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Finding a good physical therapist is a lot like finding a good plumber. You ask around, listen carefully, and hope that the recommender knows what she's talking about. If you're lucky, and she does know, your visit will probably be a lot like the one described in this piece in the Washington Post, where careful diagnosis precedes treatment.
It all started about four and a half million years ago, when some striving Australopithecus decided that it would be more fashionable to walk upright than to crawl around like some kind of quadriped. Since then, anthropologists say, the human skeleton, muscles, tendons and ligaments have been evolving into an efficient and elegant running machine. The New York Times reports on a new theory that the development of our sleek new running physique took much longer than previously thought.
Every athlete knows it well: the soreness that sets in a day or two after a particularly tough workout. A recent article in the New York Times offers a somewhat helpful explanation of how it works (no one knows) and what you can do about it (not much). Known to sports scientists as delayed muscle soreness, the aches that arrive more than 24 hours after exercise may be caused by microscopic tears in muscles. Or, they may be caused by some other thing. As for pain relief, some athletes swear by Aleve or Advil, although research suggests that the help they offer is almost insignificant. One thing you should do, doctors say, is take pains to stay adequately hydrated during and after exercise. How will you know? Check the color of your urine. If your urine is dark, drink up. And keep drinking until its color returns to normal.
The Mediterranean diet became even sunnier recently when the FDA granted bottlers of olive oil the right to claim that it may help reduce the risk of heart disease. The Washington Post reports that olive oil contains mono-unsaturated fatty acids, which lower the dangerous type of blood cholesterol known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and that the tasty lubricant appears to reduce the inflammation tied to artery damage and seems to keep the inner lining of arteries calm and less likely to contract in a dangerous way. If you're one of those readers who finds qualifiers like "appears to" and "seems to" less than reassuring, it may be because you're more demanding than some officials at the FDA.
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