The Department of Physiology has a long-standing tradition of excellence. Our faculty, trainees, and staff seek to understand how the human body works from the head down to the toes and everything in between. Together, we exploit the range of available model systems to understand physiological processes at a mechanistic and integrated level in health with the explicit goal of understanding human disease and identifying potential therapeutics.
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Department of Physiology
I Introduction
Chapter 1 Foundations of Physiology
II Physiology of Cells and Molecules
Chapter 2 Functional Organization of the Cell
Chapter 3 Signal Transduction
Chapter 4 Regulation of Gene Expression
Chapter 5 Transport of Solutes and Water
Chapter 6 Electrophysiology of the Cell Membrane
Chapter 7 Electrical Excitability and Action Potentials
Chapter 8 Synaptic Transmission and the Neuromuscular Junction
Chapter 9 Cellular Physiology of Skeletal, Cardiac, and Smooth Muscle
III The Nervous System
Chapter 10 Organization of the Nervous System
Chapter 11 The Neuronal Microenvironment
Chapter 12 Physiology of Neurons
Chapter 13 Synaptic Transmission in the Nervous System
Chapter 14 The Autonomic Nervous System
Chapter 15 Sensory Transduction
Chapter 16 Circuits of the Central Nervous System
IV The Cardiovascular System
Chapter 17 Organization of the Cardiovascular System
Chapter 18 Blood
Chapter 19 Arteries and Veins
Chapter 20 The Microcirculation
Chapter 21 Cardiac Electrophysiology and the Electrocardiogram
Chapter 22 The Heart As a Pump
Chapter 23 Regulation of Arterial Pressure and Cardiac Output
Chapter 24 Special Circulations
Chapter 25 Integrated Control of the Cardiovascular System
V The Respiratory System
Chapter 26 Organization of the Respiratory System
Chapter 27 Mechanics of Ventilation
Chapter 28 Acid-Base Physiology
Chapter 29 Transport of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide In the Blood
Chapter 30 Gas Exchange in the Lung
Chapter 31 Ventilation and Perfusion of the Lungs
Chapter 32 Control of Ventilation
VI The Urinary System
Chapter 33 Organization of the Urinary System
Chapter 34 Glomerular Filtration and Renal Blood Flow
Chapter 35 Transport of Sodium and Chloride
Chapter 36 Transport of Urea, Glucose, Phosphate, Calcium, Magnesium, and Organic Solutes
Chapter 37 Transport of Potassium
Chapter 38 Urine Concentration and Dilution
Chapter 39 Transport of Acids and Bases
Chapter 40 Integration of Salt and Water Balance
VII The Gastrointestinal System
Chapter 41 Organization of the Gastrointestinal System
Chapter 42 Gastric Function
Chapter 43 Pancreatic and Salivary Glands
Chapter 44 Intestinal Fluid and Electrolyte Movement
Chapter 45 Nutrient Digestion and Absorption
Chapter 46 Hepatobiliary Function
VIII The Endocrine System
Chapter 47 Organization of Endocrine Control
Chapter 48 Endocrine Regulation of Growth and Body Mass
Chapter 49 The Thyroid Gland
Chapter 50 The Adrenal Gland
Chapter 51 The Endocrine Pancreas
Chapter 52 The Parathyroid Glands and Vitamin D
IX The Reproductive System
Chapter 53 Sexual Differentiation
Chapter 54 The Male Reproductive System
Chapter 55 The Female Reproductive System
Chapter 56 Fertilization, Pregnancy, and Lactation
Chapter 57 Fetal and Neonatal Physiology
X Physiology of Cells and Molecules
Chapter 58 Metabolism
Chapter 59 Regulation of Body Temperature
Chapter 60 Exercise Physiology and Sports Science
Chapter 61 Environmental Physiology
Chapter 62 The Physiology of Aging
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Medical Physiology - 9781455743773 | US Elsevier Health Bookshop
(Credit: Innerfire BV)
Take a deep breath. Feel the wave of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide press against the bounds of your ribcage and swell your lungs. Exhale. Repeat.
Before consciously inhaling, you probably werent thinking about breathing at all. The respiratory system is somewhat unique to our bodies in that we are both its passenger and driver. We can leave it up to our autonomic nervous system, responsible for unconscious actions like our heartbeat and digestion, or we can seamlessly take over the rhythm of our breath.
To some, this duality offers a tantalizing path into our subconscious minds and physiology. Control breathing, the thinking goes, and perhaps we can nudge other systems within our bodies. This is part of the logic behind Lamaze techniques, the pranayamic breathing practiced in yoga and even everyday wisdom just take a deep breath.
These breathing practices promise a kind of visceral self-knowledge, a more perfect melding of mind and body that expands our self-control to subconscious activities. These may be dubious claims to some.
For Wim Hof, a Danish daredevil nicknamed The Iceman, it is the basis of his success.
Now approaching his 60s, Hof has run marathons barefoot and shirtless above the Arctic Circle, dove under the ice at the North Pole and languished in ice baths for north of 90 minutes all feats that he attributes to a special kind of breathing practice.
You can easily try it for yourself. While sitting in a comfortable place, take 30 quick, deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Then, take a deep breath and exhale; hold until you need to breathe in. Inhale again, as deep as you can, and hold it for 10 seconds. Repeat as many times as you like.
Combined with repeated exposure to the cold, Hof says that his method will lead to tangible health benefits: more energy, lowered stress levels and an improved immune system. For him, it enables seemingly superhuman feats of endurance, brought on, he says, by the physiological changes that his breathing techniques impart.
(Credit: Innerfire BV)
Breathe properly, Hof claims, and oxygen levels in the tissues increase and adrenaline floods the body, granting strength that we didnt know we had.
If you oxygenize the body the way we do it, the oxygen gets into the tissue. [Regular] breathingdoesnt do that, he says. What happens in the brain stem, the brain says, There is no oxygen anymore. Then it triggers adrenaline to shoot out throughout the body. Adrenaline is for survival, but this time it is completely controlled the adrenaline shoots out throughout the body and resets it to the best functionality.
Hof speaks convincingly of the heightened mind-body connection his technique engenders, begging comparisons toa long tradition of semi-mystic practices such as pranayamic yoga, tummo breathing and breathwork.
Over the phone, Hof is loquacious and utterly convincing, perhaps fitting for a man who ran up Mt. Everest shoeless and shirtless, trusting only his breath. He touts the multiple scientific studies hes been involved with, while tossing mentions of mitochondrial activity, blood alkalinity and adrenaline in a flurry of scientific buzzwords.
Above all, he speaks of a more profound connection between mind and body that allows us to quell the primal desire to run from pain and fear or from the cold.
I found by deeper breathing, going into the cold, thinking about it, dealing with it; getting the conviction that my ability to breathe deeper is making connections with my body, he says. If you go into the ice cold you have to go deep. There is no other way. It is just bloody cold.
This mindset aligns with the core tenets of yoga and other practices that aim to grant us more control of our physiology. Breath control is at the center of many of these techniques, and the concept has worked its way into modern medicine as well.
Robert Fried is a clinical respiratory psychophysiologist who retired from the Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience Program at the City University of New York in 2010. Hes also written several books on how breathing is related to stress levels and our physiology. In his practice, Fried worked with individuals whose medical conditions made it difficult to breathe, such as COPD patients, as well as people whose lives or professions left them chronically stressed, and his methods essentially involve
The purpose of deep breathing is to induce a hypometabolic state, where autonomic and mental arousal are minimal.It is a resting, restorative state, a counter anxiety, counter stress response of the body induced by using the breathing that goes with relaxation to trigger a similar muscle response in the body, Fried wrote in an email to Discover.
Its slowing us down, in other words, to counteract the damaging effects that prolonged stress can have on our bodies effects that are well known and generally accepted. Fried and therapists like himhave used conscious breathing techniques, similar to those found in yoga, for years, and have achieved reliable success. Fried mentions that many of his patients felt rejuvenated after just a few minutes of conscious breathing with him, which sounds similar to what Hof promises.
(Credit: Innerfire BV)
We can achieve noticeable physical effects with other breathing exercises as well, although they are almost all short-term. The valsalva maneuver, which involves exhaling while closing the throat, quickly lowers blood pressure and raises the pulse, and is used to help stabilize patients suffering from heart arrhythmias. The Lamaze breathing used by many pregnant women has been shown to increase pain tolerance and aid relaxation, while there have been many reports of hallucinations and feelings of euphoria following hyperventilation.
Despite the daredevil publicity stunts and enthusiastic salesmanship, perhaps Hof isnt so far outside of the norm after all. Perhaps we should simplyview his techniques as radicalized version of yoga, albeit one thats practiced in the middle of a Scandinavian winter.
Still, sitting in an ice bath for an hour and a half is nothing to scoff at. But can we really attribute extreme feats of endurance to the kind of simple exercises we can do while sitting at the office?
The crux of the issue may come down to the question of how well we truly understand the inner workings of the human body. And, though he may edge into hyperbole while discussing myriad benefits of his techniques, Hof has also proven willing to offer himself up as a scientific test subject.
The first true scientific evaluation of Hof came in 2014, when a team led by Danish researcher Mathijs Kox tested the immune systems of people who had followed Hofs training regimen for 10 days. Kox injected participants with an inflammatory agent while they performed the techniques. Compared to a control group, they experienced lower levels of inflammation, and were less affected by the fever and nausea that usually accompanies the injection.
While the researchers still have no solid theory as to why breathing and cold exposure seem to dampen immune activity, they suggest that the release of adrenaline breathing sparks could play a role. The spike in adrenaline was linked to increased levels of an anti-inflammatory protein, and decreased levels of proteins, called cytokines, responsible for signaling the immune system.
Hof being tested. (Credit: Innerfire BV)
There are a few caveats to the study, however. For starters, Koxs team hasnt yet tested the different components of the Hof technique separately, so its hard to say if hyperventilation, breath holding, cold exposure or some combination of all three is at play. In addition, Daniel Beard, a professor of physiology at the University of Michigan points out that their study fails to determine whether the effects are short- or long-term.
None of these people have control over their blood pH or their breathing, except when theyre actually consciously doing this thing. Their heart rates are the same as the other subjects, their pressures are the same, he says.In other words, the life-altering physiological changes that Hof claims exist could only materialize for the short time during which participants are actively doing the exercises.
A true test of the Hof method would determine whether its effects persist, even when people arent consciously altering their breathing. Beard does agree with their fundamental conclusions though, and acknowledges that something is indeed going on in people following Hofs method.
Clearly these people have altered their physiological state this training has changed them, and its changed them in a way that has to do with the autonomic nervous system, he says.
The study lends scientific credibility to Hofs claims and adds credence to the idea that conscious breathing can allow us to influence deeper processes in our bodies. As is perhaps to be expected, Hof goes one step further, positing that the surge in blood alkalinity that accompanies hyperventilationallows us to consciously train our cells, and, theoretically, optimize their machinery. Neurotransmitters in our blood vessels communicate with our brains and cells to regulate blood pH levels something that normally occurs without any intervention on our part. Hof believes that by taking control of our breath we can force open a doorway into these normally unconscious processes and hijack them to optimize how our bodies perform.
This is a more controversial proposition, given that trying to alter blood pH is essentially pitting us against ourselves. When our blood becomes alkaline it violates homeostasis, the perfect balance of internal conditions that our bodies strive to achieve. Hof says this is a good thing. Modernity has made us soft, he asserts, and instead of becoming healthier weve instead achieved a kind of degeneracy. Dunking ourselves in icy waters and breathing like were being chased by a starving tigerbrings about a body more in union, he says, and claims this translates to real health benefits.
(Credit: Innerfire BV)
This is where Hof begins to step beyond the edges of modern science into the cold, as it were. There is really no evidence to suggest making blood alkaline, even temporarily, is a good thing, andresearchers like Fried were skeptical about the possible benefits. The veracityof other physiological mechanisms Hof claims, such as oxygenating the blood and stimulating the immune system with cold are also unproven.
How then should we reconcile Hofs feats with the apparent flaws in his logic? A cynical read says that hesan unnaturally gifted individualexaggerating the limits of normal human physiology to profit from hopeful individuals. But, science wouldnt get very far if it was dominated solely by cynics. Is it possible that Hof has stumbled across a quirk of human physiology, one with with the potential to illuminate previously unseen pathways within our bodies?
Count Andrew Huberman in as one of the optimists.An associate professor of neurobiology and opthamology at Stanford University, Huberman is currently conducting a study that exposes practitioners of Hofs method to fearful encounters via virtual reality to see if their minds and bodies respond any differently.
His research focuses on how our bodies react to stressful situations, and after stumbling across the Wim Hof method a few years ago, Huberman set out to attempt a scientific exploration of the technique. Hes taken courses from Hof himself, and he says the experience convinced him that the breathing techniques were worth a closer look.
Huberman makes it clear that he has no financial ties to Hof, although he has lectured with him. He is, however, an enthusiastic practitioner of the breathing techniques he does them every morning, he says and has developed a theory to explain the calming and mildly euphoric sensations that result. The essence of the techniques, Huberman says, is inoculating our bodies against the stress response. And, as before, adrenaline is the key.
Normally, when adrenaline goes up cortisol goes up too and the hypothesis that were testing is that when you do this method, what ends up happening is you get an increase in adrenaline, but that cortisol, because youre in conscious control of your state, youre remaining calm, cortisol stays relatively low, he says.
From his own experiences, Huberman thinks that the use of hyperventilation and controlled breath-holding maximizes the beneficial effects of our innate stress response, while suppressing the negative long-term effects of stress.
This is a highly unusual situation. Youre kind of uncoupling the normal parallel response of these two hormone neurotransmitters, he says.
Instead of eliminating stress entirely, Huberman thinks that we can learn to twist it to our advantage and condition our bodies to respond in a positive way.
Hes in the early stages of research at the moment, and his project includes a wide-ranging collaboration with other researchers to test a full spectrum of physiological responses. His goal is to perform the kind of testing that will stand up to the intense scrutiny that Hofss claims inevitably provoke.
Key for Huberman will be separating myth from fact. Some breathing techniques common to yoga and lamaze may not confer any benefits for our bodies, and could in fact harm them, according to Fried. Breathing often comes as part and parcel of a larger set of practices, and separating it into its constituent parts can be difficult.
The ultimate goal, says Huberman, is to come up with even better breathing protocols than already exist by examining a range of established practices. Breaking various methods apart to see what works and what doesnt is simply good science.
Indeed, the initial results of the Kox study may indicate that Hubermans adrenaline-cortisol theory may not be totally correct. They found that Hofs cortisol levels actually spiked during their tests, as opposed to dropping as Huberman predicted they should. They didnt confirm similar results in their other test subject though, so the correlation remains ambiguous. In fact, all we can really sayat this point is that this kind of breathing helps release adrenaline into our bodies.
The perplexing power that breathing holds remains a mystery for the time being, even as the quantitative might of the scientific method is brought to bear upon it. Promising research is ahead, however, and Hof and others already hint at the possible rewards.
These studies might end up confirming once and for all what practitioners of yoga and other physical and mental practices have known intuitively for years. It may be that the duality of breath at once automatic and controllable runs even deeper. Its not just our lungs that we can consciously grasp hold of, its our physiology as a whole.
All we have to do is find the handle.
[Disclaimer: Neither Discover Magazine nor any of the researchers interviewed here endorse the Wim Hof method. If you choose to follow the breathing protocols, you do so at your own risk]
See the original post:
Can Breathing Like Wim Hof Make Us Superhuman? - Discover Magazine (blog)
By Jack Spatafora, Thursday at 10:21 am
The good news is that in this Internet age you and I will never have to be alone again. Or maybe when you think about it, this is actually the bad news. However you choose to think about it, being alone can be debated; but being lonely cannot. Loneliness is a killer.
C.S. Lewis put it best when he said: "Friendship is born in that moment when one person says to another: "What? You too? I thought I was the only one." Marcel Proust then completed the thought: "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
As is usually the case, some of us my age are perfectly willing to go with the solid insights of our best writers like Lewis and Proust. These, though, are very different times; now we seem to require additional scientific evidence. Not to worry -- a thousand neurobiologists to the rescue!
We are not saying science has no say in the matter of loneliness. But we are saying it needn't hog the show with its physiological data; for you see my physiology is not me anymore than I am my physiology. Take a recent scientific article in 'The New Republic' by Judith Shulevitz which observes: "We've known intuitively that loneliness hastens death; but haven't been able to explain how. Now we can show that loneliness sends misleading hormonal signals, rejiggers the molecules on genes that govern behavior, and wrenches a slew of other systems out of whack."
To know this much is to know this much. Although it alone is hardly to know loneliness. For the total tragedy of that experience you need more than even our most exquisite scientific explanations. You need to bury a spouse or a child or a parent. Or to travel the anguish in tales from 'The Odyssey' to 'Anna Karenina' to 'Look Homeward Angel.' Or to sing late into the night sad songs like 'My Old Kentucky Home,' 'My Buddy,' and 'Bridge Over Troubled Waters.'
Human loneliness is a feeling and feelings transcend physiology. If they don't, then you and I are simply the synergy of our complex body parts. Something this confirmed theist refuses to believe. And you....?
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Taking A Second Look - ChicagoNow (blog)
We recently had Dr. Craig Venter speak at our Splash Health 2017 event. Dr. Venter is the first person to sequence a human genome, simply put: the instructions and information about human development, physiology, and evolution. In his interview, he points out that 15 years ago, sequencing a human genome would have cost $100 million and take over nine months.
Oh how far weve come. Today, there are a number of companies helping us to analyze our genes, or basically our DNA, which make up genes, to understand our physiology. Advances in sequencing the human genome have been the foundation for this knowledge, and is ultimately paving the path toward personalized medicine - therapies that are personalized to a persons genetic code, and its cousin regenerative medicine - therapies that replace or enable damaged cells, organs to regenerate.
One company, Orig3n, is doing both. Boston-based Orig3n started out in 2014 collecting blood samples to conduct regenerative medicine studies, but later added in the ability to conduct DNA testing to learn more about a persons intelligence, or predisposition to learning languages, to knowing what vitamins theyre deficient in.
Its an interesting an unique funnel the company has created for itself on its way to solve big problems with regenerative medicine, which seems more in its infancy than DNA testing.
To that end, Orig3ns DNA testing business has taken off.
In order to be tested, you take a cotton swab and swab the inside of your cheek to collect DNA samples from the cells inside your mouth. Alternatively, one could spit in a tube, which is how 23andMe collects samples of DNA.
From there, Orig3n breaks down the cells to open up the DNA, which is inside the nucleus of the cell. The DNA is then purified and put into a genetic test panel. Your DNA is then analyzed against other DNA that have been collected and studied.
The analysis of the DNA is pretty standard. What differentiates its products, according to Robin Smith, Founder and CEO, is how the analysis is packaged and how quickly the results are turned around. The whole genome sequencing world has been around for 15 years and is fairly commoditized, said Smith. The same thing is happening with DNA detection. The biggest differentiator for Orig3n is that it delivers the data in ways that are understandable, said Smith.
For instance, on Orig3n, tests focus on an analysis of your skin to perfect your skincare routine, or about your strength and intelligence. Tests range from $20 to $100.
On Everlywell, you can take a DNA test to measure your sensitivity to foods. Or for around $239, it appears you can test to see if you have HIV, Herpes Type 2 and other sexual diseases.
On 23andMe, you can pay $199 to learn what proportion of your genes come from 31 populations worldwide, or what your genetic weight predisposes you to weigh vs an average and what are some healthy habits of people with your genetic makeup [though personally these habits seem to be good for anyone regardless of genetic makeup].
But for Orig3n, the DNA tests are just a good business while also a funnel to the bigger problem theyre trying to solve, and for which they recently raised $20 million for: Regenerative medicine.
Before offering the DNA tests, Orig3n was taking and continues to take blood samples, reprogramming cells to go back to a state three days prior. And from there, they can grow certain tissues. The purpose of Orig3n is to create cell therapies for various diseases and disorders.
In the next fives year, there will be real live therapies to repairing the degeneration of your eyes or performing some cardiac repair, Smith predicted. It feels like 1993 when I used a phone line to dial into the Internet, then seven years later we had the boom. We think regenerative medicine - getting your body to induce itself to rejuvenate parts that are broken - is where the Internet was in 1993.
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DNA testing - on the road to regenerative medicine - VatorNews
Last Date of Apply : 19.07.2017
Date of Posting : 04.07.2017
Faculty / Department : Faculty of Medicine
Job Detail:
TECHNICIAN (PHYSIOLOGICAL AND/OR MICROBIOLOGICAL SCIENCES) VACANCY NO. IRC 721
Duties: The successful applicant will be expected to work in Human Physiology and/or Microbiology laboratories under the tutelage of the physiology and/or microbiology teams, ensuring that laboratories are effectively managed, serviced and maintained. The successful candidate will be expected to (i) Manage the human physiology and microbiology laboratories and other sections under their area of responsibility (ii) manage and service laboratory equipment (iii) instruct users in the correct use of equipment (iv) maintain stocks of consumables (v) liaise with researchers, academic staff and chief technician on the procurement of equipment and materials (vi) maintain a safe working environment in the areas of responsibility (vii) mentor junior technical staff.
Requirements: Applicants must have (i) at least a Diploma or Degree in the relevant field and at least two years experience post qualification experience in a technical role in a human physiology/microbiology or related laboratory. They should demonstrate good technical, administrative and supervisory skills and familiarity with IT.
How to Apply:
Applicants should address the stated qualifications and provide any other information to assist the University to determine your suitability for the position. They should quote the vacancy number of the post applied for, provide current CVs (including telephone and telefax numbers, and e-mail), certified true copies of educational certificates and, names, addresses and contact details of three referees. Applicants should inform their referees to (i) quote the vacancy number (ii) position applied for, and (iii) submit their references directly to the address stated below before the stipulated closing date. Send your application to: The Human Resources Manager, Faculty of Medicine, Private Bag UB 00713 Gaborone, Botswana. Tel. (267) 355 2884 Fax (267) 355 4738. E-mail to kgomotso.maribe@mopipi.ub.bw or boikanyego.otumiseng@mopipi.ub.bw
Hand delivered applications should be submitted to Office No. UB Academic Hospital at 3rd Floor, Block F Office 4003 or 4004.
NB: Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
CLOSING DATE: 19 JULY 2017
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Welcome to University Of Botswana :: Job Opportunities ... - University of Botswana
3 July 2017
The media today can make you think that living a long, healthy (and happy!) life is quite complicated. There are diet wars, exercise wars, and competing tips on how to have a successful date, sex life, marriage or family. The boring (but fabulous) truth, is that it is actually fairly simple. And at the same time, completely particular to YOU. As human animals, our physiology is 10,000 years old, but life in the industrialized, digital modern world is quite new. The key to making choices that extend your health and your life is to get in touch with what your body was made forthe evolutionary health that your physiology thrives in.
We are made to move
And this is the other key, that you are unique! Genetically unique and socially and environmentally unique. You need to be bodywise, to listen to YOUR bodys needs and responses when considering competing health advice or making decisions about what to have for dinner or when to go to bed. With body intelligence (your BQ) as your navigational guide and your bodys earth-adapted physiology as your map, it is simple to make choices that help your body (and your life) hum with vibrancy and wellness.
Here are the Five Secrets to Lifelong Evolutionary Health that every major health advocate can agree upon, and that you can decide upon according to your own body intelligence.
Here are the principles of a healthy diet according to the worlds longest lived peoples.
Let your body guide you as to which grains and how many carbohydrates make you feel energetic and happy, or whether meat or dairy products agree with your digestion. Listen to your body and let it guide you to YOUR healthy diet, within these evolutionary guidelines.
The average person in modern societies sleeps 6.5 hours and we need, on average, 8! How much sleep does your body intelligence say you need to wake up rested and refreshed? Adequate sleep reduces pain, anxiety, depression, infections and weight gain. Sleep is your most important anti-aging activity.
We are made to move. How can you be more active in your everyday life and what kind of activities does your body wisdom lead you to? Dancing? Biking? Yoga? Exercise is the best treatment for depression, high blood pressure and the best prevention for heart disease and stroke.
Loneliness will kill you faster than cigarettes. What kinds of love and affection does your body crave? Cuddling with friends (or your dog!)? Hot sex with your lover? Sweet, affectionate family time with kids, siblings, parents or grandparents? How can you get a regular dose of love and affection in your life? Love truly is our greatest healer, halving the risk of heart attack and reducing your risk of cancer, stroke and all chronic disease.
A sense of pupose can extend your life by 50%what are you committed to? What kinds of creativity, service or work make create peace, satisfaction or excitement inside you?
If you use your body intelligence to guide you in these five evolutionary fundamentals of health, you will live long and prosper, and benefit the world as well. Blessings on your bodywise path!
BodyWise: Discovering Your Body's Intelligence for Lifelong Health and Healing by Dr Rachel Carlton Abrams is published by Bluebird and priced 12.99
Originally posted here:
The Five Secrets Of Lifelong Health - FemaleFirst.co.uk
Tracey Romero Mon, July 3rd, 2017 Print this article Mark Hargreaves, Ph.D., FACSM
Mark Hargreaves, Ph.D., FACSM, a professor of physiology at the University of Melbourne in Australia received the 2017 American College of Sports Medicine Citation Award at the associations recent annual meeting in Denver, Colorado.
Hargreaves was awarded for his contributions to sports medicine and exercise sciences research. His main research focus has been on better understanding the cellular mechanisms that regulate muscle metabolism during exercise and what effect training and nutritional manipulations may have on those mechanisms. His research has been funded by the Australian Sports Commission, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the Australian Research Council and the Diabetes Australia Research Trust.
Citation Award winners are selected for their leadership and contributions in the areas of research and scholarship, clinical care, administrative services or educational services, said Walter Thompson, FASCM, president of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in a press release. We are happy to recognize Dr. Hargreaves tremendous accomplishments. Hargreaves work has been published in more than 120 peer-reviewed journals and 65 book chapters and invited reviews, and has been cited more than 5,600 times. He has also received the American College of Sports Medicines Young Investigator Award and the Australian Physiological Societys McIntyre Prize, both in 1994.
One of the most recent studies he participated in, which was published in the June issue of the Journal of Science & Medicine in Sport, evaluated the physical activity training in Australian medical school. The researchers found that while most schools included some physical activity training, they did not always include national strength recommendations.
Hargreaves has served on the ACSMs board of trustees as a foreign corresponding editor of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, associate editor of Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews and consulting editor of the Journal of Applied Physiology. He received his masters degree in exercise physiology from Ball State University in 1984 and his Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Melbourne in 1989.
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Mark Hargreaves Receives 2017 ACSM Citation Award ... - https://ryortho.com/ (press release) (subscription)
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John Knight is senior lecturer in biomedical science; Chris Wigham is senior lecturer in interprofessional studies; Yamni Nigam is associate professor in biomedical science; all at the College of Human Health and Sciences, Swansea University.
The special senses sight, hearing, smell, touch and balance allow us to perceive the world and communicate. Like all body systems, they undergo age-related changes that negatively affect their function. Physiological changes to the eyes and ears mean older people gradually see, hear and balance less well. The changes also increase the risk of conditions such as cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, and conductive and sensory hearing loss. This sixth article in our series on the effects of age on the body describes what happens to the eyes and ears.
Knight J et al (2017) Anatomy and physiology of ageing 6: the eyes and ears. Nursing Times [online]; 113: 7, 39-42.
The special sense organs the eyes, ears, nose, tongue detect information coming from the environment, such as light, sound, smells and tastes, which is then relayed to the brain where it is processed into meaningful sensations. Diminished acuity of the special senses reduces our ability to perceive the world and communicate. All the senses go through an age-related decline, but the most dramatic changes are seen in the eyes and ears. This sixth article in this series on the effects of ageing on the different body systems examines the age-related changes in the eyes and ears.
Vision is affected by the ageing of the internal and external structures of the eye. Its decline is gradual and linear, and detectable changes begin in the third decade of life. The main changes are outlined in Fig 1.
Anatomy and physiology fig 1
Anatomy and physiology fig 1
The retro-orbital fat, which protects and cushions the eye, atrophies with age, causing the eyeball to recede into its socket (enophthalmos). As a result, eyelid tissues become lax and the levator muscles in the eyelids weaken, causing the eyelids to droop (ptosis). Drooping eyelids can gradually obstruct the upper field of vision.
Sinking eyeballs and drooping eyelids often lead to the conjunctiva lining the eyelids (tarsal conjunctiva) failing to sufficiently lubricate the front of eye (cornea). This can result in an air space developing between the lid and the cornea, particularly at night, potentially leading to epithelial breakdown (Sobel and Tienor, 2013; Liang et al, 2011).
In some people, the weakening of the muscles supporting the eyelids and loosening of the eyelids result in the eyelashes turning inwards (entropion) and irritating the corneas surface, which could lead to ulceration. A significant weakening of the muscles supporting the lower eyelids can result in them flopping away from the eyeball (ectropion), which can then dry out and become irritated. Symptoms of entropion and ectropion can be relieved by anti-inflammatory eye drops or artificial tears, while surgery to tighten the skin and muscles of the eyelid can provide permanent relief (Garrity, 2016).
With age, the lacrimal glands produce fewer tears, while the composition of tears changes, and the wetting efficiency and stability of the tear film is reduced. This leads to dry eye syndrome in up to 14% of the over-65s. Irritation, grittiness and pain can ensue and affect many activities, such as reading or watching television. Persistent irritation can make the cornea less sensitive, which in turn can diminish the ability to detect injury or infection. Many people find the use of artificial tears effective (NHS Choices, Dry Eye Workshop, 2007).
Throughout life, equatorial lens cells divide and new cell layers are added to the outside of the lens. Since the lens cannot grow in size (if it did it would soon outgrow the eyeball), its cells must be compressed, which results in the lens becoming increasingly dense and inflexible. The lens, therefore, becomes progressively less able to change shape to be able to focus light on the retina.
Presbyopia is the age-related reduction in the ability to see near objects. It typically presents as an inability to read text positioned close to the eye and generally develops in the 40s and 50s. Presbyopia results from a reduction in the ability of the intraocular lens to change shape. The distance from the eye at which print can be read (near point) increases from about 10cm at the age of 20 to over 100cm by the age of 70. Most people manage presbyopia by using correcting reading glasses (Boyd, 2016).
New lens cells continue to be produced throughout life, so the lens continues to increase in density. This can cause particular light frequencies to be absorbed and the lens to take on a yellowish hue, affecting contrast sensitivity and the accurate perception of colours.
When the concentration of proteins in the lens becomes very high, precipitation occurs. This is seen as a cataract. Thescattering of the light causes a glare or a halo effect when looking at bright lights. As the densest area of the lens is the centre, this is where age-related cataracts are most commonly seen.
Cataracts can make it difficult to see in certain circumstances for example, when driving at night. They can also interfere with the ability of certain wavelengths of light to enter the eye, thereby reducing colour perception: people with cataracts may wear garish clothing due to their compromised colour vision.
Individuals with poorly controlled diabetes are at much greater risk of developing cataracts because increased blood glucose encourages the build-up of damaging levels of sorbitol in the lens (Knight et al, 2017).
Cataracts are managed by removing the lenss contents from the capsular bag and placing a small intraocular lens inside the capsule to provide refractive power. The power of the intraocular lens can be chosen to suit the patients wishes and lifestyle (Truscott, 2003).
One role of the pupils is to regulate the amount of light entering the eye. With age, their diameter decreases, reducing the admittance of light. Age also has a negative effect on the pupils ability to adapt to changes in light intensity for example, when going from light to dark. Adapting to the dark requires the photosensitive cells of the retina to regenerate the photopigment rhodopsin; this is considerably delayed with age, which contributes to night-vision problems.
These changes increase older peoples risk of falls and other accidents, for example, when leaving a brightly lit bathroom to walk up or down a flight of poorly lit stairs (Rukmini et al, 2017; Turner and Mainster, 2008; Bitsios et al, 1996).
The eye consists of two hollow chambers separated by the lens. The anterior chamber is filled with a watery fluid (aqueous humor) and the posterior chamber with a jelly-like material (vitreous humor). The composition of the vitreous humor can change from a gel to liquid with age and, in some people, it shrinks, collapses and separates from the retina. This posterior vitreous detachment often manifests as discrete opacities (floaters) or sheering patterns in the field of vision (Bishop et al, 2004).
With age, cone photoreceptor cells in the fovea, which provide high-quality colour vision, begin to die, eventually resulting in age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). This is thought to be caused by changes to the cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which lies next to, and maintains, the photoreceptor cells.
There are two types of ARMD: dry (90% of cases) and wet (10%). Dry or atrophic ARMD is characterised by a gradual bilateral loss of vision as the RPE degenerates. Wet or exudative ARMD is caused by the growth of new blood vessels in the space between photoreceptors and RPE (subretinal space) and the leakage of serous fluid from these new vessels. Wet AMRD has a more rapid onset and causes more severe loss of vision.
In ARMD, pale yellow-white elevated spots called drusen appear on the retinal surface, distorting vision and reducing visual acuity. Their appearance steadily increases after the age of 60 years. ARMD accounts for half of all visual impairments among people aged 75 and over (AMD.org; National Eye Research Centre; Forrester et al, 2001).
The ear is the organ of hearing but also plays the major role in our sense of balance. Problems with hearing are the most common sensory disorder associated with ageing. At age 61-70 years, around a third of people develop problems understanding speech if there is ambient background noise, and in those aged 85 years and over this rises to around 80% (Sogebi, 2015). Age-related changes to the ear are shown in Fig 2.
Anatomy and physiology fig 2
Anatomy and physiology fig 2
The auricle (pinna) collects sound waves and directs them through the ear canal (auditory meatus) to the eardrum. With age, the pinna often becomes larger and features more external hair on the tragus and lower helix; these changes are more often seen in men. The pinna becomes increasingly dry and scaly in both sexes.
The auditory meatus produces earwax (cerumen), which moistens the ear canal and is mildly antiseptic, helping to keep the ear free from infection. Unless compressed and pushed inwards by implements such as cotton buds, cerumen gradually works its way out (the ears are often described as self-cleaning).
With age, the ceruminous glands become less active and produce less earwax, which can lead to the auditory meatus becoming increasingly dry and prone to infection. The cartilaginous components that form the walls of the auditory meatus can lose elasticity, degrade and sometimes collapse, which increases the likelihood of ear canal collapse (Howarth and Shone, 2006). A drier environment and ear canal collapse both increase the likelihood of cerumen accumulation and obstruction, commonly resulting in conductive hearing loss. Older people may need to use earwax softeners before having excess wax removed by micro-suction at audiology clinics or by syringing at GP surgeries.
The middle ear consists of the ear drum (tympanic membrane) and a hollow, air-filled chamber spanned by three tiny bones (auditory ossicles):
The tympanic membrane vibrates in harmony with the sound waves collected by the outer ear, and these vibrations are transmitted and amplified across the middle ear by the three auditory ossicles. With age, the tympanic membrane becomes less vascular and begins to thin and stiffen (Liu and Chen, 2000; Weinstein, 2000). In older people, the tiny synovial joints between the three auditory ossicles are often stiff and calcified, leading to less efficient conduction and amplification of sound waves.
The air-filled chamber of the middle ear is connected to the back of the pharynx by the auditory or Eustachian tube: this ensures the pressure is kept relatively equal on both sides of the eardrum to prevent pressure building up and damaging the tympanic membrane. The musculature lining the auditory tube often undergoes age-related atrophy, which may interfere with the tubes opening during swallowing, thereby increasing the risk of pressure differences between the two sides of the eardrum.
The inner ear consists primarily of the:
The cochlear is a fluid-filled, spiral-shaped organ that receives sound waves directly from the stirrup. Sound waves travel rapidly through the fluid of the cochlear and are detected by special sensory receptor cells called hair cells. These relay auditory signals to the cochlear nerve, which delivers them to the auditory cortex of the brain, where they are perceived as sound. Our sense of hearing is most acute at the age of 10 years and gradually declines thereafter.
Almost everyone experiences a deterioration in hearing as they age, and currently there is no way of preventing or reversing these age-related changes. Presbycusis is the sum of all conditions that lead to decreased hearing sensitivity with age; it can be accelerated by exposure to loud noise, conditions that impair cardiovascular function and nerve damage (Parham et al, 2011). Presbycusis is usually associated with a progressive degeneration of the hair cells and neurones in the cochlea.
It has been suggested that a lifetime exposure to loud noises cumulatively damages hearing. Indeed, some people living in isolated, non-industrial communities in Africa and India have little age-related hearing loss. Inheritance of certain genes, increased exposure to free radicals and toxins, and decreasing blood supply to the inner ear (Danner and Harris, 2003) contribute to presbycusis and the rate at which it develops. A slowing in the brains processing of auditory information is another contributing factor.
Presbycusis is particularly associated with a declining ability to hear high frequencies, which are important for interpreting speech. As a result, older people find it increasingly difficult to follow and join in conversations, especially when competing background sounds (for example, from television or music) are present. This can restrict interactions and contribute to loneliness and social isolation (Parham et al, 2011).
Tinnitus is the hearing of a noise often a ringing, buzzing, humming or whooshing in the absence of any external sound; it is occasionally reported as having a musical quality. The condition has a variety of causes, including:
However, the major cause of tinnitus might be the lack of sensory input reaching the auditory cortex of the brain. Tinnitus has been compared to phantom sensations perceived in a non-existent limb after amputation: in some people, the sounds associated with tinnitus persist even after the cochlear nerve has been severed (Danner and Harris, 2003). As ageing is associated with a loss of sensory hair cells, the resultant reduction in sensory input to the brain may explain why prebycusis and tinnitus often coexist.
There is mounting evidence that exposure to loud sounds throughout life can both accelerate age-related hearing loss and increase the risk of tinnitus. It is a concern to audiologists that growing numbers of young people attend loud concerts and listen to loud music through headphones for long periods this is likely to accelerate their hearing loss and lead to hearing problems and deafness much earlier in life (Kujawa and Liberman, 2006).
The ability to balance the body at rest (static balance) and when moving (dynamic balance) relies on a complex interplay between different sensory systems including sight, touch and the vestibular system of the inner ear. To trigger the intricate motor coordination of skeletal muscles required to maintain balance, various regions of the brain need to quickly process a large and continuous input from these sensory systems (Horak, 2006).
The vestibular system of the inner ear consists of a labyrinth containing semicircular canals and their hair cells, and the otolith organs (utricle and saccule). All are key in maintaining balance. With age, the vestibular apparatus progressively loses hair cells some people aged 70 years or over experience up to 40% reduction in hair cells in the semi-circular canals (Rauch et al, 2001).
Other notable changes are the progressive fragmentation and degeneration of the otoliths (tiny stones made of calcium carbonate), particularly in the saccule. The number of vestibular nerve cells also diminishes from around the age of 60 years. These changes mean that, with age, our sense of balance becomes impaired and we may experience dizziness. Poor balance and dizziness, together with frailty and reduced reaction times, contribute to the risk of falls a major concern in older people. Each year an estimated 20-40% of those aged 65 and over fall at home (Shupert and Horak, 2017).
While little can be done to avoid the effects of ageing on sight and hearing, it is vital to encourage older people to have regular eye and hearing tests (Box 1). This means appropriate glasses and/or hearing aids can be dispensed, and common age-related pathologies such as cataracts, ARMD, and conductive and sensory hearing loss can be diagnosed early. Many people now have their eyes and hearing tested by high-street optometrists in addition to relying on GP referrals.
People who have diabetes and hypertension need tests more often because both conditions can adversely affect sight and hearing. People with a family history of glaucoma should also be encouraged to undergo regular testing because this condition (which is not part of the normal ageing process) can be hereditary.
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Anatomy and physiology of ageing 6: the eyes and ears - Nursing Times
Evacuation of Dr. Ronald S. Shemenski from the British Antarctic Survey Rothera Research Station, April 26, 2001. The airlift operation was the riskiest rescue effort ever by a small plane to the South Pole, as the weather makes any flights to the South Pole extremely hazardous from late Februray until November. (AP Photo/British Antarctic Survey) Photograph: AP
The International Geophysical Year was a global survey, but it had a particular impact on Antarctica, as it led to the creation and signing of the Antarctic Treaty, reserving the continent for peaceful purposes only and ensuring Freedom of scientific investigation. While most of the work done was as the name suggests in the physical and geographical sciences, one almost unknown part of the research involved an international team of physiologists and doctors who headed out to Antarctica to study the human body in an extreme environment.
INPHEXAN, the INternational PHysiological EXpedition to ANtarctica involved six researchers from three countries: Nello Pace, William Siri and Charles Meyers from the USA; Gerhard Hildebrand, a recent German immigrant to the USA (and ex-First Alpine Battalion member); and James Adams and Lewis Griffith Evans Cresswell Griff Pugh from the UK. Initiated by Pace and Siri, who shared leisure interests in high altitude climbing as well as research interests in stress and physiology, the initial plan was a study of hormonal responses to the stress of the Antarctic environment the cold, dark, and isolation. Charles Meyer, a dentist and bacteriologist at the Naval Biological Laboratory in Berkeley went along to conduct studies of infectious diseases. The UK team had intended to study changes in metabolism, and the possibility that people are able to acclimatise to intense cold, and agreed to join with the Americans to make an international research team.
One metabolic study involved a brand new piece of technology: the IMP, or Integrating Motor Pneumotachograph, invented by Heinz Wolff at the National Institute for Medical Research (before he started his TV career on The Great Egg Race and other shows). A variation on the Douglas Bag, the IMP measures the volume of air used by the human subject, and takes samples of their breath for analysis. The UK team measured the metabolism of several scientists, with the help of Allan Rogers, the Medical Officer on the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) of 1955-8.
Strapped into the IMP for a week, the geologist Geoff Pratt wrote up a report On being IMPed where he complained about feeling suffocated in the mask, that it got in the way when he was trying to work, and that it stopped him communicating effectively with his colleagues. He also blamed the suit, the tight mask, and the difficulty he had sleeping with it on for a string of accidents and mistakes in his lab
in the course of the week I have done a remarkable number of stupid things.
You can see the IMP in action in a short British Pathe Film (the IMP appears at 1.20).
While the team got relatively few publications out of this work it did enable researchers to improve and adapt the equipment to make it easier on human subjects. Pughs work with the copper-wire body suit (in the video above) and other measurements became papers on the effects of solar radiation on temperatures in the Antarctic, and he also published in Nature on the blood of Weddell seals, and on the dangers of Carbon Monoxide poisoning in explorers huts.
Allan Rogers other major investigation was what appeared to be a very simple study of acclimatization to cold: he gave all the members of the TAE cards to fill out, every day, to record their clothing, their sleep patterns, their activities, any illnesses, and any other information they thought relevant. After the 15 month expedition was over, he intended to discover if men who had spent a long time in Antarctica wore fewer clothes in other words, were more acclimatized to cold than new arrivals on the continent, using the data from around a dozen members of the expedition.
Unfortunately the task turned out to be anything but simple: at least three academic statisticians tried and failed to analyse the huge amount of data and correlate it with weather patterns, working patterns, and sickness records. Ten years after the IGY Rogers finally got the money to hire someone who could do the job: recent mathematics graduate Mrs RJ Sutherland, who designed a computer programme to deal with the pile of report cards and all their information. Finally, in 1971, Sutherland and Rogers published their report which showed a negative finding: the men of the TAE felt the cold just as much at the end of their trek as at the beginning.
The vision of women slowly crunching numbers in a computer room in Bristol, or men patiently filling in sleep cards or trying to get on with their jobs while wearing an IMP, might not be particularly exciting or glamorous, this was hard, boring, awkward work that mattered. The IGY provided crucial data that helped us understand how the planet worked and particularly gave us a baseline for understanding climate change and none of that would have been possible without physiologists and other biomedical scientists designing safe rations, comfortable snow goggles, and warm gloves.
A collection of Allan Rogers possessions including clothing, his IMP equipment, and his medical kit are in the collections held by the Scott Polar Research Institute. The Year That Made Antarctica: People, Politics and the International Geophysical Year is on display at the Institutes Polar Museum, University of Cambridge, until 9 September 2017.
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Blood, Sweat and Ice? During the 60th anniversary of the IGY lets ... - The Guardian