Did you know that

Debbie Viesse published a refutation to the Rubel/Arora article on eating Amanita muscaria. It is now in print and online. You can find it HERE and it is titled "Further Reflections on Amanita muscaria as an Edible Species", printed in "Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming," Issue 110, Fall 2011-Winter 2012. Copies are available through Leon Shernoff, Publisher. I am definitely going to read it tonight!!!!

Mod has a website on Mediterranean bay leaves where he develops and shares ideas. You can visit it HERE! Nevertheless, let me warn you that it is in a foreign language, I suppose Turkish, so the content just passed flying without me understanding it a slight bit.

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Bad This Bad That Bad Ben Goldacre

I was ignorant on the ways of Goldacres Guardians columns until the day I read, perhaps in one of the great blogs I advertise down below on the left, that Goldacres was a Guru in search of the truth. After reading a very brief mention to his writing ability I decided to search for his books. Firstly, I found his picture and immediately got startled by an Einstein-figurine that through times has been vindicating that crazy hairdos do not have to linearly belong to crazy people. Somehow still yet inebriated by my secular iconoclast soul I decided to give this author a chance... and what an amazing surprise I was hit with. Probably, for most of the Brits I work with, Goldacre is a must since they were like sixteen. How surprised did they sound when I revealed that this writer, doctor, columnist, man of a thousand jobs, was new to me and I had yet to let him captivate me if he was to stand a chance of belonging to my personal library.

I dont care how surprised my colleagues sounded, or the extent of their irony. How can people who have no idea who Saramago was, Pessoa, Miguel Torga, Eca de Queiroz, or the most contemporary, Sophia de Mello Breyner, Lobo Antunes and Agustina Bessa-Luis, claim ignorance on anything. OK, now Im being rough, but you understand my point guys, somehow I had to advertise the great writers from my country who more than deserve to be read by all of you. Well, lets move forward! Reading is knowledge and regardless of when it hit you, it is always welcome. And I must say that even though it might sound a tad arrogant, Ben Goldacre knows his way with words, facts and arguments that cement his intrepid ideas. Intrepid because he messes with a secret-shaped mud, revolves the ground that hides the truth and exposes the facts based on other even more real facts. Nevertheless, and even though he assumes that his exposures might direct people to over-criticism of science and pharma, it is very easy to drift reasoning and assume passion if one is not careful and blindly think that if in the populace theres a black sheep, all sheep are thus, black.

I recently purchased two great books from Ben Goldacres collection, one is a best-seller, the other is a continuum of his investigatory attitude towards dismantling the monsters we all applaud without even blinking.  I must exacerbate that I am not anti-pharma, or even anti-science (how could I?), not at all. I love pharma, I love science, they are necessary domains that complement each other and replenish the world with progress. What I hate in fact is ignorance, as I do not consider it bliss. And I pity people who love being ignorant. Goldacre is not a guru, I have no patience for gurus. Goldacre is a guy who investigates pretty well, exposes it in a very simple, funny, pungent way, and then, after youve been served, you are left craving more... Truth!

Title: "Bad Science"

Author: Ben Goldacre

Label: Fourth Estate

Year: First published in Great Britain in 2008

Price: £4.30 on Amazon (sold by World of Books Ltd)

Public review: 4.4 stars

Public comment:

***

Title: "Bad Pharma"
Author: Ben Goldacre
Label: Fourth Estate
Year: First published in Great Britain in 2012
Price: £6.54 on Amazon (sold by SuperBookDeals)
Public review: 4.5 stars
Public comment:

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Did you know that honey has eternal shelf life

... because its acidity, its lack of water and above all the presence of hydrogen peroxide (that destroys the cell walls of bacteria) will allow it to last forever. Hydrogen peroxide fizzes on skin cuts because blood and a variety of living cells possess the enzyme catalase in their composition. Catalase will react with the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) through oxidation, but our bodies are naturally protected from the hydrogen peroxide we produce because we store it in peroxisomes (small organelles) in the form of water and oxygen. Cuts are actually something Dr. James Barry (a British surgeon who died back in 1865) saw a lot as part of her profession and role in the Battle of Waterloo. Yep, this surgeon was actually a female rather than a man, an option Barry took in order to pursue a career as a surgeon, and only after her death was her real gender revealed on the autopsy table. This is the perfect example for explaining that the real I comes from within us, just like the way the Great Pyramid of Giza was built from the inside out, with its edges coming together as a cardinal point. At least that is the presumption of a French architect. French, not Indian, and maybe for that reason he wasnt too keen on curry. And for not being fond of curry he wasnt even aware of the difficulties faced by farmers just to get 1 Kg (~2.2 pounds) of Saffron. They actually need approximately 1 million of these Crocus sativus flowers to produce that amount. But not only for curries is Saffron used, it is also a dye used in Asia, especially by some monks living very sin-free lives and therefore not constituting modern examples of the lust times in ancient Rome. There the prostitutes were ready for fornication, waiting for their clientele underneath vaulted ceilings (Fornice, in Latin) therefore Fornix became a euphemism for brothels and sexual intercourse. Its easy how one does not have to dig deep to understand how language tells us so much about our past as human beings, we only need to browse and we immediately find. Some other beings, like the Fig trees, dont really have such easy lives, their roots go as deep as 125 meters inside the soil so we can see these trees grow strong and produce amazing figs that when ripen have that amazing fruity honey taste. Honey that has eternal shelf life because its acidity, its lack of water and above all the presence of hydrogen peroxide (that destroys the cell walls of bacteria)...

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Ram wrangling

I learnt a very valuable lesson in how to free a ram from a fence today.

1. Wear gloves or use a towel their horns really hurt your hands. 
2. Get on the other side of the fence to the ram, even though he is a placid boy, hes not happy stuck in a fence and will body slam you, and he weighs a LOT. 

Thankfully he ran away as soon as he was free. I got him some food to make it up to him. Now to try and get whatever is imbedded into my hand out.

 

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Multiple sclerosis and bay leaf could that be a factor

On the 2nd of March Danielle King asked me about MS, that I suspect is a short name for multiple sclerosis and reactions to bay leaf in her diet. I am no medical doctor as I already told her, but I like browsing through the available information to know more and help others know more about their own conditions. Having said that, if youre ever concerned about your health or the health of any of your relatives, especially in such serious intricate ailments like MS, it is always very important to rush to your doctor and get an appropriate follow-up of your symptoms with professional medical advice.

Defining Multiple Sclerosis?

To start with lets define what is Multiple Sclerosis; the National Health Service (NHS) website explains it as a disease in the brain and spinal cord that will ultimately affect muscular movement, affect sight (loss of vision) and cause ataxia (affecting coordination and balance) and cause spasticity and tiredness [1]. There are different types of patients suffering from MS, 8 out of 10 with MS will show the relapsing remitting type where symptoms are milder or can periodically disappear but the relapse events can flare-up and last for weeks to months. Later on in life, half of the people suffering from MS develop secondary progressive MS where symptoms gradually become worse and remission periods become rarer. There is a less common type of MS disorder known as Primary Progressive MS where symptoms gradually get worse and there are no periods of remission [1]. 

If you want to know more about causes, patients and outlook, please visit this link.

What did I find on the available scientific literature about Bay leaf and Multiple Sclerosis?

Unfortunately not much, if anyone has access to better articles or better servers where articles are located, please by all means, just let me know. I found some studies on anti-alcohol substances from natural resources explaining that bay leaf (Laurus nobilis) showed very strong inhibitory activity on ethanol absorption in rats [2]. This same article by Yoshikawa et al. talks about a few pharmacological properties of bay leaf. Focusing solely on the leaves one can learn about the inhibitory effects on NO production (I suspect NO stands for nitrogen monoxide) and also anti-diabetic effects, for example. 

In another article Yalcin et al tell us about the different compounds found in the essential oil of Laurus nobilis from the Northern Cyprus mountains [3]. If we look into a few of them and cross along with the information on pharmacological properties of these, maybe we can deduct something important. Bear in mind that a deduction is merely a deduction and not a clinical trial at all!!! Thus, verifying the different compounds composing this oil monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes form a bigger part of the constituents:

- it is reported by David Stewart, PhD, R.A, that monoterpenes are capable of reprogramming miswritten information in the cellular memory [4]; sesquiterpene molecules deliver oxygen to cells just like haemoglobin in blood, thus creating an oxygenated moiety that inhibits the growth of cancer cells, and are also capable of erasing or deprogramming miswritten codes in DNA.

But what caught my attention was Dr. Stewarts comment that I fully transcribe hereby:

"The American Medical Association (AMA) has said that if they could find an agent that would pass the blood-brain barrier, they would be able to find cures for ailments such as Lou Gehrigs disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimers disease, and Parkinsons disease. Such agents already exist and have been available since Biblical times. The agents, of course, are essential oils-particularly those containing the brain oxygenating molecules of sesquiterpenes."

In other articles I found online regarding atherosclerosis (very different from multiple sclerosis for the former is a form of obstruction of arteries by fatty atheromas/plaques, a combination of turmeric and bay leaf is associated to reduced plaque build [5] in a hypercholesterolemic Zebrafish model, and blood sugar levels [6] in patients with diabetes Mellitus (very limited study though).

In conclusion:

I honestly believe that maybe what you feel is an allergic reaction to bay leaves as face eczema, contact dermatitis and occupational asthma have been reported before [7].

I dont want to conclude anything at all, but to provide information for you to do your own interpretation. A GP might be able to indicate better why you have face flushes and feel sick after having your bowl of soup with bay leaves in it. From the top of my head, unless you are using a copious amount of leaves in your soup, inadvisable though, I see no direct link between the information I was able to find and your complaints, unless we focus on side-effects. These, related to consumption of bay leaves, are overall very few when consumed in food. 

[1] NHS Choices, Multiple slerosis, [http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/multiple-sclerosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx], last visited on the 19th of March 2014, last update on the 18th of March 2013.

[2] Yoshikawa, M., Shimoda, H., Uemura, T., Morikawa, T., Kawahara, Y., Matsuda, H. (2000). "Absorption inhibitors from bay leaf (Laurus Nobilis): structure requirements sesquiterpenes for the activity". Bioorganic and medicinal chemistry, 8, pp. 2071-2077.

[3] "Yalcin, H., Anik, M., Sanda, M. A., Cakir, A. (2007). "Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry analysis of Laurus nobilis essential oil composition of Northern Cyprus". Journal of medicinal food, 10(4), pp.715-719

[4] The blood-brain barrier, [http://www.rnoel.50megs.com/pdf/theblood.htm], last visited on the 19th of March 2014, last update unknown.

[5] Jin, S., Hong, J-H., Jung, S-H., Cho, K-H. (2011). "Turmeric and Laurel Aqueous extracts exhibit  in vitro anti- atherosclerotic activity and in vivo hypolipidemic effects in a Zebrafish model". Journal of Medicinal Food, 14(3), pp. 247-256.

[6] Aljamal, A. (2011). "Effects of bay leaves on the patientswith Diabetes Mellitus". Research Journal of Medicinal Plant, 5(4), pp. 471-476.

[7] Healthline, Bay leaf (Laurus Nobilis), [http://www.healthline.com/natstandardcontent/bay-leaf], last visited on the 19th of March, last update unknown.

1st image taken from Irish American Mom, Bay leaf and thyme sprigs in soup, [http://www.irishamericanmom.com/2012/02/06/potato-and-leek-soup/dscf7537/], last visited on the 19th of March 2014.

2nd image taken from Circulation research, [http://circres.ahajournals.org/content/104/8/952/F1.expansion.html] on the 19th of March 2014.

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Russian Crocodile the zombie drug that eats junkies

I have been postponing this article for a long time because I couldnt find enough information on this serious topic. It appears that there is a flesh-eating drug, becoming ever so "famous" in Russia, named Krokodil (Crocodile). But what is in fact Krokodil, its components, its origin, side-effects, short/long term effects. This post is the informational fix youve been longing for. And now that I noticed the drug has entered the United States it is time to blow the alarm. Be ready because this is no fun at all, this is serious stuff as you will be able to judge right after I go through the answers for most of the questions we have on the matter. I hope that after these you can be aware that this new mixture can really "zombify" the bodies of people close to you.

What is Krokodil?

Krokodil is an opioid derivative of codeine named Krokodil in the streets, but its real name for pharmacists would be Desomorphine, plus a lot of other noxious ingredients mixed by street dealers. Among these hazardous compounds one can find gasoline, paint thinner, hydrochloric acid, iodine, red phosphorous [1, 2]. Let me very briefly explain a few concepts to you: opioids are medications that relieve pain and codeine is a medicine used to treat mild to moderate pain. This drug can be produced just like illicit metamphetamine is "cooked". The name Krokodil clearly derives from the green, dark, dead and moribund aspect the flesh gains as if one was turning into a crocodile (see image).

Where did it come from?
Apparently, it was first formulated in 1932 as a derivative of morphine; it is patented in Switzerland under the brand name Permonid [3]. Permonid is known to be 8 to 10 times stronger than morphine, and because people are always looking for incredibly stupid ways of destroying their lives, it became a recreational drug for hardcore junkies. Later in 2002 this drug jumped frontiers and "landed" in cold rural Russia, turning into a customary drug due to the easiness of manufacturing protocols [1]. It was actually an Afghan fungal crop disease that reduced opium production by 48%, back in 2010, that made people move from heroin to injectable over-the-counter codeine (easily found in compositions for common colds and cough) [2].

What are the effects of using Krokodil?
It has sedative and analgesic effects, but let me tell you of the most visible and shocking ones. The compounds within cause blood poisoning and the acids cause vessels to burst, and then corrosion of the tissues occurs all the way to the bone. Open ulcers, infections, gangrene, limb amputations. Liver and kidney damage. The typical rotting gums and tooth loss [2]. Etc Etc Etc to the classical HIV.

Is Krokodil addictive?
Tremendously! Especially considering that it costs a third of the common street heroin. There are now over a million people in Russia ghastly dying on Krokodil, but it has also been reported in other places like Germany, Georgia, Ukraine, Norway and Kazakhstan [2].

How do I know my friend is on Krokodil?
Oh youll know, and that will not be Shawn of the Dead fun.

[1] Why are millions addcited to a drug that eats  the flesh of their bones?, Forbes, [http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/12/10/why-are-millions-addicted-to-a-drug-that-eats-the-flesh-off-their-bones/], last visited on the 5th of December, 2015; last update on the 12th of October, 2013.

2] Krokodil (Desomorphine), [http://www.drugs.com/illicit/krokodil.html], last visited on the 5th of December 2015, last updated on the 21st of October, 2014.

[3] Permonid - PubChem, [http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5362456#section=Top, last visited on the 5th of December 2015, last update unknown.

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The family photo shoot that rocked

Hugest thanks to Nikki at Virtual Memories Photography. Super happy with the photos and the service you get for your money is exceptional (definitely not a paid ad I really am super happy) Here are some of my favorite pics (you try picking from 155 or 310 if you include b/w photos)

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