BY KLAUS DÖRING
WHEN you are experiencing a bad day, it means that something is not right.
When you wake up, what’s the first thing that pops in your mind? Is it something positive or negative?
Usually, when it’s a negative feeling, your entire day could turn for the worse.
Well, one of my expatriate friends here in the Philippines admired the “Five Tibetans Monks”. I mean – not the personalities.
Every morning, my friend does these exercises entitled “Five Tibetans Monks”. Since my friend started with that, he hasn’t become sick any more. He also felt mentally balanced. I can’t guarantee it. He kept on swearing it to me.
Another (German) friend, meanwhile – 75 years “young” – can’t enjoy his breakfast without first jogging for an hour or even more starting at 5 a.m. If he’s not able to practice it, he becomes moody, intolerable, aggressive and frustrated. Bad days…!
Others have to swim three times a day. Good for those who have a swimming pool or live near a beach or sea shore.
I love a glass of red wine (don’t get me wrong: I said ONE glass!), a good book (whatever that means for you, my dear reader!), and relaxing (old!) classical music. So, each one of us is looking for his or her special ways of being comfortable.
But some of our dear fellow creatures can’t really get some peace. They heave a sigh and utter a groan all day long! The Five Tibetans Monks have been blurred. Jogging is unhealthy; green tea is putting out and forces ill-feeling; swimming in a pool supports logical ring worms! Heaven forbid!
I’m sure, my red wine is never digestible and instead reading a good book while listening to relaxing music weighs heavily upon our minds.
A couple of years ago I met an expatriate who loved to swing a pendulum to and fro. Billy occupied himself with astrology and the esoteric. I will never forget one of his first questions regarding my birth time.
He warned me immediately: “Days followed by full moon periods are very bad for you!”
This was something new for me. To be honest, I really don’t care about such stuff. Sorry! I messed up with Billy. Sayang! He was a really good friend.
I travelled a lot. I stayed in more than 80 countries. I experienced in some Western countries that travel agencies recommended trips to Mexico for “Leos” or to Turkey for “Capricorns”. I went to both countries and didn’t feel anything wrong or bad.
I estimated roughly, which dramatic misjudgments, accidents, and sickness outbreaks or losses have happened in my life during days followed by full moon periods.
What day is today? I always write most of my columns for this daily and my websites on Saturdays. It’s really a great day.
Joking apart: allow me to quote Th. Campell (Lochiel’s Warning): “Coming events cast their shadows before.” Bad days for most places on this globe and its people right now. “Mourning becomes Elektra!” – as E.O. Neill entitled his drama stage play.
Remember: It’s a bad day, not a bad life. Even a small change in your attitude will improve the quality of your life.
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Comments, suggestions, questions? Email me: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter or visit www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com./PN
opinion
Tobacco and health
DR. JOSEPH LIM
(By Dr. Joseph D. Lim and Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI)
IT’S NOT just the risk of getting oral cancer that comes with using or smoking tobacco.
We digress a bit here from the effects of tobacco on oral health. We will now look at the overall impact of tobacco on health.
There is, for example, Green Tobacco Sickness that is common among tobacco farmers.
It is a form of nicotine poisoning that occurs in about one in four farmers, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The United Nations health agency says that farmer who plants, cultivates, and harvests tobacco may absorb as much nicotine per day as found in 50 cigarettes.
Tobacco farmers may also experience increased concentration of aluminum and arsenic in the blood due to exposure to pesticides.
Chronic exposure to certain pesticides results in several health effects including birth defects, benign and malignant tumors, genetic changes, blood disorders, neurological disorders, and endocrine disruption.
Often, children work on tobacco farms, and they are particularly vulnerable. Their body weight is relative to the proportion of nicotine absorbed through their skin from handling tobacco leaves.
Youth tobacco farmers may experience increased risk of early kidney disfunction as well as higher prevalence of smoking.
Women’s health is disproportionally affected by the harmful effects of tobacco farming as they face a higher risk of infertility and reproductive issues, the WHO says.
It says tobacco use is associated with substantial human and economic burden. Smoking is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and more.
As it releases toxicants into the air, smoking tobacco indoors is a major air pollutant, increasing risk of exposure of bystanders.
In addition to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, second-hand smoke is responsible for the premature death of 1.2 million people each year worldwide.
Smoking tobacco increases the risk of dying. Over 8 million lives in fact are lost each year because of smoking, according to the WHO.
Tobacco production also contributes to global warming. Almost 84 million metric tons of carbon dioxide or CO2 equivalent emissions annually, the WHO says, adding that is equivalent to 280,000 rockets launched into outer space.
To manufacture a single cigarette, 14 grams of CO2 is emitted throughout its lifecycle.
About 1.5 billion hectares of mainly tropical forests have been lost worldwide since the 1970s due to tobacco production, the WHO says, adding it contributes up to 20 percent of annual greenhouse gas increase.
Trees are cut down to clear land for tobacco farming. After harvest, wood is burned for the curing of tobacco leaves. Approximately 200,000 hectares of land is cleared annually for tobacco growing and curing.
Around 3.5 million hectares of land are destroyed for tobacco growing each year. 600 million trees are chopped down to make cigarettes. In the process, 84 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions are released into the air, raising global warming.
Deforestation for tobacco plantations promotes soil degradation and “failing yields” or the capacity for the land to support the growth of any other crops or vegetation.
“The environmental impacts of tobacco use adds unnecessary pressure to our planet’s already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems,” said Dr. Ruediger Krech, WHO Director of Health Promotion. “This is especially dangerous for developing countries, as that’s where most of the tobacco production happens.”
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim, Ed. D., is the former Associate Dean of the College of Dentistry, University of the East; former Dean, College of Dentistry, National University; Past President and Honorary Fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy; Honorary Fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists; Honorary Life Member of the Thai Association of Dental Implantology; and Founding Chairman of the Philippine College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515.
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Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI, graduated Doctor of Dental Medicine, University of the Philippines, College of Dentistry, Manila, 2011; Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management, De la Salle University, Manila, 2002; and Master of Science (MSc.) in Oral Implantology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, 2019. He is an Associate Professor; Fellow, International Congress of Oral Implantologists; Member, American Academy of Implant Dentistry and Fellow, Philippine College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail limdentalcenter@gmail.com./PN
