Friday Chronic Roundup: August 1, 2008

PCOS/Insulin Resistance/Diabetes/Infertility

• The "fat gene" talk again
• One nutritionist's approach to PCOS treatment
• Another hint that tumeric might help Type 2 diabetes
• Can metformin or glyburide help prevent Alzheimer's in Type 2 diabetics
• The heredity/genetic link of PCOS
• Researchers have identified the functional role of the Lrh1 gene in regulating ovulation.
  

Interstitial Cystitis/Pelvic Floor Dysfunction/Vulvodynia/IBS

• What treatments for IC reduce healthcare costs?
• Another IBS drug trial moves forward.
  

Asthma/Allergies/Celiac Disease

• Results from heart research to be applied to asthma research
• Research on alternative allergy therapies is promising
• Does the consumption of nuts during pregnancy contribute to childhood asthma
• I guess this is supposed to be grand: people with long term asthma, hay fever or allergies are up to 25% less likely to get the most common type of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
  

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Fibromyalgia/Lyme Disease

• Caution: Lyme disease rates are up this summer.
  

Mental Health

• Depression is shown to abate with constant electrical stimulation
• Does spanking lead to depressed toddlers?
• The work of proteins in DNA that cause depression
• Scientists have found the mechanism that causes postpartum depression in mice
  

The Letter of the Day: is Vitamin D

The hype around certain deficiencies and in intolerances is usually something to take note of with a grain of salt. The big thing now is celiac disease, and while a good number of people have it, I'm sure doctors are seeing a rash of people who believe they or their children have it as well.

So when this whole Vitamin D deficiency thing came out, I had to say I was skeptical. I'm using skeptical in the most serious way because I think that it's too loose a word. To say that I didn't believe it for a minute would be more accurate. But some bloggers I respected urged on about it, so I figured it couldn't be too bad.

But then I read some of the facts and symptoms. It's not a chronic condition (necessarily), but a deficiency that can be aided and even eliminated.

So, even though I was skeptical, I went out and bought some.

I have been taking the supplement regularly (or at least fairly regularly) for about three weeks now. At first I thought I noticed drastic changes, but over time those faded. (The changes included less fatigue, greater strength and less muscle weakness. ) But I have noticed some benefits that have lasted. For a time, I was a little less moody (when aided by my Prozac which I missed for over a week because of a lapse in prescription) . The fatigue thing faded some. I don't think it's a cure all, but I think it did help in this area.

So have any of you tried a vitamin D supplement? What were your results? Am I just making up benefits that weren't really there?

Daily Inspiration: 7/31/08

To live with the conscious knowledge of the shadow of uncertainty, with the knowledge that disaster or tragedy could strike at any time; to be afraid and to know and acknowledge your fear, and still to live creatively and with unstinting love: that is to live with grace. - Peter Henry Abrahams

Marijuana and Chronic Pain and Chronic Illness: A Political Fight

Today on Capitol Hill Senator Barney Frank (D-Mass) took a stand that boosted the treatment possibilities for those with chronic pain and chronic illness. He took a stand to limit or eliminate penalties for marijuana users with less than 100 grams in possession.

So what does this have to do with chronic health?

Well, in those few areas of the country that allow for medical marijuana use, the fear was always that though the state or municipality allowed such use, the federal government did not. Theoretically then, the federal government could have come in at any time and penalized someone using marijuana medically, regardless of the safeguards or other laws in place.

But today, the dialog started to change on marijuana. Perhaps it's the realization that so many Americans support medical marijuana availability. Perhaps it's the fact that we are realizing the war on drugs is a crock. Perhaps it's the fact that we know there are bigger fish to fry and using government dollars to go after small time marijuana users just isn't worthwhile. Perhaps people are starting to come to terms with the fact that marijuana is actually less dangerous than alcohol and nicotine.

Whatever the case, today at least there's a little more breathing room (pardon the pun) for those with a chronic illness/chronic pain who use marijuana as a treatment option.

Daily Inspiration: 7/30/08

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.
-Hunter S. Thompson

Daily Inspiration: 7/29/08

Sex. In America an obsession. In other parts of the world a fact. -Marlene Dietrich

In honor of the new X-Files Movie: "I Want To Believe"

What to do when chronic conditions haunt you?

I've had a bit of a relapse.

I don't know what to peg this on. I could say that the impending purchase of a home and a closing date in less than three weeks gives me heartache. I could say that work has been busier than normal. I could blame it on the heat. But none of those seem entirely true. Yet at the same time, I don't know what caused this relapse.

In the past week I've had the following symptoms attributable to at least one if not more of my chronic conditions:

• fatigue
• pelvic pain
• vulvar pain
• irritable bowels
• back pain
• headaches
• frequent urination
  

It's as if my body's defenses have taken a summer vacation and left me to rot.

Though I'd like to end this post with some sort of creative way to get through a flare up like this, I don't think I have one. In fact, I'm planning on vegging out on my couch tonight for the better part of the evening. Maybe I need more of that. Maybe I need less. In any event, I don't know what else to do when all else fails.

Progress is a funny thing, isn't it? You don't always know what it truly means until it's eroded.

Daily Inspiration: 7/28/08

The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied... but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing.
-John Berger

Friday Chronic Roundup

PCOS/Insulin Resistance/Diabetes

• The causes of insulin resistance and sensitivity in horses--might this be a clue for people?
• A new partnership to develop pre-diabetes diagnostics and provide data on IR
• Growth hormone therapy may decrease the risk of diabetes in some girls
• Drugs Repaglinde and Metformin show results in people with Type II Diabetes
  

Interstitial Cystitis/Pelvic Floor Dysfunction/Vulvodynia/IBS

• Does sauerkraut have anti-inflammatory properties for IBS?
• Overactive bladders have an affect on the mind
• Another story about the potential uses of Botox on the pelvic floor
• Case study of overactive bladder syndrome
• An overview of stress urinary incontinence
  

Allergies/Asthma/Celiac Disease

• Can your DNA tell that you have celiac disease?
  

Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Another anecdotal tale of the difficulty surrounding diagnosis of fibromyalgia
• Intestinal gluten receptor is gateway for celiac disease
  

Daily Inspiration: 7/24/08

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. -Benjamin Franklin

A Great New Resource: Cure Together

I have gotten a good deal of feedback (all positive) about our guest bloggers on TBC. My only repeat-guest-blogger (at this time anyhow), Alexandra Carmichael, has been instrumental in the creation of the new site Cure Together. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peak at it last month and am excited that I'm now able to write about it to you.

Cure Together is self-described as "a place where patients and researchers work together, doing open source research to find cures."

I can say many things about this site, but I'm going to be brief to allow you to mosey on over there and check it out yourself. This site is sorely needed. Too often there is a disconnect between the researchers and the people affected by the research. On Cure Together, as a patient, you can track your health, connect with other people that have your condition, and not only participate in research, but help fund it as well. This is just a brilliant platform! Now when we have the opportunity to donate, we can donate directly to the research affecting our lives.

Currently Cure Together focuses on vulvodynia, endometriosis and migraines--all painful, time consuming, and emotionally difficult chronic conditions.

So stop reading this and click over there today. Sign up and get involved! The only way we can hope to achieve progress is to make that progress ourselves.

Daily Inspiration: 7/23/08

There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things..... Whenever his enemies have occasion to attack the innovator they do so with the passion of partisans, while the others defend him sluggishly so that the innovator and his party alike are vulnerable. - Niccolo Machiavelli

Daily Inspiration: 7/22/08

The home is not the one tame place in the world of adventure. It is the one wild place in the world of rules and set tasks. - G.K. Chesterton

Friday Chronic Roundup

It's another Friday!!! Time for some news updates...

PCOS/Insulin Resistance/Diabetes

• The absence of an "acute insulin response" predicts Type 2 Diabetes in white folks.
• If you understand this: RBP4 is related to decreased insulin sensitivity, mostly through its association with nonoxidative glucose metabolism.
• Insulin has inflamation-reducing properties. Interesting.
• How does the brain contribute to insulin resistance?
• Excessive weight loss can affect women's ability to conceive.
• A gene essential to ovulation has been isolated by Canadian and European researchers.
  

Interstital Cystitis/Vulvodynia/Pelvic Floor Dysfunction/IBS

• Defining the urologic chronic pain syndromes
• Aloe very was my grandpa's all-time cure, maybe he was right for IBS.
• Someone is studying the pelvic floor!!! (In Oregon)
• Chronic gynecological conditions no longer silent on the internet.
  

Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• The treatment of Fibromyalgia through alternative therapies.
• Sisters who share fibromyalgia.
• Surprise, surprise--Fibromyalgia patients have to fight for prescriptions to be covered.
• Another surprise--Fibromyalgia is little understood, says CNN.
  

Allergies/Asthma/Celiac Disease

• A gluten-free diet isn't right for everyone.
• Fibromyalgia takes time to diagnose.
  

DON'T FORGET: Online Vulvodynia Support Group Tonight at 8

Sponsored by Life With Vulvodynia. Check it out. I was really planning on making it, but it looks as if I might have double booked myself. But I encourage you to go there and I give a standing ovation to Quinn for setting this up.

If I'm not there tonight I'll be there next time!