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Capsule moment

An “aura” is often touted as being a warning sign of a coming migraine headache.  However only 20% of migraine sufferers have an aura. Those who do experience an aura see flashing lights, waving lines, have ringing in the ears or changes in their senses of smell, taste or touch.  These aura signs usually last less than an hour.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system.  Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world with an estimated

1 in every 385 Canadians living with the disease.  It is most often diagnosed in young adults between the ages of 15 and 40 with 2 to 3 times more women than men getting the disease.  It has been compared to electrical wires losing their rubber coverings.  In MS, nerves lose their protective sheath interrupting nerve impulse transmission that can affect all parts of the body.

Alcohol and marijuana are both depressants and when combined, can slow down the central nervous system leading to higher risks of motor vehicle crashes than the use of either drug by itself.  The alcohol affects how the marijuana is metabolized in the body which could increase the negative impact of marijuana on behaviour.

Can the music of Mozart really lower your blood pressure?  There have been experiments with three groups of people comparing those listening to Mozart, compared to a second group listening to ABBA and a third group listening to nothing at all.  Mozart won.  Silence came second and ABBA third. There is something about Mozart that calms people, even if they don’t like Mozart.