keith twort
77 year old Electrical Engineer Retired
Worked in Broadcast TV for 25 years
Ran audio recording company, also electronic design and innovation. Interests: I like knowing things and knowledge is power!
Location Stockport, Manchester
Achievements
Activity
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The precursor to MS is demyelination - the degeneration of the nerve sleeves. This is not reversible as such, but therapies and drugs can greatly slow the progression in many patients and symptomatic treatments can reduce the impact.
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keith twort replied to keith twort
78 now. Still walking 5 to 6 miles a day. Medical figures still the same.
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keith twort replied to lewis walker
No, that’s nuclear fission
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keith twort made a comment
I read a tokamak recently produced more energy than it used for the first time.
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keith twort made a comment
5.13+
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@StephanieAdams,PhD Actually it is more than that! Four years ago I was bedbound in a care home for “end of life care”! Support was pathetic so I did my own thing. This included several (futurelearn) courses on pertinent subjects and starting my own exercise regime finishing with walking briskly for several miles in the care home corridors driving everybody...
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keith twort replied to Therese Grace
I see a course in Chinese has just started on futurelearn.
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keith twort made a comment
I am 77 and I am interested in getting older in a healthy manner. I have done many futurelearn courses on pertinent subjects and since covid-19 get my exercise by brisk walking about 5 miles a day (37 miles last week). I keep track of health like bp, rest heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature, body weight etc. Everything measures perfect!
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keith twort made a comment
I hate graphs with no scales.
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This I find a bit puzzling. I get exercise by brisk walking in the fields 4 to 5 miles a day - 30 odd miles a week. I measure everything I can on a daily basis - body weight, blood pressure, rest heart rate - blood oxygen, continual heart rate during exercise etc. But everything measures perfect! I am 77.
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Of course random chromosomal change is a key part of evolution.
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keith twort made a comment
I believe you should fight it, as I did. Four years ago I was bedbound in a “care” home for “end of life care!”. I did several courses on pertinent subjects, learned to walk again and did an exercise regime. Improvement started immediately and a few months later I came home. Now my exercise regime is brisk walking 35 to 40 miles a week. I monitor everything I...
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@DavidB Space is big! So the amount the space is expanding in something as miniscule as the solar system is quite negligible. As regards the speed of light - Measured in metres/sec. but the metre is expanding!
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keith twort made a comment
I can’t help feeling that most of the complexity is crowded into the 4%, whereas both dark energy and dark matter are largely homogenous. (Dark matter would clump around massive objects).
Also accepting that space is not totally empty suggests that light would be attenuated slightly as it passes through it over intergalactic distances. The greater the... -
@DarylJoeSantos It has always amused me that, considering the antiquity of astrology and the precession of the equinoxes, everyone’s star sign is one or two out!
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Not really. Water before light, light before stars and day, sea creatures a same time as birds before animals etc.
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Interestingly in the antipodes Orion passes to the north, and is upside down!
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I eat two meals a day. Breakfast (in the local cafe) and a meal at about five pm. Pre-prepared (I hate cooking). I keep a pint pot of water in the kitchen and take a swig whenever I pass, topping up as necessary. My weight and blood pressure are ideal and have been constant for over a year. I take vit. D 2300 IU, vit. K2 100 mcg and a multivitamin daily. No meds.
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keith twort made a comment
I once had a couple of District Nurses calling on me to see how the poor old fellow was coping with living on his own. I went upstairs to fetch something. Perhaps I shouldn’t have run up two at a time! Haven’t seen them since.
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Three years ago I was bedbound in a “care home” for “end of life care”! So I did my own thing. Medical support was pathetic so I did several pertinent FL courses and started my own exercise regime. Starting with in bed exercises (from U. of Birmingham), taught myself to walk and walked several miles a day in the corridors driving everybody mad! Improvement was...
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keith twort made a comment
Living on my own home relationships aren’t a problem! Also clutter means I know where everything is!
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keith twort made a comment
Smiling and nodding is a useful technique when the other person is talking complete rubbish!
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keith twort made a comment
Three years ago I was bedbound in a care home for “end of life care!!’. So I did a lot of courses on pertinent subjects, started an exercise regime and came home a few months later. This included this course and its predecessor. I found after a mindfulness session I was fully relaxed, stress free with a blank mind. I practised this, so now things like muscle...
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keith twort made a comment
Three years ago I was bedbound in a “care home’ for ‘end of life care!” Medical support was rubbish so I did my own thing. So I did some research including several pertinent futurelearn courses. And started an exercise regime. Improvement started in a fortnight and six months later I left the care home. Now I am at home, and under covid-19 conditions I walk...
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@EleanorDangerfield Shown more blatantly in the US where the previous president denied climate change existed!
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@SueGrieve Trouble is every journey is 1 1/2 times as long!
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keith twort made a comment
I had the Pfizer vaccine over a month ago. No side effects whatever.
One thing mind boggling is the virulent misinformation on social media. -
keith twort replied to keith twort
Most translations seemed to be called simply “monkey”. A simple search for “monkey wu ch’eng en” revealed many sources.
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keith twort made a comment
One book I read which gave an interesting flavour.
Monkey King; Journey to the West. By Wu Ch’eng En (1500 - 1526) in the Ming dynasty. -
keith twort made a comment
Vitamin K2 particularly Mk7 as well as Vitamin D is a key part of calcium transfer to the bone.
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keith twort made a comment
I believe that trees in a forest exchange nutrients and information through a symbiotic fungal network. (Search “the wood wide web”) which I suppose would make the tree ring record in a forest more uniform.
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keith twort made a comment
I am afraid the age related deterioration hasn’t happened yet! Onder covid-19 conditions I have identified a walking route from my house of about 11,300 steps with the least number of people and walk it briskly every day (mostly in the fields.) In the last year I have only missed 19 days due to weather.
Food - I have two meals a day - breakfast and an evening... -
I am 76. I eat regularly two meals a day and walk daily 11,000 steps or so. It would be difficult to go to 5 portions of fruit and veg as I probably don’t go to much more than 5 portions of everything!
My BMI is 22.7 and my weight has been dead constant over the last year. Blood pressure the same as it has always been at about 116/70 or so. Everything ideal!... -
When covid-19 started, I learned as much as I could, then made my plans. This was identifying a local route near my house with the fewest number of people and walking it briskly every day. About 11,300 steps. The only side effect was getting a bruised arm once by being bitten by a horse! Every day is different in some way so it is never boring!
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keith twort made a comment
I am always puzzled by the five portions of fruit and veg suggestion. I don’t think I eat five portions of EVERYTHING in a day. Yet my weight is ideal and dead stable.
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keith twort made a comment
I think a rough rule of thumb is if the Sun is less than 45o above the horizon, it is not generating vitamin D.
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Yes 400 IU is a minimum dose. I take 2000 IU. A maximum dose is 4000. A precaution in the time of covid-90. Vitamin D also plays a key function in the immune system.
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I asked my gp for a vitamin D blood test. She refused. I am 76
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Trouble is exercise should bring the heart rate up and operate the muscles. Apart from mowing the lawn with a manual lawnmower or heavy digging I shouldn’t think gardening would cut it. Do you mow the lawn everyday? Indoors you would have to work at it with specific exercises. I usually run upstairs 2 at a time, but do not have the patience for repetitive...
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keith twort made a comment
I have picked a route near my home - about 4 miles 11300 steps ,takes about 70 minutes - and have briskly walked it nearly every day for nearly a year, missing on 16 days due to weather. What effects has it had on my weight? Nothing whatever! But I don’t care! My weight is in the ideal band anyway! BMI 22.7 like it was a year ago! Looking at this course I get...
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keith twort made a comment
I once saw a suggestion to leave the remote next to the tv so you actually had to stand up to change channels!! How inactive are some people?
Under covid conditions my exercise has been briskly walk about 11,000 steps a day. Missing only occasionally because of weather. Since I bought it last May, my pedometer says I have walked 2,345,460 steps!! I think I... -
keith twort made a comment
The suggestion that it may be beneficial to split exercise up into two sessions in the day is unfortunately not practical under currend covid regulations in the UK. You are only supposed to go out once.
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keith twort made a comment
The $35,000 dollar question is how much exercise vs. How much sitting. I do a lot of sitting, reading, internet, futurelearn! But I make a point of briskly walking 11,000 steps a day, or so. (2,333,681 steps since last May!). Is this sufficient to offset couch time?
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keith twort replied to shirleyanne reynolds
Yes I sometimes use the “torch” facility on my Apple Watch. This works by setting every pixel to peak white. Still very dim but sufficient. The neighbours must think I have a ghost!
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keith twort made a comment
I had a period when I had very little activity (in a wheelchair). Muscle wastage, balance problems etc. But it has completely reversed after study and exercise. After I came home I had a district nurse come round to see how the poor cripple was coping. Perhaps I shouldn’t have run upstairs two at a time in front of her to get something! Haven’t seen her since!
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keith twort made a comment
One thing I have found when walking briskly. There is a rate where there is a distinct fall in the amount of energy it takes at a particular speed. Where the legs and arms are swinging at their natural resonant speed, like a pendulum.
Then you can relax all muscles not directly involved with walking and just glide along. Surprisingly fast!
Another... -
keith twort made a comment
3 years ago I was bedbound in a care home for “end of life care”!! Medical support was pathetic so I did my own thing. So I did a lot of pertinent research (including futurelearn courses!) and started an exercise regime of my own Learned to walk again and built up to walking 2 1/2 miles a day in the care home. Came home after nine months. Now under covid-19...
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Many units like the iPad and iPhone have a facility to yellow and dim the screen in the evening. Look in Settings. Having said that I have never noticed any difference between using a screen as against, say, reading a book. Or even with a home cinema with a 12 ft diagonal screen! Or look at something like a kindle, which has a non illuminated screen.
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keith twort replied to shirleyanne reynolds
For breaks in the middle of the night I often use the light from my Apple watch which is very dim, but saves turning any lights on at all!
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Actually I use an old ipad as part of my sleep pattern! Makes a natural hiss which masks incidental noises like neighbours parties, traffic noises etc and makes a very relaxing acoustic environment. Runs for an hour and a half and then slowly fades out.I learned this in the 1960s, when I used a vhf fm radio tuned between stations! The other thing I use in the...
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I used to work in live television. This used shifts either 0800 to 1800 or 1200to 0215 shuffled quasi randomly through the week including weekends. One effect of television is you never see daylight during the shift. Circadian wasn’t a thing! Yet people didn’t seem too bothered with sleep. A few of us (including me!) ran our own companies on the days off in...
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keith twort made a comment
Yes I think they log as sleep when you are awake - I have frequently caught them at it! Looking at the heart rate plot is a good way of logging times you may get up during the night.
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keith twort made a comment
I remember reading a suggestion that one thing that happens during the sleep period is that the memories of the day is transferred to a permanent storage mode. In the case of Alzheimers this does not happen, so patients can remember what happened years ago but not what happened yesterday.
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keith twort made a comment
Interesting. I don’t think I have ever fallen asleep or even dozed in my life without actually trying to do so. Usually lying down. So score zero!
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keith twort made a comment
Interesting. Electronic screens get a lot of blame for sleep problems but I have never felt any effect of them in the evening. However many electronic devices like the ipad etc. have a facility for yellowing (less blue) the display in the evening. Also a lot of domestic lighting also has a lot of blue in it’s spectrum e.g. flourescents.
I have never noticed... -
keith twort made a comment
Some futurelearn courses I have found incredibly useful are the courses on mindfulness with Monash University. One thing I learned was how to relax systematically all muscles all the way up from the feet to the head. Leaving the mind totally at ease. This takes about 5 seconds and leaves you totally relaxed physically and mentally. In this relaxed state you...
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keith twort made a comment
I am from UK and I am 76. I suffer from continuous fatigue and have failed to find a cause - the docs or me. I walk about 4 miles a day for exercise and sleep typically 7 or 8 hours a night. I log things with a sleep tracker, measuring heart rate and distance. I measure weight, blood pressure, blood oxygen, temperature, rest heart rate, sleep duration....
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keith twort made a comment
Do things that are FUN! That includes learning.
Plan ahead on a day to day basis but also on the longer term (it is amazing how many people get a degree in something that does not lead anywhere. Say the History of Chinese Music!). Then have nothing to do on graduation. -
keith twort made a comment
Three books I found incredibly useful:
Read better read faster. (Leeuw & Leeuw). How to read a text fast and get the juice out of it efficiently.
How to solve it (Polya). Tackling problems efficiently.
More mathematical problems and diversions (Gardner). An approach to maths other than a list of recipes. -
keith twort made a comment
I am from Stockport. I have finished my career (I am 75) but my career has been entirely dominated by hobbies!! When I was a lad I was interested in electronics and audio. In the spring before A levels (this was a key decision it turned out) I decided to account for every possible result. So I applied for a range of unis and colleges and also applied on the...
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keith twort made a comment
I am reminded of the infinite number of monkeys typing randomly producing the complete works of Shakespeare!
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keith twort made a comment
When covid-19 happened I decided to research it as best I could. So in Feb I was able to make my plans.
I am 75 - not good!
I am male - not good!
But:-
I am not dark skinned
My weight is ideal (bmi 23)
I am not vitamin d deficient.
My blood oxygen is ideal - both SpO2 and VO2max
I am not anaemic.
I exercise every day. (Brisk 4 mile walk every day).
I... -
keith twort made a comment
It never occurred to me to associate mindfulness with religion! It has powerful techniques that are utilised by some religions, but it is not religious per se.
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keith twort made a comment
I encountered mindfulness through a couple of courses on futurelearn. At the time I was in a “care home”, bedbound for “end of life care”. Medical support was pathetic so I did my own thing! I did a lot of courses some on futurelearn, started measuring everything and started my own exercise regime. As a result I came home and now get my exercise briskly...
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I am retired and live on my own. I am plagued with continual fatigue. I have measured everything I can and tests from the gp. Trouble is, everything measures ideal! I measure SpO2, temperature, sleep pattern with a wristband, weight (bmi) continual heart rate. Blood tests revealed everything ok including thyroid, blood count, blood sugar. Sleep pattern detects...
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keith twort made a comment
One thing has always puzzled me. In the tissue rebuilding phase, how does the system know the local structure that it is rebuilding? I know it is in the dna, but is it in the cells that are dividing? And how do they know where to site it in the structure?
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Trouble is relying on food for vitamin D doesn’t really cut it! Which leaves sunlight exposure and supplements.
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keith twort made a comment
That reminds me - I have some blackcurrants in the fridge on their last use by date! Zoom!
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@BeverlySand A very useful source of information is Dr. John Campbell’s posts on Youtube.
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keith twort replied to sue chiodo
No effects on health any more than a wristwatch. No light from it except when you are looking at it. Data from it mostly comes via an app.
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keith twort replied to Aghedo Maureen
No side effects as such. It is a fitbit charge 4 and also is a pedometer, continuously plots heart rate, blood oxygen etc. It also shows the time! Difficult to read in the sun, though.
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keith twort replied to Samantha Ellis
Carbon Hydrogen and Oxygen = Carbohydrate
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keith twort made a comment
I am 75. At the start of covid-19 I did a lot of research in January and February (including futurelearn courses). I do not have any particular conditions so I decided the actions to take and just stuck to it. I identified a route the country with a minimum number of people in it, carefully socially distancing any I meet. A total of thirty miles last week. I...
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Well looking at me:
Over 70 Yup!
Male. Yup!
Obesity. Nope!
African/asian Nope!
Co morbidities Nope!
Vitamin D deficiency Nope!
Sedentary lifestyle Nope!
Unhealthy sleep pattern ... -
keith twort made a comment
I have an interesting situation about diet. I have a breakfast (baked beans,1 sausage 1 bacon rasher two eggs in some form. With perhaps a banana and apple to finish). And about 1700 dinner. (Maybe a cheese and crackers and some sort of sweet). And thats it! No snacks. Not enough? I am not hungry and my weight is dead stable at 78kg (bmi 23!). I take a...
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Their excuse ‘’self medication not permitted!”. Coincidence that infections peaked in care homes?
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keith twort made a comment
Tw years ago I as in a care home (for “end of life care” - didn’t take!) I was doing my own research, as the medical support was pathetic. I found that vitamin D deficiency was endemic in care homes, so I decided to take supplements despite opposition from the “care home!” So I did some smuggling and did it anyway. They confiscated any they found but never...
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keith twort made a comment
As I am retired and in covid-19 lockdown I don’t actually have a community !
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Deep sleep is normally a small proportion of the night, as is REM sleep. For example last night I had 23 minutes of deep sleep, 15% REM sleep and the rest light sleep with a total of 7 hours 23 min.
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keith twort made a comment
I use a fitbit to log sleep. I have caught it out a few times when I know I am awake and it says I am in a light sleep state. I do mindfulness meditation sometimes sitting in my chair. It sometimes thinks I am kipping! (I am not)
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keith twort made a comment
I have always felt that the problem with using food as a medicine is the lack of information about dosages. How many lemons do you need a day to protect against scurvy for example? Half a lemon? One? Ten?
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keith twort made a comment
Has anyone else had this experience? If I am thinking of a technical problem when going to bed I often wake up in the morning with a sparkly new solution all ready and dusted!
At this time of year dawn comes early, so I use a sleep mask to overcome this.
I make a point of going to bed exactly at 2300 with an alarm (on my iPad!) light out at 2310 about,... -
One or two thoughts: There is a widespread suggestion that the blue light component from a screen upsets he sleep cycle. I have never noticed an such effect - reading a book on a tablet or with a paper book seems to have precisely the same effect on me in the evening. In any event most tablets etc. have the option of yellowing the display in he evening i.e....
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keith twort made a comment
I tend to get acidosis. Easily controlled with antacids. So I use some based on calcium carbonate. Two birds with one brick?
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keith twort made a comment
So far l have been unbelievably lucky with the pandemic! Two years ago I was bedbound in a care home foe “end of life care!!”. Medical support was pathetic so I did my own thing. Online courses on pertinent subjects, systematic exercises, measuring everything I could etc. As a result I left the “care home.
I live on my own, so self isolating isn’t a problem.... -
keith twort made a comment
I use a health band to monitor sleep, which gives a reasonable idea of what is happening. Keeping a log I find is counterproductive because filling it out during the night keeps you awake(!) and relying on memory in the morning is guaranteed to produce faulty data. How many times did you wake last night? How long for on each occasion in minutes? How many times...
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keith twort made a comment
I scored zero! I feel fatigued on a permanent basis but haven’t been able find a reason. However I can’t remember falling asleep during the day for many years. But I do follow a regular sleep pattern - go to bed at 1100 pm and get up at 0830 resulting in about 7 to 8 hours of sleep. But I still feel permanently fatigued dammit!
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keith twort made a comment
I have never noticed any effect on myself of using tablets, computers etc. late at night. In any event many people use led lights in their living rooms, flourescent lights in kitchens etc. both of which have a significant blue component. Many phones, tablets and similar have the option of yellowing the display (i.e. less blue) in the evening for precisely this...
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keith twort made a comment
I am from the UK. A problem I have is chronic fatigue that I have not been able to find a reason for. I go to bed precisely at 11.00 pm and get up at 08.30. I monitor sleep with a fitbit. Being 75 I get up two or three times a night for bathroom reasons but still the fitbit says I get 7 to 8 hours a night. Blood tests show none of the usual reasons for...
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keith twort made a comment
Reading some of the other comments, I am ashamed to say it has affected me hardly at all! I am 75 so most of my family are already dead and I live on my own. I pay attention to my health and measure daily everything I can. Everything measures ideal! Really! My exercise is walking in the country briskly - a total of 30 miles this week. I pass the time otherwise...
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keith twort made a comment
Talking of walking. One thing I found when walking. I start with setting posture. Feet hipwidth apart, hips over feet centreline,soulders over hips, ears over shoulders, top of head as far from heels as it will go. Start walking at natural speed. Now there is a certain speed which needs LESS energy than walking a bit slower when legs and arms are swinging at...
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keith twort made a comment
Most phones and tablets have a facility to yellow (i.e. less blue) the display in the evening. Having said that I have never noticed using a screen near bedtime rather that reading a book, makes the slightest difference in ease of going to sleep! I always go to bed at exactly 2300 by my watch alarm, in bed by 2310 and according to my health strap usually aslee...
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Interestingly I happened to do this in a room that I used to use as a recording studio. No traffic under lockdown conditions, so the “soundscape” was basically - silence! So my soundscape was the very low level hiss from the hearing process that everybody gets, Minor breath sounds, sounds of my stomach happily digesting my dinner, and even my heart beating!...
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keith twort made a comment
I am 75. Two years ago I was bedbound in a care home for “end of life care”! I decided to take matters into my own hands, and did a lot of research (on futurelearn!) Learned to walk again, and started an exercise regime. Monitoring everything I could. Net result I came home in January 2019.
Now under covid19 conditions I spend my one hour a day walking... -
keith twort made a comment
Greetings! I am a retired chartered electrical engineer and over my career I have had long periods of practical problem solving. Now living alone, locked down, I am interested in seeing how this applies in other fields.
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Talking of sleep during meditation. As my heart rate slows, my Fitbit health band often thinks I am asleep during meditation (I’m not!) and happily starts logging it!
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keith twort made a comment
Having done this course in the past, I found that after the meditations I was relaxed, calm, stress free and with a blank mind that could immediately be guided into positive directions. I looked at this state and found I could enter it directly in about five seconds with practice. I wondered where to incorporate it in my day as a habit. So I do it whenever I...
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keith twort made a comment
I am from stockport, UK. I have lived here for forty years and have felt only two very minor earthquakes. Each one just enough to give a slight sense of instability and to make, say, a pull cord light switch to swing about an inch.
I went to New Zealand on a hiking holiday and we visited Christchurch. A fortnight later it was destroyed by an earthquake. A... -
keith twort replied to Becky Durston
Actually the biblical reference includes the possibility of “four score”.
Psalm 90:10. My family all lasted to FOUR score and ten! -
keith twort made a comment
I am 75. This time last year I was bedbound in a “care home” for “end of life care”!! I only learned about this when someone mentioned it outside my door too loud! Medical support was absolutely pathetic, so I did my own thing!. I did a lot of research (including quite a lot of futurelearn courses!), and started my own exercise regime, initially in bed, taught...
