Next year will be even better

Back when I first recovered, I thought this would be so easy and I wouldn't have to do anything.   I took my idea to Dr. Mignot, and figured he would be glad to take credit for it, and that the gluten effects would be proven and big news within six months.  He haughtily dismissed me.
After I found others who told him the same thing before me, I realized this was a feature not a bug, and the enormity of the battle ahead.   It triggered a panic attack of unprecedented proportion.  We were on our own.   And despite my manic determination, I was certainly too fragile to do it myself.  We would have to find each other and work together to overcome our impediments.
It's been seven years.  I never imagined it would work this quickly.   I really thought it would kill me first...

You are the most awesome people on the planet.  Thank you all so much.   All of you who have benefited by and contributed to our understanding over all these years.  I have learned something from every one of you.    You people have truly improved my quality of life in countless undefinable dimensions. 

This year I would especially like to mention:
Zia, for being there first and giving me the confidence to believe in my own experience.   And for keeping up the good fight.
Nikki, for attending the FDA meeting.
Christina, for your years of intense scholarly dedication to finding the truth, and months of preparation for your presentation at the conference.   You Rock Our World.
Gina,  Kimberly, and Lydia,  for making the trip, evangelizing like angels,  and being in the backup band with me.
Annie and my buddy Jamie.   for their inspirational success and optimism.
And Sarah.   I can never thank you enough. I wanted to run a forum, but I just couldn't... You are a brave researcher and GFPWN is an invaluable resource.   The only sane place we have. 
(I know you guys think I am unaware of all your progress, but you are wrong.   I did used to worry people weren't listening, but now there are so many of you I just can't handle the crowd.  It pains me that I can't contribute more.  #ZombieIrony.)

Thanks to all of you, I believe we are ready for Stage Three of the Zombie Liberation.
     1.  Figure out what causes zombies.
     2.  Find and reanimate zombies.
     3.  Activate the Zombie Army.  

Now that we have reached a critical mass...  I think it's time to start the Revolution.
We have collected enough data from ourselves and the literature to counteract any arguments that this is a figment of our imaginations.

We need to get some real press.  That's your assignment for this year-  tell your story.   Not just blogging-  we need to get in some newspapers or magazines.    Local and specialty presses like health or fitness mags might be interested.
And drum up any other publicity you can. 
Make a point to go over to NN and post reality based information on their forum.  I will hold my nose and pester them too.
Countertweet their bullshit Nchats with facts.
Attend a local support group if there is one.
Do what you can.  Pay it forward.  That's what I do.
Gina is setting up a new website to consolidate a lot of resources.  We also have some preliminary ideas about setting up a non-profit and hiring an administrator to coordinate future gatherings and funding some research.
I am going to write this article:  How Sleep Medicine Creates Sleep Disorders.    I have a couple ideas of science journalists who might be interested, but if you have publishing advice... I really could use some...

After that I really am going to purge my brain and write a book on the more general aspects of chronic infection.  The insane history of insanity.  How the spectrum really works.  How psychs create mental illness.  Uh huh.

In the meantime-  our medical madness has gone on long enough.

It's time to give the Doctor-Pharma Cartel a taste of their own medicine.
Crank up their cognitive dissonance and disable their reflexes.
Start the information barrage, my dear friends.
Let's induce some bureaucratic cataplexy.

Yo Sleep Medicine Industry

This is your warning.   Your days are numbered.   Get on board or get out of the way.

 Tick Tock.

Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha

Startling benefit of cardiology meetings: Outcomes better when cardiologists away?

High-risk patients with certain acute heart conditions are more likely to survive than other similar patients if they are admitted to the hospital during national cardiology meetings, when many cardiologists are away from their regular practices.

Now that is some amazing data.

Brain Eating Zombies of the Year

Sarah Knapton and the whole Science News industry.

It might seem like a tired cliché, but feeling young at heart really can make people live longer.

Scientists have proven that people with a youthful spring in their step and an unswerving optimism about the future seem able to cheat death.
...
The researchers believe that people who feel younger are more likely to take care of themselves, maintain a healthy weight, eat sensibly and follow medical advice.
They were also more likely to have younger friends and therefore engaged in activities of younger people which helped their positive outlook.
In contrast, those who felt older were more likely to be socially isolated and have poor personal care.
Dr Steptoe added: "Self-perceived age has the potential to change, so interventions may be possible. Individuals who feel older than their actual age could be targeted with health messages promoting positive health behaviours and attitudes toward ageing." 

Really?  Seriously?   What, are you twelve?
It is 2014, you work as a science editor for a national newspaper, there is all kinds of actual medical research being done, and you write this shit?

This is absolute content-free nonsense.   The only reason it exists at all is that numerous people got to take a slice of the revenue along the way.

I indict all of you.  All the way up and down the line:
- The researchers who actually dreamed up and did this "analysis".
- Their "supervisors" and the committees who approved and funded this crap.
- The publicity tool who wrote the vapid press release.
- This author, who took that fluff and puffed it up even more.
- The Telegraph for approving the copy, publishing and promoting it.
- And all the other wire feed outlets that did the same.

This is a total hack job and you should be ashamed that you took money to write it.
You are the biggest part of the problem.

People need, and actually do want, useful information dammit.
Like maybe this study...

Media Coverage of Medical Journals: Do the Best Articles Make the News? 

Newspapers were more likely to cover observational studies and less likely to cover randomized controlled trials than high impact journals. Additionally, when the media does cover observational studies, they select articles of inferior quality. Newspapers preferentially cover medical research with weaker methodology.

You could be (and most people sort of assume you are) filtering the available articles for innovative and compelling research, but no- you take the most glorious abundance of high quality technical information in the history of mankind and pick the stupidest stuff and make it stupider.

I don't even buy the argument that newsworthiness is different than scienceworthiness.
This article is not even clickworthy.
This IS a tired cliché, and they piled on useless dogma.
Feeling good does not make you healthy.
Being healthy makes you feel good.
What is so frakkin hard to understand about that???

Just because you assume people aren't sick doesn't mean they are healthy.
If they could think beyond one level of complexity, they might consider the option that feeling frail and fatigued IS A SYMPTOM OF SUBCLINICAL ILLNESS.   That maybe all the other diagnostics are inadequate and excluding mild cases.

These writers and their publishers would like to think that by choosing such weak evidence and arguments this article is unserious and benign, but it's not.  
There is plenty of data detailing the metabolic effects of subclinical infection that indicates these conclusions are patently wrong, and that the asinine and undefinable recommendation to "try to feel younger" will only delay real diagnoses and treatment and result in worse outcomes.

Disseminating "Health Information" like this is worse than not writing any at all.

Zombie of the Year

Robin Williams.
The vortex made flesh.
His amygdala died for yours.

Sorry Again

I received a lovely package of letters, and I would really like to read them, but your testimonials always break my heart and make me cry, and I have done that all day.
Thank you all so much for thinking of me.
I will get back to you when I can.

The best girl in the world

RIP Sophie
Always a Perfect Lady.

Maniacs of the Year

James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen

The opposite end of the arrogance spectrum from last year's winner.
Somebody please pull all their teeth out.  Without anesthesia .

State of the Art

2014: Our year in trendy diets

From top-secret military nutritionists to butter coffee, Americans proved we have no idea how to eat.

I gotta check into that military diet... looks like they are actively inducing bipolar in those hyperactive guys...  geez louise... that would explain a lot...

Anyhow, the point is, I don't care how fcking scientific you say your diet is,  if you haven't explicitly accounted for the glucose sensitive effects of Orexin, you are full of shit.

(And I am not even considering the complete absence of any mention of illness.  Ever.)

Just a Reminder

2014 is the year thousands of people filmed themselves pouring ice water over their heads to "contribute" to "medical research".

This is where we are.
Sheer unmitigated insanity.

Zombie Caterpillars

Study suggests virus impacts caterpillar's phototactic response causing them to climb

A small team of researchers with Wageningen University in The Netherlands has found evidence that suggests that a type of virus that causes a species of caterpillar to climb higher up a plant, does so by causing a change to the victim's phototactic response. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the team describes how they studied baculovirus infections in caterpillars and the experiments they conducted in attempting to show that changes in behavior attributed to the viral infection were likely due to changes in how light was perceived.

Run to the light Carol Anne.

A small team of researchers with Wageningen University in The Netherlands has found evidence that suggests that a type of virus that causes a species of caterpillar to climb higher up a plant, does so by causing a change to the victim's phototactic response. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the team describes how they studied baculovirus infections in caterpillars and the experiments they conducted in attempting to show that changes in behavior attributed to the viral infection were likely due to changes in how light was perceived.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-12-virus-impacts-caterpillar-phototactic-response.html#jCp

A small team of researchers with Wageningen University in The Netherlands has found evidence that suggests that a type of virus that causes a species of caterpillar to climb higher up a plant, does so by causing a change to the victim's phototactic response. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the team describes how they studied baculovirus infections in caterpillars and the experiments they conducted in attempting to show that changes in behavior attributed to the viral infection were likely due to changes in how light was perceived.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-12-virus-impacts-caterpillar-phototactic-response.html#jCp

A small team of researchers with Wageningen University in The Netherlands has found evidence that suggests that a type of virus that causes a species of caterpillar to climb higher up a plant, does so by causing a change to the victim's phototactic response. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the team describes how they studied baculovirus infections in caterpillars and the experiments they conducted in attempting to show that changes in behavior attributed to the viral infection were likely due to changes in how light was perceived.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-12-virus-impacts-caterpillar-phototactic-response.html#jCp

A small team of researchers with Wageningen University in The Netherlands has found evidence that suggests that a type of virus that causes a species of caterpillar to climb higher up a plant, does so by causing a change to the victim's phototactic response. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the team describes how they studied baculovirus infections in caterpillars and the experiments they conducted in attempting to show that changes in behavior attributed to the viral infection were likely due to changes in how light was perceived.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-12-virus-impacts-caterpillar-phototactic-response.html#jCp

Reality based Behavior

Light-emitting e-readers detrimentally shift circadian clock, study shows

You may think your e-reader is helping you get to sleep at night, but it might actually be harming your quality of sleep, according to researchers. Exposure to light during evening and early nighttime hours suppresses release of the sleep-facilitating hormone melatonin and shifts the circadian clock, making it harder to fall asleep at bedtime.

Ummmm.... this is probably facilitated a lot by orexin too.   Orexin production is stimulated by the same optical neurons as melatonin.

So... "internet addiction" may not be a reward system malfunction as psychologists would like you to believe... but some sort of intuitional self therapy for sugar poisoning?  
I'm shocked.  Shocked I tell you.

(Rummages around in cerebral closet... oh here it is... )

Good Article

Microbiology: Ditch the term pathogen

The term pathogen started to be used in the late 1880s to mean a microbe that can cause disease. Ever since, scientists have been searching for properties in bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites that account for their ability to make us ill. Some seminal discoveries have resulted — such as the roles of various bacterial and fungal toxins in disease. Indeed, our oldest and most reliable vaccines, such as those for diphtheria and tetanus, work by prompting the body to produce antibodies that neutralize bacterial toxins.

Yet a microbe cannot cause disease without a host. What actually kills people with diphtheria, for example, is the strong inflammatory response that the diphtheria toxin triggers, including a thick grey coating on the throat that can obstruct breathing. Likewise, it is the massive activation of white blood cells triggered by certain strains of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus bacteria that can lead to toxic-shock syndrome.

Oh My

Such a lovely gift for me...  just what I wanted!

Central and Peripheral Metabolic Changes Induced by Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate.

Study Objectives:
Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) was originally introduced as an anesthetic but was first abused by bodybuilders and then became a recreational or club drug.1 Sodium salt of GHB is currently used for the treatment of cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy. The mode of action and metabolism of GHB is not well understood. GHB stimulates growth hormone release in humans and induces weight loss in treated patients, suggesting an unexplored metabolic effect. In different experiments the effect of GHB administration on central (cerebral cortex) and peripheral (liver) biochemical processes involved in the metabolism of the drug, as well as the effects of the drug on metabolism, were evaluated in mice.
Design:
C57BL/6J, gamma-aminobutyric acid B (GABAB) knockout and obese (ob/ob) mice were acutely or chronically treated with GHB at 300 mg/kg.
Measurements and Results:
Respiratory ratio decreased under GHB treatment, independent of food intake, suggesting a shift in energy substrate from carbohydrates to lipids. GHB-treated C57BL/6J and GABAB null mice but not ob/ob mice gained less weight than matched controls. GHB dramatically increased the corticosterone level but did not affect growth hormone or prolactin. Metabolome profiling showed that an acute high dose of GHB did not increase the brain GABA level. In the brain and the liver, GHB was metabolized into succinic semialdehyde by hydroxyacid-oxoacid transhydrogenase. Chronic administration decreased glutamate, s-adenosylhomocysteine, and oxidized gluthathione, and increased omega-3 fatty acids.
Conclusions:
Our findings indicate large central and peripheral metabolic changes induced by GHB with important relevance to its therapeutic use.

More evidence that Xyrem induces ketosis.   It's the Coma Diet.
Jazz charges about $5000 a month- not to mention all the doctor visits and expensive tests and insurance nightmare- to create a metabolic state that all people can experience for free by doing nothing. 

(cross posted at NN just for spite.   Man, I gotta stay away from there.   Makes me want to scream.)

Merry Merry

My Gift to You.  From the old lady who never ceases to be amazed by the Circle of Insanity.

I loved that stuff so much when I was a kid.   It was psychoactive.   Makes my nose clog up just thinking about it.  Go figure.

Everything Old is New Again

Rudolph is my favorite movie.   It has lots of useful life lessons.

• Old white guys like to make arbitrary rules and drive wicked fast red vehicles.
• Weird people are common and do extraordinary things.
• Poor dental health causes antisocial behavior.

If Rudolph Took Place Today
Heh.

Sorry

I forgot to put up a song for Solstice.

This is the first time in 20 years I slept during the longest night.
I usually stay up and worry about you creatures of the darkness.

I guess this is progress.   I will assume you made it through the night.
Here's what I picked before I nodded off...

Update.  Damn.  Should have picked this.
RIP Joe Cocker...  one of our kind.

Bwa Ha Ha Ha

This is hilarious.  

Tree Talk with the Late Night Tree
video... skip to 1:45

I am pretty sure people think I am that absurd.   Especially my doctors.

Let my treeple go!

Merry Solstice

The Dangers of Winter Darkness: Weak Bones, Depression and Heart Trouble

Long periods without sunshine can play a role in a surprising variety of physical and mental disorders

It's a good discussion of vitamin D and infection control.
But don't forget that orexin production is stimulated by sunlight on the retinas. And orexin deficiency also leads to immune problems.
I think this shift is actually an adaptation to northern latitudes  but it's not really advantageous if you don't stay inside and drink all winter.   It's a Viking thing, it does not seem to be helpful if you have to work year-round.
Don't just take supplements.  Go outside. Get sun on your face. It will help heal your guts and skin.
Wear warm clothes, but breathe cold air. It stimulates the lungs to fight infection and increases brown fat production.

Viva La Vagus

The Year of Outrage

Slate tracked what everyone was outraged about every day in 2014. Explore by clicking the tiles below, and then scroll down to read about how outrage has taken over our lives.

The Circle of Sanity

Scientists prove that you shouldn’t trust anything Dr. Oz says 

Heh.

Okay People

I have always wanted to start a new dance craze like the Hustle or Macarena...
but I'm at that point in life that it looks like it's never going to happen.

So, I've got another idea.
Brothing.

Yeah, that juicing craze is really annoying, and definitely bad for teeth and pancreases.
I think people should drink broth instead.

When there are brotharistas making arty designs in your cup, I will be vindicated.

Glutamine reduces intestinal permeability from infection.

Fun With Obsession

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel …

The classic Hannukah game is painfully slow. It’s time to speed it up.

...Ultimately, I ran 50,000 simulations of 171 different starting conditions, for a grand total of 8.5 million simulated dreidel games. Here’s what I mean by starting conditions: one starting condition was a game of six players with 10 tokens each. Another was a game of three people with 15 pieces each. All assumed eight seconds per spin, and, again out of generosity to dreidel, I assumed there was no delay between player turns.

Based on my calculations, if four players start with 10 pieces each, the game will last more than 1 hour and 54 minutes to complete. Perhaps if you were waiting out a siege by the Seleucid Empire this would be ideal, but two hours is excessive if you’re just trying to kill 30 minutes before the latkes are ready.

Breakfast of Champions

Latest coffee trend is to put butter in your coffee

I'm old-school. I use milk products.
Butter is nice too, but if you're sensitive to dairy, use coconut oil or ghee.

Sick Sick Sick

This is the man who ordered sleep deprivation for prisoners.
This is the man whose heart was so petrified it had to be removed.
This is the twisted man who doesn't believe his illness affected his head.

Speaking of Impulse Control Problems

Stewart Lee Interviews Ben Stiller

Stiller elects to meet at a Soho pancake joint. The comedian is, it turns out, obsessed with pancakes, confessing, “It’s the one vice I have left. As soon as I get to a new city I say to the runner, ‘Show me the pancakes’. I like to go to a new pancake store and sniff each of the pancakes in turn before I choose one. If I could die and come back as a pancake I would. I wish my nutsack was full of pancake mix so I could make my own on demand. Christine made undershorts out of pancakes at Thanksgiving. I felt really happy wearing them but in the end they just weren’t practical and after a few days they rotted away. C’est la vie, my friend, c’est la fucking vie already.”
Stiller, dressed casually in trousers, socks, shoes, underpants, shirt, jumper and jacket, orders a large plain pancake with no syrup, and a mug of pancake mix, which he downs in one, slamming the mug hard on the table afterwards like a shot glass. “Hoo hah!” he shouts, sweating and suddenly agitated, “Bisquick!” Stiller wipes stray mix off his lips using his uneaten pancake as a napkin, and clicks his fingers to the waitress for more mix. “Do you think maybe you could warm it up this time, honey, if it’s not too much trouble?”, he barks, Hollywood style, before turning his ire on me.

Read his righteous rant.  See the pathology.

Dear Young Ladies

Here's a compelling reason for you to go into the STEM careers-

There's a lot to do.  Men have gotten a lot of things wrong. 
We really need you obsessive, detail-oriented girls to get out there and fix some shit.

Thanks.

This is Why

The CIA's Torture Program Would Not Have Existed Without Psychologists

Thanks to revelations in the newly released report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is now widely known that the CIA’s torture program was created, supervised, and implemented by two licensed clinical psychologists—James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen—who were paid millions of dollars for their efforts. Less widely known is that the Bush administration’s torture operation, at both the CIA and the Pentagon—at “black sites” and at Guantanamo—was devised and supervised largely by clinical psychologists. These psychologists used their knowledge of the workings of the human mind and psychological “mind-control” research to induce “learned helplessness” and “debility, dependency, and dread,” aiming to destroy the minds of detainees in the hope that “actionable intelligence” and “critical threat information” could be sifted from the wreckage.

The psychologists were vital to the torture program for one additional reason: The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel had determined that the presence of psychologists and physicians, monitoring the state and condition of the prisoner being tortured, afforded protection for the CIA leadership and the Bush administration from liability and potential prosecution for the torture. Later, the OLC applied the same rules to the Defense Department’s “enhanced interrogation program,” which, according to an investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee, was created and overseen by a team led by a clinical psychologist, and eventually overseen exclusively by clinical psychologists.

That is not medicine. 
That is leveraging buzzwords to restrain and violate people and escape responsibility.
But that's what they do.   Professionally sanctioned tyranny.

This is why Evidence Based Science is Crucial.
Because Plausible Deniability is the refuge of Sociopaths.

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

This is annoying the crap out of me:

Cigna- my health insurance provider, the one that pushes the food pyramid for diabetics and universally tries to get everyone to lower their fat intake and eat more carbs...

Yeah, they've taken that show on the road.
They are using my money to broadcast that bullshit on TV.

They are financing this program that uses those same erroneous assumptions to humiliate sick people into compliance.

See the Matrix.

Can't... Stop... Myself...

'Men are idiots and idiots do stupid things,' study finds

Ahhhh... impulse control problems...

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Humane Research Council

STUDY: 86% Of Vegetarians Go Back To Eating Meat

Some of the results are:
10% of Americans try a vegetarian diet.
2% are still vegetarians.
Over 80% of people who try the diet go off it in a few months.

The major reason for attempting a vegetarian diet is to improve health.

Most vegetarians are young women.

The authors of this study have decided that this information will be useful to devise a strategy to get us all to eat less meat.

Frankly, their conclusions are backwards.

A 2% adoption rate indicates there is something fundamentally wrong with their protocol.

Maybe it's this:
The Primary reason people believe vegetarianism is healthy is because saturated fats are found in meat.  And we have been told that saturated fats cause heart disease.

THAT IS NOT TRUE.   THAT IS FALSE.
And there has never been any direct evidence that showed otherwise.

As a matter of fact, rigorous research shows the exact opposite:

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.

Maybe that's the reason their success rate is so low.   Not because their Marketing isn't good enough, but because their premise is wrong.  People Are Not Stupid- and when they don't get healthier, they go back to eating protein, which is critical for brain function.

This entire lifestyle is perpetuated by hyperinsulinemic young women trying to control their metabolisms.    Without the correct information.

Been there, done that.  Got really fat.

Beauty and Joy

You know, the older I get, the less I care about having nice things.   I used to want fancy things and to keep and take care of them, but I don't anymore.   I am okay with painting over my old, dinged stuff.  Jewelry and new cars and matching furniture just don't make me happy.
Stuff like this does though.

Researchers inoculated some people with lipopolysaccharide (a bacterial superantigen)  and guess what happened...   they created first stage metabolic syndrome.

A human model of inflammatory cardio-metabolic dysfunction; a double blind placebo-controlled crossover trial

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a consistent relationship between chronic low grade inflammation and states of obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and atherosclerosis. A challenge in understanding the mechanism of these associations in humans however remains hampered by a lack of a reliable in vivo model. Here we show that an evoked inflammatory model to simulate these states can be fruitful in identifying genes and pathways activated in cardio-metabolic disease. We acknowledge that the low dose endotoxemia model does not reproduce the chronic pathophysiology of complex cardio-metabolic diseases. It is, however, associated with minimal clinical response and approximates acutely the inflammatory and metabolic responses of the chronic disease states of interest. Furthermore, low-dose experimental endotoxin induction of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) signaling in vivo is one well established model of inflammation-induced metabolic disturbances in humans. Sepsis and chronic infections in humans induce insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and lipoprotein changes similar to the metabolic profile observed in obesity, type-2 diabetes and established coronary artery disease. The insulin resistance, adipose inflammation and lipoprotein changes observed acutely during experimental endotoxemia resemble those observed chronically in cardio-metabolic disease states.

So pretty.  More precious than diamonds.


Thanks for the link, C.

My Two Cents

All the research on stress response and dopamine indicates that starving and depriving sleep and repetitively injuring people will result in less pain sensitivity and more determination to complete their mission.

Torture probably has the opposite effect of it's intent.

But a couple of psychologists from the backwater of Spokane received 81 million dollars for confidently stating the opposite.  And making their wicked vision our shame.

Plausible deniability is the hallmark behavior of a sociopath.

Correlation Games

Middle-ear disease and schizophrenia: case–control study

Conclusions:  There is an association between middle-ear disease and schizophrenia which may have aetiological significance. 

Smoking, schizophrenia linked by alterations in brain nicotine signals

The authors found that the level of nicotine receptors in the brain was lower in schizophrenia patients than in a matched healthy group. Further, smoking, which is known to increase the levels of receptors for nicotine in the brain, had this effect in both groups, although was blunted in schizophrenia.

Nicotinic filtering of sensory processing in auditory cortex.

We show that nicotine produces complex, layer-dependent effects on spectral and temporal processing that, broadly speaking, enhance responses to characteristic frequency (optimal) stimuli while simultaneously suppressing responses to spectrally distant stimuli. That is, nicotine appears to narrow receptive fields and enhances processing within the narrowed receptive field.

Article Roundup

Hand dryers can spread bacteria in public toilets

Scientists from the University of Leeds have found that high-powered 'jet-air' and warm air hand dryers can spread bacteria in public toilets. Airborne germ counts were 27 times higher around jet air dryers in comparison with the air around paper towel dispensers.

Excellent.   Another universally accepted assumption that was backwards.


Could there be a bright side to depression?
NO.   No no no no no.
I hate this argument.   Thought of it and Dismissed it twenty years ago.
The ruminations are not the evolutionarily adaptive factor in depression.   In mania- for sure.
Fatigue and Immobilization is an evolutionary adaption for FIGHTING INFECTION.


Review: Ketogenic diets suppress appetite despite weight loss

Vegetable oil ingredient key to destroying gastric disease bacteria

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is strongly associated with gastric ulcers and cancer. To combat the infection, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Jacobs School of Engineering developed LipoLLA, a therapeutic nanoparticle that contains linolenic acid, a component in vegetable oils. In mice, LipoLLA was safe and more effective against H. pylori infection than standard antibiotic treatments.

Depression, Pain More Common in Dry Eye Than Tear Film Flaw
Indicating this is an INFECTION.
As one of my pet peeves, let me just add that "Dry Eye" is a description of a syndrome, and does not qualify as a diagnosis.


Horror in American nursing homes: The dangerous practice that they keep getting away with

An NPR inquiry found that antipsychotics are incorrectly prescribed to hundreds of thousands.

"Chemical Restraints"- such a nice euphemism for poisoning people...

This.

Dopamine helps with math rules as well as mood

To test this, the researchers trained rhesus monkeys to solve “greater than” and “less than” math problems. From other recent studies, the researchers knew that certain neurons in the prefrontal cortex answer such questions – one half of these “rule cells” was only activated when the “greater than” rule applied, and the other half was only activated when the “less than” rule applied.
Meanwhile, physiologically small amounts of various substances were being discharged near the relevant cells. These substances can have the same effect as dopamine – or the opposite effect – and could be adsorbed by dopamine-sensitive neurons. The surprising result was that stimulation of the dopamine system allowed the “rule cells” to perform better and to more clearly distinguish between the “greater than” and “less than” rules. Dopamine had a positive effect on the “rule cells’” quality of work.

This is the most important info I've seen in ages. I've been assuming it, but it's nice to have evidence.   Explains so much about mania.
I think I can structure the entire swirling super-rant in my head around this.
Nice...

Zombie Shopping

Disgraced DNA pioneer James Watson to sell his Nobel Prize medal

Wow.  Not how I expected that story to end...

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."

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.

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.

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? 

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. 

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Bread and Circuses

Halloween: America’s No. 1 holiday for wasting money on garbage

And she's just talking about the costumes.
Doesn't even mention the toxic, addictive treats.

I think about this a lot since I gave up celebrating most of them- Holiday junk spending seems to be the only thing holding the retail economy together.
That "seasonal" section in the stores keeps getting bigger.   Aisles of candy, and aisles of decorations that change monthly.

Tweet of the Day

@pourmecoffee

"To be safe, we must quarantine anyone who even might get sick. Now let's go door-to-door and accept food from total strangers!"

How to Make Little Zombies

Boo!

As Scary as it Gets

1 in 6 hospitals struggles to stop infections

Invincible Bacteria in the Middle East

And as health systems deteriorate in surrounding countries, war-injured patients with complicated wounds are flocking to Jordan, the Middle East's top destination for medical tourism, for treatment, bringing fierce infections with them.
"We think that the Middle East is one of the hotspots globally for antibiotic resistance," said Richard Murphy, an infectious-disease specialist with Doctors Without Borders.

Oh oh oh oh oh...  Holds head with hands.

Angry young men with untreatable infections, and guns.
Mercy on us all.

The Walking Bread

Why do Zombies Lumber?

Two neuroscientists explain why zombies have so much trouble walking.

Silly Rabbits.   It's those Pre-Motor areas.... like the glucose sensitive lateral hypothalamus.   Which activate the basal ganglia and frontal cortex... 

Slow walkers are poisoned.
Feed us protein.   Seriously.

Fun with Medical History

 Why Did Our Ancestors Have Better Teeth?  (2 min video with mandatory ad...)

New research suggests the British had better teeth under the Romans 1,800 years ago than they do now. On a larger scale, did our ancestors all have better teeth? The video above explores the rise of tooth decay and gum disease, which were uncommon among early people.  

Yo Doctors

Overweight Crash Test Dummies Developed in Response to Rising U.S. Obesity Levels

This is on you.  100%.

Puppies Want You to Think Twice

The Internet celebrates National Cat Day

Penn vet professor investigates parasite-schizophrenia connection

Zombie Swag

From the conference...  the tote bags Christina made for us.

And the Zombie Survival Kit (omg another conference, another lunchbox- how awesome is that!) and Wheat Life magazine Kimberly brought for me.

This sounds familiar

Uncontrolled hypertension highest among patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis

The amount of hypertension was directly proportional to the amount of immune activity.
Yep.

The Lie behind the Theater

Most People With Addiction Simply Grow Out of It: Why Is This Widely Denied?

Umm, because putting us "in treatment" and making us chronically ill validates their assumption?   Cognitively impaired customers are the very best kind...

The same thing is known about depression.   Most depressions resolve spontaneously within nine months.  Thats why treatment used to start at 6 months.   Now I think it's six weeks.   They give you drugs that don't work because you will probably get better anyway.

Drive By

MS drug candidate also shows promise for ulcerative colitis
Because it's in the guts, people...

Metformin beats other type 2 diabetes drugs for first treatment: study

Study finds asthmatics with Vitamin D deficiency are 25 percent more likely to experience acute attacks

The Problem with Geniuses

They think they're always right.

Google tells me it is Jonas Salk's 100th birthday.

Salk's work on influenza viruses has been associated with ethical controversy. The Associated Press reported that Salk authored a research paper describing a federally funded study that began in 1942. Salk injected patients in a state insane asylum in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with an experimental influenza vaccine, then exposed them to influenza virus months later to check the vaccine's efficacy. It is questionable at best whether any of these patients could have understood what was being done to them, or why.

Especially after that.  Huh.

Dear "Sleep Specialists"

One of the most fundamental things about narcolepsy that you don't understand is how sleepy we really are.
We are twice as tired as you realize   Because underneath those slack faces and paralyzed bodies-  we are obsessed and manic as hell...
That's how we survive your incompetence.
And that's how we will overcome it, with or without you.

We are the people we have been looking for.
The sleep experts.
And we know that now.

Correlation Games

Researchers find facial width-to-height ratio predicts self-reported dominance and aggression

The researchers enlisted the assistance of 54 male and 49 female volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30—each was asked to fill out a questionnaire designed to elicit responses regarding self assessment of anger, aggression, dominance and hostility. Each also had their face measured from cheek to cheek and from just above the upper lip to the top of their eyelids. When the researchers compared the facial ratios to the answers that were given, they found that on average, both male and female volunteers with wider faces reported being more aggressive, having worse tempers and being more dominant than did those with less wide faces. They did not, however, report feeling more hostile.
The researchers suggest there could be an evolutionary reason for what they found, reasoning that people with a wider face tend to have stronger cheekbones which could more easily withstand a punch from someone they'd angered.

Hmmm.   Cranky, righteous, swollen heads?
Sounds like maybe those people have a facial infection to me. 

Public Service Announcement

32000 Lbs of Gluten Free Breaded Chicken Recalled for High Risk of Contamination

Murry’s, a Pennsyvania based company, has issued a recall on Gluten Free breaded chicken after the Colorado Department of Agriculture discovered there was high risk that the chicken was contaminated. The Federal Emergency Response Network lab discovered the toxins during a routine inspection. The Gluten Free Breaded Chicken Nuggets from Bell and Evans have been officially recalled for staphylcoccal enterotoxoins.

Happy Haunting

A Victorian lunatic asylum begins to reveal its secrets

The “castellated mansion” of Merivale’s nightmarish recollection was Ticehurst House, an 18th-century pile in the depths of the Weald of Sussex, that had by Merivale’s day been in operation for about eighty years as a private madhouse run by a local family of medical practitioners, the Newingtons.
Merivale’s records are among those of some one thousand or so patients, treated at Ticehurst between 1793 and 1925, that have been digitised by the Wellcome Library and are freely available through the Library catalogue.

Ooh. So much better than fiction.

The Circle of Insanity

Sleep difficulties common among toddlers with psychiatric disorders

"Essentially, these young children might be caught in a cycle, with sleep disruption affecting their psychiatric symptoms and psychiatric symptoms affecting their sleep-wake organization," said Boekamp.

Or maybe it's just that chronically sick, over-sugared kids are irritable and don't sleep well.

Things that make my head screech

Ebola Vaccine, Ready for Test, Sat on the Shelf

Almost a decade ago, scientists from Canada and the United States reported that they had created a vaccine that was 100 percent effective in protecting monkeys against the Ebola virus. The results were published in a respected journal, and health officials called them exciting. The researchers said tests in people might start within two years, and a product could potentially be ready for licensing by 2010 or 2011.

It never happened. The vaccine sat on a shelf. Only now is it undergoing the most basic safety tests in humans — with nearly 5,000 people dead from Ebola and an epidemic raging out of control in West Africa.

Nobody could have predicted.

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Sam Gandy and WebMD for not doing their homework.

Studies Link Cold Sore Virus to Alzheimer's Risk

The virus that causes common cold sores -- herpes simplex -- might increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, two studies by Swedish researchers suggest.
In fact, being a carrier of certain antibodies to the virus can double the risk of Alzheimer's disease, the researchers found.
...
Dr. Sam Gandy, director of the Center for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, doubts that herpes and Alzheimer's disease are connected.
"From time to time data such as these appear in the literature, but they do not address causality or mechanism. The new data are likewise not definitive, and they do not say anything new about the association," he said.
"I do not disbelieve the data. I simply do not know whether the association has anything to do with the cause of Alzheimer's disease," Gandy added.

You are director of a Neurological department and you can't imagine a cumulative neuropathology caused by herpesviruses?  Listen asshole- If you haven't put herpes and beta amyloid into a Pubmed search and found that information -you should not be allowed to participate or comment on any research of any kind.
And WebMD- You could have just mentioned this is a correlative study.  There are direct studies.  There is no controversy.  What exactly is your agenda here?

edit- hey I figured it out.   Cognitively impaired customers are the very best kind.   Creating confusion is probably the underlying purpose of WebMd...

For the Newbies

Old Song of the Day

(it's a rerun for you oldsters)

Zombie Liberation Front

Here we are after the conference...
Gina, Christina, Me and Kimberly
Twice as many zombie hunters as before!

Brain Eating Zombie of the Day

See Jason Blame His Patients.

Overweight kids misinterpret asthma symptoms, potentially overuse medication

New research shows obese children with asthma may mistake symptoms of breathlessness for loss of asthma control leading to high and unnecessary use of rescue medications. The study was published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), the official scientific journal of the American Association of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

"Obese children with asthma need to develop a greater understanding of the distinct feeling of breathlessness in order to avoid not just unnecessary medication use, but also the anxiety, reduced quality of life and health care utilization that come along with this misunderstood symptom," said Jason Lang.

Ummmm no.
DOCTORS need to understand that obesity reduces brown fat and mitochondrial function and causes symtoms of fatigue in their patients.

Oh, and that a frakking lung infection causes both asthma and obesity.    That would be kinda helpful...   

Pop Quiz

Sunshine may slow weight gain and diabetes onset

Hmmmm, whatever could it be?

Been a While

Old Song of the Day

Conference Debrief

I am still waiting for people to send me the pics I want to post.

Gina, Christina and I met on Thursday and just talked and talked and talked.   Mostly at the same time.
Friday we took some time during the day to do some gluten-free carb-free shopping and pick up some people from the airport.  We were a little late to the cake reception, but were pleased to see some cheese and veggies on the table too.   Met a few people and tried to talk them into going to Christina's presentation.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Swick,  was really good.  The topic was Narcolepsy 101 and he had a good rundown of the history of research for N.   He also talked about the FDA meeting and observed that PWN know more about narcolepsy than their doctors, which made me happy.   At least one of them realizes it.
However- he did mention that the "next step in the plan" is to find out if Xyrem could be given to even younger children, down to age 7.     That nearly gave me a stroke.

I went to a couple more sessions on Saturday morning.   I really didn't find them helpful, wanted to scream most of the time, but I managed not to.   It's amazing the glaring assumptions and errors non-narco people make about sleep and dreaming...
So I decided I probably should refrain from any more lectures.

That's when I found the dental hygienist's table.
Her husband is one of us and when they attended the conference last year she noticed how many people were discussing the insidious dry mouth caused by the drugs.   She collected information and samples and was hoping to educate us that it is a real problem.   I briefly explained my hypothesis about periodontal disease and gave her some of my information.   I told her we need some dental professionals on our side and I really hope she will read my stuff and join our "team". 

Kimberly lives in the area and came and gave me an awesome Zombie Survival Kit filled with gluten-free food and some local vegetation.   I have only known her and Gina from the internet, so it was great to meet them.   They are so healthy I would never have suspected they ever had narcolepsy.

Saturday evening we retreated to our suite and watched the South Park Gluten-Free Ebola episode.   If you haven't seen it, you really should -  It's hilarious.   We had to pass around tissues because we were laughing so hard.   

Christina's presentation was Sunday morning and it was great.
She covered her story of how she improved using a gluten free diet, and then introduced some of the research she is now doing in school with intestinal immunity and diabetes and how it may apply to narcolepsy.
She then presented results from the Survey they did over on the Facebook groups.   It was really interesting, but I don't have the slides right now.
Then she covered the basics of all the food allergy diets we tend to adopt.
We had about 95 people attend, including a few we met at previous conferences (Charlie, Andrew, yay) who were already on board.    It was great to see so many GF people raise their hands when we asked!  It was a rousing success, and many people complimented and thanked her for the information.

I'd also like to make a shout-out to Wendy, Kristin,  Atila, the lovely Canadians and the Irish guy with the great accent-  I really hope you all read our research and it helps you out.

There was coffee available the entire time, a nice change from previous gatherings.
Had I attended more sessions, I'm sure I'd be more irritated and inclined to bitch about all the erroneous information that was disseminated.  But that wasn't why I was there.   I just wanted to see Christina be her bad genius self.

Overall, it was a positive experience for me.   Despite the constant headache, and seeing so many people with obvious undiagnosed periodontal and metabolic problems, I managed not to cry.  And the last part is what I have been living for.   My dream come true.


However- I would like to share this observation with the crew over at Narcolepsy Network-
If narcolepsy is caused by respiratory infections as the research suggests...

Having a meeting in a high altitude city where it is difficult to breathe
and
Having a nap room with a bunch of the sickest people sleeping in close quarters
and
Serving food buffet style with no sneeze guard...

Seem like pretty bad ideas to me.

I'm Sorry

I had a headache the entire time I was in Denver.   And more social activity in four days than I have for the past year put together.   My ears are ringing and I still haven't slept properly.
I must recover before I write.

But I didn't scream or cry.   Mission Accomplished.

So far So good

We are here and have a big suite and hope to meet enough zombies to have a party sometime this weekend.

Christina has a new post up and it's great.
She will be practicing her presentation on us later.

More soon....

Zombie Liberation Front

Gina, Christina and I are arriving in Denver tomorrow, a day early.   We will be at the hotel sometime early afternoon, so if you want to meet up with us, shoot me an email in my profile account and we'll figure it out.

Otherwise, we will be attending the Cake Party on friday night.   We'll be the ones not eating cake.  Ha.

Well looky there, they finally put up the actual schedule. 

And there is the best thing I have ever seen in my life.

Sunday 10-11am    Christina Graves -  Gluten Free PWN
"Improving Narcolepsy with Dietary Changes" 

I wouldn't believe it til I saw it published.
Now I must go cry.

Bad Stuff

The Science of Why Toothpaste Makes Food Taste Funny

Because it's a floor cleaner.

Good Stuff

Disputed theory on Parkinson's origin strengthened

Does Parkinson's disease actually start in the gut? The so-called Braak's hypothesis proposes that the disease process begins in the digestive tract and in the brain's center of smell. The theory is supported by the fact that symptoms associated with digestion and smell occur very early on in the disease.
...
Researchers at Lund University have previously mapped the spread of Parkinson's in the brain. The disease progression is believed to be driven by a misfolded protein that clumps together and "infects" neighboring cells. Professor Jia-Yi Li's research team has now been able to track this process further, from the gut to the brain in rat models. The experiment shows how the toxic protein, alpha-synuclein, is transported from one cell to another before ultimately reaching the brain's movement center, giving rise to the characteristic movement disorders in Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Braak is the one who gave me the ideas about gluten and narcolepsy.
My current belief is that Parkinson's is caused by an oropharyngeal fungal infection.
Exacerbated by exposure to other volatile aromatics like pesticides, petroleum products, and beer.

Setting a Bad Example

The Worst Person in the World

Big Doins in the Trailer Park

Going to the Narcolepsy Network conference on Friday.
Have to take care of a few things this week.
Probably light posting until afterwards.  

Brain Eating Zombies of the Week

Frakkin Stanford.

This is from last year, but I want y'all to see this research again-

Comorbidities Common in Narcolepsy

"We found that 27% of persons with narcolepsy had a mood disorder, 37% were taking an antidepressant — 3 times higher than the general population — and anxiety disorders were also prevalent,"

A high proportion of narcoleptic patients reported psychiatric disorders, especially major depressive disorder and social anxiety disorder, which affected nearly 20% of these individuals, Dr. Ohayon reported.

"In addition, 34% of narcoleptics were obese, and this was with matching for body mass index in the study, and they are more likely to have hypercholesterolemia and hypertension than the general population," Dr. Ohayon added.

He further noted that several comorbid conditions were autoimmune disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, and allergies.

Five medical diseases were also more frequently observed among narcoleptic participants: hypercholesterolemia, digestive diseases, heart disease, upper respiratory tract disease, and hypertension. The highest odds ratios were for diseases of the digestive system, which were noted in 16.3% of the narcoleptic population vs 5.0% of the controls, a 3-times-increased risk (P < 0.001), and for upper respiratory tract diseases, which were noted for 27.5% and 10.9%, respectively, for an odds ratio of 2.5 (P < 0.001).

Here's the poster from the conference
Zoom in on the charts on the right side.

Please Note:   They did not survey DENTAL disease.

We have Apnea like frakkin crazy.  Look at that.
And stroke, kidney failure and heart failure have been documented to be caused by strep infections for over a century.
And all five of those are accelerated by Stimulant Drugs.


Here's what the lead researchers had  to say about it-

"Dr. Ohayon concluded,   "We don't know how to interpret these data. These are just facts, but we don't know what they mean."

"Frankly, we are scratching our heads. It is a big question mark," Black said.

Yep, it's a medical mystery how illness could cause these symptoms. 
(previous research from Mignot's minions.)

As I was Saying

2nd Ebola case in Texas caused by breach in protocol, CDC chief says

Thanks for all that great preparedness training, CDC...
Oh and finding that smallpox and stuff.

Just saw this

Ebola in the U.S.—Politics and Public Health Don’t Mix

See the Technicolor Nightmare brought on by people unwilling to provide healthcare to others.

Maniac of the Day

 Dr. Elizabeth Hohmann- for following up on her crazy idea.
 
Fecal pills could help fight fatal infections

Twenty people with recurrent C. diff infections took 15 pills a day, about the size of a large multivitamin, for two days. Fourteen of them were free of diarrhea almost immediately, with no recurrences. The other six tried the treatment again; that did the trick for four of them. The two people who failed to get results were in poorer health overall, the study found. But the treatment worked for people from age 11 to age 89.
The Mass General group has since treated another 21 people with the pills, with similar success. The results were announced Saturday at the IDWeek meeting in Philadelphia andpublished in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association.
“We’re really jazzed that a journal of this stature has picked this up,” Hohmann says. “I’ve been a microbiology researcher for 25 years and this is the biggest thing we’ve done.”

Yoo hoo, all you pharmas that have stopped making antipsychotics and and antidepressants and antibiotics because all the "unintended consequences" are affecting your risk profile...
Here's something to put in your pipeline.

Tic Tic Tic Tic Tic

Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests

The inactivated flu vaccine does not appear to be effective in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the ones with asthma. In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than their peers who do not get the vaccine, according to new research. While these findings do raise questions about the efficacy of the vaccine, they do not in fact implicate it as a cause of hospitalizations, according to researchers.

School Flu Preparation
"We are encouraging families to get the flu vaccination for their kids." And they are offering care that is convenient for parents through the school district Wellness Program.

Repeat after me...
Vitamin D.  Vitamin D.   Vitamin D.

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Hip-hop therapy is new route to mental health, say psychiatrists

STFU.   If anything, the urge to rap is probably a symptom of subclinical Tourettes.
It's similar to musical theater.  And cheerleading.
A ritualized form of hyperactivity...

Joseph Lister is Weeping

Before Ebola, Western Doctors Foolishly Believed the Age of Epidemics Was Over—It Wasn't

An earlier response might have stopped both diseases in their tracks, but in each case WHO denied the gravity of the situation for months. Even then, it emphasized the responsibility of each government to address its own public-health threat, although the state’s lack of health infrastructure was a major reason for the outbreaks in the first place. Indeed, in the case of Syria, it was the government that destroyed the hospitals and attacked the doctors in the opposition-held areas where polio broke out. Small wonder both of these global threats moved quickly across borders.
Part of the reason for this complacency is a “been there, done that” attitude toward infectious disease. Western doctors tend to believe we have discovered, isolated and conquered germs, and have moved on to more difficult non-communicable diseases like diabetes and dementia.

Medical records reveal deceased Texas Ebola patient sent home with high fever

Thomas Duncan was released from hospital with 103F degree fever, despite telling nurse about recent travels.

Western hospitals are the LEAST prepared because they have become complacent with antiseptic protocols by relying on antibiotics for decades.   Not only have they created a lot of untreatable infections- Nobody remembers how to deal with contagion anymore.  They don't even know their precious "non communicable diseases" are actually extensively documented infections.

Welcome to their nightmare.

Because it does

92% of patients say medical marijuana works

A 2013 survey in the New England Journal of Medicine found that nearly 8-in-10 doctors approved the use of medical marijuana. Now, a wide-ranging survey in California finds that medical marijuana patients agree: 92 percent said that medical marijuana alleviated symptoms of their serious medical conditions, including chronic pain, arthritis, migraine, and cancer.