I received this email today - it is an advertisement for Trivita as well as great information, but I really wanted to share it here in its entirety. It is very encouraging news as far as progress being made in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this challenging illness.

A New Test for Alzheimer’s

A breakthrough blood test for Alzheimer’s disease may soon be on the market. It is for a protein called CD-69 that lives in lymphocytes (white blood cells involved in your immune system). This new blood test joins the established blood tests for Alzheimer’s risk: Apolipoprotein e-4 and Homocysteine.

Risks for Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s dementia is a progressive disease where inflammation tangles up nerve fibers and toxic proteins trigger plaque formation. Inflammation often occurs in the immune system of the brain.

This damage increases as you age. It can be amplified by certain lifestyle choices, such as smoking and poor nutrition, and multiplied by brain injuries, heart disease and depression. Injury, nutrient deficiency, electromagnetic fields and stress all cause brain inflammation and produce tangled nerves. Toxic blood levels of minerals such as aluminum, iron, zinc and copper can also create inflammation and may produce toxic protein complexes that trigger plaques.

Tests you can take
If you suspect you or a loved one has Alzheimer’s disease, there are a number of tests you can take that may help determine a diagnosis:

CD-69 lymphocyte test
As I mentioned, the CD-69 lymphocyte test will be available soon. Lymphocytes are immune system cells made in your lymphatic system; primarily in the lymph nodes of your abdomen. The same stem cells that create these lymphocytes also serve as the foundation for the immune system in your brain.

The CD-69 lymphocyte test helps to confirm the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and to separate it from other causes of dementia such as Parkinson’s. It is very accurate once a person has serious signs of dementia. However, we do not know how early these CD-69 proteins appear. So, we do not yet know if CD-69 can be used to predict Alzheimer’s disease in time to alter the course of dementia.

Apolipoprotein e-4
Apolipoprotein e-4 is a genetic test for Alzheimer’s and other diseases. We get Apo-e genes from our parents (e-2 is the longevity gene, e-3 is the common gene and e-4 is the gene associated with heart disease, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s).

Homocysteine
Homocysteine is a test that shows how active the disease process is: the higher the homocysteine number, the more active the disease. Homocysteine is a strong trigger for inflammation. C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is a measurement of inflammation.

Other beneficial tests that can help determine your level of risk for Alzheimer’s and other diseases of inflammation include LDL-C (“bad,” inflamed cholesterol) and fasting insulin levels (insulin is very inflammatory!).

Steps to take
It is always better to know than to not know. Take as many of the tests listed above as you or your loved one can access. And remember, a positive test is not a death sentence. There are simple lifestyle techniques that can yield a profound result in terms of wellness.

• A single brain injury can increase your risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 1,000%! Yet, lifelong learning can erase much of the effect of injury by creating new connections in your brain. (See the WWR article on Memory).
  
  
• Low homocysteine, low CRP and low LDL-C are all associated with reduced risk for dementia. Eating an organic, plant-based diet high in fiber and B vitamins can help reduce CRP and homocysteine. Eating cold-water fish like wild salmon may reduce LDL-C. Supplements such as HCY Guard and OmegaPrime can make the critical difference between success and failure in a prevention program.

Good health – your best defense
Aggressive application of the Ten Essentials as well as the principles of healthy aging can help create the best possible biological terrain – your best defense against Alzheimer’s dementia and, indeed, all diseases.

Childhood Bipolar Diagnosis?

I enjoy reading "My life as being a bipolar person", and she's given me permission to share a little from her blog. She's been doing some research about children with Bipolar disorder vs. ADHD that I wanted to share here....

Both disorders share many characteristics: impulsivity, inattention, hyperactivity, physical energy, behavioral and emotional lability (behavior and emotions change frequently), frequent coexistence of conduct disorder and oppositional-defiant disorder, and learning problems. Motor restlessness during sleep may be seen in both (children who are bipolar are physically restless at night when “high or manic”,though they may have little physical motion during sleep when “low or depressed”).

And the differences are;

The destructiveness that are in both disorders may seem the same but they are very different. A child with ADHD often breaks things carelessly while playing, where as the destructiveness with a bipolar child is not a result of carelessness, but usually out of anger. The duration and intensity of the angry outbursts and temper tantrums in the two disorder differs. A kid with ADHD usually calm down within 20 to 30 minutes wheras a kid with bipolar will continue to feel and act angry for over 30 minutes to 4 hour. The energy that a child with ADHD puts out during the anger outburst could be mimicked by an adult, If an adult tried to mimick a bipolar child would reach exhaustion in a few minutes.

You can check out more at her blog, linked above...

Don't forget to change your clocks back one hour this Sunday!!!

Looking for someone similar?

There are so many different networks online - it's amazing! Most everyone knows the "classics" like MySpace and FaceBook, and then there are all sorts of niche networks as well, ones that I'm sure I've never heard of. I think that they are fun, but I lose interest quickly, and they require some time to keep up. I've found a neat one today that is new to me - maybe you've heard of it already. It's called MyTrybe. It's easy and once it's set up it kind of does the work for you, which I like!! I've got their Similar People widget on my sidebar right now. It is meant to expose your blog to people like you. It allows you to express your sense of style, humor, art, music, food, and so on. It shows your "similar people" and what they like best, and it even has a similarity indicator that shows visitors how similar they are to you. I signed up today - it only took about ten minutes. Anyway, check it out and see what you think... Learn more & get the widget, then maybe I'll see you around - maybe we'll turn out to be "similar people" :).

Fall Allergies

My younger daughter has a doozy of a time with fall allergies. I guess it's the mold in the leaves. The only way that she can get through it that we have discovered so far is Benadryl at night and Claritin in the morning... I'll be glad when we have a real cold spell; then she'll be fine and we can lay off the medicine!!

I got a great email from TriVita specifically about fall allergies, so thought I'd share :)...

This can be a difficult time of year for many people. It is the time when autumn plants bloom outdoors and mold spores bloom indoors. Both of these trigger allergic responses in people prone to allergies.

What are allergies? Why do some people get them? And how can you find relief if you have allergies?

What are allergies?
Allergies occur when a plant or animal protein or a synthetic substance contacts your mucous membrane and your immune system reacts to reject the irritant. These irritants can include:

• Mold
• Pollen
• Dust
• Animal Dander

When your immune system senses one of these irritants it creates an antibody. The antibody protein is rushed to the site of the irritation and “pops” a mast cell. This releases histamines, which create inflammation in the area surrounding the site. This in turn attracts white blood cells and plasma fluid from the lymphatic system, causing heat and swelling. At the same time, blood vessels in the area dilate, causing redness. This irritation may also cause pain.

Although trigger proteins often come from pollen or mold spores, they can really come from anything. For instance, the most common food allergy in North America is milk. Here, the allergic reactions happen within the intestines, where the milk antibody protein (casein) pops the mast cells in the intestines similar to the way a needle pops a balloon.

Something interesting about the nature of mast cells is that they seem to be connected in groups. The H-1 (histamine-1) receptors line the sinuses, intestines, skin, joints and lungs. So, when ragweed pollen triggers mast cells in the nose or a milk protein triggers mast cells in the intestines, all the body’s H-1 mast cells react. That’s why milk allergy is related to asthma, ragweed-induced asthma is related to eczema, and mold-induced eczema is related to arthritis.

Why do I have allergies?
A more important question than “What are allergies” may be “Why do I have allergies when others do not?” A little story might help us understand where we are in the course of health in North America and around the world.

Many years ago, coal miners took a canary with them into the mines to check whether the air was safe for them to breathe. As long as the canary was alive, the miners knew that the air was safe. However, if the canary began having breathing problems, the miners knew that the air was toxic and that they had to immediately leave the mine. Today coal miners use sophisticated air-quality sensors to test for toxic air.

People with allergies are like canaries in the coal mine: They suffer sooner than others. But make no mistake – toxic air affects everyone sooner or later! Those watching world health trends are seeing incredible increases in rates of hay fever, asthma, arthritis and many other allergy-related disorders.

Therefore, we can easily say that there are only two kinds of people:

1. Those who have allergies today
2. Those who will develop allergies tomorrow

Health research from around the world confirms this startling trend.

What you can do
Allergy protection is possible when you approach the problem from two perspectives: isolation and insulation.

Isolation
This means keeping your environment as allergen-free as possible. You avoid foods that may be allergy triggers as well as keep your indoor air as clean as possible. It may also mean you stay indoors when allergen counts are high.

Insulation
This means keeping your mast cells as tough as possible so they don’t “pop” too easily. All mast cells are made of good fats, such as those in OmegaPrime. In fact, OmegaPrime has specific “anti-allergy” fat called perilla seed oil. Using these fats in a high concentration (two per meal) over time will toughen up mast cells and help prevent histamine release.

Vitamin B-12 also helps protect you from allergies by reducing the total amount of histamines your body makes. According to an ongoing study of B-12 and allergies, it takes about three milligrams of B-12 to break through the allergy process and reduce symptoms. Additionally, there appears to be a long-term effect. People in the B-12 study experienced more allergy relief in their second year than they did during the first.

A few other nutrients play important roles in allergy reduction:

• Maximum levels of Vitamin C (learn about the Vitamin C Flush) act directly to help block histamines
• Calcium assists B-12 in blocking histamine formation
• Probiotics with enzymes (such as those in Digestive Complex) help reduce mast cell triggers found in foods.

What we all can do
The incidence of allergies increases as carbon dioxide increases in our air and toxins increase in our water and foods. Everything we do to reduce these toxins and support organic agriculture decreases the toxic burden that all of us, including our children and grandchildren, are forced to bear. We are the canaries in the coal mine. Each of us must decide for ourselves how to best insulate our bodies, while at the same time, doing our part to help reduce our planet’s toxic load.

Chronic pain

I read an article by the American Pain Foundation that talked about chronic pain in America. It was amazing! One in four adults in our country report having had daylong bouts of pain in the last month, and two in five report pain for a year or longer. Yikes!!!

Some disorders that are accompanied by chronic pain:

• Osteoarthritis
  
• Rhematoid Arthritis
• Diabetic Neuropathy
• Fibromyalgia

Treatment options:

• Medications
• Injectable therapies
• Mind-body approaches
• Rehabilitative approaches
• Complementary/alternative approaches
• Surgery

If you find yourself, or someone you care for in this large group of chronic pain sufferers, your first stop should be your primary physician. You need to really work together in coming up with a plan to deal with chronic pain, and the emotional and psychological pain that can accompany it. Don't give up!!!

Palin on Special-needs Children

"Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.
And children with special needs inspire a special love.
To the families of special-needs children all across this country,
I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more
welcoming place for your sons and daughters.
I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend
and advocate in the White House."

-Sarah Palin