Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
Dry eyes can cause diminished constrast sensitivity https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16879576/ Maybe use some good eye lubricant and see if your score improves? Desert equals drier eyes. Also I failed an online contest test and then my doc had me do Shoemaker's because she trusted it more. I passed it.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
Can I make a suggestion for the lubricant?
Try to find one without preservative. Some contains thimerosal ( mercury).
Try to find one without preservative. Some contains thimerosal ( mercury).
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AFMCP (IFM November 2017)
FMCA /Bredesen's ReCODE for coaches
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Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
Wow great suggestion Jolicoeur! Had no idea.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
- floramaria
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Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
Thanks, Slacker. I am now reading my just-arrived-in-the-mail copy of “Mold Illness. Surviving and Thriving”. Deceptive title, since really it is about all forms of CIRS. It was recommended by a friend and fellow FMCA student who is definitely dealing with mold issues. If it turns out I have the good fortune of not having CIRS, it will still be good information for me to understand. To further muddy the waters of the VCS test results, my friend said her VCS test showed no abnormality, but her doc did not believe it and her urine test showed a lot of mold toxicity.slacker wrote:
Another possibility is to start with a MSH test, although my understanding from one of Dr Jill Carnahan's YouTube videos is that it can be normal early in the process. MSH typically goes low once TGF beta1 is elevated (not conventional "normal range"; biotoxin experts use different criteria).
As far as cost, I personally have gotten the insurance negotiated LabCorp price on all my labs ordered, which is usually 10% of list price. I pay 100% of this remainder due to my high deductible plan. I highly doubt that these tests would be "covered" by my insurance, given lack of appropriate diagnoses (hypochondria doesn't work!), but perhaps they don't mind me getting the negotiated price.
We are navigating the same trail. Good luck!
To be sure i understand correctly what you wrote about LabCorps, and the insurance negotiated price;
Did you go to LabCorp and negotiate this lower price directly with them? did you ask for the price that an insurnce company would pay? I think getting some tests done for myself...especially at 90% discount sounds great.
I had not considered that the prices might be negotiable. After reading both your posts and Julie G’s, Maybe I’ll get the MSH test and maybe the HLA-DR. BUT maybe I’ll just get my eyes checked first, and also re-take the VCS test.
And keep reading....
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IFM/ Bredesen Training in Reversing Cognitive Decline (March 2017)
ReCODE 2.0 Health Coach with Apollo Health
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- floramaria
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Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
Hi, Julie G,Julie G wrote:I just wanted to say that I completely agree with Slacker's recommendations to get an Alpha-MSH done first. I almost recommended it myself. It's inexpensive and typically covered by insurance. If that's low (by CIRS standards,) you have a better reason to move forward with the HLA-DR/DQ. One other thought, Flora. I wouldn't be too quick to "fix" what isn't broken. If you truly have no symptoms, I'd be very hesitant to do any testing. VCS tests can also indicate the beginnings of cataracts or glaucoma. Maybe an appt. with your eye doctor would be a good first step.
thanks for your ideas.
I had an eye exam this summer, but by an optometrist, not opthamologist. Ruling out eye problems would be a good step. Also agree with “not fixing what isn’t broken” ....in theory. When I took the VCS test, it was just so that I could cross it off my list. Check—no toxicity issues. So I was surprised when the results came back. And concerned.
As for “no” symptoms I have read through the list several times. And i can’t say I really have none. I do sometimes get muscle cramps, but those seem to happen after I try to show off doing Tai Chi . Since I added bedtime magnesium , they seem to have gone. Occasionally I have had tearing even when I neither am sad nor have sunscreen in my eyes. but not regularly.
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Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
I took the lab order from my doctor to Labcorp (preferred lab provider with my medical insurance) without any knowledge of how much it would cost. Some time after the fact (1-2 weeks?), I received an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from my insurance company showing 1) the amount charged by Labcorp, 2) the discount (ie negotiated cost between lab and insurance), and 3) amount due (what I own Labcorp). Until I reach my deductible ($1500/year), I owe the entire amount due. So after going through this process a few times, I calculated that I was typically paying about 10% of amount charged, meaning that the discount negotiated between Labcorp and my insurance was 90% of "list price". This is one of the many benefits of having insurance; you rarely pay the list price for services rendered. OK, 10% sounds great, but still adds up in a hurry! I hope this clarifies what I was attempting to communicate earlier.floramaria wrote:
Thanks, Slacker. I am now reading my just-arrived-in-the-mail copy of “Mold Illness. Surviving and Thriving”. Deceptive title, since really it is about all forms of CIRS. It was recommended by a friend and fellow FMCA student who is definitely dealing with mold issues. If it turns out I have the good fortune of not having CIRS, it will still be good information for me to understand. To further muddy the waters of the VCS test results, my friend said her VCS test showed no abnormality, but her doc did not believe it and her urine test showed a lot of mold toxicity.
To be sure i understand correctly what you wrote about LabCorps, and the insurance negotiated price;
Did you go to LabCorp and negotiate this lower price directly with them? did you ask for the price that an insurnce company would pay? I think getting some tests done for myself...especially at 90% discount sounds great.
I had not considered that the prices might be negotiable. After reading both your posts and Julie G’s, Maybe I’ll get the MSH test and maybe the HLA-DR. BUT maybe I’ll just get my eyes checked first, and also re-take the VCS test.
And keep reading....
I may have mentioned this earlier - I have had 2 "normal" VCS, one in office, and one on line, about a year apart. Also have a low MSH, mildly elevated TGF beta 1, HLA DR/DQ multi susceptibility to biotoxins, and a high ERMI score. Since the evidence pointing towards CIRS outweighs the VCS, I am pursuing finding the cause of CIRS. WooHoo!
Let me know what you think of the Mold Illness: Surviving and Thriving book. And do you know which urine biotoxin test was ordered for your friend?
Slacker
E4/E4
E4/E4
- floramaria
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Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
Hi Slacker, I'll ask my friend about which urine test she had next time she and I talk.slacker wrote: Let me know what you think of the Mold Illness: Surviving and Thriving book. And do you know which urine biotoxin test was ordered for your friend?
As for the book: very informative and intense. I can't imagine doing all the remediation steps they talk about if I were in a home with mold and highly sensitive.
At one point, when discussing building which anyone with mold toxicity issues should avoid, there is a list based on the acronym MOLDY.
M stands for Musty smell.
O stands for Old buildings : "There is an extremely high risk of water damage and growth of microbes in older buildings. It is best to avoid them. The best chance of being safe is with buildings that are between 2 and 12 years old."
My entire adult life i have lived in very old buildings. I've spent 14 year in a house built in 1906, a couple of couple decades in house in NM from the 20's and am right now writing from the oldest of them all, where I have been for most of the past 3 years. This one was built in 1895.
So I can say definitively that I have given myself a great opportunity to develop CIRS.
If I knew I had CIRS, then this book, with its detailed protocols for how to deal with mold would probably convince me that remediation is just too insanely difficult to even try! I'd have to move. and throw away everything in the house. Steps for trying to get a "clean" environment and then keep it free of cross-contamination made me want to crawl into a well-ventilated tent.
This book is directed, I would say, towards people who are very ill and whose sensitivity is so tremendously high that it is difficult for them to avoid exposures that activate symptoms.
I still intend to get tested sometime. But not rushing into it. Right now, I feel better not knowing.
I am not quite ready to move into that tent.
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IFM/ Bredesen Training in Reversing Cognitive Decline (March 2017)
ReCODE 2.0 Health Coach with Apollo Health
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Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
I became aware this week that as part of the smart home movement there are now consumer indoor air quality monitors. Some monitor more things than others. I'm not sure when they say, for example, that one measures VOCs, which VOCs are monitored and which are left out. It might take some digging into product literature to sort out which is monitoring the most of these.
Anyway, these can be linked with air purifiers so that when the monitor spies an excess level of VOCs, particulates, dust and what not, it automatically turns on the air purifier. This is done by plugging the air purifier into another money grabbing gadget that goes between the purifier and the outlet and is connected by bluetooth to the air quality monitor.
Some of these monitors watch temperature and humidity, the point with that being, in part, to help control or prevent mold growth. Interesting i thought! Has anyone investigated these? Here's an overview from earlier this year.
Like all emerging areas this could be one where you could spend money on an early product only to find one a year later that does a lot more.
Anyway, these can be linked with air purifiers so that when the monitor spies an excess level of VOCs, particulates, dust and what not, it automatically turns on the air purifier. This is done by plugging the air purifier into another money grabbing gadget that goes between the purifier and the outlet and is connected by bluetooth to the air quality monitor.
Some of these monitors watch temperature and humidity, the point with that being, in part, to help control or prevent mold growth. Interesting i thought! Has anyone investigated these? Here's an overview from earlier this year.
Like all emerging areas this could be one where you could spend money on an early product only to find one a year later that does a lot more.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
sarahb12 posted this summary of an Okinawan longevity study in this thread. I thought it important to include here because it indicates that Okinawans tend to have a favorable HLA genetic profile that moves their phenotype into the anti-inflammatory zone. To me it's another example (in addition to the Eskimos having a gene that helps them metabolize the fat in their extremely high fat diet) of why we can't assume that a diet working in another culture would work in any given individual just because it's a 'native' diet. The Okinawan diet is high in fermented soy, which may be providing significant hormonal support without having to use supplemental estrogen, and the fermentation would help neutralize inflammatory anti-nutrients. I like the idea of taking less of hormone supplements and seeking more robust hormonal support through diet, but does this food modification work in someone who has a more inflammatory HLA profile? Sadly we don't know, and with my high adiponectin I'm not sure I want to guess that it would.
Do the recommended CIRS HLA tests report on these results that they looked at in the Okinawan centenarian study? I also found this interesting look at the broader genomes of Okinawans. It serves as an example of what happens when a population has been relatively protected from genetic admixture from other populations. I suspect this is true for a number of, if not most of, the Blue Zone populations. It's why I'm cautious about inferring: 1) that just because a diet is a Blue Zone diet it will work for anyone, and 2) that since there are a diverse group of Blue Zone diets leading to good health outcomes, any traditional, unprocessed diet should be healthy. Of course we talk alot here about finding what works for us individually, but I think a huge blind spot in our analyses is not knowing the whole genome ancestral picture unique to each of us and its significance.
Anyway, the main point of my posting this here is to point out that just because a Blue Zone or other population can be healthy into old age on a diet that includes grains and legumes doesn't mean that someone with different genetics can. I'd like to see diet studies broken out by HLA genotypes along with e4.
Do the recommended CIRS HLA tests report on these results that they looked at in the Okinawan centenarian study? I also found this interesting look at the broader genomes of Okinawans. It serves as an example of what happens when a population has been relatively protected from genetic admixture from other populations. I suspect this is true for a number of, if not most of, the Blue Zone populations. It's why I'm cautious about inferring: 1) that just because a diet is a Blue Zone diet it will work for anyone, and 2) that since there are a diverse group of Blue Zone diets leading to good health outcomes, any traditional, unprocessed diet should be healthy. Of course we talk alot here about finding what works for us individually, but I think a huge blind spot in our analyses is not knowing the whole genome ancestral picture unique to each of us and its significance.
Anyway, the main point of my posting this here is to point out that just because a Blue Zone or other population can be healthy into old age on a diet that includes grains and legumes doesn't mean that someone with different genetics can. I'd like to see diet studies broken out by HLA genotypes along with e4.
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ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
Re: Chronic Inflammation as a contributor to Alzheimer’s
An excellent point!!!
Was it on here I read very recently that Mediterranean countries have much lower rates of ApoE4's than northern European countries? Could it be that the Mediterranean 'diet' has little or nothing to do with their better health?
Was it on here I read very recently that Mediterranean countries have much lower rates of ApoE4's than northern European countries? Could it be that the Mediterranean 'diet' has little or nothing to do with their better health?
Apo E4/E4, Male, Age 60