Today is International Pi Day. No, not pie day, rather Pi (π) Day. The mathematical constant, that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, approximated as 3.14159... Although it is believed that the Babylonians were the first to have calculated it to be about 3.125, Archimedes (287-212 BC) is considered to be the first to calculate it accurately. Thus, March 14 or the fourteenth day of the third month of the year (3.14) is celebrated as Pi Day by mathematicians.
This mathematical constant is approximated as 3.1415926535… The decimal number goes on forever. Contained within its string of decimals is every number pertaining to man's life, history, nature and cosmos. And if the decimals are converted into letters, you will find every word that ever existed, spoken and written. All the infinite possibilities of words rest within this one simple circle. In our bodies, too, the ratio of our consciousness or psyche to our physical being could be said to have infinite possibilities. Our body goes where the mind tells it to. Our mind works by the demands of our soul/ consciousness/ intellect/ psyche — or whatever we want to call it. Our actions are dictated by our desires, wishes and wants, which in turn are based on our intelligence, education, experience, and wisdom. The more of these combinations we use, the better will be the outcome of our deeds. The possibilities of our actions are infinite. The choices we make may depend on the advice of others, on our teaching, or on a variety of outside influences. But the end result is where we end up in our lives and what we have to live with. Limited knowledge leads to limited and fewer choices and actions; wiser decisions produce healthier and happier outcomes. Healthcare gives us many opportunities to find answers to our medical and mental challenges. There are many options for the constant of man's needs and our technology adds to those options. Indeed, it is a wonderful time in history we live in and if prudent decisions are made, a bright future will surely be ours. Let’s strive for such future.
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The ongoing calamities around the world strain rational thinking. Just as we feel that we have the grasp of one tragedy, another explodes. We are being pulled in so many directions, that we may question the very significance of life itself. But if there is anything I know of life, of all the hopes, the happy days and the sad ones, of the days of blue skies and nights of the new moon, of the sound of children at play and the pain of wounded soldiers, the homeless and hungry, is that it challenges the very soul of us, the essence of our being and the audacity of our existence.
But will life remember us? Will our names be recalled in kindness? Will our children have the freedom to run in these woods? Will their children? What did our lives mean? Was it just a passing, or will something remain of it? Though we are just a traveler through these times, we learn from all that we see, and pass it on to others passing us by. Hoping that they too add well to it as they pass it on, for this is our life until we die or live on if we are remembered well. Till then, let's not add to the crisis, let's stay peaceful, heal the needy, keep learning and teaching. Maybe then our existence will be audaciously meaningful. The winds came at night, followed by the rain. Though the elders had warned about the coming calamity, many gave it little heed. By morning, the rivers were full and the rain increasing. Alarmed, many gathered what they could and headed for the hills. Others fortified their dwelling and hoped for the best. The levies upstream, however, could not stand the onslaught and by the end of the day, burst their banks. The flood inundated everything downstream and destroyed or damaged much in its path.
Scenarios such as the above incident are common. More often than not, we tend to overlook the warnings and advice of our elders and experts, with dire consequences. Today, too, many are and have been sounding alarms that our world is at peril. Yet we seem to be numb to it all. Many countries in the world are having their election this year, including sixteen African countries, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, the US and seven others on the American continent. In Asia, eighteen countries, including India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, North and South Korea, and Taiwan. Twenty-eight countries in Europe, too, are having elections, including the European Union, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Spain, and the UK. Finally, four countries in Oceania, namely Australia. Sixty-five countries or nearly 50% of the world’s population will be voting in these national elections. More than ever before in history. Many of these countries are in conflict with one another or dealing with internal turmoil. The outcome of these elections will have a far-reaching significance for the future of our world, our children and grandchildren. Added to all this, climate change is gnawing ferociously at our heels. As healthcare providers, we should be alarmed at what is coming our way. For, much like the flood in the above scenario, the tidal wave of the sick and injured is already overwhelming many of our colleagues, in the Middle East, Africa, Pacific Islands, and our own cities with the homeless, displaced, and simply poor. We are living on the edge of disaster. It behooves us to heed and prepare. At the end of a period of volunteer work on a Caribbean Island, a while back, I hitched a ride back on a small plane belonging to a pilot friend on that island. While boarding, I noticed that the plane looked heavily loaded. Concerned, I asked him about it.
“No,” he said confidently. “Even with the two of us, we are still way within limits.” I had flown this very plane several times and trusted it to be in good shape. Still? On roll-out, the plane was sluggish on acceleration. As the end of the runway approached, I had an idea; “let’s use ten degrees of flap!” The flaps helped and we climbed out of there. The reason for the plane’s heavy weight was the many sacks of breadfruit we were carrying for emigrants from our island. If you are grown up eating it, you may crave it, and will pay handsomely for it. So, the existing market and my friend's export of it. We made stops in Montserrat, the Virgin Islands, and finally, Puerto Rico. Dropping off sacks of breadfruit. I was reminded of this event when I was reading the article; Hunting for 'Disease X', by Sam Kiley, CNN, back in December 2020. [The following excerpts are from that article:] The article talks about how diseases like yellow fever, influenza, rabies, brucellosis and Lyme disease pass to humans, through a rodent or an insect. HIV, for example, emerged from chimpanzee, SARS, MERS and the Covid-19 virus from unknown "reservoirs" Experts say the rising number of emerging viruses is largely the result of ecological destruction and wildlife trade. As their natural habitats disappear, animals like rats, bats, and insects survive where larger animals get wiped out. They're able to live alongside human beings and can carry new diseases to humans. For example, bushmeat (game meat of the jungle) is the traditional source of protein for people living in the rain forests, but it is now exported globally to the Americas and Europe." "Disease X" may be ticking away inside any one of these animals. Similarly, in an article by Tiffany Yesavage, PhD, in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, last week (2/1/24); “Antimicrobial Resistance Multiple Threats”, she talks about the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance diseases. How, many of these pathogens are developing ways to resist our drugs. For example: “… Neisseria gonorrhea, the bacterium responsible for gonorrhea, is now showing resistance to many antibiotics. It has developed multiple decoy mechanisms to evade the immune system. For example, it exhibits significant variation in the antigens on its surface proteins and can easily alter its surface structure during infection.” Some pharmaceutical manufacturers are still working on cures; however, their numbers are dwindling due to economic factors. Check out this fascinating article on genengnews (dot) com So, between population growth, environmental degradation, economic incentives and disincentive, etc. we may be fighting a losing battle. Even many innocent actions may have dire consequences in this very mobile and confusing environment. Much like my pilot friend, innocently, potentially carrying unknown pathogens across borders in something as innocuous as breadfruit. We should be warned that “If you go in the forest ... you will change the ecology, and insects and rats will leave this place and come to the villages bringing new pathogens. The solution is clear. Protect the forests to protect humanity - because Mother Nature has deadly weapons in her armory.” I was working at a clinic in a resort ski town, when late one afternoon, a seemingly middle-aged lady of obvious affluence presented with a wrist injury. She wore an elegant fur coat over her ski outfit. On her fingers, she displayed several rings adorned with diamonds and jewelry. The kind I’ve never seen before.
Her wrist was slightly swollen. We got the rings off her fingers. I was worried about osteoporosis, yet X-rays did not reveal any bony injury. However, they surprised me, as they showed the hand of a young person. Her date of birth indicated that she was 27 years old. I was taken aback, as the lady in front of me seemed older. Her face showed age or an arduous life. No other medical disorders were mentioned, and she was not on any medication. Still, I asked if she took any medication – legal or not? No was her answer. I placed her in a wrist brace and prescribed NSAIDs. She asked if she could wait for her husband to pick her up. She seemed uncomfortable, so I had her wait in my office and offered her a beverage, which she took heartily. Her husband never showed up and when we were done for the day, I offered to take her to her hotel. Her husband was waiting for her in the lobby and claimed that he had not received the message about her being injured. He, too, was well-dressed with expensive jewelry adorning his wrists and fingers. He was an elderly gentleman, perhaps in his seventies. I declined the offer of a drink, and after a brief pleasant conversation, I bid them goodnight and left. A couple of weeks later, we received a very expensive radio with emergency weather bands and a card, thanking us for the good care she received and for the “true concern Karen (our nurse) and I showed caring for her!” – her words. Such moments and experiences are normal and common in the practice of medicine. It is what makes our interaction with our patients personal and our work exciting. But many of our colleagues miss it. Rushing from exam room to exam room, treating symptoms and ailments, makes for a tiring and thankless day. At night, all one remembers are sickness, injuries, excrement, and pain. Often, no faces can be recalled of the suffering. BUT if we stop at the exam room door for just a brief moment and consider that at the other side is a person with a lifetime of experience being a human and now has a medical problem, and THEN enter and treat that person, we find our work ever so more rewarding and indeed magical. Appreciate your patients and make them like you! Patients who like you won’t sue you! Grandma used to say: Never go to a restaurant where the cook is not fat.
If you want something done quickly, ask a busy person to help you. Never criticize something you don't do yourself. Look at the poor around you before putting that first spoon in your mouth. A lot of truth to all that. The old timers spoke from experience. Today’s technology, though, isolates people and makes criticizing things we know nothing about, easy. The Chinese vernacular; "to know someone, walk a mile in his shoes." is sage advice. But many of us would rather criticize that person's shoes than to walk in them. Providing healthcare is something everyone has an opinion about. How many books have been written about raising children by those who have none, or on losing weight by slim people? And worst of all, health organizations being managed by lawyers and accountants. But unless you have sat next to a worried mother of a child with a 103 fever or watch hopelessly as the life drains from the face of a fourteen-year-old boy who has been stabbed, you cannot appreciate the enormous responsibility of healthcare providers doing their job. For when the eyes of a desperate mother in El Paso, or a dying teenager in the South Bronx or a wounded soldier in a foxhole is on you, all the politics, rationalizations, logic, excuses, and justifications will matter not. Legislating bodies start work this month. It behooves us to contact our representatives and ask them to help our world by passing laws that benefit everyone. I am sure that their grandmas had similar advice for them. They just need to be reminded of it. In watching the news of all that is occurring around us, we may feel that the entire universe is against us. Perhaps the chaos of change is waiting for a new direction. An article by Brazilian entrepreneur Gustavo Tanaka published (in Huffington Post) back on Dec. 16, 2015, titled; "Something Extraordinary Is Happening in the World and Most People Haven't Noticed", stated that the world is changing and points out eight reasons that lead him to believe it.
It was, perhaps, visionary, even prophetic, as the events of the past few years proved his intuitions. But as is the case in insights such as his, there is a positive and a dark side to them. Unfortunately, we are finding ourselves in a disparaging tailspin. However, it does not have to be so. Many see opportunities to be seized. We are at a great crossroad in history. How we plan it, map it, build it and use it will determine the outcome of our future in everything, healthcare included. So, as we take time off to celebrate the wonderful traditions of this time of the year, let’s take a few moments to reflect on what is ahead, and how to structure it so that it will serve humanity positively, productively and effectively. Politicians worldwide have proven incapable of understanding this concept of change. Perhaps because most are too old and stuck in their old ideology. This dangerous ignorance of the changes ahead, is causing such havoc that it may become impossible to resolve. It is therefore up to visionary people, such as Tanaka to point out the right path and hope to have enough people follow it to correct our bungling. Let’s pray and hope so! Happy Holidays! I was glued to the round black and white TV screen in the 1960s when Allen Shepard - in a space suit - blasted off on his 5-minute trip to space on a Redstone rocket. That trip took years of training and preparation by Shepard, and millions of dollars of the national budget. On December 8th, 2021, Shepard's daughter, Laura Shepard Churchley made the same trip with five others with literally no training and minimal preparation in the airline type cabin of the Blue Origin.
In medicine, too, our advances have been phenomenal. When Dr. Salk developed the polio vaccine, it took him more than ten years of research and development. In contrast, the first vaccine for Covid-19 was ready to use in about a year. We have come a long way in the past few years of human history and moving ever faster into the future. Despite the many scientific advances, our world is deteriorating into chaos and mayhem. Wars around the world, along with out-of-control crime, are pushing societies to the brink of collapse. The next century will propel mankind into a future unimaginable by many. Whether it will be toward a true utopia of possibilities or the chaos of dystopian nightmares is up to us. Guiding civilization in the right path is a task of our politicians, civil leaders, and all mankind. It is time for the younger generation to step up and take control. Let’s stop funding wars and bolster humanity instead! I look out the window at a
fenced area where I once had a plant nursery. I nurtured and peddled new trees that I thought should live here. But, the weed, vine, and the pine that belong here disagreed. I still have a few leftover lilacs that look at me awkward, as if to say, what am I doing here, old chump? But I go on watering them as a reminder of a futile effort to alter the unchangeable. Only to see the persistent nature be relentless and outlast me. Today, I have a new admiration for the sagebrush, yucca, pinion, and pine. And along the way, learned that if I am to live here, must adapt to her and not expect it to adjust to me. Reza Ghadimi Trying to make sense of the world these days
Could mess up your mind and soul So many factions at work None talk, communicate or are in control Promises broken, before they are made. Coffee was a dime a cup, just yesterday, and Now, it’s not worth breaking a fiver for. When the time is late, and The camouflaged tentacles of the Day’s news rubs the sleep off your eyes Mother nature’s memory can help: The wind swaying the grass on the prairie Lenticular clouds, covering mountain tops Like the hat on a captain’s head peering the horizon Or the gentle slapping of the waves against The boat, on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Don’t blame gods, nature or others There is goodness in this world, and It is worth using its power to Fight the ugliness of man’s failings. Much life is left in the day, still Let’s not count the minutes or the hours Lay your head back in her lap, and Enjoy the rocking of the boat. Soon the evening cool will Sooth the day’s sunburn. Tomorrow will be here soon enough, and Bring us a heap of new challenges Close your eyes and breath deep. Reza Ghadimi November 2023 |
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