Open Thread Friday 2-7-2020

Nearly everyone starts at sometime working on their health. Some wait until an accident or health event creates a sudden interest and action. At this point anger or fear often generate the energy to address ones own health. Best not to sustain for a lifetime it can create bitter lonely persons. At some point one can accept where they are at as a baseline without emotional baggage. The power to make self directed changes comes from a deeper spiritual place.

Never really considered myself having radical ideas on health and healthcare. But my list of physical and mental attributes to monitor and work on to improve, prevent a problem, maintain or slow rate of decline is different than other list I am finding.

Most important mental clarity. Good mental ability can assist in making adjustments for physical challenges. Actively learning new information or hobby to keeps life exciting and keeps the mind active. Participate in activities to connect with society and friends.

Physically I am more concerned about flexibility of joints, balance when walking or standing, stamina and hand or grip strength than weight. Weight by itself does not indicate health status. Rapid weight changes can be used to monitor for specific health problems. Ability to breath well is important, air in, air out, oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange with blood. A simple test for changes in lung capacity occasionally checking how fast you can blow up a balloon or blow out a set number of candles (maybe on a cake).

I want to avoid having to be responsible for trying to take control of a natural body functional system like blood sugars. It is complicated and preventing the condition is easier than treating the condition. Other functionalities to optimize ability to fall asleep and maintain state of sleep during night, minimal digestive problems and minimize thyroid problems. I lump pain control with body systems since it involves more than the site of an injury or where one thinks they are experiencing pain.

This still does not address all the risks of accidents, infections, chemical and radioactive exposures and genetic landmines.


The truth about hydration: should you drink eight glasses of water a day?

“Nowadays this is not considered sensible,” says Stuart Galloway, an associate professor in physiology, exercise and nutrition at the University of Stirling. “As humans, we have this homeostatic system, so when we need water, we feel thirsty.” Drinking when you are thirsty, he says, maintains your body’s water level within about 1-2% of its ideal state. “For most people, this is absolutely fine. Even for athletes, a loss of around 1% is considered to have negligible impact upon performance. So, although thirst may not kick in until you have lost some body water, this is not necessarily a bad thing.”

As we get older, our sense of thirst can get fuzzier and that is when dehydration can become a threat. It is a similar story for children, too. So perhaps the advice to drink water before you feel thirsty was originally aimed at parents and the elderly but now healthy adults are putting away gallons of water in a quest to be their best selves.

Why breast cancer genes need to be rebranded

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are tumour suppressors that are responsible for repairing faults that can naturally occur within DNA. When they do not function correctly, it makes it more likely that other genetic errors will occur, leading to cancer.

Both men and women have the same risk of developing BRCA1 and 2 gene mutations, but men are ten times less likely to get tested for them. One potential reason for this is the general misconception that the genes are synonymous with breast cancer and many men don’t believe they have breast tissue.

Men certainly have less breast tissue than women, which translates to a much lower risk of developing breast cancer even if they have BRCA2 – but that ignores the other risks that come with mutations in this gene.

If their daughters end up inheriting this mutation, they have a 50%-85% chance of developing breast cancer by the age of 70
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And it’s not just about how this gene mutation affects women. Male BRCA2 mutation carriers are twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime than non-carriers, according to one recent study. In fact, 12% of men with metastatic prostate cancer carry a BRCA mutation, which is a higher rate than the percentage of women with breast cancer who carry a BRCA mutation. And prostate cancer in BRCA2 gene mutation carriers is often much more aggressive.

Continuing the Journey into Chinese Medicine

For my Great grandparents ancient Chinese medicine was an alternative when the regular doctors were unsuccessful in treating a condition. American Medical Association was unable to close Doc Hay's practice.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6yId_j75Nw]

The Chinese were part of the fabric of the Oregon before my relatives migrated from the eastern states and Europe. The anti-Chinese sentiment being fostered the last few years is reminiscent of some of the darker times of our local and national history. The push to decouple our economy from China feels like preparation a slow progression to war.

Small groups of Cantonese-Chinese miners, who arrived in Oregon Territory in 1850-1853, represented the first Chinese migration beyond northern California, the earliest and primary location of Cantonese-Chinese settlement in America (1850-1860). In the early 1850s, these miners and a handful of merchants settled in two different but widely separated parts of Oregon Territory.
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The Cantonese-Chinese presence is best characterized as that of a pioneer community, which embraced a small population of highly mobile miners and merchants who moved about in response to opportunities to mine for gold or to "mine the miners" (both Chinese and white). Conditions were not conducive for the formation of permanent ethnic Cantonese-Chinese communities in Oregon.
....
From 1870 to 1885, a rapid acceleration and expansion of the anti-Chinese movement took place in Oregon, paralleling similar developments elsewhere in the American West. A decade earlier, a nascent anti-Chinese movement in the state had produced isolated instances of ridicule and harassment, and local anti-Chinese ordinances had been designed to put the Chinese in their place, as outsiders. In the 1870s, the movement gained strength as state labor and political leaders called for both the expulsion of Chinese residents and the exclusion of future Chinese from Oregon.

As late as the mid-1880s, expulsion efforts included the burning of two large buildings in Portland's Chinatown and the raid by eighty masked men on Chinese woodcutters' camps near Albina, with the Chinese there being shipped to Portland. The anti-Chinese club in Portland sponsored rallies with speeches, fundraising, brass bands, and dancing. In 1885, about five hundred Chinese were ejected from Tacoma, Washington, and many were sent by rail to Portland, creating further tensions in the city.

The most notorious incident occurred in 1887, when a small group of white men massacred thirty-four Chinese miners in Hells Canyon in Wallowa County. The injury and ejection of Chinese in Oregon and throughout the West helped usher in Chinese exclusion.
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In Oregon, the period 1882-1943 is known as the Exclusion Era. During this period, as a practical matter Chinese could not legally enter the United States, and Chinese women were excludable as wives of banned Chinese laborers. Oregon also banned interracial marriage. Cantonese-Chinese men in America had several options: (1) remain celibate; (2) engage prostitutes; or (3) seek out common-law marriages or consensual arrangements with black, Native American, Hispanic, or white women. During this time, Chinese were ineligible for naturalization on the basis of a 1789 law that limited naturalization to white immigrants. Additionally, Chinese were discriminated against in housing; banned from attending public schools, entering professions, and serving on juries; and not allowed to vote or hold office.
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If exclusion and the Great Depression made daily life difficult for the Chinese in Oregon, World War II and the end of exclusion reversed things. The older sojourner generation declined, as many retired, returned to China, or died. Oregon's increasing numbers of Chinese were either American-born Chinese (ABC), whose numbers increased dramatically between 1940 and 1970, or emigrants to Oregon from California and elsewhere. These Cantonese-Chinese, as Chinese Americans, were culturally assimilated, having either been born, raised, and educated in America or immigrated (legally and illegally) in their youth. Their experiences and identifications led them to successfully compete in both classrooms and the job market.

Among the foreign-born Cantonese, a significant number had served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, and as veterans they were allowed to send for or otherwise obtain Cantonese-Chinese wives. Scores of Chinese in Oregon began to relocate beyond Portland’s Chinatown, living and working in mainstream white society. In Portland and other urban communities, these Chinese were viewed in a positive way. They worked hard and were friendly, law-abiding citizens who paid their taxes and did not get involved in anti-social behavior (e.g., their children were well behaved and excellent students). They also spoke English well and had nice homes and cars. In this way, the Chinese in Oregon transitioned from being viewed as undesirable foreigners to admired fellow Americans.
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After 1980, many Chinese immigrants were not Cantonese, but were Chinese from Taiwan, Burma, Singapore and Malaysia, and Indochina (Vietnamese Chinese, Cambodian Chinese). After the later 1980s, there appeared a growing number of Chinese immigrants from Mainland China. In this way, Min speakers from Fujian, Wu speakers from Shanghai and elsewhere in the lower Yangtze, and Mandarin speakers from northern and southwest China settled in growing numbers in America. These groups are well represented among the Chinese in Oregon since 1990.

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mimi's picture

[video:https://youtu.be/t_yc5J_7-uc]
Joe Biden Dropping out of Democratic Primary To Enable Clinton's Campaign in 2020

I can't and don't want to evaluate H.A. Goodman. Just FYI.

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mimi's picture

@mimi Biden Investigations Begin as GOP Senators Demand Hunter's Financial Records and Travel Docs
[video:https://youtu.be/QqGK4S26keA]

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mimi's picture

Body Cam Shows Brutal Arrest of Man for Exercising 1st Amendment Rights
[video:https://youtu.be/BHsfpGzTGI8]
Please watch the whole video. It's horrifying.

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mimi's picture

[video:https://youtu.be/zkZevtzyp-E]

"A Chinese doctor, among the first to raise the alert about China's new coronavirus, himself died from the pathogen on Friday, emphasizing the depth of a worsening crisis that has killed at least 630 people."

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studentofearth's picture

@mimi The first ones to cry out there is a problem are often not listened to until "proof" by authorities is verified. United States is now doing low level quarantines. Japan is being much stricter with the infected cruise ship entering their population. Some of our higher income citizens have been caught up in the quarantine.

The couple are members of an organization called Medjet, which, she said, “promises evacuation in these situations, including pandemics. Their crisis management team is on the case but they claim that they cannot get permission to remove us, from the Japanese government or the American government. They do say most of the problem is with the Japanese and their insistence on a 14-day quarantine.”

Courter warned that “if people who have been evacuated from the ship start dying or more people come down with a virus, it will have worldwide implications – not the least of which is people refusing to come to Japan for the Olympics” later this year.

“It would be much more prudent for the Japanese to allow people like us with private evacuation insurance to leave the country under quarantine and hazmat procedures. We have several hospitals which are willing to accept us in quarantine in the United States. We have taken our temperature and have no symptoms and are considered healthy. We are also taking Tamiflu prophylactically.”

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Morning all. Thanks to SoE for the associations made with regards to spiritual, mental and physical health. It is indeed a package deal. Like you, mental clarity, joint flexibility and balance are frequent focus points in this aging shell.

The deleterious effects of external factors, such as mis-information, hateful rhetoric, tyrannical and greed based forces is creating an unhealthy environment for both mind and spirit, hence body.

The Rx seems to be a combination of turning focus within to a healthy presence and abandoning beliefs in the bombardment of propaganda. Creative substitutes for the mind to entertain.

Your idea of social connections is also good. Maintaining a positive fluid in our community helps to wash away the blockages of free sharing of healthy alternatives.

m goi
xie xie
u de
gum xia
do xia

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studentofearth's picture

@QMS worth the effort to maintain.

Confucius evidently considered the Duke of Zhou to be a social connection for him. He modeled his moral compass on writings and actions by the Duke and considered him a contemporary teacher.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

mimi's picture

UN Rapporteur: Assange shows 'signs of psychological torture'
[video:https://youtu.be/RLrK1yAajJs]

Senior German politicians are launching an appeal to have WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released from jail in Britain. Former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel is among more than 130 public figures who say they want the UK to follow the advice of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to release Assange on medical grounds. The founder of Wikileaks - which publishes news leaks and classified material - is in a high-security British prison awaiting extradition to the US on spying charges. He'd previously evaded capture by taking diplomatic refuge.

They make an example of him to warn other investigative journalists to dare to say ANYTHING. NO respect for any of the countries directly involved.

Crying ...

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mimi's picture

Exxon to Congress: Lift Cyprus Arms Embargo, There’s Gas Nearby
[video:https://youtu.be/oZkN-GghYAE]

TRNN's Steve Horn and The Intercept's Lee Fang say a bill to lift the arms embargo on Cyprus and promote offshore gas in the region received lobbying support from ExxonMobil, and the pro-Israel and pro-Greece lobbies.

The article to go with this:
ExxonMobil Got Congress to Trade Arms for Offshore Gas

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studentofearth's picture

@mimi if it benefits the Empire's goal of world control.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

lotlizard's picture

“If there is hope,” wrote Winston, “it lies in the proles deplorables.”

If there was hope, it MUST lie in the proles deplorables, because only there in those swarming disregarded masses, 85 per cent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. The Party could not be overthrown from within. Its enemies, if it had any enemies, had no way of coming together or even of identifying one another. Even if the legendary Brotherhood existed, as just possibly it might, it was inconceivable that its members could ever assemble in larger numbers than twos and threes. Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflexion of the voice, at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles deplorables, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it? And yet…!

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edg's picture

I fell and blew out my right rotator cuff and bicep 3 years ago. No health insurance, so of course I didn't see a doctor about it and it took forever to improve. The dang thing is still not fully healed and still hurts, but I was finally able to resume weight training and exercising. I'm weak as a kitten but slowly making progress.

This December I can start Medicare and finally get a few things checked out that I've been putting off for over a decade. Most worrisome is my heart. I had a valve "failure to close" problem diagnosed many years ago but never followed up on it. Doesn't affect me much -- just limits my max heart rate to 92 bpm, which means I get exhausted pretty quickly during physical activity.

Next thing is getting my weight down a bunch. With exercise, that's easier than dieting alone, and I hope to make good progress soon.

My goal is to be in as good a shape as possible for my 50th high school reunion in 2023. Motivation helps in all things in life.

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@edg
Just get a real Medicare supplement when you get Medicare. OFC, Medicare should not need a supplement...

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

studentofearth's picture

@edg Good to have motivation. Those years before Medicare eligibility can be long. Glad you are almost to the finish line and can get your heart condition evaluated.

Bob and Brad physical therapy videos are entertaining and informative. If you have not seen them they might be helpful.
(5:49 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QjW-iE8NOA]
(12:08 min)
[video:https://youtu.be/b7lqYyQVPhw?t=16]

If you are interested in trying a Qigong sequence 8 Piece Brocade sitting and standing sequences developed by a Chinese general about 1000 years ago for his injured soldiers might be a good place to start. If there is not a local teacher I usually refer to Dr Jwing-Ming Yang and YMAA publishing. He explains theory and technique, plus does not try to have you do hyper extend forms that can cause injury. Sitting and Standing, also multiple videos on youtube. Heart rate can be kept down by going slow and only 1 to 2 repetitions to begin.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Anja Geitz's picture

Reminded me of that saying about how even when things change they still stay the same. Being "different" seems to breed the worst instincts in people. Whether it's racial, religious, cultural, or gender, those who are different have had to endure the kind of censure and violence one usually reserves for enemy combatants. And yet, in many cases they flourished despite the hostility. My question is how? How does someone deemed insufficiently tolerable prevail over such a hostile environment?

A little OT, but still related, a few years ago I was watching a special about the "Wild West" and the Chinese immigrants building the railroad. What was particularly interesting were the Chinese immigrants who provided services to those immigrants and eventually built businesses of their own. Chinese food and Chinese restaurants has an interesting history in America. As with all things related to food, it becomes a gateway for intermingling of cultures and goodwill. And who doesn't like a good meal of Chinese Dim Sum?

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

@Anja Geitz
restaurants are like Chinese restaurants here. We were working on Devon Avenue in Chicago which is like Little Mumbai. I didn't care for the meat dishes much but the all vegetable dishes were very good except WAY too much pepper! I have eaten home cooked Chinese food and loved that. Two of my grandson's classmates (from kindergarten) were twin brothers whose parents owned a Schezuan (sic?) restaurant. A few years later he wanted jalapeno's slathered all over his Subway sandwiches. And around here you can hardly avoid avocado on everything.
Everyone knows pizza and spaghetti. Food is the international language.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

lotlizard's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness  
四川(省) Sìchuān (Shěng) — Sichuan (Province)

| ˈsɪˈtʃwɑn |
a province of west central China; capital, Chengdu.

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studentofearth's picture

@lotlizard A major part of my confusion reading and watching films about China is the periodic spelling updates and name changes. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize Xi'an was located at the same geographical location as the historical capital Chang'an.

Noticed I could go online and buy Szechuan and Sichuan peppers for cooking. Ah the spell checker is trying to switch Szechuan to Sichuan. I may not know the difference but the speller is aware.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

@Anja Geitz
Used to get a kick out of seeing the combo
in the southwestern states.
Egg rolls and burritos.

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studentofearth's picture

@Anja Geitz amazes me.

Food is my favorite place to start understanding a culture. Plus how it has influenced the world. In James Beard's autobiography he credited his childhood years in Portland, Oregon where he spent hours in the kitchen with the Chinese cook fostering his love of food and cooking.

You might find this interesting on indigenous food. In the eighties when I did some work at the local Indian Health Services there were studies going on in the Nevada tribal area using historic native diets to combat the high incidence of type II diabetes. Somehow the food programs got stopped.
[video:https://youtu.be/loRoy608LWA?t=302]

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2 users have voted.

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

mhagle's picture

I enjoyed it all.

Don't have much to add. This morning made chicken noodle soup from yesterday's left-overs and homemade noodles. Rosemary from the garden.

BTW. It snowed here yesterday. Only time this year. Beautiful.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

studentofearth's picture

@mhagle

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.