The suicide death of comedian Robin Williams a few days ago was attributed to depression. This highlights the importance of understanding this mental illness and how to deal with it. What is depression? Depression is a state of emotion where the individual has some or all of the following senses, feelings or moods: downhearted, unhappy,…

What does DNA stand for? DNA stands for DeoxyriboNucleic Acid, the “substance” that is analyzed in the state-of-the-art test to determine paternity, and in other cases, maternity. The genetic information or “genetic code” of a person is carried in the DNA of the chromosomes and mitochondria. An individual’s genetic composition is called genome and is…

Is ballroom dancing good for everyone?  For the majority of people who love to dance, ballroom dancing is one of the best exercises for cardiovascular fitness. Only those with medical or physical impairment that disable them to dance will not benefit from it. While walking on the treadmill or doing rowing exercises makes one feel…

How common is low back pain? Low back pain (LBP) is extremely common, is the second most frequent reason for patients to seek medical help, and the number one cause of disability for persons 45 years old and younger. LBP accounts for about 15% of all sick leave. Lifetime prevalence (chances of getting it during…

Did you know that we could overdose not only on drugs but also on common food items we have in our kitchen? We are not talking about eating more than what we should and gaining excess weight. We are talking about a true condition of food overdose, resulting in medical complications. Tea Here’s a case…

Man’s natural instinct and normal automatic response to any possible harm is to protect itself, to ensure well-being and self-preservation. When we accidentally touch something hot, it is our instantaneous reflex to paull our hand away, without thinking, without conscious thought processes. While we, humans, have been endowed with intellect, abstract thinking, and the power…

In spite of all the powerful inventions of man, including the super computers and other state-of-the-art electronic devices, they have not come close to matching the amazing super human body. Even the production of these man-made machines cannot compare with the wonderful miracle of creation itself, from fertilization in the womb to the actual birth…

But our genes, no matter how good their sources are, will not protect us if we abuse ourselves and allow environmental factors to hurt our body and cause disease. It is a well known medical fact that environmental risks many times outweigh positive hereditary traits.  What causes pain and tenderness in the testicles? One of the…

Since man roamed the earth, vegetables have been hailed as a great health food. And even before modern science came out with the medical data proving their value, parents, especially mothers, around the world, from different cultures and traditions, had already been encouraging their children to eat vegetables. In this new era of health-consciousness, vegetables…

Bar codes for commercial products and services are today a standard armamentarium of the business world. Its use has transformed daily transactions, inventory, record-keeping, accounting, auditing, budgeting, projections, etc. into simpler, more accurate, faster, more efficient, and time-saving endeavors. And even our smart cell phones can now read bar codes, to compare prices of various…

Cholesterol and saturated fats have killed more people around the world than all the battles and wars combined. In the United States alone, more than half a million people succumb to heart attack and stroke each year. This does not even include the morbidities and disabilities caused by the blockages of arteries in the abdomen…

SAN Miguel Corp (SMC) has responsibly scuttled the 33-hectare-land-donation to self-proclaimed healing priest Fr. Fernando Suarez’s ambitious plan “to construct a P1Billion ‘mega shrine’ to Mother Mary in Alfonso, Cavite, because of serious concerns about the management and financial issues.” SMC has discovered the “healing priest” has obviously reneged on his vows of poverty and…

Unless otherwise disciplined, children in general would be glued on television hours on end.  This is a part of their natural curiosity and playful instinct.  If allowed, they would lose their interest in all other things, including eating and school work. The negative impact of undisciplined and unsupervised television viewing by children has been an…

What are wrinkles? Also known as rhytides, wrinkles are folds or creases in the skin, resulting from loss of elasticity and skin turgor associated with aging and with years of daily exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun. Another factor is lack of skin care and insufficient moisture for the skin, especially of the…

Water is life. Without it, there would be no life on Planet Earth. Without soft drinks, which is toxic to our organs, life would go on, and more people, especially children, would even be healthier. The normal lean adult body is made up of about 70 percent water (50 percent intracellular; 15 percent interstitial; and,…

The world is always fascinated by new discovery and novelty. One such item is the electronic cigarettes. Since medical science has shown that there are around 4000 (not 400) toxic agents in cigarettes and proven beyond reasonable doubt that cigarette smoking ravages the human body, maims, and kills, researchers and resourceful venture capitalists tried to…

Celebrating and unwinding may mean a drink or two. As long as we enjoy the merriest season of all or any occasion (or no occasion at all in any given day) with discipline and responsibility, the joy will bless us with many happy memories we can cherish forever. In today’s world of seemingly unending stress,…

The body is a wonderful natural chemical factory. Whatever we eat, drink or apply to our body is absorbed and automatically transformed to energy (fuel) or to various hormones and substances that control our total bodily function, including thought processes, mental state, behavior, and cellular responses and reactions. Medications and drugs we take are likewise…

The lumpy or mini-dimpled appearance of the skin especially among 80 to 90 percent of women in their thirties and older which replaces the smooth, firm, gorgeous-looking complexion in the thighs, buttocks and abdomen of younger ladies, is called cellulite. This disfiguring change in the skin tone and look, which affects more women than men,…

The wonder drugs aspirin, statins, and erectile dysfunction pills now share the spotlight with coffee. Yes, the beverages that has gotten an undeserved bum rap for decades, the morning-waker-upper many of us enjoy, is now considered a wonder drug. Unlike soft drinks (“liquid candy”) and energy drinks, which are both dangerous to health, especially for…

The holidays may be over, but their cumulative health and physical effects, among others, will linger a while. Medically speaking, it is actually a time for “damage control” for those of us who have over-indulged during the festivities. The post-celebration “damage control” is just as a healthy pre-emptive measure, more so for those who really…

Is there an illness called Christmas Disease? Yes, there is, but it has nothing to do with the Christmas season. Christmas Disease is a blood disease, also known as Hemophilia B or factor IX hemophilia. It is a hereditary bleeding disorder due to deficiency in coagulation factor IX. This condition is X-linked recessive inheritance, affecting…

Does shoe size mirror length of the male organ? This is a myth that has been around for centuries. There were studies made on this matter. One of the more recent ones is the observation which included 104 men, conducted by two urologists at St. Mary’s in London. They found no statistically significant correlation between…

Wrigley, the internationally famous chewing gum company in the USA, was granted the patent (#6,531,114) March 2003 (good thru 2011), for a chewing gum that contains Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra), the wonder drug for erectile dysfunction in men. The company said the gum “would be easier on the stomach and faster acting” than the currently available…

Wrigley, the internationally famous chewing gum company in the USA, was granted the patent (#6,531,114) March 2003 (good thru 2011), for a chewing gum that contains Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra), the wonder drug for erectile dysfunction in men. The company said the gum “would be easier on the stomach and faster acting” than the currently available…

OXYGEN bars are sprouting all over, especially at airports and some shopping malls, duping people into believing that extra oxygen is healthier for them. Of course, as you inhale their “colored oxygen,” they inhale your money. Medically speaking, extra oxygen is harmful to our lungs, unless we have pulmonary insufficiency where our breathing system is…