Gatenka dot com » Health

The Benefits of Insurance

Gat — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:03:33 +0000

Right, it’s been a couple of days since my last update, and I’m rather busy of late, so I think I might try making this as short as possible.

So here’s the thing; insurance. But before I go on, a reminder: Our dear 5th granduncle passed away peacefully last night. He was 88. A prosperous number to pass on, in my opinion. On one hand, it’s a little sad that I won’t be seeing him around anymore (Mum still refers to him and our 8th grandaunt as the “old people”. Funny how that works, since Mum’s approaching her 60th birthday next year). On the other hand, in retrospect, Dad’s side of the family hasn’t exactly been much of importance to Mum, hence all her griping and the like. She went on to whine about the terms of burial, the entire cost of the funeral, etc. May he rest well until his next life.

Anyway, back to the point, insurance. Our 5th granduncle, nor our 8th grandaunt for that matter, possessed any insurance of any sort. Sure, bank account balances are there, but how much of a bank balance would one need to actually pay off one’s hospital bills, especially those which cost tens of thousands, eh? I guess, unless one has the amount worthy of calling himself or herself a millionaire, nobody is ever free of the rising cost of health care these days (though in retrospect, the medical industry should actually stop charging a few hundred percent extra for their damn drugs just because they probably mixed up some cocktail with a bunch of placebos and other nonsense that claims to “keep at bay”. Whatever.

Again, I’m ranting off sideways again. So, I recently purchased some insurance under Great Eastern through my cousin’s husband (and funnily enough, I never recalled actually being asked about whether I actually DO need it. Great, there goes Mum and her wild assumptions again). So, after a 30-minute session, with him explaining all the intricate little details and the like, we got to the purchasing part.

Well, being a guy in the insurance sales line, he bragged on about how great his policy was, that covered him up till almost a million (lifetime payout though, of course). As with most people my age, unfortunately, we rarely see the importance of insurance until we’re in our 30s or 40s, when we start having all sorts of ailments and diseases that we could barely afford to treat, aside from our car installments, our house mortgage / installments, credit card bills, utilities, and so on. Right, I guess in the long run, insurance policies really are a good investment, that is, if you can afford it, of course.

On one hand, it was a little relieving, not having to undergo the entire process of having to meet up with some other agent and going through the whole “eye-contact-I-stare-at-you-and-your-mouth-while-you-blab-the-whole-nine-yards” situation, and just cutting to the chase to get my insurance. On the other hand, it’s RM150 a month. That’s a whole bloody RM1,800 a year. Okay, okay, so it’s not such a small issue to some, yet… I was actually hoping to get my insurance a little later, when I’m actually, individually, financially stable at last.

Long story short, I’m covered by my insurance should I ever end up wanting to break a leg. Or an arm. Or my neck. At the least, covered until I run out of money. As with most annoying situations, it usually concerns the monetary value in some way or another. Great. Just. Effing. Great.

How To Cook Instant Noodles (Properly)

Gat — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:41:30 +0000

Normally, we cook the instant noodles by putting the noodles into a pot with water, throw in the powder and let it cook for 3 minutes. Allegedly, this is the wrong method of cooking the instant noodles.

By doing this, when we actually boil the ingredients in the powder, normally with MSG, it will change the molecular structures of the MSG
causing it to be toxic. The other thing that you may or may not realized is that, the noodles are coated with wax and it will take around 4 to 5 days for the body to excrete the wax after you have taken the noodles.

So the correct method, which you may or may not know, is to cook the noodles this way:

Boil the noodles in a pot with water.

Once the noodles are cooked, take out the noodles, and throw away the water which contains wax.

Boil another pot of water till it’s boiling and put the noodles into the hot boiling water and shut the fire.

At this stage; when the fire is off, and while the water is very hot, put the ingredients into the water, to make
noodle soup.

However, if you’re making a dry dish instead, take out the noodles and add the ingredients and toss it to get your dry instant noodles.

Hope this piece of information is of importance to your health in relation to eating instant noodles.

Cheers. :)

Cotton Bud Ear Cleaner

Gat — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:38:09 +0000

Right, so we all know that using cotton buds to clean our ears out is perfectly fine, right? Not really. If used just a couple of times, it’s fine. But in the long run, it could actually cause deafness. After prolonged use of cotton buds, otologists; or rather, otolaryngologist, may have to use special equipment to remove any dirt whatsoever that remains very deep in the ear as a result of using cotton buds.

To summarize long articles into a simple one, doctors advise that cotton buds were never invented to clean ear canals, but to clean superficial items or just surface wounds and to apply medicine. Small pieces or particles on the cotton bud tend to remain in the ear canal and that gives opportunity for bacteria to breed and by using a cotton bud, the dirt in the ear is actually being thrust further into the ear canal, hindering its self-clearing process. Some people tend to thrust the cotton bud very deep into the ear and this may result in the damage of the ear drum and a operation may be needed to correct the problem.

Doctors advise to use olive oil, just one or two drops into the ear once a month and the ear will actually cleanse itself, thereafter to use a tissue paper to clean just the outermost part of the ear.

Last but not least, as proof that this happens a lot not only globally, but also back home here in Malaysia, an abstract from a medical journal.

Therefore, today you have learned, just because you have an itch in your ear, or have some excuse for doing it,

This. Is. BAD.

Even if you get a lot of this.

How To Identify A Stroke

Gat — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:41:22 +0000

It only takes a minute to read this, so just take a moment to read this little piece of info. It could save a life.

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke entirely. However, it is mentioned that the trick was to get a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the 3 steps, S.T.R.

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S – Ask the individual to SMILE.

T – Ask the person to TALK, i.e. to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Must be coherent) (e.g. We have good weather today).

R – Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

Additional note:
Here’s another possible identification of a stroke; ask the person to stick out his or her tongue. If the tongue looks crooked, (i.e. if it hangs to one side) it may also be an indication of a stroke.

Water Versus Coke

Gat — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:13:38 +0000

Was running through some old e-mails, and figured that these would make for interesting reading material:

WATER

75% of people are chronically dehydrated.
In 37% of people, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
Even MILD dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.
One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of dieters.
Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Now, let’s compare that to our favorite soft drink, shall we?

COKE

In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.
To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the “real thing” sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days.
Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use Hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of their trucks for about 20 years.

No, this isn’t some article to discourage people from drinking Coke, it’s just some info to ponder upon.

On another note though, I’d rather just have a glass of teh tarik. :)