in clotting and atherosclerosis.
People with type A blood have higher levels of serum total
cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol. People with type O blood
should not be complacent. Other factors contribute to heart disease
and merely having type O blood is likely not enough, by itself, to prevent heart
disease. People who do not have type O blood should not despair, just
as other factors can contribute to heart disease, other factors can also help
you prevent heart disease. Take care of your health and your health
will take care of you.
Amazing Deals you can't find prices like this anywhere else
Photos of sale items are best seen on computer, not on phone.
Click on photo to enlarge.
EES
BioScalar medallions – regular price $100 eachSale
Rose
Quartz – (not
used) $30 - sold (thank you to L.P.)
Lapis
- (gently used & used only a very short
time) $25 - sold (thank you to S.T.)
Rose
Quartz necklace – 32 inches length $20
The rose quartz medallion & the necklace
are more pink than seen in the photo. They look pink like the rose
quartz heart at bottom right of this photo. (These hearts not sold here.)
If you are interested in or have questions about any item on sale, call 808-628-8784 and leave name and phone number. The
person who answers at this number knows nothing about these offers and
will not be able to answer your questions. If
you leave your phone number I will call you to answer your questions.
CLICK on photos to enlarge
Christmas ornament/dolls - NOT used;
was in storage
Santa doll/ornament - 12 inches length
from head to feet $4
Tutu Christmas doll/ornament 3-1/2 inches length - NOT used - still sealed in original plastic wrapping $4Teddy Bears – NOT used; sealed in
original plastic wrapping
LARGE teddy bears
12 inches in height LARGE boy bear & large girl bear
bear arms are moveable
$5 each bear
SMALL teddy bears
9 inches (height)
boy bear &
girl bear
bear arms are moveable
$4 each bear
Happy Holidays - Win a gift card
from me personally (NOT provided by the stores)
$25 gift card for Down to Earth
$25 gift card for Longs/CVS
$10 gift card for Safeway
$10 gift card for Foodland
To enter the drawings for a gift card send:
name, phone number, and number on view counter (see below)
Send to: Dr D, Hawaii Health Foundation
50 So. Beretania Street C-119 B
Honolulu, HI 96813
DEADLINE: entry must be received by Friday, December 27, 2024
(winners will be notified after January 1, 2025)
Your entry must include the number on the view counter (see below)
Information in this blog is not intended for diagnosis or treatment of any health condition. It does not take the place of medical advice from your physician or healthcare provider. Obtain advice from your own healthcare provider before making changes in your decisions or actions pertaining to your health.
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