Wednesday, April 23, 2014

My New Career as a Lab Rat





       The other day I was on the treadmill again in the interest of science.

 I am a semi-daily visitor to the treadmills at my YMCA, but lately I've been going farther afield, to an exercise lab at Springfield College.


     
   It was full of interesting equipment, some of it easier to figure out than others.





  ????



        This was my final trip there as a volunteer for my neighbor’s research thesis toward her Masters in Clinical Nursing.
       
        The goal?

In fancy medical terms, it is
“Adiponectin, leptin and the ratio between them are the chemical messengers, so to speak, that are being looked at by researchers to see if they play a role in the prevention of cancer progression.”
        Got that? Simply stated, she’s studying the relationship between cancer and exercise.
I figure it’s high time something productive came out of cancer having twice pitched its tent on my doorstep.
Happily, I have no pictures for you of how delightful I looked once I was strapped into headgear with tubes to breathe into, and electrodes attached to my mid-section while also hooked into a blood pressure machine. I imagine I looked something like a diver out of Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo. 





I can tell you that exercising with a tube
the size of a cardboard toilet paper roll
in your mouth and a glorified clothespin
on your nose is not the treat that it sounds.


But aside from having to admit my true weight to my neighbor, the whole experience was sort of fun. I mean, who doesn’t like being the center of attention, without having to undergo major surgery?
Bottom line: There is a direct correlation between regular exercise and the recurrence and/or severity of disease.
I just need to remind myself of that fact when the couch and the TV clicker call.



11 comments:

  1. I'm sure there is a direct correlation between exercise and living well. It's just so difficult to realize that from atop a tread mill, or hiking a steep hill.

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  2. I love the paragraph about the toilet paper roll and the clothespin! You make me laugh. The senior citizens center here has exercise equipment and darn it, I just can't get the courage to go up there!

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    1. I say go for it! The thing to remember is that if it's at the senior citizen center it's unlikely there will be any Spandex princesses. You'll probably be one of the most mobile people there.

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  3. That's interesting. I've never been a lab rat before.

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    1. Yes, fortunately my part in the project was over before anyone tried to get me into a maze. . .

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  4. So you kill a lot of birds with one stone. You learn something! You have fun! You get free gym time. You get rid of some guilt. Life is good.

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    1. Exactly, Red. But you forgot one. Material for the blog!!

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  5. What a good thing for you to do- in the interest of science and the advancement of nursing.

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  6. I too have been a lab rat, also involving a cancer study, but I have never had cancer. A few weeks ago I had three vials of blood taken that will go into a long-term study of teachers and cancer. If you are interested, you can read about it here: http://dkzody.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/the-lab-rat-gives-blood/

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  7. One loves the idea of exercising fiercely, but of course the reality is always more challenging.

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