Influenza – a Disease That Should Not Be Taken Lightly

Influenza is not just a common cold; it is a highly contagious infectious disease that weakens the entire body. It occurs most frequently during the autumn and winter seasons and is dangerous because it can spread rapidly from one person to many others. A person suffering from influenza often feels extremely weak, experiences body aches, dizziness, loss of appetite, and lacks the strength to carry out daily activities.

Influenza is caused by Influenza A, B, and C viruses. These viruses enter the respiratory tract and damage the nose, throat, and lungs. Since influenza is a viral disease, antibiotics are ineffective against it. The virus also mutates quickly, which is why influenza can occur repeatedly every year.

One of the most dangerous aspects of influenza is how easily it spreads. When an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, the virus is released into the air and enters a healthy person’s body through breathing. In addition, the virus can spread through contact with contaminated surfaces. For example, the virus can be transmitted via door handles, mobile phones, money, or dishes, and infection occurs when a person touches their mouth, nose, or eyes afterward. This is why influenza can spread quickly and infect many people in a short time.

People with influenza usually develop a high fever, sore throat, runny or blocked nose, cough, muscle and joint pain. The most troubling symptom is severe weakness and fatigue, making it difficult even to get out of bed. As a result, patients may be unable to go to work or school and struggle to perform household tasks. This significantly reduces a person’s quality of life.

If influenza is not treated properly or is ignored, it can lead to serious complications such as bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections, or heart-related problems. Influenza is especially dangerous for pregnant women, children, the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses.

Therefore, influenza should not be considered a mild illness. Prevention is extremely important. Regular handwashing with soap, wearing masks in crowded places, ventilating rooms, avoiding close contact with sick individuals, eating vitamin-rich foods, and getting vaccinated against influenza whenever possible are strongly recommended.

Influenza is a serious disease that exhausts the body, reduces quality of life, and can cause severe complications. By taking responsibility for their health and following preventive measures, people can protect both themselves and those around them.

To prevent influenza, cleanliness, caution, and a healthy lifestyle are essential. Frequent handwashing, being careful in crowded places, ventilating living spaces, eating nutritious foods, and getting enough rest are simple yet effective ways to protect against influenza. If everyone follows these rules, they can help safeguard both themselves and others from the disease.

Inomova Kamola Rasuljon qizi was born in 2003 in the city of Andijan. Uzbekistan. She is a 5th-year student at Andijan State Medical Institute.

_Golden bridges_

I find you

Because you were hurt

I cherish you

As I felt your pain

I love you and

I cover your wounds

With silver

So u will shine

U will shine

U will never break again

I will create a bridge for all the hurt people

I will build golden pillars

Nobody will hurt again children or women

As the diamonds 

They will shine

We will Rise 

And we will be re born in a future peaceful world..

©Eva Petropoulou Eva Lianou Petropoulou

International poet 

Founder 

Poetry Unites People

Congratulations, poetess, for this meaningful poem. The poem “GOLDEN BRIDGES” carries a message of healing, protection, and collective empowerment born from empathy.

The speaker doesn’t just notice someone’s pain (“Because you were hurt”), they actively feel it (“As I felt your pain”). This deep empathy is the foundation for healing. The act of covering wounds “with silver” to make them “shine” suggests that scars and painful experiences can be transformed into sources of strength and beauty.

 The poem moves from individual care to a grand, proactive mission. The “golden bridges” and “golden pillars” symbolize structures of safety, connection, and support that the speaker vows to build. This is a promise to create a world where the vulnerable—specifically children and women—are safe from harm.

The imagery evolves from healing wounds (silver) to radiant strength (diamonds) and finally to collective elevation (“We will Rise”). The poem promises not just recovery, but a rebirth into a better world”. The pain of the past becomes the foundation for a “peaceful future.”

In essence, the message is that by truly feeling and tending to each other’s wounds with love, we can transform individual pain into collective strength. We have both the responsibility and the power to build bridges of protection and safety, ensuring a future where everyone can shine and live in peace.

We are a single leaf

standing on the Tree of Life.

Bound to the body by the heart’s emotions,

so long as breath remains

we are praying.

From the fairy tales of youth’s spring,

at times we long to whisper

into the ear of a blossom.

Yet our hidden secrets

we tell to You alone

You who can listen to everyone

at the same moment.

You are Almighty, O God!

You bestowed valleys upon the deer,

wide tablecloths spread for them.

To what fate did You inscribe

eternal destiny, my Lord,

Like inscriptions carved in rock and stone?!

The author of the poem is the poet Nurbek Norchayev, from Kason District, Kashkadarya Region, Republic of Uzbekistan.

Translator Nodira Ibrahimova is a laureate of the international award named after Muhammad Reza Ogahi.

Is traditional sport more beneficial today, or e-sports?

On the one hand, many people consider traditional sports to be more beneficial. First of all, sports improve human health. By engaging in sports, people become physically fit and energetic. Secondly, as the saying goes, “A healthy body hosts a healthy mind,” meaning that a healthy person’s intellect develops better and it becomes easier to overcome illnesses. Moreover, people who exercise regularly also differ in appearance. For example, a 72-year-old man who has practiced sports since childhood looks much younger than his biological age.

On the other hand, the opinions of those who prefer e-sports are also valid. First of all, today young people’s interest in the IT field is growing, and this is closely related to e-sports. By learning this type of sport, they also gain the opportunity to learn IT skills. Secondly, many people earn income through e-sports, which is why it is turning into a profession. In addition, specialists say the following about e-sports: “It improves reaction and perception and helps make quick and accurate decisions.”

In my opinion, e-sports are developing day by day. This type of sport also has many advantages. As the saying goes, “Think first, then speak,” it is not just a game, but a means of developing strategic thinking and making correct decisions. Today, this field is popular in countries such as the USA, Russia, South Korea, and Kazakhstan. Therefore, a decision was adopted by the President to further develop this sport in Uzbekistan. Uzbek e-sports players won second place in the “Moynaq-2021” tournament. A few years ago, a Pakistani teenager, Sumaya Hasan, won a prize worth 1 million 280 thousand US dollars in e-sports. This shows that interest in e-sports is increasing day by day.

In conclusion, the choice of which sport to pursue depends on people’s interests and preferences. The most important thing is that they benefit from their choice.

The real heroes of today

The real heroes of today are our enlightened Jadids. Jadids are people who fought for the development of Turkic languages, the enrichment of literature in these languages, and the equal rights of women and men in society. Therefore, their role today is incomparable. Jadids called on people to unite, learn, and love spirituality and art.

The Jadid movement arose in the second half of the 19th century on the basis of the principles of enlightenment. Jadidism was first founded by the Crimean Tatar enlightener Ismail Gaspirali. The founder and father of the first Jadidism in Central Asia is Mahmudkhodja Behbudi.

Jadidism representatives in Tashkent: Mubavvarqori Abdurashidkhanov, Abdulla Qodiriy, Abdulla Avloniylar

Jadidism representatives in Bukhara: G’ulom Zafariy, Abdurauf Fitrat, Fayzulla Khojayevs

Jadidism representatives in Andijan: Abdulhamid Cholpon, Usmonkhodja Pulatov and Sodiqjon Karimovs are listed.

During the Soviet period, due to the literature written by our Jadids, they were described as a “nationalist movement” and “bourgeois liberal”. After the USSR, our Jadids’ name was justified.

Jadidism representatives often called themselves progressives, and later Jadids.

Progressive forces thinking about the nation were present in almost all classes of the people – farmers, merchants, shepherds, artisans. Our Jadids fight for the independence of Turkestan.Jadids are devotees who sacrificed their lives for the future of the nation. They awakened thinking, lived for the future, and instilled love for the homeland in the hearts of people. Our enlighteners awakened the nation through science and modern knowledge.                                                                                     

Hilola Khudoyberdiyeva. Born on May 19, 2012. A student of grade 7-A at the Specialized School in Kukdala district, Kashkadarya region, Republic of Uzbekistan. She is interested in history, English, her native language and literature. Her hobbies are mainly reading books and learning languages.

Review of Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage: Literary Biographies by Virginia Aronson is a keeper.

As explained in the Introduction, the poems in this collection focus on some well-known poets who have caused suffering and suffered themselves. Each poem is narrated by the poet, or a lover, spouse, muse or other intimate. Having read Smiling Little Hooks, her biographical poems related to Sylvia Plath, I knew she was up to the challenge. Aronson keeps her empathy ability set on eleven.

Now add her well-honed poet’s eye, a filter through which she renders powerful metaphors and depth perception. Her poems lay out what happened in the lives of these revered authors and those descriptions are smoothly linear yet have the unexpected potency of seemingly harmless cocktails: Long Island Iced Tea, Cosmopolitan, Mai Tai.

I don’t want to give them all away but here are some favorite zingers: 

In a poem speaking for T.S. Eliot’s first wife, she writes: And when living is done/ he told me one firey night/ he would like his bones/ flung into my grave.

Speaking for Robert Lowell’s widow: It’s the worst to see/ a man, a woman, an estate/soaked in the black suds/of disaster and sold off/ to help pay off/ debt, help, rooms/rented out while I wrote/of the abyss he fell in/without me.

For Anne Sexton’s therapist she channeled this: I was the one who/ she later wrote/ walked from breakfast/ to madness at the sad hotel / while she raged in her own/ glass bowl…

And for Dylan Thomas’s wife:  Drink was his temporary escape/ from the slavery of his calling/ there was no escape/ for me/ from Dylan/ his werewolf heart/ full of black blood/ until he died/ from drink.

It seems a familiar story: when mortals follow muses down that path—be it writing, making music, painting…other forms of self-expression, the ride can be rocky and fraught with collateral damage.

# # #

Tim Bryant’s has two published novels, Blue Rubber Pool (2018) and The Bird in Your Heart: A Carolina Sea Island Story (2023) with a third, The Stained Glass Mustang, scheduled for publication in May of this year through Unsolicited Press.

Virginia Aronson’s Collateral Damage: Literary Biographies is available here.

What Happens to the Brain When We Stop Asking Questions

Questions are the engine of thought. Long before formal education, before language becomes refined, the human brain develops through inquiry. A child’s first intellectual act is not knowing but asking. Every “why” reshapes neural pathways, stretching the mind toward understanding.
When questions disappear, the brain does not simply become quiet. It changes.

The Neurological Silence
Cognitive research suggests that curiosity activates multiple regions of the brain simultaneously, particularly those associated with memory formation and long-term learning. When questioning stops, these networks weaken. The brain shifts from exploration to maintenance.
This transition is subtle. There is no sudden loss of intelligence. Instead, thinking becomes economical. The mind favors familiar patterns, pre-existing explanations, and mental shortcuts. Efficiency replaces depth.
Over time, this efficiency hardens into rigidity.

From Curiosity to Certainty
Certainty is often celebrated as intellectual maturity. In reality, premature certainty is frequently a sign of cognitive closure. When individuals believe they already know enough, the brain reduces its tolerance for ambiguity.
Questions feel unnecessary, even threatening.
This state is psychologically comfortable. It reduces mental effort and emotional tension. But comfort comes at a cost: the gradual erosion of adaptability. Without questions, the brain stops rehearsing alternative perspectives. It no longer simulates possibilities.
It merely confirms itself.

The Educational Effect
Many educational systems unintentionally accelerate this process. Students are trained to ask questions that lead to answers, not questions that challenge assumptions. Over time, inquiry becomes transactional: a means to a grade, not a tool for understanding.
Once formal education ends, questioning often ends with it.
The brain, no longer required to explore, defaults to repetition. Ideas become recycled rather than re-examined. Intellectual growth slows—not because capacity is lost, but because it is no longer exercised.

Cognitive Aging Without Age
One of the most overlooked consequences of abandoning questions is premature cognitive aging. This is not a biological condition, but a mental posture. The brain begins to behave as though change is a threat rather than a resource.
Learning becomes defensive. New information is evaluated not for truth, but for compatibility with existing beliefs. This is how intelligent minds become closed without realizing it.
Not through ignorance—but through certainty.

Why Questions Matter More Than Answers
Answers stabilize knowledge.
Questions destabilize it.
And destabilization is necessary for growth. Questions force the brain into active negotiation with reality. They reopen closed circuits, reintroduce uncertainty, and demand reinterpretation.
In this sense, questioning is not a sign of weakness or indecision. It is a neurological act of resistance against stagnation.

Conclusion
When we stop asking questions, the brain does not stop working—it stops evolving. Thought becomes predictable. Understanding becomes shallow. Intelligence turns inward and feeds on itself.
The most dangerous moment in intellectual life is not when we do not know enough, but when we believe there is nothing left to ask.