Turmeric, pt. 3, Will it help Parkinson’s?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22211691

Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(1):91-9.

Curcumin: a potential neuroprotective agent in Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-associated neurodegenerative disease clinically characterized as a movement disorder. The motor symptoms in PD arise due to selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the ventral midbrain thereby depleting the dopamine levels in the striatum. Most of the current pharmacotherapeutic approaches in PD are aimed at replenishing the striatal dopamine. Although these drugs provide symptomatic relief during early PD, many patients develop motor complications with long-term treatment. Further, PD medications do not effectively tackle tremor, postural instability and cognitive deficits. Most importantly, most of these drugs do not exhibit neuroprotective effects in patients. Consequently, novel therapies involving natural antioxidants and plant products/molecules with neuroprotective properties are being exploited for adjunctive therapy. Curcumin is a polyphenol and an active component of turmeric (Curcuma longa), a dietary spice used in Indian cuisine and medicine. Curcumin exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, crosses the blood-brain barrier and is neuroprotective in neurological disorders. Several studies in different experimental models of PD strongly support the clinical application of curcumin in PD. The current review explores the therapeutic potential of curcumin in PD.

Interesting blog with a compilation of research. http://parkinsonsand5htp.blogspot.com/2012/04/turmericcurcumin-great-promise-for.html

Black lives matter group has legitimate issues?

The President gives comfort to rioters and criminals by saying Black Lives Matter protests bring out legitimate issues.  Where do they point out that blacks are victimized by crime 6x more than whites, by other blacks?  Do those lives matter? The violent crime rate for offenders is 8x higher  for blacks than whites (don’t confuse rate with population). He will have trouble convincing me that the claims are legitimate when he’s never defended Chicago’s blacks this way. He also can’t convince me that he has done anything in 7 years to address these concerns.

http://www.progressivestoday.com/obama-defends-blacklivesmatter-and-says-they-must-be-taken-seriously-video/#!

Important information about aging

The Hillary Benghazi hearings

I've watched some of the hearings.  It seems to me the only questions should be why lies were told after the event about a video (Ambassador Rice and President Obama need to answer for that) and what's in the e-mails. If it was a tragic mistake as Clinton claims I can understand that.  But why did the government need to lie on the eve of the election? Was his position that fragile?  Plus some poor YouTube film maker went to jail. However, since the e-mail crimes were uncovered late and were outside the committee, don't know if that can be a part of it.

The blindness of Clinton/Obama supporters and even RINOs to their crimes tells me that the U.S. is at the same level as 3rd world dictators covering up their misdeeds, but maybe not as clever. And the solution for some Republicans the other side--elect a TV reality star/real estate mogul--also sounds like we've all gone 'round the bend.

Can Paul Ryan be Speaker of the House?

Glenn Beck is beside himself and full of “righteous anger” (his words) at the freedom caucus for supporting Ryan.  I’m not sure why he thinks Ryan is so bad, but he feels that he (Beck) was lied to when he was asked to get his listeners to support Webster.  Also, why can Ryan be so feisty about family time when he had agreed in 2007 to be the Vice Presidential nominee?  Didn’t he know that was a heart beat from President?

These 13 points are from the Daily Signal. (Heritage Foundation) All are expanded at this link.

1) Abortion: Ryan has supported pro-life legislation and efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. (And that’s basic for my vote.)

2) Budget: Ryan has spearheaded several budget proposals during his time at the House Budget Committee.

3) Education: Ryan voted for No Child Left Behind in 2001 before supporting the A-PLUS Act to give more control over funding to local communities.

4) Energy: Ryan opposed President Barack Obama’s cap-and-trade initiative.

5) Financial Bailout: In 2008, Ryan voted for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

6) Gun Rights: Ryan has been a strong proponent of gun rights, voting numerous times against background checks and in favor of pro-gun legislation. A bow-hunter, Ryan is also member of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus.

7) Health Care: Ryan has opposed Obamacare since its passage and recently helped spearhead partial repeal by means of the budgetary tool known as reconciliation.

8) International: Ryan wanted to lift the Cuban embargo before supporting it.

9) Immigration: Ryan has supported immigration reform bills that included amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants in the past.

10) Labor Unions: Ryan remains unwavering in his support of federally mandated, prevailing wages.

11) Marriage: Ryan voted in 2006 in favor of the Marriage Protection Act, a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.

12) National Security: Ryan voted to go to war in both Afghanistan and Iraq, later opposing an early military withdrawal.

13) School Choice: Ryan has supported increasing school choice options for families.

Old, Tired Ideas and Candidates on the Left

Old, tired, socialist ideas from the all white, old tired,up in years Democrat candidates, pushing for more of the old, tired, expensive 1960s programs which they whine have failed us. Complaining about the very rich who are funding their campaigns.

Lots of fighting, squabbling and fresh ideas outside the political box from the Republican candidates. Seems to be a battle from the pages of history--the generations not seeing eye to eye. And yet there are "progressives" and even some “libertarians” who are leaning toward Hillary (she's not their first choice, but they know it's inevitable). "The devil you know is better than the one you don't" or something like that.

Where is the bridge for this gap? I don’t see it.

“No wonder political parties spend so much time talking about social issues. Shared religious and cultural values represent one way to bridge the country’s economic and demographic divides.

Single moms may crave security, but if they’re revolted at the killing of unborn children, or if they don’t want to see their public-school children barred from praying on campus, they’ll vote Republican.

Married moms in Massachusetts may pour countless thousands into a broken and wasteful combination of local, state, and federal welfare programs, but if they want to keep abortion legal and celebrate the upcoming nuptials of their lesbian neighbors, they’ll crawl over broken glass to vote Democrat.”

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425897/american-family-failure-economic-cultural-divides

Biden’s Rose Garden announcement

Joe Biden was all over the rose garden with his announcement of not running for President in 2016 which sounded a lot like a campaign speech. Like all Democrats, 

• he decried big money in political campaigns even when Hillary is the big money draw--$118 million in the first 3 quarters, plus the scam she calls the Clinton foundation;
• he said it was a shame to stop at 14 years of education, and we should go for 16, which is odd when 1 out of 5 don't finish the compulsory 12--why not finish that goal first--why not let poor black kids go to charter schools instead of blocking them;
• he moaned about divisiveness in Congress when he is the President of the Senate as Vice President of the country;
• he says our income gap is not sustainable--which in Democrat lingo means don't move up middle class, move down upper income.
• Pumping up the Obama legacy—that may be the real purpose of his non-campaign.

There seemed to be subtle digs at Hillary Clinton.  Maybe he’s leaving the door open to run, just in case Obama hasn’t killed the FBI investigation and she isn’t exposed as a crook, criminal and traitor.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/21/full-text-bidens-announcement-that-he-wont-run-for-president/

Sounds like my mom

My mother (1912-2000) had this attitude about all housekeeping skills, and particularly was careful to look nice when Dad came home from work. When I think back to some of the complex outfits she made for her four children, I think this must have been part of the routine. Her mother had used a dressmaker or shopped in Chicago, so Mom didn’t learn sewing as a child, but it was necessary when the children came along during the Depression.  We even had little dresses made from feed sack fabric. I never had a holiday or prom dress bought from a store—Mom made them all, a pale green organdy, the pink crystalline below (from my sister’s wedding) and a two piece with green linen top and white flocked skirt with pink flowers.  She made my blue silk going away dress for my wedding (I had started it, but didn’t use the advice from Singer, and she had to finish it).

1955 bridesmaid dress, also prom 1956; my sister Carol had the same dress in yellow, and Mom made the wedding dress (which I then wore in 1960)

Dolls from the 1940s which I still have.

My brother Stan in cover-alls made from my father’s military clothes

Pattern of one of my favorite aprons I wore for 40 years made by Mom

My high school graduation dress which included a jacket

The problem with socialism—someone has to work

"Europe expects the Muslim world to bail out its shrinking birth rate by working and paying into the system so that its aging population can retire. The Muslim migrants however expect Europe to subsidize their large families with its welfare state while they deal some drugs and chop off some heads on the side. Once again, European values are in conflict with European survival.

Why should 23-year-old Mohammed work for four decades so that Hans or Fritz across the way can retire at 61 and lie on a beach in Mallorca? The idea that Mohammed would ever want to do such a thing out of love for Europe was a silly fantasy that European governments fed their worried citizens."

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260511/death-europe-daniel-greenfield

The U.S. also has a birthrate below replacement, so our politicians look for brown people from south of the border with higher birthrates and some religious values to bail us out. We’ve aborted our future. However, the birthrate of immigrants is falling faster than native population, indicating financially they are doing well.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/30/us-population-level-drops-due-low-birth-rates-immi/?

Cleaning out my old paintings

About 40 years ago I took some painting lessons using acrylics. Most I’m going to pitch because they were unfinished or not worth keeping.  These I will give away if I can find a happy home. At the top with the blue skies are farms near Franklin Grove. I think I see some from along the Olentangy River. The pots and baskets were mine that I used for paintings. Only one has a frame. Some are on boards; other are stretched canvas.

How my children did it

I had a 50’ cord on the kitchen phone so I could keep an eye on the children and walk into the living room to see what was going on.

Bobby Jindal—it’s not that complicated

These shootings are a symptom of deep and serious cultural decay in our society.

Let that sink in for a minute.

These acts of evil are a direct result of cultural rot, and it is cultural rot that we have brought upon ourselves, and then we act like we are confounded and perplexed by what is happening here.

Consider the following brew of decay, and you will realize exactly what is happening here:

• We glorify sick and senseless acts of violence in virtually every element of our pop culture, and we have been doing that for at least a generation.
• Our movies and TV shows feature a continuous stream of grotesque killing of every kind imaginable. And this is true of virtually every genre, from horror to drama to comedy.
• We celebrate and document every kind of deviant behavior and we give out awards to producers who can push the envelope as far as possible. Rape, torture, murder, mass murder, all are cinematic achievements.
• Our music does the same thing, we promote evil, we promote the degradation of women, we flaunt the laws of God and common decency and we promote it all and we flood our young people with it.
• We have generations of young boys who were raised on video games where they compete with other young boys around the country and the world to see who can kill the most humans. We make it so fun, so realistic, so sensational.
• We devalue human life, we have no regard for the sanctity of human life in any regard, from the unborn, to the old, and to every single person in between, we devalue it and act as if we have almost no regard for humanity.
• Our families are a complete mess, and we have raised tens of millions of young boys who will never become real men because they have no values whatsoever, they have no truth in their lives, and they have no regard for common decency.
• Oh, we make sure that we stop them from bullying at school, but we are completely fine with them watching people get murdered and raped on the internet after school, and we are willing to let them go to the basement and join a fantasy world where they pretend they are killing people for 2 hours after school.
• And who is it that generally commits these evil acts of mass murder that are becoming routine? It’s almost always young men who have either no father figure in their lives, or a broken relationship with their father. Is this just a coincidence? Of course not.
• Now, let’s get really politically incorrect here and talk specifically about this horror in Oregon. This killer’s father is now lecturing us on the need for gun control and he says he has no idea how or where his son got the guns.
• Of course he doesn’t know. You know why he doesn’t know? Because he is not, and has never been in his son’s life. He’s a complete failure as a father, he should be embarrassed to even show his face in public. He’s the problem here.
• He brags that he has never held a gun in his life and that he had no idea that his son had any guns. Why didn’t he know? Because he failed to raise his son. He should be ashamed of himself, and he owes us all an apology.
• When he was asked what his relationship was with his son, he said he hadn’t seen him in a while because he lived with his mother. Case Closed.

This mess is not nearly as complicated as we pretend.

It’s the old computer axiom – garbage in, garbage out. We fill our culture with garbage, and we reap the result.

https://www.bobbyjindal.com/jindal-we-fill-our-culture-with-garbage/

Clean out time.

Going, going, gone. About 5 years ago we did a massive, huge, gigantic sort, clean and pitch effort. Now it's all come back--things we saved were like rabbits and multiplied without permission or purpose. I had stored some old paintings (most unfinished acrylic) in my bedroom closet. I looked through them this week-end and it's time to say good-bye. There are one or two (completed) I might offer to  my son, but that's about it. If he doesn't want them, it's the trash man's delight.

I have been encouraged in this effort hearing about an acquaintance who has been a hoarder all her life, and is now in the early stages of dementia. A professional agency has been called in, but after 3 months, little progress has been made.  In a recent stay in a nursing home (she has returned home), she even managed to save things in her room.  I'm not a hoarder, but have some odd and unusual piles of junk.

Turmeric, pt. 2

“Turmeric is the spice commonly found in curry — and, according to new research published in Stem Cell Research and Therapy, it may boost your brain proliferation or its power to repair itself.”

I looked through my blogs to see what I’ve written about turmeric—not much, and usually I wrote that I don’t use it.  But since writing about it last week after watching a review of Brain Fog, I’ve been trying it in apple cider.  That sort of covers up the taste and color.  A few sprinkles on food or salad dressing probably isn’t enough, so I’m trying about 1/2 teaspoon in cider until I get used to it.  So far, no stomach upset, and it’s not awful.

“Outside of this study [on neurodegenerative diseases], turmeric is considered the “spice for life.” Another one of its active ingredients is curcumin, and curcumin is considered an anti-inflammatory. This ingredient has also been associated with the ability to prevent diabetes, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s. But as is the case with the rat research, the potential of turmeric acting as modern medicine is uncertain, though adding turmeric powder to food or tea is believed to supplement a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle. Doing so sets you ahead of the game if turmeric is found to be capable of repairing the human brain.”

http://www.medicaldaily.com/turmeric-helps-your-brain-heal-itself-spice-your-brain-power-curry-305242

Source: Hucklenbroich J, Klein R, Neumaier B, Graf R, Fink G, et al. Aromatic-turmerone induces neural stem cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Stem Cell Research & Therapy. 2014.

How true.

What computers used to cost, Dec. 2007

Today I was cleaning out a drawer (something I need to do more often) and came across the receipt from Staples for the computer I’m using as I write.  A Dell Inspiron 530S loaded with VISTA. The total bill came to $895.50 with various price over rides amounting to $39, a flash drive of 4 GB (I still have it in the package and not sure I ever used it), something that looks like a 2 year warranty, taxes $53.59, a holiday cd for $6.  Can’t be sure from the codes but it looks like I also bought a monitor and paid for data transfer from the old computer (which I think is still in the basement storeroom, and occasionally has been called into service when this one failed). Photo below.

The new Inspiron seems to be about the same price ($50 less), but with Windows 10, wireless, 1TB hard drive, 8GB system memory (compared to 250 GB and 2 GB)

My 530S is clunky and slow, it’s been repaired twice, and really resisted when I updated to Windows 10 (had to use Firefox).

Mammograms—do they help, hurt or save?

You may wish to download this booklet on screening for breast cancer.

"When we first published this leaflet in 2008, the Summary was:

"It may be reasonable to attend for breast cancer screening with mammography, but it may also be reasonable not to attend, as screening has both benefits and harms.

If 2000 women are screened regularly for 10 years, one will benefit from the screening, as she will avoid dying from breast cancer.

At the same time, 10 healthy women will, as a consequence, become cancer patients and will be treated unnecessarily. These women will have either a part of their breast or the whole breast removed, and they will often receive radiotherapy, and sometimes chemotherapy.

Furthermore, about 200 healthy women will experience a false alarm. The psychological strain until one knows whether or not it was cancer, and even afterwards, can be severe."

These numbers were derived from the randomised trials of mammography screening. However, since the trials were performed, treatment of breast cancer has improved considerably. More recent studies suggest that mammography screening may no longer be effective in reducing the risk of dying from breast cancer."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/21/insider/aggressive-treatment-for-early-breast-cancer-reporters-notebook.html?_r=0

If you read the NYT article, be sure to read the comments.

In God we Trust

Food and fellowship

Do you sometimes feel like this? Too much food?

• Saturday we ate out to celebrate our daughter/SIL's 22nd anniversary at the Rusty Bucket;
• Monday we ordered pizza in from Iacono’s on Kenny Rd.;
• Wednesday we were on a road trip to Canton and the meal was catered (baked chicken);
• Thursday a church group gathered for dinner at the Crane’s lovely home on a lake (wonderful smoked ribs)
• also attended a memorial service at Friendship Village for Mary Dunbar which included a reception with food;
• Friday we attended the wedding of Tracy and Andy at the  Amelita Mirolo Barn which included dinner (lots of choices);
• Sunday we're having friends Howard and Betty here for lunch (soup and salad) before we head out for an art show in Middletown, Ohio Watercolor Society.

But I seem to be going to the store all the time.