Cav > Books: pharmacology‎ (69)

"Do you imagine futuristic cityscapes? Do you feel hopeful? Do you picture billowing smokestacks? Do you feel terrified? Does it remind you of school? Does that hold a positive or negative connotation for you?
As to what you envisioned, it may have been any of the above, or something totally different still. But the general consensus of the American public on this matter can be quite easily traced through recent history. In the years following World War II, the American economy was booming. The middle class was gainfully employed, adequately fed and sheltered, and filled with optimism. Because of this, science was viewed as a gleaming obelisk of limitless advancement. It was Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. It was the Jetsons. It was longevity and prosperity."

"Prior to the internet, there were sources of information that were unanimously agreed upon to be trustworthy and reliable. Stories published by newspapers had to be heavily researched by professional journalists. Knowledge from an encyclopedia was not questioned by those who needed to reference a fact, because they were written by top specialists in every discipline, which contributed to their considerable cost. Whether we regard them as good or bad, those times are gone, and they are never coming back. Unlike the encyclopedias of old, the quality of information on the internet is not reliable. It ranges from outstanding to abysmal. For this reason, the internet can serve as a magic mirror, a place where people go to confirm pre-existing bias. Outlets that reflect what we already “know” are correct and trustworthy. Those that do not are ignored, deemed fraudulent, deceitful, paid for by malevolent institutions, or worse. This method of assessment rarely has any respect for the qualifications of those who produce the content we encounter, which has led to what is popularly referred to as the “post-truth era.”

"...I myself became curious about the drug when my father, a retired judge, started to consider giving microdoses of LSD to my mother to treat her Alzheimer’s disease. He had asked me why, if the drug was actually supposed to help, he couldn’t just get it at the pharmacy. This launched me on my research.
The more I dug into the history, the more fascinated I became. I began to see how much of the early history of LSD was shaped by the shadow that lies over the molecule, a result of the personal connection between a Swiss pharmaceutical CEO named Arthur Stoll, a kind of unwilling forefather of psychedelics, and Richard Kuhn, the leading biochemist for the Third Reich. This relationship aided the National Socialists, who were beginning to study the use of psychedelics as potential “truth drugs”—questionable research, which, after the war, sparked the interest of the US military and its intelligence agencies in these substances.
This book is what emerged from my curiosity. In this moment when, after many decades, we are finally reconsidering the nature of our laws surrounding psychedelics, it feels more important than ever to look backward and understand how we arrived at those regulations in the first place."

"...Red light and near-infrared wavelengths is not harmful because treatments occur in a controlled environment such as a licensed spa or medical center, or even using a high-grade red light device at home. This means the chances of the light wavelengths generated by pure red light burning the skin are very dismal."

"...Red light therapy has been around for decades, since the advent of lasers in the 1960s. Currently, there are dozens of FDA-cleared red and near-infrared light therapy devices on the market, mainly for skin care and aches and pains. Some estimates suggest that the light therapy market, including white light devices for seasonal affective disorder and devices of other colors, will reach $1 billion worldwide by 2025."

"The goal of this book is twofold: to inform and inspire curiosity and action. Because light therapy can seem like magic—how, after all, can a form of energy have healing effects on the human body?—this book lays out in plain language the science of this treatment and its possible results. It does not diagnose or treat, but it does explain which conditions respond best to light therapy and how to seek it out."

"More than 4,000 PBM lab studies have been conducted, as well as about 700 clinical trials. In total, more than 6,000 papers have been published on the subject—nearly 500 in 2018 alone, signaling a rising interest in the treatment.
Looking back over the last decade or so, we can point to a few particularly important papers. A major report was published in the journal Nature in 2006, highlighting the ability of near-infrared light to flush nitric oxide from cytochrome c oxidase, helping stressed cells return to their normal, healthy function.4 The report noted that “any solution to excessive [nitric oxide] binding might lower the risk of both cancer and degenerative diseases,” since it would encourage sick cells to die off and rejuvenate healthy cells. The following year, the Journal of Rheumatology published a review of research on treatment for chronic neck pain and found that low-level laser therapy effectively reduced pain and improved function in the intermediate term for acute and chronic conditions"

"PBM is also effective at treating wounds and illnesses in animals, which seems relevant to the conversation since there’s no such thing as a placebo effect in animals. As Dr. Praveen Arany, a PBM researcher at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, explained to me, “Animals do not have placebo. They do not pretend to get better because you’re shining light on them.” Take that, PBM skeptics."

"The global transition to LED lighting seems to be having some concerning impacts on the natural world and human health. These energy efficient artificial lights produce different spectra than older incandescent technology, or the natural light of the Sun that life on Earth evolved with over billions of years. LED lighting is brighter, bluer, and more widely used than incandescent lighting.
Glen Jeffery, a professor of neuroscience from University College London, said that as a result, we may be paying the price with our health due to being oversaturated with blue light and starved of red and infrared light..."

"...While it was once believed that the healing effects of red and near-infrared light could only be obtained using expensive laser devices, science has since established that inexpensive LEDs (light emitting diodes) of the same wavelengths can provide the same remarkable healing benefits at a fraction of the cost."

"I wrote this book because I’ve experienced the benefits of red light therapy firsthand, and I now feel compelled to tell the world and help others find the same healing. The repair and enhancement of my brain function, sexual function, thyroid and overall health due to light therapy have been nothing short of miraculous.
Red light therapy isn’t a cure for all diseases, but by optimizing cellular function, supporting the immune system and accelerating the healing process, there are probably no diseases or conditions that it cannot benefit.
It’s my goal in writing this book to make the most complete resource on red light therapy ever written. One that is based on scientific evidence yet can be easily understood by anybody of any age."

"The global transition to LED lighting seems to be having some concerning impacts on the natural world and human health. These energy efficient artificial lights produce different spectra than older incandescent technology, or the natural light of the Sun that life on Earth evolved with over billions of years. LED lighting is brighter, bluer, and more widely used than incandescent lighting.
Glen Jeffery, a professor of neuroscience from University College London, said that as a result, we may be paying the price with our health due to being oversaturated with blue light and starved of red and infrared light..."

"...Hundreds of millions of people would be told to start taking it by their doctors every day. And doctors all over the world would call it a “miracle drug.”
Here’s the crazy part: That drug exists.
But it’s not a pill. It’s red and near-infrared light.
Red and near-infrared light therapy are one of the biggest breakthrough discoveries in health in the last half century. Scientists have quietly accumulated thousands of studies on the power of red and near-infrared light to enhance human health for the last several decades. And yet, most people have never even heard of it..."

"In this book, you’ll discover the incredible power of red and near-infrared light therapy and how it can help:
* Increase your energy
* Combat aging and make your skin healthier, reduce wrinkles, and help get rid of cellulite
* Speed up fat loss
* Improve muscle recovery and athletic performance
* Improve mood and cognitive function
* Speed healing from injury
* Improve metabolism and hormonal health
Sound too good to be true? Think again! Red and near-infrared light have already been proven in over 3,000 scientific studies to do all that and more!"

"There have now been literally thousands of studies conducted upon both animals and humans. Overall, red light has been repeatedly shown to have positive effects on cell function in animal and human studies and aid in improving a wide range of conditions, improving health in numerous ways. Red and near-infrared (NIR) light therapy devices have been FDA-approved for several purposes so far, including anti-aging, hair-loss reversal, acne treatment, pain relief, slow to heal wounds, fat loss, among other purposes. (This is worth noting as it proves the abundance of research showing benefits—the therapy has to be proven safe and effective in numerous trials to gain FDA approval.)"

"...The chemicals in these products of nature are not a sideshow—they are the main event, and we’ve unwittingly stolen them from a war raging all around us. We use these toxic chemicals to greet our days (caffeine), titillate our tongues (capsaicin), recover from our surgeries (morphine), cure our infections (penicillin), mend our hearts (digoxin), bend our minds (psilocybin), calm our nerves (cannabinol), spice up our food and drink (myristicin), and enhance our social lives (ethanol)."

"This book explores the fascinating and sometimes surprising ways that toxins from nature arose, have been used by us humans and other animals, and have consequently changed the world. We will follow several interrelated threads, or approaches, as we examine how these chemicals have influenced evolution and how they have penetrated each human life, for better and for worse."

"...That is why we go to the edge of uncertainty: to quest, and question, and fight with ourselves and others until we have an answer. Then, aware that we have brushed against other questions and surprises, we stow our new discoveries safely, and dive back into the dark waters to wrestle more things into the light. We have been doing it for centuries, and we can only hope we will be doing it for centuries to come. This is, after all, the best thing humans have ever done.
This is how those mysterious and powerful brains compel us to behave: they endow us with the curiosity, the bravery and the tenacity to hunt out the truth as best we can. It’s not an easy way to live. By the end of this journey to the frontiers of human certainty and beyond, your brain will feel battered and bruised. But it will also cry out for more. Adventuring is addictive. You have been warned..."

"...It is the source of creativity and, further along the spectrum, madness; it is the key to addiction and the path to recovery; it is the bit of biology that makes an ambitious executive sacrifice everything in pursuit of success, that makes successful actors and entrepreneurs and artists keep working long after they have all the money and fame they ever dreamed of; and that makes a satisfied husband or wife risk everything for the thrill of someone else. It is the source of the undeniable itch that drives scientists to find explanations and philosophers to find order, reason, and meaning.
It is why we look into the sky for redemption and God; it is why heaven is above and earth is below. It is fuel for the motor of our dreams; it is the source of our despair when we fail. It is why we seek and succeed; it is why we discover and prosper.
It is also why we are never happy for very long..."

"Look down. What do you see? Your hands, your desk, the floor, maybe a cup of coffee, or a laptop computer or a newspaper.
What do they have in common? These are things you can touch.
What you see when you look down are things within your reach, things you can control right now, things you can move and manipulate with no planning, effort, or thought. Whether it’s a result of your work, the kindness of others, or simple good fortune, much of what you see when you look down is yours. They’re things in your possession.
Now look up. What do you see? The ceiling, perhaps pictures on a wall, or things out the window: trees, houses, buildings, clouds in the sky—whatever is in the distance. What do they have in common? To reach them, you have to plan, think, calculate. Even if it’s only a little, it still requires some coordinated effort. Unlike what we see when we look down, the realm of up shows us things that we have to think about and work for in order to get..
Sounds simple because it is. Yet to the brain this distinction is the gateway between two wildly different ways of thinking—two utterly different ways of dealing with the world. In your brain the down world is managed by a handful of chemicals—neurotransmitters, they’re called—that let you experience satisfaction and enjoy whatever you have in the here and now. But when you turn your attention to the world of up, your brain relies on a different chemical—a single molecule—that not only allows you to move beyond the realm of what’s at your fingertips, but also motivates you to pursue, to control, and to possess the world beyond your immediate grasp. It drives you to seek out those things far away, both physical things and things you cannot see, such as knowledge, love, and power. Whether it’s reaching across the table for the salt shaker, flying to the moon in a spaceship, or worshipping a god beyond space and time, this chemical gives us command over every distance, whether geographical or intellectual."

"From dopamine’s point of view, having things is uninteresting. It’s only getting things that matters. If you live under a bridge, dopamine makes you want a tent. If you live in a tent, dopamine makes you want a house. If you live in the most expensive mansion in the world, dopamine makes you want a castle on the moon. Dopamine has no standard for good, and seeks no finish line. The dopamine circuits in the brain can be stimulated only by the possibility of whatever is shiny and new, never mind how perfect things are at the moment. The dopamine motto is “More.”

"HUMANS EVOLVED TO seek comfort. We instinctually default to safety, shelter, warmth, extra food, and minimal effort. And that drive through nearly all of human history was beneficial because it pushed us to survive.
Discomfort is both physical and emotional. It’s hunger, cold, pain, exhaustion, stress, and any other trying sensations and emotions.
Our comfort drive led us to find food. To build and take shelter. To flee from predators. To avoid overly risky decisions. To do anything and everything that would help us live on and spread our DNA. So it’s really no surprise that today we should still default to that which is most comfortable."

"...He called this “prevalence-induced concept change.” Essentially “problem creep.” It explains that as we experience fewer problems, we don’t become more satisfied. We just lower our threshold for what we consider a problem. We end up with the same number of troubles. Except our new problems are progressively more hollow...
...This creep phenomenon applies directly to how we now relate to comfort, said Levari. Call it comfort creep. When a new comfort is introduced, we adapt to it and our old comforts become unacceptable. Today’s comfort is tomorrow’s discomfort. This leads to a new level of what’s considered comfortable."

“In our model of misogi, there are only two rules,” said Elliott. “Rule number one is that it has to be really fucking hard. Rule number two is that you can’t die.”

"1. The aforementioned serotonin-oriented compounds, of which there are hundreds
2. “Dissociatives,” such as ketamine and salvia, which produce the sensation of detachment from one’s body
3. “Empathogens,” such as MDMA, which, although less overtly “trippy” than other substances, still amplify emotions and insights in a decidedly psychedelic way
4. “Unique” substances that can’t easily be categorized, including cannabinoids such as THC, which, in high doses, can induce visionary reveries"

"This book is not stuffy and academic. No background in botany, chemistry, or medicine is necessary—come as you are and learn about some of the most fascinating plants and molecules on the planet. Nor is this an instruction manual—for information on how to use these substances, readers will have to look elsewhere..."

"...Indeed, it is impossible to imagine that there is anyone unconnected to mental illness. In the twenty-first century, many of the people we most admire—celebrities like Lady Gaga and swimmer Michael Phelps, for example—speak publicly about their own emotional struggles. Also, in comparison to their parents, millennials are more willing to disclose a diagnosis and seek treatment. Many people, like my daughter Isabel, who is autistic, even celebrates forms of differences that just a few decades ago were a mark of shame."

"This book chronicles the many cultural and historical threads that have brought us to the present, a time when societies throughout the world are challenging the stigma that has, for centuries, shadowed mental illnesses.
We haven’t put it into words, but most of the people I encounter, even in low-income countries with inadequate health care, sense that something positive is happening. Although 60 percent of people with a mental illness in the United States still receive no mental health treatment,1 mental illness is fast becoming a more accepted and visible part of the human condition."

"In any given year, nearly 20 percent of American adults—more than 60 million people—meet the criteria for a mental illness.2 Many of these conditions are mild, short-term, and self-limiting. But others have serious consequences. Anorexia nervosa, perhaps the most fatal of all, has a mortality rate of as high as 10 percent, by some measures.3 Suicide, almost always associated with mental illnesses, is the third leading cause of death among American teenagers, and most who die never received any mental health care. In 2013, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey of American high school students nationwide showed that more than 13 percent said they had at some time in their lives created a plan to commit suicide, and 17 percent “seriously considered suicide.”4 But many felt too ashamed to tell anyone in their family. Every year, mental illnesses account for at least 12 percent of the total disease burden worldwide, and many people with serious mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities in lowincome countries like South Sudan, Somalia, and Uganda are condemned to a life of confinement and abuse in their villages.5"

"...When someone is homeless, our first thought is that the person has failed as an individual rather than to question the historical legacies of discrimination and inequality. When a person does not fit a preexisting or assigned sex or gender, our first thought is that the person has a mental or physical disease rather than to question our definitions of normality."

"...But nature is much more complex than a clock, isn’t it? In nature, not only does one cog connect with another; everything is also connected by a network so intricate that we will probably never grasp it in its entirety.
And that is a good thing, because it means that plants and animals will always amaze us. It’s important for us to realize that even small interventions can have huge consequences, and we’d do better to keep our hands off everything in nature that we do not absolutely have to touch.
So you can get a clearer picture of this intricate network, I’d like to show you some examples. Let’s be amazed together."