Diabesity: A Massive Epidemic

‘Shortening the life span by 10-15 years, diabetes is now the 6th leading cause of death.’

– Philip S. Chua, MD

          Last week, I checked my blood sugar and was quite shocked with the result. It was 177 mg/dl! Knowing it’s above normal level (normal values: 80-120 mg/dl, while in our glucometer it’s 70-110), I tried at first to rationalize I was only 6 hours NPO. FBS must be 8 hours NPO I said to myself. I was in between denial and acceptance. I thought maybe that our glucometer is not accurate anymore and needs quality control testing. I bought it last year (November 24, 2007) as a gift for my mother, who is a diagnosed diabetic and unfortunately, I lost the Contrex fluid that is used for quality control testing. My sister also checked her sugar it was way greater than mine! Giving it the benefit of the doubt, she and my mother went to a local clinic where they had their blood extracted for diagnostics (which included FBS, creatinine and uric acid). My sister’s results were normal while we’re still awaiting my mother’s because she had one more test (for thyroid function) that needs more time to be determined. I hope that the results would be insignificant.

          So how do I solve the problem? Actually I haven’t had my CBG checked again yet because I’m not sure of our meter. And one thing, we don’t have strips anymore and we need to buy a box again. I’m thinking that I need to bring our meter at the store where I bought it and maybe they could lend the Contrex fluid for control testing. Anyway, I’d buy a box of strips I’ll tell the owner. If s/he wouldn’t agree, I’d have to buy another meter again. One created by Abbott so that the strips could be bought in Watson’s or Mercury Drug. 

          Though I know that I have a strong genetic predisposition to diaebetes, I still couldn’t deny the fact that I’m fond of sweets. But somehow, I'’m now trying to cut on it, which is kind of a hard thing to do. Behavior modification is not easy indeed!

         It seems that the problem on diabetes is getting more serious, warning us to be more proactive and responsible with regards to our lifestyle. Recently, as we were watching the night news in tv, the diabetes issue came up again. What caught my attention most was the statistics of diabetics in the Philippines. To date, there are 4 M Filipino diabetics and it was also said that the population of Filipino diabetics will balloon in 2010, something like that if I’m not mistaken. And 1 out of 25 Filipinos has diabetes. Really alarming! 

          I got this opinion article from Malaya and I thought of having it as a new post. Even though it was written last year, it’s still informative and the points being raised are still true.
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Two Words: "I Do…"

          “And if life should come to just one question: Do I hold each moment true? No trace of sadness; always with gladness… I do!”

          Below is the most beautiful, romantic wedding song ever composed! I so love this song. The music was by Louie Ocampo and lyrics by Freddie Santos. And of course, as expected, Lea Salonga did justice to it, great voice, wonderfully sung!!! Robert Chien must really be grateful to have Lea for a wife. Obviously, he was so touched and mesmerized with his wife’s dedication. One comment in youtube was this: a true man cries…that’s a one heck of a man right there (”,)

Two Words

On Forgiveness

“But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

– Matthew 5:44, 45

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

– Matthew 6: 14, 15

“Forgiveness is God’s invention for coming to terms with a world in which, despite their best intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply. He began by forgiving us. And he invites us all to forgive each other.”

–Lewis B. Smedes - Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve

“I worry about fast forgivers. They tend to forgive quickly in order to avoid their pain. Or they forgive fast in order to get an advantage over the people they forgive. And their instant forgiving only makes things worse…People who have been wronged badly and wounded deeply should give themselves time and space before they forgive…There is a right moment to forgive. We cannot predict it in advance; we can only get ourselves ready for it when it arrives…Don’t do it quickly, but don’t wait too long…If we wait too long to forgive, our rage settles in and claims squatter’s rights to our souls.”

–Lewis B. Smedes - The Art of Forgiving: When You Need To Forgive And Don’t Know How

The Heart of the Matter

          I got the call today, I didn’t wanna hear but I knew that it would come. An old true friend of ours was talkin’ on the phone, she said you found someone.

          And I thought of all the bad luck and all the struggles we went through, how I lost me and you lost you. What are all these voices outside love’s open door make us throw off our contentment and beg for something more…

          I’ve been learning to live without you now. But I miss you sometimes. The more I know, the less I understand all the things I thought I knew, I’m learning them again.

          I’ve been tryin’ to get down to the heart of the matter but my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter. But I think it’s about forgiveness. Forgiveness. Even if even if you don’t love me anymore.

          These times are so uncertain, there’s a yearning undefined and people filled with rage. We all need a little tenderness, how can love survive in such a graceless age? And the trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness are the very things we kill I guess. Pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms and the work they put between us, you know it doesn’t keep us warm…

          I’ve been learning to live without you now but I miss you, baby. The more I know the less I understand and all the things I thought I’d figured out, I have to learn again…

          I’ve been tryin’ to get down to the heart of the matter but my will gets weak and my heart is so shattered. But I think it’s about forgiveness. Forgiveness. Even if, even if, you don’t love me anymore.

          All the people in your life who’ve come and gone they let you down, you know they hurt your pride. Gotta put it all behind you ’cause life goes on. You keep carryin’ that anger, it’ll eat you up inside.

          I’ve been tryin’ to get down to the heart of the matter because the flesh gets weak and my heart is so shattered so I’m thinkin’ about forgiveness. Forgiveness. Even if you don’t love me anymore. 

The Unique Style of Jason Mraz

          Jason Mraz     

         Among the modern alternative music artists today, Jason Mraz is one of my favorite. He was not that popular before (here in the Philippines) when I already appreciated his style, listening to his song, You and I Both. He was recognized more when he came out with the song, The Remedy, from which I got my shoutout “I won’t worry my life away…” in friendster. Recently, who hasn’t heard of his hit song, I’m Yours, which sounds light and cute.

         Being a fan, I did some research about him and I learned that he was born and raised in Virginia and his stylistic influences include pop, rock, folk, jazz and hip hop. He has played with various artists, including Dave Matthews Band, James Blunt, Gavin DeGraw, Paula Cole, John Popper, Alanis Morisette, The Ohio Players, Rachael Yamagata, James Morrison, Jewel and Colbie Caillat.

          I particularly like the way he composes his songs and it seems like he’s just playing with words when he does his ad libs. Below are videos of his unique renditions of The Rainbow Connection and Summer Breeze. Hope many bloggers will get to listen to and appreciate it!

Rainbow Connection

 Summer Breeze

Personality Disorders

          Recently, I had a patient diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and it’s good to be reviewed again on the different personality disorders. We learned about this back in our fourth year in college. Psych nursing is really an interesting subject to me. One senior of mine told us before that after taking the subject, she said you’ll never be the same again. True, for I really learned a lot about behavioral analysis and it widened my self-awareness, not to mention we had been able to care for patients who are mentally ill…

          Personality traits are enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself. They are exhibited in a wide range of important social and personal contexts. When these traits are significantly maladaptive and cause serious functional impairment or subjective distress, they constitute a personality disorder. The manifestations of personality disorders are often recognized by adolescence and continue throughout most of adult life.

         A personality disorder, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that differs markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment. Personality disorders are a long-standing and maladaptive pattern of perceiving and responding to other people and to stressful circumstances. Ten personality disorders, grouped into 3 clusters (ie, A, B, C), are defined in the DSM-IV-TR.
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Expanded HIV Testing in Nursing Care: Implementing the CDC Recommendations CE

Bernard M. Branson, MD   

The findings and conclusions described in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On September 22, 2006 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published recommendations for a major change in the approach to testing for HIV infection in the United States: expanded screening in healthcare settings with streamlined procedures for consent and pretest information,^[1] available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5514.pdf. The CDC’s specific recommendations for healthcare settings, outlined in Table 1, included:

• expanded HIV screening for patients regardless of risk;
• revisions to procedures for separate, written informed consent;
• indications for diagnostic testing; and
• decreased emphasis on prevention counseling.

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Tags: HIV Testing

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Happy Birthday to Me!

          Today, I turn 22 years old. I thank the Lord for having reached this point of my life. Realizing I’m so blessed in many ways, I couldn’t ask for more but be happy and content. Still, I hope to achieve all my goals in life and to fulfill what God has really planned for me. And I know I can do this with the right pace, through God’s will and holy guidance.

          Funny how differently people react or comment when they greet you on your birthday. I notice matured persons older than me would say, “still young…” or “ay bata ka pa ineng…” while friends who are younger than me would say, “you’re getting old” coupled with a laugh. Before, I also used to get through this psychological adaptation everytime I got a year older. I would go through denial at first that I even wished I would always be nineteen. That was when my twentieth birthday was nearing and I wouldn’t want to reach the line-of-two age. I have always thought that it’s so good to stay young. Well, realistically speaking, it cannot be the case for we all age through time. However, there’s this one thought I encountered once through text message, which I agree with, and it goes like: growing old is inevitable while growing up is an option. My point? Hmm, I guess I’m not conscious anymore of my age and in fact I believe I’m still young, haha! Yes I may be growing old, but one thing is certain: I am also growing up!

          Many thanks to those who greeted me a happy birthday. Special mention to those who accepted my invite over dinner last September 13. Their mere presence really meant a lot. Thank you Ate Arm, Teacher Liza, Julyn, Kuya Irvin, Ces, Gio, Theng, Lee & Lay. Thanks, too, to Teacher Eva, who despite not being able to come texted to greet me; to my bestfriend since elementary, Joan; my good friends in high school, Ruth, Chielo and Ichel; my bestfriends in college, Jenie and Eve; my close friends also in college Ate Marian, Faye, Juisa, Kuya Reymund, Kat, Ate Glad and Ate Steph; my co-trainees at The Medical City, Riss, Conrad, Irene, Iris, Ate Kaye, Kim & Niel; my foster family back in Nagcarlan, Laguna, my Nay Ester and sis, Myrna; my headnurse, Ma’am Noemi, co-staff Ma’am Rina and Ma’am Janice; and to my beloved family of course. Above all, I thank the Lord for the gift of my life, the opportunity to experience it, how beautiful it is and how happy I am to share it with the people I love!

          Happy birthday to me! Let’s see what’s in store for me being 22…

Cute Connie :-)

          Connie Talbot  

          The video below is one of  my favorite Connie songs. This cute, little girl is a child prodigy! She has a very good vocal control even at a young age of 6. Everytime I listen to her songs, I’m always in awe and I feel relaxed, as well. Watch and listen to her…

IMAGINE

Burn Fat by Eating Chocolate

Here’s a medical update that I’m sure every chocolate lover like me would be glad to find out… Another rationalization for our behavior, hahaha! Yeah, but it says there “occasional” indulgence only… 

Chocolate-loving (and eating) men are in better health than those who don’t like it, say researchers at Imperial College London and Nestlé. Over five days, a group of healthy young men (half liked chocolate, half didn’t) ate the same foods, plus a choice of bread or chocolate. Blood and urine tests showed the chocolate lovers processed fatty foods better and had lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.

So, indulging on occasion may have long-term health benefits - but, researchers say, only when paired with an otherwise healthy diet and lifestyle.

– Reader’s Digest (August, 2008)

Taxi…

I just received an email from my friend, Karla, with the subject Taxi - A beautiful story! I read and loved it… It’s about a taxi driver who had an old woman for a passenger. The old woman was going to a hospice institution. It’s simple yet beautiful and heart-warming! And so here, I’m quoting the inspiring thoughts to ponder. And I very well agree with it! (”,)

 We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one. PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID

OR WHAT YOU SAID,
~BUT~

THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL…

 Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here, we might as well dance.

A smile is a curve that can get a lot of things straight!