tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18476838292035884762014-10-04T19:40:45.171-07:00I am currently a graduate student at a big research university in the biomedical sciences. I would like to use this blog to share information, thoughts, and recommendations based on the crazy world of science, health, and everything else that crosses my spectrum. You will notice my discomfort in my chosen field, but persevere with me, as discomfort can often guide us to where we need to be.StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-16685519445217042982008-05-17T19:42:00.001-07:002008-05-17T20:14:29.514-07:00

I believe that, in life, one of the most important goals is to try and understand things as they are. When we create, we should not create in order to fix, but to help. Help ourselves and others understand, enjoy, and appreciate the beauty of life. This is a good goal.

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-39453761520048290892008-04-29T19:53:00.000-07:002008-04-29T19:54:25.982-07:00

Science is upside down. I want to stay upright.

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-27309500071999191732008-04-22T19:55:00.001-07:002008-04-30T07:14:20.550-07:00

This continues my summary and commentary on the literature put out by the Egoscue Method 'Pain Free' by Pete Egoscue.Chapter 3: The Egoscue Method: getting personal to stop chronic pain.This chapter focuses on the practical aspects necessary to implement the Method in your life. And, it hammers home points introduced in earlier chapters.OK, everyone repeat after Pete: "Bones do what muscles tell

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-40233048032646134472008-04-21T21:52:00.000-07:002008-04-22T14:40:41.419-07:00

I'm hoping to get the Egoscue Method more talked about in the social networking sites around the web. If you belong to Myspace, Facebook, or Tribe, there are groups there you can join to talk about Egoscue. If you are a therapist, client, or just interesting in building a life that is pain free, I highly encourage you to join.http://groups.myspace.com/allaboutegoscuehttp://tribes.tribe.net/egoscue

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-5247519114684689722008-04-21T07:11:00.000-07:002008-04-21T07:12:49.014-07:00

(This post is reprinted from my original blog on Myspace.com)How did I do so well in school, people often ask? I must be such a nerd, nose in the books all the time. Well, I can't disagree with that. But, I actually studied a lot less than most of my peers and did very well. How? Very simple: for subjects like the maths and sciences, memorizing facts and formulas is usually a waste of time.

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-51632573529635422212008-04-21T07:09:00.000-07:002008-04-21T07:14:37.596-07:00

(This post is reprinted from my original blog on Myspace.com)I am currently reading 'Imagery Healing: Shamanism and Modern Medicine' by Jeanne Achterberg. It was written in 1985, but it is really one of the only erudite works that I have read that speaks about the psychological origins of healing through a historical and philosophical lens. Most other works, if not classical philosophical '

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-57491762632230688742008-04-21T07:06:00.000-07:002008-04-21T07:14:55.921-07:00

(This post is reprinted from my original blog on Myspace.com)The FDA has recently approved a new drug from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals that stops menstruation indefinitely. Here is a great article describing some of the pitfalls of this drug. There are so many issues with bringing such a drug to the market that I am too jaded to go into. But there is one thing I will point out: clinical trials usually

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-52015796057195080712008-04-20T07:16:00.001-07:002008-04-20T07:26:09.752-07:00

A new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine tracked almost a 1000 men who were part of a larger study and had survived to 90 years of age. Some highlights:1. The current estimate is that genetic variance accounts for only 25% of variation in lifespan. The other 75% is up to you.2. Regular exercise increased chance of living to 90 by 30%!3. Smoking and being overweight were risk factors.

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-37862218650329466142008-04-16T07:26:00.000-07:002008-04-19T20:39:41.371-07:00

This is my continued commentary on the Egoscue Method literature.From 'Pain Free' by Pete Egoscue, Chapter 2.The Eight Laws of Physical Health1. VERTICAL LOADING.The necessity of gravity for physical health. The skeleton must be vertically aligned by good posture.Think about the muscle and bone loss that occurs with astronauts in space.What implications does this have when we decrease our

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-30375840450311008462008-04-11T06:55:00.000-07:002008-04-19T20:42:14.852-07:00

This continues my summary and commentary on the literature put out by the Egoscue Method 'Pain Free' by Pete Egoscue.Chapter 2: The body's design: a first-class mechanism battered by second-class treatmentWell, the title says it all, doesn't it! The chapter begins with a sad story of an overzealous surgery performed on someone with a mild muscoskeletal injury with detrimental consequences. I will

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-75809393615547907332008-04-10T12:54:00.000-07:002008-04-19T20:42:44.282-07:00

In the book 'Chi Running' by Danny Dreyer, running guru Danny Dreyer talks about buying shoes (p. 186):"Once I went into Chinatown in San Francisco to buy a pair of T'ai Chi shoes. When I told the Chinese woman behind the counter what I wanted, she took one look at the running shoes I had on and said, 'I don't understand why Americans wear shoes like that...all they do is make your feet stupid."

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-52410071021780183122008-04-09T11:05:00.000-07:002008-04-10T07:14:02.116-07:00

I ran 6.5 miles today without my orthotics or knee braces. I had not run this much, this well, and this joyfully since I was 16 years old.Thank you Egoscue.One of the reasons that Egoscue is definitely revolutionary is that his techniques and philosophy, if applied to a large percentage of the population, will risk putting a lot of health professionals and medical products at a market

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-79650436850429288832008-04-08T14:30:00.000-07:002008-04-19T20:44:58.494-07:00

Chapter 1: Chronic Pain: the modern danger of ignoring an ancient message.The chapter begins with Egoscue's 'war story'. It is very short, we are not told more than that he was wounded in the Vietnam war when serving as a marine. The focus is centered on what is told by a doctor to a dying patient next to him in a US. hospital ship where he lay recovering: 'You either get well or you die'. Pete

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-81465567522945093042008-04-06T13:21:00.000-07:002008-04-19T20:46:01.490-07:00

A short commentary on the Egoscue Method book:PAIN FREE: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic PainPete Egoscue with Roger GittinesThe 'legal' disclaimer.I *love* this about Egoscue. No consulting your physician. You should know whether you are capable of going through this book or not. It's all about personal responsibility, from page one.INTRODUCTIONThe focus: 'the body's inner power to

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-43467299428681631902008-04-05T19:28:00.001-07:002008-04-05T19:29:12.395-07:00

I've done it before. I've ran away from science to embrace what I thought was the truth. This time, I'm still going to embrace the truth, but I think my arms are big enough to hug it with science.

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-21201704655054568362008-03-21T11:32:00.001-07:002008-03-21T12:13:54.273-07:00

I was born in the USSR. No, don't worry, I'm not going to start singing.The USSR was built upon the principles of socialist rule and maintained by a purely totalitarian dictatorship model. But, I'll not venture in that direction either.I'm going to talk about one small aspect of the culture that my parents were raised in, and that I briefly inhabited before being whisked away (via quite an

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-55335249628142955002008-03-19T10:07:00.000-07:002008-04-11T18:59:56.768-07:00

As I begin my journey with the Egoscue method, I feel seemingly disparate thoughts and feelings converging into a synergistic whole, akin to what my limbs are experiencing as they are re-aligned with my spine.Egoscue 'radically' states that you need to be aligned and balanced before you go on to do whatever it is you want in terms of sports, career, and family. The focus is on experiencing the

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-59195583253684959932008-03-18T20:28:00.000-07:002008-04-16T18:36:31.672-07:00

This year, I was hit by a car as I was biking home from work, which resulted in a broken right scaphoid bone and massive hematoma on my left check which had to be surgically removed (the hematoma, not the cheek). In the following months, my body became very unhappy very fast. I began to experience tendinitis in my left elbow and shoulder and severe left knee pain. New pain seemed to be creeping

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-89644004425551089942008-02-26T19:04:00.001-08:002008-02-26T19:12:26.916-08:00

The cover story in Forbes Magazine this month is 'Bad Medecine', and delves into the astonishing death / complication rate found in large hospitals and the barriers they provide to building smaller specialty hospitals. Let me share some quotes from the article:"Hospitals are still the heart of the health care industry, consuming a third of the $2 trillion U.S. health care bill""One in 200

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-38447611754056994572008-02-08T06:40:00.001-08:002008-02-08T06:53:00.928-08:00

The New York Times recently reported on a study of diabetic patients that was halted due to a greater number of deaths among a sample of middle-aged type-II diabetic patients that were assigned to drastically lower their blood sugar measurements. If you read through the protocol, you will see that the patients asked to maintain very low levels of blood sugar were put through an exacting regimen

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-9571817930596874982008-01-21T13:14:00.001-08:002008-04-16T18:37:47.288-07:00

Recently, Nature Neuroscience published a review titled "Be smart, exercise your heart:exercise effects on brain and cognition" by Hillman et al. It is an excellent overview of the science of 'your brain on exercise'. The research that the group gathered is multi-disciplinary, including epidemiological, molecular, animal, and human studies. Some interesting findings include:1. Aerobic capacity

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-16228947687050794722008-01-20T14:27:00.000-08:002008-01-20T14:33:29.508-08:00

This is shamelessly lifted off of an advertisement in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. But I think it needs as much 'publicity' as possible. If you are anyone you know is eligible for this program, I encourage you to seek such services.Advertisement in LA Jewish Journal, 01/18/2008:German Ghetto Work Payment ProgramThe German government has announced a new, one-time payment of 2,000 Euros for

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-81466991695165408162008-01-20T07:35:00.000-08:002008-01-20T14:34:11.967-08:00

Now that I've begun exploring the subject, there is also another variable in hip replacements that isn't discussed with most patients: area of incision. You can use the posterior approach, which is incision through the buttocks, or the anterior approach, which is a much smaller and less invasive incision in the front of the hip. It seems that the anterior approach is much less invasive and

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1847683829203588476.post-87278429541062118162008-01-19T06:57:00.000-08:002008-01-19T07:08:39.782-08:00

According to a recent article in Wall Street Journal, Stryker Corp., a medical device company, violated the FDA's manufacturing rules. The hip implant and implant components that they produce were subject to numerous complaints over a period of two years (2005-2007).What does this mean for you? If you are considering any kind of surgery, now you not only have to very carefully choose and

StudentofLifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17324272845330024800noreply@blogger.com0