"McCain/Lieberman '08. Vote Judeo-Christian values by voting for a Christian and a Jew!"

Which one am I? ...an Idahoan with insomnia.

>> ^dag:
It would be pretty funny if Obama picked Hagel and McCain picked Lieberman.
Thinker - I do talk to myself at this time of the night when only Aussies, Kuwaitis and Kurazies are up. Which one are you?

I'm only awake at 5 A.M. to see this video because I have insomnia and I refuse to take drugs that aren't grown in nature.

I wonder how many folks will have insomnia because of the song.

Congratulations Farhad. Your personal queue has contributed greatly to my insomnia. For that I am grateful.

Chogster,
I didn't have time to watch it either, but I did anyway. This is a tough one. I'll try to keep it brief, but that may be hard.

On vitamins and minerals;
If you eat a healthy balanced diet (raise hands please)you get all the vitamins and minerals you need. That's SO not the case in many undeveloped countries, as they rarely eat balanced diets. Taking extra water soluble vitamins, i.e. Vit C, will not hurt you, but it will give you expensive urine. Taking extra fat soluble vitamins can be outright dangerous. Vit A is hepatotoxic in high doses. I recall seeing a patient with end stage liver cirrhosis from chronic cod-liver oil (rich in Vit A) ingestion (how someone can get addicted to that is beyond me.)

There is little credible evidence to prove "extra" amounts of vitamins, above what your body really needs, is of any benefit to your health. Selenium supplementation has been associated with decreased prostate cancer. (So has rapid turnover of spermatozoa and it's more fun than taking selenium.)

The problem with "natural supplements" is several fold. (1) They are still chemicals and, therefore, are not easily differentiated from standard pharmaceuticals, many of which come from plants as well. (2) There is VERY lax quality control in the production of many of these drugs. Assays on potency have shown up to a 100 fold difference between brands that supposedly have the same amount of drug in one pill. (3)Taken in excess, drugs like ephedra are dangerous. It's amphetamine. It will give you a boost in energy, but it also may give you a hypertensive crisis or a fatal arrhythmia.

Medicine is science, and like any scientific endeavor, the proof is in the pudding. There are very few credible studies that demonstrate much benefit to "natural supplements." One speaker in the video, Jim Turner, laments that some of these drugs fall victim to "systematic cause and effect mentality" of the pharmaceutical companies and their "huge, expensive studies." That statement is intellectually bankrupt and I don't think I have to point that out. It takes huge expensive studies to achieve the power of analysis necessary to detect a benefit a drug might have on a relatively rare condition. Say for instance, a drug reduces by 50% the incidence of a complication that happens only once in a thousand patients. You will need to enroll thousands and thousands of patients to reach a power of analysis that will approach statistical significance. It takes, on average, almost a billion dollars to get a typical pharmaceutical drug from synthesis to the US market and that's, in part, due to the rigorous process the FDA requires.

On antidepressants;
Eating right, getting enough sleep, regular exercise and playing in the sunshine are as effective as marketed antidepressants. The side effect of "activation" of SSRIs has been understated. Patients with bipolar illness, rather than typical depression, can experience mania or hypomania, with increased anxiety, racing thoughts and insomnia. That's not what a depressed person needs. While not proven, my personal opinion is that this heightened sense of anxiety may play a possible role in the risk of suicide. Please remember, mentally ill people can hide their illness well. Unforeseen suicides are not uncommon and it's easy to pin the blame on a new medicine, or some other unrelated factor.

I told you it would be difficult for me to be brief. I've practiced for 25 years now.
(1) The FDA is NOT suppressing effective therapies.
(2) All drugs, natural supplements included, should undergo systematic randomized prospective studies to assess their efficacy before being labeled as effective (sadly, that's not always the case)
(3) The drug companies are shamelessly pandering to the public and downplaying side-effects. They have been successful in creating a herd mentality in the U.S. of "I don't feel right, I need a drug." Direct advertising to the public should be BANNED.

Hi/diary cheesemoo,
I'm happy to announce the cow has returned in a Chinese embed thanks to the Zonbie
http://www.videosift.com/video/Bezmiegs-Insomnia-2004-Vladimir-Lesciov
I think you'll n-joy
Eklek

Haha. I just go the "already submitted" from ol' sifty when I tried to sift this one!

http://www.videosift.com/video/Terminal-Insomnia-if-I-have-it-do-I-want-to-know

Have a friend that was having a major manipulation done to her shoulder, sort of a pre-surgery relocation or something that entailed the doc putting his knee in her chest and tugging or whatnot. They gave her a drug, I think maybe orally administered that allowed her to be sentient and conversant and cooperative, but she didn't remember a thing. Struck me as something from a science fiction movie or spy thriller. I think it also dulled the pain, but I remember thinking "if you caused a lot of pain to the patient, but they don't remember it, were they ever in pain" I don't remember what it was called. Forgettitol^tm? [edit:] It's called Versed.

In reply to this comment by snoozedoctor:
No, general anesthesia is not like physiologic sleep, the latter being a complex and active function of neurons located in the brain stem, in and around the thalamus. If you are unlucky enough, a small stroke in this area, while not damaging a significant portion of the brain, can result in permanent coma.

For an interesting sleep disorder, look up fatal familial insomnia. It's rare, and one you don't want to get.

The mechanisms of the some of the general anesthetics are still unknown. For instance, we don't know how the most widely used ones, the halogenated hydrocarbon gases, (halothane, isoflurane, sevoflurane, etc.) have their effect. Their potency is significantly related to their lipid solubility, which suggests they get in your neural cell lipid membranes, and alter them (temporarily) such that they can't carry on communication with other neurons. They've been used for 150 years now, and we still don't know exactly how they work!
Many of the IV anesthetics inhibit specific receptors and antagonize specific neurotransmitters, such that we do know how most of them work.

Cheers,

In reply to this comment by schmawy:
No, I don't have that kind of depth of knowledge. Sleep and dreams are so mysterious and fascinating, though. Is anesthesia anything like sleep, or nothing at all? Does a patient have REM under the gas?

In reply to this comment by snoozedoctor:
Watched this last night and forgot to upvote. I was diverted by looking for video of the goats with the myotonia, undoubtedly a similar phenomena. Alas, there was already a similar sift, so I dropped it. You ARE going medical on us.

No, general anesthesia is not like physiologic sleep, the latter being a complex and active function of neurons located in the brain stem, in and around the thalamus. If you are unlucky enough, a small stroke in this area, while not damaging a significant portion of the brain, can result in permanent coma.

For an interesting sleep disorder, look up fatal familial insomnia. It's rare, and one you don't want to get.

The mechanisms of the some of the general anesthetics are still unknown. For instance, we don't know how the most widely used ones, the halogenated hydrocarbon gases, (halothane, isoflurane, sevoflurane, etc.) have their effect. Their potency is significantly related to their lipid solubility, which suggests they get in your neural cell lipid membranes, and alter them (temporarily) such that they can't carry on communication with other neurons. They've been used for 150 years now, and we still don't know exactly how they work!
Many of the IV anesthetics inhibit specific receptors and antagonize specific neurotransmitters, such that we do know how most of them work.

Cheers,

In reply to this comment by schmawy:
No, I don't have that kind of depth of knowledge. Sleep and dreams are so mysterious and fascinating, though. Is anesthesia anything like sleep, or nothing at all? Does a patient have REM under the gas?

In reply to this comment by snoozedoctor:
Watched this last night and forgot to upvote. I was diverted by looking for video of the goats with the myotonia, undoubtedly a similar phenomena. Alas, there was already a similar sift, so I dropped it. You ARE going medical on us.

Thanks everyone! You all REALLY love me, don't you?!

Yes, my secret is that I do my best to keep my queue full. It also helps if you have no life so that you can hyper-monitor your queue at all times. Insomnia is a plus, as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Interpersonal relationships, personal hygiene, and a social life: Those are the demons you must slay to be a successful sifter.

Maatc: Does Germany have volcanoes? If not you can throw the 250 goats in the Danube. By the time they wash ashore they'll be Austria's problem.

Zeph: Yes, I am a fundamental force of nature. You'd have better luck trying to split an atom with your bare hands than to stop me.

Dag: I haven't nailed down any specific channel ideas yet, but I am leaning towards either a 2 Girls 1 Cup channel, or a Mentos channel. I think the 2 Girls 1 Cup channel would be less controversial.

Jonny: Actually I think this one is my best video, but after I posted it a short bus stopped in front of my house every morning waiting for me to get on it, so I had to discard it.

berticus: That's what all my lovers tell me.

DFT: I can't remember, but I think it's your turn for the reach-around.

gorgonheap: My psychiatrist concurs with your second statement. About me.

Zifnab: Watch out; I'm coming to git ya!

Fjbnk: LOVE the new hairdo!

Thylan: Thanks for publicly pointing out that DFT indeed has no sack.

Sarzy: How's Dr. Zaius doing?

And Gunny: You sly boots! You * promoted the video that dares not speak its name. I'm on to ya! The least I can do for you is urinate away a *quality point in return.

You're all beautiful. Now where are the hookers?

I was just listening to a radio report about how human brain waves take about 6 hours to recover from close proximity to a call phone or other wireless device. I cant explain the science but it was verified scientifically to cause insomnia and depression. Scary enough for me to unplug all my usb wireless devices and turn off my cell when not in use. Expect to hear more about it.

Eric,
Thanks for this post. Mental Illness is still not well understood in this country.
Sorry if I sound like Sanjay Gupta, but I feel compelled to comment on these medically related posts.

Contrary to the implication of the video, Major Depressive Illness is quite common. The life-time risk of having an episode is about 10% for men and 15-20% for women. My internal medicine buddies tell me they think about 1/3 of the patients they see every day in their office are having symptoms related to depression. Pain is very common, and it's not imagined, it's real. (We don't fully understand why depression intensifies pain) About 80% of patients with depression experience significant anxiety as well.

Antidepressant medications are marginally effective. SSRIs provoked mania in this lady, just like they did in me. My family tree is full of depression, and when mine hit at age 40 I went on SSRIs. MAJOR anxiety, racing thoughts, and insomnia ensued.
We were more likely to have this reaction because we weren't suffering from typical unipolar depression, we had bipolar illness. Many people with bipolar illness don't have much in the way of manic spells. Many times the illness is primarily depressive. So many times the diagnosis is not made because the illness is atypical. I consider this a real risk of SSRIs.

Interestingly, the only pharmacist I personally know who developed major depression declined antidepressants based on what she knew about their side-effects and efficacy.

So what does work? If it's a mild case, I would be hesitant about antidepressants, just eat right, get sleep, exercise out in the sun, and quit obsessing about conflict.
If it's a bad major depression, you need help and you need to see a professional. The normal course of a major depression is 6 to 9 months. That's a long time to be in the crapper, believe you me. Don't let people scare you away from getting treatment. There are options other than meds.

wow! holy fuck, blankfist! tyvm!

i owe it all to severe insomnia and enlightened self-interest. i know i can come off as a suck-up or something, but i really do watch the things i upvote, and i really have yet to see anything i would downvote, here, from any of you.

and yeah, my queue could use a lil' love every now and again, like anyone's i s'pose. but what i'd really want is for anyone who hasn't already seen it, to check out the clip i have as my favorite:

"shadow puppets", by chuck gamble. sifted by 'berticus'.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Shadow-Puppets-animation-by-Chuck-Gamble

and pass it on to anyone who could use a little hope. guess that means all of us.

Oh Dude! I was so totally listening to this broadcast the first time it aired... I used to have wicked insomnia in high school and would sit up at night in the dark listening to Art Bell... did this help my insomnia? Probably not, but it was great fun... I miss him.

Great find punk225! Just hearing that bumper music takes me back! Thanks

fluoride is a unique substance because it both harms and helps the human body. At least that's my understanding. Like so many other things it's about dosage and usage. For instance take caffeine. Caffeine only takes 15-20 minutes to get into your blood stream and the effects last for about 3.5 hours. Low amounts of caffeine have a mild stimulant effect that can make you feel more awake and alert. Symptoms of too much caffeine include headache, tremor, increased sensitivity, irritability, nervousness, jumpiness, insomnia, stomachaches, and racing heartbeat. In very high doses a person may hear odd noises and flashes of light. Most experts agree that if people choose to drink caffeine occasionally in moderation there are probably no health consequences or possibility of acquiring a habit.

I believe fluoride is much the same way. It can have negative effects but the dosage and use of it can turn it from a helpful substance to a harmful one.

Fluoride containing compounds such as sodium fluoride, calcium fluoride, and sodium monofluorophosphate are commonly added to toothpaste, drinking water, prescribed treatments, and other commercially available oral hygiene products because fluoride increases the resistance of the enamel to decay. Originally, sodium fluoride was used to fluoridate water; however, hexafluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6) and its salt sodium hexafluorosilicate (Na2SiF6) are more commonly used, especially in the United States.

Some studies suggest that fluoridation is associated with a median decline in the number of children with cavities of 12.5%, and a median decline of 2.25 teeth with cavities.

But there is the Water Fluoridation Controversy.