Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Binaural Beats

I find listening to binaural beats to be quite therapeutic in a number of ways.  They have been scientifically proven to affect brain function and there are a number of  wave patterns that affect different parts of the brain.   It is important to wear headphones to achieve the beneficial effect.  This one is quite soothing to me.


Germs will make you crazy



There was a recent post on a forum in which the poster presented a question about OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and his daughter's recent bout with an infection.    This was the second bout and during both infections, she developed OCD.    I presented a series of things that would connect the OCD to infections

Kandinsky
These pathogens create very toxic by products that accumulate in the brain and body it is these toxins that make one sick- plus the immune response (cytokines) are uptaken in the brain which cause many brain disorders http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=174101


Furthermore, these infections require a lot of nutritional aspects for the immune system to fight - these are lost rapidly which further hamper the brain - a couple of nutrients such as b12, magnesium, proteins, fatty acids etc. This leaves the brain without the vital nutrients it needs.
http://pptu.lefora.com/2012/06/20/neutrophils-protozoa-and-nutrition/#post0


Also these infections evoke an adrenal response, adrenochrome is a byproduct of adrenaline (adrenal hormone) = adrenochrome gets up into the brain and cause schizo type of reactions - niacin in high enough amounts reduces the adrenochrome thus lessening the schizo reactions.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12829415



Adrenochrome
Adrenochrome, chemical formula C9H9NO3, is a compound produced by the oxidation of adrenaline. The derivative carbazochrome is a hemostatic medication. Wikipedia



I found this snippet from this PDF link  link in which the author stated the following:

"He also said: “It is high time that we now look in the direction of toxemia (or blood
poisoning) for the explanation of the insanities which produce no changes whatever in the brain.”

Recent announcement was made that a large percentage of cures reported by the New
Jersey State Hospital for the Insane at Trenton were effected by the removal of diseased
teeth, tonsils or affected organs. In a resume of the Trenton method, Dr. R. S. Copeland
wrote: “The hypothesis upon which this treatment is founded is that insanity is a toxemia
or poisoning due to germ infection in some part of the body. If this is true it follows that
removal of the infected tissue, when the case has not gone too far, will be followed by
disappearance of the mental disturbance.”

Kandinsky


Dr. Simon Yu states that psychiatric conditions are controversial in terms of etiology which includes
nutrition, toxins, genetics etc. Some researchers believe that infectious agents may play a role in mental illness. Dr. E. Fuller Torry wrote a book called "The Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to Present".  He believes that infectious agents are a major cause of mental illness.

Here is an excellent study on the pathogen Bartonella in which the researchers outline the psychiatric fallout that occured with Bartonella.  They give several case examples of patients who suffered with anxiety, depression, psychosis and other mood disorders http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2100128/

Many common infections are capable of inducing this including syphilis, Lyme, penumonia, UTIs,
sepsis, malaria, HIV and parasites. Please read the full article here.    htp://www.preventionandhealing.com/articles/Parasites_and_Mental_Illness.pdf

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Delusions of Parasites?

Someone sent me this article  in which the author Simon Yu, a doctor explains his views on parasites.   In the United States, doctors are trained in very specific ideas of both diagnosis and treatment, they are only as good as their training and when faced to think outside the box then this presents many problems for them.   One of these problems is parasites.   It is widely believed that Americans do not get parasites, this was told to me by an Infectious Disease doctor.   Where did he get this information?  What is the basis of his belief?

Parasite infections are prevalent in many countries mostly through poor sanitation and hygiene.   American has better practices than most but that does not mean that Americans cannot have parasites.  *Doctors believe that Americans can get them only if they traveled outside of the US.

Doctors are simply not trained in seeing the signs of a parasitic infection and testing methods are highly unreliable.   At this point the only lab that seems to have some handle on detection is Metametrix in which they use the new technology PCR to detect parasites.

Anyhow the article is good and worth reading.   

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Shpongle

Shpongle requires a bit of an open mind -  why listen to the mundane?   Anyhow, here is a nice track.


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Friends

I have no friends from my past unless you count Vince - the rest all ran away.   Unfortunately I grew up in a community that fostered materialism and all the side-effects of it which are values I do not ascribe to.    I found out the hard way that most people ultimately celebrate other's failures -it validates themselves, it is the ugly part of human nature.   No longer do I trust people at face value, that is that they have my best interests at heart.   Some are sensitive to that but I think they are in the minority, most have their agenda in mind and most are willing to trump their agenda over yours.   I strive to find their agenda first then I can 'unlock' them.   I have learned to rely on my empathic nature, a dose of psychological profiling and body language, I evaluate all of those to form a profile of sorts.   I then adjust my emotional stance.



I found out the hard way about human nature after falling ill with a parasitic infection that ravaged my body, no longer could I function at the levels I did before the infection.   Unable to properly function, my business and personal life fell apart despite my intensive efforts to thwart such a downfall.   I was in big trouble and I knew it, instinctive nature kicks in and we rely on a different part of the human nature to survive and you find yourself doing things that you would have never dreamed of.    At the time I had no idea why I was feeling this way and in a desperate plea, I shared my inner struggles with people.  This was a big mistake not only was I violated but was berated.   People can only offer you correct perspective if they have correct perspective which most do not.   People usually have not developed perspective because they either have no empathy or global thinking - their disability is ignorance which ultimately hurts people.

 

The pinnacle of the fall began after developing Cushing's disease due to the intense immune response to the parasite.   Cushing's affects all parts of the body due to the intensive nature of hormones, these are steroids.   I went into full blown Adrenal failure and when that happens massive changes occur,  my whole neurological system went awry.    I fell on the floor as I was too weak to stand and went into massive panic attacks, it was very scary.   I was bedridden for a long time using copious amounts of nutritionals to stymie the tide.   Even after intensive therapy I was still off balance, sadly for me I shared this with a friend who found a great opportunity to gossip about me and my mental health.   Sadly this leaked to many people who began to gaze upon me with suspicion, I was humiliated to say the least.  Little did they know that I was already emotionally  stained by what had transpired - their callousness only intesinfied the pain.   No longer do I associate with any of these people realizing that these people have no rootedness.  This was a powerful lesson for me to no longer trust people or at least those who have agendas.  

Part of life is to mature, which means emotional and spiritual maturity.   Letting go of Self is important for spiritual growth.   Spiritual growth not only makes ourselves better but the world around us, it places other's needs above our needs.  This is not to say that everyone should become a Mother Teresa but it does challenge us to get out of ourselves.   Upholding other's dignity is the key to spirituality, not belief systems, dogmas or doctrines.

For those who suffer, I say I am sorry, may you have continued courage.   For those who are on the other side, please exercise your spirituality and understand that the person who is suffering is not bad but needs to be embraced with dignity and respect.  Please do that.







Space pictures





Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Blog post on anxiety/panic disorders



http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/jokers-wild/?emc=eta1


A friend of mine sent me this article written by Paul Vandevelder about panic attacks which is very insightful.   I relieved many of the experiences that the author described.   For me, at the pinnacle it is best described as in the Book of Revelation in which the 7 headed dragon with 10 horns was arising from the abyss.   It is difficult for the uninitiated to understand what panic attacks do to your perception of reality, but for those who have experienced this it all makes sense.

A relative who recently experienced these, who failed to understand my experience, now fully understands the awful nature of these storms.  Fortunately for both myself and him, panic attacks are no longer part of our lives in which the key is nutrition.   Panic attack arise from adrenal exhaustion which occurs due to many factors the first is stress and that is unrelenting stress.   Poor nutrition contributes to this and other stress factors such as sub clinical infections, heavy metals, environmental toxins all contribute as well.


Panic attacks are felt in the brain or mind and in Western Medicine are treated as such, the truth however is that these are adrenal based issues and when the adrenals fail to pump enough hormones to keep the body normalized then weird things begin to happen.   Cortisol is a hormone that every knows because they hear about in the press but this is only one of the many hormones secreted by the adrenal glands.  Cortisol gets secreted under stress and it has a wide range of responsibilities.  Dip into the adrenal pool too many times and you smoke the adrenals, smoke the adrenals and you cannot produce adequate hormones, lower hormones equals health problems.

Infomercial programs and all the self help books that try to tell you panic disorders originate in your thinking are not completely true.  Yes the mind and its perception can set off a panic attack but when your body is dysregulated then the smallest things will set it off.   We only set these things off when we perceive fear, so if you track your attacks, you will see specific things that can trigger and usually these are threatening in nature.   For instance walking in the forest would be peaceful for most people however if you had a bad experience related to the forest then you will perceive fear and that fear will trigger the HPA axis.

Magnesium is a critical element that keeps the adrenals and all organ systems healthy however is lost under high stress situations, the problem is further compounded when we do not get magnesium rich foods which is typical in our nutritionally starved diets*.   B vitamins, other minerals are lost under adrenal stress furthermore high adrenal stress equals high oxidation and high oxidation equals damage.

If you are suffering panic attacks please seek medical attention but also please seek out nutritional advice.   A proper diet with specific supplementation will help and addressing toxicity issues is another critical part of this.   In my case it was a parasitic infection that did me in, however I stopped  the panic attacks after careful supplementation  and repaired the adrenals with glandulars.  (I have an outline posted on my blog which has more details).

*the term 'diet' is misunderstood in American thinking, diet refers to types of food we consume which means nutritional quality of the food and not in the common thinking of calories.   Diets are used to lose weight by restriction of caloric intake which is an outdated and harmful technique.   The body needs nutrition (minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, quality protein, antioxidants) - nutrition fuels the metabolic rate and helps the body remove toxins that stop efficient metabolic processes.


Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Cause of my Disease

I like the word 'etiology', I like the way it sounds, I like its meaning which according to Wiki means 'the study of causation' and it continues to say that it is derived from the Greek word aitiologia which means 'giving a reason for'.   It is primarily used in philosophical or medical terms.  For me it is personal and meaningful as I need to know the origins of my disease so that I can effectively treat it.
Western Medicine does not give much thought to etiology as they only see the end and never the beginning.  It is important to see the beginning so that clarity may arise.   I have slowly learned that much of the problem arises from ignorance.   Ignorance is not a disease in the truest sense of the word but explains much of the problem.   Many people interpret the word ignorance as a slur of sorts which it is not,  ignorance means not to know.


The cause of the problem is a protozoa infection, I walked around for many years of severe complaints to the doctors who simply either did not believe me in that they in essence called me a liar, or simply did not know.   I was very sick and not just in my body as disease permeates all facets of the human existence.  I quickly learned that doctors have no concept on what it is like to be sick, in fact I have heard they make the worst patients.    I ask myself that question many times, in how doctors could not know.  I also ask the question as to why I would put any trust in these people as they failed me so many times.

I research continually as I have been desperate for far too long, yes I followed the advice of many people who too were ignorant about disease though thought themselves to be experts who gave me worthless and cheap advice.   And when their bad advice failed, they seldom took responsibility or recourse, it was my fault.   I agree with my friend Bob who told me that only 10% of people who call themselves professional truly are, I have learned throughout the years not to implicity trust but should be critical of their background and advice.    America generates much hype which is simply emotionally charged advice without any substantial backbone.

I had to learn many of the root causes of CFS, endocrine involvement in immune reactions, identification of pathogenic organisms, antibiotic therapies, adjunct nutritional therapies, antibiotic resistance strategies and a whole laundry list of other therapies.   My friend said to write down questions that he could ask his doctor friends, which I am considering but probably will balk at.   I explained that Western Medicine does not have the answers to these questions, at least the practitioners, however the researchers have some helpful insight.    The bridge between the practitioner and the researcher is often wide, and decades later the medicine system will see the wisdom from the researchers and may adopt some of their findings.  I do not have time to wait for this, so I take it upon myself to do the research and the application of that research.  

I am the researcher and the practitioner, trial and error until I get it right.   I try to abolish my ignorance through education and observation and at some point hope to arrive at the point of wellness.   I share the following quote from St. Augustine which sums things up for me -

'It is one thing to see the City of Peace from the ridge, but quite another to walk the road that leads to it" - St. Augustine.


Friday, July 13, 2012

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Mammatus clouds


Mammatus clouds (mammatocumulus) are clouds that form 'pouches' which hang underneath the base of a cloud.   They are often associated with severe thunderstorms or anvil clouds but have been found under other cloud formations.   



 


Sunday, July 8, 2012

CFS Resource

I ran across this blog http://www.betterhealthguy.com/joomla/ in which the author has a vast amount of resources directed towards CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).  CFS is best described as a chronic infection exacerbated by oxidative damage from heavy metals and environmental toxins along which creates an adrenal fatigue issue.  Nutrient status plays an important role in recovery.   In addition it is important to identify the pathogenic issue.






For a long time, it was thought that viral issues played a role in this, specifically Epstein Barr virus.  That theory (Epstein Barr) was primitive and other viral infections are likely to blame.  However the
viral theory is only one of many pathogens that can create the turbulence in the body known as CFS. Lyme is possibility as well as gastrointestinal infections.   Parasites will cause a living hell in the body but proper testing should be done.   At this time, Metametrix offers a DNA based test that is the most sensitive.   Other opportunistic infections in the gut would include yeast/fungal issues as well as bacterial dysbiosis.  Mycoplasma infections have also been implicated.


Heavy metal intoxification should be considered as well as nutrient deficiency which would include vitamin D3 status, magnesium and a whole host of other minerals, vitamins and antioxidants.

Adrenal weakness is always an occurring problem with any chronic infection and toxin problem, liver congestion also occurs and must be addressed.   I have some information on these issues at pptu.lefora  under 'supporting the body' category.


Saturn

Pictures from NASA's Cassini mission  http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/







Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Parasites the menace

I host a forum online that deals specifically with protozoa parasites which are different than the parasites most people think about.   Protozoa are microscopic versus the worm parasites that garner most of the squeamish press.   I host the forum since this is an outlet for my suffering of an unknown taxonomy protozoa that has caused a living hell.   In my experiences, I have met many people who of course are suffering, but not only from the physical suffering but from an emotional & mental suffering.   Sadly in America, we think of emotional & mental suffering as something that exists outside of the physical which is simply not true.   I personally believe that humans are physical, emotional, mental and spiritual in nature and that suffering in one of those areas can lead to suffering in the others.

Much suffering is had under the guise of the medical system.   Western medicine has become the Achilles heel for many people for many reasons.   In terms of parasites, WM simply has very thin knowledge concerning these menaces.  They lack the knowledge of symptomatology and treatment strategies.   Far too many people resort to other means in order to receive the much needed treatment.   And more times than naught, the patients are further hindered by the obstinate medical system which simply pass them to the next referral which continues the cycle leaving the patient to figure the whole thing out.    This causes severe emotional stress which further weakens the immune response.

Part of their journey is to use the internet where unsubstantiated claims are made concerning parasitic treatment, but this is not to say that every website has faulty information.  I strive to mix medical journal articles and practical or dare I say anecdotal information.   I look for the members to share their experiences so that we all might gain further wisdom so that all may gain.

Western Medicine needs to reform, not to simply pass off someone's complaints as just a mental condition which is not only close-minded but also ignorant.   The medical system needs to become educated concerning parasites, proper diagnosis with the right tools and and effective treatment strategy.   

Monday, July 2, 2012

Xavi Fuentes

Xavi Fuentes is an award winning photographer who works mostly in black and white and who states " I understand photography as a combination of lights, shapes and lines...play with them, and an image is born."

His website can be accessed here