Theraband Use Youtube Video

The Theraband (see it at Amazon) is a useful exercise tool that some people have utilized for injury rehabilitation, particularly for elbow problems

A YouTube video discussing the product can be seen here.

Metaphoric Language In Romance

Here is a paper appropriate for Valentine's Day.  Abstract:

Language plays an important role in romantic attachment. However, it is unclear whether the structure and topic of language use might influence potential mate choice. We investigated 124 female students' preference for compliments paid by males incorporating either literal or metaphoric (conventional/novel) language and targeting their appearance or possessions (house) throughout their menstrual cycle. Male faces paired with novel metaphorical compliments were rated as more attractive by women than those paired with literal ones. Compliments targeting appearance increased male attractiveness more than possessions. Interestingly, compliments on appearance using novel metaphors were preferred by women in a relationship during the fertile phase but by single women during the luteal phase. A similar pattern of altered face attraction ratings was subsequently shown by subjects in the absence of the verbal compliments and even though they were unable to recognize the faces. Thus the maintained attraction bias for faces previously associated with figurative language compliments appears to be unconscious. Overall this study provides the first evidence that women find men who typically use novel metaphorical language to compliment appearance more attractive than those using prosaic language or complimenting possessions. The evolutionary significance for such a language use bias in mate selection is discussed.

That is an interesting study in human psychology and mate attraction.

Elimination Diets For Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Elimination diets attempt to identity foods that cause certain symptoms or disorders.  Here is a paper that focuses on elimination diets as interventions for, e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.  Abstract:

Nutrition plays an important role in neurodevelopment. This insight has led to increasing research into the efficacy of nutrition-related interventions for treating neurodevelopmental disorders. This review discusses an elimination diet as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder, with a focus on the efficacy of the food additives exclusion diet, gluten-free/casein-free diet and oligoantigenic diet. Furthermore, we discuss the potential mechanisms of elimination diets' effects in these neurodevelopmental disorders. The main candidate mechanism is the microbiome-gut-brain axis possibly involving complex interactions between multiple systems, including the metabolic, immune, endocrine, and neural system. We conclude with practical implications and future directions into the investigation of an elimination diet's efficacy in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.

Once again we see the power of nutrition and diet to affect serious human health and developmental problems, and we note the mention of "the microbiome-gut-brain axis" - demonstrating, also once again, the relevance of the gut microbiome to various aspects of human well-being.

Saline Infusion For Postural Tachycardia Syndrome

Treatment for option for postural tachycardia syndrome described here, abstract:

BACKGROUND: The postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a heterogeneous group of disorders that results in symptoms of orthostatic intolerance. Excess blood pooling has been observed to cause low effective circulating volume in the central vasculature. Consequently, acute volume loading with IV saline has emerged as a potential strategy for clinical intervention. We evaluated the impact of acute volume loading on both the signs and symptoms of patients suffering from POTS.

METHODS: Fifty-seven subjects screened from our population of POTS patients and assenting to participation were administered the two surveys by telephone. Subjects completed each survey twice, before, and after initiating IV hydration therapy. The Orthostatic Hypotension Questionnaire (OHQ) was used to assess change in clinical symptomatology, while the short form 36 health survey (SF-36) was employed to assess the impact of IV saline infusion on quality of life.
RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients were included in the analysis. The average number of medications trialed before referral for IV hydration was 3.6 ± 1.7 medications. Saline infusions occurred with mean frequency of 11.3 ± 8.5 days and at a mean volume of 1.5 ± 0.6 l per infusion. The mean change of the OHQ was 3.1 ± 0.3 (95% CI 2.6-3.7; P < 0.001), with significant improvement in all the composite scores. The mean change in the SF-36 form was 19.1 ± 2.7 (95% CI -24.6 to -13.6; P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Intermittent IV infusions of saline dramatically reduce symptoms and improve quality of life in patients suffering from POTS. Further work should explore its efficacy as a bridge study for patients of high symptomatic severity.

So, something simple such as saline infusion can have a significant positive impact on the symptoms of this disorder; this may be something patients afflicted with this syndrome should discuss with their physicians.

Overuse Injuries In Endurance Athletes

Of interest is this paper on overuse injuries in endurance athletes, abstract:

AIM:

The purpose of this study was to clarify training-related risk factors for overuse injuries.

METHODS:

This was twelve-month retrospective study which was done by self-reported postal questionnaire. The study group consisted of 446 men and women top-level Finnish athletes representing three different endurance sports (cross-country skiing, swimming, long-distance running) between the ages of 15-35. Self-reported anthropometric and training-related variables (such as starting age of training, years of active training, hours trained yearly, competition hours and weekly resting days) and occurrence of overuse injuries.

RESULTS:

Athletes with less than 2 rest days per week during the training season had 5.2-fold risk (95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.89-14.06, P=0.001) for an overuse injury, and athletes who trained more than 700 hours during a year had 2.1-fold risk (95% CI 1.21-3.61, P=0.008) for an overuse injury compared to the others. Athletes who reported a tendon injury were on average two years older than athletes without such an injury (P<0.001).

CONCLUSION:

We found that low number of recovery days and a high amount of training are training-related risk factors for overuse injuries in top-level endurance athletes. The higher number of tendon overuse injuries in older than younger athletes may indicate that age-related degeneration plays an important role in the etiology of tendon injuries. These findings should be taken into account when planning exercise programs for endurance athletes.

The conclusions seem to be relevant for the more casual athlete and average person exercising as well, when one considers that insufficient recovery and excessive training are risk factors for overuse injuries in elite athletes.  The age factor is also very likely relevant as well. If we assume relevance for athletes at all levels of ability and experience, one should plan their exercise programs to incorporate sufficient recovery time, avoid excess training - and these recommendations would be especially important for the older athlete.