Scientists led by the University of Illinois' Sue Carter have shown exactly how oxytocin creates that deep sense of attachment and love. It seemed like this neurochemical could be a wonder drug, healing troubled marriages, making lovers true, making children feel secure and loved.

The only problem was, to evoke the bonding effects of oxytocin, Carter had to inject it into the brain. Ouch. Moreover, the effects wear off quickly. Most people would rather stay single.

Today, a small biotech company made an announcement that could change that. Nastech was awarded a patent for using a long-lasting synthetic version of oxytocin to treat breast cancer and psychiatric disorders.

Nastech has a method of delivering drugs via nasal spray; soaking the nasal mucous membranes with substances gives them a better chance of penetrating the blood/brain barrier, according to the company. No needles in the brain.

The patent  mentions use of carbetocin, an oxytocin analog, for possible treatment of autism and obsessive compulsive disorder.

If Nastech can get oxytocin into people easily and effectively, it could revolutionize treatment of reactive attachment disorder as well.

The Grand Rapids Press gives a glimpse into the problem of neglected children in Roumania's orphanages. Child welfare officials from the country, which remains closed to foreign adoption because of the dire conditions under which children were kept, traveled to Michigan to ways to move kids from institutions to foster care.

"At the time of the 1989 collapse of the communist regime, Romania's child welfare system warehoused approximately 170,000 children in orphanages. There were reports of children chained to beds and routinely raised without the affection and touching from adults necessary for normal development. As a result, many developed reactive-attachment disorder, a psychological condition that can produce aberrant or even violent behavior. At the time of the 1989 collapse of the communist regime, Romania's child welfare system warehoused approximately 170,000 children in orphanages. There were reports of children chained to beds and routinely raised without the affection and touching from adults necessary for normal development. As a result, many developed reactive-attachment disorder, a psychological condition that can produce aberrant or even violent behavior," writes Ted Roelofs.

That's some 170,000 people who must try to enter Roumanian society without the ability to give or receive the love they need. It's a true human and social disaster.

Here's a fun  calculator to figure out how long it will take your broken heart to mend.  Calculations differ depending on whether the relationship was short-term, mid-length or long-term -- the latter defined as longer than a year. 

Example:  John was happily married to Mary (he ranked his happiness a 2 out of 3.  He found Mary very attractive, a 3 out of 3.  Mary leaves.  John's heart will take 1 ½ years to recover.

The punchline of the site is an option to buy a (very nice) t-shirt in broken-hearted grey with "regret" or "faith" across the chest.

As I explore the neurochemical basis of the feelings of love and loss, I've been focusing on how we can influence or change those brain chemicals. Certainly some of the things that healmybrokenheart.com suggests could do that: listening to music, walking and reading or writing.

On a boat excursion up the Bosphorus ... a beautiful young woman, fully veiled, wearing the long cloth coat Muslim women often wear here. But she was hanging out with her boyfriend, hand in hand. And she was smoking.

Why doesn't she take off the scarf, too, I wondered. Then I realized that for someone who has covered her hair in public since she was twelve, that would feel as naked as if I bared my breasts on the boat.

Imagine the many textures of eroticism she might be capable of. How exciting to let your lover see your hair for the first time.

--Istanbul