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How emotional pain can really hurt
Love really does hurt, just as poets and song lyric writers claim.
New brain scanning technologies are revealing that the part of the brain that processes physical pain also deals with emotional pain.
And in the same way that in some people injury can cause long-lasting chronic pain, science now reveals why some will never get over such heartbreak.
Emotional pain can take many forms; a relationship break-up or social exclusion, for example.
But it does not get any more extreme than losing a loved one, as Scottish broadcaster Mark Stephen did.
In July 1995 he was driving a tractor while hay-making and accidentally hit his young daughter. She died shortly afterwards
Mark's grief was overwhelming, he says.
"When people talk about a broken heart, that for me was where it was seated, just below your sternum.
"It feels like your heart is leaking and you can't run away from it because you are the source of that pain."
Thinking he would go mad with grief, he sought help from David Alexander.
Professor Alexander is director of the Aberdeen Centre for Trauma Research. He led the psychiatric team that first responded to the Piper Alpha oil-rig disaster.
Since then, he has been involved in helping survivors of many disasters including the Asian tsunami, the war in Iraq and, most recently, the earthquake in Pakistan.
He also managed to get Mark Stephen through his darkest days.
Love really does hurt, just as poets and song lyric writers claim. ... more -
Suicide Car Blast Kills 41 in Afghan Capital
A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 17 civilians, most of them children, and four police in a bazaar in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, police said.
Taliban suicide bombs have killed more than 230 civilians and wounded nearly 500 already this year, NATO says.
Afghan and foreign forces are stopping a greater proportion of the attacks but the Taliban are attempting many more suicide bombings this year compared to last, security experts say.
In the latest attack the bomber, travelling on a motorcycle, targeted a police vehicle in a bazaar in the Deh Rawood district of Uruzgan province, the provincial police chief told Reuters.
"Seventeen civilians and four policemen died in the attack. Thirty-seven more civilians and five police have been wounded," Juma Khan Himat said by telephone, adding the death toll could rise. Most of the civilian victims were children, he said.
Afghanistan is suffering from a rising tide of violence this year, with a sharp increase in Taliban attacks, especially in the east where NATO says militants have taken advantage of peace deals in Pakistan to cross the border and fight in Afghanistan.
The Interior Ministry in Kabul said 24 people, four of them police, including a senior officer, were killed in the attack.
Growing insecurity has added to the rising frustration of many Afghans more than six years after U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban government after it refused to hand over al Qaeda leaders behind the September 11 attacks on the United States. A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 17 civilians, most of them children, and four police in a bazaar in southern Afghanistan on S... more -
Want bigger breasts? Wishing will do it
The Independent reports on staggering ways that the power of positive thinking is being proven by researchers across the world, affecting everything from athletic ability to IBS, PMS and breast size.
"A study in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis suggested that women could increase the actual size of their breasts simply by imagining it. Thirty-five women attended hypnosis sessions in which they were asked to visualise images of their breasts pulsating [ooh er], with warm water flowing over them, helping them to grow. After 12 weeks, 84 per cent of the women's breasts had grown, by an average of 1.3in. A stunning 46 per cent of them needed a larger bra size,"
Who knew that wishful thinking could be so effective? And no, it doesn't work if you think about big breasts really, really hard on your girlfriend's behalf.
The idea is that if you can use your brain to stimulate breast growth (or make you run faster, or have less period pain, or no longer be allergic to certain foods) then you could also use it to heal damaged tissues, increase your body's immunity to fight diseases like cancer, or reduce pain after an operation - or even during, negating the need for anaesthetic.
Positive thinking: a genuine life (and bust) changer? Or simply wishful thinking?
The Independent reports on staggering ways that the power of positive thinking is being proven by researchers across the world, affect... more -
Op Under Hypnosis 'Was Pain Free'
There's no need for her to come round after a general anaesthetic, no nausea as she recovers, because Ms Coady was never put to sleep. She hypnotised herself.
"I didn't feel any pain" said the 67-year-old from Cambridgeshire. "I felt tugging- but that's not pain. I don't have any pain at the moment.
"I was just telling the surgeon, I felt uncomfortable as I had too many pillows! My positioning gave me more problems than the knee!"
There was no trance-like state or deep sleep for Ms Coady - at times during the surgery she even spoke to her surgeon, Ahmed Shair.
It was the third time Mr Shair from the private Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital in Peterborough had operated on her while she was hypnotised.
Ms Coady said her self-hypnosis began as soon as she was told she needed surgery, in this case three weeks ago.
She visualised situations to help her enter a pain-free 'zone'.
"I imagine two blocks of ice on my knee to freeze it and spray the top of my knee and that's all my preparation and I tell myself I won't feel any pain," she said.
"Later on I'm thinking what's happening and visualising the doctor, in my mind's eye I'll be thinking what he's seeing, looking at the tissues, and the tendons.
"I'm telling myself I'm ok, I won't have pain, and that's all there is to it."
Mr Shair assured us Ms Coady's arthroscopy is an extremely painful procedure, involving a number of cuts to the knee.
He admitted he preferred patients to have a general anaesthetic but said he respected her choice.
Ms Coady is now recovering at home. Any post-operative pain is also managed through the power of her mind.
She insisted this was no stunt or illusion - she's a trained hynotherapist who has found her own way to push the boundaries of conventional medicine.
There's no need for her to come round after a general anaesthetic, no nausea as she recovers, because Ms Coady was never put to sleep.... more -
The Art Pack ~ Pain O Chokolat /block party!/
La musique en fête.
Encore une fois, la place Gustave Toudouze dans le IX arr. parisien a accueilli la « Pain O choKolat Block Party », véritable kermesse de village à la new-yorkaise.
Depuis 5 ans, les membres du collectif « Pain O choKolat » transforment leur place fétiche en concert de rue qui mélange les genres. Du B-Boy en mal d’une nouvelle paire de Nike à l’étudiant en faculté, de la petite minette des beaux quartiers à l’épicier du coin… hommes, femmes et enfants se sont rassemblés pour écouter un panel d’artistes éclectiques et électriques sur le bitume de Pigalle.
Merguez, lampions, soda, bières et bon son. Le « Pain O choKolat » organise depuis un petit bout de temps des soirées en cachemire. Doux programme. Après avoir retourner le Paris-Paris, avec les amstellodamois du Parra Sound System, ils ont préparé cette année un line-up à faire kiffer les vrais festivaliers : Hugh Coltman et Spleen, blues et Afro-funk-beat. Mr. Wix et MC Lyrical Tie, ambianceurs agréés. Tez, peut-être le beat-boxeur français le plus impressionnant du moment. Monsieur Keziah Jones qu’on ne présente plus. Et bouquet final en forme de guerre sur scène, Keith Murray, rappeur new-yorkais du Def-Squad, qui a du brûler quelques tympans.
L’équipe de TheArtPack s’est fracturée l’objectif pour capter cette fête hors du commun parisien. Attention. Il parait qu’ils remettent ça l’année prochaine…
Réalisation :
-Antoine Cayrol
-Victor Lech
-Pierre Zandrowicz La musique en fête. ... more -
Better Tools Needed For Assessing Infant Pain
ScienceDaily (June 25, 2008) — Currently used pain assessment tools may be underestimating the pain response in infants according to a study published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine this week. Dr. Rebeccah Slater and colleagues (University College London, UK) studied the association between cortical pain responses in young infants and currently used pain assessment tools which are based on behavioural and physiological measures, such as change in facial expression.
Evidence suggests that inadequate pain management in infants may have immediate and long-term effects. Repetitive pain in preterm infants has been associated with attention deficit disorder, learning disorders and behavioural problems in later childhood.
The researchers studied twelve clinically stable infants on 33 occasions when they required a heel lance for a clinical reason. The relationship between brain activity and a clinical pain score, calculated using the premature infant pain profile (PIPP), was examined in response to this painful event. They found that changes in brain activity correlated to the PIPP scores. These changes were more strongly linked to the behavioural components of the PIPP, e.g., facial expression, than physiological components, e.g., heart rate. They also observed no change in facial expression in 13 of the 33 test occasions but 10 of these showed a positive brain response.
While this was a small single-centre study on clinically stable infants, the results raise further awareness of the ability of infants to experience pain. And, as the authors say, the results highlight the possibility that "pain assessment based on behavioural tools alone should be interpreted with caution as they could under estimate the total pain response." ScienceDaily (June 25, 2008) — Currently used pain assessment tools may be underestimating the pain response in infants according to a... more -
Inspirations Dead
Short Film based around the last three weeks of my life,
Original poem and animation by Woody Chant (Me)
Original music by Mo Brown Short Film based around the last three weeks of my life, Original poem and animation by Woody Chant (Me) ... more -
Sandals Cause Health Problems
I always hated how sandals feel. Apparently they cause all sorts of pain and health problems.
"Walking in flip-flops is a possible cause of aches and pains all over the body, according to a new study from the American College of Sports Medicine." I always hated how sandals feel. Apparently they cause all sorts of pain and health problems. ... more -
'Silent Gaurdian,' Raytheon's pain compliance weapon, coming to a protest near you
Yes, folks, originally designed to protect military personnel against small-arms fire without the use of lethal force, Silent Guardian, ADS, the Pain Ray, call it what you will, (Raytheon would prefer you not to use the latter however), will finally soon be here!
Transmitted at the speed of light over a 700 yard distance, the Pain Ray is a millimeter-wave beam that penetrates 1/64th of an inch beneath the skin, causing the water molecules there to bubble, producing an intense burning sensation, said to feel like being burnt by molten lava or a hot iron. Its delivery system attached to a Humvee and aimed right, the Pain Ray makes people run away -- fast.
Deployment of the system is slated to begin in Iraq in 2010, but there are rumors that it has already been tested there.
Raytheon congratulates itself on having developed a non-lethal weapon which has been described as "Holy Grail of crowd control," but their Silent Guardian also has its critics. One, author Richard Hunter asks:
"But what happens if the people faced with such a weapon can't just run away? What happens if they're trapped in a crowd, and the crowd can't move? How much pain must that crowd endure? How long can any member of the crowd be exposed to that weapon before his or her skin -- or their eyes -- simply cook off? What happens if the devices are used deliberately in a manner designed to cause maximum harm -- say, by training the device on prisoners trapped in prison cells until they literally go mad with pain?
What happens if the system operator turns up the power? A little bit works well, why not try a lot? What happens if the scientists didn't test the devices thoroughly, and they turn out to render anyone touched by them blind, or impotent, or sterile?" And the National Lawyers Guild of the US has accused Raytheon of being "implicated in the commission of war crime." Yes, folks, originally designed to protect military personnel against small-arms fire without the use of lethal force, Silent Guardian... more -
Starvation claiming Ethiopia's tiniest
This year's poor rains have nearly killed Bizunesh.
Bizunesh is 3 and weighs less than 10 pounds. "There is nothing ... I beg for milk," her mother says.
The rangy 3-year-old weighs less than 10 pounds, or 4 kilograms. Her long limbs, weak and folded like a praying mantis, cannot carry even her slight weight. She cannot speak. She doesn't want to eat. Health officials say she is permanently stunted.
Bizunesh -- whose name, sadly, means "plentiful" -- is one of untold numbers of children hit by this year's double blow of a countrywide drought and skyrocketing global food prices that has brought famine, once again, to Ethiopia.
"She should be bigger than this," said her mother Zewdunesh Feltam, rocking the listless child. "Before there was maize, different kinds of food. But now there is nothing ... I beg for milk from my neighbors."
The U.N. children's agency said in a statement Tuesday an estimated 126,000 Ethiopian children urgently need food and medical care because of severe malnutrition -- and called the crisis "the worst since the major humanitarian crisis of 2003."
The U.N. World Food Program estimates that 2.7 million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid because of late rains -- nearly double the number who needed help last year. An additional 5 million of Ethiopia's 80 million people receive aid each year because they never have enough food, whether harvests are good or not. This year's poor rains have nearly killed Bizunesh. ... more -
Words Are Not Enough for the Pain Inside!
Chronic Pain and Migraine Sufferers struggle to communicate with doctors, family and friends their experience and now people are turning to art to express how they feel.
In fact, two people have started an online pain gallery to help others understand their experience.
http://www.painexhibit.org/
Read article about exhibit here:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/pain-as-an-art...
Chronic Pain and Migraine Sufferers struggle to communicate with doctors, family and friends their experience and now people are turni... more -
Who needs anaesthetic when you can hypnotize yourself?
'At one stage a hammer and chisel was used as well as a surgical saw, but I felt no pain', a British hypnotist has said, after undergoing surgery without receiving a general anaesthetic.
Alex Lenkei, 61, from West Sussex, chose to sedate himself by hypnosis before the 83-minute operation to remove bone from his arthritic hand and fuse some joints. He said he was fully aware of everything going on around him during the procedure but did not feel any pain.
Mr Lenkei has been practising hypnotism since the age of 16.
'At one stage a hammer and chisel was used as well as a surgical saw, but I felt no pain', a British hypnotist has said, after undergo... more -
The news hurts
Fire, water, snow, skateboards, wrestlers, paint, cats, drunks and grapes are just some of the dangers that your average intrepid reporter faces on an average day. Fire, water, snow, skateboards, wrestlers, paint, cats, drunks and grapes are just some of the dangers that your average intrepid repo... more
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Gauging: Unplugged revised
Shortened version of previous unplugged
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Easter warning: crucifixion is bad for you
Worshippers taking part in Easter crucifixion and self-flagellation ceremonies in the Philippines have been warned to get a tetanus shot and sterilise any nails used to avoid infections. Worshippers taking part in Easter crucifixion and self-flagellation ceremonies in the Philippines have been warned to get a tetanus sh... more
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When crime becomes funny
It never hurts to learn that teaming up with a buddy and robbing an Aussie sports club that's packed with 50 angry bikers is a bad idea.
Nope... wait. It does hurt. It never hurts to learn that teaming up with a buddy and robbing an Aussie sports club that's packed with 50 angry bikers is a bad ide... more -
Gauging Uplugged
A short film about "gauging" or lobe stretching and it's recent mainstreaming in the U.S. The trials and tribulations of this body modification expressed through the stories of a 17 year old girl (who is at 3/4ths of an inch) a 19 year old gauging veteran, and a 20 year old who decides to punch his cartilage to a size 2. A short film about "gauging" or lobe stretching and it's recent mainstreaming in the U.S. The trials and tribulations of this body mo... more
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This animal is immune to pain
Some types of pain anyway. Apparently they lack the chemical in their skin that triggers the sensation of burning pain in other animals.
Also, my new favorite band name is Substance P. Some types of pain anyway. Apparently they lack the chemical in their skin that triggers the sensation of burning pain in other anima... more -
Strange creature immune to pain
As creepy as the creature looks I would think it's immune because no one will come close enough to inflict any pain on it.
"As vulnerable as naked mole rats seem, researchers now find the hairless, bucktoothed rodents are invulnerable to the pain of acid and the sting of chili peppers.
A better understanding of pain resistance in these sausage-like creatures could lead to new drugs for people with chronic pain, scientists added. "
As creepy as the creature looks I would think it's immune because no one will come close enough to inflict any pain on it. ... more -
TOO KINKY
People are nuts. Allergic Reaction? And: can I ever feel as good sober as I did on Quaaludes?
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