Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) binds to cylooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in cells, without something to inhibit it the COX-2 makes prostaglandins which send the pain signals to the brain. Acetaminophen isn't as well understood, it still inhibits both COX-1 and COX-2 but not very strongly and has little antiflammitory properties. Instead it acts on the central nervous system to reduce pain. There's a lot more too it in that, but it's more technical and less chopped up then I made it.Originally Posted by KittKatt
I thought of another: when you get a headache or any other kind of pain and you take a specific pain killer (such as an Excedrin for a headache), how does the pain killer work for the specific part of the body??
Originally Posted by strange_wings
And yes, I have a problem with reading/researching random things and remembering useless information.
I figured some geniusOriginally Posted by strange_wings
Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) binds to cylooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in cells, without something to inhibit it the COX-2 makes prostaglandins which send the pain signals to the brain. Acetaminophen isn't as well understood, it still inhibits both COX-1 and COX-2 but not very strongly and has little antiflammitory properties. Instead it acts on the central nervous system to reduce pain. There's a lot more too it in that, but it's more technical and less chopped up then I made it.
The caffeine in Excedrine works by causing vasoconstriction. When you get a headache the pain is caused by vasodilation, inflammation, and damage to that specific area.
And it doesn't work for a specific part, exactly. It inhibits the COX-2 where they are and hopefully decreases the prostaglandins. As I'm sure many can attest to, sometimes pain meds help and sometimes they may help the pain in one place, and other times they do nothing or only half help. Also, waiting till the pain is already bad decreases how well any pain killer will work as the amount of prostaglandins is high by that time - I know this, yet will wait and wait.
And yes, I have a problem with reading/researching random things and remembering useless information.
OMG, someone else is as strange as I am!! I was going to post the exact same thing because I've wondered about that my whole life! That's one of those topics I would bring up with friends while drinking and they would cut me off!Originally Posted by Kernil
On a happier note, have you ever thought about the way we see things? Take color for instance. When I see the color blue, I know its blue, blue is blue, green is green, and red is red. You see it like that also, red is always red, blue is always blue, and green is green. BUT.....if I look at a blue paper, then you look at it, we both know it as blue, but do we see it the same way? Maybe what I think is blue to you looks red (though you still call it blue, as thats what you were taught it is called), and to someone else its green (same story). All this might exclude colorblind people though, lol. Just some more food for thought, one that can occupy me for hours
Originally Posted by Breal76
Why did I open this thread?
Yes, a very good question indeed! We always assume that math is universal, and we imagine using binaries to communicate with aliens, etc. But what if it's not? How could we even begin to cope with a universe in which 1 + 1 does not equal 2?Originally Posted by algebrapro18
...This also begs the question: Was mathematics invented or discovered? This was actually the topic of the final paper we had to write in this history class.
CarolPetunia;2361879 If there's anything we know said:Actually the more we learn the more we realize that we truly know nothing and that our knowledge is based upon a set of assumptions that we make. One of my professors once tried to convince me that you don't realize this until you have your PhD but I realize it now and I don't even have my undergrad degree yet...
I've always imagined that it isn't that it's both a particle and a wave, but that it's some third thing that can behave both as a particle and as a wave. But what conditions (if any) dictate which it behaves as at any given moment... I dunno.Originally Posted by AlleyGirl
What really makes my head hurt is particle wave duality.
How can it be both?