The Colloid Base

What is it about the dark that brings fear to so many? The mere absence of light can reduce even the boldest of men to their final nerve. An obvious reason is that in darkness, sight is lost. What once is familiar becomes molded into black, disfigured. People fear the unknown; they enjoy what is comfortable and well-known while they dread what lies beyond they cushy comfort zones.

Although predominant among nave children, at least some fear of the dark dwells within all. The scientific name for being afraid of the dark is Achluophobia, based upon the ancient word “achluo” which means dark, and the obvious “phobia.” Interestingly, it seems as if the mysteries of the “achluo” have been haunting man for most of his existence. God created light, but with it He created the dark. Complete opposite. Right and wrong. Comfort and affliction. I wonder if Adam was afraid of the dark…Did Eden ever fall into darkness? Man seems to be the only creature who fears the dark. Many animals only subsist in the dark. Would they fear the light? There are areas in Scandinavia where it is light for nearly half of a year. That’s probably why there are no vampires in Scandinavia. I’ll bet vampires have very pale skin. If they’re never in the sun, how do they acquire enough vitamin D? Do their satanic undead metabolisms maintain their own blood levels of calcium and phosphorus 3 and 4 unaided? I’m sorry, not even Satan could find a way to do that. I have just proven the non-existence of vampires. Call Oprah.

The loss of a sense raises the others senses abilities. When sight is cut out from a persons capacity, hearing steps in to attempt to pick up the slack, but the job is too much to ask for a meek sense such as hearing. When afraid of the dark, ears become extra-sensitive, making any sound as if it’s a bomb going off right next to the bed. Therefore it is horror show frightening, especially for children who still believe in Frankenstein and the Boogeyman. Sight is also not the most reliable sense. Your eyes play tricks on you in the dark, making what is actually a pile of dirty clothes stacked on a chair look like an elephant. Now I know you’re thinking “What is so scary about an elephant?” The answer? They can crush you. Or spray water out of their trunks. That may look harmless but a trunk is just code for their nose and I know something foreign will follow, which would force a shower. A strong argument for the uselessness of the Flintstones’ dish-washer.

Fearing darkness is an all too real concern among mankind. It is interesting how people can fear the absence of something as straightforward as light. It is also interesting at how easily a discussion of darkness can lead to discussions of God, Satan, Vampires, human anatomy, Oprah, elephants (their size/weight and what comes out of their “trunks,”) and the Flintstones.

Walking

Walking can be an easy yet effective way to burn calories. Walking is great because it requires no equipment, except a comfortable pair of shoes. Walking can burn calories alone with toning leg muscles. Many people take just plain walking for granted, but it is a very effective and cheap way of losing weight.

Here are a few tips on how to walk to achieve the maximal benefits.

PACE:

Go at a pace which your heart rate is within your target heart range. You should do this at least 3 days a week for 20 minutes. If you can walk everyday that would be great also. Walking has a very low risk or injury. Walk faster to burn more calories in a shorter time.

TREADMILLS:

Even though I perfer walking on regular ground a treadmill can be a very effective way to burn calories.
One advantage of a treadmill is you can do it inside and the incline can be adjusted. If you raise the incline slightly you can burn more calories.

MOVE YOUR ARMS

Swinging your arms also helps burn calories while walking . Make sure your arms are between 90 and a 145 degree angle at the elbow. Make sure the arm is locked so the pivotal part of your swing is at your shoulder.

We are a group of personal trainers certified through AFFA. Our goal is to provide good Health and Fitness advice.

Most people with migraine attacks learn that they have more success if they treat their attacks early rather than delaying medication until two or more hours have passed. They find there is a window of opportunity during which they can resolve their headaches completely, but if they wait too long, then in most cases the treatment is not nearly as good, and the attacks run their full course.

Particularly observant victims of migraine attacks might also discover that when their migraines get to a stage called “allodynia” when everything hurts–even a light brush to the skin or contact with a warm object–then treatment is likewise less successful.

The chances to make these kinds of observations have been available to people with migraine for as long as there have been decent treatments. Aspirin was the first good, widely available treatment for migraine attacks, and was manufactured in tablet form as long ago as 1915. But it has been in only the last few years that scientific studies have explored these phenomena in detail, and revealed some of the secrets as to why they occur.

Dr. Rami Burstein and colleagues at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston performed a study of treatment outcomes in a total of 61 migraine attacks occurring in 31 patients. In some attacks treatment was given within the first hour of symptoms, while in other cases treatment was purposely delayed until four hours after the attack’s onset. The treatment used was a “triptan” drug, rather than a painkiller. Triptans are a newer group of medications that act on some of the nervous system’s receptors for the natural chemical serotonin. In each case, the patient also received a physical examination at the time of treatment to determine whether or not allodynia was present.

What the investigators found was that in the 34 attacks in which allodynia had already developed, the triptan stopped pain within two hours in just 15% of the attacks. But in the 27 attacks in which allodynia had not yet developed, the triptan was successful in 93% of the attacks. While allodynia was more frequently present in attacks that were treated late, the doctors found that the presence or absence of allodynia was more important in determining the success of the treatment than whether or not the treatment was late.

Dr. Burstein also headed a team of scientists that found out why this is the case. Because this information could not be obtained in humans, test tubes or computers, these experiments were performed in laboratory rats. Burstein developed a procedure for simulating migraine attacks in rats and via tiny electrodes he was able to “listen in” on the electrical activity of individual nerve and brain cells as the attacks developed.

What he found was that at the beginning of an attack, nerve cells connecting various membranes within the head to the brain were the first to become overactive in their firing patterns. The excessive activity in these nerve cells, in turn, drove a second set of pain-processing cells located within the brain into their own state of overactivity. If this second group of cells remained hyperactive for too long, then they became “sensitized” and kept firing away, as if on autopilot, even if the nerve cells that got them going in the first place were shut down. In this state of spontaneously self-regenerating overactivity of the pain-processing brain cells, it could be shown that ordinarily non-painful stimuli applied to the skin of the rats were handled by the nervous system as if they were painful. Or, said another way, the development of allodynia in the rat signaled that the pain-processing brain cells had become sensitized.

Just as in the humans, triptan drugs could be administered to the rats at different stages of the migraine attacks. If the triptan was administered before the pain-processing brain cells had become sensitized, then it was able to shut down the cascade of excessively firing cells and stop the attack. But if the triptan was given after sensitization had occurred, then it was ineffective.

Collectively, these studies in humans and rats build a powerful case that what humans need to do in order to be successful in stopping their migraine attacks is to treat them before their pain-processing brain cells have become sensitized. And the best way to tell if sensitization has occurred is according to whether or not ordinarily non-painful contacts to the skin have become painful. In short, migraine patients need to race the clock to treat their attacks before the development of allodynia.

(C) 2005 by Gary Cordingley

Gary Cordingley, MD, PhD, is a clinical neurologist, teacher and researcher who works in Athens, Ohio. For more health-related articles see his website at: www.cordingleyneurology.com