New Research: The Effects of Acupuncture on Chronic Knee Pain

New Research: The Effects of Acupuncture on Chronic Knee Pain

Here is a link to a new meta-analysis, published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, this paper draws some parallels with what I have seen published in the past. Time after time it has been shown that acupuncture often has favorable results and that there are multiple mechanisms of action including, but not limited to the placebo response.

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Effects of two stretching methods on shoulder range of motion

Effects of two stretching methods on shoulder range of motion

Here is an article that may be of interest for anyone who works with athletes.

This study found 4 weeks of soft tissue mobilization techniques to be effective for improving shoulder internal rotation and horizontal adduction and decreasing muscle stiffness of the infraspinatus and teres minor in baseball players with posterior shoulder tightness.

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The Coming Age of Quantum Biology

The Coming Age of Quantum Biology

This week I got my hands on Life on the Edge: The Coming Age of Quantum Biology, I have been waiting to read this book for awhile now after seeing Jim Al-Khalilis' Ted Talk on Quantum Biology. Things get weird in the world of Quantum Biology this includes the collective intelligence of active matter. This has opened up many new fields of studies and now biologists are working to understand how these groups self-organize. An excellent introduction to the fascinating world of active matter is this recent paper on collective cell durotaxis.

Image Credit:  Bare Dreamer - Flickr, CC BY 2.0.

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Unusual conditions: what are gigantism and acromegaly?

Unusual conditions: what are gigantism and acromegaly?

"Gigantism is embedded in the folklore of many civilisations – think of the giant Goliath who fought with the legendary King David in the Bible, for instance.

But it’s not all the stuff of legends. Present-day famous “giants” include André René Roussimoff, known as Andre the Giant (224cm), and Richard Kiel (218cm), otherwise known as Jaws in two James Bond movies."

Image Credit:
Photograph or image of Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940)
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12592533

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What happens to your body when you’re dehydrated?

What happens to your body when you’re dehydrated?

By the time you feel thirsty your body is already dehydrated; our thirst mechanism lags behind our actual level of hydration.

"Research shows that as little as 1% dehydration negatively affects your mood, attention, memory and motor coordination. Data in humans is lacking and contradictory, but it appears that brain tissue fluid decreaseswith dehydration, thus reducing brain volume and temporarily affecting cell function."

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