Category Archives: Science

Government, Health, Medical, Science, Society

Diesel fumes study: The damage fumes do to lungs

AIR POLLUTION

Diesel Car

Diesel fumes, which are a major component of air pollution in many European cities, trigger respiratory reflexes which could potentially worsen underlying conditions, such as asthma. Researchers at Imperial College London have become the first to demonstrate how this happens.

CLEAR proof that diesel fumes causes breathing problems has finally been found by scientists.

Polluted air contains tiny particles that make nerves in the lungs misfire, triggering coughing and wheezing.

It is clear evidence of the precise way in which diesel fumes spark asthma attacks and leave sufferers in need of medical assistance, if not hospital attention. The particles are also linked to premature births as well as heart and lung disease.

Air pollution, including diesel fumes, has been blamed for up to 40,000 deaths a year.

A research team led by Imperial College London found that the particles were dangerous because they were so small the body did not recognise them as foreign objects.

Professor Maria Belvisi, the study’s lead author, said: ‘We knew that people exposed to traffic were more likely to suffer from asthma attacks, coughing and breathlessness.

‘This is the first direct evidence that diesel is doing it.

‘The symptoms are being caused by activation of the nerves in the airway. It is more of an issue for people with existing breathing problems and asthma, but this is happening to all of us.’

Diesels are so common because drivers were given financial incentives to buy them under the last Labour government.

Their engines were favoured because they emit less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

Dr Penny Woods, of the British Lung Foundation, said the study confirmed the serious and potentially fatal consequences of diesel fumes.

She added: ‘Diesel emissions have become the major source of pollution in urban areas, where the majority of people live. We are storing up huge unknowns for the future of our nation’s respiratory health.

‘We need the next Government to urgently implement a new clean air act that recognises the modern-day source of traffic emissions and cleans up the air we breathe.’

The Government has published draft plans to offer drivers cash for scrapping their diesels. But campaigners are calling for clean air zones, keeping polluting vehicles out of urban areas altogether. Thirty-Seven cities persistently breach legal limits of air toxins.

Although diesel particles are mainly carbon, the chemicals on their surface – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – are dangerous.

Testing diesel fumes on human lung tissue, animal tissue and guinea pigs, the Imperial College team found these chemicals triggered coughing.

Dr Ian Mudway, of King’s College London, said: ‘This study shines a mechanistic light on how the very small particles emitted from diesel exhaust worsen respiratory symptoms by activating airway nerves and highlights the importance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.’

The diesel particles are so tiny that the body mistakes them for natural molecules and draws them into the lungs. The study involved the University of British Columbia and is published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Professor Belvisi added: ‘The main message here is about prevention. A significant number of hospital admissions are for people suffering with exacerbations of respiratory disease.

‘In major cities we are already exceeding the recommended levels for air pollution.’

Standard
Books, Health, Medical, Science

New studies reveal why running won’t damage your knees

RUNNING SCIENCE

YOUR excuse for not wishing to run or jog may have just been debunked.

Experts say running is not actually bad for the knees – a view held by many who love to pound the pavements.

Studies show there is no link between running and osteoarthritis, and the exercise may even strengthen cartilage.

A new book entitled Running Science says, “couch potatoes” have around a 45 per cent greater risk of osteoarthritis compared to those who run.

It states that runners place eight times their body weight on to each leg with every step.

Although that is three times as much as when walking, we take wider strides when running, so there is reduced contact time with the ground.

This means the pressure on the knees is broadly similar.

The book’s consultant editor, Professor John Brewer, of St Mary’s University in London, said runners should increase intensity of the exercise gradually, wear the right shoes and run on different terrains.

He said: “The human body is designed to run… although the knees will be under stress when running, the body will adapt to this stress and develop cartilage, muscles, tendons and ligaments that are stronger as a result of running – protecting the knee rather than damaging it.”

Osteoarthritis of the Knee.

Running Science, published last week, says that damage to joints is a “common excuse” for not running.

However, a chapter written by independent physiotherapist Anna Barnsley states: “The good news is that the converse appears to be true.”

She cites studies showing that although runners develop bony growths in their knees, there is no evidence of narrowing of the joint space, which would indicate degeneration.

The agony of osteoarthritis is caused when cartilage is no longer there to cushion the joints from the impact of walking or other exercise.

However, the book states that regular running probably increases the amount of this natural protection.

That could be because exercise helps people lose fat, which can damage cartilage.

Running also prompts blood flow and cell regeneration in the knees.

The advice follows a study by Baylor College of Medicine in the United States, which analysed knee X-rays of 2,683 participants.

The study found that 22.8 per cent of those who had been runners had signs of knee osteoarthritis, compared to 29.8 per cent of non-runners.

Running Science also noted that runners may have a genetic predisposition to osteoarthritis – meaning exercise is not necessarily to blame.

Running Science

Running Science is published by Ivy Press for £20.

Standard
Arts, Psychology, Science

Talking to Self is linked to Brain’s Intelligence

BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

Self Talk

This internal dialogue, sometimes referred to as personal commentary, frames our reactions to life and its circumstances. One of the ways to recognise, promote, and sustain optimism, hope, and joy is to intentionally fill our thoughts with positive self-talk.

We all talk to ourselves, whether it’s aloud or silent inner talk. Although thinking out loud makes us look insane, science suggests it’s actually a sign of intelligence, not mental illness. Psychologists at Bangor University in the UK have found external monologues boost brain power to improve our focus and achieve goals.

Scientific researchers at Bangor University say our inner talk serves to control ourselves by helping us organise our thoughts, plan actions, consolidate memory, and modulate emotions. This inner talk evolves itself to talking out loud to further reinforce our approach to achieving set goals.

One of the scientists commented: ‘Talking out loud can be an extension of this silent inner talk, caused when a certain motor command is triggered involuntarily.’

For example, as children, we learn by talking to ourselves because this is part of our developmental immaturity. Psychologist Jean Piaget dubbed this “egocentric speech”, and realised toddlers begin to control their actions as soon as they start developing language. A 2008 study conducted by George Mason University found 5-year-olds do better on motor tasks when they talk to themselves out loud, whether it’s spontaneously or when told to do so by an adult, compared to when they are silent. The researchers noted as children begin talking to themselves, their communication skills with the outside world improve.

In the study, published in Acta Psychologica, Mari-Beffa and Alexander Kirkhan conducted an experiment where they gave a total of 28 participants a set of written instructions, and asked them to read them either silently or out loud. The researchers observed talking out loud actually improved the participants’ control over a task compared to what is achieved by inner speech. They believe much of this benefit comes from simply hearing oneself.

An auditory command seems to better control behaviour than written ones. Even if we talk to ourselves during challenging tasks, our performance tends to improve when we do it out loud, rather than silently.

“The stereotype of the mad scientist talking to themselves, lost in their own inner world, might reflect the reality of a genius who uses all the means at their disposal to increase their brain power,” wrote Mari-Beffa.

Similarly, previous research has shown talking to ourselves makes our brain work more efficiently. In a 2011 study, researchers gave 20 people the name of an object, (i.e., a loaf of bread or an apple), to find in the supermarket both in silence and then aloud as they looked for it in the store. The participants found the object with more ease when they spoke to themselves while searching, because thinking out loud helped spark memory. In other words, speaking facilitated search, meaning there was a strong association between the name and the visual target.

These studies suggest talking to ourselves is not only a way to control our behaviour, but it’s also something that we prefer to do by default. It helps us organise our thoughts. Psychologist Linda Sapadin believes talking to ourselves helps us validate important, difficult decisions. It clarifies our thoughts to determine what’s important and solidify any decisions we’re contemplating. This is often the way we’re advised to “talk it out” when we are faced with a problem.

This is why we often see sports elites like tennis player Serena Williams talking to herself during competitions to stay focused and achieve her goals. Perhaps adapting an athlete’s state of mind by talking out loud can act as our own motivational pep talk to improve our focus. Initially, talking to ourselves may seem like madness, but science argues it’s the habit of a genius.

Standard