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LETTER OF THE MONTH
Science soothes in difficult times
We all heard the devastating news that Queen Elizabeth II passed away a few hours after doctors raised concerns for her health. But it made me think that the royal family wouldn’t have been able to rush to be by her side if it wasn’t for the progress made possible by science and technology. Imagine if they had to receive the news by post and travel to Balmoral using carriages. But the benefits of such progress are not exclusive to the royal family. Nowadays, I can travel by air from London to Tehran in six hours to be with my family, something I couldn’t have done a hundred years ago. It seems science and technology can hold our hands long before we reach our loved ones.
WRITE IN AND WIN!
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Grateful for fat
As someone who reluctantly took to exercise at 40, and who still carries more fat than he would like, it’s interesting to get a fuller picture of what it’s doing for me (August issue). It’s nice to know that while I might not have appreciated its efforts, it has continued making them for me during the 15 years I’ve spent trying to eradicate it. Maybe I’ll look more kindly on it in future, although I’m determined to keep exercising. The main reason being the points made in another piece from that issue, regarding the pill that might mimic the effects of exercise. Unfortunately, while it seems that effective appetite-suppressants might be possible, they won’t offer the cardiovascular or musculoskeletal benefits of exercise, not to mention the positive mental effects – something a pill could never hope to offer. On the plus side, maybe such a pill would allow me to have dark chocolate Hobnobs in the house without being unable to resist them, which would be good for my mental health!
Simon Bartlett, via email
Comic relief
The article by Dr Modgil on the use of music for pain management (September issue) reminded me of the story of an American called Norman Cousins. He was suffering from a long-term medical condition that caused him considerable pain. He found that reading something amusing, or watching a funny film, could help relieve the pain for hours, without side effects. Cousins went on to write a book, The Anatomy Of An Illness, to highlight the effectiveness of humour for pain control. It’s lucky that Cousins was able to come to his discovery without needing test animals, since it might have proved difficult to get mice to appreciate a good joke. Still, I suppose he could have shown them a series of Tom and Jerry cartoons.
Peter Davey, Bournemouth
There have been studies on comedy and the perception of pain. One of them showed how humour or comedy therapy can provide significant decreases in the perception of chronic pain and loneliness, as well as increases in happiness and life satisfaction.
Perhaps this points to the fact that the arts have much to contribute to our wellbeing.
Dr Radha Modgil, A&E doctor
Wrapped in silk
Seeing the picture of trees cocooned in spider silk (August issue) reminded me of something I once saw on the Pennine Way: caterpillars had wrapped trees, nearby walls and vegetation in sheets of white gossamer. On closer investigation, we saw scores of them moving across it. Later we met a group of naturalists and described what we’d seen (we couldn’t show them the pictures as they were stuck on the film in my camera). But they were unaware of such behaviour in caterpillars. Then, 40 years later, I saw an article with a similar picture in a newspaper, that described the caterpillars responsible as ‘bird cherry ermine moths’ (Yponomeuta evonymella).
John Harrison, Wokingham
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