Doctors study pill to fade traumatic memories(like 8 yrs of chimp regime?)

[rainbow4321]

Of course, we'd all end up dying from propranolol toxicity by the time we popped enough of them to help us erase the memories of the chimp induced death and destruction...and you know somehow one of his cronies will be the owner of the pharm company benefiting from the drug $ales!


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/011506dnnatpill.2005934.html

Suppose you could erase bad memories from your mind. Suppose, as in a recent movie, your brain could be wiped clean of sad and traumatic thoughts.

<snip>
Will it work? It is too soon to say. Still, it is not far-fetched to think that this drug someday might be passed out along with blankets and food at emergency shelters after disasters like the tsunami or Hurricane Katrina.

The first study to test this approach on 19 longtime PTSD sufferers has provided early encouraging results, Canadian and Harvard University researchers report. "We figure we need to test about 10 more people until we've got solid evidence." said Alain Brunet, a psychologist at McGill University in Montreal who is leading the study.

The need for better treatment grows daily as American troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan with wounded minds as well as bodies. One government survey found almost 1 in 6 showing symptoms of mental stress, including many with post-traumatic stress disorder. Disability payments related to the illness cost the government more than $4 billion a year.

[PSPS]

1. Give your victim a pill, escape culpability!

[Gloria]

2. this sounds like a way to drug the entire population so that their

memories are erased and the evil thugs in charge can use us as they will...

[Junkdrawer]

3. Soma.. (Brave New World)

A Gram Is Better Than A Damn

[peekaloo]

4. Brave New World Order.

:banghead:

[Junkdrawer]

5. Hug me till you drug me, honey;

Kiss me till I'm in a coma;
Hug me, honey, snuggly bunny;
Love's as good as soma.

[peekaloo]

6. I just saw your first post.

We must have the same pharmacist! ;-)

[MuseRider]

7. That was interesting.

I can't get back in without registering so from what I can remember they use propranolol to calm the effects of the memories so that the brain stores the memory in a more regular place? Wow, this could be helpful for a lot of people, especially our soldiers coming home.

Did it say that they still retain the memory but it is less traumatic because of where it is stored in the brain.

Damn, I am going to have to get back in and read this again. Thanks. I sat next to an old friend of mine at a funeral this last week. He just got home, he was the soldier who went to Iraq with his son. He just seemed restless and tired and somehow not the same (as you can imagine). He said it was a hard adjustment getting back. Don't know what all he saw but it put a real human feel on it for me.

[firefox]

8. Could cannabis help? Yes

Here are search results for cannabis "traumatic memories"- http://tinyurl.com/78e6g The first result is an article titled "Study: Marijuana Eases Traumatic Memories"- http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13601.shtml

There are 6 paragraphs in comment3 by Ethan Russo, MD, from Montana and presently a researcher with GW Pharmaceuticals in the UK, the makers of the cannabis extract called Sativex. Here are just the first 4 paragraphs.

Imagine a life in which your brain was flooded with memories, good, bad, pleasant, or grotesque, over which you have no control whatsoever. Your life was a pit of inescapable anxiety, terror and pain. How would you function? How could you remember to pick up the kids at school, or manage that project your boss wanted by 9 AM? That would be what happened if your endocannabinoid system did not function properly.

The research of Lutz et al. demonstrates the integral role that the endocannabinoid system plays in our normal everyday neurophysiology. "Endocannabinoids," or endogenous cannabinoids are the natural substances (anandamide, 2-arachidonylglycerol, noladine ether) that act on the same receptors as THC. They are proving to have essential roles in modulation of pain, memory, movement, and immunomodulation. Without them, we'd be in a proverbial world of hurt.

Somewhere in the course of evolution, a marvelous plant emerged in Central Asia that contained phytocannabinoids, plant chemicals that mimicked the effects of these endogenous compounds. (Wo)Man tried it, and (s)he liked it. It relieved pain, eased grief, and spurred imagination and creativity. The plant was selectively cultivated and co-evolved with humans, and spread around the globe.

Some oligarchic few in power over other humans (read: moralistic micro-managers and politicians) have tried to persecute the plant and prevent its use, but in each historical instance they have failed utterly. Denying this plant called cannabis as having a therapeutic role in human medicine is the same as denying our own physiology.

[stillcool]

9. New drugs...

I tried to change one of my meds in the past year. There appears to be a serious problem between the psychiatrists, the drug reps, the FDA, and way down the line the patient. Some of these drugs have the most horrendous side-effects, but the doctors praise them. You go on-line and read people's reactions, and it's a different story. The worst part is that while you're totally flipping out, the professionals chalk it up to your illness...so it's like your double-fucked. Next thing you know, months later, you're flipping channels on the television and some lawyer comes on saying if you've taken this drug call...ToxicRX!! I have decided to not take any drug that has come on the market since *. That being said, I couldn't live in this world without the drugs I take...and don't want to try ever again.

[MuseRider]

10. Propranolol has been used for years

and years and is relativly safe if used properly. It is commonly known as Inderal.

When thrust into a solo position in my orchestra I was so not ready that I took it for stage fright. I had to stop using it because it does lower your blood pressure but I was starting with a normal pressure for me of 90/52 so it was no wonder I passed out. BUT it does work and a lot of people use it for that.

[stillcool]

12. thanks....I just checked it out...

wish I had known about it before. I've been taking anti-psych's since '92....and have never heard of it. After my last experience with the drug Geodon...it will be a while before I consider switching again.:hi:

[SPKrazy]

13. Propranolol, aka Inderal, been around a long time

And I don't think this is new information either. Just a new study.

Interesting thoughts that treating people immediately after trauma with this might help them not develop traumatic memories. But I'm skeptical about the retraumatizing of people just to give them a drug.

What is that with, virtual reality, people shooting at them? what? then give them some inderal to chill out their reaction to the adrenalin?

Anxiety is more than adrenalin, there are other neurochemicals involved as well.

[MuseRider]

11. After reading the

entire article ;) I have to say this is pretty cool and it makes sense. I really hope it helps to ease the terrible, traumatic memories that some of our fellow humans have to live with.

As to the poster about about cannabis, of course it most likely would do the same thing but in this world right now, well you know. Unless only the drug companies can sell it we will never be able to use it for all the medical things it could be used to relieve. It is so sad.

[leeroysphitz]

14. In regards to this topic please read a novel called

"Gun, With Occasional Music" by Jonathan Letham. An interesting exploration of this type of "medication".