The Silicon Graybeard Blog, and Why I Am Obviously Brain-Dead

I can't believe it, but it is true. The blog called The Silicon Graybeard is the first thing I check every day I access the Internet, usually right after I check my email, but sometimes even before. The gentleman that owns the blog is incredibly bright, with such a wide variety of interests and hobbies (he is recently retired) that there is almost always a post by him that fascinates me, whether it is political, economic, social, or technical. He was an engineer in the space/aerospace industries and lives in Florida fairly close to Cape Canaveral. Two of his many hobbies are shooting, along with reloading his own ammunition - two of my personal favorites.

I neglect my own blog horribly, in the belief that there are very few people - even family and friends - who read it. Nonetheless, I happened to read an old email from Google concerning a feature they provided on blogs that are created on blogspot.com. I went to my blog to add that feature ("featured posts") and noticed - to my horror - that I either a0 never added SiG's blog to the list of those I followed, or somehow accidentally (although I don't think that is possible) deleted it. Perhaps when I deleted a couple of other blogs that were abandoned by their owners/authors several years ago (like Hell On Earth, which I really miss).

If the Graybeard ever wanders back over here (I think he visited once), I hope he reads this. No, actually I believe I will write to him (not on his blog - too embarrassing) via email, since we do exchange them from time to time.

Someday perhaps I will write about taking PPIs - proton-pump inhibitors, which reduce stomach acid (I have suffered with acid reflux and Barrett's esophagus for many years now) - and how I recently discovered that a number of serious, peer-reviewed scientific experiments have been done on them, and there is significant evidence to indicate a very strong possible (not proven yet) connection between taking PPIs and memory loss/dementia. One study (using rats, which have been used in human medical research for many, many years) showed that there was a proven link between the intake of PPIs and the beta-amyloid tangles that are indicative of Alzheimer's.

I have taken PPIs for over fifteen years, at relatively high dosages, and I exhibit short-term memory loss far earlier than is common (since my early fifties, but much worse now in my mid-sixties). I have stopped taking them, and have gone back to using H2 receptor antagonists (Zantac in particular) which does not work very well for me. However, I would rather suffer from frequent (daily) heartburn that from worsening dementia.

My oversight in not listing The Silicon Graybeard blog on my blog may simply be due to these issues. It certainly wasn't from a lack of interest or from not valuing the blog, because I do, and I recommend it to anyone who reads my pitiful excuse for a blog.