Η νέα χρονιά και το μήνυμα του 2010

Ήρθε η ώρα της Ελλάδας να σώσει τον ανδρικό πληθυσμό! Η Πολυξένη Δημητροπούλου, ερευνήτρια στην Αγγλία, μας εξηγει ότι ναι, ο αυνανισμός είναι επικίνδυνος σε νεαρή ηλικία αλλά για όσους περάσαν τα σαράντα ίσως προστατεύει από τον καρκίνο του προστάτη! Σίγουρα το θέμα χρειάζεται μελέτη σε βάθος για να γίνει ξεκάθαρο με ποιόν τρόπο προστατεύει, εάν όλες οι μορφές είναι εξίσου αποτελεσματικές κλπ. Παραθέτω και τις σχετικές αναφορές:

άρθρο στην The Independent, Masturbation can be good for the over-50s

Removal of toxins built up over a lifetime reduces the risk of prostate cancer

Masturbation may be good for you – or bad, depending on your age. The solitary sexual activity that is widely practised but little discussed, is linked with an increased risk of prostate cancer when practised frequently by young men in their twenties and thirties, doctors say.

But by the time men reach their fifties, it may protect against the disease because it helps remove toxins that have built up over a lifetime

Επιστημονική δημοσίευση στο British Journal of Urology, BJU Int. 2009 Jan;103(2):178-85

Sexual activity and prostate cancer risk in men diagnosed at a younger age
Polyxeni Dimitropoulou et al.
Correspondence to Polyxeni Dimitropoulou, University Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Box 279 (S4), Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2 0QQ, UK.
KEYWORDS
sexual activity • prostate • cancer risk • intercourse • masturbation

ABSTRACT

To examine, in a case-control study, the association between the frequency of sexual activity (intercourse, masturbation, overall) and prostate cancer risk in younger men diagnosed at ≤60 years old.

PATIENTS, SUBJECTS AND METHODS

In all, 431 prostate cancer cases and 409 controls participated and provided information on their sexual activity. In particular, the frequencies of intercourse and masturbation during the participants' different age decades (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s) were collected.

RESULTS

Whereas frequent overall sexual activity in younger life (20s) increased the disease risk, it appeared to be protective against the disease when older (50s). Alone, frequent masturbation activity was a marker for increased risk in the 20s and 30s but appeared to be associated with a decreased risk in the 50s, while intercourse activity alone was not associated with the disease.

CONCLUSION

These findings could imply different mechanisms by which sexual activity is involved in the aetiology of prostate cancer at different ages. Alternatively, there is a possibility of reverse causation in explaining part of the protective effect seen for men in their 50s.

Μήπως έφτασε η στιγμή να προσθέσουμε κάτι ακόμα στην πρωινή μας ρουτίνα, μετά το πλύσιμο δοντιών και ξύρισμα? Με πολλές ευχές για χαρούμενες γιορτές και ευτυχισμένο 2010

Το πρώτο μου επτάιντσο

Μπορεί να σας την έχω ξαναπεί την ιστορία,
πάντως αυτό το ήταν το πρώτο μου σινγκλάκι,
πρώτο από τα εκατοντάδες
που, με τα χρόνια, απέκτησα μετά.

Μάτωσε το χαρτζηλίκι μου,
τέσσερα κατοστάρικα το είχα αγοράσει,
από το δισκάδικο στην Τσιμισκή
που όλοι είχαν περάσει από εκεί
και τώρα πια, απλά, δεν υπάρχει.

Θυμάμαι χαρακτηριστικά
που το εξώφυλλό του
το χε ξεκολλήσει από το τζάμι της βιτρίνας
ο υπάλληλος,
το σέταρε ευλαβικά με το μαύρο βινύλιο
και το βαλε στη nylon σακούλα.




Τέτοιες μέρες ήταν που τ'αγόρασα
το φανερώνει και η θεματολογία του
γκραν σουξέ του Σέικιν' Στίβενς
νάμπερ ουάν στα τσαρτς,
και μεταξύ μας,
σαχλαμαρίτσα απ'τις λίγες το θεωρώ πια
αλλά, τι να κάνεις
που ήταν το πρώτο.

Και τις πρωτιές,
τις παρθενιές
δεν τις ξεχνάς, ποτέ.
_____________________________

Καλές γιορτές σε όλους.

Δύσκολοι καιροί για χιονολάστιχα

Φέτος προσπάθησα να συμβιβάσω την σαχλαμάρα με τα χριστουγεννιάτικα φωτάκια με μια προσπάθεια για εξοικονόμηση ενέργειας, έβαλα δηλαδή χρονοδιακόπτη. Μπορεί στην Ελλάδα τα ΜΜΕ να βοσκάνε αμέριμνα αλλά η κλιματική αλλαγή είναι εδώ και κάθε μέρα κάτι μας θυμίζει ότι το μέλλον δεν θα είναι όπως παλιά.

UK Met Office: Climate could warm to record levels in 2010

A combination of man-made global warming and a moderate warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon known as El Niño, means it is very likely that 2010 will be a warmer year globally than 2009.

Recently released figures confirm that 2009 is expected to be the fifth-warmest year in the instrumental record that dates back to 1850.

The latest forecast from our climate scientists, shows the global temperature is forecast to be almost 0.6 °C above the 1961–90 long-term average. This means that it is more likely than not that 2010 will be the warmest year in the instrumental record, beating the previous record year which was 1998.

A record warm year in 2010 is not a certainty, especially if the current El Niño was to unexpectedly decline rapidly near the start of 2010, or if there was a large volcanic eruption. We will review the forecast during 2010 as observation data become available.

Looking further ahead, our experimental decadal forecast confirms previous indications that about half the years 2010–2019 will be warmer than the warmest year observed so far — 1998.

Background information

The 1961-90 global average mean temperature is 14.0 °C.
Global temperature for 2010 is expected to be 14.58 °C, the warmest on record.
The warmest year on record is 1998, which reached 14.52 °C, was a year dominated by an extreme El Niño
Over the ten years, 2000–2009, since the Met Office has issued forecasts of annual global temperature, the mean value of the forecast error is 0.06 °C.
Interannual variations of global surface temperature are strongly affected by the warming influences of El Niño and the cooling influences of La Niña in the Pacific Ocean. 2009, with a provisionally observed temperature of 14.44 °C, can be compared with the identical forecast value of 14.44 °C.
The Met Office, in collaboration with the University of East Anglia, maintains a global temperature record which is used in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Each December or January the Met Office, in conjunction with the University of East Anglia, issues a forecast of the global surface temperature for the coming year. The forecast takes into account known contributing factors, such as El Niño and La Niña, increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, the cooling influences of industrial aerosol particles, solar effects, volcanic cooling effects if known, and natural variations of the oceans.

Cancer From the Kitchen?

Cancer From the Kitchen? By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF (New York Times Op-Ed)

More than 80,000 new chemicals have been developed since World War II, according to the Children’s Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai. Even of the major chemicals, fewer than 20 percent have been tested for toxicity to children, the center says.

Representative Louise Slaughter, the only microbiologist in the House of Representatives, introduced legislation this month that would establish a comprehensive program to monitor endocrine disruptors. That’s an excellent idea, because as long as we’re examining our medical system, there’s a remarkable precedent for a public health effort against a toxic substance. The removal of lead from gasoline resulted in an 80 percent decline in lead levels in our blood since 1976 — along with a six-point gain in children’s I.Q.’s, Dr. Landrigan said.

I asked these doctors what they do in their own homes to reduce risks. They said that they avoid microwaving food in plastic or putting plastics in the dishwasher, because heat may cause chemicals to leach out. And the symposium handed out a reminder card listing “safer plastics” as those marked (usually at the bottom of a container) 1, 2, 4 or 5.

It suggests that the “plastics to avoid” are those numbered 3, 6 and 7 (unless they are also marked “BPA-free”). Yes, the evidence is uncertain, but my weekend project is to go through containers in our house and toss out 3’s, 6’s and 7’s.