Lizard Stew

The Urge To Win

2009-04-09T02:03:00.006-04:00

Photos ©Howard Dratch 2008. Casino on Carnival cruise.

What effect will the recession have on gambling habits?

The "good life" could change; but the growing world taste for sushi will not. Here in parts of Mexico it is a passion. Mexico takes to finger-foods.

Losing Ikigai

2008-09-29T21:42:00.003-04:00

Frutero - worker in greengrocery - Chetumal,MX ©Howard Dratch,2008.

There have been few posts here recently, less pictures and I am removing the advertising for now because I have not been keeping it up-to-date. Lizard Stew is, shall we say, taking a break with hopes for a come-back. Most blog entries will be on my major blog, 7 Color Lagoon.

The reasons for neglecting my communication with the world are that I have been overly busy with the insane labyrinth of Mexican red tape and legal obtuseness involved in selling my house. It has almost gone to contract -- even if more Mexican inefficiency has even caused that to be done twice -- yet again. Hopefully there will be a preliminary contract in the next weeks. The Kafka-like maze of other legalisms are being navigated and will, I hope, soon be over.

Therefore, please not that the house is nearly in contract and I am considering it sold. However, until the final closing and transfer has been accomplished, please send me your name to be included in the list of those who have expressed a strong interest in it and want to be informed of any change.

The second reason for leaving my writing and photography behind is more serious. I lost my ikigai. Honest.

The journal, Psychosomatic, as reported by Reuters recently, published a Japanese study of over 43,000 Japanese from 40-79 years old. They were asked, "Do you have ikigai in your life?" 59% replied in the affirmative; 36.4% said they weren't sure and almost 5% said "No".

Ikigai is translated as "joy and a sense of well-being from being alive." Something more than joie de vivre it would seem and, interestingly, there doesn't seem to be a word in English to convey the feeling, set of feelings, attitude, mind-set that the concept conjures.

During the 7 years of the follow-up 3048 of the participants died. Of those 90 of the 186 who died from "external causes" were suicides.

The results show that those who lacked ikigai were more likely not to be married, unemployed, with disabilities limiting their physical function, in more pain, felt more stressed and were in poorer health overall.

The result after all those elements were factored into the equation was that those people who don't grab pleasure from anything that happens by, who don't revel in the sheer act of living nor enjoy the benefits of relationships, affection, company and family; were 50% more likely to die from any cause. They were 60% more likely to die from cardiovascular diseases (mostly stroke according to the study but that could be a result of the lower heart attack risk inherent in Japanese diet) and 90% more likely to die from "external causes" -- like suicide.

I found the article interesting and the impetus to look around and see where I dropped my ikigai or where to find some more of the stuff. Spending some time yesterday with a new rose bud might have helped. Looking toward a new start for the new year in a new place might also be helpful.

Blender Drinks For Summer

2008-06-25T17:11:00.003-04:00

The blended cocktail of the tropical variety has never been something tempting for me. I have still not had a good marquerita because I haven't bothered. A good tequila reposada with fresh juice, fresh lime and a tiny bit of salt on the rim of the glass does fine. Mezcal the same way is even better -- as long as it is fine Mezcal and I skip the worm.

But it may be time to try out my new blender that works hard on the fruit, yogurt and juice breakfast drinks after reading the article today in the New York Times. The article, "Blender Drinks Are Back" is entertaining and, in the heat of steamy Mexico, filled with tempting thoughts. The photos by Andrew Scrivani of the drinks themselves are almost good enough to drink -- especially this one of a Cartagena Limeade.

Check it out at The Times. Then treat yourself to a look at Scrivani's food photography at his site. The thought of the drinks is pleasant; the photography is what really captured my attention.

Salmonella Update

2008-06-11T11:44:00.000-04:00

The NY Times is reporting some progress in the FDA’s search for the source or sources of the current tomato epidemic from salmonella-contaminated tomatoes eaten raw.

The agency warned consumers over the weekend to avoid certain raw red plum, red Roma and red round tomatoes and products containing them. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and those sold with the vine still attached are not associated with the outbreak, officials said.

The article concentrated on efforts to push Congress to strengthen laws about food safety and what was called “congressional inaction in preventing outbreaks of food poisoning.”

This outbreak, which is hardly isolated since there have been “13 multistate outbreaks of salmonella poisoning related to tomatoes , which are particularly susceptible to contamination...” since 1990 according to the CDC.

They are advising that

Tomatoes grown in the following states, territories and countries have not been associated with the current outbreak: Arkansas, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

.

To return to reality: Congress cannot be expected to disinfect your food for you. Pre-washed raw foods in packages cannot be relied on for safety. The CDC can’t police every farm, every picker, every warehouse and store. Restaurants should be taught to disinfect foods to be eaten raw especially. At this point they may only be required to wash food which is not sufficient.

Food
Health
Food Safety
Travel

Clean Your Food Before Your Plate

2008-06-10T11:11:00.005-04:00

The latest outbreak of food-borne illness -- Salmonella yet again -- has been in tomatoes. Last week CNN reported on at least 40 persons sick from eating raw tomatoes. The fruits came from Texas and New Mexico but they had not then isolated which farm. “Lab tests have confirmed 40 illnesses in Texas and New Mexico as the same type of salmonella, right down to the genetic fingerprint.” they reported from the CDC. They had reports from at least 40 people from 3-80. All had eaten raw tomatoes.

The story enlarged from there and I didn’t totally follow it. It is not a new story: contaminated foods, illnesses, even deaths. The fact is that food that is eaten raw and which has not been disinfected (not merely washed) is dangerous. Even in the more advanced societies trucks are dirty as are storerooms and there is always the possibility of pickers or handlers not following proper sanitation procedures. It is negligent to believe that foods will be free of disease or contamination. Last year it was “pre-washed” packaged spinach, meat that has not been properly cooked has often killed.

There is also the fact that food commodities have become global. Your salad may have come from Chile, Mexico, Peru and Texas (where it may have been handled by Mexicans, Peruvians, Hondurans, Guatemalans or Texans all of whom might have forgotten the simple rules of food handling or who may be carrying a potent disease (this is how hepatitis is transferred, too).

Since I am beginning to take far more interest in my cooking again and planning to turn “Lizard Stew” into more of a food & cooking blog I thought to start with the real basics: clean your food, the plate will take care of itself.

It is a simple process. Wash food in clean water. Soak in a disinfectant solution for the prescribed amount of time. Iodine and other chemical-based solutions like the Mexican Microdyne are readily available. A highly dilute chlorine solution (Clorox without fragrance is a favorite) can be used and is readily available. A few drops per liter for 20 minutes should do it and, with the chlorine solution, the food should then be rinsed in potable water. Food is cleaner and keeps better after cleaning.

Here in Mexico which is justifiably famous for food-borne illness there are still pockets of people -- even expatriates -- who cling to the notion that their food is perfectly safe. A blog from expatriates in the very clean city of Mèrida, state of Yucatan published a glowing recommendation of the tomatoes from Yucatan and how safe they are. I do believe that the farmers near there may very well take care and use potable water to rinse their produce. Even so the fruit joins produce and meats in trucks that may have been used for other purposes (garbage, animals...), is stored in warehouses or storerooms behind the supermarket or little fruteria, handled by stock people, other shoppers, is walked over by rats and other vermin in the quiet of the night. Do you really want to eat it raw without disinfecting it?

There is also the option of cooking into salsas, sauces, dishes (even beyond pasta) and perfect fresh tomato sauces simmered with basil and olive oil. Eat well; stay safe.

Photos © Howard Dratch, 2008.

Food
Health
Food Safety
Travel

Laguna Bacalar House For Sale

2008-06-08T23:36:00.004-04:00

I will be posting to this blog again, finally. This incarnation will be dedicated now to cooking and food as well as health care links and articles.

However, since I am advertising my home everywhere else, I am adding this notice of its sale:

My home is on the shore of the Lagoon near the Hotel Laguna and the Cenote Azul. It is a beautiful, light-filled house with high ceilings, terraces, views of the Lagoon of the Seven Colors from every room. There is a covered terrace the width of the house with grille and bar area, a massive, cement dock that will berth larger boats and a ramp on the 1100 square meter, walled property which is proerly titled.

The street side has a massive lap pool, gardens and fruit trees encircled by flowers and tropical birds. There is a 2 room, 2 bath casita and a whole-house generator.

The house has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths on two floors. The price has been reduced to $US369,000. Contact me at hfd@7colorlagoon.com. It is sited perfectly on the most beautiful cove of the 35 mile long lagoon, far enough above the water to be protected from any possible rise in the lagoon. The house and I weathered a direct hit by Hurricane Dean last August without damage.

View the gallery of photos House For Sale

Tropical Real Estate
Home
Foreign Investment
For Sale
Mexico
Real Estate
Vacation Homes
Bed & Breakfast
Travel

Internet TV Feed

2008-03-14T14:28:00.000-04:00

Latest CPR Method

2008-03-12T01:24:00.002-04:00

Researchers and clinicians are studying and changing even the most modern CPR methods in order to save more lives. The new method for trained first-responders was tried and monitored in Arizona. The results showed a survival rate (those who survived enough to be released from hospital) from cardiac arrest outside of a hospital was increased by a factor of three.

The survival rate prior to the training of emergency workers was 1.8%. After training with the new approach it increased to 5.4%. That difference extended to a general population and national training would translate to thousands of lives saved.

The article stresses that the first four minutes after cardiac arrest are crucial. Bystanders should administer chest compressions.

“After the first 200 compressions, the victim gets a shock, then another worker jumps in and gives another set of 200 chest compressions. At that point, they may give a shot of epinephrine to stimulate the heart, and then insert a tube into the trachea to ventilate the lungs.”

The studies show that more study and more training can still increase the efficiency of the CPR technique. Chest compressions given during the first two minutes are still considered crucial to the final outcome. These can be administered by bystanders -- particularly those with the quick and effective training given by the Red Cross and fire departments across America.

Health
Medicine

New Stroke Sign

2008-02-17T19:30:00.003-04:00

My cousin often sends me snippets of information, links to other sites and blogs I would otherwise never have seen It is not to say that all the information is of interest, the sites to my taste nor the blogs connected to my world but sometimes he finds something of interest.

I pass this one along because it seems important. I have not yet checked the medical sites I use for its reliability but any further sensitivity to the need for speed and concern on any indication of stroke or heart attack is of worth.

NEW STROKE SIGN IDENTIFIED

RECOGNIZING A STROKE may prevent severe brain damage.

Ask 3 questions to person who may be having stroke:

S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If they have trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 999/911 immediately & describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an indication of a stroke.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

Health
Medicine
Stroke
Emergencies

House For Sale In Bacalar

2008-02-02T17:26:00.000-04:00

Photos © Howard Dratch 2007-2008 except for the Google Earth picture.
Map coordinates for Google Earth are 18.39.17.31N 88.22.53.77W

This is way off-subject but a topic very close to my heart.

I am selling my home on the shore of Laguna Bacalar, Mexico. The lagoon is called the Lagoon of the 7 Colors and is one of the most beautiful locations in this part of the world. It is 4-5 hours south of Cancun and Playa del Carmen and is being "discovered" as the new highway makes its way down from Cancun/Tulum and has already been completed from Chetumal and Belize.

The house has 4 bedrooms (each with a view of the lagoon) and 3.5 baths. 3 are tiled floor to ceiling. Ceilings are exceptionally high and there is a covered terrace on the first floor for the full length of the house (plus some) with a bar and grilling area built-in. The water supply is abundant and continues no matter what the season. The lap pool is 5 x 18 meters with enough depth to swim comfortably for the entire length and is set in a lovely, tropical garden.

A small house/casita is near the pool on the perimeter wall with the street and has 2 rooms, one with a rudimentary kitchen and 2 very small, partially tiled baths. A generator system can provide power to the entire property in case of power failure.

It is a fine property of 1100 sq. mts, surrounded on 3 sides by a high, cement wall and gated with a steel gate to the street. The shoreline is 22 meters wide with a seawall and one of the largest docks on the freshwater lagoon with water depth sufficient to moor any boat that would be found on the lake.

Located on the most elegant cove of the lagoon near the Hotel Laguna it would make a great retirement home, vacation spot or bed & breakfast. It is held by a Mexican corporation we formed which can be transferred to the new owners saving them in fees and making it far easier to obtain the FM3 annual visas coveted by foreigners living and/or working here.

The price was much higher but has been reduced to $US 369,000 for a quick sale.

Contact me at hfd@7colorlagoon.com or visit these sites of mine and real estate agencies who can also handle the sale:
http://7colorlagoon.com/galleries/houseforsale/index.html
http://www.mexintl.com/details.php?code=001836
http://www.mls4rivieramaya.com/listing-Bacalar++Costera+Road-10801.html

Tropical Real Estate
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Mexico
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Anxious, Depressed People Prone To Heart Problems

2008-01-12T02:31:00.001-04:00

Anxiety and depression predict events in heart patients

Reuters reports on recent findings that those with heart attack and coronary problems are more likely to be depressed and suffer chronic anxiety. It is not a new discovery but further, empirical proof of the relationship.

Umami: The Comfort Taste

2007-12-10T02:32:00.000-04:00

Photo of sushi on a Carnival cruise ship © Howard Dratch, 2007.

This is a fascinating foray into the land of taste and food and oriental influence. The video from the Wall Street Journal (who has recently allowed more to enter the financial world. Financiers do, however, like to eat and are therefore a ripe market for a new taste, "the fifth taste". One description mentioned the taste, or more importantly, the sense of chicken soup. Another makes dishes looking for non-MSG umami with Chinese black mushrooms, one my favorite things to add to soups and dishes. An integral part of Chinese cooking, they are also shitaki mushrooms which have been dried. I like both and both probably impart the taste of umami.

VIDEO LINK TO THE WSJ VIDEO ON UMAMI <><><><><><>><<><<><>>

12 Tips For Healthy Holiday Eating

2007-12-02T15:59:00.000-04:00

New York lunch buffet. Photo © Howard Dratch, 2007.

Harvard Medical School's on-line resource, HEALTHbeat
has published a list of 12 tips for surviving the festive feeding of the season.

Since my cardiologist was just reminding me that my recent laxity of watching my weight and eating (salt, fat, etc.) is the equivalent of trying to commit suicide, it seems to be a good time to remind people of ways to counter the temptations.

Don't forget the tasty green things like artichokes. Skip the mayonnaise and use extra virgen olive oil or a salsa. Photo © Howard Dratch, 2007.

Health
Medicine
Food

HPOD - Picture of the Day

2007-11-20T04:28:00.000-04:00

Check out the first of my Pictures of the Day (20 Nov 2007) on a separate gallery page from 7 Color Lagoon.com. I will never actually mount one daily or even close. But it is a nice presentation and the workflow will get faster as times goes on.

Flowers
Gardens
Mexico

Recent Science Videos

2007-11-06T01:32:00.000-04:00

Galaxy Warriors Called Home To China

2007-10-31T21:51:00.001-04:00

Reuters reported today that the space warriors have been called home to China. Earth may be left without its legion of 380,000 Galaxy Warriors and be a more dangerous place.

Alternatively the recall of the toy soldiers in bivouac in Family Dollar Stores will leave the US a safer place for small people who lead the legions of plastic figures with "excessive levels of lead" according to an advisory by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The toys are about 4.5 inches tall and were sold by the chain during January 2006 through October 2007.

Reuters advises that the toys should be returned to Henry Gordy International Inc. which distributed them. They can be reached at (888) 790-2700.

Your children will be safer. Earth may be at risk for attack by warring plastic space aliens not from China. Happy Halloween.

New Cardiac Screening Could Find Hidden Heart Disease

2007-10-07T18:44:00.001-04:00

Siemens Medical Solutions has just begun marketing a palm-sized device that will scan arteries in the neck. If these arteries show significant plaque build-up it could indicate dangerous arterial blockages elsewhere. SonoSite Inc. of Washington state came out with a laptop sized device in 1999 which is being used in ERs for checking heart valve problems and abdominal arteries. The proof of the efficiency of the neck-scan has not been definitive.

There are, however, a growing number of persons who have had potential problems solved by early detection with the scans of arteries in the neck. HMOs and insurers have been slow to embrace the test "because of limited proof of the value". At the University of Wisconsin in Madison tests have been run on 900 or so patients at a cost of $295. Some local HMOs are paying. Other cardiologists worry that the scanning is not accurate enough to predict problems or could miss predicting others.

Dr. S.Carimi who is taking part in a Wisconsin study of the machine's use was reported by Yahoo's Health News saying, "If I tell you your cholesterol is 130, that won't bother you," he
said. "If I show you you have a plaque in the blood vessel leading to
your brain, you're more likely to make some changes."

BBC Offers OnLine Sleep Questionaire

2007-09-30T14:31:00.000-04:00

Lifehacker, the excellent blog with an eclectic mix of posts, has just led me to a sleep questionnaire that provides an extremely detailed and cogent response in about 10 well-spent minutes. The BBC has outdone itself with this one. Give it a try.

There is also the Sleep Foundation.

Internet
Health
Medicine
Technology

Genetic Results Of The Medieval Black Death

2007-08-03T01:04:00.001-04:00

That Black Death of a plague that roiled across Europe and England has been found to still throw a shadow over England. A new study at the University of Durham studied DNA in the remains of 4th and 11th century sites in England. Then the researchers compared the material from the past with a study from contemporary English people.

There turned out to be more genetic variations in the past than in modern England. The head of the study is Rus Hoelzel
of the U. Of Durham thinks some "random genetic drift" may have affected the lessened DNA diversity but that the Black Death in England not only killed off such a large proportion of the population of Western Europe in the 1340s and 1660s. Dr. Hoelzel was quoted in the New Scientist
saying, "The main factors in support of a role for plague are the timing and the fact that it affected different families [to varying degree]".

Since families were affected differently, those who were more susceptible to the plague (often said to be bubonic plague bacterium)
which is said to have come from Sicily from where it migrated to France where it lurked for nearly two centuries. The Italians managed to miss some of the deadly threads because,

"They closed down ports and stopped people travelling at the first sign of infection... And they had a 40-day quarantine period. I think the Black Death was the result of a virus that probably had a 37-day incubation and infection period, so the Italian quarantine period was just right."

"In England, King Henry VIII reduced [the quarantine period] to 30 days at one point, and the country suffered." So added a colleague, Susan Scott, from the University of Liverpool.

WebMD Scores With Health Videos

2007-07-10T09:48:00.000-04:00

There was a temptation to drop this blog to concentrate on my others and on other facets of my life. I am in the midst of many decisions, extensive dental work and heavily involved in trying to manage some investments.

However, the medical field is both personal and very exciting of late. During the week of Bloomberg.com's choosing the 25 Websites We Can't Live Without, The 100 Best Websites, etc.; there is this health related vido site. WebMD presents some valuable videos of a decent size and with good quality on their site. I have just watched a few about heart failure, triglicerides, etc. Nothing lately is more frustrating than Internet video pages that take forever to load, say they don't work on Macs after waiting 10 minutes, or just present poor quality fare. Check out the WebMD Video Player.

Therefore the announcement that this blog is not active for the moment would have been false. Come again.

Internet
Health
Medicine
Technology

Should Physicians Practice Courtesy And Respect?

2007-06-19T14:51:00.001-04:00

It did not surprise me to have a scientific study prove that patients tend to want their physicians to shake their hands when the meet. Some even admitted to wanting the medicos to use their first name. It would not be surprising to find that patients would like concern, compassion, sensitivity and competence.

The study was managed by Gregory Makoul, Ph.D and others at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. and published in the June issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine (of the JAMA Archives).

They studied 415 adults during 2004 and 2005 in the U.S. and looked at videotapes of 123 patients newly meeting one of 19 physicians in Chicago and Burlington, Vermont.

They proved their hypothesis that "The first few moments of a medical encounter are critical to establishing rapport, making the patient feel comfortable and setting the tone of the interview."

The results showed that 78% wanted the doctor to shake hands -- 18% did not. 50% wanted the doctor to use their first name, 17% their last name and 24% wanted both names used.

Watching the taped sessions between physician and patient showed that they shook hands almost 90% of the time. About half the time the physician did not use the patient's name at all -- tempered by the fact that 39% of the time neither patient nor doctor mentioned a name. Over 11% of the time the doctor did not even introduce himself.

The finding and suggestion to the medical practitioners is not surprising. "Physicians should be encouraged to shake hands with patients but remain sensitive to nonverbal cues that might indicate whether patients are open to this behavior," the authors conclude. "Given the diversity of opinion regarding the use of names, coupled with national patient safety recommendations concerning patient identification, we suggest that physicians initially use patients' first and last names and introduce themselves using their own first and last names."

Perhaps the secret is that physicians should consider basic courtesy as a therapeutic technique.

Impotence Could Kill You

2007-06-12T16:19:00.000-04:00

A Swedish study from Lund University has shown that problems with impotence can indicate early atherosclerosis in coronary arteries. This finding comes from studies that addressed the death of 5000 men a year in Sweden from sudden cardiac arrest.

Two-thirds of these men were said to have “not any known heart disease”. However, recent studies have just begun to actively study the appearance of impotence as a strong predictor of cardiac/arterial problems to come.

Many cases of impotence have psychiatric, neurological or other medical causes. The most common cause, they say now (in as much as 80% of the cases) is that the arteries have already, silently become so blocked as to prevent enough circulation to affect or prevent erection. If they are blocked enough to keep you from enjoying the most enjoyable act, then it is “highly probable” that coronary arteries are also becoming clogged.

The positive part of this finding is that the warning sign of impotence -- something that will get a man to the doctor quicker than most things -- could be used to get many men to modify their diets, get more exercise and quit smoking. The result could be lessened chance of heart attack or death and, for a bonus, “...there are studies that show that potency improves rather quickly in those who quit smoking and lose weight," said Dr. Rasmus Borgquist of Lund University in Sweden.

Health

NASA Imaging Technology Helps Test For Heart Disease And Stroke

2007-06-10T20:14:00.000-04:00

NASA's hand-me-down technology is helping physicians image coronary and carotid artery health. The new software and protocol is called ArterioVision. It was developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA.

The software is used with a more standard ultra-sound image of the carotid artery. The standard sound-generated image is used to measure plaque build-up in the artery. The carotid artery is the channel for blood to reach the brain. The patent-holder is Medical Technologies, Inc. (MTI). Check their website for ABC and NBC-TV segments and other documents about the technique.

It is said that the clearest test for artherosclerosis and the earliest that would provide measurement of hardening of the arteries (and the danger of cardiac dysfunction and stroke). The physicians using this technique are able to "calculate the age of the patient's arteries which do not always match the patient's calendar age."

Dr. Hodis of the Keck School of Medicine (UCLA) was quoted as saying that the test can show patients how thick their arteries have become. That, he said, can give them "...much more incentive... to change their lifestyle with dietary modification and exercise."

"This is such a precise method of examining the carotid artery. It can distinguish between 256 shades of gray at a subpixel level," Dr. Robert Selzer said. "You need that kind of detail to help catch heart disease as early as you can, often before there are any outward symptoms." Dr. Selzer is the chief engineer for MTI and the ArterioVision CIMT diagnostic tool. He had been involved with JPL's Image Processing Laboratory for 15 years.

The Image Processing Laboratory began in 1966 to collect and decipher images from space missions. Over the decades since their technology has seen remarkable improvements. Today results can be seen by the public on NASA's sites , Space.com and other sites for the astronomically-inclined.

MTI's corporate chairman, Gary F. Thompson, said that the project to create this non-invasive test is of great personal importance to him. "I was the first male in my family to reach 50, so I decided to celebrate by running the Los Angeles marathon, but I had a heart attack halfway through it and couldn't finish... None of the non-invasive tests that I had prior to the marathon detected my silent heart disease, and I knew there had to be something better out there."

Health
Technology

Back To The Future

2007-06-06T03:33:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to this blog that has lain a bit fallow recently. It had begun as a blog about health care and the latest reports on studies and treatments. Then it slowly changed into a blog about being expatriated in Mexico.

Now I return to where I began with more on health issues and survival along with other things more cheery.

Please visit my new site 7 Color Lagoon.com which includes my central blog, 7 Color Lagoon, galleries of pictures, our stores and links to sites of relevance and interest.

Thanks for coming by.

Act Fast; Live Longer

2007-06-06T03:30:00.000-04:00

The American Health Association has added an important new site to its' web pages. This one is on heart attacks and complements the original page as well as the pages and links about stroke risks, prevention, treatment and post-stroke life.

The new page is in both English and Spanish.

The AHA and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute have begun a campaign called "Act in Time",

The American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute have launched a new "Act in Time" campaign to increase people's awareness of heart attack and the importance of calling 9-1-1 immediately at the onset of heart attack symptoms. Find the links here.
7648-inter-phot.jpg

Dial 9-1-1 Fast
Heart attack and stroke are life-and-death emergencies -- every second counts. If you see or have any of the listed symptoms, immediately call 9-1-1. Not all these signs occur in every heart attack or stroke. Sometimes they go away and return. If some occur, get help fast! Today heart attack and stroke victims can benefit from new medications and treatments unavailable to patients in years past. For example, clot-busting drugs can stop some heart attacks and strokes in progress, reducing disability and saving lives. But to be effective, these drugs must be given relatively quickly after heart attack or stroke symptoms first appear. So again, don't delay -- get help right away!

The stroke page is also a help and is available with a click en Español.

These are more than worth a look. They contain the knowledge to help save your life or keep it from being weakened, shortened and worsened. I know because I took too long to get to the hospital when I had a heart attack and there was extensive damage to the heart that might have been prevented. The result has been twelve difficult years of fighting to survive heart failure, coronary artery disease, angina and cardiac rhythm dysfunctions.

Don"t follow in my footsteps. Act In Time!.

Mexican Drug Violence Came To My Door

2007-05-01T15:52:00.000-04:00

It has been reported that Monday saw 100 police in a number of police stations across Nuevo Laredo arrested by federal agents and the military.

The action is part of President Calderòn's efforts to control the mushrooming violence of the war between drug organizations for turf and against the government which is increasing its efforts to control them.

Last year it is said that over 2000 people were killed in Mexico in this war. Monterrey had been free of this violence for some time but that has changed with over 50 people killed recently -- many of them police officers.

The poorly paid police are not so difficult to influence by cartels with multi-million dollar incomes. Those who are not bought are targeted.

Monday also saw 20 victims of gang violence across the country. Cancun, as previously reported, had 5 people, 3 men and 2 women found murdered with their heads covered with plastic bags and their hands tied together. Quite an image for a prime tourist destination.

CNN reports today that the Mexican efforts under President Calderòn to fight the wave of violence and killings that has been spawned by increasingly violent and visible power struggles between rival Mexican cartels are paying off.

Mexican police arrested today 7 "alleged drug gang hit men" with assault weapons in Acapulco, a major tourist destination for both Mexicans and foreigners. The police confiscated 7 assault weapons, "several" pistols and a store of ammo.

The assistant secretary of public safety was quoted as saying that ""The escalation of violence we are seeing ... [and] the power of these criminal gangs comes from the ease with which they get weapons" on the American border. "Their firepower is impressive."

On 7 February the San Diego press reported on "Drug Violence in Acapulco Threatens Mexico's Tourism Industry". Hotel owners and businessmen are not pleased with the bloody drug wars and what had previously been a "live and let live" attitude by police.

One of the more blatant attacks by the gangs was at noon on Tuesday when assassins entered two state police station dressed as soldiers. They demanded the cops' guns and then opened fire on them. Five police investigators were killed along with two secretaries. Witnesses noted that they videotaped their attack. Third World violence, drug wars and miscellaneous savagery is embracing Web 2.0 and becoming en-gadgeted.

The mayor told local business leaders at a breakfast in February, “I hope this does not affect the tourist image,” he said. “We realize that these events are unpleasant, but people know that they are separate events.” Given the slight wounding of 2 Canadian tourists in the lobby of their hotel on the tourist strip when shots were fired into the lobby, the $12 billion a year tourism industry in Mexico will, indeed, be threatened. America is reeling from its own massacre in Virginia and that was nothing compared to the level of violence that exists and is increasing in Mexico.

In my view some of the blame must lie with the US for permitting the wide distribution of firearms including assault weapons and drug laws that have made the drug business a dangerous, illegal and therefore wildly profitable enterprise enjoyed by the most violent segment of both societies. It is little different from the Prohibition of the 20s and 30s. Just watch a good movie from the period with Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart raking in the dough and finally shooting it out with cops or other bad guys. Plus ça change; plus ça la méme chose -- the more things change; the more they are the same.

In researching a coming article on post-traumatic shock disorder I was just looking at web sites in the US (mainly) for gun shops, shows, dealers and NRA advocates. Assault weapons remain a good choice. I found AK-47 clones for as little as $569 on sophisticated sites with gun shop location guides -- "find a gun store near you." Interested in adding to your collection or just planning some fun? Start with 100 Top Gun Sites.

NPR published on-line a vivid audio-slideshow recently. Take a look and listen.

The gangs are said to be "branching out" into other nefarious trades as well -- kidnapping, auto theft, and the trade in migrants and weapons. The secretary added that "These are very dynamic organizations." Some blame was put on the easy availability of weapons from the US just over the northern border.

Today, Saturday 21 April, I made this post a few minutes ago at my blog 7 Color Lagoon . I wrote just last night (on my blog, Travel Dangers) about the arrest of 100 police in Acapulco, deaths in Cancun and the increasing success or effect of the crackdown by President Calderòn's government.

It came home today. It came to my porton, the steel gate in the wall around my property on the shore of Laguna Bacalar in the southeastern frontier of Mexico.

I was called by strong (very strong) knocking on the gate which is always locked in this dangerous area. I was waiting for a carpenter and wondered why he had the audacity to sit atop the barda, the wall around the perimeter.

Then I noticed he had on a black ski mask and was not wielding a big hammer but an assault weapon and asked to come in as they had an "operation" in progress. Being the macho fool I am I both opened the little door in the porton and demanded to see their IDs. Logical unless you happen to be 60, have CHF, a pacing device and are unarmed. What, I wondered later, would I have done if they did not have police and military IDs?

I gave them access to my property to attack two neighboring houses and decided it best not to photograph a lot of young men with assault rifles and black ski masks in a foreign country. I would have when I was a working photographer but I am now disabled, hardly able to shoot flowers without tiring myself and suffering Post-Traumatic Shock Disorder after the death of my wife in December -- a victim of anti-American violence.

Reporting the news from the wires and RSS feeds is one thing. I felt the impotency of a foreigner without the energy to photograph nor the temerity to interview obviously nervous kids with big guns waiting for a fire-fight.

The Calderòn effort to control rampant violence in a country noted for corruption and savage violence is laudable. It is also a little frightening when it comes into your yard. A number of "operatives" with rifles and flack jackets have been through my lovely terrace overlooking this once tranquil lagoon. They did not stop to enjoy the view. The young soldiers in the street guarding the rear looked too nervous to approach except to tell them with a smile "ten cuidado", be careful.

The violence in Mexico has escalated. The government response appears more and more effective which may be pressuring escalating terror from wealthy drug dealing gangs who have begun to fear for their futures. President Calderòn is doing what is best for Mexico -- trying to control the violence and killings before Mexico leaves the family of civilized nations for good. It makes this period one of danger and insecurity as a government continues to try to push a whole nation from one traditional and established path into another manner of existence. It is not an easy task.

I have not heard gunfire in spite of the plethora of guns that have gone by in the hands of soldiers and police and come through my property to the shore of the lagoon. I waved and smiled which is often appropriate with nervous, testosteron-filled men with guns as they passed the glass doors to my living room.

It will be later that I hear the chisme, the rumors, about this bit of excitement. But the end result is not of importance. The attitude of the Mexican federal government to change the shape of the nation and the proliferation of violence everywhere is the stuff that is news.

Mexico

Visiting America: Tastes of Miami

2007-02-17T17:33:00.000-04:00

Miami is America's melting pot of a city. Like New York with its neighborhoods for Russians, Ukrainians, Rich People, Famous People, Puerto Ricans, artists (most, I hear, moved elsewhere when the Rich People took their lofts), and every other brand of exotic creature, Miami has room for many tongues and growing businesses. All those cultures melting away in the pot leave a residue of different dishes, ingredients, spices and cuisines. Florida may once have been fed by fried fish, fried chicken, and roasted pig with some collard greens and a few oranges but, today, the pot runneth over.

Like New York the melted pot is bubbling with once exotic foods and tastes, many from Latin America, to which Miami is America's gateway. Yes, I know there are those who think they should all go home, wherever home is. But home is often here. Many Cubans may speak Spanish or only Spanish but have been here since Fidel came out of the mountains of Oriente Province. In Tampa my mother used to complain of Cubans who had come after the Spanish-American War and not learned English by the 1950s. Some people are not proficient in languages, others adapt more quickly.

Miami has its Cuban base as well as Haitians speaking Creole ( a sort of French with a twist of this and that), Japanese and Chinese, French and Peruvians, Salvadorans and Basques, Pakistanis, Indians... Each bring the tastes of their cultures. The only cuisine that is primarily a bore is American unless you like fried chicken from plastic chickens, chain hamburgers from factories and computer-scheduled drive-throughs or Chuck E. Cheese, whatever it may be (I saw one but there were too many tots slobbering to get in for me to look in).

My relationship to restaurants here is eclectic although it tends toward the nearby (I am relegated to public transport in a city of Maseratis and Porsche SUVs), the Chinese which are my favorite and the affordable while visiting my country which has become astoundingly expensive. Therefore, this episode in Travels With Howard, has a few places for those who are in or coming to the sunshine if they can get out from under the 200 inches of some odd, white stuff of which I have nearly forgotten the lovely feel.

I would have added pictures but I came here partly to have a cataract removed. The eye works again and will focus a camera but it is too soon to stick heavy, metal Nikons up to it. Let your imagination run free as it always should. Being alone I don't get to try enough of the dishes anywhere although I peek at every tray that goes by and, peeping Howard, check out what eveyone else is eating especially if they look contented.

According to one site on Peru Peru has the largest Chinese community in Lating America. In the period from 1849 to 1874 100,000 Chinese immigrated to Peru. Chinese restaurants, called Chifas adapted and became an important part of Peru's cuisine. Check out Alejandro's blog on Peruvian cooking with its videos. In the last 40 years 2000 Chifas have opened in Peru and the Chinese restaurants of their communities became part of the Peru scene.

In Miami there is one. It is called, imaginatively, Chifa and is tucked into a little shopping center (isn't everything in Miami that is not in a mall?), Shops of Kendall, at 12590 N. Kendall Drive (phone 305.271.3823) near a Peruvian buffet and a little "Food Store" that sells Peruvian packaged foods and, my favorite, Inca Cola. Ok, I skipped the Pulpo al olivo Octopus with Olive Cream for 10.95 and chose between Pollo con Jolantau (chicken with snow peas - $9.95) and Szechuan Delight Chicken since it promised to be as spicy as some of us crave for $9.95.

So I have eaten Szechuan Chicken a hundred times. Each dish is different. This one showed its Peruvian influence in the great colors and presentation of jullienne carrot, red and green sweet pepper in a generous pile. This was offset by the yellow-gold Inca Cola. Other people, mostly speaking Cuban or Peruvian Spanish, feasted on the meat dishes and pato duck with almond, pineapple, oyster sauce or pickled turnips ($11.95).

Unlike most Chinese restaurants the deserts are said in other reviews to be excellent and had that look about them. The menu lists sweet souffles for $4 and chocolate cake or pineapple cake (Torta Dorada o Pecado de Lucuma and others. It isn't elegant, it can be slow and it is hardly the Miami Beach scene. It is just your typical Peruvian-Chinese Chifa. If you are nearby when you come to or through Miami, stop for an inexpensive treat.

From the simple and tasty to the elegantly sublime, save your pennies (hundreds are more like it) to dine at Bizcaya, the restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Coconut Grove. I will admit that, on the last trip with my late-wife and once with her mother and sister, gourmands, we ate there a few times, each as perfectly served, prepared and as sublimely comfortable as the others. That comes from a man who usually dis-likes expensive restaurants for their pretentiousness and stuffiness (and paying large bills). The Bizcaya

One of the city's most celebrated culinary venues, Bizcaya was named one of the world's top 75 restaurants by Conde Nast Traveler (May 2003) and continously garners rave reviews. Renowned Restaurant Chef Jason Schneider, is at the helm, using Mediterranean ingredients to create classical cuisine that emphasizes fresh, "clean" flavors and seasonal products. Overlooking a picturesque outdoor terrace and cascading waterfall, the restaurant is Miami's newest power breakfast spot and offers flawless service for lunch, dinner and a spectacular Sunday Brunch.

at 305.644-4675 is one of my favorite restaurants in Miami or Miami Beach.

First, because, although we all ate the grilled salmon with a pineapple/soy sauce -- the simplest item, it was always absolutely fresh and perfect. My wife and I were pleased with the Mediterranean serving of small dishes of well-chosen, rich extra-virgin olive oil accompanying a selection of fresh rolls in a variety rather than a mundane, cholesterol-laden butter. Olive oil, like wine and coffee, deserves more respect, each one different, the tastes distinct, an aroma and color to check for the pleasure of checking.

There was not just music but a man with just the right Mozart so that I could say, "Oh, that was...", thank him and truly enjoy what is so often, in expensive places, some variation of Frank Sinatra for the old, rich-folks-at-play.

Tea came in a large, wooden chest with a varied choice. The salad (not on the menu but what my wife wanted) was a beautiful mound of colored lettuces and other fresh things. Her family shared a tomato and Mozarella salad that looked good and the salmon, as each time there, was perfect.

Dessert, for which our appetites are seldom up to was encouraged by her mother and we had the best sorbet either of us had ever had -- even including that which I make from limes off my tree in Mexico and a little tequila to set off the taste. How could sorbet, that palate-cleanser and boring substitute for rick ice cream, merit notice. Because perfection always merits notice. A plate came with 3 small scoops of fruit-rich ice and some fresh berries for more color and more taste.

I am not a person for putting-on-the-Ritz. In Miami the Ritz hosts a dining room that made me comfortable. Even the bill didn't make me cry because I had been so relaxed and comfortable even in my tropical, casual dress which is to say, no jacket and no tie -- things I have not worn these past 10 years.

Miami is growing, changing, developing and trying to add a dash of Culture (with a capital C) to the cultures that have entered its once southern provincialism. If you flee the lovely winter of the week (it is actually chilly here today, the residue of the Yankee ice and snow) there are things to do and corners to explore beyond the Beach and Little Havana.

Food
Travel

Food Blogs Feed The Blogosphere

2007-01-23T00:09:00.000-04:00

Photo ©Howard Dratch. Restaurant at the Cenote Azul, Bacalar, Mexico

The Power of Food Blogging
By Adam Roberts
January 19, 2007

My parents and I walk into Le Cirque in New York City for the second time in two months, and the difference between our first visit and second is startling. The first time, we were ignored by Sirio Maccioni, Le Cirque’s famous owner, and ushered to a loser table in the back; this time the maitre’d seats us immediately at a table in the front—the best spot in the house. Bus boys and waiters swoop down on us and ask us what we want to drink, if we want sparkling or flat water, if we’d like to see the wine list. Mauro Maccioni, Sirio’s son, makes sure to check in on us every so often. When the meal is over and my father asks for the check, a man who looks like he might be Sirio’s brother bends down and whispers in my father’s ear. When he walks away, my dad says, grinning, “Tonight, we’re guests of the Maccioni family.”

Read more... at the blog, "Serious Eats".

The amazing part of this story is that I had not really paid much attention to the "food blog" as a journalistic art form even though I have written a few articles on food for Blogcritics Magazine in the past.

It is an interesting format and grabbed my interest. I will plan some pictures of food for the future -- or more pictures and discussion. Maybe one of my blogs that has become disorganized will become a food blog. It might be fun.

Some changes will be coming.

Food
Blogging

American Woman Dies From Mexican Attack

2006-12-22T23:54:00.000-04:00

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF PATRICIA BERINGER, ANOTHER AMERICAN WOMAN MURDERED IN MEXICO.
HER DEATH WAS THE RESULT OF INJURIES INFLICTED BY ANTI-AMERICANS IN
BACALAR, MEXICO.

Travel
Mexico

Rose Garden

2006-12-19T22:23:00.000-04:00

It is a time of mourning and I think of these roses we planted together beside a pool where they surprised us all, in soil without substance--Yucatecan limestone -- with an addition of some tierra from an old man I know. He is more toothless that expected, lives in the jungle and comes to town with his products behind the horse that carries his age on clopping hooves. Two dogs stared longingly at the pool and resignedly returned to their work of protecting the horse, horsing around it might be, and speeding the world a little around this man of a different time when the jungle was jungle and the cats were still here with spots they tell me -- pumas and enough of the little deer and wild pigs. For the macho of the macho, some tail of cocodrilo. The tail they say is the part with the taste.

Today the rose bushes are continuing an almost non-stop display of red, small roses save for a mourning period of brown-dead flowers I am carerully dead-heading. It is actually winter here but the flowers are still blossoming wildly and covering the world with color. My color of mourning is this red of the roses, orange and pink ones and the red and orange bouganvilla shaped into an arch. The color of mourning is the color of the things we loved together: roses and bouganvilla, tuliapans and the birds and butterflys that service them.

The color of mourning was the turquoise and cobalt blue of the Laguna with the red of the hull and the yellow of the gunwales of the boat the guard/velador and mine took me on the Laguna for a trip down the 35 long lagoon to places I hadn't known. It was an adventure to counter my mourning and one that my wife would have approved.

The rain came. It does often this month. It went and came again. Also normal. Then it went and we could leave the abandoned beach club (sort of) or a rancho in the jungle between populated areas. Jungle as jungle we hung out beneath a thatched roof palapa where the thatch had long-since rotted and the center of the roof was a huge hole, the rain coming on the winds side-ways anyway, my camera bag covered with black garbage bag, soaked even a little chilly. How odd here which is why the roses are blooming to keep me from deep drafts of depression. Roses, banana trees, flowers and shrubs, animals and birds. The world continues to stir, fitfully. It is winter, the time of dying and, here in the tropics, there is more death and more flowers.

Travel
Flowers
Mexico

Christmas/Navidad Comes With The Virgen de Guadelupe

2006-12-18T22:45:00.000-04:00

Travel
Mexico

Movie Review: Salvador:

2006-12-17T20:02:00.000-04:00

Blogcritics Magazine is running this article under the Video section.

If you have problems with any of the links, please visit Blogcritics. The links do contain fascinating information on the past war in El Salvador.

What if Oliver Stone directed a movie about the El Salvador war (which some called “civil”) back in the 80s? What if it was a terrific movie that was lost in the blockbuster successes of other of his films? What if, more than twenty years later, that same film can still both entertain and describe a time and a war that was important to Latin America and to the United States back 25 years. One that could happen around here again and can be compared to the Iraq confict.

We went back to the 1986 film of the 1980s events. They were events in a small, Central American country that continue to reverberate in Iraq let alone in the new Latin America of Hugo Chavez, the ghost of Fidel and the threat of Obrador.

What if Salvador by Oliver Stone with its near-star quality James Wood and James Belushi needs to be re-discovered because the movie was so much better than it appeared to many then and what if it should be paraded out in its digitally preserved incarnation as prophetic? A piece of fine entertainment that just might hint at future US actions in the “little wars”. The ones that only kill little people.

We saw it for the first time just recently and were blown away by the fine performances of actors who are so often just making it toward stardom but seem caught on the periphery. James Wood is usually a heavy of sorts, a little slimy around the edges, perhaps a wheeler-dealer, a con-man, a soul on the verge of losing itself. He does it here with great precision and believable humor,deeply- felt responses to the world gone mad.

Roger Ebert, back in 1986, reviewed it as being “a throwback” to a movie version of a “Hunter S. Thompson story Where the Buffalo Roam, where hard-living journalists hit the road in a showdown between a scoop and an overdose.” He was right on in 1986. Now it is 2006 and this is history on an action scale and prophecy on a Hollywood scale.

In Salvador there is a James Wood who is cast so perfectly as a photo-journalist of the has-been variety who used up his favors and cannot find jobs to get out of his current messed-up life, left by a shrewish lady with only a soiled disposable diaper to remember him by. She is unimportant.

He is not finding jobs as a freelance because he has screwed up too often. He deserves it, we know, even if he does have enough bonhomie to always save himself; because he doesn't finish jobs, he gets drunk, distracted, side-tracked. Life comes before work, for him. As a former freelance these are the rules you cannot break. Get a job. Do it. On time, on budget. Turn it in. Do it with all your energy plus a little. That is not his personality. He seldom remembers a camera, walks out in a huff from interviews, laughs at the bimbo anchor-woman who repeats the party line, writes her scripts from press handouts and one day Belushi – oh, I can't spoil that scene for you, sorry.

Wood lands finally, somehow, in spite of job-denials, border-checks and the shape of his old, red Mustang that gets them to El Salvador. Brother Belushi thought they were off to vacation in Guatemala but he didn't sober up enough to notice. El Salvador is no longer el norte. It is Central America and Latin America was (and is) in the midst of change to the Left or Right or in some direction least expected. These former banana republics show their sovereignty and, sometimes, their reptilian brain for violence, cruelty, torture and evil.

In the movie we meet the hard working nuns who care for children in an orphanage, race to meet schedules, to dodge fire-fights and to scrounge medical equipment or cry when the wrong segment of an arm prosthetic for a child arrives a second time. They are wholesome and dedicated in the film.

It was December 2, 1980 when four Maryknoll Sisters -- Catholic nuns without habits who worked to help refugees escape from the growing terror of the Civil War were together in a van. These were four women who lived a dedicated life in religious fervor and hard work among people who needed help. They left the airport in San Salvador that December night and Oliver Stone went there later with actors to replay those nuns and swarthy soldiers. Visit the Internet memorial to them and their work.

It was December. It was probably chilly. It was dark early because the night may come later on the south side of the border than in Pennsylvania but the dark comes earlier than you want in places where death squads lurk. The dark came to those innocents.

Stone shows it and shows other scenes of war in the Goya-like way he has and even keeps us in touch with the battles with the real enemies: the embassy's resident spook and foreign service prep smiling his charming smile as if the world revolved around his tennis or, at least, his casually knotted sweater over his tennis togs prep school style, figures of authority or buffoonery.

Belushi is another beautifully-cast charater who, too often, takes roles where nothing is expected of him except to play nutty cop with a cute dog. Stone gives him work to do and work he does with the kind of success that blends humour with tragedies and sometimes rescued the film from the melodrama that encompasses Wood's character.

James Wood meets his friend, a real photo-journalist type --camera firmly planted to his eye and friendly pal face of an innocent as he calmly shoots the bodies in piles with rigor-mortis statuary poses. They are Charles Adams' version of Goya war prints.

Wood has his woman, a Salvadoran beauty who begins a happy time before the world turns mean and her country taken by an Army elite that wants to scour the country of those Communists and enemies – any enemy they dislike.

She worries about the stuff of Catholicism – he is divorced, he must confess and they must go to the church women where Archbishop Romero will give them absolution before Mass. Romero does the absolution but doesn't finish his Mass. He is murdered by Army agents. He is quoted as saying with dying words, “"May God have mercy on the assassins."

The journalist who wins the prizes and remembers to bring his camera says,
“You gotta get close to find the truth. Then you die.” Stone tries to make a story and then put his movie crew close to their own actions. He even elicited a great performance from Tom Cruise that explained the feeling in the gut of a wounded vet. These guys – Wood and Belushi -- find their garbage dump dumped full of moulding bodies.

Movies move back to give us the view of the whole. Stone moves forward and gets close just as did his journalist-character and obviously there is a journalist tucked into Stone who looks at movies as pseudo-documentaries on which he can hang some facts, some romance, a bit of preaching and a handsome film.

One fact was the hard-voiced stubborn straight-man for the Church, Archbishop Romero. Our hero is absolved in a calming confession- windowed scene. Their Mass is marred by the violence that reached a

dramatic apex in March 1980 with the murder of the archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez, on March 24, 1980. Romero, who had been selected as archbishop in part because of his moderate political views, was influenced strongly by the liberation theology movement, and he was appalled by the brutality employed with increasing frequency by government forces against the populace and particularly against the clergy. In his weekly radio homilies, he related statistics on political assassination and excesses committed by the military. He frequently urged soldiers to refuse to carry out what he characterized as immoral orders. His high profile made him an important political figure, and he had used his influence to urge the PDC to pull out of the junta and to argue against United States military aid to El Salvador. Despite his stature as the country's Catholic primate, he was targeted for assassination; all indications are that the killing was carried out by the right wing.

The growing violence and its place in the world press: nuns raped and killed, Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her son murdered, thousands “disappeared” affected even Washington which had so dutifully funded it.

Joe Moakley, Massachusetts's senator was sent to El Salvador to investigate the alleged atrocities.

Moakley's report revealed the cruel injustice of the U.S.-backed Salvadoran government, setting in motion an international process to end the war. Both sides of the conflict in El Salvador approached the United Nations for help in negotiating a settlement. The United Nations sponsored talks, which culminated in the January 1992 signing of the Peace Accords, ending 12 years of civil war.

Wood realizes that what is important to him is to save the life of his woman and her children They run for it, for the lives of the innocents. They head for America.

More should be seen to be enjoyed. It is entertainment from the residue of a war, education in an action/adventure romp in a sad Mustang. It is the story of the growth of a man from failure without understanding to failure with the weight of tragic knowledge lodged between his eyes.

There was El Salvador and the Jesuits killed, the Maryknoll sisters brutalized and executed and then the apocryphal massacre at El Mozote which was known by the locals but dis-believed and brought to light in the 90s. The description, the story of the land and the people and the violence and inhumanity is well-written by Mark Danner.

I think it one of Stone's best efforts, worthy of the masters of the genre like Costas-Gavras in Z and reminding me of John Dos Passos back in his 1930 novels with mixtures of story and headlines, stories and clips of the times to go with his fiction about the time.

Now,our new century has begun with big changes happenning or rearing new heads that might scare us and will certainly leave the government spooks planning new interventions into the region of our neighbors that might be as ill- conceived as was El Salvador.

The Congressman is right to say “The lessons of El Salvador still resonate today.”

Should we give aid to militaries that are engaged in gross violations of human rights or in league with paramilitary death squads? How do we support peace agreements once they've been successfully negotiated? Whether in Colombia or East Timor or the Balkans, the lessons of El Salvador are still relevant.

Britain's outspoken Ambassador to the Central
Asian Republic of Uzbekistan, Craig Murray just recently compared Iraq and El Salvador when he wrote of evidence pointing to the “Salvadoran Option” under consideration by the Allies in Iraq.

Following that model, one Pentagon proposal would send Special Forces teams to advise, support and possibly train Iraqi squads, most likely hand-picked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers, even across the border into Syria, according to military insiders familiar with the discussions. It remains unclear, however, whether this would be a policy of assassination or so-called "snatch" operations, in which the targets are sent to secret facilities for interrogation. The current thinking is that while U.S. Special Forces would lead operations in, say, Syria, activities inside Iraq itself would be carried out by Iraqi paramilitaries, officials tell NEWSWEEK.

I have to give this film an 8.2 on my 10 point scale. The American involvement in the real version of the war only gets 1.8. The war directors have a long way to go to get a sequel together.

Movies
Latin America
International Politics

Finding A New Love With A Known Heart

2006-12-03T00:24:00.000-04:00

Here and there, even in our jaded, anonymous, harsh and, often tragic, world we still find books like Chicken Soup For The Soul. Someone even gave me a copy after my heart attack and, worse yet, the attacked heart is weak and craves support and stories of love and happiness -- I liked it! It has its sequels and imitators and blogs, columns and news of happy things to take our minds off the wars, death, tensions and tragedies. Normally, I give them some berth and head for the juicier items.

Today, while I hunted my RSS feeds and Internet news sources, a story popped out that my damaged and sometimes needy heart needed. Perhaps it will spread some feelings of love and destiny, of odd goodness in a world of many things that are less than good. Listen up while you sip that chicken soup.

The news from South Carolina include the story of Cheryl Cottle whose husband, Terry, died back in '95 at an early "age of 33, poor fellow. It is awful to think of young people dying before they have a chance to fully live, but die he did. Cheryl, whose heart must also have some deep feelings of wanting to spread life, donated his heart so that another person just might be able to live on it. It was done and I assume she mourned her young husband and cheered his heart on as it traveled off in some ice chest to a transplant center where teams of white coats labored to beat the still short deadlines to install it in a dying man.

The man, Sonny Graham, who was then, in 1995, 57 years old, was said to be dying of congestive heart failure. It is a condition and status I have been in and, although I decided against transplant, I have survived. These are not easy decisions and the results are not often so positive as was my survival and the new life with a healthy heart that this Sonny Graham met because of the kindness of the Cottles, the kindness of strangers to strangers. Down he flew to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. They had the heart. He braved that little rotary saw with which they cut breast-bones and the tubes inserted here and there and almost everywhere and the pain that comes later and makes itself at home. He survived the wait, the operation, the rejection and the recuperation.

After that he only had been told that the heart he received was from a 33 year old South Carolinian. The information is confidential but in '96 he received the name of the family that had donated the organ. He wrote a letter to the South Carolina Organ Procurement Agency (now LifePoint Inc.) to be sent to them. Cheryl replied with a short description of her family and some pictures, no particulars, no address.

Sonny wrote to LifePoint again and forwarded his number. They got together down in Charleston, shared dinner at the California Dreaming Restaurant and, Sonny relates, “She gave me that big smile, and I said, ‘Well, looky here.’ I felt like I had known her for years. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. I just stared.”

The relationship went on until 2004 when they married to live in Vidalia, GA. She is working as a hospice nurse and he has his own landscaping business. Together in one of those amalgamated families they have 6 children and 6 of the grand variety.

Their statements show them to be of the religious persuasion. “What we’ve always said is you can’t take your organs with you to heaven,” Sonny said, “and heaven knows they’re needed here.”

In order to become or to plan ahead to be an organ donor as reported in The State (in SC) and in The Myrtle Beach Sun:

Put it on your driver's licence, put it in your living will, let everybody who will be dealing with your affairs know and carry a donor card which you can get from The Government Organ Donor's website. Discuss it with your family, lawyer, religious leader -- let it be known.

It sounds as if Sonny lucked out and got a really good one -- not just young and healthy but warm and caring. For myself who decided against it there has always been the worry about what if I got a really cold as coal, nasty and brutish one. Homer Simpson once got a hair transplant and turned into a killer. What would Dean Koontz or Stephen King say?

Cheryl lost her Terry and got another man she loves who shares the same heart. How heartening!

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Health
Love

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them."
Henri Matisse

A Mayan Chile

2006-11-24T21:00:00.000-04:00

In Mexico I always wondered about the name for this widely used chile. I still haven't learned and remembered it in Spanish. I tend to call it a "banana chile" because it reminds me of what such a thing would look like. But no one else would know what you were talking about.

However, in Mayan it is tak ik where ik is the generic word for chiles. The fruit itself packs a lot of taste, is used a lot in dishes like salsa Veracruzana and can be reasonably mild -- or not.

Food
Travel

CPR Is Changing. Learn About CCR & Save Lives

2006-11-22T17:44:00.000-04:00

Your spouse has just clutched their chest, began to have trouble breathing and has fallen to the ground. They begin to have convulsions, their eyes roll up and breathing stops. It is your wife or husband, your son or daughter, your friend or the old guy you've known for ten years in your office. You can help. You can learn how to bring life to a lifeless body.

If possible have someone else call the emergency number while you start chest compressions. In the advanced countries emergency workers are trained and equipped for quick response. If another person is available have them light the way and (safely) guide the rescuers to your location.

In a recent cardiac arrest situation here in southern-border Mexico, I was alone and realized the Red Cross (Cruz Roja) ambulance had a 20 - 30 minute trip to get to us and that the emergency call to 066 might not go as quickly as needed, due to my mediocre Spanish and the past quality of local dispatchers. There are always decisions to be made when life hangs balanced before your eyes. I worked at resuscitation in the best way I knew until breathing was restored (luckily, before my own physical resources were used up). It was not by the book but, more importantly, get trained, stay up to date, try to make good decisions and more people can survive cardiac arrest.

Begin CPR – for which you should have taken a course or, at least, have studied on the Internet. The University of Washington has a fine site, “Learn CPR. You Can Do It”. They present a great introduction. Then tell you to take a course. Take the course!

El mismo sitio en Español es ”Aprendà RCP. Si, Se Puede!” RCP para adultos, ninos, infantes, gatos y perros.
Tambien, informaciòn sobre casos de atragantamiento.

A new study shows that changing Cardiopulmonary Resuscition to Cardiocerebral in cardiac arrest cases can improve survival rates 300%. Outside hospital cardiac arrest emergencies now show a 2-3% survival rate. Improving that kind of score is a worthwhile goal. The study shows that the chest compression component is more effective than was the mouth-to-mouth part of the process. I did not know that but saw that the compressions were being more effective so I concentrated on them and hoped I was not killing my wife. This new study and technique reassured me – as did her survival for which I fought hard and long.

The new technique shows a survival rate after cardiac arrest 300% better according to “Gordon A. Ewy, director of UA Sarver Heart Center, where the new approach was developed. Ewy is one of few people in the world named a "CPR Giant" by the American Heart Association.”

Their new technique tends to downplay mouth-to-mouth in favor of chest compressions. Dr. Ewy explained that "In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the brain and the heart need resuscitation, not the lungs,"

This change will make it easier and less frightening for many – passersby, rescuers who are not equipped as would be the professional lifesavers who will come to your first-world telephone call for help. However, you cannot wait for them. Every second counts if the person is no longer breathing. Every second they drift further away from this world and the brain begins to be damaged or to die from lack of oxygen. Every second is a second gained for you to breathe – or now, to push – life into a human soul.

The U. of Washington site says: “Call” 911. “Blow”. Give 2 mouth-to-mouth breaths. “Pump”. Compress the chest and continue to give 30, yes 30, compressions to 2 mouth-to-mouth air transfers. I was taught, 25 or more years ago, to use almost equal chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth air transfer.

Originally it was thought that rescuers, even trained, non-professionals would need 4 seconds to switch from compressions to air transfer. The reality is an average of 16 seconds. “Eager” medical students have been found (and they are healthy, young people) to need 14 seconds. Each of those seconds is time lost, brain cells lost, survival chances lessened.

"But when you stop chest compressions to give mouth-to-mouth ventilations, no blood is moved and the organs essentially are starved.” Dr. Ewy said, “In fact, during CPR, blood flow to the brain and the organs is so poor that stopping chest compression for any reason - including so called 'rescue breathing' - is not helpful."

About 490,000 Americans die yearly from cardiac arrest out-of-hospital. Even with life-saving efforts the survival rate over the last 20 years has remained a pretty sad 1-3% in large cities (without external defibrillators which this study does not include). The 300% improvement means a 9% survival rate which is not comforting for the other 91%. But it is a big improvement. Somehow my wife is one of the 1-9% and that pleases me. An earlier study in the American Journal of Medicine showed EMS people in two Wisconsin counties were able to bring their survival rates from 15 to 58% in cardiac arrest cases where the heart had a “shockable heart rhythm” -- was “quivering” rather than beating but could still be shocked by a defibrillator into normal beating -- and where they used the new CCR protocol. I was very unhappy during my recent problems to realize that the automatic defibrillator in my chest did not come with jumper cables. Hopefully Guidant will soon fix that oversight. All I needed was little Radio Shack wires with alligator clips from nipple to nipple and red and black markers and all would have been well.

Check with the American Heart Association for more informacion about classes in your area.

Hay mas informaciòn en el sitio del AHA en Español.

Then check with the American Red Cross for the availability of first aid and CPR courses in your community. It is a little time and some energy but they do it so well that it will stay with you in case or until you need it so desperately that you will never forgive yourself if you didn't put out that effort.

The Mayo Clinic has a good on-line first aid guide. The Clinic site is also helpful with information on many topics and a weekly email newsletter.

Dr. Ewy's team also found that the technique that eliminates mouth-to-mouth will entice far more people to learn it and perform the technique.

Members of the UA Sarver Heart Center CPR Research Group started the "Be a Lifesaver" program to teach the new approach to the public at no charge. Bystander Cardiocerebral Resuscitation is easy to learn and easy to remember. To learn more about the program and to watch an instructional video online, visit their teaching site.

The new technique shows a survival rate after cardiac arrest 300% better according to “Gordon A. Ewy, director of UA Sarver Heart Center, where the new approach was developed. Ewy is one of few people in the world named a "CPR Giant" by the American Heart Association.”

Their new technique tends to downplay mouth-to-mouth in favor of chest compressions. Dr. Ewy explained that "In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the brain and the heart need resuscitation, not the lungs,"

In my case I wrote about it almost a year ago when my wife suffered sudden death syndrome. Sadly, here in the jungle, where I do have a fine cardiologist, she wanted the local ÒdoctorÓ who was charming and came to the house. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a totally incompetent, dishonest, immoral quack who, in the US, could be sued and his licence taken. Here, it is not worth the effort to try.

However, as an aside, tourists and visitors to Mexico and other “developing” nations should investigate medical evacuation insurance. The air ambulance from Miami/Fort Lauderdale takes about a day or so to arrange, requires about $13000US cash or credit card in hand before they will even lift off from Florida and then 3 hours round trip. It is not something to be taken lightly. We residents don't have the option of the insurance and, as good as our Equitable major medical policy is, it will not reimburse air ambulance fees except in limited situations in the USA.

I here add a quoted text from the Medical News Today story. I want it exact and I am not a medical professional and I sincerely hope that many people will visit these sites and consider one of the fine courses the AHA or the Red Cross offer.

Bystander Cardiocerebral Resuscitation involves three simple steps:

1. Direct someone to call 911 or make the call yourself.

2. Position the patient on the floor. Place the heel of one hand on the center of the chest with the other hand on top of the first. Lock your elbows and perform forceful chest compressions at a rate of 100 per minute. Lift your hands slightly after each push to allow chest to recoil. Take turns with a bystander until paramedics arrive.

3. If an automated external defibrillator (AED) is available, attach it to the patient and follow the machine's voice instructions. Otherwise, keep pumping.

NOTE: Gasping is not an indication of normal breathing or recovery. Initiate and continue compressions even if patient gasps. For cases of suspected drowning, drug overdose or collapse in children, follow guideline CPR (2 mouth-to-mouth breaths for every 30 chest compressions).

I also want to make sure people understand that medicine in Mexico, especially here on the edge of the jungle far from urban areas except for the tourist havens of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, is 50-100 years behind the US. If something bad happens here you don't have a lot of help. The one local doctor was incompetent, unprofessional, immoral and uncaring enough to be incarcerated elsewhere.

However, and it is an important “however”, all physicians are not created equal in the US, UK or here. We have a very fine cardiologist in the nearest city, Chetumal, who has cared for my heart for the past 8 years and now has my wife's under control with medications. The damage to her heart was slight and I seem to have somehow ventilated her brain enough so the major loss seems to be some of her sense of humour – and that may come from the damage I did to cartilege in her chest during the compressions I gave when I realized that my heart would not allow me to continue more that a few seconds more and I gave it “my all” which was a bit too much but started her heart. This cardiologist is equal to or better than my upstate New York cardiologists after my heart attack, charmed my wife, and has enough equipment to make his diagnosis, enough competence and compassion to control the situation. In him we hit the jackpot as much as the local barefoot doctor should be hung by his primitive toes.

Take the course. Visit the sites. Consider that someday, somehow, for some reason you might need the knowledge of how to save a life. Think how you will feel if you don't know what to do.

Health and wellness

Will Your Doctor Google You?

2006-11-13T23:56:00.000-04:00

A new study from Australia has purported to show that physicians faced with difficult cases would benefit from Googling the symptoms and the disease or treatments. Not all the medical profession is jumping into the great search engine of the Internet. I was intriqued by the present and future possibilities and the alternatives for physicians now who use the Web for professional information.

Medical News Today reported in “Google Good Source For Doctors To Diagnose Hard Cases” by Christian Nordqvist that researchers from Brisbane, Australia (as reported in the British Medical Journal ) that using Google to search for information in difficult medical cases was helpful 58% of the time.

Medicine man outside his teepee. From the National Institute of Health.

The basis of the study was that physicians needed ever higher amounts of knowledge to accurately diagnose illnesses – especially those that are less ordinary. The two they used (of 26 “hard-to-diagnose” cases) had been found in the New England Journal of Medicine were Cushing's syndrome and CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease).

The report showed that the physicians used 3 to 5 search words in Google for each medical case. Theoretically, they did not know what the correct diagnosis should be beforehand. The three highest ranked diagnoses based on symptomatology (when compared with the New England Journal were taken. “They say that 58% of diagnoses carried out using Google searches were correct.”

The British Medical Journal reports the results as the Google searches came up with a correct diagnosis in 15 cases which translates to 58% of the time – which shows a “ 95% confidence interval 38% to 77%.

They conclude “As internet access becomes more readily available in outpatient clinics and hospital wards, the web is rapidly becoming an important clinical tool for doctors. The use of web based searching may help doctors to diagnose difficult cases.”

What I found the most interesting in these articles about a mass data search for important diagnostic tools in medical treatments was not the somewhat simplistic study but the response in the comments (just like Blogcritics, medical people can now discuss medical journal articles as they appear) section of the BMJ. The first was Dr. Joseph
Britto who is the CEO and Clinical Director of Isabel Healthcare Inc. in Reston, Virginia which provides an Internet-based DDSS (diagnosis decision support system) for professional healthcare providers. His system he feels far superior and more professional for medicos. I must quote him since the programming math is far beyond me. His “Isabel” system,

uses natural language processing algorithms that searches by context and meaning a databse of medical textbooks and journals - to understand’ rather than just ‘find’. Isabel suggests diagnoses rather than documents and these diagnoses are filtered using the patient’s age, gender, pregnancy state and geographical-region prevalence heuristics. Further, as a quality metric, we analyze and make available on Isabel results of Isabel’s diagnostic performance on current NEJM CPC cases. A study submitted for publication looked at Isabel’s performance on 50 NEJM CPC cases from 2005 using whole text data entry [entire case presentation cut and pasted verbatim] and entry of extracted clinical features. Isabel came up with the final diagnosis in 74% and 96% respectively.

Joy Kennedy, a reference librarian from Virginia, commented that she was initially shocked at the idea of using Google for such technical research but then decided that “...By using Google to search the web, they were essentially doing a fulltext search of a giant database. Admittedly this database contains good, bad and indifferent material but the concept is not an unreasonable one. There is great value in searching the fulltext of journal articles, tables of content of books and other, more reputable tools...”

Similarly an Emergency Physician from Spokane noted that “...One can imagine the benefit to young doctors in developing country who now have access to a grand medical library in their hands.”

Not only can a young doctor in a developing country use the giant search engine to figure out what is going on in the system of his patient, but the expatriate or traveler on the edge of the jungle in a developing country can use it to help with the self-care that is necessary when you are far from first world resources.

Here in Mexico a medical emergency is going on with my wife and the medical resources are limited to my excellent cardiologist and little else. Medicine is decades behind and this jungle-edge area is even further removed from modern practices or cleanliness. The idea of Internet advice for third-world doctors and searches (Google or otherwise) available to help young and poorly-educated physicians seems like a worthy goal for Google and for services like Isabel. In medicine and the sciences, the more information, the better the service.

My little test of Google was to search “Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever.” which produced 290,000 results. They were primarily of the layman's type and included warnings of symptoms and outbreaks in places like Puerto Escondido and CDC travelers' warnings. I chose the subject which may not be a difficult diagnosis for most physicians who have any contact with tropical, contagious diseases but there were also sites such as the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health which showed more substantial articles on what is now considered an world-wide pandemic. It had piqued my interest after the brother-in-law of our bodyguard survived a bad attack just recently. A judicial policeman in an area of cruise ship excursions, rich part-time visitors and poor fishermen; the mosquitos found him anyway. A Mexican doctor would probably be able to diagose it quickly. A North Dakotan might not immediately recognize the symptoms.

With my limited knowledge of both information technology and medicine, it is my belief that any addition to the arsenal of information available to medical professionals in both the developed and undeveloped world will be of immense benefit to global health and to the hope of stopping or slowing the scourges of pandemics that continue into the 21st century like dengue, polio, avian flu and others.

Health
Internet

Don't Believe Everything You Read On The Net

2006-11-07T18:08:00.000-04:00

Christopher Wanjek, the Live Science Bad Medicine blogger/columnist reported on a recent study by the Pew Internet Project about the abundance of unsubstantiated trust many people put into health reports they have found on the Internet. Millions use the Internet to search for explanations, treatments and alternatives to health problems from the minor to the serious, possibly fatal illnesses. They are not always discerning in their reading said the Pew study.

It seems that 25% of the people who search the 'Net for health information do NOT check the sites and statements for date, source information or other indications of veracity and applicability to their needs. It is a dangerous situation. According to these figures 110 million Americans search the Net for information on matters of health. It is, writes Wanjek as "Bad Medicine" columnist, a dangerous situation because of the plethora of bad or questionable facts and advice available on the Web.

On the other hand, how large a percentage of print media readers checked out each article of health interest by looking at journals and study results? One of Wanjek's suggestions was to use common sense – something which is too often in short supply. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

He specifically offers the example of (he suggests) taking a deep breath and running a search on "urine therapy". I followed his advice and found that Google had pages of links on this “therapy”. I had never even thought of let alone considered it nor will I try it even to offer proof for the facts of this article. Sorry. Biomedx's website -- one of the search results -- sounds scientific but introduces its' urine therapy page by stating that,

Urine therapy can be a very effective healing modality. Sometimes when all else fails, urine therapy will turn a person around. We will be covering some of the reasons why this may be so, and in that regard will lightly touch on homeopathy and isopathy. Both of these concepts are often discussed by holistic practitioners. You will get a deeper understanding of isopathy as it is touched on here if you take the Rot & Rust Tour in one of the educational sections of this website.

Another likely site that includes this liquid treat is Shirley's Wellness Cafe. The name of the site may not sound as scientific as "Biomedx" but it surely encourages this same "therapy". Take a deep breath and enjoy thoughts of using this cure with newly found faith because it is, after all, on the Internet. Who knows what other fine, medical surprises can be found. I can't even think what else to search to come up with as tasty an idea.

One way to check medical sites is to use HONcode , a UN and World Health Organization sponsored site that keeps tabs on immense numbers of medical websites world-wide. The Geneva-based organization was founded after a conference in 1995 to "promote the effective and reliable use of the new technologies for telemedicine in healthcare around the world."

Some seemingly odd and useless treatments are matters of controversy for some people. I consider "chelation therapy", a long series of IV drips to leech "heavy metals" (not the musical variety) from the blood, a piece of expensive, unpleasant and probably useless quackery and left an M.D. who pushed too hard for this (12 years ago) $5000 non-reimbursable series of long treatment. When I wrote this in a BC article, "Health News: The Chelation Therapy Controversy", I heard from people with stories of how much it had helped and how wrong I was. I have read a few books and many web sites on it and continue to survive heart failure without it, but there is, obviously, a difference of opinion. Today, checking the HON website in Geneva, there are articles on the current, major study of whether or not the therapy is valid.

The fact of the matter is that, like those nice Nigerian bank people who are kind enough to offer you millions of dollars in a badly spelled email; think about what you are finding, who wrote it and why, who backs them and how to check the veracity. Go to primary sources which the Net has made easier than ever before. Look for corroboration or other opinions and check that sometimes telling box marked "about". It is surprising how many medical sites are backed by corporate sponsors. However, their involvement does not necessarily mean the advice or resources are not valid. Like everything else -- check it out.

Wanjek also complained about many articles that appeared last year after a study about the health benefits of chocolate. He was not very positive about

Countless vapid news articles last year relayed the news about the chocolate-anticancer link. Readers were left with the impression that candy is good for you; it was the kind of ironic story the press loves to report. Yet a simple jump to the source of that report---to Georgetown University and a press release from its Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center---would have revealed that it's not chocolate candy per say that has anticancer properties: It's an ingredient in cocoa, from which chocolate is made, called pentameric procyanidin.

I wrote one of those articles and I must say that it may or may not have been vapid but I was very careful to make sure that it was not misleading. The source materials were identified and I noted that the study did not suggest the addition of M&M's was therapeutic but that the basic, active ingredients of the chocolate bean was effective and that the study was done with properly unprocessed chocolate. Checking sources and looking for more information is the writer's job -- and the reader's is to try to make sure that what they are reading is reliable as well as interesting, truthful as well as convincing.

However, it is the reader's responsibility to understand that cancer, diabetes and heart disease will not be cured by adding Milky Ways to your cheeseburger, fries and milkshake. Not even when added to your steamed rice, vegetables and salmon.

“Don't believe everything you read” remains the same good advice it has always been.

Health

Guidant ReSynchonization Devices Updated

2006-11-02T21:32:00.000-04:00

Boston Scientific released news today that three of their implanted cardiac re-synchronization devices (Contak 3) will soon have new software which will improve their ability to synchronize the chambers of the heart.

Heart failure patients with these devices -- like me -- should look forward to it especially since the software can be changed digitally during a normal visit using the device's "controller". I must wait until I return to Miami in, perhaps, January or February. Physicians are said to be receiving the new software "in a few weeks". Guidant is now owned by Boston Scientific which was gobbled, I think, by Abbot Labs.

Health

Mexican Journalist Honored

2006-10-28T16:15:00.000-04:00

The blog, The Latin Americanist, which is one of my favorites for news of the region, has noted recently that the Mexican journalist, Elena Poniatowska, was one of four female journalists given the Courage in Journalism award by the International Women’s Media Foundation.

Current Affairs

Absentee Ballots for Expatriates

2006-10-19T11:55:00.000-04:00

We just received another reminder to register, request a ballot for the November election way back home and a chart/link to requirements and dates for each state.

The e-letter was from Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic Party. So?

If you are Republican, Libertarian, Socialist, Minutemen, Wiccas or anything else a free society allows; make sure you can and do vote.

If you have not yet requested a ballot, there may still be time to do that! Find your state's deadline here:

The Federal government provides a handy back-up: the FWAB, or Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot. You can obtain your FWAB at http://www.VoteFromAbroad.org.

If your requested ballot has not arrived by October 24 - two weeks before Election Day - you can download a FWAB here:

If you have not yet requested a ballot, there may still be time to do that! Guidelines for each state and its' deadlines can be accessed on the 'Net.

Information from the Democratic Party for any party you want to vote for -- it's secret back home.

Politics

Resources For Expatriates, Travelers and Military

2006-10-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

I will be working on resource links for expatriates and military families but I will start with this short list:

American Citizens Abroad One of the best sites. It is non-profit on voting and resources to help US citizens living elsewhere.

Network For Living Abroad A more commercial site with resources and links

Official State Dept site: includes press releases, passport affairs, embassy and consulate directories

The State Department's Travel and Business page

A fine site for people with diabilities
Mobility International USA Empowering people with disabilities around the world to achieve their human rights through international exchange and international development.

Good currency converter for 160 or so currencies interbank, cash, credit card rates. by Forex that wants to sell currency investing. Mac users are not welcome to their trading but the converter works

NMFA National Military Family Association
A useful site for military personnel and families

Official Defense Dept site

MilitaryOneSource
Site for familes and deployment

This is the barest tip of the iceberg. There are books, guides and help for those of you who find yourselves living away from home.

Sooner or later I will review a terrific film by Andy Garcia, The Lost City about the revolution and the break-up of families as people fled the changes in Cuba. Many became expatriated in the United States.

Expatriates
US Government

Food Chains Sued Over Grilled Chicken Dangers

2006-09-30T16:00:00.000-04:00

Between the obesity epidemic, growing levels of diabetes and heart disease related illnesses, people need to be aware of the dangers of corporate food. One group of US doctors is suing several of the giant, junk food purveyors for failing to mention a carcinogenic substance in their grilled chicken. Even salads are declared unsafe.

A US doctors' group has filed a lawsuit against seven leading fast-food chains including McDonald's and Burger King over their use of a "dangerous carcinogenic" in grilled chicken.

In other countries (like here in Mexico) the danger is lessened. Junk food chains are expensive alternatives to real food here. Sadly, advertising budgets are huge for the less developed world, the desire to have what the Americans have, and the assumption that because the food is expensive it must be good make the chains a dangerous US export.

Health

Spice Up Your Life, Health and Sex

2006-09-24T16:04:00.000-04:00

Spices have caught my interest. There is so much to read and so much to know. That ignores the best parts -- so much to smell and taste.

I am writing an article on spices and health that is more complete than the earlier article. This picture surfaced now that my film scanner is finally re-installed and working. It is shared for now and later may be part of the article unless I have found more.

Health
Food

Editors' Picks at Blogcritics

2006-09-22T13:26:00.000-04:00

During the past two weeks the editors at Blogcritics have chosen three articles of mine as Editors Picks. I enjoy the honor especially with BC publishing more and more people, more and more good articles. Also, fighting depression, any recognition is important.

Visit: "Chocolate Does Good Things For You", the movie review for Easy Rider and the "Book Review: 1776 by David McCollough".

Movies
Books
Health

Spice Up Your Health

2006-09-17T13:56:00.000-04:00

The Chicago Tribune recently reported on a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that spices are showing huge amounts of disease-protecting anti-oxidants. These anti-oxidative elements may help prevent cancer, heart disease, diabetes and even Alzheimer's. Measure for measure these spices may have more antti-oxidants than some fruits and vegetables.

Tumeric image from the UCLA Biomedical Library site with an index of spices. This site is a marvelous directory of the history and properties of spices with great pictures. It is definitely worth a visit for all cooks and food-lovers.

Cinnamon, they discovered, is one of the richest sources of disease-fighters and is being investigated for its anti-bacterial and anti-microbial effects.

Previous studies that have tested cinnamon on people with type 2 diabetes have found that as little as 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon a day can help lower the risk of the constellation of factors associated with metabolic syndrome -- high blood cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose levels -- by as much as 10 to 30 percent. Having metabolic syndrome puts you at increased risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Ginger has huge amounts of anti-oxidants along with being known for centuries as an antidote to nausea and motion-sickness. The active ingredient of gingerol may also fight a number of diseases and may be found to be an anti-inflammatory.

Oregano surprised even a spice-lover like me:

An antioxidant powerhouse, fresh oregano, on a per gram basis, has 42 times more antioxidant activity than an apple, 12 times more than an orange and 4 times more than blueberries. Of all the herbs studied, three different types of oregano -- Mexican, Italian and Greek Mountain -- scored highest in antioxidant activity, a USDA study showed. Other herbs that pack an antioxidant punch include coriander, bay leaf, dill, rosemary and savory.

The purple crocus which is used to make saffron -- also from UCLA Biomedical Library.

Tumeric, a major ingredient in curries, has a distinct, yellow color. I use or used it in egg-white dishes to simulate the color of egg yolk and in rice to substitute for saffron which is often difficult to get and expensive. The study also shows that tumeric (a key ingredient in curry)

...can help protect the brain against oxidative damage that might contribute to the development of dementia and Alzheimer's by thwarting the development of destructive brain plaques and easing inflammation that could exacerbate the disease.

Curcumin (the active element in tumeric) may also help with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that prevents the body from making the secretions needed to breathe and digest food. Studies in mice show curcumin assists with the release of a protein allowing for normal secretions. And curcumin is being studied for its potential role in inhibiting the proliferation of colon, pancreatic and multiple myeloma cells.

Health
Food

NOVEMBER ELECTION AND ABSENTEE BALLOTS

2006-09-13T14:20:00.000-04:00

Take note of this message from Tell An American To Vote.com

7 Myths About Overseas Voting

Myth #1: "Americans don't vote again until 2008."
WRONG. Americans go to the polls on November 7, 2006 for what we call "mid-term elections". All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate (33 seats) are up for election. For US citizens living abroad, it is important to request an absentee ballot as soon as possible to allow for processing time and international post.

Myth #2: "I can't vote. I don't have a US address anymore."
WRONG. Regardless how long you have lived outside the country, you always retain the right to vote in US Federal elections. Your legal voting address is the last place you resided prior to departing the US. (If you have never lived in the US, many states will allow you to vote using the legal voting address of one of your American parents. Check with local authorities.)

Myth #3: "I don't need to register. I already did it last time."
WRONG. Voters living abroad should mail in a ballot request every election year. Yes, there is a recent Federal law stating that a single ballot request should be valid for four years. And there are some exceptions, like California which permits "permanent absentee" registration. But, don't forget that our votes are administered by 3,000 different local authorities across the country, each with its own understanding of the law. Better safe than sorry - send a new ballot request each election year!

Myth #4: "They don't even count overseas ballots."
WRONG. Absolutely 100% false. By law, every properly executed absentee ballot must be counted before a final vote count can be certified. However, if the number of outstanding ballots - overseas or otherwise - is smaller than the difference between two candidates, a winner may be called before every last vote has been tallied. But all outstanding ballots are counted before the election result is certified.

Myth #5: "One vote can't make a difference."
WRONG. Just look at recent election results. Florida 2000: George W. Bush wins the state by a margin of 537 votes. Washington 2004: Democrat Christine Gregoire becomes Governor by just 127 votes. Ohio 2006: The race for a seat on the Erie County Democratic Committee ends in a dead tie!

Myth #6: "If I vote, the IRS will hassle me."
WRONG. Voting in US Federal elections does not affect the determination of tax residence. You will not hear from the IRS because you voted in a Federal election, i.e. President, Senate, or House of Representatives. (Note: Voting in state and local elections can potentially affect state and local tax status. We recommend that you seek expert advice before voting in state or local elections.)

Myth #7: "Voting from abroad is so complicated."
WRONG. This used to be true! But now, US citizens can complete the entire process of requesting an absentee ballot - and spread the word to friends and colleagues! - in just two minutes flat. Find out how at www.TellAnAmericanToVote.com.
--
In November, US citizens will be electing:
33 senators
36 governors
and 435 members of the House of Representatives.

Voting from abroad means thinking ahead!

The site will help with obtaining absentee ballots from the state and county where you last resided.

Politics

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Not Always So Sudden

2006-09-10T03:34:00.000-04:00

S.D.S. is not a radical group from the Sixties. They gave good parties and I enjoyed them but this is about Sudden Death Syndrome.

This is about staying alive. People with known cardiac problems are most affected. However, cardiac arrest happens to others as well. You are alive and then you are not.

I follow articles about such depressing topics because I suffer CHF (congestive heart failure) and, they like to tell me, I am extreme risk for SDS. They put an automatic defibrillator (with other junk) in my chest saying “... because you live in the jungle...”

However, I am not alone. People with previously known cardiac problems – heart attack, angina, rhythm disturbances, etc.-- are at risk. People with high risk factors – age, smoking, obesity, and other “life-style” problems also run a risk. And people (both sexes)face the risk that hidden problems might surface.

This week, though, a new report takes some of the fear away. It does not suggest that there is less possibility of cardiac arrest. The study shows that more warning signs appear before “sudden” death arrives. There is often time to get help.

This is another of my pleas for people to be aware of the dangers and aware that rapid action absolutely, positively, truly, really, definitely, incredibly and without a doubt can save lives. Even yours.

WebMD reported on 8 September that “People May Have Symptoms 2 Hours Before Cardiac Arrest”. They reported on a new study that showed signs of cardiac arrest begin, on average, two hours before the actual attack. It also says that up to two-thirds of the victims have a history of heart disease. The symptoms of chest pain (angina) and breathlessness (shortness of breath – known to paramedics as S.O.B.) are often recognizable and could provide a chance to get help before it is too late.

"Our study suggests that shifting the focus to educating high-risk patients and families may lead to earlier recognition, a quicker call to the emergency medical system (EMS), a higher percentage of bystander CPR [cardio pulmonary resuscitation], and thus to a higher probability of survival in patients with sudden cardiac death," says researcher Dirk Muller, MD, PhD, of the University of Berlin, in a news release.

The American Heart Association reports that over 300,000 people die yearly from heart disease – usually as a result of cardiac arrest. They die before the get to the hospital, at home or in the emergency room.

The Berlin study that was quoted used 406 cases of cardiac arrest out of about 5000 responses for emergency medical treatment by a “mobile intensive care unit”. Seventy-two percent of the cases happened at home. The most common sign of impending attack was angina (chest pain) that lasted from 20 minutes to 10 hours. Furthermore 106 of 352 had a cardiac history and 16 had previously suffered cardiac arrest. There was a median period of chest pain of two hours prior to cardiac arrest. I know first-hand how easy it is to deny horrible fears and ignore warning signs. I did it with the heart attack. But fast action without fear of embarrassment or ridicule is of the utmost necessity.

Other indicators were breathlessness in 17% of the people studied for during at least 10 minutes prior to the attack and 7% showed nausea and vomiting for 90 minutes. In much of America medical help is within 10 to 20 minutes and in cities it might be even quicker. Don't wait to see if you can make a deal with God -- “Just let this be indigestion and I'll be so good...”. Cardiac arrest happens far more often than the gods make deals with mortals.

Many attacks happen in front of others. In 57 cases in the study, “bystanders” administered CPR. 13 of the people survived (23%). Where CPR or other life-saving techniques were not given, 4% survived.

Dirk Muller, the doctor running the study at the U. of Berlin wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association that "Training and prevention efforts should be focused on how to recognize the emergency, CPR training, and automated external defibrillator (AED) use."

After my heart attack in 1994 a much younger friend – probably about 30 to my 47 – suffered chest pains during a heavy-duty basketball game. Knowing him, it was probably with his brothers and filled with sibling rivalry. He went to the emergency room where he was told it was only too much exertion. The brothers teased him unmercifully.

I didn't. A little teasing is far better than death or 12 years of living with severe limitations and pain.

If you are at risk and know it or if you suffer from chest pain, breathlessness beyond what is normal for you, if you think that you are having a heart attack; do not think too long, make any deal with God, hide under the covers or have another cigarette. Call your doctor or dial 911.

Health

Becoming Expatriated

2006-09-02T13:21:00.000-04:00

Down to the Banana Republics, down to the tropical sun
Go the expatriated Americans, hopin' to find some fun
Some of them go for the sailing, caught by the lure of the sea
Tryin' to find what is ailing, livin' in the land of the free

Some of them are running from lovers, leaving no foreward address
Some of them are running tons of ganja
Some are running from the I.R.S.

Chorus:
Late at night you will find them
In the cheap hotels and bars
Hustling the senioritas while they dance beneath the stars
Spending those renegade pesos on a bottle of rum and a lime
Singin' give me some words I can dance to
Or a melody that rhymes

First you learn the native customs
soon a word of spanish or two
You know that you cannot trust them
'Cause they know they can't trust you
Expatriated Americans feelin' so all alone
Telling themselves the same lies
That they told themselves back home

("Banana Republics" - Jimmy Buffet
From the album CHANGES IN LATITUDES CHANGES I
By: Steve Goodman, Jim Rothermel, Steve Burgh. 1977)

Violence exploded in the Middle East recently. I was catalyzed to think of expatriates like myself. Miscalculation by barbarian terrorists led to a little bit of a war. Lebanon was, its' hotels finally full again as it began to recover from a costly civil war; filled with foreigners. Suddenly they were rushing to asylum and needing military protection to get out. U.S. marines finally arrived to help U.S. citizens, the French had many thousands of its citizens to rescue and other countries worked to evacuate foreign service workers, tourists, business people and... expatriates from many countries.

So why am I here in Mexico rather than home? What makes an expatriate? How did it happen to me? Are we ex-patriots? Why here and not some other somewhere? What happens when paradise meets violence? America cries over immigrants looking to work but gives them (normally) civil rights and protection. What happens to expatriates when the bombs fall, the terrorists send rockets, the guerillas arrive or the local anti-Americans make violence in that piece of paradise where you live? Does the consulate race to protect, does the country care about the foreigners in its' midst, where does the man without a country run? It is a question of the nature of being American whether living in Kansas, San Juan, Barcelona, Beirut or Bacalar.

My diaries and observations as an expatriate in relatively peaceful Mexico have languished. I had given up on this personal journal of life away from "home" as too difficult. In this case personal observations are also global and political. They are about the state of the world, the severe divisions and divisive economics of America, about health and being one's own doctor. There is a theme I cannot help about staying alive after a heart attack, surviving heart failure and watching the medical news for stories of medications, procedures, diets and studies. But that, too, comes under the label of "how I became expatriated" or "why" and, ask people in the States, "why there"?

I always hoped to be one of those American artists-writers expatriated to the Left Bank to become part of an Utrillo city-scape. That was in the days just as the Hippies replaced the Beats. That was when the world was smaller and younger. Perhaps we were more innocent. Instead I grew slowly older and hustled clients and made pictures until the genetic jokester dealt my heart a blow. Now it isn't Paris but Bacalar, a small, Mayan village on the shore of a beautiful but now useless lagoon near the Mexican border with Belize. It was as far as my Bronco wanted to take us and seemed like paradise ten years ago. It isn't Paris and there is no "American community", there is no Mary Cassat nor Gertrude Stein, Fitzgerald and Zelda. Ernest isn't nearby in Cuba. It is a village that has gone, in those ten years, from tranquil and undeveloped, somewhat unknown, called in Lonely Planet a "hot, sweaty" area worth a stop to see the Lagoon of the Seven Colors (La Laguna de las Siete Colores) to the next booming area of Mexico. Development has, however, brought violence, pollution and acts of violence against Americans. It is what we Americans call "progress".

Whether here or in Paris the expatriate is cut from the same cloth. The cloth is of many colors and political persuasions. The crux of the matter is that he (for want of a better pronoun since I, myself, am a he) is no longer in the country of his birth nor his passport. In a sense he is alone. Many live in "American communities" but they are not the same as communities in America. Certainly Bacalar is not Woodstock. Woodstock is unique -- a village of artists, old hippies and new ex-urban over-consumers. We left it nearly ten years ago. I miss much about it, about the mid-Hudson Valley and about being near the City -- where the arts make noise and take up space. I miss the museums and galleries and the pretentious citified nature of the city-people. I miss the snow and, before my health forbid me to play in it, sitting in the woods very alone and very quiet with my friends the trees, my axe, and the deer who looked up at me with a snort.

There are "American communties" outside the US (San Miguel de Allende, Cancun, Ambergis Caye, Tegucigalpa, San Josè, Roatan ...) but they are merely grafted onto a foreign culture. They set two groups of expatriates apart -- those who cling to the home culture (I even met an Argentinian woman here longing for her home in Argentina. It is, this perfect looking Aryan doll told me, is the re-creation of a Bavarian village complete with a beer festival) and those who want to enter into the culture of their new home. "Going native", said the English.

Right now there are more tourists coming here all the time from the cruise ships at Mahajual and in a steady trickle to dream of buying a place in "paradise" for a song. Some pay the piper and do. With increasing speed the area changes and the song is more expensive. With increasing speed there is more crime and violence.

When I was but small as the knee part of a grasshopper I saw (without understanding it) The Man Without A Country and wondered and worried of his life and future. Someone without a country seemed to be like someone without a family. Children react to that. To be without a family is to be alone and bereft, orphaned and uncared for; and, most of all, scared. I always wanted to have a country and to know my place in it but that has always been a difficult goal to achieve. It can be as hard in Tampa as in Bacalar or Padua to know where you should be, how to think and what to believe. It was easier in the U.S. because of those years of flag salutes and bible readings and group prayers the schools forced on us. We were taught what we were (Americans, rah-rah-rah!) and who we were (White Christians) and how we would live and think (as we were told to, of course). We would work and go to church and grow children and lush lawns, drink beer, eat hot dogs and Bar-B-Q, and watch the game.

There are so many Americans living not- in- America that the population of expatriates approximates some states. They live in Israel, Mexico, St. Thomas, Eastern Europe, France, South America, Central America, I have a friend who emailed me from Cambodia, and there are even some in the Arab world. We, like some in other hotspots, have had anti-American violence touch our lives. But we are home here, at least for now, and not in a position to spend huge amounts of energy looking for another country and moving to it. Like those who stay in violent U.S. cities, the old neighborhood and the urban homesteaders; we live here and will go on in spite of the dangers. That is being an expatriate -- to be partly in paradise and partly not, partly at home but never fully at home even when it has become home.

That, you will say, doesn't give the answers. I say, worse yet, I have not even figured out all the questions to ask myself. Why? What next? What else? How to...? When to...? Why should I...? How safe, how cheap, how expensive, how is the medical, the health, the housing, the food, the local people, the politics, the violence, the corruption...? It goes like life. You do what you do and live as you live and the world trundles on with its' troubles and my troubles and maybe you have troubles too. There is tomorrow, maybe, and will it bring sun or rain, winds or not, and there are movies in Spanish and DVDs in English and books in English and old stories and new observations. There is food to buy and prepare and, except that other people clean up the jungle insects and take out the garbage, life is life just as it is at home. Only the landscape and the jungle noises change.

Did I answer your questions about the nature of expatriating, whether to leave home for parts little known, what to do when you get there and when to head back? I seriously doubt it. We live secured in a walled property with a guard who is sometimes a body-guard, a tough enough ex-Mexican paratrooper. Could we live here as people live in the States -- behind a picket fence with a front door beckoning visitors and without a guard? Not really. However, there is also the garden and the sunshine, the colors of tropical plants and the diet that is limited but fresh. There are not the insane taxes of New York. There is not the expensive driving needed in the States since Mexicans cluster together and eschew suburbia which would interfere with siesta and family. They also often live with their businesses because of the level of theft. So "where", you ask, "are the answers?" I am working on the questions and the stories and can only hope a few answers happen by.

VISIT THE EX.PATRIATE.D STORE ON LINE FOR TRAVEL SUPPLIES

Mexico
Travel
Life

The Death Of The Passenger Ship Era

2006-08-25T19:53:00.000-04:00

Photo ©Beringer-Dratch.
American Heritage magazine on-line recently published a reminder of the collision of one of the last, great passenger liners for regular trans-Atlantic crossings, the Andrea Doria. She was hit by the Stockholm on 25 July 1956 about 50 miles south of Nantucket.

It is a great story of the end of an era that those of us who cannot fly and must make crossings -- for me from Mexico to Miami -- regret. The romance of it all is also a memory. Now there are cruise ships which I will be writing more about since I use them so much. But it is not the same.

The crux of the Andrea Doria story is that

A $30-million ship had been lost and 51 persons had died, but seamen had also pulled off the greatest peacetime rescue in history, saving more than 1,600 lives.

Travel
History

White Wines Equal To Red In Health Benefits

2006-08-20T02:52:00.000-04:00

I always thought white and red wine would both be good for the heart. Now Web MD reports,

White wine fans, raise your glasses! A new study suggests the lighter wines may be just as good for the heart as red.

Until now, research has suggested the bulk of grapes' heart-healthy benefits come from antioxidant compounds primarily found in their skins. These compounds are called anthocyanins and contribute to the red color of the fruit.

In the making of red wines, the grape skins are crushed along with the pulp. But the skins are quickly separated out during the making of most white wines.

That led to the conventional belief that red wines, which contain more of these compounds, are responsible for the drink's beneficial effects in fighting heart disease.

But researchers say new evidence suggests the pulp of grapes appears to be just as heart-healthy as the skin, thanks to other types of antioxidants present in the flesh.

Health
Food and Drink

Teens Don't Know How To Do What?

2006-08-14T01:08:00.000-04:00

There has been a great deal of worry in the US about the state of literacy and education of the young. The great schools with the highest standards still attract and educate. Many other schools spoon-feed vocational courses into lethargic kids. However, new studies that prove teenagers in Britain and the United States do not know how to use condoms are disconcerting.

An interesting Fox.com article in 2002 by Glenn Harlan Reynolds, "Teen Sex and Media Hype" makes a good point about the infantalization of teens in our society. He wrote of teens coddled to the point where they did not have to accept responsibilities nor to act in constructive paths. Perhaps, he mused, if they were, they would behave in the role of citizens and be less like the traditionally irresponsible leisure classes "... with all the vices that have historically attended leisure classes."

He also noted that treating them as infants in growing and sexual bodies keeps them from developing the "base of judgment and self-respect" that allows for appropriate decision-making. Appropriate decisions imply deciding when they are ready for sex (always a difficult choice given the flooded hormonal circuits of the adolescent) and should be better about learning about and taking responsible precautions.

The forces against science and knowledge and even a group who are opposed to education about sex (hard to imagine, isn't it?) continue to dominate school boards or try to. More than a few times they have managed to ban books and work their censorship incantations over library choices.

It is not a slight lessening of intellectual interest in young people that is the problem. This week's report from the U.K. proves that the world faces a real problem of dumbness (or is it numb-ness?)

USA Today published the article, "Report: Teenagers often shun condoms" early in the month. It reported on a study appearing from Child Trends, a not-for-profit agency in Washington, D.C. that those teens who are sexually active do not use condoms regularly. This activity puts them in danger of acquiring STDs, passing them and creating pregnancies.

Almost fifty percent of the male teens who were sexually active, during the year before the survey, said they regularly employed a condom. Only 28% of the girls reported that one had been used.

Their good news was that,

Efforts to promote contraceptive use may be having an effect. The teen birth rate has been declining: in 2004 it was 41.2 births per 1,000 girls ages 15-19, down from a peak of 61.8 births per 1,000 in 1991, says Child Trends' Kerry Franzetta, lead author of the report.

Medicinenet reported on a study of 1373 British teenagers done by London's National Children's Bureau. Get ready! The title of the article was, "Many Teens Use Condoms Incorrectly". This is a hard one to believe but read it I did. We knew teens have sex (I did and it was fun). We know those who have sex should use condoms to protect against STDs and unwanted pregnancies. How could anyone have guessed they couldn't figure out what to do with a rubber cylinder and a, dare I write it, penis? How many teenagers does it take to stick it on before the fun begins and take it off after it's over? Quite a few, it seems.

In the London study published in the online edition of The Journal of Sexually Transmitted Infections the 1373 were interviewed and, where possible their diaries were examined. About half reported that they had had vaginal intercourse and two-thirds of them said they used a condom the last time they had sex.

Does that mean they are protected against sexually transmitted diseases? Not necessarily. Hatherall and colleagues find that 6% of the kids (who had reported that they used a condom the last time they had sex) said they put the condom on after vaginal penetration -- and 6% said they continued vaginal penetration after condom removal.

There is room to worry when the arts are ignored and the sciences shunned. Playing video games instead of reading Dickens is sad. Not being attracted to books, libraries, serious film, creative acts and burning with the desire to learn all there is to know is depressing.

An interesting and, probably, worthwhile website is Cool Nurse.com in their section on sexuality says that "Despite our collective wish that teenagers postpone sexual activity until adulthood, the reality is that more than half of them will not wait." This is hardly a new phenomenon in the growth process. This is not an American problem even though "... we do have the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of adolescent pregnancies among the world’s industrial countries." The most important distinction between the U.S. and the other "advanced" countries (where teens are at least as sexually active as are ours) is that the U.S. has failed in the provision of information and access these adolescents need to protect themselves in the battle against STDs (including AIDS) and unwanted pregnancies.

As a result, teenagers rarely use any form of contraception during their first episode of sexual activity and it usually takes about a year before they use any effective birth control method. It is not surprising, therefore, that most teenage pregnancies occur within the first six months after teens begin to have intercourse. Currently, about one million teens become pregnant each year in the United States.

However, consider the intellectual gap that includes not knowing how to use a condom. This is a dangerous place to park your dunce cap. I don't have a teen-ager and I am too old to start one now. But obviously there is something missing in communication at home, in school and in the media. You can tell them "Don't" but they have to have the ability, desire and ready access to information in order to know how to protect themselves.

Health
Education

Meditation Does Lessen Pain

2006-08-11T14:41:00.000-04:00

I have tried it for years with some positive results through a lot of dental work and all those angioplasties and pacing-device insertions. It does help. A study at UC-Irvine, recently published, supports the practice.

My wife uses it heavily after a terrorist attack left her hospitalized for two months and with more than a year of post-operative pain and discomfort.

It isn't morphine but it helps.

Wednesday, Medicine.net published a short article, Transcendental Meditation Lessens Brain's Pain Response saying, in part,

Transcendental meditation may reduce the brain's reaction to pain, say researchers at the University of California, Irvine.

They used neuroimaging to monitor the brains of 12 healthy people who'd been practicing transcendental meditation for 30 years.

These individuals had a 40 percent to 50 percent lower brain response to pain than 12 people in a control group who did not practice transcendental meditation.

N.I.H. funded the Irvine study which was released in the journal, NeuroReport.

Health

Language Affects Medical Care

2006-08-05T03:29:00.000-04:00

This from the New England Journal of Medicine.

The mother went on. "A mí me da miedo porque el lo que estaba mareado, mareado, mareado y no tenía fiebre ni nada." (I'm scared because he's dizzy, dizzy, dizzy, and he didn't have fever or anything.)

Turning to Raul, the physician asked, "OK, so she's saying you look kind of yellow, is that what she's saying?"

Raul interpreted for his mother: "Es que si me vi amarillo?" (Is it that I looked yellow?)

"Estaba como mareado, como pálido" (You were like dizzy, like pale), his mother replied.

Raul turned back to the doctor. "Like I was like paralyzed, something like that," he said.

If Raul received inappropriate care owing to his misinterpretation, he would not be alone. One interpreter, mistranslating for a nurse practitioner, told the mother of a seven-year-old girl with otitis media to put (oral) amoxicillin "in the ears."1 In another case, a Spanish-speaking woman told a resident that her two-year-old had "hit herself" when she fell off her tricycle; the resident misinterpreted two words, understood the fracture to have resulted from abuse, and contacted the Department of Social Services (DSS). DSS sent a worker who, without an interpreter present, had the mother sign over custody of her two children.2 Clearly, catastrophes can and do result from such miscommunication....

Some 49.6 million Americans (18.7 percent of U.S. residents) speak a language other than English at home; 22.3 million (8.4 percent) have limited English proficiency, speaking English less than "very well," according to self-ratings. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of Americans who spoke a language other than English at home grew by 15.1 million (a 47 percent increase), and the number with limited English proficiency grew by 7.3 million (a 53 percent increase, see graph). The numbers are particularly high in some places: in 2000, 40 percent of Californians and 75 percent of Miami residents spoke a language other than English at home, and 20 percent of Californians and 47 percent of Miami residents had limited English proficiency.

Yet many patients who need medical interpreters have no access to them. According to one study, no interpreter was used in 46 percent of emergency department cases involving patients with limited English proficiency.3 Few clinicians receive training in working with interpreters; only 23 percent of U.S. teaching hospitals provide any such training, and most of these make it optional.1 Data collection on patients' primary language and English proficiency is frequently inadequate or nonexistent. Although no federal statutes require the collection of such information, no statute prohibits it, either.

Chinatown. c.1925

This is part of a needed article in the learned journal, The New England Journal Of Medicine for July 20, 2006 by Glenn Flores, M.D. The article also presents a case that could have been prevented and was, obviously, the fault of faulty translations and inadequate multi-lingual staffing.

Inadequate communication can have tragic consequences: in one case, the misinterpretation of a single word led to a patient's delayed care and preventable quadriplegia.1 A Spanish-speaking 18-year-old had stumbled into his girlfriend's home, told her he was "intoxicado," and collapsed. When the girlfriend and her mother repeated the term, the non–Spanish-speaking paramedics took it to mean "intoxicated"; the intended meaning was "nauseated." After more than 36 hours in the hospital being worked up for a drug overdose, the comatose patient was reevaluated and given a diagnosis of intracerebellar hematoma with brain-stem compression and a subdural hematoma secondary to a ruptured artery. (The hospital ended up paying a $71 million malpractice settlement.)

Morality is not, sadly, the first thought of hospital administrators in these days of HMOs, insurance claims and forms, law suits and community pressures. However, $71 million could make some think differently about the need for adequate translation services and multi-lingual staff or just measures to provide translations without expensive staffing patterns.

After eight years here in Mexico with my cardiologist who is wonderful (especially in light of the third world location), I understand the need for clearly understanding each other. Eight years ago I could hardly speak Spanish and he can read and write English but his conversational knowledge is dreadful. We survived the first years and are now friends and I trust him with medications and advice fully (surgery and equipment-related needs wait for trips to Miami).

"Madonna" by Lewis Hine. Ellis Island.

I am reminded also of the book, Interpreter of Maladies, where a tour guide in India describes his work translating for sick people who speak a different language in India to the doctor who treats them. A fine story and an interesting concept of how one translates words that are so difficult -- those that try to describe exactly the amorphous symptoms of illnesses sometimes from one culture to another.

Health
Medicine
Books

British Scientists Develop Bionic Limbs

2006-07-29T04:06:00.000-04:00

The BBC reports on a British breakthrough in the development of more effective artificial limbs. Given terrorist acts, war, disease and accidents, there is a growing understanding of this neglected field.

UK scientists have developed technology that enables artificial limbs to be directly attached to a human skeleton.

The breakthrough, developed by researchers at University College London, allows the prosthesis to breach the skin without risk of infection.

The team says early clinical trials have been "very promising".

It hopes the work - which is to be published in the Journal of Anatomy - may help survivors of the 7 July bombings, as well as other amputees.

The work paves the way for bionic limbs which are controlled by the central nervous system.

The technique is called "Intraosseous Transcutaneous Amputation Prosthesis (ITAP),(which) involves securing a titanium rod directly into the bone."

Science
Health

Eat Mediterranean

2006-07-28T18:32:00.000-04:00

Reuters Health reports that,

Mediterranean-style diets, rich in healthy fats from olive oil or nuts, may be better for the heart than low-fat regimens, a new study shows.

Spanish researchers found that the traditional Mediterranean diet bested a low-fat diet in helping older adults improve their cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. The findings, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, add to evidence that diets rich in healthy fats offer a better heart prescription than diets that limit fat altogether.

Their source for the Barcelona-based study was Annals of Internal Medicine, July 4, 2006.

Health

Have A Drink

2006-07-28T17:08:00.000-04:00

Another study adds to the growing evidence that a drink each day helps lower heart risks and extend life span.

Moreover, the effect appears to be due to something other than alcohol's anti-inflammatory effects, the Florida researchers found. Prior studies have found that light to moderate drinking reduces blood levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6.

"Light to moderate alcohol intake is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease in older subjects," concluded lead author Dr. Cinzia Maraldi, of the Institute on Aging at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

This is the positive news from Steve Reinberg in an article in Health Day.

Health

Quitting Smoking Helps Fast

2006-07-15T23:21:00.000-04:00

A new report in the Doctors' Guide is entitled "Quitting Smoking Improves Lung Function Test Scores by More Than 15% in Less Than 2 Months".

That is amazing and should give impetus to those who truly want to change their "life styles" in order to keep themselves alive. It is not useless to stop smoking because it has been going on so long or because you are no longer so young. The results can be seen much more quickly than thought.

The 14 July report noted

For smokers with asthma, quitting smoking can improve lung function test scores by more than 15% in less than 2 months.

The findings appear in the second issue for July 2006 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.

Neil C. Thomson, MD, of the Departments of Respiratory Medicine and Immunology at the University of Glasgow, and seven associates studied 11 asthmatics who continued to smoke and 10 who quit for six weeks. After only one week of no cigarettes, the researchers said that the lung function test results of the non-smoking patients had improved to a "considerable degree."

Blogging

Stress and Survival

2006-07-05T02:00:00.000-04:00

Gout has layed me low and now I am planning to write about stress before gout. The gout attack which prevented me from walking for some days is responding to Zyloprim (Allopurinol) which, in the US, it is not given for active attacks. Here my cardiologist suggested 600 mg per day for a week and 300 per day for 3 more weeks along with Arcoxia, a COX-2 inhibitor to reduce the inflammation. The side effects for it are so long and so many put me in danger (don't take with CHF, don't take if allergic to apirin, don't take with CAD, etc. etc.) that the only thing to do was to stop reading about it and swallow it. 120 mg for a week. Then, when the attack began again, I started 60 mg a day for 5 days. The swelling appears to be controlled now. The pain is down and I am walking again. There were also some painkillers, Tramacet (all these are the Mexican names) but they were less useful that treating the cause of the outbreak and the inflammation.

I am planning to write on stress shortly. There was an interesting article on studies of stress and heart attack. Moreover, there is the individual's means of dealing with stress and the wide range of responses to stress.

For years the US cardiologists said, "Don't get stressed out. Take it easy..." My Mexican cardiologist spent years saying "No estres! No estres!". In the 12 years since the heart attack the level of stress has risen to phenominal levels and I am still here. What does that say about stress? I am thinking about it and looking for more articles.

This picture proves the point that, when they slice an onion on your head, it is probably too late to worry. The point is: Don't let it get you stressed out!.

GOUT!

2006-06-23T12:44:00.000-04:00

A nasty attack of gout left me unable to walk and in terrible pain. I neglected the posts here. It is beginning to subside after visiting my (excellent) Mexican cardiologist, Ediel Sosa Avila, in Chetumal.

I will be posting more on this nasty disease which is hereditary OR a secondary effect of diuretics used for high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.

Sadly, physicians do not tend to warn that it could suddenly become debilitating which it did years ago. Ediel keeps it normally within tolerable bounds.

I am slowly recovering and will post more later.

Another Pick of the Week from Blogcritics

2006-06-18T17:59:00.000-04:00

This was called "News From The Heart: Cardiologist Donates Blood During Surgery" and was picked as a weekly best of show. Take a look at Blogcritics archived article.

NEWS FROM THE HEART

There are many complaints about the medical profession. There are also heroic doctors at work.

I often post about problems with physicians, errors, insensitivity and the omnipresent police-state tactics governing medications and their studies.

There is also theheroic doctor, the surgeon, in this case, who interrupted cardiac surgery to give blood for a young patient. It this case, reported by the AP, Dr. Weinstein from Westchester County, New York was operating on an 8 year old patient during a mercy mission to El Salvador. The boy needed his rare B negative blood. The doctor took 20 minutes off to give a pint which was given to the boy while he continued the heart valve surgery.

The 43-year-old Weinstein was on a charity trip with Heart Care International when he did the surgery at Bloom Hospital in San Salvador.

In the May 11 operation, which had begun 12 hours earlier, the boy's failing aortic valve was replaced with his pulmonary valve and the pulmonary valve was replaced with an artificial valve.

"The surgery had been going well, everything was working great, but he was bleeding a lot and they didn't have a lot of the medicines we would use to stop the bleeding," Weinstein said.

They were running out of blood to give the boy, Weinstein said. When he asked the boy's blood type, he discovered they were both B-negative.

Weinstein, who said he was an occasional blood donor — "but never like this" — said the interruption to donate a pint lasted about 20 minutes.

Credit must be given where credit is due. The medical profession is far from bereft of compassion and their oath, no matter how far back the Greek origins, remains alive.

Over the past two years I have written a few articles for Blogcritics, Desicritics and for my health related blog, Health Reports that have been critical of procedures, medicating, fear of federal authorities or insensitivity. I do not believe that that is really the norm but that they often work to the best of their abilities and do remember their original (we hope) commitment to healing and alleviating of pain. Some, however, are more committed than others. Dr. Weinstein of Westchester County, New York is such a doctor.

My cousin in Jerusalem who is ultra-religious sent me the news report to bolster his repeated attempts to make me proud of Jews in general and of the religion. Since I am not religious I do not attribute this doctor's action to his religion as much as to his personal morality and dedication which can be found in all manner of religious flavors.

Another recent cardiological report of interest is in a BBC reportLiving Organ Transplant. The article describes the first ever transplantation of a heart that had been kept beating from the time of its "harvest" to the surgical implantation. The procedure was developed and accomplished in the U.K.

Doctors have carried out the UK's first successful beating-heart transplant.

The recipient, a 58-year-old man who received his new heart two weeks ago at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, is said to be doing "extremely well".

The new technique involves keeping a donated heart warm and beating throughout the procedure, rather than packing it in ice for transport.

One expert told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it could "triple or quadruple" the number of transplants.

The differences are in the additional time the heart will remain viable prior to transplant and the ability to further test for compatibility.

Two more valuable medical sites of extreme interest are: Cardiology"Presented and explained by Robert J. Matthews, MD. Dr. Matthews even answers questions about symptoms and treatments individually from the site.

Another is Heart Linx on the MD Linx Network.

In my health related blog, Health Reports I also noted that I remain opposed to a transplant for me. There would be too much time spent waiting for a donor heart near a modern hospital (less if this procedure is adopted), too much danger and pain in the operation (I already survived a by-pass and 6 or 7 angioplasties) and the anti-rejection period and medications would mean more time hanging out in an urban atmosphere in the US with the same problems, essentially, as an AIDS patient -- a sponge for any disease.

I chose the CardioVascular Institute at Baptist Hospital in Miami partly because (originally) they did not offer transpants. I remained because of the success and level of care I have received.

It does point out for cardiac, stroke and other "popular" disease sufferers that the secret is to hang in there as long as possible because the advances are coming with greater frequency. The modern world does have wonders left up its sleeve. Hopefully the religious zealots and Luddites will not find any way to slow these advances.

Act In Time For Heart Attack and Stroke

2006-06-04T01:17:00.000-04:00

The American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute have launched a new "Act in Time" campaign to increase people's awareness of heart attack and the importance of calling 9-1-1 immediately at the onset of heart attack symptoms. Find the links here.
7648-inter-phot.jpg

Dial 9-1-1 Fast
Heart attack and stroke are life-and-death emergencies -- every second counts. If you see or have any of the listed symptoms, immediately call 9-1-1. Not all these signs occur in every heart attack or stroke. Sometimes they go away and return. If some occur, get help fast! Today heart attack and stroke victims can benefit from new medications and treatments unavailable to patients in years past. For example, clot-busting drugs can stop some heart attacks and strokes in progress, reducing disability and saving lives. But to be effective, these drugs must be given relatively quickly after heart attack or stroke symptoms first appear. So again, don't delay -- get help right away!

The stroke page is also a help and is available with a clicken Español.

These are more than worth a look. They contain the knowledge to help save your life or keep it from being weakened, shortened and worsened. I know because I took too long to get to the hospital when I had a heart attack and there was extensive damage to the heart that might have been prevented. The result has been twelve difficult years of fighting to survive heart failure, coronary artery disease, angina and cardiac rhythm dysfunctions.

Don"t follow in my footsteps. Act In Time!.

A Drink A Day

2006-05-27T04:18:00.000-04:00

Yahoo Health cites Health Day about a study indicating that drinking moderately daily cuts heart attack risks for men.

(HealthDay News) -- Having a drink or two each day appears to be better for the heart than having a drink just now and then, at least for middle-aged men, a Danish study finds.

Men who drank moderately each day had a 41 percent lower risk of heart disease than abstainers, while the risk was only 7 percent lower for those who drank on no more than one day a week, the researchers found. The team found no such benefit to daily drinking for women, however.

"This is one more study suggesting that a modest to moderate amount of alcohol in the world of heart disease is reasonably healthy," said Dr. Richard A. Stein, clinical professor of medicine at Albert Einstein Medical Center i

Asthma Drug Might Help Heart Failure Patients

2006-05-26T03:01:00.000-04:00

The Baptist Hospital of Miami (Baptist Health Systems of South Florida) newsletter reported recently that Clenbuterol, a asthma medication, might help heart failure patients maintain strength.

Body builders sometimes turn, illicitly, to the asthma medication clenbuterol to build up their muscles. Now, researchers say the medication might also help heart failure patients stay strong without the need for a heart transplant.

The first U.S. study of the medication found it was safe in a small number of study participants with heart failure.

Common Painkillers Kill Heart Failure Patients

2006-05-25T02:43:00.000-04:00

MedicineNet.com reported on a study of the danger of NSAIDS painkillers for people with heart failure, especially older people.

MONDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- Common painkillers called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) are associated with a 30 percent increased risk in older patients of first hospital admission for heart failure , a U.K. study reports.

Scientists Learn To Exactly Measure Happiness

2006-05-13T21:27:00.000-04:00

The BBC reports on the new scientific measurements of happiness. They are beginning a six-part series on TV there called, "The Happiness Formula".

The series promises to help you find out how happy you are. Nifty plan.

Scientists have felt that the word "happiness" has been too vague and too surrounded by the mythos of cartoon or movie views of "happy people" dancing with pleasure. Now, however, "... Neuroscientists are measuring pleasure. They suggest that happiness is more than a vague concept or mood; it is real."

There is another epiphany, folks. Happiness is real. Pleasure is real. Do not worry that you were missing something when you didn't hear bells and the earth didn't shake. You might have been happy anyway.

Now here is the scientific, complex measurement process of which they speak.

"Social scientists measure happiness simply by asking people how happy they are.

It is argued that what a person says about their own happiness tends to tally with what friends or even strangers might say about them if asked the same question."

This is the scientific breakthrough the world has waited for. The mad scientist asks, "How happy are you on a scale of 1 to 10?"

"About 5", you say, thinking of great sex, a good movie and a surly waitress at lunch.

"Aha", says he/she, "You are a moderately happy person."

It is scientific and high-tech.

The leading American psychologist Professor Ed Diener from the University of Illinois, told The Happiness Formula that the science of happiness is based on one straightforward idea:

"It may sound silly but we ask people 'How happy are you 1-7, 1-10?

"And the interesting thing is that produces real answers that are valid, they're not perfect but they're valid and they predict all sorts of real things in their lives."

One type of measurement even tries to record people's levels of happiness throughout the day wherever they are.

Ecological momentary assessment uses hand held computers.

The person being quizzed is beeped and then taken through a questionnaire.

They have made amazing new discoveries:

Happy people live longer than depressed people.

Happy people have close friends, they say. (But maybe people with close friends are happier people.)

"Standard of living has increased dramatically and happiness has increased not at all, and in some cases has diminished slightly," said Professor Daniel Kahneman of the University of Princeton.

"There is a lot of evidence that being richer... isn't making us happier". I think that someone may have made this discovery somewhat earlier.

©Beringer-Dratch. Visit the photoblog.

Happily, they also note some ways to be happier. We were waiting for this part, weren't we?

"Look for meaning in your life." Somehow I don't believe that religion is the only way to do this.

Develop deep relationships with family and friends.

It is even suggested that friendship can ward off germs. Our brains control many of the mechanisms in our bodies which are responsible for disease.

Marriage (I assume a successful one) adds 7 years to your life.

Another element is "... having goals embedded in your long term values that you're working for, but also that you find enjoyable." I would call that doing what you like and liking what you are doing.

"The first episode of The Happiness Formula was shown on BBC Two at 1900 BST on Wednesday."

Another happy place to visit is The World Database of Happiness.

The is an e-zine for those looking for A Daily Dose of Happiness. Google, alone, promises 70,400,000 more citations on the subject of happiness. Be happy. Don't worry.

Going over to the site of the American Psychological Association putting "happiness" into their search box revealed 107 documents. They are right on it. One article, "Review of Research Challenges Assumption that Success Makes People Happy: Happiness May Lead to Success via Positive Emotions" is indicative and positive.

Personal and professional success may lead to happiness but may also engender success. Happy individuals are predisposed to seek out and undertake new goals in life and this reinforces positive emotions, say researchers who examined the connections between desirable characteristics, life successes and well-being of over 275,000 people...

Get happy, get successful. It is a good outlook.

Just as an aside, the cardiologists' test (the New York Scale" for the severity of "angina" (chest pain) is based on asking you how bad it hurts on a scale of 1-10. So we see that happiness and pain share some common elements like measurement on these scientific scales.

Don't worry. Be happy.

Medical Marijuana: The Controversy Continues

2006-05-01T01:59:00.000-04:00

This is also posted on Blogcritics.org.

The American Medical Marijuana Association in its website declares that it "... recently received official recognition by the United States government as one of the top organization websites promoting medical marijuana law reform. This recommendation appears in a briefing by the White House and is available online at the official web site for the White House Drug Policy."

I think that would be wonderful but why, I wonder, am I plagued by doubts of the validity of this assertion? But that is the reason for the link on "website". Check it out.

This is one of those stories which, in America, should not be touched with that stick I have been missing... a 10 or longer foot pole.

It is similar to Steven Hart's article ,Politics Kills: Clean Needle Exchange Blocked in NJ. The answers seem simple: allow people to be safe and free of disease, allow freedom of choice, provide access to medical needs. Oddly, there are those who disagree.

Imagine this: you have been told that you are dying of cancer. It is rotting away one of your organs -- perhaps your brain. They will try valiantly to save your life. You will try chemotherapy and radiation treatment and some new drugs that interfere with the immune system. The physicians mention that you may see some side-effects. Nothing much. Nausea, fatigue, vomiting. They don't explain how bad it will be.

Mostly they don't explain that there is a drug to make it more tolerable. It doesn't matter. You aren't allowed to take it.

Imagine you suffer chronic, unbearable pain from this or that cause. It hurts. Now imagine that they have a drug to help ameliorate the agony. It doesn't matter. You aren't allowed to take it.

Imagine you were a photographer or a painter and you have developed glaucoma. While you wait for high-tech treatments terrified for your sight there is a drug that might help the disease and the fear. Don't worry. You aren't allowed to have it.

Imagine one of those digestive ailments that leave people wasting away and unable to eat, lacking appetite. There is something that might save your life by giving you the munchies. Don't worry. It is illegal.

Better yet. In those sovereign states that have democratically voted to allow the use of marijuana for medical use; the federal government, your government, is ready to arrest those who do what the state allows them to do to help ameliorate their suffering. This was understandable when some states insisted on enslavement of human beings. Studying the action of an herb and its medical uses is not quite the same thing.

Canada, at least, is far more civilized and maintains a site The Medical Use of Marijuana. They have shown up America by allowing medical testing and prescription use of the needed substance. There are other ways of looking at drugs, medications and the need for compassion in the law. America needs to look elsewhere for a model of drug control, investigation of medicinal herbs and plants, and the overwhelming importance of caring for people rather than concentrating on castigation.

The American Medical Marijuana Association also declares that

Scientists now say that Cannabis, the third most popular recreational drug after alcohol and tobacco, could boost brain power.
Canadian researchers found that experiments on rats which were given a potent cannabinoid, showed the drug stimulates the growth of new brain cells. It appears that the drug caused neurons to regenerate in the hippocampus, an area that controls mood and emotions, after one month of treatment.

You can take that one with a grain of salt or, better yet, surf on over and take a look. That is the whole idea. The Internet offers a wealth of information and arguments on both sides of the question. American media appears cowed into avoiding the subject when possible to avoid the wrath of the central government. Researchers are probably ready to initiate research projects and there is little question that there will be those ready and willing to volunteer for the studies. The missing link is a vengeful and wrathful government still held enthralled by the specter of Reefer Madness and the nameless, racist fears of drug-maddened perverts waiting to ravage our womenfolk.

There are exceptions. Drug War Facts notes that there are important organizations that have endorsed medical access to marijuana. These include,

the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians; American Bar Association; American Public Health Association; American Society of Addiction Medicine; AIDS Action Council; British Medical Association; California Academy of Family Physicians; California Legislative Council for Older Americans; California Medical Association; California Nurses Association; California Pharmacists Association; California Society of Addiction Medicine; California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; Colorado Nurses Association; Consumer Reports Magazine; Kaiser Permanente; Lymphoma Foundation of America; Multiple Sclerosis California Action Network; National Association of Attorneys General; National Association of People with AIDS; National Nurses Society on Addictions; New Mexico Nurses Association; New York State Nurses Association; New England Journal of Medicine; and Virginia Nurses Association.

They mention editorial boards that endorse medical access:..."The Boston Globe; Chicago Tribune; Miami Herald; New York Times; Orange County Register; and USA Today".

Other groups have "favorable opinions" on accessible research "(e.g., unimpeded research) on medical marijuana. These groups include: The Institute of Medicine, The American Cancer Society; American Medical Association; Australian Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health; California Medical Association; Federation of American Scientists; Florida Medical Association; and the National Academy of Sciences."

The F.D.A. is not in agreement and cannot be ignored completely. Their website makes the report available: "Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine". Yahoo News also links to an article "FDA Opposition to Medical Marijuana Fuels Controversy" Don't ignore the opposition.

The President was recently quoted in a press conference now disseminated byThe White House that he is against legalization of Marijuana even for medicinal use. At least it is one of the things on which he seems quite clear. There is no hemming and hawing about the amelioration of suffering or the need to learn as much as possible. In a press conference where he was represented by Ari Fleischer the subject was covered,

Q Did you ever find out if President Bush supports medical marijuana?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, let me -- I have something on that. You remind me of the campaign. The President is opposed to the legalization of marijuana, including for medicinal purposes and he strongly supports the current federal law that's in place.

Q Why?

Q Why not trust the people?

Q Give us a reason as to why.

MR. FLEISCHER: I've not discussed it at length with him about his reasons why, so I can only tell you that is his position.

Q Ari, on medical marijuana, several times during the campaign early on he said he was in favor of letting states decide for themselves about marijuana. Has he changed that position?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, the President's position is always on state referenda and things like that. That is a process question where the states have the right to follow their own processes. But as the President has said, and as you know -- as discussed by campaign spokespeople with you directly during the campaign -- the President opposes it, he supports federal law. On the personal level, he opposes medical marijuana, but he supports the federal law.

In Hawaii the group Patients Without Time discusses and counsels those who need marijuana for medical use in the Hawaii how to proceed at their website.

If you, or someone you love has a qualifying medical condition and you want to find out about the benefits from using marijuana, an ancient herbal medicine that has been badly maligned and criminalized, contact PatientsWithoutTime to explain how marijuana can help.

I have not read or heard that marijuana is or might be good for severe congestive heart failure or coronary artery disease. Except for making one high, which might have some positive points, smoking is, of course, deadly in such cases and brownies are too fattening. Maybe tea but probably count me out of the party. The recent joke, after all, about cardiac diets is "If it tastes good don't eat it."

However, when my mother, who is now dead from cancer or from the cure for it, was suffering desperately from the side effects of chemo- and radiation- therapies and complaining of the horrible nausea; I tried to convince her to try marijuana which could help her feel better. The massive propaganda campaign in America against marijuana totally negated the possibility that she would even try it let alone be able to get it in her blue-haired-lady social set.

One Blogcritic who has written about his fight against chronic pain might be helped. He is wise enough to live in a more civilized country and, hopefully, is able to take advantage of any substance that might help.

Keep abreast of the controversy. One day instead of wanting a joint to watch Harry Potter; you might need it to make it through the night.

More importantly, support study and investigation rather than investigation and castigation.

Note also The Economist has a
piece on its website (and SciTech Daily) called Reefer Madness from April 27.

IF CANNABIS were unknown, and bioprospectors were suddenly to find it in some remote mountain crevice, its discovery would no doubt be hailed as a medical breakthrough. Scientists would praise its potential for treating everything from pain to cancer, and marvel at its rich pharmacopoeia--many of whose chemicals mimic vital molecules in the human body.

Their extremely complete article includes this tidbit from a California researcher along with it informative discussion.

Donald Abrams, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, has been working on one such option. He is allowed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (the only legal supplier of cannabis in the United States) to do research on a German nebuliser that heats cannabis to the point of vaporisation, where it releases its cannabinoids without any of the smoke of a spliff, and with fewer carcinogens.

Physicians Must Learn Sensitivity When Giving "The Talk"

2006-04-10T22:35:00.000-04:00

It is "The Talk". It is the difficult act of telling someone that they
or a family member or spouse is catastrophically ill or dying. It is
always hard on the patient or family member. It has come to light that
it is hard for the doctor because he or she is untrained to handle the
scenario nor its unpredictable results.

The movies have more than a few of those heavy scenes when the doctor
gives the ultimate bad news -- you are dying, the loved one is dying,
there is no hope. Television soap operas brought these scenes to the
summit of melodrama. Very slowly the medical profession is beginning to
address the training of physicians to better do the difficult job of explaining
illness, pain or death.

Woody Allen made it a joke. His characters imagine the scene in their
hypochondria or tell stories about "the talk" or an imagined discussion
of mortality. The heavy talks are not comedy but some sense of humor or,
at least, sense of the others' feelings would be helpful.

There were the scenes after my heart attack 12 years ago. The
first was the day after the heart attack. The cardiologist (who had saved
my life) I soon learned was totally without a bedside manner. He visited
my hospital bed where I was still saying, "You can't mean I
had a heart attack!. He said, "Absolutely. But don't worry.
If all else fails you are a great candidate for a transplant."
"A" in cardiology, "F" in sensitivity.

Five years ago when the by-passed arteries totally closed again and I
was in great pain, sucking on an oxygen tank, my cardiologist (in Mexico) told me
it was time to go back to the US. He hugged me and said that he
"hoped to see me again". More senitive; more frightening.

There were the early days after the heart attack when I would go to the
doctor for regular EKGs and blood tests and ask if the EKG showed
improvement. They would look uncomfortable and explain they never showed
improvement. Their discomfort was discomforting.

Just recently the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in

"Bad News" that medical schools are now, finally, addressing the
issue of how physicians learn "how to handle the 'talk'". Only a decade
ago the schools gave no training in the kind of situation that should be
discussed and taught since it is one, "... repeated thousands of times
a day at bedsides, across desktops and over the phone, turning lives
upside down... Now a majority of the medical schools at least address
the issue, says a spokeswoman from the Association of American Medical
Schools."

A 2005 study of third-year medical students showed that in a majority of
cases where their patients died during their internal medicine
rotation, the medical team never brought up death. When they did it was
treated only in terms of medical technicalities. The attending
physicians only mentioned emotional issues in 6 of 27 cases.

One physician thinking and writing on the subject created the seminal
book on the subject, How To Break Bad News: A Guide For Health Care
Professionals. In this book Robert Buckman, a Toronto oncologist
outlines 6 steps in giving out bad news. He starts with setting the
scene in a quiet place. Seems pretty obvious to me but physicians are
so focused away from emotions and feelings that the whole thing was
ignored until recently. "Hey, pal. You're dying," might have been
acceptable for specialists before doctors were expected to be sensitive.
Only those Norman Rockwell doctors with the neat, black leather bags,
Drs. Welby and Kildare, could do it better.

Dennis Novak, Dean at the Drexel (Philadelphia) School of Medicine
related how he had taught himself the practice of giving bad news.
"There was one patient who asked me, 'Am I dying?,' and I just said,
'Yes.' I would never say that now." Novak and colleagues at Drexel
recently received $200,000 to create "Doc.com" which is making 40 videos
which can be downloaded and used at medical schools where scenarios are
made using experts and patient-actors to start discussions of relating
to patients and families during these crises.

But doctors say that no matter how seasoned, some reactions
can't be anticipated.

"My colleague told a family that their mother was very sick, and the son
had a heart attack in her office," says David Muller, dean of Mount
Sinai Medical School in New York.

Like many areas where sensitivity is needed in the medical professions,
it's about time for a start.

Cardiac Diets And Fiber

2006-04-05T13:15:00.000-04:00

High Fiber Diets Do Help Hearts - Reuters reported today

A fiber-rich diet may help control levels of a blood protein linked to an increased risk of heart disease, new research suggests.

In a study of 524 healthy adults, investigators found that those with the highest fiber intake had lower blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) than those who ate the least fiber. CRP is a marker of ongoing inflammation in the body, and consistently high levels of this protein have been identified in previous studies as a risk factor for future heart disease.

This study suggests that the guideline of 20-35 grams of fiber a day is beneficial.

Smart brains grow differently says the BBC

2006-04-05T00:06:00.000-04:00

This is from the
BBC and is worth a look. Smart people have brains that have grown differently. Or so they say.

Brain tissues wax and wane during childhood
Clever people outsmart their peers not because they have more grey matter but because part of their brain develops differently, a Nature study suggests.
The US National Institute of Mental Health used scans to study development of the cortex, which is responsible for thinking, in 307 children.
They found smarter youngsters tended to have a thin cortex aged seven, but this thickened rapidly by the age of 12.
Average children had an initially thick cortex which peaked in size aged eight.
In both cases, the cortex thinned after reaching this peak but this was more gradual in children of average IQ as their cortex had reached peak thickness at an earlier age.
The body's development is intimately linked to interactions with its environment
Professor Richard Passingham
The researchers believe the extended period of thickening during the early years of the brighter children may give the brain more time to develop high-level thinking circuitry.

Will Blogging Make You Blind?

2006-03-29T15:41:00.000-04:00

This piece is presently featured on Blogcritics.

Aging causes enough strains on the body with all its new ailments and dysfunctions.
The idea is to keep them at bay by spending your youth in healthy pursuits (sex, swimming and soy-based foods might lead the list).

There was a time (long ago) when we were told that masturbation would cause blindness. "They" dropped that nonsense when no one believed them.

Recently someone in Blogcritics referred to blogging as "mental masturbation". He was, of course, basically correct. When I look at my site meters and comments on my BC articles I see that I write to entertain myself. That is OK since I am entertained.

Here, however, is the crux of the matter: blogging is fun. So is masturbation, of course, or so many wouldn't do it so often.

The Internet is, inherently, fun. It is filled with ideas, information, entertainment (more and more) and the love of gadgets. But there are risks for the unwary. It is addictive and addictions carry risks.

Medical News Today's website reported an excellent
article and warning entitled Caring For Your Eyes In A Digital World.

The article warns of overuse of not only computers but the growing number of information-laden small gadgets.

Staring at a computer monitor or the small screens on most devices can lead to a variety of ailments, including headaches, eyestrain, blurred vision, dry and irritated eyes, neck and/or backache and sensitivity to light. "Eye stress and strain may be caused by a combination of individual visual problems, improper viewing habits and poor environmental conditions, such as glare, improper workstation set up, dirty screens, poor lighting and viewing angles," explains Dr. Anshel, who has helped companies and government agencies, including Mitsubishi, American Airlines, 3M and the Department of Labor address the high stress area of vision demands in relation to working with computer monitors.

.

A study of optometrists found that "more than 14 percent reported eye problems related to computer use. Of contact lens wearers (2000 in the study) 41% reported computer use as a major cause of discomfort.

Dr. Jeffrey Anshel, who authored Visual Ergonomics in the Workplace and a working optometrist, offers cogent advice on avoiding eye strain and vision problems stemming from computer use which is well worth studying. He mentions proper monitor positioning and taking a 20 second break every 20 minutes while you focus your eyes on a point at least 20 feet past the monitor. There is also an interactive vision quiz called "Eye Q's and Views".

I, myself, presently appear to be developing a cataract which must wait for treatment until I return to the first world. Was it caused by the computer and blogging addiction I developed when I bought my first iBook three years ago? Since a doctor saw a small cataract there 12 years ago after a heart attack and I have spent 50 years with the right eye glued to cameras, darkroom grain magnifiers, loupes to examine 35mm slides or, worse, the slides without the loupe and the rest of my time with my nose in a book, the answer is "no, but..." I will never know and, anyway, the loss of vision is slowing my computer use.

The moral of the story is:

Think while working at a computer. Take that 20 second break, check out the quiz and the list of preventive measures. Visit Blogcritics for 20 minutes, rest 20 seconds and then have another read. Keep on blogging -- but a bit more carefully. Have your eyes checked professionally on a regular basis.

Just Say Yes To Dopamine

2006-03-28T14:06:00.000-04:00

Suggestive research stemming from experiments with a drug to treat Parkinson's Disease show a relationship to the "Pleasure Pathway". The trigger for the kind of pleasure that causes addictions (and other pleasures) seems to be dopamine. Read on from Medicalnewstoday.com

Another article of note is Caring For Your Eyes In A Digital World from Medical News Today. com. It is a dire warning and a guide for those using computers. That means you since you are reading this.

Studies have found that the majority of people who work at a computer experience some eye or vision problems, and that the level of discomfort appears to increase with the amount of computer use. But, increased use of smaller, portable work and recreational gadgets such as Personal Digital Assistants, laptops and cell phones used for text messaging and Web access may also be contributing factors to the visual fatigue and discomfort experienced by millions, according to a leading expert.

"The unique characteristics and high visual demands of computer work and play make many individuals susceptible to the development of eye and vision-related problems," notes Dr. Jeffrey Anshel, a practicing optometrist and author of Visual Ergonomics in the Workplace. "With the proliferation of portable electronic devices such as laptops, palm pilots and video game players, it's no surprise that eye care professionals are seeing more patients who complain of ocular discomfort."

Read on HERE

New Stem Cell Research To Help Heart Attack Victims

2006-01-31T17:44:00.000-04:00

Researchers at Johns Hopkins are investigating (with success) using stem cells immediately after heart attacks to prevent damage to heart muscle.

The first studies were with cells from pigs. Further testing from human donors will hope to inject stem cells not directly into the heart but into the blood stream with the hope that the cells will find the way to the heart. Promising research with results years away.

Bad News For Coffee Addicts

2006-01-28T18:16:00.000-04:00

The Sydney Australia Morning Herald released a study showing that even two cups of coffee with caffeine reduced blood flow to the heart during exercise. Damn, but I love my morning expresso! The effects were even more pronounced at higher altitudes. My heart's hatred for any altitude is one reason we live at a few feet above sea level.

The report
is not good news but should be noted. Sadly caffeine, like tobacco, is a hard substance to leave behind.

Dr. Philipp A. Kaufmann and colleagues from University Hospital Zurich, examined the immediate effects of caffeine on blood flow to the heart at rest and after exercise in healthy young adult volunteers exercising at normal oxygen levels or simulated low-oxygen levels that occurs at high altitudes.

Laughter Saves Lives

2006-01-23T00:25:00.000-04:00

There have been a lot of recent studies of depression, stress and workplace tensions and their effect on health. They did not make a pretty picture. These things can kill you.

Finally there is a movement to study positive feelings and happy thoughts and, yes, laughter which was once labeled "The Best Medicine", and their effects. It is a happier picture. Perhaps even a comedy.

After my heart attack I noticed that movies affected me more. I might, in private, cry over a melodrama that I would have turned off before . The good, funny movies really did make me feel better as does a good joke or an amusing book. It does help to laugh. Not as a clown who laughs with tears but the good laugh that is convivial and enervating.

The study from Reuters is from the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Dr. Michael Miller chief author of the study warned not to give up exercise. "Instead, an 'optimal scenario' might be to watch a funny movie while jogging on a treadmill."

Exactly why laughing might give a jolt to the circulation isn't clear. It's possible that it counters the effects that stress hormones can have on blood vessel function, Miller and his colleagues speculate. In addition, laughter may spur the body's production of nitric oxide, a chemical that helps dilate blood vessels

Had a really good laugh recently? Just do it. Laughter is good for you. Researchers have begun to examine not just those negative feelings -- depression -- and how it negatively influences health. They are also beginning to study positive feelings and how they impact your health and aging.

The research used 20 young adults who "watched a movie that made them laugh". The tests showed that their blood pressure showed a similar drop as had been noted after aerobic exercise. The study is being published in the February journal Heart.

The chief researcher, Dr. Michael Miller, warned that giving up aerobic exercise is not indicated. He suggested, instead, that perhaps people could watch funny movies while working on exercise machines like a treadmill.

The testers had their subjects watch a comedy, Something About Mary which I didn't find funny but that is neither here nor there. Either the subjects or the researchers did. They were tested with non-invasive blood flow measurements after that film and after a "distressing film", like Saving Private Ryan. The results showed a 50% improvement in blood flow after the comedy over the heavier flick.

There have been a number of quantifying studies recently that proved the hypothesis that depression is bad for the health, shortens life and increases illness. There have also been some which showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that being middle class or affluent was good for you. Wow! Ain't science grand?

The thing to do now is to laugh a lot, develop a sense of humor and watch happy films. The last can be hard since I would find it more pleasurable to watch Saving Private Ryan which is a better film. I also hate sappy films. But Animal Crackers or Bringing Up Baby. You could even add, for additional good health, Mel Brooks' High Anxiety, some of Woody Allen's funny films, a bit of Chevy Chase and a dollop of Frank Capra. Don't forget It Happened One Night and you may live to be 100.

Looking For Drugs?

2006-01-20T22:50:00.000-04:00

In the modern world of medicine the number of drugs (by which we mean medications) has skyrocketed as has the number of brand names and uses for the medications. It has been an explosion of information that has been reflected in print journals, professional and popular books and websites.

For people with serious illnesses and for the general public some knowledge of medications available or drugs they are using is a very necessary need. Physicians are busy and have been know to make mistakes or merely to forget that a drug has a conflict with another. Pharmacies in the First World have computers that are supposed to check your prescription for any conflicts. It is your life. If you want to trust the drug store computer, go right ahead.

A more efficient idea is to stay abreast of current research and to know exactly what you are putting in your body. It could be life or death.

There are a number of popular medication guides listed below this post and, undoubtedly more. There are books for both prescription and over-the-counter drugs. They stick to the uses of the drug and a synopsis in lay language as to how it works. Then there are sections on dosage, side effects and serious conflicts, the size and quantities in which it is sold, brand and generic names as well as instructions in case of over-dosage. These are valuable books to have in the house. Often they are available in reasonably priced paperbacks from reputable publishers.

There are also the professional books, notably PDR, The Physicians' Desk Reference. These are huge compilations of everything that is on the market, updated annually, with pictures of the medication (they are, you knew, color coded), scientific descriptions with molecular diagrams as well as dosage, indications, contra-indications, etc. These are large and expensive and useful if you are a professional or really need a lot of information.

Now there are also helpful websites like The Mayo Clinic and those of various hospitals and link sites that include information from drug databases.

Finally we get to the subject of this post. The University of Alberta, Canada recently opened the world's largest
drug database on the internet.

Dr. David Wishart, from the departments of Computing Science and Biological Sciences and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, first began working on an online, interactive database as a teaching tool to help his pharmacy students learn more about the molecular details of different drugs. Wanting to develop one source that offers a broad scope of information, Wishart and his team created DrugBank, the world's largest and most complete resource on drugs and drug targets. DrugBank contains detailed chemical, pharmaceutical, medical and molecular biological information on more than 3000 drug targets and 4100 approved or experimental drugs products.

This site which was originally for pharmacy students and researchers is very complete and has something for everyone. It is accessible to the general public and is also highly useful to the entire community of medical professionals. It is said to be the "first database ...(to bring)...

... the latest data from the Human Genome Project together with detailed chemical information about drugs and drug products," said Wishart. The diversity of the data types combined with the fact that the data were mostly paper-bound made the assembly of DrugBank both difficult and time-consuming. More than a dozen textbooks, several hundred journal articles, nearly 30 different electronic databases and at least 20 in-house or web-based programs were individually searched, accessed, compared, written or run over the course of four years.

It is also involved in the Human Metabolome Project which is to map the "metabolites in bodily fluids".

(The research is published in the Jan. 1, 2006 edition of the journal Nucleic Acids Research and has been supported by Genome Alberta, through the Genome Canada project: Building the Metabolomics Toolbox.) This post was based on an original report by Phoebe Dey U. of Alberta.

Art Versus Pain

2006-01-15T21:38:00.000-04:00

Art therapy as an adjunct to pain management does not surprise me. It is also a partial cure for depression since it is very difficult to be ensconced in a separate world of images, words or music and to feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Many years ago when I was a psychiatric social worker at a big, state hospital in New York, I began a series of group therapy sessions using a lot of images and music and even sold the Polaroid Corp. into sending us a box of cameras and film. It worked. It helped. It increased self-esteem and the relationship to reality and it was fun. All those things helped get it put down by the administration who were interested only in the credit for it.

Science Daily reports that,

A study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management found that art therapy can reduce a broad spectrum of symptoms related to pain and anxiety in cancer patients. In the study done at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, cancer patients reported significant reductions in eight of nine symptoms measured by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) after spending an hour working on art projects of their choice.

The study which was done at Northwestern Memorial Hospital under a grant from their foundation goes on to say,

Nancy Nainis, MA, ATR, an art therapist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, who is the lead author on the study (said) "We were especially surprised to find the reduction in 'tiredness'," says Ms. Nainis. "Several subjects made anecdotal comments that the art therapy had energized them. This is the first study to document a reduction in tiredness as a result of art therapy."

Lifestyle Changes and Health

2006-01-15T01:49:00.000-04:00

Two articles caught my attention today. Both relate to lifestyle dangers and the possiblities of change. In the first a new study published in the journal, Psychophysiology reinflorces the notion we have all had that mental and emotional stress will impact cardiac health -- your health in general.

The article by Jill Yablonsky includes the latest findings to prove a link between stress and heart disease.

Most people believe that stress plays a role in heart disease. A study published in the latest issue of Psychophysiology finds that large rises in blood pressure during mental stress are associated with higher levels of activity in the regions of the brain associated with experiencing negative emotions and generating physiological responses in the rest of the body. The research suggests that exaggerated activity in the cingulate cortex during mental stress may generate excessive rises in blood pressure that may place some individuals at a greater risk for heart disease.

Another related article on how quickly "lifestyle changes" can affect your health is of great interest. It is not a process where you will not see the results for decades nor useless. Changes in diet, exercise and stress levels can soon be monitored.

Changes can be seen in "less than a month" says this test,

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- In less than a month, individuals can reverse serious heart disease risk factors by making significant lifestyle changes, researchers are reporting.

In an encouraging study conducted on overweight men, researchers found that after three weeks on a high-fiber, low-fat diet and adding up to 60 minutes of daily walking, about half of the study participants reversed type 2 diabetes or a constellation of unhealthy risk factors called the "metabolic syndrome."

It goes on to end with the cheery note,

People have the power within themselves to make a difference. Weight loss and exercise consistently improve heart disease risk, and this is something you have control over. You have the ability to dramatically improve whatever level you're at," said Nori.

Preventing & Treating Travelers' Diarrhea

2006-01-10T01:10:00.000-04:00

It is the fear and the scourge of travelers into the Third World. People have to eat and may even enjoy eating. However, the ever-present fear of travelers' diarrhea in places like Mexico and Guatemala as well as Africa and Asia could be controlled by a vaccine according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Another report of interest is from Napo Pharmaceuticals. It is ready to launch "the first Third World blockbuster drug". This newly discovered chemical from a traditional medicinal plant could provide a new way to protect the millions of children in the poorer parts of the world from an ailment that kills more than one million children each year as well as being a leading complaint of AIDS patients. The company is also testing to see if it will help people with irritable bowel syndrome. Besides offering hope for many, it is the first time a drug company has targeted the poor in its expensive search for a new drug.

Fittingly, this medication was found with the help of indigenous people in South America who use"... the bark of the South American tree croton lechleri, which is known by locals as dragon's blood because a machete to its bark brings a blood-like ooze." Some helps them with the affliction. Too much makes the sufferer sicker. Research isolated the molecule so that it can be offered in larger, more effective doses.

As a resident and traveler in Mexico where food contamination continues to be a major problem, I offer some important tips to keep you safe while traveling here and in other developing nations. These same tips should also be considered in the US which is not immune from food-borne illnesses and is now importing many foods from other countries..

First, remember to eat cooked foods in restaurants in places like Mexico. Ceviche and other raw foods and dishes are dangerous. Where possible eat foods that have been peeled. When you prepare your own foods, disinfect them with an iodine solution or a diluted amount of chlorine. Remember that expensive restaurants are not necessarily more careful even though the table may be set better. Do, however, look for general cleanliness. Dirty floors and tables and street food indicate a lack of concern that may be mirrored in the kitchen. Street food is best avoided everywhere no matter how tempting the smells. Except, perhaps, for something like hot chestnuts in Central Park. They are cooked and peeled and served very hot. I miss them.

In Mexico Microdyne is the brand name of the leading disinfectant and is found in supermarkets and farmacias all over the country.

Cloro or chlorine bleach is also available in almost every small and large store. Even "Clorox" is available in Mexico. Avoid the perfumed versions. Microdyne has instructions on it with pictures. Submerge foods for 10 minutes in a solution (I prefer using purified water) of 8 drops per liter. This can also be used for utensils and preparation surfaces. Treat water with one drop per liter and let stand 15 minutes. It is not necessary to rinse but, if you do, please use purified water for the rinse as well. It can also be applied to cuts and bites in an emergency.

Chlorine bleach requires 2 drops per liter of water and a 15 minute wait. Foods need 10 drops per liter with a 5 minute wait. My bottle of Cloralex says there is no need to rinse but a medical professional in the US who originally suggested it for all foods there said that bleach should be rinsed.

When you find an explanation for Travelers' Diarrhea that says it is only because you are not used to the food, ate too many chiles or drank too much smile and continue being care. If it goes on to tell you that putting lime juice on foods will disinfect them, go right ahead. It tastes good and you get lots of vitamin C. It does not disinfect.

The C.D.C. offers a website with a separate page on Water Treatment. When it comes to Travelers' Diarrhea they offer a map of risk zones and this statement:

'The most important determinant of risk is travel destination, and there are regional differences in both the risk and etiology of diarrhea. The world map is generally divided into three grades of risk: high, intermediate, and low. (See map 4-11).

Low-risk countries include the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and countries in Northern and Western Europe. Intermediate-risk countries include those in Eastern Europe, South Africa, and some of the Caribbean islands. High-risk areas include most of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Central and South America. Some destinations that were previously considered high risk have now been classified as low or intermediate risk, including parts of Southern Europe and some of the Caribbean islands. On average, 30%-50% of travelers to high-risk areas will develop TD during a 1- to 2-week stay. Based on the annual figure of 50 million travelers to developing countries, this estimate translates to approximately 50,000 cases of TD each day. In more temperate regions, there may be seasonal variations in diarrhea risk. In South Asia, for example, during the hot months preceding the monsoon, much higher TD attack rates are commonly reported."

The Mayo Clinic offers this more precise set of rules to prevent the disease group:

"Watch what you eat
The general rule of thumb is this: Boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it. Unfortunately, most travelers don't stick to these guidelines 100 percent of the time. Remember these tips:
* Don't buy food from street vendors.
* Avoid unpasteurized milk and dairy products, including ice cream.
* Avoid raw or undercooked meat, fish and shellfish.
* Steer clear of moist food at room temperature, such as sauces and buffet offerings.
* Eat foods that are well cooked and served hot.
* Munch on dry foods — like breads — and high-sugar-content foods, such as jellies and syrups.
* Stick to fruits and vegetables that you can peel yourself, such as bananas, oranges and avocados. Stay away from salads and unpeelable fruits, such as grapes and berries.
Don't drink the water
When visiting high-risk countries, keep the following tips in mind:
* Avoid unsterilized water — from tap, well or stream. If you need to consume local water, boil it for five to ten minutes.
* Avoid ice cubes or fruit juices made with tap water.
* Beware of sliced fruit that may have been washed in contaminated water.
* Don't swim in water that may be contaminated.
* Keep your mouth closed while showering.
* Feel free to drink canned or bottled drinks in their original containers — including water, carbonated beverages, beer or wine — as long as you break the seals on the containers yourself. Wipe off any can or bottle before drinking or pouring.
* Use bottled water to brush your teeth.
* Use bottled or boiled water to mix baby formula.
* Order hot beverages, such as coffee or tea, and make sure they're steaming hot."

"The Poop On Diarrhea Vaccine" was distributed on Wired News RSS .

The study by Johns Hopkins was based on a "rigorous test" on U.S. students in Mexico and Guatemala.

"Traveler's diarrhea is the leading cause of illness among visitors to developing countries, striking an estimated 20 million international travelers a year. While there are numerous causes, the chief culprit is bacteria called enterotoxigenic E. coli, or ETEC. It is spread through contaminated food and water, and while rarely life threatening to the otherwise healthy traveler, it can cause up to a week of misery."

The drug was found accidentally while testing a cholera drug in Bangladesh. It also seems to help fight E coli infection. 1406 students studying Spanish were given the drug or a placebo. The study showed an 84% success in blocking severe infection and 63% effectiveness in blocking mild cases. It was considered safe enough to send to the students by mail.

The head of defunct Napo Pharmaceuticals which planned to be a "bioprospecting" company during the 90's, Lisa Conte, wanted to search the rainforest and other natural sources for effective plants which could then be developed as FDA approved medications (remember Sean Connery in Medicine Man?). The company went bankrupt from the costs of FDA testing. She returned with Shaman Pharmaceuticals and has made a deal with an Indian company to develop and market "Crofelemer as a pediatric and acute infectious diarrhea treatment." There is a similar program in China.

"Indigenous people "led us to a situation where we could make and improve a pharmaceutical product as far as safety and efficacy and get it back to the population that provided the information," Conte said."

Kristen Philipkoski Kristen Philipkoski originally published the story of this new drug from the resurrected company on Wired.com in July.

Is all this important? If you have traveled, found some bad food in a restaurant back home and suffered the ill-effects of the ailment -- you better believe it.

Gum Disease Linked to Heart Disease

2006-01-06T01:37:00.000-04:00

This is hardly the first notice of the link between dental health and cardiovascular problems. Considering my lousy teeth -- problems that stretch back to age 4 or 5 -- and a severely damaged heart from a massive heart attack; this is worth looking into.

The website Medical News Today just released this article, Treatment of Gum Disease May Reduce The Risk of Cardio Vascular Disease HERE.

The Journal of Dental Research has just published the results of a study showing that treatment of gum disease may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers from Australia (Sydney Dental Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital) and Norway (University of Oslo) collaborated in the PERICAR clinical trial, providing strong evidence linking periodontal (gum) disease to an increased risk of developing blood clots, which could lead to the onset of heart attack and stroke.

Chelation Therapy Controversy

2006-01-04T23:40:00.000-04:00

Hope for those with serious illnesses is an intense process. It is a field where charlatans easily grow.

It is not only cardiac conditions that bring out quacks looking to make their health; physical and economic, grow strong whether or not their patients follow suit. As a congestive heart failure sufferer; cardiac illness interests me the most.

Chelation therapy and its adherents may be a false hope for the desperate. Then, again, many treatments once thought ridiculous have found their place in modern medicine or valid alternative medicine.

One of the popular "therapies" for many over the past decades has been chelation therapy. It involves a long series of expensive sessions with an IV delivering EDTA in order to leach "heavy metals" (not a retro music group) from the body. The theory is that many illnesses will be cured by what was a valid treatment for metal (mercury, originally) poisoning.

Some writiers on cardiac health and the ways to fight heart disease with exercise, diet, medication or even surgery suggest that any physician or health professional offering to sell chelation therapy (not insurance reimbursable) might be described in the same way that a duck is said to speak. These doctors often present a healthy, tanned appearance which appears to belie the technique's wonders. It would more often seem to reflect their affluent vacations to the islands, fine food, spa treatments and a delightful automobile outside. I went to one such.

Books touting this therapy struck me as hysterically finger pointing at the medical profession for conspiring to keep this effective treatment from its patients. I don't buy that and hysteria never convinces me of anything. The primary book I was offered by the doctor trying to sell me the treatment, Bypassing Bypass also offered a diet that was contrary to the mass of other books on heart disease, (some of which were from the American Heart Association and another, Reversing Heart Disease by Dr. Dean Ornish was effective enough to interest Social Security into paying for its program.)

Where they advocated limiting cholesterol; this book called for eating egg yolks and organ meats. Mostly it ranted about the wonders of its program, chelation therapy, and the short sightedness of the medical profession for not embracing it. It was tediously shrill.

In the article on Yahoo:b Chelation Therapy: Does It Work? by Simeon Margolis, M.D., Ph.D at Yahoo Health Dr. Marolis warns more than he discusses:

Chelation therapists have claimed that this form of treatment opens the narrowed arteries that supply blood to the heart and legs. No studies have substantiated this claim and the proponents of chelation treatments have carried out no valid trials to prove them.

By contrast, randomized, double-blind studies of intravenous chelation therapy with EDTA were carried out in 153 patients with claudication (leg pain with exercise due to narrowed leg arteries) in Denmark and in 32 patients in New Zealand. The small improvements in these patients after weeks of treatment were the same whether they received EDTA or a saline solution intravenously. A Canadian trial randomly assigned 84 patients with coronary heart disease to treatment with either intravenous EDTA or intravenous saline twice weekly for 15 weeks. After 27 weeks there was no difference between the two groups in how long they could walk on a treadmill before developing abnormalities on their electrocardiogram."

The FTC has prohibited advertising that chelation therapy is a worthwhile therapy for arterial diseases that cause heart attack and storke . Still, there are internet web sites touting oral treatments for heart disease. The advertising is allowed because the FDA has not banned it.

Dr. Margolis ends his article with the story of a five year old English boy with autism who suffered cardiac arrest and death following chelation therapy for autism in Pittsburgh. It is not without more dangers than merely not helping your heart or arteries and depleting your pocket book. At least one respected writer on heart disease suggested that any physician who does push chelation therapy should be avoided. I echo that advice and soon did avoid mine.

There are a number of websites, pro and con, on the subject. Here are a few:

All Chelation. This site sells suppositories for the therapy -- not the IV process but not mere pills. They do warn you in the end:

Disclaimer for cancer suppositories to rid body of mercury:Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by your own physician or health care provider. You should not use any information contained in our site to self-diagnose or personally treat any medical condition or disease or prescribe any medication. If you have or suspect you have a medical condition you are urged to contact your personal health care provider immediately. All health supplements or products purchased in this site contain clearly labeled product packaging, which must be read to ensure proper use. All information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."

On the site, Quack Watch chelation therapy is described as:

"Chelation therapy, as discussed in this article, is a series of intravenous infusions containing disodium EDTA and various other substances. Proponents claim that EDTA chelation therapy is effective against atherosclerosis and many other serious health problems. Its use is widespread because patients have been led to believe that it is a valid alternative to established medical interventions such as coronary bypass surgery. However, there is no scientific evidence that this is so. It is also used to treat nonexistent "lead poisoning," "mercury poisoning," and other alleged toxic states that practitioners diagnose with tests on blood, urine, and/or hair.

The proponents' viewpoints have been summarized in four books: The Chelation Answer: How to Prevent Hardening of the Arteries and Rejuvenate Your Cardiovascular System (1982), by Morton Walker, D.P.M., and Garry Gordon, M.D.; Chelation Therapy: The Key to Unclogging Your Arteries (1985), by John Parks Trowbridge, M.D., and Morton Walker D.P.M.; A Textbook on EDTA Chelation Therapy (1989), by Elmer M. Cranton, M.D.; and Bypassing Bypass: The New Technique of Chelation Therapy (2nd edition, 1990), by Elmer Cranton, M.D., and Arline Brecher. The scientific jargon in these books may create the false impression that chelation therapy for atherosclerosis, and a host of other conditions, is scientifically sound. The authors allege that between 300,000 and 500,000 patients have safely benefited. However, their evidence consists of anecdotes, testimonials, and poorly designed experiments."

On their site, American Heart Association, they note that

"The American Heart Association has reviewed the available literature on using chelation (ke-LA'shun) (E.D.T.A., ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid) to treat arteriosclerotic (ar-te"re-o-skleh-ROT'ik) heart disease. We found no scientific evidence to demonstrate any benefit from this form of therapy."

Google lists another 1 1/4 million search results for chelation therapy. One is Aetna Insurance's using the Harvard Consumer Information service at Aetna Intellihealth which notes that:

"Chelation may cause many severe side effects, including severe kidney damage, reduction of the body's ability to make new blood cells in the bone marrow, dangerously low blood pressure, fast heart rate, dangerously low calcium levels in the blood, increased risk of bleeding or blood clots (including interference with the effects of the blood-thinning drug warfarin [Coumadin]), immune reactions, abnormal heart rhythms, allergic reactions, blood sugar imbalances and convulsions. There have been reports of headache, fatigue, fever, nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal upset, excessive thirst, sweating (diaphoresis), low white blood cell counts and low levels of blood platelets. People using chelation have had severe reactions in which they have stopped breathing. Death has been reported, although it is not clear if chelation therapy was the direct cause.

Avoid chelation therapy if you have heart, kidney or liver disease or any condition affecting blood cells or the immune system. Chelation should be avoided in pregnant or breast-feeding women and in children. Chelation may not be safe in anybody; speak with a qualified health provider to balance the risks and possible benefits."

In frightening times one looks in all directions for help. The moral here is that the looking should be discrimatory. Look before you leap.

New Problems Beat For Heart Devices

2006-01-04T13:04:00.000-04:00

These health related articles on cardiac news come from my need to stay abreast (pun intended) of current trends, studies, treatments and failures.

I suffer congestive heart failure, chronic angina, rhythm abnormalities, and severe danger of SDS (sudden death syndrome not the more fun sexually transmitted disease -- at least it is more fun to catch). More than two years ago I was implanted with a Medtronic ICD and pacing device. It stabilized some problems and "living in the Mexican jungle" said my cardiologist in Miami; provided insurance that there would be a defibrillator no more than 5 minutes away. The closest one to Bacalar, Mexico is probably 4 or 5 hours away.

A year ago it was replaced with a Guidant "bi-ventricular pacing device with an ICD" (internal cardioversion defibrillator) and the third lead threaded though veins into another chamber of the heart. The beating of the heart's chambers would be synchronized. Voilà!. It worked. I have more energy, a higher "ejection fraction", more ability to weather the stresses of life in the third world. It was almost miraculous.

However, some months ago I wrote of a joint study by the F.D.A. and Harvard that indicated " that there were an increasing number of recalls, defects, malfunctions and deaths in persons in whom automatic defibrillators had been implanted." This story on Heart Device Recall was an earlier version before this legal case and new revelations.

©The Stay Well Company

"The leader of the study from Harvard, Dr. William Maisel also pointed out that in the period 1990-2002, 2,250,000 pacemakers and 416,000 ICDs had been buried in U.S. chests. 17,000 needed removal.

The scary part of the study was that half of the units that were working badly began to dysfunction at the end of the time period. The F.D.A. promises new ways to regulate the manufacture of these machines..."

This week Reuters reported that Guidant Corporation admitted that "some persons may die as result of short circuits" according to a New York Times report which cited Guidant company records.

The documents were filed in Texas where a lawsuit is in progress centered on Guidant's Prizm 2 DR defibrillator. The company was said to have previously decided that the rare failure, although "life threatening" was at an overall "acceptable rate". They did not notify doctors until last spring. The New York Times emailed Guidant where a spokesman said the "company's policy is to not comment on pending litigation..."

In October of this year, while having my 6 month tune-up in the office of my electrophysiologist, Dr. Efrain Gonzalez, in Miami; I brought the subject up and Efrain said basically that it was a media exaggeration. He is probably right since I do have great faith in his integrity and competence. My machine is working. I have seen amazing improvement in heart function where there has never been the possibility of improvement in past years.

©Beringer-Dratch. The CardioVascular Institute at Baptist Hospital, Miami, FL.

A totally separate study which came out on December 16 in The New England Journal of Medicine entitled "A Randomized Study of the Prevention of Sudden Death in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease." The article on Medicine.net reports on the study and its results and also presents the medical jargon with a "translation" into common English. I have a tendency to prefer the original language but present both as did they.

The design of the study was that,

"We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to test the hypothesis that electrophysiologically guided antiarrhythmic therapy would reduce the risk of sudden death among patients with coronary artery disease, a left ventricular ejection fraction of 40 percent or less, and asymptomatic, unsustained ventricular tachycardia."

Their "translation" is simpler but less detailed,

"To test the idea that an implantable defibrillator (which shocks a quivering heart back into a normal rhythm) might prevent sudden death among people who have survived a bad heart attack, we did a trial comparing the device with standard drug treatment."

The translation of the results of the study was, "Implantable defibrillators prevent death after a bad heart attack, but drugs do not."

REFERENCES: Alfred E. Buxton, Kerry L. Lee, John D. Fisher, Mark E. Josephson, Eric N. Prystowsky, Gail Hafley, for the Multicenter Unsustained Tachycardia Trial Investigators. A Randomized Study of the Prevention of Sudden Death in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease. The New England Journal of Medicine -- December 16, 1999 -- Vol. 341, No. 25, Pages 1882-1890.

OK. If we put these two recent reports together with my positive experience; we have a machine that might, in a small percentage of the users, kill them. But the vast majority who already know that death is a constant companion; get to live a better life with the machine.

I would hardly say that these dangers should not and must not be closely monitored and that is the job of the F.D.A. and the legal system; but that in the case of conditions that are usually terminal, every action has its risks.

A word about the measurement referred to as "ejection fraction". This is a measure of the output of blood from the heart through the arterial system from the left ventricle. 80 is perfect. 60 is normal and 50 or under is the threshold of dysfunction. After my heart I attack I had 33% which is just into the level of "serious". During an episode 5 years ago, I arrived at the CardioVascular Institute in Miami with 10% and was immediately treated to the indignities of intensive care. Recently I came in with the Medtronic unit and 14% with a bit of pain. After the implantation of the Guidant unit and its third lead; it was measured at over 40% and, hey, anything over 30 made me joyous. No one suggests that the machines will prolong life overly much; only that they will increase its quality. Since, at 10%, standing was an effort; 30-40% is enough to make a few pictures and even write a little for BC.

Advances are coming quickly in cardiac care. Yesterday the Mercury News from San Jose reported new advances in wireless technology for implanted cardiac devices:

"Facing a nightmare of recalls for defective defibrillators, pacemakers and other implantable monitors, the medical device industry is adding wireless capabilities to keep tabs on their products. The new technology provides piece of mind to patients and may reduce doctor visits and hospitalizations. Doctors expect before long, most implantable devices will come with wireless monitoring."

Remote monitoring appears to be the wave of the future. Yet another gadget to join your laptop, iPod, Blackberry.

"Dr. Kouski Krishnan, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center, has implanted advanced defibrillators from Indianapolis-based Guidant that include remote monitoring.

``It's very easy for the patient,'' Krishnan said. ``They have a little box near their bed plugged into a phone line. Every morning at 2 a.m. while they sleep, the device downloads its information to the box and it sends the information we request. The patient doesn't have to do a thing.''

Just for fun I add the results of yet another study. This is from the A.P. at Dog Therapy. The study showed that using trained dogs with cardiac patients "lowered anxiety, stress and heart and lung pressure among heart failure patients". The study was funded by the Pet Care Trust Foundation.

This has nothing to do with the subject of implantable defibrillators and their dangers nor benefits. But it does let me close on a warm and furry note.

Chocolate And Your Heart

2006-01-04T03:05:00.000-04:00

Take a look at this recent article.

Science Daily reports on a study about dark chocolate as beneficial for the cardiovascular system. Enjoy!

New Year's Resolution: Learn CPR

2006-01-04T01:17:00.000-04:00

Here is a New Year's resolution of the highest importance.

It is possible to prepare for the worst eventuality imaginable: the sudden death of someone close to you. Learn first aid techniques for emergency care before the unforeseen is seen.

Take a Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, CPR course. With a little bit of luck you will have wasted your time and energy and will never have to use your knowledge. There are more and more cardiac defibrillators in public places (in the First World, that is) and more people with implanted machines; but, the victim whose heart has stopped has a few short minutes to receive assistance before there is brain damage and a few more before death.

It isn't just the elderly or just heart attacks. Shock after accidents, heatstroke and other emergencies and maladies can cause the heart to stop. Childhood injuries can quickly escalate to crises.

I was reminded because 25 years ago I was trained in First Aid and CPR when I worked in a psychiatric hospital. Like so many of us who learned to swim in Red Cross courses; there are equivalently successful courses in emergency care. The Red Cross seems to have developed courses that get lodged in your memory until they are needed.

This week my wife, who was seriously injured in an anti-American attack earlier this year and is presently "under the weather" from some virus was sitting with me and our bodyguard talking on the terrace. She suddenly had a seizure, vomited and lost consciousness. I was luckily sitting next to her and there in a second, the guard helping to keep her from falling and trying to help me keep her safe, her airway clear.

Amazingly my training was still sitting hidden all these years and, without thinking about it, when she stopped breathing; I gave mouth to mouth and began CPR. She came back quickly after scaring us deeply. My guard whose Spanish is far better than mine (he is Mexican after all) called 066 (the emergency number) for an ambulance and I called a local doctor who is close, clean and gentle. The doctor came right over. The ambulance (it is Mexico) never came at all.

The doctor said "dehydration" and I, with my first aid book, decided heatstroke was the most applicable (after the fact). We have done all the things they suggested: cooling the house, pouring non-caffeinated liquids into her, added a bit more salt to the diet.

The story, therefore, has a happy ending. If she really stopped breathing and it seemed so; then she was without air for only the space of a few breaths Then she had mine. I didn't stop to examine her; just began mouth to mouth and CPR . If her heart had stopped -- I didn't take her pulse -- it started up quickly. She, after all, has a strong one.

The moral of this personal episode is not my skill. Re-reading the first aid book on such emergencies I have identified a lot of errors and omissions I made. But when she stopped breathing with her eyes opened and fixed I stopped thinking and acted. The Red Cross and other agencies (such as your local paramedic squad or fire department) give first aid and CPR courses and can do a lasting job; lodging crucial skills there deeply enough to be waiting when you need them.

When you see a course; take it. Make sure there is a first aid book in your house and car and read it. Check your first aid kits. Write down those phone numbers you have been planning to put on the refrigerator: hospital, doctor, ambulance (if you don't have 911 service). Program your phone, cell phone and other devices with those numbers.

Get trained and get ready. If not, the skills and resources won't be there when you most need them.