A Balancing Act
The foods you eat, even days prior to surgery, may alter how your body reacts toanaesthesia, report researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center. "Ourresults bring us closer to understanding why patients vary in their sensitivity toanaesthetic drugs," the researchers claim. Anaesthetists make initial dosingdecisions based primarily on age, weight and height, liver and kidney function, but"those are only part of the picture," says Jonathan Moss, leader of the study."We have to take into account dietary factors to predetermine the best dose of drugsto prevent pain and anxiety during an operation, but leave the patient awake and alertsoon afterwards," says he. The study suggests that ingesting even small amounts ofnatural substances found in potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants can markedly delay themetabolism of common anaesthetic drugs. This study is becoming increasingly important, asmore operations shift from inpatient procedures allowing several days forrecovery to the outpatient arena with, at the most, a few hours to recuperate.
Blisters? No Sweat
Before you head out for a cross-country hike, use anti-perspirant on your feet toprevent blisters. In a study, cadets attending the US Military Academy were separated intotwo groups that used either an anti-perspirant or a placebo. Each group was asked to applythe preparation for five consecutive nights before completing a 21-km hike. After thehike, only 21 per cent of the cadets who used the preparation for at least three nightsbefore the hike were diagnosed with blisters. The placebo group reported a 48 per centincidence. Each cadet was examined for existing foot conditions before and after the hike.Researchers theorised that reducing sweating might reduce friction caused by rubbingmoist skin and consequently reduce blisters. But not without side-effects."Irritation and rashes occurred in 57 per cent of the anti-perspirant group. And onlyin six per cent of the placebo group," the study cautions.
Perception Is The Key
We can all tell a good-looker when we see one. But why do some traits, say,large, black eyes and broad shoulders seem attractive, while nose-hair and a paunch makean ugly impression? Because beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, so somebard told us long ago. Now comes scientific evidence. In the recent edition of Science, University of Texas zoologist Michael J. Ryan tells us the choice of mates is coloured by perceptual biases hard-wired into an animals sensory system for reasons other than sexual thrill. For instance, foraging for food or evading predators as means of survival. Some moths, for example, have evolved the ability to detect the ultrasonic echo location calls of bats, a key predator. A subset of this group can produce calls in the bats frequency, jamming their predators radar. Some moths even use this mimicry for courtship. But supporters of the theory have yet to prove its applicability among humans. One of the possibilities, says Ryan, is that human perception is better at responding to symmetrical cues. Just as, harmonic rather than discordant music strikes us as more pleasing due to the way the inner ear is structured.
