BDC #25 - Goldflam disease: Too tired to open your eyes?

Have you ever met somebody how can open their eyelids properly, even if they want and work hard to? Or somebody who can't really control  his/her facial movement? Drooping jaw, shabby talking? Well, that person might be a patient of Goldflam disease.

It is formally called as Myasthenia Gravis (MG). Based on medical dictionary, it is a disorder of neuromuscular transmission marked by fluctuating weakness and fatigue of certain voluntary muscles, including those innervated by brainstem motor nuclei; caused by a marked reduction in the number of acetylcholine receptors in the postsynaptic membrane of the neuromuscular junvction, resulting from an autoimmune mechanism.

OH!! This definition is definitely NOT FUN!! It ends up my whole post in ONE-FULL-CONFUSING-Sentence. SO, I will explain it again, in more sane-shorter-sentences. Let's restart it ^^

Myasthenia Gravis or Goldflam disease is an autoimmune disease on our neural and muscular system (OR neuromuscular system). It is general caused by abnormal antibodies in the body, either blocking or destroying the receptor/receiver of acetylcholine, one of neural signals from our nerves to our muscles. It is practically cutting the communication between our brain with our conscious muscles. It leads to fluctuating muscles weakness and heavy fatigue, and in a progressive phase losing the control over the conscious muscles. Normally, our unconscious muscles like heart or digestive track (except the throat, since we swallow food 'consciously') will be spared. Means, the patient's heart might keep beating thought the patient cannot move his/her body properly anymore. 

The early symptoms can be listed as:

• Heavy fatigue on patient
• Progressive weakening of muscles during periods of activity
• Eye muscles - including ptosis (drooping of one or both eyelids), diplopia (double vision) and blurred vision.
• Facial muscles - involve the weakening of face and throat muscles, leads to:
• Dysarthria - difficulty in speaking, depends on which muscles are effected; speech may become soft or nasal
• dysphagia - difficulty in swallowing
• difficulty in chewing 
• difficulty in controlling facial expression
•  Weakening of limbs mucles   

There are some classifications for MG, but the most widely used is the one by Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Clinical Classification, which are:

• Class I: Any eye muscle weakness, possible ptosis, no oter evidence of muscles weakness .. yet
• Class II: Any severity of eye muscles weakness, with mild weakness of other mucles
• Class IIa: predominantly on limbs muscles 
• Class IIb: predominantly on respiratory muscles
• Class III: Any severity of eye muscles weakness, with moderate weakness of other muscles
• Class IIIa: predominantly on limbs muscles 
• Class IIIb: predominantly on respiratory muscles
• Class IV: Any severity of eye muscles weakness, with severe weakness of other muscles
• Class IVa: predominantly on limbs muscles 
• Class IVb: predominantly on respiratory muscles
• Class V: intubation on the throat needed for airway 

Up to now, there is no specific cure for MG. Luckily, most of the treatments are very effective in controlling or delaying the symptoms. The currently available treatments are:

• Cholinesterase inhibitors: helps the muscles to contract properly and maintain good strength. It is effective for mild symptoms, though some side effects like nausea or stomach cramps might occur.
• Steroids or Immunosuppressants: may alter the body's immune system and lower the production of antibodies that cause the MG.
• Removal of the thymus gland. About 15% of MG patients have a tumor in their thymus gland - thus the surgery might be needed. However, it is unclear whether the risks of removing the thymus gland could outweigh the benefits for MG patients.  
• Plasmaphoresis: is a procedure of depleting the body of blood plasma without depleting the body of its blood cells. To put it short, the blood is taken put of the patient, the abnormal antibodies are removed, and the blood is placed back to the patient. OK...It DOES sound scary!!!
• Intravenous immunoglobin therapy: is a procedure of injecting normal antibodies that alter the way the of the immune system. However, the last 2 treatments only give short effect lasted only weeks for the patient. 

In the end...be grateful of your full control over your body !!! ^^

   

BDC #24 - Ondine's Curse: When the Goddess takes you away in your sleep

To get sleepy and falling a sleep is one of very natural things for animals and human. BUT, if the doctor said you will die when you fall a sleep, how would you react?

There is this one curse, The Ondine's Curse. The name was taken from a French folk tale written by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque (though some others say that it's actually a German folklore, I'm not sure). Here is the synopsis from this link

「Ondine was breathtakingly beautiful and possessed of a streak of independence, truly what we call a 'free spirit'.

Like all nymphs and mermaids, she was leery of men. If a nymph ever falls in love with a man and bears his child, she will begin to age like a mortal woman, losing her eternal youthfulness and everlasting life. 

Nonetheless, when Ondine saw the handsome young Palemon she was smitten and began to watch for him on his daily walks. When Palemon noticed her, he was taken by her incredible beauty and came back frequently to try to get a glimpse of her again.  

Eventually they talked and fell in love. He broke his engagement with the young noblewoman Berta and, in time, convinced Ondine to marry him. When they exchanged their wedding oaths, Palemon vowed that "My every waking breath shall be my pledge of love and faithfulness to you."

But it was not to be.

The following year Ondine gave birth to their son. From that moment on, her beauty began to fade, her body suddenly susceptible to the effects of age. As her youthful attractiveness gave way to a more mature beauty, Palemon's eye began to wander to the younger women he met at court.

One fateful day Ondine was out walking on their estate when she heard the sound of Palemon's familiar snoring. Planning to take him back home so he could finish his nap, the amused Ondine entered the stables to wake him.

The scene she encountered filled her with great sorrow. Discarded garments littered the floor and her beloved Palemon lay sleeping in the haystack, his arms wrapped around his former fianceé Berta. Having sacrificed her immortality for this man, she was filled with anger and regret.

Kicking her sleeping husband, she woke him and uttered her curse. "You pledged faithfulness to me with your every waking breath and I accepted that pledge. So be it. For as long as you are awake, you shall breathe. But should you ever fall into sleep, that breath will desert you."

Ondine still retained some of her magic . . . enough to make the curse come true. And so it was. Palemon would never sleep again.」

The lesson of the story is...NEVER EVER break your vow from a woman..!!!

NO!! That's not what I would like to discuss today. Well, it's related though. In this post, Ondine's curse is the popular name of Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS) or also called Primary Alveolar Hypoventilation.

CCHS is a respiratory disorder due to neurological trauma in the brain or spinal cord. Practically, people who suffer CCHS could lead a normal life..while awake. BUT, once they fall a sleep, they will usually hypoventilate or suffer for apnea. In short, they will have a difficulty do external breathing. So.. YES, they will die because out of breath while sleeping. Scary isn't it?!

 From the deeper studies by some researchers, they found that one of the reason of this disorder (actually around 92% of the cases) is the mutation on one of the homeobox gene which is important in the development of automatic nervous system. Since while we awake we could consciously take our breath, but once we sleep, the automatic nervous system will take over the job and unconsciously help us breath. 

Up to now, there is no medical treatment available to cure this disease. Patients usually need tracheotomies, where they put a certain tube into the trachea to open a direct airway, and a lifetime mechanical ventilator system. Although, lately there is a ventilator system named Biphasis Cuirass Ventilation which doesn't require a tracheatomy. However, these ventilators rise problems like fatal infections and pneumonia. Most children suffering CCHS couldn't survive infancy, unless they receive the ventilatory system while sleeping.

So, be grateful for every breath you could take, consciously and unconsciously.

  

 

The Tale of a Boy in a coffee Shop #34

The young lady kept silent awkwardly. She couldn't really answer the question. She was definitely not an expert in this area of conversation. Ow, Granny.. come here quick. She screamed at heart. The young boy kept on his eyes to the young lady as she poured another serving of cold water to her own glass. It was a boiling hot day. 

The sound of chime jingled as the door was pushed finally broke the awkwardness between them two.

"Hello, I am sorry I am late. The procession was quite long. Besides, we chatted a little, since it has been a very long time for us to meet each other." The old lady came in, spoke in a less excited tone than usual.

"Was it a good conversation?" The young boy came closer as he took the big bag over the old lady hand.

"Oh, thank you little boy. Well, it was awkward actually, since instead of a happy occasion, we met at the cemetery. There was definitely nothing joyful to talk about."

The old lady walked to the bar, gave a code to the young lady for a glass of water, and sat heavily on the chair.

"But..."

"But?" The young boy put the bag beside him, between him and the old lady, as he sat on the another chair. He was curious over the hanging word.

"But, as we spoke, slowly the old memories filled our conversation. We recalled all the good, funny, even sad memories amongst us. Then, we didn't feel that bad anymore over our dear friend's death."

"Is that how we let them go?"

"How to let them go?" The old lady was interested with the young boy's words. She took a look to her grand-niece.

The young lady moved her lips without any voices. He asked me about how we let go our dearest one, she said.  

"Ah... I see," the old lady smiled and rubbed the young boy's head dearly.

Yet, the sun crept high in the sky, leaving its heat in that summer air.

BDC #23 - BIID: When you feel that your limb is NOT yours

For most of the people, losing one of your body part is one of the least desirable thing to happen. But do you know; for a small percentage of world's population, losing one or more of their super healthy limbs is something that supposed to be done? OK...I know, it is a super scary thought. Unfortunately, for people suffering BIID, having those limbs is one of the biggest tortures in their life, since those limbs are 'NOT theirs'.

OK...I see some of you start to furrow your eyebrows. 

BIID is an abbreviation of Body Integrity Identity Disorder. It is also referred as Amputee Identity Disorder, is a psychological disorder where they think that they will be happier as an amputee (a patient of body amputation). As mentioned before, mostly the sufferers believe that those body parts are 'extras' and not theirs, thus it will be better to be 'removed' from them. They feel as a whole being after losing those extras.

Woops, don't puke... I know it's unimaginable. 

Unfortunately lately, the experts found that the BIID patients are not limited only to the desire of removing their limbs. The experts said that basically, BIID patients need the feeling of paraplegic, or the feeling as a disable. It doesn't necessarily have to be amputated, but at least the limbs are not moving and they don't feel it anymore. Being paralyze over their bod parts is good enough. Thus, the definition is not limited to limb anymore, but also being deaf or blind. 

Fortunately due to the ethical reason, people with BIID can't just recklessly forced some surgeon to amputate their body part. Though as the result, some of them try to harm their selves by amputating their own selves, or try to do any other harm; like purposely make them selves fall into accident. To reduce these conscious-accident-cases, some therapies offer to treat BIID patients as disables; such as giving them wheelchair, bandage the arms, etc.     

BIID was firstly recognized from a note of sexologist in 1977, writing about two men who experienced intense sexual arousal when imagined becoming amputees. This phenomenon is called apothemnophilia. It is said as result of combination of neural disease and psychological disorder. 

Up to now, there is no specific cause has been revealed as the cause of BIID. Theories have rose creating countless debates within the medical experts. Some theories say that this disorder is developed during childhood and present as a result of traumatic child experiences. Various theories have been formulated as children seeing that becoming an amputee disabled might earn them more attention and love by their closed ones. The other thing that is widely recognized is that this is a mental disorder due to abnormalities of neuro-psychological condition on the right side of the brain. The brain's inner body mapping function does not incorporate the certain body part in its understanding of the body's physical form, thus the brain exclude that body part in the conscious part of the brain.

In the end, this super puzzling condition remains as one of the mysteries to medical science, and a lot more researches are required to discern its true causes, how the disorder is triggered; and if possible, how to treat it without following their desire.

If you are interested to read more true stories from the BIID sufferes, maybe you can check this forum.

   

 

BDC #22 - The Mediterranean Diet: A Legacy from Ancient Wisdom

As I realized the number of the readers increase by double when I talked about body and diet instead of history, I try to take one of my junior's advice to write a mixture of diet and history. I hope I could write it well. 

Some of you might understand the Mediterranean diet a lot better than me. Thus, pardon my poor knowledge in this diet and feel free to discuss it.

The current Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional recommendation inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of southern Italy, Crete of Greece, and Spain. This diet is basically consist of high portion of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables; along with moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly in form of cheese and yogurt), moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of meat and meat products. The pyramid below could explain it better.

Though the name is Mediterranean Diet, this eating habit was firstly named by an exile from Modena, Italy, named Giacomo Castelvetro. He was saved by the British Ambassador from the inquisition in Venice and brought to England. After living in his saviour country for 3 years, he was horrified by the British eating habit; a high amount of red  meat and sweets (yeah..no wonder my friend in UK once said that Adele's size is considerably medium size...sorry fellow Britain people..no hard feelings). He tried to persuade the England people to eat more fruit and vegetables as he always enjoyed in his home country. This effort led to the release of his book in 1614, the first `bible` of Mediterranean Diet: "A Brief Account of Fruit, Herbs, and Vegetables of Italy". This book doesn't only contain delightful recipes, but also lots of gardening tips; all organized by the seasons. If you want to try it, there is a newer translation by Gillian Riley in 1989. 

Hundreds of years later, the Mediterranean still faces the struggle to be adapted in England diet. In fact, the England diet history is filled with lots of transformers. Health professionals are still facing resistance from patients unwilling to change their diet, mostly due to cultural and psychological needs. 

This struggle also happens in USA, the country with high historical legacy from England. As the so called junk foods destroying the national health, the nutritionists desperately trying to change the view of food of the Americans. They even dare to  conduct a long-term study of the 400,000 men and women participating in the U.S. National Institutes of Health–AARP Diet and Health Study. It was found that participants with eating patterns most closely matched to the Mediterranean diet were about 20% less likely to have died of heart disease, cancer, or any cause over a five-year follow-up period.This result was highly convincing to the nutritionists to force the Americans to change their junky eating habit with a better one. But, to be honest... I don't think the efforts can be said 100% successful, though the numbers of health-conscious people are definitely increasing.

The most wonderful thing of this way of life (as so you know; diet comes from Greece diaeta, means way of life) is that..... It's been acknowledge by UNESCO as one of World's Intangible Cultural Heritage on November 19th, 2010. As the UNESCO announced: "The Mediterranean diet (encompasses more than just food. It promotes social interaction, since communal meals are the cornerstone of social customs and festive events. It has given rise to a considerable body of knowledge, songs, maxims, tales and legends."

So, will you follow the legacy?

BDC #21 - Kizhi Pogost: A World Heritage surrounded in magnificence

My desire to travel around the world is not fulfilled yet, but I still can increase my knowledge by not-stop digging. Since the internet turns into one big encyclopedia, we would never running out topics. In this post, I would like to introduce to you guys, one of the most stunning world heritage that I've put in my must-visit-checklists. 

Kizhi Pogost (Кижский Погост), is a historical site announced as one of the world heritage by UNESCO in 1990. It's located in Kizhi Island, one of islands in the Lake Onega, Republic of Karelia, Russian Federation. 

If you are curious enough, here I gave you guys some pictures of the beautiful heritage.  

(I don't own any of these pictures)

 

 

As you can see, this is a beautiful ortodox church. This church was built around the 16th century and said was rebuilt on the same site after destroyed by a lightning in 1693. The highly remarkable thing is that this building has been standing for over 300 years aside the fact it's completely made out of wood, include all the nails and joining. WOOD!!!!! Can you believe it??!!

Basically, there are two main buildings of this church complex; The Church of Transfiguration (Церковь Преображения Господня) and The Church of Intercession (Покровская церковь).

The Church of Transfiguration, also called the Summer Church, is might be the famous part of this church. It's not heated, means it will be super freezing cold during Artic winter, thus it doesn't held any service during winter. That's how it got its Summer Church title. The church has 22 domes and with a height of 37 meters is one of the tallest wooden buildings of the Russian North. Its perimeter is 20×29 meters. All structures were made of scribe-fitted horizontal logs, with interlocking corner joinery — either round notch or dovetail — cut by axes. The basis of the structure is the octahedral frame with four two-stage side attachments. Two smaller octagons of similar shape are mounted on top of the main octagon. The structure is covered in 22 domes of different size and shape, which run from the top to the sides. The refectory is covered with a three-slope roof. The iconostasis has four levels (четырёхъярусный) and contains 102 icons. It is dated to the second half of the 18th – early 19th century. The icons are from three periods: the two oldest icons, "The Transfiguration" ( Преображение) and "Pokrov" (Покров) are from the late 17th century and are typical of the northern style. The central icons are from the second half of the 18th century and are also of the local style. Most icons of the three upper tiers are of the late 18th century, brought from various parts of Russia.

   

Inner part of the Church of Transfiguration

The Church of the Intercession is a heated, thus we get our winter church. Services are held from October 1 until Easter. The church was the first on the island after the lightning put it on fire in 1693 destroyed all previous churches. It was first built in 1694 as a single-dome structure, then reconstructed in 1720–1749 and in 1764 rebuilt into its present 9-dome design as an architectural echo of the main Transfiguration Church. It's still a smaller and simpler structure, compare to the Summer Church. It stands 32 meters tall with a 26×8 meter perimeter. There are nine domes, one larger in the center, surrounded by eight smaller ones. Decoration is scant. A high single-part porch leads into the four interior parts of the church. As in the Transfiguration Church, the altar is placed in the eastern part shaped as a pentagon. The original iconostasis was replaced at the end of the 19th century and is lost; it was rebuilt in the 1950s to the original style.

Now, do you desire to see the world more?

BDC #20 - The Aksumite Empire: The Lost-unwellknown-Great Empire

Have you ever heard of The Aksumite Empire? Do you know where is it?

Well, try to look at this map, could you recognize the location?

 

Anybody?

Oh, I see somebody raises her hand over there....What? Ethiopia?

YUP!!! You are right!!

The Kingdom of Aksum or The Aksumite Empire existed around 700BC-900AD. It played a very high role in the commerce between Roman Empire and Ancient India. 

Aksum Chronology

• Pre-Aksumite ~700-400 BC - 16 known sites, including: Kidane Mehret, Hwalti, Melka, LP56 
• Proto-Aksumite ~400-50 BC - 34 Sites: Bieta Giyorgis, Ona Nagast
• Early Aksumite ~50 BC-AD 150 - 130 Sites: Mai Agam, TgLM 143, Matara
• Classic Aksumite ~AD 150-400/450 - 110 Sites: LP 37, TgLM 98, Kidane Mehret
• Middle Aksumite ~AD 400/450-550 - 40 Sites: Kidane Mehret
• Late Aksumite ~AD 550-700 - 30 Sites: Kidane Mehret
• Post-Aksumite after ~AD 700 - 76 Sites: Maryam Sion

The earliest monumental architecture indicating the beginnings of the polity of Aksum firstly identified at Bieta Giyorgis hill, near the modern Aksum city. It possibly began about 400 BC (the Proto-Aksumite period). There, archaeologists have also found several elite tombs and some administrative artifacts. The settlement pattern points out the societal complexity, with a large elite cemetery located on the hilltop, and small scattered settlements below. The first monumental building with semi-subterranean rectangular rooms is Ona Nagast, a building that continued in importance through the Early Aksumite period.

The Proto-Aksumite burials were just some simple pit graves covered with platforms and marked with pointed stones, pillars or flat slabs between 2-3 meters high. By the end of proto-Aksumite period, the tombs were elaborated pit-graves, with more grave goods and stelae. These monoliths were 4-5 meters high, with a notch in the top.

 

During their glory, The Aksumite Empire extended across most of present-day Eritrea, Ethiopia, Western Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The capital city of the empire was Aksum, which still exist as a modern city now in northern Ethiopia. 

In the 3rd century, Aksum began interfering in South Arabian affairs, even took control over the western Tihama region among other areas. It managed to dominate states on the Arabian Peninsula across the Red Sea, making them pay a regular tribute to the Empire. By the late 3rd century it had begun minting its own currency and was named as one of the four great powers of his time along with Persia, Rome, and China. 

They converted to Christianity in around 320 BC under King Ezana and was the first state ever in the world to use the image of the cross on its coins. 

 

Aksum remained a strong empire and trading power until the rise of Islam in the Arabic region in 7th century. Unlike the relations between the Islamic powers and Christian Europe, during that time, The Empire even provided shelter to The Great Prohet Muhammad's early followers around 615. They were considerably on good terms with their Islamic neighbors. Unfortunately, as early as 640, Umar ibn al-Khattāb sent a naval expedition against Adulis under Alkama bin Mujazziz, but it was eventually defeated. This invasion began the decline scenario of the Empire, though in 702 Aksumite pirates were able to invade the Hejaz and occupy Jeddah. Reacting to this lost, in retaliation, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik was able to take the Dahlak Archipelago from Aksum, which became Muslim from that point on, though later recovered in the 9th century and vassal to the Emperor of Ethiopia.

In the end, the Islamic Empire managed to take control of the Red Sea and most of the Nile, forcing Aksum into economic isolation. Northwest of Aksum in modern day Sudan, the Christian states of Maqurra and Alwa lasted till the 13th century before becoming Islamic. Though Aksum, since it was isolated, still remained Christian.

After a second golden age in the early 6th century, the empire began to decline, eventually ceasing its production of coins in the early 7th century. Nearly in the same time, the Aksumite population was forced to go farther inland to the highlands for protection. Local history holds that a Jewish Queen named Yodit (Judith) or "Gudit" defeated the empire and burned its churches and literature, though her existence has been questioned by some modern authors. 

Who knows, that a country who is identical with struggle through the modern era was once considered one of the biggest 4 Empire during their time?

Now you know ^^

 

The Tale of a Boy in a Coffee Shop #33

It was another new day. The day had become humidly hot, and everybody started to complaint over the weather. The young boy finally took over his body from the long fever. However, the weather didn't make him comfortable to play outside, though it had been quite sometime for him. He dragged himself lazily to the coffee shop. He stared at the door. He didn't even have enough energy to push the lever

"Hello, boy. Come in?" The young lady came behind him and was ready to push the door. The young boy nodded his head weakly. He dragged his two legs heavily inside the coffee shop. 

Inside, the room was a lot more clement. The wind blew from the kitchen through the entrance door. The young boy put his butt on top of one of the high chairs in front of the bar. He put his head on the table, enjoying the sudden cold of the marble stone covering the table.

"Do you want something? coffee?" The young lady shouted weakly from the kitchen.

"No, water is enough, thanks." 

The young lady paused. She definitely didn't expect for the young boy to reply her nicely. The fever DID do something on him, she thought. She brought 2 glasses of cold water and put it on the table, one for each.

"Where is the owner?"

"She will come soon. She went to the cemetery this morning. She said, one of her old friends passed away, and she paid for a last visit."

The young boy played with his glass, "I wonder, how does it feel to lose someone really close to you?"

"Someone really close? It hurts of course. But, we have to let it go."

"How do we let it go?"

The young boy just recovered from the fever, but indeed, he was still the curious boy.  

 

 

BDC #19 - Somatotypes: Understand it better for a better diet

Are you under a heavy diet or a heavy muscles train? Do you feel like your progress is extremely slow compare to the others? OR... are you actually envious towards those people who seems can't get anybody weight, no matter how many food they swallowed? OR for those who are to skinny, are you yearning for some tones on your muscles? 

Before we continue, look at this picture

 

The picture above should give a crude idea about what we are going to discuss about. It's telling about Somatotype. It is a system, developed by W.H. Sheldon (c.1940), to classified the body types in to three extremes. The name of the types in somatotype are referred to the three common name of the germ layers; ecto, meso, and endo. By adding the word -morph, as derived from morphology, there we get our three somatotype.

Sheldon evaluated the degree a body type was present on a 1 to 7 scale where 1 is the minimum and 7 is the maximum.

All people is made up of the three extreme body types; so we are all part endomorph, part mesomorph and part ectomorph. Using a score of one to seven, we can grade our bodies on each of the extreme body types. e.g. two, six, three means: two (low endomorphy); six (high mesomorphy); three (low ectomorphy). In this way, we can compare our body type with that of other people. This method of body typing is known as somatotyping - height is not taken into consideration.

But, what is the real benefit of knowing and understanding our somatotype? Based on Sheldon, there is no such a word of not-athletic enough. We can do some sports, build our bodies to the fittest, as long as we understand our body. By understanding this somatotype, we can optimize our work out to gain the best balance of muscles and fat (oh yeah...we DO still need some fat). And also, we can find the best sport for us by taking advantage of body type. What I mean is like, are you seriously thinking of taking body building as your career when you are actually the skinny-type? 

So, what are they actually? Let's take a look. (thanks a lot to this link) 

Endomorph

Endomorph (7-1-1) A pear shaped body A rounded head Wide hips and shoulders Wider front to back rather than side to side. A lot of fat on the body, upper arms and thighs

An endomorphic individual typically has short arms and legs and a large amount of mass on their frame. Their mass usually hinder their ability to compete in sports requiring high levels of agility or speed and perform sustained weight bearing aerobic activities such as running (though of course there are some exceptions). Sports of pure strength, like power lifting, are perfect for an endomorph. They can gain weight easily and lose condition quickly if training stops.

Sports Benefits

• Size benefits sports such as rugby where bulk is useful, provided it can be moved powerfully
• Tend to have large lung capacity which can make them suited to sports such as rowing
• They definitely can increase muscle mass much more easily than ectomorphs

Mesomorph

Mesomorph (1-7-1) A wedge shaped body A cubical head Wide broad shoulders Muscled arms and legs Narrow hips Narrow from front to back rather than side to side. A minimum amount of fat

A mesomorphic individual usually excels in strength, agility, and speed. Their medium structure and height, along with their tendency to gain muscle and strength easily makes them a strong candidate for a top athlete in nearly any sport (OK, I hear some jealous booo). They can sustain low body fat levels and find it easy to lose and gain weight.

Sports Benefits

• Respond well to cardiovascular and resistance training
• Can sustain low body fat levels
• All muscle groups can be used to derive positive training adoption
• Dependent on the sports' needs they can easily gain or lose weight

Ectomorph

Ectomorph (1-1-7) A high forehead Receding chin Narrow shoulders and hips A narrow chest and abdomen Thin arms and legs Little muscle and fat

A predominantly, ectomorphic individual is long, slender and thin; and therefore power and strength sports are perhaps not suitable as their slight build leaves them highly susceptible to injuries. While they can easily get lean and hard, their lack of musculature severely limits their chances in sports requiring body mass. Ectomorphs usually dominate endurance sports and gymnastics (though some skinny friends I know are not that flexible). They can archive low levels of body fat which can be detrimental to health. BEWARE for females in endurance sports, it can result in a cessation of periods and iron deficiency.

Sports Benefits

• Light frame makes them suited for aerobic activity like gymnastics
• Smaller body surface area also enhances their suitability for endurance activity
• Their body is better at thermo-regulation, important in endurance based sports

SO, what is your somatotype? Is it match with your favorite sports?

The Tale of a Boy in a Coffee Shop #32

"Lunch?" The boy looked at the young lady, nearly dropped his spoon.

"Why? Is it really that shocking for your mother inviting a guest for lunch?" She closed the book in front of her.

"Your mother is not a total stranger to me, you know? She was a student of my mother. I knew her since I was a kid."

The boy looked interested with the new fact. He put his spoon and placed the bowl on his drawer beside the bed. "So, you know my mother?"

"Maybe to be exact, I knew your mother. It's been more than 8 years since the last time I met her. I can't really say I know her now, right?"

"Hem, you might be true. So, tell me more, about my mother being your mother's student, I mean."

The young lady took a glance at the young boy, then she reopened the book on the last page she read. The awkward silence floated for a while, but the young boy waited patiently. He knew he shouldn't rush it. 

"Well, it wasn't much. My mother opened a free-class, teaching some youngsters in our neighbourhood about farming, dairy product and processing, and how to manage small money. It was her idealism to help the youngsters to have some knowledge to survive the war."

"I see. No wonder she is so good, though our family farm is definitely not big."

Suddenly the door was knocked several times and opened. "The lunch is ready. Lynn, come join me. It's not fun to eat alone, and we have years to catch up," the lady smiled nicely to the young lady.

"Sure. I also miss your cooking," she looked at the boy, "See you at the shop, boy. Get well soon."

"Are you satisfied with my environment?"

"Very," then the young lady closed the door.

 

BDC #18 - Proprioception: helps you to locate your body part in the dark

After reading these sentence, try to do it.

Close your eyes, and touch your nose, your ears, your eyebrows, your elbow, your knee. Can you locate it right? Now, still by closing your eyes, ask your friend to touch your body part, and try to tell, which part they touched you. Can you recognize it right?

You would say, "Of course, how could I mistake my own body?" 

Then, what is the thing that actually helps you to recognize your own body part? 

It is called Proprioception, derived from the Latin words proprius means "own's body" and perception. In difficult words, it is defined as the unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself.

It is commonly know that there are five common senses that are discussed and learned from an early age: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. The conscious part of the brain is very aware of these senses. It voluntarily and automatically checks all the necessary information obtained by these senses in order to experience the environment. However, there are other equally important sensory systems set up that are essential for normal body functioning, but these are not so easily recognized by the conscious part of the brain, because the nervous system keeps the input unconscious. This is where the proprioception plays it part. Proprioception, can also referred as the sixth sense (not realted to magical things, OK), was developed by the nervous system to keep in track the unconscious input and control the different parts of the body. 

An example that enables one to best understand this sensory system is one showing what happens if this sensory system is no longer there. Ian Waterman lost his sixth sense along with the ability to feel light touch when a virus killed the necessary nerves. He still has all the nerves to control muscle movement but totally has no feedback from the outside world about where his limbs were except that obtained by sight. A normal person is able to move a finger, knowing where and what the finger is doing, with little effort. Without proprioception, the brain cannot feel what the finger is doing, and the process must be carried out in more conscious and calculated steps. The person must use vision to compensate for the lost feedback on the progress of the finger; and the conscious brain must voluntarily and consciously tell the finger what to do while watching the feedback   

 There are two important components of proprioception. The first one is Kinesthesia; is the awareness of the position and movement of the parts of the body using sensory organs, which are known as proprioceptors (receptors for proprioception), in joints and muscles. The second one is Joint Position Sense (JPS), which helps to determine the accuracy of joint–angle replication. These two factors work together to build our proprioception. Kinesthesia is a key component in muscle memory and hand-eye coordination, and training can improve this sense; meanwhile JPS helps to locate our own body part to balance the reaction of the sense in muscles.

With the sense of proprioception, our lives are made less complicated, and we are given the ability to learn and utilize many movement patterns freeing the conscious brain to focus awareness on new tasks and thoughts.

So, appreciate our instinct and reflexes more !!!

 

BDC #17 - Chi-Rho: one of earliest symbols in Christianity

 

Have you guys seen this symbol before? I believe most of Christian ever seen this symbol in the church. Without any mean to bring a religion issue, here I would to try to explore simply about the symbol. I hope there is nobody will feel insulted or anything else.

I have been a Christian for the whole of my age, but never once before I questioned the meaning of this symbol. To be honest, it always looks strange to me, but I never bothered. But last month (yeah...sorry for being absent for 2 weeks) I read a nice Biblical Archeology magazine and was very moved. I always read this symbol as 'XP' or 'PX'. At first, I always correlated X with crucifixion of Jesus, I couldn't linked the 'P' with anything. What is 'P'?!

It turns out that instead of big letter P, it is read as 'Rho' from the Greek letters. The big letter X is read as Chi, thus it becomes Chi-Rho (XP). Then, how does it relate with Christianity? It turns out that these Chi-Rho are the first 2-letters of Christ in Greek, which is "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" (I couldn't read any Greek, but it looks like 'Cristos' to my eyes. Probably I just correlated it with the spelling of Christ in my mother language which is 'Kristus'). Those people who created this symbol, combined these two letters in such a way to create a monogram. 

Chi-Rho is not only one symbol in Christianity. Chi-Rho is also known as the 'Labarum'. It's a vexillum (military standard) firstly used by The Roman Emperor, Constantine I, after receiving his famous vision before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312. The Emperor stated that he was given a vision of heavenly sign as a shield for his soldiers. Eusebius, Roman historian, who became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314, said that he had heard the story of the vision from the emperor himself. After serial ponder of misfortune, seeking help from various gods and failed, The Emperor decided to ask the One God. He then looked up to the sun and saw a cross of light above it, and with it the Greek words Ἐν Τούτῳ Νίκα, means "By This, conquer." 

Afterwards, the Chi-Rho became one of popular symbols to describe divinity.    

    

The Tale of a Boy in a Coffee Shop #31

"I am curious. What kind of home you grew up," She started to move around the room.

It wasn't a fancy room. Just a simple room which was common during that time. She could see lots of books filled up the small bookshelf beside the windows. There were even some difficult books that she could recognise. 

"I honestly didn't expect that you are literate, since you don't go to school. Have you finished reading all of these?" She walked closer to the bookshelf and touch the books, feeling the covers one by one by her fingertips. 

"Most of them," the boy answered nonchalantly, he didn't even take a single glance to the young lady.  

The young lady picked a book and started reading it from the middle. She walked to the sofa and sat there. The boy noticed the sudden silent and lifted up his head from his soup. 

"What are you doing?"

The young lady lifted up her eyes from the book but immediately continued reading, "Reading. Can't you see it?"

"That's not what I meant. I asked you earlier why did you take a trouble to come here only to deliver some soup and pies. And now, instead of going back to the shop to help the owner, you are staying here and start reading book." He raised his voice a little, sounded impatient.

"I never thought you are quite a hot-blooded boy. Well, we don't open the shop today, actually. After your father came for the blueberries, Granny Lisda went to meet her old friend. That's why I am the one delivering the soup and pies instead of Granny."

The young boy calmed down with the answer.

"Besides, your mother asked me to join her lunch."

The boy suddenly moved his eyes to the young lady once again, surprised.