From: SERINGDAN@aol.com
Date: Sat, 1 Apr 1995 22:58:18 -0500
Subject: NEGATIVE IONS and MOOD / SLEEP / COGNITIVE ability
 
 
Dear Net friends,
My interest in negative ions has taken me on quite a journey.  I have sifted
through quite a bit of information and following is what I learned.
 
I am particularly excited about negative ions because I have had good success
using the generator.  After only 2 or 3 days I was sleeping much better.  I
have had insomnia problems for years, and before this, nothing other than
sleeping pills has ever worked for me.  At the time of this writing, about 3
weeks after plugging it in, I find that my mood is elevated.  I just ordered
a small machine for my car, and another desk machine for my office.  I have
always suffered from the side effects of the anti-depressent medication, so
finding relief without those side effects is very exciting.
 
I received a large number of email letters from members of groups that I
posted to.  Many of you have asked different questions.  Quite a few asked
where I bought my high density negative ion generator.  I bought it from NSMI
1-800-706-3724.  I paid $109.95 plus $5.00 shipping for mine.  Also, it came
with a "try it, get your money back if you don't like it" guarantee.  It gave
me the confidence to order it.
 
I have tried to answer all of your questions with this overview.  I hope you
find it helpful.  There is a great deal of information here,  including the
entire transcript of the CBS News spot that started me on this path.  It was
gathered by a Medical School student.  Working together to gather and
distribute information is what the Internet is all about.  It is all so
amazing.
 
I don't know if I can answer any questions that are not covered, since this
is just about everything I know.  But I will try if you want to email me.
 
This is not a new area of research.  Just one that has not been publicized
well, for reasons that I do not know.  
 
The benefits of exposure to relatively high concentrations of negative ions
produced by high density negative ion generators have been well documented
over decades.  Literally dozens of studies published in highly respected
journals have concluded that negative ions have a profoundly beneficial
effect on both the mind and body.  Listed here are some excerps from just a
few of the dozens of scientific studies on the subject of negative ions. 
 
The most recent and exciting study was published in the February, 1995 issue
of "Journal of Alternative and Comparative Medicine", a journal of the
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.  The results of this study were also
reported on CBS News with Connie Chung.
 
 Researchers Dr. Michael Terman and Dr. Jiuan Su Terman conducted a study of
the impact of negative ion therapy on people suffering from seasonal
affective disorder (winter depression)--an illness that is often
symptomatically indistiguishable from "all-year" depression; researchers
believe that the biology of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is very similar
to that of "all-year" depression, hence, the same antidepressant drugs (such
as Prozac) are used to treat both.
 
The study was conducted in double blind fashion and divided clinically
depressed subjects into two groups.  The subjects in the first group were
treated for 30 minutes a day for 20 days with a low density ion generator
that produced only 10,000 ions/cubic centimeter (the control group).  The
subjects in the second group were treated for 30 minutes a day for 20 days
with a high density ion generator that produced 2,700,000 ions/cubic
centimeter (the experimental group).  The remission or "cure" criterion used
was a 50% or greater reduction in symptom frequency and severity using the
SAD version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.  The results of this
study shocked the medical community:    While a low density negative ion
generator provided little benefit, a high density negative ion generator gave
relief from depression comparable to that given by Prozac and other
antidepressants, without drug side effects.  
 
The following is a transcript from CBS News  2/14/95  6:30-7:00 PM, Connie
Chung.  To order your own copy call Burell's Transcripts at 1-800-777-8398.
 
Connie Chung, co-anchor:  This is the age ofwonder drugs and high-tech cures,
but alternative treatments, from herbs to acupuncture, have true believers,
too, even among some mainstream doctors and researchers.  Latest case in
point: the wintertime blue.  Is it possible that changing the air you breateh
can treat those negative vibes and actually relieve depression?  Dr. Bob
Arnot has the story.
 
Dr. Bob Arnot:  If the blustery winds of winter blowing across the nation
this week are bringing you down, there's good reason.  Researchers now
believe that the ill winds strip away highly charged subatomic particles
called Negative Ions from the air aruound us, contributing to a seasonal form
of depression.
 
Ms Mahala Holmes (patient):  As far back as I can recall, I had feelings, of
dreading the winter and ... and went through this kind depression.
 
Dr. Arnot:  Doctors at Columbia demonstrated the use of this machine to pump
high-density negative ions into the air surrounding Mahala Holmes to treat
her depression, known as seasonal affective disorder.
 
Ms Mahala Homes:  While I was on treatment, I felt excited, I felt energized.
I felt alive.
 
Dr. Arnot:  Here's why.  Level of brain chemical responsible for mood, called
seratonin, are often lower in cases of season depression.  Serotonin levels
can be elvated by increased exposure to light or by antidepressients like
Prozac.  Researchers say negative ions may also increase brain levels of
serotonin.
 
Dr. Michael Terman:  (Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center): People noticed
that daytime energy was returning to normal levels.  They lost that pressure
for increased sleep, the difficulty awakening in time to get to work.
 
Dr. Arnot:  A study in the current "Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine" concluded that 58 percent of patients treated with high-density
negative ions had significant relief of their symptoms, almost identical to
the number improved with drugs, but without drug side effects.
 
Dr. Norman Rosenthal (National Institute of Mental Health):  From a
scientific point of view, it's very exciting.  It needs to be replicated.
 
Dr. Arnot:  The whole idea of using negative ions as a legitimate medical
treatment may seem just a little bit odd.  But while many doctors are still
highly skeptical about alternative medicines, more and more Americans are
turning to them becuase they haven't found the satisfaction they want from
mainstream medicine.
 
 This is not the first study to prove the benefits of negative ion
generators.  About 15 years ago, a double-blind study was conducted at the
Air Force Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base in Ohio.  The study was published in the August, 1982 issue of the
prominent medical journal "Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine" in an
article entitled "Subjective Response to Negative Air Ion Exposure."  The
study was conducted as follows, quoting from page 822 of the journal: 
 
 "Procedure:  One group of subjects served as controls and was confined to
the test chamber for a 6 hour period under air ion conditions typical of an
energy efficient building.  The second group was similarly confined, but ion
generators began operating 2 hours before occupancy and continued all 6 hours
of confinement.  Generators were masked for all indications of operation, and
were also present under control conditions but not turned on.  Data from both
groups were collected under double-blind conditions."
 
The results of the study were remarkable, as stated on page 823 of the
journal:
 
"Subjective perceptions of psychological state, using individual 'normalcy'
as standard, reflected significant differences between control and negative
ion exposure groups.  Prominent perceptions reported were reductions in
irritability, depression, and tenseness, and increases in calmness and
stimulation associated with ion exposure...For psychological state, negative
ion exposure appeared associated with feeling better about self, less
sensitive, and more responsive or innervated [energized]."
 
In October, 1981, a journal article entitled "The Influence of Negative Air
Ions on Human Performance and Mood," appeared in the respected journal, Human
Factors.  On page 633 of the journal, the abstract of the article reads:
 
"44 female and 12 male 17-61 year olds were tested either in a normal-ion
environment (control group) or in a predominantly negative ion environment
(experimental group).  After a 15-minute acclimation period, subjects
asserted their psychological state and completed 2 performance tasks.
 Results indicate that subjects had faster reaction times and reported
feeling significantly more energetic under negative-air-ion conditions that
under normal-air conditions."
 
 Later that year, in December of 1981, a study conducted at California State
University, Sacramento entitled, "The Influence of Air Ions, Temperature, and
Humidity on Subjective Wellbeing and Comfort," was published in the "Journal
of Environmental Psychology".  The findings were astounding.  On page 279 of
the journal, the abstract of the article states:
 
"106 employees kept daily assessment records of their office environment and
health over a 12-week period.  Temperatures about 23 degrees Celsius were
associated with increased sensations of stuffiness, discomfort, and
unpleasantness, but appeared to produce a decrease in the number of
complaints of headaches.  The office environment was found to be depleted of
small air ions.  The introduction of a negative ion generator increased the
subjective rating of alertness, atmospheric freshness, and environmental and
personal warmth.  Ions reduced the complaint rate for headache by 50% and
significantly reduced the number of complaints of nausea and dizziness."
 
 Of course, much of the early research concerning negative ions has been
conducted on animals.  One of the earliest studies of the effects of negative
ions was published in 1935 in the "Journal of Industrial Hygiene" in an
article, "The Effect of High Concentrations of Light Negative Atmospheric
Ions on the Growth and Activity of the Albino Rat."  In it, researchers
Herrington and Smith evaluate the effects of negatively ionized air on the
activity of rats as measured by means of an activity wheel.  They were
surprised to find that activity increased significantly with rats subjected
to a reported negative ion concentration of 1.2 million ions/cc.
 
 In 1956, a researcher named J.V. Brady published a study in "Annals of New
York Academic Science" which showed that the strength of the conditioned
emotional responses of fear and anxiety in animals can be dramatically
reduced by the daily administration of the psychoactive drug reserpine.
 Years later, in 1967, a similar study was conducted by Allan H. Frey at the
Institute for Research, Pennsylvania State University, and published in the
"Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology".  The major difference
was that this time, the effect of reserpine was compared to that of negative
ion treatment.  Once again, scientists were shocked.  The study concluded:
 
 "Results of 2 experiments, the 2nd essentially a replication of the 1st, are
in accordance with prediction.  The inhibition of response in the animal was
reduced by treatment with small negative air ions, as it was with reserpine."
 
In other words, when the animals were treated with negative ions, the animals
were less inhibited--less likely to experience fear and anxiety.  These
results are similar to the results of experiments studying the anti-anxiety
effects of tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax.
 
 It has also been shown that in addition to having a profound effect on mood
and energy, negative ions have a strong impact on cognitive funtioning.  In
1965, in the journal "Psychophysiology", a study, "Behavioral Effects of
Ionized Air on Rats", was published.  In this study, the effects of
negatively ionized air on the mental functioning of rats was tested.
 Researchers Duffee and Koontz reported on page 358 of the journal:  "the
water-maze performance improved by 350%," showing a dramatic improvement in
cognitive functioning.
 
To prove that negative ions also improve the cognitive functioning of humans
as well, in April of 1978, in the science journal "Ergonomics",  a study was
conducted at the University of Surrey, England, and published in an article
entitled, "Air Ions and Human Performance".  Once again, the results were
impressive.  On page 273, the article reads:
 
"Studied the effects of artificial negative or positive ionization of the air
on the performance of psychomotor tasks with 45 18-26 year-old healthy
males...Three testing environments were used:  natural, negative, and
positive ionizations.  Negative ionization was associated with a significant
increment in performance as compared to controls."
 
In 1984, a study was published in the "Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology"
named, "Negative Air Ionization Improves Memory and Attention in
Learning-Disabled and Mentally Retarded Children."  The effectiveness of
negative ions on mental performance was put to the ultimate test by
researching the power of negative ions to improve the cognitive abilities of
mentally handicapped children, as well as the abilities of normal children.
 Fourth graders were divided into three groups:  normal, learning-disabled,
and mildly mentally retarded  The results were remarkable--on page 353 of the
journal, the article reads as follows:
 
"Half in each group were assigned randomly to an unmodified air-placebo
condition under double-blind testing procedures.  All of the children
breathing negatively ionized air were superior in incidental memory...The
action of negative ions on the neurotransmitter, serotonin, may be the
mechanism by which negative ions produce such behavioral effects."
 
On page 358, the article states:
 
"Table I shows enhanced performance on the order of 8.4% for the normals,
23.6% for the learning-disabled, and 54.8% for the mildly retarded."
              
 
Obviously, there is a tremendous amount of research supporting the
effectiveness of negative ions on mood, energy, and performance.  But, what
are negative ions, and how do they benefit us?
 
 In the magazine, "Whole Self", Spring 1991, an article appeared entitled
"Ions and Consciousness".  It states, "Ions are charged particles in the air
that are formed when enough energy acts upon a molecule, such as carbon
dioxide, oxygen, water, or nitrogen--to eject an electron.  The displaced
electron attaches itself to a nearby molecule, which then becomes a negative
ion.  It is the negative ion of oxygen that affects us most.  Remember that
feeling you've experienced near a waterfall or high in the mountains?  Those
are two such places where thousand of negative ions occur.  They create an
effect on human biochemistry."
 
 "The normal ion count in fresh country air is 2,000 to 4,000 negative ions
per cubic centimeter (about the size of a sugar cube).  At Yosemite Falls,
you'll experience over 100,000 negative ions per cubic centimeter.  On the
other hand, the level is far below 100 per cubic centimeter of Los Angeles
freeways during rush hour.
 Research on ions began in the 1950s with Dr. Albert Kreuger, professor
emeritus of the University of California at Berkeley, and Dr. Felix Sulman,
professor of pharmacology at the Hebrew University in Israel.
 
Dr. Kreuger excited the scientific world when he discovered ions to be
biologically active, stimulated production of the powerful chemical
serotonin, 5-HT.  Serotonin is a very active neuro-hormone which causes
profound neural, glandular, and digestive effects throughout the body."
 
"Dr. Sulman corroborated Kreuger's findings while studying positive ion
victims of the hot, dry Sharav winds in Jerusalem.  He demonstrated three
effects of positive ion excess:  irritation and tension, exhaustion, and
hyperthyroid response.  Most of these conditions, along with symptoms of
depression, anxiety, headaches, and low-energy physical and mental functions,
were shown to be alleviated or totally eliminated by increasing the negative
ion count in the air."
 
 "While ionization of the air is mandatory in many European and Russian
hospitals and workplaces, it has only recently come to light in our country
with the growing problem of toxic air in our urban environments."
 
As I said earlier, the negative ion generator helped me, therefore I am very
excited about it.  The company that I bought mine from is NSMI
1-800-706-3724.  And I just found their email address: Gregdanzig@aol.com