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.