The global keyboard
Shalom! I wrote this column last Friday, June 21, 2019, in Nazareth, during our family tour of Israel, on the way to Galilee and Jerusalem.
The use of cellphones is very popular among at least 88 percent of people in this country, one of the top tech nations in the world. The concept of SMS (Short Message Service) was originally developed by a French-German duo (Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert) in 1984, but the very first text message sent (two-words: “Merry Christmas”) was done 8 years later, on December 3, 1992. Nokia became the first to produce total GSM phones in 1993, the first to manufacture a mobile phone with a full keyboard in 1997, the Nokia 9000i Communicator. The Filipinos were ahead of many nations, the United States included, in utilizing mobile text messaging. With great dexterity, most Filipinos, from executives to tricycle drivers, started texting since it first came out. It was a couplr of years later when SMS became popular in the USA. This marvelous advance in technology is most valuable unless used unwisely. As I have stated in my past columns, if you want to meet God sooner, text and drive.
No more finger stick
Worldwide, there are at least 422 million afflicted with type 2 diabetes, more than 100 million in the USA alone, with an added 85 million prediabetics, and about 4 million in the Philippines, many more undiagnosed globally. Diabetics, especially those on insulin, test their blood glucose (sugar) level more than once a day by pricking the tip of a finger with a lancet (needle) that comes with the glucometer. No matter how tiny that needle is, it still stings, and for more sensitive people, it really hurts. Some do not test themselves because of the pain.
So, science is striving to find painless alternative ways to measure blood glucose. There is the Dexcom continuous glucose monitoring, where a filament is inserted under the skin in the abdomen and the glucometer shows realtime blood glucose level, for those who are on insulin and testing their sugar level at least 4 times a day. There are studies being done to find out if a sensor attached to contact eye lens could measure glucose level in the tears, or if saliva could be used (instead of blood or tears) to measure glucose level with a biosensor (organic transistor) as accurately as the conventional blood glucose testing.
Vegetables/fruits and death rate
Our intake of vegetables and fruits affects our longevity, according to a global study. Statistics on each country about its national intake of vegetables and fruits were analyzed together with the country’s data on causes of deaths and cardiovascular risk and found that low intake of plant-based food items was associated with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases and deaths. The diet in Israel is a healthy mixture of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, with a lot of plant-based items, even for breakfast. The mortality rate from heart attack in Israel has dropped 50 percent the past 15 years.
The research data were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition June 8-11, 2019, noting that in 2010 alone around the world, not eating enough vegetables was associated with about 200,000 deaths from stroke and more than 800 deaths from heart attack, and the low fruit consumption linked to around 1.3 million deaths from stroke and more than 520,000 deaths from heart disease. In the USA alone, low intake of vegetables along has been linked to 82,000 cardiovascular mortality and low fruit consumption to about 57,000 deaths.
Cancer risks higher among meat eaters
For the past couple of decades, I have written about the higher risk for the development, not only for cardiovascular illnesses, but also for deadly cancers among meat eaters (especially processed meats), featured in the book, Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children (view at philipSchua.com and amazon.com).
Like most cancers, pancreatic cancer is significantly impacted by diet, like those high in saturated fats. A pescatarian diet (fish and plant-based foods) started during childhood, and sustained faithfully, together with a healthy lifestyle, would lower the risk for the development of cancers, besides cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. A diet high in meat, especially processed meat (sausages, bacon, luncheon meats, etc.), increases the risk for developing pancreatic cancer by almost 70%, reported the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
A study showed “an average of 41 cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed per 100,000 people each year among those who ate the most processed meat compared with 20 cases among those who ate the least.” This research, which included 180,000 individuals, also found that individuals who ate even non-processed red meats, including pork, beef, and any other red meats, had a 50% higher risk of having cancer of the pancreas.
Scientists think the culprit-carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) may not be only the saturated fat in red meats but the nitrate-based preservatives and the cooking method, like charcoal-grilling and broiling, where burned oil drips on the fire causes carcinogenic fumes to rise and be absorbed by the meat. Other studies have shown that people who eat red meat regularly also have a higher risk for cancer of the colon, breast, other cancers in general, and heart attack and stroke, compared to those who minimize or do not eat red meat.
Dangers of self-medicating
Self-diagnosing/medicating is dangerously popular. Taking the same drug a friend or family member is taking for cough, for instance, may not be safe nor effective for treating your own cough, which may be due to other bacterial causes, like pneumonia or tuberculosis, etc. The other potential dangers of self-medicating besides a wrong diagnosis are: delays in seeking medical consultation, incorrect choice of drug, incorrect dosage, drug interaction, adverse side reactions and complication, and masking an underlying disease. Even “simple” aspirin or paracetamol could lead to gastric bleeding or liver damage, respectively. One drug may be safe for an individual and dangerous for another. Most herbals on the market today have not gone through rigid evaluation for purity, efficacy, safety, dosage, side-effects, and complications. The highest incidence of self-medication is about 15 percent in South America followed by 13 percent in the USA. Self-medicating could lead to serious complications, including death.
***
Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: [email protected]
