Swine Flu Vaccine Increases The Risk Of Narcolepsy

Children who have been vaccinated against the swine flu strain H1N1, are at increased risk of developing a condition known as narcolepsy, falls within the category of neurological disorders, according to a new study published in the pages of the British Medical Journal. In parallel, as part of this work, experts have found an increased risk of sleep disorders in children, who in 2009 were vaccinated with Pandemrix (a type of swine flu vaccines).

The data are preliminary, but now assurances given by the pharmaceutical companies that flu vaccine "can cause neurological disorders" can reasonably be questioned.

According to official statistics in England was vaccinated about 25% of children under 5 years of age and about 37% of children aged 2 to 15 years. Millions of children have also received these vaccines in mainland Europe. The study found that, depending on the age of the risk of narcolepsy among these children grew to 14-16 times. The younger the child, the vaccine, the more serious it turned out to be harmful to health.

The study has generated wide publicity. Approximately 6 months ago, similar results were obtained in the group of scientists from Finland and Norway, where a large number of children were vaccinated with Pandemrix. However, until recently, the British refused to believe in the statistics provided by the Scandinavian specialists.

However, to date, the evidence, the evidence found is increasing. For several months in the hospital and clinic UK received some 285 children with suspected narcolepsy - a record number that is immediately dubbed this "epidemic".

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder in which the patient experiences a constant drowsiness during the day. People can sleep a lot, but still do not get enough sleep. The disorder can be characterized by a string of symptoms, including sudden relaxation, occurring for no reason. The specific reasons for its development, as well as in most other neurological disorders, remain a mystery to doctors.

Currently Pandemrix is ​​not applicable. However, the magnitude of the consequences of past vaccination experts have yet to be determined. The exact number of children who received these vaccines is unknown.

The Spread Of HIV

Despite the significant progress made in the world in recent years in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV, the number of new cases detected among gay and bisexual men can not be cut. British scientists have found out how, from 2001 to 2010 in England and Wales diagnosed with HIV each year approximately 2,300 men who have sex with members of their sex. Researchers from Cambridge, it says that gays and bisexuals are returned to the practice of "risky sex" do not take precautions to properly during sexual act. The results of study published are in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

In the whole country, according to a recent report by the UK Health Protection Agency, the rate of HIV infection in homosexual and bisexual British men increased from year to year. "Every day about seven gay and bisexual men infected with HIV in the UK" - says Yusef Azad, one of the leaders National Fund for AIDS.

In fact, according to the researchers, the exact number of people ill with HIV each year, it is extremely difficult, as many patients do not seek medical attention immediately, but after many months or even years after infection. Scientists from Cambridge based in the Department of Biostatistics, Medical Research Council were founded upon the immune system of the patient at the time of referral to a doctor to figure out exactly when it was positive. "We found that the number of new cases has remained stable over the decade, there is no signs of its decline, "- said in an interview with BBC, Dr. Daniela De Angelis.

At the same time, the number of gay and bisexual men, every passing HIV testing in clinics in England and Wales rose from 16 to 59,000, the period from infection to the detection of the disease decreased from four years to three, and the number of patients receiving antiretroviral drugs, increased from 69% to 80%. "Men who have sex with men should be tested for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases at least annually, and every three months, if they have unprotected sex with new or casual partners," - said the representative of the Health Protection Agency Dr. Valerie Delpesh.

Results of the study alarmed activists British organisations to prevent the spread of HIV. Sir Nick Partridge, the head of the charity Terrence Higgins Foundation said that spending on promotion of safe sex in the last 10 years in a strongly reduced. It is possible that this is one of the reasons for increase in the number of unprotected sex in gay media, as described in the study, researchers from Cambridge.

Epidemic of obesity in the world can be prevented by limiting the use of sugar

Reducing consumption of sugar has a small but significant effect on body weight adults, according to a study published in the latest issue of British Medical Journal. An effect that could be achieved if the human race time limit sugar intake, it would be enough to stop the global epidemic of obesity - the expert concludes.

Although the benefits from the use of this technique is relatively small (on average, while reducing the consumption of sugar a person will lose 800 grams per year), the results once again allow scientists say that the share of sugar should account for no more than 10% of total energy consumed in the diet.

Excessive amount of sugar in the human diet is associated not only with obesity - it can also lead to the emergence of a higher risk of chronic diseases. In numerous studies recently conducted the relationship between excessive consumption of sugary soft drinks, which always contains a fraction of a horse sugar and the risk of obesity.

As part of the scientific research on the subject, the research team from the University of Otago in New Zealand analysed the results of 71 studies (30 randomised controlled trials and 41 retrospective studies), which traced the relationship between sugar intake and the level of body weight in adults.

As a result, it was found that the decline in consumption of sugar allows other things being equal gradually reduce body weight. In this case, a person can lose weight by 0.8 kg (in the trials that took over 8 months), while even a slight excess of the allowed rate led to the fact that the person gained 0.75 kg of fat mass in the same period of time.

These effects are associated with the features of human metabolism. Our body needs a certain amount of energy or calories, but when we get energy from the sugar, the body is able to delay it as fat reserves. The highest rates of obesity, the study showed not the people that are extracted from sugar confectionery products, and those that have paid too much attention to the sweet soft drinks. According to the findings of researchers is already developing adult obesity by about 40% of this is exactly the kind of product.

How I Stopped My Mother from Being Mean to Me

Alzheimer's World is a wild, sometimes crazy, and backwards place. In Alzheimer's World words from an Alzheimer's patient are often a cry for help. Many times what an Alzheimer's patient says is exactly the opposite of what they mean.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

Does this person look mean to you?

The list of difficult behaviors that Alzheimer's patients express in the mid stage of the disease are long, and sometimes never ending.

I couldn't possibly list all of the mean and nutty behaviors my mother, Dotty, engaged in in those first few years of our life together with Alzheimer's. The list is just to long.

For this article I am going to focus in on one mean behavior: when my mother repeatedly told me to get out, she didn't need me, and she could take care of herself.

How to Get a Dementia Patient to Do What You Want Them to Do

Many of you can probably imagine what it feels like when a person living with dementia tells you - "I don't need you, get out". Or, says something even worse than that.

So there I was. I had dropped out of the world to care for my mother, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Could she have said anything meaner, "I don't need you, get out."

It hurt.

How to Understand the Difference Between Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease

These mean spirited episodes with my mother went on for years before they stopped.

However, I was never deterred by her mean spirited behavior because I made a decision from the very beginning - I am going to put a stop to this.

So I tried everything in the book. I tried being overly nice - didn't work.

I tried being overly positive - didn't work. I tried explaining why she needed my help - didn't work.

I told her if she didn't start accepting my help she would end up in a "home" - that did not work. In fact, it made things much worse.

I tried everything I could think of doing - it did not work.

Finally, I threw the book away and started thinking. And then it happened. I realized something had to change, and that something was me.

Pretty simple huh? Dotty wasn't going to change so it was up to me to change. To change the entire dynamic of our relationship.

Shortly after my realization that I had to change, I invented a new place I first called Dotty's World.

I started asking myself - why? Why does Dotty get so upset? What is happening that is making her upset? Is it me?

Yes, it was me. Okay, we had that out of the way. It was me.

Eventually I changed the name of our new world to Alzheimer's World.

Alzheimer's World was the place I would go to to better understand Dotty, and to better understand me.

At first, I found that it was difficult to change gears and get into AlZheimer's World. So, I actually started taking a giant step to the left when I needed to enter Alzheimer's World. To be honest, I couldn't get there without the step to the left. Just couldn't.

Next, I started taking notes in a spiral notebook. Every time Dotty would get mean I would write down what was happening before these episodes.

One thing stood out. Every time I left Dotty alone, shortly thereafter, she would get mean. "Get out, I don't need you, I can take care of myself".

It became obvious to me that I couldn't leave Dotty alone. I couldn't leave her alone for 30 minutes to go to the store. Or, for any other reason. This is pretty common in mid to later stage Alzheimer's. A person who is deeply forgetful cannot be left alone.

Yes, there were other cataylsts to this mean spirited and often bizarre and crazy behavior.

For example, if I would tell Dotty you can't do that. Or, if I would correct her and try to explain the errors in her thinking. Or, even if I would stop her from doing something.

Once I made it to Alzheimer's World I started looking at the world from Dotty's point of view. I looked at the world from her eyes.

Pretty soon I realized that the things that Dotty would do seemed very normal to her. I just looked at her while she did them and pretty much kept my mouth shut.

Pretty quickly, almost overnight in fact, I accepted that the things Dotty did were normal in Alzheimer's World. So, I stepped to the left to better understand.

Topic - Living in Alzheimer's World

In Alzheimer's World instead of getting all bent out of shape, I found myself marveling at the things Dotty would do. The things that Alzheimer's patients do are often fascinating. After all, their brain works differently that yours and mine. You have to start understanding the brain on Alzheimer's.

Now to my first major point. When Dotty said,

"Get out, I don't need you, I can take care of myself"

that is not what she meant. What she did mean is:

Don't leave me alone, I'm scared, please don't put me away in a home.

Yep, she was scared and, like it or not, I was the one causing the fear when I left her alone.

Simple solution, I stopped leaving her alone.

Once I realized that there was a very different meaning to Dotty's words in Alzheimer's World, I was able to develop better and better solutions to problems.

In this case, I didn't leave Dotty alone. But that is not all that I did. When she said "get out", instead of getting all bent out of shape and reacting back at her, I did the exact opposite. What did I do?

I smiled, walked over to her, put my arm around her, and calmly said, in a clear, low, confident voice,

I'm not going anywhere, we are here together now, and I am going to take care of you.

It took a while, but yes, it finally sunk into her brain.

Alzheimer's World is wild, sometimes crazy, a backwards place. I learned that in Alzheimer's World words from an Alzheimer's patient are often a cry for help. Many times what an Alzheimer's patient says is exactly the opposite of what they mean.

So I started meeting meanness with an equal and opposite reaction - kindness. Kindness, compassion, and understanding.

This is how you learn to cope with Alzheimer's. Understand, cope, communicate.

By the way, Dotty stopped telling me to get out.

In the last few years Doty only told me to "get out" a few times.

I actually laughed when she said it. Not at her, more or less, really laughed at myself.


___________________________________Related Articles

• What is the Difference Between Alzheimer’s and Dementia
• Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Memory Tests)
• What is Alzheimer's Disease?
• Is Alzheimer's World an Irrational Place?
• Communicating in Alzheimer's World
• 10 Symptoms of Early Stage Alzheimer's Disease
• The Seven Stages of Alzheimer's

___________________________________
Bob DeMarco is the Founder and Editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room (ARR). The ARR Knowledge Base contains more than 5,000 articles. Bob lives in Delray Beach, FL.

You are reading original content the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Nutrition And Immunity In Children

Often in first signs of cold parents complain on weak immunity of child imagining badly what signs of illness exactly should cause anxiety. Does your child get diseased with influenza 3 – 4 times a year?

Most likely, in this case there is no need to worry and interfere with process of immunity formation in child. As general strengthening procedures may be recommended cold training of the body, walkings on fresh air and in children over 3 years old taking of natural botanical medicines based on Echinacea juice.

Day regimen
When sleep, rest, exercises, studies, work and food intake occur at one and the same time, then for the body it is easier to turn from one activity to another and there is consumed much less energy. Rhythmic cycle helps the body to effectively recuperate, optimally react on stress and changes, therefore child with an accurate and cozy regimen has more capabilities to meet an attack of bacteria and viruses.

Nutrition
First of all, for adequate development child should consume animal proteins and fats. For cold prevention it is good to eat onion and garlic – natural products containing phytoncides - and also vegetables, fruits and berries of red, orange and green color which do contain great amount of vitamin C.

It is better to avoid flavor enhancer, colorants and synthetic vitamins because they do give an additional load on body systems, provoke allergic reactions and do overload child's immunity because they are taken for a long time without taking into consideration individual needs.

Sugar also overloads immune system, helps to wash away from the body all vitamins and microelements and it would be better to exclude it from baby foods. It is good when meals take place at one and the same time as this helps body to better digest foods.

Children's Immunity

One of most important tasks of all parents is care about strengthening their children's immunity because immunity is the base of human health throughout the whole life from birth to decay.

In order to find out how to develop and strengthen child's body defences it is necessary to know nature and mechanisms of immunity. Immunity is the ability of body to effectively resist the action of foreign microorganisms, for example, viruses and bacteria that cause infectious diseases.

There are two types of immunity:

• specific immunity that develops after past diseases, for example, rubella or measles. This immunity type may be developed for the whole life or for some time depending on the disease.
• non-specific immunity that develops in a baby during pregnancy.

From mother's breast milk child gets antibodies to infectious disease which mother had. It means that child on breast feeding has passive immunity and this is very important in first months of life because in this period proper immune system only starts working. 

Therefore, when mother gets cold she needs to continue to feed child with her breast to give antibodies to baby. WHO recommends to feed baby up to two years or even more. Growth factors presented solely in female milk help baby's immune system develop normally.
 

Bifidus factor and lactoferrin presented in mother's milk do increase healthy bifido and lactic bacteria in bowels and reduce growth of pathogenic flora which strengthens child's immunity and lowers liability to colds. Breast feeding cannot 100% guarantee no diseases, but healthy gastrointestinal tract and calm emotional atmosphere in family lower likelihood of getting sick.

5 Effective Ways to Boost Your Immunity

1. Reduce stress in your life
Stress may have positive effects as it is a kind of training before real run, however excess of stress has negative effects and does great damage to your body. Health experts claim that stress decreases immunity and this makes body vulnerable to diseases. Learn to relax and occupy yourself with things you really like. This would have positive effects on your nervous system.

2. Enjoy regular sex
Remember that sex not only relaxes your body and gives pleasure, it also boosts your immunity. Studies showed that regular sexlife (ideally, with permanent partner) is a key to strong health. Latest study examined the connection between health of middle-aged people and sexual activity. Researchers came to the conclusion that people who lead regular sexlife have significantly better health condition than those who make sex rarely.

3. Smile more, laugh more
Researchers tried to find a connection between body protective functions and laugh. It turned out that those who truly laughed during watching cartoons showed immune functions increase.

4. Lead an active life
Regular exercises and generally physical activity do greatly train heart and persistence, they help to increase protective functions of the body and immunity. Spend 15 minutes each day for making exercises. Ideally, spend one hour three times a week.

5. Take up a family pet
Dog is called man's friend for a reason. Among with other pets dog brings a man joy and does not let him seat at one place but instead to move, thus helping to improve human health. It was proved that in these people blood pressure and cholesterol levels get normalized, heart health and vessels health get improved.