Don't Drink at all, if you don't have to...

Drinking Your Way to Health? Perhaps Not
By Dennis Thompson  Sun Oct 18, 7:03 pm ET 2009

 

SUNDAY, Oct. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Just about every month -- if not every week -- a new study emerges touting the health benefits to be gained from a daily glass of wine or a pint of dark beer.

 

The benefits related to cardiovascular health have become well-known. A study released in mid-July, for instance, found that moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in women by increasing the amount of "good" cholesterol in the bloodstream and reducing blood sugar levels.

 

But other studies have linked a daily drink, most often wine, to reduced risk of dementia, bone loss and physical disabilities related to old age. Wine also has been found to increase life expectancy and provide potential protection against some forms of cancer, including esophageal cancer and lymphoma.

 

But don't invest in that case of Pinot noir just yet.

 

Experts with the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association say that though these studies do show some benefits to moderate drinking, the health risks from alcohol consumption far outweigh the potential rewards.

 

Drinking any alcohol at all is known to increase your risk for contracting a number of types of cancer, said Susan Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology for the American Cancer Society. These include cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon/rectum and breast.

 

"At the end of the day, if you are at very high risk for cancer, you might want to limit your alcohol consumption even further," Gapstur said. "It's a lifestyle modification you can make, and we don't have as many lifestyle modifications for preventing cancer as we do for coronary heart disease."

 

There also are other health risks from moderate drinking, including liver damage and accidents caused by impaired reflexes, said Dr. Jennifer Mieres, director of nuclear cardiology at the New York University School of Medicine and an American Heart Association spokeswoman.

 

The health benefits from drinking generally are related to the antioxidants and anti-inflammatories found in red wines and dark beers, Mieres said, but those substances can be found in a number of different fruits and vegetables.

 

"When it comes to disease prevention, you're better off changing your diet to include fruits and vegetables and get your antioxidants and anti-inflammatories from natural sources," she said.

 

For example, people can get resveratrol -- the antioxidant found in red wine that's believed to provide most of the drink's health benefits -- from drinking grape juice (cheaper too) just as well as from drinking wine, Mieres said.

 

"For people that don't drink, not drinking is important," Mieres said. "You can get the same benefits of drinking from leading a heart-healthy lifestyle. To me, it's not worth the risk to start drinking. But for people who enjoy a glass of red wine or enjoy drinking, the key is to stick to the definition of moderation," she said.

 

Moderate drinking is defined as one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men. What counts as one drink are:

12 ounces of regular beer or wine cooler
8 ounces of malt liquor
5 ounces of wine
1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor

 

Drinking anything more than that on a daily basis is known to lead to a host of health problems that can reduce your life expectancy, Mieres and Gapstur said.

 

"I think the take-home message is, if you don't drink, don't start to help protect yourself from coronary heart disease because there are so many other things you can do," Gapstur said. "If you already drink, you might want to limit your consumption."

 

Though the studies touting the positive health effects of alcohol are scientifically accurate, they also appear to play into people's desires for quick fixes to complex problems, Mieres said.

 

"To prevent heart disease, 50 percent of the work has to come from you," she said. "Prevention is a big piece, and you have to be accountable. You have to make lifestyle changes, and that's very tough to do. People look for easy ways to get heart-healthy benefits, and drinking is an easy way to do that. It's a known human tendency: Let's find an easy way out that doesn't involve a lot of thought or work."

Strong quake hit Italy kills over 150, wounds 1,500

6.3 Strong quake hit Italy kills over 150, wounds 1,500

 

Associated Press Writer Marta Falconi, 2009 April 7th

 

L'AQUILA, Italy -
Italy's deadliest quake in nearly three decades struck this medieval city before dawn Monday, killing more than 150 people, injuring 1,500 and leaving tens of thousands homeless. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake buckled both ancient and modern buildings in and around L'Aquila, snuggled in a valley surrounded by the snowcapped Apennines' tallest peaks.

 

It also took a severe toll on the centuries-old castles and churches in the mountain stronghold dating from the Middle Ages

 

The quake, centered near L'Aquila about 70 miles northeast of Rome, struck at 3:32 a.m. Monday, followed by a series of aftershocks that continued into Tuesday morning.

 

Some 10,000 to 15,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed, officials said. L'Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente said about 100,000 people were homeless.

 

The quake hit 26 towns and cities around L'Aquila. Castelnuovo, a hamlet of about 300 people southeast of L'Aquila, appeared hard hit with five confirmed dead. The town of Onno, population 250, was almost leveled.

 

Though not a major tourist destination like Rome, Venice or Florence, L'Aquila boasts ancient fortifications and tombs of saints.

 

Many Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance landmarks were damaged, including part of the red-and-white stone basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio. The church houses the tomb of its founder, Pope Celestine V -- a 13th-century hermit and saint who was the only pontiff to resign from the post.

 

The bell tower of the 16th-century San Bernardino church and the cupola of the Baroque Sant'Agostino church also fell, the ministry said. Stones tumbled down from the city's cathedral, which was rebuilt after a 1703 earthquake.

 

The city's own cultural offices, housed in a 16th-century Spanish castle, were shut down by damage.

 

L'Aquila, whose name means "The Eagle" in Italian, was built around 1240 by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and was under French, Spanish and papal domination during the centuries. The high-flying bird was both the emblem of Frederick and reflects the 2,300-foot altitude of the proud city.

 

It was Italy's deadliest quake since Nov. 23, 1980, when one measuring 6.9-magnitude hit southern regions, leveling villages and killing 3,000.

 

The last major quake in central Italy was a 5.4-magnitude temblor that struck the south-central Molise region on Oct. 31, 2002, killing 28 people, including 27 children who died when their school collapsed.

Red meat raises risk of all kinds of death

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – People who eat the most red meat and the most processed meat have the highest overall risk of death from all causes, including heart disease and cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

The National Cancer Institute study is one of the largest to look at the highly controversial and emotive issue of whether eating meat is indeed bad for health.

Rashmi Sinha and colleagues looked at the records of more than 500,000 people aged 50 to 71 who filled out questionnaires on their diet and other health habits.

Even when other factors were accounted for -- eating fresh fruits and vegetables, smoking, exercise, obesity -- the heaviest meat-eaters were more likely to die over the next 10 years than the people who ate the least amount of meat.

"Red and processed meat intakes were associated with modest increases in total mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality," Sinha and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

They divided the volunteers into five groups, called quintiles. Between 1995 and 2005, 47,976 men and 23,276 women died.

The quintile who ate the most red meat had a higher risk for overall death, death from heart disease and cancer than the men and women who ate the least red meat.

The researchers said thousands of deaths could be prevented if people simply ate less meat.

"For overall mortality, 11 percent of deaths in men and 16 percent of deaths in women could be prevented if people decreased their red meat consumption to the level of intake in the first quintile," Sinha's team wrote.

HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT

Many studies have shown that people who eat less meat are healthier in many ways, and Sinha's team noted that meat contains several cancer-causing chemicals, as well as the unhealthiest forms of fat.

The U.S. government now recommends a "plant-based diet" that stresses fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Barry Popkin, an expert in nutrition and economics at the University of North Carolina, said the study was unusually thorough and careful.

Eating less meat has other benefits, he said, and governments should start promoting this. For instance, farming animals for meat causes greenhouse gas emissions that warm the atmosphere and uses fresh water in excess, he said.

"I was pretty surprised when I checked back and went through the data on emissions from animal food and livestock," Popkin said in a telephone interview.

"I didn't expect it to be more than cars."

Cancer experts said the study fit in with what is known from other research.

"This large study provides further evidence to support the recommendations by groups such as the World Cancer Research Fund in demonstrating an association between a high consumption of red and processed meats and a increase risk of death from cancer," said Ian Olver, Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Council Australia.

 

How to update Adobe Reader...

I send out many emails warning people that a new security exploit discovered, and that an urgent update of Adobe Reader software is highly recommended... then some noobs (sorry, guy & gal...) ask me How to Update it !

 

Well, here it is:

first you open your so-called Adobe Reader ( if you'd install it earlier, otherwise don't bother to read any further ),

then you go to the "menu bar" --> press "help" --> click on "check for updates..." & click thro' all those "next" , "next" things.. & wait till it done before cutting off your internet...

btw, I always do a manual update of my antivirus software, the 1st thing I do after switch on my PC / NB (notebook)... and I'll wait till all updates finish before do any other things on it... but then again, I'm a security paranoia... hahahaha

A very good site to learn basic web designing...

Wow! I must say, this is a very good tutorial site indeed!

It teaches you everything, and I mean everything about basic webpage building...

 

Go to this site:  ( you wouldn't be disappointed ! )

http://www.htmldog.com  -- The Best Practice Guide To XHTML and CSS

 

You will learn the basic of today webpage basic & CSS... in a clear & easy way!

 

Do the practices with notepad... Play with it...

 

alternately, you can use Dreamweaver in split code & design view... that way you'll be able to see the charges as you code... Wonderful!

 

ps. Oh! and btw, if you are using Adobe Reader, please update it NOW, a security patch is needed!!

 

 

Penang Map

This is a map of Penang. (just click it to enlarge it )


It's a beautiful place to visit. I'm sure you'll like it. :)

( For more detail info, you can always wiki it to find out more, cheers! )

ps. Do leave me a comment if you have any question... ( I'll delete your contact info to keep your privacy )

Eating less meat to slow climate change!

Gases from animals destined for dinner plates account for nearly a quarter of all methane emissions worldwide.

Eating less meat could help slow global warming by reducing the number of livestock and thereby decreasing the amount of methane flatulence from the animals.

Livestock – predominantly cattle – are responsible for an astonishing proportion of global warming gases - 18 per cent of all emissions - which is more greenhouse gas emissions than all the transport on earth – planes, trains, cars......

Most deforested land is used for pasture and the UN reckons the carbon released in the process takes the carbon cost of livestock up to the equivalent of 2.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

1.5 billion head of cattle on the planet and 7 billion sheep. They, together with the more modest emissions of other farm animals, produce 37% of global methane emissions which adds up to the equivalent of another 2.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Factor in the effects of another global warming gas - nitrous oxide, which is way more potent than even methane with 296 times the global warming power of carbon dioxide. 65% of human related emissions of nitrous oxide are from the nitrogen in animal manure. That accounts for the equivalent of another 2.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Add the effects of the three gases associated with farming animals and you get total emissions equivalent to 7.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. According to the UN report we humans are responsible for a total of the equivalent of 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. That’s how we got that incredible figure of 18 per cent of total emissions.


In a special energy and health series of the medical journal The Lancet, experts said people should eat fewer steaks and hamburgers. Reducing global red meat consumption by 10 percent, they said, would cut the gases emitted by cows, sheep and goats that contribute to global warming.

If people knew that they were threatening the environment by eating more meat, they might think twice before ordering a burger.

On average, in developed countries, people typically eat about 224 grams per day. But in Africa, most people only get about 31 grams a day. If the global average were 90 grams per day, that would prevent the levels of gases from speeding up climate change.

Eating less red meat would also improve health in general. Dr. John Powles, a public health expert at Cambridge University, one of the study's authors and his co-authors estimate that reducing meat consumption would reduce the numbers of people with heart disease and cancer. One study has estimated that the risk of colorectal cancer drops by about a third for every 100 grams of red meat that is cut out of your diet.

Eating less meat would also help stop the obesity epidemic in developed countries.

So why is the meat we eat so polluting?

Well, first of all we need to get a sense of scale. 70% of all agricultural land is used to raise animals – that’s a third of the land surface of the entire planet. What’s more, over 30% of all cereal production goes to feed those animals.

Ruminant animals like cows and sheep produce a lot of methane as they digest their food. And methane is a powerful greenhouse gas – 23 times as powerful as carbon dioxide in trapping heat to make the earth warmer.

Furthermore, on average, it takes 1,790 litres of water to grow 1kg of wheat compared with 9,680 litres of water for 1kg of beef.

Western diets, which depend largely on meat, are really putting great pressures on the environment. Meat-eaters consume the equivalent of about 5,000 litres [1,100 gallons] of water a day compared to the 1,000-2,000 litres used by people on vegetarian diets in developing countries.

So, the conclusion, eat less meat, help reduce the greenhouse gases, slowing down the global warming, conserve more water, and more importantly, become healthier!

That's why it's good to have 3 million vegetarians in UK. Just hope more people can cut their meat diet, if not totally... :)

My 1st blog sent & publish through email

This is my 1st blog sent & publish through email. Just to see if it really work...

It would really save some time...

Just hope the format will be OK! :)

ps.

now I wonder how to include a smiley into blogger? hehe...

[ edit: hey and it did WORK! Hurray! Now I can publish through email without login ]

Beware of Digital Cut + Scratch! (Sony DSC-T5 Recall)

If you had any Sony digital camera, do take a minute to check whether it's a Cyber Shot DCS-T5... otherwise you might end up with a "digital" cut! :p

Sony recalls 350,000 Cyber Shot DSC-T5 digital cameras

03 Aug 2007
TOKYO - Sony is recalling 350,000 digital cameras because the case may warp, creating an edge that can cut or scratch the user's hands, the company said Thursday.

The company will replace the bottom casing, where the problem occurs, at no cost.

The recall affects 284,000 Cyber Shot DSC-T5 cameras sold in the United States, Europe and China, and about 66,000 sold in Japan, Sony spokeswoman Ryoko Takagi said.

Sony Corp first learned of the problem affecting DSC-T5 cameras about one month after the model first went on the market in September 2005, Takagi said. About 30 customers in Japan and "several" others overseas have since reported finding the defect, with a number saying they received small cuts and scratches from it, she said.

Customers are advised to check the model and serial numbers of their cameras to see if they are among the affected products, the company said in a statement. The problem only affects cameras with numbers between 3500001 and 3574100.

U.S. customers can go to Sony's support Web site at http://esupport.sony.com/ for more information or call Sony support at 877-573-7669.

Sony DSC-T5 recall page: http://tinyurl.com/23dh5u

Just a thought, why does it take something that they knew going to hurt someone, keep it so long (since Sept 2005, according to the article), before calling a recall? Do they issue any warning before that?

Also, make us wonder whether any other digital product capable of inflicting such injury??

Dangerous file extension type with Virus / Worm / Trojan possibility

A few days ago, one of my friend's colleague open an attachment file with .com extension inside an email, and the PC became infected with some kind of virus...

So, I wrote her a letter informing her some of the "popular" type of dangerous file extension that could point out a Virus / Worm / Trojan possibility within.

The list is as follow:
.bat , .vbs , .exe , .pif , .scr , .com
.dll , .reg , .vb , .js , .cpl , .cmd

I might not be 100% correct. ( Please correct any mistake by leaving a comment , TQ )
But I would rather be careful then be sorry!

Oh, if any of you have any to add to this list, please leave a comment too! After all, they are ever evolving! Scary isn't it!

So, the next time you ever need to open an email attachment, please look at its file extension closely. If it contains any of the above-mention extension, chances are it might be a Virus / Trojan file, especially if it from someone you don't know.

Even if you know the sender, it doesn't mean it's 100% safe! WHY? Because today Virus/Worm/Trojan once infected your PC, it can scan your whole hard drive for email addresses which it can then use to send out infected emails with one of YOUR friend name as sender, without he/she even knowing it!

Oh, one last thing, always make sure you update your antivirus definition & its scan engine before receiving your mail! Good Luck, pal!