Our Brains

• Articles on National Geographic Website.
• How your brain works on HowStuffWorks.com.
• Brain on Wikipedia. 
• Inside the Human Body – Building Your Brain  from Release TV:  Michael Mosley traces human development from birth to adulthood, exploring how a newborn makes sense of the world and revealing how many brain connections are lost between the ages of 11 and 20 as an essential part of growing up. Plus, Moken sea gypsy children who train themselves to see clearly underwater and a Vietnamese girl who 11 different languages.Source:LocateTv.com

A top-down approach to diabetes

The Lancet, Volume 377, Issue 9779, Page 1720, 21 May 2011

On May 10, the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published its new guidance on the prevention of type 2 diabetes in adults. The guidance focuses on population-level and community-level interventions in high-risk groups and the general population. The groups at high risk include certain ethnic communities (south Asian, black, and Chinese) and lower socioeconomic groups (people in unskilled jobs), in addition to individuals who are obese or overweight and those who are not physically active. Of the ethnic communities in the UK at greater risk, people of south Asian origin are up to six times more likely to have the disease than white individuals. Also, people from lower socioeconomic groups are three and a half times more likely to develop ill health from the disease than groups with higher incomes.

The guidance makes 11 recommendations, mostly on how commissioners and providers of public health services can best convey messages to promote behaviours that reduce diabetes and associated harms. The key, although unsurprising, recommendations are the promotion of healthy diets and physical activity. Promoting healthy eating is to include working with food manufacturers and caterers to reduce the calorie, saturated fat, and salt content of foods, and working with retailers on price structure, labelling, and promotion to encourage healthier diets. Promoting physical activity is to centre on planning regulations and transport policy. Measures relating to ethnic and socioeconomic groups include the provision of information in appropriate languages and through so-called community champions, and ensuring that all measures are affordable to individuals.

Ultimately, the successful implementation of this guidance will need the cooperation of many parties, but the involvement of commercial partners must not be used to shift responsibility away from providers of public health. And success will also rely on engaging the communities that have been neglected so far. Although the recommendations might seem straightforward, they are long overdue and, if implemented, will powerfully affect public health beyond just diabetes.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People^®
by Stephen R. Covey

• Habit 1 : Be Proactive
• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
• Habit 3: Put First Things First
• Habit 4: Think Win-Win
• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
• Habit 6: Synergize
• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Other application of 7 Habit of Highly Effective People:

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens - Sean Covey
• 7-Habits of Highly Effective People with Diabetes - Bayer Diabetes Care
• Video: David Riklan explains the principals of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly

Duke 159^th (2011) Graduation Ceremony

Congratulations to all Dukers!!!  Go Duke and go Class of 2011!!!

You can watch video stream here:

• Baccalaureate May 13, 2011 4:30pm
• Duke University Commencement Excercises 2011

Commencement History

25 Manners Every Kid Should Know By Age 9

Helping your child master these simple rules of etiquette will get him noticed -- for all the right reasons. By David Lowry, Ph.D.Your child's rude 'tude isn't always intentional. Sometimes kids just don't realize it's impolite to interrupt, pick their nose, or loudly observe that the lady walking in front of them has a large behind. And in the hustle and bustle of daily life, busy moms and dads don't always have the time to focus on etiquette. But if you reinforce these 25 must-do manners, you'll raise a polite, kind, well-liked child.

• Manner #1: When asking for something, say "Please."
• Manner #2: When receiving something, say "Thank you." Related: Kid-Made Thank You Notes
• Manner #3: Do not interrupt grown-ups who are speaking with each other unless there is an emergency. They will notice you and respond when they are finished talking.
• Manner #4: If you do need to get somebody's attention right away, the phrase "excuse me" is the most polite way for you to enter the conversation.
• Manner #5: When you have any doubt about doing something, ask permission first. It can save you from many hours of grief later.
• Manner #6: The world is not interested in what you dislike. Keep negative opinions to yourself, or between you and your friends, and out of earshot of adults.
• Manner #7: Do not comment on other people's physical characteristics unless, of course, it's to compliment them, which is always welcome. Related: Raise Polite Kids
• Manner #8: When people ask you how you are, tell them and then ask them how they are.
• Manner #9: When you have spent time at your friend's house, remember to thank his or her parents for having you over and for the good time you had.
• Manner #10: Knock on closed doors -- and wait to see if there's a response -- before entering.
• Manner #11: When you make a phone call, introduce yourself first and then ask if you can speak with the person you are calling.
• Manner #12: Be appreciative and say "thank you" for any gift you receive. In the age of e-mail, a handwritten thank-you note can have a powerful effect.Related: Print and Color Cards for Birthdays, Thank-Yous and More!
• Manner #13: Never use foul language in front of adults. Grown-ups already know all those words, and they find them boring and unpleasant.
• Manner #14: Don't call people mean names.
• Manner #15: Do not make fun of anyone for any reason. Teasing shows others you are weak, and ganging up on someone else is cruel. Related: Raise a Compassionate Kid
• Manner #16: Even if a play or an assembly is boring, sit through it quietly and pretend that you are interested. The performers and presenters are doing their best.
• Manner #17: If you bump into somebody, immediately say "Excuse me." Related: Quiz: What's Your Parenting Style?
• Manner #18: Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and don't pick your nose in public. Related: How to Handle Inappropriate Behavior
• Manner #19: As you walk through a door, look to see if you can hold it open for someone else.
• Manner #20: If you come across a parent, a teacher, or a neighbor working on something, ask if you can help. If they say "yes," do so -- you may learn something new.
• Manner #21: When an adult asks you for a favor, do it without grumbling and with a smile. Related: Use this Table-Setting Map as a Guide
• Manner #22: When someone helps you, say "thank you." That person will likely want to help you again. This is especially true with teachers!
• Manner #23: Use eating utensils properly. If you are unsure how to do so, ask your parents to teach you or watch what adults do. Related: Mrs. McVeigh Weighs in on Proper Utensil Use and More!
• Manner #24: Keep a napkin on your lap; use it to wipe your mouth when necessary.
• Manner #25: Don't reach for things at the table; ask to have them passed.

See more on teaching manners to your toddlers and preschoolers. Originally published in the March 2011 issue of Parents magazine.

The NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program: Lessons Learned

The full text is here. 

Salt, Salt, Salt

There is discussion about salt and health during the last a few days. Some of them are thinking a re-think of CDC recommendation. I believe that salt is not our foe. The problem is that we take salt too much or too little. There are a few outlying persons who may need very low or very high level of salt consumption, but generally I feel the industries feed us too much salt, which is not good for our health. I have not read the salt recommendation and no comments on it, but I think that any recommendations on general population should be relaxing but not tight. A relaxing but doable recommendation is better than a radical but undoable/hurting recommendation.

Here are two articles discussed the this issue: one from New York Times (my favorite layman source of health related topics), one from the USA Today:

• Low-Salt Diet Ineffective, Study Finds. Disagreement Abounds. (2011)
• Study: Lower salt intake could be riskier than thought (2011)

The original research article the reports talked is on JAMA: Fatal and Nonfatal Outcomes, Incidence of Hypertension, and Blood Pressure Changes in Relation to Urinary Sodium Excretion  (2011)

There are other articles about salt and health, here are two:

• Dietary Salt Intake and Blood Pressure (1983)
• Dietary Salt Intake and Mortality in Patients with Diabetes (2011)

Two Articles

• Damaged hearts NEED fat: Case Western study Stone Hearth Newsletters
• You can read the original research article here: 'the myocardial contractile response to physiological stress improves with high saturated fat feeding in heart failure'
• Another diabetes related article from FYI Living: Type 2 Diabetes Surprising Top 10 Super Foods To Control Diabetes

My Comments:

Is this another explanation of lower mortality rate of recent years? Alas, I am not sure whether a good thoughtful researcher can be a successful health promoter, if she/he wants to tell the whole story as a wholesome story.

With Liposuction, the Belly Finds What the Thighs Lose

An article from NYTimes.com

…“It’s another chapter in the ‘You can’t fool Mother Nature’ story,’ ” said Dr. Rudolph Leibel, an obesity researcher at Columbia University. …

Omega-3 Levels in Seafood

a figure from NYTimes.com article Another Side of Tilapia, the Perfect Factory Fish