Week 8 - Western Approaches to HIV/AIDS

I believe there is a genuine desire, on the part of the doctor's and scientists to find helpful medications and cures. I can see their frustration from this seemingly unbeatable problem. I don't know a lot about the drugs that are included in the "cocktail" but the immune boosters they take are also drugs. These antibiotics tend to be very cold in nature and damaging to the intestinal flora and fauna. This damage makes it much more difficult to fight of infection because we already have an internal pathogen, cold, and the food and fluids we take are not properly digested, further compromising our immunity. I think it would greatly benefit western treatments to be more conscious of diet and antibiotic "side-effects".

The more social and ethical questions of "who's disease is this?", gays drug users, poor africans is one the west may have created. This appears to be a disease that can infect almost anyone. So many people are infected that it's odd this disease, above cancer or depression or Parkinson's or multiple sclerosis, has become a social, religious, gender, sexual orientation, economic status -stigma. I am not sure what causes people to want to separate "you from me", perhaps fear or greed, but this one is global, more than any other disease in human history. It's time the countries with means made these drugs actually affordable, as in FREE!!!

Week 8 - Can TCM Strengthen our Immune System

Yes. Yes. Yes. I don't know that I can elaborate on this anymore than YES!!!

this is kind of the whole point. So much of TCM is preventative and therefore could be incredibly beneficial to Americans who tend to treat there bodies as annoyance or objects to be maintained.

Week 8 - The Deal that Saved the Whale

I personally wish there was more concern and regulation on commercial development across international borders. Many of the countries in latin america are rapidly building along their coastline. Many of the builders are foreign and have little concern for the environment and lifestyle of the native people. The deal that saved the whale is great if it can hold the test of time. Over the past 10 years, Mexico has become an increasingly popular beach vacation spot for tourists. This had led to enormous increase in development along the coastline, especially the Pacific. The land between Rosarito and Cabo San Lucas is extremely deserted. This land is practically uninhabitable dessert. Now that the country is in turmoil, these building projects have been stopped and there is a mess of unfinished construction lining this coast.

In the United States we currently have over 10% of our commercial real estate vacant in every major city and this number is steadily increasing. in order to avoid this for developing countries, it would be beneficial for all, environment included, if more thought went into true need and layout of construction. Hopefully, we can manage this before we build over every piece of coastline only to abandon these buildings come recession.

Week 7 - Genes still Changing

Sure, why not. If they weren't then we would either be in an evolutionary freeze or we would be devolving. Maybe we are devolving. Maybe we have become such an unhealthy parasite that nature is causing us to be less fertile. I don't know, it difficult to say because we have so much medicine and other ways to keep us alive. Also, the way we live is so far from nature that it's difficult to say. Are we evolving to be better at working long hours and living in city air? I don't know. I hope not.

Week 7 - TCM & Cancer

TCM views cancer as a pathogenic symptom that affects many different parts of the body and therefore must be treated comprehensively. TCM doesn't cut things out of the body or view things as separate from the body. Once the pathogen has invaded us internally, it is now part of us. Tumors are thought of as Phlegm invading the body. This Phlegm can be dispersed and dissolved. TCM will also look to see how the Phlegm was created and attempt to protect the body from future invasion.

TCM views all pathogens as things to treat while healing and supporting the body. Western Medicine views most things as separate from the body and detrimental to our survival. Therefore the thing must be removed at all cost of the health of the patient. TCM understands that through eating healthy, sleeping well, not over-working or over-stressing, we can live with pathogens in our bodies. We can live a balanced healthful life with dignity. Western Medicines view of "life" is simply as the opposite of death. TCM views life as being present and healthful, with a calm mind and open heart.

Week 7 - Sophisticated Understanding of Cancer

I think Western Medicine has a very sophisticated understanding of Cancer cells. In general, I don't think our understanding of Cancer is complete enough to be considered sophisticated. We still, apparently, don't know really why cancer happens. We don't understand all the objectives in causing cancer to appear in ones body. We seem to really understand on a micro level what cancer does in our body and even how it starts but we don't know the why.

Sophistication is a cultural, relative term. For example, the chimps using the stick to dig for termites, we view this as sophisticated for chimps, but primitve for us. We may think a high paid female professional wearing designer clothes is sophisticated but if she were to move to Tokyo, she may be considered, overly confident and showy, not sophisticated. I believe that westerns really dislike not having a solid answer. As a result, we delve deep into what we do know, hoping this may make-up for some of what we don't know. We can know every molecule of a cancer cell and how it lives and reacts in the body. This will not change the fact that we don't know why cancer happens.

Week 7 - Bibliography from GMO presentation

Here is the Bibliography from my GMO presentation. 

www.wikipedia.com

www.saynotogmos.org

www.athenews.com

www.monsanto.com

www.cargill.com

www.sanofi-aventis.us

www.conagrafoods.com

www.unilever.com

www.deruiterseeds.com

www.syngenta.com

www.seedsofdeception.com

www.kraft.com

www.percyschmeiser.com

www.globalpublicmedia.com

www.truefoodnow.org

biotechnologyonline.org

www.politicalfriendster.com

www.seedsaversexchange.com

www.thecampaign.org

www.safe-food.org

www.fda.gov

Week 6 - Language and Tools in Chimps

I think it shows that other animals are much more sophisticated than we give them credit for. The have highly developed ways of communication and survival. We seem to forget that they have survived, often times, much longer than we have. They have been able to adapt even as we push them to the brink of extinction. Why do we believe that having the ability to wipe out the planet makes us the most evolved? I would argue the opposite.

Chimps have shown that they learn techniques from each other and not just from other chimp tribes but from humans too. In this sense they are more evolved than we are, learning from other species how best to secure their own survival. I have heard that in a nuclear holocaust only cockroaches would survive. Why don't we start studying how to be more like cockroaches? 

Week 6 - Chinese Medicine Gaining Respectability in the West

It's an interesting paradigm that in order to gain respectability, Acupuncture must be given the stamp of approval by Western Medicine, or so some people think. Will it be that the very thing that is failing to help so many Americans is the same thing that will grant approval for their path to whole health.

The Doctor's language in this article was tellingly defensive. If these Doctor's went into the field of medicine to help people get healthy, then why would they so quickly discredit Acupuncture with it's thousands of years of researched study? 

The reason I see, is they might feel threatened. One can only have so many patients seek alternative healing methods before they must realize that their way is not the only way.

I think that Jill said it best..."Western Medicine is excellent at Traumatology."

Week 6 - Living and Non-living

I consider all things in our natural world to be part of a living system. All these systems can be broken down in definitely into smaller and smaller living systems. All these beings, plants, dirt, rock, animals, air, clouds, water have movement, breath, energy, light, pressure, food that they use and need to continue to exist. I consider most manmade object to be part of a non-living system. The desks, carpet and light that help make up a classroom don't need to exist in order for the classroom to exist and the classroom doesn't exist in order for those objects to exist. There is a purpose but no mutual regenerating relationship between the two. Also consider an oil field. The oil does not need the machine in order to continue being oil and the oil doesn't exist to give the machines purpose. These man made things are inserted into the world with no reciprocal purpose. They do not create or contribute to the process of life and in many cases they destroy it.

Week 5 - Diversification

Absolutely. The more mono-crops the easier it is for insects and fungii to form. Diversification in species, especially our food is the only way to guarantee a steady food supply. Have we forgotten the potato famine that devastated Ireland? Mono-crops hurt the soil from lack of rotation and therefore variety in nutrients. They hurt animals and insects that feed on variety and strengthen very specific predators while potentially killing these predators competitors. Diversification not only saves one species but many. If mother nature wanted acres and acres of mono-crops she would grow things that way.

Week 5 - Broccoli

I am neutral on broccoli, I prefer cauliflower and cabbage to broccoli. It is so classically western that these scientists need to understand how these things work on a molecular level before they are able to confirm that we may be able to help prevent cancer with the things we eat. This focus on the small parts of the whole often lead to "side-effects" and improperly prescribed medications. Instead of telling people to eat more vegetables, we can now take a pill that isolates the DNA repair genes. Who is to say that these pills will have the same effect as eating the food itself? As Heather suggested, I too would like to see the studies comparing organic to non-organic broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.

Week 5 - Chicken or the Egg

I vote for the eggs, plural. This logic makes sense to me, an egg that hatches a chicken is a chicken egg whether it came from an actual chicken or not. This is the scary thing about implanting a Wooly mammoth egg into an elephant. Nature probably had hundreds if not thousands of years of trials to get that chicken egg to continually be a chicken. What are the implications of messing with mother natures time line?

I researched a bit about egg laying and the wide end comes first, the thin end gets "pinched off".