Cobblestones are Good for You

pin_gween writes "Need to lose weight, lower blood pressure, help your balance? The Oregon Research Institute reports that walking on 'cobblestone mat surface resulted in significant reductions in blood pressure and improvements in balance and physical performance.' The benefits may have foundations in 'the principles of reflexology, in that the uneven surface of the cobblestones stimulate and regulate "acupoints" located on the soles of the feet.' Although the study was conducted with elderly patients, no reason to think it can't help most folks."

Comments

Accupressure?

[jericho4.0]

Yeah. I'll take that as a hypothesis when I see any evidence of it, you know, actually working.

ORI is a pretty solid group, usually.

I expect more out of people

[xutopia]

"The benefits may have foundations in 'the principles of reflexology, in that the uneven surface of the cobblestones stimulate and regulate "acupoints" located on the soles of the feet.'"

How about something less far fetched? Like "uneven paveway makes you use your muscles more"... Why do we always have to explain things with divine or unexplained phenomenons when simple ideas work just as well?

Re:I expect more out of people

[St. Arbirix]

I thought he was going after homeopathy. My ex-girlfriend was running a high fever but she refused to take off the shelf fever medication instead opting for the homeopathic fever medication her mother had provided. It scared me that night because I had an inkling of an idea what she was taking (her fever was 103F and her heart rate was well over 100bpm), but it freaked the hell out of me when I looked up exaclty what homeopathic meant.

Her mother, by the way, is a Swedish ex-nurse who now runs a reflexology practice out of her home. The whole lot is batty as hell. The girlfriend only tried to stab me on three different occasions while I was kicking her out. She told me earlier on that everyone in her family had mental problems (father's a bipolar math professor, she's bipolar too) but you're likely to get a chair thrown at you if you try to argue the veracity of homeopathy or reflexology (yes, this happened a few times too).

I've since learned to associate vehement spirituality with mental instability. Keeps me from getting clubbed or excorsized cause those things fucking hurt.

Re:I expect more out of people

[gstoddart]

How about something less far fetched? Like "uneven paveway makes you use your muscles more"... Why do we always have to explain things with divine or unexplained phenomenons when simple ideas work just as well?

Why? Recently, a lot of studies have demonstrated that accupunture has a measureable effect on pain management.

A lot of traditional herbals are being shown to have efficacy.

I'm not saying one should trade in a doctor for a shaman, but western medicine is finally figuring out that some of the cures that have been in use for hundreds (if not thousands) of years might actually do something.

Summarily dismissing the findings is just as meaningless as blind belief in the fact that it can't be helpful.

Re:I expect more out of people

[Guy Harris]

Summarily dismissing the findings is just as meaningless as blind belief in the fact that it can't be helpful.

He's not dismissing the findings, he's dismissing one explanation of the findings. Just because some traditional medicine or traditional medical practice is found to work, that doesn't necessarily mean that the traditional explanation of that medicine or process is correct.

How Fitting

[ndansmith]

Parts of downtown Portland, OR are paved with cobbelstones taken from old ships (which used the stones for ballast).

One question, when did Slashdot start posting commercials as stories? "Buy a Cobblestone mat" is the link emblazoned just below the synopsis on the linked page, and the mat is apparently being sold dirrectly by ORI, apparently for profit.

Quack! Don't waste your time/money!

[ziekke]

Reflexology is not a science, nor has it been proven effective (or even real). It's surprising how many institutions are providing courses/products that teach or use such ridiculous methods (homeopathy, reflexology, magnet therapy, etc.).

Whether this "cobblestone" crap actually works I have no idea, but if it is rooted in "reflexology" and "traditional chinese medicine" then I'd have to bet that there will never be any truly scientific studies that prove this product.

The more likely explanation is that these people age 60+ that they tested are actually WALKING, as opposed to sitting around. Not to mention the likely placebo effect of being told "walk these cobblestones, they make you feel better!"

For more information on Reflexology, please see:

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ reflex.html

And remember folks, think critically. Anything that advertises itself using "accupressure" or "hidden pathways" is bunk.

Re:Quack! Don't waste your time/money!

[Mr. Slippery]

if it is rooted in "reflexology" and "traditional chinese medicine" then I'd have to bet that there will never be any truly scientific studies that prove this product...

Reflexology has nothing to do with Chinese Medicine.

And remember folks, think critically. Anything that advertises itself using "accupressure" or "hidden pathways" is bunk.

"Thinking critically" also means being skeptical of the claims of current medical orthodoxy - looking at the actual evidence rather than being swayed by name-calling.

I don't know anything about reflexology, or about this particular study. But I know more than a little bit about acupressure and Chinese Medicine. While the research is still scanty, there are good clinical studies showing acupressure to be effective.

The NCCAOM has started working more closely with the NCCAM, and I hope to see more and better research forthcoming. Meanwhile, acupressure is an extremely safe treatment that seems to clearly have, at a bare minimum, positive non-specific effects in relieving stress and chronic muscle tension.

I commented on the relationship between the physiological/reductionist and the Chinese Medicine models here a few days ago, I'll take the liberty of briefly repeating myself:

There are several physiological theories about the meridians and points of acupressure, three that I know about involve nervous reflexes, the electrical properties of fascia, and a supposed network of less-differentiated cells throughout the body. It's possible that different points work by different mechanisms. Certainly the "placebo effect" plays a role - as it does in any treatment. Google for placebo surgery, it's fascinating.

Many pracitioners of Chinese Medicine don't care much about trying to find a Western Medicine explanation for how acupuncture, Asian bodywork therapy, and Chinese herbs, create their effects. They see it work every day, that's enough for them. (The same can be said of many Western physicians, a surprising number of whom have little interest or knowledge of biology.) But there is certainly a subset of the community that is interested in understanding from both points of view.

IMHO it's unfortunate that many practitioners of CM have latched on to the idea that qi, a fundamental ascept of the CM model, is some sort of electromagnetic-like energy field. This is a misinterpretation, attempting to fit Taoist concepts of the Universe into a Aristotelian grid. The CM model is very much a functional, not a structural, one; the Vital Substances, the Zang-Fu organs, and the meridians are best understood by what they do, not by chopping people up looking for them.

I recommend Ted Kaptchuk's book The Web That Has No Weaver to those interested in learning more about Chinese Medicine.

Re:Quack! Don't waste your time/money!

[Anonymous Coward]

Speculation follows...

People are anti-science because they don't like hearing that their fantastic or comfortable beliefs have nothing to support them. People are proud and hate being shown that they are wrong. Youngsters grow up with poor education or parents who teach them not to listen to them lab-coat types.

BTW, hilarious sig (time cube) given the current context.

Re:Quack! Don't waste your time/money!

[Mr. Slippery]

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It's not stupid to suspect that research that showed acupuncture to work was incorrect.

There's nothing extraordinary about claiming that a system of healthcare used continuously for several thousand years may actually have some benefit. There's nothing extraordinary about claiming that stimulating one part of the body can have a distal effect - anyone who's found the "skritchy spot" on a dog that makes the leg spasm has seen it.

Indeed it is an extraordinary claim that the millions of people who feel that they have benefitted from CM over the past 4,000 years - as well as those researchers finding a benefit in controlled studies - were all fooled, that Chinese Medicine is a massive conspiracy.

It's not stupid to suspect that research that showed acupuncture not to work was incorrect. Many of these studies did not involve anything like the acupuncture that is practiced clinically - for example they didn't have the procedure performed by trained acupuncturists, or don't use CM methods of assessment/diagnosis, or use acupressure as a sham for acupuncure when both will stimulate a tsubo, or don't allow for anything like a normal course of treatment.

Knocking down strawman versions of CM may be fun for psuedo-skeptics and defenders of current medical orthodoxy, but it ain't science.

No reason?

[NereusRen]

"Although the study was conducted with elderly patients, no reason to think it can't help most folks."

Hey, I thought of a reason:

"The benefits may have foundations in 'the principles of reflexology'"

I had much the same thought

[jd]

It would put more stress on the muscles (which helps), it would also exercise those parts of the brain handling balance (which will also help). If pressure has anything to do with it at all, it may (just may) help massage the feet, which may in turn account for the improved circulation. All of the above will also marginally increase the blood flow to the feet, which may also help.

There are plenty of other possibilities, too. Pressure generates heat and heat leads to the opening of capiliaries. Could the bend-and-stretch of blood vessels help?

There's also the fact that flat surfaces are much more lenient on poor posture and poor walking habits. An uneven surface may, then, lead indirectly to a whole host of other minor improvements in walking that yield benefits.

In other words, we have some data but a few hundred possible variables we can attribute it to.

Unexplained phenomena exist, there's no doubt about that - science isn't dead, yet - but I think it safe to assume that 99.9% of anything at the purely mechanical level is going to require purely mechanical explanations, all of which we are likely to know already.

Easier explanation...

[elander]

An uneven surface requires you to use more muscles to balance your body, and keep from falling. Using more muscles leads to at least three benefits:

• Higher energy consumption
• Building strength
• Lubricating joints

This is not news, everyone involved in physical training knows, or should know, about this. Several studies have also shown that "micromovements", such as "bobbing knees" (constantly moving your leg up and down when seated) also leads to less overweight. Cobblestone mats is just another way to make you work a little harder, and so can prove effective if you use them a lot. A more pleasant way would be to simply get out more, preferrably out of town. A walk in a forest typically requires more energy expenditure than a stroll around the block.