What does the brain have to do with temperature?

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In order for the 100 trillion or so cells in the human body to work efficiently, they need a constant environment. For most persons, this is a temperature of 98.6 degree F (37 degree C) or so. When the body temperature deviates even a little, the person is likely to feel ill.

Apart of the brain, the hypothalamus, acts as the body's thermostat, maintaining this steady temperature no matter how hot or cold the weather. Though the extremities may be chilled, the body's core - and the brain - are protected.

Neurons in the hypothalamus constantly monitor blood flowing through it. When blood temperature rises, the hypothalamus promptly sends out messages through the autonomic nervous system, producing sweat and dilating the blood vessels in the skin.

Low body temperatures, picked up by sensors in the skin, signal the blood vessels in the skin to constrict. The muscles begin to produce heat-generating shivers. Your teeth start to chatter, and goose bumps appear as the fine hairs on the skin stand on end. In addition, the hypothalamus causes the release of the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine into into the blood. These hormones temporarily increase the body's metabolic rate and produce heat.

Does Amnesia Erase Memories?

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During the 1940's and 1950's, when severe epileptic disorders were treated by surgically removing part of the brain, doctors found that electrical stimulation of the hippocampus provoked a flood of memories in their patients. Removal of or damage to the hippocampus made it impossible for patients to learn anything new, and at the same time erased memories of events within the past three years. Only older memories were left intact. This kind of amnesia (loss of memory) has proved to be permanent.

Progressive loss of memory is the dire result of Alzheimer's disease, a degeneration of the brain that generally strikes in old age. This, too, is an irreversible loss.

A head injury can also cause amnesia, but often the effect is temporary. For example, the victim of a car crash may lose memories of events just prior to the accident. Scientists call this retrograde amnesia.

Severe emotional stress is another cause of amnesia. Victims of crime and battle-scarred soldiers may protect themselves from the horrors they have experienced by blotting out the memory.. Such a mechanism may seem merciful, but can result in deeper emotional trouble, for, it seems, these memories are not lost. Unless the past is retrieved and faced, the stress may fester.

What causes giantism and dwarfism?

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Being very tall or short does not constitute either giantism or dwarfism. Men and women can range in height from 4 feet 7 inches (140 centimeters to 6 feet 7 inches (201 cm) and still be considered normal.

Giantism and dwarfism are specific growth disorders that can usually be traced to something that has gone awry in the pituitary, but sometimes dwarfism can be caused by malnutrition or by diseases of the kidney, heart, or liver. As a rule, too much GH (growth hormone) leads to giantism and too little to dwarfism, but the timing of the secretions is also important.

If the pituitary overproduces GH before the end of adolescence, the outcome is likely to be excessive growth. But if the oversecretion comes after adolescence, the hormone acts unevenly. Because growth in stature has essentially ceased, and because GH acts only on the parts of the skeleton still not completely hardened by mineralization, the excess hormone may cause large extremities or, in rare instances, a condition called acromegaly, marked by enlargement of the face, feet, and hands.

Do people with different personalities have different brains?

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Although science is a long way from connecting every human trait to a telltale wrinkle in brain tissue, researchers have discovered fascinating links between brain structure and the ways different people behave. The British psychologist Hans Eysenck has proposed that a key to the difference between the extroverted and introverted personality - one outgoing, the other reserved - lies in the cerebral cortex, a part of the brain much involved in learning, reasoning, and planning. Activity here can be viewed in brain scans. In the extrovert, the cortex is quiet and seems to welcome noisy, exciting situations that arouse it. The introvert's level of cortical arousal, in contrast, is already high, so the introverted personality does not need much outside stimulation and seems to prefer peace and quiet.

Some support for Eysenck's theory can be found in our daily experience. Extroverts can fall asleep quickly and introverts can't, suggesting that the extrovert's cortex slips easily into a quiet state. Furthermore, the fact that extroverts tend to be less sensitive to pain seems to indicate that their cerebral cortexes are harder to arouse.

Arthritis and copper bracelets

There are around 200 kinds of arthritis, the two most common being osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. People with osteoarthritis should improve their diet by cutting down on highly refined and processed foods, saturated animal fats, sugar and salt, and by eating more wholegrain cereals and fresh fruit and vegetables. A healthy diet boosts the immune system and provides the sufferer with extra energy to fight the disease.

Many people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis claim that wearing a copper bracelet reduces their discomfort. However, research into this controversial area has come up with no scientific explanation. It is thought that if wearers believe in the power of such bracelets to help them, then this belief may trigger some form of self-healing. Medical science called this type of self-healing effect generated by our own feelings and thinking as 'placebo'.

Bedwetting: Not a Shame

Bedwetting (Enuresis) is the involuntary passage of urine during sleep and is a very common problem among children. At least one out of ten kids below the age of 6-years has this problem, but the good news is the ratio of kids' bedwetting goes down as they grow older. Only one out 20 is affected up to the age of 10, though there are infrequent cases of bedwetting by youths as old as 18. Only 1% of the children carry this problem to the age of 18.

Most bedwetting children possess a small bladder that cannot hold all the urine produced during the night and/or an inherited deficiency. In addition, some kids and in rarer cases teens are deep sleepers who don't awaken to the signal of a full bladder. Compounding the above problems is the fact that often the dream state relaxes the pubic muscles, which eventually leading to bedwetting.

Bedwetting can be a result of deep sleeping patterns, sleep apnea or failure of the body to produce a hormone which stimulates re-absorption of water from urine to be induced back into blood stream.

There are many other factors resulting in bedwetting, including medical problems, emotional and family problems and immature bladders. These problems are usually ridden of just by the passing of time.

To overcome the psychological effects of bed wetting, parents and children need to realize that bedwetting is not something to feel guilty about. It is common phenomenon among all children. The habit of bedwetting creates uneasy situations for parents, which all too often eventually leads to punishing children when they wet the bed. This makes the child feel guiltier, more ashamed and more embarrassed, and may even retard his growth.

Children have to realize that in many ways it up to them to control their bladder and to take the ultimate responsibility for stopping bedwetting. We must assure children experience longer hours of sleep, because fewer hours will generally cause them to sleep too deeply to overcome the shortage in length. During deep sleep the urge to use the bathroom does not wake them up.

Reducing the intake of fluids will also help by reducing the urine production Emptying the bladder at bedtime, waking up the kid every night and taking them to toilet etc. will help keep him or her dry. Alarms can be used to wake up when you need to urinate during the night. A positive feedback and a "good boy" pat for every dry night will boost the moral of the kid, which will help them to get rid of bedwetting.

Some psychologists provide a intriguing method to overcome bedwetting. According to them, when the urge to urinate arrives during the daytime hours, have the child pretend to sleep rather than immediately race to the bathroom. After feigning sleep for some time, "wake him up" from the pretend sleep so he can go urinate. This will help to develop the same habit during the nights too.

Medicines can also be used to avoid bedwetting. Drugs are sometimes used to reduce urine production at night, and some medicines are purported to help increase bladder capacity. The usage of medicines in any way is generally not advisable since excessive usage may have side effects. It may also occur that the stoppage of medicine intake may cause the situation to revert.

Hypnosis is another method used to overcome bedwetting. It teaches the unconscious mind to stop bedwetting and can greatly accelerate the process. Even while asleep, the unconscious mind is said to still be 'awake' and due to this fact your unconscious mind can learn to stop bedwetting by controlling the muscles that stop urine leaving the bladder.

When all is said and done, parents should understand that bedwetting is a common thing among all children and not something to be ashamed of.

Can a lack of vitamins drive you crazy?

Vitamins play a key role in brain metabolism. Studies show that even small vitamin deficiencies can derange the mind. Lack of the B vitamins, for example, is often associated with depression, intellectual impairment, and psychosis. One study found that over half of the people admitted to the psychiatric unit of a British general hospital were deficient in at least one of the eight B vitamins.

However, vitamins vary in retention rates. Thus nutritionists advise caution when taking vitamin supplements. Too much vitamin A, for instance, can severely injure the eyes, brain, and nervous system.

What makes you right-handed or left-handed?

Why some 90 percent of people posses a greater degree of strength and coordination in their right hands than in their left - and why the opposite is true for the other 10 percent - is something that remains unexplained.

There are many theories. The Greek philosopher Plato believed that human were by nature ambidextrous, and the "folly of our nurses and mothers" imparted the "bad habit" of right-handedness. Today, theories on why individuals have a dominant right or left hand tend to place more emphasis on inheritance and less on learning. Even infants seem to demonstrate, by the direction in which they turn their heads and by their strength of grip, a preference for one side over the other.

If your parents are left-handed, the probability that you will be, too, is 23 times higher than if both parents are right-handed. British researcher Marian Annett thinks that most people are born with a gene inclining them to right-handedness. The 18 percent without this gene, she suggests, become lefties or righties depending on childhood influences.

Other theories propose that fetal or birth events may be a cause of left handedness. Among twins - who are somewhat more prone than single babies to fetal injuries - the incidence of left-handedness is more than double the average. However, there is not conclusive evidence that left-handed people have experienced any from of brain damage.

Why do amputees feel sensation in missing limbs?

The strange phenomenon of "phantom limb" is apparently related to an image of the body that persists after the limb or the use of it has been lost. In many cases, the image of the functioning limb has been stored in the brain since early childhood. Almost every amputee has "felt" pressure in a missing arm or leg when it is actually the stump that is being touched. Many amputees feel a persistent mild tingling in the lost limb; others may feel severe pain. Usually the problem disappears over time as the patient corrects his or her body image, but sometimes it becomes so annoying that psychotherapy is needed.
One woman felt that the fingers of her missing hand were digging into its palm. Finally she came to believe that she could open her clenched fist and the pain disappeared.
If a person is born with a missing limb or loses a limb early in childhood, there is usually no phantom limb effect, presumably because the image of the whole body has not yet been imprinted on the brain.

Does sickness have a smell?

There are doctors who rely on their sense of smell as a diagnostic tool, literally finding out what is wrong with a patient by using their noses. Certain diseases apparently have distinctive odors, caused by a change in metabolic processes associated with the patient's condition. A garlic odor is a sign of arsenic poisoning, and a fruity smell on the breath can mean either a diabetic or someone who is starving.

Here are some other illnesses and their distinct smells; German measles smells like plucked feathers; scrofula (a form of tuberculosis) smells like stale beer; typhoid like baking bread; yellow fever like a butcher's shop. Alert surgeons frequently check for bacterial infection by sniffing a patient's bandages. A musty cellar odor can mean an infected wound.

Understanding Infections

Until the 19th century most illnesses were attributed to divine displeasure or to low-quality air - malaria was named from the Italian for 'bad air'. But diseases such as leprosy were known to be 'catching' from Old Testament times, when all lepers were declared 'unclean' and forced into isolation.

In the 1st century BC the Roman encyclopedist Marcus Terentius Varro speculated that disease might be caused by minute particles entering the body, and in the 6th century AD the Hindu doctor Susruta suggested that malaria might be spread by mosquitoes. But the realisation that people or things could transmit 'plagues' was not accepted until the Middle Ages. From about 1380, after the plague or Black Death had exterminated nearly a quarter of Europe's population, ships carrying infection were refused entry to Venice. At Ragusa on the Adriatic, immigrants and traders had to remain outside the city for 40 days to prove they were not infected. This was known as quarantinza, from the Italian quaranta, 'forty', hence the word 'quarantine'.

Epidemics, suggested the Italian physician Giraolamo Fracastoro in 1546, were caused by 'seeds' wafted through the air or carried in water. Much later the microscope would help to confirm the principle, but as early as 1683 the instrument's Dutch inventor Anton van Leeuwenhoek probably viewed bacteria from his teeth by means of its powerful lens. In 1850 Casimir Davaine showed that anthrax could pass in the blood from infected to uninfected sheep and cattle, and detected rod-shaped anthrax bacilli in newly infected animals.

Even the most powerful microscopes could not detect viruses, the minute agents responsible for diseases such as polio. In 1892 the Russian bacteriologist Dmitry Ivanovski discovered that the agent of tobacco mosaic disease, which affects tobacco leaves, was not filtered out by a fine mesh that trapped bacteria. In the late 1930s, when the electron microscope was invented, viruses were finally observed directly.

What is the most unusual kind of hallucination?

Fatigue, among other things, can cause one of the rarest and most fascinating hallucinations known: that of the doppelganger. A person who has this experience sees his mirror image, usually facing him from three or four feet away. It reproduces the viewer's facial expressions, posture, and movements as though reflected in a mirror. The image is said to be transparent, like a slide or movie projected on glass. In some cultures these hallucinations have been interpreted as visitations from the person's soul or as premonitions of death.

This hallucination, which usually occurs early in the morning or late at night and lasts only a matter of seconds, can appear to normal minds under stress or fatigue. However, it is more common among people with serious disorders such as epilepsy, brain lesions, migraine headaches, and states of delirium.

In particularly bizarre cases, the person may see the double standing in an adjacent room. Others have reported seeing this kind of apparition standing behind their own reflection in the mirror.

Torturous Embarrassment Of Tourette's Syndrome

The symptoms can be unsettling, to say the least: a person may suddenly start twitching uncontrollably and shouting obscenities. Called Tourette's syndrome after Dr. Gilles de la Tourette, who first described it in 1884, the strange disorder was thought to be a psychological problem, but psychotherapy proved useless in controlling the behavior of Touretters, as sufferers of the syndrome are called.

Doctors now believe that Tourette's syndrome is a neurological disorder that affects the chemical balanced of neurotransmitters in the brain. However, little is known, and many Touretters are not properly diagnosed. For some reason it afflicts more males than females. Many researchers think the syndrome may be inherited. It generally begins in childhood with facial tics and can progress to spasms involving much of the body. As one Touretter described it, keeping his muscles from twitching was like "trying to stop a sneeze." Only during sleep are the symptoms absent.

In medieval times, some people who were burned at the stake as witches may have been Touretters. Today there is medication that, by altering the brain's chemistry, helps many Touretters control their spasms and their urges to yell and curse.

Can Being Hit On The Head Kill Interest In Sex?

"In 1978, I was involved in a car accident. A few months later, I wasn't interested in sex any longer; I had lost all my chest hair."

Mitch Heller was normal in every way until that car accident in which he took a serious blow to the head. He was examined by brain researcher Dr. William Crowley at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"It appeared the defect was isolated to the reproductive hormone in the hypothalamus - that is, the gonadotrophin releasing hormone [GnRH]," Dr. Crowley said, "and that was extremely interesting because other hypothalamic functions were normal."

The particular neurons of the hypothalamus responsible for secreting the crucial GnRH to the pituitary were traumatized by the head blow. So Dr. Crowley devised a pump through which the hormone could be administered subcutaneously through the abdomen. And to mimic the action of the hypothalamus, it had to be given at two-hour intervals. Soon his sex drive - and chest hair - returned, and he and his wife had a baby girl.

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Why not take antibiotics for every ailment? Because the more you take them, the more often bacteria may mutate into forms that are impervious to the medications. To deter the formation of such antibiotic-resistant bacteria, don't overuse antibiotics. Reseving them to knock out ailments that can't be cured otherwise helps to ensure that the medications will be effective when they are truly needed.

How to Protect Against the Overuse of Antibiotics

1. Remember; only bacterial infections can be cured by antibiotics, Viral infections, such as colds and flu, don't respond to them.

2. Beware of any doctor - called a jhola chhaap daktar (crook) in India - who prescribes a drug without firsthand knowledge of what is ailing you. If necessary, ask for tests that will justify the prescription.

3. When your doctor prescribes an antibiotic, ask for a narrow spectrum rather than a broad spectrum drug, if it will be as effective in curing your ailment.

4. When taking antibiotics, be sure to follow all the doctor's directions to the letter.

5. Never take antibiotics that are left over from a former illness.

6. Never take antibiotics that have been prescribed for someone else.

7. If your symptoms don't begin to clear up after several days of antiobiotic therapy, contact your doctor immediately.

8. Don't routinely take antibiotics to help prevent infection. (There are exceptions: antibiotics are often administered to individuals who are susceptible to bacterial infections, including patients who have undergone certain types of surgery and people who suffer from a chronic health condition, such as pulmonary illness or heart-valve disease.)

If your child is prone to ear infections, your doctor should prescribe antibiotics sparingly. This problem is one that is commonly linked to the overuse of antibiotics. Research has shown that in most cases ear infections, given time, tend to clear up without medication.

P.S. : This article is for your information only, consult your doctor first before taking any action.