That is right folks, scientists today don't really have a clue as to what gravity really is. I refer you to the same incredible article over at the U.S. Department of Energy Reasearch News that I told you about in the last blog. Gravity is one of the big puzzles of science. You get enough matter together in one place and it exerts a gravitational field -- but why? Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity can not explain what is going on in the gravitational fields of huge black holes. I am not kidding. Check it out yourself:
http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2002-02/ddoe-1pq061502.php
Let me just quote a tiny bit of the relevant sentences from this amazing revelation:
"9. What is gravity?
Black holes are ubiquitous in the universe, and their intense gravity can be explored. The effects of strong gravity in the early universe have observable consequences. Einstein's theory should work as well in these situations as it does in the solar system. A complete theory of gravity should incorporate quantum effects—Einstein's theory of gravity does not—or explain why they are not relevant.
High energy and nuclear physics theorists study string theories and the possibility of extra spatial dimensions, which could help to explain quantum aspects of gravity. Experiments at high energy colliders like the Tevatron at Fermilab and LHC at CERN will be able to test some of these ideas in the next few years. String theories have already led to calculations of the entropy of black holes, a meeting place of quantum ideas and gravity."
One of the new string theories is that somehow matter warps the time/space contiuum around itself and this creates the illusion of gravity. Huh? I am just so happy that we can build energy colliders and test some theories of these quantum physicists, aren't you? Theories, mind you--not provable facts. Gravity has been around for thousands of years, and all we have are vague and unproved theories about it. Isn't that interesting!!
Maybe there is no such thing as gravity after all. We are held down to terra firma because (as in the words of my landlady) everything sucks.
So, what is gravity? I am sure I don't know either. But I am pretty happy about gravity and plan to go on using it!!
David
Thursday, March 29, 2007
I am heavy because of DARK MATTER.
I just found this incredible report over at the United States Department of Energy Research News http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2002-02/ddoe-1pq061502.php that says that there are eleven questions that are bugging scientists today that have gone unanswered.
One of the questions is about dark matter--just what is it? I just have to quote one paragraph because although I have studied physics, I am not a physics major. And these few sentences open up vast areas of what I call "dark" knowledge -- knowledge I don't have right now, and perhaps never will. With that in mind, here goes:
"Astronomers have shown that the objects in the universe from galaxies a million times smaller than ours to the largest clusters of galaxies are held together by a form of matter that is not what we are made of and that gives off no light. This matter probably consists of one or more as-yet-undiscovered elementary particles, and aggregations of it produce the gravitational pull leading to the formation of galaxies and large-scale structures in the universe. At the same time these particles may be streaming through our Earth-bound laboratories."
Okay. Dark matter. Matter that is "not what we are made of, and gives off no light." And guess what--scientists don't have a clue exactly what this "dark matter" really is, or whether it even really exists. They are making this stuff up as they go along folks. It is creative imagination on steroids. Dark matter might be this, or it may be that. I just love the quote about "as-yet-undiscovered elementary particles."
Nobody knows for sure. But I think that dark matter is probably the reason that when I get on the scales I weigh too much. Yeah, that has got to be the answer. If it wasn't for the dark matter, I would not be fat. I would not be overweight. And so I am going on a light matter diet. Don't make light of what I am doing to be light now. The only thing is, I am not quite sure what a light matter diet is. But I'll bet it does not include light bulbs....
Okay, enough humor for one day. Being overweight is serious because heavy people get cancer many more times than people who are the ideal weight. They develop nearly all diseases at a faster rate, and they usually die a lot younger.
So even if scientists never do figure out their questions about dark matter, I still need to continue losing weight.
Don't weigh too much
David A. Youngs
One of the questions is about dark matter--just what is it? I just have to quote one paragraph because although I have studied physics, I am not a physics major. And these few sentences open up vast areas of what I call "dark" knowledge -- knowledge I don't have right now, and perhaps never will. With that in mind, here goes:
"Astronomers have shown that the objects in the universe from galaxies a million times smaller than ours to the largest clusters of galaxies are held together by a form of matter that is not what we are made of and that gives off no light. This matter probably consists of one or more as-yet-undiscovered elementary particles, and aggregations of it produce the gravitational pull leading to the formation of galaxies and large-scale structures in the universe. At the same time these particles may be streaming through our Earth-bound laboratories."
Okay. Dark matter. Matter that is "not what we are made of, and gives off no light." And guess what--scientists don't have a clue exactly what this "dark matter" really is, or whether it even really exists. They are making this stuff up as they go along folks. It is creative imagination on steroids. Dark matter might be this, or it may be that. I just love the quote about "as-yet-undiscovered elementary particles."
Nobody knows for sure. But I think that dark matter is probably the reason that when I get on the scales I weigh too much. Yeah, that has got to be the answer. If it wasn't for the dark matter, I would not be fat. I would not be overweight. And so I am going on a light matter diet. Don't make light of what I am doing to be light now. The only thing is, I am not quite sure what a light matter diet is. But I'll bet it does not include light bulbs....
Okay, enough humor for one day. Being overweight is serious because heavy people get cancer many more times than people who are the ideal weight. They develop nearly all diseases at a faster rate, and they usually die a lot younger.
So even if scientists never do figure out their questions about dark matter, I still need to continue losing weight.
Don't weigh too much
David A. Youngs
When to get a new home mortgage refinance loan
Okay, so you have been paying mortgage payments for a few years. Now you are getting hundreds if not thousands of calls from various mortgage companies and banks who want you to refinance your home using their home refinance company. So how can you tell if it is to your advantage to refinance your house?
It depends both on what kind of a mortgage you currently hold, and what your current interest rates are. Is your mortgage the kind where initially the payments and interest were quite small, but after a few years gets real, resulting in a big increase in payments?
I had a home loan like that. It was called a Variable Interest Rate. These are sometimes good for new home buyers who cannot qualify for a regular mortgage. My payments started out at something like 3.5 % for 3 years, but then could increase as much as 2 % a year, topping out at about 11 %. In other words, after 3 years I was basically screwed. My payment could actually almost double the fourth year and then by the seventh year could be as much as 3 times my initial payment.
Run from Variable Interest Loans unless you can a home loan refinance the third year before your mortgage goes sky high. The only little problem with doing this is that many loans have in the tiny little print that people might just overlook when signing a mortgage loan a penalty clause for early payment. This includes refinancing your home. So you might just get stuck with a major penalty payment before you can even begin considering the home refinance company's best offer.
My brother-in-law decided to refinance his mortgage because he needed some money to repair his roof. Fortunately his home had gone up considerably in value since he had begun buying it, so he was able to take out a larger mortgage during the refinancing than he had originally. His refinancing included an additional $10,000 or so dollars besides the original mortgage. But he had to agree to steep penalties for five years for early repayment. The refinancing company wanted to make sure he did not go someplace else and get even better rates or even consider refinancing his home again for at least five years. They wanted to lock him in.
If you are going to try this, be sure to get a very low home loan refinance rate for your new mortgage. Otherwise you are just going backwards quickly. Refinancing at a higher rate is a super bad idea. Just don't do it unless you absolutely have to. A tiny increase in the rate can make a difference of $1000's and $1000's of dollars over the life of the loan.
And don't forget that most banks charge what they call "points" to finance or refinance a mortgage. These are percentage points added to the loan. For example, if you have a $300,000 loan and the bank wants 3 points to originate the loan, this is 3% of the $300,000 or $9,000 extra just added to the total loan because the bank wants to make additional money. Some of this $9000 usually goes as a bonus to the clerk or bank officer who "helps" you with the loan. Is it any wonder that there are people calling you six times a day telling you that they will refinance your house and that their initial rates are 2.4%. What they won't tell you until they get you hooked on refinancing is that after the initial period, be it one year, two years, or whatever, the loan goes up--sometimes WAY up. That 2.4% initial rate may sound pretty good, especially if your current rate is 6%. Just remember the points... that can add up to a REAL percentage rate of much more than your current rate of 6%.
You might think, well, I am getting so many offers, I can just refinance AGAIN before I lose that initial 2.4%. But you still have to consider the early payment penalty usually included with this type of loan, and the points the new home loan refinance company will charge you that they hardly every want to tell you about up front. And if your home has actually gone down in value, you can just forget it.
In fact, refinancing can be fraught with so many dangers of hidden charges and increasing interest rates that it would be especially prudent to hire an attorney to read over the loan papers before you sign anything. I don't know how many people got suckered into giving up their current loan which had a very low interest rate and taking out a new mortgage refinance loan because some hot shot agent sold them on the idea of putting money in their pocket right now but completely failed to tell them that the new loan was actually going to cost them twice or three times what they were currently paying.
The last person to help you honestly evaluate whether or not the loan is a good loan for you is the person trying to pressure you to sign on the dotted line so he/she can make a super commission of thousands of dollars. When thousands of dollars are at stake, some salesmen have been know to exaggerate and stretch the truth a bit. What I am telling you is that for several thousand dollars, they sometimes outright lie. And once you have signed the papers, you are legally stuck. Whatever they told you verbally while selling you the loan isn't worth the paper it is written on.... It is absolutely worth nothing in a court of law.
Unless you get a non-biased attorney (who will represent and protect you) who deals with loan papers every day to go over the "fine print" of the loan, you could just be stuck for hundreds of thousands of additional dollars merely to put $10,000 or even $20,000 in your pocket now. Sure that $20,000 in the pocket is tempting. But remember, even at relatively low interest rates, that $20,000 could wind up costing you up to $45,000 or even more over the life of the loan. Is it really worth it? NO!! You can refinance yourself right out of your house. If you cannot make the loan payments, the bank will evict you. I know. It happened to me. Nothing is worth going through that. The bank got my home AND all the thousands of dollars I had paid up until that point. Then they resold the home and somebody else got a chance to try paying for it.
So make sure any time you are considering refinancing your home it is good for you, and not just good for the agent selling you the home refinance loan. If you need to refinance your home, why not go out actively looking for a loan, and not just take phone calls? Those guys making the phone calls are often really looking for suckers.
Happy home buying,
David A. Youngs
It depends both on what kind of a mortgage you currently hold, and what your current interest rates are. Is your mortgage the kind where initially the payments and interest were quite small, but after a few years gets real, resulting in a big increase in payments?
I had a home loan like that. It was called a Variable Interest Rate. These are sometimes good for new home buyers who cannot qualify for a regular mortgage. My payments started out at something like 3.5 % for 3 years, but then could increase as much as 2 % a year, topping out at about 11 %. In other words, after 3 years I was basically screwed. My payment could actually almost double the fourth year and then by the seventh year could be as much as 3 times my initial payment.
Run from Variable Interest Loans unless you can a home loan refinance the third year before your mortgage goes sky high. The only little problem with doing this is that many loans have in the tiny little print that people might just overlook when signing a mortgage loan a penalty clause for early payment. This includes refinancing your home. So you might just get stuck with a major penalty payment before you can even begin considering the home refinance company's best offer.
My brother-in-law decided to refinance his mortgage because he needed some money to repair his roof. Fortunately his home had gone up considerably in value since he had begun buying it, so he was able to take out a larger mortgage during the refinancing than he had originally. His refinancing included an additional $10,000 or so dollars besides the original mortgage. But he had to agree to steep penalties for five years for early repayment. The refinancing company wanted to make sure he did not go someplace else and get even better rates or even consider refinancing his home again for at least five years. They wanted to lock him in.
If you are going to try this, be sure to get a very low home loan refinance rate for your new mortgage. Otherwise you are just going backwards quickly. Refinancing at a higher rate is a super bad idea. Just don't do it unless you absolutely have to. A tiny increase in the rate can make a difference of $1000's and $1000's of dollars over the life of the loan.
And don't forget that most banks charge what they call "points" to finance or refinance a mortgage. These are percentage points added to the loan. For example, if you have a $300,000 loan and the bank wants 3 points to originate the loan, this is 3% of the $300,000 or $9,000 extra just added to the total loan because the bank wants to make additional money. Some of this $9000 usually goes as a bonus to the clerk or bank officer who "helps" you with the loan. Is it any wonder that there are people calling you six times a day telling you that they will refinance your house and that their initial rates are 2.4%. What they won't tell you until they get you hooked on refinancing is that after the initial period, be it one year, two years, or whatever, the loan goes up--sometimes WAY up. That 2.4% initial rate may sound pretty good, especially if your current rate is 6%. Just remember the points... that can add up to a REAL percentage rate of much more than your current rate of 6%.
You might think, well, I am getting so many offers, I can just refinance AGAIN before I lose that initial 2.4%. But you still have to consider the early payment penalty usually included with this type of loan, and the points the new home loan refinance company will charge you that they hardly every want to tell you about up front. And if your home has actually gone down in value, you can just forget it.
In fact, refinancing can be fraught with so many dangers of hidden charges and increasing interest rates that it would be especially prudent to hire an attorney to read over the loan papers before you sign anything. I don't know how many people got suckered into giving up their current loan which had a very low interest rate and taking out a new mortgage refinance loan because some hot shot agent sold them on the idea of putting money in their pocket right now but completely failed to tell them that the new loan was actually going to cost them twice or three times what they were currently paying.
The last person to help you honestly evaluate whether or not the loan is a good loan for you is the person trying to pressure you to sign on the dotted line so he/she can make a super commission of thousands of dollars. When thousands of dollars are at stake, some salesmen have been know to exaggerate and stretch the truth a bit. What I am telling you is that for several thousand dollars, they sometimes outright lie. And once you have signed the papers, you are legally stuck. Whatever they told you verbally while selling you the loan isn't worth the paper it is written on.... It is absolutely worth nothing in a court of law.
Unless you get a non-biased attorney (who will represent and protect you) who deals with loan papers every day to go over the "fine print" of the loan, you could just be stuck for hundreds of thousands of additional dollars merely to put $10,000 or even $20,000 in your pocket now. Sure that $20,000 in the pocket is tempting. But remember, even at relatively low interest rates, that $20,000 could wind up costing you up to $45,000 or even more over the life of the loan. Is it really worth it? NO!! You can refinance yourself right out of your house. If you cannot make the loan payments, the bank will evict you. I know. It happened to me. Nothing is worth going through that. The bank got my home AND all the thousands of dollars I had paid up until that point. Then they resold the home and somebody else got a chance to try paying for it.
So make sure any time you are considering refinancing your home it is good for you, and not just good for the agent selling you the home refinance loan. If you need to refinance your home, why not go out actively looking for a loan, and not just take phone calls? Those guys making the phone calls are often really looking for suckers.
Happy home buying,
David A. Youngs
What "authority" are you going to believe?
It seems that no matter where I look, I am finding some self proclaimed authority making some bold claim about how something I am doing is either good for me, or not. For example, chocolate has been reviled as being something of less than dubious value which should be avoided at all costs and also touted as being an anti-oxidant--a cancer fighting food! There are people who swear that drinking about a quarter cup of vinegar per day (yuck) will cure a wide array of what ever it is that ails us. Others say that is just an old wives tail, and that drinking that much vinegar daily will actually begin to remove the enamel from your teeth, so you better not do it. Who shall we believe?
Another example is that for years doctors said that cigarette smoking was addicting because of the nicotine, and yet studies done by the tobacco industry claimed otherwise. Then it was discovered that the tobacco industry was making sure to maintain a certain level of nicotine in all their cigarettes--so now nearly everybody agrees that smoking is addicting. And yet I found in a book written about 100 years ago in which one of the suggested medical treatments for asthma was smoking cigarettes! No kidding. Supposed to strengthen the lungs and all that.
Some authorities say that eggs are a sort of wonder food just loaded with protein and nutrition--sort of like a whole meal in a neat little ovoid package. Others say no, eggs are really loaded with high levels of cholesterol, and should be avoided. Then there is the debate over whether cholesterol itself is "good" or "bad." My father was a medical doctor and it was his contention that the human body needed some oil just to keep the joints lubricated. Some cholesterol in his opinion was good, a whole lot was bad. Then the question is how much is good, how much is bad.
There are supposedly "good" fats and "bad" fats and it depends on who you listen to which ones are good and which ones are bad.
And if you start looking at food supplements--every one of them claims it is the best one for you, and you absolutely should not even consider going another day without taking that suppliment. They can't all be the best, can they? I mean--isn't at least one suppliment somewhere slightly inferior to another?
And then look at all the advertisements for vitamin pills. Apparently we desperately need a whole slew of vitamins just to keep ourselves alive. And each vitamin company says that their vitamin pill is the ultimate best for you, so you need to take THEIR pill. I once knew an elderly lady named Janet that must have made some companies someplace very happy with her orders for their products. Nearly every day a truck would pull up to her house delivering the latest vitamin or food supplement. Her kitchen cabinet looked like a miniature pharmacy, or health food store. She must have been ingesting 50-60 different pills every day!! She wasn't taking any chances--just taking them ALL.
When I was just a young boy (a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away) I once took a couple of vitamin pills on an empty stomach. Don't do that. I vomited them up shortly. So they didn't do me a whole lot of good that time.
So which "authority" are you going to believe? Some so called authorities seem to have a hidden agenda, like trying to sell you on buying their particular potion or pill. To me these authorities are slightly suspect. I guess the authorities I most believe are the ones that tend to affirm what I already believe. Hmmmm. Does that mean I am biased? Yes it does! I tend to believe that chocolate is GOOD for you because I LIKE chocolate. And I think that deep down, most people are biased this way. So chocolate is good for you and eggs are good, and whatever else I want to eat must be good too. Right? Not necessarily.
The authorities I find most credible are researchers who have done large studies on huge groups of people. I think that their findings tend to be more valid than say a researcher who is sponsored by some pharmaceutical company. The researcher working for and being paid by some company had better find some way to validate the claims of the sponsoring company regarding whatever he is researching, or he likely will be fired. And who wants to be fired! So these researchers tend to hide or overlook data that doesn't support their preconceived (and needed) agenda. They may run the same test a hundred times on a thousand different groups of people and then hand pick the few times where the resulting data seems to indicate whatever they are trying to prove. In other words, they are statistically lying to keep their jobs.
But I think that if you closely examine people, nearly everyone does that. I know people who smoke who totally ignore the warning the surgeon general has compelled the tobacco companies to put on their boxes of cigarettes. That warning is obviously not for them!!
I once entered the house of a lady who was almost blue with lack of oxygen in her blood. She was smoking a cigarette and complaining that she just couldn't get her breath. "It must be the flu or something" she declared. When I asked her about the cigarette in her hand possibly being the cause of her shortness of breath she was adamant. "No, it can't be the cigarette. Why I have smoked them for years. It must be something else." Then she literally passed out and we took her to the hospital where she subsequently died in less than a week. And then she stopped smoking cigarettes.
None are so blind as those who refuse to see.
So what authority are you going to put your faith in?
David
Another example is that for years doctors said that cigarette smoking was addicting because of the nicotine, and yet studies done by the tobacco industry claimed otherwise. Then it was discovered that the tobacco industry was making sure to maintain a certain level of nicotine in all their cigarettes--so now nearly everybody agrees that smoking is addicting. And yet I found in a book written about 100 years ago in which one of the suggested medical treatments for asthma was smoking cigarettes! No kidding. Supposed to strengthen the lungs and all that.
Some authorities say that eggs are a sort of wonder food just loaded with protein and nutrition--sort of like a whole meal in a neat little ovoid package. Others say no, eggs are really loaded with high levels of cholesterol, and should be avoided. Then there is the debate over whether cholesterol itself is "good" or "bad." My father was a medical doctor and it was his contention that the human body needed some oil just to keep the joints lubricated. Some cholesterol in his opinion was good, a whole lot was bad. Then the question is how much is good, how much is bad.
There are supposedly "good" fats and "bad" fats and it depends on who you listen to which ones are good and which ones are bad.
And if you start looking at food supplements--every one of them claims it is the best one for you, and you absolutely should not even consider going another day without taking that suppliment. They can't all be the best, can they? I mean--isn't at least one suppliment somewhere slightly inferior to another?
And then look at all the advertisements for vitamin pills. Apparently we desperately need a whole slew of vitamins just to keep ourselves alive. And each vitamin company says that their vitamin pill is the ultimate best for you, so you need to take THEIR pill. I once knew an elderly lady named Janet that must have made some companies someplace very happy with her orders for their products. Nearly every day a truck would pull up to her house delivering the latest vitamin or food supplement. Her kitchen cabinet looked like a miniature pharmacy, or health food store. She must have been ingesting 50-60 different pills every day!! She wasn't taking any chances--just taking them ALL.
When I was just a young boy (a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away) I once took a couple of vitamin pills on an empty stomach. Don't do that. I vomited them up shortly. So they didn't do me a whole lot of good that time.
So which "authority" are you going to believe? Some so called authorities seem to have a hidden agenda, like trying to sell you on buying their particular potion or pill. To me these authorities are slightly suspect. I guess the authorities I most believe are the ones that tend to affirm what I already believe. Hmmmm. Does that mean I am biased? Yes it does! I tend to believe that chocolate is GOOD for you because I LIKE chocolate. And I think that deep down, most people are biased this way. So chocolate is good for you and eggs are good, and whatever else I want to eat must be good too. Right? Not necessarily.
The authorities I find most credible are researchers who have done large studies on huge groups of people. I think that their findings tend to be more valid than say a researcher who is sponsored by some pharmaceutical company. The researcher working for and being paid by some company had better find some way to validate the claims of the sponsoring company regarding whatever he is researching, or he likely will be fired. And who wants to be fired! So these researchers tend to hide or overlook data that doesn't support their preconceived (and needed) agenda. They may run the same test a hundred times on a thousand different groups of people and then hand pick the few times where the resulting data seems to indicate whatever they are trying to prove. In other words, they are statistically lying to keep their jobs.
But I think that if you closely examine people, nearly everyone does that. I know people who smoke who totally ignore the warning the surgeon general has compelled the tobacco companies to put on their boxes of cigarettes. That warning is obviously not for them!!
I once entered the house of a lady who was almost blue with lack of oxygen in her blood. She was smoking a cigarette and complaining that she just couldn't get her breath. "It must be the flu or something" she declared. When I asked her about the cigarette in her hand possibly being the cause of her shortness of breath she was adamant. "No, it can't be the cigarette. Why I have smoked them for years. It must be something else." Then she literally passed out and we took her to the hospital where she subsequently died in less than a week. And then she stopped smoking cigarettes.
None are so blind as those who refuse to see.
So what authority are you going to put your faith in?
David
A Timely Visit to the Dermatologist
Well my 91 year old land lady finally went with me to see the dermatologist. We were almost immediately ushered into a treatment room which had this amazing chair. The chair could be tipped, moved up or down, and looked all the world like a third-generation dentist's chair. It was obvious that someone in this chair could be operated on successfully if needed.
Above the chair was an operating light that could be swiviled, lowered and positioned to provide a super bright light on the operating field.
The nurse checked and it has been over two years since Helen had been operated on for skin cancer on her nose. Only about 5 percent of people who are operated on have a recurance of skin cancer in the same place, so Helen had beaten the odds--too bad.
A dark swarthy man came in with a huge nose. He introduced himself as the latest addition to the team of dermtologists in this clinic, and from his skin complexion and accent, I am almost certain he originally came from India.
Of course Helen, being deaf and refusing to wear her hearing aids could not hear anything the doctor was saying, so I became the de facto interpreter between the doctor speaking English with an accent and Helen. Basically I yelled into Helen's ears.
After looking at Helen's nose where the cancer is obviously recurring, the doctor wanted to do a biopsy. But Helen wasn't apparently ready for that today. So I took the initiative and asked about the possibility of freezing the cancer. Amazingly the doctor readily agreed and produced a can the had a little nozzle on it.
It looked quite a bit like a can of WD-40 lubricant on steroids, but when the doctor pressed the button on top, a little stream of super cold liquid that turned almost instantly to gas came out. He first froze a few lesions on the back of Helen's hand that I did not even realize might be cancerous. Everywhere he sprayed, it froze a thin layer of skin.
Helen has lost most of the feeling in her hands due to lack of blood circulation sometime in the past, so this proceedure did not bother her in the least. Then the good doctor turned his attention to Helen's nose. He warned her not to move lest she get some of the freezing agent into her eye.
But each time he sprayed her nose, she flinched and yelped out in pain. I was worried that he might accidently freeze Helen's eyes as she jumped around, but he was very quick and extremely patient. After about four shots of freezing liquid, he was done. The "operation" was over. The nurse put a bandaid over the afflicted place on Helen's nose.
Hopefully, this process will have killed the cancer. I don't know. Helen kept jumping around in the chair and yelling with each application of the freezing liquid. I think it is liquid helium or something like that. It is super cold whatever it is. Any way, the doctor warned that a blister will probably develop as a result of the application of freezing, and ultimately some skin will die and slough off. Hopefully, the cancer is now dead and will simply drop off.
The good doctor wants to see Helen again in three months to see how she is doing. I'm thinking that things might have gone smoother had the good doctor anesthetized Helen's nose with Novocaine or something before beginning the freezing process. Oh well. The whole thing was over in less than one minute, yelling and all.
The good news is that if you catch skin cancer at an early stage, it is very easy to treat.
Don't stay out in the sun too long.
David A. Youngs
Above the chair was an operating light that could be swiviled, lowered and positioned to provide a super bright light on the operating field.
The nurse checked and it has been over two years since Helen had been operated on for skin cancer on her nose. Only about 5 percent of people who are operated on have a recurance of skin cancer in the same place, so Helen had beaten the odds--too bad.
A dark swarthy man came in with a huge nose. He introduced himself as the latest addition to the team of dermtologists in this clinic, and from his skin complexion and accent, I am almost certain he originally came from India.
Of course Helen, being deaf and refusing to wear her hearing aids could not hear anything the doctor was saying, so I became the de facto interpreter between the doctor speaking English with an accent and Helen. Basically I yelled into Helen's ears.
After looking at Helen's nose where the cancer is obviously recurring, the doctor wanted to do a biopsy. But Helen wasn't apparently ready for that today. So I took the initiative and asked about the possibility of freezing the cancer. Amazingly the doctor readily agreed and produced a can the had a little nozzle on it.
It looked quite a bit like a can of WD-40 lubricant on steroids, but when the doctor pressed the button on top, a little stream of super cold liquid that turned almost instantly to gas came out. He first froze a few lesions on the back of Helen's hand that I did not even realize might be cancerous. Everywhere he sprayed, it froze a thin layer of skin.
Helen has lost most of the feeling in her hands due to lack of blood circulation sometime in the past, so this proceedure did not bother her in the least. Then the good doctor turned his attention to Helen's nose. He warned her not to move lest she get some of the freezing agent into her eye.
But each time he sprayed her nose, she flinched and yelped out in pain. I was worried that he might accidently freeze Helen's eyes as she jumped around, but he was very quick and extremely patient. After about four shots of freezing liquid, he was done. The "operation" was over. The nurse put a bandaid over the afflicted place on Helen's nose.
Hopefully, this process will have killed the cancer. I don't know. Helen kept jumping around in the chair and yelling with each application of the freezing liquid. I think it is liquid helium or something like that. It is super cold whatever it is. Any way, the doctor warned that a blister will probably develop as a result of the application of freezing, and ultimately some skin will die and slough off. Hopefully, the cancer is now dead and will simply drop off.
The good doctor wants to see Helen again in three months to see how she is doing. I'm thinking that things might have gone smoother had the good doctor anesthetized Helen's nose with Novocaine or something before beginning the freezing process. Oh well. The whole thing was over in less than one minute, yelling and all.
The good news is that if you catch skin cancer at an early stage, it is very easy to treat.
Don't stay out in the sun too long.
David A. Youngs
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
We all have cancer, but what shall we do?
My good friend, personal health coach, and health motivator Steven Jenkins writes:
Cancer is a blessing from God, and we all have cancer when we are born. Cancer is not a virus, bacteria, fungus, parasite, or other animal -- it is simple misguided cells multiplying in an area that is plentifully teeming with carcinogens, free radicals, and most importantly cancer food--which includes dead animal cells. Yes, that is how we grow cancer in a laboratory--we use meat--usually hot dogs seem to work the best. If our cancer cell count is around fifty thousand per petri dish, we are considered healthy, but if our cancer cell count climbs to over one hundred thousand, watch out. What this really means it that our T cells (our immune cells) are over taxed and not able to keep up. Well how can they possibly keep up when we use our body as a laboratory to grow cancer? People actually work very hard at growing their cancers.
"But I eat a healthy diet," you may object. Did you know that the advertising budget (as reported by the United States Office of Statistics) shows a budget of thirty billion dollars for the year 2006 spent on promoting animal foods as being healthy foods, while only twenty nine million dollars were spent on advertising veggies? Isn't it interested to know that ninety five percent of the oats grown in the United States is fed to cows. Did you know that lentils have more protein than beef? Did you know that protein deficiency is unheard of in the human race except where people are actually starving, like in Africa. Did you know that Carl Lewis, world champion for the greatest endurance, is a vegan? Did you know that the iron man race was never won by a meat eater, and in fact it's usually won by a margin of about eight hours ahead of the meat eaters, by vegetarians. Is it any wonder why the three Hebrew boys mentioned in the book of Daniel in the bible (who requested a vegetable only diet,) and well as Daniel himself, were much stronger and wiser than the other Hebrew boys taken into captivity by the Babylon king who ate from the king's table where they were served meat and processed food?
What is even worse is that instead of letting the cancer out of the body with our sweat, we plug up the cancer in our bodies by using antiperspirants to keep the sweat (and the cancer) in. And in addition to that, we treat cancer with caustic cancer causing chemicals called chemotherapy, when the latest statistics from our own United States offices compiling cancer treatment information shows that there is no real evidence at all that any of the cancer treatments such as chemo-therapy and radiation treatments are even really working to cure cancer.
How many thousands of people who have suffered through multiple radiation treatments and the full course of chemotherapy treatments have died anyways--or perhaps because of the treatments. We are warned by doctors not to get too much radiation because radiation can cause cancer, and then we treat cancers with radiation. Does this even make sense? Long years of exposure of the skin to sunlight almost invariably will cause some form of skin cancer, especially in people who eat a lot of meats and processed foods. True vegans who eat mostly raw foods are somehow excluded. The fact is that cancer rates in the United States have increased almost five hundred percent since the chemotherapy and radiation treatments started. Wow!
So how do we cure cancer? Very easy in fact... Stop doing what it is that is causing it, and then turn around and start doing something to get well.
Read the bible and start at the beginning, you will find all the answers there. Genesis 1:29 will give you the cure. Eat God's original diet of fruits, nuts, grains (mostly raw food) and you will be will and live a long healthy life. Vegans only rarely ever get cancer, and then it is usually because of environmental causes. We cannot ever limit God, and so knowing this, we have to accept that cancer is curable. Many people who have CHANGED their lifestyle and especially their diet have seen even advanced cancers go into remission, never to be seen again.
If you have any questions contact me, Steven Jenkins and go through one of my cleanse programs as experienced by my very special friend David Youngs. During the cleanse, you will experience and learn things that will probably blow your mind.
(Note from David: Steve is right. The cleanse was an eye-opening experience for me to say the least, and my very own father was a medical doctor. Steve has this video of a lady doctor who once had extremely serious advanced cancer through out her body, but today is completely healthy. As a physician, she knew that chemotherapy and radiation both compromised the bodies natural defenses--the immune system. Therefore, she refused any and all chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and treated her own virulent and life threatening cancer only with major life style and dietary changes. Not only has she been completely cancer free now for several years, she has helped countless other people to confront their cancers using the same radical and effective natural methods. Yes, it is mind blowing--but truth. And the American Medical Society would probably rather suppress this truth because it doesn't make tons of money like radiation and chemotherapy does!!)
God bless you always,
Steven Jenkins
Note from David: thank you Steve for that challenging and inspiring article. Check the other blogs for information on how to contact Steve. God designed our bodies to be self healing. If we align ourselves with the laws of health, we can be healthy again. But it does take work. But the end result is worth it! Join me in a quest for health.
Let's get healthy NOW!!!
David A. Youngs
Cancer is a blessing from God, and we all have cancer when we are born. Cancer is not a virus, bacteria, fungus, parasite, or other animal -- it is simple misguided cells multiplying in an area that is plentifully teeming with carcinogens, free radicals, and most importantly cancer food--which includes dead animal cells. Yes, that is how we grow cancer in a laboratory--we use meat--usually hot dogs seem to work the best. If our cancer cell count is around fifty thousand per petri dish, we are considered healthy, but if our cancer cell count climbs to over one hundred thousand, watch out. What this really means it that our T cells (our immune cells) are over taxed and not able to keep up. Well how can they possibly keep up when we use our body as a laboratory to grow cancer? People actually work very hard at growing their cancers.
"But I eat a healthy diet," you may object. Did you know that the advertising budget (as reported by the United States Office of Statistics) shows a budget of thirty billion dollars for the year 2006 spent on promoting animal foods as being healthy foods, while only twenty nine million dollars were spent on advertising veggies? Isn't it interested to know that ninety five percent of the oats grown in the United States is fed to cows. Did you know that lentils have more protein than beef? Did you know that protein deficiency is unheard of in the human race except where people are actually starving, like in Africa. Did you know that Carl Lewis, world champion for the greatest endurance, is a vegan? Did you know that the iron man race was never won by a meat eater, and in fact it's usually won by a margin of about eight hours ahead of the meat eaters, by vegetarians. Is it any wonder why the three Hebrew boys mentioned in the book of Daniel in the bible (who requested a vegetable only diet,) and well as Daniel himself, were much stronger and wiser than the other Hebrew boys taken into captivity by the Babylon king who ate from the king's table where they were served meat and processed food?
What is even worse is that instead of letting the cancer out of the body with our sweat, we plug up the cancer in our bodies by using antiperspirants to keep the sweat (and the cancer) in. And in addition to that, we treat cancer with caustic cancer causing chemicals called chemotherapy, when the latest statistics from our own United States offices compiling cancer treatment information shows that there is no real evidence at all that any of the cancer treatments such as chemo-therapy and radiation treatments are even really working to cure cancer.
How many thousands of people who have suffered through multiple radiation treatments and the full course of chemotherapy treatments have died anyways--or perhaps because of the treatments. We are warned by doctors not to get too much radiation because radiation can cause cancer, and then we treat cancers with radiation. Does this even make sense? Long years of exposure of the skin to sunlight almost invariably will cause some form of skin cancer, especially in people who eat a lot of meats and processed foods. True vegans who eat mostly raw foods are somehow excluded. The fact is that cancer rates in the United States have increased almost five hundred percent since the chemotherapy and radiation treatments started. Wow!
So how do we cure cancer? Very easy in fact... Stop doing what it is that is causing it, and then turn around and start doing something to get well.
Read the bible and start at the beginning, you will find all the answers there. Genesis 1:29 will give you the cure. Eat God's original diet of fruits, nuts, grains (mostly raw food) and you will be will and live a long healthy life. Vegans only rarely ever get cancer, and then it is usually because of environmental causes. We cannot ever limit God, and so knowing this, we have to accept that cancer is curable. Many people who have CHANGED their lifestyle and especially their diet have seen even advanced cancers go into remission, never to be seen again.
If you have any questions contact me, Steven Jenkins and go through one of my cleanse programs as experienced by my very special friend David Youngs. During the cleanse, you will experience and learn things that will probably blow your mind.
(Note from David: Steve is right. The cleanse was an eye-opening experience for me to say the least, and my very own father was a medical doctor. Steve has this video of a lady doctor who once had extremely serious advanced cancer through out her body, but today is completely healthy. As a physician, she knew that chemotherapy and radiation both compromised the bodies natural defenses--the immune system. Therefore, she refused any and all chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and treated her own virulent and life threatening cancer only with major life style and dietary changes. Not only has she been completely cancer free now for several years, she has helped countless other people to confront their cancers using the same radical and effective natural methods. Yes, it is mind blowing--but truth. And the American Medical Society would probably rather suppress this truth because it doesn't make tons of money like radiation and chemotherapy does!!)
God bless you always,
Steven Jenkins
Note from David: thank you Steve for that challenging and inspiring article. Check the other blogs for information on how to contact Steve. God designed our bodies to be self healing. If we align ourselves with the laws of health, we can be healthy again. But it does take work. But the end result is worth it! Join me in a quest for health.
Let's get healthy NOW!!!
David A. Youngs
Being FAT is killing us!!
My good friend, personal health coach, and health motivator Steven Jenkins writes:
Did you know that 61% of Americans are overweight? The leading cause of death in America is heart disease. The major cause of heart disease is being overweight. The major cause of being overweight is eating bad fats. Bad fats are found in animals and also heated oils of any kind. The only source of cholesterol comes from animals or our own bodies. Hopefully we are not eating each other, so this doesn't apply.
More people have died from being overweight then any other cause of death in the world and the number of deaths from obesity exceed the number of deaths from all the wars, natural disasters, car accidents, and suicides combined.
The first sign of a heart attack, caused from being over weight, is often sudden death.
The end... Literally
Written with Love from the desk of,
Steven Jenkins
super HEALTH MOTIVATOR and PERSONAL HEALTH COACH
For any questions regarding health, call me any time at (530) 585-2490
David's note: (please be nice to Steve and let him sleep at night)
He is an incredible Health Motivator and Personal Health Coach.
David continues: so if you are overweight, start doing something about it right now. It doesn't get any better or easier to lose weight as you get older, IF you do get older, and don't have a heart attack in the interim.
David
Did you know that 61% of Americans are overweight? The leading cause of death in America is heart disease. The major cause of heart disease is being overweight. The major cause of being overweight is eating bad fats. Bad fats are found in animals and also heated oils of any kind. The only source of cholesterol comes from animals or our own bodies. Hopefully we are not eating each other, so this doesn't apply.
More people have died from being overweight then any other cause of death in the world and the number of deaths from obesity exceed the number of deaths from all the wars, natural disasters, car accidents, and suicides combined.
The first sign of a heart attack, caused from being over weight, is often sudden death.
The end... Literally
Written with Love from the desk of,
Steven Jenkins
super HEALTH MOTIVATOR and PERSONAL HEALTH COACH
For any questions regarding health, call me any time at (530) 585-2490
David's note: (please be nice to Steve and let him sleep at night)
He is an incredible Health Motivator and Personal Health Coach.
David continues: so if you are overweight, start doing something about it right now. It doesn't get any better or easier to lose weight as you get older, IF you do get older, and don't have a heart attack in the interim.
David
Dealing with controlling people
You know what a controlling person is--it is somebody who feels that have to be in control of everything. If you are around them, then they want to be in control of you too! So how do you deal with a controlling person.
Well, if it is your boss, I guess you let them think they are in control. But for others, I just don't like other people telling me what I ought to do.
Once when I was in the mental ward, (I did not handle stress very well in those days) I decided that the medications I was being given were not helping me, and I wasn't going to talk any more of them. I had been flying pretty high in a manic phase, and the psychiatrist was trying his best to bring me down using drugs. But I enjoyed being manic. Therein was the problem.
The visiting psychiatrist on duty said, "well, if you are not going to take your medications, I cannot help you." To which I replied, "you are not helping me. You have never helped me, and you never will help me. Besides, I don't want or need your help."
Well, the psychiatrist thought he had to be in control. After all, I was the patient in the psychiatric ward, and he was the doctor in charge of said ward.
He said, "if you don't take your medications, I have no alternative but to put you in the insane asylum." I didn't care what the fool did. I still wasn't going to be pumped full of any more mind numbing drugs with what I perceived as horrible side effects. So I told him, "you do what you gotta do. I am not taking any more drugs."
Apparently he did not particularly like that answer. Within 30 minutes, 4 men in white showed up. Each of these men weighed at least 300 pounds, and was built like a line backer on a professional football team. Can you say "checkmate?" Guess what -- those men had come for me. I was given a huge shot in my buttocks that was supposed to knock down a horse, but I was so angry at this event which I saw as invading my personal space, I successfully resisted the drug. Now I was not only high, I was very angry. I never did see that particular psychiatrist again or I might have had a conversation with him in which he would have realized he was NOT in control. It was probably a good thing I never saw him again, or I might be writing this from jail.
Fortunately, a nurse found out about the power play that was going on, and routed me to a half way house instead of the insane asylum. Too bad--I was looking forward to the adventures in the insane asylum. But as my mother carefully pointed out later, it really doesn't look good on your medical records to have been housed in an insane asylum!!
From this incident, I finally figured out that it is far better not to directly challenge controlling people. Just let them THINK they are in control and then go on with your life, doing what you planned to do anyway. This works for bosses too, unless they find out later you did not "obey" them. Then they might fire you to retain control. But if they fire you, they can't control you any more!!
Good luck with controlling people, and I hope you are not trying to be one. It is a very difficult position because nobody will like you.
David
Well, if it is your boss, I guess you let them think they are in control. But for others, I just don't like other people telling me what I ought to do.
Once when I was in the mental ward, (I did not handle stress very well in those days) I decided that the medications I was being given were not helping me, and I wasn't going to talk any more of them. I had been flying pretty high in a manic phase, and the psychiatrist was trying his best to bring me down using drugs. But I enjoyed being manic. Therein was the problem.
The visiting psychiatrist on duty said, "well, if you are not going to take your medications, I cannot help you." To which I replied, "you are not helping me. You have never helped me, and you never will help me. Besides, I don't want or need your help."
Well, the psychiatrist thought he had to be in control. After all, I was the patient in the psychiatric ward, and he was the doctor in charge of said ward.
He said, "if you don't take your medications, I have no alternative but to put you in the insane asylum." I didn't care what the fool did. I still wasn't going to be pumped full of any more mind numbing drugs with what I perceived as horrible side effects. So I told him, "you do what you gotta do. I am not taking any more drugs."
Apparently he did not particularly like that answer. Within 30 minutes, 4 men in white showed up. Each of these men weighed at least 300 pounds, and was built like a line backer on a professional football team. Can you say "checkmate?" Guess what -- those men had come for me. I was given a huge shot in my buttocks that was supposed to knock down a horse, but I was so angry at this event which I saw as invading my personal space, I successfully resisted the drug. Now I was not only high, I was very angry. I never did see that particular psychiatrist again or I might have had a conversation with him in which he would have realized he was NOT in control. It was probably a good thing I never saw him again, or I might be writing this from jail.
Fortunately, a nurse found out about the power play that was going on, and routed me to a half way house instead of the insane asylum. Too bad--I was looking forward to the adventures in the insane asylum. But as my mother carefully pointed out later, it really doesn't look good on your medical records to have been housed in an insane asylum!!
From this incident, I finally figured out that it is far better not to directly challenge controlling people. Just let them THINK they are in control and then go on with your life, doing what you planned to do anyway. This works for bosses too, unless they find out later you did not "obey" them. Then they might fire you to retain control. But if they fire you, they can't control you any more!!
Good luck with controlling people, and I hope you are not trying to be one. It is a very difficult position because nobody will like you.
David
Coffee feels so good -- but is so bad!!
I love a good cup of coffee. Of course my idea of a good cup of coffee is about 1/4 cup of cream and 2 heaping teaspoons full of sugar. I still remember the one time I was driving home from someplace far away. I found this mom and pop restaurant that advertised "all the coffee refills you want." So naturally I took advantage of that. I remember drinking 12 or 13 cups of coffee. I had to go to the bathroom twice before I left the restaurant. By the time I got back in the car I was "wired". I don't think I have ever been so high. My hands were actually shaking from all the caffeine coursing through my veins. Of course all that sugar in my blood was giving me a sugar high as well.
Doctors tell us that what caffeine does is to cause the adrenal glands to release more adrenaline. Yes, adrenaline rushes feel so good. Some people get addicted to adrenaline rushes and become danger junkies. They will engage in extreme sports like jumping off the top of a building and waiting almost to ground level to open their parachute. Or they will bungee jump, or hang glide, or engage in other over-the-edge activities, and extreme sports. One of my friends used to be a criminal because of the rush he got breaking into people's homes and knowing he could get caught at any moment, but trying not to get caught. Fortunately he doesn't do that any more.
But too much adrenaline in the body is not good. The body cannot relax if it is full of adrenaline. And although it might feel good while the rush is on, after the rush comes the let down, and depression, and lethargy, and a feeling of just being super tired. The body is trying to recover, to get some relaxation and rest. And the adrenaline is preventing that from happening.
Over time, coffee stops having its super boost. The body is totally out of adrenaline. What it needs is a great nights sleep. Oh, by the way, coffee interferes with sleep. But only for awhile. After awhile the body cannot be awake any longer no matter what you do.
I was once a security guard. My supervisor was trying to go 24 hours a day, every day. He was popping no-doze like they were candy. But after visiting me for a few minutes he stepped out to his car where he promptly fell asleep with the engine running, but before he had a chance to drive off. He left his very valuable walkie talkie on the counter. When I brought it out to the car, there he was, fast asleep and snoring lightly. I could tell he needed his rest, so I let him sleep for about 30 minutes (see my previous blog) and then woke him up. I informed him that I had found him sleeping and had not turned him in to the company. Then I told him that if he ever found me asleep on the job, I expected the same courtesy in return.
Take a look at children. They are not all hopped up on coffee, yet they can run rings around any adult. They are just brimming with energy and enthusiasm. And then, having exhaused all their energy, they fall over and fall asleep.
We can learn from children. Don't drink coffee. If you are experiencing low energy -- take a short nap.
David Youngs
Doctors tell us that what caffeine does is to cause the adrenal glands to release more adrenaline. Yes, adrenaline rushes feel so good. Some people get addicted to adrenaline rushes and become danger junkies. They will engage in extreme sports like jumping off the top of a building and waiting almost to ground level to open their parachute. Or they will bungee jump, or hang glide, or engage in other over-the-edge activities, and extreme sports. One of my friends used to be a criminal because of the rush he got breaking into people's homes and knowing he could get caught at any moment, but trying not to get caught. Fortunately he doesn't do that any more.
But too much adrenaline in the body is not good. The body cannot relax if it is full of adrenaline. And although it might feel good while the rush is on, after the rush comes the let down, and depression, and lethargy, and a feeling of just being super tired. The body is trying to recover, to get some relaxation and rest. And the adrenaline is preventing that from happening.
Over time, coffee stops having its super boost. The body is totally out of adrenaline. What it needs is a great nights sleep. Oh, by the way, coffee interferes with sleep. But only for awhile. After awhile the body cannot be awake any longer no matter what you do.
I was once a security guard. My supervisor was trying to go 24 hours a day, every day. He was popping no-doze like they were candy. But after visiting me for a few minutes he stepped out to his car where he promptly fell asleep with the engine running, but before he had a chance to drive off. He left his very valuable walkie talkie on the counter. When I brought it out to the car, there he was, fast asleep and snoring lightly. I could tell he needed his rest, so I let him sleep for about 30 minutes (see my previous blog) and then woke him up. I informed him that I had found him sleeping and had not turned him in to the company. Then I told him that if he ever found me asleep on the job, I expected the same courtesy in return.
Take a look at children. They are not all hopped up on coffee, yet they can run rings around any adult. They are just brimming with energy and enthusiasm. And then, having exhaused all their energy, they fall over and fall asleep.
We can learn from children. Don't drink coffee. If you are experiencing low energy -- take a short nap.
David Youngs
Napping may be the answer
Are you feeling tired and run-down in the middle of the afternoon? Is your energy level dropping like a rock into a lake? Coffee is NOT the answer, but taking a nap might just be the ticket. Cats take naps all the time. They seem to be perfectly healthy. Of course, I have never been able to actually communicate with any of my cats to see if they feel rested after a nap. :-)
You may be victimizing yourself by not getting enough sleep at night. Maybe you feel you just don't have the time to sleep 8-10 hours a night. You have just got so much to do. Or maybe you are like me, and are so excited about whatever you are doing that time just seems to fade out, and suddenly it is several hours later--perhaps 3 am in the morning. Ooops!! Can you say "time management problems?"
I have found that if you are going to take a nap, don't take a long one. If you do, you will go into deep sleep, and when you wake you will be especially groggy. Your body will crave even more sleep, especially if you are sleep deprived. Then you will wake up far more tired than when you drifted off to sleep.
I believe it was Albert Einstein (although it might have been somebody else) who used to take a kettle and turn it upside down. Then he would hold a spoon in his hand above the kettle. Just as soon as he fell asleep, his hand would relax, the spoon would fall, and there would be a loud clang as the spoon hit the kettle. That would awaken him. Obviously, this is a very short nap. But it is better to err on the side of short than long. And on the practical level, your boss may not begrudge you a short nap, but you might lose your job if you slept all day at your desk.
From personal experience, I think about half an hour is just about right. You don't go into a deep sleep in half an hour, but you can experience some much needed rest. And you won't wake up groggy, but refreshed. Can you say "catnap." My felines are feeling fine. :-)
So try napping when you are tired. It just might help.
David A. Youngs
You may be victimizing yourself by not getting enough sleep at night. Maybe you feel you just don't have the time to sleep 8-10 hours a night. You have just got so much to do. Or maybe you are like me, and are so excited about whatever you are doing that time just seems to fade out, and suddenly it is several hours later--perhaps 3 am in the morning. Ooops!! Can you say "time management problems?"
I have found that if you are going to take a nap, don't take a long one. If you do, you will go into deep sleep, and when you wake you will be especially groggy. Your body will crave even more sleep, especially if you are sleep deprived. Then you will wake up far more tired than when you drifted off to sleep.
I believe it was Albert Einstein (although it might have been somebody else) who used to take a kettle and turn it upside down. Then he would hold a spoon in his hand above the kettle. Just as soon as he fell asleep, his hand would relax, the spoon would fall, and there would be a loud clang as the spoon hit the kettle. That would awaken him. Obviously, this is a very short nap. But it is better to err on the side of short than long. And on the practical level, your boss may not begrudge you a short nap, but you might lose your job if you slept all day at your desk.
From personal experience, I think about half an hour is just about right. You don't go into a deep sleep in half an hour, but you can experience some much needed rest. And you won't wake up groggy, but refreshed. Can you say "catnap." My felines are feeling fine. :-)
So try napping when you are tired. It just might help.
David A. Youngs
Worry, Sleep Loss, and Health
Have you ever been really emotionally involved in a situation? Perhaps your loved one was ill and in danger of dying. Maybe you had just lost your job and had no idea how you were going to pay all the bills piling up. Or perhaps somebody you knew had just made a horrible decision and you knew the outcome wasn't going to be good. Whatever was the cause, you were very worried.
And when night came, then your worry kept you awake. You could not fall asleep. You might try warm milk, counting sheep or whatever, but it doesn't work. You are still worried and still wide awake. And growing more tired by the hour.
You know you have to get up tomorrow, and your inability to fall asleep is really starting to worry you. Its really ironic: you are starting to worry about being worried. How many of us have spiraled in on this situation.
I suppose you could take a sleeping pill. There are hundreds of different varieties available. But it seems to me that every sleeping pill made has potential side effects, and that worries me. Yet another worry!!
If you could just relax and stop worrying, you would fall asleep almost instantly. You are so tired. And so very worried.
The fact that worry never helped a single situation probably never occurs to you. Of course you might be of the mind set "what do you mean worrying doesn't help. Most of the things I worry about never happen!!" Implying that if you did not worry about them, they might happen.
Worry can rob you of sleep, and ultimately of health. Believe it or not, worry is a choice. I choose not to worry.
No more worrying,
David A. Youngs
And when night came, then your worry kept you awake. You could not fall asleep. You might try warm milk, counting sheep or whatever, but it doesn't work. You are still worried and still wide awake. And growing more tired by the hour.
You know you have to get up tomorrow, and your inability to fall asleep is really starting to worry you. Its really ironic: you are starting to worry about being worried. How many of us have spiraled in on this situation.
I suppose you could take a sleeping pill. There are hundreds of different varieties available. But it seems to me that every sleeping pill made has potential side effects, and that worries me. Yet another worry!!
If you could just relax and stop worrying, you would fall asleep almost instantly. You are so tired. And so very worried.
The fact that worry never helped a single situation probably never occurs to you. Of course you might be of the mind set "what do you mean worrying doesn't help. Most of the things I worry about never happen!!" Implying that if you did not worry about them, they might happen.
Worry can rob you of sleep, and ultimately of health. Believe it or not, worry is a choice. I choose not to worry.
No more worrying,
David A. Youngs
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sleep Deprivation is dangerous to mental health
Nearly everybody has experienced the results of a sleepless night or two. Perhaps worries about bills, mortgages, and other money problems weigh heavily on the mind. For other people it is the worry about the future. Their job may be ending unexpectedly, or maybe they live in a neighborhood with terrible neighbors.
In college, many students party all night on weekends. Or they might stay up all night the night before final tests. Stress keeps people awake.
And then there are people like me who may have sleep disorders like sleep apnea and not even know it. All these causes can lead to sleep deprivation.
It is really stupid for college students to stay up the entire night before the exam, because the ability of the brain to actually take the exam can be diminished. Research has shown that following sleep loss, some parts of the brain may be more adversely affected than others. The surprising thing is that sometimes, various parts of the brain might try to compensate for the sleep loss.
There was a study done through the UCSD School of Medicine combines with the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in San Diego found that when they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the brains of people who were deliberately sleep deprived.
These sleep deprived patients were asked to perform simple learning tasks with words.
The big surprise was the more tired the persons were, the more active became the prefontal cortex. Another surprising result of this sleep deprivation was that the temporal lobe which normally was very active during verbal learning in rested subjects, did not become active in sleepy ones.
The researchers discovered all kinds of interesting things. The conclusion is this: The sleepy brain doesn't function as well as the rested brain. There is a huge degradation of performance. I know I can't remember things when I am super tired. And my inhibitions just die, so my creative imagination has no limits. You might think this is good, but the ideas I come up with are just not practical--in fact, many of them are worse than useless. So the bottom line is: get enough sleep.
David
In college, many students party all night on weekends. Or they might stay up all night the night before final tests. Stress keeps people awake.
And then there are people like me who may have sleep disorders like sleep apnea and not even know it. All these causes can lead to sleep deprivation.
It is really stupid for college students to stay up the entire night before the exam, because the ability of the brain to actually take the exam can be diminished. Research has shown that following sleep loss, some parts of the brain may be more adversely affected than others. The surprising thing is that sometimes, various parts of the brain might try to compensate for the sleep loss.
There was a study done through the UCSD School of Medicine combines with the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in San Diego found that when they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the brains of people who were deliberately sleep deprived.
These sleep deprived patients were asked to perform simple learning tasks with words.
The big surprise was the more tired the persons were, the more active became the prefontal cortex. Another surprising result of this sleep deprivation was that the temporal lobe which normally was very active during verbal learning in rested subjects, did not become active in sleepy ones.
The researchers discovered all kinds of interesting things. The conclusion is this: The sleepy brain doesn't function as well as the rested brain. There is a huge degradation of performance. I know I can't remember things when I am super tired. And my inhibitions just die, so my creative imagination has no limits. You might think this is good, but the ideas I come up with are just not practical--in fact, many of them are worse than useless. So the bottom line is: get enough sleep.
David
The many types of cancer
Cancer is an unregulated growth of cells. There are many different kinds of cancer. Sometimes cancers are classified by where they take place: lung cancer is cancer in the lungs, skin cancer is cancer of the skin, bone cancer is cancer of the bone, etc.
It seems that there are a lot of different causes of cancer. One of the most effective ways to develop cancer is by irritation. For example, smoking is the premier cause of lung cancer, cancer of the esophagus, breast cancer, and increases almost all other kinds of cancer. This is because tobacco smoke is so irritating.
Miners who dig coal get black lungs from the coal dust. Many of them develop different kinds of lung cancer.
Years ago, people put asbestos in schools and homes because asbestos is a fire retardant. Today we are trying to take all of it out because asbestos has been found to be a major cause of certain types of cancer.
Some of the additives to gasoline are found to cause cancer. And apparently there is a virus that can cause cancer of the cervix in women.
There are a lot of different kinds of cancer, and none of them are good.
Stay away from cancer.
David A. Youngs
It seems that there are a lot of different causes of cancer. One of the most effective ways to develop cancer is by irritation. For example, smoking is the premier cause of lung cancer, cancer of the esophagus, breast cancer, and increases almost all other kinds of cancer. This is because tobacco smoke is so irritating.
Miners who dig coal get black lungs from the coal dust. Many of them develop different kinds of lung cancer.
Years ago, people put asbestos in schools and homes because asbestos is a fire retardant. Today we are trying to take all of it out because asbestos has been found to be a major cause of certain types of cancer.
Some of the additives to gasoline are found to cause cancer. And apparently there is a virus that can cause cancer of the cervix in women.
There are a lot of different kinds of cancer, and none of them are good.
Stay away from cancer.
David A. Youngs
skin cancer, age and health
Do you know the signs of skin cancer? One of them is changes in the skin. My landlady Helen, who just turned 91 years of age, six months ago went to the Dermatologist (skin doctor) to check out this funny recurring scab-like thing on her nose that did not seem to heal. Sure enough, it turned out to be skin cancer. Somebody once said that if you get old enough, eventually everyone will get cancer. Hmmmmm.
So the doctor literally cut a piece of skin off Helen's nose about the size of a quarter. Then a week later the surgeon cut a piece of skin off over her collar bone and sewed it onto her nose using the tiniest little stitches around the edges. He simply stitched her missing skin over her collar bone back together. In about a week, the blood vessels had grown into this new skin on her nose, and the stitches could be removed. It took several weeks, but in time the auto skin graft looked almost normal.
Well, here it is 6 months later and it appears that Helen's cancer on her nose is coming back again. So tomorrow I am taking her to see the dermatologist again so he/she can check out Helen's nose. I say he/she because the first doctor she saw was a man, but this time she is scheduled to see a woman.
If you have a place on your skin that doesn't heal, it is best to check it out. It might be skin cancer, and the earlier you find out, the more easily it can be treated successfully. Waiting is very dangerous as cancer only gets worse in time.
Don't get cancer,
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahool.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
So the doctor literally cut a piece of skin off Helen's nose about the size of a quarter. Then a week later the surgeon cut a piece of skin off over her collar bone and sewed it onto her nose using the tiniest little stitches around the edges. He simply stitched her missing skin over her collar bone back together. In about a week, the blood vessels had grown into this new skin on her nose, and the stitches could be removed. It took several weeks, but in time the auto skin graft looked almost normal.
Well, here it is 6 months later and it appears that Helen's cancer on her nose is coming back again. So tomorrow I am taking her to see the dermatologist again so he/she can check out Helen's nose. I say he/she because the first doctor she saw was a man, but this time she is scheduled to see a woman.
If you have a place on your skin that doesn't heal, it is best to check it out. It might be skin cancer, and the earlier you find out, the more easily it can be treated successfully. Waiting is very dangerous as cancer only gets worse in time.
Don't get cancer,
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahool.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Starting to exercise again to lose weight
Well, I noticed that the health club I signed up with keeps taking money out of my bank account every month whether I go and exercise or not. This sort of inspires me to go and exercise more so I can get my money's worth.
I had not been to the health club for about two weeks due to the fact that I am a cutting edge world class procrastinator. But today, I put it in the schedule and actually went. Ooooh. It was like starting over from scratch. I could only exercise on the stationery bike for half an hour. My butt got so sore, but I got my heart rate up to 116 or so. I was so tired. I sure hope I am actually losing weight.
Maybe I am dehydrated. I know I should drink more water, but that too is one thing I guess I tend to forget as I dash around doing all the things I think need doing. I do have bottled water in the car.
Tomorrow, maybe I can ride the stationery bicycle for an hour. That would be good.
Oh, and when I got done exercising today, I was so hungry I went and had a small milkshake. That is a great way to lose weight isn't it?
Happy exercising,
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
I had not been to the health club for about two weeks due to the fact that I am a cutting edge world class procrastinator. But today, I put it in the schedule and actually went. Ooooh. It was like starting over from scratch. I could only exercise on the stationery bike for half an hour. My butt got so sore, but I got my heart rate up to 116 or so. I was so tired. I sure hope I am actually losing weight.
Maybe I am dehydrated. I know I should drink more water, but that too is one thing I guess I tend to forget as I dash around doing all the things I think need doing. I do have bottled water in the car.
Tomorrow, maybe I can ride the stationery bicycle for an hour. That would be good.
Oh, and when I got done exercising today, I was so hungry I went and had a small milkshake. That is a great way to lose weight isn't it?
Happy exercising,
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Back to the Medical Supply Store
Hey guess what? Well, you would never guess, so I will simply tell you. I have had the CPAP machine almost two weeks now. They called up and told me to bring in the unit I am using because they needed to download the information that it has been quietly gathering regarding my sleep habits using the CPAP machine. When I got there, the nice lady disassembled my CPAP machine into its two basic componants: the air pump, and the moisturizing unit. Then she pulled out the memory card from the air pump unit.
She slid the data card into a card reader and presently was able to tell me that since I have been using the CPAP machine, I no longer stop breathing more than 90 times an hour. NO! Now I have been stopping breathing only 2.7 times an hour. I asked how a person could stop breathing .7 times. ;-)
The nice lady has a wicked laugh, very much like the Riddler had in the first Batman movie. Remember the Riddler laying there on the ground after he fell from the building? He had this incredible laugh that went on and on. And then we found out it was just a recording of a laugh.
Any way, she then put together my final machine without the data card. Did you know that I can get a new mask every three months? She recommends getting one at least every six months. We talked about my painting the mask black and running around at Halloween going, "Luke, this is your father," like Darth Vader in Star Wars. Maybe I should change that to "trick or treat."
I have the CPAP machine set up to auto start when I start breathing. It is so neat to take a couple of deep breaths and suddenly the CPAP machine comes on and pumps your lungs just pack full of air.
I sure have a pile more energy now I am using the CPAP machine.
Happy sleeping and great dreams
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
She slid the data card into a card reader and presently was able to tell me that since I have been using the CPAP machine, I no longer stop breathing more than 90 times an hour. NO! Now I have been stopping breathing only 2.7 times an hour. I asked how a person could stop breathing .7 times. ;-)
The nice lady has a wicked laugh, very much like the Riddler had in the first Batman movie. Remember the Riddler laying there on the ground after he fell from the building? He had this incredible laugh that went on and on. And then we found out it was just a recording of a laugh.
Any way, she then put together my final machine without the data card. Did you know that I can get a new mask every three months? She recommends getting one at least every six months. We talked about my painting the mask black and running around at Halloween going, "Luke, this is your father," like Darth Vader in Star Wars. Maybe I should change that to "trick or treat."
I have the CPAP machine set up to auto start when I start breathing. It is so neat to take a couple of deep breaths and suddenly the CPAP machine comes on and pumps your lungs just pack full of air.
I sure have a pile more energy now I am using the CPAP machine.
Happy sleeping and great dreams
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Domain names relating to health
There must be thousands of domain names that are registered using a domain name registry that are related to health. If you do a domain name search in a search engine and type in health, for example, you will get hundreds of thousands of web domains that people have registered that have health content. The problem as I see it is that there are so many domain names that if you do a domain name search, you are overwhelmed with the 1000s of domains returned.
Suppose you want to register a domain name. I will tell you how to register a domain name. The process is very easy. I happen to use http://godaddy.com to register my domains, but you can use any domain name registry service that you choose. Usually the first thing you have to do is a domain name search to determine if the domain name you want to register in the domain name registry has already been registered by somebody else. If it has, then you might want to consider buying domain names that are all ready registered, but that can be quite expensive. What I do is try another domain name.
After you find a domain name that isn't already registered using the domain name registry services, you can then purchase the domain name. Usually web domain names cost from less than $10 per year up to perhaps $20 per year. Most domain name registration companies will also host your domain for a price. The mere purchase of a domain does not put it on the web.
It is necessary to actually have your domain name hosted, and then to upload your html coded web pages from your computer to the computer where the hosted site is hosted to have it appear on the world wide web.
Buy your own domain name today and have a lot of fun.
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Suppose you want to register a domain name. I will tell you how to register a domain name. The process is very easy. I happen to use http://godaddy.com to register my domains, but you can use any domain name registry service that you choose. Usually the first thing you have to do is a domain name search to determine if the domain name you want to register in the domain name registry has already been registered by somebody else. If it has, then you might want to consider buying domain names that are all ready registered, but that can be quite expensive. What I do is try another domain name.
After you find a domain name that isn't already registered using the domain name registry services, you can then purchase the domain name. Usually web domain names cost from less than $10 per year up to perhaps $20 per year. Most domain name registration companies will also host your domain for a price. The mere purchase of a domain does not put it on the web.
It is necessary to actually have your domain name hosted, and then to upload your html coded web pages from your computer to the computer where the hosted site is hosted to have it appear on the world wide web.
Buy your own domain name today and have a lot of fun.
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
What is Diabetes?
My wife has type two diabetes. We don't have any special insurance for diabetics. Nor do we have specialized life insurance for diabetics. So now we are busy managing diabetes. What is diabetes? It has to do with insulin and blood sugar. When the body doesn't produce enough insulin or absorb enough insulin at the cellular level, the blood sugar remains higher than it should, and the diabetic person feels hungry because the cells can't get their food (sugar). This extra sugar remaining in the blood thickens the blood just like putting corn syrup into the blood. This thickened blood is what causes all the diabetic neuropathy and other diabetic related problems and diabetic symptoms. These can include loosing the circulation in the feet (leading ultimately to gangrene) and blindness because the blood cannot circulate through the tiny blood vessels of the eye and the eyes tissues die. The same thing can happen to almost all the organs including the kidneys, liver, heart, etc. Diabetes is not fun.
My wife is constantly having to test her blood level using the specialized diabetic testing supplies that we have. This involves her poking a lance into her finger and getting a drop of blood on a test strip which is placed into a special machine that in 30 seconds tells her what her blood sugar is. If it is above 125 she has to inject insulin into the muscles of her arms, legs or belly. The amount of insulin she injects depends on how high her blood sugar reading is: the higher the reading, the more insulin she must inject. This additional insulin helps the body absorb the blood sugar and thins out the blood so it can carry oxygen to all parts of the body.
Type II diabetes is usually the result of being overweight. My wife is very obese and needs desperately to lose weight. But having diabetes complicates the issue considerably. She has to be careful not to go too long before eating or her blood sugar level can drop too low and she could slip into a diabetic coma. Fortunately this has never happened.
So far we have opted against having an insulin pump because my wife's blood sugar level varies widely (depending on what my wife eats.) Ideally, she would be on a special diabetic diet.
Don't eat a lot of sugar and get diabetes.
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com/
polybids@yahoo.com
My wife is constantly having to test her blood level using the specialized diabetic testing supplies that we have. This involves her poking a lance into her finger and getting a drop of blood on a test strip which is placed into a special machine that in 30 seconds tells her what her blood sugar is. If it is above 125 she has to inject insulin into the muscles of her arms, legs or belly. The amount of insulin she injects depends on how high her blood sugar reading is: the higher the reading, the more insulin she must inject. This additional insulin helps the body absorb the blood sugar and thins out the blood so it can carry oxygen to all parts of the body.
Type II diabetes is usually the result of being overweight. My wife is very obese and needs desperately to lose weight. But having diabetes complicates the issue considerably. She has to be careful not to go too long before eating or her blood sugar level can drop too low and she could slip into a diabetic coma. Fortunately this has never happened.
So far we have opted against having an insulin pump because my wife's blood sugar level varies widely (depending on what my wife eats.) Ideally, she would be on a special diabetic diet.
Don't eat a lot of sugar and get diabetes.
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com/
polybids@yahoo.com
The National Allergy Supply of Antihistamines
The other day, I guess I had an asthma allergy attack that was due to cat allergy or mold allergy or perhaps even a bedding allergy. When I made my bed, the act of fluffing the covers triggered an asthma allergy attack. I had to take some allergy control products to alleviate the mold allergy attack combined with the cat dander allergy and bedding allergy. Perhaps allergy prevention would be far better than allergy treatment using allergy control products.
I have been investigating the use of allergy air filters to remove all the mold, mildew, pollen, cat dander and other allergens from the air. I borrowed a purifier that ozinates the air as well as sucking it through air filters. But I think I am allergic to to the ozone too. I have read various warnings that high concentrations of ozone can actually burn the lungs.
You might think that getting rid of the cats, and moving to a mold free desert environment is a solution. Well, I am considering moving away from all the black mold, which would eliminate the black mold allergy. But for the pet allergies, I have no solution as my wife really loves our cats. I might be able to get special allergy proof bedding which would solve the bedding allergy. But until I can impliment all these allergy prevention measures, antihistamines are my friends.
Dont get any allergy attacks,
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
you may forward my writings if you forward them in their entirety. Thank you.
I have been investigating the use of allergy air filters to remove all the mold, mildew, pollen, cat dander and other allergens from the air. I borrowed a purifier that ozinates the air as well as sucking it through air filters. But I think I am allergic to to the ozone too. I have read various warnings that high concentrations of ozone can actually burn the lungs.
You might think that getting rid of the cats, and moving to a mold free desert environment is a solution. Well, I am considering moving away from all the black mold, which would eliminate the black mold allergy. But for the pet allergies, I have no solution as my wife really loves our cats. I might be able to get special allergy proof bedding which would solve the bedding allergy. But until I can impliment all these allergy prevention measures, antihistamines are my friends.
Dont get any allergy attacks,
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
you may forward my writings if you forward them in their entirety. Thank you.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Religion and Health--is there a connection?
Is there a connection between physical health and the religion that one adheres to and believes in? Suppose you were a Moslem; would you be healthier than say a Jew or a Hindu? Of course if you are a person who straps bombs to your body and blows yourself up, then I would tend to say that your religion is an unhealthy one -- at least for the bomber who just killed himself.
Now the Jews were given special health guidelines which Moses wrote down and put into a little scroll that went on the side of the Ark of the Covenant (which is far different than Noah's ark). Included in these guidelines or laws of health were such things are if you touched a dead animal, you would be "unclean" until evening. And there was a differentiation between "clean" and "unclean" animals. Oh yeah!! The clean ones are permissible to eat, and the unclean ones were not. For example, if an animal both chewed cud and had a cloven hoof, then it was a clean animal. This would include deer, cows, elk, and maybe some other animals. But if it had a cloven hoof and did not chew cud, it would not be a clean animal. An example would be a camel.
There is a whole slew of guidelines in the "laws of Moses" which spell out what things to avoid to stay healthy.
Today, if you are interested in looking up the research on the web, you will find that members of the Seventh-day Adventist church tend to live longer. That is because most of them are vegetarians and just plain live a better life style than the majority of Americans. Not only do they live longer, they enjoy greater health while they are alive -- and that is a very important point. Who wants to have longevity with suffering?
So, in conclusion, I would have to say that there IS a connection between religious beliefs and health.
Stay healthy till next time,
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Ps. You do have permission to forward my blogs to friends IF you forward the whole blog including the information where the blog is found.
Thanks
Now the Jews were given special health guidelines which Moses wrote down and put into a little scroll that went on the side of the Ark of the Covenant (which is far different than Noah's ark). Included in these guidelines or laws of health were such things are if you touched a dead animal, you would be "unclean" until evening. And there was a differentiation between "clean" and "unclean" animals. Oh yeah!! The clean ones are permissible to eat, and the unclean ones were not. For example, if an animal both chewed cud and had a cloven hoof, then it was a clean animal. This would include deer, cows, elk, and maybe some other animals. But if it had a cloven hoof and did not chew cud, it would not be a clean animal. An example would be a camel.
There is a whole slew of guidelines in the "laws of Moses" which spell out what things to avoid to stay healthy.
Today, if you are interested in looking up the research on the web, you will find that members of the Seventh-day Adventist church tend to live longer. That is because most of them are vegetarians and just plain live a better life style than the majority of Americans. Not only do they live longer, they enjoy greater health while they are alive -- and that is a very important point. Who wants to have longevity with suffering?
So, in conclusion, I would have to say that there IS a connection between religious beliefs and health.
Stay healthy till next time,
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Ps. You do have permission to forward my blogs to friends IF you forward the whole blog including the information where the blog is found.
Thanks
Eating out and still losing weight
Well, I messed up horribly, but it tasted so good. I had a gourmet vegetarian pizza at Round Table. Oh the white sauce laced with garlic was fantastic. I don't know exactly how many calories were in the pizza, but sometimes you just need to forget your diet and go and pig out! Right? Wrong....
Eating out is probably not the safest nor the easiest way to lose weight. First of all, most of the foods served in fast food joints are super unhealthy. Take french fries for instance. They sure taste so good, don't they. But due to the fact they are literally dripping with oil, the calories in french fries are sky high. And then there is the ubiquitous hamburger. The reason it tastes so good is that it too is very high in fat content.
When you eat a lot of fat, guess what? You get fat! No kidding. So if you are going to eat out, you have to carefully avoid most things on the menu and opt for things like salad. But even salads can be loaded with fat. The culprit is the salad dressing. If you look at the ingredients for salad dressing, almost invariably one of the first ingredients is some kind of oil or fat. So if you are serious about losing weight, you will take your salad like the honey moon couple used to say "let us alone with no dressing." Of course lettuce alone is rather bland, and you will immediately be tempted to pour on the dressing.
Another problem with eating out is salt. Salt is everywhere. French fries taste so good because they are covered with salt. Salad dressing has a whole lot of salt in it. In fact, salt is used so much in the things served in restaurants that once you become conscious of the salt, you probably will want to eat at home.
Eating at home makes it a LOT easier to lose weight.
Happy weight loss,
David A. Youngs
Eating out is probably not the safest nor the easiest way to lose weight. First of all, most of the foods served in fast food joints are super unhealthy. Take french fries for instance. They sure taste so good, don't they. But due to the fact they are literally dripping with oil, the calories in french fries are sky high. And then there is the ubiquitous hamburger. The reason it tastes so good is that it too is very high in fat content.
When you eat a lot of fat, guess what? You get fat! No kidding. So if you are going to eat out, you have to carefully avoid most things on the menu and opt for things like salad. But even salads can be loaded with fat. The culprit is the salad dressing. If you look at the ingredients for salad dressing, almost invariably one of the first ingredients is some kind of oil or fat. So if you are serious about losing weight, you will take your salad like the honey moon couple used to say "let us alone with no dressing." Of course lettuce alone is rather bland, and you will immediately be tempted to pour on the dressing.
Another problem with eating out is salt. Salt is everywhere. French fries taste so good because they are covered with salt. Salad dressing has a whole lot of salt in it. In fact, salt is used so much in the things served in restaurants that once you become conscious of the salt, you probably will want to eat at home.
Eating at home makes it a LOT easier to lose weight.
Happy weight loss,
David A. Youngs
Friday, March 23, 2007
Are Your Pets Making You Sick?
My wife loves cats and so do I. When we moved into the motor home about 6 years ago, we didn't have any pets. But we saved a couple of little kittens from certain death. The man we were staying with was a very practical man and said, "my cat has had kittens. Unless you want to take those kittens, I have enough cats and I am going to kill them." Oh, that approach guaranteed my wife would at least go and look at the kittens. Of course once she saw them, it was all over for me and suddenly we had two little kittens.
My allergies began to increase about that time. I know that pets can cause problems. Well, in the course of time, these two little kittens grew up into adult FEMALE cats. And one day there was some commotion in the tree and upon investigation I discovered that there was a large male cat there who was paying undue attention to my cats. They subsequently became pregnant.
In time suddenly we had 10 little kittens milling around the motor home. The mother cats put all 10 kittens in one big pile, and both would go and periodically nurse them. And my allergies became seriously worse.
Good breathing,
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
polybids@gmail.com
My allergies began to increase about that time. I know that pets can cause problems. Well, in the course of time, these two little kittens grew up into adult FEMALE cats. And one day there was some commotion in the tree and upon investigation I discovered that there was a large male cat there who was paying undue attention to my cats. They subsequently became pregnant.
In time suddenly we had 10 little kittens milling around the motor home. The mother cats put all 10 kittens in one big pile, and both would go and periodically nurse them. And my allergies became seriously worse.
Good breathing,
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
polybids@gmail.com
Allegens, Asthma, and Teflon
Dear Reader,
It has now been about 3 days since I triggered my asthma attack by going into the motor home and moving things about. I am hoping that once the motor home is cleaned thoroughly, I won’t have any more allergic reactions inside of it and can continue to get it ready for sale.
Did you know that cooking with Teflon can cause a person to have a flu-like reaction? That is right. Teflon heated to about 425 degrees Fahrenheit (which is easy once you start to actually use the pan to cook something) starts to vaporize a little bit, especially during the initial use of the pan. These invisible vapors will actually kill a pet bird if you have one, and can cause humans to run a fever and have congestion of the lungs. So Teflon is another allergen.
But the use of Teflon may be a whole lot more serious than just causing an allergic reaction. According to Dr. Mercola “In particular, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which cannot be broken down by heat, light, or microbes, have been shown to cause tumors in the pancreas, liver, testicles, thyroid, or mammary glands in animal studies.” http://www.mercola.com/article/teflon
I like Teflon, but is Teflon really worth dying for?
Dr. Mercola advocates eating nearly all raw food anyway. Of course it goes without saying that he is talking about a strictly vegan diet. So it looks like I may have to go raw to get healthy.
Good eating,
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
It has now been about 3 days since I triggered my asthma attack by going into the motor home and moving things about. I am hoping that once the motor home is cleaned thoroughly, I won’t have any more allergic reactions inside of it and can continue to get it ready for sale.
Did you know that cooking with Teflon can cause a person to have a flu-like reaction? That is right. Teflon heated to about 425 degrees Fahrenheit (which is easy once you start to actually use the pan to cook something) starts to vaporize a little bit, especially during the initial use of the pan. These invisible vapors will actually kill a pet bird if you have one, and can cause humans to run a fever and have congestion of the lungs. So Teflon is another allergen.
But the use of Teflon may be a whole lot more serious than just causing an allergic reaction. According to Dr. Mercola “In particular, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which cannot be broken down by heat, light, or microbes, have been shown to cause tumors in the pancreas, liver, testicles, thyroid, or mammary glands in animal studies.” http://www.mercola.com/article/teflon
I like Teflon, but is Teflon really worth dying for?
Dr. Mercola advocates eating nearly all raw food anyway. Of course it goes without saying that he is talking about a strictly vegan diet. So it looks like I may have to go raw to get healthy.
Good eating,
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Allergies, asthma, mildow, mold and dust
Yesterday, I decided to clean out the motor home. I haven't used it as a motor home ever since I moved into this little apartment almost 3 years ago... Well, anyway, I have been using it as a kind of storage unit! But now I want to sell the motor home. So I need to clean it up. A friend,whom I will call Kelly, came to help me. We began picking up the piles of clothes I had basically left in it when I moved out.
Suddenly, I was beginning to have trouble breathing. I guess the mold, mildew, dander, pollen, dust and other allergens were being stirred up by our activity. I had to get out of the motor home immediately!! The allergies were causing me to have a super attack of asthma. I haven't had an asthma attack this bad since I was a kid (and the doctor said I would outgrow it.)
Here it is a day later. Finally I had to take antihistamines today so I could begin to breath again. Even spending all night on the CPAP machine did not clear everything up. I have been hacking and coughing up this mucous all day now. But I am finally being able to breath again. Somewhere, I read that coffee could help asthma --so I went to Dutch Brothers and got myself a mocha. I am sure the sugar was not good for me, but the caffeine did seem to help my breathing.
Breath Clean Air,
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Suddenly, I was beginning to have trouble breathing. I guess the mold, mildew, dander, pollen, dust and other allergens were being stirred up by our activity. I had to get out of the motor home immediately!! The allergies were causing me to have a super attack of asthma. I haven't had an asthma attack this bad since I was a kid (and the doctor said I would outgrow it.)
Here it is a day later. Finally I had to take antihistamines today so I could begin to breath again. Even spending all night on the CPAP machine did not clear everything up. I have been hacking and coughing up this mucous all day now. But I am finally being able to breath again. Somewhere, I read that coffee could help asthma --so I went to Dutch Brothers and got myself a mocha. I am sure the sugar was not good for me, but the caffeine did seem to help my breathing.
Breath Clean Air,
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Mental illness vs. mental health and computers
Dear reader,
Mental health is just as much a part of health as physical health. I have several friends who are "over the edge" emotionally. They all react far too much to external events. One of them is a certified genius, but because of his constant over reaction to external events cannot hold a job. Let me give you a concrete example. I will call this friend John. John is so super smart that sometimes it literally amazes me. He writes html code freehand without any programs to assist him. He knows UNIX and DOS commands extensively. He has rented a remote server to host web pages and he sets up and manages this entire server in UNIX at the command prompt. No simple interfaces for John. They just get in the way. He is hosting my personal web at http://polybids.com/ and several others I am developing. He can set up an entire hosted domain on his server in under half an hour, entering complex esoteric commands at the UNIX prompt. He is definitely a genius. He cobbles together computers from discarded parts other people throw away, and they actually work.
Any way, periodically John will call me up and threaten to commit suicide because his server is down. Or somebody at the place he is renting his server from has closed down port 25 and now he cant get or send email and it is obviously the end of the world. John will seriously be considering jumping off the bridge and ending it all. It's like "my computer crashed and I am doomed.... I might as well die."
Now when my computer crashes, it annoys the **** out of me. But I don't want to die. I just want to get a much better computer. And I immediately begin reinstalling Windows XP or whatever I need to do to get the computer up and running again. So why is it that some people seem to be ruled by their emotions? Is this a form of mental illness, or, is it just a series of poor choices?
Think good thoughts
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
Mental health is just as much a part of health as physical health. I have several friends who are "over the edge" emotionally. They all react far too much to external events. One of them is a certified genius, but because of his constant over reaction to external events cannot hold a job. Let me give you a concrete example. I will call this friend John. John is so super smart that sometimes it literally amazes me. He writes html code freehand without any programs to assist him. He knows UNIX and DOS commands extensively. He has rented a remote server to host web pages and he sets up and manages this entire server in UNIX at the command prompt. No simple interfaces for John. They just get in the way. He is hosting my personal web at http://polybids.com/ and several others I am developing. He can set up an entire hosted domain on his server in under half an hour, entering complex esoteric commands at the UNIX prompt. He is definitely a genius. He cobbles together computers from discarded parts other people throw away, and they actually work.
Any way, periodically John will call me up and threaten to commit suicide because his server is down. Or somebody at the place he is renting his server from has closed down port 25 and now he cant get or send email and it is obviously the end of the world. John will seriously be considering jumping off the bridge and ending it all. It's like "my computer crashed and I am doomed.... I might as well die."
Now when my computer crashes, it annoys the **** out of me. But I don't want to die. I just want to get a much better computer. And I immediately begin reinstalling Windows XP or whatever I need to do to get the computer up and running again. So why is it that some people seem to be ruled by their emotions? Is this a form of mental illness, or, is it just a series of poor choices?
Think good thoughts
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
CPAP arrives changing this man's health
I awoke extremely exausted and tired. I had been without a CPAP machine ever since leaving the sleep disorder clinic -- and the nurse had been right. Now that I had once experienced the vigor and return to young man's health that occured using the CPAP, I, in effect, did "hit the wall" -- just as the nurse had predicted. But now I knew what I needed: (a CPAP machine) -- and that one was "one its way." I could hardly wait.
Now it was March 13, only 5 days since the test at the clinic -- and it was my wife's 50th birthday. Unbeknownst to me, she had been praying that the CPAP machine would arrive before or on her birthday. When I had left the sleep disorder clinic, the nurse cautioned me that it could take a week and half or two weeks before I would get my own machine. The medical doctors had to review the tests and approve me. She was pretty certain I would be approved, but wanted me to know that she wasn't the one to make that decision.
But I did not have to wait any longer. The telephone rang and it was the medical supply store. I had been approved and did I want to come on down and pick up my CPAP machine? Oh did I! I got dressed so fast it would make your head spin, and rushed off the get my machine.
At the store I met another fine lady who explained to me the use of my CPAP machine. This particular unit is NOT the final one I will be using. Oh, it is extremely similar, but this one has a memory chip to enable somebody to determine how effective this machine has really been to allieviate my sleep apnea. In the first minute she happened to mention that my order for the CPAP had been expedited because during the test over at the sleep disorder clinic, I had stopped breathing over 90 times an hour during the intial part of the sleep test without the CPAP assistance. Wow!! That is more than once a minute. It is amazing that I ever woke up again. No wonder I could go to bed a just a little tired and wake up just totally exhausted. My sleep had been literally wearing me out!!
I had been told at the sleep clinic that my machine would differ from theirs because their unit could be remotely controlled for how much air it pumps, and it could be switched from CPAP to IPAP (intermittent positive air pressure.) The nurse explained that during the sleep test they gradually increased the pressure until I didn't stop breathing any more. Enough pressure is required to keep the throat open.
Well, apparently for me that is a setting of 11. Eleven what I am not sure -- maybe 11 liters of air per minute. And I don't know how high the machine could ultimately go, but I somehow got the impression that it might top out at 20 or 25. I would like a machine where I could fiddle with the settings, but of course everyone fiddled with the settings when the machines were adjustable. And it was usually to their detriment. So now the machines are set at the store and the end user can't change the airflow settings. I am stuck with a setting of 11.
Any way, my very own CPAP machine consists of two parts: the humidifier and the air pump. The humidifier is important to insure that my lungs and breathing passages won't dry out during the night. Every night, before I turn the CPAP machine on, it is important to fill up the humidifier's water chamber. The instructor told me if I used tap water, I would have to clean the whole chamber about once a week to get rid of mineral deposits. On the other hand, if I use bottled water there wouldn't be any deposits. I elected to save myself a pile of grief later, and so I am using bottled water.
I have had my CPAP machine just about a week now. Oh wow, the difference it makes. I should have obtained one 25 years ago!! I feel about 25 years old again, and I have a ENERGY in the morning. Now when I wake up, I actually have energy to do things! It is incredible. No more slowly coming to consciousness and wishing I wasn't awake because I am so extremely tired. NO!! Now I have energy. When I wake up.... Suddenly I am wide AWAKE!!!
In fact, I have so much energy, I am challenged with forcing myself to go to bed at the end of the day. One night I woke up because I had to go pee, and I felt so wide awake at 3:00 AM that I jumped on my computer and wrote a super long email telling a friend of mine how busy I was. I must have been up about 2 1/2 hours. Then I went back to bed, and had trouble falling asleep. All this energy that I am unaccustomed to.
I have to tell you, my life has changed. I am now beginning to do the things I should have done years ago. Well, I am blogging... for one thing. And I am finally doing something about finishing my private web over at http://polybids.com/ that I have been just letting lie dormant and unfinished for a couple of years. I am also taking classes on the internet on how to make money. If it works out, I will probably start ANOTHER blog, in addition to this one, telling about this man's quest for riches. I am considering starting an in-home business. All these things are things I did not do before because I just didn't have the energy to get up and do them.
I guess my biggest challenge is keeping myself focused, because of all the additional energy I now feel.
Oh... and I am beginning to lose weight. My metabolism is cranking up to the level it used to be when I was in college, and it is exciting. I am down to 258 pounds -- which is far better than 278. The doctor thinks much of the loss is fluid and he is probably right. I don't care. I am feeling so much better than I have in many, many years. My goal is to weigh less than 200 pounds. Well, I used to say 190, but I will be happy with anything under 200. Who knows... maybe I can even take up jogging again pretty soon. :-)
So in sumary:
The CPAP machine has worked out incredibly well in my quest for health.
Until next time,
David
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Now it was March 13, only 5 days since the test at the clinic -- and it was my wife's 50th birthday. Unbeknownst to me, she had been praying that the CPAP machine would arrive before or on her birthday. When I had left the sleep disorder clinic, the nurse cautioned me that it could take a week and half or two weeks before I would get my own machine. The medical doctors had to review the tests and approve me. She was pretty certain I would be approved, but wanted me to know that she wasn't the one to make that decision.
But I did not have to wait any longer. The telephone rang and it was the medical supply store. I had been approved and did I want to come on down and pick up my CPAP machine? Oh did I! I got dressed so fast it would make your head spin, and rushed off the get my machine.
At the store I met another fine lady who explained to me the use of my CPAP machine. This particular unit is NOT the final one I will be using. Oh, it is extremely similar, but this one has a memory chip to enable somebody to determine how effective this machine has really been to allieviate my sleep apnea. In the first minute she happened to mention that my order for the CPAP had been expedited because during the test over at the sleep disorder clinic, I had stopped breathing over 90 times an hour during the intial part of the sleep test without the CPAP assistance. Wow!! That is more than once a minute. It is amazing that I ever woke up again. No wonder I could go to bed a just a little tired and wake up just totally exhausted. My sleep had been literally wearing me out!!
I had been told at the sleep clinic that my machine would differ from theirs because their unit could be remotely controlled for how much air it pumps, and it could be switched from CPAP to IPAP (intermittent positive air pressure.) The nurse explained that during the sleep test they gradually increased the pressure until I didn't stop breathing any more. Enough pressure is required to keep the throat open.
Well, apparently for me that is a setting of 11. Eleven what I am not sure -- maybe 11 liters of air per minute. And I don't know how high the machine could ultimately go, but I somehow got the impression that it might top out at 20 or 25. I would like a machine where I could fiddle with the settings, but of course everyone fiddled with the settings when the machines were adjustable. And it was usually to their detriment. So now the machines are set at the store and the end user can't change the airflow settings. I am stuck with a setting of 11.
Any way, my very own CPAP machine consists of two parts: the humidifier and the air pump. The humidifier is important to insure that my lungs and breathing passages won't dry out during the night. Every night, before I turn the CPAP machine on, it is important to fill up the humidifier's water chamber. The instructor told me if I used tap water, I would have to clean the whole chamber about once a week to get rid of mineral deposits. On the other hand, if I use bottled water there wouldn't be any deposits. I elected to save myself a pile of grief later, and so I am using bottled water.
I have had my CPAP machine just about a week now. Oh wow, the difference it makes. I should have obtained one 25 years ago!! I feel about 25 years old again, and I have a ENERGY in the morning. Now when I wake up, I actually have energy to do things! It is incredible. No more slowly coming to consciousness and wishing I wasn't awake because I am so extremely tired. NO!! Now I have energy. When I wake up.... Suddenly I am wide AWAKE!!!
In fact, I have so much energy, I am challenged with forcing myself to go to bed at the end of the day. One night I woke up because I had to go pee, and I felt so wide awake at 3:00 AM that I jumped on my computer and wrote a super long email telling a friend of mine how busy I was. I must have been up about 2 1/2 hours. Then I went back to bed, and had trouble falling asleep. All this energy that I am unaccustomed to.
I have to tell you, my life has changed. I am now beginning to do the things I should have done years ago. Well, I am blogging... for one thing. And I am finally doing something about finishing my private web over at http://polybids.com/ that I have been just letting lie dormant and unfinished for a couple of years. I am also taking classes on the internet on how to make money. If it works out, I will probably start ANOTHER blog, in addition to this one, telling about this man's quest for riches. I am considering starting an in-home business. All these things are things I did not do before because I just didn't have the energy to get up and do them.
I guess my biggest challenge is keeping myself focused, because of all the additional energy I now feel.
Oh... and I am beginning to lose weight. My metabolism is cranking up to the level it used to be when I was in college, and it is exciting. I am down to 258 pounds -- which is far better than 278. The doctor thinks much of the loss is fluid and he is probably right. I don't care. I am feeling so much better than I have in many, many years. My goal is to weigh less than 200 pounds. Well, I used to say 190, but I will be happy with anything under 200. Who knows... maybe I can even take up jogging again pretty soon. :-)
So in sumary:
The CPAP machine has worked out incredibly well in my quest for health.
Until next time,
David
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Friday, March 16, 2007
Sleep Clinic, sleep test, CPAP machines and health
Well, I went to the sleep disorder clinic. They said I had to go to sleep by 11:00 pm. Have you ever been under stress to go to sleep, especially in a strange bed and in a strange environment? Well, I said "Okay." But since it was only 7:00 when I got there it was only about 8:00 when I got done filling out my paperwork. Of course I was supposed to have the paperwork all done and sent in weeks ago, but.... I lost it after it arrived in the mail.
But after I finished my paperwork, a nice older lady nurse showed me to my very own private bedroom. I had no idea how the sleep clinic test was supposed to work. But guess what.... there is a very nice short video tape that tells you exactly what they are going to do and how testing proceeds.
After I watched the video, I sat on the bed. It felt quite comfortable. I had brought my own pillow. If you ever do go for a sleep test, be sure to bring your own pillow. It makes all the difference between getting sleep and staying awake. At least for some people.
The nice nurse came in and showed me how to operate the cable television. Wow!! I have not seen television in almost a year. Well, maybe a few local channels, but not CABLE television. I was excited. I found a couple of old Star Trek episodes with Captain Kirk. Somewhere around 10:30 the nurse came in and woke me up. Apparently I had already fallen asleep.
Now this is where things get interesting. They glue about 20 leads all over your body. Two to each leg, a couple on the chest, and most of them around your head. And they use this very sticky goo that keeps the leads attached. Fortunately several months ago I had elected to do the very short haircut thing for two reasons. I'll get into the reasons in a moment. But first I have to tell you, there are these really strange wire sensors that literally go part way into your nose to see if you are breathing though your nose. They partially restrict your nose breathing so that makes life more challenging from then on. But I had cut my hair very short now for about a year. Why???
First, I am going bald. No!!! I don't want to go bald, but I don't have the money to buy Rogaine or some other medication to use every day to regrow my hair. The other reason was a matter of cost. Some time in the last year or so haircuts have climbed up in cost at the local hair cutting place in the mall. So I elected to buy my own electric razor with all those length attachements. I now give myself a haircut (free) in about 20 minutes. I use attachement #3 which gives me about 3/8 inch hair.
Any way the nice nurse glued all these electrodes all over my head. I guess that is to determine what type of sleep you are enjoying. She even had me put a couple of leads down each pant leg and glued leads on my calves. These are to see if I move my feet in my sleep. I thought I would never fall asleep again as I was experiencing some difficulty breathing since I got this amazing cold last week. It was a doozy. Any way, I felt some very real congestion in my chest and had difficulty in breathing in enough air to relax and go to sleep. But eventually I guess I drifted off.
Now when you awake, they warn you not to hardly move, or you will disturb all these wires from the leads all over your body. I awoke at about 12:15 and had to go pee. The bathroom is down the hall. So I said "Hey, I got to go to the bathroom" and immediately a voice out of nowhere said, "I'll be right there." The nice nurse came in and disconnected the leads from the recording machine. Then she wrapped all these leads around my neck and tied them in a knot. And I went off to the bathroom down the hall.
And after a few minutes I came back and she reattached me to the recording machine. I went back to sleep experiencing the same difficulty breathing. Then I woke up again at 1:30. Same routine.
Except after she had reattached all my cables she said, "let's try this" and pulled out what was obviously a mask to put over my nose. I asked, "do you think I need this?" The nurse replied, "Does the pope live at Rome? Do bears sleep in the woods?" Remember now, my sinuses are clogged to the max from this amazing cold I am experiencing. After hooking up what looked a whole lot like a miniature vacuum cleaner hose to this machine, she turned it on. Air was pumped under pressure to the mask, where I was supposed to breath it in. But... no go. So I asked for a mask to cover both nose and mouth. At first the nurse said, "It isn't going to work, because you have a beard." But after realizing I could not breath at all, she relented and brought me a bigger mask. It worked great. The air was slightly pressurized and it made breathing a whole lot easier.
I fell asleep almost instantly. As I was drifting off I thought, "this is what Darth Vader uses too!"
I almost woke up several times, but simply continued breathing and went back to sleep." Then the urge of nature woke me up. I spoke "Luke, I am your father." But inside the mask, no one could hear me. So I pulled off the mask and said, "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom again." The nurse came in and started pulling off all the leads. I said, "wait a minute. I thought this study was supposed to go till 6:00 am and it is only 5:30." She said, "by the time you go potty, come back and get all hooked up again, it will be almost 6:00. Your study is over."
When I got to my feet, I had the most incredible sensation I have had in years. No... it wasn't pee running down my leg. It was energy. I had energy upon waking. It felt like I was back in college again. I went to the bathroom and then came back. The nurse was of course gone. So I went to her station and told her... "Hey, I have energy!! This CPAP machine really works." "She grinned mischieviously and said, "you think so huh?" Then she told me that I had stopped breathing repeatedly before she put the mask on me. She said, "if there ever was a candidate for the CPAP machine, it is you."
But I did not get one right then. Noooo!!! I had to wait for a medical doctor to interpret the results of my repeatedly stopping breathing while sleeping, and then compare it to the data collected after the CPAP machine was hooked up. But she assured me that they would definitely find in my favor (I would get a CPAP machine.) But it would take time. She then warned me that I would "hit the wall" when I tried to sleep again that night.
She was absolutely right. It was very hard to sleep. I slept restlessly and awoke so groggy I went back to sleep. Almost the whole day went by before I started to feel awake. I thought, "I can't wait for my very own CPAP machine."
If you snore loudly, go get a sleep study at a sleep disorder clinic. Perhaps you need a CPAP machine too.
David Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
But after I finished my paperwork, a nice older lady nurse showed me to my very own private bedroom. I had no idea how the sleep clinic test was supposed to work. But guess what.... there is a very nice short video tape that tells you exactly what they are going to do and how testing proceeds.
After I watched the video, I sat on the bed. It felt quite comfortable. I had brought my own pillow. If you ever do go for a sleep test, be sure to bring your own pillow. It makes all the difference between getting sleep and staying awake. At least for some people.
The nice nurse came in and showed me how to operate the cable television. Wow!! I have not seen television in almost a year. Well, maybe a few local channels, but not CABLE television. I was excited. I found a couple of old Star Trek episodes with Captain Kirk. Somewhere around 10:30 the nurse came in and woke me up. Apparently I had already fallen asleep.
Now this is where things get interesting. They glue about 20 leads all over your body. Two to each leg, a couple on the chest, and most of them around your head. And they use this very sticky goo that keeps the leads attached. Fortunately several months ago I had elected to do the very short haircut thing for two reasons. I'll get into the reasons in a moment. But first I have to tell you, there are these really strange wire sensors that literally go part way into your nose to see if you are breathing though your nose. They partially restrict your nose breathing so that makes life more challenging from then on. But I had cut my hair very short now for about a year. Why???
First, I am going bald. No!!! I don't want to go bald, but I don't have the money to buy Rogaine or some other medication to use every day to regrow my hair. The other reason was a matter of cost. Some time in the last year or so haircuts have climbed up in cost at the local hair cutting place in the mall. So I elected to buy my own electric razor with all those length attachements. I now give myself a haircut (free) in about 20 minutes. I use attachement #3 which gives me about 3/8 inch hair.
Any way the nice nurse glued all these electrodes all over my head. I guess that is to determine what type of sleep you are enjoying. She even had me put a couple of leads down each pant leg and glued leads on my calves. These are to see if I move my feet in my sleep. I thought I would never fall asleep again as I was experiencing some difficulty breathing since I got this amazing cold last week. It was a doozy. Any way, I felt some very real congestion in my chest and had difficulty in breathing in enough air to relax and go to sleep. But eventually I guess I drifted off.
Now when you awake, they warn you not to hardly move, or you will disturb all these wires from the leads all over your body. I awoke at about 12:15 and had to go pee. The bathroom is down the hall. So I said "Hey, I got to go to the bathroom" and immediately a voice out of nowhere said, "I'll be right there." The nice nurse came in and disconnected the leads from the recording machine. Then she wrapped all these leads around my neck and tied them in a knot. And I went off to the bathroom down the hall.
And after a few minutes I came back and she reattached me to the recording machine. I went back to sleep experiencing the same difficulty breathing. Then I woke up again at 1:30. Same routine.
Except after she had reattached all my cables she said, "let's try this" and pulled out what was obviously a mask to put over my nose. I asked, "do you think I need this?" The nurse replied, "Does the pope live at Rome? Do bears sleep in the woods?" Remember now, my sinuses are clogged to the max from this amazing cold I am experiencing. After hooking up what looked a whole lot like a miniature vacuum cleaner hose to this machine, she turned it on. Air was pumped under pressure to the mask, where I was supposed to breath it in. But... no go. So I asked for a mask to cover both nose and mouth. At first the nurse said, "It isn't going to work, because you have a beard." But after realizing I could not breath at all, she relented and brought me a bigger mask. It worked great. The air was slightly pressurized and it made breathing a whole lot easier.
I fell asleep almost instantly. As I was drifting off I thought, "this is what Darth Vader uses too!"
I almost woke up several times, but simply continued breathing and went back to sleep." Then the urge of nature woke me up. I spoke "Luke, I am your father." But inside the mask, no one could hear me. So I pulled off the mask and said, "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom again." The nurse came in and started pulling off all the leads. I said, "wait a minute. I thought this study was supposed to go till 6:00 am and it is only 5:30." She said, "by the time you go potty, come back and get all hooked up again, it will be almost 6:00. Your study is over."
When I got to my feet, I had the most incredible sensation I have had in years. No... it wasn't pee running down my leg. It was energy. I had energy upon waking. It felt like I was back in college again. I went to the bathroom and then came back. The nurse was of course gone. So I went to her station and told her... "Hey, I have energy!! This CPAP machine really works." "She grinned mischieviously and said, "you think so huh?" Then she told me that I had stopped breathing repeatedly before she put the mask on me. She said, "if there ever was a candidate for the CPAP machine, it is you."
But I did not get one right then. Noooo!!! I had to wait for a medical doctor to interpret the results of my repeatedly stopping breathing while sleeping, and then compare it to the data collected after the CPAP machine was hooked up. But she assured me that they would definitely find in my favor (I would get a CPAP machine.) But it would take time. She then warned me that I would "hit the wall" when I tried to sleep again that night.
She was absolutely right. It was very hard to sleep. I slept restlessly and awoke so groggy I went back to sleep. Almost the whole day went by before I started to feel awake. I thought, "I can't wait for my very own CPAP machine."
If you snore loudly, go get a sleep study at a sleep disorder clinic. Perhaps you need a CPAP machine too.
David Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Being Healthy at 55 isn't easy, but it is doable!
Okay, so I am 55. That doesn't mean I have to be unhealthy does it? So why am I "suddenly" overweight. I think somebody played a trick on me one night and switched bodies on me in my sleep. That must be what happened. My body never looked like this. And this body has begun to develop problems. Severe problems are beginning to exibit themselves. Problems like swelling in the ankles and now the feet. And apparently high blood pressure.
Now when I "retired" several years ago due to a severe neck injury which revealed advancing problems with the cervical vertibrae, of course I did not work any more. Work was hard physically. I had been a janitor. Pushing around a BIG mop loaded with water is tough. And I did not miss it one bit. So maybe my muscles did start to get a little flabby.
But this is ridiculous. And I find myself out of breath at the slightest sign of physical exertion.
Well, I joined a health club and began going. At first it seemed like things were going to get better as I rode the stationery bicycles, but... I did not lose weight. And it began to be a drag to drag myself over to the health club. I have to start going again because I am still paying for it. And I should start eating better.
Well now there is the rub. Eating better. We all know what we should do, but do we actually do it? Not always it seems. I mean, I know that pizza is not the best thing to eat, but wow does it taste good. I have a rather thin and healthy friend who suggested I eat only RAW foods. Well, I did not find RAW PIZZA all that exciting. (just kidding)
Well, raw foods? I do eat bananas, oranges, nuts (except I find they are usually roasted AND salted -- a no no) and grapefruits. But I really don't like raw potato. Now raw corn isn't too bad and raw fresh green peas are okay.
I do eat a lot of salads now. At least a whole lot more than I used to.
And I know that the vegetarian (and expecially the vegan) diet is far superior... but fried chicken tastes sooooo good. What I am supposed to do? I do have a juicer. A Champion brand juicer. Have you ever juiced things. I mean it is okay, but then I got to clean up the juicer.
Well, one of my friends said I should try a "JUICE FAST" until I lose the weight I want to lose. I may have to eventually try that, but I do have a lot of weight to lose. I find out that I am 275 now. I should be 190. Hmmmm. That is losing 85 pounds!!!!
Now everybody and their brother has got some sure fire way to lose weight. I have never heard more misinformation and drivel on any other topic unless it is politics and how Hillary Clinton is going to be the first female president of the United States. But don't get me sidetracked into politics. Hilary is a liar. And I still need to lose the weight.
I think that my overweight condition right now is the primary problem. And as I started to spew.... everybody has a "diet" or a "weight loss plan" or some magic "pill" or "food suppliment" that is supposed to really help. Some of them are downright dangerous. Now after reflection, the juice fast doesn't sound as bad as some of those other diets.
I knew an overweight lady who decided the only way she would be able to lose weight was to undergo stomach surgery. Well, to put it bluntly, it worked. She lost weight like crazy until the day she died. She never could eat enough to actually nourish herself. So, the operation was a success, but the end result was she DIED.
Fasting is a proven way to definately lose weight. But Karen Carpenter lost a lot of weight fasting.... and she DIED.
If you take amphetamines, you will probably lose weight too. But the side affects.... not sleeping, and becoming paranoid at not exactly what I am looking for.
Somebody suggested Human Growth Hormone. Now I don't want to get any bigger. Hormones can have devistating side affects.
Well, so apparently can being 85 pounds over weight. You know, that juice fast idea is starting to sound good. Maybe I will dig out the old juicer, dust it off and fire it up.
I will keep you all posted exactly what happens.
David
Now when I "retired" several years ago due to a severe neck injury which revealed advancing problems with the cervical vertibrae, of course I did not work any more. Work was hard physically. I had been a janitor. Pushing around a BIG mop loaded with water is tough. And I did not miss it one bit. So maybe my muscles did start to get a little flabby.
But this is ridiculous. And I find myself out of breath at the slightest sign of physical exertion.
Well, I joined a health club and began going. At first it seemed like things were going to get better as I rode the stationery bicycles, but... I did not lose weight. And it began to be a drag to drag myself over to the health club. I have to start going again because I am still paying for it. And I should start eating better.
Well now there is the rub. Eating better. We all know what we should do, but do we actually do it? Not always it seems. I mean, I know that pizza is not the best thing to eat, but wow does it taste good. I have a rather thin and healthy friend who suggested I eat only RAW foods. Well, I did not find RAW PIZZA all that exciting. (just kidding)
Well, raw foods? I do eat bananas, oranges, nuts (except I find they are usually roasted AND salted -- a no no) and grapefruits. But I really don't like raw potato. Now raw corn isn't too bad and raw fresh green peas are okay.
I do eat a lot of salads now. At least a whole lot more than I used to.
And I know that the vegetarian (and expecially the vegan) diet is far superior... but fried chicken tastes sooooo good. What I am supposed to do? I do have a juicer. A Champion brand juicer. Have you ever juiced things. I mean it is okay, but then I got to clean up the juicer.
Well, one of my friends said I should try a "JUICE FAST" until I lose the weight I want to lose. I may have to eventually try that, but I do have a lot of weight to lose. I find out that I am 275 now. I should be 190. Hmmmm. That is losing 85 pounds!!!!
Now everybody and their brother has got some sure fire way to lose weight. I have never heard more misinformation and drivel on any other topic unless it is politics and how Hillary Clinton is going to be the first female president of the United States. But don't get me sidetracked into politics. Hilary is a liar. And I still need to lose the weight.
I think that my overweight condition right now is the primary problem. And as I started to spew.... everybody has a "diet" or a "weight loss plan" or some magic "pill" or "food suppliment" that is supposed to really help. Some of them are downright dangerous. Now after reflection, the juice fast doesn't sound as bad as some of those other diets.
I knew an overweight lady who decided the only way she would be able to lose weight was to undergo stomach surgery. Well, to put it bluntly, it worked. She lost weight like crazy until the day she died. She never could eat enough to actually nourish herself. So, the operation was a success, but the end result was she DIED.
Fasting is a proven way to definately lose weight. But Karen Carpenter lost a lot of weight fasting.... and she DIED.
If you take amphetamines, you will probably lose weight too. But the side affects.... not sleeping, and becoming paranoid at not exactly what I am looking for.
Somebody suggested Human Growth Hormone. Now I don't want to get any bigger. Hormones can have devistating side affects.
Well, so apparently can being 85 pounds over weight. You know, that juice fast idea is starting to sound good. Maybe I will dig out the old juicer, dust it off and fire it up.
I will keep you all posted exactly what happens.
David
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