1850 - BMI

Just as there is a TV story about companies starting to discriminate in hiring based on Body Mass Index, here comes an article saying BMI is a bunch of hooie.

As if the nation's weight problems were not daunting enough, a new study has found that the body mass index, the 180-year-old formula used to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy weight, may be incorrectly classifying about half of women and just over 20% of men as being the picture of health when their body-fat composition suggests they are obese.
...
Simple measures such as waist circumference, hip circumference and waist-to-hip ratios have gained new adherents as criticism of the BMI has mounted. At the University of Alabama, researchers are set to explore whether a computer program can analyze a series of photographs of a patient and, based on known patterns of fat deposition and musculature, recognize dangerous fat better than the BMI alone.
...
Physicians should also consider taking routine measures of patients' leptin levels as a useful indicator of body composition and possibly a predictor of obesity-related disease, he said. Leptin could become as valuable as cholesterol and blood pressure are as harbingers of disease risk, he said.

WHOLE ARTICLE in the LA TIMES.


And then there's the CHART of women overweight by state.

 

1848 - Poison Sugar

Sugar is toxic...

Fructose AND sugar are bad....

Ethonol problems vs sugar problems...

Exercise and eating less will not help you lose weight...

The lecture...



The end...

Also, here's a link to an MSNBC article that has a link to the 60 minutes piece.

 

1820 - Burzynski

I ran across an interesting movie/ documentary/ infomercial on Netflix. The name? Burzynski The Movie.

As it turns out Dr. Burzynski has been in the news since the 70's. But if you haven't been following the FDA lawsuits really closely you could have missed him. It seems Dr. Burzynski has found a better partial cure for cancer than radiation. And the whole US government has been fighting him for years.

I watched this on Netflix but it is available on other media. Just not for free. Go to the movie site to check out if you have something that will let you watch. It's a long movie. About an hour and 45 minutes. But it lets you see how the US has your best interests at heart. BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH I crack myself up. If you want to see how the FDA screws somebody over big time, watch the movie.

Here's the wikipedia of the process of antineoplaston. The wiki article is on the FDA's side. If you watch the movie you'll be on the Doctors side.

1759 - 1/2 hour

My daughter sent me this video on the importance of exercise. What's different about this one is that it presents a balanced view with some studies to back up the balance. It's 9 minutes and in an interesting format. Watch it or die.



 

1756 - Allergies

Here's a video on allergies. More specifically peanut allergies and what's being done to try and fix the problem. This video is from an article about an 7 year old girl dieing at school.

1745 - Sugar

Well it's right in the middle of the holidays so it's time to learn about sugar. This article is one of the more explanitory articles I've seen. It actually says 'why' high fructose corn syrup is not good for you. Notice I didn't say bad, just not good.

Here are some of the talking points of the article...

What Sugar Actually Does to Your Brain and Body
The Different Types of Sugar
Sucrose and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
Processed vs. Unprocessed Foods
Healthier Sugar Consumption
Eat Fiber with Your Sugar
Avoid Processed Foods with High Amounts of Sugar
Keep Sugar Products Out of the House
Don't Cut It Out Entirely
Get Moving

This makes the article seem really long but it's not. About a paragraph or two for each heading. Go read it. Print it out. Tell me how it works. I might try it. Maybe.

 

1739 - Brain eating amoebas

Well the brain eating amoebas are back in the news. I'm sure I did a post on this before. I wouldn't let something like this go unnoticed. Somebody in Louisiana died from using a Nettie pot to irrigate their nose with tap water. That's a little close to Missouri so I thought I would check the net to see if anything is going on in Missouri. Of course there is! Amoeba Found In Warm Lakes, Rivers During Summer (link dead)

Well at least this is in South Central Missouri. Like near Springfield and Harrison Arkansas. So I don't have much to worry about.

The story (dead link) made it sound not near as bad as some reports. Just don't swim in warm stagnant water.

Here's a picture from wikipedia on the life cycle of Naegleria fowleri. Naegleria Fowleri... that sounds nicer than brain eating amoebas doesn't it?

And here's the article on the Louisiana BEA!!!

1717 - Should We All Go Gluten-Free?

Here's an article from the New York Times. It's about celiac disease. Sometimes I think I may have a touch of it. So much so I had my doctor test for it. I can't remember the exact test, but say the numbers were below 5, no problem; 5-15, maybe a problem; above 15, problem for sure. I was a 10. right in the middle of not sure.

So I try to watch the gluten I eat and stay away from wheat products and wheat fiber. It seems to have helped. But like most things, nothing is 100%.

Here's something from the article.

Comparing blood samples from the 1950s to the 1990s, Murray found that young people today are nearly five times as likely to have celiac disease...

So your kids are more likely to have problem than you. The article says as many as 1 in 133 people may have some form of celiac disease. That's a lot.

Also from the article...

Anheuser-Busch introduced Redbridge, a gluten-free beer...

Celiacs aren’t the only ones who are grateful. Athletes, in particular, have taken to the diet. Some claim to have more energy when they cut out gluten...

Anyway, it's an interesting article. Celiac disease is something all parents should be on the lookout for these days. And here's a site that has much more gluten free onfo - http://www.glutenfreely.com/.

 

1690 - Veganism

I thought I made up a word, veganism. No such luck. Anyway, just saying the word vegan makes me want a hamburger. And after the hamburger what's left? Lots of stuff for vegans.

(click it to big it)

(Sure I verified all these product claims.... trust me)

 

1689 - Don't move.... wait! move a little... too much!!

There seems to be a lot of articles floating around right now on how to spot a liar. The title of the article I found is 'How to Read Body Language to Reveal the Underlying Truth in Almost Any Situation'. Almost is the key word. Some people are just to good at lying. If they're really good they go into politics.

So here's a snipet from the article...

We lie a lot. When having a conversation with a stranger, chances are we'll lie in the first ten minutes. Sometimes we'll lie more than once in that same period of time. These may not always be big lies, but we still do it. We all willingly partake in deception from time to time because it helps us avoid conflict, but often we're better off knowing the truth. While words can be deceptive, the human body is a terrible liar. This is where reading body language and using your own effectively, can be extremely useful when communicating with others.

Then it goes into Body Basics..

Positive body language:

Moving or leaning closer to you
Relaxed, uncrossed limbs
Long periods of eye contact
Looking down and away out of shyness
Genuine smiles

Negative body language:

Moving or leaning away from you
Crossed arms or legs
Looking away to the side
Feet pointed away from you, or towards and exit
Rubbing/scratching their nose, eyes, or the back of their neck

Remember all this. There's going to be a test some time in the future.

It then goes on to talk about fake smiles,

stiff upper body and too much eye contact. Then how to read people on a date or do a job interview. How can you pass up this information?!

So go and read the whole article. Then create a cheat sheet for me. This is too much to remember. ....... OH! The ARTICLE!

 

1665 - ADHD

From a health central article -

According to HealthCentral expert Eileen Bailey, getting an accurate ADD/ADHD diagnosis can be difficult at any time, but the fact that the disorder shares symptoms with other health conditions can make it even harder.

Here is a list -

Autism/Aspergers Syndrome
Hearing Impairments
Hypothyroidism
Iron Deficiency Anemia
Lead Toxicity
Mental Retardation/Republicanism
Nutritional Deficiencies/Food Allergies
Seizure Disorders
Sensory Disorders
Sleep Disorders

I might have added something to the list of symptoms. If you want to read all the short snippets that go with each item here's THE ARTICLE.

If I have ALL of these what does that mean?

 

1660 - Light bulb moment

Popular Mechanics. NO, don't go! This is interesting, really. This is about your money. Interested now aren't you? This is an article about light bulbs and what's coming down the road. You think gas prices are high? Lets check light bulb prices.

I'll give you the link to the article at the end. But for now here's the difference between the different types of bulbs. What is interesting is what's called the color temperature of the bulbs. Or how much light they put out at different color frequencies. If one bulb puts out more blue light than red, it will make the overall light look different.


Here's an overall picture of light output of the sun and the various types of bulbs with an explanation below. (click em to big em)

This is a bonus chart that I found.

Now for the different types of bulbs and their specs including color temps.

So here's THE ARTICLE in Popular Mechanics. It has more information including what makes bulbs die. Read this. It's going to affect you for the rest of your life.

Bonus - I also read recently where people that have trouble going to sleep could be affected by blue light. It seems blue light is the signal that the sun is up and you're supposed to be awake. So limiting levels of blue light at night may help you sleep. Pick the right light bulbs. Cut back on TV and computers right before bed.

 

1654 - Belly? What belly? I forgot.

I'm going through my "junk to post' file and trying to clear out stuff or post it. I found one that's not too old.

'Beer belly' linked to Alzheimer's disease


By not too old I mean that it probably hasn't been reversed yet. And if it has it's probably coming back as fact real soon.

I was going to post a picture of a beer belly but decided not to.

 

1648 - Mental health

Here's a not to long article about suicide and genetics and how changes in your genome can affect you. From the article...

The study focused on looking at the rRNA genes of the hippocampus of people who committed suicide. The main reason for studying the hippocampus is that it is one of the key areas of the brain involved in mental health. The rRNA gene was selected because it has been implicated in other psychological disorders.


WHOLE ARTICLE

Mental health will be important to be able to get past November 2012.

 

1637 - Hey! Get out of the way!!!!

This sort of goes along with yesterdays post; make more money by being beautiful. Well you can also make more money by being a jerk. That's right, if your a jerk there's a good chance you make more money than a normal person.

Of course the article saying that doesn't hold true absolutely. But apparently being a jerk helps.

The article gives this advice....

McIntyre says the best strategy to get ahead is to avoid the extremes—you don’t want to be too agreeable or too, ahem, disagreeable.

I would say that statement holds true for life itself.

It then goes on to say....

“I think the story is that ladies finish last,” said Tim Judge, co-author of the study and a business professor at Notre Dame. “Whereas men can benefit their salaries by being disagreeable, that same benefit doesn’t translate to women.”

Sorry ladies. You have to act like..... ladies!

For more reading go TO THE ARTICLE. It's not that long but there are links to other interesting articles that could keep you busy for a few minutes.


9-11, Fly a flag today.
 

1636 - Beaugly

Here's a little diddy from an article in the New York Times.

'.. being attractive also helps you earn more money, find a higher-earning spouse and get better deals on mortgages.'

That's right, only the chosen few get the really good deals. All the normal people get a little screwed. The ugly people get the royal shaft. That's why, according to the article, ugly should be a disability. I'm for that. It's a lot easier to be ugly that it is to be good looking. I could be on government benifits tomorrow. No more showers, clean clothes, haircuts, etc. etc. etc.

(Picture of looks-challenged person removed) (By me, for me)

The money would come rolling in!!! Read THE WHOLE ARTICLE.

********

It's 09/10/11 today. So twice today at 09/10/11 12:13:14 you have a chance to party. ......... WOOOOOOOO There's one down. One to go.

 

1628 - Fingers

I did a post awhile back about the 2:4 digit ratio. How far back? Post 278. Now I've found some videos supporting the theory. You remember the theory don't you? It was only back in 2008. Come on.

OK OK, so if your ring finger is longer than your index finger, you were exposed to more testosterone in the womb. So what? Well watch the video first. Then go back to post ..... OK OK here's the link to the article I used for that post.


Who's going to win the race?

Here's the link to the video that won't let me embed it. (More videos on the youtube sidebar)

 

1621 - Crazy kids

Kids are crazy today, right? Here are some quotes about those crazy kids. The authors of the quotes are at the end.


1 - "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

2 - "What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"

3 - I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on
frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond
words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and
respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise
[disrespectful] and impatient of restraint".




1 - Attributed to Socrates by Plato
2 - Plato
3 - Hesiod, 8th century BC

What got me looking at this was an article in the New York Times about The Kids Are Not All Right.

The article is more about what corporations are doing to kids these days but it all comes back to 'what are we going to do about those kids?'

Here's a link to an in depth analysis of the three quotes.

 

1605 - Strange health tips

Before we go into the new health tips, here's some old health tips that started out the article.

•You can lose weight by paying for groceries with cash; turns out, you're more likely to buy unhealthy foods if you pay with a credit card.
•Taking a vitamin D supplement fortifies your muscles, making them less prone to injury.
•Flirting at work is a hidden sign that your job isn't right for you.
•Google is making us forgetful, because we're less likely to try to remember information that we know is readily accessible.

I'm going to google these to see if they're true. In the mean time here are 9 new health tips.

Live Longer by Changing Your Name
People with "positive" initials—ones that spell out things like J.O.Y. or W.O.W.—live nearly 4-1/2 years longer than people with neutral initials, according to a University of California, San Diego study. D.U.D.'s live nearly three years less. Other initials that may shorten life: I.L.L. and D.E.D. My initials are RMS. Exciting right?! What do they mean? Root Mean Square. I'm a quadratic mean.

Keep Your Mind Sharper by Being a Jerk
Research from the U.S. Administration on Aging suggests there's a marked difference between how younger and older people interpret misplacing their car keys. A young guy usually blames someone else. An old man typically blames himself. Never use your age as an excuse—you'll remain sharper longer. Everybody should remember that I'm going to remember this.

Break a High Fever With Your Armpits
Anything up to 102°F is mild and can be treated by drinking plenty of fluids. But to quickly bring down a reading above that, put an ice pack under your arm or near your groin. Icing either spot will cool your body's core. It's uncomfortable, but it works fast. Then see a doctor.Somebody try that ice on the groin thing and get back to us on how it works.

Prevent Claustrophobia by Smelling This Fruit
If you get nervous in small spaces such as subways, elevators, and that closet of an office they stuck you in, visit your local fruit stand. A sniff of green apple may help relieve claustrophobic sensations, says Dr. Alan Hirsch, M.D., director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. Carry one with you. Also, if you're selling your house, placing a basket of fresh green apples on the table may make potential buyers perceive the house as larger.

Disinfect a Wound with Honey
No Neosporin in the house? Dab the cut with honey before covering it with a bandage. Believe it or not, honey has powerful antibacterial properties. A study in the Archives of Surgery found that honey is capable of destroying almost all strains of the most common wound-infecting bacteria.

Stop Bleeding with This Spice
Next time you nick yourself in the kitchen, reach for the black pepper, says Roberta Lee, M.D., vice chair of the department of integrative medicine at the Beth Israel Medical Center. Run cold water over the wound to clean it, using soap if you were handling meat. Then sprinkle on the pepper and apply pressure. In no time, the bleeding will stop. Turns out, black pepper has analgesic, antibacterial, and antiseptic properties. And don't worry—it won't sting.

See Your Tailor to Cure Back Pain
If you have an aching back, it may be because one of your legs is shorter than the other, says Steven McCaw, Ph.D., a researcher at Illinois State University. Even a slight imbalance can cause the spine to curve to the short side when you walk or run. Eventually, the bend puts painful pressure on disks. Most people can’t tell if their legs are different lengths, but a tailor can. Ask one for a quick measurement. If he finds an imbalance, correct the problem with a therapeutic, Dr. Scholl-type insert or see a podiatrist for a custom-made orthotic.

Massage Away Nicotine Cravings
If you’re a smoker who’s trying to quit, try this simple trick the next time a craving hits: Rub the skin between your index fingers and thumbs and the center of your palms. A study in Preventive Medicine found that men using this technique smoked 25 percent fewer cigarettes in a month than 10 quitters who used traditional distraction methods such as chewing gum. The quick self-massage evidently calms you and keeps your hands busy.

Drink This to Lower Your Cholesterol
The fiber supplement Metamucil can help lower elevated cholesterol levels. In one study, men who took one packet mixed in water before each meal for eight weeks experienced drops in LDL cholesterol averaging 7 percent. Metamucil also helps to lower blood pressure, blood sugar, and the risk of heart disease, according to the National Fiber Council.

I'll google all these and tell you if google knows if these are true or not. Then you can google them to check my googling.

 

1603 - Spark me

I've seen this PBS mini series before but it's rerunning now and I think it deserves a second watch. It's called 'The Human Spark'. Or more to the point, what makes us human as compared to the other animals. It's three 45 minute shows. If you can only watch one I would watch the third show. Two shows? Watch one and three. So here's some links. Hey it's Sunday. What are you going to do today anyway?!

Program One: - Becoming Us

Program Two: So Human, So Chimp

Program Three: Brain Matters

I was going to watch this on Netflix but it's DVD only. WTF! Here it is on the internet and you can't stream it on Netflix!


And then if you want to play a few games you can go to TEST MY BRAIN.


And more then, there is the spinning woman illusion along with a magic eye.