Thursday, November 7, 2013
CONTACT ME AT: manessmorrison2@yahoo.com

News of the day

Allergy myths busted: Guess what you didn't know about gluten? – NBC
Melissa Dahl TODAY
Despite the craze for gluten-free foods, there's no such thing as an actual 'allergy' to gluten, myth-busting experts say.
Two truths about allergies that may blow your mind: Bo Obama isn’t a hypoallergenic dog, and nobody is actually “allergic” to gluten.
These are just two examples of the myths allergists would very much like to bust, according to a presentation being given today at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Dr. David Stukus put the presentation together after years of patients coming to him with fiercely held, but totally incorrect, beliefs about allergies — something that’s only gotten worse in this age of medical Googling.
“It was shocking to me, the amount of misinformation that is available to the general public,” says Stukus, who is an allergist at Nationwide Children's Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University.
Here, Stukus helps us separate allergy fact from allergy fiction.
Myth 1: If you’re allergic to cats or dogs, it’s best to stick with hypoallergenic breeds.
Actually, there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic pet, Stukus says, because “every single pet will secrete allergens.” And it doesn’t make much of a difference if the pet has short or long hair, because the dander that people are allergic to doesn’t come from the fur – it comes from the animal’s saliva, sweat glands and urine. Even expensive, genetically engineered pets still secrete minor allergens, Stukus said.
OK, but what if you’re an animal lover who also happens to be allergic to pet dander? Stukus often gets that question. “The best response to that is even people with pet allergies, they may be fine around certain breeds and not around others," Stukus says. The only way to figure that out, though, is to hang around different breeds and note how your body reacts. (Stukus tells his patients to "literally rub your face on the animal.")
Myth 2: No bread for me; I’m allergic to gluten!
Two words these days that make any allergist sigh: gluten allergy.
“Gluten has been blamed for all that ails humanity,” Stukus says. But there are only three disorders you can attribute to gluten on a scientific basis, he says: celiac disease, wheat allergies and non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
“Then there’s this claim about ‘gluten allergy,’ which really doesn’t exist,” Stukus says. “It’s not really a recognized allergy. Wheat is a recognized allergy — but a lot of people will misinterpret that as gluten.”
Myth 3: Black mold can cause some truly terrifying diseases.
Google “black mold” and you’ll find websites linking it to some frightening maladies – things like seizures, fibromyalgia, bipolar disorder, cancer.
“This has been attributed to cause all kinds of ailments,” Stukus says. “But there is absolutely no scientific link of a causal disorder to black mold to any of these disorders.”
But the most black mold can do to you is cause allergic rhinitis and asthma symptoms — if, that is, you're allergic to mold in the first place.
Myth 4: If you have an egg allergy, you should never get a flu shot.
This is a hot topic right now, Stukus says, as it is every flu season. Allergists understand the confusion: Egg embryos from chickens are indeed used to grow viruses in the production of several vaccines, like influenza, rabies, yellow fever and MMR. So these vaccines may indeed include tiny bits of egg protein, which sounds worrisome to someone with an egg allergy (or the parent of a kid with an egg allergy).
But unless people have a history of a severe reaction called anaphylaxis in response to eating eggs, flu shots are safe for people with egg allergies. Even in people who have severe allergic reactions to egg, the vaccine is still likely to be safe, but a referral to an allergist is recommended before getting a flu shot. (An egg-free vaccine, called Flublok, is also now available.)
As for the other major vaccinations — MMR is safe for anyone with a history of egg allergy, but rabies and yellow fever are not.
Myth 5: For little ones, the rules are these: No milk until age 1, no eggs until age 2, and no nuts until age 3.
Food allergies are a scary topic these days, especially for parents, says Dr. Stanley Fineman, who is an allergist at the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic and is past president of the ACAAI. But there is some old information that is still hanging around and causing confusion: In 2000, guidelines suggested restricting foods like milk, eggs and nuts in very early childhood.
Today, that recommendation has flipped around. There is no evidence to support avoidance of these highly allergenic foods past 4 to 6 months of age, Stukus writes in his presentation.
“In the allergy community, the stance has sort of reversed 180 degrees,” he says. “We used to think avoidance reduced allergies; now, we think early introduction leads to tolerance.” 
The takeaway from all of this: Don't believe everything you read on the Internet.
“Use the Internet for guidance, but don’t rely on it as your sole source of health information,” Stukus says. “It’s a great place to formulate questions that you can take to physicians.” 


Many people are very worried about health issues in general, and allergies are a prime example. I have allergic reactions, mainly rhinitis, to pollen, fungus, car and bus pollution, penicillin, and perfumed products. I have never had an anaphylaxis reaction to anything, even penicillin. Those people who have food or bee sting allergies are more likely to have a severe reaction, I understand.

One acquaintance of mine is afraid to eat many things, and won't try a new food. She eats an awful lot of rice and beans. She also has chronic fatigue syndrome, an elusive condition that in the past has been pooh-poohed by many doctors, but which incapacitates the victim periodically. It has been linked to a virus and to a hormone deficiency. She has finally found some things that help her, and is living a normal life.

Phobias about eating various foods, doing activities or simple contact to substances are often as debilitating as the illnesses they are supposed to cause. It is easy to be impatient with a person who won't try a new food or touch a doorknob, because such things really do seem silly. My friend is in all other ways fun to be around. She has a gift with animals – she used to hold nuts in her hand outside her apartment window and the squirrels would come and take the nuts from her. She paints and writes science fiction. The human mind is very complex, and very interesting.




Colorado becomes energy battleground as cities ban fracking – NBC

By Keith Coffman, Reuters
DENVER — Three Colorado cities have rejected oil and gas production work that relies on so-called fracking, unofficial election returns showed on Wednesday in a setback for an industry that won other battles this year in Democratic strongholds like California.
Boulder, Lafayette and Fort Collins passed measures with solid margins to suspend or ban the technique formally known as hydraulic fracturing. But a fourth community, Broomfield, about 12 miles east of Boulder, narrowly rejected a fracking moratorium.

In Fort Collins, near the growing Niobrara field, 56 percent of voters approved a five-year ban on fracking, despite a resolution its city council passed urging voters to reject it.
A dozen states including California have clear rules for fracking, but the practice is banned in New York and some think Colorado could be a battleground in the U.S. energy boom.
There is "possibility of a state-wide ban finding its way onto the 2014 Colorado ballot," said Paul Enockson, a lawyer with BakerHostetler in Denver who has represented oil firms.

Hydraulic fracturing, done after horizontal drilling, pumps pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to crack shale rock to release oil or gas.
Environmental groups say fracking can contaminate water supplies, but the industry says it is safe and that boosting gas output will create jobs and help states replace dirty coal-burning power plants with ones fueled by cleaner gas.
"This election represents round one with many more rounds to come," said Tisha Schuller, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), an industry group that opposed the measures.
"Boulder and Lafayette were nothing more than symbolic votes. Lafayette's last new well permit was in the early 1990's and Boulder's last oil and gas well was plugged in 1999," she said.
Colorado's daily output of crude oil has surged to around 182,000 barrels a day, but is still a scant 2.4 percent of total U.S. production, according to the Energy Information Agency. 
Industry experts believe much of the best oil and gas deposits could be on federal tracts of land in the western part of the state that are not currently in production.
The municipal bans may clash with fracking standards the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission introduced this year that require wells to be located away from houses and established rules for noise, dust and chemicals.

The state's oil and gas commission grants more than 1,000 annual permits for hydrocarbon wells.
"The decision of whether or not hydraulic fracturing occurs in these Colorado communities may ultimately lie with the courts, where the city of Longmont is already being sued by COGA and the state of Colorado over its fracking ban, but at least for now, the people have spoken," wrote Gretchen Goldman, analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists' Center for Science and Democracy.
Though environmental groups declared victory in a swing state, the gas industry has made inroads this year.
Prior to the votes in Colorado, Marty Durbin, head of America's Natural Gas Alliance, said more and more states were becoming convinced of the safety of fracking.
Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown of California, the world's 9th largest economy, signed a law in September that specifically allows it.


The key point in this article seems to be that fracking would allow more natural gas to be produced, and thus provide a cleaner fuel for power plants. It would reduce carbon emissions. The problem is that chemicals and gas have made their way into the drinking water in some cases. The COGCC, on the other hand, has established standards for fracking that keep it away from houses and prohibit noise and chemical damage.

I have always been afraid of nuclear power plants, due to incidents like Three Mile Island, but they are safe (except for the still unsolved problems of how to dispose of nuclear wastes) if they don't have a melt down, and they are clean of carbon emissions. Environmental issues involve such a comprehensive set of conflicting problems that if we limit CO2 emissions, we may have to have some other problem in their stead. I do think we have to limit CO2, so I would vote for other options in order to achieve that. According to this article, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown of California has allowed fracking there, and more states are ruling in its favor. It's one more tool we have against global warming.




Rare glimpse of Victorian London's working class captured by street photographer – NBC

By Yuka Tachibana, Producer, NBC News

'Crawlers', one of a series of pictures of 19th century London by pioneering street photographer John Thomson

A book of photographs depicting the grueling poverty lived by many residents of Victorian London is due to be auctioned on Thursday.
"In or around 1877, photography was mainly about beautiful landscapes or portraits of the wealthy, but these images [photographer John] Thomson deliberately set out to take were those of the Victorian underclass," John Trevers of auctioneers Dominic Winter told NBC News. "This was the first time those in abject poverty scratching out a living on the streets of London were photographed."
"This was a pioneering work of social documentation," he added.
Scottish photographer John Thomson, a pioneer of street photography, captured images of London's working class in the 1870s. The photos were originally published in a monthly magazine, Street Life in London, between 1876 and 1877. 

The photos would likely have made a real impact when they came out, Trevers said.
"People wouldn't have been aware of the conditions in which London's underbelly suffered, and to see it in flesh and blood through Thomson's photos would have been quite a shock to the system," he said, adding that it isn't known how many copies of the magazine have survived.
The book is expected to fetch a price of between $6,000 and $9,000.


One photograph shown in this article is of Covent Garden flower women, and another is of a “street doctor.” From Charles Dickens to George Bernard Shaw, this is their environment. Below is a brief biography of John Thompson.


Edinburgh-born John Thomson (1837-1921) was one of the great names of early photography. His photographic legacy is one of astonishing quality and depth.
Thomson's images of China and South-East Asia brought the land, culture, and people of the Far East alive for the 'armchair travellers' of Victorian Britain.
He was one of the pioneers of photojournalism, using his camera to record life on London's streets in the 1870s. As a society photographer he also captured the rich and famous in the years before the First World War.
These pages present a brief introduction to Thomson's work, with examples drawn from the National Library of Scotland's collections.


 
Text © National Library of Scotland
Thomson reproductions:
National Library of Scotland/Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine






New video released in Georgia teen's gym mat death — still no answers – NBC

By Gabe Gutierrez, NBC News Correspondent
VALDOSTA, Ga. — The attorney representing the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office released hundreds of hours of more surveillance video Wednesday from dozens of cameras at the school where Kendrick Johnson’s lifeless body was found rolled up in a gym mat in January.
NBC News is still reviewing the large amount of material. The Johnson family had requested footage from Jan. 10, the day Johnson disappeared, and Jan. 11, the day his body was found by other students on the Lowndes High School gym.
But the new videos released Wednesday — which the sheriff’s office said included video from 35 cameras inside and outside of the gym from Jan. 10 and 11 — is missing time stamps.

Lt. Stryde Jones with the sheriff’s office said that was because the time stamps were only visible on the school district’s server, not on any copies of the videos.
Short clips of the surveillance footage released last week showed Johnson walking through a hallway at 12:59 p.m. on Jan. 10. Ten minutes later, around 1:09 p.m., he is seen entering the gym.
What happened next remains a mystery: Johnson’s mother reported him missing around 11 p.m. that night, but his body was not found until around 9:30 a.m. the next day.

Chavene King, the attorney for Johnson’s parents, said he was “suspicious” of the new video’s release and he had many questions about what happened in those ten minutes.
“We have run across many roadblocks so far,” King said, referring to the family’s long fight for the video’s release. Local officials had opposed the release, citing student privacy concerns. But last week, a judge ordered the entire set of videos be made public.
There are four cameras inside the gym. All of them are near the entrance. Two of them point outward to either corner of the gym.
One camera aimed at the general direction of the wrestling mat where Johnson was found appeared blurry. Lt. Jones said that was because it seemed to have been hit by a ball at some point.
But it did appear to show the moment when students in the gym noticed a body in the mat and a coach went over to see what was going on as other students continued to play basketball.
Seconds later, the coach and several students appear to tip over the surrounding mats to get to the body. A short time later, the gym clears out.
But so far, there is little indication of how exactly Johnson got inside the mat.
Lt. Jones said that camera did not record how Johnson’s body ended up wedged inside the mat because the device was motion activated and the mat was out of the camera’s range.
Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, along with their attorney, said they planned to review the newly-released surveillance video over the next few days.

“We want to find out the truth about what happened to our son,” Kenneth Johnson said.
Meanwhile, a southern Georgia judge has put a coroner's inquest into Johnson’s death on hold pending the outcome of a federal review of the case, another lawyer for Johnson's family said Wednesday.
Attorney Benjamin Crump said that Judge Harry Altman announced his intention to delay a final decision in a phone conversation with the lawyers involved with the case.
"Justice delayed is justice denied," Crump said.
County Attorney Jim Elliott confirmed that the judge indicated his intent to put the proceedings on hold and expected to sign the formal order within the next day.
The inquest would have required a six-person jury to hear witness testimony and review evidence to decide whether Johnson died from natural causes, an accident, suicide or homicide.
The teen's family requested the coroner's inquest several weeks ago. It would essentially have reopened the case at the local level.
The Johnsons believe their son — a three-sport athlete — was murdered by a group of people and they allege someone has been trying to cover it up.
"We want the truth," said the teen's father, Kenneth. "We want to know exactly what happened."
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducted the initial autopsy and ruled that Johnson accidentally suffocated inside the upright mat after he fell in headfirst reaching for a shoe.
According to the case file, witnesses told investigators that students often hid their sneakers inside the mats between gym periods because lockers were insufficient.
But five months later, Johnson's parents exhumed his body and hired a private pathologist to perform a second autopsy, which found that Johnson had died from a blow to his neck.
Sherry Lang, a GBI spokeswoman, said the agency stands by its team of medical examiners "100 percent."
Last week, U.S. Attorney Michael Moore in Macon, Ga., announced he was opening a formal review of the facts in the Kendrick Johnson case.


This article shows the current wrangling between judges and lawyers, but the Federal case is still ongoing, so there is hope. The camera that would have recorded activity at the wrestling mat was “blurry” and out of range, so it didn't catch anything. In the murder mysteries I read, the FBI can often enhance blurry video with their superior technology to produce usable pictures. I hope it's true. At least this case is now being pursued as a murder and not as an incredibly bizarre accident. You just can't squeeze any 17 year old boy that I have ever seen into a 6 or 8 inch space. I'll post more as it comes out.





Sources: Ireland suggested that Martin confront Incognito physically – NBC
Posted by Mike Florio on November 6, 2013, 11:52 PM EST
The strange, bizarre saga of Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito continues to unfold, with a name that previously hasn’t been mentioned now thrust into the middle of the burgeoning mess.
Per multiple league sources, Dolphins G.M. Jeff Ireland received a call from one of Martin’s agent, Kenny Zuckerman, after Martin left the team on October 28. Zukerman complained to Ireland about the manner in which Incognito was treating Martin.
Ireland, according to the sources, suggested to Zuckerman that Martin physically confront Incognito. Ireland specifically mentioned that Martin should “punch” Incognito.
Reached for comment by phone on Wednesday night, Dolphins senior V.P. of media relations Harvey Greene reiterated to PFT the position that there will be no public comment from the team on any aspect of the situation, given the league’s pending review.
Throughout the past few days, it’s become clear that too many people in and around football believe that locker-room bullying should be met with violence. That fact that Ireland suggested that Martin should physically confront Incognito is, frankly, alarming.
Ireland’s comments to Zuckerman, coupled with Wednesday’s comments from multiple players, also supports Martin’s eventual conclusion that the team wasn’t inclined to do anything about the situation without Martin taking a stand — not by fighting Incognito but by walking out.
UPDATE 11:04 a.m. ET 11/7/13:  A prior version of this story identified the agent as Rick Smith.  It was Kenny Zuckerman, who works with Smith at the same firm.  Also, a prior version of this story characterized the call as happening before Martin left the team.  The call happened after Martin left.


My father, when he was in his early teens, was walking past the school bus when a boy stuck his head out the window and spit on him. Daddy invited him down and the boy came out of the bus. Daddy said they fought until neither boy could stand up. Then they made peace, and actually became good friends.

Such is the world of teenaged boys. This, however, is a case of grown men in a supposedly civilized and controlled setting. There should be rules, and the grown-up “professional” football players should abide by the rules instead of living by violence. The fact that the coach was not inclined to discipline Incognito is shameful. I wonder how widespread in the sports world events like this are.





Greenhouse gas concentrations reach record high – CBS
By Danielle Elliot / November 6, 2013, 11:12 AM
The WMO report says oil refineries are a major contributing factor in driving atmospheric levels of CO2 to record highs
The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record in 2012, according to a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report released Nov. 6.
The level of carbon dioxide has increased 41 percent since the start of the industrial era; methane is up 160 percent and nitrous oxide has risen by 20 percent. In Sept., the International Panel on Climate Change said it is "extremely likely" that these climate changes are predominantly man made.
"The observations from WMO's extensive Global Atmosphere Watch network highlight yet again how heat-trapping gases from human activities have upset the natural balance of our atmosphere and are a major contribution to climate change," said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud in a press release.
The report measured overall greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. It did not measure emissions, which were reported to have declined, at least in the U.S., in 2012. Concentrations will likely continue to rise, even if emissions decline, because greenhouse gases linger in the atmosphere. Once emitted, they are essentially "baked in" for at least a century, according to Dr. Radley Horton, a climate scientist at Columbia University.
This report measured the increase in what scientists call radiative forcing: the warming effect on our climate. It shows that from 1990 to 2012, these heat-trapping gases that linger in the atmosphere have caused radiative forcing to increase by 32 percent.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) was the largest culprit in the rise: it accounted for 80 percent of the increase in overall greenhouse gas concentration. From 2011 to 2012, it increased by 2.2 parts per million, a significant increase from the 2.02 parts per million yearly average over the last decade.
"CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for hundreds if not thousands of years... Most aspects of climate change will persist for centuries even if emissions of CO2 are stopped immediately," the report said.
"As a result of this, our climate is changing, our weather is more extreme, ice sheets and glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising," Jarraud added.
Methane in the atmosphere reached a new high in 2012, peaking at about 1819 parts per billion. About 60 percent of methane is produced by human activities, while the other 40 percent comes from natural sources.
Nitrous oxide -- which plays a role in destroying the layer of the stratosphere that protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays -- rose to 325.1 parts per billion in 2012, an increase of about .9 parts per billion.
As concerning as they are, these numbers do not paint the full picture of the impact of greenhouse gases, because they only account for about half of the greenhouse gases emitted. The other half ends up in the biosphere and the oceans.


The following statement is taken from Wikipedia, defining the term biosphere: “From the broadest biophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.” Then, according to an article by the Lighthouse Foundation, CO2 is removed from the atmosphere by the ocean and stored, especially in the polar seas. This is good, but the tropical waters release CO2, so they are part of the problem. This Lighthouse Foundation has a long article about CO2 and the oceans called “The Greenhouse Effect And The Oceans,” and it is written in understandable English -- recommended reading.

The most gripping thing in this newspaper article is the fact that warming has increased 32% between 1990 and 2012. Also, this warming will persist “for centuries” even if the increase in greenhouse gases stops immediately. We should look to ways to adjust to global warming, as well as trying to stop the increase in these gases. There is a long and detailed article on the the web from rense.com, called “Who's lying: A Simple Tale Of Unbiased Global Warming Facts” which disputes the arguments of the Global Warming debunkers, and it tells a number of things about what is likely to happen. It does not paint a pretty picture.

Personally, other than trying to support the right political candidates, because this whole argument over the validity of global warming information is running directly along party lines, with the Republicans debunking the scientific claims. The author of the rense.com article, Dr. Ed Ward, MD, says it's all about money. It does stand to reason that industrial giants who want to continue to pollute the air freely will vote for Republicans, who have supported their interests for many decades. I will continue to vote against them. As far as global warming goes, I will hope that the scientists are wrong in their predictions, and that those “conservative” forces who are ruling the Republican Party will come to develop a sense of responsibility for the results of their policy. Money can't be the only thing of importance.



­
Why Doctors Are Testing An Epilepsy Drug For Alcoholism
by Maanvi Singh
­In the hunt for new ways to help people fight alcoholism, doctors are studying gabapentin, a generic drug that's commonly used to treat epilepsy and fibromyalgia.
In a 12-week clinical trial conducted by the Scripps Research Institute, people taking taking gabapentin were much better at reducing their alcohol intake than those who got a placebo. The research, involving 150 people, was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
All the volunteers enrolled in the trial received counseling. Some took placebo pills, the rest got either 900 milligrams or 1,800 milligrams of gabapentin each day. People taking a higher dose of the drug refrained from heavy drinking twice as often as the placebo group, and practiced complete abstinence four times as often.
The results were published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Psychiatrist Barbara J. Mason, who led the study, says gabapentin appears to work because it eases the most common withdrawal symptoms. "Gabapentin improved sleep and mood in people who were cutting down or quitting drinking," she tells Shots. Sleeplessness and anxiety are often what cause people to regress and start drinking again, she says.
Another factor in gabapentin's favor, she says, is that it isn't broken down by the liver, "an organ that's often damaged in people with alcohol dependence." Of three FDA-approved drugs for alcoholism, two pose potential liver risks, she says. Gabapentin passes from the blood through the kidney and into urine pretty much unchanged.
Like any drug, gabapentin has potential side effects. Drowsiness, nausea and blurred vision are some. And the drug hasn't been approved for treatment of alcohol dependence.
Gabapentin, sold under the brand name Neurontin, has a bit of a rocky history. In the early 2000s, Pfizer and its Parke-Davis unit got in trouble for pushing the drug for a variety of unapproved uses.
But Mason says the fact that her work is funded by the NIH, plus the fact that it's a generic formulation, will distance her work from that scandal.
"It's not magic, and making a big behavioral change is hard work," she says. But to ignore a drug that appears effective, she says, '"is not taking advantage of all the tools in the toolbox."
Still, the drug hasn't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in treatment of alcohol dependence and there's no sign it will be anytime soon.


Psychologists and doctors have been seeking a wonder drug for alcoholism since I have been in my twenties, but the gold standard Alcoholics Anonymous is likely to ignore it, because A.A. uses psychological techniques to master the urge to drink, and they tend to be skeptical of purely physical “cures.” If a pill can be developed which would actually allow the drinker to limit the amount that he drinks rather than having to stop totally, it would be helpful. Some people can drink moderately all their lives, but I think most will develop an addiction if they continue over the years, increasing by increments to the point of alcoholism.

There is a difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism – it's mainly a difference of degree, but at a certain point the drinker comes to believe that he cannot refrain from drinking, no matter how much he wants to. Sudden withdrawal from the drug, once addiction has been established, causes physical symptoms, such as trembling of the hands, hallucinations, and intense craving, so a pill needs to work very well indeed to combat those.

Most alcoholics who have achieved sobriety through the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step Program will probably stick with their proven method, which involves total abstinence. Besides, Alcoholics Anonymous offers a social network in which people make friendships for a lifetime and make emotional and spiritual developments as they grow in mental health. A pill can't do that.