And know that....

And know that

victory

comes with patience,

relief

with affliction,

and ease

with hardship.

Sayidduna Muhammad

Time in a bottle

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
'Til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

Τραγουδοποιοί: Jim Croce

Στίχοι τραγουδιού Time in a Bottle © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management US, LLC

Όταν

Όταν το όνειρο γίνεται βοριάς
Όταν οι αχτίδες του μυαλού σου σβήνουν

Όταν οι γραμμές του προσώπου σου βαθαίνουν
Όταν τα μάτια σου τσούζουν
Όταν το σώμα σου τρέμει
Όταν η καρδιά σου σταματάει 
Όταν τα χέρια σου παγώνουν
Όταν τα χείλη σου ματώσουν
 
Όταν ο ήλιος σου μοιάζει με χαλάζι
Όταν το λουλούδι σου μαραίνεται
Όταν η ευχή σου γίνεται καπνός
Όταν ο ουρανός σε βαραίνει

Όταν το φαγητό σε αηδιάζει
Όταν ο καπνός του τσιγάρου σε καίει
Όταν θολώνει η άκρη του δωματίου

Όταν ο δρόμος βουλιάζει
Όταν ο φόβος γίνεται σύντροφός σου
Όταν η μάχη είναι άνιση


Όταν η χειραψία χαλαρώσει
Όταν η ερημιά σε κυκλώσει
Όταν η αγκαλιά σου αδειάσει

Όταν τα χάπια σου γνέφουν

Όταν η ζωή απομακρύνεται 
Όταν πέφτεις στον θάνατο

Τότε έρχεται η αγάπη....

 

To vape or not to vape

      Αντικρουόμενες απόψεις περί του ηλεκτρονικού καπνίσματος (ή αλλιώς ατμίσματος) έχουμε ακούσει σχεδόν όλοι από τότε που τα ηλεκτρονικά τσιγάρα (1ης 2ης και 3ης γενιάς) έκαναν την εμφάνισή τους στην αγορά (μιλάμε για 2003). Το ζήτημα της υγείας απασχολεί τους ίδιους τους ατμιστές αλλά και τον περίγυρό τους. Και είναι άκρως λογικό καθώς «..Είναι νωρίς ακόμη μές στόν κόσμο αυτόν αγάπη μου...». Οι ιθαγενείς της Αμερικής κάπνιζαν στέλνοντας σήματα καπνού και η πρώτη νύξη στο PubMed αναφορικά με πιθανόν επιβλαβείς συνέπειες του καπνίσματος έρχεται το 1845.

       Είναι λοιπόν, σαν να βρισκόμαστε ξανά στο 1845. Η επιστήμη χρειάζεται χρόνο, που όμως είναι πολύτιμος για τη δημόσια υγεία. Οι κλινικές έρευνες είναι ακόμα σε πολύ πρώιμο στάδιο για να εξαχθεί ένα ασφαλές συμπέρασμα, χώρια του ότι το κέρδος των βιομηχανιών παρεμβαίνει στην όποια διαφανή ενημέρωση του κοινού. Τα καταστήματα ηλεκτρονικού τσιγάρου φύτρωσαν σαν μανιτάρια μέσα στην τελευταία δεκαετία και η μπίζνα έχει στηθεί πολύ καλά για να πέσει εύκολα κι αναίμακτα.

Prov Med Surg J. 1845 Oct 8;9(41):612-4.

Στη συνέχεια παρατίθενται αυτούσια αποσπάσματα από πρόσφατη επιστημονική βιβλιογραφία.
Ανακτήθηκαν 2017/10/16 από το PubMed με keywords: electronic cigarettes
(No conflict of interest και τα σχετικά...)

J Am Heart Assoc. 2017 Aug 30;6(9). doi: 10.1161/JAHA.117.006353.
Impact of Electronic Cigarettes on the Cardiovascular System.

"E‐cigarettes, also known as vape pens, e‐cigars, or vaping devices, are electronic nicotine delivering systems, which generate an aerosolized mixture containing flavored liquids and nicotine that is inhaled by the user.9 The extensive diversity of e‐cigarettes arises from the various nicotine concentrations present in e‐liquids, miscellaneous volumes of e‐liquids per product, different carrier compounds, additives, flavors, and battery voltage.9 Regardless of the exact design, each e‐cigarette device has a common functioning system, which is composed of a rechargeable lithium battery, vaporization chamber, and a cartridge. The lithium battery functions as the powerhouse; it is connected to the vaporization chamber that contains the atomizer9 (Figure 1). In order to deliver nicotine to the lungs, the user inhales through a mouthpiece, and the airflow triggers a sensor that then switches on the atomizer.9, 10, 11 Finally, the atomizer vaporizes liquid nicotine in a small cartridge (Figure 1) and delivers it to the lungs.9

Typical e‐cigarette design. E‐cigarettes are usually composed of nicotine cartridge (e‐liquid container), vaporizing chamber, a heating coil (heats e‐liquid) followed by an atomizer (e‐vapor generator), rechargeable battery and voltage controller (which will adjust the amount of nicotine delivered during vaping), microcompressor, and LED indicator—not present in all types—to activate the battery and visually mimic the conventional cigarette, respectively. LED indicates light‐emitting diode.

As the primary system exposed to vapors from e‐cigarettes, most reported health effects have centered on the pulmonary tract. Recent clinical and animal studies showed that (active or passive) e‐vapors/e‐cigarettes may cause irritation of both the upper and lower respiratory tract, in addition to inducing bronchospasm and cough9, 32, 33, 34; the latter effects may be attributed to a chain of inflammatory reactions through oxidative stress.28


As for effects on other systems, e‐cigarettes also reduce, in mice, the efficiency of the immune system, as reflected by the increased susceptibility to infection with influenza A and Streptococcus pneumonia.29 As for the central nervous system, e‐cigarettes may alter brain functions, which affects the mood, learning abilities, memory, and could even induce drug dependence in both humans and animals.35, 36, 37 E‐cigarettes may also directly damage neurons and cause tremor and muscle spasms.9.

Carcinogenicity, mostly manifested in the lungs, mouth, and throat,30 is another important aspect of the e‐cigarette's negative health profile; this may be linked to nitrosamines, propylene‐glycol (the major carrier in e‐liquids), and even some flavoring agents.9, 31 In fact, one study indicated that after being heated and vaporized, propylene glycol may transform into propylene oxide, which is a class 2B carcinogen. Moreover, e‐liquid exposure was found to exert a direct cytotoxic effect on human embryonic stem cells and mouse neural stem cells, highlighting a potential harm for pregnant females.15, 32 Other adverse effects include nausea, vomiting, and contact dermatitis, as well as eye, mouth, and throat irritation.9, 31 It is noteworthy that the harm related to e‐cigarette usage reaches further beyond “beings” to include fire hazards and explosions; issues the public tends to underestimate.38, 39

Andrea et al showed that heart rate acutely increased after e‐cigarettes use by smokers,41 which was also observed in a separate study.42 Additionally, Yan et al found that e‐cigarettes elevated both diastolic blood pressure and heart rate in smokers, but to a lesser extent when compared with tobacco cigarettes.43

Alternatively, some studies have shown that short‐term exposure to e‐cigarettes has no cardiovascular harm.49, 50, 51 These studies found that acute exposure to e‐cigarettes had no immediate effects on the coronary circulation, myocardial function, and arterial stiffness.10, 49, 50 Another study revealed no significant changes in smokers' heart rate after acute use of e‐cigarettes.52 However, the discrepancy in findings should be examined in the context of evidence indicating that vaping topography (e‐cigarette usage patterns such as inhalation duration and the magnitude of inhaled volume) and user's experience are critical factors in determining the health effects of e‐cigarettes.39, 53

Although much is known about smoking‐induced cardiovascular toxicity, little is known about that of e‐cigarettes. This is an issue that continues to be a subject of debate. Nevertheless, based on the current body of evidence, e‐cigarettes are not emission free (as some believe) and, in fact, they emit various potentially harmful and toxic chemicals. Whether or not the levels of these toxicants are lower than traditional smoking remains controversial."

Ther Adv Drug Saf. 2014 Apr; 5(2): 67–86. doi: 10.1177/2042098614524430.
Safety evaluation and risk assessment of electronic cigarettes as tobacco cigarette substitutes: a systematic review

"ECs are a revolutionary product in tobacco harm reduction. Although they emit vapor, which resembles smoke, there is literally no fire (combustion) and no ‘fire’ (suspicion or evidence that they may be the cause for disease in a similar way to tobacco cigarettes). Due to their unique characteristics, ECs represent a historical opportunity to save millions of lives and significantly reduce the burden of smoking-related diseases worldwide.

Although evaluating the effects of passive vaping requires further work, based on the existing evidence from environmental exposure and chemical analyses of vapor, it is safe to conclude that the effects of EC use on bystanders are minimal compared with conventional cigarettes."

Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2017 Oct 5;17(11):79. doi: 10.1007/s11882-017-0747-5.
Electronic Cigarettes: Their Constituents and Potential Links to Asthma

"Occupational inhalation of some common food-safe flavoring agents is reported to cause occupational asthma and worsen asthmatic symptoms. Moreover, workplace inhalation exposures to the flavoring agent diacetyl have caused irreversible obstructive airway disease in healthy workers. Additionally, recent studies report that thermal decomposition of propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG), the base constituents of e-liquids, produces reactive carbonyls, including acrolein, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde, which have known respiratory toxicities. Furthermore, recent nicotine studies in rodents reveal that prenatal nicotine exposures lead to epigenetic reprogramming in the offspring, abnormal lung development, and multigenerational transmission of asthmatic-like symptoms."

Nat Rev Cardiol. 2017 Oct 12. doi: 10.1038/nrcardio.2017.154. [Epub ahead of print]
Epidemiology of cardiovascular disease in young individuals

"The long­term cardiovascular consequences of e-cigarette use, and whether the cardiovascular risks of e-cigar­ette use are possibly lower than the risks of conventional cigarette smoking, remain to be determined."

Current Allergy and Asthma Reports 2017 Oct 5. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-017-0747-5.
Electronic Cigarettes: Their Constituents and Potential Links to Asthma

"Flavored e-cig liquids (e-liquids) and e-cig aerosols contain airway irritants and toxicants that have been implicated in the pathogenesis and worsening of lung diseases."

#procrastination

"I was going to tackle my procrastination problem last weekend,

but I never got around to it."

(David Cain. Πηγή: thoughtcatalog.com)

Πόσο πιο αντιπροσωπευτική μπορεί να είναι η παραπάνω φράση για την αναβλητικότητα;!

Είναι φυσιολογικό όταν κάτι σου προκαλεί στρες να θέλεις να το αποφύγεις. Όμως μέχρι ποιο σημείο είναι αυτό εντός λογικών πλαισίων συνύπαρξης με τους συνεργάτες/φίλους/οικογένεια; Αν αυτή η συνεχής αναβολή υποχρεώσεων δημιουργεί καθυστερήσεις στην επαγγελματική εξέλιξή σου, υπάρχει κάποιο επιτρεπτό όριο πέραν του οποίου θα χαρακτηριστείς με τη βούλα «αναβλητικός άνθρωπος»;

Δεν παίζει ρόλο το πόσες δεξιότητες μπορεί να διαθέτεις ή το πόσο ευγενικός ή κοινωνικός είσαι. Αντιθέτως, μπορεί να είσαι ένα ικανότατο και δημιουργικό άτομο. Οφείλεις να διεκπεραιώσεις εργασίες στο σπίτι ή στη δουλειά (ή ακόμα και να ανανεώνεις το blog σου!) αλλά συνεχίζεις να χρονοτριβείς και να ματαιώνεις τις διαδικασίες οι οποίες όχι απλώς δε σου είναι ευχάριστες, σε αγχώνουν σε σημείο ψυχοσωματικής καταπόνησης. Με αποτέλεσμα να συσσωρεύονται οι ανειλημμένες υποχρεώσεις και να δημιουργούν γκρίζες ζώνες στην καθημερινότητά σου: δεν τις αγγίζεις, δεν μιλάς γι'αυτές. Και προφανώς όλο αυτό με τη σειρά του σε βάζει σε έναν φαύλο κύκλο πρόκλησης άγχους, στον οποίο και εγκλωβίζεσαι όλο και περισσότερο.

Είναι αληθές ότι η αναβλητικότητα μοιάζει με τεμπελιά και πολλές φορές οι δύο έννοιες συγχέονται μεταξύ τους λόγω άγνοιας, μα δυστυχώς δεν πρόκειται για το ίδιο πράγμα.

Το να διαλύεις βουλήν επ' αόριστο συνδέεται με καταστάσεις συναισθηματικής πίεσης που υφίστανται άτομα κάθε άλλο παρά ανεύθυνα και οκνηρά.

Στη συνέχεια παρατίθενται ορισμένα αυτούσια αποσπάσματα διαδικτυακών πηγών σχετικά με την αναβλητικότητα (procrastination).

"Procrastination (from latin's "procrastinare", that translates in to: the prefix pro-, 'forward', and suffix -crastinus, 'till next day' from cras, 'tomorrow') is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished. Sometimes, procrastination takes place until the "last minute" before a deadline. Procrastination can take hold on any aspect of life —putting off cleaning the stove, repairing a leaky roof, seeing a doctor or dentist, submitting a job report or academic assignment or broaching a stressful issue with a partner.

Procrastination can lead to feelings of guilt,

inadequacy, depression and self-doubt.

The pleasure principle may be responsible for procrastination; one may prefer to avoid negative emotions, and to delay stressful tasks. The belief that one works best under pressure provides an additional incentive to the postponement of tasks. Some psychologists cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Piers Steel indicated in 2010 that anxiety is just as likely to get people to start working early as late, and that the focus of studies on procrastination should be impulsiveness. That is:

Anxiety will cause people to delay

only if they are impulsive.

For some people, procrastination can be persistent and tremendously disruptive to everyday life. For these individuals, procrastination may be symptomatic of a psychological disorder. Procrastination has been linked to a number of negative associations, such as depression, irrational behaviour, low self-esteem, anxiety and neurological disorders such as ADHD. Others have found relationships with guilt and stress^. Therefore, it is important for people whose procrastination has become chronic and is perceived to be debilitating to seek out a trained therapist or psychiatrist to see if an underlying mental health issue may be present.

With a distant deadline, procrastinators report significantly less stress and physical illness than do non-procrastinators. However, as the deadline approaches, this relationship is reversed. Procrastinators report more stress, more symptoms of physical illness, and more medical visits, to the extent that, overall, procrastinators suffer more stress and health problems.

Other reasons cited on why students procrastinate include fear of failure and success, perfectionist expectations, as well as legitimate activities that may take precedence over school work, such as a job."

(Πηγή: Wikipedia)

"..But in real life, you can’t avoid doing things. We have to earn a living, do our taxes, have difficult conversations sometimes. Human life requires confronting uncertainty and risk, so pressure mounts. Procrastination gives a person a temporary hit of relief from this pressure of “having to do” things, which is a self-rewarding behavior. So it continues and becomes the normal way to respond to these pressures.

Particularly prone to serious procrastination problems are children who grew up with unusually high expectations placed on them. Their older siblings may have been high achievers, leaving big shoes to fill, or their parents may have had neurotic and inhuman expectations of their own, or else they exhibited exceptional talents early on, and thereafter “average” performances were met with concern and suspicion from parents and teachers.

This was the part that made my heart sink when I read it. Not that anybody was trying to make things difficult for me, but I grew up feeling high expectations from the adults in my life and myself. For most of my schooling, I was always in advanced programs, always aced everything, and when I got anything less than an A, people asked me what was wrong.

I also noticed other kids didn’t get this treatment. They were congratulated for getting B’s and even C’s. So from the feedback I got, I learned that a report card (of mine) with five A’s and a B was indicative of a shortcoming somewhere, not success. I’ve written about this before so I won’t get into it here, but suffice it to say that I learned that the downsides of being imperfect are far greater than the upsides of being perfect.

Perfectionism breeds pessimism

This means that pushing projects ahead is — on the balance — a bad deal, because unless I’m pretty damn perfect there is much more pain to be had in doing that than pleasure."

 

"So that’s my simple, humble dream in life: to list a few things I’d like to get done and go ahead and do them.

I could take over the world, if I could only learn to do that."

 (David Cain. Πηγή: thoughtcatalog.com)