Explaining mind-body interactions through the inter-signaling between brain and immune system [#readxp + #mindmap]

Recently, I read an article entitled "The Mind-Body Interaction in Disease" written by Esther M. Sternberg (a professor in University of Arizona and a product of McGill University) and Philip W. Gold (a product of Duke University, Harvard Medical School, NIH). They aim to explain that our brain and immune system continuously communicate with each other, often along the same pathways, hence possibly explain how our states of mind influence our health.



A #mindmap note of my #readxp (high-resolution is here):



Listen to the audio explanations here.

Take-home messages:
♥  Keep calm and your immune system will work better in resisting or recovering from infectious and inflammatory diseases.
♥  To save $ and be fully protected, take vaccinations when you are calm and relaxed, not when you are in stress. Rationale: "Medical students receiving hepatitis vaccination during their final exams do not develop full protection against hepatitis."
♥  (Perhaps some) You-can-heal-your-life mantra ala Louise Hay may work through the inter-signaling molecular mechanisms between brain and immune system.
♥  Choose your friends and socialize wisely. Rationale: Social stresses (over 2 months) can increase susceptibility to common cold.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20141015

Thank you post to Jen

Dear Jen

I hope you are doing very well.

This week, I attended a talk by a charming professor from Korea, who looks like a slender Korean pop star. She is 45 years old but appears as youthful as 30s.

Professor Ham immediately reminded me on you, Jen! Both Professor Ham and you are highly enthusiastic, confident and knowledgeable.



I would also not forget how Sir went an extra mile to dim the projector by climbing onto the table.  It is an inspiration for delivering service from our most sincere hearts.

Both you and Professor Ham are interested in the molecular mechanism of amyloid-beta in the Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.

Sadly, most people will develop Alzheimer’s, if they live long enough.  But again, this experience beats the other alternative – dying young. 

Of course, everyone wants to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s.  Recently, I learned that just by inheriting a copy of APOE4 allele (alternative form of the gene) on chromosome 19, increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.  About a quarter of people carry an APOE4 allele, that codes for the ApoE4 protein.

The ApoE4 protein strongly promotes the deposition of amyloid-beta in the brain, and ApoE are made by neurons under stress. No matter what happens, let us calm down and be stress-free. Choose and decide on happiness.

In the middle of Professor Ham’s talk, she gave us a quiz. Simply put, she asked a question to reinforce the concepts that she was sharing.

While a student, I have been trained rigorously to find patterns (including similarities) in my study projects. I could not help noticing that both Prof Ham and you have beautiful eyes and long delicate fingers with a ring and polished nails, that both of you use aptly to explain some (difficult) concepts. 

Recalling how we met, it was a serendipitous one for me at the staircase outside the CyberCafe that encircles the pyramid. Thank you for offering your help in the technical details of my projects. You were a God-sent angel to me, then a struggling student.

I must also credit you for introducing me to Andy, from whom I get to know other awesome mentors.

Herein, I express how much I am thankful for your early guidance in my formative years in Cambridge.

Many thanks
ServicefromHeart
20140602

easy apple pear soup recipe

Fruits like apple and pear are suitable to cook clear and refreshing soup, especially for hot summer or dry spell (kemarau) such as an extreme one that we had in Singapore in February-March 2014. It is the driest one since 1869 for Singapore!

The apple pear soup (苹果雪梨汤) is good to soothe throat and clear phlegm.



Snow pear is known for its cooling and thirst-quenching properties.

The benefits of apple have been epitomized in a saying that "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

 ***

Ministory 1:

Once, a little girl shared to me that she dislikes apples because Snow White died after having a bite of a poisonous apple. I was inspired by how her mother, instead of lecturing her on the goodness of apples and forcing her to eat apples, asked the little girl a thought-provoking question.

"Darling, do you think the Prince will be allowed to kiss Snow White if she has not eaten the apple?"

"If there is no kiss from the Prince, do you feel that Snow White will immediately fall in love to the Prince once she opens her eyes?"

While it is essential to guide our children to be prudent - not to accept food from a stranger without an approval of parents / teachers, I found that it is also equally meaningful to reflect if our past encounters are blessings in disguise. What do you think?




♥♥♥


Ministory 2:

A man whom I have been greatly grateful to is Sir Isaac Newton,  an English physicist, mathematician and great thinker.

On a windy afternoon in a colorful autumn, Newton walked at a beautiful garden. * Taking a rest under an apple tree, Newton saw a ripen apple fell to the ground.

He did not reach out to eat the crunchy red apple, as what some of us might do. However, his mind was searching for the possible explanations why apple always fall perpendicularly to the ground.

"Why not fall sideways? Why not upwards?"

After meandering, thinking, and pondering, Newton explains:

"Every object draws every other object toward it.
The more matter an object contains the harder it draws. The nearer an object is to another the harder it draws.
The harder an object draws other objects, the heavier it is said to be.
The earth is many millions of times heavier than an apple;
so it draws the apple toward it millions and millions of times harder than the apple can draw the other way."

Thanks to a humble event that nature offered Newton a glimpse of (the falling of an apple), Newton described the effect of gravity and defined the law of universal gravitation.


* I remember the excitement of seeing the descendants of the Newton's apple tree at Cambridge University Botanic Garden!

♥♥♥

Chinese almond kernels (南北杏）can strengthen our respiratory systems. Before I left to live in England, Agnes lovingly packed me some Chinese almond kernels to make soups. Thank you! I'm blessed.

Serving: 3
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 65 minutes



Ingredients:
♥ 1 apple (苹果), peeled, cored & quartered
♥ 1 snow pear (雪梨), peeled, cored & quartered
♥ 1 honey date ((蜜枣）, washed
♥ 8 red dates ((红枣）, washed & pitted
♥ 1 tbsp dried scallops (干贝)
♥ 1 tbsp Chinese almond kernels (南北杏）
♥ 200g meat (骨) & bone (肉), e.g. pork ribs
♥ 1 liter water

Directions:
1. Blanch bones and meats in boiling water for ~5 minutes. Drain and wash. 
2. Add all ingredients to boiled water.
3. Simmer over low heat for 1 hour.



Enjoy this soup with our other #5minutemeal recipes, that are fast and easy to prepare.

Other recipes that I love:
♥ Fong's Kitchen Journal also uses dried figs as an ingredient.
♥ Snow pear soup recipe @ Nobcook & the tips on not to over consume bitter almond (北杏).

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140315