SPEND A MORNING WITH AN
AUSTRALIAN/CUBAN/JEWISH ANTHROPOLOGIST ENDOCRINOLOGIST IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
The
morning was welcomingly fresh; the temperature was a mild 57 F/11 C with no
sign of rain. The quiet European Quartier has not begun stirring at this hour.
A Bus no 63 veers past the big glass window, carrying some early workers to
their destination in the city.
It
was 7 am. I decided to go for a walk; within blocks is the gorgeous
Cinquantenaire Park. Walking in this park, with its greenery and solitude at
any time of the day is good for the mind, and I could think aloud about the
external and internal stimuli for emotions.
Rue Archimede with cafes and restaurants lining up both sides had not
woken up yet, the imposing European Building strangely quiet as if drawing our
attention to the reminder painted on one side of the Great War, with red
poppies signifying the sacrifice of that Great War. I thought of various
American Indian soldiers who had spoken to me about the Red Poppy and always
asked me for one from this part of the world.
I
collected my ipad, a book to take notes and a copy of Marc Auge’s book, The
World of the Anthropologist and walked towards the Spanish/Italian owned café
where I spend a hour or so enjoying their coffee, pain au chocolat and hospitality
and also read or write dictated by the prevalent mood!
TEDMED
2014 just finished in Washington and SF and I have a chance to view all the
presentations on line until they are released for all to see. I decided to
begin the café morning with a TEDMED talk. It turned to be the superb concert
pianist Szold Bognar, an American from Illinois. He played a piece by Franz
Schubert with whom he shares a birthday and history of Depression. Beautifully
played, it was therapeutic this morning in Brussels.
As
an Anthropologist I couldn't help wondering, Why does Zsolt Bognar look the way
he does? The name is so definitely Hungarian, but he has a certain South East
Asian look to him. Was he adopted or he is showing the genetic strains left
behind by the Genghis Khan’s foray into Europe?
Time
to read a little bit of recent knowledge in Medicine, while savouring the
organic Pain au Chocolat.
Recently
a good friend of mine had gone to see his General Practitioner and said he was
feeling a little bit more tired than normal. The GP does an ECG and compares
with an old ECG and orders a consultation with a Cardiologist who orders a
Stress Thallium Test.
STRESS
TESTS ARE NOT INDICATED IN PEOPLE WITHOUT SYMPTOMS OF CARDIAC DISEASE.
In
a study of 523 people with no symptoms of cardiac disease, who underwent
Thallium Stress Test, only one had any suggestion of Cardiac Disease.
(No
wonder the medical care in the USA is so expensive, unnecessary tests,
medications with little efficacy, fraudulent medical administrators and collaborators.
Cuba enjoys the same standards of health as the USA, if not better, while
spending 1/20 of the amount with greater availability and less disparity than
the USA!)
BELLY
DANCING ASSOCIATED WITH A POSITIVE BODY IMAGE
They
concentrate on the ACTIVITY rather than their LOOKS.
EXERCISE
FOR THE HEART MAY ALSO PROTECT THE MIND
Older
adults who exercised had better cognic capacity (greater awareness and did
better at tests)
WALKING
BOOSTS CREATIVE THINKING
PARENTAL
ATTENTIVENESS TO INFANTS BABBLING “SPEEDS UP LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT”
The
next article would be of great interest to many, especially knowing that an
average American adult sits for 8 hours per day on the average.
This
information is also good for transcontinental air passengers who have to sit
for long periods without moving. (Please pay attention to the videos shown or
read in their magazines about stagnant blood circulation)
When
you sit, the dilatation and expansion of the arteries are impaired up to 50%
after just one hour.
No
changes or decrease was found in the arterial function among participants who
walked for 5 minutes each hour!
So
get out of your economy class seats and walk up and down the aisle when the
flight attendants are playing their Sudoku on long distance flights!
It
is thought to be due to the muscle activities that aid the blood flow.
Learners
of Yoga and Stretching Exercises know this very well.
Less
Sitting the better!
There
is even evidence that less sitting would protect the DNA and may even prolong
your lifespan, by increasing the telomere length!
PARENTAL
LIFESTYLE AFFECTS OFFSPRING’S HEALTH, EVEN BEFORE CONCEPTION
Obese
parents tend to have children with Metabolic Syndrome
Anxiety
and Immune factors before conception may be passed on to the child
Children
born to Obese Fathers are more likely to develop cancer.
TO
PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY, EFFECTIVE POLICIES WOULD BE
1. After school physical
activity programmes
2.
A
1 cent per ounce excise tax on sugar sweetened beverages
3.
A
ban on child directed fast food TV advertising
1
reduced the childhood obesity by 1.8%, 3 reduced it by 0.9% but 2, the tax on
soft drinks, reduced it by 2.4%
THERE
IS EVIDENCE THAT ANTIOBIOTIC EXPOSURE EARLY IN LIFE MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF
LATER LIFE OBESITY AND METABOLIC ABNORMALITIES
Thought
to be due to changes in the Gut.
Increases
Eczema by 40%
Increases
risk of Asthma
All
thought to be interference with Gut Bacteria.
Mice
given antibiotics early in life had altered gut bacteria, which reprogrammed
their metabolism and made them prone to gain weight.
(Half
the antibiotics in the USA are used to FATTEN up the Cattle, now do you see the
connection? And where do those antibiotics or altered bacteria end up? On your
plate, mate!)
4
potential probiotic organisms that could be given after the antibiotic treatment.
{at the cafe for my morning coffee and pain au chocolate}
Comment:
A
century ago, Obesity or metabolic Syndrome or Diabetes or Cardiovascular
diseases were not that much of a public nuisance as they are now. (Infectious
diseases were). So a lot of research is being done on the end products of what
had gone wrong. e.g.: Obesity leads to Cancer.
Obesity
is not a natural state of affairs, until recently for a majority of the people
on this earth. Research affirms the outcome of natural becoming unnatural.
But
why are people Obese/ (not the activity, fat mantra!)
Gut
Bacteria may provide a good answer; after all they have been around a while!
Long before Antacids, H1blockers, Antibiotics and Analgaesics.
It was 11 am, I had already walked 3 miles, about 5 km.
It would be 5 am in Miami/Havana and 5 pm in Bogor, Indonesia.
(commentary of the times, 3 to 4 out of five teenage girls attending a public school nearby, wear hijab to school!}
