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ONENESS, On truth connecting us all: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7421476B2

Friday, June 17, 2005

How to Beat Proscrastination... in a Minute or Less

How to Beat Proscrastination... in a Minute or Less

Jeff Davidson
Breathing Space Institute

Everyone procrastinates about some things, and most of us have areas in our lives where we don't procrastinate at all. But for millions of us, procrastination is a serious obstacle to performance.

Studies of employees at corporations suggest that employees may engage in actual work for less than five hours a day. The rest of the time is spent preparing to work, but not actually doing it. One study found that about 90% of participants procrastinate on occasion, and about 25% chronically put things off.

It's getting worse. People today are flooded with information -- news, E-mails, instant messaging, Internet databases, etc. The constant flow of information means that more matters compete for attention at any given time. It's easier than ever to put things off until a later date or, in some cases, not do them at all.

What You Are
vs. What You Do

Even though procrastinators tend to have deep-seated traits in common, such as fear of failure or the urge for perfection, the tendency to put things off is mainly due to habits -- and habits can be changed.

As a management consultant, I have spent decades helping individuals, small businesses and corporations manage their time more efficiently. My experience shows that among the hundreds of popular tricks for beating procrastination, there are only a few that really work. Most of these techniques can be put into practice in one minute or less. Among the best...

Set Specific Goals

Many people don't really make a distinction between their priorities and their goals. That's a mistake -- you need both to work efficiently.

Priorities are big-picture intentions. They are things you want to achieve at some point, such as becoming healthier or getting a promotion. Priorities tell you where you want to go, but don't provide a roadmap for getting there.

People who focus only on priorities don't get a lot done because they don't have specific action plans to follow. For that, you need goals.

Goals support priorities. They're specific ways to accomplish what's important to you.

Example: Suppose that your priority is to "be healthy." There's not much you can do to achieve that on any given day. What you can achieve are specific goals that make the priority possible. "I'll get to the gym on Wednesday for a 40-minute workout." This is a good goal because it's both specific and includes a time line for completion.

Another example: Maybe you're stuck in middle management and want to take the next step up the corporate ladder. This is the type of priority that will probably require dozens of individual goals to achieve. You might decide, for example, to take one university management class each semester... make an appointment to tell your boss that you're willing to take extra assignments... or introduce yourself to key players in other departments in the next two days.

AVOID Information Overload

Do you try to collect every available piece of information before making a decision? Since there's always more to know, you may find yourself procrastinating -- and missing opportunities.

Solution: Trust your instincts. This isn't the same as acting on a whim. It means collecting enough information to make an informed decision, while at the same time trusting the knowledge and information that you've accumulated over the years. One study looked at the use of information in making decisions. Two groups at a company were asked to buy a large piece of equipment. Participants in one group were given large amounts of data -- analysis, articles, spec sheets. Those in a second group had to decide with very little data. After the equipment had been bought and installed, both groups reviewed their decisions. Surprisingly, the group that had based its decision more on general knowledge and instinct than on data was as satisfied, if not more so, with its decision.

Don't Wait to be in the Mood

Can you imagine a pilot saying, "I'm not in the mood to land the plane," or a heavyweight contender saying, "I'm not in the mood to fight tonight"? You hear this kind of thing all the time from procrastinators.

The brutal truth: Most successful people produce on schedule, regardless of how they happen to be feeling. The reality of today's competitive world is that there isn't time (or money) to postpone projects until someone happens to feel like doing them.

Helpful: Start projects even when you aren't feeling particularly energized or creative. Force yourself to do something -- anything. Most people find that they get "in the mood" once the work is under way, even when they didn't feel that way initially.

Preview Information

Suppose it's late Friday, and you know you have to tackle a project the following Monday -- and you're dreading it.

Try this: Preview the information beforehand. Flip through files or brochures. Start a rough outline of what you're going to do and some of the issues you need to think about. Glance at a few articles. Then put it all away, and don't look at it again during the weekend.

Previewing material allows the subconscious mind to start preparing... generating ideas... and letting plans take root. When it's time to actually start the project on Monday, you'll already be familiar with the material, which results in less anxiety -- and less need to procrastinate.

TRY the Three-to-Five Method

This approach was pioneered by time management guru Alan Lakein. When you're launching a new project, identify three to five elements that you can complete quickly and easily -- and get an immediate "win."

Suppose you've been putting off a task at home -- say, raking the leaves. Identify three to five "mini-jobs" that have to be done -- getting plastic bags ready... finding the rake... getting your work gloves out of the garage, etc.

Every task has multiple entry points. Don't start with the hardest parts first. Start with something easy. Once you get going, the rest of the project will fall into place more easily.

Helpful: Set short time limits initially. Pick an entry point that will only take, say, four minutes. Short projects are mentally easier to start -- and most people just keep going without watching the clock.

Procrastinate CREATIVely

If you're not ready to launch into a big project, don't just dawdle. Fill the time by completing easier tasks not directly related to the project that will eventually need attention.

Example: Rather than immediately trying to decipher complicated forms at tax time, take care of unpaid bills, file medical insurance forms, answer correspondence, etc. These "warm-up" tasks have to be done -- and doing them initially is like a mental stretching exercise that creates a state of preparedness for the larger, more complicated job to come.

Plot a Course

It's easy to procrastinate when you lack either a clear starting point or a logical set of steps to take. A lack of direction produces much of the anxiety that precedes starting any project.

Helpful: Jot down the main steps that the project requires. (You'll probably add or subtract steps along the way.) Scratch out each step as you're done, so you can track your progress.

Even if you're one of those people who can map things out mentally, writing down individual steps "decongests the brain" and allows you to focus your mental energy on the individual steps, rather than worrying about the entire process. Suddenly, a daunting task looks smaller and easier.


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Bottom Line/Retirement interviewed Jeff Davidson, founder and president, Breathing Space Institute, a time- and efficiency-management consulting firm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (www.breathingspace.com). He is author of The 60 Second Procrastinator (Adams Media) and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Time (Alpha).

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Practice of Medicine'

"Why It's Called the 'Practice of Medicine'

When I was growing up, people drank milk to heal their ulcers, my mother fed me a healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs, and teachers asked me to memorize the nine planets, starting with Mercury and ending with Pluto. All this was based on what we knew as science -- and the facts were the facts. Or were they? As time went on, scientists learned that ulcers were often caused by helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria and that dairy could aggravate digestive disorders. Eggs lost favor because they were a source of cholesterol, and now Pluto is not considered an official planet after all. Today, coming full circle, eggs are back on the menu, considered healthy once again.

So-called "facts" change quickly, as science is replaced by newer science. Though we are encouraged to believe that medicine is an exact science, truth be told all medical knowledge -- for that matter, all scientific knowledge -- is only the experts' best "educated guess" based on what they know today and the scientific data they currently have. As we learn more, new questions arise -- and we discover unanticipated new answers, too. Given how much information is directed at us in the area of medical knowledge and practice, how can a health-conscious consumer make the smartest choices?"

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Clinical Trial: Yoga: Effect on Attention in Aging & Multiple Sclerosis

Interesting, Clinical Trials with Yoga to help with MS..... and where would you think they are doing this, lol... where else:
Dr. Barry S. Oken, Principal Investigator, Oregon Health and Science University Oregon Health Sciences University/Neurology, Portland, Oregon, 97201, United States



Clinical Trial: Yoga: Effect on Attention in Aging & Multiple Sclerosis: " Purpose
Changes in visual attention are common among elders and people with multiple sclerosis. The visual attention changes contribute to difficulty with day to day functioning including falls, driving and even finding one's keys on the kitchen counter as well as contributing to deficits in other cognitive domains. Yoga emphasizes the ability to focus attention and there is some evidence that the practice of yoga may improve one's cognitive abilities. Additionally, yoga practice may improve cognitive function through other non-specific means such as improved mood, decreased stress or declines in oxidative injury. We propose a randomized, controlled 6 month phase II trial of yoga in two separate cohorts: healthy elders and subjects with mild multiple sclerosis. We will determine if yoga intervention produces improvements on a broad attentional battery that especially emphasizes attentional control. To further understand the reported beneficial effect of yoga on its practitioners, we will also determine if there is a positive impact on measures directly related to yoga practice (flexibility and balance) as well as mood, quality of life and oxidative injury markers. The yoga intervention consists of a Hatha yoga class meeting twice per week. The class is taught by experienced yoga teachers who are supervised by a nationally known yoga instructor. There are two control groups. An exercise group will have a structured walking program prescribed by a certified Health and Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. The program will attempt to match the Hatha yoga class for metabolic demand. The second control group will be assigned to a 6 month waiting list. The outcome measures are assessed at baseline and after the 6 month period. The primary outcome measures are alertness (quantitative EEG and self-rated scale), ability to focus attention (Stroop) and ability to shift attention (extradimensional set shifting task). Secondary attention outcome measures include the ability to sustain attention (decrement in reaction time) and ability to divide attention (Useful Field of View). Other secondary outcome measures include flexibility, balance, mood, quality of life, fatigue (in MS cohort) and decreased markers of lipid, protein, and DNA oxidative injury. "

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Common chemical may cause defects in baby boys - Yahoo! News

Common chemical may cause defects in baby boys - Yahoo! News: "Common chemical may cause defects in baby boys By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
Fri May 27, 9:22 AM ET


For the first time, scientists have shown that pregnant mothers exposed to high but common levels of a widely used ingredient in cosmetics, fragrances, plastics and paints can have baby boys with smaller genitals and incomplete testicular descent.

The paper, published Friday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that the more a mother was exposed to the chemicals, called phthalates (THAL-ates), the greater the chance her boy's reproductive development would be harmed. Similar changes have led to decreased semen quality and fertility in rodents.


"We'll follow our children to see what the consequences are," says lead researcher Shanna Swan, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) School of Medicine.


"

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Ion Channels and the Electrical Properties of Membranes

WOW, looks like I found my test case... MS often starts with kids 8-13 years old... Emily and Chris started at about this age... PERFECT!!! lol... wow, so cool, thanks Jared!!

Ion Channels and the Electrical Properties of Membranes: "Myelination Increases the Speed and Efficiency of Action Potential Propagation in Nerve Cells

The axons of many vertebrate neurons are insulated by a myelin sheath, which greatly increases the rate at which an axon can conduct an action potential. The importance of myelination is dramatically demonstrated by the demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis, in which myelin sheaths in some regions of the central nervous system are destroyed; where this happens, the propagation of nerve impulses is greatly slowed, often with devastating neurological consequences.

Myelin is formed by specialized supporting cells called glial cells. Schwann cells myelinate axons in peripheral nerves and oligodendrocytes do so in the central nervous system. These glial cells wrap layer upon layer of their own plasma membrane in a tight spiral around the axon (Figure 11-30), thereby insulating the axonal membrane so that little current can leak across it. The myelin sheath is interrupted at regularly spaced nodes of Ranvier, where almost all the Na+ channels in the axon are concentrated. Because the ensheathed portions of the axonal membrane have excellent cable properties (in other words, they behave electrically much like well-designed underwater telegraph cables), a depolarization of the membrane at one node almost immediately spreads passively to the next node. Thus, an action potential propagates along a myelinated axon by jumping from node to node, a process called saltatory conduction. This type of conduction has two main advantages: action potentials travel faster, and metabolic energy is conserved because the active excitation is confined to the small regio"

Monday, April 18, 2005

New Scientist Breaking News - Happiness helps people stay healthy

Happiness brings all things good into our bodies chemistry...


New Scientist Breaking News - Happiness helps people stay healthy: "researchers at University College London, UK, have linked everyday happiness with healthier levels of important body chemicals, such as the stress hormone cortisol.
�This study showed that whether people are happy or less happy in their everyday lives appears to have important effects on the markers of biological function known to be associated with disease,� says clinical psychologist Jane Wardle, one of the research team. �Perhaps laughter is the best medicine,� she adds.
�This is the best data to date that associates positive emotional feelings with good effects on your health,� says Carol Shively, at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, US. �We usually concentrate on things that are either bad or wrong, rather than good or right.�"

Saturday, April 09, 2005

New Scientist Premium- X chromosome activity different in every woman - News

New Scientist Premium- X chromosome activity different in every woman - News: "Baffling variations between women have emerged from an X chromosome study - some females may get an overdose of X genes
UNEXPECTED and baffling variations between individual women have emerged from a study of the X chromosome.

While men have one X and one Y chromosome, women have two X chromosomes. If all the genes on both X chromosomes were active, women would get an overdose of the proteins these genes code for. To prevent this, every cell in the early female mammalian embryo switches off one of its X chromosomes, which then remains silent in all the descendants of that cell - a process called X inactivation.
However, while some cells switch off the X inherited from the father, others switch off the X chromosome from the mother. So most women are a mixture of two different cell populations, each of which is expressing genes on a different X chromosome"

New Scientist Life's top 10 greatest inventions - Features

New Scientist Life's top 10 greatest inventions - Features: "THE BRAIN
BRAINS are often seen as a crowning achievement of evolution - bestowing the ultimate human traits such as language, intelligence and consciousness. But before all that, the evolution of brains did something just as striking: it lifted life beyond vegetation. Brains provided, for the first time, a way for organisms to deal with environmental change on a timescale shorter than generations.

A nervous system allows two extremely useful things to happen: movement and memory. If you're a plant and your food source disappears, that's just tough. But if you have a nervous system that can control muscles, then you can actually move around and seek out food, sex and shelter.

With brains come senses, to detect whether the world is good or bad, and a memory. Together, these let the animal monitor in real time whether things are getting better or worse. This in turn allows a simple system of prediction and reward. Even animals with really simple brains - insects, slugs or flatworms - can use their experiences to predict what might be the best thing to do or eat next, and have a system of reward that reinforces good choices.

The more complex functions of the human brain - social interaction, decision-making and empathy, for example - seem to have evolved from these basic systems controlling food intake. The sensations that control what we decide to eat became the intuitive decisions we call gut instincts. The most highly developed parts of the human frontal cortex that deal with decisions and social interactions are right next to the parts that control taste and smell and movements of the mouth, tongue and gut. There is a reason we kiss potential mates - it's the most primitive way we know to check something out.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

taoist-arts.com: News: Tai Chi Helps Parkinson's Patients

taoist-arts.com: News: Tai Chi Helps Parkinson's Patients: "Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese form of martial art that is practiced by about 300 million people worldwide, incorporates circular, concentrated movements that are proving helpful for Parkinson's disease patients. In Tai Chi, when one part of the body moves, all parts move, and the exercises improve flexibility, energy and balance.
'The patients get such wonderful benefits from it,' said Lyvonne Carriero, Parkinson's program coordinator at Shands. 'They say after one class they can see a difference in their balance.'
At a recent class, Jones and Saul were joined by their wives, Mae and Elayne, respectively, and about a dozen other participants. Instructor Genera Holladay led the group through a series of postures that were challenging but designed around the limitations of Parkinson's patients. Tai Chi techniques vary by style, and Holladay, who also is a pharmacist and acupuncturist, was using modified medical forms of the Yang style.
'This class differs from most Tai Chi classes,' said Holladay, who learned the ancient art while living in Japan and Korea in the early 1960s. In martial arts, the movements are geared outward for defense and striking. For this class, she emphasizes inner energy instead.
'If we are in a challenged health position, using these same techniques can strengthen the body for health,' Holladay said. 'Instead of letting the energy out, we use it to strengthen the organs, bones and muscles.' "

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

New Scientist Breaking News - TV may turn four-year-olds into bullies

so we know how depression can make us sick... So what about the TV pumping our minds full of crap? How uncivilized do we ahve to get before we will change this???


New Scientist Breaking News - TV may turn four-year-olds into bullies Young children who watch a lot of television are more likely to become bullies, a new study reveals. The authors suggest the increasingly violent nature of children’s cartoons may be to blame.

Previous studies have linked television to aggressive behaviour in older children and adolescents. But a team led by Frederick Zimmerman, an economist at the University of Washington in Seattle, US, has now traced the phenomenon to four-year-olds.

The researchers used existing data from a national US survey to study the amount of television watched by 1266 four-year-olds. Then they compared that amount with follow-up reports - by the children's mothers - on whether the children bullied or were "cruel or mean to others" when they were between six and 11 years old.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Optimism associated with lowered risk of dying from heart disease

Optimism associated with lowered risk of dying from heart disease:
Optimism associated with lowered risk of dying from heart disease
CHICAGO – Patients who described themselves as highly optimistic had lower risks of all-cause death, and lower rates of cardiovascular death than those with high levels of pessimism, according to an article in the November issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to the article, major depression is a known risk factor for cardiovascular death. However, the relationship between optimism and death has not received as much attention.

"'In conclusion, we found that the trait of optimism was an important long-term determinant of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in elderly subjects independent of sociodemographic characteristics and cardiovascular risk factors,' the authors write. 'A predisposition toward optimism seemed to provide a survival benefit in elderly subjects with relatively short life expectancies otherwise.'

'Our results, combined with the finding that hopelessness was associated with an increased incidence or progression of disease, suggest that dispositional optimism affects the progression of cardiovascular disease,' the researchers state. 'Although optimism reduces the risk of cardiovascular death through mechanisms largely unaffected by baseline values of physical activity, obesity, smoking, hypertension, and lipid profile, pessimistic subjects may be more prone to changes across time in risk factors that affect the progression of cardiovascular disease (e.g., the development of smoking habits, obesity, or hypertension) than optimistic subjects. Dispositional optimism may also be associated with better coping strategies that are adhered to throughout life.'

Dispositional Optimism and All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality in a Prospective Cohort of Elderly Dutch Men and Women.Archives of General Psychiatry. 61(11):1126-1135, November 2004. Giltay, Erik J. MD, PhD; Geleijnse, Johanna M. PhD; Zitman, Frans G. MD, PhD; Hoekstra, Tiny PhD; Schouten, Evert G. MD, PhD
"

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Wired News: Neurons Derived From Stem Cells

yes we can dreate all sorts with this, but is it the mix of chemicals and the timing, or the conscious choice that makes it???



Wired News: Neurons Derived From Stem Cells: "The conclusion, reported in the science journal Nature Biotechnology, is important for two reasons. First, stem-cell scientists have struggled to accomplish what researcher Su-Chun Zhang and his colleagues have just accomplished. It took Zhang's team two years of tedious trial-and-error experiments to direct stem cells to turn into motor neurons.
Perhaps more important, Zhang's recipe shows researchers that timing is everything when adding their chemical cocktails to stem-cell stews. Stem cells are vulnerable to successful human manipulation for only the briefest of moments -- and at different intervals depending on the results each researcher craves.

'This shows that you can't dump whatever growth factors you want in there,' Zhang said. 'It's not that simple. It's very specific. You have to have the right cocktail in the right amount at the right time.'


But with Zhang and others showing that the biological clock ticks differently in different animals and in each type of cell, it appears translating animal data to human terms is more about timing than biology.

"That is also somewhat reassuring," said Isacson, who has created dopamine-producing brain cells from stem cells. Parkinson disease patients lose dopamine cells, which help regulate body movement.

Embryonic stem cells are created in the first days after conception and ultimately turn into the 220 or so types of cells that make up the human body. Scientists believe they can someday control what stem cells become and when, using that power to replace damaged and dead cells that cause a wide range of suffering, from diabetes to Parkinson's.

But harnessing that power has proved elusive in all but a few cell types such as heart and two other types of brain cells.

'This is an important contribution because stem cell biology is difficult," Isacson said. "It helps decode the locks.'"

Saturday, January 15, 2005

The Endocrine Regulation of Aging by Insulin-like Signals

Science -- Tatar et al. 299 (5611): 1346: "Pituitary Endocrine Deficiency in Mammals Of the half-dozen genetic models that retard murine aging, four involve deficiency of pituitary endocrine action. The mutations Prop1df (42) and Pit1dw impede pituitary production of growth hormone (GH), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and prolactin; reduce growth rate and adult body size; and increase adult life-span by 40 to 60% (43, 44). Small adults with similar improvement in longevity are also produced by a knockout of growth hormone receptor (GHR-KO) (45). Expressed throughout life, these mutations produce many secondary alterations in endocrine systems. Without GH, the synthesis of circulating IGF-1 is suppressed, as is plasma insulin as a result of enhanced sensitivity in the liver combined with altered pancreatic islet development (46). Thyroid function is reduced in Prop1df and Pit1dw mutants deficient for TSH (45); GHR-KO mice are mildly hypothyroid, presumably as a result of impaired development (47). The challenge is to identify which of these hormones regulate aging and at which stage of life.

In invertebrates, reduced insulin/IGF signaling increases longevity, but it remains unclear whether or how reduction in GH and IGF-1 directly affects aging in rodents (Fig. 1C). In addition to its impact on IGF-1, GH influences somatic metabolism--for instance, by inducing adipocyte lipolysis. IGF-1 itself may affect aging in both beneficial and detrimental ways. In rodents as in humans, levels of GH and IGF-1 decline with adult age. Short-term GH supplementation in aged adults restores some aspects of body composition and cognition (48, 49). Thus, the withdrawal of GH and IGF-1 has been suggested to be a cause of senescence rather than a condition that retards aging. On the other hand, because it stimulates metabolism and cell growth, GH may hasten tissue pathology. Indeed, chronic treatment of GH-deficient dwarf rats with GH increased tumor incidence in response to a carcinogen (50). High IGF-1 titers in young wild-type animals may produce a trade-off between current benefits to reproduction and later costs in senescence (51).

Powerful evidence for the direct role of IGF-1 signaling in the control of mammalian aging was provided by mice mutant for the IFG-1 receptor Igf1r (52): Igf1r+/ females, but not males, live 33% longer than wild-type controls. These mutants exhibit minimal reduction in growth with no alterations in the age of sexual maturation, fertility, metabolism, food intake, or temperature. Life extension is associated with increased tolerance of oxidative stress and reduced phosphorylation of Shc, a gene previously implicated in the control of longevity and stress resistance in mice (53). Mouse longevity is also increased 18% by fat-specific disruption of the insulin receptor gene (54). These mice have normal caloric intake yet retain leanness and glucose tolerance with age. Multiple intriguing changes in adipocytes underlie these effects, including elevated plasma leptin relative to adipose tissue mass, reduced lipolysis, and polarization of adipocytes into populations with altered expression of fatty acid synthase (55). Thus, insulin at adipose tissue may affect aging through impacts on neural-targeted hormones as well as through regulation of intermediary metabolism."

Science, Vol 299, Issue 5611, 1346-1351 , 28 February 2003

Monday, January 10, 2005

Sir2: scrambling for answers: researchers have yet to solidify links for the proposed longevity lynchpin.

The Scientist, Dec 6, 2004 v18 i23 p20(2)
(Research) Maria W. Anderson.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2004 Scientist Inc.

Low-calorie diets extend lifespan in almost every model tested, but scientists can't yet agree on what controls this phenomenon. biologist Leonard Guarente at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, contend that Sir2 is dependent on nicotinamide adenine di-nucleotide (NAD) and that CR activates Sir2 by reducing glucose metabolism, which increases the ratio of NAD to its reduced version, NADH. (2) Others, such as Harvard Medical School pathologist David Sinclair, hold that nicotinamide, not NAD, is the control switch for Sir2, and that the deaminase PncI converts nicotinamide to nicotinic acid, which in turn increases Sir2 activity.

"I think it's a push and a pull system," explains Sinclair. Work by Guarente and Shin-Ichiro Imai, a molecular biologist at Washington University, St. Louis, showed that increases in NAD activate yeast Sirz in vivo, while Sinclair's studies indicated that removing nicotinamide, a Sir2 inhibitor, can pull the reaction forward. "So we've got them pushing and us pulling, and [these mechanisms] probably work in concert with each other," says Sinclair.

In September, a group of researchers from Stan Fields' lab at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, published a paper offering evidence that CR may work through a pathway not involving Sir2. In yeast lacking Sir2, CR did not extend lifespan

Matt Piper, a biologist at University College London, says he sees a role for Sir2 in lifespan extension by CR but notes that an organism's diet influences its physiology in multiple ways that might affect its lifespan. "Because diet is so complex, you have many different signaling pathways in the organism determining many different physiological processes, which result in lifespan extension or shortening," says Piper. "To put it all down to one gene in one pathway is a very big call." He explains that both the insulin-signaling pathway, which responds to sugar, and the TOR-signaling pathway, which is affected by dietary protein, probably play a role in CR-mediated longevity. Having at least two different signaling pathways for lifespan extension in flies and worms, Piper adds, "would suggest that there's probably a number of different feed-ins to get lifespan extension."

References
(1.) L.P. Guarente, "Forestalling the great beyond with the help of SIR2," The Scientist, 18:34-5, April 26, 2004.
(2.) S.J. Lin et al., "Calorie restriction extends yeast life span by lowering the level of NADH," Genes Dev, 18:12-6, 2004.
(3.) R.M. Anderson et al., "Nicotinamide and PNCl govern lifespan extension by calorie restriction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae," Nature, 423:181-5,2003.
(4.) M. Kaeberlein et al., "Sir2-independent life span extension by calorie restriction in yeast," PLoS Biology, 2:1381-87, September 2004.
(5.) H. Tissenbaum, L. Guarente, "Increased dosage of a sir-2 gene extends lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans," Nature, 410:227-30, 200l.
(6.) K. Houthoofd et al., "Life extension via dietary restriction is independent of the Ins/IGF-1 signaling pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans," Exp Gemntol, 38:947-54, 2003.
(7.) B. Lakowski, S. Hekimi, "The genetics of caloric restriction in Caenorhabditis elegans," Proc Nat/Acad Sci, 95:13091-6, 1998.
(8.) B. Rogina, S.L. Helfand, "Sir2 mediates longevity in the fly through a pathway related to calorie restriction," Proc Natl Acad Sci, 101:15998-16003, Nov. 9, 2004.
(9.) D. Secko, "'Longevity' gene, diet linked," The Scientist Daily News, June 18, 2004, available online at www.biomedcentral.com/news/2005540618/01.
Maria W. Anderson (manderson@the-scientist.com)

Sunday, January 09, 2005

The Human Energy Field in Relation to Science, Consciousness, and Health

5000 years ago, ancient spiritual tradition of India spoke of a universal energy called prana. This universal energy is the source of all life. The breath of life moves through all forms to give them life. Yogis work with this energy with breathing techniques, meditation, and physical exercise to produce altered states of consciousness and longevity.

3,000 years ago, the ancient Qigong masters in China were practicing their meditative discipline to balance and invigorate the human energy field. They called this vital energy that pervades all forms, both animate and inanimate, Qi The Qi is the vital energy of the body; while gong means the skill of moving this Qi and working with it. Practitioners use mind control to move and control the Qi to not only improve health and longevity, but also to enhance awareness, psychic powers, and spiritual development.

The ancient Qigong masters also developed Tai Chi, Kung Fu, and the martial arts. In addition, they made the first model for acupuncture. Acupuncturists insert needles, or use moxa, or put magnets at specific acupuncture points to balance the yin and yang of the human energy field. When the Qi is balanced, the entity has good health. When the Qi is unbalanced, the entity has poor or impaired health.

The Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical teachings written about 538 B.C., calls these energies the astral light. Later on, Christian paintings and sculptures show a halo around the head of Christ and other spiritual leaders. Similarly, we see this halo on statues and paintings of Buddha, and also see energy or light coming from the fingers of many of the gods of India. In fact, there are references made to the phenomenon of the human energy field (HEF) or the aura of the body, in 97 different cultures, according to John White in his book "Future Science."

The history of medicine similarly reflects a fascination with the observation of the HEF and its study. Back in 500 B.C., the Pythagoreans believed that there is a universal energy pervading all of nature. They taught that its light could effect cures in sick patients.

In the 1100's, Liebault said that humans have an energy that can react on someone else's energy, either at a distance or close by. According to Liebault, a person can have either an unhealthy or a healthy effect on someone else -- just by being present. The HEF of one person may be harmonious, or it maye be discordant with another. The HEF of one person may be nurturing, or it may be draining to the HEF of another.

In the 1800's, Mesmer, the father of modern hypnotism, suggested that a field similar to an electromagnetic field might exist around the human body. Mesmer suggested that the power of this electromagnetic field, which he believed behaved as a fluid, might also be able to exert influence on the field of another.

In the mid-1800's, Count Von Reichenbach spent 30 years experimenting with the human energy field, whcih he called the odic field. He found that this field showed many properties which were similar to the electromagnetic field described by James Clark Maxwell in the early 1880's.

However, Von Reichenbach also showed that with the odic force, like poles attract. In other words, like attracts like. In his work, "Physico-physiological Researches on the Dynamics of Magnetism, Electricity, Heat, Light, Crystallization, and Chemism, In Their Relation to Vital Force", printed in New York in 1851, Von Reichenbach showed that electropositive elements gave his subjects feelings of warmth, and that this produced unpleasant feelings. In the reverse, electronegative elements produced cool and agreeable feelings.

He also found that the odic field could be conducted through a wire. It traveled slowly at 13 feet per second. This speed depended on the density of the wire rather than its conductivity. He showed that part of this odic field could be focused like a light through a lens, while another part of this odic field would flow around the lens, like a candle flame flows around something placed in its path. Air currents would also move this part of the odic field. This suggests a composition similar to a gas. Von Reichenbach's experiments suggest the odic or auric field is energetic, like a light wave, and also particulate, like a fluid. Also, he showed the right side of the body as being a positive pole, and the left as negative. This agrees with the ancient Chinese principles of yin and yang.

Copyright 1996, All Rights Reserved, Gloria Alvino, HeartGlo@aol.com

About The Author: Gloria Alvino, R.Ph., B.S. in Pharmacy, M.S. in Health & Human Sciences, is founder & president of Heart to Heart Associates, Inc. a charitable, educational, non-profit organization. HTHA is dedicated through education and the advocacy of research to help individuals improve their health and quality of life.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Meditation Gives Brain a Charge, Study Finds

Yes of course they are finding out how much people affect themselves, now we are almost ready to see how we can change our entire bodies... CONSCIOUSLY!!!
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Brain research is beginning to produce concrete evidence for something that Buddhist practitioners of meditation have maintained for centuries: Mental discipline and meditative practice can change the workings of the brain and allow people to achieve different levels of awareness

"Their mental practice is having an effect on the brain in the same way golf or tennis practice will enhance performance." It demonstrates, he said, that the brain is capable of being trained and physically modified in ways few people can imagine.

Davidson says his newest results from the meditation study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in November, take the concept of neuroplasticity a step further by showing that mental training through meditation (and presumably other disciplines) can itself change the inner workings and circuitry of the brain.
The new findings are the result of a long, if unlikely, collaboration between Davidson and Tibet's Dalai Lama, the world's best-known practitioner of Buddhism. The Dalai Lama first invited Davidson to his home in Dharamsala, India, in 1992 after learning about Davidson's innovative research into the neuroscience of emotions. The Tibetans have a centuries-old tradition of intensive meditation and, from the start, the Dalai Lama was interested in having Davidson scientifically explore the workings of his monks' meditating minds. Three years ago, the Dalai Lama spent two days visiting Davidson's lab.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Depression as a Risk Factor for Mortality in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease

Consciouness affects the complete human system

Depression as a Risk Factor for Mortality in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease: A Meta-analysis -- Barth et al. 66 (6): 802 -- Psychosomatic Medicine: "Depressive symptoms increase the risk of mortality in CHD patients. The risk of depressed patients dying in the 2 years after the initial assessment is two times higher than that of nondepressed patients (OR, 2.24; 1.37 3.60). This negative prognostic effect also remains in the long-term (OR, 1.78; 1.12 2.83) and after adjustment for other risk factors (HR [adj], 1.76; 1.27 2.43). The unfavorable impact of depressive disorders was reported for the most part in the form of crude odds ratios. Within the first 6 months, depressive disorders were found to have no significant effect on mortality (OR, 2.07; CI, 0.82 5.26). However, after 2 years, the risk is more than two times higher for CHD patients with clinical depression (OR, 2.61; 1.53 4.47). Only three studies reported adjusted hazard ratios for clinical depression and supported the results of the bivariate models. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms and clinical depression have an unfavorable impact on mortality in CHD patients. The results are limited by heterogeneity of the results in the primary studies. There is no clear evidence whether self-report or clinical interview is the more precise predictor. Nevertheless, depression has to be considered a relevant risk factor in patients with CHD. "

Sunday, December 12, 2004

A vision for the future of genomics research

Of particular interest, if all the mammalian genome is considerably similar from one animal to another then the detailed mouse genome can be used to define any sequence we seeek to change. If I choose to change a particular sequence, then this mouse map will help me find where the changes should ocurr. This should prove to be fun!


The practical consequences of the emergence of this new field are widely apparent. Identification of the genes responsible for human mendelian diseases, once a herculean task requiring large research teams, many years of hard work, and an uncertain outcome, can now be routinely accomplished in a few weeks by a single graduate student with access to DNA samples and associated phenotypes, an Internet connection to the public genome databases, a thermal cycler and a DNA-sequencing machine. With the recent publication of a draft sequence of the mouse genome11, identification of the mutations underlying a vast number of interesting mouse phenotypes has similarly been greatly simplified. Comparison of the human and mouse sequences shows that the proportion of the mammalian genome under evolutionary selection is more than twice that previously assumed.


When scientists compared the human and mouse genomes, they discovered that more than 90 percent of the mouse genome could be lined up with a region on the human genome.
genome.gov2002 Release The Mouse Genome And The Measure of Man: "Such research will have profound long-term consequences for medicine. It will help elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms of disease. This in turn will allow researchers to design better drugs and therapies for many illnesses.
'The mouse genome is a great resource for basic and applied medical research, meaning that much of what was done in a lab can now be done through the Web. Researchers can access this information through www.ensembl.org, where all the information is provided with no restriction,' says Ewan Birney, Ph.D., Ensembl coordinator at the European Bioinformatics Institute."

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Wired News: Dems, GOP: Who's Got the Brains?

Wired News: Dems, GOP: Who's Got the Brains?: "Last month, Drs. Joshua Freedman and Marco Iacoboni of the University of California at Los Angeles finished scanning the brains of 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Each viewed images of President Bush, John Kerry and Ralph Nader.
When viewing their favorite candidate, all showed increased activity in the region implicated in empathy. And when viewing the opposition, all had increased blood flow in the region where humans consciously assert control over emotions � suggesting the volunteers were actively attempting to dislike the opposition.
Nonetheless, some differences appeared between the brain activity of Democrats and Republicans. Take empathy: One Democrat's brain lit up at an image of Kerry 'with a profound sense of connection, like a beautiful sunset,' Freedman said. Brain activity in a Republican shown an image of Bush was 'more interpersonal, such as if you smiled at someone and they smiled back.'"

Wired News: Clear Pictures of How We Think

YES OF COURSE EVERTYHING WE DO AND THINK REQUIRES DIFFERENTUSES OF OUR BRAIN AND BLOOD!!!
Wired News: Clear Pictures of How We Think: "functional magnetic-resonance imaging, or fMRI.
This technique allows the measurement of the level of oxygen in the blood, and tells scientists which parts of the brain are most active. It can show, for example, the parts of the brain that operate when we fall in love and when we have food cravings. It has even recently revealed the differences in the brains of Democrats and Republicans.
But the technique also holds out the promise of answering deep questions about our most cherished human characteristics. For example, do we have an inbuilt moral sense, or do we learn what is right and wrong as we grow up? And which is stronger: emotions or logic?
Before fMRI, information about the parts of the brain involved in different tasks could only be gathered by studying people who had suffered brain damage from trauma or stroke, and seeing how their brain function changed. Now, the brains of healthy people can be scanned as they are given different tasks.
'fMRI has provided striking evidence in favor of some theories and against others,' said Joshua Greene, of Princeton University's Department of Psychology. 'But I don't think the real payoff has hit yet. That will come when we have successful computational theories of complex decision-making, ones that describe decision-making at the level of neural circuits.'
Greene, together with Jonathan Cohen, professor of psychology at Princeton, is using fMRI to look at the factors that influence moral judgment. "