One can’t help but watch the Olympics and be in awe of so many talented athletes. Their natural raw talent and passion to win are both addictively inspirational. For two short weeks many of us find ourselves glued to the television watching sports we only watch every four years. We cheer for our favorites as if we’ve been through the grind with them all along preparing both physically and mentally for this one shot at glory. Talk about jumping on the bandwagon – apparently I’m a huge fan of mixed doubles badminton.

…and yet with all these elements, a video like this comes along and reminds me of what truly matters. How a young man given the opportunity to make his dream a reality, grabs the bull by its horns and turns an ordinary high school gym into a roaring madhouse, equal to the electricity felt at the Swimming Cube in Beijing.

I’ve seen this video a few times before, and each time I watch it I choke up - not because a boy with autism made six 3-pointers in under five minutes, but because on this day a boy with autism was treated the way he ought to be…...equal.

Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7w9rk7Psus

Lee Fine - First Human

I have been wanting to write a post for a long time regarding Alzheimer's. I know there are so many people affected by this cause, and I am one of them. I'll never forget when my mom told me about my grandmother, the person who I thought was going to live forever. She was so active and healthy and such a big part of my life. My grandmother lived with the disease for about 6 years. It was so hard to watch her turn into child and not be able to do or remember anything, I almost couldn't watch, my sister was absolutely amazing with her...taking care of her, changing diapers, feeding her, etc. I just felt like I did not want to remember her that way, so I was kind of in the background. I definitely stayed a part of her life and she stayed a part of mine...as a matter of fact my daughter's middle name was after my late grandmother. I could go on forever about this amazing women, just writing this blog brings tears to my eyes. As you know I am apart of FiveHumans and am really anxious to make Alzheimer's one of our causes. I am looking for people to share their stories...this will help us come up with some amazing shirts that bring about awareness and show their support in the fight to find a cure for Alzheimer's. Please comment on my blog or share your stories on our website at www.fivehumans.com. I appreciate you listening to my story and hope that some of you never have to watch a loved one go through this.

Thanks,
Nicole

As many of you know, "Ignorance is a Curable Disease" is the FiveHumans tagline. This is the foundation of what FiveHumans is all about; curing the ignorance surrounding causes that affect humans everywhere. We try everyday to cure our own ignorance about the many things humans suffer with and every time we feel proud that we have gained a little more knowledge and become a little less ignorant, something happens that lets us know we still have a lifetime of learning to do.

Recently a friend of FiveHumans, Brandy, wrote me about a cause near and dear to her, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. I was proud that, unlike Noonan Syndrome, I had actually heard of muscular dystrophy, even though I had never heard the term Duchenne associated with MD. Of course, like many people, I immediately thought of the Jerry Lewis telethon and the Jerry's Kids donation containers at the grocery store, but when I actually started reading about it, I realized that even a disorder like this that had received a ton of exposure over the years has not sunk in to the consciousness of humans enough for us to know much about it or worse yet, to have found a cure.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed in childhood, affecting approximately 1 in every 3,500 live male births . It is a degenerative disorder that affects "primarily" boys -- I haven't yet found in my short time researching, a case of a girl with Duchenne, but from what I read it is theoretically possible because it is caused by a defect in the dystrophin gene that is only carried on the X-chromosome. Because boys only have one X-chromosome, they don't have a chance of a second X-chromosome making up for the damaged one. My ignorant assumption is that in a rare case, a girl could have the damage in two X-chromosomes, but again, I haven't found much about this either way -- and they usually pass away in their 20's or 30's.

I'll be as quick as I can here, but what hit me the hardest was the stages of Duchenne... Boys who are seemingly normal babies are diagnosed typically between 2 and 7 when they start to miss some developmental milestones because their bodies produce no dystrophin which is a protien required to maintain the structure of muscle. Eventually, without dystrophin, muscles are unable to operate properly, suffer progressive damage, and eventually die. Boys with Duchenne eventually die from complications related to this, i.e. heart or respiratory failure. It somewhat reminds me of Lou Gehrig's disease, which is something I've been personally a little afraid of, but instead of thinking of myself dying of that someday, when I was reading about Duchenne, I immediately thought of my 1yr old son and thought, what if I had to watch him progressively lose mobility and bodily function and eventually die. That truly shook me...

That's why I had to write something and tell anyone reading this to do what I am going to do and think twice when you see a telethon or a donation bucket; try to think what you can do to help find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Help open people's eyes, ears and most importantly, their hearts by spreading knowledge and staying aware yourself.

Brandy, I wish you and Finn the best. You are in my thoughts and I applaud you for not just sitting back and feeling sorry (which would be a completely normal response), but for being active and trying to do what you can to help Finn and the many other boys with Duchenne. You are an inspiration.

For more information on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, follow this link: http://www.parentprojectmd.org/site/PageServer?pagename=understanding_about

FiveHumans was recently made aware of a cause called Noonan Sydrome because the supporters of this genetic condition are so passionate about raising awareness. Mother's of Noonies (a child with Noonan Syndrome) have voted, left comments and emailed about the need for greater awareness of this cause that affects so many children.

Noonan Syndrome is a relatively common congenital genetic condition which affects both males and females. The principal features include congenital heart malformation, short stature, learning problems, indentation of the chest, impaired blood clotting, and a characteristic configuration of facial features. The syndrome is named after Dr Jacqueline Noonan.

It is believed that between approximately 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 2,500 children worldwide are born with NS. It is one of the most common genetic syndromes associated with congenital heart disease, similar in frequency to Down syndrome. However, the range and severity of features can vary greatly in patients with NS. Therefore, the syndrome is not always identified at an early age.

To find out more about Noonan Syndrome, you can visit The Noonan Syndrome Support Group’s website at: http://www.noonansyndrome.org/

Please keep informing us and educating us about this and any cause that affects you so that we can help spread awareness in any way we can.

The government has released new estimates stating that nearly 24 million humans in the US have diabetes, an increase of more than 3 million in two years. This means that about 8% of the US population is affected and up to 95% of that is type-2 diabetes which is linked with obesity, poor diet and a lack of exercise (National Institutes of Health).

Up to 25% of people do not know they have diabetes which is why it is imperative that educate and inform other humans so they can get the proper treatment.

It is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States.

Risk factors for Type-2 diabetes:

1. Obesity
2. Poor diet
3. Sedentary lifestyle
4. Increased age - 21% of people over 60 have diabetes
5. Family history - Diabetes tends to run in families
6. Ethnicity - Diabetes is more common in the African-American, Native American, Latino, Pacific Islander and Asian-American populations
7. History of metabolic syndrome
8. History of gestational diabetes

Symptoms of Type-2 diabetes

1. Frequent urination
2. Increased thirst
3. Unplanned weight loss
4. Weakness and fatigue
5. Numbness or tingling in hands, legs or feet
6. Blurred vision
7. Dry, itchy skin
8. Frequent infections
9. Slow healing of cuts and bruises

Thought this was an interesting article. We all know how good exercise is supposed to be for our health, but now there is research that shows that starting exercise early in life can help prevent breast cancer. All the more reason we should be exercising!

Here is the link for more information...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/13/breast.cancer.teens.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health