New Research: Improve Your Breathing By First Making it Worse
Here’s even more startling asthma research, this time from University of Houston professor Richard Bond, who’s been experimenting with beta blockers as asthma therapy. It’s a pretty revolutionary idea when you consider beta blockers are antagonists while the meds of choice for flare relief are agonists. Bond calls this method of treating symptoms by taking meds that first aggravate them, “paradoxical pharmacology.”
I was skeptical when I started reading this story, but 80% of study participants with mild asthma reacted positively to the beta blockers. And just check out these pictures. Bond notes that even if beta blockers ever become part of the treatment regimen after further study and development, asthmatics will probably always need bronchodilators for serious flares.
Vanity Fair: Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear
If the idea of a chemical company steeped in a PCB and dioxin-heavy past turning itself into a agriculture business that relies on genetically modified seeds doesn’t disturb you, its corporate strong-arm tactics in the heartland probably will. This frightening story just gives you one more reason to support small farms and buy your vegetable garden seeds from smaller, non-genetically modified sources. See these instead:
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Pinetree Garden Seeds
Organic Seed Alliance
The Economic Wisdom of Supporting Clean Energy
In his Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, Fred Krupp smashes the old “It’s too expensive to fix the environment” argument by pointing out just how much companies will profit from providing new green solutions and technology. The truly big push we need, Krupp argues, won’t come until Congress steps in with a cap on emissions.
Finally, I’m ending with inspiration today. If you’ve somehow missed this video on Oprah or any one of the thousands of websites and blogs that featured it, here’s dying professor Randy Pausch’s last lecture. How a man suffering from pancreatic cancer and leaving behind a wife and 3 young children manages to speak with such hope, I don’t know. It’s a lesson I’d like to learn.
Yes, I think you could use a broth for the roux in the tuna, but as opposed to chicken, I might used a watered down oyster sauce or something along those lines. I keep forgetting about your dairy aversion in savory cooking!
Yeah… the personal disclosure…. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to start off with your personal stats, but I’m not sure where in the process you can gracefully say you were married before! I probaby didn’t adhere to protocol!
Love the links. That video is awesome!
Have a great Saturday!
Very interesting about the beta blockers. It will be interesting to see what comes about from this.