Do-It-Yourself Brain Damage

Every day of every year, people across the fruited plain engage in do-it-yourself brain damage. Sadly, we have no idea what we’re doing.

How can this be? I’m so glad you asked.

First, some background: Along the bottom of the brain is a small, sort of pancake-shaped thingy called the hypothalamus. And although it’s considered part of the brain, it’s not protected by the blood-brain barrier that keeps most of the bad stuff out of our brains. So it’s vulnerable and pretty much defenseless.

Small and vulnerable though it may be, the hypothalamus has a big-time job. It controls the endocrine system, our …read more