The Riddle Of Muscle Fatigue

So the day may come when there is an antifatigue drug.

That idea, “is sort of amazing,” said Dr. Steven Liggett, a heart-failure researcher at the University of Maryland. Yet, Dr. Liggett said, for athletes “we have to ask whether it would be prudent to be circumventing this mechanism.”

“Maybe this is a protective mechanism,” he said. “Maybe fatigue is saying that you are getting ready to go into a danger zone. So it is cutting you off. If you could will yourself to run as fast and as long as you could, some people would run until they keeled over and died.”

clipped from www.nytimes.com One of the great unanswered questions in physiology is why muscles get tired. The experience is universal, common to creatures that have muscles, but the answer has been elusive until now. Scientists at Columbia say they have not only come up with an answer, but have also devised, for mice, an experimental drug that can revive the animals and let them keep running long after they would normally flop down in exhaustion. For decades, muscle fatigue had been largely ignored or misunderstood. Leading physiology textbooks did not even try to offer a mechanism, said Dr. Andrew Marks, principal investigator of the new study. A popular theory, that muscles become tired because they release lactic acid, was discredited not long ago. What did make muscles tired?

New hope for Diabetes 1 treatment

This is a good thing. It's nice to have some positive news.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk Six centres are receiving nearly £10m of government funding to offer transplants of insulin-producing cells People with type 1 diabetes do not produce enough insulin The procedure involves obtaining cells - known as islet cells - from the pancreas of a dead donor and injecting them into the patient's live Once there, the cells get to work producing insulin. 12 patients have undergone the therapy patients need to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives and it is likely re-transplants will be likely in the future Extreme cases will mean in time the 2,000 patients at risk of hypoglycaemia will be able to get the treatment if needed The only alternative at the moment is to have a complete pancreatic transplant, but that is only ever done in the most extreme cases The decision to fund this programme will be life-changing for some people

very useful, lots more on this website

clipped from www.wikihow.com How to Deal With Anxiety get a pen and paper and write down everything that you like about yourself. thinking positively about yourself Ditch the caffeine! Caffeine, chocolate and sugar are proven to increase your level of anxiety. It can also make you fidgety and decrease your ability to get to sleep. Sleeping is proven to help decrease stress and anxiety. Try yoga or Tai Chi! It increases your physical well being as well as mental, and relaxes you. Meditate! Many cultures see meditation as a key for their health. If you need to vent ask your spouse, friend, or therapist for advice and tell them how you feel. Sometimes just putting your feelings into words can take a lot of stress away write it down on paper, read it you can learn about yourself this way. something for yourself,whatever makes you happy Stop worrying, start thinking about you you are the only one who can manage your stress and anxiety exercising you increase your heart rate reducing blood pressure positive attitude

Sexercising keeps you fit and healthy

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk The NHS has some new advice for people struggling to schedule a fitness routine into their daily lives - a workout between the sheets. According to the NHS Direct website, "sexercise" can lower the risk of heart attacks and helps people live longer. Endorphins released during orgasm stimulate immune system cells, which also helps target illnesses like cancer, as well as wrinkles, it states. "Forget about jogging round the block or struggling with sit-ups. "Sex uses every muscle group, gets the heart and lungs working hard, and burns about 300 calories an hour." The advice suggests "regular romps this winter" could lead to a better body and a younger look. Increased production of endorphins "will make your hair shine and your skin smooth," it adds. "If you're worried about wrinkles - orgasms even help prevent frown lines from deepening." keep mild illnesses like colds and aches and pains at bay feeling fabulous inside and out

sweet? low? maybe not...

clipped from www.gulfnews.com Using an artificial, no-calorie sweetener rather than sugar may make it tougher, not easier, to lose weight, US researchers said Scientists at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, studied rats that were fed food with the artificial sweetener saccharin and rats fed food with glucose, a natural sugar In comparison to rats given yogurt sweetened with glucose, those that ate yoghurt sweetened with saccharin went on to consume more calories and put on more weight and body fat The researchers said sweet foods may prompt the body to get ready to take in a lot of calories, but when sweetness in the form of artificial sweeteners is not followed by a large amount of calories, the body gets confused, which may lead to eating more or expending less energy than normal Such an outcome may seem counterintuitive, if not an anathema, to human clinical researchers and health care practitioners who have long recommended the use of low- and no-calorie sweeteners as a means of weight control

Science of orgasm

The intensity builds to a crescendo, and just like a long-awaited sneeze, tension is released in an explosive rush. The heart rate doubles. In women, the uterus contracts rhythmically; in men, sperm-carrying semen is propelled out of the body.

And somehow, by mechanisms not yet understood, the brain perceives all this activity as a darn good feeling.

clipped from www.latimes.com AS they seek to document and demystify one of life's great thrills, scientists have run across some real head-scratchers. How, for example, can they explain the fact that some men and women who are paralyzed and numb below the waist are able to have orgasms? How to explain the "orgasmic auras" that can descend at the onset of epileptic seizures -- sensations so pleasurable they prompt some patients to refuse antiseizure medication? And how on Earth to explain the case of the amputee who felt his orgasms centered in that missing foot? In an orgasm orchestra, the genitalia may be the instruments, but the central nervous system is the conductor. Orgasms are difficult to define, let alone reverse-engineer.

Exercise As Controlling Anti-Aging Factor

clipped from www.nytimes.com Staying a Step Ahead of Ageing Dr. Wright, a 40-year-old runner, decided to study people who kept training as they got older or began competing in middle age. She wanted to know what happens to them and at what age does performance start to decline. Their results are surprising, even to many of the researchers themselves. The investigators find that while you will slow down as you age, you may be able to stave off more of the deterioration than you thought. Researchers also report that people can start later in life — one man took up running at 62 and ran his first marathon, a year later, in 3 hours 25 minutes. Researchers say that you should be able to maintain your muscles as you age, including the muscle enzymes needed for good athletic performance, and you should be able to maintain your ability to exercise for long periods near your so-called lactic threshold, meaning you are near maximum effort.