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Karen Strier – Lessons from the world’s most peaceful primate 

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Frontiers Science Communications in Featured News, Frontiers Announcements // 0 Comments

Author: Natasha Inskip 

Dr Karen Strier is Vilas Research Professor and Irven DeVore Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University, her current research is based in the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil, studying one of the world’s most endangered primates, the Northern muriqui. In June 2023, she will be celebrating 40 years of this continuous field study on the same population of this species. She is an international authority on the endangered northern muriqui monkey and her pioneering, long-term field research has been critical to conservation efforts on behalf of this species and has been influential in broadening comparative perspectives on primate behavioral and ecological diversity.

Dr Strier served as the President of the International Primatological Society from 2016 to 2022. In 2005, she was elected to the National Academy of Science, USA and in 2010 she was awarded the Distinguished Primatologist award from the American Society of Primatology, to name just a small number of her many accolades. She is currently serving as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Conservation Science, within the specialty section Animal Conservation.

What is the focus of your current research and how did your career evolve?

I started out in the 1980s trying to answer questions about the evolution of social behavior in my doctoral dissertation. Muriquis are critically endangered and so every discovery was important for their conservation, well-being, and ultimate survival. My research evolved from its original goal of testing specific hypotheses about social behavior and ecology, and I decided that I wanted to continue this project because, as is true with every interesting scientific study, the more you learn, the more you don’t know. I also loved Brazil, I loved the people, and I loved the animals.

Karen-1.jpg?w=420&ssl=1

Photo credit: Carla B. Possamai / Projeto Muriqui de Caratinga

One of the most interesting discoveries I made during that first year about Muriquis is that they live in peaceful societies where males and females have egalitarian social relationships. They are the same body size, and they have the same sized canines, unlike most mammals, where males are bigger and dominant over females or can threaten females. In muriqui society, the females are completely integrated with and equal to the males. Their peaceful society shows no evidence of agonistic  dominance or hierarchies that you see in baboons and chimpanzees. The muriquis have a very different system. They didn’t fit any of the existing models, and maybe the models were applicable to particular cases but societies such as muriquis had not been considered. This led to the idea that there was no such thing as a typical primate, which subsequently was reflected in one of my most important publications ‘The Myth of the Typical Primate’.

I also recognized the importance of getting more and more Brazilians involved in this kind of research. That is why from the very start a big part of my project has been aimed at capacity building. Every year, I provide support and training to up to 4 Brazilian students, so over the years the Project has trained about 90 students at the field site. About two thirds of them have gone on to continue with research and some of them now have their own studies of muriqui populations in other forests and we continue to collaborate. This process has been very satisfying and very rewarding. ...

Right now, we are still collecting a lot of basic data. Over the past 40 years the population has exploded, going from 50 to 356 at its peak size, and then we had a series of stressful years, with drought and yellow fever, that corresponded with its decline. The population is now at about 225 individuals. Although smaller than it was at its peak size, this is still about 5 times bigger than it was when I first started.

“We have learned a huge amount about muriquis population dynamics, individual life histories and how they adapt to changing environmental and demographic conditions. We are collaborating to make informed decisions about how to take care of these monkeys and how to protect them and increase their populations.” ... 

Here: https://blog.frontiersin.org/2022/09/12/karen-strier-lessons-from-the-worlds-most-peaceful-primate/

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Northern Muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) | Flickr

 

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Northern Muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) taking a nap | Flickr

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Does Consciousness Come in Degrees?

That depends on what you think consciousness is.

does-consciousness-come-in-degrees.jpg

 

by William Lycan | Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US, and author of Consciousness and Experience

 

Every living thing responds selectively to its immediate environment.  Rocks don’t.  One-celled organisms do. Viruses are a borderline case.

To speak of perception is a little more demanding. Do amoebas actually perceive things in their environment? Do stylops? Do ants, for that matter? When we say perceive, we’re thinking of sense organs, inputs and information-processing, however rudimentary. Those criteria are vague and admit many borderline cases; they might even be said to come in degrees.  

But when we agree that an animal does perceive, we are attributing to it a kind of consciousness, namely, perceptual consciousness of the world around it. Perception itself certainly admits degrees.  Some animals perceive more information per second than others; or they make a greater number of distinctions than others.  Likewise, if an animal has a greater variety of senses, it will enjoy a higher degree of perceptual consciousness.

A creature that does perceive the external world to any significant degree can be called a conscious being.  Could there be conscious beings other than those of earth’s animal kingdom?  Perhaps there are some outside our solar system. Could a robot be a conscious being, just in this modest sense of perceiving its environment?  I don’t see why not.  Despite appearances, a robot can amass information through its sensors and build a representation of the external world.  Granted, there are plenty of arguments purporting to show that no mere robot could be conscious in any much stronger sense.  

Of course we can also ask whether a conscious creature in that sense is ‘conscious’ at a particular time, say at this moment, meaning roughly, is it awake, actually doing some perceiving, and in control of its actions?  Even that ‘normal waking state’ admits some degrees, since we speak of accident victims and seriously ill patients as ‘semi-conscious.’

___

"When we agree that an animal does perceive, we are attributing to it a kind of consciousness"

___

A much rarer form of consciousness is what we refer to when we speak of a ‘conscious memory’ or a ‘conscious decision’—we mean not only being in a mental state but being aware of that very mental state from the inside. A conscious memory is a memory we are directly aware of.  The same goes for a conscious emotion, desire, intention, or bodily sensation such as pain.  It’s assumed that there are memories, emotions, desires, intentions, perceptions, and even pains that we are unaware of, at least at times.  For instance, while driving a car we might be thinking hard about this or that.  We will still perceive the road, other cars, stop signs, etc.—otherwise we’d crash—yet we will barely notice our perceivings themselves, our own sensory states.  It’s less common to be unaware of our desires or our physical pains, but if we have focused our attention elsewhere, these might go in the background.  For example, in the course of playing in a hard-fought championship basketball game, we might not feel any pain.  Less dramatically, I may just entirely stop noticing a mild headache while engaged in spirited conversation, though others may see me unconsciously stroking my brow.  

Awareness of your own mental states is often called “state” consciousness. Creatures that have state consciousness have the ability to represent their own mental states.  It’s an empirical question which organisms do have that capacity.  Human beings obviously have it. There is some evidence that gorillas do.  We may naturally think that it does not extend very far down the phylogenetic scale, but only clever experiments could verify that.  A cat can be hungry, or angry, and behave accordingly in no uncertain terms, but is the cat ever internally aware of the hunger or the anger? Except in a cartoon, can a cat say to itself, “My anger is diminishing [now that I have pooped in the sugar bowl]”?

State consciousness comes in degrees.  We can be just barely aware of a desire, say our desire for a less hectic life; or only dimly aware of it, or moderately, or well aware, or vividly, or urgently, longingly aware of it. (That is partly a matter of the strength of the desire, but it has more to do with claims on our attention.)  

The distinction between conscious and unconscious mental states raises some interesting moral issues. Is it wrong to cause gratuitous pain, when we know the victim will never be aware of the pain?  Suppose a rabbit lacks the capacity to be aware of its own pain. May we cause it pain with impunity—assuming that we are doing it no real bodily harm—knowing that unlike us, it cannot experience or even notice the pain?  On the one hand, why does the pain itself matter at all, if the rabbit is entirely unaware of it (and no one else is affected)?  On the other, it’s pain, for God’s sake; the poor bunny is whimpering.

In this article (Animal Pain and New Mysticism About Consciousness), Bence Nanay attacks the idea that animals ‘process’ pain but do not ‘feel’ it: ‘Rats and chickens systematically choose and self-administer painkillers when and only when they are distressed.  I am not sure how this finding could be made consistent with the “animals don’t really feel pain” line short of some maneuver worthy of the Flat Earth crowd.’   

Nanay may be thinking it pathetically obvious that pain itself and not awareness of it is what matters morally.  If so, though of course he’s entitled to his opinion, he is just begging the question rather than addressing the dilemma.  More likely, since he emphasises ‘feel,’ he is maintaining that the animals damn well are aware of the pain and do experience it.  But the trouble there is that the expression ‘feel pain’ has two different uses.  In one sense it’s just a redundant way of saying that a creature is in pain or ‘processes’ pain.  In a stronger sense it means that the creature not only has pain but is aware of the pain.  It is indeed obvious that rats and chickens can have pain or be in it.  But to settle the question, the experiments to which Nanay alludes would have to show that the rats and the chickens internally represent their own pains as such.  Were the experiments controlled against the hypothesis that the subjects’ self-medicating behaviour was just a direct response to the pain itself, like my stroking my brow?     

[SUGGESTED READING: Animal Pain and New Mysticism About Consciousness By Bence Nanay] 

More recently, philosophers have been concerned with ‘phenomenal’ consciousness. When we are aware of one of our own mental states, there’s ‘something it is like’ for us to experience that state; for example, there is something it is like to experience the sound of a high Bb as played by French horn legend Dennis Brain. ‘Like’ there does not mean resemblance or similarity; the quality, ‘what it’s like’ to have the sensation cannot easily be put into words.  Philosopher Thomas Nagel has appealed to the case of whatever sensation may accompany a bat’s use of its sonar echolocation technique: 

'Chiropterological (bat) ethology and neuroscience may detail the bat’s sensory system down to the last molecule and bit of information processed, but neither science nor anything else could tell us humans what it’s like for the bat to experience its sonar sensation. You would have to become a bat and have the sensation yourself. Phenomenal consciousness is ‘intrinsically perspectival’—in humans just as in bats.

Even if phenomenal consciousness depends on state consciousness, it does not accordingly come in degrees. Where there is any degree of awareness of one’s own mental state, there is something it’s like for the subject to experience that state.

I’ve distinguished three kinds of consciousness; each is perfectly real and worthy of its name.  But for the philosophers Nanay labels as the ‘new mystics,’ only phenomenal consciousness is real consciousness, and it is very problematic for the metaphysics of mind.  How are we to accommodate the fact—at least the majority view—that science cannot even describe ‘what it’s like,’ much less explain it?  Opinions range from (1) there isn’t really any such thing, through (2) several varieties of ‘here’s how,’ to (3) scientific materialism is just false, and we have special properties that are irreducibly mental.  

In support of the first claim, philosopher Daniel Dennett and others argue that if we really do know every detail of both the bat’s sonar sense and the human psychobiology and chemistry, we could work out what it’s like for the bat to have its special sensation, and what it’s like for any human to be in any mental state.  The leading version of the second claim is what’s called the ‘phenomenal concept’ strategy: proponents suggest that in introspection we categorise sensations in a unique way, using concepts that cannot be translated into day-to-day language.  It is only the untranslatability that prevents explaining ‘what it’s like’ and makes us regard it as ineffable and mysterious; there is nothing metaphysically extraordinary about it.  I have defended that view in my book, Consciousness and Experience.

Philosophers go for the third claim when they are unpersuaded by the first two claims and argue on various grounds that those views will never work:  The first seems to them clearly false and just a desperate lunge. (I agree.) They are unpersuaded by the phenomenal concept strategy because they find it pallid and just not adequate to the vivid and arresting character of what it’s like.    

There is an even more extreme position: (4) ‘What it’s like’ pervades the universe, and panpsychism is true.  Ha-haa!  What recommends that view to Philip Goff is that although ‘philosophers and scientists have struggled to understand how physical matter produces consciousness,’ those philosophers and scientists have had it the wrong way around: Rather, as Sir Arthur Eddington maintained, physical science merely ‘describes matter ‘from the outside’ by providing mathematical models and can say nothing about matter’s own underlying nature.  In Stephen Hawking’s words, ‘it is consciousness that breathes fire into the equations.’  I myself would need to hear stronger argument than has ever been given.

So, does consciousness come in degrees? Perceptual and state consciousnesses do. But phenomenal consciousness is different, and a whole different beast.

William Lycan

Here: https://iai.tv/articles/does-consciousness-come-in-degrees-auid-1226

 

- More from this issue:

Vices of the Mind

Hobbes vs Rousseau: are we inherently evil?

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Animal Pain and New Mysticism About Consciousness

Disregarding animal sentience is a stupid move.

bencenanny.jpg

Image credit: Arterra / Getty Images

- by Bence Nanay | Professor of Philosophy at University of Antwerp and Senior Research Associate at Peterhouse, Cambridge University

 

On November 9, 2017, more than 500 people gathered at the Flat Earth International Conference in Cody, North Carolina. Attendees agreed that the Earth is shaped like a Frisbee, with the North Pole as its centre and Antarctica running around the edge. ...

In 2009 all countries of the EU signed the Lisbon treaty, which recognized that animals are sentient beings: they feel pain and have emotions.

... 313 members of the British Parliament thought it was better not to have any traces of the claim that animals are sentient beings in the UK legal code.

It is really the Flat Earth gathering that is the only apt comparison that comes to mind. The difference is that while the 500 attendees in North Carolina included a man who measured the curvature of the Earth with a ruler from an airplane window and another one who is now preparing to gather evidence for the flatness of the Earth from his homemade rocket. ...

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 "How can we then explain that allegedly intelligent people would question that animals feel pain? I’m afraid here most of the blame should go to my very own discipline, philosophy."
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The process of pain perception is as well-understood as any other perceptual process. We know that in our visual system the retinal signal is sent to the primary visual cortex (V1) via the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) in the thalamus; outputs from V1 are fed forward to a range of extrastriate areas (V4/V8, MT). Animals also have retinas. Their retinas also send signals to the V1 via the LGN, and so on. So doubting that animals see would be crazy.

But we have the same level of understanding of how pain perception works. The receptors of pain perception in our skin are called nociceptors (they would be the equivalent of retinal cells). When these nociceptors are activated, they send signals to the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices and the anterior cingulate cortex. This happens in humans and in other mammals (and also almost in the same way in other vertebrates). So doubting that animals feel pain is as crazy as doubting that animals see.

At this point someone may object that while animals may process pain, they don’t feel pain. Or they don't feel feel pain. Having a certain neural circuitry, after all, is different from having the experience of pain. And it’s the experience of pain we should really care about, isn’t it.

There are huge theoretical problems with this line of thought, but there is also straightforward empirical refutation. Rats and chickens systematically choose and self-administer painkillers when and only when they are distressed. I am not sure how this finding could be made consistent with the ‘animals don’t really feel pain’ line short of some maneuver worthy of the Flat Earth crowd.

How can we then explain that allegedly intelligent people would question that animals feel pain? I’m afraid here most of the blame should go to my very own discipline, philosophy.

Philosophers have always been big on denying that animals feel much. Almost all the heavy hitters of Western philosophy – Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Kant – found it important to stress this, Descartes taking the cake for his insistence that animals are really just machines. But there is a more direct reason for this skepticism about animal pain, the recent obsession with consciousness and what came to be known as the ‘explanatory gap’ between what natural sciences tell us about the mind and about what we feel.

Consciousness and pain are natural phenomena, so the default should be that it is the natural sciences that could tell us something about them. Philosophers of a certain persuasion find this stance threatening. Science has taken so much away from philosophy, not consciousness now! And that’s where it’s convenient to talk about our ‘privileged access’: we know more about our own conscious state than any scientist could. The general line of argument is that even if we know everything that can be known about the neural and psychological apparatus of our brain, this will not explain what it is like to feel pain (or anything else).

This new mysticism about consciousness may sell books, but it is not very helpful when it comes to animal sentience, as it fuels a form of skepticism about the subjective experiences of any other creatures (animals or even humans other than yourself). These new mystics take consciousness out of the domain of scientific study, and of course once something is outside that domain, all hell breaks loose – just ask the guy with the ruler on the airplane...

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 "This new mysticism about consciousness may sell books, but it is not very helpful when it comes to animal sentience, as it fuels a form of skepticism about the subjective experiences of any other creatures"
___

 Animals are sentient and the Earth is not flat. There are some pragmatic implications of both of these truths. We can fly from Sydney to Buenos Aires via the Antarctic (that would not be an option for Frisbee Earth). But the consequences of animal sentience are not all unproblematic.

There is the inconvenient fact that the behavioral and brain sciences are heavily relying on experimentation with animals. The elegant experiments I mentioned earlier about rats and chickens self-administering painkillers – well, they may not have been that much fun for the rats and chickens involved. If animals are sentient, should we then stop all these experiments? No, we should not, but we should know that we’re experimenting on sentient beings (and adjust the experimental methods accordingly).

Also, should the recognition that animals feel pain make us all vegetarian or even better, vegan? This is obviously an ethical decision everyone needs to make for themselves, but denying that animals are sentient is nothing but a cop-out. Vegetarianism and animal experimentation are difficult ethical dilemmas, but addressing them needs to start with acknowledging that animals feel pain.

 

Here: https://iai.tv/articles/animal-pain-and-the-new-mysticism-about-consciousness-auid-981

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On 9/23/2022 at 8:22 AM, msfntor said:

A virtual trip to the museum can improve the health of seniors stuck at home

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Frontiers Science Communications in Featured News, Health, Humanities // 0 Comments

By Peter Rejceck, science writer

Image credit: SeventyFour / Shutterstock.com

Social isolation can have devastating health effects, especially for elderly people. A number of studies have shown that art is not only good for the soul, but can also improve both physical and mental well-being. Researchers in Canada investigated whether these art-based benefits could be delivered digitally through virtual museum tours. They found that indeed older adults who attended weekly guided tours online felt less frail – offering a public health model to promote healthy aging.

Scientists have long known that social isolation is associated with a number of health problems, including increased risks for stroke and heart disease, as well as mental decline and even premature death. The risks are especially acute for older adults, who are more likely to be socially isolated and lonely. The coronavirus pandemic only exacerbated the problem due to the need for social distancing, particularly to protect the health of the world’s elderly population.

But the same digital technologies that helped workers connect remotely could help older adults become more physically, mentally and socially healthy when combined with interactive art-based activities. That’s the conclusion from a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine that is the first to demonstrate how virtual museum visits can significantly improve quality of life for seniors who are stuck at home.

Researchers in Canada teamed up with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts(MMFA) to investigate the potential benefits of conducting weekly virtual visits over a three-month period. The study recruited 106 people aged 65 and older living in the Montreal metro area. Half of the participants attended guided tours online once a week, while the control group abstained from participating in any cultural activities during the same time period.

► Read original article
► Download original article (pdf)

Art improves life

The intervention group showed significant improvements in their social isolation, well-being, quality of life and frailty assessment scores when compared to the control group, according to the paper.

“Our study showed that art-based activity may be an effective intervention,” said lead author Dr Olivier Beauchet, a professor at the University of Montreal. “On a global scale, this participatory art-based activity could become a model that could be offered in museums and arts institutions worldwide to promote active and healthy aging.”

The biggest benefits of the 45-minute virtual museum tours, which also included a 15-minute Q&A at the end with a museum guide, was on frailty.

Frailty refers to a “vulnerable condition exposing individuals to incident adverse health events and disabilities that negatively impact their quality of life and increase health and social costs,” Beauchet explained. “Health and social systems need to address the challenge of limiting frailty and its related adverse consequences in the aging population.”

A creative way to improve health

The new study is an extension of previous research that investigated the potential health benefits of an ongoing MMFA program for seniors called “Thursdays at the Museum.” Findings from the single arm pilot study in 2018 indicated that art-based activities hosted by the museum can improve well-being, quality of life and health in older adults.

In fact, the success of the pilot study led to a three-year multinational study to test the effectiveness of such art-based interventions across societies and cultures. In addition, the Research Centre of the Geriatric University Institute of Montreal, in collaboration with MMFA and the University of Montreal, is developing a new program marrying art and health called the Arts & Longevity Lab. The purpose of the lab is to develop, validate and promote art-based interventions for older adults.

These initiatives reflect approaches advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to manage chronic diseases, according to Beauchet. For instance, the WHO launched the Aging and Health Program in 2015 that included using community-based organizations to promote culture as a key component of improving health. Traditionally, these sorts of preventive health activities have taken place in schools, community centers, and workplaces.

“While these are suitable locations that reach a great number of people, there are additional organizations and sectors that could become partners in public health research and practice development,” Beauchet said. “Museums are among such potential partners. They are aware of the needs of their communities and are consequently expanding the types of activities they offer.”

 

Here: https://blog.frontiersin.org/2022/08/16/frontiers-medicine-virtual-museum-visit-lonely-elderly/

I love to take virtual trips and ride on roller coasters from around the world. When I was young (18 perhaps) I used to ride on them with my DD Father and fond memories of that. We used to enjoy the ones that we upside-down.

Ha!

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36 minutes ago, XPerceniol said:

I love to take virtual trips and ride on roller coasters from around the world. When I was young (18 perhaps) I used to ride on them with my DD Father and fond memories of that. We used to enjoy the ones that we upside-down.

Ha!

https://explore.org/livecams

- from Virtual Field Trips Around The World: https://www.originalworks.com/virtual-field-trips-around-the-world/

- you've many links on the web to interesting virtual trips, indeed...

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The strange case of the Galvins, a family with six schizophrenic children

9/16/2022, 12:43:03 PM

- by ANDREA AGUILAR    

 

Journalist Robert Kolker delves into the history of the American family touched by mental illness to expose the lack of progress in their treatment

His editor was the one who put him in touch with Lindsay and Margaret, the two Galvin sisters. They were the youngest, and also the only two girls, of the long brood of 12 children born to Don, a World War II veteran, and Mimi, a perfect housewife. Six of the boys were diagnosed with schizophrenia, in one of the most unusual mental health cases in the U.S., studied by medical specialists to try to unravel the age-old question of whether the condition is hereditary or acquired.

"When I first talked to them about their tragic story I thought that not everyone in the family who was still alive would agree with me doing a book on their case, but after a few months of conversations it turned out that they were, including Mimi, the mother. There are many essays, memoirs of schizophrenics and medical books, but there had never been a non-fiction book, an investigation of a story like the Galvin's with the testimonies of everyone", explained this Thursday in Madrid the investigative journalist Robert Kolker (Maryland, 53 years old), author of The Boys from Hidden Valley Road. In the mind of an American family (Sexto Piso).

The journalist Robert Kolker, author of 'The Hidden Valley Boys', on Thursday at the Hotel de las Letras in Madrid.
Journalist Robert Kolker, author of 'The Boys from Hidden Valley', on Thursday at the Hotel de las Letras in Madrid.
OLMO CALVO
Shortly after starting his investigation, in a Colorado hospital he visited with Lindsay, they were given two carts full of folders containing the Galvins' medical records. "That changed history," recalled Kolker, who over the 500 pages of his volume reconstructs not only the history of the family, but the evolution of psychiatry and the study of schizophrenia, from the dispute between Carl G. Jung and Sigmund Freud to the role of pharmaceuticals. "When the first brother, Donald, began to be treated, lobotomies were not performed, but psychotropic drugs were prescribed, something that is still done today as if they were a panacea. We have grown up in an era in which there seems to be a pill to cure everything, but this is not the case with schizophrenia. One of the reasons why the stigma around depression, anxiety or bipolar has diminished is because there are increasingly sophisticated medications that are in many cases effective in treating it, but it is not the case with schizophrenics and these sufferers have a harder time fighting back or protesting. The existing medicines are considered good enough because they calm the patients down, but they do not improve with these treatments," the journalist explained.

"The Galvin case helped determine that there was a genetic component, a series of mutations, but there is no specific gene. Predisposition to the disease does not imply that it will necessarily develop." That is why, he adds, to combat the development of schizophrenia today we seek to strengthen the brain and try to prevent new outbreaks that weaken patients and complicate diagnosed cases. "Schizophrenia is not a disease like covid, let's say, it is a diagnosis that encompasses different conditions. There is an epidemiologist who has pointed out that fever centuries ago was considered a disease in itself and not a symptom. It may be that with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses the same thing will eventually happen." ... ...


Lindsay and Margaret Galvin.
SIXTH FLOOR PUBLISHING HOUSE

Read MORE here: https://newsrnd.com/life/2022-09-16-the-strange-case-of-the-galvins--a-family-with-six-schizophrenic-children.r1xHXCbbo.html

.. and the source article is here: https://elpais.com/cultura/2022-09-16/el-extrano-caso-de-los-galvin-una-familia-con-seis-hijos-esquizofrenicos.html

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Academic pressure leads to schizophrenia, doctors and patients join hands to get out of the shadow of the disease

6/7/2022, 2:16:36 AM

    

"Could it be that you are also a special person?" After working as a psychiatrist for several years, I have heard a lot of strange things, but this is the first time I have been asked this question. She is a 20-year-old college student, tall and thin, and likes to stab in her spare time

"Could it be that you are also a special person?" After working as a psychiatrist for several years, I have heard a lot of strange things, but this is the first time I have been asked this question.

She is a 20-year-old college student, tall and thin. In her spare time, she likes to embroider and draw cartoon illustrations, especially cats.

Her mother told me that she was the kind of gentle and reserved child when she was a child. She didn't know why she had become more withdrawn and even irritable in the past few months. .

No matter how her mother tried to coerce and lure her, she couldn't "lead the snake out of its hole", and in the end she couldn't pull her to seek medical treatment.

 

Written by: Dr. Li Ka Tai, School of Mental Health, Castle Peak Hospital

 

At first she was reluctant to talk to me.

"Don't force me to tell me, I'll have a hard time, okay?" Seeing her panicked face, she thought she had uncovered some earth-shattering secret and would be killed at any time, until I explained to her that the doctor's diagnosis was kept secret. responsibility, she gradually opened up.

She told me that the academic pressure has been rising since she went to school. One time when she was preparing for an exam, she began to have a series of strange experiences: passers-by on the street seemed to be sent to follow her, her mind became chaotic, and the water at home seemed to There are some strange smells, I don't know if her memory has deteriorated due to being poisoned... She was very puzzled about all this, until one day she figured out: she has special powers, and the secret world government is doing everything to stop her She uses her abilities to subvert the order of the world.

Yes, that explains all sorts of weirdness for months, it must be.

"You can understand that the outside world is so dangerous that you dare not go out," I said.

"But I also want to know, apart from these experiences, have you ever heard someone talking to you when no one was around?"

She was surprised: "How do you know?" She began to dance, telling her that every day she heard several old women chatting, singing, and even judging her, which made her annoyed.

Just as she was talking about being elated, she suddenly stopped, as if she had an epiphany.

"Could it be that you are also a peculiar?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Great, I thought I was the only one in the world!"

I couldn't help but smile.

"No, I'm not a special person. The reason why I can guess your situation is because other people have the same experience."

I explained that the ever-changing symptoms were also of the same origin - brain lesions.

Academic stress caused an imbalance of dopamine in her brain, leading to schizophrenia.

Auditory hallucinations, persecutory delusions, and confusion, her experiences are all common symptoms of patients, and the symptoms will be unique to her upbringing, memories, culture, and surrounding environment.

She was dubious, and this argument was always against her understanding for months; but perhaps the doctor still had some credibility in her heart, and she was willing to try treatment.

The young woman is most afraid of fat. After some discussion, we chose the schizophrenic drug that does not affect her weight the most to regulate the secretion of dopamine in her brain.

Before leaving the consultation room, I reminded them that mental illness is a disease of the brain, and it takes time to change the secretion of the brain, so be patient.

Her case is also considered ideal, and it is better to seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

After taking the medicine for three months, the spies of the World Government will no longer be present, their thoughts will no longer be polluted by poisonous water, and the old women will no longer make noise.

Her mother also praised her great improvement in temperament, and even began to want to resume her studies.

"I'm also very puzzled, why did you have such a strange idea in the first place." Speaking of which, she was a little shy.

I told her not to be embarrassed, anyone could get sick and it wasn't her fault.

At that time, her neurotic substance was playing tricks, and those were not her own thoughts.

Fortunately, her mother never gave up on her, and we made a suitable treatment plan together, which enabled her to embark on the road of recovery step by step.

"Hong Kong 01" "01 Medical Clinic" cooperates with the School of Mental Health of Castle Peak Hospital to publish a column written by medical staff every other Tuesday.

"Cheng" means to let the water stand still, let the water settle down, and then become clear.

I hope you can meditate and savor every little story, see the details, understand the heart of yourself and others, and see things and situations more clearly.

See clearly, know how to cherish, I hope this column can calm your emotional waves and enjoy the quiet time.

I hope you will share this experience with the people you care about, so that you can have one more partner on the road to a better life.


Story details have been revised to protect patient privacy.

Here: https://newsrnd.com/news/2022-06-07-academic-pressure-leads-to-schizophrenia--doctors-and-patients-join-hands-to-get-out-of-the-shadow-of-the-disease.BJzhyFG2Oc.html

Edited by msfntor
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Rare disease is not uncommon, experts on Pompe disease and Fabry disease advocate early treatment to reduce severity

5/6/2022, 11:22:17 AM

    

"Rare disease" generally refers to diseases with a very low prevalence and a very small number of patients. Currently, there are more than 8,000 rare diseases known in the world. Most of them are caused by genetic mutations or inherited gene defects.

"Rare disease" generally refers to diseases with a very low prevalence and a very small number of patients. Currently, there are more than 8,000 rare diseases known in the world, most of which are caused by genetic mutations or inherited gene defects. They are all under pressure, and there is a chance that there is no cure. The Hong Kong Mucopolysaccharidosis and Rare Genetic Disease Mutual Aid Group, which supports the rare disease group in Hong Kong, advocates to raise public awareness and concern about Pompe disease and Fabry disease, and make early Screening and treatment to reduce the chance of severe illness.

 

Originally an athlete, Terry worked hard to fight against physical decline, and until the end of junior high school, he began to have obvious symptoms, including scoliosis and physical decline.

(Photo provided by Hong Kong Mucopolysaccharidosis and Rare Genetic Disease Mutual Aid Group)

Rapid deterioration within one to two years of onset in patients with Pompe disease

There are currently 3 infantile and 12 late-onset patients in Hong Kong.

In patients with Pompe disease, the body lacks an enzyme due to a genetic defect, so that the glycogen that enters the lysosome cannot be decomposed and continues to accumulate, which in turn affects cell function and induces symptoms.

Among them, infantile Pompe disease presents symptoms such as muscle weakness, inability to raise and turn around, difficulty breathing, and cardiac hypertrophy within the first year of life; late-onset Pompe disease includes cases from two years of age to old age, with common symptoms of lower extremity and Trunk muscle weakness, dyspnea, and decreased lung function require the use of wheelchairs and ventilators.

Since his brother was diagnosed with Pompe disease when he was 13 years old, Terry, who was only 9 years old at the time, had no obvious symptoms and needed to be tested, and the causative gene was finally found.

Terry's brother's condition deteriorated rapidly within one to two years after the onset of the disease, requiring the use of a wheelchair and a ventilator; Terry, who was originally an athlete, worked hard to fight against physical decline, and until the end of junior high school, obvious symptoms began to appear, including scoliosis and physical decline. Poor sleep can lead to poor academic performance in the face of physical exhaustion.

Pompe disease patient Terry: Rare disease is not defined, lacks comprehensive strategy and policy guidelines

The two brothers from grass-roots families were under pressure physically, financially and mentally. They had experienced 13 years of incurable days. Fortunately, they finally succeeded in obtaining funding for medication and had the opportunity to receive enzyme replacement therapy. This therapy can slow down the disease. The patient's function declines, and the effect of stabilizing the condition is achieved.

The two brothers' condition improved after taking the medicine, and they are actively involved in the society. Among them, Terry's brother has completed a master's course and is working as a clerk to support himself, while Terry is involved in the work of the patient organization. Currently, he is the vice chairman of the Hong Kong Mucopolysaccharidosis and Rare Genetic Disease Mutual Aid Group, and continues to promote the society. Establish a rare disease policy for the well-being of patients.

"Disease management and drug treatment are life-and-death issues for patients with rare diseases. In the process of fighting for patients, they also need the understanding and acceptance of different stakeholders. At present, Hong Kong lacks a definition of rare diseases, so it is impossible to integrate rare disease strategies and cooperation. Policy guidelines.” He pointed out that in Western countries, the definition of rare diseases is usually based on the proportion of the population, and the central government has established a list of rare diseases since 2018, vigorously promoting the import of orphan drugs, and improving genetic screening technology, etc. Patients receive special care in terms of medical research and clinical care, but in Hong Kong, many proposals are initiated by the private sector and supported by extensive public opinion in the society, so that the government can be pushed to consider them one by one.

Dr. Sheng Bin, a neurology specialist, hopes that the time window from diagnosis to treatment can be further shortened, and the public's awareness of Pompe disease can be improved... ...

MORE here: https://newsrnd.com/news/2022-05-06-rare-disease-is-not-uncommon--experts-on-pompe-disease-and-fabry-disease-advocate-early-treatment-to-reduce-severity.BkfC_wGIc.html

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7 Risk Factors for Heart Disease and One Way to Early Detection and Prevention of Heart Damage

5/24/2022, 9:59:32 AM

    

Our body is a wonder.

A wonder that can walk, run, break records, think of wonderful ideas and even produce children, which is already a miracle in itself.

But sometimes the body can carry a ticking time bomb, which at any moment is not taken care of, it can stop this amazing wonder.

In such cases, it is important to take care of the body, which has only one heart, and be aware of the risk factors for heart disease, which can cause a lot of damage.


 

So how, despite all the risk factors, can you reach early detection, reduce the damage of heart disease and live in peace?

We have gathered all the information for you in the next article.

Clean oxygen please!

Active or tolerable smoking is a major risk factor and has a major impact on the development of heart disease (Photo: ShutterStock, By vchal)

Many people who may be confused and think that smoking only affects the lungs, but know that there is a direct link between exposure to cigarette smoke and heart disease.

Whether you smoke or not, active or passive smoking is a major risk factor and has a major impact on the development of heart disease.

Inhalation of smoke into the lungs exposes each and every one to many health risks, including an increase in blood pressure (as it causes on its own, which we will expand on later), an increase in bad cholesterol levels, heavy load on the heart and damage to the inner layer of blood vessels.

Besides smoking cessation, early detection and treatment of heart diseases which are caused by cigarette smoking cause harm reduction and prevention of loss of life.

Blood pressure - is not just high.

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms.

Because really many people do not feel the disease (Photo: ShutterStock)

You may have already heard about the harms of hypertension, or in its more familiar name - high blood pressure.

It is a common and well-known disease which has a large number of causes.

By itself it is a major risk factor for heart disease, but unfortunately, it usually has no symptoms.

Since many people really do not feel the disease, blood pressure tests must be performed to diagnose it.

In order to save waiting and getting to the clinic, it is recommended to use a blood pressure monitor.

Today there is the option to perform the measurement using a home blood pressure monitor called Telepress, a device that sends the results to the medical center "applied" immediately.

The measurement helps in early detection of the disease and in preventing further damage.

Hyperlipidemia, a word you should (and should not) know

High levels of fats in the blood depend on the food we eat, and the body's ability to produce and process fats (Photo: ShutterStock)

In simple language, it is a high level of lipids in the blood.

The same index of course depends on the food we eat, and the body's ability to produce and process fats, depending on heredity and genetics.

As a result, the disease can spread in the family.

Similar to hypertension, this disease also has no symptoms and therefore it is difficult to identify it from feelings alone.

In cases of suspicion, or genetic background, it is recommended to be a subscriber to the "Shachal" medical center, in order to be under the professional follow-up required for early detection and treatment.

the Apple does not fall far from the tree

If a parent has heart disease before the age of 55, there is a higher chance of developing heart disease in his children (Photo: ShutterStock, Pearl PhotoPix)

When one parent contracted heart disease before the age of 55, there is a higher chance of developing heart disease in his offspring.

Most often the genetic component is part of other risk factors that lead to the disease, although genetics takes on a significant and primary role compared to the other components.

In such cases it is important to be constantly monitored for the condition of the heart through various tests and even to join a full "ovulation" subscription which allows you to live with a calm mind and a calm heart.

Have you ever heard of a disease called 'sweet urine'?

There is a link between the duration of diabetes and the chance of developing heart disease (Photo: ShutterStock, ShutterStock)

Even if not, you can probably guess that it is diabetes.

'Sweet urine' is a direct translation of the Latin name of the disease - Diabetes mellitus.

The disease is a significant risk factor for the development of heart disease, and there is a link between the duration of diabetes and the chance of developing heart disease.

Even diagnosed with diabetes, it is recommended to do the maximum tests in favor of monitoring and early detection of a heart attack, in order to reduce the damage to the heart and contribute to a quiet and calm life.

Obesity, and not necessarily overweight

A link has been found between obesity in the abdomen and the onset of heart disease (Photo: ShutterStock)

Another major and direct risk factor is obesity, a concept which refers to the thickness of the skin in different areas of the body.

Not to be confused with being overweight, a term which refers to weight relative to body area.

It should be noted that in a situation where a person is about 30% larger than the ideal weight for his body, there is a significant increase in the chance of morbidity and mortality from heart disease.

Another important thing is that a link has been found between obesity in the abdomen and the onset of heart disease.

In addition to dietary change, it is important to rule out any concern for the development of heart disease through various tests and ongoing follow-up, thus identifying and preventing a heart attack condition.

Everything in the head, and in the mind

Stress can exacerbate other risk factors for scabies (Photo: ShutterStock)

The straw that broke the camel's back in many cases is an abnormal mental condition, such as extreme mental distress.

There is a link between loss, job change and even retirement and the development of heart disease.

Note that mental stress can cause the exaggeration of other risk factors such as obesity, smoking or hypertension and thus it can indirectly or directly affect the occurrence of a heart attack.

Live with a calm mind and a quiet heart, so do it.

So how can one still, and despite the list of risk factors, live calmly and without unnecessary mental stress following possible heart disease?

The "Shahal" medical center is active 24/7 and offers counseling, follow-up, cardiac examinations, and prompt medical treatment in case of need for its variety of subscribers.

All this and more is being done to advance the detection of heart attacks, reduce heart damage and save lives.

Attention, early detection and treatment, will significantly reduce heart damage.

 

Here: https://newsrnd.com/news/2022-05-24-7-risk-factors-for-heart-disease-and-one-way-to-early-detection-and-prevention-of-heart-damage---walla!-good-to-know.BynvxzcP9.html

Edited by msfntor
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1 hour ago, msfntor said:

...the stigma...

Hi ... will write more in full detail, maybe tonight to in the AM.

Yes, still an issues sad to say in 2022, especially when seeking answers later in life because its VERY complex and hard to diagnose. Depends a lot on how it affects ones life and treatments have changed even from when I was a child.

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1 hour ago, msfntor said:

...pressure...

Indeed the pressure of this hectic society and the demands that people can't possibly live up to is bringing forward mental health issues or worsening symptoms that one could under set circumstances they could control without medication.  

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1 hour ago, msfntor said:

...We have grown up in an era in which there seems to be a pill to cure everything...

Very true, it is unrealistic to expect pills to "fix" everything. I agree 100%. It takes strong determination to get through hard times especially when someone doesn't have family support. I can relate to this as I'm alone. People need to realize this strength comes from within and its takes work. That being said, Medication is only 1 part of the solution for some. I'm medicated, but much less that I used to be and that is better; but I support those that need medication to keep vicious (I'll come back to that *vicious voices*) from interfering with functioning.

I've sort of come full circle from years of alcoholism to attempt to mask the problem (which wasn't working out well - trust me). People sometimes turn to destructive activities to mask their depressions and anxiety, but it won't work in the long run and usually from bad to worse and even the very worse and they feel their is not other option than to...........

Online forums, for some can be helpful, but know its only peer support and sometimes it can snowball as people just feed off of one-another which is why I don't recommend them anymore. I'm not saying that people shouldn't reach out for help when in real life this might not be an option, but people must take everything online with a grain of salt is seeking advice to such personal medical decisions.

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Good I have time to think, nothing at all wrong with quiet, trust you me. You can be alone (with yourself) but not by yourself and not feel lonely; and, of course, the other way around.

So:

First...

If you are questioning your mental health or are dealing with ongoing mental health disorders ... you are not alone and guess what, there is nothing *wrong* with you. See ... even with a diagnosis, you shouldn't consider yourself abnormal or damaged and somehow lesser than others, and sometimes those that may appear to be "Normal" are suffering silently. When it interferes with your life and prevents your from enjoying life, this is where we need to address and seek our answers to your symptoms.

Gonna have to do this in parts and I easily lose track of my thoughts.

Edited by XPerceniol
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Secondly..

Your life matters and nobody is beyond help, its good to reach out to others, but be cautious with whom you trust and allow into your circle of support as you may not be as guarded during times you feel fragile or vulnerable. If you have a supportive family and friends you can count on to have your best interests, I'd say, be cautious because you can easily chase people away if you overwhelm them, be mindful that we are all human, and while they may want to help, not everybody is able to offer you the attention because people are also caught up in their own lives and dealings. Best to not pretend to be something your aren't but also keep in mind, helping others can be therapeutic; so you being a good listener to someone can make a huge difference. Be there for others and treat others as you would prefer to be treated. You see.. and if that doesn't happen, then you may reconsider with whom you consider to be friends.

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..........................................................

Will finish tomorrow but until then, of course, we're here 24/7 and while you may not get a reply right away, people are reading. Also, this is a computer tech forum foremost, but sometimes you can find good connections on this type of forum, while dating sites and mental health forums can be troll city.

Sorry, to leave it but that was all I can give.

Love YOU and spread love and hope to others and make no room for the darkness.

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