Busy morning….
Posted by Michelle Moquin on March 14th, 2009
I slept in late…and loved it. I also had an appt. at 9:00 that I just finished up with, and now I need to head to the bank. Life has taken over today, and left me little time to blog. So I am going to check in with all of you later and blog my entry then too.
As always, feel free to continue this chat. I have to say it has been interesting to say the least. I’ll give my two in a few…
2:00 PM
Okay…I’m back. This is not what I thought I was going to talk about but then I read George’s comment from yesterday. It’s obvious that there are many people like George out there. Here’s proof of it: Racism in writing:
Can you believe that someone would actually put this in writing on a receipt? Making a racist remark as a code to describe a customer? The salesperson should be fired for this, not to mention he/she should be sued. This is just so wrong and hateful. You would think that the manager of this store would’ve seen this before and would’ve put a stop to it. But hey, maybe the manager is a racist pig too.
Readers: Are any of you familiar with this store? Have any of you shopped there? I am so curious where this is going to go. Blog me if you have anything further to add.
Peace out….
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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March 14th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Celiac Disease: Sneaky and Deadly
Joseph Murray, MD
The Mayo Clinic
eliac disease is an inherited sensitivity to gluten, a protein found in the grains wheat, rye and barley and, therefore, in foods that contain them. Doctors used to think the disorder was relatively rare.
A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that it’s much more common than once believed, affecting one out of every 133 people — and one out of 22 who have an immediate family member with the disease. Yet only one out of 10 cases is ever diagnosed.
Reason: The symptoms of celiac disease are so varied that the disease is often not suspected.
Left untreated, celiac disease can lead to a number of serious health problems — including nerve damage, osteoporosis and cancer. A new study has also linked the disorder to significant declines in cognitive ability.
Good news: Several simple blood tests can now detect celiac disease. While there’s no cure, its symptoms can largely be eliminated by following a gluten-free diet.
WHAT CAUSES CELIAC DISEASE?
People with celiac disease have abnormal immune responses to certain cereal grains. They also have antibodies associated with celiac disease — antigliadin, antitissue transglutaminase and antiendomysium. When people with celiac disease eat foods containing wheat, rye or barley — such as bread, pasta, cookies and pizza crust — these antibodies trigger an autoimmune response that causes inflammation of the small intestine. This inflammation damages the villi (tiny, hair-like projections on the intestine’s inner wall), preventing absorption of nutrients.
Celiac disease is most common among people of European descent, particularly those with other autoimmune diseases, such as lupus erythematosus, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune thyroid disease or colitis. Vulnerability to celiac disease is inherited. The disease itself can emerge at any age. Symptoms often first appear after some traumatic event, such as an infection, an injury, pregnancy, surgery or severe stress.
ONE DISEASE, MANY SYMPTOMS
One reason celiac disease goes undiagnosed so often is that its symptoms can vary greatly from person to person, and are often very general and hard to pin down. The disease also can resemble other ailments, including irritable bowel syndrome, gastric ulcers, Crohn’s disease, parasitic infection, anemia and skin or neurological disorders. While some people with celiac disease have an immediate and strong reaction after eating food containing gluten, others may have only subtle symptoms. Even mild symptoms, however, can lead to long-term damage due to chronic inflammation and nutritional deficiencies.
Why celiac disease is very dangerous: By damaging the small intestine’s ability to absorb nutrients (which are eliminated in the stool instead), it can cause deficiencies of vitamins A, B-12, D, E and K, as well as folate, calcium and iron — resulting in malnourishment of the brain, peripheral nervous system, bones, liver and other organs.
In addition, the intestinal inflammation itself may cause health problems in the gut and elsewhere by releasing cytokines (chemical messengers of inflammation) that travel to the brain and other body parts.
Finally, it’s thought that the gluten-triggered autoimmune response may itself attack other areas, such as the brain, in addition to the intestine.
Gastrointestinal symptoms of celiac disease: Abdominal bloating or cramping… gas… diarrhea… unexplained weight loss… foul-smelling or grayish stools.
Other symptoms: Anemia, fatigue, irritability, depression, dermatitis herpetiformis (an itchy skin rash affecting mainly the elbows, knees, scalp, buttocks and back), mouth ulcers, dental problems, osteoporosis, joint pain, peripheral neuropathy (tingling or numbness in the legs and feet), balance problems and infertility.
A recently published study at the Mayo Clinic that I participated in found that celiac disease can affect cognitive function, leading to declines in short-term memory and computational ability, as well as mental fogginess and personality changes. Celiac disease also increases risk of intestinal lymphoma and bowel cancer.
DIAGNOSIS BREAKTHROUGH
Fortunately, several new blood tests developed over the past five to 10 years have made the diagnosis of celiac disease much easier. These tests check for the presence of the antibodies associated with celiac disease. The test for the tissue transglutaminase antibody, or tTG test, is particularly reliable.
If the blood tests detect these antibodies, a gastroenterologist will then do a biopsy of the small intestine to check for damage to the villi. If this biopsy is positive, the next step is to put the patient on a gluten-free diet.
Important: You should not start avoiding foods containing gluten until after you take these screening tests. Otherwise, the tests are likely to come back normal even if you have celiac disease.
If you suspect you may have celiac disease, it’s important that you talk to your doctor about getting a screening test, especially if you have a blood relative with celiac disease… a personal history of thyroid disease or type 1 diabetes… unexplained digestive symptoms or weight loss… or significant loss of cognitive function before age 70.
GLUTEN-FREE DIET
Virtually all of the above-mentioned symptoms can be prevented by adopting a gluten-free diet — which will allow the small intestine to heal and regain normal function, leading to complete recovery in most cases. The healing process can take from several months in younger patients to several years in older patients who have had the disease for an extended period.
There’s a growing awareness of celiac disease in the food industry, and more and more companies are advertising “gluten-free” products. But many countries (including the US) still don’t require gluten content to be listed on all food labels. To be safe, you’ll need to avoid all foods or food ingredients made from any type of wheat, including farina, graham flour, semolina and durum… barley (including most brands of beer)… rye… bulgur… Kamut… kasha… matzo meal… spelt… triticale… and oats, unless they are gluten free (generally, oats don’t cause symptoms themselves, but they are often contaminated by wheat).
Gluten is also a “hidden” ingredient in many processed foods. Check product labels carefully for the following terms, which, unless the label states otherwise, could indicate gluten…
Stabilizers.
Starch.
Emulsifiers.
Flour or cereal products.
Vegetable protein.
Malt or malt flavoring.
Hydrolyzed vegetable or plant protein.
Be careful when eating soups and gravies, as well, since they may have been thickened with flour containing gluten.
Finally, be wary of anything cooked in a pan or griddle that may have previously been used to cook a food containing gluten, since traces of gluten may end up in your own food. To avoid this, all cooking surfaces, implements and utensils should be thoroughly cleaned with soap and hot water before reusing.
Good news: People with celiac disease can eat a varied, enjoyable diet. Foods that can be eaten include fruits and vegetables, non-breaded meats, fish and poultry… dairy products (as long as no gluten-containing ingredients have been added)… rice and potatoes… and pasta and baked goods made from gluten-free flour, including flour derived from corn, rice, potato, soy, bran or buckwheat.
Note: Some people with celiac disease are lactose intolerant or are allergic to milk protein. But in my experience, if they follow the celiac disease diet, they will eventually be able to include milk in their diets without problems.
Since adopting a gluten-free diet isn’t easy in our wheat-focused culture, doctors will usually recommend meeting with a dietitian to help you get started. In addition, many people with celiac disease find that support groups provide invaluable help and guidance in developing and maintaining a healthful diet. Two excellent national organizations that offer tips on gluten-free shopping and cooking are the Celiac Disease Foundation (www.celiac.org) and the Celiac Sprue Association (www.csaceliacs.org).
Fortunately, it may soon become easier to avoid gluten. The Food and Drug Administration has just proposed allowing companies to voluntarily label certain foods “gluten free.” The label would apply only to foods that have been processed to remove any gluten and would not be used with foods that are naturally gluten free, such as rice or corn products.
Bottom Line/Retirement interviewed Joseph Murray, MD, a gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, http://www.mayoclinic.com. Dr. Murray is involved in celiac disease research.
March 14th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Anonz left this information. He asked me to post it for him should he send me a certain code. Well the guns of Navarone are probably at his head so here it is.
Hello, Michelle and my sweet Lilly.
I know how the journalistic itch in the two of you work. I thought I would send you and article that you could learn from and not get pursued by every Big crook on the planet like I have on my back.
Obviously I think that I have been cornered so I am sending you this. Don’t count me out, I still have a move or two left to thwart check mate.
Start with this article: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/5/16720/74815/703/705113
You will receive the Mafia side on the blog later, so as to keep you safe. It will name names and tell a few stories that could end careers and cost lives. These are billionaire crooks who want to remain anonymous and to continue controlling the wealth of their world.
They have killed and blackmailed for deregulation in other nations. Here they were for sale so they just bought the deregulations that would enable them to skirt preventions that guarded against an entity amassing a vertical and horizontal monopoly of an industry, business, or enterprise, i.e. “becoming too big to be allowed to fail.”
Deregulations of trading markets that got rid of guards against phantom stock manipulations, short selling schemes, anti-trust rules, paying off the feds, removing the up tick rule to allow the big hedge fund managers to manipulate bank stocks to zero.
The sorry truth is that all the players have gotten away with stealing and splitting more than a trillion dollars of the US market investors’ money. And NOBODY is going to go to jail. If President Obama doesn’t put some regulations in place, this will be repeated in 10 to 20 years. It’s just too easy to make a whole lot of money this way.
Anonz
March 14th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
This is ridiculous. The media has been obsessing about President Obama’s plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans—from 35% to 39.6%—even asking if that makes him a socialist.1
But do you know what tax rate the wealthiest Americans paid on the top portion of their earnings at the end of Ronald Reagan’s first term? 50%.
Under Richard Nixon? 70%. Under Dwight Eisenhower? 91%!
Shocking, right?
And for all the whining about rolling back Bush’s irresponsible tax cuts, the truth is that Obama’s plan cuts taxes for 95% of working Americans. Further, it closes huge tax loopholes for oil companies, hedge funds and corporations that ship jobs overseas so that we can invest in the priorities that will get our economy back on track.2
We saw a great chart in The Washington Monthly3 that shows just how absurd Republican complaints about Obama’s budget are. Check it out and pass it on:
Sources:
1. “A socialist? Obama calls back to insist no,” The International Herald Tribune, March 8, 2009 ?2. “Tax Cuts,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009 ?3. “Soaking the Rich (Redux),” The Washington Monthly, March 8, 2009 ?
March 14th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Sorry, I left out the links to my sources. They are:
1. http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/08/america/barack.php
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-tax.html
3. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51234&id=15734-7692656-oIJgRXx&t=2