El otro día vi el programa Un Café Con Paul Bassett episodio 12 en Travel & Living de Discovery.
Entrevistaba al Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki quien hablaba de los efectos de la cafeína. Lo interesante es que decís que los efectos vasoconstrictores de la cafeína podían ser "neutralizados" si se tomaba el café junto con una pequeña porción de chocolate amargo.
Busqué en medline y parece haber algunas referencias sobre los efectos del chocolate sobre el endotelio y la vasodilatación, pero no sé si son muy significativos. No cuesta nada probar. Yo creo que se podía agregar cacao amargo en polvo al café si no se consigue chocolate amargo que es caro.
Karl Kruszelnicki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lo que dijo en el programa es similar a esto ,también mostró unos libros interesantes (sobre mitos del saber y otros, ver Wikipedia o su sitio):
The “Half Life”, T1/2, of a drug is the time taken for your body to metabolise, or break down, half the amount that you have in your blood stream. After another T1/2, the level of the drug in the blood stream has dropped to half of its previous level - or 25% of the original level. After the third half life, the drug is down to 12.5% of its peak level.
In humans, the caffeine half life, Caff-T1/2 varies from 3.5 to 100 hours - depending on what kind of human you are.
If you’re an adult, half the caffeine has gone from your system after 5-6 hours. But if a woman uses the oral contraceptive pill, her caffeine half life doubles to about 12 hours.
Pregnant women, have the same half life as your regular adult - until they get to about three months pregnant. Then from four to nine months, the Caff-T1/2 increases to about 10-18 hours. So for this pregnant woman, a little coffee goes a long way. But by one week after birth, the Caff-T1/2 is back down to around six hours.
Caffeine can leave the blood stream of the nursing mother, and go into her breast milk to the baby - and sometimes keep it awake, and inconsolable. The caffeine hangs around in the baby for a long time. The half life of caffeine in a premature or a new-born baby is around 100 hours. But the time the babies are 8 months old, they’re really good at getting rid of caffeine, and the Caff-T1/2 is down to four hours.
Smokers also have a very short Caff-T1/2 (3.5 hours), so they can also clear the caffeine out of their bodies rapidly. This might explain why smokers tend to drink more coffee than non-smokers. Also, when smokers give up tobacco, they become more sensitive to the effects of caffeine. They may need to cut down their coffee intake, when they give up smoking. (That’s a bit unfair - having to drop your intake of two drugs at the same time.)
http://www2.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/december1999/posts/topic14651.shtm
Nootrópicos (smartdrugs, drogas inteligentes, potenciadores cognitivos) son sustancias artificiales (medicamentos como piracetam, hydergina, citicolina, fosfatidilserina, vinpocetina, etc.) o naturales (suplementos nutricionales, vitaminas, aminoácidos, hormonas, hierbas, etc. como vitaminas B, piroglutamato, Gingko Biloba, fenilalanina, DHEA, pregnenolona, etc.) que se utilizan para mejorar la capacidad cognitiva (memoria, atención, etc.) en personas con trastornos o normales.
lunes, marzo 20, 2006
domingo, marzo 19, 2006
Tomorrow's People conference, Oxford 2006
Tomorrow's People: The Challenges of Technologies for Life Extension and Enhancement
Es una conferencia y hay videos y foros, incluye nootrópicos:
Thursday 16 March 0845am Discussion Board
Smarter?-webcast
Nick Bostrom (tiene sitio personal)
Danielle Turner
George Poste
Foro Smarter?
Es una conferencia y hay videos y foros, incluye nootrópicos:
Thursday 16 March 0845am Discussion Board
Smarter?-webcast
Nick Bostrom (tiene sitio personal)
Danielle Turner
George Poste
Foro Smarter?
jueves, marzo 16, 2006
Ginkoba M/A: ginkgo biloba + ginseng
cache: Product Details - @StrictlyNatural.com: "A specific combination product containing 60 mg of Ginkgo biloba (GK501), standardized at 24% ginkgo flavone glycosides and 6% terpene lactones, and 100 mg Panax ginseng (G115) standardized at 4% ginsenosides. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center, 14-week trial, two dosing regimens of this combination product were tested in 256 healthy middle-aged volunteers. On each study day (weeks 0, 4, 8, 12, and 16) the volunteers performed the Cognitive Drug Research computerized cognitive assessment system prior to morning dosing and again at 1, 3 and 6 hours later. The tests in the system assessed various aspects of attention and memory. On each study day the volunteers also completed questionnaires about mood states, quality of life and sleep quality. The ginkgo/ginseng combination (Ginkoba M/E) was found to significantly improve different aspects of memory, including working and long-term memory as measured by the Index of Memory Quality (an average of 7.5% improvement)."
Directions:
As a dietary supplement, take two capsule daily, one with breakfast and one with lunch.
Ingredients:
Ginkgo biloba extract GK501™ 60 mg (double standardized, to 24% ginkgo-flavone-glycosides and 6% terpene lactones) 60 mg per capsule
Standardized Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer extract G115™ 100 mg per capsule
Technorati tag:nootropic
Directions:
As a dietary supplement, take two capsule daily, one with breakfast and one with lunch.
Ingredients:
Ginkgo biloba extract GK501™ 60 mg (double standardized, to 24% ginkgo-flavone-glycosides and 6% terpene lactones) 60 mg per capsule
Standardized Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer extract G115™ 100 mg per capsule
Technorati tag:nootropic
miércoles, marzo 15, 2006
The Impact of Emerging Technologies: Brain-Healing Nanotechnology - Technology Review
The Impact of Emerging Technologies: Brain-Healing Nanotechnology - Technology Review: "'We think this is the basis of reconstructive brain surgery -- which is something nobody has ever heard of before,' says Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, a researcher on the project and a brain and cognitive sciences researcher at MIT.
The treatment, described online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and performed at MIT, Hong Kong University, and Fourth Military Medical University in China, may be available to humans in trials in as little as three years if all goes well in large-animal studies, the researchers say.
In their experiments, the researchers first cut into a brain structure that conveys signals for vision, causing the small lab animals to be blinded in one eye. They then injected a clear fluid containing chains of amino acids into the damaged area. Once in the environment of the brain, these chains, called peptides, bind to one another, assembling into nano-scale fibers that bridge the gap left by the damage. The mesh of fibers prevents scar tissue from forming and may also encourage cell growth (the researchers are still investigating the mechanisms involved)."
The treatment, described online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and performed at MIT, Hong Kong University, and Fourth Military Medical University in China, may be available to humans in trials in as little as three years if all goes well in large-animal studies, the researchers say.
In their experiments, the researchers first cut into a brain structure that conveys signals for vision, causing the small lab animals to be blinded in one eye. They then injected a clear fluid containing chains of amino acids into the damaged area. Once in the environment of the brain, these chains, called peptides, bind to one another, assembling into nano-scale fibers that bridge the gap left by the damage. The mesh of fibers prevents scar tissue from forming and may also encourage cell growth (the researchers are still investigating the mechanisms involved)."
Hack: Oxigeno y glucosa
Mind Performance Hacks
Overclock Your Brain
#72
Chapter 8, Mental Fitness | 285
HACK
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mindperfhks/chapter/hack72.pdf
[con comentarios]
...
Oxygen is used as part of glucose metabolism to provide brain cells with a number of important chemicals that allow them to support themselves and communicate with other neurons.
Mental performance relies on the functioning of the brain, and like with any
other organ, this performance is linked to how many resources are avail-
able. Research has shown that in some instances, mental performance is
rate-limited by the available glucose and oxygen. In other words, you can
increase the rate of mental processing by increasing the available fuel.
...
One of the most reliable findings is that increasing available glucose and
oxygen seems to have a beneficial effect on memory. Importantly, the effect
is usually found for memory encoding but not memory recall. [así que aumentar oxígeno y glucosa sirve para memorizar pero no para recordar, sin embargo debemos tener en cuenta que se recomienda hacer los exámenes en las mismas condiciones en que se estudió, por lo que debería cuidarse tener el mismo aporte]
...
Increasing glucose and oxygen supplies to the brain seems to allow informa-
tion to be committed more accurately and fully to memory; in other words,
you learn better. This means when you come to recall it at a later stage, you
will undoubtedly do better, because the information there is clearer and
more comprehensive. The reverse does not seem to be true, however. If you
first encoded something without the aid of extra oxygen and glucose, sud-
denly making more oxygen and glucose available when you try to recall it
will not improve your overall memory performance.
Boost oxygen levels. The improvement in oxygen levels on memory
typically lasts for a few minutes only (five is about the limit), so you need to
time your learning to happen shortly after an increase in oxygen, or ensure
that you maintain a slightly increased level for the duration of the learning
period. Oxygen canisters are available in some shops, although they are
often expensive and unwieldy. More usefully, deliberately taking some deep
breaths will increase blood oxygen levels for a short time, as will light exer-
cise. Going for a walk while listening to something you want to remember
on an MP3 player should do the trick, as long as the environment is not so
distracting that you cannot concentrate. [acá podría entrar la posibilidad de usar nootrópicos que favorecen el aporte de oxígeno al cerebro: vinpocetina, hydergina, nicergolina, gingko biloba, picamilon, posiblemente pirytinol y otros]
Optimize glucose supplies. Glucose has a much longer-term effect, as shown
in Figure 8-1.
Here the maximum available glucose peaks at about an hour,
although it rapidly becomes available after it has been ingested. All energy-
giving foods are broken down into glucose at some stage, although at differ-
ent rates. This graph charts the rate of pure glucose absorption, so it best
matches the effects of sugary drinks. [por lo tanto hay que tener en cuenta qué se toma y el momento, si se requiere un tiempo extendido de trabajo podría combinarse un carbohidrato de asimilación más rápida con uno más lento]
Glucose is important as a simple fuel, but it is also used in the creation of
the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This brain chemical is particularly linked
to memory, and it’s no accident that, like oxygen, extra glucose is linked to
an increase in memory and learning ability.
Again, timing is crucial, but not so much effort is needed to constantly maintain
glucose levels. A well-timed sugary drink, 30 minutes to an hour before you want
to remember or take notice of something particularly closely, should improve how
well you remember it.
Overclock Your Brain
#72
Chapter 8, Mental Fitness | 285
HACK
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mindperfhks/chapter/hack72.pdf
[con comentarios]
...
Oxygen is used as part of glucose metabolism to provide brain cells with a number of important chemicals that allow them to support themselves and communicate with other neurons.
Mental performance relies on the functioning of the brain, and like with any
other organ, this performance is linked to how many resources are avail-
able. Research has shown that in some instances, mental performance is
rate-limited by the available glucose and oxygen. In other words, you can
increase the rate of mental processing by increasing the available fuel.
...
One of the most reliable findings is that increasing available glucose and
oxygen seems to have a beneficial effect on memory. Importantly, the effect
is usually found for memory encoding but not memory recall. [así que aumentar oxígeno y glucosa sirve para memorizar pero no para recordar, sin embargo debemos tener en cuenta que se recomienda hacer los exámenes en las mismas condiciones en que se estudió, por lo que debería cuidarse tener el mismo aporte]
...
Increasing glucose and oxygen supplies to the brain seems to allow informa-
tion to be committed more accurately and fully to memory; in other words,
you learn better. This means when you come to recall it at a later stage, you
will undoubtedly do better, because the information there is clearer and
more comprehensive. The reverse does not seem to be true, however. If you
first encoded something without the aid of extra oxygen and glucose, sud-
denly making more oxygen and glucose available when you try to recall it
will not improve your overall memory performance.
Boost oxygen levels. The improvement in oxygen levels on memory
typically lasts for a few minutes only (five is about the limit), so you need to
time your learning to happen shortly after an increase in oxygen, or ensure
that you maintain a slightly increased level for the duration of the learning
period. Oxygen canisters are available in some shops, although they are
often expensive and unwieldy. More usefully, deliberately taking some deep
breaths will increase blood oxygen levels for a short time, as will light exer-
cise. Going for a walk while listening to something you want to remember
on an MP3 player should do the trick, as long as the environment is not so
distracting that you cannot concentrate. [acá podría entrar la posibilidad de usar nootrópicos que favorecen el aporte de oxígeno al cerebro: vinpocetina, hydergina, nicergolina, gingko biloba, picamilon, posiblemente pirytinol y otros]
Optimize glucose supplies. Glucose has a much longer-term effect, as shown
in Figure 8-1.
Here the maximum available glucose peaks at about an hour,
although it rapidly becomes available after it has been ingested. All energy-
giving foods are broken down into glucose at some stage, although at differ-
ent rates. This graph charts the rate of pure glucose absorption, so it best
matches the effects of sugary drinks. [por lo tanto hay que tener en cuenta qué se toma y el momento, si se requiere un tiempo extendido de trabajo podría combinarse un carbohidrato de asimilación más rápida con uno más lento]
Glucose is important as a simple fuel, but it is also used in the creation of
the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This brain chemical is particularly linked
to memory, and it’s no accident that, like oxygen, extra glucose is linked to
an increase in memory and learning ability.
Again, timing is crucial, but not so much effort is needed to constantly maintain
glucose levels. A well-timed sugary drink, 30 minutes to an hour before you want
to remember or take notice of something particularly closely, should improve how
well you remember it.
martes, marzo 14, 2006
oreilly.com -- Online Catalog: Mind Performance Hacks
oreilly.com -- Online Catalog: Mind Performance Hacks: "Mind Performance Hacks
Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain
By Ron Hale-Evans
First Edition February 2006
Series: Hacks
ISBN: 0-596-10153-8
330 pages, $24.99 US, $34.99 CA, �17.50 UK
Buy two books, get the third FREE! Use discount code 'OPC1'
Free shipping on all orders of $29.95 and above See details.
Mind Performance Hacks provides real-life tips and tools for overclocking your brain and becoming a better thinker. In the increasingly frenetic pace of today's information economy, managing your life requires hacking your brain. With this book, you'll cut through the clutter and tune up your brain intentionally, safely, and productively. [Full Description]
Sample Hacks and Code Examples
Hack 1: Remember 10 Things to Bring (PDF)
Hack 15: Speak Your Brain’s Language (PDF)
Hack 19: Seed Your Mental Random-Number Generator (PDF)
Hack 35: Put Down That Calculator (PDF)
Hack 53: Learn Morse Code Like an Efficiency Expert (PDF)
Hack 57: Learn Your Emotional ABCs (PDF)
Hack 72: Overclock Your Brain (PDF)
Download the code examples from this book. The complete set of examples is available at: http://examples.oreilly.com/mindperfhks/
Related Books
Mapping Hacks (O'Reilly)
Hackers & Painters (O'Reilly)
Mind Hacks (O'Reilly)
Astronomy Hacks (O'Reilly)"
Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain
By Ron Hale-Evans
First Edition February 2006
Series: Hacks
ISBN: 0-596-10153-8
330 pages, $24.99 US, $34.99 CA, �17.50 UK
Buy two books, get the third FREE! Use discount code 'OPC1'
Free shipping on all orders of $29.95 and above See details.
Mind Performance Hacks provides real-life tips and tools for overclocking your brain and becoming a better thinker. In the increasingly frenetic pace of today's information economy, managing your life requires hacking your brain. With this book, you'll cut through the clutter and tune up your brain intentionally, safely, and productively. [Full Description]
Sample Hacks and Code Examples
Hack 1: Remember 10 Things to Bring (PDF)
Hack 15: Speak Your Brain’s Language (PDF)
Hack 19: Seed Your Mental Random-Number Generator (PDF)
Hack 35: Put Down That Calculator (PDF)
Hack 53: Learn Morse Code Like an Efficiency Expert (PDF)
Hack 57: Learn Your Emotional ABCs (PDF)
Hack 72: Overclock Your Brain (PDF)
Download the code examples from this book. The complete set of examples is available at: http://examples.oreilly.com/mindperfhks/
Related Books
Mapping Hacks (O'Reilly)
Hackers & Painters (O'Reilly)
Mind Hacks (O'Reilly)
Astronomy Hacks (O'Reilly)"
jueves, marzo 02, 2006
Propiedades del mani
de Wikipedia
Nutritional benefits
Peanuts are a rich source of proteins (roughly 30 grams per cup after roasting) and Monounsaturated fat. Recent research on peanuts and nuts in general have shown their health benefits. [1] Peanuts are a significant source of resveratrol. A handful of peanuts contains approximately 70 micrograms of this curative substance. Resveratrol is also present in red wine, grape and the Chinese plant Polygonum cuspidatum (cholican).
Suplementos ayurvedicos
Una nota en medios de India sobre los suplementos y las exigencias de los estudiantes. Menciona varios suplementos ayurvédicos.
Uno sugiere que el maní es una buena fuente de proteína (y económica). Lástima que engorda y una vez que uno empieza no para de comer.
Chandigarh News
Need a trip to ‘memory’ lane?
Puneet K Pardal
Chandigarh, March 1: “A memory enhancer for children and adults - it increases your concentration and grasping power, helps improve learning, responsiveness and mental alertness.’’
Reading this advertisement, one can be easily enticed to try these products which claim to boost your memory and hence, get you better results in exams. With exams lurking over students’ heads, city markets are brimming with these ‘memory enhancers’, ‘smart pills’ or ‘brain boosters’ or, pharmaceutically-cognitive enhancers. Their market offers a range of options - pick a Brahmi, Ashvagandha, Musli, Malkangni or Turajbeen; in syrup or capsule form, and what not.
Says Mayank, a Class XII student, ‘‘Most of my friends are giving it a try. It helps improve our confidence level to some extent. Moreover, Ayurvedic stuff doesn’t have any side effects.’’
Amit, a chemist in Sector-28, says, ‘‘These memory tonics, especially Baidyanath Shankhapushpi Syrup and Brahmi, are quite popular with students, but regular intake is necessary for favourable results. However, we don’t recommend the use of tablets without consulting the doctor.’’
Another chemist, Mohan, says, ‘‘Students want something that boosts retention and recalling power. They prefer Ayurvedic tonics for zero side effects.’’
Dr H.V. Jindal, Medical Officer, Panjab University Dispensary, believes that if a balanced, protein-rich diet is taken throughout year, it will certainly help students. Moreover, these tonics and tablets are quite expensive. Groundnuts are a good and cheaper substitute.
Eating lots of fresh fruit or taking B-Complex supplements, along with vitamin B-12, also helps improve memory. It is actually the concentration of mind that is the most important.’’
Dr B.S. Chavan, head, Psychiatry Department, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector-32, says, ‘‘During exams, all you need is a good diet and good sleep, and one must be focussed. Emphasis on grades prompts students to seek memory enhancers. But they have a placebo effect, whereby you feel better. Students should maintain their hobbies and not pressurise their minds.’’
Manvinder Bajwa, vice-principal, Bhavan Vidhalaya, Sector-27, shares, ‘‘We are living in extremely competitive times. Students are on tenterhooks, the pressure drives them to taking memory tablets and tonics. But these have a negative effect on one’s health as these are drugs only. Meditation and exercising are better options and help students to perform better during exams.’’
Uno sugiere que el maní es una buena fuente de proteína (y económica). Lástima que engorda y una vez que uno empieza no para de comer.
Chandigarh News
Need a trip to ‘memory’ lane?
Puneet K Pardal
Chandigarh, March 1: “A memory enhancer for children and adults - it increases your concentration and grasping power, helps improve learning, responsiveness and mental alertness.’’
Reading this advertisement, one can be easily enticed to try these products which claim to boost your memory and hence, get you better results in exams. With exams lurking over students’ heads, city markets are brimming with these ‘memory enhancers’, ‘smart pills’ or ‘brain boosters’ or, pharmaceutically-cognitive enhancers. Their market offers a range of options - pick a Brahmi, Ashvagandha, Musli, Malkangni or Turajbeen; in syrup or capsule form, and what not.
Says Mayank, a Class XII student, ‘‘Most of my friends are giving it a try. It helps improve our confidence level to some extent. Moreover, Ayurvedic stuff doesn’t have any side effects.’’
Amit, a chemist in Sector-28, says, ‘‘These memory tonics, especially Baidyanath Shankhapushpi Syrup and Brahmi, are quite popular with students, but regular intake is necessary for favourable results. However, we don’t recommend the use of tablets without consulting the doctor.’’
Another chemist, Mohan, says, ‘‘Students want something that boosts retention and recalling power. They prefer Ayurvedic tonics for zero side effects.’’
Dr H.V. Jindal, Medical Officer, Panjab University Dispensary, believes that if a balanced, protein-rich diet is taken throughout year, it will certainly help students. Moreover, these tonics and tablets are quite expensive. Groundnuts are a good and cheaper substitute.
Eating lots of fresh fruit or taking B-Complex supplements, along with vitamin B-12, also helps improve memory. It is actually the concentration of mind that is the most important.’’
Dr B.S. Chavan, head, Psychiatry Department, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector-32, says, ‘‘During exams, all you need is a good diet and good sleep, and one must be focussed. Emphasis on grades prompts students to seek memory enhancers. But they have a placebo effect, whereby you feel better. Students should maintain their hobbies and not pressurise their minds.’’
Manvinder Bajwa, vice-principal, Bhavan Vidhalaya, Sector-27, shares, ‘‘We are living in extremely competitive times. Students are on tenterhooks, the pressure drives them to taking memory tablets and tonics. But these have a negative effect on one’s health as these are drugs only. Meditation and exercising are better options and help students to perform better during exams.’’
miércoles, marzo 01, 2006
Terapia combinada para el Alzheimer
Recommended Combination-Therapies for Alzheimer’s Disease
From the book Smart Drugs II: The Next Generation
by Ward Dean, M.D., John Morgenthaler, and Steven Wm. Fowkes
Lo interesante es que lista una larga serie de sustancias y brevemente describe su acción.
From the book Smart Drugs II: The Next Generation
by Ward Dean, M.D., John Morgenthaler, and Steven Wm. Fowkes
Lo interesante es que lista una larga serie de sustancias y brevemente describe su acción.
martes, febrero 28, 2006
Wikipedia inaugura portales de psicologia y mente-cerebro
La enciclipedia libre Wikipedia inauguró dos nuevos portales con mucha información.
Portal de Psicología:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mind_and_Brain
Portal de Mente-Cerebro ( philosophy of mind, neuroscience, linguistics, and psychology):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Psychology
Portal de Psicología:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mind_and_Brain
Portal de Mente-Cerebro ( philosophy of mind, neuroscience, linguistics, and psychology):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Psychology
viernes, febrero 24, 2006
Creatina y minociclina para el parkinson
Preliminary Study Shows Creatine and Minocycline May Warrant Further Study
In Parkinson�s Disease
A National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical trial with 200
Parkinson's disease patients has shown that creatine and minocycline may
warrant further consideration for study in a large trial, according to Karl
Kieburtz, M.D., M.P.H., University of Rochester, who spoke today at the
World Parkinson Congress on behalf of the trial investigators.
link medline
In Parkinson�s Disease
A National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical trial with 200
Parkinson's disease patients has shown that creatine and minocycline may
warrant further consideration for study in a large trial, according to Karl
Kieburtz, M.D., M.P.H., University of Rochester, who spoke today at the
World Parkinson Congress on behalf of the trial investigators.
link medline
lunes, febrero 20, 2006
Otro comentario sobre Hofmann, los huevos y la hydergina
Buscando encontré en el foro cannabiscafe.net otra referencia al comentario de Hofmann sobre los huevos y su uso de la hydergina:
Yo estuve presente en la rueda de prensa celebrada en Basilea, en la que Albert Hofmann dijo lo de los "huevos crudos" en contestación a la séptima pregunta, de las diez a las que contestó y por el tono irónico en que dio su respuesta me parece que Hofmann se salió por la tangente, harto de que siempre se le pregunte lo mismo: "¿Doctor, ha llegado usted a edad tan longeva por ingerir LSD?"
En realidad, lo que Hofmann contestó, fue que el consumo de vitaminas (A, B, C y otras) es vital para mantener la salud en todas las personas, y que él desde siempre se ha desayunado con huevos frescos, frutas, müsli y mantequilla. Como también ha dicho en varias ocasiones que el tanino y los sulfitos de un vaso de buen vino tinto en las comidas alarga la vida entre dos y cinco años.
Sin embargo, a la siguiente pregunta que se le hizo, respondió que el "LSD es una droga sagrada contenedora de vitaminas..."
Personalmente, cuando hace tres años estuve en su casa y cené con él, junto a otros dos amigos y su mujer Anita, a mi capciosa pregunta (la de todos y a la que está cansado responder) de si era el LSD causa de su excelente y longeva salud, Albert me miró sonriente eludiendo su respuesta, pero durante la cena, cuando volví a insistirle sobre ello, entonces, más directamente, me contestó que uno de sus descubrimientos, otro derivado ergotínico, la Hydergina, podría ser el verdadero responsable de ese efecto benéfico en su salud.
La Hydergina (dihidroergotoxina mesilato) se vende sin receta médica en las farmacias españolas y cuesta ocho euros la caja de 30 pastillas.
Es un modificador de la neurotransmisión cerebral, estimulante de receptores doaminérgicos y bloqueador de los adrenoreceptores, que mejora la función metabólica cerebral alterada y reduce los síntomas del deterioro mental propios de la edad (involución senil, arterioesclerosis cerebral y otros transtornos cerebrovasculares agudos). Extraido de revista Cáñamo, nº61, en notas de la entrevista a Albert Hofmann "Atardecer en Rittimatte", pág. 44 y ss.
A veces los sabios también se permiten las bromas en medio de tanta seriedad.
Yo estuve presente en la rueda de prensa celebrada en Basilea, en la que Albert Hofmann dijo lo de los "huevos crudos" en contestación a la séptima pregunta, de las diez a las que contestó y por el tono irónico en que dio su respuesta me parece que Hofmann se salió por la tangente, harto de que siempre se le pregunte lo mismo: "¿Doctor, ha llegado usted a edad tan longeva por ingerir LSD?"
En realidad, lo que Hofmann contestó, fue que el consumo de vitaminas (A, B, C y otras) es vital para mantener la salud en todas las personas, y que él desde siempre se ha desayunado con huevos frescos, frutas, müsli y mantequilla. Como también ha dicho en varias ocasiones que el tanino y los sulfitos de un vaso de buen vino tinto en las comidas alarga la vida entre dos y cinco años.
Sin embargo, a la siguiente pregunta que se le hizo, respondió que el "LSD es una droga sagrada contenedora de vitaminas..."
Personalmente, cuando hace tres años estuve en su casa y cené con él, junto a otros dos amigos y su mujer Anita, a mi capciosa pregunta (la de todos y a la que está cansado responder) de si era el LSD causa de su excelente y longeva salud, Albert me miró sonriente eludiendo su respuesta, pero durante la cena, cuando volví a insistirle sobre ello, entonces, más directamente, me contestó que uno de sus descubrimientos, otro derivado ergotínico, la Hydergina, podría ser el verdadero responsable de ese efecto benéfico en su salud.
La Hydergina (dihidroergotoxina mesilato) se vende sin receta médica en las farmacias españolas y cuesta ocho euros la caja de 30 pastillas.
Es un modificador de la neurotransmisión cerebral, estimulante de receptores doaminérgicos y bloqueador de los adrenoreceptores, que mejora la función metabólica cerebral alterada y reduce los síntomas del deterioro mental propios de la edad (involución senil, arterioesclerosis cerebral y otros transtornos cerebrovasculares agudos). Extraido de revista Cáñamo, nº61, en notas de la entrevista a Albert Hofmann "Atardecer en Rittimatte", pág. 44 y ss.
A veces los sabios también se permiten las bromas en medio de tanta seriedad.
martes, enero 31, 2006
Albert Hofmann y el ejercicio
En el sitio lsd.virtuale.org podemos ver una imagen animada de Albert Hofmann haciendo ejercicio (549 K). No dice la fecha en que fue tomada.
Parece que a Hofmann le gusta ejercitarse porque en hofmann.org se puede leer que su urgencia por ejercitarse lo perjudicó en una operación que después salió bien (2002):
"Report on Dr. Albert Hofmann: Dr. Hofmann was 96 years old last January 12. In the last few months he has experienced some serious injuries. He unfortunately fell and disabled a hip replacement procedure he had done in the past. A new surgery corrected this. While he was recovering in the hospital, he was urged to exercise excessively, and the new surgery failed."
http://www.hofmann.org/about/presmsg.html
Parece que a Hofmann le gusta ejercitarse porque en hofmann.org se puede leer que su urgencia por ejercitarse lo perjudicó en una operación que después salió bien (2002):
"Report on Dr. Albert Hofmann: Dr. Hofmann was 96 years old last January 12. In the last few months he has experienced some serious injuries. He unfortunately fell and disabled a hip replacement procedure he had done in the past. A new surgery corrected this. While he was recovering in the hospital, he was urged to exercise excessively, and the new surgery failed."
http://www.hofmann.org/about/presmsg.html
lunes, enero 30, 2006
Hay limites a la reingenieria humana?
Una interesante nota sobre la tecnología y las drogas de perfeccionamiento. Comienza con una descripción de lo ue puede ser un futuro n tan lejano y las implicaciones éticas:
There is no stop button in the race for human re-engineering
Science will soon give some of us the tools to make ourselves cleverer and stronger. What will it mean for our humanity?
Madeleine Bunting
Monday January 30, 2006
ver nota en The Guardian
Fragmentso:
"Five years later, my little grand-daughter is starting school. Again her parents have talked over the pros and cons of cognitive enhancement. A pharmcogenetic package is now routinely offered on the NHS after the government decided that, given international competition in the global knowledge economy, there was no option but to ensure the nation's schoolchildren had better powers of memory and concentration."
...
"What we've been unhappy about is that my daughter has been very tired trying to hold down her job and be a mum, and she's come under a lot of pressure from her boss to get help. What they mean is that she should go on to Provigil. They point out that if she was taking it, she could miss several nights of sleep without any problem. Her colleagues call her a bio-Luddite for refusing."
There is no stop button in the race for human re-engineering
Science will soon give some of us the tools to make ourselves cleverer and stronger. What will it mean for our humanity?
Madeleine Bunting
Monday January 30, 2006
ver nota en The Guardian
Fragmentso:
"Five years later, my little grand-daughter is starting school. Again her parents have talked over the pros and cons of cognitive enhancement. A pharmcogenetic package is now routinely offered on the NHS after the government decided that, given international competition in the global knowledge economy, there was no option but to ensure the nation's schoolchildren had better powers of memory and concentration."
...
"What we've been unhappy about is that my daughter has been very tired trying to hold down her job and be a mum, and she's come under a lot of pressure from her boss to get help. What they mean is that she should go on to Provigil. They point out that if she was taking it, she could miss several nights of sleep without any problem. Her colleagues call her a bio-Luddite for refusing."
jueves, enero 26, 2006
Hofmann y la hydergina
Seguí buscando referencias sobre Hofmann y la Hydergina y encontré otro que
dice que Hofmann la toma:
Now, Wilson can use his iMac to communicate with the world
outside--including students, fans and colleagues. Among the latter category
are people like Albert Hoffman, the inventor of LSD as well as a drug
called Hydergine, which Wilson describes as his "current panacea."
"It's a dendrite stimulant," explains Wilson. "Your nervous system has more
dendrites than muscles. I may be walking naturally again someday if it
works as well as some claim. Albert Hoffman is going to have his 100th
birthday in January after 25 years on Hydergine, and everybody says he
looks as healthy as a 60-year-old."
Through the years, Wilson and Hoffman have stayed in touch. "He's a fan of
my books," says Wilson, "and I'm a fan of his drugs."
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/08.10.05/wilson-0532.html
Robert Anton Wilson or RAW (born January 18, 1932) is a futurist,
libertarian, and novelist. His best-known work -- The Illuminatus! Trilogy
(1975), co-authored with Robert Shea -- humorously examined American
paranoia about conspiracies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson
domingo, enero 15, 2006
El secreto de la longevidad de Albert Hofmann
Revisando drogasinteligentes.com ví que hay una página con fotos del Homenaje a Albert Hoffman (descubridor del LSD y otras drogas) Ateneo de Madrid 11-enero-2006.
En una de las fotos se lee: Gaspar Fraga (derecha) recordó momentos de la vida de Hoffman y sus encuentros con él. Según relató, Hoffman afirma mantenerse tan bien
a sus 100 años gracias a la Hydergina (dihidroergotoxina, creación suya), la única sustancia que ahora toma habitualmente.
Me puse a buscar a ver si encontraba más sobre lo que Hofmann consumía. No pude encontrar nada sobre su uso de la Hydergina (tal vez Juan Carlos pudiera ampliar esto).
Encontré un blog que comentaba e una entrada consicousness is everywhere
a few thoughts about day 1 LSD Symposium sobre lo que fue ese día, donde hubo uso de algunas sustancias.
Pero encontré este post: It's the breakfast, stupid! donde se afirma que Hofmann siempre desayuna con dos huevos crudos batidos y Müesli. La receta del Birchermüesli Original del Dr. Bircher (hay más detalles en la página):
Ingredients for 4 persons:
4 tablespoons oat flakes
8 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons sweet evaporated milk or cream
Honey or sugar according to your own taste (use as less sugar as possible)
Juice of 2 lemons
8 apples
variations:
You may use plain yogurt instead of water and evaporated milk. You may also add cream, half and half or milk according to your own taste.
Take any kind of berries, oranges or other fruits instead of or in addition to the apples.
You may add 2 to 3 tablespoons grind almonds and or hazelnuts.
Seguí buscando y encontré la noticia en Español:
14 de enero de 2006, 11h39
El secreto de longevidad fueron los huevos, no LSD - descubridor
BASILEA, Suiza (Reuters) - El químico suizo de 100 años que descubrió el LSD dijo el viernes que el secreto de su longevidad fueron los huevos que desayuna y no el ácido alucinógeno.
Albert Hofmann, quien celebró su centenario el miércoles, rechazó la idea de que la droga haya prolongado su vida, pese a haber realizado su primer "viaje" a mediados de la década de 1940 y el último hace sólo unos años.
En cambio, Hofmann reveló que el secreto eran los dos huevos crudos que desayuna.
"En un huevo está todo lo que una persona necesita para desarrollarse: vitaminas, minerales y hormonas", dijo el químico.
Hofmann asistió el viernes al primer día de un simposio que se desarrollará durante el fin de semana en Basel, organizado por un grupo sin ánimo de lucro que promueve la investigación de las drogas psicodélicas y quiere abrir un debate sobre si el LSD podría tener un uso clínico otra vez.
Pese a ser conocido como una droga recreativa, el LSD se utilizó en Estados Unidos como un tratamiento psicoterapéutico en la década de los 50 antes de ser prohibido por el gobierno.
Científicos de la Asociación Multidisciplinaria de Estudios Psicodélicos, con sede en Estados Unidos, investigan nuevos usos como los efectos de la droga en fuertes dolores de cabeza similares a las migrañas.
"Aún es mi niño problemático", dijo Hoffman. "Pero con frecuencia se convierten en niños maravillosos. Espero que sea posible con el tiempo que el LSD encuentre en la sociedad el lugar que merece".
En la celebración de su centenario el miércoles, Hofmann añadió su nombre a una petición lanzada por los organizadores del simposio para legalizar la droga con usos clínicos y científicos, que será presentada a las autoridades en Europa y Estados Unidos.*.
¡Para que tengan los obsesionados por el colesterol!. Se ve que Hofmann no le teme a la salmonella. Se supone que los establecimientos productores de huevos están inspecionados y no debería haber problemas, pero ¿un cierto temor da no?, además de si uno tolera el gusto.
En una de las fotos se lee: Gaspar Fraga (derecha) recordó momentos de la vida de Hoffman y sus encuentros con él. Según relató, Hoffman afirma mantenerse tan bien
a sus 100 años gracias a la Hydergina (dihidroergotoxina, creación suya), la única sustancia que ahora toma habitualmente.
Me puse a buscar a ver si encontraba más sobre lo que Hofmann consumía. No pude encontrar nada sobre su uso de la Hydergina (tal vez Juan Carlos pudiera ampliar esto).
Encontré un blog que comentaba e una entrada consicousness is everywhere
a few thoughts about day 1 LSD Symposium sobre lo que fue ese día, donde hubo uso de algunas sustancias.
Pero encontré este post: It's the breakfast, stupid! donde se afirma que Hofmann siempre desayuna con dos huevos crudos batidos y Müesli. La receta del Birchermüesli Original del Dr. Bircher (hay más detalles en la página):
Ingredients for 4 persons:
4 tablespoons oat flakes
8 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons sweet evaporated milk or cream
Honey or sugar according to your own taste (use as less sugar as possible)
Juice of 2 lemons
8 apples
variations:
You may use plain yogurt instead of water and evaporated milk. You may also add cream, half and half or milk according to your own taste.
Take any kind of berries, oranges or other fruits instead of or in addition to the apples.
You may add 2 to 3 tablespoons grind almonds and or hazelnuts.
Seguí buscando y encontré la noticia en Español:
14 de enero de 2006, 11h39
El secreto de longevidad fueron los huevos, no LSD - descubridor
BASILEA, Suiza (Reuters) - El químico suizo de 100 años que descubrió el LSD dijo el viernes que el secreto de su longevidad fueron los huevos que desayuna y no el ácido alucinógeno.
Albert Hofmann, quien celebró su centenario el miércoles, rechazó la idea de que la droga haya prolongado su vida, pese a haber realizado su primer "viaje" a mediados de la década de 1940 y el último hace sólo unos años.
En cambio, Hofmann reveló que el secreto eran los dos huevos crudos que desayuna.
"En un huevo está todo lo que una persona necesita para desarrollarse: vitaminas, minerales y hormonas", dijo el químico.
Hofmann asistió el viernes al primer día de un simposio que se desarrollará durante el fin de semana en Basel, organizado por un grupo sin ánimo de lucro que promueve la investigación de las drogas psicodélicas y quiere abrir un debate sobre si el LSD podría tener un uso clínico otra vez.
Pese a ser conocido como una droga recreativa, el LSD se utilizó en Estados Unidos como un tratamiento psicoterapéutico en la década de los 50 antes de ser prohibido por el gobierno.
Científicos de la Asociación Multidisciplinaria de Estudios Psicodélicos, con sede en Estados Unidos, investigan nuevos usos como los efectos de la droga en fuertes dolores de cabeza similares a las migrañas.
"Aún es mi niño problemático", dijo Hoffman. "Pero con frecuencia se convierten en niños maravillosos. Espero que sea posible con el tiempo que el LSD encuentre en la sociedad el lugar que merece".
En la celebración de su centenario el miércoles, Hofmann añadió su nombre a una petición lanzada por los organizadores del simposio para legalizar la droga con usos clínicos y científicos, que será presentada a las autoridades en Europa y Estados Unidos.*.
¡Para que tengan los obsesionados por el colesterol!. Se ve que Hofmann no le teme a la salmonella. Se supone que los establecimientos productores de huevos están inspecionados y no debería haber problemas, pero ¿un cierto temor da no?, además de si uno tolera el gusto.
sábado, enero 14, 2006
Neurogenesis y migracion de las nuevas neuronas
El cerebro produce nuevas neuronas que migran siguiendo el flujo del líquido cefaloraquídeo. Otro nuevo interesante estudio sobre la plasticidad cerebral.
scientificamerican.com
January 13, 2006
New Neurons Go with the Spinal Fluid Flow
Recent research has revealed that brains continue to produce new
neurons throughout life, helping create new neural networks. This
neurogenesis only takes place in a few specific areas, such as the area
in which the brain and spinal column meet. The new cells, however, can
migrate throughout the brain and turn up as far away as the olfactory
bulb--a cluster of nerve cells at the front surface of the brain
responsible for the sense of smell. A recent study in mice has revealed
that these neurons make the long and complicated journey by going with
the flow of spinal fluid circulating in the brain.
scientificamerican.com
January 13, 2006
New Neurons Go with the Spinal Fluid Flow
Recent research has revealed that brains continue to produce new
neurons throughout life, helping create new neural networks. This
neurogenesis only takes place in a few specific areas, such as the area
in which the brain and spinal column meet. The new cells, however, can
migrate throughout the brain and turn up as far away as the olfactory
bulb--a cluster of nerve cells at the front surface of the brain
responsible for the sense of smell. A recent study in mice has revealed
that these neurons make the long and complicated journey by going with
the flow of spinal fluid circulating in the brain.
jueves, enero 12, 2006
Importancia del DHA del aceite de pescado
"The synaptic vesicles contain DHA. It is quite possible that depletion in this fatty acid prevents synaptic vesicle synthesis and therefore results in a sharp reduction in neurotransmission. This latter event may precede, and be responsible for, the subsequent over-production of the nerve-toxic amyloid beta protein.
Therefore, insufficient DHA may be a key element in age-associated loss of mental acuity. Supplementing with the omega-3 fatty acids may help attenuate this effect. Another potential method to increase the brain level of DHA is to take an antioxidant, such as vitamin E or alpha lipoic acid, which may help prevent the destruction of this important nutrient."
http://www.juvenon.com/jhj/vol4no04.htm
Ya sabamos que los omega 3 del aceite de pescado son diferentes de los de otras fuentes y no todos convertimos eficazmente los omega 3 en EPA/DHA. Por lo tant arece conveniente incrementaar el consumo de pescado o de suplementos o de huevos enriquecidos.
Therefore, insufficient DHA may be a key element in age-associated loss of mental acuity. Supplementing with the omega-3 fatty acids may help attenuate this effect. Another potential method to increase the brain level of DHA is to take an antioxidant, such as vitamin E or alpha lipoic acid, which may help prevent the destruction of this important nutrient."
http://www.juvenon.com/jhj/vol4no04.htm
Ya sabamos que los omega 3 del aceite de pescado son diferentes de los de otras fuentes y no todos convertimos eficazmente los omega 3 en EPA/DHA. Por lo tant arece conveniente incrementaar el consumo de pescado o de suplementos o de huevos enriquecidos.
sábado, enero 07, 2006
Entrevista a Albert Hofman en NYT
January 7, 2006
The Saturday Profile
Nearly 100, LSD's Father Ponders His 'Problem Child'
By CRAIG SMITH
BURG, Switzerland
ALBERT Hofmann, the father of LSD, walked slowly across the small corner office of his modernist home on a grassy Alpine hilltop here, hoping to show a visitor the vista that sweeps before him on clear days. But outside there was only a white blanket of fog hanging just beyond the crest of the hill. He picked up a photograph of the view on his desk instead, left there perhaps to convince visitors of what really lies beyond the windowpane.
Mr. Hofmann will turn 100 on Wednesday, a milestone to be marked by a symposium in nearby Basel on the chemical compound that he discovered and that famously unlocked the Blakean doors of perception, altering consciousnesses around the world. As the years accumulate behind him, Mr. Hofmann's conversation turns ever more insistently around one theme: man's oneness with nature and the dangers of an increasing inattention to that fact.
"It's very, very dangerous to lose contact with living nature," he said, listing to the right in a green armchair that looked out over frost-dusted fields and snow-laced trees. A glass pitcher held a bouquet of roses on the coffee table before him. "In the big cities, there are people who have never seen living nature, all things are products of humans," he said. "The bigger the town, the less they see and understand nature." And, yes, he said, LSD, which he calls his "problem child," could help reconnect people to the universe.
Rounding a century, Mr. Hofmann is physically reduced but mentally clear. He is prone to digressions, ambling with pleasure through memories of his boyhood, but his bright eyes flash with the recollection of a mystical experience he had on a forest path more than 90 years ago in the hills above Baden, Switzerland. The experience left him longing for a similar glimpse of what he calls "a miraculous, powerful, unfathomable reality."
"I was completely astonished by the beauty of nature," he said, laying a slightly gnarled finger alongside his nose, his longish white hair swept back from his temples and the crown of his head. He said any natural scientist who was not a mystic was not a real natural scientist. "Outside is pure energy and colorless substance," he said. "All of the rest happens through the mechanism of our senses. Our eyes see just a small fraction of the light in the world. It is a trick to make a colored world, which does not exist outside of human beings."
He became particularly fascinated by the mechanisms through which plants turn sunlight into the building blocks for our own bodies. "Everything comes from the sun via the plant kingdom," he said.
MR. HOFMANN studied chemistry and took a job with the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz Laboratories, because it had started a program to identify and synthesize the active compounds of medically important plants. He soon began work on the poisonous ergot fungus that grows in grains of rye. Midwives had used it for centuries to precipitate childbirths, but chemists had never succeeded in isolating the chemical that produced the pharmacological effect. Finally, chemists in the United States identified the active component as lysergic acid, and Mr. Hofmann began combining other molecules with the unstable chemical in search of pharmacologically useful compounds.
His work on ergot produced several important drugs, including a compound still in use to prevent hemorrhaging after childbirth. But it was the 25th compound that he synthesized, lysergic acid diethylamide, that was to have the greatest impact. When he first created it in 1938, the drug yielded no significant pharmacological results. But when his work on ergot was completed, he decided to go back to LSD-25, hoping that improved tests could detect the stimulating effect on the body's circulatory system that he had expected from it. It was as he was synthesizing the drug on a Friday afternoon in April 1943 that he first experienced the altered state of consciousness for which it became famous. "Immediately, I recognized it as the same experience I had had as a child," he said. "I didn't know what caused it, but I knew that it was important."
When he returned to his lab the next Monday, he tried to identify the source of his experience, believing first that it had come from the fumes of a chloroform-like solvent he had been using. Inhaling the fumes produced no effect, though, and he realized he must have somehow ingested a trace of LSD. "LSD spoke to me," Mr. Hofmann said with an amused, animated smile. "He came to me and said, 'You must find me.' He told me, 'Don't give me to the pharmacologist, he won't find anything.' "
HE experimented with the drug, taking a dose so small that even the most active toxin known at that time would have had little or no effect. The result with LSD, however, was a powerful experience, during which he rode his bicycle home, accompanied by an assistant. That day, April 19, later became memorialized by LSD enthusiasts as "bicycle day."
Mr. Hofmann participated in tests in a Sandoz laboratory, but found the experience frightening and realized that the drug should be used only under carefully controlled circumstances. In 1951, he wrote to the German novelist Ernst Junger, who had experimented with mescaline, and proposed that they take LSD together. They each took 0.05 milligrams of pure LSD at Mr. Hofmann's home accompanied by roses, music by Mozart and burning Japanese incense. "That was the first planned psychedelic test," Mr. Hofmann said.
He took the drug dozens of times after that, he said, and once experienced what he called a "horror trip" when he was tired and Mr. Junger gave him amphetamines first. But his hallucinogenic days are long behind him.
"I know LSD; I don't need to take it anymore," Mr. Hofmann said. "Maybe when I die, like Aldous Huxley," who asked his wife for an injection of LSD to help him through the final painful throes of his fatal throat cancer.
But Mr. Hofmann calls LSD "medicine for the soul" and is frustrated by the worldwide prohibition that has pushed it underground. "It was used very successfully for 10 years in psychoanalysis," he said, adding that the drug was hijacked by the youth movement of the 1960's and then demonized by the establishment that the movement opposed. He said LSD could be dangerous and called its distribution by Timothy Leary and others "a crime."
"It should be a controlled substance with the same status as morphine," he said.
Mr. Hofmann lives with his wife in the house they built 38 years ago. He raised four children and watched one son struggle with alcoholism before dying at 53. He has eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. As far as he knows, no one in his family besides his wife has tried LSD.
Mr. Hofmann rose, slightly stooped and now barely reaching five feet, and walked through his house with his arm-support cane. When asked if the drug had deepened his understanding of death, he appeared mildly startled and said no. "I go back to where I came from, to where I was before I was born, that's all," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/international/europe/07hoffman.html?adxnnl=0&adxnnlx=1136646260-2vvhmKN3gOF3MVzC3pmqqg&pagewanted=print
The Saturday Profile
Nearly 100, LSD's Father Ponders His 'Problem Child'
By CRAIG SMITH
BURG, Switzerland
ALBERT Hofmann, the father of LSD, walked slowly across the small corner office of his modernist home on a grassy Alpine hilltop here, hoping to show a visitor the vista that sweeps before him on clear days. But outside there was only a white blanket of fog hanging just beyond the crest of the hill. He picked up a photograph of the view on his desk instead, left there perhaps to convince visitors of what really lies beyond the windowpane.
Mr. Hofmann will turn 100 on Wednesday, a milestone to be marked by a symposium in nearby Basel on the chemical compound that he discovered and that famously unlocked the Blakean doors of perception, altering consciousnesses around the world. As the years accumulate behind him, Mr. Hofmann's conversation turns ever more insistently around one theme: man's oneness with nature and the dangers of an increasing inattention to that fact.
"It's very, very dangerous to lose contact with living nature," he said, listing to the right in a green armchair that looked out over frost-dusted fields and snow-laced trees. A glass pitcher held a bouquet of roses on the coffee table before him. "In the big cities, there are people who have never seen living nature, all things are products of humans," he said. "The bigger the town, the less they see and understand nature." And, yes, he said, LSD, which he calls his "problem child," could help reconnect people to the universe.
Rounding a century, Mr. Hofmann is physically reduced but mentally clear. He is prone to digressions, ambling with pleasure through memories of his boyhood, but his bright eyes flash with the recollection of a mystical experience he had on a forest path more than 90 years ago in the hills above Baden, Switzerland. The experience left him longing for a similar glimpse of what he calls "a miraculous, powerful, unfathomable reality."
"I was completely astonished by the beauty of nature," he said, laying a slightly gnarled finger alongside his nose, his longish white hair swept back from his temples and the crown of his head. He said any natural scientist who was not a mystic was not a real natural scientist. "Outside is pure energy and colorless substance," he said. "All of the rest happens through the mechanism of our senses. Our eyes see just a small fraction of the light in the world. It is a trick to make a colored world, which does not exist outside of human beings."
He became particularly fascinated by the mechanisms through which plants turn sunlight into the building blocks for our own bodies. "Everything comes from the sun via the plant kingdom," he said.
MR. HOFMANN studied chemistry and took a job with the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz Laboratories, because it had started a program to identify and synthesize the active compounds of medically important plants. He soon began work on the poisonous ergot fungus that grows in grains of rye. Midwives had used it for centuries to precipitate childbirths, but chemists had never succeeded in isolating the chemical that produced the pharmacological effect. Finally, chemists in the United States identified the active component as lysergic acid, and Mr. Hofmann began combining other molecules with the unstable chemical in search of pharmacologically useful compounds.
His work on ergot produced several important drugs, including a compound still in use to prevent hemorrhaging after childbirth. But it was the 25th compound that he synthesized, lysergic acid diethylamide, that was to have the greatest impact. When he first created it in 1938, the drug yielded no significant pharmacological results. But when his work on ergot was completed, he decided to go back to LSD-25, hoping that improved tests could detect the stimulating effect on the body's circulatory system that he had expected from it. It was as he was synthesizing the drug on a Friday afternoon in April 1943 that he first experienced the altered state of consciousness for which it became famous. "Immediately, I recognized it as the same experience I had had as a child," he said. "I didn't know what caused it, but I knew that it was important."
When he returned to his lab the next Monday, he tried to identify the source of his experience, believing first that it had come from the fumes of a chloroform-like solvent he had been using. Inhaling the fumes produced no effect, though, and he realized he must have somehow ingested a trace of LSD. "LSD spoke to me," Mr. Hofmann said with an amused, animated smile. "He came to me and said, 'You must find me.' He told me, 'Don't give me to the pharmacologist, he won't find anything.' "
HE experimented with the drug, taking a dose so small that even the most active toxin known at that time would have had little or no effect. The result with LSD, however, was a powerful experience, during which he rode his bicycle home, accompanied by an assistant. That day, April 19, later became memorialized by LSD enthusiasts as "bicycle day."
Mr. Hofmann participated in tests in a Sandoz laboratory, but found the experience frightening and realized that the drug should be used only under carefully controlled circumstances. In 1951, he wrote to the German novelist Ernst Junger, who had experimented with mescaline, and proposed that they take LSD together. They each took 0.05 milligrams of pure LSD at Mr. Hofmann's home accompanied by roses, music by Mozart and burning Japanese incense. "That was the first planned psychedelic test," Mr. Hofmann said.
He took the drug dozens of times after that, he said, and once experienced what he called a "horror trip" when he was tired and Mr. Junger gave him amphetamines first. But his hallucinogenic days are long behind him.
"I know LSD; I don't need to take it anymore," Mr. Hofmann said. "Maybe when I die, like Aldous Huxley," who asked his wife for an injection of LSD to help him through the final painful throes of his fatal throat cancer.
But Mr. Hofmann calls LSD "medicine for the soul" and is frustrated by the worldwide prohibition that has pushed it underground. "It was used very successfully for 10 years in psychoanalysis," he said, adding that the drug was hijacked by the youth movement of the 1960's and then demonized by the establishment that the movement opposed. He said LSD could be dangerous and called its distribution by Timothy Leary and others "a crime."
"It should be a controlled substance with the same status as morphine," he said.
Mr. Hofmann lives with his wife in the house they built 38 years ago. He raised four children and watched one son struggle with alcoholism before dying at 53. He has eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. As far as he knows, no one in his family besides his wife has tried LSD.
Mr. Hofmann rose, slightly stooped and now barely reaching five feet, and walked through his house with his arm-support cane. When asked if the drug had deepened his understanding of death, he appeared mildly startled and said no. "I go back to where I came from, to where I was before I was born, that's all," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/international/europe/07hoffman.html?adxnnl=0&adxnnlx=1136646260-2vvhmKN3gOF3MVzC3pmqqg&pagewanted=print
lunes, enero 02, 2006
consumerlab.com analiza productos para mejorar la memoria
El estudio de consumerlab.com de productos para mejorar la memoria encontró que algunos productos estaban contaminados o contenían productos tóxicos en cantidades no aceptables y otros no contenían los principios activos que se publicitaban, aún en marcas muy reconocidas. Otros productos estimulantes a base de cafeína tenían dosis en exceso (hasta 1.223 mg /día).
Para acceder al estudio completo hay que suscribirse. Si alguien dispone de la información nos gutaría saber más.
"ConsumerLab.com tested supplements used to improve memory and cognitive function made with ginkgo, huperzine A, phosphatidylserine, and/or acetyl-L-carnitine.
But CL found significant amounts of lead in supplements made with a form of ginkgo, while those made with another form did not. Several ginkgo supplements were also low in key compounds. And there was no active ingredient in a huperzine A product. Other products successfully passed the testing"
memory enhancers en consumerlabs.com
Comentarios en weblogs:
"Jarrow Gingko Biloba 60mg lacked the active compounds and received a Not Approved.
Life Enhancement' s Huperzine-A contained NO Huperzine-A and (obviously) received a Not Approved.
They reconfirmed our view that the latest research on soy derived phosphatidylserine (PS) shows no efficacy in humans. Previous postive results came from bovine derived PS."
Consumer Lab Testing - What is NOT in your Supplement? (relentless improvement vende productos).
Consumerlab.Com Examines Popular Supplements For Weight Loss, Slimming, and Blood Sugar Control - Finds Numerous Problems reporte de NPIcenter, el más completo menciona todos los suplementos probados.
Para acceder al estudio completo hay que suscribirse. Si alguien dispone de la información nos gutaría saber más.
"ConsumerLab.com tested supplements used to improve memory and cognitive function made with ginkgo, huperzine A, phosphatidylserine, and/or acetyl-L-carnitine.
But CL found significant amounts of lead in supplements made with a form of ginkgo, while those made with another form did not. Several ginkgo supplements were also low in key compounds. And there was no active ingredient in a huperzine A product. Other products successfully passed the testing"
memory enhancers en consumerlabs.com
Comentarios en weblogs:
"Jarrow Gingko Biloba 60mg lacked the active compounds and received a Not Approved.
Life Enhancement' s Huperzine-A contained NO Huperzine-A and (obviously) received a Not Approved.
They reconfirmed our view that the latest research on soy derived phosphatidylserine (PS) shows no efficacy in humans. Previous postive results came from bovine derived PS."
Consumer Lab Testing - What is NOT in your Supplement? (relentless improvement vende productos).
Consumerlab.Com Examines Popular Supplements For Weight Loss, Slimming, and Blood Sugar Control - Finds Numerous Problems reporte de NPIcenter, el más completo menciona todos los suplementos probados.
miércoles, diciembre 21, 2005
El cerebro y su yo, libro de Joseph Knoll
"oseph Knoll" sería la traducción aproximada del titulo de un nuevo libro de Joseph Knoll, famoso por su desarrollo de la droga deprenyl (selegilina). Si alguien lo tiene me gustaría saber.
The Brain and Its Self
A Neurochemical Concept of the Innate and Acquired Drives
Knoll, Joseph
2005, XIV, 176 p. 24 illus., Hardcover
ISBN: 3-540-23969-3
Se pueden leer los indices y partes de capítulos en springer.com o el índice en formato HTML
The Brain and Its Self
A Neurochemical Concept of the Innate and Acquired Drives
Knoll, Joseph
2005, XIV, 176 p. 24 illus., Hardcover
ISBN: 3-540-23969-3
Se pueden leer los indices y partes de capítulos en springer.com o el índice en formato HTML
lunes, diciembre 19, 2005
NAUKI KOGNITYWNE - Marek Kasperski sitio polaco de ciencias cognitivas
"This page deals with cognitive science. I have made it thinking about polish readers. In my country this topic is a kind of novelty and is known to broader audience for about five years. This page is the largest undertaking of this kind in Poland. Its goal is to make clear everything about mind, brain and Artificial Intelligence. Naturally for all those who are hungry for this kind of knowledge. Unfortunately, English version of this page does not function yet. So, I let myself to present you headlines:"
http://www.kognitywistyka.net/a/english_version.htm
http://www.kognitywistyka.net/a/english_version.htm
domingo, diciembre 18, 2005
Revision de las propiedades farmacologicas del piracetam
Es interesante que haya estudios nuevos sobre el piracetam, aunque de este esté disponible sólo el abstract y parece que es una revisión de estudios anteriores.
CNS Drug Rev. 2005 Summer;11(2):169-82.
Piracetam: a review of pharmacological properties and clinical uses.
Winblad B.
Karolinska Institutet, Neurotec, Huddinge, University Hospital B 84, S-14186 Stockholm, Sweden.
Piracetam, a derivative of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), has a variety of physiological effects that may result, at least in part, from the restoration of cell membrane fluidity. At a neuronal level, piracetam modulates neurotransmission in a range of transmitter systems (including cholinergic and glutamatergic), has neuroprotective and anticonvulsant properties, and improves neuroplasticity. At a vascular level, it appears to reduce erythrocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium, hinder vasospasm, and facilitate microcirculation. This diverse range of physiological effects is consistent with its use in a range of clinical indications. Its efficacy is documented in cognitive disorders and dementia, vertigo, cortical myoclonus, dyslexia, and sickle cell anemia. While high doses are sometimes necessary, piracetam is well tolerated.
Publication Types:
Review
PMID: 16007238 [PubMed - in process]
CNS Drug Rev. 2005 Summer;11(2):169-82.
Piracetam: a review of pharmacological properties and clinical uses.
Winblad B.
Karolinska Institutet, Neurotec, Huddinge, University Hospital B 84, S-14186 Stockholm, Sweden.
Piracetam, a derivative of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), has a variety of physiological effects that may result, at least in part, from the restoration of cell membrane fluidity. At a neuronal level, piracetam modulates neurotransmission in a range of transmitter systems (including cholinergic and glutamatergic), has neuroprotective and anticonvulsant properties, and improves neuroplasticity. At a vascular level, it appears to reduce erythrocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium, hinder vasospasm, and facilitate microcirculation. This diverse range of physiological effects is consistent with its use in a range of clinical indications. Its efficacy is documented in cognitive disorders and dementia, vertigo, cortical myoclonus, dyslexia, and sickle cell anemia. While high doses are sometimes necessary, piracetam is well tolerated.
Publication Types:
Review
PMID: 16007238 [PubMed - in process]
sábado, diciembre 17, 2005
Interaccion calcio y magnesio
Me puse a ver un informe para médicos que tengo de hace tiempo que intenta explicarles por qué en el producto Berocca (creo que esto está en casi todo el mundo) le ponen calcio y magnesio juntos a pesar de que se sepa que se afectam mutuamente.
En una parte dice que: a nivel del sistema nervioso, el magnesio actúa como antagonista del calcio, al impedir la liberación excesiva de catecolaminas -tal como ocurre, por ejemplo, en situacionesde stress (Classen y Hirneth, 1987; Henrotte et. al., 1985 ;Henrotte, 1986; Iseri y French, 1984, Levine y Coburn 1984). A nivel de la sinapsis, una mayor concentración de magnesio inhibe la liberación de acetilcolina por medio del antagonismo del calcio (Goodman y Gilman, 1985).
En una parte dice que: a nivel del sistema nervioso, el magnesio actúa como antagonista del calcio, al impedir la liberación excesiva de catecolaminas -tal como ocurre, por ejemplo, en situacionesde stress (Classen y Hirneth, 1987; Henrotte et. al., 1985 ;Henrotte, 1986; Iseri y French, 1984, Levine y Coburn 1984). A nivel de la sinapsis, una mayor concentración de magnesio inhibe la liberación de acetilcolina por medio del antagonismo del calcio (Goodman y Gilman, 1985).
jueves, diciembre 15, 2005
La disciplina es mas importante que la inteligencia
Self-discipline matters more than IQ
An American study has found that a school pupil’s self-discipline is a stronger predictor of their future academic success than their IQ, leading researchers to conclude that self-discipline may be the “royal road” to building academic achievement.
In a first study, Angela Duckworth and [Martin Seligman](http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~seligman/) (Positive Psychology Centre, University of Pennsylvania) recruited 140 school children (average age 13 years) at the start of the academic year. In the Autumn, the children, their parents and teachers, all completed questionnaires about the children’s self-discipline. The measures asked things about the children’s ability to follow rules, to avoid acting impulsively, and to put off instant rewards for later gratification. Scores from the different measures were combined to create an overall indicator of self-discipline.
The researchers found self-discipline predicted all sorts of academic measures taken seven months later, including the children’s average grade for the academic year, their Spring exam result and their selection into High School.
A second study with 164 children (average age 13) followed a similar procedure but also involved the children taking an IQ test in the Autumn. Self-discipline again predicted later academic performance, as measured by their average grade for the year and their Spring exam result. Moreover, the researchers found that the children’s self-discipline scores accounted for twice as much of the variation in their later academic performance as their IQ did.
The researchers said “Underachievement among American youth is often blamed on inadequate teachers, boring textbooks, and large class sizes. We suggest another reason for students falling short of their intellectual potential: their failure to exercise self-discipline”.
__________________________________
Duckworth, A.L. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). [Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents](http://tinyurl.com/72uqk). Psychological Science, 16, 939-944.
Via: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2005/12/self-discipline-matters-more-than-iq.html)
Interesante leer los cometarios también.
jueves, diciembre 08, 2005
Para recuperar sueno hay que dormir mas temprano
Para recuperar sueño es mejor irse a dormir antes que quedarse más tiempo durmiendo, según un estudio, dado que esto último incrementa el desfase y hace más difícil volver a levantarse temprano.
"If you have been working long hours, the best way to recover from a sleep deficit is to go to bed earlier rather than sleeping in."
Wake Time Influences Circadian Clock More Than Bed Time
Yael Waknine
Medscape Medical News 2005.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/507491?rss
June 28, 2005 — A late wake time causes a significantly greater phase delay in the circadian rhythm than does a late bedtime, according to the results of a small prospective study presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Denver, Colorado.
"If you have been working long hours, the best way to recover from a sleep deficit is to go to bed earlier rather than sleeping in."
Wake Time Influences Circadian Clock More Than Bed Time
Yael Waknine
Medscape Medical News 2005.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/507491?rss
June 28, 2005 — A late wake time causes a significantly greater phase delay in the circadian rhythm than does a late bedtime, according to the results of a small prospective study presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Denver, Colorado.
lunes, diciembre 05, 2005
Los neurotransmisores, las hormonas y la memoria segun Braverman
Distintas funciones de los neurotransmisores en relación a la memoria. Resumen de neurotransmisor, función y suplementos que lo favorecen.
Dopamina: (aminoácido precursor: tirosina) estimula la memoria operativa. Cromo, rhodiola, tiamina. Levantamiento de pesas. Ajedrez.
Acetilcolina: (aminoácido precursor: fosfatidilserina, acetil-l-carnitina) estimula el acceso a la memoria y su velocidad y la memoria inmediata. Manganeso, hupericina, ácido lipoico. Escribir.
GABA: (aminoácido precursor: glutamina) ayuda a organizar la memoria especialmente la verbal. Inositol, vitaminas B, aminoácidos de cadena ramificada. Caminatas en la naturaleza. Meditación, cantar, rezar.
Serotonina: (aminoácido precursor: triptófano) ayuda a la memoria visual y la percepción. B6, Hipérico, aceites de pescado. Ejercicio aeróbico, meditación.
Incrementar el efecto del GABA (ej. clonazepam) permite bajar la ansiedad y así retener más información.
Incrementar la serotonina (ej. sertralina) puede permitir dormir bien y así recargar la función cognitiva del cerebro.
Las hormonas también afectan la memoria: hormona del crecimiento, vasopresina, DHEA, pregnenolona y en las mujeres: estrógenos y progesterona y en hombres testosterona.
El equilibrio se puede lograr mediante el uso de fármacos o la dieta (ej. los huevos contienen colina y glutamina que elevan la acetilcolina y el GABA respectivamente) o precursores (ej. aminoácidos). Los fármacos actúan más rápido pero considera ideal usarlos con precaución mientras se corrigen desequilibrios mediante otros recursos para lograr sostener el cambio a largo plazo.
Según el libro "The edge effect" de Dr. Braverman pág. 242-243
Se puede ver en http://books.google.com
Lo he puesto muy resumido y simplicficado (un poco como es el libro).
Braverman tiene un website en www.pathmed.com y hay un test para hacer gratis.
domingo, diciembre 04, 2005
Ejercicio contra el Alzheimer y otros males
El ejercicio aumenta la proteína megalina que expulsa del cerebro a la proteína beta amiloide que se acumula en el cerebro de los enfermos de Alzheimer's .
Beat Alzheimer's with exercise
Charlotte Schubert
Exercise helps to flush a toxic molecule from the brain and causes a
beneficial one to move in and protect nerve cells, research on mice shows.
The discovery might help to explain why staying fit and keeping mentally
active seem to fend off Alzheimer's disease in humans.
"Our experiments support the idea that exercise is a good approach to all
types of problems in the brain and that a sedentary lifestyle is a risk
factor," says Ignacio Torres-Aleman, who led the study at the Cajal
Institute in Madrid.
Torres-Aleman and his colleagues were intrigued by previous studies showing
that exercise slows mental decline in mice engineered to mimic Alzheimer's
disease. They set out to discover the reason.
They found that exercise doubled the levels of a protein that helps to
flush molecules thought to underlie Alzheimer's disease out of the mice's
brains and into their blood. The protein, called megalin, ejects a
potentially destructive protein called amyloid-beta. In Alzheimer's
patients, amyloid-beta accumulates in clumps throughout the brain.
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051128/full/051128-14.html
jueves, diciembre 01, 2005
How to read a paper
How to read a paper
Education and debate
[Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research) ](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7110/740)
Trisha Greenhalgh, Rod Taylor
[Papers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses)](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7109/672)
Trisha Greenhalgh
[Papers that tell you what things cost (economic analyses)](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7108/596)
Trisha Greenhalgh
[Papers that report diagnostic or screening tests](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7107/540)
Trisha Greenhalgh
[Papers that report drug trials](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7106/480)
Trisha Greenhalgh
[Statistics for the non-statistician. II: "Significant" relations and their pitfalls ](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7105/422)
Trisha Greenhalgh
[Statistics for the non-statistician](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7104/364)
Trisha Greenhalgh
[Assessing the methodological quality of published papers](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7103/305)
Trisha Greenhalgh
[Getting your bearings (deciding what the paper is about)](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7102/243)
Trisha Greenhalgh
[The Medline database ](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7101/180)
Trisha Greenhalgh
Via mindhacks.com
sábado, noviembre 26, 2005
vida media de los nutrientes
La vida media de ciertos nutrientes, especialmente los hidrosolubles (ADEK son las vitaminas liposulubles), es corta. Por vida media se entiende el tiempo que tarda una dada cantidad de una sustancia en reducirse su concrentración en el cuerpo a la mitad por procesos biológicos.
La vida media de la vitamina B1 es de 2.5 horas. Por lo tanto conviene distribuir las dosis en varias tomas en el día o usar fórmulas de liberación controlada.
"The half-lives of certain important nutrients, especially water-soluble ones, such as the B-vitamins, are relatively short. (Half-life is the time required for any given amount or concentration of a nutrient to decrease by half, through biological processes.)
For example, the half-life of oral thiamine (vitamin B1) is only about 2.5 hours.1 So if it’s advantageous to maintain high levels of this vitamin (in your liver, for example) and not to let down your safety shield, it’s advisable to take three, or preferably four, servings daily. Otherwise your body is left with less than optimal protection against free radicals and is thus more susceptible to disease. With regard to vitamin C, which also has a short half-life, Linus Pauling advocated taking it throughout the day in divided doses, which overcomes this problem.2
Tallaksen CM, Sande A, Bohmer T, Bell H, Karlsen J. Kinetics of thiamin and thiamin phosphate esters in human blood, plasma and urine after 50 mg intravenously or orally. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 1993;44(1):73-8.
Hickey S, Roberts H. Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C. Lulu Press, Inc., Napa, California, 2004."
life-enhancement.com
lunes, noviembre 14, 2005
Conferencia sobre extension de la vida en Atlanta
Se realizó la primera conferencia del Immortality Institute Life Extension Conference en Atlanta, GA el 5 de noviembre de 2005.
Hay una serie de trabajos que se pueden ver sobre temas que nos pueden interesar porque tienen que ver con la extensión de la vida, la biología, el cerebro, la inteligencia, etc.
La página principal es: http://www.imminst.org/conference/
There were a number of media and film teams covering the event. ImmInst has planned a DVD of the even to be available soon.
Pictures of the conference are found here:
http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=191&t=8443
Speakers power points (13) are found here:
http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?s=&act=SF&f=191
Randy Wicker(ImmInst Advisor) has some conference video here:
http://www.randywickerreporting.blogspot.com/
lunes, noviembre 07, 2005
BrainConnection.com - Tests Stress = Problems For Students
BrainConnection.com - Tests Stress = Problems For Students - Page 1: "
Tests Stress = Problems For Students
July 2000
by Daniel Edelstein
Anecdotal reports from educators, combined with a surge in prescriptions for such medications as Ritalin and Prozac, suggest that students are experiencing increased stress in the classroom. At the root of the problem, some researchers suggest, are schools that primarily rank students based on their test scores."
viernes, noviembre 04, 2005
Inhaladores y parches de nicotina
Hay formas de administración de nicotina que tienen muchos menos efectos perjudiciales que fumar. ¿Pero cuán segura es la nicotina?.
The New Brain Power from Philip Morris
Yep, it’s true. When nicotine-dependent human subjects abstain from cigarette smoking, they exhibit a decline in working memory. [Biological Psychiatry 58: 143-50, 2005] In fact, how are we going to tell the public, after all the years of saying nicotine in cigarettes is potentially harmful, that nicotine is maybe the best memory enhancing brain stimulant available. Nicotine skin patches could actually be used to enhance memory, or even treat Alzheimer’s disease. Nicotine skin patches even improve attention function among people with Attention Deficit Disorder! Better yet, nicotine is safe. [Current Drug Targets CNS Neurological Disorders 4: 423-31, 2002]
Get this, nicotine-treated mice develop less beta amyloid plaque in their brain than sugar-fed animals. Researchers in Sweden say nicotine drug treatment may be a novel protective therapy in Alzheimer's disease. [J Neurochemistry 81:655-8, 2002]
Here is where Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, comes in. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, “Philip Morris has developed an inhaler that could deliver a nicotine mist deep into the lungs, giving smokers a satisfying dose of the addictive drug without the carcinogens, gases and toxic metals that make tobacco smoke so dangerous.”
Ver nota completa en knowledgeofhealth.com
miércoles, octubre 26, 2005
Crean compuestos que pasan la barrera hematoencefalica
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/slu-arr102505.php
Alcoholism research reveals promising new approach to treating Alzheimer's
disease
ST. LOUIS -- Saint Louis University research shows a new class of drugs may
hold promise in treating brain chemical problems such as Alzheimer's
disease, says the principal investigator of research published in an early
on-line version of Peptides.
"We found that we can develop antisense which is a molecular compound
to cross the blood brain barrier enough to alter brain function. This can
have a profound effect on treating diseases that occur because there is too
much or too little of a certain kind of protein in the brain," says William
A. Banks, M.D., professor of geriatrics and pharmacological and
physiological sciences at Saint Louis University and principal investigator.
"The blood brain barrier is the Holy Grail it's the most difficult tissue
to pass through." The article will run in the April print issue of Peptides.
Antisense molecules are very specific compounds that scientists can create
to plug into genetic pathways and block certain genes from producing
harmful proteins.
Many scientists believe that overproduction of the amyloid beta protein in
the brain causes Alzheimer's disease. Previous Saint Louis University
research has found that scientists can develop antisense to cross the blood
brain barrier and lower levels of amyloid beta protein in mice.
sábado, octubre 22, 2005
El aceite de lino aumenta el riesgo de cancer de prostata y el de pescado lo baja
En fin... siempre cosas contradictorias. Como mandé el oro mando esto.
Flax Seed Oil Actually Increases Prostate Cancer While Fish Oil Decreases It
A recent study of about 47,000 men has found the ALA omega-3 fatty acids stimulate the growth of prostate tumors in men. Of the men monitored over 14 years, some 3,000 struggled with prostate cancer and about one in seven were suffering from the advanced stages of the disease.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition July 2004 80(1);204-216
http://www.mercola.com/2004/jul/21/flax_seed_oil.htm
viernes, octubre 21, 2005
El aceite de lino incrementa el EPA
Este estudio es interesante porque muchas veces se dice que no es muy seguro que los aceites Omega 3 se conviertan adecuadamente en EPA (que está presente en los aceites de pescado junto con DHA y que es bueno para las arterias y el cerebro).
Eur J Clin Nutr. 1995 Mar;49(3):169-78.
Supplementation with flaxseed oil versus sunflowerseed oil in healthy young men consuming a low fat diet: effects on platelet composition and function.
Allman MA, Pena MM, Pang D.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Sydney, Australia.
...
The platelet eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) more than doubled in the group taking flaxseed oil
...
This study provides further evidence that consumption of alpha-linolenic acid-rich oils may offer protective effects against cardiovascular disease over linoleic acid-rich oils via their ability to decrease the tendency of platelets to aggregate.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7774533&dopt=Abstract
jueves, octubre 20, 2005
Denuncian vinculos economicos entre laboratorios y medicos
SALUD : INVESTIGACION DE LA REVISTA BRITANICA "NATURE"
Denuncian vínculos económicos entre laboratorios y médicos
Un estudio a nivel mundial señala que muchos profesionales que elaboran las guías para recomendar la prescripción de medicamentos reciben algún tipo de honorario. Dicen que eso atenta contra los pacientes.
Valeria Román.
Las asociaciones de médicos se reúnen, debaten y difunden lineamientos generales sobre cuáles son los tratamientos adecuados para cada enfermo. Se supone que la selección de fármacos sólo está orientada a salvar a los pacientes. Y que deja de lado cualquier interés comercial. Sin embargo, un estudio realizado por la revista británica Nature revela que no hay imparcialidad en gran parte de los paneles que aconsejan fármacos.
Incluso, se dio a conocer que hay integrantes de los mismos paneles médicos que directamente tienen acciones en las empresas que producen los fármacos. Es decir, según la revista británica, los "investigadores y médicos que escriben las normas para prescribir fármacos tienen amplias conexiones financieras con la industria farmacéutica".
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/10/20/sociedad/s-03201.htm
martes, octubre 18, 2005
Healthy Head - Newsweek Health - MSNBC.com
Healthy Head - Newsweek Health - MSNBC.com : "Amen's latest book, 'Making a Good Brain Great,' published this month by Harmony (a division of Random House), is based partly on research that uses brain-imaging technology, called SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) scans, to help pinpoint problems in the brain. Patients at his clinics are injected with an extremely low dose of radioactive material. Then a technician uses a special nuclear medicine camera, which records the distribution of the radioactive material in the brain, to take a picture that reveals brain activity and blood flow. Some of the images have been reprinted in the book to show where and how Alzheimer's, drugs and disorders can affect the brain. When compared to a scan of a healthy brain, the difference is noticeable.
The good news, says Amen, is that before and after scans have also shown that brains can actually change with medication, behavioral therapy or a better diet and exercise. NEWSWEEK's Jennifer Barrett spoke with Amen about ways to improve our brain function. Excerpts:"
The good news, says Amen, is that before and after scans have also shown that brains can actually change with medication, behavioral therapy or a better diet and exercise. NEWSWEEK's Jennifer Barrett spoke with Amen about ways to improve our brain function. Excerpts:"
martes, octubre 11, 2005
El lino como fuente de Omega 3 y su consumo adecuado
Como ya se sabe las semillas y el aceite de lino es una buena fuente de acidos grasos omega 3 (linolenico). Las semillas de lino contienen algunos compuestos que no son saludables si no se consumen con cuidado. En el sitio Flax Council of Canada hay muy buena informacion de la que extractamos lo siguiente:
Linaza - Una Recopilacion sobre sus Efectos en la Salud y Nutricion
por Diane H. Morris, PhD, RD
Las semillas enteras de linaza pueden ser almacenadas a temperatura
ambiente por al menos un año. Por otro lado, la linaza molida puede
ser almacenada a temperatura ambiente por al menos cuatro meses
El almacenaje de la linaza entera ó molida en el
refrigerador ó congelador, prolonga su frescura.
la linaza molida es estable
cuando se almacena a temperatura ambiente y se mantiene fresca por varios
meses, debido principalmente a su contenido de lignanos. Los lignanos son
antioxidantes poderosos que pueden proteger de la oxidación a las grasas
poliinsaturadas de la linaza. De hecho, la acción antioxidante del
secoisolariciresinol y el enterodiol es más fuerte que la de la vitamina E
El ácido alfa-linolénico (AAL) puede resistir las temperaturas del
horneado. Un estudio comprobó que el calentamiento de linaza entera y
linaza molida a 100°C ó 350°C por 60 minutos tenía un efecto muy bajo
en la composición de sus ácidos grasos ó su oxidación.
25 gramos (equivalente a dos cucharadas) de linaza molida
las semillas enteras de linaza deben ser masticadas repetidamente
para remover la cubierta de la semilla y asegurar la digestión de los
nutrientes que radican en su interior.
un adulto puede alcanzar el consumo adecuado de AAL comiendo
alrededor de 1 cuchda. de linaza molida al día.
El consumo de cantidades moderadas de linaza (por ej. 1 a 2
cuchdas.) diariamente, no debe representar riesgo alguno a la salud de
los Norteamericanos que tienen un consumo adecuado de proteínas y
yodo.
la linaza contiene algunos compuestos que influencian la
absorción de los nutrientes en el cuerpo ó cuyos beneficios para la
salud se encuentran actualmente bajo estudio. Este capítulo describe el
papel de estos compuestos en la nutrición humana y algunas reacciones
alérgicas a la linaza.
Glucósidos Cianógenos
Los glucósidos cianógenos son un grupo de substancias naturales que
se encuentran en las plantas que liberan cianuro, un compuesto que es
venenoso cuando es degradado por las enzimas ó ácidos orgánico
Por otra parte, el consumo de productos horneados con linaza parece
tener un efecto mínimo en los niveles de tiocinatos urinarios.
El lino como fuente de Omega 3 y su consumo adecuado
Como ya se sabe las semillas y el aceite de lino es una buena fuente de acidos grasos omega 3 (linolenico). Las semillas de lino contienen algunos compuestos que no son saludables si no se consumen con cuidado. En el sitio Flax Council of Canada hay muy buena informacion de la que extractamos lo siguiente:
Linaza - Una Recopilacion sobre sus Efectos en la Salud y Nutricion
por Diane H. Morris, PhD, RD
Las semillas enteras de linaza pueden ser almacenadas a temperatura
ambiente por al menos un año. Por otro lado, la linaza molida puede
ser almacenada a temperatura ambiente por al menos cuatro meses
El almacenaje de la linaza entera ó molida en el
refrigerador ó congelador, prolonga su frescura.
la linaza molida es estable
cuando se almacena a temperatura ambiente y se mantiene fresca por varios
meses, debido principalmente a su contenido de lignanos. Los lignanos son
antioxidantes poderosos que pueden proteger de la oxidación a las grasas
poliinsaturadas de la linaza. De hecho, la acción antioxidante del
secoisolariciresinol y el enterodiol es más fuerte que la de la vitamina E
El ácido alfa-linolénico (AAL) puede resistir las temperaturas del
horneado. Un estudio comprobó que el calentamiento de linaza entera y
linaza molida a 100°C ó 350°C por 60 minutos tenía un efecto muy bajo
en la composición de sus ácidos grasos ó su oxidación.
25 gramos (equivalente a dos cucharadas) de linaza molida
las semillas enteras de linaza deben ser masticadas repetidamente
para remover la cubierta de la semilla y asegurar la digestión de los
nutrientes que radican en su interior.
un adulto puede alcanzar el consumo adecuado de AAL comiendo
alrededor de 1 cuchda. de linaza molida al día.
El consumo de cantidades moderadas de linaza (por ej. 1 a 2
cuchdas.) diariamente, no debe representar riesgo alguno a la salud de
los Norteamericanos que tienen un consumo adecuado de proteínas y
yodo.
la linaza contiene algunos compuestos que influencian la
absorción de los nutrientes en el cuerpo ó cuyos beneficios para la
salud se encuentran actualmente bajo estudio. Este capítulo describe el
papel de estos compuestos en la nutrición humana y algunas reacciones
alérgicas a la linaza.
Glucósidos Cianógenos
Los glucósidos cianógenos son un grupo de substancias naturales que
se encuentran en las plantas que liberan cianuro, un compuesto que es
venenoso cuando es degradado por las enzimas ó ácidos orgánico
Por otra parte, el consumo de productos horneados con linaza parece
tener un efecto mínimo en los niveles de tiocinatos urinarios.
jueves, octubre 06, 2005
Mecanismos de la arterioesclerosis
Una nota en www.lef.org explicativa de los mecanismos de la arterioesclerosis, a pesar de que al final promueve ciertos productos comerciales.
Preserving and Restoring Brain Function
Preserving and Restoring Brain Function
By Dale Kiefer
Una nota en www.lef.org
Recomiendan:
GPC Benefits Brain Health
Glycerophosphocholine, or GPC (formerly called L-alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine, or choline alfocerate)
Ashwagandha and the Brain
Ashwagandha is a medicinal plant used in India to treat a wide range of age-related disorders.53-63 Its most remarkable effect may involve its ability to preserve the health of the aging brain.
Phosphatidylserine Maintains Brain Cell Membranes
Phosphatidylserine, a natural and integral component of every cell membrane, is a powerful weapon in the fight against brain aging.
Grape Seed Counters Brain Cell Aging
Wine has always been popular, but its health benefits are now the subject of intense scientific scrutiny. Wine is an excellent source of beneficial polyphenol compounds. For those unwilling or unable to imbibe regularly, the remarkable benefits of grape polyphenols are available through grape seed extracts.
Vinpocetine Enhances Brain Circulation
Vinpocetine is a semi-synthetic derivative of the periwinkle (Vinca minor) plant. Developed more than three decades ago, vinpocetine has been hailed as an important neuroprotective agent with several key mechanisms of action.
Pregnenolone Promotes Nerve Growth
Pregnenolone is a powerful natural hormone that is synthesized directly from cholesterol in the mitochondria, the "power plants" contained in all human cells. Pregnenolone for supplemental use is derived from a compound that occurs naturally in wild yams.
Ginger and Rosemary: Natural Anti-inflammatories
The next time you need relief from pain or inflammation, consider heading for the spice rack rather than the medicine cabinet. Some of nature´s most potent anti-inflammatories are found in ginger and rosemary.
miércoles, septiembre 28, 2005
Proponen que hubo un cerebro primigenio comun
Mother of All Brains Probed
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
All brains originated from a single common ancestral brain that emerged
at least 700 million years ago, according to a recent analysis of brain
studies from the past decade.
The finding suggests this mother brain for all creatures with a central
nervous system such as insects, birds, animals and humans evolved only
once before each species underwent its own evolutionary course.
"What we see today in humans, insects and all other multicellular animals
with a central nervous system are probably just variations of one ancient
scheme," said Rudi Loesel, who conducted the analysis.
Loesel, a scientist in the Department of Developmental Biology and
Morphology of Animals at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, added, "What
this ancestral brain looked like, we do not know. Its architecture might
have been very simple, but the basic genetic mechanisms and the principal
chemical setup was already there (before 700 million years ago)."
The researchers don't know what the creature that contained the mother of
all brains looked like. Some scientists speculate that it could have been a
segmented flatworm, while others think it was a more complex creature.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050926/brain.html
domingo, septiembre 25, 2005
Proporcion entre vitaminas C y E
Also of great importance as an antioxidant is vitamin E, which ideally should be taken along with vitamin C in a ratio of roughly 1 part E for every 3 1/2 parts C. In long-lived wildlife, the ratios of these two antioxidants are typically found to be between 1:4 and 1:6. However, most animals have very low body fat—roughly 2–4%, which is far lower than that of humans. Hence the recommended ratio of 1:3 1/2. (It’s interesting to note that vitamin E and ascorbyl palmitate together constitute a good system for protecting foods from oxidation.)
life-enhancement.com
life-enhancement.com
viernes, septiembre 23, 2005
Polemico: afirma que el stress no incrementa la necesidad de vitaminas
drmirkin.com:
September 18, 2005
Stress Does Not Increase Need for Vitamins
Several years ago a major drug company claimed that its vitamin pills helped to relieve stress from the "complications of everyday life" and gave their products names such as "StressTabs." The New York Attorney General forced them to stop their deceptive advertising, but many people still remember and believe this claim. There is no evidence that stress increases your needs for vitamins or that taking vitamins will help you handle stress. When you eat vitamins in pills or in your food, they go into your bloodstream and then into cells. They function by combining with other chemicals in cells called apoenzymes, to form complete enzymes that cause reactions to proceed in your body. All chemical reactions in your body require enzymes to make them go, and that is why vitamins are essential. For example, all of the B vitamins form enzymes that convert food to energy. But since enzymes only start chemical reactions and are not used up by them, they can be used over and over again and only minuscule amounts are needed from your diet.
In the 1930's, Hans Selye of McGill University in Montreal reported that the adrenal glands contain the highest concentration in the body of vitamin C. The adrenal glands make cortisol from vitamin C. When a person is under stress, the adrenal glands make tremendous amounts of cortisol and the concentration of vitamin C in them drops. However, scientists have known for more than forty years that the levels of vitamin C in the adrenal glands are still high enough to continue to produce cortisol and that giving extra vitamin C will not increase production of cortisol. So the myth that vitamins treat stress is based on a misinterpretation of one study on one vitamin, and that research did not show that taking extra vitamins prevents stress."
Several years ago a major drug company claimed that its vitamin pills helped to relieve stress from the 'complications of everyday life' and gave their products names such as 'StressTabs.' The New York Attorney General forced them to stop their deceptive advertising, but many people still remember and believe this claim. There is no evidence that stress increases your needs for vitamins or that taking vitamins will help you handle stress. When you eat vitamins in pills or in your food, they go into your bloodstream and then into cells. They function by combining with other chemicals in cells called apoenzymes, to form complete enzymes that cause reactions to proceed in your body. All chemical reactions in your body require enzymes to make them go, and that is why vitamins are essential. For example, all of the B vitamins form enzymes that convert food to energy. But since enzymes only start chemical reactions and are not used up by them, they can be used over and over again and only minuscule amounts are needed from your diet.
In the 1930's, Hans Selye of McGill University in Montreal reported that the adrenal glands contain the highest concentration in the body of vitamin C. The adrenal glands make cortisol from vitamin C. When a person is under stress, the adrenal glands make tremendous amounts of cortisol and the concentration of vitamin C in them drops. However, scientists have known for more than forty years that the levels of vitamin C in the adrenal glands are still high enough to continue to produce cortisol and that giving extra vitamin C will not increase production of cortisol. So the myth that vitamins treat stress is based on a misinterpretation of one study on one vitamin, and that research did not show that taking extra vitamins prevents stress."
September 18, 2005
Stress Does Not Increase Need for Vitamins
Several years ago a major drug company claimed that its vitamin pills helped to relieve stress from the "complications of everyday life" and gave their products names such as "StressTabs." The New York Attorney General forced them to stop their deceptive advertising, but many people still remember and believe this claim. There is no evidence that stress increases your needs for vitamins or that taking vitamins will help you handle stress. When you eat vitamins in pills or in your food, they go into your bloodstream and then into cells. They function by combining with other chemicals in cells called apoenzymes, to form complete enzymes that cause reactions to proceed in your body. All chemical reactions in your body require enzymes to make them go, and that is why vitamins are essential. For example, all of the B vitamins form enzymes that convert food to energy. But since enzymes only start chemical reactions and are not used up by them, they can be used over and over again and only minuscule amounts are needed from your diet.
In the 1930's, Hans Selye of McGill University in Montreal reported that the adrenal glands contain the highest concentration in the body of vitamin C. The adrenal glands make cortisol from vitamin C. When a person is under stress, the adrenal glands make tremendous amounts of cortisol and the concentration of vitamin C in them drops. However, scientists have known for more than forty years that the levels of vitamin C in the adrenal glands are still high enough to continue to produce cortisol and that giving extra vitamin C will not increase production of cortisol. So the myth that vitamins treat stress is based on a misinterpretation of one study on one vitamin, and that research did not show that taking extra vitamins prevents stress."
Several years ago a major drug company claimed that its vitamin pills helped to relieve stress from the 'complications of everyday life' and gave their products names such as 'StressTabs.' The New York Attorney General forced them to stop their deceptive advertising, but many people still remember and believe this claim. There is no evidence that stress increases your needs for vitamins or that taking vitamins will help you handle stress. When you eat vitamins in pills or in your food, they go into your bloodstream and then into cells. They function by combining with other chemicals in cells called apoenzymes, to form complete enzymes that cause reactions to proceed in your body. All chemical reactions in your body require enzymes to make them go, and that is why vitamins are essential. For example, all of the B vitamins form enzymes that convert food to energy. But since enzymes only start chemical reactions and are not used up by them, they can be used over and over again and only minuscule amounts are needed from your diet.
In the 1930's, Hans Selye of McGill University in Montreal reported that the adrenal glands contain the highest concentration in the body of vitamin C. The adrenal glands make cortisol from vitamin C. When a person is under stress, the adrenal glands make tremendous amounts of cortisol and the concentration of vitamin C in them drops. However, scientists have known for more than forty years that the levels of vitamin C in the adrenal glands are still high enough to continue to produce cortisol and that giving extra vitamin C will not increase production of cortisol. So the myth that vitamins treat stress is based on a misinterpretation of one study on one vitamin, and that research did not show that taking extra vitamins prevents stress."
Articulo en SciAm Mind sobre los nootropicos y sobre la conciencia
SciAm Mind: 'Smart drugs' and consciousness:
The new edition of [Scientific American Mind](http://www.sciammind.com/) has hit the shelves and two articles are freely available online: one on '[smart drugs](http://www.sciammind.com/article.cfm?articleID=0000E503-E27C-1329-A27C83414B7F0000)' and the other on the problem of [consciousness](http://www.sciammind.com/article.cfm?articleID=00019F6C-E9EC-1329-A41C83414B7F0000).
The article on 'smart drugs' or 'cognitive enhancers' is by neuroscientist [Michael Gazzaniga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gazzaniga) - most renowned for his work on [split-brain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain) patients.
Gazzaniga examines the ethical implications of having a society cranked-up on pharmaceutical brain enhancers, and looks at the science behind some of the most recent developments in the field.
He makes one particularly interesting point in relation to the relatively developed field of memory enhancing drugs, which have the potential to make the important process of forgetting more difficult:
For a society that spends significant time and money trying to be liberated from past experiences and memories, the arrival of new memory enhancers has a certain irony. Why do people drink, smoke marijuana and engage in other activities that cause them to take leave of their senses? Why are psychiatry offices full of patients with unhappy memories they would like to lose? And why do victims of horrendous emotional events such as trauma, abuse or stressful relationships suffer from their vivid recollections? A pill that enhances memory may lead to a whole new set of disorders.
The article on consciousness is by [Christof Koch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christof_Koch), who highlights recent research which has looked for the '[neural correlates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_correlate_of_consciousness) of consciousness' - i.e. which parts of the brain are active when conscious experience is known to occur.
This is a common but controversial approach to understanding consciousness, and one that has been championed by Koch in his own work.
Additional articles that appear in the print edition only include a discussion of the developing mind of infants and what it could tell us about the differences between men and women, the psychology of child-parent interaction and how it is understood (or misunderstood) by the courts, plus an exploration of synaesthesia.
[Link](http://www.sciammind.com/) to Scientific American Mind.
—[Vaughan](http://tinyurl.com/6udmu).
En http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2005/09/sciam_mind_smart_d.html
jueves, septiembre 22, 2005
Ejercicio y te verde contra el Alzheimer
Research Suggests Simple Behavior Changes Can Ward Off Alzheimer's
NewsMax.com
Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005
<http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/9/21/173254.shtml>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/9/21/173254.shtml
Exciting news in the battle against Alzheimer's disease appears in the current issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
Animal studies strongly suggest that simple changes in diet and behavior – namely, drinking tea and exercising daily - can slow or even halt the onset of the memory-robbing brain disease.
Después de tanto leer sobre este tema me parece que el ejercicio sigue siendo lo mejor y más importante.
domingo, septiembre 18, 2005
Contenido de Omega 3 y 6 de aceites, frutos secos y semillas
Omega-3, Omega-6 in Oils Nuts Seeds. Essential Fatty Acids
Buenas tablas.
Las nueces parecen mejores de los frutos secos:
Omega-3s (100g) (g) Omega-6s (100g) (g)
Walnuts 5.5 Walnuts 28
y de las semillas las de lino:
Omega-3s (100g) (g) Omega-6s (100g) (g)
Flax / Linseeds 15-25 Flax / Linseeds 6
Por lo tanto dado que son mucho más baratas y contienen más Omega 3 que 6, !a comer semillas de lino!.
El problema es que son duras y feas de gusto por lo que recomiendo molerlasun poco y mezclar con un poco de otras.
Buenas tablas.
Las nueces parecen mejores de los frutos secos:
Omega-3s (100g) (g) Omega-6s (100g) (g)
Walnuts 5.5 Walnuts 28
y de las semillas las de lino:
Omega-3s (100g) (g) Omega-6s (100g) (g)
Flax / Linseeds 15-25 Flax / Linseeds 6
Por lo tanto dado que son mucho más baratas y contienen más Omega 3 que 6, !a comer semillas de lino!.
El problema es que son duras y feas de gusto por lo que recomiendo molerlasun poco y mezclar con un poco de otras.
viernes, septiembre 16, 2005
Cuando estamos mas alertas?
When Are You Most Alert?: Corante > Brain Waves > : "When Are You Most Alert?
Posted by Zack
People reach their peak of alertness between 6pm and 7pm according to [Circadian Technologies](http://www.circadian.com/). From an evolutionary perspective, this time of day, early evening, was most likely spent securing the hearth for a safe night's sleep. Human alertness also rises at dawn or early morning. While a [CMO magazine](http://www.cmomagazine.com/) piece warns employers that trying to mess with this natural cycle won't get them very far, emerging neurotechnologies from companies like [Cortex Pharmaceuticals](http://www.cortexpharm.com/main.html) are making are making headway on improving alertness and attention.
Located in Irvine, California, Cortex is a neuroscience company focused on novel drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The company is pioneering a new class of proprietary pharmaceuticals called [AMPAKINE](http://www.cortexpharm.com/html/research/index.html) compounds, which act to increase the strength of signals at connections between brain cells. The loss of these connections is thought to be responsible for memory and behavior problems in [Alzheimer's disease](http://www.cortexpharm.com/html/research/index.html). Many psychiatric diseases, including schizophrenia, occur as a result of imbalances in the brain's neurotransmitter system. These imbalances may be improved by using the AMPAKINE technology.
A recently completed clinical study with AMPAKINE compounds in patients with schizophrenia indicated improvement in a number of symptoms also common to patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ('ADHD''). The US Department of Defense is also studying the use of these compounds to improve alertness in air force pilots and infantry."
Posted by Zack
People reach their peak of alertness between 6pm and 7pm according to [Circadian Technologies](http://www.circadian.com/). From an evolutionary perspective, this time of day, early evening, was most likely spent securing the hearth for a safe night's sleep. Human alertness also rises at dawn or early morning. While a [CMO magazine](http://www.cmomagazine.com/) piece warns employers that trying to mess with this natural cycle won't get them very far, emerging neurotechnologies from companies like [Cortex Pharmaceuticals](http://www.cortexpharm.com/main.html) are making are making headway on improving alertness and attention.
Located in Irvine, California, Cortex is a neuroscience company focused on novel drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The company is pioneering a new class of proprietary pharmaceuticals called [AMPAKINE](http://www.cortexpharm.com/html/research/index.html) compounds, which act to increase the strength of signals at connections between brain cells. The loss of these connections is thought to be responsible for memory and behavior problems in [Alzheimer's disease](http://www.cortexpharm.com/html/research/index.html). Many psychiatric diseases, including schizophrenia, occur as a result of imbalances in the brain's neurotransmitter system. These imbalances may be improved by using the AMPAKINE technology.
A recently completed clinical study with AMPAKINE compounds in patients with schizophrenia indicated improvement in a number of symptoms also common to patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ('ADHD''). The US Department of Defense is also studying the use of these compounds to improve alertness in air force pilots and infantry."
martes, septiembre 13, 2005
Freud y su adiccion a la cocaina y al tabaco
No se puede minimizar inocentemente las profundas alteraciones asociativas, cognitivas y emocionales que la ingesta de una alta dosis permanente -como en el caso de Freud- puede provocar en una persona sensible a la sustancia adictiva. Más aun si está potenciada por el abuso de tabaco en enormes cigarros con los que el creador del psicoanálisis aparece en muchas fotos.
Todo esto abre una interesante perspectiva antropológica que une las plantas usadas por los chamanes incaicos desde tiempos inmemoriales y las técnicas y las construcciones teóricas del psicoanálisis, muchas de las cuales fueron, al menos, facilitadas por el uso frecuente que hizo Freud en los años liminares de la construcción del edificio teórico de la Psicología del inconsciente. ¿Cuánto le deben a la cocaína la técnica de la libre asociación y las Topologías del Aparato Psíquico?, ¿cómo ayudó a abrir las primeras puertas de exploración del Inconsciente esta sustancia que fue, y es usada aun hoy día, medicinalmente por los sabios indígenas que vivían en las zonas de Perú, Colombia, Bolivia y el Norte Argentino?
Sabido es que la coca (Erithroxylon coca) se dirige fundamental al lóbulo frontal e influye directamente sobre todo el sistema nervioso, la sensación de hambre, cansancio, fatiga (para eso la usaban también los chasquis incaicos), produciendo una extraña lucidez en la asociación de las ideas y afecta rápidamente al corazón, acelerando el latido cardiaco, facilitando el impulso nervioso que hace circular la sangre y llegando a producir muertes por paro cardio-respiratorio, justamente a partir de ese motivo. Desde épocas remotas y todavía en este siglo, las hojas de Coca son usadas en todos los rituales religiosos de la zonas mencionadas por los chamanes indígenas, quienes en verdad descubrieron sus usos medicinales de la planta de la cual se extrae, a través de un proceso verdaderamente alquímico, el poderoso “oro blanco”. Su uso no era sólo sacrificial y como ofrenda, ese es su aspecto degradado y menos importante que subsiste hoy en día. En verdad los sacerdotes y chamanes ingerían la sustancia, como cualquier antropólogo nos puede informar, para lograr estados de trance que les permitiera una comunicación más directa, una comunicación sin trabas con los Dioses y Demonios que regulaban sus creencias.
Polémica e interesante nota para leer en:
http://www.sexovida.com/psicologia/freud5.htm
domingo, septiembre 04, 2005
Crean nanoparticulas que, introducidas en la sangre, reparan las neuronas
Crean nanopart�culas que, introducidas en la sangre, reparan las neuronas: "Crean nanopart�culas que, introducidas en la sangre, reparan las neuronas
Cient�ficos norteramericanos y japoneses abren una nueva era en el tratamiento de las enfermedades neurol�gicas
La nanotecnolog�a ha dado un significativo paso en sus aplicaciones m�dicas despu�s de que un equipo nipo-norteamericano desarrollara nanotubos de platino, 100 veces m�s delgados que el cabello humano, que pueden introducirse en las venas y permitir a los m�dicos intervenir en el cerebro de una persona. Estos nanocaptores permitir�n asimismo un mayor conocimiento de las interacciones entre neuronas, as� como abrir�n el camino a nuevas terapias para el tratamiento de enfermedades neurol�gicas y tumores cerebrales. La nanotecnolog�a promete mejorar asimismo la detecci�n precoz del c�ncer y el suministro de medicamentos desde dentro del organismo. A m�s largo plazo, nanom�quinas pueden recorrer nuestro cuerpo limpiando las arterias, regulando los niveles de az�car, colesterol u hormonas o apoyando al sistema inmunol�gico. Incluso podr�a llegar a conseguir la inmortalidad si, como prev�n algunos expertos, se descubren nanodispositivos que puedan modificar la estructura gen�tica y celular del ser humano. Por Eduardo Mart�nez."
Cient�ficos norteramericanos y japoneses abren una nueva era en el tratamiento de las enfermedades neurol�gicas
La nanotecnolog�a ha dado un significativo paso en sus aplicaciones m�dicas despu�s de que un equipo nipo-norteamericano desarrollara nanotubos de platino, 100 veces m�s delgados que el cabello humano, que pueden introducirse en las venas y permitir a los m�dicos intervenir en el cerebro de una persona. Estos nanocaptores permitir�n asimismo un mayor conocimiento de las interacciones entre neuronas, as� como abrir�n el camino a nuevas terapias para el tratamiento de enfermedades neurol�gicas y tumores cerebrales. La nanotecnolog�a promete mejorar asimismo la detecci�n precoz del c�ncer y el suministro de medicamentos desde dentro del organismo. A m�s largo plazo, nanom�quinas pueden recorrer nuestro cuerpo limpiando las arterias, regulando los niveles de az�car, colesterol u hormonas o apoyando al sistema inmunol�gico. Incluso podr�a llegar a conseguir la inmortalidad si, como prev�n algunos expertos, se descubren nanodispositivos que puedan modificar la estructura gen�tica y celular del ser humano. Por Eduardo Mart�nez."
miércoles, agosto 31, 2005
Crean el primer test argentino de inteligencia para bebes
Crean el primer test argentino de inteligencia para beb�s: "SALUD : ESPECIALISTAS DEL CONICET
Crean el primer test argentino de inteligencia para beb�s
Eval�a la inteligencia global de chicos de entre 6 y 24 meses. Permite detectar en forma precoz retrasos o alteraciones cognoscitivas. Seg�n los especialistas, hay retrasos reversibles con la debida estimulaci�n."
Crean el primer test argentino de inteligencia para beb�s
Eval�a la inteligencia global de chicos de entre 6 y 24 meses. Permite detectar en forma precoz retrasos o alteraciones cognoscitivas. Seg�n los especialistas, hay retrasos reversibles con la debida estimulaci�n."
martes, agosto 30, 2005
Mis recomendaciones para Blogday 2005
La propuesta de Blogday es comentar cinco weblogs nuevos.
No me parece muy original ni muy revolucionario, ni siquera útil, pero me voy a sumar, así que aquí van los míos, aunque algunos no son tan nuevos para mí sí creo que lo serán para ustedes, si es que alguien lee esto, cosa que dudo mucho.
No están en orden de ningún mérito ni nada.
Loxosceles
Beth es una chicha muy interesante, se dedica a la bioinformática y es muy adepta al soft libre. A su weblog lo nombró como a una especie de araña. Tiene una serie de links interesantes y el blog me gusta por diseño, porque lo hizo ella misma, etc. Me da la impresión de una persona inteligente y para los que no creen que las mujeres son racionales, pues acá tienen. Es curioso que el prejuicio masculino diga que las mujeres no tienen mentalidad científica o técnica siendo que hay tantas estudiantes de matemática. E fin larga la discusión, mejor disfrutar de su blog. La admiro en cierta forma. (USA)
Mixing Memory
Este sí es más nuevo y es un blog sobre ciencia cognitiva muy interesante y que incluso tiene un grupo de discusión en Yahoogroups sobre un libro que han elegido comentar. (USA).
neurodudes.com at the intersection of neuroscience and AI. Sobre neurociencias e inteligencia articifial. Buenos links a la derecha. (USA)
How to save the world Dave Pollard's environmental philosophy, creative works, business papers and essays. ¿Pretencioso el título eh?. Pero es muy bueno por los temas. (Canadá)
Cool tools por Kevin Kelly. Cool tools really work. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. Es uno de una serie de blogs que han salido que tienen recomendaciones de productos que realmente sirven, son ecológicos e interesantes. Puse este porque es uno de los que no parece sólo un pretexto para publicidad. (USA)
Si tuviera tiempo y recursos hubiera sido lindo hacer algo con Google maps y las localizaciones de estos weblogs.
Si quieren saber más sobre Blogday2005:
http://www.blogday.org
BlogDay2005
No me parece muy original ni muy revolucionario, ni siquera útil, pero me voy a sumar, así que aquí van los míos, aunque algunos no son tan nuevos para mí sí creo que lo serán para ustedes, si es que alguien lee esto, cosa que dudo mucho.
No están en orden de ningún mérito ni nada.
Loxosceles
Beth es una chicha muy interesante, se dedica a la bioinformática y es muy adepta al soft libre. A su weblog lo nombró como a una especie de araña. Tiene una serie de links interesantes y el blog me gusta por diseño, porque lo hizo ella misma, etc. Me da la impresión de una persona inteligente y para los que no creen que las mujeres son racionales, pues acá tienen. Es curioso que el prejuicio masculino diga que las mujeres no tienen mentalidad científica o técnica siendo que hay tantas estudiantes de matemática. E fin larga la discusión, mejor disfrutar de su blog. La admiro en cierta forma. (USA)
Mixing Memory
Este sí es más nuevo y es un blog sobre ciencia cognitiva muy interesante y que incluso tiene un grupo de discusión en Yahoogroups sobre un libro que han elegido comentar. (USA).
neurodudes.com at the intersection of neuroscience and AI. Sobre neurociencias e inteligencia articifial. Buenos links a la derecha. (USA)
How to save the world Dave Pollard's environmental philosophy, creative works, business papers and essays. ¿Pretencioso el título eh?. Pero es muy bueno por los temas. (Canadá)
Cool tools por Kevin Kelly. Cool tools really work. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. Es uno de una serie de blogs que han salido que tienen recomendaciones de productos que realmente sirven, son ecológicos e interesantes. Puse este porque es uno de los que no parece sólo un pretexto para publicidad. (USA)
Si tuviera tiempo y recursos hubiera sido lindo hacer algo con Google maps y las localizaciones de estos weblogs.
Si quieren saber más sobre Blogday2005:
http://www.blogday.org
BlogDay2005
Consultar interacciones entre distintos medicamentos y otras sustancias
Check drug interactions
En drugdigest.org se pueden consultar las interacciones entre distintos medicamentos y otras sustancias.
En drugdigest.org se pueden consultar las interacciones entre distintos medicamentos y otras sustancias.
Como aprender mas en el mismo tiempo
Curioso método para aprender más en el mismo tiempo. Para analizar.
Open Loops: A Secret They Should Have Taught You In School: How to Learn More with No Extra Effort : " The brain learns more at the start of the learning and the end of the learning (the beginning and end of the data set). Your teachers have known this for a long time. This is why the beginning and end of a class is the most important. At the beginning of the class, the teacher should spell out the learning goals of the period and provide some teacher input. An overview of the procedures to be followed are also usually taught at the beginning of the period. At the end of the period, the teacher sums everything up and hits the most important parts again. They do that because students remember what is taught at the beginning and end of the class much more accurately than what is taught in the middle of the period.
How can you exploit this? When you are learning something for your job, simply increase the number of starts and stops in your study time. That’s right, simply throw some breaks in the study period to break it up into more starts and stops. By tossing in two 10–minute breaks into one three-hour study period, you can now have three one-hour study periods, each separated by a 10–minute break. Instead of one start and one stop, you now have three starts and three stops. Although you have increased the time from three hours to three hours and twenty minutes, there is still only three hours of study time. The additional time are rest breaks. You have not studied any harder or longer, yet, the Primacy and Recency Effect guarantees that you will remember more of your learning.
To go fast…go slow."
Open Loops: A Secret They Should Have Taught You In School: How to Learn More with No Extra Effort : " The brain learns more at the start of the learning and the end of the learning (the beginning and end of the data set). Your teachers have known this for a long time. This is why the beginning and end of a class is the most important. At the beginning of the class, the teacher should spell out the learning goals of the period and provide some teacher input. An overview of the procedures to be followed are also usually taught at the beginning of the period. At the end of the period, the teacher sums everything up and hits the most important parts again. They do that because students remember what is taught at the beginning and end of the class much more accurately than what is taught in the middle of the period.
How can you exploit this? When you are learning something for your job, simply increase the number of starts and stops in your study time. That’s right, simply throw some breaks in the study period to break it up into more starts and stops. By tossing in two 10–minute breaks into one three-hour study period, you can now have three one-hour study periods, each separated by a 10–minute break. Instead of one start and one stop, you now have three starts and three stops. Although you have increased the time from three hours to three hours and twenty minutes, there is still only three hours of study time. The additional time are rest breaks. You have not studied any harder or longer, yet, the Primacy and Recency Effect guarantees that you will remember more of your learning.
To go fast…go slow."
lunes, agosto 29, 2005
domingo, agosto 28, 2005
Revalorizan y promocionan el cafe
Un estudio realizado en Estados Unidos revela que es bueno para evitar enfermedades como las cardiovasculares, el cáncer y diabetes
(EFE).- El café empieza a ser visto en Estados Unidos no sólo como la bebida ideal para mantenerse despierto sino como una fuente de salud, según reveló un estudio presentado ante la Sociedad de Química estadounidense.
"Los estadounidenses reciben más antioxidantes del café que de cualquier otra fuente dietética. No hay nada que se le acerque", señaló Joe Vinson, profesor de química de la Universidad de Scranton, en Pensilvania, a cargo del estudio.
Según Vinson, tanto la versión con cafeína como la descafeinada proporcionan un nivel más alto de antioxidantes que muchas frutas y verduras, y ello ha empujado a los estadounidenses a acudir al café en desmedro del té o de otras infusiones.
(EFE).- El café empieza a ser visto en Estados Unidos no sólo como la bebida ideal para mantenerse despierto sino como una fuente de salud, según reveló un estudio presentado ante la Sociedad de Química estadounidense.
"Los estadounidenses reciben más antioxidantes del café que de cualquier otra fuente dietética. No hay nada que se le acerque", señaló Joe Vinson, profesor de química de la Universidad de Scranton, en Pensilvania, a cargo del estudio.
Según Vinson, tanto la versión con cafeína como la descafeinada proporcionan un nivel más alto de antioxidantes que muchas frutas y verduras, y ello ha empujado a los estadounidenses a acudir al café en desmedro del té o de otras infusiones.
Es la homeopatia efectiva?
"Es la homeopatia efectiva?
La pregunta del millon, que durante años ha enfrentado a los adeptos de la medicina convencional y la alternativa, ya tiene una respuesta. O por lo menos asi lo afirma la prestigiosa revista cientifica Lancet.
De acuerdo con la publicacion, la homeopatia no es mas efectiva que las sustancias que carecen de accion terapeutica o placebos.
Lancet considera que el tiempo para los estudios sobre este tema ha terminado y que los doctores deberian ser honestos con los pacientes sobre "la falta de beneficios" de la homeopatia."
La pregunta del millon, que durante años ha enfrentado a los adeptos de la medicina convencional y la alternativa, ya tiene una respuesta. O por lo menos asi lo afirma la prestigiosa revista cientifica Lancet.
De acuerdo con la publicacion, la homeopatia no es mas efectiva que las sustancias que carecen de accion terapeutica o placebos.
Lancet considera que el tiempo para los estudios sobre este tema ha terminado y que los doctores deberian ser honestos con los pacientes sobre "la falta de beneficios" de la homeopatia."
martes, agosto 23, 2005
New Blood Test Furthers Personalized Medicine
New Blood Test Furthers Personalized Medicine : "The Invader UGT1A1 Molecular Assay detects a genetic variation that determines how a particular body processes certain drugs. Doctors can use the results to help determine dosing information and whether a person might be subject to dangerous drug reactions, the agency said."
El Ginseng y el Guarana se potencian
Speed-of-memory test scores, showing improvements produced by ginseng, guarana, and their combination. Negative values indicate faster responses. Kennedy DO, Haskell CF, Wesnes KA, Scholey AB. Improved cognitive performance in human volunteers following administration of guarana (Paullinia cupana) extract: comparison and interaction with Panax ginseng. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2004;79:401-11.
Ver nota en life-enhancement.com
lunes, agosto 22, 2005
Medidas para mantener el alerta en el trabajo
El Reloj de la Aldea Global
Daniel P. Cardinali* y Antonio M. Battro
Desctacado de http://www.byd.com.ar/relojln.pdf
El alerta es el estado activado óptimo del sistema nervioso. Nos permite tomar
decisiones, prestar atención a nuestro medio ambiente y decidir qué hacer y qué
no hacer. El objetivo primario de la planificación de los turnos de trabajo es el
diseño de rutinas que tiendan a mantener el alerta continuo en los operadores.
Un instrumento idóneo para aumentar el alerta es el diseño de sistemas de
iluminación, temperatura, sonidos, convección de aire, etc., sobre bases
fisiológicas. Entre estos factores, el más efectivo es la luz. Medidas como atenuar
las luces por la noche en los lugares de trabajo nocturno son totalmente
contraproducentes para el rendimiento laboral: lo que en realidad se debiera hacer
es aumentar la intensidad lumínica hasta niveles adecuados para cada caso y
tarea. Otras medidas para el mantenimiento del alerta comprenden rutinas de
actividad física predeterminadas y una dieta adecuada.
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