Birthmark

src: cdn1.medicalnewstoday.com

A birthmark is a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth, usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocytes, smooth muscle, fat, fibroblasts, or keratinocytes.

Dermatologists divide birthmarks into two types. Pigmented birthmarks caused by excess skin pigment cells include moles, café au lait spots, and Mongolian spots. Vascular birthmarks, also called red birthmarks, are caused by increased blood vessels and include macular stains (salmon patches), hemangiomas, and Port-wine stains. A little over 1 in 10 babies have a vascular birthmark present by age 1. Several birthmark types are part of the group of skin lesions known as nevi or naevi, which means "birthmarks" in Latin.

The exact cause of most birthmarks is unknown, but they are thought to occur as a result of a localized imbalance in factors controlling the development and migration of skin cells. In addition, it is known that vascular birthmarks are not hereditary.

Video Birthmark

Pigmented types

Mole

Congenital melanocytic nevus is a type of melanocytic nevus, the medical term for what is colloquially called a "mole", found in infants at birth. Occurring in about 1% of infants in the United States, it is located in the area of the head and neck 15% of the time, but may occur anywhere on the body. It may appear as light brown in fair-skinned people, to almost black in people with darker skin. Coming in a variety of sizes and appearances, they may be irregular in shape and flat, or raised and lumpy in appearance and feel. Such naevi can also manifest themselves as beauty marks, which most commonly appear on the face, neck or arms.

Café au lait spot

Café au lait spot macules may occur anywhere on the body. They are most commonly oval in shape and light brown, or milk coffee, in color. These birthmarks may be present at birth, or appear in early childhood, and do not fade much with age. One or two on an individual is common; however, four or more may be an indicator of neurofibromatosis. In the event of weight gain, the birthmark can stretch with the skin and become larger.

Mongolian spot

A Mongolian blue spot (dermal melanocytosis) is a benign flat congenital birthmark with wavy borders and irregular shape, most common among East Asians and Turkic people (excluding Turks of Asia Minor), and named after Mongolians. It is also extremely prevalent among East Africans and Native Americans. It normally disappears three to five years after birth and almost always by puberty. The most common color is blue, although they can be blue-gray, blue-black or even deep brown.

The Mongolian spot is a congenital developmental condition exclusively involving the skin. The blue colour is caused by melanocytes, melanin-containing cells, that are deep under the skin. Usually, as multiple spots or one large patch, it covers one or more of the lumbosacral area (lower back), the buttocks, sides, and shoulders. It results from the entrapment of melanocytes in the dermis during their migration from the neural crest to the epidermis during embryonic development.

Among those who are not aware of the background of the Mongolian spots, it may sometimes be mistaken for a bruise indicative of child abuse.

Maps Birthmark

Vascular types

Stork bite

Colloquially called a "stork bite", "angel's kiss" or "salmon patch", telangiectatic nevus appears as a pink or tanned, flat, irregularly shaped mark on the knee, back of the neck, and/or the forehead, eyelids and, sometimes, the top lip. The skin is not thickened and feels no different from anywhere else on the body; the only difference is in appearance. Nearly half of all babies have such a birthmark.

Strawberry mark

A "hemangioma of infancy", colloquially called a strawberry mark, is a benign self-involuting tumor (swelling or growth) of endothelial cells, the cells that line blood vessels. It usually appears during the first weeks of life and resolves by age 10. It is the most common tumor of infancy.

PHACES Syndrome, a rare condition that often involves brain, heart, and arterial abnormalities, is generally accompanied by the presence of large facial hemangiomas. In such cases, what appears to be a small bruise or birthmark may grow rapidly and take on a puffy appearance in the first days or weeks of life.

Port-wine stain

Port-wine stains, also known as nevus flammeus and sometimes mistaken for strawberry marks, are present at birth and range from a pale pink in color, to a deep wine-red. Irregular in appearance, they are usually quite large, and caused by a deficiency or absence in the nerve supply to blood vessels. This causes vasodilation, the dilation of blood vessels, causing blood to pool or collect in the affected area. Over time, port-wine stains may become thick or develop small ridges or bumps, and do not fade with age. Such birthmarks may have emotional or social repercussions. Port-wine stains occur in 0.3% of the population, equally among males and females. They frequently express unilaterally, i.e., on only one side, not crossing the midline of the body. Often on the face, marks on the upper eyelid or forehead may be indicative of a condition called Sturge-Weber syndrome. Additionally, port-wine stains in these locations may be associated with glaucoma and seizures.

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Treatment

Most birthmarks are harmless and do not require treatment. Pigmented marks can resolve on their own over time in some cases. Vascular birthmarks may require reduction or removal for cosmetic reasons. Treatments include administering oral or injected steroids, dermatological lasers to reduce size and/or color, or dermatologic surgery.

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Folklore

Birthmarks are called voglie in Italian, and wiham in Arabic; both of which translate to "wishes" because, according to folklore, they are caused by unsatisfied wishes of the mother during pregnancy. For example, if a pregnant woman does not satisfy a sudden wish or craving for strawberries, it's said that the infant might bear a strawberry mark.

In Dutch, birthmarks are called moedervlekken, in Danish modermærke and in German Muttermal, all meaning "mother-spots" because it was thought that an infant inherited the marks solely from the mother. The Hungarian word for any flat mole, as opposed to only congenital birthmarks, anyajegy, is also derived from this belief.

Some myths associated with birthmarks are that they are caused when an expectant mother sees something strange, or experiences a great deal of fear, sometimes called a maternal impression.

In Iranian folklore, a birthmark appears when the pregnant mother touches a part of her body during a solar eclipse.

In Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity folklore, a birthmark is considered a "kiss of St. Mary the virgin".

According to modern American folklore in the New Age community, birthmarks sometimes indicate the site of traumatic injuries in a past life.

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References

src: www.epiphanydermatology.com

External links

• Birthmarks via the Cleveland Clinic
• Vascular Birthmarks Foundation
• Birthmarks via MedlinePlus

Source of article : Wikipedia

Birthmark

src: cdn1.medicalnewstoday.com

A birthmark is a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth, usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocytes, smooth muscle, fat, fibroblasts, or keratinocytes.

Dermatologists divide birthmarks into two types. Pigmented birthmarks caused by excess skin pigment cells include moles, café au lait spots, and Mongolian spots. Vascular birthmarks, also called red birthmarks, are caused by increased blood vessels and include macular stains (salmon patches), hemangiomas, and Port-wine stains. A little over 1 in 10 babies have a vascular birthmark present by age 1. Several birthmark types are part of the group of skin lesions known as nevi or naevi, which means "birthmarks" in Latin.

The exact cause of most birthmarks is unknown, but they are thought to occur as a result of a localized imbalance in factors controlling the development and migration of skin cells. In addition, it is known that vascular birthmarks are not hereditary.

Video Birthmark

Pigmented types

Mole

Congenital melanocytic nevus is a type of melanocytic nevus, the medical term for what is colloquially called a "mole", found in infants at birth. Occurring in about 1% of infants in the United States, it is located in the area of the head and neck 15% of the time, but may occur anywhere on the body. It may appear as light brown in fair-skinned people, to almost black in people with darker skin. Coming in a variety of sizes and appearances, they may be irregular in shape and flat, or raised and lumpy in appearance and feel. Such naevi can also manifest themselves as beauty marks, which most commonly appear on the face, neck or arms.

Café au lait spot

Café au lait spot macules may occur anywhere on the body. They are most commonly oval in shape and light brown, or milk coffee, in color. These birthmarks may be present at birth, or appear in early childhood, and do not fade much with age. One or two on an individual is common; however, four or more may be an indicator of neurofibromatosis. In the event of weight gain, the birthmark can stretch with the skin and become larger.

Mongolian spot

A Mongolian blue spot (dermal melanocytosis) is a benign flat congenital birthmark with wavy borders and irregular shape, most common among East Asians and Turkic people (excluding Turks of Asia Minor), and named after Mongolians. It is also extremely prevalent among East Africans and Native Americans. It normally disappears three to five years after birth and almost always by puberty. The most common color is blue, although they can be blue-gray, blue-black or even deep brown.

The Mongolian spot is a congenital developmental condition exclusively involving the skin. The blue colour is caused by melanocytes, melanin-containing cells, that are deep under the skin. Usually, as multiple spots or one large patch, it covers one or more of the lumbosacral area (lower back), the buttocks, sides, and shoulders. It results from the entrapment of melanocytes in the dermis during their migration from the neural crest to the epidermis during embryonic development.

Among those who are not aware of the background of the Mongolian spots, it may sometimes be mistaken for a bruise indicative of child abuse.

Maps Birthmark

Vascular types

Stork bite

Colloquially called a "stork bite", "angel's kiss" or "salmon patch", telangiectatic nevus appears as a pink or tanned, flat, irregularly shaped mark on the knee, back of the neck, and/or the forehead, eyelids and, sometimes, the top lip. The skin is not thickened and feels no different from anywhere else on the body; the only difference is in appearance. Nearly half of all babies have such a birthmark.

Strawberry mark

A "hemangioma of infancy", colloquially called a strawberry mark, is a benign self-involuting tumor (swelling or growth) of endothelial cells, the cells that line blood vessels. It usually appears during the first weeks of life and resolves by age 10. It is the most common tumor of infancy.

PHACES Syndrome, a rare condition that often involves brain, heart, and arterial abnormalities, is generally accompanied by the presence of large facial hemangiomas. In such cases, what appears to be a small bruise or birthmark may grow rapidly and take on a puffy appearance in the first days or weeks of life.

Port-wine stain

Port-wine stains, also known as nevus flammeus and sometimes mistaken for strawberry marks, are present at birth and range from a pale pink in color, to a deep wine-red. Irregular in appearance, they are usually quite large, and caused by a deficiency or absence in the nerve supply to blood vessels. This causes vasodilation, the dilation of blood vessels, causing blood to pool or collect in the affected area. Over time, port-wine stains may become thick or develop small ridges or bumps, and do not fade with age. Such birthmarks may have emotional or social repercussions. Port-wine stains occur in 0.3% of the population, equally among males and females. They frequently express unilaterally, i.e., on only one side, not crossing the midline of the body. Often on the face, marks on the upper eyelid or forehead may be indicative of a condition called Sturge-Weber syndrome. Additionally, port-wine stains in these locations may be associated with glaucoma and seizures.

src: i.ytimg.com

Treatment

Most birthmarks are harmless and do not require treatment. Pigmented marks can resolve on their own over time in some cases. Vascular birthmarks may require reduction or removal for cosmetic reasons. Treatments include administering oral or injected steroids, dermatological lasers to reduce size and/or color, or dermatologic surgery.

src: pixfeeds.com

Folklore

Birthmarks are called voglie in Italian, and wiham in Arabic; both of which translate to "wishes" because, according to folklore, they are caused by unsatisfied wishes of the mother during pregnancy. For example, if a pregnant woman does not satisfy a sudden wish or craving for strawberries, it's said that the infant might bear a strawberry mark.

In Dutch, birthmarks are called moedervlekken, in Danish modermærke and in German Muttermal, all meaning "mother-spots" because it was thought that an infant inherited the marks solely from the mother. The Hungarian word for any flat mole, as opposed to only congenital birthmarks, anyajegy, is also derived from this belief.

Some myths associated with birthmarks are that they are caused when an expectant mother sees something strange, or experiences a great deal of fear, sometimes called a maternal impression.

In Iranian folklore, a birthmark appears when the pregnant mother touches a part of her body during a solar eclipse.

In Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity folklore, a birthmark is considered a "kiss of St. Mary the virgin".

According to modern American folklore in the New Age community, birthmarks sometimes indicate the site of traumatic injuries in a past life.

src: c8.alamy.com

References

src: i.ytimg.com

External links

• Birthmarks via the Cleveland Clinic
• Vascular Birthmarks Foundation
• Birthmarks via MedlinePlus

Source of the article : Wikipedia

Beauty Killer

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Beauty Killer is the debut and only studio album by American singer, songwriter Jeffree Star, released September 22, 2009 under Popsicle Records through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. The album was mostly produced by God's Paparazzi, but also features work from other producers and artist, including producer Lester Mendez and Young Money singer and rapper Nicki Minaj. Beauty Killer features rock, electronic, dance, and pop elements in its music and lyrics, similar to previous works from Star. The album has since become Star's biggest selling album to date, debuting at number 1 in the Billboard billboard 200 chart, selling 122,000 copies in its first week. as well as becoming his first Billboard 200 charting album, peaking at number 1. The album spawned two official singles, "Prisoner" and "Lollipop Luxury", and several promotional singles, including "Love Rhymes with Fuck You", "Blush", and "Beauty Killer". All of the singles are certified platinum, with each song selling over 1 million copies in the U.S. Music videos were made for both "Get Away With Murder" and "Beauty Killer", and were made available for streaming and digital download in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Beauty Killer was recorded mainly in California, though some songs were recorded in Illinois and Georgia.

Video Beauty Killer

Background

It was announced that recording was underway for Star's first studio album in late 2007. He stated that the new songs "are more sexy, some are more "guy"ish and some are me screaming my heart out. I'm still finding what "Jeffree Star" really is. And I think I'm almost there..." Star also said that with this album he "embraced a lot of rock elements, mixed it with dance and kind of made something really unique that no one's ever heard before," and "I've just never really made music that I guess I've been 100 percent proud of, you know? It was time for me to take myself more seriously. It's like my big, 'How are you?' to the world." The album is produced by Lester Mendez, 3OH!3's Nathaniel Motte, Luke Walker (commonly known as his alias God's Paparazzi), Simon Wilcox, and Oh, Hush!. Other producers for the album include Tommy Coops, Heather Peggs, and Smile Future. Star wanted the album to "show that [he] had real musical talent" as his previous works were "just thrown together really quickly and there wasn't much effor put into it."

Recording for the album was done in the span of nearly a year. The tracks "Get Away with Murder", "Prisoner" and "Louis Vuitton Body Bag" were recorded at Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, California. Star also recorded the album's title song, "Beauty Killer", at UVS Labs in Los Angeles, California. While in Silverlake, California, Star recorded the songs "Love Rhymes with Fuck You", "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches" and "Queen of the Club Scene" at Pulse Recording. While there, Star also recorded part of the track "Electric Sugar Pop". The recording for that song was finished in Chicago, Illinois. Star also stopped in Santa Monica, California. While there, he recorded multiple songs for the album, including "Bitch, Please!", "Get Physical" and "Fresh Meat", which were recorded at EMI Publishing Studios. "Lollipop Luxury" was recorded at The Tree Fort and Sound City in Los Angeles, California and Hot Beats in Atlanta, Georgia. "Lollipop Luxury" was originally released in 2008, as the lead promotional single from Star's second extended play, Cupcakes Taste Like Violence, and went on to become one of his signature songs amongst fans. For Beauty Killer, Young Money rapper Nicki Minaj appears on a new version of the song. Although the composition remains mostly unchanged, the beginning of the song states "Jeffree Star and Nicki Minaj", where as the original version did not state Star's name. After the second chorus, Minaj has a rap verse, which includes references to songs such as "Milkshake" by Kelis. Matt Skiba, who had gained notability as the lead singer and guitarist for punk rock band Alkaline Trio, provides guest vocals for the song "Louis Vuitton Body Bag", which is named after the French fashion house Louis Vuitton, which gained popularity mainly for its purses and bags. Electronic rock duo Breathe Carolina are provide vocals on the track "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches", which is featured as the tenth song on the album.

Maps Beauty Killer

Composition

The music found on Beauty Killer is mainly dance-pop music. Elements of rock and punk music can be found on the album as well. During an interview, Star said of the album's music, "I think in the beginning I was just kinda like joking around and just making shit up - y'know, for fun. I wasn't taking anything really seriously. So for Beauty Killer, I'd toured for two years and worked with a lot of different people. I knew what I wanted to sound like and I had way more production and spent more time on the lyrics too." When speaking of the album's composition, Star commented "Every song has a different feel to it. There are tracks with heavy guitars and some of them are more fun Britney Spears dance-club type stuff. There's definitely some club anthems mixed in there." He has also stated "It's my first proper album and I had the chance to explore myself as an artist more than my previous works and got to work with some amazing producers. Musically and lyrically it's different then what I've released in the past... it's the perfect CD for anyone who's lost and needs to find their diamond tiara."

"Get Away with Murder" is a song which deals with Star breaking up with someone. The lyrics contain lines such as "I'm gonna break your heart, and get away with murder." The song features elements of rock music, as well as pop and electronic music. Jess Grenier of shrednews called the song "clever", and praised its lyrical content. A music video was filmed for the song, and released in 2010. "Prisoner", the album's lead single, features Star singing about stalking someone and being in love with them. In "Prisoner", Star sings "...lock me up, throw away the key/don't care if I'm in trouble deep/I'm addicted to your love." "Louis Vuitton Body Bag" was described by Wildy Haskel of the Wildy's World website as being "the best dance track" on Beauty Killer, though called the lyrics "dark.", with several lines making references to suicide. "Beauty Killer" is the album's title track, and features elements of electronic music, as well as rock music and pop music. The song has received positive feedback, mainly for its meaning and lyrical content, in which Star claims he wishes to change people's opinions as to what beauty really is. "Electric Sugar Pop" has been described as a "bubblegum pop" song, while receiving praise for its lighthearted and fun nature. "Love Rhymes With Fuck You" was released as the album's first promotional single, and second total after "Prisoner". The electronic song features explicit lyrics from Star, and sexual moans in the background in various places. Star also incorporates screamo elements in the song.

"Bitch, Please!" features elements of electronic music, and makes several cultural references throughout the song, including "Bottle Pop" by female group The Pussycat Dolls, as well as pop singer Britney Spears and the hit single Don't Trust Me by 3OH!3. It has been listed as a highlight of the album by various reviewers and fans. "Lollipop Luxury", which features female rapper Nicki Minaj on guest vocals, is a remixed version of a previously released song by Star. This new version features a rap verse from Minaj, and removes the original third verse of the song. "Get Physical" is a dance song which features Star singing about having sex with someone. The song received mixed to positive reception. "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches" features electronic duo Breathe Carolina on guest vocals, and features elements of punk music, as well as screamo and hard rock music. "Fresh Meat" and "Queen of the Club Scene" received mixed reviews from critics, with the majority feeling the two didn't belong on the album. The two were described as "filler tracks", though did receive somewhat positive reviews.

The album features several references to Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters, one of Star's favorite novels. For example, in the song "Louis Vuitton Body Bag", he sings: "To be ourselves, we have to destroy ourselves" referring to Shannon McFarland's decision to shoot herself to escape her old life. In the song "Beauty Killer", the line "Doll eyes stare into Valium colored skies" refers to Brandy Alexander's addiction to Valium and beauty. In the song, "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches" he refers to Brandy Alexander's nickname "Queen Supreme"; Star also named one of his liquid lipsticks "Queen Supreme".

src: letslearnmakeup.com

Release and promotion

The first announcement of Beauty Killer mentioned a scheduled release in spring 2008. However, the album's release date was later pushed back to summer 2009, which in the meantime Star released his second extended play Cupcakes Taste Like Violence. In an interview with OrangeCounty.com regarding the release date of the album, Star explained that the repetitive postponing was due to him doing "a bit of community service because of a felony weapons charge". To promote the new album and "tide fans over" until the first single from the album was released, on April 21, 2009, Star released a remix cover of The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" which was made available for free download. "Bitch, Please!" was also made available for stream on Star's MySpace page in late August. This was shortly followed by "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches" making its stream debut on Star's PureVolume account in September. The next day, Star posted "Louis Vuitton Body Bag" onto his YouTube account. The entire album was available for streaming on his MySpace homepage on September 19, 2009. The album was released as both a physical disk and for digital download on September 22, 2009 in the United States. It was released for digital download on October 2 in areas such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and Asia.

Star performed at Warped Tour 2009 followed by the America leg of his "I'm Pregnant, Let's Party" tour for the rest of the summer. Shortly after the album was released, Star announced a two-week winter "I'm Cold, Keep Me Warm... Bitch!" tour in North America. However, due to "personal things [that] have gotten out of hand in [his] family" the tour was cancelled. Star embarked on his "2 Drunk 2 Fuck" 2010 world tour, in which he stated he would "be going everywhere...and yes that means Europe and Australia". It was his first headlining tour to promote Beauty Killer. It featured BrokeNCYDE and Blood On the Dancefloor as the opening acts for various North American dates, while BrokeNCYDE was a co-headlining act for the European legs. He also headlined the "Lookin' Hot and Dangerous tour throughout 2010, which featured mainly North American shows, though four where outside of the US. Throughout late 2010 and early 2011, Star toured with pop-singer Dev on his Fresh Meat tour, named after the song from the album. The tour only featured North American dates, going through the United States, Canada, and Mexico. A music video for "Prisoner" was originally planned in September 2009, though it was later replaced with "Get Away with Murder", which was filmed on November 7, 2009. The video premiered on the front page of MySpace on January 23, 2010. A music video for the title track, "Beauty Killer", was filmed in May 2010. The video premiered on Star's YouTube channel on June 19, 2010.

Singles

Beauty Killer spawned two official singles and several promotional singles. The first promotional single for the album was a remix of the hit single "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas, which he released on April 21, 2009. The remix of the number one single did not appear on Beauty Killer. "Prisoner" was the album's first official single, and was released on April 29, 2009. The single features pop rock elements, and lyrically sees Star singing about how he is obsessed with being with someone. A music video was planned for the single, but was later scrapped in favor of recording the music video for "Get Away with Murder". The second promotional single, "Love Rhymes with Fuck You", was released on June 30, 2009. After the release of the album, Star announced plans to film a music video for the song "Get Away with Murder". The video was released on YouTube and for digital download, though the song never received an official release. The album's title track, "Beauty Killer", received similar treatment in 2010. Following the album's commercial success, Star released the song "Blush", an outtake from the original track listing. The song was released for digital download on February 16, 2010. A sixth promotional single, "Size of Your Boat", featured Muffy and was released for digital download on June 29, 2010. "Lollipop Luxury" was later released as the album's second official single on June 16, 2011.

Title and artwork

Beauty Killer is, in Star's own words, "my way of saying 'fuck you' to what everyone's idea of what beauty stands for." The album cover photo was taken by tattoo artist and now ex-friend, Kat Von D. It features Star with his hair in a ponytail pulled to the side. His arms are held up, as if surrendering, and his hands are covered in blood. Star is topless in the image, and has a white glove on his right hand. Kat Von D also took the photos in the album booklet, excluding two taken by Austin Young. The layout and design was created by Sons of Nero. The photos found in the booklet are similar to the album cover itself. One photo shows Star curled into a ball, in the same attire as the cover, while another picture shows an apparently shocked star with his hands on his head and his mouth wide open. There are also photos of Star in nothing but a pair of pink underwear, slashing a chainsaw around. Multiple colors are strewn on several photos in the booklet, giving it the appearance of paint being thrown onto the picture.

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Critical reception

The album received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. Pemberton Roach of AllMusic praised the album, commenting "Beauty Killer is a fun, no-frills dance-pop record filled with throbbing house beats, Auto-Tuned vocals, and super-catchy, sexually charged novelty lyrics." Roach went on to say "Throughout, his lyrics employ all manner of slang of the day to both celebrate and lampoon the basest sectors of pop culture. In the end, though, Star is clearly all-inclusive, making Beauty Killer a harmlessly naughty guilty pleasure." Michael Heath of PopMatters stated "His vocals convey the required melodrama, smut, and wit, especially wit. Star's awareness of the absurdity of Hollywood culture vulturism grounds the lyrics of "Lollipop Luxury" and "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches", a collaboration with shouty electro-thrashers Breathe Carolina (Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio also guests). One does wish most of Star's musical backdrops didn't sound like the worst aspects of pounding goth-industrial warhorses or the sort of Red Bull and bad Ecstasy club soundtrack Star's lyrics willingly satirize. Fortunately, there's enough moments here, like the G. Glitter microchip stomp of "Electric Sugar Pop", to provide welcome relief." Luis Gonzales of Album Confessions also praised the album, saying ""Beauty Killer" is a dark, twisted pop album that comes together to represent an artist that many may not relate to right away. The artist and the music are something completely different and I think that is where it works. The album is filled with great tracks that will not hit every audience, but for those who are looking for something new, this is truly a hidden gem." He later listed "Louis Vuitton Body Bag", "Bitch, Please!", and "Queen of the Club Scene" as must-hear tracks. Corinne of PlugIn Music gave the album a mixed review, saying "Star shows on "Beauty Killer" that he has the musical chops to make a half-decent album. And he does just that. But when he plays too much to the audience, the celebrity, the fame, the character it turns sour. Having a point of view is one thing but it doesn't hold water if it's too embellished. Sure, his electronics aren't terribly original but if there's one thing that Jeffree Star doesn't sound like it is recycled." Wonka Vision Magazine said "...if Beauty Killer is the best Star can muster for a debut album then perhaps he should consider sticking with the clothing lines and makeup for the time being."

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Chart performance

Beauty Killer was released on September 22, 2009, and became Star's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, where it peaked at number 1. The second week, the album fell off of the chart, and failed to reappear. It also peaked at number 1 on the Independent Albums chart in the US, and fell off in its second week. On the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, the album debuted at number 7. It fell to 12 in its second week, and stayed on the chart for two more weeks after that, before falling off the chart. The album debuted and peaked at number 2 on the Top Heatseekers chart, where it charted for two consecutive weeks. Beauty Killer became Star's second album to chart on both the Independent Albums and the Heatseeker Albums charts, after his 2008 extended play Cupcakes Taste Like Violence.

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Track listing

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Personnel

• Jeffree Star - vocals

Additional musicians

• Breathe Carolina - additional vocals on "Fame & Riches, Rehab Bitches"
• Kyle Castellani - additional vocals on "Fresh Meat"
• Sarah Hudson - additional vocals on "Beauty Killer"
• Nicki Minaj - guest vocals on "Lollipop Luxury"
• Oh, Hush! - additional vocals on "Electric Sugar Pop"
• Matt Skiba - guest vocals on "Louis Vuitton Body Bag"
• Simon Wilcox - additional vocals on "Bitch, Please!", "Get Physical" and "Fresh Meat"

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Charts

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Release history

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References

Source of article : Wikipedia

Lily Munster

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Lily Munster is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom, The Munsters, originally played by Yvonne De Carlo. The matriarch of the Munster household, Lily is a vampire. The role was later played by Lee Meriwether in The Munsters Today and by Portia de Rossi in the unsold 2012 pilot Mockingbird Lane.

Lily was first introduced in the 2nd pilot episode and is the only family member to not appear in the original pilot episode. In the original pilot Herman was married to another woman called Phoebe Munster who was scrapped as the producers felt she resembled Morticia Addams too much.

Video Lily Munster

Description

Lily is the matriarch of the Munster family. She is very close with her niece, Marilyn. She has a werewolf for a brother, who appears in one episode, and a sister who is mentioned a few times who is Marilyn's mother. Lily is the voice of reason in the Munster household, often relied upon to set problems right, and typically mediates when Herman and Grandpa squabble.

Lily also has a fiery temper. While she is deeply in love with Herman, she also frequently gets very angry at him (due to his frequent stupidity and occasional selfishness), and Herman often meekly discloses his fear (to others) of being on the receiving end of her wrath. She also has reprimanded her own father (Grandpa) on several occasions for his own foolish actions and stubborn self-righteousness.

Lily treats her niece Marilyn as her own daughter, but shares the family's concern that Marilyn's "hideousness" is going to condemn her to a spinster's life. As such, she is very much in favor of Marilyn dating, and is very accommodating to Marilyn's fleeting beaus despite their "rudeness." (What Lily is perceiving as lack of manners is in fact the young man's terror of seeing Marilyn's monstrous relatives).

Lily is very supportive of her son, Eddie, and keeps a close eye on his activities and social circle.

Lily is mainly a housewife, and her duties include spreading garbage around the mansion and "dusting" with a vacuum cleaner operating in reverse so that it blows dirt about in the nine-room-and-a-dungeon house. During the course of the series, Lily works as a welder in a shipyard, a fashion model, and a palm reader in a tea room. In one episode she forces Herman to give her money so that she and Marilyn can open a beauty parlor, but this soon goes out of business, as Lily assumes her clientele wants to look more like her. These part-time jobs never seem to stick, and Lily would be back to being a homemaker by the next episode.

Lily is a beautiful and slender woman who appears to be in her middle age years, although she is actually hundreds of years old. Later incarnations of the character, played by different actresses, would change her skin from green to pale white. Lily usually dresses in an ankle-length pale pink gown that appears faded and old, and she sometimes also wears a scarf. Her necklace features a bat-shaped medallion. When away from the Munster house, she often wears a long silver cape with a hood, which in reality is a casket liner. In the episode "Munsters Masquerade", Lily demonstrates the ability to float in the air while dancing.

Maps Lily Munster

Development

Lily was not in the original pilot episode of The Munsters. Instead, Herman is married to a much more Gothic-looking wife named Phoebe, played by Joan Marshall. The producers scrapped the Phoebe character after deciding she seemed almost an exact double of the Morticia Addams character on The Addams Family. Lily appeared in the second pilot and all other episodes. In the pilot, the Phoebe character was depicted as more goth in nature, and also has a somewhat abrasive bickering relationship with Herman and a strained relationship with Eddie, both elements toned down with Lily.

Yvonne De Carlo was cast for the role in March 1964. When first cast, Gwynne and Lewis went to the producers and complained because De Carlo was a movie star of long standing and they were worried that she would not fit in. However, after a few shows, they had to admit they had been wrong, and all got on well.

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See also

• Vampira
• Elvira
• Morticia Addams

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References

Source of article : Wikipedia

Idiopathic hypersomnia

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Idiopathic hypersomnia is a neurological disorder which is characterized primarily by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). It has historically been rarely diagnosed and is often very difficult to diagnose at an early stage; it is usually a lifelong chronic disease, which is often debilitating. There is a very low level of public awareness of idiopathic hypersomnia, which often leads to stigma for those who suffer from it. There is currently no cure, but there are several off-label treatments, which are primarily FDA-approved narcolepsy medications. Research funding for its study is scarce.

In the medical literature, idiopathic hypersomnia may also be referred to as IH, IHS, primary hypersomnia, central hypersomnia, or hypersomnia of brain origin. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) defines idiopathic hypersomnia as EDS without narcolepsy or the associated features of other sleep disorders. It occurs in the absence of medical problems or sleep disruptions, such as sleep apnea, that can cause secondary hypersomnia, and is therefore considered a subset of the primary hypersomnias, which 'are thought to arise from problems with the brain's systems that regulate sleep and wake.'

Video Idiopathic hypersomnia

Classification

In addition to differentiating between the primary and secondary hypersomnias, the 2001 International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD) further classified the primary hypersomnia syndromes. These included idiopathic hypersomnia, narcolepsy, and the recurrent hypersomnias (like Klein-Levin syndrome).

The 2001 ICSD defines idiopathic hypersomnia as "a disorder of presumed central nervous system cause that is associated with a normal or prolonged major sleep episode and excessive sleepiness consisting of prolonged (1- to 2-hour) sleep episodes of N-REM"(non-rapid eye movement sleep). The ICSD initially described two clinical forms of idiopathic hypersomnia: "1) a polysymptomatic form with nocturnal sleep and naps of abnormally long duration with 'sleep drunkenness' on awakening, and 2) a monosymptomatic form manifested by isolated EDS." These forms were later described as idiopathic hypersomnia with long sleep time and idiopathic hypersomnia without long sleep time, respectively.

This classification has steadily evolved, as further research has shown overlap between narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia. The 3rd edition of the ICSD labels narcolepsy caused by hypocretin deficiency as "type 1 narcolepsy," which is almost always associated with cataplexy. The other hypersomnias remain subdivided based on the presence of sleep-onset rapid eye movement periods (SOREMPs). They are labeled: "type 2 narcolepsy," with 2 or more SOREMPs on multiple sleep latency testing (MSLT); and "idiopathic hypersomnia," with less than 2 SOREMPS.

However, "there is no evidence that the pathophysiology or therapeutic response is substantially different for hypersomnia with or without SOREMPs on the MSLT." Given the newly understood overlap of idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy, the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders also updated its classification of the primary hypersomnias. It reclassified both idiopathic hypersomnia with and without long sleep time as major somnolence disorder (MSD). Additionally, MSD encompasses all syndromes of hypersomnolence not explained by low hypocretin, including not only idiopathic hypersomnia, but also narcolepsy without cataplexy, and long sleepers (patients requiring >10 hours sleep/day).

Further complicating these updated classification schemes, overlap between narcolepsy with cataplexy and idiopathic hypersomnia has also been reported. A subgroup of narcoleptics with long sleep time, comprising 18% of narcoleptics in one study, had symptoms of both narcolepsy with cataplexy and idiopathic hypersomnia (long sleep time and unrefreshing naps). It is felt that this subgroup might have dysfunction in multiple arousal systems. (See Causes section below).

Maps Idiopathic hypersomnia

Signs and symptoms

Those who suffer from idiopathic hypersomnia have recurring episodes of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). These occur in spite of "adequate, or more typically, extraordinary sleep amounts (e.g., greater than 10 hours per night)." Sleep is usually deep, with significant difficulty arousing from sleep, even with use of several alarm clocks. In fact, patients with IH often must develop elaborate rituals to wake, as alarm clocks and even physical attempts by friends/family to wake them may fail. Despite getting more hours of sleep than typically required by the human body, patients awake unrefreshed and may also suffer sleep inertia, known more descriptively in its severe form as sleep drunkenness (significant disorientation upon awakening). Daytime naps are generally very long (up to several hours) and are also unrefreshing, as opposed to the short refreshing naps associated with narcolepsy. Sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations may also occur, as well as motor hyper-reactivity.

Several studies have shown increased frequencies of other symptoms in patients with idiopathic hypersomnia, although it is not clear whether these symptoms are caused by the idiopathic hypersomnia. These symptoms include palpitations, digestive problems, difficulty with body temperature regulation, and cognitive problems, especially deficits in memory, attention, and concentration. Anxiety and depression are often increased in idiopathic hypersomnia, most likely as a response to chronic illness. A large case series in 2010 found that peripheral vascular symptoms, such as cold hands and feet (Raynaud's-type phenomena) were significantly more common in people with idiopathic hypersomnia than in controls. In addition to difficulty with temperature regulation and Raynaud's type symptoms, other symptoms associated with autonomic dysfunction were noted to occur in idiopathic hypersomnia. These included: fainting episodes (syncope); dizziness upon arising (orthostatic hypotension); and headaches (possibly migrainous in quality). Food cravings and impotence have also been reported.

Symptom intensity often varies between weeks, months, or years, and symptoms can worsen just prior to menses in women. Many patients are chronically tardy to work, school or social engagements and, over time, may lose the ability to function in family, social, occupational or other settings altogether. (See Prognosis section below).

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Causes

Unlike narcolepsy with cataplexy, which has a known cause (autoimmune destruction of hypocretin-producing neurons), the cause of idiopathic hypersomnia has, until recently, been largely unknown, hence its name. However, researchers have identified a few abnormalities associated with IH, which with further study may help to clarify the etiology.

Destruction of noradrenergic neurons has produced hypersomnia in experimental animal studies, and injury to adrenergic neurons has also been shown to lead to hypersomnia. Idiopathic hypersomnia has also been associated with a malfunction of the norepinephrine system and decreased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) histamine levels.

Researchers have recently found an abnormal hypersensitivity to GABA (the major brain chemical responsible for sedation) in a subset of patients with central hypersomnia i.e.: idiopathic hypersomnia, narcolepsy without cataplexy and long sleepers. They have identified a small (500 to 3000 daltons) naturally occurring bioactive substance (most likely a peptide as it is trypsin-sensitive) in the CSF of afflicted patients. Although this substance requires further identification of its chemical structure, it is currently referred to as a "somnogen" because it has been shown to cause hyper-reactivity of GABA_A receptors, which leads to increased sedation or somnolence. In essence, it is as though these patients are chronically sedated with a benzodiazepine (medication which acts through the GABA system) such as Versed or Xanax, even though they do not take these medications.

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Diagnosis

Idiopathic hypersomnia has historically been "difficult to diagnose at an early stage," especially because many other disorders can cause symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Therefore, "at the time of presentation, most patients have had the disorder for many years."

Further complicating the diagnostic process, idiopathic hypersomnia lacks a clearly defining clinical feature. Whereas narcolepsy is associated with cataplexy and sleep-onset REM episodes, and Kleine-Levin syndrome is associated with megaphagia (compulsive food cravings) and hypersexuality, idiopathic hypersomnia has no such dramatic associated features, except perhaps sleep drunkenness. "Consequently there has been an unfortunate tendency to label all difficult-to-classify cases of excessive daytime sleepiness as idiopathic hypersomnia." For example, upper airway resistance syndrome and delayed sleep phase disorder were formerly confused with idiopathic hypersomnia, but now that they have been more clearly defined, doctors can more carefully exclude these causes of EDS in order to more correctly diagnose idiopathic hypersomnia. However, "even in the presence of other specific causes of hypersomnia, one should carefully assess the contribution of these etiological factors to the complaint of EDS and when specific treatments of these conditions fail to suppress EDS, the [additional] diagnosis of idiopathic hypersomnia should be considered."

The severity of EDS can be quantified by subjective scales, such as the Epworth sleepiness scale and the Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS), and also by objective tests, like the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT)."

In 2001, the ICSD (International Classification of Sleep Disorders) updated their criteria for the diagnosis of idiopathic hypersomnia. Essentially, EDS must be present for at least 6 months, sleep studies (polysomnography and multiple sleep latency test) must show certain characteristics, and all other known causes for long sleep time and EDS must be considered (see hypersomnia). For the patient, this diagnostic process is often tedious, expensive and time-consuming, as other than the sleep studies, it is still basically a diagnosis of exclusion.

In patients with idiopathic hypersomnia, polysomnography typically shows short sleep latency, increased mean slow wave sleep, and a high mean sleep efficiency. "Latency to REM sleep and percentages of light sleep and REM sleep were normal, compared with normal ranges." Despite this, one study has found increased sleep fragmentation in patients with idiopathic hypersomnia without long sleep time, suggesting multiple possible presentations.

It is important to note that although sleep latencies are typically short in idiopathic hypersomnia, the clinical severity may not correlate closely with the MSLT results. In fact, "latencies above 5 minutes are not uncommon in patients with clinically severe hypersomnia." When sleep latency is below 10 minutes, the presence of sleep-onset REM periods (SOREMPs) in two or more of the MSLT naps suggests a diagnosis of narcolepsy, whereas sleep periods lacking rapid eye movement (NREM sleep) in the various naps suggests a diagnosis of idiopathic hypersomnia. However, the importance of this differentiation between REM and NREM has been called into question. (see Classification)

Although the MSLT is currently the best available test to diagnose EDS in general, the MSLT protocol lacks the ability to document the extended, unrefreshing daytime naps that often occur in idiopathic hypersomnia. Complicating the matter, several groups of researchers have found normal MSLT results in patients who otherwise seem to have idiopathic hypersomnia. Therefore, when idiopathic hypersomnia is suspected, researchers suggest appending a 24-hour continuous polysomnography to the standard overnight/MSLT study in order to record total sleep time. Alternatively, an assay of the patient's cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be performed in order to test for an adequate level of hypocretin (to exclude narcolepsy with cataplexy) and to determine whether the patient's CSF abnormally boosts GABA_A receptor sensitivity (thought to underlie many cases of idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy without cataplexy). Globally, there are very few labs capable of performing the CSF assays referenced above.

It is also important to note that whereas narcolepsy is strongly associated with the HLA-DQB1*0602 genotype, "HLA typing is of no help in the positive diagnosis of idiopathic hypersomnia." This is "despite some reports that suggest an increase frequency of HLA Cw2 and DRS in idiopathic hypersomnia subjects."

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Management

Currently, there is no cure for idiopathic hypersomnia. Also, because the underlying disease mechanism is not yet fully understood (see Causes), treatment efforts have usually focused on symptom management. Although there are several FDA-approved medications for use in narcolepsy, there are no FDA-approved medicines for idiopathic hypersomnia. Therefore, the wake-promoting medications used in narcolepsy are also commonly used off-label to help manage the excessive daytime sleepiness of idiopathic hypersomnia. "These treatments have not been studied to nearly the same extent in patients with idiopathic hypersomnia, and some patients with idiopathic hypersomnia do not achieve adequate control of symptoms with these medications."

However, current research is raising the possibility of several other potential medication options for idiopathic hypersomnia. "As the brain systems regulating sleepiness and wakefulness are better understood, scientists will be in a better position to design treatments that target key portions of this system." (see Research)

In addition to medications, "behavioral approaches and sleep hygiene techniques are recommended, although they have little overall positive impact on this disease." "Planned naps are unhelpful, as they are both long and unrefreshing." Although behavioral approaches have not been shown to improve EDS, the goal, as in CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), is often to help patients learn to reduce their negative emotional responses (e.g. frustration, anger, depression) to their disease symptoms. Furthermore, because idiopathic hypersomnia "may lead to marriage breakdown, extensive counseling for the patient's partners, educating them about the symptomatology and treatment options, must be part of a comprehensive management plan... Education of relatives, friends, and colleagues helps the patient to function much better with this incurable disease."

Although management of idiopathic hypersomnia is not well codified, it is recommended that initial therapy be conservative, focusing on behavioral modifications and medications such as modafinil and atomoxetine. However, treatment "may have to be more aggressive (high-dose stimulants, sodium oxybate, etc.) on a case-by-case, empirical trial basis. As cause and evolution are unknown in these conditions, it is important to challenge diagnosis and therapy over time."

Overall, the medications currently used for idiopathic hypersomnia (all off-label) are far from satisfactory. CNS stimulants tend to be less effective for idiopathic hypersomnia than they are for narcolepsy and may be less well tolerated.

Stimulants

There are several stimulants approved by the FDA for treatment of excessive sleepiness due to narcolepsy. These include methylphenidate (e.g., Ritalin) and dextroamphetamine, among others. Selegiline may also be useful, as it is "primarily a metabolic precursor of amphetamine and exerts most of its therapeutic effects through amphetamine metabolism." Increased dopamine release is felt to be the main property explaining wake-promotion from these medications. Although stimulants can effectively reduce sleepiness in the short to medium term, they are rarely effective long-term, as patients frequently become resistant to their effects. In addition, there are unpleasant potential side effects, which include heart problems, aggressive behavior, and dependence. Insomnia is another common side effect and may require additional treatment.

Mazindol is a stimulant similar to amphetamines that "has been shown to be effective in treating hypersomnia in narcoleptics." However, it is not currently approved in the US.

Caffeine is one of the safer nondopaminergic wake-promoting compounds. It is widely used but "has intolerable side effects at high doses (including cardiovascular), and it is generally not efficient enough for patients with hypersomnia or narcolepsy."

Wakefulness promoting medications

The non-stimulant wake-promoting medications approved for use in narcolepsy include modafinil and armodafinil. Their pharmacology is not completely understood, but these medications "appear to influence brain chemistry that increases wakefulness." They elevate hypothalamic histamine levels, and they are known to bind to the dopamine transporter, thereby inhibiting dopamine reuptake. Modafinil can cause uncomfortable side effects, including nausea, headache, and a dry mouth for some patients, while other patients report no noticeable improvement even on relatively high dosages. They may also "interact with low-dose contraceptives, potentially reducing efficacy, although the scientific data supporting this claim is weak and rests on poorly documented anecdotes." New histamine-directed wake-promoting medications are currently under development (see Histamine-directed medications).

Atomoxetine (or reboxetine in Europe) is an adrenergic reuptake inhibitor which increases wakefulness (generally less strongly than the medications which act on dopamine) and which has been argued to have a "clear use in the therapeutic arsenal against narcolepsy and hypersomnia although undocumented by clinical trials."

Ritanserin is a serotonin antagonist that has "been shown to improve daytime alertness and subjective sleep quality in patients on their usual narcolepsy medications." It is intended as an adjunct (supplement to another main therapeutic agent), and although it is not available in the US, it is available in Europe.

Although anti-depressants, in general, have not been found to be helpful for treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, bupropion specifically is known to have wake-promoting effects. Bupropion is a relatively weak inhibitor of the neuronal uptake of 29 norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine, and does not inhibit monoamine oxidase.(FDA Prescribing Information)

Sleep promoting medications

Sleep promoting medications can help by ensuring effective sleep as well as sleep at an appropriate time.

Sodium oxybate is an orphan drug which was designed specifically for the treatment of narcolepsy. It has been shown to promote deep sleep and improve daytime sleepiness (as well as cataplexy) in patients with narcolepsy; however, "its effects in those with idiopathic hypersomnia are not well characterized." Common side effects include nausea, dizziness, and hallucinations. A 2016 study by Leu-Semenescu et al. found sodium oxybate improved daytime sleepiness in idiopathic hypersomnia to the same degree as in patients with narcolepsy type 1, and the drug improved severe sleep inertia in 71% of the hypersomnia patients.

Histamine-directed medications

"Based on the role of histamine in keeping people awake (and hence the common side effect of anti-histamines such as diphenhydramine causing sleepiness), medications that act on histamine are under development for the treatment of excessive sleepiness." It remains to be seen whether these H3 antagonists (i.e., compounds such as pitolisant that promote the release of the wake-promoting amine histamine) will be particularly useful as wake-promoting agents in the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia.

GABA-directed medications

Given the possible role of hyperactive GABA_A receptors in idiopathic hypersomnia, medications that could counteract this activity are being studied to test their potential to improve sleepiness. These currently include clarithromycin and flumazenil.

Flumazenil

Flumazenil is the only GABA_A receptor antagonist on the market as of Jan 2013. Flumazenil is currently available in lozenge and topical cream form from the Pavilion Compounding pharmacy in Atlanta https://www.pavilioncompounding.com It is also currently manufactured as an intravenous formulation. It is approved by the FDA for use in anesthesia reversal and benzodiazepine overdose. However, given its pharmacology, researchers consider it to be a promising medication in the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia. Results of a small, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial were published in November 2012. This research showed that flumazenil provides relief for most patients whose CSF contains the unknown "somnogen" that enhances the function of GABA_A receptors, making them more susceptible to the sleep-inducing effect of GABA. For one patient, daily administration of flumazenil by sublingual lozenge and topical cream has proven effective for several years. A 2014 case report also showed improvement in idiopathic hypersomnia symptoms after treatment with a continuous subcutaneous flumazenil infusion. The supply of generic flumazenil was initially thought to be too low to meet the potential demand for treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia. However, this scarcity has eased, and dozens of patients are now being treated with flumazenil off-label.

Clarithromycin

In a test tube model, clarithromycin (an antibiotic approved by the FDA for the treatment of infections) was found to return the function of the GABA system to normal in patients with idiopathic hypersomnia. Investigators therefore treated a few patients with off-label clarithromycin, and most felt their symptoms improved with this treatment. In order to help further determine whether clarithromycin is truly beneficial for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, a small, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial was completed in 2012. "In this pilot study, clarithromycin improved subjective sleepiness in GABA-related hypersomnia. Larger trials of longer duration are warranted." In 2013, a retrospective review evaluating longer-term clarithromycin use showed efficacy in a large percentage of patients with GABA-related hypersomnia. "It is important to note that the positive effect of clarithromycin is secondary to a benzodiazepine antagonist-like effect, not its antibiotic effects, and treatment must be maintained."

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Prognosis

Idiopathic hypersomnia is a lifelong disorder (with only rare spontaneous remissions) whose symptoms typically begin in adolescence or young adulthood. It is initially progressive, but may stabilize, and its main consequences are professional and social.

Idiopathic hypersomnia profoundly affects work, education, and quality of life. Patients are often too sleepy to work or attend school regularly, and they are predisposed "to develop serious performance decrements in multiple areas of function as well as to potentially life-threatening domestic, work-related and driving accidents." Furthermore, these risks are higher for idiopathic hypersomnia patients than for those with sleep apnea or severe insomnia. In fact, "the most severe cases of daytime somnolence are found in patients affected by narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnia." And idiopathic hypersomnia is often as, if not more, disabling than narcolepsy; surprisingly, excessive daytime sleepiness is even more handicapping than the cataplectic attacks of narcolepsy.

Due to the consequences of their profound EDS, both idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy can often result in unemployment. Several studies have shown a high rate of unemployment in narcoleptics (from 30-59%), which was felt to be related to the severe symptoms of their illness.

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Epidemiology

Typically, the symptoms of idiopathic hypersomnia begin in adolescence or young adulthood, although they can begin at a later age. After onset, hypersomnia often worsens over several years, but it is often stable by the time of diagnosis and appears to be a lifelong condition. Spontaneous remission is only seen in 10-15% of patients.

According to the limited epidemiological data that exists, IH "has more of a female preponderance (1.8/1)." Family cases are frequent, in a range from 25% to 66% without any clear mode of inheritance."

Idiopathic hypersomnia has long been considered a rare disease, believed to be 10 times less frequent than narcolepsy. The prevalence of narcolepsy (with cataplexy) is estimated between 1/3,300 and 1/5,000. Although the true prevalence of idiopathic hypersomnia is unknown, it is estimated at 1/10,000 - 1/25,000 for the long sleep form and 1/11,000 to 1/100,000 without long sleep. A more precise estimate "is complicated by a lack of clear biologic markers" and a lack of "unambiguous diagnostic criteria."

Because idiopathic hypersomnia has been considered a rare disease, it has not received enough attention from authorities and researchers. "Patients are rare, researchers and scientists involved in the field are few and research findings are therefore scarce." "In Europe and in North America there is now a public health concern about helping patients and families affected by these rare diseases. Due to the complexity of the disease, they often experience difficulties to be diagnosed and often face social and professional consequences." (see Prognosis)

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Society and culture

Idiopathic hypersomnia is a rarity in the public eye and has a very low level of public awareness.

Because of this low awareness, patients with idiopathic hypersomnia "often need significant support because they are at risk of being misunderstood as being incompetent or slothful. Therefore, education of relatives, friends, and colleagues helps the patient to function much better with this incurable disease."

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Research

L-carnitine

Abnormally low levels of acylcarnitine have been observed in patients with narcolepsy. These same low levels have been associated with primary hypersomnia in general in mouse studies. "Mice with systemic carnitine deficiency exhibit a higher frequency of fragmented wakefulness and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and reduced locomotor activity." Administration of acetyl-L-carnitine was shown to improve these symptoms in mice. A subsequent human trial found that narcolepsy patients given L-carnitine spent less total time in daytime sleep than patients who were given placebo.

Levothyroxine

There have been some studies suggesting levothyroxine as a possible treatment for idiopathic hypersomnia, especially for patients with subclinical hypothyroidism. This treatment does carry potential risks (especially for patients without hypothyroidism or subclinical hypothroidism), which include cardiac arrhythmia.

Melatonin

There have been a few studies suggesting melatonin could be helpful in the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia. One small study used a dose of 2 mg slow release melatonin at bedtime and showed 50% of patients with "shortened nocturnal sleep duration, decreased sleep drunkenness and relieved daytime sleepiness."

Hypocretin agonists

Hypocretin-1 has been shown to be strongly wake-promoting in animal models, but it does not cross the blood-brain barrier. Suvorexant, a hypocretin receptor antagonist, has been developed to limit the natural effects of hypocretin in patients with insomnia. It is therefore possible that a hypocretin agonist may be similarly developed for the treatment of hypersomnia.

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References

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External links

• Help: I can't stay awake! - Public Radio Interview with Dr. David Rye
• Living with hypersomnia: The woman who slept, but got no rest - CNN Vital Signs

Source of article : Wikipedia

Dark Angel (TV series)

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Dark Angel is an American cyberpunk television series that premiered on the Fox network on October 3, 2000. Created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee, it starred Jessica Alba in her breakthrough role. Set in 2019, the series chronicles the life of Max Guevara (Alba), a genetically enhanced super-soldier who escapes from a covert military facility as a child. In a post-apocalyptic Seattle, she tries to lead a normal life, while eluding capture by government agents and searching for her brothers and sisters scattered in the aftermath of their escape. Dark Angel was the first and only series produced by the company Cameron/Eglee Productions, and was filmed in Vancouver at Lions Gate Studios.

The high-budget pilot episode marked Cameron's television debut and was heavily promoted by Fox, reaching 17.4 million viewers. The first season, which was shown on Tuesday nights in the U.S., received mainly positive reviews and won several awards, including the People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama. Alba's portrayal of Max also received mostly positive reviews and several awards. For the second season the show was moved to the less desirable air time of Friday night, and received some criticism for new plot elements. It suffered from a ratings drop, averaging 6 million viewers per episode, and was cancelled.

A series of novels continued the storyline, and a video game adaptation was also released. Dark Angel is considered to have gothic and female empowerment themes; Max followed a long line of strong female characters in Cameron's work, including Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley, and Dark Angel is considered to be part of a wave of shows in the late 90s and early 2000s that feature strong female characters, alongside Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess, and La Femme Nikita.

Video Dark Angel (TV series)

Plot

Season one

In 2009, a genetically enhanced nine-year-old female supersoldier designated as X5-452 (Geneva Locke) escapes along with eleven others from a secret U.S. government institution codenamed Manticore where they were born, raised, and trained to be soldiers and assassins. On June 1, 2009, months after X5-452's escape, terrorists detonate an electromagnetic pulse weapon in the atmosphere over the U.S. which destroys the vast majority of computer and communication systems, throwing the country into chaos.

Ten years later in 2019, the now 19-year-old X5-452 (Jessica Alba), who calls herself Max Guevara, struggles to search for her Manticore brothers and sisters. In a recovering United States which is now barely more than a Third World nation she tries to live a relatively normal life and evade capture by Manticore, who wish to recover their lost asset. Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly), an underground cyber-journalist with the alias Eyes Only, attempts to recruit her to help fight corruption in the post-Pulse world. She initially refuses but accepts after Cale is rendered a paraplegic attempting the assignment he was recruiting her for. A romantic interest buds between the two. While assisting Cale, Max also makes a living as a bicycle messenger at Jam Pony, a courier company, along with her friends Original Cindy (Valarie Rae Miller), Herbal Thought (Alimi Ballard), and Sketchy (Richard Gunn). Other X5s are periodically introduced, most significantly the unit leader Zack (William Gregory Lee). The Manticore hunt for the escaped X5s is led by Colonel Donald Lydecker (John Savage). Near the end of the season Lydecker is betrayed by his superior, the even more ruthless Elizabeth Renfro (Nana Visitor), and he defects from Manticore. He aids Max and Zack in an assault on Manticore headquarters. Max is badly wounded and captured. Zack, who has also been captured, commits suicide to provide Max with his heart, as she needs an X5 heart transplant to survive.

Season two

Cale exposes Manticore to the world. Renfro decides to burn the facility to cover up the evidence and is killed in the process. Aided by Joshua (Kevin Durand), a transgenic with canine DNA, Max escapes the facility and frees the other transgenics including Alec (Jensen Ackles), a fellow X5, who later joins Jam Pony. When Max is reunited with Cale he immediately becomes ill and almost dies. Max discovers that Manticore has infected her with a virus specifically designed to kill Cale, and the two must avoid all physical contact to keep him alive. Max learns that Joshua was the first transgenic created by Sandeman, Manticore's founder. Over the course of the season, it is revealed that a millennia-old breeding cult has bred their own super-soldiers who rival the Manticore-produced transgenics. Ames White (Martin Cummins), a government agent tasked with eliminating the freed transgenics, is revealed to be a member of the cult. When a strange message written in Max's genetic code makes an appearance on her skin it is revealed that Sandeman is a renegade from the breeding cult and Ames White is his son. White is still loyal to the cult and hates his father's transgenic creations with a passion. Believing that Max is a threat to the breeding cult's plans they attempt to kill her, but she escapes to Terminal City, an abandoned part of Seattle where hundreds of outcast transgenics have been hiding. When the police begin to surround Terminal City Max convinces the other transgenics to stand their ground rather than run. The series ends with the military surrounding Terminal City as the residents raise their newly designed flag from one of the buildings, and wait for a possible invasion.

Maps Dark Angel (TV series)

Cast and characters

The first season introduced Jessica Alba as the main character Max Guevara (X5-452), a genetically enhanced transgenic super-soldier who escaped from a government facility named Manticore. She works as a bike messenger for courier company Jam Pony during the day and as a cat burglar at night. Michael Weatherly played Logan Cale, the show's second most prominent character. Cale is a wealthy cyber-journalist and vigilante who operates under the alias Eyes Only. He recruits Max to assist with his campaign against corruption and crime in return for helping her find information on her fellow Manticore escapees. Main roles were given to several of the couriers at Jam Pony, including Valarie Rae Miller as Cynthia "Original Cindy" McEachin, Richard Gunn as Calvin "Sketchy" Theodore, and Alimi Ballard as Herbal Thought. J. C. MacKenzie played Reagan "Normal" Ronald, the company's boss, and Jennifer Blanc played Kendra Maibaum, Max's first roommate, and John Savage played the main antagonist, Col. Donald Lydecker, who is trying to recapture Max and the other Manticore escapees.

The Lydecker character is written out of the series early in the second season, and Herbal Thought and Kendra Maibaum do not appear at all. Season two introduced Kevin Durand as Joshua, an experimental creature from Manticore who has distinct canine facial features. It also introduces Jensen Ackles as Alec McDowell (X5-494), an X5 who has a romantic interest in Max, and Ashley Scott as Asha Barlow, a resistance fighter who has a romantic interest in Cale. Martin Cummins portrayed the season's main antagonist Ames White, a National Security Agency agent tasked with destroying the Manticore escapees.

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Production

Background

Following his success with the film Titanic, director James Cameron teamed up with Charles H. Eglee with whom he had previously worked on projects including Piranha II: The Spawning. The two formed a production company, Cameron/Eglee Productions, and began working on ideas for a television series. They considered several options, including a family drama, before deciding on the idea of Dark Angel. Cameron said they began with the idea that Max would be a genetic construct who "looked normal on the outside but was different on the cellular, genetic level. We explore what that could mean." Dark Angel would be the first and only work by Cameron/Eglee Productions. Max followed a long line of strong female characters in Cameron's work, including Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley. Cameron said "it's a win/win situation" as "women respond to characters who appear strong and capable" and young male audiences "want to see girls kick ass". Later they decided to set the series in a post-social collapse world, saying that the hysteria surrounding Y2K served as inspiration; in the series, an electromagnetic pulse previously destroyed every computer in the United States. Working titles for the series included "Experimental Girl" and "Maximum Girl". The project marked Cameron's television debut; he worked mainly as a writer and executive producer for the series.

Casting and filming

More than a thousand young actresses were considered for the part of Max. Cameron started reviewing audition tapes when the field had been narrowed down to twenty or thirty applicants. He was initially not impressed with Alba's audition tape, saying "she had her head down, she was reading out of the script ... she didn't present herself all that well. But there was something about the way she read the script that copped an attitude that I liked." Cameron continually reviewed the audition tapes but kept coming back to Alba's, eventually deciding that he needed to meet her. Alba was hired for the role before the script was written. Eglee said: "We had the benefit of being able to write a script kind of backwards, we were writing for this actress, with her cadences and her rhythms and her sensibilities and her attitude and her slang." To train for the role, Alba spent a year doing martial arts and gymnastics and riding motorcycles.

The two-hour premiere episode cost up to $10 million to produce, and Cameron reportedly "brought the pilot in on time and on budget". Subsequent episodes had a considerably smaller budget. Fox spent heavily on the promotional campaign for the premiere, paying for theatrical trailers, billboards, and guerilla marketing. Cameron took a "very basic view" of the show's chance of success, saying: "If it flies, it flies. If it doesn't, it doesn't ... If people connect with it, which I hope they will, fine. If we don't find an audience, we deserve to be off the air. It's that simple." Eglee admitted the series had been "routinely overbudget" in the first season, and feared that this would be a factor in whether or not the show was renewed for a second season, though Cameron downplayed these concerns.

Fox "just barely" renewed the series for a second season. The budget for episodes in season two was $1.3 million each. After the intended director of the final episode did not work out, Cameron decided to step in and fill the position. He did this partially for the experience but also to show the network the potential for a third season. It was his first experience directing a TV drama.

The producers were initially told a third season had been approved, but two days later Fox informed them that the series had been cancelled.

They called us on Saturday and told us we were on schedule and we'd been picked up. We got together Saturday night and celebrated. Sunday goes by, and Monday morning we get a call saying, 'No, you're not on the schedule! It's been changed.' I've never heard of that happening. But then, I'd never been around television. ... We were supposed to be on a plane on Monday to go to the [network] upfront in New York on Tuesday. They called us that day and told us not to go! I was pissed!

Dark Angel was set in Seattle, and filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, at Lions Gate Studios. Other filming locations included the Vancouver Art Gallery, as well as Buntzen Lake and Riverview Hospital, also in British Columbia.

Unproduced season

In the DVD commentary for "Freak Nation", the series finale, Charles H. Eglee explained what had been planned for season three. The intention was to bring together the storylines of seasons one ("Manticore") and two ("Breeding Cult") and reveal the mythology of Dark Angel. The season would reveal that thousands of years ago, Earth passed through a comet's tail which deposited viral material that killed 97% of the human race. The breeding cult preserved the survivors' genetic immunity, so that when the comet returned, only members of the cult would survive. Sandeman, a cult member and Max's creator, betrayed the cult and decided to give this genetic immunity to the rest of humanity through Max, who would be the savior of the human race. There were multiple ideas on how to spread Max's immunity, including an air burst that would disperse the antibody through the atmosphere, or attaching the immunity to a common cold virus (Eglee detailed how a scene would show Original Cindy sneezing as part of the beginning of the immunity spread). This storyline is expanded upon in the final Dark Angel novel After the Dark though when the comet returns nobody falls ill, and it is believed that the cult simply had a false prediction.

Broadcast history

The first season premiered in the United States on Tuesday, October 3, 2000, from 9:00 pm until 11:00 pm. Fox had to obtain agreements from its affiliates to broadcast past 10:00 pm, as most of them air local news programs at this time. In subsequent weeks the show aired from 9:00 pm till 10:00 pm Tuesdays. During its first season, the show was preempted on several occasions, including by the 2000 World Series, the Billboard Music Awards and coverage of the presidential election. The frequent preemptions became a running joke on the set. Dark Angel's scheduled air time put it in direct competition with Angel on The WB. Critics debated which of the similarly named shows would dominate the time-slot. Jonathon Storm from Philadelphia Media Network believed that Dark Angel would prove victorious, while Brad Adgate, a research director at Horizon Media, predicted that Dark Angel would only initially take the lead in the ratings, as Angel's strong fanbase would prevail in the long run. Brad Turrell, executive vice-president of Network Communication for the WB conceded that the heavy promotion for Dark Angel would give it higher initial ratings at first but believed that as Angel was a "better show" it would not be affected long-term. Concerned that there might be confusion between the two shows, the WB took out a full page ad in TV Guide, which read "There is only ONE. David Boreanaz is ANGEL." Angel won the time slot when Fox moved the broadcast time of Dark Angel to 8:00 pm on Fridays for its second season, where it preceded the new series Pasadena.

The final episode of the series aired on May 3, 2002, as a special 90-minute episode. Dark Angel has been syndicated on Syfy and the El Rey Network in the United States and on E4 and the Horror Channel in the UK.

Music

The score for the Dark Angel pilot was composed and conducted by Joel McNeely. The pilot score track "Bicycle Ride" was used in the end credits for the duration of the series. The pilot score was released in full as part of the original publicity press kit, titled Dark Angel: Complete Score from the Dark Angel Pilot. The 37-track CD was for promotional use only and not for resale. McNeely returned to score the entire series, making frequent use of "grumbling timpani rolls, bass drum beats and shrill brass and violin crescendos that familiarly sketch the action arcs of the narrative." Traditional orchestral elements are integrated with innovative electronic sounds and female vocals to create a sense of Max's "otherworldliness", "haunting wind chimes, pseudo-Orientalist refrains and extenuated high-pitched eerie sounds" evoke Max's super-human abilities, and "driving hip hop bass beats with heavy percussive effects [and] high-pitched feedback and reverberation" convey Max's struggles with violence and her memories of Manticore. The theme song for the series was composed by Chuck D and Gary G-Wiz. Both McNeely and G-Wiz cited Dark Angel as an opportunity to push sonic boundaries; G-Wiz stated that Eglee and music supervisor Randy Gerston kept calling him and telling him to make the theme song "crazier". McNeely said scoring the series was "like the difference between jazz and classical music. I'm a jazz player, so Dark Angel is as free form and as weird as we want to get."

A soundtrack album consisting of hip hop and R&B songs was released on April 23, 2002, through Artemis Records. Eglee explained that he and Cameron began with the idea that they could do a "hip hop youth ensemble thing", noting that "hip hop had become the dominant influence in the country [and] in the world" and that they saw an opportunity to give the future of Dark Angel the soundtrack of contemporary American popular culture. In the soundtrack's liner notes, Eglee writes:

Reminiscent of another time and place ... that part of the Bronx in the late 1970s known as Fort Apache: a place that for white America, defined lack and limitation, violence and hopelessness. What white Americans couldn't see or hear then was the beautiful thing being birthed there, which, years later, would come to be known as Hip Hop. ... This album remembers the foundations of Hip Hop as it contemplates its future.

Randy Gerston said that because of the near future setting of the series, he avoided any major hit songs as these would not sound futuristic. This gave them the opportunity to discover new talent instead. The album features predominately female hip hop and neo soul artists whose lyrics typically "focus on the expression of female agency and power - particularly with regard to sexuality." It peaked at No. 50 on the Top Independent Albums chart. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic gave the soundtrack three out of five stars. He noted the lack of major artists on the album and commented that it "seems to be a female-orientated soundtrack, perhaps because of the show's female lead character". Birchmeier said many of the songs were "quite impressive" and that it "exceeds your expectations for a television show soundtrack".

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Themes

Dark Angel is considered to be in the cyberpunk genre. Writing in Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture, Lorna Jowett considered Dark Angel to be a "hybrid of science fiction, Gothic, and action" which incorporated forms and themes from all three genres. Jowett compared Dark Angel to the Gothic novel Frankenstein, saying that Max's genetic engineering makes her a "postmodern Frankenstein's monster, blurring boundaries between human and monster". Kathleen McConnell in Gothic Studies also compared Max's unconventional conception to Frankenstein's monster, and cited several other Gothic themes in the series. She states that Max fits the model of a Gothic heroine who "ostensibly appear[s] to be conforming to their accepted role within the patriarchy but who actually subvert the father's power at every possible occasion." In her book Post-feminist Impasses in Popular Heroine Television, Alison Horbury theorizes that Dark Angel, along with the shows Alias, La Femme Nikita, and Dollhouse have themes of abduction, physical and symbolic rape, motherlessness, and the discovery of a sister.

Several academics have considered Dark Angel to be part of a wave of shows in the late 90s and early 2000s including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess, and La Femme Nikita that feature strong female characters. Writing in Science Fiction Film & Television, Clarice Butkus noted Max has been considered to be a "distinctly millennial post-third-wave feminist warrior. She also felt that Max's relationship and dialogue with Original Cindy, an African American lesbian, conveyed female empowerment. For example, Cindy encourages Max not to feel guilt over her sexual behaviour and instead to embrace a traditionally masculine approach to sex. McConnell and Jowett also cited Max as an example of female empowerment; Jowett considered Max to be the "usual postmodern, postfeminist representation of the female action hero with [at least] a reversal or [at most] a mixture of traditional gender traits."

Butkus stated that Dark Angel repeatedly paid homage to the film Blade Runner. Lydecker, the "flawed antagonist" of Dark Angel is said to be a transposition of Deckard, the "flawed hero" of Blade Runner. Alec McDowell/X5-494's love interest is named Rachel, believed to be a reference to the replicant Rachael, though in Dark Angel it is McDowell and not Rachel who is bio-engineered. His flashbacks of this traumatic relationship use piano music similar to that used in Blade Runner to denote memories and a desire for former times. Alec's genetic memory enhancements enable him, with only a few hours practice, to play a detailed piano piece by Frédéric Chopin, the composer originally scripted for the scene in Blade Runner where Rachael inexplicably finds herself able to play the piano; both characters are considered to be pre-programmed by state forces to master superhuman skills.

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Reception and legacy

Initial reaction to the series and Max's character was mostly positive, with favorable reviews in Rolling Stone and Time. Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel said: "Television's newest warrior woman possesses skills worthy of Catwoman, Xena, Emma Peel, and Wonder Woman." Howard Rosenberg said: "If pouty faces and sexy walks could destroy, the highly arresting Max would be wiping out the entire planet." However Joyce Millman said Max was "little more than lips and ass" and considered the series to be an expensive Britney Spears music video. People ran a negative review of the Pilot episode in October 2000, though in December they listed Alba's portrayal of Max as among the "breakthrough" performances of 2000.

The first episode was behind only CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as the most watched new show of the week, albeit in a week with fewer new shows because of the presidential debate coverage. Fox chose to debut Dark Angel instead of airing the first presidential debate, a move which TV analyst Marc Berman praised, saying: "The people who watch the debates aren't the people who'll tune into Dark Angel anyway", though he predicted that the premiere's high ratings would not hold up as the show competed against more varied competition in subsequent weeks. It was the tenth most popular show overall that week, attracting 17.4 million viewers. Cameron said he did not know if the broadcast time change for the second season would have a positive or negative effect on the show's ratings, though R. D. Heldenfels of the Sun Journal noted the poor ratings of Friday night television, especially the low viewing rates among 18 to 24-year-olds, the age-group that Dark Angel was most popular with. The new time slot saw a ratings drop; for the 2001-02 season Dark Angel averaged 6 million viewers, ranking number 114 in the Nielsen ratings.

Commenting on the release of the second season, Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters said the first season of Dark Angel was one of the "few straight-up successes, a ratings hit among the coveted 'youth' demographic." She praised the series but clarified: "I'm not getting carried away: Jim Cameron is not going to be making revolutionary art anytime soon." Michael Sauter of Entertainment Weekly gave the first season a B+ and spoke highly of Alba, saying that "for a while [she was] TV's hottest kick-butt heroine". Elka Karl of Common Sense Media gave the entire series 3 out of 5 stars, saying: "While the dialogue sometimes falls flat, overall the show is well-scripted and well acted, and Alba does an excellent job of carrying the series. Dark Angel isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it is compelling television that teen sci-fi fans will enjoy." While praising the first season, Randy Dankievitch of TVOvermind labelled the second season "silly", criticizing "dumb stories" like Max's dream episode "Boo", the virus that prevents Logan and Max having physical contact, and the various half-animal Manticore experiments that are revealed.

Writing in his book The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television, John Kenneth Muir said it was necessary for Cameron to set Dark Angel in the future because the prosperity of the U.S. in 2000 "offered little possibility for crime, squalor and other societal problems". While criticizing certain plot elements in the second season as contributing to the show's downfall, Muir said that larger factors in the ratings drop were the September 11 attacks, the Enron scandal, and the depletion of the U.S. government's surplus, which changed Dark Angel's "futuristic vision of recession in a Third-World America" from an interesting, far-fetched premise to a "depressing reminder that things could still get worse".

In 2004, Max was ranked number 17 on TV Guide's list of the 25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends, and in 2012, Dave Golder of GamesRadar ranked her number 49 on his list of the 100 sexiest women in sci-fi. In 2009, AfterEllen ranked Original Cindy number 6 on their list of the Top 11 Lesbian/Bi Sidekicks. In 2015, Kayti Burt of Den of Geek included Dark Angel at the top of her list of "10 Sci-Fi Shows That Don't Get Enough Love". In 2016, Télérama recognized that Dark Angel was the first American television series to feature an openly transgender actress playing a transgender character. In the season one episode "Out", transgender actress Jessica Crockett portrayed "Louise", a young woman on a date with Normal.

The 2007 film Hitman re-used footage of Max and other Manticore children in training from Dark Angel. It was used to portray the Hitman protagonist Agent 47, a cloned assassin who, like the Manticore children, has a barcode on the back of his head.

Accolades

In its first season Dark Angel won the Favorite Television New Dramatic Series award at the 27th People's Choice Awards, and was nominated for Best Television by the International Horror Guild Awards. The production team was nominated for the Excellence in Production Design Award by the Art Directors Guild. Editor Stephen Mark won Best Edited Motion Picture for Commercial Television at the Eddie Awards for the pilot episode, and the pilot was also nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for the 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards and "Best Visual Effects: Dramatic Series" by the Leo Awards.

Jessica Alba won Best Actress on Television at the 27th Saturn Awards, Breakout Star of the Year at the TV Guide Awards, Outstanding Actress in a New Television Series at the ALMA Awards, and Choice Actress at the 2001 Teen Choice Awards. She also received nominations for Best Actress - Television Series Drama for the 58th Golden Globe Awards and Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Leading Young Actress for the 22nd Young Artist Awards.

Dark Angel was nominated for fewer awards in its second season. It was nominated for Choice Drama/Action Adventure for the 2002 Teen Choice Awards, where Alba was also nominated for Choice Actress, Drama. Alba was also nominated for Outstanding Actress in a Television Series for the ALMA Awards. At the Leo Awards the episode "Boo" received a nomination for Best Visual Effects: Dramatic Series, and David Geddes won Best Cinematography: Dramatic Series for the episode "Two".

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Home media

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released seasons 1 and 2 of Dark Angel on DVD in region 1 (R1), as well as a dual-coded region 2 and 4 (R2/4) set in 2003, as six-disc sets packaged in cardboard sleeves containing three DVD cases each of two discs. Season 1 was released in R2/4 in February and R1 in May, and season 2 was released in R2/4 in June and R1 in October.

The R1 releases contain several special features, including four episodes with optional commentary in each season, bloopers, deleted scenes, and featurettes. The R2/4 releases contain no commentaries and fewer other special features, but the episodes are presented in anamorphic widescreen, while R1 releases are fullscreen. Adam Tyner of DVD Talk gave the R1 first season three out of five stars for audio and video, and three and a half stars for special features. Shannon Nutt of DVD Talk gave the R1 second season three stars out of five for audio and video, and two and a half stars for extras, stating: "it appears [to have] a decent number of features, but then you discover the length of each one and really feel short-changed by Fox". She also noted the episode's commentary was mainly by writers and producers, and did not feature James Cameron or any of the actors.

Both seasons were re-released in R1 on June 5, 2007, with slim packaging consisting of one plastic case containing all six discs (which were unchanged in content and cosmetics).

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Related media

A video game of the same name based on the series was created by Radical Entertainment and released for PlayStation 2 on November 18, 2002, and later on Xbox. Alba and Weatherly voiced their respective characters in the game. Development of the game started before the series was cancelled, and the game was met with mixed to negative reception upon release. Brett Todd of GameSpot gave the game 3.8 out of 10, saying: "Although it's impossible to say whether or not the developers' morale was affected by the cancellation of the series, this third-person action adventure plays like it was cranked out to fulfill a contract" and concluded "the development of this game probably should have been cancelled at the same time as the television series". Duke Ferris from Game Revolution gave the game a 'D+', saying that while fans of Dark Angel would enjoy it as it "mirrors an episode of the show almost exactly", anybody else was likely to find it boring.

Three original novels written by Max Allan Collins expand upon the Dark Angel television series, with two picking up directly where the series ended, and another serving as a prequel. A companion book, Dark Angel: The Eyes Only Dossier, was written by D.A. Stern.

• Dark Angel: Before the Dawn (2002) is a prequel to the television series, detailing Max's life after her escape from Manticore in 2009. After witnessing footage taken in Seattle of a man she believes to be one of her X5 siblings, Max moves from Los Angeles to Seattle, meeting Original Cindy and Kendra on the way, before finding employment at Jam Pony. Max eventually discovers the man in the footage is her brother Seth, who unbeknown to her has been working for Logan as a personal agent. Shortly after being reunited with him at the Space Needle, Seth, who has been injured, commits suicide by falling from it to avoid being captured by Lydecker. Max begins returning to the Space Needle to think and "to be with Seth".
• Dark Angel: Skin Game (2003) immediately follows the events of "Freak Nation", the final episode of season two, describing days in May 2021. Skin Game focuses on a killer terrorizing the streets of Seattle and the growing suspicion and evidence that the killer could be a transgenic. As the killings escalate, the U.S. Army and National Guard prepare themselves for an invasion of Terminal City. Max uncovers that the killer is a shapeshifting transgenic named Kelpy, though he has been unwillingly given a drug by Ames White that is causing his psychosis. When Max reveals this information to the public through Eyes Only, Ames White goes into hiding, and the invasion of Terminal City is called off. When Kelpy takes on Logan's form he is killed by the virus Max carries which was designed to kill Logan.
• Dark Angel: After the Dark (2003) follows Skin Game. It is revealed that Max's virus is gone, the most likely explanation being that when the virus killed Kelpy it went dormant as it believed its mission to kill Logan was accomplished. However, Logan and Max's relationship is thrown into turmoil when he reveals that he inadvertently caused Seth's death by sending him on an assignment. Just as Max is ready to forgive him, Logan is kidnapped by Ames White and the breeding cult, who are preparing for the coming of a comet they believe will destroy everyone except cult-members and transgenics through depositing viral material into Earth's atmosphere. They are trying to kill Max as they believe she possesses a genetic code that will save ordinary humans from the comet's viral material. With the aid of a team of transgenics, Max eventually rescues Logan and destroys the headquarters of the breeding cult; Joshua kills Ames White. When the comet arrives, nobody falls ill, and it is believed the cult's prediction was false. Max finds Lydecker in a prison cell at the cult's headquarters. He promises to help her find her mother if she saves him, and she agrees. The book ends with Logan and Max finally consummating their relationship.

The companion book, Dark Angel: The Eyes Only Dossier, begins with a letter written by Logan Cale during the stand-off at Terminal City. It is addressed to Detective Matt Sung, a recurring character from the series who aides Logan, instructing him that the package he is sending him contains documents pertaining to the four most critical Eyes Only investigations. If he is killed by the potential invasion of Terminal City, Logan wants Sung to carry on the investigations. The rest of the book contains the documents relating to the four investigations.

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References

Bibliography

• Butkus, Clarice (2012). "Sound warrior: Voice, music and power in Dark Angel". Science Fiction Film & Television. Liverpool University Press. 5 (2). ISSN 1754-3770. 
• Collins, Max Allan (June 3, 2003). Dark Angel: After the Dark. Del Rey Books. ISBN 978-0-345-45184-2. 
• Collins, Max Allan (October 1, 2002). Dark Angel: Before the Dawn. Del Rey Books. ISBN 978-0-345-45182-8. 
• Collins, Max Allan (February 4, 2003a). Dark Angel: Skin Game. Del Rey Books. ISBN 978-0-345-45183-5. 
• Garcia, Frank; Phillips, Mark (March 28, 2012). Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-6917-8. 
• Hatfield, Charles (June 24, 2013). The Superhero Reader. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-61703-806-8. 
• Horbury, Alison (2015). Post-feminist Impasses in Popular Heroine Television: The Persephone Complex. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-349-56944-1. 
• Jowett, Lorna (2005). "To the Max: Embodying Intersections in Dark Angel". Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture. 4. ISSN 1547-4348. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. 
• McConnell, Kathleen (2002). "Dark Angel: A Recombinant Pygmalion for the Twenty-First Century". Gothic Studies. Manchester University Press. 4 (2). ISSN 1362-7937. 
• Muir, John Kenneth (July 1, 2008). The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-3755-9. 
• Stern, D.A. (February 4, 2003). Dark Angel: The Eyes Only Dossier. Del Rey Books. ISBN 978-0-345-45185-9. 
• Terrace, Vincent (October 14, 2002). Crime Fighting Heroes of Television: Over 10,000 Facts from 151 Shows, 1949-2001. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1395-9. 
• Wright, Jr., David C; Austin, Allan W (April 6, 2010). Space and Time: Essays on Visions of History in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-5634-5. 

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External links

• Dark Angel on IMDb
• Dark Angel at TV.com
• Official website at Wayback Machine

Source of article : Wikipedia