Addictions

The area of your brain that controls body temperature is called the hypothalamus.

A) When the hypothalamus senses a rise in temperature, the body responds by activating cooling mechanisms such as:

- increasing the activity of sweat glands resulting in a cooling effect

- arterioles in the skin dilate allowing for skin capillaries to fill with blood. Heat is lost from the capillaries by radiation in order to cool you down

B) When the hypothalamus senses a drop in temperature, the body responds by activating warming mechanisms such as:

- constricting skin arterioles so that blood is diverted to deeper organs and tissues so that less heat is lost through radiation

- stimulating skeletal muscles to begin shivering. This generates body heat and has a warming effect

While the symptoms of delirium are numerous and varied, the causes of delirium fall into four basic categories: metabolic, toxic, structural, and infectious. Stated another way, the bases of delirium may be medical, chemical, surgical, or neurological. Many metabolic disorders, such as hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, hypokalemia, anoxia, etc. can cause delirium. For example, hypothyroidism (the thyroid gland emits reduced levels of thyroid hormones) brings about a change in emotional responsiveness, which can appear similar to depressive symptoms and cause a state of delirium. Other metabolic sources of delirium involve the dysfunction of the pituitary gland, pancreas, adrenal glands, and parathyroid glands. It should be noted that when a metabolic imbalance goes unattended, the brain may suffer irreparable damage.

One of the most frequent causes of delirium in the elderly is overmedication. The use of medications such as tricyclic antidepressants and antiparkinsonian medications can bring about an anticholinergic toxicity and subsequent delirium. In addition to the anticholinergic drugs, other drugs that can be the source of a delirium are:

• anticonvulsants, used to treat epilepsy
• antihypertensives, used to treat high blood pressure
• cardiac glycosides, such as Digoxin, used to treat heart failure
• cimetidine, used to reduce the production of stomach acid disulfiram, used in the treatment of alcoholism
• insulin, used to treat diabetes
• opiates, used to treat pain
• phencyclidine (PCP), used originally as an anesthetic, but later removed from the market, now only produced and used illicitly
• salicylates, basically found in aspirin
• steroids, sometimes used to prevent muscle wasting in bedridden or other immobile patients

Additionally, systemic poisoning by chemicals or compounds such as carbon monoxide, lead, mercury, or other industrial chemicals can be the source of delirium.

Just as the ingestion of certain drugs may cause delirium in some patients, the withdrawal of drugs can also cause it. Alcohol is the most widely used and most well known of these drugs whose withdrawal symptoms may include delirium. Delirium onset from the abstinence of alcohol in a chronic user can begin within three days of cessation of drinking. The term delirium tremens is used to describe this form of delirium. The resulting symptoms of this delirium are similar in nature to other delirious states, but may be preceded by clear-headed auditory hallucinations. In other words, the delirium has not begun, but the patient may experience auditory hallucinations. Delirium tremens follow and can have ominous consequences with as many as 15% dying.

Some of the structural causes of delirium include vascular blockage, subdural hematoma, and brain tumors. Any of these can damage the brain, through oxygen deprivation or direct insult, and cause delirium. Some patients become delirious following surgery. This can be due to any of several factors, such as: effects of anesthesia, infections, or a metabolic imbalance.

Infectious diseases can also cause delirium. Commonly diagnosed diseases such as urinary tract infections, pneumonia, or fever from a viral infection can induce delirium. Additionally, diseases of the liver, kidney, lungs, and cardiovascular system can cause delirium. Finally, an infection, specific to the brain, can cause delirium. Even a deficiency of thiamin (vitamin B1) can be a trigger for delirium.

The right to have their own opinions about the addictions of others, and to keep those opinions to themselves.

ANSWER:

The right to freely breathe uncontaminated air and to not be forced to breathe in the germ-laden and carcinogenic exhalations of selfish smokers.

You see, there is this gland in your brain, called the hypophysis. It produces the growth hormone, which makes our long bones (such as the bones, forming our arms) grow longer. Vitamin D also takes part in the process. When you sunbathe, you absorb it through your skin. Then through the blood Vitamin D helps the body absorb Calcium. Calcuim is in charge of the bones' strenght. The deficit of Vitamin D and therefore Calcium causes rickets, or osteoporosis by adults.

Hope I helped .. Biology makes me quite excited :-)

Kennedy's domestic policy was a package of social services he called the New Frontier. He also pushed some advancements in civil rights for Blacks and the space program.

In his foreign policy, Kennedy apparently believed in brinkmanship-- pushing to the very edge of war and hoping the enemy backs down. The strategy worked on his two crises with the USSR -- the Berlin blockade and the Cuban missile crisis. Based on his intervention in Vietnam ,a part of his policy was one continued today, namely to try to keep US friendly governments in power even if they are despotic.
Kennedy apparently believed in brinkmanship-- pushing to the very edge of war and hoping the enemy backs down. The strategy worked on his two crises with the USSR -- the Berlin blockade and the Cuban missile crisis. Based on his intervention in Vietnam ,a part of his policy was one continued today, namely to try to keep US friendly governments in power even if they are despotic.