DDT and Alzheimers

At 806 Linden Lane, Davis, California 95616 where I grew up, the pesticide DDT was sprayed under the house. One of my family members ended up with Dementia/Alzheimers and Cancer. 

We never had a bug or ant problem but had a rat problem that never seemed to be resolved. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/10600234/Banned-pesticide-DDT-may-raise-risk-of-Alzheimers-disease.html

#alzheimers #alheimersddt #ddtpesticide

The Cousin Who Had Taken Almost $40,000 of the Woman's Money Was Convicted And Sentenced To Prison

June 14th is Elder Abuse Day, the District Attorney's Office prosecuted the cousin. 

"Many cases of financial exploitation of elders are not reported because victims may be unwilling to “turn in” their relatives."

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/local/elder-abuse-includes-financial-exploitation/XkiasLk4EojcwC0SewSIiI/http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/local/elder-abuse-includes-financial-exploitation/XkiasLk4EojcwC0SewSIiI/

 Today is Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Every year an estimated five million seniors — one out of every 10 older Americans — are victims of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation. And that’s only part of the problem. Experts believe that for every case of elder abuse or neglect reported, as many as 23 cases go unreported. Unfortunately, the Ombudsman Office has encountered many cases of financial exploitation of elders. One elderly woman in an assisted living facility asked one of our Ombudsman volunteers if she had a right to look at her bank statements. The volunteer learned that the woman’s cousin was serving as the woman’s Power of Attorney, and had not shared any financial information with the woman in a long time. The Ombudsman volunteer assisted the woman in contacting her bank to obtain a copy of her account statements for the past several months. On a subsequent visit to the assisted living facility, the Ombudsman volunteer again visited with the woman and asked if she had any further questions about her account. The woman showed the Ombudsman volunteer her bank account statements and it was clear that money was being paid for things that did not benefit the woman, such as payments for a new car and a cruise. The volunteer contacted the Ombudsman Office for assistance, and the Ombudsman visited with the woman to discuss her options. The woman chose to have another relative serve as her Power of Attorney, and decided that she did want to contact the authorities. In the end, the cousin who had taken almost $40,000 of the woman’s money was convicted and sentenced to prison. Many cases of financial exploitation of elders are not reported because victims may be unwilling to “turn in” their relatives. In all cases, victims feel a loss of trust at being harmed by a so-called loved one. If one suspects that an elder is being exploited or abused, it is important to approach the victim and help the elder get the needed assistance. The Ombudsman Column, a production of the Joint Office of Citizens’ Complaints, summarizes selected problems that citizens have had with government services, schools and nursing homes in the Dayton area. Contact the Ombudsman by writing to the Beerman Building, 11 W. Monument Avenue, Suite 606, Dayton 45402, or telephone (937) 223-4613, or by electronic mail at ombudsman@dayton-ombudsman.org or like us on Facebook at “Dayton Ombudsman Office.”

Elder Financial Abuse

(Photo by: ABA Bank Compliance)

My Father

Joseph M. Ogawa
Photo: UC Berkeley

"Do What Is Right When Faced With A Challenge"
- Joseph M. Ogawa

April 24th was my Father's Birthday. He passed at age 70 years old. He was a man of integrity, honesty and fairness. Those values were important to him. I miss my father and wish he were around today.

Here is a link to his scholarship fund at U.C. Davis.

A Financial Elder Abuse Video by the Yolo Conty District Attorneys Office

Is new Alzheimer's drug a 'game-changer?'

From CNN.com

(CNN)An experimental drug shattered and removed toxic plaques in the brains of patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, researchers said Thursday.

Given to patients once a month for a year, infusions of the drug aducanumab cleared the brain of the deposits, which experts believe play a crucial role in disrupting cellular processes and blocking communication among nerve cells.

Although most aging brains contain some plaques, the brains of Alzheimer's patients tend to have much more. The disease, the most common form of dementia, has no cure, although some treatments are available to alleviate symptoms. Treatments to slow the progression or reverse it have not panned out.

[Read more on www.cnn.com]

#aducanumab #alzheimers #biogen

When I Lost Respect

Liberated

On August 9, 1945 the native Japanese man who carved me, was a solider in the Japanese Army. He was ordered to march into the city of Nagasaki, Japan to investigate a mushroom cloud-like explosion. On that day, between 40,000 and 75,000 people died immediately after the historic nuclear explosion. For that man in his '20s he would suffer permanent disabilities from the radiation exposure. 

In 1968 while this man was being treated in an American Military Hospital in Japan for the radiation exposure, his cousin, an American-born Japanese arrived at his shop to visit him. She and her husband were on her way home to California with her three young children, a boy and two girls. This young-looking woman wanted to buy three masks from her cousin. The woman took a very long-time to decide and finally chose three masks. Two for the girls and of course me for the boy. This is the first time I noticed that the man who carved me looked so much older than his older cousin. Due to the radiation exposure, he would not live for many more years.  

So I arrived in California in 1968 and I would hang on that wall with the two other masks. During the next 20 years I saw these kids grow up. They went off to college, got jobs, brought boyfriends, girl friends home and eventually all three got married. The woman was a hoarder and rarely threw anything away, but was usually very good at keeping the three masks clean. In 1996, the woman's husband died and after that, I would be cleaned less often. It was not an easy life as the room was not insulated and there were rodents frequently in the room. 

The woman's son was the only one to ever show up and clean the room I was in. For the next ten years, he would arrive every March, help the mom file her taxes and then clean the room I was in. In 2006, he bought a Yellow Dyson Vacuum Cleaner and used it clean the room. He even hired an exterminator who put some traps in the room. The woman thanked her son for everything he did and was so appreciative. The son would even take the time to clean me with the soft brush of the Dyson. I am sure those other masks were wondering where their future owners were. One of the daughters would arrive but she would be there to unload stuff or junk from her house and dump it in the room. I didn't like the room being more crowded, we didn't need any more stuff the rodents could chew on. 

In 2009, the police brought the woman home. She had an accident and didn't remember how to get home. Twenty-four hours later, the son and one of the daughters arrived on a plane from the East Coast. The daughter who lived nearby was a no-show. The woman could no longer live by herself so it was decided the son would take her home to the East Coast. 

For the next year, the son took over my life. He cleaned the room and started cleaning up the house. I thought all the junk was going to be removed form my room. But a year later, the son no longer arrived. I would later find out he was locked out of the house. His sisters had took over control of his mother's affairs. I missed him and I would not be cleaned again for a very long time. 

In July of 2016 I found out that the woman had passed. I figured the house would be sold so I was wondering where my new home would be. I had not been cleaned for so long. A long time had passed and then in March of 2016, one of the sisters arrived and started moving her junk out of the room. She was actually cleaning the room. I knew something was going on.

On the morning of April 30, 2016, all of a sudden the son walked in the room. It had been almost 6 years since I last saw him. He arrived with his attorney and after some back and forth, the son reached out and took me off the wall, I was finally LIBERATED! I am looking forward to my new home.   

Would You Be Willing To Report A Family Member For Financial Elder Abuse?

by Carolyn Rosenblatt, Contributor, Forbes.com (11/18/2014)

It would take some nerve to report an abusive family member to law enforcement. We also know from the National Center on Elder Abuse that most abusers are family members. And they tell us that only 44 out of 1000 instances of abuse are reported to authorities. Why aren’t more cases reported to the very authorities capable of stopping the abusers?

It seems to me that most family members are simply unwilling to “rat out” another family member even when they know that abuse is going on. When it comes to the elders themselves, there is shame and embarrassment with being taken advantage of by someone close, and someone they really trusted, a grown child perhaps. They hesitate. They are fearful. They want to talk about it but not do anything about it. And the reluctance to report the abuse to Adult Protective Services is not limited to the elders who can’t bear to call the authorities about a son, daughter or other relative.

I received a call from a distressed sister,  convinced that her older brother was stealing from their parents. He had total control over their parents, one of whom had dementia.  He had been appointed by his parents as the agent on both the Durable Power of Attorney and the Advance Healthcare Directive.  This gave him the legal authority to make both financial decisions without being accountable to anyone else and all healthcare decisions as well.  I listened patiently to all the reasons she thought her brother was taking her parents’ money and using it for himself.  I asked her if she had called Adult Protective Services.” No”, she said.  When I asked why not she said “I don’t want to get my brother in trouble”.  Where is the logic in that?

In another case, the elder herself had called. “I gave my grandson a big loan and he hasn’t paid it back” she said.  “And now I need the money to live on”.  She described how her favorite grandson had taken title to her mobile home and gotten a loan, even after she had “loaned” him most of her savings.  I explained that her chances of getting paid back were probably not very good, but the least she could do was to report what had happened to authorities. I advised her that taking a “loan” from an 80 year old and not paying it back would likely be considered elder abuse and it should be reported to APS.  ”Would my grandson go to jail?” she asked.  I told her I didn’t know but it can happen when someone has committed this crime of elder abuse.  She said, “I don’t want my grandson to go to jail”.  And I am sure she did not follow up or do anything more about the problem, even though she was at risk for homelessness.

Elders like the 80 year old woman are typical of why elder abuse does not get reported and therefore prosecuted more often, even when a family member is well aware of it and aware that it is wrong.  They would rather suffer impoverishment than be the one to report abuse. In fact, these same victims may refuse to testify against a relative who has abused them, even when these cases are prosecuted.  Charges may not stick when the victim is unwilling to testify, unless there are independent records to prove the case in court.

It is as much a problem of our emotions and fears as it is of the wrongdoing itself. We somehow justify the actions, we look the other way or we fear what the justice system will do to our abusive relative.  We must stop giving thieves a pass.

I ask, where is the anger at a crime against a person who is easily taken advantage of by the abuser?  Where is the advocacy for the vulnerable elder?  Why are we remaining silent so often  in this growing, $2.9 billion dollar a year problem? At AgingParents.com I am only one voice. I do what I can to educate, to encourage reporting, and occasionally to report elder abuse myself.  We need more allies.

I would be willing to guess that there is someone reading this who has a financial abuser in the family or knows of a family where this has taken place.  I urge you to speak up.  To my knowledge, you can remain anonymous in your reporting, just as you can with any crime. Most elder abuse hotlines are staffed 24/7.  Whether or not the criminal justice system can prove the crime is not your problem.  It is your problem to know about the abuse and to do nothing.  One day it could be you who is victimized.

We are all encountering an aging population and the crime of opportunity in ripping off elders is not going away.  I am hopeful that we will show enough concern, enough responsibility and enough guts to do the right thing when we see a wrong that needs our attention.  Every hand is needed to help, even yours.

Financial Elder Abuse: The Crime of the 21st Century

by Stephen L. Read, MD Financial elder abuse has been called “the crime of the 21st century,”6 and with good reason. The most recent estimate of total household wealth in the US is $85.7 trillion, which represents more than 30% of world wealth. Estimates of the amount to change by inheritance in the coming decades reach as high as $40 trillion. Therefore, not only is the disposition of a person’s estate, by will and/or trust, the largest financial transaction in many persons’ lives, and of great significance to families and other heirs, the integrity of the testamentary act, as well as the validity of gifts, property transfers, and other financial acts, is also important for society at large. Opinions about testamentary capacity, either postmortem (in a contested situation) or antemortem may be requested by the family, the patient, or the attorney. Familiarity with the criteria for testamentary capacity and factors relevant to the vulnerability to undue influence is therefore basic. CASE VIGNETTE After his wife’s death 20 years earlier, Dr S named 2 of his daughters co-trustees of his trust. As he continued professional activities, he had come to rely on the youngest to assist with his office, and then his home bills. When he retired after a stroke, she and her family came to live with him—and take care of him. Six months before the initial psychiatric evaluation, the other co-trustee daughter was shocked to learn that the assets of the trust had been reduced from several million dollars to less than $100. She confronted her sister and informed her other siblings. Conservatorship was granted by the court, and the experienced professional conservator decided that Dr S had to be removed from his long-time home for his own safety. Dr S was placed in a nursing home because of his physical debilitation. During the initial forensic psychiatric consultation, Dr S was thoughtful and dignified, but with mild cognitive impairment due to early dementia, probably vascular-based. He was receiving physical therapy, but he had no insight into his youngest daughter’s responsibility for his deterioration, and he was unaware of her financial rapacity: he still endorsed her as his surrogate decision maker. As Dr S improved physically, he regained some mental energy. His defense of his daughter foundered as the discovery process related to the conservatorship revealed her long pattern of stripping assets: purchasing property in other countries, buying gold ingots, and other patently deceptive acts. An epiphany occurred in a later session—he recalled that as he had weakened, he could not climb the stairs to his bedroom, and the daughter and her family would step over him as he lay exhausted on the landing! As he reflected on the meaning of that act, he came to realize how low her regard and concern had become. This description also proved to be impressive to the court. At the hearing on competing petitions for conservatorship, the court decisively rebuked the abusive daughter and directed the district attorney to file criminal charges. Dr S was not vindictive, but neither did he continue to defend her; the psychiatrist attributed his equanimity to muted emotionality as a result of his vascular brain damage. Dr S was not called to testify, but the daughter and her husband were stripped of all the acquired assets, together with additional financial penalties, and served time in prison for elder abuse. In summary, Dr S was the victim of physical neglect and abuse (he had lost 50 lb in 3 years), psychological tyranny and, of course, dramatic financial exploitation, presumably the major motivation for the daughter’s campaign (possibly with the additional benefit of being revenged on siblings of whom she had long been envious). This case illustrates several points to consider in assessments of elder abuse. Read more at: Psychiatric Times, 01-11-2016

Elder Financial Exploitation

I had never heard of the term "Elder Financial Exploitation" under just recently. Here is some information from the National Adult Protective Services Association.

• Financial exploitation is a fast-growing form of abuse of seniors and adults with disabilities. Situations of financial exploitation commonly involve trusted persons in the life of the vulnerable adult such as: caretakers, family members, friends and acquaintenances, attorneys. 
• 90% of abusers are family members or trusted others
• Elder-abuse is vastly under-reported; only one in 44 cases of financial abuse is ever reported.
• Conitive impairment and the need for help with activities of daily living makes victims more vulnerable to financial abuse.

For more information see: 

National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

Financial Abuse
Elder financial abuse spans a broad spectrum of conduct, including:

• Taking money or property
• Forging an older person's signature
• Getting an older person to sign a deed, will, or power of attorney through deception, coercion, or undue influence
• Using the older person's property or possessions without permission
• Promising lifelong care in exchange for money or property and not following through on the promise
• Confidence crimes ("cons") are the use of deception to gain victims' confidence Scams are fraudulent or deceptive acts
• Fraud is the use of deception, trickery, false pretence, or dishonest acts or statements for financial gain
• Telemarketing scams. Perpetrators call victims and use deception, scare tactics, or exaggerated claims to get them to send money. They may also make charges against victims' credit cards without authorization

Who are the perpetrators?
Family members, including sons, daughters, grandchildren, or spouses. They may:

• Have substance abuse, gambling, or financial problems
• Stand to inherit and feel justified in taking what they believe is "almost" or "rightfully" theirs
• Fear that their older family member will get sick and use up their savings, depriving the abuser of an inheritance
• Have had a negative relationship with the older person and feel a sense of "entitlement"
• Have negative feelings toward siblings or other family members whom they want to prevent from acquiring or inheriting the older person's assets

[Read More]

Financial exploitation is a fast-growing form of elder abuse

A number of years ago, one of the investment advisors at the bank befriended my mother and got her to a large sum of cash out of her account at one institution to her local bank. While the bank advisor might have had good intentions, my mother was not mentally competent to make that decision. The investment advisor some how had her convinced that she in order to get her affairs in order, transferring the money was a good idea. It was unfortunate but my mother did not tell me until after it was done. I would like to see some legislation in this area that further protects seniors from this. Here is a recent article from the Chicago Tribune on finanical elder abuse: Financial exploitation is a fast-growing form of elder abuse It's one thing for a confused senior to make a mistake in trusting the wrong person -- or falling for the "free lunch" deals. But the problem of taking advantage of seniors rises to another level when investment ignorance is supplanted by actual financial elder abuse. Over the years I've written several columns about the fast-growing problem of elder financial abuse. It happens even to those who have concerned family members. Their adult children are afraid to discuss the issues of estate planning and budgeting and bill payment with their aging parents. As a result, many seniors send their money to online ministries or are victimized by home repair scams or all sorts of other fraudulent activities. [Read More]

Sockeye Salmon for Dinner

Tonight, my wife made some fresh Sockeye Salmon for dinner. That meal reminded me of the year my mother spent living in my house and later at a nearby ALF. During that time, that was the meal my mother's meal of choice whenever she dined with us. My mother was always so appreciative of my wife's cooking which was certainly better than the ALF food.

My mother also didn't like the pink Atlantic Salmon we see on the East Coast. So when fresh Sockeye was available from Alaska, we would always make sure we had it. I would also find frozen Sockeye at Costco which is not always available. You can always tell Sockeye by the deep red color. My wife would also prepare the rice not like I preferred it, but how my mother did. It was more sticky than al dente.

At dinner this evening, my wife commented that I was eating my salmon just like my mother did. She said my mother would carefully separate the remaining pieces of the deep red salmon from the skin, then finish it off with a mouthful of rice. Apparently, other people eat their Salmon right off the skin.

My late mother passed last month. I had not seen her for a very long time. Despite that, I have to say for that year, I saw her at least four times a week. That was certainly more family she saw each day than past four years. It was an enjoyable period in my life. Each visit, she was always so appreciative of everything I did for her. I think it's the first time I really got to know her.

When your family member passes, there are always certain things that will remind you of them. For me, that Sockeye Salmon will have that memory.

New saliva test may catch Alzheimer's disease early

(CNN) A test detecting Alzheimer's disease early may become easily available thanks to one plentiful bodily substance: saliva, a recently released study shows. The saliva test was presented at the 2015 Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Washington this week. Though research is still in its infancy, the saliva test represents the exciting future of diagnostic tools in development for the detection of the neurodegenerative disease. [Read More]

Saying Good-Bye To My Mom

Photo Credit: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

In  my life life, there is one person that had always been there for me, that was my mother.

I have two sibling that could never be trusted and would never be there for me like my mom. My mom had always had my back when my siblings let me down.

There was something about my mom that made it difficult for others to understand. Some perceived her as a sweet old lady. But others perceived her much differently. When a server would ask her how the food was, she would often reply: "Do you want me to be perfectly honest?" And then, as a former county fair judge would tell them how she really felt. It's didn't matter if it was the local diner or a five star restaurant. Her critique didn't stop there. If I ever cooked something, she would always tell me the one or two things that was wrong with it. I still have some minor PTSD from a batch of undercooked rolls.

My mother also took a very long time making decisions. My father was a very patient man, but one of the reasons he probably didn't like shopping was that it almost always took hours for her to make a purchase. It didn't matter if was some artwork from a shop in a foreign country or some fruit at the local market -- she took the longest time of anyone I have ever known. When my father wanted to plan a trip in the distant future, she would rarely commit until hours or seconds before it was time to leave. There were times that she simply decided at the last minute not to go.

There was also the hoarding. My mother rarely threw anything away, especially magazines, rubber bands and toys from our childhood. When my aunt was visiting, it was the first time I felt that there might be some type of hoarding gene in her DNA. When I started to throw out some ripe bananas, my aunt or her sister scolded me as she saved those blackish bananas from the garbage. The bananas later surfaced in a loaf of banana bread. My mother struggled with even throwing out the newspaper flyers that were left in her mailbox.

I am certain my mother loved me. Although she never really said it and showed it with a hug. In my younger days, she was always there for me. She came through in moments of adolescent distress. When I needed shoes she always made sure I had exactly what I wanted. That wasn't always easy as every family has a sibling that is a score keeper. We also shared some interests and on a Family Weekends I would like to take her to the Casino. But then there was always that sibling that never wanted the Family to do what my mom and I wanted to do. When it was time to support my marriage, my mother was there for me. That was not something she did for my siblings -- a part of her that was misunderstood. That was unfortunate for them. When there was divorce, my mother was there for me. When I needed chid care, she was there for me. As they say "Actions Speak Louder Than Words" that was my mom.

Then one day my relationship with my mother changed. I no longer lived close to my mother and now found myself thousands of miles away. During those years as she aged, I would fly in to see how she was doing. As years progressed it became more difficult for her to collect her records to send to the accountant. I also noticed in her confused state that one of the siblings was stealing money from her. She spent less time cleaning her house. Before boarding a plane back to the East Coast, I would find spending hours organizing her records for the entire year and then vacuuming her house before I rushed to airport. 
 
The day finally came that someone needed to take her into their home. Her doctor called me not her siblings and said that she should no longer Live alone. Among my two siblings, there were no volunteers.

The next thing I knew she was living with me thousands of miles from her home. It was not easy at first, she was disoriented. Some of her medical conditions went unnoticed under the neglected watch of my myopic siblings. And that was around the time that Dementia set in. Her small town doctor said there was nothing that could be done.

I live in a retirement community state and the doctors here had a larger recommendation of treatments and medications that the small town doctor didn't. Perhaps it's because of the larger population of aging patients. Between that and the arthritis in her swelling finger joints that the specialist said was simply "unacceptable" it was the first time she let me become the caregiver. She would always thank me for all that I did for her.

I was focusing on the caregiving and should have known that my untrustworthy siblings were plotting. I should have known when one of them claimed my mother wanted to give one of the siblings a huge sum of money or manipulate a loan from her. Was she being kidnapped or coerced? Was this financial manipulation? That day they would become her new caregivers. That's when they became very secretive about her finances. I was now isolated from my aging mother. From that day, I would never hear another word about my mother's health or finances again from those spiteful siblings. Perhaps one was married to a doctor and thought she was a doctor. I think the other one just wanted money for her newly built home.

When it comes to Dementia, there are some critics that say those drugs don't work. During the time the geriatric psychiatrist told me she should be sharper than she was, I was convinced and observed that they did. When she finally was moved or in other words held hostage in her new Assisted Living Facility, that same small town doctor told me she walked to his office from her home. I always thought that he was pressured into saying that but maybe not if those drugs Dementia drugs worked. Today, I see some of those drugs advertised on TV. 

An email arrived almost five years later from my sibling informing me that my mom had suffered a stroke. My mom always told me on the telephone that she would fix things. She said she wanted to get on track again. That would never happen.  It sounded like my mom would never speak to me again.

I went right to the airport and boarded a plane. After the long flight from the East Coast I went to visit her today. As one would expect, these sibling would insist on being present when I was with my aging mother. As she lay there in the final moments of her life, she opened her eyes as wide as they could and tried to speak but the words just never came out. I would imagine her only words to me would have been: "My number one son, my only son. I can still fix things, it's not too late".

One thing was certain -- she will never be there for me again.

Women's Brains Appear More Vulnerable To Alzheimer's Than Men's

There's new evidence suggesting that women's brains are especially vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease and other problems with memory and thinking. Women with mild cognitive impairment, which can lead to Alzheimer's, tend to decline faster than men, researchers reported this week at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Washington, D.C. [Read More]
Source: NPR Women's Brains Appear More Vulnerable To Alzheimer's Than Men's (July 21, 2015)

I have a sibling that cheated on her husband and I have always had a difficult time understanding how we came from the same father. There are some of us that take a long time to recover and move along after a failed marriage or breakup. And there are others that move along very quickly to the next relationship. I simply never understood her.

Here's an article on that subject. Women Reveal What Drove Them To Cheat On Their Husbands

 

The Huffington Post by Brittany Wong Writer Sara Cornell never intended to have an extramarital affair, but before she knew it, she was deep in the throes of one. "It wasn't a specific, conscious, considered act," she told The Huffington Post. "I didn’t wake up one day and think, 'Hey, I think I’d like to have an affair.' It just happened -- which is probably very hard to comprehend if you haven’t actually been in the situation." Below, Cornell and seven other women explain what led them to cheat on their spouses. The Huffington Post

New Cholesterol Lower Drugs - Alirocumab (Praluent) & Evolocumab (Repatha)

It was announced today that that two new cholesterol lowering drugs, Alirocumab and Evolocumab that could be more effective than statins has been approved by an FDA Advisory Panel. The drugs could be approved for patients later this summer.

Here are the key points:

1. The drugs represent the most important new class of cholesterol-lowering medications since the first statin was approved in 1987. Seven statins are available in the United States including Zocor, Lipitor and Crestor. 
2. The new drugs are said to be a powerful new way of lowering bad cholesterol and that has profound implications in dealing with the burden of vascular disease which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. 
3. These new drugs don't case muscle pain and weakness that is experienced by 10% to 25% of those that take statins. 
4. Alirocumab and Evolcumab may lower LDL between 30 mg and 40 mg. 
5. These drug block a protein in the body called PCSK9, and are called PCSK9 inhibitors. The result is that the LDL receptors are available on the surface of the cells in the liver to take up LDL, clearing this bad form of cholesterol from the body. 
6. These new drugs would cost $7,000 to $12,0000 per year. Statins cost $48 to $7,000 per year. The out-of-pocket costs would depend on your insurance plan. 
7. Alirocumab and Evolocumab may have to be injected, rather than available as a pill. 

I started out taking Lipitor over 10 years ago and I certainly noticed the muscle pain and weakness in my legs. Lipitor also caused some liver issues. I have been on Crestor ever since without any known side-effects. Crestor comes off patent in July 2016 so it's interesting to see the associated costs of the new drugs. Reference CNN - New cholesterol-lowering drug clears step (June 9, 2015)

Attachment Pareting - My Sister Might Be One of These Moms

Attachment Parenting - Even my Sister

With Attachment Parenting in the News, I saw this mom on the Today Show this morning. To be honest, it creeps me out. When my nephews were growing up, I was always offended when Julie, my custodial-embattled sister contemplating a divorce allowed her young son to sleep in her bed for a very long time. Later, after the divorce, the child slept with her until he was twelve or thirteen. I don't really know what that was all about but it sounds like a form of Attachment Parenting or co-sleeping.

When her other son was say seven, he use to cry when his mother left town. In fact he use to throw a temper tantrum that he wanted his mom. I never really understood that either.

It also appeared to me that Jamie Lynne Grumet, didn't have many boundaries with her child. On the other hand, on the Today Show Television Set, even Nadya Suleman (Octo-Mom) didn't appear to have too many boundaries with her children -- and either did or does my sister.

My own personal opinion is that the Time Magazine Photo is and always will be creepy as well as this concept of Attachment Parenting. Time Magazine could have elected to blur the photo of this child's face and the mom could have not used her child in this manner by going on the Today Show, but that didn't happen.

Here are some links about this story:

Jamie Lynn Grumet's Official Blog  

Dr. Bill Sears Website on Attachment Parenting

If you haven't seen the video clip:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sources:

Time Magazine

The Today Show