So it begins. Akwaaba (welcome back) to those who took time off and ventured away from the realms of what their every day entails. To those who held down the fort whilst everyone did what they were doing, fear thee not, for your time will come, perhaps you might join me in Germany (if i do actually end up going to watch history being made when Ghana takes on the Italians in their first ever world cup game, but that plan is looking a tad dim at the moment as my good mate Mr Wickins has decided to get married in the UK in July...alas!
Almost didnt write an email this week, cos i have been under the whip a bit with some pretty frustrating admin for a deal i have been working on for ages, which just doesnt seem to want to go away, if it was a massive deal i wouldn't be complaining but this my dear friends is a mini-me deal and its drained the excitement i had for this year right out of me...for now, but as the saying goes, this too shall pass, but then again u guys arent my therapists now are you, so why would u care??
So the year has started off on a bit of a dodgy note, Iran back on the nuclear warpath, bird flu incidents on the increase, russia and the ukraine i think in some funny oil deal that has sent world oil prices on a bit of a ride, but on the other hand gold price is hitting some record highs (whats driving this other than demand, wickins how big was that ring u got V? I dont get it, but i guess thats why i am not a commodities trader...) Vodafone's acquisition of SA based Venfin has been given the all clear thus plenty foreign investment in SA hence the R:$ at about 6.05 or so. Mixed bag this year. Thus far though i think the story making the most/biggest news is the health of Mr Sharon. He has been said to have suffered a major stroke.
I think i know what a stroke is, in my laymans view a stroke is when part of your brain doesnt get much oxygen for some time. Which i now gather is correct, but then the reports were mentioning that there was severe bleeding in and around his brain, now i was not sure if it was because of the operation or the stroke, so i decided to do google on stroke and i came up with the following. U may b interested u may not be but here goes.
There are 2 types of strokes (the medical term is cerebrovascular accident), one where there is a blood clot caused by the arteries that provide oxygen rich blood to the brain (carotid arteries, for those of us who did bio at school or can read ;-)), this is known as a ischemic stroke. The second type is caused by bleeding around the brain and is known as a hemorrhagic stroke. So what causes this stroke. Plaque tends to build up in our arteries as a result of cholesterol. In some more than others. And over time this build up gets worse. High blood pressure doesnt help matters much as it places pressure on this plaque and after sometime it ruptures. Thats when the cr ap hits the fan. The raptured plaque causes platelets to stick together which eventually results in a clot which results in blood flow to the heart or the brain being restricted or even totally halted. Basically what this means is that a blood clot is the cause of heart attacks and strokes, but high blood and cholesterol are definitely catalysts in this whole process.
So what are the tell tale signs of a stroke?
Weakness/numbness of a part or side of the body, sudden confusion or difficulty in speech, sight trouble or dizizness.
Thats your medical lesson for the day people, my bed calls.
Birthdays to date
1st Vanessa
6th Ingrid
11th My Pops' 60th
15th Dr Clarke's 50th
On that note i am out. Maximum respect!!