Water, hot water and a heart attack.

Water is clearly the most important nutrient and the most abundant substance in the human body. Water comprises about three quarters of the human mass and is a major component in every cell. In addition water is important to human health for many reasons including but not limited to the following:

Water is the containing medium for electrolytes and all other ions throughout the human body.

Some of these ions help to form electrical pathways for nerve functions.

Being 2% dehydrated can seriously degrade physical and mental functions.

Being 15% dehydrated is likely to be lethal.

Unlike vitamin deficiencies which can take weeks to make someone ill, a water deficiency can kill in days or even hours. Water is also very important for removing toxins from the human body. The body has four major ways of removing toxins which are:

Bowels

Urination

Perspiration

Processing of toxins by the liver

The first three of these four methods directly excrete water from the body. When dehydrated, the body will try to save water by minimizing the use of the first three functions and will force the liver to assume as much of the workload as possible. This extra work will place a heavy burden on the liver which still has other functions in addition to detoxification. Even then, the liver by itself will not be able to do all that work very efficiently and toxins will build up rapidly.
Water is also important to fitness and fat loss for several reasons including the following:
Water fills us up without adding any calories.
Dehydration will degrade a person’s ability to exercise and burn calories.
Dehydration will reduce protein synthesis which is needed to build or repair muscles.
It is normally recommended to drink about 2 to 3 quarts of water per day. However, this will vary with the size and activity level of the person as well as with the climate conditions. Either case, if your urine is bright yellow, then you need to drink more water. Also, anyone who exercises nonstop for more than 1 hour should consider replacing electrolytes along with the water. This is to avoid hyponatremia (depleted sodium) or other forms of severe electrolyte depletion which can be dangerous.

Now, what to drink when you're thirsty...?

Water or Coke.??

Water

Almost 2% of the western people are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population)

1/3 of mankind starts to eat when the thirst mechanism calls to drink, but it is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.

Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism with a few %.

One glass of water will shut down hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back-and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by half, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 80%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Do you drink the amount of water you should drink every day?

It helps you to lose weight to drink a glass of water each time you feel the urge to get something from your fridge...!!
Instead of having 10 cups of coffee/tea/milk or softdrinks every day 
(often milk and sugar included), take a glass of water first.
Instead of eating a piece a cheese/sausage/popcorn/chips and stuff like that, drink a glass of water first.

Or you can drink:

COKE

You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes..

To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a finger nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.

The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!

Now the question is, would you like a glass of water? ...

...or Coke

http://bert-firebert.blogspot.com/2010/07/drinking-sodas-bad-ideado-fruits-and.html

Hot water.

Let's drink hot water instead of cold after every meal...

 there are a lot of benefits, one is described below. 

Please note that 

IF HOT WATER ALONE DOES NOT APPEAL TO YOU, DRINK HOT CHINESE TEA OR HERBAL TEA AS SUBSTITUTE FOR HOT WATER. FEW LEAVES OF FRESH MINT IN HOT WATER IS WONDERFUL TOO..

Heart Attacks And Drinking Warm Water

The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating, cos this habit seems to be of major importance in preventing heart attacks..!!!

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancers, first to hit your heart..... It is best to drink hot soup or warm water/tea after a meal.

Common Symptoms of Heart Attack...

You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be 

the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.

You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware.

The more we know, the better chance we could survive.

FRUITS,
(should be eaten on empty stomach.)


http://bert-firebert.blogspot.com/2010/01/whats-your-problem.html

list of desseases and a natural cure.

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy / Diving Accidents.

(source UHMS)

Did you always think that pressure cabines were used to treat decompression sickness only ??? Well, it does a lot more..

What is HBO ?

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO, HBOT) is a special medical treatment that has been successfully applied for decades and worldwide. In a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, patients inhale pure oxygen through respiratory masks at a higher than atmospheric pressure. It has been proved scientifically that the amount of oxygen dissolved in blood-plasma and lymph particularly increases throughout this form of treatment compared to any other method using oxygen. Especially inflamed tissue that is insufficiently supplied with oxygen can be cured by means of this treatment which stimulates the body’s production of small blood vessels, bones and connective tissue, as well as its natural defense mechanisms. In addition, edema becomes reduced and the cells’ metabolism normalized.

These are only a few of the healing effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO). Several therapeutic principles are made use of in HBOT:

• The increased atmospheric pressure in the chamber is of therapeutic value when HBO is used in the treatment of decompression sickness and air embolism.
• For many other conditions, the therapeutic principle of HBO lies in a drastically increased partial pressure of oxygen in the tissues of the body. The oxygen partial pressures achievable under HBO are much higher than those under breathing pure oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure.
• A related effect is the increased oxygen transport capacity of the blood. Under normal atmospheric pressure, oxygen transport is limited by the oxygen binding capacity of hemoglobin in red blood cells and very little oxygen is transported by blood plasma. Because the hemoglobin of the red blood cells is almost saturated with oxygen under normal atmospheric pressure, this route of transport can not be exploited any further. Oxygen transport by plasma however is significantly increased under HBO only dependant of the pressure applied.

When do you use HBO?

To support other measures for treatment of diseases
When standard treatments are not possible (contraindications etc.)
To save life, to avoid amputation and invalidity
To reduce the time for healing and hospitalisation

According to the recommendations of the involved medical scientific societies as:
Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS), USA - Club Francais de Medicine Hyperbare - European Council of Hyperbaric Medicine (ECHM) – European Baromedical Society ( EUBS ) - German Society for Diving- and Hyperbaric Medicine (GTÜM), German Professional Society of Hyperbaric Chambers (VDD).

Strongly recommended indications

• decompression sickness
• air or gas embolism
• carbonmonoxyd poisoning ( specially during pregnancy) to prevent neurological, psychiatric and psychological symptoms - irrespective of COHb
• necrotising infections of soft tissues ( gas-gangrene, necrotising fasciitis, fournier-gangrene)
• diabetic foot ulcers (selected cases)

Recommended indications

• crush wounds, comparment syndrome and acute ischaemia (traumatic or vascular basis)
• skin grafts and flaps (Compromised)
• exceptional blood loss anaemia
• refractory osteomyelitis - specially scull and sternum
• acute acoustic trauma
• otitis externa maligna (necroticans)
• sudden deafness
• ischaemic lesions in diabetes (after vascular reconstruction)
• ischaemic atherosclerotic lesions (after vascular reconstruction)
• bone and soft Tissue radiation necrosis (after vascular reconstruction)
• neuroblastoma stadium IV – recidiv (after vascular reconstruction)
• brain abscess (selected cases) (after vascular reconstruction)
• prevention of osteoradionecrosis after tooth extraction in radiated jaws (after vascular reconstruction)
• late radiation injury (soft tissue and bone i.e. proctitis, cystitis,
  breast swelling)
• osteoradionecrosis spec. jaws

Optional indications

• enhancement of healing in certain problem wounds
• thermal burns (second degree or more)
• post anoxic encephalopathy
• acute opthalmologic ischaemia
• support of implantations in radiated jaws
• radiation necrosis (intestinal and other)

Investigational indications

• migraine
• cerebral palsy
• sequelae of traumatic brain injuries
• borreliosis (Lyme disease)

Effects of pressure

Patients inside the chamber will notice discomfort inside their ears as a pressure difference develops between their middle ear and the chamber atmosphere. This can be relieved by the Valsalva maneuver or by "jaw wiggling". As the pressure increases further, the air may become warm. When the patient speaks, the pitch of the voice may increase to the level that they sound like cartoon characters.
To reduce the pressure, a valve is opened to allow air out of the chamber. As the pressure falls, the patient’s ears may "squeak" as the pressure inside the ear equalizes with the chamber. The temperature in the chamber will fall.

Possible complications

There are risks associated with HBO, similar to some diving disorders. Pressure changes can cause a "squeeze" or barotrauma in the tissues surrounding trapped air inside the body, such as the lungs, behind the eardrum, inside paranasal sinuses, or trapped underneath dental fillings. Breathing high-pressure oxygen for long periods can cause oxygen toxicity. Temporarily blurred vision can be caused by swelling of the lens, which usually resolves in two to four weeks. There are reports that cataract may progress following HBO.

See also: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_oxygen_therapy)

Diving Accident

DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS or ILLNESS and ARTERIAL GAS EMBOLISM UHMS

When scuba diving, additional oxygen and nitrogen dissolve in body tissues. The additional oxygen is consumed by the tissues, but the excess nitrogen must be washed out by the blood during decompression. During or after ascent this excess nitrogen gas can form bubbles in the tissues, analogous to the carbon dioxide bubbles that form when a carbonated beverage container is opened. These bubbles may then cause symptoms that are referred to asdecompression sickness (“DCS” or “the ”).

Trapping of gas within the lungs during ascent, either because the lung is diseased or because of breath-holding, can cause bubbles to be forced into the bloodstream (“arterial gas embolism” or “AGE”), where they can block the flow of blood or damage the lining of blood vessels supplying critical organs such as the brain. AGE can also occur in non-divers, due to entry of air into the body, such as during medical diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Symptoms of DCS or AGE can include joint pain, numbness, tingling, skin rash, extreme fatigue, weakness of arms or legs, dizziness, loss of hearing, and in serious cases, complete paralysis or unconsciousness. There can be weakness or paralysis in the limbs; vision can be impaired or absent; brain, heart, lung and other organ damage may occur. Limited use of remaining functions can be sufficiently severe that total disability results. Those who do not die may be limited to walking with canes, crutches or walkers. Those more severely disabled may be wheelchair confined or bedridden. These outcomes may be permanent and may severely impact quality of life. Maximal medical treatment of the condition is necessary to ensure the best possible degree of recovery from this potentially disastrous problem Emergency treatment of DCS or AGE includes administration of oxygen and measures to maintain adequate blood pressure, such as lying the patient down and fluid (either oral or intravenous, depending upon availability and severity of the illness). Definitive treatment for DCS or AGE is administration of 100% oxygen at increased atmospheric pressure in a hyperbaric chamber (typically at a pressure 2-3 times greater than normal atmospheric pressure).

While some delay in transporting a patient to a hyperbaric chamber is usually unavoidable, the success in relieving symptoms is greater if the treatment is administered within a few hours after the onset of symptoms. Some improvement might be expected, particularly in mild cases, even after a day or more of delay.
Hyperbaric oxygen has been shown to reduce the size of bubbles obstructing circulation. The increased pressure in the hyperbaric chamber reduces bubble size and drives the remaining gas into physical solution, while the high oxygen pressure washes out inert gas from the bubble. When bubbles are smaller or resolved, blood flow resumes. Poorly oxygenated tissues then receive higher levels of oxygen delivery. Another problem in gas embolism is that vessels obstructed by bubbles may leak fluid into surrounding tissues, resulting in swelling. Such swelling can further reduce tissue blood flow. When flow is restored, the local swelling will subside with resultant improvement in circulation and oxygen supply. Finally, the high levels of oxygen provided in the hyperbaric chamber have the potential to immediately restore cellular oxygen levels while blood flow impairment and tissue swelling are being corrected.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment is the primary treatment for gas embolism and a major review of reported cases clearly indicates superior outcomes with its use compared to non-recompression treatment
The vast majority of cases respond satisfactorily to a single hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Sometimes, repetitive treatments are recommended until no further improvement can be observed. A small minority of divers with severe neurological injury may require 15-20 repetitive treatments. The success of hyperbaric oxygen treatment for DCS or AGE has borne the test of time, and continues to be the standard of care for the treatment of these disorders.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment is the primary treatment for gas embolism and a major review of reported cases clearly indicates superior outcomes with its use compared to non-recompression treatment.

text is taken from UHMS

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Medical words you might mis-interpret :-)

There are nummerous jargons but the medics are champions in using Latin words which many a patient might not understand or mis-interpret. Try this... :)

Artery - The study of paintings.

Barium - What Doctors do when patients die.
Caesarean Section - A neighbourhood in Rome
Cauterize - Made eye contact with her.
Colic - A sheep dog.
D&C - Where Washington is.
Dilate - To live long.
Enema - Not a friend.
Fibula - A small lie.
Genital - Not a Jew.
Impotent - Distinguished, well known.
Labour Pain - Getting hurt at work.
Morbid - A higher offer.
Nitrates - Cheaper than day rates.
Node - Was aware of...
Outpatient - A person who has fainted.
Post-Operative - Letter carrier.
Recovery Room - Place to do upholstery.
Seizure - Roman Emperor.
Tablet - Small table.
Terminal Illness - Getting sick at the airport.
Urine - Opposite of 'you're out'.

Follow the instructions

Patient:
It's been one month since my last visit and I still feel miserable.

Doctor:
Did you follow the instructions on the medicine I gave you?

Patient:
I sure did - the bottle said 'keep tightly closed.'

The Specialist

'What kind of work do you do?'
 a woman passenger enquired of the man travelling in her train compartment.

'I'm a Naval surgeon,'
he replies.

'My word!'
spluttered the woman,
'How you doctors specialise these days.'

Quick Diagnosis

Nurse:

'Doctor, Doctor the man you've just treated collapsed on the front step. What should I do?'

Doctor:
'Turn him around so it looks like he was just arriving!'

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Thomas Berge in concert ( Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam) and a lot more..

Exactly two years ago today !!!! Chiel Ottink's splendid performance in the Heineken Hall. (2008)
A tribute to this shining and rising star. The concert in two parts and some other nr 1 hits...

Part 1. (Heineken Hall)

.

Part 2

Medley: R. Williams

 Kon ik maar even bij je zijn

.1000 sterren

.Krijg toch allemaal...

.

.

Ieder moment

Wesley Klein : Raise me up
Freek Bartels: The search for Joseph,Simon Bowman: miss Saigon: Why God...,Queen concert and: Too much love will kill you,
Andre Rieu in concert Australia,
Nick & Simon,Danny de Munk / Dave Dekker

Tribute to Michael Jackson ,

Churchgoers aren't always christians...

Priest distinguises himself as a tramp to teach churchgoers a lesson

When Reverend Rigby wanted to teach his congregation a lesson about being kind to others he came up with a rather colourful way of demonstrating his point.

As the 70 churchgoers turned up for their regular Sunday morning service at the Methodist church in Prestatyn, north Wales they found a scruffy tramp sitting in the church porch.
Stinking of beer and dressed in filthy clothes, the disgusted churchgoers did their best to ignore him as they filed past.
This task was made even harder when the unwanted guest joined them on the pews, surrounded with syringes and drinking from a can of lager.
Rev Derek Rigby dressed as a tramp to teach his congregation a lesson before revealing his true identity.

They were therefore astounded - and perhaps more than a little embarrassed - when the ‘tramp’ threw off his scruffy clothes, removed his wig and revealed himself as their minister, Rev Rigby.

Rev Rigby pulled the stunt to remind the congregation about a passage in the Bible when Jesus’ disciples failing to recognise him because of the way he was dressed.
Rev Rigby said: ‘I went to great lengths to be as convincing as possible.
‘I didn’t shave for three days, made my hands and face dirty and drew on tattoos.
I’ bought some scruffy clothes at a charity shop, ripped the trousers, and put on a straggly wig and thick, broken glasses.
‘I then splashed lager over my clothes so I was stinking. I looked in the mirror before the service and I didn't recognise myself.’
Rev Rigby, who was a police officer for 15 years before being ordained 20 years ago, has tricked congregations in the same way at his previous parishes in London and Newport, South Wales.
He said: ‘I didn’t say a word the whole time because I thought someone would recognise my voice.
‘It was interesting to see the reaction from people - I was totally ignored.
‘It showed that we don’t recognise God at work and in each other.’
He said: "In other places I was given as much as £4.50, a packet of biscuits and a blanket - but in Prestatyn I got nothing.

‘I told the congregation they are a stingy lot.

‘Everyone was amazed and later complimented me on my acting skill, though some said I had made them feel terrible.’
Senior church member John Sproston was one of the first to arrive at the service to see the ‘tramp’ on the doorstep.
He said: ‘I think everyone was a bit worried, but when he came into church I thought “Hallelujah”.
‘We were all aghast when he took off his wig because he was very convincing.’


Now I understand why somebody made this sign:

The nude snowman (woman).

Ah, New Jersey: where good taste goes to die.

A Rahway, NJ family built this rather nice female nude out of snow on their lawn. It’s tasteful, artistic and somewhat accomplished, right? Of course, being New Jersey, neighbors complained about the nudity. And by “neighbors complained” I mean that the police showed up, and forced the family to cover-up the sculpture. Isn’t it good to know that your values are being protected?

I think this is a nice piece of art.

Will this post make it through the NJ censor or will I be accused of publicing porn.. ?

For your info, here's the 'real' Venus.
( hm, compaired with this torso I must admit that the snowbust has more..how you may call it ? OMG. she turns me on...!)

C'mon concervative souls, stap down to earth. Save your protests for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ban the gun, stop racial discrimination. But don't make yourself rediculous and the risee of the rest of the world to protest against a snow ass..

Isn't it sad. No more snow-white nudity.

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The healing power of : Mango(15).

This is one of my favorite fruits, mango. Yellow/orange and sweet....

See what a Mango does to your health and eat it !!! Tell you, it's no punishment...:-)

• Lowers Cancer Risk
  Mangoes contain a soluble dietary fiber known as pectin. An institute recently discovered that pectin decreases the action of protein called galectin 9, which is said to be present in cancerous cells and plays an important role in cancer. Also, the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer, has said that the possibility of cancer of gastrointestinal tract can be reduced by the intake of lots of fiber. A compound in mangoes, known as lupeol is said to suppress the tumor cells of prostrate cancer. Phenolic, found in mangoes have potential anticancer and antioxidant properties.

• Vitamin A, Vitamin E and selenium found in mangoes protect against heart diseases.

• Vitamin C and calcium found in mangoes treat, cure and prevent internal hemorrhage.

• improve appetite and acts as a potential antidote for various body toxins. Eating a mango effectively treats poor digestion and acidity.

• suggested for the treatment of anemia and during pregnancy and menstruation because of their high iron content.

• Mangoes do contain anti-inflammatory properties which may improve asthma symptoms.

• Mango juice improves memory, concentration and prevents mental weakness.

• Vitamin E found in mangoes helps in better functioning of hormonal system and even boosts sex life.

• They are a rich source of carbohydrates and calories benefit those who want to gain weight.

• It is believed that mango effectively relieves clogged pores of the skin.

• Do not eat a green mango on an empty stomach.

The Mango is found beneficial in following health conditions:

1. Respiratory problems
2. Liver Disorders
3. Kidney problems including nephritis
4. Leucorrhea
5. Diarrhea
6. Piles
7. Constipation
8. Dysentery
9. Scurvy
10. Sinusitis
11. Menstrual Disorders
12. Morning Sickness
13. Bacterial Infections
14. Prickly Heat
15. Fever

A
1. List of health problems ( and what to do !)

B
~~~~THE HEALING POWER OF~~~~

1. HOT PEPPERS(Cayenne),
2. HAWTHORN BERRIES,
3. TOMATOES,
4. BROCCOLI,
5. GARLIC,
6. MARIJUANA,
7. JUICES,
8. ONIONS,
9. CELERY,
10 KIWI,
11 COCONUT,
12 FIGS,
13 BEE STING VENOM,
14 HONEY,
15 MANGO,
16 LIGHT,
17 CHOCOLATE, 18 FRUITS, should be eaten on empty stomach..

~~OTHER HEALTH TIPS~~

1. EAT and LOSE weight, 2. CVA - STROKE ? ... Sing !!.....!!
3. HERNIA, Nucleus Pulposus,HNP,
4. GASTRIC ACID (heartburn), 5. WORK-OUT, Create your own gym,
6. WATER, hot water and Heart attack,
7. ACNE/PIMPLES ,
8. TOOTH ACHE ,
9. QUIT SMOKING,
10. HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy, HBOT,
11. Good food at the right time(LARGE INTESTINE BACTERIA )

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-->

Don't pull cats teeth while playing..!

Cats are cute, especially when they're young. They're full of energy and love to play and run, climb your curtains or throw your plants from the window sill. Little kittens have to learn from exploring, they are eager to pick up new things by trying them out. They chase the light spot of a flashlight, hunt a piece a rope, climb your pants or steal your meatballs. Watching this fun, hormones are produced in the human brain ( endorphins), you laugh and you want to play and have fun as well.. ( that's why pets in general are good buddies).
It's fun to tease a cat with a rope or a wire, then try to be faster than they are and pull the string....... Please, do not do that.!!

Why ? Watch this photo and y'll understand:

Cats are fast, they will catch the bait and bite it. That's what they do, they are predators. And once they caught their prey, they won't let go of it. The moment you pull, you might extract some teeth of you pet. It happens just the way this little kid is showing you.

It's better to bind a rubber band to the object, so it won't stop with a jolt. Always be careful when you pull back your hands, when the cat grabs you while you do this, you'll be scared...

Animals and children ? That's OK, but watch both of them... When they shout:"The cat scrawled me"! , ..find out why, before you punish the animal ( btw. animals shouldn't be punished at all, love them !!!!!!).

And you know, they never can tell you what was done to them.....

In case you didn't notice: I like cats.


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Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT). Sing to heal CVA.

Melodic Intonation Therapy Teaches Stroke Victims How to Speak Again

Many years ago I advised a patient ( a real stammerer) to sing for a therapy. And it worked, he could sing a whole song without stutter... It was so funny to hear him sing his text when he wanted to say something, and he enjoyed it himself. Not much later he was able to speak without any problems....

Now there's a funny thing about singing you must have noticed yourself. The lyrics. When there's a tune on the radio you didn't hear (nor sing) for decades, it will open an window somewhere and you will remember all lyrics without hesitation.

When I laid my eyes on this article below, I got mad at myself cos I didn't see the link before to use singing as a therapy to a CVA. It's so obvious it works, it's so simple. I knew the therapeutic value of singing already, it's good for your breathing techniques and it makes endorphine, a hormone also produced while sporting.

The great thing about this therapy is, you can do it at home.......

Bert.


Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD
Harvard Medical School

If music is the universal language, it should come as no surprise that music therapy can be a tool to help stroke victims regain their ability to speak. Of the estimated 600,000 to 750,000 adults who have strokes each year, about 20% are left with aphasia, a disorder that renders the patient unable to speak, read, write or understand what other people are saying. One type of aphasia is called non-fluent aphasia or Broca’s aphasia, because the area where the stroke occurred includes Broca’s region, one of the language centers in the brain. Patients with Broca’s aphasia have difficulty saying words, though their comprehension can be normal. For years neurologists and speech language pathologists have noted that many of these patients are able to sing lyrics, even when they have difficulty speaking these same words… an observation that led Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and staff neurologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, to explore the effectiveness of Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) on stroke patients with non-fluent aphasia, which revealed brain changes due to the treatment using functional and structural brain imaging.

HOW IT WORKS

A speech therapist uses MIT by teaching a patient to sing simple melodies while tapping out rhythms with the left hand. The tapping is thought to stimulate the right side of the brain, which might be important for articulation, explained Dr. Schlaug.
Although the left side of the brain is commonly believed to be the side of the brain where language is formulated, studies have shown that both sides of the brain actually are involved in vocal production. For most healthy individuals, the left brain is more active, and the right side plays a supportive role -- however, since patients with large left brain strokes may only have the option of recovering through the right side, it was reasoned that melodic intonation therapy might be an ideal means to facilitate this recovery process for them.

SINGING THE PRAISES OF MIT

The benefits of MIT have been demonstrated in a series of studies. Dr. Schlaug and his colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School have been tracking the progress of nearly a dozen patients with non-fluent aphasia as they underwent MIT and reported “remarkable results.” Dr. Schlaug found that MIT’s “unique engagement of the right hemisphere” through singing and left-hand tapping resulted in significant improvement in speech compared with the control intervention.
As with any learned skill, the more the patient practices, the better the outcome. For success in regaining speaking skills, patients must practice-practice-practice, says Dr. Schlaug. “Since we are aiming to rewire the stroke patients’ brains, they will have to keep practicing the skills we teach them for a long period of time, probably for the rest of their lives. Being able to speak again or speak more fluently should be well worth the effort.”

---

Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and staff neurologist and director of the Music and Neuroimaging and Stroke Recovery Laboratories at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Now hear this stutter sing......

Stolen countries and continents.

When the Europeans invaded America.(1)

I've written this article because Haïti is very much in the picture since januari 12, after the Earth quake.
This is the island where it all began......

Christoffer Columbus is said to be the first to discover the Americas. He thought he'd rounded the world and came to India, that's why he called the 'natives': Indians. This mistake was never corrected, nor was the date when he actually found the mainland of America.( not in 1492). Most of us know this history from the movie screen, told to us by Hollywood: John Wayne, the hero, killing the 'enemies', the Indians portrayed as animals, scalping the white while they were protecting their land from the foreign invaders from overseas. Columbus may be proclaimed the first European to step on American soil, he certainly wasn't the last. He brought the Spaniards. ( the Portuguese and British were not interested in his search for new territory).

He was given the Royal (Spanish) promise of 10% of the land he conquered !!!!!, He would be the Governor of the new territories 

Chris' 1st trip, he didn't reach the mainland...

The 'Originals' had no idea what was happening to them. They thought the new visitors were the long promised Gods from overseas.. As a matter of fact, he didn't find America yet, he first landed on the Bahama's, sailed to Cuba ( which he thought was Japan ) . Then he landed on Hispañola ( Haïti/Dom. Rep), now he was sure he had reached India..

Columbus lost his ship the Santa Maria on christmas day 1492,

Replica of the Sta. Maria.

...from the remainders the first settlement was built: La Navidad.
The 'Indians' made the mistake to show their gold and other minerals.
That's why he left 40 men behind on te island, to search for gold while he returned to Europe with the 2 remaining ships. The first settlement was a fact.

Within a year he returned to Hispañola with 17 ships and 1500 !! men. During this trip ( he came out a little south) he discovered Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico.

2nd trip

But the settlement La Navidad was no more, nor were is men. There must have been a conflict between the Natives and the 40 Spaniards, they were all dead..He started a war against the 'Indians' but it took him almost a year to find the gold mines. Most of the Taíno's were killed, the ones still alive became slaves in their own mines, not for long however, they died due to diseases that were imported from Europe....The Spaniards needed workers, that's why they started to bring cheap labourers from Africa. (to work on the cane fields, later also on the cotton fields .....that started around 1510.)
In the meantime a new settlement was built: Santo Domingo.
When Columbus returned to Spain again , he took a different route back and found Jamaica !
But he came back for a 3rd time in '98. This time he travelled more south and hit the mainland of South-America ( finally).

The 3rd trip where he finally hits mainland.

Back at his 'headquarters' at Hispañola he had to deal with mutiny and hate. All natives were killed. Columbus was arrested and ended up in jail in Spain for his dismanagement, not for long though, after 6 weeks he was released, and sent to the West for a 4th time. Hé, was the goose with the golden eggs, right...

The 4th trip

He left Europe in 1502. This time he wanted to find 'street Malaka' ( Marco Polo wrote about that), a passage between Malaïsia and Sumatra. Well, he came to Panama, there was no canal a that time so he couldn't find the passage, hehehehe....

What he found, were hostile 'Indians', and during the fights with these people his ships were severe damaged and he got pretty ill at that time, tropical fever hit him and he even was in coma for some time. On his way to Hispañola he shipwrecked and stranded in Jamaica. He sent 2 of his man to row all the way to Hispañola by cano. One way or another they made it, but it took a year before Christoffer was 'rescued' in 1504 and he returned to Europe the next year. He died in 1506.
At school we learned Columbus was a hero. But there are different stories. A former friend of Columbus, Bartolome de las Casas, firmly protested against his genocide. The American historian Howard Zinn even called him a conquistador.

In May 2006 an international conference was hold in Genua, following Columbus '500th anniversary day, The Columbus Simancas-document presented by the Spanish scholar Consuelo Varela revealed a copy of the lost document from 1500, written by the Spanish envoy Francisco Bobadilla about the Columbus' atrocities at Hispañola. The contents hit like a bomb, the black legend, (as the atrocities of the Spaniards in their colonies were called), gained truth quality...

The catholic majesties Ferdinand and Isabel are hold responsible for having this document hidden in a secret archive.............

A new continent was found, with gold and oil. A rush to the West from the European countries, Spain, Portugal, England, France and The Netherlands.

They created The Wild West, a cowboy country with guns and horses...( and dead Indians )

TBC.