Phytochemicals

http://www.phytochemicals.info/

Two books on my wish list:

http://www.amazon.com/Nutrigenetics-Nutrigenomics-Review-Nutrition-Dietetics/dp/3805577826/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1220925547&sr=11-1

http://www.amazon.com/Phytochemicals-Nutrient-Gene-Interactions-Mark-Meskin/dp/0849341809/ref=sid_dp_dp

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17045449

Dr. Amy Yasko claims to already work with nutrient-gene interactions in her practice. Hmm.....She could be ahead of her time or making false claims. Either way the premise is interesting.

Beauty and the Blind

A touching article about a woman who, after losing her sight, still is profoundly struck by beauty.

http://nfb.org/legacy/bm/bm03/bm0306/bm030611.htm

I ran across this article while researching something unrelated. It spoke deeply to me. Recently, I had a dream in which I was asking God about human suffering and pain. One of humanity's ongoing existential struggles, no doubt. Being human, I was asking God about my particular struggle, which, in the scope of human suffering, is truly nothing. But, I digress.

In this dream, God shows me a caterpillar inching its' way up a green stalk. He says, "That is you," I looked at the caterpillar make its' way, painfully slowly, up the green plant's stalk. He asked me, "What happens if the caterpillar turns around?" I answered that, I guess, it would just return to the grass. He agreed and then asked me to watch the caterpillar once more. So, I did. It reached the end of the stalk and made a cacoon. After being in total darkness, it emerges as a fragile, stained glass, backlit, ethereal looking butterfly. It was the most fragile and finely crafted glass I have ever seen, yet the creature was animate, flitting about in the night sky. Its' delicate perfection was apparent not only in its fragility but the incredibly intense colors: greens, violets, vibrant shades of orange contrasted by the coolest of electric blues.

Later in the week, my daughter went to her favorite art studio with her babysitter. She came home and gave me her creation. She said, "Look Mama! A mariposa for you!" She created a gorgeous, colorful butterfly whose vivid oranges, violets and blues are simply glorious! Did she overhear me mention the dream to my husband? Doubtful, but I suppose it is possible. Does it matter? Not at all...

I find a little bit of HOPE to be similar to putting a small amount of food coloring in a glass of water. It does not take much to color the water to an intense hue. Hope is the same way. It does not take a lot to transform an existence in to a beautiful, vibrant life regardless if one can perceive the colors or not.

Swimming Blind

http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/devotions/aspin_swimmingblind.aspx

Apocynin

http://www.answers.com/topic/apocynin-1

Apocynin is isolated from both the kurroa and Canadian hemp roots:

http://riverssourcebotanicals.com/index.php

http://www.tattvasherbs.com/liversupport.htm?gclid=CNrUguiYk5UCFQmdnAodZDAFgw

http://www.vitacost.com/Healthnotes/Herb/Picrorhiza.aspx

http://www.vedaliving.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=103

NO Synthase and RP

A possible adjunct to antioxidant therapy in RP which targets the underlying cause of excessive oxidative stress in the retina..

http://groups.google.com/group/sci.med/browse_thread/thread/d8c985e6ae69eed9

Antioxidants in Combination Fight RP

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17293057?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Copper Toxicity and RP

I found the articles below interesting in light of the Vitamin A data from the early 1990s. Zinc is required to metabolize Vitamin A. If copper levels are high, zinc is low, which would explain the need for excess Vitamin A. Supplementing with Vitamin A has been advised for years. However, there are limitations because of its potential toxicity. So, if there were an issue with the metabolism of trace minerals which impact Vitamin A utilization, then there would be some interesting possible therapeutic potential.

Copper Toxicity and RP:

http://www.ijo.in/article.asp?issn=0301-4738;year=1979;volume=27;issue=4;spage=170;epage=173;aulast=Gahlot

Study of American patients showing no abnormality of copper metabolism:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1043173

Relationship between zinc and copper:

http://www.drkaslow.com/html/zinc-copper_imbalances.html

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/zinc/

Vitamin A and zinc, metabolic relationship:

http://64.233.179.104/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:2GP9vDa9av4J:www.idpas.org/pdf/2917_Zinc_vitaminA_interaction.pdf+author:%22Christian%22+intitle:%22Interactions+between+zinc+and+vitamin+A:+an+update%22+

Chinese abstract on zinc and RP:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2289582

Taurine is interesting in that, cats deprived of taurine will develop a condition similar to RP over time. In Australia, they accidentally received dog food in bags marked as cat food. Apparently the dog food did not have taurine in it and the cats require taurine for normal vision. They developed a disease similar in nature to what we call RP.

So, some researchers tested the blood levels of RP patients for taurine levels. The levels were normal, but apparently the uptake is not. So something in the pathway involving the metabolism of this amino acid is not functioning. In the post entitled "Successful Reversal of RP", taurine was used.

Also, in developing countries, people will go blind simply because they do not have adequate Vitamin A intake. It is interesting that, to date, the only research that has resulted in a therapy that helps some people, some of the time, is based on large doses of Vitamin A. That seems to be a cue to a metabolic issue (s) at least for some people with the diverse group of genetic mutations that contribute to a full blown case of RP.

Taurine Uptake and RP:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/85058

http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/full/16/2/231

http://bjo.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/66/12/771

Vitamin A and the chemistry of vision:

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/532vitaminA.html