English-American author and journalist Christopher Hitchens died today from cancer of the esophagus. He was diagnosed with this tumor about 17 months ago.

What did Christopher Hitchens and Steve Jobs have in common?

Both men used DNA to try to discover and treat the gene mutations that were driving their cancers.

Jobs had his DNA analyzed twice, once when his tumor was first discovered in 2004 and again in 2009 after the cancer had come back. Mr. Hitchens had his tumor DNA “decoded” after NIH Director and evangelical christian Dr. Francis Collins suggested that this experimental diagnostic procedure might benefit him. Hitchens treatment was altered as a result.

If our headline describes you, you could be a psychopath. Really.

Our title is actually part of a classified newspaper ad that researchers used to recruit potential psychopaths from non-jailed populations. The goal of the research was to study the differences between “successful” and “unsuccessful psychopaths.” Successful psychopaths are people that who would flunk The Psychopath Test, but who have managed to stay out of the criminal justice system.

Researches compared 5 different groups of psychopaths:

1. Pyschopaths living in the community
2. Psychopaths working for temporary employment agencies
3. College students with psychopathic traits
4. Corporate psychopaths in business, politics and other “white collar” jobs
5. Serial killers

The bottom line: Successful psychopaths are smarter and sneakier than unsuccessful ones who are more likely to use violence to achieve their goals.

Both groups are superficially charming, manipulative, self-important liars who are callous, parasitic, prone to boredom and sexually promiscuous.

You can find more information on corporate psychopaths (“Snakes in Suits”) here.

Who are your favorite psychopaths? Most people these days would think of

• Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins) in The Silence of the Lambs
• Dexter played by Michael C. Hall and
• Christian Bale in the movie adaptationof the book American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

But there are some lesser-known and more interesting possibilities

• Burt Lancaster (shown seducing Jean Simmons, above) in his title role as Elmer Gantry
• Sissy Spacek in Badlands
• Nicole Kidman in Malice

To prepare for her tole in Malice, Nicole Kidman consulted with Dr. Robert Hare, the Canadian psychologist who invented The Psychopath Test. “How,” Ms. Kidman wondered, “could she show the audience there was something fundamentally wrong with her character?”

Dr. Hare said, “Here’s a scene that you can use. You’re walking down a street and there’s an accident. A car has hit a child in the crosswalk. A crowd of people gather round. You walk up, the child’s lying on the ground and there’s blood running all over the place. You get a little blood on your shoes and you look down and say, ‘Oh shit.’ You look over at the child, kind of interested, but you’re not repelled or horrified. You’re just interested. Then you look at the mother, and you’re really fascinated by the mother, who’s emoting, crying out, doing all these different things. After a few minutes you turn away and go back to your house. You go into the bathroom and practice mimicking the facial expressions of the mother. ”

Hare says, “That’s the psychopath: somebody who doesn’t understand what’s going on emotionally, but understands that something important has happened.”

When it comes to movie psychos, Dr. Hare recommends Sissy Spacek‘s performance as Holly in the Terrence Malick film Badlands. As he says in his book Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us , Spacek’s character Holly gives viewers a firsthand experience of that skin-crawling feeling that both lay people and professionals report following their interactions with psychopaths. According to Hare, Holly narrates the film in a monotone, using phrases straight out of teen magazines telling young girls what they should feel. But she does this in a way that makes viewers feel she has no real experience with the emotions she reports, like “knowing the words, but not the music.”

The last film we’ll mention is Elmer Gantry, starring Burt Lancaster, based on the 1926 novel by Nobel Prize-winner Sinclair Lewis. Elmer Gantry is a narcissistic, womanizing, manipulative con man who makes his living as an evangelical minister.

Yesterday, Oprah aired the second part of her interview with author James Frey. As you may recall, Frey came to his celebrity when he published a best selling book, A Million Little Pieces, which was presented as a memoir of his experiences during his treatment for alcohol and drug addiction at a rehabilitation center in Minnesota. The book came to the attention of Oprah Winfrey- who was so blown away by it that she made it one of her Oprah Book Club selections, thereby skyrocketing sales even further. It was later revealed that Frey fabricated large parts of his memoirs, including details about his criminal record. Oprah invited Frey back on her show for what turned out to be a confrontation about his lying to her about the book. As part of her final season, Oprah once again sat down with Frey to discuss the whole controversy and how they have finally made peace with each other.

One of the most poignant parts of the two-day series was when Frey opened up to Oprah about the death of his son, Leo, at eleven days of age. Leo died of a neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA is a disease where nerve cells that control muscles (“motor neurons”) are damaged.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) belong to a group of hereditary diseases that cause weakness and wasting of the voluntary muscles in the arms and legs of infants and children. The disorders are caused by an abnormal or missing gene known as the survival motor neuron gene (SMN1), which is responsible for the production of a protein essential to motor neurons. Without this protein, lower motor neurons in the spinal cord degenerate and die.

According to Families with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (FSMA):

SMA is one of the most prevalent genetic disorders.

One in every 6,000 babies is born with SMA.
SMA can strike anyone of any age, race or gender.
One in every 40 people carries the gene that causes SMA. The child of two carriers has a one in four chance of developing SMA.
7.5 million Americans are carriers.

There are 3 types of SMA (I, II, or III), which are determined by the age of onset and the severity of symptoms. Type I (also known as Werdnig-Hoffman disease, or infantile-onset SMA) is evident at birth or within the first few months. Symptoms include floppy limbs and trunk, feeble movements of the arms and legs, swallowing difficulties, a weak sucking reflex, and impaired breathing.

Type II (also known as juvenile SMA, intermediate SMA, or chronic SMA), has an onset between 6 and 18 months. Legs tend to be more impaired than arms. Children with Type II are usually able to sit without support if placed in position. Some may be able to stand or walk with help.

Type III (also called Wolhlfart-Kugelberg-Welander disease, or mild SMA) can begin as early as the toddler years or as late as adolescence. Children can stand alone and walk, but may have difficulty getting up from a sitting position. It has been postulated that physicist Stephen Hawking suffers from this form of the disease.
Is there any treatment?

There is no cure for SMA. Treatment consists of managing the symptoms and preventing complications.

What is the prognosis?

The prognosis is poor for babies with SMA Type I. Most die within the first two years. For children with SMA Type II, the prognosis for life expectancy or for independent standing or walking roughly correlates with how old they are when they first begin to experience symptoms – older children tend to have less severe symptoms Children with onset after 18 months are often able to walk and are fully functional for years before they need assistance. They may have a normal life expectancy. Mental functioning in all groups remains normal.

For more information about SMA- click here to go to the Resounding Health Casebook on the topic.

In December, 2009, we reported that 30 Rock regular Grizzwald “Grizz” Chapman had revealed on the Dr. Oz Show that he has kidney failure due to untreated high blood pressure and receives dialysis three times a week. We are now happy to report that Chapman underwent a successful kidney transplant one month ago at New York’s Montefiore Medical Center. His spokesperson, Anne Finn, reports that Chapman will speak today at that hospital’s event observing National Minority Organ Donor Awareness Day.  According to the US Dept. of Health and Human Service’s Office of Minority Health :

“The need for transplants is unusually high among some ethnic minorities. Some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, and liver that can lead to organ failure are found more frequently in ethnic minority populations than in the general population. For example, Native Americans are four times more likely than Whites to suffer from diabetes. African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics are three times more likely than Whites to suffer from kidney disease. Many African Americans have high blood pressure (hypertension) which can lead to kidney failure. Some of these diseases are best treated through transplantation; others can only be treated through transplantation.

The rate of organ donation in minority communities does not keep pace with the number needing transplants. Although minorities donate in proportion to their share of the population, their need for transplants is much greater. African Americans, for example, are about 13 percent of the population, about 12 percent of donors, and about 23 percent of the kidney waiting list.

Successful transplantation is often enhanced by matching of organs between members of the same racial and ethnic group. Generally, people are genetically more similar to people of their own ethnicity or race than to people of other races. Therefore, matches are more likely and more timely when donors and potential recipients are members of the same ethnic background.

Minority patients may have to wait longer for matched kidneys and therefore may be sicker at the time of transplant or die waiting. With more donated organs from minorities, finding a match will be quicker and the waiting time will be reduced.”

One month ago, we reported that author Christopher Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Besides that nude cover picture of Lady Gaga, this month’s Vanity Fair has a very interesting first-person account by Hitchens about receiving the diagnosis of cancer, entitled “Topic of Cancer.”  According to Vanity Fair:

“One fine June day, the author is launching his best-selling memoir, Hitch-22. The next, he’s throwing up backstage at The Daily Show, in a brief bout of denial, before entering the unfamiliar country—with its egalitarian spirit, martial metaphors, and hard bargains of people who have cancer.”

To read the article (which I wholeheartedly recommend), click here.

Legendary author, Jerome David Salinger died yesterday of natural causes in his home in Cornish, New Hampshire were he lived in self-exile for decades. Mr. Salinger was 91. His most famous novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was required reading in high school English courses for generations of students.

Natural causes is a frequently given cause of death, particularly in the elderly, but what specifically does it mean? Specifying a cause of death is required by law in all states. Death certification provides public health statistics and prevents cover-ups of murder. A death certificate requires two pieces of information:

• A cause of death: a disease or injury directly related to the death (such as heart attack, AIDS, kidney failure) or the circumstances of death (gun shot wound, hanging)
• The manner of death: natural,accidental, suicide, homicide, unknown, pending

In practice, “natural causes” is a loosely-defined term used by coroners describing death when the cause of death was a naturally occurring disease process, or is not apparent given medical history or circumstances. As long as a physician familiar with the patient agrees to sign the death certificate, no autopsy in required.

At Mr. Salinger’s age, the most likely cause of death is heart failure. Even when a patient has no heart problems or other conditions, a body’s key cells and tissues can just wear down. It’s not so much a disease process, as a natural biological condition – the body just doesn’t last forever.

Mr. Gebart’s wife, Pat, declined to specify what type of cancer her husband had and we respect her privacy. FYI, according the the CDC (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the top 10 cancers in American men are shown below.

Top 10 cancers for American women are here or here.

Mr. Gelbart was an award-wining writer of popular satires and social commentaries including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Tootsie, Oh God! and M*A*S*H. His friend, Emmy Award-winning actor, director, producer, comedian and writer Carl Reiner compares Larry Gelbart to the famous English-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift whose works include Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal.

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This week Entourage actor Jeremy Piven talked to David Letterman on Late Night about the controversy surrounding his sudden withdrawal from David Mamet’s Broadway show Speed-the-Plow last December. Piven reported that he was told by his physician that he had mercury poisoning, most likely caused by his diet of twice a day sushi and Chinese herbs. He had been complaining of extreme fatigue, dizziness, and difficulty moving his arms and legs, and was eventually hospitalized for three days. Playwright Mamet was apparently unconvinced, and told Daily Variety: “I talked to Jeremy on the phone and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury….So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.” Although producers of the show sued Piven for breach of contract, an arbitrator ruled in Piven’s favor last week.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, symptoms of mercury poisoning include:

• Impairment of the peripheral vision
• Disturbances in sensations (“pins and needles” feelings,numbness) usually in the hands feet and sometimes around the mouth
• Lack of coordination of movements, such as writing
• Impairment of speech, hearing, walking;
• Muscle weakness
• Skin rashes
• Mood swing
• Memory loss
• Mental disturbance

In Alice in Wonderland (1865), Lewis Carroll selected a hat maker as the demented host for the tea party. Hatters of the time commonly exhibited slurred speech, tremors, irritability, shyness, depressionand other neurological symptoms; hence the expression “mad as a hatter.” Carroll was probably unaware that the hatter’s disabilities were symptoms of mercury poisoning. In the mid-1800s hat makers used hot solutions of mercuric nitrate to shape wool felt hats. They typically worked in poorly ventilated rooms leading to chronic occupational exposure to mercury and neurological damage followed.

Accumulation of mercury in fish is well-known, however authorities believe levels are not harmful if fish is eaten occasionally. Pregnant women are advised to limit seafood and fish consumption to avoid potentially high levels of mercury. However, fish is not the only way mercury exposure occurs Over 100 tons of mercury are released annually into the air by U.S. industries – primarily coal-fired power plants, municipal waste combustion facilities, and incinerators that handle medical waste. Mercury also finds it way into landfills across the country in the form of fluorescent light bulbs, thermostats, and electrical components (including components still used in automobiles). (Source: EPA)

Resounding Health(tm) Mercury Poisoning

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Dominick Dunne 1925-2009
In the United States, bladder cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in men and the ninth most common cancer in women. About 45,000 men and 17,000 women are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year. Symptoms of bladder cancer may include blood in the urine (hematuria), pain during urination (dysuria), frequent urination in small amounts (pollakiuria), or the feeling that one needs to urinate without results. These signs and symptoms are not specific to bladder cancer, however. They also can be caused by noncancerous conditions such as infections. Genetic changes associated with bladder cancer develop in bladder tissue during a person’s lifetime, rather than being inherited from a parent. The U.S. Government spends about $534 million per year researching urological diseases including bladder and prostate cancer. There are more than 300 clinical research trials testing new treatments for bladder cancer.

Dogs can also get bladder cancer. We know because a former pet of ours died from this disease. Certain breeds of dogs are at much higher risk for this type of cancer; these include various types of Terriers, Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties) and Beagles indicating that there are “bladder cancer genes” that these breeds carry and put them at higher risk. The symptoms of bladder cancer in dogs are the same as in humans.

More information

Resounding Health(TM) Bladder cancer

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As reported a couple of days ago, Angela’s Ashes author, Frank McCourt, was gravely ill with meningitis. He died today from that illness. McCourt had recently been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a dangerous skin cancer.

Melanoma is a cancer that forms in skin cells, called melanocytes, which produce skin pigment. These cells grow in an uncontrolled fashion and form tumors. Although melanoma is one of the rarer skin cancers, it is responsible for most of the skin cancer deaths. Risk factors for melanoma include family history of melanoma, fair skin, frequent sunburns in childhood, atypical (precancerous) moles, and having more than 50 benign moles.

When caught in an early stage, melanoma can be successfully treated, therefore a very useful diagram, from the American Academy of Dermatology, about the signs of melanoma is reproduced below:

The ABCDEs of Melanoma

Asymmetry; one half unlike the other half.

Border; irregular, scalloped or poorly defined border.

Color; varied from one area to another; shades of tan and brown, black; sometimes white, red or blue.

Diameter; while melanomas are usually greater than 6mm (the size of a pencil eraser) when diagnosed, they can be smaller.

Evolving; a mole or skinl esion that looks different from the rest or is changing in size,shape, or color.

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