The Pneumonia Shot That Sent Me to Urgent Care #Health #Vaccination

This article was also published by Positively Filipino, on November 29, 2016. Here's the link to Positively Filipino.

            Not too long ago, I had a severe reaction to pneumonia or pneumococcal vaccine and had to be rushed to Urgent Care.

            Before I launch into my story, let me explain that pneumococcal vaccine is given to prevent pneumococcal disease, an infection caused by bacteria. The vaccine may not provide protection from disease in every person. In fact, the John Hopkins Medicine site states that “It should be noted that vaccination does NOT reduce pneumonia. A meta-analysis shows no decrease in pneumonia incidence as a result of vaccination, however it has been shown to be about 60-70% effective in preventing invasive disease (meningitis, bacteremia).” The John Hopkins Medicine site also says, “By CDC guidelines, once vaccinated, you will likely never need a revaccination. However, this is still a controversial area.” 

Health: Chartreuse Elixir Vegetal in my Morning Smoothie

I've added something new to my morning smoothies.

My usual ingredients have been: banana, apple, orange, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, ginger (just a bit), and tomatoes. The nuts are: almond, pistachios, and walnuts. There can be variations, depending on what I have available. My goal is to include as many different fruits, nuts, and even vegetables in the smoothie.  I also add flax seeds, powdered Brewer's Yeast, and powdered Moringa.  I add water and blend.  

Picture: Tai Chi at San Francisco's Civic Center

Tai Chi at San Francisco's Civic Center

When you see excellence, you should try to surpass it.
When you see the opposite, examine yourself.
-   Lao Tzu

Read also 

Health: Cinnamon helps diabetes and high cholesterol

The Sugarcane Plantations of the Philippines and Muscovado
The Wonders of Malunggay or Moringa Oleifera
Health, Stroke, Hypertension, Heart Disease
Cecilia's Good Morning Smoothie Recipe
A Bad Cold and What I'm Doing About It
The Healing and Creative Powers of Cat Purring
How to Lower Blood Pressure: Drink Hibiscus or Gumamela Tea

Tags: health, medicine, natural treatment, exercise, alternative medicine, #health

This is all for now,

Cecilia

Health: Cinnamon Helps Diabetes and High Cholesterol

I didn't know until recently that there are many species of cinnamon. What I was familiar with was cassia cinnamon, which is used as commercial spice. Apparently 90% of what we buy at the market is cassia cinnamon. This is what we sprinkle on our coffee cakes and desserts.

Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of a cinnamon tree; the bark is ground up. This spice has been used for thousands of years.

Health: Eggplant Juice to Lower Cholesterol

Here's another natural treatment I recently learned: eggplant juice to lower cholesterol. This information came from my Kaiser Permanente Doctor who grumbled about a medical guideline about statins. It would, she said, put all men 55 and above on statins, and women 65 and above on statins.

Health: Cecilia's Good Morning Smoothie Recipe

This is the smoothie I made this morning. 

I threw assorted fruit, nuts, even some vegies into the blender. I added a teaspoon each of flax seeds, powdered Brewer's Yeast, and powdered Moringa (Malunggay). I added around a cup of water. 

The Rat in Cebu Laguna Garden Restaurant

I'm not trying to ruin the reputation of Laguna Garden Restaurant in Ayala Cebu because frankly the food is excellent there. But last August, when I had dinner there with some friends, a commotion broke out in one part of the restaurant. We stood up to investigate and saw a huge rat running around the rafters of the ceiling. Foreigners stood gaping at the sight. Filipinos whipped out their cell phones to take pictures. I had my camera with me... and well... I took a couple of pictures.




~~~~
Lively discussion of this in my facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/ceciliabrainard

Lynley Ocampo: It's not only at that restaurant. Some months back, I saw a rat at my favorite coffee place also in Ayala.
Evelyn R. Bosh: OMG
Cecilia Brainard: So the rats live in Ayala. They have to do something about them, for health reasons.
Lynley Ocampo: Apparently.
Daisy Lorenzana Genaldo: frankly, i do not care if the food is excellent there ... one rat means filth ... and more rats in the hiding. there is no way i am ever eating there if we do go to cebu. thanks so much for the info.
Maria Terea Rodriguez-Laurente: OMG. I was there in August 13 evening same place.
Ederlindo Cojuanco II: You know where these rats are hidding...at the kitchen! LOL
Ben Anthony Dicdican Cabacoy: Dertz...it was Master Splinter having dinner(-_-) LOL
Richard Yu: Nope. Its the secret ingredient for a super yummy recipe! Ilibre ko si Gloria sa resto na ito!
Frederick Ygnacio Jr.:We can ask what are the Pest Control Measures Ayala Center Cebu and Cebu Business Park Admin has undertaken as Ayala Terraces practically houses the series of reputable food chains in Cebu. We too regularly patronize the restaurants at Terraces.
As the current Vice-Pres. of Cebu Business Park Bdlg Administrators Association, Inc. maybe I can raise this pest control issue within the zone on our next meeting.

my opinion:
The restaurants are relatively new.... Read More
All food refuse and garbage are collected everyday.
This is an isolated case and obviously the Rat is not a resident in that restaurant. It's a stray Rat that found its way to the Terraces. Unfortunately for Laguna Garden the Rat choose to find refuge there. Mas humot cguro ila food. hahha Pastilan! Still, this has to be addressed. First stop, the SEWERS!
Cecilia Brainard: To Frederick Ygnacio Jr: Perhaps you can also discuss with the Powers-that-be to CLEAN UP CEBU'S RIVERS AND CREEKS. They are filthy - filled with garbage and God-knows-what, and all in plain view of tourists and Balikbayans. Rats, dirty rivers/creeks - these are health hazards just the same. Plus all this filth is not good for Cebu's tourism business.
Daisy Lorenzana Genaldo: AMEN!!!!
Paul Kekai Manansala: One key to cleaning up the rivers is to provide garbage collection and water and sewage lines in the squatter camps, or else relocate these people to low-cost, subsidized housing. Most people in these neighborhoods simply dump their garbage and sewage into the rivers and other waterways that they usually live right next to. They also bathe and wash their clothes in these same filthy waterways, which doesn't help either.
Eileen Martinez Apostol: Whether this is an isolated incident or not, i can just say that is an urgency best taken cared of. That said, their bouillabaise is worth trying! Really good last time I had it!
Cecilia Brainard: Pasig River has been pretty much cleaned up and it has a nice ferry system in place. Government officials had to make the decision to clean up the Pasig before it happened, and it took years. Cebu officials can do the same - just make up their minds to clean up Cebu's rivers and creeks, look for funds, ways to get this done. The people must be educated and invoved in the cleanup project as well. The revenue from tourism will pay for it. In fact, these rivers and creeks can be turned into tourism sites,with restaurants, walkways nearby, as in Bangkok,Amsterdam, Venice, Norway. I've written more extensively about cleaning up Cebu's rivers in my blog, http://cbrainard.blogspot.com (search for cleanup rivers Cebu)

PHYSICAL EXERCISE

When I'm in the Philippines I walk a lot, both in Makati as well as in Cebu. I enjoy walking in fact, and make it a point to walk to church or some other point of destination, just to get the exercise.

I've noticed however that my Filipina friends hardly walk. I am not sure they get very much exercise at all. I've seen them struggle to walk a few blocks. It doesn't seem to be part of the culture to exercise. Even for short distances they have their drivers take them, or they take a taxi - and I'm talking about 4-5 blocks.

My mother liked to dance and walk; when she was young, she even played basketball. I think some of that rubbed off on us her children because we used to make some effort to take daily walks.

I've traveled with some Filipina friends and I've noticed that they get tired quickly. They are generally slender but they lack stamina. I know several who already need canes!

I wonder if the younger generation of Filipinas exercise more than my generation.

KIDNEYS ARE CHEAP IN THE PHILIPPINES

A couple of years ago, I heard of a Filipino American going to the Philippines for a kidney transplant. The person had arranged this with a Filipino doctor, and he flew to Manila, had the transplant, stayed until his doctor said he could return to the U.S. Apparently the waiting time for a kidney in the U.S. was quite long, and he wasn't sure he'd survive to qualify for one. There was hardly any wait in the Philippines. He had to pay for the kidney. This whole matter was, as I understood it, arranged by his doctor.

Today, while lunching at my favorite Filipino restaurant (nothing fancy, turo-turo on Vermont) I read Midweek Balita. It had an article about kidney black market. The headline reads, "Filipino Kidneys Cheapest in the World Black Market, says NGO."

The article says that Filipinos who sell their kidneys to foreign clients are shortchanged. "The asking price in th U.S. starts at $30,000 while kidney vendors get as much as $10,000 to $20,000 in Israel; $7,500 in Turkey; $6,000 in Brazil, and $2,700 in Moldova and Romania.

The article mentions Filipino farmers who received P112,000 from selling their kidneys - that's around $2,692 - an amount that did not change their financial status, but left many of them in poor health.

The Asia Against Child Trafficking recommended a total ban on kidney trade. Some Filipino doctors said the new administrative order aimed at eradicating a thriving black market was a wrong response to the problem. Doctors are accused of receiving P57 million per kidney transplant; foreign transplants cost $60,000. There's talk of new guidelines for kidney transplantation; guidelines which would limit foreign transplants. There's bickering back and forth among the concerned parties.

I was sad to read this. Is it is not enough for Filipinos to sell their sons and daughters as workers, entertainers, sometimes prostitutes all over the world? Must they resort to selling their body parts to make a buck?

I thought the Philippines was getting better economically. I understand the salary per day is higher than that paid in China, Vietnam, Cambodia and a few other countries in the world? So what's going on here? If the Philippines is getting wealthier as President Arroyo claims, why are Filipinos so desperate as to sell their body parts?

~~~~
Source: Midweek Balita, April 2-4, 2008, p. 22

FAST FOOD IN THE PHILIPPINES

I listened to two mothers talking about their children, and they went on about their children being hyperactive - "super-kulit" is the term they used. Before this, they had talked about how picky their children are about food: one child didn't eat lunch at school and the mother had to give the kid Ensure in the morning and at night, and another child just ate fast food. I asked if fast food may have something to do with the hyperactivity and they both said yes.

We talked about how we didn't have fast food when we were growing up. Our snacks consisted of fruit and well, yes, sweets, but we didn't have Jollibee and McDonald and those stalls that sell assorted fried snacks.

I have noticed that there are a number of younger people who are heftier. When I was young and even now in provinces, people were/are generally more slender, sometimes too thin. I've always assumed that diet had something to do with this, in the same way I assume that the fast food diet is affecting the people in the cities where there's a proliferation of such food.

It would be interesting to see if there's an increase in diet-related health problems ever since the addition of fast food to the Filipino diet.