dimanche 26 avril 2015

AN ANTHROPOLOGIST LOOKS AT A MEDICAL ARTICLE GESTATIONAL DIABETES AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

   The authors of this large retrospective longitudinal cohort study assessed the risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) associated with intrauterine exposure to type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes mellitus. The risk of ASD in offspring was not significantly elevated with preexisting maternal type 2 diabetes, but there was an association between ASD in offspring and gestational diabetes diagnosed at 26 weeks or earlier.
In utero exposure to gestational diabetes before 26 weeks of gestation was associated with an increased risk of ASD in offspring.
This article was published a few days ago by JAMA, a prestigious group of medical publishers in the USA.
When reading medical journals one is exposed to the epidemiological analysis of numbers collected and they are usually strictly biomedical in nature. There would be no social or cultural commentaries attached to them.
Let us look at the above statement.
Women who become Diabetic during their pregnancies has a higher than normal chance of having an offspring with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

Very few readers, who are mostly physicians, would take time out to find out who are these women who are producing infants with ASD?
Let us see who are at risk for Gestational Diabetes?
Let us look to Mayo Clinic to explain it to us:
Risk factors

Any woman can develop gestational diabetes, but some women are at greater risk. Risk factors for gestational diabetes include:
   Age greater than 25. Women older than age 25 are more likely to develop gestational diabetes.
   Family or personal health history. Your risk of developing gestational diabetes increases if you have prediabetes — slightly elevated blood sugar that may be a precursor to type 2 diabetes — or if a close family member, such as a parent or sibling, has type 2 diabetes. You're also more likely to develop gestational diabetes if you had it during a previous pregnancy, if you delivered a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds (4.1 kilograms), or if you had an unexplained stillbirth.
   Excess weight. You're more likely to develop gestational diabetes if you're significantly overweight with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.
Nonwhite race. For reasons that aren't clear, women who are black, Hispanic, American Indian or Asian are more likely to develop gestational diabetes.
Income levels and obesity go hand in hand, income level and immigrant status go together.
In the above classification of Nonwhite Race, the terms Hispanic and Asians are polemic
The highest rates of GDM are found among Mexican Americans who carry native genotypes and the lowest rates are found among Immigrant Cubans who are predominantly White. It is no secret that Cuban immigrants are the most financially successful group of “Hispanics” to the USA, compared to the other major groups, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans
Among Asian populations cited above East Indians and Vietnamese and Cambodians (all fairly recent immigrants) have higher rates than Chinese and Japanese and Koreans, who are earlier migrants and in general economically better off.
Look at this study of modifiable factors in pregnant women who are in the Hispanic category from Proyecto Buena Salud in Boston.
Baseline characteristics of the first 632 participants are presented. Women were predominantly young (69% < 24 years), were unmarried (87%), and had low levels of education (48%had less than high school). Few participants met physical activity guidelines during pregnancy (5.2%). Levels of perceived stress (mean 26.9 +/-7.1), trait anxiety (mean 41.6% +/-10.4), and depressive symptoms (33.2%) were high

See how quickly the epidemiology changes when åyou begin to include social and cultural factors?
These women had lower levels of education, with half of them with less than high school education, directly influencing their earning capacity, which along with other factors associated with poverty, would add to the levels of perceived stress and anxiety and depression.

They exercise less and their nutritional status must be marginal. It is to these mothers the children with ASD are born, disproportionately. It is not only GDM that might be associated with ASD but also other factors those are associated with poverty and stress, which includes nutrition.

There is no doubt that inflammation caused by chemicals entering our bodies through food may cause Obesity and other disorders now thought to be inflammatory, such as Diabetes and Heart Disease

Could it be, just could it be, that it is these social and cultural factors that bring on diseases in these pregnant women, including GDM, and the same aetiological factor is responsible for the ASD in their off spring as well?

This is an Anthropological view!


• Los autores de este estudio retrospectivo longitudinal evaluaron el riesgo de trastornos del espectro autista (TEA) asociados con la exposición intrauterina a la diabetes tipo 2 y la diabetes mellitus gestacional. El riesgo de TEA en la descendencia no fue significativamente elevado con diabetes preexistente materna tipo 2, pero había una asociación entre TEA en la diabetes gestacional diagnosticado a las 26 semanas o antes.
La exposición intrauterina a la diabetes gestacional antes de las 26 semanas de gestación se asoció con un mayor riesgo de TEA en la descendencia.
Este artículo fue publicado hace unos días por la revista JAMA, un prestigioso grupo de editores médicos en los EE.UU..
Al leer revistas médicas uno está expuesto al análisis epidemiológico de los números recogidos y por lo general son estrictamente biomédica . No habría comentarios sociales o culturales 
Echemos un vistazo a la declaración anterior.
Las mujeres que quedan diabética durante el embarazo tiene un alto de lo normal de probabilidades de tener un hijo con (Trastorno del Espectro Autista) TEA.

Muy pocos lectores, que son en su mayoría médicos, tomarían tiempo para averiguar quiénes son estas mujeres que son bebés que producen con TEA?
Veamos que están en riesgo de diabetes gestacional?
Echemos un vistazo a la Clínica Mayo para explicar a nosotros:
Factores de riesgo
Por Mayo Clinic Staff

Cualquier mujer puede tener diabetes gestacional, pero algunas mujeres están en mayor riesgo. Los factores de riesgo para la diabetes gestacional son:
• Edad superior a 25. Las mujeres mayores de 25 años son más propensas a tener diabetes gestacional.
• Historial familiar o personal de salud. Su riesgo de tener diabetes gestacional aumenta si tiene prediabetes - azúcar en la sangre ligeramente elevado que pueden ser un precursor de la diabetes tipo 2 - o si un familiar cercano, como un padre o un hermano/a, tiene diabetes tipo 2. es también más probabilidades de tener diabetes gestacional si tuvieras que durante un embarazo anterior, si entregó un bebé que pesó más de 9 libras (4,1 kilogramos), o si ha tenido una muerte fetal no explicada.
• El exceso de peso. tiene mayor probabilidad de tener diabetes gestacional si eres un sobrepeso significativo con un índice de masa corporal (IMC) de 30 o más.
Raza no blanca. Por razones que no están claras, las mujeres que son negro, hispano, indio americano o asiático son más propensos a tener diabetes gestacional.
Los niveles de ingresos y la obesidad van  junto mano a mano, el nivel de ingresos y la condición de inmigrante van junto tambien.
En la clasificación por encima de la raza no blanca, los términos hispanos y los asiáticos son polémica
Entre “Hispanos”
Las mayores tasas de GDM se encuentran entre los mexicano-americanos que llevan genotipos nativos y las tasas más bajas se encuentran entre los cubanos inmigrantes que son predominantemente blancos. No es ningún secreto que los inmigrantes cubanos son el grupo mas exitoso economicamente de los "hispanos" a los EE.UU., en comparación con los otros grupos importantes, mexicanos, puertorriqueños y Aådominicanos
Entre las poblaciones de Asia antes citados indios orientales y vietnamitas y camboyanos (todos los inmigrantes relativamente recientes) tienen tasas más altas que chinos y japoneses y coreanos, que son migrantes anteriores y, en general, una mejor situación económica.
Mira este estudio de los factores modificables en las mujeres embarazadas que están en la categoría hispana de Proyecto Buena Salud en Boston.
Se presentan las características basales de los primeros 632 participantes. Las mujeres eran predominantemente joven (69% <24 2="" 5="" anos="" ejercicios="" embarazos="" en="" espeficos="" estress="" font="" nbsp="" participaba="" por="" solo="" soltera="" su="">
percibido, como ansiedad, depression en casi 50 5 des las mujeres!  Mas importante en este sociedad de capitalismo, menos de 50 % tenia una educacion de nivel segundaria! ( solo mitad se graduaron de escuela!)


Ver lo rápido que la epidemiología cambia cuando comienzan a incluir los factores sociales y culturales?
Estas mujeres tenían niveles más bajos de educación, con la mitad de ellos con menos de educación secundaria, que influyen directamente en su capacidad de generar ingresos, que junto con otros factores asociados a la pobreza, se sumaría a los niveles de estrés percibido y la ansiedad y la depresión.

Ellos hacen menos ejercicio y su estado nutricional deben ser marginal. Es a estas madres de los niños con TEA nacen, de manera desproporcionada. No es sólo GDM que podrían estar asociados con TEA, pero también otros factores los que están asociados con la pobreza y el estrés, que incluye nutrición.

No hay duda de que la inflamación causada por los productos químicos que entran en nuestro cuerpo a través de alimentos pueden causar obesidad y otros trastornos ahora se cree que son inflamatorias, tales como la diabetes y las enfermedades del corazón

¿Podría ser, simplemente no podía ser, que son estos factores sociales y culturales que traen en las enfermedades en estas mujeres embarazadas, incluyendo GDM, y el mismo factor etiológico es el responsable de la TEA en su  bebes ?
Esta es una vista antropológico!

    

samedi 18 avril 2015

HAVANA: A MOVEABLE FEAST OF EMOTIONS

At a personal level;
Friendships so deep that it is like a tattoo in your heart.
Intellectual: discourses with a human face.

society at the street level
Food
Burritos de Frijol  (the ground up beans tastes very good0
 Quesadilla de Pollo 
 A Latin American Salad 
Chicken Tacos 

Cakes and Cafes



Walking around the City
University of Havana
Museum of the Revolution
The home of the National Ballet of Cuba 
the cathedral and someone is actually getting married!

Moorish architecture 

View of Havana from near and far and one can see the fort in the distance with Malecon hugging the sea 

SOCIETY
This is the land of the unexpected
it would be hard put to find a society more affectionate than Cuba
It is a genuine society where quotidian interactions are steeped in affections sweeter than the natural honey found here


i saw this couple kissing each other as they walked along the Rampa. I shouted, one more please, and they obliged and I took the photograph.
where in the world would you find a barber with a scissors who recites poetry and talks about spirituality and love/
Only in Havana
Such polite waitresses, most of them have tertiary education and they are genuinely friendly

Over 100 000 Americans have visited since February and hotels are booked to the brim for months. It is so easy to travel to Cuba now and Americans do not have to produce any documents saying they are visiting for Cultural purposes. just book the flight and come..but please make sure you have somewhere to stay before you arrive..
whatever the right leaning conservative or fascist politicians in the USA think, the barrier between Cuba and USA is broken for ever, even though Miami Cubans may be the last to realize that.

Political Body
the force which was the supreme one for fifty years in Cuba that controlled the lives of the people
There is a lessening of vigilance and control
Police are protecting this safe country, not threatening the safety of the individual. It is incredible how fast this change has come, it is one of the more notable changes since Dec 17,2014
A colleague from the University 
A postgraduate trainee in Medicine from a sister country in Latin America 
 This privately run cafe(like most of the newer ones) were started by two 23 year old women.

Fresa or Chocolate?

The people who serve you coffee and cakes here, one of them trained as a journalist and the other pictured above might go to Australia to join her Cuban boyfriend..

where in the world you can sip cafe and taste cakes and biscuits in elegant atmosphere? in a city where,
the custodian of the Endocrine Institute wants to discuss the literary aspects of being an Austrailan Aborigine? when i told him of my Aussie Connection. What do you think of that book by Tracy Morgan he asked much to my amazement. The Security agent(like the TSA in the USA) wanted to discuss Krishnamurthy (can you imagine that happening at Miami airport?)
and most importantly, I dont think you could do this anywhere else but in Havana, Cuba
I was about to leave the country. I was in line at the Immigration. An extremely pleasant and sweet faced lady was behind the counter.
She says very pleasantly, how are you? I say jokingly, Now that I see you, I dont want to leave the country, she laughs.
Is this what the media in Miami talk about the oppression of the people? Dictatorship and vigilance?
She stamps my passport and smiles.
Nowhere in any immigration lines, Paris, Brussels, Miami or Cochin have I seen such a sweet smile.
Only in Cuba!

mardi 7 avril 2015

AIRBNB IN CUBA: NO DAMOS COMMISSION

Just a few days ago AirBnB, the USA based accommodation sharing agency and app, announced it was adding CUBA to its list of countries. Obviously things are opening up, attracting american visitors, which Cubans welcome.
Today I was surprised to read that over 1000 listings are available on Air BnB in Cuba, an incredible number considering that Internet is slow and the AirBnB business model requires a bank account in foreign currency and easy access to Internet and email.
Many anti Cubans in Miami like to paint a picture of Cuba living in the dark ages, they forget that the Cubans in the island are just like themselves, trying to make a good living and ingenious and certainly less fraudulent.
1000 listing in such a short period of time?
I realize that it is going to hurt a certain sector of the population, the Jinatero, of the hustler who takes a commission when he takes you to a casa particular.
Imagine, now the commission charged by Air BnB is much less than the commission charged by Jinateros and others in the society trying to make a living by referring people to restaurants, casa particulares or any other services. Also, with such a vast exposure, the intending american tourist can have the casa particular ready and the owner could pick him up, again without having to pay commission to a third party in Cuba. It is a serious economic blow to that particular segment of the population.
Normally the commission is around 20 per cent and AirBnB is around 15%. 
I welcome the decision by AirBnB to enter Cuban market and let the world, especially the anti cubans who live in Miami, see for themselves the elegant and furnished and available housing available for all sorts of american tourists who are descending to the island.
THIS AD WAS IN TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES! VOW!

The following photograph taken in Miami International Airport, a photo of Che, with Cafe Versailles in the background.. is a great metaphor for the changes occurring between the two countries! It is such a welcome change from years of Neurosis!
PS  I enjoyed my Cortadito, Estilo de la Habana at the airport cafe! in Miami..



dimanche 5 avril 2015

SHABBAT SHALOM FROM FORT COCHIN IN MALABAR COAST

SHABBAT SHALOM FROM COCHIN 
DR.YEHUDA, La Habana, Cuba
Friday, 20th March 2015.
The morning began brightly enough, Rexy the owner driver of the car arrived promptly at 7 30 AM, and while waiting for our friend, Mr Biju Thomas, Historian and Tour Guide, a breakfast of Idiappam and  Egg Curry and the first of the many teas of the day was waiting at the City Light Café.


I have been having breakfast here everyday, first of all, it is one of the few places open at 7 30 am and it is a nice feeling to be eating with the local people who are preparing for their day. A nice little participant observation

The pleasant Muslim owner of the place always greets me with a smile, after all he has seen me three days in a row.

Cochin is an unusual place because of the genuine cooperation and respect each of the three major religions have for each other. All three are very religious and observant communities, On my way over to the Restaurant in the morning I have to pass by the Basilica (founded 1505) and it is crowded with the morning worshipers!


I THOUGHT OF THE GREAT CHINESE ADMIRAL CHENG HO/ZHENG HE WHO BROUGHT THESE CHINESE FISHING NETS TO COCHIN. HE VISITED COCHIN FOUR TIMES WITH THE LARGEST ARRAY OF SHIPS THE PORT HAD EVER SEEN

Fort Cochin harbor is bustling with activity at this time of the morning, ferries arriving from the mainland and a short ferry ride to cross the waters to the other side, to the island of Vypeen.
INDIAN ENGLISH: HOTEL MEANS A CAFE AND NOT A PLACE TO BED DOWN

MENU WAS PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED. MY FRIENDS WANTED ME TO TRY SOME LOCAL DELICACIES WHICH I WAS MORE THAN WILLING TO DO. A NICE CUP OF TEA AS WELL

We stopped for a cup of tea on the way and by 10 am arrived at the abandoned cemetery at Mala, This ancient community of Jews, having been here  for more than one thousand years, left for Israel lock stock and barrel in 1955


The cemetery is sadly neglected, only three graves could be seen, as recently as a few years ago, thirty had been recorded. The destruction of national heritage is a shame on the Local Government and also a black spot for the national pride of Indians of all persuasions.
One of the three graves in poor shape with the tombstone already lost . There were signs of deliberate destruction as well as damage done by time and elements
The Friends of the Kerala Jews, including various individuals, such as Prof Karmachandran from Trichur are trying to clear the legal aspects of these ancient monuments, so that they can be returned to their former glory
The abandoned synagogue at Mala is a beautiful structure and I felt such a sense of wholeness while inside this space so full of history and personality. There may have been a large enough community to support a synagogue of this size
The area around the synagogue, which was in the olden days connected by waterways to the important Jewish town of Cranganore or Kodungallur, were inhabited by Jews, who were traders and the buildings are supposed to be between 300 to 400 years old



This proud merchant was happy to show the inside the shop which before 1950s belonged to the Jews and he beamed when he said: this building is between 300 to 400 years old, I looked for old symbols of Judaism, such as the presence of mezuzah but to no avail. 


India must have been one of the only countries in the world where Jews were not met with hatred or anti Semitism but were universally loved and respected and accepted. They were well integrated into the life of India. Being Religious, they took to heart the commandment to return to Israel and left en masse. It is worth mentioning that India has one of the most pro-Israeli populations
I DONT KNOW WHAT THE POSTERS SAY BUT MOST EDUCATED COCHINITES KNOW AND RESPECT ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA

Kerala, the state in which Cochin is located is one of the first places where they elected Communists in a democratic vote. It warms my heart up to see posters of Che Guevara in the most unexpected of places, here a bill board promoting something or other and I hope it is the ideas of Che about Socialism and the modern man
A GORGEOUS RIVER TO CROSS, THOUGHT OF MA HUAN AND ZHENG HE WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN HERE

Biju had gotten me a bunch of flowers to offer at the nexst stop across the river, the reconstructed Chendamangalam synagogue. This river is a tributary of the mighty Periyar river and this river is mentioned in the chronicles of Ma Huan who accompanied the great Chinese admiral. Cheng Ho or Zheng He.



The Oldest tombstone  with Hebrew letters In India



Thought to be of Sarah bat Israel, bought over from Cragnanore dated,1264 of the common era.




The reconstruccted inside of the Chendamangalam synagoue.The original was dismantled and taken with the emigrants to Nevatim settlement in Israel
The Jewish cemetery at Chendamangalam is entirely neglected. Very sad state of affairs


I wondered to my self, where are the descendants ot those who left for Israel just 50 years ago? Where is their sense of historic continuity and pride?  Don’t they reccognize that here lies someone’s relative? I said a quick Kaddish and may the spirit of the person be blessed and may he be remembered.

When I told my mizrachi brother Eliyahu, born in Bombay and brought up in Kobe, about a similar ceremony which was done for me, he made fun of me and said I had just imagined it.
I don’t remember where or when, I was taken to a teacher at the age of 3 and asked to repeat the letters after him. After each letter, I was given a piece of sweet, and the blessings said: May all your learning be as sweet as this.
It did work, didn't it? (becoming one of the very few Physician Anthropologists!)
Whilst the synagogue is beautifully restored, the situation at the Jewish cemetery is more than pathetic. Unkempt, graves disintegrating, it is an insult to the memory of the jews buried here, over the course of hundreds of years. The most famous Cochini in Israel may be from Chendamangalam, but where are the descendants who have left the souls of their ancestors in such a sad state? It is not as if the cemetery is in an Arab country or Iran where Jews cannot visit. 
THIS REMINDED ME OF THE CENOTE IN CHICHEN ITZA IN YUCATAN, MEXICO




GRATEFUL TO THE HINDU, CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM COCHINIS TRYING TO PRESERVE THE MEMORY OF THE JEWS WHO ONCE THRIVED HERE 

Third synagogue visited was the beautiful Parur synagogue
The architecture and decoration inside is very typically Kerala Jewish. The Bimah facing the torah and chandeliers to light the synagogue and the men sitting downstairs in benches where as women sat upstairs in their gallery







The wood work that now covers where once Torah scrolls stood is magnificent and the best example I have seen. There is a similar beautiful one at the synagogue in Ernakulam in Kerala,under the guardianship of Mr Elias 
The high ceilings decorated with motives and the upstairs gallery are seen in this photograph

At the Bimah

A group of girls from Ferook College of Calicut University were visiting, as part of their course requirements. The teacher asked me whether I could give an impromptu lecture to them. Most of them appeared to be Muslim.

I praised the town they come from,Calicut. Both Vasco da Gama and Cheng Ho landed there, and talked about Tolerance for other people and also the need to become independent and studious. I wished them to be like the women of Iran and told them that majority of the engineering and professional students in Iran are women.


THE SIMILARITY OF SACRED ARCHITECTURE IN KERALA, REGARDLESS OF THEIR RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION IS AMAZING INDEED.  I REFER YOU TO A BOOK BY ARCHITECT PATRICIA TUSA FELS


NEAR THE SYNAGOGUE WAS THIS MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF KERALA ARCHITECTURE

Some ancestors of  Lea Bleuenn  are from the Brittany coast and lighthouses are a symbols of that wild coast, Lea has grown up with these and we made a detour to go by this Lighthouse .


On returning to Fort Cochin, it was nice to see the distinct architecture of  colonial masters. Like the travelers of yesteryear this is the first building to confront on coming to Cochin.
THIS BUILDING KNOWN BY ITS BRITISH NAME ASPINWALLS, WAS BUILT BY THE PORTUGUESE AND THOUGHT TO HAVE HOUSED A LARGE LIBRARY




Tavernier, the French historian had talked about Cochin Library: most of the books had been gathered in Europe, there were hand written copies of books in Indian languages, Chinese, Persian, Arabic and Hebrew were in this library. it was burnt down by the Dutch.
I was fortunate enough to be in Fort Cochin during the Biennale and the quality and variety of the presentations were superb 
Watched the movie Persopolis by Marjane Restrapi from Iran living in France at the Biennale. Each night they showed a different movie: apart from the above, I saw a movie from Senegal, one from Burkina Faso with Sembene Ousmane
The movies, from Iran and Burkina Faso and Mali (about genital mutilation)were  in stark contrast with the tolerance which prevails in Cochin. All movies of this week had empowerment of women as the theme
It was time to say the Shabbat greetings
Shabbat Shalom from Fort Cochin

Dear Family, thinking of all of you, missing all of you very much. But what a wonderful day it was for me in the Jewish Cochin.. where there are only memories of a glorious history of the Jewish people for over 2000 years
The maintenance of this memory is in the hands of Non Jews, scholars and historians alike and after spending one day with them, visiting these monuments I am convinced that the Jewish Heritage is safe, thanks to these scholars and their supporters.
SanJan the genial caretaker of Niyati Boutique Homestay where I spent nearly ten days, was graceful enough to take an Auto Rikshaw and stand in line at the Prison like shop where they sell beer and wine and procured me a bottle of very weak red wine. Grover wineyards also have wine, palatable that is all. On my next visit, I plan to bring my own.
But thanks to Sanjan, I could say the Kiddush.. like it would have been said in Portuguese Jewish communities such as Kingston, Jamaica
The following picture is of:


A Mikvah belonging to the Koder family is preserved on the grounds of a Hotel in Fort Cochin.

For serious students of Jewish History and Heritage, there are Non Jewish scholars resident in Fort Cochin and you may seek their counsel.
Shabbat Shalom from Fort Cochin

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