The Biker and God

A man was riding his Harley along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and the Lord spoke to him from above and in a booming voice said,' Because you have been a good man and TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.'

The biker pulled over and said, 'Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want'.

The Lord said, 'Your request is materialistic, think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking; the size of the pylons required to reach to the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take to construct them! Imagine the impact on the environment to undertake such a monumental construction.

I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for such worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind.'

The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally, he said, 'Lord, I wish that I and all men, could understand our wives and girlfriends; I want to know how she feels inside, what she's thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothings wrong, and how I can make a woman truly happy.'

The Lord replied, 'You want 4 or 6 lanes on that bridge?'

Solved: the riddle of executed First World War soldier Robert Digby

Ben Macintyre thought he knew who condemned a fugitive British soldier to death in France in 1916, and wrote a book about it. Now, ten years later, an e-mail out of the blue has convinced him that he had the wrong man. Here, he sets the record straight.

How one ordinary woman solved a murder

The techniques of an investigative reporter and the tenacity of one woman turned private detective solved a murder.

At the age of 40 Susan Galbreath’s life had spiralled into a dull purposelessness, with no fixed ambitions, targets or goals. By the year 2000, she had two failed marriages behind her, one son, and had moved south from Chicago to Mayfield, Kentucky. Her third husband was an alcoholic and the marriage was in atrophy. She had not worked since an illness in 1998 and anyway had a background without any fixed skills or training. It was a dead end-life in a near dead-end town.

On the morning of August 1 she was having coffee in the local café and the waitress mentioned that a body had been found in the school playing fields nearby. It was a discovery that would change her life irrevocably.

bait

"Simon Wesseley is the problem not the solution"

indie_view_one wrote:
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 at 06:17 pm (UTC)

Is Jeremy Laurance aware that Simon Wesseley has also written papers stating that illness due to the Camelford Water Poisoning was due to hysteria? A slight problem with his theory has been that autopsies of some who were seriously ill from this event have show extremely elevated levels of Aluminium in their brains. Perhaps it was worry they were ill which sucked all the aluminium into the brain or perhaps it was drinking from a water supply contaminated with 20 tonnes of Aluminium Sulphate.

The Independent would be acting like proper journalists if they investigated whether it is appropriate for psychiatrists like Simon Wesseley to act as Government advisors on illnesses like ME/CFS while working as consultants for the medical insurance industry. The insurance industry have an interest in classifying such illneses as psychiatric conditions (despite the WHO classification of ME as a neurological condition) since they have to pay out on far fewer policies.

Is the Independent aware that no Biomedical research on ME/CFS has been funded by the Medical Research Council in the last 12 years? All projects have been funded by charity - even work by Dr Jonathan Kerr on gene expression which may lead to a diagnostic test. Between 2002 and 2008, at least thirty-three Biomedical research projects into ME/CFS were turned down by the Medical Research Council because psychiatrists like Simon Wesseley were among those deciding which projects were funded and turned down any which did not look at ME/CFS from a psycho-social approach.

What's wrong with you? It depends where you live

CINDERELLA DISNEY, professor of psychiatry at THE MAGIC CBT KINGDOM, London, who has studied her own beliefs in illness somatisation when she broke her mind in 3 places, yet the scan only showed broccoli for a brain, says: "People want psychiatrists to deny illnesses as we are the all knowing wizards who section people who disagree with us. MIRZA, SOPHIA? NICE doesn't mention her, so why should we Mr Jeremy Laurance?"

the newscientist, the professor and ME ...

Myalgic Encepahalomyelitis is not fatigue, or 'CFS'

The new paper Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is not fatigue, or 'CFS' explains why M.E. is not defined by mere 'chronic fatigue' and why M.E. and 'CFS' are not synonymous terms, as well as why a diagnosis of CFS based on any of the definitions of CFS can only ever be a misdiagnosis.

Just a village professor with different beliefs ...

TIME for CBT ....

‘Life-changing benefits’ for patients using addiction drug

A drug which is normally used to treat heroin addiction can deliver "life-changing" results for a range of medical conditions, sparking calls for it to be offered more widely to patients.

Medical experts claim that low-dose naltrexone (LDN) has been used successfully for people with a variety of conditions which affect the immune system, including multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease and chronic fatigue syndrome.

At the first European conference into the drug which was initially prescribed in larger doses to block the effects of heroin use, speakers from around the world, including America and Israel, will hear results of trials into the drug and will call on GPs and other health professionals to prescribe it more widely.

It has since been used in doses of between 1mg and around 4.5mg to treat patients with multiple sclerosis and other conditions affecting the immune system.

It is given in a liquid form and patients currently tend to pay privately for the drug, which costs around £15 a month.

Dr Gilhooly said that around half of his patients who receive LDN had been prescribed it for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, a similar condition in with patients suffer from fatigue and chronic pain in their muscles.

Is this the secret of eternal life?

Most centenarians attribute their great age to some magic elixir or other. The longevity of the Italian scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini, who this week became the first Nobel Prize-winner to reach the age of 100, might be the result of a potion that is a little out of the ordinary: Professor Levi-Montalcini, it is said, puts her undiminished mental vigour down to regular doses of nerve growth factor (NGF) – the discovery that made her famous.

She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize for Medicine jointly with an American, Stanley Cohen, for her research into NGF: the proteins and amino-acids which enable the cells of the nervous system to grow and take on specialised tasks. Despite her age, Dr Levi-Montalcini, a neurologist and development biologist, still works every day at the European Brain Research Institute, which she founded in Rome.

Warning ...

Friendly

Professor Stephen Hawking's medical condition

BBC NEWS | Health |

Professor Stephen Hawking suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neurone disease.

What causes it?

ALS, which accounts for more than 90% of all cases of motor neurone disease, causes nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord called motor neurones to degenerate and eventually die.

Around one in 10 cases of ALS are thought to be due to genetics, but the trigger for the other 90% of cases remains a mystery.

What is the prognosis?

Poor. The average life expectancy for somebody with ALS is just two to five years from the time symptoms first appear.

However, not all people with ALS have the same symptoms, and the rate of progression of the disease can vary greatly

Professor Hawking first developed the disease when he was just 21 years old, and has lived with it for more than 40 years.

The fact that he has lived for long with the condition has been described as remarkable. BBC NEWS | Health |

Intimacy ...

Insurance ...

CONCLUSION: The current study shows a significant association between
specific personality characteristics and CBT psychiatrists.

These personality traits may be implicated in the onset and/or perpetuation of their Pinocchio syndrome and may be a productive focus for Insurance companies .

EASY with CBT ...

Complimentary ...

Polo pony deaths baffle US vets

BBC - NEWS - Americas Tests are being carried out to try to discover why 21 polo ponies collapsed and died ahead of a major tournament in Florida at the weekend.

The horses, from a Venezuelan-owned team and valued at $100,000 (£69,000) each, became dizzy and disoriented.

Several died on the spot at the ground in Palm Beach County, while others died hours later as they were being treated.

Veterinarians say they suspect some kind of toxin but say it may be several days before the source is identified.

Alfresco ...

Stephen Hawking 'very ill' in hospital

Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most famous scientists, is "very ill" in hospital, Cambridge University has announced.

Prof Hawking suffers from motor neurone disease and is wheelchair bound.

Warning ...

Channel 4 coverage of Kay Gilderdale case

Action for ME trustee Ondine Upton was interviewed on the Channel 4 News programme yesterday evening (April 16) during their coverage of the Kay Gilderdale case.

To view the item, click on this link, select playback for Thu 16 April and then click on the second segment 'McBride apology – ME'. When the film comes up, move the cursor along 7 minutes and 26 seconds to the start of their news report.

Kay Gilderdale charged after her daughter's death

Mrs Kay Gilderdale will appear before Brighton magistrates next Tuesday (April 21) charged with the attempted murder of her daughter Lynn between December 2 and December 4. Lynn, aged 31 who had been ill with since the age of 14, was found dead at her home in Stonegate, Heathfield, East Sussex, on December 4.

OOPS ...

CBT: Crisis Button in Traffic

Explaining the explanation

Hatcher and Arroll explain that many people consult their doctors about symptoms for which their doctors are unable to provide an explanation.

As a result of their inability to provide an explanation, there cannot be any disease.

Hence people must be suffering from a fancy mental aberration that can presumably be accurately diagnosed, and elaborated until the cows come home. It is this alleged "disorder" rather than the actual disease yet to be researched and explained that must be treated "properly" - in order to save money !

The article reminded me of a comment by Paul Ewald in a recent interview:

"Human beings didn’t evolve to be scientists. Instead they evolved to be competitive – to grab and hold onto what is theirs. Hence the name calling often observed among the medical community and the resistance among scientists to fund or support ideas other then their own, ideas that question the validity of current dogma."

Interview with evolutionary biologistPaulEwald

Douglas T Fraser, musician, W6

VERY Friendly ...

ME on 'The Politics Show', BBC 1 – Sunday, April 26

ME will be featured on BBC1's 'The Politics Show" on Sunday, April 26. The show goes out at 12 noon. Read more...

The principle of CBT explained ...

Fiat Qubo

Trying to break the speed limit in this car would be like trying to break the speed limit while riding a cow, says Jeremy Clarkson

CAN you please help professor ...

Edinburgh MP flags up ME Essential story on his blog

Edinburgh West MP John Barrett has highlighted a story from our quarterly ME Essential magazine on his blog, saying: "For most of us, ME and the experience of those who suffer from it is hard to understand, but this description, by Rachel Miles, which was given to me by a friend today, opened my eyes."

In the Spring 2009 issue, Rachel compared her illness to living with an abusive and unpredictable partner.

HOSPITAL PAY RISE SCANDAL

Health bosses have been awarding themselves pay rises of up to 150 per cent while their patients are exposed to shocking superbug rates and life-threatening delays in treatment.

At Norfolk and Norwich Hospital NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Paul Forden got a rise of more than 150 per cent from £60,000-£65,000 to £165,000-£170,000 between 2004 and 2008. But between 2002 and 2006 the trust was ranked among the worst in the ­country for deaths from superbugs such as MRSA, with 65 fatalities.

NHS chiefs award themselves big rises as they keep staff on 2.4%

CBT: Call Back Tomorrow...

Royal visit to ME Research UK

Dr Vance Spence welcomes Prince Edward

On April 7th 2009, ME Research UK was honoured with a visit from His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, who met the team and was introduced to the work of the charity:

Dr Vance Spence, Chairman, explained that despite its popular perception as 'Yuppie Flu', ME/CFS is a serious, often disabling, chronic illness, causing impaired mobility and disability in the majority of cases, and that serious biomedical research was urgently needed.

Pull out the pin and ...

ME/CFS at the NHS Choices website

Dr Charles Shepherd, medical adviser to The ME Association, can now be seen discussing ME/CFS, how to come to terms with the illness and obtain effective help in a video on the NHS Choices website.

And, in an accompanying video on the same website, Annette Barclay – who has had ME for 25 years – gives some tips about how not to let the illness completely rule your life. While being very realistic about the limitations it can impose, Annette says:

"Don't give up hope. It's a wonderful world out there! Find out what you can do to make yourself happy."

To watch the Charles Shepherd video, click here.

To watch Annette Barclay's video, click here.

Pilots prone to mood swings

New Enzyme Found!

Dr. Robert Suhadolnik and his research team at Temple University School of Medicine reported today that studies of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have led to the identification of a new human enzyme.
Suhadolnik, a professor of biochemistry and a member of the university’s Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, says of the [...]

luxury beliefs ...

Social Justice

Society’s legal system is a mixed blessing. It provides us with the stability of law and order, but it also provides courts and attorneys with the ability to defraud us with impunity, none of which goes unnoticed.

Many of us have the impression that courts tend to promote pre-determined biased agendas, which consistently benefit the powerful and wealthy.

Sadly, there is often a world of difference between legal justice and social justice, even in so-called developed countries.

Hugh Mann, Physician
Eagle Rock, MO 65641 USA

former world CYCLING champion Jobie Dajka found dead

CYCLING Australia chief executive Graham Fredericks says he believes Jobie Dajka was close to making a comeback before the former world champion was found dead at his Adelaide home today.

Police say Dajka's death is not being treated as suspicious.

Dajka, who won the kieren title at the 2003 world championships, acknowledged suffering from alcoholism and depression following his omission from the 2004 Olympic team for lying to a doping inquiry.

Mr Fredericks said today that CA provided psychological care and counselling to Dajka in the wake of that omission.

The CA chief spoke to Dajka late last year and said he got the impression the 27-year-old was doing well in his battle with depression and close to making a comeback.

Visitor attraction ...

Court hears how drug giant Merck tried to "neutralise" and "discredit" doctors critical of Vioxx

The drug company Merck drew up a list of influential doctors and researchers it wanted to "neutralise" and "discredit," as part of its marketing of the arthritis drug Vioxx (rofecoxib), according to evidence heard by an Australian court this week.

Details of the plans to "neutralise" doctors surfaced during .........

ECO friendly ...

Crowds can be a killer ...

HOSPITAL emergency department overcrowding is responsible for at least as many deaths every year as occur on Australian roads, doctors say.

In a damning series of reports in the Medical Journal of Australia, emergency medicine specialists suggest around 1500 Australian deaths could be avoided annually if the problem was appropriately addressed.

They say emergency department overcrowding results in increased medical errors, delayed treatment, more complications and less frequent and inadequate pain control.

The specialists say ....

CBT: Cunning Bar Treatment ...

Examples of concerns raised by professional bodies about the NICE (draft) Guideline CG53 on “CFS/ME”

Margaret Williams 13th March 2009

In his Approved Judgment in the Judicial Review of the NICE Clinical Guideline 53 on “CFS/ME” released today, the Judge (Mr Justice Simon) stated:

“The circumstances are not such as to lead a fair minded and informed observer to conclude that there was a real risk of bias among the members of the GDG…” .

Association of British Neurologists: “it almost seems that a select group of psychiatrists with a polarised view of this complex condition is directing the development of the guideline from ‘behind the scene’ ”

Margaret Williams 13th March 2009

Casual ...

BEWARE .......

New Scientist: MEA responds to Interview with Professor Simon Wessely

From: Charles Shepherd, Gawcott, Buckinghamshire, UK:

It is unfortunate that Simon Wessely, interviewed in the article "Mind over body?" (14 March, p 26), attaches a psychosomatic label to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and, by implication, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This inaccurate label not only creates practical problems for patients, such as inappropriate or harmful treatments and refusal of state benefits, it also discourages biomedical research into the underlying cause.

Fortunately, there are clinicians and researchers who believe that ME/CFS has a solid physical basis involving infection, immunology, endocrinology and neurology. As a result, the UK Medical Research Council has recently set up an expert group to look at these areas of causation.

In the UK, the ME Association has just collated results from the largest ever survey of patient opinion, with over 4000 respondents. Over 50 per cent reported that behavioural treatments such as cognitive behaviour therapy and graded exercise therapy were either ineffective or made their condition worse.

New Scientist has previously reported on ME/CFS; one such example was your news report of abnormalities in gene expression in white blood cells (23 July 2005, p 9), which could not be caused by abnormal thought processes.

I hope New Scientist will soon regain an objective position on the subject.

From John H. Greensmith, MEFreeForAll.org

I suspect that a large proportion of the "hate mail" you report Wessely as receiving is about the quality of his science, rather than being a personal attack.

The science, he says, is what one stands by and it is what many think he falls by.

One result of ME being lumped together with CFS is that it has become more difficult to diagnose. It is also bundled in with several other illnesses, some of which may have a psychiatric origin.

I wonder what Wessely thinks of equally qualified doctors and professors who call for the re-adoption of the name myalgic encephalomyelitis.

They recognise it as a discrete neurological illness with a physiological origin that needs further research, and see no particular need for his speciality.

No words needed

How infection may spark leukaemia

BBC - NEWS -Health Scientists have shown how common infections might trigger childhood leukaemia.

They have identified a molecule, TGF, produced by the body in response to infection that stimulates development of the disease.

It triggers multiplication of pre-cancerous stem cells at the expense of healthy counterparts.

The Institute of Cancer Research study appears in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.