Email Marketing Tools For Maximum Impact | Feast Media

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Global warming winner: Once rare butterfly thrives

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Global warming is rescuing the once-rare brown Argus butterfly, scientists say.

Man-made climate is threatening the existence of many species, such as the giant polar bear. But in the case of the small drab British butterfly, it took a species in trouble and made it thrive.

It's all about food. Over about 25 years, the butterfly went from in trouble to pushing north in Britain where it found a veritable banquet. Now the butterfly lives in twice as large an area as it once did and is not near threatened, according to a study in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

Decades ago, the brown Argus "was sort of a special butterfly that you would have to go to a special place to see and now it's a butterfly you can see in regular farmland or all over the place," said study co-author Richard Fox, an ecologist at Butterfly Conservation, a science and advocacy group in the United Kingdom.

Global warming helping the brown Argus is unusual compared to other species and that's why scientists are studying it more, said study co-author Jane Hill, a professor of ecology at the University of York.

Biologists expect climate change to create winners and losers in species. Stanford University biologist Terry Root, who wasn't part of this study, estimated that for every winner like the brown Argus there are three loser species, like the cuckoo bird in Europe. Hill agreed that it's probably a three-to-one ratio of climate change losers to winners.

As the world warms, the key interactions between species break down because the predator and prey may not change habitats at the same time, meaning some species will move north to cooler climes and won't find enough to eat, Root said.

"There are just so many species that are going to go extinct," Root said.

What makes the brown Argus different is that it found something new to eat, something even better than its old food, the less common rockrose plant, Hill said. The new food is a geranium and it is more widespread.

"It's almost like the whole of the buffet is now open to it," Hill said.

___

Online:

Science: http://www.sciencemag.org

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Associated Press

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Long-Term Care Planning and Alzheimer's | tacomavaattorney.com

by Darol Tuttle on May 23, 2012

One of the most common reasons that families need long-term care is when their loved one receives a diagnosis of Alzheimer?s. Depending on the stage of the disease when it is diagnosed, the person could possibly remain in their home until family members or a home care-giver can no longer manage their loved one?s care, or they may need to be immediately placed in a care facility.

Maintaining autonomy is important to the Alzheimer?s patient and they may become argumentative as they struggle to understand what is happening and vacillate between normal behavior and cognitive challenges. At this time, the family, with the aid of an experienced elder law attorney needs to get the proper legal documents signed in order to protect the loved one?s property and finances and then find a way to finance the care. Waiting for an Alzheimer?s diagnosis is not necessary and estate planning documents, such as a power of attorney and living will can be executed at any time, even in healthy individuals.

Darol Tuttle, a Tacoma-based attorney specializing in elder care law believes it?s never too soon to prepare for eventual long-term care needs, and he emphasizes that financing such care does not have to burden the individual or family member if planning starts early. With the increased incidence of Alzheimer?s diagnoses each year, he sees many family members seeking immediate long-term care financing help, along with needing all the proper legal documents executed by an already cognitively impaired person. ?Early planning care reduce a lot of the last minute stress,? says Tuttle.

Getting Legal Help

Experienced Tacoma elder law attorney Darol Tuttle understands the nuances of planning for long-term care and asset protection. He can help you make a thorough plan to give you peace of mind. Contact us today at 253-272-1904 or by email at info@daroltuttle.com.

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Samsung UN55ES6500F

The Samsung UN46ES6500F ($1,729.99 list) is a smart-looking 46-inch HDTV with 3D capabilities, loads of interactive web services, and built-in Wi-Fi. It delivers very accurate colors and a crisp, clean HD picture, but the LED backlit panel could be brighter. You won't get dark inky blacks with this model either, and it only has three HDMI ports. However, it does offers some neat features, including two sets of active shutter 3D glasses and Samsung's Smart Hub menu system that makes it easy to launch apps, play multimedia files and movies, surf the web, and connect to other devices.

Editors' Note: This review is based on tests performed on the Samsung UN46ES6500F, the 46-inch model in the same series. Besides the screen size difference, the 55-inch $2,519.99 UN55ES6500 is identical in features, and while we didn't perform lab tests on this specific model, we expect similar performance.

Design and Features
Style-wise, the UN46ES6500F is easy on the eyes. The panel, which actually measures 45.9 inches, is framed by an ultra-slim (0.5-inch) matte black bezel and sits in a slender 1.25 inch cabinet (the bottom juts out to 1.9 inches to accommodate the down-firing speakers). The bezels are decorated with beveled clear trim, giving the set a pleasing angular look. A shiny Samsung badge protrudes downward from the center of the bottom bezel. The sturdy four-legged stand is piano black and can swivel smoothly.

Two USB ports and one HDMI port are vertically positioned at the rear of the cabinet and facing right. Two additional HDMI ports and one more USB port are flush mounted along with digital audio in and out connections, an optical audio output, shared component and composite AV jacks, a TV cable/antenna jack, a LAN port, and an EX-Link (serial) port. While most HDTVs this size offer four HDMI ports, the UN46ES6500F only gives you three, which can be a problem if you have a set top box, a Blu-ray player, and more than one gaming console.?

There are no function buttons on the UN46ES6500F. Instead, there's a small joystick control mounted on the lower right side of the back panel that lets you access and navigate the various menu pages. It's easier to use the remote to adjust settings and launch apps. The 9-inch wand is backlit and has all the usual player, volume, and channel controls. The number buttons are a tad small and the backlighting is slightly dim, but the remote is lightweight and fits comfortably in the hand. In the center of the remote is a colorful Smart Hub key.

Samsung's Smart Hub provides a single point of access for launching Web apps, streaming content from the Web and compatible DLNA devices over an Ethernet connection or the UN46ES6500F's built-in Wi-Fi, playing movies, and accessing USB based content. The icon-driven menu is colorful and easy to navigate. It includes the cloud-based Family Story app, which lets families share photos and videos and schedule events, an interactive Fitness app for body sculpting, fat burning, and weight monitoring, and a Kids portal featuring several?Canimals?episodes, WordWorld, and other kid oriented apps.

Samsung's Web app catalog is extensive, offering more than 70 information channels including Save Our Planet, The History Of America, and Home Safety. Streaming movie apps include Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, CinemaNow, and Blockbuster, and there are over 90 free and paid games available. Education services include Today In History, the Periodic Tables, and Guitar Chords, and you get about a dozen sports apps including MLB, NBA, and ESPN. You can also access most social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Picasa) and surf the Web with the built-in browser.

The UN46ES6500F provides plenty of picture settings to help you get the best possible picture for your lighting environment. There are four picture modes (Standard, Dynamic, Movie, and Natural) with optimized settings for their respective function. Movie mode offers the best all-around picture, especially if you're in a dimly lit room. You get all the basic settings, including backlight, brightness, contrast, sharpness, color, and tint controls, as well as a handful of advanced settings such as 10-point white balance, gamma, flesh tone, black tone, and dynamic contrast ratio. Picture options include AutoMotion Plus with judder and blur reduction for eliminating motion artifacts, film mode (for content shot at 24 fps), and LED Motion Plus, which uses backlight strobe to help reduce motion blur.

Performance
The UN46ES6500F's performance was a mixed bag. While seated at dead center it provided a realistic 3D picture with very little crosstalk while watching?Sharks 3D. Crosstalk was more prominent when seated at an extreme angle but the 3D effect was still enjoyable. The set comes with two pairs of lightweight active shutter glasses which are fairly comfortable but not very stylish. They also let too much light in from the sides.

Using images from the DisplayMate suite of HDTV diagnostic tests, a Chroma Meter, and SpectraCal's Calman software, the panel produced a peak brightness reading of 101.81 cd/m²?after a basic darkroom calibration. That's not very bright for an LED backlit HDTV, especially when compared to other LED sets like the?Vizio M3D550KD ($1,429.99, 4 stars) (364.75 cd/m²) and LG 55LM6700 ($2,299.99, 4 stars) (256.68 cd/m²). Moreover, the UN46ES6500F's black level (0.06 cd/m²) can't touch that of the Vizio (0.02 cd/m2) or the LG (0.03 cd/m²), and its measured contrast ratio of 1696:1 is mediocre at best.

On the plus side the UN46ES6500F delivers very accurate colors out of the box, as shown in the CIE Chromaticity Chart below (the red, green, and blue boxes represent the CIE standard for each color and the circles represent the panel's actual reading). It also has a wide off-angle viewing range; there was hardly any color shifting when viewed from an extreme side angle and the panel did not lose luminance.

Scenes from?Piranha?on Blu-ray were crisp with natural looking skin tones, but shadow detail suffered a bit as a result of the panel's inability to display dark blacks, and you don't get the kind of punchy picture that you get from a panel with a high contrast ratio. Still, the UN46ES6500F delivers a very sharp, noise-free picture.

The UN46ES6500F is easy on power but not quite as eco-friendly as the larger LG 55LM6700. During my testing it used 93 watts of power with power saving disabled and 53 watts with power saving set to low, while the LG used 67 watts and 48 watts, respectively. You can cut the UN46ES6500F's power consumption even more by setting power saving to medium (41 watts) or high (28 watts), but both settings are much too dim.

Conclusion
The Samsung UN46ES6500F is a capable 46-inch HDTV that is tastefully designed and offers a nice feature set, including two sets of 3D glasses, lots of interactive apps, and a cloud-based family portal. Its color quality is top notch, but its peak brightness and black level performance hold it back. All told, you'll get better performance from our recent budget Editors' Choice, the Vizio M3D550KD, and you'll get more screen and save a few hundred dollars while you're at it.

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Jon Jones, manager speak out after DUI arrest

After his arrest for a DUI early Saturday morning, Jon Jones posted a statement on his Facebook page. He started by saying he "screwed up big time."

"I'm truly sorry to those of you that I may have embarrassed in any way, to those of you with kids that I may have let down. I will prove to them as well as to myself that no matter what is happening in life, we can always work our way back and make things even better than before."

Jones' manager, Malki Kawa, went on MMA Weekly Radio and pleaded for fans to give Jones a chance.

"I would just kind of like to let the fans know to give him a chance. Give yourself a chance to get all the facts in yourselves, wait until everything gets said and done, and then at that point if you want to vilify him afterwards and you heard him speak and you heard him say his part and then vilify him, I can't control what people are going to say. But it is too soon; it is too quick in my opinion. He really is a decent guy. He's a very, very good guy, trying his hardest to be a good role model, a good example, and he wants to be that. No one's perfect and he's never said he was and never said that he doesn't make mistakes. It's a fact he made a mistake. He messed up and I'm sure he's going to come out and apologize and do what he's got to do."

I've been surprised by the amount and type of vitriol aimed towards Jones for this incident. I find drunk driving deplorable and have no problem with Jones (if found guilty) or anyone else who is found guilty of such reckless, selfish, disgusting behavior spending a whole lot of time in a jail cell.

But the comments here, on Facebook and on Twitter have had a gleeful tone. Too many people are happy that Jones screwed up. Let's be clear here. Jones could have killed someone. Jones could have killed himself. This arrest is no reason to rejoice.

The Medical Device Market: USA - Business Review USA

NEW YORK, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

The Medical Device Market: USA

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0203047/The-Medical-Device-Market-USA.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Managed_care

Summary

Espicom's in-depth medical device market reports are ideal for executives wanting to understand the key drivers in medical markets and have access to a wealth of statistical data. Each report opens with an outlook section that provides analysis of the market, 5-year market forecasts, national data projections, market outlook and key developments such as regulation, health facilities and government policy. The report also provides extensive background information, population trends, health status, health expenditure, organisation & administration, hospital services, medical personnel, healthcare development, market access information, trade data and essential industry contacts. Included with the report are 3 free quarterly updated outlook reports, enabling you to keep up to date with market developments for a year.

Description

With a population over 300 million, the USA is the third largest country in the world, behind China and India. The largest state is California, with a population of 37 million.

At an estimated US$105.8 billion in 2011, the US medical device market is the world's largest. Per capita expenditure, at US$339, is the third highest in the world.

Much of the market is in private hands; there is no single health system. Public healthcare systems, known as Medicaid, for those on low incomes, are operated by each State. Since 1960, the Medicare system has provided hospital care for the elderly; this has also provided prescription drug coverage since 2006.

President Obama succeeded in signing his healthcare reform bill into law on 23nd March 2010. The bill, formally called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act HR 3590, will eventually extend health insurance cover to an estimated 32 million Americans who don't have any form of health insurance.

In January 2012, the Obama administration said the bill is on track to being implemented, despite opposition from some States. The law requires all States to create new health insurance markets called exchanges, so that people who do not have insurance can buy tax-payer subsidised private cover. The law also expands eligibility for Medicaid so low-income adults who have no dependent children can get government insurance. Putting the two approaches together, more than 30 million Americans are expected to gain coverage by January 2014. Over 20 States are planning to overturn requirements of the law, and have made little progress in planning or creating these exchanges. If State plans are not approved by January 2013, one year before the exchanges are to be up and running, the Federal government can intervene and manage the process.

The USA is home to many of the world's leading medical device manufacturers, such as Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, Baxter, Covidien and Medtronic. Seven out of the world's top ten medical device manufacturers are US companies.

Imports are forming an increasingly significant part of the market, and now account for around 32% of the total. This growth is partly explained by US manufacturers using cheap locations abroad, such as Ireland or Mexico, in order to re-export to the US market.

The market is highly regulated, and can be an expensive one in which to operate. It is, however, transparent and 'rules-based'. The US is a major site for R&D and clinical trials.

Imports grew by 8.9% to reach US$35.3 billion in 2011. All categories posted positive growth, with consumables recording the strongest rate of 12.1% for the period, reaching US$5.3 billion. The largest category, diagnostic imaging, rose by 7.4% during the period to reach US$8.3 million.

Includes 3 quarterly updated outlook reports!

Please note: Report sections are periodically updated and some sections may have been updated more recently than the publication date given for the full report.

Related Pages

The Medical Device Market Peru

The Medical Device Market Venezuela More Information...MARKET OUTLOOK

Key national data projections

Current market size

Unique 5-year market projections

Market outlook

Market structure; Including statistical data on imports and exports

Market access; Including distribution and medical device regulation

Healthcare analysis; Including demographics, healthcare system, health expenditure, healthcare infrastructure and personnel

HEALTHCARE DATA: A comprehensive tabula review of the market, including economic indicators, demographics, health expenditure, hospital and primary care data, and healthcare personnel.DISTRIBUTORSDetails of the medical equipment distributors held in Espicom's database at the time of publication.

TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

Introduction 2

MEDICAL DEVICE MARKET ANALYSIS 3

Overview . 3

The Market in 2011 . 4

Past Performance 2006-10 . 7

Future Performance 2011-16 8

New Medical Device Tax under Healthcare Reform Plan 8

The US Market For Consumables . 12

The US Market For Diagnostic Imaging Apparatus . 14

The US Market For Dental Products 16

The US Market For Orthopaedic Products . 18

The US Market For Patient Aids 20

Imports 22

Consumables 23

Diagnostic Imaging 23

Dental Products . 23

Orthopaedic & Prosthetic Products . 23

Patient Aids . 23

Domestic Manufacturing . 41

Domestic Production . 41

Manufacturing by State, 2002 . 43

Trade Associations 44

Advanced Medical Technology Association (Advamed) . 44

Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) . 44

National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 44

Local Manufacturers 44

Overview of the Top Ten Domestic Producers 45

1. Johnson & Johnson . 45

2. GE Healthcare . 46

3. Medtronic . 46

4. Baxter International . 47

5. Covidien (formerly Tyco Healthcare) 48

6. Boston Scientific 49

7. Becton Dickinson . 49

8. Stryker . 50

9. St. Jude Medical 50

10. Zimmer 50

Abbott to Split into Two Companies . 51

Exports 52

Consumables 53

Diagnostic Imaging 53

Dental Products . 53

Orthopaedic Products . 53

Patient Aids . 53

Monthly Exports Data 70

ACCESSING THE MARKET 72

Distribution 72

Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) . 72

Independent Medical Distributors Association (IMDA) . 72

Medical Device Regulations 72

Medical Device User Fee and Modernisation Act of 2002 . 73

Reprocessed Single-Use Devices 73

Third Party Reviews 73

FDA Modernisation Act of 1997 73

Pre-Marketing Requirements 74

510(k) Pre-Market Notification 75

510(k) Paradigm 75

Pre-Market Approval Application 75

510(k) Reform Plan . 76

Humanitarian Device Exemption . 76

Investigational Device Exemptions . 77

Third Party Review 77

Post-Marketing Requirements 78

GMP/QS Regulations 78

Compliance 79

Requirements for Record Keeping . 79

Product Liability . 80

Mutual Recognition Agreement with EU . 81

HEALTHCARE ANALYSIS 85

Demographics . 85

Population . 85

Birth Rate . 86

Death Rate 86

Infant Mortality . 86

Life Expectancy at Birth . 86

Public Health . 86

Causes of Death 86

Incidence of Communicable Diseases . 87

HIV/AIDS . 87

Healthcare System 87

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 88

Medicare 88

Medicaid 89

Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorisation Act 90

Health Insurance Portaility and Accountability Act of 1996 90

Private Health Provision 90

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) . 90

Managed Care . 90

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act HR 3590 (Healthcare Reform Bill) 91

Health Expenditure . 91

Healthcare Infrastructure 93

Inpatient Analysis 94

Healthcare Personnel . 94

DIRECTORY 96

Healthcare Organisations . 96

Health Care/Managed Care Systems 99

Trade Code Classifications 100

Methodology. 102

Sources . 102

List of Tables

Summary Key Data Projections, 2011-2016 2US Medical Device Market, Key Ratios, 2011 . 3Espicom Analysis of the US Medical Market, 2011 5SWOT Analysis of the US Medical Device Market, 2011 . 6Projected Medical Device Market, 2011-2016 . 9The US Medical Device Market, 2006-16 (US$ millions) 10The US Medical Device Market, 2006-16 (US$ per capita) . 10The US Medical Device Market, 2006-16 (% of Total) . 11The US Medical Device Market, 2006-16 (% Change) 11The US Consumables Market, 2006-16 (US$ millions) 12The US Diagnostic Imaging Market, 2006-16 (US$ millions) . 14The US Dental Products Market, 2006-16 (US$ millions). 16The US Orthopaedic & Prosthetic Devices Market, 2006-16 (US$ millions) 18The US Patient Aids Market, 2006-16 (US$ millions) . 20Summary Medical Imports by Product Area, 2007-11 (US$000s) . 24Summary Medical Imports by Product Area, 2007-11 (US$000s % Change) . 24CAGR of Medical Imports by Product Area, 2007-11 (%) 25Summary Medical Imports by Product Area, 2007-11 (% of Total) . 26Leading Medical Equipment Suppliers by Product Area, 2011 (US$000s) 27Top 20 Suppliers to the American Market, 2011 (US$000s) 28Detailed Imports of Medical Equipment, 2007-11 (US$000s) 29Detailed Imports of Medical Equipment, 2007-2011 (Growth Trends) 32Detailed Imports, Leading Suppliers, 2011 (US$000s) 35Monthly Imports Data to December 2011 (US$ millions) . 39Imports by Month, December 2009-December 2011 (US$ millions) . 39Import Growth by Sector, Latest Year and Quarter (%) . 40Summary Sector Trends, 1999-2007 (US$ Millions) . 41Medical Equipment Production by Category, 2007 (US$ Millions) . 42Establishments, Workers & Shipments by Top Five States & Industry Sector, 2002 . 43Top 10 US Manufacturers by Medical Device Revenue, 2006-10 (US$ millions) . 44Summary Medical Exports by Product Area, 2007-11 (US$000s) . 54Summary Medical Exports by Product Area, 2007-11 (US$000s % Change) . 54CAGR of Medical Exports by Product Area, 2007-11 (%) 55Summary Medical Exports by Product Area, 2007-11 (% of Total) . 56Leading Medical Equipment Destinations by Product Area, 2011 (US$000s) . 57Top 20 Destinations for American Exports, 2011 (US$000s) 58Detailed Exports of Medical Equipment, 2007-2011 (US$000s) 59Detailed Exports of Medical Equipment, 2007-2011 (Growth Trends) 62Detailed Exports, Leading Destinations, 2011 (US$000s) . 65Balance of Medical Trade, 2007-2011 (US$000s) . 68Monthly Exports Data to December 2011 (US$ millions). 70Exports by Month, December 2009-December 2011 (US$ millions) . 70Export Growth by Sector, Latest Year and Quarter (%). 71Medical Devices Cleared or Approved by the FDA in 2011 . 82Summary of Demographic Data 85Projected Population, 2011-16 . 85Reported AIDS Cases by Sex, 2003-08 . 87Largest Health Insurance & Managed Care Companies by Revenue and Profit, 2010 . 91Healthcare Expenditure 92Summary Health Expenditure by Type, 2007-09 (US$ billions) 92Projected Health Expenditure, 2011-16 . 93Hospitals & Beds . 93Hospital Bed Projections, 2011-16 93Projected Number of Physicians, 2011-16 94HS Trade Codes Used in This Report . 100HS Trade Codes, Rearranged 101

List of Figures

US Medical Device Market by Category, 2011 (%) . 4

Change in the US Medical Device Market, 2006-2010 (%) . 7

CAGR of the US Medical Device Market by Product Area, 2006-2010 (%) . 7

Market Projections, 2011-16 . 9

The US Market For Consumables, 2006-16 (US$ millions) 13

The US Market For Consumables, 2006-16 (CAGR) . 13

The US Market For Diagnostic Imaging Apparatus, 2006-16 (US$ millions) . 15

The US Market For Diagnostic Imaging Apparatus, 2006-16 (CAGR) 15

The US Market For Dental Products, 2006-16 (US$ millions) 17

The US Market For Dental Products, 2006-16 (CAGR) . 17

The US Market For Orthopaedic Products, 2006-16 (US$ millions) 19

The US Market For Orthopaedic Products, 2006-16 (CAGR) . 19

The US Market For Patient Aids, 2006-16 (US$ millions). 21

The US Market For Patient Aids, 2006-16 (CAGR) . 21

Imports of Medical Equipment & Supplies, 1988-2011 (US$ Millions) . 22

Change in Imports of Medical Equipment & Supplies, 1989-2011 (%) . 22

Medical Equipment Imports by Product Area, 2011 (%) 26

Leading Medical Equipment Suppliers, 2011 (%) . 28

Exports of Medical Equipment & Supplies, 1988-2011 (US$ Millions) . 52

Change in Exports of Medical Equipment & Supplies, 1989-2011 (%) . 52

Medical Equipment Exports by Product Area, 2011 (%) 56

Leading Medical Equipment Destinations, 2011 (%) . 58

To order this report:Managed care Industry: The Medical Device Market: USA

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Nicolas Bombourg
Reportlinker
Email: nicolasbombourg@reportlinker.com
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Born to run barefoot? Some end up getting injured

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Swept by the barefoot running craze, ultramarathoner Ryan Carter ditched his sneakers for footwear that mimics the experience of striding unshod.

The first time he tried it two years ago, he ran a third of a mile on grass. Within three weeks of switching over, he was clocking six miles on the road.

During a training run with a friend along a picturesque bike path near downtown Minneapolis, Carter suddenly stopped, unable to take another step. His right foot seared in pain.

"It was as though someone had taken a hammer and hit me with it," he recalled.

Carter convinced his friend to run on without him. He hobbled home and rested his foot. When the throbbing became unbearable days later, he went to the doctor. The diagnosis: a stress fracture.

As more avid runners and casual athletes experiment with barefoot running, doctors say they are treating injuries ranging from pulled calf muscles to Achilles tendinitis to metatarsal stress fractures, mainly in people who ramped up too fast. In serious cases, they are laid up for several months.

Many converts were inspired by Christopher McDougall's 2009 best-seller "Born To Run," widely credited with sparking the barefoot running trend in the Western world. The book focuses on an Indian tribe in Mexico whose members run long distances without pain in little more than sandals.

While the ranks of people running barefoot or in "barefoot running shoes" have grown in recent years, they still represent the minority of runners. Some devotees swear they are less prone to injuries after kicking off their athletic shoes though there's no evidence that barefoot runners suffer fewer problems.

In some cases, foot specialists are noticing injuries arising from the switch to barefoot, which uses different muscles. Shod runners tend to have a longer stride and land on their heel compared with barefoot runners, who are more likely to have a shorter stride and land on the midfoot or forefoot. Injuries can occur when people transition too fast and put too much pressure on their calf and foot muscles, or don't shorten their stride and end up landing on their heel with no padding.

Podiatrist Paul Langer used to see one or two barefoot running injuries a month at his Twin Cities Orthopedics practice in Minneapolis. Now he treats between three and four a week.

"Most just jumped in a little too enthusiastically," said Langer, an experienced runner and triathlete who trains in his barefoot running shoes part of the week.

Bob Baravarian, chief of podiatry at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, Calif., said he's seen "a fair number" of heel injuries and stress fractures among first-timers who are not used to the different forces of a forefoot strike.

"All of a sudden, the strain going through your foot is multiplied manifold" and problems occur when people don't ease into it, he said.

Running injuries are quite common. Between 30 to 70 percent of runners suffer from repetitive stress injuries every year and experts can't agree on how to prevent them. Some runners with chronic problems have seized on barefoot running as an antidote, claiming it's more natural. Others have gone so far as to demonize sneakers for their injuries.

Pre-human ancestors have walked and run in bare feet for millions of years often on rough surfaces, yet researchers surprisingly know very little about the science of barefoot running. The modern running shoe with its cushioned heel and stiff sole was not invented until the 1970s. And in parts of Africa and other places today, running barefoot is still a lifestyle.

The surging interest has researchers racing for answers. Does barefoot running result in fewer injuries? What kinds of runners will benefit most from switching over? What types of injuries do transitioning barefoot runners suffer and how to prevent them?

While some runners completely lose the shoes, others opt for minimal coverage. The oxymoron "barefoot running shoes" is like a glove for the feet designed to protect from glass and other hazards on the ground. Superlight minimalist shoes are a cross between barefoot shoes and traditional sneakers ? there's little to no arch support and they're lower profile.

Greg Farris decided to try barefoot running to ease the pain on the outside of his knee, a problem commonly known as runner's knee. He was initially shoeless ? running minutes at a time and gently building up. After three months, he switched to barefoot running shoes after developing calluses.

Halfway through a 5K run in January, he felt his right foot go numb, but he pushed on and finished the race. He saw a doctor and got a steroid shot, but the pain would not quit. He went to see another doctor, who took an X-ray and told him he had a stress fracture.

Farris was in a foot cast for three months. He recently started running again ? in sneakers.

"I don't think my body is made to do it," he said, referring to barefoot running.

Experts say people can successfully lose the laces. The key is to break in slowly. Start by walking around barefoot. Run no more than a quarter mile to a mile every other day in the first week. Gradually increase the distance. Stop if bones or joints hurt. It can take months to make the change.

"Don't go helter skelter at the beginning," said Dr. Jeffrey Ross, an associate clinical professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of the Diabetic Foot Clinic at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston.

A year and a half ago, Ross saw a steady stream ? between three and six barefoot runners a week ? with various aches and pain. It has since leveled off to about one a month.

Ross doesn't know why. It's possible that fewer people are trying it or those baring their feet are doing a better job adapting to the new running style.

There's one group foot experts say should avoid barefoot running: People with decreased sensation in their feet, a problem common among diabetics, since they won't be able to know when they get injured.

Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman runs a lab devoted to studying the effects of running form on injury rates. He thinks form matters more than footwear or lack of ? don't overstride, have good posture and land gently.

In a 2010 study examining different running gaits, Lieberman and colleagues found that striking the ground heel first sends a shock up through the body while barefoot runners tend to have a more springy step. Even so, more research is needed into whether barefoot running helps avoid injury.

"The long and the short of it is that we know very little about how to help all runners ? barefoot and shod ? prevent getting injured. Barefoot running is no panacea. Shoes aren't either," said Lieberman, who runs barefoot except during the New England winters.

Carter, the ultramarathoner, blames himself for his injury. Before he shed his shoes, he never had a problem that kept him off his feet for two months.

In April, he ran his fourth 100-mile race ? with shoes. Meanwhile, his pair of barefoot running shoes is collecting dust in the closet.

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Online:

http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/

http://www.acsm.org/

http://apma.org/

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Follow Alicia Chang at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

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