Gas-powered walks, Alzheimer’s stats and muscle knots – San Diego Union-Tribune

For The Union-Tribune

Fart walks

There’s no polite way to discuss this, but so blow the winds of change.

The term “fart walks” is trending right now, though in reality the phenomenon has existed for as long as there has been a human gastrointestinal tract. The term refers to the physiological consequences of exercise, especially after eating.

Flatulence involves passing gases from the digestive system via the back passage. Those gases can be air swallowed when you eat or drink or gases produced through the digestive process. Smoking, chewing gum and drinking carbonated beverages may also contribute. Healthy individuals fart roughly 12 to 25 times a day, on average, with much individual variation.

Fart walks, taken an hour or so after a meal, are intended to excrementally aid the digestive process. They’re good for you (and those nearby) because they can help regulate blood sugar levels that naturally rise as your body begins to break down food into energy, releasing glucose into the bloodstream. Walking and farting can minimize the size and duration of these blood sugar spikes.

They also reduce the chances of bloating and constipation, because moving along keeps things moving along. And burns a few calories to booty.

Body of knowledge

The act of snapping one’s fingers is called a filip.

Get me that. Stat!

With the rising popularity of weight-reduction GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, rates of bariatric surgery — long considered the surest way to lose weight — have fallen by 25 percent, according to newly published research.

Stories for the waiting room

In 2022, Alzheimer’s disease was the nation’s seventh leading cause of death, but its impact was felt across health care, reports STAT.

— Roughly 36 out of every 1,000 people 65 years and older with Alzheimer’s visited hospital emergency departments between 2020 and 2022; the rate increased with age.

— Arriving by ambulance to the emergency department was almost twice as common for those older adults with Alzheimer’s than those without the disease.

— More than a third of emergency department visits from those with Alzheimer’s ended with the patient admitted to the hospital, compared with about 28% of visits by those without the disease.

Doc talk

Catagen — the transitional phase in the hair growth cycle. It occurs between the active growth phase (anagen) and the resting phase (telogen). For bald people, their hair is in the resting-in-peace phase.

Phobia of the week

Pteromerhanophobia — fear of flying. The phobia is more commonly called aerophobia. Perhaps the former is a subset in which one fears prehistoric flying reptiles?

Best medicine

Patient: “Doc, are my tests back yet? I’m dying of curiosity.”

Doctor: “Well, not actually curiosity.”

Hypochondriac’s guide

Retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction or, more simply, abelchia is a rare condition in which the sphincter muscle at the top of the esophagus can’t relax. The result: Those afflicted can’t burp, leading to bloating, gurgling in the chest and constipation. The treatment is usually a single Botox treatment under general anesthesia to relax the sphincter muscle.

Observation

“High-tech tomatoes. Mysterious milk. Super squash. Are we supposed to eat this stuff? Or is it going to eat us?”

— Scottish TV personality Anita Manning

Medical history

This week in 1997, American Lottie Williams was reportedly the first human to be struck by a remnant of a space vehicle re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. At 3 a.m., while walking in a park in Tulsa, Okla., she saw a light pass over her head.

“It looked like a meteor,” she said. Minutes later, she was hit on the shoulder by a 6-inch piece of blackened metallic material. The debris that struck Ms. Williams is believed to have originated from a small rocket launched as part of a military test mission. Williams was not seriously injured.

Med school

Q: What is a myofascial trigger point?

A: They’re more commonly called muscle knots, though they’re not really knots at all. Rather, these trigger points are congregations of contracted muscle fibers that are unable to release their contraction. When these fibers grow tense, they can feel like a bump under the skin.

The tension of an unrelaxed muscle places pressure on nerves, which can cause pain. That pain can be transmitted to nearby regions, like the ear or head. They are most often caused by placing muscle tissues in unnatural positions, such as sleeping “wrong,” craning your neck or pulling or injuring a muscle during physical exertion. In the last case, the muscle knots occur as your body tries to insulate the injured area with contracted muscles.

They are best prevented by avoiding postures or activities that cause them, along with stretching. Massages, compresses and other things that help boost blood flow to the affected area is the advised way to alleviate discomfort.