Larry King Tonight 3/6/08: Drug-Induced Mitochondria Disease

[Biologist]

Ooops !!!

Injected Mercury into the Wrong Baby:

1. Mother is a Medical Professional & Attorney (I believe that's right)

2. Father is a Neurologist.

3. Judge is NOT on Pharma's Payroll.

(Bad combination)

Drug Companies are Sweating Bullets:

Drug-Induced Mitochondria Disorder Caused the Child's Sudden Autism?

Of course, the case for Statins causing mitochodria disorders is even stronger...

Could be interesting.

CNN 9:00 PM EST tonight (and reruns later; check your listings)

Biologist

[adec]

Thanks as always for the heads up Biologist.

[cjbrooksjc]

Thanks, Biologist, I'll be sure to watch... wonder if we will learn if Mito function is recoverable since they replicate to reproduce. Did you know they (mitochondria) have their own dna; aside from ours, and are a sort of zootic (sp?) life form, like spermatazoa... fascinating stuff. But I'd give anything to be still totally unaware of them; glibly kayaking down the Rio Blanco in the warm embrace of total ignorance.

Kind Regards,

Brooks

[Biologist]

Brooks,

Yes, I read a whole book specifically on mitochondria. The good news is that the intact mitochondria in a given cell are the ones most likely to reproduce. Recovery over time is likely based on that phenomenon. Hopefully, some of the most vital cells, which do not tend to reproduce (for obvious reasons, such as with foot-long motor neurons) have enough good ones left to upgrade their mitochondrial population such that the cell's performance improves over time. Unfortunately, some such cells simply die due to the lack of energy and/or accumulated cell-wide oxidative stress from their impaired and leaking mitochondria. I believe that I lost some such cells early on which accounts for a "quiver under motion" in my arms. I do not believe that is likely to improve for me over time -- but hopefully I'm proven wrong. I liked your post recently on the arginine-based carnitine working synergistically with acetyl-L-carnitine for improved neural cell regeneration/division. I will be ordering some of that in the next few days. Another recent post of yours is also interesting regarding the repair of muscle cells. I will be looking into that more. We now know that both muscle cells and many/most neural cells can reproduce (contrary to traditional thinking), perhaps based on the right dietary and "endocrinological" environment. Unfortuately, some of our most important hormones decline with age which is something else to look into.

Regarding environmental and genetic predispositions, such as the child apparently had, and as many adults tend to have (perhaps including most on this forum), which may encourage progressive diseases in some, we need to learn more. Near future genetics-based medicine will likely be predictive, and therefore make it more avoidable. The same medicine may also offer cures for the currently afflicted. In the mean time we are learning ways to maximize our existing health. Staying away from unnecessary antibiotics is one that comes to mind.

Regarding the show:

King was either unusually "off his game" or was under unusual pressure. Twice the husband and wife were (ineptly and almost rudely) interrupted by King in the middle of making an important point -- and never allowed to return to the point. The wife was slightly incredulous at one such incident, as she should have been. One tactic of controlling controversial information getting out is to have too many guest experts on hand to eat up time and break the flow when necessary. CNN and their sponsors had three such experts on hand.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjay_Gupta

*http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/gupta.sanjay.html

We did not need to hear so much from those "experts": "Vaccines are wonderful, they save lives." Yep, we all know that, but that was not the issue at all. The issue was mercury unnecessarily being in the vaccines and the damage that it has done to additional children decades after it was know to be a problem. (The comments that it has been proven to be unrelated is simply a lie.) The mechanism for damage -- mitochondrial dysfunction -- should have been discussed more (as it was in the promos for the piece aired by CNN throughout the day which were clips from the courthouse interview right after the verdict).

The reason that the case was not contested was because the defense (defending the liability suit) did not want that Legal Record to exist for future cases, therefore they settled without specifically admitting guilt and without the facts coming out. The lawyer for the family (who did get that point across on King's show) had been loaded for bear for his case and it would have had a huge impact on future cases. That is now greatly minimized. BTW, it also came out that the liable party is the USA -- us. The couple will be collecting from the government. The drug companies had long ago shifted liability to the taxpayer with the assistance of Congress. More and more, this is the new "rule of the road." Pretty smart, huh? You bet I would like to see Ralph Nader in the White House. Neither wing of our hard right Corporate Party (i.e, the Republicans and the Establishment Democrats) will make any responsible changes; they are on the payroll.

What was left out, that was covered during that uncontrolled interview right after the verdict and outside the courthouse, was more on the mitochondrial issue and the fact that doctors were simply not reporting the problems they were seeing -- for decades. That would have been an excellent discussion for King's show.

Biologist

[Biologist]

An after thought regarding "genetic predispositions": This in no way absolves irresponsible drug therapies. For example, researchers now believe that ALL MEN are predisposed to prostate cancer. It's simply a question of whether one gets it at 50 or at 150. If you live long enough, you are going to get it.

Biologist

[gotts1936]

The drug companies and GP's have a moral responsibility to determine who my have a " genetic predisposition " to any disease prior to prescribing any drug. Anybody agree?

[cjbrooksjc]

Biologist: Yes, I think we read the same book (Power, Sex, and Mitochondria).

GONSI.com sells a combo ACL HCI and ACL Arginate; it's quite reasonable.

On a somber note, I hope no one reads these posts on Mito Disease (which is innate and incurable) and relates that EXACTLY to our predicament: Mito Disfunction, which is reversible in many cases. All this info on mitochondria links so well into what we experience; but, of course, you know that. But I would love to know what UCSD has discovered and are not yet prepared to publish.

Gotts: The drug companies have ABANDONED their Moral Compass. They look smart, talk fast, and think green. Keep your hand on your wallet!

Brooks

[cjbrooksjc]

Biologist: One other thing I noticed (Larry King) was that the US Gov't agencies can't decide among themselves what the outcomes should be. The court says that poor girl was carelessly damaged; the responsible agencies say not. I still think we did away with stocks and pillories too soon.

Brooks