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Today I'm writing to you from a different angle…and I'm
drawing a blank for the witty intro, so here we go… One of the prominent features of Down's Syndrome is
ligament laxity, meaning a lack of strength.
A ligament is a piece of fibrous tissue that connects bones to other
bones. When ligaments are weak, the
bones are unable to function the way they are supposed to.
Movement is often increased to a fault.
In the early 1980's, it became a requirement that anyone
with Down's Syndrome that wanted to participate in any kind of athletic activity
have their cervical spine (neck) screened for what is called atlantoaxial
instability. The reason?
We all have what is called a transverse ligament.
In the picture linked to below, you'll notice that the C1/C2 vertebra
(atlas and axis; hence, atlantoaxial) sit one on top of the other.
To give some perspective on what you're looking at, the top of the
picture is the front of those two bones, with the bottom part of the picture
featuring the back of the those two bones. The
C2 vertebra features what's called the dens.
Looking at the picture, the dens (looking at the top of the picture at
the front of the bones) is the peanut-shaped part of the bottom bone that is
sticking up into the ring of the top bone. The
other linked picture is just an illustration, but it identifies the dens in case
you're not following my descriptive skills. http://faculty.tcc.fl.edu/scma/mccrackenb/atlas_axis_artic_rotated.jpg http://www.spineuniverse.com/displaygraphic.php/127/atlasaxis3-BB.jpg What makes the transverse ligament so important is that it
holds that dens close to the front part of the C1/atlas vertebra.
Recall that the brainstem has to fit in the ring of the atlas, too.
So, you've got the dens already taking up space in the ring of the atlas,
and the brainstem slides in behind it. The
transverse ligament keeps the dens from sliding back and compressing the
brainstem. Doesn't really leave that
much of a margin for error, eh? Atlantoaxial instability, as a result of ligament laxity,
which makes for a weak transverse ligament, causes the dens to slide back into
the brainstem! Is it any wonder
then, that these people are so susceptible to heart defects, gastro-intestinal
problems, sleep apnea, thyroid disease, and chronic ear infections (among many
other things)? I bring this up to give you some perspective.
Down's is a genetic disorder, but the cause of death in affected
individuals is increasingly (and now, identified as most commonly) due to
neurodegenerative disorders. NEURO…nerves…recall
that every nerve in the body meets at the base of the skull and wraps around the
brainstem. These people don't have a
level playing field, so to speak, and their brainstem function is so impaired
that most of them don't live past the age of 48.
You have a level playing field…what are you doing to make sure your
brainstem is able to make possible each and every vital function in your body
without being slowed down? In the 18th century, Mozart built a reputation as a
composer that has lived on in the centuries that have followed.
A brilliant musician, his works are praised to this day as some of the
greatest ever written. Before Mozart
sat down at his piano, the piano was nothing more than an object.
All the musical potential in the world was within the piano, but without
a composer to direct the masterpiece, there was silence.
Music is an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and
emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony,
and color. It's in nature.
Music was not created by Mozart, it was facilitated THROUGH Mozart.
It was there waiting to be played and he played it beautifully.
The piano sat there and the key to strike at the right moment, at the
right time, and in the right sequence was waiting.
Your brain knows everything that your body needs, as that
is what it was designed to know INNATELY…INHERENTLY…NATURALLY…ESSENTIALLY.
Your brainstem is your composer just waiting to facilitate
the vast innate, inherent intellect to your body.
Don’t you want it to be compose like Mozart?
Why would you want anything less? Yours in health and abundance, |
