Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

The Unexpected Ingredient That Will Majorly Upgrade Your Fish Recipes – Mashed

Unless you're lucky enough to eat fish straight off the dock, it will have a certain level of "fishiness." But the odor isn't synonymous with the fish going bad; it's just science. Thanks to the physiology of fish, a compound called trimethylamine (TMA) is produced when fish die, which is responsible for that "fishy" smell.

According to Cook's Illustrated, soaking fish in milk for 20 minutes will neutralize and remove the offensive odor. The protein in milk, casein, binds to the TMA. After 20 minutes, the milk is drained, taking the TMA with it and leaving a sweet-smelling filet in its place. Susan Olayinka uses this method when preparing her pan-seared swordfish recipe. She notes that milk also tenderizes dense fish and leaves a mellower flavor. Just pat the fish dry and continue with your recipe.

Although freshwater fish, such as trout and catfish, don't get as "fishy" as ocean fish, they can have a "muddy" smell, which isn't pleasant either. Blue-green algaein surface waters where it's warm, shallow, and sunny can produce a toxin that penetrates the fish's skin, causing that smell. With these types of fish, adding an acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar, should remove any offensive odors, perNutrition.

Try this unexpected ingredient the next time you prepare salmon, shellfish, or even the uber-stinky bluefish. It'll save your home from smelling like fish, and maybe you'll convert your carnitarian at home, too.

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The Unexpected Ingredient That Will Majorly Upgrade Your Fish Recipes - Mashed

Physiology

Let’s Talk About Pain | American Council on Science and Health – American Council on Science and Health

All sensation goes through four stages or processes; lets go through them in turn.

Transduction

Unlike localized, aggregated receptors of the eye (retina), ear (nerve endings of the cochlear nerve found in the middle ear), or tongue (taste buds), pain receptors, nociceptive nerve endings, are scattered throughout our body. They are like the proprioceptive receptors of touch and position. They respond to heat, mechanical deformation, and chemicals, often found in inflamed areas. The majority of studies involve pain receptors in the skin where we can create burns, cuts, or inflammation. The majority of our clinically significant pain is musculoskeletal or visceral (from our organs), and those studies are few and far between if they are to be found.

Transmission

The signal from the pain receptors, written like Morse code, as a pattern and frequency, travels from these peripheral sites to the more central spinal cord. At this point, the signal splits into two. One signal, remaining local, initiates a withdrawal reflex, a behavior. Burn your finger, and you withdraw your hand from the heat source. A second signal is sent upwards into areas within our brain. The two major sites are the thalamus and medial reticular formation of the brain stem. We will not be pursuing how those signals move about the brain; it is sufficient to know that further processing of those signals, and ultimately detection and identification of our perception of pain, occurs here.

This split of the signal means that most of our animal studies focus on pain identified as a behavior that reflex to noxious stimuli. But we have no accurate means of quantifying the signal traveling into the brain, no real way of measuring the experience of pain we must always speak in necessarily fuzzy terms, be it emojis or numbers, including morphine milligram equivalents.

Our other senses also create these split signals. For example, the visual receptors in the retina send a signal inward to convert that information about light and color into an image. Meanwhile, like the withdrawal reflex, behavioral reflexes respond to those retinal signals. The vestibulo-ocular reflex coordinates the position of your head with the incoming visual information keeping your image of the world stable despite the movement of your head and eyes.

Our senses also elicit an additional emotional (affective) response, our likes and dislikes regarding art, music, or food. Pain, on the other hand, is unidirectional; we want less of it and want it to go away. Pains emotional component acts more like a deep drive, say hunger, resulting in actions to terminate the noxious stimulus. When we hear music we do not like or a displeasing picture; we do not experience the same emotional, visceral, response. This is a crucial distinction between pain from our other senses

The biological duality between the sensory reflex of withdrawal and the more centrally formed emotional response makes measuring pain difficult. In a laboratory setting, we can define a sensory threshold for pain reception, the reflex; heating the skin between 43-46 C will elicit a pain response. But the tolerance of pain, the affective, emotional component, can vary widely.

The tolerance for pain is a complex function that may be modified by personality traits, attitudes, previous experience, economic factors, gender, and the particular circumstance under which the pain is experienced.

Modulation

As with all senses, our nervous system can up and down-regulate our affective experience of pain.

Consider that perennial summer favorite, the sunburn. The normally warm water of your evening shower on that sunburn is now suddenly more painful you are more sensitized to the experience of pain. When overly active, our sympathetic nervous system, our fight or flight system, causes us to experience a greater degree of pain. Makes sense that when we are already in a heightened state of fear, noxious stimuli will get additional attention and response.

Anxiety and stress are common reasons for sympathetic nervous system arousal. To some degree, this can create a self-fulfilling cycle; fear of pain increases our perception of pain, which in turn increases our fear. This may well explain the therapeutic benefits of adjunctive pain relief, like music, which reduces the sympathetic tone and down-regulates our experience of pain.

Neural pathways rather than pain receptors can also produce pain. Perhaps the most common example would be the pain after an episode of shingles a late result of having had chickenpox. While the acute pain of this often debilitating rash is due to the pain receptors in your skin, the chronic pain, which can last for months, is not. Post-herpetic neuralgia, its medical name, is a longer-term (up to six months or more in those over age 60) inflammation of the nerve pathways that can result in continued chronic pain long after the skin rash has disappeared.

Perception

These three processes, transduction, transmission, and modulation, come together to form our perceptional experience of pain. Because our perception of pain requires all three of these biological processes, all of which may differ from one individual to another. For a given painful stimulus, my experience of pain may well differ from yours, and my experience of that painful stimuli may vary over time.

When the rubber hits the road, What we have here is a failure to communicate.

We can listen to music, view the sunset, or experience a rough surface and have some basis to share and communicate those experiences. Pain, unlike those other senses, remains subjective; it is your experience, not mine. One of the great difficulties we have in medical care is finding a way to communicate our experience of pain. Unlike temperature or blood pressure, there is no convenient instrument or numerical value to quantify pain. Without the ability to quantify pain or at least place it on some shared scale, physicians are without guidance on treating pain effectively. In the not-so-distant past, to fill that communication void, physicians would substitute their experience of pain for the ambiguous description by the patient; or, more commonly, would follow the rule of thumb prescription taught to them by the intern or resident. [1]

Much of the consternation in the community of patients with chronic pain results from our biological inability to readily share our experience of pain. Patients are often left with rigid guidelines, a one-size-fits-all approach that clearly is incompatible with our understanding of pains biology. Or left with a physician, substituting their experience, training, and subjective beliefs about addiction, malingering, doing no harm, and serving the best interests of their patients, in prescribing treatment. That is why pain is both under and overtreated; despite all our scientific knowledge, the experience of pain remains a black box. We are all blind men seeking to describe the elephant.

What we have here is a failure to communicate. It neednt be the case, but getting into the mind of another is more difficult than we might think, especially in a healthcare system driven by the clock. Need proof? Look at how vehement the opposing views on any public concern where there is objective data we can all see, hear and touch

[1] Like an entire generation of physicians, I was taught that the routine treatment for post-operative pain was Demerol 75mg and Vistaril 50mg given every 3 to 4 hours by intramuscular injection. I learned this from my intern when I was a fourth-year medical student writing orders.

Sources: The Anatomy and Physiology of Pain National Library of Medicine

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Let's Talk About Pain | American Council on Science and Health - American Council on Science and Health

Physiology

Westerly Hospital earns accreditation for services in emergency elderly care – The Westerly Sun

WESTERLY With about 23% percent of the town's population estimated to be at least 65, coupled with a nationwide aging trend, officials at Westerly Hospital anticipate the number of seniors seeking emergency care to grow. With that in mind the facility, along with all others in the Yale New Haven Health system, recently earned special geriatric accreditation.

Westerly Hospital and seven other facilities in the Yale New Haven Health system are now among a small group of health systems across the country to receive the American College of Emergency Physicians' Health System Geriatric Emergency Department accreditation designating the eight facilities as senior friendly.

The Westerly Hospital Emergency Department saw 11,234 individuals who were 65 or older in 2021 which accounted for 56% of the hospital's emergency department volume. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, slightly more than 23% of Westerly's population is at least 65. The demographics in Washington and New London counties are similar but both have slightly lower percentages of adults who are 65 or older.

To earn the accreditation staff and emergency department leads at Westerly Hospital and the other facilities underwent training to sharpen their focus on the physiological differences between seniors and other patients. Clinicians in the Emergency Department also learned about and have begun to use the Confusion Assessment Method screening tool for delirium. The tool helps clinicians determine whether a patient is presenting with traits associated with normal aging, dementia, or delirium, which can signal "a new onset illness," said Niki Akaka, a registered nurse and clinical coordinator, during a recent interview at Westerly Hospital.

The Confusion Assessment Method involves clinicians asking patients more than 65 questions. Determining whether a patient is experiencing delirium caused by an underlying ailment can be critical, said Bethany Gingerella, Westerly Hospital nurse manager. "If the result of the screening tool is positive for delirium we dig a little deeper to see if there is an infection that we might not be seeing," Gingerella said.

With individuals 85 and older expected to increasingly make up a major segment of those treated in emergency departments, Dr. Nader Bahadory, medical director of the Westerly Hospital Emergency Department, said physicians and other medical providers look to educate each other on health challenges seniors face.

"They are a special population because their physiology is a little different. There has been a realization at least for a few years that we need to figure out their physiology because we tend to miss subtle things among these elderly patients...they can get really sick fast and it's often a very subtle beginning," Bahadory said.

To attain the accreditation the hospital also worked on establishing an optimal environment for seniors by ensuring room lights can be dimmed to improve vision and reduce anxiety. The facility also ensured an adequate number of walkers and canes are available, and dietary staff were asked to help develop meals that are likely to appeal to seniors. "Eating is a big thing with them. We don't want them not to eat when they are with us," Gingerella said.

Amplification devices are available for doctors and nurses working with seniors whose hearing is diminished and magnifying devices are available for seniors who need the assistance for reading. Clinicians also consult with hospital pharmacists to check for potential problems tied to drug interactions.

In all, the Geriatric Emergency Department program provides specific criteria and goals for emergency clinicians and administrators to target. The accreditation process provides more than two dozen best practices for geriatric care. The goal is successful treatment, returning seniors to their homes, and determining whether they need new support, Bahadory said

As part of the accreditation process the hospitals are auditing charts and sending data to the American College of Emergency Physicians for review and recommendations.

The other facilities in the Yale system to receive the accreditation are Lawrence + Memorial in New London, Pequot Health Center in Groton, Bridgeport (Milford and Bridgeport campuses), Greenwich, Yale New Haven (York Street and Saint Raphael campuses) and Shoreline Medical Center in Guilford.

The designation has been awarded to just 13 health systems nationwide.

Each year in the United States, adults aged 50 years and older make more than 40 million visits to an emergency department, according to a news release from Yale New Haven Health.

"We know that older people seeking care in the emergency department have unique needs to address symptoms and requirements that are specific to their age group, said Dr. Ula Hwang, professor of Emergency Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and an attending physician at Yale New Haven Hospital. "Through this accreditation process our providers are trained to look for signs and symptoms of syndromes and illness in the elderly that could be potentially life threatening if left untreated.

Continued here:
Westerly Hospital earns accreditation for services in emergency elderly care - The Westerly Sun

Physiology

Obesity in America: Seeking answers to nation’s overweight epidemic – USA TODAY

More than 4 in 10Americans now fit the medical definition for having obesity, putting them at risk for serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.The pandemic increased the stakes. In its first year, nearly one-third of severe COVID-19 cases were blamed on excess weight.

USA TODAY decided to take a look at how Americas weight has been changing in recent years, including advances in treatments and the scientific understanding of obesity. We spoke with more than 50 experts in nutrition, endocrinology, psychology, exercise physiology and neuroscience and people who are intimately familiar with the challenges of extra pounds.

The answers arent simple.

But they get to the essence of America: our issues with race, stigma, personal responsibility, economic stability and the power of corporations.

Many people feel shame and guilt when they can't lose weight. Human biology, which evolved to hold onto extra calories, makes it extremely tough to lose weight on your own. Help is hard to find, but it is out there.

Obesity was long considered a personal failing. Science shows it's not.

Despite rising rates of overweight and obesity,the stigma of excess weight remains in virtually every aspect of society. Some people are fighting back, but it isn't easy to counter decades of stereotyping and falsely simple solutions.

Extra weight increases health risk in the long run. Fat shaming hurts now.

Biology makes it hard to lose weight. Our food environment makes it very easy to add excess pounds. What to eat if you're trying to shed that extra weight or avoid unnecessary pounds? Scientists are still searching for answers.

What we eat matters. Researchers are still searching for the 'best' diet.

Extra weight is often considered a personal failing, but lots of factors beyond an individual's power contribute to weight gain,including food deserts, the cost of healthy food, stress and prejudice. The situation isn't hopeless.

Americans don't choose to be fat. Many live within a 'system they don't control.'

Until recently, the only way to lose a substantial amount of weight was through surgery. New medications promise to change that,offering the possibility of shedding 15% to more than 20% of excess pounds. The challenge will be making these medicationsavailable to those who want them.

New drugs and surgery can deliver major weight loss. But they come at a cost.

Any solutionwill have to start with children, experts say. Starting almost from birth, kids learnpatternsthey follow for the rest of their lives, so there's a lot at stake in teaching them to eat healthy, exercise regularly and get enough sleep.

How will the obesity epidemic end? With kids.

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Obesity in America: Seeking answers to nation's overweight epidemic - USA TODAY

Physiology

I used this device to track my metabolism for a month here’s what happened – Tom’s Guide

If youve ever heard someone say, I just have a slow metabolism, chances are they dont actually know that for sure. And really, it may not be slow per se, but ratherto cop Lumens terminology inflexible.

Created by twin sisters and Ironman triathletes, Merav and Michal Mor, both of whom have PhDs in Physiology (total underachievers, right?), Lumen emanated from the Mors desire to help people reach their nutrition, performance, and/or weight loss goals by rejiggering their metabolisms. The premise is that if you know at key moments if youre burning mostly carbohydrates or fat (or a combo platter of both), you can determine what your body needs to function optimallyaka personalized nutrition.

Typically to gauge ones metabolic rate, an individual must undergo expensive testing in a lab setting. However, Lumen says they bring you an equivalentor at least scientifically supported (opens in new tab)at-home option whereby you can measure your own metabolism whenever you want, all thanks to the sleek little breathalyzer you receive when you sign up for the program.

To find out more, I tried Lumen for a month to see whether the claims were correct. Read my full Lumen review below to find out more.

Looking to invest in your health? Check out our best smart scales guide, our best fitness trackers, and the best adjustable dumbbells for working out at home.

To understand what any of this means to you, we need to take a second to explain how the Lumen device harnesses the tenets of metabolic science.

Basically, Lumen measures your metabolism/metabolic rate based on the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in your breath. The higher your CO2 concentration, the more you are burning carbs for fuel. This is because when your cells metabolize carbs, they produce more CO2 compared to when they metabolize fat.

If you went in for a professional lab test to have your metabolism measured, you would get back your Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER), which is the amount of CO2 exhaled divided by the amount of oxygen (O2) inhaled. That number ultimately lets you know your metabolic efficiency.

With this in mind, its easier to understand the premise of Lumen, which is that you can now get your RER anytime you want by breathing into your Lumen, no lab test required. A high CO2 reading means youre burning carbs, a low CO2 number indicates youre torching fat.

But is it accurate? Lumen says its validity as a metabolism measuring device has been reaffirmed by a San Francisco State University study (opens in new tab). However, this definitely seems to be a product that continues refinement the longer its on the market (it debuted in 2020).

But how do you use your RER number in day-to-day life? This is where the hacking your metabolism part finally comes into play. The ultimate goal of Lumen users is to achieve metabolic flexibility, a term coined by the company that basically means your metabolism becomes more efficient at burning fat and not just carbs for energy. If youre in the Lumen fat-burning mode more often, they claim it becomes easier to lose weight and stay lean.

Just like your muscles become fitter with regular workouts, apparently so does your metabolism if you pay attention to how your body switches between burning carbs and fats. And if you can get yourself into a state of metabolic flexibility, Lumen says youll end up with a whole bunch of rewards, such as:

Easier weight loss and maintenanceBetter lean mass/muscle building Deeper sleepImproved energyStable blood sugar levelsHigher immunity Enhanced physical performance

Lumen is only available as a subscription service through the Lumen website (opens in new tab). You get the Lumen device for free along with your paid subscription. Pricing is as follows:

6 Month Metabolism Booster = $249

12 Month Advanced Fat Burn = $299

18 Month Optimal Health Track = $349

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 1-year warranty on the device.

The small square starter box comes with the Lumen device, its docking station, a USB cable for charging, a travel pouch, and the Lumen App Getting Started Guide.

The latter part is especially important because, without the corresponding app, youre honestly going to be kind of lost. The written directions included with the Lumen are pretty paltry, and this is one Lumen component that could be strengthened. It gives basic instructions for how to charge and turn it on, but it doesnt give you any of the info I just spelled out for you in the first part of the article.

While my Lumen was charging, I turned my attention to getting the Lumen app set up. It links to your device via Bluetooth, so this is an integral step for using the Lumen.

You have to begin by creating an account and then answering a battery of lifestyle and physiology questions. This requires quite a bit of time and must all be done manually. During the setup process, you are not only asked to input things like height and current weight but also estimated hours of sleep and daily exercise habits.

I found this frustrating because while Im super active, my exercise routine changes daily and I dont always know what my workout will entail ahead of time. You can go back and edit some of this later, but as I was filling it out in the beginning, I did feel a little hampered trying to structure my workout schedule.

It is possible to link Lumen to your Apple Health, Google Fit, or Garmin IQ account if you have one (which might give you even more accurate readings for activity levels and such). But since I didnt have any of those, I was left doing everything by hand.

Once all your basic data has been collected, you have to select your track. There are three options: Metabolic Health, Fitness Performance, and Healthy Weight Loss. I decided to select Healthy Weight Loss to start.

The app also allows women to track their monthly cycles, which could be great information to have when examining metabolic shifts. However, with the current restrictions that have just been levied surrounding female reproductive health and privacy, if youre a woman in the United States, unfortunately, you may wish to leave that feature toggled off.

Once my Lumen was fully charged (as indicated by a green light while its cradled in the docking station), I set about pairing it with my Lumen app. Bluetooth capability is required to get these two to talk to each other, but I had no issues once I powered my Lumen on.

Specifications

Weight: 75 gHeight: 10.2 cmMaterials: Soft-touch with a magnetically attached cap over metal mouthpiece

I continued to be impressed by the quality of the actual device. Though admittedly it looks like an oversized vape, its really solid and well constructed. As a portable and hand-held device, it is light while still encasing a pressure sensor and a CO2 sensor within its ergonomic casing.

If you want to keep your Lumen clean, do NOT wash it. Thatll tank the whole device. But since youre blowing into it sometimes several times per day, youll benefit by occasionally wiping down the metallic mouthpiece with an antibacterial wipe. And though you could technically share your Lumen by setting up separate accounts within a family, you probably dont want to (hello, Covid and other shared cooties).

In the app there is a breathing tutorial Lumen advertisements say it takes only 10 seconds to get a measurement, but you have to inhale for 10 seconds, hold your breath for 10 seconds, and then exhale for 10 seconds. Thats 30 seconds by my count. And usually you have to do that twice to get an accurate reading (waiting 15 seconds between each test).

The app has a helpful little bouncing ball you are coached to get in the center of a circle to make sure youre not breathing too hard, too soft, or too fast. I definitely didnt get it right the first few times I tried.

This is probably why they explicitly encourage you to be seated and relaxed before taking a measurement. Rookie tip, dont let out too much air at once when they let you finally exhale or youll run out of air before time is up.

Fortunately, after some practice I got pretty good at it. Mastering this step is vital, however. Because all your subsequent measurements are based on your breathing skills.

Your Daily Measurements

Once you start breathing into your Lumen at regular intervals, each time you take a reading youll be given an assigned score on a five-point scale. That number tells you whether youre burning mostly fat (1, 2), mostly carbs (4, 5), or carbs and fat (3).

Once you take your morning measurement (which should happen before you eat or drink anything), predicated on your goals, the app will also give you an assignment of a low-carb, medium-carb, or high-carb day. It comes with recommendations for the maximum number of grams you should ingest of carbs, protein, and fatyour macros for that day. It also has recipe suggestions in the app, but Id be kind of surprised if most people are trolling the app for recipe ideas.

Theoretically, if you have good metabolic flexibility, fast overnight and have burned off all your carbs from the previous day successfully, you should be fuelling your energetic needs mostly with fat in the morning. If not, then your diet needs adjusting. Or so goes the nutritional logic of this thing.

Lumen definitely encourages intermittent fasting. Though not a keto program (because they believe you sometimes do need carbs to keep your metabolism guessing and not storing them), it also seems to heavily lean towards a prescription for low-carb eating at least if weight loss is your selected track.

Also, to get your most accurate readings, youre supposed to enter every gram you eat at every meal of each macro (which you have to do manually). If counting grams of carbs isnt something you want to partake in, youre probably not going to see much of a shift in your results over time, especially since Lumen seems to be set up such that you get a better score if youre burning more fat than carbs.

Your Flex Score

Nothing about this process is quick and patience is necessary. Lumen has to become a habit, and they say it takes 30 days to create a new one of those, right?

At the very least, its going to take two weeks of consistent measurements before you get your first Flex Score. By Lumens definition, your Flex Score is a number between 0-21 that tells you how well your body is working with what youre putting in your mouth, and also what your metabolic flexibility is at this juncture. Heres what the different scores mean:

0-6 (Low metabolic flexibility)7-14 (Medium metabolic flexibility)15-21 (High metabolic flexibility)

When I started this about three weeks ago, I automatically assumed my metabolic flexibility would be high. Im lean and very athletic, eat well, and workout daily. Oh, how wrong I was.

Part of the issueor so I thoughtwas that the minute I started doing my daily measurements, I had an unexpected work assignment take me out of town. So instead of my usual healthy diet and routine, I was eating haphazardly (not poorly per se, but inconsistently) and sleeping erratically (thanks stress and a crazy schedule). As a result, I didnt feel my first week of measurements were remotely indicative of my bodys usual tempo.

In a panic, I wrote to see if I could reset my Lumen (you can message a Lumen expert any time you want in the Support Chat part of the app, which is admittedly a nice feature). I just wanted to start the whole thing over. Unfortunately, I was told no. I couldnt reset my Lumen, but I was, however, offered a free one-on-one onboarding session with a Lumen representative if I wanted help (every new subscriber can take advantage of that).

I was told I shouldnt worry because my Lumen would continue to learn more about me once I kept taking measurements. But I was worried. Once I was home, I still continued to get no less than a 3 on a morning reading. Ever. And most of the time on subsequent daily readings (like before and after workouts), I was still only in the carb-burning territory. And this felt incredibly frustrating.

Accountability

If youre someone who is ready to make a change in your dietary habits and youre willing to put in the effort, Lumen does make you more aware of what youre eating and how its affecting your body.

But you really have to be dedicated to all of it, not only breathing into the device several times a day. That means keeping a detailed food log, recording every minute you work out, updating your weight, watching how many hours you sleep, etc. And its a lot of work.

For some people, however, unless they have that kind of accountability, they wont ever stick to a diet. Lumen absolutely makes you pay attention to what youre eating, how much youre eating, and how the timing affects your metabolism.

There are also lots and lots of videos in the app to help you learn more about how to get the most out of your Lumen experience. And youll get emails with webinars you can attend on different nutrition topics.

Additionally, it offers a Facebook community users can join with 20,000 other Lumeners. You can think of it like your own Lumen support group. Individuals who want tips and a group they can chat with while working on their diet may find this additionally motivating.

I am a very disciplined human by nature. I was eating clean, working out hard, fasting overnight, sleeping for eight hours, and still waking up with my first measurement at a 3, 4, or 5. Then Id get a message that said Your body is good at burning carbs. Now lets get it to fat burn mode and Id want to throw the thing.

Eventually, I started to wonder if it was partly because I was never entering anything in my food log. But as someone who spent too many years counting every single calorie she ate, I felt really resistant to having to count and record every single gram of food I ingested. While that may help some people with portion control, its not a healthy way of eating for me personally.

However, that undoubtedly affects your ability to achieve Lumens definition of metabolic flexibility. Not paying attention to their macro suggestions will absolutely influence your score and subsequent daily recommendations. In my first three weeks with the Lumen, not once did it tell me I could have anything other than a low-carb day until I switched my track from Healthy Weight Loss to Metabolic Health and got one medium-carb day prescription.

When I got my first Flex Score after weeks of consistent morning measurements, it was barely registering Medium for metabolic flexibility.

None of that felt like I was winning with the Lumen, in spite of the encouraging messages the app kept sending me. And trust me, Im all for a cheerleader, but if youre not getting the results you think you should be getting, well I might be guilty of having said Yeah, whatever Lumen, more than once between breaths.

This is a fancy little device, but know that its not going to automatically fix your metabolism for you just because youre breathing into it on the regular. The Lumen is one piece of an overall program.

Does it work? If were talking about the actual Lumen itself, yes. Absolutely. This machine is the first portable metabolism measurement device on the market, and it seems to have a reasonable degree of accuracy. But if you want to lose weight and not just to see how your body is burning what you eat, then youve got to commit to the whole program. That includes taking breath tests several times a day, but also manually entering all the data it requires and following your personalized dietary prescription to the gram.

In other words, dont expect your Lumen to give you results just because youre good about breathing into it any more than youd expect your scale to suddenly drop in pounds just because you get on it regularly. Its a measurement tool, not a magic wand. Your success with Lumen is completely reliant on what you do with it and how dedicated you are to all the components.

If youre someone who needs accountability, motivation, feedback, and a lot of group support, then this is definitely a novel new way of learning about your body and how what you eat affects it. But dont expect the process to be uncomplicated. If you decide to make the significant investment, plan for a less quick fix and more Lumen long-haul.

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I used this device to track my metabolism for a month here's what happened - Tom's Guide

Physiology

PhD on Animal Physiology job with NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY – NTNU | 298547 – Times Higher Education

About the position

We are looking for highly motivated people who are interested in joining the Yap research group as a PhD-candidatein The Department of Biology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). We offer an international and multidisciplinary environment in which creativity and scientific dialogue across fields is valued and stimulated.

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

The Yap research group (www.knyap.weebly.com) consists of a small dynamic team of enthusiastic biologists. The overarching goal of our lab group is to understand the molecular and physiological mechanisms of life-history trade-offs in animals. The lab group is part of the Animal Physiology Section (https://www.ntnu.edu/biology/research/animal-physiology) in the Department of Biology, home to many experts in comparative animal physiology, fish ecophysiology, marine invertebrate sensory physiology, and insect behaviour and neurophysiology.

You will report to Kang Nian (Jeff) Yap (Associate Professor).

Duties of the position

The successful candidate will conduct both field and laboratory-based studies on small marine invertebrates, using tools from evolutionary ecology, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. The student will learn how to design and conduct experimental studies, as well as conduct energetics and physiological measurements at the whole animal and cell levels. Depending on the students personal research interests, there are also possibilities of collaborating with other research personnel in other research groups within the department.

We are looking for a PhD student who is passionate about and has research experience in animal ecology and physiology.

We are especially interested in people with high motivation in integrating animal ecology, evolution, and physiology in a multi-disciplinary collaborative team.

Required selection criteria

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations concerning the degrees ofPhilosophiaeDoctor (PhD)andPhilosodophiaeDoctor (PhD) in artistic researchnational guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant

Preferred selection criteria

Personal characteristics

We offer

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 491 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3years with the possibility of a 4thyear if teaching/dutywork is agreed with the department.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to thePhD programme in biology- NTNU within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerningState Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

If all,or parts,of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can befoundhere. If you already have a statement fromNOKUT,pleaseattachthisas well.

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In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education,experienceand personal and interpersonalqualities.Motivation,ambitions,and potential will also countin the assessment ofthe candidates.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according toThe San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

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Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources topromote equality.(tas bort hvis ikke aktuelt)

The city of Trondheimis a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

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If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered.Diploma Supplement is required to attach for European Master Diplomas outside Norway. Chinese applicants are required to provide confirmation of Master Diploma from China Credentials Verification (CHSI).

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NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

Department of Biology

We work with global challenges in natural diversity, climate, the environment, health and nutrition. Our expertise in biological processes at all levels from molecules to ecosystems contributes to a sustainable society. The Department educate graduates for a wide range of careers in public administration, business and academia.The Department of Biologyis one of eight departments in theFaculty of Natural Sciences.

Deadline15th August 2022EmployerNTNU - Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyMunicipalityTrondheimScopeFulltimeDuration TemporaryPlace of service

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PhD on Animal Physiology job with NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - NTNU | 298547 - Times Higher Education

Physiology

Ross named chair of Department of Animal Science | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

AMES, Iowa Jason Ross has been named the new chair of the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University.

Ross, Lloyd L. Anderson Professor in Physiology, has been a faculty member in the department since 2008. In July of last year, he was named associate chair for industry engagement. He also serves as director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center. His department chair responsibilities will take effect Aug. 16, 2022.

It is terrific to have the leadership of Dr. Jason Ross going forward for the colleges Department of Animal Science. Jason will bring tremendous experience and familiarity with the department to the role of chair, said Daniel J. Robison, endowed deans chair of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He has an extraordinary record of accomplishment, deep experience in all mission areas, fullest devotion to the department, and has done outstanding work with food animal industries and stakeholders across the state. Hell provide great momentum as the department carries forward its tradition of excellence in every dimension.

Ross received his bachelors degree in animal science from Iowa State. He also has a masters degree in animal science and a doctoral degree in reproductive physiology with a minor in biochemistry from Oklahoma State University. Prior to joining the faculty at Iowa State, Ross served as a postdoctoral research scientist at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Through his leadership efforts, Ross has helped the departments research program acquire more than $20 million in funding, $6 million of which was for projects where he served as the principal investigator. His research focuses on using biotechnology to improve reproductive efficiency in animals and developing strategies to control novel physiological mechanisms.

While serving as the departments associate chair, he has worked to promote the departments programming at the local and global levels through stakeholder relationships and external engagement for public and private partnerships. He has also engaged with animal agriculture industry members to gain insights for curricular needs and create internship programs for students.

Its an honor for me to be able to serve the animal science department at Iowa State University. The caliber of students, faculty, staff and stakeholders of this department are among the best, Ross said. I grew up in Iowa and the animal science department is where I began my career both as a student and as a faculty member, making this opportunity to serve Iowa State and the state of Iowa particularly meaningful.

Ross will take over chair duties from John Lawrence, who has been serving as the departments interim chair since January 2022.

I would also like to recognize the outstanding work of Dr. John Lawrence, Iowa States vice president for extension and outreach, while serving as interim chair of the department for these last months. He has truly served so very well, Robison said.

The Department of Animal Science offers programs that integrate science, practice and innovation to serve the immediate needs of animal industries. Students are prepared for careers in animal production, veterinary medicine and the diverse areas of animal business and industry. Many faculty in the department are internationally recognized, with expertise in breeding and genetics, genomics, nutrition, physiology, meat science and meat processing, animal well-being and management.

Excerpt from:
Ross named chair of Department of Animal Science | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Physiology

Dr. Heddwen Brooks Elected to APS Leadership Council – University of Arizona

Heddwen Brooks, PhD, professor of physiology in the University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson, has been elected as a councilor of the American Physiological Society (APS). Dr. Brooks is a renal physiologist who holds appointments as professor of biomedical engineering, medicine and pharmacology and is a member of the BIO5 Institute.

It is an honor to be elected as an APS councilor, Dr. Brooks said. I look forward to working with the executive council over the next three years to implement new ideas and programs to highlight the outstanding research from APS members across the world.

Dr. Brooks early research developed microarray technology to address in vivo signaling pathways involved in the hormonal regulation of renal function. Her current research is focused on the role of inflammation and sex differences in the onset of postmenopausal hypertension, metabolic syndrome and diabetic kidney disease, and identifying new therapies for polycystic kidney disease and lithium-induced nephropathy.

She has published numerous research articles and is the coauthor of the textbook Ganongs Review of Medical Physiology, now in its 26th edition. Dr. Brooks is the co-director of the new Bachelor of Science in Medicine undergraduate program in the College of Medicine Tucson and is past chair of the Physiological Sciences Graduate Interdisciplinary Program.

Dr. Brooks has served in many roles at APS, including chair of the Renal Section; Joint Program Committee representative for the Sex Differences Interest Group; and member of the Education Committee, Nominating Committee and Committee on Committees. Dr. Brooks has also worked with APS in professional development, serving as an instructor on their Scientific Writing and Ethics Workshop in Orlando, Florida, and she has taught a course with APS at Ribeiro Preto Medical School, Brazil. She is currently the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Physiology - Renal Physiology, the first woman to hold that position.

APS is a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering education, scientific research and dissemination of information in the physiological sciences. Founded in 1887, the society has more than 10,000 members around the world who investigate the way that living organisms function, from the macro-level of how the environment affects humans down to the micro-level of how biomolecules affect tissue or organ function. APS is governed by an elected council consisting of a president, president-elect, past president and nine councilors.

Excerpt from:
Dr. Heddwen Brooks Elected to APS Leadership Council - University of Arizona

Physiology

For the Record, June 22, 2022 | UDaily – UDaily

For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent presentations, appointments and honors include the following:

Alumnus Michael A. Silverman,emergency department chairman at Virginia Hospital Center as well asdirector of Emergency Medicine Associates Leadership Academy, served as a virtual guest presenter to a class in the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology. Silverman, who has been a practicing physician for nearly 30 years, completed his residencyin emergency medicine at theJohn Hopkins University School of Medicine as chief resident and has authoredone bookand numerous textbook chapters during his career. For his presentation as part of the course titled Emergency Care of Sports Related Injuries and Illnesses, Silverman highlighted the COVID-19 pandemic experience and what healthcare providers need to be aware of going forward. Since 2020, Silverman has developed a large online following by creating posts to help viewers distinguish between truth versus fiction for the future implications of healthcare. "I was very grateful for Silverman topresent to our first year Master of Science Athletic Training students on his insight into the importance of interprofessional collaboration," said Jeff Schneider, senior instructor in kinesiology and applied physiology. "He discussed how important it is to be an advocate for your profession and the importance of being a lifelong learner. These points resonated with our students. It is always great to have an outstanding medical professional speak to our students, but it is even better when it is a UD alumnus."

Kimberley Isett,Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administrationassociate dean of research and director of theMaster of Public Health in health policy and managementprogram, andJessica E. Sowa, Biden School professor,now serve as editors in chief of Perspectives on Public Management and Governance (PPMG). PPMG is the premier theory journal in the public affairs space and a publication of the Public Management Research Association.Isett and Sowa bring a wealth of research and editorial experience to their new roles, and they look forward to helping to shape the future impact of public affairs research through their work at PPMG. Further details are availablehere.

Jane Case Lilly, assistant professor in theJoseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, received the 2022 Teaching Award from the Honors College. This award recognizes Case Lilly's commitment to excellence in the classroom and support of her students. She has been involved with instruction in theleadershipmajor for more than 15 years and also teaches in thepublic policyandMPAprograms. She earned her Ph.D. in urban affairs and public policy from the Biden School in 2008.

To submit information for inclusion in For the Record, write to ocm@udel.edu and include For the Record in the subject line.

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For the Record, June 22, 2022 | UDaily - UDaily

Physiology

Increase in leptin levels in preeclampsia prompts cardiovascular cascade that puts mother and baby at risk – Jagwire Augusta

Before a baby is ever born, critical supply chain problems with nutrition and oxygen can result in premature birth or even death and increase the child and mothers lifelong risk of cardiovascular disease.

Scientists have found that a midgestation increase in the hormone leptin, which most of us associate with appetite suppression, produces problematic blood vessel dysfunction and restriction of the babys growth in preeclampsia that put mother and baby at risk.

Its known that about 20 weeks into a pregnancy, women with preeclampsia experience an increase in the production of leptin by the placenta but the consequences have been unknown.

Its kind of emerging as a marker of preeclampsia, says Dr. Jessica Faulkner, vascular physiologist in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia and corresponding author of the study in the journal Hypertension.

Leptin, mostly produced by fat cells, is also produced by the temporary organ, the placenta, which enables the mom to supply her developing baby with nutrients and oxygen, Faulkner says. Leptin levels steadily increase in a healthy pregnancy, but specifically what leptin is doing even normally in this scenario is unclear. There is some evidence its a natural nutrient sensor in reproduction or maybe a way to enable new blood vessel growth and/or to stimulate growth hormone for usual development.

But in preeclamptic patients, leptin levels go up more than they should, Faulkner says.

The new research looking at the impact shows for the first time that the increase in leptin results in endothelial dysfunction in which blood vessels constrict, their ability to relax is impaired and the babys growth is restricted.

When the scientists inhibited the precursor for the powerful, natural blood vessel dilator nitric oxide, like what happens in hypertension, it pretty much replicates the effect of the midgestation leptin increase.

To make matters worse, the scientists also have evidence that leptin plays a role in increasing levels of the blood vessel constrictor endothelin 1.

Conversely when they deleted the receptor for aldosterone, in this case the mineralocorticoid receptors on the surface of the cells that line blood vessels, endothelial dysfunction didnt happen, says Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemele, physiologist in MCGs Vascular Biology Center and the papers senior author.

We think what is going on in preeclamptic patients is the placenta is not properly formed, Faulkner says. In the middle of gestation, fetal growth is not happening as it should. I think the placenta is compensating by increasing leptin production, potentially with the goal of helping spur more normal growth. But the results appear to be just the opposite.

It can hurt the babys development and increase the risk of long-term health problems for the baby and mother, she says.

While leptin has been associated with preeclampsia, this was the first study to show that when leptin goes up, it induces the unhealthy clinical characteristics of preeclampsia, Belin de Chantemele says.

When they infused leptin in pregnant mice to mimic the surge that happens in preeclampsia, they saw an unhealthy chain reaction with the adrenal gland making more of the steroid hormone aldosterone which could be increasing the production of endothelin 1, also by the placenta.

Their previous work has shown that outside of pregnancy, an infusion of leptin results in endothelial dysfunction. Belin de Chantemeles lab has pioneered work showing that fat-derived leptin directly prompts the adrenal glands to make more aldosterone which activates mineralocorticoid receptors found throughout the body, notably in the blood vessels in females, which is important to blood pressure levels. High aldosterone levels are an obesity hallmark and a leading cause of metabolic and cardiovascular problems.

That work made them hypothesize that the infusion of leptin that occurs midgestation in preeclampsia had a similar impact that deletion of the mineralocorticoid receptors lining blood vessels could resolve. They have connected similar physiological dots in young females in whom obesity often robs the early years of protection from cardiovascular disease that being female typically provides until menopause.

These same players likely are factors in what increases the mothers lifetime risk of cardiovascular problems, Faulkner says.

It means the system is dysregulated and that is basically when you develop disease, she says.

Their goals include better defining the pathways for increased blood pressure and other blood vessel dysfunction, pathways that can be targeted during pregnancy to prevent potentially devastating results for mother and baby, from what Faulkner characterizes as a two-hit condition.

Their findings to date indicate that effective therapies to better protect mother and baby could be existing drugs like eplerenone, a blood pressure medicine that binds to the mineralocorticoid receptor effectively reducing the effect of higher levels of aldosterone, the scientists say.

The problems likely start with the placenta, and potentially inadequate blood flow to the temporary organ early in its development and subsequent failure of the development of the big blood vessels that become the passageway for nutrients and oxygen from mother to baby.

Its known that in preeclampsia there are problems like decreased secretion of placental growth factor. The bottom lines appear to be that by midgestation, the placenta can no longer properly support the baby, which may be why it secretes leptin, possibly in an effort to spur its own growth and normal fetal development, but in reality it contributes to cardiovascular and fetal consequences, the scientists report, including raising the mothers blood pressure.

Preeclampsia rates unfortunately are rising, Faulkner says, both in the number of pregnant women affected and in how severely they are affected. According to an analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in January of this year in the Journal of the American Heart Association, rates of hypertension that arise during pregnancy, including preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, have nearly doubled in both rural and urban areas in this country from 2007-19 and have been accelerating since 2014. Gestational hypertension is an increase in a pregnant womans blood midgestation but without associated signs of protein in the urine, a sign of kidney distress, or markers of placental dysfunction, as are found in preeclampsia.

Risk factors include carrying more than one fetus, chronic high blood pressure, type 1 or 2 diabetes, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders before pregnancy as well as use of in vitro fertilization. Increasing rates of preeclampsia are primarily attributed to obesity, which is a risk factor for many of these conditions and associated with high levels of both aldosterone and leptin, Faulkner says. Other times, women seem to develop the problem spontaneously.

Next steps in the research include better understanding how and why leptin goes up more than it should, Faulkner says.

The scientists are supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.

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Increase in leptin levels in preeclampsia prompts cardiovascular cascade that puts mother and baby at risk - Jagwire Augusta