The Weekly Dose - Episode 44

The Weekly Dose...

... the latest from Dr Karan

  Here is your weekly dose...  

Hi all!Here is your weekly dose of the Sunday Six! A few things I found interesting this week. If you enjoy this please feel free to forward this to friends. families and enemies alike!If you've enjoyed any of my content over the years, I know you will enjoy my new book "This Book May Save Your Life", available to pre-order here: My First Ever Book!**You'll find more in depth analysis of some of these subjects on my social platforms in the links just below, including Dr Karan Investigates! for deep dives into interesting topics on my YouTube channel.**

Wabi Sabi...

"Nothing lasts,Nothing is finished,Nothing is perfect,And therein lies its beauty" 

Wabi sabi is a cathartic Japanese concept and worldview of appreciating the imperfection, the changes in things as they age, and that nothing is complete.It might be appreciating the bumps and lumps in a handmade bowl, or perhaps the cracks and weathering of old or the yellowed, softened pages of an old book. 

It's a frame of mind that helps us capture the beauty in the imperfect. As a society that increasingly values shiny new things it's something we could do with more of. 

(The phrasing of nothing lasts, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect is from Wabi Sabi Simple by Richard Powell)

How To Live Longer...

I'm fed up with an increasing number of self proclaimed longevity gurus that crawl out of the anti-ageing woodwork and claim that they have new fangled strategies that can make you "age backwards".Living longer/better does not require a complicated routine.Here are some basics (read: basically all you need):- Don't smoke- Don't drink (if you do limit this as much as possible)- Move- Move some more- Sleep well- Spend time with friends & family- Find something that motivates you to get out of bed- Ignore the majority of nutritional noise online & prioritise eating food you make yourself- If you don't like cold plunges, don't do themIf you don't start with the above, any supplements you take are worthless. If you aren't ensuring you optimise the above...mTor, rapamycin, metformin etc will not do much..Simple stuff works. 

The Victorian Poo Problem...

"A society grows when old men plant trees whose shade they shall never sit in.."- Unknown (Greek proverb) 

By the middle of the 19th century, the streets of London ran with human filth. The city had relied on a system of local waste disposal who would empty local cesspits and empty it on the city's old rivers, like the Fleet and the Tyburn.The flush toilet only made things worse, letting wealthy families dump their poo straight into the river.Most of London's faeces and urine was eventually dumped into the Thames, which also served as a source of water for drinking and washing.

The summer of 1858 saw the "Great Stink" overwhelm London. The hot weather exposed the rotting human effluent and industrial waste polluting the water of the Thames.Water-borne diseases like cholera and typhoid fever swept through the population. It was believed that the smell itself, or "miasma", spread these plagues, and those who could afford to fled the stinking city.

In the 1860s Joseph Bazalgette masterminded London's modern sewer system to handle this big Victorian Poo problem.He predicted the population boom and predicted the need when he built it to double the requirements. By the time Bazalgette died in 1891, there were 5.5 million people living and defecating in inner London, over double the number when he first designed the sewers in the 1850s.He even insisted on the use of the the relatively new Portland cement, an extremely strong substance that is also water-resistant.This is one of the factors that has helped the Victorian sewer system survive to this day.It might not seem like a big deal but you appreciate these relatively better London sewers when you compare it to other cities that weren't so lucky to have such a revolutionary engineer (e.g. Paris...sorry if you're reading this from your Parisian wifi)

What You Should Watch...

I've recommended a couple of movies based around the world of cooking and the chef's kitchen in this newsletter over the months and you can add this to the list...Its in Thai with english subtitles but its a short, snappy and enjoyable film (even if slightly dark)I won't say too much but worth a watch! 

What You Should Listen To...

Think Fast, Talk Smart: Communication techniques (Podcast)

I back myself as somewhat of an effective communicator, both online and in my day to day job as a doctor communicating with patients and colleagues.I stumbled on this podcast by Matt Abrahams (lecturer on Strategic communications at Stanford Business School) and each episode he chats to experts in the field to provide techniques and best practices to communicate effectively.Each episode is only 20 minutes or so - very digestible! 

This Week For Me...

It's been a long time coming but Episode 1+2 of my upcoming podcast are being recorded on Thursday/Friday so I'll be knocking around London then. More on this very soon!I'll be having an incredibly lazy Monday (bank holiday in the UK) and recover after my tiring 3 days on a trauma course last week (which I passed thankfully...and back to being re-certified to lead trauma calls for another 4 years..)Saturday onwards I will be away in Kentucky for a few days cooking up something very exciting with a very well known social media dermatologist!

As always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which of this weeks Sunday six is your favourite? Is there something you want more, or less of? I'm open to any suggestions so please let me know! Just send a  tweet to @drkaranrajan and use the hashtag #theweeklydose at the end so I can find it!

Have a wonderful week, all.

Much love,

Karan