The Inner Life Of Cell

Alice in Wonderland syndrome

In 1955, English psychiatrist John Todd (1914-1987) described Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) as self-experienced paroxysmal body image illusions involving distortions of the size, mass, or shape of the patient's own body or its position in space, often occurring with depersonalization and derealization.

Todd named AIWS for the perceptual disorder of altered body image experienced by the protagonist in the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), written by Lewis Carroll (the pseudonym of Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson [1832-1898]), possibly based in part on Dodgson's own migrainous experiences. 

In the story, Alice followed a talking white rabbit down a rabbit hole and then experienced several dramatic changes in her own body size and shape (e.g., shrinking to 10 inches high, growing unnaturally large, and growing unnaturally tall but not any wider). 

Although Todd's report was the most influential, Lippman provided an earlier description in 1952. In Lippman's article, one of the patients reported feeling short and wide as she walked, and referenced Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in regard to her body image illusions, referring to them as a "Tweedledum" or "Tweedledee" feeling.

For the AIWS sufferer, the eye components are entirely physically normal. The AIWS involves a change in perception as opposed to a malfunction of the eyes themselves. The hallmark sign of AIWS is a migraine, and AIWS may in part be caused by the migraine. AIWS affects the sufferer's sense of vision, sensation, touch, and hearing, as well as one's own body image.

A prominent and often disturbing symptom is that of altered body image: the sufferer may find that he or she is confused as to the size and shape of parts of (or all of) his/her body. Alice in Wonderland syndrome involves perceptual distortions of the size or shape of objects. Other possible causes and/or signs of association with the syndrome are migraines, use of hallucinogenic drugs, and infectious mononucleosis. 

Also, patients with certain neurological diseases have experienced similar visual hallucinations.  These hallucinations are called "Lilliputian," which means that objects appear either smaller or larger than they actually are.

Patients may experience either micropsia or macropsia. Micropsia is an abnormal visual condition, usually occurring in the context of visual hallucination, in which affected persons see objects as being smaller than those objects actually are.  Macropsia is a condition where the individual sees everything larger than it actually is.

One theory is that patients with Alice in Wonderland syndrome were associated with infectious mononucleosis. Neuroimaging studies have not revealed any link, and the relationship (if any) between the syndrome and mononucleosis remains unknown. One 17-year-old male described his odd symptoms. He said, "quite suddenly objects appear small and distant (teliopsia) or large and close (peliopsia). I feel as I am getting shorter and smaller "shrinking" and also the size of persons are not longer than my index finger (a lilliputian proportion). Sometimes I see the blind in the window or the television getting up and down, or my leg or arm is swinging. I may hear the voices of people quite loud and close or faint and far. Occasionally, I experience attacks of migrainous headache associated with eye redness, flashes of lights and a feeling of giddiness. I am always conscious to the intangible changes in myself and my environment." 

The eyes themselves are normal, but the sufferer 'sees' objects with the wrong size or shape or finds that perspective is incorrect. This can mean that people, cars, buildings, etc., look smaller or larger than they should be, or that distances look incorrect; for example a corridor may appear to be very long, or the ground may appear too close.

The sufferer may also lose a sense of time, a problem similar to the lack of spatial perspective. That is, time seems to pass very slowly, akin to an LSD experience. The lack of time, and space, perspective leads to a distorted sense of velocity. For example, one could be inching along ever so slowly in reality, yet it would seem as if one were sprinting uncontrollably along a moving walkway, leading to severe, overwhelming disorientation. This can then cause the sufferer to feel as if movement, even within his or her own home, is futile.

In addition, some people may, in conjunction with a high fever, experience more intense and overt hallucinations, seeing things that are not there and misinterpreting events and situations.

Other minor or less common symptoms may include loss of limb control and general dis-coordination, memory loss, lingering touch and sound sensations, and emotional experiences.

Treatment is the same as that for other migraine prophylaxis: anticonvulsants, antidepressants, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers. Chronic Alice In Wonderland Syndrome is untreatable and must wear itself out. Rest is the prime treatment, but another effective therapy is to join support groups to share experiences.

Read More:

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome: somesthetic vs visual perceptual disturbance | PubMed

Alice in Wonderland syndrome | Wikipedia

Pseudoephedrine

Pseudoephedrine ( Pseudo ephedrine ) (PSE) is a sympathomimetic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes. It may be used as a nasal/sinus decongestant, as a stimulant, or as a wakefulness-promoting agent.

The salts pseudoephedrine hydrochloride and pseudoephedrine sulfate are found in many over-the-counter preparations, either as a single ingredient or (more commonly) in combination with antihistamines, guaifenesin, dextromethorphan, and/or paracetamol (acetaminophen) or another NSAID (such as aspirin or ibuprofen).

Pharmacokinetics.
Distribution: Distributes into breast milk.
Metabolism: Partially metabolized in the liver.
Elimination: Renal (55% to 75% as unchanged); acidic urine accelerates rate of excretion.
Onset: 15 to 30 min.
Peak: 30 to 60 min.
Duration: 3 to 4 h; 8 to 12 h (extended-release).

 
Dosage and Administration.

Pseudoephedrine Sulfate
Adults and Children older than 12 yr of age 

PO 120 mg sustained-release every 12 h.

Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride
Adults 

PO 60 mg every 4 to 6 h or 120 mg sustained-release every 12 h. Not to exceed 240 mg/day.

Children. The BNFC states there is little evidence to support the use of systemic decongestants in children. However, the following oral doses of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride are suggested for children in the management of mucosal congestion of the upper respiratory tract:
• 2 to 6 years: 15 mg 3 or 4 times daily
• 6 to 12 years: 30 mg 3 or 4 times daily, Not to exceed 120 mg/day.
Over-the-counter cough and cold preparations containing sympathomimetic decongestants (including pseudoephedrine) should be used with caution in children and generally avoided in those under 2 years of age

Under 4 years of age.  Not approved by FDA because dosage not studied in this age range 

Avoid multi-ingredient products in children under 6 years of age (AAP recommendations 10/2008)

Indications.

• nasal congestion
• sinus congestion
• Eustachian tube congestion
• vasomotor rhinitis
• as an adjunct to other agents in the optimum treatment of allergic rhinitis, croup, sinusitis, otitis media, and tracheobronchitis.
• also used as a first-line prophylactic for recurrent priapism
• urinary incontinence (off-label use)

Adverse effects.

• Common adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with pseudoephedrine therapy include: CNS stimulation, insomnia, nervousness, excitability, dizziness and anxiety.
• Infrequent ADRs: tachycardia or palpitations. 
• Rarely, mydriasis (dilated pupils), hallucinations, arrhythmias, hypertension, seizures and ischemic colitis; as well as severe skin reactions known as recurrent pseudo-scarlatina, systemic contact dermatitis, and nonpigmenting fixed drug eruption. 
• Pseudoephedrine, particularly when combined with other drugs including narcotics, may also play a role in the precipitation of episodes of paranoid psychosis. It has also been reported that pseudoephedrine, amongst other sympathomimetic agents, may be associated with the occurrence of stroke.

  A child who suffered a generalised seizure after ingesting a large quantity of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride tablets was believed to be the first report of convulsions associated with overdose of a preparation containing the drug as a single ingredient.
Clark RF, Curry SC. Pseudoephedrine dangers. Pediatrics 1990; 85: 389–90.

Precautions and contraindications.
Not be used in patients with: 

• diabetes mellitus, 
• cardiovascular disease, 
• severe or uncontrolled hypertension, 
• severe coronary artery disease,  
• prostatic hypertrophy, 
• hyperthyroidism, 
• closed angle glaucoma, 
• pregnant women ( Category C ) .
• Do not give to breast-feeding mothers.
   A small, randomised, crossover study concluded that a single dose of 60 mg pseudoephedrine hydrochloride decreased 24-hour milk production by 24%. The authors of the study suggested that pseudoephedrine might be of benefit for suppressing excess milk production.3
  
  1. American Academy of Pediatrics. The transfer of drugs and other chemicals into human milk. Pediatrics 2001; 108: 776–89. Correction. ibid.; 1029.
  2. Findlay JWA, et al. Pseudoephedrine and triprolidine in plasma and breast milk of nursing mothers. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1984; 18: 901–6.
  3. Aljazaf K, et al. Pseudoephedrine: effects on milk production in women and estimation of infant exposure via breastmilk. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2003; 56: 18–24.

Patients who are prone to anxiety or panic attacks should use pseudoephedrine with caution, as anxiety and restlessness are common side effects, mostly due to the drug's stimulant properties.

Since nasal congestion is considered to be a relatively minor illness, alternatives are preferred in patients with these conditions. Appropriate alternatives may include saline sprays/instillations, depending on the patient's condition. Topical decongestants should be used with caution and for no longer than three days to avoid rhinitis medicamentosa.

Under 4 years of age. Not approved by FDA because dosage not studied in this age range
Avoid multi-ingredient products in children under 6 years of age (AAP recommendations 10/2008)

Interactions.

• Concomitant or recent (previous fourteen days) monoamine oxidase inhibitor use can lead to hypertensive reactions, including hypertensive crises.
• The antihypertensive effects of methyldopa, mecamylamine, reserpine and veratrum alkaloids may be reduced by sympathomimetics (pseudoephedrine ). 
• Beta-adrenergic antagonists may also interact with sympathomimetics. 
• Increase of ectopic pacemaker activity can occur when pseudoephedrine is used concomitantly with digitalis. 
• Antacids increase the rate of pseudoephedrine absorption, while kaolin decreases it.

Abuse. 

Acute psychosis and visual and tactile hallucinations have been reported in an 18-year-old male after intravenous misuse of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. Pseudoephedrine has also been used for the illicit manufacture of street stimulants such as metamfetamine 

Sullivan G. Acute psychosis following intravenous abuse of pseudoephedrine: a case report. J Psychopharmacol 1996; 10: 324–5.

 

Read More:

Martindale; The complete drug reference, 36th edition
Pseudoephedrine | MedlinePlus Drug Information
Pseudoephedrine | Wikipedia
Complete Pseudoephedrine (d-Isoephedrine) information from | Drugs.com
Pseudoephedrine for Stuffy Nose - Children's Hospital Colorado-Denver Area, Rocky Mountain Region

Immunology VIII. TRANSPLANTATION

Transplantation is complicated by the antigenic differences between donor and recipient, the most important of which are antigenic differences in the HLA class I and class II molecules (also known as transplantation antigens).

Autograft is transplantation of tissue from one site to another on the same person, as might be used for the treatment of severe burns, and does not require immunosuppressive therapy.   

Syngeneic transplant (or isograft) is a transplant between genetically identical individuals and also does not require immunosuppressive treatment. 

Allograft (or allogeneic transplant) is a transplant between two genetically different individuals and often requires immunosuppressive therapy due to alloreactions (either graft rejection or graft versus host reaction, depending on the type of tissue transplanted).

Transfusion is a form of “living transplant” whereby blood is removed from one person for infusion into another. Human erythrocytes lack HLA classes I and II molecules. Major antigenic determinants of erythrocytes include the ABO glycolipids and the Rhesus (Rh) erythrocyte antigens. 

In routine ABO blood grouping, if antigens are absent from a person’s erythrocytes (A or B carbohydrates), then antibodies, usually IgM, that recognize those antigens naturally develop due to structural similarities between the A and B carbohydrates and the carbohydrates present in gut bacteria. As such, persons of blood type O would make anti-A and anti-B antibodies, whereas blood type AB would make neither set of antibodies. If the recipient of a blood transfusion is making antibodies that recognize antigens found on the transfused blood, then the newly transfused erythrocytes will be lysed by complement and phagocytes. Patients experience fever and chills associated with the hemolysis of the transfused blood. 

The Rh blood antigen (most typically, the D antigen) is a protein antigen; Rh positive individuals have the protein antigen, and Rh-negative individuals do not. The production of antibodies does not occur until the D antigen is introduced into the body and recognized as foreign by Rh-negative individuals (Rh immunization). Anti-Rh antibodies are the leading cause of HDN "hemolytic disease of the newborn" (discussed before).

Transplantation of solid organs. Common solid organ transplants are kidney, heart–lung (in combination or separately), pancreas, and liver (with or without intestine segment).

 Hyperacute rejection is the result of preformed antibodies against ABO blood group antigens or HLA antigens. These preformed antibodies act with complement, which leads to immediate destruction of the tissue and occlusion of the graft blood vessels, usually within minutes or hours of transplantation. Once established, no treatment is available to reverse the effects.
ABO incompatible kidney transplants have been successfully performed in investigational studies in Japan, Europe, and the United States by performing plasmaphoresis of the recipient before and after transplantation.
 Acute rejection is caused by effector T cells that are responding to HLA differences between donor and recipient. Acute rejection takes days to develop and can be reduced or prevented by the use of immunosuppressant drugs prior to and after transplantation.
 Chronic rejection occurs months or years after transplantation and is characterized by a gradual thickening of the vasculature of the transplanted tissue. As the lumen of the vessel walls narrow, the blood supply to the grafted tissue is eventually reduced, causing ischemia and tissue death.

Matching of donor and recipient HLA class I and class II allotypes improves the outcome of organ transplantation. The need for HLA matching and immunosuppressive therapy varies with the organ transplanted. The cornea of the eye can be transplanted without consideration of HLA type or immunosuppressive therapy because the cornea is not vascularized, and the immunological environment of the cornea suppresses inflammation. Liver cells express very low levels of HLA class I and class II antigens. Good HLA match between donor and recipient for liver transplantation can reduce the incidence of acute rejection; however, it does not appear to influence the overall graft outcome. Bone marrow transplantation is the most sensitive to HLA mismatches.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (bone marrow transplantation). 
-Bone marrow transplantation is often used as a treatment for many genetic diseases that affect cells of the hematopoietic system, including many immunodeficiencies, and some cancer treatments, particularly those with immune system cancers.

-Hematopoietic stem cells are infused into the patient whose own bone marrow has been weakened or destroyed due to the immunodeficiency or cancer treatment. The grafted bone marrow cells repopulate the hematopoietic system of the recipient.

-Recipient rejection of the graft bone marrow is less of a concern because the recipient immune system is typically immunodeficient; however, the donor marrow is immunocompetent and can lead to graft versus host disease (GVHD).  In GVHD, mature T cells (TH or TC) that are present in the donor graft respond to the recipient HLA allotypes. The donor T-cell response can occur in any tissue, although the skin, intestines, and liver are principally involved.

-Almost all bone marrow transplant recipients experience some degree of GVHD, although the severity tends to correlate with the degree of HLA mismatch. In addition to reducing the incidence of GVHD, it is important that the donor and recipient match for at least one HLA class I and one HLA class II allotype in order to reconstitute the immune system.

Main Ref: Comprehensive Pharmacy Review 

Read More: WHO | Transplantation

 

Oxygen Injecting

Patients unable to breathe because of acute lung failure or an obstructed airway need another way to get oxygen to their blood -- and fast -- to avoid cardiac arrest and brain injury. A team led by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital has designed tiny, gas-filled microparticles that can be injected directly into the bloodstream to quickly oxygenate the blood.

The microparticles consist of a single layer of lipids (fatty molecules) that surround a tiny pocket of oxygen gas, and are delivered in a liquid solution.

In a cover article in the June 27 issue of Science Translational Medicine, John Kheir, MD, of the Department of Cardiology at Boston Children's Hospital, and colleagues report that an infusion of these microparticles into animals with low blood oxygen levels restored blood oxygen saturation to near-normal levels, within seconds.

When the trachea was completely blocked -- a more dangerous "real world" scenario -- the infusion kept the animals alive for 15 minutes without a single breath, and reduced the incidence of cardiac arrest and organ injury.

The microparticle solutions are portable and could stabilize patients in emergency situations, buying time for paramedics, emergency clinicians or intensive care clinicians to more safely place a breathing tube or perform other life-saving therapies, says Kheir.

"This is a short-term oxygen substitute -- a way to safely inject oxygen gas to support patients during a critical few minutes," he says. "Eventually, this could be stored in syringes on every code cart in a hospital, ambulance or transport helicopter to help stabilize patients who are having difficulty breathing."

  

The microparticles would likely only be administered for a short time, between 15 and 30 minutes, because they are carried in fluid that would overload the blood if used for longer periods, Kheir says.

Kheir also notes that the particles are different from blood substitutes, which carry oxygen but are not useful when the lungs are unable to oxygenate them. Instead, the microparticles are designed for situations in which the lungs are completely incapacitated.

Read more:

Injecting life-saving oxygen into a vein | Boston Children's Hospital

Injecting Life-Saving Oxygen Into a Vein | ScienceDaily

Illusion of control

The illusion of control is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events, for instance to feel that they control outcomes that they demonstrably have no influence over. The effect was named by psychologist Ellen Langer and has been replicated in many different contexts. It is thought to influence gambling behavior and belief in the paranormal.

Along with illusory superiority and optimism bias, the illusion of control is one of the positive illusions. Although, the idea of illusion of control has been studied prior to Langer. Psychological theorists have consistently emphasized the importance of perceptions of control over life events. One of the earliest instances of this is when Adler argued that people strive for proficiency in their lives. Heider later proposed that humans have a strong motive to control their environment and White hypothesized a basic competence motive that people satisfy by exerting control. Weiner, an attribution theorist, modified his original theory of achievement motivation to include a controllability dimension. Kelley then argued that people’s failure to detect noncontingencies may result in their attributing uncontrollable outcomes to personal causes. Later on, Lefcourt argued that the sense of control, the illusion that one can exercise personal choice, has a definite and a positive role in sustaining life. Nearer to the present, Taylor and Brown argued that positive illusions, including the illusion of control, foster mental health.

The illusion is more common in familiar situations, and in situations where the person knows the desired outcome. Feedback that emphasizes success rather than failure can increase the effect, while feedback that emphasizes failure can decrease or reverse the effect. The illusion is weaker for depressed individuals and is stronger when individuals have an emotional need to control the outcome. The illusion is strengthened by stressful and competitive situations, including financial trading. Though people are likely to overestimate their control when the situations are heavily chance-determined, they also tend to underestimate their control when they actually have it, which runs contrary to some theories of the illusion and its adaptiveness. People also showed a higher illusion of control when they were allowed to become familiar with a task through practice trials, make their choice before the event happens like with throwing dice, and when they can make their choice rather than have it made for them with the same odds. People even are more likely to show control when they have more answers right at the beginning than at the end even when the people had the same number of correct answers.

The illusion might arise because people lack direct introspective insight into whether they are in control of events. This has been called the introspection illusion. Instead they may judge their degree of control by a process that is often unreliable. As a result, they see themselves as responsible for events when there is little or no causal link. In one study, college students were in a virtual reality setting to treat a fear of heights using an elevator. Those who were told that they had control, yet had none felt as though they had as much control as those who actually did have control over the elevator. Those who were led to believe they did not have control said they felt as though they had little control.

Read More

ScienceDaily | Illusion of Control

Wikipedia | Illusion of Control

Facebook Profiles Raise Users' Self-Esteem and Affect Behavior

A Facebook profile is an ideal version of self, full of photos and posts curated for the eyes of family, friends and acquaintances. A new study shows that this version of self can provide beneficial psychological effects and influence behavior.

Catalina Toma, a UW-Madison assistant professor of communication arts, used the Implicit Association Test to measure Facebook users' self-esteem after they spent time looking at their profiles, the first time the social psychology research tool has been used to examine the effects of Facebook. The test showed that after participants spent just five minutes examining their own Facebook profiles, they experienced a significant boost in self-esteem. The test measures how quickly participants associate positive or negative adjectives with words such as me, my, I and myself.
"If you have high self-esteem, then you can very quickly associate words related to yourself with positive evaluations but have a difficult time associating words related to yourself with negative evaluations," Toma says. "But if you have low self-esteem, the opposite is true."
Toma opted to use the Implicit Association Test because it cannot be faked, unlike more traditional self-reporting tools.
"Our culture places great value on having high self-esteem. For this reason, people typically inflate their level of self-esteem in self-report questionnaires," she says. "The Implicit Association Test removes this bias."
Additionally, Toma investigated whether exposure to one's own Facebook profile affects behavior.
"We wanted to know if there are any additional psychological effects that stem from viewing your own self-enhancing profile," says Toma, whose work will be published in the June issue of Media Psychology. "Does engaging with your own Facebook profile affect behavior?"
The behavior examined in the study was performance in a serial subtraction task, assessing how quickly and accurately participants could count down from a large number by intervals of seven. Toma found that self-esteem boost that came from looking at their profiles ultimately diminished participants' performance in the follow-up task by decreasing their motivation to perform well.
After people spent time on their own profile they attempted fewer answers during the allotted time than people in a control group, but their error rate was not any worse. Toma says the results are consistent with self-affirmation theory, which claims that people constantly try to manage their feelings of self-worth.
"Performing well in a task can boost feelings of self-worth," Toma says. "However, if you already feel good about yourself because you looked at your Facebook profile, there is no psychological need to increase your self-worth by doing well in a laboratory task."
But Toma cautions against drawing broad conclusions about Facebook's impact on motivation and performance based on this particular study, as it examines just one facet of Facebook use.
"This study shows that exposure to your own Facebook profile reduces motivation to perform well in a simple, hypothetical task," she says. "It does not show that Facebook use negatively affects college students' grades, for example. Future work is necessary to investigate the psychological effects of other Facebook activities, such as examining others' profiles or reading the newsfeed."

 

Source: ScienceDaily

Immunology VII. TUMOR IMMUNOLOGY

 Tumor Immunology involves the antigenic properties of the transformed cell, the host immune response to the tumor cells, the effect of the growth of the tumor may have on the body, and the potential manipulation of the immune response to eradicate the tumor.

Cancer results from a single cell that has undergone multiple mutations that lead to uncontrolled cell growth. Tumors can be benign (encapsulated, local, and limited in size), malignant (continually increasing in size and encroaching on adjacent tissues), or metastatic (spreading out from the primary tumor to form secondary tumors often at distant sites). Exposure to chemicals, radiation, viruses, or accumulated errors during replication can facilitate the malignant transformation.

Immune recognition of cancers
1. Malignant tumors express molecules that may be recognized by the immune response. Tumor specific antigens are expressed on tumor cells, but not on normal cells (e.g., viral proteins). Tumor-associated antigens are expressed on tumor cells but can also be found on normal cells, although often in smaller amounts or on cells of a different developmental stage (e.g., p53 and CT antigens).
2. MHC class I chain-related (MIC) proteins are stress-induced proteins that are often expressed on the surface of transformed epithelial cells, which can then be recognized by NK cells and CTLs. Tumor cells that express tumor antigens via class I MHC are recognized and killed by CTLs. Tumor cells that alter gene expression to reduce class I MHC presentation are recognized and killed by NK cells.
3. Several types of cancers are associated with chronic viral infections. By preventing infection, vaccinations protect against cancers caused by those viruses (e.g., human papillomavirus vaccine and hepatitis B vaccine).

Monoclonal antibodies directed against tumor antigens can be used for diagnosis and therapy, either alone via typical antibody-mediated mechanisms or conjugated to cytotoxic drugs or radioactive isotopes.
Examples include rituximab (Rituxan), trastuzumab (Herceptin), and ibritumomab (Zevalin, conjugated to Indium-111). (Cancer Chemotherapy will be discussed later)

Ref: Comprehensive Pharmacy Review

Read More: Tumour immunology and immunotherapy | Nature Reviews

Sulfur Hexafluoride - Deep Voice Gas

Inception, Fact and Fiction

Inception is a 2010 science fiction film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. He explored "the idea of people sharing a dream space...That gives you the ability to access somebody's unconscious mind. What would that be used and abused for?"

So let's get some scientific principles first,

Lucid Dreaming is a dream in which one is aware that he is dreaming. often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream. 

In a lucid dream, the dreamer has greater chances to exert some degree of control over their participation within the dream or be able to manipulate their imaginary experiences in the dream environment.

Australian psychologist Milan Colic has explored the application of principles from narrative therapy (is a form of psychotherapy using narrative) with clients' lucid dreams, to reduce the impact not only of nightmares during sleep, but also depression, self-mutilation, and other problems in waking life. Colic found that clients preferred direction for their lives, as identified during therapeutic conversations, could lessen the distressing content of dreams, while understandings about life—and even characters—from lucid dreams could be invoked in "real" life with marked therapeutic benefits.

In 1985, Stephen LaBerge performed a pilot study which showed that time perception while counting during a lucid dream is about the same as during waking life. Lucid dreamers counted out ten seconds while dreaming, signaling the start and the end of the count with a pre-arranged eye signal measured with electrooculogram recording. A German study, by D. Erlacher and M. Schredl, also studied motor activity and found deep knee bends took 44% longer to perform while lucid dreaming. However, a 1995 study in Germany indicated that lucid dreams can have varied time spans, in which the dreamer can control the length. The study took place during sleep and upon awakening. They required the participants to record their dreams in a log and record how long the dreams lasted.

While dream control and dream awareness are correlated, neither requires the other—LaBerge has found dreams that exhibit one clearly without the capacity for the other; also, in some dreams where the dreamer is lucid and aware they could exercise control, they choose simply to observe. 

In 1992, a study by Deirdre Barrett examined whether lucid dreams contained four "corollaries" of lucidity:  

1. knowing that one dreams, 
2. that objects will disappear after waking, 
3. that physical laws need not apply, 
4. and having clear memory of the waking world, 

and found less than a quarter of lucidity accounts exhibited all four. 

A related and reciprocal category of dreams that are lucid in terms of some of these four corollaries, but miss the realization that "I'm dreaming," were also reported. 

Scores on these corollaries and correctly identifying the experience as a dream increased with lucidity experience. 

In a later study in Barrett's book, The Committee of Sleep, she describes how some experienced lucid dreamers have learned to remember specific practical goals such as artists looking for inspiration seeking a show of their own work once they become lucid or computer programmers looking for a screen with their desired code. However, most of these dreamers had many experiences of failing to recall waking objectives before gaining this level of control.

Now let's back to the movie,

In the not-too-distant future, technology has been developed that allows multiple individuals to experience the same dream. While the underlying structure of the dream is controlled by one person (the Architect), other people populate the dream with manifestations of their subconscious, or Projections. And Tom Cobb (the main character) knows exactly how to exploit this system. He is a mercenary thief of ideas, a corporate espionage agent who specializes in invading dreams and extracting vital information. However, his greatest challenge is to perform the opposite task. He must infiltrate another person’s mind and plant an idea there. Business tycoon Saito wants to break up an energy empire, in the interests of promoting competition. He hires Cobb to insert an idea (the concept of dissolving the conglomerate) into the mind of young Robert Fischer, the incoming owner. This, unfortunately, is more difficult than it would appear – in order for the idea to take hold, it must appear to have come via inspiration, not suggestion. Cobb and his team promptly set to work devising their reverse-heist operation, with some help from Ariadne a remarkably skilled dream Architect. Their plan – to lure Fischer further and further into a web of nested dreamscapes, while subtly planting the germ of an idea. But unfortunately, Cobb is struggling with his own inner demons. Torn by guilt over the loss of his wife Mal, he produces subconscious images of her in the dreamscape, leading to disastrous effects.

Deirdre Barrett, said that Nolan did not get every detail accurate regarding dreams, but their illogical, rambling, disjointed plots would not make for a great thriller anyway. However, "he did get many aspects right," she said, citing the scene in which a sleeping Cobb is shoved into a full bath, and in the dream world water gushes into the windows of the building, waking him up. "That's very much how real stimuli get incorporated, and you very often wake up right after that intrusion".

Nolan himself said, "I tried to work that idea of manipulation and management of a conscious dream being a skill that these people have. Really the script is based on those common, very basic experiences and concepts, and where can those take you? And the only outlandish idea that the film presents, really, is the existence of a technology that allows you to enter and share the same dream as someone else."

The idea of the movie is very genius and creative, but most of the story still just fiction.

An Expensive Way to Buy Salt Water

ASEA is a diet supplement described as a “life-changing” health aid that can benefit everyone.

“ASEA is trillions of stable, perfectly balanced Redox Signaling Molecules suspended in a pristine saline solution—the same molecules that exist in the cells of the human body. Redox signaling is a function that is central to all life. Signaling molecules are created within every cell in the body. After the age of 12, our cells make fewer and fewer of these molecules. ASEA is the world’s only source for replenishing them.”

okay !!

Is it FDA approved?

“no, it is not intended to treat or prevent any disease”

okay, what is the active ingredients?

“ASEA is a mixture of 16 chemically recombined products of salt and water with completely new chemical properties. It is no longer salt or water just like table salt is no longer chlorine gas or sodium metal.”

what a precise answer !!

About their clinical evidence: 

 

“They have some scientific studies that they say “prove” the presence and effectiveness of those “chemically recombined products,” but they actually do no such thing. Their evidence is indirect and unconvincing. They say the product contains an equilibrium of several known reactive molecules that are stable in ASEA and measurable using standard analytic methods. But they never name any of those known molecules, and their analytic method is to use a fluorescent indicator as a probe for unspecified “highly reactive oxygen species.” 

They tested antioxidant enhancement and oxidative stress reduction in cell cultures and found “large, well-defined effects.”  

They tested 17 athletes and found a 3% increase in VO2max.  They didn’t have a control group and either didn’t bother to calculate whether the observed changes were statistically significant or calculated that they were not statistically significant and chose not to mention that. 

A small study of cyclists was done with a crossover control but with no placebo control. It measured a number of changes in metabolites that “may represent effects on inflammation, oxidative stress, and physiologic stress.” 

Not a single placebo-controlled study. Worse, these studies were “in house” studies that were never published in a peer-reviewed journal. Steven Novella recently pointed out the unreliability of such studies. 

Nothing listed in PubMed. Without replication, peer review, and better designed studies, this research does not constitute any credible evidence to support the claims for ASEA.  They have made what Carl Sagan would have called extraordinary claims and they have not even provided any ordinary evidence, much less any extraordinary evidence.”

What about toxicity?

They claim it is proven to be completely safe, with zero toxicity !!

I will just said that there is nothing with zero toxicity, even salt has its toxicity !!

Only pharmacokinetics and chemistry basics can expose them,

according to them these molecules are a type of ROS, and it is taken orally

any thing taken orally goes under very drastic processes; first the digestive system then the first pass metabolism in liver, so tell me how these very reactive molecule will reach the blood to be distributed to tissues !!

“ASEA is salt water. You can make your own salt water at home for much less than a dollar an ounce. The only value of the product is the entertainment value that can be derived from reading the imaginative pseudoscientific explanations they have dreamed up to sell it.”

  

I recommend you to read these articles:

ASEA: Another Expensive Way to Buy Water | Science-Based Medicine

Mitochondrial redox signalling at a glance | journal of cell science