The Nocebo Effect  When Words Make You Sick

An investigation of the nocebo effect—the placebo effect's evil twin.  Can beliefs make you sick?  Consider "The June Bug" incident from a US textile factory in the early 1960s.  Many employees began to feel dizzy, had an upset stomach, and vomited.  Some were even hospitalized.  The illness was attributed to a mysterious bug biting workers.  However, when the CDC investigated this outbreak, no bugs or any other cause of the illnesses could be identified.  Instead, it appears to be an illness caused by the mind—that is, sickness due to expectation.  The June Bug story is one of many striking examples of the nocebo effect, a phenomenon best summarized as the occurrence of a harmful event that stems from expecting it.  The nocebo effect plays a role in side effects for some of the most commonly prescribed medications.  It provides a lens for understanding how sensationalized media reports that sound alarm about public health might even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  It might even explain the mysterious symptoms associated with Havana Syndrome, during which dozens of US government employees fell ill after reportedly being exposed to an unidentified sound wave in Cuba.  Thank you, Muse reader!  https://order.store.mayoclinic.com/flex/mmv/NOCEBO/?altkey=NCBPES    

On Monday, April, 8, 2024 a total solar eclipse will be visible across Mexico, Canada and the United States.  In Toledo, Ohio the duration is expected to be 4 minutes and 27 seconds.  Toledo’s partial eclipse will begin at 1:56 p.m. with the total eclipse at 3:13 p.m.   

A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet.  For example, an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing.  Podcasts are primarily an audio medium, with some programs offering a supplemental video component.  A podcast series usually features one or more recurring hosts engaged in a discussion about a particular topic or current event.  Discussion and content within a podcast can range from carefully scripted to completely improvised.  Podcasts combine elaborate and artistic sound production with thematic concerns ranging from scientific research to slice-of-life journalism.  Many podcast series provide an associated website with links and show notes, guest biographies, transcripts, additional resources, commentary, and occasionally a community forum dedicated to discussing the show's content.  As of December 2022, there are at least 2,999,008 podcasts and 152,596,784 episodes.  "Podcast" is a portmanteau of "iPod" and "broadcast".  The earliest use of "podcasting" was traced to The Guardian columnist and BBC journalist Ben Hammersley, who coined it in early February 2004 while writing an article for The Guardian newspaper.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast    

Almonds may be bite-sized, but these nuts pack a big nutritional punch.  They’re an excellent source of several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E and manganese.  They’re also a good source of:

·        protein

·        fiber

·        copper

·        riboflavin

·        calcium

In fact, “almonds are actually one of the highest protein sources among tree nuts,” said Peggy O’Shea-Kochenbach, MBA, RDN, LDN, a dietitian and consultant in Boston.  https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/almonds#_noHeaderPrefixedContent     

George Eliot's novel The Mill on the Floss is published by John Blackwood in three volumes (April 4, 1860) * George Orwell's classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four begins (April 4, 1984) * Charles Darwin sends his publishers the first three chapters of the Origin of Species (April 5, 1859)  Literary Hub  March 31, 2024   

umbra  (UHM-bruh)  noun  1. Shade; shadow. 2. The darkest inner part of a shadow, as during an eclipse.  From Latin umbra (shade, shadow).  Earliest documented use:  1601.  Some other words coined from the same Latin root are bumbershoot, umbriferous, umber, adumbrate, and umbrage.   

Make no judgments where you have no compassion. - Anne McCaffrey, writer (1 Apr 1926-2011)   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue 2796  April 1, 2024