Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Government?
I'm now thinking in terms of there being what I call a "natural health management system", which does a kind of economic analysis of what the opportunities and the costs of self-cure will be - what resources we've got, how dangerous the situation is right now, and what predictions we can make of what the future holds. It's like a good hospital manager who has to choose if and when to throw resources against this or that problem, to hold so much back, to decide if it's essential to build up this area or that area - basically to try to produce an optimal solution to the problem of maintaining health with enough left over to meet coming challenges.
If this is right, it makes the placebo effect fit into a much larger picture of homeostasis and health management. And it converges with ideas being developed by researchers coming from quite different disciplines. I've been particularly struck by the work of the South African physiologist, Timothy Noakes, who has come up with the idea of there being what he calls "a central governor" in the brain which regulates just how far the body should be allowed to go in meeting the demands of extreme exercise.
I find myself interested in this notion of a central governor which regulates the health response of an individual. I feel that the threshold at which the governor fails, or errs, is more of a range rather than a point fixture. The individual consciousness plays as significant a part in failure, as it does in its success.
From Here
If this is right, it makes the placebo effect fit into a much larger picture of homeostasis and health management. And it converges with ideas being developed by researchers coming from quite different disciplines. I've been particularly struck by the work of the South African physiologist, Timothy Noakes, who has come up with the idea of there being what he calls "a central governor" in the brain which regulates just how far the body should be allowed to go in meeting the demands of extreme exercise.
I find myself interested in this notion of a central governor which regulates the health response of an individual. I feel that the threshold at which the governor fails, or errs, is more of a range rather than a point fixture. The individual consciousness plays as significant a part in failure, as it does in its success.
From Here
Observation
Self-deprecation is, somehow, equivalent to loss of self-esteem for some people. I wonder how they manage to work that equation.
Self-deprecation is, somehow, equivalent to loss of self-esteem for some people. I wonder how they manage to work that equation.
Attitude
Bike mechanics are a temperamental lot. I keep forgetting this.
Bike mechanics are a temperamental lot. I keep forgetting this.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Sleep
Nothing beats a cold hard floor for the easiest ride into oblivion.
Nothing beats a cold hard floor for the easiest ride into oblivion.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
The Lifting
Grounded 5 a.m.
The nightlite is comforting.
But gravity is holding you.
Once settled into sleep
You have watched on repeat,
The story of your life
Across the ceiling;
And in review,
You've said the air was singing
It's calling you you don't believe
These things you've never seen.
"Good morning, how are you?
The weather's fine, the sky is blue-
It's perfect for our seminar..."
"Now close your eyes,
And start to breathe.
Allow the noise to recede...
...Allow yourself to drift and fly away.
But you just stay.
You've said the air was singing
It's calling you you don't believe
These things you've never seen, never dreamed.
Did you hear these voices calling
Locked into a conference room,
"We're only what our minds assume..."
And rationale is leaving you.
This conceit these systems of belief,
Your counselor agrees,
"You've always mark these boundaries now you're free..."
And with relief.
You've said the air was singing
It's calling you you don't believe
These things you've never seen, never heard, never dreamed.
You said the air was singing
It's calling you you don't believe
These things you've never seen.
Never [x19]
Once you had a dream
Of oceans, and sunken cities
Memories of things you've never known
REM, Reveal
Grounded 5 a.m.
The nightlite is comforting.
But gravity is holding you.
Once settled into sleep
You have watched on repeat,
The story of your life
Across the ceiling;
And in review,
You've said the air was singing
It's calling you you don't believe
These things you've never seen.
"Good morning, how are you?
The weather's fine, the sky is blue-
It's perfect for our seminar..."
"Now close your eyes,
And start to breathe.
Allow the noise to recede...
...Allow yourself to drift and fly away.
But you just stay.
You've said the air was singing
It's calling you you don't believe
These things you've never seen, never dreamed.
Did you hear these voices calling
Locked into a conference room,
"We're only what our minds assume..."
And rationale is leaving you.
This conceit these systems of belief,
Your counselor agrees,
"You've always mark these boundaries now you're free..."
And with relief.
You've said the air was singing
It's calling you you don't believe
These things you've never seen, never heard, never dreamed.
You said the air was singing
It's calling you you don't believe
These things you've never seen.
Never [x19]
Once you had a dream
Of oceans, and sunken cities
Memories of things you've never known
REM, Reveal
Schism
I am not surprised to learn that schizophrenia is considered a form of "split" personality by most people who have heard of the term. However, that is a mistaken notion. The daily existential manifestation of the disease is depression, alienation, isolation, aphasia and flattening of affective responses. Catatonia is yet another aspect. The split lies not in the personality but with reality as commonly perceived. A schizophrenic psychosis involves a brain going into overdrive with the dropping of sensory filters to information, leading to bizzare delusions, ideas and thoughts.
Thought I'd just put this up ... I have never felt any "split" in my "personality" till date.
Thought I'd just put this up ... I have never felt any "split" in my "personality" till date.
Friday, October 15, 2004
Twist in the Tale
Homocysteine is also suspected to be responsible for premature cardiovascular disease...
Homocysteine is also suspected to be responsible for premature cardiovascular disease...
For instance, postmortem studies of schizophrenic patients reveal not only lower levels of glutamate but also higher levels of two compounds (NAAG and kynurenic acid) that impair the activity of NMDA receptors. Moreover, blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine are elevated; homocysteine, like kynurenic acid, blocks NMDA receptors in the brain. Overall, schizophrenia's pattern of onset and symptoms suggests that chemicals disrupting NMDA receptors may accumulate in sufferers' brains, although the research verdict is not yet in. Entirely different mechanisms may end up explaining why NMDA receptor transmission becomes attenuated.
Monday, October 04, 2004
Sound
It has been a long time since I found myself listening to music. Spent all of last evening with Conversations between L Subramaniam and Stephane Grappeli. Paganini's Caprice 5 is nice.
