Metallothionein, an explanation

Function
Metallothionein proteins participate in the uptake, transport, and regulation of zinc in a biological system. The zinc binding sites are typically cysteine-rich, and often bind three or four zinc ions. In some proteins, histidine also participates in zinc binding. By binding and releasing zinc, metallothioneins (MTs) regulate its level within the body. Zinc, in turn, is a key element for the activation and binding of certain transcription factors through its participation in (aptly-named) zinc fingers. Metallothionein also carries zinc ions (signals) from one part of the cell to another. When zinc enters a cell, it can be picked up by thionein (which thus becomes "metallothionein") and carried to another part of the cell where it is released to another organelle or protein. In this way the thionein-metallothionein becomes a key component of the zinc signaling system in cells. This system is particularly important in the brain, where zinc signaling is prominent both between and within nerve cells. It also seems to be important for the regulation of the tumor suppressor protein p53.
Metallothionein (MT) detoxifies mercury and heavy metals by binding to the metal before it can cause harm. It forms subcellular inclusions or crystals which act jointly to consolidate and enclose excess metals. These inclusions then accumulate within tissues or skeletal structure over time.

hello darkness my old friend

Yick. It began again today. Actually, yesterday. It came on slowly, clouding my head, and dimming my light. By dinner I hurt, and I could hear, but not really respond. I watched the conversation, and I smiled when other people smiled. The next day, I was lost in a fog. my mind would not recall even the simplest facts. I was tired, and my through and glands swollen as if sick. A flight of stairs quite wiped me out. It cleared after dark, a bit, a narrow window in which I ate dinner and watched the NLCS.

Today, it began early. I awoke feeling hungry, or as if I had eaten chalk. My head was a pin prick from asking me to scream until I was out of screams. I kept it all at bay, but felt, throughout the day, an inreality. Like someone poured a sweet soda into the hardrive of my mind. I could drive right now, but I would hate to rumba. My balance is off a bit.

I think its the MTP, churning up fragments of heavy metals and recirculating them before letting them wash to my kidneys and leave. The MTP makes my urine smell terrible, and somehow I think it is coming out there. I feel hungry, no matter how much I eat, and I have a wretched headache, as if something lone and fogotten died in my blood stress and now poisons my thoughts.

As I said, yick.

Krazy Kastle

Good times at the Krazy Kastle, that monlithic cement commnedation of soviet architecture which is the Freedom Trail Clinic.

I was, as always, set meloncholy on appraoch. Outside the building are a gaggle of "patients", sitting in the sunshine. They look at the ground, they talk to themselves, they look anxious and unhappy. A security officer with a gun looks over them. My family.

I took my badge and wound up the concrete stair case to the 2nd floor to meet with Dr. G. I am warming to him. I always, in the end, warm to people with brains to spare. Furthermore, he has a willingness to say "I don't know", that I find particularly attractive in a professional. It indicates that they know enough not to hamper thier activities with bravado.

I sent Dr. G my psychiatric history as far back as I could find it. All the way back to 2000. And I sent him some web links, the same web links that I have posted here, to introduce him to the practice of orthomolecular treatment of mental disorders. He asks perceptive questions, and we talked about onset- whether it might have been initiated by my move to Mialn and the subsequent and surrounding stressors in my life. We talked about recent improvements in my health, and he was interested in the MTP protocol which the PTC is pursuing. He told me that his research was focusing on finding a genetic link to the enzyme that unwinds folate. He claims that Szs have malfunctions of that enzyme. He asked me to be a data point in a study, which I will do when I can find time. It will require some blood and a phsych eval.

He asked me what he could do for me. We agreed that when I do my bi yearly review of the treatments and options avialable for Sz, that he would be part of that process and keep me abreast of breakthroughs along the way. sounds good. Furthermore, if he can make headway into the genetic background of Sz, then maybe I can stand a reasonable chance of knowing if my kids are going to be so stricken.

He admits that Sz is not a diagnosis of anything, that it is an umbrella. He cannot say for certain whether I was Sz who recovered, or whether something else was going on. He tells me that my outlook and mind were at least a facotr in my recovery. He told me that the biggest correlation with onset of Sz is emmitgration, and that most cases begin in the first year of college, or the military. In short, stress is a major component of onset, but maybe just the inevitable push over the edge. we dont know, but it is nice to talk to someone who studies this field, someone who sees it every day.

He told me that the same group of enzymes that cause viagra and cialis to work, do so by increasing folate synthesis, and that Pfizer is working on a version of that enzyme for the brain for Sz. Who knew. A hard on in the head. I guess viagra in animal studies increases mental accuity. Strange things are afoot.

I am trying to find Dr. Walsh's patent application for MTP on the PTO web site. If someone else can fidn it before me, let me know.

Thats it for now.

W.

Home again

Did you miss me? No, probably not, but to be honest, I didn't miss this blog either. I was in Spain. That should be enough of an explaination, but if it isn't please see, i.e. Granada, Sevilla, Rota, Chorizo, Sherry, Madrid, etc... That should clear things up.

I have more to write, but for the time being I just want you all to know that just a few years ago, I was seriously wondering how I would ever finish up this life. I was alone, and lost and felt crazy and tormented. I could not even have a phone conversation with my best friends my mind was such a mess. I shook, I trembled, I had migraines, and thought abnormalities. The idea of travel was impossible. I could barely walk a flight of stairs without collapsing from exhuastion.

Well, I went to Spain, I ate and I drank. I ate handfuls of pills serripticiously, and I went dancing, and I spent time with strangers and laughed and joked and felt fine through it all. You all will too. Its out there for you.

[This ray of sunshine is brought to you from the Dont-Give-Up campaing for mental health].

W.

An update

So many of you have kindly asked me how I am doing, how my recovery is speeding, that I want to reply. Ironically, I started this blog on a day where I felt awful because I just needed to have it out. Like a man who digs a hole into which he can deliver his secrets, I thought that by confessing my pain and frustration, perhaps to lance the boil. I never imagined it would have appeal, or find a following, or connect with people. It has been a wonderful experience for me. It has helped me to give voice to this illness, to give a name to the darkness, in as such, to let go of it. Thank you all.

I am going to go out on a limb and give MTP credit for my recent upsurge in health. Throughout my recovery, I can trace the substantial increases in my well being to certain acts. Each one caused the slope of my linear improvement to steepen.

The first was diet. Adopting a whole foods approach, with adequate calroeis, fats, protiens, and nutrients, helped a lot.

SR. Skilled relaxation. At the first, I tried, and was very successful with autohyponosis, after that I transitioned to TM, transcendental meditation. I watch breaths. I do this twice a day for 20 minutes. At best, I can enter into the alpha brain wave zone, discharging stress at a rate of 24:1 compared to delta sleep. This has improved my bodies ability to overcome its stress threshold, and slowly inch away from the cliff.

Zinc. Ainc was the first nutrient that I noticed an unmistakable improvement in well being. It was with these improvements that I feulled my research into nutritional therapies. After the Zn sucess, I bought some books on orthomolecularism, and I disintered myold psych testing that included Sz on one of the possibility axis as having a signifigant, if not strong, correlation. I used that, and found the PTC after some abysmal failures on my own.

Folate. I upped my folate from three a day to 10, then to 20. I currently take that much. My health took a great jump when I began to increae the amount of B-9 I took every day. However, taking 24 was very counterproductive.

p5p. A PTC error in calculating my kryptopyrrole, they forgot to allow for specific gravity in the urine, meant my pyroluria, which was pronounced, went undiagnosed for 2 years. After I stated to up my p5p in December of 05, more dramatic improvements.

MTP. my digestion, absorbtion and gut pain have all radically imroved. The MTP was rocky to get on at first, but, if we believe the literature, then we can imagine taht my metallothionine is improving, adn with it my digestion and copper levels. It does, however, [warning: TMI ahead] make one urine stink.

So, another rachte in the improvement slope. We are not there yet, but vastly improved.

My hands have not trembled in a year or more. My vision is clear in my left eye most of the time. I do not get vast dispercetions of space, though time is still a wee bit messy. The racing mind is constrained to mere inability to focus. My libido is up, I sweat, I tear, I even sneeze. My metabolism is increased, as is my body tempurature. My ability to tolerate stress is greatly improved. my insomnia regularly gone. No voices, no paranoia, not that these were ever regular complaints. The inreality is gone (disassocaition). My balance is almost completly fine.

My digestion and susbsequent headaches and pain are the largest remnants of the illness. I am not yet cured, though I expect to anounce myself well soon. perhaps by the new year. I will then celebrate, it is to be hoped, with my friends and those who have carried me through.

Ok, good vibes are officially over. I am, after all, a curmudgeon at heart.

X and E are going to begin a conversation about being h'delic. I hope that one or both of them will share their experiecnes or results with us.

W