Can Reading Books Every Day Make Live Longer?

Books in a library shelf

We may be read books either some times or every day, but not all of us aware that reading activities have great effect on many things to us.

There are plenty of benefits of reading (books, newspaper, magazine, novel), just for few examples are:

- improve memory

- better health

- improve family relationships (parents and kids)

- better sleep quality

- boosting brain

- improving vocabularies

- lower stress level

- better in empathizing

Reading regularly is similar to do exercises (treadmills, jogging, walking, push ups and riding a bike) or eating quality diets such as fruit and vegetables every day.

A front desk library, just for illustration

Researchers from Yale University observed 3,635 people for certain periods, then divided in 3 groups:

- who does not read books at all

- who reads a book every day

- who read a book for 3 and half hours a week.

After 12 years observation, the researchers found that group of people “who reads a book every day” live longer.

Readers with at least 30 minutes to read a book every day have live two years longer compared to who does not read books at all.

Interesting fact shown that who likes to read everyday mainly come from people with following status:

- female

- higher education (college degree)

- higher income

Do you like to read books or other reading sources? How many hours you read per day?

Can Immortal Jellyfish Defy Death?

Jellyfish trick to avoid death

(credit to science organization, Australia)

Many researches have been done to delay or reverse of human being aging, but we have no clues until now.

Yes, we might “reduce” negatives effect of old such as deterioration of health. Some methods have been successful to:

- improve cognitive ability

- improve physical performance

How about with other multi cellular creatures? Can they defies death?

Scientists know one tiny creature called as immortal jellyfish which is swimming in the ocean can live forever biologically.

Immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) size is so small just about 4.5 mm in length and width. Hence, barely visible. 

The creatures swim in almost in all oceans, both tropical and temperate seas, but they are abundant in tropical regions.

Immortal jellyfish in the ocean (credit to Krissy Howard)

Their life cycle is following (please see at the first Figure):

- Female medusae produce eggs, and males release sperms. Fertilized eggs develop to be Planula larvae.

- Planula attached to hard substance, then develop to Polyp stage

- Polyp produces “buds,” then develop to Ephyra, a small jellyfish

- Medusa is adult stage of jellyfish to reproduce eggs and sperms, then, back to early life cycle.

The question then: How jellyfish live everlasting?

Above life cycle is in the normal state. If medusa faces extreme conditions (starvation or injury), instead of dead, it reverts to be young phase by broken apart as tiny cells.

Then develop to be polyp, and so on. This process to escape death is called as biologically immortal. 

Can Abnormal Blood Sugar Lead to Seizure? - Diabetes 8

Range of blood sugar level (credit to Melissa Conrad Stoppler)

Fluctuation in sugar level may be faced by both non-diabetic and diabetic patients on daily basis due to several factors:

- illness

- insulin level

- metabolic problems

So, what is normal range? General speaking, what we call as normal range of blood sugar level is from 70 mg/dL to 130 mg/dL.

Abnormal is a state where the level below or higher than normal range. The range of pre-diabetes and diabetes are following:

- 140 to 199 mg/dL, prediabetes range

- above 200 mg/dL, diabetes

Too lower or too higher if sugar level is under 54 mg/dL or above 400 mg/dL could be categorized as medical emergency.

Diabetic seizure, just for illustration

(credit to Christopher Notfall)

Seizure is one of medical emergencies due to high or low blood sugar. But, seizure due to higher sugar is very rare.

In this post, we refer seizure to low blood sugar level which less than 30 mg/dL. Lower blood sugar means brain does not have glucose enough to make its function properly.

Unfunction brain due to decreasing of neuron cells in its, thus lead to seizure. Some signs of low sugar level could cause seizures are:

- anxiety

- confusion

- sweating

- mumbling

- drowsiness

Untreated seizure could cause loss consciousness, brain damages and even death. While in seizures, the immediate solution could be:

- drinking fruit juice

- eating high caloric snacks

- taking glucose tablets

- taking one spoon honey

# You may like to read:

 - What is Type 2 Diabetes? - Diabetes 1 | Tanza Erlambang Update

 - What is the Relationship between Eggs and Diabetes? - Diabetes 2 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Why Pancreas of Type 2 Diabetic Persons Produce Less Insulin? - Diabetes 3 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Could Medicines Affect on Pancreas to Produce Insulin? - Diabetes 4 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update

How Important Credit Score to Mortgage Rate?

A bonsai plant just for illustration (this is my own photo)

Many Americans believed that there are 3 important things in their life:

- having a family with two kids

- having a house

- having barbecue and fireworks during independent day every year.

In case of a house, some time, certain people can’t have one for “a while” due to several factors, one of them is a “credit score.”

Credit score reflects financial health: the higher the score, the lower the risk. Hence, higher score tend to get loan quite easy with lower mortgage rate.

There are 5 scale range of credit score in the USA, from poor to excellent:

- 300 – 550, poor score

- 550 – 620, subprime score

- 620 – 680, acceptable score

- 680 – 740, good score

- 740 – 850, excellent score

View from a house

To apply for mortgage loans (Fannie Mae or FHA loans), we should have at least 620 credit score. Average credit score for first time home buyers was 684.

As said that higher credit score means best or lower mortgage interest rate. The different of 1% means a lot.

Just to give an idea, if the house price US$ 300 thousands, down payment US$ 50 thousand and 30 year mortgage:

- 5% interest would cost US$ 235 thousands

- 4% interest would cost US$ 180 thousands

It is clear that with 1% less of interest rate, we could save around US$ 55,000. Hope, we should consider our credit score, before applying mortgage loan.

Why Puffin Birds Population are Decreasing?

Lonely Puffin bird

Puffin birds or Atlantic puffin birds (Fratercula arctica) look cute for me, because of their colors, especially multi colors of their bill.

They are found mainly in the colder areas such as:

- Iceland

- North West Europe

- Arctic fringes

- Eastern North America

- across Atlantic Ocean.

Unfortunately, Puffin birds population are decreasing in the last 15 years due to many factors.

Iceland has the most Puffin bird population in the world, experienced lost of million birds.

Birds were estimated to decrease, from 7 million of 15 years ago to 5 million only in the present time in Iceland alone.

The main causes are climate changes. Some experts said that over fishing is also lead to decreasing of Puffin birds population. 

Hunting of puffin birds in Iceland

(credit to Josh Haner, The New York Times).

Fishes and crustaceans are source of foods for Puffin birds, but the birds prefer fish than crustacean. The fish includes:

- sand eels

- herring

- hake

- capelin

Some of these small fishes are caught by commercial fishing, contributed to depletion of fish population, hence effect on bird’s food supply.

In case of Iceland that hunting is one of main causes to birds number. The Iceland and Faroe island people consume puffin birds.

As traditional cuisine, what Icelanders and Faroe islanders do with puffin birds:

- eat fresh heart of birds

- grill the bird

- smoke the meat

- consume bird’s eggs

However, declining of Puffin birds is every where, thus “the International Union for Conservation of Nature” had listed the birds as vulnerable (threaten to endanger in near future).

Have you seen Puffin birds? Where?

Do You Know these by Catching Fish Species?

Pollock fillet (credit to Gimli Fish Market)

We knew the most favorite seafood eaten by American, unfortunately those fishes are not sustainable (I am please if you had read my previous post: Why Consuming Trash Fish could Help Environmental Protection?).

In addition to tuna, salmon and shrimps, the most eaten seafood are following:

- Cod

- Atlantic halibut

- Winter skate

- Bluefin tuna.

Unfortunately, the last tree (Atlantic halibut, Winter skate and Bluefin tuna) are enlisted as threatening, and even endangering fish species.

Consumer like us, and seafood restaurants should consider to consume friendly environmentally species.

Delicious dogfish (credit to Pedro Barbosa)

There are plenty of by catching fish species, and they are sustainable, delicious with reasonable price.

Here by catching fish sold in the market:

- Scup, called as silver bass too.

- Dog fish, some countries called it as rock salmon

- Sea robin

- Acadian red fish

- Ground fish

Scup fish (credit to Flatiron)

Ground fish is fish that live on the bottom of sea. Some species getting popular in the US market.

Several species of ground fishes are:

- Pollock

- Flounders (gray, summer, winter and yellow tail flounders)

- Haddock, getting highly demand and expensive

- Red fish

I love Pollock, flounders and red fish. I grilled or bake Pollock and flounders. For read fish, I used a traditional recipe.

For seafood lovers, let us expand our species choices rather than unsustainable, threatened and endangered species only.

What is Hypoxia and How Its Relates to Diabetes? - Diabetes 7

Illustration effect of hypoxia on cells or tissues

(credit to Osmosis, YouTube)

We discussed about two metabolic factors that are glucotoxicity and lipotoxicity at previous articles:

 

- How Lipotoxicity Relate to Diabetes? - Diabetes 6 | Tanza Erlambang Update

- Effect of Metabolic on Beta Cells in the Pancreas - Diabetes 5 | Tanza Erlambang Update

We will talk little bit about another metabolic factor called as “hypoxia” in this post.

As mentioned by WebMd (2019) that hypoxia is condition of low oxygen level in the our tissues due to low oxygen level in the blood.

Hence, blood can’t bring enough oxygen to the tissue's need. It could lead to injure of cells or dysfunctional of several organs in the body.

Depend on length of time, effect of hypoxia on human body (organs) is range from almost no problem to mild problem to death:

- headaches

- difficult to breath (increase breathing rate)

- increase rate of heart

- body not work properly

- brain stops to function

- lifelong brain damage

- death

Illustration of wide effects of hypoxia (credit First Aid).

Then, the question might be asked: what is relationship between hypoxia and diabetes?

Some literature said that hypoxia and excess nutrient to be trigger of obesity, then cause glucose intolerance and diabetes.

It is suggested to prevent hypoxia and excess nutrient in order to manage body weight by doing:

- consume healthy diet

- exercises regularly

- minimize to use pharmacological theraphy or drugs medication

Reference

WebMd. 2019. What is Hypoxia. Retrieved from https: webmd.