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Mercy Killing Or Senseless Suicide?Name: H. Terry Hutchison MD Response: No, mercy killing should not be permitted. Physician's are not good judges of who should live, and neither are parents, or even patients. Withdrawing support is another matter since it does not involve active intervention. Providing pain medicine to a suffering terminal patient is good practice, but not the deliberate hastening of someone's death.
Name: Mohammad Shahabuddin Country: us Response: Heroic measure to prolong the life is not a requirement of law. In case of terminal illness the quality of life must be improved. Besides the management of pain, other factors must be identified and addressed to make the life meaningful including religious and spiritual aspect of the patient. An average patient with terminal illness who has adequate mental and physical support from friends family and religious organization along with standard medical treatment may refuse the heroic measure of modern technology but will not need euthanasia.
Are Multivitamins a Must?Name: nick Response: Much research has recently focused on how antioxidant vitamins may reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Antioxidant vitamins -- E, C and beta carotene have potential health-promoting properties. Name: Rohini Nerulkar Country: sg Response: Each vitamin has specific functions. If levels of a particular vitamin are inadequate, a deficiency disease resultsThere are 13 vitamins essential for bodily functions: Vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and
folate). They all can be obtained from food, and vitamin D and vitamin K can be synthesized by the body. Name: mazen Country: uae Response: Your body needs vitamins to work properly, which makes them some pretty important substances! Your body uses vitamins to do hundreds of things, like help you grow and develop. It needs vitamins to help your blood clot when you get a cut. Some vitamins help to make energy. Vitamins are even involved in making sure you can see in color - without them, the world would look pretty boring in just black and white. And if you've ever wondered what helps make your teeth healthy and strong, then you'll be sure to smile when you find out it's. . .vitamins! Name: usha Response: A lot of people think vitamins can
replace food. They cannot. In fact, vitamins cannot be
assimilated without ingesting food. That is why we suggest
taking them with a meal. Vitamins help regulate metabolism, help
convert fat and carbohydrates into energy, and assist in forming
bone and tissue. Name: najah Response: I am 54 years old now. All my life i have eaten fruits and vegetables, especially liked broccoli and cauliflower. I eat chicken and fish sometimes beef. I had an opportunity to view my heart at school for EKG I think it was, saw inside my heart on the scope. My arteries are all completely open. I always avoided too much fat and junk food like chips. I do take vitamins when I think it is necessary if I have not eaten well enough. Everything in moderation was always my philosophy and never ate a constant diet of one particular thing.
The Business of BabiesName: Azeeza Response: I think the selective breeding aspect is
the main part that begs controversy. where does it stop? and
soon, we'll start having parents who already have children,
wanting selective procreation to produce the "perfect" baby,
and in the process, sidelining children with disabilities....exactly
what message are they trying to put across to such kids? Name: najah Response: There are a lot of children without parents in the world who need good homes that is for sure. I think the ones that dont have parents should be adopted by infertile couples first before drugs are used to produce more children. Here in the us many time people will become foster parents and abuse the privilege because they know that sometimes they get government funds for their care, this can lead to abuse in the system. that is what bothers me about it, when children become victims.
Better Health Through Meditation - Readers ResponseName: Yasmin
Response: Meditation is life, not livelihood. It has nothing to do with what you do; it has everything to do with what you are. Yes, business should not enter into your being, that is true. If your being also has become businesslike, then it is difficult to meditate and impossible to be a sannyasin...because if your being has become businesslike, then you have become too calculative. And a calculative person is a cowardly person: he thinks too much, he cannot take any jumps. And meditation is a jump: from the head to the heart, and ultimately from the heart to the being. You will be going deeper and deeper, where calculations will have to be left behind, where all logic becomes irrelevant. You cannot carry your cleverness there. In fact, cleverness is not true intelligence either; cleverness is a poor substitute for intelligence. People who are not intelligent learn how to be clever. People who are intelligent need not be clever; they are innocent, they need not be cunning. They function out of a state of not-knowing. If you are a businessman, that's okay. If Jesus can become a meditator and a sannyasin, and ultimately a christ, a buddha... and he was the son of a carpenter, helping his father, bringing wood, cutting wood. If a carpenter's son can become a buddha, why not you?
Name: Poornima Das
Response: I want meditation to become almost universal. It can become universal only if it is not attached to any religion, to any politics, to any ideology
and it is not. It is a simple method. Even an atheist can do it; there is no problem. We
don't ask him to believe in God, we don't ask him to believe in anything. We simply say to him, "Here is a method you can try. Hypothetically, if you find something, good. If you
don't, drop it." And anybody who has tried meditation has never come back empty-handed.
Name: Prathiba Mehra
Response: It was just the other way round: meditation comes when you are happy. But to be happy is difficult and to learn meditation is easy. To be happy means a drastic change in your way of life, an abrupt change / because there is no time to lose. A sudden change, a sudden clash of thunder...a discontinuity.a discontinuity with the past. A sudden clash of thunder, and you die to the old and you start afresh, from ABC. You are born again. You again start your life as you would have done if there had been no enforced pattern by your parents, by your society, by the state; as you would have done, must have done, if there had been nobody to distract you. But you were distracted. You have to drop all those patterns that have been forced on you, and you have to find your own inner flame.
Name: Ibrahim
Response: Meditation has to be a joyous activity, it has to be a song. One has not to do it as a duty, one has to enjoy it as fun, as play. If you do meditation as a duty you will miss the whole point. Then it cannot happen to you. It can happen only in a very light mood, in a very non-serious mood. Seriousness is heavy, and anything heavy drags you downwards. You have to be as light as a small child playing on the beach, collecting seashells, colored stones, running here and there, almost part of the wind and the sea and the sand and the sun. When that lightness is there you have wings, you can fly upwards. And meditation means an upward movement of your energies..
Name: Maheshu Basu
Response: Will meditation help me to be happy? Hence, my appeal is only for those who are really daring, dare-devils who are ready to change their very pattern of life, who are ready to stake everything / because in fact you don't have anything to put at the stake: only your unhappiness, your misery. But people cling even to that. Look at people talking about their misery: how happy they become! They pay for it: they go to psychoanalysts to talk about their misery / they pay for it! Somebody listens attentively; they are very happy. People go on talking about their misery again and again and again. They even exaggerate, they decorate, they make it look bigger. They make it look bigger than life-size. Why? You have nothing to put at stake. But people cling to the known, to the familiar. The misery is all that they have known / that is their life. Nothing to lose, but so afraid to lose anything.
Name: Anita Raj
Response: What Meditation Is -- and What It Is NotThere are many different, even contradictory ideas, about what meditation is. Primary to the approach is the need for the meditator to understand the nature of the mind, rather than fight with it. Meditation
is 1) Only for people who are on a spiritual search. The benefits of meditation are manifold. Chief among them are the ability to relax and to be aware without effort. Useful tools for just about everyone! 2) A practice to gain
peace of mind. Peace of mind is a contradiction in terms. By its very nature the mind is a chronic commentator. What you can discover through meditation is the knack of finding the distance between yourself and the commentary, so that the mind, with its constant circus of thoughts and emotions, no longer intrudes on your inherent state of silence. 3) A mental discipline or effort to control or
tame the mind, to become more mindful. Meditation is neither a mental effort nor an attempt to control the mind. Effort and control involve tension, and tension is antithetical to the state of meditation. Besides, there is no need to control the mind, only to understand it and how it works. The meditator does not need to tame his mind, to become more mindful, but to grow more in consciousness. 4) Focusing, concentrating or contemplating. Focusing, like concentrating is a narrowing of awareness. You concentrate on one object to the exclusion of everything else. By contrast, meditation is all-inclusive, your consciousness is expanded. The contemplator is focused on an object
perhaps a religious object, a photograph or on an inspiring aphorism. The meditator is simply aware, but not of anything in particular. 5) A new experience. Not necessarily
sportsmen know this space, which they refer to as the zone. Artists know it
through singing, painting, playing music. We can know it through gardening, playing with the kids, walking on the beach or making love. Even as children we may have had experiences of it. Meditation is a natural state and one that you have almost certainly tasted, although perhaps without knowing the name of the flavor.
Name: Tom
Response: It is not your doing. You have to stop doing everything. It is your non-doing. The moment when you are not doing, all your energy that was involved in doing a thousand and one things is released. It gathers to a point where it starts flowing inwards, and the innermost center is not far away. Enough consciousness gathered inside immediately makes a way upon which nobody has ever trodden, and starts moving inwards.
Name: Saurav Malpani
Response: I don't believe in what others call meditation, that ten or twenty minutes you do it and then just be your ordinary self for twenty-four hours and again for twenty minutes meditate. This is stupid. It is like saying to a person that every day in the morning breathe for twenty minutes and then forget all about it, because you have to do many other things. Then the next morning you can breathe twenty minutes again. To me, meditation is exactly like breathing. So whatsoever you are doing and wherever you are, do it more consciously.
Name: Simmon Response: If dreams disappear in the night, the second thing will happen to you: thoughts will disappear in the daytime. That does not mean you will become incapable of thinking; that simply means you will not just go on thinking mechanically, unnecessarily Sigmund Freud would have been immensely enriched if he had come to a man like me who has no dreams. He would have been puzzled also and he would have had to change his whole idea of psychoanalysis.
Sunlight As Medicine - Readers ResponseName: Sue rotger
Response: I once read where sunlight, especially late afternoon sunlight, either produces lithium in the human body or the light itself contains lithium. As lithium is used as an antidepressant it would seem that more exposure to sunlight in the afternoon would benefit those of us who suffer from mild depression. I have personally noticed that since I have started to cover and no longer expose my arms and legs to the sunlight I get more and more patches of eczema on my limbs. So it would seem to me that sunlight allows the skin to function as it should when it receives sunlight. Name: Huda
Response: It Works for Me. Sunlight and water are natural therapies that 80 percent of people with psoriasis use to help clear their lesions In many cases,
they've finally found something that works and they are eager to share the positive results so others can benefit. Name: Dr. Harshan
Response: Vitamin D is manufactured in the skin following direct exposure to sunlight. The amount of vitamin D produced in the skin varies depending on time of day, season, latitude and skin pigmentation. Usually 10-15 minutes exposure of hands, arms and face two to three times per week (depending on one's skin sensitivity) is enough to satisfy the body's vitamin D requirement. Use of sunscreen markedly diminishes the manufacture of vitamin D in the skin, as does window glass, clothing and air pollution. The fairer your skin color, the more vitamin D you make. As adults age, their ability to make vitamin D through the skin decreases. People who are housebound and experience no sunlight exposure are unable to make vitamin D. Name: Tim
Response: Tips on using sunlight Go to short, multiple sessions three times or more per week. Keep a record of when and for how long you sunbathe. Avoid overexposure. Be aware that it can take several weeks to see improvement. Protect the unaffected areas with sunscreen of at least 15 SPF (sun protection factor). Use sunscreen every day if you will be in the sun for more than 20 minutes. Apply sunscreen 15 to 20 minutes before going outdoors. Pay careful attention to applying it properly to the face, ears, hands and arms. Reapply every two hours or immediately after swimming or strenuous activity. Wear sunglasses that filter 100 percent of UVA and UVB rays. Get an annual skin exam. Name: Paul Allen ,Manager GE
Response: The most commonly used and studied form of light therapy involves the use of a light box that administers bright light during a particular time of day, usually in the morning but sometimes in the evening. More recently developed but less studied forms of light therapy include dawn light simulation and the use of light visors. The antidepressant effects of light therapy are thought to be mediated through the eyes, not through skin exposure. Name: Raha
Response: Summer sun is the best source of ultra-violet light, and many people find psoriasis settles very well in summer Name: Dr. Wissam Response: Phototherapy is an effective long-term treatment
for skin conditions such as psoriasis, vitiligo, and eczema. Garlic for Your Health - Readers ResponseDr. Mohammad Ahmad Abdul Rab Response: The diagnosis and treatment of lipoprotein disorders has progressed beyond the standard ‘lipid profile,’ which includes LDL, and HDL cholesterol, along with fasting triglycerides.(1) Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) include particle subclasses that have different mobilities on polyacrylamide gradient gels. LDL-I has a diameter of 27.2-28.5 nm. Other LDLs include LDL-IIa (26.5-27.2 nm), LDL-IIb (25.6-26.5 nm), LDL-IIIa (24.7-25.6 nm), LDL-IIIb (24.2-24.7 nm), LDL-IVa (23.3-24.2 nm), and LDL-IVb (22.0-23.3 nm).(2) The LDL subclass pattern ‘A’ has predominantly large LDL, while 'B' pattern has a predominance of small, dense LDL, which have smaller diameter than other types of LDL. The most common disorder of lipoprotein metabolism contributing to CAD is the Small, Dense Low-Density Lipoprotein Pattern-B disorder, also known as the Atherogenic Lipoprotein Profile (ALP), which consists of multiple metabolic disorders. These patients show three times more risk of CAD.(3) the standard tests for cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides levels target only about 20 percent of all coronary artery disease patients. Only further differentiation of particle subgroups that make up the total cholesterol can identify the remaining 80 percent. Recent researches indicate that people with small, dense LDL respond better than individuals with large, buoyant LDL particles for treatments to prevent heart attacks. Furthermore, apolipoprotein B (apoB) and A-I (apoA-I), the major apolipoproteins of LDL-C and HDL-C particles, have been suggested as better predictors of heart diseases than LDL-C and HDL-C.(4) In people with moderate hypercholesterolemia with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) pattern-A or -B, garlic therapy may significantly reduce the mean peak particle diameter in pattern-A subjects, recent researches indicate. In a double blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial, H. R. Superko and R. M. Krauss from the Cholesterol, Genetics and Heart Disease Institute, Berkeley Heart Lab in San Mateo, California, studied the effect of garlic therapy in 50 moderately hypercholesterolemic subjects classified as LDL subclass pattern-A or -B. The study revealed that garlic therapy might reduce the LDL particle diameter in LDL pattern-A individuals compared with pattern-B subjects with no difference observed in other plasma lipid measurements.(5) Another trial in Britain headed by Xiao-Hua Zhang from the Division of Biomedical Sciences and Human Biology, School of Health Sciences, University of Wolverhampton in Wolverhampton, studied the effect of gender on the action of garlic on plasma cholesterol. The researchers observed unexpected gender difference with women showing favorable effects in terms of CHD risk factors with increases in HDL-C and reductions in TC/HDL-C, whereas men had small adverse effects.(6) References:
1.Curr Treat Options Cardiovasc Med. 2003 Feb;5(1):35-50. Garlic For Your Health Gradually Becoming Vegetarian - Readers ResponseName: Sabir Vegetarianism: If some one by choice does not like animal food then its acceptable since not everyone has taste for every food. But, on the other hand, if someone says its cruelty to animals to eat then it sounds very irrational. Plants have life too and chopping them out is disastrous to environment, its definitely not loving the environment as you said. First of all even plants have life. Its a life that we as human beings cannot comprehend. So lets be realisitic: Lets take a look at it scientifically also: If you look at the teeth of grass/plant eating animals like goats, giraffe etc.,they have just molars (note: no incisors). But, if you take a look at meat eating animals like lion, tiger they also have incisors too! We human beings also have incisors (and molars and pre-molars), which means we are created to eat meat as well as vegetables. Allah in in infinite mercy has given us the ability and knowledge to do farming to grow crops, plants, animal and fish. He has put a lot of blessing in these farming so that the human beings can be fed. Have you heard of farming for the carnivorous animals which are not meant to be eaten? No. And as such their population is also going down. But, not of the animals which are meant to be eaten. If just for argument, if the whole population goes vegetarian then the world will not be able to grow enough to feed its population. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent as a mercy to human beings and all the living creatures and he warned mankind against cruelty to animals. Eating meat is not cruelty to animals, cruelty is not caring for your animals, beating them, making them carry loads which they cannot bear, keeping them hungry and thirsty and neglecting them.
Do you think that nature is cruel when a lion or tiger hunts for its meal?
Name: Ramzi Obaid
Animals are helpless and have no voice. They are totally unable to fight back
against human cruelty. Every day we witness the most appalling crimes committed
against nature in the name of science,God and in the name of food consumption.
We are undoubtedly living in a horrible era. Which God recognize brutal murder of
millions of animals for the purpose of food? Rani Menon Response: I would like to share some thoughts of Osho here: Do whatsoever you like -- but do it with self-remembering; remember yourself that you are doing it. Walking, remember that you are walking. You need not verbalize this because verbalization will not help; that itself will become a distraction. You need not walk and say inside, "I am walking," because if you say, "I am walking, I am walking," this "I am walking" will be the forgetfulness; then you will not be able to remember. Simply remember; there is no need to verbalize it. I have to verbalize because I am talking to you, but when you are walking you simply remember the phenomenon, the walking; each step should be taken with full awareness. Eating, eat. I don't say what to eat, and what not to eat. Whatsoever you like, eat, but with the self-remembrance that you are eating. And soon you will see many things have become impossible to do. With self-remembering you cannot eat meat, impossible. It is impossible to be so violent if you remember. It is impossible to harm somebody when you remember, because when you remember yourself, suddenly you see that the same light, the same flame is burning everywhere, within each body, each unit. The more you know your inner nature, the more you penetrate the other. How can you kill for eating? It becomes simply impossible. Rohit Kulkarni Response: Is vegetarianism a Hindu concept? Vegetarianism and Non-Vegetarianism are not Hindu (Vedic) concept. Why the Brahmins (the priest class) are the only ones who have shunned from non-vegetarianism while others are allowed? Is it that Hinduism preaches non violence, vegetarianism on one hand and expects only one section of it to follow? Name: Hassan Response: Meat-eating causes osteoporosis, kidney disease, heart disease, and cancer. Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol cause heart disease, atherosclerosis and/or cancer, and low-fat low-cholesterol diets are healthier for people. Name: SreeLakshmi Response: To the Editor: Your article has given the main reasons for vegetarianism, but I should like to add one more reason to be vegetarians. In addition to reasons of health, ecology, and compassion for animal life, vegetarianism can be an aid to the spirit . As vegetarians, all can eat at the same table. By extension, all people everywhere in the world can share the same meals if they are vegetarians. Meat of some kind is the most often taboo food . Name: Chandru Mirchandani Response: I would like to give some quotes; Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. --Albert Einstein A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses. --George Bernard Shaw I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants. -- Gandhi A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. --Leo Tolstoy As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields. --Leo Tolstoy, author Vegetarian food leaves a deep impression on our nature. If the whole world adopts vegetarianism, it can change the destiny of humankind. -- Albert Einstein To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. --Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties... The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery. -- Charles Darwin To become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana. -- Buddha Since visiting the abbatoirs of S. France I have stopped eating meat. -- Vincent Van Gogh (in a letter to his brother Theodore).
Gradually Becoming Vegetarian
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