Week 12 Assignment

I thought the articles examining how technology is now able to create artificial limbs that function via a person's thoughts were really interesting. There is not much doubt in my mind that using design and technology to help people gain more mobility is a positive thing. However, I'm not sure if we can design our way out of all of our health challenges. It seems that every month, there is some major drug that was initially presented as a miracle drug for a certain condition, that after further study and use, resulted in terrible side effects and get pulled off the market. Some new technologies do concern me and we see everyday the health impacts of, for example, prolonged use of computers and smart phones resulting in carpel tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, etc. At the same time, I think about how there were similar fears and doubts that accompanied "new" technologies such as the printing press, the television, etc, and how much new technologies have improved access to eduction for large segments of the population.

I also found the article on mediation appropriate for the class, but as a whole, I wish that meditation in the U.S. and Europe, especially amongst new practitioners, could eventually become less focused on benefits to individuals, and travel more towards meditation as taught within the Buddhist framework, which is geared very much towards using meditation as a basis for taking action and creating social change.

Week 11 Assignment

1. Acupuncture is very effective energy medicine if we think of energy as that which enables transformation and movement in the body. Acupuncture is especially effective for moving qi throughout the body, dealing with blockages, and generally "excess" conditions of qi stagnation and heat.

2. I thought aura photography mainly captured thermal/heat but the article we read explained that ti's much more complicated. The use of high-voltage electrical fields for this type of photography makes me wonder if the same science behind it can be used to explain and describe the effect of different crystal on health.

3. I think human intent can play a critical role in health since so much of our health is controlled by our nervous system (e.g. cardiovascular rhythms, digestive system).

Biophysics: Week 10

I was reading an article in the New Yorker recently titled "Germs are us" which talked about how we are inhabited by ten thousand species of bacteria, which in total outnumber what we normally consider "our" cells by 10 to 1. All together, they weigh 3 pounds, the same as our brain. And we would not be able to function without them. So yes, I think all humans are living organism hosting our own special ecosystem that can't be seen to the naked eye.

Biophysics, the use of physics to study biology is related to Chinese medicine in that much of Chinese medicine is about the movement of qi and blood throughout the body. In some ways, we can say that the fluid dynamics we study in Chinese medicine is very related to theories of physics, and being that it's applied to the biological functions, it is related to the field of biophysics.

Week #8 Assignment

1. I find Newton's 3 laws interesting since I play a lot of sports, and so much of these sports (tennis, basketball) depends on force to change a ball's velocity and acceleration. It's fascinating to "feel" the physics of how hard I have to swing my racket to hit a ball at a certain speed, or how hard I have to toss the ball to get it to the net.

2. What I find sometimes disturbing about energy efficiency in our country is that often, studies show that when something is more energy efficient (for example, a hybrid car), we then feel okay to use it more (e.g. drive more) so that in the end, we are not saving energy at all!

3. I didn't realize until now how much Descartes and his Cartesian coordinate system had influenced my life. I spent several years in my early twenties studying economics, specifically microeconomics. Thinking back on those days, the first things that comes to mind are all the problems sets involving what I now know as Cartesian coordinates, which become the basis of multivariate calculate, which in turn was the foundation of microeconomics!

Week #7 Assignment

1. Ordered Chaos: Even in chaos, I think there are patterns that exist. Personally, sometimes my apartment can get very chaotic, but it's generally chaotic in the same way (dog stuff everywhere, books on all surfaces, etc). And even when we clean, it often falls back into chaos, seemingly naturally.

2. It's hard to predict how small perturbations affect us, but since all of us and everything in our universe seems to be interconnected, there undoubtedly are impacts to even small disturbances in the world. For example, even a tiny change in the earth's axis will impact the climate of our planet, and therefore the health of many ecosystems.

3. I personally can't connect consciousness with the idea of "mystical themes of wholeness". I don't can't equate consciousness with wholeness - the two concepts don't resonate for me together. I think there are objects that I view as "whole" in an aesthetic sense but that are not conscious.

4. I did a couple of the computer experiments listed for this week. Trippy!

Week #6 Assignment

1. I don't think I can put a judgement on vibrations as "good" or "bad". I don't think they are either - they exist as they are, waves, etc. However, there are vibrations that can cause great damage such as earthquakes.

2. Resonance in my life. Since I'm pregnant, the resonance I feel the most in my life right now is that of another being who depends on me for survival but has its own heartbeat (twice as fast as mine) and its own sleep cycle. I often feel like I no longer have much control over my body as the baby determines when I'm hungry and what I want to eat. Its resonance is very strong!

3. I think Qi is both more broad and more narrow than the concept of energy. Everything that moves and transforms is the result of Qi, and when beings die, the Qi is gone. Energy, I think of as ATP produced by humans or carbon and natural movements that produces fuel.

WEEK #5 Assignment

First I want to share this link to an animated explanation of the Higgs Boson which I found to be hugely entertaining and educational. 

http://vimeo.com/41038445

CP violation is when the assumption that all particles decay at the same rate whether time ran forward or backward, is violated. This happened when researchers experimented with the decay rate of the kaon particle.

There seems to be connections between sacred geometry and physics such as the Tree of Life in kabala and string theory, and the spiral and the golden mean.

My world is often asymmetrical - for example, my nose will shift to the left or right, seemingly randomly! (or maybe it depends on which side I sleep...)

Week #4 Assignment

1. Given that the equation e=mc2 led tangentially to atomic bombs and nuclear energy, I don't think anyone's life in the world today is unaffected by it. Every day we hear news of certain countries trying to develop atomic bombs, followed by American hand-wrangling over how to stop it. At the same time, our capacity to develop this technology is one of the reasons why we are a world "superpower". Also, as a consumer of energy, I'm sure some of it comes from nuclear energy sources.

2. The 4 forces seem very defined (and makes me think there must be more out there, undiscovered!) Gravity and electromagnetic force seems the most accessible to me since I can see examples of them in everyday life. the strong & weak nuclear forces, I understand theoretically but not tangibly.

3. It seems that gravity serves a larger force than I would have first expected, given that it is the basis for quantum mechanics in a way. While I can grasp the idea of gravity at the scale that I can see (i.e. my computer is staying put on my desk, which is staying put on the floor), when the articles begins to talk about gravity at the quantum level, it seems like anything could be possible. A theory of quantum gravity seems like it could be a huge breakthrough in physics.

Week #3 Assignment

1. I think synchronistic events happen all the time: someone calls when you're thinking of them, your best friends gets a root canal the same day that you do, etc. It's open to individual interpretation whether it's by "chance" or as the result of some forces we don't yet understand.

2. I would explain connectivity as both cause and effect, and in that way, everything is connected. I would also explain as in the fact that matter is bound by the same physical forces. Also, we are connected in that humans, if broken down into elements, are made of approximately the same proportion of hydrogen, oxygen, etc as the universe.

Assignment #2

1. Uncertainty

I really enjoyed the "Discursive Practices of Skepticism and Fath in Cuban Santeria" article and its discussion of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. To me, the article could really be used as a good critique for the format of our class debates with an "East" vs "West" perspective (see blog post #1). As the article states "any attempt to describe a cultural phenomenon... will bear the imprint of the observer's perspective". Thus what one person constructs as east vs. west is very subjective to one's own cultural experience and biases. And the instructor clearly has his own subjective perspective to impose on us, as is elucidated through various comments made in class (i.e. west = scientific method, etc, and east = the tao de ching). I feel like the entire thing devolves into an exercise of typecasting stereotypes.

2. Causality

My thoughts on causality is there we only know so much about the way the universe works, so what cause and effect we can deduce from our limited knowledge can easily be upended.

3. Weird Universe

I don't think the universe is weird so much as fascinating because of all we don't understand, from dark matter to multiple dimensions to questions of infinity. At a scale the size of the universe, there seems to be room to theorize about beginnings and ends, infinite expansion... more than enough for our limited lives.

Quiz #1

I decided to come to Chinese Medicine school because I've felt the need to transition from working in social justice/public policy to something more healing on the personal level. To something more tangible. My family also has a history in practicing Chinese Medicine, and it was my primary form of health care growing up.

I really enjoy reading popular culture books on physics and learning the basic theory behind theories like the possibility of multiple universes and the discovery of the Higgs Boson. It really tries to get at the fundamental question of why we are alive, from a very hard science point of view.

Time seems to be speeding up in general for me as I get older, whereas I remember days lasting a lot longer when I was a child. When I'm meditating, say on a retreat, there will also be hours that just seem to go by so quickly and hours that are agonizingly slow.

Assignment #1

My honest reaction to our first class discussion was one of being somewhat aggravated. While I really enjoy that fact that we are learning physic from a larger point of view than that of traditional mathematical formulas, I was really triggered by the cultural reductionism of the "East vs West" setup of the class discussion. Mainly, this was because there was no defining of what we are suppose to take these two words to mean. And my sense from the class discussion was that we are suppose to impose and feed upon stereotypes of both of these terms without any critical thinking.

Is "West" suppose to mean white European? Based in Greek philosophy? Modern American culture? Where would African, Latin American, Middle Eastern approaches to science fit in this set-up? What about any of the indigenous cultural traditions of people from Europe to Russia? Is "East" suppose to be Chinese? Daoist? Buddhist? Hindu? Sufi? Modern East Asian cultural approaches to science?

While I have no problems engaging in debate based on something specific (say, what would Hippocrates say versus the great Chinese Medicine doctor Zhang Zhong Jing, or even what would Socrates' approach be versus Confucius), I think to use these broad terms of "East" and "West" as the basis of differentiating intellectual thought, without definition, is irresponsible and frankly, culturally offensive to everyone.


Thanks for reading.

Toxicology of FUZI: King of 100 Herbs

Toxicology of FUZI: King of 100 Herbs

English Name: aconite, prepared daughter root of common monks’ hood

Pharmaceutical Name: Radix Aconiti Lateralis Praeparata

Properties: acrid, hot

Channels Entered: Heart, Kidney, Spleen

Safety Index: toxic

Fx: Restores Depleted Yang

Used in emergency situations in which there is a complete void of yang energy in the body.

Fx: Tonifies Yang, Augments Fire

Treats any type of yang deficiency because it warms all of the organs and opens all of the channels and collaterals.

Indications For Use

Flabby, pale tongue with a white or greasy coat; thready, weak pulse or deep and slow pulse; bland taste in the mouth with no desire to drink; cold limbs, intolerance to cold; soreness, coldness and weakness of the lower back and knees; clear polyuria

Production, Preparation & Dosage

Biochemistry: the toxicity of aconite is directly related to several alkaloids found in the raw material, the most dangerous of which is aconitine. These alkaloids activate voltage-sensitive sodium channels in the heart and nervous tissues, which become resistant to stimulation. Toxic effects of raw aconite can be eliminated through special growing, harvesting, and processing techniques, as well as herb combining techniques.

• Seedlings of aconite should be harvested high in the mountains where they endure severe cold and then planted at the winter solstice in the Jiangyou area of China.
• The plant should grow in the time of year when the yang is in its ascendancy and harvested at the summer solstice before the yang starts its decline.
• Once harvested, the tuber undergoes detoxification procedures involving steaming, soaking in brine, and repeated rinsing in flowing, clean water.

Prior to use, the patient should pre-decocted Fu Zi for 30-60 minutes.

The normal dosage is 3 to 15 grams. Some herbalists propose dosages of up to 100 grams.

To be or not...

To live is to know: I can't pretend that I understood in a very deep way the Capra article but even with a superficial grasp of the concepts, it seems to make so much common sense that I wondered why it was a breakthrough concept. For some reason, the article made me think of the image that compares the human neuron cell and the "universe".

Memory & magic: I want to learn more about the secrets of magic! This article also makes me want to go see a magic show to see if I can spot the "tricks"

Carbon footprint: I took the carbon foot print quiz (even though it was a bit difficult having to convert pounds to dollars, etc!) This was the second time I've taken one of these and both times, I've been at about 1/2 of the U.S. average - okay but not great. The major thing I have going for me is that I don't own a car and walk 90% of the time. However, I do eat out a lot and also take several longer trips a year. I'm not normally much of a shopper and being in school is helping even more since I have less money!

Of chocolate & geese

1. My immediate environment is probably more biologically diverse than many urban settings. Living right by Lake Merritt, a wildlife sanctuary, I see myriad species of winged creatures (and their waste products!) every day. I've even seen a giant jelly fish and what looked like a stingray in the lake, but sadly, neither probably lasted very long there. My dog often chases away other "wildlife" like squirrels and raccoons (there is a one large family that appears to live across the street). Also, one of the first things I noticed and loved when I first moved to the bay area was the extraordinary diversity of plant life in everyone's yards. Just walking to BART, I would see at least 50 different kinds of flowers and countless types of succulents in dry gardens.

2. I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate (sacrilege!) which doesn't mean that I don't like it - it's just not something I crave because I'm not big on sweets. Reading the articles on eating chocolate for anti-oxidants and its other positive health effects made me realize that I probably get the benefit without the side effects of too much sugar consumption. That's because I usually eat just a little piece and enjoy it, while eating more will lead me to feel a little sick. I have noticed that I've been eating more chocolate since starting at ACCHS - I'm not sure if that's because my classmates are chocoholics and there is always some around or because of the stress!

3. Last week's class discussion was getting to be a bit depressing until we got to the chocolate - urban sprawl, biodiversity decline, GMOs, possible bee extinction, overfishing... But I think these kinds of discussions are good for all of us. Sometimes, I notice that I get too comfortable taking the energy I use for granted, eating fish without thinking of the type of fish I'm consuming. During class, I checked the "Seafood Watch" app on my phone to get a refresher on what types of fish are "good" to eat. I also went home and logged on to PGE to see our energy consumption compared to last year. At the end of the day, even with all the overwhelming and terrible news about what we are doing to our planet and to each other as human beings, it's helpful to take joy in the positive as well, including what we individually contribute.

Week 2 Assignments

I enjoyed both the Mitosis vs Meiosis, and Citric Acid Cycle links. Since I'm taking Physiology right now, it's both a good review of what we've covered in that class, but also more in depth. I'm not sure I understood everything in the Citric Acid Cycle animation - if we were to fully understand that process, I think we would have to include a bit more lecture and question/answer during class time on the topic.

I know this wasn't one of the listed discussion questions for this week's class materials, but I was especially interested in the article "Health: The origin of a special success" and want to spend a bit of time on the topic of how molecular biology is potentially changing cancer treatment. When Steve Jobs passed away last year, I remember reading an article in which he talked about his prediction that he will either be in the last generation of people to die of cancer or the first generation to be cured of cancer through individual gene therapy. I found this idea incredibly compelling but also, given the track record of western medical science and therapy, potentially fraught with landmines that can't yet be predicted.

Still, the concept is interesting enough that I did a bit more reading on it and have included a few links below that you might find interesting.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/genome-map-helps-improve-cancer-treatments.html

A decade after the first draft of the human genome was published, hospitals and clinics are using DNA sequencing to generate better treatments and diagnoses for patients with rare childhood diseases, cancers and other mysterious conditions. Using new technology that can effectively print out an individual’s genome -- the instruction manual for making all the body’s cells -- doctors are examining individual components, called bases, to slow intractable cancers and treat one-of-a- kind diseases in children.

http://www.mesothelioma.com/news/2012/01/is-genome-mapping-key-to-cancer-cure.htm

Of all conditions mapped, sequencing cancer genomes has shown to be extremely effective. According to Barrett Rollins of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, cancer “is among the most promising targets because it is essentially a disease in which damaged genes let cells grow without restraint.”

Radiolab episode on placebos

http://www.radiolab.org/2007/may/17/

Check out this episode of the Radiolab show dedicated to placebos.

****

With new research demonstrating the startling power of the placebo effect, this hour of Radiolab examines the chemical consequences of belief and imagination.

Could the best medicine be no medicine at all? We take stock of the pharmacy in our brains, consider the symbolic power of the doctor coat, and visit the tent of a self-proclaimed faith healer.

All over the world, people say they are healed by things that turn out to be placebo. So it's easy to think that they must have been faking in the first place if all it took was a little sugar pill to assuage their ailments. But keep your scoffing at bay. That little white pill may be inducing some very real effects. We talk to placebo experts Fabrizio Benedetti and Tor Wager who tell us about the well-stocked pharmacy in our brains, just waiting to be unlocked.

Then pain expert, Dr. Daniel Carr, takes us to the WWII Battle of Anzio, where a puzzled young medic sees that the same bullet can create very different experiences of pain. And Daniel Moerman tells us how the color of a pill effects how well Italians sleep.

Next up: a look at the placebo effect from the doctor's perspective. How the medical context alone can be the key into the brain's healing resources. We'll hear the story of Dr. Albert Mason, who found he had super-powers, used them for good, and then lost them forever. Then, we'll witness the real, measurable power of the white coat up-close as Jad follows his dad, Dr. Naji Abumrad, into the examining room. And then we'll visit the moment of transformation from medical student to healer: the white coat ceremony.

The very first placebo-controlled trial may have been the debunking of the charismatic Anton Mesmer (the enigmatic source responsible for the verb “to mesmerize”), an enlightenment figure with a healing technique that Ben Franklin, for one, thought was basically placebo performance. Historians Ed Cohen and Ann Harrington fill in the details.

Last, producer Gregory Warner takes us into the tent of a Christian faith-healing, where preacher Steve Buza treats all sorts of ailments, including scoliosis and carpal tunnel, and the healed reflect on the relationship between pain and doubt.

March 15 Class Discussion

Hi all,

I was not expecting to take Biochemistry this semester but was pleasantly surprised by the accessibility of the topics discussed in our first class. There are two topics in particular that I want to comment on.

The first is the ethics of doctors prescribing placebos without the patients' knowledge. I mulled over this for a while and couldn't help but feel that I was going around in circles in my brain. My line of thinking went something like this.

I believe strongly in the "mind-body-spirit" connection and the ability of the "mind" to heal physical symptoms. As someone who has a meditation practice, including intensive retreats, and who works for a meditation center, I've experienced for myself and seen others go through self-healing work through meditation and other forms of awareness practices.

I also have an interesting anecdote to share: the mother of one of my best friends experienced excruciating hip and back pain for years - the point where M.D.s had her on methadone and she was immobile. They never found any anatomical/physiological source of the pain. Then she went through a period of slight dementia and was hospitalized. While hospitalized, she was given anti-depressants - and all her debilitating pain went away.

All this to say, I think the placebo effect is powerful in that a lot of pain can be caused by chemicals, hormones, etc whose production or lack of production can be caused by the mind/heart. So is it unethical for doctors to prescribe placebos to achieve this effect? My instinct is to say no, even given the issues of trust and doctor-patient relationships. But I would draw the line at prescribing placebos that can have a negative impact on the body - such as antibiotics.

The second topic I want to touch on is that of environmental justice. We talked a great deal in our first class on the negative impacts that human technology has had on the greater environment. To me, it's great that so many people are coming around to thinking about sustainability. However, I'm equally worried that the "Green Movement" will perpetuate the mistakes of the previous environmental movements of the 60s and 70s, which resulted in a greater disproportionate siting of pollluting industries in poor, communities of color, etc. When middle class, white communities realized the negative health impacts of power plants, recycling centers, refineries, etc, the siting of new and relocated industries ended up disproportionately in communities that didn't have the political or financial clot to fight them. I hope that the current mass movement for environmental sustainability will be more inclusive and work directly to make sure that there is equal access.

There are many amazing organizations and people working towards these goals, especially in the Bay Area.
Check out the publication "Race, Poverty, and the Environment"
And Oakland-based organizaton: Green for All

Thus concludes my ramblings for this week.