The Mystery of The Star in the East

I am very curious exactly what that bright “star” the wise men (magi / astrologers) actually saw. The book of Matthew is only Gospel in the Bible this mysterious star was described

For many decades many theories have been forwarded by astronomers to solve the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem over Judea

 Astronomers have even used computers to calculate back the dates of its appearance.

 Most of the theories believed by astronomers are based on apparent planetary alignment of bright planets such as a triple conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and Mars.

In astronomy a conjunction occurs when any two or more astronomical objects such as planets, stars or any heavenly bodies appear to come close together in the sky, as seen from Earth. They are apparently optically-fused together as seen from line-of-sight.

Sometimes bright stars like Rigel in Orion may have conjunctions with bright planets like Venus and Jupiter as part of multiple conjunctions. We shall go into that later.

There were theories that the Star of Bethlehem was actually the conjunction of various planets making them look unusually bright.  They even gave various dates of around the 3 B.C. to 4 B.C. when King Herod and was around when triple conjunctions occurred.

They were able to demonstrate triple or multiple conjunctions by calculating backwards into time when Jesus was born, and even using planetariums projectors to play back the ancient skies of Babylonia when the "Star of Bethlehem" was seen by the magi (wise men / astrologers) described in the Book of Matthew

The story of Jesus' birth in the manger is found only in Luke 1:26–27, while the Star in the East was recorded only in the Gospel of Matthew. Nowhere else except Luke and Mathew recorded the account of nativity 

The date December 25 arbitrarily given for the date of Jesus birth was chosen by the early Christians merely to compete with the Mithra festival on that day to take advantage of the general jubilation at the time of the winter solstice

(Mithraism is the worship of Mithra, the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in pre-Zoroastrian Iran. Known as Mithras in the Roman Empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries this deity was honoured as the patron of loyalty to the emperor).

Both Mathew and Luke place the birth of Jesus during the time of Herod, and that the monarch died in 4 BC.

It would seem Jesus could not have been born later than 4 BC and so could not have been less than two years old at the time of the second and more impressive combination.

Let me quote what was predicted about the birth of Jesus even from the beginning in Genesis.

“Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be”

(Genesis 49: 9-10).

It so happens that one of the constellations of the Zodiac is Leo, the Lion.

It would be easy for the astrologers to suppose that Leo represents Judah and the House of David since David was descended from Judah, and Jesus was associated with both.

Since "a lawgiver from between his (lion) feet, until Shiloh come" in the constellation Leo has a brightest star called Regulus which is the Latin for "little king".  This seems to refer to Jesus as a very bright star

It so happens in 3 BC and in 2 BC there was a double conjunction between two brightest planets - Venus and Jupiter in the constellation Leo with Regulus sandwiched between with a separation of just 3 degrees on either side from Regulus. Furthermore, it was seen in the eastern horizon over Judea

How does that sound? More than impressive I think as a single light seen by the wise men in the East. Could that be the date Jesus was born as already foretold in Genesis 49: 9-10?

But both these two astronomical events took place in summer, far from the winter of 25 December.

However, according to Sinnott, there were no fewer than two hundred when two brightest planets grouped together between 12 BC and AD 7, and during the same period there were twenty occasions when more than two planets came together

If Sinnott was right, I don’t think the wise men would be deceived by such "unusual events" because it would average out with one bright planetary conjunction once a month.

Then again two brightest planets Venus and Jupiter apparently (optically) came close together in the predawn skies over Judea on August 12, 3 BC, and they were separated by only twelve minutes of an arc which is only two-fifth the diameter of the Moon

 King Herod Magnus was born on July 3 BC and died in March or April, 4 BC in Jericho, Judaea. So, the dates seemed very close, the birth of Christ and the reign of King Herod

Hence, we can speculate if that was about the time Jesus was born?

Another even more "bright star" event occurred after sunset on June 17, 2 BC when Venus and Jupiter came even closer together, separated by only three minutes of an arc which is just 10 % of a full Moon. At that angle of separation, it would just be one point of light That was even more impressive to the wise men I suppose?

Seen from Babylonia, both planets would rise from the East with their closest approach around 10 PM Babylonian time as they sank over the western horizon towards the direction of Judea and Bethelhelm. That was even more impressive 

Could that be the Star from the East they followed? My analysis and feeling are probably not, and I shall explain this

In those days, over the plains of Judea, transportation was exceedingly slow by foot, camels or by ass. If the magi had seen the Star in the East and flowed it across the vast desert regions of Judea towards the town of Bethlehem their journey could have taken days, if not weeks or months. The rising and setting of all stars, planets, and even the Sun and Moon is in tandem with the speed of the Earth's rotation by a difference of just 4 minutes earlier each day due to the revolution of the Earth around the Sun.

This means even if the wise men could not catch up with the speed of rotation of Earth and the motions of the heavenly bodies, the stars could rise again the next night in the East and set again in the West about 12 hours later for them to follow each night.

But unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

It clearly states "the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was" (Matthew 2:9).

It looks to me like the star constantly waited for them in front and led them all the way and probably suddenly stopped without setting. It probably disappeared after that after they had arrived in Bethlehem? 

This is extremely unusual since no heavenly body behaves this way. It must be something else hovering in the Babylonian skies for many days or weeks for the wise men to follow.

It is unclear exactly how long after Jesus' birth the magi arrived. Traditionally they were seen to arrive at most a few days after the birth of Jesus as the Gospel of Luke has Jesus leaving for Jerusalem and by that time, he was forty days old from whence he went to Nazareth.

This left a fairly brief window of time for the magi to visit him in Jerusalem, especially considering they needed time to travel from the east via Jerusalem. In this verse Matthew refers to Jesus as a child rather than an infant, perhaps indicating that he was older. Today most scholars feel that Matthew probably meant that Jesus was several months old at the time the magi visited (4)

At least this was their theory which influenced me too for many years.  But not now, this Christmas today (25 December, 2109) I think differently.

I have to disagree with what astronomers have hypothesized for ages.

I now use my own independent analysis by carefully studying the biblical verses below:

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and come to worship him (Matthew 2:1-2).

“Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and spoke, Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also. When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was (Matthew 2:7-11)

In verse 7 it says, Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men and learned from them the exact time they first saw the star.

First of all, those wise men were astrologers who knew the stars and their positions well (the Bible did NOT say “3” wise men. It merely stated “wise me” without the word “three” there). 

They would already know when various stars and planets would appear and how long they would be seen in their respective positions. They were NOT ordinary people. They were magi, and astrologers. The Bible describes them as wise men, people with knowledge and wisdom.

They would already know when various planets would slowly drift into one spot (conjunction) as a “bright star”

 But that night when Jesus was born, they saw something different. They saw some very unusual light in the sky. They were not stupid people. They were Magi, wise men  

So, I asked myself what that star was, and why was it very unusual for it to appear in the sky over Judea?

In verse 7, it says Herod inquired from them what time (”exact time”) they saw the star. Why exact time?

If it was a triple conjunction as modern astronomers believe, they would already be there over many days before they slowly come together

It appears to me the unusual star appeared suddenly and precisely at an exact time which Herod wanted to know.

This kind of phenomenon happening at a precise spot (in the East) and at an exact time is not known in astronomy. Almost all astronomical events are predictable long before they happen.

This gives me the impression it was neither any kind of sudden planetary alignment, nor a comet, nor even a supernova at that time.

There was also no record of any supernova during the time of King Herod. Even if there was, we would be able to see its nebulous remnants even today as in Crab Nebula.   So, it must be something else

Then in Matthew 2:9 it says:

“When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was”.

It is very clear to me the star suddenly appeared again after they saw King Herod.

How can such an occurrence be possible, appearing, disappearing, and appearing again?

Not that I know such events in astronomy.  Neither do I know of any star or planet where it went before men, and suddenly stopped where a child was born?  This is completely absurd to me. Neither stars nor planets, even though planets were once called “wandering stars” go before humans, and allow them to follow them, and then suddenly stop at one specific spot where a child (Jesus) was born.

This is completely bizarre to me. This occurrence can only be possible outside our understanding in astronomy.

It has to be completely something else, a divine occurrence or a miracle. This is the only possibility

Furthermore, if it was a triple conjunction as most astronomers think, how could they remain apparently in one spot like a bright star for so long? Their constant motions around the Sun would have separated them within days

I believe the magi must have followed the “star” for many, many days or weeks on foot or by camel over the plains of Judea towards Bethlehem where Jesus was

Over those long periods of travel by foot or by camels, any double or triple conjunction of bright planets like Venus, Mars and Jupiter would have long separated by the time they arrived in Bethlehem.

Their separation would have confused them as to which “star” to follow then.  But they did not. They kept following only that “star”

Furthermore, no planet as wandering stars would stay in one spot where any child was born. It has to be something else we do not know.

Some non-astronomers say it was a UFO, others claimed it was a space ship that brought Jesus to Earth? 

As far as I am concerned, I do not know what it was except ONE thing which was very clear to me.

“the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was” (Matthew 2:9)

That single verse tells me how patient that star (emblem of God) was.  It was so very, very patient to move very, very slowly to allow those wise men to keep pace with it while they travelled on the ground by foot or by camels

Not just that alone.  It says, it went ahead of them… to lead them slowly and patiently. This is truly the hallmark of God who is forever so patient with us all to give us time to think over His presence by leading us ahead so slowly, gently, brightly and forever so patiently. Yet we don’t even realize His enduring patience with us.

Furthermore, if it was some kind of UFO or space that came from another world to Earth, it could easily cut across dimensions, time and space at the speed of light, and left those wise men travelling over the desert at snail speed. But it didn’t.

It patiently led them probably over days, weeks or months with its bright light hovering in the sky… It went before them very, very slowly till they came to the spot where Jesus was humbly born in a manger.

Isn’t that beautiful?  Doesn’t that speak to us about patience and humility, the seal of an Eternal God?

The mystery of the Star of Bethlehem teaches me a lot. I have learnt tremendously by pondering over the verses and the event that happened over 2,000 years ago

My thinking is so unlike astronomers who merely think it was just a triple conjunction of bright planets which I fiercely object to.

 I have my own training and thoughts in astronomy at which He pre-planned for me.  I did not know this earlier when I constantly prayed to Him for years for wisdom and knowledge to understand His wondrous works of art and engineering. He finally led me to the Promised Land of Learning at Oxford in 2018

It was He who finally and slowly lead me there to study astronomy to glorify Him for the Creation of His Universe, and earlier to Cambridge University to understand Evolution and the Mystery of Life, both which are the marvellous work of an Intelligent Designer 

The Star of Bethlehem is a divine revelation to me. It showed me how God led those magi with wisdom and knowledge to Jesus. I too would like to be like them to be led by Him 

This is truly a beautiful a story of a Star declaring birth of Jesus Christ in all its glory  

An Informal Student Discussion on the Big Bang Theory Part 1 at Oxford

An informal student discussion on the Big Bang (Part I)

 lim ju boo 

Student 

University of Oxford

2018 

Wow! It was quite a thesis after reading through all the sections under Unit 2 all about matter and antimatter, the scenarios during the first few seconds after the Big Bang with three chapters on the expanding Universe, the work of Edwin Hubble, in 1927 and his observation on the red-shifts in the spectra in galaxies suggesting an expansion of the Universe and the how they are receding from each other, faster and faster the greater the distance, and how Hubble formulated his Hubble’s Law based on red-shifts and velocities.

What is even mind-boggling to me is the theory  that states that for every ten billion particles of antimatter, there were ten billion and one of matter and that tiny balance of matter is what that  fills up the Universe with myriads of galaxies and clusters of galaxies and mega-galaxies we see today.

If that was so, then in the early stages of the Big Bang before matter and antimatter annihilate each other to give off gamma radiation, I reckon in the first one billionth of a second after the Big Bang, the mass of an early Universe must have been twice than what it is today considering there was also antimatter then during or soon after the birth pangs   

If that is also so, then another question I need to ask is, if matter and antimatter collide and give off radiation, then what happened to all the gamma radiation today if scientists say they failed to detect them since neither matter nor energy can be created nor destroyed except changed from one form to another such as matter into energy as given by Einstein famous equation E = mc2, or from one form of energy to the other

Can I postulate if the theory is correct, then some of the energy of matter and antimatter annihilation becomes part of the background microwave radiation as heat which is just about 3 Kelvin above absolute zero which suggest evidence of not just the Big Bang, but part of this matter-antimatter annihilation???

I do not know.  It is just my thinking after reading the sections in Unit 2 It is just my personal after thought.

Another thought that troubles me is, what actually caused the Big Bang. What existed before the Bang?  Was there a latent Universe that existed before the Big Bang? Did time exist before the event? Was the entire Universe together with time tightly compacted inside a very massive singularity where time, space, matter and energy were just one before the Bang?  If it was, then what causes the entire massive singularity to explode?

If there was a massive explosion, my line of reasoning is that, there must be another force far, far, far greater than an unborn Universe to tear it apart into smithereens giving off a lot of heat as it spreads across an empty space (or were there “space” then?) to form the elements (nucleosynthesis) as the expanding Universe cooled.

Many years ago I dreamt a dream 3 times over where I was brought by God to the edge of the Universe

There I saw another Universe -   a negative one revolving very slowly in the opposite direction. There was a river linking both the Universes where spent energy from our positive Universe flowed through this river of energy to the other negative Universe to be recharged, and once fully charged, another opposite river on the other side flows back into ours  dimension to renew ours. What I saw was two huge caldrons with molten matter flowing in opposition directions with two rivers linking them

It was just a dream of course, but the uncanny thing about this was, the same dream was repeated three times over that hardly occurs in dreams.

I don’t know, the whole Universe is such a mystery to me. Cosmology is very interesting, but extremely mind-boggling to my feeble-mind.

This is just to share my own thoughts with the rest with my student colleagues at Oxford

My line of thinking now is

Why matter matters

2.3 An expanding Universe I

2.4 An expanding Universe II

2.5 An expanding Universe III

2.6 The formation of the elements

2.7 The cosmic microwave background

Evidence of Big Bang

 

Brief Informal Student Forum (Part II)

lim ju boo 

University of Oxford

2018

What evidence is there for the Big Bang?

In cosmology there are two schools of thoughts on the origin of the Universe

The first one has only a minority of support and is based on a steady state model in that the Universe is always there, and the same whereby the density of matter in an expanding universe remains unchanged due to the continuous creation of matter.

However we now have more empirical evidence in favour of the Big Bang theory. Three major evidences are:  

1.        Red-shifts Spectra:

Edward Hubble in 1927 was able to determine the distances of Cepheid variables by observing their luminosities varying with their periodicities; the more luminous the Cepheid, the slower the variations, and by using the fact that the intensity of light varies inversely as the square of its distance, he was able to establish their distances

Later he was able to demonstrate even further the distances to the galaxies by observing their spectra.  He showed the galaxies were actually receding from each other with no central point in the inflation. He observed their spectra were all red-shifted with increasing velocities with increasing distances.

This was the first clue that the Universe is actually expanding away towards a finite edge (Observable Universe) - the further away the galaxies, the faster the velocity of recession.

The rate of expansion was determined at a rate of about 21.5 km/s, small though, but over time of 13.7 billion years as the age of the Universe this is significant in terms of the distance it has expanded. This expansion can only be the result of a Big Bang.

2.        Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB):

Perhaps the best evidence that the Universe started off with a Big Bang from a super-dense singularity is the presence of an almost uniformly distributed CMB with regions of small variations here and there in the temperature spectrum.

The CMB is manifested as an afterglow which is the heat remnant of a Big Bang.  The CMB afterglow is just 2.7 Kelvin above absolute zero, and seems brightest at wavelength around 2 mm

The CMB radiation discovered in 1964 provided the crucial evidence of a Big Bang model. The universe in the mini seconds after the Big Bang was hot, dense, and opaque plasma

Georges Lemaitre first noted in 1927 that an expanding universe could be traced back in time to have originated from a single point on which scientists have built a cosmic expansion based on his idea.

3.       Nucleosynthesis of Elements:

Tllar nucleosynthesis by neutron capture.

Thhe Sun and stars convert the most abundant element in the Universe - hydrogen, into helium through fusion energy. As energy is released, the higher ratio of hydrogen to helium is being shifted towards helium.   

In the main sequence stars other elements heavier than iron are also being formed through stee abundance of other elements other than hydrogen and helium seem to suggest the cooling effect after a Big Bang when  particles like protons, neutrons and electrons can come together to form elements

(505 words)

The Second Arrival of Jesus. How Long Would That Be?

This article is dedicated to Mr. Hor Meng Yew. 

A friend of mine by the name Hor Meng Yew in our “Golden Tiger” Whatsapp chat sent us this message:

"So, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Matthew 24:44). Jesus clearly indicates that none of us knows either the moment He'll return and establish His kingdom forever or when He may summon us to leave this world and come to Him. But He tells us to be prepared and "keep watch" (Matthew 24:42).

Tic . . . tic . . . The "clockwork" of our lives is still in motion - but for how long? May we live our moments in love with our merciful Saviour, waiting and working for Him”

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The above question / message Mr. Hor Meng Yew sent to us gave me the idea when will Jesus be coming again considering the horrendous numbers of worlds in heavens He may be there, and how long would Jesus take to arrive to this world once again as foretold in the Bible.

Let’s have a look

How many galaxies, stars and other worlds would there be in the all the heavens we call this as the Universe?

A typical galaxy like our Milky Way Galaxy contains at least between 100–400 billion stars

Most of the galaxies are 1,000 to 100,000 parsecs in diameter (approximately 3,000 to 300,000 light years) are separated by distances on the order of millions of parsecs (or megaparsecs). 

For comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of at least 30,000 parsecs (100,000 light years) and is separated from the Andromeda Galaxy (with diameter of about 220,000 light years), its nearest large neighbour, by 780,000 parsecs (2.5 million light years)

If we assume each star system has between 1000 planets including planetoids like Pluto, Iris, Ceres, Juno, Vesta, Astraea, Hebe, Flora, Hygiea, Urania, Pomona, Atalante, Fides… etc, etc.

Let us be very conversative to take over 120 (Runyon et al) only within our Solar System, and let us assume this is the number we are going to take to represent all other stellar systems within the Milky Way, that conservative numbers put us at least between 1.2 x 10 ¹³ (12 trillion) to 4.8 x 10 ¹³ (48 trillion) planets and planetoids or worlds in our Milky Way Galaxy alone 

According to data in 2020 from NASA, it was estimated there may be at least 2 x 10^12 (2 trillion) galaxies in the observable Universe. Each galaxy is unique, ranging in size from 10,000 light-years to hundreds of light-years.

Translated, this means there may be between 2.4 X 10 ²⁵ – 9.6 x 10 ²⁵ (24 trillion, trillion to 96 trillion, trillion) other planets, planetoids or worlds out there in heavens within the Observable Universe, spread out across an expanding 93 billion light years or 8.84 x 10 ²³ km (884,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 884 billion trillion) km across like a curtain being spread across (Psalm 104:2, Isaiah 40:22, 42:5, 45:12).

(1 light year = 9.5 trillion km)

These numbers are far, far more than all the sands on the all the beaches and deserts on this world

See article on:

The Stars of Heavens vs. Sands on Earth here:

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/search?q=grain+of+sand

Also,

“Ourselves, Sun as a Grain of Sand on a Cosmic Ocean” 

here:

https://taionn.blogspot.com/search?q=cosmic+ocean

Hence, based on sheer numbers of worlds up there and their awesome distances from here and from each other, how do we expect us to know in which world Jesus is now living, and when or how long would Jesus  take to come here again ?

But if Jesus is no longer in physical or material form as He was in human physical form over 2,000 years ago, but through spiritual transfiguration, we can expect Him violating Einstein's law that nothing with a mass can travel faster than light since He came from another world different from ours: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

If Jesus belongs to another world, how long would He need take to arrive here again?

In order to answer that, let's see how fast a soul or a spiritual being without any mass can travel?

 “Does A Human Soul Travel Faster than the Speed of Light?

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2021/10/article-was-originally-meant-for-our_59.html

By sheer numbers of the worlds, and their horrendous distances from each other, it is my belief it would not be necessary that all our scientific laws as we know them here on Earth must apply in other worlds too as other scientists think. I beg to differ from other scientists. 

Her'e's one view in New Scientist that supports mine too:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19429-laws-of-physics-may-change-across-the-universe/

Jesus has clearly shown how He defiled and by-passed all the laws in biology, chemistry, physics and other sciences including  medicine we know in our world when He performed all those horrendously awesome miracles including raising up the dead. He has demonstrated them, and I don’t think we should assume all our scientific laws are fixed and they should also apply to all the estimated 24 to 96 trillion, trillion other worlds too?

This means God could travel instantly, and could be present everywhere at a blink of an eye at any time, and that He is ubiquitous even if we shut our bedroom and pray quietly inside as He is already there

 (Matthew 6:6)

Likewise, Jesus could arrive at anytime, His presence ubiquitously everywhere even now in our amidst, and nobody knows where and when depending on our needs 

jb lim  

 

 

 

 

A Natural Protein to Control High Blood Pressure and Diabetes

 A Protein Expressed by Our Body that may be able to Control High Blood Pressure and Diabetes?

Here’s an article below I received on 21 February, 2022 from a friend of mine Professor Dr Andrew Charles Gomez who is a Senior Head and Neck Surgeon through our Whatsapp Chat group.

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Long-Standing Enigma Finally Cracked – Link Discovered Between High Blood Pressure and Diabetes

 

 By UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL FEBRUARY 21, 2022

 

The long-standing enigma of why so many patients suffering with high blood pressure (known as hypertension) also have diabetes (high blood sugar) has finally been cracked by an international team led by the universities of Bristol, UK, and Auckland, New Zealand. 

The important new discovery has shown that a small protein cell glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) couples the body’s control of blood sugar and blood pressure.

Professor Julian Paton, a senior author, and Director of Manaaki Manawa – The Centre for Heart Research at the University of Auckland, said: “We’ve known for a long time that hypertension and diabetes are inextricably linked and have finally discovered the reason, which will now inform new treatment strategies.”

The research, published online ahead of print in Circulation Research on February 1, 2022, involved contributions from collaborating scientists in Brazil, Germany, Lithuania, and Serbia, as well as the UK and New Zealand.

GLP-1 is released from the wall of the gut after eating and acts to stimulate insulin from the pancreas to control blood sugar levels. This was known but what has now been unearthed is that GLP-1 also stimulates a small sensory organ called the carotid body located in the neck.

The University of Bristol group used an unbiased, high-throughput genomics technique called RNA sequencing to read all the messages of the expressed genes in the carotid body in rats with and without high blood pressure. This led to the finding that the receptor that senses GLP-1 is located in the carotid body, but less so in hypertensive rats.

David Murphy, Professor of Experimental Medicine from Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences (THS) and senior author, explained: “Locating the link required genetic profiling and multiple steps of validation.  We never expected to see GLP-1 come up on the radar, so this is very exciting and opens many new opportunities.”

Professor Paton added: “The carotid body is the convergent point where GLP-1 acts to control both blood sugar and blood pressure simultaneously; this is coordinated by the nervous system which is instructed by the carotid body.”

People with hypertension and/or diabetes are at high risk of life-threatening cardiovascular disease.  Even when receiving medication, a large number of patients will remain at high risk. This is because most medications only treat symptoms and not causes of high blood pressure and high sugar.

Professor Rod Jackson, world-renowned epidemiologist from the University of Auckland, said “We’ve known that blood pressure is notoriously difficult to control in patients with high blood sugar, so these findings are really important because by giving GLP-1 we might be able to reduce both sugar and pressure together, and these two factors are major contributors to cardiovascular risk.”

Mr. Audrys Pauza, a British Heart Foundation-funded PhD student in Professor David Murphy’s lab in the Bristol Medical School and lead author on the study, added: “The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension is increasing throughout the world, and there is an urgent need to address this.

“Drugs targeting the GLP-1 receptor are already approved for use in humans and widely used to treat diabetes. Besides helping to lower blood sugar these drugs also reduce blood pressure, however, the mechanism of this effect wasn’t well understood.

“This research revealed that these drugs may actually work on the carotid bodies to enact their anti-hypertensive effect. Leading from this work, we are already planning translational studies in humans to bring this discovery into practice so that patients most at risk can receive the best treatment available.”

But GLP-1 is just the start. The research has revealed many novel targets for ongoing functional studies that the team anticipate will lead to future translational projects in human hypertensive and diabetic patients.

Reference: “GLP1R Attenuates Sympathetic Response to High Glucose via Carotid Body Inhibition” by Audrys G. Pauza, Pratik Thakkar, Tatjana Tasic, Igor Felippe, Paul Bishop, Michael P. Greenwood, Kristina Rysevaite-Kyguoliene, Julia Ast, Johannes Broichhagen, David J. Hodson, Helio C. Salgado, Dainius H. Pauza, Nina Japundzic-Zigon, Julian F.R. Paton and David Murphy, 1 February 2022, Circulation Research.

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Following the above article, I wrote a comment on the above finding to Professor Andrew which motivated another mechanical engineer friend of mine Mr. Silvanus in the same WhatsApp group to write me a letter asking me this question below:

…………………………………………

Dear Professor Dr Ju Boo Lim

I read with great interest your comment to what Professor Andrew sent to us about this LGP 1 enzyme or whatever that is I have no clue that can control our high blood pressure

May i seek your highly learned medical knowledge if doctors have been wronged all these years giving us the wrong medication with all those high blood pressure and diabetes pills to treat these two diseases when they should have used this body enzymes GLP 1 whatever that is, to naturally treat high blood pressure and diabetes

I await your most learned answer

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I then replied to Mr. Silvanus this:

Thank you, Mr. Silvanus, for your confidence in me attempting to handle this difficult question of yours

I think it is best i solicit the answer or opinion from other doctors in this chat here instead of me attempting to field your question

That way we can learn from each other and share our knowledge together 

But if there is no response from other doctors or medical or scientific expertise only then shall I try to answer within a day or two

You have really confronted me with a very good question though a very difficult challenge 

We shall try our best

Lim jb

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I  waited for two days for other doctors  to reply to Mr. Sivanus. Unfortunately, even though there were quite a number of medical specialists and scientists in the chat group, but none answered  

So, I decided to reply to Mr. Silvanus instead of waiting further. Here’s what I think just to share with other readers in this blog

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Before I begin my explanation, I would also like Professor Andrew who sent us this article by Professor Julian Paton to comment with some good well-explained details after reading my comment below.

Since no one, especially medical doctors, pharmacologists or molecular biologists have responded to my request on your earlier question for me, whether or not doctors have taken the wrong approach in treating high blood pressure and diabetes using drugs instead of this natural protein from the body itself here are my views.

Our current trend of using antihypertensive agents to treat hypertension, such as the selective use of any of the range and generations of these drugs, starting with diuretics as first- line, onto the use of beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin II receptor blockers, alpha blockers, alpha-2 receptor agonists or other blockers we know of, is the best doctors can offer for the present at least as an interim measure especially if the disease is severe and uncontrollable. But we need to look at better ways such as changing the ways we live if they are mild We shall discuss this later. 

Neither is it the best doctors can offer to treat maturity onset diabetes using of non-insulin dependent oral antidiabetic drugs such as the more popular biguanides (metformin), or sulfonylureas (glimepiride), meglitinides (repaglinide), dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors, thiazolidinediones, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors…etc, etc. 

We shall explain why genes can be influenced by environmental factors, and we can slowly wean ourselves from drug dependence if we can modify or prevent these environmental exposures. We shall discuss this further towards the end

In the meantime we have been using these classes of drugs for some time now based on our current understanding on how these medicines work (mode of action or pharmacodynamics) before new discoveries like GLP-1 surfaced to change our ways of thinking in treating these two disorders.

Doctors merely follow standard protocols based on previous knowledge, not new discoveries they are unaware of

The discovery by an international team of scientists that this glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) has been shown to be capable of controlling blood pressure and blood sugar is something new to me even as a research doctor and scientist, and I don’t expect other doctors to know this.

In the absence of new findings until lately, we don’t expect doctors to know new avenues in managing hypertension and diabetes except using drugs.

Neither do we expect drug companies to know this. Even if they do, it is highly unlikely they will be willing to promote a natural protein expressed by the body to be used. Naturally they want them to be drug-based for their multi-billion-dollar profit and patency.

GLP-1 mentioned in the discovery is a gene expression, meaning it is a specific protein expressed by a specific gene, and it is these peptides that influence blood pressure and sugar levels.

Then again, I personally have two questions myself for these international team of esteemed scientists to answer:

Firstly, in what way does this specific protein lowers blood pressure if high? Of course, in general we know the plasma proteins in the blood maintains and stabilize blood pressure through its viscosity, high density and hydrostatic actions, but they don’t lower blood pressure for those who are hypertensive

Secondly, in my understanding in physiology and medicine, Professor Julian Paton, senior author of the study did not tell us the type of carotid bodies in the neck were responsible. She only mentioned carotid bodies

There are actually two types of carotid bodies, namely the baroreceptors (pressure sensors) and the chemoreceptors (chemical receptors). Hence which between the two is responsible for lowering blood pressure, surely not the chemoreceptors?

Before I ask my 3 or 4 other questions for Professor Julian Paton, let me explain what these receptors are for non-doctors in this chat group on baroreceptors and chemical receptors.

Let me explain so that we can carry on answering your question Mr. Silva. 

Baroreceptors are alternatively called mechanoreceptors that relay information about blood pressure within the autonomic nervous system. Information is then passed in rapid sequence to alter the total peripheral resistance and cardiac output, maintaining blood pressure within a preset, normalized range.

Just as an example, these baroreceptors are instantly triggered in the event of hypovolemic shock due to say massive bleeding where the blood pressure dips dangerously low

The body then compensates by increasing heart rate and cardiac output. They are abundantly found in the wall of the bifurcation of the internal carotid arteries (carotid sinus) and in the wall of the aortic arch.

The key difference between baroreceptors and chemoreceptors is that baroreceptors are mechanoreceptors responding to blood pressure changes while chemoreceptors are cells sensing the concentration of chemicals in the surrounding extracellular fluid such as pH levels, carbon dioxide, sugar and hormonal levels. Both receptors exert great influences on the autonomic control of the heart and blood vessels to bring about cardiovascular changes and their adjustments

But I am unsure how GLP-1 peptides work on baroreceptors, a question we need Prof Julian to answer

We may be able to offer some theories on how they being a protein is able to regulate sugar levels?

These are the questions I personally have for Professor Julian and her team of international scientists although Mr Silva was asking me a different question

My understand in this area is that these receptors responsive to changes in blood pressures and chemical changes such as carbon dioxide and pH in the blood (I am not sure about blood sugars) are not only found in the carotid region of the neck, but elsewhere in the blood vessels such as in the aortic arch near the heart.

Would this GLP-1 also excite these receptors elsewhere in the body or only specifically in the neck region as Prof Julian mentioned?

Secondly, baroreceptors are responsive only to changes to pressures, and I do not think a protein like GLP-1 can control blood pressure variations. In what way and its mechanisms?

Thirdly, my question for Professor Julian Paton and her international team of scientists is, though very probable these small molecule peptides can alter sugar levels, we need to know the biochemical pathways and mechanisms of their feedback.

In short, how do these peptides GLP-1 influence gene expression of the beta-cells of the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas to secrete insulin, which of course control sugar levels? This is my question to her.    

Fourthly, whether or not we use drugs or natural gene (protein) expressions like GLP-1 to control high blood pressure or glucose levels as our preferred therapeutic modality, we still need go back to square one that gene expression is very much influenced by external environment on phenotype (genetic behaviour), endocrine behaviour, diseases onset and outcome of diseases. We already knew this long ago.

As far as I know there could be as much as 30 million on and off genetic switches inside just 2 percent of the human genomes and these off and on switches control those genes encrypted within the remaining 98 percent of the genome. Hence the picture would be far more complicated

It is these external environmental factors that shall have the final say on those GLP-1 expression or those drugs we mentioned on arterial or endocrine events Julian and her teams were excited about.     

Gene regulation can occur at any point during gene expression, although mainly at the level of transcription (when the information in a gene’s DNA is passed to mRNA). Signals from the environment internal and external or from other cells activate proteins called transcription factors.

 These proteins bind to regulatory regions of a gene and increase or decrease the level of transcription.

By controlling the level of transcription, this process can determine when and how much protein such as GLP-1 probably is expressed (translated or made) by the gene, and hence the chance of disease emerging and their outcome

But this process depends much on the environment and our lifestyles especially nutrition

This discovery by Professor Julian and her team of international scientists make tremendous sense to me as it explains why lifestyles and dietary modifications are far better and more permanent solutions than using drugs to manage high blood pressure 

By controlling the level of transcription, this process can determine when and how much protein such as GLP-1 probably is expressed (translated or made) by the gene, and hence the chance of disease emerging and their outcome

But this process depends much on the environment and our lifestyles especially nutrition

Hence, in my view in a nutshell since you have asked, it is still not wrong for doctors to prescribe those drugs in the past and even now because they use them based on previous discoveries by other scientists and what was offered to them by drug companies. But drugs do not cure the root causes causing the genes to express themselves differently

Doctors don't produce drugs. They were only given to them to use for patients. Doctors also would not know anything about natural GLP-1 expression if it is a safer and more effective modality over drugs.

This said, it is still strongly the modification of our diet and lifestyles and environmental influences on gene expression that has the final say on how these two conditions need to be managed. 

In short, known as epigenetic factors, it is the internal and external environmental influences such as diet, stress, anger, meditation, relaxation, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, obesity, exercise and physical activities, free radical damages...etc  on the genes that will have an impact on how genes are going to express themselves such as GLP-1 and theses changes are reversible unlike genetic changes that changes the DNA sequence irreversibly.  

Not surprisingly, the GLP-1 production may in turn have an impact on blood pressure and blood sugars level. 

In other words, it is still the epigenetic dietary, environmental factors, the way we live that finally determine whether or not will be prone to getting hypertension and diabetes.

This means it would be far better to control these external and internal environmental influences on the genes for a true and permanent solution to these two conditions rather than to depend on drugs that serves as short term solution since the root causes were never addressed. Drugs temporary alter, inhibit or replace the continuous flow of a chemical pathology and need to be taken continuously daily to block their continuous flow, but they do not offer a permanent cure. 

Changing the ways how our genes react would be the best practice in health and medicine. Preventive medicine is of course far better than curative medicine by understanding the root causes of diseases and how to address them instead of using drugs to mask and suppress to "control" the disorder. 

Needless to say, it is not the drugs prescribed that are going to offer a permanent solution to hypertension and diabetes but it is our lifestyle, nutrition, internal and external environment that matters

All these while we know that bad lifestyles are the main cause of hypertension and diabetes, but we do have a proper explanation until now.

 Hence, we depend mainly on drugs given by doctors to "cure" hypertension and diabetes until this discovery

My opinion is, this discovery by a team of international esteemed scientists led by Professor Julian Paton is an eye opener and make tremendous scientific sense to me

I hope I have enlightened and answered your question Mr. Silva.

We would like Professor Andrew who sent us this article to comment further with good explanatory details. He knows more than me

Over to you Professor Andrew

Regards,

lim ju boo 

 -----------------------

Following the above article, Professor Dr. Andrew Charles Gomez commented using WhatsApp this:

"Yes Prof JB 

Epigenetic factors play a vital part in the control of our health. I agree drugs helps in the initial stages. 

But lifestyle changes are important in the mainstream stage with some help from medication" 

Thanks. 

Andrew Gomez  

 

 

 

 

 

Why Booster Doses of Vaccines is Unnecessary

 

Allow me to explain again in just a slightly greater detail, but in as simple a layman’s language as possible why booster doses of any vaccine, not just Covid vaccines are not necessary even if antibodies elicited after the first dose drop

First of all, I have already explained earlier in another chat, all proteins including the body’s own proteins from muscles, organs, including red blood corpuscles or RBC containing the haemoglobins as well as the plasma of the blood is degenerated and replaced after a certain lifespan in the body.  The human body is made up almost (80 %) entirely of proteins (besides water).

This includes enzymes and certain hormones produced by the endocrine glands (some hormones are made of steroids not proteins).

 

Hemoglobin for example is composed of four protein chains, two alpha chains and two beta chains, each with a ring-like heme group containing an iron atom. Oxygen binds reversibly to these iron atoms and is transported through blood. The lifespan of RBC containing the protein is only 120 days and is replaced by the proteins and iron in the food.

This replacement takes several metabolic steps (pathways) and may also involve DNA and RNA by which DNA is copied to RNA is called transcription, and RNA translates them into proteins (translation).

Unfortunately, these protein inclusive antibodies (immunoglobulins) do not remain long as with all other body’s proteins. As a result, the antibodies whether from the first dose, second, third or any multiple doses of any vaccines keep dropping after some days / weeks or months

The way most proteins are destroyed is by a process called oxidative deamination. This is the first step in breaking down the amino acids, including the antibodies made of (immune)globulins so that they can be converted to sugars. Globulins are proteins (amino acids).

Normally this process begins by removing the amino group of the amino acids. The amino group becomes ammonium as it is lost and later undergoes the urea cycle to become urea in the liver. It is then released into the bloodstream, where it is transferred to the kidneys, which will secrete the urea as urine.

The remaining portion of the amino acid becomes oxidized, into an alpha-keto acid. The alpha-keto acid will then proceed into the Hans Kreb’s cycle, in order to generate energy. The acid can also enter glycolysis, where it will be eventually converted into pyruvate. The pyruvate is then converted into acetyl-CoA so that it can enter the Kreb’s cycle and convert the original pyruvate molecules into ATP, or usable energy for the organism.

However, in the case of these antibodies they can be degenerated by intracellular proteases (protein-destroying enzymes in the cells).

Hence with these continuing series of degenerative pathways, the antibodies keep dropping whether with first, second, third or any multiple doses of the vaccines that are being injected

This becomes meaningless if we cannot maintain their titre levels, especially when we are not infected at all in between these unnecessary doses.

In fact, we make ourselves worse by unnecessarily challenging, insulting and injuring our immunological system into exhaustion with multiple doses of antigens from these vaccines until it can no longer produce the antibodies. See my explanation separately here:

 https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/search?q=general+adaptation+syndrome+

 

What is far more important is not merely continuing to give booster doses where the body cannot retain the antibodies elicited, but we need to understand the body remembers for a very, very long time its first exposure whether to a live infection or via an attenuated virus through the first dose of the vaccine.

This the body does through its immunological memory where reinfection at any later time leads to a rapid increase in antibody production and effector T cell activity. These later infections become very mild or even unapparent as we can see with the Omicron variant of this Covid-19 virus compared to all the previous other variants.  This is probably due to the herd immunity in place after over 3 years of pandemic exposure.

Immunological memory follows after a primary immune response against the antigen. Immunological memory is thus generated after a previous initial exposure, to either a life infection or through just the first dose of the vaccine.

The result of a secondary immune response is similar to primary immune response through the body’s memory B and T cell.

These cells recognize the antigen presented through its peptide (spike or other infective proteins). After the primary immune response has disappeared, the effector cells of the immune response are eliminated. However, there remain the antibodies previously generated by the body that represent the humoral component of immunological memory (to produce more antibodies as needed), and it is this that comprises an important defensive mechanism in subsequent infections, and not by the vaccines, no matter how many multiple doses were given.

In adding to the formed antibodies in the body there remains a small number of memory T and B cells that make up the cellular component of the immunological memory.

These stay in blood circulation in a resting state and at the subsequent encounter with the same antigen or even the mutagenic antigen (virus) these cells are able to respond instantly and remove the antigen. Memory cells have a long life and last up to several decades in the body.

This explains why we get immunity to chickenpox, measles, and some other diseases for life.

However, immunity to some diseases may eventually wear off. The immune system's response to a few diseases, such as dengue, counterproductively makes the next infection worse (antibody-dependent enhancement).

As of 2019, researchers are still trying to investigate why some vaccines provide life-long immunity, while the effectiveness of other vaccines drops to zero in less than 30 years (example mumps) or less than six months (for H3N2 influenza).

However, I think the current Covid pandemic is slowly weakening after over 3 years of infectivity even as more and more variants are evolved whereby with each variant being created, our collective human immunity, variedly called herd immunity, societal immunity, combined immunity, shared immunity…etc began to weaken them. See my explanation here:

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/search?q=herd+immunity

 

I hope I have managed to explain in +lay’s man language why booster doses of vaccines is really not necessary if we can understand how our body is wonderfully and fearfully made (Psalm 139: 13 – 14).