Health News and Information

Romantic love, like any other emotional or imaginative experience, is primarily the result of inhibition or the blocking of an impulse. Whether one is conscious of it or not, love grows out of the failure of the sex impulse to be carried out directly and completely, as it might be if we were not surrounded from early childhood to old age by countless taboos, conventions, and social inhibitions. Romance is the roundabout, sublimated way of attaining union. This accounts for the tendency of lovers to find community of interests and tastes when none really exists. It can be explained as simply an illusion due to the imperious demand of the organism for intimate physical contact, which, when thwarted, seeks a vicarious or substitute satisfaction in spiritual or social union, whether the facts justify such a feeling of oneness or not. It has often been said that politics makes strange bedfellows. The same may be said of romantic
It is obvious that romance, when almost entirely an illusion created by sexual inhibition, is bound to collapse as soon as the inhibitions disappear. At marriage, when complete physical sexual satisfaction is attained, there remains no organic raison d’etre for romantic feelings and they accordingly quickly subside. Life cares nothing for romance but seeks only to carry out the process of perpetuating itself, and when it has attained its end, it has no further need for the scaffolding of love. So beauty and charm and perfection all fade and die, as the saying goes, like a rose that has been plucked. Love seems to defeat itself, and the experience which one had dreamed would be the summit of happiness turns out to be commonplace enough. In the innocence of adolescent imagination, the only problem seems to be that of finding and winning an object of love. The possibility that as soon as attained it will cease to be the thing it was dreamed to be, never occurs to one, and sometimes even much experience fails to convince some men and women of the futility of their hope. They continue through life vainly seeking to seize and hold fast their will-o’-the-wisp of sexual happiness.
*88\275\8*

Invasive giardiasis is the most common gastro-intestinal infection caused by the protozoal parasite-Giardia lamblia. The Incidence of infection is as high as in 50% or more in the regions of world with inadequate hygienic conditions, especially in populations of lower socio-economic levels. A high prevalence of this infection is noticed in infants and children. A large proportion of patients remain asymptomatic. The modern chemotherapy, though has better response on acute infection, but it is associated with several side effects, such as drug-resistance, disturbance of microflora of bowel, nausea, abdominal cramps, furry tongue, metallic sharp and unpleasant taste etc. Therefore, preference is converging on herbal drugs, especially on Rasayana Therapy as these drugs not only help to eradicate the parasite but also rejuvenate the ‘Bala’ or immunity of the host. In the present study efforts are directd to unravel the immunomodulatory anti-protozoal/anti-giardial activity of the herbal preparation; Pippalli Rasayana (PR), a product developed from two herbs, viz., Pippalli (Piper longum) and Palash (Butea monosperma).
1.    Preparation of drug

Palash \Butea monosperma) Panchang (40 Kg stem, bark and leaves + 10 Kg roots + 10 Kg flowers and fruits) were dried. Contents were burnt to ashes (4.5 Kg) and dissolved in 8-10 times weight of water. The mixture was thoroughly stirred and left for 24 hr. Contents were then filtered through a folded fine cloth. The filtrate (Palash Kshara-Jal) was subjected to Bhawana to Pippalli as under; Pippalli {Piper longum) fruit was dried and powdered after removing the foreign particles. Powder (15 Kg) was thoroughly mixed with Palash-Kshara-Jal and dried under the sun. The contents were well ground and fried in butter. The finished product was called as Pippali Rasayana (PR).

2.    Immuno-modulation tests

Balb-C mice, weighing 18-20 gm, were orally administered with varying doses of PR. Drug was given daily for seven days. The subsequent day was termed as zero-day for further tests.

(a)     Macrophage  migration index (MMI)

The assay was carried out according to the standard method of Saxena et. al. Briefly; on day zero, peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) were collected from mice by administering RPMI-1 640 medium containing 10 lU/ml heparin and withdrawing exudate aseptically. The PEC were washed and suspended in the same medium to a concentration of 40-50 X 106 cells/ml. The suspension was filled in microhaematocrit capillaries. One end of the capillary was sealed and centrifuged at 600 X g for 3 min. The capillaries were cut at cell-liquid interphase, placed in a migration chamber filled with complete RPMI-1640 containing 10% fetal calf serum. PEC from normal (Untreated control) mice were simultaneously run in a similar manner. The ratio of the area of migration of the cells from treated animal to that of the control was termed as MMI.

(b)    Haemagglutination (HA) titre

It was done according to the method of Puri et al. Briefly; the drug-treated and untreated (control) mice were injected with 1 X 1Q8 sheep-RBC (SRBC) intraperitoneally. After four days of immunization, serum was collected by retino-orbital puncture. Antibody levels were determined by two fold dilution of sera, prepared in 0.15 M PBS, pH 7.2 in ‘V’ bottom micro-titer plates. Into each well 25 ml of 1 % SRBC suspension was dispensed and contents were mixed thoroughly. After 1.5-2.0 hr. of incubation at room temperature the reciprocal of the highest dilution of the test sample giving 50% agglutination was expressed as the HA-titre.

(c)    Plaque forming cell (PLC) assay

PFC test was carried out according to the method of Jerne and Nordin (1963). Briefly; the spleen cells were separated, from the drug treated and untreated (control) mice, in RPMI-1640 medium. Cells were washed and suspended in the same, medium to a density of 1X106 cells/ml. Petri dishes (2.5 cm diam.) were layered with 1.2% agaraose in RPMI-1640, 0.1 ml suspension of 20% (v/v) SRBC and 1X105 spleen cells in 0.1 ml was poured over the base layer. The petri dishes were incubated at 37°C for 90 min. Two ml. of 1:10 diluted fresh guinea pig serum was added in each petri dish as a source of complement. Incubation was further followed for 45 min. Plaques formed on the agarose surface were counted immediately and the values were expressed as counts per 105 spleen cells.

3.    In vivo Antigiardial test

Swiss mice, weighing 18-20 gm, free from G. muris infection were used. Axenic-strain of G. lamblia (Portland-1), grown for 48 hr. in TYI-S-33 medium, was centrifuged. Supernatant was discarded and pellet was dispensed with fresh medium. An aliquot of 0.25 ml medium, containing 0.5-1.0 X 106 trophozoites were injected intra-jejunally in mice. After 48 hr of infection the animals were divided into two groups of six each. One group served as control and other was administered with varying doses of drug orally. The drug was given daily for 5 successive days, after which the control and the treated animals were sacrificed. Jejunum was surgically removed and flushed with PBS pH 7.2. Flushings were examined microscopically for trophozoites. Relative recovery (%) was assessed in experimental sets by comparing against the control (infected + drug un-treated) sets.

4.    Clinical study on giardiasis-patients

(a)      Selection of patients

Patients were selected from the out patient (OPD) and Indoor patient department (IPD) of State Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Lucknow. Patients, with typical symptoms of giardiasis especially those showing recurrence of infection, were included in the study.
(b)     Pathological investigations

(i)    Stool examination

Small portion of stool samples was suspended in 1-2 ml. of normal saline (0.85% w/v sodium chloride). Allowed to stand at room temperature. Cysts of G. lamblia, floating over the surface, were carefully with-drawn with a Pasture pipette and dispensed over the glass slide. On microscopic examination, Giardia-cysts appeared double walled body with a faint median line and four nuclei.

(ii)    Haematological examination

Blood smear, prepared from a single drop of patient’s blood, was stained with Leishmania’s stain and examined in a light microscope. Total (TLC) and differential (DLC) were recorded. RBC counts were determined in Neubauer’s chamber. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate was assessed in Wintrobe’s tube and Packed Cell Volume (PCV) by the haematocrit tube. Haemoglobin estimation was carried out by Sahil’s method.

(iii)    Serum examination

Serum protein and serum albumin was estimated by standard kit (Mitra total protein reagent and albumin kit, New-Delhi). Subsequently from the values, Albumin: Globulin (A:G) ratio was extrapolated. Cell mediated immune (CMI) status of giardiasis patients was determined from serum samples by LMI-test, briefly: macrophages were collected from mice after administration of 8-10 ml tissue culture medium (RPMI-1640) with 10 Ill/ml heparin. Peritoneal exudate (PE), so collected, was centrifuged at 250 X g for 3 min. PE containing peritoneal macrophages (PM) was washed with RPMI-1640 with 20% v/v foetal calff serum. 1 ml medium with 2 X 106 PM were dispensed into a test tube with 0.2 ml test serum and incubated the contents for 2 ha. at 37°C. Washed the cells with RPMI-1640. PM were filled into a microhaematocrit capillary, sealed at one end with plasticine and centrifuged at 250 X g for 3 min. capillaries were cut at cell/liquid interphase with diamond pencil and the closed end was fixed on the bottom of migration chamber with the help of non-toxic paraffin wax. Chamber was filled with complete RPMI-1640 medium, covered with a glass coverslip and sealed with paraffin wax.. Chamber was incubated under humidity at 37°C for 18 h. Following incubation the area of migration of macrophage was drawn on Whatman No. 1 filter paper with the help of Camera Lucida attached to a light microscope.

5.      Administration of drug and follow-up

The patients were given PA in the doses of 2.5 gm, twice a day with jeggury, honey or milk. Patients were advised to take light and easily digestible diet. The outdoor patients were asked to attend OPD weekly for the clinical examination, whereas IPD patients were examined daily. Their stool samples were collected weekly to examine for the cysts of G. lamblia. Patients were examined clinically and pathologically for the progress of the clinical features for another 2 months.
*1\218\2*

Early in the hospital stay, doctors examine the injured person’s neurological functions to determine the severity of the spinal cord injury. They determine the level at which the spinal cord is injured, whether the injury is complete or incomplete, and whether there is any injury to the bones and ligaments that protect the spinal cord.
What makes up this complex part of our body, the spinal cord? Composed of a delicate bundle of nerve fibers, it connects the brain to the rest of the body. It is surrounded by a long, tubular structure of bones, cartilage, and ligaments called the vertebral column. (The vertebral column is also known as the spine. It is important to understand that the spine is a bony structure surrounding the spinal cord.) The vertebral column consists of a series of small bones called vertebrae, which form a column extending from the lower back to the base of the skull. The vertebrae are cushioned and separated by small gelatinous blocks of cartilage called intervertebral disks.
The vertebrae are named by region of the body, with seven cervical (C) vertebrae in the neck, twelve thoracic (T) vertebrae in the upper back, five lumbar (L) vertebrae in the lower back, and a fused block of vertebrae, called the sacrum (S), at the base of the spine. The vertebrae are also numbered from top to bottom within each of these regions: the lowest cervical (neck) vertebra, C7, sits atop the highest thoracic (upper back) vertebra, T1.
Most people with a spinal cord injury also have an injury of the vertebral column, such as a fracture or dislocation of a vertebra. A spinal fracture is a broken vertebra, and a dislocation of the spine is movement of one vertebra out of its normal alignment. When any vertebrae are fractured or dislocated, there is a high risk of spinal cord injury. Ligaments hold the bones together. If ligaments are destroyed, bones can move out of proper alignment and compress the spinal cord. The forces often involved in serious accidents—car accidents, for example—can tear or stretch vital ligaments. Some people need bracing until ligaments heal; others require surgery. Ensuring the stability of the vertebral column is essential in the care of individuals with spinal cord injury.
The spinal cord, like the vertebral column, has segments from cervical to sacral. Two pairs of nerve roots (bundles of nerve fibers) connect with the spinal cord at every level. Each pair of nerve roots consists of a sensory (or dorsal) root and a motor (or ventral) root, which join to form a mixed spinal nerve. These spinal nerves pass through the vertebral column between the vertebrae, carrying sensory information from and motor information to the arms, legs, and trunk.
When we are born, the spinal cord is the same length as the vertebral column, so the L4 level of the spinal cord lies next to the L4 vertebra, for example. During childhood, the skeleton grows tremendously, but the spinal cord grows only a little longer. By the time we reach adulthood, the spinal cord is much shorter than the vertebral column. Because the top of the spinal cord is still attached to the brain, the CI level of the spinal cord lies next to the CI vertebra. But the S3 level of the spinal cord is near the LI vertebra, only about two-thirds of the way down the back. This means that the level of a vertebral injury may be quite different from the level of the spinal cord injury it causes. For example, when the TIO (middle back) vertebra is fractured, it may result in L3 (lower back) spinal cord injury. Injuries of the lower lumbar and sacral parts of the vertebral column are below the bottom of the spinal cord, because the cord extends only to about LI. Thus lower injuries may cause damage to the nerve roots in the lower back (called the cauda equina) but do not affect the spinal cord itself.

*5/156/5*

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the name given to a disorder of the muscular walls of the bowel. It affects gut motility – the rate at which the contents of the bowel are pushed along to the rectum – and is characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort, constipation, diarrhoea or alternate bouts of constipation and diarrhoea. These symptoms are common to most sufferers, but there are also a host of other symptoms associated with the condition; the nature of these depends on the cause of the problem. So, while several people could be diagnosed as having Irritable Bowel Syndrome, their symptoms could vary a great deal; for example, symptoms of IBS caused by milk intolerance could be very different from those symptoms where the problem is the result of stress or of an infection.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is also known by other names: Mucous Colitis, Spastic Colon, or Non-inflammatory Bowel Disease. The term Irritable Bowel Syndrome seems to be a misnomer, for the bowel of the majority of sufferers – far from being irritable – is half-asleep. Since the treatment should vary according to exactly how the bowel is behaving, it would seem appropriate to give this condition three names: the Sluggish Bowel Syndrome, the Hyperactive Bowel Syndrome and the Confused Bowel Syndrome, the latter describing the alternate bouts of constipation and diarrhoea. These variations will be discussed fully later.
Who Suffers from this Condition?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects all age groups, from the infant who cries with colic to the aged. It ranges in degree from just a temporary interruption in an otherwise normal life, to a condition which makes a person look ill-nourished, constantly tired, miserable and confused.
*1\326\8*

The first time you or anyone in your family has a fit, you should consult a doctor. Often there may have been some obvious reason for the fit (if it followed alcohol withdrawal after a period of heavy drinking, for example, or if it occurred in a child during a high fever), and in this case your doctor may not suggest any further investigations or recommend any anticonvulsant medication. However, if there was no obvious reason for the fit, or if the doctor feels it is necessary, he or she will almost certainly suggest that you undergo a thorough investigation to discover whether your fits are likely to recur and whether there is any underlying cause for them that can be treated.
MAKING THE DIAGNOSIS
The diagnosis of epilepsy is made by looking at what happens during the seizures. There are plenty of other reasons besides epilepsy for sudden attacks of unconsciousness or odd behaviour, and all of these will have to be ruled out before a final diagnosis of epilepsy can be made. Fainting, breath-holding attacks, night terrors, migraine, episodes of day-dreaming or inattentiveness in schoolchildren, aggressive outbursts in disturbed adolescents – all of these can be, and quite often are, mistaken for epilepsy.
So before making the diagnosis your doctor will want to have as much information as possible about you. You’ll be asked whether anyone else in your family has ever suffered from epilepsy. You will be given a full physical examination, and your doctor will want to know your medical history and exactly what happened when you had your attack. Your own recollection of events and eyewitness accounts of anyone who was with you at the time will all help the doctor decide whether what you experienced was, in fact, an epileptic attack, and if so, what kind. These are some of the questions you will probably be asked:
What was happening at the time of the seizure?
Were you particularly tired, for example? Had you been drinking or had you missed a meal and were very hungry? Were you watching television, or were you at a disco? Was it very hot? Did it happen after you had just stood up and were feeling faint?
Have you recently had a blow on the head?
Or have you at any time in the past suffered a head injury severe enough to render you unconscious or keep you in hospital for observation? Any significant head injury may increase the chances of you developing epilepsy in the future.
Does any member of your family suffer from epilepsy?
Do you suffer from any chronic illness?
Have you recently had an infectious illness?
Have you been under particular pressure lately, or been very worried about anything?
What did you or those around you notice about the seizure itself?
What was the very first thing you noticed when the seizure started? Was it an odd smell or taste, for example, some weird sensation or thought or an involuntary movement like the twitching of a hand or arm? If there was any jerking or twitching, how did it spread? What part of the body was affected before you lost consciousness? Did it affect one side or both sides of your body and how long did it last? Be as specific as you can. It is these observations which will help your doctor decide which part of your brain gave rise to the seizure.
Did you fall to the ground during the seizure?
Did you lose consciousness during the seizure?
What happened immediately after the seizure?
If anyone was with you, did they notice whether you changed colour? Did you seem confused after the seizure and if so, for how long? As you were coming round, did they notice any difficulties in your speech? Was it slurred, for example, or did you have difficulty finding the right words?
How did you feel after the attack?
Did you notice any weakness in your limbs after the attack? Did you have a headache or feel depressed? Did you fall asleep after the attack? Or did you feel much better afterwards?
How much memory do you have of the event?
*16\193\2*

1.     If the patient is not too weak, a short 3-day cleansing fast on raw fruit and vegetable juices can be undertaken. To stimulate the liver and its detoxifying activity, red beet juice, on fermented beet juice, should be taken during fasting 1/2 glass three times a day) plus daily coffee enemas: one cup of strongly brewed coffee in 1 pint of water, used as a retention enema. Lactic acid fermented beet juice will markedly increase the oxygenation of the body cells.
After a short fast, which can be repeated after 3 or 4 weeks, the Airola Diet of raw foods should be maintained. Seed and grains are particularly useful, especially in sprouted form. As the patient improves, some cooked cereals, such as millet, whole rice, buckwheat, barley and oats can be included.
2.        One of the most effective cancer treatments used in the famous Dr Josef Issels’ cancer clinic in Germany, as well as in many other biological clinics around the world, is fever therapy.
3.    Plenty of rest, complete freedom from worries and mental stress, plenty of fresh, pure air day and night. If patient is strong, lots of exercise and walking; and generally health-strengthening mode of living.
4.    In many countries of the world, but not in the United States, Laetrile (alias nitrilosides, amygdaline, or Vitamin B17), a drug developed by Drs. Ernst Krebs Sr. and Jr., of the U.S., is used to treat cancer with reported success. Treatment is available in Mexico and many European countries.
5.    Tekarina is another non-toxic injectable material, derived from seaweed, and developed by G. Lo Monaco, of Mexico, which, according to reports, has shown a remarkably high rate of success. Tekarina acts as a powerful detoxifier and, thus, is useful in biological treatment of many other ailments.
6.     Many doctors and clinics which specialize in cancer use various vaccine-type drugs to stimulate the body’s immunological response and increase its defensive and healing activity – thus helping the body to heal itself.

*3/103/5*

Vitamins and supplements (daily)
С – 3,000 to 5,000 mg.
Bromelain – 6-8 tablets
Potassium – 500 mg.
Cold liver oil – 3 tsp.
Alfalfa tablets – up to 20 tablets, or 2 tsp. powder
Niacinamide – large doses up to 1,000 mg. (only under doctor’s supervision)
Kelp -5-10 tablets
Calcium-magnesium supplement – 500 mg. of each
B6 -50 to 100 mg.
Pantothenic acid – 100 mg.
B-complex with B12, high potency, natural
Sprouts – alfalfa and mung bean
E-600 to 1,000 IU
Brewer’s yeast – 3 tbsp.
Sea water – 2-3 tbsp.

Juices
Emphasis on raw vegetable juices: carrots, celery, red beets, parsley, alfalfa, raw potatoes. Citrus juices only sparingly. Sour cherry juice is specifically effective. Other fruit juices: fresh pineapple juice, black currant, sour apple juice. The enzyme in fresh pineapple juice, bromelain, reduces swelling and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and gout.

Herbs
Comfrey, alfalfa, parsley, poke berries, black cohosh, chaparral, buckthorn bark, sassafras, peppermint, slippery elm, ragwort, burdock] root.

Specifics
Vitamin C, bromelain, potassium, raw fresh cherries or cherry juice, (best cherries: sour, black, Royal Anne, Black Bing) raw pineapple, raw potatoes, alfalfa (plant and seeds), chaparral, mung bean and alfalfa sprouts, goat’s milk.

*2/103/5*

To flesh out the notion of a functional system, many aspects of the mind and thus many parts of the brain working together in concert, let us consider the following, so-familiar situation: just watching TV.
It is the end of a late Saturday afternoon, and you are sitting in your living room basically not doing much at all. Your dog is snoozing at your feet. You are nursing your cup of coffee, or whatever your favorite late-Saturday-afternoon drink may be. You are doing nothing, really, just watching CNN.
In the midst of this blissful nothingness, your brain is hard at work, engaged in a complex and fluid ensemble of activities, while you are ostensibly lazing around. Your visual and auditory cortex are abuzz, processing the images on the screen and the voice of Christiane Amanpour delivering the breaking news of the day. For simple signal detection, older subcortical structures in the brain stem and the thalamus may suffice, without particularly engaging the neocortex. But this is highly meaningful information and the neocortex is involved.
Indeed, digesting the news about a tense confrontation half the world away takes up the resources of much of the brain. The verbal content of Amanpour’s narrative engages much of your left hemisphere. (This assumes you are right-handed, and if you are left-handed, the odds are still approximately six to four that your left hemisphere is mostly in charge of language). First engaging the part of the temporal lobe called the superior temporal gyrus in charge of speech sound perception, it then engages much of the rest of the left hemisphere.
Language is a cultural tool of incredible complexity and versatility. We often think of language as a means of communication. It is certainly that, but also much more. As we will discuss later, language is a means of conceptualization, of information compression, which enables us to represent complex information in compact codes. The brain machinery of language is highly distributed. As already mentioned, the meaning of object words (nouns) is stored in the left temporal lobe close to the visual cortex. That makes sense: Our mental representations of objects are based mostly on vision. The meaning of action words (verbs) is stored in the left frontal lobe close to the motor cortex. That also makes sense: Our mental representations of skilled movements involve those parts of the brain. Complex statements establishing relations between things are processed in the part of the left hemisphere where the temporal and parietal lobes come together—the left angular gyrus.
Damage to these different parts of the brain will impair language in different ways, to use technical language, will produce different forms of aphasia, depending on where exactly in the left hemisphere it occurs. The causes of such damage vary: It could be stroke, head injury, or dementia. Indeed a particular form of language disorder, called anomia (loss of the use of words), is among the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
But the right hemisphere is not left out of the action, either. As Christiane Amanpour’s voice rises to an urgent crescendo, it is the right hemisphere that detects the feeling of alarm conveyed by it. While the left hemisphere is in charge of most aspects of language in an adult brain, the right hemisphere is in charge of prosody. Prosody is information conveyed through verbal communication, but by means of intonation and inflection rather than by the literal meaning of words. It is what we call the “emotional tone.”
Your dog has also sensed the urgency in the commentator’s voice (I don’t know with which hemisphere of his brain; hemispheric specialization has not been extensively studied in animals, although I have advocated such research for years) and began to growl. You recognize his canine growl, as opposed to any other sound in the environment, without taking your eyes off the TV screen. This was also accomplished through the left hemisphere, the left temporal lobe to be precise. Damage to the left temporal lobe produces not only aphasia, but also an inability to identify environmental sounds by their sources. This often overlooked condition is called auditory associative agnosia.
Meanwhile, the visual cortex has been busy all along taking in the images on the television screen. Since you are in excellent neurological health, you easily take in information both from the left and the right half of the screen. You can do this because both hemispheres of your brain are working just fine, and the connection between them, a thick bundle of pathways called the corpus callosum (the latter word from Latin for callus), is intact. Damage to one hemisphere, particularly to the parietal lobe, often produces visual hemiinattention or even outright visual hemineglect. A patient afflicted with visual hemiinattention has difficulty attending to the information appearing in one half of the visual field—the half opposite to the side of brain damage. Visual hemineglect is even more severe than visual hemiinattention, one half of the visual field being completely ignored. Left visual hemiinattention or hemineglect (caused by damage to the right hemisphere) is usually much more severe than right visual hemiinattention or hemineglect.
In a highly protective environment, the effects of hemineglect or hemiinattention may be more comical than tragic. I will never forget an elderly man in a nursing home who suffered a right-hemispheric stroke with left hemineglect and ranted indignantly about the conspiracy of nurses. He was furious that his fellow patient sitting across from him at the cafeteria table was getting a steak, while all he was getting was mashed potato— an outrageous inequity indeed. The key to this apparent injustice was simple. The kitchen personnel had the habit of placing the steak on the left side of the tray and the mashed potato on the right side of the tray. So the old gentleman always saw the potato on right side of his tray and the steak on left side of the tray in front of the fellow sitting opposite him. And it was impossible to get the old man to comprehend that the problem was within and not outside, until the nurses learned to flip the tray in front of him. The patient remained convinced that he was a victim of dirty tricks and that nothing was wrong with him. Yet aside from his dinnertime ire, he was the happiest, go-luckiest patient on the unit.
Unlike the old man, your visual fields are in good order, left, right, and center. So you are able to scan the whole television screen and follow the important details. The ability to scan a detail-rich visual scene extracting important information from wherever it may appear in the environment is ensured by a region of the frontal lobes called the frontal eye-fields. They are firing away as you are relating Christiane Amanpour’s commentary to the images on the screen.
The good news brought to us by state-of-the-art neuroscience research is that new neurons tend to develop in the hippocampi. What’s particularly exciting is that the rate at which the new neurons appear in the hippocampi can be influenced by cognitive activities and by exercising your brain.
As the news is being delivered, you are trying to figure out what will happen in the conflict-ridden region next. A game of prediction, like a game of chess, is a tricky business. You need to assess the overall context and to put yourself in the place of each of the main players. You need to plausibly surmise what they think of the situation. Napoleon understood this very well, when he admonished his marshals: In anticipating the adversary’s move, don’t expect him to do what you consider to be his optimal move. Try to figure out what he considers his optimal move from his own perspective, given his own history, and with the information likely to be available to him, not to you. The ability to put yourself in someone else’s “mental shoes” is called by cognitive neuroscientists the capacity to form the theory of mind.
Your own prefrontal cortex was nudged out of its slumber the moment you began to play the game of crystal ball, trying to make political predictions. And so was your anterior cingulate cortex, a brain structure closely linked to the prefrontal cortex, which is particularly active in situations of uncertainty.
But you know your limitations and can spend only so much time playing the game of crystal ball, a game that even Napoleon eventually lost. Your attention is drifting and you are beginning to feel sleepy. That means that your ascending activating reticular formation, a very important structure in charge of keeping the brain aroused and alert, has had it for now.
You yawn, stretch, and turn off the TV set. The thought of taking your dog for a walk crosses your mind, but then you decide to stick around and refill your drink. Your hypothalamus, amygdala, and orbitofrontal cortex have all lit up—the mechanisms of basic gratification. . . . Life is that simple on a Saturday afternoon.
*4\302\2*

Almost anyone can tell you right off when they have a cold, and yet there is no real agreement in the medical profession as to just what a common cold is. No single germ has yet been incriminated as the causative factor nor has any group of germs or viruses been established as responsible. At present the sequence of events seems to include a first period when the lining of the nose and throat seems to respond to some foreign invading substances by reddening and congestion and a profuse flow of mucus. With this may be frequent sneezing, stuffiness, difficulty in breathing, perhaps some fever, a feeling of lassitude, and some aching of the limbs.
Colds spread rapidly from one person to another, and the resistance established by having a cold lasts a very short time. Some people have many more colds than do others; the average for the country as a whole seems to be about four colds a year. Chilling, exposure to damp, sudden changes from a dry hot air to a cold damp atmosphere, sitting in a draft, getting the feet wet, and, particularly, working or playing in crowded rooms with others who have colds seem to be important factors in the spread of respiratory diseases.
The suggestions as to how to prevent frequent colds are numerous but some doubt prevails as to whether any of them really work. You may try to keep away from contact with others who have colds, but under the crowded conditions of our civilization this is well nigh impossible. People have tried wearing face masks or gauze or paper during epidemics, but they permit contamination. Use of ultraviolet in the air has seemed to be useful but carefully controlled experiments with this technique and with spraying medicated vapors in the air have not yielded conclusive results. Mothers have tried to harden children by frequent cold baths, going without stockings, and hats and similar methods. These methods do not work, and the unnecessary hardship makes the children unhappy.
Most colds get well in from five to ten days. Complications are fortunately now controlled by the use of the sulfonamides and antibiotic drugs. Some claims hold that colds can be cured by taking an antihistaminic drug during the first twenty-four hours of invasion; most experts doubt that this is specifically helpful. The congestion in the nose is relievable by the use of decongestant preparations such as menthol, camphor, privine, amphetamine and other preparations which the doctor must prescribe. People feel more comfortable if they go to bed, take some aspirin or a small dose of an alcoholic drink. Frequently a hot bath and plenty of fluids, such as citrus drinks, secure relief. Secondary coughs are controllable with a variety of remedies. Particularly feared as a complication is secondary pneumonia. The doctor watches for signs of this in rising temperature, congestion and pain in the lungs, signs of congestion which he hears with his stethoscope, or can detect by percussion, or see certainly with the X-ray. Fortunately again, such secondary infections are now controllable with the new drugs.
*4/318/5*

To be considered BDD, appearance concerns must also cause clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning. Nearly all people with BDD experience both. One potential drawback of this definition is that “clinically significant” is a somewhat imprecise term that involves informed judgment. The opinion of a mental health professional can be helpful in determining whether appearance concerns are clinically significant. In most cases of BDD, however, the degree of preoccupation, distress, and impairment in functioning is clearly greater than what most people experience. Most people may have BDD-like concerns, but most people don’t have BDD.
It’s interesting to hear what people with BDD say about how their BDD concerns differ from normal appearance concerns. In making this differentiation, they often use preoccupation, distress, and impairment as their benchmarks. Kathleen disliked her “wide” nose, “fat” stomach, and “grotesque” veins on her legs. She considered her nose concerns to constitute BDD, but her stomach and vein concerns to be “normal.” “With my stomach and veins, it’s different,” she explained. “I can accept them and put them into perspective. My nose takes up much more of my time. I think about it a lot, and it’s getting in the way of my life. My stomach and legs bother me, but they don’t cause me such intense anxiety and pain. They don’t keep me from socializing. My nose drives me out of my mind.”
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