Stomach flu survival guide

So, your stomach is upset and you're wondering whether it's something you ate or a virus (or a virus that came through something you ate). It's fairly easy to tell whether it's a virus: just wait until whatever you ate finds its way out. If your symptoms stop there, you're good to go, otherwise it's a virus.

The following instructions assume a worst-case scenario, where your stomach and bowel absolutely cannot handle any incoming food. Feel free to modify them if you are feeling better. You most probably won't even need to go to the doctor.

The first thing to do is to give your stomach and bowel some time to process what they are already trying to process. This means that you shouldn't eat at all for 24 hours. You're most probably not hungry at all anyway, so don't force-feed yourself, just listen to your body. You are also likely to get very thirsty, but try to avoid water if you're not going to handle it anyway.

Try to avoid any kind of medication, as it's likely to be worse than food for your stomach. There are some pills against diarrhea, and they work, but the feeling is so unpleasant that you'd rather try to avoid them. If you have high fever, you can try some paracetamol, but you should better ask your pharmacist just in case.

Next step : Yay, you can finally eat! Your best choice is a banana, or some rice. Make sure you use only water to cook your rice, not even oil or anything else. You can also safely add some lemon or oregano, and drink some black tea or some cola mixed with water. You can boil oregano and drink it like tea, it is definitely one of the worst things you've ever tasted, but it will work wonders against diarrhea.

When you feel significantly better, you can start eating solid foods. Avoid watery/creamy stuff, as well as fried or spicy stuff that's likely difficult for your stomach to process.

One day, you'll wake up and feel great, and start eating normally. Be careful: You must still avoid milk and beer for about a week afterwards!

I hope you won't get sick at all at the first place :), but I also hope these instructions will reach anyone who needs them.

Keeping animals alive

Bionic feet for amputee cat: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10404251.stm
(I could not get to embed the video, but do look at it!)


Artificial fin for a dolphin:



Quoting the video's description: Tyre manufacturing company has come to the rescue of Fuji the dolphin who was stricken by a mysterious life threatening illness and lost her fin. She caught a disease that begun gradually rotting her tail and her tail had to be amputated to save her life. For awhile the now 37-year old Fuji survived without a fin, but her lack of exercise and weight gain proved problematic. A friend of the handler's working at one of Japan's leading tyre makers, Bridgestone Corp, offered to make them an artificial tail fin for Fuji, the first of its kind in the world. The result was a tail fin 30 centimetres in length and 70 centimetres wide, a bit smaller than the tail of a healthy dolphin of Fuji's size.

Swine flu: don't panic!

I just found a link to a document with a lot of useful information about swine flu here : http://www.equipocesca.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/swine-flu-common-sense-7.doc

Quoting the abstract:

1. Swine flu is very contagious. But the severity of swine flu is much lower than the seasonal flu (the flu of normal winters).

2. Swine flu demands common sense and calmness, as for seasonal flu. Contact your physician only in severe cases, such as coughing up blood or significant difficulty breathing.

3. Medications for swine flu such as Tamiflu and Relenza do not prevent the disease, and they are not useful for treatment in healthy people, They have common side effects some of which are serious causing admission to hospital. These medications might be useful in severe cases, but this is unproven.

4. Vaccine against swine flu is experimental. Nobody knows how effective it will be in preventing the disease or how safe it will be.

5. Swine flu does not have any different consequences for pregnant women than seasonal flu.

6. Previous flu pandemics do not produce high mortality since we have had antibiotics to cure pneumonias which complicate flu. Previous flu pandemics have no “second wave” and if it takes place it is not likely to be more severe.

7. Health services must always take care of thousands of acute and chronic patients, and it is important not to waste time and resources for mild cases of swine flu.

I remember a doctor that I know having told me something similar not long ago. In short: don't panic, it's just a mild flu :)

Feeling lovesick?

I read in an article recently (EDIT: this one) that, when we fall in love, our serotonin levels fall, just like in depression, and this is what makes us never stop thinking about the other person. I suppose you know the feeling: you try to force yourself to think about other things but can't seem to get it right, all your brain seems to be able to focus on is your beloved one, and it's nothing but negative thoughts. Well, apart from psychological help, it seems we're also able to target those hormones playing all these tricks to your brain! :)

First off, serotonin levels increase by exposure to daylight. Which means: go out in the sun as much as you can! :)

Second, it also increases by exercising. Combining this with the above, try playing your favorite outdoor sport, and relaxing in the sun when you feel tired.

Third: As Wikipedia-sensei informed me, an enzyme called tryptophan has the ability to increase serotonin levels. Which means, go ahead and eat chocolate, eggs, parmesan cheese, and other foods rich in tryptophan. Don't worry about the calories, just exercise enough! :P