Of Red Wine, 'Halal Pork' and The Way of Muhammad.....

Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2015 09:07:38 +0800
Subject: Re: Study shows a glass of red wine at dinner good for diabetics
From: hamzah@cempaka
To: drnikisahak@hotmail.com

This is a scientific finding. A glass, just one glass, of red wine is good for diabetics anf heart patients. Reduces their blood sugar, and LDL levels, and raises their HDL levels.
As a cardiologist, how would you advise your patients?

AFP-Relaxnews  :.

""Between too much and not enough, the right amount for type 2 diabetics is one glass of red wine, just one. — Reuters picNEGEV, Oct 14 — One glass of red wine at dinner was found to help sufferers of type 2 diabetes sleep better, improve their metabolism and increase levels of “good cholesterol” to protect against cardiovascular disease, according to an international study.
Between too much and not enough, the right amount is one glass of red wine, just one, if possible taken at dinner. That is the conclusion of an international study published in the 13 October edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
The researchers, most of who were from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, studied type 2 diabetes patients controlled by drugs. The researchers said that these patients were chosen because they are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, have a lower level of “good” cholesterol and are also less inclined to drink a lot because of their condition.
Their aim, via this study, was to examine the impact, in safety and efficacy terms, of moderate intake of wine on health on this group of patients.
The team chose 224 people with type 2 diabetes who drank moderate levels of alcohol. During their evening meal, the volunteers had to drink the equivalent of 5 ounces (142 ml) of one of the following drinks: mineral water, dry white wine or dry red wine.
With a dietician’s guidance, the participants also followed a Mediterranean diet without calorific restriction for a two-year period.
Each participant had to fill in a questionnaire and undertook blood tests to identify various biological markers including glucose, lipids and markers associated with various liver functions.
Their findings indicate that the group of participants who chose to drink red wine had a greater amount of “good” cholesterol (HDL cholesterol), as well as better cholesterol ratio compared to the participants who drank water.
The researchers also noted that with the volunteers who drank wine, there was a significant reduction in the number of components of the metabolic syndrome (the presence of a combination of signs which increase the risk of acquiring diabetes, cardiac conditions and strokes, editor’s note).
The researchers found that drinking red or white wine was also associated with improved sleep.The researchers concluded that this long term study suggests that combining a healthy diet with moderate wine intake, especially red wine, helps to lower cardio-metabolic risks. "" — AFP-Relaxnews 

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tq dato,

I know you are being 'naughty' here, but I will answer you.

As what all good muslim doctors  would do.......I will look at the red wine advisory from a  more global perspective. This red wine study is certainly very good for the world red wine industry. It is great for them but this is not new This news is already 40 years old!. It keep surfacing as if it is new information. That is the nature of industries. The benefit conferred to risk reduction and protection is very minimal compared to the classical advice of :

DONT SMOKE, 
Keep your weight to your precollege days weigh IDEAL 
EXERCISE EXERCISE AND EXERCISE AND exercise.
Look after your cholestrol etc etc .
Control of hypertension if you have one
And above all , avoid and prevent the onset of diabetes

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Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2015 17:30:16 +0800
Subject: RE: Study shows a glass of red wine at dinner good for diabetics
From: hamzah@cempaka
To: drnikisahak@hotmail.com

Cuit, cuit, sahaja Doc!

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On 16 Oct 2015 8:10 am, "Nik Isahak Wan Abdullah" <drnikisahak@hotmail.com> wrote:

            I know
            This red wine thing has been there over 40 years already dato.

I think it act via anti oxidant and another pathway, but the benefit is very minimal compared to dieting, low cholesterol. exercise , control of hypertension and diabetes, no smoking et c etcetc.

In fact if one were to make an objective study on the effect of life of piety [ ie; zikrullah, solat etc etc ], on the lifespan of people already proven to have heart problem, the prolongation to life would be more significant.

But piety is not an easily quantifiable 'variable' and there is no 'industry driven' motivation to spend millions on such study.

But having said that, I always advice my non muslim patients who take alcohol to change their beer drinking habit to just a touch of 'red wine'.

For  Muslims, my accent is on walking that extra kilometre to their nearest surau for their isha and subuh prayer and 'NO CORNER BARING'.

[  http://drnikisahak.blogspot.my/2011/02/unto-him-is-journeying.html ]

A footnote and disclaimer though need to be inserted here.

Despite what we cardiologists do, that sword of Damocle is always on the head for guys already proven to have coronary disease.

Some degree of uncertainty is always there, therefore when you ask me about the miniscule effect of red wine, I consider it quite peripheral...

              Consider this hypothetical scenario :

One fine morning , when you go to your school for an important board meeting,  your chairman of the board fired you summarily for no apparent reason. That same  morning CIMB Damansara phoned in to say they are foreclosing your bungalows in TTDI, Damansara Height and your London  and San marino apartments, because your massive business loan has been withdrawned , due to your apparently lack of show of public support to 'Ringgit Malaysia' in her time of need. Coming home your dear wife of 50 over years asked for an instant divorce. My God ! ..and she has always been very loving.She wants to go on in life and lives on with your business partner! Your must have not been performing, one can presume!

Your BP suddenly shot up to 240/140 . That paper-thin vessel , the circle of Willis, that all important roundabout up in the center of your brain remained intact and does not burst. Lucky you!  But this sudden burst of high pressure was too much for your coronary tree. The undiagnosed , subclinical, unimportant, 20 % narrowing  plaque in your Left Main Stem coronary artery ruptured and become suddenly 100 % block. You had it even before you can say,'abradacabra...' Not even enough time to say the shahadah.

              The news in NST the next day emblazoned on page 2:
          'Former DG Tourism, vibrant entreprenuer, educator par    excellence of Cempaka, found dead on kitchen table at his palatial Damansara Height home...foul play excluded'

          A life of piety, a zikr  and solat laden life.
          This is not easily quantifiable by any study.
          But I put it to you that it is far better than your  glass
          of red wine daily! It can help 'modulate' and 'cushion out'
          all the rough edges and uncertainties related to living this 
          transient and superficial life of ours on this earth.
       
          It is better a 1000 times than your RED WINE!

Life from my perspective is pretty fragile.

It is human to plan, but GOD directs!

         ...................................................................................................................................................





Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2015 10:44:28 +0800
Subject: RE: Study shows a glass of red wine at dinner good for diabetics
From: hamzah@cempaka.edu.my
To: drnikisahak@hotmail.com

I agree with what you say doc, to which l add the benefits of clean, unpolluted air. A study was done on a small, remote village on the Tibetan side of the Himalayan range. A statistically significant percentage of the Buddhist village elders there live actively to well over 100 years, many over 110!

They were lean and wiry, and lived on a simple diet of yogourt, unleavened bread, tofu, vegetables, nuts, tea, and occasional meat. No sugar. Basic in calories quantum. But they a do a lot of walking and climbing in the open CLEAN AIR. The air quality was very good.

The researchers monitored their bloods and found the LDL and triglycerides low, HDL high, liver and kidney functions good.

The scientists attribibuted the longivity mainly to the walks in the great open spaces, very clean air, and a simple, low calorie diet, and absence of sugar.

I am sure you would have come across this study.

H.

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To: Nik Isahak Wan Abdullah, hamzah@cempaka.edu.my

yes i do dato.

i wrote a  3-article series on ' longevity 101 ' in  my 'mutiara dan zamrud' blog [ pearls & gem ] some 7 years back.

[      https://bay182.mail.live.com/?tid=cmnR5Oc1l05RG6dgAiZMFUZg2&fid=flinbox  ]

you are welcomed to read it.

we have to be, lean, hungry and moving, and lead spiritually simple life.

easier said than done now of course in our highly geared , high level-consumerist, the more the better, economy, that is expounded everywhere today.

in the 3rd article, 'longevity and the way of rasullallah', i posed the view that at 1450 years ago rasullallah's 6 decades and three was probably equivalent to a hundred now.

he had nine wives and never failed to visit all of them in the course of a day's work; ran the affairs of  the  state and fight many  wars in the name of defence of a fledgling nation state, surrounded in the north by a belligerent super-power, the roman empire, to the west,  the  indomitable persians, in the south,  the musrikuns of mekkah and worse off, peripherally on the edge of madinah by the jews of najran and internally within madinah, the al munafikuns.; sell things in the market place for his own and family sustanence right after subuh prayer up to zohor; eat little and stopped before reaching satiety; slept immediately after isha and and do qiam around 2 or 3 in the wee hours of the morning and had a light nap after zohor, etc and etc  and etc.

and no red wine of course!

red wine is a peripheral issue.

the porcine protein [ pork ] has the lowest antigenicity to human protein and in medicine, can be beneficial.

but halal is halal. haram is haram.

in 10 years if they come up with pork that live in lab and feed on corn, and rid of dangerous parasite, and some studies show it is excellent for universal consumption, you may pose to me another questionaire.....

haram is still haramdato, i would write.
halal is halal.
God in HIS infinite wisdom,KNOWS all and HE is just testing our faith.

HE throw in 'some spanners in the engine' and see whether we 'blink or not'

same with Riba , futures trading, etc, etc etc and etc.

On Exercise and Longevity: You don't Have To Be A Marathoner..

Longevity and Exercise are inter-related but you need not be a marathoner to achieve good, prolong health. In fact, excessive, intense exercise has been shown in most studies to be detrimental to health in the long run. It increases morbidity and mortality.

Listen to Dr O 'Keefe on this issue:

....my own personal addition to this is from the Islamic perspective.
Don't just exercise...do something to your mind while you are burning all those calories and moving all those muscles !

Read on.......
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2009/03/exercise-mixing-profane-and-sublime.html

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]