-> Endeavor to be aware of what you are doing throughout the day. When you eat for example, pay attention to your food, and don’t read the newspaper or watch the television at the same time. If you do so, you will enjoy your food much more. In the same way try to focus your attention on your other activities. Concentrating on what you are doing helps you do it better and more efficiently.

-> Remember to smile more often during the day. It is important that the smile is not a artificial, but that it comes from inside you. Smiling makes you and other people feel happier.

-> Expect the best and do your best.

-> Be patient and tolerant toward others.

-> While driving your car, decide to be kind and tolerant toward the other drivers. Stop at street crossings to let the pedestrians cross the street. Be courteous and considerate on the road. This behavior will make you and the other drivers and pedestrians feel good. As a consequence, they too will be kind to other drivers and pedestrians, at least for a little while.

-> A good morning with a smile has a great influence on everyone. Greet the people who work with you, even if you have never done so before.

-> Coming to work with a strong intention to have a great day, and handling everything in a positive and decisive manner, will have its influence upon the people whom you come in contact with. This will help you to broadcast peace, good will and happiness.

-> Do your best to be nice and polite today, to your family, colleagues, friends, the seller at the grocery or supermarket, to the bus or cab driver, to the delivery boy and to anyone else you meet today. It is all a matter of inner attitude and choice. Exercise your power to choose a polite and considerate attitude.

-> Make a decision that during this special day you are going to handle everything in a cool and calm way. If you need to meet someone or do something that usually makes you feel nervous or irritated, have a talk with yourself beforehand. Tell yourself that you are going to stay calm and relaxed, and that you are going to handle everything in the best way. If you feel you need it, make several mental rehearsals. Visualize yourself going through the situation in a very efficient way, and achieving a positive outcome.

-> In this special day act unhurriedly. Do your best to stay relaxed. Remind yourself often that it is your beautiful, wonderful day. Invite into your mind thoughts and feelings of happiness, satisfaction and competence. Imagine scenes and events from your past experiences, when you felt good and happy. By concentrating on these mental images you let the associated feelings and emotions well up again. Enjoy these good feelings, and try to go on enjoying them, even after you stop thinking about them.

-> When back home from work, what about a flower, a book, or some other small gift to your spouse and children? Even a smile, a hug or a kiss will do. You have tried all day to be kind to other people and stay positive. Do this at home too. Devote some quality time to your family. You have been out the whole day; now enjoy being together with them. Earning money to suppurt your family is not enough. They need to feel your love and attention too.

-> During this special day, make also some special effort to use your time more efficiently. Do not watch too much TV, and shorten the time that you read the newspaper. It is better to use this time to read something inspiring that will help you improve your life, or devote a few minutes to meditation in the afternoon or evening.

-> Don’t forget to devote some time for yourself. I have talked about meditation, but do also something that you love, such as reading a book, writing, devoting some time to your hobby, walking or any other physical exercises.

Remember that today is a special and wonderful day. It is different from the other days…

09-09-’09

The new KAF-50100 image sensor replaces the nearly three year old 39 megapixel KAF-39000 as the highest performing image sensor Kodak sells. The CCD measures 49.8 x 36.8 mm, which is twice the size of a regular high-end DSLR CCD, but the same size as the KAF-39000 CCD. The new model includes a total of 51.6 million square pixels measures 6.0 μm x 6.0 μm, which is substantially smaller than the 6.8 μm pixels of the KAF-39000.

The resulting images are nothing less than impressive. Kodak says that at 50 megapixels, you could easily detect an object the size of a notebook computer in an image that is covering a width of 1.5 miles. Not surprisingly, the main application field of the chip will be industrial and aerial photography. Pricing of the chip was withheld. However, industry sources recently told us that the KAF-39000 CCD is priced north of $1000.

Hasselblad confirmed that it will be using the new Kodak chip for a new flagship camera of its H3DII series. The already announced H3DII-50, scheduled for a release later this year, will create 65 MB RAW or 150 MB TIFF image files at a rate of 1.1 images per second and 33 images per minute. Images can be stored on U-DMA CF cards, a 100 GB hard drive solution or a directly connected Mac or PC.

The camera weighs 2290 grams, more than four pounds, and will be priced above the 39 megapixel model: Hasselblad said that the H3DII-50 will be available in October of this year for $39,995.

]]> http://visakhvijay.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/new-50-megapixels-camera-from-kodak/feed/ 1 Vichu http://visakhvijay.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/heroin/ http://visakhvijay.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/heroin/#comments Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:10:42 +0000 Visakh Vijay http://visakhvijay.wordpress.com/?p=99 ]]> Heroin is a highly addictive drug, and Heroin Addiction is a serious problem in America. Recent studies suggest a shift from injecting heroin to snorting or smoking because of increased purity and the misconception that these forms of use will not lead to addiction.
Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder. Street names for heroin include “smack,” “H,” “skag,” and “junk.” Other names may refer to types of heroin produced in a specific geographical area, such as “Mexican black tar.”

What is heroin?

Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is both the most abused and the most rapidly acting of the opiates. Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants. It is typically sold as a white or brownish powder or as the black sticky substance known on the streets as “black tar heroin.” Although purer heroin is becoming more common, most street heroin is “cut” with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. Street heroin can also be cut with strychnine or other poisons. Because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the drug or its true contents, they are at risk of overdose or death. Heroin also poses special problems because of the transmission of HIV and other diseases that can occur from sharing needles or other injection equipment.

What is the scope of heroin use in the United States?

According to the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, which may actually underestimate illicit opiate (heroin) use, an estimated 2.4 million people had used heroin at some time in their lives, and nearly 130,000 of them reported using it within the month preceding the survey. The survey report estimates that there were 81,000 new heroin users in 1997. A large proportion of these recent new users were smoking, snorting, or sniffing heroin, and most (87 percent) were under age 26. In 1992, only 61 percent were younger than 26.

The 1998 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which collects data on drug-related hospital emergency department (ED) episodes from 21 metropolitan areas, estimates that 14 percent of all drug-related ED episodes involved heroin. Even more alarming is the fact that between 1991 and 1996, heroin-related ED episodes more than doubled (from 35,898 to 73,846). Among youths aged 12 to 17, heroin-related episodes nearly quadrupled.

NIDA’s Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG), which provides information about the nature and patterns of drug use in 21 cities, reported in its December 1999 publication that heroin was mentioned most often as the primary drug of abuse in drug abuse treatment admissions in Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, and San Francisco.

How is heroin used?

Heroin is usually injected, sniffed/snorted, or smoked. Typically, a heroin abuser may inject up to four times a day. Intravenous injection provides the greatest intensity and most rapid onset of euphoria (7 to 8 seconds), while intramuscular injection produces a relatively slow onset of euphoria (5 to 8 minutes). When heroin is sniffed or smoked, peak effects are usually felt within 10 to 15 minutes. Although smoking and sniffing heroin do not produce a “rush” as quickly or as intensely as intravenous injection, NIDA researchers have confirmed that all three forms of heroin administration are addictive.

Injection continues to be the predominant method of heroin use among addicted users seeking treatment; however, researchers have observed a shift in heroin use patterns, from injection to sniffing and smoking. In fact, sniffing/snorting heroin is now the most widely reported means of taking heroin among users admitted for drug treatment in Newark, Chicago, and New York.

With the shift in heroin abuse patterns comes an even more diverse group of users. Older users (over 30) continue to be one of the largest user groups in most national data. However, the increase continues in new, young users across the country who are being lured by inexpensive, high-purity heroin that can be sniffed or smoked instead of injected. Heroin has also been appearing in more affluent communities.

What are the immediate (short-term) effects of heroin use?

Soon after injection (or inhalation), heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier. In the brain, heroin is converted to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors. Abusers typically report feeling a surge of pleasurable sensation, a “rush.” The intensity of the rush is a function of how much drug is taken and how rapidly the drug enters the brain and binds to the natural opioid receptors. Heroin is particularly addictive because it enters the brain so rapidly. With heroin, the rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and severe itching.

After the initial effects, abusers usually will be drowsy for several hours. Mental function is clouded by heroin’s effect on the central nervous system. Cardiac function slows. Breathing is also severely slowed, sometimes to the point of death. Heroin overdose is a particular risk on the street, where the amount and purity of the drug cannot be accurately known.

What are the long-term effects of heroin use?

One of the most detrimental long-term effects of heroin is addiction itself.

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, and by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. Heroin also produces profound degrees of tolerance and physical dependence, which are also powerful motivating factors for compulsive use and abuse. As with abusers of any addictive drug, heroin abusers gradually spend more and more time and energy obtaining and using the drug. Once they are addicted, the heroin abusers’ primary purpose in life becomes seeking and using drugs. The drugs literally change their brains.

Physical dependence develops with higher doses of the drug. With physical dependence, the body adapts to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced abruptly. Withdrawal may occur within a few hours after the last time the drug is taken. Symptoms of withdrawal include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (“cold turkey”), and leg movements. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 24 and 48 hours after the last dose of heroin and subside after about a week. However, some people have shown persistent withdrawal signs for many months. Heroin withdrawal is never fatal to otherwise healthy adults, but it can cause death to the fetus of a pregnant addict.

At some point during continuous heroin use, a person can become addicted to the drug. Sometimes addicted individuals will endure many of the withdrawal symptoms to reduce their tolerance for the drug so that they can again experience the rush.

Physical dependence and the emergence of withdrawal symptoms were once believed to be the key features of heroin addiction. We now know this may not be the case entirely, since craving and relapse can occur weeks and months after withdrawal symptoms are long gone. We also know that patients with chronic pain who need opiates to function (sometimes over extended periods) have few if any problems leaving opiates after their pain is resolved by other means. This may be because the patient in pain is simply seeking relief of pain and not the rush sought by the addict.

What are the medical complications of chronic heroin use?

Medical consequences of chronic heroin abuse include scarred and/or collapsed veins, bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves, abscesses (boils) and other soft-tissue infections, and liver or kidney disease. Lung complications (including various types of pneumonia and tuberculosis) may result from the poor health condition of the abuser as well as from heroin’s depressing effects on respiration. Many of the additives in street heroin may include substances that do not readily dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs. Immune reactions to these or other contaminants can cause arthritis or other rheumatologic problems.

Of course, sharing of injection equipment or fluids can lead to some of the most severe consequences of heroin abuse-infections with hepatitis B and C, HIV, and a host of other blood-borne viruses, which drug abusers can then pass on to their sexual partners and children.

How does heroin abuse affect pregnant women?

Heroin abuse can cause serious complications during pregnancy, including miscarriage and premature delivery. Children born to addicted mothers are at greater risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), as well. Pregnant women should not be detoxified from opiates because of the increased risk of spontaneous abortion or premature delivery; rather, treatment with methadone is strongly advised. Although infants born to mothers taking prescribed methadone may show signs of physical dependence, they can be treated easily and safely in the nursery. Research has demonstrated also that the effects of in utero exposure to methadone are relatively benign.

Why are heroin users at special risk for contracting HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C?

Heroin addicts are at risk for contracting HIV, hepatitis C, and other infectious diseases. Drug abusers may become infected with HIV, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne pathogens through sharing and reuse of syringes and injection paraphernalia that have been used by infected individuals. They may also become infected with HIV and, although less often, to hepatitis C through unprotected sexual contact with an infected person. Injection drug use has been a factor in an estimated one-third of all HIV and more than half of all hepatitis C cases in the Nation.

NIDA-funded research has found that drug abusers can change the behaviors that put them at risk for contracting HIV, through drug abuse treatment, prevention, and community-based outreach programs. They can eliminate drug use, drug-related risk behaviors such as needle sharing, unsafe sexual practices, and, in turn, the risk of exposure to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Drug abuse prevention and treatment are highly effective in preventing the spread of HIV.

What are the treatments for heroin addiction?

A variety of effective treatments are available for heroin addiction. Treatment tends to be more effective when heroin abuse is identified early. The treatments that follow vary depending on the individual, but methadone, a synthetic opiate that blocks the effects of heroin and eliminates withdrawal symptoms, has a proven record of success for people addicted to heroin. Other pharmaceutical approaches, like LAAM (levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol) and buprenorphine, and many behavioral therapies also are used for treating heroin addiction. If you are seeking addiction treatment make sure the facility understands and specializes in heroin addiction.

Detoxification

The primary objective of detoxification is to relieve withdrawal symptoms while patients adjust to a drug-free state. Not in itself a treatment for addiction, detoxification is a useful step only when it leads into long-term treatment that is either drug-free (residential or outpatient) or uses medications as part of the treatment. The best documented drug-free treatments are the therapeutic community residential programs lasting at least 3 to 6 months.

Methadone programs

Methadone treatment has been used effectively and safely to treat opioid addiction for more than 30 years. Properly prescribed methadone is not intoxicating or sedating, and its effects do not interfere with ordinary activities such as driving a car. The medication is taken orally and it suppresses narcotic withdrawal for 24 to 36 hours. Patients are able to perceive pain and have emotional reactions. Most important, methadone relieves the craving associated with heroin addiction; craving is a major reason for relapse. Among methadone patients, it has been found that normal street doses of heroin are ineffective at producing euphoria, thus making the use of heroin more easily extinguishable.

Methadone’s effects last for about 24 hours – four to six times as long as those of heroin – so people in treatment need to take it only once a day. Also, methadone is medically safe even when used continuously for 10 years or more. Combined with behavioral therapies or counseling and other supportive services, methadone enables patients to stop using heroin (and other opiates) and return to more stable and productive lives.

Methadone dosages must be carefully monitored in patients who are receiving antiviral therapy for HIV infection, to avoid potential medication interactions.

LAAM and other medications

LAAM, like methadone, is a synthetic opiate that can be used to treat heroin addiction. LAAM can block the effects of heroin for up to 72 hours with minimal side effects when taken orally. In 1993 the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of LAAM for treating patients addicted to heroin. Its long duration of action permits dosing just three times per week, thereby eliminating the need for daily dosing and take-home doses for weekends. LAAM will be increasingly available in clinics that already dispense methadone. Naloxone and naltrexone are medications that also block the effects of morphine, heroin, and other opiates. As antagonists, they are especially useful as antidotes. Naltrexone has long-lasting effects, ranging from 1 to 3 days, depending on the dose. Naltrexone blocks the pleasurable effects of heroin and is useful in treating some highly motivated individuals. Naltrexone has also been found to be successful in preventing relapse by former opiate addicts released from prison on probation.

Another medication to treat heroin addiction, buprenorphine, may already be available by the time this Research Report appears. Buprenorphine is a particularly attractive treatment because, compared to other medications, such as methadone, it causes weaker opiate effects and is less likely to cause overdose problems. Buprenorphine also produces a lower level of physical dependence, so patients who discontinue the medication generally have fewer withdrawal symptoms than do those who stop taking methadone. Because of these advantages, buprenorphine may be appropriate for use in a wider variety of treatment settings than the currently available medications. Several other medications with potential for treating heroin overdose or addiction are currently under investigation by NIDA.

Behavioral therapies

Although behavioral and pharmacologic treatments can be extremely useful when employed alone, science has taught us that integrating both types of treatments will ultimately be the most effective approach. There are many effective behavioral treatments available for heroin addiction. These can include residential and outpatient approaches. An important task is to match the best treatment approach to meet the particular needs of the patient. Moreover, several new behavioral therapies, such as contingency management therapy and cognitive-behavioral interventions, show particular promise as treatments for heroin addiction. Contingency management therapy uses a voucher-based system, where patients earn ÒpointsÓ based on negative drug tests, which they can exchange for items that encourage healthy living. Cognitive-behavioral interventions are designed to help modify the patient’s thinking, expectancies, and behaviors and to increase skills in coping with various life stressors. Both behavioral and pharmacological treatments help to restore a degree of normalcy to brain function and behavior, with increased employment rates and lower risk of HIV and other diseases and criminal behavior.

How it is taken
Snorted
Injected
Smoked
Swallowed

Common effects

• initial physiological arousal and feelings of well being
• increased body temperature, heart rate
• dilated pupils
• sexual arousal
• poor concentration and judgement
• feelings of great physical strength and confidence
• unpredictable and violent behaviour

What it is
Cocaine is a highly addictive stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant. It provides increased energy and a euphoric sense of wellbeing.

Cocaine commonly comes in the form of a white odourless powder called cocaine hydrochloride (HCI). This is the pure form of cocaine that has a pearl-colouredappearance and a bitter numbing taste. The powder is extracted from the leaves of the coca bush found. Various chemicals are used to develop the different types of cocaine.

Historically, cocaine was used as a painkiller in dentistry and for surgical operations on eyes and throats.
There are several forms of cocaine, each with differing modes of administration:

• Freebase – Freebase is the base form of cocaine as opposed to the salt. It is derived from cocaine hydrochloride which has been chemically treated with ammonia or baking soda. It then forms shards of rock like crystals that are not dissolvable in water, so freebase cannot be injected or sniffed. It is smoked from pipes, or mixed with tobacco or cannabis and the rush is almost instant. The initial high lasts no longer than 5-10 minutes and a craving for a second hit occurs soon after.
• Crack cocaine – Crack is a less pure variety of freebase. The cocaine hydrochloride is mixed with baking soda and water, and then heated to form crystals like rocks. Crack cocaine is smoked. Crack cocaine was initially developed for a poorer market and some people still refer to it today as ‘poor man’s cocaine’. Crack cocaine’s impurity is indicated by its colour which will generally range from a yellowish crème to light brown. Pure cocaine (HCI) will be a pearly white colour.
• Cocaine hydrochloride – Cocaine hydrochloride is a salt and a more pure form of cocaine, though it can sometimes be mixed with other substances, some of which are poisonous. It comes in a powdered form which is snorted. The powder that is not absorbed through the nasal membranes collect in mucus and drips down the back of the throat. For many this is an unpleasant sensation. Regular and heavy snorting use can damage the tissue on the inside of the nose.

Cocaine can be swallowed (eaten) or injected, although these methods are more rarely used.

Short term effects
Cocaine’s effects can last from 20 minutes to several hours depending on the dosage, method of administration and purity. Common initial signs are an intense sense of euphoria, hyperactivity, restlessness and increased blood pressure and heart rate.

The initial rush commonly wears off fast and is usually followed by feelings of discomfort, depression and a craving to experience the drug again. Side effects from these feelings include twitching, paranoia and impotence which usually increases with frequent use.

The immediate craving to use more cocaine is strong, because euphoric effects often subside within an hour of the last dosage. When administration stops after binge use, it is usually followed by a ‘crash’, or the onset of a state of restlessness and anxiety, with escalating exhaustion until sleep is achieved.

Cocaine causes heat loss and cocaine induced hyperthermia has been known to occur. This may cause muscle cell destruction and can ultimately result in renal failure.

Cocaine is generally detectable in urine for two to three days after use, although long time habitual users may have traces of cocaine in their system for longer.

Long-term effects
Long-term use has multiple physical and psychological health consequences. It is associated with a lifetime risk of heart attack that is seven times that of non-users.

With excessive use and dosage the drug can produce:

• hallucinations and paranoid delusions,
• erratic heartbeat, itching, and psychosis.
• paranoia, nausea and vomiting
• loss of concentration and coordination
• loss of interest in sex,
• loss of ambition and motivation

Tolerance develops after excessive use over long periods leading the user to require larger doses to achieve desired effects and heightening the risk of developing negative health consequences.

Smoking cocaine long-term can result in chest pains, lung trauma, shortness of breath, sore throat, and aching flu like symptoms.

Snorting as a mode of administration degrades the cartilage separating the nostrils which can cause it eventually to disappear.
Long-term injection use can result in blood vessels becoming blocked by substances mixed with cocaine, collapsed veins, tetanus, abscesses, and damage to the lungs, heart, liver and brain. Nose bleeds can also occur with excessive use.

Dependence, addiction, and overdose risk
The high from cocaine can be intensely rewarding but the experience is very short lived. The euphoria initially experienced produces an intense craving which can develop quickly into an addiction. Addiction rates are high for smoking and much higher for injecting.

Many dependent users develop a transient manic like condition similar to amphetamine psychosis and schizophrenia. Symptoms of this include aggression, severe paranoia, tactile hallucinations as well as feelings of insects crawling under the skin.

Because cocaine is a highly addictive substance with shorted lived effects, users sometimes go on binge sessions resulting in overdose. Overdoses can lead to rapid heartbeat, raised blood pressure, heart attack, seizures, kidney failure, stroke and repeated convulsions. Death may result. There is no specific antidote for cocaine overdose.

Withdrawal symptoms occur when a dependent user decides to stop use or significantly cuts down the amount they are using. Cocaine withdrawal commonly occurs in three phases:

1. ‘Crash’: occurs immediately after the person stops using cocaine and especially after a cocaine binge session. Symptoms include:

• agitation
• depression
• intense craving for the drug
• fatigue.

2. Withdrawal: depending on individual history of use, this can last up to ten weeks. Symptoms include:

• depression
• lack of motivation
• anxiety, shaking
• intense craving foe the drug
• angry outbursts
• nausea and vomiting
• muscle pain.
• sleep disturbances

3. Extinction: Even after withdrawal symptoms have ceased, sporadic cravings for cocaine may surface months or years after the user has ceased using cocaine.

The New Zealand context
The cocaine market in New Zealand is not big and has rarely been the focus of media attention or the cause of a significant number of hospital admissions in recent years. The cocaine market has remained stable with high prices and low availability. There is little evidence to suggest that this trend will change.

Statistics
Recent surveys indicate that:

• the median cost of cocaine in 2005 was $300 per gram
• 75 percent of participants said that cocaine’s street price has been stable in the past six months
• 36 percent of participants indicated that availability of cocaine had become ‘more difficult’ in the past six months.
• between 1996 and1998 there were 23 cases of cocaine admissions to publicly funded hospitals
• in 1998 only 4.4 percent of survey participants had ever tried cocaine and 1.1 percent had tried cocaine in the past year.
• in 1998 0.8 percent of survey participants had tried crack cocaine and 0.2 percent had tried crack cocaine in the past year.
• in 2001 3.2 percent of participants had tried cocaine and 0.6 percent had tried cocaine in the past year. Only 0.3 percent were current users.

The law and penalties
Cocaine is illegal in New Zealand and is classified as a Class A drug scheduled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. This means it attracts the highest penalties possible for manufacture, sale and use.
Manufacturing, importing, supply or dealing cocaine can attract a maximum sentence of life in jail. Conspiracy to commit an offence or to manufacture, import or supply can attract up to 14 years imprisonment. Possession of cocaine can attract up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a $1000 fine.

Safe use
Because cocaine is a highly addictive drug, and the initial effects of euphoria wear off quickly, it is important that users do not feed their cravings by repeating cocaine use (bingeing) to achieve the desired effect. It is very common for cocaine bingeing to lead to addiction. Possessing excessive amounts of cocaine at one time can help feed bingeing behaviour.

Injecting users should always use clean needles and return used needles to a needle exchange service. This will help prevent blood-borne diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis.

Studies show that shared straws (used for sniffing) can cause the spread of blood borne diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis as a result of residual of blood and mucus left on the straw.

How to get help
There are a number of treatment organisations that can help. If you feel that you or anyone you know needs help, then you can call these services in strict confidence.

If you are faced with an emergency, call 111 immediately.

To talk to someone about your or someone else’s drug use, call the Alcohol Drug Helpline – 0800 787 797

You can also get contact details for your local alcohol and other drug counsellor or treatment provider by calling the helpline or by visiting www.addictionshelp.org.nz

Bao Xishun, the tallest man shakes hands with He Pingping, who is currently aiming for a place in the Guiness Book of Records as the world’s shortest man

The historic meeting between Bao, who stands 2.36 meters (7.9 feet) tall, and He, who only reaches 73 centimeters (2.4 feet) in height, took place in Baotou, in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday.

The world’s shortest man, He Pingping, tried out the shoe of the world’s tallest man at the Guinness World Records Museum in Tokyo, Japan

World’s Tallest Man Meets Worlds Smallest Man!!!

A spokesperson for Guinness said they were waiting on the final pieces of evidence, including birth certificate and doctors’ reports, before making a decision.

All those “world’s smallest” flash drives now have to face Kingmax’s USB 2.0 Super Stick as it looks to challenge all the previous (and currently unconfirmed) claims of diminutive superiority. While it looks to be a revamped version of the company’s first iteration, this uber-slim flash drive weighs in at just a single gram, and measures 34- x 12.4- x 2.2-mm, which also means this just might be the easiest possible storage medium to lose track of. Nevertheless, this Vista / OS X-friendly drive comes in 512MB ($19), 1GB ($29), 2GB ($39), and 4GB ($55) flavors, and if you’re interested in picking up a thumb drive that can probably double as a toothpick, it’s available as we speak.

1. Smoking – Smoking is a highly addictive habit that affects millions of people. The effects of smoking can lead to cancer, heart disease, and emphysema. It can also have long-term negative effects on your throat, your digestive system, your skeletal system, and your skin. And, the smoke that is released from cigarettes can cause great harm to those around you.

Reality

2. Poor diet – Both eating too much and eating the wrong types of foods can lead to long-term health problems. Eat too much (meaning having no regard for portion sizes) and you are likely to suffer from hypertension, obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease. Eating the wrong foods (meaning fast foods, high fat snacks, and highly processed foods) can also lead to obesity, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Any of these conditions can cause stroke, heart attack, and death. Stick to natural, fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for the bulk of your diet. “Cheating” once in a while is ok, too!

3. Excessive drinking – Excessive drinking can lead to long-term liver damage, and it can affect your overall physical and mental health. Drinking and driving cannot only injure or kill you, but it can injure or kill others as well. The key to drinking alcohol is moderation, and if you have had even one drink, let someone who has not been drinking drive the car.

4. Not moving your body – Exercise is hard. It takes time. It takes commitment. But it helps you to control your weight, look great, feel strong and limber, have more energy, it lowers your blood pressure, increases your HDL cholesterol (that’s the good one!), and relieves stress. Why wouldn’t you want to do something that will give you all of those things? Walk, jog, swim, play with your kids in the backyard – do something to keep your body moving!

5. Ignoring stress – Some stress is good, it can be a motivator. Too much stress, though, can lead to a whole host of problems if it is ignored: high blood pressure, depression, severe headaches, or digestive problems. Find something that you enjoy doing and that relaxes you: exercising, meditating, gardening, and reading, anything that helps you leave your stress at the door.

6. Not sleeping enough – Not getting enough sleep affects your judgment, your reaction time, and your mood. This can put you and others in danger, and it can affect your professional and personal relationships. Try to get at least 6-8 hours of sleep each night.

Making bad lifestyle choices, whether they are conscious or not, can mean the difference between a shorter life filled with health problems and a longer life filled with vitality and happiness. Being aware of the things that you can do to make your life better is fundamental to living a long and healthy life. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones!