...yowch!

How many people do you know who got a flu shot and immediately came down with the flu?  It’s one of the potential side effects of the flu vaccine.  How would you like to boost your immune system naturally and without side effects?  You can do just that and greatly reduce your changes of coming down with the flu, and other diseases as well.

While a host of medical studies have been done showing that tai chi does in fact boost the immune system, tai chi actually takes a multifaceted approach.  One of those ways is stress reduction.  Doctors tell us that excessive stress is a key factor in developing a variety of sicknesses.  Tai chi has been shown to be a very effective stress reducer.

As more and more research is done on tai chi, science is beginning to prove what the Chinese have been telling us for some time. “Tai chi supports and strengthens the entire body.”  There are medical studies demonstrating that tai chi can stabilize blood pressure, improve joint health, increase bone density, help us breathe better with increased lung capacity, even improve our balance among other things.

According to One Medical Study: “… what we are really testing is the overall immune memory [cell] and function. Since those memory cells are critical in a whole host of viral infections, I would expect these findings to generalize to other infections…”

According to a WebMD Medical News article by Daniel DeNoon written in September of 2003 titled “Tai Chi Each Day Keeps Shingles Away” stated that taiji practice seems to boost the overall immune system. In arriving at this conclusion the study noted a positive relationship between the risk of contracting shingles and Tai Chi. If you’ve had chickenpox, the virus never really goes away and you are at risk for shingles if your immune system dips. The study noted a 50% increase in associated immune cells, “enough to actually prevent shingles”.

Michael Irwin, MD of UCLA

Michael Irwin, MD of UCLA, conducted this study and states “But what we are really testing is the overall immune memory and function. Since those memory cells are critical in a whole host of viral infections, I would expect these findings to generalize to other infections …Shingles is a debilitating illness. There are no medical treatments to prevent shingles. No medical treatment has yet been shown to boost shingles immunity. This novel behavioral intervention – tai chi – may have those beneficial effects and it looked to us that the people who practice tai chi had improved ability to carry out day-to-day activities …”

As reported by the National Institutes for Health, a similar 2007 study was done by a team also lead by Dr Irwin. Testing done in conjunction with a vaccine for shingles, now available, found that tai chi alone had a similar increase in participants’ immunity to varicella as much as the vaccine typically produces in 30-40 year old adults … combined with the vaccine tai chi produced a significantly higher level of immunity, about 40 percent … over the vaccine alone.

Doing a Google search on tai chi medical studies yields about 334,000 results.  If you’d like to narrow that down just a bit.  There are a few other medical studies sited on my website at www.camptaichi.com/health-stories-medical-research.  You can also find interesting information by going to the Mayo Clinic’s site at www.mayoclinic.com and doing a search for “tai chi”.

So if you’re healthy and are thinking about getting a flu shot this year consider tai chi.  If your doctor has advised you to get a flu shot, go ahead and get it. Tai chi has also been shown to increase its effectiveness.

Anyone may copy this article and use it however they see fit, as long as it is copied in its entirety with all links, the author’s information, and this statement.  You may also email John@beginningtaich.net.

Is corn a healthy vegetable?  Obviously it’s a major ingredient – I used corn meal today in a recipe in fact- and its derivatives fuel an uncountable number of people, animals and machines.  Original to the Americas, corn is a traditional food of cultures situated in modernity and of cultures that remain aboriginal.

But I’m worried about additives to a popular food- popcorn.  The offender? diacetyl.

A study commissioned by the Seattle P-I (online newspaper) shows that top-selling butter substitutes, when heated, release vapor from a chemical additive called diacetyl. When inhaled, this vapor has been linked to a rare, sometimes fatal respiratory disease called bronchiolitis obliterans. Yes, many brands have elimiated this additive but there is still the aspect of the professional cook or chef who uses products containing diacetyl constantly over heat as a condition of their employment.  No one outside the industry is examining what consumers and workers who pop corn in theaters, discount stores, school gyms and fairgrounds are being exposed to.

The diacetyl vapors from some of the products are released in such volume that they could pose a significant risk to professional cooks who stand over hot grills or skillets for hours and use large amounts of these butter substitutes, according to the analysis. source

Allopathic medicine spilled over into the economic sphere when employers and insurance companies realized how predictive genetic testing is for the probability of serious disease. However, recently, the politicals got involved into economics by legislating an ignore button on the matter. [Not to be confused with the easy button.]

A conference is scheduled on the topic next week at the The Society for Genomics Policy and Population Health (SGPPH) Spring Conference will take place on Thursday 8 May 2008 at the Birmingham Women’s Health Care NHS Trust, Edgbaston, Birmingham (UK). The speakers’ topics are building upon the theme of a previous conference which examined genetic susceptibility testing.  The last year has seen tremendous progress in our understanding of the genetics of common diseases. Recent findings from the new wave of genome-wide association studies are being rapidly translated into commercial testing services in Europe and the United States, with many new tests being offered direct-to-consumer over the internet. This one-day conference will review scientific progress in this area and consider the policy issues raised by this new generation of susceptibility tests, with a particular emphasis on the regulation of consumer genetics.

The aim of the Society for Genomics, Policy and Population Health is to provide a forum for those with an interest in the impact of genetic and molecular science on population health, and puts focus on the policy and the ethical, legal and social issues raised by genomic and post-genomic science and technologies.

National DNA Day is a unique day when students, teachers and the public can learn more about genetics and genomics! It was created to commemorate the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003, and the discovery of DNA’s double helix.

Sure, we make decisions large and small day by day, even moment by moment. A coin toss? If it is, the best advice is to remember to call heads, according to Dr. Randy Pausch. For Dr. Pausch of The Alice Project/Carnegie Mellon fame, the decision was made for him when he was diagnosed more than a year ago with pancreatic cancer (adenocarcinoma).

Summary: Late in the summer of 2006, I started having some unusual symptoms, culminating with jaudice. Scans revealed it was pancreatic cancer. At this time, my wife Jai and I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a three month old baby.

The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the team there, together with Dr. Pausch himself, has put this devastating diagnosis on notice: the news according to the blog is that for now, palliative chemo is WORKING!!!! [Emphasis Dr. Pausch's] Obviously, guarded optimism is what the Pausch family is facing during the next weeks and months as he battles this terminal medical condition.

If you wish to learn more about the value of time — and the point is that we may be good at valuing money, but not as skilled at valuing our time — from a person who has something to say about the topic, please consider viewing Dr. Pausch’s Time Management lecture at Google video.

Be well.

Fluorescent lighting is the poster child for efficient technology and electronics. While the long white tubes were traditionally seen in large institutions, like office buildings and product warehouses, CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lighting) can now be found in household floor lamps, street lights, and ceiling fixtures in restaurants.

According to EnergyStar.gov, CFLs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Since they’re more efficient, and a byproduct of energy consumption is heat, CFLs create less heat, making them safer to use in the home.

These kinds of statistics are impressive, but how many typical consumers understand the science behind lighting technologies?  And further, what are the health impacts of fluorescent lights?

CFLs tend to have a bad rep for creating harsher white light, which makes our eyes sore – not to mention the eyesore of the bulbs themselves. And then there’s the mercury that’s contained within the bulb itself, which would certainly be a safety issue within many households.

Luckily, CFL’s have not only been studied extensively for their efficiency and safety, but there have also been a lot of improvements to transition the technology from industrial to personal use.

Back at the ranch, Energystar.gov provides if a bulb breaks, which also gives tips on how to pick up other toxins in your home, and information on how to dispose of CFL bulbs properly. 

As to the details of CFL technology, www.Howstuffworks.com provides a seven-part tutorial.  Put simply, Compact Fluorescent Lighting creates light by inciting a chemical reaction, while an incandescent bulb heats up an element that emits light as a result.

CFLs are now more versatile and aesthetically pleasing.  Replacement for nearly any wattage can be found, sometimes called Soft White or Watt Replacements on packaging, and the tubes are now curled up and placed inside familiar looking round glass bulbs, to fit perfectly inside any lamp shade or even fit into fixtures featuring dimmers or three-way switches.

Some more interesting articles on CFLs:

• Popular Mechanics runs its own tests on several brands of CFLs and incandescent bulbs, studying brightness, light quality, heat, and efficiency.
• A short article about new laws to make recycling fluorescent bulbs easier for consumers, as well as some information on the environmental effects of disposing of these bulbs.

This is the largest one-year research grant awarded to the university and will involve the largest number of test subjects—1,000 participants over the next year.

The American Cancer Society writes that there is no reliable clinical evidence that quercetin can prevent or treat cancer in humans. However, with the large study beginning now, valuable science may be forthcoming.

Earlier this month, quercetin was a component found in one of these three prostate-specific dietary supplements: Trinovin, Provelex and ProstateRx, which were under scrutiny by American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO). Researchers determined these products were problematic for patients being treated for prostate cancer with radiation. The warning was to avoid use of the supplements during radiation treatment. This information was reported by Doctor’s Guide. View the 2 hour lecture sets yourself!

Again from the ACS: Quercetin is a common chemical pigment in the rinds and barks of a wide variety of plants. It is one of the main flavonoids in the diet, and is found in large amounts in apple skins, onions, teas, and red wines. It is also found in leafy green vegetables, berries, and in herbs such as ginkgo and St. John’s wort.