Our hell on earth

We are masters of our own universe.

With that said, I blog about depression and how it eats up the human heart and soul.

Most of us feel sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps one time or another. But as the saying goes - we need to snap out of it after a short while.

A major depressive disorder becomes a clinical condition when it lasts for months. It is a disabling condition classified by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder that is manifested by low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, loss of interest or pleasure in what are normally enjoyable activities.

I have friends and loved ones who go through their personal hell on earth. When I see some of them having to fight with the devil from within, it tears my heart apart. My mom for example has had her good days and bad days before she was diagnosed with major depression disorder.

I remember when my father passed away, my mother was left in a void. Suddenly she had chest pains, abdominal pains, and other body aches which various doctors tried to address and which various medicines could not cure. Everyday would be anxiety-laden because when she would clasp her chest, I would rush her to the ER only for her to feel better when we got there or have the multiple laboratory tests come back normal.

That was when I decided that she should seek help. Help beyond what I can emotionally support her with. We both needed to move on with our lives.

The problem with depression is that it not only engulfs you but those who love and care for you. People who go into depression don't realize that their conditions are "infectious". Obviously, they wallow in their own world and become a prisoner of their own fears and anxieties. Depressed people are highly agitated, restless and irritable. Some become withdrawn and isolated. Others practice high risk behaviors - either sexually or through illicit drugs. There's a feeling of worthlessness, self-hate, guilt and trouble sleeping or sleeping too much.

People who suffer from depression must not only have the motivation to seek help. They must be able to wage a personal battle with the devil from within. Psychotherapy and counseling may help but the family and those close to them must bear extreme tolerance to their conditions. Something that's not easy to do because many of us have our own lives to live. We cannot be crippled by carrying other peoples lives all the time. Then there are medicines that address the depression but may end up with other metabolic problems for the patients.

There are many theories on why depression may be more prominent in some individuals while others who may have more stressors in life don't seem to be affected to a greater extent. Whatever they are, I would surmise that people who suffer from depression have their own stories of their hell on earth.

And while there are treatment options that can range from taking a pill to psychotherapy, the underlying goal here is to help people who suffer from depression to "snap out of it" and live full regular lives. No matter how you try to assure them that it's probably just a phase and that everything will fall into place eventually, there's the devil within that whispers to them that it's not going to be okay and that people tell them it will be alright so that you stop bothering them. And they go through another cycle of having to fight the negatives from within.

The internal struggle of having to live with depression leaves a lingering experience of despair each and every waking hour. It's their story of their hell on earth. And how their families and friends are affected by their intertwining stories of their lives.

Is there hope for them?

Yes. And it's a work in progress at fighting the evil from within. It's a concerted effort from those who support them physically, mentally and spiritually to help them move on with their lives and get to live life to the fullest.

We all have our stories to tell. Sharing them is the first step. The second, is realizing that you're not alone...

Does it really matter?

At first, there was drama at the Senate. Tito Sotto gave a dramatic performance (this being a hard act to do coming from a comedian) - delivered with eloquence akin to the actor that he is. There was matching tears of regret over having lost a son because his wife, Helen Gamboa had taken a contraceptive pill (even if the pill had not been in the market yet. I guess his wife must have been in the developmental phase clinical trials of the drug company at that time.) That night, his "moving" speech was all over the news. And Sotto had his finest moment of his senatorial career - only to be squashed eight hours later, when his speech was torn into shreds by technology. People googled his speech, as they did Supreme Court Justice Mariano del Castillo or Manny V. Pangilinan or Krip Yuson or even columnist Amando Doronilla. With technology at our finger tips today, I am sure that even the most respected writer would not escape the inquisitiveness of those who search for originality in what they write.

After the fiasco, Sotto was publicly shamed (no cyber-bullying here Tito, as you had it coming) and his aide-de-camp Atty. Hector Villacorta (this guy must have been a two bit notary public before Sotto decided to put him on board his writing club) had begun to clean up the mess in the shame that they created. And they were thwarting allegations left and write, even daring those who questioned the speech as an act of plagiarism to go ahead and sue them! My gosh! Talk about people lacking not only balls but brains!!! Susmaryosep!

I am ashamed of Sotto as a senator of the republic of the Philippines. I am ashamed that my country has millions of people who vote for government officials not based on what their cerebral capacity contains or what their moral upbringing and values are, but based on a joke or a spiel or a commercial or an endorsement and hide behind the curtains of the entertainment industry and their colleagues. Remember: these are people that get PAID to say anything for a price!! Kahit na hindi totoo and endorsement nila, basta may bayad, they will endorse it! Let me say it with conviction - napaka-JOLOGS at ang tatanga ng mga naniniwala sa inyo!

It is why when Aga Muhlach trumpeted that he would be joining PNoy's Liberal Party to run for Congressman of Camarines Sur, I almost fainted. NOT AGAIN!!! Muhlach was quick to defend those in the entertainment world as being equally capable of running a town, municipality, city, province, or even country! My God! What gall! Did the guy swallow so much Jollibee chickens that all the cholesterol has lodged in his brain? These entertainers whose careers are already in the rut undoubtedly turn to politics as government-official-wannabes. They use their fame and whatever fortune they have amassed over their career years so that they can become government officials later on.

But that's where it all becomes awry and scary.

You have 3/4 of the Filipino voting population screaming in wanton over the underwears of their idols that they forget that they're stuck in oblivion with half a brain (if it's working) and half a ball (if it's still there) of intelligence and commitment to good governance. I will put it nicely - yung mga walang pinagaralan at nakatutok sa teleserye eh nagpapauto sa mga artistang laos at pulpol. The advertising and entertainment industry use these people as endorsers and people simply remember them with the recall factor - from medicine to soap to candy to beer to sulit.com.ph.

And if you look back at the batting average of governance of people who came from the ranks of the entertainment industry, it's no wonder why our country is literally a banana republic - simply because we're run by monkeys!

I was telling my mom over lunch that between Sotto and Lito Lapid, I give more credit to the latter because the guy just shuts up and says nothing. Even Sen. Lapid is true to form when he says the reason why he doesn't say much is that he doesn't know that much. Bravo!!!

Does it really matter that we pay attention to the matter of Sotto's plagiarism?

Yes.

Somehow, this should educate even the little people who adore their entertainment idols, that deception comes in various forms. And how little these actors and actresses actually know about governance. That we should not let people like these - who cannot even seem to accept their mistakes even at "copying" other peoples writings and claiming it is theirs, govern us. Tama na ang Iskul Bukol sa pamahalaan!!

It's time that we owe it to ourselves to make this country and it's people proud by revealing the impostors, the frauds we elect into office, and teaching them a lesson in humility so that we can regain our lost dignity.

Abe's Farm - a getaway to farm life

During my growing up years, my family and I would shuttle to San Jose City, Nueva Ecija where my mother's family lived. After all the members of her family passed away, we stopped going "home".

It's been quite awhile that I've been to the northern part of the archipelago. The long weekend holiday was an opportune time to strike a difference - family bonding, a relaxing getaway to what life used to be when I was growing up, and good company.

Our destination - Magalang, Pampanga. Home to Abe's Farm.

Abe's Restaurant, part of the LJC group of chain of restaurants is home to Manilenos for great Filipino Kampampangan cuisine. The restaurant Abe started in their farm home in Magalang, Pampanga - a trivia unknown to many of the urbanites in Manila.

A sleepy laid back town in Pampanga, Magalang was home to Abe's Farm. It was as authentic as one could get - of course, this included the smell of cow dung as you dined. But the ambience of the place and the food was truly Kapampangan and nothing could come as home cooked as you could get.

After the excellent meal, you can always choose to stay overnight in one of their cottages and go around Angeles, Dau and San Fernando City. Or just relax in one of their spas where they offer therapeutic massages for a very affordable price.

The next time you and family decide to get away from it all, or just want to have a great road trip...here's a place you can spend half the day in. Good food. Family bonding. Good company. Relax and unwind. And get an experience of the provincial life.

Life is great and more fun in the Philippines!

Borrowed happiness

What does it take to make you happy?

I have a friend who never told me that there was something lacking in their five-year relationship with her partner. After awhile, it got to be kinda funny that they've been together for the longest time and yet have not tied the knot. Over a cup of coffee, some delectable macarons and a lazy afternoon - she casually told me that she was looking for a more "permanent happines". I was dazed and asked her what her problem was. I mean, you gotta hand it to her - a job that pays great, a lot of friends that like her, and a fiance that's good looking and seems to love her to death.

In this story, my friend happens to be the other woman.

Human nature dictates that in our lifetime, we search for love. More often than not, lust takes the better half of that search. While sex is part of a relationship, it should not be the centerpiece in it.

I do not prejudge people who are in a complex relationship. After all, as individuals, we make our own decisions...and should be responsible for its consequences. I told my friend that in any relationship, we need to understand the "I" factor. This means that we take hold of respect of self as the first and foremost goal. We cannot make others - whether they are our relatives or friends or acquaintances - respect us if we cannot seem to take a grasp of our own lives.

It is easy to drum up excuses for holding on to what I call "borrowed happiness". Happiness, is, after all something we all deserve. But being happy at the expense of the misery of another party is selfishness on our part. Some people like being the "other woman". It's like being appreciated more than the "true" better half. But men can be animals. They throw their attention to you in order to get laid or prove that their waning libidos are still working.

Gay relationships are just as cruel. Most gay men and women are attracted with the physical attributes and are more promiscuous than heterosexual couples. Irregardless of sexual preference, each relationship comes together in the search for the "happily-ever-afters".

There is no love in a crowded relationship. I don't believe in the BS that sharing a marriage or a relation ends up in a win-win situation. All parties end up hurting each other and we lose respect of self. There is no winner in this kind of relationship and the few hours of happiness are simply "borrowed" so to speak.

The ultimate goal is to challenge ourselves to learn to walk away when there is nothing left in a relationship to begin with, or to salvage.

One of my favorite authors, Paulo Coelho puts into perspective what love is. "Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused." In reality, love is not to be understood. It is to be attained, but only if we work hard to overcome the challenges in searching for the right person, by finding self-respect in ourselves first.

And the greatest lie in the world is when we make believe and rationalize on "borrowed happiness" at the expense of other peoples misery.

“After all, what is happiness? Love, they tell me. But love doesn't bring and never has brought happiness. On the contrary, it's a constant state of anxiety, a battlefield; it's sleepless nights, asking ourselves all the time if we're doing the right thing. Real love is composed of ecstasy and agony.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Witch Of Portobello

Stem cell therapy: Have we discovered the magic bullet?

There has been a lot of hoopla generated by the public regarding stem cell therapy. It’s been touted to be the smoking gun for almost every disease – from stroke to diabetes, to even it’s claim as we have found the “fountain of youth”.

Many clinics offer stem cell treatments and make claims that are not supported by the science of medicine. The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSRCR) has come out with an eight-page brochure (updated in 2011) on common problems myths and fallacies that is a MUST read for the general public who want to know more information about stem cell therapy.

This article provides an overview of what stem cell treatment is all about.

First and foremost are the types of stem cells. There are many types of stem cells that come from various places in the body (or formed at different stages in life). Embryonic stem cells form during the earliest stage of development while there are “adult” or tissue-specific stem cells that appear during fetal development and remain in our bodies forever. It should be remembered that our bodies use different types of tissue-specific stem cells for a specific purpose. The most common example is hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. These are used to regenerate blood and hence are also called blood-forming stem cells. In short, because of tissue-specificity, a certain tissue can only regenerate the same tissue in return. “BE WARY OF CLINICS THAT OFFER TREATMENTS WITH STEM CELLS THAT ORIGINATE FROM A PART OF THE BODY THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE PART BEING TREATED!”

Based on the above mechanism of stem cell action, it is unlikely that a single type of stem cell treatment can treat a multitude of diseases like Diabetes and Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. The bottom line is that the cell type used as treatment is specific and appropriate to the disease.

Embryonic stem cells are being investigated for a wider range of human diseases. Aside from the current ethical dilemma surrounding embryonic cell stem cell, there are drawbacks in embryonic stem cell treatment because they have bee found to cause tumors and are unlikely to become the cells needed to regenerate a tissue on their own. They will need to get “coaxed” to become a specialized cell, which is currently difficult to do. “A MAJOR WARNING SIGN THAT A CLINIC MAY NOT BE CREDIBLE IS WHEN TREATMENTS ARE OFFERED FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF CONDITIONS BUT RELY ON A SINGLE CELL TYPE”.

Because of the ethical issues surrounding stem cell therapy, the number of well- conducted clinical trials is far from the desired number in order to arrive at a highly recommendable conclusion. The best defined so far are blood, bone, skin and corneal stem cell transplantation. These have been generally accepted as safe and effective in medicine.

“Just because people say stem cells helped them doesn’t mean they did.” The ISSCRC points out that there are three main reasons why a person might feel better that are related to the actual stem cell treatment – placebo effect, accompanying treatments, and natural fluctuations of the disease or conditions. These factors make testing under a non-controlled set-up difficult. It’s like looking at herbal or complementary alternative medicine where you depend on testimonials without the science of clinical trials. Unless there are randomized control studies large enough to make justifiable conclusions, “BE WARY OF CLINICS THAT MEASURE OR ADVERTISE THEIR RESULTS THROUGH PATIENT TESTIMONIALS.”

Science is a long and tedious process. There is no such thing as a medicine that was discovered as a miracle drug overnight. Some medicines may look promising from the get go during pre-clinical studies (in culture cells or animals) but eventually fail in humans. It is estimated that 1 out of 200 molecules that come of research end up in the clinical trial stage. And when a drug is tested in humans, safety is the most important or critical issue. Efficacy of treatment takes a backseat as we weigh benefits to risk of treatments offered.

Stem cells are not magic bullets. They need to get “instructed to behave in specific ways”. BMT or bone marrow transplant is successful because the cells do exactly what they were designed to do – make more blood. The greatest impediment to the development of a successful stem cell therapy is to get the cells to behave the way we want them to. It’s also important to remember that once these cells get transplanted into our body, they need to be in concert (integrate and function) with our body’s other cells as well. At this point, we are still learning how to direct stem cells to become the right cell type, to grow only as much as we need them to, and the best ways to transplant them “BE WARY OF CLAIMS THAT STEM CELLS WILL SOMEHOW JUST KNOW WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO DO TO TREAT A SPECIFIC CONDITION.”

Like medicines, each medical procedure has a risk. “While your are unlikely to have an immune response to your own cells, the procedures used to acquire, grow and deliver them are risky. Contamination from other bacteria, virus or fungi can occur and can cause a deadly disease, which may be more difficult to treat. It can also cause a reaction to your own cells resulting in an immunologic reaction that can be deadly to the patient.

It is understandable that people feel they have nothing to lose with stem cell therapy because the diseases that stem cell therapy purports to cure are usually considered incurable by other means. Remember, “there are very real risks of developing complications, both immediate and long-term, while the chance of experiencing a benefit is likely very low. “ The bottom line is that “there is something to lose by trying an unproven treatment”.

“Experimental treatment offered for sale is not the same as a clinical trial”. This is the difficult part of explaining to a skeptical public who believe in magic bullets on the differences between experimental treatments and clinical trials. All clinical trials are FREE and the investigating pharmaceutical company shoulders the whole treatment and adverse events that occur during the treatment. An experimental treatment for sale is bogus. “BEWARE OF EXPENSIVE TREATMENTS THAT HAVE NOT PASSED SUCCESSFULLY THROUGH CLINICAL TRIALS”. Responsible medicine requires responsible clinical trial development phases because they allow us to learn if the treatment is SAFE and effective.

With that said, stem cell science is extremely promising. Great advances in treating certain conditions especially of the hematologic system have provided a large avenue for diseases once untreatable. Many scientists are currently studying ways to harness stem cells to diagnose and treat various diseases and conditions. In February 2010, the British company ReNeuron had been approved to do phase 1 studies of a neural stem cell for the treatment of stroke. The US FDA has also approved the first embryonic stem cell-based treatment for acute spinal cord injury in the phase 1 of clinical trials. It will still be quite some time before we probably will see stem cell as basic armamentarium in the treatment of various diseases.

There is a silver lining that will make stem cell therapy a promising treatment alternative in the future. In the meantime, the public needs to understand the science behind stem cell therapy so that scrupulous individuals and clinics that offer it as the “fountain of youth” or the magic bullet to disease treatment do not deceive them.

The most unethical part of medicine is to pan out a treatment at the expense of selling false hope to patients who are desperate to find a cure. The Hippocratic Oath of “First do no harm” should be the dictum at all times.




________________________________

For more information, log on to www.isscr.org/public/ISSCR08_PubEdBroch.pdf to download the eight-page brochure on Stem Cell Facts

This article was originally written for eMagazine in My Virtual Healthcare Solutions, Inc. at www.myvhs.com.ph.

The pain in pretending

They say that every relationship has both good and bad times.

There are stories on how relationships work or don't work, on failed relationships, on people on the "rebound", on how whether you need to break up or strive harder to make things work, and best of all, on the "happily ever afters".

Even marriages that have seen the best of times, have had the worst of times.

Strangely enough, some relationships are made in heaven. Others are a work in purgatory. The rest, well, they're a living hell.

It's human nature to seek for love. It gives one a sense of belonging, of being wanted, of being needed. And while we seek for acceptance from another person, there is the innate nature of going astray. I've always said that love is like looking at a glass filled half with water - one party sees it as half full, the other sees it as half empty.

You see, in a reality, there's always one party that probably loves more, cares more and pays more attention to the relationship than the other. And here's the rub, they get hurt more too during those bad and rough times.

And then things change. Just to stay in a relationship, we begin to pretend. Even if it hurts our pride and principles, we endure the pain. We rationalize that perhaps the hurting is there as a challenge to the relationship. That perhaps by overcoming the challenge, things will be alright.

We pretend that we will have happily-ever-afters even after the hurt and pain we endure because that's part of the journey's story.

Until it gets cold and dark and callous. When we can't feel what's real and what's absurd or what's right and what's wrong or whether we've just been used or really loved back in return.

But I believe that everything happens for a reason.

Pretending in the pain needs to have closure. People change, so you can learn how to let go. Things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right. You believe in lies so that you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.

And sometimes, good things fall apart so that better things can fall together.

Think about it.

When was the last time you needed to let go to make the pain in pretending go away so that you can have peace of mind?

They came for a "Bag of Hope"

It was a trek that spanned 13 rivers for ten students, their school principal and three teachers. They left their homes as early as 4AM donning their school uniform and slippers to get from their homes in Tanay to Libis where a Pocari Sweat van waited to pick them up.

It was their first ride on an airconditioned vehicle, their first trip seeing high rise buildings and vehicles on a busy road, and their first ride on an elevator. When they arrived at our office building in Makati, the kids were treated to two movies - Ice Age 3 and Up with matching popcorn and loot bags to boot!

This year, Otsuka Philippines Pharmaceuticals, Inc. together with Black Pencil Project had Nayon Elementary School in Tanay, Rizal as its recipient for its Corporate Social Responsibility program. The ten students that initially came to the office were the representative students consisting of Dumagats (natives of Tanay) who traveled from their homes to be given royal treatment.

You could tell the story of their lives with the slippers they wore that bore the hardship of life. Lunch served was a sumptuous one but you could see that they were separating some of the food that was served to them. When you asked them why - they'd coyly reply that the food was too much but really they were bringing the other half home to their siblings or parents. You could see the sparkle in their eyes when they were each given study kits which comprised of back packs with basic school materials (notebooks, papers, pencils, crayons, erasers). [The school was given classroom supplies and reference books for the teachers.]

That was just the beginning. I am sure they were excited to tell their stories of hope when they got back that evening.

The following day, the CSR team of Otsuka Philippines trekked to the mountainous community of Tanay Rizal to deliver the rest of the study kits to all of the 205 students of Nayon Elementary School. The school is a 45 minute travel from Tanay town proper where the community of Dumagats Remontados (returning Dumagats)is found. The villages of Sta. Inez, Sto. Nino, Mamuyao, Cayabo and San Andres share surviving members of the Dumagats Remontado of the Sierra Madre Mountain. During the rainy season, flood waters from overflowing Tanay River make these villages inaccessible and classes are usually suspended because most of the teachers come from Tanay town proper. While Tanay, Rizal is geographically just a few kilometers off Metro Manila, Nayon Elementary School typically exemplifies the irony of it being "so close and yet so far" from civilization.

Jose P. Rizal, our national hero, said that "the future of our nation depends on our youth". Nurturing them, giving them hope, helping them fulfill their dreams.

Last June 16, 2012, it was a sight to see the glimmer in the eyes of these children come together for a "Bag of Hope". It felt like we gave them a "Bag of Dreams" to fulfill...

What's your story?