Battling For Health

Perspiration isn’t generally considered desirable. It makes clothes wet and uncomfortable, it makes our skin unpleasant to touch and it often smells bad. But the biological fact is that sweating is essential to good health, especially during exercise.

Why?

Humans take in and use water for a number of important physiological functions. It provides a medium for cells and tissues. It makes possible the transport throughout the body of important elements or compounds like sodium and sugar not to mention forming part of the blood that moves them. It provides structural cohesion and lubrication between all parts. But there’s one more highly important function it helps perform: temperature control.

Homeostasis is the body’s ability to keep certain processes and factors in equilibrium, this is not too far from a central point. Body temperature is one key item among those. When body temperature gets too high, we experience fever and ultimately heat stroke. If it’s too low, we get chills. Both are signs that the body is in a less than ideal state.

One major reason is that all chemical reactions within the body have to take place within a very narrow range in terms of rate. Compounds have to be used and produced at just the right quantities within a certain time in order to proceed properly, or at all. Temperature, for very basic physical chemistry reasons, is a key factor in controlling that rate.

So how does sweat play a role in that?

Perspiring does not occur primarily in order to keep the amount of fluid in homeostasis - urination does that, along with breathing (though sweating plays a small part). But it has a huge effect on body temperature. As we exercise, chemical reactions speed up and mechanical motion is taking place. Both those produce more heat energy, which raises the internal temperature.

But the body is constantly seeking homeostasis - an equilibrium within a narrow range around a central point. For humans, that’s 98.6F/37C on average - a small deviation is within normal range. As we sweat, the excess heat energy is moved from inside the body to the outside, along the surface of the skin, carried along with the perspiration.

Outside the body a physical principle is at work - Newton’s Law of Cooling. Inside too, but never mind for now. Ignoring advanced mathematics, it says essentially that warmer bodies lose heat to cooler ones. We get cooler, the air gets a little warmer. Air molecules collide with the sweat molecules and pick up some of the heat energy they contain. That lowers the temperature of the sweat, lowering our temperature in the process (on the outside).

The net effect is to take excess heat on the inside and move it to the outside, somewhat like a home air conditioner or a car radiator. That helps keep the internal temperature at a constant 98.6F/37C.

That process takes place with breathing and just simple exposure. But sweating makes the process much more efficient, since water can carry a lot more heat than air does alone.

So, though it may have its unpleasant aspects, be thankful you perspire. After all, if you lacked sweat glands like your dog does, you’d look very silly panting.

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Looks like a lot more people are going to be adding “Quit Smoking” to their New Year’s Resolution list for 2008.

According to Michael Miner at the Chicago Reader, employees at Chicago’s Tribune Company who smoke or have a family member who smokes will be charged an extra $100 a month unless they sign up for and complete the Free & Clear smoking cessation program.  The new policy, which will be implemented on January 1, serves the dual purpose of encouraging better health and offsetting the high cost of employee health care coverage.

When I signed up for health insurance at the university I used to work at, individuals were offered a discount if they were non-smokers.  While smoking status was self-reported and relied solely on honor, us non-smokers considered it a nice “perk” for staying healthy.  My smoking colleagues, however, didn’t find the discount large enough to motivate them to quit.  Perhaps the high financial cost of smoking will start to clue employees at the Tribune Company into the high health costs as well.

For more resources on how to quit smoking, check out Cancer Commentary’s coverage of the Quit Smoking Counter.

Do you think that the Tribune Company is infringing on smokers’ rights?  Let us know in the comments!

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Anyone who’s ever gone through cancer treatment can tell you that it’s not easy going through The Big Three — surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Below, Battling Cancer discusses the story of two individuals whose own cancer diagnoses inspired them to seek better treatment plans for themselves and others:

Neil Ruzic

A scientific writer and inventor, Neil Ruzic dedicated his life to asking questions and improving the scientific research climate. When he was diagnosed with mantle-cell lymphoma in 1998, he shunned traditional approaches to curative care in search of more nontoxic approaches. For four years, he visited several comprehensive cancer centers, investigated new cures in research laboratories, and enrolled in clinical trials. He compiled his research in a book entitled, Racing to a Cure: A Cancer Victim Refuses Chemotherapy and Finds Tomorrow’s Cures in Today’s Scientific Laboratories. Before he passed away in 2004, he founded the Ruzic Research Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to funding experimental approaches to lymphoma treatment.

John Kanzius

John Kanzius was a retired radio station owner living in Florida when he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2002. While undergoing traditional treatments, he noticed how the physical and emotional demands of such approaches were affecting the spirits of children with cancer. Inspired to make treatment easier for them, he started tinkering in his garage with pie plates and spare radio parts to create an invention that relied on radio waves rather than radiation to treat cancer. Dr. Steven Surley, a researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center, studied Kanzius’ invention and adapted it to work on laboratory animals. A journal article recently published in an October 2007 issue of Cancer chronicles how Kanzius and Surley’s radio wave technology was able to completely ablate tumors in rabbits.

While I certainly don’t want to encourage readers to give up on The Big Three when it comes to cancer treatment, it is inspiring to see how the trials in these two individuals’ lives helped open our eyes to novel avenues of treatment. Between these and emerging complementary therapies, I think today’s cancer patients are given more options than ever before.

Do you think that it’s irresponsible of doctors to encourage their patients to seek alternative therapies? Let us know in the comments!

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Madison is your typical college senior. She belongs to a sorority, has a fiancé and is planning a wedding, as well as studying for midterms that are coming up in three weeks. This does not sound all that unusual for her because she is used to being on the go all of the time.

Madison thought that she could handle everything in her life but she was recently becoming very stressed and she started noticing that her hairbrush was gathering more hair in it than usual. Madison went to her doctor and he told her there was nothing wrong with her and her hair was falling out because of all of the stress that she was under and she needed to take some time out of her busy schedule to relax.

All of the stress was causing her body to produce a chemical that was blocking the proper nutrients that her hair growth cycle needed to produce healthy hair. Madison was not sick, she just needed a break because all of the stress she was under was causing her hair to fall out.

Different Types Of Stress

What is the correlation between stress and hair loss? As you can see stress and hair loss go hand in hand.

There are two different types of hair loss related to stress.

Severe stress such as a major surgery is one of the links between stress and hair loss. The traumatic shock to the system causes the hair to stop growing and reverts to a resting phase. Hair can be at rest for months, but before new hair can grow the resting hair has to fall out and this usually happens a few months after the hair has rested. Once the hair falls out new hair can begin to grow.

Intense stress is another type of stress linked to stress and hair loss. When this type of stress occurs, the hair follicles are attacked by white blood cells that cause the hair to stop growing. After a few weeks the hair will fall out. What makes this type of stress and hair loss different from the others is when the hair begins to fall out, it falls out in patches. This type of stress and hair loss may not only occur on your head, but can happen all over your body. This kind of hair loss can be total and although your hair may grow back, it usually involves some kind of treatment and hair may not grow back at all.

As you can see stress can cause all kinds of havoc on your body and experts suggest that you take some time for yourself, relax and de-stress your body. This will eliminate this completely preventable form of hair loss in men and women.

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It may not be as scandalous as getting naked for charity, but this is definitely a cause that I can get behind.

Mustaches for Kids is a volunteer organization of over a dozen chapters throughout North America that raises money for various children’s charities. Since its inception in 1999, its members have garnered sponsorships to support their facial hair efforts.

From the organization’s website:

Here’s how it works: Each year, during the four-week Growing Season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Growers sprout sweet, sweet Mustaches. Per Mustaches for Kids bylaws, they shave their faces, except for the Mustache, a minimum of one time per week and solicit donations from friends, family, co-workers, and people in the community. Kind of like getting pledges to run a marathon. Without the exertion, cramping, or dehydration. Call it a facial hair marathon.

Who knew that facial hair could do so much good? My hometown chapter, Mustaches for Kids Houston, just finished their run this weekend and will be donating their money to the Texas Children’s Hospital Cancer Center. Can’t wait to see how much their facial plumage raised in donations!

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If you have ever taken your night of drinking just a little too far, you probably know what it feels like to suffer from a hangover. While you may swear off of the bottle forever, it is not the alcohol’s fault – merely your own. But, by following a few simple steps, you can make sure that you are not one of the people needing a hangover cure the next day.

To do this, you need to understand the science behind a hangover, since once you get one there is little that you can do. Most of your pain and suffering can be summed up in one word: dehydration. No matter how much alcohol you drink, it still dehydrates your body, leaving you with a myriad of painful symptoms once your alcoholic buzz wears off. Therefore, the best thing that you can do for yourself is to remain hydrated. Drink water before you go out, while you are out, and when you get home. Drink as much water as you possibly can. If, for some reason or another, you forget this rule of thumb, start drinking water the moment you wake up in the morning. The more you can stay hydrated and the faster that you can re-hydrate yourself, the better you are going to feel.

Another secret weapon in your anti-hangover arsenal is Vitamin C. A water soluble vitamin, it tends to get flushed out of your system during your frequent trips to the restroom. Vitamin C can help fight against acetaldehyde, a by product of alcohol metabolism. Acetaldehyde is responsible for the disorientation, memory loss, fatigue, nausea, and other hangover symptoms you might suffer from. Take some Vitamin C before you leave for the night; take some before going to bed, and some more in the morning when you first wake up. Having a glass of orange juice will not only help give you the Vitamin C that you need, but it will provide potassium and help you to get hydrated again.

So, making sure you get plenty of water and Vitamin C may just be the magic cure you need to keep from getting a hangover. If you have failed to follow your own good advice, they can still be helpful with making your feel better and recovering faster.

Try juicing some ginger root and adding it to your orange juice if you are having a problem with nausea. Or, make your own vegetable juice cocktail (or just buy V8) to get you recharged in the morning. Horseradish added to it is supposed to help kick the hangover as well.
Many over the counter pain killers will help with your hangover problems. In most cases, you are better taking these the morning after, not the night before, since they may have toxic side effects when mixed with alcohol.

Of course, the only way to make absolutely sure that you do not need a hangover cure is to not drink, or drink in moderation. Knowing your own personal limit and how to say no thanks when enough has been enough for you is the best hangover cure of all.

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Sad news for music lovers — Dan Fogelberg, the famed singer and songwriter who penned classics such as “Leader of the Band,” lost his battle with prostate cancer today.  He was 56.

From the AP report:

Fogelberg was found in 2004 to have advanced prostate cancer. In a statement then, he thanked fans for their support: “It is truly overwhelming and humbling to realize how many lives my music has touched so deeply all these years. … I thank you from the very depths of my heart.”

I remember listening to Fogelberg’s songs as a kid with my dad.  I’m sure I’m not the only fan who has been touched by his music.

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An oral syk kinase inhibitor, R788 (tamatinib fosdium) – product of Rigel Pharmaceuticals - has demonstrated statistically significant results in treating Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients in a recently completed Phase 2 clinical trial.

Groups treated with R788 at 100mg and 150mg po bid (orally, twice daily), showed higher ACR20, ACR50, ACR70 and DAS28 response rates than the placebo group.

The efficacy results for the 100mg and the 150mg dose groups were fairly comparable. Dramatically, the onset of the effect in these dose groups occurred as early as one week after initiation of therapy.

We believe that the significant ACR scores and good tolerability observed in this clinical trial, and the further benefit of oral delivery may make R788 a favorable alternative to the currently marketed biological agents.

We all know how bad rheumatoid arthritis is. It is both an inflammatory and an autoimmune disease, affecting more that 2 million people in the U.S. alone, both young and old.

R788 is a novel, orally available syk kinase inhibitor designed to interrupt the cellular signaling at the trigger point of inflammation, thereby stopping the progression of the disease.

According to Elliott Grossbard, M.D., senior vice president of medical development at Rigel:

“This clinical study has shown that R788 treatment can achieve impressive ACR response rates.

In this clinical trial both the 100mg and 150mg doses improved arthritis symptoms and did so quickly.

We plan to initiate the next clinical trial with R788 in RA in 2008.”

Above were the results of a Phase 2 clinical trial. Next step will be Phase 3. After which, the FDA will review the data for approval before the said drug will hit available to be available to doctors and patients.

According to James M. Gower, chairman and chief executive officer of Rigel:

“These very important clinical trial results are a major milestone for Rigel as we establish the potential of R788 in RA and its value as an alternative to current therapies.

In addition, given these results and the recent results in ITP, we believe that R788 may be a useful drug in the treatment of autoimmune diseases.”

Find more details from CNN Money and the Rigel Pharma PR.

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Static and dynamic stretching are two elements in a warm-up routine that help prevent injury and maximize performance. But, consider, why do we warm-up at all? And, are there other aspects to a good warm-up routine?

By performing warm-up routines, you actually do literally just that - warm up the body. Internal body temperature can’t raise by a large amount, or you would have all the symptoms of a fever. Nevertheless, the temperature in the muscles can, and should, be raised slightly in order to dilate blood vessels and loosen muscles.

That dilation leads to greater blood flow, which helps oxygenate muscles and remove the waste products of cellular activity. Warm muscles are looser, more supple and flexible. That reduces stiffness and lowers resistance to larger movements. That helps reduce the risk of injury and prepares the body for high-performance activity.

A good warm-up also raises the heart rate, respiratory capacity and the overall metabolic level. Among other benefits, this helps deliver nutrients to muscles that will be useful for the workout to come. Warm-ups help lubricate joints, too, as well as lowering the risk to stretched tendons and tears.

No matter what kind of sport or workout you favor, having a well-functioning cardiovascular system and supple joints and muscles are essential for peak performance and low risk of injury.

A 10-15 minute warm-up period, including static and dynamic stretching activities, should be a low-intensity version of the routines that will be undertaken when the warm-up is complete.

Focus the non-stretching aspect of your warm-up more on the specific types of movement called for by the sport or activity you plan to engage in. If you plan to jog five miles, take a brisk walk, followed by a few gentle laps of a hundred yards or less. If you plan to play tennis or golf, spend a few minutes on low-speed, low-impact swings.

As you progress through the warm-up, gradually increase the speed and range of movement. This helps prepare the body and mind both.

Making the increase gradual helps increase the cardio and lung systems, and slowly cranks up needed body chemicals systems without depleting them. It helps gear up the mind for a high performance routine or sports event, in a way that static or even dynamic stretches won’t.

Like any physical activity, don’t overdo it. Don’t warm-up too much or too fast. The idea is to prepare the body for a workout, not perform one.

At the end, you’ll be ready to perform the sport or workout of your choice at peak level with minimal risk of injury.

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If you have been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, you may be wondering just what it is and where it came from. Obsessive compulsive disorder, otherwise known as OCD, is defined by the APA as “A mental disorder characterized by obsessions and compulsions, repetitive, purposeful acts performed according to certain rules or in a ritualized manner.”

Although the cause of OCD is technically unknown, obsessive compulsive disorder has been known to be onset by stress and is defined as an anxiety disorder. It is a condition that can affect anyone, no matter their age, sex or social status. In fact, according to recent studies, OCD is a leading cause of disability and affects approximately 5 million people just in the United States alone.

OCD, like other anxiety disorders such as bipolar disorder, is very complicated. There are numerous symptoms and not every person has all of the symptoms. Generally speaking, obsessive compulsive disorder manifests itself as the presence of persistent and even obsessive ideas, thoughts, and images or in extreme cases, impulses and irrational behaviors. People with OCD many times become isolated because their state of mind is apparent even without talking. It is not uncommon for people with OCD to be very depressed because they are at a constant war with themselves. They are forever repeating the same thoughts over and over in their head and when they are unable to stop thinking these thoughts; they spend all of their time trying to get their minds on something else. For this reason, people with OCD tendencies don’t always make the best of friends.

Where some people get into trouble is that they spend so much time trying to curb their obsessive thinking that they get into compulsive irrational behaviors, which takes their mind off the compulsive thoughts. Unfortunately, it is really a vicious cycle that never ends. It has been studied however, that people with OCD can benefit greatly from learning a new skill. Learning something new such as music, yoga, or anything that takes a lot of concentration, can greatly reduce or even temporarily eliminate the obsessive thought pattern. If you or someone you love suffers from OCD, the best thing you can do is keep their mind preoccupied on something meaningful or at the least productive.

Many people think that perfectionism is the same as OCD. Being a perfectionist can make you exhibit some of the same behaviors as someone with OCD, however when you are strictly a perfectionist, you can control your behavior. Wanting everything the best it can be is one thing, maximizing your potential is a great trait of someone who is defined as a perfectionist. However, people that suffer from OCD tendencies take perfectionism to a whole new level. Breaking down because something has been moved or touched by an outsider, numbering your socks or labeling them left and right is way over the top. These are not uncommon behaviors for people with OCD; it is however, not something a perfectionist would relate to.

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