Friday 1 October 2004

Pic of the day: Not the first choice for most Sims, but Nathaniel Vrimoen (in jogging clothes) snags a glass of water. Yes, the twins have become teens now. Luckily time doesn't pass that fast for us all.

Health matters

That's the problem with catching up. When you're some days behind, you know that you survived, and usually unhurt. When you're in the middle of it, you don't know how insignificant it will feel a week or two later. (Of course, one day it won't be insignificant. But you don't know which day.)

First, the newspaper had an article about the painkiller Vioxx being recalled because it could cause heart infarct and brain strokes. I used that painkiller for a week or so, and considered going back for more. It was the best I had used, as long as I stuck to half dose. (I got violently ill after eating a full dose one day, but I don't know if that was a coincidence.) Anyway, already some weeks ago I read an article in Scientific American about arteriosclerosis, and they mentioned as an aside that NSAIDs of that type (that don't damage the stomach lining) seemed to increase the risk of blood clots, whereas the other Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (the ones that do weaken the stomach lining) seemed to protect against blood clots. I saw no explanation of it, just a brief mention.

It was no big surprise for me, then, to find that Vioxx was recalled now. I still can't make up my mind whether I did the right thing to not get more of it while I could. I simply don't know what is the greatest risk for me: Getting a blood clot or bleeding to death from my stomach. So far I have had problems with acid reflux and no heart problems, but then again when those strike they tend to strike hard, so that's not a fair comparison.

Perhaps I should see the doctor again to hear whether he has any good ideas for painkillers now, or for protecting my stomach when using the traditional anti-inflammatory drugs. (That's really what I want them for. The pain is not the problem, the gradual destruction of my arm is. Although I am currently keeping it at bay.)

***

The other health-related event of the day was drinking Pepsi. I've cut out Coca-Cola before, partly because it gives me diarrhea (but then again, caffeine will do that) and partly because of their unethical business practices in almost every conceivable way: Using their market muscle to make shops boycott competing products; misleading advertising on a global scale; and of course the strange deaths and disappearances of labor union leaders at their plants in less developed countries.

Well, Pepsi isn't exactly Mother Theresa (then again, according to some new book, neither was Mother Theresa, but that's beside the point). Pepsi was the arch-rival of Coca-Cola, and according to good old Norse logic, your enemy's enemy is your friend. But that was before it started to actually physically burn my mouth. This is the second time now. The first was from a large (1.5 liter) bottle I bought at the Kiwi supermarket in Søgne more than a week ago. This was a small (0.5 liter) bottle I bought at the Rema supermarket in Kristiansand today. They both made my tongue itch with small sores that grew worse over time. Quite uncomfortable, more worrying than outright painful. Then again I have a fairly high pain threshold, as mentioned above the problem is that I don't like to see my body under attack.

On that note, I guess it is a good thing that I'm quitting the both of them. They can't be all that good for my health. I don't join the witch hunt for sugar, mind you. Sugar is not dangerous or unhealthy. Sugars are simple carbohydrates and are burned completely in the body leaving no dubious waste products at all, just water and carbon dioxide which are the default end products of metabolism. Protein is much more likely to leave toxic waste in our bodies, placing a strain on the kidneys in particular. Sugar is good for you. But consuming large amounts of sugar in addition to the other food is not a good idea. The body will happily run on sugar and store any fat for a later day. It will even convert healthy fish oils and plant oils into animal fat to store on your chubby tummy (if you're a man) or on your chubby bum (if you're a woman). But the fat is the problem, not the sugar. Still, if you want sugar, there are safer places to get it than from soft drinks that contain secret ingredients and enough acids to clean a rusty nail.

Seemingly to compensate me, Fate has arranged for the local waterworks to be upgraded a few days ago; the new cleaner water should be in the faucet anytime now. No more brown color, no more disgusting smell, less chlorine and no more sporadic influx of gut bacteria that make people sick. I've bought bottled water for a long while after having had a run-in with those bacteria in the past. I'll save a bundle by being able to drink tap water again, and I'm likely to drink more of it. And you don't get much more healthy than water. Until someone discovers that clean water is dangerous too, I guess ... but it won't be retracted from the market.