Mismatch: Why Our World No Longer Fits our Bodies

Mismatch: Why our world no longer fits our bodies
Peter Gluckman and Mark Hanson. Foreword by Robert Winston
Oxford University Press, 2006

About the Authors:

Gluckman and Hanson are doctors who hold posts in academia.

Amazon link

If you have a copy of The Selfish Gene throw it away. Don't give it to anybody, throw it away because it is a dangerously misleading text. I still recall reading it so long ago and being amused by such a simplistic and naive view of inheritance. Replace it with this text. Seriously, this text is a very good introduction to an emerging view of genetics that is transforming our understanding of evolution. If you are familiar with epigenetics and how it is now a huge focus of research you *may* find this text light and breezy. Nonetheless I can guarantee there are research reports in this book that will astound you. If you are someone who has long held The Selfish Gene in high esteem you definitely need to read this text. That is a serious recommendation. As the authors state:


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"Our thinking has moved a long way from simplistic views of the interaction between genes(nature) and the developmental environment(nurture).

Hooray, how I have longed to see a popular text that takes the whole neodarwinian paradigm to task and politely pushes it to one side. With regard to Dawkins though I won't be polite, I think Doofus Dawkins is responsible for leading a huge cross section of the educated(?!) public up the garden path to the smelly outside dunny. I cannot recall the number of times people have addressed my criticisms of Dawkin's approach with bewilderment, as if Dawkins was the be all and end all of genetics.(That was NEVER true, Dawkins was popular with the educated (?!) public, not geneticists. In fact if you think I'm severe on Dawkins, trust me, I've seen others almost apoplectic over his claims.) Yes, I have long regarded The Selfish Gene as one big fat load of bollocks. But enough of my general contempt for that text.

Read Wiki for an introduction to epigenetics. 

I did not take any substantial notes on this text because for many years now I have been following the changing of the guard with respect to genetics. It is an exciting time, the emergence of a much more powerful, sophisticated, and complex model of evolution is going to take some decades to mature. To give you an idea of this approach consider the following:

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Children brought up in poor societies but then adopted to rich one's is associated with much earlier puberty - with some girls having their first period at 6-8 years of age.

The text is replete with like examples, the research literature is now bulging with research into epigenetics and its implications for public health in general and individual health in particular.

My cognitive style is iconoclastic(ah der, no kidding John). I'm always on the look out for new ways to understanding being human and the the processes of Life. So I am delighted that the authors of this text have written a highly accessible text, certainly any educated person will have no trouble understanding this text. I suspect that is probably why I found it somewhat light and breezy because for myself, while I am not aggressively tracking the research in this area, I have long been interested in the newly emerging paradigm.

Mismatch should replace "The Selfish Gene". I certainly hope that turns out to be true. The authors paint a picture of a new kind of genetics that is both complex and beautiful, an amazing testament to the power of evolution to manage adaptation. This is the New Stuff, the future of genetics. If you have any interest in genetics and understanding why type 2 diabetes is turning into one huge public health disaster, you need to read this text. Oh just read it, it is a great and easy read that will open your eyes to the complexities of adaptation that hitherto most of us never dreamed possible.

Great stuff! Thanks to the authors.

Africa Doesn't Matter by Giles Bolton - Book Review

Africa Doesn't Matter: How the West Has Failed the Poorest Continent and What We Can Do About It.
Giles Bolton 2007
Arcade Publishing, NY

A long time ago I was introduced to Chomsky. His scholarship is impressive, his arguments are strong, but after reading a couple of his texts I thought to myself, "What do I gain from reading more of the same sad story about the influence of power in human affairs?" Chomsky left me frustrated because while he can powerfully articulate an argument and raise many important issues, he does not seem to proffer any real solutions to the problems he raises. Perhaps I am wrong about that, perhaps I have forgotten his prescriptions for action, but I am pleased to report that Giles Bolton does make a genuine and fruitful effort to put forward solutions and attitudes we can adopt to help recover the cradle of humanity.

Aging Health Issues- Avoid Making Incontinence Worse

No one likes to talk about incontinence. It's on the list of hush-hush topics that people just don't discuss. Don't worry. I won't tell your friends that you're reading this blog. However, I do want you to keep reading and learn about ways that you're really making your bladder control issues worse than they have to be. It's obvious that drinking too much will agitate the situation, but there are other issues that you might not know about when it comes to controlling your incontinence.

Caffeine: This means coffee, tea, soda, and even chocolate are your enemy. Caffeine is a bladder irritant and a diuretic, which means it is only going to make your incontinence worse. Reduce your intake or eliminate it completely from your diet if you can.

Spicy Cuisine: Spicy food might be your favorite, but it probably isn't a favorite of your bladder. Certain spices, such as curry, chili pepper, and cayenne can agitate the bladder and make incontinence worse. If you eat something and notice it aggravates your condition, don't eat it anymore.

Citrus: Everyone tells you to get more fruit and vegetables in your diet, but when you suffer from incontinence, that might be a bad idea. Acidic foods and juices are irritating to the bladder, and since the fruits are mostly water, they can increase fluid intake without you noticing.

Medications: You can't stop taking your medications just because they make it harder to control your bladder. However, you should keep an eye on medications that might be contributing to the condition so that you can let your doctor know.

Dealing with incontinence is about knowing what is making the issue worse. You don't have to discuss it with your friends or compare symptoms and irritants, but you should be educating yourself and talking to your doctor so that you can get the relief that you deserve. You can do a lot more to alleviate this embarrassing issue than you might realize. Take the time to learn about ways to prevent and reduce your incontinence so that you can enjoy life more and spend less time worrying. You can read more about your health at my senior safety and health blog.

Mary Albert is a health advocate and blogger at Lifestyle Health Guide. She blogs regularly on senior health issues and medical alert devices.

Antidepressants for Hot Flashes?- Looking for Alternatives to HRT?

Menopause and post-menopause is a rough time. Most doctors recommend hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help alleviate the symptoms of menopause. While it is effective, there are many different side effects and issues that come up with hormone replacement therapies that make them undesirable for so many people. Hot flashes and other symptoms are difficult to deal with and finding the best treatment is difficult for some women. At our age, we deserve to enjoy life. I've tried HRT and quite frankly, I didn't like the effects that it gave me. I chose to stop taking the treatments and found natural solutions to deal with my issues.

According to a new study, the antidepressant desvenlafaxine was shown to help control hot flashes in the women involved in the study. A lot of women can't take estrogen and other hormone treatments. Some simply don't like the way that the HRT works. In either situation, having a better alternative is going to help a lot of people. Within 12 weeks, many women saw a 62% reduction in their hot flashes and other symptoms after taking the anti-depressant. While it is effective to take hormone therapies, some women prefer the use of this medication because it offers better solutions with fewer adverse effects.

HRT is also not an option for women who have or have a risk of breast cancer, which is what sparked the search for better alternatives for menopause relief. As it turns out, many different forms of antidepressants can actually help alleviate the hot flashes for women who need an alternative to traditional treatments. These medications are often used for health issues outside of depression, so this news isn't exactly surprising to many people. However, the use of antidepressants to treat menopausal symptoms is definitely going to help many women who are looking for something different.

Studies are still ongoing and in time things will likely get better in time, but for now this health science advance is enough for some people.

Mary Albert is a health advocate and blogger for Lifestyle Health Guide, where she contributes regularly on topics like senior aging, health news, and medical alerts.

Sodium Reductions Might Not Affect Heart Health

According to an article written in Time magazine, they've been doing research in Europe that proves that lower sodium intake might not actually help heart health in the long run. Studies have shown that people who have high blood pressure or heart disease would benefit from lowering salt intake. However, in a study of more than 3,500 people who didn't have heart problems, the ones who had the highest salt intake were the lowest risk for heart disease-related death. The study was done for more than eight years and those with the highest sodium levels only had a 0.8% death rate. Those with low sodium had a 4% death rate.

All the unique things that the health science world is doing today never cease to amaze me. It's like the blog that I wrote awhile back on senior safety and wellness, which talked about how education is so very important to your health. COPD symptoms can be reduced with exercise, Alzheimer's can be staved off with walking, and now apparently sodium isn't going to be terribly bad for your heart. But why is this?

According to researchers, while salt intake does affect blood pressure, it doesn't increase the risk of hypertension or a death related to heart disease. It apparently doesn't have as much of an effect as they thought, and is much less of an issue. The American Heart Association is still hard at work trying to convince people to lower their sodium intake just for the sake of their health, but there's apparently less of a connection to heart health than was previously thought.

The study does have its flaws, of course. The volunteers were all younger, so the follow-up might not have been effective enough due to the age at which these heart issues usually occur. Either way, it is a complicated issue that people have to face and learn about for themselves. Nothing is more important than being educated and you really need to read up. Medical science never ceases to impress me with its findings, but this just goes to show that you have to get the details before you tip the salt shaker.

Mary Albert is a health advocate at Lifestyle Health Guide, where she contributes regularly on health issues and medical alert systems.

Educate Yourself on Alzheimer's- New Studies that Will Surprise You

In a blog I wrote a while back on healthy aging and elderly safety, I spoke about how education is such a valuable resource for people who want to maintain an active, healthy life. Being constantly in fear of your health and aging is not any way to enjoy retirement. You have to take the time to learn about your health issues, your lifestyle, and the things that will help you live the longest, healthiest life possible. In doing some research on different topics, I found a new article that was quite intriguing. While I've done research that shows that walking and exercise can help both COPD and Alzheimer's on my lifestyle and medical alert blog, this new article was quite eye-catching.

According to new studies being done, it seems that there is a gene for Alzheimer's Risk that disrupts the wiring of the brain as much as 50 years before the disease actually strikes. There has been knowledge of genetic involvement in Alzheimer's for a long time, but this is totally new information that has been made available. In a study done at UCLA, this new gene was tested and studied to figure out exactly what it does. Known as the CLU gene, it shows the ability to start damaging the brain as much as 50 years before the normal onset of Alzheimer's.

During the study, researchers took the time to scan the brains of those who had this gene as well as those who didn’t, and the result was that young, healthy people who carried this gene were already showing a decrease in the integrity of white matter in the brain. That means that they're already showing effects that are putting their brains at risk for developing full-blown Alzheimer's in the future. This is remarkable, but also scary for many people.

Fortunately, as research continues to become available and give people the resources that they need, it will hopefully be easier to pinpoint the effects of genes and find a way to stop them from leading to this terrible condition. My mother suffered from Alzheimer's and I personally don't want to face it for myself after seeing what she went through. This study proved that 88% of the Caucasian population has this gene and while all of them don't end up getting Alzheimer's, it does put them all at risk for developing the condition. Hopefully they will continue to develop this research and find a way to put it to good use.

Mary Albert is a health and lifestyle blogger at Lifestyle Health guide. She commonly writes about aging and health issues as well as medical alert systems.

Medical Advances- Understanding Technology and Health News

I was recently reviewing a blog I wrote awhile back about the benefits of medical alarm systems, and really wanted to reach out and talk about medical and health technology and advances that can be used to our advantage. As retirement approaches, or as it carries on for some of us, knowing the different advances in technology that are available is often helpful. Medical technology like medical alert systems is constantly growing and changing, and it doesn't always have to be high-tech to be successful.

The medical alert system has remained largely unchanged since it was first debuted decades ago, and its simplicity is often what makes it such a popular item. There are a lot of highly technical products and services on the market today, but they only offer benefits when their technology is suited to the audience accordingly. I'm not incompetent, but I also don't have months to spend learning about all these new gadgets and gizmos that are supposed to make life 'better'. Heck, it took my kids quite a few years to convince me to set up one of those Facebook pages, and I barely understood that.

Being educated about health technology is important, no matter how simple it might be. These advances and new innovations are designed to make our lives better and more enjoyable, which is why staying on top of things will always be beneficial. There's a lot going on in the medical industry right now and technology is creating changes almost every single day. While this can seem difficult to keep up with, the internet makes it easy. Find the best resources for health news and technology updates so that you can be an informed consumer.

Education is the key to getting rid of your fears or confusion about anything. If you want to have a happy, healthy retirement that you can enjoy, you need to understand how technology is working to benefit you and what types of advances are being made in healthcare and other areas that will positively benefit your life. Being a health advocate, it's easy for me to stay educated and share that education with others. Thanks to the internet, however, anyone can learn about advances in technology, including medical alert systems and other health and wellness solutions.

Mary Albert is a health writer for Lifestyle Health Guide, and a professional health advocate.

Patrick Lockberby - The Artice Decade - March 2011

Great piece of work by Patrick. 

Patrick Lockberby - Artice Ice Update - March 2011

Hmmm, this is not good:

"Arctic sea ice extent for February 2011 tied with February 2005 as the lowest recorded in the satellite record." 

Interestingly, 2005 was a year of very high sunspot activity and this year sunspot activity is also high.

Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilisation's End

Book Review: Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilisation's End.
Lawrence E. Joseph.
Broadway Books, New York, 2007

I find this a perplexing text. So many new ideas from so many different sources. The author traveled around the world to interview scientists, psychics, Mayan ancestors, and various individuals ranging from shamans to mystics. It would take me far too long to investigate all the claims in this text. Other reviews on this text indicated a mixture of respect and caution in judging this text. There are errors, there must be errors, but there is enough solid material in this text to leave me interested.

The first two thirds of the text are an entertaining read. The author employs an easy reading style that doesn't become too technical and bogged down. Thankfully the text is not alarmist or written as if being some great document of revelation. He quotes the relevant individuals, he puts forward their ideas clearly and without editorialising their statements.

A Counter Intuitive Study on Longevity

There is no easy way to establish strategies for living a long life. This news release adds to our confusion. I proffer the following cautions:

1. This study contradicts many other studies. When that occurs don't accept the study at face value, it needs to be subject to critical review by many people, and believe me that is far superior to peer review! 
2. This study is relying on data gathered a very long time ago, when experimental methods were much less refined than today. 
3. It relates to analysis of "more than 1500 bright children". Small sample, and just what do they mean by "bright". 

The new release does not point to a published paper, the results are being published in book form. I would much prefer that they first publish a series of papers then publish their book. By publishing the book first they are putting out a view on longevity that has not been subject to (1) above.

For myself at least I have to disregard the claims of this news article. Yes I can see elements that I find plausible but in the absence of a series of papers that have been subject to critical review and discussion by a wide range of people it is virtually impossible to know if all their conclusions are valid.

There is a good lesson here in relation to health news. There are also sorts of claims being made about the secrets to longevity. There are no secrets, we're still learning, but obviously a good deal of common sense goes a very long way. Eat well, exercise regularly, and don't go looking for fountains of longevity.

The Brain's "Reward" Centre Also Responds to Fear

One of my pet hates in neuroscience is the propensity to attribute highly specialised functions to currently identified brain regions. If only it were that simple. This study, remarkable in its detailed analysis, again reminds us that the brain is not only a wonderful thing but an incredibly wonderfully complex thing.

It has long been known and studied that the ventral tegmental area(VTA), a rather small nucleus in the midbrain, is very much involved in "reward" processes. Illicit drug use very often involves the VTA dopamine neurons becoming rather active. Even marijuana, who some claim is not addictive, will involve activation of these neurons.  Note though that the abstract refers to a specific location in the VTA - the posterior region. These nuances in how these "cerebral modules" respond needs to be kept in mind. For example, we often read that the amygdala is a "fear center". For example, consider this recent news release which appears counter intuitive. In that news release, the so-called "fear centre" - amygdala appears to play a role in reducing anxiety. Note though that is very misleading to refer to a "fear centre". Neurons don't experience fear, we do! As the linked Wiki article states, the amygdala can be subdivided into many regions. For an excellent introduction to the amygdala, try reading "The Emotional Brain" by Joseph LeDoux, who pioneered important research into this region.

This study identified 3 types of dopamine neurons in the VTA. While Type 1 and Type 2 neurons did not respond to fearful events, actually decreasing their firing rates but with a rebound at the cessation of the fearful event, Type 3 neurons increased their firing rate. Thus ...

Moreover, the excitation duration of type-3 dopaminergic-like neurons also correlated with the duration of fearful events.

However I am puzzled by this and have to wonder if it points to error in identifying these Type 3 neurons:

Our pharmacological results revealed that the vast majority (96%; 23/24) of type-1 and type-2 putative dopamine neurons were significantly suppressed, while surprisingly the type-3 neurons (n = 9) otherwise showed excitation by apomorphine

The bods then went onto to test how these neurons responded to both positive and aversive events:

Neuronal activity recordings in these conditioned mice (after 1-week training) revealed that VTA putative dopamine neurons responded significantly to the conditioned tone that predicted a sugar pellet in the reward chamber (Figure 6D, left panel). Interestingly, the same VTA neurons also responded reliably to the same conditioned tone when it predicted free fall in the free fall chamber (Figure 6D, middle panel). When the same conditioned tone was delivered to mice in a neutral chamber that was not associated with any event, it did not produce significant changes in firing.

What this suggests is that these neurons in the VTA are not only responding to reward or adversity but also to the expectation that something in the environment is about to change. It would be interesting to see if any of these neurons would respond to innocuous environmental contingencies. I have a sneaking impression that what we are witnessing here is a general alerting function to a change in the environment, with different neurons providing information about the nature of the environmental change. This information is highlighted by a sentence in the closing paragraph of the paper:

These putative dopamine neurons respond to different negative events in a similar manner and more importantly, their temporal durations of dynamic firing changes are proportional to the durations of the fearful events.

Our Vagabond Minds

Be warned, I'm calling shenanigans on this one.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 11, 2010) — People spend 46.9 percent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they're doing, and this mind-wandering typically makes them unhappy. So says a study that used an iPhone web app to gather 250,000 data points on subjects' thoughts, feelings, and actions as they went about their lives.

Nature Beats Monsanto

In genetics there has been of late considerable interest in a phenomenon known as "horizontal gene transfer". This news release takes that concept to new heights.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 8, 2010) — Genetically modified plants can come about by natural means. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has described the details of such an event among higher plants. It is likely that the gene transfer was mediated by a parasite or a pathogen.

One of the consistent trends of late has been that the idea of "gene transfer" needs to widened because there is increasing evidence that genes are much mobile than we once believed. As it happens just last night I caught some snippets of a documentary about viruses. I was amazed to see that the HINI virus was composed of genes from a number of sources.

Even more amazing was that in a cell infected with two viruses the constant replication, with a relatively high error rate, allowed a mixing and matching of the two viral genomes. Now when you consider the extremely high replication rates that can occur you realise that viruses are emulating a very powerful mathematical strategy against our immune responses.

There was some uproar about the responses to the viral outbreaks in recent years. The strategy is based on the obvious fact when a viral outbreak occurs containment must be the first priority. In many cases we won't have time to determine just how dangerous the pathogen is. While immunology is making some great strides keep in mind that the task is almost herculean in its objectives. So be kind to immunologists, they are very important people.

In this news release the mode of gene transfer was quite odd. About 700,000 years ago part of a  chromosome was incorporated into the genome of another plant, the hypothesis this was probably mediated by a pathogen or sap sucking parasite. It has long been known that bacteria can share their genetic material, and over recent years the Weismann Barrier has been breached on numerous occasions, and we have a much better appreciation of just how mobile genes can be. In that light the diversity of Life is not so surprising.

The Bright Side of the Fish Oil Component - DHA

This news release from ScienceDaily directly contradicts the findings of just a a few weeks ago. In my earlier post I was addressing research which indicated DHA can induce a "Th 1 type mediated inflammatory response". In relation to Stroke the conventional wisdom quite literally screams that such a response is the very last thing one would want to treat stroke yet now we have a report asserting remarkable efficacy of DHA in ameliorating damage from stroke.

ScienceDaily (2010-11-08) -- A new study shows that a component of fish oil is a powerful therapeutic agent that can protect brain tissue in a model of stroke, even when treatment is delayed by five hours. These findings not only target a new stroke treatment approach, but also provide vital information about the length of the therapeutic window.

For those so interested you can download the full article at this link. Bit of surprise, Springerlink usually doesn't give stuff away and I suspect this is a website error so be quick!

The findings of this study are remarkable:

Black Man Wins Genius Award

A friend of mine sent me this clip of John Dabiri. Great clip. If you have ever wondered what is the point of studying jellyfish movement and other such seemingly obscure research watch this clip. For some background on Dabiri you can read the following links:

http://dabiri.caltech.edu/people/dabiri.html

Microglia as Regulators of Neural Transmission

This study, freely available here(4.61MB), has some striking implications. These are listed below. The Science Daily news release can read here. Microglia are typically perceived as the immune cells of the CNS but this study builds on former studies all pointing to the possibility that our current understanding about neural transmission and memory is too constrained. This present study indicates:

• Microglia regulate the fate the synapses
• Microglia are constantly on the move and at a rapid pace.
• Microglia may be regulating memory consolidation.
• Our conceptual separation of immune processes and neural transmission is a fundamental error.

The Business of Intelligence

A report from Science Daily highlights the problems of modern intelligence research:

ScienceDaily (2010-10-30) -- General intelligence is not enough. Practical intelligence can mean the difference between entrepreneurial success or failure. Psychologists have identified multiple kinds of intelligence, but a new study has found one -- practical intelligence -- to be an indicator of likely entrepreneurial success.

Charles Spearman created the concept of the "g factor", a general intelligence that underlies the styles of intelligence measured in iq tests. I'll stay away from the whole issue of iq tests, I have two professional friends with a behaviorist orientation and they seem to hate IQ concept with a vengeance. I think I know what they are getting at but I still maintain that IQ as a metric is fine but has a theoretical construct or as data for the same it is useless. The history of the debate about IQ is in itself instructive that when dealing with the question of intelligence we are still very much in the dark. At the end of this post I will reference a research item that demonstrates we may have absolutely no idea about the true basis of intelligence.

The Dark Side of the Fish Oil component, DHA

This news release contains some very worrying information ...

"We found that mice developed deadly, late-stage colon cancer when given high doses of fish oil," she said. "More importantly, with the increased inflammation, it only took four weeks for the tumors to develop."


The results do not surprise me because I have long known that DHA can induce inflammation and in this study inflammation was very present in the gut tissue of the organisms. So for the last few years I have been warning people about the dangers of high fish oil intake, though I suspect most thought I was balmy for making such warnings. But hey, I actually read stuff! 


In relation to fish oil a large Australian study recently found no benefit for babes or mums who were taking DHA during pregnancy. No improvement in babe health and no reduction in post partum depression. What I don't understand is the empahsis on DHA, the emphasis should be on EPA because of its direct modulation of the prostaglandin pathways. 


I realise this is all very frustrating for health conscious people and can offer no easy solutions. The methodology I use to examine biomedical data is time and memory consuming, it takes a lot of work and a lot of memorisation. That is easy for me because I have time on my hands and a bloody good memory. For most people it simply is not possible to read the relevant literature and discern good health advice, especially in a world where there are so many "health experts" offering easy solutions! 

The Unquantified Placebo Effect

Upon viewing the Headline - No Standard for the Placebo? I had hoped for something more in line with my current interests. Alas no, the news item relates to how the placebo pill contents are rarely published and may have important bearing on experimental results. I was off on a completely different tangent, wondering about the variability of the placebo response and the implications this has for interpreting clinical trial results. Turns out it is rather variable.

More Glory For Open Access Scientific Publishing

Open Access Publishing is where researchers can submit their results to an Open Access Journal, such as found on Biomedcentral, and is freely available to everyone. This study highlights how open access publishing is promoting increasing citation of studies. Makes sense, especially in an age where there is so much like research(wasteful duplication?). So why pay exorbitant fees for download a paper when you can go to an open access site to find similiar if not identical findings? It is not uncommon to look for a paper, land on a journal website, only to be advised you can download the paper for $30 USD for 7 days viewing. That is a ripoff.

Open access publishing began about a decade ago and is becoming increasingly popular. That, together with the rise of sites like Scientific Blogging and Science Blogs, allows the average person much greater access to scientific research and scientists. So I imagine the life of the science writer is becoming increasingly difficult.

The major reason open access publishing took off is because journal publishers were charging outrageous fees for publishing the work of scientists, even going so far on occasion as to charge scientists for publishing their research, and then making very fat profits from journal sales. So I imagine there are many publishers who hate these sites Biomedcentral, Highwire Press, and PLOS.

Patrick Lockerby: October Arctic Ice Update

Patrick provides extensive analysis and nice graphics to keep us informed of Arctic Ice movements.

Product Warning - MMS and alkalinity

This product, MMS, touted as a cure of everything from AIDS to cancer, is dangerous. (The product warning can be found here.) It equates to eating bleach. Relates to the idea that alkalinity is the key to killing cancer. Which is odd because I've read abstracts showing how alkalinity definitely helps some cancers survive. But there is no point looking at scientifically derived information because as Deepak Chopra would say, "that is based on Newtonian Mechanics, we're into Quantum Healing now". High school chemistry is sufficient, you don't have to be Quantumy to deal with this.

If your pH ranges are skewing there is something wrong with your diet. If you have to keep taking something to restore your pH values then you are potentially masking a serious illness. It may even be the case that your body is shifting the pH towards more acidic or alkaline for a specific reason. pH values may well vary throughout the day. For example, one study on retina found pH values ranging from 7.0 - 7.8. This circadian dependent shifting of pH values is entirely consistent with circadian dynamics in general. Life abhors stillness, our bodies and cells are typically in constant flux. It is as if it is easier to maintain a dynamic system that it is cycling through various phases rather than static. Perhaps not so surprising when you have feedback loops that directly impinge on other feedback loops. In that scenario perhaps it is impossible to obtain a "steady state". On the other hand, do "steady states" ever exist? Now if you'll excuse me, Bodhidharma is seeking my advice regarding a severed finger ... . 

Dancing at the End of Time

"If you're standing on thin ice you may as well dance."

Steven Cummings, Australian Singer

You have to wonder about the unbounded optimism of our political leaders. At present there is yet another big meeting, this time in Japan, to try and find strategies to prevent the further transformation of the environment. Dreamers, silly little dreamers. Too late, that boat has sailed and was last seen wallowing in the horse latitudes.

Eco transformation is happening now. Even by Greenie logic it must be conceded that we have introduced so much novelty into the "web of life" that we must have irretrievably perturbed the "balance of nature" and so have inexorably set in train processes which will entail a eco-transformation that we will neither be able to predict or control.

A Remarkable Anti-Inflammatory diet

You can download the press release here. This is a startlingly good result, so good I want to see it followed up. It could be too good to be true or wonderful.

The results in brief ...

The results show that the food portfolio significantly reduced inflammation. Furthermore, LDL-cholesterol was reduced by 33%, blood triglycerides by 14%, blood pressure by 8 % and a thrombotic risk factor by 26 %. In addition, the subjects’ cognitive functions were improved after the food portfolio compared with the reference food.

Enjoy Airline Food - Wear Ear Plugs

This news item from Physorg throws some light on the complexity of tasting. We might think it is just about taste buds and smell. Think again, our senses are not as separate as we are inclined to believe.

Professor Holick on Vitamin D

This news link from Physorg has an interview with the man who kept promoting vitamin D when everyone else thought the sun was enough.

The Price of Freedom

US War Crimes: Cancer Rate in Fallujah Worse than Hiroshima

....

“This is an extraordinary and alarming result,” said Busby, a professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Ulster and director of scientific research for Green Audit, an independent environmental research group. “To produce an effect like this, some very major mutagenic exposure must have occurred in 2004 when the attacks happened. We need urgently to find out what the agent was. Although many suspect uranium, we cannot be certain without further research and independent analysis of samples from the area.”

Busby told an Italian television news station, RAI 24, that the “extraordinary” increase in radiation-related maladies in Fallujah is higher than that found in the populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the US atomic strikes of 1945. “My guess is that this was caused by depleted uranium,” he said. “They must be connected.”

Cannabis, Schizophrenia, Cognition, and Autoimmunity

When I was writing up the earlier piece last night I came across some searches from Norml, the rabidly pro marijuana organisation. The search page had the extract - schizophrenics have improved cognition if smoking pot. At the time I dismissed it but today I realised I was being silly, there is a very good neuroimmunological explanation for why cannabinoids can be helping schizophrenics.

"Spontaneous recovery" in schizophrenia

I just found this article from the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 2007. This statement is striking ...

Patients with schizophrenia who had removed themselves or been removed from antipsychotic medications showed significantly better global functioning and outcome than those still being treated with antipsychotics. Detailed analyses of those patients with schizophrenia on antipsychotic medications versus those not on medications at the 15-year follow-ups also were conducted. These analyses indicated that in addition to the significant differences in global functioning between these groups, 19 of the 23 schizophrenia patients (83%) with uniformly poor outcome at the 15-year follow-ups were on antipsychotic medications.

Not good, not at all. Lots of issues involved here, especially that the possibility that those who go off medication did not have such a severe condition. Much more worryingly though is that those on medication generally declined in function, whereas those on medication had a much greater chance of improvement.

Do Neuroleptics Increase an Aberrant Neurodegenerative Autoimmune Response?

Long, 2250 words, difficult, give yourself a chance. My conclusion is that the current approach to treating schizophrenia could very well be inducing neurodegeneration through an autoimmune mediated pathology. I examine this from the perspective of heat shock proteins, autoimmunity, and neuroimmunology. This raises very serious questions about the current emphasis on "pre treating" so called "pre-psychotic" individuals.

This recent news item caught my interest because it relates to a set of immune cells that play a cardinal role in autoimmunity and cancer prevention. The news item addresses gamma delta T cells, a set of T cells that respond to one of the most abundantly expressed stress proteins in our body, heat shock protein 60. This protein is very strongly associated with autoimmunity. While autoimmunity is typically associated with pathology it plays a fundamental role in our health by eliminating dangerous cells that could become cancerous or induce the release inflammatory mediators that initiate tissue damage.

The Good News on Saturated Fat

Must be that time of year when all the long held myths concerning health and nutrition are held up for scrutiny. About time, many people believe that saturated fat is bad. That is bollocks. You need saturated fat. This obsession with the terror of saturated fat is what drove many people to avoid eggs and dairy products. This in spite of good literature showing that eggs are an excellent food and FULL FAT dairy is good for you, albeit keeping in mind total fat intake and the balance of fatty acid intake.

Thus, from the news article ...

A recent meta-analysis of epidemiological and intervention studies of milk fat conducted by Peter Elwood, DSc, MD, FRCP, FFPHM, DUniv, Hon DSc, Honorary Professor at the School of Medicine, Cardiff University, found that milk and dairy consumption actually was associated with a decrease in CVD risk.

The above has been known for years. What many people don't realise is that dairy products contain a very beneficial fatty acid - conjugated linoleic acid.

Cannabis and Memory Loss

This finding from the British Journal of Psychiatry is very consistent with the known pharmacology of THC. It is found that the higher the THC content, the greater the memory loss. Modern breeds of marijuana undoubtedly have higher THC content, though this increase is greatly exaggerated by the authorities.

This modern change in the ratios of THC to CBD probably explains the rise in cannabis associated psychosis. This recent research piece, a nice piece of work, highlights the differing roles.

Blowing up Cancer Cells

Remarkably creative and clever approach to attacking cancer ...

In the zebra-fish study, Lapotko and his collaborators at Rice directed antibody-tagged gold nanoparticles into the implanted cancer cells. A short laser pulse overheated the surface of the nanoparticles and evaporated a very thin volume of the surrounding medium to create small vapor bubbles that expanded and collapsed within nanoseconds; this left cells undamaged but generated a strong optical scattering signal that was bright enough to detect a single cancer cell.

A second, stronger pulse generated larger nanobubbles that exploded (or, as the researchers called it, "mechanically ablated") the target cell without damaging surrounding tissue in the zebra fish. Scattering of the laser light by the second "killer" bubble confirmed the cellular destruction.

A Natural Response to Alzheimer's Disease

It was only a few years ago that most believed amyloid plaques and protein tangles could not be removed from the nervous system. We now know better and recent findings have important implications for our cerebral health. Over recent years there have been a number of studies highlighting that in contradiction to another once well established opinion, age associated cognitive impairment is not inevitable and there exist a wide range of strategies to ameliorate cognitive decline with aging. Achieving that goal, and in these days that is a realistic goal, is no easy task. It requires a variety of strategies but the long term pay offs are potentially enormous. This possibility first occurred to me on yet another afternoon when I had the energy of a bamboo deprived panda, I was flicking through TV stations and caught a glimpse of an interview with BF Skinner. He related that at his age, 85, he felt he was still going work but he stressed that throughout his life he had been very careful about his health. There is a very important for those who wish to live long and prosper: if that truly is your goal you had better start living towards that goal before you are 35 years old.

Patrick Lockerby: Arctic Ice Update

Every month or so Patrick provides update on the ice dynamics in the Arctic. Here is the latest report. Thanks Patrick!

Daleks Thwarted by a Call Centre

Funny.

Epigenetics and PTSD

This news release from Science Daily highlights yet another epigenetic study that raises difficult questions about our understanding of natural selection. There is a long, fascinating, and in some ways sad history about epigenetics. It all began with the Australian immunologist Ted Steele.

Does the Impact of Psychological Trauma Cross Generations?

It has been assumed that these trans-generational effects reflected the impact of PTSD upon the parent-child relationship rather than a trait passed biologically from parent to child. 

However, Dr. Isabelle Mansuy and colleagues provide new evidence in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry that some aspects of the impact of trauma cross generations and are associated with epigenetic changes, i.e., the regulation of the pattern of gene expression, without changing the DNA sequence

The Australian immunologist Ted Steele, in the 1970's, was the first to strongly argue for a Lamarckian style of inheritance. I read his book long ago, Lamarck's Signature, and put a question mark over it, waiting for studies. Ted Steele was treated like a pariah by the scientific community. Not surprising, science does have its stories of the intellectually adventurous being burnt alive. A friend of mine once noted that Aussies tend towards the iconoclastic type. (Can we find an epigenetic trait for that Frank!?). Ted Steele, and that wonderfully cynical and insightful Aus philosopher, Dave Stove, are excellent examples of that iconoclastic motif. Dave Stove is one of those few precious philosophers who can call out bullshit with remarkable clarity. For example, in regard to the Selfish Gene hypothesis, one of the dumbest ways you can ever perceive genetics, Stove writes: if genes were that selfish incest would be all the rage. So FU Dawkins, I always knew you were wrong and now everyone does. But I digress ...

Epigenetics Nutshell: The concept refers to changes in gene transcription mediated by the the attachment of methyl and\or acetyl groups to the proteins which surrounds genes (chromatin, heterochromatin) and impact on the rate of gene transcription.

Ted Steele's fight cost him his career, he was even subject to disciplinary proceedings which were later thrown out on appeal. In science rocking the boat can have you tossed overboard. He crossed a sacred barrier, the Weismann Barrier. This refers to the long held view that irrespective of what happens to the body(soma), the germ line cells remain unaffected. We can now regard that as unmitigated bollocks.

There are deep and difficult questions surrounding epigenetics. This study highlights one such problem. For it is unimaginable how epigenetic changes could have the precision suggested in this article. The same problem is suggested in relation to epigenetic findings on diabetes, that if your grandparents went through a noticeable famine your diabetes risk was raised. This is quite fascinating, especially when you consider that India is the diabetes capital of the world and aborigines also have extraordinarily high rates of diabetes. How's that for an unintended consequence of being well fed! So even if we looked for gene changes the answer may be masked, what we need to also look for is epigenetic changes. These findings and many like findings have profound implications for our understanding of evolution. It is going to be another revolution and calls into question all those models of gene variation and natural selection dynamics.

BTW, a study released a few months ago suggested that congenital mental retardation can occur not through changes in the genes but in epigenetic changes.

Follow Patrick Lockerby on Scientific Blogging

Hats off to Richard Lockerby for his continued efforts to bring the science of climate change to the wider public. His recent post, Mad 2.0, illustrates the urgent need for the wider public to become much more informed about the science of climate change. Follow his posts because Patrick has an excellent grasp of the problem and the need for urgent change.

Behaviorism and Culture

A friend of mine in the USA sent me this long (30min) and fascinating video which highlights the development of a new perspective on cultural analysis that is based on ideas drawn from behavioral analysis. This is a seminal approach and will take many years if not decades to be explored. There are some interesting ideas being explored here, the talk introduces these ideas but you'll need to track down the relevant research to obtain a larger picture. Great stuff, pleasing to see that there is at least someone out there trying to develop a novel approach to understanding cultural dynamics.

Monkey Economics

Primate Economics

Longevity(Exceptional) - the genes have it

This recent press release has caused a world wide stir, with critics pointing out flaws in the analyses, though with the caveat that the identified flaws did not disprove the conclusions but raised questions that needed further investigation. In that link the researcher states his own research also identifies 150 specific markers in the exceptionally long lived. This more critical analysis though suggests the whole methodological approach is up the creek with one scientist quoted as saying the paper should not have been published because all the conclusions are suspect. The question is: Do we now know enough to enable people to realistically aim at extending their healthy lifespan? Not with studies like the above, but when the current centenarians were born people were only just becoming interested in the work of the quiet monk, Gregor Mendel, who pioneered modern genetics. Today we know so much more, and there is sufficient information to suggest it is possible to increase our lifespan and avoid illness. It is still a numbers game but we can play with the odds. First, some more of these genetic studies ... .

Diabetes Mediated by Pollution

This news release reminded me of this prior research which prompted me to think about this research. Then I found this and  this and this and this  and this which of course led to the obvious hypothesis being thus  and thus (full text available at link)all of which reminded of this recent research news wherein they still fail to recognise the obvious hypothesis. Take note from the last reference:

One striking observation is that obese persons that do not have elevated POPs are not at elevated risk of diabetes, suggesting that the POPs rather than the obesity per se is responsible for the association.

At a personal level I find this quite incredible because several years ago I wrote up a report for an environmental group wherein I argued that the compounds found in many electronic components were known to be toxic and needed to be safely disposed of instead of being put in landfill. The Queensland Environmental Protection Agency laughed at my report. Idiots, it was the obvious hypothesis back then, if only because several countries had already passed legislation to address the issue.

All that is a friggin disaster.

2- Enriched environment, stress, inhibits cancer?

In a previous post I mentioned the new research showing how an enriched environment can markedly impede the development of cancer. This research, the abstract of which is available here. (This research is concordant with research I earlier addressed, you can read it here.)The results of this current research indicate that a key variable is leptin. Leptin is a hormone released by fat cells(and other cells) that suppresses appetite. When writing up that previous post I was in a hurry so did not have time to think about it. As I driving over to a friend's place I had a petit epiphany, realising that there could very well be a linkage between the findings of this study and another post I put up on the same day that indicated regular coffee consumption is associated with cancer reduction. The typical assumption is that coffee confers this protection because it is extremely high in antioxidants, but together with the above research we can see another way in which coffee exerts its anti-cancer effects. There are some important lessons here, both in relation to the dangers of extrapolation when dealing with complex adaptive systems and the need to constantly re-evaluate our assumptions. I know, whilst thinking about this during the week I made some silly logical errors.

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

bad science
Dr. Ben Goldacre
Fourth Estate - London, 2008
Website: Bad Science


Purpose of this text: to inform the general public about how to better understand modern biomedical news and in particular health related news. He is a British doctor and keeps his focus on the British scene but his lessons are universal and badly needed. In an earlier post  I  made some comments on the chapter in this text "Professor Patrick Holford".

This is a very important book. If you have never read a text on how to read and understand biomedical literature yet read biomedical literature you should read this text.

Professor Patrick Holford - Nutrition Nonsense

The other day I picked up this text and late last night decided to read the chapter Professor Patrick Holford because I read a book of his some years ago. Ben Goldacre is a British doctor who writes regularly for the Guardian and has taken up the challenge of addressing all the kookiness out there in relation to health advice. Good on him, high time the medical profession put some effort into attacking the multitude of spurious nutrition advice out there. I may provide a full review of "Bad Science" later but for now I will focus on this Patrick Holford character.

Coffee and Cancer

Coffee used to be regarded as a dangerous substance. The research is now clearly pointing out that coffee can confer a great many benefits. This video from Healthday puts forward the results of some surprising research showing that regular coffee consumption is protective against a range of cancers.

Enriched environment, stress, inhibits cancer?

This report from the Ohio State University Medical Center presents some challenging ideas in relation to stress and cancer. It has been assumed that cancer patients should avoid stress, this advice being predicated on the common presumption that any stress suppresses the immune response. That idea is not correct, it is sustained stress that inhibits the immune response, but mild intermittent stress can have a positive effect on the immune response. I have previously addressed this issue in this post. This recent research again highlights the complexity of immune responses and how we still have much to learn.

For an excellent overview of their research these neuroscientists have provided a good video which you can view below. It is great to see scientists using these resources to communicate their findings to the public. We are witnessing a revolution in the dissemination of scientific information.

I have some other ideas I wish to follow up with this study so I may edit this post later. For now though, read the news article above and watch the video. Good stuff.

The Universe: A Biography

The Universe: A Biography

John Gribbin
Allen Lane, 2006

Links:

Cosmos Review
Amazon
New Statesman Review

John Gribbin is an astrophysicist with an uncanny ability to communicate his love for cosmology in an accessible and entertaining manner. If you are not familiar with cosmology then this book is an excellent starting point. Unlike Re-inventing Gravity which addresses the specific issue of gravity and goes into some technical detail, this text takes you along for the ride in a non-technical explanation of cosmology. If you are not familiar with the subject matter, it is better to start with this text before moving on to Re-inventing Gravity.

The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century

The Modern Mind: An intellectual history of the 20th Century
Peter Watson
Perennial, London, 2001

Links:

Amazon
Wiki entry on the author


This work is a remarkable scholarly achievement. The author admits he cannot cover in detail all the relevant ideas of the last century yet he does an excellent job in providing the reader with a sweeping panorama of 20th century thought.

The writing is lucid and entertaining, though at times I found some of the material covered tedious. That is to be expected, a coverage of this extent is bound to leave the individual reader with pages tedious to read. That is not the author's fault, it is just a function of human behavior. This is a valulable text, one that should be read in its entirety and then kept handy as a reference source.