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capsule moments
FERTILITY:
Age has a real effect on fertility. Both the mother and father’s ages are important because the chances of conception reduce after the age of 25 for both men and women. I remember we had a pharmacy assistant who was unable to get pregnant. She had all the tests thinking that she was the problem and it turned out that the husband had low sperm counts. She was researching what they could do the improve their chances of conception through diet. Studies done on this topic concluded the following: ensure daily doses of folic act (400-800mcg daily); adequate doses of vitamin D because levels that are too low can raise the risk of miscarriages. In general, the Mediterranean diet with its high consumption of fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken and olive oil was best. As well, women (and men) trying to conceive should abstain from smoking, alcohol, recreational drugs and high caffeine intake. It must be so frustrating for those who desperately want to get pregnant while others get pregnant so easily and don’t want to. Our pharmacy assistant finally conceived with a little help from a fertility clinic.
CHICKENPOX INCIDENCE:
As we know, it’s much safer to get the vaccine than to get chickenpox and the vaccine will give protection for 10 to 20 years. It is more than 95% effective in preventing a severe chickenpox infection however about 10-30% of children who have been immunized will develop mild chickenpox symptoms after exposure to a person with chickenpox. Again, as the comment suggests, the more kids that are immunized, the less the infection will occur.
YOUR JOB AND LONGEVITY:
Have you ever read interviews with famous orchestra conductors? They all seem to live a long and healthy life. According to the Metropolitan Life Insurance company, orchestra conductors live 38% longer than the general population. It has something to do with being in control of your life and what goes on in it. A quick review of some well-known conductors prove this. Examples and how long they lived include: Arturo Toscanini (89), Arthur Fiedler (84) and Leopold Stokowski who was active until his death at the age of 95. There are no real scientific reasons why this is so but here are a few theories. Music stimulates and energizes the brain mentally and physically. They are doing something they truly love and the job requires a high level of physical fitness and mental alertness. Perhaps it’s the music itself, the “Mozart Effect” that has a calming effect on the body and mind. I haven’t seen any studies done on pharmacists but my guess is that we don’t fare as well as conductors. We have been losing some control over our business lives during the past decade or so and our workdays are not without a certain amount of stress. My old partner in my pharmacy called it “working in the trenches” and this bellicose metaphor was an indication of the stress our profession caused him. He really didn’t like it. But for those of us that know we made the right choice of professions, I like to think we will be up there with the orchestra conductors as per our longevity.
CIRCUMCISION:
At one time, circumcision was the norm. It’s the norm in the Jewish and Muslim faiths and often the decision to circumcise is based on the idea that the father was circumcised so for the sake of appearance of the penis, the sons were also. In the U.S., health authorities still recommend routine circumcision saying there are more pros than cons to the procedure. In Australia, in the 1950s, circumcision rates were at 80%. Today they are abut 20%. In Iceland, they are thinking of banning it altogether because it disregards a boy’s right to self-determination. Some people equate it with the act of genital mutilation performed on females and if they ban one, they should ban the other. The jury is still out on this subject but new parents will make the final decision on whether to circumcise their newborn boys or not.