Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor

You Are Valuable

One's sense of self-worth can either be a source of positive feelings or of distress. Having a deep realization of your intrinsic value protects you from the need to prove to anyone else that you are an important person. Knowing your unlimited value, you are free from the stress experienced by those who lack this understanding.

The Torah view of humans is that we are all created in the image of the Creator. Realizing that "each person is obligated to say, ‘The universe was created for me.'" (Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a) gives you more value than any possible mortal accomplishment. Viewing yourself as a child of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe adds greatly to your sense of personal value

Love Yehuda Lave

The same virus that causes cold sores appears to create lasting damage in the brain - a discovery that could suggest exciting new treatments for dementia.

More than 30 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer’s disease – the most common form of dementia. Unfortunately, there is no cure, only drugs to ease the symptoms.

However, my own research suggests a way to treat the disease. I have found the strongest evidence yet that the herpes virus is a cause of Alzheimer’s, suggesting that effective and safe antiviral drugs might be able to treat the disease. We might even be able to vaccinate our children against it.

The virus implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), is better known for causing cold sores. It infects most people in infancy and then remains dormant in the peripheral nervous system (the part of the nervous system that isn’t the brain and the spinal cord). Occasionally, if a person is stressed, the virus becomes activated and, in some people, it causes cold sores.

HSV1 enters the brains of elderly people as their immune system declines with age

We discovered in 1991 that in many elderly people HSV1 is also present in the brain. And in 1997 we showed that it confers a strong risk of Alzheimer’s disease when present in the brain of people who have a specific gene known as APOE4.

The virus can become active in the brain, perhaps repeatedly, and this probably causes cumulative damage. The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease is 12 times greater for APOE4 carriers who have HSV1 in the brain than for those with neither factor.

Later, we and others found that HSV1 infection of cell cultures causes beta-amyloid and abnormal tau proteins to accumulate. An accumulation of these proteins in the brain is characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Times of stress may reactivate the herpes virus, and this may eventually lead to long-term brain damage (Credit: Getty Images)

 

 

We believe that HSV1 is a major contributory factor for Alzheimer’s disease and that it enters the brains of elderly people as their immune system declines with age. It then establishes a latent (dormant) infection, from which it is reactivated by events such as stress, a reduced immune system and brain inflammation induced by infection by other microbes.

Reactivation leads to direct viral damage in infected cells and to viral-induced inflammation. We suggest that repeated activation causes cumulative damage, leading eventually to Alzheimer’s disease in people with the APOE4 gene.

Presumably, in APOE4 carriers, Alzheimer’s disease develops in the brain because of greater HSV1-induced formation of toxic products, or less repair of damage.

New treatments?

The data suggest that antiviral agents might be used for treating Alzheimer’s disease. The main antiviral agents, which are safe, prevent new viruses from forming, thereby limiting viral damage.

In an earlier study, we found that the anti-herpes antiviral drug, acyclovir, blocks HSV1 DNA replication, and reduces levels of beta-amyloid and tau caused by HSV1 infection of cell cultures.

It’s important to note that all studies, including our own, only show an association between the herpes virus and Alzheimer’s – they don’t prove that the virus is an actual cause. Probably the only way to prove that a microbe is a cause of a disease is to show that an occurrence of the disease is greatly reduced either by targeting the microbe with a specific anti-microbial agent or by specific vaccination against the microbe.

Excitingly, successful prevention of Alzheimer’s disease by use of specific anti-herpes agents has now been demonstrated in a large-scale population study in Taiwan. Hopefully, information in other countries, if available, will yield similar results.

Some food for thought 

This is brain food

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Jericho I was stoned in terror attack 110211 -other pictures

This is the first part of my pictures from November 2, when I went with the Army to Jericho and was stoned. Fabulous Jewish sites

TOLDOT

 In the competition between the brothers Esau and Jacob, Esau originally downplays any long-range view of the situation. He demands immediate gratification and is therefore more than willing to relinquish his birthright – which is only a long-range asset – in favor of an immediate bowl of hot lentils. As the Torah dutifully records for us in this week's reading, Esau will come to regret this youthful decision later in life. But, like almost all of us, he will put the blame for the mistake on others – on the shrewdness of Jacob taking advantage of him – rather than on his own error and weakness.

  By blaming Jacob for what was his own short sidedness, Esau compounds the original error of judgment on his part. After having tasted all the immoral pleasures of life, and after a career of violence, Esau remains unfulfilled, unhappy and frustrated. He now longs for the blessing and approval of his old father, a person who he has long treated as being completely irrelevant to him. His shout of anguish, when he realizes that the spiritual blessings of his father have already been bestowed on his brother Jacob and that what is left for him are the fleeting blessings of temporal existence and power, reverberates throughout human history. He realizes that the blessings given to Jacob are those of eternity and lasting memory while all physical blessings in this world are merely temporary and always subject to revision. The Torah always deals with eternal standards and never bows to current themes and ideas no matter how attractive they may seem at the time.   Every generation feels that it discovers new ways to propel humanity and civilization forward. Somehow, we always feel ourselves to be wiser than our elders, smarter than our ancestors. But, if one makes an honest review of human history, it becomes clear that the true principles of civilization – morality, kindness, education and individual freedom – remain constant throughout the story of humankind. Deviations from these principles, in the hope of achieving a utopian society, have always resulted in tragedy and destruction.   The cry of Esau reverberates through the halls of world history. And, what makes it most pathetic is that what Esau is searching for can easily be found in what he himself has previously discarded and denigrated. But, it is always the egotistical hubris of humankind that prevents it from seriously and logically examining its situation and thoughts. One has to admit to past errors and to restore oneself to the path of goodness and righteousness, which alone can lead to a lasting feeling of happiness and accomplishment in this world.   Esau would like to be Jacob, but without having to behave with the restraint and outlook on life that is the most central point of reference in the life and behavior of Jacob. It is as Justice Brandeis once put it: “I would like to have the serenity and peace of the Sabbath but without its restraints.” It is dealing with that fallacy of thought that makes Jacob Jacob and Esau Esau.   Shabbat shalom   Rabbi Berel Wein

Which three events would you pick to show the history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict?

These three events create the ‘relationship’ between the Jews [Israel], and the Arabs [Arab -Palestinians, since 1964], as a love-hate marriage.

  1. The professional meeting between Dr. Chaim Weizmann, [for the Zionist movement] and prince Faisal ibn Hussein al-Hashemii [for the Arab nationalist movement], in the desert north of Aqaba [ East Palestine]. These two leaders had a meeting of minds, that allowed them to work together to create the success of the two nationalist movements, -each in her own geographic area of greater Palestine -as partners. [=June 1918!]
  2. The grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, the vocal and hatful opponent of Zionism in Palestine, especially over the critical period of 1930 -1939. He was an opportunist who dragged the working relationship of Jews and Arabs to the new low-of “We must get the Jews out of Palestine”. The threesome [ British authority, Jewish enterprize and Arab labor ] was the functioning standard of wealthy Palestine from about 1924; until the Grand Mufti [who imported nazi philosophy into Palestine] and thus burst the imperial balloon of British authority and Jewish optimism as a major ‘car-crash’ on the road to a future success.
  3. The Arab [Hamas -Gazan] response to the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza district. August 2005. After considerable debate and self-analysis the Israel government choose to withdraw and exit her settlements in the Gaza district. There was an agreement in place, and the optimism that the Jews [Israel] and the Arabs [Hamas] could evolve into a safe and neighbourly relationship was the main decisive factor.

Immediately, after the withdrawn, a massive destruction of functioning structures in the Gaza district was organized by Hamas , a hate and denounce campaign started, and then a rocket(s) attack on Israel [to this very day; with damage, fear and injury] became the norm. Any Israeli dreams of a “PEACE” with the neighbours -died and has since then been very dead!

Doctor's Medical Advice - Do The Opposite and Thrive

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life.   Is this true? 
A: Your heart only good for so many beats, and that it...  Don't waste on exercise.   Everything wear out eventually.   Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying you extend life of car by driving faster.   Want to live longer?  Take nap.   

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?  
A:  No, not at all.   Wine made from fruit.   Brandy is distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way.   Beer also made of grain.   Bottom up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio? 
A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one.   If you have two bodies, your ratio two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program? 
A: Can't think of single one, sorry.   My philosophy is: No pain...good! 
          
Q:  Aren't fried foods bad for you?  
A:  YOU NOT LISTENING!  Food are fried these day in vegetable oil.   In fact, they permeated by it.   How could getting more vegetable be bad for you?!?  

Q:  Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle? 
A: Definitely not!  When you exercise muscle, it get bigger.   You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.   

Q:  Is chocolate bad for me?  
A:  Are you crazy?!?  HEL-LO-O!!  Cocoa bean!  Another vegetable!  It best feel-good food around!

Q:  Is swimming good for your figure?  
A:  If swimming good for your figure, explain whale to me..

Q:  Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?  
A:  Hey!  'Round' is shape!Well...  I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And  remember:  
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!!" 
    
AND.....

For  those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health.   It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.    

1.  The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2.  The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3.  The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4.  The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans..   

5.  The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. CONCLUSION:  Eat and drink what you like.  Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

See you Sunday

Shabbat Shalom

Love Yehuda Lave

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

2850 Womble Road, Suite 100-619, San Diego
United States

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