Exercise Can Help Cancer Patients
Most cancer patients, if not all, complain of severe fatigue and the usual advice by doctors is to rest and take vitamin tablets. Recent research has shown that the two things that help cancer fatigue are exercise and psychotherapy.
For anything, from heart attack to limb pains, people are advised rest while, in essence, exercise is a better painkiller than most deadly painkiller pills. To give you an example, when you feel tired and depressed, take a walk for an hour, or even half an hour, and you will feel decidedly better and more relaxed. Fear is a killer in cancer patients. While cancer might kill, fear kills for sure. Since fear is in the mind and mind is not in the brain, no chemical reductionist drug will help treat fear. Anxiolytics and sleeping pills will only worsen the fear. The best treatment for any mind-related problem is the use of another trained mind (psychotherapist) that can empathise with the patient.
Auto-immune Diseases and Dementia
Incidence of auto-immune diseases, where our own body cells destroy other cells, and dementia are going up. An effort was made by a group of researchers at Oxford University to see if there is a relationship between the two, in a large group of patients admitted to the University hospital between 1998 and 2001. How many with auto-immune diseases later developed dementia? Seemingly, there was a 20% increase in the incidence of dementia in the cohort who had treatment for auto-immune diseases in the past. Of the 25 auto-immune conditions analysed, 18 were shown to be significantly associated with dementia. However, this observational retrospective study cannot determine a cause-effect relationship. The cohort is also not very large, although more than 100,000 auto-immune disease patients were studied. Many prescription drugs end up in increasing the incidence of dementia. Auto-immune diseases have a long list of drugs for controlling them, although there is no definite cure. In this context, a detailed study of how antipsychotic drugs have resulted in the present epidemic of dementia was done by a professor of psychiatry, Grace Elizabeth Jackson. Her study, published as a book, Dementia—a Drug-induced Crime on Mankind, is a seminal contribution to the field. This book might guide researchers to see if other reductionist chemicals could do the same.
Laughter, the Best Medicine
As the philosopher, Bertrand Russell, said: “Laughter is the most inexpensive and most effective wonder drug. Laughter is a universal medicine.” Over the years, researchers have pitted its abilities against a range of medical conditions. Though small groups were studied, the findings seem to confirm Russell’s prescription. Cardiovascular health, chronic obstructive airways disease, depression and vascular diseases, like high blood pressure, are all known to benefit from a hearty laugh. Studies of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) show that laughter stimulates almost all areas of the brain. Laughing with somebody is bio-positive, while laughing at somebody could be
bio-negative.
Dangerous Hospital Flooring
Astudy of six hospitals in the US recently showed that the floors of patients’ rooms, which are not generally considered to be the source of any nosocomial (originating in hospital) infections, harboured the most deadly MRSA, VRSA and also Clostridium defficile germs. Hence, floors could be the source of one of the most dangerous causes of death, disability and prohibitive cost of treatment. Although the floor is classified as ‘non-touch surface’, germs from such a floor could indirectly reach seriously ill patients through dropped items like blood pressure cuffs etc, “Even though most facilities believe they are taking the proper precautions, this study points out the importance of ensuring cleanliness of the hospital environment and the need for education of both staff and patients on this issue,” says the study.
