The Weekly Dose - Episode 30

The Weekly Dose...

... the latest from Dr Karan

  Here is your weekly dose...  

Hi all!Here is your weekly dose of the Sunday Six! A few things I found interesting this week. If you enjoy this please feel free to forward this to friends. families and enemies alike!**You'll find more in depth analysis of some of these subjects on my social platforms in the links just below, including Dr Karan Investigates! for deep dives into interesting topics on my YouTube channel.**

Are You Unlearning?...

When I signed up to do medicine I was told it's a job that demands life long learning. Science and research updates means the goal posts constantly move so to my knowledge and practice current I need to attend conferences, publish research, attend courses etc. This is easy (although expensive). What I didn't account for is how much I needed to UN-learn. What the hell do I mean by that?Simply put, the more experience I've gained, the more I realise there is yet to uncover and the more I understand how little I (and we) actually understand about the human body. Things I've assumed years ago when I was a first year doctor I've had to forget and re-learn. It's not easy to challenge our strongly held beliefs and perceptions which form a core part of our personality but shattering these dogmatic views, pushing back on these assumptions is key this UN-learning. This is not so easy.The easiest way I'v found I can begin the process of unlearning is by questioning everything internally. Why do I believe this is the correct way to treat a patient? Is there a better way? Why does this work? Is it just because someone told me it does? Stay curious and try unlearning one thing this week.

The Biggest Exercise Myth...

We live in a world where intense, aggressive workout is the only way to see "gains". By all means if you enjoy this carry on. However research suggests moderate exercise and physical activity is better when it comes to health improvements and sustainability. The key factor in sustainability is building habits around activities you enjoy.Elevating exercise to a demonic form of torture involving searing pain, "the burn" and endless trudging of a stairmaster sucks. This then worsens this by widening the "intention-behaviour gap", the distance between your actions and intentions (i.e you say you want to exercise, but don't).Instead of viewing exercise like paying penitence of a form of torture for that tub of ice cream you wolfed down, see it as a something to boost your happiness. In fact research suggests that if you enjoy your exercise you are likely to minimise or even abolish the intention-behavior gap than those who don’t.  

What I'm Watching...

The Last Of UsThis show is pretty cool. Not just because Pedro Pascal (of Mandalorian fame) is the lead but because this entire show is based on science!Essentially in this series, the world has been devastated by a zombie fungus and has caused a pandemic. And....it turns out this fungus is real. It's known as Ophiocordyceps  Ophiocordyceps is a literal zombie fungus (for the insect world at the moment anyway..) because of the way it infects and controls its host as a parasitic fungus. Once inside, the fungus starts to invade areas like the nervous system and can actually influence its host’s behavior. It can't infect humans (so far) because this specific group of fungi don’t do well with our higher body temperature, which is why they're fond of ectotherms like insects. Could this change? Unlikely but the chance isn't 0%. It's maybe 0.000000000000000000000000000000000001 at least.I'm off to prepare for the looming mushroom apocalypse.

    Are there any benefits of fasting?... 

I rarely fast voluntarily. My involuntary fasts are usually a result of me being stuck in a 9 hour surgery or when I'm beset by a stomach buy that has me catapulting my inside into the outside, violently. However there may be a good reason to build in natural fasts into your 24 hours and it has something to do with your microbiome. Every-time you eat food, pass a bowel motion etc, the lining of your intestines take a bit of a beating. Some cells are sloughed off and the lining is damaged. This is normal and your intestinal lining has a high turnover rate and can replenish itself. Leaving longer gaps between your night time meal and your first meal of the day, by at least 12 hours can actually allow certain populations of bacteria, e.g Akkermansia, to help replenish the lining of the gut.Of course this is not always a feasible option for people who require a tight control of their blood sugar etc but simply avoiding very late night feasts and then ensuring an adequate period of time lapses until your morning meal could make a difference to your gut function. We all have different microbiomes and this might work better for some than others but it's something I'm experimenting with and I will keep you posted. However it must be noted n = 1 studies must be taken with a generous pinch of salt.

A Virus Only Diet?...

We often think of viruses as destructive. But...what if a virus could sustain life instead of decimating it?Well researchers have reported that certain microbes can grow and thrive on a strict "virus-only" diet! This is known as "virivory". Viruses aren't just empty husks or the equivalent of eating the crumbs from a packet of crisps; turns out they are fairly nutritious, a healthy snack containing plenty of amino acids, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus — the building blocks of a hearty diet.In the research, the microorganism Halteria inhabit the same freshwater habitat as a chlorovirus. It was noted that within two days Halteria reduced chlorovirus abundance 100-fold and increased its population by 15-fold. Halteria converted around 17% of the consumed cholorvirus mass into new mass of its own. Researchers also estimated that each Halteria cell ate about 10,000 to 1,000,000 viruses per day! Greedy much?This discovery could revolutionize our understanding of microbial ecosystems and I'm sure we will soon gain light on how this could affect us sitting at the higher reaches of this complex food chain!

The Human Library...

In Copenhagen, Denmark there is a library where you can loan humans for 15 minutes and fill your brain with their thoughts, life experiences and perceptions. Be it an exotic dancer, pro-wrestler, sex-worker, politician or Buddhist monk.I enjoy books but truth be told I prefer having aimless conversations with friends. Humans are social creatures and most people feel recharged by having some physical interaction with another member of our species (even if it's only for a short burst).These human libraries now exist world over and not just little old Denmark so type in "Human Library" followed by your country or city on google and see if one is near you. This counts as one "unlearning"! 

As always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which of this weeks Sunday six is your favourite? Is there something you want more, or less of? I'm open to any suggestions so please let me know! Just send a  tweet to @drkaranrajan and use the hashtag #theweeklydose at the end so I can find it!

Have a wonderful week, all.

Much love,

Karan