How to Keep our Memory to Work until Age 90? - Part 1

Fish as sources of DHA

It was believed memory will decline over time, but new research found that our memory could work well until we reach age 90 years old.

We may maintain our brain health by doing certain activities or behavior lead to good brain in keeping memory from “deteriorate” due to diseases and aging.

Several good things to do are:

- consume reasonable good diets

- moving a lot, even in small steps

- making strong and quality friendships

- manage blood pressure

- sleep well and enough

- manage stress

- acquire new skills

In term of goods diet, two of them are green vegetable and fish. Who eats green vegetable everyday have learning ability younger (like young people) than who didn’t. 

Green vegetable for illustration

It is because pigment called Lutein from green vegetable could boost memory. Eating green every day maintains memory for lifetime.

Many green vegetables are source of Lutein, some of them includes: collard green, turnip green, kale, spinach and broccoli.

Fish known for omega-3 fatty acid (DHA) to improve thinking strength and efficiently. Then, brain is easy to solve difficult tasks.

All fish contains DHA, but there are several fish species have higher DHA contents such as herring, salmon, mackerel, sardines and anchovies.

Eating fish every day or at least two times a week will benefit not only to brain, but also to heart.

# To be continued to Part - 2

Can Diabetic Ketone-acidosis Lead to Death? - Diabetes 9

Illustration of Ketoacidosis, credit to UCSF

Ketone-acidosis is a condition when body accumulates Ketone and blood sugar at very dangerous level. This state leads to blood to be acid, and harmful.

Why Ketone-acidosis is happen? It is because body lack or not enough insulin to be able to break down the sugar for energy.

Then, body uses fat as source of energy. Fat burning produces Ketone (acid) as called Ketone-acidosis.

Type 1 diabetic patients are vulnerable to Ketone-acidosis. If untreated in certain period (long term) could be life threatening, and even causes coma or death. 

It is because excessive acid in blood (due to extremely high Ketone) could cause body system ceases to function well.

The signs of diabetic Ketone-acidosis are:

- Hyperglycemia (higher blood sugar)

- Urination frequently which contains high Ketone level

- Fatigue (feel weakness)

- Unusual thirst

- Dry of skin and mouth

- Vomiting

Ketone-acidosis occurs in Type 1 diabetes patients

(credit to DiabeteStrong)

I make summary how to prevent diabetic Ketone-acidosis for type 1 diabetes patients, written by Mayo Clinic ( 2019):

- Manage diabetes through routine medication, quality diet and do proper exercise.

- Monitor blood sugar daily and maintain to normal range.

- Monitor Ketone level in urine by Ketone test kit.

- Sure, type 1 diabetes patients need to search emergency help as soon as possible if suspect to Ketoacidosis.

Just to let you know that about 30 million people face on diabetic Ketone-acidosis in the USA. 

Reference:

Mayo Clinic. 2019. Diabetic Keoacidosis. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic Org. 

# You may like to read:

1) - What is Type 2 Diabetes? - Diabetes 1 | Tanza Erlambang Update

2) - What is the Relationship between Eggs and Diabetes? - Diabetes 2 | Tanza Erlambang Update

3) - Why Pancreas of Type 2 Diabetic Persons Produce Less Insulin? - Diabetes 3 | Tanza Erlambang Update

4) - Could Medicines Affect on Pancreas to Produce Insulin? - Diabetes 4 | Tanza Erlambang Update

5) - Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update

6) - How Lipotoxicity Relate to Diabetes? - Diabetes 6 | Tanza Erlambang Update

7) - What is Hypoxia and How Its Relates to Diabetes? - Diabetes 7 | Tanza Erlambang Update

8) - Can Abnormal Blood Sugar Lead to Seizure? - Diabetes 8 | Tanza Erlambang Update

Is a Thermal Camera Sold in Market?

One of thermal camera sold in market from FLIR

I just know that thermal camera cost is affordable now, may be quite late to aware about the price.

We can find price tags from hundred to about two thousand bucks. I think the reasonable price for amateurs like us is around US$ 127 to US$ 499.

Some important thermal camera brands sold in markets are:

- Flir

- Fluke

- Seek

- Perfect-Prime

- Leupold

- Pulsar Helion

- Firefield Nightfall

Thermal camera discovered breast cancer (credit to Sky News)

In case you do not know, thermal camera is a kind of device to detect temperatures which emit from objects.

The hotter temperature, the brighter colors will be the images, vice versa, the cooler represented darker images.

Brighter colors such as yellow, orange and red, while dark colors are black, dark blue and purples.

The objects include:

- human skins (neck, limbs, backs and underlying issues)

- animals or any living skins

- fires inside walls

- overheating comes from electrical wiring

In daily life, the thermal cameras are crucial tools for fire fighters or any rescue teams to save live from low visible (unseen) locations.

You may read article from Sky News recently that a woman shot by thermal camera while walking in the museum in Edinburg, England.

She compared the image with other woman, then she found “strange bright” color from her left breast. 

After detail diagnosed, she discovered early stage breast cancer which highly probability could be stopped by medical surgery.

Do you know about affordable thermal camera and plan to buy it?

Can Reading Books Every Day Make Live Longer?

Books in a library shelf

We may be read books either some times or every day, but not all of us aware that reading activities have great effect on many things to us.

There are plenty of benefits of reading (books, newspaper, magazine, novel), just for few examples are:

- improve memory

- better health

- improve family relationships (parents and kids)

- better sleep quality

- boosting brain

- improving vocabularies

- lower stress level

- better in empathizing

Reading regularly is similar to do exercises (treadmills, jogging, walking, push ups and riding a bike) or eating quality diets such as fruit and vegetables every day.

A front desk library, just for illustration

Researchers from Yale University observed 3,635 people for certain periods, then divided in 3 groups:

- who does not read books at all

- who reads a book every day

- who read a book for 3 and half hours a week.

After 12 years observation, the researchers found that group of people “who reads a book every day” live longer.

Readers with at least 30 minutes to read a book every day have live two years longer compared to who does not read books at all.

Interesting fact shown that who likes to read everyday mainly come from people with following status:

- female

- higher education (college degree)

- higher income

Do you like to read books or other reading sources? How many hours you read per day?

Can Immortal Jellyfish Defy Death?

Jellyfish trick to avoid death

(credit to science organization, Australia)

Many researches have been done to delay or reverse of human being aging, but we have no clues until now.

Yes, we might “reduce” negatives effect of old such as deterioration of health. Some methods have been successful to:

- improve cognitive ability

- improve physical performance

How about with other multi cellular creatures? Can they defies death?

Scientists know one tiny creature called as immortal jellyfish which is swimming in the ocean can live forever biologically.

Immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) size is so small just about 4.5 mm in length and width. Hence, barely visible. 

The creatures swim in almost in all oceans, both tropical and temperate seas, but they are abundant in tropical regions.

Immortal jellyfish in the ocean (credit to Krissy Howard)

Their life cycle is following (please see at the first Figure):

- Female medusae produce eggs, and males release sperms. Fertilized eggs develop to be Planula larvae.

- Planula attached to hard substance, then develop to Polyp stage

- Polyp produces “buds,” then develop to Ephyra, a small jellyfish

- Medusa is adult stage of jellyfish to reproduce eggs and sperms, then, back to early life cycle.

The question then: How jellyfish live everlasting?

Above life cycle is in the normal state. If medusa faces extreme conditions (starvation or injury), instead of dead, it reverts to be young phase by broken apart as tiny cells.

Then develop to be polyp, and so on. This process to escape death is called as biologically immortal. 

Can Abnormal Blood Sugar Lead to Seizure? - Diabetes 8

Range of blood sugar level (credit to Melissa Conrad Stoppler)

Fluctuation in sugar level may be faced by both non-diabetic and diabetic patients on daily basis due to several factors:

- illness

- insulin level

- metabolic problems

So, what is normal range? General speaking, what we call as normal range of blood sugar level is from 70 mg/dL to 130 mg/dL.

Abnormal is a state where the level below or higher than normal range. The range of pre-diabetes and diabetes are following:

- 140 to 199 mg/dL, prediabetes range

- above 200 mg/dL, diabetes

Too lower or too higher if sugar level is under 54 mg/dL or above 400 mg/dL could be categorized as medical emergency.

Diabetic seizure, just for illustration

(credit to Christopher Notfall)

Seizure is one of medical emergencies due to high or low blood sugar. But, seizure due to higher sugar is very rare.

In this post, we refer seizure to low blood sugar level which less than 30 mg/dL. Lower blood sugar means brain does not have glucose enough to make its function properly.

Unfunction brain due to decreasing of neuron cells in its, thus lead to seizure. Some signs of low sugar level could cause seizures are:

- anxiety

- confusion

- sweating

- mumbling

- drowsiness

Untreated seizure could cause loss consciousness, brain damages and even death. While in seizures, the immediate solution could be:

- drinking fruit juice

- eating high caloric snacks

- taking glucose tablets

- taking one spoon honey

# You may like to read:

 - What is Type 2 Diabetes? - Diabetes 1 | Tanza Erlambang Update

 - What is the Relationship between Eggs and Diabetes? - Diabetes 2 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Why Pancreas of Type 2 Diabetic Persons Produce Less Insulin? - Diabetes 3 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Could Medicines Affect on Pancreas to Produce Insulin? - Diabetes 4 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update

How Important Credit Score to Mortgage Rate?

A bonsai plant just for illustration (this is my own photo)

Many Americans believed that there are 3 important things in their life:

- having a family with two kids

- having a house

- having barbecue and fireworks during independent day every year.

In case of a house, some time, certain people can’t have one for “a while” due to several factors, one of them is a “credit score.”

Credit score reflects financial health: the higher the score, the lower the risk. Hence, higher score tend to get loan quite easy with lower mortgage rate.

There are 5 scale range of credit score in the USA, from poor to excellent:

- 300 – 550, poor score

- 550 – 620, subprime score

- 620 – 680, acceptable score

- 680 – 740, good score

- 740 – 850, excellent score

View from a house

To apply for mortgage loans (Fannie Mae or FHA loans), we should have at least 620 credit score. Average credit score for first time home buyers was 684.

As said that higher credit score means best or lower mortgage interest rate. The different of 1% means a lot.

Just to give an idea, if the house price US$ 300 thousands, down payment US$ 50 thousand and 30 year mortgage:

- 5% interest would cost US$ 235 thousands

- 4% interest would cost US$ 180 thousands

It is clear that with 1% less of interest rate, we could save around US$ 55,000. Hope, we should consider our credit score, before applying mortgage loan.