Protein linked to arthritis could help treat Alzheimer's

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Published Date: 23 August 2010

By Lyndsay Moss

Health Correspondent

A PROTEIN found in patients with arthritis could be used to reverse the mental decline suffered by people with Alzheimer's, new research suggests.

The scientists found that people with rheumatoid arthritis may be protected against dementia because of their condition. (snip)

The researchers from the University of South Florida looked at the effects of a protein known as GM-CSF in mice bred with Alzheimer's symptoms.

They found that the protein, which is released in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, was able to "completely reverse" cognitive impairment in the mice.

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I'll have that extra pie please

I would never trade my amazing friends,
my wonderful life, my loving family for
less gray hair or a flatter belly.
As I've aged, I've become kinder
to myself, and less critical of
myself. I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that
extra cookie, or for not making my bed,
or for buying that silly cement gecko
that I didn't need, but  looks so avante
garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat,
to be messy, to be extravagant. 

I have seen too many dear friends leave this
world too soon; before they understood the great
freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play
on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes
of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish
to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched
over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with
abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from
the jet set.
    
They, too, will get old. I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten.
And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken.
How can your heart not  break when you lose a
loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when
somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken
hearts are what give us strength and understanding and
compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and
sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

    
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my
hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be
forever  etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed,and so many have died
before their hair could turn silver. 

As you get older, it is easier to be positive.
You care less about what other people think.

I don't question myself anymore..

I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old.
It has set me free. I like the person I have become.
I am not going to live forever, but while I am still
here, I will not waste time lamenting what could
have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall
eat dessert  every single day(if I feel like it).

                                          Author Unknown

           

I told a young man

I told a young man, “I know that IPODs exist, but that is about it.” I continued that it was a sign of my old age.
He asked me how old I was, “or can I ask that?”
I told him I didn’t mind and told him my age. He said, “That is not old. You are doing yourself a disservice to say you are old.” I told him that it depended on how you viewed age. “I am not ashamed of being old. Being old has its strengths and weaknesses. I do not know much about technical things, but I have strengths that you cannot even imagine.”
It is true. Age brings wisdom, delights, comforts, assurances, depth that youth cannot imagine. However, it might bring a few aches and pains, a little less energy, and a loss of flexibility. I may not understand the latest and greatest in the technical field, but I have not lost my ability to learn. So what are my weaknesses compared to my strengths? Nada, as I said before, I have strengths you cannot even imagine.
It is the aging bias that tries to keep older adults “in their place.” Don’t let it. Speak out!