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Greetings!
I am writing this Newsletter from Houston,Texas. This
is probably the worst time of year to visit as the
temperatures have been in the upper 90's with a high
level of humidity or "mugginess" as we used to say
back where I grew up. I was here to see my mother in
hospice as she passed. With all the misleading talk
about "death panels" going on, I just have to give my
plug for hospice care. For the past year my mother
suffered ill health and had an advance directive for no
heroics at the end to prolong her life in a terminally ill
situation. Somehow when she was reaching the end
in her last hospitalization and she was incapacitated
there was still confusion amongst family and the
attending physicians as to how to care for her. We
were given options, more surgery, more radiation,
more artificial nutrition and hydration to prolong her
life which had already long lost any quality with no
hope for recovery. The physicians did not mention
hospice as a possibility until we brought it up and read
through the advance directives and all came to the
conclusion that hospice was the compassionate thing
to do. Once she entered hospice, she relaxed, rested
and finally on 8/20/09 at 1:30 AM had a very peaceful,
painless, comfortable
transition to the next realm. I believe that it is
important for all of us to think how we may want to be
cared for in our last days. Counseling for end of live
issues just helps people to make the decisions that
could impact how they are cared for in those final
months, days, weeks. Contrary to what is being
pushed in some media it is NOT a bunch of
bureaucrats sitting in a room deciding that it is too
expensive to save Granny! I have included a
comprehensive article from the New York Times on
this issue as food for thought. The other topic for
this newsletter that I have included pertains to celiac
disease and the even more common gluten
intolerance that are affecting more and more people.
My own personal opinion is that the original wheat like
gluten containing grain has been altered and
hybridized so much by modern farming methods to
become more draught and pest resistant that it is
virtually undigestible and inedible to more and more
people thus creating gluten sensitivities. More on that
later..... Be well and enjoy the remainder to summer.
| At the End, Offering Not a Cure but Comfort |
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Deborah Migliore was pushed into a small conference
room in a wheelchair, looking kittenish in red and white
pajamas and big gold hoop earrings. Her weight was
down to about 90 pounds, from 116, her face gaunt, her
sad eyes droopier than ever. From the New York
Times, August 20, 2009, by Anemona Hartocollis
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| Celiac's Disease - An information resource |
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Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages
the small intestine and interferes with absorption of
nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease
cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and
barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also
be found in everyday products such as medicines,
vitamins, and lip balms. When people with celiac
disease eat foods or use products containing gluten,
their immune system responds by damaging or
destroying villi-the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining
the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from
food to be absorbed through the walls of the small
intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a
person becomes malnourished, no matter how much
food one eats. From the National Digestive
Diseases Information Clearinghouse
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| Gluten Intolerance: Against the Grain |
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You suspect pasta, bread, and crackers are making
you sick. You may not have a name for your condition,
but one thing's for sure: avoiding grains is challenging.
Many people blame wheat, found in most of the
grain-based products, for causing their abdominal
pain, gas, bloating and diarrhea. From WebMD
Tara's note: I actually disagree with the part in the
article that says to continue eating gluten until your
clinical testing is done. I think that doing a therapeutic
trial of avoiding gluten and if your symptoms improve
that is enough evidence in my opinion to warrant
eliminating gluten from your diet. Some people who
want the evidence based clinical testing however may
want to heed the article's advice on this matter.
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| Gluten Free Recipes |
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On my search for a variety of gluten free recipes, this
seemed to be the best most comprehensive list of various
recipes for those who are living the Gluten Free lifestyle.
Also the magazine "Living Without" is also a good
resource for those who are living the challenge of the
allergic lifestyle. Enjoy!
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Healing Celiac's Disease, One interesting Perspective |
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When a patient receives a diagnosis of celiac disease
or gluten intolerance, either via laboratory testing or by
process of elimination by the sufferer himself,
complete avoidance of all gluten-containing foods will
often bring improvement of many symptoms in a short
time, sometimes as quickly as three days; others may
require a month for positive signs to emerge. Finally
understanding what was wrong can be a tremendous
relief for someone who had likely been struggling with
unhappy digestion for quite some time.
It is important to remember, though, that the
impaired digestive capabilities of someone suffering
from this autoimmune disorder will not automatically
return to full healthy functioning by merely excluding
gluten from the diet, nor will longstanding nutrient
deficiencies be corrected unless they are actively
addressed in a recuperation protocol designed with
care and insight into the needs of the individual.
Celiacs who have been severely afflicted should
expect significant renewal of health only after one or
more years of concerted effort. From Westin
Price Foundation
Tara's note: While the sourdough experiment
is intriguing I am still not convinced that it would be a
good route to go for someone with actively inflamed
Celiac Disease to take. If more people ate sourdough
bread made with more ancient grains, perhaps we
wouldn't develop Celiac's Disease at the currently
high rate that we are seeing it.
Find out more....
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