Drifting fields of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis lesions in the vicinity of granulomato (diffusion of autoantigens?)

Neurocysticercosis: treatment with albendazole and dextrochloropheniramine

We evaluated the use of albendazole in combination with dextrochloropheniramine for the treatment of neurocysticercosis. Forty patients were treated from September 1984 to December 1987; each was diagnosed on the basis of clinical, epidemiological, cerebrospinal fluid and tomographic data. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to the albendazole treatment schedule. Group I received 10-15 mg/kg albendazole daily; group II received 15-25 mg/kg/d; group III received 15-30 mg/kg/d. Each patient also received simultaneously 18 mg/d of dextrochloropheniramine. Clinical improvement was observed in 4 patients in group I (50.0%), 10 patients in group II (83.3%) and 18 patients in group III (94.7%). Three patients in group II, and one in group III, died. Group III patients showed a significant improvement in quality of life compared to the other 2 groups. Side effects were insignificant in all groups. The combination of albendazole and dextrochloropheniramine seems to be a promising treatment for neurocysticercosis, especially at the doses used for group III, i.e. 15 mg/kg/d of albendazole for 21 d followed by 20-30 mg/kg/d for 30 d after a one-week interval, in combination with 18 mg/d of dextrochloropheniramine.

Mechanical effect of vocalization on human brain and meninges

Vibrations of human skull, as produced by loud vocalisation, exert a massaging effect on the brain and facilitate elution of metabolic products from the brain into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In addition, these vibrations, through their effect on arachnoid villi, speed up the flow of CSF from the subarachnoid space into the blood within the superior sagittal sinus and lacunae lateralis. In this way, the speed of renewal of CSF is increased, which again contributes to a faster cleaning process of the brain. The most important feature of human evolution is enlargement of the brain. This by itself would not be enough. The Neandertals had a brain 15% larger than we have, yet they did not survive in competition with modern humans. Their brains were more polluted, because their massive skulls did not vibrate and therefore the brains were not sufficiently cleaned. In the evolution of modern humans the thinning of cranial bones was important. In addition, the chin remained jutting out of the face as in no other hominids, in order to maintain the distance from the chin to the hyoid bone equal to the distance from the latter to the styloid process. This situation facilitates transmission of laryngeal vibrations onto the skull base via the mandible.