Peace, out...SWOT!

aka,

LIFE!

And so do you.

Yesterday I got my 1,567th "they say" challenge to the influenza vaccine. I did not handle it well and had to apologize to my students for ranting at them. My students were not the perpetrators--they were simply trying to find ways of countering their irrational beliefs. Unfortunately this is more difficult than it sounds.

I am saddened and frustrated by the increasing scientific illiteracy of our people, which seems almost willful. It has already had serious consequences--antibiotic resistance, climate change, irrational use of drugs--and will have many more.

The vaccine issue is one of the most tragic. People are literally dying unnecessarily because irresponsible idiots are spreading lies about them, and about other biological issues. This is the same group that influenced the former president of South Africa to deny the causative role of HIV in AIDS, directly leading to the death of hundreds of thousands. I believe the people in this gang should be charged with crimes against humanity--murder included.

As Michael Shermer (of Skeptic magazine and the recent book, The Believing Brain) has concluded, people believe weird and unscientific things because they WANT to, and are singularly resistant to facts. Like liars anywhere whose lies harm people, they should be held accountable.

In the meantime, we all need to do what we can to promote scientific literacy, preferably without ranting.  :-)

Reality

I am a monist as well as a theist. I do not believe that these positions are in conflict. In fact, I think it takes believing in a rather weak god to embrace dualism, because such indicates this god is not powerful or creative enough to make a complete being, and is essentially another pitiful attempt by humans to put themselves at the center of creation.

We now know that the brain is far more complex and plastic than ever imagined. It has more than enough "room" for the mind, the body, the brain, and a whole lot more. Invoking magic simply isn't necessary. It's a cop-out, intellectually dishonest, and, in my view, even blasphemous.

In addition, reliance on the "supernatural" also indicates that the god of the dualist isn't big enough to handle a reality that includes an infinite universe that is by definition unknowable by the finite. To that kind of god I say, "No,thanks."

Descartes before Dehorse

Rene Descartes wrote the cliche of cliches, "I think, therefore I am." He also made this rather unscientific observation about vacuums.---->

("Nature" has no emotions....)

He is credited--wrongly--with starting the so-called "Scientific Revolution" of the 17th century, which was not called such until Victorian times. Victorians were nothing if not historical revisionists.

But Descartes set the cause of real science back by centuries by promoting the concept of the mind-body duality, in which the mind is somehow "more than" the brain. We now know that the brain is more than complex enough to contain the mind, thank you, but this irrational belief has led to real harm being done to the cause of scientific, especially biological, literacy. What it means in fact is that people seem to believe that the mind is elsewhere and sends magic vibes through the ether to the body, the two never actually touching.  Absurd!

I was reminded of this ridiculousness this morning as I listened to a radio story about Alzheimer's disease, and the fact that the deterioration of the brain is accompanied--as it is in all other brain diseases--by deterioration of other organs systems. Diseases of the other organ systems, by the way, directly affect brain--and therefore MIND--functions.Trying to get my students to accept that the mind is not located on Venus or Jupiter is one of the most difficult tasks I have to deal with in teaching physiology.

All you have to do is think about it clearly and you can see what nonsense the mind/body duality business is, and how Descartes was simply trying to sound erudite and thoughtful, ending up truly ignorant. We are more than the sum of our parts, yes--but it is all contained within the boundaries of ourselves. It all is fearfully and wonderfully--but not irrationally--made. To think it is irrational discredits the Creator.

Nature abhors ignorance and willful stupidity, too.

Now, THIS is a real crisis!

This problem has been growing for decades. Colleges crank out graduates with degrees in "international relations" and French literature while the medical quacks (like Oz) and pseudoscience hucksters (like the foodies) rule public opinion with lies and false promises on the Internet.

It has now reached the point where most of our leaders--including the chairs of the so-called "science" committees in Congress and most of the administration--are scientific illiterates. Almost all of them are lawyers and even the few doctors (like the senator from Oklahoma) are not scientists but political axe-grinders, subjecting objectivity to ideological litmus testing.

We have never been as dependent on science as we are now. All we can do is to keep crying in the wilderness until maybe, probably late but hopefully not TOO late, educators and real leaders take notice.

Unless they do our civilization is literally doomed. Even now we lag decades behind the rest of the world in real science; the only reason we are not even further in the hole is money--we bribe the brain power from places where it would be invaluable in creating real human progress to come here to create new video games and lousy food items. As in "foreign relations", we behave as bullies and bigots, trampling all before our insatiable greed.

Wake up! Put down the iPhone, the DVDs, the celebrity updates, the horoscopes, the foodie propaganda, and pick up a book!

Obesity: myths, presumptions, and...facts?

The January 31 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine contains the, to date, definitive review of what is known about obesity, not based on wishful thinking, voodoo, Dr. Oz and his fellow food quacks, the Internet, or any other folklore but on, shockingly, DATA.

Among the myths (PROVEN to be false):

small changes in caloric balance can result in large, long term weight loss; physical education classes prevent or reduce obesity; breast feeding (and by implication the HCG DIET, the latest toxic and costly fad based actually on a 500 Kcal intake) is protective against obesity; and sexual activity burns 100-300 Kcal. per episode. (Too bad.)

UNPROVEN (NO DATA) presumptions include: eating breakfast prevents obesity; eating fruits and vegetables ("fat burning foods") will result in weight loss even without calorie restriction; and snacking leads to obesity. (Nice!)

FACTS (DATA) include: environment can overcome genetics; increased exercise improves health regardless of weight; physical activity can lead to long-term weight loss; continuation of weight loss initiatives maintains weight loss (!); set meals and meal substitutes can promote weight loss; some pharmaceutical agents (NOT INCLUDING MAGIC SUPPLEMENTS) can help achieve and maintain weight loss; bariatric surgery can produce long-term weight loss.

To those of us who follow this issue, none of this is surprising. To the shysters making money off of gullible and uneducated consumers, these findings are a conspiracy (against lies, in my view). To the obese and to scientifically-oriented caregivers, they should be helpful.

Eat less, exercise more. I'll take my Nobel, now.

Killer...s

In general I am not a fan of dogs (though we had two fine Springer spaniels when the boys were young) and find the Internet obsession with "adorable" pet videos especially nauseating.

Dogs, however, (and, of course, cats) are smarter than humans in one respect--they do not smoke nor drink (unless some stupid owners rig it so they do). Frankly, eating garbage and excrement and mice is less dangerous than using tobacco and alcohol.

Forget guns, foodie falsies, climate change, politics, vaccination lies, influenza, illicit drugs, and terrorism. The biggest killers of humans are those substances that are used legally and voluntarily--tobacco and alcohol.  

There are huge American industries that depend on the capacity and ability of humans to systematically kill themselves with these noxious poisons. And these industries get even richer when they induce people in developing and poor nations to waste their resources on obtaining these "luxuries". It's disgusting and immoral!

Recent reviews of these medical evils in the New England Journal of Medicine share the data that document that these poisons do even more damage than previously thought.  In addition, the major benefits of quitting smoking and drinking lightly (NOT in "moderation") are outlined.

As a person who cares for others in any capacity--health care worker, friend, family member, co-worker--the best thing any of us can do is nag at people who indulge in these toxins until they quit.

NOTE: There are no such things as "victimless" crimes or self-destructive acts. The people who love and care for the willfully self-destructive suffer--BIG TIME. Just ask them!

When Vitamins Kill

From "The Myth of Antioxidants".

Scientific American, February 2013

"Spiritual" healing

The evidence is clear--the human mind and body compose one organism. The distinction between "mental" and "physical" illness is completely artificial. It is used by bigots and fearmongers to enhance their self-created images of moral superiority.

It has clearly been shown that people can "get better" or "be healed" or even "be cured" through mechanisms that we don't completely understand. 

The infamous (and pejoratively named) "placebo"effect demonstrates that the patient's condition can change based on his or her "expectations", or response to the clinical encounter. Everyone in the healing arts knows that the process of care itself, independent of medicines or radiation or surgery, is powerful--for good or ill.

There is more we do not know about how the brain/mind/body really work in an integrated organism than there is that we do know. Can the mind heal the body? Of course, as the body can heal the mind. This does NOT require, in my view, magic waves from Mars or vibrations from Venus or "whoo-whoo" or interventions by the dead. It is real and has been documented repeatedly.

The meaning of "spirit" is simply "breath". Breathing brings oxygen, the essence of life. I believe that what is called "spiritual healing" is simply healing that is mediated by neurons and oxygen in a way we have yet to quantify or completely understand. It is NOT magic (which historically has been anything nor understood by the observer) nor emanations from inorganic objects.

There is enough power in our "natural" bodies and minds to account for all the reality we experience. Joo-joo juice from Jupiter is not required...more research and a whole lot of humility are.

Little Big Macs?

I would wager that most laypersons think (with foodie and nutrition-quackers reinforcement) that when you eat a Big Mac what is absorbed are a bunch of little Big Macs.

WRONG!! The fact that foodies and pseudo-nutritionists promote this thinking by ignoring actual physiology is their attempt to sell their stuff rather than educate. They are scientifically illiterate!

In fact, the entire process of DIGESTION is only preliminary to the REAL show, which is ABSORPTION. The former takes complex nutrients and breaks them down into their molecular components (amino acids, free fatty acids, and monosaccharides) . THESE are absorbed and then RE-ASSEMBLED by human cells into substances that can be used by the human body.

Complex proteins (hear me, weight lifters!) do NOT go directly from mouth to muscle; they MUST be broken down into amino acids first. These in turn can be used to replenish muscle proteins.

Foods do not "burn fat"--they can only create it! (More on that another time, Oz, you shyster!)

Humans have evolved an effective and efficient process whereby we can be maximally omnivorous. Should we be in the un-envious position of ONLY being able to eat Big Macs (as pandas can only eat bamboo and koalas can only eat eucalyptus) we would be nutritionally even unhappier than we are.

Ingest, digest, and ABSORB!

Muscle power...

...is not just about looking good (??)

If the Mayans knew so much...

...why did they lose their civilization to an environmental

--not supernatural--

disaster?

Maybe we should ask ourselves the same question.

Happy Warmer (and hopefully smarter) New Year!

The secret of life

Gas exchange!

Oxygen (green) out of the blood into the tissues;

Carbon dioxide (blue) OUT of tissues into blood;

INTERNAL RESPIRATION!

Carbon dioxide (purple) out of the blood into the alveoli;

Oxygen (red) into the blood out of the alveoli.

EXTERNAL RESPIRATION!

I'll take my Nobel, now!

You gotta have...OXYGEN!!

If the cell doesn't do it, the body doesn't either.

The cell's mitochondria produce energy through respiration (glycolysis, Kreb's cycle, oxidative phosphorylation), which requires oxygen. It's no coincidence that the "macro-process" of breathing is also called respiration. 

Most people think that the most essential substance for life is water. Not so! Water is actually a "waste" product of respiration.

The most essential substance for life is OXYGEN. Without it cells begin to die in seconds. Glucose is next in importance but it takes much longer for cells to starve than to suffocate. Breathing is job #1!!!

So, be good to your lungs and they'll never let you down. Or out!

Weak in the knees!

One of the many pieces of odd but important evidence that supports evolution, and particularly "non-directed" evolution, is the fact that humans are simply not "designed" to stand upright. 

The knee is barely able to support us, and, as athletes can attest, is easily damaged and even destroyed.Simple aging wears its components down rapidly. Had we been "meant" to walk on two legs the knee and hip would be much bigger, bulkier, and stronger.

Evolutionary biologists suggest that the first "step" in humans branching off from our ancestor common with the apes was, in fact, standing on two legs. This "freed" our brains and hands to develop as they have.

I'd rather have a big brain and exquisitely fine-tuned hands (not to mention speech!) than strong knees. Wouldn't we all? If you can't "do it all", do what counts. Unfortunately that big brain has convinced us that we can do things with our knees we were never "designed" to do. 

There is no free lunch!

Boost your immune system!

Expose it to antigens!

Foodies and quacks talk more about the immune system than they do about anything other than oxidants (about which they know nothing, either). They love to recommend supplements and miracle foods to "rev" the immune system. Pish-tosh!

The fact is that for the vast majority of people--including children--the best way to strengthen the immune system is to expose it to antigens. Early and often.

Data clearly show that exposure to antigens stimulates the immune cells in the best way possible--by making them do their job. Think of it as aerobic exercise! For example, despite widespread folklore to the contrary, the influenza vaccine, which does NOT cause "the flu", makes one healthier by decreasing illness due to ALL respiratory pathogens. That "sick" feeling that a very few people (who manage to spread their experience to millions of gullible listeners) get after vaccination is a GOOD thing--it is a sign that their immune system is in fact doing just fine. And the myth, spread by criminally ignorant non-scientists and frauds, that vaccines cause diseases such as autism is just that--a lie. The person who did the original "research" on this issue (subsequently proven to be fraudulent) believes that HIV doesn't cause AIDS and not only was stripped of his British medical credentials but is being pursued as an international murderer for convincing the then-president of South Africa that his insane ideas were true. Beware the know-nothing who is absolutely sure of his or her "facts"!

SEVERE dietary deficiencies can affect the immune response in a negative fashion--but for these people that is the least of their problems. The theory that if a little is good a lot is better--fashionable among the foodies and quacks--is simply false. It has been DISPROVED many times (a hallmark of REAL science). Zinc, for example, which is a food fad favorite, is a metal that can, like other metals such as lead and mercury, cause severe neurological damage if taken in excess.

So, eat well, don't smoke or drink, take your shots, and get a little dirty from time to time. You'll be healthier for it!

It's still only food!

Eating is not a competitive sport.

Enjoy it in moderation!

Dem dry bones?

They are anything but!

Like all tissues, bones are alive and composed of specialized, very active tissues. In addition, they store calcium, an element critical to growth and homeostasis.

Also, during the course of evolution, the bone marrow, which is where red and white blood cells are formed, migrated here (hence its name) from other locations, notably the spleen. Why? Well, young blood cells are mitotically very active and therefore extremely sensitive to environmental factors. "Tucking them away" in the safest place possible makes sense!

Of course the skeleton provides the basic framework upon which our muscles act and into which our other organs are packed. But it is so much more!

And it ain't dry!!!!

Skinny

There are many human anatomical and physiologic features that are subject to misconceptions and, to put it kindly, folklore (and quackery). Skin surely is at the top of this list.

Skin is an organ system (integumentary), not a "bag". It participates in all general bodily functions and has some special ones as well, including being the primary locus for the reception of the sensations we call touch (of which there are several, by the way). As such it is our major interface with the world.

In addition to the myriad of primary skin diseases (cancer, psoriasis, and various infections being just a few), many (if not most) systemic diseases involve or affect the skin. Diabetes kills nerves, renal failure suppresses healing, cancer and its treatment make it more vulnerable to infection, autoimmune diseases lead to almost countless lesion types--and on and on.

Then there is the cosmetic aspects of skin--color, wrinkles, scars, "blemishes".

The money spent by people in developed nations on this aspect of their skin would probably exceed the GDP of some developing nations.

For the clinician skin can be a window on the patient's health--if he/she knows how to see through it!

Skin--so much more than a sack to keep your organs from getting out!