Why Tsimane People, Bolivia Have the Healthiest Heart in the World?

Illustration for Starchy foods (credit to Google)

We knew that Japanese people, especially women have the healthiest heart in the world.

Their slim, drinking green tea sugar free, and eating fish promoted Japanese women for healthy hearts.

Recently, researches found that Tsimane People who live in the Amazon river, Bolivia have healthier heart compared to Japanese women.

If we compare the hearts of Tsimane to American people:

- Hearts of Tsimane people much more health than American average

- 80 years old of Tsimane people similar to health of 50 years old American heart.

Researchers refers to 3 important things that might responsible to Tsimane “excellent” heart conditions:

- Diet

- Physical activities

- Habits

Canoeing is one of physical activities (Credit to Google)

In respect to diet, Tsimane people eat low fat and high fiber foods. They consumed 70% of starchy foods:

- Banana (plantains)

- Rice

- Corn

- Manioc root

- Cassava

Source of protein comes from wild animals. They are hunting for mammals and fishing in the Amazon river for fish.

Banana is one of starchy foods

Tsimane tribe is slim in appearance, thus, obese no exist in the community. It is because they are physically active.

They are going every where such as for hunting, fishing, farming and enjoying by:

- Walking on foot

- Riding bicycle

- Canoeing of small boat

- Swimming in the river

Smoking for illustration only

Another good habit of Tsiname people have that they almost no smoking, thus in addition to hearts, they have healthy lung as well.

Would you like to copy the way of life of Tsimane tribe?

What are Important Health Benefit of Asparagus?

Easy way to cook asparagus

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a plant with perennial flower where its young shoots are eaten as vegetable.

In nature, Asparagus is harvested around April – June (spring to early summer). But, as long as I remember that Asparagus available in all seasons, no interruptions of supply in groceries in America.

It is because that in addition to own production, America imports Asparagus mainly from Mexico and Peru, also from other countries include Canada, New Zealand, Ecuador and Argentina.

A bunch of Asparagus cost about US$ 2.95 with sizes of 15 to 20 cm in length, and 3 cm in diameter (thickness). 

Fresh Asparagus from farming to marketing

There are many ways to cook Asparagus, some of them are:

- Grill

- Roast

- Saute (fry quickly)

- Blanch (brief boiling).

Young shooting Asparagus can be eaten raw as well. It contains no fat, low calories and low sodium. It has higher vitamin B9 (folate), vitamin K and fiber.

The vegetable has plenty of health benefits, few of them are:

1. May useful to fight cancer, where glutathione in Asparagus able to break cancer cells development.

2. Improve brain performance. Its is because vitamin B9 together with vitamin B12 could boost brain, and prevent cognitive declining.

3. Make body slim. Why? The answer that Asparagus has no fat, but higher fibers (soluble and insoluble fibers). Fibers prompt “satiated,” thus you will stop eating.

I believed that all of us ever consumed Asparagus. How do you cook it?

What Cities Infested by Mosquitoes in the USA?

Anopheles, Aedes and Culex are common mosquitoes in the USA 

(credit to Google)

I thought tropical countries have mosquitoes only, and have many diseases relate to mosquitoes. I was surprising to watch mosquitoes flew around when I moved in to my current house about six years ago.

I then understand that mosquitoes be found in the American southern states such as Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Lately, I read from several resources that Mosquitoes infested almost all states of America.

Top 10 cities infested by mosquitoes are following (Bolluyt, 2018):

01) St. Louis, Missouri

02) Houston, Texas

03) Miami – Fort Lauderdal

04) Kansas City, Missouri

05) Charlotte, North Carolina

06) Detroit, Michigan

07) Memphis, Tennessee

08) Nashville, Tennessee

09) Tampa, Florida

10) Raleigh – Durham, North Carolina

Mosquito hunters (credit to Google)

There are three most common genera of mosquitoes in the USA are:

- Aedes.

Known for spreading the dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika.

- Anopheles.

Spreading the diseases called malaria.

- Culex.

This mosquito transmits disease called Japanese encephalitis virus and West Nile virus.

There were 2100 cases of “West Nile virus” in the USA in 2016. The highest cases compared to other mosquitoes borne diseases.

Since 1999 until recently, more than 3 million people affected by West Nile virus. Two thousand people have died in the USA.

The number is quite frightening for me, especially it is happening in the advance country like America.

Are there mosquitoes borne diseases in your countries? If so, what kinds of species?

Reference

Bolluyt, J. 2018. New List Reveals the US Cities Most Plagued by Mosquitoes. Retrieved from https://www.cheatsheet.com../culture/new-list-reveals-the-us-cities-most-plagued-by-mosquitoes.html/

What do Diet Role in Prostate Cancer Prevention?

Vitamin D could reduce prostate cancer progression, credit to imh.ae

Environment (diet) and genetic are important factors that contribute to risk of prostate cancer. Especially, diet (good nutritional intakes) are considered very crucial in recent days.

In respect to diet, some believe that diets high in animal fats and milk products may be associated with a higher prostate cancer risk. 

Lack a diet high in red meat and Vitamin D may raise a person's chances of developing prostate cancer. 

In case of Vitamin D, Ware (2016) wrote that hormonal active form of vitamin D called “calcitriol” has ability to reduce cancer progression. 

On the other hand, (Nordqvist, 2016) said that Vitamin D deficiency would have several effects:

- cause cancer development un-checked 

- cause progression of prostate cancer more rapidly

A device to tract prostate cancer

In addition to Vitamin D, the following nutrients are suggested to prevent prostate cancer progression:

- Boron is important element found in vegetable (spinach), grains, nuts and fruits.

- Cruciferous Vegetables such as cabbage and turnips

- Green tea extract

The robot to conduct prostate cancer surgery

Nutrient intake is considered as one of reasonable methods to prevent cancers, not only prostate cancer but also breast cancers and other cancers.

Researches are going on in many institutions with promising results

References

Nordqvist, C. 2016. Prostate Cancer: Symptoms and Causes. Medical News

Today. Retrived from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com /articles/150086.php?page=2 #causes_of_prostate_cancer

Ware, M. 2016. Vitamin D: Health Benefits, Facts and Research. Medical News

Today. Retrived from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161618.php

What Does Bacteria of Listeria monocytogenes do on Pregnant Women?

Bacterium of Listeria monocytogenes in 3D, credit to 123RF

Listeriosis is an infection caused by bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes. Infection to human through consuming the contaminated foods.

Infection caused by Listeria is serious, may cause sepsis (disturbing bloodstream), meningitis and encephalitis.

Listeriosis may also affect on chests, abdomen, joints and bones. Other parts of body could be infected by Listeria monocytogenes as well.

Around 1600 people infected by this bacteria each year in the USA. Of those infected needs hospital cares, then 260 died.

Higher risk individuals include older people (65 years old or more), weakening immune systems people (HIV/AIDS patients), pregnant women and newborn kids.

The pregnant women is most vulnerable to be infected by Listeria sp when in sick condition. Bacteria cause stillbirth, miscarriage and fetal loss.

Infected newborn babies face a life threatening, around 3% will die.

Recently, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found Listeria monocytogenes infection in several states such as Michigan, New York and New Jersey caused 8 persons hospitalized and one died.

For details please read this article:

CDC investigating listeria infection link to deli meats and cheeses

Why Wearing Hat Makes You are Losing Your Hair?

Losing hair, credit to ianicsolutions.com

There are at least two contradict opinions about effect of wearing hat to fall the hair. First, no, not wearing hat make you losing your hair. There is no effect as long as there is no friction between hat and hair.

Second opinion that tight hat and action to rub or pull it on head cause physical tension on hair, thus slowly lead to hair losing.

Another opinion, there is in-direct effect of wearing hat on hair losing in a such way that dirty hat attracts bacteria and fungi to infect head skin.

To avoid scalp infection, hat should be cleaned and rotated regularly.

Many people using a specific shampoo and conditioner to strengthens their hair in order to prevent the hair breakage and losing.

Tight hat is one reason only to lose hair, you may read article about 10 reasons of losing hair: 10 reasons why you might be losing hair

Does “Heart Failure” Mean Our Heart Stop Pumping Blood?

Illustration between healthy heart and heart failure,

credit to FamilyDoctor.org

We might hear the term of “Heart Failure,” but it does not mean that our heart fail (totally fail) to pump the blood to all organ of our body.

It is a “medical term” refer to heart not in optimal function as its should be.

Another term for heart failure is a “congestive heart failure.” A few of early signs for heart failure that you feel fatigue and short of breathing.

High blood pressure may make heart gradually too weak to pump efficiently over time.

Symptoms, causes and treatments of heart failure may be read in the following article: Congestive Heart Failure: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

Is Prostate Cancer Inherited Genetically?

Illustration of prostate cancer and genetic, credit to Invitae

There are many factors that believed to increase the risk to get prostate cancer; some of them are genetics, diet, age, race, lifestyle, obesity and Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). 

From genetic view point, prostate cancer is highly heritable; the inherited risk of prostate cancer has been estimated to be as high as 60%. 

Men diagnosed with prostate cancer are highly probably coming from close relative (a father or a brother) with prostate cancers. 

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2016) suggested that a man with one close relative with prostate cancer is twice as likely to develop cancer.

Then, If two close male relatives are affected, the risk of developing prostate cancer is increased five-fold compared to man with no family members diagnosed.

There are several hundred genes implicate to different stages of Prostate Cancer. 

Maqungo et al, (2011) informed that South African National Bioinformatics Institute, University of the Western Cape has developed database called as Dragon Database of Genes associated with Prostate Cancer (DDPC). 

Data were collected from sources of around the world. Some of genes connected to prostate cancers are BRCA1, BRCA2, and HOXB13. 

If these genes have mutated due to un-known reasons, men will have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer and, in some cases, other cancers during their lifetimes.

References

Maqungo, M., Kaur, M., Kwofie, SK., Radovanovic, A., Schaefer, U., Schmeier, S., Oppon, E., Christoffels, A., and Bajic, VB. 2011. DDPC: Dragon Database of Genes associated with Prostate Cancer. Nucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan; 39(Database issue): D980–D985. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3013759/

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. 2016. Inherited Risk for Prostate Cancer. Retrieved from https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/risk-assessment-screening/hereditary-genetics/genetic-counseling/inherited-risk-prostate

Is There Relationship between Vaccine and Autism?

No correlation between Vaccine and Autism, credit to Jessica Hagy

I reviewed the Immunization study, “The MMR vaccine and autism: Sensation, refutation, retraction, and fraud,” the study is about scientific misrepresentation for special interest. 

The authors view that small sample size, research design and conclusion of research are questionable to connect between vaccine and autism. It is known explicitly in the first paragraph of the paper.

To support the idea that there is no effect of vaccination on autism, Rao and Andrade (2011, paragraph.2) said that “epidemiological studies were conducted and published, refuting the positive link between MMR vaccination and autism.” 

Other evidences are scientists related the vaccine and autism actually got money to conduct research; and those scientists violated ethic and doing scientific misconducts.

I feel that the Immunization study, where false conclusion about vaccine and autism is more harmful than the Stanford Prison study. 

It is because vaccination save million children from the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) for long time. To said opposite (vaccine is harmful) will destroy benefit of vaccine to society, not only in the US but also around the globe.

I think to fix the harm caused is by doing another research to check the previous research. Then, publish the result to confront false of previous research. 

Media (TV, newspaper, and other relate media) then spread the true research results to public at national and states level.

Reference

Rao, TSS and Andrade, C. (2011). The MMR vaccine and autism: Sensation, refutation, retraction, and fraud. Indian J Psychiatry. 2011 Apr-Jun; 53(2): 95–96. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136032/.

Is It Possible to Cure Prostate Cancer?

Illustration, credit to Pinterest

Even though a lot of men died from prostate cancer in the USA and worldwide, this type of cancer can be cured if patients get the early examination and appropriate medical treatments. 

Many treatments may increase survival rate, even some appropriate treatments such as radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy (external beam or brachytherapy) and hormone therapy made survival rate may reach 100%. 

The male sex gland having control for the yield of fluid that forms some part of semen is called prostate. The gland attaches to the urethra (a kind of tube that carries urine and semen through the penis and out of the body). Prostate cancer is diseases that effect on men only. 

A malignant cell growth usually begins in tissues of the prostate gland which is located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men and the second leading cause of death from cancer in men in the USA. 

There are around 209 thousand men were detected, and about 27 thousand die due to prostate cancer in the USA each year, behind only lung cancer. Reported by the American Cancer Society (2016) that risk of prostate cancer is 1 man in 7 (14.29%) will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. 

The chance to get cancer will be higher to older men, especially in men of 65 years or older.

Reference

American Cancer Society. 2016. Risk of prostate cancer. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostatecancer/detailedguide/prostate-cancer-key-statistics.

What is Cancer Cell of Origin?

Origin cell of breast cancer, credit to OMICS International

What we call cancer is uncontrolled cell growth in specific cells in the system of our body. Uncontrolled of growing cells will develop a tumor.

Cancer treatments either by chemotherapy or radiation caused around 17% death word wide. In drug treatment, the failure occurred at clinical trials, especially at phase III where drugs is not efficient, because to target “bulk cancer cells” only.

The question is then why? It was because one of the reasons that the scientists did not not know the “Cancer Cell of Origin” for long time. They did not recognize the exact location of cells which are starting the cancers.

Recently, scientists have found what they said as “Cancer Cell of Origin.” They able to distinguished and isolated those cells from a breast cancer patient.

By knowing the origin of cell cancer, scientists know the “target” and know the behavior of cancer cells. Thus, they believed that they could easily to develop new drugs.

Moreover, surprisingly that it might be possible to turn cancer from a dangerous disease to be a manageable disease such as diabetes in near future.

Sure, good news for all of us.

Do You Know a Capsicum Pain Relief Patch?

A Capsicum Pain Relief Patch

I used to apply patch on my skin when I was a kid to teenager. First I take out the liner, then put the patch wherever the area that I feel pain. I sometimes put the patch on my forehead when I thought dizzy. I feel relieve then.

I know that patch contain Capsaicin, a component that is extracted from a chili pepper (Capsicum sp). It is the reason why I perceived hot when I put a patch on my skin. Capsaicin stimulates nerves to manage pain signals. Thus, its reduce pain of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

One of pain relieve brand names approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is Salonpas. We could buy through Over The Counter (OTC) in drug stores in the USA. Salonpas is produced by Japan company, Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Inc.

In addition to America, Salonpas are sold in 50 countries around the world, but the largest market is in developing countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. In these countries, we could buy Salonpas patches not only in drug stores, but also in small vendors

In addition to Capsaicin, Salonpas also contain active ingredients (menthol and methyl salicylate) and anti-inflammatory ingredients.

A friend of mine with osteoarthritis of his shoulder told me that his pain reduce little bit if he put three Salonpas in his shoulder. However, the pain not away completely. Sure, Salonpas not cure his osteoarthritis.

I read an article that Capsaicin may prevent blood clots, reduce cholesterol and manage blood pressure. This is not through patch, but through swallow the pill which is prescribed by medical doctor.

Do you know pain relief patch or Salonpas?

Is Tempe a Healthy Food?

Tempe sold in Whole Foods Market in the USA

Tempe also called as “Tempeh” by Americans, and sold as an organic food by the Whole Foods Market across USA. The food getting popular as a protein source alternative for vegetarians recently. Tempe is a product of fermentation process to bind cooked soybeans into firm and dense of cake form.

You might know Tofu, the different that Tofu is made by coagulation process of soy milk, whereas Tempe is made by binding process of cooked soybeans. Tofu is China and East Asia (claimed by Japan and Korea too) origin, while Tempe is Indonesia traditional food for thousand years.

Slices of Tempe

Tempe contains protein, vitamin (vitamin B2), minerals (Zinc, magnesium, potassium and sodium) and probiotics. As a permented food, Tempe is believed could improve gut health and might promote to reduce weight gain.

Since less processed, Tempe is considered healthier than Tofu. In fact, Tempe contain more protein, vitamin and fiber than Tofu. In term of protein, Tempe has 2.5 times protein more compared to Tofu.

Tempe has less protein compared to chicken and meat. Of 4 ounces, Tempe, meat and chicken contain 21, 29 and 35 grams of protein consecutively.

Have you tried or bought Tempe?