Can we really feel rain coming 'in our bones' perhaps yes, but why ?

With South Florida's rainy season approaching, many people will be able to predict storms almost before the weather service does. They'll feel it in their bones.

Local doctors say it's not an old wives' tale. When barometric pressure changes, those with arthritis, sports injuries or hip, shoulder or knee replacements commonly feel an ache.

Dr. Paul Meli, an orthopedic surgeon based in Fort Lauderdale, injured his shoulder water-skiing about 30 years ago. When it stiffens up, he knows rain is coming. "It definitely gets sore and stiff on a lousy day," he said.

Why can bones feel rain? According to doctors, most bones are covered by a thin layer of tissue containing nerve endings. When barometric pressure falls, sometimes an indication that rain is approaching, the bones ever so slightly expand, stretching that layer and causing pain.

Because teeth don't have this layer of nerves, they usually don't ache when weather changes. However, softer tissues of the body also expand and contract with changes in pressure, which is why scars and sports injuries unrelated to bones also can hurt, said Dr. Nabil El Sanadi, chief of emergency medicine for Broward Health System.

Other conditions, such as migraines, sinus headaches and some nerve disorders, also can be predictors of rain. Some people can smell the increase in humidity in the air before rain. And some can sense the temperature is going to plunge because their hands and feet get cold -- the result of slowed-down circulation, El Sanadi said.

"Sudden changes in temperature or pressure actually magnifies discomfort," he added.

Meli, who specializes in hip, knee and shoulder replacements, said many of his patients can predict rain after having a half-pound of metal surgically implanted in their bodies. "The metal conducts cold more than the tissues of the human body," he said. "People come here all the time and tell me it's going to rain."

El Sanadi, who had surgery on his right knee, said changes in pressure, temperature and humidity -- all precursors of a good downpour -- cause him discomfort.

"I can't always predict what the weather will be, but I can tell you when it's cold or humid outside before I get out of bed," he said.

Robin Terrill, a weather spotter who is trained to anticipate severe storms and tornadoes, said he had both his shoulder rotator cuffs repaired, a couple of lower-back surgeries and a broken tibia in his right leg.

"The weather plays an important role on how I feel," said Terrill, 61, of Fort Lauderdale. "When my shoulders click, I know that it is going to rain."

Maurice Dake, of Lantana, another spotter, said he can't predict atmospheric changes by way of his bones. But he said animals can sometimes anticipate earthquakes.

"You'll see barnyard animals running around in circles and doing strange things just before an earthquake," he said. "It probably has to do with change in barometric pressure."

The Farmer's Almanac concurs that people can feel rain in their bones. It says since the 1960s, medical researchers have found a "genuine connection" between increased pain and cold, wet weather.

"While the effect is most commonly linked to arthritis sufferers, many have also reported feeling increased pain from nerve disorders, recently healed fractures, migraines, toothaches, corns, and even scars, when the weather was about to change," according to this year's edition.

Timothy E. O'Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Health Department, said he's skeptical that people can predict rain based on their medical conditions. And he has an arthritic knee.

"It doesn't predict for me. It tells me what I shouldn't have done, like over-dancing at a wedding on St. Patrick's Day," he said. "I can't do the jig like I used to."

On the other hand, he said, "barometric pressure changes during a high tide and full moon definitely affect pregnant women. A lot of hospitals see early deliveries during that time."

Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Miami have an arsenal of high-tech tools, such as radar, satellites and computer models to develop official forecasts. Do some of them rely on their innards to augment their predictions?

"Not that I know of," said meteorologist Robert Molleda. "But it's possible it plays an intangible role."

http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=18274&Section=DISEASE

Childbirth and the place of Doulas, Midwives.

Around 2004 there was an influx of women asking for birth support, Gaby said, who is actively involved in training doulas.

Contrary to midwives, doulas have no medical role in the birthing suite and only offer advice when explicitly asked. But she said her real focus is delivering effective child birth education before the big event.

"I used to be a doula that just turned up for the birth, but I realised after the first 10 years - which I call my 'apprentice years' - that really the focus and effort is about the work I do prior to the birth."

The concept of an experienced woman attending birth is not new, she said, and can be found in various indigenous cultures around the world. She said doulas used to be called god sibs or montrice.

"Aboriginal women had them forever, known as Charrlies and in Japan they are called Josanp," she said.

"It's not a new thing but has become en vogue because there is such a high intervention rate and the medical model is so powerful in the hospitals that women's births have been seen as a medical procedure and not something that's a natural process".

Gaby, who describes herself as "a guardian of natural birth" is very passionate about helping women have the most natural birthing experience they can have and take away their fears and apprehensions.

Gaby said she believes what she calls "the cascade of intervention" was a factor explaining the rising rate of caesarean deliveries in Australia.

"Women need to know that the smallest amount of intervention can snowball. A lot of women end up with caesareans because they were induced.

A major focus for Gaby is tackling the trend of women electing for caesarean births, which is also on the rise.

"It's really sad that in our society women are so terrified of birth that they are willing to go through major surgery.

"They miss out on a beautiful experience. It's the most divine experience a woman can go through.

She said while most partners are welcoming her into the delivery suite to take the pressure off and provide a calm and relaxed environment through her experience, she sometimes faced hostility from medical staff.

"In a lot of the private hospitals here in Perth the midwives really are hostile to me," she said.

"They see me as a threat. They even got to a point where you have to sign a consent form that you won't speak to your client, or encourage them or give them advice at any time."

Gaby found that her skills are gaining acceptance by the medical profession, and her new book A Labour Of Love II proudly features a foreword written by Perth's Professor Fiona Stanley.

With the new book, the sequel to her first birthing guide A Labour Of Love, Gaby aims to "empower through knowledge to give women the birth they want".

"If you don't know what your choices are, you don't have any," she said.

"Should you need medical interventions, you can't feel disappointed if you have put everything into your mental and physical preparations. People spend more money on their cot, their prams and their baby car seats etc than what they do on education. Birth education is invaluable."

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/national/health/the-rise-of-the-doula-20130408-2hhg8.html#ixzz2QeUOD52L

Consumption of Red Meat in diet linked to shortened life span.

 Recently featured on the Dianne Rheme show, and also mainstream media such as CNN and the New York Times, consumption of Red Meat has been linked to heart disease, and other significant causes of illness and death in humans.  

 With Processed Meats such as hotdogs and lunchmeats already linked with certainty to colon cancers and stomach cancer, this news, while alarming can serve to help individuals choose their diets more wisely and decrease the likelyhood of serious ailments later in life. 

From the Dianne Rheme Show 

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. An estimated 80 million Americans have one or more types of the deadly disease. For many years, numerous studies stressed the link between a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol with hardening of the arteries. But critics of these studies doubted they had found the true dietary cause. Now, new research from doctors at the Cleveland Clinic finds that a compound in red meat and supplements leads to higher heart disease risk. For our Mind and Body Series: the latest research on red meat and what it might mean for heart disease treatment and prevention.

From CNN 

Using data from two long-running studies of health professionals, researchers tracked the diets of more than 121,000 middle-aged men and women for up to 28 years. Roughly 20% of the participants died during that period.

On average, each additional serving of red meat the participants ate per day was associated with a 13% higher risk of dying during the study. Processed red meat products -- such as hot dogs, bacon, and salami -- appeared to be even more dangerous: Each additional daily serving was associated with a 20% higher risk of dying.

Based on these findings, the researchers estimate that substituting one daily serving of red meat with fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, whole grains, or low-fat dairy products would reduce the risk of dying in this stage of life by 7% to 19%. If everyone in the study had slashed their average red-meat intake to less than half a serving per day, the researchers say, 9% of deaths among men and 8% of deaths among women could have been prevented.

New Study: Acupuncture can relieve pain on par with morphine.

Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco have determined that acupuncture stimulation reduces pain. The acupuncture induced pain relief was determined to be the equivalent of a moderate dose of morphine. Dr. Goddard from the renown University of California, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department conducted a laboratory experiment to measure the effects of needling acupuncture point ST36, located on the lower leg.

In detail (Acupuncture "shop talk") 

Acupuncture point ST36 (Zusanli, Leg Three Measures) has a function within Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to activate the Stomach (Yangming) channel and relieve pain. Although more commonly known for its ability to tonify Qi, Blood and Yin, ST36 is indicated for the treatment of leg, back, chest, breast, abdominal, eye and knee pain. Headaches are also indicated. In general, ST36 is indicated for pernicious cold damp painful obstruction related disorders.

ST36 treats channel specific pain. The research of this study measured the analgesic effects of ST36 for electrically induced pain of the lower incisor. It is not surprising that ST36 was found effective given that the channel runs along the gums and jaw. The primary Stomach channel begins at acupuncture point LI20 beside the nose and ascends to the root of the nose where it intersects UB1. Next, the Stomach channel descends along the lateral aspect of the nose and enters the upper gum and joins with acupuncture point DU26. The channel then circles around the corner of the mouth and meets with CV24 at the mentolabial groove. Next, the Yangming channel follows the angle of the jaw and runs upward in front of the ear. At this point, the primary channel traverses other regions of the body.

Alternative Treatments For Easing End of Life Pain.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Of the countless painful decisions surrounding a loved one's end-of-life care, among the trickiest is how to provide physical comfort in a way that also provides a dignified ending.

"For end of life, the opioids are very important for pain management, but they do leave people very sedated," says researcher and physician Josephine Briggs, who heads the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. "Some people are looking for adjuncts to help with that."

Increasingly, those adjuncts include acupuncture, massage and other complementary therapies.

"We're seeing increased interest in complementary approaches in hospice settings," Briggs says, "and recognition by patients and caregivers that some of these approaches may be helpful in this stage of life."

A comprehensive survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2007 found that 41 percent of hospice care centers offered complementary and alternative therapies (CAT), had a CAT provider on staff or under contract, or both.

Those numbers have likely gone up, experts say.

"It's certainly been gaining momentum in the past four of five years," says Dr. Porter Storey, executive vice president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

"There are patients who are not getting adequate relief from usual medications," Storey says. "Sometimes it's people who don't tolerate medicine well or get bad side effects and still have the pain or nausea. And sometimes it's people who value mental clarity so much they would rather have the symptoms than any kind of drowsiness.

"We try really hard to make sure whatever we're doing matches the patient's goals and desires and is most likely to provide the most relief with the fewest side effects."

Acupuncture proves particularly helpful with nausea, Briggs says.

Read the full story here: 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-27/health/sc-health-0327-dying-complimentary-therapies-in-th-20130327_1_acupuncture-nausea-end-of-life-care

Breakthroughs with Martin Sheen Explores the Rise in Homeopathic Remedies

Breakthroughs with Martin Sheen Explores the Rise in Homeopathic Remedies

This spring, Insights PTV's Breakthroughs with Martin Sheen will take a look at the reasons behind the growth in the homeopathic remedy industry.

The producers of Breakthroughs with Martin Sheenare announcing a May debut for a new report investigating the growth in the homeopathic remedy industry.

Breakthroughs Martin Sheen PBS is an independently produced television series airing in markets around the country on public television. The program is hosted by the legendary Martin Sheen, who is about to embark on his second half-century in American entertainment in 2013. Mr. Sheen has developed a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most respected actors during a career that includes more than 60 film appearances.

More Americans are exploring remedies for illness that are outside of the traditional medical establishment.

Breakthroughs Martin Sheen reviews how new industries are emerging in our economy, and the homeopathic remedy industry is showing brisk growth. After a sluggish period for the industry just a few years ago, many Americans are now looking at homeopathy as an addition or as a complete alternative to traditional Western medicine. In this new report, Breakthroughs will explore the reasons behind the growth and find out what is attracting people to these alternative remedies. The producers will also talk to critics who warn against relying too heavily on these substances that do not undergo the rigorous testing and trials of modern medications.

The producers of Breakthroughs Martin Sheen are targeting a May distribution date for the new report. Check local listings for air times on public television and PBS affiliates in individual markets. For more information the producers can be contacted via the official website for the show at breakthroughsptv.com.

The affect of even a little sugar on obesity and diabetes rates.

From United Press Intl. 

Although obesity predisposes people to type 2 diabetes, U.S. researchers suggest sugar may also have a direct, independent link to diabetes.

Lead author Dr. Sanjay Basu, an assistant professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, and colleagues examined data on global sugar availability and diabetes rates from 175 countries over the past decade.

The study, published in the journal PLoS One, found, after accounting for obesity and a large array of other factors, increased sugar in a population's food supply was linked to higher type 2 diabetes rates, independent of obesity rates.

"It was quite a surprise," Basu said in a statement. The research was conducted while Basu was a medical resident at University of California, San Francisco, and working with senior author Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.

"We're not diminishing the importance of obesity at all, but these data suggest that at a population level there are additional factors that contribute to diabetes risk besides obesity and total calorie intake, and that sugar appears to play a prominent role," the researchers said.

For every additional 150 calories of sugar available per person per day, the prevalence of diabetes in the population rose 1 percent, even after controlling for obesity, physical activity, other types of calories and a number of economic and social variables, the study found.

New Study: How Acupuncture Reduces Stress Levels

Good news, acupuncture fans: It really does help relieve stress. And now, a new study is giving a closer look at why.

The new study explores the biological mechanisms involved in acupuncture's stress-relieving abilities, something science has yet to fully understand.

The researchers discovered that stress hormones were lower in rats that had received electronic acupuncture. Results were published in the Journal of Endocrinology.

"Many practitioners of acupuncture have observed that this ancient practice can reduce stress in their patients, but there is a lack of biological proof of how or why this happens. We're starting to understand what's going on at the molecular level that helps explain acupuncture's benefit,” study researcher Dr. Ladan Eshkevari, an associate professor of nursing at Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, said in a statement.

For the study, Eshkevari and colleagues designed a series of tests with electronic acupuncture to ensure that each rat received the exact same dose of pressure. Eshkevari targeted the spot below the knee, or the “Zusanli” point, with the needle. This area is the same in rats and humans and it is reported that stimulating it can alleviate stress and other conditions.

For the 10-day experiment, researchers split the rats into four groups. One group was a control group with no added stress and no acupuncture; one group was made to be stressed out for an hour each day but didn't receive acupuncture; one group was made to feel stressed for an hour each day but received "sham" acupuncture by their tails; and one group was made to feel stressed and received the genuine acupuncture treatment at the Zusanli area.

The body secretes an assortment of hormones into the bloodstream as a reaction to stress, which the researchers were then able to measure in the rats. They assessed blood hormone levels secreted by the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the adrenal gland -- together these are known as the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. They also measured a peptide involved in creatures' "fight or flight" responses, called NPY.

Researchers discovered that the "...electronic acupuncture blocks the chronic, stress-induced elevations of the HPA axis hormones and the sympathetic NPY pathway,” Eshkevari said in the statement.

Since stress has been linked with detrimental health effects including heart disease and even brain shrinkage it’s important to study any measures to combat its detrimental nature.