The cool breeze gently reminds us that the Christmas season has started. Many families, companies and organizations are foregoing their Christmas parties in light of the dire situation in Tacloban and other typhoon-ravaged areas in the country. The saved funds are instead to be donated to help in the relief operations in these places.
It is appalling to see the death and devastation which the Supertyphoon “Yolanda” brought to Tacloban, Ormoc and several other areas in the country.
I was invited this week to give a couple of lectures during the Resistant Hypertension Conference held in Singapore, and I share the consensus of all the members of the faculty who are getting alarmed at the increasing prevalence of resistant or difficult-to-treat high blood pressure (BP).
Artificial coloring makes any food product more appealing. Sweets like ice candy and gulaman are made more delectable and mouth-watering when they come in bright colors—red, orange and green. Even dried shrimp is made more appetizing with a reddish food coloring.
In a previous column (7/20/13), we’ve discussed the pros and cons of electronic cigarettes or e-cigs. Up to that time, there was no scientific data—except obviously biased information from their manufacturers—that would validate their effectiveness and safety as a tool for smoking cessation.
During a talk I was invited to give last weekend, I was happy to see again Dr. Alberto Daysog, one of our professors at the University of Santo Tomas College of Medicine.
We don’t want to lower our car windows when we’re traveling because we know the air pollutants, which we have an abundance of in any busy street in Metro Manila, can really cause much harm to our health. But even if we have air-conditioned cars and the windows are tightly closed, we may still be at risk of exposure to particulate pollution—the black, sooty smoke produced by diesel engines and coal-fired power plants.
The dust has not settled yet on the coconut oil controversy. A lot of new data for and against the health benefits of coconut oil, including its “virgin” form, are being published in various journals and presented in scientific fora. It can be tough sifting the data to separate the grain from the chaff.
A saying goes—if you’re a hammer, you see everything as a nail. This may symbolize what’s happening to our practice of stem cell medicine in our country. Because of the media hype focusing on testimonials of celebrities on supposed spectacular healing or rejuvenation, stem cell practitioners coming from various medical practices have suddenly become overenthusiastic of the things stem cells could do for their patients. In every Tom, Dick and Harry, one or another indication for stem cell therapy can be seen at the end of a 5-minute consultation. It has been estimated that nine out of 10 Filipino patients administered stem cell treatment receive it for unproven and still experimental indications.
Last Wednesday, the leaders of close to 30 medical organizations, composed of specialists from various fields, gathered at the office of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) to reassert their recommendations to the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (PhilFDA) to regulate stem cell treatment (SCT) in the country.
The massive downpour earlier this week will certainly not be the last. Now, we realize that people who have been telling us the dire consequences of climate change more than 10 years ago were not shouting “wolf” without basis.
The stem cell plot thickens, and the controversy on the inappropriate use and gross misuse of this innovative treatment by some practitioners has seemingly reached tilting point.
