gek@ihuxa.UUCP (10/31/83)
sorry if i sent an orphaned header to this group; my editor blew up. notes have appeared here concerning beta blockers, which block the action of nor-epenephrine (sp?) in the brain. the delighted hope of many net readers seems to be that stage fright or sports jitters may be eliminated without blocking adrenalin to the rest of the body. HOWEVER, researchers at ohio state university found that 1 drop of timolol (an fda-approved beta blocker) applied topically to the eye--equivalent to one normal dose taken orally-- caused a significant decrease in vital capacity. tanstaafl (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)! anybody who blocks stage fright or jitters before a performance will be too out-of-breath to appreciate the lack of tension (case in point: one patient was taken off of timolol and found he could play 36 holes of golf without trouble, where before he had difficulty with 9). glenn kapetansky