All hail Teton

Yeah, my bottles of Teton Glacier potato vodka have arrived. No, I'm not going to drink it all - I'm going to give one bottle to boyfriend and his dad, and share a bottle with my dad (since he drinks store brand vodka, I doubt he'll appreciate this stuff). And I cleaned out my first bottle in a couple weeks (not drinking every day).

It's NOT all in my head

I came across a recent study done regarding celiac paitents and small-fiber neuropathies:

Celiac Disease Tied to Small-Fiber Neuropathies

By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Oct 17 - Some patients with celiac disease have small-fiber neuropathy, according to a case series based on skin biopsies reported in the October issue of the Archives of Neurology.

"Painful small fiber neuropathies sometimes are caused by diabetes, but often no cause is found," lead investigator Dr. Thomas H. Brannagan told Reuters Health. "Celiac disease may be an important cause of small fiber neuropathy."

Dr. Brannagan of Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York and colleagues report on findings in 8 such celiac disease patients.

Neuropathy began at points ranging from childhood to 59 years. All had asymmetric numbness or paresthesias. Three had more prominent involvement of the hands than feet, 3 had facial numbness, ankle reflexes were normal in 5 and diminished in 3.

Celiac disease was diagnosed in 5 of the patients after their neuropathy began. The others were referred for evaluation before the diagnosis.

In the 7 patients who underwent a glucose tolerance test, there was no sign of diabetes. Nerve conduction studies were normal in 7 patients and 1 had mildly reduced sural amplitudes. Epidermal nerve fiber density was reduced in 5 patients and was at the low limit of normal in the other 3.

One patient had no improvement with a gluten-free diet and symptoms developed in 2 while receiving a gluten-free diet. However, 4 responded and reported improvements while on a gluten-free diet.

Overall, the researchers observe that the findings point to a sensory ganglionopathy or an immune-mediated neuropathy.

Dr. Brannagan concluded that "celiac disease, which is now increasingly recognized in North America, is important to identify" and thus allow treatment by means of a gluten-free diet.

Arch Neurol 2005;62:1574-1578.

They say the sun can mess with your mind

Okay, this is just weird:

Plane crash 'one of weirdest'
Police found debris of craft - no body
Thomas Ropp
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 25, 2005 12:00 AM

In a case federal aviation authorities describe as "one of the weirdest ever," a Paradise Valley surgeon could face federal and state charges after removing the body of his dead son from a plane crash.

Jacob Lundell, 21, died late Saturday afternoon while doing touch-and-go maneuvers at the Casa Grande Municipal Airport, police said.

His father, Dr. Mark Lundell, and a brother witnessed the crash, authorities said.

Casa Grande police arrived a few minutes later to find the scene of an obvious fatality - but no body.

"There was a lot of blood and even brain matter in the cockpit," Casa Grande police Lt. Steve Cantrell said.

Officers said that a witness saw a red pickup truck pull up to the crash site and that two men removed the body. When the witness asked the men if he should call 911, the older man said no, they could handle it, police said.

Case Grande police got the identifying N-number off the plane tail and located a Paradise Valley address.

They contacted Paradise Valley police who arrived at the Lundell home seconds before a red pickup pulled up with the body.

Larry Scott, assistant Paradise Valley police chief, said other family members were present in the driveway, including Deborah Lundell, the victim's mother.

"They were all in shock," Scott said.

Deborah Lundell told Channel 3 (KTVK) that her husband brought their son's body home because "he knew my grieving, he knew my heartache; he knew I needed to see him before they took him away."

Mark Lundell did the right thing in allowing the family to say goodbye, she told the TV station.

"He may have legally not done the right thing, but morally he did the right thing," she added.

The body was taken to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.

Donn Walker of the FAA's Los Angeles regional office said their investigator showed up shortly after the Casa Grande police and was baffled.

"He called up and said we just had a plane crash but can't find the body," Walker said. "It's one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard."

Walker said that the victim had neither a pilot's license nor a valid student pilot's certificate and that the plane, a 1961 Nord owned by the Lundells, was not registered.

Walker said the FAA is investigating possible federal violations, including the removal of the body from the crash site.

Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney General's Office, would not comment on the state's position, pending the outcome of the probe by U.S. authorities.

There are several Arizona statutes that address such situations. One requires that human body cannot be removed from the scene of a suspicious death unless a county medical examiner gives permission.

The Lundells have five children. They have appeared in newspaper articles in connection with their love of flying.

You would think the father being a doctor would have known not to take his son's body. And the idea that the mother needed to see her son "before they took him away" would be very traumatic for many people (especially with the bit of description given in the article). And it seems irresponsible for the father to let his son operate a plane alone without a license or student pilot's certificate.

Sacrifice gripe

I was listening to NPR's Morning Edition on my drive to work this AM. They were talking about how very soon, we have lost 2,000 American souls in Iraq. Someone in the White House is supposedly saying that "the best way to honor their sacrifice is to complete the mission."

Ummm, didn't our Commander in Chief already say "Mission Accomplished" a while back ago? What is our mission now - to keep Sunnis from killing Shia (and vice versa); to publically condemn Saddam with a trial; to rebuild Iraq to prewar conditions or better?

Somone please enlighten me.

BTW: I support the military (I know a couple people there right now, and they're never far from my mind). But when people representating the Commander in Chief are saying we need to fulfill the mission (but not define it), questions should be asked.