English Cows Have "Regional Accents"
I once knew a man from the county of Yorkshire who could identify whereabouts in the county a fellow Yorkshireman came from: he was usually able to pinpoint people within eight miles of the place where they were raised.
I’ve never had quite that facility, but it still surprises American friends that I can tell them almost exactly which part of England someone has come from. And I’m not bad with most European accents.
Now if a report from the BBC is to be believed, English cows have regional accents. Picked up, perhaps, by spending a great deal of time with their humans. Listen to the audio and see what you think.
Birds pick up local variations in their songs, and our two Irish horses certainly seem to have different "accents" from their American-born bretheren.
Is this human projection or animal learning?
I’m pretty sure that it’s the latter.
What more do we need to learn about the abilities of animals before we realize that they are very far from being "dumb???"
Dark Matter and Subtle Energies
There have been many attempts to explain observations about subtle energies, Qi and Prana. Amongst the most promising scientific candidates is dark energy and dark matter. The trouble has been that it is a fundamental mistake to try and explain one mystery – subtle energies and subtle systems – with another: dark matter and dark energy.
So I was delighted to see that Scientific American is reporting on a new paper in the coming edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
For almost 75 years, astronomers, cosmologists and physicists have deduced that ordinary matter must be surrounded by vast quantities of an invisible substance that is not substantial enough to collide with atoms or stars but massive enough to keep galaxies from flying apart. Named dark matter, this mysterious material has eluded the most careful means of detection, but has been assumed to exist because of its gravitational impact.
Observations of a relatively recent collision of two galaxy clusters have finally proven the existence of dark matter. The discovery is a triumph of perseverance, creativity and rigorous mathematics.
My own understanding about all this is that dark energy and dark matter may indeed be the mechanism by which these subtle energies interact with our universe. But beyond or within that lies something else: Consciousness, Mind or the Informational Matrix. This is the realm of the One, the First Cause.
Why all this matters to us, is that this new research provides further evidence that there is more to the Universe than the things that we observe with our normal senses. It already has us thinking of ways in which this will likely impact our maintenance of health and management of illness.
We had to learn about dark matter from observations of the unimaginably large, but it has implications for the very small: the fundamental structure of the systems and materials that constitute our bodies.
“We perceive and are affected by changes too subtle to be described.”
–Henry David Thoreau (American Essayist and Philosopher, 1817-1862)
Convergence
One of the many things differentiating complementary and alternative medicine from the more conventional type, is that complementary practitioners are not much interested in a pathological diagnosis, and instead focus far more on the whole person. There are more than 500 types of complementary and alternative medicine, and virtually all work on the principle that they want to stimulate the body to heal itself.
It is not so well-known that in recent years some of the most cutting edge academic research in medicine has been breaking down artificial organs-based barriers, and focusing instead on the whole person, and look at research in a more holistic way. So a cardiologist and liver expert may be working together on the same problem.
Someone was asking me why this blog has so many categories? The reasons is that artificial barriers between illnesses, health, wellness, consciousness and spirituality are breaking down, and this blog reflects that. I was asked, “So are you interested in self-help or health and wellness?” the answer to that one is “Yes.” All of these are inextricably linked.
A second conceptual change, that is not much known outside of research centers, is that much of the current thrust in pharmacology is based on modulating the body’s responses, rather than simply blocking diseases processes.
Despite this apparent convergence, there are still some enormous differences in approach:
1. The medical research enterprise remains profoundly reductionist, and so it tends to ignore some key aspects of what it is to be human: we are a great deal more than sets of biochemical reactions.
2. Dismissing the social and psychological aspects of health and illness remains an Achilles’ heel of most academic research. When I was working in academia, a distinguished colleague came over form the England to give a lecture. An expert in brain imaging, he spoke a lot about consciousness and free will. As one of my American friends said afterward: he sound just like you in our research meetings!
3. Complementary, alterative and now integrated medicine remains firmly focused on relationships as a key to healing. Not just the relationship of a client and their family, but the relationship between client and therapist. And there is a third arm to this. When, in the mind-1980s, we first started putting together the principles of this new Information Medicine known as Integrated Medicine in the United Kingdom or Integrative or Integral Medicine in the United States, a key component of it was the insistence that the therapeutic encounter would require the therapist to do more than just show up and do something technical. But that the therapist would also be aware of the impact of the encounter on them, and the importance for the therapist to be involved in growth work themselves. There was a time when psychotherapists would remain in therapy throughout their careers. That may not now be feasible. But it is entirely feasible for a therapist to take a bit of time each day to calm themselves; to reflect on what is going on inside them and in the subtle currents of the interactions between them, the person who has come to them for help and guidance, and all the other people involved in the situation. This is the way in which medicine is going to develop in the future.
The extraordinary advances of biomedical research can be an incredible boon to humanity, but they need to be leavened by an understanding of the context within which they are developing.
“A physicist who rejects the testimony of saints and mystics is no better than a tone-deaf man deriding the power of music.”
–Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Indian Philosopher and, from 1962-67 President of India, 1888-1975)
Technorati tags: Alternative medicine Complementary medicine Integrated medicine
Cosmology and the Ageless Wisdom
“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”
–The Buddha (a.k.a. “The Awakened”, a.k.a. Siddhartha Gautama, Indian Religious Figure and Founder of Buddhism, c.563 B.C.E. – c. 483 B.C.E.)
I was very interested to see a paper in Science by Professors Paul Steinhardt from Princeton University and Neil Turok from Cambridge University.
Based on calculations and observations, the new theory proposes that instead of there having been one Big Bang that lead to the creation of the Universe, there are instead cycles of "Big Bangs" and "Big Crunches", meaning our Universe is merely a "child of the previous one". This proposal challenges the conventional view of the cosmos, which observations show to be 12-14 billion years old and may explain why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. It also suggests that there’s a continuous cycle of universes, with each a repeat of the last, but not an exact replica. This whole idea is so startling that it was picked up by the BBC.
However, there is another piece to this that does not seem to have been picked up yet. Various publications of the Ageless Wisdom seem to have done a good job on predicting many findings of contemporary science. There are some interesting papers here.
One of the key postulates of the ancient teachings is that the Universe goes through cycles. In the metaphorical language of the ancients, the Universal Mind breathes out the Universe that we can see around us, and then inhales, collapsing the Universe, before once again breathing out. Precisely what the new model is also saying.
I’ve previously reported about the speculations concerning “dark matter,” and whether this has something to do with the subtle systems of the body. This new model includes a consideration of dark matter.
This represents a remarkable confluence of the Ageless Wisdom and some of the most creative scientific thinking.
“Each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle.”
–Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor and Philosopher, A.D. 121-180)
Technorati tags: Ageless Wisdom Cosmology Subtle energy Qi Dark matter
Why Blog?
Just before I entered a Web-free zone, I was looking at Susan Polgar’s chess blog, where she had written a set of answers as to why she should spend so much time and effort on writing blogs. Susan is a legendary chess payer: the first woman to become a men’s International Chess Grandmaster, and a member of an extraordinarily gifted family. I have written about them before.
I was not surprised to see that Susan’s motivations for doing this in the chess world were very similar to mine in the areas of health, wellness and human performance. In the last couple of weeks, I must have been asked twenty times: “Why do you bother to spend so much time on an activity that is extremely time consuming, and for which you get no obvious return?”
1. I have been concerned that even the best journalists do not have access to some of the great research work that is going on right now, and which can have an immediate effect on the lives of millions of people.
2. Some of these new observations, research and treatment options languish in hidden corners, because they may not fit the prevailing medical model. The medical and scientific worlds are full of tales of first-rate research that got shelved because others could not immediately see its importance. There is a wonderful story of the way in which the German-born British scientist Hans Krebs was basically told, “Thanks, but no thanks,” when, in 1937, he submitted a short paper about his now famous cycle. Fourteen years later he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Albert Einstein once made an important statement:
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” Another version of the same sentiment, that is a bit closer to what he said in German is: “Great spirits have always found violent oppression from mediocrities.”
3. It is no secret that medical publishing and the award of prizes are tightly controlled by a small group of individuals. And it is right that extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence. But when we have that evidence, it is only right and proper that you should have access to information that may help you. This blog is designed to be both a filter and a lens.
4. There is no longer any doubt that the laws of health and healing are changing. I doubt that you have heard that elsewhere, andyet the implications for your health and wellness are stunning.
5. Blogging is a medium through which non-professionals can contribute to discussions. I have already learned things from the experiences of people who have had to struggle with diagnoses and labels that hampered, instead of helped them.
6. I have had a great many discussions with fellow physicians and scientists about communicating science and medicine to the public. My own view is that the public is paying for our research and anything that we can do to empower people is all to the good. Yet many colleagues feel that any attempt to explain science in an accessible way somehow cheapens it. I think that they are dead wrong. I was already in medical school when Jacob Bronowski presented the Ascent of Man on television. Marvelous stuff that changed and energized my approach to medicine. If we do not explain the potential benefits of what we are doing to the public, then why should they, the government or pharmaceutical companies fund us?
7. Susan Polgar has reservations about the way in which chess is being taught, and I am concerned about the way in which medicine and science are being taught, particularly in the United States. Not that it’s bad or wrong, but just that it could be better and more patient-oriented.
“Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self evident.”
— Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher, 1788-1860)
Technorati tags: Weblog Blogging Jacob Bronowski Albert Einstein Nobel prize
The Neanderthal Question
There is an extremely interesting new study about the links between modern humans and Neanderthals. Unfortunately “Neanderthal” has come to be used as a term of abuse. Yet Neanderthal people were probably the first to bury their dead and there is a great deal of evidence that they had a highly sophisticated culture. These people lived across Europe and parts of west and central Asia from approximately 230,000 to 29,000 years ago. It is unclear what factors led to their demise, but climate change and competition from modern humans may have played a role.
Svante Pääbo and his group at the Max Planck Institute in Germany have isolated the long segments of genetic material from a 45,000-year-old Neanderthal fossil from Croatia. The work reveals how closely related the Neanderthal species was to modern humans, Homo sapiens. I have had the opportunity to visit the Vindija Cave outside Zagreb, Croatia, where the 45,000-year-old male Neanderthal was found, and whose DNA is now being studied.
I was particularly interested in this apparently esoteric research because of a series of books that are not as well known as they should be. They were written by a psychologist named Stan Gooch who made a strong argument that we – modern human beings – are a hybrid of sun worshipping Cro-Magnons and moon worshipping Neanderthals. Stan has many other interesting ideas, that were a factor in considering the importance of the cerebellum in human cognition.
Preliminary analysis has shown that Neanderthal Y chromosomes are very different from modern human and chimpanzee Y-chromosomes; more so than for the other chromosomes in the genome. This might suggest that little interbreeding occurred between our own species and the Neanderthals.
This is a great example of the way in which good quality science can be used to check out almost any kind of idea.
Technorati tags: Neanderthal Cerebellum
A Mini Experiment
Well we consumed the first of the squash, cooked with onions and walnuts: delicious! And I’ve been a real bore telling everyone about my horticultural adventures.
But there’s another small piece to all this. It’s almost ten years since I became a Reiki Master. The person who performed the final initiation worked in the business world and told me that all the plants in her office leaned toward her desk, rather than the sunlight. Since then I’ve known a number of Reiki practitioners who have told me that they have used it to help the growth of plants.
So I thought that I would try it on the new vegetable garden. But being a good scientist, I just used it on half of the vegetable garden. Look at the picture, and see if you can guess which half of the vegetable plot got the treatment.
You can certainly see that one half has a luxurious growth of corn, beans and squash, and the other half a great deal less.
I’m not going to read too much into this little experiment. Although the whole plot has received identical care, and the pH of the soil is same from one end to the other, there could still be some other factors influencing the growth of half the plants. But it has made me think about doing a more formal experiment. And for now I’m going to do a typical crossover study: I’m going to go out and use reiki on the half of the garden with the less impressive growth and see if we can get some catch-up growth.
Technorati tags: Reiki Plant growth Experimental method
Crucial New Insights Into the Metabolism of Medications
When we examine the interactions of medicines with the body, we are interested in what the medicine does to the body, and also what the body does to the medicine: what we call pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. But it has long been known that these two essential considerations are far from being the whole story: there are enormous differences in the ways in which people respond to medicines: some people need huge doses of a medicine, whilst there are others who cannot tolerate medicines at all. Though part of the explanation for those differences is clearly not just pharmacological – the same people who are super-sensitive to medicines are often also extraordinarily sensitive to acupuncture and homeopathy – there is a new kid on the block: a new factor in drug metabolism.
Men and women handle medicine differently, the time of day that a medicine is taken, as well as things like the food eaten in the last few hours can all impact the outcomes of taking a medicine. We have also known that there are many other variables in a person’s response to a medicine.
For more than two decades physicians and pharmacologists have wondered if the three pounds of bacteria living peacefully in our intestines might have a major impact on the metabolism of medicines. This question was first prompted by clinical observations: first, people with no intestinal bugs exhibited many oddities in how they handled medicine, and second, there are some rare situations in which overgrowth with unusual bacteria can chew up certain essential nutrients.
New research reported by the BBC confirms these clinical observations.
Researchers at Imperial College London and the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have used a “pharmaco-metabonomic” approach that uses a combination of advanced chemical analysis and mathematical modeling to predict responses to drugs. Details of the research are published in the journal Nature.
The method is based on an analysis of the chemical products of the body’s metabolism. We think that examining these patterns can help diagnose diseases, predict an individual’s future illnesses, and their response to treatment.
The principle investigator is Professor Jeremy Nicholson and he has said the ‘pharmaco-metabonomic’ approach appears able to take account of individual differences in the way that drugs are absorbed and processed by the body. It differs from person to person depending on factors including the type and amount of bacteria found in the intestines.
These new techniques could be the first step towards the development of more personalized pharmacological treatments. For those of us practicing integrated medicine, this is a most welcome development.
Technorati tags: drug metabolism gender differences intestinal bacteria pharmacodynamicspharmacokinetics
Dolphins Have Names
It seems that not a day goes by without new research breaking down the barriers between humans and many of the other species that share our planet. I have reported on the burgeoning research into emotional expression in animals. No surprise to anyone who spends much time interacting with them, but a shock to some of my more conservative colleagues. Within the last ten years I have spoken to countless psychologists clinging to the notion that animals are just bundles of reflexes designed to protect them and allow them to reproduce.
The evidence for complex communication patterns in dolphin has long fascinated me. This was triggered in part by the work of the late John Lilly. One of my mentors in neurology was firmly of the opinion that it was impossible because they did not have the right neurological machinery. It seems that he was wrong. There is an extraordinary new report picked up by the BBC and the National Geographic from a team of scientists based at St Andrews University in Scotland: the same place that Prince William attended for four years. In a three-year-study of wild dolphins, conducted in Sarasota Bay off Florida’s west coast and funded by the Royal Society of London, they found that dolphins communicate like humans by calling each other by "name.” Using whistles, these mammals are able to recognize themselves and other members of the same species as individuals with separate identities. They have labels for each other just as we do.
This is important not just because of the implication that they have evolved some of the same abilities that we have, but because it likely means that they have a sense of self and of identity and that they able to differentiate each other as individuals.
I was talking about these findings with She Who Must Be Obeyed, and she pointed out that our horses appear to be able to do the same thing: if you watch them closely they have different calls for attracting each other’s attention, and these calls are different when they are at home or when they are in competition. Two of the horses are constantly going to competitions together, and after they have done well, they have a new repertoire of sounds with which they communicate with each other, and yet others with which they communicate with other horses. For people not used to being around these animals, they always assume that we are simply anthropomorphizing. But I don’t think so: it really seems that they call to each other in a precise and predictable way after they have done their jobs well. We have often said that they are bragging: perhaps we’re not so far from the truth.
Technorati tags: dolphins communication horse communication self
Lazy Mole-Rats
No, this is not a term of abuse. But I’m not sure whether I should tell you about some research from South Africa that seems to give lazy teenagers a ready made excuse.
A new study in the journal Nature reports that laziness exists outside the bedrooms of American teenagers. The research involved the subterranean Damaraland mole-rat, a small burrowing little creature native to the Kalahari Desert. It turns out that these little fur balls have an interesting social structure, in which only one female (the Queen) and one or two males reproduce. The technical term for this is a “eusocial organization.” You will be familiar with it in ants, termites and some bees and wasps. But this kind of social setup seems to be unique amongst mammals.
Dr. Michael Scantlebury and Professor Nigel Bennett from the University of Pretoria studied the energy demands of these little critters.
In a mole-rat colony, there are industrious animals that are active all year round and perform more than 95 percent of the work, including digging barrows, looking for food and raising the offspring. Meanwhile, up to 40 percent of the colony is fat and lazy. This slothful group does virtually no work, but requires food from their comrades. The lazy moles in fact are not degenerating or living an unhealthy lifestyle.
They are waiting.
“For what??” may you ask. Well, they have been busy at something else: building up of their fat stores. It does not rain much in the Kalahari, but when it does the energy expenditure of the previously fat and lazy mole-rats skyrockets. Now digging is easier and there are new opportunities to disperse and reproduce. So the lazy mole-rats are on standby, ready to invade new territories when the opportunity arises and snaffling food during the lean times. As one of my colleagues put it: “So you’re telling me that the layabouts are actually contributing to the survival of the species?” Sad to say, that seems to be about it.
Indeed Michael Scantlebury had this to say: “Imagine the infrequent workers are like teenagers. They do nothing around the house and they eat all your food. Yet you tolerate them because they are your only way to spread your genes into the wider world.”
Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn’t blog about this study…
You may also be interested to know that Nature is now publishing a weekly podcast discussing papers published in the journal this week. You can find it here.
Technorati tags: teenagers, adolescents, laziness
