The Physician Anthropologist

Meet the Bidayuh Artist NARONG DAUN

2012-02-15T03:03:00.000-08:00

What strikes you when you meet Narong is her enthusiasm of the context of her life. She is an artist. She is resident on her own space under the benevolent eyes of the Local Culture Vulture: Mr Nelson Tan. She does not have to trumpet her Bidayuh heritage, it is her pincels and in her face.
Years ago, I had read about her in a magazine, about her unique style. and to see her amidst her works, the gentle colours of Sarawak being illuminated by her bright enthusiastic face. She is the Artist to meet if you are wandering around the Street in downtown Kuching.
While Nelson lords over the crowded interior of the downstairs gallery (possibly the best place to buy antique Borneo related matters), Narong sits upstairs in her comfortable and calm space... Nelson would get you a cup of tea, take it upstairs and spend a little time with Narong.
this is what I plan to do on my next visit to Kuching

Kuching! I will Miss You So..

2012-02-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

In just three hours I have to wake up to go to the airport to catch a flight to KL and then Cambodia... there is a sweet feeling in my heart.. for this tolerant , sweet city of people of such melange.. malay/melanau, melanau/chinese, christian moslem and budhist in the same family... a very knowledgeable Customer Service Manager at the Executive Floor.. tapas and sauvignon blanc.. nice breakfast .. A lovely Dyak meal with some lovely people.. new friends and surprisingly an old friend popped up.. I will write another entry about the artist Narong Daun..A sweet Korean Lady..
I hope to see you all soon enough..

BROTHER WHERE ARE YOU? YOUR GIFTS ARE ATTRACTING ATTENTION

2012-02-14T06:02:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I had a chance encounter with Dr J, a visiting academic from Australia.. who is doing research into the social context of the first Rajah of Sarawak..
After we were reasonably acquainted in the effervescent company of Nelson, he said, I cant help admiring your shirt..
I thanked my brother, Eliyahu, living in Portland, who has supplied me with shirts ever since we began traveling together in 2001. (alas it ended in 2005.. but we did manage to get to Chile Bolivia Brasil Argentina Myanmar Singapore Cambodia Laos Vietnam)
When you are jewish, you either become a doctor or sell shmatta.. go into clothing business!!@! but whatever you do, do it well, and make sure you support your family?
My brother, a sweet sweet brother he is, married to a very well known nephrologist in town, is good at what he does, selecting the finest shirts and sweaters to be sold on line...
Each time I travel to meet him, he has a few shirts for me.. This Risotto shirt, of some form of silk, made in Italy obviously attracted the attention of my new friend from Downunder..
If you want the shirt, I said, i will give it to you right now.. because it is brand new, I just opened it this morning.

No, I cant take the shirt off your back.. Then to the mirth of Nelson and Dr J.. i recapitulated the time in Copacabana Beach when I was walking with my brother, wearing very proudly one of his silk shirt donations to my life.. of havana and cuba, tambores and cars .. etc etc when he asked me, do you how much I shlepp these shirts for? I optimistically answered, being the socialist of cuba that I am.. 40 dollars? No, I sell them for 125 dollars.. I took off my shirt, despite the danger of attracting unwanted attraction at Copacabana, walking aong half naked.. I really dont want to wear a shirt that costs 125 dollars.. but that is the price that i sell it for, it is not worth that much, how is a Jew supposed to live?
Only then did i put the shirt on..
I would have gladly given my friend the shirt off my back but he wouldnt accept it..so I did the next best thing..
I request you, my dear brother Eliyahu, please keep a shirt Risotto silk the type i am wearing on this photo, so that I will come and get it from you and will mail it to Dr J in Australia..
It will bring him some naches and we would have done our mitzvah (naches and mitzvah are jewish words)

Good Morning KUCHING

2012-02-14T05:35:00.000-08:00

It is nice to wakeup and say good morning to the mountains in the distance as they ware waking up too..Good Morning, Sandubong, Good morning Mount Serepi...a short walk to the breakfast place and it is a feast indeed...this morning I could have snippets of smoked salmon, could make myself a bowl of Sarawak Laksa, a nice cup of coffee.. I would have stayed longer but I had promised to be at the Museum at around 10 Am
Bon Jour Kuching

THOSE REMARKABLE MEN AND ?WOMEN OF KUCHING

2012-02-14T04:49:00.000-08:00

To call People of Kuching, Malaysians, is not doing them justice, since they are friendlier than the average Malaysian, more open minded than the Singaporean, less devious than the Vietnamese and definitely not as shy as the Cambodians...they are as sweet as the Burmese.. and uniquely Bornean..
In my short stay of two days, I have met such wonderful people that I know my heart would dictate that I come back here sooner than I had imagined.. My newly found love for Malaysia (2008) and my nostalgia for Borneo (Kuala Belait, Brunei) can both be simultaneously satisfied with a visit to Kuching..

The Best Hotel in Kuching without doubt is the Hilton. The most important place to visit is the Sarawak Museum..
Zakeria (and Awang Abdullah) at the Museum were so congenial, arranging for a meeting with the legendary anthropologist (I had known of his existence ever since I became an anthropologist) Dr Peter Kedit, one of the few Indigenous anthropologists, PhD to boot. The ever affable, Heidi Munan, author of Beads of Borneo as well as Culture Shock! Malaysia...

Rashid at the Executive Floor Customer Service is a person worth meeting and when he gives me his email I would post it for those who require it. I like his genuine interest in the area and curiosity, after all curiosity is the sign of intelligence .. I do hope you get to meet him when you visit here, in Kuching..

No visit to Kuching would be complete if you did not let Nelson Tan grace your presence.. Erudite, humourous, a bit of northeastern brasil in his demeanour.. he is an absolute pleasure.. Heidi had mentioned he had the best antiques of the region and it was not off the mark. I spent a couple of delightful hours in his company, regaled by the stories of the History of the First Rajah, by the australian researcher Dr John Walker, who would be giving a lecture at UNIMAS tomorrow on the Tradition of Leadership and Rajah-hood in Sarawak. He is writing a book on the First Rajah of Sarawak..
Vernon Kedit (and his father) the proprietor of the.Dyak... oh my god.. it goes on and on ..
I promise you my dear friends, if I can get out of visiting Malacca next month, you can welcome me at the Kuching International Airport in the coming month!

Indigenous Dyak Food at the.Dyak resto in Kuching with Vernon K the proprietor...highly recommended..

CURRY PUFFS, SAUVIGNON BLANC AND FERNANDO PESSOA

2012-02-13T02:09:00.000-08:00

It is coming up to 11 Am in Paris, close to 5 Am in Havana but I am sitting looking at the fading lights of the day over Mount Sandibong, now covered with the mists of the dissipating monsoon.
with a difference.. curry puffs and a glass of sauvignon blanc from France.
The ever attentive Rashid comes over promising more discussions on the Iban healing methods and promising me protections from the ghosts...explains the dishes .. like little tapas and leaves me alone to enjoy the ambience..
before leaving he poses a question.
Do you practice Yoga, Sir?
Why I wonder, does my asiatique appearance give off a faint odour of curry?
No sir, your countenance belies your estimated age,in my opinon.. I am not one for Asana and Yoga practice such as that, but certainly an ardent believer in the breathing techniques (kapalabakti, and also relaxing breathing during Shavasana)..
I secretly thanked my Chinese sister in Seri Kembangan who taught the basics of Breathing ...
Earlier in the day I had received an email from Kuala Lumpur about Fernando Pessoa, asserting the yogic nature of his poems. While most of his countrymen are in awe of his poetic prowess, it is so good to now that there are people in distant Kuala Lumpur reciting his poems to heart as the Iranians do Hafez and his poems. I am grateful for Kuala Lumpur, now my love for Malaysia exacerbated by this experience in Kuching and I am grateful for Iran and the poetry of Hafez..
Here is one stanza of the 35 sonnets of Pessoa followed by an snippet of his poem in Portugese..a language I have always loved since I watched the movie Orfeo Negro back in the distant days of adolescence in Brighton,Melbourne.

From 35 Sonnets

As to a child, I talked my heart asleep
With empty promise of the coming day,
And it slept rather for my words made sleep
Than from a thought of what their sense did say.
For did it care for sense, would it not wake
And question closer to the morrow's pleasure?
Would it not edge nearer my words, to take
The promise in the meting of its measure?
So, if it slept, 'twas that it cared but for
The present sleepy use of promised joy,
Thanking the fruit but for the forecome flower
Which the less active senses best enjoy.
Thus with deceit do I detain the heart
Of which deceit's self knows itself a part.

Tabacaria

Não sou nada.
Nunca serei nada.
Não posso querer ser nada.
À parte isso, tenho em mim todos os sonhos do mundo.

Janelas do meu quarto,
Do meu quarto de um dos milhões do mundo que ninguém sabe quem é

(E se soubessem quem é, o que saberiam?),
Dais para o mistério de uma rua cruzada constantemente por gente,
Para uma rua inacessível a todos os pensamentos,
Real, impossivelmente real, certa, desconhecidamente certa,
Com o mistério das coisas por baixo das pedras e dos seres,
Com a morte a pôr humidade nas paredes e cabelos brancos nos homens,
Com o Destino a conduzir a carroça de tudo pela estrada de nada.

Estou hoje vencido, como se soubesse a verdade.
Estou hoje lúcido, como se estivesse para morrer,
E não tivesse mais irmandade com as coisas
Senão uma despedida, tornando-se esta casa e este lado da rua

So I raise this Curry Puff to my mouth and the ceviche of the local fish and the glass of sauvignon blanc from France (from Douglas Green in South Africa is also on offer )
and salute my friends from Kuala Lumpur and Teheran
as well as lovers from Paris, La Habana and Baracoa..

The Sweet Peasures of Travel: Rashid and Co at Hilton Kuching

2012-02-13T01:07:00.000-08:00

Coming to Kuching in Sarawak, Borneo is an anthropologist’s dream. Physical characteristics of the people betray their isolated and historical existence of stopping point in between The Sea of Sulu to the Javanese Waterfronts to the Bugis sailors of Sulawesi..

Not to mention our illustrious Zheng He who must have stopped at the mouth of this river for provisions and meet with the local princes..

When I arrived at the Hilton Hotel around 1 pm, after an interesting morning at the Sarawak Museum with Anthropologist Dr Peter Kedit and Curator of the Beads, Heidi Munan of the Culture Shock Malaysia fame (I have her other book: Beads of Borneo) and the congenial, Zakeria and Abdullah.. Petros at the desk accompanied me to the upper floor of the hotel and there deposited me to the care of none other than Rashid..

Our conversation that began as a polite chit chat developed into a long discussion into the history of this region, The Sultan of Brueni, The Sultan of Pontianak, The Sungei Mata Kuching (the brooke which used to flow near the Chinese temple, now underground), mount and port of Sindabong where Zheng He might have landed, the fishing technique of the village attributed to the Bugis but perhaps brought over by Zheng He and the recent archeological find of a Hindu temple near Killan..

He is a treasury of knowledge and our conversation went on and on, Iban, Badayu, healing practices and I told him, please I want to take back with me the White Jerangau.. which will protect me from the Ghosts and not the red one, which assists in assimilation of Alcohol.

thank you so much Rashid, like every one else in this region showing the racial mixture of antiquity tht bestows the tolerance of the races.

has been a day of learning for me, meeting people of native and new comer mixes, Malays as we know are recent comers to this island compared to the Indigenous people.. friendly and accomodating, it is a good lesson to learn...

Dr K did bring a point of urbanization and conflict, of wanting to maintain ones culture but having to adjust to another culture and their values, imposed or not. We do find that among Urban American Indians, who have to struggle to maintain the cultural identity as Indians on face of the onslaught of the majority bombastic culture..

Pleasing to the eye was the vista of the river, the colour of the Amazon, snaking its way to the sea, mountain range in the horizon...
a down pour, the tropical burst of energy, peel of thunder..
Two recent South Korean graduates of the School of Hospitality were present, finishing their training before they go back home, to add to the pleasantness of this floor at the Hilton Hotel Kuching as new and old, in architecture as well as culture, coexist outside this large window...
Good Luck to you Daisy and Aileen!

The Tale of Two Cities Kuching and Singapour

2012-02-13T00:16:00.000-08:00

The Tale of Two Cities

Singapour and Kuching

Benny at the front desk was so helpful, and when I returned from meeting the Remarkable Men of Zheng He Society, he had called and had the bus come and pick me up sooner than I thought.

The shuttle is only 1/3 the price of the taxi and within twenty minutes of leaving the Hotel, we were at Terminal for Low Cost Flights. I checked in my baggage for the Kuching flight. Everything is done well and efficiently. The flight was a short one and I had the first three seats to myself and I was the first one to leave the plane and after the usual finger scanning you were outside in a flash and that is where you begin to notice that you have changed the countries.

While Singapour offered a visual relief, Kuching is built up and continuing to be so, it remains as a concrete eye to the vast interior of forests. The Taxi driver who was Chinese spoke no English and made no attempt at greeting. The taxi voucher was taken in silence and when I got into the car, it was an ancient car with over 189000 km on the odometer, the windows were not easily manoeuvrable but he sped along without a worry. New buildings one after another passed by and soon enough we were in the middle of the concrete jungle, the hotel was easy to find, glad that he had not deposited me somewhere else.

Affy (short for Qaddafi, god forbid) was at the door and Sylvester at the desk were extremely friendly. Cant say that about the lady manager who wanted the clerk to charge me for the telephone calls while he was trying to find out something for me. I didn't mind paying for the calls, at one ringgit a minute, but I disapproved of the surreptious manner it was done. I had fleetingly considered extending my stay there, but with such a manager in place, it is better to take my business elsewhere.

Walked towards the waterfront, past malay mee stalls and people selling trinkets, the waterfront was not well lit even though one could see the other side with lots of empty chairs on open air restaurants were well lit. Everyone including the front desk clerk had cautioned me about snatchers, so I had left all but my books when I went walking. I went into Harbour view Hotel and the reception was equally warm and they offered me a river view room for the same price as that I was paying at the other one, The Abell Hotel.

Just as I turned around, I recognized the Hilton Logo and fondly thought of that distant day when I spent two lovely days holed up there and yet another visit to Hilton, which would have coincided with my last visit to Kuching. The front desk clerk, looking no older than a High School student was very courteous and as Hilton Honours Gold Card holder, offered an unbeatable bargain. So dear friends you will find me at the Executive Floor overlooking the River drinking a cocktail tomorrow afternoon, after my meetings at the Greatest Anthropological Museum in all of Asia, The Sarawak Museum..

Good Night to all…This does not feel like Malaysia but it does feel like Borneo…

The Greenery Surprise of Singapore

2012-02-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

I was remarking to Dr C, who was giving me a mini tour of Singapour, how green Singapour looked! yes, there has been a concerted effort by the government to make citizens become aware of the green environmental programmes of Singapour..
Duly impressed, remembering the last city in Asia that i visited being dirty and non-green (Bangalore), I checked out the list of Green Cities of Asia..

Singapore Tops List of Asia's Greenest Cities -

Karachi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hanoi, Manila At Bottom..

Congratulations, Singapour, it was a good feeling to visit...a green city such as this..

what also impressed me was the peaceful coexistence of religions and races..

from my hotel room, I could see a Mosque, which is next door to SimLim Towers and below that was Maharani Computer Repairs..

ZHENG HE AND SINGAPORE

2012-02-11T23:42:00.000-08:00

THOSE REMARKABLE MEN OF SINGAPOUR

What brought Drs T and C on to my humble path of Travel? Travel by a great Chinese Admiral, in fact the greatest ever.. beats Vasco Da Gama and Colon and all others by a mile and half.. Admiral Zheng He..

The enthusiasm for these two professors is contagious and I am awed at their fast minds and projects they envision..Like Zheng He’s wide travels, their mind travel with its relevant speed to various parts of the world visited by the great admiral..

What a nice morning! Dr C picked me up at the Hotel, and a mini tour of Singapour on the way to the Zheng He gallery. One things striking was indeed the Greenery of Singapour.. I don't ever remember it being so green, in fact it is greener than most cities of India!

As we arrived, Dr T also arrived and for the next hour or so, the star of the show was Admiral Zheng He. In todays newspaper (the local rag), there was a picture of Dr T and the author of a new book, Prof Hum Sin Hoon. The title of the new book is Zheng He’s Art of Collaboration.

I was happy to receive a copy of the book published just a few days ago, from Dr T. I was already thinking how this could be applied, the art of collaboration, further to my medical Practice among the Indians of North America.

Some people are like walking encyclopaedias, and distilled with Confusion wisdom, they become role models. Todays newspaper also carried an article by a certain Prof. Lee, who is the director of the National Neuroscience Institute. What do you look for in choosing a friend? Dr Lee asks, it is neither Prestige nor wealth nor Status…Sacrifice more than anything, gratitude .. Have we not learned this from Yoga Sutra, American Indian Philosophers..old chinese philosophy? Yes, one is capable of having good friends, the dunbar number puts it at around 8 for men and 12 for women and an added 150 acquaintances, but it is what you do for others that really counts in the end. That is what you will be remembered by.

As Dr T says in the preface of the book:

Zheng He’s message could be seen as :

Not bullying the weak

China and Native States are one Family, thus equality, respect and relationship

Equitable international trade, not the colonial exploitation of what the Portugese, Dutch, British did in Asia. No to Piracy!

Culturally, emphasizing protocol and etiquette.

Religious tolerance and broad-mindedness.

How good it would be if leaders of Malaysia or Iran or some other countries in the news lately would pay attention to Zheng He’s diplomacy. We tend to forget our politicians soon after they are dead and gone, Zheng He’s legacy lives on and on and on..

With a little bit of help from illustrious people like Drs T and C..

PARIS TO SINGAPOUR : HOW IS A MIND TO ADJUST

2012-02-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

LET ALONE ONE'S STOMACH?

Let alone the Stomach?

The distances covered over three previous generations were done in one flight, Air France Being 777-300, a long and boring flight.. a very pleasant Chinese taxi driver who deposits me in front of the Perak Hotel, Little India.

Look what I started my journey with: Champagne, couscous, pesto pita sandwich, passion fruit pastry…

As I arrived at the Perak Hotel, I could recollect very well the details of my last visit. To the Pleasant South Indian man, I said: I have been here before… and I was about to say, I recognize your face… I don't remember a south Indian man with a red dot in the forehead during my last visit.

I want to say I know your face, but the man I remember had no red dot on his forehead. He smiles broadly and says: this is a recent addition, sir.

Am I good observer ? Even though I don't speak Tamoul, I could tell him that he was speaking Tamoul, much to his surprise.

Study Social Anthropology! It is the best education any one can have in addition what ever your elected career is

I desperately need to eat some South Indian Food. You are in luck, obviously he said, we are right in the middle of Little India… Apollo Banana Leaf Restaurant which has been here since 1974?

I had picked up El Pais in Paris and what better place than a South Indian Resto in the densest Indian part of Singapour (which itself did not exist about 150 years ago), while looking at bejewelled , kohl laden maidens and their slim acoomplices traverse this space as if I am in a dream? Outside, single men sit down in lines, each with a large beer bottle and chatting very loudly in Tamoul, perhaps of their longings to their native land whose music and smell is felt every where..

I have never been so happy being amidst hundreds of proto Dravidian Tamouls, some with garlands of jasmine, some portly, incense and bells and the smell of curry.

I am sitting at the Hotel Perak writing this , it is 4 pm in Paris on a Saturday and exactly 24 hours ago I left the house walking with a heavy heart to the station just minutes away, catching the 4 45 train to St Lazare and then a connecting bus and at Opera, the bus to the airport , arriving at 6 pm, and at 6 20 safely esconsed in the Air France Lounge Terminal 2 E with a glass of champagne in hand.. Was that just 24 hours ago?

Where did these proto Dravidian soft souled tamouls appear all of a sudden in my vista? And why am I so happy?

As a child I had taken a boat across the Bay of Bengal and today , this massive 777 flew across it, with its usual turbulence, just in hours… It was time of innocence..

I admire the Chinese ingenuity and the hardwork they put into their enterprises. How can Air France fill (every single seat taken in every class) a 777 each day to Singapour. Majority of the passengers were either French or other European and also I felt the flavour of our southern land .. perhaps people catching on connecting QF flights to Melbourne Sydney Perth and Brisbane..

There were hardly any chinese passengers! Don't forget SQ also offers a flight daily and it is an airbus 380!

I was sad to leave Paris, but not sad to leave -6 C temperature and when we arrived after this long boring flight, it was 29 C…

But I did get to watch for the second time, Nader and Simin, A separation …. What a beautiful Movie.. how well portrayed are the tragedies of every day lives of the Iranians! Excellent Movie and I will toast the movie with champagne when it wins accolade a the Oscars this year..

A young child walked alone wondering at the colonial building and the padang… now the lights flicker, this carnival of modernity and it pleased me to no end that I was part of this , looking into this transformation of a beautiful butterfly….

While reading El Pais, I was a little saddened to read about the death of El Flaco, Spinetta, a porteno to the core, the eternal musician .. Also the Gulbenkian at Lisboa is having an exhibit of unpublished texts of Fernando Pessoa… After his death, it was revealed that he had written over 25 000 texts but hidden it from the prying eyes of the Nazi Regime of Salazar!

Dear Friends and Lovers as Pablo would say: take a deep breath, kiss your friends and send notes showing your love to those far away….and say thank you for the bright sunshine and the thunder that breaks the silence of the tropics …

TRAVEL IS THE SADDEST OF ALL PLEASURES

2012-02-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

I am looking out through the large glass window/door to the last vestiges of the last snow flakes,as it very rarely snows in Paris. But the past few days have been inordinately cold. It also taught me a lesson. I missed the blue skies whenever I came to Paris but the cold weather has brought bluest of the skies over Paris that I have seen and also bright sunshine. It is amazing that one does not feel that cold when the sun is shining so brightly and the temperature gauge reads minus 2 C.

I am psychologically preparing myself for the long flight ahead tomorrow. On Air France (hope they are flying! As there is a strike 6-9 february) 777 seat 20 H, hope I have chosen it well, comfort and not too far from the Loo. The Ipad is loaded with the books I am reading now, but I don't have to shlep them as 1Q84 is a big tome. Of Mr Ho’s list of 100 movies I will download one or two movies so that I can watch them on flight. I will go to the Airport in advance so that I can further relax at the Air France Lounge at 2 E, a flute or two of champagne before boarding the flight, and take with me the periodicals on offer: Le Monde Diplomatique, GEO among others. I am sure they will have a copy of International Herald Tribune as well.

Singapour, especially its airport, is so user friendly. On alighting, a friendly Malay or Indian face would greet you at the Immigration, no more than 30 seconds to look at your passport and photo and you are walking down to the belt where, the chances are good, that your bag is already in rotation.. Taxi stand is well organized, I plan to stay at a boutique hotel in Little India. The hotel prices have doubled in Singapour and their currency has gained strength but that Masla Dosai at Komala Villas in Serangoon Road which is within walking distance of the boutique hotel which is also ecologically minded.

I am expecting to meet two stalwarts of the International Zheng He Society, anticipated with great pleasure. A prolegomenon of the continuing saga of the Great Navigator, Admiral Zheng He. A book is to be published in Singapour where a humble contribution from me, on Zheng He and Cochin, is included.

There is someone else I would like to see, to talk about Ramachandran the Neuroscientist, Alzheimers Disease and Coconut Oil, I can only hope it happens.

Soon after the meeting with the two illustrious doctors of literature, my flight would take off, mapping a similar journey of a child many years ago. I remember standing on the edge of the boat, looking at the mountains and hills of Borneo slid past, Natuna Islands entered my vocabulary then, and feeling with all my heart what Somerset Maugham had written on seeing the very same scenery many years earlier.

I travel because I like to move from place to place.

I enjoy the sense of freedom it gives me.

It pleases me to be rid of ties, responsibilities, duties.

I like the unknown.

I have the notion that by travel I can add to my

personality and so change myself a little.

I do not bring back from a journey quite the same

self that I took.

Somerset Maugham “Gentleman in the Parlour”, 1935

Through the kindness of strangers, I hope to be an Indigenous Anthropologist with a PhD, an ornithologist, a specialist in beads, a café owner and a free spirit..and still have time left over to gaze across the river from the hotel at the white fort that so symbolic of the White Rajah of Sarawak..

Walking along the shop street would bring back the same kind of street in Kuala Belait where in the heat of summer holidays I used to lumber along..

I am sure I will have the diversity of Malaysian cuisine now with added flavours of Borneo..

An early morning flight to Kuala Lumpur to join the eastward pull of Cambodge, and I expect the taxi to be waiting as I get out of the airport, then the French NGO run hotel.

The next two days would be humbling to learn of the enormous success of my good friend with his Peer Education Network, the kind I hope to introduce to my Indian friends in the hamlet of Mexico .. (by the way I would be there in a few days..)

Feel content, once again given the opportunity to sacrifice for the Indians .. to make their lives a little bit more comfortable…

I do believe that the Great Spirit, The great Mystery as the Indians would pronounce, keeps an eye on this humilde medico …

From Cambodia it is a long way to get to the country of the Indians…

In exactly one month this journey would be reversed..this time to celebrate Nowruz..

But there would be a time of tenderness near the Medina at Marrakech.. Les Almoravids..French and Moroccan week.. Viola!

This photo of Club les Almoravides is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The Cuban Love of Paris

2012-02-09T02:58:00.000-08:00

OTHER CUBANS IN PARIS, THE OTHER UNENDING FIESTA

I know P who is Cuban, who after the many years still has not lost his habanero accent, but he adores the city he has adopted, Paris

He is truly a good anthropological study of how one must love the city in which one has chosen to live, for whatever reason. I always think of him, whenever the unfriendly behaviour of Parisians irritates me.

In his last blog, he had put this:

Le Camion qui Fume ,makes its turn regularly by the marché Madeleine (8éme), porte Maillot (16éme),and at Point Éphémère (10éme). Burgers 8 €, 10 € with fries.http://www.lecamionquifume.com/ Big Ferdinand 55, rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière, 10éme Tél. +33 ( 0) 1 47 70 54 72.open every day except saturdays and sundays, prices Burgers 12-14 €. Livingstone Steak House 106, rue Saint-Honoré, (1éme). Tel +33 (0) 1 53 40 80 50. open every day. Bacon cheeseburger: 14 €. Fries: 3,50 €. several extras such as coleslaw, and salads): 5 €.http://www.livingstone.fr/

You can ask him about streets in which Proust has trysts and he can tell you. You really have to admire this guy and his love of Paris.

Also it makes me feel good about my love for his hometown, La Habana, where every nook and cranny hold something of interest to me.

I am not a hamburger person, having developed an aversion to it, during my visits to the USA, but meat is of a higher quality in France than the ones served at Fast Food Restaurants because of restrictive laws governing antibiotics, hormones, genetic modification etc.

In reply to a book, criticising American way of bringing up children (the author is an expatriate American with three children living in Paris), some of the offended Americans came up with lame excuses about the dietary practices of American children.

The fact remains; cheap food tends to be unhealthy. Even in a country like Malaysia I have noticed that roadside hawker stall food is mired in grease and undecipherable objects whereas you can have an excellent meal for a good price at Restaurants especially if you have friends who can guide your choice of dishes.

So don't come to Paris expecting to have one of your $1 hamburgers. Be prepared to shell out about $15 for a good hamburger.

On that note, Bon appetite. I have eaten rather well in Paris this past week…with a little bit of help from Picard’s, curry powder and spices from Malaysia and my newly found passion for Coconut Oil!

French Children Don’t Throw Food: Parenting Secrets From Paris. By Pamela Druckerman.

From The Economist:

Like many foreigners living in France, Pamela Druckerman, an American writer and mother of three, found herself struggling to control her toddler in a posh restaurant while small French children around her sat still, ate with cutlery and left their parents to chat calmly to each other. Her Paris flat was overtaken by toys and tricycles; theirs were tidy with no traces of childhood. Her children ate a mono-diet of white pasta; theirs tucked into hearts of palm and tomato salad followed by turkey au basilic with rice in a Provençalcream sauce—and this at the local, state-run crèche. Dumbstruck, she set out to discover why.

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE, ITS TIME HAS COME : Yoga, Philosophical Counseling, Homeopathic Medications in addition to the Western Allopathic One

2012-02-04T13:02:00.001-08:00

I am a Physician and most of my patients suffer from Chronic Diseases, most of them correctable if social situations permitted a greater autonomy for the patients.
So I am giving you two varied clinical histories: the countries involved here are USA (Miami, and the Indian Country), France and India..

Having witnessed the lack of efficacy of many of the western medications or their limited efficacy over the past few years, I am always on the look out for culturally, socially, emotionally acceptable methods of healing for the particular group of patients whose health and wellness I do care deeply about.

When you think about it, the most common illnesses are : Obesity, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Gastro Esophageal Reflux disease (in its various forms), other forms of Heart Disease, Common Pulmonary Diseases such as Emphysema and also chronic joint diseases, back ache. In fact these would account for the majority of patients seen in consultation. The facts that the drugs to "treat" the diseases are billion dollar drugs point out to:
the drug are good at hiding symptoms
lots of people have this problem
and the problems are not cured by these medications.

The allopathic medical practitioners are so much in control in the west that only reluctantly they would agree to the participation of other health professionals: such as Chiropractors, Homeopathic Physicians and others. Many of the treatments accepted in one country is not accepted in another: such as Ozone therapy which is not available easily in the USA, whereas it is used for a wide variety of chronic disorders in Cuba. Apart from some new age practitioners, Ayurveda and Yoga is not used for therapy even in India where they originated!

This is the era of the Western Allopathic Medicine, which can demand that scientific proof for herbal medications for instance, accusing them of side effects, whereas the side effects of any of the modern medications are not only many but some of them downright dangerous, such as Cancer...

There is a reltaionship between peptic ulcer disease or GERD Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Chronic Rhinitis. But the four ENT surgeons I interviewed made no mention of that connection and all of them prescribed:
MRI of the Sinuses
Lots of medications and one of them did prescribe a powerful drug for Peptic Ulcer Disease without explaining why
and all of them suggested surgery
(USA FRANCE INDIA MALAYSIA)
The doctor from Malaysia was the most humorous one!

Recently I had a chance to meet with a Homeopathic Physician based in Bangalore.
First of all, I felt more comfortable with her than the other four ENT doctors, all male, one of them very famous. She wanted me to explain the symptoms and then discussed the philosophy behind the homeopathic treatment

Her suggestion was
For Sinus Condition

Pranayama
Kapalabati

Shavasana

She prescribed

Pulsatilla
Kalibichromicum The special affinities of this drug are the mucous membrane of stomach, bowels, and air-passages
No 5

Tuberculinum once a month

So when I return to my American Indian patients, I know that I have to teach them:
Pranayama, kapalabati as well.
Shavasana (I am afraid they would love this one)

An Indian infant who was regurgitating was taken to the doctor and was given immediately Omeprazole which is a Proton Pump Inhibitor; a french infant with the same complaint was prescribed: (by a paediatrician mind you)
cuprum metallicum
ipeca
nux vomica
arsenicum albim

In integrative Medicine whether it is Yoga or Homeopathy, one needs Consistent practice and discipline...

Western Allopathic Medicine is extremely effective in ACUTE situations but the philosophy of that has become ingrained in the CHRONIC situations as well, so that Chronic Medical Disorders are thought of as Prolonged Acute Medical Disorders which is far from the truth..

For a Western Patient or those Orientals wanting Western Treatment ( India, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore etc), I recommend the following:

The Healing of your Chronic Problem

only 25 % is contributed by the medications

another 25% has to come from your family, your relationships

another 25% is the relationship you have with the universe: here is where the Yoga, Philosophical Counseling, Homeopathy comes in . Your spiritual relationship is also called to play a part since much of the Integrative Medicine is also spiritual in nature.

Another 25% will be determined by what sort of a person you are, perhaps Karma could be a good word, whether you feel responsible for others, feel gratitude for what you have and are you willing to help others in need. This spills over to the Spiritual side as well.

Walk Good!

Mitakuye Oyasin

Kapalabati its benefits and dangers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itZp-2IsoE4&feature=related

5 simple Pranayama Breathing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye8U4eGgkJg

Shavasana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq4bJk1VvL0

FOR THE PRICE OF A CONSULTATION WITH A GASTROINTESTINAL PHYSICIAN IN MIAMI AND HIS SUBSEQUENTLY DOING AN UPPER ENDOSCOPY FOLLOWED BY A COLONOSCOPY, you can fly Business Class to India from the USA and stay at 5 star hotels for a few days: learn Yoga from non charlatan teachers, have a series of Ayurvedic treatments and of course a consultation with the Homeopathic Physician whose fee includes all the medications!

FOOD INSECURITY AND POOR HEALTH. CAN DEPRESSION MAKE YOU CHOOSE BAD FOOD? ANXIETY ABOUT FOOD AND OBESITY

2012-02-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

FOOD INSECURITY AND POOR HEALTH. CAN DEPRESSION MAKE YOU CHOOSE BAD FOOD?

ANXIETY ABOUT FOOD AND OBESITY

Two medical Journals in my field have published socially related articles. Normally a rare phenomenon!

Food Insecurity is when you cannot afford good food or you do not have access to good food. For those of us working with poor Americans, it had been evident that most of the poor Americans (more than half of them) lived in what can be termed food deserts that is no fresh food is available for a ten-mile radius.

Those with food insecurity have lower indices of health and in patients with Diabetes, the control is poorer with food insecure patients, contributing to their inability to follow the diet prescribed for them, not to mention the stress related to own inability to follow good diet, knowing what it will do to their health. So it might be good idea to ask a patient, before giving advice on what to eat, whether or not they have the chance to eat what you are prescribing or the ability to eat or the means to procure it.

It may not come as a surprise to you that most doctors working with the Indians in the USA are not aware of the fact that the majority of Indians have food insecurity.

I am sure that the situation is similar in India, Malaysia and Cambodia: the three countries I will be visiting in the coming months.

The article is even more thought provoking, and of equal importance. They were able to show that increased levels of cortisol can influence ones choice of food, those with higher cortisol levels tend to choose less nutritious items.

Burnout, trauma, stress, higher adipose tissue all can raise cortisol levels in the humans, among other causes and once again we come back to the poorer sections of the social spectrum. It may be the mechanism of central adiposity in stressed patients

It is not that the poor suffers from all chronic diseases but certainly they live under conditions that promote chronic disease. So treatment of the disease is less good for the society than the prevention of these diseases.

But you would be sad to know that in the USA 95 per cent of the money spent on health care goes on treatment and only 5 % goes to prevention. In other countries it can be no different either: especially the new economically rising countries such as BRIC…..

Food Insecurity and Glycemic Control Among Low-Income Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Seligman et al UCSF Diabetes Care February 2012

Endocrine. 2012 Feb;41(1):76-81. Epub 2011 Oct 9.

High cortisol levels are associated with low quality food choice in type 2 diabetes.

Duong M, Cohen JI, Convit A.

Brain, Obesity and Diabetes Laboratory (BODyLab), New York University School of Medicine, 145 East 32nd Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA

Opportunity in Austerity — A Common Agenda for Medicine and Public Health

Nicholas W. Stine, M.D., and Dave A. Chokshi, M.D.

N Engl J Med 2012; 366:395-397February 2, 2012

The above articles were published in February 2012.

Compare this with something I wrote in 2000!

Photo of RioYumuri, Baracoa, Cuba

Anxiety regarding the supply of Food as a cause of Obesity

The Republic of Cuba, then under the tutelage of Fidel Castro Ruz and with material assistance from the

previously socialist governments enjoyed one of the highest health indices in the world. With food available, by ration cards and at subsidized restaurants, the average Cuban intake of food calories with proportions of carbohydrate, fat

and protein was adequate. Impressions of visitors to the island at that time and health statistics support he fact that the Cuban people were in general fit and lean and less obese than other Caribbean islanders (far less obese than their brethren in Miami).

The fall of soviet System and the continuing blockade of food supply to the island by US Government could

not offset the liberalization by the Cuban State aimed at increasing food availability. A panic regarding food availability that set in the early years of this "special period" has continued to this day. Like in the other countries of the American continent, the easily available food- Pizzas, Fried Foods- is not as nutritious as the food that was available before.

Compounding this inadequacy in quality, the anxiety about food availability has increased the amount of calorie intake.

The combined result-increased quantity of less nutritious food and anxiety-obesity has become a problem in the island with rapid, subsequent increase in concomitant diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and Heart disease. That it should occur so rapidly- less than ten years after the dissolution of the USSR is reminiscent of other groups of people. Among them the hunters and gatherers in North America, deprived of known supplies of food by encroachers, developing a generational anxiety about the supply of food provided with insufficient and unhealthy food and suffers similar subsequent corporeal ill health.

Photos from La Habana, Cuba

2012-02-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

Hope my friends can see these photographs taken recently in Nuestra Ciudad San Cristobal de la
HABANA, Cuba..

Maroosh Lebanese Restaurant in Coral Gables, Miami

2012-02-01T23:28:00.000-08:00

ANTHROPOLOGICAL VISION OF SCIENCE : AN ANCIENT METHOD

2012-02-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

NATURE DICTATES AND SCIENCE PROVES

The role of the anthropologist is to act as a translator between cultures and thus make available concepts in a more appreciated and understandable form. Nowhere it is more urgent than the current monologue between the Health Care Providers including non-Physicians and the hapless patient.

As my Winnebago Indian Colleague once said to me: The Providers think that we as patients and indigenous people do not have any knowledge worth preserving or acknowledging.

Today I would take a concept that most doctors are unaware of (more than 95% at least) and try to translate it culturally, from its incredible science.

Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) is a selective lysosomal protein degradative process that is activated in higher organisms under conditions of prolonged starvation and in cell culture by the removal of serum

The induction of CMA by ketone bodies may provide an important physiological mechanism for the activation of CMA during prolonged starvation.

Dr Levine and her team were testing a theory that exercise works its magic, at least in part, by promoting autophagy. This process, whose name is derived from the Greek for “self-eating”, is a mechanism by which surplus, worn-out or malformed proteins and other cellular components are broken up for scrap and recycled.

(From the Economist)

We have known for ages, that eating less and doing something physically active are both conducive to good health. From an indigenous point of view, these were built into the fabric of their lived in culture.

Both men and women were active from sun up to sun down, with women doing most of the heavy day to day chores and men assigned to occasional hunting as well as strenuous religious duties.

So here is one point to bring into discussion, taking into consideration, all indigenous cultures have deep respect for their ancestors.

You are an Indian, so try to live like an Indian, I would tell my patients from various tribes in the USA, and then explain what it means to live like an Indian surrounded by a fairly hostile society.

Remember what Chief Standing Bear of the Sioux Said:

In sharing, in loving all and everything, one people naturally found a due portion of the thing they sought, while in fearing, the other found need of conquest

So if you wish, I would tell them, decrease the suffering from the chronic inflictions of the western world, you have to live by the many principles that your ancestors lived by, including sharing, sacrifice and caring.

This I would tell them, in turn, would help your body repair itself, not waste anything that is being broken down, they pick it up and use it again, like a divine ecological machine.

This advice while I tailor it to the Native American Indians of the USA is applicable to all those people displaced by economic necessities to various parts of the world. (A sub continental professional tends to die earlier when he migrates to the USA). Physically and Emotionally we have to be loyal to our cultural roots while remaining committed to the land and country that we live in. Very few people have endured what American Indian, Australian Aboriginal Nations, Maori, San people have: that your country is invaded by outsiders and you are displaced within your own country. An Eternal Refugee in your own country!

Now to find out:

Can meditation help Autophagy?

Can Yoga Philosophy and abiding by it, not just Asana, help Autophagy?

Instinctively I feel that they could, but let me find out

A San Elder from the Kalahari

Bradshaw paintings of the Kimberley Region of Australia, thought to be about 20,000 years old!

To complete the triumvarate of the Ancients,

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE FROM WHOSE DESCENDANTS I HAVE LEARNED THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIVING AND HELPING OTHERS



Tassel	Tassel	Tassel	Tassel	Tassel



Tassel	Tassel	Tassel	Tassel	Tassel



Tassel	Stylised	Tassel	Tassel	Tassel



Sash	Sash	Sash	Sash	Sash



Clothes Peg	Clothes Peg	Clothes Peg	Clothes Peg	Action



Action	Imposition	Imposition	Spearmen	Claw Hand

For more information on the Bradshaw Paintings
Download the Documentary Film

From the Bradshaw Foundation

The Drinking Disorder of the Americans of the USA

2012-01-31T23:17:00.000-08:00

The Drinking Problems of the Americans of the USA

Two normal size cans of Soft Drink, fizzy, full of chemicals, is the average intake of Yanks! Per Day! I don't think there is any other country in the world with such a large consumption of soft drinks.

Soft drinks, regular loaded with High Fructose Corn Syrup or Diet/Light loaded with Aspartame has been known to cause:

Pre Diabetes

Obesity

Diabetes

Fat deposition in Internal organs

Osteoporosis

Certain Unethical Performances by Bollywood Actors:

It is common to see posters of well-known Bollywood stars promoting Soft Drinks in India. Perhaps ordinary people who suffer should send their medical bills to them or at least appeal to them to stop promoting non-nutritional poisonous stuff to an unsuspecting population.

Why this penchant in the USA for soft drinks, to such a great degree?

It is cheap like most of the “food” in America; they spend the least amount of their income, less than 7 per cent on food. Cheap food is not always good Food, whether it is in USA or Thailand!

Heavy promotion by Celebrities and also by a slew of paid professionals.

Just one can a day of soft drink, whether it is Regular or Diet can bring on much of the miserable chronic health conditions.

Then why do educated people, those in the know, drink this stuff?

It is an addiction and perhaps in the future, there would be clinics to treat Soft Drink Addiction!

Many years ago, a group based in Penang, The Consumer Association of Penang, published a booklet The Real Thing about Coke, which went un noticed in Malaysia, and still not well known. That is where I first read about the multitudes of chemicals that go into the making of soft drinks, including Brominated Vegetable Oils, industrially used as Flame Retardants.

Ah..Well.. You are what you drink!

or told to drink or forced to drink...

“In that moment, I began to see a bottle of Coca Cola as more than a drink. I began to see the familiar words, “Let’s have a Coke,” as a subtle way of saying, “Let’s keep each other company for a little while.” And I knew they were being said all over the world as I sat there in Ireland. So that was the basic idea: to see Coke not as it was originally designed to be – a liquid refresher – but as a tiny bit of commonality between all peoples, a universally liked formula that would help to keep them company for a few minutes. I could see and hear a song that treated the whole world as if it were a person—a person the singer would like to help and get to know.” – Bill Backer

Advertisement Executive for Coca Cola Company and “originator” of the song: I would like to buy the world, a coke…

In the image above, the man is sporting a Coca Cola shirt but if you look carefully, in his left hand, he does not have a coke but a Starbucks!

The following news item from 30 jan 2012 would be of some interest to the Nationals of the Diabetes Capital of the World, India:

MUMBAI, India — Starbucks aims to open 50 outlets in India by year's end, through a 50-50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, the companies said Monday.

Tata Starbucks Ltd., as their venture is known, hopes to capitalize on the rising aspirations – and fattening wallets – of many Indians, who are eager to partake of the global latte life.

When i began my journeys into various cultures, I realized that what American companies try to sell is not a product for its taste or nutritional value, but an image of a Life Style. Obviously a Nerd from the Orient could feel more Westernized with a 100 rupee Starbucks in his hand than his humble cousin with a 10 rupee Chai!

Who can you Trust for Your News? Use a Little Analaysis and Avoid Professor Peons

2012-01-30T01:02:00.000-08:00

Who can you trust regarding News and Information and thus Knowledge?

We are overwhelmed with increased number of resources to get our information and news and the database for our knowledge. If we do not add in a key ingredient to this stew (ajiaco in Cuban parlance), it brings out a different taste than the true, original one.

I use Internet to seek information on Medical Matters, but the key ingredient here is, Who is the author?

Many of the Medical Websites are paid for by the drug companies so they are a little bit biased, as recently shown in the Pew Survey about Media in general. I look for reputable authors, not professor peons in the service of the Pharma, especially look for their financial interest. For example, I will not read an article or pay attention to the writings of a Professor of Medicine from University of Seattle or New Orleans, who takes hundreds and thousands of dollars in fees from Drug companies, the former pushing Insulin, the latter pushing the newer injectable medications for Type 2 Diabetes.

This morning, I decided to check what sort of information do the Media and Professionals, in this case a Nutritionist, propagate and how far removed they are from the truth, or at least how they do not mention some important factors which might be of enormous interest to the General Public.

Orange Juice

In the USA it is very common to have a glass of cold orange juice with your breakfast whether it is at home, or at an Airline Lounge or at a Hotel Restaurant. I have always noticed that the orange juice tastes differently in the USA than it does in Europe, say France. My “Chemical” conscious tongue had made a note of that, but couldn't come to a definite answer until recently when it was revealed that Orange Juice sold in the United States may be contaminated. Please note that in today’s news on Yahoo, none of this is mentioned, not by the writer nor by the nutritionist brought in to comment.

Yahoo news by Bon Apetit

We have embarked on a taste test tour of supermarket foods. We nibble (or sip), we score, and we share the results to help you avoid the paralysis of Brand Choice Overload. Today's topic: orange juice.

About one of the top brands in the USA:
Nutrition: One serving (8 fl. oz/240 mL) = 110 calories, 0g total fat, 0g sodium, 450mg potassium, 26g total carbs, 22g sugars, 2g protein.
Ingredients: Orange juice
Cost: $2.89 for a half-gallon jug
Our assessment: "Tastes fresh and doesn't have too much pulp"; "Funny tang on the front end"; "A little less sweet, which is nice".

The Comment by a nutritionist:

As for whether to buy organic OJ or not? For this juice, you don't have to worry about it as much as you might with, say, apple juice. Oranges are less permeable--their thicker skins make it difficult for any sort of pesticides or sprays used during growing to reach the fruit itself."

Obviously this learned Nutritionist has not studied the chemical content of Orange Juice in America:

ORANGE JUICE

9 Pesticide Residues Found by the USDA Pesticide Data Program^1,2,3

Human Health Effects:

4	—	Known or Probable Carcinogens⁴
5	—	Suspected Hormone Disruptors
4	—	Neurotoxins
5	—	Developmental or Reproductive Toxins

Environmental Effects:

—

Honeybee Toxins⁵

Pesticide Residues Found in Orange Juice:

What Pesticide?	How Often is it Found?⁶	Conventional vs. Organic	Toxicity⁷	Other Foods with this Pesticide
Carbaryl	29.6%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods
Imazalil	11.9%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods
Thiabendazole	9.9%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods
o-Phenylphenol	8.6%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods
Aldicarb sulfoxide	6.8%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods
Bromacil	2.9%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods
5-Hydroxythiabendazole	2.5%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods
Chlorpyrifos	0.6%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods
Dimethoate	0.2%	Conventional vs. Organic		Other Foods

Footnotes

1. Tests for any given food are often conducted in multiple years. In all cases WhatsOnMyFood shows only the most recent test year. The test results for Orange Juice come from test year 2006.

2. All pesticide residue results on this page and elsewhere on the WhatsOnMyFood website were obtained by the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pesticide Data Program (PDP)

3. Punzi, JS, Lamont, M, Haynes, D, Epstein, RL, USDA Pesticide Data Program: Pesticide Residues on Fresh and Processed Fruit and Vegetables, Grains, Meats, Milk, and Drinking Water, Outlooks on Pesticide Management,June, 2005. Available online

4. All toxicological data was either compiled for this site — typically from U.S. EPA reregistration eligibility decisions — or obtained from data compiled for the PesticideInfo website

5. Includes pesticides that are moderately acutely toxic, highly acutely toxic or chronically toxic to honeybees.

6. The percentage found is for all four of the following combinations combined: domestic or imported, and conventional or organic. To see data broken down into each of these combinations separately, click on "Conventional vs. Organic."

7. A pesticide residue may not be listed as carcinogenic, neurotoxic, hormone-disrupting or as a reproductive or developmental toxicant for either of two reasons: (1) it may have been studied for toxicity in one or more of these categories and the weight of the evidence did not support designating it as toxic, or (2) it may not have been studied.

http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/food.jsp?food=OJ

When I was a Student of Medicine, Attendtion Deficit Disorder was an extremely uncommon disorder among Children. Currently it has reached epidemic proportions in the USA.. From Rare to Frequent…

Disorder and Urinary Metabolites of Organophosphate Pesticides

1. Departments of ^aEnvironmental Health and

2. ^fEpidemiology, School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts;

3. ^bDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada;

4. Departments of ^cNeurology and

5. ^dPediatrics, School of Medicine, Harvard University, and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; and

6. ^eChanning Laboratory, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Harvard University, and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

ABSTRACT

Objective: The goal was to examine the association between urinary concentrations of dialkyl phosphate metabolites of organophosphates and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children 8 to 15 years of age.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2000–2004) were available for 1139 children, who were representative of the general US population. A structured interview with a parent was used to ascertain ADHD diagnostic status, on the basis of slightly modified criteria from theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.

Results: One hundred nineteen children met the diagnostic criteria for ADHD. Children with higher urinary dialkyl phosphate concentrations, especially dimethyl alkylphosphate (DMAP) concentrations, were more likely to be diagnosed as having ADHD. A 10-fold increase in DMAP concentration was associated with an odds ratio of 1.55 (95% confidence interval: 1.14–2.10), with adjustment for gender, age, race/ethnicity, poverty/income ratio, fasting duration, and urinary creatinine concentration. For the most-commonly detected DMAP metabolite, dimethyl thiophosphate, children with levels higher than the median of detectable concentrations had twice the odds of ADHD (adjusted odds ratio: 1.93 [95% confidence interval: 1.23–3.02]), compared with children with undetectable levels.

Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that organophosphate exposure, at levels common among US children, may contribute to ADHD prevalence. Prospective studies are needed to establish whether this association is causal.

A few years ago, an article was published how just four days of Organic Food nutrition can decrease the symptoms of ADHD among Children .

So if you have a child or a relative who could avoid a bit of this chemical load, please spend a little time to find out not from just one source, get second opinions on what you read and put in that important ingredient of ANALYSIS. News items are noteworthy but their reporting and conveying to you by the MEDIA including Internet is of dubious quality. In the end you get what you pay for. I will not trust Yahoo or CNN for a source of my News. I stil have faith in BBC, The Economist and Arts/Letters Daily.

And I am very grateful for people around me who give me time to explore this world. This search for the truth about Orange Juice took One hour… so here is to you, a nice cup of Nespresso from France!

From PANNA website Pesticide Action Network North America

Does eating organic make a difference? When researchers compared the levels of pesticide breakdown products in the bodies of children who eat organic and conventional diets, they found children who eat mostly organic foods carry fewer pesticides in their bodies. The good news is that some of these pesticides break down fairly quickly, which means increasing your consumption of organic foods can have an immediate impact on your pesticide exposure levels.

By eating food produced organically or without pesticides, not only will you be reducing the amount of pesticide in your body, you will be helping create a better environment for other people, the planet, and future generations. By engaging in political action to change our food system, you'll be part of making sure that everyone can eat their meals without pesticides on the side.

I will be back in Oman and Salalah.. for sure

2012-01-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

It is not often that one writes a blog about a Hotel but Salalah Hilton is not just any hotel, it distinguishes itself by its unique service, which reflects in a way the middle and upper management. I was lucky to meet Abid Hussain (the name itself meant something to me) from Pakistan who was very knowledgeable about the history of Oman, having been there for 20 years. Malayalam Speaking Keralites were in the majority, five from just one village in Palghat District, Pattambi, I met Ali in Housekeeping and Mujeeb in the Conciergerie, there was the congenial Wasseem at Al Maha Restaurant, there were two representatives of Egypt, the new Democratic Egypt, Someh and Mustafa who were very helpful. How can you feel comfortable in a hotel the very first time you stayed there? as if it was your return visit? Smiling Friendly Service and of course all this is a credit to the Omani People known for their legendary hospitality.
I will be back to Oman and Hilton Hotel Salalah.. it would be a pleasure to say hello to my friends once again..

Zheng He and Salalah, Dhofar, Oman

2012-01-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

Whenever you are near the Ocean in many of the Asian Countries, if you are a History enthusiast, the name of that great Chinese Admiral Zheng He would automatically pop up.

I am sitting in my room staring at the Arabian Sea at the port of Salalah in the Dhofar Region of the Sultanate of Oman. I can picture the large fleet of the great Admiral bobbing in the gentle waters off the coast.

Public Seminar: Searching for Remains of Zheng He's Fleets off Oman

18 August 2010

Between 1413 and 1433 the Chinese sent out seven huge fleets under the command of the famous Admiral Zheng He. On the last four of these expeditions the fleet sailed to the Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Chinese scientists, with help from University of Sydney, and in collaboration with the Omanis, are half way through a project to search for wrecks off the northern Omani coast. If Chinese wrecks are found, new information will come to light on exchanges between the Far East and the West in the early 15th Century.

In this talk, Dr Phil Mulhearn, of the Ocean Technology Group and the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney and Professor Changqing Hu, of the Shanghai Acoustics Laboratory at the Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences will present details of Zheng He's voyages and their expedition findings so far.

Another item of interest is that China and Oman have decided to erect a statue in honour of the great hero in Oman. And it would stand in Salalah, where I am today.

Certain naïve writers may believe that Zheng He Islamized the people he visited. But as Naipaul has pointed out in his book . Among the Believers, the converted people, like the Malays or Indonesians always want to have a purer projection of their faith. While it was Gujerati merchants who converted Parameswara the Hinu Prince from Sumatra who founded what is now Malaysia, many Malays like to believe that their religion came either from Mecca direct or it was Zheng He who converted Parameswara.

Such a controversy wont arise here in Oman, they are Arabs who have dwelled in this peninsula for centuries if not millennia. Zheng He had the noble idea of learning, teaching and paying tribute rather than colonizing (British did that, their colonies were called Trucial States, Muscat and Oman, Aden etc), he wanted them to know the great strength of China, in arts and literature and Medicine and other sciences and knowledge.

What could he have taken back to China?

Frankincense for which Dhofar region and Oman are famous for. The Mastic tree was taken from Oman (even though the tree is native to the island of Chios in Greece) and was planted in China.

The other sultanate is also on my mind, Brunei. Zheng He visited Brunei twice, the other towns that pop up in my mind for various reasons are Malacca and Cochin both visited by Zheng He about four times each.

Remember he was not a tourist! This was nearly 600 years ago! I have been lucky to visit Galle as well, but at that time I was not mature enough to look for the Inscription left by the Great Admiral there.

SHALOM FROM A JEW IN THE SULTANATE OF OMAN

2012-01-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

A JEW IN OMAN

There is a sensation of welcome when you arrive at SEEB international Airport at Muscat, the capital city of Oman. A Filipino is directing you to the bus, an Indian is driving it but as soon as you enter the clean well organized arrival hall, the scenery changes. Friendly Omanis, some with crystalline noses, wearing their headgear and long robes in white mostly, greet you and actually ask you with a smile, How are you today? 20 OMR (60 USD) for a visa on arrival and the two young men at the Immigration, stamp your visa in your passport and wish you a warm welcome to Oman. Takes less than 5 minutes. 5/5 for Visa on Arrival Service! First you pay 20 OMR in Cash and give our passport and the receipt to the Immigration Officer. No need to fill out where you were born, the validity of your passport etc. Once outside the Immigration Hall, a sea of Indian faces with an occasional White Robe. A large Omani with distinctly African face tries to help me locate the shuttle bus to the hotel, I ask him, Are you from Zanzibar? You guessed right, sir, he says but I left when I was three years old. I remember earlier the Immigration Officer saying, Zanzibar and Oman are the same, same! A Taxi counter outside. Majan Hotel (one of the many things to go wrong with the hotel) 7 OMR. Taxi licences are granted only to Omani Nationals so the driver is a dignified Omani with a handsome face. After the grumpy, unwashed purveyors of public transport in India, especially in Bangalore and Cochin, this is a welcome relief.

Traffic is bumper to bumper. There is no Bling feeling the kind you receive when you arrive in UAE but a subdued presence like that of Malaysia. In fact the drive from the airport to the hotel and the hotel reception itself all reminded me much of KL.

The reception was manned by an Omani, couldn't take his cell phone off his face to help me and gave me wrong information to boot. An Indian appears, who is the manager by his demeanour one could guess, was being very helpful. No Free Internet in the hotel, 1 omr per hour, so I couldn't access the voucher, which had been sent to me from Oman Air Holidays. The Indian manager gives me a paper with log in and password and soon after that I was on my way to Room 301. Very reminiscent of a hotel room in the USA, much cheaper than this one though, but there are some Omani touches. Internet connection was not good and it was slow when it connected,

Walking outside for just a few minutes, you arrive at an area with shops and I was taken to my adolescent days in Kuala Belait in Brunei. The same smell, the same kinds of shops, but the faces are not Chinese but Indian. Indian Barbershops and Indian Tailors and Indian laundry.

So, this is the New World Order.

Richer by oil or Industry, these countries, Gulf States, Saudi, Kuwait etc. and also European North and America in the west, Malaysia’s wealth comes from Oil but not fossil oil, but Palm oil by displacing the poor orang Utan! these countries attract the unemployed/employable/lucky youth of Indian Subcontinent-here Indian is in the British Raj Sense: India Pakistan Bangladesh or Ceylon/Sri Lanka. These young men are everywhere, very little presence of women, when Omani women can be seen in public, they cannot be seen at all by all the black covering they wear. At the airport I did see very stylishly dressed Omani young women, who were wearing beneath their tent like dress very fashionable clothes which they wanted to flaunt. Good on you, Oman! Hotels Cleaners, Waiters, maids as usual are Filipinas, Burmese and Thai are also present. Hotel Guests are mainly: European or North American. Didn't see a single Chinese face!

Sitting at a table, open air, chilly at this time of the year, about 18 or 17 C but with the breeze feels much colder, at this recommended restaurant, Al Assail Resto, well known for it s Kebabs they say. It is Pakistani and the place had a good clientele. Single Indian men sitting in groups, an occasional Omani deep in conversation, about business, with whom but an Indian! The fair skinned Pakistanis look very European, it is their dreams and aspirations that make them Pakistani, if they cut their hair differently, wore their clothes differently or had decent shoes, we would easily mistake them for an Italian.

Friendliness everywhere, it looks like the hospitality is an Omani characteristic. I have felt more welcome here in Oman than in India because those who are in contact with expats or foreigners are very aware of the difficulties being a foreign so they don't wish to pile the sorrow on the tourists.

How can you not love a group of people, who don't bat an eye at these foreigners, sitting here, wearing a button that says ISRAEL? Has got Chef Guevara in stickers and a Jewish Star of David around the neck.

Thank you Oman, for the renaissance in your thinking.

I am the Jew in Oman and say Shalom to you.

TWO DAYS TO GET TO INDIA, THREE DAYS LATER I AM OFF AGAIN

2012-01-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

Leaving the Blue House on the Indian Reservation to Omaha Airport then a short flight to Chicago and the United First Lounge

United Chicago to Frankfurt. Lufthansa Senator Lounge at Frankfurt. Lufthansa to Bangalore arriving 1 30 AM two days after leaving the Blue House

Good Kerala Food in Bangalore which suits my ancestral longings. A nice visit to Dr Jagdish Dental Surgery for a Prevention Check Up, well worth it. The Coffee man from Coorg from whom I buy a little coffee to take back to the HoCank Indians

The Greatest pleasure is of course shopping for all my friends lovers and family in Cuba.. Bangalore full of its Bling: jewelry, sequined clothes and bollywood movies is an ideal place to shop for Cuba

OFF TO SALALAH...

Where am I ? not an existentialist question but a Geo Quiz

2012-01-23T07:56:00.000-08:00

If it is Monday, It must be….

Where am I going, this day on a flight leaving BLR at 15.55?

I will begin with a ditty

Sultan of Ternate has a title but no power

There are OOddles of Sultans in Malaya but not worth the noodles on this Kong Hee Fatt Choy

Two other sultans, except your humble Serpent, Sultan of Baracoa en Exilio..

The other two have titles and lots of Power..

Diabetes made one to give his throne to his son

The other overthrew his father in a bloodless coup

I am going to the one where the sultan had his early education in Pune, Maharashtra, India

The capital of his country was once in a city famous for its doors. Sesame wood was used so that they stood even after the houses fell down. Open Sesame, may have its origin here. There are strong knobs they say to thwart elephants but the land has no elephants. So the story must have come with the wood from India.

I will give you a clue to the name of the city I am talking about. I had some help from Teheran about the name:

The word is originally Persian. Arabs do not have the following four letters in their alphabets " P, Ch, G, Jh". Whereas we have those letters clearly.

Arabs when want to pronounce P they pronounce it B, like make-up which they write make-ub

when want to pronounce G, they pronounce K or J. For example instead of England they say Enkeltra. Or it would be possible to pronounce Golshifte, Jolshifteh...

The land is called the land of the Blacks or the Beach/Coast of the Blacks..

it used to be the capital of the land i am visiting, the town where i will be is famous for its green landscapes and tropical weather. 25 C there today.

So where am I going on the 15 55 flight from Bangalore

Shopping for Cuban Friends and Family in Bangalore

2012-01-23T04:22:00.000-08:00

My friends in Bangalore always joke that I am buying things that is not in great demand locally. But little do they know where these gifts are destined to: The Island Republic of Cuba, the moveable feast of my life!
Incredible it may seem, I received an email from Baracoa requesting kurtis and Mohabbatein! I had not idea what these things were, but was told that Kurti is a short form of Kurta and that Mohabbatein is a Bling movie from Bollywood! My question was: how did they know these things in Baracoa? I know that Africans love the bling movies from Bollywood, but our Cuba, where there is thriving movie industry and the country that takes pride in its movie culture?
After watching the five minutes of a bling movie DevDas, I had the answer..
In Cuba, whenever there is a telenovela from Brasil is being screened there is a total silence over the entire country as if a celestial command had been issued. I knew it was one of the ways for the Cuban population to see and observe the lives, however distorted, of other people in other countries. I remember a very popular telenovela from Colombia and on my next visit there I carried a bunch of handwritten letters from Baracoa to the lady who was the lead actress.. all of them started, my dear...., My name is .... and I watch your telenovela without fail....This is truly a cultural equalizer in Cuba.
Why this fascination for the mindlessness of the Bling Movies from Bollywood. After all Baracoa is not Africa, it is in Cuba.. In the first five minutes of the movie Devdas shown to me (and that is all I watched), there is a palatial mansion, the head of the household, a lady with shiny skin and even shinier hair had herself decked out in jewelry and brocades beyond any imagination and she ran from room to room, there seemed to be many many rooms, and from each room came cleaners, chefs, maids all swinging to the rhythm of the hypnotic music..
Opium of the Masses?
I can see why Cubans are fascinated, it is one of the few ways to get a glimpse into the culture of India, however falsified it may represent of the every day life in India. They get to see glitter and glamour, dresses with sequins and jewelry that cannot be seen in magazines... In fact, Bling movies are a fiesta for the tired eyes of people used to bland TV programmes and to the tired minds of reading and loosing in discourse.
I had a difficult time finding clothes which would satisfy the cuban mind of its fantasy with Bling Movies of Bollywood.. Shops after shops sold very inferior imitations of western clothes. Looking around the streets of this confusion contributed by the shallowness of the IT crowd and others, I did not see any one wearing saris the quintessential symbol of beauty in India..let alone the bling saris of Bollywood movies.. (but why do Indian object when Hermes introduced a print sari last month in India? its price of 5000 Euros?)
The request list from Cuba included: Mohabbatein which is a movie and some Bling songs from Bollywood..
I realized what a pleasure it is for me to shop for my loved ones in Cuba.. I bought more fashion jewelry, clothes and incense and coffee (the latter for my native friends in USA, Cuba does not need coffee!)
I am proud of Baracoa that it has people who know the difference between Kurti and Kurta!

VISA ON ARRIVAL INDIA

2012-01-21T22:02:00.001-08:00

VISA ON ARRIVAL INDIA

Those of us with an urge to visit this teeming land of Real Fakirs and Fake Yogis, Excellent Food and Mediocre Wannabees imitating the West, full of surprises and unexpected and unwanted human interactions… VISA is usually a problem. Talk to travelers about getting a visa, and you can hear the horror stories of the masters of Bureaucracy, the Indian Civil Servant.

I was at the Embassy of India to request a visitor’s visa to India. The lower level official said I would take your application and come back in five days time; it is the proverbial five days of the Indian Embassy. I made no complaints. I went to the receptionist and asked whether I could say Hello to HE Dr. Balakrishnan who was then ambassador from India to Cuba. He had paid a visit to my house in Baracoa and told me to say Hi if I am ever at the embassy. We had a pleasant chat, a tea in the proper fashion and before I left, he asked me, Can I do anything for you? I told him, yes; I need a tourist visa to India. I will take care of it, and we bid good-bye.

That afternoon the secretary from the Embassy called to say my visa was ready!

My travel plans are usually made at the last moment and not having a long term visa to India many a times hinders ones plans, especially with this new rule of not being able to return to the country within two months of departure from India.

So, this morning, as I was sipping a nice home made Chai at a home in suburban Bangalore, waiting freshly prepared (from the scratch) of a Kerala dish called Uthappam, I was glad to read the following News Item: about Visa on Arrival

“Countries that could be offered VoA include Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Brazil and South Africa.

Ramping up tourist numbers is seen as a significant revenue earner with 600,000 foreign visitors a year being a miniscule proportion of global tourism. With timely intervention, the sector can grow much faster than the 24 million jobs currently targeted in the 12th Plan. So far, the VoA scheme has registered modest success with over 10,000 visas issued last year.

At present, 13 countries whose nationals can avail a visa on arrival include Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar. But the list excludes more populous nations even in the Asean who can be tapped for a much larger tourist footfall. “

I am glad to see France in the list but when will they include Australia?

I know the two governments have an uneasy relationship but I am sure it is only a matter of time when Australia will be included in the list.

Ashgar Farhadi The Separation Berlin and Now Golden Globe, and Oscar?

2012-01-17T21:44:00.000-08:00

Without creating a myth, Asghar Farhadi had an expression in his thought which was more important than the award in his hand.

He said to the ones who are unaware of today cinema-less Iran, face to face:

"My people are peace-loving people ....."

Remember that, he didn't forget his people strains(difficulties) even on the only scene he could stand in front of the flashes instead of standing behind the camera

From Silver Bear to Golden Globe or even at the future Oscar, I will stand up for a man who doesn't forget his people's public problems in his private joys

Looking forward to the day that he will open his suitcases in his land

and produce freely ....

He has proved that he has important worries

I respect him without a word...

Ashgar Farhadi whose film The Separation won the Golden Globe Awards

When I was coming up on the stage, I was thinking what should I say here. Should I say something about my mother, father, my kind wife, my daughters, my dear friends, my great and lovely crew. But now I just prefer to say something about my people. I think they are a truly peace-loving people. Thank you very much.

He couldn't shake hands with Madonna since his earlier handshake with Angelina Jolie had raised eyebrows of the Bearded ones and their closed minded associates in Iran. Farhadi just bowed to Madonna who had announced his Win.

From Huffington Post:

Respected Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami said he hopes it will make authorities be kinder to Iran's film community, which has faced government-led bans on directors and the closure of a major film institution last month. However, the Iranian government's response to the win was not encouraging; it cautioned Iranian artists against prioritizing themes of hardship and ignoring "the glaring positive points and features of our nation."

The homage to Farhadi, a the beginning of this note, was written by an Iranian Dancer Artist resident in Norway, Houman Sharifi.

It silently blares the impressive joy of all Iranians at the success of this film from their country, just a few days after the backward looking Mullahs and their stooges closed down the Institute of Cinema. It is not the people who are afraid fo them, it is they who are afraid of the people of their own country. They govern not by common consent but by fear.

Please go and see The Separation. A Social Drama unfolds into a Suspense drama, all the while one is acutely aware of the situation they are portraying, but subtly pointing out the difficulties of the society imposed upon them in Iran.

A Day taking care of American Indians

2012-01-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

While driving to work, just five minutes away from this Indian Village, I looked at the thermometer, -10 C, yes minus ten degrees, but wrapped up as I was I didnt feel the cold, felt the exhilaration of the wintry sun and the blue skies above. I am very lucky to be working with the same two people over all the years I have been coming to be with the Indians and we have such a good sense of friendship, unspoken depth.
We do our job as a team, not a hierarchical order system. You only have to keep in mind the welfare of the person who has come to see you seeking some medical advice and help, and you will not go wrong. It is not the arena to prove whether you are a good provider or not, those things should have been clear to you long before.
so many things happen in the course of the day.. A nice conversation with my colleague stands out in which she was telling me about her family and how the characters are so different depending upon what branch of the religion they believed in .( she is a south dakotan of swedish ancestry). Money does create problem one way or another as Behavioural Economists have pointed out, in the USA in these 2000s, any more income than 60,000 usd per year does not increase your happiness. Money does not buy you happiness but absolute lack of it can cause misery. I told her briefly that lack of a liberal outlook on life does put restrictions in ones own life. As Simon Kuper had written elegantly in a recent column in FT, about Teenage Pregnancies in the USA, how the Americans have classified these behaviours as zones of disorder and restricted them, teenage sex, experimentation with drugs all prohibited or criminalized, so that normal experimentations of life becomes tragic experiences with great consequences. American society, he writes, tries to enforce good behaviour through the institutions of marriage, church and prison. it also manages to create an anxiety about these zones of disorders. It is nice to have such conversations in between patients who live in relative happiness in outposts of american civilization barely touched by them. There are reasons why Indians try to avoid American civilizations much more than it is necessary to survive: the more contact they have with American civilizations, the more suffering arrives at their doorstep. Friends come to watch sports events at your pay per view TV at home, all of a sudden there are fifteen of them, each with a beer in hand, so you are left with broken promises within yourself of wanting to help yourself remain healthy. One such patient arrived this morning. Counselling but the reality of the situation is stark. Give an alternative. Instead of telling dont drink beer and not enjoy the sports event, encourage him to go for a long walk. I can remember each of the consultations today but a couple stand out for their sheer uniqueness. An Observant Medical Practitioner is a natural Anthropologist!
32 year old, extremely independent extroverted young man with multiple medical problems, he needs to come into the hospital for one of the many of his "diseases",to convince him about the seriousness of the situation I had to bring in history and culture, love of his family and my own relationship with other members of his family. The idea here is that we are not in professional relationships with our patients. We are friends of the patients and their families, we just happen to have some medical knowledge.
The other patient, 45 years of age, successfully combating one problem only to be told that there is yet another serious problem to be faced. Taking heed of the time my own sister in Miami had to face such dilemma, I spent considerable time with this patient, drawing in experiences from the world of Indians. Their sufferings are interpreted in context of the world they live in, nor the public world which they share with non indians. Bring them back to their normal world which they share with other Indians, it is so easy to counsel them philosophically because their lives are not robotic moments in a passing day but steeped in the tradition and cultue of their people, however assimilated they may appear on the outside. Faith and positive outlook, touching on Yoga Philosophy, giving her examples from her own culture. Nebraska farmers are cutting down trees so they can plant more corn (in just two years they have reduced the number of trees in their farms from 3.4 million to 750 00. Congratulations, takers of the fat of the land!) whereas this lady, ensconced as she is in her world, would consider it a crime to cut down a tree, feels sad even for christmas trees !
You are not going through these sufferings alone,i assured her, we are with you and you can trust us. the freedom to trust another person, that freedom was taken away from them, in the three hundred years of contact with people with blond hair from another continent.
On the way out of the clinic, to the crispy evening air, the still blue skies of the Plains, i ran into an old friend whose mother had just recently died. How do you console a person who has lost her mother? UmPaTonGa the great UmonHon orator was at his best when he said eulogy for a visiting Lakota Chief. Express your feeling naturally and freely and not say things aimed at pleasing the other person. I briefly talked about the time i had known her mother, the postcards i used to send her. then suddenly without any warning a picture of her father who had been dead for a long time appeared in my minds eye. i told her, I see your father standing in dignity at the sidelines of the Pow Wow when he was judging something or another. I could see her eyes well up and my own throat choking. Before i could no longer speak, I said: All I can say is that I am glad to have known your mother and father... without looking back, I walked towards the door.
The night is upon me, a solitude of great magnitude which is welcome arrived. The temperature outside is minus 17 C but the warmth of the thoughts of my dear friends and lovers keep my hear in a perpetual sense of euphoria.. saudade ...

Say Thanks when You see the First Snow of the Season: Meskwakia

2012-01-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

This was the scene that greeted me as I opened the door of the Blue house.
The first snow of the season for me. always reminds me of that distant day when I knocked at the door of the home of Adeline Wanatee in the Meskwaki Settlement in Tama, Iowa. You must always thank the first snow and be grateful. It brings the freshness that would clear the air of all diseases.
Thank you, Adeline. I still think of what all you have taught even after these many years.

ARE WE POISONING THE NEXT GENERATION: FOOD AND ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

2012-01-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

Pediatric Study: 'Healthy' Diet Best for ADHD Kids

For those of us interested in the sociocultural aspects of modern diseases, ADHD, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, along with a myriad of unexplained increases in previously well-studied diseases, was/is a star puzzle.

About 10 years ago, I was visiting a Head Start programme for 4-year-old children in an Indian Reservation. There were many non-Indian kids in this group of about 48 children. Talking to the very sympathetic administrator, I was told that there were two with definite diagnosis of Autism and one with Asperger’s syndrome and about ten children on medications for ADHD. I was aghast. This was in a relatively poor, food desert, region of the USA, but still about 1/3 having some psycho/behavioural problems? Autism?

I scratched my mind about my medical school/training days in London, Melbourne and Miami and we studied the drug Ritalin (methylphenidate) that was a favourite among the medical students days before the examinations. We vaguely knew it was used in hyperactive children.

Life has changed, food became more and more plasticized, mass produced, well travelled French fries, additives, preservatives and more and more chemicals.

One day soon afterwards I asked myself this question: Could these chemicals cause all these disease of Civilization>

Obesity, Diabetes, Thyroid Cancer, Hypothyroidism, Lower Testosterone, Higher Cholesterol…

Among the Native Indians of Americas, Food is always considered Medicine, can the food has now caused them to take Medicine instead. Food as Disease Producer? They had warned me about it the first week after I met them, The Food made us Sick, which I dismissed in my arrogant frivolity of a just graduated Medical Doctor.

Over the years, the puzzle is solving itself slowly.

This is from a lecture I gave in Phnom Penh at the Annual Diabetes Day in 2008

In another study, just four days of Organic diet was able to lower the chemical burden in ADHD children and show improvement in their behaviour.

So I welcome this new publication.

Fast foods, sodas, and ice cream may be American kids' favorite menu items, but they're also probably the worst for those with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new literature review suggests.

According to two researchers from Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, a relatively simple diet low in fats and high in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is one of the best alternatives to drug therapy for ADHD. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid supplements have also been shown to help in some controlled studies, they noted.

Writing online in Pediatrics, J. Gordon Millichap, MD, and Michelle M. Yee, CPNP, reviewed nearly 70 publications on diet-based interventions in ADHD, emphasizing recent research and controlled trials.

Action Points

§ Explain that a state-of-the-art review suggested dietary interventions for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) if medications were ineffective, parents or children wished to try dietary approaches, or mineral deficiencies were present.

§ Point out that the authors recommended a simple diet low in fat and high in whole grains, vegetables and fruit and possibly omega-3/omega-6 fatty acid supplementation as approaches to try.

They noted that diet is one established contributor to ADHD that parents can modify.

One of the most provocative findings in recent years came from the Australian Raine study, which was a prospective cohort study that followed children from birth to age 14, Millichap and Yee indicated.

It found that development of ADHD was significantly associated with so-called Western diets rich in saturated fats and sugar, compared with a "healthy" diet of proteins derived from low-fat fish and dairy products and with a high proportion of vegetables (including tomatoes), fruits, and whole grains.

Also there is some vindication of Refined Sugar, the white stuff that you put in your coffee to sweeten it.

There is no hard evidence that sugar as in Candy can increase Hyperactivity.

I have been a firm believer in the innocence of White/Brown sugar as part of the diet/aetiology of obesity and Diabetes. You can argue with me if you want…

That reminds me of the day I was introduced to a group of American Indian Elders, This is our new Sugar Doctor. Louis LR always the wit, looks at me, scrutinizes me with his childlike eyes and questions me with a mirth: Are you a White Sugar Doctor or a Brown Sugar Doctor…

Brown of course, I said, pointing out to my skin!

A NEZ PERCE BOY, PHOTO TAKEN OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
THE NEXT PHOTO IS ABOUT ASSIMILATING INDIANS INTO THE MAINSTREAM AMERICAN LIFE. LOUIS LR who was born at least 60 years after these pictures were taken, has remarkable resemblance to the man in the middle picture!

MITAKUYE OYASIN