Antidepressants Blog

In order to understand partial or focal seizures and their many manifestations, it is necessary to understand something about the anatomy of the brain. Indeed, it was from a careful study of the events that occurred during partial or focal seizures that Dr. Hughlings Jackson, considered the father of modern understanding of epilepsy, first deduced the organization of the brain. He watched the slow spread of focal seizures (subsequently called Jacksonian seizures) from the finger to the hand to the arm and then to the face, and reasoned that these areas must be next to one another in the brain. The result was the identification of a continuity, the anatomy of the motor strip.

These deductions subsequently have been confirmed by Dr. Wilder Penfield and Dr. Herbert Jasper, who, during operations to remove tissue responsible for focal epilepsy, stimulated areas of the brain with small amounts of electricity. Depending on which area was stimulated, a finger would move, a foot would jerk, the face and tongue would twitch, or a finger or lip would tingle. Even certain memories or visions would be recalled. Minute electrical stimulation is used even today to “map the brain” before a surgeon removes electrically-abnormal brain tissue so that tissue important to normal function can be identified and avoided during the surgery.

As the human brain has evolved, its “thinking and processing” parts have become greatly enlarged. This “thinking” part of the brain is the cortex. The cortex has four major sections called lobes, responsible for separate functions. The frontal lobes are responsible for personality and memory. The temporal lobes on the left side (in most people) control speech and on the right control subtle higher functions such as spatial recognition and music. The parietal lobes contain areas for making associations and interpreting sensations, such as the ability to recognize objects placed in the hand. The occipital lobes are the site of processing vision.

The left side of the brain controls movements of the right side of the body and receives sensation from the right side of the body. Thus, the left occipital lobe processes vision from things in your right field of vision, and the right side of the brain processes similar functions for the left side of the body.

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The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet works on entirely different principles than other diets.

Once we came to understand the mechanism behind carbohydrate addiction (the overproduction of insulin, or hyperinsulinemia), we needed to help the carbohydrate addict to avoid it.

We could have cut out carbohydrates as a way to reduce insulin. But it wasn’t reasonable to ask anyone to eliminate all carbohydrates from his or her diet indefinitely—nor would it be healthy to do so. So that was out.

Fortunately, we have found eliminating carbohydrates isn’t necessary.

Carbohydrate addicts have the greatest difficulty controlling their eating when they consume carbohydrate foods several times a day. Conversely, when the number of meals or snacks at which carbohydrate foods are eaten is decreased, eating becomes controllable and cravings decrease dramatically.

When carbohydrates are eaten less frequently, less insulin is produced. The body has a lowered tendency to store the excess calories in its fat cells and is more capable of breaking down stored fat. In that way, the carbohydrate-insulin-serotonin connection functions more effectively for weight loss. We have found that the less often the carbohydrate addict consumes carbohydrate-containing foods, the more satisfying the foods are—and the greater the control of eating that is possible. In short, we found the overweight-carbohydrate-addiction cycle can be broken.

Our research has also revealed that when the carbohydrates are consumed during a limited period of time, it appears that the usual overproduction of insulin is decreased. Thus, a long evening—say, several hours or more—of eating and drinking presents a special difficulty to the carbohydrate addict. Perhaps the evening involves a leisurely dinner of, say, hors d’oeuvres, soup, salad, entree, and dessert. Drinks may be served before and after the meal. This kind of extended consumption of food and drink (in particular, of carbohydrates) is practically guaranteed to produce an exaggerated insulin response in the carbohydrate addict. Because an excess of insulin is produced, the long dinner actually leaves the carbohydrate addict unsatisfied or craving carbohydrates that evening or during the day that follows.

If, on the other hand, that same food is consumed within a single hour, the carbohydrate addict experiences far less hunger. The reason for this difference in satisfaction is that the body is able to produce only a limited amount of insulin at any time. Thus, if the time during which food is consumed is limited, the time during which your body is called upon to produce insulin is limited also. The result is that the amount of insulin produced can be controlled to the degree that hyperinsulinemia (production of excess insulin) can be prevented.

We have discovered that there are two primary factors that negatively affect the eating behaviors of the carbohydrate addict: the frequency at which carbohydrates are eaten (i.e., at more than one sitting daily) and the duration of the consumption (i.e., when that one sitting exceeds sixty minutes).

An ideal diet for the carbohydrate addict, then, is a diet that, first, limits the number of times each day that carbohydrates are eaten (though it does not appear to require reducing the amount of carbohydrates eaten at that meal); and second, that limits the time allotted for eating that meal.

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Perhaps the reader has had experience trying to relate to a person who believes he is, and always has been, and always will be, a ‘failure’. Such a person does not seem to be able to be talked out of his negative inner image of himself. I remember a person like this very well. After some time I began to feel sorry for him and, without being aware of it, slipped into the habit of making special concessions to this person. Later, this person said, ‘Well, there you are, you treat me as if I’m a failure, you feel sorry for me! That just proves what I’ve always said about being a failure!’ This person’s negative inner image had caused him to behave in such a way as to evoke a response from me and other people which served to reinforce this wrong inner idea.

We often take into marriage erroneous expectations of the other person, which may unconsciously cause us to behave in such a way as to evoke behaviour from the other person that confirms our basic wrong idea. Take, for example, the man who has an expectation that whatever he does he will be criticized for it by his wife. (It was his mother who was never satisfied.) This man is inadvertently delayed getting home on time. He and his wife are planning to go out. He expects an argument when he gets home, so he prepares himself with a speech in his own defense which he plans to deliver as soon as he walks in the door. His wife says, ‘How did you come to be so late?’ He takes it as a criticism, responds defensively, which leads her to think he has something to hide, which he doesn’t. This makes her suspicious and hurt that he would do something behind her back to interfere with their only night out, etc. As a result of her response, an argument blows up over nothing.

A normal marriage has to withstand a number of wrong expectations which would evoke self-confirmatory behaviour. Stress breakdown seriously interferes with the couple’s ability to handle these misconceptions, as well as interfering with the ability to discuss them rationally.

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In stage three stress breakdown, the over-stressed person is no longer capable of not responding to things he learned to not respond to. Stage three symptoms also include a switching-off response to big problems and worries, while the person continues to respond normally to lesser problems. The result of these two symptoms is to produce a real communication problem. This is true enough if just one of the couple is suffering from stress symptoms, but if both are suffering, as is usually the case, communication becomes very difficult.

In our normal pattern of communicating our feelings and ideas, it is often what we avoid saying that is the real communication. For example, ‘She pointedly didn’t mention making out a new will’, might well mean that the lady in question is communicating to a relative whom she had previously blackmailed with the threat of exclusion from the estate, that all is forgiven. Not saying something when a person might be expected to say something could be a very significant communication in itself.

Meaningful pauses, facial expressions and tone of voice are very important in conveying meaning in spoken language. It is entirely possible to have someone deliver a whole speech on a particular topic and convey something totally different, just by altering the emphasis: overstating the case here, understating it there, etc.

Under conditions of breakdown the ability to respond to tonal communication and to communicate by significant restraint is lost. Many couples under stress complain of not being able to communicate with each other. This complaint is a common reason for referral to marriage counseling agencies. However, it is important to realize that two people who have been getting on well for years don’t just lose the ability to communicate without a particular reason. Stress breakdown is a major cause; it is very important to identify stress breakdown early because quite often, joint interviews aimed at improving communication between husband and wife might just put more stress on either or both, and worsen their already over-strained relationship.

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Circadian rhythms can have a profound impact on our chronic diseases. One of the most familiar examples, perhaps, is nocturnal asthma, also known as “nighttime wheeze.” That the severity of asthma can worsen at night has been known for centuries. Nighttime attacks were attributed to a variety of causes, from too many bedclothes to feather bedding and bedbug bites, before more scientific research in recent years implicated circadian rhythms. For example, the dimensions of breathing pathways in the throat and lungs and the ability of air to move in those pathways are known to change at night, in normal people as well as in asthmatics. But in large measure these changes are rhythmic, following a definite circadian pattern that is actually the net result of the effects of other rhythms. For example, the levels of the circulating compounds that act to stimulate the heart, lungs, and other organs reach their lowest levels at night. At the same time, the sensitivity of the bronchial system to allergens is at a maximum. Immunological activity and clearance of mucus by the lungs also exhibit rhythmic patterns. Normally these various rhythms present no problem. For the asthmatic, however, the rhythms seem to conspire to make asthma worse at night. (Low levels of some of these same compounds and low immunological activity also play a role in increasing the severity of rheumatoid arthritis during the first few hours after waking.)

Clearly, those of us who can take a night of sleep for granted are very lucky. With the fine balance between NREM, REM and circadian rhythms, it’s amazing that even more people don’t suffer from sleep disorders. Similarly, the complexity of our sleep can make treating sleep disorders difficult. In the next chapter we’ll look at the reasons why so many of us do have trouble falling or staying asleep.

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We may hold views on politics, morals and religion which may not be held by others but which will be stoutly defended against arguments to the contrary.

In order to hold strong views which differ from those of another person, we need to play down the importance of those things which the other person regards as paramount, and vice versa. Thus our ability to hold strongly differing views relies to some extent on our ability to diminish the importance of what the other person holds dear. This requires psychic energy to negate the value of the other person’s principles. In stage three stress breakdown, a person has begun to lose the ability to negate the other person’s view; the over-stressed person may not be able to resist being talked out of his views where they differ significantly from those of another.

In the third stage of stress breakdown, people have begun to lose the ability to use their will-power to negate a truth held by someone who differs from their own views. Hence it becomes very difficult to resist being talked out of holding views that required the person to ignore the value of an opposing truth.

Commonly used ‘brain-washing’ techniques aim to produce stage three stress breakdown in the victim, who is then no longer able to resist the arguments of the interrogator.

Most brain-washing techniques will aim at getting the person into stage three stress breakdown, often through lack of sleep, torture, and deprivation of various kinds, sufficient to produce severe stress. If severe life-threatening stress is teamed up with measures designed to lower the efficiency of the brain’s processing capacity, as well as encouraging the victim to oppose his interrogators with his will-power, then the appropriate conditions are present for rapid stress breakdown. The victim rapidly develops stage three stress breakdown symptoms, in which state he is no longer capable of resisting the arguments of his enemies.

The victim is then easily persuaded out of previously-held beliefs and will be unable to hold back information which he has been trying not to reveal.

On the basis of my reading, I am sure the evidence is that it is only possible to brainwash someone out of believing some doctrine when it required some form of psychic negation of an opposite view to develop or accept that doctrine in the first place.

Within relationships, this inability to hold to previously strongly-held views may result in what appears to be a change in moral values, work ethic and role differences in families.

The complaint most frequently expressed by married couples experiencing this symptom of stress breakdown is one of unexplained failure of communication. People complain of sudden changes in the value systems of their spouses. The relatively less-stressed person finds the over-stressed person difficult to understand. ‘My wife doesn’t understand me, doctor. I just can’t seem to get through to her. I say one thing and she just hears something else. We can’t seem to communicate.’ Or, ‘I just can’t make him out any more, doctor. He’s definitely not the man I married. I think he must be going through one of these change of life crises or something. I think he’s definitely developing a split personality!’

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Furniture dust and mattress dust in the house are particularly good harbourers of fungi. Fungi also attack paper, paint and wood. They can also be found on rubber gaskets around refrigerator doors. Damp places like basement are fertile grounds for their growth.

Home gardens breed fungal spores constantly. They grow abundantly on rotting leaves and foliage. The soil of potted house plants and plants themselves become infected with fungi. Flowers and leaves may be contaminated even before they are brought into the house. Fields and areas where grain is grown, processed or stored also have an immense number of spores of fungi.

Fungi are present in many foods; some are put in intentionally while others are contaminants. Mature cheese gets its distinctive taste due to the presence of fungi. Yeasts are used in the manufacture of beer and wine and in the preparation of bread and certain cakes. Baked foods often become mouldy, especially in humid weather, even though they are sterile after taking out of the oven. Potatoes and onion are also common sources of contamination.

The spores of the fungi are readily carried in the air for hundreds of kilometres as they are light and minute in size. They are quite resistant to killing.

All the fungi spores in the air are not allergenic. Important allergenic fungi include Phoma, Mucor, Aspergillus Tamarii and Candida.

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The heart is a muscular, four-chambered pump, roughly the size of an adult’s fist. It is a highly efficient, extremely flexible organ that manages to contract 100,000 times each day, pumping the equivalent of 2,000 gallons of blood to all areas of the body. In a 70-year lifetime, an average human heart beats 2.5 billion times. This number may be significantly higher for hearts that must fight to keep people moving who are out of shape and overweight.

Under normal circumstances, the human body contains approximately 6 quarts of blood. This blood transports nutrients, oxygen, waste products, hormones, and enzymes throughout the body. It also regulates body temperature, cellular water levels, and acidity levels of body components, and aids in bodily defense against toxins and harmful microorganisms. An adequate blood supply is essential to health and well-being.

How does the heart ensure that blood is constantly re-circulated to body parts? The four chambers of the heart work together to achieve this. The two upper chambers of the heart, called atria, or auricles, are large collecting chambers that receive blood from the rest of the body. The two lower chambers, known as ventricles, pump the blood out again. Small valves regulate the steady, rhythmic flow of blood between chambers and prevent inappropriate backwash. The tricuspid valve (located between the right atrium and the right ventricle), the pulmonary (pulmonic) valve (between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery), the mitral valve (between the left atrium and left ventricle), and the aortic valve (between the left ventricle and the aorta) permit blood to flow in only one direction.

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