Versatile Fat Fat. The word sounds simple. Once upon a time, fat biologically was simple. Fat cells supplied living storage energy. Their round, white globular forms sat by silently ready to power cellular function – especially when hard to store glucose was not available. Fats were also employed for innumerable non-power uses – including the […]
Why does exercise work? (2/01/12)
Making Regeneration More Efficient People are exhorted every day – exercise, exercise, exercise. Many patients I see are annoyed. Why should I bother? they ask. How much difference can it make? Next they’re told it will increase their lifespan; lower their blood pressure; decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke; lower the risk of […]
Do dolphins sing like whales as they sleep? (1/30/12)
Interspecies Recording? Many secrets arrive with the night. Recently researchers at Universite de Rennes 1 in France decided to hook up microphones to listen to dolphins. No one seemed to know what sounds they made – especially in sleep. The dolphins made a lot of noise. However, 1% of their vocalizations sounded nothing like their […]
Climate change, flu and you (1/27/11)
Changing Weather, Changing Bugs La Nina oscillates year by year with El Nino throughout the Pacific, changing wind, humidity, and hurricane conditions around the world. Yet the results may affect more than weather – it may also be part of major flu pandemics. The last 4 major flu outbreaks took place during La Nina. Why […]
Noisy, sleepless hospitals (and how to rest in them – 1/25/12)
When You’re Ill You Really Need Rest Rest is as necessary to life as food. Without it the body does not restore and regenerate. Hospitals don’t seem to fully understand that connection. A new study of noise in hospital rooms, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was not good news. The average hospital room […]
