On 60 Minutes this past week (Sunday 12/09/07) there was a fascinating story about the use of a drug normally used to treat high blood pressure, chest pain, and abnormally rapid heart rates.
The story told how it could be used to almost erase the effects of violent or unpleasant experiences to make life better for those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
Propranolol, sold as Inderal, is commonly available with prescription from a doctor.
- �Neuroscientists have discovered that long-term memories are not etched in a �clay tablet�-like stable form as once thought. The process is much more dynamic, involving a miniature molecular machine that must run constantly to keep memories going, and jamming this machine briefly can erase long-term memories. The technique worked as successfully a month after the memories were formed, which is analogous to years in humans, and all signs so far indicate that the affected unpleasant memories of the taste had indeed disappeared. This is the first time that memories in the brain were shown to be capable of erasure so long after their formation. �This drug is a molecular version of jamming the operation of the machine,� says Dudai. �When the machine stops, the memories stop as well.� In other words, long-term memory is not a one-time inscription on the nerve network, but an ongoing process which the brain must continuously fuel and maintain and these findings raise the possibility of developing a �memory eraser�. https://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2...8/01-ptsd.html
My wife was on Inderal for a long time. She also had bad memories of her childhood. She's on another medication now. Inderal causes irritability and increased susceptibility to allergies.
Yes, Propranolol is a very interesting drug. Good for some serious headaches that do not necessarily need to be blood pressure related also.
On the other hand I could get very sarcastic. Yea! Lets take a drug and forget everything. forget war forget pain forget trauma. Then you will be less inclined to change the world. Whatever it is that bothers you, shakes you to the core of your faith and morality, that challenges your existence in the world, just take a drug.
Its just where the powers that be want us to be.
REM therapy has been pretty effective for PTSD. You don't forget. You integrate.
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"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." Marcus Aurelius
On the other hand I could get very sarcastic. Yea! Lets take a drug and forget everything. forget war forget pain forget trauma. Then you will be less inclined to change the world. Whatever it is that bothers you, shakes you to the core of your faith and morality, that challenges your existence in the world, just take a drug. I love your sarcasm Arrow, thank you. I thought I was pretty good at sarcasm, but I can't fault your comments here.
I have a friend who recently took a beta blocker for her atrial fibrillation. She was interested to note that she felt an unfamiliar calmness , and welcomed the freedom from her usual passions about animal welfare, farming, environmental problems, etc. She also noticed that she was exercise intolerant, so was quite happy to stop taking the beta blocker.
Propranolol is often used by musicians and other performers to prevent stage fright.
Propranolol is currently being investigated as a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. [3][4][5]
Obviously effects people at their core level affecting instincts of survival.
Dimming Bad Memories
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Linear Mode
