michael

I wonder if we don't all operate on myths? Some of our own making some shared by our group 'memberships' some shared by our society. A scientific hypothesis or a political belief system could be myths? Myths are just ways we try to make meaning out of an incredibly complex universe Was it Arthur Clarke who said "The world is not only stranger than we imagine, it's stranger than we can imagine." and Shakespeare has Hamlet say "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/mythology.html

You might find this list interesting? Plants Containing THEOPHYLLINE Ordered by quantity Theobroma cacao L. -- Cacao Seed 3,254-4,739 ppm Paullinia cupana KUNTH ex H.B.K. -- Guarana Seed 570 ppm Ilex paraguariensis ST. HIL. -- Mate, Paraguay Tea, South American Holly Leaf 500 ppm Theobroma bicolor HBK. -- Nicaraguan Cacao, Pataste Fruit 453-522 ppm Theobroma cacao L. -- Cacao 130-257 ppm Theobroma bicolor HBK. -- Nicaraguan Cacao, Pataste Seed 210-211 ppm Theobroma cacao L. -- Cacao Petiole 58-188 ppm Theobroma angustifolium -- Castarica, Emerald Cacao 113-116 ppm Seed 84-96 ppm Petiole 47-52 ppm Camellia sinensis (L.) KUNTZE -- Tea Leaf 4 ppm Sun Oct 21 11:29:53 EDT 2007

DDT, DDE, Chlordane, Dielldrin toxophene & other alpahabet soups names

Caffeine jags the adrenals into releasing sugar & adrenalin? into the system I would not recommend continual use of the pills. (BTW they are often prescribed for migraine sufferers) Some research has suggested that caffeine increases stress levels. http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2004/1046946.htm also http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2006/1586620.htm If you are female and likely to fall pregnant, watch caffeine intake http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/1999/69046.htm?health Caffeine may also affect fertility http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s631804.htm Don't let me put you off Coffee it has a lot of positive health properties too. It is extremely complex chemically(Partly due to the roasting process). This is the reason flavour chemists have never come up with a good coffee flavour despite years of trying. You might like to test your knowledge of caffeine here at this Quiz:- http://www.abc.net.au/science/quizzes/caffeine/ Green tea is probably the healthiest way of getting caffeine into you. Toss the pills; enjoy the herb.

Many types of arthritis (Eesp.in joints) are caused by a build up of uric acid crystals in the joints. Getting it out is a problem Glucosamine many find this helpful Arizona (heat) and warm baths (for an hour or so a day) would help.(put some rosemary juniper in the bath) Daily massage with helps. Keep using and exercising the joint If you rub rosemary oil into the joint it promotes blood supply to the joint, so too winetergreen. The theory is the blood picks up some of the Uric acid and takes it to the kidneys and is excreted. For the pain use Chilli. Either eaten, rubbed on or as Zostrix ointment. Do this a few times a day it takes a few days to kick in. Marijuana can also be helpful for the pain. probably best cooked into cookies (biscuits) Anti inflamatories can also help; but don't let the doc talk you into long term cortisone use. Use it only for emergency/severe problems. Herbalists recommend "kidney tonics" like juniper berry. You can put the oil on your skin or drink gin. Don't use it if you have kidney disease. Discuss other kidney tonics with a registered hebalist.

Pharmacogenetics (sic) or Pharmacogenomics has the potential to save thousands of lives. Also to save billions in health care costs. People all react differently to drugs. Part of this is due to genetic difference The concept of "race" probably just confuses the issue. "Race" is a word with a lot of emotive baggage. It is probably better just to say some people die if given Warfarin other people get better if given Warfarin. Tests are being developed to help predict the euphemistically called, "Adverse Drug Reactions" (ADRs) one of the most common reasons for people to see a doctor or die. A bit (but not a lot) more info here: Healthscope Molecular News Healthscope is a firm that is setting itself up to do the genetic tests required to reduce or eliminate ADRs

One possible "wedge" is the production of charcoal from waste by pyrolysis and the widespread use of this charcoal as a soil amendment. see the web on "terra preta". This has the potential to dramatically slow or even stop rising atmospheric/ocean CO2 levels if taken up in a large enough way.

That's not quite right; what they want to do is just add iron. This causes rapid phytoplankton growth. Still much experimenting needs to be done. Unless the plankton sinks, it may not be worth while as a CO2 sink. However I think it is worth some major trials. It is certainly a better idea than putting an umbrella in space. We are already interfering with phytoplankton. The same currents that accumulate all the plastic that Yanks dump into the sea also accumulates phtoplankton. The plastic is breaking down into minute bits and entering the food chain via the plankton. Just as chlorinated hydrocarbons do- as was pointed out by Rachel Carson some time ago. No one seems to know what this will mean to the marine environment. Some studies are also suggesting that chlorinated hydrocarbons, which float on the top micron of the sea are interfering with phytoplankton's ability to reproduce.(BTW, CHs are not universally banned as most seem to think). This is dangerous territory indeed, if the plankton goes, so do we. An interesting point about more iron going into the oceans in ancient times. I was not aware of that.

OK Thanks you would think that the DNA, RNA, protein expression etc could have worked out a better pelvis by now!

Looks like you could be right I just Googled "Gene for schizophrenia" and got all this:- NIMH: Schizophrenia Gene Variant Linked to Risk Traits Glutamate is a key neurotransmitter long thought to play a role in schizophrenia. The gene identified in this study makes the glutamate receptor (GRM3), ... http://www.nimh.nih.gov/press/prschizgene.cfm - 15k - Cached - Similar pages Nogo Gene Related to Schizophrenia Schizophrenia gene - nogo. ... First risk gene for schizophrenia found in the general population. -------------------------------------------------- ... http://www.mental-health-today.com/sphra/gene.htm - 17k - Cached - Similar pages Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Single Gene Cause Schizophrenia? Single Gene Cause Schizophrenia? Read more... Schizophrenia Causes, Risk Factors & Prevention. Could schizophrenia arise from a single gene defect? ... http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/001424.html - 15k - Cached - Similar pages ScienceDaily: Brain Scans Reveal How Gene May Boost Schizophrenia Risk Increased activity in the front of the brain predicts increases in the neurotransmitter dopamine in the middle of the brain in subjects with a suspected ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050421094637.htm - 101k - Cached - Similar pages ScienceDaily: U Of T Researcher Links Schizophrenia, Gene Mutations The supersensitivity to dopamine that is characteristic of schizophrenia can be caused by mutations to a wide variety of genes, rather than alterations to ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050218133040.htm - 98k - Cached - Similar pages BBC NEWS | Health | Gene link to schizophrenia found A variant of a gene is linked to a risk of developing psychosis, scientists find. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6084950.stm - 42k - Cached - Similar pages

The environment will effect the expression of genetic material

I guess you have heard of the Guy who died of PMT?? His wife shot him:-) There have been a number of genetic changes in H. sapiens in the last 10,000 years Not true. The Neanderthal genes have been traced back to 1-2 individuals. We can trace human evolution from Africa from about 100, 000 years ago

There is a genetic link, and interestingly it is the gene to brain size. Is this why we have so much trouble giving birth? Squeezing a huge neanderthal brain trough a H. sapiens pelvis??

Yes please What did you get (You don't have to answer that question)

Not genetic, but very hard to avoid. http://mgmsupplement.blogspot.com/2006/12/shaklee-distributor-obesity-secret.html

This is an amazing breakthrough for a heartbreaking condition. Now we need to know what environmental factors makes this gene express.

Thanks for your thoughts. It is a world wide problem. Not just the USA. Certainly Constitutions and Bills of Rights didn't envisage corporations bigger and more powerful than countries. Even if they did corporations can move assets etc off shore in a blink. You wonder who (or if) they pay tax to. Very Large Corporations seem to have no ethics or morality to guide them. They tend to be structured like the Roman Legions or the Catholic Church with all power at the top, like a pyramid. This leads to fear and conformity in staff. Corruption is often overlooked as "Whistle Blowers" are all but destroyed if they act. There is very little creativity, inventiveness, spontaneity and joy. People seem expendable and replaceable. Loyalty is expected but not given in return. Clones and conformity are the norm. There is no place for personalities. Spin Doctors produce The Message; even to the extent of preparing Video news segments that the media can just slot into their "News" programmes. I used to be involved with Training and Organisational Development and only found real human values, morality and respect for people in companies with less than 100 people employed. I become very alarmed at how bigger corporations were using the psychology I was teaching them. Now psychology is enshrined in MBAs and in "Staff Development" Shudder We have recently had a corruption case here with the Australian Wheat Board giving kick-backs to Sadam.The execs. just lied though their teeth and the government protected its own arse. I was recently at the wonderful (exuberant, creative)Cirque de Soleil and the Corporate Tent had clones in grey suits drinking champagne. They all were about the same age, size and dress. It looked like a convention of religious fundamentalists. It turned out to be an IBM corporate function. I guess they were there to bond and learn about creativity? The Australian Government has just given one of the richest corporations in the world-Chevron- 60m to help them with their pollution problems on the new enormous gas field they are developing in Western Australia. You have to ask "Why?" Call me a masochist but I have just got another John Grisham out of the library!

This new drug breakthough might help us all:-) http://www.theonion.com/content/node/46032

Both those books are great. I noticed, when I looked up what he has written, that he is very prolific. While he is just telling his stories and not doing "Double Blind Clinical Trials" He gives you more insight into psychiatric disease than almost anyone I know.

These links may be of interest. Schizophrenia is a dreadful, destructive disease, far to common. We need to put more resources into discovering a cure. I don't know if we are even asking the right questions at the moment. Google "Borna Virus" and schizophrenia & Pellagra produces very similar symptoms to schizophrenia. A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Pellagra shown to be ... Pellagra had been a low-level problem throughout the South for years, ... The pellagra symptoms disappeared when the volunteers were given meat, ... http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm15pa.html - 5k also Summary: ... Another blank on schizophrenia gene Monday, 29 April 2002 New map of ... http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/archives/ScienceNewsArchive2002_April2002.htm - 19k - [ html ] - Cached - 27 Nov 2006 and News in Science - Whale brains are part human - 28/11/2006 Summary: ... Complex social patterns The researches found spindle neurones in the same location in toothed whales with the largest brains, which the researchers say suggests the cells may be related to brain size. ... Spindle cells may be affected by Alzheimer's disease and other debilitating brain disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. ... http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2006/1798885.htm?ancient - 22k - [ html ] - Cached - 28 Nov 2006

Join the club Although my immune system is too good (allergies) Itried your URL but only got 404 Error "Page not Found" Could you please check the address of the article please?

Fat is also used, by the body, to inactivate and store pollutants that cannot be excreted any other way. Chemicals such as organochlorines accumulate in the fat of mammals. It has been suggested that the body wraps organochlorines in fat and then stores them out of harm's way. Interestingly (or unfortunately?) females can excrete organochlorines, via the fat in breast milk. I find this a little shocking. It is strange that the current obesity crisis is world wide and even ocurrs in cultures where people do not have enough to eat. That must give us pause for some re-thinking about our cultural memes. michael

I gave up teaching psychology about 25 years ago. I thought, that with the pace of discovery, all my books would be soon out of date. Now I am toying with the idea of going back to do some more study I am shocked at how little has changed. Certainly our map of the brain has become more refined. Refinement, of what we already knew, rather than new breakthroughs seem to be the norm in much of what I see. Counselling Psychology I think is in a real hole. Social psychology such as Zimbardo's Standford Prison Experiment are still being studied along with others of his like. We have learnt little of practical use from him. Witness Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. Group Psychology and Social Psychology , the Prima Donna area of study in my time seems to have stopped advancing. Advances in Cognitive Psychology , I am told , have been made. Yet what I have read, in this area, sounds more like philosophy than psychology. Psychiatric Treatment, in this country, has gone backwards. It is in an appalling state. We still don't have answers to Autism and schizophrenia and many other psychiatric illnesses. I thought we would have a pill for schizophrenia by now. Psychiatric treatment was much better resourced 35 years ago when I worked in Psychiatric Hospitals. While priding ourselves on remarkable drug treatment for Clinical Depression, it still rages out of control with some of the drugs being counter-productive, especially with young people. Of course I could be wrong I have been growing flowers for the past 25 years or so. It remains to be seen, if I decide to go back to do more study,-just how hard or how boring will I find it? In the meantime, I would recommend keeping the old books.

The psyciatrist Dr Oliver Sacks has a number of case studies of sight being restored to people blind from birth. They have enourmous difficulty adjusting, some saying they would prefer to stay blind He suggests that the 'sight' parts of the brain are laid down early in life and if this does not happen in infancy, adults find it very difficult, if not impossible,to adjust to having sight. I recommend all his books to you, very readabale, facinating studies Sorry I can't remember which of hs many books discuss this .

Thankyou. I always thought it was to good to be true. But don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Both 'alternative' (complimnetary?) and "real" doctors have strengths and weaknesses. This is how real doctors use/used it http://dermatology.cdlib.org/111/case_reports/argyria/wadhera.html