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Love, Diamonds and Chocolates on Valentine’s Day

"Lovers walking" along the waterfront near Belem Tower, Lisbon, Portugal. (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)
"Lovers walking" along the waterfront near Belem Tower, Lisbon, Portugal. (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)

Christmas is over. New year’s celebrations are over. Business has slowed down. Now comes Valentine’s Day. That should energize people again. It’s time to buy chocolates, diamonds and go out for a romantic dinner. What happens after that is anybody’s guess.

Saint Valentine’s Day, also known as Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year.

St. Valentine’s Day began as a celebration after the names of early Christian saints named Valentinus. According to Wikipedia, the day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Now we are into 21st century. The tradition goes on. The association of Valentine’s Day with love and affection is immense. We need that in this troubled world. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”, says Ryan O’Neal’s character at the end of the movie “Love Story.”

That brings me to the association of chocolate and diamonds with Valentine’s Day. I don’t know how that happened. But we know one thing – chocolates and diamonds are a woman’s best friends. Is that healthy? Well, diamonds don’t hurt anybody. But chocolates – depends what kind of chocolate you eat.

We have been eating chocolates for a long time. The earliest evidence of use traces to the Mokaya (Mexico and Guatemala), with evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BC.

An average North American consumes about five to six kilograms of chocolate a year. Did you know 40 per cent of world’s almonds, 20 per cent of world’s peanuts and eight per cent of world’s sugar is used by chocolate manufacturers? No wonder too much chocolate is fattening.

There are three varieties of chocolates: dark, milk and white chocolate. Chocolate liquor is the main ingredient in dark and milk chocolate and white chocolate has no chocolate liquor.

Many studies have suggested moderate intake of chocolate (especially dark chocolate) is good for our heart and vascular system. This is surprising because chocolate contains about 30 per cent saturated fat. Saturated fat is known to raise bad cholesterol level. But chocolate has saturated fat, which is poorly absorbed in the intestine. That is good news for chocolate lovers. Chocolate can also improve blood flow and reduces blood pressure.

Besides being fattening, chocolate can cause dental caries. What about chocolate addiction, chocolate acne and chocolate migraine? There isn’t much scientific evidence to prove any of that. So once in awhile you can enjoy your chocolate.

Remember, there are two food groups: chocolate and fruit. If it is fruit, it should be dipped in chocolate. Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. Make love, not war.

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Measles is a Highly Contagious Viral Infection of the Respiratory Tract

Cacti on a golf course in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)
Cacti on a golf course in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)

Measles is making bad news. It seems to have started in Disneyland. A place where kids go for fun. How ironic and sad. And it has spread to several states in the U.S.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, 50 people from six states were reported to have had measles in the first two weeks of this month. Most of these cases are part of a large, ongoing outbreak linked to Disneyland in California.

According to CBS news (January 22, 2015), at least 75 people have now been infected with measles virus. The California public health officials are urging those who haven’t been vaccinated against the disease, including children too young to be immunized, to avoid Disney theme parks.

Age of people infected ranges from seven months to 70 years old, including five Disneyland workers.

Measles spreads through the air through coughing and sneezing. It starts with a fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, and sore throat, and is followed by a rash that spreads all over the body. About three out of 10 people who get measles will develop one or more complications including pneumonia, ear infections, or diarrhea. Complications are more common in adults and young children.

Alberta had a measles outbreak last year. On April 29, 2014, Alberta Health Services declared a measles outbreak in the Calgary, Central and Edmonton Zones of Alberta Health Services (AHS). By July, AHS declared the outbreak to be over.

The best way to prevent measles is to have Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) Vaccine. All health care workers should be vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine. Health care workers are at greater risk of measles infection than the general population because they provide care for ill individuals. A recent review concluded that health care workers were 13 to 19 times more likely to develop measles than other adults.

MMR vaccine is highly effective at preventing measles. One dose is 85-95 per cent effective and the effectiveness of two doses approaches 100 per cent. Two doses provide long-lasting immunity. The vaccines are very safe.

Measles was eradicated by year 2000 because of vaccination. But the virus has made a comeback in recent years, in part because of people obtaining “personal belief exemptions” from rules that say children must get their shots to enroll in school. Others still believe in now-discredited research linking the measles vaccine to autism.

Who started the current outbreak? Should we blame people who refuse to get vaccinated because they believe it is harmful to their children? Apparently, a small number of those stricken had been fully vaccinated. It is also reported the outbreak was triggered by a measles-stricken visitor to one of the Disney parks who brought the virus from abroad last month.

Coughing and sneezing spreads the highly contagious virus. Deaths are caused by complications associated with the disease. Complications are more common in children under the age of five or adults over the age of 20.

There is no specific antiviral treatment. Mostly symptomatic treatment is provided for symptoms and complications. The measles vaccine has been in use for 50 years. It is safe, effective and inexpensive. It costs approximately one U.S. dollar to immunize a child against measles. And it saves lives.

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Exposure to Asbestos Leads to Many Health Problems

A beautiful view of the Canadian Rockies. (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)
A beautiful view of the Canadian Rockies. (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)

This is my 600th column and 19th year of writing What’s up doc? How time flies when you are having fun. So, here we are in 2015. Let me wish you a Happy New Year. It is never too late to wish happiness to anybody at any time of the year.

We will start the year discussing a condition that is not so common now. But there are people who are suffering and if we are not careful then more people will be affected. People who are working in old buildings and construction sites.

I am talking about the risks of exposure to asbestos. Exposure to asbestos leads to many health problems including cancer called mesothelioma. Mesothelioma (also called malignant mesothelioma) is cancer that affects the protective lining that covers many of the internal organs of the body.

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked in jobs such as miners where they inhaled or ingested asbestos fibers, or were exposed to airborne asbestos dust and fibers in other ways.

Asbestos fibres are strong, durable and non-combustible. They were widely used by industry, mainly in construction and friction materials.

How much asbestos is in a product does not indicate its health risk. If the asbestos fibres are enclosed or tightly bound in a compound, there is no significant health risk. Asbestos poses health risks only when fibres are present in the air that people breathe.

One of the main problems with asbestos came from easily broken up asbestos used in buildings until the 1970s. People working in construction, maintenance or in the renovation of older buildings should be particularly careful.

Mesothelioma commonly affects the outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall, but it can also arise in the lining of the abdominal cavity, the sac that surrounds the heart, or the sac that surrounds the testis.

The symptoms of asbestos exposer or mesothelioma are shortness of breath due to fluid between the lung and the chest wall, chest wall pain and unexplained weight loss.

The diagnosis may be suspected based on chest X-ray and CT scan findings, but must be confirmed either by chest fluid examination and biopsy. Mesothelioma carries a poor prognosis. Treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery is not very effective.

Health Canada has encouraged provincial occupational health authorities to adopt stringent workplace exposure limits for asbestos. Use of asbestos is strictly regulated under the Hazardous Products Act.

More information can be obtained from various sources like Wikipedia, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Health Canada and mesothelioma.net. The mesothelioma.net support group provides patients with free resources, support, education, and referrals to experienced mesothelioma doctors. For more information contact: sharon@mesotheliomahope.net

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!

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Do We Have to Make a New Year’s Resolution?

Peace and tranquility for the New Year. (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)
Peace and tranquility for the New Year. (Dr. Noorali Bharwani)

The other day a friend said to me, “Every year I make a resolution to change myself. This year I am making a resolution to be myself.” Sounds pretty sensible to me.

Anyway, who started this idea of making a New Year’s resolution?

“A New Year’s resolution is a secular tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement, …” says an article in Wikipedia.

The ancient Babylonians and the Romans began each year by making promises to the gods. Similarly, there are many stories in the literature about other religious groups doing something significant in the New Year. The main goal is to reflect upon self-improvement on a yearly basis.

“At the end of the Great Depression, about a quarter of American adults formed New Year’s resolutions. At the start of the 21st century, about 40 per cent did,” says Wikipedia.

New Year’s Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It’s a time to reflect on the changes we want to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

Some of the common resolutions are: spend more time with family and friends, join a fitness club, lose weight, quit smoking, enjoy life more, quit drinking, get out of debt, learn something new, help others and get organized. Hmm…! How successful are you with resolutions?

A 2007 study from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88 per cent of those who set New Year resolutions fail. Men achieved their goal 22 per cent more often when they engaged in goal setting, something more specific than saying “lose weight.” Women succeeded 10 per cent more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.

One way to succeed in achieving your goal is to join a group with similar goals or have a friendly competition with a colleague or a family member.

Do we have to make a New Year’s resolution? Not really. Life goes on. Just be a nice person and keep smiling.

Have a wonderful happy New Year.

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!