This material was submitted Oct 1, 2005, and will appear anywhere from the Jan 2006 issue thru the following couple of issues. Web sources located by searching the Headline of the original source article on Google. Sometimes the listed source disappears, so you may wish to search Google for alternative sources of the same story.

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Research Converges on Spirituality

As interest in spirituality grows, researchers and theoreticians continue to develop clearer insights into its meaning, beyond any reference to organized religion. Two main components appear to be a relationships, whether to a transpersonal presence or to other life forms. As recommended by Edgar Cayce, here’s a brief comparative summary from two sources:

In the Power of Soul (Hampton Roads Publishing), Robert Sardello identifies twelve “virtues” that build a relationship with one’s spiritual self:

Devotion, balance, faithfulness, selflessness, compassion, courtesy, equanimity, patience, truth, courage, discernment, and love.

In The Seven Whispers (New World Library) Christina Baldwin, identifies components of spiritual practice:

• Maintain peace of mind.
• Move at the pace of guidance.
• Practice certainty of purpose.
• Surrender to surprise.
• Ask for what you need and offer what you can.
• Love the folks in front of you.
• Return to the world.

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Popular Remedies Fail Test

Recent reports of scientific experiments testing the effectiveness of popular alternative remedies and treatments have failed to show any benefit. In most cases, there have also been studies with more positive results, so the failures cited below should stimulate doubt and further testing, rather than outright rejection.

According to a study conducted at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, echinacea failed to reduce symptoms of the common cold. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a branch of the National Institutes of Health funded the two-year study. The American Botanical Council, a nonprofit group backed by herbal supplement makers complained that the study did not use large enough doses.

According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Berne in Switzerland and reported in the medical journal The Lancet, a survey of all research on the effects of homeopathy conducted from 1995 to 2003 failed to provide statistical evidence favoring homeopathy over a placebo. Although some studies have been positive, the weight of the entire collection of research studies favors traditional allopathic methods over homeopathy.

According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and reported in the journal Medicine, neither herbal remedies of kava or valerian provided better insomnia or anxiety relief than placebos. The double-blind study was conducted entirely on the internet, with subjects registering, following directions, and submitting data online. Participants were screened for the presence of the desire symptoms, and received via the mail and in a double-blind manner, either the active herb or a placebo. The study was praised, not so much for debunking these herbal remedies, which had already demonstrated negative results in other experiments, because it demonstrated the efficiency of internet-based research, which can produce results faster and at less than half the usual cost.

Original Sources:

Study: Echinacea Leaves Cold-Sufferers Sniffling KAREN KAPLAN, Staff Writer - Los Angeles Times Echinacea, the popular herbal remedy for fighting the common cold, does not ward off runny noses, sore throats or headaches, nor does it help patients recover from cold symptoms more quickly, according to the results of a broad clinical trial to be reported Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Taken with other recent studies that showed no benefit from echinacea, the new findings shift the burden of proof to proponents of herbal products to demonstrate that the plant has medicinal value, researchers said. "We find no evidence that it actually does anything to common cold symptoms," said Dr. Ronald B. Turner, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the study's lead author. "If that's the reason you're buying it, then you're wasting your money." Echinacea enthusiasts disputed that the results of the study were so clear-cut. They noted that Turner and his colleagues examined only the root portion of one version of the plant and said the dosage given was too low to register any positive effect. "This is a good contribution to the clinical literature, but it's not the definitive study on echinacea," said Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council, a nonprofit group backed by herbal supplement makers. "I just wish it had been a bigger study with bigger dosages." Echinacea, a member of the same plant family as sunflowers and daisies, was used for hundreds of years by more than a dozen Native American tribes to treat snakebites, toothaches, coughs and other ailments. Western doctors began recommending it in the 19th century. It became popular in the United States in the 1960s as consumers embraced herbal alternatives to traditional medicine. No less an authority than the World Health Organization recognized echinacea as a treatment for colds in 1999. Americans spent $153 million on echinacea products last year, making it one of the five best-selling herbs in the country, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, an industry publication based in San Diego. But spending has been declining steadily since 2001 as some users become disillusioned with the product, said editor Grant Ferrier. "With a lot of herbal botanicals, including echinacea, there's not a tangible effect," Ferrier said. "It's not like taking a pill for a headache. A lot of it goes on faith." Widespread consumer faith in echinacea prompted the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, to fund the two-year study. The goal was to pinpoint exactly how the herb attacks colds, said Dr. Stephen Straus, the center's director. Instead, the study concluded that the plant served no such role. "I would wish nothing more than for the echinacea study to be positive, but good science speaks for itself," Strauss said. Turner and his colleagues tested three home-made preparations of echinacea, each designed to track the effect of a specific extract of the herb. All of the versions were derived from the root of an Echinacea angustifolia plant and contained the equivalent of 300 milligrams of echinacea per dose. The researchers recruited 437 healthy volunteers and gave them a cold by squeezing droplets of the virus into their noses. Some of the volunteers took echinacea three times a day for one week before being infected. Others started taking it the day they were infected, and one group received a placebo throughout the experiment. Once infected, the volunteers were sequestered for five days in hotel rooms, where their symptoms were carefully monitored. Among other things, the volunteers â¬_ mostly college students â¬_ endured daily squirts of saltwater up their nostrils. After the water was expelled into cups, researchers cultured the contents to measure the level of different kinds of antibodies. Volunteers were also asked to keep their used tissues and return them to the researchers, who weighed them to determine whether patients taking echinacea produced less mucus than those on the placebo. At the end of the study, the researchers could not discern any difference between patients who took any form of echinacea and those who took the placebo. "None of the preparations we used had any effect on either the rate of infection or the severity of illness," Turner said. Echinacea advocates insisted the study would have shown an effect if the dosage had been higher. "We do a minimum of 900 milligrams three times a day," said Dr. Mary Jo DiMilia, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital School of Medicine in New York, who recommends the herb to patients at least 10 times a week. She acknowledged, however, that there are no clinical trials proving echinacea is effective at that dose. Blumenthal, of the American Botanical Council, said the homemade compounds used in the study "do not correlate directly to any product consumers are using in the marketplace." It would be inappropriate, he said, to assume the results of this study hold true for products made from different kinds of echinacea plants or that use the flowers and leaves instead of the root. Turner said his team stayed away from off-the-shelf products because they couldn't know exactly what was in them. The echinacea dosages they used were recommended by a government panel in Germany. "Do I think it's likely that other echinacea preparations will have an effect given the results here and in other studies? No," Turner said. "There's an almost infinite number of possibilities for these things, but at some point you've got to say, 'Enough is enough.'" That time has already passed, said Dr. Wallace Sampson, editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine and an emeritus adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. In a commentary accompanying the study, Sampson said the scientific community should consider the echinacea question settled and invest its research efforts in "treatments with histories that indicate some reasonable chance of efficacy."

Web source:

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-072705echinacea_lat,0,2637824.story?coll=la-tot-promo

Homeopathy No Better than Placebo-analysis Reuters [Thanks to Damien Broderick for alerting me to this report.] NEW YORK -- The clinical benefits attributed to homeopathic treatment are merely placebo effects, according to the authors of a report in The Lancet medical journal. Homeopathy is based on the notion that "like cures like," and treatment involves giving a patient small amounts of drugs that, in larger quantities, cause symptoms like those suffered by the patient. It also involves a great deal of interaction between the practitioner and the patient. In the current article, Dr. Matthias Egger, from the University of Berne in Switzerland, and associates searched 19 electronic databases covering the period from 1995 to 2003 to identify scientific trials of homeopathy, and matched them with trials in conventional medicine. The team identified 110 trials each of homeopathy and conventional medicine, or allopathy. They used sophisticated statistical analysis to score the results of the studies, with those below 1.0 indicating a beneficial effect of treatment versus inactive placebo. Including the largest trials, which were considered the most reliable, the overall scores were 0.96 for homeopathy and 0.67 for conventional medicine. Egger and his colleagues say the results provide "no convincing evidence that homeopathy was superior to placebo, whereas for conventional medicine an important effect remained." The Lancet editors weigh in on this topic, saying, "Surely the time has passed for selective analyses, biased reports, or further investment in research to perpetuate the homeopathy versus allopathy debate." They add: "Now doctors need to be bold and honest with their patients about homeopathy's lack of benefit, and with themselves about the failings of modern medicine to address patients' needs for personalized care." SOURCE: Lancet, August 27, 2005

Web source: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1446132.htm

The Right Stuff: Rigorous Study Proves Internet Research Potential JANUARY W. PAYNE, Staff Writer - The Washington Post A new study affirms the feasibility of using the Internet to conduct gold-standard medical research. The authors say the findings are the first to be based on a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial conducted entirely via the Internet. The eight-week trial looked at the effects of two herbal remedies, kava and valerian, that are used widely to treat anxiety and insomnia. The supplements' effects were not remarkable, according to the study; neither provided more insomnia or anxiety relief than placebo. While the results echo earlier findings, the researchers' use of the Internet for everything -- from recruitment to patient consent to data collection -- makes the study unique. Previous Internet-based trials used the Web for most, but not all, steps of the research process. The all-electronic method offers several advantages, the authors said. "You can roll out a study much quicker, which allows you to get results much quicker," said Bradly Jacobs, lead study author and assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Results "can be made available to the public much quicker," he added. Jacobs is an owner of an IT company whose products were used in the trial. The results appear in the July edition of the journal Medicine, which is published by Philadelphia-based Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Drawbacks and limitations of pure online research include the inability to test therapies that require someone to treat or observe participants as well as safety concerns about testing pharmaceutical products. Jacobs said hybrid studies that mix Internet and conventional methods can be used for research where a physician's presence is needed. Experts familiar with Internet-based research are enthusiastic about its efficiencies. "The minute you finish [an Internet-based] trial, . . . the data entry is done," said Tim McAlindon, a rheumatologist and director of the Center for Internet-Based Epidemiologic Research, which focuses on developing and validating Internet research, at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He said online research costs a quarter to a half the price of a traditional trial. A 2003 online clinical trial investigating the effects of glucosamine on osteoarthritis of the knee cost about $914 per participant, compared with $1,925 for a similar hospital-based trial, according to the computer-based study, for which McAlindon served as lead researcher. (The online trial used regular mail to collect hard copies of the required consent forms.) Finding participants for Internet-based trials is relatively easy. In the kava-valerian trial, Jacobs and his team created a Web site for the study, advertised on two women's health Web sites and used an e-mail list from Alternative Medicine magazine to draw more than 1,500 registrants. Because using the Internet requires no face-to-face contact, the researchers took extra steps to confirm participants' identities. The volunteers' name, birth date, address and other information were verified by a private company, Jacobs said, a process that narrowed the pool down to 1,241 people. The field was then trimmed to 391 people whose scores on anxiety and insomnia assessments met the study's guidelines. Of those, 135 people were randomized to receive placebo, 121 received kava and 135 were put in the valerian group. Those participants received either the supplements or placebo by mail but did not know which group they were in. In the 2003 glucosamine trial -- funded by the Arthritis Foundation and the National Library of Medicine -- patients received glucosamine or placebo by mail and filled out online questionnaires that measured their symptoms at least every two weeks, said McAlindon. Both trials included security measures -- such as encryption, passwords and a firewall -- to protect personal data transmitted over the Internet. The speed at which participants signed up for the Internet-based trials surprised the researchers. Jacobs said recruiting took only six weeks for his study, compared with the nine months to two years that he would have expected using conventional methods. In traditional clinical trials, "you sweat blood trying to get patients in," said McAlindon. But in the glucosamine trial, he said, "we just sat there while these e-mails bounced into our in box." Internet trials are, at least for now, best used for studying over-the-counter medications and supplements, experts said. Obstacles exist in testing stronger drugs over the Internet, including making sure participants are monitored closely for side effects. Still, Internet-based trials provide benefits that can aid researchers and speed the release of findings. "The goal here," Jacobs said, "is really to increase access" to trials and data "for the U.S. population."

Web source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/15/AR2005081501013.html

Enjoy the health benefits of coffee

Happiness is finding an Edgar Cayce reading that supports your beliefs. Bliss is finding a scientific study that confirms the reading. He mentioned that coffee, properly prepared, is a food.. Now science has found that coffee contain healthful ingredients.

According to research at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and reported at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society, coffee is high in healthful anti-oxidants. The report indicated that dates, cranberries and red grapes contain more antioxidants than coffee, but when the amount of various foods consumed by average Americans is taken into account, people receive four times as much of these healthy anti-oxidants from coffee than from any other consumables. Among solid foods, bananas, dried beans and corn were those that provided the greatest amount of these healthful chemicals, although they represented only about the fourth of that obtained by the amount of coffee consumed. Commenting upon these results, a professor from Wayne State University’s Department of Nutrition and Food Science in Detroit, Michigan, agreed that we get more antioxidants from coffee than from any other source, but suggested that it’s better to get them from fruits and vegetables because they also contain vitamins and fiber.

In another study,

Original article:

Coffee Delivers More Health Benefits Than Fruit and Veg JOHN VON RADOWITZ - The Scotsman (Scotland) Coffee is likely to contribute far more health-giving anti- oxidants to the British diet than fruit and vegetables, new research suggests. The evidence comes from the United States, where scientists measured the antioxidant content of more than 100 items, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, oils and beverages. Coffee emerged as easily the biggest source of antioxidants, taking account of the amount per serving and level of consumption. Black tea came second, followed by bananas, dry beans and corn. "Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source - nothing else comes close," said the leader of the study, Professor Joe Vinson, of Scranton University, Pennsylvania. Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee appeared to provide similar antioxidant levels. The US findings probably reflect a similar trend in the UK, with 47 per cent of the population drinking about 70 million cups of coffee each day. Antioxidants help to rid the body of harmful free radicals - destructive molecules that damage cells and DNA - and have been linked to a number of health benefits, including protection against heart disease and cancer. Studies have associated coffee drinking with a reduced risk of liver and colon cancer, type two diabetes and Parkinson's disease. But Prof Vinson urged moderation, recommending that people drink only one or two cups per day. He added: "Unfortunately, consumers are still not eating enough fruits and vegetables, which are better for you from an overall nutritional point of view." A spokesman for the British Coffee Association said: "This study reconfirms the fact that moderate coffee consumption of four to five cups a day not only is perfectly safe but may confer health benefits."

Web source: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1857962005

Original article:

Coffee is loaded with antioxidants, study says

BY JANICE BILLINGSLEY
HEALTHDAY

Americans' love affair with coffee means they get more antioxidants from this drink than from any other source in their diet, a new study reports.

By measuring the amount of antioxidants contained in the most common foods and beverages, and comparing them to U.S. government data on food consumption, researchers found that coffee far outpaced any other beverage or food as the main source of antioxidants in the American diet.

"When you look at the quantity of antioxidants in coffee and how much is consumed, it really shines either way," said Joe Vinson, a chemist at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. He presented the results of his analysis recently at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, in Washington, D.C.

More than half of Americans drink coffee every day, making it the most popular beverage in the country, Vinson said.

Antioxidants are vitamins and minerals that help prevent oxidation, a process that can cause damage to cells and may contribute to aging. The compounds may help boost immune function and possibly cut your risk of infection, heart disease and cancer, according to the American Dietetic Association.

For his study, which was partially funded by the American Cocoa Research Institute, Vinson and his colleagues analyzed the antioxidant content of more than 100 different food items, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, oils and common beverages. The analysis included tracking antioxidants that are hidden in sugar molecules, which increased the number of antioxidants measured, Vinson said.

In coffee, most of the antioxidants are hidden in sugar molecules, he said.

The antioxidant data was then compared to a U.S. Department of Agriculture database to measure the estimated U.S. per capita consumption of each food.

The results showed that the average American received more than four times the amount of antioxidants from coffee daily than from black tea, which was second on the list. Bananas, dry beans and corn were the top three foods on the list.

Vinson said that other foods, particularly dates, cranberries and red grapes, contain more antioxidants than coffee, but those foods aren't consumed in anywhere near the quantities as coffee.

He added that high antioxidant levels don't necessarily translate into levels found in the body -- the health benefits ultimately depend on how the compounds are absorbed and utilized in the body, a process that is poorly understood.

Vinson said his study isn't a recommendation to begin drinking a lot of coffee --"I'm not a coffee advocate, but a tea advocate"-- but it does provide more positive information about coffee than has been reported.

"Researchers have ignored coffee because of negative news linking it to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure, but this might stimulate more positive research into coffee," he added.

A number of recent studies have linked coffee to health benefits, including protection against liver and colon disease, type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease, according to Vinson.

Catherine Jen, a nutrition professor and chairwoman of Wayne State University's Department of Nutrition and Food Science in Detroit, said previous research has shown that about one-third of people's antioxidants come from coffee, because it's such a popular drink.

"It's true about coffee, but it's better to get antioxidants from fruit and vegetables because you are not only getting antioxidants but other nutrients like dietary fiber and B vitamins like folate," she said.

On the Web: www.nlm.nih.gov, to learn more about antioxidants from the National Library of Medicine.

Web source: http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050913/LIFE03/509130334/1004/ARCHIVES

Original Article:

Research Promising for Chocolate Lovers The Associated Press/CNN WASHINGTON -- It's not exactly a guilt-free pleasure, but food researchers say cocoa beans could be good for you. Dolly Sullivan is a believer. She eats two or three squares of Dove dark chocolate daily and talked her mother into switching from coffee to cocoa. "I'm a chocoholic. I can't walk by a chocolate store," said Sullivan, 60, who lives in Warwick, Rhode Island. "I've always enjoyed chocolate, but now I have a reason to eat it." The health potential is real. Cocoa beans have natural compounds called flavanols, and a growing pile of scientific research suggests they do good things to blood vessels. Customers at Neuhaus, a Belgian chocolate shop in Washington's Union Station, like thinking the dark stuff might be healthy, said manager Clementine Loeman. "That way, they don't feel guilty," Loeman said, adding that chocolate was sometimes considered medicinal when the company began as a pharmacy 148 years ago. Despite the enthusiasm, flavanols are missing from much of the chocolate on store shelves today. Flavanols make chocolate and cocoa taste bitter, and confectioners have spent years trying to perfect ways to remove the pungent flavor. "Most chocolate, in fact, isn't flavanol-rich," said Norm Hollenberg, a radiology professor and flavanol expert at Harvard Medical School. "But all chocolate is rich in fat and calories. Chocolate is a delight. It can and should be part of a prudent diet. That means you limit what you take." Flavanols are found in other foods, such as red wine, grapes, apples and green tea, although cocoa beans are a particularly rich source. Mars Inc. developed the technology to visualize flavanols on a computer screen. Says Harold Schmitz, the company's chief science officer: "Now we understand cocoa well enough to start to do new things with it." The company is starting with CocoaVia granola bars, made with a special cocoa powder that retains most of the flavanols. The bars also have plant sterols, which have been shown to help lower cholesterol. For now, the 80-calorie, 23-gram snack bars are sold only on the Internet. The bars have a satisfyingly rich chocolate flavor, along with a slight but distinct bitter taste. Mars says its Dove dark chocolates -- a 1.3 ounce bar is 200 calories -- also contain flavanols. Researchers are excited by the potential of flavanols to ward off vascular disease, which can cause heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, dementia and hypertension. Vascular diseases are linked to the artery's inability to make a simple but fundamental chemical called nitric oxide. Flavanols appear to reverse that problem. "The pharmaceutical industry has spent tens, probably hundreds of millions of dollars in search of a chemical that would reverse that abnormality," Hollenberg said. "And God gave us flavanol-rich cocoa, which does that. So the excitement is real."

Web source: http://www.mag4you.com/health/health.asp?title=Research+promising+for+chocolate+lovers&content_id=2848&arch=0

To beat the heat, take a siesta

If warming trends continue, one way to survive the extra heat without turning to environmentally unhealthy air-conditioning is to take a siesta. Reporting in the British newspaper, Independent, Bill Keatinge, an expert in the health hazards of heat and a professor at University College London, the cultures of Southern Europe already have the siesta habit, which, by avoiding exertion at mid-day, protects the body from the high temperatures that part of the world experiences. If the general warming trend continues, such as the heatwave in 2003 that killed fourteen thousand people in France, the cultures of Northern Europe also might do well to cultivate the siesta habit.

Original Article:

Global Warming Trends Mean That Siestas Could Become a Sensible Survival Method JOHN VON RADOWITZ - The Independent (U.K.) Siestas could become a normal part of life for Britons as summers get hotter, a leading scientist has predicted. According to Professor j, an authority on the health hazards of heat, siestas might be life savers in the future if current predictions of warming trends are correct. Scientists think heatwaves as extreme as the one which killed 14,000 people in France in August 2003 are likely to be commonplace in the coming decades. Towards the latter half of the century, every other summer in the UK could be as hot as 2003. One way of dealing with such high temperatures is to follow the example of people in southern Europe, and stop work in the afternoon, says Professor Keatinge. "An increase of only 8C in body temperature will kill," he said. "One simple countermeasure is to avoid exertion. You see this in southern Europe where people take siestas. Putting your feet up and resting is very effective. I think we certainly ought to do it." Professor Keatinge, of University College London, said he preferred the idea of the siesta to environmentally unfriendly air-conditioning. He said siestas were already being adopted in central European countries such as Germany. "It's a very civilised way to live," he added. He was speaking at a scientific briefing in London where scientists also warned of the likelihood of future heatwaves. Siestas could become a normal part of life for Britons as summers get hotter, a leading scientist has predicted. According to Professor Bill Keatinge, an authority on the health hazards of heat, siestas might be life savers in the future if current predictions of warming trends are correct. Scientists think heatwaves as extreme as the one which killed 14,000 people in France in August 2003 are likely to be commonplace in the coming decades. Towards the latter half of the century, every other summer in the UK could be as hot as 2003. One way of dealing with such high temperatures is to follow the example of people in southern Europe, and stop work in the afternoon, says Professor Keatinge. "An increase of only 8C in body temperature will kill," he said. "One simple countermeasure is to avoid exertion. You see this in southern Europe where people take siestas. Putting your feet up and resting is very effective. I think we certainly ought to do it." Professor Keatinge, of University College London, said he preferred the idea of the siesta to environmentally unfriendly air-conditioning. He said siestas were already being adopted in central European countries such as Germany. "It's a very civilised way to live," he added. He was speaking at a scientific briefing in London where scientists also warned of the likelihood of future heatwaves.

Web source: Originally posted at: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/article305553.ece

Or

http://www.climateark.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=45166

Knot pattern unlocks secret of Incan Khipus

At the time of their invasion, the Incans explained to the Spaniards that they had kept historical records in knotted ropes, called khipus. Until now, the only ability researchers have had to decipher the surviving khipus have concerned numbers used in accounting systems. Recently, however, researchers at Harvard University have discovered a knot pattern that referred to a word, which is a major breakthrough. According to a report published in Science, they have determined that a series of three figure eight knots refers to a place name, Puruchuco, a city a few miles north of what is now Lima, Peru. Although a small step, researchers hope that this finding will enable them to create the equivalent of the Rosetta stone, which allowed for the decipherment of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Possible Pattern Found in Incan Strings GARY URTON - Reuters/MSNBC WASHINGTON - Three figure-eight knots tied into strings may be the first word from the ancient Inca in centuries. While the Incan empire left nothing that would be considered writing by today's standards, it did produce knotted strings in various colors and arrangements that have long puzzled historians and anthropologists. Many of these strings have turned out to be a type of accounting system, but interpreting them has been complex. Now, Gary Urton and Carrie J. Brezine of Harvard University say they have found a three-knot pattern in some of the strings, called khipu, that they believe identifies them as coming from the city of Puruchuco, about seven miles north of modern Lima, Peru. They used computers to analyze 21 khipu found at Puruchuco and divided them into three groups based on the knot patterns. Their findings are reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science. One group seems to be for local use and the other two groups â¬_ each with the three-knot pattern â¬_ may have been used to report local activities to higher authority, or to receive messages from those authorities. Details of the information from the local khipu was coded onto the others intended for travel. In this case, the researchers believe they have found a place name in the three knots. "If that's the case, we should ideally be able to look around at other khipu and see if we see this arrangement," Urton said. "We suggest that any khipu moving within the state administrative system having an initial arrangement of three figure-eight knots would have been immediately recognizable to Inca administrators as an account pertaining to the palace of Puruchuco," the researchers said. "For the first time, really, we can see how information that was of interest to the state was moving up and down in a set of interrelated khipu," Urton said in a telephone interview. "We assume it has to do with tribute, the business of the state, general census taking or what resources existed or what activities were taking place," he said. Identifying a place-name, they said, could provide the first foothold for interpreting the knots. Potentially, Urton said, they might be able to build up an inventory of place names, the first time khipu knots have been directly associated with words rather than numbers. There are between 650 and 700 khipu in museums, he explained, and about two-thirds of them have the knots organized in a decimal system indicating their use in some sort of accounting. But the remaining khipu have knots in other patterns, perhaps a form of written language, if the researchers can work it out. "We think those may be the narrative ones, "Urton said. "The identities attached to those knots may not be numerical. If we can use the numericals to account for objects, that may give us clues to how they were assigning identities to objects," he said, citing such items as llamas, gods, defeated cities and warriors that might have been counted. If they are able to find such words, then they could look for those words in the narrative khipu. What is missing is something like the Rosetta stone, which allowed Egyptian hieroglyphics to be deciphered when researchers realized it contained identical text in three languages, two of which could still be understood. The Inca empire flourished along the western edge of South America in the late 1400s, ending with the arrival of the Spanish in the early 1500s. There are reports of the Inca telling the Spanish conquerors that the khipu told history, good and bad. The Spanish reportedly wrote down some of the Inca stories, but destroyed many of the khipu. Galen Brokaw, professor of languages at the University at Buffalo, called the paper "exciting," because Urton was able to show a relationship between three levels of khipu. "Each higher level condenses the more specific and detailed information of the level immediately below it. So, this provides us with an idea about how khipu were used in the Inca administration. To a non-specialist, it may sound like a fairly small discovery, but within the context of khipu studies it is fairly significant," Brokaw said. Heather Lechtman, a professor of archaeology and ancient technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology â¬_ after hearing a description of Urton's paper â¬_ said "he is making an interpretation, and I expect that he is not far from the mark." Neither Brokaw nor Lechtman was part of Urton's research team.

Web source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/45426.html

Or

Yoga may lighten up the middle aged

Yoga doesn’t burn calories like aerobic exercise, nevertheless it does provide a means of keeping middle aged folks from gaining weight, according to a study completed at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. According to their report appearin gin Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, when they interviewed more than fifteen thousand middle aged persons, they founc that those who practiced yoga during that period lost an average of five pounds over a ten year period, while those who didn’t’ practice yoga gained an average of thirteen pounds over that same period.

The researchers speculated that the slow stretches and meditations enhanced the practitioners’ body awareness. They found that the yoga group were much less likely to eat junk food, either out of respect for their bodies, or because practicing the yoga exercises is more difficult when one eats heavily. Practicing yoga seems to increase an appreciation for harmony and balance.

Original article:

Yoga May Help Keep Weight Off at Mid-Life ANNE KIM, Writer - The Associated Press SEATTLE -- The slow stretches and meditations of yoga don't burn calories like a run on the treadmill. But a new study suggests it might help people keep weight off in middle age. Researchers found that overweight people in their 50s who regularly practiced yoga lost about five pounds over 10 years, while a group in the same age range gained about 13 1/2 pounds over the same period. Middle-aged people of normal weight generally put on pounds over 10 years, but those who did yoga gained less weight than those who didn't practice yoga. The link between yoga and weight loss has nothing to do with burning calories, said Alan Kristal, one of the researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who co-authored the study. "Except for very strenuous yoga practices, you don't really burn enough energy to make any difference in terms of weight," said Kristal, who has practiced yoga for 10 years. Instead, he thinks yoga helps keep people more in tune with their bodies and eating habits and aware of bad habits, such as eating because of stress, boredom or depression. "You become very sensitive to the feeling of being stuffed," he added. The researchers collected data from 15,500 people between the ages of 53 and 57 who were asked about exercise, weight, health and diet histories. The findings, published in the July/August issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, showed that those who practiced yoga tended to avoid junk food and overeating because they wanted to respect their bodies. Mary Imani, a yoga teacher at 8 Limbs Yoga Center, said it's difficult to eat heavily and do yoga. "It's hard to do certain movements when you've just had a slice of pizza," she said. Gloria Supplee, a 59-year-old who has practiced yoga for five years, said yoga has seemed to help her maintain her weight. "Having your body in a balanced position, your body is more likely to desire nutrients," she said. Gary Miller, who studies obesity and weight loss at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, called the research encouraging, but said it's difficult to prove a direct influence from a single study. Most yoga fans say weight loss is just an added bonus from the disciplined form of meditation, controlled breathing and prescribed postures. "Yoga does many things," said Kathleen Hayes, who has practiced yoga for four years and manages a yoga studio in Seattle. "It builds strength, flexibility and clarity." At 54, she says it has helped her maintain her weight. For the 47-year-old Imani, a yoga practitioner for nearly two decades whose weight has fluctuated since she became menopausal, "It's all about trying to find harmony and balance."

web source: http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/fitness/articles/2005/08/04/yoga_may_help_keep_weight_off_at_mid_life/

Is Oregon birthing a new volcanoe?

There is a one hundred square mile bulge forming in eastern Oregon which seismologists suspect may be a developing volcanoe. Or it could be simply underground magma shifting itself. Scientists have learned that there is huge cavity about four and a half miles down, and it is filling with liquid, but they aren’t yet sure whether the liquid is water or magma. According to Reuters reports, the bulge is growing at the rate of about an inch and a half a year. It poses no public danger even though it is attracting a lot of attention in this otherwise barely populated region. Nevertheless, no one standing on the highest spot can see, feel or smell anything unusual.

South Sister, one of the three extinct volcanoes known as the Three Sisters, is about twenty five miles away and last erupted around two thousand years ago. Somewhat farther away is Mount St. Helens, which has become somewhat active again, but scientists do not think the two events are related.

Original article:

Scientists Find Growing Land Bulge in Oregon TERESA CARSON - Reuters A large, slow-growing volcanic bulge in Eastern Oregon is attracting the attention of seismologists who say that the rising ground could be the beginnings of a volcano or simply magma shifting underground. Scientists said that the 100 square-mile (260 sq-km) bulge, first discovered by satellite, poses no immediate threat to nearby residents. "It is perfectly safe for anyone over there," said Michael Lisowski, geophysicist at the United States Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington. The bulge is rising at a rate of about 1.4 inches per year, according to a report issued by the U.S. Geological Survey. The bulge is located in a sparsely populated area 3 miles southwest of South Sister, a mountain 25 miles west of Bend, Oregon. Lisowski said the unnamed bulge was created because of a big cavity, estimated to be about 4.5 miles below the surface, that is filling with fluid. The fluid is likely magma, but could also be water. It was described in the report as a lake 1 mile across and 65 feet deep. The bulge is a bare patch of land with no residents, and anyone in the area would not be able to see, feel or smell anything, seismologists said. South Sister is one of three volcanic peaks called The Three Sisters, which are part of the Cascade mountain range. The range includes four of the 18 most active volcanoes in the United States, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The South Sister probably erupted last time about 2,000 years ago, seismologists said. Further north, the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens killed 57 people, destroyed at least 230 square miles of forest and spewed ash for hundreds of miles. Mount St. Helens has rumbled back to life recently, spitting lava, rocks and ash, but has not had another big eruption. A lava dome is growing in the huge crater created in Mount St. Helens, but that event appears to be unrelated to the South Sister bulge, seismologists said. "Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continues, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash," the U.S. Geological Survey said in a daily report. Scientists said they would continue to monitor the bulge, most likely over a number of years. "We haven't seen anything like this in the Cascade range," Lisowski says, "although we have only been looking in the last 20 years."

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=9614876

Afterlife Encounters are Therapeutic

“Whether real or imagined, paranormal beliefs enhance mental health.” So concludes Dianne Arcangel, former director of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Center in Houston, in her book, Afterlife Encounters (Hampton Roads Publishing), which describes the results of her five-year international survey with regard to encounters with those who have passed on. Based upon analysis of the responses of almost one thousand individuals, fifty-nine of whom reported having such encounters, she has found that “simply believing in the hereafter is life enhancing. Experiencing an afterlife encounter is a significant element for transcending loss. It, furthermore, offers a leap toward enlightenment.”

Research on the intentional facilitation of such encounters has been reported by Allan L. Botkin, Psy.D., in his book Induced after death communication: A new therapy for healing grief and trauma (Hampton Roads Publishing). His method involves using eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). This controversial technique leads the patient to rhythmically move the eyes to the left and right while focusing on a troubling feeling. To use this method to induce communication with a deceased loved one, Dr. Botkin asks the patient to experience the grief of the loss of this person while performing the eye movements. At http://induced-adc.com, the author has compiled the research on this new approach to bereavement counseling.

Exercise May Grow New Brain Cells in Elderly

It’s never too late to grow younger and improve your memory. That is, if old mice, equivalent in age to seventy year old humans, are any indication. Mice who exercise have been found to grow new brain cells and demonstrate improved memory as a result. The research, conducted at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California and reported in the Journal of Neuroscience, examined the brain cells of young and old mice who ran two miles a day on a treadmill. In comparison to similar mice who simply sat around all day, the active mice evidenced new brain cells.

To determine whether the cells were functional, the researchers later tested all mice for their ability to remember where they had previously learned the location of a desirable underwater object. The couch potato mice flunked this test, but the runners performed perfectly.

A spokesperson for the Alzheimer’s Association said the study didn’t prove, but certainly suggested, that exercise might be effective against this disease; furthermore, there are already enough studies showing the value of exercise for the elderly that should convince folks to get moving.

Original article:

Exercise could build brain cells in elderly, study suggests

By Kathleen Fackelmann, USA TODAY

Older mice that exercised on a running wheel developed new brain cells and learned a new task more effectively than older mice that took it easy all day, a study reports today.

The study showed that regular physical activity helped spur the production of neurons in the memory region of the mouse brain. If the findings hold true for humans, they suggest that regular workouts might give older humans a boost in brainpower and might even help forestall the forgetfulness and confusion that can plague people as they get older, says researcher Fred Gage of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif.

The findings, reported in today's Journal of Neuroscience, also suggest that it's never too late to get moving: The mice in the study were about 70 in human years, and they developed an edge in brainpower after exercising for just a month.

"The findings are pretty exciting," says David Snowdon, researcher on aging at the University of Kentucky, who was not involved in the study.

Previous research has shown that exercise could spur the formation of brain cells in young mice, or mice that in human terms were equivalent to a 20-year-old. This study is the first to show that exercise helps older mice.

Gage and his colleagues allowed a group of old mice and a group of young mice to exercise on a running wheel as much as they wanted. The mice ran about 2 miles every day. The researchers also kept a third group of older mice that didn't exercise. After a month of the regular exercise, the team subjected the mice to a memory test.

The researchers taught the mice to find a platform submerged in a pool of water. After the mice had learned the location of the platform, they had to find it even when it was hidden in cloudy water.

The Salk team found that the old mice that had worked out on the wheel performed as well as the young mice: The elderly mice remembered the location of the platform and swam quickly to the spot without much trouble.

In contrast, the older mice that didn't get the daily workouts flunked: These mice, much like older people who are starting to show declines in memory, had trouble remembering the location of the platform. In most cases, the mice swam aimlessly in the pool and never found the platform or found it by chance, Gage says.

When the team examined the animals' brain tissue, they found that older mice that had been exercising had added significant amounts of cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that helps with memory and the ability to learn new tasks.

The old mice that didn't exercise seemed to produce very few new brain cells, a problem that might explain their confusion, Gage says.

This study suggests — but doesn't prove — that people with brain-destroying diseases such as Alzheimer's might be able to build replacement brain cells as a result of daily workouts, says William Thies of the Chicago-based Alzheimer's Association.

The new findings also indicate that healthy older people might be able to reverse some of the normal age-related loss of brain cells with a daily walk, Gage says.

People shouldn't wait for researchers to confirm these findings, experts say. Plenty of other research shows regular workouts offer lots of benefits to both the brain and the body, Snowdon says. The new study now adds another compelling reason to get moving.

"You don't have to run on a treadmill," Snowdon says. "Find something you enjoy and just do it."

Web source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-09-20-exercise-brain-cells_x.htm

Americans are Enthralled with Magic

Magic is everywhere. You’ll find the Lord of the Rings in theaters, Harry Potter in the library, and The Medium on TV, to name but a very few popular expressions of what religion journalist Christine Wicker believes is evidence that magic is bewitching America. Following up on survey results revealing that seventy five per cent of Americans believe in Angels, that fifty four percent believe in psychic or spiritual healing, and thirty three percent believe in clairvoyance, Wicker went on a magical mystery tour around the country to see for herself. Reporting in her book Not in Kansas anymore; A curious tale of how magic is transforming America (HarperSanFrancisco), she discovered that it’s not hard to find someone involved in a bit of magic, from noting a synchronicity to participating in a Voodoo ceremony. The key ingredient, she learned, is that magic is not a spectator sport, but requires participation. It changed her unexpectedly, and although she had long ago given up “religion,” she found herself taking communion in a church only to experience a magical connection with God.

Spirituality Drives Future Megatrends

According to Patricia Aburdene, author of Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism (Hampton Roads Publishing) spirituality will be the driving force of the next decade, even and especially in business. Her basic premises:

• There can be no invention in business or technology without human consciousness.
• Technology is consciousness externalized
• The inner world of ideals and beliefs shapes our actions and stimulate change

She predicts that during turbulent times, we look within, and thus spirituality will be a dominant force. Corporations will incorporate these values, stimulating vision quests, forgiveness training and heart awareness in the office. The marketplace will reflect consumers’s spirituality and capitalism will reflect the basic inter-relationship between us, rather than the “greed” factor.

Will Computers Program Our Brains

Someday we may attach computers to our brains in order to survive. The world renowned computer specialist Ray Kurzweil projects that by the year 2020 computers will have surpassed the intelligence of human brains. Writing in the New Scientist, he predicts that ten years after that, you’ll be able to buy such a computer for only one thousand dollars. By the year 2060, he believes, computers will surpass the combined intelligence and computing power of all human brains on planet earth. By that time, he suspects, we will connect our brains, by some kind of neural interface, simply to manage our lives and prevent extinction.

Web source: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725181.600&print=true

Confession is Good for the Soul

Writing a letter to God about something that makes you feel guilty will make you feel even more guilty right afterwards, but later you’ll feel closer to God. That’s the conclusion of Aaron Murray-Swank, a clinical psychologist at University of Maryland School of Medicine. In his research studies, summarized in Spirituality and Health, he has found that writing a confessional to God, compared to writing a letter about one’s regrets, has more potential for spiritual growth. The key factor in preventing the confession from producing “toxic guilt,” is becoming open to forgiveness and making an affirmation to be a better person in the future.

Based upon “Clearing the Heart,” by Aaron Murray-Swank. Spirituality and Health, August, 2005, pp. 42-47.

Other original sources on the web related to this article:

Web link: http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/(ldqf1fq5pkh0in550o1e2m45)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,1,7;journal,2,18;linkingpublicationresults,1:104639,1

Also see http://www.bgsu.edu/organizations/cfdr/research/pdf/2001/2001-6.pdf

Also see: http://www.apa.org/divisions/div36/Conference/04midwinterprogram.pdf

Caring for Pets is Healing

Past research has shown the healing power of having pets. Research at Stanford University has suggested that this healing power actually derives from the unconditional love and care with which the owners treat their pets, not the other way around. Dr. Marivic Dizon believes that the link is the healthy impact of altruistic behavior. In one of her studies, she found that prisoners who cared for pets showed increases in self-esteem, honesty and ability to empathize. In another study, elderly patients given a parakeet to care for showed improved mental health.

Original Source:

From Your Parish Nurse ~~~

Healing from Pets May Stem from the Care We Give Them

Elderly study participants were given a parakeet, a begonia, or nothing at all. Five months later, the parakeet group not only reported improved mental health, their bird also became a central topic of conversation among friends, family, and neighbors. In another study, taking a dog for a walk was linked to greater social interaction.

A survey by the American Animal Hospital Association found that three-quarters of pet owners say affection is their pet’s most endearing quality. Now a review of the research from Stanford University shows that the love goes both ways and suggests that our own altruistic behavior makes caring for pets so beneficial.

“The attachment we feel to our pets is similar to the unconditional love a parent feels for a child,” says Marivic Dizon, a postdoctoral candidate at Stanford University. ”Acts of kindness and compassion directed at animals are authentically altruistic. There are few social benefits to such actions beyond the possible reciprocation of love from the animal.” Dr. Dizon explains that altruism is linked to improved mental and physical well-being, and the care and nurturing we give animals offers similar benefits. Whether you’re rescuing an injured bird or stroking your dog’s belly, you will likely be boosting your own health and well-being.
Dizon reports that adults and children who feel empathy towards their pets manifest stronger feelings of empathy toward other people. In Project Pooch, incarcerated youth who learned to care for dogs that had been abandoned also learned greater honesty, empathy, nurturing, social growth, respect for authority, and leadership. A study of women in prisons who trained dogs to help the handicapped found that the women’s self-esteem increased significantly.

One long-term study on pet ownership found that adopting a pet is associated with almost instantly improved physical and emotional well-being. This may be in part because caring for a pet connects us more strongly to society.

“There are great benefits to appreciating and nurturing animals,” concludes Dizon, who herself has worked at a wildlife rehabilitation center as well as a veterinary hospital and plans to study animal-assisted therapy with traumatized and abused children.” Those benefits seem to be experienced across the entire life-span, and they are as good for the animal as for us.

[This article is taken from the July/August 2005 issue of Spirituality & Health]
 

Weblink: http://www.stpaulsduluth.org/NurseNotesSept05.htm

Sing Away Your Fears

Singing can be an effective manner of combating fear or panic attacks. Needing to find a way to help patients who experience panic attacks while driving, Dr. David Carbonell, director of the Anxiety Treatment Center in New York, came up with the idea of singing. In his book Panic attacks workbook: A guided program for beating the panic attack (Ullysses Press), he explains that panic attacks feed on shallow, constricted breathing. Singing out loud relaxes the chest and promotes better breathing.

Humor helps too. He recommends singing this song aloud (to the tune of “Camptown Races”) “I’ll go crazy, then I’ll die… doo dah! doo dah!”

Original source:

A Surprising Lesson About Panic by David A. Carbonell, Ph.D. =========================================

I gave my lecture, "Recovery from Panic Attacks" at a Long Island library this month, and a woman in the audience shared a story that I thought was worth sharing with you.

She described a history of panic attacks in a variety of situations, but the one that troubled her the most was driving. She became quite limited in her driving due to the panic attacks she experienced while behind the wheel.

One day she began to panic while driving with a friend, and the friend told her "Sing! Sing the Star Spangled Banner!"

This woman didn't really want to, but feeling desperate enough to try anything, she sang the Star Spangled Banner as instructed. Sure enough, her panic attack subsided as she sang.

That's interesting, but it's not the most interesting part of her story. I've often recommended singing as a helpful response to a panic attack. It offers a distraction combined with the change in breathing that usually comes from singing, and is often a good way to interrupt an attack.

The most interesting part of her story was that she was so surprised and pleased with the results that she wanted to try it again. She was actually curious enough to want to have another attack, so she could try out her new singing routine again.

In this regard, she was disappointed. She didn't have any more attacks while driving. She had them elsewhere - the problem didn't simply go away - but she didn't have them while driving any more.

Do you see why?

An essential ingredient to a panic attack is that you have to fear the attack, and wish to avoid or resist it. In her case, she *wanted* to have another one so she could see if the singing continued to work for her. This desire removed an essential ingredient to panic attacks - the fear and  loathing of another attack.

People have often told me how they have wished they could have a panic attack while meeting with their internist, so he or she could see what they were talking about. But this never happened for them either. For the same reason.

Simply singing the Star Spangled Banner won't cure you of panic attacks. Nor will "pretending" that you want to have another one. But anything that helps you lose your fear of having an attack will make it less likely to occur. That's how exposure treatment works.

Practicing with panic, as part of an exposure program, is a great way to lose your fear of panic. When you lose your fear of panic, that's when it tends to go away.

Weblink: http://lists.topica.com/lists/anxietycoach/read/message.html?mid=911001563&sort=d&start=28