Have you ever considered a sprained ankle as a brain injury? Most people probably would not do this.

However, we’re starting to know how the brain continuously adapts, so-called plasticity.

Although the damage from an ankle sprain takes place within the ankle, there may also be some changes within the brain when it comes to how well it senses pain and movement.

One of our PhD students, Ashley Marchant showed something similar happens when we modify the load (or load) on the muscles of the lower limb. The closer the charge is to Earth’s normal gravity, the more accurate our sense of motion is; the less muscle load, the less accurate we get.

This work means we’d like to rethink how the brain controls and responds to movement.

Solving a crucial puzzle

Historically, exercise science has attempted to enhance muscle function through resistance training, cardiovascular exercises and flexibility.

One of a very powerful issues within the treatment and prevention of sports injuries is that even when the sports medicine team determines that the athlete is able to return, the danger of future injury stays two to eight times higher than in the event that they had never been injured.

This implies that sports doctors missed something.

Our work on the University of Canberra and the Australian Institute of Sport has focused on sensory input to try to resolve this puzzle. The aim was to evaluate the power of sensory reception, i.e. perception, a facet of movement control.

Input (sensory) nerves. they outnumber output (motor) nerves by about ten to 1.

Over 20 years, scientists have developed tools to find out the standard of sensory input reaching the brain, which determines how well we will perceive movement. Evaluating these inputs may very well be useful for everybody from astronauts to athletes and older people susceptible to falls.

We can now measure how well a person receives information from three critical input systems:

• vestibular system (balance organ of the inner ear)
• visual system (students’ response to changes in light intensity)
• position detection system within the lower limbs (mainly from sensors within the muscles and skin of the ankle and foot).

This information allows us to construct a picture of how well a person’s brain collects details about movement. It also indicates which of the three systems may profit from additional rehabilitation or training.

Lessons from space

You could have seen videos of astronauts, for instance on the International Space Station, moving around using only their hands with their legs hanging behind them.

This shows how humans leave Earth’s gravity minimal information for the sensory system from the skin and muscles of the legs.

The brain quickly deactivates the connections it normally uses to manage movement. This is advantageous when an astronaut is in space, but as soon as she or he has to face or walk on the surface of the earth or moon, she or he is at greater risk of falls and injuries.

Similar brain changes can occur in athletes on account of changes in movement patterns after injury.

For example, limping after a leg injury implies that the brain receives movement information that may be very different from the movement patterns of that leg. In the case of plasticity, this will mean that the movement control pattern doesn’t return to its optimal pre-injury state.

As mentioned earlier, injury history is the perfect predictor of future injuries.

This suggests that after injury, there are changes within the athlete’s movement control processes – almost certainly within the brain – that reach outside of time when the damaged tissue heals.

Measures of how well an athlete perceives movement are related to how well she or he performs in various sports. So sensory awareness may be as well a solution to discover sports talents early.

Poor performance on the identical measures of sensory perception may occur in older adults and within the context of fall prevention predict later falls.

This could also be on account of reduced physical activity in some older people. The “use it or lose it” idea may show how brain connections chargeable for perception and movement control can degrade over time.

Precision healthcare

New technologies for tracking sensory abilities are a part of a latest direction in healthcare generally known as precision health.

Precision Health uses technology and artificial intelligence to take note of a range of things (corresponding to their genetic makeup) that affect a person’s health and provide treatments designed specifically for that individual.

Applying a precision health approach to motion control could enable rather more targeted rehabilitation for athletes, training astronauts, and stopping earlier falls in older adults.

A Baltimore doctor helps Black women treat hair loss with a drug typically used to treat other conditions.

Dr. Crystal Aguh, a dermatologist who directs the Ethnic Skin Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine, has begun broad-use testing of a diabetes drug called metformin. For study participants, Aguh identified the similarity between scalp scars and organ scars in diabetic patients. Aguh believes that using metformin may help treat scalp scarring and potentially slow or reverse hair loss.

“Has anyone tried to attack the scar on their scalp?” She he said “We had to give women a better chance to regrow their hair.”

Aguha’s treatment plan addresses central centrifugal scarring alopecia, which is different from alopecia areata without scarring. Her research also shows that up to 15% of black women suffer from this specific type, which can also have a genetic basis.

According to Aguha, low doses of metformin, typically used to regulate insulin levels, will help reduce scarring on the scalp. The relatively inexpensive drug can be secure for long-term use.

Aguh gave her patients the cream in small doses and located improvement in hair loss after six to eight weeks of use. In six patients, hair grew back in some areas. Now it hopes to begin clinical trials to get the drug officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“I am a scientist, but above all a human being,” she said. “I want people to be better. If I left the hair clinic because no one was losing their hair, that would be great.”

Meanwhile, Aguh also listed suggestions for stopping and detecting hair loss in Black women. On the Johns Hopkins Aguh website states that This demographic is more susceptible to traction alopecia, often brought on by heat, chemicals, or tight styling that puts stress on the hair root. Aguh noted that looser styles and fewer heat can keep hair healthier for longer.

Aguh also suggests contacting a dermatologist to develop latest treatment plans for people noticing less thickness and more visibility of the scalp.

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Although we expect of Dawn primarily as a dishwashing soap, in case you didn’t know, it is also an on a regular basis soap help save wildlife. If you’ve got watched any ad where they clean ducklings, you will note that this product is used to remove fat and look after aquatic animals by working with a company, International Bird Rescue Operation.

Someone who admires these efforts is EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson. The star, our latest cover star, partnered with the brand because she is an animal lover and loves what they do to avoid wasting wildlife. He also desires to encourage others to get lively and help them get monetary savings (including a $1 discount coupon). In addition to participating in an cute campaign to make this occur, Hudson told us about her love of dishwashing liquid, her memories of growing up, her love of wildlife, and the way she and her son use the product in their home. Here’s what she needed to say.

ESSENCE: How did your collaboration with Dawn come about?

Jennifer Hudson: Well, I mean, I feel like Dawn and I actually have all the time worked together because Dawn has all the time been a component of my home and my upbringing. But seeing what Dawn did for the ducklings at International Bird Rescue and knowing that it was a totally trusted soap that would help the little, delicate feathers of birds and ducklings touched my heart. I’m enthusiastic about animals. I actually have two cats at home. Knowing that there are things that may help wildlife is something I need to advocate for and be a component of. Not to say I now have a 15-year-old son. He is the cook at home and I wash the dishes. So Dawn is there. It just is sensible for my life and his life. I prefer to do real things which are near me and this is one in every of them.

What are your memories of using Dawn dish soap growing up?

Oh my God. I used to be a dishwasher. We all had our responsibilities, and washing the dishes and setting the table for the holidays was my job. It was my department. So I took the dishes and set the table beautifully for Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, and New Year’s Eve dinner. I loved doing it. This is my fondest memory of using Dawn soap. And I’m a vacation fanatic, so this is on my mind.

What meal do you like to organize but find cleanup a bit difficult? And what dish would Dawn really use while cooking?

Let’s see. Well, my son and I are making pizza together. Vegetable lasagna is one other dish where the cheese all the time sticks to the pan, so you wish something to interrupt it up. And he’s a cook now. So again I just clean up. So whatever he’s cooking, I just bring out my superpower: Where’s my Dawn? [Laughs]. It’s a part of cooking. My mother used to say, “You know, part of cooking is cleaning up after the meal.” And it’s true.

Why are you a fan of washing dishes by hand?

I like traditional things. I feel it’s relaxing, especially when you’ve got a soothing soap like Dawn. It’s almost like a hand massage at the same time after which I concentrate on myself. It’s like you actually handle your home by washing the dishes. And it’s something that makes me feel like I’m contributing to my home once I can wash dishes as an alternative of putting them in the dishwasher. And that is perhaps a part of it too. But it’s more of a connection. Another thing I really like to do is wash the floor. I do not know what I like more, washing dishes or mopping the floor. I’m so serious.

You mentioned that your son cooks. Does your son, who has just turned 15, also work as a dishwasher?

Yes, but boys don’t love washing dishes that much. It’s interesting because not only do I actually have a son, but I often have him and his cousins ​​who’re all boys and all have responsibilities. They need to contribute to the house. And I said, OK, “So who washes the dishes?” And I’m telling you, it is so quiet. And it’s like, what’s the cope with the dishes? You didn’t make them? It won’t wash itself. Someone has to clean it. Some people prefer to take out the trash, fix the beds and sweep the floor, but the dishes… But I need to do it when it’s just me and my baby. Like I said, I wash the dishes and he cooks. This is teamwork.

You and David are very close. How do you prefer to spend time with him indoors and outdoors?

Love it. First, I’m interested in all the pieces my child is interested in. As my mother used to say, “As long as it makes you happy, it doesn’t hurt anyone, and it makes you happy, I’m all for it.” So whatever he’s into, I’m into it too. Basketball is one in every of those things. And I’m a basketball mom. So we get in the automobile, they put me in the backseat, after which the boys go to the gym and play football. For me, this is one method to connect.

I watch a number of the sports that they watch, which is basketball. We had just met and my summer dream was to go to a baseball game, so I talked them into going to 2 games with me and so they loved it. So now we would like to play baseball. So we get entangled in things that interest them, and he’s crazy into music now, so we’ve a number of bond through music. One day he said, “Mom, I want to play you something,” and the best method to take heed to music is to get in the automobile. And we love our sounds. So we drove around for hours, just listening to music together. This is how we connect. And then with the animals and us he loves animals, and this teaches him character, in addition to compassion and responsibility, things in life that also apply to animals. How to be gentle and compassionate.

How do you balance a successful talk show, filmmaking and all the pieces else you’ve got in your plate with parenting?

Oh, baby. Teamwork. Teamwork, teamwork. Finding that balance. I like to satisfy where I’m and find the best way there. Lots happens in at some point. I rise up in the morning, I take my kid to highschool, then I am going to work, after which I could have a faculty meeting, or I actually have to go to a basketball game, or I could show up. So all the pieces must be interchangeable so I can adapt to anything. Sometimes I fly in from work and need to go straight to the game and my parents are like, “Oh wow, I love the way you’re wearing your practice shoes, you look smart.” But that is because I actually have to go to a gathering right after that, so I would like to have the ability to alter it and move on to the next thing. Finding these interchangeable things helps me with my lifestyle and helps me get through it.

Is there anything you want to to inform ESSENCE readers about your collaboration with Dawn?

I’m really looking forward to working with Dawn. I feel what they’re doing is amazing and I just need to proceed to make people aware that they may help Dawn save the geese. And I need them to assist Dawn save the geese. I’m sure in the event that they turn around, they’ll see Dawn sitting on the kitchen counter and so they’ll realize how much of a component of their lives their homes are and the way traditional it is, and so they’ll know that I’m doing amazing things and may contribute to it. And that is the point. So we may help Dawn save the geese. I wish they’d proceed to do it and I need to be a component of it.

More details about her campaign with Dove could be found at dawnducks.com.