Pat Sullivan Blog

9/11 - We Still Remember

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Cartfly - Cool Technology

I came across a really cool piece of Internet software that Jigsaw Health is experimenting with.  It is called Cartfly.  Basically, it allows a company like Jigsaw to build a shopping cart that anyone can embed into their websites, blogs or MySpace, PerfSpot etc. pages.  Then it allows anyone else to cut and past that store into their pages, websites blogs etc.  It is a viral Internet store!  Instead of trying to get people to come to your store, you take your store to where people are already hanging out.

Here is our Jigsaw Health store on our MySpace page .  Any of our friends on MySpace can now copy it into their page or any other page.  I think it is a great piece of software. 

If you want to copy our store into your websites, blogs or pages just click here.

 

Brain Trauma

My Google Alert on Brain Health keeps bringing me articles regarding TBI's (Traumatic Brain Injury). Many soldiers experience TBI's.  I am glad to see a growing recognition of this problem.  According to the NIH over 1.4 million (reported) people experience some sort of TBI every year.  Symptoms related to the TBI can last a lifetime.  Cumulatively there are tens of millions of people walking around who have chronic conditions related to the TBI.  I am one of them.

In 1972 I was in a pretty serious accident.  As is pretty typical, within a few months I started to experience symptoms related to the accident.  Weird anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, mild confusion, inability to concentrate began to be my daily battle.  I gradually seemed to recover from most of these symptoms.  For the next 30+ years, the symptoms would recur every couple of years.  Finally, during my last recurrence,  the Amen Clinic made a clear diagnosis.  A couple of medications were prescribed along with dramatically increased quantities of nutritional supplements.  I have never felt better since.

The thing that strikes me as I look back on my 34 years of struggle is that I went to many doctors seeking help with my many symptoms.  Not one of those docs ever considered a TBI.  No one ever asked questions regarding an accident.  I did manage to piece together significant puzzle pieces along the way that gave me much help.  But the main problem was never uncovered until my own research led me to the Amen Clinic.

If you have been sick for many years and you have had a serious fall or car accident sometime in your past, I would highly recommend that you go to the Amen Clinic.  (I receive no compensation from the clinic.)  I simply want to help people who are "walking wounded."

The NIH says,

Within days to weeks of the head injury approximately 40 percent of TBI patients develop a host of troubling symptoms collectively called postconcussion syndrome (PCS). A patient need not have suffered a concussion or loss of consciousness to develop the syndrome and many patients with mild TBI suffer from PCS. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, vertigo (a sensation of spinning around or of objects spinning around the patient), memory problems, trouble concentrating, sleeping problems, restlessness, irritability, apathy, depression, and anxiety. These symptoms may last for a few weeks after the head injury.

...Hormonal problems can result from dysfunction of the pituitary, the thyroid, and other glands throughout the body. Two common hormonal complications of TBI are syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) and hypothyroidism.

When your hormonal system dysfunctions, you can experience wide ranging, systemic symptoms.  I talk with many people where this is the case.   Doctors tend to then focus on all the various symptoms but fail to recognize the actual source. Uncovering the source can be the key that unlocks the systemic problems.

Of interest to me in the article, the NIH says that the use of Magnesium in the early treatment of head injury can help dramatically.  Over the years, I found that Magnesium helped me with many symptoms.  When I started Jigsaw Health we developed what has become our star product.  A sustained release form of Magnesium.  Sustained release allows me to take large amounts of magnesium without getting the common laxative effect.

Invisible Illness Week Begins

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

This week marks the beginning of Invisible Illness Week.  Since half of people suffering chronic conditions look "just fine", I feel this is an important week to recognize the true pain felt by these invisible among us. 

I've written a few words leading up to this.  And I'll be hosting a live chat on Thursday at 3pm Pacific entitled, "What Everybody Ought To Know About Magnesium".

Here's the kick-off announcement that went out this morning.

ACT!'s 20th birthday in the AZ Republic Paper

Here is an article that appeared in the Arizona Republic newspaper yesterday.  The story is about the 20th anniversary of the introduction of ACT!

It certainly is neat to see the product that I created celebrate a milestone like this.  Made me feel much older!!  I have not been involved with the product since we sold it to Sage Software of Newcastle England.  People ask me if I miss it?  Surprisingly, I don't.  Maybe it is because I sold it twice.  Once to Symantec in 1993.  We bought it back in 1999 then sold ACT! and SalesLogix to Sage.  It was fun while it lasted but I was happy to move on to other things. 

I particularly have enjoyed consulting for both Infusion Software and Freshbrew .  Infusion is a CRM product that competes with my two old products.  That is a lot of fun.  Freshbrew is another very cool company that is bringing a slick new product to market later this year.

I love to work with startups.  I have been consulting a few companies the past several months.  It allows me to do the really fun part of startups without having to do the stuff that is really hard work.  I am always looking for a few more clients that I can help.  Mostly, I find I can help companies that are in the early stage like Freshbrew or companies that have gotten some traction and are looking to take it to new levels like Infusion.  Especially where the company needs to raise Venture Capital money but doesn't really know how.  That is something I know a lot about.  And that is really fun stuff.

Brain Injury is Common

I have written often here about my own injury due to brain trauma from an automobile accident 34 years ago.

Here is an article regarding brain injury in Ireland.  The article states that in Ireland it is believed that as many as 10,000 people every year sustain injury to the brain.  Usually the injuries are due to cycling falls without having a helmet.

If that many people are being injured in Ireland, imagine how many are injured in the US.  Cycling, car accidents, serious falls, sports injuries can all cause trauma to the brain.  Symptoms can show up as late as a few months after the accident.  This makes diagnosis hard since doctors often don't tie the symptoms back to the accident.  Symptoms can be wide since the brain controls virtually everything going on in the body.  Depression, anxiety, insomnia, confusion are just a few of the symptoms that can occur in even mild brain trauma.

I find that people you are chronically ill, often report that their troubles began after an accident of some sort.