Your Daily Dose Of Gravity

I believe there is one at the Space Center in Houston, Texas, as there are at other space museums around the world. For those of you who think of a gyroscope as an instrument used in navigation, a compass or a device to help stabilize the rocking of ships, aircraft, torpedoes, or spacecraft, you are right. No motor is involved. The rotor simultaneously spins about its axis and can oscillate about the other two axes. No two rides are alike, providing infinite variety involving all parts of the body. Human gyroscopes such as the Gyrogym are now available on the market for personal use. They are also used in training football players or athletes in other sports who need to maintain their center of gravity at all times as they tackle, while moving sideways or back and forth. In doing this, it seems that this device may work by training primarily the stabilizer muscles. But just as with a trampoline, if you buy one, do make sure it has the required safety features. It is a rapidly rotating device that, by virtue of its centrifugal force, simulates the effects of gravity and acceleration on whoever is riding on it. One day very soon it will be commonplace to see centrifuges at your local gym to make you fit, trim, and strong. It is apparent that, not unlike exercise, an alternating higher and lower G, rather than a sustained gravity stimulus mode, may be most effective.

Be Open To New Ideas

Charles Knapp at the University of Kentucky and his team of researchers are finding that, just as with exercise, it takes probably less than 30 minutes to achieve good results by lying on a rotating plate, if the dose of gravity, provided by the number of revolutions per minute, is intermittent. I am convinced effective results can be achieved in even shorter times. The dose of gravity and accompanying regimen required for muscle toning or for building bone strength may differ. Imagine being able to train both your stabilizer and your mobilizer muscle systems with a centrifuge. Imagine being able to get your daily dose of gravity with such short exposures! I have designed just such a centrifuge, primarily for keeping astronauts healthy on their way to Mars and back, or for space tourists like you who may want to go to the moon for their adventure vacation or their honeymoon. Back on Earth, I hope that one day soon a basic version of my centrifuge design will be built. Changes in bone content in male athletes. But what if your situation is worse? What if you find it difficult to get out of bed or out of a chair without help? What if you suffer from a debilitating chronic condition or injury that impairs your mobility and saps your strength? If this is the case, you are likely to be even more gravity deprived than the merely sedentary. Then we will take a look at how to apply treatment to alleviate these problems through hypergravity and by stimulating gravity receptors. The state of the body reflects the state of the brain and mind. The brain is plastic. It can find new ways around a problem.

Someday Soon

The brain can recruit a neighboring brain area to take on the function of a damaged one. If one sense is damaged, another can take over for it. Using gravity can help! It is converted or transduced to a chemical or physical signal to grow, communicate, heal, or divide, and is a powerful ally in the fight against atrophy and degeneration. This change in gravity threshold must be taken into account in developing an effective gravity prescription. Recognition of the role of gravity in providing loading and directional cues has been slow in coming. Therefore, many approaches have been only partially based on the detailed understanding of physiology acquired from space research, and their effectiveness has been less than systematic. They have therefore become a useful indicator of your state of health. Short telomeres have been linked to illness, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression, shorter lifespan, and early death. The bad news is that research is now showing that people with a sedentary lifestyle also have shorter telomeres. As you might have guessed, physical activity helps you keep those telomeres longer, but only if it is moderate. People with high levels of physical activity had, in fact, shorter telomeres, just like those who sat too much. Be active, but don’t overdo it if you want to see those grandkids grow up.

All The Way Down

Similarly, when brain connections are interrupted, such as with brain or spinal injury, stroke, or by injury or infection during childhood, the rest of the body rapidly loses its fitness. So often, because primary attention is focused on the injury, peripheral rehabilitation is not started until after the body has been allowed to decondition, making recovery that much slower and more difficult. The neural networks involved with balance and coordination may not be laid down in the brain, or may be laid down erratically and be improperly programmed. And an adult brain suffering a serious injury is just as vulnerable when the brain centers and programs laid down during development are interrupted. The tragic outcome is evidenced by a lack of coordination, the inability to stand and carry the body’s load, problems in muscle and bone development, and other gravity deprivation symptoms. They made a convincing, thoroughly documented argument of the relationship between immediate cord clamping at birth and neonatal brain damage. Their argument is based on the fact that most infants start breathing within seconds of birth. In others, however, this premature clamping interrupts the normal physiological role of the placenta and umbilical cord, which is to perfuse the infant’s lungs with oxygenated placental blood until its own lung circulation and breathing are established. Circulation and an adequate blood volume are essential for respiration. Amazingly, they all become leaner. This is not because they ate less or were more active. We do not have the answer yet.