Epoch Fit 4-15-2016

Dogs Really Can Tell How Their Owners Are Feeling on B7

Cuddling Rabbits

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Is Good Medicine at NYU’s Rehab Center

By Arleen Richards | Epoch Times Staff

EW YORK—Finding yourself in need of rehabilitation services for a serious physical injury or illness is a daunting experience, but at NYU Langone Medical Center’s Rusk Rehabilitation, you can get extra special therapy—from bunnies.

It was her way of coming back into the world.

Gwenn Fried, manager, horticultural therapy program, NYU Langone’s Hospital for Joint Diseases

That’s right—rabbits.

Patients pet the snuggly creatures or engage in therapeutic activities with them, and by the end of their session, some patients feel less pain than when they started out and even forget to ask for pain medication.

For about 15 years, bunnies have been part of the hospital’s horticultural therapy program, an adjunct clinical practice that helps patients forget about their troubles by connecting with nature. In some cases, patients’ rehabilitation seems to progress quicker than expected.

Resident bunnies Clovis and Nutmeg serve as companions and therapy buddies for patients suffering with brain injuries, strokes, orthopedic injuries, and spinal cord injuries.

See Bunnies on B6

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Top 4 Ways You Could Get a

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Parasite Infection

By Derek Henry t is estimated that up to 90 percent of us will have a problem with parasites at some point in our lives. While living o the human body, these little critters can cause a variety of acute and chronic illnesses, and all too often, we don’t realize they are the cause.

Whether it is lice, mites, ticks, fleas, worms, or microscopic protozoa, parasites are extremely diďŹƒcult and often impossible to notice. This makes them especially dangerous as they lurk unseen, waiting to take up residence in our bodies, primarily through the following four ways.

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2. Water Due to the increase in international travel, most people know not to drink the local water when traveling abroad. However, the U.S.

4. Pets There are more than 240 diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, with 65 from dogs and 39 from cats. With over 120 million dogs and cats in the United States alone, it’s not diďŹƒcult to see how pets can be a major threat for parasitic infection. Parasites are transmitted from animals to humans through animal feces, fur containing parasite eggs, infected fleas, or mouth-to-mouth contact.

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Poor hygiene in the storage and preparation of food may lead to a parasite infestation, which can commonly occur in restaurants, nursing homes, day care centers, and even at home.

Finally, a poor digestive system that has low levels of acid in the stomach can allow parasites to pass through with improperly digested food, whereas good levels of stomach kill many parasites.

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• Sushi, sashimi, or raw salmon • Raw or uncooked beef or pork • Fruits and vegetables from countries where parasites are prevalent or where human waste may be used as fertilizer

3. Foreign Travel Since international travel has increased, parasite infections have become much more prevalent across North America.

Parasites are generally associated with tropical diseases and Third World countries where climate and unsanitary living conditions promote their growth, so travel into and out of these regions has allowed these organisms to travel and spread.

This is not just limited to a bout of traveler’s diarrhea either, as some people return from their journeys carrying more serious infections like malaria, roundworms, or blood flukes.

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1. Food The U.S. food supply is often considered one of the safest in the world, yet, up to 80 million illnesses occur in the United States every year due to a contaminated food supply. The influx of foods from around the world, as well as growing popularity of ethnic foods have created more opportunities for parasites to spread. These are some of the common sources:

water system is not much better, as drinking water that comes from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs is threatened with contamination (including parasites) from agricultural runo, waste from farm animals, and human sewage.

Treatment of the public water supply with chlorine is of little help, as two of the most common parasites, Giardia and Cryptosporidium, can survive in chlorinated water for up to 18 months.

Water f i ltration systems may remove Giardia from tap water, but few get rid of Cryptosporidium, which is so small that it passes through most filters.

If you have no filtration system at all, your chances of getting a parasite increase exponentially.

Since international travel has increased, parasite infections have become much more prevalent.

Conclusion If these four common ways were not enough of a concern, parasites can also be transmitted by insects and sexual contact; they can even be inhaled from air. The best defense against parasites is a healthy immune system, and that starts with a healthy, balanced gut.

From Natural News Network via HealingTheBody.ca

(Left) Parasitic roundworms are usually found in soil and enter the human body if ingested.

(Right) Up to 80 million illnesses occur in the United States every year due to a contaminated food supply.

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he thought of a parasite infection is something that can give anyone the shivers. However, as spooky as it sounds, at least 90 percent of people will have a problem with parasites at some point in their lifetime. This is due to the fact that parasites are introduced through many of our daily habits, and our compromised immune system makes it easy for them to nestle in and make a home.

Understand the signs of a parasite infection, as well as how you can remove them so you can avoid a compromised quality of life.

How You Can Pick Up a Parasite Parasites can linger unseen in many places, but the most common reason for their infestation is poor hygienic practices. This can start and be spread through these ways:

Parasites can linger unseen in many places, but the most common reason for their infestation is poor hygienic practices.

• Poorly sanitized food and water • Poor personal hygiene • Foreign travel (via food, water, or environment) • Pets (not properly dewormed on a regular basis) • Insects • Sexual intercourse The probability of a parasitic infection will increase with a poor immune system, which will be compromised from sugar, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, heavy metals (for example, vaccines, dental fillings), stress, and various other toxins. Coee, wheat, dairy, and tap water will also make you a better host for parasites.

Signs of a Parasite Infection The strength of your immune and endocrine system will determine how severely a parasitic infection will aect you. Not everyone with a parasitic infection will have symptoms, but most will experience one or all of the following: • Chronic digestive issues like indigestion,

90 percent of people have problems with parasites at some point.

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Should I Use Antibacterial Hand Sanitizers?

By Trent Yarwood should start by saying that an important part of my job is encouraging hospital staff to clean their hands. The World Health Organization has a global patient-safety campaign reminding us that Clean Hands SAVE LIVES, and inhospital hand hygiene is universally recognized as one of the most important ways of reducing health care-associated infection.

Most of you don’t live in a hospital, though. So what about at home? Little bottles of hand gel are appearing in more and more places every day. Is this a good idea or just part of a societal “germ panic”?

There are three groups of products to consider: alcohol-based hand sanitizers, antibacterial soaps, and other antibacterial products.

Hand Sanitizers These are usually alcohol-based and are highly effective at cleaning hands. They are the preferred method in hospitals because they are also fast and convenient—and this increases the likelihood they will be used.

Hand sanitizers kill most bacteria and fungi as well as many viruses (norovirus, a common viral gastroenteritis, is a weakness) and work without water. We have a bottle in our diaper bag for that inconvenient pit stop.

Antibacterial Soaps Unlike the alcohol gels, these usually contain a disinfectant—such as triclosan—or a quaternary ammonium compound.

Antibacterial soaps have come in for a bit of a bashing in recent media reports, based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration releasing a press statement and consumer notice announcing plans to require makers of these products to prove that they work.

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All the Rest It seems that it’s a great way to market your product by saying it’s “germ resistant.” This is the sales pitch for everything from chopping boards to children’s toys and even toilet seats.

Are They Safe?

By and large at an individual level, yes, they are safe. Alcohol-based hand rubs are safe to use.

They’re obviously not designed to drink and should be kept away from children, but pose no major health risks. Muslim health-care facilities have adopted their use, despite alcohol being haram (forbidden) in the Islamic faith.

Triclosan has received media attention because of concerns about thyroid hormone metabolism in animal models but has not been shown to cause these effects in humans.

All hand-hygiene activities take oils from your skin and increase the chance of dry hands or dermatitis, but hand rubs are better from this perspective than soap-and-water hand washing.

Triclosan has received media attention because of concerns about thyroid hormone metabolism in animal models but has not been

DEAN DROBOT/ISTOCK

shown to cause these effects in humans. There are concerns about its role as an environmental contaminant, as it is found in waste water from sewerage, but also as a residue from industrial processes (the manufacture of those antibacterial plastics). Although, again, there is not conclusive proof of harm.

Of concern to people like me, however, is the risk of antimicrobial resistance. If germs in the community are exposed to these products, could we be creating more resistant germs that will cause us problems down the track?

Because hand rubs kill germs by direct action of the alcohol against the germs, there is no risk of resistance. The question is not so clear for the soaps, though.

In the hospital setting, we know triclosan is a good antimicrobial hand wash and can be effective at reducing rates of hospital superbugs.

But hospital-grade triclosan (1 percent) is a far cry from the concentration in most over-thecounter liquid soaps. A review in 2007 found no additional benefit to these products and identified risks for resistance.

Any microbiologist will tell you that prolonged exposure of bugs to low concentrations of antimicrobials is the textbook way of breeding resistance.

Are They Necessary?

So, does the average house and family need to armor up in the war against germs?

I have to say probably not.

Good hygiene is important in preventing disease—and hand washing is part of that (along with cough etiquette, staying home when sick, and so on). But the benefits of these products over soap and water (apart from the portability of gels) have not been shown outside the hospital setting.

Antibacterial chopping boards won’t stop you from getting sick if you don’t practice good food-handling techniques, and antibacterial toilet seats do not add to (or replace) washing your hands when you’re done.

And those antibacterial baby toys? Babies put their hands from the toy straight onto the floor, onto the cat, or any of a dozen other non-antibacterial surfaces, so any effect is likely to be small (that is, zero).

We do not–and cannot–live in a germfree world. Spending money on these products doesn’t guarantee you won’t get sick (of course they can’t) and probably don’t even reduce your risk of getting sick. But they might contribute to bacterial resistance, and they certainly cost more.

Break the marketing cycle of germ panic and reach for the plain old soap.

Trent Yarwood is an infectious diseases physician and associate lecturer at The University of Queensland, Australia. This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Everyone Who Has a Bunion Needs to Read This The ONLY practice in NYC that doesn’t break your bones to fix bunions!

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• • • • •

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flatulence, diarrhea, constipation, mucus in stools, leaky gut, nausea, hemorrhoids, burning in stomach, bloody stools, and candida Fatigue Skin problems like dry skin, itchiness, eczema, rashes, hives, papular lesions and sores Mood and anxiety problems such as mood swings, nervousness, depression, forgetfulness, restlessness, and anxiety Sleep disturbances such as insomnia, teeth grinding during sleep, bed wetting, and disturbed sleep (multiple awakenings) Weight and appetite problems like weight gain, long-standing obesity, loss of appetite or uncontrollable hunger, and inability to gain or lose weight Muscle and joint problems, including muscle pain, joint pain, muscle cramping, numbness of hands or feet, pain in the navel, heart pain, and arthritic pain Blood disorders such as hypoglycemia and anemia Sexual and reproductive problems like male impotence, erectile dysfunction, PMS, urinary tract infections, cysts and fibroids, menstrual problems, prostate problems, and water retention Other symptoms such as excessive saliva, unclear vision, bad breath, poor immune system, fever, respiratory problems, peritonitis, chronic viral or bacterial symptoms, and body odor

The signs of a parasite infection are wide-ranging and can be difficult to pinpoint. However, it makes sense to take these symptoms seriously, as a parasite infection can ruin your quality of life.

How to Remove a Parasite Infection The solution to removing parasites is to consume food and herbs that create a hostile environment for them in your body. This can be done several ways, but in this case we will focus on food.

Food and herbs to consider when removing parasites include raw garlic, red onion, coconut oil, pumpkin seeds, coconut kefir, fermented vegetables, apple cider vinegar, aloe vera, black walnut, cloves, barberry, goldenseal, Oregon grape root, pau d’arco, sangre de drago, oregano oil, wormwood, diatomaceous earth, rosemary, and thyme.

Also, it would be in your best interests to eliminate all sugar, grains, dairy, coffee, and alcohol for at least 30 days to ensure that you are not feeding any parasites while you are consuming large amounts of the foods and herbs recommended above.

This will give your body the most power to eliminate parasites. If you create the right intestinal ecology over a period of time, it will make it extremely difficult for you to ever become a host to parasites again.

From Natural News Network via HealingTheBody.ca

rystal Stewart suffered from bunions on both feet; walking and standing were painful and she was considering surgery.

However, as a diabetic and self-described “big baby” when it comes to pain, she had concerns.

One day she saw an ad for minimally invasive bunion surgery and, curious to know more, made an appointment.

Stewart was immediately comforted when podiatrist Dr. Andrew Glass explained how much less trauma the foot endures with minimally invasive procedures.

Currently, the most common surgery for bunions requires an opening of two to three inches and often involves sawing off or breaking the metatarsals (mid-foot bones, located above the toes). Pins and screws are often needed and the healing time can take 2–3 months. It can also be detrimental because by reshaping the foot, it can change the way the patient walks or stands.

Minimally invasive bunion surgery is done with only a 5-millimeter incision. The procedure is performed with long, thin instruments inserted through this opening. The surgeon carefully shaves off the protruding bone causing the bunion while looking at real-time X-ray images to see what’s happening underneath the skin. The healing time is generally much faster.

Stewart’s first bunion surgery took about 30 minutes; she had one stitch to close the wound and went home the same day with minimal pain.

“It turned out to be a better experience than I thought it would be,” she said, adding that her

WHAT IS A BUNION? A bunion is a bony bump on the joint at the base of the big toe.

Bunions can cause significant pain and discomfort, becoming worse over time if not treated.

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Although it’s becoming more widespread, minimally invasive bunion surgery is still much less common in the United States than in Europe. Minimally invasive surgeries fell out of favor with doctors after some surgeons in the ’70s and ’80s got bad results–the doctors were doing the surgeries blindly without real-time X-rays.

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Rows

Using either handheld dumbbells or a resistance band in each hand, lean forward slightly and then pull up and back, keeping your back in alignment and your elbows close to your body. Do 12 repetitions for three sets. The resistance level for rows should be rather challenging. Try to pick a weight or band tightness that does not allow you to do more than 12 repetitions.

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Reverse Flies

Switch weights or bands to a lighter level of resistance. In a position very similar to the one you held for rows (feet together, hinged at the waist), bring your arms (hands together) slightly in front of you, and then open your arms wide on either side. Return to center. That’s one repetition. Perform 12 repetitions for three sets.

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T

he shoulders, being the most mobile joint in the body with a ball-andsocket joint, are less stable than the hips. Many people experience a “frozen shoulder” or pain in lifting the arm overhead due to repetitive movement or a sports injury. This is often due to inflammation in the rotator cuff tendons.

The rotator cuff is a group of four tendons (attaching muscle to bone) around the shoulder joint, allowing the ball-and-socket motions of up, down, side-to-side, and rotation. It is the ball-and-socket joint, combined with the rotator cuff tendons, that allow us to swim, play tennis, dance, and to perform even more complex movements that seem commonplace to us.

However, if you have ever experienced a shoulder injury, you know that the commonplace can quickly become extremely—and sometimes mysteriously—painful.

The immediate solution for shoulder pain is icing and resting. But what do you do next to heal the shoulder for good and prevent further injury?

The good news is that many shoulder-pain issues can be solved at home with simple exercises that strengthen the rotator cuff and allow for increased endurance. However, if you know you are going to do an unusual repetitive movement, such as lifting boxes or stirring risotto for a sustained period of time, be sure to switch

arms frequently while you work, and make sure to stretch during and after.

While some shoulder-stressing sports, such as tennis, do not allow for switching sides, the load of a nonathletic move, even carrying a heavy purse, can be mitigated by switching hands frequently.

Here are some exercises that will strengthen the rotator cuff and help you to perform better in everyday life, avoiding lifestyle-related shoulder injury. Perform each exercise slowly and with control.

Rachel Trotta, certified personal trainer (NASM), is the author of “Injury-Proof: 28 Days to Better Movement, Smarter Training, and an Invincible Core” and the owner of Zenith Personal Training. Her unique modality provides effective cross-training for runners, dancers, and other high-impact athletes, but also appeals to new exercisers who want to reach their fitness potential. To read more, visit PersonalTrainingUWS.com

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Planks or Pushups at Varying Widths It is strengthening for your rotator cuff to experience some variety in directional tension. While you are holding a plank or doing pushups, allow your arms to reach out wider than your body (instead of being stacked directly beneath the shoulders). Doing so increases the challenge of the position, but also trains the “reaching� muscles of the back that are

responsible for supporting the entire shoulder structure.

I recommend that the plank be held for 20–30 seconds (or roughly 10 breaths) for three sets. If you are doing pushups, make sure that you can see yourself in a mirror or have a friend watch you. It is extremely important that your body remain in a completely straight line during pushups and that you do not exceed the number of repetitions that you can do with good form.

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Shoulder Pullups

This exercise can be done with a very tight resistance band, a heavy single dumbbell, or a kettlebell. Stand with your feet hipwidth apart, and grasp your weight in both hands, allowing the weight to hang heavy in your hands with your arms straight.

Then, pull up on the weight so that it moves upward in space but remains at the midline of the body. Pull it up to chest height, and then slowly lower it back down. Perform 12 repetitions for three sets.

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Spinal-injury patient Adriana Sparacino and her boyfriend, Anthony Gagliardi, pet Nutmeg at NYU Langone’s Hospital for Joint Diseases in Manhattan on March 22.

Patient Adriana Sparacino said after spending time with the bunnies her pain seems to subside.

Cuddling Rabbits

Is Good Medicine at NYU’s Rehab Center

Bunnies continued from B1

The idea of adding the cuddly rabbits to the horticulture program was envisioned by manager Gwenn Fried, who has been working in the program for nearly 20 years.

“I mentioned it to my boss one time that rabbits would be a nice addition, and then went to a rescue and tried it out, and everyone loved them,” she said.

Fried recalled a stroke patient who was really depressed and needed some coaxing to get out of bed. After two days of bunny visits, the patient started to pet the animal.

“It was her way of coming back into the world,” Fried said.

Eventually the patient got out of bed to participate in therapy. She ended up being discharged home, “versus probably not getting through and her having to go to a subacute facility,” Fried said.

And petting bunnies is much more fun than a grueling hour of physical therapy (PT). That’s what patient Adriana Sparacino thinks. “PT makes you upset because you don’t want to be doing that, and it’s hard,” she said.

Sparacino has been a patient at NYU Langone’s Hospital for Joint Diseases since early

Gwenn Fried, manager of Horticulture Therapy Services at NYU Langone’s Hospital for Joint Diseases, with Clovis.

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March after suffering a spinal injury in a car accident.

Sparacino had only been there a few days when she discovered the bunnies on her way to the cafeteria.

“I remember I didn’t have an appetite, so my dad brought me up here to try to eat,” she said.

Ever since then, she has been asking to see the bunnies and said the staff also brings the bunnies to her room. Hanging out with Nutmeg (her favorite) makes Sparacino happy.

She said after spending time with the bunnies or planting some flowers, her pain seems to subside. “It’s a huge stress-reliever,” she said.

Sparacino also thinks this therapy is better than taking medicine.

“Because the medicine—you don’t like [it],” she said. “It makes you feel like you’re in a cloud.”

The horticulture program, which started in the 1970s, is not a replacement for mandatory therapies or medicine, but Fried said some patients have told her at the end of a session that their pain level was reduced or they have forgotten about it altogether.

She thinks having that experience is a good lesson for patients. “We can say to them … when you go home and you’re in pain, try to divert

your attention to something you’re interested in,” she said.

The effectiveness of horticultural therapy has been tested in various research studies, but Fried pointed out a study conducted in the 1980s by Roger Ulrich. According to Fried, the study showed that patients in rooms with a view of garden-like settings don’t need as much medication and were discharged over a half a day earlier than patients who viewed a brick wall.

“And personally, ... when we take patients out in the park, especially brain-injured patients, very often they are a lot clearer while they’re out there,” Fried said.

She believes NYU has continued to invest in the horticulture program because of the positive results they’ve seen for nearly 50 years.

“Clearly they see the benefit because otherwise they wouldn’t keep us here, and they wouldn’t make effort for us,” Fried said.

And for patients like Sparacino, the bunnies add a nice touch. She highly recommends that all new patients spend time with Clovis and Nutmeg.

“Go and see those bunnies. They’re really soft,” she said.

By Conan Milner | Epoch Times Staff

Rodenticides are another concern. In multiunit buildings the landlord may spread poison that is meant for rodents but can inadvertently harm cats and dogs. Pet owners should be aware of where the poison is located and what kind it is.

Rodenticides kill in different ways. Some are designed to cause internal bleeding. In others, animals develop brain swelling and seizures.

According to Klein, animals that ingest the internal bleeding poison are actually easier to treat because an antidote can be given in two to four days. There is no antidote for the brainswelling poison, which can lead to a painful death if it isn’t caught early.

Foods that are safe for people can cause pets serious harm. Examples include garlic, avocados, grapes, macadamia nuts, and xylitol (a popular sweetener in sugar-free gum).

The Chicago Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center sees pets poisoned by people-food every week. Dr. Jerry Klein, supervising veterinarian at the center, says that many pets require hospitalization for eating things you might not expect they would want.

“Few dogs go after coffee, but what they will eat are chocolate-covered espresso beans. That has the one-two punch of the dark chocolate and caffeine.” Klein said.

According to Klein, who has worked in emergency vet medicine for over 33 years, many pet owners have no idea how much damage certain people-foods can cause, or how much supervision some pets require to keep them away from it.

“Dogs are notorious for getting into the garbage,” he said.

Cats are a different story. Many of the things that make a dog sick would make a cat sick too. However, unlike a dog, felines are not likely to bust into the Halloween candy. But they do like eating house plants, and eating a lily can cause a cat serious damage.

If a cat ingests any part of a lily—petal, stamen, or leaf—it will start to develop crystalline particles in the kidneys, which can soon lead to kidney failure. If it isn’t addressed quickly, lily-munching can turn fatal.

“If you have a cat that has ingested part of a lily, and it’s not attended to properly, and it gets to a stage where it’s no longer able to produce urine, the prognosis is grave,” Klein said.

Similar renal failure can develop when dogs eat grapes or raisins.

Chocolate is a notorious pet no-no, but it isn’t nearly as toxic as grapes or lilies, which only take a little to cause very serious harm.

“Chocolate is very dose-dependent,” Klein said. “So a Great Dane eating a Hershey’s kiss, for example, should not require any care. But a small dog getting into a bag of semi-sweet chocolate, Frango mints, or other candies that are around during the holidays—those do require hospitalization.”

Other Pet Poisons On a walk or in your home, pets can come into contact with chemicals in their environment. For example, inside your garage may sit a tempting puddle of antifreeze—a highly toxic chemical with a deceptively sweet taste.

Pet owners should be aware of where the poison is located and what kind it is.

What to Do in Case of Poisoning Have a plan in place in case your pet eats something it shouldn’t. If disaster strikes, consider what your pet ate, how much, and the time that has passed since ingestion.

These are some of the details pet owners should have in mind when they call the Animal Poison Control hotline—the first step in confronting a pet-poisoning event. The service, run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), provides toxicology consultations to pet owners over the phone.

“It’s a $40 charge, which is very well worth it,” Klein said.

The next step in addressing a pet poisoning is often decontamination. This involves induced vomiting to get the toxic substance out of the pet’s system.

To minimize damage, act quickly. For example, if a dog consumes ibuprofen or Aleve tablets, which break down very rapidly, the medication may be completely absorbed by the time you make the dog to your vet’s office.

Be sure to have hydrogen peroxide and a turkey baster on hand, so you can do a decontamination procedure yourself at home. Animal Poison Control will walk you through the process. Afterward, make an appointment with your vet for additional care if necessary.

For lists of pet poisons and safety tips, visit the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, ASPCA.org

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Dogs Really Can Tell How Owners Are Feeling, Study Shows

By Jacqueline Boyd

C

an dogs tell when we are happy, sad, or angry? As a dog owner, I feel confident not only that I can tell what kind of emotional state my pets are in, but also that they respond to my emotions. Yet as a hard-headed scientist, I try to take a more rational and pragmatic view. These personal observations seem more likely to result from my desire for a good relationship with my dogs.

The problem is that studying emotional interpretations and responses across two interacting species is very difficult. For one thing, you can’t ask a dog how it’s feeling. So while many people can describe how their dogs respond to their emotional states— typically in ways we humans consider appropriate and perhaps even desirable—scientific evidence and explanation for this ability has mostly been elusive.

When dogs gazed longer at images with matching sounds, this was interpreted as an ability to put the two things together and identify the emotional state.

However, a new study, published in the journal Biology Letters, suggests that dogs really can recognize emotions in both humans and other dogs using visual and audio cues. Scientists have already documented chimpanzees’ and Rhesus macaques’ ability to identify emotional states among their own kind.

But this is the first study to demonstrate that any animal can tell how members of another species are feeling.

What we did know already was that dogs can discriminate between different human facial expressions and sounds associated with specific emotional states. By investigating the time dogs spent gazing at images of people and dogs paired with specific sounds, the new study attempted to explore whether dogs could recognize entire emotional states.

Each image was paired with an emotional sound that either matched or did not match the facial expression in the picture. When dogs gazed longer at images with matching sounds, this was interpreted as an ability to put the two things together and identify the emotional state.

One key element of the study was that the dogs did not have prior training or familiarization with the task, suggesting an intrinsic ability to recognize emotions. But, interest-

ingly, the study dogs did have a more significant response to conspecific (dog) stimuli than to heterospecific (human) stimuli.

It’s well-understood that dogs are supremely good at reading and responding to human body language and possible intent (just ask anyone who has picked up a dog lead or dog bowl in front of their pet). Dogs can also demonstrate strong behavioral attachments to owners and react differently in cognitive tests based on the presence and behavior of the owner.

This suggests that dogs have evolved the ability to use their human companions as social support systems in unfamiliar situations. So the ability to identify human emotional cues would be a significant addition to this skill.

However, dogs are also likely to have learned that if they respond to their owners’ sounds and facial expressions they will be treated in a certain way. The classic example is of a dog that has disobeyed an order displaying what appears to be a “guilty face” as a way of appeasing its owner when scolded.

How much this learned behavior plays a role in dogs’ responses to human emotions is, I suspect, something that we can’t fully determine, although the study goes some way to acknowledge canine abilities in this area.

Humans and dogs have lived and evolved together for at least 15,000 years and probably much longer. Given this, and the close bond that many people have with their dogs, it may not come as any surprise that dogs appear to have developed this skill in recognizing human emotions.

This ability is likely to have been very important in helping dogs become accepted by humans and integrated into our society and culture, bringing enormous benefits on both sides. Dogs are likely to receive greater care from their human companions if their bond is enhanced by the dogs’ apparent empathy.

The humans, meanwhile, receive unconditional companionship and emotional validation from their canine counterpart.

Undoubtedly, this study further adds to our understanding and appreciation of the cognitive abilities of “man’s best friend” and highlights the mutually beneficial relationships we often have with dogs.

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SECRETS OF KOREAN MEDICINE

The Game of Go and Mental Health COURTESY OF DR. SEO HYO-SEOK

Focus on causes, not symptoms Part 25

Go teacher Jo Gyung-Ho (R) plays against Japanese student Mori Chisaki at the Lee Se-Dol School for Go in Seoul, South Korea, on March 18.

By Dr. Seo Hyo-seok

is more important to be proactive in preventing such crimes by closely examining what leads to such actions.

The historic match between the artificial intelligence AlphaGo (of Google) and Lee Se-dol of the ninth-dan rank of Korea held in March 2016 was concluded with AlphaGo winning four of the five games played.

Although this match received a great deal of attention throughout the world, I am offering this special article related to Baduk (the Korean name for the board game Go) and mental health.

As a lover of Baduk, or Go, I watched the match with intense interest.

Go is a game that enables the players to gain self-discipline in nurturing enhanced mental health. ence of both players who are waging attacks and planning defense, rather than being aimed at winning only for oneself.

Players are taught to seek resurrection without giving up early in the game even if a portion of the Go table is lost. Moreover, players learn to foster self-discipline. They learn to look forward to the next game when one loses and to gain self-mastery rather than win over the opponent.

Through such techniques, players will learn to tackle the next challenge.

Although Lee Se-dol lost to AlphaGo with the game score of 4 to 1, people were moved when he said, “As a result of the match, I was able to further reflect upon myself and foster new goals in my life.”

Go is a game that enables the players to gain self-discipline in nurturing enhanced mental health. Players experience exhilaration, a sense of accomplishment, and enlightenment on what life should be in the process of playing each move with utmost effort, rather than focusing only on winning the game.

International Go Competition This year, I will be holding the fifth annual Pyunkang Cup World Baduk Competition. Anyone with an ama-

GOOGLE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Paying Attention to Causes of Destructive Actions I am certain that you remember the shocking incident in which 12th-grade student Dylan Klebold and his friend, Eric Harris, indiscriminately shot the students and staff at Columbine High School in the State of Colorado in 1999, killing 12 students and a teacher as well as wounding 24 other people.

In the book “Mother’s Reckoning,” written by Klebold’s mother, she describes her state of mind at the time of the incident 17 years ago.

“My son became addicted to computers when he became a high school student and displayed symptoms of depression. However, I failed to notice this. My son was living in a world apart from that in which we were living. I was not aware that he was drinking alcohol, buying and accumulating weapons, and dreaming of ending his life in the midst of severe loneliness and despair.

“Had I known and perceived the signs that my son sent out, I could have prevented the dreadful disaster that occurred at Columbine,” she wrote.

Since the Columbine incident, others are equally concerning. The most recent incident happened last February when a 45-year-old white male killed seven people in Kalamazoo in Michigan State.

According to the report published in the April issue of the Journal of Behavior and Law in 2015 by a joint research team of three universities, including Harvard University, Duke University, and Columbia University, approximately 10 percent of all Americans are suffering from embitterment disorder.

In addition, this report asserted that the total number of guns owned by individuals in the United States is approximately 310 million, and while the average number of guns held by normal gun owners is one, the majority of those with embitterment disorder own more than six guns.

This signifies that there is a high probability of indiscriminate gun killings by such people. According to the report, despite calls in local and federal legislatures for stricter gun control shortly after the occurrence of such killings, not much attention is paid to the causes of such actions. Although stricter gun control is important, it

Body and Mind Must Both Be Healthy [As a society], we are overly focused on our physical health and material prosperity. We want to be more influential, slimmer, and more beautiful and earn more money, and so on, but this is a huge mistake.

Both the body and the mind must be healthy. From this perspective, I was greatly shocked by the computer games my children were playing when they were growing up. They were enjoying games of indiscriminately shooting guns at the blink of an eye, as if in a war, with blood splattered all over the computer screen.

As the mother of Dylan Klebold pointed out, our children are enjoying such killing games in which the level of the players rises as more people are killed in a violent and merciless world that is far from the reality that we live in. How will these children grow up, and what kind of life will they be living in the future?

I feel that this must change, and I have started to recommend that children learn to play Go instead of computer games.

The game of Go is characterized by courtesy and consideration of the opponent. The term “standard moves” that one learns when one begins to learn about Go refers to the optimal moves that ensure the coexist-

teur rank higher than sixth dan in Go can participate.

Since all the matches are played over the Internet, there is no spatial or temporal restriction on the games played.

Although most of the participants at the moment are players from Korea, China, and Japan, I am planning to induce players from all corners of the world to participate in next year’s competition.

I set the total prize money of 30 million won ($26,000) for the first competition, which has increased to 120 million won ($104,000) for the competition this year.

Some people are puzzled why a Korean medicine doctor is holding an international Baduk competition I am holding the international Go competition for the following four reasons.

The first is to assist the enhancement of the mental health of humankind. The second is to make contributions toward the enhancement of world peace through the fostering of more active and amicable communication among the people of the world through the common language of Go. The third is to return the profits generated by the Pyunkang Korean Medicine Hospital back to society, and the fourth is because I am a devoted lover of Go. Two Korean and two Chinese players became the champions of the four competitions held thus far. The champion of the third competition held was Ke Jie, currently the ninth-dan professional player ranked No. 1 in the world.

Although he was not a well-known player at the time, he advanced rapidly since his winning of the Pyunkang Cup, reaching his present status as top professional player in the world.

I have heard that ninth-dan Ke Jie is planning to challenge AlphaGo following the conclusion of the match between AlphaGo and Lee Se-dol. The outcome of this challenge is highly anticipated by myself as well as by people throughout the world.

The Future of Go in China It is a well-known fact that Xi Jinping, the leader of China, is a lover of Go. Recently, he made the recommendation that all the diplomats dispatched to overseas missions of China should learn Go. I find this highly significant.

Xi Jinping shows a deep understanding of Go and the game’s ability to train players to think far into the future. I admire Xi Jinping’s policy to include Go in the academic curriculum of elementary schools.

Children are the future of mankind. However, the environment under which children are growing is desolate and dreary. Moreover, the favorite hobby of children throughout the world is playing cold-hearted, extremely competitive, and violent computer games devoid of affirmative emotional elements.

This is not the problem of a single country or an individual, but rather a problem that all the people of the world need to seriously consider. Korean medicine is attempting to overcome the limitations of Western medicine and address mental health issues.

Xi Jinping’s decision to teach Go to elementary school children as one of the means of resolving this problem is an excellent policy that clearly demonstrates his foresight.

When I visited China several years ago, I had an opportunity to play a Go game with ninth-dan Chang Hao, a professional Go player in China. I hope to have the opportunity to play a Go game with Xi Jinping, who is at a level similar to mine.

If such a match can be realized, how could I visit China empty-handed? As the remuneration for the granting of such an honorable opportunity, I would like to present the secrets of pulmonary cleaning that would enable the people of China to live in great health by preventing and treating asthma and pneumonia.

Through such action, I hope to bring the benefits of Korean medicine to the world and show this highly outstanding discipline that treats the roots of disease.

I look forward to such a day and hope this news will be delivered to China.

Dr. Seo Hyo-seok is the director of the Pyunkang Korean Medicine Hospital, which has seven branches in South Korea, one at Stanton University in California, and one in Atlanta. Dr. Seo entered Kyung Hee University in Korea at the top of his class and after years of research, developed the Pyunkang-Hwan herbal formula, which improves immunity by strengthening lung function. It has helped cure over 155,000 patients of various conditions.

South Korean professional Go player Lee Se-Dol plays against Google’s artificial intelligence program AlphaGo during the Google DeepMind Challenge Match in Seoul, South Korea, on March 13.

Find out more at Pyunkang.com Email: Dr.Seo@wwdoctor.com