David Blaine

[voidisyinyang]

This TED lecture is fascinating -- he slows his resting heart rate down to lower than an Olympic athlete -- by dieting and combining hyperventilation with holding his breath. He passes out after 7 minutes of holding his breath. .... All this is directly applicable to yoga which uses slowing the heart rate and holding the breath:

 

 

Wow that was great but I won't spoil it for you....

 

Still in first grade we had a contest who could hold their breath the longest. I easily won: I held my breath till I passed out -- not sure how long that was -- but I hit two cement corner walls and then a concrete floor, cracking the back of my skull open. haha.

Edited August 17, 2010 by drewhempel

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Very good video and I love TED.COM!

Thanks for putting this up!

[NeiChuan]

Yeah this has been a favorite for a long while now.

[Aetherous]

David Blaine is one of the most amazing people in the world...not only for what he has done, but for who he is.

[NeiChuan]

David Blaine is one of the most amazing people in the world...not only for what he has done, but for who he is.

 

Wish there was a like button on this site.. I mean to like replies, ect.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Just a word of caution: be very careful swimming underwater and trying to hold your breath for long periods of time. You have to work up to this, and hyperventilating before you do it raises your risk of drowning.

[suninmyeyes]

David Blaine is hot in many ways.

I am just reminded now that we used to go sea diving for mussels and crabs as kids (no equipment)and my distant cousin was the best of all of us ,going under water for 9 min.with one breath.Now it sounds amazing but then it was just something he could do.

[voidisyinyang]

David Blaine is hot in many ways.

I am just reminded now that we used to go sea diving for mussels and crabs as kids (no equipment)and my distant cousin was the best of all of us ,going under water for 9 min.with one breath.Now it sounds amazing but then it was just something he could do.

 

Looks like the ischemia from oxygen deprivation might be over-ruled by Professor Sapolsky's new genetic therapy for stress hormones:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18797472?dopt=Abstract&otool=stanford

 

locking glucocorticoid and enhancing estrogenic genomic signaling protects against cerebral ischemia.

 

Cheng MY, Sun G, Jin M, Zhao H, Steinberg GK, Sapolsky RM.

 

Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. [email protected]

Abstract

 

Glucocorticoids (GCs) and estrogen can modulate neuron death and dysfunction during neurological insults. Glucocorticoids are adrenal steroids secreted during stress, and hypersecretion of GCs during cerebral ischemia compromises the ability of hippocampal and cortical neurons to survive. In contrast, estrogen can be neuroprotective after cerebral ischemia. Here we evaluate the protective potential of a herpes viral vector expressing a chimeric receptor (ER/GR), which is composed of the ligand-binding domain of the GC receptor (GR) and the DNA-binding domain of the estrogen receptor-alpha (ER). This novel receptor can transduce an endangering GC signal into a protective estrogenic one. Using an in vitro oxygen glucose deprivation model (OGD), GCs exacerbated neuron death in primary cortical cultures, and this worsening effect was completely blocked by ER/GR expression. Moreover, blocking GC actions with a vector expressing a dominant negative GC receptor promoted neuron survival during postischemia, but not preischemia. Thus, gene therapeutic strategies to modulate GC and estrogen signaling can be beneficial during an ischemic insult.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20012469-10391704.html

 

Stressed out? There's no app for that, but soon enough there might be a vaccine.

 

Dr Robert Sapolsky, a neuroscience professor at Stanford, says after 30 years of studying stress, his team might be on the verge of a novel cure.

 

"To be honest, I'm still amazed that it works," Sapolsky told Wired in an August profile.

 

Sapolsky has long theorized that, unlike some animals, humans are unable to turn off stress chemicals used for the fight-or-flight mechanism. A class of hormone called glucocorticoids are one of the chief offenders, according to Sapolsky.

 

So his team has pioneered a way to bootstrap a "herpes virus to carry engineered 'neuroprotective' genes deep into the brain to neutralize the rogue hormones before they can cause damage," according to the Daily Mail.

 

Sounds properly science fiction, but will it work?

 

So far, rat studies have gone well, according to the British paper. Human trials are still years away.

 

Until then, don't give up your yoga mat.

 

Edited August 17, 2010 by drewhempel