The Strengths and Limitations of Electrical Muscle Stimulation
"Buy EMS, it'll burn calories and fat away." "One hour of EMS is equal to 300 to 400 sit-ups." "You can develop 19-22 inch arms!" They're new! They're hot! But do they work? You've seen them in the backs of magazines and on TV commercials- those advertisements form electronic fitness machines that tighten abdominals and give users huge biceps while watching TV or sleeping. These devices are based on electronic muscle stimulation.
What exactly is EMS, what does it do, and, other than those muscle building, fat reducing claims, what are the current uses of electronic muscle stimulation. Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is a muscle exercise concept for use in one's own home. It is an established rehabilitative concept used for treating a variety of clinical problem involving the muscle skeletal, neuromuscular (relating to both nerve and muscle tissue) , genitourinary (relating to the genital and urinary organs) , and integumentary (administered by contact with the skin) systems(Leonard).
The first recorded use of EMS for medical stimulation was recorded in 1783 (Creasey). This was used to restore respiration for people who had paralyzed/collapsed chest/lung muscles. After that, many Soviet and Eastern Olympic competitors used muscle stimulators to build and produce the same bulk in muscles that only steroids had promised. Now the system has finally reached the West. Once only available to doctors and therapists, EMS is now suggested for use by anyone participating in bodybuilding, power lifting, martial arts, boxing, or anyone simply wishing to achieve their optimal athletic ability. EMS is also recommended to athletes for warming up the muscles and increasing circulation prior to a workout routine (Schmidt). The Medical Advisory Committee has allowed the use of EMS systems by athletes since the 1972 Olympics (Muscle stimulators...). Many athletes use EMS to supplement their regular workout routines, while many doctors use it to aid in the rehabilitation of muscles following injury and to ease patients chronic muscle spasms and pain (Muscle stimulators...).
The concept of electrical muscle stimulation is to use technologically advanced science that uses very mild electrical current to exercise your muscles. When one performs any exercise, their brain sends a message down the spinal cord through the nerves innervating all the muscles causing them to contract. An outside electrical source stimulates the nerves to send these signals to your muscle to contract. This is achieved by passing electrical currents through electrode pads placed over a muscle.
The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader about Wilder Penfield and his research over electric brain stimulation. This essay will give a brief biography of Wilder Penfield, a description of his research, and finally discuss the insight his experiments provided and the influence they had on our body and behavior in general.
When ECT was first introduced, it was a terrifying and hazardous procedure: patients suffered serious side effects, even breaking a bone from convulsions (Nairne, Smith & Lindsay, 2001). It has been criticized since its beginnings, and only recently it has begun to be seen more positively. The major reason for this is the fact that the treatment went through significant changes over the years – it is now much safer than before. Nowadays, patients are given a general anaesthetic and medications that relax the muscles to prevent injuries from occur. However, most professionals still consider it to be a treatment of last resort.
Before ECT begins, patients are given a short-acting anaesthetic and a nerve-blocking agent, paralysing the muscles of the body to prevent them from contracting during the treatment and causing fractures. Oxygen is also given to patients to compensate for their inability to breathe. Then they receive either unilateral ECT or bilateral ECT. In unilateral ECT, an electrode is placed above the temple of the non-dominant side of the brain, and a second in the middle of the forehead. Alternatively in bilateral ECT, one electrode is placed above each temple. After this, a small amount of electrical current (approximately 0.6 amps) is passed through the brain, lasting about half a second. This produces a seizure that lasts up to one minute which affects the entire brain. ECT is usually give...
Abstract: Since the beginning of sports competition, athletes have always looked for some kind of an edge over their competitors. They will do whatever it takes to be one of the elite and that includes injecting supplements into their bodies to make them bigger, stronger, and faster. Steroid use is probably one of the most common drug misuses in sports competition. Athletes found that with anabolic steroids one could become a better athlete twice as fast. Not until 1975 was the drug first banned from Olympic competition because of the health risks it produced. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the sports world did not allow anabolic steroids as well. With the use of steroids no longer permitted athletes began to look for other alternatives. On the rise is two substances called creatine and androstenedione, both of which are sold over the counter. These two performance enhancers have only had minimal testing done on them, excluding the long-term effects, simply because they haven't been around long enough. Creatine and androstenedione have been said to produce results like steroids without the side effects. The truth is they do produce side effects and irregular muscle growth. By banning the use of performance enhancing drugs, just like steroids, sports competition will have a much healthier and fairer environment to participate in.
The patterns of birth order have been seen for centuries, although it was not studied exclusively until around the 1980s. There are many factors that play into a persons personality, such as their genetics, the way they are raised, and their environment. Birth order looks at a persons place in their family—if they are the oldest, middle, or youngest child—and provides commonalities between them and others in the same location in other families. While there are many variations, the general traits do apply. Research shows that the first born is typically a leader in the family and in other areas of life. The youngest child is usually light hearted and social. The one that is hardest to put a type to is the middle child. He or she will frequently try to blaze their own path, straying from the one that their older sibling made. I believe that birth order plays a part in a person’s personality, but that the way they were raised is also a very important variable. A child’s birth order, along with the way they were raised, is a major factor in the way they interact within their family and other groups.
Even though Loki was considered to be one of the Aesir, the Norse gods, he was actually the son of a giant, Fárbauti (“Loki”, par. 1). However, his close relationships with the gods, particularly those with Odin and Thor, might explain why he is so commonly accepted as one of them. In fact, in some accounts, it is even said to be that Loki and Odin are blood brothers (McCoy, par. 16). Loki has three wives, the first of which being Glut, who bore him two daughters, Esia and Einmyri, the second being the giantess Angrboda, who bore him three monsters, “the wolf-giant Fenrir, Hel, ruler of the Dead, and the world-serpent Jormungand”, and the third being Sigyn, who bore him two sons, Narve and Vali (McLeish, par. 5). In addition, Loki also gave birth to Sleipnir, a horse that he later gave to Odin, “after shapeshifting into a mare and courting the stallion Svaðilfari” (McCoy, par. 4).
The study of birth order began over a century ago with Sir Francis Galton. A nineteenth century British anthropologist, geographer and statistician--- who believed that human species was ultimately improvable. In his research, he concluded that first born and only born children become well known scientists (Kluger, 2011). His findings resulted from the the fact that the nation still followed Primogeniture, when the first born son inherits the family’s fortunes. In today’s society, several families still put most, or all of, their first born son on a pedestal compared to their other children. Shortly after Galton’s discovery, Alfred Alder and Frank Sulloway came along and decided to take a deeper look into the relationship between a child’s birth order and their personality.
Loki was a Norse god that was fickle to say the least. He played pranks and created so many problems for the other gods, including
The gods worshipped by the Norse people can be separated into two groups; the Aesir and the Vanir. The Aesir are the gods that hold the cosmos together and were the most commonly worshipped. The leader of these gods is Odin. (Infoplease.) He is the Allfather; the father of all gods, and the ancestor of many families in Northern Europe. He is also a war god. Although in our culture today he is portrayed as an honorable leader and battlefield commander, the Norse
In today’s age, performance enhancing drugs have become more advanced than just some special herbs and spices. Scientists today have found ways to manipulate elements to help provide muscle mass and stamina. Some types of performance enhancing drugs are human growth hormones (HGH), testosterone boosters, anabolic steroids etc. When taking HGH, a person might experience results such as an increase in muscle mass, an increase in bone density, and a reduced fat content in the body (Freudenrich). The same results could be found when you take anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids have been sought after to athletes and bodybuilders because they increase the size and strength of muscles. They also increase aggressiveness and competitiveness, which can be desirable traits in sports (Helmenstine). On different occasions such as a cyclist or a long distance runner, these athletes will store some of their red blood cells when their hemoglobin is high. The athlete will then train and work as usual, but right before the athlete competes they will transfuse the blood they took out back into their body therefore creating more red blood cells to ...
...vin Leman said, “Once you figure out your birth order and the birth order of those you love, you’ll be way ahead of everyone in the game of life” (1). Parents and scientists agree that how a child turns out insists on birth order. Birth order makes every person unique.
An observation on the characteristics of an individuals’ personality suggests the causality in why they behave in the way that they do. Studies have shown that first-born individuals are more extraverted, conscientious, and neurotic than later born individuals (Herrera & Zajonc, 2003). First-born children tend to be more extraverted (Sulloway, 1999) and are more likely to boss and dominate their younger (Sulloway, 1999). The first-born subject pool is also more conscientious compared to subsequently birthed siblings. The pool is often more successful in academics, organized, responsible, and determined (Sulloway, 1999). The head of the present generations gene pool will sometimes look for the approval of their parents by acting as a “stand-in” parent toward their younger siblings (Sulloway, 1999). They have a tendency to be parent-identified, conscientious, and respectful of authority (Sulloway, 1999). Lastly, the group is shown to be more neurotic than the later born individual, in the sense of being temperamental and a...
Odin is the ruler of the gods in Norse mythology. He was stuck by his own spear pinned to the World Tree. There he learned nine songs and eighteen runes. Odin lives in Asgard; from his throne he observes everything that happens in the nine worlds. Valhalla is a hall in Asgard where the dead warriors are taken; Odin is also known to reside there (pantheon/odin).
There is proof of this. Parents start with the first kid, they are cautious and inexperienced. Just when the first child gets use to the attention, the second born rolls around ("Birth Order: What is "Birth Order"?"). The parents are as careful with the second child, but now the second gets the attention. The firstborn has to achieve great things to get any attention now. The second and first will usually have different personalities. “The middle child will demonstrate the greatest variety of character traits but they will be opposite of their older sibling” (Teresa). Then the last-born comes and steals all the ...
A first-born has their parents’ attention. That is until a younger sibling comes along. they then receive a shock that they are not in control of the house. The first-born now have to wait for attention, be quiet, and take turns. There are ways for first-born to regain power. Parents often expect the first-born to help care for the younger children. This gives them an advantage over younger. They learn to organize, be conscientious, to lead, to teach and they get to be the disciplinarian. Studies done on birth order show that first borns have “higher achievement” and “higher intelligence” “ score lower depression and anxiety and higher self-esteem” and “were more likely to become accountants,