For The Union-Tribune
Think before you drink
Four signs that it’s time to replace your reusable water bottle.
1. Visible wear and tear, especially on the inside.
2. Water starts tasting or smelling suspicious, a sign that either chemicals may be leaching into the water from the bottle or bacteria is growing within.
3. Discoloration on the inside, such as oxidation/corrosion in metal bottles.
4. Manufacturer recommendations. Plastic bottles generally have a useful shelf life of one year; glass, two to three years if not broken; and stainless steel, three years.
Body of knowledge
Fat is an organ, not simply padding that insulates, cushions and stores energy. It’s part of the body’s metabolic system and helps regulate homeostasis; it secretes hormones that communicate with other organs and the central nervous system.
Never say diet
The Major League Eating speed-eating record for chocolate is 1 pound, 15.5 ounces of chocolate hearts in 7 minutes, held by Patrick Bertoletti. This guy must be fun on Valentine’s Day.
Food for thought
Phosphoric acid is a colorless, odorless, corrosive acid that contains phosphorus and is used in fertilizers and rust removers. Phosphorus is an ingredient in phosphoric acid grenades and other munitions for its incendiary and illuminating properties.
Phosphoric acid is also an ingredient in Coca-Cola and similar sodas, serving as a flavoring agent and preservative. No wonder those carbonation bubbles really explode on the tongue.
Best medicine
Ten commandments for seniors, continued*
*See last week’s feature for the first five.
6. “On time” is when you get there.
7. You’ve noticed people your age are much older than you.
8. Aging has slowed you down, but it hasn’t shut you up.
9. You still haven’t learned to act your age and hope you never will.
10. “One for the road” means peeing before you leave the house.
Observation
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
— Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986)
Medical history
This week in 2003, Dolly, the world’s first cloned sheep, was put down at age 6½ years. She had been suffering from progressive lung disease. Dolly, a Finn Dorset sheep, was born at the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.
Using microscopic needles, scientists had replaced the nucleus of an egg cell with the nucleus from a parent cell (an udder cell, in Dolly’s case). The resulting embryo was implanted into the womb of a third surrogate sheep. The egg cell reprogrammed the donated DNA contained within its new nucleus.
Normal life expectancy of a Finn Dorset sheep is 11 to 12 years.
Perishable publications
Many, if not most, published research papers have titles that defy comprehension. They use specialized jargon, complex words and opaque phrases like “nonlinear dynamics.” Sometimes they don’t, and yet they’re still hard to figure out. Here’s an actual title of actual published research study: “Role of childhood aerobic fitness in successful street crossing.”
Published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise in 2012, the researchers sought to answer the question of whether increased aerobic fitness was associated with improved cognition, brain health and academic achievement during preadolescence. They used street crossing as the measure since it’s a multitask challenge and a leading cause of childhood injury.
Their conclusion: Yep, exercise helps kids learn to focus on their tasks and surroundings, but the use of cell phones is a real and complicating health risk factor.
Medical myths
You do not need to stay awake after a concussion. Back in the day, the only way doctors could assess brain function in a concussed person was to wake them hourly and gauge their level of responsiveness. Medical imaging like CTs and MRIs now do that more effectively, and rest has been shown to significantly speed recovery.
Med school
Q: What does the Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle do?
A: Located on both sides of the nose and cheeks, it widens the nostrils and elevates the lip, allowing the facial expression of snarling.
Last words
“Oh, I am not going to die, am I? He will not separate us. We have been so happy.”
— English novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) to her husband Arthur Bell Nichols. Brontë and Bells had been married less than a year. She died at age 38, pregnant.
LaFee is vice president of communications for the Sanford Burnham Prebys research institute.
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