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The Problem That Piles Up

When Hoarding Is a Disorder

You may have seen reality TV shows about people who hoard mail, gadgets, cats, and even trash. Or, maybe for you, the reality is a little closer. It could be a neighbor or a family member.

When people aren’t able to throw things away, piles can grow to the ceiling. These piles can make it impossible to use bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens.

The piles may fall over, trap, and injure people. They can catch on fire. Cluttered homes and yards may attract pests. Neighbors may call the police. Parents may lose custody of children.

People don’t choose to be hoarders. And they aren’t being sloppy or lazy. “This is a very real mental disorder,” says hoarding disorder expert Dr. David F. Tolin of Hartford Hospital’s Institute of Living. “It is important to recognize that people with hoarding disorder have lost control of their decision-making abilities.”

Tolin’s NIH-funded research suggests why it’s hard for people with this disorder to part with items, even things with no real-world value. He found that brain activity was different between people with hoarding disorder and healthy people.

“We’re always puzzled by the fact that many people with hoarding disorder often don’t seem terribly bothered by their circumstance,” he says. “If they don’t have to make a decision, the parts of their brain that are largely in charge of becoming bothered are underactive.”

But if they are forced to decide about whether to discard something, that part of the brain becomes overactive. “And so, the brain is essentially screaming that everything is important.”

Doctors don’t know what causes hoarding disorder. There’s no X-ray or blood test for a diagnosis. Instead, doctors assess how well people are functioning in their lives.

Hoarding disorder can start during a person’s teens or later. It may grow more severe over the decades.

Do you know someone who may need help? For ideas about how to bring up the topic, see the Wise Choices box. Try to be gentle, calm, and patient. It may take several conversations before the person agrees to work on the problem.

Try not to start an argument. “If a person is not really motivated to do something about the problem, they can dig in their heels. Arguing can even make the problem worse,” Tolin warns.

There’s no effective medication for hoarding disorder, although studies are in progress. Tolin says, “Right now, cognitive behavioral therapy is the only evidence-based treatment we have for hoarding.” This is a type of talk therapy that teaches people how to change their thinking patterns and react differently to situations.

Tolin’s team hopes to improve cognitive behavioral therapy so that it’s even better at helping people to discard items. They’re analyzing the brain activities of people before and after they’re successfully treated for hoarding disorder. If the research team can identify the biological mechanisms of successful treatments, they may be able to develop treatments that are even better.

Some people with hoarding disorder are helped by joining a support group with others who have the disorder. There are also organizing professionals who specialize in helping people get rid of clutter. To find more resources for this and other mental health issues, visit www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help.

via 3D printed home for $4k for seniors and millenials in our community

My upcoming ebook – Transform Inside and Out will include health, wealth and relationship. This video might be your ticket to financial success using the internet as your tool.

I have to find ways to use the internet to generate the income and get the freedom in time and money. And be a role model.

Email motherhealth@gmail.com your success stories in generating income using the internet.

via Who is your village to give you courage

You can lean on music in times of difficulties. Dance with joy and child-like spirit.

Sing, play the drums out loud in prayer. For in these efforts you can bring yourself to courage to face any obstacles.

Who is your village? Reach out to the people close to your heart. Women and men who live life with power and purpose. Their words will re-energize and enriched your spirit.

Be inspired. Focus on what inspires. At times of challenge, you need to lean on your village.

While you are still young and full of enthusiasm, extend your reach to impact the lives of others. Explore the world around you and nurture yourself.

Be in love and love always.

Connie

via How to sooth seasonal allergies

I attended the Allergies seminar at Palo Alto Medical Foundation yesterday with Dr Steven Rubinstein.

He suggested to buy a pillow encasing and to avoid allergens. Clean your beddings using high heat regularly.

A saline nasal spray and other histamine-base meds (works on histamine only out of 70 other allergens controlled by IgE) and other med protocols are also used for short to long term.

Skin test is most appropriate compared to blood test for allergy.

Humidity is important but there is no need to buy humidifiers. Local action CPAP is appropriate.

Some meds costs $300 or more per day or month that some insurance companies are not reimbursing on these meds.

Seek all kinds of health care pros. First you see your primary docs and some millenials seek a specialist right away that is not warranted. I love naturopathic doctors.

See allergies, whole foods, sleep, immune system, dust mites, toxins, other tags and categories in this site for more info.

Email Connie at motherhealth@gmail.com for other health research you are interested in.

• Health Education Division
• Palo Alto Medical Foundation
• Mountain View: 650-934-7380
• Sunnyvale: 408-730-2810
• www.pamf.org/healtheducation

Histamine is an organic nitrogenous compound involved in local immune responses, as well as regulating physiological function in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter for the brain, spinal cord, and uterus. Histamine is involved in the inflammatory response and has a central role as a mediator of itching.

There is much speculation into what physiological benefits IgE contributes, and, so far, circumstantial evidence in animal models and statistical population trends have hinted that IgE may be beneficial in fighting gut parasites such as Schistosoma mansoni, but this has not been conclusively proven in humans. Epidemiological research shows that IgE level is increased when infected by Schistosoma mansoni,^[15] Necator americanus,^[16] and nematodes^[17] in humans. It is most likely beneficial in removal of hookworms from the lung.

Although it is not yet well understood, IgE may play an important role in the immune system’s recognition of cancer,^[18] in which the stimulation of a strong cytotoxic response against cells displaying only small amounts of early cancer markers would be beneficial. If this were the case, anti-IgE treatments such as omalizumab (for allergies) might have some undesirable side effects. However, a recent study, which was performed based on pooled analysis using comprehensive data from 67 phase I to IV clinical trials of omalizumab in various indications, concluded that a causal relationship between omalizumab therapy and malignancy is unlikely.^[19]

Role in disease

Atopic individuals can have up to ten times the normal level of IgE in their blood (as do sufferers of hyper-IgE syndrome). However, this may not be a requirement for symptoms to occur as has been seen in asthmatics with normal IgE levels in their blood—recent research has shown that IgE production can occur locally in the nasal mucosa.^[20]

IgE that can specifically recognise an allergen (typically this is a protein, such as dust mite Der p 1, cat Fel d 1, grass or ragweedpollen, etc.) has a unique long-lived interaction with its high-affinity receptor FcεRI so that basophils and mast cells, capable of mediating inflammatory reactions, become “primed”, ready to release chemicals like histamine, leukotrienes, and certain interleukins. These chemicals cause many of the symptoms we associate with allergy, such as airway constriction in asthma, local inflammation in eczema, increased mucus secretion in allergic rhinitis, and increased vascular permeability, it is presumed, to allow other immune cells to gain access to tissues, but which can lead to a potentially fatal drop in blood pressure as in anaphylaxis.

IgE is known to be elevated in various autoimmune disorders such as Lupus(SLE), Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA) & psoriasis, and is theorized to be of pathogenetic importance in RA and SLE by eliciting a hypersensitivity reaction.^[21][22]

Regulation of IgE levels through control of B cell differentiation to antibody-secreting plasma cells is thought to involve the “low-affinity” receptor FcεRII, or CD23.^[23] CD23 may also allow facilitated antigen presentation, an IgE-dependent mechanism whereby B cells expressing CD23 are able to present allergen to (and stimulate) specific T helper cells, causing the perpetuation of a Th2 response, one of the hallmarks of which is the production of more antibodies.^[24]