Confession Of An Ex Smoker

~ By YOSHIRO YOSHIHIKO

“Health is important for everybody. And for me, I would take care of my good health so as to enjoy a smoking in my long life.”

Smoking was such important habit in my daily activity. I had started the habit when I was 24 years　and enjoyed 20 – 30 cigarettes per day since then, 31 years.

Of course during 31 years, I tried to quite smoking several times sometime by nicotine patch, sometime by nicotine chewing gum, and sometime by CHAMPIX, but it lasted less than a week in any my challenges.

However suddenly I coughed very hardfrom the end of last year, and no doctor in Japan and Indonesia couldn’t over come my problem and finally on February 7, 2013 my illness was diagnosed as PULMONARY EMPHYSEMA. (Fortunately I became to know it as a wrong diagnosis after 2 weeks, anyway.)

According to Internet information,the disease is beyond medical treatment so far and patient’s remaining years would be average 3-15 years. Only patient can do is try to extend his remained life by stopping smoking otherwise just only to wait for his final date, as gods wish.

So the Internet information was a trigger to let me knock a door of Centrepoint (Healthcare) at Midplaza on February 13, 2013.

I met with Dr.ChiristoforaDewi there. She explained me the program in details including a side effects of medicine, CHAMPIX that might occur on my body. Then my challenge for stop smoking program, started on same date.

During the progress of treatment, I was suffered a side effect about a week, my side effects were “Headache” and “Vivid, unusual/strange dream” such as:

            I flied in a sky with monkey! (It was fun.)

            I fought with crocodile!  (It was scary.)

Now it has passed over 2 months since commencing my challenge and I am fully enjoying non-smoking life without any side effects (I regret that now I am not able to fly in sky with monkey!!) and without any struggle.

I was a person who failed to challenge for stop-smoking many times including same measure, taking CHAMPIX. And why I could success my challenge this time?

The cause of the success of my challenge lies in the program of Centrepoint (Healthcare). The program provided by Centrepoint (Healthcare) is not only diagnostic interview and giving medicine, CHAMPIX but also providing “Man to Man Mental Care”. Doctor in charge calls to patient everyday asking his physical & mental condition and the doctor advise and cheer according to the patient’s own condition. Such wonderful and kind program would not be available in Japan and this is a reason why I recommend Centrepoint (Healthcare) to all of my friends with confidence.

Thanking my dear doctor, Dr.ChiristoforaDewi for her medical control and kind cheers extended to me, and now I say:

“Health is important for everybody. And for me, I would take care of my good health so as to enjoy golf in my long life.”

Jakarta, 8th April 2013.

Yoshiro Yoshihiko.

 

THE DANGER OF GREASE FIRES

Yesterday I saw a friend I haven’t seen in a while and was shocked to see her in a wheelchair. She told me she had gotten burned by fire and hot oil, and had just gotten back from Singapore after two weeks in the hospital and two surgeries that involved taking skin grafts from her back. For the next year, she cannot be exposed to direct light, neither from the sun, nor from lamps... and she’s only in her 20’s.

My dear friend had suffered from the terrible effects of not knowing what to do when faced with a grease fire.  Since we at Centrepoint Healthcare believe that in education as a means of prevention, here’s one way to keep yourself out of the hospital. Consider this your apple for the day.

GREASE FIRES

Grease fires are extremely dangerous because the way to handle it is not the way we think normal fires should be handled.

What is a grease fire?

A grease fire occurs when your cooking oil becomes too hot. When heating, oil first starts to boil, then start smoking, and finally catch on fire. In the case of my friend she was making fried chicken when the oil caught on fire.

If you are cooking something and your oil starts to smoke, turn off the flame immediately or move the pan away from the heat source.

DO NOT THROW WATER ON A GREASE FIRE! The water will violently vaporize, spraying burning grease everywhere including your skin. This is the number one mistake many people make with a grease fire (my friend included).

What to do if a grease fire happens?  

• Turn off the heat
• Do NOT move the pot. Throwing the pot outside might seem logical in the frenzy of the moment, but moving the pot might splash burning oil on you, your home, and anything outside. 
• Cover the pan/pot completely with a metal lid. Do not use a  glass lid, the heat will shatter the glass. If you cannot find a metal lid use a baking tray. Make sure when you do this you’re wearing gloves to protect yourself.

What other options do you have to kill a grease fire? 

• Baking soda. If the fire is small, you can use baking soda, but you will need a LOT so this may not be the best alternative. ** Do not use other powdery or baking substances such as flour or even baking powder. These are not substitutes and can have a very adverse reaction to the fire.
• A fire extinguisher. This is your last resort, as fire extinguishers will contaminate your kitchen. Still, it's better than the alternative if the fire is getting out of control.

Watch what happens on Mythbusters when the tiniest (a teaspoon) bit of water is thrown on a grease fire:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmjSUlKoMXE

and for the scientifically curious – what exactly happens as water is thrown on hot oil?

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/water-and-oil.htm

The Lesson?

Do not leave your cooking unattended. If a grease fire cannot be contained it could spread from your pan and end up burning your kitchen, or worse, your home. 

Please, do yourself a favour and teach your maids, children, and spouse/partners/flatmates how to handle a grease fire properly. It could save you a lot of trouble.

Don’t let your fire go from this...

To this...

 

Written :By Elsie Mullers

Too much TV could damage sperm production.....

 By Dr. Madan M Vasandani

Semen quality is a much-discussed subject among scientists these days.
Data suggests sperm concentration has been declining in Western countries over the past couple of decades - and reasons for the decline are debatable.
 
The lead author of a new study on the subject, Audrey Gaskins, has been studying the effects of diet and exercise on semen for several years as a doctoral candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her latest research shows a lack of physical activity – and too much time in front of the television - may impact sperm count and concentration.

  

Diary of a Dengue Fever Victim..... by Elsie Mullers

" It was December 23 and I woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a steam roller. At the time I thought it might have just been the lack of sleep I’d been having, between family functions, work functions, and getting everything together before the New Year. Symptoms were flu-like: pounding headache, dizziness, fatigue, chills, and extreme muscle aches... but not the runny nose and sinus infection (thank God.)  No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get enough sleep and energy to get up and wrap the last minute Christmas gifts, and I definitely wasn’t feeling the Christmas cheer. 

My sister, who has fallen victim to typhoid several times proclaimed that she thought I must have typhoid. Being as far away from a hypochondriac as I am, I tried to convince her I only had the flu, but she forced me to call Dr. Madan.

I explained my symptoms and even pointed out that I was lucky I didn’t have the sniffles.  He immediately asked me to have a blood test done.

 On Christmas Eve morning, I called Prodia to the house and by noon it was confirmed that I was the latest victim of a diseased flying vampire (aka The evil mosquito.)

The news flooded my mind with images of an emergency flight to Singapore; a Christmas day spent in the hospital, alone, and how I was too young to die.......

 I wasn’t sure what to expect as a dengue victim but what I pictured was bad. I immediately called Dr. Madan to confirm my illness and find out next steps.

“What hospital do I check myself into? Do I have to fly to Singapore? What medicines can I take? Ohmigosh ohmigosh I can’t believe this would happen to me I have an amazing immune system!”

“Calm down, What is your thrombocyte level?”  Dr. Madan said to me and he explained that as long as my thrombocyte levels were above a certain level, the best place for me would be in bed, sleeping; that there were many housewife remedies for keeping thrombocyte levels high but that they weren’t proven; that I needed to get my blood tested daily; and most importantly, that doctors in Indonesia are more skilled at treating tropical diseases than the ones in Singapore. He also warned me about symptoms to come – itching, more aching, etc.

Over the next days, I dreaded the mornings when the nurse would come to draw blood from my arm. I tried every single housewife remedy hoping for a miracle but my levels kept dropping. While the appetite loss worked wonders for my figure, the rest was nothing short of miserable. As soon as thrombocyte levels dropped below 100, I started to develop red dots on my skin due to the blood vessels popping which was not treatable with anti-histamines and which itched like crazy. My eyes were very painful to move, the slightest poke sent me into crying hysterics, and I freaked out about EVERY mosquito I saw because I didn’t want it to bite me and then bite someone else in the family. God forbid there be two of us miserable grouches in the house.

Luckily I managed to recover before thrombocyte levels reached the emergency level. The number of people who had contracted dengue over the following weeks was astounding and those of us who had “been there done that” shared stories. I was astounded by how many people said that they had been emergency-lifted to Singapore… enduring all that hassle, when really they would have been better off staying at home. It really confirmed to me the lack of trust in Indonesia’s healthcare system.  

I’m still paranoid about mosquitoes but I make sure I have my garden fogged on a frequent basis and I LOVE anything that kills mosquitos – lizards, spiders, the whole range of Ace Hardware contraptions – I have them all.  But more than that, I was happy I had a competent doctor taking care of me, looking out for my interests (and not my wallet), right here in Indonesia.

If you contract dengue this season, don't worry!!! 

Contact Centrepoint Healthcare.Your health is our Centrepoint.