An Astronaut’s Tips for COVID-19 Quarantine
Life Lines
APS’ Chief Science Officer Dennis Brown, PhD, recently spoke to astronaut and APS member Jessica Meir, PhD, about her work on the International Space Station. As part of the interview, we asked her for lessons that #StationLife can teach us about living in isolation. Listen to her recommendations and read the full interview in the July issue of The Physiologist Magazine.
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Episode 29: Outtakes
Life Lines
From the cutting room floor, here are some of the outtakes about physiology that we thought were just too interesting not to use:1. Dusty Sarazan describes one way that physiological research helped advance cardiac surgery, and also how research led to the development of the modern treadmill2. David Linden talks about our imperfect memories3. David Kraus tells us why we are so sensitive to the odor of hydrogen sulfide gas (what is hydrogen sulfide gas? where does it come from and what does it do?).
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Episode 28: 'Tis the Season That's Hard on Your Heart
Life Lines
Heart attacks peak during the winter months and cold weather has been thought to be the primary culprit. But cardiologist Robert Kloner of the Keck School of Medicine and Good Samaritan Hospital found that heart attack deaths peak on Christmas and New Year's in the mild climate of Los Angeles County. Could it be that the weather is not the most important factor behind the seasonal increase in heart attacks?The show's second segment, the Buzz in Physiology, features research on how a and how . (Begins at 10:55)From the American Heart Association, Heart Attack/Stroke Warning Signs. Click .Total...
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Episode 27: When the Sense of Smell Fails
Life Lines
What would it be like to live without being able to detect any odors? For one thing, Thanksgiving would be much less enjoyable, perhaps disturbingly so. In this episode, we talk to Robert I. Henkin of the Taste and Smell Clinic in Washington, D.C., who will tell us why people lose their sense of smell and how his research can help some people restore it. (Begins at: 02:03)The Buzz in Physiology features studies on that may determine arterial stiffness in adults older than 40, and a look at a 1950s program that tested the . (Begins at: 00:43)
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Episode 26: Invention and Impact of Ultrasound
Life Lines
Dean Franklin developed the first instruments to measure blood flow and the changes in diameter of the pulsating heart in conscious animals. He also pioneered the use of radio waves to measure heart and blood vessel function without wiring the body to the instrument. Dusty Sarazan, a former student of Dean Franklin, explains how these inventions led to the non-invasive cardiovascular monitoring instruments we have today. You can find the full article on Dean Franklin and a press release . (Begins at 02:22)A program note: We misspoke when we mentioned that physiologists made an important...
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Episode 25: EleComm
Life Lines
You've heard the word telecomm? In this episode, we are going to coin a new word: elecomm, shorthand for elephant communication. Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell is a Stanford University professor and the author of The Elephant's Secret Sense, published by the University of Chicago Press. Dr. O'Connell-Rodwell discovered that elephant vocalizations travel through the ground, sometimes for great distances. Other elephants pick up these seismic communications and understand them. There are links to videos of three of Dr. O'Connell-Rodwell's elephant communication experiments on her website,...
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Episode 24: Pregnancy and Exercise
Life Lines
Episode 24: Pregnancy and ExerciseWhen a pregnant woman exercises, is it good for her fetus? That is the question that researchers Linda May of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and Kathleen Gustafson of the University of Kansas Medical Center are trying to answer. Their work is ongoing, but it is good news, so far, for pregnant women who like to exercise. (Begins at 01:59)Buzz in Physiology (Begins at 00:47)Estrogen can halt the damage caused by a stroke by inactivating the protein, p53. Researchers have found a way to diagnose overtraining syndrome in horses by...
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Episode 23: Cool Water
Life Lines
Three physiologists tell us why the prescription "drink when you are thirsty" is usually the best guideline for deciding when and how much to drink. We will talk to Heinz Valtin of Dartmouth Medical School (retired); Mark Knepper, the chief of the Laboratory of Kidney & Electrolyte Metabolism of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; and Samuel Cheuvront, of the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine about water consumption. They will answer the question: "Must I drink 64 ounces of water each day?" (Begins at 3:47) To...
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Episode 22: Laughter: Good Medicine?
Life Lines
There is nothing like a good laugh, is there? It not only feels great to laugh, it can feel great to hear other people laugh. Beyond brightening the mood, can laughter provide tangible health benefits?Lee Berk of Loma Linda University in California has done a series of studies on laughter and its possible physiological effects. We will talk to him about his latest study, done over the course of a year with diabetic patients. (Begins at 3:50)In this month’s Buzz in Physiology (begins at 0:51), we look at studies that provide possible explanations for:
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Episode 21: Blood Pressure and the Brain
Life Lines
Did you know that there is a sensor in the nerve endings in the carotid artery that rapidly lowers blood pressure when stimulated? This discovery may one day allow people who are hypertensive to lower their blood pressure by using a pacemaker-like device that stimulates the nerve endings in the blood vessels.In this edition of Life Lines, we talk to Francois Abboud, of the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa whose research identified this sensor. We’ll also talk to him about his recent research looking at the genes that regulate ion channels, microscopic gates that move...
info_outlineIn this special episode of Life Lines, we talk to John West, a professor of medicine at the University of California, who shares his memories of the late Sir Edmund Hillary. West accompanied Hillary to Mount Everest in 1960, helping to uncover how the body acclimatizes to the extremes of altitude.
The music you hear at the beginning and end of Life Lines is from Body Notes, composed by APS member Hector Rasgado-Flores and performed by the San Diego Chamber Orchestra.