Migraine Headaches and Monosodium Glutamate
For a countless number of years now, my sister has experienced excruciating migraine headaches; ones that keep her out of school too much during the year. She has seen different doctors and they have all tried to figure out what the cause is, but so far, it is yet to be done. I started looking around and saw that MSG has been know to trigger migraine headaches, and it occurred that this could be a possibility in my sister’s case.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a salt added to foods to enhance flavor. This additive helps to bring out natural flavors that make foods taste their best. MSG is made from starch, corn sugar, or molasses from sugar cane or sugar beets and is produced by a natural fermentation process that has been used over time to make foods like beer, vinegar, and yogurt. (http://ificinfo.health.org/brochure/msg.htm)
MSG and Head Pain
Because MSG is a flavor enhancer for foods, many competitors in the food industry use lower quality foods and just add it in because of its cheap price. This allows the manufacturer to have a large gain in the economy. There is a large investment in MSG that leads food giants and glutamate manufacturers to get together to finance “medical research studies” to prove the safety of the additive to the consumer. Obviously, the research done in these studies funded by the manufacturer will “prove the safety” of MSG. The FDA’s Advisory Board consists of food industry reps as opposed to an unbiased group. It would only seem natural that the board accepts these research studies. When doctors look at these reports, they see that they are industry funded and don’t take into consideration that MSG could be causin...
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...estigating this topic was to find the role, if any, that MSG played in the instigation of migraine headaches. In researching, however, I was presented with more information, finding out that MSG is known to cause more than just headaches, as shown in this study. Before looking into studies done on the topic of MSG’s effects on migraines, I deduced that there could possibly be a link between the two, however, this study gives much stronger evidence that MSG is troublesome more to some people than to others.
Bibliography
Diamond, S., Prager, J., & Freitag, F.G. (1986). Diet and headache. Is there a link? Postgrad Med, 279-86
Drouin, M.A., Herbert, M., Karsh, J., Mao, Y., & Yang, W.H. (1997). The monosodium glutamate complex: assessment in a double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study Journal of Allergy Clinical Immunology, 757-62
During the 1920’s, economic prosperity flourished throughout specific sectors of the world: Canada, Europe, and the United States. Throughout this decade of the twentieth century, consumer spending had increased significantly, as well as the innovation of new technologies, including automotive, chemical, movie, and radio industries. However, lasting only from 1920-1929, this economic opulence was not destined to proceed. On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday struck Wall Street, resulting in one of the most catastrophic crashes in the history of Wall Street. On that day, over 16 million shares of stock were traded, resulting in the loss of billions of dollars. In addition to the prices of American stock plummeting, unemployment skyrocketed to approximately 15 million people as a result of bank failures: America had been hit by what came to be known as the Great Depression. To combat this, President Franklin D. Roosevelt formulated an array of New Deal programs to promote the balance of money and banking, job creation, and social security. Although the New Deal did not end the Great Depression, it did help dispense a great deal of relief, recovery, and reform, as well as evolve the duties of the federal government alongside society.
“Immune Response: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.” National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .
The FDA is vital to our country, albeit makes mistakes. Sometimes the FDA can be too
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a traumatic event (Riley). A more in depth definition of the disorder is given by Doctor’s Nancy Piotrowski and Lillian Range, “A maladaptive condition resulting from exposure to events beyond the realm of normal human experience and characterized by persistent difficulties involving emotional numbing, intense fear, helplessness, horror, re-experiencing of trauma, avoidance, and arousal.” People who suffer from this disease have been a part of or seen an upsetting event that haunts them after the event, and sometimes the rest of their lives. There are nicknames for this disorder such as “shell shock”, “combat neurosis”, and “battle fatigue” (Piotrowski and Range). “Battle fatigue” and “combat neurosis” refer to soldiers who have been overseas and seen disturbing scenes that cause them anxiety they will continue to have when they remember their time spent in war. It is common for a lot of soldiers to be diagnosed with PTSD when returning from battle. Throughout the history of wars American soldiers have been involved in, each war had a different nickname for what is now PTSD (Pitman et al. 769). At first, PTSD was recognized and diagnosed as a personality disorder until after the Vietnam Veterans brought more attention to the disorder, and in 1980 it became a recognized anxiety disorder (Piotrowski and Range). There is not one lone cause of PTSD, and symptoms can vary from hallucinations to detachment of friends and family, making a diagnosis more difficult than normal. To treat and in hopes to prevent those who have this disorder, the doctor may suggest different types of therapy and also prescribe medication to help subside the sympt...
The Stock Market crash of 1929 was a terrible event in American history, creating chaos and panic. The crash was caused by an overproduction and underconsumption of goods, and use of credit in the market. People would use credit to buy stocks, and could not afford to repay their loans. This created a failure among banks, overall affecting the nation as a whole. In October of 1929, the Stock Market crashed leading to billions lost in the market, sparking the great depression. ("Overproduction Seen as One of the Cause of Our Most Recent Crisis.")
Migraine headaches affect an estimated 36 million Americans, or about 12% of the population, surpassing asthma at 8.3% (25 million) and diabetes at 7.8% (23.6 million). Migraines are much more common in women than in men--about 3 times more common. Nearly 30% of women will experience at least one episode of migraine headaches in their lifetime, most commonly in the third and sixth decades of life. However, migraines can affect anyone at any age and from any ethnic group. In addition to indirect expenses like missed work/school and lost productivity, the American Migraine Foundation estimates that migraines cost Americans more than $20 billion annually. Migraine sufferers are also more likely to experience anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, fatigue, and other pain conditions, and those who experience visual disturbances called “auras” associated with migraines are at an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Unfortunately, there is no cure for migraines. The best treatment options available only to seek to reduce frequency of attacks or treat an attack once one has begun, and medication use is often limited by side effects and difficulty of administration. The American Migraine Foundation itself labels current treatment options “far from perfect” and concludes, “Undoubtedly, better treatments are needed.” Filling this therapeutic void is the primary objective of NuPathe Inc. (very recently acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.) with Zecuity®, a sumatriptan iontophoretic transdermal system.
There are many different causes of PTSD such as sexual abuse, sudden death of a loved one, and war. Trauma affects people in different ways, some can develop it from watching a fellow soldier being killed, and some can develop it from losing their jobs or a divorce. Being diagnosed with PTSD is a difficult process because there are many other psychological disorders whose symptoms can overlap and are very similar. An important fact to remember is that PTSD doesn’t just affect the person suffering; it can also have secondhand effects on their spouses, children, parents, friends, co-workers, and other loved ones. Although there is no direct cure, there are many treatment and alternative treatment options to assist them in moving forward after a trauma.
Our patient Ms. Blum is a 28-year-old white female who presents with symptoms of a migraine, such as waking up by a severe headache that she states is often made worse when she turns on the light. In addition, Ms. Blum presents with several factors that can trigger her migraines including her lack of sleep, her stressful life as concluded by her statement that this has been a difficult period in her life and her approaching deadline to turn in her dissertation, her weekend alcohol consumption, her menstrual cycle since she notices that a couple of days before her period starts she experiences these headaches, also she states that food doesn’t seem to appeal to her and it takes her effort to eat a meal, and her diagnosis of major depressive disorder.
Making lifestyle changes to avoid certain environmental triggers may also help to reduce or prevent migraines from occurring.
... Lears blessing, and declared his daughter. Lear also realized that Kents speaking out was for Lear’s best and that he too was abused and banished. What stings Lear even more is that he is now completely dependent upon his two shameless daughters, Goneril and Regan. Plus that he must now beg them when he took care of them like a father when they were once children, to drive Lears further into madness he realizes that as king he was so ignorant and blind with power that he never took care of the homeless and let them suffer. All these realization and the fact that Lear is in his second childhood a tender stage drive him into the peak of madness.
My mom became a victim to this illness after she had my youngest sibling. She has now lived with primary migraines for about seven years and the cause of her condition is unknown. The possible factors that can lead to migraines include, hormones, caffeine, stress, anxiety, and many others. Similarly, the journal “Providing Care for Patients with Chronic Migraine: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management”, by Stephen D. Silberstein states, “Other comorbid factors should be addressed, including sleep disorders, neck pain, fibromyalgia, and obesity” (Silberstein). My mother has gone through many things in her life which relate to many of these factors. Therefore, doctors have not been able to determine the cause of her
Mayo Clinic. “What is MSG? Is it bad for you? Health and Nutrition, Monosodium Glutamate
Post traumatic stress-disorder is an anxiety disorder which results from exposure to an event which threatens the physical safety of an individual (1). PTSD originated as a mental illness category after the Vietnam War, when veterans exhibited sets of symptoms that did not fit into any current illness categories. However, in previous wars soldiers had complained of "shell shock" or "combat fatigue," which researchers now believe were essentially the same conditions as PTSD (2). As many as thirty percent of Vietnam veterans and eight percent of Persian Gulf War veterans exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (1).
William Shakespeare's tragedy of King Lear begins with the King's decision to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. He gathers them all together, and tells them he will divide up the kingdom according to whoever has the most love for him. Goneril and Reagan, the two older daughters, make big declarations of love in order to get the shares they want of the kingdom. The youngest daughter, Cordelia, tells Lear that she loves him, as a daughter should love a father. Lear becomes angry and disappointed with Cordelia's response feeling she has shown a lack of devotion so he takes action and banishes her. When Kent, a close friend of Lear, attempts to defend Cordelia, but as well he is banished by Lear. Cordelia marries the King of France and goes to live there. The kingdom is equally divided between Goneril and Regan. These two daughters are evil and decide if Lear becomes too much of a problem then they will take d...
Philosophy is defined as the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. In Shakespeare’s King Lear one is able to relate and understand a lot of the problems the main characters in the play are facing. The characters face issues relating trust, family, greed, depression, and insanity. The issues and plot in the play are contemporary issues that any human can relate to because it is the way of life.