preMEDitated

She was introduced to us near noon time.
The left side of her body was partially paralyzed. Her speech and facial expressions were normal, but her left hand and foot could as well be just dead weights. Yet though her movements were strictly limited, her speech was definitely unhindered.
I was standing at her bedside inquiring at her medical history when she reached out her hand and slightly touched my finger. My finger reflexively drew itself back. I hurriedly righted its position as I remembered our doctors’ lessons.
As medicine became highly technical, the personal side of medicine was soon forgotten. Patients became persons to be cured first, and actual persons second. The rise of harassment cases have also been of no help. Many doctors soon stopped touching their patients unless otherwise necessary.
Yet according to our doctors’ experience, many patients, particularly the elderly, crave physical touch. They want human comfort and human empathy more than they need drugs and therapy.
She answered our questions coherently. And for someone who just woke up, she was talkative. I could feel that a relationship was being formed, and as much as I would have liked to not be involved personally, it was impossible not to be involved. A sacred relationship was being built between us, a relationship protected from outside intrusion by the patient-physician confidentiality.
Then something hit me. As she shared her life and as we performed tests on her, I could not help but realize what patients saw in doctors. I was aware of a heavy weight that seemed to fall on my shoulders. They viewed doctors as saviors, whether they may like it or not. A whole legal and ethics system has even evolved because of this expectation.
I almost shuddered at this realization. Even though doctors may be seen as the very image of high status and freedom, in reality they are as paralyzed as our patient, unable to move to their full potential, constrained by laws, expectations, and duty; yet inwardly also craving to be treated as human, not as saviors or gods…

If you are a woman and drink diet sodas, then you need to know about recent findings regarding diet sodas and kidney problems.
A recent study presented presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s 2009 annual meeting in San Diego, California reports that women who drink diet sodas are at greater risk for developing kidney disease. The study used kidney function data from 3,256 women enrolled in the Nurse’s Health Study to arrive at the conclusion.
The study also noted that sodas with sugar based sweeteners were found to have no effect on kidney function decline. A diet of two or more diet sodas a day, however, was associated with a doubling of the risk for kidney disease.
The mechanism for kidney decline associated with artificial sweeteners is as of yet unknown. Nevertheless although men were not included in the study, it is safe to assume that diet sodas could also damage their kidneys.

Aside from being used for texting, calling, and playing innumerable games; the cell phone now has a chance for a more health oriented reason for existence. It may one day be used to diagnose diseases from the way a cough sounds.
Coughs are formed from a complex process starting as a sudden inhalation followed by silent expulsion of air, culminating in a burst of sound that can give clues to a patient’s condition. For example, a cough from a healthy individual is 2% louder than a sick one. Other factors such as the amount of mucus involved and the duration of the cough could aid in a quick diagnosis of disease conditions.
Unfortunately, variations of such sounds are too subtle for doctor’s and nurse’s ears to detect. Nevertheless, thanks funding from the Bill & Melissa Gates Foundation, a research firm called STAR Analytical Services is working on a project titled “Using Acoustic Analysis of Cough to Diagnosis Pneumonia.”
STAR would gather the characteristics of coughs from to produce a database that would be used to form cough profiles of diseases. In the future, it may then be possible for populations without immediate access to health professionals to receive prompt diagnosis and treatment from them via the use of cell phones.
A similar study that has also received funding from the Gates foundation attempts to bypass some of the work of health professionals. Thanks to Udantha Abeyratne of the University of Queensland in Australia, a software installed on cell phones or MP3 players may one day be used to diagnose disease based on coughs.
Anyone want to play iCough?

Source: STAR Analytical Services Press Release

The word was on the tip of my tongue, but it was stuck there –for almost a week!
My quest started last Saturday night when during a community bible study group, I joined in a conversation regarding the concept of “messiah” in books.
Our neighbor said that the Wheel of Time concept of “messiah” was different from that of the Bible. Rand al’ Thor was just the same as his opponent, the Dark Lord. Rand did not embody the virtues of Christ.
In an effort to defend the series, I presented Egwene*. She literally became a Servant of All, even to her enemies. She kept getting punished even though she broke no law. In effect, she embodied the virtues of Christ.
Someone else mentioned the Dune concept of messiah. Our neighbor said it was just the same as that of the Wheel of Time.

That effectively concluded the conversation, but it was not the end for me. I could not remember the Bene Gessrit word for their “messiah”. I knew the word meant, “One who could be many places”, but for the life of me I could not make out its translation. It felt shameful. I have read Dune countless of times, but that one word evaded me.
The word Muad’dib kept creeping to my mind. I had to tell myself over and over that it’s not the one. Muad’dib meant desert mouse.
Then I challenged myself to remember that word without searching the Internet or scanning the glossary of terms in Dune. The hint of the word kept creeping up for the next few days but I still could not recall it in full. A few days later, while staring at the cover of Dune a thought began to take shape in my mind. A few seconds later, I remembered the term Lisan al’gaib.
It sounded right, but it felt a bit wrong. I quickly looked at the book glossary and realized my mistake. Lisan al’gaib meant “The Voice from Another World”. It was a Dune term for their messiah, but it was not the Bene Gessrit term. It was a Fremen term.
I kept staring at my Dune collection. I felt the inner workings of my mind reorient itself. It was as if a fog was about to be lifted to reveal a secret. I could make out some details of the word but it was not yet enough. Then I voiced out words that sounded like the Dune messiah.
Hararazak?
Kwaszarark?
Then something clicked in my mind. It felt as if the clouds were finally lifted. The term was finally revealed. It was as clear to me as if I had always known it.
Kwisatz Haderach.
Those were two words. No wonder I had a hard time trying to recall it. I was stuck with trying to find one word, when what I was actually looking for was two words.
Nevertheless, the experience made me realize something. It was not that I finally remembered Kwisatz Haderach. It was the strange but welcome feeling in my mind when it seemed that puzzle pieces seeming to reorient themselves to form one giant picture.
Has my mentat potential finally awakened?!

*Yeah. I’m one big fan of hers.

This is a SPOILER FILLED review. Don’t read if you are offended by spoilers like me.

I just finished Robert Jordan’s and Brandon Sanderson’s The Gathering Storm, and I have one word for it: AWESOME!
Although it can be rightly said that Bran is not RJ, he still delivered a novel fit to be numbered in the epic saga that is the Wheel of Time. RJ will always be THE author of the Wheel of Time. Bran, however, has proven that he is worthy to deliver the voice of RJ to us hopeful fans.
I loved every word of Book 12 of the Wheel of Time. It is one of the few books that have accompanied me till the first signs of sunrise. As I read the book, there were times when I had to force myself away from it knowing that a sleepless night would mean that I would have a hard time comprehending it by day. And now that I got that off my chest. It’s time for the gritty part of my review.
I found one chapter that was really off from the rest of the book. Towards the middle part of the book, Mat and company found a strange village. After following the prompting of the phantom dice in his head, they discover its secret. It turns out that the Pattern snaps in the village every sunset. All hell breaks loose as Mat and company stave off violent mobs of otherwise ordinary townspeople suddenly turned into agile zombies, or what passes off as zombies in Randland.
It was a shameless filler chapter. Other than that, I still think Mat is cool. If only he could drive sense into that bald head of that Seanchean Nine Moons: Tuon.
I was disappointed with the Semirrhage arc. After weeks of grueling her into breaking short of physical torture, Branjordan kills her off! Alright, she did have her moment of glory as she snapped the male a’dam (domination band) on Rand. Even though it was literally a gripping scene, I was left frustrated after that chapter. It’s not because Rand becomes super emo after, it’s just that I wanted to know more about her history and the workings of her mind.
Despite that shocking encounter, there was, however, one redeeming factor for me immediately after that scene. Rand kicking Cadsuane out of his entourage just got me. Don’t get me wrong. I love Cadsuane, but her utter dislike of men just galls me. She needed to learn a lesson. Fortunately, she got that from the father and son duo of Tam and Rand. Get that, old hag!
Then there’s Rand. His pseudo emo style was gnawing at me. He was acting like a teenager recently spurned by his love. He keeps saying, “I must be strong.”
“I must not feel, because I would only get hurt or hurt others if I do.”
“I must be harder than steel. I must be cuendillar.”
He even changes his voice into monotone to fit his new outlook in life. He was too full of himself and his acting that I desperately wanted to shout at him, “For the love of the Light, CUT IT OUT ALREADY!” He did that with a hearty laugh at the end of the book, but not before he breaks his vow against hurting any woman even if she may be the most violent, sadistic, and perverted Darkfriend of all. Oops, there were two women.
Yet Egwene bags the prize on this book. I must admit that I used to hate her. She was the fifth wheel of every group that she belonged to in the book. Her character used to be ordinary and plain. That all changed when she was taken in by the Aiel. I started to liker her then, but grew to love her when she was raised Amyrlin by the rebels.
Light! She was awesome. Breaking no laws but being punished nonetheless; never complaining; never surrendering; changing hearts, minds, and opinions; she was a beacon of hope in the Tower.
Then when the Seanchan raid came my emotions were so mixed that I just couldn’t understand what I was feeling. Egene was vindicated. She rallied the novices, teaching them to Link so that she could hold as much of the Power beyond her forkroot altered system could handle. Then she retrieved a sa’angreal which made her unstoppable, godlike, and impossible. Damane had their a’dams suddenly fall off. Sul’dam burned to ashes as they stood in shock. Raken and to’raken fell from the skies, and she was responsible for all of this.
It came to a point that I wanted to stop because the scenes held too much in them. I wanted to savor every moment of Egwene’s vindication. Yet I could not stop from what was unfolding before me. My emotions were so mixed that I got confused as to what I should be feeling. Should I be angry at the Seanchan, the White tower, or at Elaida? Should I be happy at the vindication of Egwene, at her
competence, or at her power? Should I feel sad about the fate of the captured channelers?
Then I noticed something strange around my eyes. I touched them. My fingers felt a sheen of moisture. Was I really crying? I suddenly laughed at the absurdity of it. I was laughing and crying and being confused all at the same time.
Now there were a lot of other scenes that have struck me in the book, but those were the scenes that I remembered the most. The Gathering Storm was worth the wait of the interim after Knife of Dreams. Though I still mourn the passing of Robert Jordan, I am, however, thankful that Brandon Sanderson has made RJ’s vision alive.
Thank you RJ for creating the world of the Wheel of Time.
Thank you Bran for letting us continue to live in it even though its creator has gone.

I just tasted the much hyped miracle berry fruit. I already knew it would turn all things sour into sweet, but my experience of altered taste sensation felt almost otherworldly.


Miracle Berry Fruit

The miracle fruit otherwise known as Synspalum dulcificum was first used by tribes in West Africa. They ate the berries before they took their meals; which consisted of yams, sorghum, among other nasty stuff. Although documented by explorers such as Chevalier des Marchais among other individuals, it was unnoticed by everyone else until the Internet spread the news*.
After having obtained a berry through some bold means**, I solemnly held the fruit as I prepared to eat it. It was small and looked like a coffee berry. Then I ate it, making sure that the pulp made contact with as much of my tongue as possible. It tasted like a thin slice of Dragon fruit, unremarkable and forgettable. I wondered if the taste was because it was naturally bland or if it was due to its supposed miracle. Yet whatever questions regarding its effects flew from my mind as I soon experienced the miracle.
Click to read more

My condolence goes to everyone whose life was touched by the life of Corazon Cojuanco Aquino.

Her life was the last and final pillar of the EDSA Revolution. Ninoy’s death was the first. Cardinal Sin’s call was the second. She was the final piece in a construct of a swarm of humanity that effectively toppled a totalitarian regime and restored democracy.
Her death placed the country at a crossroads. Only time will tell if her funeral procession marked the last rattle of democracy in the country, or if it was another first cry of life.
She was also the last great Catholic in the country. All the priests and nuns in the country could not measure to the holiness that people now ascribe to her. And because she embodied the Catholic virtues in life, many Filipinos have canonized her in their hearts and now pray in her name.
Her death also placed Filipino Roman Catholicism at a crossroads. Only time will tell if it signaled the end of ubiquitous Catholic influence, or the resurgence of a Church whose members have largely ignored her dogmas and teachings.

Cory, Mother of Democracy, has left us to ourselves. We accept the inheritance she has have left us. May we not squander her last gift as we have done with her first…

I’m back!
The facebook powers that be have acted in mercy and reinstated my account. I got my Vamp back, but I’ll be abandoning him somewhat when he reaches Level 70. He isn’t content with other vamp blood. He wants to eat my time.

By 2017, women would outnumber men in the medical field according to the BBC.
This does not come as a surprise to me considering that the current male to female ratio in my med school is about 1:3. I don’t know about the other schools in the country, but I’m guessing that we have the same figures. I have, however, heard that PGH artificially sets their ratio at 1:1.
Pretty soon women would occupy most of health care leadership. We might even have a female Health Secretary in the near future! If that means clinical duties would be led by the “gentler” sex, then I bet all medical students, interns, and residents whether male or female would breathe a collective sigh of relief.
NO MORE 24-HOUR DUTIES! YES TO HIGHER PAY!
Then the remaining male medical professionals would be such a rarity that health institutions would do everything to get a hold on them. Ahhh. It’s just the best of both worlds…

PS Not only would doctors of both sexes benefit from this, patients would also benefit from this. They would be treated with more empathy as this would soon become standard policy should females overrun the health sector…

Considering the tensions in Tehran, it is surprising to note that foreign media are unusually silent on the issue. They may report about it halfheartedly, but it seems like they are playing under the government’s strings. They seem to be downplaying the protests as minor.
Fortunately for the Iranian people, the world has Twitter. Gone are the days when people waited for media to deliver news. Now they can have it in real time. Here are some Twitter links from Iran and her supporters. Btw, the government is blocking some of these channels. Just keep updated. You’d soon get a link to another channel if you’re following.
#iran9
#iranelection
#Tehran

Here are some videos of the protests.  I must admit that they practically changed my apathetic status to one of support.  Now I know Iranians want freedom!

So I have this message for the Iranian people!

RISE UP, PERSIANS! TAKE BACK WHAT WAS STOLEN FROM YOU. RETURN FREEDOM TO YOUR LAND!