Interesting Stories

Linda’s comment:  Praise God for this courts action.  We need more and more of this…perhaps this Autopsy will open some eyes….

Link: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/court-grants-lyme-disease-autopsy-20100719-10hyx.html

Excerpt:

A SYDNEY woman has been awarded a Supreme Court injunction to have her dead husband tested for a disease the Health Department says does not exist in Australia.

Mualla Akinci’s husband, Karl McManus, died last Wednesday – three years after he was bitten by a tick she says carried Lyme disease, a bacterial infection which, if left untreated, can cause profound neurological damage.

Excerpt:

Home Labs on the Rise for the Fun of Science
Wednesday, December 15, 2010

By PETER WAYNER, The New York Times

One day Kathy Ceceri noticed a tick on her arm and started to worry that it was the kind that carried Lyme disease. So she went to her home lab, put the tiny arachnid under her microscope, which is connected to her computer through a U.S.B. cable, and studied the image.

“It was,” she said. “Then of course I Googled what to do when you’ve been bitten by a deer tick.”

Ms. Ceceri’s microscope, a Digital Blue QX5, is one of several pieces of scientific equipment that make up her home lab, which she has set up on her dining room table in Schuylerville, N.Y. Home labs like hers are becoming more feasible as the scientific devices that stock them become more computerized, cheaper and easier to use. 

Ms. Ceceri has several microscopes and a telescope. Other home laboratories have tools like infrared thermometers, which can be used in the kitchen, and kits to analyze DNA at home.

Many of these tools work closely with home computers and come with software that enhances their power. Others mix low-cost computers into the hardware to deliver more precise control.

Some people who set up home laboratories are serious hobbyists in search of better tools; others are home-schooling parents equipping their children; and others are just curious.

 Ms. Ceceri, a writer, seems to fall into all three camps because she teaches her sons Anthony, 15, and John, 18, at home, and then she writes about some of their discoveries for a number of blogs like geekdad.com, geekmom.com and homebiology.blogspot.com.

 “This year we’re doing integrated science,” she said of her home science curriculum. “Anything we were looking at, we put under the microscope.”

 She explained that she and her children raised triops, tiny crustaceans, and examined the eggs under the microscope. “We took a really nice video of the paramecium and nematodes swimming around just holding a digital camera up to a microscope,” she said.

 Brian Haddock, a software developer from south of Fort Worth, who also writes about science topics on his blog, Reeko’s Mad Scientist Lab, particularly enjoys using a microscope with a computer.

 “Those U.S.B. microscopes are pretty cool,” he said. “They don’t magnify as much as one of those optical scopes would, but you can look at it on your computer screen. It’s got a big picture on your screen that’s easier to see instead of those little tiny images you squint at.”

 “Personally, I like the Carson zPix,” he said.

 The growth in home labs is helped by manufacturers who are building tools at affordable prices.

 ThinkGeek.com, an online store that sells items for home laboratories, among other things, offers three models of microscopes at various prices, said Scott Smith, a co-founder of the site.

Prices begin at $99, with models that offer 20x to 200x digital enlargements of whatever is being examined. The store’s high-end model costs $349, and it delivers what Mr. Smith characterized as sharper, better quality images for both hobbyists and businesses like jewelry shops.

Adding a computer interface to a telescope makes it possible to collect more detail than might appear to the eye looking through the optics. The computer can collect multiple images over time and combine the results, enhancing the appearance of the faintest items.

 “It isn’t just about capturing video or still images. It actually allows you to stack a whole bunch of still images to get those really beautiful, spectacular pictures of the night sky,” explained Timothy Burns, the director of marketing at Edmund Scientific, the scientific supplier, which stocks a wide range of telescopes for the casual and professional scientist.

Linda’s comments:  I use Lasers on myself…..I’m also into energy medicine….I’m thrilled that Dr Gordon is now going to start lecturing on these subjects…

Dr. Gordon’s Comments: The LASER POINTERS you can purchase today have as much as 700 milliwatt power and, although up to 5 watt is still low level laser, this can harm the eye. But also since I will be teaching more and more about energy medicine where I use things like magnets and low level lasers, for benefit of patients, I want you to know that perhaps everyone needs one of these at home. 

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Link: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2010-11-18-laser18_ST_N.htm

Excerpt:

High-powered laser pointers create hazards
Updated 11/18/2010 1:31 PM 

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

The latest generation of high-powered laser pointers may seem like a fun Christmas gift, but experts caution consumers to weigh the potential harm.

Sold online for as little as $20, some laser pointers offer a brightness about 10,000 times stronger than looking at the sun, eye-safety experts warn. At that power, they exceed Food and Drug Administration 5-milliwatt power limits on manufacturers selling laser pointers to consumers.

A milliwatt is one-thousandth of a watt, and although 5 milliwatts is just a fraction of what’s needed to power even a household light bulb, lasers pack their punch by concentrating light into a single beam. Meanwhile, pointers are now being sold with as much as 700 milliwatts of power.

“These devices are hazardous and some are being sold as party toys,” says photonics professor Thomas Baer of Stanford University. The worldwide compact disc and DVD boom has led to improved lasers that can generate a powerful beam with small batteries, produced by low-cost overseas manufacturers, he says.
“Higher and higher power lasers are going to be with us in the future,” says laser safety expert Casey Stack of Laser Compliance in Centerville, Utah. “We need to start a discussion about public safety.”

Linda’s comment:  When I worked in Cancer Research, the feds gave us marijuana to give to the patients for pain and vomiting….it amazes me that the Feds are making such a big deal out of this.  This was distributed through VA hospital….I know the family they pay in Tipton, Indiana to grow the Feds pot….

Dr. Gordon’s Comments: It appears that marijuana is going mainstream! This NY Times article shows that the Federal government is beginning to go with the flow. If the state permits the use of medical marijuana the VA system will no longer refuse to continue to treat the patient.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/health/policy/24veterans.html?_r=1&pagewant

Excerpt:

DENVER — The Department of Veterans Affairs will formally allow patients treated at its hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal, a policy clarification that veterans have sought for several years. 

A department directive, expected to take effect next week, resolves the conflict in veterans facilities between federal law, which outlaws marijuana, and the 14 states that allow medicinal use of the drug, effectively deferring to the states. 

The policy will not permit department doctors to prescribe marijuana. But it will address the concern of many patients who use the drug that they could lose access to their prescription pain medication if caught. 

Under department rules, veterans can be denied pain medications if they are found to be using illegal drugs. Until now, the department had no written exception for medical marijuana. 

This has led many patients to distrust their doctors, veterans say. With doctors and patients pressing the veterans department for formal guidance, agency officials began drafting a policy last fall. 

Gut bacteria may cause autoimmune disease. We have all known this for some time but here is more research getting into how it happens.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Link: http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/57782/ 

Excerpt:

The finding 
The trillions of microbes that reside in the human gut shape their host’s immune system—for better or for worse. In a mouse model of autoimmune arthritis, Diane Mathis from Harvard University and colleagues found that gut bacteria can provoke autoimmune disease in distant parts of the body—the joints.

The surprise 
When investigators raised transgenic mice (which develop the disease at 4 weeks of age) in germ-free conditions, the animals developed a milder version of the disease much later. Germ-free mice lack immune cells called T helper 17 cells (Th17), because these cells require the gut bacteria called segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB) to properly develop. When Mathis blocked IL-17—secreted by Th17 cells—in the normally raised mouse model, disease progression was also attenuated.

The link 
Mathis and colleagues showed that after SFB induced the accumulation of Th17 cells in the gut, the immune cells traveled to the spleen, where they helped activate antibody-producing B cells. Since the B cells in this mouse model produced self-attacking antibodies that initiated arthritis, the presence of IL-17 acted like a catalyst, quickening the disease. Though more work remains, “it is not hard to imagine the clinical relevance,” write Rochelle Marie Hinman and Faculty Member John Cambier.

NOTE:  If you have Lyme disease DO NOT DONATE…..

 Members and Friends
The courage the Jemsek family has shown facing life’s hurdles has given us a example of how to deal with our own adversities.  As they face renewed challenges, it is time for us all to reach out and do what we can to support them in their hour of need.
 
Please read this letter from Dr. Jemsek to the Lyme Community.  While Lyme patients cannot be direct donors, we can ask our healthy friends, family members and neighbors to consider this humanitarian request for a fine family that needs our support.  Please recirculate this message widely and as quickly as possible. 
 
Thank you,
NatCapLyme
 
Dear patients, friends, and family,

          My wife Kay and I are writing to you today to make a somber request on behalf of our six year old daughter, Jordan.  As most of you may already know, last September 2009 Jordan was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). She received outstanding  care during several rounds of extended chemotherapy while hospitalized for 6 ½ months at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte at the Hemby Cancer center.  When Jordan was declared in remission  we were finally able to bring  her home on Easter day this Spring.  After several joyful months at home with Jordan, this past week we were devastated to learn that Jordan has relapsed. In the upcoming weeks, she will begin receiving chemotherapy in preparation for a bone marrow transplant that she will have later this winter.

          Last year, after much research aided by the excellent support of the Hemby physicians in Charlotte and the Pediatric Oncology Department at Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC,  we were already exploring the option for Jordan to have a bone marrow transplant in the event that the chemotherapy was ineffective.  Unfortunately, neither members of her family, nor those in the national donor registry provided a satisfactory match.  Unfortunately, at this time we are left without another option and must proceed with a bone marrow transplant for Jordan to survive.  We anticipate that the transplant will occur in March/April 2011 at Children’s Hospital in DC after Jordan undergoes an estimated 3 months of induction chemotherapy at the Hemby Center; she is on her way to the hospital with us today.   In order to increase the likelihood that we find a better match for Jordan, we are asking friends and family to participate in joining the National Marrow Donor Program. Because patients are most likely to match someone of their own race or ethnicity, please be aware that Jordan comes from a Scottish, Irish, and Ukrainian background. We have outlined the simple steps below in how one can get signed up to be part of this registry.

          For all of our patients and others suffering from  Lyme Borreliosis Complex, the highly disturbing irony is that the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) does recognize chronic Lyme disease while the general community does not. As part of the NMDP medical guidelines, patients with  ‘chronic Lyme disease ‘ may not register (details on the linked site below).  However, we would humbly request that those individuals struggling with Lyme Borreliosis encourage other family members and friends to consider joining the registry.

          As for those of you wanting to be tested specifically as a match for Jordan, i.e. a designated donation, due to the complicated process and cost of being tested privately, we instead recommend and request that you enter the general registry. We greatly appreciate all of the prayers and overwhelming support that our family has received, and we ask for you all to continue to pray as we continue on our journey towards Jordan’s recovery from this devastating disease. If you have questions, please contact Elizabeth Ballas at mailto:eballas@jemsekspecialty.com?subject=Jordan Jemsek.   As before, regular updates will be posted to http://www.caringbridge.org/ under keyword jordanjemsek.
 
God Bless,

Dr. and Mrs. Joseph G. Jemsek 
 
From the National Marrow Donor Program website:
 
In order to get signed up in the Be the Match Registry, please follow these easy steps.
 
1. To get signed up now, you can register online and have a test kit sent to your home!
    • Go to this website and follow the instructions: http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html
 
              o Confirm you meet basic registry guidelines. (Must be between the ages of 18 and 60. Please pay special attention to the medical guidelines)
              o Complete the online form and order your registration kit, which should arrive in 7-10 days. It is free to join and get tested, but please also consider making a financial contribution.
              o Follow your instructions in your kit to collect a swab of cheek cells and return the kit in the mail.

2. If you’d like to get tested in person, please use the following link to locate a nearby donor drive or recruitment center.
 •  http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_in_Person/index.html
 
For more information, please visit: http://www.marrow.org.

Linda’s comments:  I totally agree with Dr Gordon….Energy medicine is the medicine of the FUTURE….The pharmafia will not give up until they take away our supplements, as they want to continue to make toxic drugs that kill a minimum of 250,000 people a year.  They can not get a patent on what God provides for us, so they will continue to try and beat us down…..I encourage each and every one of you that want to treat yourself with holistic/alternative medicine to find an herbalist in your state that teaches how to make remedies from the land….  We are blessed to have a few in the Southwest and thousands are learning to make their own tinctures and remedies from what grows in their state….Laser and any form of energy medicine is a MUST….Take some courses in LED training and learn to use the methods available….search on google.com and find these courses…Learn all you can about Laser’s and buy them….Get involved in electromedicine….The new PhotonGENIUS ROCKS…..here are some U-tubes regarding the Genius…write to me privately and I can talk in more detail…..I use this machine…I also sell them….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qUKVx8gPMw&p=0838FA3E27703631&index=3&playnext=2

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azIh0vE78XM&p=0838FA3E27703631&index=4&playnext=3

____________________

Dr. Gordon’s comments:

Energy medicine is in our future and many are practicing this now. I am very impressed with a new laser and I love the use of microelectric stimulation and pulsed or static magnetic fields. Today we see a resurgence of interest in homeopathy where we know for
certain that often less is more. This makes homeopathy an affordable method of treating patients but the science behind it requires discussing the new physics. 

This attached article is meant to keep us abreast of current developments in energy medicine.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/energy-medicine-futuristi_b_632418.html

Excerpt:

Dana Ullman
Expert in homeopathic medicine
Posted: July 7, 2010 08:50 AM 

Energy Medicine: Futuristic Healing With Ancient Roots 
“I have been trying to think of the earth as a kind of organism, but it is no go. I cannot think of it this way. It is too big, too complex, with too many working parts lacking visible connections. The other night, driving through a hilly, wooded part of southern New England, I wondered about this. If not like an organism, what is it like, what is it most like? Then, satisfactorily for that moment, it came to me: it is most like a single cell.”
— Lewis Thomas, M.D., former President of Sloan-Kettering Institute, and author of Lives of a Cell (from which this quote is taken).

The study of energy medicine is the study of the “many working parts lacking visible connections.” The forces and fields that connect organ to organ, body to mind, and mind to nature are not always visible. This invisibility does not mean that they do not exist. It may only mean that we have not even looked for it or have not yet developed the technology to objectively see, feel, or measure these interconnective forces.

The traditional definition according to physics refers to energy as “the capacity to do work” or as “a measurement of activity.” This meaning of energy is appropriate in conceptualizing energy medicine as long as the definition of “work” or “activity” not only includes the gross changes in biochemical and physiological systems but also includes the changes in energy levels and field phenomena that affect human health. Modern understanding from chaos and complexity theories confirms that even subtle changes in energy levels and field phenomena have the capacity to catalyze significant biological transformations.

Linda’s comment:   Thank GOD for the whistleblowers of the world…She appears to be a responsible person with ethics who had a conscious  about the disastrous effects on unknowing patients.  AND, they want to take away our supplements!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrr

The government is badly out of control and the constitution is being ignored. Our work as alternative health professionals is being hampered by our loss of “freedom of speech”.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Full article: http://www.bolenreport.com/feature_articles/Guest/Rappaport/emord-interview.htm

Text of article:

BOLEN REPORT

The Threat to Health Freedom Now – an Exclusive Interview with Jonathan Emord…

Opinion by Journalist John Rappaport

Monday, October 25, 2010.

As a medical investigative reporter for 28 years, I’ve seen public interest in health freedom come and go.  Right now, in 2010, it is at a low point.

In the early 1990s, there was a tremendous fervor in America.  Millions of people, perceiving a threat from the federal government, realized they could be cut off from the right to improve their health according to their own wishes, judgments, and decisions.

In practical terms, health freedom has come to mean: the right to have access to the widest possible range of nutritional supplements, health practitioners, and treatments—with no government obstruction.

Back in 1993, millions of Americans believed in that principle, and sent letters to Congress.  Rallies were held.  Celebrities appeared and supported traditional American liberty. Continued

 Full article: http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=15675

Excerpt:

Professor Garth Nicolson, PhD, director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Huntington Beach, CA, (www.immed.org) was a featured speaker at the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society Annual Conference in Jersey City, NJ on Oct. 14-17, 2010.

This interview highlights key points in Dr. Nicolson’s presentation to the ILADS group – “Reversing Mitochondrial Damage and Increasing Cellular Energy in Chronic Lyme and Lyme-Associated Infections.”

____

Q: Professor Nicolson, what causes Lyme disease?
 
Prof Nicolson: Lyme Disease (LD) is caused by the bite of an infected tick and transmission of multiple infections from the tick to its host.

• Among these infections, the most well known is Borrelia burgdorferi, a spirochete bacteria that borrows into cells and can be found inside cells and tissues, and sometimes it can be found outside of cells in lymph and blood.

• In addition, other commonly found bacterial co-infections, such as Mycoplasma fermentans and sometimes Mycoplasma pneumoniae, are found in LD. These small bacteria without a rigid cell wall also hide inside cells and tissues and are rarely found in body fluids.

• Another important type of intracellular bacteria found as a co-infection in LD are various species of Bartonella.

• Also, bacteria similar to Mycoplasma – Ehrlichia species -can be found in many LD patients as well as another bacteria, Anaplasma species.

• In addition to bacteria, Lyme ticks can also transmit Babesia species, a small protozoan. These infections are difficult to find and diagnose using current laboratory methods.

Thus LD is not a simple infection, and the possible presence of several pathogenic intracellular microorganisms makes this disease especially difficult to diagnose and very difficult to treat.  

A further complication is the fact that Lyme-like diseases can involve one or more tick-borne infections without the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi. This makes for a much more complicated picture than most patients and even physicians expect.