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OF THE FOUR TYPES OF ALOPECIA, TWO ARE TREATABLE WITH NUTRITION. THE THIRD NEEDS A BEHAVIORAL CHANGE IN THE WAY HAIR IS HANDLED. THE FOURTH IS HORMONAL BASED AND LITTLE CAN BE DONE FOR IT.

CATEGORY: 4: Auto-Immune

                      1: Simple Malnutrition

                      2: Inflammation/Infection                

RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENTS: Bee Pollen, Folic Acid, Biotin, B Complex-100, Beta Carotene, Vitamin D3

There are few people who don’t face some sort of hair trauma. Hence the term “bad hair day,” indicating that something bad has happened besides messy tresses.

Hair loss can be life altering in a literal sense, because hair is a significant part of our personal identity. When it goes, or is impaired in some way, we also suffer emotional loss that can affect us on many levels. Hair loss may even change how we interact with others, which can then lead to other harms.    

I developed a stress-related case of Alopecia Areata my first year of law school. I had never felt that kind of unrelenting anxiety before, and not since I graduated.

The classes were large in number, a hundred students on average. Held in towering classrooms of old wood and polished rock, with tall cathedral-like windows. The solemnity of a medieval place of worship. And you left class each day humbled, but enlightened.   

Whenever a professor paused and glanced down at the seating chart that held our names and photos, hearts froze. As did bodies. You could hear the proverbial pin while we waited. Don’t pick me, a silent mantra prayed by all except the looniest.

If your name was called your stomach fisted. You cleared your throat and girded your loins for a challenging ten minutes of forced discourse called the Socratic Method. Longer, if you said something naive that displeased them. Your tormentor would then move across the rows to their next victim, leaving you feeling mentally whipped.   

With so many rows, unless you sat up front—which I never did for obvious reasons, you were looking at the backs of a lot of worried heads. I noticed two things happening to those heads a couple of weeks into the first semester. Hair was turning grey, and bald spots were sprouting—some dime-sized, some much larger.

One morning I was washing my hair and found three, round, larger-than-a-quarter spots on my scalp. I hadn’t seen clumps of hair, but there was nothing under my fingertips but exposed skin. The spots seemed to have developed overnight.

I was terrified. You don’t know if it’s going to stop or keep on going until you’ve lost all your hair. I made it through the first year and my hair grew back, but I had to comb over bald spots the whole year.

Since then I’ve learned to successfully treat most Alopecia disorders with nutrition, because most are caused by nutritional deficiencies.

That’s why it’s necessary to continue taking a “maintenance dose” even after hair grows back, or risk a recurrence. Maintenance doses are taken when you’re not sick for the same reason you have to eat every day—to avoid deficiencies that cause sickness, disease, and death.

● TYPES OF ALOPECIA ●

Alopecia is the umbrella term for hair loss anywhere on the body. Bald spots appear suddenly where hair used to grow and no longer does.

Type I:  ALOPECIA AREATA

Cause: Auto Immune Imbalance

The term Areata, without further designation, always refers to hair loss on the scalp only. Areata presents as two or more bald spots.

All Areata hair loss disorders are auto-immune conditions, occurring when the immune system attacks hair follicles. Think, friendly fire. It is the most common type of friendly-fire hair loss. It is sometimes referred to as patchy baldness.

Other types of Areata hair loss are discussed further down.

AREATA SUB-CATEGORIES

1. AREATA Monocularis

Cause: Auto Immune Imbalance

Monocularis presents as one bald spot on the scalp. This single patch is usually on the larger size, but not always.

2. AREATA Barbae

Cause: Auto Immune Imbalance

Barbae hair loss presents as one or more bald spots and is  limited to the male beard. 

3. AREATA Totalis

Cause: Auto Immune Imbalance

With Totalis, hair loss can occur anywhere on the head, and can lead to complete balding of the scalp, eyebrows, and lashes.

4. AREATA Multicularis

Cause: Auto Immune Imbalance

Multicularis refers to one or more bald spots that occur anywhere on the body, not just the scalp or face.

5. AREATA Universalis

Cause: Auto Immune Imbalance

Universalis can affect the body’s entire epidermis, leaving the subject completely hairless from head to toe. This is the most severe case of Areata hair loss. It is also very rare, presenting in only ten in one million.  

Type II: ALOPECIA CICATRICIAL

Cause: Inflammation and Subsequent Scarring of Follicles

Cicatricial hair loss arises from inflammation of the hair follicle. As the inflammation heals it leaves behind scarring, which destroys the follicle over time. Cicatricial is often referred to as Scarring Alopecia.

Scarring prevents the follicles from receiving nutrients from the blood stream and expelling built up toxins, because nothing can get through the scar tissue. Giving the follicles no life support. This is a disastrous combination that kills the follicles.  

A Note On Inflammation: The body can handle reasonable amounts of it. But in excess, inflammation can kill us. It depends on the individual as to where it will show up, but it’s all the same creature.

For example:

Inflammation in nerve endings can lead to multiple sclerosis; Inflammation in soft tissue and bone can lead to cancer; Inflammation in the lower intestines can lead to Crohn’s Disease; Inflammation in the lungs can lead to asthma.  

Inflammation in the hair follicle can lead to baldness. And so forth.

An obvious conclusion would be that all you have to do to stop these diseases is stop inflammation. But that’s for another blog.

Almost half the diseases identified are due to uncontrolled inflammation. All are treatable with nutrition.

Type III: ALOPECIA TRACTION

Cause: Rough Handling That Puts Too Much Stress On Hair

Traction hair loss is caused by careless behavior in the way you address your hair. Hair is not indestructible. Neither are hair follicles.

If you’re rough in the way you handle your hair, pulling on it or stretching it or brushing hard, you can destroy the follicle. When a follicle dies no hair can grow out of it again. This abuse can also cause inflammation that accelerates the hair loss.  

Follicles can also become stressed by certain hairstyles that traumatize them, like wearing a tight ponytail or bun for long periods.

Other hairstyles like weaves and hair extensions, that make the follicle take on more weight than it can handle, can also damage and destroy it. Rotating hairstyles helps protect your follicles from Traction and let’s you still be hair fashionable.

Be gentle when you work with your hair. When you wash it, don’t dry it and your scalp with vigorous rubbing with a towel. Instead, pat and squeeze gently.

If you’re trying to detangle your hair, use a detangler like Pantene Leave-In Conditioner, to make brushing it out easier.

Hair is most vulnerable to breakage when it’s wet, so be especially careful when trying to brush or comb it right after it’s been washed.

Type IV: ALOPECIA ANDROGENIC

Cause: Hormonal Imbalance

Androgenic hair loss is commonly known as male or female pattern baldness.

In women, complete baldness is rare. But you will notice a widening of a part, accompanied by overall thinning of the hair. In men the condition can lead to partial or total baldness.

Nutrition cannot help this type of Alopecia.

● THE SUPPLEMENTS ●

In this instance, the following schedule is both crisis dose and maintenance dose. So it basically won’t change when your hair grows back. Except for Bee Pollen, you should continue these same amounts on a daily basis.

What matters in maintaining good health is what you do the majority of the time. You don’t have to be a saint, but try hard to make sure you don’t miss more than three to four day’s doses per month.

1. BEE POLLEN

You can purchase Bee Pollen in whole granules or caplets. It will calm down the immune system, balance it, so that it stops attacking the hair follicles. Bee pollen in any form should not cause or worsen allergies in those with hay fever.

Note: Thirty days after you consider your hair to be grown back, cut your Bee Pollen dosage in half by eliminating the evening dose. Reinstate the evening dose if hair loss starts up again. Do not decrease the dosages of the other supplements.

Whole granules can be mixed with a hot liquid like tea, or in a blender drink to dissolve them. Even sprinkled whole over cereals or grains.

Caplets can be swallowed or mixed with a blender drink.

Dosages

Breakfast: 5,000 mg (1 heaping tsp of whole granules, or 5 caplets)

Dinner: 5,000 mg (1 heaping tsp of whole granules, or 5 caplets)

Suggested Brand & Strength

Whole granules: Y. S. Eco Bee Farms; 5,000 mgs per heaping tsp

Caplets: Puritan’s Pride #4390; 1000 mg per caplet

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2. FOLIC ACID

Folic acid is part of the B Complex-100 formula, a mixture of all the B vitamins. Once bee pollen balances the immune system, folic acid will start hair growing again. You can’t believe how effective it is in strengthening hair and making it grow.

Besides helping Alopecia disorders, Folic Acid will stimulate growth where hair grows intolerably slow. Or where hair grows only a few inches long before it stops and sits there. If you’ve dreamed of long hair but haven’t been able to grow it, folic acid might be your answer.

You need a strong dose of Folic Acid on a regular basis to get your hair to grow in earnest. When you stop taking it you notice the difference in just days.

The more folic acid you take, the faster your hair will grow, up to a point. I’ve set the dosage at a level to give you good hair growth but not cause a deficiency in other B Complex elements. 

If the dosage I’ve set doesn’t show the results I’ve promised, it  means you need to increase your dose slowly over time. Adding one tablet every few days until you see growth. When you reach that point, level off and make that amount your maintenance dose.

The folic acid I recommend comes in very small tablets. Easy to swallow several at a time. Or mix into a blender drink.

Dosages

Breakfast: 16,000 mcg (20 tiny tablets)                                        

Dinner: 16,000 mcg (20 tiny tablets)

Suggested Brand & Strength

Puritan’s Pride #2845; 800 mcg per tablet

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3. BIOTIN

Biotin is also part of the B Complex-100 formula. It is used in many hair and nail improvement products. Here it is used as a support to the main hair growth supplement, folic acid.

Dosages

Breakfast: 5,000 I.U. (1 softgel)

Dinner: 5,000 I.U. (1 softgel)

Suggested Brand & Strength

Puritan’s Pride #29634; 5,000 I.U. per softgel

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4. B COMPLEX-100

B complex-100 contains all the B vitamin elements, plus more:

Thiamine/B-1, Riboflavin/B-2, Niacin/B-3, Pyridoxine/B-6, Cyanocobalamin/B-12, Folic Acid, Biotin, Pantothenic Acid, and PABA. Plus, Choline and Inositol.

When you take any element of the Complex over time, like Folic Acid or Biotin, you have to supplement small amounts of the entire complex to ensure you don’t drain others out and cause a different deficiency. The elements in B complex work together; too much of one over time will deplete others.

Dosages

Breakfast: 100 mg (1 capsule)

Dinner: 100 mg (1 capsule)

Suggested Brand & Strength

Solaray Vegcaps; 100 mg per capsule

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5. BETA CAROTENE

Beta carotene destroys inflammation. No matter how severe it is. If your follicles are under attack by the immune system, it means additional inflammation is occurring in various parts of your body.

Remember, one form of Alopecia (Cicatricial) is caused solely by inflammation.

Dosages

Breakfast: 187.5 mg (25 small softgels)

Dinner: 187.5 mg (25 small softgels)

Suggested Brand & Strength

Puritan’s Pride #1223; 7.5 mg/25,000 I.U. per softgel; The softgels are small and easy to swallow.

6. VITAMIN D3

Vitamin D3 is a more potent type of Vitamin D. It is a support vitamin to Beta Carotene. The body needs Vitamin D3 to properly assimilate Beta Carotene. If you take large amounts of Beta Carotene without Vitamin D3 supplementation, you will end up with a Vitamin D3 deficiency.

Dosages

Breakfast: 5,000 I.U. (1 softgel)

Dinner: 5,000 I.U. (1 softgel)

Suggested Brand & Strength

Puritan’s Pride #19377; 5,000 I.U. per softgel

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Note: Try to stop thinking of food supplements as “pills,” which suggests medicine. Rather, think of them as what they are, “concentrated nutrition.” Food, in other words.

_____________________________________________________________________

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If you have a question or comment about Blog 63, please post it in the Comments section that follows. That way other readers who might have the same concern can read your question and my answer. If it’s personal you can contact me directly at lynncapehart@gmail.com You can also schedule a private consultation for yourself or a family member through this email.

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THIS WILL WORK FOR ALL ALLERGIES AND SHOULD BE TAKEN REGULARLY, YEAR ROUND, EVEN WHEN YOU’RE HAVING NO SYMPTOMS  

CATEGORY: 4: Auto Immune Type

RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENTS: Monavie Active or Supplement Therapy  

Definition: Allergen: This is any normally harmless substance that causes an allergic reaction in someone. Others may suffer from the same allergen as you, or it may affect only you. The root cause is the same however, a malfunctioning immune system.

Allergies_anxiety_blog_large

This is the season of misery for many allergy sufferers, whose allergen is pollen that causes hay fever. But all sorts of allergens negatively impact people’s health and happiness year round. The list of them is growing in step with our hyper sensitivity to more and more normally harmless things around us. It’s as if we were becoming allergic to the very environment itself. And when you examine the expanding list of allergens, it actually seems as though that’s the case.

ALLERGY OVERVIEW

Allergies arise from two causes: Genetics, what you inherit from your family; and Environment, what you come into contact with as you live your life.

The genetic factor: It is believed that while specific allergies are not usually inherited, if both parents have allergies their children will probably have them too, just different ones. The probability of allergies in the offspring increases if it’s the mother who has the problem. Meaning, you won’t necessarily inherit the same allergies as your parents, just the propensity to develop allergies generally. This is true because an impaired immune system is subject to many different allergies, as well as, other disorders.

This ties into what I’ve been saying about seemingly inherited disorders actually being a function of a poor diet that’s simply passed on to succeeding generations, along with the attendant deficiencies. And it’s worse if Mom has the allergy only because it’s usually she who makes the choices about food purchases and preparation. So if Mom’s family diet is giving her allergies, it will probably give them to you as well if you’re eating her cooking. Because Mom’s family diet is missing a nutrient necessary to avoid allergies. You don’t inherit bad genes, just bad eating habits.

The environmental factor: The short list of normally innocuous allergens now includes the more common ones like grass, weed, tree, and flower pollen; but also mold fungi, house dust and bacterial dust mites; pet dander, especially from cats, dogs, and birds; insect bites from bees and wasps, as well as simply living in close proximity to other insects like cockroaches; lotions and soaps; make-up and every cosmetic and perfume; plants including poison ivy, poison oak, and sumac; jewelry and latex; medicines like penicillin and antibiotics; and even sunlight.

Some of the more serious allergens are food based ones like peanut, shell fish and wheat—not to be confused with celiac disease that causes a sensitivity to the gluten found in wheat. There have even been rare cases of one person being allergic to another, where the body actually perceives the other person as an allergen.

ALLERGIES ARISE FROM THE OVERREACTIONS OF A NERVOUS AND HYPER SENSITIVE IMMUNE SYSTEM

The increased sensitivity to these normally harmless substances is occurring because our immune systems are underfed, and made weak by this lack of nutrition. We then pass on the poor diet habits and immune weakness to our progeny, making them more susceptible to immune related problems, like allergies. Despite the long, varied, and growing list of allergens, all allergies are truly caused by an overly sensitive immune system. It reacts when it’s not supposed to. That’s why I categorize allergies as Auto Immune Type. Though they are not strictly considered an auto immune disorder, they do result from an inappropriate response from the immune system. If you can stop the inappropriate response, you can stop allergies.

The immune system can be compared to two personality types in humans. There is a type of person who remains calm under pressure, who never raises his voice, who varies his methods as necessary to deal with new crises without getting flustered. He would never lose his cool and do something inappropriate. Let’s call him Andy. We all know someone like this and admire that grace under pressure they possess.

But there is another type of person who gets upset at the slightest thing, who has trouble sleeping, who jumps at every noise, and is always over anxious. Anything can set him off, and he’s known to cry at the slightest frustration or bad news. Let’s call him Bob. We also all know someone like this and usually can’t wait to get away from them, because their anxiety can be draining.

These two personality types can also describe two types of immune systems. Andy represents a stable, healthy one that doesn’t mistake harmless substances as potentially dangerous allergens. When Andy kicks in it is to respond to a real emergency. Bob represents a hyper sensitive immune system that has a hair trigger, and will send out t-cells and antihistamines, to cause inflammation at the slightest disturbance. Bob’s hand is always hovering over the red “go” button.

Ordinarily, it’s the immune system’s job to protect your body against truly harmful substances, like viruses, pollution, bacteria and subsequent infection. Unfortunately, an over anxious immune system like Bob will wrongly react to benign substances and treat them like allergens. When this happens, Bob goes into full lock down and sends out all the troops to fight . . . what? An imaginary foe, a ghost, a daydream, something that isn’t really there. At that point, the system has become disabled, has lost the ability to tell friend from foe. In so doing, it makes you suffer needlessly. And the restrictions that allergies place on you! You can’t eat this, you can’t drink that, can’t smell this, can’t touch whatever, can’t go to that place! But if you feed the immune system it can and will recover.

People who suffer from allergies can choose from a large menu of miseries, including:

headache

swollen, red, itchy, watery eyes

serial sneezing

runny or stuffy nose

post nasal drip

itchy skin around nose and mouth

itchiness inside ear canal

ringing or buzzing in the ears

inner ear swelling leading to dizziness and vertigo

mental confusion

throat tickling

coughing

sore throat

asthma attack

respiratory swelling that narrows airways and threatens breathing

extra mucous production

lung congestion

wheezing

itchy skin on body

eczema (rough, inflamed, blistered and sometimes bleeding skin)

hives

skin rashes

blisters

skin peeling

stomach cramps

nausea

bloating

abdominal cramps

diarrhea

vomiting

plus others specific to an individual

It is the level of the immune reaction to an allergen that determines whether you have an allergic response that passes quickly or one that threatens your life. A mild attack of any of these symptoms would be annoying, but something you could forget about once it was over. Bump these same symptoms up from mild to moderate and you might be more concerned and looking for some over the counter relief.

But if some of them rise to severe they can threaten your life. This situation is referred to as anaphylaxis, a condition where the immune system’s response to an allergen is violent and immediate, affecting the entire body. If the symptom involves swelling of the respiratory track it can prevent breathing. In that case, if you don’t get a shot of epinephrine (adrenaline) immediately, you may die from lack of oxygen. There are a lot of good reasons to try to prevent allergies.

WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE TO CAUSE AN ALLERGIC REACTION

Let’s say that you’re taking a walk through a flower garden one morning, when suddenly the back of your throat begins to itch and tighten up, making you cough. At the same time your eyes start to itch and your nose begins discharging mucus. Your hyper sensitive immune system, Bob, has overreacted to a harmless substance, flower pollen, interpreting it as an enemy element. In response, and wrongly thinking it is under attack, the immune system activates and releases defense troops by way of white blood cells, resulting in an extreme inflammatory response.

Part of this inflammatory response includes producing unnecessary antibodies to ward off the imaginary enemy allergen. In turn, the antibodies cause chemicals—histamines—to be released into the bloodstream. The histamines are what actually cause the symptomatic itching, sneezing, swelling of affected tissues, and other symptoms that characterizes an inflammatory allergic response.

THE CORRECT THERAPY CAN STOP AND CONTROL ALL ALLERGIES

The therapies discussed here will calm down an over anxious immune system, and stop Bob from reacting to inherently harmless things that will not hurt you, like pollen, house dust, shellfish, or latex. It will also stop and control for all time any allergy your body can dream up.

USING MONAVIE ACTIVE

You can drink Monavie Active twice daily and do nothing else, and your allergies will end. Doing this will cost about $100 a month. A lot of us can’t afford that amount in this economy. If so, you can take a less expensive combination of supplements to control your allergies. The supplement therapy follows the Monavie chart.

Fighting Allergies Using Monavie Active Quick Glance Chart
Supplement Breakfast Dinner Brand Strength
Monavie Active 2 ounces 2 ounces Monavie Active NA
Monavie is dense and delicious, a combination of 19 fruit juices with acai berry as its main component. It appears to have silt and sediment in it. Make sure you shake it well, but do not discard anything that comes out of the bottle. Consume everything, tiny chunks, silt, etc. Try to take it first thing in the morning when you wake up, and about 20 minutes before you eat dinner. Some people prefer to take the second dose right before they go to bed, saying it also helps them sleep better. Whatever else it does, nothing works better on immune problems than Monavie Active.

USING FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

The supplement therapy centers on Bee Pollen. Think of it as the immune system’s favorite solid food. It loves Bee Pollen, can’t get enough, and will return to good health if it is fed sufficient quantities of it. Regardless of your trigger allergen—the substance or thing that causes your particular allergy response—Bee Pollen will treat the root problem in the immune system and calm it down, stop it from over reacting to nothing.

It sounds counterintuitive, I know. You’re thinking that if pollen is your trigger allergen, how can taking more bee pollen help the situation. For one thing, bees secrete a substance on the pollen they collect, making it sticky to ensure they won’t drop it on their way back to the hive. Plus, the pollen that bees collect is from many varied flowers and plants. So Bee Pollen in supplement form is not strictly the same pollen you encounter on your walk among the flowers. Whatever that substance is that’s added by the bees helps us control allergies.

Inflammation is also part of an allergic reaction, which is why Beta Carotene is recommended. (Please see Blog 3: The Danger of Inflammation for more on this subject.) Vitamin D3 supports Beta Carotene in its inflammation fighting function. And Lecithin is recommended to clear up lung congestion and the extra mucous production that often accompanies an allergic response.

Once your allergy is under control, meaning you have been symptom free for at least two weeks, you can stop everything except Bee Pollen. But if you’re not taking Monavie Active, then Bee Pollen must be your minimum front line of defense against allergies, if you want to prevent them without prescriptions. Take Bee Pollen daily, and you’ll forget that you even have allergies. But the minute you stop taking Bee Pollen, or Monavie Active if you decide on it, your allergy will return with full effects.

Fighting Allergies Using Supplements Quick Glance Chart
Supplement Breakfast Dinner Brand Strength
Bee Pollen Complex 4 tablets 4 tablets Puritan’s Pride #4390 1000 mg+
Beta Carotene (softgels only) 15 softgels 15 softgels Puritan’s Pride #1223 25,000 IU (equivalent to 15 mg)
Vitamin D3 (softgels only) 1 softgel 1 softgel Puritan’s Pride #15605 1000 IU
Lecithin (softgels only) 5 softgels 5 softgels Puritan’s Pride #303 1200 mg
Definition: Bee Pollen Complex: This pressed pellet tablet contains 1000 mg of Bee Pollen, plus 10 mg of Bee Propolis, and 10 mg of the powerful Bee Royal Jelly. If you can’t fine Bee Pollen Complex, use straight Bee Pollen.

NOTES

► It is important to make either Monavie Active or Bee Pollen a daily and regular part of your diet, even when you are not having allergy symptoms, or when it isn’t your “season” for allergies. The idea is to move the immune system into a state of calm and keep it there. It will be a stronger immune system and will do a better job of protecting your body against all sorts of ailments, including allergies.

► If you take Beta Carotene without also taking Vitamin D, you will deplete your stores of Vitamin D and develop a Vitamin D deficiency. It usually manifests as sores on the inside of the mouth. Always take Vitamin D when you take Beta Carotene.

Vitamin D3 is recommended because it more closely replicates the Vitamin D made naturally on your skin from contact with the sun. But if you can’t find D3, take straight Vitamin D.

► I have recommended Puritan’s Pride brand because their Lecithin is from soybeans only, and contains a minimum of 70 mg of phosphatides in each 1200 mg softgel, equivalent to 61 percent phosphatides. The value of a Lecithin product is determined by the percentage of phosphatides it contains, because they activate the emulsifying process in your body. You may use another brand, but make sure it conforms to or exceeds these specifications or it will not work.

Please be nice to each other, and look for my next post: Blog 16: Cancer In Cats & Dogs, where I explain how to keep your companion pets safe from cancer.

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Lynn Capehart Wellness Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, meaning that any donation you make is tax deductible. We appreciate your support for our current efforts to establish a Vitamin Scholarship Program, so that we may supply supplements to those who could be cured of their disorders, but who cannot afford the annual cost. You may make your donations to lynncapehartnonprofit@outlook.com at www.paypal.com using any credit card or bank anywhere in the world. Thank you.

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