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Exercise – Cobbles & Sand
Cobblestone street in Clovelly, Devon, UK Photographer John Baker www.JayBeeStock.com
Exercise Flaws and Benefits Exercise is exceedingly important to health and much more, “The mind’s first step to self-awareness must be through the body.”1 You may have noticed these days that the fizz seems to have gone out of some recent exercise trends. Whether from saiety or a lull between finding new forms of fashionable exercise; the press, media and chattering classes are no longer constantly wittering on about ‘the Gym’ and ‘my Personal Trainer’; either those concerned are just ‘getting on with it’, have fallen by the wayside or are waiting to pounce. Whatever, when members of the public join exercise vogues they should be mindful of potential disadvantageous consequences. Exercise has been described as ‘a yuppie version of bulimia’.2 When ‘celebrity’ exercise videos got underway in the 1980s, the ‘indoor’ exercise enthusiasts were no longer being encouraged to go ‘outdoors’, but to stick to their VDUs. For outdoor exercise supporters jogging was the ‘in’ thing. Later we learned how avid ‘jogging’ could not only be detrimental to the skeletal system, jarring the spine or ruinous to the ankles, but could become an endorphin-oriented compulsion.3 By the early 1990s chronic jogging was termed an ‘addiction’ and there were reports of recklessness, possibly related to jogging-euphoria, leading to some individuals having unequal and dangerous corporal arguments with vehicles en route.4 Come 2003, both unnatural forms of exercise i.e. the chronic jogging habit and intensive aerobics were seen to lead to muscle micro-damage that can interfere with skeletal muscle regeneration and may cause kidney problems, 5, 6 & 7 especially in older people who engage in jogging and heavy exercise;8 nor, it has been shown, does stretching before exercise itself reduce the risk of injury without ‘warm up’.9 You may also have noted how frequently highly trained sportsmen and women endure incapacitating injuries, and they do not make the common error of wearing incorrect clothing or footwear, or neglect skin protection.10 So where does that safely leave us? Well, “exercise is [for some] done against one’s wishes and maintained only because the alternative is worse”,11 but the old-fashioned habit of taking the dog for a walk (not a pint) is still good practice, especially when the dog and yourself get a mixed tempo of stroll, walk and run in a nearby green space. Or, take yourself for a 20 minutes walk every day after work anyway, because if your work is sedentary this is important to get everything going and oxygenated. Oh! and do yourself and everybody else a favour, don’t spend your walking time with your ear glued to a mobile phone, which luckily cannot be done during ‘power walking’ i.e. rapid walking accompanied by vigorous swinging of the arms, or your time will be wasted talking instead of walking. If you are not happy to walk alone, find a ‘buddy walker’ with the same focus on exercise as yourself. A lot of problems can build up for people who take highly energetic exercise sporadically, such as sitting at a computer all week then legging it to the gym or to take any kind of sudden irregular strenuous exercise. Have you noticed that paradoxically people will drive to a gym to take exercise instead of walking - they could save themselves a lot of money and get fit if they just did the walk! If you do not maintain regular exercise, and even for some that do, a hill walking holiday is not the best idea if you are a ‘pavement basher’ the rest of the working year. Heading for the hills can be a perilous choice. The UK’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair, only came to power by default when the Labour leader, John Smith, who was an ardent hill climber, died aged 56 of a heart attack in 1994. The current Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, once put an ice-axe through his thigh while hill-climbing with John Smith. Chris Smith, now Baron Smith of Finsbury and former Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister, introduced the late John Smith to the sport of hill climbing. He (Chris Smith) became the only MP to have climbed all the Munros, the 277 Scottish hills over 3,000 feet. It is sad, irrespective of political persuasion, that only last month Robin Cook, the former Foreign Secretary, died at the age of 59 after collapsing while walking in the Scottish hills he loved, near the summit of Ben Stack, close to Lochinver, Sutherland. All of these Labour Party members appear to aspire to dizzy heights or living dangerously; but then, it is perhaps good training for being a politician which is a risky profession, where one minute a person may be at the pinnacle of success and the next take a free fall into public oblivion. Be lured by the beauty of Nature, but not vanity or ‘image’ to go hill-walking, for although hill walking or climbing normally is done in groups, there’s a fair chance older members may put too much stress upon themselves trying to ‘keep up’ with their younger counterparts. During the process of this form of exercise high rates of energy expenditure and hypo-hydration are closely linked to the activity. “Periods of adverse weather, low energy intake, lowered fitness or increased age, can all increase the participants’ susceptibility to injury, fatigue and hypothermia in the mountainous environment.”12 In other words, you need to be in tip-top condition and should not to go careering off up hills or mountains half-cocked.
Body, Mind Benefits In healthy people appropriate exercise gets the circulation going and the body and brain oxygenated. In the case of disease and cancer treatment-related side effects, there is evidence that exercise, such as low intensity aerobics, walking, Tai Chi, or cycling, results in an overall decrease in fatigue levels over the course of cancer treatment.13 Additionally, there is evidence that regular physical activity or exercise can decrease emotional stress, blood pressure, the duration of neutropenia,14 thrombocytopenia,15 and pain. Exercise also has been shown to increase quality of life and improve the maximal oxygen uptake during exertion, sleep patterns, and cognition. However, this 2005 American research makes clear that the majority of studies of ‘exercise and cancer’ have been conducted with women with early stage breast cancer, which limits any generalizability of these studies findings to be transferred to other cancer populations. Nevertheless, we all want to be as fit and functional as possible as we age and to take personal responsibility to exercise well and sufficiently so we are not blighted in old age from earlier lack of exercise. Again, American research this year is ‘on the case’. They have been testing FIT (Functional Incidental Training) for its effects directed at continence, mobility, endurance and strength in four nursing homes.16 The FIT included functionally oriented endurance and strength-training exercises offered four times per day, 5 days per week, for 8 weeks - such as walking or wheeling a wheelchair (mobility), sit-to-stand exercises, independence in locomotion and toileting &c. What they found was that FIT improves endurance, strength, and urinary incontinence in older patients residing nursing homes, BUT to translate these positive benefits achieved under research conditions into practice will be challenging because of the implications of the intervention for staff workload and thereby the costs of care.17 Regardless of age, there is an important adjunct to exercise as an aid to depression that has only recently been recognized in a report by the Mental Health Foundation.30 It has now been said that GPs should offer exercise on prescription to all patients with depression.31 It is small wonder this suggestion has been made with the cost of antidepressant prescriptions in England alone having risen by more than 2,000% over the last 12 years (and their side-effects!). Change is in the air, “Society needs to be educated about the benefits of exercise in treating mild to moderate depression, and GPs need to be made aware that exercise referral is available.” In fact, researchers found that physical activity decreased all-cause mortality in patients with coronary heart disease. There were positive effects also in heart failure, chronic obstructive lung disease, type 2 diabetes and fibromyalgia, though more trials are required. Exercise improved quality of life in several conditions and generally led to improved physical performance.34 It is clear that exercise aids both physical and mental health. Normally the latter ‘cheering up’ is associated with the increased production of endorphins (the brain’s Happy chemical), which is one cited cause e.g. for encouraging chronic jogging. However, the same chemical that is in chocolate ‘phenylethylamine’ and known to have antidepressant effects, may be linked to the therapeutic effects of physical exercise on depression.35 & 36 Don’t eat that bar of chocolate, go for a mood-altering walk. Exercise in relation to clinical health has been slow to be properly accepted. It’s over a decade ago since Australian researcher J. Ward suggested that: “The ideal is clearly to maintain a regular regimen of physical activity throughout adult life. It has now been shown that such exercise does not need to be heavy to maintain cardiovascular and musculoskeletal fitness. Walking and swimming are as good as and much safer than jogging provided the regimen entails at least 30 minutes three to four times a week.”37 It has taken the same number of years before research into the benefits of exercise for cognition, and Alzheimer’s, to show that exercise may have implications for prevention of cognitive decline. We know exercise is important, it cannot maybe hold off the effects of ageing, but it can improve an elderly person’s chances of hanging onto an independent lifestyle. As an American study demonstrated this summer via a treadmill test given to different age groups, as people aged their aerobic capacity (the amount of oxygen consumed while exercising) declined at higher rates with each passing decade whether they exercised or not. However, those who exercise still end up ahead because their aerobic capacity was higher to begin with.26 & 27 One expert comment on the study’s outcomes suggested that older people should be in programmes to improve their regular function capacity because it will increase their independence.28 Another medical expert commented that “… clinically speaking, [he’s noticed] that people who exercise throughout their lives seem to do a lot better physically at handling the daily activities of life as they head into older age. Those who have just sat their entire life seem to age a little bit prematurely.” 29 With so much
evidence available, we can readily see that we really do need to start
early on to effect what we wish to be like when we are older. If we do not take
care, poor diet, lack of exercise or slobbing around, acting out the ‘couch
potato’ life-style syndrome will cost us dearly in old age. Unusual Forms of Exercise – Cobblestone Walking The cobblestones are pink, black, gray, and white. They make a jigsaw puzzle of the street, With pieces shaped like oysters, Arrowheads, turtles, loaves of bread. … “ (‘Cobblestones’ – Excerpt from poem by Susan Katz)18
When the headline ‘Stepping on cobbles helps you live longer, say researchers’ came into view, with a sentimental picture of the old Hovis bread advertisement of a boy pushing a Baker’s bike up a cobblestone lane with a chronically high gradient, plus a heavy metal bicycle basket laden with little brown loaves, my first thought was ‘first find your cobble-stones’!19 Do I have to catch a flight going east to China or west to Mexico, or time-travel back to the 18th century? At any rate, as we shall see there is a connection with cobblestone walking and Asia, but the third backward-glancing option was not at all appealing: “An amazing variety of filth slopped down London's cobblestone streets. Along with dirt, dust and animal manure, there was the ever-falling London rain to add to the mess.”20 No thank you. In the present era, cobblestone streets have changed their image, from the charm of St Christopher’s Place in the West End, London, to Dublin’s historic Temple Bar and its zigzagging cobblestone streets, said to now be hotter than New York's SoHo and the Left Bank of Paris, where at weekends hordes of eager revelers pub-crawl till all hours.21 Mmm! Not suitable, it sounds more like exercise for elbows than feet. To travel up North to York for daily exercise did not seem a practical proposition either, but for those living on the spot the most popular street in York, ‘The Shambles’ is a narrow cobblestone street that once housed butchers shops in mediaeval times.22 Knaresborough, also in Yorkshire is a charming medieval town with cobblestone streets and the ruins of a medieval castle;23 and the Georgian town of Rye, which borders the southeast coast of Great Britain has cobblestone streets that twist and turn like an intricate maze;24 whilst in Brighton designer fashion treads the cobbles.25 We are lucky down in Devon and the South West of England to even now have beautiful cobblestone village streets and lanes, such as in Clovelly pictured above, though there is nothing much left where I live. The pick-axes of Progress have mostly long since done for our cobbled streets almost everywhere. Yet practically every city and sizeable town of historic interest in Britain boasts some cobblestone streets as a preserved remnant of the past, mostly to attract tourism. But what if you do not have the good fortune to live in one of these cobbled centres of scenic gems? In the past few years doughty good-looking cobblestones have become a popular material to use in gardens for features, pond surrounds and paths, but what if you don’t have a garden or the wherewithal to build a cobblestone path? Where in general were people going to find their cobblestones to walk on for daily exercise? A mood of intrigue was fast becoming one of exasperation and the expletive ‘cobblers’ was close to mind. It has to be said that walking on real cobblestones can be treacherous for the infirm, especially after rain. Nevertheless, many moons ago when living in Menorca in the Balearic Islands, in the capital of Mahòn the main street and shopping area was paved with cobblestones which unhappily were done away with. One excuse given for this sacrilege was that cobblestones were dangerous for ‘little old ladies’, but in reality they were replaced in the name of modernization with smart smooth tiles, and the shopping area was pedestrianized. Of course, when it rained the tiles were like an ice-rink, not fit for ‘little old ladies’ to walk upon. Besides, when people know that a surface can be hazardous they take great care; smooth tiles do not have that effect – Woops! I would venture there have been many more accidents and hippy incidents since the beautiful old cobblestones were replaced. And, when driving up the main hill, the old ‘dos cabballos’ (Citroen 2cv van) may have given the liver and kidneys a work out, but with a high cobbled gradient any vehicle is less likely to slip on such a rough surface. ‘Cobblestones R Us’! Back to the search for cobblestones. Fear not, nor be disappointed, when cobblestone lanes and streets may be hard to find, the cobbles in question are not real cobblestones, but are a simulation in the form of a ‘cobblestone mat’ to walk on., which was compared with regular walking, on physical function and blood pressure in older adults. The research findings were successful. It is suggested this new physical activity may provide a therapeutic and health-enhancing exercise alternative for older adults.39 The path to better health may indeed be paved with cobblestones.40 Interest in this research came after observing people exercising and walking back and forth over traditional stone paths in China and, although cobblestone-walking is rooted in centuries of Chinese tradition, no controlled scientific studies had been done to evaluate its potential health benefits and effectiveness until now. How does it work? Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC) teaches that the uneven surface of the stones stimulate ‘acupoints’ on the soles of the feet, rather like reflexology. The theory is much like acupuncture, suggesting that distant and unrelated areas of the body are linked together at certain points (meridians) and can be stimulated to improve physical and mental health. For those interested this form of therapy, ORI manufactures and sells pseudo-cobblestone mats for $25 each – you may need more than one.41
Walking Barefoot on Grass Delight the child within and walk barefoot on grass. True, you had best do this on your own or a friend’s lawn that has not been treated with chemicals. Unfortunately, the grasses in public parks are likely to have been sprayed with chemicals; ten of the thirty-four pesticides commonly used in professional lawn care are carcinogenic.42 Who knows, it may make you feel as seductive as Ava Gardener in ‘The Barefoot Contessa’! However, there’s more than meets the eye, or feet, to walking on grass. Our modern world is full of electrostatic charges, created where high electricity fields exist and cannot be discharged, such as by friction particularly on synthetic surfaces.43 Today’s household is chock full of electrostatic causing equipment, VDUs, vinyl carpeting &c. Keeping live plants in rooms helps to balance electrostatic fields and air ionisation. People can discharge themselves of electrostatic by touching earthed objects or e.g. walking barefoot on grass, sand or concrete.44 Personally I take a more romantic and practical view of feeling the earth beneath the feet and a sense of the freedom of spirit. I also found at a time when almost immobilized by chronic back pain that walking on grass dissipated the inflammation of the nerves and calmed the mind. This and other natural techniques was recommended by Arthur Lincoln Pauls, the British osteopath who created Ortho-Bionomy who combined his interests in Buddhist philosophy, homeopathy, and intuitive bodywork with the more mechanical techniques of osteopath Lawrence Jones. The psychological impact of sudden restriction to an otherwise highly active person can at times seem worse than pain itself. I reckoned the calming effect upon the nerves of walking unshod upon grass (the Earth direct) is connected to the fact that when the Earth’s Magnetic Field, which has a ‘resonance’ frequency of 7.83Hz (Schumann) or roughly 8Hz, Alpha or Relaxation state (8Hz-14Hz), the brain comes into ‘tune’ with the Earth’s resonance. An early morning barefoot walk on cool, dewy grass has a special kind of natural splendour and is refreshing and revitalizing to the entire system. This is not surprising, as hydrotherapy is often used for chronic disease and its invigorating and stimulating influence of cold sprays, ablutions, sitz baths, barefoot walking in the dewy grass or on wet stones and all other cold-water applications depend largely upon their electromagnetic effects upon the system.45 Oh! Don’t forget to wash your face in the ‘dew’, folklore has it that it’s tremendously beautifying to the skin – the May dew is best.
Barefoot Bias It is strange that in an era when men’s jeans appear to be falling off them and exposing the ‘peach’ of their posteriors and women flaunt their bejewelled belly-buttons, neither of which are always a pretty sight, that bare feet can be a focus for prejudice. Walking around the none too clean streets of London, which a young man of Italian descent and an young artistocratic socialite female known to me in 1958 did, especially around South Kensington and Chelsea, was more of a notice-box rebellious swipe at the established ‘form’ for behaviour, but hardly criminal or a cause for active bias. It was to some ‘shocking’, but harmless and at times very amusing. However risible it may sound, in America some barefooters appear to suffer from unwarranted discrimination from a combination of “myths of bare feet being against the law or against a health department regulation, which can be enough to drive some barefooters into a ‘barefoot closet’! Or, into wearing shoes for the sake of ‘conformity’.” 46 One section of the barefoot community has been sufficiently incensed to say: “If bare feet were against the law, “No Bare Feet” signs would have the relevant municipal code or a statute number on them just like official “No …” signs posted by municipalities,”47 and quote thus on their website: “Having bare feet in public or in a place of business open to the public (including restaurants) is not against any law. (It is also not against the law to drive barefoot anywhere in the United States”.48 “Having bare feet in public or in a place of business open to the public (including restaurants) is not against any health department regulation in any state the authors are aware of.” So far there’s no discrimination in the UK, insofar as we know, against going ‘barefoot’. More to the point, the climate is somewhat limiting to all-year-round barefootedness. It seems churlish to have a bias against the natural attraction of walking barefoot and expanding our sense of touch through the feet, unfortunately diminished by wearing shoes. Others have found the practice to have many medical impacts, including stimulating the cardiovascular system, regulating blood pressure and improving circulation; relaxing effects and it’s an aid to a sense of well-being of body and psyche. It also trains the body and psyche, teaching concentration, strengthening the body’s motor system and constitution, and aiding the ability of co-ordination, as well as adding to an improved view of the world.49 Who knows what excites such a bias, perhaps memories of poverty? It’s not so long ago that children in Ireland and Scotland, and in parts of England too, went barefoot in summer and could only be afforded to be shod in winter – not all were so lucky. What can be seen as a health aid to us now living in a more affluent period was anything but to poorly shod adults and children when snow fell and ice covered the ground. Nevertheless, shoes can do us harm and walking or running barefoot is not only good exercise, but a welcome break from constriction to your feet, the value of which body-part is greatly underrated until something goes wrong. Since the advent of people wearing shoes, (remember Otzi50 the Iceman had ingenious shoes or boots made from various animal skins: bearskin soles, deerskin insteps, and chamois/cow/calf/linden bark uppers and stuffed with dried grass to keep his feet warm), which is a very long time ago when boots and shoes were flat and made of soft but tough materials; when we were able to feel our feet. Heeled footwear only began to be used more than 1,000 years ago. Apart from the usual hazards of wearing heeled shoes, e.g. footwear style risk in older adults, 51 shoe type and balance in older women (high heels),52 the influence of shoes and heel strike on the loading of the hip joint, 53 and such matters as the connections between knee osteoarthritis and high-heeled shoes,54 or just tripping-up pavements; according to a Swedish researcher’s hypotheses ‘heeled shoes’ led to the first cases of schizophrenia! The industrialization of shoe production increased schizophrenia prevalence.55 The mechanization of the production started in Massachusetts, spread from there to England and Germany, and then to the rest of Western Europe.56 Intriguingly, a remarkable increase in schizophrenia prevalence followed the same pattern.57 Also, “high rates of schizophrenia are found among first-generation immigrants from regions with warmer climate to regions with colder climate, where the use of shoes is more common. Still higher rates among second-generation immigrants are caused by the use of shoes during the onset of walking at an age of about 11-12 months.”58 Maybe full time adult barefootedness is not an option, but to go barefoot at every opportunity appears to be a very good idea. In the States, there are clubs for barefoot hikers who usually go in groups of 8-12 persons on a hike. Members enjoy feeling the variety of ground textures and temperatures; the pleasure of flexing feet unencumbered by shoes and the overall feeling of freedom and well-bring that comes from walking barefoot in nature.59 It is said that even the softest feet can be quickly conditioned (or reconditioned) by starting with short walks on soft trails. If you feel like running barefoot, even though few professional runners have done it and there are no official races for barefooters, (South African Zola Pieterse, née Zola Budd, shot to international fame in 1984 aged seventeen, when she broke the women’s 5,000 meter world record running barefoot) give it a try. Eighteen years ago there were a number of reports that indicated that running injuries were far less in barefoot populations in contrast to reports about shod populations.60 And, it is suggested that the sensory insulation inherent in the modern running shoe appears responsible for the high injury frequency associated with running.61 It looks as if barefooters have got it right.
Burying your Feet in the Sand We had sand
in the eyes and the ears and the nose,
Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve, Devon, UK – www.dawlish.com
For most of us, be we lucky enough to live close to the sea or go there for annual holidays, building castles in the sand and running along the beach brings back cherished childhood memories we like to recapture - the feeling of Christopher Robin’s ‘Sand between the Toes.’. True, recreational running on grass versus running on sand barefoot may be easier, but sand running can provide a low impact, but high energy count stimulus63 and potentially reduce metabolic fatigue as well as help us to get fit.64 Running on sand can be a challenge and a reward.65 It’s more fun and less strenuous to walk or run on the harder compacted sand close to the waters’ edge, because feet digging into soft loose sand uses up more energy and can be hard work, at least for a beginner. Avoid the shore’s slope, which can cause strain in the knees, calves and ankles. Some run on sand for marathon training, but walking, running or just moseying along a beach when nobody else is around to disturb one’s thoughts, sucking in the sea breeze and clean air, marvelling at the ever-changing back-drop of nature just after dawn or at sunset anywhere is a very special and individual experience not to be missed and to be indulged in as frequently as possible – barefooted of course. An interesting anecdote concerning the description “Barefoot Doctors”, which title “Barefoot Doctors of Rural China” was made into a film and won the “Best Educational Film 1975, University Film Association Award” is about China’s innovative efforts to provide adequate health care services for its agrarian population of over 600,000,000 people.66 The name ‘Barefoot Doctors’ was first given to what have become ‘peasant paramedics’, with a ‘walk on two legs’ policy, combining both western and Chinese medical techniques.67 It was one of the first films about China made by Americans of Chinese descent, presenting an intimate view of life in rural China and filmed entirely in the People’s Republic of China.
COMMENT Beach sand is a mixture of fragments worn down from rocks and shells and other materials.66 Although the purest sands consist of quartz68 or coral material alone, most of the sand between your toes is a blend of about two-thirds quartz and other material, that may be up to 15% feldspar, 15% rock fragments, 5% clay minerals and smaller proportions of calcium carbonate, organic materials and other minerals. A sand-grain of quartz crystal needs to have some form of mechanical stress or be frictioned to stimulate it to release its natural ‘piezo-electric’ force.69 You have an electro-magnetic body, running on sand is a form of applying mechanical stress. It is therefore not unreasonable to hypothesize70 that, quite apart from the good effects of exercise alone, such barefoot contact with the sand is going to be highly beneficial to your electric body. It can also be hypothesized71 that running on grass may have a similar effect, because grass contains large numbers of hard, abrasive silica particles.72 It’s free. Enjoy this health enhancing freedom!
References: 1. Quote: George Sheehan (1918-1993), American physician, author, and running enthusiast. 2. Quote: Barbara Ehrenreich, writer, activist and novelist. 3. ‘Addictive personality factors.’ Kagan DM. Dept. of Teacher Education, Carlifornia State Uv., San Bernardino, USA. J Psychol. 1987 Nov;121(6):533-8. 4. ‘Vehicle injuries to joggers. Case report and review.’ Shephard RJ. School of Physical & Health Education, Faculty o Medicine, Uv. of Toronto, Canada. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 1992 Sep;32(3):321-31. 5. ‘Effects of 7 successive days of unaccustomed prolonged exercise on aerobic performance and tissue damage in fitness joggers.’ Dressendorfer RH et al. Dept. of Clinical Investigation. Tripler Army Medical Centre, Honolulu, Hawaii. Int J Sports Med. 1991 Feb;12(1):55-61. 6. ‘[Regeneration capacity of skeletal muscle]’ [Article in German] Wernig A. Physiologishces Institut, Uv. Bonn, Germany. Ther Umsch. 2003 Jul;60(7):383-9. 7. ‘[Jogging – stress-induced damage of the musculoskeletal system]’ [Article in German] Nitzschke E, Leonhardt R. Orthopadische Uv. Bochum. Sportverletz Sportschaden. 1991 Mar;5(1):22-6. 8. ‘Effect of exercise on the kidney of aging mice.’ Lichtig C, et al. Dept. of Pathology, Rambam Medical Centre, Haifa, Israel. Isr J Med Sci. 1989 Jul;25(7):376-81. 9. ‘Stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of local muscle injury: a critical review of the clinical and basic science literature.’ Shrier I. Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies, SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreat, Quebec, Canada. Clin J Sport Med. 1999 Oct; 9(4):221-7. 10. ‘[Skin problems in joggers].’ [Article in German]. Itin T, Rufli T. Schweiz Med Wochenschr. 1986 Aug 30;116(35):1189-94 11. Quote: George Sheehan (1918-1993), American physician, author, and running enthusiast. Power Walking: “a form of cardiopulmonary exercise consisting of rapid walking accompanied by vigorous swinging of the arms. “ 12. ‘Physiological and metabolic aspects of very prolonged exercise with particular reference to hill walking.’ Ainslie PN, et al. Dept of Physiology and Biophysics, Uv. of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine, Calgary, Canada. Sports Med. 2005;35(7):619-47. 13. ‘Exercise and cancer recovery’ Visovsky C, Dvorak C. The Sarah Cole Hirsh Institute for Best Nursing Practices, Case Western Reserve Uv., Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Online J Issues Nurs. 2005 Mar 28;10(2):7. 14. Neotropenia is a haematological disorder characterized by an abnormally low number of neutophil granulocytes (a type of white blood cell). Neutrophils usually make up 50%-70% of circulating white blod cells and serve as the primary defence against infections by destroying bacteria in the blood. Hence, patients with neutopenia are more susceptible to bacterial infections and without prompt medical attention, the condition may become life-threatening. Neutropenia can be acute or chronic depending on the duration of the illness. A patient has chronic neutropenia if the condition lasts for greater than 3 months. 15. Thromocytopenia is a blood disease characterized by an abnormally small number of platelets in the blood. 16. ‘Functional incidental training: a randomized, controlled, crossover trial in Veterans Affairs nursing homes.’ Ouslander JG, et al. Div. of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Dept of Medicine, and Centre for Health in Aging, Emory Uv. School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005 Jul;53(7):1091-100. 17. Ibid. 18. "Cobblestones" by Susan Katz www.netaxs.com/~katz A poem written for children from a charming book A Revolutionary Field Trip: Poems of colonial America by Susan Katz, illustrated by R.W. Alley, about a Mrs. Brown and her class who are visiting history sites, in this case Philadelphia, not far from Independence Hall. 19. ‘Never mind, lad the walk will be doing you good (Stepping on cobbles helps you live longer, say researchers)’by Julie Wheldon, Science Correspondent, Daily Mail, 14th July, 2005. 20. ‘Streets and Alleys’ of London. Hart, Roger, English Life in the Eighteenth Century, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1970. www.pbs.org/ 21. Dublin, a description - http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=126 22. ‘Monthly e-News for the UK Working Traveler, 28th March 2003 Vol. 1 Issue 5. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=cobblestone+streets+in+London+now&meta= 23. UK Excursions/Cultural Events: http://www.academicintl.com/UK/excursions.html 24. About London: http://www.a1vacations.com/chelsealondon/1/ 25. Club UK: http://www.educationuk.org/clubuk/6/feat_beauty.html 26. ‘Study: Exercise can’t halt aging effects.’ By Jamie Stengle, AP writer, 25th July, 2005. 27. ‘Accelerated longitudinal decline of aerobic capacity in healthy older adults.’ Fleg JL, et al. Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science, Gerontology Research Centre, National Institute of Ageing, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. Circulation. 2005 Aug 2;112(5):674-82. Epub 2005 Jul 25. 28. Quote: Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and chief of Women's Cardiac Care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. 29. Quote: Dr. Chuck McCauley, of the cardiology department at the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wis., USA. 30. ‘Exercise to treat depression call.’ 28th March 2005 BBC News Online – GPs should offer exercise on prescription to all patients with depression. Report Mental Health Foundation. 31. Ibid. 32. ‘Physical activity for secondary prevention of disease. Systematic review of randomized clinical trials.’ Karmisholt K, Gotzsche PC. Nordic Cochrane Centre, H.S. Rigshospitalet, Kobenhavn O. Denmark. Dan Med Bull. 2005 May;52(2):90-4. 33. ‘Exercise to treat depression call.’ 28th March 2005 BBC News Online – GPs should offer exercise on prescription to all patients with depression. Report Mental Health Foundation. Quote: Dr Andrew McCulloch, MHF chief executive. 34. ‘Physical activity for secondary prevention of disease. Systematic review of randomized clinical trials.’ Karmisholt K, Gotzsche PC. Nordic Cochrane Centre, H.S. Rigshospitalet, Kobenhavn O. Denmark. Dan Med Bull. 2005 May;52(2):90-4. Fibromyalgia: (Medicine) – group of common rheumatoid disorders (not involving the joints) characterized by achy pain, tenderness, and stiffness of muscles. Type II Diabetes: Also referred to as adult-onset diabetes. More common in the middle-age, overweight individual. Usually treated by diet control, weight reduction or oral hypoglycemic agents. 35. ‘Why Exercise Cheers you up’ BBC News Online 27th September 2001. 36. ‘Phenylethylamine, a possible link to the antidepressant effects of exercise?’ Szabo A, Billett E, Turner J. Dept. of Life Sciences, Nottingham Trent Uv., Nottingham, UK. Br J Sports Med. 2001 Oct;35(5):342-3. Small clinical trial. 37. ‘Exercise and he older person.’ J Ward. Aged Care Services, Eastern Sydney Area Health Service, Pagewood, New South Wales, Australia. Aust Fam Physician. 1994 Apr;23(4):642-5, 648-9. 38. ‘Exercise level and cognitive decline: the MoVIES project.’ Lytle ME, et al. Dept. of Edipemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, Uv. of Pittsburgh, PA, USA. (Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2004 Apr-Jun; 18(2):54-6.) Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2004 Apr-Jun;18(2):57-64. 39. ‘Improving physical function and blood pressure in older adults through cobblestone mat walking: a randomized trial.’ Li F, et al. Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, Oregon, USA. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005 Aug;53(8):1305-12. 40. ‘Study: Walking on cobblestones is healthy’ by William McCall, AP Writer, 11th July, 2005. 41. ORI (Oregon Research Institute) 19-page Instruction Manual ‘Cobblestone-Mat Walking Training Protocol.’ http://www.ori.org/ 42. ‘How the World has Changed since 1904’ http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/changesince1904.htm 43. Electrostatic Charges - http://ecoprojects.co.nz/Electrobiology.asp 44. Ibid. 45. Hydrotherapy treatment of Chronic Disease. http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020123lindlahr/020123ch28.html Electromagnetic Effect of Cold Water http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020146.lindlahr.nat.therap/Nat.Thera.Pt2.htm 46. ‘A Case for Bare Feet’. http://www.barefooters.org/key-works/case_for/2.discrimination.html 47. Ibid. 48. Ibid. American Automobile Association. Digest of Motor Laws. American Automobile Association, Halthrow, FL. 1996. 49. ‘Walking Barefoot is healthy’ http://www.in-lienen.de/barfuspark/gehen.php?lang=EN 50. Otzi the Iceman (also spelled Oetzi and known also as Frozen Fritz) is the modern nickname of a well-preserved natural mummy of a man from about 3,300BC found in 1991 in a glacier near the border between Austria and Italy, and has offered an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans. 51. ‘Footwear style and risk of falls in older adults.’Koepsell TD, et al. Dept. of Epidemiology, Uv. of Washington, Seattle, USA. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2004 Sep;52(9):1495-501. 52. ‘Shoe characteristics and balance in older women.’ Lord SR, Bashrod GM. Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Randwick, NSW. Australia. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1996 Apr;44(4):429-33. 53. ‘Influence of shoes and heel strike on the loading of the hip joint.’ Bermann G, et al. Oskar-Helene-Heim, Biomechanics Laboratory, Orthopaedic Hospital, Free Uv. Berlin, Germany. J Biomech. 1995 Jul;28(7):817-27. 54. ‘Knee osteoarthritis and high-heeled shoes.’ Kerrigan DC, et al. Dept of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medicnal School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Lancet. 1998 May 9;351(9113):1399-401. 55. ‘Is there an association between the use of heeled footwear and schizophrenia?’ Flensmark. Kristianstadsgatan 23C, S-14, 23 Malmo, Sweden. Med Hypotheses. 2004; 63(4): 740-7. 56. Ibid. 57. Ibid. 58. Ibid. 59. ‘East Bay Barefoot Hikers’ http://www.unshod.org/ebbfhike/ 60. ‘Running-related injury prevention through barefoot adaptations.’ Robbins SE, Hanna AM. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1987 Apr;19(2):148-56. 61. Ibid. 62. ‘Sand between the toes’ A Winnie the Pooh Poem from A. A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner) 63. ‘The energy cost of running on grass compared to soft dry beach sand.’ Pinnington HC, Dawson B. Dept. of Human Movement and Exercise Science, Uv. of Western Australia, Crawlen, Australia. J Sci Med Sport. 2001 Dec;4(4):416-30. 64. ‘’Running economy of elite surf iron men and male runners, on sot dry beach sand and grass.’ Pinnington HC, Dawson B. Dept. of Human Movement and Exercise Science, Uv. of Western Australia, Crawlen, Australia. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2001 Nov; 86(1): 62-70. NB: ‘Surf Iron Men’ are men who participate in regular sand running training. 65. ‘Running on sand a challenge and reward.’ By Alicia Chang. AP writer. 6th September, 2005. 66. “Barefoot Doctors of Rural China” - produced and directed by Diane Li (with associate producer Victor H. Li), presents a unique view of the development of the barefoot doctors in the Chinese countryside in the 1970s. Cambridge Documentary Films: http://www.cambridgedocumentaryfilms.org/barefoot.html 67. Ibid. 68. ‘Beach Sand: What it is, Where it comes from and How it gets here.’ by Dennis Adams, Information Services Co-ordinator. http://www.co.beaufort.sc.us/bftlib/beachsan.htm 69. Quartz is colourless glass made of almost pure silica (SiO2).A hard glossy mineral consisting of silicon dioxide (SiO2) in crystal form; present in most rocks (especially sandstone and granite; yellow sand is quartz with iron oxide. Piezoelectricity is the ability of certain crystals (Quartz) to generate a voltage in response to applied mechanical stress. The word is derived from the Greek piezein, which means to squeeze or press. The effect is reversible; piezoelectric crystals, subject to an externally applied voltage, can change shape by a small amount. The effect is of the order of nanometers, but nevertheless finds useful applications such as the production and detection of sound, generation of high voltages, electronic frequency generation, and ultra fine focusing of optical assemblies. 70. Quartz crystal A crystal is a solid in which the constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in a regularly ordered, repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. ... This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. ...Hypotheses – Helen Knowles BRCP. 71. \ibid. 72. ‘Grass stalks fit bill for earliest toothpicks.’ by Charles Choi – Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition 6th November 2003. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4347 |
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