Several potential causes have been suggested, including pressure changes triggered by the weather and the effects that they have on the sacs in the lungs. When pressure increases, it's been argued, sacs are more likely to rupture.
Doctors in Bratislava reviewed the cases of 244 patients treated with the condition. They found the timing and frequency of admissions operated over a two-week cycle. There were two distinct peaks for men and women: one came exactly one week before the new moon, and the second one week after.
It's thought the moon might exert an influence through gravitation, the same way that it affects the tides on Earth.
The theory is that heeled shoes may have led to the first cases of the disease and the establishment of the first mental hospitals. Researcher Jarl Flensmark says that the schizophrenia only appeared after heeled shoes were introduced into a population.
The oldest heeled shoe known to man, made over 1,000 years ago, comes from Mesopotamia ? the same area where the first institutions dealing with mental disorders appeared.
The science? When we walk, the movement stimulates receptors in the lower extremities which increase activity in brain cells. Wearing heeled shoes weakens the lengthening contractions in the lower leg and foot, so the receptors are stimulated less. This drop in stimulation leads to changes in the dopamine system in the brain. This tallies with the knowledge that schizophrenics' brains produce more dopamine.
3. JET LAG TRIGGERS MENTAL ILLNESS
Jet Lag could trigger existing or new cases of affective disorders such as depression, anxiety disorder, panic attacks and various phobias. It might also be involved in schizophrenia.
The scientists say many examples of psychotic symptoms occur during long-distance trips, including cases of transit paranoid reaction ? a condition blamed on changes of environment, such as unfamiliar surroundings and the presence of strangers, and a sense of isolation.
Just how jet lag triggers new episodes of mental illness, or even the illness itself, is not clear, but the hormone melatonin could be the villain.
Secreted by the pineal gland deep inside the brain, melatonin is a key player in the regulation of the circadian rhythm ? the 24-hour cycle of living beings ? because it tells the body when it's time to sleep and wake up. Abnormal melatonin metabolism may be directly related to schizophrenia.
It's also suggested that sleep deprivation affects melatonin production and may be linked to manic episodes.
4. DOGS GIVE WOMEN BREAST CANCER:
Both dogs and humans carry the same virus that can induce cancer.
Analysis of breast cancer cases by researchers at the University of Munich showed that patients with this type of cancer were significantly more likely to have kept a dog than a cat. Scientists have found a virus common in both dogs and humans.
The theory is that dogs, and possibly other pets, harbour and transmit MMTV or MMTVlike viruses that can induce human breast cancer.
5. NUTS CURE TOOTHACHE:
Research shows that Gram-positive bacteria, the bugs that cause tooth decay, acne, tuberculosis and leprosy, are killed by chemicals in cashew apples (the swollen stalk the nut is attached to), cashew shell oil and probably cashew nuts.
The suggestion is that the active chemicals in the nuts are anacardic acids, which in test tube experiments appear to be active against Streptococcus mutans, the cause of tooth decay. Weber says the acids can be lethal to bacteria in 15 minutes.
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