Exposing faith healers

There are a number of faith healers who supposedly 'heal' even terminal cancer. It is really sickening how these people can fool sick people into believing that they are 'cured.' This prevents many people from undergoing further treatment. Watch how James Randi, a magician turned exposer of paranormal acts, debunks a popular TV evangelist, Peter Popoff and his "Miracle Crusades."




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Sai Baba miracles; producing holy ash-nothing but simple tricks

Exposing psychic surgery

Psychic surgery is practiced by self proclaimed 'surgeons' mainly in Philippines and Brazil. The psychic surgeon extracts 'tumors' and other diseased parts from the body with bare hands, without any surgical instruments. It is actually nothing but quackery and any accomplished magician can perform it! All it requires is some animal blood and other parts to simulate a surgery.

James Randi, debunks the mystery of psychic surgery.




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Lingam Materialization

Have a safe and healthy New Year!

With the New Year round the corner, many of you out there might be hitting the bottle soon. Here are some tips:

Avoid Getting Drunk
*Limit your intake to 2-3 drinks max. Know your limits.
*Snacks with cheese and butter taken immediately before drinking slows down alcohol absorption. But this is not an excuse to drink more!

How to avoid Hangovers
*The sureshot way, of course, is not to drink. Jokes apart, take 2-3 spoons of honey immediately before or after drinking. The fructose present in the honey metabolizes alcohol faster. Lime and tomato juice are other good choices. Consume lots of water, which helps to eliminate the alcohol via urination and also prevents dehydration.
*Drinks like vodka and gin are less likely to cause a hangover.

Don't drive drunk
*Even before the party starts, it is always safe to request a friend who does not drink to drive you home.

So have a hic... Happy, hic...Safe and hic...Healthy New Year Guys!

Stroke and carotid endarterectomy

Build up of plaque in the carotid artery (situated in the neck and supplying blood to the brain)leads to stroke. Either clots, which form on the plaque, or both clots and plaque material may break loose suddenly and travel to the brain causing a stroke.

According to The American Stroke Association, the warning signs of stroke are:

* Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg (especially on one body side).
* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
* Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
* Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

Carotid endarterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the plaque from the carotid arteries. Here's a video on carotid endarterectomy (not recommended for the weak hearted!)

6 Tips for fat loss

1. Have a fat loss goal. Follow it. Relentlessly.

2. Drink lot's of water. Yeah, you heard it right. Water is essential for all normal physiological process in the body. Water accounts for approximately 73% of lean body mass, and drinking at least a gallon of water helps in fat loss.

2. Eat small meals in a day, high in fiber, protein, moderate carbohydrates and low in fat. High fiber diet (vegetables, fruits, whole wheat etc) gives a sense of satiety and reduces appetite.

3. Get a good carido work out at least twice a week (jogging, walking, swimming etc. It should last for at least 20 intense minutes followed by cooling down for 5 mins. One very efficient way is to use the stairs and chose to walk rather than using the car,whenever possible.

4. Do progressive weight training at least thrice a week.

5. Measure your fat with a fat caliper and track your fat loss.

Keratoprosthesis

Keratoprosthesis is basically an artificial cornea. In people with extensively scarred corneas, as in chemical burns, Steven Johnson syndrome or in those patients with failure of multiple keratoplasty (corneal transplant from cadaver) has failed, keratoprosthesis will be helpful. It is basically a special tube extending from inside the eye to the outside and anchored to to the front surface of the cornea. The tube might have a optical disc in the centre.

A keratoprosthesis is usually made of a special plastic material but it can be even fashioned out of the patient's own tooth! Read about Modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (MOOKP)

The Man who mistook his wife for a hat

I happened to read the book by Oliver Sacks titled the same. Oliver sacks is a neurologist. He chronicles interesting cases in the form of stories. In the opening story "The Man who mistook...." he describes a musician and teacher who comes to him for complaints of decreasing vision and failing memory. When he is asked to describe a rose, he describes it as "About 6 inches in length. A convoluted red form with a linear green attachment". When he was shown a glove, he describes it as “ A continuous surface, enfolded on itself. It appears to have 5 outpouchings, if this is the word.” Finally, as he is about to go, he starts looking for his hat. He reaches out, takes hold of his wife’s head, and tries to lift it off, to put it on. He actually mistakes his wife’s head for his hat. The man suffers from a condition called prosopagnosia, or face-blindness, a neurological condition that renders a person incapable of recognizing faces or sometimes other objects. The book is really interesting with other such stories. Read it if you can !

Stuttering

Stuttering is a disturbance in the normal speech pattern, and is characterized by repetitions of words, syllables or speech sounds and sometimes the inability to start a particular word. Stuttering generally starts when the child is 3-4 years old, and the child has a normal speech development prior to the onset of stuttering. It can be pretty traumatic for the affected person, and in fact, I had a friend who even attmpted suicide due to the stress.

The causes of stuttering may be broadly considered under three categories: developmental stuttering, neurogenic stuttering and psychogenic stuttering. It is also a well-known fact that some cases of stuttering may be hereditary. However, no gene for stuttering has been found yet.

Developmental stuttering is the most common form, and occurs in children who are in the speech and language developmental phase. The child usually outgrows this kind of stuttering. Neurogenic stuttering occurs due to damage to the central nervous system and may the sequelae of stoke, head trauma, extra-pyramidal disorders, tumors, dementia, and medications prescribed for depression and asthma. Psychogenic stuttering is an acquired speech disorder in adults with psychopathology like mental illness and mental stress.

Although there is no cure for stuttering, it is generally believed that the treatment for stuttering should begin in the pre-school years. There are many treatment options available but currently, only the Lidcombe programme has undergone phase I and II clinical trials. This is a behavioral treatment programme, specifically for children in the pre-school age (less than 6 years).


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The power of Soya

Soybean can truly be considered as a complete food. It contains protein, omega-3 fatty acids,and isoflavones.

Clinical studies have demonstrated that soy lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as raises the level of HDL (good) cholesterol and lowers the level of LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce the risk of arrhythmia and/or sudden death. It also reduces the stickiness of platelets, thereby lowering the risk of a heart attack. Soy protein has also been shown to increase the blood levels of nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels.

Soy isoflavones could help prevent hip fractures in postmenopausal women. In menopausal women, isoflavones, reduce menopausal symptoms.

The protein and fiber in soybeans can help to control blood sugar level and prevent spikes of rise in sugar levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

High-fiber soybeans and sphingolipid may be able to help reduce the risk of colon cancer as well as some other cancers, including breast cancer, and phytoestrogen in soybeans can prevent lung cancer.

Home remedies for Diabetes

Home remedies are ideal for those with just a marginal rise in blood sugar, and who have been advised diet control. For others, it is best to follow the prescription of your doctor.

*1-2teaspoons of sprouted fenugreek powder (available in market)in a glass of water, 15 mins before B'fast, lunch and dinner,
*Juice of 1-2 bitter gourd (made upto 300 ml of water) taken 100 ml after b'fast, lunch and dinner.
*Powdered cinnamon (1/4-1/2 teaspoon) with black tea.
*High fiber diet (plenty of vegetables, fruits, salads, whole wheat bread etc.)
*AVOID sugar, soft drinks, sweets, fast food, fruits like mangoes and bananas)
*Nutritional supplements like amino acid supplements daily once.
*Instead of artificial sweeteners, you could try natural and healthy sweeteners like stevia

*Last, but not the least, and most importantly, exercise (this could be aerobics, weight training or both). Toning your body with weights help to build muscle and a well-toned body burns more fat. It's also important to regularly keep track of your sugar level with a glucometer.




You can read here about some new advances like inhalable insulin.





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Inhalable insulin