I think a number of us who are getting on in age and weight will be able to identify with this issue.

Until the next time, cheers.

A weight off your mind - and your knees

The New York Times, July 12, 2012

Jane Brody

Brace yourself … arthritic knee pain can be debilitating. 

Once you hit your 50s or 60s chances are one or more of your joints, probably your knees or hips, will start to niggle or become arthritic. And if pain or stiffness begin to limit your ability to enjoy life and perform routine tasks, chances are you will consider replacing the troublesome joint.

Rates of knee replacement surgery in the West are skyrocketing as populations get older and fatter, but there are ways to help prevent and ease knee pain and damage.

Osteoarthritis results from wear and tear on the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is an autoimmune disorder.While most people think of osteoarthritis as a breakdown of the cartilage that keeps bones from rubbing together, recent studies have shown it is a far more complicated disease that also involves tissues in and around joints, including bone and marrow. Inflammation can be a contributing factor and genetics play a role. Three genes have been identified so far that accelerate the development of arthritis.

Any kind of joint injury or surgery raises the risk that a joint will become arthritic. That is why so many professional and recreational athletes develop arthritis at younger ages.

Still, there are many potential remedies short of surgery to relieve arthritic pain and to preserve, and perhaps restore, normal joint function. Even if surgery is needed, it can be postponed for many years with treatments proven to help in well-designed clinical trials.

Artificial joints usually last 10 to 15 years. But both devices and surgical techniques are constantly being improved; by delaying a joint replacement, you may end up with a simpler operation or more durable device.

WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESN'T

If you weigh more than you should, do your best to shed those extra kilograms as losing body weight can make a big difference.

Stephen Messier, a professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University, has shown in a trial of 450 men and women with osteoarthritis, a weight-loss diet combined with a well-designed exercise program could significantly reduce knee pain.

The most helpful exercises are those that strengthen the quadriceps, like leg presses, mini-squats and wall squats, and flexion and extension exercises that restore and preserve range of motion, said Dr Glen Johnson, who reported on arthritis prevention and treatment at the annual meeting of the National Athletic Trainers' Association last month. Several visits to a physiotherapist can help.

''The severity of pain is directly correlated with the degree of muscle weakness,'' Dr David Felson, a rheumatologist and epidemiologist at Boston University School of Medicine, wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Although most experts endorse walking for exercise, Johnson instead recommends non-impact activities such as stationary or outdoor cycling, swimming, or working out on an elliptical or rowing machine. Those who choose to walk, he says, may benefit from runners' shoes.

Bracing an arthritic knee can help, too, especially with an unloader brace that shifts the stress away from the damaged part of the joint. Knee braces can help arthritis sufferers continue to participate in physical activities and postpone the need for surgery.

Pain relievers usually bring only temporary relief, if any. Daily dosing with paracetamol should be tried first, experts say, because it is significantly safer than ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Clinical studies have shown no significant relief of arthritic knee pain from supplements of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, though Felson said that if people feel better taking them, he does not discourage the practice.

Nor is there good evidence of benefit from methylsulfonylmethane, SAM-e or acupuncture. Some evidence suggests osteoporosis drugs may be helpful, although they have not yet been tested for arthritis relief in a randomised clinical trial, Felson said.

There are also hints of benefit from vitamin K, an essential nutrient found in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, cabbage and the like), which are good for health in general (unless you take blood thinners).

Doctor-administered treatments include steroid injections every three or four months to control pain and buy time, and injections of a synovial fluid replacement twice a year. In general, though, these are not very effective when arthritis has reached the bone-on-bone stage, Johnson said.

The New York Times

This is really interesting. We need to urgently address how we consume fossil fuel. If this can work, imagine the amount of jet fuel saved.

Until the next time, cheers.

Solar dream takes flight

AFP, July 8, 2012

Touchdown ... experimental sun powered, Solar Impulse. Photo: Reuters

A solar-powered plane has landed in Spain on its way home from breaking a record with the first intercontinental flight by an aircraft run on the sun's energy.

Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard piloted the experimental Solar Impulse on the 17-hour flight from Rabat in Morocco.

The 54-year-old landed at Madrid's main airport early on Saturday, his team said in a statement.

The plane, which is made of carbon fibre and flies without fuel, is on its way back to Switzerland after last month flying from Spain to Morocco, the first time a solar-powered aircraft has crossed continents.

The flights are a rehearsal for an attempted round-the-world trip in 2014 by an updated version of the plane.

The 900-kilometre Morocco to Spain leg was "a particularly tactically challenging flight" at an average of 60km/h with the plane hitting strong crosswinds, the team said.

AFP

Interesting issue. Well, if it is wrong for you, I suppose you have to control the urges and abstain. I really wonder if there is a "cure" for this.

Until the next time, cheers.

Movement splits after leader recants belief in gay & cure

The New York Times, July 8, 2012

"I believe that any sexual expression outside of heterosexual, monogamous marrige is sinful according to the bible." ... Alan Chambers, Exodus president. Photo: Reuters

FOR more than three decades, Exodus International has been the leading force in the so-called ex-gay movement, which holds that homosexuals can be "cured" through Christian prayer and psychotherapy.

Exodus leaders claimed its network of ministries had helped tens of thousands rid themselves of unwanted homosexual urges.

The notion that homosexuality is not inborn but a choice was seized on by conservative Christian groups who oppose legal protections for gays and same-sex marriage.

But Exodus has been convulsed as its president, in a series of public statements and a speech to the group's recent annual meeting, renounced some the movement's core beliefs.

Alan Chambers declared that there was no cure for homosexuality and that "reparative therapy" offered false hopes to gays and could even be harmful. His statements have led to a growing schism.

"For the last 37 years, Exodus has been a bright light, arguably the brightest one, for those with same-sex attraction seeking an authentically Christian hope," said Andrew Comiskey, founder and director of Desert Stream Ministries, based in Kansas City, one of 11 ministries that have defected.

His group left Exodus in May, Mr Comiskey said, "due to leader Alan Chambers's appeasement of practising homosexuals who claim to be Christian" as well as his questioning of the reality of "sexual orientation change".

Mr Chambers said virtually every "ex-gay" he had ever met still harboured homosexual cravings, himself included.

Mr Chambers, who left the gay life to marry and have two children, said gay Christians like himself faced a life-long spiritual struggle to avoid sin and should not be afraid to admit it.

He said Exodus could no longer condone reparative therapy, which blames homosexuality on emotional scars in childhood and claims to reshape the psyche. And in a theological departure that has caused the sharpest reaction from conservative pastors, Mr Chambers said he believed that those who persisted in homosexual behaviour could still be saved by Christ and go to heaven.

Only a few years ago, he appeared in advertisements with his wife, Leslie, saying, "Change is possible".

But now, he said, "Exodus needs to move beyond that slogan. I believe that any sexual expression outside of heterosexual, monogamous marriage is sinful according to the Bible. But we've been asking people with same-sex attractions to overcome something in a way that we don't ask of anyone else."

Mr Chambers's comments come at a time of widening acceptance of homosexuality and denunciation of reparative therapy by professional societies that say it is based on faulty science and is potentially harmful.

A bill to ban "conversion therapy" is before the California state assembly. David Pickup, a California therapist, said restricting it would harm people who are unhappy with their homosexuality by "making them feel that no change is possible at all".

Mr Pickup, an officer of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, composed of like-minded therapists, said reparative therapy had achieved profound changes for thousands of people, including himself.

The therapy, he said, had helped him confront emotional wounds and "my homosexual feelings began to dissipate and attractions for women grew".

The New York Times