Word: frighted
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Charles Brantigan's prescription of the hypertension drug propranolol as a preventive for stage fright [July 5] is yet another example of ho w our society turns to sedatives both legal and illegal in order to cope with stressful situations. If something makes you that damn nervous...
...mouth goes dry, the palms turn sweaty. The heart races, the knees crumple. The symptoms of stage fright are familiar to anyone who has ever given a speech or been in a school play. Arthur Rubinstein called it "the price I pay for my wonderful life." It prevented Singer Carly Simon from performing for five years, and, without fail, it reduces Actress Maureen Stapleton to pale green mush...
...Stage fright was assessed by wire-free, remote electrocardiogram monitoring during the performance and blood pressure readings before and after. The Brantigans also checked for such outward signs of stress as trembling hands and sweaty brows. By all measures, propranolol stopped the shakes. Heart rates that galloped at an average of 148 beats a minute with a placebo dropped to around 104 with propranolol (70 is a normal resting rate). Even more impressive, critics overwhelmingly favored the propranolol-soothed performances...
...considering a proposal to approve the marketing of propranolol as a palliative for stage fright and other forms of anxiety. Many physicians are aware of this application. Reports one young intern at Johns Hopkins Hospital: "Many of us take a few milligrams before presenting on Grand Rounds-to keep our knees from knocking...
...best: airpower. With recruits from a local model airplane club, he sent up a squadron of a dozen remote-controlled planes to engage the starlings in dogfights. Said Biestek: "When you saw a flock coming in, you just aimed an airplane at it. The airplanes have a very high fright index. We got rid of well over 95% of the birds." The starlings were only scared to death, not actually dead; no bird casualties have been confirmed. But five of Biestek's planes were downed, two permanently. And air superiority lasted only a few days. Last week a flock...