Steve Jobs and apples

Medscape article Will an Apple a Day Keep Pancreatic Cancer Away? published on 09/07/2012 may be best read to Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder and CEO, who died of pancreatic cancer this time last year. Note the title of my posting here has "apples", taken literally, not "Apple". (If you don't have an account, which is free, on Medscape, you can find the same article duplicated by other web sites.)

Heavy eyelids when tired, and upward eyeball movement

A 2008 Scientific American article Why do our eyelids get so heavy when we are tired? tries to explain "heavy" eyelids when tired with fatigue of the levator muscles that open the eyelids, combined with general physical fatigue of the whole body. It drew very well educated critique, particularly from a second year medical school student. Whether fatigue is a major factor in "heaviness" of the eyelids is arguable. I'd like to make another point not mentioned by anybody. I'm sure you've seen or at least heard of a person showing white of the eye (sclera) when he's fast asleep and you force open his eye. In fact, with some training such as that in meditation, you can relax your body so much as to simulate the sleep state, and now if you feel it, your eyeballs tend to "float" up toward the upper eyelids. This is a spontaneous reaction in the sleep-like state, not done by intentionally moving your eyeballs up in full consciousness; the upward movement of the eyeballs is a natural reflection. Note that the direction is really toward the upper eyelids, not necessarily up toward the sky, because when your head is lying on the side, it's no longer up literally.

I believe this natural eyeball movement is related to the levator muscle relaxation, although I don't know the details nor can I prove this connection. In fact, it sounds counter-intuitive because the up-moving eyeballs are more likely to push open the eyelids. But maybe the balls are actually moving further into the orbit (cavity in which eyes are situated), in effect relaxing instead of contracting the levator.

By the way, if you have learned to reach the half-sleep state, not only are your eyeballs moved up (precisely, toward your upper eyelids), but you'll also feel heavier breathing, with absolutely no facial expression (contrary to advertisement pictures showing a fake "sound" sleep child or lady with a pleasing smile), exactly like a person in real sound sleep. A short nap like this after lunch, even when you sit in your chair, is particularly refreshing!

How to not read an article

It's a good idea to read articles of various opinions, pros and cons, about an idea, new technology, advice on health, or anything, including a person or organization. I closely follow Dr. Andrew Weil, a well-known scientist on preventive, integrated or alternative medicine, on Facebook and through his newsletters. So it was refreshing to read Doctor Andrew Weil: Whose Side Is He Really On?, an article on healthwyze.org. The article reveals the business practice of Dr. Weil, his contract with the advertisement company, the nutrition supplements he's promoting, and the non-profit organization he founded and chaired. It's good to know a little of these details about the person and his organization I regularly follow. I personally never bothered to click the sales links in Dr. Weil's newsletters and never intend to buy the vitamins he recommends (sorry! I buy them from a local store, just to be lazy).

The author of the article may be at an age of vigor overwhelming reason. The numbers in her investigation or quote from somebody else's investigation may be OK. But if the tone of the language is strong, that's a sign that the article could be biased. Then I scroll down to the middle where I read "Cancer is a disease for which the alternative medical community has found cures, and it never recommends either radiation or poisonous 'treatments'." Wow! Cancer can be cured by alternative medicine! I'm sure those regularly reading medical science articles know that a serious health scientist is cautious in saying almost anything, "may help", "may have the effect", "is a risk factor",... I once read that about the only thing that we can definitively say is the cause of cancer is radioactive exposure, and everything else is a risk factor or may cause cancer. Unfortunately, that attitude is absent in this critique of Dr. Weil.

From that paragraph down, I pretty much glanced through to the end. Here's another big difference between it and Dr. Weil's articles: there's no reference to any published research. Single or double blind control studies are the gold standard in medical science. Published research is generally trustworthy. Almost all Dr. Weil's articles mention a publication by who in what journal in what year, delivered to us in a soft, "sage"-like tone. Who do you trust more?

As I said somewhere else, a scholar differs from a lawyer in that while both cannot tell lies, a lawyer can select evidence in favor of his argument, but a scholar cannot. A true, honest, scholar can select evidence that is relevant, but among all the relevant pieces of evidence, he cannot leave aside those against his point of view. Dr. Weil's articles almost always have a caution or caveat near the end apparently mitigating his advice stated in the main part of the article. This does not reduce, but instead add, weight to his persuation.

In short, a convincing article especially on a health science topic, should

* reference published research (indicate journal title, issue, and for our convenience, the authors and their affiliations)
* evaluate not just one side, but both pros and cons, of anything proposed or discussed
* speak in a professional tone (no vehement, over-zealous words, no pumped-up certainty on something the latest research is not certain about)

Best time to drink coffee

If you search for "best time to drink coffee" on Google, you'll be overwhelmed by the links. But only a few linked articles have scientific backing.

A 2010 Brazilian and French researchers' article suggests the meal time for coffee in order to take advantage of the beneficial effect of coffee on insulin, to lower the risk of diabetes. (Incidentally, some unsubstantiated articles link coffee with an increased risk of diabetes!) I did not find any article making a distinction between before-meal and after-meal for coffee. It probably doesn't matter much except on subjective grounds. I personally wouldn't drink too much, too concentrated coffee on an empty stomach, or I would feel nausea.

A group of Oxford researchers suggest 11 AM as the best time for coffee, because that's the time people will take the greatest pleasure in drinking it, according to their mathematical formula.

The rest of the articles are generally opinions, or personal preferences, which nevertheless may be amusing to read.

Tourmaline for health

My family made a trip to China recently. The tour guide took us to a small shop toward the end of the tour, as done to most Chinese tourist groups. The shop's sales pitch in this case is not as annoying as expected. In fact, I learned something new in her talk, particularly the part about tourmaline.

Tourmaline "is a crystal boron silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium". The Wikipedia page has a great deal of info about its physical properties, but not about its biological effect. Some people, presumably the Japanese initially, found that the far-infrared radiation it emits may be useful to certain health conditions. So far so good. From that point on, there's too much fanfare and exageration of its magic power, which I'll dismiss, as does this paper does.

But I'd like to point out one interesting feature of this "magic" mineral, which may or may not have medical effect: heating of body but not skin or air. This special heating achieved by far-infrared radiation differs from that of normal, infrared radiation (or other types of heating, such as convection) in that the latter also heats the skin, and air if not directly contacted. I wrapped a band containing this mineral on my wrist. About ten minutes later, I felt hot inside the wrist. I can imagine its potential use in niche cases such as when the patient needs heat but the skin can not take it for some reason. I sincerely hope a systematic study is done on these specific cases (so the research is more falsifiable, in Karl Popper's term, therefore more scientific), filtering out a large proportion of hype, and keeping the gem in people's verbal praise.