Kent Ninomiya Health & Happiness

No Excuses

2009-06-19T15:54:00.000-05:00

Not only do active children and adults benefit from martial arts training, the elderly and physically challenged can thrive as well. Martial arts is all about using your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. Each martial artist will have their own style based on their strengths, and will adapt their technique depending on the weaknesses of their opponent. Martial artists include paraplegics, the blind, and 90 year old grandmothers. Allow no excuse to stop you from indulging in martial arts training. It offers increased confidence, better health, and mental harmony.

Quality not Quantity

2009-06-18T13:41:00.001-05:00

There is a wide variety of tae kwon do and other martial arts schools to choose from. A common mistake martial artists make is to latch on to a school that does not suit their needs. Big schools offer large facilities and plenty of varied partners, but can often neglect the individual lost in a sea of students. Small schools offer individualized attention in a more intimate setting, but might not have all the fancy equipment. Each martial arts student must ask themself why they are studying the martial arts. If the answer is to be part of a large social setting with other martial artists, then a larger school is a better choice. If the answer is to hone your martial arts skills, then you would benefit from the personal attention of a small school. The bottom line is that it come down to quality instruction. Good instructors train quality students. You are not getting quality instruction if you are left alone with someone without a black belt to supervise you. Only black belts are qualified to teach. If a school tells you otherwise, go somewhere else.

Martial Arts Wandering

2009-06-17T01:22:00.001-05:00

The study of martial arts should ideally be done under the tutelage of a single qualified master. However, in today's modern society people move, schools close, and students get bored.
A lifelong student of martial arts may need to transition to several different martial arts programs in their lifetime. This can be incredibly difficult if you study a somewhat obscure martial art like hapkido. There are very few hapkido schools, so finding one when you move is a challenge. This is why tae kwon do is a good martial art to study if you plan to move a lot. No martial art is more pervasive in America today. The two largest factions of tae kwon do are the World Taekwondo Federation and the International Taekwon-do Federation. Their systems are somewhat standardized. If you study WTF or ITF tae kwon do, you should be able to find another school teaching pretty much the same way in another city. Your rank will also transfer to the new school. This allows you to continue your studies unabated.

What's in a Name?

2009-06-12T18:30:00.001-05:00

I am often asked the differences between tae kwon do, taekwondo, taekwon-do, tang soo do, moo duk kwon, jhoon rhee, etc. They are all descended from Korean martial arts masters developing their own styles following World War II. These masters were influenced by Japanese karate, but decided to take their arts in their own direction. This evolution continued as tae kwon do spread to American and around the world. You might find several martial arts schools in your neighborhood teaching a variety of these styles. They are all essentially teaching the same thing. They may have different forms, techniques, and belt systems, but at the end of the day it is all about punching and kicking. This tae kwon do topic page strives to encompass ideas from all these styles and freely exchange ideas without judgement. It also strives to reach out to cousin martial arts such as karate, hapkido, and MMA. Tae kwon do sits somewhere between karate and hapkido/MMA on the martial arts evolutionary scale. Whatever you decide to study, make sure that it suits your interests. Also remember that you can study more than one style. Perhaps someday you will start your own martial art.

Satori - Kent Ninomiya

2008-04-21T01:42:00.000-05:00

by Kent Ninomiya

Satori is a beautifully simple yet infinitely elusive concept. This is especially true for the western mind that deals primarily in the physical realm. Yet I would argue that it is the western mind that is especially in need of attaining satori. Defining satori is as evasive as satori itself. Ask many experts on the matter and you will get many answers. None of these answers will tell you how to attain satori or even what to look for. There in lies the difficulty for the western mind that is used to following pre printed instructions.

My personal definition of satori is enlightenment attained by a seemingly unrelated event. One of the guiding principles of zen is that the harder you try to be enlightened the less enlightened you are. Only through purging yourself of desire can you attain all you seek. I know... it messes with your mind. A famous story about satori involves a monk who meditated for decades in isolation but never achieved enlightenment. One day he was sweeping his walkway when the sound of a pebble hitting a rock suddenly gave him satori. He then understood everything. All that meditating did nothing. The sound of the pebble broke through all barriers to his understanding. I know... it messes with your mind.

The word literally means "understanding" in Japanese. It's been said that satori is the reason Zen exists. Without satori there would be no Zen. I agree. However, you don't have to understand Zen or Buddhism or even enlightenment to appreciate this.

Here is a western way to look at it. Just imagine working diligently for many years on a task only to achieve modest success. This could be your career or sports or a relationship or anything. Suddenly one moment something unexpected happens where you suddenly realize you were looking at it all the wrong way. One moment before you knew nothing. Now you see the big picture clear as day and wonder why you never saw it before. That is satori. It is an unanticipated turning point we can all relate to. It is a gift of awareness and understanding.

*** Kent Ninomiya ***

Oil Culture Collapse - Kent Ninomiya

2008-04-20T01:42:00.000-05:00

by Kent Ninomiya

We are in trouble. Really, really big trouble. Monster trouble that few of us think much about. It's all about oil. That stuff that used to shoot out of the ground is getting harder and harder to find, pump and refine while the demand increases by the day. Most people glaze over when the subject is raised. Our "oil culture" has been around all our lives. Since the 1970's we've been inundated with stories of gloom and doom, yet the oil still flows. Sure we pay more for gas and we gripe about it, but we still fill up our gas guzzling SUV's and drive around the block to buy a quart of milk. It's like we are in a societal state of denial. Denial of what you ask? Denial of these simple truths.

1) There is only so much oil in the ground. We are getting better and better at extracting it but someday it will run out.
2) Demand is exploding. Not just in the west but also China and India with more than 2 billion people between them. This isn't just gasoline for our cars. It impacts airplanes, electricity production and manufactured goods. Any economist will tell you that when you have a dwindling supply and hefty demand you get higher prices.
3) With the rising price of oil comes the rising price of everything. Just about every person on Earth needs oil to get anywhere. Just about every product you consume got to you on a truck, train or plane using oil. Just about every service you require needs oil to provide it. That means everything gets more expensive when oil gets more expensive.

Now visualize a world where you just can't get your hands on any oil at any price. That means prices of everything will skyrocket. People wont be able to get to work to make money to buy things that wont get to them anyway because there is no oil to ship the stuff around the world. Economies will collapse followed by societies, cultures and civilizations. Is this an exaggeration? Not really.

So how did we get in such a mess? About a century ago a relatively small group of people saw big bucks in oil. It improved human standard of living in ways we couldn't imagine before. Suddenly we could travel around the world, get exotic items from just about anywhere, and do away with countless age old limitations involving distance. A steady stream of cheap gas fed our habit until it was all we knew. Growing up in the suburbs, getting your own car as a teenager, hitting the highway as an expression of freedom... all became part of our culture. It is now who we are. Asking us to give it up is asking us to deny who we are.

We've known for a long time that oil pollutes the planet and that we would someday run out. Yet we have done remarkably little about that. Technology for wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, tidal and other alternative energy sources have been around longer than oil in some cases. So why have we not done more to switch to those sources as we face our own demise with the end of oil? Conspiracy theorists will tell you the oil barons squashed alternative fuel technology to stay in business. While this may be somewhat true, it doesn't entirely explain how an entire species would buy into an oil habit that everyone agrees we will eventually have to go cold turkey with.

The answer is that oil was easy. Running out of it and the damage it did to Earth was a future generation's problem. We just didn't care enough to do something about it. Well... now we are starting to. We might not run out of oil in our lifetimes but we will certainly suffer for it. The pain we feel now paying higher prices is just the beginning. The strain on our currency, supply chain and way of life will become more and more pronounced. Larger and larger chunks of our household budgets will go straight to the oil industry. Care free days of driving to the store to buy the latest fashions or stock up at the supermarket are disappearing. What will happen to a society that defines itself by what it does with its cars? We shall see.

*** Kent Ninomiya ***

Cellular Phone Scam - Kent Ninomiya

2008-04-11T02:46:00.000-05:00

How many cellular phones have you owned in your lifetime? If you're like me you have no idea. When I got my first cell phone in the early 1990's it was the size of a brick, cost $500 and the calls cost 75 cents per minute. I felt cool carrying it around but was afraid to make calls fearing an outrageous bill. Fast forward a decade and a half and cell phones are like pants. Quite literally everyone has them. In fact I don't know a single person past puberty who doesn't have one. The once pricey phones are now given away "free" when you sign a contract and call minutes are conveniently packaged in monthly bundles for you. It would seem that we've made progress with cellular phones... but have we? Sure they're smaller and do cooler things, but we are paying more than we ever realized we would for something nearly all of us didn't have nor need 20 years ago. Cell phones are now a necessity of life. Even the eccentric families who don't have TV's have cell phones. The cellular phone companies realized that the key to raking in money was volume. Like the drug dealer on the corner, they started giving away the phones for "free" knowing you would be back for more and willing to pay for it. You see... cell phones are every bit as addictive as drugs and much harder to quit. You are encouraged to use them more and more with the minute bundles. When you don't think about the minutes that are ticking away, it's easy to forget you're paying extra for the convenience of a cell phone. Before you know it, a family is paying more than one hundred dollars a month on a cell phone bill. Multiply that by, well everybody, and you have a very lucrative business. Now the only thing the cell phone companies have left to do is fight over market share. They fight hard over that too. Once you are on the hook for a contract you can't get out without paying an outrageous penalty. Have you ever noticed that the cell companies push two year contracts but the free or discounted phone they gave you only lasts about a year and a half? It has happened to me and countless others I know more times than we can remember. When you call to complain they tell you the warranty expired at a year but they would be happy to give you a brand new phone... IF you sign a brand new 2 year contract. THIS IS THE SCAM! It is my hypothesis that the phones are deliberately designed to last less than two years so the cellular phone companies can trap you into renewing your contract. What do you think? Kent Ninomiya

Imagining Racism - Kent Ninomiya

2008-03-28T01:08:00.000-05:00

What is all this about the cover of Vogue being racist? Take a look at the image here on the right. The offended say LeBron James' expression combined with his arm being around Giselle Bundchen's waist “reinforces the criminalization of black men.” What?! Since when is an expression racist? People often see what they want. Perhaps the offended want to see racism here. It's not as though Giselle was in black face or LeBron was flashing gang signs. It's just a picture of two people on a magazine cover! There is enough REAL racism out there to worry about. When a big deal is made about imaginary racism like this magazine cover, it distracts from a real problem in our society. It also gives society an excuse to turn a blind eye when racism does rear its ugly head. When you cry wolf too many times, no one listens when the wolf really comes. Let's call racism what it is. Let's not call it racism when it isn't. Kent Ninomiya

What's Important Here? - Kent Ninomiya

2008-03-15T22:10:00.001-05:00

Kent Ninomiya - If you watched TV or read a newspaper in the past week, you might be under the impression that we are no longer at war, the economy is no longer in a downward spiral and gasoline prices are no longer hitting all time highs. It would seem that the sexual habits of New York's governor, an off hand racial comment by a former vice presidential candidate to a small newspaper, and sermons by a pastor who knows a presidential candidate are the most pressing issues facing our nation. Journalists en mass are flocking to the scandalous and away from what's important. Sidebars about celebrities who cheat and debriefing so-called experts about why men go to prostitutes produces very little useful information for the average American. Convincing the public that a "scandal" results from comments made by people only slightly connected to a presidential campaign is a gross misrepresentation. Why are we not focusing on things the presidential candidates are actually saying? Why are the sexual activities of the Governor of New York important to anyone not living in New York? Journalists have a duty to put news in context. What we cover is considered important just because we cover it. When we skew public perception by chasing the tabloids. Meanwhile people are dying in war, families can't pay their mortgages and the price of everything is going up because gas prices are at an all time high. Compared to those things, who really cares about the New York governor's sex life? Kent Ninomiya

Happy Lunar New Year - Kent Ninomiya

2008-02-08T12:20:00.000-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - Happy Lunar New Year everyone! All around the world there are celebrations with feasts, fireworks and dancing dragons. It's a time for Asian families and familes of Asian decent to get together and revel in the new year. It is Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day all wrapped into one in asian culture. It's often called "Chinese New Year," but this isn't particularly accurate. While it is widely observed in China, it is also an important holiday for people throughout East Asia and of Asian ancestry all over the world. Believe it or not, there are still people out there who do not realize all Asian people are NOT Chinese. Lunar New Year is also a more accurate term. The holiday usually begins on the first day of the first lunar month. This makes the lunar calendar much more accurate than the Julian calendar. Jokes are often made about the Chinese being backward for celebrating the new year late. In reality the west celebrates the new year early. While the traditional Chinese calendar does not record continuously numbered years, 2008 is considered year 4705. So happy 4705 everyone! Kent Ninomiya

Snow Day! - Kent Ninomiya

2008-02-01T17:10:00.001-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - There's nothing like a snow day to bring a family together and give you a fabulous work out. It's like a surprise holiday. That is if you don't have to work. A lovely 6 inches fell over night prompting the kids to force me out of bed at the crack of dawn. First order of business was to clear the driveway of snow so we could get the car out. That's a significant work out in itself. I had a good sweat going by the time I cut a path wide enough for our vehicle. All the while the kids romped and played on a miniature hill I created by my digging. Once we could get out the real play and exercise began. We went to the local hill for some serious sledding. There is nothing like the uncontrolled laughter of a family flying out of control down a steep snow covered hill. We think nothing of the vigourous climbs back up the hill for the next run. By the time we called it a day we had hiked miles up a steep slope. We were covered in snow and sweat. We were exhausted and giddy. The best kinds of exercise and happiness are the kinds that you don't know you are getting. Kent Ninomiya

Birth Order Health - Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-23T01:36:00.000-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - I don't usually site other writers' work directly but I came across an article that was just too interesting to pass up. Check out an article by Sarah Robbins from Prevention. It talks about how birth order can impact your health. My initial reaction was to laugh it off, but read on and you may find some points to ponder: Your oldest child is running for class president; the baby is running away from home. Birth order theories of personality make great cocktail party fodder. Just don't try them on the psychologist standing near the hors d'oeuvres table — experts have been arguing for years about whether family position can account for kids' personality differences, and there's no resolution in sight. But your oldest child has allergies? Your youngest broke yet another bone? Now you're talking.
Surprise: There's increasing evidence that your place in the family lineup can have an impact on your physical health — sometimes small, but in some cases substantial. Of course, there's nothing you (or your spouse or kids) can do to change your birth order. But you can make sure to enjoy the benefits that come with it — and steer clear of the risks. Here, a birth order-based cheat sheet to help you and your loved ones beat your odds of allergies, asthma, accidents, and more.
Firstborn
The Good News: A study in Science magazine showed that firstborns score an average of 3 points higher on IQ tests than their younger siblings. And being brainy goes along with better health, found a study from the University of Glasgow that suggests children who scored higher on IQ tests were less likely to develop coronary heart disease and some cancers.
Watch For:
Allergies and asthma: In a review of over 50 studies, researchers found that oldest kids are more likely to suffer from allergies, hay fever, eczema, and even asthma. The reason might be that firstborns are overprotected: Many are exposed to few bacteria or viruses until they start school, while younger siblings battle the bugs older sibs bring home — and therefore may develop stronger immune systems.
Check to see if "colds" are actually allergies: If someone is constantly congested or sneezy, remember that allergies are the real culprit in about half of chronic sinus infections. "An allergy's most prominent symptom is an itchy nose — not a runny nose," says Amal Assa'ad, MD, a professor of allergy and immunology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "And allergies don't come with fevers, aches, or chills."
Testicular cancer: A study from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that firstborn men have a greater risk of testicular cancer. The eldest is typically exposed to higher estrogen levels in the womb than later-born sibs — which may up his risk of disease.
Keep an eye out: This relatively rare cancer can strike men as young as in their teens but is curable if found at an early stage. If your husband's family has a history of this disease, the American Cancer Society suggests monthly self-exams, after a warm bath or shower.
Middle Child
The Good News: Your risk of gum disease is 5% lower, probably because your immune system got an early workout from the germs your older brother or sister brought home and is better able to dispatch oral bacteria.
Watch For:
Depression: "Middle children tend to have lower self-esteem than first- or last-borns, perhaps because parents are busy with the other kids," says Frank J. Sulloway, PhD, author of Born to Rebel. A University of Wisconsin study found that parents spent less money and nearly 10% less time caring for them, compared with older or younger kids. And a University of Pennsylvania study found middle kids reported significantly more depressive symptoms.
Make sure second-born isn't second-class:"Kids who think they don't get enough attention may feel down or defeated, so tack on extra time for the middle," says Jennifer Hartstein, PsyD, a psychologist at the Child and Family Institute of the St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals in New York City. "If you're running to the supermarket, ask your middle child to come along."
Chronic fatigue syndrome:Preliminary research from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey suggests that middle kids are slightly more likely to suffer from CFS than their younger or older siblings.
Know the signs: If you feel exhausted for 6 months, and rest doesn't help, you may have CFS; for children and adolescents, it's 3 months. "Remember, healthy kids don't make excuses so they can skip trips to theme parks or sleepovers," says Donnica Moore, MD, president of the Sapphire Women's Health Group in Far Hills, NJ.
Minimize your risk:Experts say CFS may be triggered by an infection — so good hygiene, staying current with vaccines, and healthy eating may offer you protection.
Youngest
The Good News: Your risk of allergies is lower, thanks to those hand-me-down germs. Another benefit of being the baby: In Italian research, young adults who grew up with older siblings were 10% less likely to develop Hodgkin's disease than only children.
Watch For:
Accidentsand preventable diseases: A 2005 study of childhood accidents at a Jerusalem ER found that kids with three or more siblings were 50% more likely to be injured than those from smaller families. When parents are spread thin and supervision gets lax, other important protections can fall by the wayside, too: A study of London-born children found their odds of being vaccinated decreased 20% for each additional child in the family.
Be vigilant:Vaccinate your kids — and talk with your doctor about whether you should roll up your own sleeve. You may benefit from shots that weren't available when you were younger and may need boosters for others.
Risky behavior:Youngest kids go through puberty 3 months earlier on average than their older siblings, according to one analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. "Early puberty can cause an increase in risk taking," says lead author Joseph Rodgers, PhD, of the University of Oklahoma. Youngest children start having sex about 2 months earlier than their older brothers and sisters; they're also more likely to smoke cigarettes.
Communicate: "Dabbling in risky behavior is part of being a teen," says Hartstein. "So ask questions — and don't shy away from any they may ask. Peer pressure is real, but parents have a huge protective influence, too."

40 and Fit - Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-17T02:19:00.000-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - I've always taken care of myself. I don't drink or smoke. I eat well and exercise every day. Still, I find it increasingly difficult to stay slim and fit now that I've passed 40. It's something every middle aged person complains about, but somehow I thought I would be immune since I considered myself fit. I accept that I am getting older but I refuse to accept that means I need to get soft and flabby. A few years ago I changed my focus from being big to being lean. I traded low rep heavy weights for higher rep maintenance weights. I also cut back on my protein and calories. The diet that fed my muscles through my youth was fattening me up in my middle age. This seemed to work fine until I decreased my weight work and increased my cardio. It actually made it harder for me to keep off the pounds. I was puzzled by this until I talked to several experts in fitness and nutrition. Apparently I lost muscle mass when I stopped lifting all those weights. Muscle burns a lot of calories, apparently more than cardio work in my case. So I hit the weights again and seeing the results. I will never stop lifting again. Kent Ninomiya

Diet Tacos - Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-15T01:40:00.000-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - Yo quiero a healthier taco! Continuing my look at better food choices when you dine out... how about Taco Bell? That's right. The fast food chain has a "Fresco" menu with nine items with less than 9 grams of fat. That's still quite a bit of fat for a little taco but much less than what the regular stuff packs. There's nothing too innovative here. They just replace the cheese and sauce with salsa. The fatty meat and fried shell are still there. No one ever went to Taco Bell looking for health food so I doubt this will make anyone change their habits. However, if find yourself in a Taco Bell and are forced to eat, try something Fresco. Kent Ninomiya

Diet Coffee - Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-13T00:46:00.000-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - Starbucks is finally jumping on the healthy bandwagon. They plan to introduce a line of lighter products this year. The first will be skinny lattes and mochas. They are just 90 calories for a tall compared to 190 for a regular latte and 270 in a regular mocha. The shocker here isn't that Starbucks is introducing diet coffee. It's that many of us have been guzzling this stuff for years without realizing how fattening it was. Oh... the new drinks have no fat compared to 5 grams for a regular tall vanilla latte and 12 grams of fat for a tall caffe mocha. Feeling coffee remorse? You would have been better off with the doughnuts! Kent Ninomiya

Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-10T14:06:00.001-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - Here's a link to a blog you might find interesting. The author seems to have a good grasp on some pressing sports issues of our time. http://oldschool.tblog.com/post/1969970957#comment_anchor

Live Longer - Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-09T03:27:00.002-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - There's a great article I came across on Yahoo health. It talks about all the extra years of life you'll get by eating well, exercising and laying off the booze. When reading it the words "no kidding" came to mind. Someone actually did a study on that? There is no magic secret behind good health and long life. Do all the good things and avoid the bad things. So why doesn't everyone do it? They either don't want to live better and longer or they are too lazy to do what it takes. Everyone is looking for short cuts but study after study and real life experience tells us there are no short cuts. So here's the article. Read it if you like but you already know what it tells you. Eat well, exercise and stay away from things that are bad for you. Kent Ninomiya

(Yahoo Health) To get an extra 14 years of life, don't smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in moderation. That's the finding of a study that tracked about 20,000 people in the United Kingdom. Kay-Tee Khaw of the University of Cambridge and colleagues calculated that people who adopted these four healthy habits lived an average of 14 years longer than those who didn't.
"We've known for a long time that these behaviors are good things to do, but we've never seen these additive benefits before," said Susan Jebb, head of Nutrition and Health at Britain's Medical Research Council, which helped pay for the study.
"Just doing one of these behaviors helps, but every step you make to improve your health seems to have an added benefit," said Jebb, who was not involved in the study.
The benefits were also seen regardless of whether or not people were fat and what social class they came from. The findings were published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal.
The study included healthy adults aged 45 to 79. Participants filled in a health questionnaire between 1993 and 1997 and nurses conducted a medical exam at a clinic. Participants scored a point each for not smoking, regular physical activity, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and moderate alcohol intake.
Until 2006, the researchers tracked deaths from all causes, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory diseases. People who scored four points were four times less likely to die than those who scored zero, the research showed.
Khaw said that the study should convince people that improving their health does not always require extreme changes to their lifestyles.
"We didn't ask these people to do anything exceptional," Khaw said. "We measured normal behaviors that were entirely feasible within people's normal, everyday lives."
Public health experts said they hoped the study would inspire governments to help people adopt these changes.
"This research is an important piece of work which emphasizes how modifying just a few risk factors can add years to your life," said Dr. Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization.
But because the study only observed people rather than testing specific changes, experts said that it would be impossible to conclude that people who suddenly adopted these healthy behaviors would automatically gain 14 years.
"We can't say that any one person could gain 14 years by doing these things," said Armstrong. "The 14 years is an average across the population of what's theoretically possible."
But experts worry that the new findings may still not be enough to persuade people to change their unhealthy ways.
"Most people know that things like a good diet matter and that smoking is not good for you," Jebb said. "We need to work on providing people with much more practical support to help them change."

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Chinese Stem Cell research - Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-06T22:32:00.000-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - The United States government drastically limits the type of research that can be done with stem cells. For people suffering from debilitating illnesses and spinal cord injuries stems cells are their last, best, and only hope. This standoff is apparently forcing Americans to head to China to get the treatment they can't get at home. The associated press wrote this thought provoking article that is worthy of note. (AP) They're paralyzed from diving accidents and car crashes, disabled by Parkinson's, or blind. With few options available at home in America, they search the Internet for experimental treatments — and often land on Web sites promoting stem cell treatments in China.
They mortgage their houses and their hometowns hold fundraisers as they scrape together the tens of thousands of dollars needed for travel and the hope for a miracle cure.
A number of these medical tourists claim some success when they return home:
Jim Savage, a Houston man with paralysis from a spinal cord injury, says he can move his right arm. Penny Thomas of Hawaii says her Parkinson's tremors are mostly gone. The parents of 6-year-old Rylea Barlett of Missouri, born with an optical defect, say she can see.
But documentation is mostly lacking, and Western doctors warn that patients are serving as guinea pigs in a country that isn't doing the rigorous lab and human tests that are needed to prove a treatment is safe and effective.
Noting the lack of evidence, three Western doctors, undertook their own limited study. It involved seven patients with spinal cord injuries who chose to get fetal brain tissue injections at one hospital in China. The study reported "no clinically useful improvements" — even though most patients believed they were better. Five developed complications such as meningitis.
Experts in the West have theories about why some people think they've improved when the evidence is thin. Some are often getting intensive physical therapy, along with the mysterious injections; the placebo effect may also be a factor.
John Steeves, a professor at the University of British Columbia who heads an international group that monitors spinal cord treatments, has another theory. Some patients may be influenced by the amount of money they paid and the help they got from those who donated or helped raise money.
"Needless to say, when they come back, what are they going to report to their friends and neighbors? That it didn't work?" said Steeves. "Nobody wants to hear that."
He and other experts have written a booklet advising patients who are considering such treatments.
Western doctors discourage their patients from seeking such treatments. They note that it's impossible to gauge the safety and effectiveness of the treatments, or even know what's in the injections put into brains and spinal cords.
Patients and their families say they accept those risks. They simply don't have time to wait for more conclusive evidence. For many, the trip to China is a journey of hope.
"It's one of the only games in town," said Savage, 44, a lawyer who suffered severe spinal cord injuries after a canoe trip 25 years ago.
Savage spent 2 1/2 months in late 2006 and early 2007 at a hospital in the southern China city of Shenzhen to get what he was told were stem cell injections in his spine from umbilical cord blood. He made the arrangements through Beike Biotechnology Co., which offers the treatments at a number of hospitals in China.
Afterward, Savage said he was able to move his right arm for the first time since his diving accident; a video made at the hospital appears to show slight movement. He also said he noticed greater strength in his abdomen and more sensation on his skin.
Just how many foreigners like Savage are coming to China for treatment isn't known; and China is only one of several countries where such techniques are being offered.
Many Chinese doctors don't wait for results of rigorous testing before treating patients and they offer what they say are stem cell or other cell treatments to those willing to pay.
What is known about the procedures being performed comes from material on their Web sites or from patients who give detailed accounts of their visits. Little has been published in scientific journals for other doctors to scrutinize.
The use of stem cells for treatments isn't new. For decades, doctors around the world have been using adult stem cells from blood and bone marrow — and more recently from umbilical cord blood — to treat cancers of the blood like leukemia and lymphoma and blood diseases like sickle cell anemia.
Scientists have been exploring whether such adult stem cells and other cells such as those from the retina or fetal brain tissue could be used to replace cells lost because of injury or disease. And they are trying to figure out if there's a way to stimulate the body's own stem cells to make repairs.
But those strategies are still being investigated in the lab in animals; there have been very limited tests in people.
Whether any clinics in China are using the more controversial embryonic stem cells — doctors in some other countries claim to be — isn't clear. These stem cells are taken from days-old embryos. They can develop into all types of cells, but research into their usefulness is in early stages.
Patients seek out these unproven treatments after hearing about them from other patients, patient groups or Web sites for the medical companies. The patients' stories posted on the Internet usually tell of some kind of improvement from the treatments — slight movements in arms or legs, fewer spasms or tremors, a feeling of sensation, an ability to sweat.
Chris Hrabik, 21, has been disabled since a 2004 car crash left him with limited use of his hands and legs. His father took out a second mortgage on their Oak Ridge, Mo., home to help pay for $20,000 worth of stem cell injections at a Beike facility in China.
More than a year after returning home, Hrabik says he has nearly complete use of his left hand, with improvement in the right. He can work on his customized 1993 Nissan 240SX, a modified number complete with hand controls and racing seats.
He said he was able to move his left fingers within days of that first injection of umbilical cord stem cells into his spinal cord. There's been little progress since he left China, but he called the incremental changes significant.
"I just wanted something back, no matter what it was," said Hrabik, who attributes some of the changes to the physical therapy that he had in China.
Beike founder Sean Hu, who returned from abroad in 1999 with a doctorate in biochemistry, said the company has treated more than 1,000 patients, including 300 foreigners from 40 different countries. The only side effects have been slight fevers and headaches among a small percentage of patients, according to Hu.
He said patients with trauma injuries experience the most dramatic improvements; those with degenerative diseases such as ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, tend to improve initially but then slide back to their former condition within months.
"Patients shouldn't have their expectations too high," Hu said. "For patients to think they can walk again may be too much at this stage," he said.
He's now seeking venture capital to expand his web of treatment centers, labs and doctors and adapt proprietary techniques from researchers overseas.
"There is real potential here for China to take the lead in stem cells," Hu said.
Also offering treatments is Tiantan Puhua in Beijing, a joint venture between Asia's largest neurological hospital and an American medical group. Tiantan's sunny, sparkling rooms are a far cry from the dour facilities and staff at most Chinese hospitals. Diseases treated there range from stroke and spinal cord injuries to cerebral palsy and ataxia, a rare neurological condition that can cause slurred speech.
The hospital says its stem cell injections are combined with daily, three-hour doses of intravenous drugs designed to stimulate production of the patient's own stem cells. Physical rehabilitation and Chinese medicine are also part of the plan. A standard two-month course of treatment costs $30,000 to $35,000.
"We want to see actual improvements," said Dr. Sherwood Yang, head of the hospital's management team. "We are giving them another option at the highest level of safety."
Yang contends that 90 percent of patients show some results, with the rest suffering disabilities that are too far advanced to respond to treatment.
"We are making no promises," he added. "It's impossible to say exactly how any given patient will respond."
Western experts point to the lack of documented evidence that cell treatments have any benefit for spinal cord injuries or degenerative diseases like Parkinson's.
"All of us in the so-called Western world, if there was something valid, we'd be the first to be offering it," said Steeves, the Canadian professor and director of the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, known as ICORD.
Three other experts were involved in the study that found no improvement in the seven spinal cord injury patients who went for fetal brain tissue injections in China. The patients were evaluated before and after their surgery.
The doctors stressed their observations were no substitute for a larger, more strict investigation.
"People are looking for a cure," said Dr. Bruce Dobkin, a neurology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, one of the study's authors. "They may come to do something based more on a gut feeling. It's like looking for a religious miracle."
Along with the patients' booklet of advice about exploring experimental treatments, Steeves and other researchers have drawn up a set of guidelines on how to do research in spinal cord injuries. Another researcher, Dr. Wise Young of Rutgers University, is assembling a network of Chinese medical centers and universities to train researchers and conduct studies that meet international standards.
Dr. Michael Okun, medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation, said his group discourages patients from seeking out experimental treatments unless they're being done under the most rigorous research protocols.
"Stem cell therapy ... is a really interesting area that has a lot of promise for therapeutic approaches. But we're just not ready to be putting stem cells into people's brains at this point in time," said Okun.
But such warnings don't dissuade people like Penny Thomas of Captain Cook, Hawaii. She sought treatment for Parkinson's disease at Tiantan, where doctors drilled into her skull and injected what she was told were cells from a donor's retina. One year later, she said her tremors are almost gone and her medication has been cut to one-half of a single pill.
"I have no regrets and would do it all over again if need be," said Thomas, 53.
So would the parents of Rylea Barlett of Webb City, Mo. The family raised nearly $40,000 from friends and neighbors to spend a month in China at a Beike facility last summer, hoping treatments would cure their daughter's blindness. The child was born with an optic nerve disorder.
Dawn Barlett said her daughter responded to lights shone in her eyes within a week after the first of a series of five stem cell injections and can now make out blurry images on TV.
"She had no vision whatsoever before we left," the mother said. "There was no hope otherwise."
The girl's optometrist, Larry Brothers, said: "It truly is a miracle."
But when pressed for details, he said he detected "subtle differences" in Rylea's optic nerve after her return from China. Asked if he would characterize her progress as incremental, he said that "might be too optimistic."

diet soda controversy - Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-03T00:37:00.000-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - Get a load of what I found on yahoo health. Diet soda can make you fat? That explains why so many overweight people drink diet soda. Check this out:
One recent study has shown that people who drink diet soda still have a 41 percent chance of being overweight.
What is even more interesting about this research is that these diet-soda drinkers have a greater risk for obesity than do those who drink regular sodas.
How is this possible? It can't be that the diet sodas are causing obesity, since they contain no calories.
Some researchers believe that the problem with diet sodas is this: When people consume diet drinks, they think they're doing something "good" for their body — and then they feel free to splurge on other, high-calorie items.
For example, if you are eating at McDonald's and order a diet soda in place of a regular soda, you may think, "Now I can super-size my meal." People don't do this intentionally; it just happens and we don't pay attention to it — and then the extra pounds slip on board and stow away.
There is also some research that suggests diet sodas may actually stimulate the appetite. This explanation of the relationship between diet sodas and obesity is that the overly sweet taste of diet drinks actually creates a craving for still more sweet things, thus upping calorie consumption.
What then should you do about your drink choices?
First, remember: Everything in moderation. If you are drinking a lot of regular or diet soda each day, decreasing your intake of either may help you lose weight. Also, think about when during the day you drink diet sodas; do you then tend to splurge on other calories?
Although escaping the obesity epidemic isn't as easy as avoiding diet sodas, you should think about what you drink.

Happy New Year! - Kent Ninomiya

2008-01-01T22:52:00.001-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope your 2008 is fullfilling and fruitful. Let's all treat each other well and work toward peace and harmony. Kent Ninomiya

holiday diet - Kent Ninomiya

2007-12-31T21:07:00.000-06:00

Kent Ninomiya - Over the past week I have eaten enough junk food to last a lifetime. Combine that with an extreme lack of activity and you get an expanding waistline. Sure, I thought about putting down the pie and getting off the couch, but it never amounted to anything. My holiday gift to myself is to take it easy over the holidays. I indulge in extra food and watch more football. I only make a token effort at exercise. I do this knowing that I earned it. I plan ahead and try to work out more before the holidays. I go in slim and come out fat and rested. I also know that I will work extra hard after the holidays to burn off what I gained. Some will say this is a bad cycle but I disagree. The body needs rest now and then. A week of indulgence can kick start any exercise program and heal nagging injuries. It's also fun to let yourself go for a bit. If you have discipline you can work it off in January. There's not much else to do in January anyway. Kent Ninomiya

broccoli vs pickels - Kent Ninomiya

2007-12-29T00:42:00.001-06:00

Kent Ninomiya. My son hates broccoli. I mean he really hates the stuff! However, since everyone else in the family doesn't mind it and it is very good for you, we tend to eat it often. Making him eat his broccoli involves a combination of incentives, cajoling and threats. It always involves a battle. When we went on vacation for a week I told him that he didn't have to eat broccoli for the entire vacation IF he promised not to complain about eating it when we returned. He enjoyed his broccoli free week but grimaces every time I remind him that he's not allowed to complain about consuming it anymore. To his credit he eats it anyway. The other day he proposed something that left speechless. He said since he had to eat broccoli, something he hates, I should have to eat pickles. I hate pickles. His logic is flawless. If he's suffering why shouldn't I? The only response I could come up with was "because I'm the Daddy and I'm not eating pickles. Kent Ninomiya

Merry Christmas Everyone! - Kent Ninomiya

2007-12-25T15:17:00.001-06:00

Since I can't send a Christmas card to everyone, i'd like to use this blog to hand out my best wishes to all of you this holiday season. Thank you all for your support and interest. May you have a happy and fruitful new year as well! Take care, Kent Ninomiya