Puteri’s World

NEW DELHI - A cell phone ring tone that sings “Condom, condom!” has been launched to promote safe sex in India, where condoms carry a strong social stigma and HIV and AIDS are growing problems, health experts said Tuesday.

The a cappella ring tone features a professional singer chanting the word condom more than 50 times, a playful approach that public health activists hope will spark discussion and make condoms more socially acceptable.

“We’ve made a conscious effort to move the concept of the condom away from negative association, like HIV and sex work,” said Yvonne MacPherson, country director of BBC World Service Trust India. “Condoms are actually health products and if you have a condom and you use it, you are seen to be smart and responsible.”

Full story here.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I will be downloading this ring tone even if it becomes available here!

If this public service ring tone helps and encourages people to use the condom more which in turn helps reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, I am not complaining! Download and use this ring tone by all means!

I love to do bead work, and recently I found that the weak reading glasses that I rely on for close work just don’t seem to be as helpful as before. That means I need to get myself a pair of slightly stronger reading glasses.

When it comes to my vision, I am resigned to the fact that as I grow older, I will need stronger and stronger reading glasses. I have not heard of any real natural solution for improving hyperopia (long-sightedness), that is, until I read the positive testimonials of people of have tried wearing pinhole glasses to improve their eyesight.

What’s that, you ask? My thoughts exactly when I first heard about the pinhole glasses! I mean, I have heard about eye exercises for strained eyes and even some exercises that are supposed to improve your vision problem but I have never heard of eyeglasses that do not even have glass lenses that can help improve your vision!

The way pinhole eyeglasses work is that they prevent light rays that come at extreme angles from reaching the pupil. That means only direct light rays reach the eyes thus minimizing distortions in the images that the eyes perceive and resulting in better definition and clarity of the objects that we see.

However, there are limitations to the pinhole glasses. You can’t wear them while driving because they severely restrict your peripheral vision, and while doing activities that require movements. They are also not suitable for people with refraction disorder of 6 diopters.

But they are great for stationary activities like watching TV, at the movie theaters, reading the blackboard in the classroom, and for working in front of the computer.

If the pinhole eyeglasses work as well as claimed by the people of have used them, I think I should try them for myself too. I hate the idea of having to rely on stronger reading glasses as the years go by!

When I saw that headline on the online version of the UK Telegraph, the first thing that came to my mind was, “Oh no, I hope I don’t have that disorder!”

When I read the story further the description of the person who had the disorder did not fit me.  Phew! According to the story, sufferers spend “unhealthy amounts of time playing online games, viewing pornography or emailing” and they even forget to sleep! Games? Porn? Emailing? Nah, not me! Blogging is my thing! Reading the news is my thing!

But I could spend a lot less time in front of my computer though.  I should spend more time exercising and getting myself in better shape!

Early in the week, I met an old friend whom I had not seen in several years, at a coffee shop. Her comment about my appearance was that I still looked the same old slim self. Naturally I was pleased by that observation!

Not very many people are able to stay slim especially after they have reached a certain age or because of their poor eating habits. In a 2001 BBC news report the number of people who are obese in the UK has tripled in the last 20 years and if the current trend continues one in four adult will be obese by 2010. That does not seem a very encouraging figure, does it?

Some take control of their weight problem by undergoing laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgeries. Others prefer not to go under the knife and rely on the help of prescription Diet Pills.

If I were overweight I would try out prescription diet pills like Acomplia or Reductil in conjunction with regular exercise and a new eating habit before I would go for anything as drastic as a surgery!

As with any prescription medication, these diet pills are not without their side effects. Therefore, anyone who intends on taking these pills should consult their doctor or complete an online consultation form if buying these pills online. The safest place to buy these medication online would be from places like The Online Clinic, a healthcare provider, whose activities are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency.

There are many benefits to losing those unwanted pounds, not least of which is the reduction in the risks of heart diseases, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.

Let’s all work towards staying healthy, eating healthy and keeping off those unwanted pounds!

Today I bought two big bunches of celery and a big bag of carrots. When I got got home I started juicing four stalks of celery and two carrots.

The juice tasted better than I expected! I am going to try to make myself a big glass of celery-carrot juice every day.

Why?

In an earlier post I mentioned a book called Prescription Alternatives by Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins, and in that book they mentioned that four stalks of fresh celery a day has been known to significantly reduce blood pressure.

That is good enough reason for me to start drinking celery-carrot juice!

I have been learning a lot of things from Prescription Alternatives by Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins. It is one of the best books I’ve borrowed from the library recently!

I have issues with high blood pressure and diabetes, and the pages called A Natural Blood Pressure-Lowering Program is quite an eye opener.

I mean there are things we know people with high blood pressure should avoid like smoking, consuming too much alcohol, too much salty foods, etc.

One thing which was totally new to me was what celery can do to high blood pressure. Did you know that fresh celery, like four stalks a day has been known to significantly reduce blood pressure?

If that is true, I should make a habit of drinking a celery/carrot juice mix daily!

Another thing I learned from the book is that dandelion is an effective diuretic. For people with high blood pressure it is important to drink lots of water and to evacuate that excess fluid effectively.

If there is anything I can do to reduce my blood pressure without resorting to the use of drugs, I am willing to try it! The thing is, I can easily monitor my blood pressure at home with those little monitors.

If despite all I am doing naturally still does not do anything to lower my blood pressure, of course I will do whatever my doctor tells me to do.

The items I ordered from my favorite food supplement store yesterday.

Item No: 0561 TURMERIC EXTRACT 95% CURCUMIN Quantity: 1
Item No: 5092 GREEN TEA RED CLOVER Quantity: 1
Item No: 7439 MELATONIN Quantity: 1
Item No: 9732 CAYENNE PLUS FORMULA 973 Quantity: 1

Order Total: $40.48

Three had to do with their ability to lower blood glucose level and one is supposed to be helpful in bringing down blood pressure.

I read an article about melatonin, and thought I’d give it a try. I have stopped taking a diuretic drug because of its tendency to raise my blood glucose level, and since then my doctor has not prescribed me anything to replace it.

Actually, I was supposed to attend a pre-diabetic class this afternoon, but I started having chills during the day. A sore throat developed some time yesterday everything and today, chills and some coughing.

After the pre-diabetic class, I am supposed to make an appointment with my doctor and he will evaluate the status of my pre-diabetic condition and maybe give an alternative prescription for controlling my high blood pressure.

Now I will have to re-schedule my pre-diabetic class. I hope I won’t have to wait a month for the next class, like I did for today’s and then not be able to attend it at the last minute!

Yesterday I took a muffin and about 5 wheat thin crackers about two hours before dinner. Imagine my shock when I saw that my blood glucose showed a reading of 163 mg/dL!

I postponed dinner by two hours and got on my exercise bicycle. There was no way I was going to eat anything till my blood glucose level had gone down further.

We went to Denny’s for dinner and I order grilled lemon tilapia on rice pilaf and my side dishes were corn and sliced tomatoes.

About two and half hours after dinner, I took another blood glucose reading. How relieved I was to see that it was at 89 mg/dL.

Today at dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant. We order steamed oysters, crispy roasted chicken and salt and pepper shrimp. Two hours later my blood sugar reading was 80 mg/dL.

Both times I remembered to take my gymnema sylvestre tablets before dinner and my alpha lipoic tablets after dinner. I firmly believe they help in the lower absorption of glucose into my bloodstream.

No more wheat thin crackers before dinner!

This evening, as our usual practice on a Friday night, we went out to dinner. Since it was still drizzling after a day of high winds and rain, we decided to eat at our local sushi restaurant instead of driving 10 miles to the next town for a Chinese Seafood Buffet.

Twice before, after a sushi dinner my blood glucose readings were higher than normal. I had vowed to stay away from sushi after those two experiences! Oh well, so much for the vow!

However, this time I remembered to take my gymnema sylvestre capsule before leaving for the restaurant. Gynema sylvestre is an herb and proven to have sugar lowering properties.

As usual I ordered one of my favorite sushi rolls on the menu, as well as green tea. I drank several cups of tea throughout the meal, and after the meal I took a tablet of alpha lipoic acid. Alpha Lipoic acid is known to speed up the removal of glucose in the bloodstream.

Because of the weather we skipped the usual shopping after dinner and went straight home. I spent a few minutes on my exercise bicycle hoping that that bit of exercise will also help with lowering my blood glucose.

Two hours after dinner, I did my blood glucose test. Wow, I was happy to note that it was 115 mg/dL. The blood glucose reading for a normal person is under 120 mg/dLl two hours after a meal.

That means I do not have to totally give up sushi as long as I remember to take my gymnema sylvestre capsule before a meal, take my alpha lipoic acid tablet after the meal and do some exercise after the meal. And oh yes, drink some green tea during the meal! Green tea is also known to have some blood sugar lowering properties.

I love sushi and what a relief to know I can continue to eat sushi. Of course I can further help myself by refraining from ordering the BIG rolls!

I was at my doctor’s office last week, and I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. He took me off the diuretic drug he had prescribed me a couple of years ago for my prehypertension. He wants to see if the drug had anything to do with the rise in my blood sugar level. He wants to evaluate my blood sugar level when he sees me again in four weeks, and possibly prescribe an alternative drug to control my hypertension.

Since I was no longer taking the diuretic drug, I had to look for a more natural alternative. I have always found tea to be diuretic and recently I read that ginger is a good diuretic.

I went a little overboard at the tea section of the Asian supermarket recently. I bought more than just ginger tea. I also bought teas that were supposed to have sugar lowering properties. Better to drink tea if it works, then take drugs, eh! Some of the teas, especially the one containing gymnema sylvester tastes horrible! It’s medicine, what can I expect?!