Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

Monday, October 6, 2008

Will the smokers face extinction?

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has come out with yet another wonder, the ban on smoking in public.

As soon as the law came into effect, we saw the media well prepared to handle this fun with lines like,

Smoking ban goes up in smoke…..


The smokers puffing the law away .. etc etc.


I heard much explicit comments myself since I live with a smoker and knew in my heart that there is no way these smokers are going to be deterred.

Hubby never smokes inside the house or car and he always tries his best not to smoke in confined spaces too. And if his parents/brother or in-laws are around then it is very hard to find him or the place he chooses to smoke away. (The troubles these poor smokers have!) So in his case, the choice of a private place is very limited. It is not as though all smokers love their habit especially since they are now being treated as social outcasts in most workplaces too.

So like my children, I have just this question to ask. Instead of banning smoking when will the government ban the cigarette companies?

If the government continue to let the companies sell these cigarettes in public places since they need their taxes badly then this ban is only to laugh away. The smokers will try their best not to pay the fine, but they will continue to smoke. As for private and public places, does the government have any rules on those?

So I guess it is best to leave the veteran smokers alone. And since the government will not ban the cigarette companies, can they at least have stricter laws to deter the young smokers?

Can they have more awareness programmes to educate the younger generation (before they reach their teens) on the dangers in smoking?

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Our health....

“But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more.”

Read this news a few days ago and ever since I have been thinking....

This reporter seems to be disturbed / frustrated that people are living longer. So now what? Will they let them smoke and do all those things as per research one was not supposed to do? One day it is drink coffee, the next day the research says don’t. And then back to tea and tomatoes while now it is all organic and Soya. But it seems to be costing someone dearly so I guess now a long life is only for the rich who can afford it.

This reminded me that our Grandparents did live a long and healthy life though I did not find them popping pills to keep that way. The only demand (occasionally) for both my grand mothers were the Kottakkal Aryavaidyashala products “Lehyam”, “Kashayam” and their favourite hair oil which makes them smell so heavenly. Wonder why I never used it though my mother does. I guess people may not come near me!

Arya Vaidya Sala uses more than 4000 tons of raw material (about 600 items) in a year to produce 530 formulations for the market. A rough estimate of annual consumption by Arya Vaidya Sala:

1. Milk - 13 lakh litre
2. Oil - 5 lakh litre
3. Ghee - 180 ton
4. Honey - 290 ton
5. Jaggery - 750 ton
6. Saffron - 856 kg
7. Cardamom - 14 ton
8. Tippali - 30 ton
9. Ativitayam - 12 ton
10. Kurumtotti - 480 ton

As for my Grand father (maternal) he ate whatever he liked until his death at 89. His favourite desert was curd with plantain and sugar! It tastes great but the minute I try to enjoy it, I keep thinking of the calories in the sugar and curd! I have already cut down on my sugar intake.. just for precaution sake. Sigh...

My grand mother (paternal) lived to 90 and lived all alone with just a lady to cook and keep her company at night. She refused to move in with any of her children. I think the secret of her health was her bath. She used to sit on a stool and rub “Taila / Kuzhampu (Oil based)” all over her and then stay thus while separating the “Incha”. Then a long warm bath followed.

Hubby’s grandma lived 100 years! She never took any medicines either and loved sweets until her death. She could do all her bodily needs all alone until her death. So what are we up to?

Whatever they did, none of them depended on medicines. But my father was diagnosed with BP and cholesterol in his early 40’s. He loved good food and he was big built so I guess he settled for the medicines instead of diet. But still mother banished poor coconut oil for gingelly oil and sometimes instead of meat she used to cook soya chunks. Ugh! As for my mother, she still refuses to take medicines. I think once you start taking medicines for BP, you are doomed to continue it, while one can still control it with diet and exercise.

As for our children, if any of them falls sick we are too quick to start antibiotics while many doctors advice us not to do so, but manage the fever for at least 3 days and then start antibiotics if still needed. But we don’t have the patience to do so. We need to send them to school and can’t take a day off too. One of our cousin’s son developed grey hair when he was in 2nd standard. The doctor said it was due t over usage of antibiotics. I have tried my best too, to keep myself away from this, whenever I can and my kids too.

Do we really need all these medicines?

Do we really need to listen all those research findings?

Our grandparents never did and they lived a long and healthy life.

And today I read this..

Israeli Arab says she's world's oldest person
Mariam Amash, who applied for a new identity card, says she's 120


Wow.. nd did the Israel government keep her that way or did she do it all alone. Beats me. and we have the Bible which tells us that people did live long... with no medicinces or modern hospitals.

I am not saying we dont need them but we should not depend upon them completely.

Anyway I hope now the researchers won’t find means to let us poor folks die early so that we are not a burden to the state. Or have they already?

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Yogurt Can Save Your Life

Take time to read what Sunny Sky has to offer in her blog. I am sure we have many of our own home remedies which we seldom use.

I remember during my childhood, mother never used any OTC medicines, but she always had her own home remedies and it always worked. This was more because we grew up in a remote area so before the medicines could be procured we were already on our way to recovery. My mother got so used to this concept that even now she has much difficulty in taking medicines.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Tales From Mouse Ward

Since many of you are working in the IT sector, thought I shall share this article.. if you havent read it already. I know it is stale news.. but still...some needs reminders!


Tales From Mouse Ward

Urban Indians are paying with their health the price of being in computer-intensive jobs

Nothing about Vijaykumar’s daily schedule suggested any kind of health risk. For a young man, still pushing 33, he seemed to have an impeccably balanced lifestyle. He woke in the morning to drive to the Bangalore offices of IT major Cisco, where he worked as a programmer. He spent eight or nine hours at his computer, steadily tapping out code. His was a serious workday, but not an oppressive one, compared to the 14-hour shifts call centre workers clocked in over on Bannerghata Road. When he had time, he swam a few laps in the pool, and headed home to spend time with his family.
In 2003, however, something changed.

"It was a numbness in the hand," he recalls. "Then a cold sensation from my shoulder to my palm, and sometimes my hand became paralysed." We’re all getting older, he thought, gritting his teeth, and this must be the beginning of the inevitable wear-and-tear. And so he swam more to stay limber, tried yoga, ointments and pranayam to ease the pain. He relaxed his pace of work, moved the mouse from his right hand to his left. But that only shifted the pain to different places. The orthopaedist he consulted told him not much else could be done.
The condition progressed. A year ago, Vijaykumar stopped driving his car. Then he discovered he could not lift his kids—one and three years old—and carry them in his arms. "Five months ago, people started telling me I looked thin and worn out," says Vijaykumar. "And I realised I was living with a lot of pain, and barely sleeping at night.


So, I had to take indefinite leave, and hoped the problem would die down." It wasn’t till he was home one afternoon, browsing the web, that he came across a website that described his symptoms perfectly, and he realised it was his computer doing the damage all along.


...It afflicts even those who are young, fit, starting their first computer-dependent job. Average age: 27.




In the computer-intensive sectors of the Indian economy, bad ergonomics and work habits are more the rule than the exception. Businesses operate out of rented spaces, pre-equipped with shoddily designed desks and flimsy chairs. Hands, elbows and torsos lock in crooked formations between monitors, keyboards and mouses. The glaring screens look like they were installed to kill flies.

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