Dr George Leow

Understand Personality through Graphology

2009-12-04T19:50:00.000+08:00

Understand Personality through Graphology

Dr Leow Chee Seng,

Regional Director of British Institute of Homeopathy (BIH)

MMIM, MIMM, CAHRP, Certified Stress Management Consultant, USA, Fellow of BIH (UK)

Understand a person personality through handwriting? It seems impossible but it does. Personality inventory can be catagoriesed to projective and non projective (Kathleen, 1978). Projective personality inventory uses pictures or diagrams to capture response from the respondent. Hence, this method is a subjective form of personality inventory. Graphology is a projective personality test.

What is graphology?

Graphology or handwriting analysis is a science of interpreting a person's character from his/her personal handwriting. The term graphology comes from two Greek words that mean to learn something about writing and the inferring of character or aptitude from it. Think of handwriting as a type of EEG (brain wave recording) of personality. In fact, some handwriting analysts describe “brainwriting” could be a more descriptive term than handwriting analysis. Graphology can analyze a person's personality without the person’s knowledge that he is being analyzed. Through this method we can reduce the possibility of inaccuracies due to conscious or unconscious effort by the subject to affect the result. Distortion of the result due to the subject's knowledge that he is being analyzed is common in most common of personality analysis tools.

The Strength of Graphology?

It is interesting what your handwriting is able to tell you. Graphology is used wide in varied application. The common usage of graphology is application in vocational guidance. While graphology cannot point to a specific career on the basis of a handwriting sample, it can certainly point someone in the right direction, or away from the wrong direction, based on personality, abilities and inclinations.

Besides vocational guidance, a handwriting analysis of both partners can confirm compatibilities, point out potential trouble spots and help the couple to understand and accept each other’s weaker points. On the other hand, teachers often find they can bring out better behavior in problem students.

People who investigate genealogy have used the service of graphologists to help them better understand their ancestors through an analysis of their handwriting. Graphologist can track clients’ progress in therapy, and some law enforcement agencies use handwriting analysis to determine dangerousness in suspect, as well as truthfulness of victim and witness statements.

Recently, graphology is being used increasingly by employees or assessment centre to help in personnel selection. It is especially used at the short-list stage and to small business. Small company, in particular, need to avoid friction and personality clashes between staff as well as getting the right person for the right job. Some candidates are better at interviews than at their job while other blow their chances through nervousness. A handwriting analysis can give a more complete picture.

Practical Graphology

In practical, it's better to use graphology to analyze the handwriting of a pure untainted subject , rather than to put the subject under unnatural stress of a long questionnaire. Furthermore, a single personality questionnaire may reveal a single dimension of personality. However, with two handwriting samples of the same person at different occasion may reveals different behaviour characteristics.

In fact, handwriting analysis is an art. Each graphologist uses different style to analyse. I have designed my own worksheet to help me to complete my handwriting analysis. In fact, there are a lot of computer programs that offer the same service. However, I strongly believe, handwriting analysis is an art that needs human interpretation.

Worksheet of analysis

1. Regularity	11. Punctuation	21. Form of letters
2. Rhythm	12. Spacing between words	22. Speed
3. Size	13. Spacing between lines	23. Signature and underscore
4. Zones	14. Direction of the lines	24. “I”- dots and “t” bars
5. Connection, degree of connection, form of	15. Fullness and leanness	25. Personal pronoun I
6. Horizontal tension	16, Width of letters	26. Form level
7. Shading	17. Covering strokes	27. Reliability factors (if applicable)
8. Slant	18. Leftward and rightward tendencies	28. Tension and release (stress factors)
9. Pressure	19. Initial strokes	29. Degree of attention (deals with any characteristics that are not covered in the general worksheet. Eg: stimulus words, symbols, envelop if different from general spacing)
10. Margins	20. Terminal strokes	30. The analysis

Limitation of handwriting analysis

It is important to identify the limitation of handwriting analysis to avoid unrealistic expectations during analysis. From the handwriting analysis, we would not be able to determine the age or gender of the writer. What it actually does is to indicate masculine and femine influence which is present in both sexes. It reveals maturity rather than actual chronological age. Nor can graphology predict happenings and future events. From graphology, we can point to a person’s potential that needs to be brought out once they are made aware of it.

Get closer to Homeopathy

2009-12-04T19:45:00.000+08:00

Get closer to Homeopathy

Dr Leow Chee Seng

Fellow of British Institute of Homeopathy,

Regional Director of British Institute of Homeopathy.

The media often refer to particular disease as being “incurable”, yet a lot of homeopaths are often consulted by patients who have those very same conditions, and who are well on the way to recovery once they have started homeopathic treatment. It is so sad that people do not realize homeopathy could help them and that they do not have to put up with so much unnecessary suffering. It is quite surprising how little people know about homeopathy. There are misunderstanding concepts that people think it is similar to herbalism or to do with nutrition and diet; sadly some other are simply dismissive or condescending about it without actually knowing what it is; and others think it is only suitable for minor ailments and that it is essential to take the “right” medicine for something serious. All such ideas are totally incorrect and invariably occur when people know little or nothing about homeopathy or its philosophy.

Needs of homeopathy

Homeopathy has been used since the late 18^th century to treat a variety of conditions. A 1999 BBC telephone survey reported that 17% of a random selection of 1204 adults in Britain had used homeopathy in the previous year.

People tend to turn to homoeopathy or other alternative therapies because they have tried orthodox medicine and it has either failed them completely or they have had to cope with unpleasant or serious side effects from the drugs. Others have felt tired and below par for many years (symptoms which often precede more serious conditions) but, despite many tests and sometimes unpleasant investigations, it has not been possible for a diagnosis to be made for them. Since homoeopathy treats the individual as a whole, rather than just the disease, it is possible to treat people successfully who are feeling very unwell, in pain, or with unpleasant symptoms, but for whom there is as yet no orthodox diagnosis. In this way homoeopathy can prevent the onset of many serious conditions. Many things contribute to disease: the toxic load we acquire through daily life, weaknesses and tendencies towards certain diseases which we may inherit, and all sorts of stresses both emotional and physical — all these result in the body’s natural healing powers failing; the body runs out of the energy to heal itself and the homoeopathic remedy acts as a stimulus which boosts this energy and so assists in the healing process.

Definition of homeopathy

The word “homeopathy” is derived from two Greek words: “homoios” which means SIMILAR and “pathos” which means SUFFERING. Homeopathy’s basic premise is called the “principle of similars,” and it refers to recurrent observation and experience that a medicinal substance will elicit a healing response for the specific syndrome of symptoms (or suffering) that it has been proven to cause when given to healthy people in overdose.

Homoeopathic remedies are made in a very special way which involves giving only a very minute dose of the substance. This means that the remedies are not addictive, and do not have side effects.

Principle of homeopathy

The beauty of the principle of similars is that it not only initiates a healing response, but it encourages a respect for the body's wisdom. Because symptoms represent the best efforts of our body in its defenses against infection or stress, it makes sense to utilize a medicine that helps and mimics this defense rather than that inhibits or suppresses it. The principle of similars may be one of nature's laws that, when used well, can be one of our most sophisticated healing strategies.

It is important to note that immunizations and allergy treatments are two of the very few applications in modern medicine today that actually stimulate the body’s own defenses in the prevention or treatment of specific diseases, and it is NOT simply a coincidence that both of these treatments are derived from the homeopathic principle of similars.

How does Homeopathy works?

The human body is truly amazing! It possesses the capability to heal itself in many situations. Even long-standing complaints can be reversed once the body knows how to heal itself.

This is a very important concept to grasp. The homeopathic remedy does not itself cure sickness or alleviate symptoms. The remedy tells the vital force what is wrong and empowers the vital force to do something about it!

Homeopathy is based on the notion of treating like with like i.e. a substance that can cause certain symptoms can also be used to resolve similar symptoms. Patients are treated with very low dose preparations of substances, which produce symptoms similar to those experienced by the patient. Patients’ symptoms are then monitored, and treatment is adjusted accordingly. As a result treatment is highly individualised and will vary from patient to patient and also between practitioners.

Conditions that are commonly treated with homeopathy include the following:

· where there is no known diagnosis and tests are normal but the patient feels unwell

· chronic conditions where there may be poor prognosis without sufficiently effective treatments

· conditions where drug treatments are poorly tolerated or contra-indicated

· those who suffer from repeated episodes of acute illnesses

Now, there are two organisations in Malaysia that provide information and promote homeopathy practice, British Institute of Homeopathy, Malaysia Regional Office and The Faculty of Homeopathy Malaysia.

Negative Impact for Being Unhappy

2009-12-04T19:44:00.001+08:00

Negative Impact for Being Unhappy

Dr Leow Chee Seng

Senior consultant, Yale Consultancy Sdn Bnd

“Why should we feel sad? How many ten years do we have in our life?”

It is hard to define the term happiness. In general, happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. A variety of philosophical, religious, psychological and biological approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.

Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this older sense was used to translate the Greek Eudemonia, and is still used in virtue ethics.

While direct measurement of happiness presents challenges, tools such as The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire have been developed by researchers. Positive psychology researchers use theoretical models that include describing happiness as consisting of positive emotions and positive activities, or that describe three kinds of happiness: pleasure, engagement, and meaning.

Research has identified a number of attributes that correlate with happiness: relationships and social interaction, extraversion, marital status, employment, health, democratic freedom, optimism, religious involvement, income and proximity to other happy people.

In fact, the association between unhappiness and disease is not a new one. In fact, this relationship bas been held to be intuitively valid for ages. In the event of perceived sadness, organs that are innervated by neural tissue or acted upon by the excessive secretion of stress hormones increase their metabolic rates. When denied the ability to rest, organs may begin to dysfunction, much like a car engine that overheats on a very hot day. Several states of disease and illness first appear as stress-related symptoms which, if undetected or untreated, may result in serious health problems. The following are descriptions of the more common ones.

Bronchial asthma is an illness in which a pronounced secretion of bronchial fluids causes a swelling of the smooth-muscle tissue of the large air passage ways (bronchi). The constriction of these passages produces a choking effect, where the individual feels as if he or she cannot breathe. Asthmatic attacks can be severe enough to send someone to the hospital and, in some cases are even fatal. Several studies have linked the onset of asthmatic attacks with anxiety; others have linked it with an overprotective childhood. Currently drugs (e.g.. prednisone) are the first method of treatment. However, relaxation techniques, including mental imagery, autogenic training, and meditation, may be just as effective in both delaying the onset and reducing the severity of these attacks.

Tension headaches. Tension headaches are produced by sympathetic-mediated contractions of muscles of the forehead, eyes, neck, and jaw. Tension usually builds as the parasympathetic inhibition of muscular contraction gives way to sympathetic drive, increasing the state of muscular contraction. Increased pain results from increased contraction of these muscles. Lower back pain can also result from the same process. Although pain relievers such as aspirin are the most common source of relief, tension headaches have also been shown to dissipate with the use of meditation, mental imagery, and biofeedback.

Migraine headaches. Unlike a tension headache, which is produced by nervous tension in the facial muscles, a migraine headache is a vascular headache. The word migraine literally means “half a skull,” and usually when a migraine occurs, the sensation of pain occupies either the right or left side of the head but not both. Migraines are thought to be the result of a sympathetic response to the baroreceptors of the carotid artery, which undergo a rapid constriction (prodrome) followed by a rapid dilation. During the dilation phase, blood quickly moves in from the periphery to flood the cerebral vasculature. The change in vascular pressure combined with humoral secretions is considered the cause of the intense pain so often associated with migraines. Symptoms can include a flash of light followed by intense throbbing, dizziness, and nausea. It is interesting to note that migraines do not occur in the midst of a stressor, but rather hours later. Migraines are thought to be related to the inability to express anger and frustration. Although several medications are prescribed for migraines, current research indicates that biofeedback and mental imagery can be equally effective, with fewer side effects.

Temporornandibular joint dysfunction. Excessive contraction of the jaw muscles can lead to a phenomenon called temporomandibular joint dysfunction or TMJ. In many cases, people are unaware that they have this illness because it occurs during sleep. But when they make a trip to the dentist, they find that they are showing signs of clenching and grinding their teeth (bruxism). Other symptoms include muscle pain, clicking or popping sounds when chewing, as well as tension headaches and earaches. Like migraines, TMJ is often associated with the inability to express feelings of anger. However, there are other behaviors which are also associated with this symptom, including excessive gum chewing, resting one’s chin on a hand, even nail biting. Severe cases require that a mouth brace be worn at night. Relaxation techniques, including biofeedback and progressive muscular relaxation, have been shown to be effective in decreasing the muscular tension associated with TMJ.

Irritable bowel syndrome. lBS is characterized by repeated bouts of abdominal pain or tenderness, cramps, diarrhea, nausea, constipation, and excessive flatulence. It is often considered a result of excessive sympathetic neural stimulation to one or more areas of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. While symptoms may vary from person to person, this stress—related disorder is most commonly associated with anxiety and depression. One reason why lBS is considered so closely related to stress is that -the hypothalamus, which controls appetite regulation (hunger and satiety), is closely associated with emotional regulation as well. Various diets and medications may be prescribed, depending on the nature of the symptoms. Several recent studies have employed various types of relaxation and cognitive skills, including thermal biofeedback, progressive muscular relaxation, mental imagery, cognitive reappraisal, and behavioral modification

Our lives are filled with one blessing after another. Sometimes it’s easy to take them for granted. Here are some ways to be a thankful person and stay happily. First, Begin each day with a ‘gratitude moment.’ “Gratitude is born in hearts that take time to count up past mercies,” noted Charles Edward Jefferson. Every day when you first rise, make time to reflect on the blessings in your life and express thanks. Besides, Offer gratitude throughout the day. First thing, in your day, write down things you’re thankful for. Then throughout the day, think about those things. It will make you happy. On the other hand, express your appreciation. People are quick to call in with a complaint but not as many people take the time to express appreciation. Yet, a verbal or written expression of thanks delivers a blessing to the one receiving it as well as the one giving thanks.

To sum up, we should be happy every day. We would not be able to know when we will leave this die. Enjoy every moment in our life and appreciate everything next to us. Appreciation is one of the important elements in our life. We are living in a uncertainty and full of challenging world. We could not predict what would happen in our life every day. Do appreciate whoever next to you. Close your eyes for a few seconds. Try to feel whatever is next to you. You will feel that everything in this world is transforming. Try to appreciate others strength and not only looking in the weakness. You will be more appreciating if u follow it...... Individual in this society can be described as molecules in atmosphere. Some molecules are bonded with strong electrostatic bond but some are bonded with weak Van Der Waals forces. Perhaps you should close your eyes and feel what is next to you. Actually, you will find everything around is transforming. This can be explained by using triple point of phase diagram where solids, liquids and gases reach equilibrium. In short, happy to get know all of you may god wish our bond and relationship to be everlasting.

ABC of Anxiety Disorder: Panic Disorder

2009-10-04T00:43:00.002+08:00

ABC of Anxiety Disorder: Panic Disorder

By Dr Leow Chee Seng

Consultant,

Fellow of British Institute of Homeopathy (UK),

Certified Stress Management Consultant (IACT, USA),

We become anxious from time to time. For example, meeting with important person, changing a new job, concern over a new relationship creates anxiety. A person’s anxieties are about the future, whether long-term concerns about a new career.

The terms fears and anxiety is commonly used interchangeable. However, fear refers to an innate, almost biological based alarm response to a dangerous or life-threatening situation. Anxiety, in contrast, is more future oriented and global. The term anxiety is inordinately apprehensive, tense, and uneasy about the prospect of something terrible happening. Anxiety becomes clinically concern when it interferes with the ability to function in daily life, when a person enters a maladaptive state characterized by extreme physical and psychological reactions.

Referring to Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-IV-TR), panic disorder occurs in context of several disorders in this section, criteria sets for a panic attack is listed separately at the beginning.

Diagnostic features of panic attack

A panic attack is a period of intense fear or discomfort, during which a person experiences four or more of the following symptoms, which develop abruptly and reach a peak within 10 minutes:

· palpitations. pounding heart. or accelerated heart rate

· sweating
· trembling or shaking
· sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
· feeling of choking
· chest pain or discomfort
· nausea or abdominal distress
· feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded. or faint
· derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from
· oneself)
· fear of losing control or going crazy
· fear of dying
· paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations)
· chills or hot flushes (Reference: DSM-IV-TR)

Type of panic attack

There are three categories of panic attack mainly, unexpected panic attack, situational bound panic attack and situational predisposed panic attack. For unexpected panic attack, there is no situational cue or trigger. The second type of panic attack, situational bound panic attack occurs where a person has a tendency to have a panic attack in the situation but does not have one every time. For example, when one of my friends hears an ambulance siren, he begins to experience the symptoms of a panic attack. She could not work in a hospital especially in accident and emergency department. So, she finally settled herself in the area of public health. The last category of panic attack is situational predisposed panic attack where a person will have situational panic attack but not every time.

Biological Perspective

In trying to understand the cause and strategy to fight panic disorder, we should discuss both biological prospective and psychological prospective. However, in this article, I will focus more on psychological perspective.

In biological prospective, panic attack is associated with excess of noreponephrine in the amygdala, a structure in limbic system involved in fear. Besides, the disorder derives from defect in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter with inhibitory effects on neurons.

According to anxiety sensitivity theory, people with panic disorder tend to interpret cognitive and somatic manifestation of stress and anxiety in a catastrophic manner. For example, they feel that they cannot breathe even others feel the situation is normal. This false alarm mechanism causes the person to hyperventilate and the person is thrown to a panic state.

Psychological perspective

Turning to psychological perspective, we focus on conditioned fear reactions as contributing to the development of panic attacks. This person relates bodily sensation with memories with the last attack, causing a full-brown panic attack to develop even before measurable biological changes have occurred. Over time, the individual begins to have panic attack before it happens.

David Barlow and his colleagues proposed in a cognitive-behavioural model that anxiety becomes an unmanageable problem for an individual through the development of vicious cycle. The diagram shows the cycle of panic attack.

Stress management techniques help in treatment of panic disorder. In this approach, the client learns systematically to alternative tensing and relaxation muscle all over the body, starting from forehead down to the feet. After stress management techniques, the client should be able to relax the whole body when confronting feared situation.

However, I like to use panic control therapy (PCT) developed by Barlow and his colleagues. This technique consists of cognitive restructuring, the development of an awareness of bodily cues associated with panic attacks, and breathing retraining. I found that clients treated with PCT show marked improvement, at levels comparable to improvement shown by clients treated with antianxiety medication. I would propose combination of both antianxiety medication and PCT should give a marked improve among clients.

During my training in counselling and psychotherapy, Prof Malik Badri, Professor of Psychology, Fellow of International Islamic University Malaysia explained that more comprehensive interventions involving cognitive techniques. He recommended in vivo exposure when treating individual with panic disorder, especially with those with agoraphobia. He taught me the use of graduated exposure, a procedure in which clients expose themselves to increasing greater anxiety-provoking situation. For example, Mr X finds visiting to large shopping malls to be emotionally overshelming. I would recommend that his exposure to stressful environments begin with a small shop in which he feels safe and relatively anxiety free. Step-by-step, Mr X would progress to environments that are higher list of anxiety provoking settings.

I have just completed attending training in conterconditioning. This technique is used to treat hyperventilation, a common symptom in panic attacks. In this approach, the client hyperventilates intentionally and begins slow breathing, a response that is incompatible with hyperventilation. In this training, the client can begin the slow breathing at the first signs of hyperventilation. Hence, the clients learn that it is possible to exert voluntary control over hyperventilation.

If the recommended psychological approach does not able to control anxiety of a person, the use of medication can help alleviate symptoms, with the most commonly prescribed being antianxiety and antidepresant medication.

Prevention is better than cure: Breast Cancer

2009-10-04T00:37:00.000+08:00

Prevention is better than cure: Breast Cancer

By Dr Leow Chee Seng

Consultant,

Fellow of British Institute of Homeopathy (UK),

Certified Stress Management Consultant (IACT, USA),

Epidemiology of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and is the most common cancer among women. Various health promotion programs have been conducted to create awareness among citizen because breast cancer has been the second leading cause of cancer admission in Ministry of Health hospitals. Now, breast cancer falls on the fourth place in terms of cancer deaths accounting for 6-8% of all cancer death. (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2005). Another research conducted by Penang Cancer Registry reported that the incidence of Breast cancer in Malaysia was estimated 34.0 per 100, 000 population and at least 3,500 cases annually.

Factors of Breast Cancer

Dr K McPherson has published an article, “ABC of breast diseases” in British Medical Journal. In his article, a few factors that affect the risk of having breast cancer include:

· The later the age of the first menstrual cycle, the lower the risk.

· Full-term pregnancy at an early age lowers the risk

· Being overweight increases the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer.

· Use of hormone replacement therapy increases the risk, but this increase in risk has been reported to disappear shortly after hormone use is discontinued.

· Being older at the time of the last menstrual cycle confers a higher risk compared with women who have had their last menstrual cycle at a younger age.

· Use of oral contraceptive increases risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.

Dietary Therapy

Several clinical researches have proven that women who drink alcohol have a higher risk of breast cancer compared with teetotalers. Alcohol increases level of estrogen that stimulates the increase of the risk. For drinkers with low intake of folic acid had a 32% increase risk of breast cancer as compared with nondrinkers. Folic acids supplement is useful among women who drink alcohol because folic acids are able to reverse the damaging effect alcohol on DNA. A research concluded that supplement of at least 600mcg per day was associated with a 43% reduction of risk factor of breast cancer. However, the supplementary of folic acids must not be taken by cancer patients who are taking chemotherapy drug methotrexate.

Insoluble fiber from grains helps reducing breast cancer among young women. Fiber lowers estrogen levels in premenopausal women but not in postmenopausal women. Phytate, an active component in fiber and isoflavones provide protection in the absence of a decrease in estrogen levels. In practice, switching from white rice to brown rice from bakery goods made with white flour or mixed flours to 100% whole wheat bread, whole rye crackers and whole grain pancake mixes.

I encountered a patient that was diagnosed with last stage of breast cancer. The oncologist told the patient to enjoy her last 6 months in her life. She was depressed. I advised her to shift from normal diet to vegetarian diet. Besides, I advise her to steam all organic vegetable without salt and oil during food preparation. Surprisingly, after seven years, I was able to meet her and have a wonderful dinner with her. Female vegetarians have been reported to have lower estrogen levels compared with meat-eating women.

In addition, tomatoes help reduction of risk factor of breast cancer. Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant that is similar to beta-carotene. Lycopene is able to inhibit proliferation of cancer cells. Higher intake of tomatoes intake of tomatoes reduces risk of variety of cancers in 57 of 72 studies. Besides, tomatoes also improve condition of prostate and lung cancer.

Onion and garlic are rich sources of the potent anti-cancer bioflavonoid quercetin. One onion daily inhibits malignant cell growth, and cooking does not destroy the effectiveness of quercetin. Garlic also contains large quantities of antiviral, antibiotics, and antifungal/anti-yeast compounds such as allicin. Thus it is useful in the treatment of breast cancer with concurrent candida proliferation. Garlic compounds also appear to be effective against leukemia.

On the other hand, omega-3 fatty acids rich in fish are responsible for protection against cancer. Fish eaters have low risk of breast cancer. Hence, fish oil supplement is always associated with reduction of risk factor of breast cancer. Besides, olive oil consumption is able to reduce risk factor of breast cancer. As a strategy of cancer prevention, I would recommend you to take a dressing of salads with olive oil, a little wine vinegar three times a week. Vinegar stimulates qi flow, which is helpful in stagnant condition.

Brassica-genus vegetables such as cabbage, turnip, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts have been recommended in general by the National Cancer Institute for cancer prevention. These contain dithiolthiones, a group of compounds which have anti-cancer, antioxidant properties; indoles, substances which protect against breast cancer; and sulphur, which has antibiotics and antiviral characteristics. The family of vegetables also mildly stimulates the liver and other tissues out of stagnancy. Cabbage and its juice are particularly useful because they help clear mental depression.

Method of meat preparation is directly associated with risk factor of breast cancer. Well-done meat contains more carcinogenic materials than does lightly cooked meet. However, genetic factors may determine which women increase their risk of breast cancer by eating well-done meat.

Several researches have been conducted to determine the relationship between CoQ₁₀ enzyme and the risk factors of breast cancer. Denmark and the United States have been conducted studies to study the effects of CoQ₁₀ among 32 breast cancer patients. From the research, they found that only one patient suffered a recurrence, all were still alive. Patients continued to do well after two years of supplementation, and after three to five years, surprising improvements were reported in two patients who had had advanced disease at the beginning of the trial. Unfortunately, CoQ₁₀remains unproven as a cancer treatment.

Creating “Wow” Selling Strategies through Sun Tzu’s The Art of War

2009-07-31T17:42:00.000+08:00

Creating “Wow” Selling Strategies through Sun Tzu’s The Art of War

The English term that focuses on war is something of a mistranslation. The accurate translation is strategy. This strategy focuses on the strategy “winning without conflict” by espousing unique position in the competitive environment to discover opportunities while turning your opponents’ apparent strengths against them.

Now, businesspeople refer to The Art of War as the guidance for better decision and strategic marketing tools. The principle solidifies vague idea of a strategy into a clear, well-defined set of principle. By understand the principle of Sun Tzu, you will be intrigued by the lessons that emerge when the strategy applied to make sales.

According to Sun Tzu, think competitively is a better strategy rather than having a solid sales process. One of the success key: you present decision-makers with the best possible alternatives for investing their money. As a successful sales manager, you must think strategically in various prospective such as consumer behavior, strategic marketing, product life cycles and others. Hence, you will be able to foreseen and monitor the sales progress effectively.
Sun Tzu stated, the element to success is selecting the right battleground. In marketing, it is interpreted as sales adaptation where we have to highlight on right issues in the buying process. As a superstar salesperson, you can start by understanding your customers need rather than keep on pushing your products. If you focus on the product itself, you would end up like prescribing medicine to a patient without asking what their problems are.

The third principle of Sun Zhu is innovation and differentiation. In Sun Tzu’s terms, you must always adapt to the changes that take place on the field of battle. Innovation and differentiation are the better strategy to sustain and grow in the dynamic marketplace. Digitalization from revolutionary technology, globalization, deregulation from reshaping the economy, privatization creates the needs of innovation.

Based on Sun Tzu school of thought, you cannot success through your own action alone. Sun Tzu emphasizes that opportunity is always abundant; since every problem creates opportunity, we must identify and act fast. Strategic thinking on gaps derives from risk and crisis leads to opportunity is the major key of success. I had experience to conduct consultancy for an educational institution. I identified the opportunity to focus on training and program in the area of nutrition and food technology during the food poisoning crisis in China. This strategy enables the organisation win through customization.

The last principle of Sun Tzu focuses on knowledge and information of a person. According to Sun Tzu, victory goes to the person who is the most knowledgeable. Besides, he added, there is no substitute for knowledge. Hence, understanding and capturing all information about the products and your competitors.

The universal utility of Sun Tzu’s principles means that you can apply it in all scenarios. When exploring Sun Tzu The Art of War, you will develop more insight into Sun Tzu’s methods and apply to your own situation.

Aloe Vera: A Microscopic Review

2009-07-23T00:40:00.001+08:00

Aloe Vera: A Microscopic Review
By Dr Leow Chee Seng
Senior Consultant of Yale Consultancy Sdn Bhd
Fellow of British Institute of Homeopathy
Homeopathy Consultant

The short thorny green plants attracted my attention! This is my first experience to visit an
Aloe Vera field which was located at Johor Bahru. Sincerely appreciate my brother Kar
Leong for exposing me to a wonderful experience in the field. This experience inspires me to
further research on the little plants: Aloe Vera.

Most botanists agree, and historical evidence suggests, that the Aloe Vera plant originated in
the warm, dry climates of Africa. The very first record of the Aloe Vera plant in history was
written by Dioscorides, a famous Greek physician from the first century AD. He wrote that
Aloe Vera had the power of “inducing sleep and of thickening the body…it helps loosen the
belly and cleanses the stomach when drunk with warm milk or cold water.” By the 2nd
century AD, Aloe Vera had become indispensible to Roman physicians - the most notable of
which was Galen, the personal physician of the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Galen
was said to have drawn his knowledge from the writings of Aristotle and Hippocrates, who
had gotten their knowledge of Aloe Vera from the Indian and Egyptian “medical writers”. in
the East, Chinese physicians were already writing about how Aloe Vera helped treat sinusitis,
skin disorders, and internal problems such as convulsions in children and worm fever.
The aloe vera plants is characterized by long, hard, sword-shaped, fleshy, green leaves, with
sharp point and an array of barbed spikes on each leaf edge. Each plant can have between
twenty and thirty leaves and these leaves grow a rosette pattern straight out the ground. When
the plant blooms, its bright flowers appear on a central leafless stem high above the gelbearing.
In fact, the fresh leaf gel and latex are used for many purposes. Aloe latex is the
sticky residue left over after the liquid from cut aloe leaves has evaporated.
According to Ms Jessie Ng, of director of the aloe vera field, “Aloe vera is a veritable
treasure chest of nutritional ingredients.” I read a review by Smith and Stenhaus (1851), aloin
or anthraquinone glycosides was the principle ingredient responsible for aloe’s laxative
effects, an ever increasing number of biologically active compounds have been identified. To
date, research has proved aloe vera contain a unique spectrum of micronutrients and the
natural chemical constituents of aloe vera can be catagorised in the following main area:
• Amino acids
• Anthraquinones
• Enzymes
• Lignin
• Mono and polysaccharides
• Salicylic acdis
• Saponins
• Sterols
• Vitamins

Modern research has proven aloe vera to be beneficial for many conditions. It has been used
effectively for treatment radiation burns, skin disorders, wounds, sunburn and dermatitis.
Besides, clinical trial has proven aloe vera also help with inflammation and ulcers. Test tube
studies suggested polysaccharides, such as acemannon, help promote skin healing by anti
inflammatory, antimicrobial, and immune-stimulating actions. Aloe’s effects on the skin may
also be enhanced by its high concentration of amino acids, as well as vitamin E, vitamin C,
zinc and essential fatty acids.

Modern research found that, when applied externally, aloe vera can help to speed healing and
restore skin tissue. It also aids in healing when used externally in cases of wounds, frostbite
and burns. The healing of burns may be due to the moisturizing effect of aloe. It is easily
absorbed into the skin preventing the air from drying the damaged skin. Older case studies
reported that aloe gel applied topically could help heal radiation burns, and a small clinical
trial found it more effective than a topical petroleum jelly in treating burns. However, a large,
modern, placebo-controlled trial did not find aloe effective for treating minor burns.
In clinical, stabilized aloe gel is applied to the affected area of skin three to five times per day.
Besides, treatment of more serious burns should only be done under the supervision of a
healthcare professional. For intestine use of aloe gel, two tablespoons (30ml should be taken
three times per day) for patient with inflammatory bowel condition such as Crohn’s disease
and ulcerative colitis. Remember, the latex form of aloe should not be used by anyone with
inflammatory intestinal disease including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or appendicitis.
It is known to help increase movement in the intestine, relieve constipation, promote
menstruation and aid in digestion. Anthraquinone glycosides are split by the normal bacteria
in the large intestines to form other molecules (aglycones), which exert the laxative action.
Since aloe is such a powerful laxative, other plant laxatives such as senna or cascara are often
recommended. For constipation, a single 50 – 200 mg capsule of aloe latex can be taken each
day for a maximum of ten days. However, for people with constipation, aloe latex should not
be used for more than ten consecutive days as it may lead to dependency and fluid loss.
Extensive fluid loss may lead to depletion of important electrolytes in the body such as
potassium.

On top of that, aloe vera has been found to help in preventing the formation of kidney stones
and to help reduce the size of the stones. It can help clean, soothe and relieve pain on contact.
It rapidly penetrates through all three layers of the skin to promote healing. It contains
salicylic acid and magnesium which work together to produce as aspirin-like analgesic effect.
Two small controlled human trials have found that aloe, either alone or in combination with
the oral hypoglycemic drug, glibenclamide, effectively lowers blood sugar in people with
type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. In clinical trials, it is proven that the used of one tea
tablespoon (15ml) of aloe juice, twice daily. Treatment of diabetes with aloe should only be
done under the supervision of a qualified healthcare professional. Okyar A, et. al. (2001)
reported in Journal of Phytother Res, A. vera leaf pulp and gel extracts were ineffective on
lowering the blood sugar level of ND rats. A. vera leaf pulp extract showed hypoglycaemic
activity on IDDM and NIDDM rats, the effectiveness being enhanced for type II diabetes in
comparison with glibenclamide. On the contrary, A. vera leaf gel extract showed
hyperglycaemic activity on NIDDM rats. It may therefore be concluded that the pulps of
Aloe vera leaves devoid of the gel could be useful in the treatment of non-insulin dependent
diabetes mellitus.

Aloe vera also been used as a treatment for vital diseases such as AIDS and may help prevent
the virus from moving from one cell to the other. According to Dr. Pulse's published report in
the Journal of Advancement in Medicine: "No adverse effects attributable to the essential
fatty acid capsules where observed nor any side effects of the nutritional supplementation
powder nor of the aloe vera juice. Most patients who were symptomatic reported that within
three to five days their energy levels improved, fever disappeared, night sweats stopped,
cough decreased or stopped altogether, shortness of breath decreased, lymph nodes decreased
in size, diarrhea stopped, strength improved, and the only measurable side effect of this
particular study was weight gain, which is a desirable effect.”

Aloe Vera therefore has a complimentary role to play in the management of various
conditions. It is very important however that people should always seek the advice of their
medical professional when the diagnosis is in doubt or where a condition does not
improve. Self diagnosis can be extremely dangerous as many serious conditions can mimic
more simple ones.

Tipping the Balance Against Suicide

2009-07-23T00:37:00.003+08:00

Tipping the Balance Against Suicide
By Dr Leow Chee Seng
Senior Consultant of Yale Consultancy Sdn Bhd
Fellow of British Institute of Homeopathy
Certified Stress Management Consultant, USA

During attending lecture by Dr Maznah Baba, from University Putra Malaysia, I was exposed to various concept of mental health. According to Would Health Organisation (WHO), mental health refers to state of well-being which release his own ability and cope with normal stressors of life; can work productivity fruitfully and able to make contribution to the community. In fact, the definition is ambiguous and it depends on which angle you are interpreting it. It is impossible to know for sure if a person who seems sad or who has changed for the worse is at a real risk for suicide. Nobody can ever predict how another person will react to the more troubling or difficult things in life. Different people handle different situations in different ways - this is a fact of life no matter how old you become. But there are some clear warning signs that a friend may be in trouble and that suicide may be something they are considering.

Since suicidal wishes are a prevalent and potentially lethal problem in depressed patients, it is important for the therapies to understand why the patient is considering such a drastic action. The therapist will then be in a better position to select appropriate and effective techniques to deal with the particular problem. However, no anti-suicidal strategy is of any use unless the therapist is able to detect and assess the degree of suicidal intentionality.

Common Suicide Risk Indicators
Clues to suicide plans may be detected in overt behaviours such as secretiveness, a sudden decision to make a will, or verbal statements. A suicidal individual may say, for example, “I don’t want to go on living” or “I want to end it all.” Other statement suggestive of suicidal intent include, “I’m not going to put up with it anymore,”, “I’m a burden on anyone,” “Things will never get better,” and “My intent is indirect and may be pieced together only in retrospect. For example, I have experienced getting statement, “I guess I won’t be seeing you again” or “I want to thank you for trying so hard to help me.” For a depressed patient leaving on a weekend pass from a hospital. Or on retiring for the night, the patient may say “goodbye” instead of “goodnight”. Researchers have noted that individual tend towards suicide more than others. The characteristics associated with such at-risk adolescents include the following:

A previous suicide attempt
Suicidal gestures (cutting off one’s hair, self-inflicted cigarette burns, other abuse of self)
A tendency to be socially isolated (having no friends or only one friend)
A record of school failure or truancy
A broken home or a broken relationship with a significant other (family member, boy/girlfriend)
Talk of suicide, either one’s own or that of others
A close friend or relative who was a suicide victim
Not living at home
Preoccupation with death or dying
A recent significant loss or the anniversary of one
Sudden disruptive or violent behaviours
Being more withdrawn or uncommunicative and isolated from other than usual

The most common external causes - or more accurately, external catalysts - of suicidal behavior are bullying, peer pressure/incidents, family crisis’s and health problems. Usually these are situational in nature and have an escalating history that has led the individual to feel as if they have no other way out. In their mind the situation has reached a breaking point and they see no other way out except death, or the threat of death. When external forces become unbearable enough for a person to contemplate suicide depression of some sort is always involved. The depression causes the individual to make irrational decisions based on unstable emotions.
This type of suicidal tendency is often accompanied by “after-death” fantasies in which the now dead individual, after taking their own life, gets to view the reactions and grief of those they left behind. In these fantasies the people that have caused the psychological pain feel punished by the suicide and in their grieving they demonstrate great remorse for having driven the person to take their own life. In this type of suicide (or suicide attempt) the individual is attempting to take back control in a situation that they feel is totally outside of their control. In killing themselves they are taking back control and getting in the last word and if the real life situation has left the individual feeling totally helpless the idea of going out in control and teaching other people a lesson in the process can be strangely appealing.

Suicidal urges that are brought on by external circumstances unwanted pregnancy without a support system, abuse in the family, abuse in a relationship, sexual assault, sexual harassment, bullying, peer rejection, and romantic rejection. The individual is intrigued by the fantasy that they would be getting back at somebody who they feel has hurt them and that this somebody will see the error of their ways and feel tremendous guilt, they are often fleeting in nature and happen in a moment of extreme emotional stress, they are more likely to fail, be repeated and escalate in severity with each repeated attempt. Under these circumstances the suicide attempts are often dismissed as cries for attention, which can be a fatal mistake on the part of the people close to the suicidal individual. Since the root cause here is a deep and wounding sense of helplessness being ignored or having others dismiss the attempts as attention seeking can lead to the person successfully taking their own life. Ironically when the external causes are addressed and dealt with and the person’s sense of helplessness is overcome the suicidal urges all but disappear.

Internal causes of suicidal behavior are much more complex and harder for the average person to see than external causes. The most common internal causes of suicide or suicidal behavior are clinical depression, psychiatric disorders or chemical imbalances. Essentially all suicide attempts come down to something inside the suicidal person but those without external catalysts are often biological in nature. Severe depression, which is believed to be caused by a combination of external factors and internal chemistry, is one thing that almost every suicide or suicide attempt has in common, how that depression came to be is the only difference. Some people suffer from depression because of chemical imbalances and to outsiders their lives seem great, or at the very least average, with nothing outstanding that would indicate a reason to want to die.

Practical Tips on Balancing against suicide

It is important for friends and therapist to “play for time” until the dangerous period for suicide has passed. The strategy used to involve patient to get himself involved in the process of therapy that he decides to :stick it out” until he sees where the therapy is going. This can be done by stimulating interest in his therapeutic approach. On top on it, the therapist should maintain continuity between sessions.

Involvement of patients on the treatment plan helps to treat the decision to commit suicide as the outcome of the struggle between the patient’s wishes to live versus his wishes to die. As in a declaration of war, an irrevocable decision may be made on the basis of a margin of a single vote, as it were. Initially, therefore, the therapist’s efforts should be directed towards shifting the votes in favour of living.

Once the patient has agreed to weigh the pros and cons of suicide, the therapist would elicit “Reason for Living” and “Reason for dying.” Although patient might forget reason for living, we can guide them by asking them to think of happy moment. The next step can be done by technical aid by drawing two columns on a sheet of paper. The therapist and patent can then list reasons in favour of living that were valid in the past. The therapist proceeds to ascertain which of the “past” reasons for living are valid in the present or at the least might be valid in the future. It is interesting to note that the suicidal patient has often nullified these positive factors in his life that he has forgotten them; ignore them or discounted their value.

The therapist should also recognize that it may be quite painful for the patient to reconsider his decision to kill himself. The patient may have undergone enormous turmoil before arriving at his decision to terminate his suffering via suicide, and reopening the question may mean to him that he will have to go through another period of turmoil and prolong his plan.

Summary

When dealing with depression, hopelessness, and fear, it is difficult to know where the bad feelings end and real risk begins. If your friend exhibits two or more of these warning signs in a close period of time it is best that you try to help. This does not mean you should take the weight of their world upon your shoulders, but it does mean you should alert other people to the possible risk. Go to your other friends, your at-risk friend's family, or a trusted teacher or counsellor. Just like your friend does not have to go through a difficult time alone, you do not need to try to save your friend on your own. If you fear your friend may attempt suicide, you should get some outside help and guidance from people who are best able to get your friend the help he/she really needs.

Unbeatable Silent Killer within You “Stress” - Don’t Just Cope With It, Beat It.

2009-04-20T21:48:00.000+08:00

Dr Leow Chee Seng
Certified Stress Consultant Professional (US)
Fellow of British Institute of Homeopathy (UK)

If you were to browse through any newspapers or magazines prior to 1970, you would be hard-pressed to find the word stress in text or the headline. The stress phenomenon becomes an epidemic that the word “stress” now is used as commonly as the term “health” and “medicine”. Current estimation shows that 70 and 80 percents of all visits to physicians are for stress related disorders which the most notably chronic diseases such as coronary heart-disease and hypertension. Besides, common cold, migraine, warts, female infertility, ulcers and insomnia is directly associated to stress because stress affects our immune system.

Unfortunately, not many people understand the concept of stress. Most of us have wrong concept towards stress. We assume all stress are bad for us. In fact, there are three types of stress, eustress, neustress and distress. Eustress is good stress that motivates us to complete a task or work. Getting married might be an example of eustress; meeting our prime minister to get an award may also be a type of eustress. I would relate eustress situation with enjoyable and not threatening. Neustress is a type of stimuli that does not have consequences effect where it is not catagorised as good or bad. News of an earthquake in China might fall into this category especially who are not staying in that area. Turning to third type of stress distress, is considered as bad and often is abbreviated as stress.

In fact, we are facing with stress each day, acute stress and chronic stress. Acute stress is quite intense and disappears quickly. Chronic stress is not so intense but prolong for a long period of time. Let’s share with you one example. I was using cell phone to send messages (SMS) to my brother, there was a police car pulled up behind me and flashed blue lights. My heart was racing, palms were sweating. In fact, they were trying to tell me my tire was flat. After that, my heart was calm, palms dried and started to sing the song on the radio. The threat is over. The intensity of the acute stress may seem cataclysmic, but it is just short period of time. Chronic stressors are not so intense but unbearably long. For example, being stuck with the “team mates from hell,” a credit card bills that seems to grow despite monthly payment, maintaining a relationship with wife, husband that seems bad to stay in but worse to leave.

Learning to enjoy challenge of stress will take practice. It can be fun, as you have the ability to cope and enjoy life. In fact, stress management is very much like learning to ride a bicycle. At first you need training wheels or someone to guide you. Later, after practice, you are able to take the training hells off and ride the bicycle alone. However, remember that stress management training is not a cure-all. Instead, it is a change in lifestyle and a new way of viewing the world. In this article, I will share with you the basic concept of stress management including body awareness, effective breathing techniques, visualization, and rational emotive behavior therapy. In fact, there are many other methods to control stress like thought stopping, meditation, worry control, panic attacks, stress inoculation techniques, learned optimism and others. In fact, during clinical session and training, I would use combination of methods instead of one depending on the severity, personality and behavior of the person.

Body awareness is the first step toward acknowledging and reducing stress. The ability to recognize how your body reacts to the stressors in our can be a powerful skill. Most of us more aware of weather, time of day, bank balance, children education than they are of the tension in their own bodies or their personal stress response. Your body registers stress long before the conscious mind does. In this session, I recommend them to do body inventory, stress awareness diary and record of general tension. In body inventory, we will use body awareness method to identify areas of tension. The following steps to conduct body inventory. First, we have to focus on external world. For example, “I am aware of radio is on, fan is moving, dark brown sofa next to me and there are a lot of books on the table.” Then, shift to focus on your body and physical sensation which is known as internal world. “I can feel my bladder is full, eyes are tired and neck muscle is tensed”. Relate the internal and external environment. “I am aware the wind is blowing my hair”. Through this method, you would appreciate between inner and outer worlds. In this exercise, I would always encourage participant to conduct “body scanning” exercise. This exercise is rather simple. You just have to close your eyes. Starting with your roes and moving up body, then ask myself, where am I tense. When we have discovered a tense area, exaggerate it slightly so you can become aware of it. Then say to yourself, “I am tensing my leg muscle … I am hurting myself … I am creating tension in my body.” Turning to stress awareness diary, we would like participants to record time, stress event and symptoms during the event. Through this method, we will be able to identify and keep track on stress event.

Effective breathing techniques help to reduce stress. Breathing awareness and good breathing habits enhance your psychological and physical well-being. To practice it, you have to sit or lay down. Make sure the place is comfortable. Breathe in deeply into your abdomen. Let yourself pause before you exhale. You may count “One … Two… Three….. “ when you inhale and exhale. Notice your breathing gradually slowing, your body relaxing and you mind calming as you practice this breathing technique. In stress clinics, I always advice my patient to use alternative breathing especially for those who are suffering from tension or sinus headaches. This can be done through sitting in a comfortable place with a good posture. Then, place your index and second figure of your right hand on your forehead and close your right nostril with your thumb. Inhale slowly and soundlessly through your left nostril. After that, close your left nostril with your ring finger and simultaneously open you right nostril by removing your thumb. Exhale slowly and soundlessly through your right nostril. Close your right nostril with your thumb and open your left nostril. Exhale through your left nostril. Finally inhale through your left nostril and repeat the exercise. Try it out and you will get unbelievable result!

Besides, you can use the enormously powerful gift by our creator – visualization. Usually we will combine this technique with rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Several researches have been conducted among cancer patients through visualization. From the research, the researcher found that the imagination for exceed that of the will. Sometimes, it is difficult to let yourselves in a relaxed state, but you can imagine relaxation spreading through your body, and you can visualize yourself in a beautiful beach or a waterfall. In clinical psychology session, this technique is used for pain management among cancer patients. This method stimulates our subconscious mind and our body becomes more energetic. For example, I have a patient who has phobia towards smell of fish. Every time when he visits a wet market, he would bath and continue to wash his hands until sometimes he hurt his hands and. I would associate this behavior with obsessive-compulsive behavior. During psychotherapy session, I asked him to imagine that he visited a wet market. Then, encouraged him slowly and gradually to move to the fish stalls. He was so hesitate to move there. After a support and encouragement, he imaged to walk forward the stall. Then, I requested him to pick a fish. Subsequently, I explained to him the rationale not to be afraid of fish and the smell and I requested him to notice how he did that. Finally, he has to change his self-talk in their imagination.

Remember, you have a choice to stress or not to stress. It is good if you are able to detect and overcome the stress before this silent killer attacks you. Let’s create a stress free environment and build up authentic happiness within us.

What Doctor Wound Not Tell You About Anti Aging

2009-04-19T15:21:00.001+08:00

Dr. Leow Chee Seng
Fellow of British Institute Homeopathy (UK)
Certified Stress Management Professional (US)
MMIM, MIMM, MIM-CPT, CAHRP

Since the dawn of time, mankind has searched for a mythological fountain of youth. Anti aging secrets are spoken of in the very earliest myths and legends. Pretty much every culture has myths about immortal heroes who found some sort of rejuvenating herb, device or potion that allow them to stay young forever – or at least for a very long time. For example, a Chinese legend described the emperor of Qing Dynasty, Shih Huang Ti who ordered his warriors to hunt for longevity potions for him but failed. In this universe, no one wants to die, and no one wants to grow old. It is no wonder that ideas about anti aging secrets are so widespread all over the world.

Sorting out the real anti aging secrets from all the myths, however, can be quite a task. For all we know, the secrets to anti aging could be well guarded so that they don't fall into the wrong hands. Who knows if somewhere, in an isolated village up in the mountains, a whole tribe of people have learned how to live for hundreds, or even thousands of years? If they knew how to do that, would they share the anti aging secret with the rest of us? Or would they keep their precious anti aging treatment to themselves?

I have visited several places in Mediterranean; I observed that, the life expectancy of the people there is higher than other countries. A qualitative research is conducted on their lifestyle and eating habits and I found that people who eat Mediterranean diets tend to live longer, healthier lives. It is not because they are necessarily wiser or smarter, but because they live in an area where certain foods grow, and have developed a specific lifestyle that contributes to longevity. Olive oil, grapes, a diet high in vegetables and fish, and many other aspects of the Mediterranean diet contribute to good health and long life.
When I was conducting a public seminar, a participant asked me how we could identify if a person has undergone degenerative process or getting old. The traditional designation for old age is 65 years old. Even a judge retires at the age of 65. (Constitutional Law, Article 125). In fact, many people are vigorous and active at 65. Some researchers refer aging in the area of biological age. Biological age refers to changes in the body that commonly occur as people age. For example, vision and hearing ability reduces as we age. Nowadays, we can observe that people biologically old at 40. Turning to psychological age, I would describe it as how a person would feel and at his emotional stage. For example, a 75-year-old who works, participates in different activities are considered as psychologically young.

As we age, hormonal levels diminish and our skin, muscles and bones begin to deteriorate. A good anti aging diet should stimulate hormone production and promote strength and flexibility. Many of the studies and research done lately about anti-aging and anti disease nutrition has focused on the nutrients known as antioxidants. Antioxidant helps to reverse the oxidation process or slow down the oxidation process to the cells. Scientists are beginning to understand the preventive qualities of antioxidants but the average person have not yet understand what antioxidants do or what they are.

Before further discussion on antioxidants, it is a good idea to expose the concept of aging. Aging starts when a person is born. An infant develops and matures into an adult. During human development, the aging process changes and decline in function that ultimately leads to death. There are several factors which lead to degeneration of cells including chemicals, radiation, environment, drugs and toxins, emotional stages, stress and other factors. In the area of histology, many cells die or undergo apoptosis due to the replacing old cells with new ones and eliminating excess cells. The cells die because they can only divide for a limited number of times. When a cell stops dividing, the cells enlarge and die. Hence, aging process starts.

The oxidation process contributes to aging. In a chemistry perspective, oxidation is a process where chemical releases or donate electrons to form cathions. Several researches have been conducted on oxygen gas as an oxidation agent. Oxygen gas releases by plants through photosynthesis and we need them for survival. However, oxygen gas produces by-product that is harmful to our health. Now, many clinical researches are conducted in order to overcome the effect of oxidation process to cells. These researches include methods to slow down oxidation process or eliminate oxidation process acts on the cells. For example, Dr. Musalmah Mazlan a lecturer from medical faculty, UKM and Associate Prof Maznah Ismail from medical faculty, UPM are actively involved in research on antioxidant.

The role of antioxidant towards our health is justified. When you walk into a pharmacy, you can buy different brands of supplement. However, how effective is the role of a supplement with antioxidant is questionable. Some of us have misunderstood on the importance of balanced diet. Supplements can never be used to substitute balanced diet. Besides, beware that we can "over- supplement" our bodies by taking more than the recommended daily dosage of certain vitamins and minerals. For example, excessive of vitamin A and E (a type of fat soluble vitamins) is stored in liver and fatty tissues that derive to toxicity and diseases. However, I strongly believe in natural therapy where nutrients should be obtained from natural food.

In practical, we should eat high quantity of fruits and vegetables in order to obtain high level of antioxidant. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of United States has identified twenty types of food with high antioxidant level.
1. Red beans
2. Wild blueberries
3. Red kidney beans
4. Pinto beans
5. Cultivated blueberries
6. Cranberries
7. Artichokes
8. Blackberries
9. Prunes
10. Raspberries
11. Strawberries
12. Red Delicious apples
13. Granny Smith apples
14. Pecans
15. Sweet cherries
16. Black plums
17. Russet potatoes
18. Black beans
19. Plums
20. Gala apples
However, in nutrition therapy session, I always encourage my clients to take diet rich in fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Since sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, cantaloupe and mangoes are great sources of antioxidants, it is recommended to consume them in the form of half cooked or even raw. Through this method, enzymes would not be destroyed by the heat during preparation process and the level of antioxidant remains at optimum level. According to Dr Charles Silverman, a natural therapist, we should take at least two types of food with high antioxidant to maintain our health and reduce aging process.

Psychological Stress accelerates aging process. Prof Dennis H. Novack, who studies the link between emotions and health at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, found that during stress hypothalamus excretes adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). The hormone shortens the telomere and the cells start to degenerate and aging starts. Stress management techniques such as breathing, progressive relaxation, mediation, visualisation should be used when there is an indicator of stress.

What is the relationship between exercise and anti-aging? Studies have shown that nothing works better to attain anti-aging effects than a regular exercise program. ‘Regular’ is the key word – unless your exercise routine is consistent, the process won’t have the same effect. Flexibility exercise is the important exercises to beat the aging process. It increases blood circulation and releases serotonin which is a chemical produced by the brain and is necessary for overall health and well-being. Flexibility exercises are also safe and easy to perform. Besides, strength Building exercise helps build sturdiness and sustain bone mass. Your chances of having a debilitating injury are lessened as you build your muscle strength. Exercises to improve the muscles in your shoulders, back and legs will also help with hormone production. Lastly I would recommend them for cardiovascular exercise. This aerobic exercise also helps fight depression and keep your weight down. Running, brisk walking and any other exercise that will increase your heart rate for a sustained period of time release brain chemicals that produce hormones.
The importance of good nutrition in order to keep away the early signs of aging, but the truth is that this is only the first step. Without a doubt antioxidants are a vital in our fight against diseases. We all agree that sometimes eating the right thing is difficult but when compared with pain and suffering that we can bring to ourselves by getting cancer, arthritis or arteriosclerosis, a bowl of salad and an orange seems like a very tasty choice. Don’t forget that the key element to be incorporated to our life-styles if we want to live longer and look younger is to reduce the amounts of chemicals, synthetics and over the counter drugs that we expose our bodies to.

The need for Market Research in Malaysia

2009-03-03T16:22:00.000+08:00

The need for Market Research in Malaysia
By
Dr Leow Chee Seng
FBIH (UK), MMIM, MIMM, MIHRM, CAHRP, CPT-MIM,
MBA (UPM), PhD (USM), DBA (UBI)
Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),Certified Stress
Management (IACT, USA),Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA),
Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)

Market research is an essential part of any business that offers products or services that are
focussed and well targeted. It views the entire business from the customer's viewpoint taking
into account every aspect of the marketing mix from the product to price, distribution
channels and marketing communications. All these factors affect the customer's response to a
product or service. Business decisions that are based on good judgement and good market
research can minimise risk and pay dividends when market research is part and parcel of the
business process. In general, businesses that invest in market research increase their chances
of succeeding both locally and internationally.
“Why do I need to invest in market research? I am just running a small enterprise!” This
statement is extremely common when consultants approach SMIs or SMEs to conduct
market research to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness in running a business.
Unfortunately, the awareness on the importance of market research is limited among
Malaysians. Hence, effort and resources are wasted on trials and errors. (Hair et. al., 2003).
A company may begin exporting without having carried out any market research and this
may have disastrous consequences. In fact, it will be able to find even more promising
markets if it conducts a systematic research.
Market research is imperative for a company to know type of products or services would be
profitable to be introduced into the market. Penetrating a new market without a complete
market research could lead to time and resources wastage. One of the major scopes of
marketing research is to manage the current products and new products through product
management research. Some entrepreneurs act based on their gut feel to determine market
segmentation, promotional and price strategies. These methods obstruct the growth of the
organisation. Besides that, with respect to its existing products in the market, good market
research enables a company to know if it has been able to satisfy customer needs and whether
any changes need to be made in the packaging, delivery or the product itself.
A competitive intelligence research is important to understand the competitive product
strategy to enable a company to formulate a viable marketing plan or measure the success of
its existing plan. On the other hand, test marketing research helps monitor the performance of
a brand by launching in a select area and then taking it across the country. In other words, it
is a small-scale product launch used to determine the likely acceptance of the product when it
is introduced into a wider market. After launching the new product, concept testing research
could identify and test the acceptance of a concept by target consumers. In short, market
research will minimise risk when doing business. Market research can help shape a new
product or service, identifying what is needed and ensuring that the development of a product
is highly focused towards demand.
Market research helps better communicate and understanding of success in business. I have
conducted a research to compare customer satisfaction among patients from private and
public hospitals. From the research, we have identified elements that could boost up their
2
customer satisfaction to gear up key performance index (KPI) of the organisation.
Consequently, current customers’ experiences are valuable information source, as not only
will this allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations but it can also tell
you what you are doing right and more importantly what you are doing wrong. By asking for
customer feedback, not only are you showing them that you care but you are also taking the
guess work out of customer services. Indirectly, the organisation has implemented a branding
strategy to increase the market share.
Consumer behaviour plays a vital role if you are planning to operate a new service. We need
to know the preconceived attitudes people have and market research can help, not only in
evaluating the potential for a new idea, but also in identifying the areas where a marketing
message needs to honed. Market research helps you identify opportunities. By understanding
consumer behaviour, we could deliver convincing sales presentations, shorten the sales cycle,
create effective marketing strategies, boost revenue and profits, radically improve the ability
to influence others and close more deals. Hence, understanding consumers through market
research stimulates an organisation to create a “wow” marketing plan.
Nevertheless, market research creates benchmarks and helps an organisation measure their
progress and analyse the corporate effectiveness through corporate research. Among some
research that can be proposed in an organisation is assessing the image of the company
(brand audit research). In advertising research, readership feedback and advertising recall are
common to assess the effectiveness of advertisements. Early research may highlight glaring
holes in your service or shortcomings in your product. Regular market research will
definitely help motivate a company if improvements are being made and more so if they are
positive.
Sales analysis is also a type of market research. In sales analysis, sales trends and suitable
strategies are planned and applied to ensure the optimum growth of the organisation. In sales
analysis, we would assess market potential, estimation of demand for a product and market
share estimation. In addition to that, we would also study seasonal variation for a product,
conduct market segmentation studies, estimate the size of the market and carry out a needs
analysis to find out where the product fits in. Through effective marketing research, time,
effort and resources can be utilized at optimum state to benefit the organisation.
To sum up, market research consists of a plan that charts how relevant data is to be collected
and analyzed so that the results are useful and relevant for making marketing decisions. Once
the research and the related analysis are completed, the results are communicated to
management. This provides management with in-depth information regarding crucial factors
that have an impact on the targeted market and existing marketing mix. Market research
allows management to make the changes necessary for better results through adopting a
proactive approach. There is no doubt that market research is crucial and therefore, SMIs and
SMEs should include such research in their business plan.

Understanding Relationship

2008-10-23T07:36:00.000+08:00

THE THREE LEVELS OF RELATIONSHIP
A major purpose of relationship is to meet your and your partner’s needs in an expanded way. There are three levels of relationship, that is, three ways that people in a relationship meet their needs. These are selfish love (level one), conditional love(level two), and unconditional love (level three).

Level One: Selfish Love (My needs come first.)
This is the least mature level. At this level, one or both of the partners are focused on meeting their own needs first. When partners have this focus, the relationship is fragile. If you put your needs first, what happens to your partner? Eventually there will be an erosion of trust and togetherness, and there may even be a conflict or dispute about who gets personal needs met first. Do you ever find yourself with your partner in a situation where you are arguing about who is right, who goes first, who gets their way? All of us do sometimes—and when we do, we are playing at relationship level one. At this level, you are rarely together; one of you comes first. Occasionally there may be some way that you can meet your needs together in the same way, but this cannot be sustained. Life doesn’t work that way—there are always points of choice where if you put yourself first, the other person will suffer. Putting the other first is the essence of trust. When two partners fail to understand each other or put each other’s needs first, then trust is being undermined by individual self-interest.

Level Two: Conditional Love (I’ll give you yours if you give me mine.)

We call level two “horse trading.” At this level, every gesture, every gift, every concession or compromise has strings attached. Nothing is given out of free will, only out of a wish for barter, fairness, or personal gain. We call a level two player by the shocking term “whore,” because what does a prostitute do? He or she gives “love” in exchange for money; without money, no “love” is given. In a relationship in which love is exchanged for favors, nothing is simple. Everything is a ploy, a calculation, an advance payment creating debt. It is difficult to accept love because we never know what the price might be. Everything is purchased. In order to avoid debt, both parties insist on creating fairness, that is, a model of even exchange.
However, plans of even exchange will never create the spontaneous self-expression that leads to a passionate relationship. Trust comes not only from following a prescribed plan but also from feeling that if you should suddenly find yourself in need, your partner will come and serve you. Trust comes from the belief that the relationship is always bigger than any individual exchange or temporary advantage or debt of one partner or the other. Again, all relationships devolve to the level once in a while where it seems that things are not equal or fair. When we are at level two, we fall into blaming, suspicion, cautious truces, and exchanges. We hesitate before giving while the other person is waiting for us, in need. When that happens, do not stay at that level: It is crucial to communicate, to make needs understood, and to give to each other.

Level Three: Unconditional Love (The other’s needs come first.)
This is the level where passion and emotional juice flow. Both partners put each other first. When a partner discovers the other’s need, he or she serves that need spontaneously in the best way possible, without calculating a payback. In fact, the partners are constantly studying each other in order to understand how to serve each other better. They become experts at knowing each other’s needs. Both partners recognize that, at a deep level, they love each other unconditionally and that nothing is needed for the love to be expressed. At this level, it is easy to please each other and to share, because even if you don’t experience the same needs as your partner, you can love what he or she loves. You don’t have to worry about your needs
remaining unmet because your partner habitually puts you first—all you have to do is to
give your partner a clue about what you need. At the level of passion, there is enough safety for you to serve each other not only by giving gifts but by penetrating each other emotionally. When there is a foundation of trust, you can express yourselves in darker and naughtier ways to give your relationship a suspenseful edge. Of course, all relationships devolve occasionally. We all have panic moments when we think that we will not be loved or that we will fall short of expectations; in those moments, we will ask for “fair exchange” or will even focus on getting our individual needs met first. However, if the “center of gravity” of your relationship is at level three, you are enjoying one of the rare experiences of life.

HOW DO I CHANGE MY RELATIONSHIP?

2008-10-17T09:41:00.001+08:00

Dr Leow Chee Seng

MBA (UPM), DBA (UBI), MMIM, MIHRM,MIM-CPT, CAHRP (Consultant),Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA)Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)Practising Cognitive, Behavioural Therapist

Relationship is important—it may be the single greatest factor in your happiness throughout your life. It is the way that our emotions become magnified through sharing and interchange. It is the way that we build our histories with others,share memories, and taste our experiences. However, it is not always easy. Why? Because there is another person involved—a person with his or her own experiences, preferences, values, and levels of commitment. This can be frustrating at times, no matter how deep, powerful, intense, and passionate the relationship is.

In fact, you may say, frustration is often a sign of passion waiting to break free—if you can learn how to harness it. As Tony puts it, there are areas in your life where you may enjoy a great deal of control; in other areas of life, you may even have mastery. In relationship, you have neither mastery nor control—you have influence at best. If you think you can control your partner, you will be frustrated. If you simply expect your partner to be or do things in a certain way, your partner will feel judged and stop cooperating. And if you try to coerce your partner to do things in a way that doesn’t reflect his or her free will, you cannot have a happy relationship. So you have influence at best, and you have much less control than you may have thought. Is this bad news? On the contrary, this is the path to the excitement, spontaneity, and interaction that are at the bottom of every truly successful relationship. There is a way to harness the uncertainty of relationship and to let it light up your life. So let’s get started.

FUNDAMENTALS: THE SIX HUMAN NEEDS

The concept of the six human needs is at the core of human needs psychology. We believe that human motivation is driven by the need to fulfill six basic human needs. These needs are our constant and in some ways our closest companions. They never stop driving us and they never go away. You cannot simply resolve a need—it will be back tomorrow or even in five minutes. Our needs are the primal forces that shape all of our choices. The good news is that there are only six needs and there are millions of ways of satisfying your needs. By understanding how your needs work, you can set yourself up for lasting fulfillment in life.

The First Human Need: Certainty/Comfort

The first need is for certainty that we can be comfortable—to have pleasure and to avoid pain. For some of us, this means a secure environment, consistency in our relationships. You can also get certainty through physical habits—eating, for instance, can make you feel comfortable and certain—or even through certain beliefs—for instance, you can have faith that your problems will be resolved. What is necessary for someone to feel certain varies from individual to individual. For one person knowing where the next meal will come from is sufficient certainty, while for another person the need for certainty may be satisfied only by having a million dollars in the bank. Code words for certainty are comfort, security, safety, stability, predictability. When things get rough, what are some things that you do to feel
certain?

The Second Human Need: Uncertainty/Variety

Once we feel certain, however, our second need is for uncertainty—for variety and challenges that will exercise our emotional and physical range. Our bodies, our minds, our emotional being all require uncertainty, exercise, suspense, variety, surprise. Even if you have a lifetime supply of your favorite food, at some point you will want to eat something else. Your emotional and physical state will change. We all value uncertainty/variety to different degrees, but we all need it. You may get variety by pursuing changes, diversions, and pleasures or by undertaking risky projects or challenging commitments. Some people satisfy their need for uncertainty/variety by watching a movie, while others need to race cars or climb mountains. And don’t forget a major source of variety for all of us: problems. When
things don’t go as you planned, when expectations are foiled and things go in a different direction, that’s uncertainty/variety as well. What kind of variety/uncertainty do you experience on a regular basis? Code words for uncertainty are fear, instability, change, variety, chaos, refreshment, craving, release, suspense, exertion, surprise, problem, crisis. Are there ways in which the feeling of uncertainty actually serves to give you variety?

The Third Human Need: Significance

The third need is for significance. Every person needs to feel important, needed, wanted. When we were babies, we all needed to feel that we were number one. If you had siblings, you competed with them for love and attention—you found your niche, whether as the smart one or the scrappy one or the loving one or the obedient one. This need is still with you: Needing to feel special and important in some way has helped shape who you are today. You can feel significant by building or achieving something, or you can feel significant by tearing something or somebody down. In all cases, significance comes from comparing yourself to others— hierarchical pecking orders and superiority/inferiority. In its positive sense, significance leads you to raise your standards. If you overfocus on significance, you will have trouble feeling connected with people, because the comparison game marks out our differences rather than what we have in common. Some people focus on significance in a self-deprecating way—having low self-esteem, doubting whether they are good enough, expecting others to raise them up. How do you get significance? Code words for significance are pride, importance, standards, achievement, performance, perfection, evaluation, discipline, competition, plus any words connected with being “rejected” or being “good enough.”

The Fourth Human Need: Love/Connection

The fourth need is for love and connection. Everyone strives for and hopes for love, and everyone needs connection with other human beings. If you are alive today, you were loved. You needed to feel loved and touched in order to survive, and that need is still at your core. In this sense, love is the ultimate survival instinct, and it comes before the baby can take care of its own basic bodily needs. So love is a big part of who you already are, no matter who you are. The obstacles to love lie in your belief system about how to get the feeling of love, your rules about how to recognize and appreciate love, and your ability to learn to give love as well as receive it. Some people rarely experience love, but they have many ways of feeling connection with others—in the community or in the workplace. Do you experience love in your life, or do you focus on connection with others, a less threatening form of love? When in
your life have you felt really loved? Code words for love and connection are togetherness, unified, connected, passionate, “on the same page.” These first four human needs are the needs of the personality and must be met at some level by everyone. The last two needs are the needs of the spirit, which are essential to human fulfillment. These are growth and contribution.

The Fifth Human Need: Growth
When we stop growing, we die. We need to constantly develop emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. There is a universal law about growth: Everything is either growing or dying—there is no middle ground. Anything that you want to remain in your life—your money, your body, your relationship, your happiness or love—must be cultivated, developed, expanded. Otherwise it will degenerate. What does this mean for us? There is no “retirement,” a terminal point where we simply get to keep and enjoy what we have. If your body, your finances, or your relationships are in a good state, be prepared to continue to care for and expand them. If you let them flatline, they will deteriorate.

The Sixth Human Need: Contribution

Contribution requires you to go beyond your own needs and give to others. Most emotional problems and sources of pain disappear when you focus on serving someone other than yourself. Therefore, contribution is the human need that effectively regulates your other five needs: If you are focused on contribution, you have the certainty of being able to contribute (there is always a way); you have variety in the number of things that can go right and wrong (contribution is highly interactive); you have significance because the commitment to contribution is rare and is the sign of an extraordinary person; you have connection because there is a spiritual connection in helping others; and you have to experience growth because
contribution requires you to go beyond your own needs. From this perspective, the purpose of human needs psychology is not only to take care of your own needs but to expand and serve others in an attitude of leadership and contribution. If you are focused on growth and contribution, it is difficult to get bored or depressed. Everyone creates their own system of beliefs and actions for satisfying their needs. We call this system their “model of the world.” One person may give himself or herself the feeling of certainty by always controlling the environment, a second person may feel certain by not trusting anyone, and a third person may get the feeling of certainty by holding a spiritual belief. Everyone can meet their own needs in sustainable ways that serve the greater good of themselves and others, or they can meet their own needs in ways that sooner or later harm themselves or others. When someone loses his or her habitual ways of meeting personal needs, he or she experiences a crisis. For instance, when financial failure comes to a businessperson who gets the feeling of significance from being financially successful, he or she will experience a loss of significance. When someone who gets the feeling of importance from taking care of others suddenly becomes unable to help others, he or she will also experience a loss of significance. When people lose their usual ability to meet their needs, they react by trying to find other ways of regaining their sense of significance, at least temporarily. Sometimes these temporary solutions lead to long-term solutions; other times they lead to harm. The purpose of human needs psychology is to understand a person’s model of the world, to bring about a conscious understanding of personal choices, and to assist the person in finding new ways to meet personal needs in ways that will serve him or her and others in the long term.

THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION BEFORE SURGERY AMONG CANCER PATIENTS

2008-10-16T11:23:00.002+08:00

Most cancer patients have as their primary treatment the surgical removal of the tumor. Sometimes this can be a relatively minor procedure, as with a skin cancer, but more often it is complicated, entailing the surgical removal of the cancer and any surrounding lymph nodes. The more complicated and prolonged surgeries can be extremely stressful, both physically and psychologically.

For more than forty years, we have known that malnutrition greatly increases surgical mortality, with malnourished patients being ten times more likely to die soon after surgery.
Most of us think of a malnourished person as looking like someone from Ethiopia. In fact, you can be malnourished and obese at the same time. The new term is undernutritous. It has been shown that people with even a single vitamin deficiency can have a poorly functioning immune system. Looks, indeed, can be deceiving.

A most enlightening study was done some years ago. The study included a careful survey of surgical patients admitted to the hospital and found that 44 percent of the patients had general malnutrition on admission. This means that the patients were malnutritous long before coming to the hospital. Even worse, 75 percent of the patients admitted to an intensive care unit were malnutritous. This put them at an even greater danger because they were under much greater stress. Stress is a tremendous drain on nutrition, and survival depends on nutritional status. Yet even more shocking was the finding that 69 percent of the patients underwent a deterioration in nutritional status while in the hospital, which is an indictment of hospital nutrition.

Another study involving a number of hospitals found that 38 percent of patients had obvious vitamin deficiencies and even a larger percentage were marginally deficient. Patients with mar ginal deficiencies are at a significantly higher risk of complications, especially of poor wound healing and infections.

For cancer patients, not only is wound healing and avoiding all the complications associated with surgery important, but so is making sure the immune system is functioning at peak activity. The status of a person's nutrition is critical to the immune system. Again, I emphasize that even a single nutrient deficiency can severely impair the immune system. For example, a vitamin B6 deficiency alone can lower immunity, even when the levels of all the other vitamins are perfectly normal.

Most bleeding tendencies following surgery are minimal two days after the operation. This means you can safely resume taking your nutritional supplements. The only contraindication would be if you were receiving blood-thinning medications. In that case, I would avoid using vitamin E in doses over 200 in ternational units, even though blood-thinning effects are rare below 1,000 international units. Several supplements can thin the blood (affect coagulation). They include ginkgo, garlic ex tract, quercetin, curcumin, and high-dose vitamin E (greater than 1,000 international units). In general, the blood-thinning effect of these supplements is no more than that of taking one aspirin a day.

Maintaining adequate magnesium levels is especially important in preventing surgical and postsurgical complications. Magnesium is one of those nutrients that seem to have an un limited list of benefits. In addition to playing a role in more than 300 enzymes, it regulates blood flow, protects brain cells, protects the heart muscle, reduces the risk of cardiac arrhythmia, improves lung function, improves kidney function, and prevents one of the most frightening complications of major surgery: blood clots.

I have used magnesium in my neurosurgical patients for more than fifteen years and have never had a patient develop postoperative blood clots in the legs or lungs. In most cases, the blood clot forms in the veins of the legs or pelvis, where it can suddenly enter the bloodstream, producing a fatal clot in the lungs called a pulmonary embolism.

Sudden cardiac arrest can be another catastrophic event during surgery, leaving the patient with a stroke or myocardial in farction (heart attack). Magnesium significantly protects against these complications as well. Several studies have shown that magnesium infusions can reduce the severity of a stroke or heart attack by 50 percent. What is important is that your tissue magnesium level be normal before surgery. An ounce of prevention is truly worth more than a pound of cure.
People who take diuretics or birth control pills, or whose diet is low in fruits and vegetables, are at a very high risk of magnesium depletion. Teenagers often drink large amounts of carbonated soft drinks throughout the day. These drinks significantly lower the tissue magnesium levels. All of these individuals have a higher risk of surgical complications. Magnesium is also essential for normal immune function.

The bottom line is that the better your nutrition is before surgery, the less likely it is that you will have a major complication and the faster, and more completely, you will recover from surgery. Over the years, I have noticed that patients who take these supplements regularly have significantly less pain and fatigue after surgery as well. Postoperative fatigue has always been a problem for patients and one for which surgeons usually have little to offer.

We are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that even nutrient deficiencies too small to be recognized by clinical examination can impair the body's functioning. We call these deficiencies subclinical. A large number of people living in industrialized countries suffer from these subclinical deficiencies, and the number is continuing to grow.

VITAMIN BLOOD LEVELS VERSUS REAL DEFICIENCIES

When doctors want to know if you have adequate amounts of a certain vitamin in your body, they usually draw your blood and have it tested for the vitamin in question. When they want to assess the adequacy of your nutrition in general, they frequently have your blood tested for your folate and vitamin B12 levels. Newer studies, however, have shown this method to be very in accurate. In one study, doctors compared the usual blood levels of the vitamins folate, B6, and B12 to the actual levels in the tissues as measured biochemically. What they discovered was quite shocking.
When they measured the conventional vitamin levels in a group of healthy elderly, they found that approximately 19 per cent of the study subjects had deficiencies. Yet, when they used the more accurate biochemical method, they found that 63 per cent of these same individuals were significantly deficient in one or more of these critical vitamins. A similar comparison of sick elderly subjects found that 60 percent were deficient using conventional measurement and a whopping 83 percent were deficient when the biochemical method was used.

This study clearly demonstrates that measuring vitamin blood levels by the conventional method can result in a false assurance that all is well, when in fact severe deficiencies may exist. This is especially true for the chronically ill.

It is well known that surgery and especially anesthesia are powerful suppressors of immune function. This is especially so for surgeries lasting longer than two hours and in cases where more than a unit of blood is lost during the procedure. This immune suppression can last for several weeks and can be made even worse if the patient has to receive blood during or after the surgery. Immune suppression caused by blood transfusion, especially multiple transfusions, can equal that caused by acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

This profound level of immune suppression can give cancer a chance to invade and spread. A combination of poor nutrition, the trauma of surgery, blood transfusion, and anesthesia can temporarily wipe out the immune system. It also puts you at a much higher risk of postoperative wound infection and pneumonia.

It has been shown that this immune suppression caused by surgery, anesthesia, and blood transfusion can be reversed or even prevented by proper nutrition. It will, of course, require special immune stimulants, but it can easily be done.

Of special concern are patients who undergo preoperative chemotherapy-that is, who receive a dose of chemotherapy be fore surgery. It is well recognized that most chemotherapy drugs cause significant immune suppression and interfere with wound healing, thereby significantly increasing the risk of infections after surgery.

Several studies have shown that nutritional immune enhancement can significantly reduce complications, especially infections, following major surgeries. In one study, almost 70 percent of immune-deficient cancer patients undergoing surgery developed postoperative complications as compared to 25 per cent with functioning immune systems. This is a dramatic difference. It should be appreciated that the patients in the group with a functioning immune system did not have specific nutritional immune stimulation. My experience, as well as that of others, is that immunity not only can be restored in patients, but can also be maximized with special supplements.

Food preparation techniques for cancer

2008-10-16T11:23:00.001+08:00

Many people have heard that searing meats-that is, cooking meats over an open flame or allowing them to burn-increases the risk of cancer. The presence of powerfully carcinogenic com pounds in seared meat was first discovered in 1977 when mate rial was extracted from the charred surfaces of fish and beef and tested for its ability to mutate genes. The mutagenic compounds are called heterocyclic amines.

When analyzed, these carcinogenic compounds were found to be formed from several chemicals in meat (creatine, certain amino acids, and sugar)." When exposed to high temperatures, these chemicals can form a series of compounds that can dam age the DNA, eventually resulting in cancer.

In one report, high consumption of hot dogs was associated with an almost tenfold increase in the risk of childhood leukemia when compared with low consumption. In another report, maternal consumption of hot dogs and childhood consumption of hamburgers or hot dogs at least once per week were associated with a doubling of the risk of cancers in children. A review of nine studies found an association between consumption by pregnant women of cured meat and the risk of brain cancer in their offspring. These associations do not yet constitute proof that eating hot dogs or hamburgers causes cancer in children, and evidence linking cured meat consumption to childhood cancers remains somewhat inconsistent. In the report studying the effects of eating hot dogs and hamburgers, the association between meat eating and leukemia was weakest among children who took vitamin supplements. Processed meats, such as hot dogs, contain nitrates and nitrites— precursors to carcinogens. Antioxidants found in multivitamins keep nitrates and nitrites from converting into those carcinogens. Therefore, the association between vitamin consumption in children and protection against childhood cancers remains plausible, though unproven.

In general, grilling and panfrying (but not broiling) at high temperatures can produce significant amounts of heterocyclic amines in meats and fish.13 Deep-frying, baking, and roasting meats and fish also produce carcinogens, but in general the amounts are low. Barbecuing produces among the highest levels of heterocyclic amines, especially when done over a grill. Exactly how many of these dangerous compounds are produced depends on the degree of the heat, the cooking time, and if the cooking is done over wood, the type of wood used. The worst type of wood to use is mesquite, which produces large amounts of these carcinogens during cooking. Hardwoods burn cleaner and are less likely to cause a problem.
Heterocyclic amines have been shown to cause cancer in a large number of animal species. While most of the cancers they cause involve the gastrointestinal tract and liver, they can also increase the incidence of tumors in the lungs, breast, and blood vessels, and can produce lymphomas as well. One particularly frightening finding was that even the children of mothers who eat diets containing high levels of these compounds during pregnancy suffer a high risk of cancer later in life.
In one study, researchers found a strong association between a mother's prenatal vitamin C intake and a lower risk of brain tumors in the child.1s In addition, they found that the women in the study who took high doses of folate, multivitamins, and vitamin C and ate the most fruits and vegetables, especially during the first six weeks of pregnancy, had the lowest incidence of brain cancers in their children. Especially frightening was the finding that the children who did not eat any fruit in the first year of life had a 430 percent increased risk of developing a brain cancer, especially of the neuroectodermal type, such as the horrifying medulloblastoma.
There is also evidence that searing the fats in vegetables, such as when panfrying, can increase the production of these cancer causing chemicals. Fortunately, vegetables contain many com pounds that block these carcinogens. For example, green tea, consumed as either a tea or a supplement, has been shown to dramatically reduce the cancer-causing ability of heterocyclic amines.

Another set of compounds found in foods that can increase cancer risk are the nitrite food additives, used as food preservatives. When ingested, they are converted into nitrosamine com pounds, which have been shown to produce cancer in animals and are suspected to do so in humans as well. A diet high in foods containing these preservatives has been recognized as a major risk of stomach cancer and possibly also of other cancers, including brain tumors. The artificial sweetener aspartame is also converted into a mutagen in the stomach by this process. 16
So, what can you do to reduce the danger from seared meats and fish? Most important is to give up eating meats and fish pre pared over an open flame, grilled, or panfried. People from the Deep South may find it difficult to completely give up barbecue. For those times when you may be
tempted to break ranks and sneak a little seared meat or fish, there are a few things you can do to greatly reduce your risk.

Edible plants contain complex chemicals called flavonoids that have been shown to be very efficient at blocking these cancer promoting chemicals. In fact, one way to reduce your risk from nitrites is to take vitamin C with the seared food. The vitamin C will prevent their conversion to nitrosamines.17 Unfortunately, as we shall see, vitamin C also greatly increases iron absorption, something we do not want in the face of cancer.

Fortunately, there is an alternative. Two flavonoids com monly found in vegetables, caffeic acid and ferulic acid, have been shown to powerfully block nitrosamine formation. Caffeic acid is found in plums, apples, and blueberries, while ferulic acid is commonly found in all fruits. Ellagic acid, another flavonoid, is even more powerful-in fact, it is some 80 to 300 times more potent than vitamin C. Ellagic acid is commonly found in straw berries, raspberries, and blackberries.

Sometimes, we like to break the boredom of eating all our meats broiled. Frying can be made much safer through the use of extra virgin olive oil, which contains some powerful antioxidant, anticancer flavonoids. To boost your protection even more, add turmeric to the oil. Several pinches will go a long way toward making your mealtless of a cancer risk. Many spices, such as sage and rosemary, have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects.

PREPARING YOUR FOOD

Another problem faced by cancer patients is how to prepare their fruits and vegetables. Some authorities insist that all fruits and vegetables be eaten raw, mainly to preserve the enzymes and prevent a loss of nutrients by heating. While there is some validity to this, I am not an absolutist. Instead, I think you should mix raw and cooked vegetables in your diet.
As I have stated previously, eating raw vegetables limits the amount of the nutritional components you can absorb. This is because they are locked within the cells of the plant by tough cell walls that we can't digest. To unlock the nutrients, you need to chew your vegetables until they are mush, cook them, or liquefy them in a blender.
The problem with the first option-chewing to a fine mush is that most people are not that patient. Most people chew a few times and then swallow. Furthermore, some studies have shown that chewing vegetables allows only 30 percent of the nutrients to he absorbed. This means you have to eat a lot more vegetables to get the full amount of the nutrients. Using a blender or juicer releases about 90 percent of the nutrients. The other advantage is that you are consuming raw fruits and vegetables.

So, what about cooking? Will it destroy all the nutrients? Careful studies have shown that it varies with the food type. A considerable loss of anticancer (antimutagenic) activity was seen when the following foods were heated: apples, apricots, kiwi, pineapple, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, leafy lettuce, cucumber, onions, radishes, and rubarb.

Foods that maintained their anticancer power when cooked included blackberries, blueberries, sweet and sour cherries, honey dew melons, plums, strawberries, Brussels sprouts, chicory greens, eggplant, garden cress, pumpkin, and spinach.

Cooking vegetables in tap water has two disadvantages. First, most of a vegetable's water-soluble nutrients-such as its minerals, B vitamins, and ascorbate-are lost in water. Second, if the water is fluoridated, the amount of fluoride in the water becomes more and more concentrated as the water evaporates until a very concentrated solution of fluoride remains. The fluoride, being a very reactive chemical, will then bind with the vegetable and cannot be washed off. Fluoride is a carcinogenic compound.

When cooking vegetables, either steam them or cook them in extra virgin olive oil. I say cook, but actually you should just heat them in a pan for a few minutes. This will break down some of the plant cells, but not as thoroughly as when you fully cook the vegetable. If you use distilled water to cook your vegetables, you can drink the juices, since they will contain a high concentration of nutrients. Southerners call this pot liquor.

When it comes to fruits and vegetables, keep the following important points in mind:
● Eat a mixture of raw and cooked vegetables based on the above heat stability information.
● Always eat vegetables when you eat meat. The flavonoids in the vegetables will neutralize the carcinogens in the meat, especially in seared meats. They will also reduce the absorp tion of iron, so that you absorb only enough to maintain your body's needs.
● Eat only a small amount of fruit a day, preferably no more than half a cup. Eat the fruit only after you have finished a meal. This prevents hypoglycemia, a sudden drop in blood sugar, which can be quite severe in some people. (Until your cancer is under control, I would recommend avoiding fruits altogether.)
● If you cook your vegetables in water, use only distilled water or water purified by a reverse osmosis filter.
Keep the following points in mind about food in general:
● Avoid red meats such as beef and pork, which are high in two powerful cancer promoters. Choose chicken orr turkey that has been minimally processed and has not been painted or injected with broth, hydrolyzed protein, or other mono sodium glutamate (MSG)-containing products. Also, if using chicken, remove the skin and wash the meat thoroughly, since most chicken is sprayed with chlorine bleach at the processing plant.
● Avoid all commercially prepared foods. Try to make all your foods from fresh ingredients. Do not use commercial sauces, mixes, or seasonings unless they are made with pure herbs or spices.
● Avoid cow's milk, cheese, and other milk-based products, especially if low in fat. Low-fat milk products have a higher concentration of glutamate (an excitotoxin). In addition, milk allergies, which can be subtle, will impair your immune system. Allergies to milk are some of the most common food allergies.
● Avoid foods containing aspartame, MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, soy protein, or the additive carrageenan. Carrageenan, commonly used in ice cream and baked goods, is an especially powerful promoter of cancer growth and spread. The name will be listed on the product label. Also, avoid all of the newer sweeteners, since they have not been adequately tested for safety. Sweet'N Low can be used, but only in limited amounts. Stevia can also be used
● While in today's world this can be very difficult, try to avoid all foods and drinks in plastic containers, especially if the plastic has a pungent odor. Plastic releases estrogenic-like compounds, which can promote estrogen-sensitive cancers such as breast cancer, colon cancer, some brain tumors, renal cancers, and possibly prostate cancer. If possible, use only glass containers. Granted, these are harder and harder to come by.
● Avoid sugar, no matter what the source. Honey is sugar. Sure, there are a few flavonoids included, but it is still sugar and can be used by the cancer. Fructose, while it does not promote insulin release, is not a good choice. For one thing, it increases the free radical damage to cells, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.
● Avoid fruit juices. While fruit juices contain many anti cancer flavonoids and vitamins, especially folate, they also are high in sugar and many have high levels of fluoride. This is especially true for most commercial grape juices.
Excitotoxins, such as MSG and hydrolyzed protein, can cause nausea, diarrhea, and stomach cramping, especially in people who are undergoing, or who have undergone, chemotherapy or radiation treatments." In addition, they can cause irregularities of the heart beat (arrhythmia). This is important when taking chemotherapy drugs that are known to damage the heart, such as adriamycin, daunorubicin, Ara-C, Doxorubicin, Mitoxantrone, cyclophosphamide, and Taxol.

JUICING AND BLENDERIZING YOUR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

As I discussed previously, one of the best ways to release the 10,000 phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables is to mechanically break open the cells.
Most people have heard of juicing. Juicing entails loading fruits and vegetables into a machine that grinds them up, sepa rating the juice from the pulp, which is usually discarded. As many people who have tried juicing know, it takes a countertop of vegetables to make one 10-ounce glass of juice. I always feel that by throwing away all that vegetable bulk, we discard im portant nutrients and phytochemicals-which, in fact, we do. In addition, there is the cleanup. With many juicing ma chines, this is a daunting task, to say the least. After each use, you have to take the machine apart, clean it thoroughly, lubricate its parts, and reassemble it. To do that even twice a day usually discourages most people, especially if they have busy lives. Shop around when looking for a juicing machine. Some are much easier to use and maintain than others.

Despite the cleanup necessitated by many juicing machines, however, it has been obvious to me that this process of mechanically breaking down fruits and vegetables is responsible for more miraculous cures of advanced cancers than any other thing people can do. But if you truly do not have the time to de vote to cleaning up a juicing machine, there is a wonderful alternative: the vegetable blender.

Vegetable blenders have two real advantages over juicers. First, they do not waste anything. In addition to the thousands of nutrients inside them., plants contain numerous, often powerful phytochemicals on the outside of their leaves and stems. Among these phytochemicals are glycoproteins and polysaccha rides, which regulate immunity. Furthermore, plant pulp contains a lot of fiber. Second, vegetable blenders are a snap to clean. Not any blender will do, however. Rather, the machine must be powerful enough to turn vegetables and fruits into liquids. The vegetable blender that I have in my kitchen is the Vita-Mix 5000.
When juicing or blenderizing fruits or vegetables, of even more importance than using the right machine is choosing the right ingredients. In addition, you need to thoroughly clean the fruits and vegetables with a vegetable wash before putting them in the machine.

One of the common mistakes people make when preparing juice is using only their favorite vegetables or fruits, usually based on taste. For example, many people use only carrots. They will drink carrot juice until they turn orange-not that turning or ange is bad, even though it may attract rabbits.

Using only one vegetable, such as carrots, is wrong for two reasons. First, some vegetables are very high in sugar, which, as we have seen, can stimulate tumor growth. Second, you miss important phytochemicals found in other plants. Some special anticancer flavonoids are found only in certain vegetables and not others. Only by mixing various types of vegetables can you take full advantage of these potent anticancer chemicals.

For example, onions, teas, and apples contain a powerful cancer inhibitor called quercetin. Parsley and celery contain an anticancer flavonoid called apigenin, while green tea has a series of chemicals, including epigallocatechin gallate, catechin, and epicatechin, that not only suppress tumors, but also protect the heart and blood vessels. The more of these vegetables you mix together, the more likely your cancer will be either suppressed or eliminated, especially if you combine this dietary therapy with conventional treatments.

Something I often do personally is to make myself a salad with a large variety of vegetables, but instead of eating it, I throw it into my vegetable blender, blenderize it, and drink it. That way, I get a much higher intake of the salad's healthful phytochemicals than if I simply ate it. I find I can juice my salad and drink it quicker than I could just eat it in the normal way.

To blenderize or juice vegetables, first clean them thoroughly with a vegetable wash, then put them in the machine. Add a cup of distilled water and process on a low setting. Slowly increase the speed to full. Most machines have a special power switch that significantly boosts the speed; turn this switch on for a few seconds several times during the mixing procedure. You can keep adding water until the mixture is a consistency you can drink.

When preparing your own salad to drink, choose at least five vegetables from the list below. If possible, use all the vegetables on the list. In general, especially when first starting your conventional therapy, avoid fruits, or at least use just a mini mum amount. If you wish, empty the contents of a multivitamin capsule into the blender as well and mix with the juice. Some vitamins are bitter and can affect the taste; experiment until you find a good balance.

For people who do not eat enough fiber, drinking vegetables may cause diarrhea or bloating. To avoid these effects, first start off with a dilute solution of vegetable juice-a good combination is half vegetable juice and half distilled water. Drink this for a week. Slowly increase the percentage of vegetable juice and decrease the percentage of water, until you are drinking almost 100 percent juice. (You may still need water just for consistency's sake.) Drink one 10-ounce glass of vegetable juice twice a day. What to Include in Your Fresh Juice
Vegetables
Beets Kale
Broccoli Parsley
Brussels sprouts Purple cabbage
Carrots Spinach
Cauliflower Tomatoes
Celery Turnip greens

FRESH VERSUS FROZEN JUICE

One of the major controversies regarding juicing or blenderizing fruits and vegetables is whether the juice needs to be consumed right away or can be stored in the refrigerator. Both sides have good arguments. Purists say that only freshly made juice is effective, since it preserves the enzymes. This means you would have to make juice twice daily.

The problem is that some people just don't have the time or desire to prepare fresh juice twice a day. Over time, they stop doing it altogether. In reality, many enzymes are preserved if the juice is kept cold in the refrigerator. Enzyme survival and activity are temperature dependent. Add heat, and they will quickly be destroyed.

For cancer patients who are unable to make juice daily, I suggest preparing a large batch over the weekend, when most people have more time. Freeze half of the juice and keep about a three-day supply available in the refrigerator for immediate use. Another option is to divide the prepared juice into daily amounts and keep all but a day's supply in the freezer. You just have to remember to thaw out your day's supply every morning. When juice is frozen, all of its phytonutrients and enzymes are pre served.

Nutrient depletion among cancer

2008-10-16T11:22:00.001+08:00

In addition to a poor diet, there are many things we do, such as smoking and taking medications, that can severely affect our nutrition. Smoking has been shown to dramatically lower the level of vitamin C in the tissues. Even secondhand smoke can have this effect. For some as-yet-unexplained reason, smokers cannot improve their vitamin C levels unless they take very high doses of the vitamin every day. To reach normal tissue levels of vitamin C, they need to take a minimum of 500 mil ligrams daily. In addition, smokers have significantly lowered beta-carotene levels. One study found that flavonoid intake, a reflection of fruit and vegetable consumption, was 21 percent lower in smokers than in nonsmokers. Taken together, these facts may explain why smokers have a much higher incidence of lung cancer (from among all cancers) than nonsmokers. It also means that when smokers begin treatment for cancer, they are less likely to respond well and are more likely to suffer serious complications.

One of the biggest culprits in depleting nutrition is taking a medication over a long period of time. Numerous medications can severely lower the body levels of critical vitamins and minerals. For example, oral contraceptives lower the levels of vita min C, folate, riboflavin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, magnesium, selenium, and the amino acid tyrosine (which is critical to brain function). As we have seen, low vitamin C levels in women can increase their risk of cervical cancer by tenfold. One study found that vitamin C levels may be lowered by as much as 30 percent in women taking birth control pills.

Chronically low levels of folate have been shown to increase the risk of numerous cancers, especially cancer of the cervix, breast, and colon.10 Antiseizure medications, blood pressure medications, and antiulcer medications can also dramatically lower folate levels. One type of antidiabetic medication, the biguanides, can significantly deplete folate as well. Millions of people have been taking these medications every day for decades.

We now know that chronically ill people are much more likely to develop cancer than healthier people and that one of the reasons for this may be the prolonged nutritional depletion caused by both their illness and their medication.

Many medications, even when taken alone, can cause depletion of numerous nutrients. As already stated, oral contraceptives deplete a number of essential nutrients. Another group of notorious culprits is the antihypertensive medications used to control blood pressure. These medications have been shown to cause deficiencies in vitamin B6, calcium, zinc, magnesium, CoQ10, ascorbate, thiamine, and vitamin K.

Of special concern to cancer patients is the effect of medications on lowering the body's supply of CoQ10, a powerful antioxidant, supplier of cellular energy, and cancer preventative. It has been shown that virtually all cancer patients have low CoQ10 levels and that raising these levels significantly improves these patients' chances of survival.11 Of the medications known to deplete CoQ10 levels in the body, the most commonly used include:
● Most cholestrol-lowering drugs, referred to as statins
● Blood pressure medications, such as the hydralazines, thi azides, beta-blockers, clonidine, and methyldopa
● Antidiabetic drugs, such as the sulfanylureas and biguanides
● Phenothiazines and tricyclics, which are antinausea medications and types of antidepressants
The drugs used to lower cholesterol, the so-called statin drugs, have been known. for some time to cause dramatic deficiencies in CoQ10 levels. Tens of millions of people who take these drugs, usually for life, are never told of this very serious side effect. These drugs also deplete other nutrients, such as beta-carotene, folate, and vitamins A, B12, D, E, and K, as well as calcium, magnesium, zinc, and phosphate.

Magnesium depletion is a special problem with certain chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin. In fact, magnesium levels can fall to dangerously low levels, leading to cardiac and brain damage. Many commonly used prescription drugs deplete magnesium as well. Women who have taken birth control pills for decades often have severely low tissue magnesium stores. When they develop cancer, their chemotherapy treatments are much more haz ardous and likely to produce complications than those of women with normal magnesium tissue levels. This problem is rarely considered by oncologists.

It has been shown that patients going into chemotherapy and radiation treatments with good nutrition are far less likely to suffer complications, respond better to the treatments, and have a lower risk of dying during the treatment than do people with a poor nutritional status. This has been confirmed in experimental settings.

In one experiment, it was found that when rats were given cyclophosphamide alone and were operated on alone, they rarely died, but when they were given the two treatments combined, more than 75 percent died. When the rats were treated with vitamin A or beta-carotene before surgery, the mortality rate was reduced to zero-that is, none of the rats died.

So, it is fairly obvious that there are a number of things you can do immediately to boost the effectiveness of your cancer treatments. First, do not smoke and avoid being in enclosed areas where others are smoking. Not only does tobacco contain numerous carcinogens, but the nicotine in tobacco-even in the form of the nicotine patches used to stop smoking-is a rather powerful inhibitor of the immune system. The last thing you want to do is further suppress your immune system.
Second, if you have been taking medications known to lower the levels of vitamins, minerals, or CoQ10, take supplements to correct the deficiencies in order to remain on the medications. Check with your doctor to see which medications you can dis continue. In many cases, doctors are either not aware that their patients are still on inappropriate medications or they have for gotten they prescribed the medications. It is your responsibility to review your medications with your doctor on a regular basis. Finally, take a magnesium supplement. This is one supplement rarely suggested by conventional doctors. It is particularly important to supplement with this mineral since deficiencies are so common, even in healthy people. For example, one survey of more than 30,000 people found that 75 percent were deficient in magnesium intake, with two-thirds of these people drastically deficient. People taking diuretic medications are at special risk, since these medications not only wash out potassium, but also remove magnesium. Fortunately, vegetables are high in magnesium.

Nutrient Interaction for Cancer

2008-10-16T11:21:00.000+08:00

This brings us to another important topic: nutrient interaction. Medical science has, for far too long, treated nutrients as just more objects to explore. In their way of thinking, which is very archaic, if you want to know why something works-for example, why fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of cancer you simply extract the components found in the highest concentrations and test them. Citrus fruits have a lot of vitamin C, so to the popular way of thinking, you just give test animals and people lots of vitamin C and see if it works. Sometimes it does, sometimes it has no effect, and on rare occasions, it actually increases the growth of cancer.

The problem with this way of thinking is that nutrients do not normally work alone, especially in as complex a biological system as exists in people. To a large part, this is because of the interactions of the biochemical systems, where altering one part of the system may affect a dozen or more other parts of the sys tern. Another important consideration is that the nutrients them selves interact. This is especially true when dealing with anticancer effects.

One of the more powerful interactions between nutrients and anticancer effects is seen with vitamin E and selenium. Several animal studies as well as studies of large populations of women have shown that vitamin E reduces the risk of breast cancer, especially in women at very high risk of the disease. But when you add selenium to the vitamin E, an even greater lowering of the risk is seen.

If we look at whole fruits and vegetables, we notice that vitamins never occur alone. This is very important, since vitamins keep each other from oxidizing. Vitamin C protects vitamin E, beta-carotene protects vitamin C, and so on. Recent studies emphasize the importance of mixing these nutrients in our diet and as supplements.

To emphasize the importance of nutrient interaction, let us look at the Physicians' Health Study, which involved 22,071 doctors, making it one of the largest nutritional studies ever done. The researchers isolated 578 men with prostate cancer in the study group and compared their diets to those of 1,294 con trols. They found that the men with the highest blood levels of lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes, had a dramatically lower incidence of prostate cancer, especially of the very aggressive type; some had as much as a 60 percent lower incidence. Yet, beta-carotene had no effect on the risk of the disease-at least, not in the men with normal levels of lycopene. To the re searchers' surprise, beta-carotene did have a major effect on re ducing the prostate cancer risk if a man's lycopene level was low. This, once again, emphasizes the interrelationship between nutrients and anticancer effects,

Special Cancer Killers in Plants

While most people think of vitamins as antioxidants and as the major nutritional weapons against cancer, other plant chemicals are, in fact, infinitely more powerful. Of major interest to cancer researchers are the flavonoids, a group of 5,000 very complex chemicals. Like vitamins, they also work best when together. A single vegetable or fruit can contain hundreds of these chemi cals. In addition, their anticancer activity is further enhanced by the presence of vitamins.

There is growing evidence that the effectiveness of nutrients when combined is not only additive, but synergistic. An additive effect is two plus two equals four, whereas a synergistic effect is two plus two equals twelve or twenty. Not only do certain nutrients enhance each other's anti cancer activity, they also dramatically enhance the ability of anti cancer drugs and radiation to kill cancer cells, as we shall see later.

Not All Foods Are Created the Same

One factor that is rarely considered is the nutritional variation among foods. For example, we often hear that apples are a good food for preventing cancer. Yet, all apples are not the same in terms of cancer-preventing abilities. One of the known anti cancer constituents in apples is a chemical called chlorogenic acid, yet the content of chlorogenic acid varies considerably among the different species of apples, with the McIntosh containing a very high level and the Golden Delicious a very low level.

Whether a fruit or vegetable is vine ripened also makes a dif ference. Many fruits and vegetables found in our local market were shipped across the country. To keep produce from spoiling during shipping, the produce companies pick the plants before they ripen, which means that these fruits and vegetables have lower concentrations of nutrients. Sometimes young sprouts have a greater concentration of a particular beneficial nutrient than the fully matured vegetable. For example, broccoli sprouts have been shown to have as much as 100 times more indole-3 carbinol, a powerful inhibitor of breast cancer, than mature br.occoli.9 Several nutritional companies have taken advantage of this observation by offering numerous types of plant sprouts, such as wheat, rye, and barley.

Not all vegetables and fruits have the same cancer-fighting power. The produce with the greatest anticancer effect are the cruciferous vegetables, which include kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage.

This is not to say that other vegetables are of no help because beets, parsley, spinach, carrots, and tomatoes have all been shown to have equally powerful anticancer effects. In general, fruits and vegetables with deep colors have the greatest anti cancer effectiveness.

Most people are aware that our soil-the sole source of nutrients for plants-is terribly depleted of nutrients. For example, the soil in many areas of the United States is severely depleted of the mineral selenium. People eating vegetables grown in selenium depleted soil can develop severe selenium deficiencies, thereby greatly increasing their risk for certain cancers, including breast and prostate cancers. Selenium plays a major role in immune system function as well, especially in the immune cells that attack cancer.

The quality of supplementary product for cancer

2008-10-16T11:20:00.002+08:00

One question I am frequently asked concerns whether synthetic vitamins or natural vitamins are better. In most cases, the natural vitamin is better, yet some synthetic vitamins are converted into numerous metabolic breakdown products when absorbed and these products can have powerful anticancer effects of their own. This has been shown to be the case with synthetic beta- carotene, which can be converted into numerous other com pounds.

A recent study of commonly available forms of synthetic beta carotene supplements found that many often contain no beta carotene at all, only the breakdown products of beta-carotene.' This doesn't mean that these supplements are ineffective against cancer, since in animal tests these breakdown products were also effective against cancer.

In some instances, vitamins compete for absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. For example, synthetic beta-carotene interferes with the absorption of another very important carotenoid called lutein.7 Similarly, synthetic vitamin E in high doses can lower the blood levels of beta-carotene. This competition for absorption can have major consequences for the person with cancer. Lutein, for example, is more important in preventing lung cancer and possibly breast cancer than is beta-carotene. In addition, taking beta-carotene from natural sources, such as from the algae Dunaliella bardawil or salina, results in much higher levels of the cars otenoids than does taking synthetic forms of the vitamin

Another problem with taking synthetic vitamins is that many natural vitamins consist of a number of components, whereas the synthetic forms have only one form. For example, vitamin E is actually composed of eight different fractions (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta tocopherols, and four tocotrienols), with some having more anticancer activity than others. The same is true for the carotenoids. While most people are familiar with beta-carotene, some of the other forms of the carotenoids are significantly more potent against specific cancers. Alpha-carotene, for instance, has been shown to play a more important role in preventing breast cancer, and lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin, and lycopene may be more important in preventing ovarian, prostate, and lung cancers.8 Astaxanthin, another carotenoid, has been found to strongly inhibit bladder cancer. If you take only synthetic beta-carotene, you will miss all of these powerful anti cancer carotenoids.
Even when taking synthetic vitamins, you should always try to use the form that most closely resembles the one found in nature or that has been shown to have a special anticancer effect, such as vitamin E succinate. Following are some guidelines.

Use the ascorbate form of vitamin C and not ascorbic acid. The acid form is more likely to upset your stomach, is poorly absorbed, and must be converted in your body to be used. Taking higher doses of ascorbic acid can cause acid build up (acidosis) and can increase your risk of osteoporosis. The best forms are magnesium ascorbate and calcium ascorbate. I prefer the former.
Never use vitamin E acetate (which is also called d- or dl alpha-tocopheryl acetate). This form of vitamin E is poorly absorbed, can cause a loss of carotenes in the liver, does not enter the brain, and has very little, if any, anticancer effect. The most powerful form of vitamin E is vitamin E succinate, which is also known as d-alpha-tocopheryl succinate or dry E. It comes as a white powder in a capsule. As we shall see, this form of vitamin E has the most powerful effect against cancer.

The second-best form of vitamin E for the cancer patient is the natural form, which is also called mixed tocopherols. In most cases, the supplement contains four types of tocopherols: alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. Technically, vitamin E also includes four other types of components, called tocotrienols, which include alpha, beta, gamma, and delta forms. Recent research has shown that the tocotrienols have powerful cancer-inhibiting effects, especially when combined with certain anticancer drugs, such as tamoxifen.

Many vitamin E supplements come in a gelatin capsule mixed with oil. In most cases, this oil is one of the tumor growth-promoting oils, usually soybean oil. This is another reason to take only vitamin E succinate, a dry powder. Unfortunately, no one has produced a vitamin E supplement dissolved in extra virgin olive oil.

Multiple vitamins should be taken only as a powder in a capsule and not as a hard tablet. Many tablets have been shown to contain binders that can prevent the absorption of the vitamins. Binders are like glue, used by manufacturers to keep the tablets from breaking during shipping. The ease with which a tablet can be broken down is of special concern for people who have undergone chemotherapy or radiation, since many have poor digestive abilities.
In general, avoid supplements that contain aspartate, glycine, or amino acid chelates-the so-called chelated vitamins or minerals. While they claim to improve absorption, and many do, these amino acids are excitotoxins. Excitotoxins not only can damage the brain, but some individuals have an extreme sensitivity to them. Granted, they are present in small doses, but for a person with a brain tumor, they might stimulate the tumor to grow faster.

You should also avoid gelatin capsules as much as possible, since gelatin is very high in glutamate, a powerful excitotoxin. In addition, gelatin is a bovine product and therefore carries a risk of mad cow disease.

Beware when buying plant extracts-that is, supplements containing extracts of fruits or vegetables. Many of these supplements contain such low amounts of the extract that you gain little nutritional benefit. This is a problem with vitamin C brands that claim rose hips as an ingredient. In truth, most of these brands have only a trace of rose hips, nowhere near enough to have any benefit, but enough to jack up the price.

Buy only fruit or vegetable extracts that come either as a loose powder or as a powder in a capsule. The label should list the amount of each ingredient. Note that these products require freeze drying or low-temperature drying to preserve the phyto chemicals. None of the brands I have examined are complete, and none should be used in place of a multivitamin-and-mineral supplement. Most are also low in magnesium. Do not buy a vegetable supplement that comes as a hard tablet with little flecks of green or red, since most such products are worthless.

Another common problem is supplements that come as a dry powder or tablet, but that are, in fact, absorbed only when dis solved in oil. Unfortunately, the label never tells you this. For in stance, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a very important anticancer nutrient, is absorbed poorly as a dry powder. It is fat-soluble and best absorbed when dissolved in an oil. One solution is to dissolve the powder in extra virgin olive oil. Just empty the capsule in a tablespoon of oil and take it as you would medicine. It has very little taste.
I have found several supplements in this category. Many of the flavonoids, such as curcumin, quercetin, and hesperidin, are better absorbed in an oil base as well. (At least one manufac turer makes water-soluble forms of quercetin and hesperidin that do not need to be dissolved in oil.) Often, failure to address the solubility issue explains why supplements do not seem to work for some people.

Finally, we must deal with the issues of quality and price. Many people shop for supplements the way they shop for toilet tissue, choosing whichever is the cheapest brand. This is like buying spoiled food to save money. In many cases, the brands with the highest quality cost more, sometimes significantly more. This does not always hold true, however, because occa sionally some worthless brands have high prices.

The only way to tell is to take a close look at the manufacturer. Some will hold a pharmaceutical manufacturer's license, which requires the company to pass rigorous standards and meticulous examinations of its manufacturing methods. Others sell their products to university laboratories and therefore must meet certain standards of quality and purity.

While the length of time a company has been in business and its size are major considerations, some smaller, younger companies make very high quality products. Most supplement companies keep records showing the analysis profiles of their supplements. These are available to health food stores and pharmacies. You should ask to look at the analysis of any supplement in question.
Quality is especially important in patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatments because often they have difficulty absorbing nutrients. How a supplement is manufactured makes a great deal of difference. For example, most supplement manufacturers add what is called an excipient to their products. One of the most commonly used is magnesium stearate, which has been shown to reduce nutrient absorption by more than 60 percent, even when used in a capsule. Other excipients are ascorbylpalmitate and stearic acid, both of which cause the same absorption problem.

Supplements can also be coated with a substance to make them easier to swallow. This coating is, in fact, nothing more than shellac, just like the kind used on furniture. Some companies use none of these additives and instead utilize a process that preserves the quality and purity of the product, maximizing absorption.

Herbs are in a special category all their own. Unlike most plants, herbs contain powerful chemicals that have pharmaceutical effects. The amounts of these chemicals in an herb depends on the soil the herb was grown in, the climate of the area, the moisture of the soil, and even the time of day the plant was harvested. When making large batches of herbal supplements, manufacturers must use exacting methods to make sure each capsule has the same amount of active ingredient.

To be sure your herbal supplement has the right amount of the active ingredient, check the label for standardization information. For example, a ginkgo biloba label should say the product is standardized to 24 percent heterosides and 6 percent ter penes. This guarantees that each capsule contains at least these amounts of active ingredients. The best protection is to only buy herbal products that have "Guaranteed Potency Herb" written on the label. This assures you of a very high standard herb. Never buy cheap herbs.

THE COMPLEXITY OF NUTRITION ON CANCER

2008-10-16T11:20:00.001+08:00

Most people outside science think that nutrition is simply a matter of what you eat and that what is important is that you get enough in the way of the basic food groups and calories. In fact, nutrition is much more complex than that. First, we have to understand the purpose of eating. It is not to satisfy our taste buds or to keep our stomachs from growling from hunger, even though many in the industrialized world think this way. Second, we have to understand that the body is a collection of immensely complex chemical reactions-tens of thousands of them.

Our cells and tissues are not simple cellular organisms living together in harmony. They are extremely complex biochemical laboratories engaging in tens of thousands of biochemical reactions every second of our lives. These chemical. reactions require special types of substances that must be supplied to our cells for them to function normally. Fortunately, our bodies can adapt to many deficiencies in these chemicals and can even make substitutions. Yet, these deficiencies can cause the cells to work less efficiently, making them highly susceptible to diseases, including cancer.

The nutritional requirements for cells also vary widely, with some cells requiring more of a particular nutrient than other cells. This is because the cells have different functions. For ex ample, the thyroid gland needs a different set of chemicals than does breast tissue.
We have also learned that the distribution of vitamins and their breakdown products varies considerably from tissue to tissue. For example, the female cervix concentrates more vita min C and folate than does the gallbladder. This should mean that a deficiency in vitamin C and folate will increase a woman's risk of cervical cancer, and that is exactly what we sec. Women with very low vitamin C intake can have a cervical cancer risk ten times higher than women who consume more dietary vitamin C.

In some instances, a tissue may require a lot more of a par ticular nutrient than normal, as for instance in the case of cervical cancer where even normal blood levels of folate are insufficient to prevent the disease. It takes higher intakes of folate to prevent cervical cancer in women at high risk. This is one of the reasons why the recommendations for the vitamins and minerals are constantly being revised upward.

Sometimes a person can be eating a perfectly healthy diet, with lots of fruits and vegetables, low amounts of harmful fats, and little sugar, and still have a high risk of cancer. One reason for this is that unless the nutrients can enter the bloodstream, they do little good. We call this inability to enter the bloodstream malabsorption. Occasionally, malabsorption involves only a single type of nutrient or even a single vitamin or mineral. So how can we know if we are absorbing our nutrients properly? One way is to have our blood levels of the nutrients measured directly. Several laboratories measure vitamin and mineral blood levels. Yet, even then we may be fooled. Many vitamins are converted from the form found in food into an especially active form required by the cells in the body. For example, the riboflavin from food is converted into riboflavin-S-phosphate in the body, and the pyridoxine (vitamin B6) from food is converted into pyrodoxal-S-phosphate in the body. The conversion processes for these vitamins require special enzymes, which are often impaired in the elderly, in people undergoing cancer treatments, and in people suffering from a chronic disease.

Supplement Vs Food in cancer

2008-10-16T11:19:00.001+08:00

Many health practitioners who treat cancer with alternative methods insist that no supplements are needed, only pure, healthy foods, while others disagree and promote the use of supplements. Personally, I see a third way: a program based principally on dietary changes and whole foods plus the use of specially selected supplements that have shown particular activity against cancer. My selection of supplements is based on hard science and numerous clinical studies, as well as in my own personal experience. For example, we now know that the anticancer activity of the different forms of vitamin E varies considerably. Some forms of vitamin E, such as d- or dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, have very little anticancer activity, are poorly absorbed, and may in terfere with other nutrients, while the d-alpha-tocopheryl succinate form of vitamin E has powerful anticancer activity, is well absorbed, and has the greatest antioxidant activity. The same can also be said for synthetic beta-carotene compared to natural forms.

We should also appreciate that we still do not know all the components in edible plants, nor do we understand many of the functions of the food components that have been isolated. By using only extracts of these plants, we may be missing an as-yet unidentified anticancer nutrient. In addition, the process of extracting the known nutrients could destroy some of the mysterious component.

One of the big mysteries of nutritional cancer treatments is why it takes so many fruits and vegetables in the diet to have any anticancer effect. Ten servings of fruits and vegetables add up to a lot of produce. Closely connected to this mystery is the difference between the cells of animals and the cells of plants. Most of the nutritious components of plants are confined within their cells, which differ from animal cells in that they have tough cell walls surrounding their membranes. Unfortunately, humans do not have enzymes in their digestive tracts to dissolve these cell walls. As a result, we cannot absorb most of the nutrients in plants.

This leaves us with three ways to extract these locked-in nutrients. First, we can mechanically break the cell walls by chewing all our fruits and vegetables until they are fine mush. Un fortunately, most of us chew our fruits and vegetables just a few times and then swallow. Second, we can cook our fruits and vegetables, since the heating process breaks the cell wall down. The disadvantage of this method is that you also destroy some of the nutrients and wash others away. In addition, you neutralize many of the plant enzymes, which have been shown to play a part in the anticancer effects of plants. Finally, we can me chemically break down the cell walls by either juicing our fruits and vegetables or liquefying them in a blender.

I have been impressed by the number of people with advanced, near-terminal cancer who have survived after changing their diet to include blenderized or juiced fruits and vegetables. With what we know now concerning the science behind plant phytochemicals and cancer, it makes a lot of sense. People who juice or blenderize their fruits and vegetables get a much higher concentration of the anticancer chemicals than those who just eat fruits and vegetables. In addition, most of the people who go to this trouble choose fruits and vegetables that are high on the list of the most powerful edible anticancer plants.

As we shall see throughout this book, many phytochemicals have a differential effect in that they protect normal cells from the harmful effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments while greatly enhancing the effectiveness of the conventional treatments against the cancer.

Important to understand cancer process

2008-10-16T11:18:00.000+08:00

In the past, before we understood why nutrition works, most of our information was based on anecdotal stories (case histories), studies of large populations of people (epidemiological studies), and word of mouth from those utilizing nutritional treatments outside the medial establishment. This presented two major problems. First, physicians hesitated to use nutrition because little proof or explanation existed for its mechanism of action. Second, cancer patients were often afraid to rely on a treatment method that was not endorsed by the scientific community.

Despite the tens of billions of dollars spent on the war on cancer, we have not found a cure for the disease, but we have learned a lot about the cancer process and how cancer cells differ from normal cells. It is this basic knowledge that elucidated for us what many early proactioners of alternative medicine knew all along: something in plants, both as foods and as herbs, has a beneficial effect in suppressing cancer growth.

It should also be appreciated that much of the scientific work was done in an experimental setting. While thousands of cancer patients have been treated successfully with nutritional treatments, few carefully controlled studies of these large populations of patients have been properly done, This is because such studies are very expensive and no one, until recently, has taken an interest in funding them. Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has begun several studies of the nutritional treatment of cancers in large numbers of people. It will be several more years before the final results of these studies appear.

For the cancer patient, waiting for the results of academic studies is not an option. I have used nutritional methods for at least twenty-four years, more so in the last five years, and I have seen undeniable benefits-and no harm-in my patients. There is no question that the patients using these methods tolerate their treatments better and have far fewer complications. They also respond much better to their conventional treatments.

As I will show in the following chapters, selected nutritional supplements affect the cancer cell at multiple steps in its metabolism in such a way as to significantly interfere with its ability to survive. They do this without interfering with the effectiveness of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. By using different ways to kill and suppress cancer cells, nutrition, in fact, enhances the effectiveness of the conventional treatments.
To kill cancer cells, or to at least force them into a dormant state, every mechanism on which the cancer cell depends must be interfered with. Nutritional supplements do this more effectively than either chemotherapy or radiation treatments, and with little or no effect on normal cells, except to make them stronger.

Changing your diet is a very difficult thing to do, especially if the changes are drastic. Most of us are so accustomed to eating foods that are full of artificial flavors, very sweet, or creamy in texture that eating foods without these qualities becomes a chore. Dietary compliance is the most difficult problem I face in treating cancer patients. This is especially so for the patients having the worst diets. For example, a person who lives for his barbecued ribs, french fries, and soft drinks will have great difficulty switching to a plate full of fresh raw vegetables, fruits, and pure water.

If understanding why nutrition is so important does nothing else, it at least helps cancer patients to stick to the new diet. The more you understand the mechanisms by which phytochemicals inhibit cancer growth and spread, the more you will appreciate why even minor variations in your diet can have significant effects on your cancer. There is serious question as to whether cancers are ever completely eradicated. If they are not, then sticking to the diet becomes even more important, since the dormant cancer can be reactivated by a bad diet.

The longer you adhere to the diet, the easier it will be for you to follow. Tastes change with time. People on low-salt diets find normally salted foods far too salty. The same is true for low sugar diets: people on low-sugar diets soon find foods and drinks containing sugar to taste too sweet. This readjustment process of the taste buds allows us to conform to a diet we previously thought would be unbearable. It's all what we get used to.

Dietary Change In Cancer Patients

2008-10-16T11:17:00.002+08:00

DIETARY CHANGES ON FIGHTING CANCER

Alcohol and cancer

Alcohol consumption significantly increases the risk of cancers of the mouth (oral/oropharyngeal cancer), throat (esophageal cancer), and voice box (laryngeal cancer), particularly in conjunction with cigarette smoking. Most studies documenting these associations also report that former drinkers have significantly lower risks for these cancers compared with current drinkers. Strong correlations between alcohol consumption and the risk of having liver cancer have also been reported.

Little is known about the effect of alcohol intake on the risk of female cancers other than breast cancer. Of the few published studies, findings have been inconsistent.

Fiber

Whole grains (such as rye, brown rice, and whole wheat) contain high amounts of insoluble fiber— the type of fiber some scientists believe may help protect against a variety of cancers. In an analysis of the data from many studies, people who eat relatively high amounts of whole grains were reported to have low risks of lymphomas and cancers of the pancreas, stomach, colon, rectum, breast, uterus, mouth, throat, liver, and thyroid. Most research focusing on the relationship between cancer and fiber has focused on breast and colon cancers.

Consuming a diet high in insoluble fiber is best achieved by switching from white rice to brown rice and from bakery goods made with white flour or mixed flours to 100% whole wheat bread, whole rye crackers, and whole grain pancake mixes. Refined white flour is generally listed on food packaging labels as “flour,” “enriched flour,” “unbleached flour,” “durum wheat,” “semolina,” or “white flour.” Breads containing only whole wheat are often labeled “100% whole wheat.”

Vegetarianism

The following two possibilities are both strongly supported by research findings:
• Some foods consumed by vegetarians may protect against cancer.
• Eating meat may increase the risk of cancer.

Compared with meat eaters, most, but not all, studies have found that vegetarians are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer. Vegetarians have also been shown to have stronger immune function, possibly explaining why vegetarians may be partially protected against cancer. Female vegetarians have been reported to have lower estrogen levels compared with meateating women, possibly explaining a lower incidence of uterine and breast cancers. A reduced risk for various cancers is only partly, not totally, explained by differences in body weight, smoking habits, and other lifestyle issues.

Fruits and vegetables

Consumption of fruits and vegetables is widely accepted as lowering the risk of most common cancers. Many doctors recommend that people wishing to reduce their risk of cancer eat several pieces of fruit and several portions of vegetables every day. Optimal intakes remain unknown.

Most doctors also recommend that people should not consider supplements as substitutes for the real thing. Some of the anticancer substances found in produce have probably not yet been discovered, while others are not yet available in supplement form. More important, some research, particularly regarding synthetic beta-carotene, does not support the idea that taking supplements has the same protective value against cancer as does consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Flavonoids

Flavonoids are found in virtually all herbs and plant foods. Consumption of flavonoid-rich onions and apples contain large amounts of one flavonoid called quercetin. Consumption of flavonoids in general, or quercetin-containing foods in particular, has been associated with protection against cancer in some, but not all, preliminary studies. Tomatoes Tomatoes contain lycopene —an antioxidant similar in structure to beta-carotene. Most lycopene in our diet comes from tomatoes, though traces of lycopene exist in other foods. Lycopene inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells in test tube research. A review of published research found that higher intake of tomatoes or higher blood levels of lycopene correlated with protection from cancer in 57 of 72 studies. Findings in of these 35 studies were statistically significant. Evidence of a protective effect for tomato consumption was strongest for cancers of the prostate, lung, and stomach, but some evidence of a protective effect also appeared for cancers of the pancreas, colon, rectum, esophagus (throat), mouth, breast, and cervix.

Cruciferous vegetables
Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower belong to the Brassica family of vegetables, also known as “cruciferous” vegetables. In test tube and animal studies, these foods have been associated with anticancer activity, possibly due to several substances found in these foods, such as indole-3-carbinol, glucaric acid (calcium D-glucarate), and sulforaphane. In a preliminary human study, people who ate cruciferous vegetables were reported to have a lower-than-average risk for bladder cancer.

Fish

Fish eaters have been reported to have low risks of cancers of the mouth, throat, stomach, colon, rectum, pancreas, lung, breast, and prostate. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are thought by some researchers to be the components of fish responsible for protection against cancer.

Coffee

Years ago, researchers reported the greater the consumption of coffee in a country, the higher the risk of pancreatic cancer in that country. An analysis of data from studies published between 1981 and 1993 did find some association between high consumption of coffee and an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Surprisingly, however, the same report found that people drinking only one or two cups of coffee per day had, on average, a lower risk of pancreatic cancer compared with people who never drink coffee.

Most, but not all, published reports have shown coffee drinkers are at increased risk of bladder cancer, though in one case the relationship was found only in men. In another study, the association was found only with caffeinated coffee. A review of trials found a small (7%) increased risk of bladder cancer in coffee drinkers compared with people not drinking coffee— a difference not statistically significant.

Calories

Scientists have known for many years that severe restriction of calories dramatically reduces the risk of cancer in laboratory animals. Scientists speculate that caloric content of the human diet may also affect cancer rates, though much less is known about the effect, if any, of moderate caloric restrictions in humans. In one report, adults with cancer were more likely to have consumed more calories during childhood compared with healthy adults. In other reports, attempts to find associations between reduced intake of calories and cancer have produced mixed results.

Only severe restriction in caloric intake provides significant protection in animal studies. As most people are unlikely to severely restrict calories, the association between caloric restriction and protection from cancer may ultimately prove to only be of academic interest.

Dietary fat

In studying data from country to country, incidence of ovarian cancer correlates with dietary fat intake. According to preliminary research, consumption of saturated fat, dietary cholesterol (as found in eggs), and animal fat in general correlates with the risk of ovarian cancer. Preliminary studies suggest dietary fat may correlate with the risk of uterine cancer. Some of the excess risk appears to result from increased body weight that results from a high-fat diet. Many years ago, researchers reported that animals on a high-fat diet formed skin cancers more rapidly than did other animals. Although some preliminary human research has found no relationship between dietary fat intake and the risk of skin cancer, 58 patients with basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers who were put on a low-fat diet for two years were reported to show a significant decrease in the number of new skin cancers compared with patients who maintained a high-fat diet. Similarly, precancerous lesions of the skin have been prevented in people put on a low-fat diet.

Polyunsaturated fats A chain of carbon atoms in which several are not attached to the maximum possible amount of hydrogen is called “polyunsaturated”––in other words, unsaturated with hydrogen in several places. When nutrition researchers talk about polyunsaturated fatty acids, they are often referring primarily to linoleic acid— a fatty acid found in nuts and seeds and most vegetable oils.

In animal research, the consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids increases the risk of some cancers. However, in humans, most, though not all, reports do not find an association between polyunsaturates and cancer risks.

Sugar

A preliminary study has reported an association between an increasing intake of sugar or sugar-containing foods and an increased risk of gallbladder cancer. Whether this association exists because sugar directly promotes cancer or because sugar consumption is only a marker for some other dietary or lifestyle factor remains unknown.

Salt

In preliminary research, increasing intake of salt correlates with increased risk of stomach cancer. Associations between foods preserved with salt and the risk of cancers of the head and neck have also been reported. Animal studies suggest that the antioxidant or immune-enhancing effect of whey protein may produce anti-cancer effects. Preliminary human case reports suggest that 30 grams per day of whey protein may improve responses to anti-cancer medications, but more research is needed.

NUTRITION IN CANCER PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

2008-10-16T11:17:00.001+08:00

NUTRITION IN CANCER PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

The ability of nutrition to prevent the occurrence of cancer is now beyond dispute. In a paper appearing in the journal of the American Dietetic Association, Dr. K. A. Steinmetz and his coworkers found by reviewing 206 of the best human cancer surveys and 22 animal studies that of all the dietary factors considered in relation to reducing cancer development, at all of its stages, the most important was the intake of fruits and vegetables.

In fact, over all, the cancer rates were reduced 50 percent in the people who ate the most fruits and vegetables, with the greatest reduction being in cancers of the esophagus, oral cavity, larynx, pancreas, stomach, colon, rectum, bladder, cervix, ovary, endometrium, and breast. Even better protection was seen with some types of cancer.

The greatest fall in cancer rates in humans has been with cancer of the stomach, attributed almost solely to a higher intake of vitamin C-containing foods. To better appreciate the power of phytochemicals in foods in preventing cancer, let us look at a study done in Japan. It was found that people eating the most yellow-green vegetables had a stomach cancer incidence 65 percent lower than those eating significantly fewer of these vegetables. If that is not impressive enough, another study found that persons eating citrus fruits just twice a month or less had a sixteen-times higher risk of developing stomach cancer than those eating fruits at least once a week or more.
Today we hear a lot about cancer of the pancreas. It took the lives of President Jimmy Carter's sister and actor Michael Landon, as well as of 28,200 people in the year 2000 alone. It has a mortality rate of more than 90 percent. Yet, its occurrence appears to be strongly related to our diet. In one study, it was found that people who ate no vegetables had a fourfold higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those who ate five or more servings of vegetables. Reducing the pancreatic cancer risk depended mostly on eating vegetables and fruits high in beta carotene and especially lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, and watermelon.2
This same red pigment appears to play a leading role in pre venting prostate cancer, with the risk being lowered 35 to 45 percent in those eating a lot of such fruits and vegetables.3 Vitamin E, especially when combined with selenium, also dramatically reduces the risk of this cancer.

While we are learning more about how these nutrients inhibit cancer, something even more exciting is occurring in the world of science. We are now finding that the very same nutrients can be used to inhibit the growth, invasion, and metastasis of cancers that already exist, and that when we combine these nutrients with conventional cancer treatments, such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy, the conventional therapies work significantly better. If that were not enough, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients can protect patients from the harmful side effects of these conventional treatments.

Numerous anticancer components are found in foods. A partial list includes:
● Allicin
● Antiestrogens and antiprogestins
● Carotenoids, folate, niacinamide, and vitamins A, D, K, and B12
● Coenzyme Q1o
● Ellagic acid
● Fiber
● Flavonoids (some .5,000 have now been identified)
● Glucosinolates
● Glutathione
● Glycolipids and glycoproteins
● Immune-enhancing polysaccharides
● Indole-3-carbinol
● Isothiocyanates
● Magnesium
● Phytates
● Protease inhibitors
● Saponins
● Selenium (principally in an organic form)
● Sterols and sterolins (plant steroids)
● Sulphoraphanes
● Zinc

Most patients dread the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments as much as, and sometimes more than, their cancer. This is especially so for patients who already have had to go through several rounds of chemotherapy treatments. Today, it is not uncommon for cancer patients to undergo such treatments for as long as a year. Overwhelming fatigue, nausea and/or
vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and severe bone marrow depression can make life seem hopeless and, for many, hardly worth living.
To be physically ill every day for months is very difficult. Yet my experience, confirmed now by many studies, has shown that patients do not have to suffer to receive benefit from the conventional treatments. The vast majority of the complications and side effects of the conventional treatments can be avoided by using simple nutritional methods.

While I do recommend many special supplements, the central and most important part of the treatment program is diet. As you shall see throughout this book, diet can mean the difference between success and failure. Many of the phytonutrients I will discuss are not available as separate nutrients, but are obtained by eating selected fruits and vegetables. By combining the two-special supplements and diet-you can supply your body with a very powerful brew of cancer-fighting nutrients.

I always tell my patients that if they try to depend on supplements alone and not change their diet, they will ultimately fail. It is estimated that as many as 70 percent of all cancers are related to the diet. To continue eating the same foods that led to your cancer in the first place is to travel down the road to disaster because, as you shall see, foods often contain extremely powerful cancer-causing and -promoting substances as well. The typical Western diet-high in red meats, bad fats, food additives, and carbohydrates-is a perfect cancer brew. Below we can see the effects that different dietary excesses can have on prostate cancer:
● High red-meat intake-200 percent increased risk
● High caloric intake-190 percent increased risk
● High dessert intake-180 percent increased risk

This brew not only causes cancer, but can promote the growth of existing cancers as well. This is especially true of fats. Certain fats, called omega-6 fatty acids, not only stimulate cancer growth, but also powerfully suppress the immune system at the same time. I tell my patients that eating these fats is like adding fertilizer to crab grass. Throughout the book I will describe other cancer fertilizers.

Another problem I see when discussing diet changes with my patients is what most people consider eating lots of fruits and vegetables to be. To many, it means eating their favorite vegetable or fruit. If they like green beans and bananas and eat them several times a day, they consider this to be eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. The beans often come from a can and have very little nutrition left plus have high levels of toxic metals. And the bananas, while having some important nutrients, are very high in sugar, a cancer growth-promoting nutrient. We see that regular consumption of these foods and a high total caloric intake dramatically increases men's risk of prostate cancer. Additional risk factors include milk consumption and a low intake of the omega-3 oils combined with a high intake of the omega-6 oils.

When I analyze most of my patients' diets, I find that the majority do not eat even two servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Most studies confirm this observation. For example, one survey found that Americans eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables less than 25 percent of the time. The statistics are even worse for children.

In terms of health benefits (mainly in terms of antioxidants), eating fewer than five servings of fruits and vegetables a day does very little good. The health benefits begin at five servings, and for people below the age of fifty, they reach a maximum at ten servings. For those over the age of fifty, adding two additional servings-that is, consuming a total of twelve servings a day-provides the maximum health benefits. So, up to a limit, we gain greater benefit by eating more fruits and vegetables. Several studies have shown that eating large amounts of fruits and vegetables, especially vegetables, not only retards the growth of cancers, but can convert very aggressive cancers into much more benign tumors. This is a remarkable finding. In the past, we thought that once a cancer formed, its prognosis was always in one direction: Aggressive cancers stayed aggressive and less aggressive cancers could become more aggressive, but never the reverse. Newer studies are even showing, at least experimentally, that some cancer cells can be changed into normal cells using specific nutrients. So, instead of directing all our efforts into figuring out how to kill cancer cells without harming normal cells, we can simply change cancer cells back to normal cells.

What do I need to know about Cancer Prevention

2008-10-16T11:16:00.000+08:00

Cancer refers to a large number of diseases categorized by unregulated replication of cells. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Americans. We have known for more than a century that people who eat a diet consisting mostly of fruits and vegetables have a cancer rate much lower than those consuming few of these healthy foods. Only recently have we begun to understand the scientific basis of this protection, however. New techniques for measuring bio chemical events on a molecular level have allowed us to map out the many ways the components of fruits and vegetables inhibit cancer formation.

Even more exciting is the discovery that many of the chemicals found in edible plants can turn cancer cells into normal cells, meaning that food components may indeed be used to re verse cancer itself. In addition, these same plant chemicals can reduce the complications associated with the conventional cancer treatments and enhance, sometimes dramatically, the effectiveness of these treatments.

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?

Self-care for cancer prevention can be approached in a number of ways— but it can be hard to know just where to start. To make it easier, our doctors recommend trying these simple steps first:
a) Get regular checkups
Many cancers can be prevented or discovered in the early stages with screening tests available through your healthcare provider

b) Go vegetarian
Eat more vegetables (especially tomatoes and cruciferous vegetables), fruits, whole grains, and legumes to help optimize body weight, immune function, hormone regulation, and to avoid

c) meat-related carcinogens, all of which may influence cancer risk Focus on fiber Eat foods rich in fiber, especially those made with whole grains, to help reduce the risk of several cancers Find healthy fats More meals containing olive oil or fish help protect against cancer, and avoiding fat from meat, dairy, and processed foods, may decrease cancer risk Avoid alcohol Use alcoholic beverages in moderation or not at all to reduce the risk of many cancers meat-related carcinogens, all of which may influence cancer risk

d) Focus on fiber Eat foods rich in fiber, especially those made with whole grains, to help reduce the risk of several cancers

e) Find healthy fats
More meals containing olive oil or fish help protect against cancer, and avoiding fat from meat, dairy, and processed foods, may decrease cancer risk

f) Avoid alcohol
Use alcoholic beverages in moderation or not at all to reduce the risk of many cancers

What you should eat if you encounter spinal cord injury?

2008-10-16T09:36:00.002+08:00

What you should eat if you encounter spinal cord injury?

By
Dr Leow Chee Seng
MBA (UPM), DBA (UBI), FBIH (UK), MMIM (Mal), MIHRM (Mal), MIM-CPT (Mal),CAHRP (Consultant) Mal), Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA), Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)
Practicing Cognitive, Behavioural Therapist
Practicing Nutrition Consultant

Yale Consultancy Sdn Bhd
Nutrition Therapy Unit
73-3, Amber Business Plaza,
Jalan Jelawat 1,
Batu 3 1/2,
56000 Kuala Lumpur
www.yaleconsultant.cm
Email: nutrition@yaleconsultant.com

INTRODUCTION

Adequate nutrition and balanced nutrition is everyone concerned, not just those with a spinal cord injury. A well-balanced diet provides the nutrients your body needs to run properly and carry out normal body processes. It also provides energy and keeps your immune system strong.

When you have a spinal cord injury, not following a balanced diet increases your chance for developing pressure sores. A poor diet will also hinder your body’s ability to heal sores and fight infection, and you will become fatigued more easily.

Being overweight is another concern because excess weight makes transfers more difficult. In addition, excessive pressure and rubbing on skin puts you at risk for pressure sores. Obesity is associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, and increased levels of blood fats. A spinal cord injury does not necessitate a huge change in diet, unless your diet before your injury was not adequate.

Defining A Well-Balanced Diet:
According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a well-balanced or “healthy” diet is one that:
· Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products;
· Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts; and
· Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.

According to the New Food Guide Pyramid, more specific recommendations have been made for each of the food groups:
Grains
Eat at least 3 oz of whole grain bread, cereal, crackers, rice, or pasta every day
Look for “whole” before the grain name on the list of ingredients
Vegetables
Eat more dark green veggies
Eat more orange veggies
Eat more dry beans and peas
Fruits
Eat a variety of fruit
Choose fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit
Go easy on fruit juices
Oils
Make most of your fat choices from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils
Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening, and lard
Milk
Go low-fat or fat-free
If you don’t or can’t consume milk, choose lactose-free products or other calcium sources
Meat and Beans
Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry
Bake it, broil it, or grill it
Vary your choices--with more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and seeds

FOOD SUPPLIES 6 KEY NUTRIENTS

Carbohydrates
-Source of energy (calories)
-Supplies fiber to aid in elimination
-Consume more complex carbohydrates (starches and fiber) and less simple (sugar) carbohydrates

Sources: Breads, cereals, fruit, vegetables, crackers, pasta, oats, barley, legumes
Protein
-Composed of 8 essential amino acids
-Builds and maintains healthy body cells
-Provides antibodies to fight infections
-Helps prevent skin breakdown

Sources: Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dried peas, legumes, soybeans, nuts, cheese

Fat
-Source of energy (calories)
-Supplies essential fatty acids
-Provides and carries vitamins A, E, D & K
-Protects vital body organs
-Consume in moderation

Sources: Butter, margarine, oils, salad dressings, meats, nuts

Vitamins
-Function in the absorption and utilization of food
-Act as biochemical catalysts in all the body cells
-Water soluble (B and C) or fat soluble (A, D, E and K)

Sources: Fruits, vegetables, grains

Minerals
-Help build blood, bones and teeth
-Regulate body fluids
-Aid in vital body functions such as those of the nerve and muscles

Sources: Fruits, vegetables, meats, legumes, nuts
Water
-Essential for life
-Major element of every cell in the body-Necessary for all processes of digestion
-Carrier of nutrients and waste

Sources: Water, tea, juices, diet soda, Jello, soups, cranberry juice

2005 DIETARY GUIDELINES ACCORDING TO FDA (FOOD DIETARY ALLOWANCE)
ADEQUATE NUTRIENTS WITHIN CALORIE NEEDS
· Consume a variety of nutrient-dense foods and beverages within and among the basic food groups while choosing foods that limit the intake of saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt, and alcohol.
· Meet recommended intakes within energy needs by adopting a balanced eating pattern, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide or the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Eating Plan.
WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
· To maintain body weight in a healthy range, balance calories from foods and beverages with calories expended.
· To prevent gradual weight gain over time, make small decreases in food and beverage calories and increase physical activity.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
· Engage in regular physical activity and reduce sedentary activities to promote health, psychological well-being, and a healthy body weight.
o To reduce the risk of chronic disease in adulthood: Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, above usual activity, at work or home on most days of the week.
o For most people, greater health benefits can be obtained by engaging in physical activity of more vigorous intensity or longer duration.
o To help manage body weight and prevent gradual, unhealthy body weight gain in adulthood: Engage in approximately 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity on most days of the week while not exceeding caloric intake requirements.
o To sustain weight loss in adulthood: Participate in at least 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity while not exceeding caloric intake requirements. Some people may need to consult with a healthcare provider before participating in this level of activity.
· Achieve physical fitness by including cardiovascular conditioning, stretching exercises for flexibility, and resistance exercises or calisthenics for muscle strength and endurance.
FOOD GROUPS TO ENCOURAGE
· Consume a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables while staying within energy needs. Two cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables per day are recommended for a reference 2,000-calorie intake, with higher or lower amounts depending on the calorie level.
· Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. In particular, select from all five vegetable subgroups (dark green, orange, legumes, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables) several times a week.
· Consume 3 or more ounce-equivalents of whole-grain products per day, with the rest of the recommended grains coming from enriched or whole-grain products. In general, at least half the grains should come from whole grains.
· Consume 3 cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.

FATS
· Consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids and less than 300 mg/day of cholesterol, and keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible.
· Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.
· When selecting and preparing meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products, make choices that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free.
· Limit intake of fats and oils high in saturated and/or trans fatty acids, and choose products low in such fats and oils.
CARBOHYDRATES
· Choose fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains often.
· Choose and prepare foods and beverages with little added sugars or caloric sweeteners, such as amounts suggested by the USDA Food Guide and the DASH Eating Plan.
· Reduce the incidence of dental caries by practicing good oral hygiene and consuming sugar- and starch-containing foods and beverages less frequently.
SODIUM AND POTASSIUM
· Consume less than 2,300 mg (approximately 1 teaspoon of salt) of sodium per day.
· Choose and prepare foods with little salt. At the same time, consume potassium-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
· Those who choose to drink alcoholic beverages should do so sensibly and in moderation—defined as the consumption of up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.
· Alcoholic beverages should not be consumed by some individuals, including those who cannot restrict their alcohol intake, women of childbearing age who may become pregnant, pregnant and lactating women, children and adolescents, individuals taking medications that can interact with alcohol, and those with specific medical conditions.
· Alcoholic beverages should be avoided by individuals engaging in activities that require attention, skill, or coordination, such as driving or operating machinery.
FOOD SAFETY
· To avoid microbial foodborne illness:
o Clean hands, food contact surfaces, and fruits and vegetables. Meat and poultry should not be washed or rinsed.
o Separate raw, cooked, and ready-to-eat foods while shopping, preparing, or storing foods.
o Cook foods to a safe temperature to kill microorganisms.
o Chill (refrigerate) perishable food promptly and defrost foods properly.
o Avoid raw (unpasteurized) milk or any products made from unpasteurized milk, raw or partially cooked eggs or foods containing raw eggs, raw or undercooked meat and poultry, unpasteurized juices, and raw sprouts.

SKIN INTEGRITY

Adequate pressure relief, good skin hygiene and proper nutrition are essential for decubitus ulcer prevention.

Nutritional Keys to Healthy Skin

Maintain Ideal Body Weight
Excess weight leads to increased pressure on the skin resulting in breakdown.
Being underweight increases the risk of pressure ulcer development due to inadequate skin covering over bony prominences

Eat a balanced diet of a variety of foods
Follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and use the Food Guidance System tool

Adequate Protein Intake
Protein is needed by the body for tissues maintenance and building. Without adequate protein intake, the body cannot fight off infections and wounds heal poorly.
Good food sources include: lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk and milk products, cheese, dried beans and peas, and peanut butter
Try to incorporate 1 good protein source at each meal
Your protein intake will need to increase if you have a pressure sore

Fluid! Fluid! Fluid!
Dehydration can increase susceptibility to skin breakdown.
The goal is 10-12 cups of fluid each day. Half of this should come from water.
Caffeinated beverages and alcohol can aggravate dehydration because they act as diuretics
Aim for fluids that have 10 calories or less per 8 oz serving to prevent unnecessary weight gain.

Vitamins and Minerals
A diet with a variety of foods provides adequate levels of vitamins and minerals
Vitamins and minerals are important in the prevention and healing of skin wounds and anemia.
Skin breakdown results from inadequate oxygenation of the tissues. Anemia causes low levels of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to the tissues. It can be caused by a deficiency of Vitamin B12, Folate, or Iron. Supplementation will be necessary.
During times of wound healing, supplementation of Vitamin C and Zinc may be indicated for additional support.

VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTATION

A Multivitamin may be warranted to cover any areas that your diet may be lacking. Food is the best place to get your nutrients because many compounds naturally found in foods cannot be found in a supplement. Research has shown that a multivitamin is a cheap and safe way to ensure your diet is adequate.

Supplementation: Centrum, One-A-Day, Flintstones, Generic
Vitamin C is needed for collagen synthesis. It hastens healing of wounds and increases resistance to infection.

Food sources: Citrus fruits, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and greens

Supplementation: 500 mg taken twice per day will help keep your urine acidic.
Zinc is necessary for connective tissue synthesis and immune system function.

Food sources: Meat, liver, eggs, legumes, milk and seafood

Supplementation: 15-40 mg of elemental zinc may be warranted for a couple weeks to help with wound healing. Taking too much zinc for a long period of time can reduce copper and iron absorption, decrease your immune system, and lower HDL-C (good cholesterol). Also, additional zinc will do nothing if you are not already zinc deficient.
Vitamin A assists formation and maintenance of skin and mucous membranes, thus increasing resistance to infections.

Food sources: Dark green and deep yellow vegetables, milk, liver and egg yolk

Supplementation: Do not supplement with more vitamin A than what is already contained in your multivitamin. Your best bet is to focus on vitamin A rich foods.

Folate is needed for DNA and RNA synthesis and the production of new cells.

Food sources: green leafy vegetables, legumes, whole grain cereals

Supplementation: Do not exceed 1000 mcg of folic acid per day because this could mask a B12 deficiency. It is advised to have your B12 level checked before taking folic acid supplements if you are over 50 years old. If you supplement with extra folate, make sure your supplement also contains B12.

Iron assists in hemoglobin production, which is responsible for carrying oxygen to the cells of your body

Food sources: Meat, poultry, dried beans, fortified cereals

Supplementation: Do not take iron supplements unless advised by your health care professional because too much iron in supplement form may be harmful. If you do take iron supplements, take them with a vitamin C rich food and separate them from your calcium supplement or multivitamin by 2 hours.

Vitamin B12 is necessary for the synthesis and maintenance of nerve cells and red blood cells.

Food sources: Meat, eggs, cheese, fish, milk and milk products, brewer’s yeast

Supplementation: What you receive in your multivitamin should be adequate if you eat meat.
Vitamin D is necessary for the maintenance of strong bones. Vitamin D is naturally synthesized on the skin when exposed to sunlight. You may be at risk for deficiency if you do not receive adequate sun exposure.

Sources: Sun, fortified milk, fatty fish

Supplementation: If you are 50 years or older, 800-1000 IU’s of cholecalciferol may be warranted. You will probably find calcium and vitamin D together in a supplement such as Citracal or Catrate.

FLUIDS
Fluids are necessary to prevent dehydration, which increases your susceptibility to skin breakdown. Dehydration also increases your chances for urinary tract infections and kidney stones. A high fluid intake flushes the urinary tract of unwanted materials and bacteria in addition to keeping the urine dilute.

Your fluid intake should coincide with your bowel regimen; however, there are times when fluid needs may need to be increased. Fluid losses can be significant when pressure sores are present, therefore water and apple juice may be prescribed at that time. Cranberry juice is often given for good urinary tract health.

While on intermittent catheterization program, fluid intake is initially limited to prevent over-distention of the bladder, 120 cc every two hours. Fluid intake will be increased as voiding occurs reflexively and residual decrease. Once voiding occurs reflexively and the bladder is emptying sufficiently, fluid intake is no longer limited or restricted.
Recommended fluid intake is 3,000 cc of fluids (10-12 cups) daily with at least half of that coming from water. Although they count as fluids, caffeinated beverages and alcohol can aggravate dehydration because they act as diuretics. Only 4 oz of cranberry juice is needed per day to prevent UTI’s. If you have a UTI, then 16-32 oz may be taken to help it resolve.

Watch Those Liquid Calories
Sources of fluids:
Water Ice Cream
Coffee Popsicles
Soda Soup
Juice Tea
Milk Pudding
Gelatin Sherbet

Remember that fluids can be a significant amount of calories, which may result in unwanted weight gain. Drinks that contribute calories but are not very nutrient dense are really the ones to watch out for. For example, one cup of skim milk and 1 cup of regular soda have about the same calories, but soda does not have the same nutrient content of milk. Juices also contribute to fluid intake, but also contribute to calories (for example, 1 cup of cranberry juice as 260 calories...one with breakfast and another with dinner would add more than 500 calories per day!)

Calorie Cutting Tips
Ø Stick to drinks that contain 10 calories or less per cup (8 oz)
Examples: Crystal Light, Propel, Fruit2O, Diet Snapple

Ø Dilute your drinks with seltzer or water

Ø Dilute regular soda with diet soda

Ø Try diet beverages sweetened with Splenda

Ø Flavor water with lemon juice, cucumber, or lime juice

HERBS AND BOTANICALS

The use of complimentary and alternative medicine is on the rise, with about 1/3 of the US population having used such therapies within the past year. Recent surveys have shown that 16% to 18% (~15 million) of adults in the US use herbal or dietary supplements concurrently with prescription medicines, potentially putting them at risk for herb-drug interactions.

It is vital that you discuss herbal use with your healthcare team. This is even more crucial if you:
Ø Have diabetes
Ø Have high blood pressure
Ø Have heart disease
Ø Are taking medications
Ø Are having surgery

Herbals can increase or decrease the usefulness of some of your prescription medications. Some examples of herbals that interact with medicines include:
Ø Gingko
Ø Ephedra
Ø Ginseng
Ø St. John's Wort
Ø Echinacea
Ø Kava Kava

All herbal products need to be stopped 2-3 weeks before surgery. They can increase your heart rate, blood pressure, and risk of bleeding.

HOW TO BE SAFE:
v The term "natural" does not mean that the product is safe
v Herbal products should only be used for a few months at a time
v Follow the dosing guidelines. More is not better.
v Choose single herb products. Avoid mixtures
v Look for products marked with USP or Consumer Lab seals. These seals mean the products are tested for quality and content

v Stop all herbal products 2-3 weeks before surgery
v Report side effects to your health care team and the FDA
v Look for products with an expiration date
v Avoid foreign products unless quality is known
v Avoid companies making sensational claims

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

Maintenance of "ideal body weight” is especially important to persons with spinal cord injury. How do you know if you’re within your “ideal body weight” range? You can use a tool called the Body Mass Index, or BMI. The BMI is a ratio that compares a person’s height to their weight. Here’s how to calculate your BMI:

BMI = (Weight, in pounds * 703) / (Height, in inches)2

A BMI of 19 or below classifies as “underweight,” and a BMI above 25 is considered “overweight.” There are dangers to being either above or below your ideal body weight range.

Being overweight decreases a person's energy level and ability to perform activities of daily living, thus decreasing independence. Excess weight can also cause increased pressure and irritation in skin areas where decubitus ulcers - pressure sores - may develop. Obesity is associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, and increased levels of blood fats.

Weighting less than the calculated "ideal body weight" or being underweight can pose problems as well for the spinal cord injured person. The risk of decubitus ulcer development increases due to inadequate skin covering over bony prominences. Being underweight increases susceptibility to fatigue and decreases resistance to infection.

Balancing diet (calorie intake) and exercise (Energy expenditure) is the key to weight control!

Suggestions to lose weight:

Limit the size of your food portions

Avoid second servings

Try not to skip breakfast or lunch and try to avoid overeating at dinner

Avoid using food as a way of dealing with boredom, anger, fatigue, or anxiety

Consciously choose food with a view to its nutritive value

Avoid keeping high-calorie, low-nutrient snacks around the house

Eat less sugar and sugary foods

Know the danger period during the day when you tend to overeat. Be prepared with other alternatives

Suggestions to gain weight:

Consume at least three balanced meals per day

If you have a decreased appetite, eat six small meals per day

Add extra margarine, peanut butter, jelly, or jam to bread and crackers

Use thick gravies and cream sauces

Eat high-calorie snacks between meals, such as dried fruit, nuts, ice cream, and milk shakes

TIPS FOR DINING OUT
As a beverage choice, ask for water or order fat-free or low-fat milk, unsweetened tea, or other drinks without added sugars.
Ask for whole wheat bread for sandwiches.
In a restaurant, start your meal with a salad packed with veggies, to help control hunger and feel satisfied sooner.
Ask for salad dressing to be served on the side. Then use only as much as you want.
Choose main dishes that include vegetables, such as stir fries, kebobs, or pasta with a tomato sauce.
Order steamed, grilled, or broiled dishes instead of those that are fried or sautéed.
Choose a “small” or “medium” portion. This includes main dishes, side dishes, and beverages.
Order an item from the menu instead heading for the “all-you-can-eat” buffet.
If main portions at a restaurant are larger than you want, try one of these strategies to keep from overeating:
Order an appetizer or side dish instead of an entrée.
Share a main dish with a friend.
If you can chill the extra food right away, take leftovers home in a “doggy bag.”
When your food is delivered, set aside or pack half of it to go immediately.
Resign from the “clean your plate club” – when you’ve eaten enough, leave the rest.
To keep your meal moderate in calories, fat, and sugars:
Ask for salad dressing to be served “on the side” so you can add only as much as you want.
Order foods that do not have creamy sauces or gravies
Add little or no butter to your food.
Choose fruits for dessert most often.
On long commutes or shopping trips, pack some fresh fruit, cut-up vegetables, low-fat string cheese sticks, or a handful of unsalted nuts to help you avoid stopping for sweet or fatty snacks.

BOWEL MANAGEMENT

Proper nutrition is essential in establishing an effective bowel regime. Loss of muscle tone, lack of exercise, and change in schedule and environment can contribute to problems with elimination.

Focus on High-Fiber Foods

What is fiber?

Fiber is the portion of plant material that humans are not able to digest. There are two kinds of dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble. Both are important for proper bowel function.

SOLUBLE FIBER:

● Soluble fiber dissolves in water,
forming a gel in the intestines.

● It may help lower the level of
cholesterol and may help control
the level of sugar in your blood.

Sources: oatmeal, barley, kidney beans, fruits and vegetables
INSOLUBLE FIBER:

● Insoluble fiber passes through the digestive
system almost intact, adding bulk to the stool
and acting as a sponge to absorb water.

● It may help prevent constipation as well as 2
intestinal diseases, diverticulosis and
hemorrhoids.

Sources: Wheat bran, whole grains, many vegetables and skins of fruit

Note: Fiber is not found in any animal products, such as meat, cheese or eggs.

How much fiber should I have each day?

20-35 grams/day is recommended. Some people can tolerate even more. If you don’t eat a lot of fiber now, increase fiber by small amounts (a few grams) each day. This will help to decrease uncomfortable symptoms of bloating, gas and diarrhea. Make sure to drink plenty of water as well, to prevent constipation.

High: 4 or more grams fiber/serving Medium: 2-4 grams fiber/serving

Food Amount Grams Food Amount Grams

All Bran ½ cup 9.7 Soybeans ½ cup 3.8
Prunes ½ cup 8 Carrots, raw 1 cup 3.8
Lentils ½ cup 7.8 Wheat germ ¼ cup 3.8
Flaxseed 2 T, ground 7 Apple 1 med 3.7
Artichoke 1 med 6.5 Popcorn 3 cups 3.6
Chickpeas ½ cup 6.2 Potato 1 w/skin 3.4
Figs ¼ cup 6 Almonds 1 oz (~24) 3.3
Kidney beans ¼ cup 5.6 Strawberries 1 cup 3.3
Bran flakes ¾ cup 4.6 Prunes ¼ cup 3

What foods are high in fiber?

How do I add fiber to my diet?

For breakfast:
Eat a high fiber cereal, like All-Bran, Bran Flakes, or Shredded Wheat
Add some raisins to your cereal or oatmeal

For lunch:
Use 100% whole wheat bread with sandwiches
Add kidney beans and chick peas to your salads
For dinner:
Eat a baked potato with the skin
Add spinach, corn, lima beans or Brussels sprouts to your plate
For snacks:
Choose raw fruits instead of fruit juice
Eat a bowl of popcorn, air-popped or popped in canola oil

Increase fluid intake

Why? Fluid helps soften the stool to facilitate ease of bowel movements. It is particularly important to increase fluid intake with a high fiber diet, or constipation may result. If you have diarrhea, you should still continue to drink plenty of fluids, as dehydration may result if you don't replace the fluid lost in the stool.
Try to get 10-12 cups of fluids each day.

Here are some examples:
Water (more than half of your fluid intake should be as plain water)
Ice chips
Herbal tea, milk
Sugar-free gelatin and popsicles
Caffeine-free coffee and tea
Calorie-free and “Diet” flavored waters, teas and juices

Getting plenty of fluids and fiber is very important for establishing a good bowel regime. It’s also important to try to eat consistently and regularly – try to eat similar foods at about the same times every day!

FOOD AND BOWEL MANAGEMENT
Vegetables and legumes that may cause gas include…
Beans ¨ Brussels sprouts ¨ Cauliflower ¨ Kohlrabi ¨ Onions
Peppers ¨ Radishes ¨ Sauerkraut ¨ Shallots ¨ Scallions ¨ Soybeans ¨ Peas
Turnips ¨ Broccoli ¨ Cabbage ¨ Corn ¨ Cucumbers ¨ Leeks ¨ Lentils Pimentos ¨ Rutabagas

And fruits…
Apples ¨ Cantaloupe ¨ Watermelon ¨ Avocados ¨ Honeydew melon

Food Groups and Their Effects on Bowel Management

Food Group
Foods that Harden Stools
Foods that Soften Stools
Milk
Milk, yogurt made without fruit, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream
Yogurt made with seeds or fruit
Bread and Cereal
Enriched white bread or rolls, saltine crackers, refined cereals, pancakes, waffles, bagels, biscuits, white rice, enriched noodles
Whole grain breads and cereals
Fruits & Vegetables
Strained fruit juice, applesauce, potatoes without the skins
All vegetables except potatoes without the skin
Meat
Any meat, fish or poultry
Nuts, dried beans, peas, seeds, lentils, chunky peanut butter
Fats
None
Any
Desserts & Sweets
Any without seeds or fruit
Any made with cracked wheat, seeds or fruit
Soups
Any creamed or broth-based without vegetables, beans or lentils
Soups with vegetables, beans or lentils

CHOLESTEROL

Heart disease has increased in the spinal cord injured population. This is partially because the changes the body often undergoes following injury can lead to high cholesterol levels. The food we eat can have an impact on our cholesterol levels. Eating a diet high in healthy fats and fiber, low in unhealthy fats, and limited in refined carbohydrates and alcohol can help you achieve healthy blood cholesterol levels.

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a white, waxy fat found naturally in your body and produced by your liver. Too much cholesterol in your blood can clog your arteries and eventually choke off the blood supply to you heart. This is why having high cholesterol is a leading risk factor for heart disease.

What do the numbers mean?

There are four terms associated with blood cholesterol. Here’s what they are:

HDL = High Density Lipoprotein
“Healthy” or “happy” cholesterol that helps remove the bad (LDL) cholesterol from the blood and takes it to the liver to be removed.
Higher is better; it’s raised by physical activity
>40 mg/dL is ideal for men, >50 for women

LDL = Low Density Lipoprotein
“Unhealthy” or “lousy” cholesterol that leads to clogged arteries
Lower is better; it’s lowered by eating healthy fats and raised by eating unhealthy fats
<100 mg/dL is ideal

TG = Triglycerides
A type of fat circulating in the blood
Related to Very Low Density Lipoproteins (VLDL), equal to VLDL x 5
Lower is better; they’re lowered by cutting back on refined sugars and alcohol
<150 mg/dL is ideal

TC = Total Cholesterol
Sum of HDL + LDL + VLDL
Lower is better, lowered by eating more healthy fats and fiber, fewer unhealthy fats, refined sugars and alcohol; and by doing more physical activity.
<200 mg/dL is ideal

CHOOSE MORE “HEALTHY FATS”

Monounsaturated Fats
Lower total cholesterol, but do not lower HDL levels
Sources: Canola and olive oils

Polyunsaturated Fats
Found in foods of plant origin
Lower your total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL cholesterol
· Sources: Corn, safflower and sunflower oils; soybeans

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Type of polyunsaturated fats
Not made by the body (must come from food) so are called “essential”
Lower total cholesterol and triglycerides
May have other health benefits, such as reducing inflammation
· Sources: Fatty fish and shellfish such as sardines, mackerel, blue fin tuna, salmon, bluefish, trout, crab, mussels, lobster, shrimp, scallops, cod and founder

CHOOSE FEWER “UNHEALTHY FATS”

Saturated fats
Raise LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol
12-15 grams/day is a healthy limit
Sources: All animal foods (butter, red meat, ice cream, whole milk, cheese, etc.) and in palm oil, coconut oil, hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, and cocoa butter.

Trans-Fats
Man-made fat formed when plant oils are hydrogenated (hardened)
Look for the words “partially hydrogenated oils” on a food’s ingredient list or “trans-fat” on the Nutrition Facts Label.
Try to keep intake of trans-fats to as little as possible (0 grams/day if you can)!
Sources: Processed foods like cookies, crackers, pastries and cereal bars and in deep fat fried foods.

Note: Dietary cholesterol is a substance found in all foods of animal origin such as meat, poultry, egg yolks, butter and dairy products. The cholesterol found in these foods does not have nearly as large an impact on blood cholesterol as saturated and trans-fats do. Just try to limit your intake of organ meats (like liver) to once per month, and egg yolks to 3 per week.

AIM FOR 25-30 GRAMS DIETARY FIBER EACH DAY

TRY TO CUT OUT REFINED SUGARS (IN THE FORM OF SODA AND JUICE) AND DRINK ALCOHOL IN MODERATION IF YOU HAVE HIGH TRIGLYCERIDE LEVELS.

STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO LOWER HIGH CHOLESTEROL

Too much fat and cholesterol in your diet can lead to higher weight and obesity, and higher risk for heart disease. Both can make other diseases worse. Follow these steps to help you reduce the cholesterol in your diet.

♥ Use olive and canola oil in your cooking

♥ Use spreads that have no trans-fats (look at the food label)

♥ Broil, roast, boil, steam, grill bake or stir-fry foods instead of deep-frying

♥ Avoid fatty cuts of beef, pork, lamb, veal and goat; organ meat, cold cuts, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, pepperoni, spare ribs, and friend, breaded or oil-packed fish.

♥ Instead, choose chicken or turkey (white meat, no skin), pork tenderloin, “round” cuts of beef, or 90% fat-free or leaner hamburger

♥ Eat fish 2-3 times per week for those essential omega-3s

♥ Limit eggs to 2 to 3 a week or use only egg whites or egg substitutes.

♥ Choose low fat dairy products: Choose 1% or skim milk, fat-free yogurt, low fat or fat-free cheeses and cottage cheese, low fat or fat-free ice cream and frozen yogurt.

♥ Check the food labels on your crackers, chips, pies, cakes, cookies and other high-fat desserts – if they have trans-fats, avoid them!

♥ Eat more fruits and vegetables: Most are very low in fat and high in fiber. Fiber can help control blood cholesterol levels. Dry beans and peas are great too!

♥ Read food labels: Start reading food labels for grams of fat per serving. Try to limit fat intake to less than 50-60 grams per day, with only 12-15 coming from saturated fat.

SUMMARY

As you can see, the importance of good nutrition cannot be underestimated. Being nutrition conscious can help prevent potential complications and/or problems of spinal cord injury.

Following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and using the Food Guidance System Tool is the best way to ensure the nutritional adequacy of your diet. Ideal body weight must be maintained for ease of transfers and mobility and prevention of pressure ulcer formation. Fiber and fluids facilitate proper elimination. Adequate fluid intake aids in preventing urinary infection and stones. An effective defense against high blood cholesterol is a calorically balanced eating pattern that is low in fat, saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, and high in complex carbohydrate. A nutrient rich diet plays a key role in pressure ulcer prevention and healing.

What you eat can have a tremendous influence on your health. A healthy diet is preventative medicine!

If you need further information, please walk into our nutritional therapy unit at

Yale Consultancy Sdn Bhd
Nutrition Therapy Unit
73-3, Amber Business Plaza,
Jalan Jelawat 1,
Batu 3 1/2 ,
56000 Kuala Lumpur

Do you really need mineral supplements?

2008-10-15T18:02:00.002+08:00

Do you really need mineral supplements?

Dr. Leow Chee Seng

MBA (UPM), DBA (UBI), FBIH (UK), MMIM (Mal), MIHRM (Mal), MIM-CPT (Mal),CAHRP (Consultant) Mal), Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA), Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)

Practising Cognitive, Behavioural Therapist
Practicing Nutrition Therapist

When we walk into a pharmacy, the sale executive introduces different supplement to us. They explain the functions and benefits of each supplement. However, have we ever thought if the supplement needs by our body?

For a healthy people, supplements help us to
· Prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies when the diet does not provide adequate nutriens of all necessary nutrients.
· Supply amounts of nutrients larger than the diet can provide
· Protect against future disease

However, different individual takes supplement for various reasons. Recent nutrition surveys in United States has identified the deficiency supplement among their citizen includes calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, copper and manganese. In general, there are few groups of people need special concern on nutrition, early people premenopausal women, athletes and special care patients. Besides, weight-loss, pure vegetarian, macrobiotic, and several other diets can also place some people at risk of deficiencies that vary with the type of diet. Dietary deficiencies increase the risk for diseases.

Tips
Elderly people always stay at home. They would face deficiency of vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin E, calcium, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and zinc.
Premenopausal women have found have low amount of consumption on calcium, iron, Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

Scientific prove on different vitamins
a) Vitamin A and beta-carotene.

A lot of people assume beta-carotene and vitamin A are the same. In fact, beta-carotene is a precursor to vitamin A. However, beta-carotene and vitamin A have different role in human health. When we shop in a pharmacy, it is not easy for us to buy vitamin A. Most of the supplement for vitamin A is sold in the form of beta-carotene. Deficiency of vitamin A is uncommon among healthy people except for older age groups. Several researches have proven that vitamin A is important for building our immune system but vitamin A supplementation did not help prevent infections in elderly people living in nursing homes. Bare in mind that never take vitamin A in the form of retinol more than 10,000 IU because it leads to birth defects and bone loss.

Beta-carotene increases the number of white blood cells and enhance-fighting immune functions in healthy people who take 25,000 to 100,000 IU per day. In contrast, there are some research that was conducted among smokers reported that supplements of synthetic beta-carotene increases the risk of both heart disease and lung cancer. However, a few of trials found that there is no positive and negative relationship between synthetic beta-carotene and other diseases including cancer, diabetes, angina pectoris, age-related eye disease, and intermittent claudicating. In practical, I always encourage people to take natural food as the source of beta-carotene instead of synthetic. Research has found that synthetic beta-carotene even is similar to synthetic beta carotene but only natural beta-carotene is able to reverse precancerous changes, which synthetic beta carotene does not. No studies have done to investigate if natural beta carotene could be more effective than synthetic form in preventing other diseases, but the potential harm for taking synthetic beta-carotene it should avoided by smokers.

b) Vitamins B

Vitamin B is subcategories into B1 (thiamine ), B2 (riboflavin) , B3(niacin) , B5(pantothenic acids ) B6(pyridoxine), B12(cobalamin). Western diet has adequate supply of vitamin B except vitamin B5 and B6 because the nutrition is added to white flour products and other food. There is a study shows that 49% of a group of male and female adolescents were found deficiency of vitamin B5. Vitamin B6 deficiency is common among geriatric population in western. Vitamin B12 deficiency is not common among healthy young people except vegans who also avoid daily and eggs. In US, there is about 15% of population face deficiency problem of this vitamin. One of the possibility of deficiency of vitamin B12 is due to people who take acid-blocking drugs or antacids for a long period of time. For old people, the deficiency of vitamin B12 is often related to degenerative that causing malabsorption of vitamin B12 from food among them. Another vitamin, biotin is produced by intestinal bacteria in amount that, along the typical dietary biotin intake, to prevent deficiency of nutrients.

There is no scientific research has done if vitamin B prevent disease. However, nutritionist believe that vitamin B6 is able to prevent heart disease by regulate blood homocysteine level in blood. However, there is no other research on preventive effect of vitamin B6 supplement on health. Vitamin B12 is important for control of homocysterine level in blood. Elevated homocysterine levels are associated with heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis, and some, even not all, research suggests that homocysteine has a direct role in causing those diseases.

In practice, 100 mcg per day of vitamin B12 was adequate to reverse vitamin B12 deficiency in healthy elderly people. Besides, daily supplementation with 400 mcg of folic acids, 10mg of vitamin B6 and 50mcg of vitamin B12 lowers elevated homocysteine levels in most people. Some research have shown that supplementing with one or more of these vitamins helps preventing or reverse hardening of arteries and may reduce the risk of bone fracture.

c) Folic Acids

Folic acids deficiency is quite common throughout the world. In United States, about 11% of healthy people are affected by deficiency of folic acids. Hence, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated that some grain products provide supplemental folic acids to reduce the prevalence of deficiency of folic acids. However, this increase of folic acids in food does not have effect on preventive measures for heart disease and birth defects.

The usage of folic acids in Obstetrics and gynecology clinic is common because requirement of folic acids double during pregnancy. The insufficient intake of folic acid has been associated to the low birth weight and increase in incidence of neural tube defects in newborns. Specialist would usually provide 400mcg per day of folic acid prior to and short conception to overcome of neural tube defects in newborns.

d) Ascorbic acids / vitamin C

Deficiency of vitamin C is rare in Asia but for those who consume Western diets, but insufficiency is found 6% of healthy adults especially among college students and smokers. For preventive purposes, a person is encouraged to take at least 90 to 100mg per day. Excessive concentration of vitamin C does not have any effect on concentration of vitamin C in the blood. Hence, a small amount of vitamin C is needed for prevention of disease.

e) Vitamin D

God provides us with free vitamin D everyday when exposing to sunlight, but sources can be insufficient especially for old people who seldom go out. Besides, deficiency of vitamin D also faces by vegans during winter month. In United States, there is 6% - 14% of population of healthy adult who has problem with deficiency of vitamin D. Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with bone loss and fractures in older people. In a double blind study, supplement of 800 IU per day of vitamin D prevented bone loss more effectively than 200 IU per day in postmenopausal women. Remember, vitamin D is known to be toxic in very high amounts, up to 2 000 IU per day is considered safe.

f) Vitamin E

It is reported that 27% of the US population had low blood levels of vitamin E. Research has found that 400 to 800 IY of vitamin E per day lowered risk of nonfatal heart attacks, but no fatal ones. Besides, there is another double blind trial found no beneficial effect from 400 IU per day of vitamin E supplementation on risk of nonfatal heart attacks, while another research found that 50 IU per day had no effect on heart attack. However, some double blind research has found that 50 IU per day of vitamin E is association with the reduction of risk of prostate cancer among smokers. Another recent research found that large amount of vitamin E (400IU per day or more) may result in a small increase in all-cause mortality, which another shows that there is an increase of heart failure. From all the research, some doctors are advising people not to take large amount of vitamin E.

In nutrition industries, mixed tocopherols, as opposed to the more w widely used alpha-tocopherols, may be safer and beneficial on heart-disease prevention. Supplementing of 100 IU per day of vitamin E is associated with lowered risk of heart disease

g) Vitamin K

Vitamin K is believed to help in blood clotting. Deficiency of vitamin K can cause bleeding problem but it is rare among healthy people. Besides blood clot, low vitamin K in blood is always associated to osteoporosis. In nutrition point of view, at least 1mg per day of vitamin K is used to reduce bone loss among women.

h) Calcium
Deficiency of calcium is more obvious among women. Good calcium nutrition throughout life is essential for achieving peak bone mass and preventing deficiency-related bone loss. Besides, scientific research has proven that high calcium level I the blood could reduce the possibility of bone fractures. However, very few researches conclude the effect of calcium on the protection of bones.
The needs of supplementing calcium for postmenapausal women, 800 to 1000mg is generally added to dies that commonly between 500mg to 700mg of calcium per day.

i) Phosphorus

Phosphorus plays essential roles in maintaining our health. However, our diets no matter the West or the East have adequate in this mineral. Some organisation proposed that the high level of phosphorus is hazardous to calcium and affects the metabolism of the bones. In general population, we do not need to take supplement of calcium. Hence, most multivitamins in the supplements do not add phosphorus as one of the element. However, for elderly there might be an exception because phosphorus level is associated to calcium level in our body. Hence, older person who is taking calcium supplement could be benefited when taking phosphorus supplement to increase absorption of the nutrients.

j) Magnesium

Magnesium deficiency is more commonly seen among elderly people. As the rule of thumb, at least 250mg per day may help preventing of bone lose.

k) Potassium

Modern diets have lower potassium level as compared to primitive diets. However, true deficiencies are uncommon. Some research has identified the role of potassium on preventing high blood pressure. Other research proposed that higher potassium level in diets can prevent stroke. Unfortunately, supplemental potassium allowed in each pill is only 99mg which is far below the recommended amount (2 400mg per day). However, multiple of potassium pills are recommended because it could cause stomach upset. Hence, in order to increase potassium level in the blood, the best method is to increase the frequency of taking fruits, vegetables or their juices.

l) iron

Deficiency of iron is more commonly among vegetarians, menstruating girls and women, pregnant women, female and adolescent athletes. Iron plays important roles in synthesis red blood cells (erythrocytes) in our body. Excessive of iron increases the risk factors for heart diseases, some cancers, diabetes, rate of infection and exacerbation of rheumatoid. In practice, iron supplements should be avoided unless they have been diagnosed with having, or being high risk of iron deficiency.

m) Iodine

Iodine deficiency is a major problem in many developing countries. Western countries have taken initiation to introduce iodized salt and the iodine is added to many foods. However, iodine intake has decrease in recent years. The deficiency is higher among countries where iodized salt is not available. Most people do not have problem regards to iodine unless they are avoiding seafood and sea vegetables. Patients with thyroid disease should check their doctor before using the iodine supplements.

n) Zinc

Zinc deficiency is not common but it has higher prevalence among countries with low incomes. Zink supplements (10mg per day) have prevented growth impairment in deficient American and Canadian children. Research has shown that 25mg to 150mg of zinc per day increases immune function among healthy people. Extreme level of zinc supplement impare the function of immune function and some healthcare professional recommend no more than 30mg to 50mg per day. There is a significant relationship between zinc level in blood and absorption of copper. Hence, when a person is taking zinc supplement, we would recommend them to take copper supplement to avoid zinc-induced copper deficiency.

o) Copper

The average dietary copper intake in the States has been found to below the accepted standards. Copper supplement helps to prevent bone loss. Since zinc can interfere with copper absorption, copper should be taken whenever zinc supplement are used for more than a few weeks.

p) Manganese

Although the content of manganese is low in processed food, but the dietary intake of the nutrient is adequate. Manganese deficiency has been associated with osteoporosis in unpublished studies. A double-blind trial found that a combination of mineral supplements including manganese prevented bone loss in postmenopausal women. Iron can reduce manganese absorption and cause lower body levels of manganese. So, manganese may be important to include when iron is supplemented. However, there is no other studies have studied the effect of manganese supplement to health.

q) Chromium

There is a disagreement about the extent of chromium deficiency in Western society because chromium nutrition has been difficult to study because of technical problems in analyzing foods and human body fluids for chromium content. Chromium deficiency has been associated with blood sugar and cholesterol abnormalities. A common observation is that the level of chromium in our body reduces during aging. Therefore, chromium supplements have not been tested of their ability to prevent diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Healthcare professionals recommend the supplement of chromium as a reasonable precaution because a few single case report have described possible side effects in people taking large amounts of chromium, from 600 to 2 400mcg per day, although it is not clear whether chromium was responsible for these reactions.

r) Selenium

Selenium deficiency is rare among US Citizen. According to Recommended Dietary Allowance (FDA), 70mcg per day of selenium is recommended in the diet. However, a double blind studies found that people with 200mcg of yeast based selenium per day for four and a half years had a 50% drop in the cancer death rate over seven years compared with the placebo group. For healthy people, higher amount of selenium has been used for the cancer preventive effect. The upper end of safe long-term selenium intake has been estimated to 350 – 400 mcg per day.

s) Molybdenum

Molybdenum is an essential mineral with low potential of toxicity. The deficiencies of Molybdenum is rare, estimated requirement are based on what a person usually received in their diets. A study was conducted in China found that there is no benefit for a supplement containing vitamin C and molybdenum for cancer and cardiovascular disease. There is no other study has been conducted on investigating disease prevention with molybdenum supplements.

Body Language

2008-10-09T23:53:00.000+08:00

Body Language

Hi,

Have you ever wondered, apart from the muscle of your mouth and diaphragm, other muscle of your body too, communicates in their own way? You should realise very much that apart from speaking, your body’s movement is also a way of transmitting information. Although some people may be able to control their non verbal communication, most of us are unconscious of the information send by our body. It would be much easier to tell a lie then faking your body language.

So, what is meant by body language? Generally, body language is a non-verbal behaviour (movement and postures, facial expression, glances and eye contact, automatic reactions, spatial and touching behaviour) which is ‘meaningful’ in both natural and fictional communication. Whenever you are in a particular situation, you can’t help but to display some kind of behaviours; posture and spatial behaviour, facial expressions, gestures, and eye behaviour, both conscious and unconscious. Such behaviour would provide me with clues to your personal traits, mental states and interpersonal relationship.

In our daily life, non-verbal behaviour plays a most important role in almost all forms of our interactions. It is our trait to ‘read’ the reactions among ourselves in as many ways as possible. Body language accompanies all speech and even when you do not speak, your non-verbal behaviour continually provides information which can be meaningful to yourself if interpreted correctly. Information that can be valuable to you is such as feelings, thoughts, attitudes or interpersonal relationships.

According to several researches, a person’s ability to encode and decode his body language –varies according to your culture, gender and personality. You could be a ‘seer’, a ‘hearer’ or a ‘toucher’ etc. We each have our own idiosyncratic pattern and hierarchy of channel-use that derives from an interplay between our relative physical sensitivity in each of those sending and receiving channels and our cultural training and conditioning.

So, would you like to interpret your body language in order to understand yourself better? All you need to do is place some video cameras around you, probably in your home (living room, kitchen, dining room, garden etc) or in your workplace (office, pantry, guess reception etc). It may not necessarily be hidden. Send us the video of yourself and we would analyse your body language at absolutely no charge. In addition to your homemade video, you also required to send us ten photos of yourself. Each video should be accompanied by a brief description of the occasion happening when taking the video shot. Please email all the materials to readmybodylanguage@yaleconsultant.com and we should reply to you as soon as we can. Please rest assured that your video and photos will be kept secured and confidential. We would not publish or use your video and photos for any other means other than to make interpretation exclusively for you only. Hope to receive from you soon.

You may get your answers by browsing this wepage.

‘One cannot not communicate’
- Paul Watzlawick, 1968

The Meaning of Dream

2008-10-09T23:51:00.001+08:00

The Meaning of Dream

Do we dream in order to sleep or do we sleep in order to dream?

Is the dream a normal concomitant and possible preserver only of Rapid Eye Movement sleep?

Are we not yet in a position to state decisively what the relationship is between psychological dream, phases of sleep, and other altered states of consciousness?

Dream is a universal human experience. The upsurge of dream and sleep studies have spurred efforts at interdisciplinary integration and re-evaluation of psychoanalytic dream theory. Since the beginning of humankind, we have been searching to understand the meaning of dreams. The Egyptians believed dreams possessed oracular power. In the Bible, Joseph's elucidation of Pharaoh's dream averted seven years of famine. Other cultures have interpreted dreams as inspirational, curative or alternative reality.

Bo one knows for sure why we dreams but some suggests that the function of dreams is the expression of unconscious wishes, physiological function and is a process information and emotions.

Since few centuries ago, scientists have been offering various explanation and neuroscientific explanations for dreams. Evaluation of the manifest dream is one of the areas of psychoanalytic. Nowadays, human has been equating the manifest of dream with neurotic symptom. In 1900, with the publication of The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud proposed that dreams were the "royal road" to the unconscious, that they revealed in disguised form the deepest elements of an individual's inner life.

You might wonder if you can seek your fortunes in the enigmatic images of dreams. We as dream interpreters respond by shedding light on the darker realm where elusive laws of fiction give birth to infinite possibility. The phenomena of dream involves events that are not experienced in the waking world; you might experience sudden shift of time and place, changes in age, the presence of persons known to be deceased or of fantastic persons and animals that never existed.

Someone who is angry at a friend but finds the anger quickly waning may dream of being furious at the friend. Someone who was quite well adapted socially, in the community, family and work areas of life may dream that an impressive voice said “You are not leading your true life!” Such dreams would deeply affect you for very long time and may completely burdening you as you may not actually know the significant of your dream. Thus, it is important that you allow us to help to derive real meaning of your dream and ultimately, derive the benefit of interpreting your dream.

So, let us interpret your dream for you at absolutely free of charge. All you have to do is write in detail, about what you see or hear or smell in your dream. Basically, tell us as much as possible, whatever you had experienced in the dream. Send us your dream detail by emailing to interpretmydream@yaleconsultant.com. Also, it would be helpful if you can describe your physical to us, including your marital status, racial/ethnic background, socioeconomic status and health developmental stage.

When you submit your dream interpretation the following information should be given:
a) Location of the dream
b) Person involves in the dream
c) Objects you encounter in the dream
d) Time in the dream any specific time
e) Experience in the dreams (feeling)
f) Activities in the dream (what has been done)
g) Frequency of repeating of the dream
h) Any experience you encountered in the dream? Share the experience.

The answers will be published in the blog without writing your name. Come back to this blog to get your answer!!

To help you recall you memory as much as possible, you do the followings:
- Avoid alcohol
- Instruct yourself to remember your dream before going to sleep
- Keep a notebook beside your bed and write your dream as soon as you awake. You may speak about your dream into a recorder
- Try to sleep as long as you can
- Try to waking without alarm
- Rehearse the dream before getting up
- Don’t pressure to remember

Disclaimer

As no dream is directly conveyed, dream interpretation relies on the retelling of a dream that displaces whatever may have inspired it. Please understand that to recall a dream is to generate a narrative based heterogeneous material. Interpretation translates the dream to text into new texts and contexts. While no dream is ever fully transcribed or understood, an interpretation may serve limited ends when it is incites a dreamer to change.

The most skilful interpreter of dreams is he who has the faculty of observing resemblances
- Aristotle

Understanding homeopathy

2008-10-06T10:52:00.001+08:00

Understanding Homeopathy
Dr Leow Chee Seng
MBA (UPM), DBA (UBI), FBIH (UK), MMIM (Mal), MIHRM (Mal), MIM-CPT (Mal),
CAHRP (Consultant) Mal), Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),
Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),
Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA), Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)Practising Cognitive, Behavioural Therapist

“Let like be cured with like’. The homeopathic principle is that when a substance is given to a healthy person they will show signs and symptoms in the form of the disease. If the substance is prepared homeopathically and given to a patient who is suffering with similar signs and symptoms, it is seen that health is restored through the rebalancing of energies.

History of Homeopathy

Homeopathic theory began in 469—399 BC with the Greek physician Hippocrates. He believed that by observing the individual symptoms and reactions to a disease he could prescribe a remedy that would draw upon the patient’s own powers of healing as well as the power of the remedy itself. This was in contrast to the conventional thinking of the time, which taught that the gods were the main force behind a disease and that a cure could be found by treatment with a substance that had an opposite effect in a healthy person the complete reverse of the homeopathic principle.

The German doctor Samuel Hahnemann (1755—1843) was the modern-day founder of homeopathy. His experiments with quinine proved to him that ‘like cures like’. Quinine was known to be an effective treatment for malaria so for several days he took doses of quinine Although he was not suffering from malaria, after several doses of quinine he began develop symptoms of the disease. The symptoms would begin after he had taken a dose of quinine and last for hours afterwards.

To further develop his theory he began to test other substances used in medicine at the time in the same way. This time he used groups of volunteers. He recorded the effect of each substance on the individual, noting any reactions. This was called ‘proving’ the remedy. At the end of this process Hahnemann had listed many substances which could be used to treat a variety of conditions. It was important, however, to understand the nature of each person receiving the treatment, as he found that particular ‘types’ of people showed different symptoms for the same disease and therefore needed to be matched to the remedy closest to their type.

Hahnemann also believed the remedies acted on the person’s ‘vital force’ (this is the body’s own healing potential). He believed that the remedies helped to activate the body’s vital force and trigger a reaction to fight a certain disease or condition. The type of remedy given would be the key to triggering the right reaction and stimulating the vital force to combat the disease or ailment. The remedy should therefore not only mirror the symptoms of the disease, but also the type of person taking the remedy. During his lifetime Hahnemann proved over a hundred homeopathic remedies. In 1811 he published The Organon of Rationale Medicine, which set out his theories and listed the many proved remedies.

American doctor James Tyler Kent (1849—1943) dedicated himself to homeopathy, continuing Hahnemann’s work. He further developed the idea of types of people and that a remedy must be matched according to the emotional and physical characteristics of a person. These types became known as ‘constitutional types’. He went on to write the Kent Repertory. The information in the repertory is stored under remedy headings, with emphasis given to mental and emotional symptoms.

Potentization – less is more!

Hahnemann believed in the vital force as a healing source and therefore wished to use the minimum amount of a substance to bring about the healing effect; this would also cause as few side effects as possible (known as aggravations). He discovered that if the substance was diluted it achieved a far better result. Thus the less the original substance remained in the remedy, the greater its potency. In order to get less of the original substance it must be diluted, so the greater the dilution, the more potent the remedy. This leads to the practice of potentization.

Remedies are potentized in the following way. An alcoholic/water extract is made from the material in question (called the mother tincture). The extract is then diluted to the required potency. The main potencies are: x = 1 in 10; c = 1 in 100; m = 1 in 1000. So a ic potency is diluted 1 part mother tincture in 99 parts water. A 2c would take 1 part of the previous dilution and dilute again in 99 parts water and so on. The terms ‘c’, ‘x’ and ‘m’ therefore denote the degree of dilution of a particular remedy.

Before each dilution the mixture is shaken vigorosly this is known as succussion. Once the potency is reached, a few drops the substance are then applied to lactose (milk sugar) tablets and the tablets are placed in an airtight, dark-glass bottle and stored away from direct sunlight.

Sources of homeopathic remedies

There are over 3000 remedies worldwide. This book covers the most used, useful and easily available remedies for common ailments. Further detailed study of remedies can be undertaken by reference to Boericke’s Materia Medica with Repertory.

I believe that the worst that can happen with homeopathic treatment is that the remedies do not work; that is to say, they do not achieve an effect. It is also prudent to state that homeopathic treatment is not a substitute for conventional medical treatment and that patients should always consult a doctor for treatment of any serious medical condition (although homeopathy can, of course, work alongside conventional medicines).

A remedy can be made from virtually any source using the above method, but the most common sources are plants, trees, poisons and minerals.

Modalities

Modalities are influences which worsen or improve the symptoms of the patient. They are an invaluable guide to the choice of a homeopathic remedy. Modalities can be in several forms, depending on the associated remedy:
· Physical modalities: movement, position” of the body, touch, rest, exertion, noise and smells.
· Temperature modalities: hot, cold, warm, wind, season of the year, damp. Time modalities: day or night, morning, afternoon or evening; hourly (e.g. 10 a.m., 1 a.m., 3 p.m.).
· Dietary modalities: foods, drinks, stimulants, alcohol.
· Localized modalities: left-handed, righthanded, left worse, right worse.

Homeopathic Aggravation

An ‘aggravation’ is the term given to a temporary worsening of the condition, which is viewed as a positive sign, meaning the remedy is working and has stimulated the vital force into the action of healing. For an acute condition the aggravation may last several hours; for a chronic case it may last up to two days. An improvement should follow after the aggravation. If an aggravation is experienced the remedy should be halted to allow the vital force and immune system to fight the condition. If the original symptom(s) begins to return the remedy should be taken again to provide further stimulation to the body’s vital force.

Not everyone experiences an aggravation, and it is not necessary to experience one for the remedies to work; many people’s conditions improve without an aggravation. If there is no improvement in the symptoms or condition, with or without an aggravation, this is an indication that a different remedy may be needed.

The vital force

This refers to the body’s own subtle energy. The vital force may be run down by many factors, for example stress, poor diet and nutrition, hereditary conditions or lack of exercise. Homeopathic remedies stimulate the vital force to enable the body to heal itself by energizing it and enabling it to return to optimum health.

How Depressed Are You?

2008-09-08T08:50:00.002+08:00

Listed below are a variety of thoughts that pop into our heads. Please read each thought and indicate how frequently, if at all, the thought occurred to you over the last week. Please read each item carefully and indicate the appropriate response, using the scale below

5 4 3 2 1
All the time Often Moderate often Sometimes Not at all

1. I feel like I’m up against the world.
2. I’m no good
3. Why can’t I ever succeed?
4. No one understands me.
5. I’ve let people down.
6. I don’t think I can go on.
7. I wish I were a better person
8. I’m so weak.
9. My life’s not going the way I want it to.
10. I’m so disappointed in myself.
11. Nothing feels good anymore
12. I can’t stand this anymore
13. I can’t get started
14. What’s wrong with me?
15. I wish I were somewhere else
16. I can’t get things together
17. I hate myself
18. I’m worthless
19. I wish I could just disappear.
20. What’s the matter with me?
21. I’m a loser
22. My life is a mess.
23. I’m a failure
24. I’ll never make it
25. I feel so helpless
26. Something has to change
27. There must be something wrong with me
28. My future is bleak
29. It’s just not worth it.
30. I can’t finish anything.

Used with permission of Dr. Steven D. Hollon of Vanderbilt University. For more information see: S. D. Hollon, and P.C. Kendall (1980) "cognitive self-statement in depression: Development of an automatic thought questionnaire." Cognitive Therapy and Research, 4, 383 – 95.
Scoring

To find your score, simply add together your response for 30 items.

Norms

Score Percentile
60 85
55 70
49 50
43 30
38 15

Why Negative Thought appear in my mind during emotional disorder?

2008-08-12T23:11:00.002+08:00

During attending a psychotherapy session with my clients, I posted the following question,

" What was going through your mind at the moment when you got to the meeting/class late?

The client replied, I'm always late. I'm undisciplined. My colleagues will look down on me."

Let's look at another example,

"What was going through your mind at the moment when you fail your exam? Break up with your partners?"

"I am a failure. I am worthless. Why I can't do it!"

The examples above shows the Negative automatic thoughts (NAT). What is NATs? NATs are situation-specific and involuntarily "pop into" our mind when we are experiencing emotional distress such as depression or anxiety. The concept appears in our mind and hard to thrun off. NATs always lie outside immediate awareness but can quickly brought to the client's attention.

In general, underlying assumptions and rules guide behaviour, set standards and provide rules to follow. Unfortunately, these assumptions and rules are often not expressed among ourselves. Most of us do not realise we have underlying assumption. The most common underlying assumption appear when we have the statement, "If.... then" construction, and rule are usually expressed in "must" and "should" statements. These assumption and rules are the means by which individuals hope to avoid face to face with their negative core beliefs. The "truth" of the assumption is not questioned and the assumption and rules serve to maintain and reinforace.

Beck et al (1985) suggested that maladaptive assumption often focus on the three major issues

a) Acceptance (I'm useless unless I am able to score high mark"

b) Competence (I'm what I accomplish)

c) Control (I can't ask for help. No one can understand me)

The assumption and rules are cross-situational and are intermediate beliefs that lie between NATS and core belief (Beck, 1995).

All negative core are overgeneralized and unconditional. They are formed through early learning experience and activated by relevant life events. Once it is activated, negative core beliefs process information in a biased way that confirms them and disconfirms contradictory information. Core belief can be about the self and the world.

Let's me link the whole concept to a practical senario. George is a university student. When he fails to get "A" grades in his exams. His dormant core belief, "I am a failure" is activated by his inability to live up to his rigid rile of living tat he must be the best at everything he does and his mind is flooded with NATS. "I can't show my face at university. Run away and hide. The whole university is laughing at me.

Hence in clinical psychotherapy, we are working at the NATS level to provide symptom-relief while tackling maladaptive assumption and negative core beliefs reduce a client's vulnerability to experience future episodes of emotional disturbance. Hence, I prefer implementing cognitive therapy as the early intervention at the NATS level and move on to underlying assumption and core beliefs.

How Do You Think When Your Emotional Distress?

2008-08-10T23:37:00.005+08:00

According to information-processing model which posits that during psychological distess, a person's thinking becomes more rigid and distorted, judgements become overgeneralized and absolute, and the person's basic beliefs about the self and the world become fixed. For example, there is a morning when I was waken up by a phone call. My emotional is disturbed. No matter what facts came to me it was transformed to a negative thought. From there, common information processing errors found in emotional distress include

a) All or nothing thinking: situation are viewed in "either/or terms". For example, you are either happy or not happy in life. Then you will choose, I am not happy.

b) Jumping to conclusions: justments are rushed. During depression or emotional disturb, we claimed that, "The therapist doesn't help me!". or "No one can understand me!"

c) Mind reading: discending the thoughts of other without any accompanying evidence. For example, "My brother didn't smile at me this morning, so means he is unhappy with me.

d) Labelling: attaching labels to oneself instead of to one's behaviour, " Because I can't cook a nice dinner, this means I am a failure."

e) Emotional reasoning: assuming that feeling are facts. This is proven from the following example, : I feel imcompetent, so it must be true."

We must identify and correct these errors in our thinking facilitates the return of information processing that is more evidence-based, flexible and relative (non-absulute).

The next writting, I will share with you the three level of thinking.

Hope you will be happy and able to control your emotion from now.

Are you depressed?

2008-07-26T21:28:00.002+08:00

MBA (UPM), DBA (UBI), MMIM, MIHRM,
MIM-CPT, CAHRP (Consultant),
Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),
Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),
Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),
Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA)
Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)

Practising Cognitive, Behavioural Therapist

A lot of people do not know if they have depression. Depression has become one of the major psychology problems in the developing countries. Depression can develop when we are living in a stress environment. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not realise that they have depression. Today, I would like to share with you the symptoms of depression.

“The movie is really not nice.” “The food is tasteless”. “It is not interesting at all, I would rather stay at home.” If the statement is familiar to you, you could be attacked by depression. A depressed person mood is usually dejected, gloomy and joyless. They feel the world is boring and meaningless. The world is colourless and the only colour in their mind is black and white.

Some of the depressed patients complaint they have low self-esteem and deep feelings of inadequacy. They have low confident level on themselves and towards other people. Am I good enough? Other people don’t like me! I’m not being welcome. These statements are common statements appear in their mind due to their low confident level.

When you realise that you frequently worries and frets, you might be attacked by depression. I have a lady patient who can go back home to check if she has turned of the tap, switched off the electricity, locked the door, closed the window for several times before they went out from their house. At first, she thought she was being forgetful but in reality, this was the initial symptoms to develop depression. Hence, early detection could prevent formation of depression.

Some participating in yahoo answer session, I realised that a lot of people had symptoms of self-derogatory during depression. They felt relief after hurting themselves. They were not sure the reasons they were doing so. If this problem is not rectified immediately, depression is developed and this would lead to suicidal case. Self-derogatory is a serious symptom that needs immediate attention.

A depressed patient engages in critical and judgmental attitude towards both self and others. They are not satisfied with the people next to them. No matter what they did, how well they try, the depressed patient always feels they are not right. My mother was undergone depression after my dad past away. When we bought her new mattress, she kept complaining the previous was soft and the new mattress was too hard and she couldn’t sleep at night. We brought her out for lunch, no matter which restaurant we went she felt the food was not delicious. The judgemental attitude would not be realised by them but people next to them would suffer from this personality.

Some of the depressed patient would be highly pessimistic and complaintive. During working with the depressed patients, I found that their world is full of sadness. They felt that the world was hopeless. They always labelled themselves with “bad luck”, “no hope” and other pessimistic words. Some of the aggressive patient would start to complaint. One of my friends received a letter from the patients with the statement, “You consultancy is not professional enough”. In fact, the patient did not even know the term professionalism in medical practices!

Experiences a great deal of guilt and regret is the last general symptoms of depression. Most of the suicidal cases are generally related to this feeling. These patients feel that nothing much they can do and the suicidal would be their last choice. When this idea becomes a core believe, they tend to suicide. When we realise this element appears among our friends, we have to remind them it is a symptom of depression.

As a psychotherapist, long term goals are set to brighten downcast mode, improve self-esteem and feeling of self-worth, decrease ruminative worry, enhance optimism, reduce feelings of guilt and remorse, reduce griping and complaining, facilitate positive interpersonal relationships and finally expand active problem solving, thereby decrease passive resignation.

In the next article, I would share with you on the therapeutic interventions on dealing with depression patients.

Introduction of psychology

2008-07-23T22:17:00.002+08:00

1.Most people have impression that a clinical psychologist:
· Sitting on a chair
· Taking notes
· Taking to a person lying on couch
· Reminding their child and history

2. Another 2/3 of the psychologists cover the general area. They are
· Old fashion setting
· Trying to help to solve their problems related to mentally ill, problems in life.

3. The differences between psychologist and psychiatrist

Clinical psychologist Psychiatrists
Undergraduate psychology Medical Doctor undergone
Graduate from PhD degree and intensive psychology therapy
can do research of necessary. Can prescribe medicine and
conduct physical examination

4. Experimental psychology
· Include 1/3 of psychologist in the industry
· These group of psychologist are wearing white lab coat with recharge.
· They are running down the laboratory to run around with mice
· They usually work with people who is normal
· They have interest to work with people how they
o Perceive things
o Remember things
o Learns things
o What motivates a person
· The experimental psychologist work in the setting of laboratory, government operation or laboratory of a university.
· They could be working in industry and organisation job and industry or economy design system.

5. History Development of psychology
a) French philosopher – Rene Descartes
o Publishes Discourse on Method
o Speculating the nature of the mind
o Giving the distinction between the mind and the body.
o Mind – being the idea / part and inner of a part of self distinct from the body.

b) English philosopher – John Locke
o Publishes Essay concerning Human Understanding
o There is no “inert” mind
o Concept of Tabula raza – blank slate
o Everything is blank and a slate is written on by our experience through sensory mechanism. We bring in and write on the blank slate.
o Behavioralism – talks on learning and what we written on blank slate

c) British associationist – David Hume
· Inquiry concerning human understanding
· Mind is no more but a collection of sensory expression link together by association.
· Association o these things are important.
· Precursor of association what happen when we do learning

d) Expericalist - Ernst Waber
· Empericalist is not a psychologist
· Their interest on mental of psychological operation in quantitative ways on sensory side where sub sensory stimulus comes
· Conduct in quantitative ways.

e) Theory of evolution – Charles Dalvin
· Put human back to animal kingdom
· Human has certain kind of built in instinct

f) Wilhelm Wundt – 1879
· Build the first laboratory of psychology in Germany
· Psychologists start to be empirialist where starts to collect data.

g) William James – 1884
· Not collect data from the ground. He read intensively on what other wrote
· He wrote a lot in psychologist introduced it to American

h) Sigmund Freud – 1900
· He is a clinical psychologist
· He based on psychoanalytical theory
· He introduced unconscious mind on a concept

i) Physiology – Ivon Pavlov – 1906
· He introduced classical conditioning
· He started the behavioural era.

j) John Watson – 1913
· He suggested to us that we should study behavior not the conscious mind

k) B.F Skiner – 1930
· Be based on behavior tradition and offering operating conditional.

l) Ulric Neisser – 1967
· He is a cognitive psychologist
· We can measures things beside behavior
· According to him, it is okey to study the mind.
· We can use sophisticated technique to understand the mind
· He measures reaction time – how long mental processing through and inferring a mind how must it like if we use the measure.
· It is a primary paradigm in psychology

m) Eward O.W – 1975
· He published sociology Evolution.
· It involves a evolution of indication of evolution another way to look at human behavior

Trend of psychology

1. Experimental
· method to collect data
2. Introspection
· look into own mind and look at the content of mind
· How to process stimulus, colour and forms
3. Behaviourist
· Noway to know our own mind hard to do measuring and measure at the same time.
· Measure behavior – ignore to mind
· Human can be bias due to conscious mind.
· Human tends to change
· Start to study behavior of animal like rats, pigeons that cannot be over rule by conscious thought.
4. Cognitive psychologist
· Information theory comes along
· Use computer as metaphor to study how human mind
· Use simulation to look into mind
5. Evolutionary psychologist
· Mind is not a blank state
· Focus of adaption that from the behavior
6. Clinical psychologist
· Human motivation is on the unconscious level – needs psychoanalysis to determine the unconscious level what is the conscious level
· They tell what the patients to do.
7. Humanistic psychology
· Introduced by Carl Roger
· Use therapist and clients
· Clients have the ability to solve her own problems
· Therapist is a method to solve problem
8. Behaviourist therapy
· If you have problem, the problem may be dissolves with an appropriate learning
· Learning how to behalve in a wrong way.
· We have to intervene with the wrong behavior
· Help client to relevant the behavior using behavior techniques
9. Cognitive therapy
· Problems due to inner inappropriate thought, thinking the wrong thing
· For example, they kept saying , I can’t …..
· The problem is due to how do they think.
· Correct by having thinking an appropriate thought.
· Teach people an appropriate thought

Needs of Psychological Clinics in Malaysia

2008-07-23T21:26:00.000+08:00

MMIM, MIHRM,
MIM-CPT, CAHRP (Consultant),
Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),
Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),
Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),
Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA)
Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)
“I am stress, I don’t want to go to psychiatry, I will be labeled mad or insane. I would rather not to inform others. Let’s me suffer it myself”

It is estimated that 70% of all patients who seek help from physicians for their “physical” complaints and illness are in fact suffering from stress, anxiety based on disorder and psychosomatic complaints. One study has even suggested that at least a third of all cardiology patients may have no real physical disorder but they suffer from panic attacks. Modern Western-trained doctors, because of their intensive training in looking for specific bodily symptoms in which they are tested in medical schools, get used to this outlook and take it with them in their medical practice. As the famous Harvard physician, Dr. Herbert Benson, says in his best-selling book, Timeless healing (Simon and Schuster, 1996), Western trained doctors are tested in their ability to remember and diagnose specifics far more than their ability to assess overall patients. They accordingly emphasise particular symptoms over wholeness and body over mind.

For this reason, the 70% of patients whose core problem is psychological continue to receive drugs after drugs that can only help temporarily through suggestion. They may continue to see many doctors without finding one who recognizes their underlying emotional disturbance, their depression or their sexual dysfunction as the real etiological factor in their external illness

Even patients who know that they are suffering from psychological problems such as anxiety based or mood disorders do not get the help they really need. Because of the stigma of “insanity”, many of them would not accept to see a psychiatrist. Besides, even those who do may not get the proper psychological therapy they need. Psychiatrists, as doctors who graduated from medical schools, prefer to prescribe drugs and other psychical therapies to long interviews and counseling

Many of them had not even intensively trained in the modern psychotherapeutic method such as the use of systematic desensitization as behavioral therapy for phobic anxieties, sexual disorders and similar problems, the use of cognitive therapy for depression and the use of aversion therapy for addiction, tics and some forms of obsessive compulsive neuroses. Some psychiatrists who had been trained in the some of these behavioral and cognitive therapies may not have the time for their application. This is particularly true for those who work in private clinics. They can see more patients by briefly listening to their complaints and prescribing medicines.

Patients who refuse to be referred to psychiatrists would be glad to see bomos and traditional healers. In research study presented by Badri to the Traditional Medical Practices Committee of the WHO in Geneva in 1973, has found that in most Islamic countries, the great majority of neurotic patients go to traditional healers. Many of them may get suggestive and spiritual help that are not available in modern hospitals and psychiatric clinics. However, they are also deprived from the modern psychotherapeutic techniques we just mentioned.

From what has been said, the medical services in Malaysia is in great need for the establishment of psychological clinics in which trained therapists can offer their expertise to those who need it. General practitioners and even specialist should be informed about such psychological services and they should know when to refer some of the 70% of patients whose problems are either psychophysiological and downright anxiety or mood disorder. Since such patients can be cured or very such improved by psychotherapy, this may actually be economically cost effective.

When such psychological clinics are set up, psychiatrists would be happy to refer suitable patients to the clinical psychologist who is also helped by a psychiatric social workers. On the other hand, patients who directly refer themselves to the psychological clinic and who need psychiatric drugs or more serious medical interventions are to be referred by the clinical psychologist to psychiatrists or physicians, Often, the patient who needs antidepressants or tranquillizers but who is afraid to go to a psychiatrists for fear of being stamped as “crazy”, can benefit from the therapy of the psychologist who convinces him to accept referral to the psychiatrist or physician. The co-operation between the psychologist and the doctors is very essential since at times purely organic disorder as hypoglycemia and hyperthyroidism can mimic anxiety symptoms and patient may unknowingly refer himself to psychologist or counselor.

In modern countries that recognize the importance of psychological therapies to anxiety based and mood disorders such as the United States, it is estimated that specific phobias, which are the most common from the anxiety disorders, are more common than alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, and major depression added together. It is reported in 1990, the United States spent 147.8billion mental health dollars. Of this amount such as $ 46.6 billion (32%) were spent on the treatment of anxiety disorders. Thus, it seems that in Malaysia and other Muslim and Afro-Asian countries the absence of such psychological services has ironically eclipsed the dire need for them.

It is clear from our statement of problem what services that psychological clinic can offer to its troubled patients and those who need minor therapy and counseling. However, the following list of services can be more illuminating. The Center provides three major services for the community:

a) Counseling and psychotherapy

Though counseling and psychotherapy were once considered two different forms of psychological intervention, the dividing line between them is becoming quite vague. In the paper title “counseling and psychotherapy from an Islamic prospective” (Ashajara, 1996, Vol. 1, No 1 & 2) Badri says:

“ The “no man’s land” between the boundaries of counseling as speciality of educators and psychologists who offer guidance to normal people and students with mild emotional and academic problems, mainly practiced in educational institutions and that of psychotherapy as that of experts in clinical psychology and psychoanalysis, mainly practicing in clinics and hospitals, has already been so constricted that many references treat them as one subject.”

Accordingly, the Yale psychological centre is expected to deal with all problems. These complaints range from mild educational adjustments of children and adults and marital problems that can be dealt with by counseling to severe symptoms of disorder like panic, agoraphobia, obsessive compulsive disorders, depression and sexual dysfunction that need in-depth therapy and behavioral and cognitive interventions.

b) Education and professional training

The centre of clinic can also be a place for the education and training of young counselors and aspiring psychotherapists. Special group therapeutic sessions can be arranged for patients who suffer form similar problems and these young counselors and psychotherapists to learn some of the skills of the profession may attend the therapeutic sessions. The centre can also organize special talks, TV shows and articles in daily papers to educate public about its service.

In general, the centre that offers the service is contributing towards social responsibility. Besides, the concern of public on this issues increase the reputation of the centre indirectly.

c) Research and consultancy services

The centre is supposed to carry out research into adaptation of psychological tests and therapeutic methods to suit the rich cultural aspects of Malaysia. Most psychological assessment techniques are developed for use in Western countries. To be useful for the application in Malaysia, we need to adapt and standardized some of the instruments used in psychological testing. In doing so, the centre will co-operate with different departments of psychology in Malaysia. Also, the Malaysian Psychological Society can be of help in this issue. Another important service that centre can offer is perform research studies and consultations for Malaysia companies and other Institution interest in special psychological projects within the interest of the clinic.

While the Centre accepts referrals from a wide range of other professionals and from both private and government sponsored agencies, clients are encourage to make direct contact.

Effective Recruitment through assessment centre

2008-07-23T21:24:00.000+08:00

Dr George Leow discusses how assessment centres can switch the balance of power back to the employer.

“Recruiting staff has never been easy. But with changes to legislation employers are having to be ever more careful as they assess candidates. An employer’s first responsibility of course is to recruit the best possible candidate for the job; but increasingly, they must also be able to demonstrate that the process used for selection was fair, transparent and unbiased.”
In many parts of the world including Malaysia, employees have relatively few rights and it is common for employers to terminate employment arbitrarily; and as long as the termination is not seen as unjust there is little redress. Similarly, as long as an employer can prove that he has not been biased toward or against particular applicants because of their race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, marital status, or age, he can recruit pretty much as he pleases.

Although the same regime used to apply in Britain and other European countries, there has been a steady stream of legislation which means that in some countries, notably France but many other European countries too, where once an individual is hired, it is almost impossible to dispense with their services regardless of commercial need, incompetence and even dishonesty.
The challenge facing employers is thus huge. Firstly the business case for recruitment must be thoroughly watertight. The return on investment must be able to withstand economic downturn and be a considerable multiple of the very significant cost of employment. Secondly, the process must be able to prophesy with considerable certainty how the candidate will perform in the role once hired and with sufficient robustness that it can withstand legal challenge from unsuccessful candidates after a decision has been made.

For certain jobs this is less of a problem. Candidates for manual, technical or clerical vacancies can be tested for practical competence. But for managerial jobs where success is likely to be rest on the possession of soft skills like leadership, salesmanship, negotiation skill or listening; this may less easy to achieve.

The traditional recruitment tool was examination of a resume or Curriculum Vitae followed by one two or more interviews. Whilst this is a well tried and tested methodology it has a number of flaws:
· Senior candidates live and breathe interviews. It’s what they do; so even the most inadequate candidate is likely to be able to tell a good story at interview.
· Many candidates “dress” their information to disguise problems in their track record. Although subsequent discovery of factual untruths may be cause for dismissal, many employers are reluctant to pursue fraudulent applications because of the cost, the potential litigation risk and the damage to reputation that could ensue.
· Most interviewers are not skilled at questioning and tend to rely on gut instinct (often formed in the first few seconds after first meeting the interviewee). They form an opinion and then spend the rest of the interview confirming it.
· Such are the risks of discriminating against a client, many interviewers are afraid to ask penetrating questions that would reveal flaws and weaknesses for fear that afterwards the candidate could cite the question as being prejudicial.
· Even in highly regulated situations with panel interviews and professional interviewers, the format can be so rigid that the opportunity to probe can be severely limited by the strictures imposed by the process itself.

Experienced managers often quip that they learn more about a candidate in their first morning at work than they do from the most rigorous of interview processes. And the reasons are obvious. In an interview the candidate is guarded. He or she has spent hours preparing for the meeting (or should have done), is well rehearsed (or should be) and is in a predictable and controlled environment. The interviewer by contrast is often ill prepared (how often have you scanned a resume while walking to the interview room?), is inexperienced with in depth interviewing skills and is concerned that an ill judged question could land him and his company in deep trouble.

How then to select candidates fairly but with rigour? The growing answer is Assessment Centres. In an assessment centre the candidate is put through a series of exercises designed to simulate the working environment. The popular show “The Apprentice” is a classic example of a modern assessment centre. Although “dramatized” to appeal to a television audience, the shows do demonstrate how candidates can be put through a series of tasks designed to test their innate skills and bring out their strengths and weaknesses.

The structure of assessment centres will vary depending on the number of candidates being recruited, the skills required and the job description. However a typical one day structure may look something like this:

At the end of an assessment centre, assessor will have a very good idea of how their chosen candidate will perform on the job and will be able to identify areas of post recruitment training and development that will be needed. They will be confident that not only will the successful candidate(s) have a good chance of succeeding after they have been appointed, but that the process will have provided absolute and objective measures that will convince unsuccessful candidates that they have been fairly treated.

The length, rigour and intensity of assessment centres can be adjusted to suit the needs and culture of the company and the seniority of the post under recruitment; but as a minimum the items asterisked in the table above should be included. Assessor

The organization of an assessment centre may be more onerous than a conventional interview schedule but with the easy availability of online resources such as downloadable in tray exercises and leadership activities, once the structure has been set up, it is a simple administrative exercise to organize.

As legislation conspires to tip the recruitment process in favour of the candidate, the assessment centre is the employer’s way of and ensuring that he levels the playing field and recruits the best staff with minimum risk.

Are you successful?

2008-07-23T21:18:00.001+08:00

By
Dr Leow Chee Seng
MBA (UPM), DBA (UBI),
MMIM, MIHRM,
MIM-CPT, CAHRP (Consultant),
Certified E-Commerce Professional (Mal),
Certified Professional Trainer (MIM, PSNB),
Certified Stress Management (IACT, USA),
Certificate Qualitative Research (Georgia, USA)
Certificate in Homeopathy Medicine (Mal)

When we were young, we always said, “I want to be successful”. This statement seems familiar to most of us. In reality, how many of us could understand this term:- successful? I am sure you have heard of Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Carlos Slim. They are successful businessmen. Have you ever thought what contributes to their success?

The term successful is rather ambiguous. There is no certainty or definite answer for it. Different people would catagorise success differently. For instance, a housewife would describe the term successful as ability to take good care of her family. Whereas, a teacher is successful when he or she is able to produce a group of “A”s students. In the eye of businessman, managing billion dollar companies would be success for them. However, these groups share a few similarities in forming paradigm of successful in their perception.

In Islamic approach, the concept of “self-reflection” which means looking deep into ourselves to check the kind of things we do and values we uphold in life is the essence of a successful person. This concept is important because it will help us evaluate and re-evaluate our behaviours and conduct everyday. “self-reflection” prevents us from values that are not deviant from Islamic thought. Most people now concerns how much they earn, job performance and examination results. A subsequent question that all Muslims must ask is this: are these sufficient to qualify a person as “successful” in the “eye” of God? By referring to Qur’an, a successful person refrains from saying or doing things that are worthless or have little use or value. On the other hand, we should use our five senses to contribute to the society. In Islamic worldview, a “successful” person is not self-centered, but knows and performs his societal and religious duties for others.
I went to a government department to enquire some information. The staffs were friendly and helpful, greeting us when we stepped in. Her smile and her cheerful demeanor marked a contented person. Not only she treat me as the best customer, but her interest in me as a person had me believing I was the most fascinating individual she has ever met. Her professional advice really impressed me. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and she was actually the deputy director of the department. From there, I learned a powerful lesson from her: what we do is not as important as how and why we do it. Unfortunately, most workers lack inspiration and they do not treasure the fun when working.

According to the late management guru, W. Edward Deming, he estimated that less than 2% of managers and 10% of workers are happy in their work. It is an interesting finding. He added, it is hard to give good service unless you enjoy your work. As a rule of thumb, people who are motivated by satisfaction they derive from work not only productive, creative and they are successful. In short, the first principle to be successful is “self-motivated”.

Taking up a doctorate program enable me to be an inveterate learner and a firm believer in the adage that knowledge is power. As we know, Malaysia has stepped into globalization era. Hence, we need to take initiative to seek out all the training we can possibly get to keep us up to date. After talking to several CEOs, I found that the job promotion and the highest pay increases will definitely go to those employees who are constantly learning how to do their jobs better. That is why; training, development and education programs have multiplied its demand at present.

The degree of success depends on the goals we are setting. Ask yourselves, “What position do you hope to attain?” Then, you have to identify it, then develop a plan that will assist you achieve the goal. According to Philip Kotler, satisfaction arises when expectation and the goals meet. However, setting goals are subjective. This task depends on your education background, past experience and your exposure. However, training should be an integral part of your plan.

In term of working environment, before setting a goal, you should identify what you need to know. Perhaps, you should ask your supervisor or superior what skills and training would enable you to be more promotable. You may also talk to person who is currently working in the position that you would someday like to have to identify what you need to be successful!

“Don’t wait for apples to fall” Do not wait for someone else to give you the power to improve yourself and to more effectively serve your customers. If you want to be creative, productive, you must be empowered person, and self-motivated people become successful. Besides, organize and execute around priorities. Do the most important or the most difficult task first. Conceivably, group related and similar activities and do them at the same time. When you prioritize, you think ahead and work on the roots of problems. This method enables you to kill two birds with one stone. You may consider the pareto principle: 80% of the results of your labour flow out of 20% of your activities. Remember, getting the highest possible quality production out of your time can do a lot to make you successful. For this reason, time management is essential for a successful person. Start organizing now!

To be a successful person and increase our satisfaction level, you may consider developing a sense of humour. I came across an article written by a clinical psychologist, Dr Charles Garfield that stress on sense of humour. “A sense of humour is one of the qualities of a high achiever. Humour is a positive attitude. It stimulates us to deliver good service. Not only humour makes you feel better, it makes those around you feel better. C.W Metcalf, the president of Fort Collins Colorado developed “the humour principle”. In his principle, he pointed out that humour could generate an enthusiasm that boosts the level of psychic energy, enhance alertness and mental efficiency, improve interpersonal relationships, clarify meaning and promote understanding, develop co-operation and camaraderie while deflecting conflict. It is interesting that Stephen Leacock, a Canadian humorist quoted, “A man will freely confess that he has no ear for music or no taste for fiction or even no interest in religion. But I have yet to hear a man announce that he has no sense of humour.”

The book “Your Mind Speaks Your Health” indicates the importance of our health. If you are going to be successful, you need energy. Energy is a prerequisite of motivation. Get enough sleep; you will get more done in less time if your body is rested. Eat well and regularly. Remember, if you do not have fun in life, you will be bored. Boredom is a dead battery, a walking zombie. When you are bored, your productivity becomes slow. Prof Richard Barthol, an associate professor of psychology at University of California at Los Angeles says that, to be highly motivated; people need a healthy balance of work and play. Recognize that there is as much energy in the emotional aspect of life as there is in the physical aspects.

To sum up, the successfulness or quality of an individual is an endless question. However, we would never be satisfied with our current situation no matter how successful you are. We tend to keep improving ourselves to be a better person.