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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Dec 22, 2022 15:39:59 GMT
For the non-Covid health stuff
(can copy over stuff from the main thread too for easier reference)
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Dec 22, 2022 15:44:01 GMT
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Post by moby on Dec 23, 2022 6:54:53 GMT
Swimming is good imo for both physical and mental health..... I've recently started swimming again after a year of avoidance. Over the last three weeks I've been going a lovely local pool and am quickly up to 50 lengths in half an hour and then half an hour in the sauna as a reward. It was hard getting psyched up to go though when we had the cold spell.
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Post by birdseye on Dec 28, 2022 17:38:58 GMT
I dont think there is one simple option unless you are targetting a particular sport. I inherited a gym membership from my son when he moved to London so I have been going weekly ( anywhere from 3 times to once a week) for the last 27 years. In terms of the data from the machines I am clearly less fit than I was 27 years ago but by comparion with my peer group from school, the comparion is very reassuring indeed. Doesnt mean I cant drop dead next week but its definitely less likey.
As for the exercise, I learned early on to do several rather than just one, currently cycle, row,stomach curl, stepper and a gadget for arms name unknown. Then a swim and steam room.
Its not virtuous, I'm not smug about it - to me its just common sense like not eating takeaways and other junk food.
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Jan 2, 2023 22:11:08 GMT
Read recently some questioning of the utility of drinking more water, though today the Telegraph has this:
“People who drink more water appear to live longer and develop fewer chronic diseases, a study suggests.
Using health data gathered from 11,255 adults over 30 years, researchers analysed links between serum sodium levels - which go up when fluid intake goes down - and various indicators of health.
They found adults with serum sodium levels at the higher end of a normal range were more likely to develop chronic conditions and show signs of advanced biological ageing than those with levels in the medium ranges.
Adults with higher levels were also more likely to die younger, the researchers said.
The peer-reviewed findings of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a US medical research agency, were published in the eBioMedicine journal on Monday.”
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Jan 2, 2023 22:17:15 GMT
Swimming is good imo for both physical and mental health..... I've recently started swimming again after a year of avoidance. Over the last three weeks I've been going a lovely local pool and am quickly up to 50 lengths in half an hour and then half an hour in the sauna as a reward. It was hard getting psyched up to go though when we had the cold spell. Yeah, the cold spell hasn’t exactly helped my running either. I did wonder about swimming in public baths wrt Covid: IIRC there was a non-peer revised study that suggested the chlorinated pool water deactivated Covid but then you have the mingling elsewhere. |
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Jan 2, 2023 23:28:29 GMT
On the subject of obesity etc., there was this in the Guardian the other day: “ A new study brings a long-term perspective to a more specific question: how lasting are the effects of young children consuming too much sugar? To find out, the authors examine the impact of the end of postwar sugar rationing in the UK in 1953, which saw sugar consumption double.
The effects are almost unbelievably large, in part because the people consuming more sugar as young children went on doing it for life. Fifty years on, those born after rationing consumed over 22% more sugar than those born during it. We’re talking three Oreos a day.
Unsurprisingly, the health impact was significant: those born after rationing had around 50% higher rates of diabetes and arthritis later in life.
But the impacts go far wider, with those born just after rationing having a materially reduced likelihood of gaining post-secondary education, having a high-skill job or accumulating more than typical wealth.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/01/bad-diets-are-not-just-for-christmas-theyre-for-life |
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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 3, 2023 17:57:21 GMT
On the subject of obesity etc., there was this in the Guardian the other day: “ A new study brings a long-term perspective to a more specific question: how lasting are the effects of young children consuming too much sugar? To find out, the authors examine the impact of the end of postwar sugar rationing in the UK in 1953, which saw sugar consumption double.
The effects are almost unbelievably large, in part because the people consuming more sugar as young children went on doing it for life. Fifty years on, those born after rationing consumed over 22% more sugar than those born during it. We’re talking three Oreos a day.
Unsurprisingly, the health impact was significant: those born after rationing had around 50% higher rates of diabetes and arthritis later in life.
But the impacts go far wider, with those born just after rationing having a materially reduced likelihood of gaining post-secondary education, having a high-skill job or accumulating more than typical wealth.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/01/bad-diets-are-not-just-for-christmas-theyre-for-lifeThe effect of the end of rationing on me (born 1948) was too much sweet-eating and many visits to the dentist in my early teens. It was that which largely cured me of sweet addiction. |
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Mr Poppy
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Post by Mr Poppy on Jan 9, 2023 21:49:57 GMT
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Mr Poppy
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Teaching assistant and now your elected PM
Posts: 3,774
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Post by Mr Poppy on Jan 10, 2023 0:20:49 GMT
It suits RoC people to suggest obesity is simply a personal issue and a result of choice or lack of willpower as it exempts them from doing anything about the nefarious business practices of the food manufacturing and retailing industries, who are making huge profits from selling cheap crud to their customers while getting the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the resultant health effect. It suits LoC people to suggest that as always it is the government's right to interfere with personal choice. The 'middle way' is to accept it is a bit of both - see my previous posts (mostly on the main thread but moving to the Issue Specific thread as the obesity issue is clogging up the main thread). We can+should (IMO) use more 'regulation' (usually considered a LoC/Authoritarian approach) as well as recognising that in most cases it is also and significantly a 'personal choice' (RoC/Libertarian view). A 'carrot and stick (of celery)' approach is required IMO  |
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Mr Poppy
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Post by Mr Poppy on Jan 10, 2023 18:12:04 GMT
Colin: "But I dont think that "price signals" ( which I agree with) help a harassed , poorly educated single mother who works all hours and doesn't have the time or the knowledge to cook . The microwave IS her cooker.
I'm not pretending I have an answer-merely that market price isn't a total solution."Good to find a modicum of agreement. Of course price signals don't provide a total solution. But we aren't talking cordon bleu here, with exotic ingredientes and a panoply of kitchen gear. Rather things like doing porridge and scrambled eggs in the microwave, rather than buying sugary cereal and fat-laden meat pies. Or buying a big £1.50 Lidl box of fruit and veg instead of a chocolate bar for the same money. You don't have to be Raymond Blanc to serve up an apple, orange, or banana; or to make a sandwich with tinned tuna or peanut butter. And if you are tipped in that direction by VAT on sugary cereals but not porridge oats; on meat pies but not tinned tuna; on Nutella but not peanut butter; on white bread but not wholemeal ... all well and good. Of course, any list of good and bad foods will create argument and attacks, and suffer from inconsistencies and anomalies. But the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. And vested interests should not be allowed to obstruct the public interest (as, IIRC, happened with the derailing of the proposed 'traffic light'system of food labelling). Sure. I feel the same way. But I do think that the microwave is more attractive than the cooker when pressed for time and/or lacking in the skills of basic cookery. Moving to the Issue Specific thread. I would add that it is very quick and easy to steam cheap seasonal vegetables in a microwave (and IMO a lot easier to cook rice in a microwave as well as you never burn the pan). Protein components of a balanced meal could indeed be 'tinned tuna' but lots of other options that range a bit in price and simplicity to cook: coach.org.uk/20-cheapest-high-protein-foods/So a very healthy, equally as cheap (possibly cheaper) meal can be easily made in about the same time as a microwave ready meal. I'd support higher taxes on 'bad' food choices (and would include 'beef tax' in that, given the environmental factors) but would also agree that, by itself, that would be unlikely to make a significant change in 'behaviour'. I'd also add that the some of the delays in HMG intervention are due to the current inflation issue - or at least that justification is given as an excuse: www.gov.uk/government/news/government-delays-restrictions-on-multibuy-deals-and-advertising-on-tv-and-online |
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Mr Poppy
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Teaching assistant and now your elected PM
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Post by Mr Poppy on Jan 10, 2023 18:27:58 GMT
Something that is quite 'divisive' is 'fat-shaming'. There is a thin line between 'bullying' and constructive advice and plenty of research that shows 'fat shaming' by itself doesn't, in general, lead to reduced obesity. However, I would lean to the view that Cancer Research UK (and govts) should highlight the risks of bad health choices: Obesity 'causes more cases of some cancers than smoking'www.bbc.com/news/health-48826850We've successfully reduced the % of smokers in UK but that is due to many factors so it is impossible to say 'smoke shaming' and advertising changes (less promotion of cigarettes and increased promotion of the health risks of smoking) are the 'cause' but it is very likely that they've contributed to helping reduce smoking - along with much higher taxes for those who continue to choose to smoke and reduction in places where someone can smoke (which is kind of what we've done by banning junk food in schools back in 2006, although we need to go a lot further than that IMO) |
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Post by birdseye on Feb 1, 2023 21:13:58 GMT
Something that is quite 'divisive' is 'fat-shaming'. There is a thin line between 'bullying' and constructive advice and plenty of research that shows 'fat shaming' by itself doesn't, in general, lead to reduced obesity. However, I would lean to the view that Cancer Research UK (and govts) should highlight the risks of bad health choices: Obesity 'causes more cases of some cancers than smoking'www.bbc.com/news/health-48826850We've successfully reduced the % of smokers in UK but that is due to many factors so it is impossible to say 'smoke shaming' and advertising changes (less promotion of cigarettes and increased promotion of the health risks of smoking) are the 'cause' but it is very likely that they've contributed to helping reduce smoking - along with much higher taxes for those who continue to choose to smoke and reduction in places where someone can smoke (which is kind of what we've done by banning junk food in schools back in 2006, although we need to go a lot further than that IMO) " Obesity 'causes more cases of some cancers than smoking' " is more likely to be picked up by smokers than fatties. When I smoked for 25 years I wanted to give up and finally did so not because of hectoring from the lobbies but because I finally accepted that it was bad for my health. That is a message that gradually became accepted by most people and now I rarely see someone smoking a real fag.
The obesity message will get through in the same way just like other culture changes have done - racism etc. It takes time to change the mindset of millions of people.
Taxes will o0nly make worse the problems of the badly educated single mother who doesnt know how to cook and is subject to pressure from her kids. Messing about with school meals will only encourage kids to bring in their own junk food - no one who has had kids will think it easy to get them to eat something they take against.
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Feb 12, 2023 23:03:41 GMT
Robot surgery can cut into NHS waiting lists, say doctors
Patients recover quicker, with less scarring and are less likely to be readmitted
Adopting robotic surgery could free up thousands of beds across the NHS, figures from pioneering trusts suggest. Surgeons were “crying out for robots”, senior doctors have said.
When compared with traditional open surgery, patients who are operated on by a robot recover more quickly, lose less blood, and suffer less scarring, pain and infection, studies have shown. They are also less likely to be readmitted after surgery.
The machines also reduce the physical strain on surgeons as they operate, potentially extending how long they can work. They sit away from the patient at a special console, which they use to control surgical instruments.
Robots are used across a variety of surgical specialities, with procedures including hysterectomies and bowel cancer tumour removals.
At Milton Keynes hospital use of a surgical robot has freed up 450 bed days, according to figures shared with The Times.
Writing today in The Times Red Box, Richard Hammond, a senior NHS leader in Hertfordshire, said: “Surgeons at my hospital, and all over the country, are crying out for robots.”
He said that they had three robots, but many other hospitals had not taken on the machines and this was leading to inequalities both in “access to the best treatment and care for patients” and in “a hospital’s ability to reduce the surgical backlog brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic”.
At East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, using robotic surgery in gynaecology has on average reduced the length of stay by two days per patient. In urology, post-surgical use of intensive care beds has decreased.
Times
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 20, 2023 17:15:08 GMT
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 25, 2023 11:27:11 GMT
There was an interesting paper presented to the American College of Cardiology on Thursday. Unfortunately it only got reported in the Daily Telegraph, so here it is courtesy of 12ft ladder: 12ft.io/proxy?&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2023%2F02%2F23%2Ftrans-people-taking-hormone-drugs-seven-times-likely-have-strokeThis raises concerns for me about transgender sportspeople, specifically transwomen taking testosterone blockers in order to be able to compete in womens' sporting events. The assumption has been that reducing testosterone level would have no other effect than to put them on a level playing field with those born as women. This paper shows that there could be adverse health effects, making sporting bodies' requirement to take such drugs in order to compete, unethical because there is no medical requirement for them. When we are dealing with taking testosterone blockers for medical reasons, then we assume that those taking them are informed of the side effects by their doctors and are competent to make such a decision. |
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Feb 25, 2023 21:48:45 GMT
Genes protective during the Black Death may now be increasing autoimmune disorders “ Recently, researchers extracted DNA from the bones of people who perished during the time of the Black Death and compared it to those who survived that pandemic. They found some important differences: survivors were more likely to carry genes that helped their immune systems fight off the infection. So, perhaps surviving the Black Death wasn’t so random after all.
But the researchers also noticed some other remarkable things:
Infection-fighting genes increased dramatically in the general population within a few generations. A change of this magnitude across a population in such a short time is nearly unheard of.
People alive today with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus are more likely to carry those same infection-fighting genes than people without autoimmune disease. It appears that the genes that helped some of our ancestors avoid a dangerous infection in the 1300s now may be a risk factor for autoimmune disorders.” www.health.harvard.edu/blog/genes-protective-during-the-black-death-may-now-be-increasing-autoimmune-disorders-202212012859
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 26, 2023 13:13:36 GMT
Genes protective during the Black Death may now be increasing autoimmune disorders “ Recently, researchers extracted DNA from the bones of people who perished during the time of the Black Death and compared it to those who survived that pandemic. They found some important differences: survivors were more likely to carry genes that helped their immune systems fight off the infection. So, perhaps surviving the Black Death wasn’t so random after all.
But the researchers also noticed some other remarkable things:
Infection-fighting genes increased dramatically in the general population within a few generations. A change of this magnitude across a population in such a short time is nearly unheard of.
People alive today with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus are more likely to carry those same infection-fighting genes than people without autoimmune disease. It appears that the genes that helped some of our ancestors avoid a dangerous infection in the 1300s now may be a risk factor for autoimmune disorders.” www.health.harvard.edu/blog/genes-protective-during-the-black-death-may-now-be-increasing-autoimmune-disorders-202212012859 'The survival of the fittest' only applies to who is fittest to survive at any given time in any given place. For example Neanderthals and Denisovians were fittest to survive in Europe and Northern Asia through the Ice Ages. That is why homo sapiens was largely confined to the tropics then. Natural selection knows nothing of the future. That almost all our DNA is non-coding tells us it must serve an important purpose otherwise natural selection would have got rid of it. It may very well be that the rapid rise of the infection-fighting genes during the time of the Black Death came from the non-coding DNA. |
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 28, 2023 10:39:42 GMT
Another one from the Daily Telegraph: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/28/ae-waits-linked-23000-excess-deaths-last-year/A&E waits linked to more than 23,000 excess deaths last year Royal College warns more than 1.6 million patients waited at least 12 hours for emergency treatment in 2022 When using excess deaths as a criterion, and comparing pre-pandemic with pandemic and post-pandemic this factor needs to be considered. When they talk about arrival I don't know if they are referring to the time that the ambulance arrives at A&E or the time that the patient is transferred from the ambulance to the A&E Department. This is theoretically only minutes, but these days we are seeing ambulances stacked outside A&E waiting to unload patients. |
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Post by leftieliberal on Mar 3, 2023 18:44:29 GMT
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Mar 3, 2023 23:45:46 GMT
Genes protective during the Black Death may now be increasing autoimmune disorders “ Recently, researchers extracted DNA from the bones of people who perished during the time of the Black Death and compared it to those who survived that pandemic. They found some important differences: survivors were more likely to carry genes that helped their immune systems fight off the infection. So, perhaps surviving the Black Death wasn’t so random after all.
But the researchers also noticed some other remarkable things:
Infection-fighting genes increased dramatically in the general population within a few generations. A change of this magnitude across a population in such a short time is nearly unheard of.
People alive today with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus are more likely to carry those same infection-fighting genes than people without autoimmune disease. It appears that the genes that helped some of our ancestors avoid a dangerous infection in the 1300s now may be a risk factor for autoimmune disorders.” www.health.harvard.edu/blog/genes-protective-during-the-black-death-may-now-be-increasing-autoimmune-disorders-202212012859 'The survival of the fittest' only applies to who is fittest to survive at any given time in any given place. For example Neanderthals and Denisovians were fittest to survive in Europe and Northern Asia through the Ice Ages. That is why homo sapiens was largely confined to the tropics then. Natural selection knows nothing of the future. That almost all our DNA is non-coding tells us it must serve an important purpose otherwise natural selection would have got rid of it. It may very well be that the rapid rise of the infection-fighting genes during the time of the Black Death came from the non-coding DNA. Yes interesting point. The non-coding sequences can produce a lot of genomic changes and hence be the engine of evolution of new genes etc. |
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Mar 18, 2023 20:22:44 GMT
“Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, have developed a flexible 3D bioprinter that can layer organic material directly onto organs or tissue. Unlike other bioprinting approaches, this system would only be minimally invasive, perhaps helping to avoid major surgeries or the removal of organs. It sounds like the future — at least in theory — but the research team warns it’s still five to seven years away from human testing.
The printer, dubbed F3DB, has a soft robotic arm that can assemble biomaterials with living cells onto damaged internal organs or tissues. Its snake-like flexible body would enter the body through the mouth or anus, with a pilot / surgeon guiding it toward the injured area using hand gestures. In addition, it has jets that can spray water onto the target area, and its printing nozzle can double as an electric scalpel. The team hopes its multifunctional approach could someday be an all-in-one tool (incising, cleaning and printing) for minimally invasive operations.”
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The team believes the device is brimming with potential, but further testing will be necessary to bring it into the real world. The next steps would include studying its use on animals and, eventually, humans; Do believes that’s about five to seven years away. But, according to Ibrahim Ozbolat, professor of engineering science and mechanics at Pennsylvania State University, “commercialization can only be a matter of time.”
www.engadget.com/this-insertable-3d-printer-will-repair-tissue-damage-from-the-inside-185147733.html
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Post by leftieliberal on Mar 24, 2023 12:34:55 GMT
While the Mayor of London is seeking to extend the ULEZ in London, it turns out that 25% of particulate pollution there comes from agriculture. www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/24/uk-farming-causes-over-quarter-cities-particle-pollution-study"UK agriculture created 38% of the particle pollution in Leicester, 32% in Birmingham and 25% in London in 2019, according to the study. In each case the contribution from rural agriculture was greater than all of the sources within the cities themselves." So the main value of the expanded ULEZ will be to reduce NOx. |
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Post by alec on Mar 24, 2023 14:24:50 GMT
leftieliberal - ammonia from agriculture is a real menace. It's also a loss for farmers - if the ammonia and associated chemicals are in the air, their not doing their job in the soil. May be we all need to wear masks in cities....... 
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Post by lens on Mar 28, 2023 11:44:05 GMT
While the Mayor of London is seeking to extend the ULEZ in London, it turns out that 25% of particulate pollution there comes from agriculture. ............ So the main value of the expanded ULEZ will be to reduce NOx. And it's questionable how effective it will be at even this. The centre of London is still worse for pollution than the suburbs which will be affected by the ULEZ expansion. Both current and expanded zones only charge older cars - there are still a large number which are emitting high levels of pollutants - albeit not as much as the older ones. (But there a lot more of them.) If Khan was really serious about NOx and health, charging ALL cars with a combustion engine inside the central zone might have more effect, and be considerably easier to enforce. It's effects would also ripple outwards, a serious incentive for those in the outer zones to go fully zero emission, rather than (say) hybrid. Likewise, the vehicles currently being targeted are a problem that's withering on the vine anyway - older, and likely to be replaced over the next few years anyway. Which begs the question of what Tfl will do next, as such cars naturally decline and revenue goes down. I suspect a lot of people currently thinking "I'm OK, this doesn't affect me" at the moment will get a nasty shock in a while to come. Ideally the measures should be to encourage zero emission cars - I fear Khan's policy will tend more to encourage purchasing of cars which may be compliant (at the moment) but still quite polluting. |
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Mar 29, 2023 16:20:26 GMT
Here’s the article on Statnews comparing GPT with doctors and online symptom ch3ckers, and some relevant quotes www.statnews.com/2023/02/13/chatgpt-assisted-diagnosis/“Our team once tested the performance of 23 symptom checkers using 45 clinical vignettes across a range of clinical severity. The results raised substantial concerns. On average, symptom checkers listed the correct diagnosis within the top three options just 51% of the time and advised seeking care two-thirds of the time. When the same vignettes were given to physicians, they — reassuringly — did much better and were much more likely to list the correct diagnosis within the top three options (84%). Though physicians were better than symptom checkers, consistent with prior research, misdiagnosis was still common.” … “We gave ChatGPT the same 45 vignettes previously tested with symptom checkers and physicians (see the example below; all of the vignettes can be found here.) It listed the correct diagnosis within the top three options in 39 of the 45 vignettes (87%, beating symptom checkers’ 51%) and provided appropriate triage recommendations for 30 vignettes (67%). Its performance in diagnosis already appears to be improving with updates. When we tested the same vignettes with an older version of ChatGPT, its accuracy was 82%.” |
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Post by leftieliberal on Apr 7, 2023 13:03:15 GMT
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Apr 8, 2023 19:07:53 GMT
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Post by leftieliberal on Apr 13, 2023 10:31:30 GMT
An article that is worth reading on why lack of sleep is bad for you: neurosciencenews.com/sleep-brain-gut-22983/HMNews: What tools do you use to study sleep?
Rogulja: Historically, a lot of sleep research has been done on humans, but those experiments tend to be limited and descriptive, because you can’t really do experimentation on humans. However, over the last two and a half decades, scientists have come to realize that fruit flies sleep; and more recently, we figured out that the genes that regulate sleep in flies are conserved in mice.That a gene has been conserved for so long shows how important it is. |
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Apr 13, 2023 20:45:07 GMT
An article that is worth reading on why lack of sleep is bad for you: neurosciencenews.com/sleep-brain-gut-22983/HMNews: What tools do you use to study sleep?
Rogulja: Historically, a lot of sleep research has been done on humans, but those experiments tend to be limited and descriptive, because you can’t really do experimentation on humans. However, over the last two and a half decades, scientists have come to realize that fruit flies sleep; and more recently, we figured out that the genes that regulate sleep in flies are conserved in mice.That a gene has been conserved for so long shows how important it is. Very interesting paper Leftie, thanks for posting. I was aware that the gut affects the production of serotonin, which in turn is a precursor to melatonin which is important in sleep, but in this new paper it seems it also affects the production of dopamine. Good stuff 👍 |
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