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Daily Dose Of Interesting Information

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#73. Escapism and Entertainment!



Escapism is the mental diversion from the daily stresses and strains, using entertainments and recreations. It includes all the actions done by us to fight depression, loneliness and sadness.

 Several industries have popped up, helping people relax and relieve their tension. The most important forms of entertainment as escapism are fiction, literature, music, sports, television, internet and video games.

 Even normal daily activities like eating and sleeping become means of escapism when indulged in excess. Karl Marx wrote that Religion is the opium of the people. Even religion, drugs, drinks, pornography are various means of escapism.

 Some people are of the opinion that the very idea of escapism is fundamentally and exclusively negative. Escapists are branded as unhappy people who are unable to connect with reality, meaningfully.

 There are many safe and acceptable forms of escapism as entertainments. An entertainment is an event, a performance, an activity designed to give pleasure to the audience. The various popular entertainments are games, amusement parks, cartoons, comics, dances, drama, gambling, museums, music, magic shows, night life, pets, tourism, toys and variety entertainment.

 It is amazing how much of our time is spent in pursuit of entertainment and escapism. Some people seem to have all the free time in the world and they are determined to spend it watching “the idiot box” dawn to dusk! Eventually they themselves become “couch potatoes”.

 Remember the golden rule; anything in excess is not good for you.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#74. PSI Phenomena.


PSI phenomena are a collective name given to the various unusual mental phenomena including Telepathy, Precognition, Clairvoyance and Psycho-Kinesis. Ordinary people can perform extraordinary feats, which defy all known physical laws, by entering into their Para normal states of Conscience.

 Hidden powers of human mind have been known for a long time. The Society for Psychical Research was formed in England, in 1882. Here all the “PSI” phenomena are subjected to severe scrutiny. High standard of research is maintained. The experiments conducted over a century have yielded remarkable results.

 Telepathy is the most widely known PSI phenomenon. In this, the thoughts of one person are transferred to another– no matter by how far they were separated.

 Clairvoyance is closely related to telepathy. It is not acquired by any traditional methods or means. Here the knowledge is not passed from one person to another. If a pack of cards is shuffled and a person is able to guess correctly the top card, then it is Clairvoyance.

 In Psycho-kinesis, physical objects are moved by the mental force, without actually handling or touching them. Uri Geller had such a strong mental force that he could actually bend spoons, just by looking at them!

 Precognition is to know what is going to happen, before it does happen. Many people have reported about their dreams–which later came true.

 Extra Sensory Perception known ESP was tested by a simple and easy experiment using Zener cards. These are 25 in number. Each one of these five simple patterns square, circle, plus, star and wavy lines is printed on 5 cards, totaling to 25 cards.

 Two persons were put in two separate rooms. One of the persons drew out the cards in random order and the other person guessed it. In one such experiment, a subject was able to guess all the 25 cards correctly, establishing the existence of the power of ESP.

 Despite the numerous experiments conducted over a century, much is yet to be discovered with regard to PSI phenomena. The best thing we can do now is to keep our minds open for further discoveries.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#75. Personal Space.


Personal space is similar to an invisible bubble surrounding you. When a person moves so close as to compress your personal bubble of space, you feel uncomfortable and challenged.

 Every one’s personal space is different. How closely you stand to a person while talking to him or her, depends on whether the person is a stranger, an acquaintance, a friend, a sibling, a parent or a lover!

 The better we know a person, smaller will be the size of the bubble. The bubble is larger for casual acquaintances and largest for perfect strangers. The bubble is larger for two men than for two women. The size of the bubble also depends on the different cultures.

 When two people have an argument, the first thing they do is to move closer, invading each others personal space. This is called “getting in some one’s face”. People demand to “have an elbow room” to feel free and not suffocated.

 Edward. T. Hall studied the personal spaces between all combination of people and here are his findings.

 Intimate space is one and a half feet or less. Personal space is 4 feet. Social space is 12 feet and public space is 25 feet. No wonder the podium of the speakers is far away from the audience. If the crowd of strangers were to be placed nearer, the speaker himself would feel challenged by the audience.

 At times we are not able to maintain the personal space. When we are in a crowded lift or train or bus, we have to be nearer than this space limit. But we look away from the people standing near to us, so that we won’t appear aggressive or nosy!

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#76. Why Sensitive?


 It is the wide spread belief that women are more emotional than men. They are also more emotionally expressive than men. They have more intense emotions, more fears, more sadness and more guilty feelings than men.

 Are these due the differences in the physical and mental make up of the men and women?

 The differences are due to many reasons.

 Women appear to recall an emotion in greater detail than men. Women ruminate about an experience, thus creating and developing more emotional attachments to it. This helps them to recall the experience with greater accuracy.

 For women, the experience of an emotion and the expression of the emotion, become one and the same. They have better vocabulary and better ways of expressing their feelings.

 Women have more expressive faces and eyes than men. Women benefit more by a greater degree of emotionality.

 Women have a higher necessity and motivation for intimacy. They have greater vigilance over their personal relationships. They try to set right their strained relationships. When the relationship becomes hopeless, the women are the first ones to get out of it, unscathed.

 Women are supposed to be the weaker sex since they are physically weak. They need some one stronger to defend them and take care of them. They can achieve this, only by developing and maintaining healthy and satisfactory relationships.

 This is made possible by their more sensitive disposition, to their own emotions as well those of the people around them.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#77. Drugs and Drinks!



Drug awareness is on the increase today, but we all tend to forget that alcohol is also as addictive as a drug and as damaging too! It gives rise to several other social and physical problems in a person who takes to drinks.

 The effect of alcohol on a human brain is complex. Moderate drinking seems to reduce the person’s tension, fear and inhibition and elevates his mood. Heavier drinking cause irritability and abrupt mood swings making a person feel ‘down and out’. Most murders of strangers are committed under the influence of alcohol.

 A psychoactive drug is a chemical that acts on the central nervous system and alters the brain function. The person’s perception, mood and behavior are temporarily changed. Fusion of senses, increased alertness and euphoria created by the drug make a person sink deeper and deeper into drug abuse.

 Drugs which produce hallucinations change the way in which a person sees his inner and outer worlds. Sounds may be altered, color may be intensified and time comes to a grinding halt. The drug user becomes disoriented, panicky and is often dangerous to the people around him.

 A host of symptoms give away the drug addict. Sleeplessness, blood shot red eyes, vomiting, diarrhea, dilated pupils, watery eyes and runny nose are the symptoms parents can not and should not miss. Other symptoms are loss of appetite, changes in personality, mood swings and avoidance of social interaction etc.

 Children must be encouraged take up other interesting activities like games, team sports, movies and music. They must be kept away from parties where drinks and drugs flow freely. Parents must become good friends of their children and teach them to say a firm “NO” whenever drinks or drugs are brought to them. Parents themselves must stay away from drinks and drugs and set good examples to their children.

 Today creating drug awareness and drug rehabilitation are the major tasks in several countries worldwide. Remember the old adage,” Prevention is better than cure.”

Visalakshi Ramani
 
[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif] Dear friends,
The following article has already appeared in a different thread on 10-09-2010 and has enjoyed the maximum viewership among all my blogs at 465 views till today.
Still I am posting it here since it actually belongs to this thread and also for the benefit of the new members who might not have read it so far.
with warm regards,
Visalakshi Ramani.[/FONT]
 
#78. Varieties of Intelligence.


A high I.Q is required for academic excellence and it is readily recognized and widely acclaimed. But there are many other types of intelligences—equally important and equally great!

 “Word smart” persons possess Linguistic Intelligence. These people can express complex meanings and emotions in simple words, both accurately and beautifully. Poets, novelists, journalists and public speakers belong to this category.

 “Reasoning smart” persons possess Logical and Mathematical Intelligence. These people can calculate, reason out, quantify and form hypothesis. They are good in inductive as well as deductive methods of reasoning. Scientists, detectives and mathematicians belong to this group.

 “Picture Smart” persons possess Spatial Intelligence. These people can imagine in three dimensions. They can form mental images, allocate space correctly, manipulate images, create graphics and are artistic. Sailors, pilots, sculptors, painters and architects belong to this category.

 “Musical Smart” person possess Musical intelligence. They have a natural capacity to distinguish between various notes, pitches, timbres, tones and rhythms. Composers and conductors, musicians, vocalists and sensitive listeners all fall in this category.

 “Body Smart” persons possess Body Kinesthetic Intelligence. They have the capacity to manipulate objects. They have physical skills and a perfect sense of timing. They have a sense of the body-mind-union. Athletes, dancers, surgeons and persons good in crafts fall in this category.

 “Self Smart” persons possess Intrapersonal intelligence. They have the capacity to understand themselves as well as the feelings, thoughts and emotions of the others. Psychologists, philosophers and great spiritual leaders fall in this category.

 “People Smart” persons possess Interpersonal intelligence. They excel in interpersonal dealings. They understand the sense, the moods and temperament of the people they are dealing with and do so effectively. They can communicate perfectly. Teachers, social workers, actors and politicians fall in this category.

 “Nature smart” persons possess Naturalistic Intelligence. They have the ability to recognize various plants, animals, rocks, trees and clouds etc.These people enjoy fishing, hiking, camping and all out door activities. Persons with Naturalistic Intelligence show interest in Biology, Astronomy, Zoology and Meteorology.

 “Existence smart” persons possess Existentialistic Intelligence. They enjoy the process of thinking and questioning.They are curious to know about life, death, life after death and the ultimate realities. Aristotle, Plato and Socrates belong to this category of persons with Existential Intelligence.

 We need people with every kind of intelligence to make the world attractive and beautiful. All of them may not score the same I.Q, but are nevertheless equally great, in their chosen field of activity.

 Find out your “special smartness” and cultivate it to become a successful person in life.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 79. The wonderful human body.

The human body is a wonderful creation of God, competing with the human mind in its complexity and diversity of functions-being performed seemingly effortlessly!

The skin in a person's body has two million pores and a sweat gland to supply each of these pores.

A human skeleton consists of more than 200 distinct bones.

The blood passing through the heart per minute is equal to the total volume of blood in the body.

The capacity of the lungs is 320 cubic inches.

The total length of all the respiratory ducts put together is 9 miles!

The volume of air breathed per hour is 3000 cubic feet per person.

The Human stomach produces gastric acid-strong enough to dissolve razor blades!

The number of muscles in a human body exceeds 500.

The number of heart beats per day is a 100,000!

The average intake of food and drinks is 5.5 pounds per day.

This becomes a massive one ton of food and drink annually per person.

Let us look into some of the astounding facts about the human body![/FONT]
 
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#80. The Human Aura.


Each of us has a glow of colored light surrounding our whole body, called the Human Aura. The glow is invisible to most of us, most of the time. Only very rarely can people register the aura visually.

 The aura is an electromagnetic field that surrounds every object, every organism and every living thing in the Universe. The Human Energy Field (H.E.F) is a collection of electromagnetic energy of different densities, emitted by a living person.
The H.E.F is oval shaped and is also known as the Auric Egg. It can extend up to 1 meter on all the sides, above the head and also below the feet into the ground. Several colors appear, depending on the different densities.
The meaning of each color seen in the aura has been defined. Each of the colors has a positive as well as a negative aspect. The exact significance depends on the presence and state of the other colors in the aura.

A strong red indicates a willful personality. It may signify physical strength, powers of leadership as well as selfishness.

Green is the color of nature and healing. It might reveal a deceitful character.

Orange indicates good health. Strong yellow means intellectual abilities.
Blue refers to the person’s religious and spiritual states. Deeper the blue, the more enlightened the person is supposed to be.

Black is the color of evil, malice and misfortunes.

In 1973, Dr. Lyall Watson suggested that aura is a physical emanation, visible only to persons who are sensitive to low frequency light. This idea lends credibility to the reports of halos and auras seen surrounding the saints and holy men.

The effect of profound spirituality appears to heighten the normally invisible aura in such a way that, even normal people lacking the special sensitive eyes can see them.

Aura is a real phenomenon and not just an illusion or imagination!

Visalakshi Ramani
 
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#2.The Homunculus.


 Homunculus is a funny and distorted drawing of a small human figure, the sizes of whose limbs are proportional to their sensitivity. The more sensitive parts of the body are the hands, lips, face and tongue, since they have more receptors than the knees or the back.

 In many ways, the sense of touch stands apart from the other senses. It is not localized in a specialized organ like the eyes and ears but covers the entire surface of the body.

 There are two types of touch receptors–one of them dealing with touching sensation and the other dealing with pain and temperatures.

 Touch receptors are nerve cells that have globular swellings on their terminals. Pain and temperature receptors have free nerve endings and lack the globular swellings on their terminals.

 These receptors feed into the central nervous system in such a way that it can create a map. Our central nervous system preserves the map even to the level of the brain.

 These receptors are not evenly distributed all over the body. More Cerebral cortex is used to process the feeling of touch from the more sensitive areas like the hands, lips, face and tongue.

 When the figure of a man is drawn with his limbs proportional to the cerebral cortex used in the process of touch, we get this strange and distorted diagram called Homunculus.

 More sensitive organs appear magnified and the less sensitive organs appear diminished giving rise to a funny manikin!

Visalakshi Ramani
 
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#82. Humors and Personalities.


By the word personality, we mean a person’s style of thoughts and his behavior. The word can be traced to the Physician Hippocrates of ancient Greece (4000 B.C)
Hippocrates believed that a person’s personality depended on his body fluids known as Humors. Basically the personalities could be divided in to four categories.

 Excessive yellow bile made a person “Choleric’ or angry. Excessive black bile made a person “Melancholic” or sad. Excessive phlegm made a person “Phlegmatic” or lethargic. A person who was free from these three defects was “sanguine” or well adjusted.

 These four types were considered mutually exclusive and all the people will fit into any one of these four types. A person can not be part Choleric and part Melancholic. When the humors are well balanced the person is healthy. When one of the humors is in excess or deficit, it affects the health as well as the personality of a person.

 Choleric person is a doer and a leader. He is ambitious, energetic, passionate, dominant, short tempered and easily irritable. Many political leaders and military leaders fall into this group.

 A Melancholic person is thoughtful, kind, considerate, creative and artistic. He seeks perfection and gets dissatisfied and depressed easily. Poets and artists fall into this group.

 A Phlegmatic person is calm, emotional, self-content, shy, lazy, consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, observant and reliable. Administrators and diplomats fall into this category.

 A Sanguine person is light hearted, fun loving, spontaneous, confident, impulsive, indulgent and entertaining. Day dreamers and indulgers fall into this group.

 As we know variety is the spice of life. It takes up all types of people to make this world an interesting and livable place.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#83. Brain Asymmetry!





At the first glance, the human brain appears to be perfectly symmetrical, with its two hemispheres forming mirror image of each other. Closer scrutiny reveals that the brain is lop sided, both in its structure and its function. The left hemisphere is slightly larger than the right and is connected differently.

 The Split brain pattern allows several different operations to take place at the same time. Our ability to do multiple tasks is due to the hemispherical design of the brain. The Dual Core Processor of the modern computers is similar to the two hemispheres of the brain.

 Asymmetry is absolutely essential in order to do even simple tasks we take for granted. When we talk, the left hemisphere processes the verbal language and the right hemisphere interprets the tone.

 When we imagine a scene, the left hemisphere provides all the details and the right hemisphere handles their shapes, sizes and locations and fit them in correctly. Unless both the hemisphere work together, we can never be as efficient as we are now.

 Working together or Synchronization of the hemispheres does not mean that both the halves process the information in the same way. In a normal brain, the two halves can communicate freely and fluently and work closely, with out dominating each other.

 Right handed people have dominant left hemisphere and vice versa. Both the hemispheres have to work in unison for a smooth and successful performance. One half overly dominating the other is a bad thing.

 In some rare cases, the connection between two halves of the brain is severed by Lobotomy. The behavior of these ‘split-brain-persons’ becomes very weird.

 Damage to the right side of the brain makes a person indifferent and uncaring. The damage to the left side of the brain leaves a person depressed and speechless.

 Human brain is indeed an incredibly complex organ with billions of cells and the working of these cells is yet to be fully understood.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#84. Why S.A.D?





 “S.A.D” is nothing but the Seasonal Affective Disorder, which sadly affects more women and children than adult males! “Winter-blues” among the women and “the-growing -pain” among children are the most common forms of S.A.D.

 Winter blues may cause an obsessive craving for food and depression. It may make a person irritable, unfocused, sleepy, hungry and angry–all at the same time. The S.A.D victims find their energy drained to such low levels, that leading a normal life becomes very difficult.

 Doctors at the National Institute of Health at Maryland -USA- experimented widely and concluded that the shorter days and the sparse sun light seen in the Autumn and Winter are responsible for the onset of Winter blues.

 The remedy was “The Light Therapy”, in which the victims had to sit in front of Ultraviolet balanced lamps for 2 to 3 hours. The increased hours of “daylight” dispelled the winter blues in a few days.

 The other possible cause for the S.A.D might be the production of a hormone Melatonin, deep inside the brain, by the pineal gland. Melatonin is secreted only in the dark. Daylight halts its production.

 This hormone seems to affect the the sleeping patterns and the emotional state of mind of a person. It may also be responsible in keeping the energy level of the body in rhythm with the cycle of day and night. Probably other hormones, unknown till now, may have a hand in causing the S.A.D.

 Though the actual causes of S.A.D are yet to be pin pointed, its cure has found several new applications already.”The Light therapy” may help a person to overcome jet-lag, as he travels across different time-zones. Workers on night shift and insomniacs may benefit from the Light Therapy.

 Yes! The future of “The Light Therapy” looks very bright indeed!

 Visalakshi Ramani
 
#85. Pain Gate Theory.


Pain originates within the body and is difficult to be measured objectively. Pain perception is highly subjective. It is a matter of one’s mind. Cultural factors, personality and mental attitudes influence the sensation of pain. Extroverts report more pain than introverts.

 Whether or not we feel the pain is determined by more than the nature and intensity of the external stimulus. Women seem to bear the pain better than their male counterparts. The feat performed by the Indian fakirs by sleeping on a bed of nails would be unthinkable–even in the wildest dreams of the westerners.

 That the pain can be controlled by thought alone has led to the new theory of pain perception, called The Pain Gate Theory. In order to feel a pain, the pain signal must be strong enough to force its way through the pain gate–a real anatomical structure in the spinal cord.

 This pain gate protects us from trivial pains and aches. Cortex which produces endorphins, the natural pain killers in the brain, feeds this gate. Its release can effectively close the pain gate and decrease the level of the pain experienced.

 Nerve fibers with small diameter carry the pain stimuli through the pain gate. Nerve fibers with larger diameter passing through the same gate can inhibit those pain signals carried by the smaller ones.

 Chemical released in response to the pain stimuli also influences whether the gate is open or shut to the pain signals. The pain gate can be shut, by stimulating the nerves carrying the touch signals, through massage techniques, rubbing, application of ice packs etc.

 Acupuncture stimulates the release of natural opioid, chemicals inhibiting the transmission of pain signals. So to say, “We can fight one pain with another pain”.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
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உலகை அழவைத்த உறிட்லருக்கும் அரை மீசை உலகை சிரிக்க வைத்த சார்லி சப்ளினுக்கும் அரை மீசை.

எப்போதும் காற்று வீசும் திசையிலேயே தலை வைத்துப் படுக்கும் மிருகம் நாய்.
 
ஒரு கண்ணில் பார்வை போய்விட்டால் பாதி கண் பார்வை போய்விட்டது என்று அர்த்தம் அல்ல. பார்வைத் திறனில் ஐந்தில் ஒரு பங்கு பார்வைதான் குறைந்து போகிறது.

* அமெரிக்காவின் கலிபோர்னியா நகரில் 6 டிரைவர்கள் இயேசு கிறிஸ்து என்ற பெயரில் டிரைவிங் லைசென்ஸ் பெற்றுள்ளனர்.
 
* அமெரிக்காவின் கலிபோர்னியா நகரில் 6 டிரைவர்கள் இயேசு கிறிஸ்து என்ற பெயரில் டிரைவிங் லைசென்ஸ் பெற்றுள்ளனர்.

A honest doubt!

Are those people ready to get crucified like Christ?

Another serious doubt!!

What are those people doing in a thread started exclusively for handing out

serious and useful information in the form of nicely written articles??:typing:
 
#86. A Rare Disorder!



Visual perception is one of the most complex tasks performed by the brain. If anything goes wrong between the reception of the light rays by the eyes and its perception by the brain, the effects become alarmingly dramatic!

 Visual Agnosia is a very rare visual disorder, in which a person, who has healthy and fully operational visual system, has difficulty in interpreting the information presented to his brain.

 Other visual disorders involve slow degradation of the image, blurring of vision, loss of color vision etc. But in Visual Agnosia, the fault lies in the gross error of perception.

 The words “Foot” and “Food”, though very much similar in form and sound, give rise to completely different images in our mind, when we read them. Each of these words is a separate unit with a different meaning and different image.

 Our visual perception seems to work in the same way by seeing or perceiving objects in their complete forms as whole objects and not as a sum total of their different constituent parts.

 Persons suffering from Visual Agnosia, may be able to perceive the different details of the object, but are unable to put them together and identify the object as a whole. They may have difficulty in recognizing familiar faces and even inanimate objects used everyday.

 In a classic case quoted by the neurologist Oliver Sacks, a man mistook his wife to be hat in a book of the same title. He lifted her hand and put it on his head–as if it were a hat!

 Visual Agnosia can get a person into a real lot of troubles. Mercifully, God has made this disorder a very rare one.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#87. A King’s Touch!



In Medieval times, the crude cures offered by the doctors were more terrible than the diseases themselves! So many people would rather pray to the Saints for a speedy recovery, than go to a doctor. They believed that Saints can make the Almighty God take mercy on the afflicted persons and restore good health.

 Each disease had its own Saint-Doctor who could get it cured. Saint Vitus cured chorea, Saint Maur cured gout, Saint Anthony cured skin diseases and Saint Pius cured paralysis.

 Six different saints including Saint Valentine were invoked in the prayers, to ward off Plague—the greatest terror of that time!

 In England and France any one suffering from Scrofula, a disfiguring form of tuberculosis, may pray to Saint Marcouff or go to his king seeking relief. The royal touch of the king was supposed to cure the disease.

 The disease scrofula was called the “king’s evil” and only a “king’s touch” could cure it! Saint Marcouff had a healing hand. He passed on this gift of healing hands to the kings of France. When the king touched the swollen glands in the neck, healing was supposed to take place.

 In England the king stroked the affected part with an ‘angel’- a special coin minted, to be given away to the affected person. He should wear it as a talisman around his neck until complete cure took place.

 The healing days were the holy days, especially The Good Friday. Thousands of people used to flock around the king, begging to be cured. Between 1660 and 1664, Charles II is supposed to have touched more than 92,000 victims. In 1684, there was such a big crowd seeking cure, that seven persons got trampled to death.

 This custom was discontinued in England in the 18th century and in France after the French revolution.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#88. Is Fever a Favor?


For more than 2000 years, doctors have believed that fever was Nature’s way of burning out the poison, which made people ill! But in the 20th Century, the doctors developed a different view. They started using drugs to bring down the high temperature of the patients.

 But again from the recent researches, it appears that our ancient doctors were right after all. Fever plays an important part in the body’s process of healing itself.

 The research began in 1975. Matthew. J. Kluger of the University of Michigan Medical School, decided to investigate fever using reptiles. Human body maintains a constant temperature but reptiles change their body temperatures to suit the temperature of its surroundings. He chose desert Iguanas—small American lizards– for his experiments.

 Kluger infected some of the Iguanas with bacteria and kept them in incubators at controlled temperatures. The ones which were kept at 104 degrees Fahrenheit raised their own body temperatures and developed a fever. Later they recovered from the infection induced by the bacteria.

 The other lizards kept at 93.2 degrees Fahrenheit, were unable to develop fever and died from the infection. These findings interested the doctors and other scientists. They have focused their attention on Hypothalamus–the part of the brain responsible for maintaining the body temperature around 98.6 degree F.

 When bacteria or viruses invade the blood stream, white blood cells rush to fight the harmful invaders and defend the body. They release a substance called “Endogenous Pyrogen” into the blood stream. This adjusts the thermostat in the hypothalamus and raises the body temperature.

 The higher body temperature stimulates the production of more white blood cells. The body’s defensive mechanism is reinforced with the arrival of the new cells and they try to identify and destroy the cause of illness.

 Not all fevers are beneficial. Prolonged fever at 102 F or more can stress out patients with heart or breathing problems. The temperature higher than 107 F is generally fatal and must be brought down quickly.

 A little touch of fever may be helpful but too much will be harmful.

 Visalakshi Ramani
 
#89. Phytochemical Boosters.





Here are six plants that add color, flavor, and taste to your food. Most important of all, they boost your health and immunity system. “Phys” means a plant and most phytochemicals have tongue-twisting fancy names. A small intake of these, in a regular basis, goes a long way to keep the body healthy and the immunity system vigorous.

 Garlic is the most ancient medicinal plant known to man. It is also the most wisely acclaimed. It is credited with ability to cure cancer and heart diseases. It is antibiotic and is a food with more than just medical benefits.

 The Alliums family which includes Garlic, onion and leeks contain a chemical called Allicin which curbs the cancer. Garlic lowers the cholesterol level by as much as 12%. Not all forms of garlic are equally effective. The most effective form is the raw garlic, chopped or crushed. One pearl a day is adequate.

 Spinach is dark green in color and contains “lutien” and “Zeaxanthin” which protect our eyes as we age. People who are over 55 years and eat 5 or 6 servings of spinach a week are only one-eighth likely to suffer from muscular degeneration (leading to blindness), as those who ate one serving or none per month. Five to six cups of spinach a week is adequate.

 Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower lower the risk of lung, stomach and the other cancers. The phytochemicals involved are “Glucosinolates”. One of them is Indole-3-carbinol. This protects against breast cancer. Several half-a-cup servings a day are adequate.

 Citrus fruits like orange, lemon, limes, and grape fruits provide vitamin C, folate and fiber, all of which reduce the risk of cancer. “Limonene” found in the pulp and the peeling of these fruits has helped the laboratory animals to fight tumors. Half a cup or more helps to keep good health.

 Grapes and their juices lower the risk of heart diseases. Red wine contains “flavonoids” and grape skin contains “phenolics”. Both these phytochemicals are beneficial. Non-drinkers can get the same protection by drinking purple grape juice or by eating red and black grapes. Two to four servings a day and wine in moderation help.

 Tomato has a carotenoid called “lycopene” which may prevent prostrate cancer. In an extensive study involving tens of thousands of men, it was found that, men who ate 10 or more servings of tomato based food per week had only half the risk of those who had 2 or less servings per week. Ketchup is rich in Lycopene. And helps fight lung and stomach cancer. One and a half cup of tomato sauce a week or 5 cups of tomatoes slices are adequate.

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#90. Why regain weight?


Ask any one who has been struggling to lose weight. He will say that it is difficult to lose weight but it is more difficult to keep it off! Why?

 A person’s body has a set number of fat cells. This is determined either at birth or infancy. This number of cells remains constant (or may increase) throughout the person’s life. It can never ever be decreased.

 “Set Point Theory” states that a person’s body is programmed to be in a certain weight range and the body will “fight tooth and nail” to remain in that range. During dieting a parson’s weight reduces visibly. But it always comes back–no matter how little he eats and how hard he works out in a gym. The body tries to retain its natural weight.

 During serious dieting, the body learns to use efficiently the few calories available for its various functions. The body temperature may fall down and metabolism slowed down. When the body gets more calories than what it needs, it speeds up metabolism and even maintains higher body temperature, in an effort to burn off the extra calories.

 It is possible to lose weight only be decreasing the size of the fat cells and not by decreasing their number. The brain always wants to trigger the body, to return the fat cells, to their original size. This means that the weight lost will be regained slowly and steadily.

 There is no way of testing to find out a person’s set point. The best way to find it out is to eat normally and exercise moderately and regularly. Long years of futile dieting will throw the metabolism out of gear and it may take up to a year for the system to be restored and the body to return to its normal weight range.

 Learning to accept the Set Theory will put an end to the vicious cycles of dieting with its “yo-yo” effect. If we learn to accept people as they are, irrespective of their size, height and color, the world will be a much better place to live in. People will be more relaxed, friendly and in better moods.

 After all, being thin is not necessarily the same as being happy!

Visalakshi Ramani
 
#91. How do we see?



In everyday speech, “I see” means “I understand”. Eyes are the direct extensions of the brain. Eyes are among the most sensitive and vulnerable organs in a human body. Eyes act like camera but they are also similar to a radio receiver.
Visible light is a member of the family of “Electromagnetic waves”—ranging from the long but low frequency radio waves, to the small but high frequency X Rays and Gamma Rays. Eyes can detect wavelengths shorter than one-thousandth of a millimeter.

 The wavelength of red light is 0.00072 mm. and that of the violet light is 0.00038 mm. All the other colours have wavelengths within this range. There are more than 125 million light sensitive cells in each eye. These nerve cells are of two types—the Rods and the Cones.

 Cones work in bright light and can detect the colours. Rods can work in dim light and near darkness but they cannot detect colours. All the objects appear monochromatic. The momentary blindness we feel when we move from a bright light to darkness or vice versa, is due to the time needed by the eyes to switchover one system to the other ( from cones to rods or vice versa).

 The Rods are scattered around the edge of the retina, away from the centre. So it is much easier to see the objects in the dark, when we are not directly looking at them! The Rods are amazingly sensitive and detect the light from a candle flame kept 5 miles away, in complete darkness.

 To process the information they receive, the nerve cells in the eye perform 10 billion calculations every second. During that one second the eye ball moves in it socket 100 times. This eye movement does not blur the vision. It actually helps to view the finer details and allows the brain to process the light falling on the eyes at different angles.

 Rays of light pass through the Cornea, at the front of the eye. The lens focuses them onto the retina—a region packed with light sensitive cells, The Rods and The Cones. A chemical reaction triggers the cells to send signals through the optic nerve to the brain. The brain integrates the information received and understands it.

 To be able to see, the eyes which are a rare combination of a radio receiver and a camera must be connected to a computer called the brain.

 Visalakshi Ramani
 
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