Letters

The New Science of Headaches

Moments after sitting down to read your cover story on headaches [HEALTH, Oct. 7], I felt a familiar twinge in my head. I put down the magazine, had a shot of nasal spray and sat back to wait. Within minutes, an unseen hand twisted the dial on the rheostat in my head. Forty-five minutes later, the pain retreated as quickly as it had arrived, leaving me limp and exhausted. For cluster-headache sufferers like me, such episodes have a huge impact on our daily lives. No one seems to know where cluster headaches come from, why we get them or how to treat them effectively. Articles like yours, although focused primarily on migraines, are helpful in bringing attention to a segment of the population of headache sufferers that most people are unaware of. PAUL A. ANDERSON Indianapolis, Ind.

Your reporting on migraines closed on a note of optimism, a feeling that I suspect is not shared by many who must endure migraines. For all the advances of the past few years, the reality for many of us who suffer from migraines is a minimum of several days of absolute pain each month. The new medicines may help to some extent, but the rebound effect of more headaches is a constant problem. For we who have endured the pain of migraines for decades, the cure cannot come soon enough. And while medical professionals may be more sophisticated than they were years ago, many doctors still have no conception of the intensity of pain experienced by migraine sufferers. CHRIS STERN Hoboken, N.J.

No matter how interested or passionate you are about something, when you are dealing with a migraine, life must stop. But most of the world does not see this as a debilitating health condition. As you noted, many people treat headache sufferers "as if they were having it on purpose to avoid work." It took me years to feel comfortable telling my husband I had a migraine. Now he knows it is no joking matter. Thank you for giving those who have migraines a voice. We often suffer in silence, unnoticed, in a dark room with our eyes closed. DANIELE BIENVENUE Granby, Que.

I've had migraines for 19 years. for 17 of those years I suffered needlessly because I had always thought that a true migraine included auras [visions of jagged lines and bright lights shortly before the pain sets in]. I'm glad you set the record straight by noting that only about 20% of migraine sufferers experience auras. It is sad that misinformation and misunderstanding about headaches and their effects on everyday life are rampant. Your reporting will no doubt help bring about a better understanding. LEAH ZUEGER St. Paul, Minn.

Drugs may offer a temporary solution to migraines, but we need long-term results. Professionals who may help with headaches are chiropractors, dentists and ophthalmologists, to name a few. Let's find the cause, not a method to mask the problem. JEREMY E. BANKOS, D.C. Hawthorne, N.J.

Native Son Gone Astray

No one kidnapped American John Walker Lindh and forced him to join the Taliban [NATION, Oct. 7]. He alone made that choice. His parents allowed him to explore his spirituality half a world away, in a region not known for its liking of America. Lindh was just a teenager, and his parents thought he could handle the experience. But he became a fanatic. Of all the Islamic groups he could have chosen to align himself with, Lindh joined the Taliban, and he probably trained at an al-Qaeda camp. I sympathize with U.S. soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, as well as with people in other countries who have been victimized by the Taliban regime and al-Qaeda. I have no sympathy for John Walker Lindh. HILLARY FLEMING White Plains, N.Y.

So one can't blame Lindh's mother and father for being the America haters that some of us suspected they were. But someone must have fostered the uncertainty in this young man that led him to fall in love with a religious group that is intent on ending Western civilization. And somewhere along the line, Lindh's Taliban buddies must have let on that killing Americans was the point of the rigorous training he received in Afghanistan. Maybe we should go back to telling our children that the U.S. is the greatest nation on earth and that our culture is superior to all others. That way there won't be any confusion when it comes time to defend it. MICHAEL O'BRIEN Hoffman Estates, Ill.

"The Making of John Walker Lindh" was an excellent story about a confused young man who did not have the parental guidance necessary to help him grow up. As someone born during the Great Depression, I never had the luxury of trying to "find myself." I knew exactly where I was--in deep trouble, and I had to dig my way out. I guess I had a better start than Lindh did. GEORGE GLAWE Medina, Ohio

Lindh's sad story and his quest for meaning resonate because they are, unfortunately, all too familiar. I have known many people like Lindh, including a few in my own family. During the '70s, one of my brothers ran off and joined a religious cult. In the process, he disowned my family. Another brother, a Vietnam vet, has immersed himself in the Bible to the extent that everything else in his life has foundered. He won't take care of his basic needs because he believes these are the "last days." Ironically, in the search for meaning, one's soul can become lost. Perhaps prison won't seem like a foreign place to John Walker Lindh. It won't be that different from the prison that is in his mind. NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST Ashland, Ore.

Is the Past Prologue?

Michael Elliott used Britain's failed imperial adventure in Iraq as a cautionary tale about U.S. involvement there [GLOBAL AGENDA, Oct. 7]. But we heard the same kind of historical perspective from the Russians about Afghanistan. Times have changed, military technology has altered lots of old rules, and people still yearn for true freedom in their hearts. Naturally, democratic reforms won't be easy to implement in Iraq, but shouldn't that be our goal nonetheless? SCOTT GOODSPEED Yorktown, Va.

America's main intention in Iraq is self-preservation. U.S. taxpayers do not want to spend their hard-earned money on nation building. What we want and are entitled to is to go to sleep at night knowing that our children will not be wiped off the face of the earth by some maniac. Maybe we will fail in our nation building in Iraq, but at least we will eliminate one of our greatest threats. We hope the next Iraqi leader will be human. Let's roll the dice. DAN DILLULIO Stamford, Conn.

Fighting over the War

The midterm congressional elections alone cannot explain the intensity of the zingers being fired across party lines [NATION, Oct. 7]. Frustration is also a factor. Osama bin Laden is nowhere to be found, the anthrax letters remain a mystery, the Dow Jones average sags below 8000, and no one understands how to react to the color-coded terror alerts. Now we're told there is an urgent need to take military action against Iraq and that anyone who questions this is un-American. Frustrating? You bet! SCOTT KOEHNK Key Biscayne, Fla.

A World of Anxiety

If the goal of war against Iraq is to eliminate the threat of weapons of mass destruction [IRAQ: WEAPONS INSPECTIONS, Sept. 30], why not act against other nations that have them? If the goal is the liberation of the Iraqi people, then why aren't those who want war speaking up for the other oppressed peoples of the world? The main U.S. objective is to install a friendly, puppet-like regime (probably not a democratic one, considering Iraq's past) that will greatly lessen U.S. dependence on Saudi oil and allow the U.S. to pressure Riyadh on its record of exporting terrorists. GORM BJORHOVDE Tromso, Norway

Any person who supports war with Iraq is effectively justifying the Sept. 11 attacks. If it is not humane for others to destroy U.S. cities and government buildings, then how can America justify destroying theirs? It is immoral to rally in support of the bloodshed that a war on Iraq will cause. I feel sad for the people of Iraq, who live in fear of an imminent attack that will dwarf Sept. 11 in destruction and loss of life. GRANT LA HOOD Auckland, New Zealand

Many people will die in Iraq, a few of them, perhaps, bad people, but most of them surely innocent. In a war, even if the U.S. can kill 100 Iraqis for every Westerner who dies, the economic, ecological and moral costs are too high. In Britain we have recently suffered catastrophic chaos on the rail network and a frightful foot-and-mouth epidemic that stripped the countryside of animals. In other countries there have been terrifying fires. All these events were disasters that did not need a terrorist to set them off. A single reasonably intelligent person could have caused any of them, yet the U.S. still plans to use bombers to confront a potentially invisible terrorist. A million missiles are of no use against a teenager with a briefcase. BILL AGNEW Ecclefechan, Scotland

The Problem with Religion

The conclusion of your excellent review of the historical Abraham and the three great religions seemed to be that belief in Abraham might help bring Muslims, Jews and Christians closer to one another [RELIGION, Sept. 30]. But hasn't this been tried in vain for centuries? My conclusion: ban all these religions, cults and man-made concepts of how to worship God. Bar the different religious leaders from spreading their views as the only absolute. Mankind can always use religion as a casus belli. Forbid religions, and there will be far fewer fights. JORMA KAJASTE Espoo, Finland

"The legacy of Abraham" was very interesting. I was unaware of Abraham's great influence on three very different religions. It is disheartening, though, to see the people of the faiths that share a common "father" fighting over the interpretations of Abraham's life. I was born a Hindu, but I have no religious rituals, no religious stories to believe in. I have been brought up to be God-fearing and good, kind and honest. I believe in the welfare of humankind. If there were no religions, and only empathy, altruism and humanism to lead the way, the world would truly be an enlightened place. PREETI KUMAR Harlington, England

One element of the three religions mentioned probably makes reconciliation between them extremely unlikely, and that is the tendency of some or many of their adherents to insist on looking at the world as being made up of those who are good (me and my group) and those who are evil (everyone else). It is not enough to nurture their own relationship with God; they must also lash out and attempt to extinguish those who belong to other faiths, whom they see as threats to their own salvation. MARK MILNE Zurich

Many religions ask you to treat other people as you would want them to treat you. But human failings, especially greed, mean that this ideal, plus other sensible scriptural instructions, can be interpreted as one wants. For example, killing is bad, except during war or self-defense, and you can always declare war. Abraham may be a link between religions, but we will never surmount the lowest common denominator of the seven original sins. MURRAY HUNTER Auckland, New Zealand

Divesting in Israel

"A Campus War Over Israel" [SOCIETY, Oct. 7] addressed the issue of whether it is anti-Semitic for students to seek to have their colleges divest their investment portfolios of firms doing business with Israel. Of course, selling stock and boycotting a company are legitimate mechanisms for affecting policy. Perhaps they are also appropriate techniques for affecting national policy. One is struck, however, by the singling out of Israel--the sole democracy in the Middle East--for such treatment, to the exclusion of countries like Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, which are not exactly bastions of civil rights. When selective economic pressure on Israel occurs at the same time as violence directed at Jews on campus, how can it be characterized as anything other than anti-Semitic? MIKE DEAN Sacramento, Calif.

You reported that college students, using guerrilla theater tactics, dressed like Israeli soldiers and set up mock checkpoints on campus to "harass" students playing Palestinians. To complete the picture, why not have these "Palestinian" students dress like terrorists and blow up the pizza stand, the pool hall and campus buses? GENE WARECH Los Angeles

Missing No More

North Korea has admitted abducting Japanese citizens to help train its spies [WORLD, Sept. 30]. But the government is not going to let Japanese families know the details about those who died (or were murdered) in captivity. If the international community thinks that the meeting between North Korea's President and Japan's Prime Minister successfully wrote an end to this story, it is mistaken. Imagine how you would feel if your loved ones suddenly disappeared, and you only learned years later that they had been abducted and died in a foreign country? NAOKO IDESAWA-ITO Tokyo

Lay Off My PBS!

I was furious to see that your television critic James Poniewozik used the occasion of his review of the PBS Masterpiece Theatre production of The Forsyte Saga as a springboard to denigrate PBS and its programming [TELEVISION, Oct. 7]. Families without cable find on PBS the best and sometimes the only recourse from the sex, potty humor and violence of most commercial network TV. Where else can you find serious discussions, wonderful historical and biographical programs and science shows? Antiques Roadshow may not be exciting to everyone, but we like it. CELIA ANDERSEN St. Louis Park, Minn.