[Ruatha]

QuarianRex said:
Oleg:
As far as questioning the relevance of the graphs and such, please realize that you are not reading the published article, but merely a sound-bite type of summary.

As far as the soundness of the theory... well it has been known of and used for millenia. ancient herbal remedies often included noxious ingredients that, if used in the right amount, had the opposite effect of what you would otherwise expect. Another great example is the practice of using leeches as a curative. Leeches were not used out of ignorance, they were used because they worked, the barbers at the time just didn't know the actual reason why. Having several wounds, superficial though they may be, throws the immune system into action. To greater action that is required to counter the feeble leech attack. The now aroused immune system would then confront whatever other ailments there were (worms, sniffles, the black plague, etc.). Therefore leeching (and bleeding in general) became a general cure-all because, in some ways, it was.

This type of effect is especially apparent with chemicals. The japanese practice of eating blowfish (one of the most poisonous creatures in the world) is so dangerous not because it is hard to remove the edible part of the fish, that is quite easy, but because it is hard to leave in just the right amount of poison. If the corect amount of neurotoxin is left in then the dish provides a pleasant euphoria. The same goes with strichnine, a small enough amount can get you high. Same with nicotine. It is one of the most deadly poisons we know of (it is often used as rat poison) yet in small enough doses it can be pleasantly addictive (and atually acts as a memory enhancing drug due to its mimicry of the brains own neurotransmitters). In fact, neuologists often advise the victims of certain types of stroke to keep smoking (against their family doctors advice) since it may be the only thing that is allowing them to remember their own name. The possibility of cancer is an acceptible risk in such circumstances and can be dealt with when it comes.

Hmm, thats the biggest load of rubbish I've read in a long time, in so many, many ways.
I know several neurologists (am a doctor myself) and no-one would recommed anyone to smoke to enhance the memory!