6 ms·
The actual research is quite interesting. Sleep disorders themselves are fascinating. There is evidence that TBI (traumatic brain injury) can cause lasting slee
by bitexploder 9y ago
The actual research is quite interesting. Sleep disorders themselves are fascinating. There is evidence that TBI (traumatic brain injury) can cause lasting sleep cycle disruption. Perhaps sleep disruption and TBI is a much bigger factor in the lasting impact of TBI than previously thought.
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3482689/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3482689/).
Article review: This is pretty good science reporting, actually providing a link to the study being referenced. My one nit is the use of the word "Toxins". That is a trigger word for me that immediately makes me suspicious of the reporting. Scientific papers about the human body very rarely if ever use the word "Toxins" preferring precise terminology such as "brain waste products" or just keeping to the chemical names at hand. "Toxins" is one of those normative layman words that gets used to sweep up all sorts of ill-conceived explanations and pseudo-science.
- pnathan 9y agoYes, "toxic" and "toxins" are incredibly vague. I loathe the use of those words, as they are both scary and nearly meaningless.
- nsxwolf 9y agoWhen I see "toxins" I just stop reading. I assume the article is an ad for a juice cleanse.
- bovermyer 9y agoThis seems... extreme, to me. Completely ignoring a thing because of an imperfection could narrow one's depth of experience.
- nsxwolf 9y agoIt's mostly involuntary by now. My BS detectors have been trained on that term my whole life. It's in the same category in my brain as "homeopathic".
- joshumax 9y agoEven if it's not recommending a juice cleanse, whenever I see the word "Toxin" in an article without context I assume that the post was most likely written for the layman and as such probably sacrifices accuracy for ease-of-comprehension.
- gertef 9y ago"homeopathic" is a specific term that denotes a specific discredited (pseudo)scientific concept, that has been analyzed. "toxin" is an general term that encompasses many established entities as well as phony ones. When you see "toxin", you can ask "which toxin are you referring to?"
- fattire 9y agoMy go-to default is black widow venom. If I don't get any specifics, I always just assume that the juice cleanse will rid my system of spider poison.
- copperx 9y agoI understand, but be aware that neurotoxic and neurotoxin are words used in scientific literature. "Toxins" in the context of the brain is completely OK.
- lr4444lr 9y agoIt begs the question: is a few days of codeine or valium the brain equivalent of a "lemon juice / cayenne" cleanse?
- jshevek 9y agoBegs the question?
- allannienhuis 9y agorelatively common idiom (which may or may not be used correctly here :) : https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/305/what-does-the-phrase-begging-the-question-mean https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/305/what-does-th...
- copperx 9y agoOP meant "raises the question."
- yomly 9y agoIs valium/codeine induced sleep equivalent to the real thing?
- amiga-workbench 9y agoWhen I see the term "Cloud", I do the same thing.
- icebraining 9y agoSo, no weather forecasts for you?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- amiga-workbench 9y agoIts not like I ever leave my basement.
- amelius 9y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicology A widely used scientific term.
- pnathan 9y agoQuite so. And the words "toxic" and "toxin" are used for every single snake oil solution/problem out there in relation to health. It's become a great example of a failure over time in scientific communication and how the common usage of terms has been rendered useless in meaning for the common person. It's a tragedy, but it's what's happened.
- agumonkey 9y agoFun fact: toxin meant arrow long ago, for taxus, (bark tree ?) which bow were made of. The funny part is that that tree is .. toxic, it embeds alcaloids which can kill. The taxus philogenetic family was often a symbol of death for cultures, and people commited suicide using its "effects". Lastly, those familiar with oncology probably know paclitaxel/taxol; which are molecules derived from these alcaloids for their cytotoxig capabilities (forbid mitosis and induce apoptosis). ps: in death you seek knowledge. #deadline
- HillaryBriss 9y agojust a footnote to your fine comment: the origin of that particular drug is the Pacific Yew https://dtp.cancer.gov/timeline/flash/success_stories/s2_taxol.htm https://dtp.cancer.gov/timeline/flash/success_stories/s2_tax... this same tree, as you indicate, was also used by Native Americans for making hunting bows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_bow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_bow
- agumonkey 9y agoI think the original taxol was made from Pacific Yew, but the synthesis is from another kind yielding a precursor molecule.
- coldtea 9y ago>Fun fact: toxin meant arrow long ago, for taxus, (bark tree ?) which bow were made of Actually from ancient Greek "toxicon" (related to archery) which stems from "toxon" (bow, not arrow), that got into latin. The association (toxicon -> toxic as in poisonous) came due to the practice of using poisons in archery (to make for lethal arrowheads). Greeks took the word from Scythians. Taxus, for the yew family of trees (poisonous), is related to that, but the transfer to latin as currently used was through "toxic(os)".
- agumonkey 9y agoYeah I skipped a beat on the bow -> poisonous arrows.
- inputcoffee 9y agoAre you sure scientists don't use the term? Consider: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=toxins+brain&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C33&as_sdtp= https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=toxins+brain&btnG... I don't have more information. I just typed that in based on your comment.
- bitexploder 9y agoI can't disagree. Scientists clearly use the word, but I would say there is a great deal of specificity to their usage and a very general malleable unspecific usage in typical science journalism, but that is a lot to write out, sort of an 80/20 rule for using the word Toxins. Often enough you will be write, so don't treat it as an inviolate law, but a good rule of thumb perhaps?
- randcraw 9y agoIn biology, toxins are compounds that cause injury. The wording in the article implies that all waste products removed by sleep are toxic, which is unlikely. Many chemicals removed by sleep probably are not toxins, at least perhaps, not until they accumulate and form obstructions, like Alzheimer plaques.