Posted by Ueli on April 16, 1999 at 22:03:30:
In Reply to: Re: Chronic clusters gone after 12+ years posted by lc bob on April 15, 1999 at 20:32:35:
lc bob,
I cannot agree with all you said.
Why one-sided - Our body is not symmetrical at all . We've got only one heart, one stomach and one liver and they
are not located in the symmetry plane of our body. The two halves of our brain have quite different functions. Why
can I write better with my right hand than with the left one, why is my left ear a quarter inch higher up than the other ?
I agree, there must be some physical deformity/aberration/difference somewhere in our head that is sensitive to some
oscillations in our chemical make up. But whether this spot is caused by some sort of infection, by an injury or just
a random fluctuation during development of the brain or trigeminal(sp?) nerve or associated blood vessels - it would
be rather the exception than the rule if it developed on both sides in the same way.
Now, our body chemistry is a mixture of many hormones, enzymes, electrolytes and what have you more. They interact
all by inhibiting or enhancing each other and the whole lot is more or less synchronized to daily and seasonal cycles by
external stimuli. My guess is, that when one (or some) compound in this chemical soup exceeds/drops below a certain
threshold it stimulates the 'sore spot' in our head and the pain begins. Some fast positive feedback mechanism amplifies
the stimulus and the pain rockets to the sky (in my case in 1 or 2 minutes!). A slower negative feedback eventually
brings back the system to an equilibrium again and the pain diminishes again. I think, something along these lines
would be consistent with my fast raise time and the short duration of may attacks (17 to 20 min) and the much slower
start reported by people who have to measure the length of their attacks in hours.
As to the triggers like alcohol or MSG: I think, they simply skew the balance of our chemicals in such a way, that the
above hypothesized agent can start his demonic work - there is NO bullet involved.
The line of attack to our problem should then be to find the properties of the 'receptor' and what stuff stimulates it, and
then a way to inhibit their interaction.
Just my 2 cent
Ueli
ps: i'm a smoker for 45 years (and before a passive smoker with my dad) and my clusters started 6 years ago.