Sunday, November 30, 2014

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Just Because

It's old, but it's good for the soul.   And he looks just like my bulldog...

Spencer The Paralyzed Dog Walking with Crocs and Braces

Happy Narcolepsy Day

Today is the day when the whole country binges on carbs and takes a nap.
And I give thanks that I don't.

This year I am especially grateful. 
I survived last winter's illness.  That was kind of crucial.

I live where I always wanted to be.  That's real nice.
I finally feel like I'm home.

But really most importantly-
I now feel that all my screaming into the void hasn't been in vain. 
There is now enough evidence to show maybe I wasn't crazy all this time.
And there are enough of you out there who understand this illness  that I am confident the information will not die with me.  Some of you are experts in the parts I don't even understand.  All of us together CAN figure this whole thing out.   I am sure of that.

And you people know how important it is.  More than anyone.  Your motivation comes from the deepest understanding of suffering imaginable.   You will not let this information fade back into the ages. 

I think I am starting to relax now.
As Gina said to me in Denver, and I actually believed her-

"We Got This."

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Orexin in the News

Protein that rouses the brain from sleep may be target for Alzheimer's prevention
In recent years, scientists at Washington University have established links between sleep problems and Alzheimer's. For example, they have shown in people and in mice that sleep loss contributes to the growth of brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's, and increases the risk of dementia.
The new research, in mice, demonstrates that eliminating that protein - called orexin - made mice sleep for longer periods of time and strongly slowed the production of brain plaques.
Wow, that is so interesting, I saw the preliminary research, but didn't believe it.
Here's why-  people with other cognitive declines show lower levels of orexin.

I really hope blocking their orexin receptors helps.   That would probably help our poor neglected neurotransmitter get some appropriate press coverage.
But I am not optimistic.    I'm guessing it will just cause narcolepsy.
But since it happens with orexin and only when sleeping...
There's something else going on there, some hypoglycemia caused by something...   hmmm... like maybe some pancake induced hyperinsulinemia?

Someone needs to do a patch clamp test concurrently with this one.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Paleo Party Time

'Rise of saturated fat in diet does not raise fats in blood'
A new controlled diet study has found that increasing the levels of saturated fat in the diet does not lead to increased levels of saturated fat in the blood. However, increasing the amount of carbohydrates in the diet was found to raise the levels of a fatty acid associated with diabetes and heart disease.
Tap another nail in that coffin.

Snickering update...  Flip the Pyramid.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Strike That, Reverse It

Study says a bad marriage could literally break your heart

Say it with me class...  Correlation does not imply Causation.
But hey, if it did,  wouldn't it really make more sense if sick people had troublesome marriages? 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

One More

Forgot to put this in the article roundup!  Hattip to Nelson.

Virus may affect mental abilities, study reports
People with an algae virus in their throats had more difficulty completing a mental exercise than healthy people, and more research is needed to understand why, US scientists say. 
How 'bout some research into controlling it?  Hmmmm?

You know, mild infections that only affect your cognitive abilities 10%- really start to add up after a few...

Zombie Shopping

I have a lot of coffee related things in my kitchen.   A decent collection of vintage percolators- of which a selection is on the title bar...

I've decided to switch to Vintage Cereal items instead.

I especially love vintage ads.  I just got this from Ebay.   Uh huh.   Uh huh


Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Silliness

Humans could have an innate sense of probability, research shows

Yeah, I would bet that's right. 

Drive-By

Things that caught my eye.

Anxiety can damage brain: Accelerate conversion to Alzheimer's for those with mild cognitive impairment
Led by researchers at Baycrest Health Sciences' Rotman Research Institute, the study has shown clearly for the first time that anxiety symptoms in individuals diagnosed with MCI increase the risk of a speedier decline in cognitive functions - independent of depression. For MCI patients with mild, moderate or severe anxiety, Alzheimer's risk increased by 33%, 78% and 135% respectively.
 Yes, well, infectious activity raises stress response, so maybe those people are sicker...
what a concept.

Disgust leads people to lie and cheat, cleanliness promotes ethical behavior, study shows
And guess what makes you feel disgust?   Gut dysfunction.  Nausea is a vagus thing.
Instead of having people think of clean things, why don't you try addressing the source of the problem?

Contact lenses tied to thousands of eye infections


Generic Drug Prices Are Skyrocketing, Senate Will Investigate
“U.S. antitrust laws protect consumers only from anticompetitive strategies such as price fixing among competitors. Manufacturers of generic drugs that legally obtain a market monopoly are free to unilaterally raise the prices of their products. The Federal Trade Commission will not intervene without evidence of a conspiracy among competitors or other anticompetitive actions that sustain the increased price.”
Yeah, my generic Valacyclovir costs exactly as much as the Valtrex did...

Why Are So Few Blockbuster Drugs Invented Today?
But this golden road to pharmaceutical riches, known as target-based drug discovery, has often proved to be more of a garden path. The first disappointment has been that most diseases affecting large numbers of people are not caused by a handful of mutations that can be unearthed as easily as digging potatoes in a field. Geneticists have called this the problem of “missing heritability,” because despite what they promised in the 1990s, they have found no single genetic variants that are necessary and sufficient to cause most forms of widespread diseases like diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s or cancer.
That's because those diseases aren't genetic, they're infectious.
They are looking for things that don't exist.
And ignoring things that do.

Keep Your Memory Intact, Limit Intake of Trans Fat
Medical researchers worked with 690 male subjects and 324 post-menopausal women, asking them to attempt to memorize a list of 104 words, and recite them back from memory. The volunteers were also quizzed about their diet and general health. Those who consumed the highest levels of trans fats remembered an average of 11 fewer words than the remainder of the study population.
This from the American Heart Association, who still cannot say the word Sugar.
But just to be clear- they are the people who created this trans-fat crisis in the first place.
The Crisco Generation.

Taking antibiotics during pregnancy increases risk for child becoming obese
A study just released by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that children who were exposed to antibiotics in the second or third trimester of pregnancy had a higher risk of childhood obesity at age 7. The research also showed that for mothers who delivered their babies by a Caesarean section, whether elective or non-elective, there was a higher risk for obesity in their offspring.
Yeah, uh huh.
Body weight heavily influenced by microbes in the gut

Major Pile Management

Sorry I have been neglecting the blog.  I am ramping up for a couple writing projects.

So first, I need to clean my yard.  Ha.
I can't think with it a mess.  It nags at me.  And I was too sick to work on it last winter.  Need to do it while it is nice outside.

So this is what I am doing...  cleaning and rearranging my little portion of the desert.  Being all presidential and clearing the brush.   Moving most of the rocks and gravel.
I built rails for my fabulous beater truck.  
And I am learning the glorious utility of using a pitchfork for prickly things.

It's gonna take a while, but hopefully when I'm done I'll have some idea how to arrange my  thoughts too.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Weekend Research

The new strain of cannabis that could help treat psychosis
Although widely seen as a potential trigger for schizophrenia, marijuana also contains an ingredient that appears to have antipsychotic effects. Tom Ireland visits the UK’s only licensed cannabis farm and meets the man responsible for breeding a plant that might be of benefit to millions.
He works for a pharma.   This is not fringe science, people.  They just want you to think it is until they get their patents authorized.
 
They sell high CBD strains in the dispensaries here.   I find it does have the opposite effect of the high THC sativa strains that I use.  Makes me tired and unmotivated and gives me a headache.  I have not found it that useful.  
 
It may be because of some metabolic effect.   It may be altering glucose and insulin function like the other antipsychotics.   I am kind of sensitive to that.
I'm not septic right now, though.   Maybe I will save the rest for an immune episode.  Knock myself out instead of destroy my furniture.  Ha.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Everything old is new again.

Reconceptualizing major depressive disorder as an infectious disease

Although I agree with everything and will probably write to him and tell him to look up orexin...

This is not a new concept.   Not in any way.
BEFORE FREUD,  Melancholia was assumed to be an illness just like any other.

Healing the Sick

Pope Francis to build showers for the homeless in St. Peter’s Square

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Welcome to the Club, Asshole

Glenn Beck reveals serious illnesses
Conservative media host Glenn Beck disclosed he has been suffering from a serious illness that he says “quite honestly, has made me look crazy.”
“About five years ago … I had begun to have a string of health issues, that quite honestly, has made me look crazy and, quite honestly, I had felt crazy because of them."
Oropharyngeal and neurological dysfunction.   Yep.
A complete diet and lifestyle makeover.  Uh huh.

Sorry Glenn- You really were crazy.
And all those other crazy people really are sick.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Another Cuppa

Chemical in coffee may help prevent obesity-related disease
Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that a chemical compound commonly found in coffee may help prevent some of the damaging effects of obesity.
In a paper published recently in Pharmaceutical Research, scientists found that chlorogenic acid, or CGA, significantly reduced insulin resistance and accumulation of fat in the livers of mice who were fed a high-fat diet.
 Heh.  The caffeine is just a bonus.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Technical Terms

How an SHPOS Is Born
The acronym doctors use for the very worst of the worst patients.
Yes, well that explains a lot, now doesn't it.
Doctors calling cognitively impaired people "sub-human".

Compliance is the only metric that matters.  Everyone else is a piece of shit.
Like fat whiny girls for instance...

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Spin With Me

We drink to self medicate the insulin resistance brought on by the infections.
But it's a wicked vicious circle.

Breakdown in gut barriers to bacteria may promote inflammation and craving in alcoholics
When patients were exposed to alcohol, the researchers found that the inflammatory response originated from gut-derived bacterial products that crossed the gut barrier, which in turn, activated specific inflammatory pathways in blood mononuclear cells.
Prior to undergoing detoxification, the observed inflammation correlated with both alcohol consumption and alcohol craving among the alcohol-dependent patients. Following detoxification, some, but not all, of the altered inflammatory processes were either partially or fully recovered.
So alcohol increases gut permeability.

And Pneumonia does too.

And

Coinfection with Streptococcus pneumoniae Negatively Modulates Influenza-Specific CD8+ T Cell Response 

Alcoholics have an abnormal CD8 T cell response to the influenza virus
 "It has also been known since the 1800s that alcohol use disorders are associated with increased susceptibility to lung infection – both viral and bacterial, including community acquired pneumonia and tuberculosis – acute respiratory distress syndrome, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," added Ilhem Messaoudi, associate professor of biomedical sciences at University of California Riverside. "Therefore, understanding the mechanisms underlying the increased susceptibility to lung infection and injury in individuals with alcohol use disorder is extremely important. Although several studies have demonstrated that this phenomenon is in part due to significant perturbations in the immune system, our understanding of the impact of alcohol abuse on immunity remains incomplete."

Pneumonia promotes Flu infection and vice versa.

And
Pneumonia patients nearly twice as likely to suffer from depression, impairments
Which make you prone to drinking..

So then maybe you go in the hospital.

Pneumonia is the second most common hospital-acquired infection
Sepsis accounts for approximately 15% of hospital acquired infections.
Cognitive and Functional Decline Often Follow Severe Sepsis

And just so you clearly see the swirling vortex to hell-


People with Alzheimer's usually die of Pneumonia.
There are about 4 million Americans with the disease, and the average length of time between diagnosis and death is eight years, although people can live with the illness 20 years or more. As the disease progresses, patients lose the ability to coordinate basic motor skills such as swallowing, walking, or controlling bladder and bowel. Difficulty swallowing can cause food to be inhaled, which can result in pneumonia. Inability to walk can lead to bedsores. Incontinence can result in bladder infections...  Such incapacitation again sets the stage for deadly infections. Doctors say it is possible that an Alzheimer's patient could progress to the point that damage from the disease to the centers of the brain that control breathing could cause death, but patients rarely get that far without an infection setting in. Once a patient is extremely incapacitated, there is little medical motivation to aggressively treat such infections.

They put you in a hospice bed, feed you pancakes and nobody brushes your teeth.
And you drown in septic delirium.

That was going to happen to me.  For sure.

Monday, November 3, 2014

The Source of the Vortex

Physician-dentist collaboration recommended in diabetes care
The researchers note that more older people visit a dentist than a primary care physician (in 2011, about 58 percent of those aged ≥65 years visited a dentist versus 38 percent who visited a primary care doctor). Diabetes has several oral manifestations and dentists can potentially identify patients with diabetes who are at risk. Patients could be placed on a recall program as a preventive measure, providing an opportunity for monitoring. Periodontal examinations can also be used to identify people with diabetes, with 92 percent accuracy seen in one study involving 506 dental patients. Dentists should also be trained to recognize patients at high risk for diabetes. Dentists and their auxiliary staff can also provide guidance for patients and help them attain glycemic control.
It is absolutely inexcusable that this is not already standard protocol.

And so it goes

RIP Bernard Mayes
Of all his varied endeavors — he was a journalist, a professor and a gay rights activist among other things — Mr. Mayes was most proud of San Francisco Suicide Prevention, the hotline he set up in 1961 with a single red telephone in the city’s gritty Tenderloin District.
That was the year I was born.
And that was the last major innovation in suicide prevention.

And after some reflection-  I can't think of any others.