Breakthroughs Today

THE BUREAU OF Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) issued on Novembe 12 Shellfish Bulletin No. 25, reporting that six provinces around the country continue to be deadly for consumers. In Mindanao three provinces--Zamboanga Del Sure (Dumanquillas Bay), Zamboanga Del Norte and Misamis Occidental (along Murcielagos Bay)--are still positive of paralytic shellfish poison. Matarinao Bay in Eastern Samar (Visayas) and Masinloc Bay in Zambales (Luzon) are also positive at levels beyond the regulator limit. Meanwhile, the coastal waters of Bataan, covering the towns of Mariveles, Limay, Orion, Pillar, Balanga, Orani, Abucay and Samal, are now positive for the red tide toxin, Saxi-Toxin (STX). BFAR personnel detected 70-5,617 grams STX per 100 g of shellfish meat tested. A 71-year-old woman already died in Masinloc, Zambales for eating harvested shellfish.

Each day we learn of things we previously could not have learned. And each thing we learn makes the world around us a more complicated reality to observe. The same is true with domestic violence. In a world that has not fully shred its masochistic roots, men had been stereotyped as the violent aggressor in homes. Our Breakthroughs article this week will change that. WHEN I first threw a glance at the research report, my eyes caught the word "terrorism." And my mind automatically asked what terrorism has to do with health. When I looked closer at the study by Denise Hines and Emily Douglas, published in Partner Abuse (Jan. 1, 2010), I realized it had nothing to do with Al-Quaida.The title was "A Closer Look at Men Who Sustain Intimate Terrorism by Women." The study involved 302 men who sought professional help for the abuse, the largest sample so far. Interestingly among the 212 men who indicated their occupation, 16 were in law enforcement (military,

Are werewolves real? Are they just a figment of a fictionist's imagination? Are they evil incarnate? Or, are they simply unfortunate victims of a rare mental condition? Either way science is a neophyte in this realm, and may never find the answer at least for another millenium. LYCANTHROPY is an exotic topic in mental health. Psychiatrists are stomped by it because there are simply very few cases to build effective therapeutic knowledge on. For a psychiatrist handling a lycanthrope for the first time, it could be like a case of biting more than you can chew. Unlike movies that have enjoyed blockbuster series in the likes of the Underworld and the Twilight franchise, mental health professionals may have to chew nevertheless. Clinical lycantrophy is a rare... [ READ MORE ]  This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 16 November 2011. For details on the Case Study where this article is based, click the link "The Wolf Boy" in the Documents .

The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) reported that cases of leptospirosis nationwided increased by more than 200 percent in just 10 months this year. Almost half (43.61%) reported cases came from western Visayas. [ READ MORE ]

Participants of the Fifth International Pro-Life Congress met for the first time Gabriel, a 14-month-old healthy baby boy, and product of the first successful natural treatment of infertility. The Natural Procreative (NaPro) Technology achieved the feat without using in vitro fertilization, the standard method today in treating infertility. [ READ MORE ] 

There is a gender discrimination that most people are not aware of, or simply refuse to recognize: discrimination against battered men. Despite cultural modernism, people still hold the stereotype of dominating men and submissive women. And here's where the problem gets hidden for very, very long. RENOWNED TV comedian Bill Cosby said: “Any husband, who says, ‘My wife and I are completely equal partners,’ is talking about a law firm or a hand of bridge.”   Recent studies, however, tell of other things that men may not even talk about: violence from their partners. Although studies since 1974 indicate that women partners are as likely to physically and/or psychologically inflict violence on their men, even mental health researchers have the tendency to brush the issue off for many reasons.   First, it is assumed that men are... [ READ MORE ]   This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 9 November 2011.

Sometimes dreams can be more than just some nocturnal fantasies of the mind. They can be warnings for disasters to come, or perhaps a means to talk to an angel. POPULAR author John Farris wrote in his novel, The Fury and the Power (2003): “There is always too much to see when you are awake. Dreams are the refreshments of the weary eye, as well as the actuality of other layers of existence—fantastic, subtle, strange.” Even before the birth of psychology, dreams had been subject of many stories both through flights of fantasy and of seeming believable theories. Trailblazers in psychiatry such as Carl Jung believe that dreams can be a window to the unconscious, a depository of things that the conscious human being may find so traumatic to bring to mind. In short, dreams provide a snapshot on what bones had been hidden in the closet... [ READ MORE ] This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 2 November 2011.