Breakthroughs Today

Sometimes we equate health with life so that any mention of death becomes incompatible with a healthy lifestyle. But is it so? The mystery surrounding religious faith can help you understand the difference, noting how Saint Pedro of Cebu lived his life. THERE is a mystery that moves around and between the health of one’s soul and that of one’s body. And that mystery has deep implications in our lives as religious Cebuanos, as well as ardent believers of a healthy lifestyle. Today, we veer away from the stark numerical world of medical research into the realm of faith in celebration of the recent canonization of the second Filipino saint, Saint Pedro of Cebu.   But even in this subject we cannot always do away with scientific thinking, and the use of statistics as far as it can be applied.   Of the two Filipino saints—Lorenzo of Manila and Pedro of Cebu—there had been interesting similarities that can help us appreciate the religious charism of Filipinos. First, both saint

SOMETIMES we can appreciate how much we let our minds go out of control when a certain weird sickness captures us, such as the so-called “white coat hypertension.” The American Heart Association defines this condition as: “You may have what’s called ‘white coat hypertension’; that means your blood pressure goes up when you’re at the doctor’s office.” A funny name that works as much like the healing effect of an inert substance called placebo, bringing forth the term “placebo effect” into common use. Another term that American doctors coined not long ago was the condition called “pre-hypertension.” By its name alone, you can guess the meaning of this condition as not yet hypertension. This new interim condition came up when... [ Read more. ]  This article appears in Sun.Star Cebu on 4 May 2011.

ITS literal translation is “supreme ultimate fist,” but despite its aggressive-sounding translation, tai chi chuan (TCC) is a mind and body martial arts system that the Chinese practice for both its self-defense techniques and its health benefits. Tai chi or taiji is the fusion, or rather the balance of the hard (yang) and the soft (yin), making TCC a hard and soft martial art style. Yang is fast, solid and fiery. Yin is slow, yielding and tranquil. In the East, TCC has been around for centuries as a system for health and fitness. Today, it has gained increasing popularity in the West. As a fitness exercise, TCC has been known to improve... [ Read more. ] This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 10 November 2010 as "Tai chi chuan in meg-review." (Photo by Northern Shaolin Academy)

"THE reward for work well done," wrote researcher and virologist Jonas Salk, "is the opportunity to do more." And the reward for doing more, and longer hours of work, let me add, will impact on your health in ways you may not desire. Philippine working hours are considered worldwide as long working hours compared to the standard 40 hours per week [in other countries]. Even without overtime, Filipino workers regularly log excess hours each week. But that is also common worldwide. Studies found associations between long working hours and many risk factors such as... ( Read more. ) (This article appears in Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on 26 May 2010.)

Breakthroughs 2008 December 30 Aging Can Be Skin-Deep, Too December 24 The Pointsettia's Sinister Side Article Users-- TARBAHO SA CEBU: Link only December 16 No Stroke Guard in Anti-Ox December 10 Saying It Alluringly Clear December 2 Female Sexual Satisfaction Article Users-- SUGBO ONLINE: Female Sexual Satisfaction November 26 Getting High on Mistakes November 11 Findings on Love, Marriage Article Users-- CWANSWERS, SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH: Link only October 28 Waving the Flirting Wand October 22 Gestures of Courtship October 15 The One that Got Away October 8 Curse of the Fat Gene October 1 Out of the Blue September 24 Morbid Jealousy Article Users-- ICONOCAST: Boyfriend Runs Into Jealousy ( Translated into Korean ) September 17 Awkward Positions August 27 Sweetening Pain August 6 Wintry Skin Strips July 30 Territorial Divergence July 23 Sound Strategy for Cancer July 9 Irritable Grace June 25 Survivors of Hiroshima Article Users-- FLOWER DELIVERY: Survivors of Hiroshima (Tr

ZOSIMO T. LITERATUS, RMT International health authorities do not agree on the limits of clinical features observed to qualify for a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. However, I believe that you get the smallest measurements as your warning levels to be conservative. Early prevention is always better than doing it late. In health, disease reversal can be daunting and many times next to impossible at its final stage of deterioration. The World Health Organization (1999) requires that presence of diabetes mellitus (impaired glucose tolerance, impaired fasting glucose or insulin resistance) be diagnosed first and two of the following clinical levels before a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome is warranted: blood pressure, 140/90 mmHg; dyslipidemia [1] ; central obesity [2] , and presence of albumin in the urine [3] . The European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (1999) demands that insulin resistance be at the top 25% of the fasting insulin values for non-diabetic individuals and tw