Tuesday Briefs

Some interesting briefs on this last Tuesday  of Aug 2018.

1. I read an interesting news item, which says air pollution can affect even brain, along with harming Lungs and hearts. It affects the brain so much that elderly people could struggle for the words or to complete simple math calculations. This is the outcome of the study conducted by Yale and Peking Universities, and published in reputed Proceedings of National Academy of Science (PNAS).This study found that significant reduction in verbal and math skills of the people who are exposed to air pollution for a longer duration. The affect is more pronounced in men compared to women. Commenting on this report, a Mumbai based Pulmonologist (Pulmonology is a medical speciality that deals with diseases involving respiratory tract) added that ” What is really worrying is  air pollution’s long term damages such as  cancer, lungs of children exposed to pollution become shrunken and damaged, with these children start suffering from diseases such as chronic respiratory disorder or asthama from the early age.” This reduction in verbal and simple math skill in elderly people, may lead to Alzheimer’s disease, and other forms of dementia. Friends while reading about air pollution you must have come across term (PM 2.5)- in plain words this refers to fine particulate matter in the air, which is a concern when it levels rises in the air. When this level becomes higher then visibility is reduced and air appear to be hazy. Safety limits for good air, as per WHO standards is 10 micrograms per cubic meter, while Indian safety limit is 40 micrograms per cubic meter. With these standards also, most of our cities fail in this test. As  per WHO Global Air Pollution database 14 of 15 most polluted cities in the world are from India, when you consider the concentration of PM 2.5. Everyone knows about the main causes for air pollution are air pollution from motorised vehicles , smoke arising from the industrial units. What ever the govt has done till date in this regard is really insignificant, because the problem of air pollution has reach gigantic levels, and if concrete action is not taken now, then in near future no mid size city in India will be suitable for living from the health point of view.
2. Epidemiology is scientific study of the spread and control of diseases. Now one Epidemiology Professor from Harvard University has declared that Coconut Oil to be “pure poison” and “one of the worst food item which you can eat”. This has angered the coconut users all over the world. Even several Keralites, who are although preoccupied with another matter at present, have come forward to defend this multi talented nut known as Coconut. In our country, for generations women have stood by with coconut oil when it comes to hair and skin care, and men have also been joining this faith. Till now so many culinary experts have approved the coconut oil as essential cooking  medium, which even helps in boosting metabolism. It is used as cooking medium in so many countries all over the world, be it in Southern parts of India, Indonesia, Caribbean islands, Thailand. There are so many dishes in the world and their recipe will be incomplete without use of coconut oil. One expert even remarked jokingly ” if coconut oil is poison and power is also a poison, that means coconut oil is power”. Of course one thing which every one agrees and is aware of that coconut is high in bad cholesterol , which is linked to heart attack, but some wise person will say that this is an old theory, as the new findings have proved that even high cholesterol even up to 900 mg per litre is ok in a  normal person’s body, and this has been accepted by Federal Drug Authority (FDA) in USA. I do not know, whether this research about coconut oil being poison is sponsored by  some food oil companies, similar to earlier findings in the case of cholesterol levels and sugar levels for diabetic, which were sponsored by Pharmaceutical  Industry to boost their drug sales.

So friends , how do you find this blog of mine which is entirely on some new subject. Please d0 write your views/comments/ feed backs at the  end of the blog and post.

Anil  Malik

Mumbai, India

28th Aug  2019.