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Biomedical subjects

J Backon

Publications and source records attributed to J Backon.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Why asthmatic patients should not sleep in the right lateral decubitus position.

The topographical points affecting nasal resistance include the shoulders, upper thorax and buttocks, and we have demonstrated that vagal tone increases with right-sided pressure and decreases with left. We would therefore strongly recommend that asthmatic patients should avoid sleeping in the right lateral decubitus position. It would be interesting to speculate on a number of ramifications ensuing from the presence of increased vagal tone in asthmatic patients. If present, atrophic rhinitis, nasal polyps, and septal deviation may possibly affect incidence of asthma depending upon its presentation in the left or right nasal turbinate. We suggest that there should be increased incidence of right septal deviation and increased incidence of right turbinate nasal polyps in patients presenting with asthma. Patients with asthma may possibly have certain nasal cycle patterns that could easily be measured using Podoshin plates. Finally, our animal model of forced unilateral nostril breathing may explain certain facets of asthma.

Asthma↗
PubMed1989

Changes in intraocular pressure induced by differential forced unilateral nostril breathing, a technique that affects both brain hemisphericity and autonomic activity. A pilot study.

There is evidence of the central regulation of intraocular pressure, and it has been suggested that vagal tone might be elevated in glaucoma simplex. The nasal cycle, the simultaneous congestion-decongestion response in the nasal cavities, reflects the dynamic lateralization of the autonomic nervous system. Since this lateralization presents with sympathetic activity induced by left brain hemisphere stimulation and parasympathetic activity induced by right hemisphere stimulation, forced unilateral nostril breathing (FUNB) has recently been demonstrated to induce selective contralateral hemispheric stimulation as measured by relative increases in EEG amplitude in the contralateral hemisphere as well as alternating lateralization of plasma catecholamines. Using this functional vagotomy/sympathectomy, we report the novel finding that right hemispheric activation via left FUNB increases intraocular pressure (IOP) by an average of 4.5%, whereas left hemispheric stimulation via right FUNB leads to a significant (25%) decrease in IOP.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Vasopressin inhibition via combined head-out water immersion and a prostaglandin E-1 precursor in the treatment of male reproductive failure due to chronic alcohol abuse.

Male reproductive failure and infertility are quite common in alcoholics. There are very high correlations between elevated vasopressin levels and male infertility on the one hand, and probable deficiencies of prostaglandin E1 which may raise levels of PGE2 and endorphins which, in turn, release vasopressin on the other. Since head-out water immersion rapidly decreases vasopressin levels, a suggested joint protocol of head-out water immersion and a prostaglandin E-1 precursor is proposed for male reproductive failure in alcoholics.

8,11,14-Eicosatrienoic Acid↗
PubMed1989

Predicting new effective treatments of alcohol addiction on the basis of their properties of inhibition of noradrenergic activity and/or thromboxane or on the activation of the dopamine reward system and/or beta-endorphin.

On the basis of their properties of noradrenergic and/or thromboxane inhibition, or on their activation of the dopaminergic reward system and/or beta-endorphin, the following substances or treatments are predicted to be effective in treating alcohol or drug addiction: ginger; carbon dioxide; dietary sulfur; methionine; calcium; LHRH; high intensity light; interferon; negative ions; serotonin antagonists such as methysergide and cyproheptadine; guanabenz and guenfacine; antihistamines; head-out water immersion; X-irradiation; and forced unilateral left nostril breathing.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1989

Etiology of alcoholism: relevance of prenatal hormonal influences on the brain, anomalous dominance, and neurochemical and pharmacological brain asymmetry.

Because of possible prenatal hormonal influences on the brain, leading to anomalous dominance, pharmacological and neurochemical asymmetry, and consequent antisocial personality and phobic anxiety, the subject ingests ethanol for its tension-reducing properties via endorphinergic activation and the dopaminergic reward system. Due to presence of stress, and effects of anomalous dominance on ethanol metabolizing enzymes, ethanol-oxidizing systems are activated leading to high rates of ethanol elimination from the blood, and thus the decreased intensity of reaction to ethanol, leading to tolerance. Since stress can cause a decrease in the number of opiate receptors, a vicious cycle of ingesting more and more ethanol may be instituted.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1989

Inhibiting noradrenergic overactivity by inhibition of thromboxane and concomitant activation of opiate receptors via dietary means.

A yin-yang hypothesis is presented linking noradrenergic activity, thromboxane, melatonin, left hemisphere functioning, and cyclic AMP on the one hand, and dopamine, beta-endorphin, calcium, right hemisphere functioning, and cyclic GMP on the other. It is further suggested that there is a yoking of NA, TXA2, serotonin and melatonin in the left hemisphere, and a similar yoking of DA, BE, calcium and cGMP in the right. Evidence is presented to support the hypothesis that each element (NA, TXA2, etc.) on one side can modulate or balance a corresponding element (DA, BE, etc.) on the other. It is suggested that thromboxane is the key element in noradrenergic overactivity and that not taking this into consideration has confounded much prior research. This theory takes into account information processing models as well as pharmacological data and neurochemical theory on coupling of adenylate cyclase to its hormone receptors. Inhibiting noradrenergic overactivity can be obtained by inhibiting thromboxane and concomitantly activating opiate receptors. This protocol may have clinical utility in treating a wide range of disorders such as: anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, sleeplessness, withdrawal states, enuresis, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, Parkinsonism, Alzheimers, dementia, anorexia, infant ruminations, essential tremor, spasticity of spinal cord injury, diarrhoea, ulcerative colitis, extrapyramidal symptoms, akathisia, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, attention deficit disorder, hyperhidrosis, and possibly AIDS.

Brain Chemistry↗
PubMed1989

Effect of forced unilateral nostril breathing on blink rates: relevance to hemispheric lateralization of dopamine.

The involuntary blink rate is a clinical monitor of dopaminergic activity. Since there is disagreement in the literature on the relative neurochemical hemispheric asymmetry or laterality of dopamine, we studied the effects of differential forced unilateral nostril breathing on blink rate. This technique has been demonstrated to induce selective contralateral hemispheric stimulation as measured by relative increases in the EEG amplitude as well as alternating lateralization of plasma catecholamines. We used the artifact of the two-channel electro-oculogram to measure the endogenous eyeblink in an N = 1 design with 11 reversals of left vs. right hemisphere activation. There was a significant increase in blink rate (p less than .01) with right hemisphere activation, and this suggests that dopamine may be lateralized to the right cerebral hemisphere.

Adult↗