The other day, I read an article in the newspaper about a well-known cardiologist, expert in the angioplasty procedure (opening of blocked arteries ). The article (which also included a short interview with him) was full of praise for his skills and humanity.
What caught my eye, though, was the number of people undergoing the above procedure - hundreds per year - and that - only in the section of this particular surgeon , at one hospital.
That's quite a lot, considering that nowadays we know more about heart arteries getting clogged and how to prevent that.
Well, in fact, one thing is knowing, and another is doing something about it. People have great difficulty in dealing with stress and addictions to food and smoking - the main causes of artery clogging. Exercising could help ( the cardiologist of the above mentioned article ,62, runs every morning before starting his work at the hospital). Most people, however, exercise very little.
While reading the interview , I got the impression that the surgeon was trying to avoid the subject of adequate life style needed to keep the arteries clean. He honestly and happily kept admitting that he saw himself as being a good...plumber, nothing more - implying, perhaps, that his job was to fix things , not tell people how to live their lives.
I suppose, his cardio colleague, the one who's expert in the heart's electrical activity, and performs ablations (procedure to improve heart rhytm), sees himself as a good ...electrician.
May God help us keep away from needing the services of these two life saving 'handymen'!
* web picture - modern logo for plumber
On 26 of April, the world marks the nuclear disaster of Chernobyl, Ukraine (26 April 1986).
In the past, I wrote two posts on the subject (if you type Chernobyl in the search box on my sidebar, you'll get to them). At this time of the year, I tend to re-read them; it has become sort of an annual ritual for me. I'm haunted and even fascinated by the subject.
(Maybe I'm haunted by Ukraine in general. My Mom, exiled from Roumania to Ukraine during WW2, lost a baby girl and a young sister to famine and brutality there, and the two victims were burried in a mass grave in a region called Moghilev Podolsky. I wanted to go visit the bloody place ,when it became possible, to lit a candle, and say a prayer - but couldn't make it after all).
Anyway, I used to think that after a nuclear event at ground level like that of Chernobyl (unlike Hiroshima where the bomb exploded in mid air), no living organism will ever survive. Well, I was wrong. Chernobyl area is full of animals and vegetation; there's almost a jungle out there, say visitors. True, many of them have mutations, life span is probably short, but hey, they live and multiply.
The area, however, remains uninhabited by humans as radiation is very high, and they say it will remain so for thousands of years.(Unlike the bomb detonated in Hiroshima which was 14 pounds only, the reactor at Chernobyl had 180 tonsֱ!! of nuclear fuel).
Whenever I happen to read about the current situation in the 30 km exclusion zone of Chernobyl , I come upon the words 'flourish', 'thrive', 'rule', 'take over' - regarding Nature in general, and animals in particular. Unbelievable! Even scientists are shocked.
32 years now after the disaster, animals have greatly increased in numbers and variety, and are doing all right. Nature, it seems, has taken over the place abandoned by humans.
Is there some kind of message in all this? such as: 'without humans, the world is better', 'Nature doesn't need humans, it's the humans who need Nature', and so on...? I wonder.
(There are some good videos on the subject worth watching, on Youtube).
* web picture - Baby Crying - graffiti in the ghost city of Prypiat adjacent to Chernobyl.
