What Killed Michael Jackson?

Offhand, I think it was depression that ended his life. Famous people are always depressed. He might not have been eating properly, and his low electrolytes must have spelled fatal for his heart.

But Reuters has interesting theories. The speculation is that Michael Jackson was using the painkiller Demerol:



Another mentioned drug was Oxycontin, and this is how it might have killed the superstar:



But Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist and physician hired to be with Michael Jackson, denied having injected him with any medications. Meanwhile, an independent autopsy is being requested by Jackson's family to know what really happened.



We will know in a few days what really killed him.

________

UPDATE on 02 July 2009 --- The DIPRIVAN Angle:



Wait a minute. This is another wild speculation. During the interview, MJ's nurse said that while Jackson begged for Diprivan, she did not give it to him. So, what's all the fuss of how Michael Jackson got hold of the drug?

Sure, Diprivan might kill when not used properly, but the question is, did he really use it?

People are jumping to conclusions.

How They're Stopping (A)H1N1 in Philippine Airports

Airports are gateways. They serve as starting points of anything new introduced to a country. Yes, including viruses like the (A)H1N1. That's why airports around the world have instituted several procedures to deter the entry of the dreaded disease. In the Philippines, here is what they're doing:

First, they ask you to fill up a yellow form called a 'Health Declaration Checklist' like the one below:



No one is exempted. Foreigners and returning Filipinos are all expected to fill up the yellow form. They give you the form even before your plane lands. However, if you analyze the questions and the important reminder, the questionnaire's accuracy depends a lot on honesty. That's right, HONESTY. How honest are people? As Mencken said, it is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know if you were in his place, you would lie.

So, to the questions --- "Have you had any fever, cough, headache, body weakness?" and, "Do you work in a clinic, nursing home, piggery, poultry, zoo?" --- one can expect a high degree of inaccurate answers to be given by passengers who want to go their hotels or home as fast as possible. That is just my opinion, okay? I believe it is human nature to lie because it is easier to do. Telling the truth means the possibility of quarantine, after all.

What would one answer to the question, "Do you have any household member(s) or close friend(s) who have met a person who currently has fever, cough, and/or respiratory problems?" Even people who do not travel but work every day have probably met 1 or more people with fever and cough, right?

Second, if a passenger gets away with lying with his Health Declaration Form, he still has to pass the famous 'thermal scanner' as seen below:



The thermal scanner screens for people with fever. Incubation period is defined as time elapsed between exposure to the virus (or any offending agent) and when flu symptoms like fever manifest. Therefore, it is always possible for people to unknowingly carry the flu virus, the (A)H1N1, and NOT have fever yet.

So, do thermal scanners work? Yes. For people with fever only. For those without, you know the answer.

Third, if the passenger is health-conscious, he might follow the health tips in posters found in the airport:



But knowing most tired travelers, their only concern is to get out of the airport and get home to have that much needed rest as quickly as possible. Who reads posters but children and young people?

Fourth, interested travelers might like to use the strategically-placed hand sanitizers on the immigration booths. I must confess though that when I was there, I did not see anybody use any of the sanitizers.



Fifth and last, before I forget, there's also that method of imposing self-quarantine on yourself.

Now, who better to set an example that the leader of our land, who is now currently traveling in Japan and Brazil (countries which also have (A)H1N1 cases) but is set to return home this weekend?



But you know what our Health Department says? No. Our President does not have to do that self-imposed quarantine.



In the first news item, you will read that a certain Dr. Asuncion Anden says that that the "government-required self-quarantine remains in place," then suddenly in the second news article, the government's health secretary says that self-imposed quarantine are only for those with flu symptoms. Well, okay. If you say so, sir.

Good luck to the rest of us.

First Philippine (A)H1N1 Death?

This is misleading. I don't think that with the available information given, the poor patient died because she had the dreaded (A)H1N1 flu. It was just an incidental finding.



The patient had a chronic heart problem aggravated by severe pneumonia. I think those were her biggest problems. Those were probably the culprits of her death.

Anti-Wrinkling Cream

An anti-cancer cream can be the answer for wrinkles.

But it doesn't come easy. There are initial problems that have to be overcome.

"The drug has been around for many years," said Dr. Dana Sachs of the University of Michigan, whose study appears in the Archives of Dermatology.

Sachs said it has been used for four decades to treat actinic keratoses, which appear as a scaly or crusty bump on the skin. They most commonly appear on sun-exposed areas such as the face, neck, forearms or lips.

Treatment with Efudex, known generically as fluorouracil, is not trouble-free. Soon after the cream is applied, the skin becomes red and inflamed.

"Patients look really bad," Sachs said in a telephone interview. "Their skin is red. I've heard people describe it as looking like raw hamburger meat."

But after the treatment, patients have said their skin looks younger. "People have commented for years that they look better. Not only are their pre-cancers gone but the quality of their skin seems to be improved," Sachs said. ~ Reuters, 15 June 2009

Knowing women who abhor wrinkles, and will do anything to look young, I bet they will endure the 'raw-hamburger-meat' appearance just to attain a youthful-looking skin.

Swine Flu H1N1 Updates

Two weeks after I blogged that the Philippines is influenza A H1N1-free, the Philippines now has 21 cases of swine flu. The days of ordinary miracles has finally ended.

The good news is that there are no deaths yet; the bad news is that it is likely that there will be more cases as the days pass by.



CUO means cases under observation. However, their respective locations remain unknown. Only select Department of Health (DOH) officials know where they are confined or treated. The reason seems to be to prevent panic from ensuing.

More notes:

1. There are now more than 700 cases of swine flu in the Asian region, and it continues to grow. South Korea just confirmed its 42nd case minutes ago.

From Xinhua

2. The median age of those infected in the Philippines is 29 years old. Most of those affected are young people, and the assumption is that the older ones have a more resilient immunity. There is no gender predilection.

3. Classes opened here two days ago in spite of the swine flu threat. Meanwhile, the DOH is on its toes promoting cleanliness by encouraging students and teachers to sing 2 'happy-birthday' songs while frequently washing hands. No kidding. Read it here. Honestly, that is the best prevention strategy at the moment.

4. For a change, the DOH is also on its toes updating its website on the latest news about recent cases. It has a whole section devoted to influenza A H1N1 alone.

5. If you walk the streets in Manila, or roam inside malls and public markets, seldom would you see people wearing masks. The Catholic hierarchy has banned holding hands when praying and saying peace inside churches, but since old habits die hard, this warning is also ignored.

6. UPDATE on 08 June 2009 - DOH still pegs the total number of cases to 33. According to its latest h1N1 update, "One of the 4 new confirmed cases is another student of the De La Salle University (DLSU), a 17 year-old male, who has no history of travel. He manifested mild acute febrile respiratory symptoms on June 2 and consulted a doctor on June 3 heeding the DLSU officials’ advice to its students when it suspended all its classes in Taft. He is presently confined in a health facility and recovering well."

"Duque reiterated that DLSU is the only school that is on a voluntary ten-day suspension due to A (H1N1) at the moment. No other school has approached the Department of Health (DOH) with the same predicament and plan. We also have not confirmed any case involving other schools.

The three other cases all have a history of travel. They all came from the United States. One of them is a foreign national. She is a 29 year-old female, who arrived on June 1 and developed fever and cough shortly thereafter. The remaining two are siblings, a 9 and a 7 year-old, both females, who arrived in the country on June 3. They became ill on June 1 and were screened on arrival and were subsequently brought to a health facility by the Bureau of Quarantine. All three are recovering from their illness in health facilities."

Where those health facilities are, only top-level health officials like Duque knows.

7. UPDATE on 09 June 2009 - There are now 46 more cases.

8. UPDATE on 14 June 2009 --- Worldwide, there are now more than 30,000 (A)H1N1 cases. In the Philippines, the health department pegs the figure at 147 cases. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer today:
"MANILA, Philippines -- As health officials in Central Luzon reported the country's first community-level transmission in a village in Jaen, Nueva Ecija, the Department of Health central office in Manila placed the national count of confirmed Influenza A(H1N1) virus cases at 147.

Chief epidemiologist Doctor Eric Tayag said on Sunday details on the demographics of the 36 new confirmed cases—there were 111 confirmed cases as of Saturday— were not yet available."