Alcohol and bowel cancer risk

Many people believe that a pint of beer is OK, nothing serious problem at all. But it is reported recently that we are at risk of bowel cancer even though we don't exceed our daily allowance of alcohol.

The report, published by the International Journal of Cancer, says that drinking two large glasses of wine or two pints a day increases the risk of this disease by around quarter compared with non-drinkers.

One glass of wine or a pint of beer a day raises the risk by 10 per cent.

"The research shows quite clearly that the more alcohol you drink the greater your risk of bowel cancer,'' said Professor Tim Key, an expert with Cancer Research UK told the Daily Telegraph. Source

This must be recent research result. I don't know how reliable it is.

On the other hand, health authorities normally recommend to enjoy moderate alcohol drinking as it prevents heart problem to some extent (20 units per week for men and 15 units per women) . You may want to know how to calculate alcohol unit. Here is online calculator. I can't remember if beers and spirits available in Burma show alcohol percentage, that is, ABV %(Alcohol by Volume). In UK, most Beers come as 4% and 5%. Whiskies are 40%. Wines are 12.5% , 13% ,,,,,,,

A cat with special sense

A cat from a nursing and rehab home in the US is able to predict who is going to die, according to today's The Sun Newspaper. Cat's name is Oscar. He has been living in the house for many years. He sniffs and checks the residents and sits beside those who would die within hours.

A GRIM-REAPER cat has amazed medics — by predicting when nursing home patients are about to die.

Oscar the tabby curls up next to elderly residents in the last few hours of their lives.

His accuracy — seen in 25 cases in the past year — has led staff to call family once he chooses someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

University professor Dr David Dosa said yesterday: “He doesn’t make too many mistakes. Many families take solace from it. They appreciate the companionship the cat provides for their loved one.” Source:

Narcissistic personality disorder

I am not a psychiatrist. But I'd like to post a psychiatry related disorder this time.

That is Narcissistic personality disorder. The characteristic features are as follow:


1-has a grandiose sense of self-importance
2-is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3-believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by other special people
4-requires excessive admiration
5-strong sense of entitlement
6-takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
7-lacks empathy
8-is often envious or believes others are envious of him or her
9-arrogant affect.

At least five of the above are necessary for a diagnosis

You may check the poeple around you. Who has got this mental problem?

Born to get cancer

You may know that some cancers are genetically determined, some are not. Some are multi-factorial. Some are greatly influenced by environment. Some are by viruses.

In the following news article, the mother of 3 has been born to have Breast cancer. When she checked her family tree, 31 persons had Breast cancer. It is too much, isn't it? She has also got Breast cancer on one side. Now she had both of her breasts removed.

A mother of three underwent a double mastectomy after discovering that 31 of her relatives had suffered from breast cancer in the past 200 years.

Eleven years ago Alex Best, then 29, decided to look at her family tree, which medical experts have described as one of the most extreme in the country. A week later Miss Best had breast cancer diagnosed herself.

After learning of her family history, she had contacted a genetics expert, Professor Gareth Evans, to find out if she was also carrying the gene. By chance the research team had been studying her family tree but had not been allowed to contact surviving family members. A test confirmed that she was carrying the gene and had an 85 per cent chance of developing the disease. Full story

Basically, breast cancer cure rate has been getting better in this century. But early detection and proper treatment are important factors for the survival rate. You may know Aussie pop star Kylie had breast cancer, still living in normal life and she keeps singing and smiling. Promoting breast awareness and mammography (Breast X-ray) for older age groups are recognised approaches to prevent breast cancer deaths. Of course, health authorities have advised women to examine their breasts while having a shower.

Well, you may be interested in the fact that who the risk persons are. According to the research and literature, risk groups include those who never deliver baby, those with first pregnancy at their over 30, those who never give breast feeding to their children, those with early onset of period, fat ladies, those who have female hormone replacement therapy, those who carry Breast cancer gene (like the lady in the news).

So my suggestion would be: enjoy your life normally,get a boy friend if appropriate, avoid extreme actions, don't be proud of being single or virgin (some ancient Myanmar ladies are crazy for it, I think),examine yourself properly on a regular basis.

Any question or concern? just Google, OK?

Dway and his ?cause of death

Yesterday I heard that Myanmar Actor Dway died suddenly. It is too early to say why it happened. I have no chance to obtain his medical history. But as a medic, which came to my mind was Brugada syndrome. ( I am not saying his cause of death is Brugada syndrome)

This is an inherited condition (gene defect) causing fatal irregularity of heat beat and sudden death. Normally heart is beating on its electricity. In this condition, there is a defect in heart’s electrical system. The person with this condition may not notice any heart problem or he may experience synoptic attacks before fatal attack.

Some more facts of this condition are as follow.

Patients are mainly found in South East Asia.
Male is 8 times more common than female.
Unexplained death among close relatives
Heart is otherwise normal. First presentation would be fatal irregularity of heart beat.
So far, there is no medicine to take regularly to prevent sudden death.

Only option is implantable cardiac defibrillator.

An implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) is a small electronic device installed inside the chest wall to prevent sudden death from cardiac arrest due to life threatening abnormal heart rhythms. The ICD is intelligent enough to monitor the heart rhythm. When the heart is beating normally, the device remains inactive. Once the heart develops a life-threatening irregular rhythms, the ICD delivers an electrical "shock(s)" to the heart to terminate the abnormal rhythm and return the heart rhythm to normal.

More about Brugada Syndrome:
Brugada foundation
Brugada on Wikipedia

Wimbledon tennis season and ticket prices

Wimbledon 2007 is from 25 June to 8 July.

Personal details on the Internet

10, originally uploaded by moeyanagency.

A few months ago, I came across Myanmar passport department's webpages which were revealing the recent list of Myanmar passport applicants ( including their fathers' names and thier national ID numbers) . Again, here are certificates and photos of Burmese on flickr. I must say it is strange for me.

This is my emotional damage test score

My score on The Emotional Damage Test: as follow:

You are 13% emotionally damaged. Please take this to heart when interacting with others.

Thank you for taking this test. Obviously, the higher percentage you scored, the harder the life you have lead. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but you certainly need to be careful about how you treat others. Humanity is all linked by just 6 people, and each broken heart sends just another damaged person out into the world that can potentially harm others. Tread lightly and try to be understanding of the differences of others, as they will hopefully be understanding of yours.

Link: The Emotional Damage Test written by joe2therevenge on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Myanmar music festival and Myanmar food fare

This is the email message from a friend of mine.

Dear Friends There will be Myanmar Music Festival and Myanmar Food fare on 1st July 2007.It has been proved to be successful and we raised over £2000 last time for Magwe medical students. And we all had a very good time and enjoyed our traditional Myanmar food. This time you will have the chance to listen to professional singers (Khin Mg Toe, Zaw Myo Htut, May Kalar and Yadana OO) in addition to our dedicated semi-professional singers (doctors and their families). You will be able to enjoy a variety of Myanmar food at low price. You can listen to the music, enjoy the delicious Myanmar food (Yummy!), socialize with other Burmese, chat away with mates, etc. The money raised through karaoke and food will go to a London monastery renovation, Magwe medical student stipends and Aung Theitpann Orphans' school (in Irrawaddy Division). So I would highly recommend all of you to participate in this special event if you are not on-call or you do not have other commitment. I hope you will enjoy the event. Do not forget to practise your favourite song/songs. VENUE Burntwood memorial Hall 18 Rugeley Road Burntwood Staffordshire WS7 9BA Date and Time : 01/07/2007 11 am - 06 pm

Why is a gas rich country still dark?

Myanmar earns $2B in gas sales

YANGON, Myanmar, June 20 (UPI) -- Myanmar earned more than $2 billion from the sale of natural gas in the past year, official media said.

The Myanmar Times reported June 8 that the country's earning from natural gas sales in the 2006-07 season was $1 billion more than the previous year.

In 2005-06, the former Burma earned $1.079 billion from gas sales, and in 2006-07 it earned $2.16 billion, the report said.

Source:

I have a question. I'm just wondering if someone could tell me why Burma is still in the dark. Forget about small towns in Burma. Even in large cities like Yangon and Mandalay, the electricity supply is very irregular. Average 6 hours a day. A friend of mine from Yangon told me a few months ago, no electricity in such a hot weather. Children could not sleep.

Where is the money from gas sale? Investing in Russian's carcino or trying to buy Man U? Anyway, hopefully the responsible persons would be aware of shortage of basic human need in this 21st century and would have done necessary actions. Keep our finger crossed!

Otherwise, those from the country without a regular electricity in the cities and towns, where owning well over a decade-old car is still a sought-after status symbol, may have no point to be proud of being Myanmar among the world people.