Today the blog is all about articles about health issues. One about Parkinson's, one about dementia, and last but not least carrot allergies and other weird diseases.
The following article relates Vitamin D levels to the onset of Parkinson's Disease. More sun, less chance to get the disease. However, more sun the greater risk of skin cancer. Vicious circle. Looks like I am going to seriously think about taking Vitamin D supplements.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100712/hl_afp/healthresearchusfinlandparkinsons
Next up is Alzheimer's and Dementia. The following article states that people caring for a relative or spouse suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia wait to long to get paid help and in the process endanger their own health. I'm going to add something that wasn't completely discussed in the article and that is sometimes we see signs of Alzheimer's or dementia in a close relative or friend and do nothing about it. We are so terribly afraid of embarrassing them that we don't have their doctor test them for either. If we did have them tested for Alzheimer's or demantia we could possibly delay the onset of it. I saw signs of dementia in my dad for four or five years before a stroke brought dad's dementia on full bore. Neither Mom and I wanted to have Dad tested because we just didn't want to make him feel like less of a man. A mistake on our part. Learn from us and don't make the same mistake. Please if you see signs in a spouse or relative then talk to their doctor about having them tested for either disease. There is a very real possibility that the doctor may be able to test them without them really knowing what they are being tested for.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-07-13-alzheimerscare13_ST_N.htm
Did you know that there is an actual illness where people believe themselves to be either dead or missing organs? Yes, it is a real disease. It even has a name, Cotard's syndrome. There is a new book that describes all the weird diseases people say they have and we make fun of. Read about the new book here:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-07-13-IanLandau13_ST_N.htm
Your comments are always appreciated!
WHO AM I?
Yesterday's answer was Barbara McClintock
I was born in 1904 and died at age sixty-seven of Parkinson's Disease eighteen years after I developed the first symptoms of it. My dad was a non-practicing Jew and Mom was Irish-Catholic. I'm a Jersey girl. My dad made me a perfectionist and Mom taught me resourceful homemaking. My older sister became famous for work at Bar Association in Chicago. My interest in photography began as a hobby. Despite my interest in the camera world I began studying herpetology at an Ivy League school. My dad died after one semester in college and I left that school. I transferred to several other colleges eventually graduating from a different Ivy League school than the one I first attended leaving behind a photographic study of the rural campus for the school's newspaper. I married at age twenty and divorced at age twenty-two. I became an associate editor and staff photographer for a financial magazine when I was twenty-five. I am well-known as the first female photojournalist allowed to take pictures of industries within the Soviet Union. I was Life Magazine's first female photojournalist. Like a long ago Who Am I of the day I photographed drought victims of the Dust Bowl. I married a second time at age thirty-five and divorced a second time at age thirty-nine. I traveled to Europe to record how Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia were faring under Nazism and how Russia was faring under Communism. While in Russia, I photographed a portrait of Stalin with a smile, as well as portraits of Stalin's mother and great-aunt when visiting Georgia. I was the first female to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II. In 1941 I traveled to the Soviet Union just as Germany broke its pact of non-aggression. I was the only foreign photographer in Moscow when German forces invaded. Taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy I then captured the ensuing firestorms on camera. As the war progressed I went with the Air Force to North Africa then to Italy with the Army and later Germany. I repeatedly came under fire in Italy in areas of fierce fighting. After surviving a helicopter crash I gained a famous nickname, "The Indestructible."
When I went to Germany I traveled with a general who had an academy award winning movie made about him. This is when I arrived at Buchenwald, the notorious concentration camp. I said, "Using a camera was almost a relief. It interposed a slight barrier between myself and the horror in front of me." After the war I interviewed and photographed Mohandas K. Gandhi just a few hours before his assassination. I had brain several brain surgeries after the onset of Parkinson's. Before dying I wrote my autobiography that was published in the sixties and became an instant best seller. Who Am I?
About Me
- William J.
- First, I think the birth sign is wrong. 6-21, some papers say Gemini, some Cancer. Guess that means I have so many personalities that I can do group therapy alone. For those that don't know how to read Google profiles I have put what I really mean in ( ). Hot (Good looking enough to be in movies(if I buy at ticket). A body like a God (Buddha). Romantic (Thinks begging is foreplay.) Physically fit (Heart trouble. Put 911 on speed dial before we get initmate.) Good Provider (has good life insurance in case you forget to put 911 on speed dial.) Loyal (has reference letters from Mom and parole officer.) Intelligent (scored 1600 on his SATS but you have to total the scores of the four times that I took the test.) Looking for someone compatible (Be between 30 & 99 and not inflatable.)
5 comments:
Interesting articles, all. I'm already supplementing Vitamin D along with calcium for bone health, and heaven knows there's enough sun here in SoCA, but people do get Parkinson's here, too, even people who are outdoors a lot, so this deserves further study.
There is very little that can be done to slow the progression of dementia or Alzheimer's, so testing at the first sign of what may be normal aging forgetfulness is a bit of overkill. I know there are drugs they're giving to slow Alzheimer's, but success with them is very limited. In your dad's case, since a stroke brought on the dementia, I doubt there would have been any benefit to earlier testing. Just IMO.
I could certainly see signs in my mother as she approached 100, and in fact did try to get her on Aricept, but it made her ill, so we stopped it, and as with your dad, descent into full-blown dementia happened very suddenly, so I don't think it would have helped had she continued to take the med.
The book looks fascinating, but a bit scary, too. Since a lot of the conditions are real, I question his calling it The Hypochondriac's Handbook. Except that a true hypochondriac might read it and suddenly see personal signs of a lot of the weird conditions. I don't think I'll read it, thanks.
Hi Pat
Appreciate your insights as always.
Interesting point about LA residents getting Parkinson's. Begs the questions if there has ever been any studies of the rates of the disease in Florida and Hawaii and other sun spots.
I don't know about dad. You always think there is something that you could have or should have done but maybe you are right. Did you know that Parkinson's is often precuser to dementia and Alzheimer's? Dad's left arm and hand used to shake and then once dementia came on it stopped. A doctor later told us the connection.
I might buy the book because it sounds like it might have some interesting things to discuss at a party!
Bill
Interesting stuff. I was aware that Vitamin D played a role in the possible prevention of a variety of diseases and disorders. Most research I've seen says that just fifteen or twenty minutes of sun exposure a day will provide more Vitamin D than most vitamins, foods and supplements and isn't considered "dangerous" for most people. I do know I feel better when I can spend some daily time in the sun, working the yard and such, although if I'm out for long periods, I'm usually covered in sun screen. If, for example, you walk for half an hour a day, in a short sleeved shirt, and much of that is in the sun, you're doing your body a big favor.
As to Alzheimer's, I just don't know. I've read conflicting reports on early testing, whether it can make a difference, whether there are really ways to slow the disease or whether it simply progresses differently in each individual and/or whether physical trauma can accelerate it. Our neighbor lady was developing Alzheimer's and it had become obvious, but after her fall a few months ago, it seemed it just escalated immediately, both in terms of memory and personality and physical frailty.
As to weird diseases... don't think I'll be buying the book either. And I agree with Pat. If these are documented diseases and disorders, they're not a sign of hypochrondiac tendencies. The ones mentioned sound pretty awful.
Hi DR
Just to let your know that I am at Mom's and will respond to your message in the morning.
Bill
Hi DR
The problem living in a place like Portland is sometimes you have to wait a long time for twenty minutes of sun.
I've also read conflicting reports and there seems to be more and more support that early testing can lead to the delay of Alzheimer's. I'm going to post a follow-up article today. I do think if you are inclined to get it that falls and strokes will bring it on full bore.
Bill
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