Lesbian couple faces deportation/separation

(AP)  MONTPELIER, Vt. - Frances Herbert and her wife, Takako Ueda, were looking forward to the New Year's Eve family concert at the Baptist Church in their adopted hometown of Dummerston, the town fireworks on the pond and going home to celebrate the arrival of 2012.
But federal immigration authorities have told Ueda she needs to leave the United States for her native Japan by Dec. 31, a move that would split up a couple who have been together more than a decade and married under Vermont law in April.
Herbert, a 51-year-old home care provider, and Ueda, a 56-year-old graphic designer, got letters Dec. 1 from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, telling them that Ueda had to leave the country within 30 days. Ueda's student visa expired in July.
They had applied for "relative alien" status on the basis that she was the spouse of a U.S. citizen, but the federal agency denied that petition.
The letter to Herbert, who had applied to be Ueda's sponsor, said that under the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law saying the government would not recognize same-sex marriages, they couldn't be considered spouses. DOMA defines marriage as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."
"Your spouse is not a person of the opposite sex," wrote Robert Cowan, a U.S. CIS official. "Therefore, under the DOMA, your petition must be denied."
Federal immigration authorities demand extensive documentation showing a binational couple claiming to be married really is: witness statements, property records, utility and other household bills showing both names and the like often are required. Herbert said she and Ueda submitted 600 pages of such evidence with their application.
"It's despicable," Herbert said in an interview. "We had 600 pages of proof and 599 of them were completely ignored. One line on one page" — the one that said they were both women — "is what they paid attention to."
Experts say there are not reliable numbers on how many couples find themselves in a similar situation to that of Herbert and Ueda, but it's believed the number is small. Many binational, same-sex couples don't seek spousal status for fear of being rejected because of DOMA.
Steve Ralls, spokesman for Immigration Equality, a nonprofit legal aid group that works on immigration and sexual orientation issues, said one San Francisco couple remained together despite getting government notices that one of the men, an Australian, needed to leave the country, while a New Jersey man's partner had been deported to Peru.
President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. announced in February that the administration would no longer defend DOMA in court in the cases in which it is being challenged. But until the issue is resolved, executive branch agencies, including those within the Department of Homeland Security, it remains the law of the land.
But Leslie Holmans, second vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers' Association, said that even after getting the types of letters Herbert and Ueda got, some same-sex, binational couples benefit from "prosecutorial discretion" by immigration authorities.
She said many federal prosecutors believe "our systems are so overcrowded that what we really need to be doing is concentrating on people who are a risk to our country. What's happened is that we have seen some same-sex couples go before the immigration court and ask for prosecutorial discretion." Government lawyers often respond by "either dismissing cases or they're not enforcing the notice of deportation."
Holmans said the situation is far from ideal because affected immigrants are left in "legal limbo," still without recognized immigration status and unable to get a job or seek other government benefits.
Scott Titshaw, a professor at Mercer University Law School in Georgia who has practiced immigration law and written articles on DOMA, said Ueda and Herbert most likely shouldn't fear Ueda's imminent arrest but "still have plenty to worry about." He said if Ueda traveled abroad, then she might be barred from re-entering the U.S. With local authorities in some states cracking down on illegal immigrants, Ueda might also want avoid travel to places like Arizona and Alabama, which both have strict immigration laws.
Herbert and Ueda first met as students at Aquinas College in Michigan in 1980 and stayed in touch during the next couple of decades after Ueda returned to Japan and married a man. She said that when Herbert went to visit her in Japan in 1999, she made a big decision. "I had a good marriage, but there was something missing, and that something was Frances." Eight months later, she moved to the United States, and the two had a commitment ceremony in 2000, marrying in 2011.
Both vowed to fight any effort to break them up.
"I'm a really great law obeyer. I grew up in Japan. We follow laws," Ueda said with a laugh. "But I have a very strong feeling, too, that I won't go back to Japan. I don't have a place to live in Japan. My family, my existence, is not there anymore."

Abstract: Diagnosing fibromyalgia

Article:
Development and Testing of the Fibromyalgia Diagnostic Screen for Primary Care

– Source: Journal of Women’s Health, Dec 14, 2011

By Lesley M Arnold, Leslie J Crofford, et al.

[Note: the screen mentioned here apparently refers to the "Arnold Fibromyalgia Diagnostic Screen." A report on multicenter testing of its component questions, presented at the 2011 ACR/ARHP conference in Chicago, is found HERE. We are unsure how it may differ if at all from the “ACR Preliminary Diagnostic Criteria for FM & Measurement of Symptom Severity” published in May 2010.]

Abstract:
Background: The Fibromyalgia Diagnostic Screen* was developed for use by primary care clinicians to assist in the diagnostic evaluation of fibromyalgia, a disorder that predominantly affects women.

Methods: The screen was designed to have a patient-completed questionnaire and a clinician-completed section, which included a brief physical examination pertinent to the differential diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

The items in the questionnaire were based on patient focus groups and clinician and patient Delphi exercises, which resulted in a ranking of the most common and troublesome fibromyalgia symptoms.

One hundred new chronic pain patients (pain more than 30 days) and their primary care physicians completed the screen.

The patients were grouped as fibromyalgia or nonfibromyalgia by an independent fibromyalgia specialist, who was blind to screen responses.

Logistic regression was used to model the probability of fibromyalgia as a function of physician-reported and patient-reported variables.

Best subset regression was used to identify a subset of symptoms that were summed to form a single measure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was then used to select thresholds for continuous variables. The symptom and clinical variables were combined to create candidate prediction rules that were compared in terms of sensitivity and specificity to select the best criterion.

Results: Two final models were selected based on overall accuracy in predicting fibromyalgia: One used the patient-reported questionnaire only, and the other added a subset of the physical examination items to this patient questionnaire.

Conclusion: A patient-reported questionnaire with or without a brief physical examination may improve identification of fibromyalgia patients in primary care settings.

Source:  Journal of Women’s Health, Dec 14, 2011. PMID:22165952, by Arnold LM, Stanford SB, Welge JA, Crofford LJ. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine , Cincinnati, Ohio; University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA. [Email: Lesley.arnold@uc.edu]

Marriage improves gay men's health

Gay men's health improves when their state legalizes same-sex marriage, a new study finds.
The results showed gay and bisexual men in Massachusetts had significant fewer medical- and mental-health-care visits, and lower mental-health-care costs in the year after the state legalized gay marriage, compared with the previous year.

This amounted to a 13-percent reduction in total health-care visits, and a 14-percent reduction in health-care costs for this group. The reductions were similar for partnered and single gay men.

Previous research has shown that excluding lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals from marriage has a stressful impact on this population, according to the study.

There were also reductions in cases of hypertension and depression, according to the study. Both conditions are associated with stress.

The findings suggest that legalizing same-sex marriage could benefit public health "by reducing the occurrence of stress-related health conditions in gay and bisexual men," said study researcher Mark Hatzenbuehler, of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

However, among HIV-positive men, there was no reduction in HIV-related visits, suggesting that those in need of HIV/AIDS care continued to seek needed health-care services, the researchers said.

The researchers surveyed 1,211 patients from a large, community-based health clinic in Massachusetts that focuses on serving these groups.

Because the clinic was in a large metropolitan city, these results may not be generalized among people living in more-rural communities, the researchers said.

The study is published online today (Dec. 15) in the American Journal of Public Health.

Chronic Pain a common child complaint

Chronic pain is usually thought of as a problem affecting adults. But a new study shows that chronic pain is also highly prevalent in children and that more kids today suffer from pain compared to two decades ago.

Researchers in Nova Scotia analyzed data from 41 studies on pain in children published since 1991, which was the last time such an analysis was completed. They found that chronic pain conditions are more common in girls than boys and that pain problems tend to increase with age.

Headache is the most common type of chronic pain in kids, with 23 percent of children age 7 to 18 reporting weekly headaches and 5 percent reporting daily headaches. But abdominal, back and musculoskeletal pain were common, too. Recurrent abdominal pain was reported by 12 percent of children. And, in two studies that looked at back pain, 21 percent of the children reported back pain for at least one month.

Understanding pain patterns in children may alleviate their suffering and help explain how and why adult chronic pain occurs, the authors said.

"(R)esults of this review indicate that persistent and recurrent chronic pain is overwhelmingly prevalent in children and adolescents and should be recognized as a major health concern in this population."
The study appears in the December issue of the journal Pain.

Therapy helps teens with fibromyalgia

Teenagers who are crippled by fibromyalgia may get some relief from behavioural therapy, according to a recent US study.

The researchers found that sufferers of chronic pain could benefit from individual treatment which addressed sleep and behaviour problems that arose from fibromyalgia.

Adults coping with fibromyalgia are often able to rely on painkillers and antidepressants, but there are no medications which are considered safe for children.

Study co-author Susmita Kashikar-Zuck, a paediatrician at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre, said that the recent study was the first major breakthrough in treating fibromyalgia in teenagers.

She said that teens who had fibromyalgia had trouble going to school, going out with friends, and participating in social activities, all of which were important parts of teenage life.

For the study, the researchers divided the 114 teen study subjects into two groups.

Each group was given some form of mentoring, but while one group was simply given information, the other group was given behavioural therapy.

The behavioural therapy group learned how to distract themselves from pain, how to pace activities to avoid feeling overwhelmed, and how to calm themselves during times of anxiety.

In addition to anxiety, chronic pain, and difficulty organising their lives, people who have fibromyalgia often feel tired all the time, have trouble sleeping, feel depressed, and may have irritable bowel syndrome and arthritis.

The researchers wrote that as many as 850,000 children in the US may have chronic widespread pain.

Jeffrey Dvergsten, a paediatric rheumatologist at Duke University School of Medicine, who did not take part in the study, said that doctors were only now coming to understand how fibromyalgia worked.

He said researchers were once under the impression that people were imagining the pain they felt, a belief which had been largely overwritten in the past 20 years.

All of the children demonstrated some form of impairment due to chronic pain, and the researchers used a scale measuring functional disability in order to score each child on a scale of 1 to 30, 30 being the most disabled.

Both groups of children scored 20 on average, but teens who learned behavioural therapy techniques scored 17 on average, after six months of treatment.

Both groups of children also showed slight improvements in mood, although their levels of pain did not change.

Dvergsten said that enough treatments existed so that children who grew up with chronic pain should be able to learn to deal with their disorder by adulthood.

Marijuana, narcotics have "undisputed beneficial effects"

Inhaled marijuana appears to be a safe and effective treatment for chronic pain when used in addition to narcotics like morphine and oxycodone, according to a small UCSF study that is the first to look at the combined effects of the two classes of drugs in humans.

The study, published in this month's edition of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, was designed primarily to look at whether taking marijuana with narcotics is safe, and researchers reported that there were no negative side effects from combining the drugs.

Overall, the 21 men and women in the study reported a roughly 25 percent reduction in pain after inhaling vaporized marijuana several times a day for five days.

If the results can be backed up in further studies, marijuana could prove an important means of augmenting the effects of narcotic drugs for the millions of people who suffer from chronic pain associated with cancer, AIDS and a variety of other conditions, said study author Dr. Donald Abrams, a UCSF professor and chief of the hematology-oncology division at San Francisco General Hospital.
"If we can get funded, we should do a study now with pain as the endpoint" and not just safety, Abrams said.

He added that scientists don't yet understand how, exactly, marijuana and opiates interact in humans, but "our results support that the relationship between cannabis and opiates is synergistic."

Multiple studies of medical marijuana have shown that the drug can be beneficial in treating pain. A drug called Sativex that combines the two main compounds of marijuana - cannabidiol (CBD) and delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - is currently in clinical trials for treatment of pain in cancer patients in the United States, and is already used in Europe and Canada.

Stands to reason

With what's already known about marijuana's pain-relieving effects, it's not surprising that the drug, when used with narcotics, would increase pain relief, said researchers not associated with the new study.

"There's already tons of data on cannabinoid pain relief and opiate pain relief, and it only makes sense that you'd get more pain relief from two drugs instead of one," said Dr. Daniel Nomura, an assistant professor in the nutritional sciences and toxicology department at UC Berkeley.

Abrams himself pointed out that because his study is small, and because all of the patients knew they were inhaling marijuana and therefore could have experienced some pain relief from a "placebo effect," it would be premature to start widely prescribing cannabis to pain patients. Still, the results were promising enough that he intends to attempt a second study to look more closely at pain relief.

But getting another study off the ground will be tough. The bar has been set high for acceptable uses of medical marijuana, Abrams said, and getting money and other resources - notably, the drug itself - to conduct research can be very difficult. Abrams' study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which also supplied the marijuana.

The patients in Abrams' study were taking twice-daily doses of either morphine or oxycodone to treat chronic pain associated with a variety of conditions, such as arthritis, neuropathy, cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Patients stayed at San Francisco General Hospital during the study. They inhaled vaporized marijuana three times a day, for about 10 minutes at time. On the first day of the study, the mean pain score, on a scale of 0 to 100, was 39.6; after five days of marijuana therapy, their mean pain score was 29.1.

Ideal outcome

The hope, Abrams said, is that marijuana could someday be used either in conjunction with narcotics or as a replacement for narcotics to help curb some of the side effects associated with those medications.
Glenn Osaki of Pleasanton, a patient of Abrams who used to take drugs like morphine and oxycodone daily, said he's been off narcotics since July 2010, after he started using medical marijuana to combat pain associated with colon cancer.

"I was out of it most of the time from the opiates," said Osaki, 53. "It was hard having a decent quality of life, and I was just trying to figure out a way to manage my pain."

Medical marijuana has only one side effect he doesn't care for: the high.

"I used to smoke pot when I was a kid, just goofing around," he said. "The stuff nowadays is pretty strong, so that is one thing I don't really like now."

At UC Berkeley, Nomura agrees. He and other biologists are studying ways to tap into the useful effects of cannabis without the drug high that comes with it.

"Obviously medicinal marijuana is still widely used. There are really undisputed beneficial effects," Nomura said. "But in terms of moving forward with drug development, we need to develop safer drugs that don't make you high."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/06/MN9V1M98G6.DTL#ixzz1fui1kNdS

Sleep Problems triple risk of fibromyalgia in women

By Anne Harding
Women plagued by sleep problems have more than triple the risk of developing the pain disorder fibromyalgia compared to their better-rested peers, a new study from Norway suggests.
The more often a woman experienced insomnia and other sleep problems, the more likely she was to have developed fibromyalgia 10 years later, according to the study, the largest to date to follow women who were initially free from chronic pain.

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The findings imply that sleep problems may lead to fibromyalgia, but the researchers say the relationship isn't so clear-cut. Although sleep deprivation has been shown in previous research to increase inflammation and reduce the body's ability to manage pain, experts haven't been able to draw a straight line from sleep difficulties to fibromyalgia.

"Sleep problems are just one factor that may contribute to the development of fibromyalgia," says Paul J. Mork, Ph.D., a study coauthor and a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in Trondheim. "Fibromyalgia is a complex pain syndrome and there are numerous other factors that may contribute to the development of this illness."
Doctors have long been aware of the link between poor sleep and fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain and tender points in the soft tissues. Fibromyalgia patients -- more than 90 percent of whom are women -- nearly always report trouble sleeping, while poor sleep is in turn associated with worse pain. (A 1975 experiment found that depriving healthy volunteers of sleep caused them to develop fibromyalgia-like symptoms.)

"In the clinic we really do see a reciprocal relationship between fibromyalgia and sleep quality," says Lesley Arnold, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. "Pain can affect your sleep; it results in poor sleep for many patients, and that in turn increases the pain and results in the persistence of the problem."

The new study, which was published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism, included 12,350 women age 20 and older who had no fibromyalgia, muscle or bone pain, or other physical impairments when the study began, in the mid-1980s. When the researchers surveyed the women again, in the mid-1990s, roughly 3 percent reported that they had developed fibromyalgia.
At the study's outset, roughly two-thirds of the women said they had no difficulty sleeping. Compared with that group, those who said they "sometimes" had trouble falling asleep or had any sleep disorder during the previous month had double the risk of developing fibromyalgia. The risk was three and a half times greater among those who said they "often or always" had sleep problems.
The link appeared to be especially strong among women age 45 and older. Women in that age group who reported often or always having sleep problems had a more than fivefold increased risk of fibromyalgia compared to sound sleepers, while the corresponding risk among younger women was just three times greater.

The study has some key shortcomings. The researchers relied on the women's own assessment of their sleep problems and fibromyalgia symptoms, as opposed to official diagnoses. And though they took several potentially mitigating factors (such as body mass index, depression, and education levels) into account, they lacked data on anxiety, which has been linked to both sleep problems and fibromyalgia.
Other important factors that weren't measured in the study include menopausal status and a history of physical or psychological trauma, says Carol A. Landis, a professor at the University of Washington School of Nursing, in Seattle. As many as 30 percent to 50 percent of women with fibromyalgia report a history of trauma, Landis says.
Still, "The weight of the evidence really supports the important role of sleep in fibromyalgia," Arnold says. "We don't always understand what the biological mechanisms are underlying that association between sleep and pain, but clearly there's an important connection."

Doctors and patients should be aware of this connection and should address sleep problems -- especially unrefreshing sleep -- to lower the risk of the patient developing chronic pain, Arnold says.
"Sleep problems should be taken seriously," Mork says. "In addition to being a risk factor for fibromyalgia, sleep problems are also associated with increased risk of other chronic diseases," such as heart disease, he adds. "Early detection and proper treatment may therefore reduce the risk of future chronic disease.

Chronic Pain Care for Women Cost Nearly $13 Billion in 2008

Released: 10/20/2011 12:05 PM EDT
Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Newswise — An estimated 12.1 million women age 18 and older reported suffering from chronic pain in 2008 as a result of underlying medical conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis, fibromyalgia and vulvodynia. Of these women, only 8.7 million reported receiving treatment that year at a total cost of $12.9 billion, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Among other findings:
• About 11.2 percent of non-Hispanic white women, 8.3 percent of non-Hispanic black women and 8.2 percent of Hispanic women had one or more of these chronic pain conditions; 8.4 percent, 5.4 percent and 5.5 percent received treatment for them, respectively.
• Of the $12.9 billion in total expenditures, nearly half ($5.7 billion) was spent for treatment in ambulatory settings such as a doctor’s office and another $2.4 billion was spent on prescription medicines.
• Among women age 18 to 64, nearly 15 percent of their medical expenses was paid out of pocket while private insurance paid 68 percent; Medicaid, 10 percent; Medicare, 3 percent; and other sources, 4 percent.
The data in this AHRQ News and Numbers summary are taken from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a detailed source of information on the health services used by Americans, the frequency with which they are used, the cost of those services, and how they are paid. For more information, go to Statistical Brief #342: Health Care Use and Expenditures for Pain Conditions among Women 18 and Older, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2008 (http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st342/stat342.pdf).

Rituximab may treat chronic fatigue syndrome

An anti-cancer drug could hold the key to treating chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Symptoms of the disease eased in 10 of 15 patients given rituximab, an anti-lymphoma drug.

Rituximab works by destroying white blood cells that make antibodies, called B cells. The results of the trial therefore strongly suggest that these white blood cells might be involved in causing CFS – a disorder also known as "yuppie flu" or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and one that has so far defied explanation.

The research was jointly led by Øystein Fluge and Olav Mella at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway. Their team discovered by accident that rituximab might work against CFS after seeing symptoms ease in a patient who had both lymphoma and CFS.

"We think it affects all symptoms [of CFS], so it must touch the central pathological mechanism causing the disease," Fluge says.

Two of the 15 people in the trial appear to have completely recovered since they first received the drug three years ago. "Those two are both back at work," Mella says.

Dramatic results

"It's the most encouraging drug result so far in the history of this disease," according to Charles Shepherd, medical adviser to the UK ME Association. "Although it's a small trial, it's produced dramatic results."

The researchers say that following two doses of the drug being given in the first two weeks of the trial, there was a lag of three to eight months before symptoms began to subside. They say this delayed response tallies with the idea that CFS is caused by autoantibodies – antibodies, made by B cells, that mistakenly attack the body's own tissues.

Rituximab is itself an antibody designed to target and destroy B cells. Mella says that all the B cells are gone within two weeks or so of the treatment, but autoantibodies typically survive in the body for another two or three months. "Washing out these antibodies is the most probable explanation for the time lag in benefits," he says.

The researchers found no trace of XMRV, a mouse leukaemia virus once implicated as a possible cause of CFS. The virus has now been virtually eliminated as a possible cause.

Blind alley

"We looked as hard as we could for it, by several methods, but the search was negative," Fluge says. "We think suggestions it was XMRV [causing CFS] have turned out to be a blind alley, caused by contamination of samples."

Last month, one of the authors of the 2009 paper that implicated XMRV retracted his data from that study after acknowledging that the virus was present through contamination.

"XMRV is dead, a sad and disappointing story that raised a lot of false hopes for patients," says Shepherd. He adds that it is important not to raise hopes again by over-hyping the rituximab results. "We're still a long way from making this drug more widely available, but if someone wants to mount a UK trial, we'd look at that," he said.

Encouraged by the extended remission of two of the people in the trial, the Norwegian researchers are now checking whether further, periodic doses of rituximab could permanently keep the symptoms of CFS at bay. Mella says it is possible that the five who saw no benefits from the trial might have done so eventually if they had received further doses.

Sleep Apnea Tied to Worse Cognition

By Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: August 09, 2011 Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Older women with sleep-disordered breathing are more likely to develop cognitive impairment than those who don't have sleep problems, researchers found. Through nearly five years of follow-up, women 65 and older who had sleep-disordered breathing at baseline had a higher rate of incident mild cognitive impairment or dementia (44.8% versus 31.1%, P=0.02), according to Kristine Yaffe, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues. After adjustment for numerous potential confounders, including baseline cognition, women with sleep-disordered breathing maintained a higher likelihood of cognitive impairment (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.34 to 4.13), the researchers reported in the Aug. 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Given the high prevalence of both sleep-disordered breathing and cognitive impairment among older adults, the possibility of an association between the two conditions, even a modest one, has the potential for a large public health impact," they wrote. These findings and those from related studies, according to Nicola Canessa, PhD, and Luigi Ferini-Strambi, MD, of Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, "suggest that large trials with continuous positive airway pressure treatment in elderly participants with sleep-disordered breathing should be performed." "Moreover," they wrote in an accompanying editorial, "in trials evaluating the effects of pharmacological and nonpharmacological ... interventions on cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, the possible coexistence of sleep-disordered breathing should be considered." Although previous studies have linked sleep-disordered breathing with poor cognition, it had remained unclear whether the sleep problem preceded cognitive decline in older adults, according to the researchers. To explore the issue, they evaluated data on 298 older women (mean age 82) who were free of dementia at baseline and who participated in the sleep and cognition substudy of the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures. All underwent overnight polysomnography in their homes for one night at baseline, which revealed that about one-third (35.2%) had sleep-disordered breathing, defined as 15 or more apnea or hypopnea events per hour of sleep. Through a median follow-up of 4.7 years, 20.1% of the participants developed mild cognitive impairment and 15.8% developed dementia. Women who had sleep-disordered breathing were significantly more likely to develop cognitive impairment during follow-up, after adjustment for age, race, body mass index, education, smoking status, diabetes, hypertension, medication use, and baseline cognition. Although sleep fragmentation and duration were not related to the odds of developing cognitive impairment, two measures of hypoxia -- an elevated oxygen desaturation index and a high percentage of sleep time in apnea or hypopnea -- were associated (ORs 1.98 and 2.32, respectively). "This suggests that hypoxia is a likely mechanism for this relationship, which is supported by recent animal models of chronic hypoxia that demonstrated similar impairments in cognition with possible implications for apolipoprotein E, inflammatory, and regulatory pathways," Yaffe and colleagues wrote. "However," they added, "it is important to note that because cerebral blood flow may be affected in elderly patients, other mechanisms such as hypercapnia could also be involved." They acknowledged that some misclassification of sleep-disordered breathing status was possible because polysomnography was performed on only one night. The study was also limited by the inclusion of mostly white women, which limits the generalizability to other populations, and possible survival bias. The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Institute on Aging (NIA) provided support for the current study. Yaffe is supported in part by a grant from the NIA. One of her co-authors is supported by a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from the NIA. Another study author is supported by an NIA grant. Yaffe reported links with Novartis, Pfizer, Medivation, the National Institute of Mental Health, Beeson Scientific Advisory, NIH, the Alzheimer's Association, the Department of Defense, the American Health Assistance Foundation, Japan Geriatrics Society, Wake Forest University, and the State of California Department of Human Services. Her co-authors reported relationships with the NIH, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Purdue Pharma LP, sanofi-aventis, and Pfizer. Ferini-Strambi reported that he is a board member for Boehringer Ingelheim, UCB-Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, and sanofi-aventis.

Primary source: Journal of the American Medical Association Source reference: Yaffe K, et al "Sleep-disordered breathing, hypoxia, and risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older women" JAMA 2011; 306: 613-619. Additional source: Journal of the American Medical Association Source reference: Canessa N, Ferini-Strambi L "Sleep-disordered breathing and cognitive decline in older adults" JAMA 2011; 306: 654-655.

Stop the inhumane medical marijuana ordinances of Bakersfield California

Stop the inhumane medical marijuana ordinances of Bakersfield California

Problem with subscription by email element

I have become aware that the feature that lets people subscribe to my blog by email is not working.  After trying with feedburner to resolve this issue (unsuccessfully) I have decided to remove the feature from my blog.  I hope those of you will come back and become followers of the blog.  I am dreadfully sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

Generation gap over NY marriages: poll

By ELIAS GROLL | 7/29/11 12:53 PM EDT 

 

Americans are sharply divided over New York’s recent legalization of gay marriage, according to a new poll on Friday that revealed a huge generation gap in how same sex nuptials are viewed.

The Washington Post-ABC News national survey found that voters are divided 50-46 on whether the new law is a positive or negative development.

Among those under 30, supporters outnumber those who view the law unfavorably by a 2-1 margin. But among seniors, 6 in 10 say the law is bad news. 

 

When broken down along religious lines, Friday’s poll presents a more complicated picture of Americans’ feelings on same-sex marriage.

Within the white Protestant community there exists a strong divide between the evangelical and non-evangelical branches of the religion. While evangelicals view the law new negatively by a 75-21 margin, non-evangelicals support the measure by a 63-24 margin.

Catholics are broadly supportive of the measure, with nearly 60 percent saying they view the new law favorably, although support drops off among those who attend church less frequently.

Information about Jews’ attitudes wasn’t included in the poll.

According to Friday’s poll, there is also a strong partisan divide regarding the measure. Nearly three quarters of liberal Democrats view the new law positively, while conservative Republicans see gay marriage in New York negatively by a 71-26 margin.

Moderates and independents back the law by a 54-41 margin.

Within the Republican party, opinions on the new law are split between those who identify with the Tea Party and more moderate Republicans. While 7 in 10 Tea Partiers say they oppose New York’s gay marriage law, less than half of non-Tea Party Republicans, 45 percent, say they view it in a negative light.

Support for same-sex marriage has generally been growing over the past decade. According to the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of Americans opposed same-sex marriage in 2001. A decade later, Pew reported that Americans were closely split on the issue, 46-45 percent, between those who oppose and support.

The approval of same-sex marriage in New York was seen by gay rights activists as a historic victory and made the state the sixth and largest to allow gays and lesbians to marry.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/60226.html#ixzz1TXXJBVnS

Tea Party holds Republicans hostage to ideology

Well, the Tea Party's influence has caused a major upset in congress, and this is only the beginning of their meddling insanity.  I hope the ideologues who voted them into office are happy, because the rest of the country is not.  Please let your legislators know that you are unhappy with the way things are going.  The U.S. can't operate without the ability to compromise in a fair and balanced way.

Wealth Gap Between Minorities and White Americans Doubles After Housing Crisis, Recession

Wealth Gap Between Minorities and White Americans Doubles After Housing Crisis, Recession

Kill the Gays bill on fast-track in Uganda

Uganda’s infamous Kill The Gays bill is back and is being fast-​tracked through Parliament. The Anti-​Homosexuality Bill, or AHB, which prescribes the death penalty for being gay, was far from dead itself, and was never “shelved,” as many in the media werre falsely reporting. Rather, the Uganda Parliament merely ran out of time to debate and vote on it.

Now, with a new Parliament in session, the bill, which calls for the death penalty for the “crime” of being gay or HIV-​positive, and prison sentences for friends, family, co-​workers, and acquaintances who believe someone is homosexual but does not immediately report them to authorities, may be voted on “by the end of August,” according to Uganda expert Warren Throckmorton.

“I spoke yesterday with Ugandan MP Hon. Otto Odonga who told me that the Parliament will bring back the Anti-​Homosexuality Bill soon, perhaps ‘by the end of August’,” writes Throckmorton today. “Although the re-​introduction of the antigay bill had been expected, Odonga said the bill is ‘back from the perspective of the new parliament starting from where the last parliament ended’.”

Uganda, a staunchly conservative and Christian East African country, ranks number 143 of 169 countries in the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index, which examines a combination of health, education, and living standards. Uganda is also considered to have a high number of people who are illiterate, especially women. All these factors lead to a population easily indoctrinated into religious extremism.

Just months ago, it was hoped that worldwide outcry from nearly two million individuals who signed online petitions and contacted Ugandan embassies, as well as from governments around the world, including the U.K., and United States — which contributes a large portion of Uganda’s annual operating budget through various foreign aid entities — may have had the desired effect of convincing Uganda to permanently end its pursuit of a Kill The Gays bill. Sadly, it appears not.

Mayo Clinic's migraine page

Lots of good information, an online community feature, and a weekly newsletter.

Migraine - MayoClinic.com

Romney, Obama, Religion & 2012

Only 4-in-10 Americans correctly identify Republican presidential candidate Governor Mitt Romney as Mormon, the July PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey finds. The survey, which was conducted in partnership with Religion News Service, also finds that President Obama has his own religious identifications problems: only 38% correctly identify Obama as Christian, and 18% continue to wrongly say he is Muslim.

While it's too early to gauge the full impact Romney's religious identity will have on the election, there are suggestive patterns. Among all Americans, Romney currently trails President Barack Obama in a head-to-head matchup by eight points (44% vs. 36%). However, among the nearly half of Americans (46%) who say Mormons hold religious beliefs that are different from their own, Romney trails Obama by 21 points (49% vs. 28%). 

Because views about religious differences are tied to political support, Romney will need to continue to address these perceptions as Americans learn more about him during the campaign. 

 

To read more about the July PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey, including the topline results, questionnaire and methodology, click here: http://bit.ly/JulyRNS

To read the Religion News Service story about the poll, click here.

The Fibromyalgia Research Blog: Changes in Hippocampal Metabolites After Effective Fibromyalgia Treatment

The Fibromyalgia Research Blog: Changes in Hippocampal Metabolites After Effective Fibromyalgia Treatment

My Pain Life: Another Study Showing Decreased Gray Matter in the...

My Pain Life: Another Study Showing Decreased Gray Matter in the...: "In their study findings, titled Decreased Gray Matter Volumes in the Cingulo-Frontal Cortex and the Amygdala in Patients With Fibromyalgia ..."

Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh sued for $100,000 in child support - Chicago Sun-Times

Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh sued for $100,000 in child support - Chicago Sun-Times

People in Affluent Nations More Depression Prone

(Health.com) -- Affluent countries, including the U.S., tend to have higher rates of depression than lower-income nations such as Mexico, a new study from World Health Organization researchers suggests.

In face-to-face interviews, teams of researchers surveyed nationally representative samples of people in 18 countries on five continents -- nearly 90,000 people in all -- and assessed their history of depression using a standardized list of nine criteria.

In addition to looking at personal characteristics such as age and relationship status, the researchers divided the countries into high- and middle-to-low income groups according to average household earnings.

Health.com: The 10 most depressing states in the U.S.
 
The proportion of people who have ever had an episode of clinical depression in their lifetime is 15% in the high-income nations and 11% in lower-income countries, the study estimates.

France (21%) and the United States (19%) had the highest rates, while China (6.5%) and Mexico (8%) had the lowest.

It's not clear what accounts for this pattern, says Evelyn Bromet, Ph.D., the lead author of the study and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, New York. But she stresses that wealth -- and happiness -- are relative concepts.

"Wherever you are, there's always people doing better than you," Bromet says. "You'd think that countries that are better off should have lower rates [of depression], but just because they have a high income doesn't mean there isn't a lot of stress in the environment."

Health.com: 10 careers with high rates of depression

Moreover, she adds, the richest countries in the world also tend to have the greatest levels of income inequality, which has been linked to higher rates of depression as well as many other chronic diseases.
The income-related trends did not hold for all measures of depression, however. When Bromet and her colleagues looked only at episodes of depression that occurred in the previous year, the rate was nearly identical in higher- and lower-income countries, about 6%. (Here again, though, the U.S. came out close to the top: Its 8% rate was second only to Brazil's 10%.)

This may reflect actual differences in depression rates, but it could also be that people in poorer countries are for some reason less likely to recall or relate episodes of depression from their past, the authors say.

Health.com: How to avoid depression relapse
 
Comparing depression rates across different countries is inherently challenging, because survey participants may be influenced by cultural norms or their interactions with the interviewer, says Timothy Classen, Ph.D., an assistant professor of economics at Loyola University Chicago who has studied the link between economics and suicide.

"There are significant disparities across countries in terms of the availability and social acceptance of mental health care for depression," says Classen, noting that there tends to be more stigma surrounding depression in a country like Japan than in the U.S. (Classen says this may explain why Japan has a higher suicide rate, even though its depression rates in the study were three to four times lower than those in the U.S.)

Health.com: European suicides spiked during economic crisis

Different age groups appeared to fare better than others depending on a country's level of affluence. For instance, older adults in high-income countries generally had lower rates of depression than their younger counterparts, while the trend was reversed in several poorer countries.

In a country like the Ukraine, Bromet says, older people "have enormous pressure on them and they don't have enough money to live and take care of grandchildren and health problems. Their lives are extremely difficult relative to older people in this country."

Bromet says the study findings can help countries identify their own high-risk populations, whether it's older adults in Ukraine or young divorced women in Japan.

"I hope people in these countries will start thinking about social and medical support for these groups in particular, and what they can do to prevent depression in the future," she says.

The study, which was published today in the journal BMC Medicine, is part of the WHO's Mental Health Survey Initiative.

Government organizations (including the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health), charitable foundations, and pharmaceutical companies across the world have all helped finance the initiative, but the funders played no role in the data collection, analysis, or publication.

Genetic fibromyalgia subgroup with higher BMI & inflammation identified - UT San Antonio

Genetic fibromyalgia subgroup with higher BMI & inflammation identified - UT San Antonio

LGBT Employees Still Facing Discrimination at Work

Posted by Bianca Phillips on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 3:33 PM

One in four LGBT employees have reported discrimination at work in the past five years, and one in three are not out at work, according to a study released today by UCLA's Williams Institute.

Data for the study has been collected since 2005 and includes new data from the 2008 General Social Survey (GSS), a national probability survey representative of the U.S. population. Among the lesbian, gay, and bisexual respondents (transgender respondents were not mentioned), 42 percent said they'd experienced employment discrimination at some point in their lives. Twenty-seven percent experienced employment discrimination in the five years before the survey.

Not surprisingly, the survey also found that employees who were out at work were more likely to experience discrimination at the office.

My Pain Life: The Stigma around aging and chronic pain

My Pain Life: The Stigma around aging and chronic pain: "'Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself.' - Physician and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Richard W. Bes..."

My Pain Life: Chronic Pain In Homeless Managed By Using Street D...

My Pain Life: Chronic Pain In Homeless Managed By Using Street D...: "Posted by Emily Jacobson on July 22, 2011 1:16 PM Chronic pain is managed particularly poo..."

Ghana official threatens to lynch gays amid homophobic frenzy

Ghana Officials Threaten To Lynch LGBT In The Country

From Instinct Magazine
Written by Jonathan Higbee | Thursday, 21 July 2011
Not wanting its murderous homophobia to be out-shined by Africa sister nations like Uganda, leaders in Ghana have revved up their anti-gay policies, with one leader even calling for the lynching of homosexuals in the country. Details follow. Ghana MP David Tetteh, a senior member of the nation's parliament, wrote: "So I am sending a sign to these people that they will not have it easy in this country. They can leave here and go to other places to practice that. But in this country, I believe that they are treading on dangerous grounds and they could face lynching in future" he noted. The Legislator said issues of human rights cannot justify the practice of homosexuality in Ghana, which he according to him, could incur the wrath of God on a “God-fearing nation” like Ghana. Also, reports David Mixner, the country's Western Minister has already ordered authorities to immediately arrest every LGBT person in his jurisdiction (so, will they be arresting babies and children?!). Western Region Minister Paul Evans Aidoo has tasked the Bureau of National Investigations and all security agencies to smoke out persons suspected to be engaging in same sex. He also enlisted the services of landlords and tenants to provide reliable information which will lead to the arrest of homosexuals. The Western Region has been a beehive of activities linked with homosexuality. A recent media report claimed the Western and Central Regions together have a total of about 8,000 homosexuals and lesbians. That report sparked a series of religious demonstrations with the Moslem and Christian communities in the region hitting the streets to protest what they claim is an ungodly and demonic act. A lynch mob is literally heading for every LGBT citizen in Ghana.

Suffering from chronic pain from RSD/CRPS? This meeting is for you. - dailypress.com

Suffering from chronic pain from RSD/CRPS? This meeting is for you. - dailypress.com

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

This came from Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, but it is good information.

This morning, a group of public servants showed up to work at a brand-new agency created to protect everyday Americans from the abuses of Wall Street.

They're the folks of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and they'll be the cops on the beat protecting consumers from predatory credit card and mortgage lenders, bait-and-switch creditors, and anyone trying to make a quick buck by deceiving or manipulating Americans who are just trying to secure their financial future.

Many Americans don't know it, but this bureau is just one part of a sweeping Wall Street reform law -- the most pro-consumer and pro-taxpayer reform of our financial system since the Great Depression -- that President Obama signed a year ago today.

Watch this video to get a quick overview of the law, and a briefing on the special interests trying to undermine it:

Whether you watch the video or not, please share this email with someone.

It's important that everyone knows what this law means for all of us. Simpler mortgages. Clearer credit card rates, fees, and rules. Fairer loan terms. It's based on the simple idea that if you make sure that people get clear information, they'll make the financial decisions that work best for them.

And we can all rest a little easier knowing that our common financial future is more protected from the irresponsibility of a few. This law made structural reforms to ensure that the financial crisis we experienced in 2008 never happens again and that taxpayers aren't on the hook to pay for Wall Street's risky bets.

It's up to you to make sure more people know about this. Most Americans don't have all the details on how this law is working for them, and it's our job to change that.

Take a look, and be sure to pass this one on:

http://my.barackobama.com/Wall-Street-Reform

Amazingly, each and every Presidential candidate on the other side opposes this law.

And the same opposition that tried to block it more than a year ago is still alive and well.

Right now, lobbyists are at work trying to weaken the tough regulations this law imposes.

That's no accident -- its provisions are designed to rein in the Wall Street, credit card, and mortgage banking interests these people represent.

As we know, there aren't a whole lot of high-powered lobbyists in Washington looking out for the common good of everyday families.

That's exactly why this law is necessary, and why our growing organization in all 50 states is so important. It's up to us to make sure our friends and neighbors know about it. Watch our video about Wall Street reform today -- and then pass it on:

http://my.barackobama.com/Wall-Street-Reform

Study details fibromyalgia’s double burden (pain & others’ doubt)

Study details fibromyalgia’s double burden (pain & others’ doubt)

To work or not to work?

By Adrienne Dellwo, About.com Guide   July 20, 2011

Q:"I have watched my ability to do my job, e.g. getting projects done, responding to emails, working with people, answering very technical questions, going down the tubes. But I am very stubborn and persevere, trying to work harder in order to meet the requirements of my job. ... The frequency of bad days is increasing, creating the need to "push on through" and then working harder on the good days, thus triggering some more bad days. (By way of example, it has taken 30 minutes to write this email when it should have taken only 5 minutes.)


"So, when is it time to hang it up and go on disability? Do you just keep trying until you have completely failed and are fired? Do you struggle on until someone hits you in the head with the proverbial 2x4?" - Pete

A: That's a tough question for many of us with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and one I wrestled with myself. I was like you and tried to just keep pushing myself, which of course didn't do my health any favors.

Two things combined to make me see that it was time to quit:

• I realized my job was getting everything and I had nothing left for my children (who were 2 & 5);
• I realized I was probably going to lose my job sooner or later because I was missing a lot of time and I was barely competent anymore, thanks to brain fog.

Some things to consider include: Are any positions available that would be lighter duty or fewer hours? Could a change in hours or other reasonable accommodation help you keep working?

If you do opt to file for disability, remember that you can file while you're still working - which is a good thing, since it can take years to navigate the system.

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide!

Clinical trials website

For those of you interested in taking part in clinical trials, there is a website where you can register (it's free) and search for clinical trials you may be interested in.  You can find the website here.

My Pain Life: Marijuana trial shows modest pain relief for smoke...

My Pain Life: Marijuana trial shows modest pain relief for smoke...: "In a small study, people who had chronic pain as a result of damage to the nervous system reported feeling less pain, as well as less dep..."

My Pain Life: Is marijuana effective for pain management?

My Pain Life: Is marijuana effective for pain management?: "There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that marijuana can relieve pain. I have not tried this, but have heard from friends that it works for ..."

My Pain Life: Biological link between pain and fatigue

My Pain Life: Biological link between pain and fatigue: "http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407153037.htm"

Epiducer from St Jude receives FDA approval

Medical devices major St. Jude (STJ - Analyst Report) won the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for its Epiducer lead delivery system.

This unique system has been geared for neurostimulation therapy (stimulation of the spinal cord by electrical impulses) for managing chronic pain. The Minnesota-based company has begun a limited market launch of the system.  

The Epiducer system was designed to reduce procedural complexities and improve efficiency in placing neurostimulation leads used in spinal cord stimulation (“SCS”) therapy for the management of chronic pain. This first-of-its-kind system enables physicians to place multiple neurostimulation leads through a single incision, allowing them to perform simpler, less invasive procedures. Earlier, the placement of multiple leads required several small incisions. 

Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that affects roughly 116 million adults in the U.S., according to Institute of Medicine (“IOM”) of the National Academies. The annual cost associated with this condition has been estimated at $100 billion. Chronic pain, which is long lasting or recurring, is common in several back and spine conditions and is often misdiagnosed. Poor prognosis of chronic back/spinal pain typically leads to treatment failure.   

SCS, an implantable neurostimulation therapy, has a proven track record in providing pain relief to patients and is primarily used for chronic pain management when physical and/or drug therapies are ineffective. Mild electrical impulses are delivered to the spinal cord that interrupts pain signal transmission to the brain, thereby offering relief.

The Epiducer system is the latest addition to St. Jude’s neurostimulation product portfolio which includes the Eon Mini SCS system, the world’s smallest, longest-lasting rechargeable neurostimulator. It is already marketed in Europe, Australia and Canada and is well received by the physicians.

St. Jude’s Neuromodulation unit, which was formed through its acquisition of Advanced Neuromodulation Systems in November 2005, offers various neurostimulation systems. The company is one of the three major neurostimulation devices makers along with Medtronic (MDT - Analyst Report) and Boston Scientific (BSX - Analyst Report). More than 75,000 patients across 40 countries have been implanted with St. Jude’s neurostimulation devices. We are currently Neutral on St. Jude, which is in tandem with a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold).

Read the full analyst report on STJ

Read the full analyst report on BSX

Read the full analyst report on MDT

The 48-Hour Recovery Period in Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

By Adrienne Dellwo

Have you ever noticed it takes you a couple of days to recover from a stressful event or over exertion? A 48-hour recovery period is one of the few consistent features of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

We don't yet know why we need 2 days to recover from ... well, just about anything, but a lot of chronic fatigue syndrome research is focusing on post-exertional malaise -- the intensified fatigue and flare of other symptoms following exercise. Several research groups have identified genetic and blood abnormalities following exercise.

What we do know about this recovery period is that we're stuck with it. For me, it means taking it really easy for a couple days after anything big -- a holiday, a vacation, or an unexpected stressful event.
I first learned about this issue about 8 or 9 months into fibromyalgia. I was still working as a TV news producer, which means I was running a live show at the end of every workday. That's a stressful event even on the calmest of days, and days were rarely calm. I knew my symptoms got worse throughout the work-week and then improved markedly by Sunday evening, but that just seemed logical. Wouldn't that happen to anyone who was sick?

Then I noticed that non-work stressors made me feel awful for about 2 days. My kids were little then -- as in toddler and preschool ages -- so I had plenty of stress at home, too! I remember my 18-month-old daughter finding some paint cans and stacking them like blocks, only to have one fall down and come open, right on the carpet. Adrenaline kicked in, I fought panic and started trying to clean it up. My husband came home before long, fortunately, because the surge of stress hormones did me in fast. Pain was ricocheting around my body like crazy, I was dizzy, and I started to become disoriented. I could barely form a sentence by the time I got to the couch and laid down.

That was on a Sunday afternoon. I was incapacitated until about Tuesday evening and called in sick to work for both days. Wednesday morning I felt pretty good, and while I didn't feel great that Friday, it was by far the best Friday I'd had in months.

It hit me. I'd given myself time to recover from Sunday's stress, so I was at my "normal" on Wednesday. In a typical week, I'd still have been recovering from Monday's stress, compounded by Tuesday's. I then began to see how pushing ahead all week made me unable to recover adequately before I was right back at work. The need for rest and recovery piled up each day, and I was calling in sick -- especially late in the week -- more and more.

Once I left that job to work from home I started being careful about the 48-hour rule and realized that this recovery time was essential for me to remain functional. It doesn't mean coming to a complete halt (at least, not always), but it does mean taking it extra easy physically and avoiding stress as much as possible (I still have kids, after all!) Even with my symptoms largely in remission, if I don't give myself 2 recovery days when I need them, I pay.

Air conditioning, Finally!

We haven't had air conditioning at all this summer, so I am pleased as punch that the service person will be coming this weekend to fix it.  A week of 100 degree plus days was just awful without any cooling other than fans.

We were lying around with wet washcloths on our heads and other things such as that in an effort to keep from getting heat exhaustion.  Fibromyalgia, or mine anyway, doesn't seem to take well to the heat, or to cold for that matter.

I'm glad we will be basking in the cool of the AC by next week.

From Mother Jones, "It's the inequality, stupid."

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

Life, such as it is, goes on

Last week I was troubled by some chest pains.  On Friday evening, my wife and daughter convinced me to go to the urgent care and make sure the chest pains were not heart related.  I ended up in the hospital and had an angiogram done.  I was released from the hospital Saturday at 11 pm with a clean bill of cardiac health.  The doctor said the chest pains were most likely "anxiety-related."

It was a real bummer, because I had planned on going to a party Sunday evening and seeing some friends from school.  After the angiogram I was very sore in my groin area and just didn't feel up to the party.  I haven't received the hospital or ambulance bill yet.  Yes, I was forced to ride in an ambulance from urgent care to the hospital.  Those bills will soon be coming in the mail, I'm sure.

The good news is that the angiogram showed I have no plaque in my arteries and my heart has fully recovered from a heart attack I had about 10 years ago.  Good as new the doc said.  I am quite pleased about this, because I have a strong family history of heart disease and high cholesterol.  Having been a vegetarian for the past 10 years has helped I'm sure.

Things are still breaking down around the house, but I don't feel quite so helpless at the moment.  I think I'll tackle the ceiling fan in the kitchen myself in the next few days.

Home ownership and costly repairs

I really don't think we can afford to own our own home.  Our mortgage isn't all that much, compared to most, but the cost of repairs and upkeep on our old house is really getting to us financially.  Just today I found out that a gas leak is going to cost us over $1300 to repair, and the washing machine cost $150 for a new pump.  It seems like everything in the house is breaking down one thing right after another.  I don't know what to do.  I remember the days when I could do most home repairs on my own, with just the help of my wife.  Now I can barely make it from the living room to the bathroom some days.

I guess I should be thankful I'm mostly feeling better the past week.  Hopefully, this trend will continue, and things will start looking up.  If I was able to work and make money to pay for some of these things it wouldn't take such a toll on us, but my contribution to the household finances is a measly social security disability check.  Come on lotto, cut me a break!

FMS survey shows effects on daily life

Fibromyalgia Pain Takes Toll on Everyday Life

Work, Relationships, Parenting Affected by the Chronic Pain Disorder, Survey Shows

By Bill Hendrick

WebMD Health News

 

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

 

May 13, 2011 -- Fibromyalgia affects relationships, parenting duties, and life decisions of people afflicted with the chronic pain disorder, a new survey finds.

Fibromyalgia is characterized by widespread muscle tenderness and pain, fatigue, and sleep problems. The cause is unclear, but abnormalities in the way the body responds to and processes pain may play a role.

An online survey, completed by 2,559 people diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 459 people with undiagnosed chronic pain conditions, suggests chronic pain causes significant changes in the way people live their lives.

A Visual Guide to Fibromyalgia

Survey Findings

Among key findings:

• 92% say the condition has had a major effect on life decisions, including whether to remain in a relationship, start a new one, or change jobs. Ninety-five percent of the 650 respondents with children under 18 say their pain affects parenting duties, making it difficult to manage their kids’ schedules and enjoy their kids’ milestones. They also say the illness makes it more difficult to manage the household.
• Less specifically, 68% say their pain limits their ability to care for their family.
• 98% of respondents say they have compensated for or attempted to compensate for their pain by changing their daily routine to make life easier or more bearable.
• The three top concerns of the 450 people who said the disorder affected their decision to have children were: 62% worried about caring for a child, 53% wondered about their ability to go through childbirth, and 49% had fears about loss of more sleep after having a baby.
• 75% had visited a health care provider about their chronic pain because they felt they weren’t able to function at work to their best capacity.

Diagnosis Sometimes Takes Years

“It took two long, painful years and countless doctor visits before I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but our survey respondents had an even lengthier process -- their average time to receive a diagnosis was three years,” Lynne Matallana, MS, president and founder of the NFA, says in a news release.

She says her diagnosis has allowed her to work toward managing her pain more effectively, and that researchers hope that enhanced awareness and education will make it easier for people in the future.
Micke Brown, RN, of the American Pain Foundation, says in the news release that she has witnessed first-hand through her clinical work the impact that fibromyalgia and chronic pain conditions have on everyday activities that others take for granted, “such as holding your child, walking your dog, or cooking a family meal.”

Greater Awareness of Fibromyalgia

Brown, past president for the American Society for Pain Management Nursing, says she believes a greater awareness of the problems caused by fibromyalgia “will empower others to advocate for their health, talk frankly with their health care providers, and speak out about their right to receive timely and appropriate pain care.”

The survey was conducted by Synovate Healthcare in March 2011 and developed by the National Fibromyalgia Association, the American Pain Foundation, and Pfizer Inc. Most of the survey participants were female (91%) and the average age was 51.

Missing my daughter

My daughter moved in with us a few weeks ago, and I have enjoyed having her here immensely.  She has gone to visit a friend for a few days, and I have found myself missing her greatly.  I'll be glad when she gets back.

Brain Fog or Sleeping Brains

Has brain fog ever made you feel like your brain just "shut off" or "went to sleep" for a bit? New research on sleep-deprived brains suggests that could be exactly what's happening.

Sleep is abnormal and non-restorative in both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, which has lead many researchers to believe that long-term sleep deprivation is central to the illnesses.

Now, in research on rats, scientists have shown for the first time that after sleep deprivation, parts of the brain can briefly behave as if they are asleep. They linked these "outages" to reduced performance in tests.

Indications for Brain Fog
This finding is a long way from saying that the brains of humans with sleep deprivation do the same thing, and even farther from applying it to specific conditions. I have to say, though, that I'd put money on something like this happening in us.

During episodes of brain fog, I've blanked out a few seconds of conversation, several minutes of a television show, and, once, the entire rush-hour drive home (which, in retrospect, was terrifying!)

It's not like I'm simply distracted by something, either. It's like part of my brain turns off for a few seconds. I don't hear anything, or record anything to memory. It's like a blank spot on a tape.

Our brains are complex and different areas are highly interconnected. Very few activities involve only one area. Having random areas briefly go to sleep could explain a lot about how brain fog works. Communication takes up a lot of the brain, so it makes sense that we'd have problems if one of these areas dozed off for a few seconds while we were talking.

What do you think -- does this sound like a likely clue to brain fog? Does it sometimes seem like part of your brain is asleep on the job? Leave your comments below!

Books by Joanna Russ

RIP Joanna Russ

Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny. She is best known for The Female Man, a novel combining utopian fiction and satire. It used the device of parallel worlds to consider the ways that different societies might produce very different versions of the same person, and how all might interact and respond to sexism.

Background

Russ was born in New York City^[1] to teachers Evarett I. and Bertha Zinner Russis. She began creating works of fiction at a very early age. Over the following years she filled countless notebooks with stories, poems, comics and illustrations, often hand-binding the material with thread.^[2]

Russ graduated from Cornell University, where she studied with Vladimir Nabokov^[3] in 1957, and received her MFA from the Yale Drama School in 1960. After teaching at several universities, including Cornell, she became a full professor at the University of Washington.^[4]

Science fiction

Russ came to be noticed in the science fiction world in the late 1960s, ^[5] in particular for her award-nominated novel Picnic on Paradise.^[6] At the time, SF was a field dominated by male authors, writing for a predominantly male audience, but women were starting to enter the field in larger numbers.^[5] Russ, who became openly lesbian^[7] later in life, was one of the most outspoken authors to challenge male dominance of the field, and is generally regarded as one of the leading feminist science fiction scholars and writers.^[5] She was also one of the first major science fiction writers to take slash fiction and its cultural and literary implications seriously.^[8]

Along with her work as a writer of prose fiction, Russ was also a playwright, essayist, and author of nonfiction works such as the essay collection Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans & Perverts and the book-length study of modern feminism, What Are We Fighting For?. For nearly fifteen years she was an influential (if intermittent) review columnist for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.^[9]

Russ won a 1972 Nebula Award for her short story "When It Changed" and a 1983 Hugo Award for her novella "Souls." Her work is widely taught in courses on science fiction and feminism throughout the English speaking world. Her fiction has been nominated for nine Nebula and three Hugo Awards, and her genre-related scholarly work was recognized with a Pilgrim Award in 1988.^[6] Her story "The Autobiography of My Mother" was one of the 1977 O. Henry Prize stories.^[10]

Russ is the subject of Farah Mendlesohn's book On Joanna Russ and Jeanne Cortiel's Demand My Writing: Joanna Russ, Feminism, Science Fiction.^[10] Russ and her work are prominently featured in Sarah LeFanu's Chinks in the World Machine: Feminism and Science Fiction (1988).

Health problems

In her later life she published little, largely due to chronic back pain and chronic fatigue syndrome.^[11]
On April 27 2011, it was reported that Russ had been admitted to a hospice after suffering a series of strokes. Samuel R. Delany was quoted as saying that Russ was “slipping away” and had long had a “Do Not Resuscitate” order on file.^[12] She died early in the morning on April 29, 2011.

There can be hope with fibromyalgia

Marilynn Graham has embarked on her second decade living with fibromyalgia — a serious but mysterious medical syndrome that once flattened her with migrating pain, deep fatigue and brain fog.
"I know what it feels like being in so much misery you want to die," she says. But now she has been symptom-free since 2004 and feels "wonderful."

The provincial civil servant is not cured — there is no cure — but she attributes her current good health to trial and error of techniques to minimize the pain and stress and maximize life balance and sleep. And another crucial component: the courage to unload the emotional baggage that had weighed down her body, mind and spirit for decades.
           
"If it works, I don't care what it is," says the 55-year-old, who cites everything from weekly massage therapy to prescribed heavy doses of the anti-depressant amitriptyline. She also cuts out sugar, caffeine and alcohol. "I know, hideous," she says in her Saanich townhouse where she now enjoys taking care of herself and others after a 40-hour work week — a marked difference from her previous life.

"I was all work and no play," she says. "Did I neglect my family? Absolutely." She describes her former self as "ferocious, independent, frantic and frenetic."

She's ashamed to say that she was once "the dragon lady — I had no idea how my behaviour affected my colleagues or people I lived with."

Had she not been felled by fibromyalgia, she could still be an unrelenting type-A personality working 80 hours a week.

As that workaholic perfectionist, she went 13 years without taking her holidays as a federal public servant, behaviour she says arose from never feeling good enough to please her strict disciplinarian dad. He once ordered her to the basement and whipped her with a hose for spilling soup when she was seven, she recalls.

Graham was strong enough to decide as a child not to be defined by the basement ordeal and instead prove she was lovable and worthwhile. "Work became my life." As a result, she acknowledges letting down her daughter, whom she adores. Being out-of-touch meant her first husband announced he was leaving her in 1993 just after what she considered a second honeymoon. In 1998, her mother, to whom she was very close, died at 66.

A year later, the stabbing pain came on.

Graham believes the over-work, the battening down of childhood traumas, the family disintegration and her mother's death played havoc with her body.

"A lot of people will feel a tap on the shoulder," she says. "I needed a sledgehammer."

Graham has written nearly 300 pages of a manuscript, has a literary agent and hopes to find a publisher this year for Fibromyalgia Isn't for Sissies. It has given purpose to her illness and she hopes it will provide hope for others that feeling much better — even well — is possible.

There are already more than 50 books on fibromyalgia listed with the Greater Victoria Public Library and more than 100 on Amazon.ca. But there's "not a true life account," says Graham, who sees her story as both a survival guide for others and one woman's personal and triumphant story.

Moreover, fibromyalgia research has grown quickly in recent years to include more than 4,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers, says the U.S.-based National Fibromyalgia Association.

The province recently committed $2 million toward a B.C. clinical and research study aimed at screening, diagnosing and treating patients with complex chronic diseases including fibromyalgia, Lyme disease and chronic fatigue syndrome. It is expected to get underway by fall.

An underlying infectious agent is a leading suspect in these illnesses, which can cause extreme fatigue and pain, trouble sleeping and stiffness, notes the Ministry of Health.

Mary Brownscombe, co-ordinator of the 250-member Fibromyalgia Networking Group of Greater Victoria, says Graham's approach to the disease appeals to her interest in "people who take a positive and personal approach to working out a management [plan]."

"Fibromyalgia is all about management and it is different for everybody," she says, adding she's looking forward to reading the book.

Twenty years ago it was "fibro-what?" she recalls. "Now it's 'Oh, yes, I have several friends who have that.' " Yet one of the constants people with fibromyalgia face is the fact that many symptoms are invisible.

Brownscombe developed fibromyalgia in 1990. Her trigger — and there are all kinds of traumas that qualify — was a cascade of complications she developed after undergoing surgery to remove extra ribs. She ended up on a disability pension instead of returning to a job she loved at the Royal B.C. Museum.

There is tremendous variation in individual symptoms with the exception of a diffuse kind of pain, spread throughout the body — "like the worst flu you have ever had," she says.

Some people are symptom-free for two or three years, or have found techniques that keep it at bay — with the primary one being an acknowledgment that "life is going to be different," she says.

Brownscombe's brother, son and daughter also have fibromyalgia, but the great majority of sufferers are women.

Back in 2001, it didn't take Graham's physician long to diagnose fibromyalgia and prescribe amitriptyline. She takes vitamin B and magnesium malic acid compound but hasn't found other often-suggested remedies such as valerian, melatonin or black cohosh to be helpful. Acupuncture has been so-so, reflexology helped a bit, and reiki and energy work didn't do much for her.

Exercise is frequently prescribed for fibromyalgia, but was "agony" for Graham, who was able to hire a fitness coach to help with a personal program. Now? "I'm doing a full fitness regime with cardio and strength training and [can walk] for miles and miles."

One of the lessons she has learned is how to just be in the moment. "Before fibromyalgia, I was always about doing — checking off a long list," she says. "But my counsellor asked me, why don't you think about being, not what you are but who you are?"

For Graham, it boiled down to giving up feeling she had to be in control in order to truly feel her personal power.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/health/Life+pain+past+Saanich+fibromyalgia+survivor/4686297/story.html#ixzz1L97KoTAT