RaMbLeS
Welcome to RaMbLeS, a collection of weekly musings on life and Scripture. It all began in 2005 on Google’s blogspot as the aBeLOG (a name now recycled), a semi-autobiographical devotional that attempted to keep well-wishers abreast of my activities as I relocated to Scotland for a few years. Since my return, I’ve continued my RaMbLeS, and here’s its most recent incarnation on Homiletix, as random reflections usually based on current news articles and travel experiences and whatever else takes my fancy!
Grip!
How strong is your hand grip? Is that important, you ask? Yup. Or so declare scientists from Shanghai in “Handgrip Strength and Trajectories of Preclinical Obesity Progression,” published last month in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
They followed a whopping 93,275 folks who met criteria for preclinical obesity at baseline over 13 years, (but excluding those who already had diagnoses like heart failure, diabetes, liver disease, or mobility issues),
Teeth!
Your “eye teeth” are the canines, one on each side of your upper and lower jaw. “Eye teeth” because they are pretty much directly under your eyes.
But a tooth in your eye?
Brent Chapman, 34, of North Vancouver, lost his vision at the age of 13. He was playing in a high school basketball tournament; he felt a little ill afterwards, and so took some ibuprofen. Chapman tragically developed a rare, life-threatening skin reaction to the medication: Stevens-Johnson syndrome
Hairy!
National Public Radio (NPR) reported on an interesting phenomenon the other day: Istanbul, Turkey, is the mecca for hair! It is now a growing hub in the hair-replacement industry, attracting then bald and hair-challenged from all over the world.
With a marker in his hand, and Dr. Mehmet Erdogan (not related to Turkey’s president) is carefully drawing thin lines across Justin’s cranium. It looks almost like an art class. Except the canvas here is Justin’s head.
Erdogan
Weights!
Mice are now weightlifting! Yup, rodents. And apparently it’s been good for those critters, too.
So saith scientists from the University of Virginia in “Weightlifting Outperforms Voluntary Wheel Running for Improving Adiposity and Insulin Sensitivity in Obese Mice” published in Journal of Sport and Health Science recently.
Mice were fed a high-fat diet for eight weeks. Different groups either lifted weights, ran on wheels, or remained sedentary.
You are probably wondering
House?
Someone once said that the Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. And the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. Also the Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. Then there are those Italians who drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the
Guts?
Your guts are linked to your exercise regimen (in addition to other things). Who knew? Well, scientists from the University of Tübingen, Germany, did. So they claimed in bioRXiv recently: “Resistance Training Reshapes the Gut Microbiome for Better Health.”
Bacteria, fungi, viruses, and who knows what else thrive in our intestines. (Just bacteria alone, it is estimated that there are 100 trillion of them hiding out in our guts. That’s twice as many as the cells we
Cabal!
A few months ago, The Wall Street Journal reported on a most unusual criminal enterprise. In Bali, Indonesia.
Every week, this cabal steals dozens of phones, wallets, and other valuables from tourists in broad daylight and exchange them for handsome rewards. It’s been going on for decades and nobody’s been able to stop it.
Who makes up this criminal enterprise, this mafia? Long-tailed macaques. Yup!
Said Jonathan Hammé, 64, a London tourist, and victim of this primate
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching. 