Accident On The Trail? Science, Nature To The Rescue

On the trail, adventure travelers know the importance of basic first-aid skills when thousands of feet up on a climb, camped miles from nowhere or hiking off the beaten path where a call to 911 brings help. When an emergency happens, knowing what to do can mean the difference between life and death.

New research done at the University of Michigan, Harvard University and the City University of New York indicate that brain stimulation releases an opiate-like pain killer. Using electricity on certain regions in the brain of a patient with severe pain, scientists were able to release one of the body’s most powerful painkillers.

Hikers, campers, climbers and others commonly off the grid when traveling, might find this ability useful when an accident happens. Waiting for first-responders to arrive with help can be a very long time when in severe pain.

A natural substance produced by the brain that alters pain perception, called mu-opioid receptors (MOR’s), is the hero here.

“This is arguably the main resource in the brain to reduce pain,” said Alexandre DaSilva, assistant professor of biologic and materials sciences at the U-M School of Dentistry and director of the school’s Headache & Orofacial Pain Effort Lab in Laboratory Equipment.”We’re stimulating the release of our [body’s] own resources to provide analgesia,” adds DaSilva. “Instead of giving more pharmaceutical opiates, we are directly targeting and activating the same areas in the brain on which they work. [Therefore], we can increase the power of this pain-killing effect and even decrease the use of opiates in general, and consequently avoid their side effects, including addiction.”

Looking for other natural painkillers may not require waiting for science to arrive at our favorite gear store though. In this video, Kate Armstrong, The Urban Forager, shares how to find a natural pain killer from nature.




[Photo Credit- Flickr user iwona_kellie]

New Cure For Travelers With A Bad Attitude

Some travelers are just not happy no matter what. They can be flying to a fabulous destination they may have dreamed of for years but restricted legroom sours their mood. On a road trip planned for months, the traffic in a big city, while expected, is annoying. Now, a new study says that people can literally throw away negative thoughts.

Apparently, getting rid of negative thoughts is as easy as writing them down on a piece of paper then throwing that paper away. In kind, those who write thoughts down and save that piece of paper are more likely to use their thoughts when making judgments, a recent study shows.

“However you tag your thoughts – as trash or as worthy of protection – seems to make a difference in how you use those thoughts,” says Richard Petty, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University in a Laboratory Equipment report.The trick to making it work either way, indicates the study, is the physical act of discarding or saving those thoughts, good or bad.

“The more convinced the person is that the thoughts are really gone, the better,” Petty says. “Just imagining that you throw them away doesn’t seem to work.”

So will writing “No legroom” on a piece of paper then throwing it away make flying coach more enjoyable? Maybe so. Another way to get rid of a bad attitude when traveling can be to laugh, on purpose, out loud. That and creating something seem to have a similar positive effect as we see in this video:




[Photo Credit- Flickr user claytonjayscott.com]