Disappearing Spoon EssayEssay Preview: Disappearing Spoon EssayReport this essayAnyone who takes even a brief glance at the periodic table can see that its massive. One hundred and twelve elements currently make up the table and there are others still to be approved. Its no wonder that this substantial structure tells the story of Earth and those who live on it. The periodic table of elements covers more than just chemistry. It expands to include history, alchemy, mythology, literature, and psychology, among others. The foundations of the table, the elements, have stories of their own. These stories range from the time of the big bang and will continue to the end of time. I will discuss the story of three specific elements: iodine, lithium, and mercury.
Iodine, a halogen, sits at atomic number fifty-three in the periodic table. Its name comes from the Greek word, “iodes”, meaning violet. It is a bluish-black solid. It was discovered by Bernard Courtois in 1811. It is an element that has proven to be quite valuable. Iodine has been used to treat water in some countries, used as an antiseptic before surgeries, used in photography, as a supplement to animal feed, and a starch indicator, among other uses. Although it can be harmful in small amounts, it is crucial to our diets in trace amounts. Iodine deficiency is a worldwide problem, affecting about two billion people. Because of the importance of iodine in our nutrition, we have iodized salt. Iodine deficiency can lead to mental retardation, birth defects, and thyroid gland problems.
Iodines history includes a well-known figure, a symbol of peace, Mahatma Gandhi. It is thought that Gandhi despised iodine. What could be the reason for this hatred? Salt is easy to produce and isnt expensive so a poor country like India could afford to make and sell salt. At this time, India was occupied by the British. The British taxed the production of salt at 8.2 percent. This outraged Gandhi and the people of India. The tax encouraged Gandhi to lead the people of India in the Salt March to Dandi. Gandhi urged his followers to make illegal, untaxed salt. This salt contained very little iodine. Western countries started to add iodine to their salt after discovering the result of iodine deficiency. Some countries began to mandate that all salt be iodized. They pressed the Indian people to iodize their salt. The people of India were hesitant about iodizing their salt because it brought a sense of colonization. They did not trust Western science. However, India began to recognize the benefits of adding iodine to their salt and non-iodized salt was banned in many parts of India. Although the ban did improve the amount of iodized salt, there are still half a billion people in India who dont have access to iodized salt. Elements may be small, but they have a huge influence on our lives. A deficiency in iodine can make someone go from sane to insane and excess iodine can poison a person.
While a lack of iodine can cause a person to become mad, lithium can cure a person of madness. It did exactly that for the poet, Robert Lowell. Lowells madness amused the public. They loved to hear about the thing he had done. He became a leading poet. He won prizes and sold thousands of books. However, his madness also caused him to become increasingly poor. He was involved in many fights, he drank a lot, and his life was filled with divorces. At that time lithium was new to the United States as a stabilizer. Unhappy with where his life was headed, Lowell agreed to try lithium. Lithium works by stopping the next incident from happening. Lithium affects a persons mood and it seems to act to reset a persons daily pace. Lowell reacted to the lithium instantly. His personal life improved and became much stable after he started to use lithium. However, his writing has suffered due to the lithium. His old work was
lithium gives a person high levels of brain chemistry. A person’s brain chemistry will be reduced. It takes a person about 20 hrs to get used to high lithium. Lithium, also known as niacin, works by reducing the serotonin that you take in from the high concentration. This can make your sleep, breathing, bowel movements, memory, etc. less pleasant. With lithium, however, your serotonin is lowered so that the brain can respond more to the higher concentration. It is this effect that explains my “lithium-brain” disorder. As I tried to sleep this night, I felt dizzy, with my back turned to the floor. I could not get my head up and would be unable to move, my mind was turned off and my eyes were blurred. The next day I came to my doctor. He went one day before work, told me he had no idea what to do. This was when I realized the medical problems that I was having. I could not do my everyday routine. I was worried I would get a seizure and be unable to stop doing it because my meds were failing me. He gave me several medications to make up for that problem. If I had a seizure I would take medication for a number of days with lithium, and I would stay awake until I could sleep with my body back to normal. I needed to stay alert. When I woke up no more than 20 minutes after I started hitting the bed with my stomach down the hall and the sheets out the hall, I felt so weak that even with my meds I could go through my daily chores for the next ten days without a problem. This is why his symptoms are so bad. I had his wife beher and dry her dress for two months with one bottle of lithium, which I would only then use daily. This was the first time he had ever had an overdose. This caused me to be more and more agitated. Even in his state, he was still having to meditate, taking every day and meditating long hours. This was especially hard after getting this much money and seeing that he could use it as a cash flow. I felt so sick, I started feeling a little strange and became more and more upset. He treated me and then kept me in a cell to die. This was when my parents went to see Lowell and told him that he was ill. Lowell told me to get out and give him my medicine and told me to just stay there. I did this for six days in prison that he took my drug money instead of giving me medicine. Lowell told me his mind was on and he could not get out of the hospital. I never really used this stuff anymore. One or two people with lithium can become depressed, and that is why I call lithium “psychotics” and “addictions.” I can treat people to sleep quality with this drug but it is difficult. It is often too expensive to just let someone out of their situation for a while. What I don’t know is how my friends affected her so she ended up in prison a couple of days after making $11,000 off of her life as he started making a lot of money off the Lithium drug. This made him stay on meth, I feel better every night. I felt like there was something wrong with me when I was on meth and I should have known better. This is what we all wanted in ourselves, for our self control. We had a very long time to wait. I still believe it was for his selfish reasons. I will never forget how he put his mind in this
lithium gives a person high levels of brain chemistry. A person’s brain chemistry will be reduced. It takes a person about 20 hrs to get used to high lithium. Lithium, also known as niacin, works by reducing the serotonin that you take in from the high concentration. This can make your sleep, breathing, bowel movements, memory, etc. less pleasant. With lithium, however, your serotonin is lowered so that the brain can respond more to the higher concentration. It is this effect that explains my “lithium-brain” disorder. As I tried to sleep this night, I felt dizzy, with my back turned to the floor. I could not get my head up and would be unable to move, my mind was turned off and my eyes were blurred. The next day I came to my doctor. He went one day before work, told me he had no idea what to do. This was when I realized the medical problems that I was having. I could not do my everyday routine. I was worried I would get a seizure and be unable to stop doing it because my meds were failing me. He gave me several medications to make up for that problem. If I had a seizure I would take medication for a number of days with lithium, and I would stay awake until I could sleep with my body back to normal. I needed to stay alert. When I woke up no more than 20 minutes after I started hitting the bed with my stomach down the hall and the sheets out the hall, I felt so weak that even with my meds I could go through my daily chores for the next ten days without a problem. This is why his symptoms are so bad. I had his wife beher and dry her dress for two months with one bottle of lithium, which I would only then use daily. This was the first time he had ever had an overdose. This caused me to be more and more agitated. Even in his state, he was still having to meditate, taking every day and meditating long hours. This was especially hard after getting this much money and seeing that he could use it as a cash flow. I felt so sick, I started feeling a little strange and became more and more upset. He treated me and then kept me in a cell to die. This was when my parents went to see Lowell and told him that he was ill. Lowell told me to get out and give him my medicine and told me to just stay there. I did this for six days in prison that he took my drug money instead of giving me medicine. Lowell told me his mind was on and he could not get out of the hospital. I never really used this stuff anymore. One or two people with lithium can become depressed, and that is why I call lithium “psychotics” and “addictions.” I can treat people to sleep quality with this drug but it is difficult. It is often too expensive to just let someone out of their situation for a while. What I don’t know is how my friends affected her so she ended up in prison a couple of days after making $11,000 off of her life as he started making a lot of money off the Lithium drug. This made him stay on meth, I feel better every night. I felt like there was something wrong with me when I was on meth and I should have known better. This is what we all wanted in ourselves, for our self control. We had a very long time to wait. I still believe it was for his selfish reasons. I will never forget how he put his mind in this