Beta-Blocking your memories?

Reading this made me think of Brave New World... Imagine a world where your bad memories are blocked. Who's to say that such neurotransmitters as described in the article will not inadvertently block out good memories? Or be used as a weapon? As with date rape drugs administered to unsuspecting women, imagine your memories being wiped out by criminals who want to ensure crimes cannot be reported by witnesses, for example.

Say your child dies of a disease - would you prefer to forget you ever had a child to forever ease the pain? Would you want a soldier with no memory and eventually, no conscience? Is that where this type of medicine is going??

The article follows (the original link on the right.)

Beta-blockers 'blot out memories'

A common blood pressure drug could help people who have witnessed traumatic events, such as the London bombings, to block out their distressing memories.

Cornell University psychiatrists are carrying out tests using beta-blockers, the journal Nature reports.

The drug has been shown to interfere with the way the brain stores memories.

Post-traumatic stress disorder affects around one in three of people caught up in such events, and memories can be triggered just by a sound or smell.

If soldiers did something that ended up with children getting killed, do you want to give them beta blockers so that they can do it again?
- Dr Paul McHugh, Johns Hopkins University

People with PTSD are given counselling, but because it is not always effective, researchers have been looking for alternative therapies.

However there are concerns that a drug which can alter memories could be misused, perhaps by the military who may want soldiers to become desensitised to violence.

Fear and memory linked

The beta-blocker propranolol has been found to block the neurotransmitters involved in laying down memories.

Studies have shown that rats who have learned to fear a tone followed by an electric shock lose that fear if propranolol is administered after the tone starts.

The Cornell University team are reported to be seeing similar results in early studies in humans, Nature reports.

Margaret Altemus, who is one of the psychiatrists working on the study, told the journal: "The memory of the event is associated with the fear, and they always occur together."

The researchers plan to recruit 60 patients for a clinical trial where participants would be asked to take a dose of propranolol whenever they experienced symptoms of PTSD, such as an increased heart rate or breathing difficulties.

But so far only one person has volunteered to take part.

Dr Altemus believes patients can be reluctant to try new therapies.

She said a drug treatment could be a useful option for those with PTSD.

"People with PTSD are disabled - their communication and relationships can be crippled.

"It's a serious illness."

But other psychiatrists have expressed concern about the use of the beta-blocker in PTSD treatment.

Berthold Gersons, based at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, said: "We hope it will work, but it is a simple solution."

He cautioned it may not work in all cases of PTSD.

But other experts say PTSD is a natural response to traumatic events and should not be treated with drugs.

Dr Paul McHugh, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and member of the US President's Council on Bioethics expressed concern over the possible uses of the drug.

"If soldiers did something that ended up with children getting killed, do you want to give them beta blockers so that they can do it again?"

He added: "Psychiatrists are once again marching in where angels fear to tread."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/4722225.stm

Published: 2005/07/28 11:58:03 GMT

© BBC MMV

Weight Loss due to hormone injections into gut

Hormones injected into the gut, signal the brain when the stomach is full. I wonder when a "patch" might be developed that releases doses safely and painlessly. Injecting into one's gut three times a day seems not only brutal, but unmanageable, especially for those people who fear needles. See the link for more...

Spices can ward off cancer?

At the Kabuki Baths in San Francisco last year, I treated myself to an Ayurvedic massage. Warm oil slowly drizzled onto my forehead for half an hour followed by a massage and then a bath in a blazing hot cedar bath in the corner of my private room.

Ayurveda is one of, if not the oldest healing science in the world. This "Science of Life" - distilled over 5,000 years in an oral tradition from accomplished Vedic masters in India, it has often been called the "Mother of all Healing." Some of the knowledge was captured in print (Sanskrit), but much of it has been lost. Many natural healing therapies and schools of thought were rooted in Ayurvedic learnings, i.e. Homeotherapy and Polarity Therapy.

After that unusual massage, I purchased my first book on the subject. In going through it, I came upon many concepts and suggested practices that seemed entirely intrinsic. I am compelled to learn much more on preventive measures and lifestyles focusing on maintaining a healthy mind and body.

One area that I find fascinating is Ayurvedic herbology. The incorporation of specific herbs and spices corresponding to one's dosha (individual constitution) is highly beneficial. See the links to the right for more on recent medical findings on the role of (Ayurvedic) spices such as turmeric and curcumin in helping kill cancer cells...

Weight Gain/Loss impacts Wealth

Interesting how weight impacts people's status... A new study indicates that with significant weight loss comes a significant increase in wealth, and with significant weight gain, loss in wealth. The same may apply to smoking.

The perception of health therefore seems to encourage those around to give more... My question is, whether or not we can measure what it does for people's social interactions - whether it be in personal or business relationships?

Is a large part of this success (gained from weight loss) due perhaps to people's own self-perception? I firmly believe that if one feels good, one exudes confidence. Like the adage that when you're desperate, no one will date you... So if one has undergone a massive personal transformation - that could trigger a host of other social responses, wealth, etc. As people are drawn to confidence and good energy and employers could be compelled to reward those whom they consider go-getters. Losing significant weight requires a lot of work and discipline.