Friday, November 29, 2013

Depression and Altitude Variance

Depression and Altitude Variance


Andre Willers
30 Nov 2013
Synopsis :
Varying lung pressures prevents depression .
 
Discussion :
The populations with the least altitude variation has the most suicides . See Appendix II
Note that Nepal is at the bottom . That is because it is just up-and-down , with little in between .
But Greenland is at the top .
Why ?
 
2.See Flightrage
 
3.There seems to be a tie between adrenalin and lung-pressure variation . This affects the boredom systems in the hippocampus See  . A form of learned-helplessness (see Sapolsky)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness. This is translated as depression . Even suicidal . See Appendix I .
 
4.Simple cures :
4.1 Take a holiday at a different elevation . Plateau to coast or vice-versa
4.2 Use PEEP .
See Appendix III for Bronchial Resonance .
4.3 Fly frequently on commercial airlines . See Appendix I
4.4 Drive in heavy traffic .
The high concentration of CO2 and especially CO is equivalent to jet flight as far as your lungs are concerned .
Hence “Road-rage”  , the equivalent of “Flight Rage” in Appendix I
4.5 Aerobic exercise
4.6 Smoking .
4.7 Coughing or sneezing . Snuff . Or even colds .
A cough a day keeps depression at bay .
4.8 Scuba diving .
    
5. A note of caution :
The adrenalin stimulation system is addictive . The Ghurka’s of Nepal may well have a zero suicide rate , but they have a very high homicidal rate . Their trade .
 
6. Are you addicted to flying ? You can easily have become dependant on frequent altitude changes to feel “good” .
The same with the others .
 
Honk if you are not coming up or going down .
 
Andre

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Appendix I

Friday, November 05, 2010
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
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Appendix II
High Altitude Linked to Higher Suicide Risk — Again
January 19, 2011

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) — Across the United States, suicide risk appears to be significantly higher among people who live in higher altitudes, new research suggests.
The latest observation seems to confirm the findings of previous research that unearthed a complex and as-yet not fully explained relationship between higher than average suicide rates and residency in higher elevations.
“Once you get to somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, you start seeing the suicide rates increase,” explained study author Dr. Barry E. Brenner, a professor of emergency medicine and internal medicine, as well as program director, in the department of emergency medicine at University Hospital Case Medical Center in Cleveland. “The correlation is very, very, very high, and it happens in every single region of the U.S.”
“And yet as you go up in altitude the overall death rate, or all-cause mortality, actually decreases,” Brenner noted. “So, the fact that suicide rates are increasing at the same time is a really significant and really striking finding.”
Brenner and his colleagues discuss their results in the Jan. 18 online issue of High Altitude Medicine & Biology.
The authors noted that data collected earlier this decade indicates that, globally, suicide is the 14th most common cause of death, amounting to 1.5 million fatalities every year.
Brenner’s new evidence of a linkage between suicides and high altitudes stem from an analysis of two decades worth of mortality data (1979-1998) obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC figures covered deaths that occurred in all 2,584 counties across the United States in that timeframe. At the same time, the authors obtained countywide elevation statistics from the U.S. Geologic Survey.
The research team determined that over the course of the 20-year period, suicides accounted for 1.4 percent of all American deaths, with an average county-wide suicide rate of 14 out of every 100,000 residents.
Even after adjusting for traditional risk factors such as age, race, household income, population density, and gender, the authors found that suicide rates (whether involving a firearm or not) were significantly higher than average in those counties with higher altitudes.
Even after adjusting for greater isolation, lower income and greater access to firearms, the findings remained statistically significant, the authors said.
In contrast, those same locales defined by relatively high topography were not home to the highest rates of death due to any and all causes. In fact, higher altitude counties actually registered lower than average death rates due to all causes.
This latter finding actually highlighted the strength of the apparent connection between suicide risk and high altitudes, the research team said.
For the time being, Brenner and his colleagues cautioned that attempts to explain the association are “speculative.”
“It may be related to obesity levels and sleep apnea that may be more common in higher altitudes,” Brenner suggested. He and his colleagues also noted that hypoxia — inadequate oxygen supply to the body’s cells and tissues — is more common at high altitudes, and is thought to increase mood disturbances, especially among emotionally unstable patients.
“It could be that hypoxic environments may lead to higher levels of depression or higher tendencies among the depressed to take suicidal action,” he said. “It’s an area that is rife for further investigation.”
Meanwhile, the research team suggested that their findings might help draw attention to residents of higher elevations who could benefit from relocation to lower altitudes and/or suicide monitoring and prevention services.
Last fall, Dr. Perry F. Renshaw, a professor of psychiatry at the Utah School of Medicine and an investigator with the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative, led a similar study that reported a correlation between high altitudes and higher suicide rates.
His work — published in the American Journal of Psychiatry — also crunched 20 years’ worth of data provided by the CDC. That effort revealed that nine states in the so-called “Intermountain West” region of the country (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Oregon) all ranked among the top 10 states in the nation in terms of suicide rates.
Noting that these states have some of the highest altitudes in the country, Renshaw’s analysis concluded that high altitude seems to be an independent risk factor for suicide, particularly among people already prone to depression and mood disorders.
“So my take on this new study is that it’s wonderful that independently of each other we got to the same point,” Renshaw said. “Because within the suicidology world, we are always concerned that we are missing something, or that this isn’t relevant. But here, this group is probably even more methodologically sophisticated than we are, so the fact that we did much the same thing and they have replicated our finding is a very good thing.”
“I’m also not surprised that they found that suicide rates differ from the overall mortality experience in high altitude places,” he added. “Because many people do seem to adapt quite well to living in a higher altitude, and there’s something about committing suicide that’s clearly very different from mortality risk.”
“But for those people with pre-disposing factors to suicide, like depression and emotional distress, there really appears to be something quite pernicious about living at a higher altitude,” he concluded. “And this confirming finding puts us all in a better position to further explore the subject and get a better understanding of what’s going on.”
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on suicide.
SOURCES: Barry E. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., professor, emergency medicine and internal medicine, and program director, department of emergency medicine, University Hospital Case Medical Center, Cleveland; Perry F. Renshaw, M.D., Ph.D., professor, psychiatry, Utah School of Medicine, and investigator, Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative; January 2011 High Altitude Medicine & Biology, online
Last Updated: Jan. 19, 2011
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Appendix III
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Bronchial Resonance
Bronchial Resonance
Andre Willers
14 Jun 2012
Synopsis :
Oscillating Positive Expiratory Pressure (OPEP) at about 15 Hz not only clears mucus , but also enhances oxygen uptake and prevents alveoli collapse .
Discussion :
A simple and elegant device (see Appendix II) induces resonances in the bronchial system at around 15 Hz ( 6-26 Hz) . This is a resonance of the mucus bacterial film , breaking it up . For evolutionary reasons , (See Appendix IV) , the filii of the airways operate optimally at this frequency . In other words , “hard” plaques liquefy and can be expelled .
This has an obvious effect on the bronchial system . Pumping out mucus (ie obstructions) from the upper regions of the bronchial tree causes a capillary pumping-out of muck out of the alveoli . Which frees them up for better gas transfer .
There is an ancillary effect . The walls of the narrower bronchial tubes also have a greater gas-transfer capability , once cleared of insulating mucus . They then operate more like the much more efficient bird-lungs . Will this trigger some epigenetic switching-on of bird-lung genes in the human genome ? I do not know , but it is likely .
Sports:
Any athlete will better his performance by using this technique .
There is an intriguing catch-up effect . The brain normally limits performance to 2/3 of maximal (Noakes) . But this takes time . Using OPEP just before an exertion means a multiplier of 3 of the increment in performance . Enough to win .
Instant Yoga :
The range 8 – 15 – 26 Hz is intriguingly close to brainwave frequencies . Using it will entrain brainwaves through pressure-wave fluctuation , especially at the synapse level . (ie neurotransmitter densities will fluctuate in resonance pressure resonances from the bronchial system ) .
Ohm mane padme sum !

Which brings us to the !Click language .
Or it’s descendant , the glottal stop . These interrupt the expiration in patterned ways . I tried it with the standard double-click (two teeth-clicks , followed by two tongue clicks during expiration using a Flutter device (see Appendix II)) . The effect was a enhanced clarity of mind , which I ascribe to enhanced oxygen intake . Be cautious . !Click combined with Flutter devices can have major biosystem effects .
Interesting Asides :
1.Are other plaques (eg arteries , alzheimers , infections , etc) also susceptible to resonances at around these frequencies ?
2Music , of course . Heavy rhythm , where the body resonates with the sound .
3.Smoking . At first glance , all smokers should use this technique . But if it leads to switching on some bird-lung genes , this would make them more susceptible to bird-flu . I simply do not know enough .
4.Coughing : this is an OPEP system . Time it . The frequency is close to 15 Hz, but only in short bursts. The artificial Flutter system is better .
5.Snoring : This is mostly on expiration (see Appendix III) . An attempt by the body system to induce a Flutter system on expiration . Thus , using a Flutter artificial system should cure most snoring problems .
6.Hiccups : it stops them cold . Also it’s little brother , that pesky reflux .(Heartburn)
7.Will it have an effect on the pylorus valve and the duodenal peristalsis , and hence Diabetes ?
(See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com “Cure for diabetes” May 2012)
I have no idea at present . Watch the next thrilling episode .

Where to get it in South Africa: See Appendix V

Life doesn’t suck . It is a blow job .
Andre .

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Appendix I
http://www.rcjournal.com/contents/10.07/10.07.1308.pdf
A good summation
Oscillatory PEP Therapy
OPEP therapy was first developed and described in Switzerland, as an adjunct or supplement to traditional airwayclearance methods.
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Appendix II
http://www.aptalispharma.com/pdf/flutter.pdf
When the oscillation frequency approximates the resonance
frequency of the pulmonary system, endobronchial pressure oscillations are amplified and result
in vibrations of the airways. The vibrations produced by these oscillations cause the "fluttering"
sensation from which the FLUTTER derived its name. These vibrations loosen mucus from the
airway walls. The intermittent increases in endobronchial pressure decrease the collapsibility of
the airways during exhalation, increasing the likelihood of clearing mucus from the
tracheobronchial tract. The airflow accelerations increase the velocity of the air being exhaled,
facilitating the movement of mucus up the airways
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Appendix III
More info
http://www.scah.uct.ac.za/paediatric-refresher-course-2009/presentations/tue/camphor/Morrow-CF-physiotherapy.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_end-expiratory_pressure
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Appendix IV
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2929268
Mobilization of mucus by airway oscillations.
Freitag L, Kim CS, Long WM, Venegas J, Wanner A.
Source
Pulmonary Division, University of Miami, Mt. Sinai Medical Center.
Abstract
The effects of high frequency asymmetric airway oscillations on mucus clearance were evaluated in excised tracheas of sheep, in an animal model of excessive mucus production, and in patients with bronchiectasis. Asymmetric high frequency ventilation (15 Hz) with expiratory biased flow profiles (expiratory peak-flow greater than inspiratory peak-flow) could move mucus droplets towards the pharynx in rigid and flexible tracheas by gas-liquid interaction. In rigid tracheas the mucus was transported towards the periphery of the model lung if the oscillations were inspiratory biased. In very collapsible tracheas, however, even inspiratory biased oscillations moved the mucus cephalad. Parameters influencing direction and speed of mucus are airflow profile, peak-flow, airway compliance and lung resistance. Gamma-camera studies showed that in anesthetized dogs radiolabeled artificial mucus followed the direction of the bias during high frequency ventilation. In five human volunteers with bronchiectasis and excessive secretions the asymmetric airway oscillations were superimposed during spontaneous breathing using a mouthpiece. Airway wall vibrations following the pressure swings of the oscillator could be observed. During forced expiration inward bulging of the posterior membranes of trachea and bronchi occurred at the negative pressure phase of the oscillations. This event was associated with increased appearance of sputum in the central airways. We conclude that high frequency ventilation with asymmetric flow profiles applied via tube or mouthpiece might be an effective future treatment of mucostasis.
PMID:

2929268

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Appendix V
Where to get it South Africa
Price R90
MediTool
Pmb (0331) 903271
Jhb 082 900 7103
Cpt 082 871 6855
Pmb 082 900 3187
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