Double Fat? Double Heart Attack!

I was perusing my medical newslines for the day this morning on www.medscape.com and came across the results of a meta study of trials with total patients numbering almost one million. It was a big meta study looking at people with metabolic syndrome and CVD (cardiovascular disease).

In a nutshell the results showed that those "diagnosed" with metabolic syndrome (i.e. having two or more of a list of risks) have DOUBLE the rate of heart attacks than those ho do not have MetS.

The 2X was interesting to me but what is more interesting is that MetS is a result of the food we consume. Of course food was not mentioned because the medical industry doesn't seem to truly understand the relationship between food and health... Sure they talk about "fat" and "cholesterol" but they are way off mark. And then the parrots get hold of the misinformation and blab it all around the world. And people believe it as it gets further reinforced into their brains!

So double the heart attack risk (200%) is directly related to the food we consume which makes us overweight, obese and metabolic syndrome... ic? Ick!

You really ARE what you eat.

You can probably get the link to the abstract on Medscape's website by searching for some of the keywords I have mentioned. The full article requires free registration. I'm typing this on my keitai (cellphone) so I can't post the link for you. Stay healthy!

I love you!
Cam

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

Batter Up With Courgettes!

As I was looking for a legal term on the online dictionary.com (work-related, I swear!), the "hot word" popped up, and immediately made me chuckle as I thought of my friends Steve & Jen, one living in Dimland, and the other in New Jersey simply because the topic pops up when those two get together. No sexual innuendoes intended! Even though the story on Dictionary.com is extremely poorly written, the origin of the words is interesting, to say the least.
http://hotword.dictionary.com/woman-bear-courgette/
Here is the British version of the original story, as it ran in the Daily Mirror (UK) Tabloid talking about one great way to serve up a courgette in Montana: http://tinyurl.com/14inCourgette
As might be expected, this original story which ran in the US newspapers called the courgette by another name. And on a final note, courgettes taste great dipped in an egg/milk/flour batter and sauteed in butter in a cast iron fry pan. Or should I say "skillet"? Batter up! Har. Have a great day.
I love you!
Cam

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The Last is the Toughest But The Bestest

Today I head back to Tokyo so we left for our ride a little bit earlier than usual. And boy am I glad we did! This was the hardest ride of the entire five days. It began with immediate uphill and we climbed for over an hour and a half! The road got steeper and steeper while the gravel became rocks, boulders and rivers. In a few places it was too rough to ride so e were forced to push our steeds up through the chest- high weeds, grass and thorns that blocked our way.

Three hours later and two boiled eggs with six arabiki german sausages each we finally made it back down to where we left the car. The bikes lay where we left them as we made our triple espresso and enjoyed it in the 22C sunlight. Then we spread eagled ourselves on the warm concrete and fell asleep for a good 15-20 minutes.

The scenery was gorgeous. Gorgeous!

I wish I could add more than five photos to this email. Well enjoy!

I love you!
Cam

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Solo Ride

Some more photos of today's solo ride culminating in the bridge meditation and a night ride home.

I love you!
Cam

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

Meditate on This!

It's 18:00 exactly and I'm having a relaxing forest ride through mud, rocks and slippery branches. Now it's meditation time in the middle of a suspension bridge as the sun sets on my glorious mountains...

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It's Simply Ribbeting!

Ahhhh Hokuriku... just as I remember: rain all week with very high humidity and temperatures between 24C-27C in the day making you feel deliciously cold, clammy and very sweaty. The place where laundry takes four or five days todry! The weather is completely different from Tokyo and that side of the country.

Max and I went out for a 30km ride in the mountains. And the rain. It was good, though the pavement sections are much more discontering than the offroad portions of the ride. In this kind of humidity and rain pavement is very dangerous. It is so easy to have your tires zip out from beneath you on a downhill section. I much prefer riding gravel in this weather.

So we rode and talked and saw many animals. We happened to catch glimpses of a wild monkey and even two wild boar on separate occasions. The majority of beasts were these big bullfrogs in the trail. This fellow didn't even move when I took this photo by putting my keitai just two or three centimeters from his nose. It was a ribbeting experience.

The ride lasted 2.5hours and we got soaked the entire time along with our faces and chests getting cloaked in superstretchy spiderwebs (and sometimes spiders crawling on the webs stuck to our faces as we continued to ride.)

We stopped at the 1300 year old trees in Yamanaka that both Paula and Stefnee loved, and those which Jen wanted to see with her own eyes rather than in photos. Apparently it is getting marketed as a "power spot" so it has more tourists coming to see it and "get power" now (silly rabbits, trix are for kids!). Whew! Im tired. Sleepy is more like it, especially after the hot shower. I think I'll finish my triple espresso and have a nap. That's what holidays are all about, right?

I love you!
Cam

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Bike Stuffing

Max and I are on our way home on the bikes after fitting them somehow into the T. Vitz (sounds like a newly discovered dinosaur artifact) and driving the car to the Orix shop near Komatsu Airport to drop it off. The wind is strong and the sun is hot. But it feels gooood to be riding in My Hokuriku where everything is familiar and ther is more green than concrete.

It never occurred to me to check if there is an Orix office closer to Max' place... I wonder...?

Mmmm Frank! (and chicken and coffee...) I love you!
Cam

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Coupling With Max

Ahhh.... It's great to be at Max' where everything is familiar and you have to burn doodoo coils in the house because the skeeters are so bad.

It was a great drive here. On the way I went to my beloved Kasano Misaki Single track route to enjoy the rugged ocean.

Then it was over to Yamanaka to hug Max. We walked around town, ate Frank while soaking feet in hot onsen water (no funny things between toes) and had a great time. We went to a spot where he used to play in the river as a child but hadn't been to in decades. I convinced a bunch of elderly tourists to make peace signs for a photo and then I jumped in. Cool, humid and very sweaty. Cool and sweaty. Gotta love this humidity.

We went to an onsen hotel near his place and got to see the art he has displayed there. It had increased from one piece to about 10 so thatis goodstuff!

We drove back to Komatsu, then went over to Chizu-chan's house and chatted with her for about and hour, came home and just finished curry and fried eggs. I'm looking forward to the next five days on the bike in the rain and humidity and insects. It will be a good way to enjoy September Hokuriku just like it always is.

I love you!
Cam

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Old Haunts Day

Yesterday was a day that I'm going to call "Old Haunts Day".The car I rented in Kanazawa runs great, is very peppy, has enough legroom and is great on gas. Can you guess what it is without googling it? In Japan e call it the Vitz. In North America it is called the Yaris. Both are silly names but the vehicle is very nice. Tomorrow when I return it to Komatsu airport Max and I will have to ride back to his place so we need to put our bikes in it. But you know what? I actually think they will fit (with minor adjustments on our part)!

So I drove through Kanazawa to the expressway and recalled all the years Mayu and I came to Kanazawa when we needed a bigger city experience than Fukui and a little more culture. At Tokumitsu Service Area I parked, peed, and went down to the sea to enjoy the beach, surf, sun and most strongly the sound of the waves mixed with the fresh Japan Sea Air which is soooo much better than Tokyo. The air here is wonderful! No wonder I feel more tired in Tokyo.

I got off the expressway at Maruoka and visited Maruoka Castle, learning of its 450 years of history while enjoying the amazing view of the entire valley from mountains to mountaIns. Nobody could sneak up on that lord!

Then it was off to Yasusaki Home Center and Y Plaza supermarket to wander around. I ate lunch at McDonalds there then zipped over to the only Starbucks in Fukui which is at the shopping center kalled Elpaformerlyknownascopa.

From there I wandered in that mall then took my cycling route way up to Aoki Drug in Matsuoka so I could buy some dish sponges that are cheaper here than Tokyo. Next I drove through Eiheiji and went to my swimming hole where I spent an enjoyable half hour or so getting naked and swimming in the autumn-chilled "shrivel me timber" waters. Wonderful!! After drip drying I dressed again and went to the old house to see how well it was degrading. Very well indeed. I even said hi to Dickhead's Dad. You should have seen his face when he saw me! It was priceless! He asked, "Are you going to be livinghere again?!?" As I had the upper hand I smiled and told him I was just passing through to take a look. The relief I gave him with my words was palpable.

I saw a bunch of my other friends in the hood, hugged them all, laught, talked and enjoyed the time.

Then I took the big loop up to Katsuyama along my favourite river road, went to Ono and visited a pastry shop I went to for the best pie choux in the multiverse.

Having a hankering for dinner I went to 8Ban Ramen for a great memory dinner then drove back to Fukui not the Katsuyama way, but throught the othr mountains. I havent driven that way in years.

Arriving at Fukui I zipped into Second Street but didnt find any clothes I wanted, got back in the car, drove to Maruoka and jumped back on the tollway. Then it was an hour long drive in the inky night mountains to Kanazawa. I found a parking spot, went into the hotel, and has an hour-long comprehensive bath in the onsen spa on the 14th floor.

And now, at 10:30 in the morning on Monday I am about to check out and head over to Maxville where I will remain (unshaven) until Saturday evening. Oh yeah... I have to return the car to Komatsu airport on Tuesday and ten cycle back to Maxville in the cool night air. A night run!

And there we go: full circle on Old Haunts Day, brought to you by my thumbs on my keitai.

Enjoy the gotch!

I love you!!
Cam

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Can't Get This Much Delicious Food for 1900yen in Tokyo!

Ahhhhh... Great weather in Kanazawa! Great bus ride (read a map and got bussick). Great time in Kenroku-en Park. Great visit to a very weird art show by a Swede. Great lunch (see photo). Great walking and window shopping and people watching (was busy for Kanazawa but empty compared to Tokyo).

And now to head up to the 14th floor to the onsen for a long soak then head back out again in the much higher humidity than Tokyo evening for dinner somewhere.

Tomorrow I rent a car and head to Fukui to visit all my old haunts and enjoy the slow country life.

I love you!
Cam

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

Killing us softly with their drugs

The BigPharma DrugLords will do ANYTHING to market their statin killer drugs to as many people as they can get their sites on! It is shocking even after so many adverse events occur on these drugs...  Now they want to market them for pneumonia! What's next: cancer treatment? arthritis fighters? Oh wait! They are already hailing those illnesses as being treatable with statins!

Killing us softly with their drugs, killing us softly....

Here's a little article with a link to a bigger article in Bloomberg. It shocks me the length at which they will go to recoup the billions they spend on trying to get drugs onto the market.....

Statins show promise for yet another use

September 14, 2010 — 10:30am ET | By Tracy Staton

http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/statins-show-promise-yet-another-use/2010-09-14

Statin drugs--those ubiquitous cholesterol-lowering pills--have been hailed as potential treatments for everything from cancer to rheumatoid arthritis. And researchers now say the drugs could be pneumonia-fighters.
A new analysis of the Jupiter study--designed to show whether AstraZeneca's Crestor was better than placebo at cutting cholesterol--found that fewer Crestor patients got pneumonia during the study compared with those receiving placebo: 214 versus 257, to be exact. Crestor patients were also less likely to develop other sorts of infections, too.

This isn't a bolt out of the blue; a 2008 study showed that people hospitalized with pneumonia were less likely to die if they used a statin drug. Other data suggests that statins may help reduce inflammation and prevent a dysfunctional immune system from attacking healthy tissue, Bloomberg reports. The new study has researchers calling for trials of statins in lung disease patients

- read the news from Bloomberg:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-13/cholesterol-lowering-drug-crestor-cuts-risk-of-catching-pneumonia-in-study.html

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It Pays to Ask, or If you don't ask the answer is always NO.

As newusual, I stopped at my 500 yen setmeal lunch place on the way up the stairs out of Shinjuku Station. Lunch was good as usual, though it took a few extra minutes to arrive. The place had more hungry businessmenandwomen than I usually see, but that could be because I arrived a couple of trains later than usual. No matter! I ate, paid and left all in good time. I even had time to go to Dotour Coffe for a 200 yen ice coffee to sip on the train to Kobuchizawa (it's Monday).

Today I decided to ask the server to leave out the bowl of refillable rice as I never eat it. If I can save restaurants a little bit of money then everyone wins. I never ask for a discount and I never expect one. I don't do it to decrease the cost of my meals so for me the price is complete as is without rice.

We imagine my surprise and delight when the person at the register handed ME a 100 yen coin BACK after I gave him my 500 yen coin! When you share the love and positive energy with people that energy comes back to you. With interest!

What a great day!

I hope your Monday is as good as mine.

I love you!
Cam

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Global Blah Blah Blah...

The jury is still out* on whether or not I want to keep reading this stuff. It seems like a blend of both liberal and conservative propaganda "news", and I'm not too fond of "conspiracy theory" conjecturs myself.

Here are a few that I culled from today's TVNewsLies.org (the rest I deleted):

FDA CENSORSHIP OF NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE THREATENS HEALTH OF ALL AMERICANS <-- This one, unfortunately, I believe...
Nutritional cures exist for nearly every major disease, but the FDA doesn't want you to know about them. So it has censored truthful, scientifically-proven information about these substances in order to keep you ignorant about nutritional cures. At the same time the FDA is attacking health foods, it openly allows ridiculous health claims on processed dead junk foods. Frito-Lay potato chips, for example, are allowed to carry claims that they are "heart healthy."

FIDEL CASTRO SAYS CUBAN ECONOMIC MODEL NO LONGER WORKS <-- Castro (and Chavez, too) is well-known for his (very very) long-winded speeches. This is priceless!
Fidel Castro said Cuba's economic model no longer works, a U.S.-based journalist reported on Wednesday following interviews with the former president last week. Jeffrey Goldberg, a writer for the Atlantic Monthly magazine, wrote in a blog that he asked Castro, 84, if Cuba's model -- Soviet-style communism -- was still worth exporting to other countries and he replied, "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."

TRANSOCEAN, HALLIBURTON BLAST BP REPORT ON CAUSE OF BLOWOUT, OIL SPILL <-- Pass the buck BP & Halliburton, you motherfuckers...
Transocean and Halliburtion, BP's partners on the blown-out well that led to the massive Gulf oil spill, reject findings in a new BP report that finds their workers partly to blame for the rig accident. Former partners with BP in the drilling operation that led to a blowout aboard the Deepwater Horizon drill rig – and a massive oil spill – are striking back at a report they say unfairly paints them as equally responsible for the disaster. In its four-month study by 50 analysts, BP details "a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces."
***************************************

* "The Jury is out"... This is a new phrase I am teaching my managers here at work. It is a foreign concept to Japanese in general because until just very recently there was no jury system in Japan. When I say "very recently" I mean one or two years.

I love you!
Cam

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

What's Going on Today

Are you curious about what is going on in Japan Today, Sep 8, 2010?

Here's the link to "Japan Today" if you would like to read the latest news: http://www.japantoday.com/

And here are a few headlines to whet your appetite.

Headline News

Over 52,000 hospitalized due to heatstroke since late May
17-year-old arrested for reporting around 3,000 false crimes
Takeshi to make his first ever sequel with 'Outrage 2'
Kan remains mum about working with Ozawa after DPJ leadership contest
McDonald's Japan sees record-high monthly sales in August
Softbank tops net subscription gains for 5th month in August
Tigers blank Dragons in key series opener
Pressure builds on Florida pastor who wants to burn Quran on Sept 11

More In National

Marauding monkeys have Y200,000 bounty on their heads
Japan again lowest in education spending among OECD nations
36 midwifery homes fail to provide vitamin K to newborn babies
Japan confirms its first case of new superbug gene

More In Crime

Coast Guard arrests Chinese ship captain over collisions near Senkakus
Judicial panel launches 2nd review of Ozawa's non-indictmen
Reporter says he tricked captors into using Twitter
Greenpeace activists vow to fight court ruling on whale meat theft

More In Entertainment

Eri Fukatsu wins best actress award at Montreal film festival
Rinko Kikuchi dating director Spike Jonze
Yu Kashii, Joe Odagiri expecting baby in February
Olivia Newton-John heading to Japan for concerts

More In Politics

Ministry calls for promotion of domestic defense industry
DPJ lower house member Nakajima leaving party amid funds scandal
Japan, Germany to cooperate over nuclear disarmament, U.N. reform
Ecuadorian leader seeks aid for initiative to forgo oil exploration

More In Business

July current account surplus up for 1st time in 3 months
Japanese business leaders urge review of China's rare earth export controls
Gov't to narrow down 'eco-point' list of appliances from January
MUFJ Trust to enter investment trust business in China

More In Technology

Japan's plutonium possession down in 2009 for 1st time
Leading eco goods and ideas site to open redesigned web shop
Japanese stem cell researcher wins Balzan prize
Nuclear agency approves new safety regulations for Shimane plant

More In Sports

FIFA inspectors to visit White House
Figure skater Asada hires new coach
Kobayashi to stay at Sauber for 2011 Formula One season
Goalkeeper Narazaki ends international career

More In World

EU decries 'barbaric' plans to stone Iranian woman
John Lennon killer Chapman denied parole
George Soros gives $100 mil to Human Rights Watch
Castro blasts Iran's Ahmadinejad as anti-Semitic

More In Lifestyle

Dolphin activist Ric O'Barry won't swim off into the sunset
Who cares about hemlines? Women's pants again on the radar
Introduction of eco-friendly coffee sought at university cafes
BSE and foot-and-mouth disease give beef producers plenty to chew on

More In Entertainment / Arts

'Norwegian Wood' debuts at Venice Film Festival
Erika Sawajiri: Inside the head of Japan's outspoken star
Beetle Bailey nears retirement age, but stays put
Jazz icon Kazumi Watanabe plays role of elder statesman

More Weather

Tokyo 29℃ (Cloudy - currently rain)
Osaka 28℃ (Rain)
Fukuoka 28℃ (Cloudy)
Sapporo 21℃ (Sunny)
Nagoya 27℃ (Rain)
Naha 29℃ (Sunny)

It's raining today! The first rain in over a month. Wow..... I bet the farmers are just as happy as me!

If you made it all the way down this list, you probably don't want to scroll all the way back up again just to get to the link so...

Here it is: http://www.japantoday.com/

Talk about service with a smile! *smile*

Have a great day.

I love you!
Cam

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

WikiLeaks & Global Weirding

Now here is some (long) and bizarre (beliefs? counter-info? conspiracy?) info on WikiLeaks...

http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/wikileaks-cointelpro-wizard-...

Could they possibly be a front for Mossad/CIA? This person thinks so.

Either way you look at it, this kind of information supporting and / or bashing either side of any political situation is rampant in our world, and will get cleaned up.

It's just too weird (but would make a great movie...)

Enjoy the blossoming flowers in your garden; that is much more important than this stuff...

I love you!

Cam

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

Pack It Up (follow link for story)

After exiting the restaurant in Shinjuku Stn I headed over to McDs to get a 120 yen ice coffee. Sure I could buy ice coffee from the vending machines but I have never been a fan of their bitterness. I know Stefnee & Co love them, though. But I also know Stefnee loves McDs coffee as well. It's not too bitter so it is quite good.

As I left the shade and wandered to the entrance to Shinjuku Station (where I exit and reenter are different) I could feel the heat rising. I decided to sit in the sun for a few minutes, but with it pounding from 360 degrees around I gave up. The one minute I was there melted the ice in my coffee. It felt good...

I could easily tell that the area is over 35C (95F) so the rivulet down my babypowdered back is making pancake batter as I type. I wonder how packed the train will be now as summer holidays are over? It will be interesting to see.

This morning was a good one with plenty of time to relaxingly get lots done around the house.

I think Ill try something different re. taking all my texts every Monday... Sheesh! I am testing out one of my old packs that I sent to Canada a year ago this past January, as a way to show The Universe that I was done with Japan and ready to move on from Fukui life which had stagnated. I asked my mom to send it back so I could use it. But after being in a box in a basement for a year and a half it did not smell too great... after three launderings and over a week hanging in the blistering sun I am now ready to test it out on the Kobuchizawa Run. So far, so good...

I love you!
Cam

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

HPV Vaccination in Japanese Schools

I have written about the HPV "mandatory" vaccination to "prevent cancer" in the past several times. It is wrong wrong wrong! for schools to be putting this on the list of mandatory vaccinations for school girls for one very big reason: the Human Pappiloma Virus is NOT a cause of cervical cancer! This has been shown over and over. One of the biggest proofs is that most people who have cervical HPV do NOT get cancer. Therefore the HPV CANNOT be a cause of cancer. If it was a cause of cancer, then most people would have to get cervical cancer if they had cervical HPV. But why don't people (doctors, etc.) understand this?!?!?!?!? It is so simple a truth.

Well, here is an article on the Japanese news today talking about how school nurses (not really nurses) don't favour innoculating their girls with the HPV vaccine. The only problem is that the reasons they cite are not reasonable. One reason is the concern of the side effects. That is reasonable. But the other one is that they are not comfortable talking to the girls and their parents about cervical cancer, etc. etc. ! How can school nurses be afraid to talk about this stuff?"!!?!?!?

Unfortunately, most of them AGREE that innoculation to "prevent cervical cancer caused by the HPV virus" is a "good thing". Unfortunately they don't understand (and nobody I talk to in Japan knows either) that the HPV does NOT CAUSE CERVICAL CANCER. There are other underlying factors.

Here is the link to the article:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/only-4-of-school-nurses-favo...

I am going to include my comment I wrote there in case it gets deleted (one comment in the past on another news article was deleted by the admin). I guess they don't like me rocking the boat, while the other comments people leave are pretty much just plain silly on most news items.

I love you!
Cam

***********************

Everyone: Please do some research on Gardasil, and HPV. You will find that the belief that cervical cancer is caused by the HPV is ENTIRELY FALSE and WITHOUT ANY SUBSTANTIATION. The side effects of Gardasil are quite dangerous and damaging to the young women who are being forced by schools in N.A. to receive it as a preventative measure. The second worst thing you can do is to parrot this false information and spread it out further in your network. The worst thing you can do is follow the "advice" (or law in the USA) of the government and "health specialists" and have your daughters vaccinated to "prevent cancer".

This is another example of how Big Pharma is profiting at our expense.

85% of all people have the HPV. It is the #1 sexually transmitted illness of all. Men cannot be "vaccinated" against it and using condoms does not prevent the transfer, either. Therefore it can't be prevented. If men have it (and most do, apparently), it is transferred from the scrotal sac and the base of the penis as warts (that is what the pappiloma viruses are - warts). There is no current preventative measure that will cover the entire penis and testicular sac therefore it cannot be prevented except through complete abstinence (and with the decreased birthrate in the developed worlds, governments are pushing for us to have more babies therefore an entire population of abstaining people would wipe themselves out of existence faster than any cancer would.

The FDA has known about this for years. But we know we can't trust the FDA to look our for our interests.

Here is some information on YouTube that you may want to watch to further educate yourself on Gardasil, HPV and the entire false information we have been fed regarding this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK97CHQZhq0

Here is a little information that I HOPE will get you out looking on the net about the HPV and to better understand that the belief that this injection "prevents" cancer is just one more incorrect brainwashing technique that we are all exposed to:

The Gardasil vaccine has never been proven to decrease the actual incidence of cervical cancer."...In fact, according to the text Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology, "In most studies, HPV status was not a strong independent prognosticator of outcome in cervical cancer patients; however there appears to be a trend for HPV-negative tumors to do worse …those tumors containing HPV DNA tend to be of an early stage and low grade."4 This suggests that if the goal is to reduce deaths from cervical cancer the target should not be HPV at all because the tumors without HPV actually "do worse." ---- Gardasil - the Cervical Cancer Vaccine? April 18, 2007

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Heaven is an Awesome Pair of Socks

So I wore these 2600yen socks at the gym tonight... and they felt even better than the bright red ones I showcased on Tuesday. In fact, they are sooooo good that I decided to wear them home instead of the dress socks I poured sweat in all day and took off... wet when I arrived at the gym.

These babies are left and right centric with tons of different weaves, warps and wefts (no wafts...thankyouverymuch I amblessed with non-smelly feet) all ovr them. They just fel right. Im looking forward to feeling happy in these babies on the bike, at the gym, at the sweatfactory, hiking in the mountains, but not in bed. Now I must eat.

I love you!
Cam

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

Animal Lovers Rejoice! Technology (may relatively soon) Save the Day!

Working in the pharmaceutical industry I have a better understanding and appreciation of the use of animals for testing new drugs for humans. Of course I would prefer if we could find or create better ways that would reduce the use of animal testing while still effectively testing potential life-saving drugs to determine their efficacy, and safety for humans. After all, would you like to take a new drug that hasn't been actually tested on anything living? Other than animals, what do we currently have? How about .. technology?

This desire is not just from the "wackhead animal rights freaks" anymore. It seems that scientists, research doctors, even the FDA (OMG! The FD Fuckin' A!) are starting to "consider" new ways to effectively test drugs without the use of animals (or to test drugs with decreased use of animals). Of course since it would dramatically reduce the cost of preclinical testing of new unknown drugs (see below), Big Pharma will likely jump on the bandwagon once a system is acceptable to the regulatory powers that be. To bring a new drug to market costs over one billion dollars. Most drugs never make it to market, and yet it still costs millions and millions and hundreds of millions of dollars to get rejected along the way (depending upon what point in the process the application gets rejected).

Here's a little information that might make you "pill popping, goddamn animal lovers" (like me) happy to hear. It's a start...

Hi Tug!

*************************

Better modeling to reduce animal testing
August 30, 2010 — 7:07am ET | By George Miller, FierceBiotechIT

Drug testing via computer modeling, virtual tissue, and human and animal cells are helping the pharma industry move away from the use of animals as primary test subjects.

Researchers recruit tens of millions of animals annually for drug testing, reports The Baltimore Sun. Eighty to 800 are needed per drug.

Robert Kavlock, director at the EPA's National Center for Computational Toxicology, says animals represent the current "gold standard" in drug testing, according to the article. "But there is a collective recognition that we need to do better." And there are solid practical reasons to move away from the use of animals. A chemical that costs $6 million to $10 million to test might yield computer test results for "more like $20,000."

*************************

Here's the full article. It's longish, but interesting:
http://smart-grid.tmcnet.com/news/2010/08/27/4978009.htm

I love you!

Cam

Posted via email from Thoughts From The Big Rice Bowl

Japan Burns In Hell!

Summer is hot.
Summer in Asia is hot!

Japan is experiencing the hottest summer on record, since the governments started recording meteorological data after WWII in 1946. Every day people in the office complain about how hot it is. When they come back from lunch, everyone talks about how hot it is. I think my elevator is probably over 40C every day. My back is soaked with sweat by the time I get to the office. If I sit on the toilet for more than 2minutes, because there is no air circulation there (i.e. no breeze), I get drenched in sweat (and that is keeping the door open!). Etc. Etc. etc. Actually Fukui was hotter, and the daily temps prove it, compared to Tokyo, so for me, it's not too bad here (except I have to wear these damn work clothes!)

Many MANY people have been taken to the hospital around the country due to heat stroke this year. It is big news.

One of the problems is that traditionally (it has changed in recent years), young people were trained that to be "tough" and get "stronger" you need to learn to overcome your "desires" and "needs" some times. This works for many things, but not when it comes to ignoring the body's need for water and salts. Maybe that is how the samurai made themselves "tough" in the past, but we aren't samurai anymore, and we don't need that kind of "tough". It's just silly. That mentality still sticks with a lot of older people. As an aside, I recall when I studied kendo here 20 years ago, that no matter how hot it was, no matter how thirsty we were, we were not by any means allowed to drink water during the practice. We could drink before, and after, but not during. I ignored that once as I thought I was going to pass out from thirst and loss of water...and boy did they lay into me! Apparently that mentality is no longer in the current dojos, which is a good thing.

Another problem of course, lies in the fact that as we age, our bodies no longer are as good at controlling their core temperatures than when we were younger. This is a big reason why many elderly people succumb to heat exhaustion.

A third reason, I think, may be that air conditioning is viewed differently hear in Japan than it is in North America. Where I grew up we used AC when it got hot. Period. Here they try not to use it as much as possible. The problem is that during the evening and night, most people close their drapes and windows. And that is when the heat builds up in the home. Also, people do not sleep with fans blowing on them because (tradition? old truth whose reason we have forgotten?) they SAY that air blowing over your body when you sleep is bad for you. (A lot of wives tales began in original truths, so who knows? To me it sounds crazy, but to Japanese it is a common belief - just like to North Americans eggs must be kept refrigerated is a common belief, but to Japanese, it is not necessary - and considering all of the salmonella outbreaks in eggs and the egg recalls going on in the USA these days, it's no wonder N.A. think this way: the food chain there is filthy!)

Anyway...

Here is an article from Japan Today giving you the latest update on the statistics of people suffering heat stroke in Japan:

Have a great day, and keep your fluids, and your mineral levels up!

I love you!
Cam

P.S. On the political front, this new battle for the DPJ Leadership Race is a travesty. Japan has a very very poor (weak) political system. Besides, if Ozawa actually wins, we are in big trouble.....
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/dpj-leadership-race-begins-w...

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Nearly 47,000 hospitalized due to heatstroke since late May
Wednesday 01st September, 08:00 AM JST

TOKYO —
Nearly 47,000 people were taken by ambulance to hospitals across Japan in about three months since late May, including more than 5,000 last week alone, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday.

A total of 46,728 people were rushed to medical institutions from May 31 to Aug 29, with 5,358 of them transported in the seven-day period through last Sunday, the agency said in a preliminary report. Of the total, 158 people died shortly after arrival at hospitals in 42 prefectures, the agency said.

The agency urged people to continue to take care to avoid heat stroke by consuming water and salt frequently, particularly as there may be increased outdoor events and activities with the start of a new school term.

According to the agency’s report, those diagnosed with mild symptoms upon arrival made up the largest proportion of patients at 57.7%, followed by 35.3% with moderate symptoms and 3.5% with severe symptoms.

By age bracket, 46.6% of the patients were 65 or over, while by prefecture, the figure exceeded 3,000 in Tokyo and Aichi, Osaka and Saitama prefectures.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/nearly-47000-hospitalized-du...

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