EXPERIMENTAL ALZHEIMER’S TREATMENT

by | Aug 5, 2024 | Health

60 MINUTES REPORT on a NEW EXPERITMENTAL TREATMENT for ALZHEIMERRS

60 Minutes is the greatest television program ever. There are many good reasons why it’s been a Sunday evening standout for the past 56 years. Last night, I watched one of the most amazing reports ever. It was about an experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s and people who are seriously addicted to drugs.

The star of the report last night was a neurosurgeon, Dr. Ali Rezai, who came up with a new technique for treating Alzheimer’s. Anyone who knows somebody with this horrific disease, understands the devastation this can causes for the individual and his or her family members. It also eventually causes death.

Anyone who reads medical reports on a regular basis, knows scientists and drug companies spent huge amounts of time and money, the past 30 years or so, trying to find a cure for the disease. Obviously, that hasn’t happened, at least not until now.

The new technique designed by Dr. Ali Rezai, does not utilize devastating brain surgery, which requires months of rehab. It is a painless procedure which uses MRI and Ultrasound. Once the procedure is over, the patient literally walks out of the operating room and goes home.

This is a summary of how the procedure works, written by me, someone who has no medical knowledge or expertise. But I’m going to try and explain how this works in simple, basic terms.

The brains of people with Alzheimer’s are filled with Amyloid Plaques. When using an MRI, doctors can sit at a computer screen and actually see the  massive Amyloid Plaque Buildup in the brain.

During this procedure, a million-dollar electronic hat is placed on the patient’s head. A team of doctors, sitting outside the operating room, can then use Ultrasound to try and destroy the Amyloid Plaques in the brain. Apparently, this is much harder than it sounds, and they can only destroy plaques a little bit at a time. In other words, the patient must undergo repeated procedures, and they aren’t always successful.

Last night, they interviewed a couple where the husband was suffering badly from Alzheimer’s, which was destroying his life. The wife said he couldn’t even dress himself properly.

After several procedures, an interview with the husband revealed he isn’t completely normal again, but he’s vastly improved. As the husband said last night, he has his life back. His wife was of course thrilled by the results of the ultrasound procedures.

Dr. Ali Rezai pointed out this is not yet a permanent cure. He said the patient would have to come back for periodic treatments, and they’re still in the experimental stage. He also pointed out there are serious risks to this kind of treatment, but he believes the rewards are worth the risk. But please remember, they are still in the early stages of this experimental technique, so they have a lot to learn, and who knows what will happen over the next few years?

In addition to Alzheimer’s patients, Dr. Ali Rezai decided to try the procedure on long-term, seriously addicted drug addicts. Apparently, long-term addicts develop something in their brains which makes it impossible for them to resist drugs. Dr. Ali Rezai thought they could treat that drug related part of the brain with Ultrasound, just as they do with Alzheimer’s patients.

They interviewed a man who was seriously addicted to drugs all of his life. He said, if exposed to drugs, he had zero resistance. After multiple ultrasound treatments, he can finally resist the temptation and is now drug free for the first time in his life.

If I remember correctly. Dr. Ali Rezai said they used ultrasound on 16 seriously drug addicted patients, and it worked for 12 of them

Obviously, this is still an experimental technique, but I think it’s one all of us should know about and monitor the progress, or lack thereof. For the first time in our lives, it appears as if we might find a cure for the devastating disease called Alzheimer’s. It certainly appears as if this will turn to be, at the very least, a viable treatment for the disease. Obviously, this would be critical for anyone who has a loved one in their family who is a serious drug addict, or they’ve been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

THE DYNAMICS of the 2024 ELECTION CHANGED BIG TIME

by | Jul 23, 2024 | Politics

THE DYNAMICS of the 2024 ELECTION CHANGED BIG TIME

On Sunday July 21, 2024, Joe Biden made the right decision, he dropped out of the Presidential race. In light of that, the virtually all white, male dominated Republican Party, is almost in a state of shock. They were smug and complacent, because they knew they had the 2024 election locked up. There was virtually no chance that Biden could win the swing states, which control the stupid electoral college.

But that dynamic has suddenly changed. Instead of a feeble, 81-year-old man, who can barely walk or talk, he’s been replaced by a vibrant, young, former prosecutor.

In the next 2 days after the announcement, a virtually dry Democratic war chest received a staggering $91 Million in grass roots contributions. What is happening? A depressed and morbid Democratic organization, which essentially gave up on the 2024 election, was struck with a lightning bolt. They are excited and energized for the first time in this election cycle.

The initial theme from the Dems is a Prosecutor running against a Convicted Felon. I love it!

As mentioned above, it’s the Democrats who are excited for the first time in this election cycle. Now that the dynamics have totally changed, republicans are running scared. The Republicans knew they had the election won, but now they are in near panic mode. Trump, who is a total moron, claimed Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race, proved the Democratic Party was a dictatorship. I’m sure anyone who understands logic, realizes Trump’s statemen was totally ludicrous. How could anyone with an IQ above 50 believe a decision by an old man to drop out of the race, is the equivalent of a dictatorship?

If that wasn’t bad enough, initial news reports state Republicans are planning a lawsuit, claiming the replacement of Biden with Kamala Harris, violates election laws. What? Put aside the insanity of that bogus legal claim, are the Republicans so stupid that they don’t realize the Democrats haven’t had their 2024 convention yet? I thought the primary purpose of the convention was to choose their candidate. This mild form of insanity indicates the Republicans are in a state of shock.

Think about it for a moment. Everything has changed, Trump is the old man in the race and he’s running against a woman almost 20 years younger than him. But he isn’t running against just any woman, she’s a young, vibrant, intelligent, black female.

Why does that matter? You can bet every penny you have, we will see one sexist, racist, attack after another from the virtually all-white, male dominated party. Unlike Joe Biden, I think Kamala will hopefully respond appropriately.

THE FIRST DEBATE?

None us of know how Kamala will handle herself in a debate against Trump. We know he will be out of control, firing off non-stop insults and lies, as he always does. I’m somewhat confident that Kamala will hopefully make a fool out Trump on the national stage. After all, she’s at least 10X smarter than him, and unlike Biden, she’s a vibrant, young woman.

Remember what happened in the June 27 debate versus Biden, where Trump reportedly told 30 lies, and most of them were ignored by Biden? Here are two of the biggest lies Trump told in that debate.

  1. Nancy Pelosi refused to call in the National Guard on January 6..
  2. In several Democratic states, they kill babies after they are born.

Both of those statements are totally absurd. Pelosi was the Speaker of the House, she was not in charge of security. Even if she was, that’s irrelevant, because only the President can request the National Guard in DC.

As for Trump’s absurd killing babies claim, that would qualify as HOMICIDE! But none of his cult members ever hold him accountable or responsible for any of his idiotic statements or actions.

As I’ve stated many times, this is the election of our lifetime. It is literally one where preserving Democracy and our Constitution is being challenged by the largest and most dangerous cult since Hitler took power in the early 1930s. Americans have a choice, save Democracy or choose our first Dictatorship.

It’s only July 23rd, so it’s obviously way too early to make any predictions. But I must say, it is very comforting to know we at least have a competitive race.

Can You Prevent Certain Types of Cancer?

by | Jul 13, 2024 | Health, Life

CAN YOU PREVENT CERTAIN TYPES of CANCER?

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America. There are many different kinds of cancer, so the first question we should ask ourselves, is there something we can do to prevent some, or possibly all cancers? Obviously, we cannot prevent all cancers, but a new clinical study teaches us, there are numerous things we can do to avoid many types of cancer.

One of the leading causes of cancer deaths is colon cancer. Guess what? This is essentially almost 100% preventable, by having a colonoscopy at least once every 5-7 years.

Colon cancer starts with polyps in your colon. It takes approximately 8-10 years for a polyp to become cancerous. If you get regular colonoscopies, the doctor will remove those polyps before they become cancerous. Hence, you just virtually eliminated one of the biggest causes of death in America.

A new study by the American Cancer Society revealed that many types of cancers can be eliminated via lifestyle choices.

  • Smoking was the leading risk factor by far, the study found, contributing to nearly 1 in 5 cancer cases, and nearly a third of cancer deaths.
  • Other key risk factors included
    • excess body weight
    • alcohol consumption
    • physical inactivity
    • diet
    • infections such as HPV

Here’s something else this new study is trying to teach us. Cancer grows because of DNA damage or because it has a fuel source. Other factors, such as genetics and the environment, can also create these biological conditions. However, modifiable risks explain a significantly larger share of cancer cases and deaths than any other known factor. For example, exposure to sunlight can damage DNA and lead to skin cancer, while fat cells produce hormones that essentially feed certain cancers.

With cancer, people usually believe they have no control, but that isn’t true. One of the key findings of this new study is the following. People need to feel a sense of control over many types of cancer.  Modifiable risk factors contributed to more than half of new cases for 19 of the 30 types of cancer evaluated in the study.

There were 10 types of cancer where modifiable risk factors could be attributed to at least 80% of new cases, including more than 90% of melanoma cases linked to ultraviolet radiation and nearly all cases of cervical cancer linked to HPV infection, which can be prevented with a vaccine.

Lung cancer had the largest number of cases attributable to modifiable risk factors. There were more than 104,000 cases among men and 97,000 among women, and the vast majority were obviously linked to smoking.

After smoking, excess body weight was the second largest contributor to cancer cases, linked to about 5% of new cases in men and nearly 11% of cases in women. It was associated with more than a third of deaths from cancer of the endometrium, gallbladder, esophagus, liver and kidney, the new study found.

Another recent study revealed the risk for certain cancers was significantly reduced for people taking popular weight-loss and diabetes medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.

New studies are teaching us that obesity is emerging, in several ways, as just as big a risk for people as smoking.

Here’s something else the scientists want you to know about cancer prevention. It’s never too late to make these changes. Turning unhealthy behavior around, even later in life, can make a profound difference. And making lifestyle changes to minimize exposure to certain factors can reduce cancer risk relatively quickly, experts say.

There is another aspect of your life which can help prevent cancer from spreading throughout your body, and that is STRESS. Studies found that two people facing almost identical medical issues had very different outcomes, based on the level of stress in their body. Someone under severe stress has a significantly reduced ability for their body to fight off inflammation, or other types of threats which can cause the spread of cancer. If you can find a way to eliminate, or reduce the level of stress in your body, that will definitely help prevent several forms of cancer from spreading.

Cancer is something your body fights every single day as your cells divide. It’s a risk that you face every day, and that also means that a reduction of the risks can benefit you big time.

Personal Story

This little story isn’t specifically about cancer, but it’s definitely related to the premise of this article. About 3 or 4 years ago, I read about a professional basketball player who was in a very serious motor vehicle accident. The doctor who treated him, said he would probably die within 60-90 days at most.

Six months later, the basketball player was almost fully recovered. Reporters asked the doctor why his prediction never happened. The physician said, I didn’t factor in the very high level of fitness the patient had. He was so physically fit, his body was able to fight off the inflammation and other negative impacts of the motor vehicle accident. 

This is a critical lesson about the importance of being on a regular exercise program and how it can help fight off negative elements in your body. The above reminded me of a study I read about many years ago.

Once of the conclusions of that study was the following. Two people can have the same physical assault on their immune system, and one can survive, while the other persons succumbs to the attack. Why did one survive? Because they were so physically fit, just like the professional basketball player, they could fight off the inflammation and attacks on their immune system.

Finally, I have one more similar story. In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans were dying in huge numbers. 60 Minutes did a report on the people who were dying from Covid-19 by visiting hospitals treating victims of the pandemic. Those seriously ill covid patients were placed on ventilators, in an attempt to keep them alive. The 60 Minutes reporter asked the doctors and nurses if there was any one thing most of the patients on ventilators had in common. The answer was, YES, obesity.

 

 

 

LES MISERABLES – 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

by | Jun 26, 2024 | Entertainment, Life

LES MISERABLES – 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Last night I saw this movie.. As a young guy, I used to love the MGM musicals with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. They were so much fun because the dance scenes and songs were fabulous. I also loved watching Broadway musicals

But Les Miserables was a different kind of musical experience, unlike any I’d ever seen in my life.  I may not have the correct term for this genre, but I felt as if I was watching an exciting operetta in English.

Use whatever term you want to describe the performance, it was the most incredible musical I ever saw. Every aspect of the film felt as if it was near perfect.

  • It took place in a large, magnificent London theater in the year 2010, with a huge, sellout crowd.
  • The camera angles were exquisite. I felt as if I was in the theater, watching the performance live.
  • The orchestra and the quality of the music was outstanding throughout the entire film.
  • The costumes were creative and colorful.
  • Every musical number was special. There wasn’t one moment in the show where I wanted to move onto the next song. That’s how good each song was.

Finally, never in my life did I see so much talent on one stage. The cast was huge, I couldn’t even begin to count the number of people on stage. If that wasn’t enough, they had a large chorus sitting behind the orchestra.

I don’t know how the producers found so many extraordinarily talented people for one show. Every member of the cast was outstanding, producing one masterful performance after another. Their voices and expressions, captured by the outstanding camera angles, were literally fabulous!

As stated above, this show was quite unique, I’ve never seen anything like it. I love aspects of life which are unique and different. This movie qualified in that regard big time. As much as I love MGM Musicals and Broadway Shows, I thought this was definitely the greatest musical I ever saw.

NOTE: The only complaint I have is the running time of the movie, which is slightly less than 3 hours. At one point in the film, I thought I was watching a vibrant, rousing finale, which received a long, standing ovation from the audience. That seemed like the perfect ending to a very exciting musical. However, I was dead wrong. That was not the finale, it was only HALFTIME, I mean INTERMISSION. In the movie, intermission lasted a mere thirty seconds. I’m LOL!