This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Comorbidities amongst patients with multiple sclerosis: a population-based controlled study.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20192982
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Data regarding the wide spectrum of comorbidity amongst patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are still scanty, especially in Asian populations. Our goal was to analyze comorbidity prevalences and risks amongst Chinese patients with MS, compared to matched controls.
METHODS: In total, 898 patients with MS and 4490 randomly matched individuals without MS were extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Dataset in Taiwan. We selected 30 comorbid medical conditions for analysis. Conditional logistic regression analyses were used to examine the risks of comorbidity between the two groups.
RESULTS: The regression analyses showed that patients with MS were more likely to have systemic lupus erythematosus (OR = 26.9, 95% CI = 10.3-70.3), depression (OR = 6.9, 95% CI = 5.3-8.9), peripheral vascular disorders (OR = 6.6, 95% CI = 4.0-11.0), deficiency anemias (OR = 4.9, 95% CI = 2.8-8.7), rheumatoid arthritis (OR = 4.8, 95% CI = 2.9-8.1) and fluid and electrolyte disorders (OR = 4.8, 95% CI = 2.8-8.3) than the matched controls.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with MS had higher risk of multiple medical comorbidities compared to a matched control group in an ethnic Chinese population.

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

a day in the life of jimmylegs' evil/lazy twin alter ego...

breakfast: nothing

at work snack: hot choc mixed with coffee and several chocolate caramel chip pecan cookies

lunch: half a white cheese poppyseed bagel, with butter.

afternoon snack: two maple taffies (i restrained myself and did not also have a bag of chips)

after work while-grocery-shopping snack: a 'pepperette'

back at home, reason starts to reassert itself...

after work snack: orange pekoe tea, carrot and celery sticks, 2 baby pickled beets

dinner prep: bake one chicken breast. check.

pending: the giant salad upon which said chicken breast will rest.

time stamp: twenty to nine. better eat something decent before it's time to sleep

oh yes and how many supplements so far today? zero.

eep!

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

hahaha! thought that one would get a reaction oh and i forgot the after-work-but-before-leaving-work snack, which was another cookie :S

the good news, i finished making my salad of mixed leaf lettuce and spinach, with vidalia onion, cucumber, and tomato.

i tossed it in olive and sunflower oil (i am out of flaxseed oil, boohoo), rice and white vinegar, dried basil, mint, and garlic, salt and pepper, and a pinch of organic sugar.

i topped it with raw sunflower seeds and whole flax seeds, then laid the sliced chicken breast on top (lightly salted) and grated a little old white cheddar cheese over the top.

i did take some supplements before and during eating (whew!)

for dessert ('cause i needed dessert, right) i had a little homemade rhubarb crumble with custard.

back on track today (ie, not going to work! much easier to behave here.. esp during maple syrup season...)

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

[Zinc and vitamin A deficiency in gastrointestinal diseases].
[Article in German]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6513720
Abstract
It has been established rather surely that patients with chronic liver disease, Crohn's disease, chronic pancreatis and celiac disease are deficient in zinc and vitamin A. A large number of clinical symptoms can be caused by these deficiencies, due to the fact that these compounds have numerous functions. Zinc deficiency in liver cirrhosis is probably caused by portosystemic shunting, whereas in Crohn's disease abnormalities of protein metabolism are suggested as etiologic factor. Vitamin A deficiency can be considered as a consequence of disturbed zinc metabolism. Some studies in appropriate patients receiving substitution therapy with zinc and/or vitamin A had positive results. However, the necessity of substitution in the diseases mentioned has not yet been conclusively demonstrated.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

it just dawned on me that i did the first 10km guided hike of the season yesterday, fast-paced due to early group departure, with no loss of functionality due to nerve conduction issues. awesome! core temp was up, but it was a cool day with a wind chill so that could have been partly responsible. we'll see what happens as the season warms up

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

organizing for the season ahead. the up-side of having lost my apt is i have a little more leisure to think about something besides scrambling for money, and can get a bit more organized.

so far, have $150 down on a quarter cow.
still have a bunch left from the last $50 spend on tamworth pork.
making inquiries re goat cuts.
in the deep freeze there are still 4 or 5 whole chickens from a family friend's free range farm. have to get those eaten up by october.

pricing seasonal local organic weekly farm shares - might just commit to a weekly visit to the farmers' market.
also finally have the time to think about sourcing local organic pick-your-own berries. i want to use berries more but i am not a fan of the packaging. not hard to find pick you own, the organic part is the stumper

and, fiddlehead season is around the corner so some wild harvesting will be in order shortly
garlic mustard is up too - with precautions re not making the weediness problem worse, it's an abundant wild edible.

aside: we sometimes have access to venison. found this awesome venison and garlic mustard sausage recipe yesterday (well, you can find it. here are links to entire cookbooks...
http://www.phcwpma.org/GarlicMustard/gm_recipes.pdf (i think all these are taken from the second file but this one has a prettier title page the other has a useful TOC)
http://www.patapscoheritagegreenway.org ... s-2010.pdf

this year i may grab a puffball mushroom or two as well. and some morels if i happen to see any

interesting aside from wikipedia re vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol):
"Testing conducted by the Pennsylvania State University showed an hour of UV light exposure made a serving of mushrooms contain twice the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's daily recommendation of vitamin D. Testing by the Monterey Mushrooms Company demonstrated 5 minutes of UV light exposure made a serving of mushrooms contain four times the FDA's daily recommendation of vitamin D."

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

just gave this a quick glance - haven't read it slowly yet but i plan to.

as an ex-vegan who paid the price, i think this looks like a very intelligent assessment, from what i've seen thus far.

Nutritional Pros and Cons of Vegetarian and Meat-based Diets
http://www.acu-cell.com/veg.html

excerpt:

"Contrary to vegan-based reviews or commentaries, people following a strict vegetarian diet are not healthierthan their omnivorous counterparts. In fact, based on clinical records, they suffer from just as many or moremedical problems as compared to non-vegetarian individuals, who include meat or eggs in their diet.There is absolutely no question that the average individual does best health-wise by consuming a mixed dietthat is as fresh, and hopefully as unprocessed as possible. Beyond that, an individual assessment is requiredto provide the necessary information to help make a decision of whether one's diet should be adjusted withgreater emphasis toward
• specific food groups,
• a change in the percentage of the carb, protein, or fat content of a meal, or
• toward a more vegetarian or non-vegetarian diet - to achieve a more optimal approach to health."

balance balance balance!!! awesome. i concur.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

EPIC!!! i just found my school planner with all my notes taken during early dx process, before learning about TiMS! so much info!!!

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

eeeeeeeee now i have the dates and stages of improvement from when i was trying my modified klenner, my aussie bloodwork results, whew! this is cool.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

and all that while hunting for emergency supplies to rescue my laptop from drowning. mission accomplished

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

on the page opposite my dx week in my planner, i have this little stream-of-consciousness rant about the intense psychological and physical experience of the process. weird to relive that time.

i enjoyed these little notes. here's how early 2006 went:

jan 9 - b12 results normal. feet still numb this time though.
jan 23 - initial tests - referral to neuromuscular clinic.
jan 24 - numb to bellybutton (T10)
jan 26 - numb to T7 per neuro. EMG, VEP, MRI (brain and spine)
jan 27 - bloodwork at hospital
jan 29 - numb to C6/7 (ring and pinky fingers) - last day of work before trip to australia
jan 30 - trip to emergency for EVP, LP
jan 31 - post LP migraine

there's a gap for 2 days. somewhere in there they told me i had ms. i had to make my decision to cancel my trip, and hosted my 'non'-voyage party lying down, of all things. notes start up again on feb 3, mostly talking about recovering from post LP headache. on the 4th and 5th i stayed on the couch trying to heal the hole in the spinal cord. so that i could avoid getting a blood patch on monday the 6th. this bit made me laugh:

feb 6 - started ticket refund w/ travelcuts. called work re starting back on thurs. called doc re not in oz.

one, it still amazes me that i was only a week or so off work. i've missed way more time for way less serious stuff since!

two, i'm glad i was in school when i got diagnosed or i wouldn't have been carting around that planner to keep track of everything.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

a little more from the old 2005/2006 journal.

i noticed my feb 21 2006 appt with the ms clinic doc. this appt was to have my neuro's dx confirmed, since i had previously been in the neuromuscular clinic, not the ms clinic.

at that stage i had already spent three weeks coming up with a nutrition regimen. i remember i took the doctor a printout of this spreadsheet i'd made, and he pooh poohed it all with the exception, if i recall correctly, of vitamin D.

glad i was not discouraged by his attitude!

i have some notes on my earliest supplement regimen in '06. looks like it was based on my knowing what i was probably low in having been a strict vegan for so long, and also knowing what i was definitely low in, since i'd always gotten ferritin and b12 tested, all along.

feb 4 - 300mg ferrous sulfate (that would have delivered about 50mg elemental iron), 1000 mcg B12, B50-complex, O3-6-9
feb 5 - 300mg ferrous sulfate, 1000 mcg B12, ginkgo biloba, 10mg zinc (wow i sooo did not know how much zinc was needed back then!)
feb 6 - 300mg ferrous sulfate, 1000 mcg B12, ginkgo biloba, 10mg zinc, acidophilus, O3-6-9, 200IU vit E (i certainly did not know about vit E8 complex yet)

i continued along the same lines for a few days, then

feb 11 - out of ginkgo, 1 tbsp cal/mag/D3 (in addition to all the rest), skipped O-3-6-9 (cause of Ca/Mg/D3) (<- that's what my note says i don't remember why i decided not to take minerals and omegas together)

by feb 17 even selenium started to appear in the regimen. by the end of feb, i have notes on what i ate, how much green tea i drank that day, etc.

unfortunately, since i was still in the dx attack at this point, things were going downhill in spite of my efforts. my notes get steadily messier - i remember working really hard to keep them legible.

anyway, interesting. i still would have been a ways away from stumbling on klenner. that early regimen wasn't too bad for such a newb. i'm a little surprised.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

my next read:

Nutrition and Physical Degeneration - A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects
http://atomsound.tv/mediashare/nutritio ... _price.pdf

this book has been mentioned on the forum a few times previously, but i don't think a pdf link has made an appearance before. copy and save while it works!

should be interesting. i haven't read it before because i felt it would be preaching to the converted.

however, i hope to glean some useful info for work, related to traditional indigenous interactions with aquatic resources.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

all right here's yesterday's diet diary..

water
black tea with very little sugar and some milk

breakfast omelet (sauteed leek, crimini mushroom, red pepper, spinach, and 2 beaten local free range eggs, sprinkled lightly with minced back bacon and finely cubed old cheddar)

leftovers for lunch (not even 1c of tuna casserole - sauteed onions, mushrooms, raincoast white albacore tuna (tuna - NOT a common part of my diet!), paper-thin sliced potato, green peas, with thickened leftover home-made leek soup for sauce)

2 small home-made 'morning glory' muffins (full of carrot and raisins etc)
3 cups (!) coffee, each w 1tsp sugar, some organic 2% milk and a splash of table cream

leftovers for dinner (3 slices cooked carrots, a little steamed kale, pressure-cooked cabbage, 2 boiled brussels sprouts, mashed potato-and-turnip, a little home-made stovetop dressing, and two small slices of chicken breast. topped with home-made gravy)

1 cup mint tea
3 digestive biscuits :S

not an angel, but not terrible either

i'm running low on supplements this week, but yesterday i had:
1 multi (product intends 3 daily),
2 extra strength fish oil gelcaps,
1x200mcg selenium,
1x50mg zinc (w 2mg cu),
1x100mg magnesium (from 547mg mag glycinate),
1x200mg mag citrate (not sure if label is citing elemental there..),
1x10,000IU vitamin A,
1x400IU E8 complex

i think that's everything. today will be a b-complex day (i'm on every other day for that right now). also i don't take vit d3 every day.
today i'll be going out for more multis, vit C and mag glycinate. probably should grab some more E8 complex too.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com