MIT reverses autism in mice

I recently received an email with the article below. One thing that I found interesting in the article was the following quote "Suppressing it can counteract the effects of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), the leading cause of retardation and a genetic autism, MIT said Sunday." The "genetic autism" was what caught my eye. Is the rash of autism not only in the US but all over the world "genetic" or are all of these children just predisposed to autism anyway and develop it because of pollution and the mercury that is in immunizations? Maybe it is just all of the above? There are several states that are major polluters and have a huge clusters of autism cases are New Jersey, Texas and North Carolina. A cure to autism and other diseases like this need to be found, I hope that this article will help with this.

Merry Christmas

I found this tree on Breaking The Silence this is the easiest tree I ever put up :-) Click below to leave me a Christmas present.

Food For Thought

Recently, on Larry King Live, Larry did an interview with a death row inmate named Damien Echols. Fifteen years ago, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of the murder of three Arkansas boys. At the time of their arrest Damien was 18, Jason was 16 and Jessie was 18. They were not convicted on any physical evidence basically; they were all convicted on the confession of 18 year old Jessie Misskelley and satanic panic (the three were fans of the rock band Metallica).

You may be wondering what this has to do with a personal medical blog? Well, there are a few reasons why I am posting this. Jessie Misskelley, the boy who confessed to the crime, is mentally challenged has an IQ of around 72. Anything below 70 is considered mentally retarded. As readers of my blog may know, I have a child with Autism. Anyone familiar with Autism knows that you don’t get an accurate IQ with people with autism no matter how functioning the autistic. My child has an IQ test around 74 and is quite verbal and high functioning. Yet, several years ago we were watching a movie and eating popcorn and Twizzlers. When we ran out of the Twizzlers, my oldest child (jokingly) asked my autistic child “why did you eat all of the Twizzlers?” His reply was “I didn’t mean to.” This was a child just trying to give his sister an answer to a question. Many mentally challenged people have been wrongfully convicted on their own confessions.

If you are not familiar with this case “The West Memphis Three” it is very interesting. I first learned of the case several years ago from watching the HBO documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The first time that my husband and I watched the movie, we caught it in the middle and thought that it was a “docudrama.” The story was so off the wall, we thought that for sure that it had to have been made up. At the end of the movie, we hit the info button on the remote to find out the name of the movie and when it was on again to watch the entire movie. To our surprise, it was a documentary and not a docudrama. After only watching the second half of the movie, we were convinced that Damien, Jason and Jessie did not commit the murders and could not have committed them. When we watched the entire movie, we were just incensed in the injustice and left thinking that it was one of the parents who committed the murders. The entire case is a bit strange. Later they came out with a second movie called “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations” I highly recommend that you watch both movies. They will make you think twice about the death penalty.

Back to the Larry King interview, finally they have come up with new evidence. DNA that is not linked to any of the three young men convicted of the murders. Hopefully, they will find the true killer or killer’s of the three little boys who did not disserve to die is such a horrific way and Damien, Jason and Jessie can regain their freedom.

Here are some ways that you can help and information on the case:

The WM3 official site

Link for banners to put on your blog

Links to the victims’

West Memphis Three on YouTube

A news article I found on CFS and FM and other vitamin info

This morning while looking for news articles on CFS and FM, I ran across an article on the use of magnesium for muscle spasms. I have been taking magnesium since I had my thyroid removed due to cancer. The magnesium has nothing to do with the thyroid or lack of but, when my thyroid was removed my parathyroid completely quit working. This only happens in 1 – 3% of thyroidectomy patients. I am not very good with percentages, when I went in for my thyroid biopsy; the doctor doing the biopsy told me “don’t worry, less than 5% of these ever come back anything.” Turns out I had follicular thyroid cancer.

Back to the article...it talks about magnesium being a natural muscle relaxer, that it can increase energy. I have been out of my magnesium for about a week and my muscle spasms have been raging! Not to mention my fibro pain and most of the time it is not that bad. Not that I don’t hurt, mine is more being sensitive to the touch rather than overall widespread pain. I am more CFS than FM, so I can not attest to magnesium and energy…I have none.

magnesium

Another good thing about magnesium is, depending on the form, is a great laxative (and is not cramping like some over the counter laxatives)! If you have chronic constipation the “magnesium citrate” is the laxative form. My favorite citrate brand, which I learned about from my doctor, is the “Rexall” brand. I have not been able to find this one in months; I used to be able to find it at Walmart in the vitamin section. I am now taking the “NOW” brand, it has the; oxide, citrate and asparate forms in it. The article says that magnesium glycinate and magnesium aspartate is the best forms for fibromyalgia. Magnesium, calcium and D work together, without one the other does not work as well.

Now about the parathyroid, your parathyroid regulates calcium in the body. Since mine no longer works, I have to take calcium, magnesium, prescription vitamin D (which is normally formed in the liver) and Calcitriol (which is normally formed in the kidneys). For me not having a working parathyroid working is much worse than not having a thyroid. The lack of my parathyroid was noticeable immediately after my thyroidectomy surgery. The day after surgery, I woke up to my hands seizing up, numb hands and feet, my lip and face twitching along with other muscles twitching. Then once I was able to eat, I started noticing that my throat would close up (just not want to work) while eating along with terrible hiccups! Until I started on all of the above listed medications, things were really terrible. Some of this still happens every once and a while but, nothing like it was.

If you want to learn more about vitamins, two of my favorite books are; Vitamin Bible and Herb Bible, by Dr. Earl Mindell. I have a few others that I will post later.

New interesting tool that I found on Fibrant Living

This morning while I was checking back on my recently added Fibro link Fibrant Living, I noticed the newest post. The post was about Curehunter.com, and had this enbed on it.

It is a visual medical dictionary! You can also, search medications. Being a very visual person, I just love this. I hope that you will find this helpful too.

Go to Curehunter.com and click on the "dictionary" tab to search for your disease or disorder and get your own enbed. You can also, search information on diseases on the "search" tab.

Off Topic

This is off topic but, I thought that it was worth sharing. A friend of my recently emailed this to me.

Should children witness childbirth?

Due to a power outage, only one paramedic responded to the call. The house was very dark so the paramedic asked Kathleen, a 3-yr old girl to hold a flashlight high over her mommy so he could see while he helped deliver the baby. Very diligently, Kathleen did as she was asked. Heidi pushed and pushed and after a little while, Connor was born. The paramedic lifted him by his little feet and spanked him on his bottom. Connor began to cry. The paramedic then thanked Kathleen for her help and asked the wide-eyed 3-yr old what she thought about what she had just witnessed. Kathleen quickly responded, "He shouldn't have crawled in there in the first place......spank him again!"

If you don't laugh at this one, there's no hope

New Fibromyalgia Blog

While surfing around I found a wonderful Fibromyalgia blog called Fibrantliving. It has lots good information and links. Once I read more I will post more about this blog. Click on the picture to go to Fibrantliving blog.

Please, post comments and interesting thing you find here

Great way to promote your blog

Recently, I another blogspot blogger sent me information on Entrecard. I checked into it and now I am hooked! My traffic has increased dramatically. It is a great way to find other blogs, I have found things that I never knew about.

The way it works is, if you have a blog, you sign up on Entrecard then create you own Entrecard logo widget, the size is 125x125. Then you drop you Entrecard on other blogs that participate with Entrecard, like a business card or calling card. Best of all it is FREE!

You earn credits:

• 1 credit each time you drop your card on someone else’s blog
• 1 credit each time someone drops their card on your blog
• Then you ear credits when someone advertises on your widget.

For more information on the program sign up at Entrecard. Here is a link to the help page for detailed information.

So, get your own Entrecard and come back and drop you card on my widget. Happy blogging =)

My Technorati Profile

Technorati Profile

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

This is just one of my many problems... I am beginning to think that I have always had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (POS Stein-Leventhal Syndrome or Polycystic Ovary Disease (PCOD), but that it did not get completely out of control until I had my last child (he is now 9). Shortly after he was born, I started having menopausal symptoms. Before this time, I never got sick. Other than a cold, the flu, sinus infection once a year. Now, I am always getting something and it takes forever to get over. This is especially true during the school year, the summer is not as bad. Is it the POS or something else? I don't know, that is one reason that I started this blog. If you have POS, please post your story.

Like I said above, for years I have been telling doctors that I thought that I was going through menopause. The majority of them just looked at me like I was crazy! In the beginning, I was only 31 and I knew that it sounded crazy but that is how I was feeling. At first, it was hot flashes and just constantly feeling like I was having PMS. In the past two years or so, thing have been much worse. Constant...painful monthly periods. By "constant" I mean periods 19 days apart start to start and then lasting 5 to 7 days. You do the math, this is all the time.

Finally, I went to my endocrinologist (2 years ago, I had thyroid cancer) to get the results of blood test that she had done. She had run several hormone tests and an A1C (blood sugar) among others (every time I get blood test they use just about every color and size tube). Anyway, she told me that I was not in menopause but, with the results of the A1C and the other hormone tests that I had POS. My blood sugar was high and low and my testosterone was 20 and should be 40. She put me on Metformin, I did not want to take "the Pill" I am too old and I smoke and my mother had Diabetes as an adult. I need to quit smoking but that is for another post...

Back to the Metformin, I have been on it for less than a month and for the first time in years, I have passed the 19 day mark for a new period!

Here are some links to POS that I have come across, let me know if you have any good ones that I have not come across. Either email them to me or post them here:

• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Support
• WomensHealth.gov
• MedicineNet.com
• A personal web page
• PCOS in Connection
  

Locks Of Love

Recently, I received an email on donating your hair to Locks of Love. This is a wonderful giving program. Here is some information about the program taken from Locks of Love.

WHAT IS LOCKS OF LOVE?

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.

For FAQ's about giving and hair qualification click here.

Autism Reading Program

We have a son with Autism; he was in school here in Texas for 5 years. He is high functioning and is verbal. Yet, the school's (he attended 9 schools here) here in Texas could not do anything with him. When he was 10 years old we sent him to live with family in New Mexico. At the time my husband had found out about a program in New Mexico for children with Autism and with us getting not being able to get him the services that he needed here, we felt that sending him to NM was the best thing. He was not reading at all, he could recognize words but could not "read" them. The school's and the local ISD "professional's" told me that he would never read at best he would sight read.

Well, after he started school in NM we found out about the Wilson Reading Method through a family member who is a Special Education teacher. He started the program at school and a home with a tutor. WOW, viola!!! He began to read, I mean really read and understand. He is now 15 and reading almost at a 4^th grade level. Hopefully, some day he will be reading at the level that he should be at for his age. But, even a 4^th grade level is a lot better than nothing at all.

Here are some links that I have found for the Wilson Reading Method. I just learned that it is used for dyslexia, poor spellers, ESL (English as Second Language) students among others.

• Wilson Language Training
• LD Online – this is a really good website for all kinds of info and lots of LD’s
• IDA Discussion Forum – From “The International Dyslexia Association”

I will add more links as I find them. Hope this is helpful =)

Here are some new links:

• FAPE defined
• This is a really good link to Autism and IDEA information from the Autism Society of America

A great idea that I received from one of my eBay friends

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following: 

A Recovering American Soldier 

c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center

6900 Georgia Avenue, NW 

Washington, D.C.  20307-5001 

If you approve of the idea, please pass it on to your friends.

Before you send your Christmas cards, read this soldiers blog first.

Some of my favorite eBay sellers

In my spare time, I buy and sell on eBay. Here is a list of some of my favorite eBayer's:

• Manse de Weese: This eBay store mainly has books, all sorts of books. This sellers prices are very good, excellent communication and the shipping is very reasonable along with being very fast.We just purchased a copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, for our son after he watched the SciFi channel's mini-series Tin Man. We all enjoyed the s, I would recommend it for any SciFi nut and older children.
• 2163baskets: I just recently found this eBayer, again very good all the way around.
  

Phone Bill Cramming

Recently, I looked at my phone bill...I found two charges for "voice mail" services from two separate companies (third party charges). I called my phone company and they are reversing the charges but, told me that I still had to contact the companies to cancel the services (the ones that I never ordered or approved in the first place!). Well, I have yet to be able to get anything other than a busy signal...
So, I called the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and made a complaint. They told me that they can not really do much about these complaints unless they have multiple complaints about the same companies. One of the companies I finally found only through looking them up with the phone number listed on my phone bill. The first one shows up as Voicevox Voicemail Service, here is their real name and link to the Better Business Bureau page for them ESBI. The other company is Nations 1st Comm., LLC., here is their real name and link to the Better Business Bureau page for them American Premium Warehouse.
I still have more people to call and I will post updates and any new links.
UPDATE!
I just found this phone cramming website

Hysterectomy - the Experts Speak Out

Hysterectomy - the Experts Speak Out

Feeling Like Menopause In Your 30's and 40's

Recently, I went to our family doctor and asked again "why do I feel like I am going through menopause?" Even though, my lab work shows that I am not? I have menopause symptoms and constant periods without the wacky hormones. She told me about a procedure called Her Option Office Cryoablation Therapy, and is a Cryo Endometrial Ablation (CEA) and gave me a name and number to a local OB/GYN that does this procedure. I have an appointment but, I have not been yet. I will post about this again after I see him. I have no idea if this will fix my problem or not but, I thought that it was very interesting. Who knew that you could stop your periods after you are finished having children without having a hysterectomy???

The following is from the linked website:

The procedure is called Her Option Office Cryoablation Therapy, and is a Cryo Endometrial Ablation (CEA), a freezing procedure, performed in the office under local anesthesia. It is 94% effective in decreasing the amount of bleeding, the number of bleeding days and the cramps associated with menses. In our experience, 40-60% of patients develop amenorrhea (NO MORE PERIODS) without affecting the patient’s hormone levels. In the past, endometrial ablations have been thermal in nature and required either general anesthesia or IV sedation in a hospital or ambulatory surgery center setting. Research has shown that cryo ablation is very effective and easier on the patient in regards to perioperative and post operative pain tolerance. Patient tolerance of cryoablation in the office is excellent-only 4% of patients were uncomfortable during the procedure without IV sedation. The procedure usually lasts only 30 minutes, and the patient can go home and later in the evening be up and about. The next day the patient has no restrictions on activity. There are only 7-10 physicians in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area that performs the cryo endometrial procedure. Channel 5 recently ran a piece on CEA on 10/10/06.The website is www.nbc5i.com; click on Newslinks and go to Tues, 10/10/06 to the story “Procedure Promises to End Periods”. You can read a transcript of the story and a screen is available to watch the interview. You may also go to www.HerOption.com if you would like additional information.