PLT Test Blog

Today’s post is bite-sized, as opposed to the occasional shock to the digestive system that I serve up. You may have been wondering how come a few American researchers have managed to keep a lid on the neuroprotective power of statins; or even that Peter and Monty are making it all up. Well, for a change from the usual Anglo-Saxon research, today I present you a paper from Granada in Spain.   Statins as neuroprotectants: acomparative in vitro study of lipophilicity, blood-brain-barrier penetration,lowering of brain cholesterol, and decrease of neuron cell death. They study which statin should be the most neuroprotective.   Their choice is Simvastatin, which is also known as Zocor.   In the UK, Zocor is now an over the counter (OTC) drug, meaning no prescription required. The previous posts on Statins are here:- Statins Part 1 Statins Part 2 Statins Part 3    

I had another surprise a couple of days ago; I was standing with Monty outside the entrance to a very noisy ice-cream bar.   There were babies crying, a lady begging rather aggressively and an orderly queue to enter the shop.   Finally, the noise abated and I heard Monty say:- “Finished switching ears off!” Is there more to this than the emergence of spontaneous and appropriate speech? Selective Hearing, Elective hearing and (S)elective mutism I once did a course called Noise Control as part of my Engineering degree.   I recall that at the start of the course, the Professor confessed his desire to be able to turn his hearing on and off; clearly there were some noises he would prefer not to hear. If you have children you will have discovered “selective hearing”; whenever you want them to come for a meal, they just do not seem to hear you.   If you offer ice cream though, they will hear the first time you call. There is also the relatively common case of selective...

Makes more sense if you have read:- Statins Part 1 Statins Part 2   For most of you Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, or maybe the largest planet in the Solar System.   To a young boy like Monty, Jupiter is a red fire engine, normally driven by Fireman Sam . If you are a cardiologist you will have heard of the JUPITER trial . ( J ustification for the U se of Statins in Primary P revention: An I ntervention T rial E valuating R osuvastatin trial) It was a huge study looking into the possible benefits of giving statins to older people with low cholesterol.   All the 17,802 subjects had elevated levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, which is a marker for cardiac (and neuro) inflammation.   Half were given 20mg of a statin and the other half had a placebo.   The study measured their cholesterol, CRP levels and whether they later had a cardiac incident.   The group with the statin lowered their already okay LDL and triglycerides l...

I have been helping 12 year old Ted with his algebra, or perhaps, more accurately stated, I have been doing Ted’s homework while he goes “A-ha”.   With 9 year Monty, I have been doing algebra of a different kind, this time I get a bit more than an “A-ha” in return.  We have now established the following completely unscientific statement to be true:- 1mg Bumetanide + 3g NAC + 10mg Atorvastatin   =   More Music +   More Parties   + More Hugs Monty has always liked music, but he only wanted to play the piano during a lesson and at first, even during the lessons, he only wanted to escape.   This year he has moved from playing with two fingers to playing with all fingers of both hands. He now plays the piano spontaneously all by himself and the little colour stickers came off the piano keys yesterday, without a comment. More parties, because if you behave nicely in class, you get invited to parties and even though they are very noisy and full of ...

When you read the research it eventually becomes clear that "autism" is just a bunch of symptoms, rather than a single disease. So autism, as such, has no cure. A specific cause of autistic symptoms in a particular person, may indeed have a remedy, but most sadly do not. Many causes of autistic symptoms though will have therapies that can reduce and help manage the symptoms. Combine this with the neuroplasticity of the brain and behavioural therapies and a clear way forward emerges. You will see below that oxidative damage is the main culprit. In the more rare disorders, a genetic mutation is invariably the cause, but even a mosquito can be guilty. This blog is focused at finding effective therapies for Classic Autism.  In spite of what could be reasonably expected, this is proving very fruitful and genuinely effective therapies actually do exist. Notes Oxidative Brain Injury Comments Classic Autism In utero malformation of cerebe...

I suggest you start by reading Part 1.  Click here for Part 1 Choice of Statin   Some statins are soluble in fats/lipids (lipophilic) and some are more soluble in water.   In order to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) to reach the cerebellum and the Purkinje Cell Layer (PCL) a lipophilic statin will be required.   There is a choice of three: - atorvastatin, lovastatin, and simvastatin.   These are also among the most commonly prescribed for cholesterol reduction and so are widely available and inexpensive. I chose atorvastatin.   Some statins are derived from fungi, but atorvastatin is synthetic.   Lovastatin and simvastatin are pro-drugs, whereas atorvastatin is already in an active form straight out of the box. Absorption of atorvastatin decreases when taken with food.   Due to its long half-life, atorvastatin can be administered at any time of day. Atorvastatin is approved for use in children as young as 10 and in the US is prescribed to chil...