A research report by published in the Journal of medical informatics on the topic of Research Progress on Treatment of Cancer with Compatibility of Traditional Chinese Medicine establishes that the targeted gene therapy is more effective than Surgery, Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy.

Cancer is one of the major life-threatening diseases that people often worry about. People suffering from cancer often undergo traditional treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, such treatments could have harmful side effects. A research was recently conducted aimed at studying traditional Chinese medicine compatibility with respect to treating prostatic cancer. The study reveals that the targeted gene therapy is more advantageous to traditional cancer treatments of Surgery, Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy.

The study also points out the targeted gene therapy can be combined with other therapies for a more effective result. However, this therapy is also not mature enough to address all health issues related to the prostatic cancer. In such a scenario, Dr. Songs 3D Prostate Targeted Treatment emerges as a safe and reliable treatment for prostate cancer. The research revealed that the therapy can be combined with local targeted injections. The technique makes the therapy more effective and increases its killing effect on cancer cells.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/embed/xIFCz5p8PDo

Dr. Songs treatment is based on the direct injection technique of the traditional Chinese medicine system. Dr. Xinping Song acknowledges the findings of the research and also the anti-cancer extract compatibility of the traditional Chinese medicine.In this prostate cancer treatment, patients are given small targeted injections in the affected areas of the prostate to help eliminate causative pathogens and clear the blockage. The injections carry herbal extracts only, which are safe and have no side effects at all. This is the reason this treatment is harmless and more effective than surgery or chemotherapy.

Dr. Song believes that the traditional Chinese anticancer medicine can better interpose with the symptoms of cancer patients. Dr. Songs prostate cancer treatment that follows the principles of traditional Chinese medicine is a clinical breakthrough. This innovative treatment brings more advantages in patients and their familys lives.

At Dr. Song 3D Urology and Prostate Clinic, patients can undergo all types of prostate care and treatment, including the treatment for the prostate cancer. This natural treatment method saves the cost and also meets the patients requirements in an effective manner. With a non-surgical and quality treatment, patients gradually improve their health and get rid of their pain and sufferings.

To know more about Dr Songs 3D prostate treatment, one can visit the website https://www.prostatecancer.vip/

About 3D Urology and Prostate Clinic

The 3D Urology and Prostate Clinic is a premier prostate treatment clinic. The clinic specializes in treating various types of prostate diseases and complications, such as prostatitis, enlarged prostate, benign prostatic hyperlasia (BPH), prostate cancer, seminal vesiculitis, epididymitis,cystitis, prostate blockage and calcification, and chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS), etc. The clinic is a medical clinic, licensed and approved by the Ministry of Health of the Peoples Republic of China.

Media Contact Company Name: Dr. Song's 3D Prostate and 3D Prostatitis Clinic Contact Person: Miss Alisa Wang, English Assistant to Dr. Song Email: prostatecure3d@gmail.com Phone: 86-186-7321-6429 Address:The Xiangtan 3D Prostatitis and Prostate Clinic Address - Jin Xiangtan Square Office Building, Suite 801, Shao Shan Middle Rd City: Xiangtan State: Hunan Country: China Website: https://www.prostatecancer.vip/

Excerpt from:
Research Reveals Targeted Gene Therapy Is More Advantageous ... - Digital Journal

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

OK, everyone. Its time to talk about birth control. Everyone remembers the stories of condoms made out of sheeps skin, but after rubber condoms were patented in 1844, there were little advances in birth control until the 1900s.

Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in 1916, and after being prosecuted for being a public nuisance, she went to jail for 30 years. When she was released, she reopened the clinic that later became known as Planned Parenthood. Through more arrests and prosecutions, her clinic stayed open. In 1950, when Sanger was in her 80s, she underwrote the research to create the first birth control pill.

In 1965, the Supreme Court ruled that married couples have the right to use birth control, but millions of unmarried women in more than 26 states were still denied birth control, and it was not until 1972 that the Supreme Court ruled that everyone now had the right to birth control.

Since then, women have had to fight tooth and nail to make sure that this right is reserved for all women, even those who dont want it, and that those who do are able to access contraceptives without judgment.

The importance of this cause making sure that every woman has the right to control her body cannot be overstated. It is a right that deserves to be protected with everything weve got.

But what about the horrible side effects that are associated with hormonal birth control? It has been proven that taking hormonal birth control pills can lead to increased risk of depression, and many women have come forward about how they believe their birth control has led to increased anxiety, and even panic attacks.

Its not an uncommon occurrence. Over 30 percent of women have quit taking birth control pills due to these side effects.

But what is the alternative? Condoms are not completely reliable, intrauterine devices (IUDs) still contain hormones and can get embedded in the walls of your uterus, which can cause severe infections or can even cause uterine rupture. Depo-Provera (a hormone shot received from your doctor every three months) has led to severe weight gain in one out of four women.

And yet it is still up to women to suffer through these horrible side effects and keep up a strict birth control regime in order to maintain the life they want for as long as they choose.

But has anyone ever thought about why this job has even been put on women? Why are we trying to disarm a bullet after being shot, rather than just shoot a blank to begin with? Why are we fighting to maintain this form of birth control?

Women deserve better. They deserve more than going through pill after pill hopelessly searching for the one that causes the least amount of panic attacks or makes them feel less depressed. They deserve more than the horrible pain that comes with an IUD that has been embedded in their uterus. They deserve more than giving up their body in exchange for one 60 pounds heavier. They deserve more than broken condoms and morning after pills.

These forms of birth control that we have relied on for so long are simply not good enough but if a woman chooses not to subject her body to these side effects, she is deemed irresponsible or just asking to get pregnant."

So, the question remains are women even really in control of their bodies? Or are they just at the mercy of their birth control?

See more here:
Negative side effects of contraception must be addressed - Virginia Tech Collegiate Times

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered the main cause of hypopituitarism in adults and growth hormone (GH) deficiency is the most common pituitary deficit associated with TBI.

According to Cedars-Sinai, even after we stop growing, adults need growth hormone. Growth hormone plays a role in healthy muscle, how our bodies collect fat (especially around the stomach area), the ratio of high density to low density lipoproteins in cholesterol levels, and bone density. In addition, growth hormone is needed for normal brain function.

A recent study aimed to assess pituitary function and GH deficiency in adult patients at different time durations following complicated mild TBI, according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The study also aimed to evaluate whether mild TBI patients with GH deficiency had developed alterations in the glycolipid profile.

Forty-eight patients (34 men and 14 women) with complicated mild TBI were included in the study. Twenty-three patients were evaluated at 1 year (Group A), and 25 patients at 5 years or longer after the injury (Group B). All patients underwent basal hormonal evaluation for pituitary function. GH deficiency was investigated by the combined test (GH releasing hormone + arginine). The glycolipid profile was also evaluated.

Researchers report that GH deficiency occurred in 8/23 patients (34.7 percent) of Group A and in 12/25 patients (48 percent) of Group B. In addition, two patients, one in each group, showed evidence of central hypothyroidism. Patients examined one-year or several years after complicated mild TBI had a similarly high occurrence of isolated GH deficiency, which was associated with visceral adiposity and metabolic alterations.

These findings suggest that patients with complicated mild TBI should be evaluated for GH deficiency even if several years have passed since the underlying trauma.

Link:
Growth Hormone Deficiency Following Complicated Mild Traumatic Brain Injury - Lexology (registration)

Recommendation and review posted by sam

A team of scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles has been able to synthesize an artificial thymus, a human organ that is important to the bodys immune system. An artificial thymus, they say, could produce necessary cancer-fighting T-cells for the body.

On demand.

T-cells, of course, are white blood cells which naturally fight diseases that develop in or infect the body. These T-cells are artificial, though, so they would have to be engineered to target specific forms of cancer, in order to be effective. Still, if this is manageable, then it could provide scientists and health practitioners with additional natural defensesalbeit, bionicfor attacking disease.

The thymus rests in front of the heart. It uses stem cells from the blood to make immune-boosting T-cells, which literally circulate throughout the body to specifically target things that dont belong. In this case, the thymus would create T-cells that could seek out specific cancerous growths without jeopardizing the health of existing tissue.

For the study, the Japanese researchers looked at 27 patients who had received transplants form stem cells that had been taken from their own thigh muscles. These patients showed no sign of any major complications; most patients also showed significant improvement with their symptoms.

Research team member Gay Crooks comments, We know that the key to creating a consistent and safe supply of cancer-fighting T-cells would be to control the process in a way that deactivates all T-cell receptors in the transplanted cells, except for the cancer-fighting receptors. It is important, of course, to take stem cells from the patient who needs them because the body is likely to reject any foreign stem cells (and their byproducts). Apparently, they have been at this study for more than two decades but, unfortunately, the researchers acknowledge that past attempts only showed modest results. From these results, though, they were able to devise a method for producing sheets of muscle stem cells which could then be attached to the inner layer of the sac (which encloses the heart). These stem cells will stimulate healing through the production of chemicals which encourage cardiac regeneration, though the stem cells, themselves, do not survive in the long term.

The results of this study have been published in the scientific journal Nature Methods.

Original post:
Can An Artificial Thymus, Made from Stem Cells, Pump Out Enough T-Cells To Fight Cancer? - Dispatch Tribunal

Recommendation and review posted by sam

When Kyle Tanner learned he had Fanconi anemia at age 16, he didnt understand the toll the bone marrow disease would take on him.

It made definitely me anxious and it made me more inclined to do things that I wouldnt have otherwise did if I didnt know I had a life-threatening disease, Tanner said.

He lived his life as though nothing was wrong, but did his research. Tanner learned everything he could about Fanconi anemia information about serious health risks such as bone marrow failure, physical abnormalities and the risk of of getting cancer.

It kind of made me stop caring about what people thought about me, Tanner said. It made more empathetic.

Doctors informed Tanner that by 19 he would likely need a bone marrow transplant. Time passed. He hoped the procedure wouldn't be necessary. Then November 2016, the 22-year-old Hudson senior was informed by his doctor that he would have to undergo a bone marrow transplant to save his life.

As Tanners final exams approached, he decided to go through with the operation.

Anxious and uncertain, the Central Michigan University student missed the entire spring 2017 semester and traveled to Minnesota for his first transplant. He second transplant would come a week later.

It has been two months since Tanner received the transplants. Its an experience that has tested his strength, he said, and changed his outlook on life.

Now that I went through a transplant, (Im) feeling the very physical aspects of it with the mental aspects (of the disease), he said.

Due to regulations in the donor program, Tanner cannot know the name of his donor who helped rebuild his life. All he knows is that a 20-year-old from Germany saved his life. He plans to send the man a letter that explains the magnitude of what he did for him.

Im extremely grateful, Tanner said. Im sure I will be for the rest of my life. That was an essential part of the process. If he wouldnt have been able to donate, I would have had to get another donor. Im extremely grateful for that person. I hope to one day tell them how important that was for me.

Tanner has symptoms like fevers and rapid hair loss that ends in rapid hair growth on his face while he recovers. In an effort to reduce exposure to bacteria and virus, Tanner must wear a mask.

It hasnt been an easy journey.

Kyle Tanner walks around his room on March 5 after being attached to an IV pole for approximately 33 days on the fourth floor of the University of Minnesota Masonic Childrens Hospital. He inspects his central line, the former bridge between him and the IV.

Receiving the transplants

After two weeks of tests, Tanner was admitted Jan. 31 to the University of Minnesota Masonic Childrens Hospital.

Before being admitted into the hospital, Tanner met a six-year-old boy who went through a transplant. The child told him, Get ready for a lot of pain and suffering, with a smile on his face.

Tanner laughed it off.

Is this really what he means, or is he saying it because its funny? Tanner thought. I came to learn he definitely wasnt saying it to be funny.

After radiation and chemotherapy, Tanner received his first bone marrow transplant on Feb. 7. His new marrow came imported from Germany via a donor paired with Tanner through the Be the Match bone marrow donor registry.

(The operation) was actually pretty uneventful, Tanner said. Its like a glorified blood transfusion. You dont even feel it.

However, the company sent too few cells to be effective, and Tanner needed a second transplant. After a period of anxiousness and waiting, Tanner learned his donor would be able to give a second set of cells. His second transplant was on Feb. 17. This time he received a stem-cell transplant, and doctors took blood from his donors vein and converted it to bone marrow.

Tanner said he felt relief. He felt the stress that was lifted off his shoulders.

Its insane that you can save someones life by giving them your bone marrow, Tanner said.

Mary Tanner,left,and Hartland junior Santino Mattioli,right, help Kyle Tanner pack to move on March 5 from the University of Minnesota Masonic Childrens Hospital into the Ronald McDonald House. I feel like Im just going to enjoy very small things that before I would want to rush through, that Im going to slow down while Im doing, and not be in such a rush to get somewhere else, Tanner said.

Support from family and friends

What he appreciates the most is walking. Hell get up when he can, shuffling up and down the hospital halls. Bundled up and donning a face mask, Tanner said he finds strength in the stories of other young patients dealing with the same disease. The beacons of optimism are children often ages 2 to 8 years old.

Their positive spirit helps maintain Tanners optimism.

Even though theyre going through really tough times, they have a big smile on their face, Tanner said. That definitely makes me happy that they are able to embrace the situation. They may not know the situation theyre going through, but its nice to see someone smile and theyre going through the same thing Im going through.

When he isnt walking, he is laying in his hospital bed with his mother on a couch by his side.

Mary Tanner has been with her son every step of the way.

He appreciates everything more and just simple things in life, Mary Tanner said. Hes got to think twice before he does anything to know if its going to endanger his life.

Tanner left his life at CMU behind, but that didnt stop his closest CMU friends from traveling more than 675 miles to see him.

Hartland junior Santino Mattioli was Tanners roommate in 2014-15 in Herrig Hall Room 010. The two formed an instant friendship by playing games like Mario Kart.

During spring break, Mattioli and some friends traveled to Minnesota to visit Tanner in the hospital. Mattioli and Tanner played video games again and hung out once again, just like when they first met.

Mattioli said although Tanner looked tired, his spirit never diminished.

You learn so much in the hard parts of your life, Mattioli said. For him to go through something like that, you learn a lot about yourself, you grow personally and (grow) stronger when you make it through it. Hes not a different person now, but you can tell hes got a different perspective.

Kyle Tanner lays in his bed on March 4 at the University of Minnesotas Masonic Childrens Hospital. Its definitely a roller coaster where the highs are at ground level, Tanner said. The good days are the days where, you know, nothing really big is happening, nothing bad is happening. You dont feel great, but the thing is you dont feel terrible.

Come home soon

Tanner will remain at a Ronald McDonald House in the Minneapolis area for a full 100 days so doctors can monitor his condition. During his stay, he has returned to the hospital with a fever, due to complications.

You cant be happy here all the time its impossible, he said. But being able to accept what youre going through, and realize what really happens is not in your hands what really happens, I think thats really important.

Despite some setbacks, the Hudson native continues to receive letters and cards from friends and family back home. He is looking forward to returning to the state he holds dear in his heart.

I like Michigan, but what really makes Michigan for me is the people that I have there that I look forward to seeing again, he said.

Tanner said he hopes for the day where he can go out to eat and not shower with a cord connected to monitors and equipment. He said he didnt go to the movies that often before his transplant now he cant wait to go to the theaters.

Doing nothing is something that I miss, Tanner said. Im doing nothing now, but theres really nobody around except my mom and I dont always feel great. Ill feel better and more comfortable in a home setting.

Tanner hopes to leave Minnesota in May and return to CMU this fall. His goal is to earn his bachelors degree in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts in May 2018.

Im going to be grateful for the time I spend with my family and being able to enjoy the little things, Tanner said. It brings out things in you that you didnt really know you enjoyed.

There are days where Tanner feels down, but he has a different outlook on life. He said he is a better person for having gone through this.

This whole experience isnt going to leave me, he said. Even right now, I dont completely realize how its changed me.

View original post here:
Finding the right match - Central Michigan Life

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

By Suzanne Laurentnews@seacoastonline.com

NEWMARKET Karen Olivier is excitedly looking forward to what she calls her stem cell birthday.

Olivier, 40, is traveling April 23 to Monterrey, Mexico, to undergo a procedure that will reset her immune system and stop the inflammation in her body, caused by her relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Diagnosed with MS at the age of 24, Olivier learned about a treatment called hematopoietic stem cell therapy, or HSCT, from a Facebook page. It gave her hope that if she had this treatment, it would stop the progression of the disease.

She began blogging about her journey leading up to her trip to Mexico.

I want others to know this is an option, she said.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, HSCT attempts to reboot the immune system, which is responsible for damaging the brain and spinal cord in MS. In HSCT, hematopoietic (blood cell-producing) stem cells are derived from the persons own bone marrow or blood, are collected and stored, and the rest of the individuals immune cells are depleted by chemotherapy.

The stored hematopoietic stem cells are then reintroduced to the body. The new stem cells migrate to the bone marrow and, over time, produce new white blood cells. Eventually they repopulate the body with immune cells, building a new immune system that doesnt know what MS is.

In early clinical trials, 78 percent of participants experienced no new disease activity after the procedure and did not need disease-modifying therapies to control their disease.

Olivier had been taking disease modifying drugs, or DMDs, for 15 years, starting with Avonex, a once weekly intramuscular injection. She then took Rebif, a subcutaneous injection three times a week. After she took a daily injection of Copaxone. In 2009, she started on Tysabri, receiving an infusion every 28 days.

I did well on the Tysabri, but in the past couple of years, my symptoms progressed and my most recent MRI showed new disease activity on my thoracic spine, Olivier said. At the rate my MS was progressing, I would probably be in a wheelchair in two years.

Since 1993, the Federal Drug Administration has approved DMDs to treat relapsing-remitting MS. All are designed to suppress the immune system to one degree or another. These drugs cost about $5,000 per month and they must be taken indefinitely, since relapses will occur if the drugs are stopped.

Oliviers insurance covered the cost of the drugs, but her copays and coinsurance amounts were still very high, she said. One month of a DMD infusion can cost between $7,000 and $9,000.

Olivier researched a clinical trial of HSCT in Chicago, a program begun in 1996 by Dr. Richard Burt, now chief of the division of medicine-immunology and autoimmune diseases at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine.

Trial criteria included relapsing-remitting MS, and failure on at least two DMDs and two flare-ups in the past 12 months, requiring treatment from steroids, she said.

In the United States, HSCT can cost between $150,000 and $200,000.

Insurance may have covered it out-of-network, but my plan has a substantial out-of-pocket maximum, Olivier said. It would have require multiple trips to Chicago for several years, and I could have ended up in the control group.

Olivier began to explore receiving HSCT in other countries and decided to apply for the treatment at Clinica Ruiz in Mexico last October when she was recovering from a flare-up. Clinica Ruiz is based in Pueblo, Mexico, but has expanded to a second clinic in Monterrey.

She and her husband, Jason, agreed spend the $54,500 out-of-pocket cost for the outpatient treatment that also includes transportation to and from a two-bedroom apartment where she will stay for 28 days. Her mother is traveling with her, as the treatment protocol requires the patient to have a caregiver present.

I was accepted based on my MS history and my expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score that basically measures how mobile you are, Olivier said.

Olivier will undergo two days of chemotherapy to wipe out her immune system. She will then have seven days of injections to promote stem cell growth, after which stem cells will be harvested from her blood.

Ill then have two more days of chemotherapy, she said. Im excited. No chemo, no cure.

May 7 will be what Olivier calls her stem cell birthday when she receives her stem cells back to reboot her immune system. She will then be in isolation in the apartment for about a week. Her mother will have to wear special precaution gear during that time.

Some people see improvements in the first three months, with full recovery in two years, Olivier said. Some might say Im not sick enough for this treatment, but the earlier someone gets it, the better, before the MS causes major damage.

She added that some people believe this is a risky procedure and it has not been FDA-approved yet in the United States.

But many people have died on Tysabri and the drug approved by the FDA last week, Ocrevus, has an increased risk of cancer after two to three years. I am hoping the HSCT will stop the progression of my MS, and hope that I never have to go on another DMD in my life.

To read Oliviers blog, visit knockoutmsblog.wordpress.com.

Original post:
Local woman heads to Mexico - Seacoastonline.com

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Submit the press release

Bone marrow transplantation, also referred as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the process of replacing diseased or damaged bone marrow or bone marrow stem cells with healthy tissue. Bone marrow is a soft vascular tissue present in the interior of long bones, which is primarily responsible for hematopoiesis (formation of blood cells), production of lymphocytes, and storage of a fat. Bone marrow transplantation procedure is recommended to treat severe stages of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, multiple myeloma, aplastic and sickle cell anemia, thalassemia etc. In 2015, more than 75,000 bone marrow transplants were performed globally and the count is expected to increase by approximately 25% by the end of 2020. Depending on the source of bone marrow or stem cells, bone marrow transplant procedures are classified as peripheral stem cell transplant (PSCT) or conventional bone marrow transplant. The high potential of the bone marrow transplants and the ongoing researches in the field to reduce the risks and side effects of the procedure will take the market to a new high and provide better healthcare to millions of people in the world.

Request Report Sample@http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1354

Bone Marrow Transplant Market: Drivers and Restraints

Increasing worldwide prevalence of cancers and anemia is the major driver for the growth of global bone marrow transplant market. Moreover, advances in technology, improving healthcare infrastructure, emerging indications of bone marrow transplant for heart and neuronal disorders, growing investment in logistic services, increasing per capita healthcare expenditure are some other factors expected to flourish the global bone marrow transplantation market. However, tremendous cost of the treatment, scarcity of bone marrow donors and uncertainty of reimbursement in several countries are some major restraints for the growth of global bone marrow transplantation market,

Bone Marrow Transplant Market: Overview

Autologous bone marrow transplant segment of transplant type is expected to hold the major share in the global bone marrow transplant market owing to low treatment cost and high success rate. Leukemia being the most potential disease eligible for bone marrow transplant, is anticipated to contribute highest share in the global bone marrow transplant market. Hospital end user segment contributes major market share in global bone marrow transplant market owing to the requirement for advanced healthcare infrastructure for the procedure. Commercialization of stem cell therapies and expansion of them for clinical use is anticipated to cause surge in global bone marrow transplant market over the forecast period of 2016-2026.

Request For TOC@http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1354

Bone Marrow Transplant Market: Region wise Overview

Geographically, global bone marrow transplant market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa.Europe will continue to lead the global bone marrow transplant market due to high density of bone marrow transplant centers and expanding bone marrow registries. Latin America is anticipated to witness rapid increase in volume of bone marrow transplant market owing to high number of potential candidates for the procedure. Increasing number of bone marrow transplant teams in North America is foreseen to boost the bone marrow transplant market in the region.

Bone Marrow Transplant Market: Key Players

Some of the key players in global bone marrow transplant market are Lonza Group Ltd., Merck Millipore Corporation, Sanofi-Aventis LLC., AllCells LLC., STEMCELL Technologies, ATCC Inc., Hemacare Corporation, Cellular Dynamics International, ReachBio LLC., Conversant Bio, abm Inc., PromoCell GmbH, Cruline Human biospecime PRO, Lifeline Cell Technology, Mesoblast Ltd. and others.

Read more:
Bone Marrow Transplant Market Size, Analysis, and Forecast Report ... - satPRnews (press release)

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

Science Daily

Stem cell drug screen yields potential alternative to statins Science Daily Next, they generated induced pluripotent stem cells from these skin cells. Stem cells continually double their numbers while in culture. This meant that a sample of converted skin cells from a single patient with FH provided a renewable source of liver ...

Read the original:
Stem cell drug screen yields potential alternative to statins - Science Daily

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

When Philip Rhoades' parents died he put their brains on ice. Journalist SHERELE MOODY finds out what he plans to do with his own body after death.

IN an ideal world, Philip Rhoades will die peacefully and pain-free, his body will be put on ice and he will be brought back to life in a time when illness does not exist and people live forever.

And when he does come back, the cryonics expert will have his deceased mum and dad for company.

After Gerald and Dorothy Rhoades died in May of 2016, Philip placed their brains in a commercial cryogenic facility - the kind that stores animal semen for artificial insemination and human eggs for IVF.

Philip froze his parents' brains because it only costs about $35,000 to keep each organ for perpetuity compared to $200,000 each to have their bodies frozen, transported and stored in cryonics facilities overseas.

"The key thing is being able to download the information in the brain," Philip said of keeping his mum and dad's neurological remains on ice.

"In the case of a neural archive, we're not concerned about reviving the body's cells, we're concerned with the neural architecture that has the information in it.

"It's likely that we will be able to in the next 10 or 20 years be able to extract that information with high-resolution brain scans.

"We'd then dump the information into a super computer."

When a cryonics candidate dies, a team of medical experts prepares them for transport to a storage facility by stabilising their body, packing it with ice, lacing the blood with an anti-coagulant and feeding oxygen to the brain.

When the body arrives at its final destination the blood is drained and the water in the cells is replaced by a liquid "anti-freeze" that ensures the organs and tissues do not shatter when ice crystals form during the freezing process.

The body is then cooled by dry ice to minus 130 degrees before being placed in a protective body bag and lowered, head first, into a metal tank filled with liquid nitrogen that is kept at minus 196 degrees.

Bodies are stored upside down to ensure the brains are the last thing to thaw if the tank leaks.

While Philip could only afford to freeze his parents' brains, he hopes to have his entire body put on ice for re-animation "as soon as possible" but he acknowledged he could be waiting around for quite a while.

"Trying to revive a whole human being is a difficult operation," he said of the process that some scientists say won't work because of the damage extreme temperatures cause to human cells.

"If you're getting a cryonic suspension then the intention is that modern scientific technology will allow the body to be thawed out, completely revived and rejuvenated so you look like you're 25 and you feel like you're 25 again.

"Life is too short - it shouldn't be three score and 10 years, it should be thousands of years."

Philip hopes he does not get Alzheimer's disease like his father had in the years before he died.

If he does end up with the same illness, Philip is considering what he calls "pre-mortal suspension" before the dementia renders him unable to make his own decisions.

His plan is to end his own life while connected to machinery that will prepare his body for the cryonics process.

Philip is currently working on a way to remove the need for human intervention when he dies and the process of initiating the cryonic state because of the potential legal implications for anyone seen to be assisting in his death.

"It will involve technology that will drain my blood, undertake the automatic perfusion and all of that," Philip said.

- ARM NEWSDESK

Go here to see the original:
Brains on ice: The Aussie man planning to live forever - Northern Star

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

By Suzanne Laurentnews@seacoastonline.com

NEWMARKET Karen Olivier is excitedly looking forward to what she calls her stem cell birthday.

Olivier, 40, is traveling April 23 to Monterrey, Mexico, to undergo a procedure that will reset her immune system and stop the inflammation in her body, caused by her relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Diagnosed with MS at the age of 24, Olivier learned about a treatment called hematopoietic stem cell therapy, or HSCT, from a Facebook page. It gave her hope that if she had this treatment, it would stop the progression of the disease.

She began blogging about her journey leading up to her trip to Mexico.

I want others to know this is an option, she said.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, HSCT attempts to reboot the immune system, which is responsible for damaging the brain and spinal cord in MS. In HSCT, hematopoietic (blood cell-producing) stem cells are derived from the persons own bone marrow or blood, are collected and stored, and the rest of the individuals immune cells are depleted by chemotherapy.

The stored hematopoietic stem cells are then reintroduced to the body. The new stem cells migrate to the bone marrow and, over time, produce new white blood cells. Eventually they repopulate the body with immune cells, building a new immune system that doesnt know what MS is.

In early clinical trials, 78 percent of participants experienced no new disease activity after the procedure and did not need disease-modifying therapies to control their disease.

Olivier had been taking disease modifying drugs, or DMDs, for 15 years, starting with Avonex, a once weekly intramuscular injection. She then took Rebif, a subcutaneous injection three times a week. After she took a daily injection of Copaxone. In 2009, she started on Tysabri, receiving an infusion every 28 days.

I did well on the Tysabri, but in the past couple of years, my symptoms progressed and my most recent MRI showed new disease activity on my thoracic spine, Olivier said. At the rate my MS was progressing, I would probably be in a wheelchair in two years.

Since 1993, the Federal Drug Administration has approved DMDs to treat relapsing-remitting MS. All are designed to suppress the immune system to one degree or another. These drugs cost about $5,000 per month and they must be taken indefinitely, since relapses will occur if the drugs are stopped.

Oliviers insurance covered the cost of the drugs, but her copays and coinsurance amounts were still very high, she said. One month of a DMD infusion can cost between $7,000 and $9,000.

Olivier researched a clinical trial of HSCT in Chicago, a program begun in 1996 by Dr. Richard Burt, now chief of the division of medicine-immunology and autoimmune diseases at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine.

Trial criteria included relapsing-remitting MS, and failure on at least two DMDs and two flare-ups in the past 12 months, requiring treatment from steroids, she said.

In the United States, HSCT can cost between $150,000 and $200,000.

Insurance may have covered it out-of-network, but my plan has a substantial out-of-pocket maximum, Olivier said. It would have require multiple trips to Chicago for several years, and I could have ended up in the control group.

Olivier began to explore receiving HSCT in other countries and decided to apply for the treatment at Clinica Ruiz in Mexico last October when she was recovering from a flare-up. Clinica Ruiz is based in Pueblo, Mexico, but has expanded to a second clinic in Monterrey.

She and her husband, Jason, agreed spend the $54,500 out-of-pocket cost for the outpatient treatment that also includes transportation to and from a two-bedroom apartment where she will stay for 28 days. Her mother is traveling with her, as the treatment protocol requires the patient to have a caregiver present.

I was accepted based on my MS history and my expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score that basically measures how mobile you are, Olivier said.

Olivier will undergo two days of chemotherapy to wipe out her immune system. She will then have seven days of injections to promote stem cell growth, after which stem cells will be harvested from her blood.

Ill then have two more days of chemotherapy, she said. Im excited. No chemo, no cure.

May 7 will be what Olivier calls her stem cell birthday when she receives her stem cells back to reboot her immune system. She will then be in isolation in the apartment for about a week. Her mother will have to wear special precaution gear during that time.

Some people see improvements in the first three months, with full recovery in two years, Olivier said. Some might say Im not sick enough for this treatment, but the earlier someone gets it, the better, before the MS causes major damage.

She added that some people believe this is a risky procedure and it has not been FDA-approved yet in the United States.

But many people have died on Tysabri and the drug approved by the FDA last week, Ocrevus, has an increased risk of cancer after two to three years. I am hoping the HSCT will stop the progression of my MS, and hope that I never have to go on another DMD in my life.

To read Oliviers blog, visit knockoutmsblog.wordpress.com.

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Local woman heads to Mexico - Foster's Daily Democrat

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KEWANEE -- Miss You Can Do It believes she can do it again.

Abbey Curran, diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, founded the annual Miss You Can Do It pageant in 2004 for girls and young women with special needs.

She now facesa different type of challenge; searching for a bone-marrow match for her dad, Mike Curran, of Kewanee. Mr. Currant was diagnosed with leukemia and is receiving inpatient chemotherapy at the OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

Ms. Currant is working with the Be the Match Registry seeking a bone-marrow match for her father. She also is planning two "drives" to find a match -- the first, 4-8 p.m. April 9 at Raelyns Pub & Eatery, 217 N. State St., Geneseo, and a secondm 2-7 p.m. April 15 at Cernos Bar & Grill, 213 W. 3rd St., Kewanee. Both will offer free refreshments.

Ms. Curran said the "Be the Match Registry is run by the National Marrow Donor Program to help facilitate bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants. The group coordinates national and international medical facilities in marrow transplantation.

Joining me in this effort -- by coming to the drive, helping to save lives -- is easy to do, Ms. Curran said. It will not cost participants a single penny. But all participants will get free food, cake and beer. All that is required for this first step in the process involves a cheek swab and filling out a bit of paperwork.

Participants must be 18 to 60 years old, in good health and willing to donate to any person, Ms. Curran said.The actual marrow donation usually happens through an automated process; in some cases it involves minor surgery under anesthesia at no cost to the donor.

Out of six siblings and myself, my father hasnt found a bone-marrow match, she said. I look at this as another challenge -- another impossible that I need to make possible.

When Ms. Curran learned neither she nor any of her fathers relatives were a bone marrow transplant match, she decided to not only help her father but others desperate to find bone-marrow matches. Determination is a natural trait for Ms. Curran.

My life has been full of challenges and I have taken pride in making the impossible possible, the unrealistic realistic, and I plan to do the same in finding a bone-marrow match for my Dad, she said. "I will find a match and I hope I get hundreds of people to attend these upcoming 'Be the Match events. I am preparing for them.

"I grew up the 'hog farmers daughter from Henry County, she said. I was also born with cerebral palsy. I have always had big dreams and set out to make the impossible possible.

"When I was told I couldnt and shouldnt be the Henry County Fair Queen, I made history by being the first and only woman with a disability to ever make it to Miss USA, as I won Miss Iowa USA in 2008.

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Daughter seeks bone marrow match for her dad - Quad-Cities Online

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - UP Health System Marquette will host a bone marrow registry drive on April 12th, 2017 on the 3rd floor of the North Entrance to the hospital.

Every four minutes, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer in the US. For thousands of patients with leukemia or other blood diseases like sickle cell anemia, a marrow transplant is their only hope.

Joining the bone marrow registry takes roughly 10 minutes of paperwork and a cheek swab. Only 1 in 430 registry members go on to donate. If you match with a patient in need, you will receive a phone call asking to donate. Donation is always voluntary. Surgery is not always required for bone marrow donation; almost 80% of donors donate their blood stem cells in a non-surgical procedure that is very similar to donating plasma.

Please note that UP Health System - Marquette is not affiliated with the National Marrow Donor Program or the Be The Match organization. Our presence here will be to help facilitate and educate those interested in joining the Be The Match registry.

Be The Match is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) which manages the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world, working to save lives through transplant.

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Bone Marrow Registration Drive to be held at UP Health System Marquette - UpperMichigansSource.com

Recommendation and review posted by sam

April 6, 2017 A mouse heart section showing human progenitor cells that formed functional human blood vessels. Purple color signifies human blood vessels, red staining signifies the blood vessels of the mouse that received the human cell implants. Credit: Jalees Rehman.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a molecular switch that converts skin cells into cells that make up blood vessels, which could ultimately be used to repair damaged vessels in patients with heart disease or to engineer new vasculature in the lab. The technique, which boosts levels of an enzyme that keeps cells young, may also circumvent the usual aging that cells undergo during the culturing process. Their findings are reported in the journal Circulation.

Scientists have many ways to convert one type of cell into another. One technique involves turning a mature cell into a "pluripotent" stem cellone that has the ability to become any type of celland then using chemical cocktails to coax it into maturing into the desired cell type. Other methods reprogram a cell so that it directly assumes a new identity, bypassing the stem-cell state.

In the last few years, scientists have begun to explore another method, a middle way, that can turn back the clock on skin cells so that they lose some of their mature cell identity and become more stem-like.

"They don't revert all the way back to a pluripotent stem cell, but instead turn into intermediate progenitor cells," says Dr. Jalees Rehman, associate professor of medicine and pharmacology at UIC, who led the team of researchers. Progenitor cells can be grown in large quantities sufficient for regenerative therapies. And unlike pluripotent stem cells, progenitor cells can only differentiate into a few different cell types. Rehman calls this method to produce new cells "partial de-differentiation."

Other groups have used this technique to produce progenitor cells that become blood vessel cells. But until now, researchers had not fully understood how the method worked, Rehman said.

"Without understanding the molecular processes, it is difficult for us to control or enhance the process in order to efficiently build new blood vessels," he said.

His group discovered that the progenitors could be converted into blood vessel cells or into red blood cells, depending on the level of a gene transcription factor called SOX17.

The researchers measured the levels of several genes important for blood vessel formation. They saw that as progenitor cells were differentiating into blood vessel cells, levels of the transcription factor SOX17 became elevated.

When they increased levels of SOX17 even more in the progenitor cells, they saw that differentiation into blood vessel cells was enhanced about five-fold. When they suppressed SOX17, the progenitor cells produced fewer endothelial cells and instead generated red blood cells.

"It makes a lot of sense that SOX17 is involved because it is abundant in developing embryos when blood vessels are forming," Rehman said.

When the researchers embedded the human progenitor cells into a gel and implanted the gels in mice, the cells organized into functional human blood vessels. Skin cells that had not undergone a conversion did not form blood vessels when similarly implanted.

When they implanted the progenitor cells into mice that had sustained heart damage from a heart attack, the implanted cells formed functional human blood vessels in the mouse heartsand even connected with existing mouse blood vessels to significantly improve heart function.

The human adult skin cells used by Rehman's team can easily be obtained by a simple skin biopsy.

"This means that one could generate patient-specific blood vessels or red blood cells for any individual person," Rehman said. Using such personalized cells reduces the risk of rejection, he said, because the implanted blood vessels would have the same genetic makeup as the recipient.

Rehman and his colleagues noticed something else about the progenitor cells - they had elevated levels of telomerase - the "anti-aging" enzyme that adds a cap, or telomere, to the ends of chromosomes. As the caps wear away a little bit each time a cell divides, they are believed to contribute to aging in cells, whether in the body or growing in culture in the laboratory.

"The increase in telomerase we see in the progenitor cells could be an added benefit of using this partial de-differentiation technique for the production of new blood vessels for patients with cardiac disease, especially for older patients," Rehman said. "Their cells may already have shortened telomeres due to their advanced age. The process of converting and expanding these cells in the lab could make them age even further and impair their long-term function. But if the cells have elevated levels of telomerase, the cells are at lower risk of premature aging."

While telomerase has benefits, the enzyme is also found in extremely high levels in cancer cells, where it keeps cell division in overdrive.

"We were concerned about the risk of tumor formation," Rehman said, but the researchers didn't observe any in these experiments. "But to truly determine the efficacy and safety of these cells for humans, one needs to study them over even longer time periods in larger animals."

Explore further: Adult stem cells help build human blood vessels in engineered tissues

More information: Lianghui Zhang et al, SOX17 Regulates Conversion of Human Fibroblasts into Endothelial Cells and Erythroblasts via De-Differentiation into CD34Progenitor Cells, Circulation (2017). DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.116.025722

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Turning skin cells into blood vessel cells while keeping them young - Medical Xpress

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Dead of the world, unite! Appearing in a manifesto published in Petrograd in 1920, this arresting slogan encapsulated the philosophy of cosmism, which promoted interplanetary exploration as a path to immortality. Mixing scientific futurism with ideas derived from the 19th-century Russian Orthodox mystic Nikolai Fedorov, cosmism was summed up by the rocket engineer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) as the perfection of man and the liquidation of all imperfect forms of life. Liberated from the Earth, human beings would become pure ether, bodiless and undying. The belief that death could be conquered by science was embraced by a renegade section of the Bolshevik intelligentsia, including Maxim Gorky, and informed the decision to immortalise Lenins cadaver first by refrigeration, in an early experiment in what would later be called cryonic suspension, and then by embalming when freezing failed. Cosmist thinking went on to find a home in the Soviet space programme and continues to influence Russian science to this day.

Nearly a century after the cosmist manifesto, a group of transhumanists gathered outside Googles corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California, carrying placards reading Immortality now! and Google, please, solve death. Death could be solved, the group believed, by the development of cyber-consciousness a task requiring new technologies for uploading the contents of the human brain into cyberspace, which the group called on the tech company to fund. Google was already investing substantial resources in life-extension techniques and, in 2012, the companyhired Ray Kurzweil, long associated with programmes aiming to achieve immortality through cryonic suspension, artificial intelligence and mind uploading, as its director of engineering.

History continues by being forgotten. Mark OConnell, in recalling the February 2014 demonstration outside Google HQ, reported as the first ever transhumanist street action in the US, says little about the longer antecedents of contemporary transhumanism in his engaging and at times very funny book. This is an exploration of our time, conducted by an observer who is very much of our time. OConnell presents the reader with a gallery of diverting characters, including an Oxford-educated extropian philosopher who goes by the name of Max More, who aims to achieve more life, more intelligence, more freedom by replacing the human body with a robot controlled by an uploaded mind, and Zoltan Istvan, the transhumanist candidate for the US presidency in 2016, who conducted his campaign from an immortality bus decked out as a coffin.

The weird mixture of science and religion that typifies much of contemporary culture is illustrated in questing, faintly sad figures who blend transhumanist anti-deathism with Buddhism, Mormonism, Wicca or the UFO cult Ralism, whose members believe the human species was created by aliens. We learn of the LSD guru Timothy Learys late-life engagement with transhumanism, which included membership of the cryonic suspension organisation Alcor, and that when the time came for him to have his body frozen, he opted instead to have his cremated ashes shot into space from a cannon. OConnell reports that Learys last act is still a sore point within the cryonics community, which views his capitulation to deathism as a significant tragedy.

OConnells impressions of the lost souls who have drifted into transhumanism arevivid and memorable. Yet he sees them from a distance that is never explained. Like many of the people he interviews, he seems to think that a report of his feelings is all that is needed to validate his beliefs and hisdoubts. He cites transhumanists expressing disgust with the process of ageing, in themselves and in others, and he tells usthat he is not a transhumanist. But he never gives any reasons why he rejects their attitudes, nor does he offer an alternative view of his own.

The book is a succession of vignettes in which fundamental questions about the transhumanist enterprise are not explored. If the bodies of the followers of the cult are retrieved from their icy tombs, will the dead be reborn, or will what emerges be clones of human beings who had died for ever? Is information uploaded from the brain into cyberspace the essence of the human mind, or only a dim ghost of a mind that no longer exists? Is being embodied an accidental feature of the mind, or an integral part of what it means to be human?

Discussing A Letter to Mother Nature, a transhumanist manifesto in which Max More sets out his proposals for amending the human species, OConnell summarises the authors proposals:

We would no longer consent to live under the tyranny of ageing and death, but would use the tools of biotechnology to endow ourselves with enduring vitality and remove our expiration date. We would augment our powers of perception and cognition through technological enhancements of our sense organs and our neural capacities. We would no longer submit to being the products of blind evolution . . . And we would no longer be content to limit our physical, intellectual and emotional capacities by remaining confined to carbon-based biological forms.

OConnell writes that the letter captured something crucial about what made the movement so strange and compelling to me it was direct, and audacious, and it pushed the project of Enlightenment humanism to such radical extremes . . . There was, I felt, a whiff of madness about the whole enterprise, but it was a madness that revealed something fundamental about what we thought of as reason.

As a description of the simple-minded devotion of transhumanists to an unexamined idea of reason, this is well observed. But what is the something fundamental that the author has learned? He considers the possibility that transhumanism is a displaced passion for miracle and mystery, citing D H Lawrence: Today man gets his sense of the miraculous from science and machinery, radio, airplanes, vast ships, zeppelins, poison gas, artificial silk: these things nourish mans sense of the miraculous as magic did in the past. But if Lawrences observation is well founded (as I think), what follows for the idea that human beings are or could ever be rational animals? These are questions that OConnell does not ask, or leaves hanging in the air.

Read as a kind of travelogue, To Be a Machine contains much that is interesting and entertaining. OConnell perceptively observes how transhumanism fits with Silicon Valleys world-view. He describes a conference at Google HQ, attended by the billionaire entrepreneurs Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, which brought together those who want to liberate themselves from death and exponents of effective altruism, who aim to improve the world by using reason. There are some intriguing crossovers between the two movements.

Philosophically speaking, effective altruism is not much more than a reheated version of Jeremy Benthams utilitarianism. The early-19th-century thinker wanted to supplant ethical reasoning as it had been practised in the past with what he called moral arithmetic a type of calculation aiming at maximising pleasure, happiness or want-satisfaction (there are many variations). Implying that every moral quandary has a rational solution, this is a project that fits well with the transhumanist belief thatthe evils of human life are, in essence, technical difficulties.

The idea that moral reasoning should be a type of calculation seems to have influenced Thiel and Musk when they donated to research on the risks of artificial intelligence. Some of those who attended the conference (including the Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom, a former transhumanist who has become critical of the movement) believed that AI could even pose a risk to human survival. A super-intelligent machine could be programmed to serve human beings. But, as Bostrom, Stephen Hawking and others have pointed out, such a machine might slip free from its programming and begin topursue ends of its own that have nothing to do with human well-being.

Such an artificial super-intelligence need not be hostile to humans; it could simply be indifferent to whether humankind survives or not. Investing large sums into research that might prevent the disappearance of humankind might seem the most rational way of allocating resources more so than spending money helping people deal with disability, for instance. But why is reducing a hypothetical risk to the species more rational than increasing the happiness of living human beings? Utilitarian moral arithmetic prompts this question along with many others in ethics.

Both transhumanism and effective altruism claim to be rationalist philosophies and the two movements have offices in the same building in Oxford. But, like effective altruism, transhumanism is not as rational as it seems. Transhumanists believe that we are in essence sparks of consciousness which can escape mortality by detaching themselves from the decaying flesh in which they happen to be embodied. Deriving from mystical philosophies such as Platonism and gnosticism, it is an idea at odds with scientific materialism.

For a genuine materialist say, the ancient Roman poet-philosopher Lucretius there can be no question of the human mind severing its linkage with the material world. The mind is material and dies when the body dies. Transhumanists will reply that technologies not available in Lucretiuss time will allow the mind to be uploaded into cyberspace. Yet it is unclear whether what will be uploaded will be a conscious mind, or just a spectral app spun off from the contents of the brain.

Even if consciousness can be detached from the human body, the mind will still require a substratum of matter. The rejuvenated cadavers that emerge from cryonic suspension will be physical things, as will the cyborgs to which some transhumanists imagine their minds being transferred. Minds floating in cyberspace would not escape this dependency. Cyberspace is an artefact of physical objects computers and the networked facilities they need not an ontologically separate reality. If the material basis of cyberspace were destroyed or severely disrupted, any minds that had been uploaded would be snuffed out.

Every technology requires a physical infrastructure in order to operate. But this infrastructure depends on social institutions, which are frequently subject to breakdown. I made this point when I bumped into some ardent advocates of cryonic suspension in California in the 1980s. How long would it take to develop the technologies that were needed to resurrect frozen cadavers as living organisms, I wondered. Not much more than a century, I was told. I asked these techno-futurists to consider the events of the past hundred years or so a devastating civil war and two world wars, a ruinous stock-market crash and the Great Depression, for example. Given this history, how could they be confident that their refrigerated cadavers would remain intact for anothercentury? The companies that stored them would surely go bust, wars and civil disturbances would lead to power failures, and the legal system that protected the cadavers could disappear. The United States might no longer exist in a recognisable form.The cryonicists looked at me blankly. These were scenarios that they hadnot considered and could not process. Such upheavals might have happened in the past,but the future was going to be quite different. For these believers in technological resurrection, American society was already immortal.

At bottom, the transhumanist movement is a modern variant of the mystical dream of transcending contingency the vulnerability that comes with being subject to accident and the power of events that possessed many in ancient times. These mystics wanted to be absorbed in a timeless, impersonal absolute, a refuge from the ugly conflicts of the human world. They understood that this refuge could only be entered if they shed their individuality and practised asceticism and contemplation in an effort to erase their personal identity and desires. Less intelligent than their ancient precursors, contemporary transhumanists imagine that they can become immortal on terms of their own choosing.

Pondering a conversation he had with one of the techno-mystics, OConnell worries that only the extremely wealthy could afford to be uploaded to a virtual world. The rest of us would have to struggle on, bombarded by messages from cyberspace trying to sell us some product for which we have become targets through our use of the internet. But, to my mind, the super-wealthy few would not be much better off.

The greatest problem with everlasting lifein cyberspace is the prospect that it would have to be spent in the company of other cyber-immortals. As Max More and some of his fellow transhumanists have envisioned, each of these disembodied minds might design its virtual body and environments as it pleased. But might not these virtual environments somehow overlap or collide? Cyberspace is a projection of the human world, not a way out of it. What if the few who had escaped their ageing flesh found themselves side by side with an immortalised Donald Trump, his orange hair undyingly abundant, presiding over a never-ending Mar-a-Lago? It is not for nothing that the gods in some Greek myths regarded immortality as a curse.

Mark OConnell appears at the Cambridge Literary Festival on 23 April, 7pm (see left)

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John Gray: Dear Google, please solve death - New Statesman

Recommendation and review posted by sam

In Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich, author Norman Ohler reveals that the Nazis doped their soldiers with a stimulant they called Pervitina.k.a. methamphetamine. The drug helped the Germanswin key battles in the beginning of World War II.

But it wasnt just low-level soldiers who were using during the Second World War. Drug use went all the way up the Nazi leadership to Hitler himself. The dictators personal physician, Theodor Morell, regularly injected Patient A with hormone preparations and steroids he had created using animal glands and other dubious ingredientsand as Hitlers health worsened, Morell secretly began treating him with eukodal, otherwise known as oxycodone, in July 1943. Hitler received an injection every other daywhich is, Ohler notes, The typical rhythm of an addict and contradicts the idea of a purely medical application. The Fuhrer was hooked.

In July 1944, German senior military officials tried to kill Hitler with a bomb in the unsuccessful Operation Valkyrie. The explosion punctured both of Hitlers eardrums. Ear, nose, and throat doctor Erwin Giesing was called to Hitlers headquarters in Poland and began treating Hitler without consulting Morell, administering cocaine in the dictator's nasal passages with a cotton swab. Hitler quickly became addicted to cocaine, too.

Morell and Giesing hated and distrusted each other from the start. In fact, Giesing suspected Morell was poisoning Hitlerand he wasn't alone. In autumn 1944, the situation finally came to a head, as recounted in this excerpt from Blitzed.

You have all agreed that you want to turn me into a sick man. Adolf Hitler

The power of the personal physician was approaching a high point during that autumn of 1944. Since the attempt on his life Patient A needed him more than ever, and with each new injection Morell gained further influence. The dictator was closer to him than he was to anyone else; there was no one he liked to talk to as much, no one he trusted more. At major meetings with the generals an armed SS man stood behind every chair to prevent any further attacks. Anyone who wanted to see Hitler had to hand over his briefcase. This regulation did not apply to Morells doctors bag.

Many people envied the self-styled sole personal physician his privileged position. Suspicion about him was growing. Morell still stubbornly refused to talk to anyone else about his methods of treatment. Right until the end he maintained the discretion with which he had initially approached the post. But in the stuffy atmosphere of the haunted realm of the bunker system, where the poisonous plants of paranoia sent their creepers over the thick concrete walls, this was not without its dangers. Morell even left the assistant doctors Karl Brandt and Hanskarl von Hasselbach, with whom he could have discussed the treatment of Hitler, consistently in the dark. He had mutated from outsider to diva. He told no one anything, wrapping himself in an aura of mystery and uniqueness. Even the Fuhrers all-powerful secretary, Martin Bormann, who made it clear that he would have preferred a different kind of treatment for Hitler, one based more on biology, was banging his head against a wall when it came to the fat doctor.

As the war was being lost, guilty parties were sought. The forces hostile to Morell were assembling. For a long time Heinrich Himmler had been collecting information about the physician, to accuse him of having a morphine addiction and thus of being vulnerable to blackmail. Again and again the suspicion was voiced on the quiet: might he not be a foreign spy who was secretly poisoning the Fuhrer? As early as 1943 the foreign minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, had invited Morell to lunch at his castle, Fuschl, near Salzburg, and launched an attack: while the conversation with von Ribbentrops wife initially revolved around trivial questions such as temporary marriages, state bonuses for children born out of wedlock, lining up for food and the concomitant waste of time, after the meal the minister stonily invited him upstairs, to discuss something.

Von Ribbentrop, arrogant, difficult, and blas as always, tapped the ash off his Egyptian cigarette with long, aristocratic fingers, looked grimly around the room, then fired off a cannonade of questions at the miracle doctor: Was it good for the Fuhrer to get so many injections? Was he given anything apart from glucose? Was it, generally speaking, not far too much? The doctor gave curt replies: he only injected what was necessary. But von Ribbentrop insisted that the Fuhrer required a complete transformation of his whole body, so that he became more resilient. That was water off a ducks back for Morell, and he left the castle rather unimpressed. Laymen are often so blithe and simple in their medical judgments, he wrote, concluding his record of the conversation.

But this was not the last assault Morell would bear. The first structured attack came from Bormann, who tried to guide Hitlers treatment onto regular, or at least manageable, lines. A letter reached the doctor: Secret Reich business! In eight points measures for the Fuhrers security in terms of his medical treatment were laid out, a sample examination of the medicines in the SS laboratories was scheduled, and, most importantly, Morell was ordered henceforth always to inform the medical supply officer which and how many medications he plans to use monthly for the named purpose.

In fact this remained a rather helpless approach from Bormann, who was not usually helpless. On the one hand his intervention turned Hitlers medication into an official procedure, but on the other he wanted as little correspondence as possible on the subject, since it was important to maintain the healthful aura of the leader of the master race. Heil Hitler literally means Health to Hitler, after all. For that reason the drugs, as detailed in Bormanns letter, were to be paid for in cash to leave no paper trail. Bormann added that the monthly packets should be stored ready for delivery at any time in an armored cupboard, and made as identifiable as possible down to the ampoule by consecutive numbering (for example, for the first consignment: 1/44), while at the same time the external wrapping of the package should bear an inscription to be precisely established with the personal signature of the medical supply officer.

Morells reaction to this bureaucratic attempt to make his activities transparent was as simple as it was startling. He ignored the instructions of the mighty security apparatus and simply didnt comply, instead continuing as before. In the eye of the hurricane he felt invulnerable, banking on the assumption that Patient A would always protect him.

In late September 1944, in the pale light of the bunker, the ear doctor, Giesing, noted an unusual coloration in Hitlers face and suspected jaundice. The same day, on the dinner table there was a plate holding apple compote with glucose and green grapes and a box of Dr. Koesters anti-gas pills, a rather obscure product. Giesing was perplexed when he discovered that its pharmacological components included atropine, derived from belladonna or other nightshade plants, and strychnine, a highly toxic alkaloid of nux vomica, which paralyzes the neurons of the spinal column and is also used as rat poison. Giesing indeed smelled a rat. The side-effects of these anti-gas pills at too high a dose seemed to correspond to Hitlers symptoms. Atropine initially has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system, then a paralyzing one, and a state of cheerfulness arises, with a lively flow of ideas, loquacity, and visual and auditory hallucinations, as well as delirium, which can mutate into violence and raving. Strychnine in turn is held responsible for increased light-sensitivity and even fear of light, as well as for states of flaccidity. For Giesing the case seemed clear: Hitler constantly demonstrated a state of euphoria that could not be explained by anything, and I am certain his heightened mood when making decisions after major political or military defeats can be largely explained in this way.

In the anti-gas pills Giesing thought he had discovered the causes of both Hitlers megalomania and his physical decline. He decided to treat himself as a guinea pig: for a few days Giesing took the little round pills himself, promptly identified that he had the same symptoms, and decided to go on the offensive. His intention was to disempower Morell by accusing him of deliberately poisoning the Fuhrer, so that Giesing could assume the position of personal physician himself. While the Allied troops were penetrating the borders of the Reich from all sides, the pharmacological lunacy in the claustrophobic Wolfs Lair was becoming a doctors war.

As his ally in his plot, Giesing chose Hitlers surgeon, who had been an adversary of Morells for a long time. Karl Brandt was in Berlin at the time, but when Giesing called he took the next plane to East Prussia without hesitation and immediately summoned the accused man. While the personal physician must have worried that he was being collared for Eukodal, he was practically relieved when his opponents tried to snare him with the anti-gas pills, which were available without prescription. Morell was also able to demonstrate that he had not even prescribed them, but that Hitler had organized the acquisition of the pills through his valet, Heinz Linge. Brandt, who had little knowledge of biochemistry and focused his attention on the side-effects of strychnine, was not satisfied with this defense. He threatened Morell: Do you think anyone would believe you if you claimed that you didnt issue this prescription? Do you think Himmler might treat you differently from anyone else? So many people are being executed at present that the matter would be dealt with quite coldly. Just a week later Brandt added: I have proof that this is a simple case of strychnine poisoning. I can tell you quite openly that over the last five days I have only stayed here because of the Fuhrers illness.

But what sort of illness was that exactly? Was it really icterusjaundice? Or might it be a typical kind of junkie hepatitis because Morell wasnt using properly sterile needles? Hitler, whose syringes were only ever disinfected with alcohol, wasnt looking well. His liver, under heavy attack from those many toxic substances over the past few months, was releasing the bile pigment bilirubin: a warning signal that turns skin and eyes yellow. Morell was being accused of poisoning his patient. There was an air of threat when Brandt addressed Hitler. Meanwhile, on the night of October 5, 1944, Morell suffered a brain edema from the agitation. Hitler was unsettled beyond measure by the accusations: Treachery? Poison? Might he have been mistaken for all those years? Was he being double-crossed by his personally chosen doctor, Morell, the truest of the true, the best of all his friends? Wouldnt dropping his personal physician, who had just given him a beneficial injection of Eukodal, amount to a kind of self-abandonment? Wouldnt it leave him high and dry, vulnerable? This was an attack that might prove fatal, as his power was based on charisma. After all, it was the drugs that helped him artificially maintain his previously natural aura, on which everything depended.

Since the start of the Fuhrers rapid physical decline these internecine struggles between the doctors turned into a proxy war for succession at the top of the Nazi state. The situation was becoming worse: Himmler told Brandt he could easily imagine that Morell had tried to kill Hitler. The Reichsfuhrer-SS called the physician to his office and coldly informed him that he had himself sent so many people to the gallows that he no longer cared about one more. At the same time, in Berlin, the head of the Gestapo, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, summoned Morells locum, Dr. Weber, from the Kurfurstendamm to a hearing at the Reich Security Main Office on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse. Weber tried to exonerate his boss, and voiced his opinion that a plot was utterly out of the question. He claimed Morell was far too fearful for such a thing.

Finally the chemical analysis of the disputed medication was made available. The result: its atropine and strychnine content was far too small to poison anyone, even in the massive quantities that Hitler had been given. It was a comprehensive victory for Morell. I would like the matter involving the anti-gas pills to be forgotten once and for all, Hitler stated, ending the affair. You can say what you like against Morellhe is and remains my only personal physician, and I trust him completely. Giesing received a reprimand, and Hitler dismissed him with the words that all Germans were freely able to choose their doctors, including himself, the Fuhrer. Furthermore, it was well known that it was the patients faith in his doctors methods that contributed to his cure. Hitler would stay with the doctor he was familiar with, and brushed aside all references to Morells lax treatment of the syringe: I know that Morells new method is not yet internationally recognized, and that Morell is still in the research stage with certain matters, without having reached a firm conclusion about them. But that has been the case with all medical innovations. I have no worries that Morell will not make his own way, and I will immediately give him financial support for his work if he needs it.

Himmler, a dedicated sycophant, immediately changed tack: Yes, gentlemen, he explained to Hasselbach and Giesing, You are not diplomats. You know that the Fuhrer has implicit trust in Morell, and that should not be shaken. When Hasselbach protested that any medical or even civil court could at least accuse Morell of negligent bodily harm, Himmler turned abrasive: Professor, you are forgetting that as interior minister I am also head of the supreme health authority. And I dont want Morell to be brought to trial. The head of the SS dismissed Giesings objection that Hitler was the only head of state in the world who took between 120 and 150 tablets and received between 8 and 10 injections every week.

The tide had turned once and for all against Giesing, who was given a check from Bormann for ten thousand reichsmarks in compensation for his work. Both reichsmarks in compensation for his work. Both Hasselbach and the influential Brandt were out of luck as well, also damaging the latters confidant Speer, who had his eye on Hitlers succession. The three doctors had to leave headquarters. Morell was the only one who stayed behind. On October 8, 1944, he rejoiced in the happy news: The Fuhrer told me that Brandt had only to meet his obligations in Berlin. Patient A stood firmly by his supplier. Just as every addict adores his dealer, Hitler was unable to leave the generous doctor who provided him with everything he needed.

The dictator told his physician: These idiots didnt even think about what they were doing to me! I would suddenly have been standing there without a doctor, and these people should have known that during the eight years you have been with me you have saved my life several times. And how I was before! All doctors who were dragged in failed. Im not an ungrateful person, my dear doctor. If we are both lucky enough to make it through the war, then youll see how well I will reward you!

Morells confident reply can also be read as an attempt to justify himself to posterity, because the physician put it baldly on record: My Fuhrer, if a normal doctor had treated you during that time, then you would have been taken away from your work for so long that the Reich would have perished. According to Morells own account, Hitler peered at him with a long, grateful gaze and shook his hand: My dear doctor, I am glad and happy that I have you.

The war between the doctors was thus shelved. Patient A had put a stop to a premature dismissal. The price he paid was the continued destruction of his health by a personal physician who had been confirmed in his post. To calm his nerves the head of state received Eukodal, Eupaverin. Glucose i.v. plus Homoseran i.m.

Excerpt from BLITZED: Drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler, translated by Shaun Whiteside. 2017 by Norman Ohler. English translation 2017 by Shaun Whiteside. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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The Doctor Who Got Hitler Hooked on DrugsAnd the Plot to Take Him Down - Mental Floss

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Who isn't tired these days? We're constantly on call for work, family and friends, and often forget to take time for ourselves. Most of us recognize that chronic stress can take its toll on our health and well-being. But what if you're so fatigued that even getting more sleep doesn't seem to help?

Complementary and alternative medicine provide an explanation for stress-induced fatigue that offers hope to the chronically tired. According to naturopathic doctors, holistic nutritionists and others, adrenal fatigue is a condition where the adrenals, glands that sit above the kidneys, don't produce enough cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that plays a role in managing stress and regulating metabolism, sleep, blood sugar and inflammation.

"Fatigue is probably the number one complaint among new patients in my practice," says Leila Kirdani, a family physician specializing in functional medicine. "Anyone with prolonged fatigue, with difficulty sleeping, who feels 'burned-out' or lack of enjoyment in life, may be suffering from adrenal fatigue."

Basically, the theory goes that too much stress wears out our adrenal glands - they get tired and don't produce enough cortisol for us to feel energized. So why aren't our family doctors telling us about this?

As a registered dietitian in private practice, I often get new clients who have been told by their naturopathic doctors that they have adrenal fatigue and need to follow a special diet and a regimen of supplements and herbs. Hours of searching the scientific literature has led to very little in terms of evidence-based dietary advice to help these individuals. Which raises the question . . .

- Is adrenal fatigue real?

The very existence of adrenal fatigue is a contentious issue. It isn't recognized by any endocrinology societies or endocrinologists, medical doctors who specialize in hormone-related health problems. A recent systematic review of the scientific literature found that there was no evidence for the existence of adrenal fatigue as a medical condition.

Theodore C. Friedman is an endocrinologist at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science who describes himself as being open to complementary medicine. Like many medical doctors, he says adrenal fatigue doesn't exist: "It's something made up by naturopathic doctors; endocrinologists don't recognize it as a real condition."

Saul Marcus is a naturopathic doctor in Connecticut. "When it comes to adrenal fatigue, conventional medicine insists it doesn't exist. However, adrenal fatigue is essentially a stress reaction, and stress is very well understood as a cause of illness."

And so we see the bipolar worlds of conventional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine are firmly divided into two camps: adrenal fatigue doesn't exist vs. adrenal fatigue is an important medical issue.

Somewhere in the middle is the idea that adrenal fatigue is a term that encompasses a wide range of general symptoms rather than a discrete medical problem. Does the label matter?

- What's really going on with your adrenal glands?

According to Kirdani, "There is a distinct bias in the medical community when it comes to adrenal fatigue. For some reason, doctors think that either your adrenal glands are perfectly fine, or else they have ceased to function."

"Naturopaths have it wrong," Friedman explains. "They describe adrenal fatigue as a stress-induced condition where your adrenal glands don't produce enough cortisol. In fact, when you're stressed out, your adrenal glands make more cortisol."

What endocrinologists and other medical doctors do recognize is adrenal insufficiency, a disorder where the adrenals don't produce enough hormones. The adrenal glands make two hormones: cortisol and aldosterone. According to Friedman, "Aldosterone is often underappreciated or unrecognized by naturopaths." He also says that adrenal insufficiency is on a gradient: "You can have varying levels of cortisol deficiency, aldosterone deficiency or both."

Having low aldosterone causes salt to be lost in the urine, which leads to symptoms such as brain fog, feeling worse after exercise or feeling dizzy when you stand up. Friedman says that people with low aldosterone can be diagnosed by an endocrinologist and then can be treated with synthetic aldosterone, extra salt or licorice root. Because the role of aldosterone is often ignored by alternative medicine, this is one adrenal issue that your naturopath may not test for. (Marcus, the naturopathic doctor, says one reason naturopaths may not test for aldosterone is because it requires a blood test, and in some states they are not licensed to order bloodwork.)

Where cortisol is concerned, people can have low cortisol as a result of their pituitary gland not producing enough of a hormone that stimulates the release of cortisol from the adrenals. A smaller portion of people have Addison's disease, where the adrenal glands are attacked by antibodies. As a result, the adrenals won't produce enough cortisol. Friedman says that these patients need to see an endocrinologist and get on cortisol right away.

As Friedman puts it, people with adrenal insufficiency do have fatigue, so it makes sense to examine their adrenal glands. "It's the concept of the adrenals burning out that doesn't make sense."

- How do you get tested for adrenal fatigue or adrenal insufficiency?

Marcus says adrenal fatigue can be diagnosed in several ways. Many practitioners test cortisol levels in saliva, but these also can be diagnosed based on symptoms. "If someone is feeling tired and under some sort of stress, their adrenal function is probably not optimal, and it may be okay to try taking some supplements for the adrenals."

Friedman calls the saliva test used by natural-health practitioners unreliable and says a blood test is a far better way to measure cortisol levels.

The blood test measures levels of electrolytes (including sodium) as well as several hormones. This gives a picture of which hormones are out of the normal range and what could be causing issues.

- Taking care of your adrenals

Google "adrenal fatigue diet" and you'll find websites recommending everything from eliminating dairy to following a paleo diet that also vetoes grains and beans. At this point, there isn't any evidence to show that any of this will help you manage stress or feel more energized.

When my clients are dealing with stress and fatigue, I recommend eating whole foods, plenty of vegetables, heart-healthy fats and lean protein, limiting highly processed foods and added sugars, as well as cutting down on caffeine and alcohol, which can negatively affect sleep.

Choosing foods that stabilize your blood sugar and are lower on the glycemic index is also important, as your energy levels and mood are closely related to blood sugar. Go for slow-burning carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, barley, quinoa and rolled oats, and always combine them with a protein such as beans or lentils, chicken, fish or lean meat. Get healthy fats from oily fish, olive oil, avocado, nuts or seeds at each meal and snack, and chances are you'll feel more energized.

Marcus, Kirdani and Friedman all say that whether you're dealing with stress or adrenal fatigue, taking care of your overall health helps.

Friedman feels that the naturopathic approach can be valuable, as talking to someone about stress and ways to cope can help. He also doesn't have a problem with people taking certain supplements that boost their immune system and energy levels, as long as those don't interact with other medications or supplements.

Marcus and Kirdani recommend supplementing with sea salt, B vitamins and herbs such as rhodiola or lemon balm. (Please see a medical professional before taking supplements or herbs to make sure they're safe for you.) Patients also may use an adrenal glandular, essentially ground-up adrenal glands (usually from pigs or cows), other tissues or extracts.

Friedman warns: "The naturopathic approach can be dangerous if cortisol or ground-up adrenals are prescribed. People often feel better on cortisol, but side effects include osteoporosis, weight gain and diabetes. As such, it shouldn't be prescribed lightly."

- Does it matter what we call it?

While the worlds of conventional and alternative medicine are divided on adrenal fatigue as a condition, everyone seems to agree that managing stress makes sense. So does eating well and treating any vitamin or mineral deficiencies, as well as getting regular physical activity and enough sleep. Working on all of these areas will help you boost energy, reduce fatigue and make you healthier. Whether these positive lifestyle changes are improving stress levels or healing adrenal fatigue is irrelevant.

What does matter is if treating so-called adrenal fatigue ends up preventing the diagnosis of a serious medical problem.

Friedman's take-home message is clear. "If you're experiencing fatigue, you need to see an endocrinologist to make sure you're getting at the real issue and not masking fatigue that's being caused by another health problem," he said. "If you do have an adrenal issue, it needs to be treated as soon as possible."

Brissette is a dietitian, foodie and president of 80TwentyNutrition.com. Follow her on Twitter @80twentyrule.

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Is adrenal fatigue real? Forget the label and treat the stress. - Napa Valley Register

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Newswise ORLANDOIndividuals with obesity who enrolled in a structured weight loss program report fewer hours missed from work after six months in the program, according to a study being presented Sunday at the Endocrine Societys 99th annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

A concern shared by both employers and employees is that time spent in the program attending the physician and dietitian visits, and the vigilance required to maintain lifestyle modifications, might diminish time and productivity on the job, said Jennifer Iyengar, M.D., the studys lead author and an endocrinology fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. However, we found that participation in our program was highly valued and had a positive impact at work.

The total economic cost of obesity in the U.S. includes indirect costs, such as missed time from work, lost productivity at work and premature death due to obesity-related health problems, research shows. Iyengar said little is known, though, about whether weight loss interventions can improve the job performance and attendance of employees with obesity. She and her co-workers studied this question in participants in the University of Michigan Weight Management Program.

The weight management program, according to its director and study senior investigator Amy Rothberg, M.D., Ph.D., is a two-year, multicomponent, multidisciplinary program for people with moderate to severe obesity that involves frequent visits with physicians and dietitians. It uses a very-low-calorie diet (800 calories per day) by total meal replacement for the first three months to promote 15 percent weight loss, followed by gradual transition to a low-calorie, food-based diet and interventions to support lifelong behavior changes and promote regular physical activity.

For this study, the researchers evaluated 92 participants with obesity (average weight of 253 pounds and average BMI of 40 kg/m2) who had completed six months in the program and were employed full time in a variety of different occupations. At the first visit and again at six months, participants completed a self-administered, scientifically validated questionnaire regarding their work absenteeism (working fewer hours than their employers expected) and their presenteeism, defined as the participants rating of their own work performance.

At the six-month point, participants lost an average of 41 pounds, the research team reported.

Before the program, participants reported that they worked, on average, 5.2 fewer hours per month than what their employers expected. After six months in the program, they described working 6.4 hours more than expected.

There was reportedly no significant change in how they rated their overall work performance (presenteeism) on a 10-point scale, with an average of 7.8 at the beginning and 7.9 at six months. It is possible that presenteeism will improve with longer participation in the program, Iyengar said.

Improved absenteeism did not correlate with the amount of weight loss, Iyengar reported. One possible explanation, she said, is that the change in absenteeism rates may reflect improvements in co-existing medical illnesses or depression.

She concluded, Our findings suggest that, through favorable effects on work attendance, participation in a weight management program may be mutually beneficial for workers and their employers. # # #

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the worlds oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.

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Participation in a Weight Management Program Reduces Job ... - Newswise (press release)

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Poor stress management and chronic depression can lead to a number of health problems for seniors, including cognitive decline. Poor stress management and chronic depression can lead to a number of health problems for seniors, including cognitive decline.

Published: Tuesday, March 21, 2017 byInterim HealthCare

Depressionand poor stress management can be serious issues for seniors. Though it's not uncommon for adults to develop depression as they grow older, this is not part of a normal aging process. Thiscan negatively impact a number of health conditions, and leaving it untreated can lead to cognitive decline, according to new research.

The negative effects depression has on health Complications of depressive disorders are not limited to emotional and mental strife - they can also cause physical ailments and exacerbate certainhealth conditions. Everyday Health reported that people with depression may experiencemigraines, joint pain, digestive difficulties and muscle aches. Studies have also linked depression to heart disease.

Patients may also gain weight or struggle with insomnia, which can negatively impact a wide range of health problems.

"Poor stress responses may worsen seniors' depression."

How stress and depression impair cognition According to a study from the University of Connecticut Health Center, poor stress responses mayworsen seniors' depression. The researchers found that these conditions can lead to future cognitive decline.

"There's something about vulnerability to stress, or neuroticism in general, and depression that is associated with a worse outcome," saidKevin Manning,assistant professor of psychiatry at UConnand the study's lead author.

Seniors who typically respond to stress with anxiety or irritability were more likely to experience these negative effects. Helping seniors develop more positive stress responses and treating their depression early on may help prevent cognitive problems from developing.

Treating stress and depression Therapeutic intervention is often necessary for seniors to overcome these type of conditions. Some patients will also benefit from taking prescribed medications that can ease depression and anxiety. A good therapist or counselor can help seniors develop better methods for handling stress and can get to the root cause of their depression, as well as supplying at-home treatments so seniors can better cope with their condition.

A healthy diet and exercise can also improve depressive symptoms. Light to moderate exercise can boost endorphins and other feel-good chemicals in the brain. The vitamins and nutrients of healthy foods can also assist in regulating hormones and neurotransmissions.

In fact, a new study from the University of Sydney found that people who ate three to four servings of vegetables every day were12 percent less likely to develop depressionthan those who ate zero to one servings a day. Vegetable consumption was especially beneficial for women in preventing depression.

Causes of depression for the elderly Persistentdepressive disorder can be brought on in a number of ways. Defective mood regulators, hormone orchemical imbalancesand traumatic life events can all cause depression todevelop, according to the Mayo Clinic.

For seniors, there are a number of common contributors that can lead to chronic depression. Older adults may be more socially isolated and lonely than they were in their youth. Limited mobility, friends moving away for retirement or the death of loved ones can limit seniors' social circles. For seniors who may already have other factors that predispose depression development, this boredom and loneliness can exacerbate the condition.

The passing of friends, spouses and family members in the first place can be traumatic events that trigger depression.Living with a chronic diseaseor other age-relatedmedical ailment can also be traumatic for seniors, and complications of those conditions can lower their qualities of life to the point that a depressive disorder develops, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Recognizing the signs While most people think of depression as just a feeling of sadness, there are many different symptoms. The signs may be subtle for some seniors, and the condition doesn't always manifest the same way for all patients. As a result, many people with depression are unaware they have it.

For some,the conditionis marked by pervasive lethargy, no matter how much rest they get or what they try to do to boost their energy. Symptoms may also include difficulty concentrating, irritability, changes in appetite and feelings of guilt or helplessness. People with depression often find a hard time enjoying hobbies and activities they once loved as well.

Seniors who think they are experiencing signs of depression, or care givers who believe their old loved one is, should consult their physician. Their doctor can provide referrals to reputable counselors and psychiatrists who can develop the right treatment plan to get seniors back to better mental and physical well being.

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Treating stress and depression to improve seniors' cognition - KRDO

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While Trump's win initially presented a serious threat to women's reproductive rights, we seem to be catching a few breaks lately first with the new administration's inability to repeal Obamacare so far, and now, with a new study whose findings point to the possibility of women having even more direct access to abortion, rather than less.

Recent research found that ordering abortion pills over the phone and taking them in the comfort of your home is safe and effective. According to Vice, the studys findings were presented at the World Congress on Public Health after it analyzed 1,000 women who received the pills. Eight-two percent of the women who took the pills confirmed terminated pregnancy without any health complications. (Important to note: 15 percent of the women could not be reached to confirm results.)

But don't get too excited yet. While this new study is certainly a step in the right direction, were still leaps and bounds away from having this pill actually available over the counter. It took a full 20 years for the FDA to approve doctors to administer the abortion pill to patients in person.

How it works right now: You go into a clinic or doctors office to confirm that you want to terminate your pregnancy within the legal time frame, and a nurse gives you the first pill, which contains mifepristone (a synthetic steroid with anti-progestational effects, meaning it makes your uterus unfriendly to fertilized eggs). Youre then sent home with the second pill (misoprostol, a hormone used to instigate labor, abortions and treat stomach ulcers) which you take 24 hours later. Ultimately, the two pills work in conjunction to terminate pregnancy, and currently cost between $0 and $800, depending on your insurance.

More: What Moms and Daughters Want to Tell Each Other About Reproductive Health

Since its legalization in 2000, over 500,000 women have ended unplanned pregnancies this way. While abortion using this pill is still uncomfortable and painful and often involves severe cramping and bleeding, it's said to be far less invasive and emotionally distressing than surgical abortion.

For women in the early stages of an unplanned pregnancy (up to 10 weeks), a pill is a superior option. If it were available over the phone, it would make termination that much easier and cheaper for women. Going to the clinic for surgical abortions, during which women are often subjected to harassment, invasive examinations and in some cases, ultrasounds of the fetus, can be traumatic. Plus, through telemedicine and companies like the Talbott Foundation, women would be able to get these pills by making a phone call. The service costs $250 also far cheaper than going to a clinic, especially for the uninsured.

In a press release, Suzanne Belton, associate professor at Charles Darwin University, who presented the findings, said, Telehealth abortions with tablets are a safe and effective way for Australian women to seek a termination of pregnancy. It is a low-risk procedure. Very few women needed extra support at a hospital for assistance with bleeding or additional pain relief."

Being able to avoid that kind of discomfort would be a much-needed step in the right direction for womens health care and agency over our own bodies. Again, we've still got a ways to go, but in the face of open threats by the U.S. government to remove our ability to make our own reproductive choices, it's heartening to know that research like this continues to turn up positive results and hopefully, in the future, more tangible options for women.

More: 6 Myths to Stop Believing About Sex and Conception

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Women Might Be Able to Order Abortion Pills Over the Phone Sooner Than Expected - SheKnows.com

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Adequate, quality rest each night is essential for good health. Sleep provides the foundation for all our daily habits and decisions. A lack of quality sleep can negatively impact our mood as well as our ability to focus on daily tasks. To maximize your sleep health, here are some tips you can follow:

Even moderate exercise, such as walking, can help you sleep better. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise three times a week or more. Just make sure you dont work out within three hours of bedtime.

Alcohol and caffeine (found in coffee, tea, chocolate and some pain relievers) can interfere with sleep. If you have trouble sleeping, avoid caffeine eight hours before bedtime. Smokers should also avoid tobacco too close to bedtime.

Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate your bodys internal circadian clock. It increases in the evening as it becomes dark, which helps induce sleep, and shuts down when its light outside, which can then increase wakefulness and alertness. Dimming the lights in your bedroom and turning off all electronics about 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime can be very helpful to increase the release of melatonin.

Indigestion from spicy or fatty food or having too much food in your stomach can cause insomnia. For a better nights sleep, eat light, simple foods at least three hours before bed.

Stress and overstimulation can make it hard to fall asleep. Try to avoid intense television programs or movies before bed. Relax with a soothing, warm bath and curl up with a book instead.

Create a comfortable sleep environment: try sleep shades, earplugs, a white-noise machine or all three. Also, make sure the room is not too warm; temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees are considered the most comfortable. Evaluate your mattress and pillows for proper comfort and support.

If you cant fall asleep or you wake up and cant get your mind to shut down, avoid watching the clock, which can create more anxiety. If you have been awake more than 20 minutes, get up, go to another room and do something relaxing to help you get drowsy. Keep the lights low, have some warm milk, read a book or write about whatever may be on your mind until your eyelids get heavy.

Snoring, especially when accompanied by daytime fatigue, can be a sign of sleep apnea, a common disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts as you sleep due to obstruction of your airway. Sleep apnea can leave you feeling exhausted during the day, can affect your mood and can even be dangerous to your health. If you are worried about sleep apnea, ask your primary care provider to refer you to a sleep specialist.

By making sleep health a priority, you will begin seeing positive effects almost right away.

Martha Yanci Torres is a neurologist and sleep specialist at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato.

Excerpt from:
Sleep is the foundation for healthy habits - Southernminn.com

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How cells react to injury from open-heart surgery: Research ... Science Daily Investigators have learned how cardiac muscle cells react to a certain type of injury that can be caused by open-heart surgery. The findings point to a new ... and more »

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How cells react to injury from open-heart surgery: Research ... - Science Daily

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BROOKLINE Fighting for her life, a retired Brookline teacher who has been struggling with cancer for more than four years is hoping to find a donor for a stem cell transplant.

This week, Kathi Bond of Temple has undergone 96 hours of around-the-clock chemotherapy, but next week provides a new and unique opportunity for the 66-year-old woman battling a bone marrow cancer known as multiple myeloma.

A marrow donor registry drive will take place on Tuesday in an effort to find a match for Bond, who has undergone numerous, unsuccessful therapies throughout the past several years.

She is not the type that wants to be lying in a bed staring at a blank wall she would rather be climbing mountains, said Bonds husband, David Bond. She is a very vibrant woman, but on paper she is very ill.

Kathi Bond, who retired in 2013 from her environmental science teaching position in the Brookline School District because of the cancer, has already undergone an autologous stem cell transplant where her own cells were used for the procedure.

While this effort placed her in remission for more than a year, her body eventually began to reject the treatment and she fell ill again in the fall of 2016, and is now at stage 3 multiple myeloma.

I think emotionally, for any cancer patient, it is a roller coaster, said David Bond. You have good days and bad days glimmers of light and then news that things arent working.

Multiple myeloma is a plasma cell disorder that attacks cells in a persons bone marrow. Since traditional treatments are not working for Kathi Bond, doctors are now looking for radical ways to preserve her life, and a donor transplant is the next alternative.

Unfortunately, at this point, they have not found a match for Kathi, said her husband. But we have always felt that optimism is stronger than adversity. There will be a match out there somewhere.

A marrow donor registry drive will take place from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Richard Maghakian Memorial School, 22 Milford St. in Brookline. Participants must be ages 18 to 44, and will have their cheek swabbed to determine compatibility.

Kathi Bond, who is currently hospitalized, is attempting to reduce the number of myeloma cancer cells in an effort to make the future transplant more successful. She is working with an oncologist in Nashua, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to determine the best course of action for an incurable illness.

She is fairly strong right now, but a transplant is desperately needed, said David Bond.

Cancer is no longer a private struggle, he said, adding it affects so many families. In 1984, Kathi Bond lost her older sister to lymphoma.

At the time, he said there were no donor drives, walks for cancer or fundraisers to research cancer treatments.

Today, we save lives because we share our story, and compassionate people step forward and join the fight, he said.

The Bonds are hopeful to find a match from next weeks marrow donor registry drive, but said even if they dont, the data may be useful in helping to find a match for someone else in desperate need.

Kathleen Milewski, a second-grade teacher at RMMS in Brookline, along with the Bonds two daughters, have been instrumental in helping to organize Tuesdays drive, according to David Bond.

Joining the registry is as simple as a cheek swab, and the donation process, should you be a match, is similar to giving blood in over 70 percent of the cases, said Milewski. Kathi needs a match in order to continue to live with multiple myeloma.

David Bond said a donor transplant is his wifes greatest hope for a life of near-normalcy. A donors stem cells will result in a total reboot of the patients marrow, and as new donor stem cells develop and mature, they will over-populate the bad cells.

khoughton@newstote.com

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Stem cell donor registry drive seeks to help retired Brookline teacher - NewHampshire.com

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The global stem cells market is expected to grow at an incredible CAGR of 25.5% from 2015 to 2022 and reach a market value of US$297 billion by 2022.

Florida, April 06: Market Research Engine adds a new research study on the report, titled Global Stem Cells Market Analysis by Therapy, Application and Geography Trends and Forecast, 2015 2022.

The global stem cells market is expected to grow at an incredible CAGR of 25.5% from 2015 to 2022 and reach a market value of US$297 billion by 2022.

Browse Full Report from here: http://www.marketresearchengine.com/reportdetails/global-stem-ce

The emergence of Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells as an alternative to ESCs (embryonic stem cells), growth of developing markets, and evolution of new stem cell therapies represent promising growth opportunities for leading players in this sector.

Due to the increased funding from Government and Private sector and rising global awareness about stem cell therapies and research are the main factors which are driving this market. A surge in therapeutic research activities funded by governments across the world has immensely propelled the global stem cells market. However, the high cost of stem cell treatment and stringent government regulations against the harvesting of stem cells are expected to restrain the growth of the global stem cells market.

This report will definitely help you make well informed decisions related to the stem cell market.

The stem cell therapy market includes large number of players that are involved in development of stem cell therapies of the treatment of various diseases. Mesoblast Ltd. (Australia), Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (U.S.), Celgene Corporation (U.S.), and StemCells, Inc. (U.S.) are the key players involved in the development of stem cell therapies across the globe.

Download Free Sample Report: http://www.marketresearchengine.com/requestsample/global-stem-ce

Scope of the Report

This market research report categorizes the stem cell therapy market into the following segments and sub-segments:

By Mode of Therapy

Allogeneic Stem Cell Therapy Market o CVS Diseases o CNS Diseases o GIT diseases o Eye Diseases o Musculoskeletal Disorders o Metabolic Diseases o Immune System Diseases o Wounds and Injuries o Others

Autologous Stem Cell Therapy Market o GIT Diseases o Musculoskeletal Disorders o CVS Diseases o CNS Diseases o Wounds and Injuries o Others

By Therapeutic Applications

Musculoskeletal Disorders Metabolic Diseases Immune System Diseases GIT Diseases Eye Diseases CVS Diseases CNS Diseases Wounds and Injuries Others

By Geography

North America Europe Asia-Pacific RoW (Rest of the World)

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Market Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.

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Here is the original post:
Stem Cells Market is Expected to Cross US$ 297 Billion by 2022 - MilTech

Recommendation and review posted by sam

The International Association of HealthCare Professionals is pleased to welcome Dr. Jodie A. Dashore OTD, MS (Neurology), HHP, to their prestigious organization with her upcoming publication in The Leading Physicians of the World. She is a highly trained and qualified Naturopathic Clinician, Doctor of Occupational Therapy, Neuro-Sensory Integration, and Holistic health practitioner with an extensive expertise in all facets of her work, especially in Holistic all natural Management for Tick Borne Diseases, Complex Autism, Biotoxin Illness, and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. Dr. Dashore is currently serving patients as Clinical Director within her own practice, Integrative NeuroSensory Associates LLC, a functional therapeutic, biomedical and integrative therapy practice in Marlboro, New Jersey. Furthermore, she also serves as Clinical Director within Specialized Pediatrics Therapy Center LLC in New Jersey.

Dr. Dashore graduated Magna Cum Laude specializing in MS -Neurology from the University of Bombay in 1992. Subsequently, she relocated to the United States and earned her Advanced Clinical Doctorate in OT-Neurology and Evidence Based Medicine. Dr. Dashore then attended the University of Southern California, gaining her post-doctoral specialization in Neuro Sensory Integration.

Dr. Dashore is fully certified in Holistic and Energy therapeutic approaches, German Biological remedies, Homotoxicology, and Clinical Herbalism, having trained in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Germany. She is an internationally recognized AWARD Winning holistic clinician, author, and speaker. She works with children and adults from across the country and abroad who suffer from Autism, Sensory Integration Disorders, Lyme Disease, PANDAS, IBS, Chronic Fatigue, Autoimmune Disease, Mold and Biotoxin Illness, Endocrine and Hormone Imbalances, Methylation concerns, Cancer and Chronic Disease. Dr. Dashore utilizes the principles of homeopathy, herbology, homotoxicology, bioenergetic and European biological remedies in her practice for natural health and wellness.

She maintains professional memberships with the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM), American Holistic Medicine Association, The North American Society of Homeopaths, the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, and the American Occupational Therapy Association, among others. Dr. Dashore attributes her success to her one and only childs personal struggles and triumphs with chronic infection and illness. She also attributes her success to the various opportunities she has had to mentor with numerous world renowned pioneering physicians. In her free time, she enjoys nature walks, yoga, Meditation, spirituality, research, and spending time with her son.

View Dr. Jodie A. Dashores Profile Here: https://www.findatopdoc.com/doctor/8138151-Jodie-Dashore-Naturopathic-Physician-Marlboro-New-Jersey-07746

Learn more about Dr. Dashore here: http://dashoreintegrativerx.com/ and be sure to read her upcoming publication in The Leading Physicians of the World.

About FindaTopDoc.com

FindaTopDoc.com is a hub for all things medicine, featuring detailed descriptions of medical professionals across all areas of expertise, and information on thousands of healthcare topics. Each month, millions of patients use FindaTopDoc to find a doctor nearby and instantly book an appointment online or create a review. FindaTopDoc.com features each doctors full professional biography highlighting their achievements, experience, patient reviews and areas of expertise. A leading provider of valuable health information that helps empower patient and doctor alike, FindaTopDoc enables readers to live a happier and healthier life. For more information about FindaTopDoc, visit http://www.findatopdoc.com

Originally posted here:
Highly Respected Naturopathic Physician, Dr. Jodie A. Dashore, OTD, MS (Neurology), HHP, will be Displayed in The ... - PR NewsChannel (press release)

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

By Christy Brissette By Christy Brissette April 5

Who isnt tired these days? Were constantly on call for work, family and friends, and often forget to take time for ourselves. Most of us recognize that chronic stress can take its toll on our health and well-being. But what if youre so fatigued that even getting more sleep doesnt seem to help?

Complementary and alternative medicine provide an explanation for stress-induced fatigue that offers hope to the chronically tired. According to naturopathic doctors, holistic nutritionists and others, adrenal fatigue is a condition where the adrenals, glands that sit above the kidneys, dont produce enough cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that plays a role in managing stress and regulating metabolism, sleep, blood sugar and inflammation.

Fatigue is probably the number one complaint among new patients in my practice, says Leila Kirdani, a family physician specializing in functional medicine. Anyone with prolonged fatigue, with difficulty sleeping, who feels burned-out or lack of enjoyment in life, may be suffering from adrenal fatigue.

Basically, the theory goes that too much stress wears out our adrenal glands they get tired and dont produce enough cortisol for us to feel energized. So why arent our family doctors telling us about this?

As a registered dietitian in private practice, I often get new clients who have been told by their naturopathic doctors that they have adrenal fatigue and need to follow a special diet and a regimen of supplements and herbs. Hours of searching the scientific literature has led to very little in terms of evidence-based dietary advice to help these individuals. Which raises the question ...

[The DASH diet is proven to work. Why hasnt it caught on?]

Is adrenal fatigue real?

The very existence of adrenal fatigue is a contentious issue. It isnt recognized by any endocrinology societies or endocrinologists, medical doctors who specialize in hormone-related health problems. A recent systematic review of the scientific literature found that there was no evidence for the existence of adrenal fatigue as a medical condition.

Theodore C. Friedman is an endocrinologist at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science who describes himself as being open to complementary medicine. Like many medical doctors, he says adrenal fatigue doesnt exist: Its something made up by naturopathic doctors; endocrinologists dont recognize it as a real condition.

Saul Marcus is a naturopathic doctor in Connecticut. When it comes to adrenal fatigue, conventional medicine insists it doesnt exist. However, adrenal fatigue is essentially a stress reaction, and stress is very well understood as a cause of illness.

And so we see the bipolar worlds of conventional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine are firmly divided into two camps: adrenal fatigue doesnt exist vs. adrenal fatigue is an important medical issue.

Somewhere in the middle is the idea that adrenal fatigue is a term that encompasses a wide range of general symptoms rather than a discrete medical problem. Does the label matter?

Whats really going on with your adrenal glands?

According to Kirdani, There is a distinct bias in the medical community when it comes to adrenal fatigue. For some reason, doctors think that either your adrenal glands are perfectly fine, or else they have ceased to function.

Naturopaths have it wrong, Friedman explains. They describe adrenal fatigue as a stress-induced condition where your adrenal glands dont produce enough cortisol. In fact, when youre stressed out, your adrenal glands make more cortisol.

What endocrinologists and other medical doctors do recognize is adrenal insufficiency, a disorder where the adrenals dont produce enough hormones. The adrenal glands make two hormones: cortisol and aldosterone. According to Friedman, Aldosterone is often underappreciated or unrecognized by naturopaths. He also says that adrenal insufficiency is on a gradient: You can have varying levels of cortisol deficiency, aldosterone deficiency or both.

[Why phosphate additives will be the next taboo ingredient]

Having low aldosterone causes salt to be lost in the urine, which leads to symptoms such as brain fog, feeling worse after exercise or feeling dizzy when you stand up. Friedman says that people with low aldosterone can be diagnosed by an endocrinologist and then can be treated with synthetic aldosterone, extra salt or licorice root. Because the role of aldosterone is often ignored by alternative medicine, this is one adrenal issue that your naturopath may not test for. (Marcus, the naturopathic doctor, says one reason naturopaths may not test for aldosterone is because it requires a blood test, and in some states they are not licensed to order bloodwork.)

Where cortisol is concerned, people can have low cortisol as a result of their pituitary gland not producing enough of a hormone that stimulates the release of cortisol from the adrenals. A smaller portion of people have Addisons disease, where the adrenal glands are attacked by antibodies. As a result, the adrenals wont produce enough cortisol. Friedman says that these patients need to see an endocrinologist and get on cortisol right away.

As Friedman puts it, people with adrenal insufficiency do have fatigue, so it makes sense to examine their adrenal glands. Its the concept of the adrenals burning out that doesnt make sense.

How do you get tested for adrenal fatigue or adrenal insufficiency?

Marcus says adrenal fatigue can be diagnosed in several ways. Many practitioners test cortisol levels in saliva, but these also can be diagnosed based on symptoms. If someone is feeling tired and under some sort of stress, their adrenal function is probably not optimal, and it may be okay to try taking some supplements for the adrenals.

Friedman calls the saliva test used by natural-health practitioners unreliable and says a blood test is a far better way to measure cortisol levels.

The blood test measures levels of electrolytes (including sodium) as well as several hormones. This gives a picture of which hormones are out of the normal range and what could be causing issues.

Taking care of your adrenals

Google adrenal fatigue diet and youll find websites recommending everything from eliminating dairy to following a paleo diet that also vetoes grains and beans. At this point, there isnt any evidence to show that any of this will help you manage stress or feel more energized.

When my clients are dealing with stress and fatigue, I recommend eating whole foods, plenty of vegetables, heart-healthy fats and lean protein, limiting highly processed foods and added sugars, as well as cutting down on caffeine and alcohol, which can negatively affect sleep.

[10 nutrition mistakes even really healthy people make]

Choosing foods that stabilize your blood sugar and are lower on the glycemic index is also important, as your energy levels and mood are closely related to blood sugar. Go for slow-burning carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, barley, quinoa and rolled oats, and always combine them with a protein such as beans or lentils, chicken, fish or lean meat. Get healthy fats from oily fish, olive oil, avocado, nuts or seeds at each meal and snack, and chances are youll feel more energized.

Marcus, Kirdani and Friedman all say that whether youre dealing with stress or adrenal fatigue, taking care of your overall health helps.

Friedman feels that the naturopathic approach can be valuable, as talking to someone about stress and ways to cope can help. He also doesnt have a problem with people taking certain supplements that boost their immune system and energy levels, as long as those dont interact with other medications or supplements.

Marcus and Kirdani recommend supplementing with sea salt, B vitamins and herbs such as rhodiola or lemon balm. (Please see a medical professional before taking supplements or herbs to make sure theyre safe for you.) Patients also may use an adrenal glandular, essentially ground-up adrenal glands (usually from pigs or cows), other tissues or extracts.

Friedman warns: The naturopathic approach can be dangerous if cortisol or ground-up adrenals are prescribed. People often feel better on cortisol, but side effects include osteoporosis, weight gain and diabetes. As such, it shouldnt be prescribed lightly.

Does it matter what we call it?

While the worlds of conventional and alternative medicine are divided on adrenal fatigue as a condition, everyone seems to agree that managing stress makes sense. So does eating well and treating any vitamin or mineral deficiencies, as well as getting regular physical activity and enough sleep. Working on all of these areas will help you boost energy, reduce fatigue and make you healthier. Whether these positive lifestyle changes are improving stress levels or healing adrenal fatigue is irrelevant.

What does matter is if treating so-called adrenal fatigue ends up preventing the diagnosis of a serious medical problem.

Friedmans take-home message is clear. If youre experiencing fatigue, you need to see an endocrinologist to make sure youre getting at the real issue and not masking fatigue thats being caused by another health problem, he said. If you do have an adrenal issue, it needs to be treated as soon as possible.

Christy Brissette is a dietitian, foodie and president of 80TwentyNutrition.com. Follow her on Twitter @80twentyrule.

See the original post here:
Is adrenal fatigue real? Forget the label and treat the stress. - Washington Post

Recommendation and review posted by sam