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 Exercise Aaron D. Gitler. Science 4 November 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6056 pp. 606-607. DOI: 10.1126/science.1214714

Exercise and Genetic Rescue of SCA1 via the Transcriptional Repressor Capicua. John D. Fryer, Peng Yu et. al. Science 4 November 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6056 pp. 690-693 DOI: 10.1126/science.121267

Frostbite Grade I

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.

Follow the link for more information on the effects of temperature and cold on athletes.

Billy Joel: I Go To Extremes

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.

http://bit.ly/bgXdMS

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.

Freedom Comes In Different Flavors

Podiatry Management (October, 2010) has just published an article I’ve written titled  Overuse Injuries: All The Small Things . You are just another click away from the PDF version. This is a challenging article. It introduces mechanotransduction, a theory of cellular and tissue function, which is little known in the sports medicine community. The article touches lightly on this topic and then reviews the latest literature and theory on overuse injuries to bone and tendon.

The Needle - Kenneth Snelson

The cellular level is where things start and where we will find many answers. I expect to add more details on the web site on mechanotransduction and mechanobiology for those with hardcore, deep science interest. The article is limited in size, but was longer than many published in PM Magazine. But, I didn’t even touch on the theory canalicular flow and osteocyte induction or mechanotransduction and control of stem cell development by matrix stiffness. Research in the field of mechanobiology is growing daily and the outlook is great that it will be fruitful.

Image by Mitch Mandel (September 2010 Runners World)

Exercising while barefoot is a good way to work on your balance, proprioception (joint position sense) and lower leg strength. Runners World has a fine short article on Barefoot Exercise written by Adam Bean (which I was interviewed for) in the September, 2010 issue and online.

Several Videos of an agile athlete demonstrating the exercises are online and on the iPad app.

The wobble board exercise is particularly good for many ankle injuries as part of a recovery plan. The toe curls and toe pickups can be helpful in conjunction with an overall plan for plantar fasciitis. Overall the series of exercises was set up for a healthy runner. In you have an injury, check with your sports doc or PT for advice specific to your injury.

Toe Curls

Toe Pickups

Wobble Board

One-leg Hops

One Leg Squats

The Diane Rehm Show will host Christopher McDougall (author of Born To Run), Amby Burfoot (winner of Boston Marathon, 1968, Editor at large: Runners World) and myself on Monday. The topic will be “Running In America. We should cover a lot of ground. Both Amby and Christopher are knowledgeable and entertaining. It should be an interesting show. The discussion will be on NPR starting at 11 am. If I’m early, according to the schedule, it appears I could stop in for a spot of tea.

You can tweet your questions to the show on twitter or ask via the show’s Facebook page. More information on calling and email is available at the show’s website.

The Diane Rehm Show is  archived online and is available as a podcast through iTunes or as an rss feed.. I highly recommend Diane’s intelligent discussions and diverse subjects as food for the brain.

Blisters are a common sports injury caused by a combination of friction and moisture. Blisters normally

Blister

cause pain that limits your activity and resolve and go away. You should take good care of blisters to avoid infection. Running in pain with an altered gait can cause you to injure another body part. A couple of days off if needed can prevent a longer down time.

And no, you will not get gangrene from a friction blister. However, if you are diabetic with insensitive feet caused by diabetic peripheral neuropathy you will not have a normal response to pain. In that set of circumstances there is a higher danger of infection which can spread deeply and widely and cause serious problems. If you are diabetic please check your feet regularly and get professional care at the first sign of any problem.

More information on blisters can be found on my running injuries website.

PEN has partnered with ESPN to create the PEN/ESPN Literary Sports Writing award. This award will honor the best non-fiction book on sports for 2009. The winner will receive $5,000 and be invited to speak at the 2010 CUNY Pen Literary Awards  ceremony on October  13, 2010.

Any guesses on the possible winner?

Two Steps Forward One Step Back: Marching To Marathon Success

The 10% rule of limiting weekly increases in mileage to no more than ten percent is widely quoted as the sin qua non of incremental training. In many cases even this may be too much. An invariably rising load of 10 percent each week may not give your body time to recover from the stresses of running.

In marathon training, I believe that for beginners, the long run is the key to successful completion of the marathon. Many years ago, in a very early survey, it was found that if an individual had completed 3 long runs of  18 miles or more (for example two 18 mile runs and one 20 mile run) the chances of completing the marathon were well over 90 percent.

Good questions are: 1) how to get to those long distances and 2) how long should your longest run be. The reason we ask these questions are to both be successful in completing the marathon and to limit injuries and enhance recovery.

I like what I call a “two steps forward, one step back” approach. I recommend this as a guide to the long run, up to about 17 or 18 miles. What this means is that you move up gently in your long distance running mileage for two weeks, than have a considerably easier and shorter long run. Once you have reached a long run of about 18 miles, you take two easier weeks to allow your body a good recovery.  And the long run only has to top out at about 20 miles for a successful completion of the marathon. Two to three other days of running and one to two days of cross training would work well with this approach to the long run. There are some programs that advocate an approach like this, while a good many just keep moving up the mileage. For beginners, I favor this gentle approach with recovery that is built into the schedule.

Weeks until Marathon : Long Run Distance

19: 8

18: 9

17: 10

16: 6

15: 12

14: 13

13: 8

12: 15

11: 16

10: 10

9: 18

8: 10

7: 12

6: 18

5: 10

4: 12

3: 20

2: 12

1:  8

Marathon: 26