Michael Jackson: The Total Performer

Everyone is talking about him. There are negative things that his detractors made a field day of. How easily we believe and wallow in them. But have we ever thought of giving him the benefit of the doubt? The more scandalous the item was, the more the public indulged in it. The man had great talent and we should accord him that!

This video is one of my favorites- "Will You Be There?".
Will you be there when it's I who will be needing you?
I hope you'll enjoy it!

From:aliveagain2006

Cardiac Diseases -Prevention and Laboratory Tests

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Who are prone to cardiovascular diseases? What tests are performed to determine this? How could one prevent this? Vital questions about the heart that we should answer.

People who are overweight or obese , who are hypertensive, have sedentary lifestyles, smoke and drink alcohol and who have a family history of heart attacks and strokes, are usually prone to cardiac ailments. If you have ticked two or more of these, then you must have an ECG stress test, thallium stress test, ECG, CT scan, and echocardiogram, and of course, the LIPID panel test. In the laboratory, the cardiac panel test commonly consists of :

1. CHOLESTEROL
2. TRIGLYCERIDE
3. HDL
4. LDL

The accepted values for each are:

* Cholesterol <200> 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L)
* LDL-cholesterol <100 style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">Eat lots of vegetables and fruits; e.g. apple, banana, oranges, grapefruit, garlic, watergourd, cucumber, and oatmeal. Fruits and vegetables are antioxidants (have carotenoids and flavonoids) and have lots of fibers to increase metabolism and reduce lipid build up. Oatmeal fibers help carry the bad cholesterol out from the body instead of allowing it to be absorbed by the blood.

2. Exercise 30 minutes everyday : 10 minutes of stretching and 20 minutes of brisk walking. The exercise will increase your blood flow, thereby avoiding the formation of lipid plaques or emboli in your blood vessels.

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3. Lessen fat and dairy intake. This includes meat fat , ice cream, butter , etc. These are sources of LDL (bad cholesterol) which increases the blood levels of the lipids. When lipids are in excess in the blood, they tend to amass in the inner linings of the vessel and form “plaques”. The plaques prevent the normal flow of blood and may plug blood vessels when they rupture. Plaques may also block the vein in the heart and cause a heart attack.

4. Lower salt and sodium intake – this is to prevent the risk of hypertension. High sodium in blood increases the risk of stroke because of hypertension and renal dysfunction. Avoid canned vegetables, luncheon meat, pickles, bacon, cheese, canned soups because they are rich in sodium. Cereals can also be a rich source, so read food labels carefully.

5. Stop smoking – carbon monoxide facilitates the elevation of cholesterol and impedes the transport of oxygen; thereby increasing the risk of cardiac disease. Smoking lowers HDL (good cholesterol) too.

6. Maintain a healthy weight - Obesity is one factor that leads to hypertension and to cardiac disease. e.g. for a 50 yr old female of 5 feet the ideal weight is 128 lbs. There is no consensus however as to what exactly is an ideal weight. This will depend on the body fat , musculature, metabolism and health of the patient. Almost all clinics have a BMI chart to which you can refer to.

7. Be sure you do not have diabetes – having diabetes is one predisposing factor to cardiac ailment. Diabetic patients have greater chances of acquiring heart disease because of insulin resistance that may lead to hyperlipidemia (increased blood concentration of lipids). The formation of plaque or emboli in the veins (atherosclerosis) is also enhanced in a person with diabetes.

8. Daily intake of aspirin has been proven in studies to have reduced by 25 % the risk of vascular attacks according to the British Journal of Medicine dated January 2002. The risk of internal bleeding however, should be considered in patients who may adversely respond to it. Aspirin has an anti-platelet activity which prevents emboli formation inside the blood vessels. A dosage of 80- 160 mg is usually the standard dose. Your attending physician should decide whether it is beneficial to you or not.

9. Stop alcohol consumption –Alcohol elevates triglycerides which can lead to stroke and heart attack. It also increases blood pressure and leads to obesity; all factors that contribute to the increase of heart attack. Researches claiming that red wine reduces HDL are still not approved by the AHA (American Heart Association) because there is no scientific proof to the claims. Locally, the old folk in the barrio drinking “tuba” (sugar cane wine) or “tapey” ( rice wine) are observed to have long lives. This can be explained by the sources of the “wine” – natural food, which have been fermented naturally. Wheat and sugar cane have lots of fiber and antioxidants which can increase HDL (good cholesterol), which is not true with commercially prepared alcoholic beverages.


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If, however; after following these preventive measures and you still experience the following:

1. Chest discomfort
2. Discomfort or numbness in the arms, neck, jaw , back or stomach
3. Shortness of breath
4. Nausea
5. Lightheadedness
6. Cold sweat

You are having a heart attack. Rush to the nearest hospital. It will save your life.

If , on the other hand, you feel one or more of the following:

1. Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
2. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
3. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
4. Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
5. Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Then it is a stroke. Do not wait for other symptoms to become apparent . Consult your doctor immediately. One heart is all you’ve got!

References:
cnetwork.org
nhlbi.nih.gov
quitsmokingsupport.com
americanheart.org
americanheart.org
Calbreath, Donald F: Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry

Award and Tag From Mommy Dee

I stopped posting and accepting awards a few months ago, but just this once, I will accept Mommy Dee's award -The Creative Mom Blogger Award. Thanks a lot Dee.

This award was given to her by Mommy Jac of Mom's Special Diary.

The Rules of this Award are: (I copied this verbatim from Dee's post)

1. Take your award and put the logo on your post.
2. Link the person who awarded you. Remember each recipient of the award should acknowledge the person who honored them and go to Mom's Special Diary to copy and paste the award.
3. Put your own blog title and link.
4. Nominate at least five deserving moms.

1.Mom's Special Diary; 2. Tales From The Mom Side; 3. Random Thoughts

I'm awarding this to all my readers. Please feel free to accept and post the award in your blogs. Thanks.

Here's also another tag from Mommy Dee. You could learn about what your name could have been in the 1950s. Here's Mommy Dee's name:

Your 1950s Name is: Joni Gwendolyn

What's Your 1950s Name?

If you're interested, go ahead and discover. I won't be tagging anyone, you're all welcome to the adventure.

Resources for Research Assignments in College Biology

Education - in order for it to be effective - should evolve in conjunction with the society in which it exists in. The knowledge acquired should be relevant with the times. You could not teach now typing lessons making use of the old models of typewriters; instead, it is taught now with highly advanced computers. This is to respond to the society’s needs and the updates in technology.

Likewise with research, the whole world wide web is at your fingertips to research on various genre of topics that would be assigned to you. You should however be careful and particular about your internet sources. Not all internet sources are legitimate and accurate. You have to be certain that your sources are dependable, especially if these are in the field of science - like biology.

For sure, in Biology Lab, there would be several researches assigned to you as students, regarding laboratory procedures that you would be performing.

There are times however, that going out to the environment and observing or collecting live samples are impossible and that’s where internet research options are the best choice of educational materials.

Coursehero provides Biology Homework Solutions , useful study materials, textbook helps and study groups, which would facilitate and enhance your learning experience in your Biology course. This would eventually earn you good marks in your Biology Exam, if you are able to use the available teaching resources properly.

Learning need not be boring and uneventful. You could enjoy while learning!

Find Peace Through Inner Healing

More and more people are becoming aware of the fact that genuine peace and contentment come from the inside - just like the concept that happiness emanates from within. No one can make you happy but yourself. This goes true with peace and inner healing. If you analyze this carefully, you would realize that it is your perception of things that counts, and the attitude that you generate from this perception.


If you perceive things and events with a positive attitude, then you could always be happy and at peace. This however, takes practice and your daily renewal of the positive mind-set that you should acquire.

In order for inner healing to take place, you should be first:

1. at peace with yourself

This can be done through yoga, meditation or mind relaxation. To be at peace with yourself, you should spend some quiet time alone. This would give you the chance to evaluate your life and resolve to be better.

You should forgive not only people who wronged you, but should also forgive yourself for your own transgressions. Sometimes, we are even less forgiving of ourselves than of others. You must remember that no one is perfect.

2. at peace with the people around you

If you had a fight with someone - forget about it. Let bygones be bygones. Renew your friendship instead, and bridge the gap between yourselves.

We oftentimes lose sleep over a person who had wronged us. Because of this, we become insomniacs. Our health suffers, and we become ill physically and spiritually.

You should learn to let go of the past demons. As the cliche' goes: "To err is human, to forgive is divine."

Blissful sleep would be at your doorstep once you let go of those demons that haunt you.

3. at peace with the world

When you have attained the first two, then this third step would not be difficult. You should consider yourself as a tiny unit of the whole, which is the universe.

Every simple little thing that you do contributes to the stability of the whole. One very specific example is about your own garbage. If you don't take the responsibility to properly discard it, then eventually everything around you will get affected by your irresponsible behavior.

When you are at peace with the world, this means being responsible about the environment, nature and all the biota and fauna around you - being in sync with the universe.

Have you noticed that when you help a stray kitten, there is a warmth flow of positive energy within you? It is because your kindness evokes positive vibes back to you.

Have you noticed that when you helped in the "Community Tree Planting Program, or the "Feeding Program"- These gave you a different high?

These are the positive feedbacks of being virtuous and generous. You need not be Mother Theresa redivivus, you just need to do what you can, in your own little way.

All these positive actions attract positive vibes that would lead to inner peace and contentment.

The processes above could be facilitated by meditation methods. Meditation induces inner healing because of the effect it has on the central nervous system (CNS).

"A non-meditated life is a life not worth living", would be an apt description of the very essential role of meditation in a person's life.

Meditation relieves you of stress and anxiety. It is now accepted as one of the alternative treatments for several conditions like, drug addiction, obesity, insomnia and many more. When stress and anxiety are relieved, the accompanying diseases that usually go with these two are also eradicated.

Stress and anxiety cause a lot of stress-related conditions like insomnia, high blood pressure, and an addiction to substances of abuse. This is because most people usually relieve stress by smoking, drinking alcohol, using drugs or through an eating binge which would eventually result to obesity, high blood pressure, insomnia and many other pathologic conditions.

Insomnia in turn may cause hypertension, disorientation, stupor , etc. which would affect your mental and physical alertness. Lack of sleep weakens your Central Nervous System (CNS) and therefore all of your physiologic body functions would deteriorate .

Meditation does the opposite - it relieves you of stress; therefore it decreases your tendency to develop a disease. The cure comes from the inside, as a result of your inner peace and calmness.

Here are simple steps of Benson's Respiratory One Method (ROM):

1. Find a place where you could sit comfortably. Your back should be straight and your posture good. Do not lie down as this would induce you to sleep.

2. Allow your muscles to relax. Your eyes should be closed so that you can "feel" your muscles relaxing. Start with your toes. Feel them relaxing and becoming heavy; then go upwards; the heel, the legs, the buttock, abdomen, arms, neck and then the face.

You should allow each muscle to relax before proceeding. Do this by mentally commanding each of your body parts to relax.

3. Do not breathe through your mouth but through your nose. Feel your diaphragm and chest go up and down so you could feel your breathing. When you exhale, say in your mind the word "one". Do this for about 20 minutes twice a day.

4. Try to focus on your breathing and not on any other thought. Do not force relaxation. Be patient, when you get the hang of it, it would eventually come.

5. after the meditation, rest for several minutes.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Do not do this right after a meal. Allow about 2 hours or more to relapse, before commencing.

2. Be sure you do not have a debilitating condition before doing this relaxation technique.

Inner healing focuses primarily on the mind. The mind, through the hypothalamus, controls every biological process in the human body because it controls the hormones secreted by all the endocrine glands.

The mind is a very powerful tool. Without the brain recognizing the stimuli from different parts of the body you would not be able to feel, hear, see or taste anything.

It is logical therefore that to be able to control the body, one must be able to control the mind.

Free your mind of negative thoughts and feelings through the processes described above.

Welcome positive thoughts like love, kindness, helpfulness, generosity, forgiveness, caring and unselfishness, and you will indeed be having a healthy mind and a healthy body!

References:

Calbreath, Donald; Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry

Freeman, Lyn et al; Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Research-Based Approach, 2001

Photo 1 by COCOMARIPOSA

Photo 2 by Young'un

Photo 3 by Dave Hogg

She Didn't Dance - Conclusion

By: Roy dela Cruz

Whew! I was glad that was over. Next was the talent portion. But my baby was number twenty-eight. Would she be able to hold and wait for her turn? Meanwhile, friends and relatives had arrived to support Angel. Everyone - wanting to hold her, hug her, kiss her, or play with her while it was not yet her turn.

Angel-(older now) in one of her model poses -10 yrs. old

As we watched the proceedings of the program, other children performed without any problem.
I had hoped the same would be true with my baby. It was almost nine o’clock and candidate number twenty or twenty-one was performing on the stage. My wife asked me to talk to Angel; she wanted to go home.

Not again! I didn’t know what happened, but Angel was cranky. Maybe her aunties and cousins unwittingly pressured her young mind by telling her to do well. Or maybe she just got impatient and didn’t want to dance. I took her backstage and tried to talk to her.

Number twenty-five was on the stage. I asked her to do it just once and promised her that I would never allow her mommy to put her in a contest like that again.

The Author and Angel - 11 yrs. old

It was harder to talk to her this time, but through patience and daddy’s charms, I was able to convince her. Candidate number twenty-seven was almost finished.

I kissed and hugged my baby for the last time, as they called her name.

I handed her to the usherette and tried to rush to the front to take her picture. I had only taken a few steps when I heard the ushers and usherettes calling me.

When I looked back, Angel was crying! What now?! I rushed to Angel’s side trying to talk to her. She was still crying.

In the meantime, the emcee kept on calling Angel’s name, I was asking for two minutes.

Then, out of nowhere, the daycare teacher came urging Angel to dance on the stage.

Angel in her school uniform - 11 yrs. old

Imagine that! My baby was crying and all this teacher could think of was the talent portion!
Then came Angel’s aunties and cousins, all convincing her to perform her talent.

I was literally pushed-out of the picture. My baby was crowded! My baby was mobbed! And she was crying! The talent portion was called off. My baby never got to perform her number.

Then there was an intermission. The gown portion followed.


I was able to convince my baby to wear her gown, which she personally picked, and continue with the contest. She was on the stage together with the other twenty-seven young ladies.

Waving and smiling to the audience, although there were still traces of tears in her eyes.

We knew she won’t get anything for all her efforts, but we still want her to finish the contest. The finalists were chosen, special awards were given, until all the winners were announced.

For all those proceedings, I wasn’t really concerned; I just wanted it to be over with.

Finally, it was all over. It was time for us to get our baby back and go home.

Angel - Christmas - 6 yrs. old

On the way home, everybody in our group was quiet.

Well, not really quiet, but they were not as enthusiastic as they were three or four hours earlier.

Each one trying not to talk about the contest and the talent portion.

I was carrying my baby, she was happy and smiling. We were kissing and hugging each other along the way.

She didn’t win, but in my heart she’ll always be my little princess. One thing we learned on that day is that, my baby’s charms, talents and wit, was only ours to behold.

My baby didn’t dance. She didn’t have to. She’s my Angel, and I love her very much.

She Didn't Dance - Part 2

By: Roy de la Cruz

Anyway, Angel’s preparation included the old cassette player with Britney Spear’s “Oops! I did it again!” My little Angel followed singing and dancing, again, and again, and again.


My wife’s niece taught Angel the choreography of the song, but being the baby that she was, she performed her own steps.

And her words weren’t really clear, because she didn't speak well yet...

But we didn’t mind, she was our baby.

Then she was asked to memorize her introduction, which was “Mabuhay! Ako po si Angel Liza V. dela Cruz! Tatlong taon gulang! Nag-aaral sa Sta. Trinidad Day Care Center!” (Mabuhay! I am Angel Liza V. dela Cruz! Three years old! Studying at Sta. Trinidad Day Care Center!)

This went on everyday until the day of the contest itself. Oh! There were also meetings and practices, together with the organizers and other candidates.

The details of which, I didn’t know, but my wife told me that Angel sometimes got bored, tired, stubborn, or just refused to cooperate. Well, what did they expect from a three year old baby?

Finally, came the big day!

My wife, together with her sister and niece, brought Angel to the contest at five o’clock, which was the call time.

The program was scheduled at six o’clock. I arrived thirty minutes later, together with my two sons. Nothing had started yet.

My baby was beginning to get impatient. My role there was to be sure that Angel kept her poise and would go up the stage. My wife believed I was the only one who could do that because my baby was a papa’s girl and I was the only one Angel was afraid of.

Thirty minutes past six, the program was about to start, and I was having a hard time containing Angel. My baby was candidate number twenty-eight. Good thing, and later would be a bad thing.

The candidates were already lined up backstage, while I still have Angel in my arms. She refused to fall in line, refused to go up the stage and refused to continue with the contest. Instead, she wanted to go home!

I tried to keep my senses, trying my best to reason out with my three-year-old baby. Candidates one to ten were already up the stage, eleven, twelve, . . . I refused to push the panic button. Nineteen, twenty, . . .


I was able to put Angel behind candidate number twenty-seven.

Putting on my best daddy’s charm, I asked her “Angel, can you please do this for daddy?” She nodded her head and we hugged each other.

I loved hugging my baby; it was -and still is- the purest and most sincere expression of feelings in this mundane existence.

Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight! I rushed in front of the stage. My baby was up there! Waving to the crowd along with the other candidates.

I waited patiently while the candidates introduced themselves. When my baby’s turn to the microphone came, all I understood was “Angel Liza”, “Tatlong Taon Gulang” and “Day Care Center!”

I didn’t care!

My baby was on stage!

My baby was seen!

My baby was heard!

When they marched towards the backstage, we rushed joyously to meet her. We all hugged and kissed her in our delight.

To be Continued....

Photo 1 from: Rolling Stone.com

Photot 2 from: Randy Son Of Robert