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The Cause of Internet and TV Addiction?

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Ions

 

·        What are Ions?

·        Types of Ions

·        Sensitivity to Ions

·        Effects

·   Oxygen

·   Serotonin

·   Brainwaves

·        Things to Consider

·        Misconceptions

·        Related Topics

·        Links

 

What are Ions?

"Ions are charged particles in the air that are formed when enough energy acts on a molecule, such as water, to eject an electron.  The displaced electron attaches itself to a nearby molecule that becomes a negative ion."

Wolverton Environmental Services: FAQ about Indoor Air Pollution

 

Types of Ions

Negative Ions

·        Indoor Air Pollution: Negative Ions

 

Positive Ions

·        Indoor Air Pollution: Positive Ions

 

Sensitivity to Ions

"And for a whopping one in three of us who are sensitive to their effects, negative ions can make us feel like we are walking on air. You are one of them if you feel instantly refreshed the moment you open a window and breathe in fresh, humid air."

WebMD: Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes

 

"'You may be one of them if you feel sleepy when you are around an air-conditioner, but feel immediately refreshed and invigorated when you step outside or roll down the car window,' Howard tells WebMD. 'Air conditioning depletes the atmosphere of negative ions, but an ion generator re-releases the ions that air conditioners remove.'"

WebMD: Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes

 

"Statistically it was found that 25% of the population [of 'weather sensitive' test subjects] are quite strongly affected by levels of ions in the air. Of the remainder, 50% are affected considerably, although 25% do not appear sensitive at all."

The Ionizer Site: Scientific Studies

 

Effects

SAD and Chronic Depression

Note: More information about SAD and depression can be found in the section Effects on the Brain: Serotonin

 

"In fact, Columbia University studies of people with winter and chronic depression show that negative ion generators relieve depression as much as antidepressants. 'The best part is that there are relatively no side effects, but we still need to figure out appropriate doses and which people it works best on,' he says."

WebMD: Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes

 

"The possible interaction of negative-air ion therapy and antidepressant drug or light therapy for seasonal depression has not yet been investigated, he says. 'It stands to reason, for example, that drug ... dose could be tapered [even to zero], if the patient responds to negative ion exposure.'  

     'I would advise anyone who experiences clinically significant depression to try negative-ion therapy only under doctor's guidance, and that doctors read up on this methodology before OKing such a trial, especially if the patient is already receiving other treatment,' he advises."

WebMD: Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes

 

"Terman has been testing yet another new way to treat SAD. This therapy involves aiming a stream of negatively charged ions at a person sleeping on a special conductive bed sheet. The discovery that high-density negative ions (not the same ions produced by home air filters) helped people with SAD came accidentally from a previous study. A second study, which will end later this year, has also found a beneficial effect.

     The air is full of negative ions in springtime, and not in the winter. But that doesn't explain how ion therapy works. 'We don't yet have an answer to that question,' Terman says; nevertheless, 'We're now convinced that it's real.'"

WebMD: Winter Darkness, Season Depression (continued)

 

Summer SAD

"Less is known about seasonal affective disorder in which episodes of depression occur in the summer. Symptoms of summer SAD usually appear in late spring or early summer and resolve in the fall. Summer SAD may be related to excessive heat and humidity rather than a lack of sunlight. If you have summer SAD, you may be irritable or have no energy in the summer months."

WebMD.com: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Topic Overview

 

·        Indoor Air Pollution: Positive Ions: Soruces: High Humidity and Temperature

 

Effects on the Brain

Oxygen

"Generally speaking, negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain; resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness, and more mental energy," says Pierce J. Howard, PhD, author of The Owners Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind Brain Research and director of research at the Center for Applied Cognitive Sciences in Charlotte, N.C."

WebMD: Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes

 

Serotonin

·        The Brain: Serotonin Irritation Syndrome (SIS)

 

Brainwaves

"Negative ions promote alpha brain waves and increase brain waves amplitude, which translates to a higher awareness level. Those ion-induced alpha waves spread from the occipital areas to the parietal and temporal and even reach the frontal lobes, spreading evenly across the right and left brain hemispheres. All of this creates an overall clear and calming effect [increases hemispheric communication], benefiting meditation and concentration."

Ion & Light: Negative Ions and Consciousness

 

Germs

"They also may protect against germs in the air, resulting in decreased irritation due to inhaling various particles that make you sneeze, cough, or have a throat irritation."

WebMD: Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes

 

Allergies and Asthma

Note: More information about allergies an asthma can be found in the section Effects on the Brain: Serotonin

 

"Harold Nelson, MD, professor of medicine at National Jewish Medical Center in Denver, was so excited when he first heard of negative-ion generators 20 years ago that he went out and bought one to study among allergy and asthma patients.

     Unfortunately, the findings were 'not terribly encouraging. We couldn't demonstrate anything,' he tells WebMD. 'I was disappointed. I had high expectations and they did not pan out, ' he says.

     The best bet for people with allergies and/or allergic asthma is to try to eliminate exposures, he says. 'If you can't, or if you still have symptoms, then medication is the next step and fortunately we now have excellent medications,' he says."

WebMD: Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes

 

Blood Flow

"According to the studies of Fleischer and Pantlitschko, negative ions probably also improve blood flow by increasing the release of proteolytic enzymes with fibrinolytic activity."

Raum & Zeit (Space & Time): Why are negative ions so healthy?

 

Lungs

"In addition, negative ions produce an increase in PH and, in particular, an increase in the secretory performance of the mucosa with an increase in ciliary movement in the airways."

Raum & Zeit (Space & Time): Why are negative ions so healthy?

 

Hemoglobin/Oxygen Affinity

"Negative ions produce an increase in hemoglobin/oxygen affinity so that the partial oxygen pressure in the blood rises but the partial carbon dioxide pressure decreases. This results in reduced respiratory rate and enhances the metabolism of water-soluble vitamins."

Raum & Zeit (Space & Time): Why are negative ions so healthy?

 

Adrenals

"Wordens studied the adrenals of golden hamsters kept under the same experimental conditions. The adrenals of animals treated with positive ions weighed 33% less than the adrenals of animals treated with normal respiratory air.

     On the other hand, the weight of the adrenals from golden hamsters treated with negative ions was 29% higher. Olivereau found a 30% enlargement of adrenals in rats after 20 days of treatment with negative ions. This finding suggests that the ability of the adrenals to produce glucocorticoidsis reduced by positive ions and increased by negative ions."

Raum & Zeit (Space & Time): Why are negative ions so healthy?

 

Vital Capacity, Blood Sugar, Blood Oxygen

"Considerable increase in vital capacity were observed by M.A. Vytchikova and A. Minkh in 1959, with the maintenance of blood sugar and blood oxygen levels. Thus, in a group of 9 sports students, Minkh found that ergometer endurance was increased by 260% in 32 days compared with a normal control group following the inhalation for 15 minutes daily of air enriched with 1.5 million negative small ions per centimeter.

     Even before the 1976 Olympics, air ionization in the sleeping quarters of team members was used to improve performance in sports centres in the USSR and the GDR [M. Jokl, Prague]. Studies by Altmann in 1975 clearly show that the performance of school children can, for example, be considerably increased by changing the electrical conditions of the rooms. Comparable effects have also been achieved by the use of ionized air."

Raum & Zeit (Space & Time): Why are negative ions so healthy?

 

Laterality

·        Laterality: Correcting Hemispheric Dominance: Unilateral Nostril Breathing

 

Things to Consider

"The research into the effects of air ions has yielded rather variable results. According to Kreugar (1976), sometimes faulty experimental design has allowed the influence of factors other than air ions, and results have been wrongly attributed to ion action. In other cases, no ions reached the subject, and so false results of no ion action were reported. Kreuger reports the major factors causing errors of observation to be;

·        neglect of the effect of ozone and nitrogen oxides produced by corona discharge ion sources

·        failure to adequately monitor and control ion densities, temperature and humidity

·        use of air containing particulate or gaseous pollutants. These combine with air ions to cause fluctuating ion densities

·        failure to hold experimental subjects at electrical ground potential. A non-zero body voltage can cause repulsion of ions and reduced ion ingestion.

Buckalew and Rizzuto 1984) cite non-standardised ion generating equipment, different exposure lengths and ion concentrations, non-comparable measures and differential monitoring of ion levels as detracting from the comparability of studies.

     Kellogg (1984) stated that air ion source, air quality, associated field, ambient ion levels, absorbed ion dose, grounding of the target subject, species, strain or individual subject population, and the protocol used to avoid placebo effects should be specified in a study of air ion effects."

Ecstatic Ltd.: Air ion effects on human performance 

 

Misconceptions

Free Radicals

"If these troublemakers were indeed 'free radicals', the simple solution would be to have a negative ion generator in a room to neutralize all the free radicals and be done with it instantly; and there will not be any need to take so-called anti-oxidants. It is true that:

·        oxidation creates acidic waste products, but

·        oxidation also provides energy that is necessary for us to live.

Anti-oxidant, therefore, is not the solution. The solution is to discharge the acidic waste products that oxidation creates. Some food products, vitamins or herbs are helpful in getting rid of acidic waste products or transforming these waste products into a safer form. Perhaps these products are what are erroneously called 'anti-oxidant agents'."

Sang Whang Enterprises: Fallacy of the "Free Radical" Theory

 

Related Topics

·        The Brain: Frontal Lobes

·        The Brain: Serotonin

·        Indoor Air Pollution: Negative Ions

·        Indoor Air Pollution: Positive Ions

·        Research Topics: Brainwaves

·        Research Topics: Integration

·        Research Topics: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

 

Links

·        The Watershed: Negative Ions

·        Comtech Research: Some Scientific Research

·        Raum & Zeit (Space & Time): Why are negative ions so healthy?

·        Ion & Light (contains links to articles)

·        The Ionizer Site: Scientific Studies

 

 

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