Flu sick? Stay home; Get better; Be one more of 7 Billion that is Immune

Hand Sanitizer


A) 2,000,000



Via "xkcd" webcomic - by Randall Munroe http://xkcd.com/

"Hand Sanitizer" - http://xkcd.com/1161/


mh

Depression doesn't quite encompass it - Borderline Personality Disorder decribes it better

After 3 years of trying to find help - I've realized I have yet to get a proper diagnosis from a specialist.

I'm going to bring this up with my General Practitioner later today.


By happen-stance - while reading up on depression - I came across the 'Borderline Personality Disorder' diagnosis - and the symptom list seem to fit my experience extremely well:

• my inability to form close, long-lasting friendships or relationships; 
• the way I push away those close to me; 
• over react to perceived wrongs, or slights; 
• periodic black and white thinking; 
• periodic extreme low self-estimating - followed by an over-estimation of my station, intelligence, skills; 
• periodic cognitive error that the functioning of the universe is against me; 
• hard-to-control violent reaction to these perceptions - a set of self hurting behaviours and, 
• violent outbursts upon inanimate objects; (breaking my hand punching walls); 
• wild swings about how I perceive others and the nature of the universe (all good - all evil); 
• depression caused by my perception of all of this that has lead to suicide planning.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) entry for Borderline Personality Disorder (aka Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder):

Psychiatric Disorders



Borderline Personality Disorder



Category

Personality Disorders



Etiology

Like most personality disorders, there are many factors that may contribute to the development of symptoms. Because the symptoms are long lasting, the idea that symptoms begin to emerge in childhood or at least adolescence is well accepted. The negative consequences of such symptoms, however, may not show themselves until adulthood.



Symptoms are often present in adolescence and almost always by young adulthood. There may be a history of unstable relationships in the person's life and there is a higher than average likelihood of sexual abuse, family violence, and/or neglect in the person's childhood. This disorder is diagnosed much more frequently in females.



Symptoms

The major symptoms of this disorder revolve around unstable relationships, poor or negative sense of self, inconsistent moods, and significant impulsivity. There is an intense fear of abandonment with this disorder that interferes with many aspects if the individual's life. This fear often acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy as they cling to others, are very needy, feel helpless, and become overly involved and immediately attached. When the fear of abandonment becomes overwhelming, they will often push others out of their life as if trying to avoid getting rejected. The cycle most often continues as the individual will then try everything to get people back in his or her life and once again becomes clingy, needy, and helpless.



The fact that people often do leave someone who exhibits this behavior only proves to support their distorted belief that they are insignificant, worthless, and unloved. At this point in the cycle, the individual may exhibit self-harming behaviors such as suicide attempts, mock suicidal attempts (where the goal is to get rescued and lure others back into the individual's life), cutting or other self-mutilating behavior. There is often intense and sudden anger involved, directed both at self and others, as well a difficulty controlling destructive behaviors



Treatment

Treatment for this disorder is long term in nature since the symptoms have been present for an extended time and interfere with many aspects of the person's life. Insight oriented therapy can be helpful but research is showing an increased support for a cognitive-behavioral approach. In other words, the individual's thoughts and actions are monitored both by the self and therapist and specific behaviors are counted and a plan is made to gradually reduce those thoughts and behaviors that are seen as negative. A combined approach may be best, but either way requires intensive time and effort.



Prognosis

Prognosis is difficult to assess. While the disorder is chronic in nature, gradual improvements with work are definitely seen. While it is difficult for anyone to change major aspects of their personality, the symptoms of this disorder can be reduced in both number and intensity. Long term treatment is almost always required.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) | Borderline Personality Disorder | http://allpsych.com/disorders/personality/borderline.html

Wikipedia | Borderline personality disorder | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder



mh

Professor Jordan B. Peterson On Virtue

Updated: grammar ;)

TVO's "Big Ideas" series is currently showcasing an interesting talk from University of Toronto professor, Jordan Peterson - from his 2010 Hancock Lecture at Hart House, University of Toronto.

It ran twice last night; the first time through "The Necessity of Virtue" was enlightening - on the second listen I was enlightened all over again - I heard more layers and perceived more of the whole.

His multi-layered thinking is communicated clearly in a precise and sometimes amusing presentation. A great thinker AND a great communicator - a treasure to this world.

As such I'll be sure to listen to it again - so the embed here.

I think the practice method he lays out for connecting to your spiritual 'third eye' - through self-honesty, in order to "Be" in the world, and thus see it clearly, and act in it sensibly - is going to be very important as I continue to try to overcome Periodic Clinical Depression - with out medication via therapy and self learning.

 

Another element of the talk that has got me re-thinking some core beliefs is the idea that humans are as capable of 'evil' as they are of acting towards the common good.  Professor Peterson says his evidence is the record of the last 100 years - two World Wars and two political leaders - Hitler and Stalin he high-lights, who convinced whole populations to tolerate genocide and mass political murder and torture.

Key to his argument are the results of the Stanford Prison Experiment - http://www.prisonexp.org/.

Somehow I have not thought through the evidence at at hand - I have erred in my world view. I have over emphasized the good in everyone with out looking very deeply at the instances of brutal savagery that we are capable of.

I think my error is that I have always felt it was important to emphasize that there is always a way to bring out the good in Anyone. I guess this comes from a great fear of the Mob that was instilled in me growing up by my parents who were greatly effected by the zeitgeist of the McCarthyist era anti-communist witch hunts of the 1950's. That's not to say that some people's behaviour is not on balance 'evil' - but that if the good in anyone is nurtured, it will over-come 'evil' behaviour. Thus it is the best defence against a return of such political movements.

I believe that the 18 years of nurturing which modern children require guarantees that the social is a powerful part of our nature. But Professor Peterson has made me reconsider the balance of my view - as it is also very true that that same social imperative can be twisted through organized human institutions to exploit great evil.



I've posted here at FilterBlogs on Professor Jordan B. Peterson before - "Jordan Peterson explains the ancient hard wired human brain in a material world" - http://filter--blog.blogspot.com/2010/09/jordan-peterson-explains-ancient-hard.html.



mh

A Letter to Paul...

I received this video link from Paul Young, Health Promoter at South Riverdale Commmunity Health Centre. I'm on one of his email lists. 

The piece below started as a short thank you note back to Paul which got a 'little' out of hand; now it's an article that I hope helps those suffering from depression - a timely piece, importantly as at this time of year, when people need a positive take on this topic ( Unlike my last post on this - http://filter--blog.blogspot.com/2011/12/i-hate-this.html ).

Paul,

Re: "23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?" - http://youtu.be/aUaInS6HIGo

Very well done!

I like those animated talks.

From my perspective, the content was also right on.

I've just recently become aware that I have suffered from bouts of clinical depression for most of my life. My behaviour patterns over that time can I think be linked to me trying to cope with the symptoms - but without understanding the whole.

I believe those behaviour patterns have included obsessive compulsive behaviours which lead to a variety of dysfunctional lifestyle choices - including addictions to a variety of drugs including alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, sugar (and a couple of others I won't mention here) - but also - long distance running, working too much, and reading obsessively, playing too much.
(one summer I played at a professional pace - in 4 Rec. Co-ed Baseball Leagues I attained over 400 AB's - the Major League minimum to be considered for the Batting Championship!).

Done in balance these are good things, but without an appreciation of the whole they can be very bad for your health - even deadly.

Recently an understanding of the whole has become revealed to me; though trial and tribulation, I was getting old - the end was nearer than the beginning - it was either find a balance though which I could attain my perceived potential - or end it.

I guess I found the truth less scary than the other way.

I've been taking steps to find that balance and battle that depression with out the use of prescription drugs ( which have all kinds of side effects, some of which are worse than what they 'cure' - or mask, is another perspective ).

These steps include writing daily ( researching, learning seems to be the kicker ), preparing meals at home from scratch ( thus healthy ingredients ), creating healthy social circles, and regular appointments with health professionals about my depression. I have noticed the single most important thing - that has the largest effect on my mental state when it is with-drawn from the regimen - is exercise.

I've always thought that doing exercise for exercise's sake was a strange way of living; I think it leads to a hedonism and - in this culture so full of advertising which temps us in that direction - that's the last thing I think I needed more of.

So I always try to get my exercise through doing something I love to do already; like playing baseball in a league once a week, or though cycling. The problem was where to 'go' in the winter months when one is unable to hold down a job, not to mention a little agoraphobic due to long term depression?

So, to use the doctor's analogy, I combined two of my medicines, into one. I ride my bike to daily activities designed to broaden my social networks!

I volunteer helping to off-load the Daily Bread food truck at the food bank where I receive food weekly. As well, everyday between 11am and 1pm I cycle to one of the Interfaith Committee Lunch programs held a various houses of worship around the East End of Toronto. Also I volunteer at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre's Bicycle Repair Clinic once a week.

All these activities require about a 30 minute ride to get to and fro. Unloading the Daily Bread Truck is an intensive 15 minute work-out - and the bike repair clinic is trades-person's work; it's physical by nature - so about 2 hours of low intensity exercise.

Added to these recently are some evening meetings towards social justice campaigns I'm interested in - most of which are quite close by and require about a 5 or 10 minute ride by bike.

As I said above, when events conspire against this regime, and I don't get this approximately 30 minutes per day of exercise - my depression symptoms roar to the fore.

Exercise is essential to the regime of "medicines" I'm taking.

:)


Michael Holloway

References:

Beach United - "Interfaith Lunch Program" - http://www.beachunitedchurch.com/ministry.aspx?site_id=10457&ministry_id=242517

FilterBlogs - November 8, 2010 - "Daily Lunch for the Hungry - Daily Table with Map thumbnails" - http://filter--blog.blogspot.com/2010/11/daily-lunch-for-hungry-daily-table-with.html

South Riverdale Community Health Centre ( SRCHC ) - Bicycle Repair Clinic - http://www.srchc.ca/program/bicycle-repair-clinic


Interesting serendipity:
Inside Toronto just published an article on the Interfaith Lunch Program - "Food for lunch and the soul at Beach Interfaith program" - http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/1269842--food-for-lunch-and-the-soul-at-beach-interfaith-program



mh

I hate this...

Today is a cold, dark day in my head.

There is a sense of foreboding in every moment. Every senory intake has an aura around it - with-in it - that threatens to swallow me whole. A walk down the street is normal except for the knowledge I own that I'm on the edge; and it scares the hell out me.

I'm older than I used to be, and at these times I cling to the knowledge that it will pass. I can remember feelings that weren't like this. I know there are tools I can empoly that will get me through.

Like writing it out.

Like this.

I know the full moon causes emotions to become extreme: a little sadness becomes a hole to centre of the earth, annoying everything can become a cancerous rage.

I keep it all in check; not too much up - not too much down. I'm my own chemical therapy pharmacy.

I can do this with out the drugs because of every minute of every day of every year I am aware of my condition.

The drugs are replaced with walks and bike rides, cooking for myself every day, writing, abstinence from uppers and downers with long periods (that's my one out; I can do coffee with sugar and cigarettes), regular visits to health professionals (conversation with a mental health expert is an amazing thing), the volunteering. All these together keep this ship on the ocean; it's all towards times like this.

Like this. 

I hate this.

mh

A revolution in Neuroscience, Youtube playlists, and an Internet Ad Model

We live in interesting times, revolutionary times

This post is about several revolutionary things that I came across in the last 44 minutes...

First, I was happy to find this CBC production - "The Brain That Changes Itself" - available at Youtube. It concerns the fast advancing theory of Brain Plasticity, the idea that our brains are not mechanical devices but rather organisms that are incredibly flexible. Nothing about our brains, as I used to say, is "hard wired". All our behaviours, aptitudes and learning have specific patterns to them that scientists can now map in 3 dimensions and over time with very non-invasive scans. We now know that normal healthy individuals create specific and predictable electromagnetic patterns when they do similar things, and we can even measure the amount of empathy one subject feels for another (as noted in an earlier post here). Not only can we measure electromagnetic patterns but also specific and predictable physical patterns, changes in the robustness of certain parts of the brain. Our brains are so incredibly flexible that neurons delegated to do one thing can be reassigned by the brain itself - or through therapies designed by doctors - to do other functions as well! Old neurological patterns that are unhealthy (in the thinking sense) or un-helpful (in the motor function sense) can be 'un-trained' and 're-threaded' along existing or new, neuro pathways through therapies that use this three dimensional mapping as a guide and as a proof of concept, that is pushing forward our understanding of how the brain works and is giving therapists real time scientific feed back on the effectiveness of various therapies as well as helping them to devise new ones.

This is a revolution in our understanding of the brain, and I think, a moment in the history of the study that will re-balance our use of chemical solutions with talking and behavioral therapies that rely more on interaction with the patient, which can empower caring and understanding --- a return to the social interaction that began the study of the brain in the 1850's - but now with a scientific feed back that confirms or disputes the effectiveness of treatments. Now therapists can apply a relatively 'super understanding' of the way brains function to help them teach patients to un-learn bad brain functions (neurosis); or in physical rehabilitation re-gain lost brain function by rerouting data through still healthy parts of the brain.

***

Secondly, I wanted to find out if I could create a Playlist in Youtube and then embed it here so that it would play one after the other almost like a broadcast TV show - as that's how I've been watching much of the content I view of late.

The video below is part of a four part playlist that I created that encompasses the 44 minute production, "The Brain That Changes Itself". I named the playlist so it shows up properly in search, and credited to the CBC in the notes section that accompanies the playlist creation feature at Youtube.

It plays almost seamlessly.

***

Third, this Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) production that was first aired in Canada on a show called The Nature of Things with David Suzuki is now posted at CBC's Youtube Channel and has an advertisements placed where in the broadcast model ads would normally appear - in this case, when I watched the videos, a Google Ad about how to use a search engine effectively shows. This is a break though and hails the beginning of a model on the internet that will pay for production.

My question is, since this production is showing here, at Michael Holloway's FilterBlogs ... do I get a slice of the ad revenue too? And, on the other hand, if I were to allow advertisements at this blog would I then have to share that revenue with CBC based on the number of eyes that watched their productions here?

The future of broadcast is just coming into view; so I will not then end this idea with a, 'just kidding' - as I might have been tempted to in the very recent past. I'm serious,  this is now a serious question.

As I grow my credibility over the years, and grow an audience that comes here because this blog has content that interests them, I become a 'local channel' - local in the WWW sense that FilterBlogs is a tiny web within the World Wide Web. A channel that might be viewed by people in Singapore, or at the South Pole, or people right around the corner here in Leslieville, Toronto, Canada.

Revolutionary times indeed.

The Brain That Changes Itself

Post Script: 

Upon watching the entire program again, here, no Google ads showed.


Watch this program at CBC.ca.

"The Brain That Changes Itself" was produced by "90th Parallel Film & Television Productions Ltd."


mh

For the Psychiatrist I'm seeing in early December - "My Worst Day" (may be added to)

I'm in "..a sad, despairing mood that persists beyond two weeks and impairs a person’s performance at work, at school or in social relationships."


At work
Just lost a contract I had been working on for two weeks

At school
I haven't shown up for school in a month

In social relationships
People from work are planning a night out, a meet-up of knowlege workers is on, a Hacks/Hackers group plans an event in December. Yeah, sure, I'll be there. (Smile) I'm coming - see you there. Yeah, right. I'd rather jump off the Scarborough Bluffs it's closer and more fun.

My family calls me, never. About three months ago I decided to stop emailing. See if any came. Nope.

I told my room mate about not getting the job today, he tells me to throw out the left over chicken that gave me muscle soreness, up-set tummy and diarrhea last weekend (salmonella: Thanks Loblaws, CFIA); I do what they told me - and then have to listen to a 15 minute lecture about renovations and what a chumps game it is, and how no one gives advances any more - people don't have faith like that any more - Bla, bla, bla, and on and on about woodcraft skill this and renovation that - that I have a life times experience in and they have none.

In 15 minutes he describes 5 reasons why my life is shit, my passion sucks and the client was correct not to choose me.

Holy fuck.

And I know that everyone I dare to talk to this about is going to spew the same self serving, know-it-all except they know shit Home Depot - You can do it! - bull shit (No you can't - and if you do it will suck and then you'll have to hire someone who does - that is if you happen to have the aesthetic sense to see the job you did looks like crap).

Next time world, when someone comes to you with a sad story, how about; 'Sorry to hear that', 'You really put a lot of work into that', 'You'll get the next one.' 'Can I take you out for a coffee?'

You know, something Human.

Not a fucking chance in my social network.

God this sucks.

Every day is a battle to get up with the sun and feel like writing something. I'm starting to hate My G-mail inbox, it stares at be with it's lifeless eyes enticing me to connect to a world I'd rather piss on. Should I take a nap now and risk sleeping too long and end up awake all night so more of this feeling in the pit of my stomach, that it isn't really worth it, will close in and press out my will to take another breath?

This sounds like such self-centred bullshit as I try to describe this state. That's what it comes down to though - it's not worth the struggle.

But I do.

Just did.


mh

Like Jonah and the Whale, I'm out in the Winter - but only so it doesn't eat me

Over at Quirky Outtakes, Todd Tyrtle's "How to rebuild a relationship?" inspired the following...

I don't like winter, but long ago I did. A valley on the Thames River was my year-round play ground. The dog and I knew that short stretch of the valley well; and knew it again after the spring floods reshaped it year after year. 'Rumple' chased field mice he would never catch into snowbanks as high as a western precipice of the valley. I cleared smooth,  idyllic skating ponds barely fed by tiny remnant streams created by melt water's raging torrents.

But now, winter's just a matter of survival.

I'm lucky, I get to chose where I spend it. I don't mean warmer latitudes - I mean where in Toronto I get to spend it. I don't have to go to an office to work, I work from home - and as such I have chosen to live in a building that has a big bay window facing East. It is a place I have chosen in order that I can do just one thing - help myself get through another winter's visit. It's been two years here - so far so good.

I must rise with the sun every morning and make sure I get every minute of the couple of hours of direct sunlight it allows. Together I and the plants I am husbanding, cling to the progress of the celestial cycle that will bring more and more light after the darkness of the winter solstice, December 21.

That and cycling the bike all winter, the daily walks.

It's like visiting a person everyday that you know just isn't one of your friends anymore, but you're pretty sure is someone who's trying to kill you.

What's the line? "Keep your friends close; keep you enemies closer." I'm organizing a snowball fight as soon as the first snow falls. Like Jonah and the Whale - I'm right in there.

Is this all there is of winter? Well no, life goes on, I improve myself day to day - but as far as this sick relationship goes, that would appear to be it.


My comment on Todds page.

Picture from Wikipedia page, "Winter Solstice".



mh

A personal way of coping with depression - the key is to avoid a major depression

I'm beginning to think my depression has a lot longer cycle than I had ever considered. I think the cycle may be a 2 year one - at least. Up until now I hadn't considered anything but a solar year, but with this last years experience, well it's not just the amount of light I'm being exposed to that keeps me out of a Clinical Depression. Last winter I avoided a deep depression I thought, by getting up at dawn every morning and flinging open the curtains on my easterly facing, big bay windows. According to some studies, getting a specific amount of sunlight can help prevent major depression.

But this fall as the the length of the days steadily shorten, I found myself in the most intense depression I had experienced in long time. Using all the tricks I have learned over the years, especially in the last year, I have so far avoided the most debilitating of depressions, known as Clinical Depression. This is an ongoing struggle at this time and I'm using every trick I know to keep treading water so to speak.

Writing out my personal coping mechanisms is a part of the process; I hope reading this will help others dealing with depression as well.

Coping with Depression

Contents:
(click on headings to shunt down)

Overview


Diet:

The Bad
The Good

Exercise

Physical
Mental

Awareness of the disease - ending denial about depression

Ending depression - some anecdotal observations
Symptom #1 - Depression as a refuge
Symptom #2 - Anger as a way out

* * *

Overview

For those who don't know what Clinical Depression is, acording to the Toronto based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (camh), Clinical Depression is "..a sad, despairing mood that persists beyond two weeks and impairs a person’s performance at work, at school or in social relationships."

My experience of the thing is characterized by lethargy, including long periods of sleeping. I once spent a month in bed: that means getting up to eat and shit and back to bed. Never going out of the house, except maybe to the closest store to get food - if necessary. You'd be surprised how long one can last on the food in one's cuboards if you're slowly starving - and not burning much protein.


I've learned to cope with my depression over the years through diet, exercise and awareness of the disease. I use this self knowledge to help me recognize the symptoms and cope with them, and consciously negate them. I have a great will to live, and a lot of things I want to accomplish before my time is up. That coupled with the end of the denial about my condition has helped me dismiss all kinds of extraneous data and focus on coping with the short term characteristics of the disease - and avoid the most disabling part of depression - a Major Depression, also known as a Clinical Depression.

Diet

One of the main fixes for me, has been being aware of what I consume.


Diet: The Bad

If I drink alcohol I know there will be a four day recovery cycle that is predictable:


Day One

Day one is characterized by lethargy and reduced mental capabilities. I usually sleep the entire day (18-24 hours).

I believe my liver and kidneys have been over whelmed by the rush of sugars and carbohydrates in the alcohol. This particular body is in a period of slow recovery, processing the remaining sugars and the toxins that were produced in the rush of sugars that the kidneys couldn't process. These "spilled" sugars affect several different organs, that in turn cause diminished function in several other associated organs. The liver and kidneys are slow in processing proteins necessary to repair damaged organs, and at the same time, sugars needed to sustain normal body functioning. The digestive tract is slow in extracting needed elements in the process due to a deficit of key amino-acids coming from overwhelmed kidneys. Unprocessed sugars that the liver cannot process are "spilling" to the liver from the kidneys, causing long term liver damage.

But the body is an amazing dialectical machine; the Cerebellum slows specific processing to match the capabilities of different organs in the system to receive elements at appropriate times - to get the job done as efficiently as possible, and as soon as possible.


Day Two

On day two, physical reductions in capability take centre stage.

Day two is characterized by incontinence. Stool is diarrhea or very close to it; colour is yellow. Just below the rib cage on both sides, just forward of centre bisect - towards the front - is a dull aching pain. It's hard to know what's going on. Large amounts of gas in the intestines? If the pain was further towards my back I would think it was the kidneys, but there is no pain there. It could be that the pressure caused by too much gas in the intestines is pressing on the swollen kidneys - which are in the same area, just behind the intestines, towards the back.

I believe there's lots of good stuff in the under processed stool, but the body couldn't deal with it due to the high volume of sugars and carbohydrates, which caused the kidneys to prioritize the synthesis of all kinds of elements that the other organs need to do their work, and the blood stream as well which supplies oxygen and glucose to every part of the body. The kidneys can only hold so much sugar and then they're forced to dump it to other organs which then have to deal with it as a poison. Muscles apparently play a huge role in this processing. As a cycle courier I was able to drink ridiculous amounts of alcohol every night and burn off the poisons by noon the next work day (about 40 km of cycling).

Image from Wikipedia article "Kidney": File:Gray1120-kidneys.png


Day Three

On the third day depression is the main symptom.

I consider this a 'withdrawal-from-sugar' depression, or hypoglycemia. Coupled with an imbalance in amino-acids and a lack of proteins, this creates low brain function.

Day three is the most important day in the recovery from the hyper-glycemic binge (my body chemistry on beer). The hypo-glycemic depression and lack of mental acuity can lead to bad decisions about diet (like drinking again - or gorging on sweets), that can lead to another depression cycle. This can cause psychological effects that make it even harder to break the cycle. If I don't pop up out of the day three depression I lose faith in my prescriptions and that leads to a general malaise - which can lead to a clinical depression.


Day Four

Day four I note thinking is back. I experience the easy synthesis of ideas. I'm happy, I want to create. Body pain is gone. I have no desire to head back to the bottle.



At one point in my life I used to drink everyday, but the physical and mental price I have to pay now as this body ages are not worth the high and the social ease that it affords. I'm happier now alone, writing, than being the maverick social animal I can be while drinking. Being a leader in a group, or just a part of a group, used to be paramount to me; but being a leader amongst regulars at a bar, or on "the drinking team with the baseball problem", in other words, a leader amongst alcoholics, is like being the captain of the Titanic. I was going down fast.

This was a conscious decision on my part and it's all wrapped up in my understanding of my physiology and my identity. When one gets older, what others in extended social groups think of you becomes less important. I'm happy and confident in who I am, I don't any longer require a constant affirmation that I am normal - I know I'm normal - and unique at the same time.


So, the above is an example of how I avoid depression through diet. Specifically things I avoid consuming, and if I do consume them, understanding their side effects on me, and developing personal ways of coping with those effects. Depressants (like alcohol and marijuana) seem to effect my mood worse than amphetamines, like the double-double coffee and tea I like to consume - a lot of.



Diet: The Good

Also there are things I need to include in my diet to maintain balance. In this personal health model, the good functioning of my brain seems to be central to avoiding a Clinical Depression. The best way I've found to do this, as I've said above, is to regulate the stuff I consume.


Plenty of water

Dehydration can lead to an all over body discomfort, an aching of all the muscles. Also, dehydration can cause swelling of the brain. Swelling of the brain is a known cause of brain dysfunction. In acute dehydration individuals end up making bad decisions which often lead to their deaths. In extreme dehydration the body dies as a result of the brain ceasing function - due to swelling.

In the case of our cultures addiction to caffeine, even though caffeine gives me that mental boost (and I love it for that), sustained slight dehydration leads to being perpetually not on my 'A' game. Stupid is as stupid does, over time adds up to just stupid.

Coffee and tea are diuretics, they cause dehydration of every cell in the body; so, I try to drink equal volumes of water as coffee/tea (I also do this when I drink alcohol, which is also a diuretic). This is only a rule of thumb I use to try and stay properly hydrated. I probably don't drink exactly equal volumes, but there is always a glass of water beside my coffee cup.

Good food in

A balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates (both and roots and grain), and vegetables and fruits is very important for me. Most people in this culture eat too much protein and carbohydrates in relation to the amount of greens and fruits. Root vegetables seem to have key ingredients that grain carbohydrates do not; potatoes carrots, and parsnips are my favourite and are really important - but grains also have elements the body needs, individuals should determine a balance of some of each through the week. Leafy stuff also needs to a big part of my dinner plate. I try to go for 1/2 green stuff 1/4 carbohydrates and 1/4 meat.

Avoid processed foods!

The processing of food in large industrial factories seems to remove essential ingredients that the body needs to process stuff. Scientists still don't understand the complexities of the chemical vista that is the living body, and meanwhile the industrial process requires breaking everything down to essential elements to make the enterprise profitable. This disconnect is causing great stress on the health of individuals - and the health care system as well. Even if processed foods appear to have the correct amounts of each element - determined whether through ones own hard wired cultural bio feed back system, like the taste glands, or the ingredients list - the ingredients one's body needs to process the food may not be present. Thus one slowly starves while feasting. Think about what that's doing to your brains ancient hard wired functioning.

Exercise

Physical

As I said above physical exercise plays a huge role in processing the poisons that result from my consumption of alcohol. Muscles have the ability to break down amino-acids, just like the liver. Amino-acids are integral in the kidneys function of filtering out poisons. They also help the stomach digest, the kidneys and the intestines 'crack' out elements that the rest of the body need in order to function. This freeing of essential elements in food helps every part of the body, it is key to health and wellness, including brain functioning.


Mental

The social aspects of playing games in groups is another thing about physical exercise that helps me avoid major depression. Playing team games exercises one's muscles but also one's brain. Sport combines physical, analytical, abstraction abilities, but more importantly, because team sports are often adversarial in structure, it also requires social skills. It's us against them; but you can't kill them, or injure them, there are very specific rules.

Most anthropologists think large group dynamics lead to increased brain size in humans (3X larger than other mammals), which concurrently lead to complex languages. So the size and structure of our brains is a function of social dynamics. Even the large part of the brain devoted to visual functioning (that is also proportionately larger in humans than in other mammals) is also likely a function of the social - as a lot of it seems to be devoted to face recognition, social ordering, recognizing one's place in a social hierarchy.

As well as physical social exercises, I like to write. Writing exercises a whole bunch of different areas of the brain.

Off the top of my head:

Memory - where did I see that before
Spelling - building new memory
Conceptualization - organizing different kinds of thoughts
Synthesis - seeing relationships between different things
Story telling - using cultural artifacts to strengthen the listen-ability, and thus cognition of a story

Awareness of the disease - ending denial about depression

Ending depression - some anecdotal observations

This is an anecdotal list of stuff - that in the writing - might allow me to see myself better, and possibly be helpful to readers also dealing with depression.



Symptom #1 - Depression as a refuge

Monday, September 20th, 2010


1) Sometimes I use the knowledge that I have a tendency to tip into depression as a defence mechanism - to avoid social situations that I find difficult.

For example, talking to people about real, personal, possibly embarrassing things is too hard for me. I know that we're all the same, but that understanding - even though I absolutely believe it is true - and act on it in all the time, isn't strong enough for me to over ride my defensiveness. During important social moments, when a person is opening up to me and it's time for me to reciprocate, I clam up, and go away inside. By giving up, walking away or changing the subject I'm confirming to myself that I am defective ---> worthless. This leads to depression, which re-enforces the belief that I am defective - a catch-22; a self supporting structure hanging in the air, it's complexity somehow obscuring the fact it is not supported by anything.

The result of my failure in these complex social situations leads to depression, the depressive episode is so frightening and all encompassing that is over shadows and confuses the real issue and any lessons that might be learned.

I realize now through writing it out, that the root of the problem is I am overly defensive. I'm shy. Ironically, I've always known this, it's not something I'm embarrassed by - in fact, in some ways I think it's kind of cute.

Now I can start to tackle the real issue - and that seems a whole lot easier than some deep defect with no name.

And that makes me happy.


Symptom #2 - Anger as a way out

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010


Sometimes in the coarse of a prolonged depression I lash out at inanimate objects. It starts when my motor function seems to be off just a little, everything I touch or reach for tips over or falls to the floor.

(Neuroscientists might want to look at that - could be a way forward in understanding depression ---> Why is motor function related to a feeling of loathing about things?)

So anyway, this 'bull in a china shop syndrome' can lead to a projection, "the universe is against me". This is the height of hedonism, but when I'm in crisis, in a depression that won't abate, where I can't consciously, logically work through what is happening - what other avenue is left?

I'm not saying this is good - that one should let fly and punch walls and smash dishes; this doesn't do any good, the self loathing is just intensified while you try to focus on cleaning up what you've just smashed. AND, in the process - because your mind is elsewhere, and your still uncoordinated - you cut yourself on the glass you're cleaning up! Thus furthering the feeling of self loathing, and confirming the unhealthy projection that the universe is against you.

Fifteen years ago I saw myself going down this path and I didn't like it. I saw it as the beginning of a mechanism which could lead to hitting people; so I taught myself to recognize the adrenaline surge that precedes the violence and to stop what I was doing, breath deep and say to myself, 'stop it, this is bad for you'. That statement became associated with the reduction in adrenaline and a feeling of peace.

I still have those adrenaline surges, but they rarely end with smashing stuff. It's an on-going thing, I'm never cured of it - just happy when I over come each instance.


The only way I've discovered out of this, is talking therapy. I don't mean with a shrink - as I've never been to one - but by talking this stuff through with somebody I really trust, someone in my most intimate social network; lover, family member, best friend. There are factors other than one's conscious mental framework that contribute to depression, it's a many vectored ailment I, and the professionals don't yet understand; research continues. But the cognition of the thing, the sharing, the appreciation that one is not alone, that we all experience these things to one extent or another, and perhaps the addition of a new perspective brought to the symptoms by a trusted someone - all seem to help greatly in getting through these depressive periods.



mh

Flavouring Vegetable Proteins in third week of Recalls across North America

(Update: 04/01/10 11:06 AM. A little more sleep-enhanced research this morning reveals this is actually the beginning of week five of the Hydrolysed Vegetable Proteins recall. I made changes to this post that include the first weeks recalls starting March 2, 2010)

In these types of cases, involving basic food ingredients like flavourings - as with the earlier peanut oil and gluten recalls - pathogens can end up in thousands of different brand name products. It's hard to know what to do.

The latest crisis

Below is a picture of the beginning of a list of products that have been recalled by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency because they contain HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEINS which come from specific plants in the United States, and which are probably contaminated with Salmonella Bacteria. As you can see by the scroll bar at the top right, it's a long list.



To see the whole list go to The Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Salmonella can make you very sick and in special cases, like people who are already ill or the very young, or the very old it can cause death.

The symptoms of Salmonella poisoning are diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. Symptoms last from 4 to 7 days. An extended bout of diarrhea can become fatal to otherwise healthy individuals.

HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEINS are in EVERYTHING. They're used as a medium to spray on stir in natural and artificial flavourings in junk food. It's in snack foods big time, and in seasonings you use cooking at home.

In these types of cases, involving basic ingredients like flavourings - pathogens can end up in thousands of different brand name products - and it hard to read those tiny lists with all those five syllable words.

A history of Crisis

This is much like the salmonella peanut products crisis that was with us for most of 2009. From the Wikipedia article, "Salmonellosis":

..Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), and urged people to postpone eating commercially-prepared or manufactured peanut butter-containing products and institutionally-served peanut butter.[10] Salmonella was reported to be found in 46 states in the United States in at least 3,862 peanut butter-based products such as crackers, energy bars, and peanut butter cookies from at least 343 food companies. Dog treats were affected as well. At least 691 people in more than 46 states became sick, and the Salmonella claimed at least nine lives as of March 25.[11][12][13][14][15]

Peanut butter and peanut paste manufactured by PCA were distributed to hundreds of firms for use as an ingredient in thousands of different products, such as cookies, crackers, cereal, candy and ice cream, all of which were recalled. Some products were also sold directly to consumers in retail outlets like dollar stores[10]

Earlier, in 2007, melamine (that stuff they make kitchen counter tops out of) got into glutamate stocks which are used as thickeners for all kinds of foods. In America's experience the crisis killed or adversely effected the quality of life of millions of family pets. From the Wikipedia article, "2007 pet food recalls":

By the end of March, veterinary organizations reported more than 100 pet deaths amongst nearly 500 cases of kidney failure,[1] with one online database self-reporting as many as 3,600 deaths as of 11 April.[2][3] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received reports of several thousand cats and dogs who have died after eating contaminated food, but have only confirmed 14 cases in part because there is no centralized government records database of animal sickness or death in the United States as there are with humans (such as the Centers for Disease Control).[4][5] As a result, many sources speculate that the actual number of affected pets may never be known and experts are concerned that the actual death toll could potentially reach into the thousands.[6][7]

Through the quick action (or a cover up), the FDA prevented the melamine tainted glutens from getting into the human food supply chain. So things like soups, TV dinners, or those instant gravies you buy that makes giving a Thanks Giving turkey dinner easer, were not affected.

What to do?

In this case, the HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEINS salmonella contamination, there are potentially millions of places the tainted flavouring could end up. You can't check every snack food - so just don't eat snack food until:

• The government traces the contamination point and fixes it.
• All the recalls have been properly carried out.

This is going to be a bigger problem than usual - the public should be on guard about the results of these recalls - they are voluntarily carried out by the stores and the manufacturers and the wholesalers. Although these type of voluntary recalls have worked in the past, this case is special - most foods that have a best before date maybe two months ahead - which ensures that after a short time all the recalled products are out of circulation - snack foods and instant foods on the other hand have best before dates sometimes years down the road.

So until this is resolved, carefully check the best before dates and ingredient lists against the CFIA recall lists on stuff like;

• black pepper
• chips
• cheesy puffs
• flavoured corn chips
• tortilla chips
• soup mixes
• flavoured seeds & nuts
• seasoned popcorn
• all chip dips
  
• flavoured pretzels
• flavoured onion rings
• flavoured rice cakes
• all purpose vegetable seasoning
• seasonings you use at home to cook with

The take home message: Flavouring BAD. Try spices and herbs - grow your own in a flower pot or your back yard - this is going to last for some time.

..and get on Canadian Food Inspection Agencies email notification list - the list will expand daily like it has for the last four weeks.

The recall started on March 2, 2010. Here's a copy and paste of the first four notices from the CFIA.

From the CFIA list of related updates (my emphasis):

# 2010-03-07 - Various Foods Containing Hydrolysed Vegetable Proteins (HVP) Recalled by Basic Food Flavors Inc. May Contain Salmonella Bacteria
# 2010-03-03 - Tim's Cascade Snacks Recalls 'Hawaiian® Kettle Style Potato Chips - Sweet Maui Onion' and 'Hawaiian - Sweet Maui Onion Rings' Because of Possible Health Risk
# 2010-03-02 - HAWAIIAN KETTLE STYLE POTATO CHIPS, SWEET MAUI ONION, may contain Salmonella bacteria
# 2010-03-02 - Certain T. MARZETTI brand veggie dips may contain salmonella bacteria

Note it took five days for the FDA and CFIA to isolate the problem to Hydrolysed Vegetable Proteins. Over the next couple of days the FDA and the CFIA tracked the problem down to two wholesalers of flavourings:

• Basic Food Flavors Inc.
• Mincing Overseas Spice Company

The list of companies that these two wholesalers ship to must be immense, I can't count all the brands listed so far. You should go and take note of your favourite brands that are on the list.

This next screen shot represents pretty effectively the expanding list.



The CFIA has the complete list of related alerts, by date issued, and with links to the press releases starting 03/02/10.

To sign up to get automatic Recall and Allergy notifications to your email via the CFIA.

The FDA recall data base has a much better user interface, you can search brand or generic names within a subject heading (like Hydrolysed Vegetable Proteins recall).

It's US consumer market place, so you won't recognize some brands and the manufacturers of those brands may not ship into Canada. To get info on the Canadian situation you have to go to the CFIA website.

At the FDA site I typed in "Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips" - just to try it out - no recall.

Next I tried "Potato Chips" and got this (cut and paste):

--------------------------------------------

Searched for 'Potato Chips' in Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Containing Products Recalls.

Sort by date / Sort by relevance

List of Snack and Snack Mix Products from Brand Hawaiian

... Kettle Style Potato Chips - Sweet Maui Onion, Tim's Cascade Snacks, 1 ounce bags, Code dates: MAR 09 10 up to and including JUN 07 10, 1159400116, http://www.fda ... www.accessdata.fda.gov/.../scripts/HVPCP/brand_list.cfm?brand=Hawaiian&cat=Snack%20and%20Snack%20Mix - 24k - Cached

[MS EXCEL] Sheet1

... 10, Soup/Soup Mix and Dip/Dip Mix, Great Value, Ranch Chip Dip, T ... 13, Snack and Snack Mix, Hawaiian, Kettle Style Potato Chips - Sweet Maui Onion, Tim's Cascade ... www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/HVPCP/HydrolyzedVegetableProteinProductsList2010.xls - Text Version [ More results from www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/HVPCP ]

--------------------------------------------

Every time I go to a us.gov site, they get better; at gov.ca - well, it's functional...



mh

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario Reviews Allow Incompetence to Continue

"After some articles are put to bed here they get a Posthumous Long-tail Aperitif; links to related articles published after my post"

Posthumous Long-tail Aperitif for August 4th 2010: CBC.ca reports, "Windsor hospital report orders sweeping changes"

"A report on the Windsor, Ont., hospital at the centre of surgical errors recommends reinstating full privileges for Dr. Barbara Heartwell, a surgeon who performed mistaken mastectomies.

[...]

"The final three recommendations refer to the ministry itself, including setting a March 2011 deadline for a provincewide quality assurance program for pathology reports

"Hours before the release of the report, Dr. Allan Forse, chief of surgery at Hôtel-Dieu, announced his resignation, effective Sept. 1."

Changing the positions of the deck chairs on the Titanic; and no one gets even a 'remark' on their resume. "Quality assurance program" is a ad speak term for a PR program - so people 'feel' like they're getting good doctoring.


Dr. Barbara Heartwell's "Opps" Resume:

1. Janice Laporte of Sarnia mistaken mastectomy in 2001 by Dr. Barbara Heartwell.
2. Reprimand by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 2005 after a botched thyroid surgery performed by Dr. Barbara Heartwell.
3. Laurie Johnston of Leamington (pursuing a $2M law suit) mistaken mastectomy in November 2009 by Dr. Barbara Heartwell.

In an article by Sonja Puzic in The Windsor Star from March 12, 2010:

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital's board of directors restored Dr. Barbara Heartwell's surgical privileges Thursday, concluding that the surgeon is not a threat to patient safety.

[...]

On Feb. 23, Heartwell voluntarily stopped performing surgeries at Hotel-Dieu while the hospital reviewed her past cases. But she changed her mind three days later, prompting then-interim chief of staff Dr. Kevin Tracey to suspend her privileges.

The MAC found that Heartwell’s suspension was not necessary because “less restrictive measures” could be taken. It recommended to the board that her hospital privileges be reinstated and that another surgeon review her cancer cases for three months.

[...]

Heartwell admitted she misread a pathology report in one of the cases because of “a confluence of factors,” including a “poorly formatted” report and a positive ultrasound test.

So Dr. B. Heartwell was in a rush and didn't read the pathology report in it's entirety.

A review by the administration at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital decided that is was in the best interests of the community and the Hospital to require another surgeon review all Heartwell's cases before she commences an operation for the next three months.

This is a major slap down for a professional; it's like the surgeon is back to interning. This will undoubtedly result in her resignation from the hospital, as working under such conditions de facto, admits the doctor agrees that she is not competent.

In another case involving this modern doctor the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) investigated another surgery Dr B. Heartwell preformed in 2005.

From the Windsor Star, from March 11, 2010:

The Star learned that Heartwell was reprimanded by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 2005 after she performed a surgery that left a patient's thyroid condition untreated and didn't document the fact that the surgery was unsuccessful.

The CPSO issued a written caution to Heartwell after the patient -- who wants to remain anonymous -- complained that she went in for surgery to have a thyroid nodule removed but came out of the operating room with it still intact.

The patient's overactive thyroid was not treated and Heartwell had instead removed tissue from the thymus, also located in the neck area.

Nevertheless, Heartwell wrote in her operative note that she had cut through the patient's thyroid and that the procedure was "essentially" carried out.

The CPSO found that Heartwell failed to "exercise sufficient care" to make sure the operation was going as planned and noted the discrepancy between what she described in her notes and what actually happened on the operating room table.

All along the way her Lawyer appears to be giving advice designed to minimize indications in Dr. Heartwell's record that she may not be competent, or stable enough to be a professional. This is a lawyers job, to best represent their client. This will allow the quick doctor to take another job in another bailly-wick.

Unfortunately, three destroyed lives in Ontario - under the current review structures - means that another Province or State will now become the setting for more 'quick' doctoring.



mh

Al Gore's Polemic against Global Warming Denialists a Brilliant Reality Check

Drop what your doing and read this from the New York Times Feburary 27 2010, an Oped. piece written by former Vice President Al Gore.

A better round up of the forces at work in US and Global Politics around the paramount issues of Global Warming, Deregulation and Global Restructuring of the Economy I have not read.

Well done Mr Gore!

Snippet courtesy The New York Times

Op-Ed Contributor

We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change

By AL GORE
Published: February 27, 2010

It would be an enormous relief if the recent attacks on the science of global warming actually indicated that we do not face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it.

Of course, we would still need to deal with the national security risks of our growing dependence on a global oil market dominated by dwindling reserves in the most unstable region of the world, and the economic risks of sending hundreds of billions of dollars a year overseas in return for that oil. And we would still trail China in the race to develop smart grids, fast trains, solar power, wind, geothermal and other renewable sources of energy — the most important sources of new jobs in the 21st century.

But what a burden would be lifted! We would no longer have to worry that our grandchildren would one day look back on us as a criminal generation that had selfishly and blithely ignored clear warnings that their fate was in our hands. We could instead celebrate the naysayers who had doggedly persisted in proving that every major National Academy of Sciences report on climate change had simply made a huge mistake.

Read the rest...



mh

The Use of Tamiflu to Combat the H1N1 09 Virus

In these two short clips from The Ohio State University Youtube Channel - OhioStateExperts, "Dr. Daniel Janies, associate professor of Biomedical Informatics talks about the use of Tamiflu to combat the H1N109 virus and also describes his (state of the art) mapping process."

In both videos - in little snippets that almost go by with out you noticing - he says "don't get Tamiflu unless you need it". What he means by 'need it', is that a policy should be put in place by government on who gets it - because if you have flu symptoms it's too late for the vaccine, it will do nothing - or inhibit your natural immune response. Who gets it then, should be decided by a panel of experts on the 'morphology of the disease' (how diseases spread in specific cultures and through specific demographics.

All in all, what this is saying to me is that this yearly flu injection psychosis is bad science and always has been. I don't get the yearly flu shot - I get the odd flu and build an immunity to it, your welcome. You should too.



In this second video Dr. Janies shows us his awesome mapping technology; which may just be the reason he's offering such sage advise.



The science around infectious disease control is extremely complex and there is a spectrum of opinion in the scientific community about the effectiveness of the steps your government is now taking . Get informed and join the public discourse
on these issues.

The Health and Swine Flu Tags at this blog offer a multitude of links. Information is power.
(Tags are at the bottom of each post.)



mh

The Atlantic Monthly Answers Questions about Swine Flu - You Need to Know

• What are Tamiflu and Relenza?
• Do Tamiflu and Relenza have a positive impact on seasonal, avian, or pandemic influenza?
• Is the H1N1-specific vaccine effective? What are the side effects?
• Does taking Flu vaccines result in 'resistant strains' of the virus?
• Does vaccinating healthy people protect society from pandemics?
• Does stockpiling of doses of antivirals make sense?
• Are randomized placebo-controlled trials of the antiviral drugs “unethical”?

This is a conversation I had in Facebook with a friend of mine. She posted a link to an AtlanticWire piece on vaccinations for the Pandemic H1N1 virus or Swine Flu - back in mid-October.

The AtlanticWire piece is a brilliant balance to the uninformed opining and spectacle news reporting going on still in our always-on electronic culture. It's a great resource for people worried about the questions posed above.

As usual, I was racing by, too busy to ingest the content the first time round.

In my opinion, this should be required reading.

Lauras' Facebook post:

------------------------------

Does the Vaccine Matter? - The Atlantic (November 2009)
Source: www.theatlantic.com



Whether this season’s swine flu turns out to be deadly or mild, most experts agree that it’s only a matter of time before we’re hit by a truly devastating flu pandemic—one that might kill more people worldwide than have died of the plague and aids combined. In the U.S., the main lines of defense are pharmaceutical—vaccines and antiviral drugs to limit the spread of flu and prevent people from dying from it. Yet now some flu experts are challenging the medical orthodoxy and arguing that for those most in need of protection, flu shots and antiviral drugs may provide little to none. So where does that leave us if a bad pandemic strikes?

October 14 at 7:41pm · Comment · Like / Unlike · View Feedback (4) · Hide Feedback (3) · Share

Facebook Comments (4)

------------------------------
Paul:

Indeed, sometimes Darwinism is inevitable.

October 14 at 10:43pm

------------------------------

Michael Holloway:

Hey Laura, check out this post, January 27, 2007 @ my blog FilterBlogs: It lays out the case against panic.
It is my opinion the last pandemic, the so called Spanish Flu was a result of the returning soldiers from WW l - who spent years hip-deep in cold sewage, corpses and rats - under-nourished and injured. That is the kind of petri dish needed to again result a flu pandemic.
Factory farming is the great threat to human health today; Swine Flu is the first indication of the problem; see FilterBlogs December 28, 2006

October 15 at 2:47am

------------------------------

Laura:

Thanks Michael - I'll check it out when I have proper access again.

October 20 at 11:45am

------------------------------

Michael Holloway:

Laura, I owe you an apology on this one.

My earlier comment was dismissive. I scanned the bi-line and the first paragraph of the piece and jumped to conclusions.

I'm sorry....

The article you point to is excellent!

When I saw your post I immediately checked it out. It's a topic that interests me greatly.

The first paragraph introduces Dr. David Newman. My adrenaline spiked,'I know that name', I said to myself, 'that’s the rat-bastard who I believe is bio-engineering bird-flu pathogens at Recominomics Lab!' (Dr. Henry L Niman)

I was Wrong! Now that I've Made the time to READ the article it turns out Dr. Newman is a free thinker, a hero, speaking against power.

Keep up the good fight! The truth will out - eventually.

Michael Holloway

November 8, 2009 11:05pm

------------------------------

Further Links:

Authors of the AtlanticWire piece are:
Shannon Brownlee, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation and the author of Overtreated (2007).
Jeanne Lenzer, an investigative journalist and a frequent contributor to the British medical journal BMJ.

Sinclair Lewis's book Arrowsmith
Daniel Janies, an associate professor of biomedical informatics at Ohio State University.



mh

Stop Vaccine Que Jumpers Using Social Networking Sites

I've set up a Twitter List #QueJumper where, if you know something, you can post a Tweet and out people in positions of power who have gotten and/or distributed Swine Flu Vaccine illegally.

m_holloway Health minister says outing vaccine Que jumpers is for after, why not now - here? If you know tweet it - it will spread quickly #QueJumper.



mh

Hysteria around Swine Flu Pandemic 2009 not very Different from 1918

Earlier today I listened to Swine Flu: Mixed Messages and Public Anxiety, a podcast of KCRWs' "To The Point" created, written and hosted by Warren Olney. The lack of perspective by many of the experts reminded me of a piece I read earlier this year at one of my favourite Blogs - "Edge of the American West" - which foreshadowed the current stupidness around the yet-to-be-Pandemic Swine flu.

I copied and pasted the whole thing because it's succinct, and important.

Posted by Scott Eric Kaufman, January 2009.


The Edge of the American West

Doing some quick searches in response to our co-blogger’s co-blogger’s post about the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, I came across the following chart detailing the ratio of reported cases to deaths in San Fransisco. Not only is it a priceless statistical representation of panic, it also captures the malleability of even professional opinion.

To wit:


I’ve highlighted the number of cases in red because blood is the color of riot—and for legibility. With certainty, we can say the author of this study, W.H. Kellogg, captured something of cultural significance when he rocketed his data up and off the y-axis. But the convergence of the incidence and death rates between the 23rd and 30th of November may be even more interesting. How do we account for the fact that, for one short week, everyone who caught the disease died from it? Easy:



According to the 21 November article, because public health officials claimed that “the influenza epidemic had been stamped out,” at noon “[t]he shrieking of every siren in San Fransisco, blowing of whistles, clanging of gongs and the ringing of bells will . . . signal for throwing away the gauze face coverings” (9). Why were there no more new cases reported than there were deaths the next week?

Because someone said there wouldn’t be. So there weren’t. People caught colds and had the sniffles, but it wasn’t Spanish flu. Couldn’t be. The epidemic was over. Did you somehow sleep through the infernal cacophany last Tuesday? The city has no more need for mass-prophylaxis. Everyone who catches the bug now brought it with them on the boat, and everyone knows you can’t catch flu from boat-people. Wait—what do you mean, “How do I think it got here in the first place?” What? How come nobody told us—quick! Everyone! En masque en masse!


So said the San Fransisco Chronicle on 4 December, and back up the panic-axis we go . . .



I couldn't have said it any better.

Thanks, Edge of the American West.


In the bio section of "Edge of the American West" Scott Eric Kaufman is described:

"Scott Eric Kaufman earned a doctorate in English at a fine public university at the western edge of the American West."

Please check out the Health and Swine Flu labels in FilterBlogs - and the latest piece I published on this topic, Swine Flu Inoculations Probably Useless.



mh

Swine Flu Inoculations Probably Useless

The best defence against the flu is plenty of rest, some chicken soup and plenty of fluids. Flu kills people every year, this year is no exception.

I don't get the yearly flu injection because I think the wide spread inoculation of the population is a bad idea, it leaves the culture in question open to a out-of-left-field virus. I do my part by being one of those who will get the odd flu and build an immunity to it, your welcome.

I know the new swine flu vaccine being circulated now is a Tami-flu type and is unlikely to be effective against the new round of H5N1, as it has mutated around the world in the interim.

In fact (and - this is entirely my take - I haven't seen anyone suggest this possibility) the inoculation of farm-workers with this Tami-flu type vaccine may introduce the morphed disease back into the swine population - resulting in the next round - being a truly pandemic version. I am of the opinion that the source of the swine flu is the inhuman conditions in which we raise livestock - in the current industrial farming model the flu jumps from swine to human farmer-worker and back to swine and so on until it morphs enough to jump from human to human. The key though, I reiterate is the in-human conditions animals are subjected to in factory farms.

Last years events that resulted in the WTO declaring a Pandemic, and the Bird flu hysteria a few years back, have taught me the experts don't know how to predict the coarse virus's will take over generations - there are too many variables. The impetus towards researching and distributing these vaccines isn't therefore good science - but rather the private profit and the funding of the process. Don't get me wrong I believe we need the infrastructure to create vaccines, and this may be one of the reasons we're going through the process - those in positions of power realize that a vaccine for a true pandemic will take months to produce and months more to produce widely enough to have effect - the result will be 1000's of deaths and injury. With out this hysteria the funding for the process's we're going to need Someday will fall idle and become necrotic.

Finally, President Obama is surrounded by advisors who are telling him scary things - but if I have gleaned these ideas surely he must be aware of these other perspectives as well - he therefore must be aware when he talks to his close advisors on health care he is looking into the eye-ball of the private medical colossus. He thus has to choose which fight to fight first.

The public consultation process which is leading to a health reform bill in in it's final phases, he knows this same attempt by the Clinton administration resulted in it's neutering (yes, my allusion is intentional). I expect President Obama has chosen to put this to one side; by calling this an emergency he on the one hand shows the benefit of a centralized health care system and on the other, satisfies the greedy beast with the subsequent cash flow in the near term. Win Win.

This from GlobalReasearch.ca who's article entitled "Obama Administration Launches Deceptive Swine Flu Propaganda Blitz" is slightly hysterical - in the opposite direction to the spectacle media - but has some data to back up their assertions:

"The recent CBS Investigative Report, published on October 21, is one example. After the CDC refused to honor CBS’s Freedom of Information request to receive flu infection data for each individual state, the network performed independent outreach to all fifty states to get their statistics. Their report contradicts dramatically the CDC’s public relations blitz. For example, in California, among the approximate 13,000 flu-like cases, 86 percent tested negative for any flu strain. In Florida, out of 8,853 cases, 83 percent were negative. In Georgia and Alaska, only 2.4 percent and 1 percent respectively tested positive for flu virus among all reported flu-like cases. If the infectious-rate ratios obtained by CBS are accurate, the CDC’s figures are significantly reduced and agree with earlier predictions that the H1N1 virus will be simply an unwelcomed annoyance. So we are in the midst of an enormous medical hoax, a design and purpose that has yet to unfold completely, that will nevertheless reap huge revenues for the vaccine industrial complex."

Good sum up of the science, with out so much hysteria at GlobalReasearch.ca.

CBS News Investigates - October 21, 2009.



mh

You Still Can't Get Topography on Google Maps - Almost.

New map added October 13, 2009 10:11 PM

Despite my fascination with the Google Street View of Toronto, it was time to go home; so I got on my bike and cycled from Dawes Rd. @ Taylor Creek to Leslieville, (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). At the one third mark all your work is done. After you reach the peak at Woodbine, it's downhill all the way.

(Click image for larger view)A route map I made with the Sport Distance Calculator grabbed with Screen Grab Pro Deluxe and edited with ACDSee photo editor.

I Scouted the route and used Google Maps (Regular) to learn what will be a regular path.

Here's a topographical picture of the ride from the Sport Distance Calculator Altitude application. Woodbine is at the 2.3 km point.



Also learned to gear up at danger points - so you can power out of breaking inertia's - and gear down just before you hit those speed bumps - then shift back to the gear you were in right away - seams to preserve energy.

Tucked in over the front end most of the way.

No stops @ 3:30 AM, EDT; Wind: nil; 17 minutes! Using the Sport Distance Calculator that's 24.67 km/hr. A very good average on a traffic grid.

Exhilarating!

Looking back, I wish Google had done night shots at Richmond St. and John...



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