Noah in the beginning of the Leverage AU: screaming when Izzy pushes him off a skyscraper

Noah by the end of the Leverage AU: sighs and jumps off so he can at least control his descent

North Carolina woman’s dogs die from toxic blue-green algae hours after play date

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A doggy play date in a North Carolina pond turned tragic after three pups died from toxic algae. Now, their owners say they hope their loss will educate fellow dog lovers about the dangerous blooms.

Melissa Martin and Denise Mintz took their beloved dogs Abby, Izzy and Harpo to a pond in Wilmington on Thursday night to cool off. But within 15 minutes of leaving the pond, Abby, a West Highland white terrier, began to have a seizure.

Martin rushed her to a veterinary hospital, with Izzy and Harpo right behind her. Upon their arrival, Izzy, also a Westie, started seizing, and both terriers rapidly declined. Then Harpo, her 6-year-old “doodle” mix therapy dog, began to seize and show signs of liver failure.

By midnight Friday, all three dogs had died, she said.

The culprit, Martin’s veterinarian said, was poisoning from blue-green algae present in the pond where they played.

“What started out as a fun night for them has ended in the biggest loss of our lives,” Martin wrote in a Facebook post that has since been shared more than 15,000 times.

Martin told CNN she didn’t notice the algae at first, but her veterinarian told her that what appeared to be debris from flowers were blooms of cyanobacteria.

She said she didn’t see any signs warning of toxic algae near the pond, which sits next to a popular walking trail. It’s her mission now, she says, to erect signs about toxic waters and warn pet owners about the blooms.

“I will not stop until I make positive change,” she said. “I will not lose my dogs for nothing.”

Blue-green algae is most common in the summer

Toxic algae blooms are more likely to infest bodies of fresh water when the weather is warm and waters are stagnant, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Some algal blooms leave a film of muck on the surface and make the water ruddy, but others are difficult to immediately detect, such as the blooms in the pond where Martin’s dogs were exposed.

There’s no cure for the poisoning, and exposure nearly always leads to death in dogs. Drinking from a body of water where blue-green algae lurks or licking it off fur can kill a dog within 15 minutes of exposure, according to Blue Cross for Pets, a UK animal charity.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality periodically updates a map of the state where algae blooms have been reported, but in the case that a health notice isn’t posted, it’s best for humans and pets alike to avoid waters that smell bad or look odd in color or murky, the state’s health and human services department said.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/08/11/north-carolina-womans-dogs-die-from-toxic-blue-green-algae-hours-after-play-date/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/08/12/north-carolina-womans-dogs-die-from-toxic-blue-green-algae-hours-after-play-date/

Androgen use, hipogonadism, IGF-1, tamoxifen and tendons As some of you might know, I have been having tendon issues since beggining AAS use that have affected my life seriously. Doctor's diagnose have been tendinitis, which never convinced me since my symptoms have always been a lot closer to tendinosis (see:http://www.cuttingedgemuscle.com/Fo...ight=tendinosis ). For those that might not know, tendinosis is a pathological condition characterised by an abnormaly high ratio of type III collagen (the weaker less abundant one in healthy connective tissue) to type I (the stronger and normally more abundant one). There's sometimes a bit of inflamation on the surrounding tissues. A tendon affected by tendinosis may not get beyond the initial stage of healing (in which is supposed to be a higher than normal ratio of the mentioned types of collagen) after normal damage induced by everyday activities or exercise and thus will lose it's strength and may eventually rupture. An ecography made after a recent relapse showed no inflamation in the tendons in the painfull area, and all the doctor could say was that there may be a muscular rupture in that area, but he couldn't really tell, and it would be needed a magnetic ressonance exam to be sure. I am planning on doing this soon. I am more and more convinced that my AAS use has something to do with this, and I'm trying to put together a theory based on the various arguments I have found untill now. Number one would be the direct impact AAS have on type III collagen synthesis, collagen fibrils dysplasia, and the consequent reduction on tendon tensile strength, rupture strength and the normal biomechanics of the extremities (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8). In a nutshell, the use of AAS in order to heal tendon injuries or to simulate collagen synthesis and therefore building stronger tendons seems to a load of crap. That famous post on AAS and collagen synthesis which throws a bunch of percentage on collagen synthesis with no references whatsoever is at best extremely doubtfull. This alterations in the type of collagen III to type I ratio could in itself lead to the development of what is known as tendinosis (see link posted above). Number two would be the reduction in growth factors shown to stimulate the synthesis of type I collagen on connective tissue, such as GH (9), IGF-1 (10,11,12,13,14) and TGF-beta1 (15,16), all of which could potencialy help reversing this altered ratio of collagen types due to heavy androgen use. This reduction could happen by various motives. One would be the androgen induced hipogonadism in the PCT period. Testosterone levels have been shown to directly correlate with GH and other growth factors release (17,18,19,20,21,22) so the low testosterone could have a negative impact on some of the growth factors that could potencially reverse the damage done by androgens. Another motive would be the use of tamoxifen during and after a steroid cycle. tamoxifen has been linked to reduction in IGF-1 levels that range from 19% to 47%(23,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34), and in GH response to GHRH (24,25,27). Since GH seems to be not only regulating both IGF-1 but also TGF levels, tamoxifen may also be contributing to the aggravation of the tendon issues initiated by AAS. In my case, all the episodes of tendinosis happened either when using tamoxifen during PCT teraphy (so while hipogonadal), after usage of androgens that stimulate collagen type III production, or during tamoxifen use with AAS in order to combat gynecomasty. If anyone wants to discuss this and try to debunk my theory or my interpretation of the research, please go ahead. There's txt file attached with most abstracts from studies referenced here References: 1-Stimulation of collagen synthesis by the anabolic steroid Stanozolol. Falanga V, Greenberg AS, Zhou L, Ochoa SM, Roberts AB, Falabella A, Yamaguchi Y. University of Miami School of Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Florida, USA. 2-Collagen synthesis in postmenopausal women during therapy with anabolic steroid or female sex hormones. Hassager C, Jensen LT, Podenphant J, Riis BJ, Christiansen C. Department of Clinical Chemistry, Glostrup Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 3-The effects of anabolic steroids on rat tendon. An ultrastructural, biomechanical, and biochemical analysis. Inhofe PD, Grana WA, Egle D, Min KW, Tomasek J. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, USA. 4-The effect of anabolic steroids on the biomechanical and histological properties of rat tendon.Miles JW, Grana WA, Egle D, Min KW, Chitwood J. University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. 5-Anabolic steroid-induced tendon pathology: a review of the literature.Laseter JT, Russell JA. Joe W. King Orthopedic Institute, Houston, TX 77030. 6-The effect of exercise and anabolic steroids on the mechanical properties and crimp morphology of the rat tendon. Wood TO, Cooke PH, Goodship AE. Comparative Orthopaedic Research Group, University of Bristol, England. 7-Tendon injuries induced by exercise and anabolic steroids in experimental mice. Michna H. 8-Organisation of collagen fibrils in tendon: changes induced by an anabolic steroid. I. Functional and ultrastructural studies. Michna H. 9-Growth hormone influences the content and composition of collagen in the aorta from old rats. Bruel A, Oxlund H. Department of Connective Tissue Biology, Institute of Anatomy, University of Aarhus, DK-8000, Aarhus, Denmark. [email protected] 10-Allampallam K, Chakraborty J, Robinson J. Effect of ascorbic acid and growth factors on collagen metabolism of flexor retinaculum cells from individuals with and without carpal tunnel syndrome. J Occup Environ Med 42(3):251-9, 2000. 11-Conti N A, Dahners L E. The effect of exogenous growth factors on the healing of ligaments. Trans Orthop Res Soc 18:60, 1993. 12-Letson A K, Dahners L E. The effect of combinations of growth factors on ligament healing. Clin Orthop 308;207-212, 1994. 13-Kurtz C A, Loebig T G, Anderson D D, DeMeo P J, Campbell P G. Insulin-like growth factor I accelerates functional recovery from Achilles tendon injury in a rat model. Am J Sports Med May-Jun;27(3):363-69, 1999. 14-Abrahamsson S O. Similar effects of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I and II on cellular activities in flexor tendons of young rabbits: experimental studies in vitro. J Orthop Res Mar;15(2):256-62, 1997 15-Chang J, Thunder R, Most D, Longaker M T, Lineaweaver W C. Studies in flexor tendon wound healing: neutralizing antibody to TGF-beta1 increases postoperative range of motion. Plast Reconstr Surg Jan;105(1):148-55, 2000. 16-Chang J, Most D, Stelnicki E, Siebert J W, Longaker M T, Hui K, Lineweaver W C. Gene expression of transforming growth factor beta-1 in rabbit zone II flexor tendon wound healing: evidence for dual mechanisms of repair. Plast Reconstr Surg Sep;100(4):937-44, 1997. 17-Activation of the somatotropic axis by testosterone in adult men: evidence for a role of hypothalamic growth hormone-releasing hormone.Bondanelli M, Ambrosio MR, Margutti A, Franceschetti P, Zatelli MC, degli Uberti EC.Department of Biomedical Sciences and Advanced Therapies, Section of Endocrinology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy. 18-Serum levels of insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 correlate with serum free testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin levels in healthy young and middle-aged men. Erfurth EM, Hagmar LE, Saaf M, Hall K. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Lund, Sweden. 19-Low circulating levels of insulin-like growth factors and testosterone in chronically institutionalized elderly men. Abbasi AA, Drinka PJ, Mattson DE, Rudman D. Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. 20-Testosterone increases serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and insulin-like growth factor-I in hypogonadal men. Hagenfeldt Y, Linde K, Sjoberg HE, Zumkeller W, Arver S. Department of Clinical Chemistry I, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden. 21-Chronic sex steroid exposure increases mean plasma growth hormone concentration and pulse amplitude in men with isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.Liu L, Merriam GR, Sherins RJ. 22-Serum insulin-like growth factor-I and serum testosterone status of elderly men in an inpatient rehabilitation unit. Kosasih JB, Abbasi AA, Rudman D. Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA. 23-Effect of low dose tamoxifen on the insulin-like growth factor system in healthy women.Bonanni B, Johansson H, Gandini S, Guerrieri-Gonzaga A, Torrisi R, Sandri MT, Cazzaniga M, Mora S, Robertson C, Lien EA, Decensi A. 24-Effect of tamoxifen on GH and IGF-1 serum level in stage I-II breast cancer patients.Mandala M, Moro C, Ferretti G, Calabro MG, Nole F, Rocca A, Munzone E, Castro A, Curigliano G.Division of Medical Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Via Ripamonti 435, 20141-Milan, Italy. [email protected] 25-Inhibitory action on GHRH-induced GH secretion of chronic tamoxifen treatment in breast cancer.De Marinis L, Mancini A, Izzi D, Bianchi A, Giampietro A, Fusco A, Liberale I, Rossi S, Valle D. Institute of Endocrinology, Catholic University School of Medicine, Rome, Italy. [email protected] 26-Effect of tamoxifen on lipoprotein(a) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in healthy women. Decensi A, Robertson C, Ballardini B, Paggi D, Guerrieri-Gonzaga A, Bonanni B, Manetti L, Johansson H, Barreca A, Bettega D, Costa A. FIRC Chemoprevention Unit, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy. [email protected] 27-Effect of acute and chronic administration of tamoxifen on GH response to GHRH and on IGF-I serum levels in women with breast cancer.Corsello SM, Rota CA, Putignano P, Della Casa S, Barnabei A, Migneco MG, Vangeli V, Barini A, Mandala M, Barone C, Barbarino A.Institute of Endocrinology, Catholic University School of Medicine, Rome, Italy. 28-Enhancement of tamoxifen-induced suppression of insulin-like growth factor I gene expression and serum level by a somatostatin analogue.Huynh H, Pollak M.Department of Medicine, Lady Davis Research Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, 29-In vivo inhibition of insulin-like growth factor I gene expression by tamoxifen.Huynh HT, Tetenes E, Wallace L, Pollak M.Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 30-Suppression of serum insulin-like growth factor-1 levels in breast cancer patients during adjuvant tamoxifen therapy.Friedl A, Jordan VC, Pollak M.Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53792. 31-Influence of tamoxifen on plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein I in breast cancer patients.Lonning PE, Hall K, Aakvaag A, Lien EA. Department of Oncology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway. 32-tamoxifen reduces serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). Pollak MN, Huynh HT, Lefebvre SP.McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 33-ffect of tamoxifen on serum insulinlike growth factor I levels in stage I breast cancer patients.Pollak M, Costantino J, Polychronakos C, Blauer SA, Guyda H, Redmond C, Fisher B, Margolese R. Department of Oncology, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada. 34-Effect of tamoxifen on plasma insulin-like growth factor I in patients with breast cancer.Colletti RB, Roberts JD, Devlin JT, Copeland KC.Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington 05405.