AlphaMale

Alpha-1 protein provides key test for preeclampsia

Preeclampsia -- high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy -- is one of the most common causes of death in pregnant women. Delivering the baby is the only reliable treatment; preeclampsia is a major cause of premature babies.

Preeclampsia can be hard to diagnose, too. Till now, anyway. Yale University researchers have just reported that a simple urine test for misfolded proteins -- including the protein for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency -- is rapid, non-invasive and a "definitive" diagnosis for preeclampsia.

Are women with the abnormal Alpha-1 gene more likely to get preeclampsia?

Nobody knows yet, but it's fascinating.

Best TV show ever about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

Frank Deford interviewed Len Geiger on HBO's popular show Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Both Deford and Geiger have Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. Deford also interviewed the father of Korinne Shroyer, the 14-year-old girl whose death made it possible for Geiger to get a lung transplant six years ago. Alpha-1 destroyed Geiger's lungs, and Korinne's are now in his chest, giving him back his life.

It was great television. 

KVOA TV in Tucson, AZ, did a 4-minute interview with Hap and Diane Eaton who were pedaling a tandem bike across the country to raise awareness about Alpha-1, and it was the most satisfying local news segment about Alpha-1 that I've ever seen.

Then ABC World News did its own segment on Geiger and the Shroyers, and it was also beautifully done. If Geiger's account of Kristi Shroyer listening to Korinne's lungs  breathing inside Geiger's chest doesn't bring tears to your eyes, you're just too, too tough.

Now we have a topper.

Many National Public Television stations are broadcasting an Alpha-1 segment of a show called Healthy Body, Healthy Mind. 

It's the best TV show ever about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.

You can check to see if the show is on your local Public TV channel, and tell your friends.

Or you can watch the entire show right here.

He'll even pay for Michael Jackson's physical exam

Ian Halperin is the writer who claimed Michael Jackson needs a lung transplant due to Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.

Jackson's spokesman said this was a "total fabrication."

This week, Halperin offered  to clear up this whole disagreement by generously paying for a physical exam for Jackson.

Halperin is still claiming to be an award-winning investigative reporter for Rolling Stone, a claim the magazine itself says is false. (But it keeps getting reported as if it were true.)

Tsk, tsk. Who can you believe?

Well, believe this: No physical exam is necessary to decide whether Michael Jackson has Alpha-1 or not.

A simple blood test is all it takes.

Though Halperin doesn't seem to know that.

COULD Michael Jackson really be an Alpha?

Michael Jackson has Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, so severely he needs a lung transplant, according to a writer doing a biography of Jackson.

Many of us with Alpha-1 have said for years, "What we need is a celebrity with Alpha-1."

Michael Jackson was one of the biggest pop stars of the twentieth century. Would any of us have chosen him as our celebrity? Don't think so. Michael has made himself a running joke.

I'm old enough to remember when Michael was a cute little boy fronting the Jackson Five. I was never a fan, but I have a soft spot for that energetic family group and that bouncy, bubbly little kid. Michael grew into a hugely talented performer. He made mountains of money. He seems to have spent most of the last two decades blowing all of it, building another mountain of debt, and self destructing.

So does he have Alpha-1? Nobody is saying so except Ian Halperin, not a reliable source. (Example:  Halperin's bio says he won the Rolling Stone magazine award for investigative journalism, which is news to Rolling Stone itself.)

Michael himself, through a spokesman, denies he has Alpha-1.

Michael ought to know the facts about his own health better than Halperin. But Michael himself has been so unreliable a source of information over the years, I find myself still wondering.

Leaving one more question: COULD Michael have Alpha-1? Is that possible?

Short answer: It's unlikely, but yes, he could.

Two facts to keep in mind:

• African-Americans can and do get Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. It's considered rare, but the Alpha-1 Foundation recently awarded a grant to study why many African-Americans are dying of lung disease, and test them for Alpha-1.
• Michael Jackson is a sad joke, but Alpha-1 is not. Let's hope all this attention to Michael leads to  more people being tested for this badly under-diagnosed condition.

Alpha-1 protein, the diabetes solution?

Two groups of researchers have reversed diabetes in mice by injecting them with Alpha-1 protein, or AAT.

AAT is the protein extracted from human blood plasma that we Alphas get infused into our veins to augment our own inadequate supply. It's intended to give us protection against the rapid loss of lung function that is common among Alphas.

AAT has several fine qualities, including being anti-inflammatory. (Since we're "deficient" in AAT, Alphas tend to have a lot of lung inflammation.)

So here's where diabetes comes in.

For years, it's been widely accepted that inflammation is one of the effects of Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is the kind that can develop in the very young and brings the complete destruction of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, making insulin injections a lifetime necessity.

Now researchers are testing the theory that inflammation is a major cause, rather than a result, of diabetes. They injected diabetic mice with AAT. Inflammation was reduced, the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas weren't just saved, but apparently grew, and in some cases the mouse diabetes was completely cured.

Of course, they were mice. And a special breed of non-obese diabetic mice. But everybody's having visions of a breakthrough in human diabetes.

So far, no AAT studies in people with Type 1 diabetes have been announced.

If the doctor says that, the doctor is an ass

Ten years ago, a lung specialist told a woman I know:

"You have Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. There's no cure. You have about five years to live."

I know a LOT of doctors. I like and respect most of them. I have a decent regard for the work involved in getting an MD degree, the basic ability required to achieve it, the difficult and stressful work that most doctors do.

But THAT doctor, when he made THAT statement, was being an ass, an idiot, a fool, an ignoramus. Oh, yes: a fake, too. He knew next to nothing about Alpha-1, and he was too arrogant to admit it.

How DARE he tell that woman how long she had to live? Would HE want to be told he had five years to live? By some jerk who didn't know what he was talking about -- but pretended he did?

The doctor was full of crap. Let me count just a few of the ways.

1. The doctor knew next to nothing about Alpha-1. It's always the guys who don't know much about it who read a little bit in their medical reference book, then say wildly inaccurate things that cause their patients the most fear and heartache.

2. The doc had no way of knowing how long the woman had to live.

3. Even if the doc had been a world-class expert in Alpha-1, he STILL wouldn't have known how long the woman had to live. Of course a true expert would never pretend he could make an accurate prediction.

4. That ignorant fool of a doctor had a lot of company. I've heard the story all too often: the doctor gives an Alpha this scary-sounding diagnosis, then says, "You only have about five years to live."

For some reason, five years seems to be a popular estimate, but I hear two years is common as well.

So I asked a real world-class Alpha specialist if there's any medical evidence to support that five-years-to-live estimate. Surprise: There is none.