posted
Scientists eye an enzyme as target in fighting autism Wed Jun 27, 9:11 AM ET
CHICAGO (AFP) - US researchers have reversed the symptoms of mental retardation and autism in mice by inhibiting an enzyme that affects the connections between brain cells, researchers said Wednesday.
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In a series of experiments on mice, the MIT investigators showed that they could undo the brain damage seen in a condition called Fragile X syndrome by inhibiting a key brain chemical called PAK.
In humans, Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading cause of mental retardation and the most common genetic cause of autism -- the complex and devastating developmental disorder that is now being diagnosed in increasing numbers of children.
The study raises the intriguing possibility that the brain damage seen in children with the condition can be rolled back and identifies a specific target for potential drug therapies.
"It opens up a new avenue for drug research to treat this condition," said Susumu Tonegawa, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and lead author of the paper.
MIT researchers began by creating a batch of mice that had been genetically modified to have Fragile X, a condition in which the neurons of the brain are structurally abnormal and functionally impaired compared to regular nerve cells.
These transgenic mice had many of the behavioral problems seen in kids with the condition: hyperactivity, attention deficits, repetitive behaviors and poor social skills.
The investigators then cross-bred these mice with another batch of mice that had been genetically modified to inhibit the activity of the PAK (p21-activated kinase) enzyme which is instrumental in shaping the formation of neuronal connections in the brain.
The researchers knew that when PAK was inactivated, the mice developed neurons that had short, fat dendritic spines, with a higher-than-usual capacity for relaying the electrical impulses that pass between brain cells.
In other words, the shape and function of the dendritic spines in the PAK mice was just the reverse of those seen in the brain cells of the mice with Fragile X syndrome.
The researchers gambled that the two abnormalities would cancel each other out, and that's exactly what the experiment showed.
The cross-bred mice had been genetically engineered so that the inactivation of the PAK enzyme began two weeks into the mouse's life cycle, which in human terms would be several years after birth.
Tests and autopsies showed that the PAK-blocking action restored electrical communication between neurons in the brains of the double mutant mice, correcting their behavioral abnormalities in the process.
"This is very exciting because it suggests that PAK inhibitors could be used for therapeutic purposes to reverse already established mental impairments in fragile X children," said Eric Klann, a professor at New York University's Center for Neural Science.
The study was conducted by Tonegawa and a postdoctoral student at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and appears in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
-------------------- "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" Posts: 4005 | From: Shaolin | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Very interesting. Thanks for posting it Rimasco.
-------------------- The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits Posts: 10204 | From: NYC | Registered: Mar 2006
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Growth comparison during the 1990s : U.S. population increase: 13% Disabilities increase: 16% Autism increase: 172% $90 billion annual cost In 10 years, the annual cost will be $200-400 billion
A cure would be nice, or just the prevention in the first place, of the mercury and thimerosal injected in all those little ones... ................................................................................ .........................................................so many .............
Posts: 2634 | From: The highway | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
the mercury cause isn't for sure, as a matter of fact it's not supported by any hard evidence i've seen:
Father's Age Associated with Autism
< Sept. 6, 2006 > - The risk of developing autism is significantly higher among children born to men who are 40 and older than it is among children with fathers under 30, scientists report in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Autism is a growing problem, affecting 50 children in every 10,000, compared with just five in 10,000 only 20 years ago.
This ten-fold increase appears to be partially due to more awareness of the condition and a broader definition that includes autism spectrum disorders. However, it could also be that there is an increase in the actual incidence of autism, experts say.
There may be several genetic reasons for this finding, says study author Abraham Reichenberg, Ph.D., from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City.
One cause might be mutations in the sperm as men age, Dr. Reichenberg says. "Those mutations might be accumulating with age and therefore transmitted from the father to the child," he says. "Another possibility is that mechanisms that the body has to protect itself from mutations are not working that well with age."
It might also be that an improper or defective gene is being activated, Dr. Reichenberg notes. These mechanisms operating alone or in concert may be the reason for the association of older parental age and autism, he says. Mother's Age Not Strongly Linked to Autism
posted
It seems they are getting closer and closer to cures for many medical problems.
Here is another interesting article.
Gastric bypass can cure diabetes Doctors don't understand why, but they say the Type 2 form of the disease diminishes or disappears in many who get the weight-loss surgery. By Karen Augé Denver Post Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 06/20/2007 10:53:49 PM MDT
When Al Jarrell got gastric bypass surgery two years ago, he hoped to lose 100 pounds and maybe drop a size or two.
What he didn't expect - but got - was a cure for his diabetes.
It's a happy case of unintended consequences, and it's one that happens all the time, said Dr. Michael Snyder, the Rose Medical Center surgeon who performed Jarrell's bypass.
Around the country surgeons report that Type 2 diabetes diminishes or disappears altogether in significant numbers of patients who undergo the drastic weight-reduction surgery - often immediately after surgery.
One 2004 analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found diabetes improved in 86 percent of patients and nearly disappeared in 77 percent that had the surgery.
Doctors don't yet know why the weight-loss surgery cures.
"It hasn't been clearly explained why," said Luigi Meneghini, director of the Kosow Diabetes Treatment Center at the University of Miami in Florida.
So far, research indicates that it seems to have something to do with changes in gut hormones after the surgery, Meneghini said.
What is clear is that the surgery does have an impact.
Rose's Snyder reports that high blood sugar is reduced or eliminated in 82 percent of his gastric bypass patients with diabetes before surgery.
Of the 1,071 gastric bypasses Snyder has performed in the past five years, 222 were on patients who had diabetes and in 182 patients their diabetic condition improved.
Among patients who undergo the less-invasive lap-band weight- reduction procedure, diabetes disappeared in 56 percent of the 55 diabetes patients, Snyder said.
"I've given talks all over the country to medical groups," Snyder said. "I always tell them, 'A lot of times, we can cure diabetes."'
"Bariatric (weight reduction) surgery, if you do it in the right person with Type 2 diabetes, the bypass itself appears to reverse or improve diabetes," regardless of whether the person loses substantial amounts of weight, Meneghini said.
Many physicians expected that when patients lost massive amounts of weight - which is the goal of gastric bypass and lap-band procedures - their Type 2 diabetes would improve.
"What was surprising was that there seemed to be changes independent of the loss of weight that seem to be as important if not more important" in the behavior of cells involved in diabetes, Meneghini said.
Jarrell lost about 120 pounds from a peak weight of 350 pounds. The 58-year-old Aurora man also lost the need for the 30 medications he took daily - to control everything from blood sugar and cholesterol to depression.
Jarrell said the doctor who treated his diabetes suggested the gastric surgery.
"He kept telling me, 'One of these days we're not going to be able to control it. We're going to run out of medications."'
The gastric bypass procedure involves creating a pouch out of a small portion of the stomach and attaching it directly to the small intestine, bypassing a large part of the stomach.
The resulting stomach pouch is too small to hold large amounts of food, and fat absorption is substantially reduced.
In lap-band surgery, a hollow band is placed around the stomach near its upper end, creating the small pouch and a narrow passage into the larger remaining portion of the stomach.
The smaller passage delays the passage of food and creates a feeling of fullness.
About 18 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes, in which the body becomes resistant to insulin. Type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity.
Jarrell, who still has his blood sugar checked every six months, said losing so much weight and so many ailments gave him a new life.
Last year, he visited his son in Hawaii. And the man who once got winded walking half a block actually tried surfing. "For the first time in my life I was not ashamed to be out on the beach."
Staff writer Karen Augé can be reached at 303-954-1733 or kauge*denverpost.com.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
The probability that men over 4o are having intercourse with women of similar age presents another consideration.
Since "The risk of developing autism is significantly higher among children born to men who are 40 and older than it is among children with fathers under 30", there is an increased probability that the eggs of their partners in intercourse might have mutated as the woman aged.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
they looked at that, and found a correlation there too:
Risk of autism rises with age of moms, dads
Kaiser Permanente study of more than 132,000 children suggests link between chronic, life-long condition and advanced maternal and paternal age
Oakland, CA, April 2, 2007 — Men and women who wait to have babies later in life may increase their children’s risk for autism, according to a Kaiser Permanente study featured in the April issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The study investigated 132,844 children born at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California over a five-year period (1995-1999) and identified 593 children who had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
Study results show that a mother’s and father’s risk of delivering a child with autism steadily increases as they get older. Women ages 40 and older showed a 30 percent increase in risk for having a child with autism (1 in 123), when compared to moms between the ages of 25 and 29 (1 in 156). Men ages 40 and older had up to a 50 percent increased risk of having a child with autism (1 in 116), when compared to their 25- to 29-year-old peers (1 in 176).
Advanced age of mothers has been associated with risk of autism in several, but not all earlier studies, according to study author Lisa A. Croen, PhD, an epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. The role of a father’s age in autism has been less frequently studied, although advanced paternal age has been associated with other adverse reproductive outcomes, including miscarriage, childhood cancers, autoimmune disorders, schizophrenia and other neuro-psychiatric disorders.
“As men age, there is an increased frequency of new mutations in the cells that go on to become sperm,” said Dr. Croen. “These sporadic mutations could be related to autism risk. It is possible that non-genetic factors that are more common in older parents might also account for our findings.” http://www.dor.kaiser.org/dors/news/April_2007_autism_study.shtml
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
"but if we are gonna fix a problem? we have to make sure we find the actual cause..."
Yes, however......
Sometimes there is a factor that can't be shown to the that one and only final and and exact cause, but looks to be at least statistically a probable culprit and simultaneously can be eliminated without much risk or cost. Why not try?
Like going hard at non-polluting and greenhouse energy and reclaiming flue gas byproducts rather than spewing them into the atmosphere and filtering urban sewage through controlled march lands before dumping them into the rivers and bays and making sure each person getss proper health care and education so they are able to actually contribute to society and converting garbage into energy and construction materials instead of chopping down one of the wolds major oxygen producers and ......
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
A friend of mine got the gastric bypass last year and hasnt been diabetic since....
As far as the mercury and thermersol are concerned...I read an article 2 years back. It stated if you were to take a baby that just received its shots and put him/her into a bathtub filled with water, the water would become toxic and could kill an adult if consumed.
I agree with glass, still cant point the finger at mercury until we know for sure.
-------------------- "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" Posts: 4005 | From: Shaolin | Registered: Oct 2005
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I've got a friend that told me his boy was just fine, was even talking a little... Untill he got got his "mercury" laced immunization, and the poor kid wasn't ever the same...
Posts: 2634 | From: The highway | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
i agree it's bad stuff, the real problem about saying it's the main cause is that autism has gotten worse recently, but the mercury preservative has been around for along time:
Thimerosal is the preservative of choice for vaccine manufacturers. First introduced by Eli Lilly and Company in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the company began selling it as a preservative in vaccines in the 1940s. Thimerosal contains 49.6 percent mercury by weight and is metabolized or degraded into ethylmercury and thiosalicyla
maybe it's a "tipping point" thing... we've gotten so many other toxic things gong on that this is "just one" too much...
you don't wanna know about all the pesticide residues we will have in our systems for along long time...
the pesticide thing may get worse again too. it seems possible that corn destined for ethanol can be "sprayed" more than feed corn...
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Did you read what Sen. McCain said about it? "there's strong evidence" that a preservative in vaccines is fueling the dramatic rise in autism cases across the country."
Posts: 2634 | From: The highway | Registered: Feb 2004
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this girl was identified as having a specific mitochondrial disorder that may or may not be the same reason for other autism cases.
it is supposedly rare.
i do not like the secret court thing.
autism is a sort of catch-all name for a number of different symptoms...
they have stopped using the mercury based preservatives that are the likely suspect if vaccines do cause some of the autistic symptoms
The vaccine injury program is a no-fault system that has a $2.5 billion fund built up from a 75-cent-per-dose tax on vaccines. It was set up to ensure companies would not be afraid to make vaccines, and to provide injured children an easier way to seek compensation.
Some activists who argue vaccines can trigger autism jumped on the case as vindication of their cause. But Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, denied this.
"Let me be very clear that (the) government has made absolutely no statement about indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism," Gerberding told reporters in a telephone briefing.
"That is a complete mischaracterization of the findings of the case, and a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today. So I think we need to set the record straight on that."
Dr. Edwin Trevathan, director of the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said the Poling case did not demonstrate any link between vaccines and autism.
"I think it's also worth noting that most children with autism do not seem to have a mitochondrial problem," he told the briefing.
posted
I gathered that there's a wide spectrum... anyway I think I read there is supposed to be 2 or 3 more cases in May pending on this.
How is autism diagnosed?
Autism varies widely in its severity and symptoms and may go unrecognized, especially in mildly affected children or when it is masked by more debilitating handicaps. Doctors rely on a core group of behaviors to alert them to the possibility of a diagnosis of autism. These behaviors are:
-impaired ability to make friends with peers
-impaired ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
-absence or impairment of imaginative and social play
-stereotyped, repetitive, or unusual use of language
-restricted patterns of interest that are abnormal in intensity or focus
-preoccupation with certain objects or subjects
-inflexible adherence to specific routines or rituals
posted
the most recent study i saw indicated that they have found a correlation between the age of the father and th likelihood of it:
Autism Risk Rises With Age Of Father Large Study Finds Strong Correlation
By Shankar Vedantam Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 5, 2006; Page A01
Children born to fathers of advancing age are at significantly higher risk of developing autism compared with children born to younger fathers, according a comprehensive study published yesterday that offers surprising new insight into one of the most feared disorders of the brain.
When fathers are in their thirties, children have about 1 1/2 times the risk of developing autism of children of fathers in their teens and twenties. Compared with the offspring of the youngest fathers, children of fathers in their forties have more than five times the risk of developing autism, and children of fathers in their fifties have more than nine times the risk.
mercury is bad stuff, it should never have been used, and i do not doubt that it caused some problems for some people...
Mercury and Vaccines (Thimerosal)
Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines and other products since the 1930s. There is no convincing scientific evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site. However, in July 1999, the Public Health Service agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure.
Since 2001, with the exception of some influenza (flu) vaccines, thimerosal is not used as a preservative in routinely recommended childhood vaccines.
For more information, please see Infant and Environmental Exposures to Thimerosal and Neuropsychological Outcomes at Ages 7 to 10 Years.
Recent estimates from CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring network found that about 1 in 150 children have an ASD. This estimate is higher than estimates from the early 1990s. Some people believe increased exposure to thimerosal (from the addition of important new vaccines recommended for children) explains the higher prevalence in recent years. However, evidence from several studies examining trends in vaccine use and changes in autism frequency does not support such an association. Furthermore, a scientific review* by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that "the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism." CDC supports the IOM conclusion.
stopping the thimerosal didn't end the problem...
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
hmmmm... Bush To Veto Ban On Mercury In Vaccines Clear links to neurological disorders ignored, removed from animal vaccines but fine for babies
President Bush is to veto a bill that would ban mercury in flu vaccines for children despite its known links to autism and other neurological disorders and despite the fact that he pledged in 2004 to support such a move when campaigning for re-election.
posted
Well that sums up what bush thinks of us in a nutshell.
The doctors can vaccinate our babies with a mercury base drug but not the family dog.
Posts: 6008 | From: phoenix az | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by glassman: hmmmm... Bush To Veto Ban On Mercury In Vaccines Clear links to neurological disorders ignored, removed from animal vaccines but fine for babies
President Bush is to veto a bill that would ban mercury in flu vaccines for children despite its known links to autism and other neurological disorders and despite the fact that he pledged in 2004 to support such a move when campaigning for re-election.
posted
Godhelp us... How is it that we have stats 1/150 kids autistic and not a national emergency?
Something is tremendously wrong ..It is our kids..God help us - this tagedy is not genetic except genetics that dicatated weaker immune - it is env or I believe immunizatins- but whatever reason - unacceptable and a crimw to the kids life and suffering for the parents -
My God - In every aspect our govt has harmed us -
and, when it comes to our kids - it is enuff -
The stats for autism are alarming- vey - i say immuzizations and our toxic environment - but whatever the culprit alarming and it is not genetic-
The drug companies cared for the profit - the govt wanted the greed - at the expense po our kids - enuff!
Why do folks not act on crisis? Iraq is a crisis- dependency on oil is a crsiis - global warming is a crisis - yet still no action of critical mass-
what is wrong with us? guess the critical mass is apathetic or evil - the collective gave us these results- shame on us Not acting is evil - autism is our creation - Iraq is ours to - why did we take this direction ? why wont we stp it?
Our gvt is no longer ours but soecial interests that created Iraq, oil dpepndency, autism - yes cause no one stopped the immunizations- o
posted
You wannna no why our government isn't doing anything about autism ...they are to busy going after real issues like roger clemens and barry bonds trying to increase muscle mass
And for the record I don't think this issue is a joke...my cousing is autisic, but guess what?
he just won his district wrestling tournament in New Jesrsey as a sophmore Posts: 2321 | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
"...The primary symptoms of mercury-poisoning are vague psychic ones. Short-time memory deteriorates. You will find it difficult to concentrate on tasks which require attention and thinking. It is easier to execute tasks that are well known rather than to learn something new. You avoid social contacts which demand that you get out of your introvert behavior. You loose your temper easily and switch between different moods for no particular reason. Little by little, a more physical kind of exhaustion is added to the condition. More and more effort is required to initiate activities and sometimes break things due to inability to co-ordinate your movements with your visual impressions (ataxia). Occasional headaches, minor involuntary muscle spasms or ticks within groups of muscles can also appear. Hands and feet become easily cold, attacks of dizziness or vertigo can occur, and periodically you may find it difficult to focus your eyes and to see clearly. Joint and muscle pains, stiffness, lumbago and similar symptoms often appear at an early stage. They can be caused or increased by low availability of the trace element selenium. Nervous heart, sometimes accompanied by a week pulse, sometimes by a hard pulse, creates a feeling of anxiety. You don't sleep well, you wake up stiff and never feel thoroughly rested. As a whole you need more sleep than before, and you are constantly tired. Some individuals develop pronounced intestinal and stomach disturbances.
Posts: 864 | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Ace of Spades: You wannna no why our government isn't doing anything about autism ...they are to busy going after real issues like roger clemens and barry bonds trying to increase muscle mass
And for the record I don't think this issue is a joke...my cousing is autisic, but guess what?
he just won his district wrestling tournament in New Jesrsey as a sophmore
that's great Ace.
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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1.Deficits in eye-hand coordination; limb apraxia; intention tremors 2. Poor eye-hand coordination; limb apraxia; problems with intentional movements
1.Gait impairment; ataxia - from incoordination & clumsiness to inability to walk, stand, or sit; loss of motor control 2. Abnormal gait and posture, clumsiness and incoordination; difficulties sitting, lying, crawling, and walking
1.Difficulty in chewing or swallowing 2. Difficulty chewing or swallowing
1.Borderline intelligence, mental retardation - some cases reversible 2.Borderline intelligence, mental retardation - sometimes "recovered"
posted
Anyone here old enough besides me to remember playing with mercury in grade school? They'd hand us a petri dish with a glob of mercury in it and have us pick it up and drop it and watch it separate into little mercury balls. Didn't have any ill effects on me as far as I can tell. Wait a minute, I offered Munchy a job! Think I can blame it on mercury exposure?
Posts: 5729 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I think your the only one on this board that goes that far back or at least the only one that can remember. What was it like? Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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Mercury was used in the process of curing felt used in some hats. It was impossible for hatters to avoid inhaling the mercury fumes given off during the hat making process. Over time, the residual mercury caused neurological damage, as well as confused speech and distorted vision. As the mercury poisoning progressed to dangerously high levels, sufferers could also experience psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations. Given that anyone exhibiting an altered mental state was dubbed mad at the time, the cause of such malady, and subsequent death of such people doubtless went unexplained for a long time.
mercury was used alot to collect gold from placer deposits and alot of miners died or went nuts from using it...
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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Mercury was used in the process of curing felt used in some hats. It was impossible for hatters to avoid inhaling the mercury fumes given off during the hat making process. Over time, the residual mercury caused neurological damage, as well as confused speech and distorted vision. As the mercury poisoning progressed to dangerously high levels, sufferers could also experience psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations. Given that anyone exhibiting an altered mental state was dubbed mad at the time, the cause of such malady, and subsequent death of such people doubtless went unexplained for a long time.
mercury was used alot to collect gold from placer deposits and alot of miners died or went nuts from using it...
biotch got a classic car from a neon-bender friend of mine, after he was nice enough to give her a job pumping tubes before they're sealed and energized. Her exposure to mercury?
She held the glass tube that had about two syringe drops *inside* the glass...
rather than endure a long lawsuit, attorney fees, etc, he gave her the car. Had no cash to settle with...
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