PHILIP S. CHUA M.D FACS, FPCS
‘Excessive video gaming (desktop or hand-held) is hazardous to children’s body, brain, and health in general.’
ARE soft drinks really bad for our health?
Most definitely. On average, there are 10 to 15 calories per ounce in non-diet soft drinks, so a 12-ounce can contains 120-180 calories. Drinking a can of this "liquid candy" a day adds an extra 120 calories to the day’s diet. Statistics show that an extra 100 calories a day leads to a weight gain of 10 pounds a year. Imagine what drinking a can with every meal could do to your health. But, worse than calories, is the more dangerous fact that imbibing soft drinks is associated with the development of Metabolic Syndrome (central obesity leading to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, diabetes, heart attack, stroke).
All of us should abandon soft drinks and also save our children from this dangerous drink. Red wine, even for children (as practiced in some European countries), would be safer than these "treacherous and subtle poisons."
I hate daily insulin shots; any alternative?
If your diabetes is not controlled by pills and your physician prescribes diet, exercise and insulin for you, it will be wise for you to follow this custom-tailored regimen, otherwise complications of diabetes could ravage your entire body and shorten your life. Since you hate insulin shots like every diabetic, you could consider implantation of an Insulin Pump.
This is the state-of-the-art method of administering insulin to insulin dependent diabetic patients. The small device is implanted under the skin and the catheter connected to it is inserted into a vein. The computerized pump contains insulin in its chamber and delivers a precise dose of insulin at a preset time schedule. The insulin chamber is refillable. This pump replaces the needle injection as a method of giving insulin. Further down the line, embryonic stem cell transplant may someday become a routine "cure" for diabetes.
Do video games hurt children?
Excessive video gaming (desktop or hand-held) is hazardous to children’s body, brain, and health in general, causing anxiety, depression and poor performance in school, according to a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
There are also physical injuries sustained after months and years of video-gaming. Some of them are back and neck pains, carpal tunnel, finger, hand, elbow tingling and numbness problems, and bad posture.
Since kids usually play alone, their concentration on their games deprives them of their awareness of their surroundings and people around them. Someone coined "Nintendonitis" to describe the injuries from repetitive finger actions, although all other video-gaming gadgets also increase the risk for the same injuries. An official website of a video-game manufacturer states that "some people (about 1 in 4,000) may have seizures or blackouts triggered by light flashes or patterns while watching TV."
Indeed, parents should teach their children about priority and disciplined and scheduled video-gaming, so it does not interfere with doing home work and school performance, and not transform the child to a loner or one without social skills.
Can fruits be contaminated?
Any fruit can be contaminated with chemicals, like the recently discovered fungicide-tainted orange juices from Mexico sold in the United States, or infected with bacteria, like the Listeria-infected canteloupes found in 18 US states which killed 13 people and the toll is expected to rise. The incubation period (time from ingesting the contaminated food to the time symptoms occur) could be at least 3-4 weeks. The number of deaths here has surpassed the 2009 salmonella outbreak from contaminated peanuts, which was reported to be nine. There were also contaminated eggs, turkey, celery, spinach, and peanut butter reported in the recent past in the USA.
It is prudent to wash hands frequently and wash the fruits well, and discard any suspicious-looking ones, according to appearance, consistency, smell, and taste. The same serious vigilance is applicable to any food or drink items. After all, carelessness could lead to serious or fatal outcome.
Why ban marijuana and not cigarettes?
This is a most interesting question that has beleaguered me also for as long as I can remember. While marijuana has some medicinal uses, cigarettes have nothing but serious health risks, including cancers, lung diseases, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, allergies, asthma, and upper respiratory diseases in children, etc. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that "casual pot smokers might even have stronger lungs than non-users…. with a good evidence that occasional use can increase lung air flow and lung capacity."
This was a 20-year study among 5000 men and women in Birmingham, Chicago, Orlando and Minneapolis, conducted by The University of California San Francisco and The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Obviously, this is a politico-economic issue, a harsh reality of our time, where government and society are contributing, by default, to the misery and deaths of four billions of people around the world every year. Not to mention the catastrophic impact on their loved ones.
I am not advocating that marijuana be legalized, but like this reader who emailed me this question, I strongly feel that tobacco is a ruthless killer and should be banned, if we are to save these 4 billion people from dying.
To me, providing a "smokers’ area" in a restaurant or other public places with a common aircon-ventilating system, is like designating a portion of a swimming pool as "urinating area."
Having said that, I shall defend the right of individuals who smoke, and equally, the right of non-smokers not to be exposed to the more deadly secondhand smoke from inconsiderate and irresponsible smokers.
Can eating a lot of salt cause cancer?
Yes, eating a lot of salt and salty foods increases the risk for gastric (stomach) cancer. Other risk factors include eating pickled or processed foods, presence of H. pylori stomach infection, and a genetic predisposition or family history of stomach cancer. Those with H. pylori infection are 50% more prone to develop cancer of the stomach. The US FDA recommended allowance of salt intake is no more than 2,400 mg a day, equivalent to one teaspoon. The Institute of Medicine and the medical community suggest 1,500 mg per day as the maximum limit for healthy individuals and much lower for those with heart failure or kidney disease, and other conditions where low salt diet is prescribed. Some anti-cancer foods, besides fish with its omega 3 oil, are citrus fruits (tangerine, oranges), orange-colored vegetables, various berries, sweet potatoes, carrots, Brussels sprouts, garlic, onion, cabbage and other and cruciferous vegetables, red beans, pinto beans, pumpkin, squash, and vegetables in general.
For cancer prevention data and more, please visit:www.philipSchua.com
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