Posts Tagged ‘military’

A study in this month’s Anesthesia & Analgesics journal suggests that phantom limb pain, pain often experienced by amputees that’s perceived to be in a missing limb, can be alleviated by mirror therapy. Researchers at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego say they were able to reduce phantom pain in some soldiers via this form of therapy in which patients sit with a mirror vertically between their legs and arms so that the limbs are reflected in it. The reflection in the mirror makes it appear like the injured arm or leg is healthy and normal. The theory behind phantom limb pain is that the pain pathways in the brain and spinal cord can recall the traumatic injury, thus the missing limb somehow continues to hurt, despite not being there anymore. In performing mirror therapy, the brain and spinal cord are visually tricked into believing that all of the person’s limbs are intact and without pain, thus reducing brain activity associated with pain and modulating the pain response experienced by the amputee. [via BusinessWeek]

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Is it true that up to 45 percent of your body heat is lost through your head? Apparently not. The British Medical Journal reports this week that this myth has be debunked by researchers at Indiana University. The medical myth was traced back to advise published in a US Army Field Manual from 1970 which was based on flawed interpretation of US Military experiments in which subjects dressed in arctic survival suits (without hats) were exposed to cold temperatures. Since their heads were the only part of their bodies left uncovered, scientists wrongfully assumed that the head was the source of the majority of heat loss when, in fact, heat loss can occur through a variety of thermoregulatory mechanisms – conduction, convection, radiation. If the myth were true, they say, humans would be just as cold if they went without a hat as if they went without pants. The actual amount of heat loss depends roughly on the body surface area that is exposed.

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