Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Go figure

Just found an article in my piles that I forgot to post-

Infectious burden affects IQ

This is a NEW idea? Seriously? Nobody ever did this analysis before?
Sheesh.

Liars and Criminals

It's not bad enough that the medical device companies lie to the FDA...
The FDA is complicit in the process.
And when they get called out- they cover it up.

FDA Accused of Spying on Staff Over Complaints to Congress
U.S. Food and Drug Administration employees accused the agency spying on staff members who told lawmakers it was improperly approving medical devices used to screen for cancer.
...
The monitoring began three years ago, after nine FDA employees signed a letter to President Barack Obama’s transition team alleging government misconduct in the approval of medical devices, including an imaging device used to diagnose breast cancer, according to the filing. It was expanded in 2010 after the New York Times published an article in which FDA scientists criticized the device-approval process.

They are pushing through defective devices which conduct tests that are of dubious value in the first place.
And then they wonder why medicine is so expensive and everyone is still sick.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Up Late

A good day. I know hope.

Have a song.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Debatable

Schools to serve more-nutritious meals under new guidelines

I guess this depends on what you define as nutritious...
Meals with twice as many fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and less fat...
Schools also must offer only fat-free and low-fat milk varieties.

Fruit loops are still perfectly acceptable. Go figure.

Calling you out

The Maximum-Gluten Diet

Dear Brian Palmer- please post a picture of your sleek and toned vegetarian body.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Circle of Insanity

Mental trauma takes huge toll in Afghan war

I think it might be more efficient and effective if we send in Dentists instead of Drones.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Exciting Results

Compounds in Mate Tea Induce Death in Colon Cancer Cells
Could preventing colon cancer be as simple as developing a taste for yerba mate tea? In a recent University of Illinois study, scientists showed that human colon cancer cells die when they are exposed to the approximate number of bioactive compounds present in one cup of this brew, which has long been consumed in South America for its medicinal properties.
They speculate a lot on inflammation, but other data looks more like it might have an antimicrobial effect.

Same as it ever was

Today is the day the Compliance Nazi called to ask my husband a "few important follow up questions".
Like- Have you lowered your dietary fat intake?
And- Are you eating lots of fruits and vegetables?

We pay that person's salary.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Oh Yeah

This sign was on the wall across from me at my last appointment:

There is nothing the dentist can do which will overcome what the patient will not do.

Heh. They have no clue what we are going to do...

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Why everything annoys me

The volume of the amygdala is reduced an average of 17% in patients with narcolepsy/cataplexy.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Just an observation

One of the few things in Paula Deen's kitchen that DOESN'T contribute to diabetes is the deep fat fryer.

But that doesn't excuse her flagrantly irresponsible behavior.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Things that make me scream

US wants effective Alzheimer's treatment by 2025
The Obama administration is developing the first National Alzheimer's Plan to find better treatments for the disease and offer better day-to-day care for those afflicted.
A newly released draft of the overall goals sets the 2025 deadline, but doesn't provide details of how to fund the necessary research to meet that target date. Today's treatments only temporarily ease some dementia symptoms, and work to find better ones has been frustratingly slow.
A committee of Alzheimer's experts begins a two-day meeting Tuesday to help advise the government on how to finalize the plan.

Who is on this committee and where the hell is this meeting?
Oh wait, the Alzheimer's association is in charge. No wonder they give themselves another decade to figure it out.

THIS DATA ALREADY EXISTS. AND EVERYONE IS IGNORING IT.

Monday, January 16, 2012

He took a lot of naps and painted his dreams

And this one looks just like mine. Rings of light and dark, with a bright yellow/white center.
That is not a coincidence.

Forrest Bess Oil Painting on Antiques Roadshow

Friday, January 13, 2012

This is Why

Suicide is the #3 cause of death for people 15-24 years of age.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Be kind to your orexin cells

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Could Prevent and Treat Nerve Damage
Omega-3 fatty acids are vital for the body's normal growth and development and have been widely researched for their health benefits. Because the body cannot manufacture omega-3 fatty acids, they have to be consumed in foods such as oily fish.
In the new study, researchers first looked at isolated mouse nerve cells. They simulated the type of damage caused by accident or injury, by either stretching the cells or starving them of oxygen. Both types of damage killed a significant number of nerve cells but enrichment with omega-3 fatty acids in cells gave them significant protection and decreased cell death.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

As I was saying

Nicotine could ward off memory loss: study
Half were given a daily nicotine patch for six months, the other half wore a placebo patch. Those on nicotine therapy showed better results on cognitive tests for attention, memory, as well as how fast and consistently they could process information.
After six months on the patch, the nicotine group "regained 46 percent of normal performance for age on long-term memory, whereas the placebo group worsened by 26 percent over the same time period," said the study.

However, the study authors cautioned that older adults should not begin to smoke cigarettes to help their brain function, and said more research is needed to see if the positive effects endure over a long period of time.

Same old song and dance. Here's our data but don't pay attention to it- we might lose patients!

Monday, January 9, 2012

They don't know what their drugs do

Cholesterol meds raise diabetes risk in women: study

Post-menopausal women who take medication to lower their cholesterol face a higher risk of getting diabetes than women who do not take the popular drugs, known as statins, said a US study on Monday.
The link appeared regardless of what type of statin, or what dosage, the women were taking, said the study which included 153,000 women with an average age of 63.

So lets give them to children!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Their vision of your future

Young, Obese and in Surgery
One percent to 2 percent of all weight-loss, or bariatric, operations are on patients under 21, but studies are under way to gauge the outcomes of surgery on children as young as 12. Allergan, the maker of the popular Lap-Band, a surgically inserted silicone band that constricts the stomach to make the patient feel full quickly, is seeking permission from the Food and Drug Administration to market it to patients as young as 14, four years younger than is now allowed. Hospitals across the country have opened bariatric centers for adolescents in recent years.

Doctors who are open to operating on younger patients note there is substantial evidence that dieting frequently fails.

“Most of us have witnessed the medical establishment provide the same advice over and over again to kids who are overweight — they just need to diet and play more outside,” said Dr. Thomas Inge, a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati, who is participating in a National Institutes of Health study of weight-loss surgery on teenagers. “I wish it were that simple.”

Maybe they should do some research and find out why it's not.
But that would never occur to them. They are trained to cut you up, and NOT to consider the possibility that they might be wrong.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Snort


Chris Powell's Tips for Eating Carbs to Drop the Pounds
The average woman consumes about 1,200 calories per day on a low-carb day, 1,500 calories per day on a high-carb day and up to 2,400 calories per day on a cheat day while following the plan, according to Powell.
LMAO.
And to think I was going to call MY plan the Bipolar Diet...

Friday, January 6, 2012

Inconvenient Data

Drug use not tied to mental decline in middle-age
Middle aged adults whose memories have grown hazy can't blame occasional pot smoking or other light illicit drug use, new research suggests.
In a study of nearly 9,000 Britons whose memory and mental function were tested at age 50, researchers found that those who had used illegal drugs as recently as in their 40s did just as well or slightly better on the tests than peers who had never used drugs.
Notice that despite their own evidence, they still give the lecture that drugs cause harm. They cannot break out of their obsolete slippery slope paradigm.

Illicit drug use does not cause mental illness.
Mental illness fosters drug use.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

My new favorite thing

CrossLoop Screen Sharing Software

It lets you control your parent's computer from your own house!!!
Between my brain damage and theirs- I've spend hours on the phone just trying to figure out what the problem is.

Here's a training video that shows how easy it is. AND it's free.
Ahhhh. I love it.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Lies of Omission

Scientists say unreported drug data a health hazard
In a series of studies for the BMJ on the extent to which clinical trial data are made public, researchers found a large proportion of evidence was unreported and much of what was reported by pharmaceutical firms was inadequate.
"Missing data is a serious problem in clinical research," the scientists said about their findings. "It distorts the scientific record, so that clinical decisions cannot be based on the best evidence."

Bonus Brain Eating Zombies

Yeah, I know, this makes three.
But these two women really need to be called out.

How stress is really hurting our kids
“Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease,” the new book by Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith S. Wiley (respectively, a family therapist and a nonprofit worker with a background in family policy), explains just how profoundly babies and young children are affected by traumatic experiences. In the remarkably researched work, the two women show that early life malnutrition and abuse can affect a kid’s nervous system well into adulthood. Children raised in traumatic environments are more prone to cancer, chronic pain and even diabetes.
A family therapist and a non-profit worker with a background in family policy...

They cannot think outside the box.
Notice they completely ignore the part about the malnutrition.
Malnutrition and poverty facilitate dental disease...
These kids have real illnesses caused by real pathogens. And their parents do too.
It's that simple.

Brain Eating Zombie of the Day

French diet guru urges students be graded on weight
France's top diet guru Pierre Dukan is urging the government to grade students on their weight in a bid to curb growing obesity.
In a book to be published Thursday, Dukan suggests that students in their last two years of high school be awarded extra marks if they manage to maintain an acceptable Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

Let's test him on his knowledge of food allergies and hyperinsulinemia...

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Brave New World

A number of people have asked me for a "cognitively impaired version" of my ideas.
Unfortunately I was insane at the time and couldn't accommodate their request.

As a testament to my recovery- I have now updated the Zombie Site.
Simplified and rearranged some things.
It's more focused on Narcolepsy now. And hopefully less confusing.

I'm not done yet. I still have to put in all the links to the articles. And fix my formatting. All the cut and paste really screwed that up.
I have to start another project tomorrow though. Have to put this off for a couple weeks.

Anyhow, check it out. Let me know if there's any glaring gaffes.