Medical developments from around the world

What Are Trans-fats?

Trans-fats are vegetable oil fats that are solidified in the laboratory to increase their shelf life and also to improve their appearance. This hydrogenation process, wherein hydrogen is incorporated into liquid fats to make them solid for commercial benefits and longer shelf life, was discovered by a French Nobel Laureate chemist Paul Sabatier in 1890. Americans jumped onto the bandwagon and Wilhelm Normann patented this process in the US, in 1902. This helped the industry to use this for foods like pizza base, cookies, etc, to increase their shelf life. By the end of the Second World War, hydrogenated margarine had totally replaced the healthy butter in American homes. See how quickly one gets a Nobel Prize if one does something which is good for business. Hydrogenation is not a great discovery; but the man got his Nobel anyway and this trans-fat must have killed millions by now. Now, the American Heart Association has finally admitted that trans-fats are really bad for human health.

Foods Rich in Vitamin C

As one ages, one needs more vitamin C for cell repair and good health. Many of us believe that only citrus fruits, like oranges and their family, have vitamin C.
Many other fruits have plenty of vitamin C, like mangoes, bananas and guavas. Taking vitamin C tablets is dangerous, as it might increase the risk of diseases because of a process called hormesis.

Ginger: A Superb Medicine

A 2008 study published in the European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, showed that ginger helps the muscles of the stomach contract. This aids digestion by moving the contents of the stomach into the small intestine, a great help to those suffering from indigestion.

Ginger also reduces inflammation. Colon cancer is preceded by inflammation in the colon and a study of cancer prevention had shown that inflammation markers in the colon were significantly reduced after 30 days of treatment with ginger root. This study was performed at the University of Michigan Medical School. Suzanna Zick was one of the researchers who worked on this study.

Ginger alleviates pain, like osteoarthritis pain, effectively. Research shows that osteoarthritis pain can be relieved by taking ginger. One study revealed that taking 500mg of ginger extract, twice a day, worked as well as taking 400mg of ibuprofen three times a day, for knee and hip pain related to arthritis. Research has also indicated that ginger and orange oil used in massage therapy can help reduce stiffness and pain in the knee.

Ginger reduces nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, without any harm to the foetus. Dizziness, which is a very common complaint in the elderly, usually due to benign positional vertigo is helped to a great extent by regular use of ginger.
Some studies indicate that ginger can help prevent blood clots and possibly lower cholesterol, but the data is patchy in that area.

Global Warming

In an article in www.moneylife.in, I had written about how the global warming hypothesis may not be sound after all. Studies have shown data to have been fudged, to push the global warming hypothesis, among other things that fly in the face of all the related alarmism.

Now, see the report from NASA in leading publications: “This story is starting to break worldwide right now across the media, with The Telegraph now reporting, NOAA’s US Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) has been ‘adjusting’ its record by replacing real temperatures with data ‘fabricated’ by computer models.”

Because the actual historical temperature record doesn’t fit the frenzied, doomsday narrative of global warming being fronted today on the political stage, the data was simply altered using ‘computer models’ and then published as fact.

Who does one believe in this world? Science is just a creation of the human mind. George Berkeley, of Berkeley University fame, wrote years ago: “If there is no perceiver, there is no perception.” Scientific perception can be easily faked as needed to suit our purpose.