The holidays are upon us. If we aren’t careful they will be on top of us, in front of us, and adding to our girth. Instead plan on developing and following a healthy diet for 2012.
The Bacon meme has embedded itself in the Internet over the past few years. So instead of just bacon with your eggs (or turkey bacon if you want to pretend to be healthier) and bacon meatloaf, you can find veggie bacon or “fakon” if you look. But that doesn’t make for good fodder for the Internet.
So, we’ve found Chocoloate, Peanutbutter, Bacon cookies. Now, of course we don’t recommend this as a staple in your diet. But, it does make for a colorful looking cookie. I’m not sure exactly what flavor would dominate.
You’ll have to go far beyond the bacon meme to mix your exercise program with a healthy diet. You may start with the cake vs. pie question and make sure during the holiday season you go with one or the other and not both. And that it is a small portion at that!
Running Mice Live Longer With Degenerative Brain Disorder
Cognitive decline with aging is an increasingly important research topic. This week Science Magazine has produced a special issue on the brain and a summary article and one main articles discusses the impact on a specific neurodegenerative disease (spinocerebellar ataxia type 1) in mice.
A “mild” exercise regimen helped the mice live significantly longer. The effects lasted for a considerable time, even after stopping the exercise program. The disease studied has features in common with Alzheimer’s in that an insoluble protein that accumulates in nerves is involved. Exercise has been shown to have positive effects on Alzheimer’s disease and the research here on how exercise impacts the proteins and future exercise on a variety of growth factors produced during exercise may help in producing strategies for Alzheimer’s disease and numerous other degenerative diseases.
The accompanying summary article states:
“In addition to the benefits of exercise on brain health and cognitive function, it may promote slowing neurodegenerative disease progression. For example, exercise slowed the decline in cognitive abilities of Alzheimer’s disease patients and improved postural stability and balance in Parkinson’s disease patients.”
References:
Another Reason to ExerciseAaron D. Gitler. Science 4 November 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6056 pp. 606-607. DOI: 10.1126/science.1214714
You may love Apple computers and their devices including the iPod, iPad, and iPhone. Or you may like Windows computers or perhaps Linux boxes. Whatever you like about your computer, whatever it may be, it was Steve Jobs and
Apple - The Rainbow
Steve Wozniak’s abilities, vision, and salesmanship that has put one in your home.
Without Wozniak the engineer, and Jobs the guy with the vision, your computer would weigh half a ton and probably only be at your office. Back in the Homebrew Computer years the vision of a home computer was something that could display lights which if you could decode the binary message you would know the answer to 2 + 2. Bill Gates during those Homebrew years came up with the bright idea of selling and owning software starting with Basic. Not long after – it was licensing rather than owning software.
But Jobs had an idea that a computer could be more, and could be in many houses, not only in the homes of those who read Popular Electronics. IBM jumped on the bandwagon, but did not consider their PC market particularly important for several years. The hype in those early days made it difficult to determine what was going to be the best machine for business purposes. In those early years it was clear that IBM and DOS was more suitable for business rather than the Apple II. But still, it was Jobs that forced IBM’s hand to even making those smaller machines. Gates was clever enough to license both a DOS (disk operating system) and a Basic interpreter to
Altair with Cool Lights
more than one computer manufacturer. He escaped an exclusive arrangement with IBM and every other hardware manufacturer that he dealt with.
In 1979 Jobs visited Xerox PARC and liked what he saw. He came away with the idea of creating a graphic user interface, a mouse for data input, fonts, an improved menu system, and an overall friendlier computer system.
Out of this came the overpriced and failed Lisa and the game changing Macintosh. With the advent of the graphic user interface, Gates saw that DOS had a finite life and worked on Windows. The first widely distributed Windows Beta showed it’s gaming strengths which led from Reversi to Solitaire. And later to Doom, Quake and Warcraft. OS X is still not a gaming platform, although a speedy iMac can run a number of game programs quite well.
Not long after the development of the Mac, the dapper soda pop expert, hired by Jobs as CEO, boasted he did not have a computer on his desk. He proceeded to force Steve Jobs out of his company. Steve Jobs then founded NEXT and purchased PIXAR which no one had a clue would ever amount to anything.
Macintosh
As Apple appeared headed to certain failure, Jobs returned as CEO and the operating system of NEXT grew into OS X. With innovations in portable devices in addition to a solid, crash “lite” operating system, Apple met with considerable success. Jobs always asked the near impossible of his engineers and designers. Smaller and smaller, thinner and thinner all things became. The Titanium Macbook Pro was the first Apple computer I used. Being less than 1 inch thick, with the first DVD drive, and OS X, which is an attractive shell over what is mostly BSD UNIX attracted me (after finding that I liked Linux as an alternative to dealing with the faults, flaws, and security weaknesses of Windows.) Using Intel processors brought Apple a long way and the ability to run Windows on the same machine was welcomed by many. Personally, I’ve decided I like my windows on it’s own machine.
The iPod changed the way we listen to music. In many ways the convenience is for the better. But in deference to the music geeks, I’ll admit that we find ourselves in a “low-fi” world. With the loss of the ability to hear all of the high tones, it matters less to me right now. After giving in to reason, allowing video on the small device was a big plus. The iPhone was a bold step and did work quite well the first day right out of the box. A fine interface, an attractive device, an interesting combination of apps that worked well was a different model than other companies had used. Yes, it was certainly and still is a relatively restrictive environment, closed, not user friendly to jailbreak and less friendly after being jail broken. But the trade off has been a reliable and fun to use device. The iPad is a good size for many older people and has caught on well as a tablet. It has caught on so well, that others, such as H-P have even given up trying to compete.
Starting with putting a friendlier face on computing and the concept of computers for everyone, Jobs thought different. Interface and design intersected in ways not before conceived of in the computing world. Computers, email, face-to-face communication via your cell phone or computer, ease of access to information, research, music, and software have changed the landscape of the world. Jobs played a role in this, as did many others. But I give Steve Jobs much credit for the role he played.
Since Jobs developed pancreatic cancer, which is often deadly within a year or so, and later had a liver transplant, his health has been shaky. Somehow he has still managed to bring enthusiasm and new products regularly to Apple. A biography of Jobs written by Walter Isaacson was originally scheduled to be published in March, 2012 and was to be called iSteve: The Book of Jobs. Publication has been moved up to November, 2011 and the title is now the more serious “Steve Jobs: A Biography”. I didn’t take that as a good sign.
I’m not sure what Apple will be like after Jobs. I’m sure it will be a solid company and will continue to be competitive. But, it will miss the driving vision and uncompromising principles of Jobs. The engineers will be able to relax a bit, but I’m sure the next 15 years will be much different than they would be in the absence of a healthy, strong, and visionary Steve Jobs at the helm. I send thanks and wish Steve Jobs well and as pleasant a transition as possible.
The big high tech scare story this week is that Apple is recording location data on it’s iPhone and iPad customers. The bigger scare story is that people are writing about high tech issues without having a clue about what they are writing. It is shocking that supposed specialists in high tech and publications that cover this field did not have a grasp on what a smart phone is and does. If one ever has used iPhone you can not miss the fact that every time you use an application enhanced for location services, a pop up dialog asks if you want to turn on or use location services for each and every application. The iPhone has an overall setting for location services to be off or on. One click and you can turn them all off or you can turn them on and then change them each individually.
Location Services Toggle Setting
This setting is easy to see, easy to find, and easy to set or change. Apple has clearly stated that if you turn the settings on, data will be recorded and used solely for the purpose of making the location services and relevant application use the data. Twitter, Facebook, Google Earth, Foursquare, and Yelp all like to use location to give you the information you need (and perhaps for other reasons) and this is one reason you have a smart phone. You may use location services to find the nearest Starbucks, pizza place or Sushi bar. You don’t need to broadcast your information to each application. Turn off the ones you don’t want to receive the data. Turn them all off if you don’t want any data recording and you don’t want to use location services. You control the data recording.
Of course if you are a serial killer or cheating on your partner you may not want your location services on. But it is likely there is a lot of other evidence that will have you found out sooner or later. If you think having your location stored on your phone is bad, just consider everything else on your smart phone. Contacts, your “A List” friends, recent emails, financial information, passwords, and embarrassing photos are often stored and all are likely to be much more of a problem if found. Take care that you know where your phone is at all times. Don’t lose it. And encrypt sensitive data.
Apple provides a program to locate your missing iPhone or iPad and have it make a sound, send a text or wipe out all of the data on the device from the comfort of home and your laptop (or other device). This is helpful and not malevolent. Use technology that you trust and understand. Write about things you know. Question the things you
Top Level Setting
don’t and ask someone else to write about them. David Pogue and Walter Mossberg are both thorough journalists who usually are right on target. Neither one swallowed this wrong and wrong headed story.
Two congressmen requested information from Apple and Steve Jobs in July of 2010. The reply from Apple revealed who location services worked, what was collected, and how to turn it off. Apple letter on Location Services and Privacy – PDF.
Note: Our last blog entry was about a smart phone that was smart enough to check your blood pressure. I’m looking for one that detects when a writer is blowing smoke at you.
Two oldie video selections follow: “Eyes Of The World” Grateful Dead and “1984″ David Bowie.
Miniaturization of technology continues to bring new innovations in science and technology. The very latest innovation which you probably have not seen yet is a miniature NMR. On a larger scale this is the old familiar MRI machine. The micro-NMR is coupled to a Smart Phone and used to analyze cell surface proteins. A study published this week in Science Translational Medicine showed that this micro-NMR (μNMR) device run by a smart phone could be used to analyze a series of proteins/markers (pCAM (epithelial cell adhesion molecule), MUC-1 (mucin 1, cell surface associated), HER2, EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor), B7-H3, CK18, Ki-67, p53, and vimentin]) showed a 10% to 20% improved diagnostic accuracy over traditional cell staining and other traditional techniques.
The current study analyzed needle aspiration biopsies. The study was limited to intra-abdominal cancers. The researchers found that 4 markers: MUC-1, HER2, EGFR, and EpCAM provided high diagnostic accuracy. These 4 markers used in conjunction gave the correct diagnoses in 48 of the 50 initial patients examined and in 20 of 20 in the next round. For biology, science and technology geeks this was a fascinating article. I’ll link below to the Editor’s summary.
As we wonder what our Smart Phones can do besides play music surf the web, and track our running mileage, we see that forward thinkers are finding new ways to use the smart phone along with creative and new ways to use current technology. And yes, genomics and proteomics have a future.
Today’s opening thought: Is 26.2 the answer to life, the universe and everything? Or as Doug Adam’s Hitchhikers guide has it, is it 42? But, let’s move on.
The newspapers and blogs have been full of reports on the science of why we should all run in minimalist shoes or barefoot. The scientific literature is continually expanding (just like the universe) with studies on similar topics. As of now the literature has utterly failed to demonstrate how to prevent running injuries. The literature may lead you to believe the only way to limit running injuries is to give up running and taking up swimming or cycling. Scientific studies haven’t been able to even show that a more gradual running program causes fewer injuries than a rapidly advancing program. These failures have led to new paradigms of running models. Looking at recent writing in the papers, books and the blogs, I’ve learned that our “species” has been running barefoot for 5 Million and perhaps more years. A degree in nuclear physics could lead you to the errant conclusion that arches were useful for moving around on tree branches, but there is no need for them on the ground (as described in the NY Times).
Our species, Homo sapiens, wasn’t around 5 Million years ago to run or even to walk barefoot. Nor was any creature of the genus Homo found at that time. Five million years ago is before even “Lucy”, an Australopithecus afarensis, appeared on the scene. Scientists of evolution do have a candidate for a 5 Million year old Hominid, Ardipithecus ramidus. “Ardi” was clearly not born to wear shoes as you can see from the illustration below. Ardi was in fact not born to run. The truth is that Ardi’s locomotion pattern may not have been like ours in most ways.
As far as having an arch in trees and not needing one for obligate bipedal locomotion in hominids, the science and study of evolution show that the arch can store kinetic energy by transforming it to potential energy and return it late in the stance phase of gait. And the windlass mechanism has been discussed for over 50 years.
As you can see from Ardi’s feet, we’ve come a long way, baby. The big toe can no longer grasp and is in line with the rest of the foot with the first metatarsal sitting closer to the other metatarsal bones. Daniel Lieberman and others have reviewed hypothesized evolutionary changes in more than one paper. Among other evolutionary changes the authors describe the evolution of shorter toes, development of a longitudinal arch, a lengthening Achilles tendon, and altered attachment and functions of the gluteal muscles. Australopithecus had a relatively flat foot, and was described as probably not being capable of long distance running. The genus Homo has been around since approximately 2.5 Million Years Ago (MYA) and humans, Homo sapiens since .2 MYA (about 200,000 years ago). Early Homo species were thought to be the first hominid bipedal runners. Wikipedia, while not an authoritative site, has a good outline of current thought and dates of hominid evolution at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution
Recently I read of “like minded people” attending seminars on running injuries with the premise of we were born to run barefoot or in minimalist shoes. Over the past few years there has been an increasing amount of research on the biomechanics and effects of minimalist and barefoot running. It seems that everyone has been chiming in to support this idea from nuclear physicists to physical therapists, anthropologists, journalists, book authors and world-class runners. The mention of “like minded” folk had me thinking of other like minded groups such as political parties and religious groups.
Bill O’Reilly On The Universe
Bill O’Reilly can be inspiring. His thoughts on religion led me to look outside of cherry picked scientific ideas and see what the bible had to say on this topic. Of course, since Bill is such an authority on religion, we can go further than his thoughts on the movement of the tides and listen to what he says about astronomy. In late January of this year, he discussed his pre-Copernican worldview and noted that the Earth was given a sun and a moon while Mars was not.
While humor impaired, true believers of all stripes may be troubled by a discussion on minimalist running, I think all would benefit from watching O’Reilly’s analysis of how the world works. I did search for the isolated clip and hoped for an in depth discussion of his Ptolemaic inspired universe, but apparently Fox/O’Reilly arranged to have it removed from YouTube. The only available clip right now is via the Colbert show and has Colbert’s comments to shed light on Bill’s.
O’Reilly discussion starts at 2:32 of this clip (click if below clip is not working) from the Colbert Report.
Bill O’Reilly’s thoughts on this subject led me to search for guidance for a true believer and to the biblical reasons for which we should be using minimalist shoes or going barefoot for our running. Since this post is quite long already we’ll note in passing that there were no specific running shoes in existence during biblical times. People were in a close relationship with their sandals and the Word was disseminated not via Twitter, blogs and Facebook, but by people traversing the ground in minimalist footgear. And that is the gospel truth. As we wonder WWJD we find that Matthew 6.25-31 and Luke 25.21-31 lead us to consider the Lilies of the field that God provided and not even Solomon was not arrayed as well. Of course theological discourse could allow for different interpretations, but the passage is food for thought.
Lovejoy CO. 2009. Reexamining human origins in light of Ardipithecusramidus. Science 326:74e1–74e8.
Lovejoy CO, Latimer B, Suwa G, Asfaw B, White TD. 2009a. Combining prehension and propulsion: The foot of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science 326:72e1–72e8.
Lovejoy CO, Suwa G, Simpson SW, Matternes JH, White TD. 2009b. The great divides: Ardipithecus ramidus reveals the postcrania of our last common ancestors with African apes. Science 326:100–106.
Lovejoy CO, Suwa G, Spurlock L, Asfaw B, White TD. 2009c. The pelvis and femur of Ardipithecus ramidus: The emergence of upright walking. Science 326.
Five inches of Snow have just fallen in Dallas. Without snow plows or salt and sand trucks the plan is to wait it out and pray for a warm day. We all need to have a plan to deal with weather extremes. And waiting it out just might not be your plan.
The impact of extreme temperature can be quite insidious. Both heat and cold injuries occur even with what one may consider moderate temperature changes. Cold injury and frostbite can occur even with the temperature at or above freezing. Wind chill, moisture and temperature affect how rapidly frostbite or cold injury will occur. Moisture significantly increases the risk of frostbite. Liquids carry the warmth away from your body up to 30 times as fast as air. So a cold wet face in rain is at risk, and so are your toes in wet, sweaty shoes, with the usual aerated upper for “breathability”. Recently a good runner, preparing for Boston, went out on a 3 hour run in 32 – 33 F degree weather. His feet were a bit wet and his toes were achy. (He had been wearing appropriate moisture wicking socks.) Figuring that it was time for the “universal cure” of ice, he applied ice for 30 minutes. The result was a lot of pain, and first degree Frostbite. He has recovered well and is about to resume running.
These winter months can also result in heat injury. How could that happen you may ask? Well, besides traveling below the Equator to where it is summer time, it could be a self induced injury. I recently had another runner stop in for an injury when I noticed a band-aid on one foot. Underneath the band-aid was a second degree burn caused by falling asleep with a hot water bottle on the foot. For those of you with cold feet, I suggest nice warm socks and cuddly quilts and blankets.
“The Case Against Lance Armstrong” is the title of an article in the January 24, 2011 issue of Sports Illustrated. The case that is made within this article is based on in large part on what a few people with gripes against Lance have said. The other “hard” evidence is based on several tests detailing a very high Testosterone:Epitestosterone ratio. Before 2005 the tests normal was considered up to 6:1 and was then lowered to 4:1. Several tests over the years, which may have been Lance’s were considerably higher than this.
According to SI “Three results stand out: a 9.0-to-1 ratio from a sample collected on June 23, 1993; a 7.6-to-1 from July 7, 1994; and a 6.5-to-1 from June 4, 1996.”
Each time the ratio was found to be high, the “B” Sample was tested and found to not confirm the preliminary test. The second test is usually a carbon isotope test that is more specific to studying the makeup of the individual’s testosterone.
While the article goes on to say that one high number (of the T:E ratio) should be a once in a blue moon occurrence, there are significant genetic factors that can come into play. A 2008 article published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism titled “Doping Test Results Dependent on Genotype of UGT2B17, the Major Enzyme for Testosterone Glucuronidation” showed that if an individual had two alleles for the UGT2B17 gene, there was a large chance that they would not test positive for cheating even after having taken a large dose of synthetic testosterone. The estimates were that 40% of individuals could pass the ratio examination just by virtue of having two copies of this gene. On the other hand with mixed alleles (ins/del) or in the absence of this allele there was a fair chance that the ratio would always be abnormal. Estimates were that in a normal population, up to 9-14% of people would have a false positive result and fail the test.
It seems that if you have the del/del or ins/del variations of alleles, you are going to pretty consistently fail the test. The authors suggest that this gene should be tested and the results modified based upon the genotype of the individual.
Understanding the purpose of the Testosterone:Epitestosterone ratio testing and doing at least a brief look at factors that might affect this test, not just once but repeatedly are important when an article such as the SI one is written. This specific gene and its implication on testing is widely known and has been covered in a variety of journal articles. The Canadian Medical Journal detailed, in an editorial titled “Doping, Sport, and the Community“, the difficulties in testing for Growth Hormone abuse and Testosterone. The editorial also mentioned research I came across elsewhere which indicated that many Asians (up to 40%) had the version of this gene that would give a false negative.
So, let’s get all the evidence out. And let’s make sure the public sees all the scientific information on the validity and the problems that exist with this particular test. For another perspective on heroes in American culture, you can seek out one of George Carlin’s last specials in which he expresses his opinion on hero worship and in particular on Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, and Dr. Phil.
The next test is to determine if the song “Bike” by Pink Floyd was written in a drug free state. In case you can’t make them out the lyrics begin:
I’ve got a bike
You can ride it if you like
It’s got a basket
A bell that rings
And things to make it look good
I’d give it to you if I could
But I borrowed it
All marathons are special. You’ll remember your first marathon and your last one for a long, long time. And you may have favorites of the ones in the middle. But, what’s the story on the first marathon ever run. The 2,500 year Anniversary run is coming up on October 31, the same day as the Marine Corps Marathon here in D.C. Did the first marathoner die or is that a story?
Who was Pheidippides? Amby Burfoot does the research, tells us, and plans for a historic marathon. Amby’s writing can’t be beat and he covers this thoroughly.
The photos in this article alone are worth a look.
I had a pleasant chat with Jon Anderson who writes for a number of the military times publications. This past week he covered the current status of minimalist running shoes in the service. The article, “On Your Toes” appeared in the Army Times. He quotes the figure of up to 35% of Navy Seals are incorporating minimalist shoes in their training. In addition to the interview questions we discussed what may make the minimalist shoes acceptable on more bases. One is that if wearing the shoes gets you out the door and has you enjoying your training this will support you mission of fitness.
Minimal Maximalist: I'm Free
This past summer Diane Rehm had a lively interview of Christopher McDougall, Amby Burfoot and myself. If you haven’t listened to it, I recommend the show in general and this session titled “Running In America“. During the interview I was asked if I thought barefoot running was dangerous. My reply was “sitting down is dangerous”. Amby brings much wisdom to the discussion. Chris is the author of the best selling “Born To Run” and brings his thoughts on the subject which were summed up in his interview on “Real Sports Episode 158” in which he said at the end of the story “You were born to run. You were designed to run. Running is not going to hurt you…..When you get rid of all the shoes and all the technology and actually rely on your legs the way they have evolved to be used, you can actually run injury free for the rest of your life”. This statement has converted a good number of runners to minimalist shoes. Is it true? That is the start of the discussion. There is more to the story. If you are interested in the topic, you have the chance to listen to an hour long chat.
If things are going well for you, don’t make unnecessary changes. If you are changing your foot strike or your shoe type, make the changes very, very gradually. This can not be emphasized enough.
Is there one opinion on this topic that will universally satisfy everyone? The answer is no. In the Diane Rehm show the concept of there being an necessary “great schism” in the running community was mentioned. It is important to recognize that exercise is good for you. Movement is good. It could be running, walking, hiking, swimming, and cycling that you enjoy. It could be with traditional shoes or not. Whatever works for you is what is best for you. All the articles you read may not offer guidance that is specific and right for you. The current exercise recommendations for adults are for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity 5 days per week (or 20 minutes of intense aerobic activity – and I recommend at least a 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down) and 2 days per week of strength training.
Shoes: Are They Tiny Coffins? (What would Paul Brand, M.D. say?)
Portrait of Eric Heiden, 5 Time Gold Medal Olympian
Change You Can Believe In (and plan for)
Back To Basics: The Three Pillars of Fitness
