It's been a good while since I've reported/railed about anything in
the psychology realm, a branch of medicine I consider largely
charlatanistic, as you may well know. But every once in a while, I
come across a few tidbits I find fascinating or useful enough to
pass along to you. And as you may have guessed, today is one of
those days. Here goes…

We've all heard the maxim "Revenge is sweet," right?

Well, as it turns out, this truism is not merely an expression in our
popular idiom — it's a dead-on accurate description of what
revenge stimulates in our brains. According to a recent Swiss study
conducted at the University of Zurich, PET scans of subjects brains
showed that vengeful behavior — specifically, directly punishing
fellow subjects who'd cheated them monetarily — stimulated the
same receptors in the brain that are linked to enjoyment and
satisfaction. Sweets, too.

That's right: To your mind, giving someone else his "just desserts"
makes you feel like you just ate a hot fudge sundae. Haven't you
ever felt satisfied when you refused to let someone butt in front of
you in line? Don't you grin a little when you see the car that just
roared past you stopped by the cops? We all have, of course.

But the real question is WHY do we feel this way? Unlike so many
other psychological studies, the authors of this particular body of
research have actually come to a conclusion or two (or at least
have hypotheses) about their findings: They theorize that the
revenge impulse became ingrained in us during a time before there
were governments and courts to protect our individual rights (or
restrict them, depending on how you look at it — but don't get me
started). In antiquity, taking revenge was simply how people
punished each other for doing wrong. They took the "law" of
perceived right and wrong into their own hands in acts of vengeful
vigilantism.

It's much the same way in the modern sandlot among children too
young to have been programmed to tattle to an adult when a rival
takes their favorite toy away. Instead, they take direct revenge —
by stealing something the transgressor values, or simply giving
them a good smack. Now, though, in the "civilized" world, we've
got cops, lawyers, judges and bureaucrats to take our revenge for
us. Half the time, they do a half-hearted job of it, and the other half
they don't do it all…

The end result? We suffer all the pain and outrage when we're
victimized, but feel none of the equalizing, self-esteem-restoring
satisfaction our rightful revenge would give us.   

Am I advocating a return to the days when lynch mobs roamed the
streets and petty criminals were sentenced to time in the public
stockade in the town square (where anyone could walk up to them
and take their own revenge with a kick or a curse)? Maybe not, but
there must be some way to give folks an outlet for the angst their
victim-hood leaves them with.

I do know this: There sure was a lot less crime back then.

**************************************************************
       WHICH OF YOUR LOVED ONES WILL DIE YOUNG?

Your friends and family take care of their health...
see their doctors regularly... try to eat well and exercise...
believe in the power of natural healing and take all the latest
vitamins and nutritional supplements. They are trying hard to do
everything right.

Yet, some will outlive others by at least 20 active years.
It's not genetics. It's not luck...

Read on...
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/blpnet/offers/order_uc_mag.html?l=3&sk=138537&sid=A110804A1A
(if you can't open here use the HTML links listed below)

To order from outside of the United States, please visit:
www.agora-inc.com/reports/295SUCC/W2GUEB01
 
**************************************************************
To start receiving your own copy of the Daily Dose, visit:
http://www.realhealthnews.com/dailydose/freecopy.html
Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to
receive their own copy of the Daily Dose.

**************************************************************

Speaking of "barbaric" long-ago practices that worked…

As shocking as this may sound in today's drugs-for-everything
medical world, a new study suggests that doctors of 2,500 years
ago may have known the secret to stopping a lot of serious
infections: Bloodletting!

That's right, bleeding patients nearly dry — a common medical
practice from around 500BC to the middle of last century — is
apparently somewhat effective against the staphylococcus bacteria,
a leading cause of pneumonia and other life-threatening ailments,
according to some recent University of Chicago research. How?
Quite simply, because staph and other germs thrive on iron in the
blood (I've written before about the evils of excess iron, but that's
another topic), and reducing the amount of blood in a body
eliminates a lot of this "fuel" for harmful microbes.

According to a recent Associated Press article on the topic, an iron
specialist from the National Institute of Health reviewed the U of C
study and suggested that the ancient practice of bloodletting may
have been just the ticket for thwarting many early-stage bacterial
infections. In keeping with this finding, French medical texts of the
mid-1700s advised bleeding at the START of high-fever illnesses.
Even as late as 1942, medicine's leading English-language text
recommended early bleeding for pneumonia.  

Hmm, looks like they might've actually gotten something right
before YOU came along, Dr. Prescription-pad…

Am I suggesting that we start breaking out the leeches instead of
the antibiotics? Not exactly. I'm just saying that some of
medicine's ancient treatments were perfectly sound (look at how
well maggot therapy works in saving doomed limbs and healing
stubborn, oozing wounds), and they should be considered along
with all of the pill and scalpel tricks the mainstream relies on these
days.