Keshav’s power of imagination

This is a drawing made by my five year old nephew, Keshav, for my husband’s birthday. In the picture he has drawn himself, his little sister Vittu and our baby boy, Svanik. Along with them there is a Rhino. There is a love sign in red and lines of different colors depicting the rainbow. He described each character in the drawing with intense emotion and excitement.

Children-Oh Well! They can be so imaginative and creative!

- Shephali

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Sweet memories

A few days back my niece came over to my place. Seeing her revives a few memories of my childhood. I remember, when I was little, I often went to visit my maternal uncle with my parents during vacations. One of my maternal uncle adored me so much that he composed a song and sang it for me. Today I have grown out of my childhood. Watching my niece jump and play, the words of his song came to my lips…

Lovely little darling,
Dance and sing!
Lovely little sweetling,
Laugh and zing!

- Shephali

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Flat surface?

A laptop abandoned?! Oh no, this is a drawing. As it can be seen, that this piece of drawing is on the sidewalk, so obviously it is on a flat surface! Well, a friend of mine sent this picture to me. It is unbelievable and amazing piece of art!

- Shephali

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Aspirin - beyond heart

Recently I went through an interesting article on Aspirin by Family Medicine Notes. It recounts the history behind the revelation of Aspirin, a prototype of NSAIDS (Non Steroidal anti-Inflammatory Drugs). I was really unaware of the late findings of its uses. Well it seems that this drug can do more wonders than expected. Every time a study is done for its utility limits, it crosses the boundary. What more do we want from this drug? It is known for its actions as a pain reliever, an anti-inflammatory, and an antipyretic. Its antiplatelet effect preventing heart attacks and strokes is the most important one. And now the study shows it can be used for preventing breast cancer and colorectal cancer also!

Aspirin can have serious side effects, including stomach ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding and brain hemorrhage. (NYTimes)

Despite it’s serious side effects, contribution of aspirin is quite consequential to be ignored. Needless to say we have to weigh the benefits and uses against the risks. A simple drug like Aspirin, also called Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), has so much yet to give but it still needs more study and clinical trials before entering as a drug with multitude attributes.

- Shephali

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For the 23rd of may

- Shephali

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An unforgettable day

I became a member of Santa Clara library and spent my time reading books in it’s quiet environment. I commuted by bus and did that almost five days a week. An incident happened on one of those days that till today I remember.

It was a nice day, sun retiring from it’s assigned job. Sitting on the wooden bench I was waiting for my bus, number 58, to take me home from my visit to the library. I was killing my time looking at the passing vehicles. Out of the blue a short old lady comes near me. She had a hunch back, thick glasses over her fragile nose, a heavy bag on her drooping shoulder and a wooden stick in her hand. She sat on the bench looking exhausted, reclining a little, making herself comfortable. I looked at her from the corner of my eyes and estimated her age to be about seventy-five or may be eighty. I assumed she was also waiting for her bus.

Few minutes passed and I heard a soft voice near my ears…can you tell me the bus route to the library. I looked at her, this time straight into her eyes. She had a very kind face and a smile that tried to keep up with her wrinkled skin. I returned a warm smile and then explained to her that the bus to the library will stop on the other side of the road and would be there in a few minutes. Her eyes twinkled and thanking me she rushed towards the pedestrian crossing. I looked at her shuffling gait and then smiled to myself thinking of her sweetness.

Then suddenly I heard a screeching sound of the tires of a vehicle. I looked up, and to my horror I saw a car just stop within inches of that old lady. The old lady didn’t have the patience to wait for the green signal for crossing the other side of the road. Anyway, by Gods grace she was saved. She finally crossed and reached the other side of the road. Her face was expressionless as if nothing had happened. Well for me it was terrifying! I thought what if the car wouldn’t have stopped? She could have got hurt or may be worse. Would I have been responsible for it in some way? Did I know the woman so much in a few minutes of observation that I felt so much for her? I looked across the street. A bus was standing hooting to start for it’s next destination. When the bus was gone the old lady had gone too leaving a strange feeling in my heart and an unforgettable day in my life.

- Shephali

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Iron linked to Memory!

Iron deficiency anemia is caused mostly by increased blood loss from the body. Blood loss can be of two types. It may be gastrointestinal or menstrual. Other causes are urinary blood loss, mal-absorption, hemolysis and poor oral intake. Women are more prone to develop iron deficiency anemia because of blood loss through menstruation or reduced oral intake.

Women in the Penn State study who were iron-deficient performed significantly worse on memory and attention tests than healthy women, and an iron supplement was all it took to correct the problem.

This can be very crucial in young women as theirs is an age when so many things are happening inside and outside them. So young women should be alarmed and try eating iron rich food. Check out Iron Rich Food for Iron Deficiency Anemia for choosing your diet. A tip for ensuring a better assimilation of iron in the body is to take in vitamin C rich food along with iron. Vitamin C (Ascorbic) acid helps in better absorption of iron from our intestine.

- Shephali

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Copay or Nopay

May 19th, 2004, Viewed: 188 times

There is a need to make a reasonable co-payment plan in healthcare costs. Numerous studies have found that the rise of co-payment may have unforeseen implications on patient’s healthcare that require further understanding. Patients will cut back on prescription drugs and this may aggravate their disease leading to complications.

…simply raising drug co-pays across the board is a fairly blunt instrument in the effort to control rising health-care costs. In the long term, some worry that tactic could actually increase health-care costs for certain patients, if cutting back on medicine leads to expensive complications.

Well, I really think that increasing the copay may actually have a negative impact on chronic diseases. Anyway, the question that arises in my mind is that why do we need to pay a copay. Already there is so much copay for a doctors visit and insurance charges. There should be some other altenative to fix this problem in health care industry.

- Shephali

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