Wake up and feel the pain

People who experience chronic pain and dream of better health and well-being may seek to achieve this by using narcotics. Counselling and reassurance may do little to soothe physical discomfort. Chronic pain sufferers indicate that without a continuing supply of narcotics, they become disabled by an inability to cope with pain, and their lives are unbearable. To what degree this is true before taking narcotics is under question. Self-examination is a way to explore how you feel and what you might do.

Physicians believe narcotics are appropriate for some pain sufferers, but it's come under fire that doctors prescribe them too freely for patients who could be helped in other ways. While it’s advisable to take chronic pain reports seriously, physicians must also address a pain source separate from the pain itself. As doctors will contemplate whether pain is real enough for drug treatment, patients are left to deal with the matter. Some choose suicide. The ones who 'stick it out' wish doctors could awaken and feel the pain of the experience to know how real it is.

This said, consider the origins of chronic pain are hard to identify. Doctors trained as problem-solvers may hesitate to diagnose and treat what they can't see, especially when their position will be surrounded by so much controversy. Even when a pain source is clear, like a pair of torn spinal discs, physicians may resist prescribing narcotics because they fear federal regulators and understand strong drugs, in the short- or long-term doses, can build powerful addictions.

At the same time, some pain sufferers admit their pain is so bad, their life all but stops. When physicians are prohibited from renewing narcotic prescriptions, it's difficult to find another physician to prescribe them. Patients may be labelled as addicts or 'problem cases' associated with physicians who are under investigation for prescribing habits. This leaves the pain sufferers without effective treatment.

Physicians find themselves between a rock and a hard place. One thing that causes them to get concerned is the possible abuse to the detriment of true need and appropriate use, as well as the prospect of losing a license for perception of inappropriate prescriptions. Its not widely acceptable to use hard drugs for serious illness, even if regulations are slowly evolving.

Doctors face conflicting guidelines at state and federal levels. They are duty-bound to ease patients' pain, but prescribing too many strong drugs or dispensing them too freely can lead to suspicion and federal investigation. What is acceptable remains open to question. It brings up quality of life issues, control, and fear of error in judgement. Should you prioritize the status quo, doctor's license or patient care?

If people you know experience challenges due to chronic pain, or if you do yourself, then you'll gain new insight into the crux of this murky issue. Even if you don't, imagine yourself as suffering. What would you do? Who would you support? Which treatments would you seek? How you evolve to see health and well-being, what is possible or desirable or, what is a perceived opportunity in life, changes greatly.

"White Syndrome" : suicide in the Great Barrier Reef

Marine scientists in Queensland have a theory. It's their explanation for the rapidly emerging coral reef killer known as "white syndrome". The researchers believe the syndrome is not caused by bacterial attack from the outside, but by a self-destruct mechanism inside the coral. And they say what they regard as a form of coral suicide is a reaction to stress. Humans believe that coral are intelligent enough to make the decision to die.

It has been reiterated that the Great Barrier Reef will die within 20 years unless greenhouse gases are greatly reduced.  Rising sea temperatures had been thought to bleach coral and cause it to die, but now, we have the suicide theory.  What are we doing about this?  Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are making the world's oceans more acidic and preventing corals from forming their protective limestone skeletons. Changing global climates are disrupting the ability of the corals to reproduce and develop and this could be their plea for assistance.

Are we prepared to permit corals to initiate widespread euthanasia? They could be replaced by things like seaweed. That would be the end of a place of incredible biodiversity which also holds mysteries including uninvestigated leads for potential medical cures.

The warning signs had been around since 1998 when a major bleaching event caused the death of 16 per cent of the world's coral. What will it take for government and industry to take heed of these warnings and take more far-reaching action to reduce the effects of climate change?  What is occurring with reefs is caomparable to other vulnerable areas of the environment, such as glaciers and rainforests, which are all changing drastically with global warming.

The dramatic increases in growing rates of coral diseases would be partly explained by suicide. Hard to stomach that the rate of disease has muliplied five times during the past decade. Action is long overdue on climate issues. If we don't dramatically change lifestyles and reduce emissions, we'll endure more than a visible loss.  Scientists believe our last chance is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 % within the next 30 years.  The question is, will Humanity take advantage of this last chance opportunity or suffer irreversible consequences? 

Consuming your deceased relatives

Would consuming your relative's cremated ashes be your worst drunken nightmare or would you anticipate it as a pleasurable experience? Some people may be grossed out by this possibility. Other people consider it to be the ultimate form of praise or environmentally-friendly recycling. After all, some people would say, the important thing is to "get back to nature" one way or another.

Earlier this week, Rolling Stones musician Keith Richards admitted snorting some of his father's ashes with his cocaine. As a known drug addict, he supposedly did it as a sort of dare he gave himself while high as a kite. He felt fine afterwards and doesn't think his father would've cared. Richards explains "I have no pretentions about immortality." The question is, even if you don't regularly ingest drugs, would you snort a cremated parent? Would your parent mind if you did? Maybe you hadn't considered this idea before. You may wish to put the idea on the backburner.

I asked friends if they had any related experiences. One woman told a story about a Hungarian family she knows. Part of this family escaped during Communist times and settled in America.  They prepared parcels of food which they regularly shipped via post to help the remaining family cope back in Hungary. When father died while in America, the rest of the Hungarian-American family had him cremated and sent his ashes back with a note in the food parcel so that he could be buried in the "old country," as was his dying wish. The note was apparently lost. A reply letter to America described the "bitter-powdered soup" as creamy in milk and they questioned holes in its plastic bag.

If you feel inseparable from a loved one or relative, this may be the ultimate way to merge into one. Yet, other people may regard you as tasteless or even sacriligous. Would digesting a relatives' ashes be a stunt to get attention or better reserved for the ultimate private moment to say farewell? Different actions or no action will alleviate your anxiety. Don't take my word for it. Decide which camp your in. Sometimes beliefs lead one to take drastic steps. Which is best for you? Leave ashes as ashes or make wet dust your way.

REM stirs more than oxygen

Brace yourself.  Dr. David Maurice has a controversial theory.  As professor of occular physiology in the Dept. of Opthalmology at Columbia University Medical Centre, he suggests the REM sleep phenomenon, the stage in which the eyes rapidly move and most dreams and assumed to occur, actually has a different purpose than we thought. So much for "cut and dried" sleep explanations!

Dr. Maurice refuses to accept status quo theories that say REM exists to process memories of the earlier day's events during dreams. He prefers to believe the sleep experience of REM enables a supply of much-needed oxygen to moisten the cornea of the eye.  Maurice suggests that the aqueous humor (the clear watery liquid in the anterior chamber just behind the cornea) needs to be "stirred" by the REM process to carry oxygen to the cornea.

"Without REM," Maurice told 21stCentury, "our corneas would starve and suffocate while we are asleep with our eyes closed. This may mean we wouldn't be able to see.  Perception would be altered.

Okay.  REM is strongly linked with many physiological processes that impact changes in breathing, changes in blood flow to brain, and changes in brain activity.  If Dr. Maurice is proven right, his work would certainly enhance human understanding of functions during REM sleep.  Yet, would it be enough to invalidate principles of psychoanalysis? Other experts don't think so. They believe it has a valuable place to treat patients by helping them interpret their dreams.  As for which is the major versus which are the minor functions of REM process, the jury is still out on that.

Non-violent monks driven to vaccuum cleaners

A Buddhist temple in Malaysia has been invaded by large colonies of biting ants.  You may think the solution is simple: step on them, spray them or rid yourself of them some other way.  Those options may work for you, but calling an exterminator or killing creatures of any form aren't options for non-violent monks. Could you evolve to 'live and let live?' Do you always seek control? Would a vaccuum be enough for you?

More than one monk has been driven to employ a vacuum cleaner to capture the ants alive, but that strategy didn't work.  The ants broke through the bag.  In another case, they climbed the handle of a broom to bite a monk's hand.  More ants continue to enter the building.  They're smarter and more resilient than you might think. Some creatures aren't deterred by the way you wish to do things.  They go about their own business and find ways around you or bite their way through. "Ouch!" 

The chief monk told a Malaysian newspaper, "When an ant drops on you... you just have to shake it off."  The thing is, when many ants are dropping on you and going further than causing havoc to your schedule, to taking over your home, and causing physical harm, what would you do? Nothing? This seems to be the approach of the Buddhist monks. It may be a new test for their patience.  What about yours?