REMOVING THAT COFFEE GUILT

Now is the high time to let go of any coffee intake guilt you have. Lifestyle wise, both young and adults alike are enjoying the aroma and refreshing taste of a cup of coffee whilst on move or at work. The myth that coffee is to cause dehydration remains to be myth, as a growing number of studies rule out coffee's dehydrating effect.

No need to kick of the habit, I shall say. For what has been said for years that it is so important to drink extra fluids with your coffee intake because coffee has been known to cause dehydration, is no longer true.It is recommended to drink around eight glasses of water a day, and coffee is no longer being seen as an enemy of that, but you are instead able to count your coffee beverages in the total tally. A study, conducted in 2007, looked at fluid balance, hydration and exercise in the heat, came to a conclusion that if you have no more than 300 mg to 400 mg of caffeine, there is no dehydration effect, either with exercise or at rest.

So go ahead, dose off, enjoy that distinct high that coffee gives you. For your cup of heaven would also be your hydration buddy from now on.

BLACKBERRY THUMB

You would never know how much strain your putting on your thumb every time you hit a dial or press a button on your mobile phone! As text messaging becomes more than a fad, a condition known as "blackberry thumb" is also grabbing the limelight in this technology-manned era.The term started to come in to picture to describe a state of repetitive thumb injury brought about by an overuse of miniature gadget keypads- like those of mobile phones. The thumb, originally designed as a pinch-gripping stabilizer for the finger, experiences painful sheath swelling of tendons once overused. Such inflammation predisposes the feeling of aching and throbbing pain of the thumb itself that may also radiate to the fingers, as well as the wrist! Most texters believe that thumb acrobatics would build up speed and efficiency, unaware that aggravation of thumb carpometacarpal joint arthritis is taking stride. This degenerative condition might go unnoticed since the syndrome involves a rather slow persistence of symptoms, most of which are noted only on severe cases, when inflammation and pain is at its extreme.

As cases of such syndrome is not strictly tracked, and persistence of such condition remains discrete, experts would rather regard it as a form of social construction not until better science would be made available for further study.

How hard it is to forget

Year 2003 that was, my grandfather found himself in an optical clinic, dumbfounded and unaware of what might have been his purpose in arriving to such destination. Since then, things were never the same. There were countless moments when we would find our gate's locks unleashed; we then rush to the streets, looking for a medium-built man whom on his mid-70's was believed to have Alzheimer's disease.

Ironic as it may seem, he lived a non-sedentary life when he was younger. He was a man raced on hard-earned labor and a man that practiced hard work in his routine. Yes, he had vices, but he wasn’t abusive enough to be called neither a full-pledged smoker nor an irresponsible alcoholic. Vague as it may seem, I would always ponder on what might have been the major contributor for him to attract such neurodegenerative disease?

Alzheimer’s, being the most common form of dementia, accounts for 50-70 percent of worldwide dementia cases. Statistics would prove that this disease is not among the isolated cases of disorders affecting neurological function. Contrary to myths from the past that claimed such disease as a normal occurrence in the aging process, experts argue that severe memory loss results as a symptom of a serious illness. Characterized by erratic behaviors, memory changes, and loss of body functions this disease slowly deprives a person’s identity and ability to interact with others.

Discussions from the earlier studies placed weight on the use of aluminum products to have contributed to the development of the disease, researchers however disregard such notion. A more scientific discussion involving reduced synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine is driving most of the focus in understanding the disease process. Furthermore, another study points out that presence of neurofibrillary tangles inside nerve cell bodies collapses the neuron’s transport system. A more in-depth and significant discussion of brain pathophysiology would map out the progress of the disease.

“Every seventy seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s”. Unlucky enough for my grandfather unable to escape the wrath of such condition. In whatever he might perceive his senile condition to be, that we can’t figure out. But for someone like me, who is up and about, able to carry out routine with full discernment and understanding, the perception remains, that indeed…it is definitely hard to totally forget!
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