Shoots and leaves

This is not the James Bond stuff to shoot and leave. This more of the shoot-and-flush kind 'cos the title refers to ‘shoots and leaves’ as nouns.  


This blog is coming your way, since I told a patient yesterday '"Take fibre" and he gave me a look as if I told him to take his neighbor's' wife or the neighbor himself and asked 'Fibre?'  I understand that my blog readers are an intelligent lot and know shit from Shangri-la… but do you know that dietary fiber is the Shangri-la to prevent a lot of problems.

Our lifestyle has changed so such that our food contains very little amount of fiber.  Fiber is essential to maintain a healthy digestive system.. it softens your poop and ensures a quick and smooth passage. You could call it a travelator of the intestines.

First off, dietary fiber is the undigested residue that is majorly presented in the outer plant wall material.  You could find truckloads of them in fruits, vegetables, peas, lentils, nuts and seed etc. Don't waste your time looking for them in sodas, alcohol, fast foods and dessert. 

Ok.. here is what a fiber-rich diet can do to you.  It lowers your cholesterol… the rascalas of  heart problems.  It also lowers the blood glucose levels and hence useful for people with diabetes too. The best part is fiber rich food is ideal for weight-watchers as it is fills up your stomach without much calories.

Fibre ..optical or dietary is here to stay .. so make hay 

Light at the end of the tunnel

Good news from the recent Harvard Medical School Newsletter …  sexuality is not just for the young. Results from a University of Chicago survey suggested that over half of Americans remain sexually active well into their 70s. For most previous studies 59 years was the upper limit.  However, the Chicago study focused exclusively on 3000 older adults between 57 to 85. The results have lent some legitimacy to the subject of sexuality of older people.

More than the outcome of the study, what caught my attention was that - the older adults were now found suitable for study ....  I mean someone actually had this bright idea that older people may be still doing it. Previously older people weren’t included in studies of sexual behavior because they were seen as largely irrelevant to the topic. Written off since they could not participate in the procreation process? 

That said, the results did show that sexual activity does decrease with age. Biological factors do tug in that direction, as do social arrangements. Older people, especially women, often end up single when a spouse or partner dies. Statistics show that at the age of 70, there are 5 women to every man. Isn't that an ironic time for a guy to get those odds? 

In UK, the Manchester City Council published 5,000 copies of sexual education booklet specifically designed to educate elderly people about sexual issues. The reason being elderly have very little experience with condoms or have forgotten how to use them and hence the medical problems were increasing in the elderly! 

The point is – In India do we really care?  We have such social taboos out here that we do not even encourage the young to indulge. No public display of affection... premarital sex is a complete no-no, live-in relationship are still not accepted. So in our country, which researcher would be  interested in studying what the oldies are doing with their goodies. 


So my dear 'ol frens .. men and women .. there really is no pause. The tagline 'Do till you can'.  


Remember 'old' is when you don't care where your spouse goes, as long she does not force you to go with her. 

Secrets to stay blissfully stressed

Are you worried about how to stay stressed? Here are some sure ways

1. Never Exercise - Exercise wastes a lot of time that could be spent worrying.

2. Eat anything you want - Hey, if cigarettes can’t keep u healthy, then balanced diet isn’t going to

3. Try to gain weight – Make sure you are at least 15 kgs above your recommended weight.

4. Take plenty of stimulants - caffeine, nicotine, alcohol are just fine. Take loads of them

5. Do away with real time friends - Tell your friends that you don’t have the time for them. Invite all- you-can on Facebook and wait for them to 'like' your comments.

6. Personalize all criticism - Anyone who criticizes your work, children, house, or car is mounting a personal attack. Don't take time to listen. Be offended and return the attack! 

7. Never ask for help – Whether you are male or a female, be macho.  If you want it done right, do it yourself

8. Work hard - Put work before everything else and be sure to take work home evenings and weekends.  That will help meet the sleep deprivation targets

9. Never holiday - Keep reminding yourself that vacations are for losers

10. Become a perfectionist – Set impossibly high standards and either beat yourself up or feel guilty and depressed when you don't meet them. 

11. Forget good time management skills - Schedule in more activities every day than you can possibly get done and then worry about it all whenever you get a chance. 

12. Postpone as much as you can - Putting things off to the last second always produces a marvellous amount of stress. 

13. Worry about big issues - like the stock market, earthquakes, global terrorism and all the other things you can’t control

14. Throw out your sense of humor - Staying stressed is no laughing matter and it shouldn't be treated as one.

15. Dont read my blogs – It may be injurious to your health since you may laugh a little or may pick up a few health tips.

If you follow all these religiously there are great chances that you may need to schedule a visit to a Cardiologist clinic very shortly.

FYI – My consultation hours are between 9.00- 1.00 pm when I am not holidaying. (The rest of the time I read books, watch TV, go gymming, chat with friends, party or sleep) 

Ciao... am off on a holiday and shall be back next week. 

For my Spirited Friends

After any health talk, a very commonly asked question is ‘Doc, how much alcohol is safe?’  My answer is ‘Enough to get you home, stay fit and live long’.  Since social drinking is on the rise,  my concern is more from the nutritional point of view. Each gram of alcohol gives 7 Calories as against one gram of Carbs which give you only 4 Cals, for which nutritionists single them out as bad guys.

Let us understand how much would our friend X consume during a party. Here's the math (those with Mathematicophobia, please skip the next paragraph...and also skip a couple of drinks)

A liquor bottle which says 42.2 v/v (volume by volume) simply means that they have managed to load about 42 gms of alcohol in every 100 ml of the drink. So if a person has 60 ml of spirit, he is having 25 gms of alcohol equivalent to 175 Cals. Assuming he has 3 such drinks .. voila.. he has already taken 525 cals. That’ s not all. If it is rum and cola, you got to add the Cola component too, which is 140 cals per can. So our friend has had around 950 cals in the party without counting dinner and snacks!

The daily requirement is around 2000 – 2750 Cals depending on age and weight. The older you are the lesser calories you require. If you do not spend those calories, then you would start sporting a belly. Call it what you want beer belly, breezer belly, but we call it Central Obesity and we have also found a link to becoming a Diabetic later on. 


How do you know that you have a paunch? Do this simple test. Stand straight. Look directly down...if you are able to see your... yes.. feet ;-) then you probably don’t have a belly. But if you can't see your own feet, then run.. literally.  You could also calculate the waist / hip ratio .... it  should not be more than 0.8 for women and not more than 1 for men.


I classify Bellied Men into 3 categories based on their trouser-wearing habit.
(1) Those who have trousers hanging below the belly .. they are the bold, carefree types.  
(2) Those who wear the trousers above the belly are the careful and conscious. They are like the ostrich burying the head in the sand 
(3) Those who wear it right on the belly are the religious. They believe in miracles for keeping them on. 

For those of you who want to avoid getting a Pot belly or a Muffin Top Belly, feel free to use this ready reckoner. 

                                   

Whisky/rum/vodka (60 ml)	175 Cals
Beer (One can)	140 - 180 Cals
Breezer (One bottle)	190 Cals
Coke / Pepsi(One can)	140 - 150 Cals
Diet Coke/Pepsi/ Sodas	0 Cals

Cheers

Tele belly

The other day, I got a sms from one of my friends asking for some medicines for his father who apparently had ‘loose stomach’. Without thinking twice, I wrote back instructing him to ask his father whether it was smelly, sticky and watery etc. Here is  the scene -  the father is a 60 year old, non- humorous, no-nonsense kind of a person who is presently making frequent trips to the loo and the helpless son with a one point agenda of completing my questionnaire, all set to interrogate his father with the earnestness of a newly joined FBI agent.

Son  - “Is your stools sticky?”

Father..( gives him a vague look) - “Why? .. I can’t tell since I don’t have the habit of peering into what goes into the pot"

Son ( musters some courage) – "Is it watery?"

Father – “Excuse me.. I thought loose meant just that”

Son ( thoroughly embarrassed by now, but continues undaunted) – "Is it smelly?”

Father ( shocked look...  his son who had never before even asked him how his general health was, now, is actually asking him whether his pottie is stinking -  “ ................”  

Son  – “Forget it”

Then the son telephones me as if is there was as emergency .. ‘ Doc  how can you make me enquire about my father’s pottie health?.. Can’t u suggest a pill which doesn’t  require those answers? 

I could have.. but com'on I am licensed to ask.  Anyways, I decided that will be my last gastro-entero-tele-phonic consultation. I am happy to be dealing with the matters of the heart. 

On a related note, you may want to take care when you travel to Thailand. Saw this sticker out there behind a cabbie's seat. No clues on a solution other than - 


                                                          'Stop the car, I want to break wind'

CRI and you

My cousin from the US was inspirational in getting me to write a blog on my field of expertise .... which is making money by making people live longer to make more money, to make us make more money  Anyways, I am not going to charge you for getting a tip or two out of this blog to stay healthy.  I would trade it instead for a dinner or drink when we meet. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting to you my first medical related blog on Computer Related Injury or for the laptop users called Laptop-itis - pain in the back/neck/wrists

All of us have laptops. It has become as universal as having a spouse. Going by the declining sex ratio, a few years later a guy may have a computer and Wi-fi but not a wifey. Well the point is, we will be spending long hours with the computer and hence we better learn to surf smooth.

The most common injury is of the wrist. And yes friends… we have name for it - CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME (CTS) and it may be as high as 30% among the computer users.  It occurs due to repetitive movement of the wrist  (Pl note- My blogs are meant for men of a certain age where I expect that keyboard use would be the only source of this movement) To avoid this problem, ensure that your keyboard is at the level as your elbow so that wrists are not bent.

Now coming to how to avoid backache and neckache. Your body should form a 90-degree angle at your elbows, knees and hips. This may sound like an instruction from a finishing school, but that is the only way out. While sitting pretty, like a beauty pageant queen,  you may well remember to keep your eyes  straight ahead at the top third of the screen to avoid eye fatigue. For those using bifocals, make sure that you don’t throw your head back to read through the spectacle bottom. Get yourself a proper reading glass instead to avoid pain in the neck. 

The only real possible danger of a laptop is thermal radiation. When placed on the genitals ( the most common position), heat from the laptops may cause infertility. Guys, studies do show that laptop can be potential sperm killers. Wait ... keeping it on your thighs, isn’t going to help either, unless you want to have  ‘Toasted Skin syndrome” (Oooooh, I love my fraternity, they are the best in the industry in creating  ingenious nomenclatures) . My take on how to protect your vitals is use it at a desk or use a laptop stand.

As you mail/surf/watch/download, let there be some gap between your lappy and your lap!