I've always been a fan of random facts. Any sort of facts really. I'm not picky. In college, I used to pride myself on random truths about the world. I would gleefully tell many of my friends who in turn, simply gave me a mindful stare. It didn't bother me, I enjoyed it--the facts, that is. I liked getting on Wikipedia and knowing where the tallest free standing concrete structure stood, or being the only person on cia.gov to browse around their factbook to see which country had the highest GDP per capita. It is a fun pastime activity for me to look up new things.

But, as fast as I learn my new discoveries, that's how quickly I forget others. There is a cyclical phenomenon in my brain that only allows me an unfortunate number of useless facts. Regardless, I, along with everyone else, ultimately end up playing a game with the world of facts. We constantly choose which ones are important to know, or which are too easy to forget. Like, the fact that if you continue to your drive car beyond the empty mark, you will soon go nowhere. Or if you include a colored garment in a load of whites, surely, your load will be unpleasantly not white.

Of course, those are the easy ones. But what happens when the facts get more difficult to comprehend. Or when one truth conflicts with another, but both seem to be intuitively right. Take the dichotomy relating to longevity, for example. More and more people are living longer today than ever before, but it is believed that the lifestyle and eating habits have worsened. The Census Bureau predicts that the U.S. will have nearly 5.4 million centenarians by the year 2100. That means a population of children equal to many U.S. metropolitan areas born in 2000 will live for another 91 years. That is simply mind boggling.

One can argue that it's not entirely surprising considering all of the advancements in science we've made. Perhaps, it is true that medicine is partially responsible for the longevity of today's humbly aging citizens. But surely, medicine can't be our fountain of youth.

People who are over 100 today grew up physically active, on diets that did not use preservatives, and not constantly relying on medicine. Did their upbringing simply give them the body to age gracefully into the new millennium? And was medicine just there to keep parasitical diseases at bay? If this is the case, one can argue that those raised with a childhood connection to medicine may have diminished the body's capacity to strengthen itself. And perhaps, we may actually see a decline on the number of centenarians. hmm. Just a thought.

The simple facts are that there are more and more medicines out there to cure the imperfections of human beings, but it seems as though, there are more and more complications as a result. Take one pill to reduce a bother, but be aware, you may, with a high level of uncertainty of course, have sides effects that could include dizziness, loss of appetite, vomiting, blurred vision, the shakes, the runs, the this, and the that, death. Ay, yay, yay.

The fact is I believe in fixing a problem at it's roots. But, don't get me wrong, I still get sick every now and then. Like this weekend. My beautiful 19 month old niece, Naya, had a cold. It was pointless to keep away, because my unwillingness to get sick was no match to her cuteness. So I held her, and kissed her. A hundred times. I get back home and I get sick. Just a runny nose, but sick nonetheless. So, I turn to my favorite remedy--lots of oranges, lots of water, and of course, lots of sleep. The best part: no side effects--well, aside from frequently visiting the restroom. But, I'll take that. Now, I'm all better and it's back to doing my second favorite pastime, gleefully torturing myself in a yoga room heated to 107 degrees. Thanks Pops and Mom for teaching me to be responsible for my body. (Ask me to repeat that while doing the yoga class, and you might get a little different comment)

The fact is that facts are facts. They tend to change. What the medical experts and the pharmaceutical companies explain to me one day can change as quickly as soon as someone loses a kidney. All I can say is that I'll be consistent with my self. I'll be true and honest by giving my body the right tools that actually change the way my body feels from the inside, not just superficially on the outside. That's why I have helped co-found this company. I believe in its efforts.

So, as a famous Carrie used to always say, "I can't help but wonder"...have facts lost their sense of wonder? Have they all simply gone to the same category: useless? Well maybe not all. Thankfully. Otherwise, we would all be in trouble. Or worse yet, "fact". :)

Have a great day!
Vilmar
CMO


I know you were all wondering this whole time. The CN tower in Toronto Canada stands at over 1800 feet. And the country with the highest GDP per capita is Lichtenstein with $118,000. I'm moving tomorrow. :)