Viagra touted as life-saving heart treatment - after scientists find it makes heart muscles LESS stiff

Viagra helps ailing hearts to recover in a surprising way - by making them less stiff, scientists have learned.

The drug was first developed as a heart disease treatment - it's more well-known use was simply a lucky side-effect.

But now it seems that it might help heart patients after all.

The impotency drug causes too-rigid heart chamber walls to become more elastic.

The drug was initially developed as a heart treatment - but was thought not to work. Now it's surprising 'relaxing' effect might say lives, say scientists

The research explains how Viagra might benefit patients with diastolic heart failure.

People with the condition have abnormally inflexible ventricles, the heart's major pumping chambers, that do not fill sufficiently with blood.

This leads to blood ‘backing up’ in the lungs and breathing difficulties.

Scientists found that Viagra activates an enzyme that causes a protein in heart muscle cells to relax.

The effect was seen in dogs with diastolic heart failure within minutes of the drug being administered.

Study leader Professor Wolfgang Linke, from the Ruhr Universitat Bochum in Germany, said: ‘We have developed a therapy in an animal model that, for the first time, also raises hopes for the successful treatment of patients.’

Viagra has a similar effect on blood vessels, which is why it was originally developed as a treatment for high blood pressure and heart disease.

The drug's active ingredient, sildenafil, inhibits an enzyme involved in the mechanism that regulates blood flow.

However, the enzyme is slightly different in different parts of the body.

The British scientists behind Viagra found to their initial disappointment that it was not a great help to patients with high blood pressure. But it had a miraculous effect on men with erectile dysfunction.

The drug successfully suppressed the enzyme phosphodiesterasein the penis, increasing blood flow to the organ.

Prof Linke's team found that it worked on the same enzyme in heart cells. This had the effect of causing a cardiac muscle protein called titin to become more elastic.

‘The titin molecules are similar to rubber bands,’ said the professor. ‘They contribute decisively to the stiffness of cardiac walls.’

The research is published today in the journal Circulation.

Almost half of emergency patients admitted to hospital with heart failure have a diastolic condition.

Diastolic heart failure affects the ‘diastole’ half of the cardiac cycle, when the heart's chambers have finished contracting and are re-filling with blood.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2078139/Viagra-touted-life-saving-heart-treatment--scientists-makes-heart-muscles-LESS-stiff.html#ixzz1hYjJxadc

Mentally ill flood ER as states cut services

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - On a recent shift at a Chicago emergency department, Dr. William Sullivan treated a newly homeless patient who was threatening to kill himself.

"He had been homeless for about two weeks. He hadn't showered or eaten a lot. He asked if we had a meal tray," said Sullivan, a physician at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago and a past president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians.

Sullivan said the man kept repeating that he wanted to kill himself. "It seemed almost as if he was interested in being admitted."

Across the country, doctors like Sullivan are facing a spike in psychiatric emergencies - attempted suicide, severe depression, psychosis - as states slash mental health services and the country's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression takes its toll.

This trend is taxing emergency rooms already overburdened by uninsured patients who wait until ailments become acute before seeking treatment.
"These are people without a previous psychiatric history who are coming in and telling us they've lost their jobs, they've lost sometimes their homes, they can't provide for their families, and they are becoming severely depressed," said Dr. Felicia Smith, director of the acute psychiatric service at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Increased demand in mental health services
http://link.reuters.com/sud75s

State mental health budget cuts

http://link.reuters.com/tud75s
Visits to the hospital's psychiatric emergency department have climbed 20 percent in the past three years.
"We've seen actually more very serious suicide attempts in that population than we had in the past as well," she said.
Compounding the problem are patients with chronic mental illness who have been hurt by a squeeze on mental health services and find themselves with nowhere to go.
On top of that, doctors are seeing some cases where the patient's most critical need is a warm bed.
"The more I see these patients, the more I realize that if it's sleeting and raining outside, the emergency room is the only place they have," said Dr. R. Corey Waller, director of the Spectrum Health Medical Group Center for Integrative Medicine in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Government agencies such as the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration could not provide fresh data on use of psychiatric services in recent years.
But doctors from more than a dozen hospitals nationwide, mental health advocacy groups and state-funded agencies told Reuters they are all seeing a marked increase in psychiatric emergencies.
A WORSENING PROBLEM
The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), an organization of state mental health directors, estimates that in the last three years states have cut $3.4 billion in mental health services, while an additional 400,000 people sought help at public mental health facilities.
In that same time frame, demand for community-based services climbed 56 percent, and demand for emergency room, state hospital and emergency psychiatric care climbed 18 percent, the organization said.
"This wasn't one round of cuts," says Ted Lutterman, director of research analysis at NASMHPD Research Institute. "It was three or four for many states, and multiple cuts during the year."
If the economy doesn't improve, next year could be worse because many community mental health agencies are cutting programs and using up reserve funds, says Linda Rosenberg, president of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.
"It's been horrible," she said. "Those that need it the most - the unemployed, those with tremendous family stress - have no insurance."

In the emergency room, this increased demand has meant doctors and social workers are spending hours and sometimes days trying to arrange care for psychiatric patients languishing in the emergency department, taking up beds that could be used for traditional types of trauma.

More than 70 percent of emergency department administrators said they have kept patients waiting in the emergency department for 24 hours, according to a 2010 survey of 600 hospital emergency department administrators by the Schumacher Group, which manages emergency departments across the country.

Ten percent said they had "boarded" patients for a week or more.

And many hospitals are not prepared for the increased caseload of psychiatric patients, says Randall Hagar, director of government affairs for the California Psychiatric Association.
California cut $587 million in state-funded mental health services in the past two years, the most of any state, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a patient advocacy group.
"They don't have secure holding rooms. They don't have quiet spaces. They don't have a lot of things you need to help calm down a person in an acute psychiatric crisis," Hagar said.
"Often you have a patient strapped to a gurney in a hallway outside of the emergency department where social workers are desperately trying to find an inpatient bed," he said.
FROM CITIES TO SMALL TOWNS
In North Carolina, the state has cut its inpatient psychiatric capacity by half since 2005, says Dr. Bret Nicks, an emergency physician at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem and a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Nicks points to a report from the Institute of Medicine released in 2006 that found U.S. emergency departments were already overtaxed and overcrowded.
"Now you are adding in patients who are unsafe to leave but yet have nowhere to go," he said. "I consider patients with acute psychiatric needs as really the forgotten patient population in the U.S. right now."

Dr. Stephen Anderson is an emergency department doctor at Auburn Regional Medical Center, a mid-size suburban hospital outside of Seattle.

"When the economy is hurt they are some of the first to drop off the healthcare rolls," he said of local residents in the largely blue-collar community.
Anderson, who heads the Washington Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said the state has lost a third of its inpatient psychiatric beds in the past decade.
Lately he is seeing a marked escalation in patients with psychiatric problems turning up in the emergency department. In early December, a third of its beds were occupied with people in a psychiatric crisis who were not safe to return to the community.
The problem extends out to small towns.
Sullivan splits his time between the big emergency department at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago and St. Margaret's Hospital, a tiny facility in Spring Valley, Illinois, about 100 miles southwest of the city.
On a recent shift, a young woman with schizophrenia arrived at the hospital. She had just lost her job and apartment and was living with relatives. She could not afford the medications that were keeping her illness in check.
The woman asked Sullivan to switch her prescriptions to drugs that could be found on the $4 discount list at Wal-Mart and other discount stores.
"I didn't feel comfortable doing that," Sullivan said, noting that emergency physicians are being asked to deliver specialized care that should be handled by a psychiatrist.
He found a healthcare facility about 25 miles away with a psychiatrist who could help, but even that presented a problem for the woman, who had no way of getting to the appointment.

"It's almost akin to having a cardiac patient come in and say, 'I need someone to adjust my defibrillator.' In the emergency department, we can do a lot, but there are some things we have to leave with the specialists," he said.

(Editing by Michele Gershberg and Eric Beech)

Elder law awareness: 46-year old Minnesota man commits elder abuse against own 86 year old mother

As a family member ages, he can become more dependent on his healthier spouse or grown children to care for him, keep him healthy, and continue to protect him as his health fails.
Unfortunately, sometimes the tables are turned.
According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, about two-thirds of all elder abuse perpetrators are exactly those whom the victim might have trusted most. Financially dependent spouses or adult children are the most likely to take advantage of the elder’s financial resources. Sadly, this is often due to alcohol and drug abuse.
Dementia is a leading risk factor in all kinds of elder abuse, including financial exploitation. Even senior citizens who suffer from a milder form of cognitive impairment, not yet recognized or diagnosed, can be vulnerable.
Elder law professionals are tremendous advocates for senior citizens who need to protect their resources, but the largely secretive and unreported nature of the crimes makes supporting the rights of the victims challenging.
There are variations in elder law from state to state, but many states have increased penalties for the victimization, financial or otherwise, of senior citizens. Since 2010, 24 states have joined an elder exploitation prevention program, called the Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation Prevention Program (EIFFE) which guards against fraud and swindling by involving physicians. The senior citizen’s physician, while not usually privy to the financial climate of the victim’s household, can now identify risk factors, refer patients for screening if they suspect an abusive situation, and report any mistreatment to Adult Protective Services.
According to an elder financial fraud survey, possible one in five senior citizens is financially victimized. The EIFFE’s outreach to the physicians, including dentists, has seen early success in identifying patients who may be victimized but cannot advocate for themselves. Patients may be brought to their doctors’ appointments by the very family members who are mistreating them, and the EIFFE’s continuing medical education trains the doctors how to handle any warning signs they may notice, even in the possibly tense environment of the waiting room.
Last week, The Minneapolis Star Tribune (http://m.startribune.com/news/?id=134435633&c=y) reported that a 46-year-old Minnesota man was charged this month with swindling his 86-year-old mother out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The article reported the man used the money to fund, among other things, a phone sex and pornography habit. Records show he had been using his mother’s savings for over ten years.
The elderly mother had her checking accounts seized, her income garnished, and a lien put on her home after she could not pay her tax bill.
Luckily, this is a case that made the headlines of Minnesota, Indiana, and Nevada newspapers, gaining needed attention for senior citizens and the elder laws that protect their resources.
A Hennepin County prosecutor, Mike Freeman, is quoted in one of the many articles written about the current case (http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1476317) as stating that he has seen too many cases where an aging parent is swindled out of his or her own estate.
The son faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and a $100,000 fine.

For further assistance with elder law please contact Adam Roa on his website Maryland Elder Law

22 Signs That The Thin Veneer Of Civilization That We All Take For Granted Is Starting To Disappear

In order for a society to function, there has to be a certain level of trust.  Each day when we leave our homes, we take for granted that most people are not going to attack us for no reason, that there will only be isolated incidents of theft in our community and that rioting and violence are not going to erupt in the streets.   Whether we realize it or not, we depend on the fact that the vast majority of the people around us are going to act in a civilized manner.  Unfortunately, the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted is starting to disappear.  When I was growing up, I was taught that challenging times reveal our true character.  There are many that believe that the declining economy is causing a lot of the chaos that we are now witnessing, but perhaps what is going on is that these challenging economic times are simply revealing the character that has been there all along.  For decades, a "false prosperity" that was fueled by unprecedented amounts of debt has masked a lot of the internal rot that has taken hold in America.  But now that our prosperity is crumbling, our lack of values is becoming startlingly clear.
Greed, corruption and extreme self-centeredness have deeply infected our society.  We see this on Wall Street and in Congress, and we see this among those that are trying to survive on the mean streets of our largest cities.
Our nation is breaking down on every level.  If by some miracle we were able to fix our economy, that would mask our problems for a while, but it would not solve them.
Unfortunately, as I write about nearly every day, there are a whole host of indications that our economy is about to get even worse.  When it does, millions of Americans will become even more desperate, and as we are now seeing all over this country, desperate people do desperate things.
The following are 22 signs that the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted is starting to disappear....
#1 In Detroit, 100 bus drivers recently refused to drive their routes out of fear for their own personal safety.  An article posted on the website of the CBS affiliate in Detroit is quoting the head of the bus drivers union, Henry Gaffney, as saying that the drivers are "scared for their lives"....

“Our drivers are scared, they’re scared for their lives. This has been an ongoing situation about security. I think yesterday kind of just topped it off, when one of my drivers was beat up by some teenagers down in the middle of Rosa Parks and it took the police almost 30 minutes to get there, in downtown Detroit,” said Gaffney.

#2 In Wilmington, Delaware recently, a man offered to help someone carry a television down the street, but quickly realized that it was his own television which had just been stolen out of his house....

A Wilmington resident who stopped home for lunch about noon today saw a man carrying a flat screen TV down the street and asked the man if he needed help.
He then recognized the television as his own, looked up and saw the door to his home ajar, said Master Sgt. Adam Ringle.

#3 Shocking video has surfaced of a young thug walking up to a defenseless elderly man in a Chicago subway station and knocking him out cold.  In the video, the friends of the young man are cheering him on and laughing at how easy it was to knock the old man out cold.
#4 Beating up old people for no reason seems to be catching on all over the country.  Just check out the following report from a recent article posted on philly.com....

AN 84-YEAR-OLD ex-university official savagely attacked by four young punks during a walk in Wissahickon Valley Park earlier this week theorizes that the beating he endured was a cruel game of "get the old geezer."
Jim Shea, a former vice president of university relations for Temple, from 1968 to 1983, walks up to five miles on Forbidden Drive, in Fairmount Park, three times a week, but that type of stamina wasn't enough to stave off the lowlifes who not only beat him bloody, but dealt a blow to one of the things he holds most dear - his pride.

#5 All over the United States, police are brutalizing Occupy Wall Street protesters and spraying pepper spray directly in their faces.  Whatever you may think of the Occupy Wall Street protests, the reality is that this is not a sign that things are becoming "more stable" in America.  You can see video of one very disturbing confrontation right here.
#6 Clashes between police and protesters in Oakland, California recently became so violent that at one point the streets of Oakland resembled a war zone.
#7 Unfortunately, as the American people become increasingly frustrated with out system many of them are actually starting to consider violence as a solution.  According to one recent survey, 31 percent of all Occupy Wall Street protesters "would support violence to advance their agenda".
#8 In New York recently, a confrontation between two female customers and a frustrated cashier ended with the cashier beating the living daylights out of them with a metal rod.  The following is how a local CBS affiliate in New York described this incident....

It appeared to have started when two female customers argued and yelled obscenities at the cashier when he questioned a $50 bill they gave him.
One of the female customers then slapped the cashier. A woman is then seen jumping over the counter while the other woman goes behind the register.
That’s when the cashier can be seen on the video disappearing into the back of the fast-food restaurant. He comes back with a metal rod and begins hitting the women.

You can see video of this violent confrontation right here.
#9 These days, many Americans are so "on edge" that just about anything will make them snap.  For example, a 60-year-old woman in New Mexico recently repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend because she thought that he was cheating during a game of Monopoly.
#10 If you thought that the above example was crazy, just check out what one man down in Georgia did recently.  He actually firebombed a Taco Bell because they did not put enough meat in his Chalupa.
#11 In Cleveland last week, a 49-year-old man was sent to the hospital after a poll monitor working for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections tried to bite his nose off.
#12 Not only do TSA agents make us feel like dehumanized cattle as we go through airport security, some of them are evening making fun of us at the same time.  For example, one TSA agent recently scribbled “GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL” on a TSA inspection notice after discovering a sex toy in the luggage of one female traveler.
#13 Identity theft is rising to very alarming levels all over the United States.  For example, a recent article in the Palm Beach Post described what has been going on down in Florida this year....

In the first half of this year, the Federal Trade Commission received more than 20,000 complaints from Floridians whose identities had been stolen -- nearly as many as in all of 2010. More than half of those reporting their Social Security numbers or other personal information had been ripped off and used to commit fraud or theft were in South Florida, with heavy concentrations in parts of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Hallandale Beach.
"That kind of increase is really shocking,'' said Vance Luce, deputy special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service in South Florida, which investigates identity theft and financial crimes. "The fact that it's on the upturn doesn't surprise me at all, but that's pretty alarming.''

#14 In the Seattle area, an elderly couple in their eighties was recently brutally attacked by a 31-year-old man armed with a crossbow and a hatchet.  The following description of this brutal crime comes from King 5 News....

Prosecutors say 31-year-old John Chase was walking down the highway when he saw Ralph Aldrich, 88, in his back yard. Detectives say Chase shot and killed Aldrich with a crossbow and then went inside the home and repeatedly hit 83-year-old June Aldrich with a hatchet.

#15 As America falls apart, more of us than ever are taking medication for depression.  At this point, more than 1 out of every 10 Americans over the age of 12 is taking prescription antidepressants.
#16 In some areas of the country, people have been literally tearing apart their own cities in an attempt to find things to sell.  I recently discussed this phenomenon on The American Dream Blog....

In Fresno, California the damage caused by thieves stealing copper wire from city street lights is costing the city about $50,000 a month.  So far, about 2,500 street lights have been stripped of their wiring.

#17 As people become more desperate, we are starting to see some truly bizarre crimes in many parts of the nation.  In northern Alabama, one team of crooks has been using a forklift to pull entire ATM machines out of the ground.
#18 Most Americans don't realize this, but all over the U.S. livestock is being stolen from ranchers in unprecedented numbers.  The following is from a recent Associated Press article....

While the brazenness may be unusual, the theft isn't. High beef prices have made cattle attractive as a quick score for people struggling in the sluggish economy, and other livestock are being taken too. Six thousand lambs were stolen from a feedlot in Texas, and nearly 1,000 hogs have been stolen in recent weeks from farms in Iowa and Minnesota. The thefts add up to millions of dollars in losses for U.S. ranches.
Authorities say today's thieves are sophisticated compared to the horseback bandits of the rugged Old West. They pull up livestock trailers in the middle of the night and know how to coax the animals inside. Investigators suspect it's then a quick trip across state lines to sell the animals at auction barns.

#19 At this point, thieves are becoming so bold that they will steal literally anything that they are able to cart away.  For example, in the San Francisco area a while back thieves actually stole a copper bell that weighs 2.7 tons.
#20 According to the FBI, the number of gang members in the United States has increased by a staggering 40 percent since 2009.  Right now, there are 1.4 million gang members terrorizing citizens on the streets of America.
#21 Down in Miami, thieves have become so bold that they have actually been breaking into parked police cruisers and stealing guns and ammo out of them.  Many of those guns undoubtedly are ending up in the hands of gangs members.
#22 Be careful who you befriend online.  They might just hold you captive and use you as part of a Satanic sex ritual.  The following description of an incident that recently happened in Milwaukee comes from thesmokinggun.com....

Two young Milwaukee women were arrested this week after an 18-year-old Arizona man--who traveled to Wisconsin by bus after meeting one of the suspects online--told cops that he was held captive in the duo’s apartment for two days and slashed and stabbed more than 300 times as part of an apparent satanic sex ritual.

Anger and frustration are growing to unprecedented levels in this country, and all of this anger and frustration is manifesting in thousands of different ways.
As I have written about previously, the rioting, the crime and the violence that we are seeing now is only just the beginning of what is coming.
Unless a miracle happens, our country is going to keep heading down the road toward societal collapse.  For even more examples that show that our country is starting to come apart at the seams, please see the following articles that I have authored previously....
-"18 Signs The Collapse Of Society Is Accelerating"
-"12 More Signs That Society Is Collapsing"
It won't happen all at once, but unless our nation changes direction dramatically, we will see things get progressively worse and worse.
Instead of teaching our children to love and care for one another, we have taught them to be incredibly self-involved.  Today, way too many Americans deeply love themselves, deeply love money and are deeply addicted to entertainment.  Each new generation seems to be even more prideful, even more arrogant and even more violent.  As a nation, we are losing our empathy for others, our compassion for the needy and our respect for the elderly.  Our family units are breaking down and thousands of our communities are being transformed into hellholes.
What in the world is happening to America?
If you have a thought on this topic, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving a comment below....

THE ROBING ROOM where judges are judged

I just found this website that every family victim and advocate can use:

THE ROBING ROOM where judges are judged

Click on this link: http://www.therobingroom.com/

Just click on your state (lower left) or on your region of the country. Then, follow the prompts! You may rate, post comments, and contact others who have posted.

I was doing a google search, to see if any of my postings were surfacing, for the judges who perpetrated the “guardianship” crimes against my, elderly, parents. One link opened, directly, to the rating page for the judge in Maryland who, first, took my parents into guardianship, Judge Louis Becker. He has, all, low ratings.

I’ve been behind the scenes, for awhile, but, my advocacy continues in the efforts to find justice for my parents, William and Ada Morris, who passed away, last year, still under this abusive and illegal guardianship. Their lives were stolen, under the guise of protecting them, by Howard County, Maryland, Circuit Court Judges, Louis Becker and Dennis Sweeney and continued with Timothy McCrone. This was, also, orchestrated by Ofelia Ross, caseworker from the Howard County Office on Aging and the “court appointed attorney”, Ria Rochvarg. When my postings went “viral”, last year, Ofelia Ross was replaced by Marcia Soergel, another caseworker. Here, again, are the links to my parents’ story:

1) Neglect & Abuse of William & Ada Morris: http://elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/2010/04/william-l-morris-and-ada-v-morris.html

2) Letter to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley: http://elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/2010/06/racketeering-scheme-against-elderly-and.html

3) Intent to Murder (my father): http://elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/2010/06/intent-to-murder-by-howard-county.html

4) Condemned to Die (my father): http://elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/2010/07/condemned-to-die-real-death-squad.html

5) Even in Death, They Plague Us: http://elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-nightmare-even-in-death-they.html

Time has not permitted me to write a full account of events that took place at Howard County General Hospital. Here is a, brief, summary: Corruption knows, no, limits. This was obvious with the “bait and switch” by one of the head doctors, “Intensivist”, Dr. David Nyanjom, in the HCGH Intensive Care Unit. He had a meeting/conference call with our family and he told us that he supported my father having a feeding tube. My father lay in his hospital bed, another week, while waiting for an “expedited” court hearing regarding the feeding tube. Dad had, already, told me he was in favor of the tube. But, his wishes were denied. Dr. Nyanjom’s peer (another intensivist), Dr. Fernando De Leon, was the doctor to show up in court. He testified, against, my father having a feeding tube. When I, later, confronted Dr. Nyanjom on the “bait and switch”, his unprofessional and uncaring demeanor validated his participation and complicity. The Howard County Office on Aging had, already, spent all of my parent’s money and Medicaid was, not yet, available, for them. Since my parents’ social security and pension income was not enough to pay for both of my parents, in assisted living, and as the Office on Aging was determined to keep control, they, no longer, wanted my father to live.

To keep other complicit social services, and attorneys, accountable, here are their names: Janis DiSibio, Shareese Kess-Lewis, Debbie Beares, Peggy Rightnour, Phyllis Madachy, Susan Rosenbaum, Sue Vaeth, Charlene Gallion, Beverly Heydon and Anthony Doyle. Administrative Judge Diane Leasure was, also, complicit as were, at the state level, former Maryland Secretary of Human Resources, Brenda Donald, Maryland Secretary Department on Aging, Gloria Lawlah, the Office of Health Care Quality and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Assisted living owners, who gained thousands of dollars a month, from my parents’ estate, and who, willingly, lied against family members, are: Carmen Collandrea and Richard Collandrea owners of Bryant Woods Inn Assisted Living, Columbia, Maryland and William Singh and Elmira Singh, owners of Pfefferkorn Assisted Living, West Friendship, Maryland.

My mother’s birthday is this Saturday, August 13th. She would have been 91. Mom and Dad, rest in peace!

Barbara Morris

Daughter and Advocate for Justice

A Heartbreaking Story of Elder Abuse and Legal Thievery

by Jim Fargiano

Until relatively recently, I was unaware of how rampant elder abuse is within the legal court system. For almost the last two decades, my life has been consumed by helping as many people as I could in a different way than most give help. I have informally counseled and helped thousands of people through the publishing of my book, as well as in private sessions as a medium/psychic. It was not until my good friend started to share her story with me that my eyes were opened to something far more prevalent than I was cognizant of; at least on a conscious level.

I have been privileged to know Diane for over five years. During that span, she has never been anything but helpful, loving and compassionate to everyone. Doing what I do for a living generally makes me able to be a pretty good judge of character. Ironically, it is a judge and his decisions that prompted me to write this article. The choices and attitude he has expressed have been protected by legal statutes. While they might be legal, they are far from moral, ethical or compassionate.

This all began approximately two and a half years ago. Diane's mother had given her power of attorney and named her the healthcare proxy. Like many families, there were disagreements with the siblings. Diane was being told that her brother and sister wanted to sell their mother's home and place her in a nursing home. While this elderly woman, Dorothy, had some early dementia and knee problems, she was still a vibrant, cognizant person. She had no interest in being displaced so that those two could have her money. Diane's family suggested she file for legal guardianship to protect her home and to protect her mother's life as well. It seemed to make an abundance of sense.

To tell the events of what unfolded quickly is really an injustice to the elder abuse that has incurred since. The siblings contested the petition for guardianship.

Instead of reaching a mediated agreement, the judge listening to the case decided he would be better at making decisions for everyone. He assigned a law guardian and a healthcare manager. It appears these three have worked together before.

Diane was immediately removed from what her mother wanted; to have her take care of her needs if there was any reason for it. As it was, Dorothy would spend many weekends at Diane's house. It must be noted that Diane works from home and took care of her father in his last years. It would give Dorothy a change of scenery and much appreciated love and companionship. All of that was about to change.

Diane, rightfully, brought in a lawyer to help overturn the judge's decision. This attorney had handled her parents' legal needs in the past. Not only was he familiar with the family dynamics, but he had intimate knowledge of what Dorothy wanted. He was even going to represent Diane pro bono. All he wanted to see was that this aged woman was allowed to live happily at her own home, or with Diane.

The Supreme Court judge, based in Nassau County, New York, took it upon himself to unfairly disallow the attorney's generosity and right to represent Diane. It was the first step in a string of negatively prejudicial rulings against my friend.

The law guardian requested that a reverse mortgage be approved for $275,000 on Dorothy's home of six decades. In open court, opposed by some, this magistrate authorized the financial decision and stated that the money would allow Dorothy to remain in her home for at least five years. It is now only two years later and all of that money has been spent. In addition, social security and a couple of small pensions were still coming in. In a mere twenty-four months, more than $325,000 had been frittered away!

As of the writing of this story, the judge has ordered Dorothy into a nursing home. In his ruling, he admits this goes against Dorothy and the family's wishes. The law guardian, healthcare manager and another person showed up unannounced and told Dorothy they were taking her to the doctor to check on a problem she was having. Dorothy, now eighty-seven years old, willingly went with them. She was hustled to a nursing home that was a distance far from the only child who has been battling for her freedom. She is frightened beyond belief.

The lie to get her into the car is one of a long string of deceptive tactics used by the law guardian, healthcare manager and the judge himself. There has been hearing after hearing over the last thirty or so months where the three of them have waged a war of defamatory statements, incredulous lies and perjury against Diane. They have fought the only daughter looking to do the right thing for her mother, with their end game being a complete bleeding of Dorothy's modest estate.

Her health has been compromised, and from my outsiders view, it was done solely to line their own pockets. The tragic thing in all of this has been that the judge, elected to uphold the rights of all people, has spearheaded his attack on an elderly woman.

How I wish I could condense hundreds of pages of documents into a short article. There was the theft of over thirty thousand dollars of jewelry. Dorothy stated that her other daughter absconded with it and she has been asking to have it returned. The supposed law guardian knows about it, but has refused to step in.

There was a sworn statement from another legal person stating that from all of the interviews she had with people familiar with the family, that Diane was seen as the most loving and giving child of the three. It states that her brother is known to have a violent temper and would be a danger to his mother. In court, the very same woman stood before the judge and said that this same man would be the best person to have Dorothy live with. In my opinion, these egregious actions of Diane's siblings has been overlooked in exchange for their support in allowing all of this to go on without their objections.

As I sum this up, I would share with you that there was a previous time that Dorothy was locked away for thirty days in another facility. She was denied the chance to be taken out by Diane for Thanksgiving, nor was she allowed to attend her only great granddaughter's christening; something that she wanted very much to be a part of. In trying to support Diane in whatever limited way possible, I have found that elder abuse is a much broader problem than I was aware of.

The National Association To Stop Guardian Abuse (NASGA) has stepped in to help with this case; one of a multitude they are bringing to the attention of Congress and other law related committees. It seems like power-hungry people who are trusted to protect the rights of our senior citizens run amuck and take advantage of them, their families and so forth. Justice is supposed to be blind, yet it is those in society who need not be blind to the fact that this goes on far too often. If you find yourself in a position to make a difference by correcting the wrongs of these judges and guardians, make sure you do not wait for someone else to fix it. What would you do if this was your Mom or Dad; if it was your family faced with this?

About the Author

Jim Fargiano is a student and teacher of spirituality and universal awareness. He has shared his ability to communicate with Spirit with thousands of people. There is a daily blog for like-minded people who are willing to improve their lives. Jim can be reached at http://www.JimFargiano.com.

Follow Jim Fargiano's daily blog at http://www.JimFargiano.blogspot.com

Source=>>here

War on the Elderly ! - Rense & Marti Oakley – Guardianship – Theft, Looting And Murder

It happens everyday in every state. Elderly or disabled individuals are kidnapped under the guise of “guardianship” by predatory guardians who then begin bleeding off the estate.

Corrupt probate judges, attorney’s, social agency workers, nursing home operators, doctors and the ever present predatory guardian, all begin hammering away at the vicitms assets until nothing is left. The family is restrained from visitation while hearsay charges are levied against them by the predators. No evidence required.

If you think this can’t happen to you, think again. Congress is well aware of this crime. Your state agencies, police departments, state attorney’s general, the FBI, the DoJ …all are fully informed and yet refuse to do anything to stop this theft and looting while holding an elderly or disabled victim hostage.

There is money to be made by converting a human being to chattel property!

And if a victim escapes the prison of the nursing home? A warrant is issued for “escaped human property”…….It could happen to you.

Source=>>Here

Watch You Tube Interview =>>Here

this story is as relevant today as when the story ran on 07/07/2011

Rense Steps up to the Plate, Runs Guardianship Interview

by Janet C. Phelan

On June 29, six days after an article appeared on novakeo.com highly critical of Jeff Rense’s avoidance of the guardianship issue, the talk show host broke his years-long silence on the pervasive and problematic issue of adult guardianships and ran an hour interview with reporter and talk show host Marti Oakley.

The interview covered the main concerns of those in the guardianship reform movement, and stressed not only the theft of assets but also the fact that many of the wards are having their lives shortened through actions taken by the guardians themselves, who are ostensibly pledged to protect the wards' assets and well being. Oakley also discussed the legal machinations which are used to separate the ward from family and friends, among other issues which make adult guardianship a disturbing blip on the civil rights radar.

A small firestorm had begun to rage on the novakeo site, following the publication of the article by this reporter, which tied some of Rense’s prior pro-Nazi statements to his avoidance of the guardianship issue. Guardianship has been called a "holocaust on the elderly" and likened to the T-4 program in Hitler’s Germany. T-4, which targeted the same population that are potentially afflicted by guardianship (the elderly and disabled) was the first extermination program launched by Adolph Hitler.

Oakley had rushed to Rense’s defense, denying she had written emails concerning Rense’s pro-Nazi views which were first referenced by this reporter then posted in their entirety in the comments section. In a virtual news black- out on this subject, Oakley had run a number of guardianship interviews on her own blog talk radio show a few of months back.

The purpose of a free press in a democratic society is to watchdog the government and, when necessary, to oversee the actions of other members of the press. The guardianship issue has been woefully underreported in the past and Oakley and Rense are to be congratulated for a fine, although somewhat tardy, show on this controversial subject.

Related Articles:Rense & Marti Oakley - Guardianship - Theft, Looting And Murder

Janet Phelan is an investigative journalist whose articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The San Bernardino County Sentinel, The Santa Monica Daily Press, The Long Beach Press Telegram, Oui Magazine and other regional and national publications. Janet addresses the heated subject of adult conservatorship, revealing shocking information about the relationships between courts and shady financial consultants. She also covers issues relating to international nuclear weapon treaties. Her poetry has been published in Gambit, Libera, Applezaba Review, Nausea One and other magazines. Her first book, The Hitler Poems, was published in 2005. She currently resides abroad.

The heads of old age ...

Robinson Jeffers "The heads of strong old age are beautiful beyond all grace of youth."

“You can ignore reality........

“You can ignore reality,but you can’t ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” -Ayn Rand

Letter to Editor -Help My Mother-

Elder abuse is a growing epidemic, one that the criminal justice community fears will only get worse as the Baby Boom generation starts to age. Illinois Department on Aging statistics reveal a 31 percent jump in reported cases of elder abuse statewide between 1997 and 2003. Elder abuse victims, most of whom are women, suffer physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect, often at the hands of people they trust: their children, primary caregivers, and those they depend on for survival. These victims are fragile, ill, and sometimes incapacitated.

My mother will cooperate, you just need to get her out of the Toerpe house and with the people she loves and trusts, me, Aunt Yo, Kathie Bakken, Debbie Holda, even cousin Joe. Attached please find the letter to the Judge from NASGA a bona fide national organization in the business of protecting elders and people with disabilities from abuse and financial exploitation. They received the verified court documents and did an independent investigation. I only ask that you do the same, before it's too late.

"Cop accused of passing as elderly father in attempt to steal pension money" is the recent headlines across Chicago-land. Unfortunately, the investigation wasn't completed until the father mysteriously died of alleged complications of dementia (over medicating?). Carolyn Toerpe has already lied to the Court about mother's health insurance coverage, stating that all she has is medicare, when in fact, she has incredible coverage through the Chicago Police Department, Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Carolyn Toerpe told the court that mother (and father, retired Sargent Charles Sykes, CPD) lived in poverty, that my father had no savings, and either did mother. That too is incorrect! My father saved at minimum $2000 a month for for about 20 years! He and his nephew Al Bibby (the Bibby Estate) invested in silver and gold (coins and bars) and dad's home was paid off in 1975!. He not only had an pension, but additional income from a tenant. Both my sister and I were out of college and on our own. My parents didn't gamble, drink, and/or purchase flashy new cars or even own flashy cars. Mother earns a good living too, as a dress maker, tailor, and seamstress: she also made and sold crafts, quilts, et cetera! Mother worked until the day she was kidnapped on June 30, 2009, by Toerpe.

I've asked for a wellness check, and I would like to be present, and now I just need a wellness check. The Two Guardians Ad Litem need to isolate Mother because if mother is allowed to leave or be away from Toerpe, Mother will ask for an attorney, again, or refuse to return home. I'll give you Debbie Holda's phone number and call her: she supervised 6 visits between mother and me: mother played winning hands of canasta, bowled, miniture golfing, socialized at church, took long walks... this is not a person with Alzheimer as they tell you. Mother's primary doctor refused to sign the medical reports.

Please, I'm begging you to investigate this before my Mother is murdered. At least do a wellness check tonight or tomorrow and take mother out of the house, away from the Toerpe's influence, and she will talk to you. Ask her if she wants to return to her home. She may say, "Lexington Street" because that is where they tell her she owned a home which was sold a long time ago. Tell her Norwood Park, and she will say, 6014 n. Avondale. Tell her I'm living in her home, and she will be very excited. She will probably ask if she can spend a few days with me. She may tell you that I'm working all the time and ***. I work out of the house. They've just had be evicted from Mother's home as they've sold it in order to get rid of me.

I don't know what else you need. Mr. Kenneth Ditkowsky, Kathie Bakken, Scott Evans, Yolanda Bakken, all of these people are not crazy, or abusers, we're just trying to save my Mother's life. My sister is seriously sick, she's a proverbial lie, an opportunist, et al. She told the court that she's a psychologist and signed legal documents with PhD after her name. What will it take for one of you to do the right thing?

I will bring in all of the court transcripts for your review. I will show you digital recordings, and recent audio recordings of phone conversations. You can see and hear for yourself the abuse. The gasligthing The sadness of all of this. My daddy is turning in his grave.

There is no order of protection against me, but a petition for an order of protection against Teorpe. Please read the attached. For my Dad, a former Chicago Police Officer, investigate. Do you think that I would testify at the House (Rayburn Building) and open myself to the Illinois Department of Justice, the political elite, or an organization like NASGA if I were the perpetrator? If I am wrong, then your friends, Cynthia Farenga, Adam Stern, Peter Schmiedel and The Toerpes win. If I am right, you'll be saving a person's life. Thank you.

Gloria Jean Sykes

Bon Ami Productions, Inc.
773.910-3310(cell)
773.251-8387 (Bon Ami Foundation)
773.631.7701 (fax and office line)

Are you Cognitively Impaired or Vitamin Deficient?

By Irene A. Masiello
Certified: Holistic Counselor, Adult Educator & Stress Management Consultant

My book, Paradise Costs, A Victim’s Daughter Fights Back against Elder Abuse, is a chronicle of my father’s deterioration into the abyss of severe cognitive impairment. This was the consequence of Alzheimer’s and resulted in his subsequent abuse and exploitation by neighbors in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Dad’s tragic decline took years. It was heartbreaking to see a robust and vibrant man once captivated by his love for animals and nature become apathetic, depressed and withdrawn.

Writing Paradise Costs took ten years to complete. It was a stressful marathon filled with agonizing memories, requiring intense focus while processing deep sorrow. Most of my time was spent indoors in front of my computer. I’ve attributed some health issues to the stress and, recently, I was diagnosed as a possible diabetic.

Over the course of this past year, I developed severe and crippling pain in my shoulder, rib cage, chest and foot. I felt weak and exhausted all the time no matter how much rest I got. I was unable to concentrate, was unsteady on my feet and unable to make decisions. I felt overwhelmed and anxious over slight matters and somewhat immobilized.

My internist, a wonderful man (and a consultant for Paradise Costs), was looking towards a diagnosis of diabetes, especially, since my Dad was insulin dependent. However, under his supervision, I went on a crash diet and lost over 20 lbs. Fortunately, he diagnosed me as glucose intolerant rather than diabetic.

My glucose numbers were not extremely high. But, rather, they jumped around with great sensitivity to what time I ate, how I slept, the amount of pain I had, stress, etc. The numbers did not follow a pattern and, ultimately, were low enough for my internist to conclude that I needed no medication for diabetes but rather very careful monitoring of carbohydrate and glucose consumption. Exercise was advised but that was tough for me because I was feeling so weak.

Because of a blood issue I have and my hematologist’s orders, I had stopped taking a multi-vitamin years ago. Though I recently asked her again about vitamins, she was adamant. My body is making too many red blood cells and its thought that vitamins would stimulate my bone marrow to produce even more of them.

However, with this new diagnosis of glucose intolerance limiting what I could eat, some vague yet alarming red flags were swirling around my head and I was struggling with them. While somewhat immobilized and beleaguered, I started to wonder if I could be properly nourished since I could not eat fruit, drink a glass of orange juice, have a white potato, etc. How could I consume enough vitamins and minerals to stay healthy now?

I started thinking about the trace minerals I was doing without. I wondered about Vitamin C and my immune system because it seemed that all this pain had started around Christmas last year when I came down with a fever and stayed sick for months. During this time, the symptoms mentioned earlier seemed to be getting worse.

I was struggling to string this together but really, cognitively, I was not sure I was the person I once was. I justified it saying, “Well, none of us are who we used to be.” A couple of my friends seemed to be saying the same things, too, and feeling somewhat like me. More justification came with our saying “we’re all aging.”

Then one friend reported that he had been diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency. Once a gal pal was diagnosed with the same shortly after, I hit the Internet running. What I saw online horrified me for I was described perfectly in the pages of symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. It explained so much. I called my internist who said, “Most people are D deficient so you probably will be too. We’ll check.”

He was shocked at the result and stated he never saw a vitamin D level so low. The normal range of vitamin D in the blood is 30-74. Mine was NINE! The Net said this level of vitamin D deficiency is dangerous.

Vitamin D deficiency is a contributing factor in diabetes and glucose intolerance. It’s thought to help safe guard us against breast, bladder and colon cancer. Deficiency of vitamin D causes body pain, weakness, cognitive impairment, confusion, brittle bones, exhaustion, more.

Vitamin D’s presence in the blood stream regulates the absorption of calcium (a lack of calcium causes osteoporosis, etc.) in the body and my doctor told me my calcium number was high.

The Net says calcium cannot be absorbed without vitamin D and that any slight deviance from the normal calcium range could change someone’s personality both emotionally and cognitively. It pointed out that magnesium was critical to the absorption of both vitamin D and calcium as well.

After only three and a-half weeks of vitamin D therapy, the pain I wrestled with for months was reduced by about 60%. The confusion and lethargy lifted somewhat, I felt more cognitively aware and I started to return to who I was. My glucose numbers came down, too. Finally, I was well enough to start walking without feeling faint.

On an outing with a childhood friend, I remarked, “Imagine what could have happened to me had I fallen and broken a hip, landed in a nursing home, and lost ability to make cogent decisions for myself all because of a vitamin deficiency.”

It’s too easy to look at the changes in oneself and dismiss them as simple aging. It’s more difficult to stay informed and active in the information loop. As we age, our nutritional needs change and, certainly, anyone who is bedridden or a shut-in needs more careful medical supervision and monitoring.

Your physician’s assistance and support is critical. Doctors know a lot but they don’t know everything and, usually, they’re the first ones to admit it. Certainly, mine did.

Our healthcare system has dramatically reduced the quality of medical care. Doctors spend too much of their very valuable time complying with insurance company mandates and doing paperwork rather than practicing the art and science of medicine which they love and have dedicated their lives to.

We, as patients, must remain pro-active and do our homework in partnering with our doctors. With the state of our health care system in shambles and it failing us all, both doctors and patients need to work together as a team.

Please find an informed advocate to help you navigate the system, if possible, and, remember, nutrition is a science. Please discuss your nutritional needs with your physician and ask him or her about consulting with a nutritionist. Many insurance companies will pay for this care.

Question….do you get 15 minutes of sunlight every single day? If not, please ask your doctor for the blood test as soon as possible for you may be vitamin D deficient.

Irene A. Masiello is the author of Paradise Costs, A Victim’s Daughter Fights Back against Elder Abuse, www.ParadiseCosts.com, afterword by Bennett Blum, MD, www.BennettBlumMD.com, and proprietor of Kayla Grace Designs affordable handmade jewelry especially created for baby-boomers see: www.etsy.com/shop/kaylagracedesigns. PLEASE NOTE: The above article is not a replacement for the care of your licensed healthcare professional. Please consult your physician for all your healthcare needs. © Copyright, June 2011, Irene A. Masiello, All rights reserved. Do not reprint without permission of the author. Reach her at irenemasiello@msn.com.