Hughesair (Inflection Point)

Retired physician and air taxi operator, science writer and part time assistant professor, these editorials cover a wide range of topics. Mostly non political, mostly true, I write more from a lifetime of experience and from research, more science than convention. Subjects cover medicine, Alaska aviation, economics, technology and an occasional book review. Globalization or Democracy documents the historical roots of Oligarchy, the road to colonialism and tyranny

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Plastic Chemical Tied to Heart Disease and Diabetes - US News and World Report

Plastic Chemical Tied to Heart Disease and Diabetes - US News and World Report

But wait a minute, rising concentrations of carbon dioxide and lower oxygen in the atmosphere correlates with obesity, heard disease and diabetes II also. Does a correlation make for a cause and effect relationship?

Chemical reactions are in dynamic equilibrium. Add more substrate and the equilibrium moves further to the right, the reaction progresses. Add more product with less substrate, and the reaction is inhibited. Human metabolism combines oxygen with carbohydrates, fatty acids and protons -- to exhale carbon dioxide and water. --- Is it remotely possible that the added product of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the lowered substrate of oxygen, might, in a subtle way, inhibit animal metabolism?

A graduate student could approach the question with a large number of mice held in a CO2 rich and O2 poor chamber whilst an equal number of identical mice are held in an identical chamber with a normalized air mixture. He should feed both groups identically. The keeper of the mice should not know which atmosphere is which. Another person, not in communication, might regulate the atmospheres. So then, will there be a statistical difference in the weight, the coronary arteries, and the glucose metabolism of the two groups over time?

BPA, bisphenol A may well be a problem. This one is worth watching as manufacturers fight the statistics, much like cholesterol, sodium chloride, nicotine and the cell phone. Environmental medicine is a hard sell, especially when conclusions conflict with enterprise.

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