Pearls & Gem :Surah Al Masadd [ Letter 111 ]

Friends ,

Tired and disappointed about discussing the world let us get back to the Glorious Quran for enlightenment .Surah Al Masadd ,revealed in Mekkah during the early period of Prophet Muhamad's Islam [ we take the premise that Adam ,Noah ,Ibrahim and Jesus were all prophets of the same Din , Islam] ,was very short and succinct :

"The power of Abu Lahab will perish ,and he will perish .[1]His wealth and gains will not exempt him .[2]He will be plunged in flaming fire ,[3]And his wife ,the wood carrier ,[4]Will have upon her neck a halter of palm fibre .[5]"

Abu Lahab represent 'corporate Arabia' ,and even though our Prophet's own paternal uncle ,was the main detractor against the new message brought by him .A question of status quo perhaps .Abu lahab's wife was Arwa .Both must have been massively 'blinded by rage and 'hasad' for Allah to permanently etched them both in the Quran along with Pharoah and Qarun as eternal example of what we should not be .

'Hasad' , the English equivalent is jealousy coupled with envy ,a very negative basic instinct .For instance ,the 'hasad' of the 'people of the book' ,that lead to a thousand year of' crusade' , will never end .Ignorance versus enlightenment , will never end until Doomsday .If Bush et al choose to fight against 1.5 billion Muslims ,they are doing it at their own peril .

Even Hind ,the wife of Abu Suffian ,another uncle ,was spared this' priveledge' of 'permanent mention' in history.Her fury was even worse . She was the lady who later during the Uhud campaign paid a black slave to specifically look for Saidina Hamzah , the Prophet's uncle ,speared him to death ,and she with fury and anger slashed open his chest and ate his heart and liver ! Such blind fury !She and Abu Suffian later accepted the Message .

Blind fury perhaps without 'hasad' could have been the saving grace for this couple .Abu Suffian's son ,Muawiyyah ,later played a dominant role in the political schism with Kalifah Ali Abu Talib . .Beyond Abu Bakar's caliphate ,political Islam began to show it's ugly face .

But back to Surah Al Masadd ,the Message in the Glorious Quran ,as always is universal and transcend time.We have Abu Lahabs and Abu Suffians today .We have Arwa and Hinds ,aplent .

I cannot but felt humbled by Sayyid Qutb's closing remark on the Surah :
"The humiliating picture of Abu Lahab and his wife has been recorded to last forever in the eternal book ,the Quran ,to show Allah's anger with them for their animosity to His Messenger and the idea he was advocating .All those who choose to take a similar attitude towards Islam ,therefore shall meet the same disgrace ,calamity and frustration ,both in this life and the Hereafter ,a fitting punishment and rewards ! "

Sayyid Qutb had had a 'bad' press since post 911 , and being dubbed as the philosopher behind the present Islamic radicalism and thought by some Western scholars as the provider of the necessary ' theological fuel' for Al Queda.The world tend to conveniently forget 50 years of Jewish piracy and maltreatment of Muslims in the holy land of Jeruselam ,being treated worse than animals , and centuries of Westerner's plunder and murders in Muslim hinterlands .No aknowledgement nor apology at all ! Just a wall of silence .These are the real building bricks of terrorism .

But we all student of Islam need not buy this kind of nonsensical zionist labelling . To the uninitiated kufr Western mind anyone who keeps a beard ,prays just 5 times a day ,do not consume alcohol or fornicate out of wedlock is a potential terrorist .

Soon there will be agents with their computers counting outside every major mosque in the West just studying who comes and go and all these will feed into a central computer . That is the nature of Western paranoia .Please do not bother their 'madness' ,study him at :

http://www.youngmuslims.ca/online_library/tafseer/syed_qutb/

Make your own opinion of him .Most of his tafseer was done while under imprisonment during Gamal Abdul Nasser 's socialist regime .I personally find his interpretation and approach very beautiful .He was a literary genius and he understood the beauty and wisdom of the Quran better than most exegists who are non arabic speakers .Allahualam

Is Malaysia being run by a bunch of morons?

Friends ,

I am feeling very depressed lately .On the world scale we have to contend with President Bush who is not known to be the brightest of man .No ,I am not blaming him for the recent escalation of oil price .That would be giving too much credit for a moron like him .Even though with advisers with the likes of Dr Rice , and other neo-cons et al ,he is still capable of doing just that when advised .

On the home front everyone and sundry know Pok Lah has difficulty with counting his marbles , but with the recent arrest of Annuar Ibrahim , on account of failure to present himself to Police for investigation and interview ,must have brought down Pok lah's marble counting rating several rung lower .Even my Standard Six daughter can tell that Annuar at present is playing to the gallery ,and rightfully who would not in his situation .CNN,Aljazira ,BBC what have you .'Malu' kita .Ex Finance Minister main buntut , for the second time .

Dr Mahathir's blunder dah cukup lah .Even from the medical standpoint we doctors have been cracking our brains for weeks now as to how a 5 feet 8 inch 60 year old with a bad back and cervical disc to boot can 'prise' open a 6 footer , 25 year old chap not once but twice without getting a proper kick in his 'you know what' .Not yet addressing the issue whether the old chap can get his 'dick' up in the proper place for a decent period of time as yet .Pardon the doctors ,we have to think straight !

If this is 'consensual' then of course it is a different matter .In that case we can be more proud than the French who has Sarkozy .Carla Bruni has been known to sleep with more than 25 men ,Mick Jagger being one of them .We are one up .A potential PM material who is alledged to love the 'buntut' ,and another whose wife mess around with C4 plastic explosive .

I expect Annuar , rather than spending an evening at home hearing to the 'nag nag nag ' of a menoupausal wife ,bright ex eye doctor at that [ Wawi as we call her affectionately during those housemanship time some 30 years back] ,might as well spend just one more night at Bukit Aman playing mental exercise with the SB boys ! [ Especially as he is alledged to seem to like those kind ]And be an instant hero the next day .Especially after appearing so smooth and savvy on TV the evening earlier .Shabery Chik, with obvious saliva salivating down both corners of his mouth , despite his bravado appeared like a schoolboy meeting a pro .

We all know the government wanted to appear very open and above board in having the debate but whatever the government does or does not do nowadays , things are very academic .The perception going on in the coffee shops ,in board rooms and every where is :Is Malaysia presently being run by a bunch of morons incapable of doing things right ?Right from the Prime Minister , cabinet ministers , down to IGP , AG , etc etc ? Suddenly we are back in the news for the wrong thing .And sadly politics and government is about perception .Even the KLSE index !

Sorry friends , I am not usually political .I can sense a feeling of depression everywhere .Price of foodstuff gone up in some instances by a 100% ,contracters running away from projects leaving their workers to fend for themselves ,Transport cost and living cost for the average Ali ,Muthu and Ah Chong escalated and we have 2 clowns , the AG and IGP using the state machinery to get back at people who one day may even be their boss !

They think people can be as stupid as them ! Are we leading to a chaotic police state .Do these 2 clowns know the rule of law or respect it ? People are able to read in between the' lines' what they are doing . In 2008 there are people with MBA's and PHD's ,obviously more qualified than them , walking and pacing the streets ,jobless .Please do not underestimate the Joe Public nowadays !

Are the 'poor suffering' raayats going to have to stomach another long round of 'mattress' extravaganza going in and out of High Court again ? Who are the clowns that are going to replace Paul Augustine and Musa Hassan for the new 'show' this time around ?

What is happening to Pok Lah ? Has he really lost his marbles and really has no control over these 2 clowns ?

I never like Annuar . When he was Finance Minister[ very cocky and not having clever advisers then] ,but does Malaysia has a choice now ?Many now think Najib is never going to be PM unless he is 'brave' enough to ditch his current 1st Lady .No they do not think he is brave enough to do just that ,he will get castrated right away

UMNO is in a complete shamble and still in denial phase . After the Mahathir's era of 'judicial bashing ' and fixing , record numbers of multi million ringgit IPP contracts and others fat government contracts to friends being disclosed recently , followed by the Fourth Floor boys antics in Pok Lah's era , Altantaya's story revealed ,nothing they do now are credible anymore to the more enlightened populace .

In the late Tun Razak's days we hear of a story when he himself vetoed a $35,000 RM extension to his Sri Perdana for a private swimming pool on the basis that it cost too much of public fund .From Mahathir onwards right up to Pok Lah everything are in mega millions .One ex MP's husband got a 200 million soft soft loan just to dabble in the 'cattle' business .With Petronas now even being directed to get into the Boer goat business we do not dare hazard how many more millions is going to percolate down the drain .That is Pok Lah's economic 'injection' .Talking about the crab asking the juniors to walk straight .

We always look condescendingly to our neighbour as a Land of 'semua bisa diatur Pak!'.We in Malaysia ,now has a better equivalent ,'Malaysia boleh !' ."Everything can" in Malaysia . Even can be arranged to look 'legal' .Only the quantum need to be discussed ! The rot started in Mahathir's time ,continued into Pok Lah's era .Where do we go from here .Clowns everywhere !

I can bet my bottom dollar that if we have a National Reelection tomorrow , BN will lose very badly ,worse than the last .

Longevity : A Muslim's Perspective

Friends ,

A few years back ,while visiting Tokhapi Palace in Istanbul , I was amazed to see the sheer size of Prophet Muhamad's sword from amongst the few remaining original Islamic memorabilia shown within the palace museum .At least a good 6 feet of glistening , heavy , solid metal .I could in my mind's eye imagined the Prophet leading a big group of shahabats riding on his favourite arabian steed Al Bariq in the hot summer sun towards the north [which is now the Saudi- Syrian border] to face a possible invasion by the massive army of the then Eastern Roman Empire.He was then nearing 63 !The battle did not materialise as expected as the Romans did not show up .

Shortly after that ,after completing his last pilgrimage to Mekkah ,Prophet Muhamad was called to his Lord at a ripe old age of 63 .By 2008 standard 63 is a relatively 'young' old age but put yourself 80 years ago when the average life expectancy of a Malayan male hardly reach 60 ! 1400 years ago the average life expectentcy in the desert of Arabia could well be just 45 or may be lower .

To put things into proper perspective ,Alexander of Macedonia started his world conquering feat at the age of 17 or 16 and died at a fully matured age of 25 !Not surprising ,if the average life expectantcy during his time was 30, for example ,for a boy at 15 you are no longer considered mummy's boy ,as what is generally considered today .You are expected to fight wars ,drink and be merry and die at 30 .Napolean Bonapart ,in 17th century France died at the ripe old age of 40 plus !

Taking this into account Prophet Muhamad lifespan was well beyond average for his time and period .By 21st century standard his 63 years of age could be translated as beyond 90 in 2008 . Allahualam !Riding ,fighting defensive wars and spreading the Message at that age ,Prophet Muhamad was a very fit ,healthy man right up to the end .His demise followed a short febrille illness ,and from the full description I read from Muchtar Holland's biography of the Prophet , "Muhamad " ,I gather with my limited medical knowledge that our prophet could have succumbed to Typhoid .A water and food borne disease fairly common at that period .Allahualam !

Let us examine his Sirah :He slept very little ,prayed tahajjud at the 2nd third of the night every night right up to Subuh ,Imam the Subuh prayer and then like the rest of his congregation ,disperse shortly after that to earn a mussel here ,a mussel there .Ate when he felt hungry , and stop well before he felt satieted [ remember the Okinawan 'hara haci bu' ] .He fast at least 2 days a week and when he fast his 'sahur' consist of just a couple of dates [high carbohydrate ,low calorie ] and water , breaking fast again some 12 hours latter with some dates and dry bread .His days consist of movements all the time .Presided over community dispute .Imam over all obligatory prayers of the day and myriad other activities a head of State has to do . Never fail to visit all his 9 wives daily during the day and settle at night accordingly to a preset time table .Sayyiditina Aishah[ his favourite] was given an extra night above the rest as Ibu Salamah [if I am not mistaken] , a senior by age ,gave her share of her 'nights' to the much younger Aishah .

Low caloric diet ,continuous movement and activity ,close relationship with the people around him and his community ,a life of piety and continuous connectivity with Allah :in short Prophet Muhamad ,we can see from his Sirah ,was a man who 'celebrate life fully' .

A life of piety ,a generous heart ,not in the material way it is usually meant today ,but a heart ready to forgive and forget ,a kindly smile to a stranger perhaps ,a heart that 'accept trials and tribulations as readily as easily forget feats of success ,that kind of old fashion heart not easily found these days . We Muslims encompass it in one word : RIDHA .In my humble view the missing link between the robust ,stressful , lonely physical world ,oftentimes depressing and the 'spiritual' cushion as mentioned earlier on .A philosophical- neuro-humoral linkage ,a final safety outlet which act as a major de-stressor .

A life of moderation in satisfying one's need for physical and spiritual pleasure .An active life .You see that expounded from Surah 1 to 114 in the Holy Quran .As Saiyiditina Aishah aptly put it Prophet Muhamad's life itself was a living Quran .A celebration of life.. ....longevity if at all is just an added bonus !

In the Prophet we Muslims already have a template for 'Longevity' .But even if some of us , in our lives fall short of the four scores and ten , do not feel disheartened for in 'Lailatul Qadr' Allah has ready a very special gift for us :

"We have indeed revealed This [ Message ] ,In the Night of Power :[1] And what will explain to thee what the Night of Power is ?[2] The Night of Power is better than a thousand months .[3] Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah's permission ,on every errand [4] Peace ! This until the rise of Morn ![5]"


Dr Nik Howk

Some Random Thoughts on Longevity[103]

" Youth is not a certain period of life but a state of mind "......Dr Nik Isahak Wan Abdullah

Friends ,

Apart from the now world famous youthful octagenarians from Okinawa there are other loculated small god forsaken places in the world that can boast even better statistics of older and active people :Vilcabamba people in Ecuador ,Hunga people of the very remote and difficult to reach Hunga valley in Northern Pakistan bordering China and Russia,surrounded by high mountain ranges from all sides ,and lastly the Abkhazians in Central Caucasus in Georgia .

The common denominators these remote people have are : 1 .active lifestyle from childhood to old age by virtue of their meagre existence as farmers living in difficult terrains to work in day to day .


2 .High carbohydrate ,but relatively low calories in relation to their daily active life style .They averaged around 1900 kcalories , 60 % coming from grain ,legumes ,nuts and fruits .Fats mainly from plant source .In comparision , an average Western or even sedentary Asian person take in around 2300 kcalories daily or more despite the very sedentary nature of his lifestyle .Movement and physical activity somehow has been incorporated in their lifestyle as a matter of necessity .The Okinawan's average calorie intake are even lower around 1400kcalories .Also mainly from carbohydrates .


3 .Close interdependence amongst these people is a common trait .Close knit families and close relationships amongst friends in the village is a matter of course .They celebrate and grief communally .


4.Faith or a deep sense of spirituality in these remote communities are still strong and play a dominant role in their daily lives .There are time for meditations and time for introspection on a daily basis .If one were to live with them one can sense on a daily basis there are connectivity between 'the slaves and the Master' ,whatever faiths or religions these simple hardy people subscribe to .This deep spirituality help them in time of stress and grief and provide the necessary 'cushion' ,in time of need .In the more secular and more material world of ours , where it is fashionable to go 'godless' or 'do away with any form of spirituality ' this safety outlet or 'cushion' is no longer there which explain for the relatively high suicide rate and morbidity from illnesses .The state of mind ,despite what we would like to believe , has a great influence on the well being of the body .This is effected through the complex interplay of the hormonal system , immunological system and neural input from the brain ,with the brain playing the dominant role .

I am very sure none of us would want to be in the remote Hunga valley or be in Vilcabamba in Ecuador and lives like a hermit with no electricity ,modern day amenities like hospitals and super markets ,IT connectivity etc etc,and to contend with rough terrains and meagre living on a daily basis .But all of us would like to live healthy youthful lives right up to the 80's or 90's .We want to be like the world famous Jack Lalance who lives healthily right up to the 90's .Never too late to start changing ,at any age !

Jim Fixx ,another famous TV health nut who expounded the way to healthy living through exercise but forget the importance of nutrition , is a case in point .He exercised everyday up to his premature death by the roadside from a massive myocardial infarction ['heart attack'] .A case of too much exercise without proper look at nutrition .On the other side of the scale is the chap who introduced the famous Low carbo High protein High fats diet which for some years took the world by storm .He also died prematurely in his late 40's of an acute MI .To the Okinawan or the Hungas ,if you in the 40's you are still a boy Your opinions are not warranted .There is an Okinawan karate exponent still teaching his art at 95 !

So how do we modern man acheive longevity ? The long and short of it , I have come to the following conclusions :

1 .Smoking is a definite No ,No .I am not worried about lung cancer .If you are a smoker and you have lung cancer ,you just pack you bag and say goodbye to your loved ones in 6 to 7 months .Fullstop .You got the wrong lottery .
Smoking cause generalised premature aging of your arteries to ALL leading to generalised premature aging of all your organs .Your brain ,kidneys ,heart malfunctioned earlier than non smokers and by the time you reach your 50's you behave and move like you are already mid 60's .Smokers get errectile dysfunction much earlier .

2.Stress level
Modern day living is full of stress .How we handle and modulate stress impact on longevity .There is a certain philosophy ,a certain way of thinking that set people apart on the way they handle stress .Part of this can be due to the way we were brought up but it is not something that we cannot influence or unlearned or learn .Part of it ,to my mind has to do with Faith or lack of it .People who has Faith ,any kind of Faith ,handle stress better .All Faiths or religions in the world teaches the concept of 'acceptance' and this to my mind is a great reservoir to absorb stress .People with no Faith or religion but has deep spirituality also have this safety outlet .

3 .Nutrition
The common denominator here that runs through all these remote cultures is " high carbohydrate ,low calorie ,high fibre based diet ,the calories coming from legumes ,grain and nuts with plenty of fruits and vegetables " .As a modern man I definitely get an F here ! If you are leading a sedentary lifestyle ,it means a diet less than 1500kcalories daily .In short small meals all the time ,low in animal fats and low in meat .This way produce lean ,hungry looking men ! All of us fail here .

4 .Activities
Exercise 30 minutes a day 3 times a week is the minimum standard .1 hour daily 7 days a week would certainly be better .Moving your limbs in daily active work from morning till dusk would be excellent .What exercise ? Aerobic like brisk walking is good .Running better .Mix it with some resistance training the best .

There you are ,a simple formulae for Longevity for the modern man .No expensive GH ,Testosterone ,painful dangerous insulin therapy ,over simplistic 'colonic' washouts [ how gross ! and I am ashame some of people from my profession pushing it in downtown KL ] ,ozone therapy [ Oh my god! ] ,megadoses of vitamins [ how many MLC's going to 2nd board in KLSE ? ].
But most people will find it difficult to believe in simple formulae ,they rather pay or sign through their cheques ! Typical Malaysians !

[To be continued :A Muslim's perspective]

Some Random Thoughts on Longevity [102]

Friends ,

Medical science is by necessity quite dry .Claims of superiority of new drugs ,new techniques need to be validated by trials ,preferably double blinded[ given and compared with a blank called a 'placebo'] to both doctors and patients .A double blind prospective study means the doctor do not know whether he is giving the blank or the drug under study to his patient as they are similar looking and just labelled for instance drug A and B .At the end of study the code is broken and we look for statistical significance in the total patients response to the treatment .To acheive significance difference oftentimes the sampling population need to be big in number .Drug or new medical devices prospective studies are expensive affairs .

In the West there are national bodies that oversee such claims and the most famous is the Federal Drug Authority , in America . There are similar bodies in Europe as well .The third world countries usually follow whatever are accepted as truth by these bodies .Though oftentimes 'political' [European drugs and new devices take longer time and more fund to get an FDA approval than American products] what is 'validated' and passed by FDA is most time accepted as 'gospel truth' and oftentimes the share value of whatever company producing the drugs or devices skyrocketed .A lacklustre short comment from FDA can mean 'near bankruptcy' as shares plummet downward .

Luckily there are no drugs or devices related to the issue of longevity .In a way 'unlucky' because otherwise longevity could be bought easily in a 'pill' or 'capsule' over the counter .Longevity in the main ,mean a certain protracted life style , a certain mindset , an definitely a certain life long philosophical leaning .Some drugs though have been implicated but they are all well known ,well established drugs ,'long gone' beyond the crutches and monopoly of megabillion dollar American or European owned pharmaceutical companies .

Those few big players are MSD ,Roche ,Pfizer ,Bristol Myers ,Novarties and a couple others .Just imagine ,the new drugs Tarceva or Iressa ,the new kids on the block , targeted therapy , for treating adenocarcinoma of the lung cost cost a whooping RM $ 300 a tablet ,9000 RM a month to be taken indefinitely . My mum in law is undergoing this therapy ,insyaallah she would have a period of 'honeymoon' before the cancer cells get the better of the new drugs and become resistant .This is typical of cancers .

A respectable and reliable drug eluting stent , for example ,by the time plumbers like me deploy them in your hearts , will cost you around 7k a piece ,and if you need 3 stents that is 21k in just 'stainless steel' or cobalt chromium hardware .And mind you if you have ischaemic heart disease or lung cancer you do not talk of longevity , you are talking of survival ! I am not giving you guys figures to frighten you guys but really to impress that at the end of the day , prevention is better than cure .Longevity is about doing the right things so that you do not end up having those' fatty streaks' in your systemic circulations at relatively young age as those unfortunate young American boys of the 60's .They died from Viet Cong's bullets of course but the postmortem findings gave us important lessons in premature aging .

Preventive steps may be too late for us now that we are well beyond our 20's ,not spring chicken anymore ,so some may say , enjoy and be merry ! But if one just look at the smoking habit [ a definite no no for longevity ], it is even useful to stop at whatever age you may be ,even in your fifties .You still derive significant benefit . Your lung capacity immediately improve ,and even mortality statistics from a cardiovascular event dip a little . Of course you may not end up like the Okinawans .

What the Okinawans ,Sardinians from Oviddo ,or that small group from Costa Rica or the 7th Day Adventists from Loma Linda go through in the daily life , mental and physical may actually have strong bearing on 'prevention' which lead to longevity .It may not just be what they do but in actual fact , the answer may be in what they do not do ! Only God knows , but we can make intelligent conclusions and guess .

Nonetheless longevity is big business .Huge .Science as I contend earlier is dry and boring .Pseudo science is however big business !Multi billion dollar business !My Kuala Terengganu colleague Dr Sulaiman Abdullah ,an enthusiast and occasional practitioner ,in my earlier meeting with him talk about the goings on in Longevity : GH therapy ,low dose insulin injections ,megadoses of vitamins and vitamin derivatives ,ozone therapy ,chelation therapy ,colonic washouts !!! ,etc etc .Desperate people do desperate things ,even colonic washouts ! How simplistic ! I do not blame them because all of us want to live long ,youthful lives and if we can just sign it via our cheque books, the better ! .

In the realm of 'health and pseudo health' ,'the more one has to pay the better the results would be ' .If that 'lingzi ,the special herb from China ,now even planted in Malaysia cost RM $ 100 a month , no it may not work .But if it is not for sale ,only given as a state gift from Mr Chairman Deng Sio Peng to Prime Minister Dr M and thus is priceless.But for you ,since you are special we will sell for RM $1500 per kg . Special price for a valued customer.Suddenly in your mind you could feel younger on the 1st day of taking .Placebo effect is about pricing , pricing and pricing ! The more expensive the better . Similarly if you need to check into a Swiss spa for a rejuvenation therapy,pay upfront RM 25k ,get special IV therapy of 'you know what' [ young calf protein etc etc] , your mind say from day one that you feel special .That is placebo effect for you .They say fools are born everyday ,I am not surprised .

Ozone therapy ? No I am afraid it does not work except make a big dent in your pocket ." But Dr Nik ,I can swear even our present PM ,Pok Lah has been seen at so and so's clinic getting his regular ozone dose ??" .My friend that is precisely why we are having a lot of hiccough now !

Growth hormone therapy ?.At one time the 'in thing' in downtown KL ."Dr M is so active ,so youthful , I am sure Doc ,he is also on GH" .Expensive ,big money .Had made many general practitioners and 'unscrupulous' specialists able to upgrade their 3 series to BMW 7 series !Not shown to work .Thereis this fear as well that GH therapy for longevity and as a fountain for youth and energy may 'energies' certain cells in the body to become cancerous .No ,growth hormone replacement has got it's role in many situations but not for longevity .It does not work .Fullstop .

Testosterone therapy ?With increasing age there is a physiological drop in the level of testosterone in males .Expected .Young upwardly mobile female executives in the West ,to be as competitive as their male counterparts ,have been known to coerce their doctors to give them periodic injections of depot testosterone .The additional excess male hormone make them more aggressive and more ccompetitive . Good luck to them . We have to pity them for having to live in such social millieu .Testosterone therapy for longevity . No studies or papers so far can point to it's usefulness .The fear is in older men ,may lead to increase incidence of liver and prostate malignancies or at least aggravate a latent or quiescent liver or prostate malignancy .No value in longevity .

Low dose insulin therapy for longevity .The rationale seem steeped in science ie with the intended effect of bringing down endogenous insulin production and keeping blood sugar at sub normal level .But basic science is not that simple.Yet there are people who do this .We are all looking for short cut .

Mega doses of vitamins or vitamin derivatives ? Dr Sulaiman told me some people are taking not 1 or 2 grams of vitamin C ,but 10 grams !Until their stomach burns! So much for wanting to live longer !The short answer is also no .No studies or papers or evidence so far pointing to it's usefulness .Most of my patients ask me about vitamins because this is the commonest, affordable to the masses concoction .Yes , vitamins are good for you if you think your diet is not balance enough .Usually I will have to spend another 10 minutes to discuss vitamins .So my usual S.O.P is :"If it cost you less than RM $50 a month ,go ahead .It is good for you " .You guys may not believe me one young upwardly mobile Chinese businessman ,a one time patient of mine spent RM $1500 per month on all sort of vitamins he bought from multi level companies .He stopped seeing me because I ask him I would like to have his address so that I can send someone to collect his urine daily so that we can set up a vitamin factory !

" Everything seem not to work Doc ! What works?"
[ To be continued ]

Some Random Thoughts on Longevity [ 101]

Friends ,

Man , since time immemorial ,longed for the eternal youth ,a long life free from illness ,active to the very end .Man's quest for eternal youth take a more determined approach from the 20th century onwards with the advent of new infectious disease controlling antibiotics and explosion of new technologies in health care and more so with increasing materialism and man's newly perceived freedom from 'god' and 'god given' afflictions .

Nonetheless with increasing materialism and affluence ,the fragile 'human system' began to get 'pounded' by excessive environmental pollution at the global level ,increasing relative inactivity ,obesity ,stress ,increasingly level of 'godlessness and emptiness' in their lives and increasing 'aimlessness and lack of direction in the lives leading to higher stress level , albeit a well known precursor to general ill-health and debility ,degenerative diseases ,etc etc at the 'organism' level which all contribute collectively to premature demise of the 'organism'.

There are however pockets of small populations on this planet that live on the average longer life than the rest and these pockets stood out like a sore thumb .The small community of 7th Day Adventists in Loma Linda ,California who are mainly vegetarians ,small close knit communities interdependent on each other ,on average stricter practising Christians than the rest of USA .Of course I remained corrected here .The Mormons may not agree , but on the average this small loculated Loma Lindans population live longer lives !

In the East we have the now famous Okinawans who live on several islands of Japan ,but lived life much different from the rest of the upward mobile,' aggressive' modern Japanese from the 'mainland' :low caloric diet ,protein mainly from vegetables ,with the occasional pork ,sedate rural lifestyle marked by frequent meditation and prayer .,also close knit communities ,daily active life stlye . An Okinawan of 50 is usually considered a relative youth , most remain in their respective jobs well beyond 75 .

In Europe we have the Sardinians from the Island of Aviddo .Unlike the 7th Day Adventists of Loma Linda and the Okinawans , the Sardinians are more liberal with meat in their daily diet , though fruits ,vegetables ,and the Mediterranean diet are their habit . There is yet another small pocket in Costa Rica [ most unlikely place at one glance ],that have more octagenarions than the local third world Costa Ricans and Western average .

The common denominators amongst these 4 pockets of communities : is the slow ,but physically active but unhurried daily life style they seem to lead .The close knit families with close interdependence which lend to the theory of lower daily stress of living .The Okinawans prescribed to the principle of 'Hara hachi bu' ie eating but stopping well before they feel 'kenyang' [ satieted] , much akin the habit as prescribed by our beloved Prophet Muhamad .

Putting these observational population studies apart let us examine our modern life and much information was gained from the young American men who died for[ with hindsight,rather aimlessly] their country some 45 years ago in the Vietnam War [ Bush was not a good history student otherwise he would not be in Iraq today ] .Young men dead in their teens and early 20's .Postmortem showed some of these 'young specimens' were in varying stage of old age with arteries in their brains ,kidneys ,hearts littered with 'streaks' ladened with fats and cholesterols .That lead to the theory that for most of us ,'Non Okinawans' who pile on a daily ration of Buerger King KFC and MacDonald's,we start 'dying' or rather the brick and mortars are being laid well ahead in our early 20's and late teens !

Fast forward another 40 years the world now is on the verge of a diabetes epidemic .East ,West ,North or South .Powered by consumerism in the food and fast food industry ,obesity lead to 'metabolic syndrome' , a new medical euphemism since it really mean obesity and obesity related diseases :heart problem ,strokes ,hypertension ,kidney problem and the certainty of an early ,'premature appointment with Izra'il'[ Angel of death] .Obesity leads to over insulin production [ hormone needed to regulate blood sugar produced by the islet cells in our pancreas ] and chronic high level of internal insulin production trigger off a cascade of changes at the cellular level especially the increase thickening of the bastment membrane of billions of cells lining our arteries and arterioles .

This is the precursor of all other changes to the lining of the blood vessels ,big ,medium ,and small .The arteries and arterioles to our body are akin to the 'highways ,roads ,lanes and 'lorongs' in the country .Bad roads ,highways and lorongs lead to poor transport of goods , food and myriads of human activies .Bad ,clogged arteries ,arterioles and cappillaries lead to poor nutrition of important organs such as heart ,kidney ,brain ,skin and even 'the small man Down Under' .Poor transport of toxins away from those important cells[ eg free radicals] in all the organs ,and poor oxygen delivery etc etc .In short ,premature aging ! ie early death and debilitation from strokes ,heart attacks ,degenerative diseases ,early acute and chronic organ failures and cancers .

[ to be continued]

Pearls & Gem from Surah Al Maun [Letter 107]

Friends,

In these tumultuous moments in our lives with rising cost of living and very uncertain national political landscape marked by daily barrage of innuendos and counter innuendos which margined on the ridiculous, I find in this short Surah,Surah Al Maun, a lot of relief.In the totality of things,at the end of the day,one is not judged by how big you are in the eyes of man [ie Wakil Raayat,Ketua bahagian,minister ,prime minister ,CEO,millionaire ,billionaire] but by the little kindnesses and the natural generosity of heart as we amble along in our daily life :

"Hast thou observe him who belieth religion?[1]That is he who repelleth the orphan,[2]And urgeth not the feeding of the needy.[3]Ah !woe unto the worshippers[4]Who are heedless of their prayer,[5]Who would be seen seen[at worship] [6]Yet refuse small kindnesses ![7]"

Many make great show of hollow act of greatness, goodness, devotion and charity but failed miserably if one test them with little acts of neighbourly help of charity,courtesies and small little kindnesses of daily life.Allahualam.

Dr Nik Howk

Not So Pearls & Gem :Kaffarah

Friends,

Last weekend I was up in Kuala Terengganu for the Edaran Classic 160 kilometre endurance ride,an annual do organised by the KL based AlRaudhah Equestrian Club,but brought specially to Lembah Bidong International Equestrian Centre in Mukim Setia off the pristine coast of Northern Terengganu,as part of the preamble to the World Endurance Championship to be held there later this November.The night before ,to cool down raw nerves ,met and have dinner with Dr Hj Sulaiman Abdullah at a sea food restaurant overlooking Patrick Badawi's Heritage Club on the northern side and the magical Masjid Kristal on the western front of the scenic KT bay [it is easy to fall in love 'with KT' or 'in KT' and if 'SPB' offers me a place by the sea I would readily change my 'passport'! Kota bharu is getting too crowded ].

Dr Sulaiman or Sulaiman Panjang as he is popularly known amongst us Malay Collegians of class 69 , is now a part time general practicioner, also my medical schoolmate at MU,one time PAS exco member,limau madu planter,currently amateur 'longevity' enthusiast and practicioner.Discussed with him the whole gamut of the trade about 'longevity'[low caloric diet ,high protein zero carbo diet ,megadoses vitamins ,growth hormones,testosterone jab,and things as crazy as daily low dose insulin injections], which would be a timely change of subject for my next blog,I thought .A pseudo scientific pseudo religious ,peppered with a sprinkling of haft baked philosophical discourse on 21st century man's ultimate dream of how to defy the ravages of TIME will always captivate the right attention,why not!?

I made a mental note to go into 'longevity' right after my age defying 15 hour night and day ride at Bidong Beach.Then came the short sms from my SJMC pathologist colleague ,the best man in his field of specialisation:confirmed ,your m.i.l has moderately well differentiated adenorcarcinoma ,primary most probably lung.Status:Stage 4.

As if subconciously,my other half,Dr Nik the Physician took over from Nik Isahak the man .Best case scenario 1 year of progressive deterioration for patient with increasing discomfort and breathlessness and hopelessness for patient, and emotional pain for the loved ones seeing such suffering and physical as well as mental deterioration in the beloved who was once an active joyful individual.Worse case scenario,3 to 4 months of fast continuous downhill slump .Subject of 'longevity' disappeared from the screen.What appeared was Grace ,Grace ,Grace.Allah in His Ultimate Wisdom is the God of Grace and Mercy .In illness and suffering there is yet grace and mercy from Allah:the concept of Kaffarah.

When a person accept [for want of better word in English] ie 'riddha'with his illness and bodily suffering that comes with it 'all those small sins are shedded away from oneself like the falling of leaves in autumn' says a well known hadith .Additionally one has to look at illness like these as a mercy from Allah ,one is given time and space to think ,accept and attune oneself to the next phase of life.On the other hand one may not be fortunate enough to have time and space ie right after a wild night out one may be involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident and 'die on the spot'.Secular minded souls always worried 'big' about dying 'interstate' ie 'not leaving a will' .In actual fact this should be the least of our worry ."Dying interstate' with respect to our 'aqidah' ,on which side of the divide we are on ,the full ramification of our shahadah ,etc etc ,these should be our principal worries !

We cannot choose how we exit from this life but if one happened to be afflicted by serious chronic life shortening illnesses do take time to ponder:It is still a mercy from Allah !

The 'short'time given to you ,if used properly may well advance you straight to 'reserve class',whatever 'animal you are ' prior to your illness rather than 'cattle class' for eternity:husnul qhatimah as opposed to suul qhatimah.Allahualam ! !

Dr Nik Howk