team 1.tea.983 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Avalanches, vicious winds and sub-zero temperatures aren’t the only extremes endured by those who climb Mount Everest. Hypoxia, a lack of oxygen that can lead to cell death, also threatens. But a study of people ascending Mount Everest’s slopes suggests that some humans are especially tolerant of low oxygen levels, perhaps because their bodies use oxygen more efficiently. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO The findings, reported in the Jan. 8 New England Journal of Medicine, could inform the treatment of critically ill patients struggling to breathe in hospitals.

The new work reports the lowest recorded blood oxygen levels in a nonhibernating mammal. It is also one of the first analyses to come out of a much larger investigation of more than 200 people who made the trek to Everest in an effort to understand how the body adapts to low oxygen levels.

Patients suffering from cystic fibrosis, septic shock and other critical ailments often have severely low levels of blood oxygen. Treatment often involves administering oxygen with a mask, or mechanically ventilating the lungs, a harsh procedure that can do more harm than good, says Michael Grocott of University College London, lead author of the new study. But because the health of such patients is compromised and many variables are involved, studying the effect of low oxygen alone isn’t easy.

“So many things are going on that separating out oxygen is difficult,” says Grocott. Basic questions still loom, he says. “Why do some people adapt well while others seem to struggle?”

Typically studies of how the body responds to low levels of oxygen are conducted in a hypobaric chamber that simulates the effects of high altitudes. But Grocott’s team surmised that the expense and persuasion required to get 200 healthy people to sit in a metal box for three weeks might be skirted if those people could be convinced to climb the 5,300 meters to the Everest base camp. The Caudwell Xtreme Everest expedition was born. In April and May of 2007 more than 200 people, age 18 to 73, made the trek, making themselves available to more than 60 doctors and scientists aiming to get at why some people fare better than others in the thin air at the tallest peak on Earth.
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TESTING THE ASCENTClimbers of Mount Everest stop at the Balcony (8,400 meters) to give blood samples to researchers. Data from this work show that people who can reach this altitude tolerate the lowest known blood oxygen levels observed in nonhibernating mammals.Caudwell Xtreme Everest

The research team sampled blood, analyzing oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, pH and concentrations of lactate and hemoglobin. Ten subjects were sampled in London (75 meters above sea level). Nine were sampled at the Everest base camp (5,300 m). These individuals, all healthy climbers, then tackled Everest’s southeast ridge. Small shelters were constructed along the route and blood was taken from climbers’ groin arteries. Samples were taken at Camp 2 (6,400 m), from six people at Camp 3 (7,100 m) and finally at what is known as the Balcony (8,400 m) from the four people who made it to the summit and were available for testing (8,848m). Samples taken higher than the base camp were quickly brought to a lab set up at Camp 2 for analysis. Bad weather prohibited taking samples at the summit.

Supplemental oxygen was used only at or above 7,100 m, but samples were only taken after people had been breathing the ambient air for several minutes or hours.

At the highest altitudes, the subjects showed an impressive adaptive response, says Grocott. Most people would pass out after two to three minutes in such altitudes, these climbers were not only conscious, but also clearly communicated by radio and performed complication-free sampling. The blood oxygen levels of the four tested climbers were startlingly low — the lowest a mere 19.1 millimeters mercury, the researchers report. In patients, levels below 60 mm Hg are cause for concern, Grocott says.

The findings suggest that the amount of oxygen alone isn’t the secret to physiological success. Other factors could be how much oxygen a person’s hemoglobin can carry, or the efficiency of the cellular factories known as mitochondria, which use the oxygen.

“There’s a significant possibility that some people may just be more efficient,” Grocott says.

Even among the four climbers tested at 8,400 meters, there was individual variation in measured variables such as blood oxygen levels and pH. This physiological variation among people fits with recent work done by Cynthia Beall of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

“This shows that healthy people have a huge range of variation in being able to respond to stress,” says Beall. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Her investigations of the physiology of Tibetans and other highlanders suggest that a major gene is involved in how much oxygen hemoglobin transport throughout the body. (The Everest team is also looking into the genetics of adaptation to high altitudes.)

Beall tips her hat to the field team. “To have the audacity to think about doing this work — and then to do it! I’m very impressed. The difficulty of taking the measurements alone, and adapting the equipment — they did a beautiful job.” http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO

The results suggest that at high altitudes the problem isn’t the lack of oxygen, but the body’s ability to deliver and use it, comments Paul Firth of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. An analysis of mortality rates on Mount Everest by Firth and colleagues appeared in the British Medical Journal in December. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO “People don’t run out of gas,” he says, “the delivery deteriorates.” Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

mrsa 9.mrs.11001.2 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

A sunburn and sand between the toes may not be all you take home from a day at the beach. An antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria known as MRSA lurks in ocean water and perhaps in sand, Lisa Plano of the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine reported February 13 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

In a talk titled “What happens at the beach doesn’t always stay at the beach,” Plano reported on an epidemiological study of beachgoers. Of 1,303 adult bathers at a popular beach in south Florida, 37 percent came into contact with the usually harmless Staphylococcus aureus microbe in the ocean water. http://Louis-j-sheehan.com Each of the study participants waded into the ocean, dunked underwater three times and collected a sample of the surrounding seawater in a clean jug. http://Louis-j-sheehan.com

Researchers then analyzed the seawater samples to find out what bacteria hitched a ride. A small percentage of the S. aureus samples proved to be the particularly dangerous strain of the microbe MRSA, which plagues hospitals, prisons and locker rooms.

Preliminary evidence suggests that S. aureus is also present in the beach sand.

Follow-up interviews with study participants turned up no links between exposure and subsequent infections. “You shouldn’t fear the beach,” Plano says. “Go. Have fun. Embrace it.” To prevent “sharing your organisms” with other beachgoers and to protect yourself from the bacteria, Plano recommends showering with soap before and after a beach visit.

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Comments 6

* Fortunately Cathy, there is a new chemical being researched that comes from a sea sponge and blocks all bacteria from resistance to antibiotics. So far they are testing it on every single bacteria, and so far it has cleared the way for antibiotics to do the work they have faltered in recently. I am sure that that must have been a terrifying ordeal; I can't imagine the feelings at having to see both you and the rest of your family attacked by this infection. Have you seen "Lorenzo's Oil"? It is a very moving film and I think your family of all people could identify with it. Good luck in fighting the infection, more people need to know about these things.
Tyler Albers Tyler Albers
Feb. 19, 2009 at 4:59pm
* Hello everyone,

Our family was viciously attacked by MRSA and we nearly lost all of our lives.
We almost lost our oldest son to it within 72 hrs.
MRSA also attacked my youngest son and myself.
The boils that my son's had grew to the size of small grapefruits and destroy the flesh in the surrounding area.

As you can imagine we were horrified. We sought out medical intervention and antibiotics failed to help. our doctor threw several antibiotics at my son's infection. The antibiotics failed to keep the infection from coming back.
After speaking to an infectious disease doctor, doing my own research and networking with others struggling with MRSA,
I came to the conclusion that MRSA is rapidly evolving and becoming resistant to all antibiotics.
At that point we decided to run from this vicious cycle of throwing antibiotics at an antibiotic resistant infection. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
We prayed and researched until we found something that would save our family.
MRSA was literally eating away at us and what we found stopped MRSA from killing us. It is called Allimed, stable allicin.
This is the first time in history that allicin in garlic has been stabilized.
Since we used Allimed we did not need further medical care though we informed our doctors of our decision and continued under their observation.
We dealt with MRSA ourselves and have not had it return for any of us in 3 years.
Before using Allimed the boils were coming every few weeks.

If we are to survive this era of resistant bacteria, then we will have to think outside the box. What once saved us from infections (antibiotics), is now killing us. The very nature of antibiotics encourage bacterial resistance.
Shortly after Penicillin was discovered, bacteria became resistant and now we find ourselves in the vicious cycle of throwing more and more antibiotics at resistant bacteria. http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/795_antibio.html

We must see that the era of antibiotic success is now leaving us. If we don't have our eyes wide open, mankind may not survive this pandemic.
I hope our story will help to save lives as our family was saved.
Since our family's recovery, we have been helping others to recover worldwide.
I welcome emails from anyone who wants our help.
God bless, Cathy
Cathy@optimalhealthusa.com
Our MRSA recovery and more info: http://optimalhealthusa.com/

Scientific Research Files:
Current news reports regarding stable allicin:
250 people recover from MRSA using stable Allicin:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,365884,00.html

Current news reports regarding stable allicin:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7531978.stm

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj6C6aEyrYk

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KSObBa5b0Bw&feature=related

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/eccmid15/abstract.asp?id=37436

Abstract, Dr. Ronald Cutler:
http://optimalhealthusa.com/files/ALLICIN_MRSA_DRCutler_Paper_1_.pdf
Cathy P Cathy P
Feb. 18, 2009 at 8:51pm
* Where would one get MEDlhoney and/or herbal MRSA treatment? Is there a website or a recipe to make these products? I am interested.

Nina Ravey bert
Feb. 17, 2009 at 5:05pm
* Both my older sons have had MRSA during their college football careers. The first one who had MRSA in 06 was on and off antibiotics for 10 months until we found MEDIhoney and he fianlly got rid of it. He uses Medihoney when ever he has a spot that looks like staph. My middle son just had MRSA in October very quickly turned serious and need surgery and IV antibiotics. The same infectious disease MD saked why I needed him because I have my MEDIhoney and let me put it on the wounds. He missed one week of practice and one game. Mrsa cleared fast with Phisohex, Medihoney and @ IV antibiotics. He also uses medihoney on all skin injuries and wounds.
linda weinmaster linda weinmaster
Feb. 16, 2009 at 6:47pm
* Jo, I don't think there is a cure yet. This is not an infection you can treat this infection lightly. If the bug gets into your circulation, they spread rapidly in the body result in abscess in organs like bones, brain and kidney. You need to treat it fast and properly with high dose antibiotics.
I have worked as a doctor for 25 years, seen children dying with this infection. If we don't find a cure fast then we are all in trouble. The bug is bringing medical profession to its knees.
Kadiyali Srivatsa Kadiyali Srivatsa Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Feb. 16, 2009 at 4:40am
* There is a cure for this and it is not getting around because it is too cheap... no money in a "cure". I got it and used it. It will kill on contact and not leave a scar.
There are also a lot of herbal remedies that will take care of the problem without discomfort. alkavitahealth is one place another is to simply google "herbal MRSA treatment"

fish 2.fis.001002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

When you're sick, you might take medications to help you fight off infection, lower a fever or clear a stuffy nose. But once those drugs leave your body, chances are they will find their way into nearby lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.

Drugs end up in a body of water because you excrete them in urine. When you flush a toilet, the wastewater travels to a treatment plant. There, bacteria and other material are filtered out and the cleaned water is returned to natural bodies of water. The trouble is, wastewater treatment plants don't filter out drugs. Some people even flush unused drugs down the toilet, only adding to the problem. http://ljsheehan.livejournal.com

While medications are meant to help a person feel better, they're not good for wildlife. Over the past several years, scientists have begun to test how common drugs are in freshwater ecosystems. Researchers also are starting to learn more about how medications meant for humans affect the animals that accidentally ingest the drugs. http://ljsheehan.livejournal.com

Recently, several scientists tested how a group of drugs called antidepressants affects freshwater fish. For many people with an illness called depression, antidepressants can be lifesavers. People with depression may feel sad or anxious for extremely long periods of time, lose interest in activities they once enjoyed and have difficulty sleeping or concentrating. Antidepressants help improve these symptoms for some people.

Several years ago, researchers discovered that some species of fish living near wastewater treatment plants had antidepressants in their brains. "Pretty much any water sample in the vicinity of a wastewater treatment plant will test positive for some group of antidepressants," says chemist Melissa Schultz, of the College of Wooster in Ohio. This finding inspired a number of scientists to learn how these drugs affect fish and other wildlife.
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GOING VERTICALSome hybrid striped bass exposed to the antidepressant Prozac eventually began hanging vertically in the water — a highly unlikely pose — and stopped eating.Clemson University’s Institute of Environmental Toxicology

In their experiments, researchers exposed species of fish in a laboratory to different brands of antidepressants. Then, the scientists tested the fishes’ responses to a number of things, such as the cues predators make or the appearance of prey animals.

The researchers found that antidepressants affect fish species in numerous ways, from diminishing their response to predators to slowing down their prey-hunting techniques. One unexpected result even showed that a type of antidepressant called fluoxetine acts like estrogen, a primarily female hormone, when in the bodies of adult male fathead minnows.

Fluoxetine, sold under the brand name Prozac, caused these male minnows to produce an egg protein normally made only by females. In addition, males exposed to fluoxetine did not make the bright colors and facial bumps usually used to attract mates. More testing needs to be done to determine whether these changes affect minnows' ability to mate.

It's important to keep in mind that in any lake or stream, fish and other organisms aren't just exposed to antidepressants, Schultz says. Antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and even caffeine all make their way through water treatment plants and back into the environment. What happens to fish and other animals when they're exposed to all of these drugs in combination? For now, nobody knows, Schultz says – leaving the door open to many future research questions.

Power words:

Antibiotic: a type of drug that kills off bacteria or other microorganisms.

Antidepressants: a group of drugs that help improve the symptoms of an illness called depression.

Anti-inflammatory: a type of drug that lowers fevers and inflammation, or swelling.

Depression: an illness characterized by long-term feelings of sadness and anxiety, lack of interest in activities, and difficulty sleeping and concentrating.

This still video shows a hybrid striped bass quickly gobbling up four minnows. Fed only once every three days, the bass tended to become very aggressive about downing their prey. But after being exposed to high levels of the antidepressant Prozac, some bass took as long as two minutes to capture their first minnow. Some of the bass didn't finish all four minnows they were given within 25 minutes. Over the nearly month-long experiment, scientists report that a few bass lost their appetites altogether. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.

invest 4.inv.0001002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire. http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com What the authorities say happened to members of El Camino Church, a gray brick building wedged into a corner of Washington Heights, will not make financial history. No charities will have to close, no endowments will be eviscerated. Millions were not lost, let alone billions.

But when the cost is totaled, court papers and interviews suggest, many of the worshipers at the tiny Christian Evangelical church will have lost all or part of their savings in a Ponzi scheme that operated far beneath the orbit of the wealthy or well-connected.http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged that Bryant Rodriguez, 44, insinuated himself into the congregation last year — he showed up first for baptism classes — and enticed fellow churchgoers to trust their money with him. Now, about $600,000 is gone in a scheme prosecutors call a classic mold of financial grifting — neither sophisticated nor, in hindsight, difficult to see through.

“Obviously these weren’t billionaires,” Allan Weissmann, a postal inspector and spokesman for the United States Postal Inspection Service, said of the parishioners. But he added: “It’s all relative. It means a lot to them. It’s their life savings in many cases, and they, too, are devastated.”

The authorities said that Mr. Rodriguez asked parishioners to invest in an electronics firm he represented, which he said wanted “a blessing for a blessing” by providing Jews and Christians with the opportunity to invest in his company, a criminal complaint charges.

A lawyer for Mr. Rodriguez, who is in jail pending a bail hearing, said he did nothing wrong. “There’s no question that he’ll plead not guilty,” the lawyer, Paul J. McAllister, said.

The church, at Audubon Avenue and 172nd Street, occupies a century-old building. It is just a few blocks from Yeshiva University, which says it lost $110 million by investing with Bernard L. Madoff, who stands accused of one of the largest financial frauds in history, a Ponzi scheme involving up to $50 billion.

One night this week a few dozen worshipers gathered for a regular service in the basement of El Camino. As a conga player, a keyboard player and a guitarist played in the background, the group sang a Spanish version of “Silent Night,” their hands outstretched, their palms up.

At the end of the service, the pastor, the Rev. Miguel Amadis, addressed the congregation.

“We’re going through a very hard time,” he said. “We have to stay united.”

At least three dozen people invested with Mr. Rodriguez, according to the complaint; the pastor said he and his family alone lost $300,000. All told, according to the complaint, members of the church gave Mr. Rodriguez about $1.1 million, but received back only about $450,000.

Mr. Rodriguez has been charged with one count of mail fraud. “Each of these investors has lost all or part of their investment,” Postal Inspector Eleanor Berry wrote in the complaint, referring to a group of 30 parishioners and their friends.

The complaint said Mr. Rodriguez began taking baptismal classes at the church in 2007, and was later baptized there. He told people that he worked with a company called C & E, and sold electronics to the church and some of its members.http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com

According to the complaint, he said his business sold wholesale electronics to large retailers like Best Buy and P. C. Richard & Son. http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com He promised returns of 30 percent every two weeks, and kept his promise to initial investors, at least for a while. Those investors then brought in other family members until a number of them were hooked.

In one case described in the complaint, a church member gave Mr. Rodriguez about $3,000 in cash in June 2007. Two weeks later, Mr. Rodriguez paid the man about $900, followed by another $900 payment soon thereafter.

The victim told relatives and friends about the opportunity, the complaint says, and they gave Mr. Rodriguez a total of about $57,000. After the investor pressed Mr. Rodriguez last August about his investment, he was given “a loan” of $5,000.

Neither the investor nor his family and friends received any more money from Mr. Rodriguez, the complaint said.

One church member, Alexander Perez, said his family and friends had lost about $80,000.

“He came here telling us he did business with all these big electronics stores,” said Mr. Perez, 30, a construction worker from Washington Heights who has been a member of El Camino for seven years. “We didn’t think there was anything wrong, so we invested with him.”

“It hurts, trust me, it hurts,” Mr. Perez said.

Ana Vasquez, 44, an interior decorator, said she and a friend invested $10,000.

“He paid us at first to get more people interested,” she said. “He told us to find family and friends to invest. He told us that everyone who invested $5,000 would get a bonus of $10,000. To get enough money, a lot of us looked for more people to chip in.”

According to the complaint, retailers have told the authorities that they had no contract with Mr. Rodriguez or any firm he ran.

Mr. Rodriguez has a previous felony conviction for impersonating a United States immigration officer, the complaint says.

In court on Tuesday, Mr. Rodriguez’s lawyer, Mr. McAllister, blamed the church’s pastor, Mr. Amadis, for any money that was lost. Mr. Amadis, referring to Mr. Rodriguez, said, “He’s trying to say that I had something to do with it, but that’s just not true.” No charges have been filed against the pastor.

“He came to us like anyone else comes to the church,” Mr. Amadis said. “When I met this guy, he convinced me he was a true original Christian. Man, this guy could talk. He could convince anybody.” Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.

scalping 5.sca.0 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

About 2,500 years ago, the Greek historian Herodotus described, in gory detail, how Scythian warriors of central Asia scalped vanquished foes. Archaeologists now have identified the first hard evidence of that practice. According to their study, four previously unearthed adult male skulls, now housed in two Russian museums, come from Scythians whose scalps were removed after they were killed in battle.http://louis6j6sheehan6esquire.wordpress.com

An intermittent trail of incisions runs, ear-to-ear, horizontally across the back of each of the skulls, says Eileen M. Murphy of Queen�s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Metal tools made the marks during a process in which skin was peeled off the back and top of the head, she holds. Three of the skulls came from a Scythian cemetery. The fourth skull came from a mummified body discovered in a tomb of Scythian royals. Both sites are in southern Siberia.http://louis6j6sheehan6esquire.wordpress.com

Analysis of the skeletons belonging to the skulls indicates that these individuals died of sword and battle-ax wounds, Murphy and her colleagues report in the January American Journal of Archaeology.

Additional examinations of skeletons at Russian sites will probably support Herodotus� description of scalping as a widespread Scythian practice, the researchers add. But the historian may have been wrong in calling Scythians cannibals, Murphy contends. Prior skeletal evidence suggests only that Scythians sometimes removed the flesh from the dead bodies of comrades as part of burial rituals, a fairly common practice in the ancient world. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire . http://louis6j6sheehan6esquire.wordpress.com

anthrax 4.ant.100 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire . After a seven-year investigation of the anthrax letter attacks of 2001, the FBI was preparing in July to charge a single scientist, Bruce Ivins of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, with the crimes. To trace the source of the anthrax, the FBI used “microbial forensics,” a new approach that combines established microbiology techniques with DNA sequencing. By 2002, sequencing had narrowed possible sources to about 20 laboratories world­wide. Ivins’s strange protocols allowed inspectors to narrow the search further.http://louis9j9sheehan9esquire.wordpress.com

Anthrax is a stable bacterium: Growing it once seldom produces detectable mutations. Contrary to common practice, however, Ivins dumped material from 35 different anthrax cultures into a single flask, thus mixing a number of mutant strains. Examining agar plates cultured from anthrax in the letters, investigators spotted mutant colonies and then sequenced them. This yielded a characteristic genetic signature of four mutations that was trace­able to Ivins’s flask. Before the FBI formally indicted him, Ivins killed himself.http://louis9j9sheehan9esquire.wordpress.com

While microbial forensics holds promise for unraveling disease outbreaks, the FBI’s discovery also has political implications: The attacks originated in a U.S. Army lab, a fact that raises questions about security in light of the massive biodefense expansion under the Bush administration. Since 2001 the government has pledged $57 billion toward bioweapons research and has funded nearly 15,000 scientists to work with bioweapons agents. How to vet these scientists and prevent further germ releases—accidental or intentional—remains unclear. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

rat 7.rat.001001 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire . A 4-million-year-old rat skull found at a coastal site in Uruguay set a new world record in the giant rodent category. The 21-inch-long skull is likely to have belonged to a creature as large as a bull and as heavy as a small car, according to researchers’ estimates. The previous record holder was a 1,500-pound, 8-million-year-old guinea pig discovered in Venezuela a few years ago.http://louis2j2sheehan2esquire2.wordpress.com

Ernesto Blanco, a paleontologist at the University of the Republic in Montevideo, Uruguay, says that the new champion rat, Josephoartigasia monesi, lived in forests near river deltas or estuaries and roamed around South America among saber-toothed marsupial tigers and huge, flightless, carnivorous birds. http://louis2j2sheehan2esquire2.wordpress.com Blanco surmises that because of its small teeth and weak jaw, the rat probably survived on vegetables and fruit. Its fate was sealed about 3 million years ago when the continent of South America hooked up to North America via the Panama land bridge. That connection probably allowed predatory cats and bears from North America to extend their range and wipe out the gentle giant.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.