I have a couple of great book events this weekend.
Beagle and Wolfe is a wonderful independent book store designed to help readers find what they desire. A place where customer service still matters!
Saint Paul Brewing is located in the old Hamm’s brewery. Hamm’s was once the largest brewery in Minnesota, and the plant was so big it had its own zip code. It’s worth the trip to walk through the ruins. Hamm’s had the unfortunate history of being bought out by one year Minnesota beer wonders like Olympia and Strohs, which sealed its destiny. Saint Paul Brewing is a friendly tap room and I particularly like their red ale. Tell me more, telomeres This is an odd blog. Much of forensics involves science, so I’m constantly looking for new information. I’m a fanatic about learning, so I thought I’d share an odd tangent I recently explored. I’m going to talk about a discovery, telomeres, which affect our vulnerability to disease and aging. It all started with Leonard Hayflick’s work. Leonard Hayflick believed that cellular aging is a natural process, rather than the result of damage by oxygen free radicals. Hayflick allowed cells to age under glass by providing them with all the necessary nutrients for cell growth and protecting them from external stress or contamination. In this ideal condition, it was believed that the cells would double again, and again forever. However, the cells stopped multiplying after 50 divisions. Cells from adults divided fewer times than cells from children and cells from children divided fewer time than cells from embryos. The total number of cell division is correlated with the age of the donor and is never infinite. Hayflick limit = The limit for most human cells is approximately 50 divisions, suggesting that the lifespan is a limited genetic program. Professor Elizabeth Blackburn received the Nobel Prize for her work on Telomeres. The Nobel winner says keeping telomeres – the ends of our chromosomes – in prime condition can stave off diseases associated with ageing. The longer your telomeres, the better. How do you get your telomeres longer? Exercise, eat healthy and reduce your stress. The good news is you don’t have to exercise like crazy. People who do moderate aerobic exercise – about three times a week for 45 minutes – have telomeres as long as marathon runners. Mixing things up seems to help. One study showed the more different kinds of exercise people did, the longer their telomeres. Studies looking at people under severe chronic stress find their telomere shortness relates to how severely that stress is experienced. The damage is worse in sedentary people. Even 10-15 minutes of light exercise a day appeared, in one study, to buffer the effect of stress. A balanced diet with whole foods such as vegetables, fruits and grains, helps telomeres. Avoiding a diet high in processed foods, red meat, sugary drinks and highly refined white bread results in quantifiable improvement of telomeres. Are marriage and children telomere-friendly? Oddly enough, yes. Married people and those with committed partners have longer telomeres. A study done on women in abusive relationships found their telomeres were shorter, and the amount they were shorter related to the number of years they remained in the abusive relationship. We have known for years that being in a threatening situation for a long period of time, wears people down physically. One preliminary study has suggested having children may help telomere health, but it has not yet been independently repeated. Commercial tests of telomere length are available, but don’t waste your money. It’s the long term change in habits, over a decade, that predicts increased health span. If you have them tested, and they’re long, and you revert to unhealthy habits they shorten. The solution is to get some exercise, eat healthy and maintain stable relationships –and don’t make yourself crazy over any of the three. So how long have we known this? I’d argue since about 350 years before the birth of Jesus when a philosopher named Aristotle wrote about “the Golden Mean.” “Virtue is the golden mean between two vices, the one of excess and the other of deficiency” — Aristotle People either succumb to the extreme of excess, which can take form in the accumulation of wealth, food, drugs, alcohol or descend into deficiency, like inadequate attention to education, diet, healthy sport activities and intellectual pursuits. Anytime I hear of a man bragging about being a billionaire, my first thought is “There’s a guy who’s out of balance. It never occurred to him to share?” Thanks for listening, Frank
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AuthorFrank F. Weber is a forensic psychologist specializing in homicide and sexual and physical assault cases. He uses his unique understanding of how predator’s think, knowledge of victim trauma, actual court cases, and passion for writing true crime thrillers. His Award Winning books include "Murder Book" (2017) "The I-94 Murders" (2018) "Last Call" (2019) and "Lying Close" (September 2020). Archives
April 2024
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