I must admit, the reaction to the new format newsletter has been a bit of a mixed bag. Most people welcomed the change. The reaction to the offer for a free website though, was a total non-event.
I thought offering something for free would get some sort of reaction, but it seems that people are maybe a bit suspect of freebies or maybe I overestimated the readers’ need to have their own website. Even for free.
Oh well, I tried. If anybody still maybe wants to see the website in action, come and see me. It is a lot of fun.
So the Super 14 was won by the Sharks in 80 minutes of spectacular rugby.
The other guys won it back in 2 minutes of spectacular tactical robbery. That is all I’m going to say about that.
While on the subject of spectacular rugby, I believe Her Majesty, the Queen has announced that the last Saturday in May will in future be a British National day of Mourning.
Well done boys. You almost made up for the Twikenham Humiliation
So wat gebeur op die Suidkus behalwe rugby, nog rugby en die een en ander koue frontjie wat ons laat gryp na truie en daardie tweede kortbroek?
Vertel my. Ek dink ons grootste problem op die Suidkus (seker maar enige plekkie onder Thabo se son) is die absolute verval van die basiese dinge wat mens elke dag mee saam leef. Dinge soos kragonderbrekings, reuse gate in ons paaie, onbekostigbare brandstof om ons onbekostigbare voertuie se onbekostigbare bande te verwoes op die onherstelbare plaaslike dorps-roetes op pad om onbekostigbare kruideniersware aan te koop om die onversadigbare honger mee te stil. Wow! Daar is te veel on-woorde in daardie paragraaf. Dis onvergeeflik. Dis egter ook onmoontlik om die verval te ignoreer.
Wat doen ons? Ons aanvaar elke nuwe wet en elke nuwe verval en elke nuwe verskoning en elke nuwe afbreek van ons waardes met onverstaanbare gemak.
As ‘n bokser genoeg houe geabsorbeer het, het hy twee keuses; Val of Veg. Dit is in elk geval ‘n ingebore en geskape liggaamlike funksie; Adrenalien, afgeskei deur die by-nier, maak ons gereed vir die sogenaamde “Veg of Vlug” reaksie. (Dis die ‘hol-kol’ op jou maag as jy jou gwar afskrik.) Dalk is dit nou tyd vir liters Adrenalien in ons dorp, land en streek. Kies asseblief tog net reg tussen die twee reaksies!
Ok. Back from the parade ground;
I must say, I have always been a sucker for gadgets, hi-tech goodies, and new stuff. So tonight, for the first time, I am sitting, writing this, next to my pool (yes I know it is cold and I am dressed accordingly), it is quiet and the night-life of insects and little froggies and crickets are slowly waking up (in between the sounds of cars hitting the potholes in Bank street). Yes, I have gone mobile. Laptop. Now you will never be rid of me. I can now sit and write on the top tier of King’s Park if I want to, at the foot of Cleft Peak in the Drakensberg, on the launching beach at Paternoster on the West Coast, in New York (I wish). Anywhere! Whoopee!
Before we get to the health section, may I please take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to everybody reading this newsletter. You are either a account customer, a cash customer, a visitor to the coast, a visitor to one of my websites, a subscriber to my mailing list, or just a casual shopper who took the challenge to read this far. Either way, you have somehow influenced my life and my wish is that I can somehow have some sort of positive effect on yours.
Keeping you healthy
Let us look at a couple of interesting news items from the world of Health and Beauty.
Coffee may fight gout
High uric acid levels in the blood are a precursor of gout, the most common inflammatory arthritis in adult men. It is believed that coffee and tea consumption may affect uric acid levels but only one study has been conducted to date.
A new large-scale study published in the June 2007 issue of Arthritis Care & Research examined the relationship between coffee, tea, caffeine intake, and uric acid levels and found that coffee consumption is associated with lower uric acid levels but that this appears to be due to components other than caffeine.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Because of this widespread consumption, its potential effects have important implications for public and individual health.
Coffee shuns uric acid
The results suggested that levels of uric acid in the blood significantly decreased with increasing coffee intake, but not with tea intake. In addition, there was no association between total caffeine intake from beverages and uric acid levels. These results were similar to those found in the only previous study on the topic, which was conducted in Japan. Interestingly, there was an association between decaffeinated coffee consumption and uric acid levels. "
These findings suggest that components of coffee other than caffeine contribute to the observed inverse association between coffee intake and uric acid levels. A recent study found that coffee was associated with lower C peptide levels (a marker of insulin levels). The researchers in the current study suggest that because there is a strong relationship between insulin resistance and elevated uric acid levels, the decreased insulin levels associated with coffee consumption may lead to lower uric acid levels.
Coffee is also a major source of chlorogenic acid, a strong antioxidant, which may improve insulin sensitivity. Chlorogenic acid also helps inhibit glucose absorption in the intestine. The researchers note further that their results could be due to an effect of non-caffeine components found in coffee, which would also explain why coffee affected uric acid levels but tea did not.
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Clues to ringing in the ears:
The ringing or buzzing in the ears known as Tinnitus varies among patients according to the condition's clinical characteristics. People with tinnitus have ringing, buzzing or whistling sounds in one or both ears. The condition, which can be due to a medical disease or unknown causes, can be constant or intermittent, chronic or acute.
According to the researchers, more than 8 percent of patients rated their condition as grade I (weak degree of tinnitus loudness), close to 60 percent as grade II (medium degree of loudness), and just over 32 percent as grade III (strong degree of loudness).
In terms of annoyance with tinnitus, about 39 percent said they were mildly distressed, nearly 24 percent said they severely distressed, and about 13 percent were most severely distressed.
Loudness tied to annoyanceMost of the people with grade I conditions reported mild tinnitus distress, those with grade II were split, and about two-thirds of people with grade III conditions had severe or very severe distress. The findings indicated a moderate correlation between tinnitus loudness and annoyance, the researchers said.
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Green tea may soothe bladder inflammatory conditions.
Green tea may help protect against bladder inflammation, a new study suggests. It was discovered that Catechins found in green tea protected both normal and cancerous bladder cells from inflammation. Although further studies are needed, the results indicate herbal supplements from green tea could be a treatment option for various bladder conditions that are caused by injury or inflammation. In a laboratory study normal and cancerous bladder cells were exposed to two major catechin components of green tea - and then exposed the cells to hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide normally damages or kills cells, but the two major catechin component offered significant protection to the cells. The concentrations of the two kinds of catechins were at levels that can be obtained through normal dietary intake!
Conclusion: If you are prone to bladder conditions, go to Mac Banana and buy some quality Eve’s Jasmine Green Tea . However, if you suffer from Gout, get yourself a Plunger and go buy some good quality coffee beans at Beaver Creek Coffee Estate. If you don’t have time for shopping, just sit back and listen to the noises in your middle-ear.
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PeeCee is proud to announce the launch of the next exciting products in our range of
Luxury Personal Indulgence:
Nourishing Hand & Body Cream
This exciting new cream is a must for dry skin, it is a must for any skin! Pamper yourself with the moisturising effect of a ph-buffered aqueous cream as a base, enhanced with the essential oils of Lavender and Jasmine.
It contains the richness of Avocado Oil. Although it is classed as a vegetable oil, the avocado is really a fruit since it has a stone - but none-the-less; it yields a rich and extremely deep penetrating oil, rich in vitamins A, D and E, lecithin, as well as potassium - known as the youth mineral.
It furthermore contains proteins, lecithin, beta-carotene and more than twenty percent essential unsaturated fatty acids. The fatty acids contained are palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic.
Benefits of avocado oil to the skin
It is high in sterolins, which are reputed to reduce age spots, help heel sun damage and scars. It is the sterolins (also called plant steroids) in the oil that helps to soften the skin and imparts a superior moisturizing effect.
For this reason it is an ideal ingredient to include when formulating for people with dehydrated, sun or climate damaged skin, as it is an extremely good moisturizing and nourishing compound, assisting in the regeneration and rejuvenation of the skin.
It was found that avocado oil significantly increases the amount of collagen in the skin - which normally is under attack as we grow older.
Avocado oil is easily absorbed into deep tissue, and with its wonderfully emollient properties, makes it ideal for mature skins. It also helps to relieve the dryness and itching of psoriasis and eczema.
Try this luxurious cream and enjoy freedom from itchy, winter skin.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Newsletter April 2007
‘n Verandering is so goed soos ‘n vakansie!
Na amper tien jaar het die nuusbrief nou uiteindelik verander. Die hele formaat is anders, en al het ek hoe lank geskop teen die kommersieële aanwending van die nuusbrief, het ons nou finaal besluit om op ‘n beperkte basis wel bemarking te gebruik om te help dra aan die koste van die publikasie.
Yes the new format newsletter will have on the last page, a few selected commercials, which will help to carry the cost of the production. The letter will also be four half pages which translates to double the size of the old format.
Hierdie advertensies sal altyd aan die leser die voordeel van ‘n besparing op ‘n aktuele produk bied sowel as die doel dien dat die firma(s) betrokke, sal bydra tot die koste van die brief.
That out of the way, it is time to get to the business of doing newsletters. While writing this, Sri Lanka is trying to outflank New Zeeland and get a decent score on a nice batting track. Only time will tell. I think the relevance of today’s match will only hit us after (I refuse to phrase it as “if”) we have won the Hopping Kangaroos tomorrow. By the time you read this we will know who has won the final! If the post office is any slower we might even know who won the Super 14 final!
We sure saw a couple of very good matches during this cricket world cup. It will also be remembered not only for the Woolmer-case but also for the three coaches (so far) that made their exit due to poor performance. The money game knows no mercy! “Win or cheers”. It was a case of going from hero to zero in one tournament for some of them.
Wat die rugby aan betref, mmmhhh. Weet nie so mooi nie. Dinge is half deurmekaar op die oomblik. Jy wen die top span net om die volgende week geklap te word deur ‘n baie swakker span. Vir so ‘n opwindende maand van sport resepteer ek eintlik geweldig min kalmeermiddels en anti-depressante. Dalk doen die vloeistof-apteek beter met sy Vintage! Solank iemand of iets net die pyn verdoof en die volk se senuwees rustig hou is ek dankbaar.
What’s in a name?
And so now it will be Durban and Cape Town’s turn to have name changes forced down their throats. Some of the street names in Cape Town have been in use for hundreds of years. Even the resident ghosts will now get lost. In Durban they want to honor people who actually killed loads of people during the struggle! I can imagine how it will feel to drive down xxxx street knowing that Mr xxxx killed your father. Talk about a one way street – out of there I suppose.
Terwyl ons by die naam kwessie stilstaan, net so vinnige kwinkslag:
Bykans elke dorp of stad en stat het mos nou al ‘n Mandelarylaan. Hulle reken as jy die Man uithaal is dit nog maar steeds net Delarylaan.
Aangesien ek nie meer my nuusbrief op die internet gaan publiseer nie, kan ek nou baie makliker in Afrikaans ook kommunikeer. Die nuusbrief op die internet word nou vervang met ‘n Weblog op ‘n nuwe webruimte. Sien later vir meer besonderhede.
Selfs jy, die leser, kan binnekort jou eie webruimte besit – deur my ruimte. GRATIS.
Lees voort. Dis die waarheid. En jy kan hom bedryf in suiwer Afrikaans. GRATIS.
Keeping you healthy
What is Syndrome X?
The term “Syndrome X” refers to a collection of metabolic abnormalities that put patients at greater risk of stroke and coronary artery disease. The condition is characterised by elevated levels of cholesterol as well as triglycerides, higher incidence of obesity and insulin resistance.
Insulin is the hormone excreted by the Pancreas in reaction to the elevated presence of carbohydrate (sugar) in the circulation following the intake of food. The purpose of the hormone is to facilitate the transport of sugars (in its elementary form as Glucose) from the blood, to where it is needed for the processes that will create energy and sustain life. These sites are the cells of the muscles, the brain, organs, etc. When a person becomes Insulin Resistant, it means that the body is not as receptive to the effect of Insulin and as a result, more and more Insulin is excreted in order to reduce the amount of glucose in the blood. It becomes a vicious circle and ultimately Adult Onset Diabetes Mellitus results.
It's estimated that about 8 million adults in the South Africa have Syndrome X, which is often overlooked by doctors. A non-pharmacologic treatment for these patients is sometimes needed, since certain drugs prescribed to lower blood pressure have occasionally been shown to actually worsen carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in Syndrome X patients, negating the beneficial effects of those drugs.
Working off weight helps
Overweight people with Syndrome X who exercised and lost weight had a 47 percent reduction in insulin overproduction, a condition called hyper-insulinaemia.
Patients who exercised but didn't lose weight had a 27 percent reduction.
The patients who achieved the greatest weight loss showed the most significant improvements in abnormal insulin responses.
In the last five years there has been an increased appreciation that hyper-insulinaemia is an independent risk factor for mortality, and that it can even be seen as a marker or mechanism underlying this increased risk.
Studies highlight the importance of lifestyle modifications such as exercise and weight loss, which have no adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and do not interact with any drugs.
Why wait? To have us check your BP and Total Cholesterol and Blood Sugar will cost about the same as a bottle of Vintage. No, not the Rubicon Sir, I mean only about R60! In fact, it is the same price as a medium sized sympathy card. Get the drift?
Die Psige van Gewig Beheer
Hoë bloeddruk, beroerte, hartsiektes en diabetes. Die meeste mense wat oorgewig is, is inderwaarheid terdeë bewus van hierdie gesondheidsrisiko's en -gevare wat met oorgewig gepaardgaan. Hulle weet ook presies wat die regte dinge is om te doen om gewig te verloor.
Gewigsverliesprogramme en diëte sou eenvoudige en suksesvolle oplossings gewees het indien oorgewig slegs 'n kwessie van te veel eet was. Maar hoekom sukkel so baie mense om gewig te verloor?
Sielkundige faktore speel 'n belangrike rolDaar is geweldig baie mense wat nie al die al die faktore wat tot oorgewig lei ondersoek nie. Almal weet dat ongesonde eetpatrone en 'n onaktiewe leefstyl beslis oorsake is, maar baie mense ignoreer die belangrike rol wat sielkundige faktore kan speel.
Baie mense eet te veel in 'n poging om spanning, stres of 'n emosie beter te hanteer. Ons kan byvoorbeeld probeer om stres te elimineer deur oormatig te eet. Ons etery help ons nie om stres doeltreffender te hanteer nie, maar dit bied diep gegronde vertroosting. Ongelukkig is dit 'n duur prys om te betaal. Dié vorm van stresverligting lei dikwels tot skuldgevoelens. Só ontwikkel dan 'n bose kringloop van spanning, eet, skuldgevoelens, meer spanning en nog meer eet.
Om gewig te verloor en die laer gewig permanent te handhaaf, is besonder moeilik omdat mense geprogrammeer is om vir oorlewing te eet. Eet verskaf kitsbevrediging, terwyl gewigsverlies 'n lang en stadige proses is.
Moenie uitstel nie. Ons is nie sielkundiges nie maar ons kan jou vet persentasie en jou Body Mass Index bepaal en sinvol oor ‘n gesonde dieet en paslike program gesels. Gesondheid is belangriker as skaamheid. Reg?
So what is the story with this free website?
If you are not into the cyber-stuff, then please skip this entire section and move on to the bottom of the last page where you will find some good and necessary merchandise at amazing prices. Please support this campaign. (Only on the hardcopy version. - ed)
But if you are by now ever so slightly intrigued and want to know more, let me elaborate some.
It is not always possible to offer people something for free, so this is truly exciting!
A lot of people would (secretly) love to have their own website. Somewhere where they can fiddle and publish, tweak and create, change and republish, and in general, be creative. Become a writer! Isn’t it true?
Up to now that was either too expensive, or you needed to be a nuclear scientist to understand or operate it.
Own and operate your own personalized website!Now we have the ability to own a website with amazing features and to operate it is so easy. Even I can do it.
What can you do with this site? Firstly, you can invite people to become members, and then you can start a forum on your favorite topic or sport or passion or hobby and keep an active discussion going with your members. Alternatively, use it as a medium to discuss matters with family – like email but without ever receiving the uninvited offers to enlarge certain body parts!
Secondly, start a blog (web log) or diary. This is where you post your thoughts and invoke conversation. Invite your members to become authors, let them publish their own stories on your blog, then invite comment from whoever else reads it and ultimately it becomes a whole community, sharing ideas and eventually it grows into an active piece of reference where everybody can gain and share information and advice.
Thirdly, create your own electronic photo album. Here, everybody can share their favorite moments with the group. Ideal for loved ones overseas or that long lost cousin twice removed living in the Outback. Share in his admiration for overweight retired Australian Spin Bowlers.
A picture says a thousand words remember?
As well as; own your own little shop on the internet!
“Wife’s been making those cute little pillows for years” and by now every family member and most neighbors have enough of them lying around? Your home is saturated with ‘em? Heish, take leetle peecture, post it to your Pillow Shop on your website, and if your website is active enough with your blog and your diary and your photo album all going like crazy, you might just discover that there is a huge market out there for those cute little things she’s b’n makin’!
People might want them and they will buy it from you. Quite possibly. There are, in true fact, people out there, selling a variety of goodies in enormous volumes; just by doing the right things on their websites. And I will show you. And you will be grateful. And you will thank me. And I will be happy.
Any more details and I will scare everybody away. Interested? Please contact me. I will explain. The system will be up and running within the month of May. This is a truly remarkable opportunity. And it is GRATIS! Free!
Your web address will be something like: www.johnbrown.peecee.net or www.pillows&things.peecee.net or www.flyfishing.peecee.net or www.golfrules.peecee.net etc.
Let your imagination take you places! Set it free.
Gratis Web ruimte
Soos ek vroeër reeds genoem het, jy kan selfs kies om jou web ruimte in Afrikaans te doen. Alhoewel die internet terme meestal in Engels is, kan jy verkies dat die medium vir kommunikasie Afrikaans is en bly.
Hierdie is ‘n semi affiliasie sisteem wat beteken daar is skakels op jou ruimte wat die leser neem na ‘n ander kommersieële web ruimte waar hy of sy dan items kan aankoop, totaal onverwant aan die tema van jou web ruimte. Die kersie op die koek is egter dat jy, deur niks te doen nie, affiliasie fooie (of kommissie) verdien van omtrent 16% op enige iets wat die koper aanskaf, direk vanaf die ander web ruimte. Jy weet nie eers van die transaksie nie. Niemand gaan ryk word uit so stelsel nie maar elke sent verdien sonder om iets te doen daarvoor is ‘n absolute bargain! EN jy kry jou web blad gratis as gevolg daarvan.
Die hele stelsel word deur jouself gemoniteer en beheer. Soos hierbo genoem; hoe besiger jou web ruimte, hoe meer besoeke is daar, hoe groter is die kans om iets te verkoop in jou eie aanlyn winkel of om affiliasie fooie te verdien deur ander ruimtes se verkope. Klink te goed om waar te wees?
Kom traai my! Ek wag.
Na amper tien jaar het die nuusbrief nou uiteindelik verander. Die hele formaat is anders, en al het ek hoe lank geskop teen die kommersieële aanwending van die nuusbrief, het ons nou finaal besluit om op ‘n beperkte basis wel bemarking te gebruik om te help dra aan die koste van die publikasie.
Yes the new format newsletter will have on the last page, a few selected commercials, which will help to carry the cost of the production. The letter will also be four half pages which translates to double the size of the old format.
Hierdie advertensies sal altyd aan die leser die voordeel van ‘n besparing op ‘n aktuele produk bied sowel as die doel dien dat die firma(s) betrokke, sal bydra tot die koste van die brief.
That out of the way, it is time to get to the business of doing newsletters. While writing this, Sri Lanka is trying to outflank New Zeeland and get a decent score on a nice batting track. Only time will tell. I think the relevance of today’s match will only hit us after (I refuse to phrase it as “if”) we have won the Hopping Kangaroos tomorrow. By the time you read this we will know who has won the final! If the post office is any slower we might even know who won the Super 14 final!
We sure saw a couple of very good matches during this cricket world cup. It will also be remembered not only for the Woolmer-case but also for the three coaches (so far) that made their exit due to poor performance. The money game knows no mercy! “Win or cheers”. It was a case of going from hero to zero in one tournament for some of them.
Wat die rugby aan betref, mmmhhh. Weet nie so mooi nie. Dinge is half deurmekaar op die oomblik. Jy wen die top span net om die volgende week geklap te word deur ‘n baie swakker span. Vir so ‘n opwindende maand van sport resepteer ek eintlik geweldig min kalmeermiddels en anti-depressante. Dalk doen die vloeistof-apteek beter met sy Vintage! Solank iemand of iets net die pyn verdoof en die volk se senuwees rustig hou is ek dankbaar.
What’s in a name?
And so now it will be Durban and Cape Town’s turn to have name changes forced down their throats. Some of the street names in Cape Town have been in use for hundreds of years. Even the resident ghosts will now get lost. In Durban they want to honor people who actually killed loads of people during the struggle! I can imagine how it will feel to drive down xxxx street knowing that Mr xxxx killed your father. Talk about a one way street – out of there I suppose.
Terwyl ons by die naam kwessie stilstaan, net so vinnige kwinkslag:
Bykans elke dorp of stad en stat het mos nou al ‘n Mandelarylaan. Hulle reken as jy die Man uithaal is dit nog maar steeds net Delarylaan.
Aangesien ek nie meer my nuusbrief op die internet gaan publiseer nie, kan ek nou baie makliker in Afrikaans ook kommunikeer. Die nuusbrief op die internet word nou vervang met ‘n Weblog op ‘n nuwe webruimte. Sien later vir meer besonderhede.
Selfs jy, die leser, kan binnekort jou eie webruimte besit – deur my ruimte. GRATIS.
Lees voort. Dis die waarheid. En jy kan hom bedryf in suiwer Afrikaans. GRATIS.
Keeping you healthy
What is Syndrome X?
The term “Syndrome X” refers to a collection of metabolic abnormalities that put patients at greater risk of stroke and coronary artery disease. The condition is characterised by elevated levels of cholesterol as well as triglycerides, higher incidence of obesity and insulin resistance.
Insulin is the hormone excreted by the Pancreas in reaction to the elevated presence of carbohydrate (sugar) in the circulation following the intake of food. The purpose of the hormone is to facilitate the transport of sugars (in its elementary form as Glucose) from the blood, to where it is needed for the processes that will create energy and sustain life. These sites are the cells of the muscles, the brain, organs, etc. When a person becomes Insulin Resistant, it means that the body is not as receptive to the effect of Insulin and as a result, more and more Insulin is excreted in order to reduce the amount of glucose in the blood. It becomes a vicious circle and ultimately Adult Onset Diabetes Mellitus results.
It's estimated that about 8 million adults in the South Africa have Syndrome X, which is often overlooked by doctors. A non-pharmacologic treatment for these patients is sometimes needed, since certain drugs prescribed to lower blood pressure have occasionally been shown to actually worsen carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in Syndrome X patients, negating the beneficial effects of those drugs.
Working off weight helps
Overweight people with Syndrome X who exercised and lost weight had a 47 percent reduction in insulin overproduction, a condition called hyper-insulinaemia.
Patients who exercised but didn't lose weight had a 27 percent reduction.
The patients who achieved the greatest weight loss showed the most significant improvements in abnormal insulin responses.
In the last five years there has been an increased appreciation that hyper-insulinaemia is an independent risk factor for mortality, and that it can even be seen as a marker or mechanism underlying this increased risk.
Studies highlight the importance of lifestyle modifications such as exercise and weight loss, which have no adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and do not interact with any drugs.
Why wait? To have us check your BP and Total Cholesterol and Blood Sugar will cost about the same as a bottle of Vintage. No, not the Rubicon Sir, I mean only about R60! In fact, it is the same price as a medium sized sympathy card. Get the drift?
Die Psige van Gewig Beheer
Hoë bloeddruk, beroerte, hartsiektes en diabetes. Die meeste mense wat oorgewig is, is inderwaarheid terdeë bewus van hierdie gesondheidsrisiko's en -gevare wat met oorgewig gepaardgaan. Hulle weet ook presies wat die regte dinge is om te doen om gewig te verloor.
Gewigsverliesprogramme en diëte sou eenvoudige en suksesvolle oplossings gewees het indien oorgewig slegs 'n kwessie van te veel eet was. Maar hoekom sukkel so baie mense om gewig te verloor?
Sielkundige faktore speel 'n belangrike rolDaar is geweldig baie mense wat nie al die al die faktore wat tot oorgewig lei ondersoek nie. Almal weet dat ongesonde eetpatrone en 'n onaktiewe leefstyl beslis oorsake is, maar baie mense ignoreer die belangrike rol wat sielkundige faktore kan speel.
Baie mense eet te veel in 'n poging om spanning, stres of 'n emosie beter te hanteer. Ons kan byvoorbeeld probeer om stres te elimineer deur oormatig te eet. Ons etery help ons nie om stres doeltreffender te hanteer nie, maar dit bied diep gegronde vertroosting. Ongelukkig is dit 'n duur prys om te betaal. Dié vorm van stresverligting lei dikwels tot skuldgevoelens. Só ontwikkel dan 'n bose kringloop van spanning, eet, skuldgevoelens, meer spanning en nog meer eet.
Om gewig te verloor en die laer gewig permanent te handhaaf, is besonder moeilik omdat mense geprogrammeer is om vir oorlewing te eet. Eet verskaf kitsbevrediging, terwyl gewigsverlies 'n lang en stadige proses is.
Moenie uitstel nie. Ons is nie sielkundiges nie maar ons kan jou vet persentasie en jou Body Mass Index bepaal en sinvol oor ‘n gesonde dieet en paslike program gesels. Gesondheid is belangriker as skaamheid. Reg?
So what is the story with this free website?
If you are not into the cyber-stuff, then please skip this entire section and move on to the bottom of the last page where you will find some good and necessary merchandise at amazing prices. Please support this campaign. (Only on the hardcopy version. - ed)
But if you are by now ever so slightly intrigued and want to know more, let me elaborate some.
It is not always possible to offer people something for free, so this is truly exciting!
A lot of people would (secretly) love to have their own website. Somewhere where they can fiddle and publish, tweak and create, change and republish, and in general, be creative. Become a writer! Isn’t it true?
Up to now that was either too expensive, or you needed to be a nuclear scientist to understand or operate it.
Own and operate your own personalized website!Now we have the ability to own a website with amazing features and to operate it is so easy. Even I can do it.
What can you do with this site? Firstly, you can invite people to become members, and then you can start a forum on your favorite topic or sport or passion or hobby and keep an active discussion going with your members. Alternatively, use it as a medium to discuss matters with family – like email but without ever receiving the uninvited offers to enlarge certain body parts!
Secondly, start a blog (web log) or diary. This is where you post your thoughts and invoke conversation. Invite your members to become authors, let them publish their own stories on your blog, then invite comment from whoever else reads it and ultimately it becomes a whole community, sharing ideas and eventually it grows into an active piece of reference where everybody can gain and share information and advice.
Thirdly, create your own electronic photo album. Here, everybody can share their favorite moments with the group. Ideal for loved ones overseas or that long lost cousin twice removed living in the Outback. Share in his admiration for overweight retired Australian Spin Bowlers.
A picture says a thousand words remember?
As well as; own your own little shop on the internet!
“Wife’s been making those cute little pillows for years” and by now every family member and most neighbors have enough of them lying around? Your home is saturated with ‘em? Heish, take leetle peecture, post it to your Pillow Shop on your website, and if your website is active enough with your blog and your diary and your photo album all going like crazy, you might just discover that there is a huge market out there for those cute little things she’s b’n makin’!
People might want them and they will buy it from you. Quite possibly. There are, in true fact, people out there, selling a variety of goodies in enormous volumes; just by doing the right things on their websites. And I will show you. And you will be grateful. And you will thank me. And I will be happy.
Any more details and I will scare everybody away. Interested? Please contact me. I will explain. The system will be up and running within the month of May. This is a truly remarkable opportunity. And it is GRATIS! Free!
Your web address will be something like: www.johnbrown.peecee.net or www.pillows&things.peecee.net or www.flyfishing.peecee.net or www.golfrules.peecee.net etc.
Let your imagination take you places! Set it free.
Gratis Web ruimte
Soos ek vroeër reeds genoem het, jy kan selfs kies om jou web ruimte in Afrikaans te doen. Alhoewel die internet terme meestal in Engels is, kan jy verkies dat die medium vir kommunikasie Afrikaans is en bly.
Hierdie is ‘n semi affiliasie sisteem wat beteken daar is skakels op jou ruimte wat die leser neem na ‘n ander kommersieële web ruimte waar hy of sy dan items kan aankoop, totaal onverwant aan die tema van jou web ruimte. Die kersie op die koek is egter dat jy, deur niks te doen nie, affiliasie fooie (of kommissie) verdien van omtrent 16% op enige iets wat die koper aanskaf, direk vanaf die ander web ruimte. Jy weet nie eers van die transaksie nie. Niemand gaan ryk word uit so stelsel nie maar elke sent verdien sonder om iets te doen daarvoor is ‘n absolute bargain! EN jy kry jou web blad gratis as gevolg daarvan.
Die hele stelsel word deur jouself gemoniteer en beheer. Soos hierbo genoem; hoe besiger jou web ruimte, hoe meer besoeke is daar, hoe groter is die kans om iets te verkoop in jou eie aanlyn winkel of om affiliasie fooie te verdien deur ander ruimtes se verkope. Klink te goed om waar te wees?
Kom traai my! Ek wag.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Newsletter March 2007
Life is a Bicycle Ride
But before we click into the pedals, allow me to express my sincere shock at recent events like the tidal conditions that ravaged our coastline, and to everybody that suffered some sort of loss due to that, my condolences.
I am obviously as shocked as anybody else about the whole Woolmer issue and the implications thereof for professional sport. The world has gone money-crazy. Or just plain crazy! Period.
Then it is with palpable amazement that we saw Shaun Pollock went for 8 runs per over against our friends from down under. And the Sharks – “oh my goodness Doll, what went wông”?
As they say in the classics, ‘Winning isn’t everything. It is the only bloody thing’.
Which brings me to the topic; Life is a Bicycle Ride. “Huhh?”
Firstly, some (boring) background facts, necessary to create the analogy between a bicycle race and the true essence of life, life itself. It is also necessary to inform the reader of some of the more subtle nuances of the sport which will become evident when the comparison is made.
What is the purpose of competitive cycling? To win of cause. Yeah, I hear you say, when someone like myself competes in a big cycle race, who will I be winning? I will be winning thousands of other recreational but competitive cyclists and in turn will be beaten by thousands other and better cyclists. I will be racing against my own watch. To better our time, to better our position, to better our national seeding; those are the things that drive us.
How do you do this? You use other people. Yes, just like that. And you do not even have to ask permission. As one of the famous Sporting Equipment companies says; ‘Just do it’.
How? You ride with a fast group and you make use of the collective slipstream of say thirty or more fast moving cyclists. It more or less sucks you in and drags you along. It is called ‘Drafting’. This way you can conserve enough energy to see you through a tough race. All you need to do is be alert, (crashes, sometimes major, do happen), and try not to be dropped from this group (called a Peleton) on the hills. If you can stick with a fast group, suffer on the hills and sit tight in the flat and downhill areas, you can achieve excellent times. But as I said, be alert. You can also lose contact with the peleton if you are only watching the one or two persons immediately in front of you because they can in fact be losing ground and if you are not awake, you might suddenly find yourself in a little slower group of three cyclists with a awful gap of fifty meters to the main group. To catch them without the effect of drafting takes a tremendous effort.
Now that you have some of the background, the following sequence of events will make a bit more sense.
During the very recent Cape Argus Cycle Tour in Cape Town, the very same type of scenario happened to me and after the immense pain it caused me; I made the comparison mentioned earlier.
After the normal hectic start, the first climb out of the CBD caused the muscles to burn prematurely as everybody in the starting group jostled for a comfortable position in the peleton. From the top of the hill, going down into (aptly named) Hospital Bend, we passed a huge pile-up of tangled bicycles and cyclists lying on the road surface. Ambulances, choppers, emergency vehicles, officials screaming, marshals directing us through the carnage of more than twenty cyclists that crashed. Off we were over the next hill, but everybody subconsciously slowed down just a tad due to a certain sense of apprehension. This passed within five minutes and we were screaming through Muizenberg, Vishoek, and on to Smitswinkel, the first real tester of a hill. By now we were all more or less tucked into positions picked with great care.
Now, Freddy Mercury (late) from the band Queen (former) wrote two very apt songs, namely ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ and ‘Bicycle Race’. So, I was positioned behind one of those girls in one of his races. Behind her for no reason other than the slightly wider slip stream she offered. She, lets call her Big Mama, in turn, was directly behind a very skinny fellow with big calf muscles and a very fancy and expensive bicycle. I suppose she thought that he will slice through the air? Who knows.
I got real comfortable just sitting there, getting pulled along and looking at nothing but the rear wheel of Big Mama’s bicycle. By now we have topped the hill and were heading into a slight headwind going towards Kommetjie on a long flat(ish) stretch. That is where it happened. I looked up, jerked out of my trance by the lack of noise so reminiscent of a huge peleton going at speed. It must have been a couple of minutes before I realised that something was amiss. Skinny lost contact with the peleton. We were now three solitary cyclists fifty meters behind the main group, and rapidly losing more ground. Sore Legs Naudé, Big Mama, and Skinny. I pulled out of Mama’s slipstream and rolled up to Skinny. “You lost them” I panted. (“You incompetent little Twit” I wanted to say.) “Help me catch them”. “Please” And I put the hammer down and started the worst fifteen minutes of the entire race. After only about two minutes I glanced back and they were not on my wheel! They were ten meters behind. “Come please” I begged, hoping that we can alternate the front position to maintain speed and conserve energy. Not today though. Mama is trying her best but without the peleton, she is just not able to keep up. Skinny, my friend Skinny, has discovered a new comfort zone behind Mama’s slightly enlarged frame. He is now drafting and nothing is going to pry him out of that spot. He is floating on air, getting propelled by the wind breaking abilities of someone not even closely on the same level of fitness that he is. But it is nice.
And that, is the story of life itself.
Let’s be honest, we all want to succeed in life, beat the Jones’s, better our ‘Life Seeding’, excel, win. Early in life you realise that you probably cannot do it all by yourself. You need people. You need partners. Team members. A peleton. All you have to do is make use of their collective momentum, expertise, knowledge, conserve your assets, and if it lasts and you can remain prominent in this society, you will have enough energy and abilities and the necessary means to make a final dash for the winning line and take the honours.
But you always get the like of Skinny and Mama. She tried but was not equipped. He lost contact with his group, labelled himself as a failure and immediately went into a new comfort zone. You get them in life and no amount of begging can get them to help you. They are what today’s youngsters refer to as losers. Learn from this analogue; If they are not contributing to your race through life and, most importantly, if they do not want your help, better leave them behind. They will always find a Big Mama to comfort them and lead them. They will also eventually reach the same finish line, albeit somewhat later. That is inevitable in life. As they say, ‘Life is a Terminal Disease – nobody gets out alive’. Some just ends better than others, but then again, some are happy to have a lower life-speed-seeding than others. The beauty lies in the fact that we are all so different yet we are all riding in the same Bicycle Race called LIFE. Make the most of it, make use of the collective drafting of your family, friends, colleagues, and when you finally make your sprint with energy conserved with their help, remember to thank them in your heart when you take the honours.
What happened with the rest of the race? I left the two of them behind, burnt up unnecessary energy and fuel to try and catch the peleton, and after fifteen minutes of pain could not get closer than an agonising twenty meters. I had to slow down and wait for the next big group from behind to preserve whatever energy I had left. They arrived soon after that and I managed to finish in that group in a respectable time. At the end, I lost almost twenty minutes to the initial group. And Skinny? I saw him finish by sheer luck (there are thousands of cyclists) – he was just ten minutes behind me. Without Mama. What happened to her I do not know. I hope she finished well because she tried so hard.
Last lesson? If you get thumped on the nose and you cannot keep up with your peers, make the necessary adjustments, reorganize, work hard and you will win old Skinny. If only just. And remember, comfort zones are never permanent. Greetings from the saddle,
Pieter & Renette Naudé.
But before we click into the pedals, allow me to express my sincere shock at recent events like the tidal conditions that ravaged our coastline, and to everybody that suffered some sort of loss due to that, my condolences.
I am obviously as shocked as anybody else about the whole Woolmer issue and the implications thereof for professional sport. The world has gone money-crazy. Or just plain crazy! Period.
Then it is with palpable amazement that we saw Shaun Pollock went for 8 runs per over against our friends from down under. And the Sharks – “oh my goodness Doll, what went wông”?
As they say in the classics, ‘Winning isn’t everything. It is the only bloody thing’.
Which brings me to the topic; Life is a Bicycle Ride. “Huhh?”
Firstly, some (boring) background facts, necessary to create the analogy between a bicycle race and the true essence of life, life itself. It is also necessary to inform the reader of some of the more subtle nuances of the sport which will become evident when the comparison is made.
What is the purpose of competitive cycling? To win of cause. Yeah, I hear you say, when someone like myself competes in a big cycle race, who will I be winning? I will be winning thousands of other recreational but competitive cyclists and in turn will be beaten by thousands other and better cyclists. I will be racing against my own watch. To better our time, to better our position, to better our national seeding; those are the things that drive us.
How do you do this? You use other people. Yes, just like that. And you do not even have to ask permission. As one of the famous Sporting Equipment companies says; ‘Just do it’.
How? You ride with a fast group and you make use of the collective slipstream of say thirty or more fast moving cyclists. It more or less sucks you in and drags you along. It is called ‘Drafting’. This way you can conserve enough energy to see you through a tough race. All you need to do is be alert, (crashes, sometimes major, do happen), and try not to be dropped from this group (called a Peleton) on the hills. If you can stick with a fast group, suffer on the hills and sit tight in the flat and downhill areas, you can achieve excellent times. But as I said, be alert. You can also lose contact with the peleton if you are only watching the one or two persons immediately in front of you because they can in fact be losing ground and if you are not awake, you might suddenly find yourself in a little slower group of three cyclists with a awful gap of fifty meters to the main group. To catch them without the effect of drafting takes a tremendous effort.
Now that you have some of the background, the following sequence of events will make a bit more sense.
During the very recent Cape Argus Cycle Tour in Cape Town, the very same type of scenario happened to me and after the immense pain it caused me; I made the comparison mentioned earlier.
After the normal hectic start, the first climb out of the CBD caused the muscles to burn prematurely as everybody in the starting group jostled for a comfortable position in the peleton. From the top of the hill, going down into (aptly named) Hospital Bend, we passed a huge pile-up of tangled bicycles and cyclists lying on the road surface. Ambulances, choppers, emergency vehicles, officials screaming, marshals directing us through the carnage of more than twenty cyclists that crashed. Off we were over the next hill, but everybody subconsciously slowed down just a tad due to a certain sense of apprehension. This passed within five minutes and we were screaming through Muizenberg, Vishoek, and on to Smitswinkel, the first real tester of a hill. By now we were all more or less tucked into positions picked with great care.
Now, Freddy Mercury (late) from the band Queen (former) wrote two very apt songs, namely ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ and ‘Bicycle Race’. So, I was positioned behind one of those girls in one of his races. Behind her for no reason other than the slightly wider slip stream she offered. She, lets call her Big Mama, in turn, was directly behind a very skinny fellow with big calf muscles and a very fancy and expensive bicycle. I suppose she thought that he will slice through the air? Who knows.
I got real comfortable just sitting there, getting pulled along and looking at nothing but the rear wheel of Big Mama’s bicycle. By now we have topped the hill and were heading into a slight headwind going towards Kommetjie on a long flat(ish) stretch. That is where it happened. I looked up, jerked out of my trance by the lack of noise so reminiscent of a huge peleton going at speed. It must have been a couple of minutes before I realised that something was amiss. Skinny lost contact with the peleton. We were now three solitary cyclists fifty meters behind the main group, and rapidly losing more ground. Sore Legs Naudé, Big Mama, and Skinny. I pulled out of Mama’s slipstream and rolled up to Skinny. “You lost them” I panted. (“You incompetent little Twit” I wanted to say.) “Help me catch them”. “Please” And I put the hammer down and started the worst fifteen minutes of the entire race. After only about two minutes I glanced back and they were not on my wheel! They were ten meters behind. “Come please” I begged, hoping that we can alternate the front position to maintain speed and conserve energy. Not today though. Mama is trying her best but without the peleton, she is just not able to keep up. Skinny, my friend Skinny, has discovered a new comfort zone behind Mama’s slightly enlarged frame. He is now drafting and nothing is going to pry him out of that spot. He is floating on air, getting propelled by the wind breaking abilities of someone not even closely on the same level of fitness that he is. But it is nice.
And that, is the story of life itself.
Let’s be honest, we all want to succeed in life, beat the Jones’s, better our ‘Life Seeding’, excel, win. Early in life you realise that you probably cannot do it all by yourself. You need people. You need partners. Team members. A peleton. All you have to do is make use of their collective momentum, expertise, knowledge, conserve your assets, and if it lasts and you can remain prominent in this society, you will have enough energy and abilities and the necessary means to make a final dash for the winning line and take the honours.
But you always get the like of Skinny and Mama. She tried but was not equipped. He lost contact with his group, labelled himself as a failure and immediately went into a new comfort zone. You get them in life and no amount of begging can get them to help you. They are what today’s youngsters refer to as losers. Learn from this analogue; If they are not contributing to your race through life and, most importantly, if they do not want your help, better leave them behind. They will always find a Big Mama to comfort them and lead them. They will also eventually reach the same finish line, albeit somewhat later. That is inevitable in life. As they say, ‘Life is a Terminal Disease – nobody gets out alive’. Some just ends better than others, but then again, some are happy to have a lower life-speed-seeding than others. The beauty lies in the fact that we are all so different yet we are all riding in the same Bicycle Race called LIFE. Make the most of it, make use of the collective drafting of your family, friends, colleagues, and when you finally make your sprint with energy conserved with their help, remember to thank them in your heart when you take the honours.
What happened with the rest of the race? I left the two of them behind, burnt up unnecessary energy and fuel to try and catch the peleton, and after fifteen minutes of pain could not get closer than an agonising twenty meters. I had to slow down and wait for the next big group from behind to preserve whatever energy I had left. They arrived soon after that and I managed to finish in that group in a respectable time. At the end, I lost almost twenty minutes to the initial group. And Skinny? I saw him finish by sheer luck (there are thousands of cyclists) – he was just ten minutes behind me. Without Mama. What happened to her I do not know. I hope she finished well because she tried so hard.
Last lesson? If you get thumped on the nose and you cannot keep up with your peers, make the necessary adjustments, reorganize, work hard and you will win old Skinny. If only just. And remember, comfort zones are never permanent. Greetings from the saddle,
Pieter & Renette Naudé.
Newsletter February 2007
Not a Heat Wave.
This was according to the SA Weather Bureau on the 7th of February. They also “promised” cooler weather. They also could not foresee any real danger to the Mozambican coastline due to the summer cyclone season.
I’m beginning to trust them as much as the Department of Health.
“Did I say that your Honour?”
Question: If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?
OK. Yes it has been slightly warmer than expected. And why would three air conditioners decide to pack up in a relative short period of time, right in the middle of a supposedly non existing heat wave? I do not know the answer to these and other questions but what I do know is that this type of excessive heat combined with the high humidity experienced lately, is quite dangerous. Yes, not only is there a high discomfort index involved, there is actually a high risk index as well.
Apart from running out of beer halfway through the next Sharks game, there is a very real threat of Dehydration, Heat injury, Heat fatigue, and with those, the very dangerous possibility of Over-Hydration due to the wrong advice and subsequent incorrect ways to treat or prevent Heat related conditions.
So in the midst of this slight heat ripple (ala SA Weather), let me elaborate a bit on the body’s ways to handle or sometimes not handle such heat.
Core Temperature:
The body's dominant forms of heat loss in a hot environment are radiation and evaporation. However, when air temperature exceeds 35°C, radiation of heat from the body ceases and evaporation becomes the only means of heat loss. Evaporation is maximally efficient in a dry environment. If humidity reaches 100%, evaporation of sweat is no longer possible and the body loses its ability to dissipate heat. Now, to cool down, it becomes dependant on electric aids like fans and air conditioners, or riding on the back of a very fast and very tough Ford Bantam, or cycling downhill all day. If these are not available, your core temperature will gradually increase, dependant on the level of activity, until it reaches dangerous levels.
If one tries to keep your level of activity as low as possible, seek out cooler areas, and rehydrate correctly, the core temperature will not readily go to dangerous levels.
Dehydration:
Sweating is the way in which the body maintains its core temperature at 37 degrees centigrade. This also results in the loss of body fluid and electrolytes (minerals such as chloride, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium) and if unchecked will lead to dehydration and eventually circulatory collapse and heat stroke. The progressive effect of fluid and electrolyte loss on the body is as follows:
% body weight lost as sweat & the physiological effect:
2% - Impaired performance
4% - Capacity for muscular work declines
5% - Heat exhaustion
7% - Hallucinations
10% - Circulatory collapse and heat stroke
Electrolytes serve three general functions in the body: Many are essential minerals, they control movement of water between body compartments, and they help maintain the acid-base balance required for normal cellular activities. A liter of sweat typically contains 0.02g Calcium, 0.05g Magnesium, 1.15g Sodium, 0.23g Potassium and 1.48g Chloride. This composition will vary from person to person.
Elderly persons are at increased risk for heat-related problems because of underlying illness, medication use, declining adaptive thermoregulatory mechanisms, poor access to air-conditioning. Neonates have an increased risk of heat-related illness because of poorly developed thermoregulatory mechanisms and inability to make behavioural adjustments.
Chemical items that may affect the ability to regulate temperature are amongst others; Beta-blockers, Certain cold & flu medications, Diuretics, Ethanol, Antihistamines, Certain older antidepressants, Aspirin (regular use), etc.
Rehydration is the replenishment of water and electrolytes lost through dehydration. It can be performed by oral rehydration therapy (drinking an electrolyte solution) or by intravenous therapy (adding fluid and electrolytes directly into the blood stream).
As oral rehydration is less painful, less invasive, less expensive, and easier to provide, it is the treatment of choice for mild dehydration. Because severe dehydration can rapidly cause permanent injury or even death, intravenous rehydration is the ultimate treatment of choice for that condition.
Drinking plain water causes bloating, suppresses thirst and could lead to over hydration. It is a poor choice where high fluid intake is required. Water contains no carbohydrates or electrolytes.
Concerns about the potential risks of Over-hydration and consequential hyponatraemia (low blood sodium levels) for endurance athletes have been raised in several quarters following the death of a female runner during the 2002 Boston marathon.
The athlete, who died of hyponatraemic encephalopathy (swelling of the brain caused by severely reduced blood sodium), had reportedly ingested excessive amounts of fluids before, and during the race.
Hyponatraemia results from an abnormally low concentration of sodium in blood plasma. A sustained decrease in plasma sodium concentration disrupts the osmotic balance across the blood-brain barrier, leading to a rapid influx of water into the brain. This, in turn, leads to swelling of the brain, which can progress to confusion, seizure, coma and even death.
Various factors can lead to a fall in sodium concentration, including loss of sodium in sweat and decreased sodium intake. But the rapid intake of large quantities of fluids, which effectively dilutes the blood, appears to be the major cause of dangerous reductions.
Now that I have your attention, what am I trying to say? Only that when nature turns tough, our frailty becomes very evident. Temperature goes up, humidity goes way up, lawn needs a trim, out you go with your old army-issue green metal water bottle strapped to your locally made leather belt, filled with the goodness of H2O. Under the fig tree, there is the regulation Coleman cooler, filled with more water and lots of ice.
For two hours you toil away, all the time feeling thirsty and sweating like the proverbial Hog. Dizziness starts to bother you every time you take the sharp left turn around the bed of Malva parviflora,, nothing much, must be the new beta blocker you started last week. At the next turn, you will allow yourself ten minutes and enjoy a cold beer or two.
One hour later, the headache hits you. Extreme thirst! Drink more water. Take two, no, take three aspirins for the bloody headache!
You are in trouble. You went from high core temperature to hyponatraemia via dehydration and because of the wrong rehydration.
Making no sense?
In brief, and in conclusion:
Nothing wrong with mowing the lawn. Wrong time of the year / day though.
Nothing wrong with alcoholic refreshments. But not when you are already severely dehydrated.
Nothing wrong with drinking water. But it has NO ELECTROLYTES!
Drink the right stuff! Rehydrate with either a good sports drink, or even some rehydration preparations sold as conjunctive treatment for severe gastro-enteritis. Or contact me for a cheap homemade emergency recipe.
Most importantly, know your body and how much heat it can handle; know how much your body loses through perspiration.
We have less than a month for this heat to make way for the wonderful autumn weather we know so well and can only dream of at this moment.
Enough of the clammy stuff. Greetings from the pool,
Pieter & Renette Naudé Will be in Cape Town for the middle two weeks of March. Hopefully cooler down there! Keep healthy and hydrated! See soon.
This was according to the SA Weather Bureau on the 7th of February. They also “promised” cooler weather. They also could not foresee any real danger to the Mozambican coastline due to the summer cyclone season.
I’m beginning to trust them as much as the Department of Health.
“Did I say that your Honour?”
Question: If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?
OK. Yes it has been slightly warmer than expected. And why would three air conditioners decide to pack up in a relative short period of time, right in the middle of a supposedly non existing heat wave? I do not know the answer to these and other questions but what I do know is that this type of excessive heat combined with the high humidity experienced lately, is quite dangerous. Yes, not only is there a high discomfort index involved, there is actually a high risk index as well.
Apart from running out of beer halfway through the next Sharks game, there is a very real threat of Dehydration, Heat injury, Heat fatigue, and with those, the very dangerous possibility of Over-Hydration due to the wrong advice and subsequent incorrect ways to treat or prevent Heat related conditions.
So in the midst of this slight heat ripple (ala SA Weather), let me elaborate a bit on the body’s ways to handle or sometimes not handle such heat.
Core Temperature:
The body's dominant forms of heat loss in a hot environment are radiation and evaporation. However, when air temperature exceeds 35°C, radiation of heat from the body ceases and evaporation becomes the only means of heat loss. Evaporation is maximally efficient in a dry environment. If humidity reaches 100%, evaporation of sweat is no longer possible and the body loses its ability to dissipate heat. Now, to cool down, it becomes dependant on electric aids like fans and air conditioners, or riding on the back of a very fast and very tough Ford Bantam, or cycling downhill all day. If these are not available, your core temperature will gradually increase, dependant on the level of activity, until it reaches dangerous levels.
If one tries to keep your level of activity as low as possible, seek out cooler areas, and rehydrate correctly, the core temperature will not readily go to dangerous levels.
Dehydration:
Sweating is the way in which the body maintains its core temperature at 37 degrees centigrade. This also results in the loss of body fluid and electrolytes (minerals such as chloride, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium) and if unchecked will lead to dehydration and eventually circulatory collapse and heat stroke. The progressive effect of fluid and electrolyte loss on the body is as follows:
% body weight lost as sweat & the physiological effect:
2% - Impaired performance
4% - Capacity for muscular work declines
5% - Heat exhaustion
7% - Hallucinations
10% - Circulatory collapse and heat stroke
Electrolytes serve three general functions in the body: Many are essential minerals, they control movement of water between body compartments, and they help maintain the acid-base balance required for normal cellular activities. A liter of sweat typically contains 0.02g Calcium, 0.05g Magnesium, 1.15g Sodium, 0.23g Potassium and 1.48g Chloride. This composition will vary from person to person.
Elderly persons are at increased risk for heat-related problems because of underlying illness, medication use, declining adaptive thermoregulatory mechanisms, poor access to air-conditioning. Neonates have an increased risk of heat-related illness because of poorly developed thermoregulatory mechanisms and inability to make behavioural adjustments.
Chemical items that may affect the ability to regulate temperature are amongst others; Beta-blockers, Certain cold & flu medications, Diuretics, Ethanol, Antihistamines, Certain older antidepressants, Aspirin (regular use), etc.
Rehydration is the replenishment of water and electrolytes lost through dehydration. It can be performed by oral rehydration therapy (drinking an electrolyte solution) or by intravenous therapy (adding fluid and electrolytes directly into the blood stream).
As oral rehydration is less painful, less invasive, less expensive, and easier to provide, it is the treatment of choice for mild dehydration. Because severe dehydration can rapidly cause permanent injury or even death, intravenous rehydration is the ultimate treatment of choice for that condition.
Drinking plain water causes bloating, suppresses thirst and could lead to over hydration. It is a poor choice where high fluid intake is required. Water contains no carbohydrates or electrolytes.
Concerns about the potential risks of Over-hydration and consequential hyponatraemia (low blood sodium levels) for endurance athletes have been raised in several quarters following the death of a female runner during the 2002 Boston marathon.
The athlete, who died of hyponatraemic encephalopathy (swelling of the brain caused by severely reduced blood sodium), had reportedly ingested excessive amounts of fluids before, and during the race.
Hyponatraemia results from an abnormally low concentration of sodium in blood plasma. A sustained decrease in plasma sodium concentration disrupts the osmotic balance across the blood-brain barrier, leading to a rapid influx of water into the brain. This, in turn, leads to swelling of the brain, which can progress to confusion, seizure, coma and even death.
Various factors can lead to a fall in sodium concentration, including loss of sodium in sweat and decreased sodium intake. But the rapid intake of large quantities of fluids, which effectively dilutes the blood, appears to be the major cause of dangerous reductions.
Now that I have your attention, what am I trying to say? Only that when nature turns tough, our frailty becomes very evident. Temperature goes up, humidity goes way up, lawn needs a trim, out you go with your old army-issue green metal water bottle strapped to your locally made leather belt, filled with the goodness of H2O. Under the fig tree, there is the regulation Coleman cooler, filled with more water and lots of ice.
For two hours you toil away, all the time feeling thirsty and sweating like the proverbial Hog. Dizziness starts to bother you every time you take the sharp left turn around the bed of Malva parviflora,, nothing much, must be the new beta blocker you started last week. At the next turn, you will allow yourself ten minutes and enjoy a cold beer or two.
One hour later, the headache hits you. Extreme thirst! Drink more water. Take two, no, take three aspirins for the bloody headache!
You are in trouble. You went from high core temperature to hyponatraemia via dehydration and because of the wrong rehydration.
Making no sense?
In brief, and in conclusion:
Nothing wrong with mowing the lawn. Wrong time of the year / day though.
Nothing wrong with alcoholic refreshments. But not when you are already severely dehydrated.
Nothing wrong with drinking water. But it has NO ELECTROLYTES!
Drink the right stuff! Rehydrate with either a good sports drink, or even some rehydration preparations sold as conjunctive treatment for severe gastro-enteritis. Or contact me for a cheap homemade emergency recipe.
Most importantly, know your body and how much heat it can handle; know how much your body loses through perspiration.
We have less than a month for this heat to make way for the wonderful autumn weather we know so well and can only dream of at this moment.
Enough of the clammy stuff. Greetings from the pool,
Pieter & Renette Naudé Will be in Cape Town for the middle two weeks of March. Hopefully cooler down there! Keep healthy and hydrated! See soon.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Newsletter January 2007
“Listen to your Mother” must rank amongst the most frequently used pieces of instructive conversation anybody heard in their lifetime. How many times did you hear that phrase? What has she actually taught you?
Mothers taught us about TIME TRAVEL; "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
Mothers taught us FORESIGHT; "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
Mothers taught us about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION; "Stop acting like your father!"
Mothers taught us GENETICS; "You're just like your father."
Mothers taught us about JUSTICE "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"
But the most important thing she taught anyone of us is; “Wash your filthy hands before you touch anything.”
Here goes.
1. Kitchen Sponges and Rags:
The moist environment of sponges and rags is an ideal place for bacteria to flourish. Wiping your counters or dishes with a dirty sponge will only transfer the bacteria from one item to another.
Replace kitchen sponges and rags often. Ideally, this should be about once a week. Allow them to dry out between uses. Most bacteria can only survive a few hours on dry surfaces. Make sure that you remove all organic material from the sponge or rag before you leave it to dry.
Disinfect sponges regularly by putting them in the dishwasher. Rags should be washed in the washing machine and then dried on high heat. You can also sterilize sponges in the microwave. A dry sponge can be sterilized in the microwave in 30 seconds, a wet sponge in 60.
The cracks and crevices in your cutting board provide plenty of space for bacteria to grow. Be careful of cross contamination. If you use your cutting board for raw meat or fish, be sure to sanitize it thoroughly before chopping vegetables! To clean the board, first hand-wash it using hot water and dish detergent to remove any food particles. You can then use an approved antiseptic surface spray and wipe dry with absorbent tissue.
3. Kitchen Surfaces
Kitchen countertops can still harbor germs even if they look clean. This is especially true if you've "cleaned" them with a dirty sponge or rag. The kitchen tap and handle is an often-overlooked source of potentially harmful bacteria.
4. Sink Drains
The drains in both your kitchen sink and bathtub provide yet another moist environment that bacteria love. Use baking soda and an old toothbrush to get rid of stains, grit and grime around drains. Disinfect drains regularly as you would any other surface.
5. Doorknobs
Bacteria can easily accumulate on doorknobs and other handles such as the particularly problematic refrigerator handle. Anyone can transfer bacteria from their hand to a doorknob, and these bacteria can cause illness, especially if the person is sick, doesn't wash their hands after going to the bathroom, or has touched raw food. When you touch the doorknob you may also pick up the bacteria, which can then enter your body if you touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Wash your hands frequently, even if they don't look dirty, but be careful not to overdo it. If you wash your hands too frequently, the fatty acids in your skin will be depleted, which leaves you susceptible to open wounds and sores that actually increase the risk of infection. Antibacterial soaps are completely unnecessary, and they cause far more harm than good. It would be wise to identify a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to. Treat doorknobs and the refrigerator handle regularly with a good antiseptic surface spray.
6. Toothbrushes:
It's important to replace your toothbrush every three months not only because of bacterial accumulation but also due to bristle wear. Replace your toothbrush after you've had an infectious illness to avoid coming in contact with any lingering bacteria.
Germs are Easily Transferred From Everyday Objects To Hands
A new study has found everyday objects such as telephones and kitchen taps can transfer high levels of potentially dangerous bacteria to the hands. And from the hands, bacteria often end up on the lips. In one of the studies, the researchers looked at coliform bacteria, including fecal coliforms, on the palms of volunteers' hands after making dinner, cleaning the house, doing laundry, using a public restroom, petting a dog or a cat, or returning home from elementary school. The volunteers' hands were disinfected before the activity. Surprisingly, they found that people had the least amount of microorganisms on their hands after leaving a public restroom, while people had the most after making a meal. After making a meal, cleaning the house ranked next with transferring the most bacteria, next came petting a dog or a cat (dogs transmitted the most germs of the two) (However cuddly they may be, cats and dogs can bring a multitude of germs into your home. If your cat walks on the kitchen work surfaces make sure you clean them thoroughly before preparing food. Cats and dogs have also been found to be a source of salmonella!), then came returning home from school, then doing the laundry (because of handling underwear), and finally using a public restroom.
Some statistics:
Squeezing out a sponge transferred between 100,000 to a million organisms to the hands!
If somebody in the house is sick the toilet should be disinfected every time they use it. A typical trip to the loo can create up to 100 billion potentially disease causing organisms some of which end up in the air and on the toilet after flushing - even if the lid's put down.
What kind of germs are we talking about here? Well, anything, but commonly the most prevalent ones are those causing Food borne Diseases like Viral Gastroenteritis like Rotavirus, Bacterial Gastroenteritis like the Salmonellosis, Influenza, Colds, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Arthritis, Kidney Failure, and many more.
To prevent harmful bacteria from growing in food, always:
· Refrigerate foods promptly. If you let prepared food stand at room temperature for more than 2 hours, it may not be safe to eat. Set your refrigerator correctly.
· Cook food to the appropriate temperature Foods are properly cooked only when they are heated long enough and at a high enough temperature to kill the harmful bacteria that cause illness.
· Prevent cross-contamination. Bacteria can spread from one food product to another throughout the kitchen and can get onto cutting boards, knives, sponges, and countertops. Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and their juices away from other foods that are ready to eat.
· Handle food properly. Always wash your hands before touching food and after using the bathroom, changing diapers, or handling pets, as well as after handling raw meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, or eggs.
· Clean surfaces well before preparing food on them.
·Keep cold food cold and hot food hot.
· Maintain hot cooked food at 60°C or higher.
· Reheat cooked food to at least 75°C. Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food, and leftovers within two hours.
· Never defrost food on the kitchen counter. Use the refrigerator, cold running water, or the microwave oven.
· Never let food marinate at room temperature; refrigerate it.
· Divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling in the refrigerator.
· Remove the stuffing from poultry and other meats immediately and refrigerate it in a separate container.
· Do not pack the refrigerator. Cool air must circulate to keep food safe.
So why am I going on and on about disinfecting and cleaning and wiping and drying and hygiene and germs and what not?
Whoever was present during the past holiday season saw the desperation and suffering of these poor souls from far away that came here to relax and get some well deserved rest.
They got the dreaded Gastro instead. They could not relax (especially certain sphincter muscles), they could not rest (they had to stand in line with hundreds other victims to share overcrowded public bathrooms or wait patiently at the local pharmacy for some form of help).
What caused the outbreak? Nobody really knows, I don’t think there was enough time for any healthcare staff anywhere to run detailed microbiological diagnostics; everybody were just trying to plug holes (pun intended). What caused the condition to become so big and almost out of control? Let me tell you: Everything that you have read so far in this edition was ignored at some stage by someone and those individual cases blended into a panic-stricken sea of disease. Whole families were affected; whole buildings were affected, the whole coastal area became a quagmire of diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration, spasms, fever, and total misery.
Were you part of this? Were you affected? I seem to think that the locals were immunological better prepared or maybe we were more confined to our own areas and did not share the public places with as many people as did the holiday makers. Whatever the reasons, I did not see many local people affected as bad as some of the visitors.
People were blaming the tap water, they were blaming the lagoons, and they were blaming the restaurants, the air that we breathe. They blamed the locals, the locals blamed them, they blamed the doctor’s surgeries, the hospitals, even the municipalities were implied, and all that was in fact wrong was they didn’t wash their hands! They didn’t listen to Mother.
Here is the bottom line: When you are near another human being, follow these rules, called the Naudé Paranoid Hand Rules:
When this other person approaches you, sneak a quick glance in the general direction of their hands.
If this other person is busy with some activity like preparing food, serving drinks, cleaning; sneak a longer glance in the direction of their hands. If this other person is attempting to touch you or indicating by way of gestures that you are about to be touched, take a long hard stare at their hands.
Why?
One reason only; look at the hands and ask yourself these simple questions: “Where were those hands just now? What did they touch? What are under those nails? From where did those fingers recently emerge?
Then follow those hands and see what and where they touch.
Be scared. Be very scared.
That is enough of the scary stuff.
Maybe on second thoughts, time for a quick commercial - seeing that it is now almost commonplace to do that; my manufacturing business called PeeCee has launched a product called PeeCee Protection Spray, born out of fear and frustration during the Gastro Epidemic. It is an extremely effective antiseptic surface spray. Pity it only came out off the development stage right at the end of the season, it could have saved a lot of people a lot of misery. We supplied a group of sports people in a bus with a couple of bottles of spray when they had 5 or 6 people already sick. They sprayed the grips and common surfaces in the bus and nobody else became sick during the remainder of their tour!
At the same time the germ spread like wildfire through even upmarket residential blocks.
We supplied a lot of people during those last weeks of the holiday season, and we obviously used the product liberally in the pharmacy where hundreds of people handled prescriptions, money, handbags, towels and what else on a daily basis.
We sprayed the counters, the toilets, the door handles, the cash drawers and on top of that we washed our hands every 2 hours. Result? During the entire 4 weeks, through contact with all those affected people, we had NO incidence of Gastro amongst my staff! Am I getting through to you now?
This situation can easily repeat itself in the future. Will you be prepared?
Wow, this was a long one. Wet of the Press (pun NOT intended).
Greetings and a show of clean hands,
Pieter and Renette Naudé
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