Edgar Allen Poe and Carbon monoxide poisoning

A medical protocol for recognizing and treating carbon monoxide poisoning dips into literature for an extended list of symptoms that may be associated with the condition. The article, “Background on Sources, Symptoms, Biomarkers and Treatment of Chronic Carbon Monoxide Poisoning,” [1] is by Albert Donnay, MHS, Environmental Health Engineering, who is providing the information included in the protocol for  the purpose of helping medical professionals in diagnosing and treating chronic carbon monoxide poisoning as defined by specific symptoms and lab tests. The protocol is not intended to be used for self-diagnosis or treatment or as a substitute for seeing a medical professional.

That being said, the biggest news for me wasn’t that Edgar Allen Poe may have had chronic carbon monoxide poisoning possibly due to the coal gas that was used  at the time for indoor lighting or that he may have described the many symptoms of the condition in his macabre story, The Fall of The House of Usher, (1839). The big news for me was that stress – yes stress itself  can be a cause of chronic carbon monoxide poisoning. 

–> Time for a few stress reducing deep breaths. Carbon monoxide causes blood vessels to constrict and it can take the place of oxygen on the transport molecule of hemoglobin. So every breath you take is less efficient when carbon monoxide is present in excessive amounts. Smoking is a well known contributor of carbon monoxide to the blood stream. Stress  adds carbon monoxide indirectly as a breakdown product of increased metabolism while smoking is a direct source of the chemical.

Stress causes an increase in an enzyme that causes more breakdown of hemoglobin to occur. Hemoglobin is the protein that transports oxygen within the red blood cells. The destruction of hemoglobin leaves molecules of carbon monoxide as a side product. So the stress is a double whammy of sorts on our ability to carry oxygen.  The stress directly leads to less hemoglobin because more is broken down than usual; and the destruction causes an increase in carbon monoxide which binds onto the area of the remaining molecules of hemoglobin that would normally be carrying oxygen. So there is less total hemoglobin present and more of the remaining hemoglobin is transporting carbon monoxide instead of oxygen.

Chest pain or a rapid heartbeat and difficulty breathing or a feeling of only being able to take shallow breaths can be symptoms of chronic carbon monoxide poisoning, but they can also be symptoms of many other diagnoses, so see a medical professional for individualized diagnosis and treatment. See the protocol for more information about chronic carbon monoxide poisoning and for other symptoms and for the more extensive list of possible symptoms quoted from the fictional work by Edgar Allen Poe.  [1, protocol]  And see a medical professional for diagnosis and treatment as needed.

101
Fresh air, exercise,
Stress reducers for players
And for spectators.
  • Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes. 

‘The Horse With No Name’ might have been called Heatstroke

A popular song from the 70’s is a good reminder to pack salty snacks and plenty of water when travelling. The song “A Horse With No Name,” was written by Dewey Bunnell at age 19, one of the three members of the musical group America. He describes it as a travelogue song about the deserts he and his family travelled through during his childhood. The artist adds that he was also trying to capture the feeling of the desert portrayed in a painting by Salvador Dali and “the strange horse” pictured in a piece of metamorphosis art by M. C. Escher.  The artwork can be seen with the full article: [1] [lyrics]

The song has always stood out in my memory because of the vivid descriptions of wandering lost and hot in the desert for at least nine days – he let the nameless horse go after nine days. Heatstroke can cause hallucinations. I always assumed that the song was about a friendly imaginary horse that was released when the author found himself. Some cultures have rites of passage into adulthood or for spiritual reasons that include times spent alone while fasting (not eating). The person on a vision quest might go off into the wilderness without food or water in the hopes of receiving visions that might help guide them in their future. Hopefully most of them survived the fasting process and had a future to enjoy. The body can survive without food longer than without water but add extreme dry desert heat and visions of nameless horses might seem pretty tame.

PS Don’t leave your child or pet alone in a locked vehicle because it can heat up quickly. [2] And they might write a pop song about the experience later in life or they might feel sick.

And if you have to work (or play) in extreme heat than have adequate water throughout your work day. [3] A salty snack might help replace lost electrolytes if sweating is excessive.

Disclaimer: This information is being provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use and is not intended to provide individual health care guidance.

Cartooning lives many lives

Cartoons show and tell
Human mirth and misery.

From cave wall bison
to digital memes,

Cartooning shares life
from ancient times on.

Cool stories, cool strips,
Cartoons stretch the limits of thought,
Even with limited space.

‪In memory,

Mort Walker, creator of the cartoon Beetle Bailey , showing us that humanity can exist in the midst of an army barracks. [1923-2018, Wikipedia]

#‎JeSuisCharlie‬ ‪#‎CharlieHebdo‬, [theguardian] [Conflict, Not Cartoons] [Dissent]

Life paths begin at birth

Our experiences during infancy and early childhood can set us on a path with open communication and understanding of our moods and feelings or leave us in the dark. Difficult conversations are something that the author, Alice Miller, had to have with herself for decades before many others in the academic world joined in. Early childhood experiences teach us wordless lessons that may positively or negatively affect our habits throughout our daily lives.

Alice Miller trained and worked in the field of psychoanalysis  in Switzerland and then dedicated herself to writing books since 1980. She shares stories of fictional people in the book, Paths of Life; Seven Scenarios (1998). [1] The stories are written as if told by real people but are of composite characters representing real life issues experienced by many people. The people within the scenarios talk openly about some of the difficulties that too many infants and children have to live through but who may never have gotten a chance to voice out loud. Reading about the struggles that others survived and learned from can help put a voice to personal issues that may have been lingering wordlessly since one’s own childhood.

“But if we don’t go out on a limb ourselves, we’ll never find out what others are capable of. Addressing difficult subjects squarely can sometimes make the unexpected happen. Or not, as the case may be. There are lots of people who give the impression of being open and are very good at talking, but they’ll start panicking immediately if they’re asked to leave the fortress they’ve built around themselves. They can’t imagine surviving without that kind of protection.”

– Alice Miller [1, Paths of Life, p 51]

The scenarios created and shared by Alice Miller help to break through some of the more common fortress walls that may have been built in early childhood or from later traumatic experiences. Scenarios from traumatic childbirths and descriptions of more positive experiences of childbirth and lactation are also shared.

{Disclosure – I’m only on page 51 so far, and it’s a great book.  She has written other great books on the topic of empowering children of all ages, such as The Drama of the Gifted Child, [2], Breaking Down the Wall of Silence, [3], and Banished Knowledge, [4].}

*Having completed the book does not change my opinion that it is a great book worth reading but I will add that while the words are easy to read the topics are challenging to consider emotionally and intellectually. Not talking about difficult events in personal or world history is more likely to lead to history repeating itself in future generations. Dictators and the possibility that parenting styles and early child experiences may leave people more susceptible to following an authoritarian leader as adults is discussed in one of the chapters.

History is more likely to repeat if we deny it happened or fail to discuss it and learn from it.

This article reviews a book that looks at how Hitler and the Nazi movement may have formulated some of their policies on discriminatory laws that existed at the time in the U.S. at the state level. truth-out.org/opinion/

/Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./