1

General Science / Re: Does hypoxia trigger neurogenesis?

« on: 28/02/2015 19:35:32 »

This is a very interesting study about how three half-hour bouts of exercise induced hypoxia in obese males led to a significant increase in carbohydrate oxidation across 7.5 hours as compared to subjects who were not in the hypoxic condition. Perhaps this is what I thought I felt after my little 20 minute bouts of exercised induced hypoxia -- the apparent deep tiredness that I speculated I felt more after hours of back-packing. Hmm...

The following article is at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0108629

"Impact of Exercise and Moderate Hypoxia on Glycemic Regulation and Substrate Oxidation Pattern
Takuma Morishima, Ayaka Mori, Hiroto Sasaki, Kazushige Goto
Published: October 16, 2014DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108629"

"We understand that some limitations should be carefully considered for interpretation of the present study. First, subjects in the present study were overweight men, but they did not have any metabolic disorder, which may affect the present results. Further studies using severely obese people or people with type 2 diabetes are necessary to extend our understanding. Second, substrate levels in blood do not correspond correctly to substrate utilization because substrate levels such as glucose, lactate or FFA are influenced by the rates of appearance and disappearance. This will partly explain for lack of attenuations of glucose and insulin responses in hypoxia, in despite of augmented carbohydrate oxidation.

"Conclusion

"Neither rest alone nor rest and exercise under moderately hypoxic conditions attenuated postprandial glucose responses. Additionally, rest alone under moderately hypoxic condition did not affect the substrate oxidation pattern markedly. However, carbohydrate oxidation was enhanced significantly over 7.5 h when three bouts of submaximal exercise were incorporated under moderately hypoxic conditions."


This is an interesting factor, I think --  exercise-induced hypoxia. Might be particularly useful for those with diabetes, by clearing the system of carbohydrate, as well as, perhaps, helping one be resistant to stroke, etc.

Yours,

Caleb

2

General Science / Re: Hypoxia and Neurogenesis -- Seems the research supports this in rats

« on: 28/02/2015 01:18:03 »

"Deep tiredness" I felt was certainly no greater than going up a hill with a backpack and plugging away for a while. But I sure was interested in how quickly that outcome was caused by stair climbing and breathing only every three seconds.

Thanks for your thoughts on this!

Yours,

Caleb

3

General Science / Re: Hypoxia and Neurogenesis -- Seems the research supports this in rats

« on: 27/02/2015 04:32:36 »

Let's take it to specifics:

You say: "Most research indicates yes, but this is not necessarily true of holding breath during exercise.
Holding breath during exercise increases BP and could trigger a stroke. I do light weight training to keep muscle tone and all the advice is to breath out during the exertion, and breath as normally as possible.
The biggest single indicator of ability to survive a heart attack is VO2 Max. This is best improved by aerobic exercise which gets you out of breath.
As a recreational diver, I have trained to improve my breath holding and ability to work with low oxygen, but I would not use this as day to day exercise as I believe the dangers are too great."

But let's go to the example I give of military recruits jogging/running and chanting in cadence back to their leader as they do so.

Do you think this is dangerous? If so, maybe military trainers are doing it wrong? I doubt it.

About you're being a recreational diver -- holding one's breath for a long period of time may well be dangerous -- but if one engages in exercise that repeatedly (not grabbing, e.g., a large stone and dropping 200 feet down, and surfacing 2 minutes later) moderately leaves you out of breath, isn't this not better than an exercise that NEVER makes you out of breath? That steadfastly avoids leaving you out of breath?

Speak, if you will, to the situation of jogging/running with a group of people and chanting/singing back to the leader. Don't you think that this is a reasonably effective way of increasing cardio fitness, this by combining exercise with breathing restriction? If not, then why not?

Yours,

Caleb

4

General Science / Re: Hypoxia and Neurogenesis -- Seems the research supports this in rats

« on: 26/02/2015 10:36:42 »

The point researchers made about "exercise-induced hypoxia" is that it is quite minor, certainly as compared with high altitude, etc.

Sprinters may experience it many times a day.

My focus is on whether this intermittent "getting out of breath during exercise" has actual health benefits, and I think it probably does have some important benefits.

Caleb

5

General Science / Re: Is there any way to deny this time travel theory that I have

« on: 23/02/2015 02:07:46 »

Kind of reminds me of the Fallacy of the Consequence: see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_consequences

Sort of seems to me that we think that our death should be important somehow -- perhaps a turning point in the scheme of things -- and that things (consciousness, spirit, etc.) somehow go on past our death.

At any rate, just my thoughts on this. Keep cogitating! But continue to wear your seat belt, be nice to folks!

(I often think too that if someone said, "I wish I were here a hundred years ago," then she/he would be wishing they were in a point in space with no air, far from planets, etc.)

Yours,

Caleb

6

General Science / Re: Hypoxia and Neurogenesis -- Seems the research supports this in rats

« on: 23/02/2015 01:45:56 »

Oops! Sorry, I thought this subject was about "Re: Hypoxia and Neurogenesis -- Seems the research supports this in rats" and not about false memories, etc.

But that does give me a chance, now that I think of it, to mention this very, very interesting article on preventing stroke damage to rats by putting them in a hypoxic (low oxygen environment) for a while. See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23028788

The following is from Plosone and Pubmed and is very, very interesting, I mean, if you are interested in preserving brain function, etc.

Yours,

Caleb

************************

Training the brain to survive stroke.
Dunn JF1, Wu Y, Zhao Z, Srinivasan S, Natah SS.
Author information
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Presently, little can be done to repair brain tissue after stroke damage. We hypothesized that the mammalian brain has an intrinsic capacity to adapt to low oxygen which would improve outcome from a reversible hypoxic/ischemic episode. Acclimation to chronic hypoxia causes increased capillarity and tissue oxygen levels which may improve the capacity to survive ischemia. Identification of these adaptations will lead to protocols which high risk groups could use to improve recovery and reduce costs.
METHODS AND FINDINGS:
Rats were exposed to hypoxia (3 weeks living at ½ an atmosphere). After acclimation, capillary density was measured morphometrically and was increased by 30% in the cortex. Novel implantable oxygen sensors showed that partial pressure of oxygen in the brain was increased by 40% in the normal cortex. Infarcts were induced in brain with 1 h reversible middle cerebral artery occlusions. After ischemia (48 h) behavioural scores were improved and T2 weighted MRI lesion volumes were reduced by 52% in acclimated groups. There was a reduction in inflammation indicated by reduced lymphocytes (by 27-33%), and ED1 positive cells (by 35-45%).
CONCLUSIONS:
It is possible to stimulate a natural adaptive mechanism in the brain which will reduce damage and improve outcome for a given ischemic event. Since these adaptations occur after factors such as HIF-1α have returned to baseline, protection is likely related more to morphological changes such as angiogenesis. Such pre-conditioning, perhaps with exercise or pharmaceuticals, would not necessarily reduce the incidence of stroke, but the severity of damage could be reduced by 50%.

7

General Science / Re: Certainty or "Tentative Certainty"

« on: 23/02/2015 00:06:33 »

I think the experts are fairly much in line with the consensus. Science consists of model-building that gets it more and more correct, also more complicated, perhaps more limited in the areas predicted to, etc.

Every now and then incredible theories burst through that revolutionize science -- continental drift, evolution, Semmelweiss and Pasteur, helicobacter pilori, horizontal gene transfer, etc.

But I do think that scientists do tend to "sit before a fact as a child."

And on the other hand, we are tribal animals and perhaps evolution has made us this way. Also, money (see http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/us/ties-to-corporate-cash-for-climate-change-researcher-Wei-Hock-Soon.html?_r=0 for global denier Wei-Hock Soon), tribal beliefs ("We're right! You're wrong!" "Obama is a muslim!"), etc.

But science is clearly the most effective method for separating the wheat from the chaff, the long-term great ideas from the nonsense. It is the best way to overcome confirmation bias (e.g., see http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/N-rays for a wonderful example of confirmation bias).

T. H. Huxley himself said: "The great tragedy of Science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact." (The same one who said we should sit before a fact as a child. And he said many other terrific things as well.)

MOTC -- (my own two cents)

Caleb

8

General Science / Does hypoxia trigger neurogenesis?

« on: 22/02/2015 20:32:22 »

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3652689/ leads to a 2013 PUBMED article: "Post ischemia intermittent hypoxia induces hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic alterations and alleviates long-term memory impairment"

The above study was done on rats, but there are a variety of studies showing that intermittent hypoxia can lead to the growth of new neurons, etc.

My primary exercise is 20 minutes going up and down my single set of stairs, with my knees bent,  lifting up and down a 12 pound weight in the hand not near the bannister, and focusing on holding my breath. I had thought that this was very, very difficult. However, today I tried doing this while taking a breath every three seconds, this after downloading a breath beeper app for my Iphone. Now THAT was very, very demanding and my sweat level was very high.

Sure slowed down my speed on the stairs -- but with bent knees, I don't go too fast anyway. However, after 20 minutes of this, I had a deep tiredness that I haven't had in a long time.

If I had access to a treadmill, I sure would try the same thing, breathing every three minutes or so on an incline, maybe with knees bent.

If I take our grandson on my shoulders and then sing, I get out of breath very, very quickly and it seems the same principle.

Any reactions?

Caleb

9

General Science / Naked Scientist show on bacteria that can scrub CO2 out of the air. Wow!

« on: 15/01/2015 03:52:17 »

I was listening today on my recorder to a previous Naked Scientist show on bacteria that have been modified to extract CO2 out of coal fired power plants. The impact seems huge!

Can this possibly be the start of a world saver? Ponds of this type of bacteria extracting CO2 from the air (and perhaps being only able to live in a certain medium, etc., so it can't escape)?

Very, very impressive story -- as they pretty much all are!

Yours,

Caleb

10

General Science / Re: Evolution AND Theism?

« on: 15/01/2015 03:46:13 »

"And a thousand Christians can beat a hundred Muslims, hence crusades. And a thousand Catholics can torture a few Jews, hence the inquisition. And a million Protestants can disenfranchise  half a million Catholics, hence Northern Ireland. And so it goes on. Religion is the last refuge of perverts and scoundrels."

Yes, about large groups winning out over smaller groups no matter how correct their ideas are. But evolution doesn't care about the long range correctness of the views, I think. Just what survives in the short term.

Another very interesting observation by Jonathan Haidt is the idea that civilization now rewards people who "appear" to be good -- e.g., honest, knowledgeable, etc. -- in public, and therefore we are as lawyers arguing why our position is the best position as compared to all the others.

Yours,

Caleb

11

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Live saving invention - cigarette vaporizer

« on: 13/01/2015 05:13:23 »

I am for this device if it saves lives.

Simply demanding that people be "strong enough" will not suffice. People get addicted to smoking when they are very young, and tend to believe that they are invincible, or at least they are not worried about the long-term consequences of smoking.

Our cigarette purveyors rely and depend on this, forcing our government to promote these packets of death even into third world countries other than the United States.

In the United States, 440,000 people a year die of smoking-related problems. About 12 years ago, my mother was one of them, dying slowly with acute respiratory distress syndrome, as her lungs shut down and she could not take in oxygen. Her own mother died at 100 and she died at about 78. Far, far too early.

Let us look at the data--but if this saves lives, I am certainly for it.

Yours,

Caleb (in Portland, Oregon, where in July, marijuana will be legal--how interesting the data will be then)

12

General Science / Re: Evolution AND Theism?

« on: 13/01/2015 05:03:37 »

Take a look at Jonathan Haidt who wrote a wonderful book, "The Righteous Mind." He talks about how religion "Blinds Us and Binds Us" and how useful religion--and similar principles are--in getting groups of us to work together.

For example, he says that a single rower  may be able to beat other rowers, but a two-seat rowing scull can beat others, and more and more rowers in a rowing boat can beat lesser numbers of  rowers.

He talks about religion as being inherited in the last 50,000 years or so (something like that, but don't hold me to that number) and increasing our tendency to group together.

This really is a terrific book. The best book I've read in several years regarding the nature of human beings. Other great books are those by Ariely, Kahneman, etc. But this one is very, very insightful.

Yours,

Caleb

13

General Science / Re: Why are maps the way they are?

« on: 13/01/2015 04:38:19 »

I am not sure about the answer, but I have heard it suggested that the reason why North is at the top, and South is at the bottom, is because of sundials. Seems to me that sundials would go clockwise in either Hemisphere, but I do not know.

Another factor may well be how people write--and that is, most people are right-handed (about 6/7), and that may have impacted how maps are made.

A very interesting focus! And one that science-writers should have a very nice article on.

Yours,

Caleb

14

General Science / Is the ability to hold one's breath for a long time a measure of health?

« on: 13/01/2015 04:19:02 »

I am a 65-year-old fat  (218 pounds, about 5'11" in height) white male, and before I went up our stairs tonight for 20 minutes, I was able to exhale and make a noise for 54 seconds. (A fairly high-pitched tone -- in the past, I've discovered that low pitched tones use a lot more wind-- but it went on and on  and my poor wife commented on it to me as well.)

Going up and down my stairs (with bent knees and holding a 12 pound weight), I also held my breath regularly, both going up the stairs and this time, holding my breath also going down the stairs. It took me about 10 minutes before I started perspiring reasonably heavily. About four days ago, I went up and down the stairs and did not bend my knees, but when I did so, I suddenly started perspire heavily, at about   10 minutes.)

I've posted here before on exercising with holding one's breath, and I do believe that this is a very useful form of exercise.

But does anyone know whether being able to breathe out a note for a long time actually means anything important? In terms of health, etc.

Does anyone know the data show on this issue?

Yours,

Caleb

15

General Science / Re: Can you boost your memory?

« on: 06/06/2014 17:42:22 »

This is one of my favorite subjects with clients -- so this is a handout I give them. Try it -- it may prove very helpful for you. Especially the first technique, perhaps, how to remember 10 things in order using the song: "This old man, he played one." I sure wish I had learned these techniques before hitting high school. I routinely run through that 100 peg words below in trying to go to sleep at night. Also, it's useful waiting in lines to go through them, and I see how quickly I can go through them.

**************************

Presentation of Three memory techniques

   There is a Russian proverb that says, "Being absent minded means looking for the horse you are riding!" But while we can laugh at such a joke, many of us are concerned about our memory. Is it early senility that makes us forget so many things? Is it the stress in our lives? Are we destined to develop a worsening memory as we grow older?

   For example, in Toastmasters yesterday I was given 10 things by the members there: ground beef, tomatoes, mozzarella soup, bell peppers, butter, milk, syrup, mascara, sparrow does, and Fruit loops.

Use the following song to help you to learn to associate the items which make up the song ("thumb", "shoe", etc) with things you want to remember and practice this technique often.

So for the first item, 1, I pictured burning my thumb on a skillet with ground around.
For item 2, I pictured walking in shoes made of tomatoes.
For 3, I pictured my friend standing in a tree, her last name is Mott.
For 4, I pictured closing a door on bell peppers that were making crunching sounds.
For 5, I pictured several bees trapped in butter.
For 6, I pictured sticks splashing milk.
For 7, I pictured these angels putting syrup when the paying cakes.
For 8, I pictured a gate with a mask on it, with mascara.
For 9, I pictured a asparagus and a jug with someone pouring wine on top of it.
For 10, I pictured a hen with Fruit Loops cereal around its neck.

I then easily told her items in order, and after that I said the even-numbered items from ten to two (bananas, peach, carrots, etc.), and the odd-numbered items from one to nine (milk, sugar, tea, and so on) and could tell her any combination of the items.

For these techniques, practice, practice, practice. And the more real you can make the associations (colorful, noisy, strange, etc.), the more effective the associations will be.

This method also lets you be aware of what item is missing  (e.g., number 9—what did I picture goes with wine?).

You can also combine this method with other methods, such as the following pegword system or the “Method of Places,” apparently made famous because a famous poet was able to remember who lay dead under the rubble of an earthquake in Greece by bringing to his mind his view of where the people had been sitting. (He left the hall just before the earthquake struck and people did not know where their deceased relatives, etc., were, but he was able to accurately point out their dead bodies.)

A great book on memory is “Moon-Walking with Einstein,” by an American journalist who reported on an American memory event and then won it the next year.

The following technique has been around for over 150 years and it is described in a variety of places, including in Harry Lorayne's “How to develop a super power memory,” by Harry Lorayne, Fell Publishers; 1990.) 
 This is probably impractical for most people, but I found it fun to learn the 100 "pegwords" and now can associate them with many different objects. I also use it to help me fall asleep at night at times. (I practice saying it to myself in grocery store lines, etc.)

1.T,D         2. N      3. M.      4. R      5. L
6. J,sh,ch,dg      7. K,c,g   8. F,v      9. P,b      0. Z,s   

1. The sound for 1 will always be T or D. The letter T has one downstroke.
2. The sound for 2 will always be N. A typewritten n has two downstrokes.
3. The sound for 3 is M. A typewritten m has three downstrokes.
4. The sound for 4 is R. Four ends in the letter R.
5. The sound for 5 is L. The roman numeral for 50 is L. If you hold your left hand up (with five fingers) and stick your thumb out, it will look like a five.
6. 6 will always be a J, ch, sh, soft g, etc. a 6 almost looks like a J turned around.
7. Seven will be a K, hard c, hard g. The number seven can be used to form a K, with one seven up and one down.
8. The sound for 8 will be f  or v. A hand written f and a figure 8 will both have two loops, one above the other.
9. The sound for 9 is P or B. The number 9 turned around is a P.
0. The sound for zero is an S or a Z, the first sound of "zero."

Other rules -- vowels don't count, and W's don't count. (Hence, Mower is 34, Rower is 44.)
 These are the pegwords:
1 .  Tie   2.Noah      3.Ma      4. Rye      5. Law
6.   Shoe   7. Cow      8. Ivy      9. Bee      10. Toes
11. Tot      12. Tin      13. Tomb   14. Tire   15. Towel
16. Dish   17.Tack      18. Dove   19. Tub      20. Nose
21. Net      22. Nun      23. Name   24. Nero   25. Nail
26. Notch   27. Neck   28. Knife   29. Knob   30. Mouse
31. Mat      32 Moon      33. Mummy   34. Mower   35. Mule
36. Match    37. Mug      38. Movie   39. Mop      40 Rose
41. Rod      42. Rain   43. Ram      44. Rower   45. Roll
46. Roach   47. Rock   48. Roof   49. Rope   50. Lace
51. Lot      52. Lion   53. Loom   54. Lure    55. Lilly
56. Leech   57. Log      58. Lava   59. Lip      60. Cheese
61. Sheet   62. Chain   63. Chum   64. Cherry   65. Jail
66. Choo-choo    67. Chalk   68 Chef      69. Ship   70. Case
71. Cot      72. Coin   73. Comb   74. Car      75. Coal
76. Cage   77. Coke   78.Cave      79. Cob      80. Fez
81. Fit      82. Phone   83. Foam   84. Fur      85. File
86. Fish   87. Fog      88. Fife   89. Fob      90. Bus
91. Bat      92. Bone   93. Bum      94. Bear   95. Bell
96. Beach   97. Book   98. Puff   99. Pipe   100. Disease
--------------------------------
   
 

Another set of Memory technique is that of Method of Places – one of the oldest ways of remembering things, picturing items at places in your home (e.g.), and by walking through your home (or elsewhere), being able to recall them in order. In our house I would line up the items in this way:
 
1.  Mailbox
2.  Walkway.
3.  Front door.
4.  Living room.
5.  Dining room.
6.  Downstairs bathroom.
7.  Kitchen near stove.
8.  Garage.
9.  Stairs.
10.  Landing.
11.  Computer room.
12.  Grandmas room.
13.  Al's room.
14.  Our room.
15.  Our bathroom.
16.  Al's bathroom.
17.  Camping room.
18.  Loft area.

By associating different ideas, topics, etc., with different portions of a home, I can mentally walk through our home, and summon up the things I’m trying to remember.  In the Middle Ages, this was widely practiced in Italy with people visiting very complex homes to learn how to remember many different items.  (The above technique stems from Greece, with a famous poet being able to say where people were buried where under rubble that had been caused by an earthquake. He had left the dinner just before the earthquake struck, but he was able to remember by location where the various people were buried in this help the relatives recover their bodies.) Why not try it with your own home or with a home you are familiar with?

       Associate these areas with the items, activities, etc., you want to remember in as vivid a fashion as possible. 

       And practice, practice, practice!

16

General Science / Re: Good balance beam scales in all libraries -- what do you think?

« on: 03/06/2014 16:26:23 »

According to Krista Varady, PhD, daily weighing is associated with greater weight loss and also with maintaining weight loss. I sure have talked to many very overweight people who refuse to get on a scale. Too bad they didn't get on scales early and often -- might have increased their motivation to reduce they body weight. Harder to change our behavior if we refuse to look at relevant health data.

About balance beam vs digital -- I like a balance beam myself, but a digital would be okay too.

A balance beam is at eye-height and the information is much clearer to me than a digital scale located on the floor. (My vision is not optimal and it never was.) Somehow, a balance beam scale seems more substantial to me -- especially as the weight will remain on the scale until one moves the indicator from the balanced position. Therefore, one can more easily write down the weight, etc., while looking straight ahead at the indicator.

But too each her/his own.

I think a lot of families would benefit from the easy availability of scales -- if not in the UK, then certainly in the US.

Yours,

Caleb

17

General Science / Re: Does Chewing Gum Help Ewe Concentrate ?

« on: 03/06/2014 16:18:29 »

I've been interested in this general topic for more than 30 years.

It seems to me that in humans, gum chewing is an arousing activity, and that one chew leads into more chewing, and enough of an arousal set of stimuli to keep the organism chewing, even when the gum has lost its flavor. Also, probably, keeps the organism awake and looking for more material to chew, or swallow.

The activity of the jaws in sucking is very, very similar to that of chewing - open and close, open and close, and this leads to the baby staying awake long enough to finish his/her nutrition.

If I were God (but our cat knows that I'm just the guy that gets the cat food), I would design into humans (and many other animals) a chewing response that would lead to arousal (wakefulness) and further chewing (or sucking). Many ruminants have to chew, chew, chew, chew to get any nutrition from their food -- e.g., grasses, leaves, etc. For them, chewing as an arousing response would appear to me to be a "big deal."

Related to this, seems to me that other arousing responses in humans of a non-drug sort are: flaring the nostrils, opening the eyes wide (opening the palpebral fissure), assuming a straight-up or learning forward posture, etc.

My two cents on this, but I would be surprised if I were wrong. (On the other hand, I've been surprised before.) And thanks for letting me vent on this interesting behavior!

Yours,

Caleb

18

General Science / Re: Is taking the stairs the best form of exercise?

« on: 30/05/2014 17:40:02 »

I sure never said extreme sports anywhere in my messages, and you seem to be intuiting it somehow, or are attacking a straw man I never proposed.

As I said, for quite a few years I used to do long-distance running, marathoning, and I had a great time doing it. I don't regret it.

But regular exercise -- not extreme exercise -- seems to benefit people physically, emotionally, etc. (I'm a psychologist and the literature shows it is also very beneficial for treating depression, if the individual is physically able to do exercise.)

Dissuading people from engaging in moderate, regular exercise seems very wrong to me and certainly is not something that medical groups would engage in.

Yours,

Caleb

19

General Science / Good balance beam scales in all libraries -- what do you think?

« on: 30/05/2014 17:28:42 »

I bought a balance beam scale for two libraries here in Oregon about 10 years ago -- the only two that responded positively to the offer that the State Librarian sent out via email to all the librarians. Both are in use, and one is just south of me at Wilsonville Library. The other is in Hermiston, Oregon, at Blue Mountain Community College.

My reasoning goes like this:

A lot of people don't have easy access to good scales and this seems to be a very inexpensive way to reach many people, especially those without much money and who can benefit themselves and their family members by weighing themselves. (A local library system said that if people wanted to weigh themselves,they should go to their doctor's offices or to their health clubs. Seemed a ridiculous answer then and seems even worse now about 10 years later. So many of their patrons don't go to health clubs, can't wait for their yearly medical checkup to weigh themselves -- if indeed they can afford yearly checkups.)

A lot of weight problems -- including relapse weight problems -- can be prevented if people weigh themselves regularly. Also, it teaches people that weighing themselves is not that scary or humiliating, etc. (The Wilsonville scale had broken about 5 years ago and I replaced it. As I brought a new scale in, one of the patrons, a slender somewhat elderly woman, cheerfully said, "Good! Now I can weigh  myself again! I think I am still at 127 [or some very healthy number, it seemed to me]," and she was at that number.)

Libraries have a function of being able to provide important information at no cost to the individual and it seems to me that providing weight scales fits within this framework.

Getting in the habit of weighing oneself regularly is a very healthy behavior, one that most of us should engage in. (I have talked to librarians who said that people would be too embarrassed to weigh themselves in public, but many people have enjoyed doing so, and thus the "embarrassment" seems to be greatly overstated. At the same time, teaching people to be less embarrassed about getting on a scale seems a good goal -- better than ignoring the problem until it is uncontrollable and unhealthy -- and no one HAS to weigh themselves anyway.)

On the other hand, there is probably less incentive for scales to be made publicly available -- say, in a shopping mall -- because that may well interfere with sales of food.

Any thoughts about this? Individually, it would cost very, very close to nothing to an individual for their local library to have a good scale, but the health benefits would be significant (especially given the prevalence of diabetes 2, hypertension, etc.).

Yours,

Caleb

20

General Science / Re: Simple exercise by walking up and down a flight of stairs for 15 to 20 min.

« on: 30/05/2014 04:46:02 »

alancalverd -- So you are saying that avoiding all exercise is better than exercising? that all the admonitions to do at least some exercise is harmful?

Sure flies in the face of what I understand about the general advice of at least moderate exercise 3 or more times a week.