Husband Day Care

What a great idea in this crucial financial times when women have work and men don't!

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Photo grabbed from the Internet.

Emotions and Your Internal Organs

Specific emotions that weaken internal organs of the body:

ANGER weakens the liver.
GRIEF weakens the lungs.
ANXIETY weakens the heart and brain.
WORRY weakens the stomach.
FEAR fails the kidneys.

So stay happy. Look good, feel good and do good.

A Taste of Energy

“So many things to do, but oh so little time...” The need to stretch one’s energy, productivity, alertness and to stay focus on a given task paved the way for the popularity of energy drinks. These drinks are particularly attractive to young people. In the US, approximately 65% of energy drink consumers are between the ages of 13 and 35 years old.

The use of energy drinks is to stay awake. Based on label declaration, energy drinks commonly contain sugar and lots of caffeine. However, its caffeine should not exceed 200 ppm (parts per million). A typical energy drink contains about 80 milligrams (mg) of caffeine similar to a cup of coffee, while an average soft drink only contains about 18-48 mg of caffeine.

Other common ingredients found in energy drinks include: ephedrine, taurine, guarana, B vitamins, ginseng, ginko biloba, L-carnitine, yerba mate, creatine and acai berry.

In the Philippines, a total of 67 energy drinks are currently registered with the Food and Drug Administration. Still, many local and foreign brands sold in the market are not yet are tested, validated, and registered by the agency.

Energy drinks are generally safe as long as they are taken in moderation and not mixed with any alcoholic substance. This is dangerous, since alcohol is a depressant and has a tranquilizing effect on the body. This mixture can be very fatal because energy drinks can mask the influence of alcohol and the drinker may misinterpret their actual level of intoxication.

Another word of caution is that energy drinks should not be consumed while exercising or indulging in a sport activity because caffeine is a diuretic (i.e., it causes one to urinate very often) which promotes dehydration. Energy drinks are different from, and should not be confused with, sports drinks that are formulated to keep people hydrated during intense physical activity.

Some of the reported adverse effects of excessive intake of energy drinks to the body are:

• Sleeping problems resulting insomnia due to high amounts of caffeine;

• Dehydration from loss of body fluid since caffeine is a diuretic;

• Dizziness, nausea, and irritability also from caffeine;

• Allergic reactions like hives, rashes, itching or oral swelling;

• Liver toxicity if vitamin B3 exceeds 3000 mg and skin lesions or burning sensation if vitamin B6 exceeds 100 mg;

• Gastrointestinal problems because energy drinks contain too much carbohydrate. This makes it hard for the body to absorb the nutrients from the intestines going to the bloodstream; and

• Diarrhea because most energy drinks contain large quantities of inositol.

The rule of moderation should always be considered when consuming energy drinks. Instead of energy drinks, try natural energy-giving foods like cereal, pasta, rice, bread, starchy food like potato and corn, and B complex vitamins which are necessary for the body’s production of energy, coupled with a balanced diet and the right amount of sleep and exercise.

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Based on a DOH HealthBeat article (July-August 2011) written by Donato Dennis B. Magat. Photo by Joerem P. Ceria.

"Pahiyas" (Jewel)

"Pahiyas" is a Cebuano (a local dialect in the Philippines) term that means jewel, decoration, ornament, décor. Well, in this photo, THE JEWEL IS A NUT. Hahaha.

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Got this photo from an email.

Bashing the Smoker's Body

This one goes to the health promotion books. 

In August, just about the time when Mideo Cruz’s mural consisting a mixed match posters of Jesus Christ, crucifixes, phallic symbols and condoms at the Main Gallery of the Cultural Center of the Philippines was receiving vicious and defamatory statements from various religious groups and influential leaders, the Municipality of Panitan in Capiz, through its Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 57, series of 2011, condemns the Department of Health “to the highest degree” for “deliberately allowing the public display of malicious, indecent, and immoral posters and stickers of The Smoker’s Body exhibiting the vital male sex organ.” 

The said resolution, dated July 22, 2011, was presided by Vice Mayor Genroso D. Derramas and approved by Mayor Katherine Dequiña-Belo. Copies of the resolution were also sent to the different committees of the House of Representatives, aside from the DOH central and regional offices.

The Smoker’s Body, as the Resolution claimed, is an “invasion of men’s privacy that brought shame and dishonor to male smokers, hence degrading men’s social standing and status.” Moreover, it is “considerably a pornographic material that injects a strong prejudice and inculcates malice, indecency and immorality into the vulnerable mind of the child and youth who view it all the time, each day on their way to school and back home.” 

The Smoker’s Body, developed by the World Health Organization, is originally a pin-up graphic poster showing some of smoking’s less publicized side effects from head to toe, including deformed sperm, reduced blood flow to the penis which can cause impotence, and infertility. It has been translated in several languages and can be seen around medical establishments and other educational institutions around the globe. The essential purpose of this poster is to inform the minds of people, especially the youth, and to discourage them from smoking. This anti-smoking poster has been proven very effective.

The Philippines adopted the Smoker’s Body and the DOH has it in posters and leaflets as well as in instructional presentations. Many organizations with tobacco control programs also followed suit.

Through the years, the Smoker’s Body has been the most requested health promotion material, although the DOH admits that it occasionally receives a few feedback from individuals airing their concerns on the exposure of the penis. Four years ago, the DOH placed a white brief on the genitals of the Smoker’s Body tarpaulins that were displayed in light railway train stations. Those who saw it, especially students, snickered at the modest change. And now, back on its original form, the Smoker’s Body received flak, but now from a higher level. 

Oh well, no one cannot please everybody all the time. Not everyone has the same level of education, values and morality. What is blasphemous to one, maybe an art to the other. And what is pornographic to some, maybe life-saving information to many. 

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"Malaswa" in the photo covering the genitals of the Smoker's Body means "vulgar."

Be Careful Where You Eat

BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU EAT A CORNDOG. Campaigning outside Pittsburgh, GOP frontrunner Rick Perry attended a picnic at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Oil City where he enjoyed a footlong corndog while touring the fabulous reproduction of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. 

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Grabbed from a Facebook post.

The NCD Problem

 

What’s the problem in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that they are not getting the appropriate attention from political leaders, policymakers and the public at large?

NCDs are diseases of long duration and generally slow progression. The four most common NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as emphysema and asthma) and diabetes. These four NCDs account for 80% of all deaths due to NCDs.

Maybe the problem lies in the name. NCDs lack the excitement that people are forced to take action. They are not transmitted from person-to-person like tuberculosis norfrom animals-to-person like malaria, rabies or bird flu. NCD cases do not crowd public hospital beds at any given time like dengue or food poisoning, and they seldominvolve a large group of children getting sick like measles. NCDs may not even be sexy like HIV/AIDS.

Maybe the problem is in the demographics. NCDs mostly affect middle-aged adults and the elderly – those who are past their prime. But of course, because of years of neglect on NCDs, a changing demographic is happening and cases of heart attack, stroke or cancer are occurring in the younger and more productive age group. In the Western Pacific region, where the Philippines belong, the World Health Organization reported that 26,500 people die daily due to NCDs.

And maybethe problem is in the causation. NCDs are brought about by tobacco use, excessive alcohol drinking, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. These are lifestyles that most people love to do and habits too that are hard to break.But measures to control these risk factors often need government action such as taxation, limiting salt, sugar and fat in mass-manufactured foods, restricting marketing of food to children; restricting the availability and promotion of tobacco and alcohol, and urban design that promotes physical activity. These are issues that bring world leaders and politicians into conflict with tobacco, food and alcohol industries.

On top of these problems, investments for the prevention and control of NCDs remain inadequate. NCDs and poverty are locked together in a vicious cycle. NCDs hinder economic development and worsen poverty. The poor are also more vulnerable, having more exposure to the risks and less access to health services.

The High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on September 19 and 20 in New York is a turning point in making a high-level commitment and mobilizing a broad ‘whole of the society’ approach to the prevention and control of NCDs. Just a few days to go, but it seems many of the affected industries are derailing the process and the rich nations like the United States, Canada and Europe are reported to not agree with the UN targets for fear that they will have to foot much of the bill for tackling an NCD epidemic in poorer nations.

Without the needed global investment for NCDs and stronger commitments and actions to be taken by countries, the world is bound to have a sick future ahead. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Remembering World Trade Center

Remembering the World Trade Center through photos taken in November 1996 at the facade and observation deck (top) and in July 2011 amidst the construction of the Freedom Tower (bottom). May the 9/11 and other terrorism attacks would not happen anymore in any part of the globe. As the lyrics of the song say - LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH.