After the news came out regarding the murders at Newtown, my Facebook news feed has been bombarded with a multitude of posts against gun control. You've seen them--"guns don't kill people, bad people do." Or "we don't ban cars because drunk drivers kill people." "If guns were outlawed, only outlaws would have guns." Or, my personal worst, "if we banned guns, people would kill each other with knives, stones or sticks."
Can any rational person condone the availability to the general public of semi-automatic assault rifles with 100 round magazines?? High capacity magazines for handguns?? It is my understanding that all of the guns used by criminals now were purchased legally by others and were either resold or stolen. This isn't the 1950's. Teenage thugs aren't making zip guns in shop class; they're buying them from thieves, straw purchasers or gun shows.
Sorry, but guns do kill people. Its a lot harder to kill someone with a knife or a rock than an assault rifle capable of firing 100 rounds a minute. As far as I know, no victim at Columbine, or Denver or Newtown was killed by a knife or a rock. When we catch drunk drivers, we take their licenses away and put them in jail for vehicular homicide. Keep in mind, cars have other uses than killing people, assault rifles don't. Also, we register cars, require insurance to operate them and require testing and licenses to use them. And, last I heard, if all guns were banned, cops would STILL have guns to go after the bad guys.
I wouldn't advocate banning firearms. The Supreme Court has ruled (wrongly in my opinion) that the 2nd Amendment gives individuals personal rights to bear arms, notwithstanding the language that the purpose of this right is to maintain a militia. Constitutional rights, however, are not absolute. Freedom of Speech is not freedom to slander or incite a riot. Freedom of the Press doesn't include freedom to libel. Freedom of Religion doesn't include the right to animal sacrifice, distribution of illegal drugs or polygamy. There is no earthly reason for a civilian to own an assault rifle. If you do, where do you draw the line? RPG's, AK-47's, tanks, cannons, grenades? If the right is absolute, why can't I own an RPG?
So, what's the solution? I don't exactly know, but here are a few suggestions. Register guns like vehicles. Every vehicle has a VIN number and registration has to be transferred by the state when the vehicle is sold. Maybe we can keep track of who owns what. License gun owners. Make sure they have training and don't have criminal or mental health records that would make them a danger to themselves or others. Limit the types of weapons individuals can own. We do that now. Individuals can't own fully-automatic machine guns in most states. No RPG's, armor piercing bullets or grenades are allowed now, as far as I am aware.
Will any of this stop gun violence? Probably not. But there is no reason to make it so effing easy.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
A Crackpot Theory of Autoimmune Disorders
Let me state upfront that I'm not a doctor, scientist or anything else technical. I have no expertise in this area. I am, however, someone with vast experience in autoimmune reactions. As you may know, an autoimmune disorder is where a person's immune system overreacts to a stimulus. Recall Bill Murry in Caddyshack. The gopher is the stimulus, the crazy groundskeeper is your immune system.
In autoimmune disorders, one's immune system has a severe reaction to something which really isn't doing any harm. In some cases, there's no stimulus at all, just a misconceived threat.
Now, the immune system is a great thing. As an evolutionary concept, it makes perfect sense. If the concept of a strong immune system makes sense, we (as a species) have to live with the genetic throw of the dice, that some people's immune system will be too weak or too strong. So far so good. We put up with minor allergies so that we don't die of infection every time we nick ourselves shaving or fall over our own two feet.
An overactive immune system has some evolutionary benefits. Assume you are a 18th century Irish peasant. You spend most of your day shin-deep in pig, cow and sheep manure, no chimney in your hovel, mice and rats in the thatch; periodic malnutrition. Only the strongest immune systems survive. Simple.
Take that same peasant, stick him in urban America with a 21st century middle class lifestyle. Me, for example. No pigs in the house, no cows to milk or animals to slaughter. The air is filtered of dust and conditioned to comfortable temperatures. The milk is pasteurized, foods are processed, the home is sanitized. So, your jacked-up, supersized immune system is getting bored. It senses a bit of pollen; it jumps up and now you have allergies to everything that grows in your environment. I have singlehandedly kept the antihistamine and decongestant industry in funds for the last 30 years. After extensive tests, I am allergic to everything, except dogs.
Your system is so confused that now it starts to attack your own tissues. It doesn't like the look of that thyroid--you get Hashimoto's disorder. Last year, after many years of HD, I asked my endocrinologist about the possibility of thyroid cancer. He laughed. He said I didn't have enough thyroid left to get cancer in. I was not comforted by that response.
Take a less socially-accepted disorder. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 1983. In UC (I love euphemisms), your immune system attacks the lining of your large intestine, causing inflammation, ulcers, etc. Very unpleasant. But, the same mechanism. Its like your immune system has shorted out and all the lights in the neighborhood have gone out, too.
Now, why do I note the Irish peasant background? There is the little matter of Celiac Disease. Celiac is another autoimmune disorder that attacks the intestine, but is activated when the sufferer ingests wheat products. What a great proof of my theory!! The 17th, 18th and 19th century Irish peasant had little access to wheat products. An evolutionary tweak to boost the immune system that had a side reaction of wheat intolerance was not a big deal. Irish Catholic religious practice made reception of Holy Communion infrequent. Potatoes were the main starch, maybe with some oats.
So, Celiac makes for a great case study on how autoimmune disorders work. It is not a problem, in the evolutionary sense, to be sensitive to wheat if you never get to eat it. As far as I know, Celiac is the only disease that has "family origin in the west of Ireland" as a risk factor.
So here's the theory: A sanitized lifestyle early in life promotes immune disorders. Get your kids dirty, early and often. Don't Panic if they eat food that dropped on the floor. Give their immune systems something to worry about.
In autoimmune disorders, one's immune system has a severe reaction to something which really isn't doing any harm. In some cases, there's no stimulus at all, just a misconceived threat.
Now, the immune system is a great thing. As an evolutionary concept, it makes perfect sense. If the concept of a strong immune system makes sense, we (as a species) have to live with the genetic throw of the dice, that some people's immune system will be too weak or too strong. So far so good. We put up with minor allergies so that we don't die of infection every time we nick ourselves shaving or fall over our own two feet.
An overactive immune system has some evolutionary benefits. Assume you are a 18th century Irish peasant. You spend most of your day shin-deep in pig, cow and sheep manure, no chimney in your hovel, mice and rats in the thatch; periodic malnutrition. Only the strongest immune systems survive. Simple.
Take that same peasant, stick him in urban America with a 21st century middle class lifestyle. Me, for example. No pigs in the house, no cows to milk or animals to slaughter. The air is filtered of dust and conditioned to comfortable temperatures. The milk is pasteurized, foods are processed, the home is sanitized. So, your jacked-up, supersized immune system is getting bored. It senses a bit of pollen; it jumps up and now you have allergies to everything that grows in your environment. I have singlehandedly kept the antihistamine and decongestant industry in funds for the last 30 years. After extensive tests, I am allergic to everything, except dogs.
Your system is so confused that now it starts to attack your own tissues. It doesn't like the look of that thyroid--you get Hashimoto's disorder. Last year, after many years of HD, I asked my endocrinologist about the possibility of thyroid cancer. He laughed. He said I didn't have enough thyroid left to get cancer in. I was not comforted by that response.
Take a less socially-accepted disorder. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 1983. In UC (I love euphemisms), your immune system attacks the lining of your large intestine, causing inflammation, ulcers, etc. Very unpleasant. But, the same mechanism. Its like your immune system has shorted out and all the lights in the neighborhood have gone out, too.
Now, why do I note the Irish peasant background? There is the little matter of Celiac Disease. Celiac is another autoimmune disorder that attacks the intestine, but is activated when the sufferer ingests wheat products. What a great proof of my theory!! The 17th, 18th and 19th century Irish peasant had little access to wheat products. An evolutionary tweak to boost the immune system that had a side reaction of wheat intolerance was not a big deal. Irish Catholic religious practice made reception of Holy Communion infrequent. Potatoes were the main starch, maybe with some oats.
So, Celiac makes for a great case study on how autoimmune disorders work. It is not a problem, in the evolutionary sense, to be sensitive to wheat if you never get to eat it. As far as I know, Celiac is the only disease that has "family origin in the west of Ireland" as a risk factor.
So here's the theory: A sanitized lifestyle early in life promotes immune disorders. Get your kids dirty, early and often. Don't Panic if they eat food that dropped on the floor. Give their immune systems something to worry about.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
IBD Awareness Week
Sorry I missed posting about IBD Awareness Week last week. Autism gets a month, but IBD only gets a week. Figures. As we should all know, IBD stands for inflammatory bowel disease. Yes, I know, its gross. That's why its called IBD.
IBD is the overall name for 2 related conditions: Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Sounds even more gross. Yep.
As diseases go, IBD is impossible to talk about in polite company. If you are on Letterman, its easier to discuss testicular cancer than IBD. One thing you learn right away-NOBODY wants to hear about your guts. Millions of people have IBD, but its not really a topic of conversation. If you are talking about diseases, you ultimately have to get into symptoms. Not happening. No one wants to hear about your bowel problems. Cancers of all types have come out of the closet, IBD is still stuck in the WC. Breast self-exam--no problem--you can watch it on youtube. Prostate cancer--put a ribbon on it. Looking for blood in the toilet? No, there's no ribbon for that.
I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 1983. My symptoms began in 1979, but the doctor I went to didn't suggest I had something chronic. Probably ate something that didn't agree with me. Lay off the peanuts. Drink plenty of water.
In 1983, when I was finally diagnosed correctly, there really wasn't a lot they could give you, either. Lots of steroids--you bet. Shove them in from both ends. 'Roid rage?--I had that before it was popular. Nasty sulfurous tablets that made you stink to high heaven. I always found it ironic that nausea was a sympthom, but was also a common side effect of the drugs. Learning to live with the idea that every few years, you would get very ill. Abdominal cramps, pain, hours in the john on a daily basis. It won't kill you, but you will want to die, first from the pain, then from the embarrassment.
It was a bit of a shock. I was glad that the gastro put a name on it, but I was not pleased when I asked about the cure. Cure?? What cure?? Live with it. And, by the way, shove this up your . . . The only cure was a total colectemy. Yep. Not a step you want to take.
Today, there are a lot of options. There a bunch of non-sulfurous tablets that can keep you in remission. Other drugs to keep the surgeon at bay. They even have ads on TV for Humira and Remicade. There have been phenomenomal strides made in the last ten years.
But, still, no one wants to hear about your problem.
IBD is the overall name for 2 related conditions: Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Sounds even more gross. Yep.
As diseases go, IBD is impossible to talk about in polite company. If you are on Letterman, its easier to discuss testicular cancer than IBD. One thing you learn right away-NOBODY wants to hear about your guts. Millions of people have IBD, but its not really a topic of conversation. If you are talking about diseases, you ultimately have to get into symptoms. Not happening. No one wants to hear about your bowel problems. Cancers of all types have come out of the closet, IBD is still stuck in the WC. Breast self-exam--no problem--you can watch it on youtube. Prostate cancer--put a ribbon on it. Looking for blood in the toilet? No, there's no ribbon for that.
I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 1983. My symptoms began in 1979, but the doctor I went to didn't suggest I had something chronic. Probably ate something that didn't agree with me. Lay off the peanuts. Drink plenty of water.
In 1983, when I was finally diagnosed correctly, there really wasn't a lot they could give you, either. Lots of steroids--you bet. Shove them in from both ends. 'Roid rage?--I had that before it was popular. Nasty sulfurous tablets that made you stink to high heaven. I always found it ironic that nausea was a sympthom, but was also a common side effect of the drugs. Learning to live with the idea that every few years, you would get very ill. Abdominal cramps, pain, hours in the john on a daily basis. It won't kill you, but you will want to die, first from the pain, then from the embarrassment.
It was a bit of a shock. I was glad that the gastro put a name on it, but I was not pleased when I asked about the cure. Cure?? What cure?? Live with it. And, by the way, shove this up your . . . The only cure was a total colectemy. Yep. Not a step you want to take.
Today, there are a lot of options. There a bunch of non-sulfurous tablets that can keep you in remission. Other drugs to keep the surgeon at bay. They even have ads on TV for Humira and Remicade. There have been phenomenomal strides made in the last ten years.
But, still, no one wants to hear about your problem.
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