3 Tarsiers, 1,776 Chocolate Hills and... a Pyramid?

We've been hearing (and reading) about tarsiers, the Blood Compact Site or the "Sanduguan" and the chocolate hills but being able to see them is a different story. The experience is exhilarating! My family and I just got back from a 3D2N Bohol Adventure (May 29-31) and we definitely enjoyed our stay in one of the Philippines' 7107 islands.

We stayed in a place (beachfront resort) named "Pyramid" which is located at Alona Beach, Panglao. Getting there is a breeze. By air, it's a one hour direct flight from Manila to Tagbilaran (Capital City of Bohol) -- there are around 7 flights daily catered by Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Zest Air. From Tagbilaran airport, Pyramid's van was there, ready to pick us up. It is then a 30-45 minutes worth of land travel until you reach Alona beach in Panglao. The welcoming drink which was a tall glass of tropical fruit juice was refreshing, and as I was sipping, I kept looking around, from the resort cottages, to the pavillion, to the beach. "Am I in a different world?" All I could hear were faint voices from chatting guests and locals, the sound of the waves and a low volumed reggae music. Sigh, I wish city life was as tranquil as this. Moments later we were ushered to our 2 storey cottages, Ramesses 1 A and B (this is where I stayed). It was homey, and you could really feel country living, without sacrificing comfort and convenience. Although much of its furnishings are made from wood and bamboo, everything inside was modern. A panel air conditioner, a cable TV, a clean and spacious bathroom, comfortable sofas to sit on and 2 double sized beds. Not to mention a very fast wi-fi connection.

Anyway, my cousins and I went swimming, played poi, and the usual cam-whoring afterwards. At around 2PM we had lunch at the pavillion of Pyramid. We were flabbergasted when one of the wait staff told us that dishes such as sinigang amounting to 400+ was good for only 1 person (when what he really meant was that it's served on one bowl but good for probably 3-4 people). My auntie "aggressively negotiated" with the person in charge and we ended up having a good meal for the whole family, seems like it was all some communication mishap (the locals speak Bisaya and English.. little Tagalog). They serve pretty good tasting dishes actually, I liked their inihaw na baboy, broccoli in curry sauce and calamares. Their fruit shakes are also really good.

We woke up early the next day with much anticipation of the stuff we're going to do. We availed of the resort's Countryside Tour worth 3200 for all 8 of us. The itinerary are as follows: Chocolate Hills, Loboc River, Baclayon Church and Museum, Tarsier, Bilar Manmade Forest, Hanging Bridge, Python, Blood Compact Shrine.

The sceneries are breathtaking. Saying that the experience was awesome is an understatement. Really cute tarsiers, nature's marvels - Chocolate Hills, the historic "Sanduguan", a really sumptuous lunch on a floating restaurant, one of Asia's oldest churches. The tour ended at around 6:30-7:00 in the evening and we got home soon after. Had dinner by the beach on a candlelit table, slightly angled with the gradient of the beach. Sigh, this reminds me a lot of Boracay and Puerto, and yes, you could still see people outside even at 1AM, ah nightlife. Anyway our feast was an epic of gastronomic proportions. Grilled food (mostly seafood) at their very best! Fresh, tasty and cooked to perfection. Sugpo as big as my ulna, grilled squid with tomatoes and onions, beef-pork-vegetables kebab and a green colored "Parrot Fish". Yum.

Over-all me and my family enjoyed our escapade to Bohol. Nice place, even cooler people and an experience we will never forget.

My Rating for Pyramid Resort

Accomodation: 9/10

Food: 9/10

Staff: 7/10

Value: 8/10

Total: 8.25 

More Pictures - Facebook:

Bohol 1  and Bohol 2

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To Learn More About Pyramid and their tour packages, please visit: Alona-Pyramid

Zip-ping with Poi-se

Have you ever experienced relaxing by the beach or at the park when a stream of bright color catches your eye? It moves in a smooth wavelike motion against the clear sky, one after the other. These twirling ribbons in bright colors appear as if they're dancing in the air. They seem almost alive. Then you notice that these ribbons are being held by able hands. It is also likely that these people weaving these intricate sky serpents are hooked to their Ipods as they dance like they're on a trance.

Those cool looking thinggies are called Zips (named after Planet Zips - pioneer Poi company in the Philippines). Zips which are growing in popularity here in the country are inspired from Poi -- a traditional dance of the Maori natives of New Zealand. Poi literally means rock on a string. It was used by the Maori males for warfare and the females to attract a partner. The essential elements of poi are a weighted center and a piece of string. Sometimes they end with long flowing ribbons, other times with fuzzy balls or flashy LED lights. The more trained and courageous aficionados use flammable Kevlar at the end of their chains to spin fire.

What used to be a folk dance of sorts became a global fitness phenomenon. Today, poi/zips are being marketed as a cardiovascular-fitness craze, recreational toy, and an art form. These toys have emerged all over the world. Websites devoted to the art of poi have sprung up all over cyberspace. Communities of spinners trade techniques and videos.

In the modern world, the art of poi is practiced as an outlet for individual creativity. Moves are strung together to create seemingly complicated combinations. The more tricks a spinner can master, the wider and richer his routine becomes. To watch a skilled spinner at work is captivating. No “show” is ever the same and no two spinners are alike. Each individual imbues their personal stamp on their style. I have been zipping for about 4 months now and I have enjoyed every second of spinning my poi, whether I'm on the beach, the park, Bonifacio High Street or even in our own backyard.

But why would a bit of string, a weighted center and a flowing ribbon catch the attention of so many people? Well, first of all, it is fun. It truly is as simple as that. They sometimes have a calming effect on people. It's like doing cardio, yoga, tai chi and a performance art all at the same time.
 
And if you think ribbon poi are impressive, wait until you see fire poi in use! There is a whoosh of sound as fire poi begin to make circles in the air. To a poi fan, it is literally, the sound of energy. This harnessed power finds a conduit in the hands of the spinner as the energy flows from the spinner to his/her poi. The display, when done by someone with skill and finesse, is captivating. Coupled with the appropriate music, a fire dancing show can be mind-blowing.
 

 

Even if you don’t think spinning fire is quite up your alley, you can always pick up a pair of ribbon or LED poi and spin away. How quickly a newbie picks up the various moves depends largely on each individual. There are some who learn faster than others. Lessons help of course. You can find free tutorials on-line or buy instructional DVDs. Live classes are the most beneficial of course and there are a growing number of reputable teachers worldwide

 

But when it all comes down to it, the choice is all yours. It is your choice if you would like to have structured classes (Planet Zips hold regular classes in Alabang, Quezon City and Makati - where you follow modules from beginner moves to intermediate.. then advanced --with varying rates and packages) or be self-teaching (YouTube instructional videos). It is up to you to find out what your personal style is; if you like to spin fast to house music or lose yourself in tribal beats. There are no rules. All that is expected is that you enjoy yourself. As Planet Zips put it... Free, Flow, Go
 
Here is a video of Yuta - a famous fire poi spinner from Japan:

More About Poi/Zips:

Home of Poi

Planet Zips

Play Poi

Lawn of the Dead

It's been ages since my last (real) entry.. and a lot of things have happened to me and my family. Here are a few:

~ got a medical school scholarship
~ dorm (Facebook - MediSin Album)
~ Lola Josie's reunion with my Mama Mappie and our other dearly departed
~ Poi / Zips (will post something about this later)

In this entry, I will be sharing my experience with another tower defence game - Plants vs. Zombies.

Plants vs. Zombies is a game developed by PopCap (Bejeweled, Peggle, Feeding Frenzy)

The object of Plants vs. Zombies is simple: There's a zombie on your lawn. We don't want zombies on the lawn. Not only because the neighbors might point and stare, but also because if they make it all the way to your house, the zombies are going to come inside and eat your brains. Plants vs. Zombies is your basic tower defense game, with a wide variety of plants acting as the line of defense between your noggin and the shambling undead. You begin each round with a sneak peek at the zombies that are standing in the street, patiently awaiting their chance to jump the curb and make a beeline for your back door. You can then choose the plants you want to take into battle; certain plants are useless against certain zombies, so plan carefully.

The most important resource in the game is sunshine. Each seed costs a certain amount of sun to plant; the more powerful the seed, the more sun it costs. Sunshine falls naturally from the sunny sky, but not in large enough quantities to do you much good - you'll have to plant Sunflowers to boost your sunlight-gathering abilities. Even if you've got plenty of sun, you need to be wise about how and when you plant. Seeds take a certain amount of time to recharge after planting, so relying too much on powerful seeds that take more time to recharge can leave you wide open and vulnerable.

At first, you'll only have a handful of seeds at your disposal, but you earn a new seed at the end of each cleared level. You'll more than likely settle on a favorite combination of plants pretty early on, but Plants vs. Zombies does a great job of forcing you to reconsider your strategies. Sun isn't as readily available at night, for example, while the slope of the roof renders straight-shooting peas virtually useless. Wall-nuts that kept weaker zombies at bay are no match for pole vaulting or ladder zombies, and you can't plant much of anything in the pool without laying down a lily pad first.

That said, Plants vs. Zombies certainly isn't the hardest tower defense game you'll ever play - seasoned players will probably beat Adventure Mode without ever once losing a round. There's still loads to do, even after you defeat the final boss, though. You can tend to the plants in your Zen Garden, which spit out money if you treat them well, or visit the Tree of Wisdom, which spits out advice if you treat it well. You can also test your skill at an assortment of mini-games, though some are definitely more fun than others. Invisighouls, which pits you against an army of invisible undead, is particularly challenging, as is Portal Kombat, but Slot Machine and Whack-a-Zombie are a bit weak. Oh, but you're not done yet. Once you've worked your way through all of those, there are still two puzzle modes to master: Vasebreaker, in which you have to protect your brains while smashing all the vases on the lawn and my personal favorite, I, Zombie, which lets you switch roles and play as the brain-munchers themselves. But wait, you're still not done! You still have two different survival modes to conquer for each of the game's five different environments and believe me, Hard is no picnic, even for experienced zombie slayers. Once you've done all that, you can play through the game for a second time, when your neighbor Crazy Dave chooses your first three seeds for you in each round.

Everything about Plants vs. Zombies is high-quality, start to finish; the music is excellent, the art is charming and adorable, and the game's sense of humor will really have you grinning. The notes the zombies leave are priceless, and even their descriptions in the Almanac are hilarious. Plants vs. Zombies is fun in concentrated form, an intense dose of giggle-inducing entertainment beamed directly to your brain.

Rating

Graphics: 7

Sound: 9 (Brainiac Maniac FTW!)

Gameplay: 8

Over-all: 8

A Libre Me This, Libre Me That Culture

When I first heard that Binay was going to be the new Vice president, I wondered what aside from the behind-the-scenes machinations would make him popular. He was a surprise winner, after all. Then I heard from someone that in Makati, he gives a lot of freebies. For example, senior citizens could get free birthday cakes, or even money from government offices. It makes sense that a politician who will give dole outs often will be very popular.

But this reflects another bad side of our culture. It is a culture of dependence on or desire for dole-outs.

Ever heard the funny lyrics, “bili mo ko n’yon, bili mo ko n’yan, ha?” That typifies many Filipinos. There is still the cultural desire to have someone else give it to them.

For example, imagine yourself as a working class Filipino, eldest among the children, with a job and salary. You arrive home after work, and you hear the screams of “where are our French fries!” from your siblings. Your parents, who are already senior citizens, will demand, “when are you going to bring us to Boracay?” When you reply that your salary is too low for that, they’ll scream, “then go abroad!” You’ll go abroad, you earn enough to send them to Boracay, but your family goes there without you. Lugi ka. Add to that the hassle of going abroad, adjusting to another country and culture, separation from your own, etc.

In addition, Filipinos seem so afraid to work. Stories in Maalaala Mo Kaya to go like, “mula ng magkasakit si tatay, lahat kaming magkapatid kailangan magtrabaho.” It’s understandable if they have to stop schooling and go to work. But it gives the idea that it’s wrong if all siblings go to work. But there are stories where the children have graduated, but don’t go to work, and remain fed by the overworked parents. You should send your kids to school, but it’s a sin so send them to work? That’s one of the bad things our local media feeds our lazy people.

In addition, consumerism is tremendous in Filipino culture. Everyone desires to have the latest brand or be part of the latest fad. And to do this, they’ll ask for dole-outs from mama and papa, or from their working sibling.

And this affects the way our people vote. When candidates like Gordon come in offering the attraction of foreign investment to the country to generate jobs, they become less popular than candidates who offer freebies to people. “We will give you want you want, and you don’t need to lift a finger.” This is the most likely criteria that our people have for choosing their leaders. And this is what makes our country an idiocracy or kakistocracy.

Thus, I point you to Rafterman’s article that stated this undeniable truth: the reason for Filipino corruption and dysfunction is laziness. Filipinos, most of them for that matter, are lazy. And laziness can be found in all classes, from the richest to the poorest.

But I have to point this out: just look at most of the people who receive dole-outs from popular freebie givers. They’re still poor! Most of them are still poor because they wanted to receive fish. They refused to learn how to fish, all because of laziness. Then they’ll play the victim card again and say they’re poor. They’re not just poor, they’re pathetic.

I also have to mention this comment I saw from Ilda’s Offical Profile of Noynoy, which has the sense of a dole-out seeker:
 
CONGRATULATION !!! PRESIDENT BENIGNO NOYNOY C. AQUINO III. FOR BEING A PRESIDENT OF PHILIPPINES.I AM JUST A ORDINARY FILIPINO HOPING AND WISHING TO HELP OUR COUNTRY.BY YOUR HELP I WILL NOT HESITATE TO REQUEST ASSISTANCE PARTICULARLY AIR POLLUTION THAT CAUSE A BIG PROBLEM TO OUR ENVIRONMENT.I AM WISHING SO MUCH TO HAVE ASSISTANCE HELPING ME ON WHAT I HAVE.IT MAY COME CLOSER TO DEVELOP TOURISM ANDENVIRONMENT IF ASSISTANCE COME IN PLANTING IN ROAD ISLAND AND FRESH AIR THERAPY FROM GARDEN FLORAL FLOWER ANCIENT PLANT. FOR ME I JUST WANT TO DEVELOP THIS.I ASK A ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT FROM YOU BECAUSE I AM COMFORTABLE IN YOU.I AM HOPING TO BE INTERVIEW REGARDING THIS AND SUPPORT BECAUSE I KNOW IT WILL HAVE A POTENTIALS IN THE ENVIRONMENT MOSTLY PREVENTING AIR POLLUTION AND OUR HEALTH. CP#(taken out for privacy). NOEL B. DALISAY.

Ayos. That keeled me over.

Though it’s for a business, Mr. Dalisay is still asking for a dole-out to help him start up. Darn, for support for his anti-pollution focus, why didn’t he think of Perlas? And if he wanted real support for his herbal business, why doesn’t he ask for funds from investors abroad? Problem is, our protectionist clauses are inhibiting investments from abroad, so people like Mr. Dalisay are kept poor by our pro-oligarch policies.

Hence, our culture today has become a “libre me this, libre me that” culture. It not only affects our lifestyles and family stability, but it also affects the way we vote. We have to break this culture of laziness and make it a value that everyone should work for their own keep.

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Anti-Pinoy: Culture of Libre (ChinoF)

Pilipinas - s/p Election 2010

Top 10 Bizarre Medical Anomalies

[WARNING: some images and content may disturb and are not work safe.] Gone are the days of sideshows displaying freaks of nature, but the diseases that caused these so-called “freaks” are still with us. Political correctness has made it impolite to display the sufferers of these illnesses, so we are left with the Internet – the last resort of those with a fascinating for the bizarre. This list looks at some of the most unusual (and sometimes horrifying) anomalies of medical science. Viewer Discretion is advised

Diprospus

(sometimes called Craniofacial duplication) is a rare disorder in which the face is duplicated on the head (as in the picture above). This is not to be confused with fetus in fetu (item 9) which is a joining of two separate fetuses; diprosopus is caused by a protein called (believe it or not) “sonic hedgehog homolog”. The odd name is due to a controversial tradition in molecular biology to use unusual names for genes. The protein determines the makeup of the face, and when there is too much of it, you get a second face in a mirror image. If you do not have enough of the protein, you can end up with underdeveloped facial features. Children with this defect are normally stillborn, but a young girl, Lali Singh, born in 2008 survived for 2 full months before dying of a heart attack.


Fetus in Fetu

The man pictured above is Sanju Bhagat aged 36 from India. He is fully pregnant with his own twin. Because Sanju lacked a placenta, the fetus inside him attached directly to his blood supply. Doctors delivered the twin which was severely malformed and did not survive. Fetus in fetu is an extremely rare disorder in which a twin somehow becomes connected (internally or partly externally) to its twin while still in the womb. In some cases the fetus in fetu will remain inside the host twin unknown until it begins to cause problems. In more common cases, the signs are visible from the outset and are often initially confused with cysts or cancers. In a recent case a 7 year old boy was discovered to be carrying his twin when his parents noticed that something was moving in his stomach


Proteus Syndrome

The Elephant Man (Joseph Merrick) is probably the most famous case of Proteus Syndrome. The disease causes excessive bone growth, excessive skin growth, and frequently comes with tumors. Only 200 cases have been confirmed worldwide since the disease was officially discovered in 1979. It is possible to have a minor form of this disease which can go undiagnosed. The case of the Elephant Man has been the sole reason that this disease is so widely known. Sufferers have normal brain function and intelligence.

Möbius Syndrome 

A rare disorder in which the facial muscles are paralyzed. In most cases the eyes are also unable to move from side to side. The disease prevents a sufferer from having any facial expressions, which can make them appear to be uninterested or “dull” – sometimes leading to people thinking they are rude. Sufferers have completely normal mental development. The causes are not fully understood and there is no treatment aside from addressing the symptoms (such as an inability to feed as a baby).


Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome (progeria)

will be familiar to people old enough to remember the television program That’s Incredible from the ’80s in which a young sufferer of the disorder appeared. The disease causes premature aging – so rapidly that a young child can look like a very old man (or, if I may be so callous as to point out the obvious, an alien – as in the photograph above). The disease is especially interesting for scientists as it may lend clues to the natural aging process in man. The disease is caused by a genetic mutation, and does not pass from parent to child. There is no known cure, and most children with the disease do not live beyond the age of thirteen – usually dying of stroke or heart attack (diseases usually associated with old age).


Cutaneous porphyria 

A disorder that causes blisters, excess hair, swelling, and necrosis of the skin. It can cause red colored teeth and fingernails, and after exposure to sun, urine can turn purple, pink, brown, or black. The disease is thought to be connected to the many werewolf and vampire legends of the past, where a sufferer (who would have lived apart from society) might have been confused for a monster. The disease is part of the more general group of disorders called porphyrias which cover a range of mental and physical disorders due to the overproduction of certain enzymes in the body. The disease gets its name from the Greek word “porphura” which means “purple pigment”.


Elephantiasis

First off, note the spelling – it is Elephant-iasis not Elephant-itis as many people wrongly think. Elephantiasis is a thickening of the skin (as opposed to proteus syndrome which is a thickening of the bones as well as the skin). Unfortunately, this is a disease that any one of us can get as it is caused by parasitic worms passed on through mosquito bites. It is, consequently, not uncommon in tropical regions and Africa. A slightly different form of the disease is caused through contact with certain types of soil. In some parts of Ethiopa, up to 6% of the population suffers from the disorder. It is one of the most common disabilities in the world. Efforts to eradicate the disease are well underway and it is hoped that it will be successfully relegated to the annals of history by 2020.


Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP for short) is a very rare disease that causes parts of the body (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) to turn to bone when they are damaged. This can often cause damaged joints to fuse together, preventing movement. Unfortunately surgical removal of the bone growths is ineffective as the body “heals” itself by recreating the removed bone. To make matters worse, the disease is so rare that it is often misdiagnosed as cancer, leading doctors to perform biopsies which can spark off worse growth of these bone-like lumps. The most famous case is Harry Eastlack whose body was so ossified by his death that he could only move his lips. His skeleton is now on display at the Mütter Museum. There is no cure.


Epidermodysplasia verruciformis

Lewandowsky-Lutz Dysplasia (also known as Epidermodysplasia verruciformis) is an extremely rare inheritable disorder in which warts form on the skin. It normally affects the hands and feet and while it can start in middle ages, it normally begins between the ages of one and twenty. There is no known effective treatment for the disease though surgery can be used to remove the warts. Unfortunately, after surgery the warts begin to return and it is estimated that a sufferer would need at least two surgeries per year to remove them each time they grow back. In 2007 a sufferer had surgery for the disease and thirteen pounds (5.8 kilos) of warts were removed. 95% of the warts were removed.


Diphallia

Diphallia (also known as Penile Duplication) is a condition in which a male is born with two penises. It is a rare disorder with only 1,000 cases recorded. Sufferers are also at a higher risk of spina bifida than men with one penis. A person with diphallia can urinate from one or both of his penises. In most cases, both penises are side by side and the same size, but occasionally one smaller penis will sit atop another larger one. One in 5.5 million men in the United States have two penises.

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From: Listverse: Ultimate Top 10 Lists

Top 10 Bizarre Medical Treatments

Sweat Therapy

Sweat therapy is the combination of group counseling/psychotherapy with group sweating. Group sweating is social interaction while experiencing psychophysiological responses to heat exposure. Group sweating has strong cultural validity as it has existed throughout the world for thousands of years to promote well-being. Examples include the Finnish Sauna, the Russian Banya (sauna), the American Indian Sweat lodge Ceremony, the Islamic Hammam, the Japanese Mushi-Buro or Sentō, and the African Sifutu. Group sweating has been used for various physical and mental purposes for thousands of years. It has been asserted that the potential health benefits of regular participation in Native American sweat lodges are numerous, but that there is a scarcity of research about the practice.

Mud
We are all familiar with the use of clay in health resorts where people bathe in it to improve skin conditions, but what many people don’t know is that clay (or mud) is also used in internal medicines. It is sometimes used as a coating on pills but it is also consumed in larger doses for the treatment of bowel disorders. Even NASA uses clay treatments: “The effects of weightlessness on human body were studied by NASA back in the 1960s. Experiments demonstrated that weightlessness leads to a rapid bone depletion, so various remedies were sought to counter that. A number of pharmaceutical companies were asked to develop calcium supplements, but apparently none of them were as effective as clay. The special clay that was used in this case was Terramin, a reddish clay found in California. Dr. Benjamin Ershoff of the California Polytechnic Institute demonstrated that the consumption of clay counters the effects of weightlessness.”

Electrocution

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock, is a well-established, albeit controversial, psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Today, ECT is most often used as a treatment for severe major depression which has not responded to other treatment, and is also used in the treatment of mania (often in bipolar disorder), catatonia and schizophrenia. It was first introduced in the 1930s and gained widespread use as a form of treatment in the 1940s and 1950s; today, an estimated 1 million people worldwide receive ECT every year, usually in a course of 6–12 treatments administered 2 or 3 times a week. Most, but not all, published reviews of the literature have concluded that ECT is effective in the treatment of depression.


Dousing
Dousing is the practice of making something or someone wet by throwing liquid over them, e.g., by pouring water, generally cold, over oneself. Cold water dousing is used to “shock” the body into a kind of fever. The body’s reaction is similar to the mammalian diving reflex or possibly temperature biofeedback. Several meditative and awareness techniques seem to share similar effects with elevated temperature, such as Tummo. Compare cold water dousing with ice swimming. The effects of dousing are usually more intense and longer lasting than just a cold shower. Ending a shower with cold water is an old naturopathic tradition. There are those who believe that this fever is helpful in killing harmful bacteria and leaving the hardier beneficial bacteria in the body.


Urine

The term urine therapy (also urotherapy, urinotherapy or uropathy) refers to various applications of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including drinking of one’s own urine and massaging one’s skin with one’s own urine. A practitioner of urine therapy is sometimes called a psychopath. Just kidding, they are actually called uropaths. There is no scientific evidence of a therapeutic use for urine. Urinating on jellyfish stings is a common folk remedy, but has no beneficial effect and may be counterproductive, as it can activate nematocysts remaining at the site of the sting. Urine does contain substances that are beneficial, such as Vitamin C; however, these substances have been excreted because they could not be used or because they were present in excess, so re-taking them will just result in re-excretion. The most obvious physiological effect of drinking urine, at least when it is taken on an empty stomach, is bowel movement (sometimes in the form of diarrhea) due to the laxative action of hypertonic solution of urea.


Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often considerable quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. It was the most common medical practice performed by doctors from antiquity up to the late 19th century, a time span of almost 2,000 years. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the historical use of bloodletting was harmful to patients. But, bloodletting has not died a death – it is still one of the most effective treatments of excess iron in the bloodstream and for treatment of excess red blood cells which can occur in diseases such as porphyria. In the old method, the patient was cut and a suction cup was placed over the wound to draw out blood. In modern times syringes are used.


Leech

Medicinal leeches are now making a comeback in microsurgery. They provide an effective means to reduce blood coagulation, relieve venous pressure from pooling blood, and in reconstructive surgery to stimulate circulation in reattachment operations for organs with critical blood flow, such as eye lids, fingers, and ears. The therapeutic effect is not from the blood taken in the meal, but from the continued and steady bleeding from the wound left after the leech has detached. The most common complication from leech treatment is prolonged bleeding, which can easily be treated, although allergic reactions and bacterial infections may also occur. Devices called “mechanical leeches” have been developed which dispense heparin and perform the same function as medicinal leeches, but they are not yet commercially available.


Helminths

Helminthic therapy, a type of Immunotherapy, is the treatment of autoimmune diseases and immune disorders by means of deliberate infestation with parasitic worms (helminths) or their eggs. This is such a cure-all that it is also occasionally used in the treatment of hay fever and asthma. Depending on the particular autoimmune disease in question, infection with helminths can result in remission of symptoms in as high as approximately 70% of patients. The worms are administered via oral doses which are taken repeatedly over a course of weeks and can result in some fairly severe side-effects. Some patients can receive up to eight doses of 2500 worm eggs over the course of their treatment.

Fecal bacteriotherapy

Used in the treatment of certain inflammatory bowel disorders such as ulcerative colitis. The treatment comes in form of a series of enemas given to the patient over a five day period. In order to create the liquid used in the enema, a “poop donor” is needed. In other words, a sample of poop is taken from a healthy person (usually a relative of the patient) and turned into a liquid for anal insertion. The idea is that the healthy bacteria from the poop provider will grow in the sick person and heal them. What is perhaps even more revolting than an enema of someone else’s poop, is the fact that the liquid can also be delivered via a tube in the nose.

Smoking?

For centuries doctors prescribed smoking for a variety of ills and while this does still happen (though the doctor’s generally don’t want it publicized) the numbers of doctors who do this has become extremely small. Research with regard to neurological diseases, evidence suggests that the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease might be 50% lower in smokers, compared to non-smokers. Nicotine has also been found to improve ADHD symptoms and appears to have effects in the brain that are similar to those of stimulants. Although such findings should certainly not encourage anyone to smoke, some studies are focusing on benefits of nicotine therapy in adults with ADHD. Recent studies suggest that smokers require less frequent repeated revascularization after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Risk of ulcerative colitis has been frequently shown to be reduced by smokers on a dose-dependent basis; the effect is eliminated if the individual stops smoking.

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From: Listverse: Ultimate Top 10 Lists

Top 10 Bizarre Surgical Procedures

WARNING: This list contains images of surgery. This list does not include surgical procedures that are now obsolete or obsolescent. The list also excludes cosmetic surgical procedures. Viewer discretion is advised

1. Hemispherectomy

Believe it or not, this surgical procedure involves removing or disabling an entire half of the brain. This procedure is used to treat a variety of seizure disorders where the source of the epilepsy is localized to a broad area of a single hemisphere of the brain. It is reserved for cases which can’t be managed with medication alone. The first time this surgery was performed on a human was in 1923 by Walter Dandy. All of the patients who receive this treatment suffer from partial or full paralysis on the side of the body opposite to the side of the brain removed. Most patients who have undergone this procedure will have neurons from the remaining hemisphere take over the tasks from the lost hemisphere by making new neural connections.


2. Hemicorporectomy

Also known as translumbar amputation, this surgery removes the lower half of the body from above the pelvis. The result is that the sexual organs, anus, rectum, legs, pelvis bones, and urinary system are removed. It is a severely mutilating procedure recommended only as a last resort for patients with severe and potentially fatal illnesses such as osteomyelitis, tumors, severe traumas and intractable decubiti in, or around, the pelvis. This surgery has only been performed in a small number of cases. The surgical procedure is often done in two stages; however it is possible to conduct the surgery in one stage. The first stage is the discontinuation of the waste functions in colostomy (rectum) and ileal conduit (bladder). The second stage will be the actual amputation.


3. Bilateral Cingulotomy

This is a brain surgery used in pain treatment for severe cases of cancer. It involves disabling the cingulate gyrus, a small section of brain that connects the limbic region of the brain with the frontal lobes. It has also found use in psychosurgery (surgery for mental disorders) where it is very controversial. As a psychosurgical treatment it has almost totally replaced lobotomy as a procedure. Its use for alleviation of pain in cancer patients is reasonably well-documented and well-supported, but its use in treating people with depression is not.


4. Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy

ETS is a surgery in which oprtions of the sympathetic nerve trunk are dissected. By cutting these nerve sections, the surgeon is able to treat severe cases of hyperhydrosis (excess sweating). What makes this bizarre is that a side-effect of this treatment is that the person no longer blushes. For that reason it has also become a cosmetic procedure for people who blush excessively. If only one side of the body is treated, a person who has undergone this surgery will have half of their body blushing while the other half remains in its natural state. For this reason the treatment is always performed on both sides of the body.


5. Vaginectomy

In a Vaginectomy, part or all of the vagina is surgically removed. This is normally used as a treatment for various forms of cancer but it also occurs in some sexual reassignment surgeries. It is normal for a surgeon to reconstruct the vagina after this surgery by using other parts of the patient’s body.



6. Lobotomy

Lobotomy is a very controversial medical treatment in which the frontal lobes of the brain are destroyed. It consists of cutting the connections to and from, or simply destroying, the prefrontal cortex. While it is seldom performed nowadays, it does still occur. Lobotomies have been used in the past to treat a wide range of mental illnesses including schizophrenia. This procedure often results in major personality changes or even mental retardation.




7. Penectomy

A Penectomy is the total removal of all, or parts, of the penis. It is normally used as a treatment for cancer, but it has sometimes had to be performed after a botched circumcision. Some men have undergone penectomies as a voluntary body modification, but professional opinion is divided as to whether or not the desire for penile amputation is a pathology, thus including it as part of a body dysmorphic disorder.




8. Circumcision

Circumcision is a very common procedure performed for religious reasons (amongst Jews and Muslims) and by many doctors who claim health benefits. Much controversy surrounds this procedure (in which the foreskin of the penis is surgically removed) as it is a non-essential surgery normally performed on a child that has no say in whether it is performed or not. Some adult men develop psychological issues as a result of circumcision, which leads us to the next bizarre surgery: foreskin restoration.

9. Foreskin Restoration

Foreskin restoration is the process of expanding the residual skin on the penis, via surgical or non-surgical methods, to create the appearance of a natural foreskin (prepuce) covering the glans penis. Foreskin restoration techniques are most commonly undertaken by men who have been circumcised or who have sustained an injury, but are also used by uncircumcised men who desire a longer foreskin and by men who have phimosis. Some men cite a desire to regain a sense of control over their sexual organs and regaining lost self esteem. European Jews, along with men circumcised for medical reasons, sought out underground foreskin restoration operations during World War II as a method to escape Nazi persecution.


10. Lindbergh Operation

The Lindbergh Operation is included here as a special mention. It was the first surgery ever performed entirely with robots being guided by doctors through telecommunications. The surgery occurred in France and was controlled by French doctors in New York. The operation was performed successfully on September 7th, 2001 by Professor Jacques Marescaux and his team from the IRCAD (Institute for Research into Cancer of the Digestive System). This was the first time in medical history that a technical solution proved capable of reducing the time delay inherent to long distance transmissions sufficiently to make this type of procedure possible. The 45-minute procedure consisted in removing the gallbladder of a patient in surgical ward A in Strasbourg Civil Hospital, in Eastern France. From New York, the surgeon controlled the arms of the ZEUS™ Robotic Surgical System, designed by Computer Motion, to operate on the patient. The link between the robotic system and the surgeon was provided by a high-speed fiberoptic service deployed thanks to the combined efforts of several France Telecom group entities.

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From: Listverse: Ultimate Top 10 Lists