Health News

One of the most simple and yet obvious contributors to musicians failing to perform at their peak or optimum levels is the way in which they approach tension or stress in their lives Since a certain degree of stress is necessary for most to perform at their peak, methods must be devised to enhance the [...]

There is presently some excitement over the development of a new drug which it is claimed specifically mimics the neurotransmitter, Serotonin. It is claimed that migraine occurs because of low levels of Serotonin in the sufferer. Trials in Australia and other countries were discussed at a recent international headache meeting in Australia.

Preliminary trials of the [...]

Physiological elements

A large proportion of chronic pain patients do demonstrate physical pathology ranging from slight to questionable, such as minor degrees of arthritis and degeneration of areas such as the cervical spine, and to a great degree in conditions such as terminal cancer. Adequate, assessment includes the scientific assessment of these processes, such as physical [...]

Pain involves the entire central nervous system — the brain, spinal cord, all the nerve fibres and billions of nerve cells. The central nervous system controls the voluntary muscles; that is, the ones you consciously control and which involve such everyday actions as walking, combing your hair or bending over to pick up things.

Pain also [...]

In the old days, town gas used to contain high quantities of carbon monoxide. These days, in Britain, we use North Sea (natural) gas almost exclusively. This type of gas contains methane, but no carbon monoxide. Methane is not a direct poison, though in high enough concentrations it can be dangerous simply because it can [...]

In the brain messages are passed electrically along the nerve cells, but on reaching a junction between two nerve cells this electrical impulse is converted into physical form. Chemicals called transmitter substances are released by the first cell and travel across the synapse, to land on special receptor sites on the second cell. Here they [...]

Noise is like glare – the more there is, the more tension it inspires. Part of this tension occurs reflexively. The eardrum is the receptor for sound inside the ear, vibrating as sound waves impinge upon it. The movements of the eardrum are picked up by a tiny bone called the malleus, which then transmits [...]

Sadly, brain tumours are more common in younger children, certainly during the first five or so years of life. There are good physiological reasons for this – tumours are essentially disorders of cell division, where the cell doesn’t know how to stop dividing. During the development of the baby in the womb, and then in [...]