good health

2010-07-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

Open letter to thank doctors and medical staff of Queen Mary hospital

There are several personnel and departments for my case, viz. Dr. Johnathan Lau (ENT), Dr. Vivian Mok (H&N), Dr. Ambrose Ho (H&N), Dr. Joseph Chung (H&N), Dr. Kelvin Mo (H&N), anesthetist Yow Chee Kung and all medical staff of the ICU2, D6 and K16S.

關於我的情況是涉及多個醫生及部門，耳鼻喉科劉佳音醫生，頭頸科莫蔚琪醫生，何頌偉醫生，鍾漢平醫生，巫文亮醫生，麻醉師Yow Chee Kung（剛在7月6日收到電郵，邱次剛麻醉師的中文名稱是邱次剛。）及ICU2、D6、K16S所有醫護人員。

Brief statement of happening
事件簡述

Dr. Johnathan Lau has arranged an instant operation to open a temporary tracheostoma on Aug. 18, 2009 after three tumors were discovered on my throat. Such fast action prevented me from suffocation that might kill me.

劉佳音醫生在2009年8月18日因我喉嚨出現了三個腫瘤立即安排手術來造出一個臨時的造口來呼吸避免我會因此而窒息至死。

Dr. Johnathan Lau and Dr. Kelvin Mo have saved me on Jun. 8, 2010 when I had big blood clots in my tracheostoma that almost leading to suffocation.

劉佳音醫生及巫文亮醫生在2010年6月8日當我因有大血塊堵塞呼吸進行緊急清理挽救了生命。

Dr. Vivian Mok, Dr. Ambrose Ho and Dr. Joseph Chung of H&N have handled the surgical operation to remove my throat and lymphocyte of both sides on Sep. 28, 2009. Their skill gave me the best outcome one can expect.

頭頸科莫蔚琪醫生，何頌偉醫生，鍾漢平醫生負責我在2009年9月28日的割除喉嚨及淋巴腺手術，使我得到最佳效果。

Anesthetist Yow Chee Kung has treated me twice with his expert skill. The first one on Aug. 18, 2009, the choice was for local anaesthesia instead of general anaesthesia in the first stage to be sure that my lung would work fine when the temporary stoma was created. The second one was on Sep. 28, 2009, arranging the air flow for my lung and general anaesthesia for the operation to remove the throat and lymphocyte of both sides, with closing of the temporary stoma replacing by a permanent stoma.

麻醉師Yow Chee Kung（不知什麼原因在瑪麗醫院的網頁上，麻醉科專家是沒有中文姓名，我曾寄電郵給該網頁的主理但至今仍未有收到任何回覆）剛在7月6日收到電郵，麻醉師的中文名稱是邱次剛。以他的專業技術處理了我兩次。第一次在2009年8月18日決定初步是採用局部麻醉來確定在臨時造口後我的肺部能夠繼續呼吸。第二次是在2009年9月28日在割除喉嚨及淋巴腺時與關閉臨時造口製造一個長期造口的過程中安排提供氧氣及全身麻醉給這個手術。

On Aug 4, 2009, after passing out on an ambulance, I did not know what happened thereafter. When I woke up, I was in the ICU2 of Queen Mary Hospital. With several shift of nurses, I was handled with the best medical services for recovery that made me falling in love with the ICU, forgetting that this is a place for critical life threatening cases.

在2009年8月4日當我在救護車上昏倒後，我是失去了知覺。我醒來時已是在瑪麗醫院ICU2。幾更的護士以最佳的醫療服務來照顧我，使我愛上了ICU忘記了這是有生命危險情況的地方。

On Jun. 8, 2010, when I felt smothering while waiting for doctor in the D6 of Queen Mary Hospital, I was rushing into ICU2 for rescue. The fast reaction of the nurses from putting me on bed, setting up laryngoscope, calling doctors, to assisting everything for the life saving operation is phenomenal.

在2010年6月8日我在D6等候醫生時出現了窒息現象，我被急忙送入了ICU2搶救。護士們以極快的速度進行病床安置，內窺鏡設備及急召醫生是令人驚訝的。

On Jun. 8, 2010, after the Rescue dept., I was taken to D6 around 8 am waiting for doctor because my condition was not serious at that time. But on 4 pm, I suddenly had a smothering feeling and called the nurse. Their co-operation to put me on a bed, packing all my belongings, setting pulse oximeter etc. and rushing me to the ICU in a shortest time. I believe that this fast reaction is one of the factors to my survival.

在2010年6月8日上午8時許由於情況仍算穩定我由急症室轉到D6等候醫生。但在下午4時我出現了窒息感覺及照會護士。他們齊手把我放上床，收拾個人物品，安置血氧計及以最快的速度運到ICU。他們的效率對我的救活起了極大的作用。

Before Sep. 28, 2009 I had stayed in K16S before the surgery when doctors had to check the conditions of my body and arranging the schedule of operation. After surgery, the first stage of recovery is hard and critical. That is the period when services of nurses and medical staffs are important for all patients. Their professional skill, tenderness, care and dedication were so great that my days there became a sweet memory instead of pain.

On Jun. 18, 2010 I was transferred from D6 to K16D. This time, I stayed for about a week and had their best attention for my recovery from infection of the stoma.

我在2009年9月28日的手術前在K16S進行各種檢查及等待手術排期。手術後康復的頭段時期是關鍵性及較痛苦的。這段時期護士及護理人員對病人是極重要的。他們極佳的專業水準，溫柔態度，無比關懷及專注使我在這段時期由痛苦變成了甜蜜回憶。

在2010年6月18日我由D6轉到K16S。這次在一個星期內得到他們悉心照顧我的造口在感染後的康復。

Individual details
個別詳細情況

Dr. Johnathan Lau
劉佳音醫生

Aug. 4, 2009 after passing out on an ambulance that intent to take me to Grantham Hospital, I was taken to Queen Mary Hospital for rescue. Then I was transferred to Grantham Hospital. On May 18, 2009, a new advisory doctor did not accept that my voice problem’s assumption and ordered an immediate laryngoscopy. Thanks to his judgment, they saw three pieces of tumor sitting on top of the throat. So they sent me back to Queen Mary Hospital and asked the ENT section to follow up. They also had a doctor taking the photo and note to accompany me for the ride and handed over to the houseman. The ENT doctor, Dr. Johnathan Lau, ordered a bedside laryngoscopy and confirmed that if the tumors continued to expand, I might be dead in a day or two. Therefore an immediate operation within one hour was arranged to open a stoma in the neck for breathing and getting some pieces of tumors for analysis. My life was saved because of the advisory doctor’s judgment and your immediate action, Dr. Lau.

2009年8月4日我在本來運送我到葛量洪醫院的救護車上昏倒，於是把我急忙送到瑪麗醫院進行急救。之後轉回到葛量洪醫院。在8月18日一位新到的顧問醫生並不接受我聲線問題的假設，他立即安排胃鏡再檢查。多得他的判斷，他們發現在喉嚨位置出現了三個腫瘤物體。所以立即送我回瑪麗醫院及通知耳鼻喉科。更派一位醫生帶同照片及資料與我一起到瑪麗交給當值醫生。耳鼻喉科的劉佳音醫生要即時在床邊的胃鏡，確定如果腫瘤繼續擴大，我將有生命危險。所以要立即在一小時內進行手術在頸部開一個臨時造口來呼吸及取腫瘤樣本進行化驗。我的生命因那位顧問醫生的判斷及閣下，劉佳音醫生，的快速處理而保了下來。

Dr. Johnathan Lau and Dr. Kelvin Mo
劉佳音醫生及巫文亮醫生

On Jun. 8, 2010 in the early morning, I had a feeling that there was something inside the stoma that I could not eject by any means. This told me that something bad would happen soon, so I took a taxi to the Rescue Dept. of Queen Mary Hospital. I told the nurse there about my case. They arranged an X-ray of the lung and then transferred me to the D6 waiting for Head & Neck doctor to see me since I was quite stable at that time. But on 4 pm, I had a smothering feeling and called the nurse instantly. Then I was moved to the ICU2 and after checking that there was blood clot blocking the airway with just a tiny slit that spared my breathing, they called H&N, ENT doctor for urgent rescue. Dr. Johnathan Lau and Dr. Kelvin Mo rushed into the ICU2 within a very short time and started to take the blood clot from my tracheostoma.

Dr. Johnathan Lau started to work without any protection. When I ejected droplets of blood, sputum and dirty things upon him, he just had time to ask for a face shield but his hair and white robe became the target for the ejection. After some times, there remained a big blood clot down below, you, Dr. Lau, asked me to eject so that he could use the forceps to catch it. But that was not easy. We kept trying and several forceps were exchanged, finally with a strong ejection and his fast reaction the big blood clot was caught and pulled out. Every one in the room clapped with joy. I immediately found that fresh air was breathing in and because I could not speak I just said to myself “Dr. Lau, you save me for the second time, thank you”. The total time for this operation was one hour.

在2010年6月8日早上我感覺有些東西在造口內不能噴出來。這告訴我將會有麻煩出現，所以立即乘的士到瑪麗醫院急症室。我告訴護士我的情況。因為我的狀態尚算穩定，在照了一幅X光片後就把我送到D6等候頭頸科醫生。但在下午四時我忽然感到窒息及通知了護士，就把我急急送到了ICU2。檢查後證實我的造口內有大血塊而且只有一條極窄的裂縫維持呼吸，他們立即急召頭頸及耳鼻喉科醫生來搶救。劉佳音醫生及巫文亮醫生在極短時間內趕到及開始把造口的血塊抽出來。在開始時劉佳音醫生並沒有任何保護。當我噴出血點痰塊等時，他只能及時帶上面罩，他的頭髮及白袍成為了噴發的目標。在進行了一段時間後，仍有一塊很大的血塊在下面，閣下，劉醫生，叫我用力噴它上來等他可以用鉗子夾住。但這次並不容易，在多次努力及更換幾個鉗子後，終於在一次大力噴出後閣下生快速夾住及拉了出來。房間內所有人都快樂地鼓掌起來。我立即感到清新的空氣吸了入來，因我不能說話只有在心中說：劉醫生你已是第二次救了我，多謝。整個過程足足一個鐘頭。

H&N Dr. Vivian Mok, Dr. Ambrose Ho and Dr. Joseph Chung
頭頸科莫蔚琪醫生，何頌偉醫生，鍾漢平醫生

After confirming that my throat and lymphocyte of both sides had cancer tumors, the doctors of Head & Neck decided that I needed a surgery to remove the throat the whole lymphocyte on the right and partial lymphocyte on the left. They said that there would be three scars on the neck. The surgery was scheduled on Sep. 28, 2009 around 8:30 am. I reported to K16S three days ahead and they tested everything before that date. You, Dr. Vivian Mok, Dr. Ambrose Ho and Dr. Joseph Chung of H&N handled the surgical operation.

As usual, after going into the surgery room and anaesthetized, I did not know anything until the nurse called “Ha, the operation is completed, wake up!” That was 4 pm. When I was bought back to my bed, I asked the medical staff to give me my mirror and mobile phone so that I could see my neck and send message to my wife that the operation had completed meaning that I was still alive.

在我的喉嚨及兩邊的淋巴腺確定患了癌症後，頭頸科的醫生認為我一定要用手術來割去喉嚨，右邊整個淋巴腺及左邊部份淋巴腺，也說明了我頸部將會有三條疤痕。手術訂在2009年9月28日上午約8時半。我在三天前到達了K16S，他們在那天前進行了手術前的一切檢查。你們，頭頸科莫蔚琪醫生，何頌偉醫生，鍾漢平醫生負責這個手術。

正如一般相同，入了手術室及打入了麻醉藥後不久我已經是昏迷了，發生什麼都不知道直至護士說：“喂，手術完成哪，醒來！”。時間已是下午四時。在我被送回病床後，我立即要求護理人員把我的鏡子及手提電話取出來，我就可以看看頸部如何及發短訊給我太太告訴她手術做完即是說我仍在生了。

The zipped look of the two scars, not three, was perfectly spaced and joint. I believed that my quick recovery was due to their perfect skill for this complicated surgery. Worth to note is that I cannot find any marks at all on the neck in a few months afterward. Although it is a bit late, yet I should still express my deepest appreciation for all of you, Dr. Vivian Mok, Dr. Ambrose Ho and Dr. Joseph Chung, for giving me the best outcome for such kind of surgery.

拉鍊式的兩列疤痕，不是三條，很完整及平均地封住。我深信我快速的康復與他們為這複雜的手術付出的高超技巧有絕對的關係。值得提出的是在三幾個月後我的頸部已看不到任何疤痕了。雖然是有點延遲。但我應該仍向你們，頭頸科莫蔚琪醫生，何頌偉醫生及鍾漢平醫生，提出我最深切的感謝回應你們給我這種手術的最佳結果。

Anesthetist Yow Chee Kung
麻醉師Yow Chee Kung（不知什麼原因在瑪麗醫院的網頁上，麻醉科專家是沒有中文姓名，我曾寄電郵給該網
頁的主理但至今仍未有收到任何回覆）剛在7月6日收到電郵，邱次剛麻醉師的中文名稱是邱次剛。

You, Anesthetist Yow Chee Kung has treated me twice with his expert skill. The first one on Aug. 18, 2009, the choice was for local anaesthesia instead of general anaesthesia in the first stage to be sure that my lung would work fine when the temporary stoma was created. The second one was on Sep. 28, 2009, arranging the air flow for my lung and general anaesthesia for the operation to remove the throat and lymphocyte of both sides, with closing of the temporary stoma replacing by a permanent stoma. The two surgeries were smoothly performed and I had the best outcome thanks to your work.

邱次剛麻醉師，閣下以專業技術處理了我兩次。第一次在2009年8月18日決定初步是採用局部麻醉來確定在臨時造口後我的肺部能夠繼續呼吸。第二次是在2009年9月28日在割除喉嚨及淋巴腺時與關閉臨時造口製造一個長期造口的過程中安排提供氧氣及全身麻醉給這個手術。兩次的手術進行非常順利，多得閣下的工作，我得到最佳的結果。

Nurses of the ICU2
ICU2護士

On Aug 4, 2009, after passing out on an ambulance, I did not know what happened thereafter. When I regained my sense, a young and pretty face was in front of me. A gentle and touching voice said “Ah, you’ve wake up, do you know where you are?” I thought that I was not a Muslim and did not kill any American, I should not be like what they said that……... Due to my blinking eyes, she said, “You are now in the ICU of Queen Mary Hospital since you fainted on the ambulance yesterday”. From then onward, I was treated by you with the best care one could expect. That made me fell in love with the ICU, forgetting that it is for critical and dangerous condition of patients.

在2009年8月4日當我在救護車上昏倒後，我是失去了知覺。我醒來時看到一個青春美麗的面孔。以溫柔及感人的聲音說：“呵！你醒來了，知道在什麼地方嗎？”。我想想我又不是回教徒又沒有殺了美國人，我不應……..看到我眨眨眼，她說“由於你昨日在救護車昏倒，你是在瑪麗醫院深徹治療部。”從那時起，你們以最佳的醫療服務來照顧我，使我愛上了ICU忘記了這是有生命危險情況的地方。

Without real experience, I think that no one will aware that our medical system has provided us with such kind of best service. With the cost of over ten thousand a day, HK citizen needs to pay just one hundred dollars. Oh, how great that is.

沒有親身體驗，我相信沒有人會知道我們的醫療系統給我們提供了這樣的最佳服務。以超過一萬元的成本，香港市民只需付一百元。呵，這真的很偉大了。

On Jun. 8, 2010, after a smothering condition due to blood clot in the tracheostoma blocking my airway, I was sent to the ICU2 for emergency rescue. After arriving there, you quickly arranged everything from dressing to setting up laryngoscope and calling H&N, ENT doctors, assisting all works until I was rescued. Your efficiency and concentration is so great up to the joyful clapping when I was finally released from the last big blood clot put me into tears. This is the highest humanity that protects us, how fortunate we are.

在2010年6月8日我出現了因血塊阻塞出現窒息現象，我被急忙送入了ICU2搶救。你們以極快的速度進行更衣至安置內窺鏡設備，急召頭頸及耳鼻喉科醫生，協助一切工作直至挽救完畢為止。你們的效率及專注是極佳在最後的大血塊抽出來的歡呼鼓掌把我的眼淚都迫了出來。這是保護我們的最高人道行為，我們是多麼幸福。

in fact, what we know about the hospital is neither the Authority nor Doctors. You and those of D6 and K16S were in front of me physically and my impression was based on naturally. You had done a great job for that.

事實上我們認識醫院絕不是醫管局或醫生。你們和D6及K1t6S等正是在我面前的人，我對醫管局及醫院的印象自然地從你們而來。你們對這方面有傑出的貢獻。

Medical staff of D6
D6護士及護理人員

On Jun. 8, 2010, after the Rescue dept., I was taken to D6 around 8 am waiting for doctor because my condition was not serious at that time. You had advised H&N and expected the doctor to come when available. But on 4 pm, I suddenly had a smothering feeling and called your nurse. At least four to five nurses and medical staff of your dept., co-operated to put me on a bed, packing all my belongings, setting pulse oximeter etc. and rushing me to the ICU in a shortest time. I believe that this fast reaction is one of the factors to my survival. After the ICU, I was brought back to D6 from Jun. 13 to Jun. 18.

During my stay there, some patients had complaints about this and that. Not me, I always in good terms with all medical staff because I understood what could one expect and what they could do for you. In fact, from the doctors to all of you, medical staff, the manner and performance had been greatly improved and almost many times better than before when Hong Kong was still a colony. I do appreciate your services for those six days.
in fact, what we know about the hospital is neither the Authority nor Doctors. You and those of ICU2 and K16S were in front of me physically and my impression was based on naturally. You had done a great job for that.

在2010年6月8日上午8時許由於情況仍算穩定我由急症室轉到D6等候，你們已通知了頭頸科，醫生將會在完成緊急工作後來。但在下午4時我出現了窒息感覺及照會你們的護士。你們最少有四五位護士及醫療人員齊手合力把我放上床，收拾個人物品，安置血氧計及以最快的速度運到ICU。你們的效率對我的救活起了極大的作用。在深徹治療部之後，我被送回D6及在那裡由6月13日,至18日止。期間不少病人有各種的投訴。我絕不會，因為我明白可以期望什麼而你們可以做什麼。事實上，由醫生至你們，護理人員，的態度及表現已有極大的改善，比以前香港仍是殖民地已好了幾個番了。我極之感謝你們在那六天給我的一切照顧。

事實上我們認識醫院絕不是醫管局或醫生。你們和ICU2及K16S等正是在我面前的人，我對醫管局及醫院的印象自然地從你們而來。你們對這方面有傑出的貢獻。

Medical staff of K16S
K16S護士及護理人員

Before Sep. 28, 2009 I had stayed in K16S before the surgery when doctors had to check the conditions of my body and arranging the schedule of operation. This period I could find that all of you, medical staffs of K16S, were friendly and professional only. After surgery, the first stage of recovery is hard and critical. That is the period when services of nurses and medical staff are important for all patients. Your professional skill, tenderness, care and dedication are so great that my days there became a sweet memory instead of pain. From early morning to late night, the nurses had checked my tracheostoma and readily to clean if any sputum etc., were found. The caring was even greater than by me.

在2009年9月28日手術前我是在K16S等待醫生檢查我的情況及安排日期。這段時期我只可發覺你;們，K16S醫護人員，是很友善及專業。手術後康復的頭段時期是關鍵性及較痛苦的。這段時期護士及護理人員對病人是極重要的。你們極佳的專業水準，溫柔態度，無比關懷及專注使我在這段時期由痛苦變成了甜蜜回憶。由清晨至午夜護士們都會檢查我的造口，一旦發現有痰等出現就會立即清理。關心的程度比我個人更甚。

On Jun. 18, 2010 I was transferred from D6 to your ward, K16S. In fact, a few days after the plastic tube was inserted to my tracheostoma in the ICU, I felt that the breathing out was very difficult and my body might be building up with carbon dioxide. Since it was arranged that I had the laryngoscope on Jun. 18, 2010, I prepared to ask the doctor to remove the tube if there was no more blood clot. Yes, there was no blood clot found. When I was back to D6, they told me about the transfer, so I prepared a note and intent to tell the nurse afterward. I did so after going to the K16S. The nurse instantly started to clean my tracheostoma and soon found that my condition remained bad. So she called for a senior, who soon suggested removing the tube. That released my breathing. Then you began to keep an eye on my tracheostoma.

在2010年6月18日我由D6轉到你們的部門，K16S。事實上在深徹治療部裝上造口的膠管後，我已感到呼吸有點困難而身體也可能積聚二氧化炭‧由於已訂了6月18日進行氣管鏡檢查，我已準備在沒有血塊出現時要求醫生把膠管取出。但當我回到D6時，他們說我會轉往K16S，所以我預備了字條預算通知護士。到了K16S我交了給護士，她立即開始幫我清理造口但發現我的情況沒有改善。所以她快速找了一個高級護士來協助‧他很快就提議把膠管取出來。這樣就解放了我呼吸的問題。由那時開你們就一直留意我的造口情況。

in fact, what we know about the hospital is neither the Authority nor Doctors. You and those of ICU2 and D6 were in front of me physically and my impression was based on naturally. You had done a great job for that.

事實上我們認識醫院絕不是醫管局或醫生。你們和ICU2及D6等正是在我面前的人，我對醫管局及醫院的印象自然地從你們而來。你們對這方面有傑出的貢獻。

2010-04-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Road of Recovery 康復之路

As said, I gave up chemotherapy and took the radiation therapy. After that, I have the Chinese herbal medication from Jan. 2010. This is due to my concept of cancer.
要證明我放棄化療採用中醫方式是否正確正如所說，我放棄了化療只採用了電療。之後由一月起就以中藥來治療。原因是我對癌症的概念。

For Western medication, cancer cell is the sole cause, but for me, cancer cell is the outcome from internal disorder. Chemotherapy deals with the cancer cell just like applying poison that not killed normal cells too and that is why it does more harm than good.
西醫方面，是把癌細胞作為唯一的因素，對我來說，癌細胞是內部不妥問題發出來的結果。化療是以毒性來針對癌細胞更會同時殺死正常的細胞所以往往是害多過利。

Of course, if cancer cell is the cause of decease, in order to cure by sacrificing some good cells might be worthwhile, yet with numerous or almost all cases, even after several sessions of chemotherapy, cancer happens elsewhere. This is taken as cancer had spread to other organ. For me, it is not spreading; it is because the ultimate cause has never been treated properly.
當然，如果癌細胞真的是病的因素，為了治療而犧牲一些正常細胞是值得之事，但無數甚至所有個案中，即使進行了多輪化療，癌症一樣在另一處再出現。這稱為癌細胞擴散。我認為這不是擴散。這是說明了最終的因素沒有治療妥當的結果。

That is why I prefer Chinese herbal medication which deals with bringing up various organs to get rid of decease naturally. This would have better chance of full recovery. Of course, it depends on the doctor's experience, the patient's confidence and the strict code of living during the period and thereafter.
這是我選擇中醫的原因，中藥是提高各器官的功能來自然地消滅病因。這樣是有較佳機會完全康復。當然這是要倚靠醫生的經驗，病人的信心及在當時及之後生活的規律如何。

Recent condition 最近的情況
Since my case involved with several medical departments, therefore I had to see each department periodically to check up and here are those recent reports:
由於我的情況涉及了多個醫療部門，所以我要依個別所指定的日期覆診：

Head & Shoulder: (this department has mastered the surgery of my throat) The last check up was satisfactory. Of course, due to the removal of throat, the thyroid gland that located just before the throat was removed too. That means I do not have any Thyroid hormone from then onward, a condition called hypothyroidism, The medicine that I need forever is Thyroxine Sodium Tablet with one pill per day to supply my body with Thyroid hormone.
The next problem is due to the new opening for breathing lack of the moistening function of nostril to remove dust etc. in the form of sputum. This has been worse during the dry period a few months ago when I suffered smothering because without moisture, the dust etc. formed a kind of scum blocking the air pipe. The doctor gave me Fluimucil and advised me to get a humidifier and breathing with the moisture several times a day. Now I took the Fluimucil three times and breathing the moisture twice a day. The outcome is great.
頭頸科：（這是負責我喉嚨割除手術的主要部門）上一次覆診的結果是滿意。由於喉嚨割除，在喉嚨前的甲狀腺也一併被割除，這是說我身體已沒有分泌甲狀素的功能，也是甲状腺机能减退的相同結果。所以每日都要食一粒甲狀素藥丸來補充，
另外一個問題是因為造口是沒有鼻孔的濕潤空氣功能來把塵埃等以痰的方式清除。特別是在幾個月前的乾燥時期，因為塵埃等變成渣滓在氣管塞住使呼吸困難。醫生給了我橙樹化痰素及叫我買增濕器來每日多次吸入這些水蒸氣。我現在是每天飲三次橙樹化痰素及兩次吸水蒸氣，效果非常好。

Cancer: (This department has arranged the radiation therapy for me. Their suggestion for chemotherapy was rejected by me.) The last check up was good after they ordered laryngoscope twice to check the remaining air pipe to the lung and the food pipe and found no more tumor in both area.
腫瘤科：（這部份是負責電療，他們提議的化療被我推掉）上一次覆診的結果是良好，他們安排了兩次內窺鏡檢查氣管及食道並沒有發現任何腫瘤。

Eye: (This department checked my vision problem since my medication for diabetes.) The check up last time with a test for visual awareness was satisfactory and the condition of my left eye is stable without further worsening.
眼科：（在開始進食肺結核藥後已安排了眼科檢查預防有影響）上一次覆診的結果也是滿意。之前進行了一次視覺功能測試，證實了沒有進一步的退化。

Dentist: (This department has checked my teeth before and after the radiation therapy.) After taking off three teeth before the radiation therapy, the last check up has found no more problems.
牙科：（在電療開始前已安排的牙齒檢查）最初在雹療前的檢查後要脫了三隻牙齒，上一次覆診的結果是沒有新的問題。

TB: (The TB medication has started from Apr. 22, 2009 and was confirmed by the division head of Grantham Hospital to extend for one year.) The last check up confirmed that no more active TB virus was found and the doctor has fixed the last check up on Apr. 22, 2010. It is most likely that from that day on, I shall be released from their medication program. Usually they will ask me to visit the doctor again in three months ‘time.
胸肺科：（在葛量洪醫院確定了肺結核後已轉到這方面的診所跟進）上一次覆診的結果是沒有活躍的肺結核菌，下次的覆診是4月22日即是剛好完成了一年的食藥期。應該由那天起就不用食藥了。照習慣將會在三個月後再覆診以策安全。

General: (After the medical checking in Grantham Hospital, they assigned the General Medical Clinic to take care of my diabetes medication.) All visits are just to confirm the condition of my diabetes and handing the medicine for me. In fact, after continuous daily checking of my blood test, I have to take these medicines once a day instead of two & three times. This gives me a normal result for months.
普通科：（也是在葛量洪醫院確定了有糖尿病後轉到這方面的診所跟進）所有覆診都是看看血糖有沒有轉變及配給糖尿病藥丸。我只是每天上午食藥一次而不是照所預算每日兩次及三次因為我在多個月來這樣才會有正常的血糖結果‧

The present situation
現在的情況

The possible hidden radicals that gave me cancer and the poisonous effect from radiation therapy were things that I had to face. The herbal medication dealing with such cases had the side effect of rash, quite a hard time for me since middle of January till now. Of course, it was not the herbal medicine that gave the problem directly, instead it was the result of the medication that worked on my body.
潛伏的癌症病因及電療產生的熱毒是我需要面對的問題。針對這些情況的中藥產生了一個副作用，由一月中起出現了甚麻煩的皮疹。當然不是那些藥直接的問題，而是它對我身體產生的效果導致。

So to release the uncomfortable feeling and the itching problem of the rash from the neck to the feet, I have to use several ointment including Paeonol, Compound Dexamethasone Acetate Cream and Vaselin. Ai Ying Kang is used to replace soap to clean the body.
為了減低因皮疹產生的不舒適及發癢的情況，我採用了一些藥膏包括丹皮酚，皮炎平软膏及凡士林。及採用艾嬰康代替肥皂來清洗身體。

Of course, it may be too early to confirm whether my recovery is successful or not. But, at least, up to now, I am feeling good and have the weight increased to 131 lbs. from 108 lbs after the surgery. At first, my weight jumped to 140 lbs. and later proved that there was a problem of Edema. So when the problem is becoming less severe, my weight moved back to normal. The reasons include the support from good friends and family, great doctors and wonderful medical facilities by government.
當然目前不能確定我是否有機會完全康復。但最少至現在我感覺良好而且由手術後的108磅回昇至131磅。最初是回昇至140磅。但原來是有水腫現象，在情況改善後，體重就回復較正常的情況。其中的原因包括有好朋友及家人的支持，極佳的醫生及政府的上佳醫療設施。

It is certain that I might have been dead if not for the medical advancement to make a hole to breath instead. In other words, I have the benefit from both Western and Chinese medication so that I can still work today. For such case, one would face the hardship of financial, confidence and spiritual problems. I must admit that I am lucky to have the supports that are so vital for me. The one year's time of experiencing clinics, hospitals, emergency rescue with all those doctors, nurses etc. are exceptional great. I do appreciate their work.
可以確實說如果沒有醫學技術進步給我開了造口來呼吸，我早已死亡了。換句話說，我得到西醫及中醫兩方面的利益才能在今日仍可以工作等。面對這種情況往往會有經濟，信心及精神上的問題，我的確是幸運得到各方給與的重要支持。一年的時間內經歷了診所，醫院，急救，及有關的醫生，護士等都是極佳。我對他們的工作極之感謝。

Therefore, if I shall be dead to-morrow, I am still glad to have the extension of my life for the days from Aug. 4, 2009 when my life had almost ended on the ambulance. What do I expect for the future? I wish that I can prepare the information from my experience so that when other would face similar situation, they can check for the choices.
所以即使我在明日死亡，我今日仍慶幸我生命由2009年8月4日得到延長而不是在那救護車上完結。對將來有什麼期望？我希望能夠從我的經驗提供信息給其他人士在發生相似的情況時可以看到有什麼選擇。

2009-12-05T02:24:00.000-08:00

My Worst Nightmare – throat cancer 我最差的惡夢 – 喉癌

Cancer is not a deadly decease, but when it happened at vital organ, the loss can be serious. I had it at my throat unfortunately and I had to give up my throat to save my life.

癌症已不是死症，但當它發生在重要器官位置，損失是極嚴重的。我就是患了喉癌引致要割除喉嚨來保命。

It happened during the treatment of my TB. I had a laryngoscopy at the end of May 2009 in Grantham Hospital and it was confirmed that one side of the larynx was suppressed by the lymphocyte. Therefore, it is assumed that the lymphocyte might be affected by the TB. During June and July, my breathing was not good and it was also assumed that lung had been seriously harmed by the germs. Until Aug. 4, 2009, after several nights without sleep, I told the doctor in
the clinic about this, he ordered an ambulance for taking me to Grantham Hospital for medical check up. Before answering a couple of questions, I was passed out. When I woke up, I was already in the ICU of Queen Mary Hospital.

它發生於我正在處理肺結核的時間。在2009年5月底我在葛量洪醫院有一次胃鏡證明了有一邊的聲帶被淋巴線壓著。所以假設是肺結核的影響。在6月及7月間，我有呼吸方面的困難也認為是肺部受損的結果。至8月4日，因有幾晚不能睡，我向診所醫生求坐，他立即安排救護車預算送我到葛量洪醫院檢查。未能回答救護員的問題前，我已昏倒了。醒來時已是在瑪麗醫院的深徹治療部ICU了。

Later, I was told that the medical stuff reported that my lung was full of carbon dioxide and they had to rush me to Queen Mary Hospital for emergency rescue.

之後才獲悉那位救護員稱我的肺部完全是二氧化炭，所以他們要即時送我到瑪麗醫院急救。

I was transferred to Grantham Hospital in a few days to continue the TB treatment. On May 18, 2009, a new advisory doctor did not accept that my voice problem’s assumption and ordered an immediate laryngoscopy. Thanks to his judgment, they saw three pieces of tumor sitting on top of the throat. So they sent me back to Queen Mary Hospital and asked the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) section to follow up. They also had a doctor taking the photo and note to accompany me for the ride and handed over to the houseman. The ENT doctor ordered a bedside laryngoscopy and confirmed that if the tumors continued to expand, I might be dead in a day or two. Therefore an immediate operation was arranged to open a hole in the neck for breathing and getting some pieces of tumors for analysis.

之後我被轉到葛量洪醫院繼續處理肺結核。在8月18日一位新到的顧問醫生並不接受我聱線問題的假設，他立即安排胃鏡再檢查。多得他的判斷，他們發現在喉嚨位置出現了三個腫瘤物體。所以立即送我回瑪麗醫院及通知耳鼻喉科。更派一位醫生帶同照片及資料與我一起到瑪麗交給當值醫生。耳鼻喉科的醫生要即時在床邊的胃鏡，確定如果腫瘤繼續擴大，我將有生命危險。所以要立即進行手術在頸部開孔呼吸及取腫瘤樣本進行化驗。

Later, it was confirmed that the tumors were cancer and the throat might need to remove completely. Of course, a PET scan at my own cost was arranged to confirm all. The result indicated that the cancer had spread to the lymphocyte nodes of both sides of the neck.

之後化驗證實了是癌症可能需要割除整個喉嚨。當然需要一個自費的正電子掃描來確定各方面的資料。結果指癌症有擴散到頸部兩邊的淋巴腺位置。

There was no other choice but to give up the throat, a surgery was arranged in Sep. 28, 2009, followed by radiation therapy from November 2009.

因此只有放棄喉嚨，割除手術訂在9月28日之後是由2009年11月起的電療。

I have been told that there would be several side effect for radiation therapy including dry mouth, difficulty to swallow and it is not possible to brush the teeth etc. But this time, I refused the accompanying chemotherapy. I had been asked several times by doctors about my reason to reject. Of course, they might suppose that it was good to have chemotherapy to avoid future recurring. Basing on my understanding and some other ones' cases, the chemotherapy is not always success. Of course, if I do not have the decision to have Chinese herbal medicine, I might be better to take such risk. Also basing on the advice from my Chinese Medical Doctor, it is good for me to have Dendrobium faulhaberianum Schlecht tea daily to counter the radiation side effect. I did and now after having the eighteenth treatment, I still be able to eat and brush my teeth. After the surgery, my weight was down to 108 lbs. almost 30 lbs less than a year ago. Now I have gained ten pounds and have to eat less to avoid the problem with the face mode for radiation treatment.

我聽到有關電療的副作用包括口乾，吞嚥困難及不能刷牙等問題。這次我拒絕了同時安排的化療。曾經有幾個醫生問我為什麼不做化療。當然他們是相信化療是會預防將來複發的機會。根據我的意識及一些人的經歷，化療並不是每次都成功。當然如果我不是已決定同時採用中藥，我也許會接受化療之事。我的中醫提議我每天飲石斛水來淡化電療的副作用。我當然依足他建議。昨天是我第十八次的電療，我仍然可以進食及每天刷牙。手術後我的體重下降至108磅，比一年前足足少了30磅。我已重了十磅，但要吃少一些避免為電療做的面模出現問題。

It may be too early to say whether I am right to reject the chemotherapy and to take the Chinese herbal medicine. It is like gambling. Before it happens, no one can be sure of anything. Yet as everyone would understand, living happily and have a healthy body is always good. This is the guidance for my extended life.

要證明我放棄化療採用中醫方式是否正確是言之過早。有如賭博一樣。未有結果前，沒有人可以知道的。但是每個人都會明白生活得快樂及有健康的身體永遠都是件好事。這是我延長壽命的指引。

2009-05-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

TB – How far we are from it?
TB – 我們與它有多遠呢？

Just like me before, it seems that TB is never near us. According to the doctor, it is very easy to be infected if you will visit mainland China. Is this a kind of prejudice? Not this time. For about thirty years, there were many migrated workers in Shengzhen, Dong Guan etc. They did not have medical insurance and because they were not local citizen, they had to pay a very high medical fee. So when they got sick, they just bought medicine themselves. Perhaps, a common cold or eating disorder could be treated easily. But if they had TB, then it is certain that they would never be fully recovered. Even the medicine is good, they had no advice from doctor and no test to be sure whether the germs were totally gone. This situation lead to a huge number of TB patients, infective and transmitted the germs all around.

正如我以前，肺結核TB看來絕不會是在我們身邊。根據醫生說，如果有上大陸，那就極容易染上肺結核TB。這是否又一個偏見呢？這次不是。三十年來，不少民工在深圳、東莞等地工作。他們沒有醫療保險而且由於不是本地人，需要付較昂貴的醫藥費用。所以當他們有病時只會購買成藥來醫治。可能一般著涼或腸胃不適等是容易解決。但當他們染了肺結核，可以確定他們是不會完全康復。即使有合適的藥物，他們也沒有醫生的指導及有關的測試來確定肺結核菌是否完全被消滅。這個情況導致大量肺結核病人，具有傳染力及把肺結核菌四處散播。

No one can know exactly where and when one had been infected. The TB germs will stay inactive in our lungs for a long time, years or tens of years. Germs wait for the right condition to become active. That is when we got the TB disease. What condition is for this? Unfortunately, it is the exact condition that type II diabetes creates. That is why in these years, we have many young TB patients. Most of them had type II diabetes first. Of course, I had similar situation, though I am not young. That is to say, if one has diabetes, he/she will be easily infected by TB germs.

沒有人可以知道在那時那處感染。肺結核菌可以在肺部隱藏很長時間達數年至數十年。肺結核菌是等待伯適的條件來變成活躍。這就是我們發覺染了肺結核病的時間。它們需要那些條件？不幸地正是2型糖尿病造成的環境。這也證明了近年多了年青的肺結核病例。他們多數是先有糖尿病出現。當然，我雖然不是年輕，但也是相同情況。這就是說當一個人患了糖尿病，他/她極會染上肺結核病。

At first, I never think of the relationship between diabetes and TB. It is now that after searching for information, I find that these two kinds of decease are called 'sisters'. From the Internet, it seems that the awareness of this relationship has been noticed within a couple of years. This is quite strange that medical information from India indicated that this environment had been noted a thousand years ago. Without full investigation, that is why we are lack of such knowledge. If I know that diabetes may lead to TB, I should either take a precaution or earlier checking of the lung instead.

最初我絕不接受糖尿病與肺結核有任何關係。在搜查有關資料後，我發現原來他們被稱為姊妹病。在查看有關資料後，我發現這兩個病是稱為姊妹病。在互聯網中，可以看到近年來才有提及這種關係的文章。這很奇怪猶為印度方面的醫療資料稱這個情況在一千年前已發現了。在欠缺全面的調查報告，這正是我們欠缺這方面認識的原因。如果我知道糖尿病會引致肺結核，我當然會採取預防或及早檢查肺部。

Is this just co-incident or some independent cases? No, according to the information, there are facts that diabetes will lead to TB. The acid environment induced by diabetes lower the body’s defense that favors the growth of TB germs. Also the high fat of diabetes is another factor for the germ's growth. The TB also affected the insulin making diabetes more serious.

這是否偶然或是一些個吟的例子呢？不，根據資料，這是有充份的證據說明糖尿病會引來肺結核。糖尿病產生的酸性環境是會降低身體的防衛力而有利於肺結核菌的繁殖。而且糖尿病產的高脂肪也更有利於肺結核菌的繁殖。而肺結核又會破壞胰島素使糖尿病加深。

To learn from my case, it is certain that if one has diabetes, the TB will be very close. Of course, if there are no TB germs either in the lung or around us, one is safe. Who knows?

從我的例子來說，可以確定當患了糖尿病後，肺結核就會在很近的距離。如果肺部及各環境沒有肺結核菌，我們就會安全。誰可肯定？

TB is now a curable disease. As for the rumors about the latest medication, I shall discuss in other posting. The worst thing is its infectiveness. No one would dare to risk because everyone will feel guilty if he/she infects someone else. Therefore, we must keep in mind about this because it is easy to have diabetes now.

肺結核現在是可治之症。至於有關最新醫治藥物的流言將在另外的文章討論。沒有人會冒險因為所有人都會對傳柒給他人產生罪惡感。因此我們必須記得這個情況因為現在很容易患上糖尿病。

2009-05-23T02:04:00.000-07:00

The Summary of One Month after Confirming TB

After meeting with the doctor in a Chest Clinic, he said that I had to go to the hospital to find out whether I had TB or other problem. So on Apr. 20, 2009, I was taken to the Grantham Hospital.

This started my first encounter with western medication and experience in a hospital. All doctors and nurses were nice and friendly. At first, it was arranged for me to take a bed in the open room. Then after consultation with a doctor who indicated that I was 90% TB, they moved me to a room with five beds, all patients had TB. That was great; much better then the noisy open room. Afterward with unknown reason, they moved me again to another room. The bed was closer to the door and with better situation.

The next day, Apr. 21, 2009, the doctor, Dr. Gill, checked my case and had not yet sure whether I had something more than just TB. But that day, the chief doctor, Dr. Yew, came later. He said that since a big area of my lung had been infected, it would be better to start the treatment and checked the other problem later. Therefore, the next day, after the morning consulting by Dr. Gill and Dr. Fung, I was given the 1st line TB treatment, a composite of four medicines.

As usual, they needed to watch my condition for the next two weeks to be sure that there was no side effect of the medicine especially the liver problem. Fortunately, all went well. But Dr. Gill said that since my affected area was huge, they needed more time to watch. That was the reason of not releasing me after two weeks.

On May 19, 2009, I told Dr. Gill that I must be released from hospital because I could not stand the heat and already had not slept for two nights. He agreed because my conditions were OK. This started the rest of the nine months' medication. Daily visit to Chest Clinic with occasionally visit to doctor.

This time, I really astonish to know that TB is not far from us as I thought. After researching related information, it seems that anyone with old age and has diabetes, the body will be highly possible infected by TB.

Both doctors surprised me with their frankly and sincere manner, a great contrast to what we have known before. .

With a number of roommates, I found out that there was something we needed to know. A very high percentage of them did not know to have diabetes until check up after admitting to hospital. Not old, just between 40 and 50, it is quite sad because at such age, they still need to take care of their children etc.

I shall review my case and prepare something about TB here later. I believe that anyone should know about the dangerous of ignorance or misguided information. Just like what I was. I believed that if one had TB, he should have fever and chest pain. I was wrong. That mistake let me missed earlier treatment. As Dr. Fung said, my affected area indicated that I was 70% from the maximum. Perhaps any more delay would lead me to the coffin already.

One more thing, it is said that the TB medicines were hard to swallow leading to a lot of giving up cases that created drug resistant TB germs. The number of pills and famous big size of one would not be easy for anyone to take for months. Not so now, the total number of pills is just ten and the biggest one is 13 mm dia. 5 mm thick. Of course, the DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy, Short-course) is still enforced and it is easy for me to adopt because my work is not bound by office hours.

2009-04-18T00:28:00.000-07:00

The Unbelievable Turnout – I have TB

Since the first X-ray, I accepted that my lung had problem, the only thing is whether it is TB or cancer. What further way can prove it instantly? Finally, I decided to go back to that lab and asked for a computer scan.

It was Apr. 13, morning. Taking the scan was fast and easy, just to hold the breath for 26 seconds, though I needed a few practice. It was supposed that I could take my report the coming Thursday. But their Doctor called me and advised me that I had TB and he would hurry up for the report the next day noon time so that I could go to government Chest and Lung clinic to follow up. I do not have doubt about his finding. \With the computer scan, he can easily judge from the 3D shape of the problematic area.

Now, I started to get all information about TB, the treatment and side effect. I decided to get western medication this time because my Chinese doctor also said that western medicine is better for TB. That is not the only reason for me. TB is contagious. If you go to any other place other than the government Chest & Lung unit, everyone will stay away from you. Also it is the first thing that I must avoid, not to infect the others.

Of course, not all TB patients are contagious. I take the mask every day and night instantly. Since the government doctor wanted me to go to hospital for further investigation when bed is available, I ask my wife to take X-ray of the lung yesterday evening. The best news is that her lung is clean and healthy. Great! Being next to a TB patient and being next to a smoker for tens of years, nothing can release my guilt than this nice X-ray.

2009-03-24T03:02:00.002-07:00

A New Chapter of My Life

It has been several months since my last posting. I am not passing away yet. There are two things that bothered me in this period, business and health.

Every one knows about the economic situation, it is not within our topic here, so I just say that I have to prepare a lot of things in case a better day finally arrives. It is not far for me.

About the health, I have said that there was a problem with my voice. Of course, it is not just a simple disorder of the voice; it is a problem of the respiratory system.

The treatment with Chinese herbal medicine has been continued for a year or so. Last week my doctor suggested me to take an X-ray of the lung. No problem, I said.

The next day evening, he called me and said the outcome was not so good, the experts said that I might develop TB or cancer. He asked me to bring back the medicine for him to add some more ingredients.

I understand that he concerns about my health. For me, this is not astonishing, otherwise why I took medicine for over a year. Furthermore, I have been a smoker since thirteen years old. With decades of bad habit, does any one expect that I had a clear lung as normal one did? No, I am certain that something must be bad and I am not astonished for the experts' advice. Basing on the fact they found, it is true that without treatment, I would be heading for TB or cancer.

One more thing, I had not taken any X-ray last year. If I did, I am sure that the outcome would be much worse than now, where there were three patches of white spots and some mess surrounding of the trachea (windpipe).

This confirms to me the reason why I took so much medicine and still cannot recover the voice easily because of the huge problem behind.

Yet, I have the confidence that the problem would be solved later this year. Now with the knowledge of the actual problem, my doctor will treat it with his dose and my wife will search for the right kind of soup etc. to strengthen that part of my body.

2009-03-24T03:02:00.001-07:00

2009-03-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

2008-11-16T01:38:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself – 32

It is quite astonishing for others who know my case. Certainly, most would not believe me and keep on fooling by their doctors.

Well, I am not a saviour. The aim of my blog is to help those who can help themselves. I have no gains and this is my real experience. So why believe someone who earns from your illness and who has no real experience?

The lack of scientific knowledge is the problem today. Yes, we have so called better education and we have paid a lot to teachers, professors etc. For me, education is an individual demand, not from the school or anyone whose job is teacher. There is no rule against anyone reading books. The failure of education is forcing people to stay away from books after examination. Again, that is not my cup of tea.

Although my urine test had been normal for half a year, yet I find that there is some improvement going on since I continue to take medicine for my voice problem. There was a patch of blemish on the top skin of my feet, not a big problem, just having a darken color. That is gone now. This told me that when I had the diabetes condition, many parts had been affected with something like radicals. It may be good to research what are them if I have the time and fund to do so, not now, at least.

I am now paying attention to every part of my body. It is the chance to clear all problems before going into the last stage of my life.

I have continued to use the "Good Eye-Sight Eyepatch" for my blur eyesight that I had mentioned a few months ago. The improvement is greater now. At that time, whenever I was facing lots of light indoor or strong sunlight outdoor, I had some fainting feeling. Now this is gone and I can face strong sunlight etc. Of course, such kind of treatment may need some months more.

This is the last posting under this title. If you have diabetes, you can take my advice or taking your own choice. I have recovered and hope that other would have the same result too. But for me, taking wrong way like avoiding all sugars is to kill you by another way. Without sugar, brain shells die continuously and without any warning.

2008-10-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 31

I have been very busy in early September because I had to prepare everything ahead of my business trip to Europe.

From September 13 to September 29, I spent sixteen days in Amsterdam and Cologne respectively. There is no way to avoid taking more coffee, much more meat and bread. All are not good for diabetes. Therefore when I found a Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam, I went there for five days just because they could give me a pot of green tea.

Soup is the most favorable food ever since I had diabetes. Soup from that Chinese restaurant or western style restaurants were disappointing, both were not good in taste and I belived not good for health too.

I have kept taking less than three cups of coffee a day for some months. In this trip, I could avoid taking more than five cups of coffee every day because in those exhibition, the only way to sit down and worked online was to buy some drinks. The only choice for me was coffee.

First thing in the next morning after going back to Hong Kong is to test my urine. Great, the reading is still Normal. That tells me that a short period of excess sugar etc. would not be the cause of diabetes. It takes a longer time to reach that condition. Again, I insist that it is the condition of our bodies, not a kind of sickness for diabetes.

2008-07-13T02:52:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 30

I have said in the posting of May 23, 2008 about my voice and blur eyesight problem.

Since then, I asked my Chinese doctor to concentrate on the voice problem before the diabetes was over. Then he always asked me if I had spittle. I told him that only occasionally. He said that it would be better if I had more. If I had much spittle, my larynx (voice box) would be recovered very soon.

It took almost a month before something changed. I felt the heat in my mouth and have coughing for more than a week.

Then the two date earlier, I had blood with spittle. This happened once a day only. There is a medical term, Hemoptysis, for this type of symptom. From the Wikipedia, "Hemoptysis or haemoptysis (see American and British spelling differences) is the expectoration (coughing up) of blood or of blood-stained sputum from the bronchi, larynx, trachea, or lungs (e.g. in tuberculosis or other respiratory infections)".

I believe that my voice problem is due to the disorder of my larynx. With over thirty years of teaching and smoking, I must have hurt the larynx or it had accumulated with bad radicals or heat in Chinese medical term.

To release the radical or heat from the larynx is not easy. I shall find the answer later if the present change is really a sign of recovery. Of course, my voice has been somewhat better day by day in this period. I need to recover before September because I have to handle seminars and training courses within the last quarter of this year.

2008-07-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

Extending life, really?

Human life is said to be a journey. It started when we were born and it ends when we die.
What type of life is great may hardly have been similar for all. It is easy to say anything for those who need not face the hard choice.

When one has cancer and it is certain that one would prefer to live at any cost. That is the major reason for the research of high priced medicine Just see "Costly Cancer Drug Offers Hope, but Also a Dilemma" and it is certain that most of us might feel the pain of facing such decision. For a billionaire, or with full insurance coverage, it is a natural choice even if the costly medicine would give one some extra weeks.

I always say that if one cannot live happily, longevity may lead to more suffering instead. Until now, I am not convinced by their saying that one might have an extra months or one might die at a certain period. That is only an assumption.

More than six years before my mother's death, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer at age about 90. I discussed with her and decided not to have any operation. The doctor told me that without operation, she would live for a few months. No operation, no expensive medicine, she lived for six years instead.

Before her death, one of her leg was broken. She had no pain. The doctors and I were astonished. In fact, I have a former student who is the senior orthopaedist of that hospital. I told him about my mother's case and he went to check my mother's leg. He called me that night and told me that my mother had no pain at all. Since we could not forecast how long she would live, therefore we agreed that she needed an operation to fix the leg. Yet the anaesthetist did not allow the operation because of she was too weak. She died within a week. That indicated her brain and organs were exhausted. In other words, she died naturally and not due to any illness.

It can be assumed that this was because we are not rich and did not have millions to spend. That is true. If one is rich, one will have a different decision for the stomach cancer. To have an operation or any other cancer treatment for a ninety years old woman will certainly be painful. Fortunately, she did not need to suffer.

Under the title, "Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself", I have talked about my treatment and recovery. Recently, I am trying to recall what happened some years before to find what type of symptoms we have to watch. I believe that diabetes and cancer etc. should not be happened in a day. I shall post the findings later.

For the problem of paying huge amount without recovery and with the assumption that one had live a few months more, I know that such medicine will not be effective, not even the extended period of life that based on false assumption. Will you?

2008-06-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

The truth after one's death

There may be many deaths with similar case and until a famous one then it is treated seriously. Man, that is the reality. See "From a Prominent Death, Some Painful Truths".

No matter we are disappointed or not, this is still a good thing so that we can know the weakness of medication. Perhaps this will save another celebrity and us.

I do wonder that with today's medical technology, we can still far from any accuracy. As mentioned, "reducing heart attack by 30 percent" and the remaining 70% will better be called the known unknown. It is like a lottery and if we lose then we would be counted in the 70%.

No one can guarantee our health. The sad thing is some people put their trust to medical care without knowing that a high percentage chance of not treating right.

We can say that it is unfair, but that just will not save us from neglect or misdiagnoses.

No one will be blamed, otherwise, no one would want to be a doctor.

Again, I have to say that we have to take care of us if we want to die with known known instead.

Yet, if one has to die one way or the other, heart attack is not a bad thing. The pain is just for a few minutes.

I do believe that the body will have some signals if there is any disorder. The wrong medication, the lack of knowledge, forgetting the way our ancestors survived and give us lives etc. are the sins that we have to pay. May be that is a modern way of natural selection.

Yes, I keep watching my body daily. If there is any problem, no matter how slight it will be, I start to investigate. Usually, the problem is about food; either taking too much or something that my stomach cannot handle. At my age, it is easy to avoid anything even if it tasted good.

Death at 58, it is a pity.

2008-06-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

Choice of medication will make or break one's life

A friend may be I should say a colleague, has been hospitalized last week. Today, he left the hospital with a stent to drain urine from the kidney. He is certainly in bad shape. Also the doctor told him that cancer cells blocked the kidney.

He had prostate cancer a few years ago and was treated by radiation therapy. Therefore, it is easy to understand his health problem.

As a friend, I really want to advise him to see Chinese doctor. However, he always said that he did not trust herbal treatment. May be he has some friends who were treated by some bad Chinese doctors and therefore leading to his distrust. I always believe that a very high percentage of Chinese doctors are rubbish. That is the reason for me to get such kind of knowledge so that I am able to distinguish the good among bad ones.

I have always advised young ones about this. But some of them are afraid of the bitterness of herbal medicine. That is another health problem when one cannot accept bitterness. No wonder the health of young ones are so bad and some died at early age.

This friend is close to 70 and it is not a pity to die. But at least, it will not be good to suffer with such condition. He is not a bad guy, just has the wrong belief only.

Another fact is most would turn to Chinese medication when the western doctor told them there was no hope to recover. A few lucky ones may survive. Most would not. Then they would say Chinese medication cannot cure them. That is why when my Chinese doctor cure one of these patient, he is very proud. Certainly, I am proud of my knowledge too.

2008-06-17T02:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 29

When talking with some others about diabetes, I realize that there is a common error. Most take diabetes as a kind of disease. This is wrong.

Diabetes (type II) is not like a cold or wound etc. The right concept should be diabetes is the disorder of the pancreas due to ageing or body weakening. I have mentioned earlier that I am sure that after recovery, I shall not be able to eat as much as before. My control is for quantity only. Certainly some kind of food I have avoided years ago like spice etc.

I continue to test the urine every week. Although the results were below one 'plus', yet they were roughly between 10 and 30. Therefore, I am sure if I do not restrict my eating, the test would move up to one plus or more.

With the wrong concept, some may suppose that when the test indicated better or close to recovery, they canl continue to eat as before. I believe this is the reason why some reached the stage of losing a toe, the leg, the eyesight even to death.

When one reaches the edge of 'no return', it is easy to give up just for the idea to eat as much as possible because it is impossible to recover or hard to stop. Of course, this is personal choice. Just like taking false result to fool oneself that I mentioned in last post.

The best one can do is to know and control oneself before it is too late. I have done so and hope my readers will benefit from my experience.

2008-06-12T03:41:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 28

A friend told me yesterday that her mother tried to eat less, drink more water etc. because she would go to the doctor for testing diabetes.

It is not the first time I heard about this. Perhaps many had behaved similarly. That is wrong.

This means that they are fooling themselves. Testing must be accurate so that we can know the actual condition of our bodies.

When my condition had improved, I had taken a little more sugar and some more food. Then I watched my test result to be sure whether my pancreas was back to normal.

To have a false test result in order to eat more etc. will make the pancreas worse and recovery may not be achieved. In my mind, any such disorder of our organs must be treated properly as soon as possible.

With the easy way to get knowledge today, I do astonish that most have not spent sometimes to learn more. There are many people relying on that second-hand information which would do more harm than good.

My intention for this blog is to remind people how to decide when their health needed care. One man's food is another's poison. It is certain that medication is a science, although some medicals professionals have forgotten this fact. When one patient recovered by other means, it is a fact that the so called alternative method is better. Refusing to investigate or admit one's shortcoming is the worst attitude of any profession, not to say medication.

2008-06-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 27

What is the difference between a mouse in the lab and a human body in front of medication? The mouse in the lab offers no earning, just expenses. The human body is a gold mine so long if he/she has not died.

Of course, to demand faultless medication is not realistic. No medication method can be developed if they must be hundred percent good. I never blame doctors because they are doing what they are told. I never blame researchers because they are making money same as we do.

The problem I want to point out is that we have to take care of us and do not believe completely to those money making guys whose name is doctor. Any mistake would cost our lives, not theirs and we still have to pay the last bill.

Please read "Tight Rein on Blood Sugar Has No Heart Benefits" and you would believe what I am talking about in this blog. From time to time, there are people who argued that I am not doctor and I have not advanced education. Well, true, I have learned everything by myself from books. Who is not? No professor can discover everything, they learned from books too. Certainly, I would not care because what I am saying here is for the benefits of the others. There is not a dollar earned.

Remember that life is precious and we can have one only. If we die naturally or during natural disaster like earthquake, we have to accept because we do not have other choices. If we die because of others' mistake, I shall not accept that since I can learn earlier to avoid such happening. Is there anything more important than our lives?

Today, many who have diabetes are either avoiding taking sugar or taking medicine to remove their blood sugar. That is good for the tests, not for their bodies. For god's sake, please do not kill these patients with your ignorance, doctors. They may be good customer for business sake, but they are not mice.

Of course, there are good doctors. They will ask their patients to try other means because they know that they cannot handle. Yet, there is so few that you may never meet one.

I remember that there is a TV program about medication. An English family doctor took his patient to meet a Chinese doctor because he could not cure that illness. That is a doctor.

2008-06-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

Whether healthy or not, we are going to die, but....

All lives have the day of birth and the day of death. That is life. No one is exception.

Some called this a journey. There are lots of stories, fallacies and even religious statements about our lives. That is good for those believers, not me.

So if we all have to die, why bother about health? Certainly, all of us wish and try to have good and healthy journey. Achievement is a luxury and only a few of us would enjoy.

When one gets old, may be over 50 normally, one has to think about the final miles. The closer to the last day, the harder would be for our choice. After reading "In New York City, Two Versions of End-of-Life Care ", it really is a sad thing to demand more visits from doctors. May be for those who do not have family members and try not to die in a lonely way will prefer this.

It is not possible to have the true report about how one feels before his/her death. Normally, every one would have various organs ceased to function leading to the last breath. I remember that there was a group of specialist researching about life after death years ago. They all suggested that when one died, he/she should try to communicate with the group member. Of course, nothing had happened. That means what we can know will be by observation and assumption.

I think that our choices for the very last period are different. This will be related to religion, tradition, personality etc. Certainly, the poor may die without regrets and perhaps a sense of relief too. The rich may die with lots of regrets because it is hard to depart from one's fortune.

For my topic, I shall say that if our organs have served with all their strength, we have nothing to regret. It is easy to say and hard to do, especially in modern time. I have said that without enjoyment in life, it is a sad thing. Remember that we have one journey only.

So let's enjoy more when we were young. After middle age, we must work to be sure that the last period of our lives can be smooth without hardship. In peaceful days, that is not impossible.

The news, "French fashion king Yves Saint Laurent dies", reminds me that the last few years before the last day should be very important. Why such talent had to suffer? I suppose that he had not or could not take care of his health, physically or mentally. That is a lesson we have to learn. Do not rely on money; that just for more visits by doctors or more useless treatments.

2008-05-23T03:27:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 26

To sum up my present condition, there are two problems including blur eyesight (left eye only) and vocal disorder. Of course, I believe that both are not caused by diabetes. But some would assume that these are the consequence of diabetes. So I continue to post under this title.

Last time, I have said that Chinese medicine "Good Eye-Sight Eyepatch" has applied for some days. I have used all patches of the first box (36) and have ordered the delivery to a friend in Zuhai and I shall get them next Monday. I feel that the condition is better and certainly it will take a longer time to recover completely. Some may prefer Cataract surgery. It is now a common operation for elders. My condition is still mild and I have confidence with the Chinese medicine. The most important thing is to have patience.

As for the vocal disorder, it is not a new case. In fact, a few years ago I started to have this problem and I believe that it is due to my years of teaching. I had a loud voice and sometimes it was quite disturbing when I said something bad. I took some other Chinese medicine to deal with the first time about four years ago. My wife treated me with a lot of soup, drink etc. I had recovered after a few months. Then it happened again last summer. I went to my Chinese doctor for medication. (Note: I do not want to use the common term, herbalist, because the term does not represent the doctor of Chinese traditional medication.) The condition was better. Due to the discovering of diabetes, I asked the Chinese Doctor to treat diabetes first because the vocal disorder was not so threatening. At least, I can talk with low voice to communicate.

I am sure that by treating my diabetes, it would not affect the vocal problem. To avoid problem, it is better not to deal with two parts of the body unless it is life threatening. Two weeks ago, when my tests indicated that the diabetes was over, my Chinese Doctor started to treat the vocal disorder.

Now I feel that the condition is a little better. It is a critical moment usually. If I can maintain the treatment as well as avoiding harmful food like spice etc., there is a chance to recover completely.

2008-05-10T01:40:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 25

For more than two weeks since last posting, my test results remain normal. As mentioned, I do not suppose that the diabetes has been over until the numbness is gone.

There is something really amazing. In the beginning the worst numbness was concentrated on one toe of the left foot. I fell that the numbness has been spread from that toe to the neighboring area of the left foot, and then moving up my top part of the leg where the skin of that part became very sensitive. There was no pain at all. I was wonder where would it go. Well, about ten days ago, some blisters appeared. There was pain where they were pressed, otherwise just slightly uncomfortable. I am sure that this is radicals that called "poisonous heat" in Chinese medical term. The moving of these radicals should relate to circulation of "qi", the basic body function leading to the study of acupuncture.

These blisters were dried up and appeared in red color. It may take a few more days to recover. However, this experience clearly shows that when one had diabetes, there are many radicals moving around and gathered at some area with poor blood circulation.

About the blur eyesight, I do believe that it relates to old age and may be worsened by the diabetes. Therefore, after checking a Chinese medicine, "Good Eye-Sight Eyepatch", I started to use it for more than a week. Since this medicine is chosen by The Shooting Teams of China, I do trust its quality. I went to Guangzhou for the Canton Fair and visited their company last Monday. After buying a box, I met a friend for the lunch. He told me that his mother had used it for a year and could watch TV without eye glasses. She is over 70. That is another proof.

As mentioned in one of their web page:

Remove the metabolities produced in the eye region, recover the clear and bright eye-sight .

1.Early stage The step applying the eyepatch---active medicinal molecula of cineole penetrates through the capillary vessel of eye region and relevant acupoints , you will feel anaesthesia and hot in the region.

2.Late stage N---methyl barley –alkali removes the free radical in the eye, then a few secretion will exude from corner of the eye and you will feel cool and moist in the eye region.

3.Middle stageTanshinone Ⅱ A sodium sulfonate can recover the damaged tissue, replenish the nutrition in the theeye region and make you feel much more cool and moist in the eye region.

4.After taking off the eyepatch you will feel the eye region relief , comfortable and cool , especially when you look far away , your vision will become clearer .

For age over 50, blur eyesight indicates something is wrong. It is always better to treat earlier instead of relying on operation.

Well, old age is what we have to face. Maintaining a good health till the last day will be the best way we hope for. I shall continue to post about this in case someone would have the same benefit as I do.

2008-04-21T01:38:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 24

Today my test is NORMAL. It is not a day to celebrate, since I have expected this result some weeks ago when my tests were one plus. Certainly, I need a lab test to confirm later. I prefer not to rush since there are some minor problems to treat.

In fact, last Wednesday, my eyes were red and aching and I could not focus. I understood that the 'heat' has spread to my liver and thus reflecting through my eyes. If you do not understand Chinese medication, you may not know why. Some may rush to doctor for treatment. That is a definite mistake unless the problem was due to infection. That is why we need to know our bodies and medical knowledge.

I knew that I needed rest especially my eyes. So I stayed away from my PC and rested for a few hours. When the aching stopped, I went to buy a bottle of Visine just to moisten my eyes. It is better the next day and I kept watching my eyesight. The condition has been better through not yet fully recovered. So I remained in bed for the morning and worked with my computer later in the evening.

With the test result today, it is certain that the last remaining problem would be over very soon.

The numbness has become very slight. The blur eyesight may be complicated with old age. I am checking what to do about it.

2008-04-16T05:42:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 23

There are two things to say this time.

First, from the news in Hong Kong, it mentioned about a young man with diabetes. He had to give up everything, smoking, drinking etc. Certainly, smoking and drinking are the easiest targeted causes of bad health. Poor guy, I cannot see how he can live for the rest of his life. As said, it is a misery to live with enjoyment especially during the younger days. Should we have to enjoy more than our bodies need when we were young? Yes, if we live in the modern world. No, if we live in the poorest part of the world. There are lot of things to say about life and I do not want to discuss this now. In simple words, I believe that if one cannot enjoy life during the young age, he/she may behave badly in old age. The only difference between all of us is the degree of enjoyment only.

That is why I use this title for my case. If I do not have diabetes, other would not take my words. Being a diabetes patient myself, my way of treatment is the truth if I can recover. My tests are now between 25 to 50, that is, close to normal and one plus. Soon, I shall go to the medical lab for a professional test.

Next, my Chinese doctor told me that he has read an article saying that by applying insulin did not cure diabetes at all. This should be known a long time ago. The simple fact is our organ will not be normal if the body does not need it to perform. Evolution proves this fact to us. I have said that I never give up sugar and until now I just take one third less sugar for my coffee only. Starting this month, no afternoon coffee will be taken unless I feel the need. That means I continue to have three cups of coffee for the last four months.

The numbness problem is lessening now. It is not yet over and I have the confidence to fully recover within a short period.

My goal to post here is to let others aware of the problem, especially the correct way to treat it. There is too much information these days and most are fallacy or even wrong suggestion. Unfortunately, even the professionals are doing the same.

2008-04-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 22

Last time, I have mentioned about medical mistakes. Certainly, there are a few good doctors. May be too few and we may not have any good one in the coming future. Just see "A Doctor's View of Medical Mistakes" and we can understand the hardship of being good and have conscience.

This may prove that my idea about medication long time ago is right. Who care about your life more than yourselves? Of course, there were more good doctors years ago. Now most medical services are run as business and if you do not agree, just see "Many Doctors, Many Tests, No Rhyme or Reason" written by a doctor and that is a proof.

Back to my diabetes, the test results remain stable, just one plus. But I want to avoid error because the Medi-Test that I use is due to expire in Sep. 2008. I have just bought a new pack that will be expired in May 2010 today for the next test.

The numbness before is concentrated on one toe in the beginning. Now the degree of numbness of that toe is decreasing while the numbness in other part of the feet appears. I cannot find any proof, but I believe that the reason of numbness is the cause of blood flow. It seems like something is diluting out. The numbness feeling is only in bedtime and somewhat in the morning when I wake up. Afterward, there is no more numbness in the daytime.

This recovery needs patience. I believe that there should not be a quick-fix. Otherwise, it is just like using medicine to get rid of all blood sugar and facing danger of brain and heart damage, much worse than taking care daily.

2008-03-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 21

From the 60+ TV program yesterday (in HK, it is one week after the USA), there were two parts about health.

The first part is about medication error and we may be astonished to know that every year, there are 100,000 deaths due to various kinds of medical error. This is exposed because one father who's newly born twin had the wrong medicine applied in hospital that almost killed both of them. According to the administration of that hospital, three medical staff failed to check the label of that medicine leading to such inexcusable fatal mistake.

If this happens elsewhere, we may blame the system, the poor qualification of medical personnel etc. It means that human errors would not be avoided no matter how advanced you are.

The second part is about sleeping. From a research, it is found that when a young man slept for four hours every night for four continuous days, he has the risk of getting Type II diabetes. There are other results from some research that included the possible cause of traffic accidents due to the cognitive ability is harmed by abnormal sleeping.

That proved to me that Type II diabetes is not only an ageing problem only. Our bodies may look perfect, yet if our ways of living have not been kept within certain limits, organ disorder is the certain outcome. It is certain that in modern days, most are lack of the knowledge about our bodies. Medication is the only choice when we cannot recover normally and should never be a trustworthy guard for our lives.

As for my condition, it remains stable. The tests were one plus for over two weeks already.
A few days ago, I started to drop the afternoon coffee whenever possible. At least, I do not suffer any problem for three days already. Will this put me back to normal remains to be proved?

2008-03-10T02:35:00.000-07:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 20

Recently, I have met a number of friends and many gave some advices about my case. Although these were nothing new and almost identical, yet I do appreciate their good intention.

However, this would lead to problem. If someone has diabetes and lack of the full knowledge and confidence, he/she might have only one choice because almost everyone is telling the same thing and possibly from the same source.

Even though I have spent years on books, magazines and articles about health and medication, I never give advice like that. Everyone has a different body, different health condition, different ways of living, it is not possible to have a single way of treatment.

Same as what I told in the posting of November 15, 2007 about my Jaundice what I was 19; no one would know better than I did about that problem.

Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, it is so easy to gather information. Any search may be completed in a day instead of some months in the old days. Unfortunately, we must have the basic knowledge before sorting out the overflow information which most is not right at all. If we read one message and suppose it is the truth, then we may better know nothing. Years ago, I might believe some professionals. Now I know that is not worth trust at all.

For weeks, my tests remained with one plus. The appearance of the last test strip told me that the reading will be down soon. My attention now is the numbness and the blur eye sight.

The reality is that when you are old, the reaction to medication is poor in comparison to the younger days. I remember that my body recovered quite fast with a few doses of Chinese medicine years ago. Now, I feel that when one part gets better, the other part will be affected slightly. That means I cannot force out the bad substance completely. Of course, I have the patience to wait for full recovery and certainly quick fix is not good for old age.

2008-03-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 19

This news, "Airline defends response after in-flight death", is about "...died of complications from heart disease and diabetes..". It is certain that I have been told that diabetes may lead to heart disease.

Same as last posting, the major problem is the Western way of treatment. I believe that sugar is the fuel for our lives, without it, our engines would stop. Our heart, our brain etc. needs fuel to carry on their duties. Glucose or blood sugar is the important fuel for our brain. That explains why those diabetes patients treated with medication to remove blood sugar may face death. For me, this is the proven fact that such treatment is wrong. Yet, this is still carrying on. Why, well, doctors are supposed to be gods. They have the superior status that should not be challenged or sued.

I am lucky that I have the idea when I was young that I cannot rely on doctors completely because I do not want to suffer or even die because of their mistakes. That is why I spend a lot of times to read books of medication etc. not to be a doctor but to have the abilities to judge the medical treatment that I receive. However, there are too many articles or books nowadays and it is difficult to know whether which one is right or wrong.

Of course, there are good doctors, although percentage of good doctors is declining, almost inverse proportional to economic development. I tell every one that there are two professions which practitioners must be poor. They are doctors and teachers. I study by myself since primary four because there are very few good teachers. I can choose only one or two Chinese (herbalist) doctors because most doctors, western and Chinese, are not good. Some may be better to classify as killers too.

2008-02-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 18

This happened sometimes ago when I met someone who has diabetes. They never want to discuss about the treatment. May be that's kind of taboo in Chinese society or they feel shy to have this problem.

Yesterday I joined a dinner party and two friends talked about their blood sugar tests. Although it was not a good place to discuss, yet one had a small box looked like quick sugar bar for hypoglycemia. He did not mention about his treatment, yet I believe that he had western medication to lower his blood glucose level.

It may not easy to prove that my concept is right. I do believe that by treating one's diabetes with such way is wrong. Perhaps some would choose it because they need not restrict about eating. For me, this is like making joke with your own body. That will disturb the normal functioning and may not be able to recover at all.

To have our bodies back to normal, it is always good to let the body heals itself. The Chinese traditional medication is based on this concept. Long time ago, I have asked an old Chinese doctor about this and he confirmed that my idea was right. Medicine should bring up the strength of our own organs and let them back to health gradually. No method is better than the nature's work.

2008-02-21T03:13:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 17

I have not written here for almost two weeks because of work.

During the Chinese New Year, I had a lot of food and most are said to be not good for diabetes patients.

However, my two tests for the two weeks remained at one plus. Of course, no test had been taken during the holidays. But I believe that the maximum would be two plus.

As mentioned, I trust that it is better to change my diet gradually. For the two weeks, if I had to take my lunch outside, I tried to take green bean thread noodles instead of rice or other noodles. This may be helpful because green bean is good for diabetes.

I did not avoid drinking beer, red or white wine. It should be the quantity that I have to take care of. One or two glasses would not be harmful at all.

Perhaps the most important thing is to keep the treatment continuously. Medicine should be helpful but we should not rely on it only especially for old guy like me.

Recently, the numbness remains obvious especially during the cold nights. According to information, the diabetes may affect our hearts. I think that it is the same cause instead. When our bodies fail to function properly, it should affect some of our organs. That is why finding the exact cause is very important. For my case, the unnecessary food consumption may be the major cause.

As usual, some medical articles point to everything from lack of exercise to smoking. That is nothing scientific and not helpful for diabetes treatment. I am not saying drinking, smoking or lack of exercise is good. No, these are some of our bad habits. Unfortunately, all our enjoyment is bad. If we have to live in misery for hundred years, I prefer to die not too old but happy with some levels of enjoyment. The saying that one's life would be shortened by one or two years is nothing different from lies. Who can predict exactly how old one may live?

I have an aunt who had heart dicease and the doctor declared that she could live for six months, but she died ten years afterward. Some years ago, the doctor found that the stomach of my mother might have cancer and asked us to consider operation, otherwise, my mother would die within six months. She lived six more years without operation or treatment.

2008-02-09T02:22:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 16

Treating diabetes is not a new thing; it should be thousands of years from the day when medication had been started.

We may astonish to read "Diabetes Health Goes Beyond Blood Sugar". Certainly, there will be a lot of argument and discoveries in the coming days.

One thing we ought to find is that if this study has some level of truth, then by treating diabetes (type 2) by lowering blood sugar must have a lot of failed cases. Why this is not told? If medication is kind of science, then recovery should not be assumed.

Nowadays, I find that some doctors behave much less scientific and never take up the facts instead.

I am not a doctor, but I still feel good to be a patient so that I can learn more about diabetes. Just like the recent news about a book, "When Doctors Become Patients". After being a patient, the outcome "I had no idea what patients were going through. My eyes were completely opened." is a great thing.

From the beginning, I do not expect that my diabetes would be fully recovered. I believe that it is part of aging that we cannot avoid. Of course, it is not a final saying. This will take sometimes to find the correct answer.

2008-02-01T02:33:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 15

My condition remains stable and testing results are between 50 (one plus) to 150 (two plus) for these weeks.

Although I know that even if I can recover, that is, the testing back to below 50 or even zero, there is no way to go back and eat whatever I like, yet it is good to realize whether diabetes can be cured.

By checking online today, I found a blog page "Lap Bands and Type 2 Diabetes" about the surgery that I mentioned earlier. It is great to see such discussion, especially the saying that this type of condition will disappear and return due to lifestyle.

Even in Wikipedia, we can find similar posting about the surgery. Of course, this is only applied to some who are obese.

What is aging? Some organs are exhausted if not worn out. That is life and we may have different paths to end our lives. One thing is certain, we all shall die. There is an essay, "Staying a Step Ahead of Aging", with good suggestion to extend the health of our bodies. If all our organs can be maintained forever, then we might live forever; human will face the great risk of extinction.

For me, the best thing is to avoid unnecessary suffering and let my body die naturally.

2008-01-24T01:52:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 14

It has been awhile since my last post. Yes, I am very busy this month.

My tests told me that the condition was between one and two plus. The result shows that if I had my meals at home, it was 50 (one plus); if I had my meals outside, it was 150 (two plus).

Of course, if I want to keep a better testing result, it is easy, just to eat less. But that is not my way because it would not be possible to maintain. One's eating habit is partly physical and partly mental. It is certain that we have taken more than our bodies need. So, I think that it would be better to let my body to adapt by gradually reducing the food quantity.

There are other drastic methods like "Diabetes Study Favors Surgery to Treat Obese". Unless in face of dead, otherwise I prefer to treat the body without hardship.

I am working on details, for example, what type of coffee that I can accept with less sugar. A friend with similar condition drinks coffee without sugar. That is not a good idea, though much better than with substitute sugar.

The important point for me is to find what level I can recover. It is not possible to return back to my younger days when I could eat much more than anyone else. I believe that my answer will be confirmed within a few months.

2008-01-14T02:47:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 13

I have been busy this year; a photo trip for the first Saturday and Sunday and a trade show for the second weekend and Sunday.

The test on Jan. 7, 2008 was 150 (2 plus) and on Jan. 11, 2008 was 50 (1 plus).

My experience for the last month may confirm about what should be avoided. Of course, I shall spend some more time to make sure about everything.

In fact, I had a dinner with my secondary school classmates on Jan. 7, 2007 together with my Chinese Doctor. He watched and said that I had taken quite a lot of meat (chicken, mutton, pork and fish) that night. Of course, I believe from my previous experience that meat would not affect my test result. However, let's wait and see for some longer time.

2007-12-31T23:38:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 12

Today is the beginning of 2008; I hope that all friends and readers will have good health now and in the future.

The last day of 2007 was a bit mess for me because today's reading is 150 again. This time is due to the food taken yesterday.

At lunch time, when the lunch was prepared at home by my wife early in the morning, I went to buy a bowl of soup not from the restaurant opposite to my home, but from a fast food restaurant. The soup was lotus root with octopus. My wife had to work late and we had to take the dinner outside. We had fish vegetable and tofu soup. Then at 9 pm, when we were waiting for her brother, we went to a sweet soup shop and I had green bean and seaweed sweet soup.

To sum them up, from lunch to the sweet soup, all were rich in starch. This means that I have overloaded my body with starch, too much for the pancreas, another case that I have to keep in mind.

Remember that one should not make joke with your own body. Never take a pill and excess your body with something bad. That is suicide. That is some others are doing. That is what should be definitely avoided.

2007-12-24T06:09:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 11

It may be bad, yet it is good that my test result was a bit higher two days ago. Yes, the reading was over 120 after moving down to 40.

At first, I wondered if my treatment needed to change. Then I recalled what happened last week. I was so busy last week and usually moving around in the afternoon and had my afternoon coffee outside instead. That is the problem. I have taken bread or cake together with coffee instead of a piece of biscuit at my home office.

Because I do not want to change my daily intake of food, therefore any added eating would be a burden now.

Will there be another reason? I have not taken medicine for three days and no pig pancreas soup for a week or so because my wife was busy too.

I do not want to blame other factors now. This is a good chance to see if my first guess is right. So I shall have afternoon coffee and take only a piece of biscuit or nothing at all. If this is the right problem, then it is confirmed that after having diabetes, we have to reduce the quantity of food even after recovery.

2007-12-21T05:54:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 10

Since last month, I begin to look for all information about diabetes.

An article in August 2007, "Looking Past Blood Sugar to Survive With Diabetes", is a great proof for the different concept between Western and Chinese medication in treating diabetes.

It should be easy to understand that when our bodies are not healthy, diabetes, heart disease, blood pressure etc. would be affected. All problems are the outcome of bad health. Blaming diabetes for heart disease is absolutely wrong. I am not going to argue in details. Just by reading the article and one can easily find out the contradiction. This can only lead to over-treatment that harms our bodies instead.

When one has diabetes, it is certain that he/she has taken too much food etc. that the body could not handle normally. This will lead to various problems. That is why the treatment should be for the body to recover, not only those elements related to diabetes.

Years ago, I had discussed with an old Chinese Doctor about Chinese medicine was not to cure the illness; instead, the purpose is to bring up the body's defense to heal itself.

Do not misunderstand again that by pumping in medicine, vitamin etc. can push up our internal organs. That means someone did not understand the body that with him/her for years. Nothing can compare with our bodies.

Just look at my case, for just one or two years without the careful attention, I was punished. That is why I start to disclose here about my treatment etc. so that others will be aware of this health issue. Remember that when I began to talk about my diabetes, no one could foresee that I can be recovered so fast, including my Chinese Doctor.

2007-12-14T01:21:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 9

Today, before going to see my Doctor, I took another test. The reading is a bit below 50 and I presume it would be 40, still one plus because there is no scale down from 50.

This means that the sugar level is moving down continuously. Perhaps, I would be back to normal scale within this month.

When my diabetes is over, I shall prepare a final report. The aim is to summarize those symptoms and every reader and I can avoid getting into this type of situation. Certainly, I am somewhat disappointed because there is so little information about this case. Prevention is always better than curing. But, of course, this may not be good for doctors and medical industries.

A few days ago, when I had lunch with my niece, I mentioned about my Jaundice. She reminded me that she had the same problem years ago and because of my proven experience, she followed the same way and recovered within a few weeks. That is traditional wisdom and that is what people today forget. Perhaps they ignore the elder generation and suppose the previous knowledge and experience are not scientific. There are a lot of things that scientists failed to explain. This does not mean these facts are wrong. In fact, this is about their failure to find the truth only.

2007-12-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 8
One good thing today is the test result is 50, that is one plus. This surprises everyone because my treatment has run for just one month and the condition moves down from four plus to one plus.

It is certain that for the past ten days, my Chinese Doctor changed to treat my coughing instead of the diabetes. Also, I did not have green guava fruit with pig pancreas soup for two weeks because my wife could not have time to buy.

In fact, besides taking about 30% less sugar for each cup of coffee, I have not changed much with food. I do not like sugar substitute. That may disturb the normal function of our body. In fact, I keep monitoring the urine test to know if the sugar deduction would be enough or not. No sugar would not be my choice, not to say sugar substitute.

One thing I keep in mind is that even my condition is better; it is not possible to go back the old way. The most I can have is to maintain what I am doing now. Some may celebrate by eating or drinking. That should not be encouraged.

Today, another soup, corn silk with carrot is prepared instead. Corn silk is also good to treat diabetes.

2007-12-05T00:52:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 7

Nearly two weeks time since I had the coughing problem. With about ten doses, I am almost recovered. Some may wonder why I do not find a quick fix solution. Again, this is due to the understanding of health problem. When we cough, it is not the problem with the throat only. This may be due to the lung or stomach. Ah! This is based on Chinese health knowledge that built from thousands years experience. I never accept quick fix because that works temporary and never cure completely. Just like pain killer, this type of treatment will lead your lives to misery.

The time required for recovery is also depended on our age. Just like the old Chinese saying, when you are young, you play down the illness, when you are old, illness play you down instead. We must be aware of our own age and let our patience grow with age too. The worst thing for many people, old ones, is trying to behave like youngsters.

There is one thing worth to say. About two weeks ago, when I was at the Chinese Doctor's clinic, there was an old patient with his wife. The Doctor had reminded his wife to monitor his drinking habit. I said "When a man reaches old age, he will be fortunate to have a caring partner. Woman may not need a man to take care of. Therefore, man is the weaker sex." All women there agreed happily, including the wife of that old man and the Doctor's female assistants.

I keep watching the numbness and my right eye's vision. They are improving slowly.

2007-11-29T02:04:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 6

Even before going for a short photo trip last Saturday, I found that my throat was burning and I kept on coughing. This means that the so called heat in the body has moved to the throat. In fact, a week ago, I had suffered pain in top right teeth. The pain was not in a fixed area and that proved to me that the teeth had nothing wrong.

I told my Doctor this Monday and he changed the medicine to deal with the throat first. Will this change delay my recovery from diabetes? Not really, it is because no matter where the 'heat' is, the medicine to release the 'heat' will be good for the body as a whole.

For those who have no knowledge about Chinese medicine, it may not easy to understand such kind of treatment. In simple words, the organs of the body are functioning interactively. If we have some bad thing, 'heat', it can move from one part to another. The Chinese medicine is not killing the 'heat' directly. It is released through the excretion function. This is the goal, but the 'heat' may go to other areas first, especially those weaker parts.

I have mentioned the numbness of my fingers and feet. The numbness has reduced gradually; it is much less frequent now. That is a vital sign for recovery. I believe the blur eye sight would be the last part to recover. The two tests this week stay at 150 exactly. From two plus to one plus may require more time.

2007-11-26T04:04:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 5

Due to a photo trip starting from Nov. 23, I had to stop taking the Chinese medicine from Nov. 22, to avoid the diarrhea side effect during my trip.

After coming back in the late evening yesterday, I take this chance to test the urine again this early morning before breakfast. Without medicine for four days, it should be the best condition for this test. Good, it remains 150, just two plus. That means the condition of my diabetes is quite stable.

I do not expect to jump back to 50 in a short time. As discussing with my Doctor, this case might be started a few years ago. It is because I have begun to control my diet some years ago. I control the quantities only, not the varieties like most did. For me, I believe that the body needs a lot of ingredients to keep up with my activities from mind to limbs. Only spicy food is taken out from my daily consumption. Red meat, white meat etc. remain in my recipe though the quantities are reduced to about half of what I had before. Recently, New York Times has an essay, "The Claim: White Meat Is Healthier Than Dark Meat", repeating again the wrong concept of white meat. However, most people will not accept this fact and still keeping the wrong information in their minds. No problem, it is their lives and they are the only ones to respond for any mistakes.

For me, I am still working from 8 am to 11 pm. The only difference from before is I have half hour sleep after lunch daily.

2007-11-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 4

To recover from diabetes, it is not a short term treatment. But I believe that if the treatment is right, it would not be too long.

The reading this morning seems to be 130-140. Due to the chart has 50 and 150 and the color is slightly lighter than 150, so I guess that it should be about 130-140.

Improvement from 4 plus to 2 plus was quick, but it is certain that moving down from 150 to 50 or less will not be a short term outcome. Although I do not have the exact record, yet I think that it has taken a long time of disorder to reach the 4 plus situation. Therefore, it should not be a quick fix case.

Same as my previous experience, I have to keep the same treatment until fully recover. Certainly, I cannot be the same way as before. Getting older is something that I have to face. Fortunately, I had spoiled my life from all kinds of entertainment and I do not have any regret at all.

The old saying that you must enjoy when you were young is not wisdom, but a true conclusion from long term experience and statistics. No one would be exception.

2007-11-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself -3

My case may be easy to manage because I discover it earlier. I do thank the insurance company, otherwise I might not know until sometime later.

Knowing the symptoms should be an important part of our lives.

From the "Diabetes Mellitus", the general symptoms cover

increased urine output;
increased thirst;
weight loss despite an increase in appetite;
fatigue, nausea and vomiting.

From other sources, the additional symptoms are blur eyesight and multifocal sensory neuropathy including numbness etc.

In fact, about a year ago, I had some minor problem. The fingers and feet were numb occasionally. I had checked and could not come out with any confirmation.

About nine months ago, when I went to replace my eye glass, the optometrist told me that my right eye was hard to examine. Therefore he chose the lower adjustment for safety. He also said that it was a common behavior to use one eye that lead to such problem. Yes, I did find that I used my right eye only. I started to concentrate to use both eyes to see.

After finding the diabetes problem, I discussed with that optometrist again. He knew that some people like my age would have blur eyesight but he remembered that no one had blur eyesight with one eye only. I may be the exception.

The conclusion now is if someone is over 50, any similar symtoms whether listed or not in related information, it is always better to apply urine test to confirm.

2007-11-15T02:11:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself - 2

I have been reminded that more accurate result would be before taking any food or drink except water. So yesterday when I waked up, I tested again. The result was still two plus because the color was closer to 50 than 500 (three plus); just a little bit darker than the test on the previous day. It is decided to test twice every week from now on.

My treatment will be continued since it is better not to have the high reading coming back.

The best way in life is to listen to your body. I must admit that I had not noticed for at least two years. This careless behavior got my two teeth already. My excuse is the over concentration for a project that started two years ago.

Before going to review the recent case, I prefer to say more about my chosen treatment.

In fact, this is not the first time. When I was 19, after going to X'mas parties for seven nights continuously, I had Jaundice. This article is in Merck website. During that time, I searched many books because there was no Internet yet. My analysis was different. The disorder of the liver for my case should be taking too much tasty food. So I decided that there was no need to see any doctor. The treatment was simple: no salt, no sugar and no oil until recovered. The only additional was snake skin soup to move away the yellowish substance of the skin and whites of eyes. The fact is to let the liver stop over-production by natural method.

Due to my home was a bit far from the office, I had to ask my colleague who would go home for lunch prepared by his wife. She was asked to prepare separate food for me. Vegetable, fish, meat were cooked with water only. No taste food was not hard for me. The difficult part was I always hungry and had to prepare bread next to my pillow in case I waked up in middle of the night due to hungry. This is the first time, may be the last time, in my life to suffer such type of starvation!

During that time, a full three weeks period, my superiors and my family members always asked me to see the doctor. I did thank their advice, but I told them that I had confidence in my own treatment.

There was a famous Chinese opera comedian, Mr. Leung Sing Po (I am not sure whether his English name is right). He had the same problem at the same time. Certainly, he went to the doctor. Later, he had Gallstone and surgically removed. From this result, I do believe that he went to western doctor who would usually not ask the patient to avoid tasty food like I did.

My treatment was right and I had fully recovered after three weeks. The only outcome was my weight gained one or two pounds every month thereafter. Perhaps my internal organs had improved greatly due to the no salt, no sugar and no oil treatment.

I do not encourge other to follow my way. Without medication, it may be dangerous for some. Unless you have the full knowledge, otherwise just take my experience as reference only.

2007-11-13T02:53:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than be a diabetes patient myself

Yes, I am not joking. It is a personal experience going on now. This is not a short story since I want to find the actual symptoms from my memory. But that will be the topic later.

Frankly speaking, I have seldom visited any western doctors since grown up. Certainly, I did not have any body check too.

It was by chance when insurance company wanted me to have a simple check up a few weeks ago. Without any experience of this kind, I had taken two cups of coffee that morning. The insurance company knew that I am a smoker for years since the age of 15. The doctor checked my blood pressure and listened to the lung and heart beat before checking the forelegs. Nothing wrong, he said. Then for the urine test, he said I had four plus, a very high level of sugar in simple terms. Of course, I told him that I had two cups of coffee that morning. So he asked me to visit again the next day and not to take any food or drink except water from mid-night that day till the next test in the morning. So I did and he tested and advised me that the result remained the same. You had to take the blood test, he said. The lab was just a few doors away at the same floor.

Three days after, I called the doctor, his nurse told me that the same result for my blood test and it was confirmed that I had diabetes and asked me to see any doctor that I knew.

Therefore, I had to start searching for information from the net and from others. A good article is: Diabetes Mellitus.

One friend told my wife that he got a healing recipe, green guava fruit with pig pancreas soup.

So I start my own arrangement that includes:

taking Chinese medicine from a Chinese Doctor;

drinking the soup once to twice a week;

reducing the sugar for my coffee and trying to have two cups a day instead of three.

After two weeks, with eight doses of Chinese medicine, I use the Medi-Test Glucose by Macherey-Nagel this morning. The reading is 150. As I do not know how to compare, then I visit their site as well as other information.

Glucose-Test and What are mg/dl and mmol/l?

Then I confirm that my reading is two plus. Of course, we must not rely on one test. But at least this shows that improvement is real.

I shall continue to post here what happens later and the knowledge that I get from this valuable experience.

2007-10-05T03:31:00.000-07:00

When everything is counted by money, can human remain human?

It might start tens of years, when victims of all type of accidents began to get compensation. Yes, who would not? Yet such kind of practice now becomes a threat to our world.

Doctors are supposed to save our lives. Medical mistakes may not be fully avoided. Compensation may offer some kind of release to the pain of harm or even loss of lives. Yet when doctors have to give up or migrate to somewhere to avoid facing unpredicted financial burden against any chance of making so called malpractice, it is definitely a sad outcome of today's world.

Check: "More Doctors in Texas After Malpractice Caps".

There are insurance to protect doctors, but the premium would be another kind of burden for good doctors. I remember that some years ago, there was a TV program interviewing with a family of doctors who said that they might give up because they could not afford the high insurance premium for their surgical practice.

Cost of making mistakes is quite normal. But when the compensation is unreasonable, it is not doing any good for all of us. Yes, life is priceless. Putting the cost of life in hundred thousands or million or tens of millions are setting price to life instead. So it means that our lives are not priceless anymore, something like a priced product.

With such wrong direction, no wonder why the medical charge goes up and up, especially when we have fewer doctors.

There may not be any good solution except that we must not be ill, or at least not so serious to have surgery or strong medicine.

2007-07-29T06:37:00.000-07:00

Is this the warning that we should not touch gene?

"Patient in Experimental Gene Therapy Study Dies, F.D.A. Says " may be a good case. Of course, for medical researchers, it will never be a stop sign, at least for now.

I believe that there were many experiments and we may never have full information about the results. Some may have the hope that gene therapy would solve all our health problems.

Although I am not involved with medical studies, yet I have started to read books about health and medication, Western and Chinese, long time ago. My reason is that I do not want my life relying on the hand of someone else without knowing how he/she treated me.

Due to the egoism of Western scientists, all knowledge whether it is Chinese, Indian etc. are taken as alternative, something inferior to theirs in comparison. Therefore, what such studies do is just to borrow materials only, not the concept.

I am not saying that any culture would be better than the others. No, each has its good and bad side. For the benefit of human in the future, it is a need to find the basics of human health. Unfortunately, all R&D are business motivated, even our universities are not exception.

Perhaps human race will come to an end, not by any external force or alien, but by our own mistake about health.

2007-06-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

Can human overcome nature?

Every now and then, we have news about some types of break-through. It looks like we shall never be sick and our bodies shall be young for hundred years.

It is too greedy and unrealistic. Life is a journey, no matter how one describes or believes.

We start with babies in need of milk and digestible food to grow.

When we grow to youth, we start to learn how to handle our desire other than basic needs.

When we mature, we need to enjoy our desire, sex, of course.

After years of work, living, sex, giving birth to the next generation, our bodies will start to wear out, even if we have no sickness.

We shall die when our organs exhausted.

Extending one's mind from old to young is one step to evil things, though many of us are doing just that because we have the money and the technology.

What we need should be how to live our lives with happiness. Happiness for our young days, our mature days and our old days are not the same. That is life! When we are over 40, we cannot have the same feeling when we were 20, though we are doing the same thing. Not because of our bodies, it is our experience in life. First love is only once; the second time will never be the same as the first. Remember that we are human, not animals, our mind matter more than the bodies.

Each of us will behave differently, either because we have different bodies or strength. Some may have strong appetite and eat much more than average. Some may have stronger sexual desire and give birth to more children or need more wives.

No matte how strong one will be, one still has the same procedure, growing up, maturing and when organs start to fail, die eventually. I may die at 80, you may die at 100. The end is the same, though the periods may differ. If I can enjoy every stage of my life, I have no regret if my life is shorter than yours.

I believe that the direction of those researches is wrong. They try to get some ways to make us similar. But I am not worry because their effort will create more problem by suppress one.

Don't suppose that I am against genetic research. I am concerned about the application, not the knowledge. They try to find a way to get rich, not as a way to let human lives better. If one has cancer, what is the difference of dyeing in a year or ten years? The extension of live is just a misery, not relief.

Can they find a way for us to avoid cancer? Yes, they blame on certain gene, so what? Let us worry the whole life because we know we have that gene. Can we live differently by not eating those common foods or taking medicine though out the entire life?

The basic point is they failed to find the real cause of cancer. They are moving away from science to business. I do not blame them. Every one needs money, lots of money. Perhaps we need to find the gene for greedy first, and then they would have better contribution to human.

2007-01-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Prevention is good for your health, but not good financially for the medical industry

Somehow we are like preys born to contribute to the economy especially the medical industry.

Seeing the "What's a Pound of Prevention Really Worth? " shows us some points to consider.

What is the difference of visiting doctor for protection of health and curing of sickness? We pay less and keep a healthy body. It's a bargain, a good one indeed.

An old Chinese saying, "It is a blessing to have minor health problem". That means if we have to take medication a few times in a year for minor problems, we are lucky. We may wonder why people in old days can afford to do so since there were fewer doctors and they were not so rich in compare with today. Certainly, the medical charge in the old days must be much lower. The high cost today is the unrealistic perfection. We believe that higher pay would lead to perfect treatment. How foolish we are?

So, before blaming the medical industry, first consider the truth of demand and supply. Because we believe high cost equals better medication, so they work as we need. In other words, the health problem today is because we have too much money and ready to pay.

2006-12-18T01:36:00.000-08:00

With financial investment, our health problem is just a money-making case.

Again and again, those famous medical manufacturers are showing us their true face. Eli Lilly Said to Play Down Risk of Top Pill is reminding us that most medicines are never safe in reality. All their reports and declarations are not trustworthy.

Do not be sad. They had invested lots of money, in billions. Therefore they needed to get it back and with huge profit. That is our world, a world controlled by investors.

How poor we are? How helpless we are?

But, it is our own problem. Why we do not care about our health? Why we get sick? Why we trust those specialists who had always saying something nice and proved to be wrong sometimes later. Why we rely on them instead of reading and searching the needed knowledge ourselves.

If we need medicine, we are half dead. If we need to hospitalized, we are just steps from our final day. If we need their advice, it is nothing better than advertisement, or something even worse.

2006-11-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

What will cause the end of human? Pandemic.

According to various TV program, like 20/20 etc., there are a couple of possibilities. I may choose some to talk about.

Pandemic, not the bird-flu, but genetic modified virus made by some mad scientists. With the advancement of genetic technology, we may have such threat within a short time. There are many reasons to have some good ones turning bad. A few might be crazy enough to try such deadly sin.

There will be damage, especially the outbreak would be aware of after a couple of weeks and with traffic today, we might have hundred cities to handle. Such thing might cost the lives of thousands at least.

Yet, I do believe that once such case has been discovered, all governments would act together to stop the spreading of virus by all means including medical, quarantine etc. With computerized records, it is not impossible to trace any one with the chance of contacting the virus.

Even without vaccine, some of us may have the specific gene to stay alive and some of us may never contact with the virus.

From history, we know that natural evolved virus had weakness. Although we have not found the reason, but these entire virus had vanished suddenly. That means any living substance cannot last for long if not survive in a harmonic way.

I trust that genetic modified virus would be more deadly and more vulnerable because such virus was produced to kill and not to prosper. Throughout the history, there is never a living cell that can have both characters.

So, human race will not be vanished because of pandemic, natural or man-made.

2006-08-23T03:23:00.000-07:00

Same sickness, different outcome

"The sick man of Asia" was the name for China many years ago during the Qing dynasty. The reasons cover from internal decay to opium. The opium business had driven the wealth from China to England. That means the sickness had done nothing good for China.

According to "Making Health Care the Engine That Drives the Economy", it seems that America may soon be the "The sick man of the world". Yet, it is said to be a contribution to the economy.

If it will be so, then being health may be taken as bad for the national economy. Of course, that is not a good thing at all.

Health is the best thing for human. Perhaps good medication makes everyone careless about his or her health. Perhaps there is not enough investment for research about how not to be sick. That is the sad truth today.

2006-08-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

Another proof that all of us would be confused by so-called expert's advice

Just check "Good Fish, Bad Fish" and it is clear that some advice may lead us to unhealthy state instead.

Of course, there is always such kind of argument in science. We cannot say that certain reports were bad or untrue. Besides some hidden reasons, the problem is due to the testing data or the methods used. We are not scientists and so we should not believe in whatever they said. That is the only way we can avoid such traps.

I believe that with today's competition and efficient way of broadcasting, there is no way to stop those fallacies. We have to build up our own knowledge of what to believe.

For example, there was a report about oysters many years ago. The report said that if someone took one lb. of oysters continuously for two months, he/she would be dead. Some of my friends were worry because they forgot that no one in the world would be so stupid to take oysters as daily food for months.

We should know from our ancestors that this type of seafood should be taken occasionally and best in the right season with limited quantities. We do not need any advice unless we forgot the precious experience that our ancestors had given us from generations' experience.

However, this is the real problem today that such hereditary wisdom, which the development of the human race has relied on, has been disregarded. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the loss of previous civilization. Let's hope that such history would not be repeated again.

2006-07-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

Your body is mastered by the system, not yourself.

I really astonish to read "Teen loses fight to use alternative cancer treatment".

That means once you went to a hospital and started with treatment, your body would belong to the medication. Even it failed to cure you and be so till you died. No problem, they would give a full report explaining that it was the fault of your body or the gene leading to the death, not the medication. Remember to pay the bill if you had no insurance.

Sometimes, we may hope that the judge should go through some of such mishaps so that we can know how they would feel. Without real experience, it is always easy to give such verdict.

Some years ago, one driver was caught for violation of a traffic regulation in Hong Kong. He was lucky because the judge had drove through the same turnaround by chance and was forced to violate the same regulation without being caught by any policeman. So the judge let the guy free and demanded the traffic department to solve the problem.

No matter how smart a judge would be, without facing the same situation, he/she would be unable to give any correct judgment at all.

I feel sad for that young guy and just hope that he can recover. Otherwise, that would become a case "murdered by the judge who lack of any humanity touch and the tyranny of medication system".

2006-07-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

Should we know less truth to be without sadness?

After the doctors, then the researchers, now are the hospital chiefs. Check "Hospital Chiefs Get Paid for Advice on Selling to Hospitals".

In other words, the whole system is full of fraudulent cases.

The most hated ones should be the wolves in sheep's skin.

If you were greedy, if you are bad, no problem, just show us and we would not blame because we became victims due to ignorance or carelessness.

But, if we investigate further, it may be the one who set up the system should be responsible for these cases. Perhaps we have relied on the wrong guys to lead our societies.

I just hope that we shall not realize that the so-called modern world was destined to such annoying facts in the future. If that were what we want, then the wealth of a nation would depend on the number of bad guys.

As I use to say, it is the worst crime to gain on our health, especially without taking us as priority.

A robber would get our money and might left our bodies in good shape. A bad medical expert would rob our money and health. What will you choose?

2006-07-15T00:57:00.000-07:00

We may not have any researcher without financial tie from drug companies.

It is certain that researchers must be free from any ties to give us something true. No matter it is done earlier or afterward, JAMA has proved to us the principles that should be guarded. Check: "Medical Journal Says It Was Again Misled".

The problem is not about whether JAMA etc. can avoid making such mistakes. Worst of all, we may not have any researchers without some forms of ties.

Perhaps we have too many universities and research units and there are too few non-business foundation or government-supporting fund to keep them alive.

As an outsider, I am not sure whether any research really need so much money or we need so many researching units that seems to be overlapping each other's work. Yes, there is competition. Competition for glory and money will make things ugly.

If we spend time to check those great findings that were beneficial to our lives, we might realize that the best researchers did not have any fortune at all. Therefore, we can assume that great works are not related to money and money would not be a factor of success in research.

The previous problem with the Korean scientist is certainly a victim of greedy. A long time ago, when two scientists fought for the first discovery of Aids, I asked a friend who was a doctor about the reason for such argument. He told me that when one got famous with new discovery, he/she might have millions funding and the best thing of all was just a few reports within certain months or years would be fine and no auditing would be enforced about how those millions were spent.

This is just another example of the vice of money. Have our civilization moving in the wrong direction? Perhaps it is time for us to think whether a kind of revolution will be needed.

Remember that we already suffer from huge medical bills. We should not blame the doctors; they just need money as we do. We should not blame the governments; they cannot support the unlimited budget of medication. So what should we do?

2006-06-24T03:03:00.000-07:00

I am confused now, do you?

They had mentioned the threat about bird flu when there were such cases in China. Yet after investigation, they said that situations were under control. Of course, the later would have very little exposure to contra the first warning. So we were frightened.

Now, with the possible or may be confirmed human to human bird flu in Indonesia, they said in low profile and hinting that we need not worry. Check: "Human-to-Human Infection by Bird Flu Virus Is Confirmed".

Why they have different attitude? We all trust scientists would not lie.

I believe that it is the same case as I pointed out about Time Magazine. After they have Chinese staff, every bad thing about China would be emphasized if not misguided.

The sad truth is most news about China was based on the news in Hong Kong, Taiwan etc. Of course, there are good and bad cases everywhere, China is no exception. If there were something bad, most countries would have such news, but never repeated day after day, week after week. That is different in Hong Kong.

If it is political cases, I do accept that foreign countries have to take whatever possible to suppress the rising up of China, especially they might be sad that they had not split up China years ago. However, for medical cases that should not be political, all people in the world need true information and not political advertisement. It is a shame to have such guys in scientific bodies.

2006-06-15T02:20:00.000-07:00

Medical mistakes may be deadlier than any virus

By reading "Campaign on Hospital Errors Saves Lives", we should be glad that over a hundred thousands lives had been saved.

We may never be able to have the statistics of death caused by medical mistakes. No doctor would put this in black and white. Of course, even if that happened, doctors were not killers and never intended to do any harm. If such errors were due to the lack of doctor, overworked nurse etc., we could only blame the medical system.

When shall we have a perfect medical system? No way, we can be safe only by not falling ill.

One friend told me that her big brother was killed by medical mistake years ago. It happened that the nurse had put the wrong air pipe. The worst thing was that her mother was there by the bed and watched the son smothering to death and failed to get attention by any nurse.

Somehow, it may not be good to know too much because we need hospitals, we need doctors, we need nurses and it would be better to blame on our fate, or perhaps as the latest finding said, it is our gene that caused the problem.

2006-05-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

To be health is easy said than done

Dr LEE Jong-wook, Director-General of the World Health Organization, has died. He was 61 years old.

His work about health for us is great. We can find the WHO fighting hard against SARS, bird-flu etc.

However, as the top man of the WHO, how can he died at such age. That means to us that health is something that easily said than done.

I always say that the problem of today is the lack of studies for the way to stay away from illness. Blaming on smoking, fast food etc. will not help. Experts' suggestions are not effective at all. There are lots of examples that someone with so called health lives died suddenly.

To live happily with good health or to live with struggling against illness will be our choice today. Some may believe that the advancement of medication can protect them against all odds. That is to say that they are willing to have a struggling lives instead.

Sometimes, I do wonder why we cannot know our bodies better. No instrument can be better than our brain about what is wrong. Perhaps, we are too busy and our brains are overloaded with other matters that missed those internal signals about our health.

2006-05-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

Are your doctor forced by drug salesman to prescribe for certain brand medicine?

From the news of the New York Times, "Doctors Object to Gathering of Drug Data", prescription records have been a tool for drug makers. Fortunately, some doctors are fighting to stop this practice.

Not only manipulating the test and hiding the facts, drug makers are watching over the doctors so that prescription of their medicine must be done. So it was not the doctor's decision alone. How poor we are?

Of course, data has become a moneymaking object. Drug stores may get extra earning by selling these records. Can any regulation or law stop such kind of activity? I believe not. There is no way to stop the selling of something in someone's hand. Even the mobile phone records are sold by services providers, what else cannot?

2006-04-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

Does bird-flu disappear now?

Although we cannot rule out that there will be some more cases like a few dead swans etc., yet it may not be so frightening as specialists pointed out.

Of course, we must thank those whistle blowers so that we can take care not to take risk. As I always say, the problem is not entirely about those voiced out the warning. It is the problem of overheated information and lots of politicians taking every chance to expose by pointing their fingers at the governments.

A specialist expressing his/her worry and suggestions is something not bad at all. Yes, there might be some trying to become famous and looking for contributions for their researches.

If bird-flu really disappears, what will we face for the next one? We had SARS before bird-flu and it is certain that the next candidate will be waiting for us in the coming future.

I really feel that the risk of pandemic is not likely to happen yet because of the modern information structure and the work of international bodies like the WHO. No matter how good those specialists are, the main defect is their prejudice. If the first bird-flu case was happened not in Asia or China, would they behave like that? Scientists should not share anything from politic. If we have scientists like that, then the last date of human lives would not be far away.

2006-03-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

Information or thriller?

We need information and we need the truth. This may lead to unnecessary worries because the early news might not be proven.

In the Internet age, we are victims. We are manipulated by journalists, outspoken scientists etc. I am not complaining their works. It is good to have information. But it is not good to have partial information.

The problem is not what the news is; it is the presentation that matters most.

Just saying that there are bird flu cases and the action taken to avoid any spreading is enough. Why they repeatedly said that there was a pandemic threat to the world? Who are responsible to deal with such cases? Not us, we cannot do anything except to suffer spiritually. Do they want us to fear everyday? In fact, a few hundred outbreaks in the world would not have use at higher risk than running over by a careless car driver.

Perhaps by saying something first would release their duties and would not be blamed when things really went wrong. That is the problem we face today, not the bird flu and any similar events.

I am watching such news carefully. Of course, there are worries that the bird flu virus mutated to air borne. But we must know that there remains a distance limitation, it will not be measured in miles. What I hope to know is how many hours or days that this virus can survive and what conditions would kill it. These are good information that remains empty today.

2006-02-28T06:58:00.000-08:00

How long will bird flu stay?

We may worry when bird flu cases are happened in European and African cities. As I have said, we have WHO and efficient communication today, there is no way for bird flu to become epidemic like tens of years before.

Every incident will have full attention and immediate action to stop any spreading.

Perhaps bird flu has been with us for thousands of years. It is only with the modern medical technology that we know about its existence. As told, such type of virus will continue to evolve and may become silent or harmless for a period of years.

If it is so, then any silence does not mean that bird flu would be eliminated. It just goes into another silent period only.

The most important thing is to find out why some people exposed to bird flu and remained healthy or recovered in a short period. Then we can know whether we are immune to bird flu or not. This is much better than giving us some costly thing like Tamiflu.

2006-02-23T05:58:00.000-08:00

Is life cheaper than a piece of software?

If there is a bug or a security hole found in software, there are tons of news and articles. Most of us have not suffered anything at all except the fear of being a victim. Even so happened, we may have trouble but not life threatening.

So, according to "Why Doctors So Often Get It Wrong", from 1930 till now, the 'seriously misdiagnose fatal illnesses about 20 percent of the time' in the State.

We may feel lucky not facing such kind of danger. Of course, if we had, we might be dead already. Will doctors care more about how much they can get from our bodies instead?

Recently, there is a report about the failure of price reduction for medicine in China. The Chinese Government had ordered the lowering of price for about twenty medicines so that more people can afford to pay. However, these medicines were not recommended by many doctors leading to a downfall of about 30%. The reason is obvious. Doctors are employed by hospital and hosipital need to earn more. Cheap medicine will not be profitable.

I must say again. We must find a way to keep our health and avoid any medication.

2006-02-17T00:48:00.000-08:00

Another report turning down what is believed to be good.

According to Big Study Finds No Clear Benefit of Calcium Pills, the calcium and vitamin D supplements failed to give what has been expected for women over 50.

The problem is not just a case, but many such type of claim had never been proved by similar studies. We may ask why doctors could recommend anything that lack sound proof. Did they forget that they were handling human, not mice or robots?

Even if there is no harm in taking the ineffective medicine, we might be better off with something other than the suggestion, not to say any loss in finance.

If such way continues, perhaps we shall prefer a computer to act as our medical sources. It can read 'advertisement' content and makes suggestion in the same way as doctors did. It can be programmed to read all medical tests. Of course, we may worry whether the programmer would receive any sponsorship and give priority to some unproved medicine. The solution may be simple. These Doctor Computers, perhaps great to name it 'iDoctor', can be monitored by indepent medical professors.

May be by giving a few billions can make this a reality and the burden of medical expenses may be solved.

2006-02-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

Diet suggestion is wrong again

Can we trust those advices about what we should eat for health? Are such advice based on scientific proof?

According to the latest info, "Low-Fat Diet Does Not Cut Health Risks, Study Finds", a $415 million federal study with about 49,000 women ages 50 to 79 for a period of eight years, low-fat diet has no protection against cancer. Therefore, for those who suffer so much, there is nothing good at all.

This is a difficult problem. Some may argue about the findings, especially those involved with diet business.

I believe that the reason is the basic assumption of the causes of cancer. As I have pointed out, science must be based on facts, not fallacies. Unfortunately, lots of so called specialists are lack of such attitude. The simple fact may be, they have done nothing themselves other than followed others' suggestion. Of course, it is always good to blame on something instead of their shortcoming in medication.

Science has been polluted by money. Any findings that might generate huge earning would be taken as opportunities for investment. How unfortunate we are?

The result of this finding may soon be forgotten because the health industries can 'pay' to make this type of information disappeared or forgotten.

Unless most of us have a better understanding of health, there is no way to avoid being fooled by those who we trusted.

"God helps those who help themselves." Perhaps, we can say, "specialist fools those who fool themselves." Therefore, the problem is entirely about us, not those specialists who earn dollars from fooling us.

If we can find how many health specialists and doctors have cancer, then it would be easy to prove that what they said was rubbish. Of course, no government or any organisation will give us this information. Hey, did they said that we had the right to know the truth?

2006-01-15T02:20:00.000-08:00

Our choice: starve to death or facing cancer

It is said that WHO has found that drinking coffee regularly would have the chance of cancer.

We must trust WHO, it is not Korean scientist. Yet, the simple truth is that every modern thing is bad to our health. So, what can we do?

I cannot say every one of us because there is no way to ask all of you. Sampling is a false act and always lead to mistakes. Same as what I had been years ago, just carry on with what I prefer because I shall be dead someday with or without taking what they said was bad to my health.

If I have to follow such type of advice, then I have to give up coffee, cigarette, fried food, barbecue etc. and have to avoid living or working in buildings with marble etc. Then if I go to the countryside, I may contact H5N1 because there may be migrating birds around. I can foresee that I may be mad and died of fear within a short period.

Of course, we need their information. The problem is that there is no education for how to manage us with scientific discovery.

Very soon, there will be health food or drink said to clear the problematic substance in our bodies from coffee etc.; another chance for business.

2006-01-06T02:22:00.000-08:00

Health is more important than money, really?

In the real world, from what we have found, it is OK to harm people's health but not OK to cheat money.

If a CEO or an accountant has been found to cook the book, he/she would be punished and jailed for some years. There have been many cases within these years.

If a medicine manufacturer 'cook' the clinic test, no one will be punished and perhaps with the final words "medicine does have bad effects and if it can be helpful for a few, it is acceptable".

With the recent news, U.S. Not Told of 2 Deaths During Study of Heart Drug, we have Johnson & Johnson this time. It seems that almost every drug manufacturer has similar cooking technique.

We cannot avoid asking how such professionals would care about money instead of our health. Of course, we shall never find any answer. Perhaps we know now that if one takes advantage of the health topic for huge benefit, they are not governed by law; yet for all others that have nothing to do with health, any dishonor act will be punished.

They may be right, if our money has been stolen, then we cannot be able to pay the medicine. This will have serious sequence that would lower the income of many of them. So the law will protect our wealth and our money will protect our health until the day we had no more money.

2005-12-27T19:16:00.000-08:00

Will Tamiflu become a costly joke?

After the news before the Christmas, Japan links Tamiflu to 2 teen suicides 64 cases of disorders connected to avian flu treatment and 2 Who Died From Avian Flu in Vietnam Were Resistant to an Antiviral Drug, there is no further information about this problem.

Of course, when billions were spent, it is difficult to admit that the stuff is useless. Also, getting Tamiflu is the only choice of governments in response to huge media coverage that frightened everyone.

Recently in Hong Kong, I have seen repeated broadcasting of flu epidemic program that would let the fear be heightened. It is good to let everyone aware of the threat, yet without updating information, such practice is irresponsible. The sad thing is that most would not have good knowledge of science and fail to have time or intention to find information, especially those lawmakers.

The bird flu case may hang on for some years. It may be too early to have any summary or report about the right and wrong of the whole incidence. Perhaps, there would not be any such report at all. I do think that we must take this lesson to find out what should we do in the future.

Certainly, I do wish that something like Tamiflu would free us from such type of epidemic. Unfortunately, we have seen so many cases that so called clinical trial or scientific proof had fraud and too many scientists were not honest.

2005-12-20T20:23:00.000-08:00

The future of health

I just read from the news, One-Third of U.S. Teens Out of Shape. It seems that something must be done to help the new generation.

There should be a lot of advice from specialists and I am sure that no many youngsters would follow. If a message will be neglected, the problem is the wrong concept that applied.

All adults have been young some years ago and most might forget their valuable experience. There are much more changes from generation to generation. Radio, television as well as Internet influence new generations. No matter how, parents do have the duty to guide their children. I mean guidance, not administration. It is certain that every parent will care for the children. The problem is the lack of knowledge for this problem.

From the report, we can see that the situation is not about poor families only, even the rich and educated families are no exception. In fact, I am afraid that the worst cases may not be about poverty, instead, it may be the excess care, or spoiling, of richer families.

Recently, there are some children in China suffering hyperthermia. This is astonishing that someone would have heat illness in cold weather. The reason is found. The children had too many clothes that raised the body temperature too much. Some parents said that they did not know how many clothes were enough. This stupidity reminds me of my old and odd idea. People should apply for a license before allowing them to give birth.

There is an old Chinese saying, "the more clothes you have the more cold you feel". I am sure that this would be based on experience, not science. Yet it is true that keeping our body warm requires a layer of warm air between the body and the overcoat. Too many clothes will give no space for the warm air.

This example indicated that some people should remain poor and smart instead of rich and stupid. The worst thing is the next and next generations of human will have serious health problem.

2005-12-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

Is it true that someone in America would contract bird flu next year?

There is a bet about this, "...there is a 65 percent chance that someone in the United States will contract bird flu by March..". See: Betting on Bird Flu.

Until now, there is no such case in America yet. We know that the migrating birds spread the bird flu in Asia and Europe.
Therefore, everywhere in the world would not be safe.

Most incidences are about bird to bird. It is only the Asian might suffer bird to human infection. Reasons include poultry management and operation, population density, environment, knowledge and safety precaution etc.

When chickens, ducks etc. are running around in open area, there is great chance to contact the feces of flying birds. I think that the cause of infection may not be close contact between birds. Instead, flying birds would shower their feces in their paths and it would be easy for those chickens to pick up the flu virus.

Such practice seems to be limited to farmers in developing countries. The difficulty is that even they were told about this threat, they might not care because they did not want to change anything that had been so for years. They are stubborn, may be, but most would not have the chance to work it right the next time. Just like a doctor said, the good thing is the high mortality rate so that the virus host had no chance to transmit. It is not like AIDS that has the infected staying alive and let many others infected.

I guess that the bet would not be won because such conditions are rare if not entirely free of in America.

2005-12-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

Heartbreak truth

There is an article "When the Doctor Is in, but You Wish He Wasn't" published in New York Times on November 30, 2005 written by GINA KOLATA. The topic has touched many readers and the letters from readers are grouped under the title "Being a Patient Reader Letters" published on Dec. 7, 2005. If you miss these articles, it is better to have a look.

It is great to see so many responses from patients, patients' family member as well as doctors and we can have different opinion to learn.The unfortunate truth is that doctors are forced to spend less time with patients due to hospital management and insurance bodies. Certainly, we cannot blame all doctors, hospitals or insurance companies alone.

If a hospital is run as business, there is no way to avoid the problem of costing control and the target for making profit. It is certain that no one would have a way to solve this problem. But, will it be worse in the future?There are many reasons and patients are not completely innocent. Same as every sector in our society, there are good and bad members. I have seen a story some times ago about a family of doctors who had to give up their profession because the premium for surgery was too high. Doctors might make mistakes. To avoid facing huge compensation, the only way is to have insurance. Same as every insured topic, premium would be raised against huge compensation to keep the insurance company profitable.

I think that the core problem is the medication has to run as business. Business must have profit and costing must be controlled one way or the other. America may be the first country to face this problem and it is certain that other places like Hong Kong would follow the same path in the coming future. Governments just cannot bear the continuous surging medical cost.

As I have said the best way we can have is to avoid being sick, that is, to be healthy for the lifetime.

2005-12-02T03:34:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, you're playing our health.

Some days ago, specialist said coffee was not good for our health. So some of us gave up the coffee for green tea.Then they said there was no proof to benefit from green tea. Then again, they said that three cups of coffee a day would protect our heart.

Some times ago, specialist said wine was good for our health. Then recently, they said that three glasses of wine gave very little protection for our heats.

Yes, specialists have mistakes. Yes, they had no responsibilities for any consequence because we might be the exceptional if anything went wrong. Yes, we may not be dead and we may be cured. Yes, we have to pay for their mistakes.

Of course, if they have to take responsibilities, they shall keep their mouth shut. Of course, if that happened, they would not have funds to research. Of course, if there would be no research, our health would be jeopardized.

So they always have the upper hand. So they can do what they like. So we have to pay
everything from research indirectly from our tax and for medication directly from our pocket or indirectly by insurance with our premium.

By such count, we are always the losers. The best we can do is to be a health specialist.

2005-11-27T00:59:00.000-08:00

Ten lies become truth, ten truths would backfire

It seems the ghost of 1918 would not go away. We are repeatedly advised about the pandemic. Perhaps we are not yet fear to death yet, so they are not satisfied. Perhaps governments have not put in ten or hundred billions, so they are not happy.

There is one thing to remember; there is no WHO in 1918. WHO was established in April 1948. The medical technique today is many times better than in 1918. The communication is million times faster. If someone want to refer everything in the past, please do make note about the different environment too.

As pointed out earlier, I am not a scientist. But I do believe that except those huge natural disasters like the Yellow Stone volcanic outburst or a giant meteor hitting the earth, there is no way to have immediate death in millions especially in developed areas.

If we want the governments to do hundred-percentage protection against something that may happen, I am sure that all governments would be bankrupted because there would be more to come. Can all countries spend hundred billions for Tamiflu and another hundred billions for the next unknown virus? Remember virus will not need billions to evolve. With a few count of such expectation will lead us to the day where survival is for the richest.

That is not the correct way to solve such problem. With the information today, quarantine will be enforced for a district, a village, a city or even a country to stop the spreading of virus.

Again, I hope that those who are famous, those who can affect millions can ask themselves what is their motive by frightening every one. Forcing the governments to spend unwisely is the most stupid act; people will pay the cost.

2005-11-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

Get health with nervous breakdown

It is great to have advice from medical experts so that we would not make mistakes.

Just like teaching a kid with repeated warning. Too few would be easily forgotten. Too many would be so boring that lead to resistance.

What is holiday? It is the time to relax. It is the time to enjoy. It is the time to free us for awhile.
I think that those who presented us with messages or articles telling us not to eat this and that, or advising us to take more of that kind of goodies, must need consideration about what life means for them. Or perhaps, they are not human, but intelligent robots.

If we gain a pound or so during the holiday, it is not a serious problem. We should have such experience for years. Of course we had enjoyed holiday years ago when there was no such annoying advice.

Some years ago, when we were told that excess calorie would be bad to our health and tons of advice about the calorie of meat, ice cream etc., I did not accept the suggestion to count every time I ate. That is the worst thing in life when we have to live like a machine or behind bars. Taking care of what you eat is not a bad thing, but counting calorie is not only bad for appetite, it is also bad for our mental health.

We may be a pound heavier today and a pound less next week. We may eat a little more in happy days and may eat less when we are busy.

Do you think that I do not care about my health? Certainly not, I have many ways to keep in good shape. The important thing is how to balance and keep the total consumption under control. For those who suffer obesity, it is a matter of losing self-control and failed to understand how to enjoy food and lives.

2005-11-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

Heath vs medicine

Our health is not relied on medicine. Healthy people does not need. Medication or medicine is needed only when we are not healthy.

From "Young, Assured and Playing Pharmacist to Friends" in the Nytimes.com, it seems that such concern is not only in America. This type of friendly advice happened everywhere. I must admit that most were kind and intended to help others. Yet, half-full bottle makes the most sound. This is a common human ignorance. We must remember that a man's food is another's poison. There is no universal formula for curing.

One thing I learnt is "like curing like". All effective medicine is poisonous. Poisonous may be exaggerated, but we must have this concept to safeguard our health.

I have a classmate that had not seen for some years after graduation from high school. When we met, he told me that he became a Chinese herbalist (Chinese doctor with herbs). My first question for him was about his understanding of "like curing like". He agreed. That proved to me that he could be a good doctor. Now, over twenty years afterward, he has lots of patients and good record of curing patients of various kind of sickness.

Medicine is a necessity for doctors to cure patients. Seeking medicine without doctors' advice is dangerous. However, there are many reasons to have such behavior.

No matter the medicine is prescribed by a doctor or recommended by a friend, the one who takes it must remember that medicine is poisonous, "like curing like". I just worry that many people who have become so reliable on medicine, that is an unhealthy behavior.

2005-11-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

What is wrong with our health?

If we compare our lives with those who lived some hundred years ago, our health should be better, we can live longer because many illness that had no cure before becomes simply problem for the modern medication. Of course, we can never know if we are living happier than those were living long time ago.

With so many medicines and so many treatments including those unthinkable before like brain surgery etc., it seems that we need not worry about our health at all. Well, there is something no medication can do, our pain, physical, mental and financial health.

That means we have received the wrong message and made wrong decision to spoil our health.

Everyone should know that life is just a journey. It starts and ends. May be some religious minds would believe that there is life after death. But that is not my concern and certainly not for the time of being alive. Our spoken and written words of life and death define our feeling.

Modern medication is great for our health if we suffer illness from virus, or the famous flu etc. We must admit that why we can live longer is the contribution of medical advancement.

For other illness that caused by our carelessness, it is something for us to reconsider whether it is not good to make joke with our own bodies. Medicine and surgery should be the last defense.

2005-11-09T01:52:00.000-08:00

More information means further ignorance

One great thing about Internet is the fastest information across the world in seconds. So we know instantly if there is any serious accident or a bird-flu case somewhere hundreds or thousands miles away.

But such great thing may not be good at all because many would have panic on every incidence.

A simple fact is that with the scale of the whole world, we shall have natural accidents etc. in somewhere every day.

A dozen died of bird flu in months does not mean anything in compare of the death of other medical cases that are in thousands or more.

Of course, the WHO and most governments have to follow such type of events and do their duties to avoid pandemic. We need not worry too much otherwise we may be dead from heart disease even before anything would happen.

From what is going on for the past few months, I am sure that there is a problem about West distrusts East. Even a migrating bird died in Asia (China, Vietnam etc.), there would be taken very seriously. Yet, the same case in European countries would be taken slightly.

The next one is all reporting will take one part of something and never follow up to clear up any disturbing result from the preliminary journal. Just like the linking of 1918 virus to the bird flu has greatly frightened everyone. If you have read such reporting, please read "Hazard in Hunt for New Flu: Looking for Bugs in All the Wrong Places" (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/08/science/08flu.html) to have a better understanding.

This type of misleading news is not new at all. In fact, there have been many cases like that before.

I do appreciate those who give us information instantly. But I do hope that they can take up the responsibilities to let us know the follow up findings in the same coverage and highlighting.

2005-11-04T21:24:00.000-08:00

Why not scientific?

Before talking about this, I must declare that I am not a scientist and with no such formal training or academic studies. All my knowledge is from self-studies.

My interest in science especially health started very early even before secondary school. There are a few points hat I still keep in mind:

First, science must be based on facts, not fallacy.

Second, we may lack of the knowledge to explain the exact procedure, but the end result is something not to be neglected.

Third, science is not gambling. If any scientific expedition has to go with certain percentage of success, it is because we are lack of the full knowledge or information about all the factors. In other words, we should not be taken as experts yet.

So I wonder why for these years, we have many reports or suggestions from medical about health and treatment that were moving away from science. The most unfortunate thing is that our doctors are becoming agents for medicine producers. Statements about medicine are nothing more than reciting the producers' advertisement. Most researches will take the top priority of patent application. Remember that the discovery of DNA sparked the argument whether someone could get the patent for the building mechanism of our bodies. Andy Rooney said that there were no inventions now after the telephone. I believe that things are getting uglier than that.

Another example is that the same specialist had said that egg was not good for health, but changed to say egg would be good after employing by agricultural body. Yes, scientist can make mistake and can take opposite standing. But there should be proven by fact finding to support and definitely not about employment.

When we need medical treatment, we pay one hundred percent of charge, but the recovery is said to be 20%, 30% or so. Will we accept to pay a dinner with 100% but receive 30% of the menu in quality or quantity?

It is our lives that force us to accept anything, even with such low level of customer satisfaction. We cannot argue with the doctors because we need them to treat our sickness. There are things worth for us to consider.

With such performance, can medical practitioners still be taken as saviours for us?

Why scientists did not guide us to avoid sickness?

Some may say that there is lots of articles etc. about how to be healthy. Yes, they said that if we eat one third of what we would, we can live longer. Yes, they said if we do not smoke, do not drink alcohol, do not eat too much meat, avoid ice cream etc., we can avoid problem. That looks like living in poor countries where there is nothing more to eat.

That is not a life for us.

How about living for one hundred years with bread and water? Will you accept?

2005-10-30T02:34:00.000-08:00

Health - the first statement by F. H. Tong

Although I am quite busy, yet I still thinking about the project that I have intended to do.
It is about health. Of course, there are thousands of websites about health. But how many are without medical background? How many are not selling medicine or medical services either directly or as advertisement? How many are words from patients?

I have the interest about medical since a youngster after suffering illness that almost killed me. Some even asked me if I wanted to become a doctor. No, I believed that my character could not be good to be a doctor. My point is simple; without knowing about health, illness, medicine etc., how can I know whether the doctor treats me right or wrong?

With the blog, I shall continue to talk about this topic.

As for the project mentioned, it will be a website for us to discuss about health matters. The goal is to be health without sickness and certainly doing our best not to see the doctors. I think that readers may already feel that my plan will be difficult to survive or even not able to build.

Where is the income for this project? Sometime ago, it has been said that no one would like to pay and almost everyone want free of everything. Some even said that they had paid to be online and therefore would not want to pay again. They forgot that they paid the ISP who just had a link for them to go online only and never responded for content that everyone hoped for.

Therefore, before starting my project, I prefer to start here in order to know whether anyone in the world would care for his or her bodies and want not to be a group of sheep for someone to rob the wool or even slaughter.