Flightrage and betablockers

Flightrage and Betablockers.
Andre Willers
5 Nov 2010

Synopsis :
Betablockers exacerbates fight-or-flight reflexes from quick altitude changes , due to activation of adrenal glands .

Discussion :

Example : Capetown to Johannesburg flight .

Aircraft cabins pressurize to 8 200 feet equivalent very soon after takeoff as plane reaches cruising altitude of around 30 000 to 40 000 feet . (Wikipedia)

This is calculated to be right at the edge of the 95% Gaussian distribution , since this costs less . If you fall into the 2.5% of the remaining upper end of the sickly , elderly or pregnant , too bad .

The passenger subjectively goes from sea level to 8 200 feet in a matter of minutes .

This causes the heart to try and speed up and increase its stroke in a linear fashion to get more oxygen to the organs .(Altitude sickness)
This is noticed as a shortness of breath as the blood alkaline level falls due to CO2 exhalation . Feelings of claustrophobia and constraint are experienced .
Oxygen deprivation will be experienced by individuals on the tail end of the statistical distribution , with all the attendant symptoms (Google "Altitude sickness")

Betablockers :
However , if the passenger is taking betablockers , the heartspeed cannot compensate. The control mechanism via the brain is interrupted .

The system then initiates a more general hormone system , namely large-scale adrenal activations . Fight-or flight on a systemic scale .
The passenger goes ape . Mostly cowers , but some will go ballistic .

This is Flightrage .

Anxiety attacks :
The signaling molecules for amygdala and physical stressors are the same (unfortunately) . They have a feedback pattern that has to be disrupted . (Use alcohol)

Reduced oxygen supply :
The partial pressure of oxygen reduces linearly . Most organisms compensate by inducing endorphous melatonin release and going to sleep .
But this does not happen to all of them .

Notice that this means that you can get jet-lag even on a Capetown-Joburg route . The body interprets the varying oxygen supply and demand fluctuations as temporal fluctuations . And the inverse , of course .

Reduced oxygen demand : Melatonin supplements .
Melatonin supplements , combined with disruptors like betablockers and alcohol , will reduce oxygen consumption to compensate for subjective altitude .
Take a fast release Melatonin pill (Solal , 3 mg) about 30 minutes before flight .


What to do :

1.Two to three stiff drinks : 50 ml of 40% alcohol (a double) times 3 will be sufficient to interrupt 95% of anxiety attacks . No more , as this will erode self-control
This should work for a short flight of 2 hours . About 30 to 0 minutes before takeoff .

2. Melatonin :
Take a fast release Melatonin pill (Solal , 3 mg) about 30 minutes before flight .
For longer flights , combine with slow-release melatonon .

3.Smoking :
Smoking increases red-blood cell concentrations (Carbon monoxide effect) . The turnabout is quite rapid (24 hrs - a heritage of millions of years of fire) . Stopping smoking about 8 hours before the flight should optimize systems nicely .
Take iron supplements .

4.BetaBlockers :
Take an extra one about 30 mins before the flight . The anti-anxiety effect outweighs the fight-or-flight effect for 67% of humans 95% of the time .
Other anti-anxiety drugs like Activan can be tried .

5.Do not eat beans .
Or any gas causing foods for at least 48 hrs before flight . The sudden decrease in cabin pressure on going to cruising altitude will cause major abdominal discomfort as the gas pockets expand . Farts and belches .
(You will not see this caution on any airline website)
Mexican flights must be a culinary adventure .

6.High blood pressure medication .
Do not take 12 hours before flight .
This includes diuretics .

The sudden decrease in cabin pressure from sea-level to 8 200 feet reduces blood pressure drastically . This should be ok for a healthy young individual , but older ones with obstructed blood vessels can easily get the bends . Also euphemistically known as Deep Vein Thrombosis . The vein expands faster than the blood can rush in to fill the gap . A thrombosis results as the clotting agents lose contact with quorum anti-coagulants . Gases reverse osmosis from tissue into veins , forming microscopic thrombosis spicules . It also screws up the O2/CO2 sensor mechanisms .


7 Aspirin:
Anti-coagulents taken about 45 mins before take-off .About 3x300 mg Disprin . The pulse of concentration of the anti-coagulent is important.

8 Hydration :
At 8 200 feet , there is significant CO2 loss through breathing (Google "Altitude sickness") .The blood becomes more alkaline , causing major metabolic shifts , especially in the CNS .

So , drink Coke or Soda water .
Soda water with a dash of salt and vinegar will go down well .(Old Roman recipe)
This should be done continously about 12 hrs before takeoff and during flight .

9 On Landing :
Biological systems will be in a state of reverberating shock (ie oscillating) . Do not take any medication except alcohol for about 12 hours after landing .(The alcohol dampens shock effects . Do not use caffeine in any form )

10. Epigenetic effects .
Obesity and diabetes
A flight on a aircraft pressurized at 8 200 feet from sealevel triggers starvation mechanisms . The body thinks it cannot get enough energy , but thinks it is because of a lack of food (not oxygen) . Epigenetic markers get switched on , as if the person had lived through a famine . Fat deposit mechanisms are switched on .

Anybody who has been on a commercial flight in the last three generations will have fat children or be at risk of diabetes .

Hence the present epidemic of obesity/diabetes . The system is simply trying to compensate for a perceived repeated famine (and getting very confused in the process) .

11. Chicken fat .
See previous posts . A source of merriment to many .
However , eating chicken fat about about 6-12 hours before takeoff will significantly reduce epigenetic markers .

There is even the prospect of reversing the process :
Use pulses of sound to compress tissue . ie Really heavy beat music .
During the compression phase , the rate of chemical activity is significantly enhanced.
This convinces some quorum systems to unmark some epigenetic systems .

Why ?
Reinforcing success is an old strategic principle . About 500 million years of evolution must have developed the same at genetic level .
A failure at first is overwritten by a success later .
Therefore , there must be a method on cellular level of doing exactly this .


12.The Chicken Stomp .
Sip chicken fat soup in rhythm to the heavy beat .
Systems will compensate to switch off fat-deposit markers .
An easy way of losing weight .

After all , birds are the champion weight-watchers .

Andre