“I awoke only to find that the rest of the world was still asleep.”
(Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo's Notebooks)
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End of the month report - November 2024
3 weeks ago
Tuesday, 29 December 2015
Herbal remedies II - Hippocrates and Galen
Here it is the full book about the writings of Hippocrates and Galen, translated by John Redman Coxe in 1846. If you are a fan of the past, or if you want to have a peek at what the ones of the Old where thinking, and how did they used the herbs and not only, this is the book.
Short introduction:
Galen (c. 129 - c. 216/17 CE)
Galen was born in Greece, studied medicine in Egypt and became the most celebrated physician in the Roman Empire. His theories were to dominate Western medical thinking for centuries after his death. A radical and innovative experimenter, he considered dissection a key tool in understanding the human body. Although he was restricted by law to dissecting animals, the three years he spent from 158 CE as physician to the gladiators of his home city of Pergamon were a formative period in his life in medicine. The traumatic injuries he regularly encountered gave Galen the perfect opportunity to extend his practical medical knowledge of the human body. Galen was greatly influenced by the working methods of Hippocrates and other earlier Greek doctors. He similarly advocated the humoral theory of the body and like Hippocrates he also placed great importance on clinical observation through careful examination of patients and the recording of their symptoms. Galen paid particular attention to an individual’s pulse, monitoring it for abnormalities and using it as a tool to diagnose disease and suggest possible treatments. Feeling a patient’s pulse remains a standard diagnostic procedure to this day. Galen was a prolific writer. He was widely known in his lifetime, but his prolonged influence owed much to the Islamic scholars who absorbed, reproduced and added to his body of work in the early medieval period. Subsequently these works were re-translated in the West, where they effectively remained beyond criticism until the Renaissance. In that new age of experimentation and investigation the fault lines in much of his work began to be revealed and many of his theories and techniques were gradually replaced or amended by the likes of Vesalius and William Harvey. Despite this, Galen remains a towering figure in the history of medicine.
Hyppocrates (c. 460 - c. 370 BCE)
Hippocrates was a Greek philosopher and physician who has been called ‘the father of medicine’. He and his followers dismissed the idea that illness was simply caused or cured by superstitions, spirits or gods. Instead, he argued for a rational approach to medical treatment based on close observation of the individual patient. However, so little is known about the man himself that some scholars have questioned whether he was a real person at all. In Hippocratic medicine, effective treatment relied on considering the patient as a whole. Diet, sleep, work and exercise were all seen as important factors that could play a role in producing - and reversing - the imbalance in humours that was believed to result in illness. Diseases were allowed to run their natural course with treatment restricted mainly to the careful use of specific herbal medicines. Surgery was very much seen as a last resort. Hippocrates is believed to have founded a medical school on Kos - the island of his birth - where his students helped to spread his ideas. A collection of ancient written works associated with Hippocrates and his teachings, known as ‘The Hippocratic Corpus’, was a huge influence on the development of medicine in the centuries that followed. The Hippocratic oath was most probably compiled by a number of authors, but echoes elements of his philosophy and has an enduring legacy as the ethical framework for the medical profession.
Short introduction:
Galen (c. 129 - c. 216/17 CE)
Galen was born in Greece, studied medicine in Egypt and became the most celebrated physician in the Roman Empire. His theories were to dominate Western medical thinking for centuries after his death. A radical and innovative experimenter, he considered dissection a key tool in understanding the human body. Although he was restricted by law to dissecting animals, the three years he spent from 158 CE as physician to the gladiators of his home city of Pergamon were a formative period in his life in medicine. The traumatic injuries he regularly encountered gave Galen the perfect opportunity to extend his practical medical knowledge of the human body. Galen was greatly influenced by the working methods of Hippocrates and other earlier Greek doctors. He similarly advocated the humoral theory of the body and like Hippocrates he also placed great importance on clinical observation through careful examination of patients and the recording of their symptoms. Galen paid particular attention to an individual’s pulse, monitoring it for abnormalities and using it as a tool to diagnose disease and suggest possible treatments. Feeling a patient’s pulse remains a standard diagnostic procedure to this day. Galen was a prolific writer. He was widely known in his lifetime, but his prolonged influence owed much to the Islamic scholars who absorbed, reproduced and added to his body of work in the early medieval period. Subsequently these works were re-translated in the West, where they effectively remained beyond criticism until the Renaissance. In that new age of experimentation and investigation the fault lines in much of his work began to be revealed and many of his theories and techniques were gradually replaced or amended by the likes of Vesalius and William Harvey. Despite this, Galen remains a towering figure in the history of medicine.
Hyppocrates (c. 460 - c. 370 BCE)
Hippocrates was a Greek philosopher and physician who has been called ‘the father of medicine’. He and his followers dismissed the idea that illness was simply caused or cured by superstitions, spirits or gods. Instead, he argued for a rational approach to medical treatment based on close observation of the individual patient. However, so little is known about the man himself that some scholars have questioned whether he was a real person at all. In Hippocratic medicine, effective treatment relied on considering the patient as a whole. Diet, sleep, work and exercise were all seen as important factors that could play a role in producing - and reversing - the imbalance in humours that was believed to result in illness. Diseases were allowed to run their natural course with treatment restricted mainly to the careful use of specific herbal medicines. Surgery was very much seen as a last resort. Hippocrates is believed to have founded a medical school on Kos - the island of his birth - where his students helped to spread his ideas. A collection of ancient written works associated with Hippocrates and his teachings, known as ‘The Hippocratic Corpus’, was a huge influence on the development of medicine in the centuries that followed. The Hippocratic oath was most probably compiled by a number of authors, but echoes elements of his philosophy and has an enduring legacy as the ethical framework for the medical profession.
Monday, 28 December 2015
Quote of the day. Coming soon - Lucid dreaming
"We are asleep. Our life is a dream. But we wake up, sometimes, just enough to know that we are dreaming."
(Ludwig Wittgenstein)
"Often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream"
(Aristotle)
(Ludwig Wittgenstein)
"Often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream"
(Aristotle)
Explanation: A lucid dream is any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. In relation to this phenomenon, Greek philosopher Aristotle observed: "often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream". One of the earliest references to personal experiences with lucid dreaming was by Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys. The person acknowledged as having coined the term is Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik (Willem) van Eeden (1860–1932). In a lucid dream, the dreamer has greater chances to exert some degree of control over their participation within the dream or be able to manipulate their imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can be realistic and vivid. It is shown that there are higher amounts of beta-1 frequency band (13–19 Hz) brain wave activity experienced by lucid dreamers, hence there is an increased amount of activity in the parietal lobes making lucid dreaming a conscious process. Skeptics of the phenomenon suggest that it is not a state of sleep, but of brief wakefulness. Others point out that there is no way to prove the truth of lucid dreaming other than to ask the dreamer. Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, with participants performing pre-determined physical responses while experiencing a lucid dream.
Saturday, 26 December 2015
Herbal remedies I (Mini-Review - De Materia Medica, by Pedanius Dioscorides)
Ancient herbal traditions said that plants were flesh of the Gods. Oldest fragmentary herbal records are Pen Tsao Ching of Emperor Shen Nung in China about 2700 BC, Ebers Papyrus in Egypt about 1550 BC, 5000 year old Sumerian tablet with medical subscriptions, containing material gathered 5 to 20 centuries before. The earliest herbal writers we can name are Greek, Theophrastus (Enquiry into plants - 350 BC), Hippocrates, Diokles of Carystus, Krateuas and his contemporary, the Roman Sextius Niger (100 BC), Nicander of Colophon and Nicolaus of Damascus (De Plantis - 30 BC). Krateuas is the first autor and illustrator known to us.
The earliest surviving records of illustrated Greek Herbals indicate De Materia Medica was widely read and reproduced during Middle ages in Latin, Arabic and Greek. For 1500 years was the standard authority both in botany and materia medica, assuming considerable significance in the development of both Western and Islamic cultures.
De Materia Medica now is partially based on the lost work of Diokles, also called Hippocrates II, which dealt with hygiene and prophylaxis, and gave detailed instructions for a healthy living. The earliest copies of Dioscorides Manuscript were not illustrated. The oldest fragment survived is the Michigan Papyrus. The finest surviving comprehensive manuscript copy, magnificently illustrated, was made in the sixth century in Constantinople - Codex Vindobonensis. The manuscript is on vellum, written in Greek uncials in the tradition of early 6th century calligraphy. Alternate plant names in many languages were probably added by the Alexandrian lexicographer Pamphilos in 1st century AC, and they are provided in African, Andreae medici, Armenian, Egyptian, Bessicum, Boeotian, Cappadocian, Dacian, Dardana, Democriti, Ethiopian, Gaulish, Spanish, Istrici, Lucanica, Marsum, Osthanis, Prophetae, Pythagorean, Roman, Tuscan and Zoroastrian. The coloured paintings of plants date from the second century, they are splendid and reveal a naturalism alien to Byzantine art of the time. Eleven items are clearly derived from the writings and paintings of Krateuas (Cratevas), physician to Mithridates VI Eupator, king of Pontus (120-60 BC). Codex Vindobonensis is a large book, roughly 30 centimeters square, of 491 parchment sheets, with nearly 400 full page paintings of plants and some smaller ones of birds. Many of them are indigenous to Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean area, or cultivated as edible crops. The first pages of Codex Vindobonensis have smaller paintings, including one showing Dioscorides at work while Intelligence hold a mandrake fro Krateuas to draw.
The earliest surviving records of illustrated Greek Herbals indicate De Materia Medica was widely read and reproduced during Middle ages in Latin, Arabic and Greek. For 1500 years was the standard authority both in botany and materia medica, assuming considerable significance in the development of both Western and Islamic cultures.
De Materia Medica now is partially based on the lost work of Diokles, also called Hippocrates II, which dealt with hygiene and prophylaxis, and gave detailed instructions for a healthy living. The earliest copies of Dioscorides Manuscript were not illustrated. The oldest fragment survived is the Michigan Papyrus. The finest surviving comprehensive manuscript copy, magnificently illustrated, was made in the sixth century in Constantinople - Codex Vindobonensis. The manuscript is on vellum, written in Greek uncials in the tradition of early 6th century calligraphy. Alternate plant names in many languages were probably added by the Alexandrian lexicographer Pamphilos in 1st century AC, and they are provided in African, Andreae medici, Armenian, Egyptian, Bessicum, Boeotian, Cappadocian, Dacian, Dardana, Democriti, Ethiopian, Gaulish, Spanish, Istrici, Lucanica, Marsum, Osthanis, Prophetae, Pythagorean, Roman, Tuscan and Zoroastrian. The coloured paintings of plants date from the second century, they are splendid and reveal a naturalism alien to Byzantine art of the time. Eleven items are clearly derived from the writings and paintings of Krateuas (Cratevas), physician to Mithridates VI Eupator, king of Pontus (120-60 BC). Codex Vindobonensis is a large book, roughly 30 centimeters square, of 491 parchment sheets, with nearly 400 full page paintings of plants and some smaller ones of birds. Many of them are indigenous to Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean area, or cultivated as edible crops. The first pages of Codex Vindobonensis have smaller paintings, including one showing Dioscorides at work while Intelligence hold a mandrake fro Krateuas to draw.
Some paintings are quite skillful, handling awkward details like the leaf-bases clasp the stem, fine leaved plants like fennel are well drawn, other beautiful illustration include cyclamen, wormwood, delphinium, scarlet pimpernel and asphodel. In this codex an alphabetic extract of the original text is given.
Nearly nine centuries pass before we hear next of the manuscript. It was rebound in 1406 by John Chirtasmenos for Natanael, a monk and physician in Podromos Monastery in Constantinople. After the Muslim conquest in 1453 the manuscript fell to Turks. A century later a Jew called Hamon, body physician to Suleiman the Magnificent, owned it. After few years the manuscript found its way to Maximillian II, into the Imperial Library in Vienna (now the Bibliothek Nationale). Some copies are found in Bibliotheca Nationale in Naples (Codex Neapolitanus), Cambridge, Paris, Florence and the Vatican. A rich illustrated Arabic Manuscript from 1224 is found in Top Kapu Saray Museum, some copies are also founded in Middle East museums.
Book one - Plants described: aromatics, 188 plants -
Book two - Discussion both of living creatures and of honey and of milk and of animal fat and of those things which they call frumentacea [cereals], as well as pot herbs [vegetables], annexing for those such herbs as are endowed with a sharp quality because such are near of kin, as are garlic and onions and mustard seed that the qualities of those things so similar in nature should not be separated.
Book three - An account of roots, juices, herbs, and seeds -- suitable both for common use and for medications.
Book four - About herbs and roots not previously mentioned.
Book five - About wines and metallic things, beginning with the tract concerning the vine.
Quote of the day
Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
(Rumi)
Easy to say, hard to do. But a worthy goal, at any moment of your life. Do you think you can do it? Define this. First, you need to find what you love, and in order to do this you need to know what love is, and how to recognize it. Than, you need to transfer that love in action, as what you love be what you do. Up to that? Good. Tell me how you did it, i need to know.
And one link, Christmas themed, or not? What your children really want. Do you think you know?
(Rumi)
Easy to say, hard to do. But a worthy goal, at any moment of your life. Do you think you can do it? Define this. First, you need to find what you love, and in order to do this you need to know what love is, and how to recognize it. Than, you need to transfer that love in action, as what you love be what you do. Up to that? Good. Tell me how you did it, i need to know.
And one link, Christmas themed, or not? What your children really want. Do you think you know?
Thursday, 24 December 2015
Quote of the day
If you want to be happy, be!
(Lev Tolstoi)
Or to say it in the other way, want to know how to be merry just in time for Christmas, you can try to read this book - Happiness guide - how to boos your serotonin level. My brother's work, not that is family, but it is a surprisingly good book.
Merry Christmas!!!
G.
(Lev Tolstoi)
Or to say it in the other way, want to know how to be merry just in time for Christmas, you can try to read this book - Happiness guide - how to boos your serotonin level. My brother's work, not that is family, but it is a surprisingly good book.
Merry Christmas!!!
G.
Tuesday, 22 December 2015
SuperBetter, depression and how to become a superhero
I stard to use SuperBetter app 2 days ago, and i am totally hooked with this. Following my previous post about Jane McGonigal abd the gameful mindset, i will provide you with the research behind this project. Click here to read it, it is mind-blowing.
Monday, 21 December 2015
Treat yourself with games - you deserve it!
No really, treat yourself and use games as treatment, you will like this form of therapy. Especially if you are a gamer. Obsessed or not! By the way, the research show that 21 hours weekly is the tipping point, the limit between liking to play a game and becoming obsessed, attitude leading to serious consequences in health, social life and so on.
But lets go back to business. Games, how can we use them?
Just to give few examples:
1. Playing Candy Crush Saga for 10 minutes will reduce cravings (for food or smoking) with 25%. This is a huge percentage, i must to admit. They say that the game vivid imagery is using the same area in the brain that is responsible for addiction for food or cigarettes.
2. If you play Tetris for 10-15 minutes in the next 6 hours after a major distress, chances are that you will avoid Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. In you miss that 6 hours window, you can still do it in the next 24 hours after you will remember the event for 102 minutes. Is not some magic brain wash, you will still remember everything, but the brain will not become obsessed with the replay of events over and over. More related science data on this website.
3. And some serious games here, known for helping the cancer patients for years. Remission and Remission 2 from Hope Lab. It is amazing. Check this info and pass it on. If you know people interested, i recommended. It's free. And it's working.
Have a perfect week!
G.
But lets go back to business. Games, how can we use them?
Just to give few examples:
1. Playing Candy Crush Saga for 10 minutes will reduce cravings (for food or smoking) with 25%. This is a huge percentage, i must to admit. They say that the game vivid imagery is using the same area in the brain that is responsible for addiction for food or cigarettes.
2. If you play Tetris for 10-15 minutes in the next 6 hours after a major distress, chances are that you will avoid Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. In you miss that 6 hours window, you can still do it in the next 24 hours after you will remember the event for 102 minutes. Is not some magic brain wash, you will still remember everything, but the brain will not become obsessed with the replay of events over and over. More related science data on this website.
3. And some serious games here, known for helping the cancer patients for years. Remission and Remission 2 from Hope Lab. It is amazing. Check this info and pass it on. If you know people interested, i recommended. It's free. And it's working.
Have a perfect week!
G.
Friday, 18 December 2015
Do you like games?
Some interesting article about the benefits of being a gamer and not only that. Read here.
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Random news time
* Some brainwave entertainment, affirmations, guided visualizations, nature sounds. Just in case you get too much stress lately, like me.
1. The healing pool. Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke. Use for rejuvenation and healing. (They say!)
2. Forest fantasy. Music by zero project. Use for relaxation or to enhance focus and learning.
3. Sea success symphony. Music by zero project. Use to help boost your success mindset.
I did try them. Even if i cannot guarantee the results, i can say that i listened to them before to fall asleep, and i slept like a baby.
** One interesting infographic
1. The healing pool. Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke. Use for rejuvenation and healing. (They say!)
2. Forest fantasy. Music by zero project. Use for relaxation or to enhance focus and learning.
3. Sea success symphony. Music by zero project. Use to help boost your success mindset.
I did try them. Even if i cannot guarantee the results, i can say that i listened to them before to fall asleep, and i slept like a baby.
** One interesting infographic
*** Speed reading tip: if you use a visual parser like underline of finger, your reading will improve with 25-30%. Imagine that! For every 4 book you will read an extra one as bonus, in the same amount of time.
**** Quote of the day. Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. (Harry Truman)
Get it? I hope so. It is easy like that. Read. Read a lot. On any subject interesting to you. (Note: i read now about the history of herbal remedies - probably you will find about in my next posts.). Books. Proper books, you need to feel the page, the smell, an all senses experience, not to click on your eBook reader. By the way, my book about vitamins and minerals is out, find more about here.
Have a good week1
G.
Monday, 14 December 2015
Book number 2 -The complete vitamins and minerals pocket guide (Nutrients Book 1) - links
As i promised, here it is.
The complete vitamins and minerals pocket guide (Nutrients Book 1)
On Amazon.
On Kindle.
Special offer until my birthday in January. He he!
On Amazon.
On Kindle.
Special offer until my birthday in January. He he!
Immortals
I just quoted Einstein to the Old Man. I told him that
lately I feel like nothing around me look like a miracle, like somehow my life
is only black and white, with a shade of grey. He had a mischievous smile.
- Use the soul-link spell I just teach you last week. Choose
someone. Anyone. And read his book of fate. Let’s see if you are good enough.
I looked around. I wanted to choose the most insignificant
person I would see. The retired looking
man who was buying tea, bread and milk from the corner shop. I touched the
surface of his conscience, using a heart to heart. And I froze instantly. He
was the Master Demonologist, the one who could not die. He know of Old Magic,
one long forgotten, one that human body can barely contain. I heard some
stories about. They said that if he will ask, Lucifer itself will do his bid. And now I could see it, as in one first person vision movie. He
was there when they build the pyramids, he was trading the Greek fire to the
Greeks, he was ready to burn the Library of Alexandria, and he was ravaging
Europe as Genghis-khan adviser, destroying kings and their armies, pure evil, unstoppable,
powerful beyond imagination. But before 1000 A.C. something happen. I will see
them burning village after village in the Carpathian Mountains, until that event.
It was in the place known today as Transylvania, him and his entire legion of warriors;
in front of them I could see a 12-13 years old child, looking straight to him. He
was laughing.
- Can you repeat, he said. I think I did not hear correctly!
-Stop now, repent and live your life helping the others and I
will spare you. I’ll spare you and your entire army, the child with blonde hair
said.
- Who are you? How you dare to talk to me this way? Do you
have any idea who am i?
- My name is Gabriel. And I know you well, Cain. It is not
first time we meet.
- I will never stop. Do you hear me? Never.
- That is your choice. You are free to do this. And I am
free to stop you.
- You are no ordinary child. lle will gurtha sina moment.
lle will hesta ar' natula asto, he said, his hands start to move in some strange
rhythm to support his chant.
- I am a warrior of light; I am the child of the prophecy,
Cain. And I will not tolerate this. Never dare to bother humanity again. I do not want
to hear your name for a thousand years.
The necromancer turn his horse and left, and nobody hear
about him after this. Facts become stories, stories become legends. And peace came
back to the world, for 1000 years. But
close to our days, some disciples of Aleister Crowley managed to find his
sleeping place. Using blood magic, they overcame fate boundaries and he was
awake once more. This time, Cain was ready to destroy everyone. He was almost
out of his cave; he could see the light of the day. But two people were also
there, waiting. The Old Man, young, and
the one that I was thinking is his son. Cain looked at them and roared.
-You! We meet again, Gabriel.
-We meet again, indeed. I was waiting for you. And before
Cain even move, Gabriel said to him, I bless you, I wish for you to have a
normal life, with the opportunity of choosing the good. I ask you to forget
everything, and to live a normal life. It was said.
Once more, Cain starts walking. And now he was right here,
in front of me, a man who could not see a miracle, even if it will knock me
down.
-Do not ever forget, Ade, you are a warrior of light too!
Him and his lessons. I was just sitting there for a long
time, thinking about everything.
Sunday, 13 December 2015
Vegetarian larder - what to buy
You are a vegetarian, you are trying to save some money, as good food is expensive. Not at all. What you really need to buy in bulk quantities to be always prepared? I will tell you now.
1.Wholemeal flour, buckwheat and white flour if you still use.
2. Rice - basmati or thay rice, big 25 or 50 kg bag.
3. Pasta - large quantity of durum wheat, durum semolina. You got the idea!
4. Pulses - lentil, beans, chickpeas, haduki beans.
5. Oil. Sunflower, rapeseed, groundnut for cooking, olive oil for salad. Sesame, walnut and hazelnut for food, to keep this in the fridge. The others are fine outside.
6. Cheese: Cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere and anything else that you like.
7. Dairy and non dairy - creme fraiche, soy milk, tofu, mycoprotein products.
8. Nuts - peanuts (cheapest ones), almond, walnut, hazelnut, pistachio.
9. Herbs - fresh or dried. Parsley, coriander, dill, basil, mint.
10. Spices - chilli, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamon, ginger.
You can cook at least 30 meals only with what we have on this list. Good luck.
1.Wholemeal flour, buckwheat and white flour if you still use.
2. Rice - basmati or thay rice, big 25 or 50 kg bag.
3. Pasta - large quantity of durum wheat, durum semolina. You got the idea!
4. Pulses - lentil, beans, chickpeas, haduki beans.
5. Oil. Sunflower, rapeseed, groundnut for cooking, olive oil for salad. Sesame, walnut and hazelnut for food, to keep this in the fridge. The others are fine outside.
6. Cheese: Cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere and anything else that you like.
7. Dairy and non dairy - creme fraiche, soy milk, tofu, mycoprotein products.
8. Nuts - peanuts (cheapest ones), almond, walnut, hazelnut, pistachio.
9. Herbs - fresh or dried. Parsley, coriander, dill, basil, mint.
10. Spices - chilli, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamon, ginger.
You can cook at least 30 meals only with what we have on this list. Good luck.
Friday, 11 December 2015
My second book
At last. I managed to finish it before my deadline, estimated by the end of the year. I will publish it in few days from now, after i will do the formatting and final check. This time it is in English - Vitamins and minerals pocket guide, and even if it is not a thick book, i needed a considerable amount of time and some sustained effort, especially to collect, analyse and gather the data. Like the previous one, took longer than expected and implied double the estimated amount of work. But, after this experience, i trust myself and aim to publish at least 6 new titles next year. We will see.
I will post the links when it is published, and like a novelty, will be available on Kindle too.
I wish you a perfect end of the year, and a merry Christmas!
G.
I will post the links when it is published, and like a novelty, will be available on Kindle too.
I wish you a perfect end of the year, and a merry Christmas!
G.
Quote of the day
“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.”
(Muriel Rukeyser)
What a splendid description of the modern science, made by a poet, of course. What i can add to it? Nothing.
(Muriel Rukeyser)
What a splendid description of the modern science, made by a poet, of course. What i can add to it? Nothing.
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Go. With. The. Flow.
Sunday, 6 December 2015
Quote of the day
Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.
( Miyamoto Musashi )
A good idea of strategy, to consider even the far events and things to happen, and to not get lost because you are too close of something. Both of the examples are the different sides of our own perceptions. It is like in that old saying: You are not drowning because you are underwater, but because you are not getting out of there. Act, and succeed. That's all for today.
( Miyamoto Musashi )
A good idea of strategy, to consider even the far events and things to happen, and to not get lost because you are too close of something. Both of the examples are the different sides of our own perceptions. It is like in that old saying: You are not drowning because you are underwater, but because you are not getting out of there. Act, and succeed. That's all for today.
Saturday, 5 December 2015
Vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and one pocket guide to have them all
I just started to work on some research on the nutrients that i mentioned in the title. First i wanted just to do a list and a text file for me, but then i was told that this is a very useful information, by many of my friends. So, if you ever wondered what is EAR (estimated average intake), RDA (recommended dietary allowance), AI (adequate intake) or UL (tolerable upper intake level), you gonna find it out. It is work in progress.
See you all soon!
G,
See you all soon!
G,
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
Quote of the day
“I have lived on the lip
of insanity, wanting to know reasons,
knocking on a door. It opens.
I've been knocking from the inside.”
( Rumi )
He is the one that said this somehow differently:Yesterday i was clever, i wanted to change the world, today i am wise, i want to change myself. Why? Because in the end it is all about our perception. Some can live in hell, having everything, others can be free, even if they are in jail. We are not talking about this small confinement called human body. We are speaking of the freedom of our spirit, that part of us that we cannot quantify. In our search for happiness, sometimes we do not need to move mountains, but to change ourselves. Yesterday somebody asked me what he need to do to be an One Percenter ( in the richest 1% of the persons living now in the world ). I laugh and i asked him if he can spend more than 60 dollars per week. He said: Yes, of course. Then here is the good news, you actually are in the richest first 1% of the planet. 99% of us live with less than 60$ per week. He become sad.
Good luck and dream big, my friends!
G.
of insanity, wanting to know reasons,
knocking on a door. It opens.
I've been knocking from the inside.”
( Rumi )
He is the one that said this somehow differently:Yesterday i was clever, i wanted to change the world, today i am wise, i want to change myself. Why? Because in the end it is all about our perception. Some can live in hell, having everything, others can be free, even if they are in jail. We are not talking about this small confinement called human body. We are speaking of the freedom of our spirit, that part of us that we cannot quantify. In our search for happiness, sometimes we do not need to move mountains, but to change ourselves. Yesterday somebody asked me what he need to do to be an One Percenter ( in the richest 1% of the persons living now in the world ). I laugh and i asked him if he can spend more than 60 dollars per week. He said: Yes, of course. Then here is the good news, you actually are in the richest first 1% of the planet. 99% of us live with less than 60$ per week. He become sad.
Good luck and dream big, my friends!
G.
Monday, 30 November 2015
Quote of the day and some free thinking
'If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.'
( Neil Peart )
No comments here.
* What is the difference in between perfectionism and striving for excellence? Very easy, the latest research showed us that perfectionism is external motivated, related to what people will think about you, while striving for excellence is internal motivated, you - the one from today - to be better than you - the one from yesterday.
** Auris institute from Lyon - a place where they seriously research magnets and the therapy using them. On top of that, they're French. Ha ha! Find more here.
*** Some very interesting TED Talk - Brene Brown on vulnerability. Click here to listen.
( Neil Peart )
No comments here.
* What is the difference in between perfectionism and striving for excellence? Very easy, the latest research showed us that perfectionism is external motivated, related to what people will think about you, while striving for excellence is internal motivated, you - the one from today - to be better than you - the one from yesterday.
** Auris institute from Lyon - a place where they seriously research magnets and the therapy using them. On top of that, they're French. Ha ha! Find more here.
*** Some very interesting TED Talk - Brene Brown on vulnerability. Click here to listen.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Saturday, 28 November 2015
Quote of the day and some extra stuff
“One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.” – Bruce Lee
* One fine article about gratitude, with lots of links to different studies and researches on gratitude and happiness. Click here.
** And my gift to you, if you are thinking that after weekend, Monday will always come.
* One fine article about gratitude, with lots of links to different studies and researches on gratitude and happiness. Click here.
** And my gift to you, if you are thinking that after weekend, Monday will always come.
Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Motivation, home-based work, Captagon in Middle East and even the quote of the day
*Do not let yourself to be stopped by the ones who, not being good enough, are preaching the non-action.
** Do you think you will like to work from home, doing real work for real money ? Google search the following companies: Leapforce, Lionbridge, Appen Buttler Hill.
*** Did you ever heard of Captagon? Fenethylline (BAN, USAN), also spelled phenethylline and fenetylline (INN), and also known as amphetaminoethyltheophylline and amfetyline, is a codrug of amphetamine and theophylline which behaves as a prodrug to both of the aforementioned drugs. It is marketed for use as a psychostimulant under the brand names Captagon, Biocapton, and Fitton. Fenethylline was first synthesized by the German Degussa AG in 1961 and used for around 25 years as a milder alternative to amphetamine and related compounds. Although there are no FDA-approved indications for fenethylline, it was used in the treatment of "hyperkinetic children" (what would now be referred to as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and, less commonly, for narcolepsy and depression. One of the main advantages of fenethylline was that it does not increase blood pressure to the same extent as amphetamine and so could be used in patients with cardiovascular conditions. Fenethylline was considered to have fewer side effects and less potential for abuse than amphetamine. Nevertheless, fenethylline was listed in 1981 as a schedule I controlled substance in the US, and it became illegal in most countries in 1986 after being listed by the World Health Organization for international scheduling under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, even though the actual incidence of fenethylline abuse was quite low. Fenethylline is metabolized by the body to form two drugs, amphetamine (24.5% of oral dose) and theophylline (13.7% of oral dose), both of which are active stimulants. The physiological effects of fenethylline therefore result from a combination of these two compounds. Abuse of fenethylline of the brand name Captagon is most common in Arab countries and counterfeit versions of the drug continue to be available despite its illegality. Many of these counterfeit "Captagon" tablets actually contain other amphetamine derivatives that are easier to produce, but are pressed and stamped to look like Captagon pills. Some counterfeit Captagon pills analysed do contain fenethylline however, indicating that illicit production of this drug continues to take place. Fenethylline is a popular drug in Western Asia, and is allegedly used by militant groups in Syria. It is manufactured locally in a cheap and simple process and it sells for between $5 and $20. According to some leaks, militant groups also export the drug in exchange for weapons and cash. According to Abdelelah Mohammed Al-Sharif, secretary general of the National Committee for Narcotics Control and assistant director of Anti-Drug and Preventative Affairs, 40% of the drug users who fall in the 12–22 age group in Saudi Arabia are addicted to fenethylline. On 27 October 2015 a member of the Saudi royal family, prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz, and four others were detained in Beirut on charges of drug trafficing after airport security discovered two tons of Captagon (fenethylline) pills and some cocaine on a private jet scheduled to depart for the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The following month Agence France Press reported that the Turkish authorities had seized 2 tonnes of Captagon during raids in the Hatay region on the Syrian border. The pills, almost 11 million of them, had been produced in Syria and were being shipped to countries in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The drug played a central role in the Syrian civil war.
In conclusion, it is very dangerous and unsafe to buy it online, and you will probably support war in Middle East by doing this. Is it worth it? I would say: Definitely No!
**** And the quote of the day is:
The universe is made from stories, not from atoms. (Muriel Rukeyser)
You don't believe me? Just check the most advanced theories in quantum physics.
** Do you think you will like to work from home, doing real work for real money ? Google search the following companies: Leapforce, Lionbridge, Appen Buttler Hill.
*** Did you ever heard of Captagon? Fenethylline (BAN, USAN), also spelled phenethylline and fenetylline (INN), and also known as amphetaminoethyltheophylline and amfetyline, is a codrug of amphetamine and theophylline which behaves as a prodrug to both of the aforementioned drugs. It is marketed for use as a psychostimulant under the brand names Captagon, Biocapton, and Fitton. Fenethylline was first synthesized by the German Degussa AG in 1961 and used for around 25 years as a milder alternative to amphetamine and related compounds. Although there are no FDA-approved indications for fenethylline, it was used in the treatment of "hyperkinetic children" (what would now be referred to as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and, less commonly, for narcolepsy and depression. One of the main advantages of fenethylline was that it does not increase blood pressure to the same extent as amphetamine and so could be used in patients with cardiovascular conditions. Fenethylline was considered to have fewer side effects and less potential for abuse than amphetamine. Nevertheless, fenethylline was listed in 1981 as a schedule I controlled substance in the US, and it became illegal in most countries in 1986 after being listed by the World Health Organization for international scheduling under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, even though the actual incidence of fenethylline abuse was quite low. Fenethylline is metabolized by the body to form two drugs, amphetamine (24.5% of oral dose) and theophylline (13.7% of oral dose), both of which are active stimulants. The physiological effects of fenethylline therefore result from a combination of these two compounds. Abuse of fenethylline of the brand name Captagon is most common in Arab countries and counterfeit versions of the drug continue to be available despite its illegality. Many of these counterfeit "Captagon" tablets actually contain other amphetamine derivatives that are easier to produce, but are pressed and stamped to look like Captagon pills. Some counterfeit Captagon pills analysed do contain fenethylline however, indicating that illicit production of this drug continues to take place. Fenethylline is a popular drug in Western Asia, and is allegedly used by militant groups in Syria. It is manufactured locally in a cheap and simple process and it sells for between $5 and $20. According to some leaks, militant groups also export the drug in exchange for weapons and cash. According to Abdelelah Mohammed Al-Sharif, secretary general of the National Committee for Narcotics Control and assistant director of Anti-Drug and Preventative Affairs, 40% of the drug users who fall in the 12–22 age group in Saudi Arabia are addicted to fenethylline. On 27 October 2015 a member of the Saudi royal family, prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz, and four others were detained in Beirut on charges of drug trafficing after airport security discovered two tons of Captagon (fenethylline) pills and some cocaine on a private jet scheduled to depart for the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The following month Agence France Press reported that the Turkish authorities had seized 2 tonnes of Captagon during raids in the Hatay region on the Syrian border. The pills, almost 11 million of them, had been produced in Syria and were being shipped to countries in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The drug played a central role in the Syrian civil war.
In conclusion, it is very dangerous and unsafe to buy it online, and you will probably support war in Middle East by doing this. Is it worth it? I would say: Definitely No!
**** And the quote of the day is:
The universe is made from stories, not from atoms. (Muriel Rukeyser)
You don't believe me? Just check the most advanced theories in quantum physics.
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
A group of random blog posts i would like to read again
1.Know The Better Question
A little while back author and investor Tim Ferriss walked me through the four things he does on a regular basis to support long haul creativity. His whole list is really good, so we’ll start there:
Daily Exercise: at least an hour, needed to lower anxiety levels and clear the head. Interestingly, the research shows that weight training is better than aerobic training for quieting the inner critic.
Keep a Maker Schedule: Carve out dedicated periods for key tasks that require creativity. If complex problem-solving or analysis is required, Ferriss recommends at least four hour blocks. And this also means no distractions—turn off email, phone, messages, skype, twitter, facebook and all the rest.
Long Walks: Without music or podcasts or distraction, purposefully letting the mind wander. This switches off spotlight attention and switches on the default mode network—aka, the imagination network.
Surround yourself with driven people who are good at spotting your assumptions. “It’s not just people who make me question my assumptions,” Ferriss explains. “The people who are the very best at this are the ones who hear my question and responds with: ‘You’re asking the wrong question. The better question is….’” This last point is really important. While feedback can often be a hindrance to in-the-moment creativity, it’s essential for the long haul. But choice in feedback giver is critical.
This becomes doubly important the more successful you get. If you make a name for yourself in creativity people tend to (initially) trust your creative ideas a little more than they should and too frequently give you the benefit of the doubt. This is no bueno. To make sure he’s getting the feedback he needs, Ferriss hunts for folks who help him reframe his question, rather than just play devil’s advocate. This is dead on. People who play devil’s advocate often do so out of reflex—this means they tend to lack the technical sophistication to really help and often derail creativity through generalization. Reframers, meanwhile, take the idea farther faster. By providing a better question, they’re providing a new launch pad. This provide momentum. And for long haul creativity, nothing is more fundamental than momentum.
2.Momentum Matters Most
Speaking of momentum...there is something deeply exhausting about the year-in and year-out requirements of imagination. Every morning, the writer faces a blank page, the painter an empty canvas; the innovator a dozen directions to go at once. The brilliant tidbit of advice that has helped me solve this slog came from Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Marquez said that the key was to quit working at the point you’re most excited. In other words, once Marquez really starts to cook, he shuts down the stove. This seems counter-intuitive. Creativity is an emergent property. Quitting when most excited—when ideas are really emerging—seems like the exact opposite of what you should do. Yet Marquez is exactly right. Creativity isn’t a single battle; it’s an ongoing war. By quitting when you’re most excited, you’re carrying momentum into the next day’s work session. Momentum is the key. When you realize that you left off the day prior at someplace both exciting and familiar—someplace where you know the idea that comes next—you dive right back in, no time wasted, no time to let fear creep back into the equation, and far less time to get up to speed.
3.A Few Thoughts on Sobbing, Shouting, and Punching Hard Objects
I’ve written nine books. Two are in drawers. Seven are in stores. All share one thing in common: at some point during their writing, I ended up on the ground, sobbing, shouting, and punching the floor.
About five years ago, I heard author David Foster Wallace tell a story about the difficulty of creativity. “It never fails,” he said, “at least once a book, I end up on the ground, sobbing, screaming and punching the floor.” The obvious point here is yes, creativity is insanely frustrating for everybody. The core question for Long Haul Creativity is what to do about it? Turns out, researchers have discovered, that frustration is actually a fundamental step in the creative process. From a technical perspective, this seems to have something to do with the limits of working memory and the requirements of creativity’s incubation period, but no one is exactly certain. From a practical perspective, this means reversing our traditional relationship with frustration. Since this emotion is a basic step in the creative process, frustration is actually a sign of progress, a sign of movement in the right direction, a sign that that much needed breakthrough is ever closer to showing up.
4.Sir Ken Robinson Weighs In On Frustration
I just got back from presenting at the World Business Forum in Milan, Italy, where I got to spend some time with creativity expert and all around great guy Sir Ken Robinson. Sir Ken pointed out that long haul creativity requires a low-level, near-constant sense of frustration—and this is different than the just discussed moment-of-madness version of frustration. Moment-of-madness frustration is what makes you punch the ground. The version Ken is describing is about motivation. It’s a near-constant itchy dissatisfaction, a deep sense of what if, and we can make it better, and the like. To illustrate this, he told me a story about George Lucas. Robinson, apparently, popped the question: “Hey George,” he said, “why do you keep remaking all those Star Wars movies?” Lucas had a great answer: “In this particular universe, I’m God. And God isn’t satisfied.”
5.Everybody’s Got A Job To Do
There’s this mistaken assumption that creativity is mostly a solitary pursuit. This may be true, but the business of creativity is always collaborative. Every published journalist has had to brave a gauntlet of editors, copy-editors, managing editors ad infinitum. Movies and books and plays and poems are more of the same. Startup entrepreneurs always have investors—etc. And this brings me to an important point: everybody’s got a job to do. And everybody wants to keep that job. In writing, this means that even if you turn in something perfect, my editors are still being paid to edit—so they will. This is why every time I turn in a piece of finished work, I intentionally include a few horrible lines. It gives my editors something to do. It lets them feel useful. It keeps their grubby little hands away from my damn perfect sentences.
6.Creativity Is A By-Product
Contrary to popular opinion, creativity is almost always the by-product of passionate hard work and not the other way around. Olympian and gazillion time X Games gold medalist Gretchen Blieler—one of the more creative snowboarders in history—puts it this way: “You don’t wake up and say: today I’m going to be more creative. You do the things you love to do and try to get at their essence and allow things to emerge.”
(delivered by Flow Hacker Nation newsletter)
A little while back author and investor Tim Ferriss walked me through the four things he does on a regular basis to support long haul creativity. His whole list is really good, so we’ll start there:
Daily Exercise: at least an hour, needed to lower anxiety levels and clear the head. Interestingly, the research shows that weight training is better than aerobic training for quieting the inner critic.
Keep a Maker Schedule: Carve out dedicated periods for key tasks that require creativity. If complex problem-solving or analysis is required, Ferriss recommends at least four hour blocks. And this also means no distractions—turn off email, phone, messages, skype, twitter, facebook and all the rest.
Long Walks: Without music or podcasts or distraction, purposefully letting the mind wander. This switches off spotlight attention and switches on the default mode network—aka, the imagination network.
Surround yourself with driven people who are good at spotting your assumptions. “It’s not just people who make me question my assumptions,” Ferriss explains. “The people who are the very best at this are the ones who hear my question and responds with: ‘You’re asking the wrong question. The better question is….’” This last point is really important. While feedback can often be a hindrance to in-the-moment creativity, it’s essential for the long haul. But choice in feedback giver is critical.
This becomes doubly important the more successful you get. If you make a name for yourself in creativity people tend to (initially) trust your creative ideas a little more than they should and too frequently give you the benefit of the doubt. This is no bueno. To make sure he’s getting the feedback he needs, Ferriss hunts for folks who help him reframe his question, rather than just play devil’s advocate. This is dead on. People who play devil’s advocate often do so out of reflex—this means they tend to lack the technical sophistication to really help and often derail creativity through generalization. Reframers, meanwhile, take the idea farther faster. By providing a better question, they’re providing a new launch pad. This provide momentum. And for long haul creativity, nothing is more fundamental than momentum.
2.Momentum Matters Most
Speaking of momentum...there is something deeply exhausting about the year-in and year-out requirements of imagination. Every morning, the writer faces a blank page, the painter an empty canvas; the innovator a dozen directions to go at once. The brilliant tidbit of advice that has helped me solve this slog came from Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Marquez said that the key was to quit working at the point you’re most excited. In other words, once Marquez really starts to cook, he shuts down the stove. This seems counter-intuitive. Creativity is an emergent property. Quitting when most excited—when ideas are really emerging—seems like the exact opposite of what you should do. Yet Marquez is exactly right. Creativity isn’t a single battle; it’s an ongoing war. By quitting when you’re most excited, you’re carrying momentum into the next day’s work session. Momentum is the key. When you realize that you left off the day prior at someplace both exciting and familiar—someplace where you know the idea that comes next—you dive right back in, no time wasted, no time to let fear creep back into the equation, and far less time to get up to speed.
3.A Few Thoughts on Sobbing, Shouting, and Punching Hard Objects
I’ve written nine books. Two are in drawers. Seven are in stores. All share one thing in common: at some point during their writing, I ended up on the ground, sobbing, shouting, and punching the floor.
About five years ago, I heard author David Foster Wallace tell a story about the difficulty of creativity. “It never fails,” he said, “at least once a book, I end up on the ground, sobbing, screaming and punching the floor.” The obvious point here is yes, creativity is insanely frustrating for everybody. The core question for Long Haul Creativity is what to do about it? Turns out, researchers have discovered, that frustration is actually a fundamental step in the creative process. From a technical perspective, this seems to have something to do with the limits of working memory and the requirements of creativity’s incubation period, but no one is exactly certain. From a practical perspective, this means reversing our traditional relationship with frustration. Since this emotion is a basic step in the creative process, frustration is actually a sign of progress, a sign of movement in the right direction, a sign that that much needed breakthrough is ever closer to showing up.
4.Sir Ken Robinson Weighs In On Frustration
I just got back from presenting at the World Business Forum in Milan, Italy, where I got to spend some time with creativity expert and all around great guy Sir Ken Robinson. Sir Ken pointed out that long haul creativity requires a low-level, near-constant sense of frustration—and this is different than the just discussed moment-of-madness version of frustration. Moment-of-madness frustration is what makes you punch the ground. The version Ken is describing is about motivation. It’s a near-constant itchy dissatisfaction, a deep sense of what if, and we can make it better, and the like. To illustrate this, he told me a story about George Lucas. Robinson, apparently, popped the question: “Hey George,” he said, “why do you keep remaking all those Star Wars movies?” Lucas had a great answer: “In this particular universe, I’m God. And God isn’t satisfied.”
5.Everybody’s Got A Job To Do
There’s this mistaken assumption that creativity is mostly a solitary pursuit. This may be true, but the business of creativity is always collaborative. Every published journalist has had to brave a gauntlet of editors, copy-editors, managing editors ad infinitum. Movies and books and plays and poems are more of the same. Startup entrepreneurs always have investors—etc. And this brings me to an important point: everybody’s got a job to do. And everybody wants to keep that job. In writing, this means that even if you turn in something perfect, my editors are still being paid to edit—so they will. This is why every time I turn in a piece of finished work, I intentionally include a few horrible lines. It gives my editors something to do. It lets them feel useful. It keeps their grubby little hands away from my damn perfect sentences.
6.Creativity Is A By-Product
Contrary to popular opinion, creativity is almost always the by-product of passionate hard work and not the other way around. Olympian and gazillion time X Games gold medalist Gretchen Blieler—one of the more creative snowboarders in history—puts it this way: “You don’t wake up and say: today I’m going to be more creative. You do the things you love to do and try to get at their essence and allow things to emerge.”
(delivered by Flow Hacker Nation newsletter)
Creativity Decoded
The one thing neuroscientists know for sure about creativity is it’s not one thing. The brain is creative in dozens and dozens of different ways, which is why training people to be more creative can be so difficult. Yet, what we do know is that creativity is always recombinatory — it’s the product of new information bumping into old ideas to produce something startlingly new.
What’s more, we also know that this recombinatory process always requires the interaction of three overlapping neural networks: attention, imagination and salience. Understanding how these networks work and how we can augment their effects gives long haul creatives some much needed leverage.
-Attention: This network governs executive attention or spotlight attention. It’s the go-to system for the hours-on-end laser-focus required by creativity. And this leads to an obvious intervention: anything that trains up attention, amplifies creativity. Almost any mindfulness practice will work or, if you prefer a more dynamic experience, the Flow Genome Project designed this Art of Flow video-meditation for those too twitchy to follow their breath.
-Imagination: The imagination network or, more formally, the default mode network (DMN), is all about mind-wandering. It’s what allows you to construct mental simulations of potential outcomes and test out creative possibilities. The trick here is you have to stop focusing on the problem you’ve been trying to solve to activate the DMN. This means turning off the spotlight attention system. Research shows the best way to pull this off is low-grade physical activity. I prefer gardening. Tim Ferris (see below) likes long walks. But Lee Zlotoff, creator of the TV show MacGyver and (no surprise) an expert on creative problem solving, has tested dozens of different activities, and found that building models—airplanes, dinosaurs, whatever—consistently produces the best results.
-Salience: This network monitors incoming information and tags it as important or irrelevant. The more salient info the brain detects, the more raw material it has to be creative. The big issue here is that familiarity breeds contempt—meaning, when we are locked into our normal routine this network usually runs on autopilot. It notices what it always notices. The secret to getting it’s attention is risk and novelty. New experiences and new ideas. Ceaseless adventure and constant reading are key. For the former, see this article I wrote on risk and creativity. For the latter, books are always better than magazines, newspapers, blogs etc.—I explain why in this piece for Forbes.
*The best book on all the different neuronal systems involved in creativity is neuroscientist and pioneering flow research Arne Dietrich’s recently released How Creativity Happens In the Brain. But be warned, this is not light summer fare. Dietrich is funny as hell, but the book is dense and—because it’s published by an academic publisher—expensive.
(article from Flow Hacker Nation)
Monday, 23 November 2015
Quote of the day
“A professional is a person who can do his best at a time when he doesn’t particularly feel like it.”
(Alistair Cooke)
You got it, we are talking about the force of habit. If we are doing something good for us long enough, because of commitment, or maybe just because we are some amazing robots in our day by day thinking, at some moment, even if we are not feel it, we go on auto-pilot and we will do it anyway. Underline. We will do it anyway. That's the key to succeed in doesn't matter what direction. Remember it.
(Alistair Cooke)
You got it, we are talking about the force of habit. If we are doing something good for us long enough, because of commitment, or maybe just because we are some amazing robots in our day by day thinking, at some moment, even if we are not feel it, we go on auto-pilot and we will do it anyway. Underline. We will do it anyway. That's the key to succeed in doesn't matter what direction. Remember it.
Sunday, 22 November 2015
You watch this if you ever want to be a writer
I just stumbled upon this video.
I would not tell you who is Neil Gaiman. You always got Google.
I will tell you what he said, at some moment in time.
'The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before.'
'It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak.'
'We all not only could know everything. We do. We just tell ourselves we don't to make it all bearable.'
I would not tell you who is Neil Gaiman. You always got Google.
I will tell you what he said, at some moment in time.
'The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before.'
'It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak.'
'We all not only could know everything. We do. We just tell ourselves we don't to make it all bearable.'
Quote of the day
Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.
(Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)
Speaking from a scientist point of view, this quote is very true. Any moment, any feeling, any thought, all of them are making modifications in our own physiology. And what is better than love, in order to make us to reach a new level, a perfect health of our body, our emotions and our mind. Is something not very easy to be measured, but the common sense will made us to understand. And yes, this could be the greatest discovery of the mankind, after fire.
(Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)
Speaking from a scientist point of view, this quote is very true. Any moment, any feeling, any thought, all of them are making modifications in our own physiology. And what is better than love, in order to make us to reach a new level, a perfect health of our body, our emotions and our mind. Is something not very easy to be measured, but the common sense will made us to understand. And yes, this could be the greatest discovery of the mankind, after fire.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Russian research on sanogenesis, self recovery, fasting and asthma
As i said, just few words about sanogenesis, the link to fasting, starting the sanogenesis process and self recovery of some complex illnesses. They tried to start the human body self recovery process using fasting by itself or combined with other alternative therapies. I will not comment, but i will let you to read and reach your own conclusion. It is a long post, i know, but worth reading it.
1. ON SOME MECHANISMS OF THE INFLUENCE OF FASTING THERAPY ON THE PROCESSES OF LIPID PEROXIDATION, ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND PURINE METABOLISM IN BRONCHIAL ASTHMA
ARBUZOV Y.N.,, POTASHOV D.A., KONVAY V.D.,YELISEYEVA L.N.
Omsk
In this work the authors attempted to evaluate the influence of fasting therapy on some parameters of antioxidant defense and uric acid level (below as the UA) in blood serum of patients with bronchial asthma (below as BA) as well as to find possible ways of optimisation of the results of fasting therapy. There were observed 12 women with BA treated with fasting and 11 women with acute BA, treated with generally adopted medications.
The serum levels of glutathione, glutathione-reductase, glucose-6-phos-phatdehydrogenase and the UA were tested. Both groups did not show statistically significant changes of serum glutathione concentrations. During the fasting the highly reliable increase of the UA level occurred on the 5-9 day of the fasting, exceeding the normal indices (0.28 ± 0.095 and 0.458 ± 0.034 mmol/1; p < 0.001); during the period of the restorative diet the serum UA level did not plausibly differ from the initial level (0.329 ± ± 0.028 mmol/1; p > 0.05). Though statistically insignificant, the tendency towards the moderate increase of the levels of glutathione-reductase (0.362 ± 0.02 and 0.383 ± ±0.013 mmol/1) and glucose-6-phosphatdehydrogenase (0.258 ± 0.03 and 0.293 ± 0.018 mmol/1) was reported.
No reliable changes of the parameters studied were noted in the group treated with medications. The authors assume that in fasting the antioxidant system functions with some effort, in particular the latent deficit of glutathione due to the intensive expenditure of lipid peroxydes in the inactivation reactions is possible. In this connection, fasting therapy is recommended to be combined with medications improving antioxidant defence.
2. ON THE SUCCESSFUL CASES OF THE SHORT-TERM FASTING AND STARVATION THERAPY IN OUT-PATIENT TREATMENT
AFANASYEV I. A.
Ulan-Ude
The author, a physician, described several cases of the successful use of short-term fasting and starvation therapy in his out-patient practice for the treatment of various diseases and pathological conditions, like acute respiratory virus infections, rheumatoid poly-arthritis, weeping eczema, etc. The Su Jok therapy and hydrotherapy were used for optimization of the fasting therapy response and elimination of subjective symptoms of acidosis.
3. ON THE NEAR AND REMOTE FASTING EFFECTS IN SOME SKIN DISEASES
ALIFANOV A.A.
Vsevolozhsk — Saint-Petersburg
Fasting therapy developed by the Research Institute of Pulmonology was applied during 3 years at the Central district hospital on 14 patients with psoriasis (3 patients), neurodermitis (3 patients), eczema (4 patients), and . allergic dermatitis (4 patients). The former generally adopted therapy was not effective or had a short-term effect. The fasting lasted from 14 to 24 days. By the end of the fasting therapy, the skin of the patients was reported to have recovered completely in all the patients in case of allergic dermatitis and in psoriasis in 1 patient, in 2 patients — 74%; in neurodermitis all the patients gained the recovery of 50-75% of the skin; in eczema 3 patients had completely recovered their skin and 1 patient — 75% of the skin. In 6 months the skin remained clear in 1 patient with allergic dermatitis; in psoriasis the results were stable in all the patients; in neurodermitis there was 1 relapse; in eczema the skin of 1 patient remained clear. In 2-3 years the good results of fasting were evident in 3 of 4 patients with allergic dermatitis; in psoriasis the skin was clear in 1 patient, the same for neurodermitis. The unstable results of the therapy were due to the impact of risk factors, stresses, and improper diet.
4. ON FASTING THERAPY AS A METHOD OF TREATMENT AND PROPHYLAXIS OF CARDIOVASCULAR PATHOLOGIES
ANGAROVA T.A.
Ulan-Ude
The author administered a course of fasting therapy to 250 patients at the medical-rehabilitation centre «Zdorovye» (Health) during a year. Two main groups of the patients were formed. The ones with clinical manifestations of cardiovascular pathology (mainly arterial hypertension and ischemic heart disease) constituted the first group, fewer in number, and the patients without clinical manifestations of the disease, but with a high bodily weight (I and/or II stage obesity considered to be a risk factor of the cardiovascular diseases) constituted the second group, more abundant. The first group underwent fasting therapy for 3 weeks, the second one 7-10 days. No side effects were reported. In all cases the treatment resulted in the improvement of the clinical manifestations, reduction and/ or normalization of the bodily weight, and improvement of the patients' general condition.
5. FASTING AS A TRADITIONAL METHOD OF HEALTH IMPROVEMENT AMONG THE INDIGENOUS POPULACE IN ZABAIKALYE (BURYATS AND MONGOLS)
BAKHLAYEV S.A.
Ulan-Ude
The 76-year-old amateur historian of local lore, history and economy provides interesting data regarding the use of periodical fasting as a traditional method of health improvement among the representatives of the indigenous population of the nomadic peoples in Zabaikalye, like Buryats and Mongols.
6. EFFICIENCY OF FASTING THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH SARCOIDOSIS OF THE LUNGS
BARANOVA O. P., ILKOVICH M. M.., NOVIKOVA L. N., SESS T. P., NIKONOV L. N.
Saint-Petersburg
The authors applied fasting therapy following the method developed by the Research Institute of Pulmonology to treat 52 patients with sarcoidosis of the lungs (below as the SL). The duration of the fasting period was 14 days in average. By the end of the fasting improved general state was reported for 75% of patients, they ceased to complain about weakness, coughing, short breath, and arthralgia. In the one third of the SL-1 patients without prescription of corticosteroids, the sizes of the lymph nodes of the mediastinum were visible as reduced at the roentgenograms. For the half of the SL-2 patients, the lungs outline on the roentgenograms became more distinct, the dissemination of the seats and sizes of lymph nodes in the mediastinum decreased. The comprehensive roentgeno-functional and radio-nuclide investigation testified to the positive dynamics of the indices of the regional ventilation and pulmonary perfusion in 61% of SL-2 patients and 19% of SL-3 patients after the fasting. After the treatment was over, in 6 and 12 months this above positive dynamics was retained. The majority of the patients (68%) displayed a marked tendency towards the normalisation of the indices of the immune homeostasis. The remote results of the fasting were traced in 17 (from 52) patients: in a year positive dynamics was marked in 14 (from 17) (82%); the stabilisation of the pathology took place in 2 more patients, and in one patient only the SL recurrence was noted. The authors think that fasting is recommendable in the SL-1 as a monotherapy, in the SL-2 as a monotherapy or combined with further usage of corticosteroids, in the SL-3 it can be used to diminish side effects due to corticosteroids and to stimulate their endogenic synthesis. The attendant pathologies, like obesity, peptic ulcer and hypertension, serve as additional indications for fasting therapy.
7. THE EFFICIENCY OF THE TREATMENT OF BRONCHIAL ASTHMA WITH THE USE OF FASTING THERAPY IN THE «GORYACHINSK» RESORT
BATAYEVA N.A., SHVMILOVA A. N.,, SHATALOVA T. V.
Buryatia, Goryachinsk resort
The aim of the work was to evaluate the efficiency of treatment of bronchial asthma involving different complexes of the resort factors along with fasting therapy. 70 patients with bronchial asthma (16 men and 54 women) aged from 10 to 63 were under observation. The patients were grouped according to the methods used for the treatment: the 1st group (25 patients) was treated only with resort factors, the 2nd group (30 patients) was treated with the combination of resort factors and fasting therapy; the 3rd group (15 patients) — only with fasting. The duration of the fasting period was 10-14 days. All groups were quite comparable according to the gravity stage of the disease. The comparison of the results showed that the combination of fasting therapy with natural resort factors was the most effective.
8. ON THE USE OF FASTING THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH SOMATIC PATHOLOGY AT THE GORYACHINSK RESORT
BATAYEVA N.A., SOKOLOVA T. I., SEREBRENNIKOV A. N.
Buryatia, the Goryachinsk resort
Fasting therapy has been used at the Goryachinsk resort since 1994. During this period 975 patients have been prescribed this therapy. Among them there were 139 men and 836 women; 678 patients (71.1%) were natives of Buryatia, 277 persons (28.9%) were from other regions of Russia, including 3 foreigners. The subsequent courses of fasting therapy were carried out in 134 patients (13.6%). The structure of the pathology included cardiovascular diseases (arterial hypertension, heart ischaemia, etc) — 79 cases (8.1%); bronchial-pulmonary diseases (bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis with obstruction, etc) — 207 (21.2%); osteochondrosis, reumatoid arthritis, gout and others — 456 (46.8%); skin diseases (psoriasis, neurodermitis, allergic dermatitis, eczema — 40 (4.1%); gastrointestinal diseases (chronic cholecystitis, ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, chronic colitis) — 76 (7.8%); obesity — 88 (9.0%); other, rarely occurring forms of pathology — 29 (3.0%). The patients have been suffering from the diseases from 6 months to 22 years. The course of the fasting period was 10-14 days. During this period the patients were taking distilled boiled water, wild rose decoction in amount of 2-2.5 la day, every day they were given cleansing enemas, and 3—4 times a week — hygienic douche, sauna. If there were no contraindications, the balneological therapy was prescribed (hydromassage, circular or Charcot's douche, mud poultice applications). If needed, acupuncture, the Su-Jok, and manual therapy were prescribed. The restorative nutrition was carried out according to the general principles, 20 vegetarian and fish dishes were included in a dietary menu. The positive effect of the fasting was observed in 86-91% cases of different pathologies.
9. ON OUR PRIMARY EXPERIENCE OF FASTING THERAPY USE
DANCHINOVA N. V.
Ulan-Ude
The author prescribed fasting therapy to 26 patients, aged from 20 to 60 years, at the hospital of the Eastern Medicine Centre. They suffered from various somatic pathologies and skin diseases. The fasting period lasted from 5 to 13 days. The average weight reduction was 1 kg a day. There was observed the improvement in the clinical course of the diseases, vitality enhancement in all patients. Many of them wished a repeated course of fasting therapy in 6-8 months.
10. SPECIFICITIES AND RESULTS OF FASTING THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ENTEROCOLITIS
DMITRIYEV A.I.
Dnepropetrovsk
Fasting therapy following the Prof. Yu. S. Nikolayev's method was conducted in a specialized clinic on 136 patients with chronic enterocolitis, including 73 men and 63 women, the majority (86.1%) ranging in the age from 20 to 60. 43.3% of patients had been suffering from this disease over 10 years. By its severity degree the disease was categorized as the mild (47.1%) and medium severe (58.2%) ones. Multiple (2 or 3 diseases simultaneously) gastrointestinal pathology was found in 88.2%, food and drug allergy in 11%. During the preparatory period of the fasting, 3-6 months long, it was recommended to have 36 hungry hours once a week. The fasting improved the general state of health in the absolute majority of the patients: there disappeared pains in the stomach (in 70-94%), rumbling and meteorism (90%), covering of the tongue (93%), intolerance towards some foodstuffs (91%) the stool became normal (94.6%). For the 15 days of the fasting the highest bodily weight loss was in its initial reduction (13.2 ± 0.15% from the initial). Offered restorative nutrition, these patients displayed the highest bodily weight increase: by the 20th day they gained 74.7 ± 2.5% of the bodily weight lost during the fasting. In the most of the patients with retained stomach secretion there was no reliable change of it directly after the fasting and in a year; with the initial secre¬tory deficiency after the fasting the debit hour of the stimulated HC1 plausibly grew by 2.2 times. The author explains this fact by the formation in the tissue autolysis of nucleotides stimulating regeneration. Fasting results in hypercholia and cholestasis, with the cholato-cholesterol coefficient reliably growing, which testifies to lesser risk of stone formation in the gall bladder. After the fasting the trepsin debit grew by 1.5 times (p < 0.05). Regarding amylase, lipase, bicarbonate alkalinity and juice amount, there was reported a tendency only towards their increase. In the coprological investigation it was found, after fasting the number of patients with creatorrhea decreased from 19.2% to 10.5%, and in a year down to 8.8%, with amylorrhea, respectively, from 15.4% to 10.5% and 1.8%. In the comparative analysis of the microflora of the faeces before and after the fasting, there was noted a marked tendency towards the normalization of the main groups of bacteriae: the growth of the general number of anaerobic ones, and lactic acid bacilli, decrease of proteas and clostridiae. While studying the remote results of the fasting therapy (in 3 years), it was found that in 41.8% of the patients the pain syndrome disappeared completely, the stool remained normal in 76.4%, improved tolerance towards foodstuffs was noted by all the patients. The fasting lead to the significant decrease of the number of morbidity cases with temporary loss of working capacity (by 2.4 times), as well as of the number of sick-leave days (by 4.2 times). The average duration of one case of working ability loss decreased either (by 1.7 times). The annual economic losses per one patient became less (by 4.6 times). The author considers fasting therapy to be recommended against digestive organs pathologies, like functional disturbances of this system, esophagitis, chronic gastritis, duodenitis, chronic cholecystitis, acute and chronic pancreatitis, enteritis, and chronic colitis.
11. ON THE THREE-DAY STARVATION AS A VARIANT OF FASTING IN THE TREATMENT
AND PROPHYLAXIS OF DISEASES IN OUT-PATIENTS
EVENSHTEIN Z. M., KOKOSOV A. N.
Saint-Petersburg
The authors elaborated a variant of fasting therapy for out-patients, which was approved in the treatment of patients with itching dermatosis (191 cases of neurodermitis, 192 — eczema) and bronchial asthma (60 cases). The findings show that the short-term starvation periodically repeated in every 1.5 or 2 months can be used for out-patient treatment of numerous diseases and prophylaxis due to regular «cleansing» of the body.
12. THE EFFECT OF FASTING THERAPY ON THE EXPRESSION OF THE ACTIVE FORMS OF OXYGEN BY THE BLOOD CELLS IN PATIENTS WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA
FARKHUTDINOV U.R., ABDRAKHMANOVA L. M., FARKHUTDINOV S. U.
Ufa
The generation of the active oxygen forms in the whole blood by using the method of luminal-dependent hemiluminescence (below as HL).was studied in 60 patients with bronchial asthma. The hemiluminescence intensity in patients depended on the manifestation of the inflammatory process. The patients were grouped as the ones with high and the ones with low HL of the blood. In the complex therapy 7 patients of the first and 18 patients of the second group underwent fasting therapy. In the patients which were treated with the use of fasting, in contrast to those who received the generally adopted basic therapy, the indices of free radical oxidation were normalized and the remission was more prolonged.
13. ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE USAGE OF FASTING THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA
GEMBITSKAYA T.E., KOROVINA O.,KHLOPOTOVAG. P., LIFSHITS N.A.. EFREMOVA K.G.
Saint-Petersburg
The authors used the fasting methods elaborated by Yu. S. Nikolayev and modificated at the Research Institute of Pulmonology. 30 patients with bronchial asthma aged from 36 to 60, predominantly women, underwent fasting. 21 patients had been suffering from bronchial asthma for 5 years; 11 patients had the severe course of the disease; and 6 patients had been taking corticosteroids for a long time. The fasting lasted 14-28 days. The treatment was successful for all the patients, without complications. The body weight loss was up to 11-18% from the initial weight. The maximum weight loss occurred during the first week of the fasting before the acidotic crisis. Attacks of asphyxia ceased in 20 patients on the 3rd-5th day of the fasting, in the others — by the end of the treatment. The corticosteroid intake was cancelled for all the patients. The plausible increase of the speed indices of the spirogram and vital capacity of the lungs was reported. During the period of the rehabilitation, few attacks of asphyxia and dry rales occured in 5 patients, 3 of them had been treated with corticosteroids for a long time. The remote results were observed for the next 2 years, no clinical effect was reported in 6 patients out of 30. The authors consider that fasting in bronchial asthma is recommendable, first of all, in case of insusceptibility to the generally adopted drug therapy, and in case of combined pathology (hypertension, fat and mineral metabolism disturbance). Among the contraindications are: the negative attitude of a patient to fasting therapy, marked inflammatory process (the 3rd stage) of any localization, endocrine pathology (thyrotoxicosis, diabetes mellitus).
14. FASTING THERAPY: THE HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THIS METHOD INTO THE PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF BURYATIA
GODIGNA K.L.
Ulan-Ude
The medical community and local populace of the Republic of Buryatia have been deeply familiarizing with method since 1994 when Prof. Yu. S. Nikolayev (Moscow) visited Ulan-Ude. The introduction of the method was started at the initiative of the group of patients with bronchial asthma, who had personally and successfully experienced the effect of this method after reading the scientific and popular book “Fasting for the Sake of Health” by Yu. S. Nikolayev. As a response to the proposal submitted to the Republic of Buryatia Ministry of Public Health Care about the introduction of fasting therapy into therapeutic practice and its spreading within the territory of Buryatia was the organisation of the cycle of lectures on fasting therapy by Prof. Yu. S. Nikolayev in numerous public health care institutions in Buryatia, which appeared of interest for many physicians, though some of them treated it with scepticism. The health resort «Goryachinsk» was the first in Buryatia to introduce this method, as one of its staff physicians had attended Yu. S. Nikolayev's lectures in Moscow. The successful application of fasting, particularly for patients with bronchial asthma and hypertension, facilitated relatively fast emergence of the significant market demand by more and more new groups of willing patients. The second edition of the book on fasting by Yu. S. Nikolayev was printed in Ulan-Ude. Its presentation at the Ulan-Ude city hospital attracted representatives of the municipal and republican level public health care organs, authorities, and general public. In 1996 the public health care administration of the City of Ulan-Ude issued the first printed order on the introduction of fasting therapy at the in-patients' department of the rehabilitation facility «Zdorovye» located in the village of Sotnikovo in the vicinity of Ulan-Ude; for its implementation Prof. A. N. Kokosov at Saint-Petersburg State Medical University named after the Academician I. P. Pavlov trained three physicians who started practising this method. The next stage was the organisation of the workshop in Ulan-Ude entitled 'The use of fasting therapy in the internal pathology', with Prof. A. N. Kokosov among the honoured participants (Re-public of Buryatia Ministry of Public Health Care order No 271, Novem¬ber 25, 1998). The workshop participants articulated the opinion about the necessity of training qualified staff able to conduct fasting therapy to willing patients in compliance with the indications and contraindications of this method, as well as professional monitoring and consulting to these patients. According to the implementation of Republic of Buryatia Ministry of Pub-lic Health Care order No 56, March 16,1999, to further develop fasting ther-apy, Prof. A. N. Kokosov was invited to conduct the first training session cycle 'Fasting therapy in the internal pathology', as a result, 30 physicians of various specialties were trained. Subsequently, two more similar training cycles for physicians were held. Recently in the Republic of Buryatia there has been formed the corps of specialists trained and skilled in fasting therapy. They can be found within the formal (state) network of the public health care system, and any resident of Buryatia can rely on their qualified consultations and relevant assistance, with due regard to the indications and contraindications of this method. Throughout Russia fasting therapy was introduced into the state system of public health care bodies in the Republic of Buryatia only.
15. FASTING THERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA-INDICATIONS, CONTRAINDICATIONS, RESULTS
KOKOSOV A. N.,, OSININ S.G.
Saint-Petersburg
The authors have been using fasting therapy for treating patients with bronchial asthma over 20 years. We have randomly chosen 700 cases among several thousands of patients to analyse in detail (without special selection): 242 men and 358 women aged from 17 to 65. Fasting therapy was prescribed in clinical conditions following the authors' methods; the treatment course lasted 3 weeks. The main indications for fasting therapy in bronchial asthma are as follows: tolerance to the generally adopted medicamentous therapy; concomitant multiple pathologies; syndromes of drug and food allergy. The main contraindications include negative attitude of a patient to fasting therapy, marked emaciation, the 3rd stage of active inflammation of any localization, active stage of tuberculosis of the lungs, malignant tumours; marked pulmonary, heart, renal, and liver insufficiency; helminthoses, and some mental disorders. The efficiency of fasting therapy is stipulated by a temporary switch-over from exogenic to endogenic nutrition, resulting in the acidotic crisis as a prolonged stress, which changes or decreases the bodily reactivity involving the emergency mechanisms of sanogenesis. Biologically active cells in bronchi mucosa are degranulated, its hyperreactivity decreases, cortizol secretion increasing by the adrenals; copper and zinc residues diminish thus improving the bronch permeability. The efficiency of fasting therapy does not depend on the age of a patient, it is of seasonal character: higher in spring and summer that is related to the availability of antioxidants in the body. The near results of fasting therapy are following: the positive effect has been found in 90% cases (including the excellent and good ones — 65%' and satisfactory ones — 25%); the worsening of the bronchial asthma course due to fasting therapy has not been observed. The remote results are as follows: clinical remission in 50% cases, including medical rehabilitation in 10% and social rehabilitation in 10% cases. Side effects of fasting therapy, such as exacerbation of infection seats, liver and renal colics, cramps caused by hypokaliemia and orthostatic collapse, can be prevented and controlled without interrupting fasting therapy.
16. FASTING THERAPY FOR TREATMENT OF THERAPEUTIC PATIENTS
MURAVYEV S.A., MAKAROVAG.H., KOST ERI NAT. N.
Tyumen
At the basis of the municipal in-patient clinic the authors have been applying fasting therapy following the method of Prof. Yu. S. Nikolayev since 1994. They have treated 350 patients predominantly with cardiovascular pathology (54%), bronchopulmonary and gastrointestinal pathology (15% and 16% respectively); the pathology of the skin, kidneys, joints, and the endocrinic pathology comprised 15%, all together. Among the patients, women aged 30-40 were predominant. During the preparatory period vegetarian diet with one hungry day a week was recommended, in different cases such preparatory period lasted up to 10 weeks. The duration of the period of fasting proper was from 11 to 15 days for the majority of the patients. During that time the intake of medications was cancelled, with the exception of some cases of supporting therapy; massage, remedial gymnastics, relaxation techniques, and indifferent inhalations were fre¬quently administered. The clinical results of the fasting were as follows: in bronchial asthma, attacks of asphyxia became rarer and disappeared, similarly did short breath; bronchi drainage as well as speed and volume characteristics of spirogram improved. In hypertension, headaches and heart pains disappeared, arterial pressure and bodily weight decreased. In ischemic diseases of the heart, there decreased and disappeared heart pains and short breath; dose of nitrates diminished; the indices of electrocardiogram and echocardiogram, and central and intracardial hemodynamics improved. In gastrointestinal pathology, appetite arose; pain and dyspeptic syndromes vanished. The average loss of bodily weight was 7.07 kg (from 5 to 9 kg). In general, the positive effect was reported for over 90% of the patients. During the recuperative period, there was recommended predominantly vegetarian diet with hungry day a week, with a repeated course of fasting in 6-12 months, out-patient supervision by a physician familiar with fasting therapy, with one or two examinations a month. 22% of the patients underwent repeated (two times) courses of fasting, 10% — three times repeated courses, and 8% of the patients — four times and more. It allowed the chronic course of the pathologies to be checked, assisting in keeping the patients in a good health state.
17. ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE USAGE OF FASTING THERAPY COMBINED WITH ACUPUNCTURE IN PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENT FORMS OF HYPOTHYROIDISM
OGANOVAA. G., VU KOLOVAZ. P., ASHIKHM1N A M.V.
Moscow
58 patients with different forms of hypothyroidism were examined before and after the fasting therapy course combined with acupuncture. After the treatment there was observed a marked decrease of the thyrotropic hormone level, of the antibody level to thyreoglobulin and microsomal fraction in the patients with postoperative hypothyroidism, as well as with autoimmune thyroiditis. No reliable changes of the level of the hormones — triiodthyronin and general thyroxine were reported. The decrease of the antibody level to thyreoglobulin and microsomal fraction is assumed to have resulted from the correcting effect of fasting therapy on the immune system. The decrease of the thyrotropic Hormone level in the patients with postoperative hypothyroidism was obviously connected with the stimulating effect of fasting therapy and acupuncture on the thyroid gland function. During the rehabilitation period of fasting therapy the prescribed dose of hormone medications was diminished by 3 times in 12% of the cases, by 2 times in 85% of the patients, and 3% remained at the initial dose.
18. THE USAGE OF FASTING, ANTIALLERGIC IMMUNOGLOBULIN AND RONKOLEUKIN IN THE THERAPY OF BRONCHIAL ASTHMA
PERADZE A. T., IVANOVA O. A., SHAPOROVA N.L.
Saint-Petersburg
The elaboration and optimization of the non-medicamentous methods of treatment including fasting therapy, as well as the revealing of their mechanisms of action compared with the action of the generally adopted medicamentous therapy, are of great importance. The authors observed and treated 80 patients with bronchial asthma who were divided into 4 groups according to sex, age and the disease gravity. The therapies were different: 25 patients were prescribed anti-allergic immunoglobuline, 18 patients — ronkoleukin, 21 patients — fasting therapy, and 16 — basic medicamentous antiinflammatory therapy. Fasting therapy was carried out following the method developed at the Research Institute of Pulmonology: a complete «wet» fasting. The clinical effect of fasting was manifested in the control of the bronchospastic syndrome, reliable decrease of the sympathomimetics inhalation need, and increase of the spirogram speed indices, decrease of eosinophiles in sputum and diminishment of endobronchitis manifestation; decrease of the IgG and IgM. After fasting therapy, the level of cortizol in the blood plasma has increased by 1.5 times.
19. ANTIOXIDANT PROVISION OF THE BODY AND THE STATE OF LIPID PEROXIDATION IN PATIENTS WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA DURING FASTING THERAPY
REDCHITS I. V., TREUMOVA S. I., REDCHITS V. I.
Poltava
The authors examined 20 patients with bronchial asthma during their fortnight fasting according to the methods developed at the Research Institute of Pulmonology, in order to determine their antioxidant provision and lipid peroxidation state. The examinations were carried out on the 7th and 14th day of the fasting and on the 7th day of the rehabilitation period. The findings have shown that by the end of the fasting in the patient body the level of ascorbate and tocopherols increased and at the same time the level of the products of lipid peroxidation decreased. This occurred due to the “release” of antioxidants out of the tissues into the general blood stream. By the 2nd day of the rehabilitation period of the treatment the content of antioxidants in the patient's body was reduced and at the same time the quantity of initial and final products of lipid peroxidation was increased. The above mentioned data correlate with the decrease of the clinical effect of the fasting. From the authors' point of view, the prescription of antioxidants during the fasting period optimizes the near and remote results of fasting.
20. THE CASES OF SUCCESSFUL REPEATED COURSE OF FASTING THERAPY AGAINST GOUT
SHAGDUROVA A. D.
Ulan-Ude
The author observed several patients, middle-aged men with pronounced gout, who underwent the repeated fasting therapy (in 6-8 months). Due to the treatment the patients recovered their capacity to work and improved their life quality.
21. ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE USAGE OF FASTING THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE LUNG PATHOLOGY IN THE «KOLOS» SANATORIUM
YEGOROVA YE. V., POTASHOV D.A., YEGOROV O. V.
Omsk region
The aim of the given research was to analyse fasting therapy efficiency in the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis (below as COB) and bronchial asthma (below as BA) at sanatoria and health resorts. There were observed 32 patients with COB and BA at the stage of subsiding exacerbation, and instable and full remission stages who were prescribed the 6- or 15-days fasting therapy course along with the regular therapies. The near results were evaluated according to the clinical and functional indices. The usage of fasting therapy within the complex of sanatorium therapy allows the efficiency of COB and BA treatment to be significantly increased. The patients' age and the duration of the disease course did not effect the results of the fasting therapy. If the duration of the therapy is no less than 7 days, then the effect of fasting is much higher. On the other hand, the prolonged fasting does not secure improved results.
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Thoughts and fame
* In the Russian medical research i found an interesting term called sanogenesis, coming from the Latin sanitas - health, and genesis - origin, development, so this term meaning is mechanism of health recovery. Sanogenesis is a dynamic process of protective-adaptive mechanisms (of physiological and pathological nature) caused by the existence of an illness, developing throughout the disease process and aiming to restore the body by self-regulation and auto-balance. Seems complicated, but they did a lot of research related to this. I am still reading it, and i will write more when i finish it. It was V.V.Podvysotsky who observed this in 1894, but only in mid 70's the scientist Dr. S.M. Pavlenko, Chairman of the Pathology-Physiology of Moscow Medical Institute attempted to define the theoretical basis of the auto-recovery mechanisms. I had a lot of data to cover, but i hope i will found some interesting conclusions. I have seen a quote about sanogenesis process in treatment of asthma, with impressing results. My only problem is that i do not speak Russian yet. Anyway, if anyone want to find more check the additional photo.
** Everyone take the limits of his own vision as the limits of the world.
(Schopenhauer)
This could be a motto and a push to increase our experience and knowledge, to go out of our comfort zone. Only then our vision will expand, and the entire external world will follow the inner expansion. This is a key also mentioned in the ancient saying "Nosce te ipsum." - Know yourself. It is something that practically everyone know, but forget to practice. It is the best technique to change the world, Use it!
(Schopenhauer)
This could be a motto and a push to increase our experience and knowledge, to go out of our comfort zone. Only then our vision will expand, and the entire external world will follow the inner expansion. This is a key also mentioned in the ancient saying "Nosce te ipsum." - Know yourself. It is something that practically everyone know, but forget to practice. It is the best technique to change the world, Use it!
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Quote of the day
“A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”
Walter Bagehot
What that means? It is very simple. Means that often we take others limiting beliefs and make them ours. The solution? Every time you will hear something like that, anytime someone is saying to you: It is useless! You will never do it! It is impossible to be so easy! You will see how hard it is! or any other limiting belief, think about. Is that his or her belief of is it yours? Do not believe anything just because people are saying it to you. Do it anyway.
Got it?
Do it anyway!
Walter Bagehot
What that means? It is very simple. Means that often we take others limiting beliefs and make them ours. The solution? Every time you will hear something like that, anytime someone is saying to you: It is useless! You will never do it! It is impossible to be so easy! You will see how hard it is! or any other limiting belief, think about. Is that his or her belief of is it yours? Do not believe anything just because people are saying it to you. Do it anyway.
Got it?
Do it anyway!
Sunday, 15 November 2015
Saturday, 14 November 2015
Quote of the day
It is during our darkest moment that we must focus to see the light.
Aristotle Onassis
No comments.
Aristotle Onassis
No comments.
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Quote of the day and some no nonsense words
We do not see the things as they are. We see the things as we are.
Anais Nin
This is an extension of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". We are pre-programmed to see, to understand the world and everything around us. It was eye-opening when you ask a child what he see, and he answer "I know you want me to say the sign +, but all i see is 2 matchsticks one on top of another." We adapt everything through our experience, and we limit ourselves because of this. What is the solution? Every morning see the world as it is your first day here, on Earth. It is not easy, you will need a bit of practice, but is doable. Try it for a while. And you will change. You will become someone else. Something else. Outside any classification. Don't think, just do it!
* NucAla is the new hope in asthma treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Nucala (mepolizumab) for use with other asthma medicines for the maintenance treatment of asthma in patients age 12 years and older. Nucala is approved for patients who have a history of severe asthma attacks (exacerbations) despite receiving their current asthma medicines. Asthma is a chronic disease that causes inflammation in the airways of the lungs. During an asthma attack, airways become narrow making it hard to breathe. Severe asthma attacks can lead to asthma-related hospitalizations because these attacks can be serious and even life-threatening. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2013, more than 22 million people in the U.S. have asthma, and there are more than 400,000 asthma-related hospitalizations each year. “This approval offers patients with severe asthma an additional therapy when current treatments cannot maintain adequate control of their asthma,” said Badrul Chowdhury, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Rheumatology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Nucala is administered once every four weeks by subcutaneous injection by a health care professional into the upper arm, thigh, or abdomen. Nucala is a humanized interleukin-5 antagonist monoclonal antibody produced by recombinant DNA technology in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Nucala reduces severe asthma attacks by reducing the levels of blood eosinophils- a type of white blood cell that contributes to the development of asthma. The safety and efficacy of Nucala were established in three double-blind, randomized, placebo‑controlled trials in patients with severe asthma on currently available therapies. Nucala or a placebo was administered to patients every four weeks as an add-on asthma treatment. Compared with placebo, patients with severe asthma receiving Nucala had fewer exacerbations requiring hospitalization and/or emergency department visits, and a longer time to the first exacerbation. In addition, patients with severe asthma receiving Nucala experienced greater reductions in their daily maintenance oral corticosteroid dose, while maintaining asthma control compared with patients receiving placebo. Treatment with mepolizumab did not result in a significant improvement in lung function, as measured by the volume of air exhaled by patients in one second. The most common side effects of Nucala include headache, injection site reactions (pain, redness, swelling, itching, or a burning feeling at the injection site), back pain, and weakness (fatigue). Hypersensitivity reactions can occur within hours or days of being treated with Nucala, including swelling of the face, mouth, and tongue; fainting, dizziness, or lightheadedness; hives; breathing problems and rash. Herpes zoster infections have occurred in patients receiving Nucala. Herpes zoster is the virus that causes shingles. Nucala is made by GlaxoSmithKline, in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.
** Did you heard about HeroX.com? HeroX was co-founded in 2013 by XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis, challenge designer Emily Fowler and entrepreneur Christian Cotichini as a means to democratize the innovation model of XPRIZE. HeroX exists to enable anyone, anywhere in the world, to create a challenge that addresses any problem or opportunity, build a community around that challenge and activate the circumstances that can lead to a breakthrough innovation. This innovation model has existed for centuries. The Ansari XPRIZE was inspired by the 1927 Orteig Prize, in which Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis. The $25,000 prize had been offered by hotelier Raymond Orteig to spur tourism. Lindbergh's flight lead to a boom in air travel the world over. A similar challenge had launched 200 years earlier with the 1716 Longitude Prize, which sought a technology to more accurately measure longitude at sea. Nearly 60 years later, a British clockmaker named John Harrison invented the chronometer, which spurred Trans-Atlantic migration on a massive scale. In 1795, Napoleon offered a 12,000 franc prize for a better method of preserving food, which was often spoiled by the time it reached the front lines of his armies. The breakthrough innovation to Napoleon's prize led to the creation of the canning industry. HeroX incentive prize challenges are designed to do the same — to harness the collective mind power of a community to innovate upon any problem or opportunity. Anyone can change the world. HeroX can help. The only question is, "What do you want to solve?"
Anais Nin
This is an extension of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". We are pre-programmed to see, to understand the world and everything around us. It was eye-opening when you ask a child what he see, and he answer "I know you want me to say the sign +, but all i see is 2 matchsticks one on top of another." We adapt everything through our experience, and we limit ourselves because of this. What is the solution? Every morning see the world as it is your first day here, on Earth. It is not easy, you will need a bit of practice, but is doable. Try it for a while. And you will change. You will become someone else. Something else. Outside any classification. Don't think, just do it!
* NucAla is the new hope in asthma treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Nucala (mepolizumab) for use with other asthma medicines for the maintenance treatment of asthma in patients age 12 years and older. Nucala is approved for patients who have a history of severe asthma attacks (exacerbations) despite receiving their current asthma medicines. Asthma is a chronic disease that causes inflammation in the airways of the lungs. During an asthma attack, airways become narrow making it hard to breathe. Severe asthma attacks can lead to asthma-related hospitalizations because these attacks can be serious and even life-threatening. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2013, more than 22 million people in the U.S. have asthma, and there are more than 400,000 asthma-related hospitalizations each year. “This approval offers patients with severe asthma an additional therapy when current treatments cannot maintain adequate control of their asthma,” said Badrul Chowdhury, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Rheumatology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Nucala is administered once every four weeks by subcutaneous injection by a health care professional into the upper arm, thigh, or abdomen. Nucala is a humanized interleukin-5 antagonist monoclonal antibody produced by recombinant DNA technology in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Nucala reduces severe asthma attacks by reducing the levels of blood eosinophils- a type of white blood cell that contributes to the development of asthma. The safety and efficacy of Nucala were established in three double-blind, randomized, placebo‑controlled trials in patients with severe asthma on currently available therapies. Nucala or a placebo was administered to patients every four weeks as an add-on asthma treatment. Compared with placebo, patients with severe asthma receiving Nucala had fewer exacerbations requiring hospitalization and/or emergency department visits, and a longer time to the first exacerbation. In addition, patients with severe asthma receiving Nucala experienced greater reductions in their daily maintenance oral corticosteroid dose, while maintaining asthma control compared with patients receiving placebo. Treatment with mepolizumab did not result in a significant improvement in lung function, as measured by the volume of air exhaled by patients in one second. The most common side effects of Nucala include headache, injection site reactions (pain, redness, swelling, itching, or a burning feeling at the injection site), back pain, and weakness (fatigue). Hypersensitivity reactions can occur within hours or days of being treated with Nucala, including swelling of the face, mouth, and tongue; fainting, dizziness, or lightheadedness; hives; breathing problems and rash. Herpes zoster infections have occurred in patients receiving Nucala. Herpes zoster is the virus that causes shingles. Nucala is made by GlaxoSmithKline, in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.
** Did you heard about HeroX.com? HeroX was co-founded in 2013 by XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis, challenge designer Emily Fowler and entrepreneur Christian Cotichini as a means to democratize the innovation model of XPRIZE. HeroX exists to enable anyone, anywhere in the world, to create a challenge that addresses any problem or opportunity, build a community around that challenge and activate the circumstances that can lead to a breakthrough innovation. This innovation model has existed for centuries. The Ansari XPRIZE was inspired by the 1927 Orteig Prize, in which Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis. The $25,000 prize had been offered by hotelier Raymond Orteig to spur tourism. Lindbergh's flight lead to a boom in air travel the world over. A similar challenge had launched 200 years earlier with the 1716 Longitude Prize, which sought a technology to more accurately measure longitude at sea. Nearly 60 years later, a British clockmaker named John Harrison invented the chronometer, which spurred Trans-Atlantic migration on a massive scale. In 1795, Napoleon offered a 12,000 franc prize for a better method of preserving food, which was often spoiled by the time it reached the front lines of his armies. The breakthrough innovation to Napoleon's prize led to the creation of the canning industry. HeroX incentive prize challenges are designed to do the same — to harness the collective mind power of a community to innovate upon any problem or opportunity. Anyone can change the world. HeroX can help. The only question is, "What do you want to solve?"
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