MAPTalk-Digest Saturday, December 3 2005 Volume 05 : Number 144
001 What a relief!
From: Beth Wehrman <>
002 Re: What a relief!
From: "G F Storck" <>
003 Comcast-Free America
From: "D.H. Michon" <>
004 Article reference please
From:
005 Re: MAP: Article reference please
From: Matt Elrod <>
006 Alternatives to AA
From: Beth Wehrman <>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: 001 What a relief!
From: Beth Wehrman <>
Date: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 09:55:14 -0600
From the Globe and Mail:
Java Jolts Workers' Short-Term Memory
by Carolyn Abraham
With Starbucks opening four new coffee shops on the planet every day
and all-night clubbers draining cans of Red Bull, the world's most
popular drug hardly needs a marketing boost.
But a new study has concluded that caffeine can sharpen short-term
and working memory just 20 minutes after it is consumed.
Neuroimaging scans conducted at Austria's Medical University of
Innsbruck show a brain region crucial to working memory lit up like a
Christmas tree shortly after study subjects ingested the equivalent
of two cups of coffee.
At the same time, those caffeinated subjects went on to outperform
people who had consumed no caffeine in tasks designed to test
short-term and working memory, which is the ability to maintain and
manipulate new bits of information.
"All of us drink coffee every day to feel more powerful, more awake
and alert," said lead researcher Florian Koppelstätter, who presented
the work yesterday at a Radiological Society of North America meeting
in Chicago. But, he said, his team wanted to use imaging scans to
demonstrate how caffeine affects the brain in real time.
"The anterior cingulate cortex [in the frontal region of the brain]
is part of the working memory network . . . that controls attention
and concentration."
The Austrian study is the latest in a long and steady effort to
understand the risks and benefits of the psychostimulant that seems
to fuel the modern world.
But some countries, Dr. Koppelstätter noted, consume more of it than others.
The international average of caffeine consumption runs at 76
milligrams a day. Canadians, faithful Tim Hortons customers that we
are, ingest more than double that -- from 210 to 238 milligrams.
Americans show a similar trend. But Finns and Swedes top the list
with an average consumption of 400 mg daily.
Wende Wood, a psychiatric pharmacist at Toronto's Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health, noted that as a stimulant, caffeine
falls into the same category as other addictive substances, such as
nicotine, cocaine and crystal methamphetamine.
There is no question that caffeine can offer a temporary boost to
"simple intellectual tasks," she said, but it can also raise blood
pressure, heart rate and the risk of fine tremors if consumed in
large quantities.
Ms. Wood noted that it is also true of caffeine as a drug that "the
more you consume, the less effect you get from it.
"You build a tolerance, so that the next time, one cup of coffee may
do nothing for you."
For this reason, one limitation of the Austrian study may be that it
did not distinguish between heavy, regular or occasional caffeine
consumers in the group of 15 men, aged 26 to 47, who were involved.
Someone who consumes two cups of coffee regularly, Ms. Wood said, may
require three or more to feel any mental gain.
The research relied on the use of an fMRI (functional magnetic
resonance imaging), a scanning technology that tracks physical
changes, such as blood flow, in an active brain.
The men were scanned at the outset of the work, and then again 20
minutes after half of them drank about 100 mg of caffeinated liquid
through a straw, while the other half drank a decaf.
(The body generally absorbs caffeine within an hour, with its peak
effects believed to be felt 45 minutes after consumption.)
At that 20-minute mark, all the participants were shown numbered and
lettered blocks on a computer screen that, based on instructions,
they had to arrange in particular patterns.
During that time, Dr. Koppelstätter said all subjects, none of whom
knew whether they had actually ingested caffeine, showed activity in
the anterior cingulate cortex.
But the brains of those who had received caffeine displayed far more
intense activity in this neural region, an area also linked to
decision-making, as well as heart rate and blood pressure.
A 1999 study by University of Bristol researchers had also found that
caffeine can improve the ability to encode new information. But the
same research found that eating breakfast cereal had similar
brain-boosting abilities, as well as improving mood, without raising
blood pressure. Ms. Wood cautioned that cognitive benefits from
caffeine are generally short term and that the results should not be
interpreted to suggest "you should go out and pound back a pound of
coffee before an exam."
"Consuming too much can make you jittery and nervous and be counterproductive."
------------------------------
Subj: 002 Re: What a relief!
From: "G F Storck" <>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 10:18:55 -0600
What's interesting about this is that the same can be said of the
preliminary effects of cocaine, meth and other stimulants...GS
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Beth Wehrman" <>
To: <>
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 9:55 AM
Subject: MAP: What a relief!
| From the Globe and Mail:
|
| Java Jolts Workers' Short-Term Memory
| by Carolyn Abraham
|
| With Starbucks opening four new coffee shops on the planet every day
| and all-night clubbers draining cans of Red Bull, the world's most
| popular drug hardly needs a marketing boost.
|
| But a new study has concluded that caffeine can sharpen short-term
| and working memory just 20 minutes after it is consumed.
|
| Neuroimaging scans conducted at Austria's Medical University of
| Innsbruck show a brain region crucial to working memory lit up like a
| Christmas tree shortly after study subjects ingested the equivalent
| of two cups of coffee.
|
| At the same time, those caffeinated subjects went on to outperform
| people who had consumed no caffeine in tasks designed to test
| short-term and working memory, which is the ability to maintain and
| manipulate new bits of information.
|
| "All of us drink coffee every day to feel more powerful, more awake
| and alert," said lead researcher Florian Koppelstätter, who presented
| the work yesterday at a Radiological Society of North America meeting
| in Chicago. But, he said, his team wanted to use imaging scans to
| demonstrate how caffeine affects the brain in real time.
|
| "The anterior cingulate cortex [in the frontal region of the brain]
| is part of the working memory network . . . that controls attention
| and concentration."
|
| The Austrian study is the latest in a long and steady effort to
| understand the risks and benefits of the psychostimulant that seems
| to fuel the modern world.
|
| But some countries, Dr. Koppelstätter noted, consume more of it than
others.
|
| The international average of caffeine consumption runs at 76
| milligrams a day. Canadians, faithful Tim Hortons customers that we
| are, ingest more than double that -- from 210 to 238 milligrams.
| Americans show a similar trend. But Finns and Swedes top the list
| with an average consumption of 400 mg daily.
|
| Wende Wood, a psychiatric pharmacist at Toronto's Centre for
| Addiction and Mental Health, noted that as a stimulant, caffeine
| falls into the same category as other addictive substances, such as
| nicotine, cocaine and crystal methamphetamine.
|
| There is no question that caffeine can offer a temporary boost to
| "simple intellectual tasks," she said, but it can also raise blood
| pressure, heart rate and the risk of fine tremors if consumed in
| large quantities.
|
| Ms. Wood noted that it is also true of caffeine as a drug that "the
| more you consume, the less effect you get from it.
|
| "You build a tolerance, so that the next time, one cup of coffee may
| do nothing for you."
|
| For this reason, one limitation of the Austrian study may be that it
| did not distinguish between heavy, regular or occasional caffeine
| consumers in the group of 15 men, aged 26 to 47, who were involved.
|
| Someone who consumes two cups of coffee regularly, Ms. Wood said, may
| require three or more to feel any mental gain.
|
| The research relied on the use of an fMRI (functional magnetic
| resonance imaging), a scanning technology that tracks physical
| changes, such as blood flow, in an active brain.
|
| The men were scanned at the outset of the work, and then again 20
| minutes after half of them drank about 100 mg of caffeinated liquid
| through a straw, while the other half drank a decaf.
|
| (The body generally absorbs caffeine within an hour, with its peak
| effects believed to be felt 45 minutes after consumption.)
|
| At that 20-minute mark, all the participants were shown numbered and
| lettered blocks on a computer screen that, based on instructions,
| they had to arrange in particular patterns.
|
| During that time, Dr. Koppelstätter said all subjects, none of whom
| knew whether they had actually ingested caffeine, showed activity in
| the anterior cingulate cortex.
|
| But the brains of those who had received caffeine displayed far more
| intense activity in this neural region, an area also linked to
| decision-making, as well as heart rate and blood pressure.
|
| A 1999 study by University of Bristol researchers had also found that
| caffeine can improve the ability to encode new information. But the
| same research found that eating breakfast cereal had similar
| brain-boosting abilities, as well as improving mood, without raising
| blood pressure. Ms. Wood cautioned that cognitive benefits from
| caffeine are generally short term and that the results should not be
| interpreted to suggest "you should go out and pound back a pound of
| coffee before an exam."
|
| "Consuming too much can make you jittery and nervous and be
counterproductive."
|
------------------------------
Subj: 003 Comcast-Free America
From: "D.H. Michon" <>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 12:24:34 -0600
From the PDFA website: (
http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/About/NewsReleases/Making_A_Difference_)
"
CNN's Paula Zahn to Serve as Mistress of Ceremonies
NEW YORK, November 21 - The Partnership for a Drug-Free America will honor
Ralph J. Roberts and Brian L. Roberts of Comcast Corporation, at the
Partnership's third annual Making A Difference gala to be held on December
8th in the grand ballroom at The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York City. At
the helm of Comcast Corporation - the largest cable television company in
the United States - the Roberts have built illustrious careers in the cable
industry and are being recognized for their outstanding commitment to
helping communities and safeguarding American families.
Through their wisdom, vision and leadership, Ralph J. Roberts and Brian L.
Roberts have built the Comcast Corporation from the ground up. Starting
with the purchase of a single cable television station in Tupelo,
Mississippi over 40 years ago, the Roberts have created one of today's most
influential media companies.
"As we recognize Ralph and Brian for their many outstanding achievements in
the communications industry, we cannot overlook their overwhelming kindness
and generosity," said Partnership Chairman Roy Bostock. "This father and son
team brings their unwavering dedication to family values from the Comcast
family to ours. Comcast's contribution of $50 million in media exposure to
the Partnership is helping us reach literally millions of parents and teens
with our drug-education messages."
CNN Anchor Paula Zahn will serve as mistress of ceremonies for the Making A
Difference gala. Zahn, anchor of "Paula Zahn Now," is a renowned journalist
who has received numerous honors and awards, including seven Emmy® awards.
Chairing the event will be Geraldine B. Laybourne, chairman & CEO of Oxygen
Media and James B. Lee, Jr., vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
"The Roberts are visionaries and pioneers in American business and their
outstanding commercial accomplishments are underscored by a steadfast
devotion to social responsibility," said Laybourne. "Comcast's generous
commitment to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and its worthwhile
cause is further proof that in running Comcast, the Roberts value family
above all."
"Ralph and Brian Roberts are two extraordinary gentlemen who not only have
made remarkable contributions to the media, cable and communications
industries, but who also have made significant and lasting investments in
American families," said Lee.
Confirmed gala co-chairs include Chris Albrecht, chairman & CEO, HBO; Roy
Bostock, chairman, Partnership for a Drug-Free America; Timothy Brosnan,
executive vice president, Major League Baseball; Craig Brown, CEO, Keelers
Ridge Associates; Stephen Burke, COO, Comcast Corporation, president,
Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.; Harry Clark, managing partner, Stanwich
Group, L.L.C.; David Cohen, executive vice president, Comcast Corporation;
Peter Dolan, CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Campbell Gerrish, principal,
Winged Keel Group, Inc.; Carla and Robert Matteucci; Thomas Murphy, retired
chairman & CEO, Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.; Allen Rosenshine, vice chairman &
executive creative director, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, chairman,
BBDO Worldwide, Inc.; Pat and John Rosenwald; J. Brendan Ryan, chairman,
Foote Cone & Belding; Adam Silver, president & COO, NBA Entertainment; Sir
Howard Stringer, chairman & CEO, Sony Corporation; Linda A. Suydam, D.P.A,
president, Consumer Healthcare Products Association; David Watson, EVP,
operations, Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.; William Weldon, chairman &
CEO, Johnson & Johnson.
"We are proud to call Ralph and Brian Roberts partners in our work," said
Steve Pasierb, president & CEO of the Partnership. "Ralph, Brian and
everyone at Comcast have truly blessed the Partnership as well as the
parents and children we exist to serve. Our collaboration has not only been
effective, but exemplifies an ongoing endeavor at the Partnership to truly
bring the word 'partnership' to life in everything we do."
For a complete list of co-chairs, event sponsors and more information on the
gala, please visit Making a Difference. For more information on table
sales, please contact Jeri Milhauser at the Partnership at
or at 212-922-1560."
- --
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Checked by AVG Free Edition.
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------------------------------
Subj: 004 Article reference please
From:
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 16:32:10 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
I just went to a presentation on drug testing newborns. They are trying something with the meconim of babies. There are so many problems.
1) what is abuse - lecturer said you got me on that one
2) life of metabolites - you got me on that one
3) what about Alcohol and nicotine - you got me on that one
etc.
I was stopped by an emeritus doctor who was interested in finding more information regarding the study done in Spain which replicated a US study. If anyone has the reference to the one that showed cannabis attacked the cancer in the brain please let me know. This guy was a neuro physician and is interested in the study.
I search Mapiinc website a couple times but could not find reference to it so I did try a little homework. Maybe we need a category called research with cannabis to help the doctor who goes to the site. he will but will become frustrated as he is more into the sceience not the newspaper articles. I know we have new articles that report on the science papers.
I will forward the article to my friend.
I have another friend in the neurosciences who is looking to repair spinal cord injuries, so I forwarded the article regarding the growth factor. Hopefully he might be able to use it in his research to growth spinal nerve cells and get them to interact.
Thanks,
Tom Suther
It might pay to be in the system.
------------------------------
Subj: 005 Re: MAP: Article reference please
From: Matt Elrod <>
Date: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 14:35:42 -0800
http://safeaccess.ca/research/cancer.htm
HTH,
Matt
wrote:
> I was stopped by an emeritus doctor who was interested in finding
> more information regarding the study done in Spain which replicated
>a US study.
------------------------------
Subj: 006 Alternatives to AA
From: Beth Wehrman <>
Date: Sat, 03 Dec 2005 07:51:57 -0600
From www.prweb.com
Alternatives to Alcoholics Anonymous, 12-Step Programs Detailed in
First-Ever Comprehensive Resource Guide; Recovery Rates Expected To Increase
"AA-Not the Only Way" responds to growing demand from recovery
experts, problem drinkers and drug addicts for global resource
directory of alternative, evidence-based treatments. Addiction
experts are most concerned that AA-style treatment works for only 5%
of its participants, as revealed by AA's own internal secret member
surveys as well as independent U.S. government surveys. Therefore, it
is now imperative to spread the word about other options, ones that
allow for the integration of new knowledge and research findings.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) December 2, 2005 -- Fueled by the 95 percent
failure rate acknowledged by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a number of
recovery and treatment alternatives to 12-step recovery programs are
rapidly emerging worldwide -- building strong track records and
gaining credibility within the medical community.
No longer content to accept 12-step programs' insistence that they
are the only option for those with alcohol or drug problems -- a
dogma previously accepted by much of the recovery industry -- leading
addiction experts have developed a variety of new, evidence based
treatment modalities that defy the 'one-size-fits-all,' 12-step mentality.
Armed with these new 21st century treatment options, forward-thinking
doctors and addiction counselors who recognize the complex, highly
individual nature of addiction are seeing more of their clients
achieve sustainable recovery through a variety of programs.
A spate of recent books discuss treatment alternatives and relate
accounts of drinkers or addicts condemned for having 'failed' 12-step
programs, but who have since gone on to recover fully through
alternative treatment methods. While these books make a powerful case
for alternative treatment methods, both scientific and anecdotal, the
recovery industry has lacked a comprehensive global resource guide
that tells counselors and sufferers alike what their options are and
where to find them -- until now.
Melanie Solomon's "AA-Not the Only Way; Your One-Stop Resource Guide
to 12-Step Alternatives" explains eleven primary alternative drug and
alcohol problem treatment modalities. Available at
<http://www.aanottheonlyway.com,>www.aanottheonlyway.com">www.aanottheo, it provides
a directory of 147 counselors, specialists, clinics and programs
throughout the United States and overseas.
After ten years of riding the frightening recovery merry-go-round and
enduring multiple rehabs, halfway houses, 12-step meetings, relapses
and emergency room visits, Ms. Solomon realized there had to be
another way. Despite her decade of recovery efforts via AA and its
cousins Narcotics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous, none of the
rehabs, halfway houses, therapists or psychiatrists ever discussed
other options.
"My goal is to get this information out not only to hospitals,
institutions and addiction professionals, but into the curriculum of
the related university grad schools," Ms. Solomon explained. "The
next generation of therapists, psychiatrists, social workers, and
doctors needs to know all the options available to their future drug
and alcohol clients if recovery rates are to be consistently raised
above AA's five percent rate."
Leading U.S. addiction expert Dr. Marc Kern, who wrote the foreword
to "AA-Not the Only Way" states, "I have long awaited this directory
of addiction treatment alternatives. It represents what I believe to
be the future of the field. It is a pioneering effort to organize
this unique body of knowledge. A directory of this type was never
available before."
Dr. Frederick Rotgers, another leading addiction expert wrote in the
preface, "The problem is finding treatment providers who provide
these alternative, evidence-based approaches. Melanie Solomon has
taken a wonderful step toward making that process, of identifying
alternatives to traditional treatments, easier. By both providing her
own story as a justification for this book, and by listing an ever
growing list of providers who use up-to-date, evidence-based
approaches in their work helping people with alcohol and drug
problems, Ms. Solomon has done a great public service."
"AA-Not the Only Way" by Melanie Solomon is priced at $12.95 for the
soft-cover book, or $9.95 for the e-book, which may be downloaded
instantly. Special bulk pricing is also offered. Both are available
for purchase online at
<http://www.aanottheonlyway.com>www.aanottheonlyway.com">www.aanottheon.
------------------------------
End of MAPTalk-Digest V05 #144
******************************
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Media Awareness Project /' _ ` _ `\ /'_`)('_`\
P. O. Box 651 | ( ) ( ) |( (_| || (_) )
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