| Key to unlocking memory found
Hope for Alzheimer's patients! Scientists claim to have discovered a way to reverse loss of memory, a breakthrough that could bolster the fight against the disease. The accidental discovery came during an experiment to suppress an obese man's appetite by using a technique called deep-brain stimulation which involves stimulating parts of the brain with an electric current. Instead of losing appetite, the patient was suddenly able to recall in immense detail a moment spent in a park with a friend 30 years earlier. More tests revealed his ability to learn was dramatically improved when the current was switched on and his brain stimulated. According to lead researcher Professor Andres Lozano of the Toronto Western Hospital in Canada, "This is the first time that anyone has had electrodes implanted in the brain which have been shown to improve memory.We are in the early stages of using it with the Alzheimer's patients and we don't know if it will work.
Physician chronicles black mold experience
She considered Lyme disease, chronic fatigue, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, intestinal candidiasis and mitral valve prolapse, along with many other possibilities. Based on the symptoms, "I was frantically jumping from one diet, supplement program and diagnosis to another," she said. "I really don't blame my husband for thinking I had gone mad." It wasn't until her physician friend, Dr. Lynn Beals-Becker, called and said she was reading a book that listed all the strange symptoms she was having. It was called "Mold Warriors," by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. "That spurred me to test my house," said Short-Ray. In 48 hours, she learned her house had 5,500 spores per cubic meter of aspergillus species of toxic black mold. She had the mold removed, but started having symptoms again upon returning to work.
Much ado about next to nothing
Many of the car drivers were familiar with her Sunday routine and took appropriate care when nearing her. Some slowed to offer a ride but she always refused politely. She always blessed them. She continued in this manner for almost two hours, sometimes longer depending on weather or road construction, until she reached the entrance to the parking lot of the hospital. She remembered when she could make the walk in less time, but that seemed long ago. She made her way to a fenced area in the back of the hospital and pushed through the gate. Inside the fence lay a manicured courtyard landscaped with gardenias, camellias, azaleas and various grasses and flowers. The azaleas were not in bloom. Patients sat on benches or strolled the courtyard, some accompanied by visitors, some alone. Some called her name in greeting.
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