Hold Your Breath

Researchers already knew that chronic exposure to air pollution could wreak havoc on a person’s longterm health, causing serious ailments ranging from lung cancer to respiratory infection.

But now, new data out of the United Kingdom shows that air pollution can seemingly trigger heart attacks and stokes, too — bringing into focus the more immediate impacts of poor air quality.

Health Emergency

For this study, researchers from King’s College London gathered data on daily air pollution levels in nine cities in the U.K. and divided the data into “high pollution days” and “low pollution days.”

The researchers then looked at daily data on heart attacks and strokes in each city, and found that emergency services treated an average of 124 more people for heart attacks and 231 more people for strokes on high pollution days than on low.

Air Quote

King’s College plans to release its full report on the study in November, but according to Simon Stevens, National Health Service England’s chief executive, the preliminary data shows there’s no time to waste in addressing air pollution in England and beyond.

“These new figures show air pollution is now causing thousands of strokes, cardiac arrests, and asthma attacks, so it’s clear that the climate emergency is in fact also a health emergency,” he told The Guardian. “Since these avoidable deaths are happening now, not in 2025 or 2050, together we need to act now.”

READ MORE: Scores more heart attacks and strokes on high pollution days, figures show [The Guardian]

Who is Avicenna?

Born in the 10th century, Ibn Sina, also known as Avicenna, was a physician, the most famous and influential of the philosopher-scientists of the Islamic world during its golden age. He was particularly noted for his contributions in the fields of Aristotelian philosophy and medicine and of the 450 works he is believed to have written, around 240 of which have survived, including 150 on philosophy and 40 on medicine.

Avicenna Portrait on Silver Vase – Museum at BuAli Sina (Avicenna) Mausoleum – Hamadan – Western Iran (Image Source)

The Canon of Medicine

His most famous work was probably “The Canon of Medicine,” which is an encyclopedia of medicine in five books. Apart from establishing the foundation for modern medicine, this book also features recipes for those who are suffering from certain illnesses. In his Book 5, Avicenna lists 650 compound drugs, attributing them to various Arabic, Indian and Greek sources. He also added his own comments, giving remedies to those who need it with simple foods and plants they can find.

Here are some of the foods that Avicenna advises you to consume:

Sesame:

Sesame is a good source of calcium which makes your hair and nails grow stronger

This tiny seed is rich in oil and vitamin E. It is a good source of calcium which makes your hair and nails grow stronger. Avicenna also says that it is good for the brain and nerve cells as it contains lecithin.

Zucchini water:

Zucchini is good for regulating blood pressure

Detox lovers are familiar with zucchini. It is said to improve eye health and is the number one source of anti-aging products. But according to Avicenna, it is also good for regulating blood pressure. He advises you to squeeze out zucchini water and consume it a few times a week.

Cauliflower:

Cauliflower aids with liver health

Avicenna says that cauliflower is the best way to clean up your liver. When you consume this vegetable your liver produces a detoxifying enzyme. And thanks to the sulfur compounds it contains, cauliflower aids with liver health. This vegetable is naturally high in fiber and B-vitamins. It provides antioxidants and phytonutrients that can protect against cancer.

Almond:

Almond may help prevent respiratory diseases

If you are suffering from respiratory diseases, Avicenna’s recipe for you is to eat more almonds. Almonds contain lots of healthy fats, fiber, protein, magnesium and vitamin E. Avicenna says that if you consume almonds and drink honey sherbet afterwards, you will feel much better.

Seismic Mystery

It’s easy to see the impact an off-coast storm has on the water’s surface. But according to a new study, severe storms can actually shake the ocean floor as well, causing “stormquakes” — a previously unknown phenomena that solves a seismic mystery.

Scientists already knew prior to this study that the ocean produces seismic signals. But while some of those signals could be explained by the ocean’s waves, there was a band of signals that occurred at a frequency between 0.02 and 0.05 hertz that were seemingly inexplicable.

Weather Connection

It was those signals that the U.S.-based researchers behind this new study, which was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on Monday, sought to explain — and after analyzing nearly 10 years’ worth of seismic data, they noticed a strange pattern emerging.

“[The signals] were seasonal,” researcher Wenyuan Fan told Science News. “Earthquakes do not have seasonality. But weather does.”

That led the team to the discovery that the shaking of the ocean floor coincided with the raging of a storm above it.

Perfect Storm

However, a storm alone isn’t enough to cause a stormquake — the seafloor below the storm has to be just the right shape, too.

“It’s something about the shape — or the bathymetry — of the seafloor interacting with these big ocean waves that are produced during storms,” researcher Wendy Bohon told Motherboard. “You’re getting some kind of energy relief that’s beating on the seafloor in a particular way, and those waves are moving out in all directions as coherent packages which we’re then able to detect using seismometers.”

READ MORE: Scientists Discover a New Phenomena Called ‘Stormquakes’ [Motherboard]