WILD ABOUT MUSHROOMS
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
VET IN SUGAR VANUATU IS SWEET
TASTY MEAL OR CERTAIN DEATH? P.28
AN EVER INCREASING PROBLEM P.18
TENDING PETS IN PARADISE P.10
FREE
DIABETES – ANCIENT DISEASE, MODERN EPIDEMIC P.24
Winter 2011 * Issue Ten
WWW.WAITINGROOM.IE
Oh,whydidn’twe justholdaraffle!? Hilarious and daft wheezes for charity
PLUS... BOB QUINN * TERRY FLANAGAN * RECIPES * PUZZLES AND MORE
EDITOR’S LETTER
inside winter 2011
le thing: individual coup young vy oo gr it’s all the nks against guys closing ra y, Wives. A AG M A em OF en OR on IT m ED the com AS THE LLY RELIES TOTA t judge the cool t n’ ca e W ZINE THAT S status, bu ISERS FOR IT liar’s financial ordinary ON ADVERT be ay m it , E an e NC lik TE he looks VERY EXIS therefore e extreme of wage slave and it tough foolhardy in th probrium g in op s nd es fi pr ly ex probab me to on TV for lly in these going financia at the current admic drink. employdark days of un s, etc. a certain acrony n’t seen it, st ve co ha g u in yo ris ment, In case sures all Mobile But the ad reas e same here’s the gist: bar with th a in in ys gs gu rin g e youn phon it’s fine to ys in it. Guy only young gu calling and situation that eded money sees it’s his wife flash above divert much-ne old budget, from the househ a ‘noble’ a sign begins to Alert. The s as long as it’s in cular the bar: Missu nt as a suble si as That parti es go r ba stroy- cause. sement makes me de y em en ith w adverti marine e as the overdose of sicker than an shes. ers circling abov he’s ife the product it pu useholds, guy tells his w him and st Speaking of ho it’s great working late, ju e barman etc., th kids, budgets, effort to the cleaners – hes on a st itc te la sw e y th gl e in to se oblig ger generaum cleaner. involve the youn for our/ handheld vacu ol liar co ng r tion in planni As soon as ou e SEAI’s ection, their future. Th ook for breaks the conn resumes eb ot ity N tiv drive (see normal ac I presume, post-primary instantly. Until, rings won- details) to get their fresh nd ife be w r to he ts studen some ot coming up her of the brains towards uce enerdering why anot to help od e with ways to pr stainable guys isn’t hom whatever su n, or ee ds gr ki gy from with the highly Alert flashsources is to be e had the and the Missus just one w s n It’ he n. W ai . ag ed laud es on ars ago, we Mayday, step short of a us Amber, funds, a few ye en sinking at be Mayday call, St Red Alert, ought to have arching for ll millions into se ever-presrather than a fu ly reserved e ways to turn th aves of our which is probab aching, w ro d pp an A s ds su in is w M t en for energy in hing! Three coastlines into uld actually Missus Approac d closing! co an s e w hundred yard ow on what quantities lieving us It’s hard to kn awful export, thus re of ruinous is y th nn ra ck ty ta e at from th front to and the danhome-life, oil-price hikes blackmail ad. Wives and the formugers of political Better late notwithstanding the altar, from outsiders. laic promises at king up ta y, em en e th e than never. ar time with good drinking en don’t ev the guys. They sty of: ne ho e th e rv dese for a quick ‘Just dropped in ates. Home m e naill drink with th Maurice O’Sca we need soon, love. Do it’s not an R O IT ED anything?’ And
Features
08 What’ll They Think of Next?
Hilarious and daft wheezes for charity
10 Vanuatu Vet Tending pets in paradise
Health
12 Colourblindness
Could you be one of the 8% of affected men and how would you know?
14 Organ Donation
The Greatest Gift – One family’s harrowing story.
18 Tripping Up Down Memory Lane Alzheimer’s Disease. An ever increasing problem?
20 Good Recipes for Bones?
Your bones – Nutritionist Jess Keane on Osteoporosis
24 Too Sweet to be Wholesome
Diabetes – ancient disease, modern epidemic.
26 Bottle Battle
How one family tried to cope with an alcoholic member.
Regulars
05 Notebook Bits and Bobs
30 Backchat
Bob Quinn tells it as he sees it
Competitions 06 Giveaway
Win one of five Medi-peds
27 Crossword
Win a luxurious break away to the Menlo Park in Galway City! YOUR FREE COPY
WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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notebook INNOVATION
ADVERTORIAL
Flahavan’s Innovative Healthy Multi-Seed Porridge
One Good Idea Can Change Everything
Flahavan’s has launched a delicious new Multi-Seed Porridge as part of its Quick Oats range to meet the evolving needs of consumers for a healthy breakfast. The new Multi-Seed range is available in sachet, portable porridge pot and bag formats and combines Flahavan’s Porridge Oats with Sunflower, Flax, Pumpkin and Hemp seeds to provide an additional tasty and healthy boost to breakfast time. The new seeded range is a source of Omega -3 fatty acids, protein and fibre. Flahavan’s Multi-Seed Porridge contains no added salt, sugar or artificial flavourings, colourings or preservatives and is completely natural. Flahavan’s Quick Oats Multi-Seed Sachets (10 x 40g) and Quick Oats Multi-Seed Portable Porridge Pots, which come in a 40g serving, have a crunchy texture that is simply delicious. Simple preparation in just three-easy steps helps make a breakfast packed full of taste and goodness. Flahavan’s Quick Oat Sachets, which come with a reusable liquid measure, is ready in just two minutes while Flahavan’s Multi-Seed Pot, can be made by simply microwaving or adding boiling water and is ready in just 90 seconds. The cool-to-the-touch exterior makes the Multi-Seed pot a truly portable product ideal to enjoy in the office or home. These single serving dual microwavable and hot water options provide a quick and nutritious breakfast, which releases energy in the body throughout mornings.
A call to all post-primary students to enter a nationwide search for ONE GOOD IDEA to tackle climate change and promote energy efficiency From the end of October, the doors open for thousands of postprimary students to start working on their One Good Idea projects to improve awareness levels and understanding of climate change and energy efficiency in Ireland by encouraging students to take individual responsibility for tackling this important issue. Organised by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, this is a nationwide competition, inviting all post- primary schools to get involved and devise an innovative campaign that will be judged at a national final in 2012. The winning school will be awarded with a range of fantastic prizes from cash prizes for the school to iPods and iTunes vouchers for the team. For more details on how to enter and watch for updates on seai.ie/onegoodidea
HEALTH
HEALTH
Christmas Survival Guide The very title of Drink Aware’s seasonal advice brochure should be enough to remind people of just how easy it is to get into trouble during the festive season – stone, cold sober, let alone with a few drinks on board! Old rivalries and grudges surface at family get-togethers; the (very) temporary suspension of the hierarchy at the annual office party can lead to indiscretions that can cause embarrassment well into the following summer; the ‘need’ to go from one party to another can lead to taking chances on driving with just a little too much... It’s all very well promising you’ll have a few drinks but totally avoid volatile topics with the family, telling the boss what you really think of him or her, or being tempted to drive the mile or so to the next party, but, as we all know, with those few drinks, the inhibitions that normally flash out danger signs are automatically switched off. You just can’t help it. In vino veritas, and all that. So, the only thing is to keep your drinking to the level at which you know your safety-indicators are still in working order. Basically, pace yourself. Mix your drinks by alternating with water or softies. Make sure you have eaten. Don’t rely on commonsense – it’s often another casualty of a few drinks. For a complete list of helpful hints, check out the Christmas Survival Guide at drinkaware.ie
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Visit Flahavan’s at www.flahavans.com or join them on facebook.com/flahavans
Re-discovering Aztec treasure When the Spaniards conquered the Aztecs, they found chia growing throughout the region as a staple grain crop but it wasn’t until recently that chia became internationally known as a rich health food, and it was introduced into the west in the early 1990s by Dr Wayne Coates.
HEALTH
Playing their Hearts Out... Atrial Fibrillation in young, healthy people Though more usually associated with older people, in which it is a common cause of Stroke, Atrial Fibrillation in young, healthy people has been highlighted in recent years by several cases of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) in top ath-
THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
letes. Generally, underlying, unsuspected structural or electrical cardiac defects have been found to be present, though, in rare cases, a heavy blow to the chest can be enough to knock even a normal heart out of its steady rhythm and set off a potentially fatal fibrillation. Nowadays, it is common practice for sports clubs, schools, etc. to actually have a Defibrillator on the premises. This is especially important in the case of contact sports
where physical tackles are frequent and heavy. The IRFU’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Conor McCarthy explains: ‘For the past 4/5 years, the IRFU recommends that all rugby clubs have a Defibrillator on hand and that several members of the club, from all levels – players, coaching staff and management - be instructed in its use as part of their wider First Aid and Life Support Training Programmes.’ YOUR FREE COPY
notebook Antibiotics are wonder-drugs, life-savers. But have they been overused? Do patients expect them for even minor infections? For viral infections, even though they don’t kill viruses? With resistant strains of bacteria becoming a major threat, Dr Mel Bates argues the case for caution.
Germ Warfare “It’s just a virus,” the doctor reassures a worried patient. “Some rest and paracetamol and you should be right as rain in a few days.” Instead of feeling relief, some patients seem unimpressed, almost disappointed, when they hear it’s ‘just’ a virus, but more and more are recognising that simple rest and paracetamol are the best options for themselves and their children. So why do so many remain unconvinced? Why do so many think that every infection needs an antibiotic? Part of it is historical but the immediate problem is how such a diagnosis may make the patient feel. Some may feel (wrongly) that they are just bothering the doctor, that, because their illness is ‘just’ a virus, they’ve wasted his or her valuable time. Others may feel annoyed and let down – surely, if the doctor understood just how much suffering and worry this infection was causing, then he or she would put them on a strong antibiotic immediately? Another issue is the research associated with infections in General Practice. International studies give high quality information about probabilities and percentages that helps the doctor to get the diagnosis right most of the time. There’s one problem with percentages, though: if it happens to you it’s 100% and if it doesn’t happen to you its 0%. So, saying we are almost certain an antibiotic is not indicated, may not be acceptable to many. There’s a painting, familiar to GPs, which depicts the caring side of the profession. An elderly, bearded doctor, in Victorian garb, leans forwards, YOUR FREE COPY
anxiously watching over the beautiful child who is lying in the sick bed. I admire his compassion but I often wonder if part of his anxiety is because he knows he has no effective medicines and is powerless to do anything more for his patient. Fast forward to the early part of the last century when antibiotics were invented. Those had to have been exciting times. Flush with success from treating life threatening infections with these new wonder drugs, doctors gave into the temptation of using them more and more for less severe infections. This trained the public to expect antibiotics prescriptions. However, with all the new research we have available now, we need to prepare the public for a different approach to common infections. Another interesting factor is the average timeline of infections. Take sore throats for example. Research tells us that sore throats last for eight days on average. Most people wait a few days before attending the doctor and the recommended time for taking many antibiotic prescriptions is five days. So now you can take your pick. When you get better after taking
THE DECISION TO TREAT OR NOT TO TREAT IS THEN IDEALLY MADE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PATIENT.
antibiotics is it because your doctor is caring and the antibiotic is effective, or because most throat infections are caused by viruses and it would take five more days to get better anyway, if a patient presents on day three? Doctors are human and we feel the need to be decisive and to help the sick. Prescribing antibiotics removes the uncertainties that we might be wrong and avoids conflict. It may strengthen the impression that we are caring, but, like the doctors of old, being caring is only half the battle. We should give everyone the best opinion based on the best evidence. The decision to treat or not to treat is then ideally made in partnership with the patient. Not all antibiotic prescribing is wrong, but nowadays, most doctors try to prescribe them more appropriately and, if our patients understand the issues, it makes our job easier. So remember: when your doctor suggests that antibiotics may not be necessary, he or she is not dismissing you or your suffering. And it is for that very reason that doctors rarely use the words ‘virus’ and ‘just’ in the same sentence. #
WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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notebook TRUE LIFE MEDICINE
A Burning Question When the State Pathologist, fire officers and the Gardaí were unable to explain the burning to death of an elderly man (a non-smoker) in Galway last year, the coroner found himself with no alternative but to declare a case of Spontaneous Human Combustion.
Bad Guy Turns Good The powerful poison has been tamed Botox, derived from the toxin of Clostridium botulinum, the most powerful bacterial toxin known to science, is now proving to be extremely beneficial. It’s not too long ago since swallowing even a tiny amount unwittingly (in spoiled foods) would lead to death but now the powerful poison has been tamed to bestow many beneficial effects upon us, particularly in conditions where muscle spasms are a problem. The least serious, but best known, of these treatments is in relaxing facial wrinkles. A whole list of other benefits exists and a recent addition to this is in the treatment of chronic migraine. Injection of botox into some of the head or neck muscles has been reported to give significant relief to chronic migraine sufferers in many cases, and the product was licensed in Ireland for this use, just last September. And, if you are one of Ireland’s many sufferers from Chronic Migraine, that could be good news indeed.
Dr Ciaran McLoughlin said it was the first time he’d had to make such a ruling in 25 years. Despite many cases of SCH being recorded, scientists are still at a loss to explain it; many deny that it can even happen. There have been eye-witness accounts, though the naysayers obviously challenge their reliability. But there are many questions, even for believers. Why are the bodies burned to a much greater degree than would be the case if they’d died in a house fire? With the enormous
temperatures needed to reduce a body to ash, why is there hardly any damage to structures close by? What starts it – a dropped cigarette, the body’s static electricity or some unknown runaway biological process that causes super-heating? Could spilled alcohol or flammable clothing act as a wick which is fed, once the skin has burned through, by the body’s fat acting like the wax of a candle? It sounds more like a case for the X-Files than for the county coroner.
COVER Fintan Taite is an award winning freelance illustrator and cartoonist based in Dublin.You can see more of his work at www.fintantaite.com THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE is produced and printed in Ireland EDITOR Maurice O’Scanaill maurice@waitingroom.ie MEDICAL EDITOR Dr Sophie Faherty PRODUCTION Helen Gunning helen@waitingroom.ie ADVERTISING Alex Xuereb alex@waitingroom.ie CONTRIBUTORS Dr Mel Bates, Brendan Dolan, Claire Greene, Maureen Corbett, Jessica Keane, Brendan Quinn, Kathleen O’Reilly, ‘John’ (real identity witheld), Terry Flanagan and Bob Quinn PRINT Boylan Print Group DISTRIBUTION An Post
CONTACT US The Waiting Room Magazine Northampton, Kinvara, Co Galway 091 638205 | info@waitingroom.ie Discover more at www.waitingroom.ie For news, updates, offers and competitions, join us on facebook.com/TheWaitingRoomMagazine
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THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
The Waiting Room Magazine will not be responsible for, nor will it return, unsolicited manuscripts. The views expressed in the magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Waiting Room Magazine. The entire contents of the magazine are the copyright of The Waiting Room Magazine and may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of the publishers.
YOUR FREE COPY
COVER STORY RAISING MONEY
The Things People Do With an increasing number of charities chasing a rapidly-dwindling cash pool, people are coming up with ever more ingenious, sometimes plain daft, ideas for publicising their particular cause. Brendan Dolan checked out some of the dafter pursuits, then did his bit (and conquered his fear of heights) by going Sky-Diving 8
THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
CHARITY IN IRELAND IS NOW BIG BUSINESS. There are, reportedly, some 19,000 Voluntary Organisations and about 7,500 Registered Charities in this small country, contributing €2.5 billion to the economy and employing over 45,000 people. It is estimated that 20% of over 16s engage in some type of volunteering; that’s over 500,000 people giving of their time freely. That’s a lot of charity chasing an ever dwindling kitty that people are willing to, or indeed can donate. These funds have to be extracted by ever more ingenious methods. Charities have copped on to the fact that people love to support winners, thus the scramble to get endorsements from the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Katie Taylor or Rory McIlroy. They also know that donors like to be YOUR FREE COPY
COVER STORY RAISING MONEY
I was probably the heaviest recruit, bar the baby elephant in the corner.
inspired by a vision, hence the harrowing images from Africa or Asia. However, it is the humble sponsored event that still garners the majority of the funding. These started off as the simple sponsored walk or bake sale but quickly mushroomed to such exotic events as fun runs, swimathons, cycle-a-thons and even kiss-a-thons. Then people got even more adventurous and moved from Jumble Sales to Charity Treks of the Himalayas or Andes (aka exotic holidays paid for by your friends.) All over the country people are thinking of more quirky ideas to raise those much needed funds. Wake-a-thons in Wexford, sleep-a-thons in Sneem (these two cancelled each other out), base jumping in Ballybunion, barrel rolling YOUR FREE COPY
down Powerscourt Waterfall (not recommended, two dead), Bog snorkelling in Offaly, world Pogo championship in Pukane, fish flinging in Killybegs, Oyster catching in Castlepollard (not very successful), alphabet tours of Ireland in your pyjamas, starting in Abbey in Galway and finishing in Youghal in Cork, pig throwing in Macroom, tomato hurling in Lusk, Nazi hunting in Campile, cheese rolling in Cobh (four seriously hurt by a stray Gouda), hedgehog hunting in Armagh, wart hog hunting in Sligo, canal jumping in Kilcock, water-skiing down the Barrow, ski dooing up the Shannon, wellythrowing in Kiltimagh, brass rubbing in Bray, budgie baiting in Birdhill, eyebrow knitting in Athlone, knuckle cracking in Kenmare, teeth grinding in Nobber, gurning in Grangegorman, banana squeezing in Knockanana and not forgetting the annual camel versus zebra races on the beach in Lahinch. Obviously nothing too crazy for some people. One very popular form of fund raising is Skydiving which made more than €1m last year for charity. This is what I did myself during the course of the year (skydived, not made a million). In fairness, it was more for selfish reasons than charitable ones, but sure if I was able to help anyone at the same time it was a win-win. I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to heights so it was just something I wanted to see if I could overcome. Year after year, I’d promised I’d do it but conveniently never got around to it. Then I noticed that if you are over
From top: Bog snorkeller, Santa Race Contestants and Woman 'gurning' (pulling wierd/ funny faces)
50 (looming large) you need a doctor’s cert, or over a certain weight (looming large) you just couldn’t do it at all! So it was a case of now or never and I chose the now. I checked out the various sky dive centres and the various charities I could help and, having decided on one of each, away I went. I picked Sky Dive Ireland for no particular reason as they all look good and professional, and I’m glad I chose this particular outfit for they were truly superb in all that they did. Maybe I was just darn lucky as the day was rightly set up for a spot of parachuting, clear skies and little wind. On my appointed day I arrived just before mid-day. I checked in, got weighed (whew, passed), did my pre jump training and hooked up with my jump partner, Dean. I think I was partnered with Dean as he was the smallest instructor there, weighing in at about 50kg, while I was probably the heaviest recruit, bar the baby elephant in the corner. Dean was an absolute star and, from the word go, put me completely at ease. He has done something crazy like 5,000 jumps and is a consummate professional. Before I knew what was happening, I had my jump suit on, a parachute attached and I was in the back of a plane with six others. Up and up we went in a kind of spiral, taking about twenty minutes to reach our desired altitude of 10,000 feet. Then the first couple slithered towards the open door of the aircraft, and whoosh! they were gone. Then the second couple, whoosh, followed by the photographer, whoosh. Oooh, then it was my turn, and I have to admit I thought about turning around, but with a little gentle persuasion from Dean, I clambered gingerly over to the yawning opening, sat with my trembling feet under the plane and my head facing up and next thing it was my turn to whoosh. And whoosh I did. What an unbelievably brilliant feeling! Nothing between you and the land over 3,000 metres below, and the wind rushing into your face, and you falling at terminal velocity of 200kmph. This free fall lasts about 30 seconds but you’ll remember it forever (especially if the parachute doesn’t open.) But then the chute opens and everything slows down again and you gently descend. It’s still a fantastic thrill to see the ants down below gradually change into people as you get ever closer to the landing area. Then the land rushes up to meet you and your body is back on solid ground. It’s over, but the smile on your face gives everything away. A day to remember, and every time you look at your certificate, you’ll recall that day with fondness. #
WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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TRAVEL WORKING ABROAD
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THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
YOUR FREE COPY
TRAVEL WORKING ABROAD
Vet inVanuatu
Vet, Claire Greene, spent several memorable months in practice on Vanuatu, and found that she had to conquer the language before treating her patients.
ISLAMA IS THE ENGLISHFRENCH CREOLE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF VANUATU.
B
And where, you may ask, is Vanuatu? The Lonely Planet lists Vanuatu as the world’s seventh least known country, though, since my visit, I’ve been doing my bit to redress this. It sits happily in the South Pacific between the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia. Still lost? Ok, here’s my trump card: It’s near Fiji; the weather’s quite nice. In May 2010, I was offered a job in Vanuatu’s only veterinary practice, in the capital, Port Vila. As soon as that pin landed on Google Maps I knew I’d have to go. Bislama? It’s a young variant of English. I’ll be able to understand it surely? When I landed at Port Vila’s tiny airport, we were greeted with a sound that was to become familiar, a string band - ten men, all in lime green shirts, strumming their skiffle instruments and singing high-pitched harmonies. The lyrics were completely unintelligible to me. Oh dear. My new employer, Karin, and her lovely family met me at Arrivals. Karin is Australian and has been running the clinic in Port Vila for almost 10 years. She kindly took me to a barbeque that evening to meet all her friends. After dessert, I asked her about Bislama. “Oh I don’t speak it much. Our nurses are Ni-van but they speak English so they translate for me. But if you’re really interested, I’ve a book you might like.” Next morning she handed me Evri samting yu wantem save blong Bislama bei yu fraet tumas blong askem (Everything you wanted to know about Bislama but were too afraid to ask). Read the sentence aloud and it makes a little more sense. A thin A4 handbook, with cartoon Ni-vans (Vanuatu citizens) waving out at me, it seemed to be aimed at children, but I read it eagerly. My real source of Bislama though was indeed the nurses who all spoke English very well. Ni-vans speak a ‘village language’ at home but in a country of only 200,000 people there are more than 1,000 village languages, all completely distinct. There was a need for a common denominator, from which grew Bislama. In 1980, Vanuatu became independent from Britain and France which had managed it as a shared colony. Before YOUR FREE COPY
that, all Ni-vans learnt either English or French, depending on which colonial power had founded their school, so most Ni-vans typically speak at least three languages: Village language at home, Bislama with Ni-vans from other villages, and English or French with anyone who can’t speak Bislama. Everyone greeted me with big smiles, raised eyebrows, the customary limp handshake, and the question: Olsem wanem? (How are you?) It comes from the English “All same, what?” The correct response is I straet nomo (It’s fine only). There is English in there, but you have to peel off the layers. The pronouns, I immediately fell in love with: Mi (I); Yu (You); Emi (He/she/it); Yumi (We = you me); Mifala (All of us = me fellas); Yufella (All of you = you fellas); Olgeta (Them = all together). Over the following weeks, as my ears picked out the words, my confidence grew and I started to hold consults through Bislama. Emi bin thro out? (Has he vomited?), I would ask, or Emi gat shit-shit-wota? (Has he had diarrhoea?) Quite descriptive don’t you think? And yet this is a difficult language to practice a science through; being very young, it lacks some subtlety. When describing a fracture to a client, I was limited to broke or kam out. Any blood pathology was described as problem mit em suga – diabetes is a common complaint on the island. One day I pulled Nurse Eunice, aside and asked how best to tell a Ni-van owner that I would have to put her dog to sleep – permanently. In any culture, this is news that requires a tactful delivery. She thought for a moment, then suggested: Bei mifala stick em mo afta emi ded. (We’ll stick him and then he’s dead.) As I thought this was just a tiny bit short on tact, I developed my own phrase. Bei mi stick em mo emi go sleep lang lang time mo emi
Emi bin thro out? (Has he vomited?) I would ask, or Emi gat shit-shitwota? (Has he had diarrhoea?)
no kam bakegin. (I’ll stick him and he’ll sleep a long time and not come back again.) Some of the messages left for me were also quite interesting. I puzzled over the word Glia for a few moments before realising it was my own name, Claire. Spelling in Bislama, has been a bit of an afterthought. D and T, P and B, C and G were all considered interchangeable. My sterile operating gown was Blue goat and the tick injection was Dig injection. Outside of work, there was more Bislama to explore. For one, I often had difficulty explaining where I came from. Yu wan Pis Ko (Are you a Peace Corp worker?) No. Mi kam lo Ireland. (No, I’m from Ireland.) Wanam Aeland? (Which island?) was the inevitable response. The colonial roots of Bislama pay scant heed to ‘R’s. On an island nation, it was common for someone to describe themselves as from the island so I often, grudgingly, had to add: Emi klosup Ingland (It’s near England). Another balmy evening, drinking Kava at the Nuckemal, I found myself trying to explain what a leprechaun is. Emi wan smolfela magic man mo emi got langfella red bead. Emi got fullup monae. Spose bei yu katchem, bei yu collectum all monae blong em. (He’s a small magical man with a long red beard. He’s very rich and if you catch him, you get to take all his money.) Yes, there’s English under there, but this is so much more fun. Alle lukum yu! #
WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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OUR BODIES EYES
AS LONG AS THE RED LIGHT IS ALWAYS ON TOP, TRAFFIC LIGHTS SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM
Seeing Red?
CAMOUFLAGE
How do you know if you’re colour-blind? With up to 1 in 12 males affected, it’s nearly as common as being left-handed. But, if it’s that common, why aren’t more people aware of it? BACK IN THE DAFT 1960S, the old triple-decker Elephant Joke went... 1. Why are elephants grey? To distinguish them from strawberries, which are red. 2. What did Hannibal say when he saw the elephants crossing the Alps? Here come the elephants. 3. What did his granny say? Here come the strawberries. She was colour-blind. The ageing hippies among you may be smiling nostalgically at the intro, but strictly speaking, it would probably have been Hannibal who mistook his war-elephants for war-strawberries, as colour blindness is 10 to 20 times more common in males (5-8%) than in females (0.5%) The causative genes are on the X chromosome; men have just one X chromosome, so if it’s defective, then they will be colour blind; women, on the other hand, have two and, unless both carry the defective genes, the unaffected one will always overrule the defective. In this case, they will be symptomless carriers – their male offspring will be affected or not depending on whether they receive their mother’s dodgy X chromosome or her sound one. There are various degrees and types of colour-blindness, from the
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extremely rare ‘total’ (where the world is seen in varying shades of grey, like a Charlie Chaplin movie, only not jerky), to ‘partial’, in which those affected have trouble distinguishing between a few colours only. By far the most common (99%) of the partial type involves Red and Green, while the remainder involves a Blue and Yellow difficulty. The normal human eye contains three different types of ‘cone’ cells in the retina that are sensitive to blue, green and red light, respectively. From the degree of stimulation of these three types, the brain interprets ‘colours’. Where none of the three is stimulated, the brain interprets ‘black.’ Where only the blue cones are stimulated, it sees ‘blue’ and so on. Other colours depend on different degrees of simultaneous stimulation of two or all three of the cone types. Most colour-blind people are born colour-blind, though the condition can also develop with certain illnesses or sight deterioration. The ability to distinguish colours is not something that has developed with evolution. In fact, the most colour-aware eyes in the animal kingdom belong to the Mantis Shrimp. It has 12 different types of cone cells in its eyes – we humans have only three!
THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
But think of all the butterflies, insects, birds and fish that have developed amazing colours as lures to potential mates, as warning signs, or as individual markers, and it is obvious that their prospective target ‘audience’ must be able to perceive these colours. Clearly we can’t ask animals what colours they can see: their colour-recognition abilities are judged by the numbers and types of cone-cells found in their eyes. Many mammals (other than primates) have only two cone-types so a red rag to a bull may look greyish, like everything else, and it’s the movement that attracts his attention.
An example of an Ishihara color test plate. The numeral ‘74’ should be clearly visible to those with normal color vision. Viewers with dichromacy or anomalous trichromacy may read it as ‘21’, and viewers with achromatopsia may not be able to see any numbers at all.
Being colour-blind is not considered a major handicap, though obviously it would be devastating if one wanted to be a painter, interior designer or fashion designer. It’s also not a trivial condition for firemen, pilots, policemen or surgeons. On the other hand, it might be an advantage in some jobs, like hunters or army scouts as there is evidence that colourblind people are not as easily misled by camouflage. Some countries demand colour-blind tests before issuing driving licences though, as long as the red light is always on top, traffic lights shouldn’t be a problem. The hereditary nature of the condition is made clear by the fact that on Pingelap Island, Micronesia, about 10% of the population of only several thousand are totally colourblind and, indeed, have very poor general vision besides. This is because their eyes contain NO cone cells at all. This is an extremely rare condition worldwide, but a severe storm in the 18th century killed off many of the islanders and one of the few male survivors had this inheritable condition. 30% of the population, his descendants, are now carriers. #
YOUR FREE COPY
HEALTH DONORS
Circle of Life To restore the health of another is perhaps the greatest gift of all. Every day, in hospitals round the world, surgeons turn the tragedy of one family into a priceless gift to another. Maureen Corbett looks at Organ Donations and talks to a mother who had to face that awful choice.
T
he idea of transplanting living skin from one site to another (graft) has been around for centuries – in fact, the earliest account dates from 2nd Century B.C when an Indian surgeon, Sushrura, took skin from one part of a patient to cover a large wound on another. If the procedure was a success, the patient was extremely fortunate as infection can wreak havoc and, in the heat of India, flies, dust, etc. would have presented a grave danger. Rejection, that other great threat to grafts and transplants, did not arise in that long ago case as the patient was both donor and recipient, so the tissue was, of course, a perfect match. Understanding of the immune system came late in science, and the ability to ‘type’ tissue, even later. Without this facility, regardless of the surgeon’s skills, transplants between individuals couldn’t work: the recipient’s body would keep trying to reject the ‘foreign’ invading organ until it eventually succeeded – the immune system does not distinguish between good and bad invaders. It wasn’t until 1954 that the first successful kidney transplant was carried out, but donor and recipient were genetically identical twins, Richard and Ronald Herrick
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THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
so the risk of rejection was minimal. Prior to this, as far back as 1905, Eduard Zirm of Vienna had successfully transplanted a human cornea. Other medical developments which allowed organ transplants to become almost routine procedures today are dialysis machines to keep kidney failure cases alive until a suitable donor can be found, and heart/lung machines to keep patients going while their diseased hearts are being switched for their new one. Equally important non-medical developments were computer data-
bases allowing instant cross-matching of compatible tissue-types, and rapid transport to get recipients to hospitals on time. Potential recipients must always have their bags packed as they have no way of knowing when a suitable organ will suddenly become available. Suitable organs, i.e. organs that haven’t suffered degenerative changes due to illness or wear and tear, typically come from strong young adults in their prime who have suffered severe and irreversible head trauma. The vast majority of these arise from traffic YOUR FREE COPY
HEALTH DONORS
It wasn’tuntil 1954 that the first successful kidney transplant was carried out, but donor and recipient were genetically identical twins, Richard and Ronald Herrick
Did you know?
Pope Benedict XVI has carried an organ donor card for 40 years and has said that helping someone to live after you die is "an act of love." But in the highly unlikely event of his meeting an untimely end, the pope’s organs could not be donated. For one thing, he is now too old and, for another, he is no longer a private citizen; a pope belongs to the church. Apart from these considerations, there is also the danger of a recipient of a pope’s heart or kidney becoming a venerated person.
accidents. Younger victims of brain haemorrhages and brain tumours are other common donors. Not all donors need to have suffered a fatal incident. Giving one kidney to a sibling, loved one or relative is common and donating blood is a routine event for many. Tissue matches are rarely 100% so the recipient’s immune system must be suppressed if rejection is to be avoided. It was the development of drugs that could suppress the body’s natural defences that made it possible to even consider organ transplants. Another danger that has to be guarded against is the possibility that the organ being implanted could be a Trojan Horse, carrying some hidden disease.
DEATH CERTIFICATION With transplants becoming possible, organs needed to be taken as soon after death as possible, before decomposition could begin. This required a whole new definition of death. Death used to be declared when no pulse, heartbeat or respiration could be detected. Later, caution made doctors wait for rigor mortis to begin but, with the invention of the stethoscope, the criterion reverted to the absence of a heartbeat. However, to maximise the chances of successful transplants, in the 1970s, a Harvard committee YOUR FREE COPY
introduced the concept of brain-stem death, which is defined as when: • The patient is in a severe and irreversible coma; • All brain stem reflexes are absent; • Once disconnected from a ventilator there is no spontaneous attempt to breathe independently. Per capita, Ireland has one of the world’s highest rates of organ donation, yet 2010 saw a major decline in numbers, possibly because it was also a record year for road safety. Different countries have different laws: Spain and Austria, for example, have an opt-out voluntary system i.e. everyone is assumed to be a willing donor unless they have expressly said otherwise, while other EU countries like Ireland or Germany have an optin policy: the deceased must have given prior consent. Carrying a Gift of Life donor card is the usual form of opt-in consent but it is also possible to simply sign your driver’s licence. However, next of kin can also permit a donation if the deceased has previously confirmed this wish orally. Regulations protecting the identity of donors and recipients also vary between countries. In the US, donor family members can, and frequently do, make contact with recipients, while here in Ireland the names of both parties are strictly confidential and never released. In South Africa, on 3rd December1967, Dr Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first successful human heart transplant. The patient lived for only 18 days, succumbing to pneumonia as the immunosuppressant drugs laid him open to infections.
THE SAD REALITY Sadly, the non-paired vital organs, heart and liver mainly, only become available when someone suffers brain-stem death. Denis and Martina Goggin’s world was suddenly and tragically shattered in 2006 when their only child, Eamonn, was fatally injured in a car crash. A severe head injury left Eamonn on a life support system but, after four days doctors admitted that there was nothing more they could do: Eamonn was medically brain dead. They gently asked about organ donation and, though he had never
got round to getting his Gift of Life card, Martina poignantly recalled a conversation during which Eamonn had expressed that intention. Now, Martina and Denis respected their son’s expressed wish and donated his heart, liver and both kidneys. As a result of this awful tragedy, four people on transplant waiting lists received that longed for phone call. The Goggins will never know the identity of the recipients but they did receive a call from Beaumont hospital a short time afterwards informing them that all four transplants had been successful and that the recipients were all doing well. The Goggins’ website, strangeboat.org, set up in memory of Eamonn, provides information, comfort and support to the Organ Donation community in Ireland. The Goggins have also been instrumental in establishing Ireland’s first national garden of commemoration and thanksgiving, The Circle of Life Garden, see below. Martina has also recently published Under Connemara Skies Towards Light, a book of poems inspired by and dedicated to her son, the proceeds of which will help fund this very special place. I sometimes forget my keys, my purse, my makeup, but, whatever else may be missing from my handbag, I never ever go out with my organ Gift of Life card. Nor should you. #
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE GARDEN “The Circle of Life Garden, a place of beauty and sanctuary for the general public, will have a very special meaning for the families of organ donors and for recipients. Reflecting in its layout the spirit of giving which is the enduring legacy of all donors, its mix of imagery, symbolism and sentiment, its meandering pathways, seats for quiet contemplation, carvings, images and inscriptions, will evoke a sense of life's higher purpose and the inherent beauty of mankind.” Backed by the Organ Procurement Service and Transplant Coordinators at Beaumont Hospital, the Irish Donor Network, the Irish Kidney Association and the Civic Authorities in Galway, the Circle of Life Garden is scheduled to open in Salthill, Galway in 2012. For more info, please log onto strangeboat.org
WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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FRIENDS Parents identify peers as the most important influence on their children’s decision to start to drink.
This is understandable – young people who drink regularly are likely to have friends who drink, while those who do not are likely to have friends who do not drink. Whether to drink (or not) is one of the most central decisions during adolescence and influences the selection of friends. Many of us worry about ‘peer pressure’, which is often considered to come from all the peer group in the locality and school. The reality however is that it is the peer group of those selected friends, especially best friends, which matters most.
Alcohol
A GUIDE FOR PARENTS
Young People and Alcohol, can parents have an Influence? by Mark Morgan and Thérèse Hegarty THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO
INFLUENCES
HELP PARENTS TO DISCUSS DRINKING WITH THEIR CHILDREN. Although it
Many factors influence the drinking patterns of young people.
is mainly aimed at the parents of teenagers it may also be useful for parents of younger children and, generally, for all adults concerned with the development of children. This article has been prepared by professionals who have expertise in the area of young people and alcohol but it does not set out to tell parents what they must or must not do. Instead it tries to provide useful information, which may help parents to openly discuss the issues with their children. • Parents have an important influence on their children’s behaviour. Many parents may be surprised by this – but it is true! • A key guiding idea is that alcohol consumption requires maturity and responsibility. For this reason postponing a first drink to an agreed age has a lot of merit. The exact age will need to be negotiated between children and parents and we take the view that the age of drinking by many young people is too young. • Better information can help parents to make the right decision. We often think that we know about our children’s drinking but many parents tend to underestimate the scale of consumption. • In Ireland, drinking patterns differ from, for example, wine producing countries – where children are introduced to alcohol in the home. We also differ in where alcohol is drunk, what we drink and in many of our attitudes.
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FAMILY Families are of major importance in children’s drinking. Your exam-
ple is important. We are not saying that all parents who abstain from alcohol will have children who are abstinent r temperate. Nor are we suggesting that the children of heavy drinkers will necessarily have drinking problems. What is clear however is that parents who drink moderately have children whose use of alcohol is quite different to the children of those whose drinking is problematic.
Your school’s Parents Council
How you react to their drinking is also important. The research
Your school’s Home Liaison Officer
shows that a moderate and balanced approach to underage drinking is most likely to bring about positive outcomes. In other words if parents take an indifferent attitude it does not produce positive results and a very strict and authoritarian attitude can also cause problems. Many recovering alcoholics remember their childhood as one where love was not communicated and where they felt they were not valued. The research indicates that children who feel loved and valued are less likely to abuse alcohol. We often worry that alcohol problems ‘run in families’ and will be inherited by the children. This is not necessarily true – alcohol problems develop over several years – and we should focus on those conditions in the individuals lives which give rise to problem drinking.
Your Health Board's Health Promotion Officer
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USEFUL CONTACTS
Your local Residents Association VISIT DRINKAWARE.IE for information on alcohol and drinking, from fascinating facts to practical tips. DOWNLOAD FREE guides including: the essential ‘No Nonsense’ guide for students, ‘Festival Survival Guide’, ‘Alcohol, Sport & You’, ‘Alcohol – A Guide for Parents’ and our ‘Christmas Survival Guide’.
SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY You may know about the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme, which is now running in most schools in the country. This focuses on the health, personal development, decision making and self esteem of young people and it also deals with the use of alcohol. However we cannot leave it all to the schools and, as parents, we can influence our children’s attitude to school and to participation. ‘She will be taught about alcohol at school soon enough – maybe I should leave alcohol education to the experts. Besides, I don’t want to put ideas in her head before she’s even a teenager.’ When a young person drinks too much it is usually part of a broad set of behaviours. Here are some suggestions that can help prevent these behaviours: • Encourage commitment at school – either to study or sport or other activities; • Find out about your school's policies on alcohol. Partnership between parents and schools is likely to bring about a better outcome than any effort made by either on their own; • Encourage children to read or to take up a hobby that does not involve drink. Moving from Primary to Secondary school is a stressful time – new subjects, new teachers, possibly new classmates and making new friends. If the transition isn’t smooth young people are more likely to become involved in underage drinking. Our children may want to appear ‘grown up’ at this time but in fact they are very vulnerable and we need to be alert to any changes and be available for a chat. Teachers have insights into our children which we may not have. Many are parents themselves and they all play a significant role in our children’s formation. Do talk to them if you have concerns about alcohol abuse.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Alcohol abuse is not confined to any particular sector in society. You can be sure that your teenager (or preteen) will be offered alcohol. You cannot be sure that your children will not make silly mistakes with alcohol (You probably did too!) Young people who come through all YOUR FREE COPY
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this with responsible drinking habits often share many of the following characteristics: Healthy self esteem. They know their own strengths and weaknesses and have the confidence to know they are liked and to like themselves. Because of this they are unlikely to harm or abuse themselves. Parents can encourage self-esteem by being supportive of their children’s efforts from an early age and being willing and interested listeners to their ups and downs. They can make decisions.
There are many influences on young people, often with conflicting messages. These young people can make up their minds without worrying too much what others think. Parents walk a fine line here. Too much control and children have no opportunity to think for themselves – too little and they may feel that decisions are not important. What young people need is encouragement to think on their feet, follow their own advice and resist following the herd at times. They understand that some rules are necessary. Through
learning to live with clear and reasonable rules young people develop personal responsibility. Parents can help by having a few clear rules at home and by explaining the values behind the rules. A rule about telling those at home where you are going and what time you will be home is a great protection. They appreciate the value of money. They realise that they must
manage on a limited amount of money. Parents can limit their children's pocket money or control the amount available from part-time jobs – by, for example, requiring a contribution to collective household expenses from income earned outside the home. They are busy with interesting lives. Some are involved in school,
others in sport, dancing, music or youth clubs. They do not have much time to be bored. Boredom is one of the greatest causes of alcohol abuse. Try to spot their talents early and give them every encouragement to develop them. Their families either drink moderately or are open about their problems. They have seen
their adult relatives drink in a moderate way, and have seen them choose not to drink when driving. They may have had an occasional drink in the safety of the home with their parents. Alternatively, if there are problem drinkers in the family, these issues have been openly and frankly discussed with them. Children of alcoholic parents can use the lessons from frank and compassionate discussion of the issue to help protect themselves and their friends. Children are not taken in by appearances – they are more YOUR FREE COPY
influenced by what we do than by what we say. Teenagers in particular
are rarely fooled at home and honesty is certainly the best policy.
PARENTS’ WORRIES
YOU CAN BE SURE THAT YOUR TEENAGER (OR PRETEEN) WILL BE OFFERED ALCOHOL
along with media pressure can make decision making difficult. Sometimes young people drink in response to this pressure and alcohol consumption can lead to inappropriate decisions. Parents can make it clear to their sons and daughters that sexual activity is always their choice and it is always OK to say "NO". Once again TV and films can provide us with opportunities to discuss this with our young people. “I just don’t know how to begin. I know she drinks sometimes when she’s out with her friends. She’s usually quite a sensible girl, but I just hope she doesn’t take any stupid risks. Should I have drink in the house?” Most households do have drink at home and will often offer a drink to visitors. Drink however needs to be kept in a place where younger children cannot access it by accident. It is unfair to teenagers, especially if parents are away for a night, to leave them in a situation where they have access to a large supply of drink at home especially during the years when they are likely to experiment. #
“How do I explain the dangers of drink?” Most adults in Ireland take a drink when relaxing and socialising and it is helpful to acknowledge the enjoyable aspect of this. It is also helpful to discuss with young people the harmful aspects such as losing control, taking risks and wasting money. A good time to bring up these discussions is when watching TV when the issue arises. We can talk to our teenagers, listen to their views drinkaware.ie was and convey information and guidance developed by MEAS in a distanced way that is not too (Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society threatening for them. This has proven Limited) more useful than scare tactics or MEAS is a drinks punishment, which can turn young industry initiative people off. against alcohol misuse “I worry about the friends they MEAS, are with.” The ‘best friends’ have a Merrion House, lot of influence in the development 1/3 Lower Fitzwilliam of a pattern of drinking. Parents are Street, Dublin 2 wise to be aware of the pattern of Tel: 01 611 4811 drinking among young people in the Email: info@meas.ie area. It is also helpful to get to know www.meas.ie the ‘best friends’ and make them welcome at home. le do not start Often parents criticise 5 All young peop e setting. m sa friends when they fear their drinking in the re th e broad influence. This can lead to TRUE There are st drink'. Own 'fir e a young person feeling torn th for locations ATEMENTS ST E ES TH friend (sometimes E a AR of between parents and friends home or home E? LS FA OR UE TR e away), pubs/offand this is not helpful in when parents ar beginning of e ag mes bought by a e eti maintaining good communiag m er 1 The av licences (so s. ar ye 5 erage), and -1 cation. 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Young peop age, are s ar ye ho have never w 20 r s. ar rlie ye ea behaviour, often under the e an th at er decreased ov pendent minded make decisions influence of alcohol, and to 1 in 4 to d an up e, o tiv ag n ac y tio TRUE A genera ary sexuall clearly state that violence at eir lives earlier. leaving post-prim ce. about th of young people on all levels is unacceptable. en ev ol oh alc ed tri t no school had thout ey earned by Parents can help teenagers r reaching 18 wi amount of mon e work is Today the numbe is quite small, but 7 The tim to think about places that are rtpa in ol young people having tried alcoh y who never try dangerous and how levels of ge drinking. r-a de un rit in ino or m ct a fa there is still a ite alcohol consumption can leave survey (ESPAD) ey earned was qu e alcohol. A 2007 TRUE The mon 16 them vulnerable to involvement h Iris of hile part-tim t W en st. rc pa pe e 42 th at in l th showed substantia s in fights. 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WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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HEALTH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Tripping Up on Memory Lane The longer we live, the more memories we store up. Usually. For some, sadly, this is not the case. Not only does their past become a mystery to them, so does their present.
I
T USED TO BE CALLED SENILITY, DEMENTIA AND A HOST OF OTHER NAMES and
it wasn’t until early in the last century that the condition began to receive the serious attention it deserved. Alzheimer’s Disease might have been called Deter’s Disease because Frau Auguste Deter was the patient who first caught Dr. Alois Alzheimer’s attention. She was not the first person he had seen with the ‘disease of forgetfulness’ – what made her special was that she was only 51, while all the others were in their 70s. Fascinated, he would give her lists of simple questions, frequently repeating the same ones. Her answers often
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Above: Frau Auguste Deter was the patient who first caught Dr. Alois Alzheimer’s attention
THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
varied, if indeed they could be called answers at all, for on many occasions, the ‘answer’ had no connection at all with the question. Though Dr. Alzheimer changed hospitals, he continued to receive regular updates on Frau Deter’s condition and, when she died in 1906, he had her records and brain sent to him. His minute records of the case and his description of the changes in her brain led to the disease being named after him. Alzheimer’s Disease can begin early in life, as in Frau Deter’s case, but its onset is much more commonly encountered in people in later life. Incidence increases with age and, with our rapidly increasing life-expectancy, Alzheimer’s Disease is set to become a major problem in the future. The disease manifests itself differently in different individuals but, generally speaking, the unpredictability of patients’ actions, their inability to settle into routines and the fact that their mobility is not diminished by the disease per se, mean that sufferers need round the clock care. In Ireland today, some 44,000 suffer various forms of dementia, but this is predicted to rise to 104,000 over the next quarter-century. To date, despite ongoing research, there is no cure for the disease. Some new medications are becoming available or are in trials, but, for the moment at least, emphasis is placed on early diagnosis. It stands to reason that, if medication is going to have a beneficial effect, the sooner it begins, the better; but the main reasons for
an early diagnosis are practical: both patients and families need to prepare, the former to make important decisions while they still can, and the latter to arrange for the care that will inevitably, sooner or later, be needed. Brain exercise is also considered to help to keep Alzheimer’s at bay: feats of memory (quizzes), logic (chess, Sudoku) and the kind of general activity that combines these exercises with wordplay and lateral thinking (cryptic crosswords) are all thought to be helpful and are recommended. It is important to continue to challenge the brain: if you love simple crosswords, try to move on to cryptic (trust me, they’re not that difficult!); or, if you decide to do an evening class, choose a subject that will stretch you. In general, living well, a healthy diet, physical activity, regular check-ups and social interaction are all found to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Recent research indicates that people with Type 2 Diabetes may have a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s. Type 2 Diabetes is associated with a less than active and ideal lifestyle, but there may be a genetic link which increases predisposition to both conditions. And, of course, those perennial bad guys, recreational drugs – legal or otherwise – don’t help. As usual. #
With our rapidly increasing life-expectancy, Alzheimer’s Disease is set to become a major problem in the future
For further information, visit remember.ie or call the National Alzheimer’s Helpline 1800 341 341 YOUR FREE COPY
Over 55 and retired? Why not join your local branch of Active Retirement? Active Retirement Associations are organisations run by retired people for retired people and enjoy a wide range of activities and opportunities.
ACTIVE RETIREMENT IRELAND Over 500 Active Retirement Associations throughout Ireland Meet new friends, socialise, learn new skills, try a new hobby, discover hidden talents and give expression to them
Call 01 873 3836 Visit activeirl.ie or email info@activeirl.ie
HEALTH OSTEOPOROSIS
Lovely Bones Overheard at Dinner...
Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones that makes them weak and prone to fracture. Nutritionist, Jess Keane, looks at this common condition and provides some really tasty recipes that will help keep bone density at healthy levels.
BY DESSERT, THE CONVERSATION HAD COME AROUND TO THE MENOPAUSE. Frankie, a man, a scientist and a bachelor was holding forth: ‘Of course, in evolutionary terms, once a female has ceased to be able to perform her role in furthering the species, she becomes a nett burden, a nett consumer of resources, competing with the younger, fertile females.’ (There was a sudden uneasy silence from the distaff side of the table). ‘For this reason, in many species, females die as soon as they have reproduced. Like salmon, for instance. Or annual flowers: they grow, they produce seed, they die. Even in higher animals: look at cows, for instance.’ (Mention of the word ‘cow’ caused an ominous intake of breath that was clearly audible to all the non-bachelors at the table, but Frankie stumbled blindly on.) ‘Many cows can breed until the end of their lives. But another way of saying this is: they die as soon as they can no longer breed. They die as soon as they can no longer breed’, he repeated, as if he hadn’t done enough damage already. ‘In fact, were it not for the fact that it takes so long to get a human child to self-sufficient maturity and older women are useful to the tribe’s fertile younger women during this time, female homo sapiens would probably only last for five or six years postmenopause, long enough to wean their last child. Of course, modern science has increased their lifespan way beyond that! So in fact’, he concluded smugly, ‘the menopause is not that bad. Not when you consider the alternative.’ After a pause, the hostess, an elegant woman in her late fifties, commented somewhat icily: ‘And how, pray tell, does evolution explain the survival to middle age of a male homo sapiens so obviously and recklessly bereft of any vestige of the selfpreservation instinct?’
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THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
B
ONE IS A LIVING TISSUE THAT IS CONSTANTLY BEING BROKEN DOWN AND REPLACED. Maintaining
sufficient bone-building nutrients (calcium, phosphorous, proteins, magnesium, vitamins K and D), normal levels of sex, stress and parathyroid hormones along with weight bearing exercise, may be the best protection against this disease. By mid-30s, most individuals begin to gradually lose bone strength as the balance between bone breakdown and formation shifts.
Diet and Osteoporosis Calcium, magnesium and vitamin K help to give bones strength and rigidity. Dark green vegetables and herbs (parsley, basil, kale, Swiss chard, broccoli, cabbage, spring greens, cooked spinach) are good sources of all three nutrients. Brazil nuts, almonds and YOUR FREE COPY
HEALTH OSTEOPOROSIS
Parsley Pesto GLUTEN-FREE
DAIRY-FREE
LOW GI
Serve this pesto like you would any other – with pasta or as a dollop in soup. It is also delicious with poached salmon or cannellini bean salad or with hummus and roast vegetables in a sandwich. Combine with sour cream to make a dip or thin with olive oil and lemon juice to make a dressing for salad or steamed green vegetables. 2 tbsp of freshly made pesto contains your daily vitamin K requirement and ¼ of your daily calcium requirement. 30g parsley leaves 1 small garlic clove, finely sliced 30g freshly grated parmesan 30g or 10 Brazil nuts 100ml extra virgin olive oil 1 pinch of fresh black pepper Blend all the ingredients for 10 seconds (until it is the consistency of a rough paste)
[People on long-term drug therapy] should have their bone density monitored by their consultant. seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame including tahini paste), soya beans and chickpeas are good sources of both calcium and magnesium. Calcium is particularly important for post-menopausal women, because gut calcium absorption slows down, due to lower levels of oestrogen. Excellent sources of calcium are tofu, tinned salmon or sardines, whitebait, milk and yoghurt. A healthy digestive system is essential for calcium, vitamin K and magnesium absorption. If you take antacids, have been diagnosed with coeliac disease or have symptoms such as indigestion, bloating, constipation/loose stool, anaemia or chronic mouth ulcers, please consult a health professional. Adequate vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption from the gut. The greatest source of vitamin D is produced by our skin in response to sunlight. About 15-20 minutes of gentle sunlight a day, on the face and arms during the summer months is required. Wearing sun block continuously will stop vitamin D absorption. Vitamin D is also found in some foods; oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel and herring) is an excellent source. People who rarely spend time outside may become deficient in vitamin D. Ask your health practitioner to do a vitamin D blood test. A diet high in animal protein or caffeine consumption increases calcium YOUR FREE COPY
loss from the body. Eat one vegetarian meal daily and choose caffeine-free drinks, such as herbal teas or water. Some foods and drinks, such as rhubarb, raw spinach, red meat, wheat bran, tea and fizzy drinks may decrease calcium absorption. Lifestyle and Osteoporosis Activities that require the bones to support body weight, such as walking, jogging, aerobics, racquet sports and yoga have been shown to help maintain bone density. Being underweight and smoking increase the risk of developing osteoporosis. Those who must take certain medications, such as corticosteroids, some antidepressants, some diuretics and some anti-seizure medications should have their bone density monitored by their consultant.
Sardine Paté DAIRY-FREE
LOW GI
This paté is a good source of calcium and vitamin D – one tin of sardines supplies 67% of your daily vitamin D requirement and 350mg (1/3) of your daily calcium requirement. Jess gives essential, practical advice on food and nutrition – helping you to take control of what you eat, to speed up your recovery, and to feel healthy, strong and energised.
Find out more at www.jkn.ie
120g drained marinated sardines 1tsp tomato ketchup or relish 2 drops Tabasco sauce 4 dashes Worcestershire sauce Squeeze of lemon juice Freshly ground black pepper 1 small tomato, cut into cubes Blend all of the ingredients together. Spread over rye crackers or toasted soda bread.
WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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Giving Out, Giving Up, Giving In
by Brendan Quinn
I’m a very ‘giving’ person. I’ve been through the ‘Giving’ cycle – many times. I GIVE OUT about my weight, my smoking, my couch-potato lifestyle. I GIVE UP sweet things, cigarettes, lying about a lot. I GIVE IN (after a short while) to my little pleasures and start doing them all again. The guilt is transient, fleeting, as I have found out. I know people who have gone cold turkey: one friend (a 60-a-day man) gave up smoking and refused all aids; he wanted no one to blame but himself if he didn’t succeed – he did. I know people who have gone for the pills, the patches, the gum, the sprays, the books and even acupuncture or hypnosis; some have cracked it, a few haven’t. And I know lots who have just joined with others who have a similar desire to shed or at least curb their bad habits; very few of these seem to fall off the wagon. It seems like a sensible approach and I believe there is even research that shows this to be the case. First off, they find they enjoy the company; they begin by sharing the initial misery and supporting each other through it; that soon changes to sharing the little gains they make and encouraging each other to greater efforts; then real companionship develops, a kind of group dynamic. And a sense of pride and wellbeing in showing off to the company how well they have done. The supportive group is the basis for successful organisations like AA, Al-Anon, Gamblers Anonymous, and weight loss groups like Weight Watchers. After reading about the success story of Kathleen O’Reilly, a nurse living in Kerry, who lost a whopping 9 stone, I have decided that that’s the way for me to go – join a group, or, in my case, two groups, one for the smoking and the other to deal with the weight. Kathleen joined Weight Watchers
when her doctor told her she needed to lose weight or else. It helped that she had a friend who had already lost 5 stone through membership of the group, so Kathleen made the call to Weight Watchers At Home service. Now, looking and feeling much better, Kathleen was reflecting. ‘With the advice of my leader,
Kathleen O’Reilly Lost 9 stone Kay, and the many delicious recipes available, the plan wasn’t at all tough and, as for the exercise, walking started out as being a way for me to get fit and to help my weight loss, but now it’s become an important social event as Marie and I spend our walking time chatting about everything and anything.’ I’m going to add two more ‘givings’ to my list – GIVING IT A TRY and GIVING IT MY BEST.
To read Kathleen’s inspiring success story visit www.weightwatchers.ie
As the weight loss experts, we know how to help people learn how to lose weight and keep it off. For nearly 50 years, a combination of healthy eating, activity, small changes in behaviour and group support has been at the heart of the Weight Watchers philosophy. Now, with the ProPoints plan, it’s easier than ever to make the smart food and activity choices that put you on the road to weight loss success for the long term. For class details, Men Only, At Work, By request Lo-call 1850 234 123 see weightwatchers.ie. At Home call 056 77 222 76. Men welcome at all meetings
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YOUR FREE COPY
FOOD RECIPES
Plum, apple & almond crumble 5 Weight Watchers ProPoints values per serving SERVES 4 • PREP 15 mins • BAKE 35 mins
Muscovado sugar makes this fruity crumble especially delicious. 4 plums, pitted and sliced 300g (10½oz) cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced 25g (1oz) sultanas 1 tablespoon lemon juice 40g (1½oz) light muscovado sugar ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional) 50g (1¾oz) plain flour 25g (1oz) porridge oats A pinch of salt 20g (¾oz) low fat spread 15g (½oz) flaked almonds
Winterrmers Wa
Preheat the oven to Gas mark4/180ºC/fan oven 160ºC. Put the plums, apples, sultanas into a 1.2 litre (2 pint) deep baking dish. Add the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of water, 25g (1oz) of the sugar and the cinnamon (if using). Stir to mix. Bake for 10 minutes Meanwhile, put the flour, porridge oats and salt into a mixing bowl and add the low fat spread. Rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the almonds and the rest of the sugar. Remove the baking dish from the oven and sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit. Return the dish to the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Serve immediately.
Tom yam soup
6 Weight Watchers ProPoints values per serving • SERVES 2 • TAKES 20 mins
You’ll love this deliciously spicy and sour soup from Thailand.
Low fat cooking spray 250g (9 oz) baby button mushrooms, halved if large 2 spring onions, sliced 600ml (20 fl oz) chicken or vegetable stock 1 tablespoon fish sauce 1 lemongrass stick 2 fresh kaffir lime leaves or 1 dried 2.5cm (1 inch) fresh ginger, sliced 1 small red chilli, de-seeded and cut in rings 75g (2¾oz) dried Thai rice noodles, broken in half 150g (5½oz) cooked, peeled prawns Juice of a lime
Spray a non stick frying pan with the cooking spray and heat until hot. Add the mushrooms and spring onions and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Remove from heat. Place the stock, fish sauce, lime leaves, lemon grass and ginger in a large lidded YOUR FREE COPY
pan. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chilli, noodles and prawns to the mushrooms and onions. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes until hot. Remove the aromatics (lime leaves, lemon grass and ginger) before serving. Squeeze in the lime and serve in large bowls. Try this: Add 150g (5 ½ oz) cooked, skinless boneless chicken breast instead of the prawns. The ProPoints values will be 7 per serving.
WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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HISTORY DIABETES
SugarisSweet Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, but too much sugar and we need more medicine. Diabetes has become a modern epidemic.
SIR STEVE REDGRAVE WOULD NOT HAVE WON GOLD AT A FIFTH OLYMPIC GAMES IN 2000 HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE WORK OF ANOTHER ‘SIR’, THE QUIET AND UNASSUMING CANADIAN, SIR FREDERICK BANTING, WHO DIED IN A PLANE CRASH 11 YEARS BEFORE SIR STEVE WAS EVEN BORN. Why? In 1997, Sir Steve was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes which, according to Aretaeus of Cappadocia, the ancient Greek physician, would have made his life ‘short, disgusting and painful.’ However, luckily for Sir Steve – and for all the other Type 1 diabetics – Sir Fred had, with remarkable insight, persistence and diligence, isolated the cure in 1922, curing the first patient with injections of insulin extracted from the pancreas of cattle. Type 1 Diabetes (diabetes mellitus) has been recognised for thousands of years. Ancient Indian physicians called it the ‘sweet urine disease’. Fascinatingly, all descriptions refer to the sweet ‘taste’ of the patient’s urine which makes you wonder if that was part of the early diagnostician’s job - to taste the urine of the sick. But, at least in India, the taste test was done by ants, which would be attracted to urine only if it contained excessive amounts of sugar, an early and effective form of clinical pathology. A medieval Persian physician described diabetes mellitus as causing “abnormal appetite and the collapse of sexual functions.”
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Top right: Letter from Betsy, a child with diabetes. Below: Dr. Frederick Banting (right) and Dr. Charles Best, discoverers of insulin
THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
He became interested in diabetes on reviewing the recent, earlier work, and assembled the team that was to lead to the isolation of insulin. Banting was born on 14th November 1891 and such was his impact on the disease that his birthday has been designated World Diabetes Day.
TYPE 2 DIABETES In this type, the pancreas produces plenty of insulin but the cells are unable to make use of it. This is called insulin resistance. So glucose is not taken into the cells and continues to build up in the blood stream. Type 2 Diabetes is far less spectacular, and far more common, than Type 1. With Type 1, you can die in doublequick time, whereas Type 2 takes years and years. But it messes up your life, big time, en route. And, the problem is, you may not even feel sick – until you are well into the disease. Increased sugar levels in the blood cause problems for many of your body’s organ systems, not least to the eyes and the kidneys. Circulation is interfered with so that eventually, the smaller blood vessels become blocked. It is at this stage that eye problems become severe and there may be gangrene of the extremities, requiring amputation of toes or worse. But Type 2 can also be controlled, once you know it’s there. There are drugs available but lifestyle changes are of major importance. Type 2 Diabetes is on the increase in the west as our lifestyle changes to an even less energetic one (to put it mildly), and because most of us can afford to eat and drink what we like. Unfortunately, our choices in this regard are not always wise ones. There can be a hereditary input but the main culprit by far is our lifestyle. It is so important, and simple, to find out early if you have Type 2 Diabetes. Even if you feel as healthy as a trout, have it checked out. It could make a huge difference down the road. # YOUR FREE COPY
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA
THE KNIGHTS’ TALE
Despite being known from ancient times, it wasn’t until the late 19thC that the cause of diabetes mellitus was finally tracked down, when dogs whose pancreas had been removed, developed the disease and died soon after. Work by several researchers increased the knowledge somewhat but it wasn’t until Banting became interested that the final breakthrough was made. He and Macleod, the director of the laboratory in which the work was done, shared the 1923 Nobel Prize for medicine. In typical Banting fashion, he insisted on sharing the prize-money with his team, and, even more nobly, he did not patent his invention or seek to control its commercial development, allowing it to be freely produced for the greater benefit of mankind. Banting was a truly noble man. Born into a farming family, he tried to enlist in the Canadian Army, but his poor eyesight caused his application to be rejected. He began to study Divinity at the University of Toronto but soon changed to Medicine. He graduated in 1916 and immediately enlisted in the Army Medical Corps. At this time, the middle of World War 1, the demand for army doctors outweighed any sight problems and he was shipped out to France. He was wounded at the Battle of Cambrai, the first battle in which tanks played a large part, but despite this, continued to tend to the wounded for 16 straight hours. He was awarded the Military Cross for Heroism under Fire. After the war, he became a GP in Ontario and he also lectured at the university.
HEALTH AL ANON
Collateral Damage Smokers have been rightly, and tightly, restricted because of the negative effects their activity has on innocent bystanders, but drinkers seem, somehow, to have avoided a similar fate.
T
HIS IS PUZZLING BECAUSE, WHEREAS BOTH ACTIVITIES HAVE NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS
for family health and budgets, alcohol has additional far-reaching, often serious, psychological implications for family, friends and colleagues. People with a drink problem have programmes to help them, but there is less in the way of support for those affected by the problem drinker. Often, the families of alcoholics feel guilt, inadequacy, loneliness, confusion, desperation, etc., and it was in an effort to help such people that Al-Anon Family Groups was set up. Modelled on Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon began in US in 1951 and now has 24,000 groups spread throughout 115 countries. Anonymity is the keyword. All that’s required for membership is that a person has a relative or friend with an alcohol problem. Because children are often in the frontline when there’s a drink problem in the house, Al-Anon has a special sub-group, Alateen, to let teenagers meet separately to talk with their peers about their issues. Does it work? We asked ‘John’ to tell his story, so you can judge for yourself.
THE NO BLAME FAMILY DISEASE It was the first Family Day at the treatment centre and the flip chart in the room bore the words ‘No Blame Disease’. The rawness of our emotions charged the air as we commenced the process of confrontation with, Joanne, our beloved alcoholic. As each of our four children, gently prompted by the counsellors, spoke of their shame, apprehension and sadness, Joanne became agitated and tried to deny the chaotic home scene they described. Tearful, emotion-laden words spilled as each in turn spoke about their mother’s drinking, a heartrending ordeal for all. We had been a long time getting to this place but now it seemed to be worth the delay; we were about to share our problem with someone else, which was an enormous relief. Joanne’s drinking had become a major issue when severe liver damage had been diagnosed seven years earlier, when the children were all under ten. Regular drinking had been replaced by binge drinking. During breaks we hoped and prayed she would not drink again but, inevitably, she did. As the drinking got progressively heavier, we became fearful, angry, upset and confused.
and the home-life of six people was reduced to an obsession with the drinking excesses of one. Holidays and family gatherings were the opposite of what they should have been. My work became a welcome distraction from home-life, but I worried constantly while there. I wallowed in self-pity and grieved at the loss to alcohol of the woman that I loved. I felt a failure as a husband and father, powerless to end the waking nightmare. Sometimes, dark desperate thoughts of ending it all would come from nowhere and frighten me but how could I abandon my children, leave them to this madness? I knew we, as a family, could not continue as we were while Joanne’s drinking tore us apart, physically and emotionally. We badly needed help. That was when the miracle happened. In desperation, I went to AlAnon Family Groups and our children went to Alateen. There, we found help and understanding and began to learn the nature of alcoholism and our part in the sinister, vicious circle. We stopped blaming her and learned that we were dealing with a powerful, baffling disease which none of us could control, a disease so cunning that it actually recruits its victims as willing allies. We had not caused it, and could not control or ‘cure’
ALL THAT’S REQUIRED IS THAT A PERSON HAS A RELATIVE OR FRIEND WITH AN ALCOHOL PROBLEM.
Why did she drink to oblivion so often? What were we doing wrong? Was it our fault? Why was she destroying herself like this? She blamed us. We blamed her. We tried emptying the bottles; she went to the shop and bought more. I pleaded with the shopkeeper not to supply her but, hey man, he said, it’s a free country. Between binges there was remorse and heartfelt promises. However, the nightmare continued and worsened. Joanne, the heart of our family, frequently stayed in bed to drink. She’d sleep off the effects, then drink some more. Friends stopped calling, relations made excuses for not visiting
it. But we could change our own behaviour. Slowly we learned compassion and understanding, a huge change in our attitude. Above all, we realised we were not alone: many other families were in that same unhappy place and, through Al-Anon, had learned how to get on with their lives. Our lives slowly began to change for the better and our changed attitudes led to recovery and a treatment centre. # (Ed - Tragically, Joanne’s health had been so damaged that, though she did finally succeed in giving up, she didn’t actually live long enough to see her children grow up.)
Al-Anon Information Centre: Room 5, 5 Capel Street, Dublin 1 Tel: 01 8732699 (Helpline 10.30am to 2.30pm Mon to Fri) Email: info@al-anon-ireland.org Peace House, 224 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6GE Tel: 02890 68 2368 (Helpline 10.00am-1.00 pm Mon to Fri 6pm to 11pm Mon to Sun incl.) Email: al-anon@btconnect.com. For more see www.al-anonuk.org.uk
YOUR FREE COPY
PUZZLES
The Waiting Room Magazine No.10
PRIZE CROSSWORD
Question 1
The deepest place in the world’s oceans is the Mariana Trench. Is it in a) The Atlantic b) The Arctic c) The Pacific
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Question 4
The world’s smallest sovereign state is Vatican City. What is its approximate area? a) 110 acres b) 740 acres c) 2.4 square miles.
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Question 5
The height of Mount Everest in feet to the nearest round number: a) 29,000 b) 29,050 c) 29,100
Question 6
La Paz is the capital city of a) Paraguay b) Ecuador c) Bolivia
Question 7
Which one of these Irish writers did NOT win a Nobel Prize? a) Samuel Beckett b) James Joyce c) William Butler Yeats
Question 8
Alfred Nobel, who instituted the Nobel Prize was a) Danish b) Norwegian c) Swedish
Answers: 1c 2a 3b 4a 5b 6c 7b 8c 9a 10b
Question 9
ACROSS 1 Would mother stay awhile to feign being unable to work? (8) 5 United Kingdom was at the centre of WW2 dive-bombers. (6) 9 See river’s turbulence during daydreams. (8) 10 Seabird found in wonderful marina. (6) 12 Bosses I’ve upset while being driven. (9) 13 Applied thickly like dried mud or makeup. (5) 14 I leave Irish county for the old country in Asia. (4) 16 It is baked, crispy and comes in rod or twisted forms. (7) 19 On breaking a clam, an informative year book is found. (7) 21 Voice-box has two letters removed by wildcat. (4) 24 It’s me, sir, disturbing the Arab leaders. (5) 25 By organising dry camp, he got an elephant. (9) 27 Is Norrie upset by French painter? (6) 28 Angering when confused is making one really hopping mad. (8) 29 Fold when at the playing area in a cricket match. (6) 30 Deliberately sinks the vessels that carry coal. (8)
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The US President immediately before Ronald Reagan was a) Gerald Ford b) Jimmy Carter c) Richard Nixon
YOUR FREE COPY
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The Battle of Trafalgar was fought off the coast of which country? a) Portugal b) Spain c) France
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Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon. Was this in a) 1969 b) 1970 c) 1971
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The first Bond film was a) Dr No b) Thunderball c) From Russia With Love
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DOWN 1 A member of the church of Joseph Smith Jnr. and Brigham Young. (6) 2 Sumptuous whip around six in Roman times. (6) 3 Reset snare for the nostrils. (5) 4 Such drugs will make you sick. (7) 6 Somehow con hunter into using a baton. (9) 7 A Japanese warrior on a suicide mission. (8) 8 Have a foot on either side. (8) 11 Take a quick look up at the old castle. (4) 15 They don’t know whether or not they believe in God. (9) 17 A native of Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza or Formentera. (8) 18 Could be maniac turning for atmosphere of surroundings. (8) 20 A Christian Egyptian. (4) 21 Conical re-interpretation using few words. (7) 22 Pleasant in a companionable way. (6) 23 I’m a long, long time getting the pictures. (6) 26 It raises production in the bakers’ industry. (5)
When completed, the letters in the shaded squares will spell out the winning word: She’s not worried about Bill. (13)
WIN two nights for
two people at The Menlo Park Hotel in Galway worth €500!
(includes a Superior Room with Four Poster King bed and Jacuzzi bath, Prosecco and Strawberries on arrival, coach tour of Connemara or the Burren, breakfast and two evening meals from a superb a la carte menu)
HOW TO ENTER: Text TWR2 followed by your answer, name and address to 53307. Terms: 18+. 60c per entry incl VAT. Network charges vary. Competition closes midnight 20 January 2012 Entries made after the close date do not count and you may be charged. SP Phonovation Ltd. PO Box 6, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Helpline 0818217100.
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f Solution to the Autumn 2011 Crossword which was won by Sharon O’Neill in Blarney, Co Cork
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WINTER 2011 | THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE
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WILDLIFE MUSHROOMS
Fun Guy
RTÉ wildlife expert, Terry Flanagan, on why the story of airborne reindeers pulling a fat man in a sleigh may have originated from a Laplander high on drinking the pee of a reindeer that had been fed on ‘funny’ mushrooms...
S IT A MUSHROOM? IS IT A TOADSTOOL? NO IT'S A FUNGUS! THERE IT WAS. GROWING IN THE LAWN. IT WASN'T THERE LAST NIGHT, YET THIS MORNING IT'S FULLY FORMED. BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS IT? WHERE DID IT COME FROM? AND CAN I EAT IT?
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There is no real scientific difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. In general, the term mushroom is used for edible fungi and toadstool is used to describe those that are poisonous. They are all members of the Kingdom Fungi. Many years ago, when I was at school, we were taught that there were just two Kingdoms, and that all living organisms slotted into one or other of these. These were the Plant Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom. Fungi were placed with the Plants. However, many reasons suggested they should not be here. Plants produce their own food by a process called photosynthesis. Fungi can't. Plants are composed of cells with cell walls made of cellulose.
Fungi possess hyphae composed of chitin. Over time it was decided to remove them from the Plant Kingdom altogether, and to create a separate Kingdom, the Fungi. There are approx. 6,000 species of mushrooms recorded in Britain and Ireland. However, a word of warning. Beware when picking mushrooms for human consumption. Although only a fraction are poisonous, some can be fatal. The Death Cap fungus, which is similar to the edible mushroom and found in Ireland, is one of the most poisonous fungi in the world. It accounts for 90% of all fatal poisonings. No symptoms are felt for 6-15 hours but, by this time, the toxin has already been absorbed into the bloodstream and it is too late to perform a stomach pump. The nervous system becomes gradually paralysed and the patient slowly slips into a coma before dying.
THE COMBINATION OF ALCOHOL WITH INK CAP MUSHROOMS MAY CAUSE HEART PALPITATIONS AND VOMITING
From top: Death Cap; Shaggy Ink Cap and The Fly Agaric
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THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
Distinguished victims are believed to include Pope Clement VII in 1534 and the Roman Emperor Claudius in AD 54. The Fairy Ring Mushroom produces an expanding ring of mushrooms that appear each year. That part of the mushroom that you see above ground is the fruiting body of the mushroom. Its function is to release spores so that it can reproduce. Because these mushrooms appear, literally overnight, a common Irish name for them is ‘fás an aon óiche’ (‘growth of one night.’) Each mushroom can release billions of spores. There are many edible mushrooms growing wild in Ireland. The Field mushroom (Agaricus campestris) is found in fields and meadows. It can be safely eaten raw, but be careful when picking it, as it sometimes grows among other poisonous species. The smaller commercially grown mushroom is the ‘button mushroom’ or Agaricus bisporus. The Shaggy Inkcap is another common Irish fungus. It often grows on buried dead wood. As it ages, it turns from a beautiful white mushroom to a black soggy mess; hence the name ‘shaggy ink cap’. Although Ink Caps are edible, great care should be taken. They should only be eaten when young. Another closely related species is the Common Inkcap. They must never be consumed along with alcohol. It is also strongly advised not to consume alcohol for several days either before or after eating any Ink Cap mushrooms. The combination of alcohol with Ink Cap mushrooms may cause heart palpitations and vomiting. The Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria, is another well known toadstool from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the video game series ‘Super Mario Bros’. It is common in birch woods. The cap is scarlet coloured with fluffy white scales. It gets its name from the fact that, long ago, it was crushed with milk and used as a fly killer. It is also
common in Northern latitudes. Reindeer like to feed on the Fly Agaric. The Sami, or locals, have learnt to feed the deer with the Fly Agaric, then collect the urine to drink. It is believed that this is where the term “getting pissed” originated from! The deer’s digestive system metabolises the poisonous compounds from the toadstool, leaving the Sami to enjoy its hallucinogenic effects. One of the effects from this is to see objects flying, hence the reindeer, and Santa Claus, are ‘seen’ flying through the sky! When picking mushrooms, remember to give the Death Cap a wide berth and also the Fly Agaric, unless of course you happen to have your pet reindeer on standby! # YOUR FREE COPY
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BACK CHAT
On Colonel Gaddafi and a Bit of Bull about Cows Lifelong iconoclast, Bob Quinn, was invited by his grandson’s teacher to address the class. The idea might have been to hear of the author and film-maker’s fascinating life, but both kids and teacher got more than they’d bargained for! NOT HAVING TAKEN MY OWN ADVICE IN THE LAST ISSUE, I AM WRITING THIS FROM HOSPITAL. IT’S NOTHING SERIOUS, A MERE CASE OF WEAR AND TEAR. But it has me thinking about my nine-year-old grandson and his class whose teacher recently invited me to address them about the days of my youth. To get the attention of nine-yearolds, I told them what I really, really wanted to talk about was farting machines but supposed I had better do as their teacher instructed. So I told them about having no TV or telephone and very little radio when I was their age; about walking the two miles to school and back four times a day; about having no family car; about my father rubbing poitín on a sprained wrist, then making the sign of the cross over it. I told them how I spent my summers swimming in the river Dodder and acquiring a deep tan over my naturally sallow skin. So dark was my colour (the entire population of Ireland was an unhealthy white in those days) that people would ask if I was an Indian. I thought this a great compliment. Back at school in September my vanity was punctured by my shortsighted English teacher shouting that I was ‘the dirtiest boy in school’. He gave me six of the best on each hand and a hundred lines saying: ‘I must wash every day’. My young audience was shocked, asked why I didn’t tell the Gardaí. ‘They would have told me not to waste their time,’ I said. ‘What about your parents,’ they asked? ‘They would say I must have done something wrong and also
COLONEL GADDAFI NEARLY FRIGHTENED ME TO DEATH IN THE LIBYAN DESERT.
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THE WAITING ROOM MAGAZINE | WINTER 2011
given me a clout’. They shook their heads sympathetically. They asked was I ever scared and I jumped a few years to tell them about the time Colonel Gaddafi nearly frightened me to death in the Libyan desert. I thought he was going to shoot me and my companions. You could have heard a pin drop in the classroom. But I dismissed their fears by saying the Colonel was only putting on a show to impress me. Which impressed them even more. ‘Why?’ one lad asked. ‘He was envious of me, because he was a frustrated film director.’ After a bit more of this braggadocio, I brought the talk to an end and thanked them for their attention and questions. ‘But, what about the farting machine?’ a couple of them chorused. I had forgotten that kids never forget. So I told them they were each healthy farting machines, harmless until full of too much junk food. They nodded soberly. But cows are, too, I said, for they produce lots of methane gas, and we are responsible because we fatten cows artificially. I told them that cars are truly unhealthy farting machines because they produce carbon monoxide which can poison people. Just stand in any city street during a traffic jam, I said, and you can actually smell it. However the worst farting machines of all are aeroplanes. They cause holes in the ozone layer. Then I admitted my own criminality: I break the law sometimes by burning rubbish – mainly advertising leaflets and the wasteful packaging that comes with everything we buy – in my semiwild six acre ‘garden.’ ‘However,’ I promised, ‘When airlines stop breaking the law up in the sky, I’ll stop doing it down here.’ We should all travel by boat and train, I concluded, thus confirming their impression of my total antiquity. #
The Eyebrow. As a child, I was convinced my grandad’s luxuriant eyebrows were sleeping caterpillars, especially as he could make them move when I shouted ‘Wake Up, Caterpillar!’ Later, I began to view eyebrows as flies – flies in the ointment of evolution. When primates began to lose the hair from the forehead, nose and cheeks, it seems to have vanished entirely from the brows of chimpanzees and gorillas, our near cousins, so why did we keep growths as formidable as Grandad’s? Sure, eyebrows were handy for preventing sweat, dandruff etc. from sliding down into the eyes but was that a sufficient advantage to allow those who had them to outbreed those who didn’t, because there sure aren’t any of them around today? But eyebrows are not just sweat and dandruff filters. One experiment showed subjects recognised 60% of celebrities with the eyes blocked out but only 46% when the eyebrows were the obliterated features. Some eyebrows are enormous, with browies ( individual hairs) over 2” long; some meet in the middle (supposedly a sign of bad temper); they put on a growing spurt around puberty; they don’t have to be the same colour as head hair; they don’t necessarily go grey with the other head hair. Fashion dictates shaping, plucking, dyeing, waxing, colouring, trimming, etc. But fashions change: Audrey Hepburn, an undisputed beauty, had a substantial pair, while the Mona Lisa, a beauty of her day, had none at all. Some say they’ve been rubbed off by constant cleaning, but the painting has been cleaned sparingly, with great care, and no other parts show sign of wear. She also has no eyelashes! Genteel ladies of that era considered all facial hair to be vulgar and unsightly. It’s bad enough having your eyebrows plucked, but can you imagine the eyelashes! It’s some comfort to know that our seemingly regressive evolutionary tendency to follow the tyrannical diktats of crazy fashions has still not wiped us out as a species. #
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