Physiological Effects of Ancient Religious Chants

Several studies have explore the effects of religious changes, such as OM, on physiological parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure and heat rate variability (HRV). 

Overall, the effects were considered beneficial.

For example, a brief chanting of OM (5 min) might enhance parasympathetic nervous system activity, promote relaxation, and provide calmness. 

Rhythm formulas that involve breathing at 6 breaths per minute induced favorable psychological and possibly physiological effects. Breathing at 6 breaths per minute is very close to so called resonance frequency breathing for most people.

References:

Physiological Effects of Cryptic Ancient Religious Chants.  Abhijit. V. Bodne    Varsha Patond. Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International, Volume 33, Issue 60B, Page 1042-1048 DOI: 10.9734/jpri/2021/v33i60B34711 Published: 23 December 2021
https://journaljpri.com/index.php/JPRI/article/view/6842

Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study. BMJ. 2001 Dec 22; 323(7327): 1446–1449. doi: 10.1136/bmj.323.7327.1446  PMCID: PMC61046 PMID: 11751348
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC61046/

Immediate Effects of OM Chanting on Heart Rate Variability Measures Compared Between Experienced and Inexperienced Yoga Practitioners. Int J Yoga. 2022 Jan-Apr; 15(1): 52–58. Published online 2022 Mar 21. doi: 10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_141_21 PMCID: PMC9015091 PMID: 35444369
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9015091/

Understand risk better by using "micromort" unit

A micromort (from micro- and mortality) is a unit of risk defined as a one-in-a-million chance of death.

Micromorts can be used to measure the riskiness of various day-to-day activities.

Activities that increase the death risk by roughly one micromort, and their associated cause of death:

Traveling 250 miles by car (collision) Travelling 1,000 miles (1,600 km) by jet (collision) Travelling 6,000 miles (9,656 km) by train (collision)

 Increase in death risk for other activities on a per event basis:

Giving birth (vaginal) – 120 micromorts
Giving birth (caesarean) – 170 micromorts
AstraZeneca vaccination against COVID-19 – 2.9 micromorts
COVID-19 infection at age 10 – 20 micromorts
COVID-19 infection at age 25 – 100 micromorts
COVID-19 infection at age 55 – 4,000 micromorts
COVID-19 infection at age 65 – 14,000 micromorts
COVID-19 infection at age 75 – 46,000 micromorts
COVID-19 infection at age 85 – 150,000 micromorts

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromort

Dopamine elevation after a cold bath

Dopamine elevation after cold bath is due to stimulation of pain receptors in the skin, at 2 minutes in the video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmOF0crdyRU Norepi, Epi and dopamine were all increased with cold water exposure. Dopamine increased 250% over baseline and that increase was sustained after the exposure for up to 3 hours. The sweet spot is alert but calm. That was achieved via the cold exposure. Calm/alert state. Cold exposure can be equivalent to coffee without the jitters. Mnemonics: D Dopamine Drives Determination and motivation C Cold water exposure Calm/alert state At 42 minutes. Chocolate increases dopamine 150% for a few minutes. Sex increases dopamine 200%. Nicotine increases dopamine 250% for a few minutes. Same increase with cocaine. Amphetamine increases dopamine 10 times. Exercise, if you like it, increases dopamine 200%. If you don't like the exercise, dopamine does not go up. Postpartum depression can appear after every big win, not just labor. That lower mood can last a long time. It is due to lower baseline dopamine levels. At 55 minutes. Cold bath can counteract this because it may increase baseline dopamine level for at least a portion of the day. We all have dopamine set point. More on cold water exposure at 1 hr 30 minutes. Safety parameters: 30 to 40F degree water can put someone in the state of cold shock and they can die. Cold water exposure always causes release of epinephrine, even after you are cold-water adapted. Increase in epi and nor-epi is immediate. Dopamine levels increases slowly to the point of 250% over baseline. It takes 3 hours for dopamine to go back to baseline. How to deal with the cold in a peaceful manner: Relax in the cold, breathe slowly, widen your gaze - switch from portrait to landscape mode. At 1 hr 35 minutes. Velvet beans contain L-DOPA at 1 hr 58 minutes. Dopamine and prolactin work in push-pull fashion. Increase in dopamine is linked with lower prolactin.

First use of the hastag #MedTwitter was in 2009

The first use of the hastag #MedTwitter was in 2009 by one of my accounts @DrVes, did not know about this until this year.

 

@blogborygmi "should the Twitter awards be a series of tweets" -Twitter structure is not suitable for that, although #MedTwitter can be used

— Ves Dimov, M.D. (@DrVes) January 6, 2009

 

More:

 

Did you know that the first medical journal club on Twitter was started by an allergist/immunologist @DrVes? #MedTwitter: If you’re interested in connecting with the allergy & immunology community, try: #AIMedEd. We’d love to interact & learn from other specialties https://t.co/XblWN4zjdm

— Corinne Happel, MD, FAAAAI (@DrCorinneHappel) December 10, 2020

Tom Jones at 81, sings about aging on his new album

NPR and Bob Boilen | June 7, 2021: "We're publishing this Tom Jones Tiny Desk (home) concert on his 81st birthday. It's a poignant moment in the life of a singer whose career spans 56 years and more than 100 million records sold; the passing of his wife, Linda, in 2016 after 59 years of marriage was devastating and resulted in the longest break between recordings of his career. But now Tom Jones is back with a new album, Surrounded By Time, and ready to share his deepest feelings, channeling songs by others with a voice still rich and muscular.

The songs on the album (and for this Tiny Desk) deal so eloquently with time and aging. Tom Jones sings Bob Dylan's "One More Cup Of Coffee" and going "down to the valley below." Then, he takes on Malvina Reynolds' folk tune "There's No Hole In My Head" and turns it into a fierce statement about being yourself.

When Tom Jones was 33, and after one of his infamous shows in Las Vegas, jazz composer Bobby Cole presented him with the song "I'm Growing Old." With lyrics including "I'm growing dimmer in the eyes / I'm growing fainter in my talk / I'm growing deeper in my sighs / I'm growing slower in my walk." Tom Jones didn't feel old enough to do it justice, but he held on to it. His performance here brought me to tears and is well worth the wait."