Walking and Waiting

We were supposed to get a bunch of rain yesterday in advance of hurricane Kyle so we didn't get out for a bike ride. Instead we went for a walk and found a few interesting things.

I also thought the round marks on this tree limb were rather interesting. They remind me of the craters on the moon:

Racoon tracks:

Close to where I live is an office building with sunflowers out front. Of course they're hugs and almost ready to disperse their seeds but I was so focussed on checking out the bugs on the plant I forgot to take a pic of the flowers themselves.

Ants are such incredible animals. They are farmers, shepherds, builders, and soldiers. I don't know which species are in the above pictures, but these ants are shepherds. They shepherd the leaf-hoppers, milk them for their honey-dew, and also protect them from other predators. The leaf-hoppers drink sap from plants and are actually a pest, though not on a grand scale, and the ants then take their excrement. Apparently, if any of the leaf-hoppers get eaten by a predator or blown off the plant by wind, the ants will replace the missing ones with leaf-hopper larvae. So you can add nursery attendant to the list of jobs that ants do. Cool.
The last pic, I believe, is an assassin bug. I will have to wait for a positive ID from someone who knows more than I about these things. It made me think it was a New Mexico import, though, with the pattern on its back.


So now, we wait for Hurricane Kyle to land this evening. 5 years ago this weekend, Hurricane Juan hit the Maritimes and left a path of destruction in its wake. 8 people were killed, including an EMT who was on the job at the time. It was another one of those times when the best of people came through, though. Thousands were without power for up to weeks at a time, massive neighbourhood BBQs were held because of all the food in people's fridges and freezers going bad, and as power was restored, sometimes one house at a time, people were opening up their homes for others to come in for a shower and a hot meal. I was without power for a week and camped out at my folks' place for a night and my co-worker, Lorna's house for a night.

Anyway, it looks like Kyle will pass just west of the city and wreak havoc on the Annapolis Valley. I know the farmers in the Valley have been out harvesting as much fruit from the trees and crops from the fields as they can for the past two days in anticipation. The Wookie and I will tackle another walk today before it gets too blustery. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that we don't have any trees come down on our building like we did with Juan.

I have batteries, water, a flashlight and candles so I'm ready.

S.

Clinging to Something

For my friends K and J

I went for a quick ride the other afternoon to Jack's Lake again. It's the spot about a kilometre from where I live, though the ride is about 7-8 k round trip. The day before I had felt a sore throat coming on but thought I'd fight it anyway. At the lake's edge I startled a 6 inch garter snake, several giant grasshoppers, a tiny frog, and a couple of bullfrog tadpoles. All of these creatures were too quick for me and my net or the camera so I just enjoyed the moment.

On the ride back home, just as I was nearing the main highway, I caught sight of a few pine trees clinging to the side of a cliff. They are maybe a year old but intent on growing somewhere.




Both are about a foot tall. I always marvel at the ability of living things to take hold and thrive in the most inhospitable places. Consider mountain sheep or goats, the ones the big game hunters go after in the Rockies. Or bacteria in our gut. Or trees on cliff edges.

Last week I read an obituary in the paper about a woman who was a pastor in my city. I had met her once several years ago and she was a good friend (and pastor) to friends of mine. Her life ended quite suddenly. I sent a note to my friends about their pastor and the response I received has stayed with me. I'm paraphrasing here, but K said that life isn't always nice when people like their pastor die so young and people like me have MS, but that's why faith is called faith and not certainty.

So true. If it was certain, there'd be no gambling, literally or figuratively. And no need for faith.

If things were certain, there'd be no anticipation of that first kiss. No enjoyment of the small victories we experience like passing that huge geometry test. No fun at watching someone open the "perfect" gift you found for them after searching high and low for it.

Life wouldn't mean as much to us if it was fair and certain. We could not just enjoy the moments. And we could not glean deeper meaning from a year old tree clinging to a rock.

S.

Bikes, Bears, and Beef

The Wookie and I went out on a logging trail today. About 6 k in there is a series of hiking trails set up by the logging company that owns or manages the land. They maintain the trail at their own expense. We didn't take the bikes on the hiking trail though it's apparently possible according to the two cyclists who emerged from the trail as we approached it. We could hear their bells long before we saw them. We have to get bells, too, for some of the trails we bike have bears. The two cyclists said they saw lots of bear signs, scat and tracks.

About 1/2 k from the hiking trail we came to a gate in the road. At the gate is a tiny bridge going over a fast moving stream where we stopped for some pics. First, the dragonfly that posed so patiently:

Then into the woods a few yards for a better look at the stream:


And finally, one of me.


All together it was a 14 k ride with a lot of rocky road uphill. Coming back was a relative breeze. On the way home we stopped at a local beef and chicken farm as it was Open Farm Day in the province and about 100 farms were participating by having "open house". I chatted with one of the farm workers about the beef cattle, we had burgers (and I felt a little guilty eating a burger in front of the animals), and the Wookie bought a free range chicken for beer can chicken later in the week. All in all a good day.

Fall arrives tomorrow. *sigh*

S.

Scientific Method

Scientific method is an accepted way to investigate events and to acquire knowledge about them.

From Wikipedia:
To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.

This method of observation and testing aims to get at the truth of something. Aside from gossip about Paris Hilton, we want the truth about things. And while some things may seem obvious to us, a scientific approach to them is what gets researchers and authorities to take note, perhaps throwing more money to causes to find out more.

Anecdotal evidence as defined in Wikipedia:
- information that is not based on facts or careful study
- non-scientific observations or studies, which do not provide proof but may assist research efforts
- reports or observations of usually unscientific observers
- casual observations or indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis
- information passed along by word-of-mouth but not documented scientifically

When the results of scientific studies are released, the methodology of collecting data or conducting experiments is also released with it. That allows others in the scientific community to scrutinize the studies and allows for reproduction of the studies as well as statistical analysis of the results.

If a scientist publishes a study but does not fully disclose methods or is found to have falsified results, there is hell to pay. The scientist may be censured or lose funding.

We in the MS community "know" a lot of stuff about our illness. We "know" that heat can wipe us out, we "know" that stress can be bad for us, and we "know" that our hormones can exacerbate symptoms. I put "know" in quotation marks to indicate that while these statements hold true for many of us, they don't for all of us; that's why we need studies of the effects of heat and stress and hormones (and a number of other things) on the course of MS. We need to either prove or disprove things about MS in order to treat it.

In the early days after my diagnosis, a lot of well meaning people came to me with stories about friends or friends of friends with MS who took such and such and then miraculously recovered or had astounding improvements. That's nice, I would respond, and then try to figure out if the magical cure had any merit. Few did. Some involved participation in some sort of marketing scheme of the product. And the product would be expensive. Similar results could be gained from a not so expensive product, like a bottle of vitamins. I started asking questions of the people telling me the stories, like "what is the mechanism of action of the product?". After a while, people realized that I wanted scientific evidence so would stop trying to "sell" me on a product and they became more selective about what they told me, only referring me to scientific studies. They don't know it, but I was slowly educating those around me about the scientific method.

I like this one:
"non-scientific observations or studies, which do not provide proof but may assist research efforts". If an idea has merit, it will be studied. For a number of years, many people were touting bee sting therapy as a cure for MS. So the scientific community took notice and began to study it. The results of the studies are mixed at this point, but at least the idea is being studied. Other alternative treatments have to be studied as well. And when they are, and results are favourable and repeatable, and don't require me to market a product in some sort of pyramid scheme, I'll jump on the bandwagon.

The point of all this is that there was a big meeting of a whole bunch of international MS researchers in Montreal this week. I've been following the news and press releases and many of the studies may have some in the MS community shaking their heads and saying "Well, d'uh! I could have told them that!". But in order for the scientists and researchers to get to the bottom of MS they have to use scientific methods. And that takes time. (As well, they are researching some anecdotal events.)

Do you want the truth? Or do you want to spend time and money, possibly risking injury or death on something that hasn't been tested?

I want the truth.

S.

Little Things, Big Ideas

The world shall perish not for lack of wonders, but for lack of wonder. J.B.S. Haldane

No thing is too small to know and no thing is too big to attempt. William Cornelius van Horne

The insignificance of insignificant things is often of the greatest significance. Me, circa 1979.

The first two quotes mean a lot to me. They inspire me to maintain a sense of curiosity about the world (though I really don't need much as I always seem to NEED to know stuff). If I hear a word used I've not heard before or one I've not seen before, I have to look it up. Where did it come from? When was it first used? If I see an insect I've not encountered before, I google it. What is it related to? What can I learn from it? If I hear two different songs with a similar sound or style I look up the writers of said song to find out if they were both written by the same guy or gal.

The third quote came about as a result of a piece of creative writing I had scratched out in an attempt to make a very mundane subject more interesting. It was also an exercise in descriptive writing. The piece was about a chunk of chocolate that was melting on a sidewalk. I have to admit it still is one of my favourite pieces. I described the "careless child" who had dropped the chocolate, the ants approaching it and eating it to take back to their nest, the "hurried businessman" who trod through it and "spread it like a virus with each subsequent step". After I had written the piece, I realized there was a lot more to the story. I thought about the child who would have been upset about the loss of her precious candy, the windfall for the ants, and the unmindfulness of the businessman to his surroundings that he would walk through the mess.

After considering all these things, I realized I had accomplished what I set out to do. I took a rather insignificant idea and found greater significance to it. And then it hit me. Life is kind of like that sometimes. Ever try to light a fire without a lighter or matches? A 2 dollar item can make the difference between freezing to death and surviving til morning and rescue.

So what does all this have to do with MS? If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you knew I'd make the connection sooner or later (and in this case, later). First, a sense of curiosity is necessary to figure out the whole MS puzzle. Scientists NEED to want to know how to put it all together. Second, we need those scientists to consider every part of our brain and body when studying this disease, from the teeniest molecule of fatty acids to the larger systems. The CNS is a part of the process of MS, but not the only part. Our nerves may be small but the system they are part of is huge, literally and figuratively. And third, when we do figure out this puzzle, it will be because someone thought of a two dollar widget that can fix it.

S.

Warp Speed

So the Wookie and I went for a relatively short but intense bike ride this morning. I had a flat tire before the bike even came off the car, but we fixed the inner tube and were off. On the way to a lake about 5 k away I stopped to inspect a yellow wooly bear. It's the larva of a dagger moth, though it could also possibly be the larva of a Virginia tiger moth. Not really sure as the caterpillars are very similar and we do have tiger moths here. Anyway, it kindly posed for pictures and we were on our way.


Once we reached the end of our ride, I checked my stats on the bike computer. It tells me how far I've gone, how much time was spent riding the bike, my average riding speed, and my maximum speed. To be honest, I'm not much of a speed demon. I sometimes check my speed on steep down-hills and anything above 25k usually frightens me. But I just about died when I saw this:


105.9 k/hour? That's like 66 miles an hour!!

No way did I do that. There's gotta be something wrong with the computer. But the Wookie asked if I was going to try for warp speed next weekend.

S.

CAMS

Recently I came across an article on an MS website that read like a PR campaign for alternative products. The headline was sensational and the article was described as having come from a newspaper, indicating it was a researched story from a reporter.

Halfway through the article I realized it WAS an advertisement for another website belonging to someone who was peddling alternative treatments, supplements, and books about the benefits of these things.

As a member of the media and a sometimes PR person myself, I recognized the "article" for what it was - an ad. I informed the author of the MS website of what he had just published and what it actually was, and he removed it from his site.

Am I against alternative therapies or complimentary medicines? Generally, no. If it works for you, it's not draining your pocket book at the expense of "proven" medicine, and it does no harm to you, then go for it. But remember, most of these therapies or supplements or regimens are not FDA approved (Health Canada in Canada) nor have they any scientific evidence to back them up. As a matter of fact, the website I was directed to, said at the very bottom in small print that nothing on that website had been approved by the FDA. But too many CAMS (complementary and alternative medicine) rely on anecdotal evidence to prove they work.

People with catastrophic illnesses or situations are targeted because many are desperate for a cure or relief from symptoms. As a student of science and the scientific method, I have a healthy skepticism about any treatment or supplement touted to be the "next great cure". Any time I come across these things, I check to see what studies have been done to back up the claims. No scientific studies, no consideration on my part.

If a CAM has a plausible mechanism of action, I will consider it. And chances are good, that if it has a plausible mechanism of action, there are probably current studies under way to determine effectiveness. For example, evening primrose oil has been recommended to me (and other MSers) as a supplement to help with MS symptoms. Turns out that the oil contains essential fatty acids (the good fats) necessary for good health and body function. So a recommendation to take evening primrose oil supplements has merits. But rather than spend money on the supplement, I choose to add nuts and seeds to my diet as a source of both protein and the essential fats I need.

The point of this whole diatribe is to encourage everyone to be aware of any recommendations made to you. Ask questions about why something is being recommended, if anyone gains from the recommendation (besides you), and always remember if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

S.