Smart Health Choices

Cracked: Health secrets of walnuts... They are loaded with antioxidants that fight disease

2012-01-13T15:03:00.001-08:00

By Louise Eccles
12th January 2012

The festive season may be over, but there is at least one Christmas treat worth making a habit of eating throughout the year – walnuts.

Scientists have discovered they are the healthiest nuts to eat as they are loaded with antioxidants.

Snacking on as few as seven a day could help ward off disease and lower cholesterol, they claim.
Healthiest: Walnuts contain more antioxidants than any other kind of nuts, scientists have discovered

Healthiest: Walnuts contain more antioxidants than any other kind of nuts, scientists have discovered

Walnuts contain very high levels of polyphenol, an anti-oxidant which can protect the body from molecules which damage tissue.

Walnuts contained the most polyphenol out of a list of nine commonly eaten types of nuts, tests revealed.

Brazil nuts and pistachios were close behind, and cashews and hazelnuts had slightly lower levels of antioxidants.

Professor Joe Vinson, from the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, said walnuts inhibit the growth of ‘bad’ cholesterol.

He said: ‘Walnuts rank above Brazil nuts, pistachios, pecans, peanuts, almonds, macadamias, cashews and hazelnuts.

‘Walnuts had the highest free and total polyphenols in both the combined and roasted samples’.

Despite the ‘superfood’ potential of walnuts, peanuts are the favourite with consumers and account for 45 per cent of the nuts bought in Europe.
Popular: Peanuts are Europe's most widely eaten nut, accounting for 45 per cent of the continent's nut market

Popular: Peanuts are Europe's most widely eaten nut, accounting for 45 per cent of the continent's nut market

The antioxidants in peanut butter were considerably lower than in roasted peanuts, the study found.

Dr Vinson said many people were put off by the seemingly high fat content of nuts, but they contained only polyunsaturated and monosaturated fats, rather than artery-clogging saturated fats.

He added: ‘Nuts are high in ﬁbre, low in saturated fats, high in beneﬁcial unsaturated fats, and very high in antioxidants.

‘Nuts are a nutritious snack providing both nutrients and bioactive antioxidants which provide significant health beneﬁts.’

Advising consumers to keep the portion size small, Dr Vinson said it takes only about seven walnuts a day to get the potential health benefits.

The antioxidants found in raw walnuts were 15 times as powerful as Vitamin E, which can protect the body against damaging natural chemicals.

Roasted cashew nuts contained just double the level found in Vitamin E.

Nuts have long been promoted as a nutritious snack by health professionals.

Pecans contain around a sixth of the recommended daily allowance for zinc, which is vital for the functioning of white blood cells that fight bacteria and viruses, including colds and flu.
Unshelled: Brazil nuts are a rich source of selenium, a nutrient that helps protect cells and could prevent certain types of cancer

Unshelled: Brazil nuts are a rich source of selenium, a nutrient that helps protect cells and could prevent certain types of cancer

A couple of handfuls of shelled pistachios have more potassium than a banana. This can help control blood pressure, as part of a healthy diet, because potassium blunts the effects of salt.

And the brazil nut is the richest source of selenium, a nutrient that helps protect cells.

Higher selenium levels have been linked with a reduced risk of certain cancers such as bladder and prostate.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2085405/Cracked-Health-secrets-walnuts--They-loaded-antioxidants-fight-disease.html#ixzz1jNkrjO00

Bromelain-Effective Cancer Fighter

2012-01-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

Sat, December 24th 2011 at 11:0 am by Sayer Ji

by Sayer Ji

Every once in a while a study pops up on the National Library of Medicine's bibliographic database known as MEDLINE that not only confirms the therapeutic relevance of natural substances in cancer treatment, but blows the conventional approach out of the water.

Published in 2007 in the journal Planta Medica, researchers found that an enzyme extracted from pineapple stems known as bromelain was superior to the chemo-agent 5-fluorauracil in treating cancer in the animal model. The researchers stated:

"This antitumoral effect [bromelain] was superior to that of 5-FU [5-fluorouracil], whose survival index was approximately 263 %, relative to the untreated control." [view entire study]

What is so remarkable about this research is that 5-FU has been used as a cancer treatment for nearly 40 years, and has been relatively unsuccessful due to its less than perfect selectivity at killing cancer, often killing and/or irreversibly damaging healthy cells and tissue, as well.

As a highly toxic, fluoride-bound form of the nucleic acid uracil, a normal component of RNA, the drug is supposed to work by tricking more rapidly dividing cells -- which include both cancer and healthy intestinal, hair follicle, and immune cells -- into taking it up, thereby inhibiting (read: poisoning) RNA replication enzymes and RNA synthesis.

The material safety data sheet (MSDS) for 5-FU states:

The dose at which 50% of the animals given the drug die is 115mg/kg, or the equivalent of 7.8 grams for a 150 lb adult human.

Keep in mind that a 7.5 gram dose of 5-FU, which is the weight of 3 pennies, would kill 50% of the humans given it. Bromelain's MSDS, on the other hand, states the LD50 to be 10,000 mg/kg, or the equivalent 1.5 lbs of bromelain for a 150lb adult, which means it is 3 orders of magnitude safer!

How then, can something as innocuous as the enzyme from the stem/core of a pineapple be superior to a drug that millions of cancers patients over the past 40 years have placed their hopes of recovery on, as well as exchanging billions of dollars for?

There is a well-known effect associated with a wide range of natural compounds called "selective cytotoxicity," whereby they are able to induce programmed cell death (the graceful self-disassembly known as apoptosis) within the cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells and tissue unharmed. No FDA-approved chemotherapy drug on the market today has this indispensable property (because chemicals don't have behave like natural compounds), which is why cancer treatment is still in the dark ages, often destroying the quality of life, and accelerating the death of those who undergo it, often unwittingly. When a person dies following conventional cancer treatment it is all too easy to "blame the victim" and simply write that patient's cancer off as "chemo-resistant," or "exceptionally aggressive," when in fact the non-selective nature of the chemotoxic agent is what ultimately lead to their death.

Keep in mind that bromelain, like all natural substances, will never receive FDA drug approval. Capital, at the present time, does not flow into the development of non-patentable (i.e. non-profitable) cancer therapies, even if they work, are safe and extremely affordable. This is simply the nature of the beast. Until we compel our government to utilize our tax dollars to invest in this type of research, there will be no level playing field in cancer treatment, or any treatment offered through the conventional medical establishment, for that matter. Or, some of us may decide to take our health into our own hands, and use the research, already freely available on possible natural cancer treatment, to inform our treatment decisions without the guidance of the modern day equivalent of the "priest" of the body, the conventional oncologist, who increasingly fills the description of an "applied pharmacologist/toxicologist" - nothing more, nothing less.

Drug Research Routinely Suppressed, study suthors find

2012-01-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

Posted on Wednesday, January 4, 2012

By John Fauber | McClatchy-Tribune News Service

MILWAUKEE — Drug research, even from clinical trials sponsored by the federal government, routinely is suppressed, harming patients and increasing health care costs, according to new data highlighting an ethical controversy that continues to plague the field of medicine.

"The current situation is a disservice to research participants, patients, health systems and the whole endeavor of clinical medicine," according to an editorial accompanying the papers published in the British Medical Journal.

Turning up the heat, the journal, in an editorial, posed a remedy that is likely to get the attention of doctors who take part in clinical trial research.

"Concealment of data should be regarded as the serious ethical breach that it is, and clinical researchers who fail to disclose data should be subject to disciplinary action by professional organizations," wrote Richard Lehman of the University of Oxford, and Elizabeth Loder, a BMJ editor.

The BMJ papers are the latest thunderbolts in a gathering storm that has swirled around medicine in recent years. The revelations add to the calls for reform in the field.

"It is grossly unethical and an insult to the integrity of medicine when this is allowed to occur and go unpunished," said orthopedic surgeon Chuck Rosen, president of the Association for Medical Ethics.

From diabetes drugs to spine surgery products, scandals involving concealed data have mounted. Consider the cases of two heart drugs that were the subject of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel stories:

For two years, Schering-Plough, the maker of the popular cholesterol drug Vytorin, sat on the results of a clinical trial showing the drug provided no benefit in improving artery health. During that time the drug was heavily marketed to consumers in TV ads. The situation came to light in 2008 after a congressional investigation was launched.

In 2003, a clinical trial of Multaq, a drug that treated irregular heartbeat, was stopped because more patients who were getting the drug were dying than those who were getting a placebo. However, the study was not published until five years later.

In 2007, an independent analysis of the diabetes drug Avandia found that the drug increased heart attacks and cardiovascular deaths.

Steve Nissen, the lead author of the analysis, said 35 of the 42 studies he looked at were unpublished and were obtained only because a court case required the drug's maker, GlaxoSmithKline, to turn over the data.

"Had the medical community known about this hazard, Avandia would likely never have become the world's largest selling diabetes drug," said Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. "Our ability to provide the best care for patients is dependent on access to all of the available clinical trial evidence, regardless of whether the study showed favorable results."

While much of the criticism of suppressed medical research has been aimed at drug companies, research data from medical devices also has been delayed, especially when it reflects negatively on a product.

Critics pointed to Medtronic's bone-growth stimulating back surgery product known as Infuse.

Last year, the Journal Sentinel reported that the results of a crucial clinical trial of the product were not published until nearly five years after the trial had to be halted because unwanted bone was growing around the spines of the trial volunteers. The paper was written by surgeons who have received millions of dollars in royalties from other Medtronic spine products.

What's more, the authors of the belated paper downplayed the bone overgrowth, saying it did not harm patients, a claim that was flatly refuted by a doctor interviewed by the Journal Sentinel.

The doctor, an Oklahoma orthopedic surgeon, said two of his patients who were in the trial had to undergo additional surgery because the bone overgrowth was painfully impinging on nerve roots. One of the patients, a man who was in his 50s at the time, needed three operations - one for the implant, a second to remove the unwanted bone formation, and a third when the additional bone grew back yet again.

Independent research and Journal Sentinel stories since have noted that unpublished data showed that Infuse was linked to a variety of serious complications, including sterility in men and cancer.

The failure of the medical literature to report such findings "has been a major failure in our field," said Eugene Carragee, a Stanford University orthopedic surgeon and editor-in-chief of the Spine Journal. Last year, Carragee spearheaded an unprecedented independent analysis showing that Medtronic and a circle of orthopedic surgeons who have received millions of dollars in royalties from the company systematically has failed to report serious complications with the product.

Carragee said the BMJ analysis and its call for disciplinary action against offending doctors is "an important departure from the historical laissez-faire attitude of the recent past."

A surprising finding in the BMJ analysis was that serious lapses occurred even in clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health.

That research showed that less than half of NIH-funded clinical trials were published in a medical journal within 30 months of the completion of the trial and after 51 months, one-third of trials remained unpublished.

While industry-related profit motives may not be a factor in such cases, there are other possible explanations, said senior author Harlan Krumholz, a Yale University professor of medicine and investigative medicine and public health.

Sometimes researchers may get an unexpected finding that contradicts a position they have staked out, he said.

"It is a conflict of their academic beliefs," he said.

At the same time, medical journals may not want to publish negative findings, he said.

A second BMJ paper looked at clinical trials of drugs that already had received at least one Food and Drug Administration approval. In such cases a law requires the reporting within one year of the completion of the trial.

Despite the law, only 163 of 738 such trials, or 22 percent, had reported the results within a year, the paper found.

Lead author Andrew Prayle, a researcher with the University of Nottingham, said he hoped the finding would spur more researchers to post summaries of the work at the NIH site, ClinicalTrials.gov.

John Fauber writes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
©2012 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/01/04/134756/drug-research-routinely-suppressed.html#storylink=cpy

Cholesterol Drugs Likely Poisoning Patients

2012-01-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Sayer Ji, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

A growing body of clinical research now indicates that the cholesterol-lowering class of drugs known as statins, is associated with over 300 adverse health effects -- research boldly flying in the face of national health policy, medical insurance premium guidelines, statin drug manufacturer advertising claims, and the general sentiment of the public, with approximately 1 in every 4 adult Americans over 45 currently using these drugs to "prevent heart disease."

The Cholesterol Myth

For well over 40 years, statin drugs have successfully concretized a century-old myth about the primary cause of heart disease: namely, that cholesterol "causes" plaque build up in the arteries, ultimately leading to obstruction of blood flow, and subsequent morbidity and mortality.

Indeed, the medical establishment and drug companies have been singing the praises of this "cholesterol myth," to the tune of 25 billion dollars in statin drug sales, annually.

While it is true that oxidized low-density lipoprotein is found within the atheromatous plaque that is found in damaged arteries, it is less likely a cause than an effect of heart disease. The underlying damage to the lining of the artery, which could be infectious, chemical, stress and/or nutritionally-related, comes before the immune response that results in plaque buildup there. Blaming LDL cholesterol for causing heart disease, is like blaming the scab for the injury that caused it to form, or, like blaming the band-aid for the scab it is covering -- this is, after all, the inborn and fatal flaw of allopathic medicine which focuses only on symptoms of disease, which it then -- fool-heartedly -- attempts to suppress by any chemical means necessary.

Death By Statins?

No one can deny that statins do exactly what they are designed to do: suppress cholesterol production and reduce measurable blood serum levels. The question is, rather, at what price do they accomplish this feat, and for what ultimate purpose?

With the National Cholesterol Education Program Guidelines, having been designed by "experts" on the payroll of statin drug manufacturers, requiring ultra-low levels to obtain a strictly theoretical and numerical definition of "health," statin drugs are guaranteed to receive first-line treatment status in the goal of the preventing and treating heart disease through lipid suppression.

What is at question here, is whether the unintended, adverse effects of this chemical class of drugs are less, the same or worse than the purported "cardiovascular" benefits they provide?

Fundamentally, statin drugs damage the muscles and nerves in the body -- so much so that a dose as low as 5 mg a day can kill a human. There are well over 100 studies demonstrating the myotoxic, or muscle-harming effects of these drugs, and over 80 demonstrating the nerve-damaging effects, as well.

When you consider that a vast proportion of our body is comprised of muscles and coordinating nerve systems, this drug has the potential to cause damage to the entire body, and undoubtedly does so universally, differing only in the matter of degree -- the damage occurring acutely in those at the tip of the iceberg, asymptomatically in the majority of others at the base.

Moreover, statin myotoxicity is not exclusive to skeletal muscle. If you consider that the heart is also a muscle, in fact, is our most tireless muscle, an obvious red flag should go up. It is a remarkable fact that it took over 40 years before the biomedical research and publishing fields were able to produce a human study, like the one published in the Journal of Clinical Cardiology in Dec. 2009, showing that statin drugs, despite billions of advertising/marketing dollars to the contrary, actually weaken the heart muscle.

These results, while disturbing, are to be expected given the well-known problem associated with statin drug use, namely, the inhibition of the mevalonate pathway necessary to produce the heart-essential nutrient co-enzyme Q10. Co-enzyme Q10 deficiency itself may be a major contributing cause to heart disease. There is also research that statin drugs deplete the body of the cardioprotective minerals (and associated mineral-protein complexes) zinc and selenium. This finding may also explain why rates of heart failure may be increasing in the general population given these drugs.

While the discovery that statin drugs, instead of preventing heart disease, likely contribute to it, is surprising and counter intuitive, it should not distract from the more disturbing discovery that they contribute to over 300 disease and/or adverse health effects.

Millions of statin drugs users around the globe are risking their lives on a bad bet that taking a magic chemical pill will reduce their risk of dying of a disease that is not caused by a lack of the drug. What is more likely to happen, however, is that the quality and duration of their lives will be reduced, profoundly, along with billions of dollars of squandered cash that could have been spent on authentically medicinal and cardioprotective foods, nutrients, minerals and vitamins.

In light of these findings, a very serious question is raised: are those who are party to the manufacture, promotion, administration and/or prescribing of this chemical class of drugs, in violation of the medical ethical principle of informed consent? And is this ethical violation, insofar as it results in injury to those who have been mislead and/or coerced to take these drugs, also a legal/criminal one?

GSK Fined over Illegal Experiments Killing 14 babies

2012-01-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Anthony Gucciardi

Vaccine and drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been fined 400,000 pesos (around the equivalent of $93,000) by an Argentinian judge for killing 14 babies during illegal lab vaccine trials that were conducted between 2007 and 2008.

In addition to killing the children and experimenting with human beings, the judge asserted that the corporation actually falsified parental authorizations so that babies could participate without legitimate parental permission.

Judge Marcelo Aguinsky made the decision after a report was released on the subject by the National Administration of Medicine, Food and Technology (ANMAT in Spanish). Since 2007, 15,000 children below the age of one from Mendoza, San Juan, and Santiago del Estero have been participating in the illegal research. These babies were recruited by GSK from poor families that attended public hospitals. It was found that of the 14 baby deaths, 7 died in Santiago del Estero; 5 in Mendoza; and 2 in San Juan.

GSK Recruited Doctors, Pressured Illiterate Parents into Signing Over Children

Currently, it is unknown how many babies suffered serious side effects, adverse reactions, or if this is truly the total death count. As with many other vaccinations such as Gardasil, the official death count continues to rise as leaked reports from the FDA and elsewhere continue to surface.

One pediatrician working at the public hospital when GSK began recruiting babies for their illegal human trials said that not only did GSK force illiterate parents into handing over their children, but they also ‘recruited’ several doctors working at the hospital into their cause.

Ana Marchese, a pediatrician at the Eva Perón children’s public hospital in Santiago del Estero, stated:

GSK Argentina set an protocol at the hospital, and recruited several doctors working there. These doctors took advantage of many illiterate parents whom take their children for treatment by pressuring and forcing them into signing these 28-page consent forms and getting them involved in the trials.

It is quite clear that GSK has zero regard for human health, morals, and will go to any length to experiment with their latest jab regardless of the casualties. Of the 15,000 babies that were reported to be a part of the illegal trials, many may suffer from life-altering illness and serious side effects.

Amazingly, many parents had no idea they were signing over the lives of their children to GSK, as they were completely illiterate. Meanwhile, GSK sells their latest shots and pharmaceutical drugs to United States consumers, raking in record profits each year as the second-largest drugmaker

Oral Steroids Linked To Vitamin D Levels

2011-12-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

By Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Friday, September 30, 2011
HealthDay news image

FRIDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- People taking oral steroids double their risk for severe vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to bone disease or muscle weakness, a new study indicates.

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, in New York City, said steroids might increase levels of an enzyme that inactivates the vitamin, resulting in osteomalacia (softening of the bones), rickets (softening of bones in children) or clinical myopathy (muscle weakness). They recommended that physicians monitor vitamin D levels of patients being treated with oral steroids.

"When doctors write that prescription for steroids and they're sending the patients for lab tests, they should also get the vitamin D level measured," study author Dr. Amy Skversky, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Einstein and Montefiore Medical Center, in New York City, said in a news release from the university.

In conducting the study, published in the Sept. 28 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, researchers examined information compiled on more than 31,000 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2006.

Roughly 1 percent of those examined reported using oral steroids in the past month. Of those taking the drugs, 11 percent had severely low levels of vitamin D (defined as levels below 10 nanograms per milliliter of blood). Meanwhile, the study revealed that only 5 percent of those not taking the steroid had this vitamin deficiency.

The researchers noted the risk was most evident among participants under 18. These children and teens were 14 times more likely to have a severe vitamin D deficiency.

The study authors said that their findings did not apply to those using inhaled steroids.

SOURCE: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, news release, Sept. 29, 2011

Vitamin D supplementation

2011-11-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

Vitamin D3 supplementation is an effective alternative to UV exposure, provided adequate doses are taken.

Vitamin D needs

Vitamin D from both capsules and liquid is equally effective in treating vitamin D deficiency.

Much individual variation exists in response to supplemental vitamin D. The amount needed to raise and/or maintain blood serum levels for one person may not be enough for another. This is due to various factors such as age, weight, absorption, overall health, and amount of sun exposure. Recent research has determined that genetic variants are also a factor. 1

The only way to know for sure if a certain dosage is working for you is to have your vitamin D levels tested. Occasional monitoring of these levels will one determine what dose is right for them.
Current US Government recommended amounts

Adequate Intake for vitamin D represents the daily intake established by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) as sufficient to maintain bone health and normal calcium metabolism in healthy people. 2
FNB daily Adequate Intake (AI) for vitamin D

Children and adults up to the age of 70 years - 600 IU
Seniors 70+ years - 800 IU

Why these amounts are inadequate

US Government recommended Adequate Intake for vitamin D is too low to receive many of vitamin D's benefits.

The problem with current recommendations is that vitamin D influences a much wider array of physiological processes other than simply maintaining bone health and normal calcium metabolism. 3

For proper functioning, a healthy human body utilizes around 3,000-5,000 IU of vitamin D per day - indicating the current recommended intakes are not high enough to raise and/or maintain the vitamin D levels necessary for proper health. 4
Vitamin D Council recommended amounts

Based on the body's indicated daily vitamin D usage, Vitamin D Council recommends the following amounts of supplemental vitamin D3 per day in the absence of proper sun exposure. Due to the variable response discussed above, these are only estimated amounts.

Healthy children under the age of 1 years – 1,000 IU.
Healthy children over the age of 1 years – 1,000 IU per every 25 lbs of body weight.
Healthy adults and adolescents – at least 5,000 IU.
Pregnant and lactating mothers - at least 6,000 IU.

Additionally, children and adults with chronic health conditions such as autism, MS, cancer, heart disease, or obesity may need as much as double these amounts.
Tolerable Upper Intake Level

The US Government’s Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for vitamin D is set at 4,000 IU per day. While this is a step in the right direction from the previous UL at 2,000 IU per day, in some situations - such as with those who are obese - it may still be too low. An upper limit this low will also result in the prevention of adequate doses from being used in studies, greatly curtailing our understanding of vitamin D’s physiological effects as well as the true extent of its treatment potential. 5 6 7

Experts agree the Upper Limit for vitamin D should be raised to 10,000 IU per day.

Current expert consensus is that the US Government UL for vitamin D is too low and that it should be raised to 10,000 IU per day. 6 7 8 Since this is the amount one would naturally produce in their skin from sun exposure, it is considered safe. 9
Can I take more than 10,000 IU per day?

Wanting to raise vitamin D levels quickly, some people choose to supplement with amounts higher than 10,000 IU per day until target levels are achieved. When using vitamin D in these amounts, frequent monitoring of blood levels (preferably as supervised by your physician) as well as adequate magnesium intake are advised. Once blood serum levels are optimized, daily amount should be lowered to the amount necessary to sustain these levels. How much is needed will be unique to the individual, but it should be somewhere around 5,000 IU per day.
Which type of vitamin D?
Oil vs. powder

Vitamin D3 supplements come in two forms:

oil (cod liver oil-based) - fat-soluble vitamin D, includes liquid drops or gel caps.
dry powder (lanolin-based) - water-soluble vitamin D, includes capsules or tablets.

As far as we know, both water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamin D are equally absorbed and metabolized by the body, and are thus equally effective.
D2 vs D3

Read the Vitamin D Council's full position statement on vitamin D2 vs D3 here.

Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the type of vitamin D the body naturally produces in the skin in response to sun exposure. Vitamin D2 is produced naturally when fungi (yeast or mushrooms) are exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun or to artificial UV light.

Scientific studies have demonstrated the bioequivalence of vitamin D2 and D3 in forming 25(OH)D when daily consumption of either precursor occurs over a minimum of 6 weeks 10. There is other evidence that the body has preference to D3 over D2, showing in these studies that the body more readily uses D3 when it has both forms in the body, and that D3 is more potent than D2 for producing 25(OH)D 11.

Although both D2 and D3 are effective for raising blood levels of 25(OH)D, the Vitamin D Council believes that vitamin D3, as produced in human skin, is the more natural precursor, and recommends supplementing with vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 supplements are not vegetarian and are not likely to be derived from American products. If an individual has ethical concerns over D3, D2 can be an effective replacement.

How should I take my vitamin D?

Both forms of vitamin D may be taken any time of day with, or without, any other food or supplement and still remain effective. If one is concerned about absorption, they may take their vitamin D at mealtime, though there is no evidence to indicate this is more effective.

Most people take their vitamin D daily, yet there are some who opt to take it weekly at a higher dose. Since the body is designed to store vitamin D for future use, a weekly interval should produce the same results as daily use. 12
Mixing sun exposure and supplements

It is okay to use both sun exposure and intermittent supplementation to receive one's vitamin D. Simply do not take any supplemental vitamin D on the days when proper sun exposure is received. Keep in mind that vitamin D taken orally bypasses the body's built in toxicity protection with that obtained by sun exposure. As with daily use of oral vitamin D, periodic monitoring of levels is advised.
Precautions

People with the following conditions should only take vitamin D with the guidance of a knowledgeable physician:

primary hyperparathyroidism
sarcoidosis
granulomatous TB
some cancers

Those with primary hyperparathyroidism should only use vitamin D when under the care of a knowledgeable endocrinologist.

Interactions with medications

There have yet to be any documented instances of an adverse interaction of vitamin D with any medications. There are, however, medications which have been found to interfere with the body’s proper utilization of vitamin D. They are: 2

Steroids - impair vitamin D metabolism, contributing to bone loss and development of osteoporosis.
Xenical®, alli™, Questran®, LoCholest®, and Prevalite® - reduce vitamin D absorption.
Dilantin®) - increases hepatic metabolism of vitamin D to inactive compounds.

Page last edited: 31 October 2011
References

Wang T.J., et al. Common genetic determinants of vitamin D insufficiency: a genome-wide association study. Lancet. 2010 July 17; 376 (9736): 180-188.
Food and Nutrition Board Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin D. ods.od.nih.gov.
Grant WB, Holick MF Benefits and requirements of vitamin D for optimal health: a review. Altern Med Rev. 2005 Jun; 10 (2): 94-111.
Heaney R.P., Davies K.M., Chen T.C., Holick M.F., Barger-Lux M.J. Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Jan; 77 (1): 204-10.
Hathcock, J. N. Shao, A. Vieth, R. Heaney, R. Risk assessment for vitamin D. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jan; 85 (1): 6-18.
Heaney, R. P. The Vitamin D requirement in health and disease. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2005 Oct; 97 (1-2): 13-9.
Vieth, R. Critique of the considerations for establishing the tolerable upper intake level for vitamin D: critical need for revision upwards. J Nutr. 2006 Apr; 136 (4): 1117-22.
Vieth, R. Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May; 69 (5): 842-56.
Vieth, R. Vitamin D toxicity, policy, and science. J Bone Miner Res. 2007 Dec; 22 Suppl 2V64-8.
Holick MF, Biancuzzo RM, Chen TC, Klein EK, Young A, Bibuld D, Reitz R, Salameh W, Ameri A, Tannenbaum AD. Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 18/12/2008; 93 (3): 677-81.
Heaney RP, Recker RR, Grote J, Horst RL, Armas LA. Vitamin D(3) is more potent than vitamin D(2) in humans. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 22/12/10; 96 (3): 447-52.
van Groningen L., Opdenoordt S., van Sorge A., Telting D., Giesen A., de Boer H. Cholecalciferol loading dose guideline for vitamin D-deficient adults. Eur J Endocrinol. 2010 Apr; 162 (4): 805-11.

Water Successfully Turned into a Commodity by the Bottled Water Industry

2011-11-28T12:55:00.000-08:00

It turns out that much of the population is spending almost 2000 times more for water than they normally would. The typical price of bottled water is $3.79 per gallon while the typical price of tap water is $0.002 per gallon. You may think that the extra investment is worth it for the improved quality of bottled water, but in fact many bottled water brands may be just as damaging to your health as tap water. The bottled water industry is selling water for about a 1900% markup from what you’re paying at home while successfully turning this nearly free resource into a commodity. People are virtually throwing money away, all in the name of “purity”.
Don’t Fall Victim to False Advertising

Bottled water has long been recognized for being purer and safer than tap water, but why? The research shows that this common misconception is the result of massive advertising and marketing schemes. Bottled water companies claim to be “purer” than tap water with pictures of beautiful mountains on their labels from which we’re supposed to think the water comes from. The truth is that bottled water companies almost always don’t answer at least one of three quality qualifying questions.

1). Where does the water come from?

2). Is it purified? How?

3). Have tests found any contaminants?

According to an extensive study conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) , 9/10 of the best selling water brands including Pepsi’s Aquafina, Coca-Cola’s Dasani, Crystal Geyser, and 6 of 7 Nestle brands, don’t answer any those questions.

Many bottled water companies simply refuse to disclose information regarding their “pure” product. Another study performed by the EWG showed that of the 173 brands tested:

18% fail to disclose the location of their water source

32% say nothing about the treatment or purity of the water

Over 50% flunked EWG’s transparency test

Stop Paying a Premium Price for Mystery Water

After extensive research and testing, the Environmental Working Group recommends filtered tap water over any bottled water. If you buy bottled water, you’re paying a premium price for mystery water. As shocking as it may seem, the bottled water being purchased is actually municipal tap water almost 50% of the time. Not only that, but bottled water is also less regulated than tap water and oftentimes more contaminated.

Water Successfully Turned into a Commodity by the Bottled Water Industry

Can you imagine paying $1,500 for a pack of gum, or $5,000 for a smoothie? The truth is that no one would knowingly pay 1900 times more for a product than they need to, especially if that product is in your own kitchen. It may be time to chuck the plastic bottle and make them exclusive for traveling and bike rides.

It is important to remember that while bottled water may be ridiculously glorified above its own contamination, tap water is not so safe either. That is why it is essential to purchase a high quality water filter that can remove contaminants such as fluoride from your water. When filtering tap water, reverse osmosis is one preferred method in removing toxic substances such as fluoride and heavy metals. While reverse osmosis filters remove toxic substances from the water, it also removes natural minerals and nutrients. Luckily a simple solution to this would be to add certain minerals to the water, use a mineral filter, or even add apple cider vinegar to restore the natural nutrients back into the water.

Be careful of the bottled you choose to drink. Again the best option is to drink filter water or reverse osmosis tap water. You'll save yourself a bundle and take in to your body a healthier substance.

Vitamins Are safe; Drugs Are Not

2011-10-06T08:52:00.001-07:00

Anthony Gucciardi

Over the past 27 years — the complete time frame that the data has been available — there have been 0 deaths as a result of vitamins and over 3 million deaths related to prescription drug use. In fact, going back 54 years there have only been 11 claims of vitamin-related death, all of which provided no substantial evidence to link vitamins to the cause of death. The news comes after a recent statistically analysis found that pharmaceutical drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the US.

In 2009, drugs exceeded the amount of traffic-related deaths, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide.

The findings go against the claims of mainstream medical ‘experts’ and mainstream media outlets who often push the idea that multivitamins are detrimental to your health, and that prescription drugs are the only science-backed option to improving your health. While essential nutrients like vitamin D are continually being shown to slash your risk of disease such as diabetes and cancer, prescription pharmaceuticals are continually being linked to such conditions. In fact, the top-selling therapeutic class pharmaceutical drug has been tied to the development of diabetes and even suicide, and whistle blowers are just now starting to speak out despite studies as far back as the 80s highlighting the risks.

Mainstream medical health officials were recently forced to speak out over the danger of anti-psychotic drugs, which millions of children have been prescribed since 2009. U.S. pediatric health advisers blew the whistle over the fact that these pharmaceuticals can lead to diabetes and even suicide, the very thing they aim to prevent. What is even more troubling is that half of all Americans will be diagnosed with a mental condition during their lifetime thanks to lack of diagnosis guidelines currently set by the medical establishment, of which many cases will lead to the prescription of anti-psychotics and other similar medications.

Covering up the side effects

In order to protect sales, the link between suicide and ant-psychotic drugs was completely covered up by Eli Lilly & Co, the makers of Prozac. Despite research stretching as far back as the 1980s finding that Prozac actually leads to suicide, the company managed to hide the evidence until a Harvard psychiatrist leaked the information into the press. The psychiatrist, Martin Teicher, stated that the American people were being treated like guinea pigs in a massive pharmaceutical experiment.

Greedy and often times prescription-happy doctors are handing out anti-psychotic medication like candy to adults and young children alike. In 2008, anti-psychotics became the top-selling therapeutic class prescription drug in the United States and grossing over $14 billion in sales.

Anti-psychotic drugs are not the only dangerous pharmaceuticals. The average drug label contains 70 side effects, though many popular pharmaceuticals have been found to contain 100 to 125. Some drugs, prescribed by doctors to supposedly improve your health, come with over 525 negative reactions.

Ritalin, for example, has been linked to conditions including:

Increased blood pressure
Increased heart rate
Increased body temperature
Increased alertness
Suppressed appetite

Perhaps the hundreds of negative side effects is part of the reason why the FDA announced last year that it is pulling more than 500 cold and allergy off the market due to health concerns. Prescription drugs kill more people than traffic accidents, and come with up to 525 negative side effects. Avoiding these drugs and utilizing high quality organic alternatives like whole food-based multivitamins and green super foods will lead to a total health transformation without harsh side effects and an exponentially increased death risk.

Sources:
Most recent year: Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Green JL, Rumack BH, Giffin SL. 2009 Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 27th Annual Report. Clinical Toxicology (2010). 48, 979-1178. The full text article is available for free download at http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/Portals/0/2009%20AR.pdf

Flu Vaccine Pushed Despite Nerve Disease Link

2011-10-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Anthony Gucciardi
NaturalSociety
August 22, 2011

The push for the H1N1-loaded 2011 flu vaccine has begun, with the CDC calling on healthcare workers and citizens around the world to become vaccinated. The call comes almost a full year after government health chiefs confirmed a link between the H1N1-containing seasonal flu vaccination and the killer nerve disease known as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (see quoted article below for sourcing). Oftentimes leading to partial paralysis and death, The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a warning over the link following a report that 50% of doctors were refusing the swine flu vaccine over health concerns.

Organizations around the world have been speaking out against the H1N1 vaccine, speaking out against the risk of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). Even the mainstream media was forced to report on the association between the vaccine and GBS, with the Times Online offering warning that the vaccine had a ‘death link’. Neurologists around the world were even warned about the safety of the vaccine by Professor Elizabeth Miller, head of the immunization department for UK’s Health Protection Agency.

“The vaccines used to combat an expected swine influenza pandemic in 1976 were shown to be associated with GBS and were withdrawn from use,” she wrote in a letter to neurologists.

Why then, would anyone receive the swine flu vaccine? The simple answer is that the swine flu scare drove some citizens to run in fear, with the vaccine as their advertised salvation. In reality, swine flu did not turn out to be the pandemic that it was propagated to be. Citizens would be better off improving their immune system naturally through proper nutrition than to receive a deadly swine flu vaccine.Why then, would anyone receive the swine flu vaccine? The simple answer is that the swine flu scare drove some citizens to run in fear, with the vaccine as their advertised salvation. In reality, swine flu did not turn out to be the pandemic that it was propagated to be. Citizens would be better off improving their immune system naturally through proper nutrition than to receive a deadly swine flu vaccine.Here is the report that I wrote on October 18, 2010 warning readers about the link between the flu shot and Guillain-Barre Syndrome:

Last year, you would be considered a medical “fraud” if you were to say that the swine flu vaccine may lead to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a deadly autoimmune disorder that can lead to partial paralysis and death. Now, however, even the government is admitting that the swine flu vaccine may cause Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a statement regarding the link between Guillain-Barre and the swine flu vaccine.

“Given the uncertainties in the available information and as with seasonal flu vaccines, a slightly elevated risk of GBS following H1N1 vaccines cannot be ruled out. Epidemiological studies are ongoing to further assess this possible association.”

Unfortunately, this announcement has come far too late. Thousands of vaccines have been given worldwide, with 14,000 children in Oklahoma as test subjects for the experimental first wave of the swine flu vaccines in 2009. There was no shortage of warnings regarding the vaccine, however, with about 50% of doctors refusing to be injected. Citizens and doctors alike were also warned numerous times that the swine flu vaccine had a direct link with Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Even mainstream media was forced to pick up on the link, with the Times Online offering warning that the vaccine had a “death link”. Neurologists around the world were even warned about the safety of the vaccine by Professor Elizabeth Miller, head of the immunization department for UK’s Health Protection Agency.

The vaccines used to combat an expected swine influenza pandemic in 1976 were shown to be associated with GBS and were withdrawn from use, she wrote in a letter to neurologists.

Of course the government was quick to claim that the vaccinations were completely safe, and had met all of the safety requirements.

The department of health was quick to go against Professor Miller and claim that the vaccines had passed all of the required tests: Appropriate trials to assess safety and immune responses have been carried out on vaccines very similar to the swine flu vaccine. The vaccines have been shown to have a good safety profile.

If the government was confident regarding the safety of the vaccination, then why were manufacturers given complete legal immunity? This legal immunity made it impossible to sue the manufacturers of the swine flu vaccine. Even if the vaccines were safe to begin with, wouldn’t this enhance carelessness of the manufacturers? With complete legal immunity, the makers could get away with anything.

Last year, you would be considered a medical “fraud” if you were to say that the swine flu vaccine may lead to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a deadly autoimmune disorder that can lead to partial paralysis and death. Now, however, even the government is admitting that the swine flu vaccine may cause Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a statement regarding the link between Guillain-Barre and the swine flu vaccine.

“Given the uncertainties in the available information and as with seasonal flu vaccines, a slightly elevated risk of GBS following H1N1 vaccines cannot be ruled out. Epidemiological studies are ongoing to further assess this possible association.”

Unfortunately, this announcement has come far too late. Thousands of vaccines have been given worldwide, with 14,000 children in Oklahoma as test subjects for the experimental first wave of the swine flu vaccines in 2009. There was no shortage of warnings regarding the vaccine, however, with about 50% of doctors refusing to be injected. Citizens and doctors alike were also warned numerous times that the swine flu vaccine had a direct link with Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Even mainstream media was forced to pick up on the link, with the Times Online offering warning that the vaccine had a “death link”. Neurologists around the world were even warned about the safety of the vaccine by Professor Elizabeth Miller, head of the immunization department for UK’s Health Protection Agency.

The vaccines used to combat an expected swine influenza pandemic in 1976 were shown to be associated with GBS and were withdrawn from use, she wrote in a letter to neurologists.

Of course the government was quick to claim that the vaccinations were completely safe, and had met all of the safety requirements.

The department of health was quick to go against Professor Miller and claim that the vaccines had passed all of the required tests: Appropriate trials to assess safety and immune responses have been carried out on vaccines very similar to the swine flu vaccine. The vaccines have been shown to have a good safety profile.

If the government was confident regarding the safety of the vaccination, then why were manufacturers given complete legal immunity? This legal immunity made it impossible to sue the manufacturers of the swine flu vaccine. Even if the vaccines were safe to begin with, wouldn’t this enhance carelessness of the manufacturers? With complete legal immunity, the makers could get away with anything.

Why then, would anyone receive the swine flu vaccine? The simple answer is that the swine flu scare drove some citizens to run in fear, with the vaccine as their advertised salvation. In reality, swine flu did not turn out to be the pandemic that it was propagated to be. Citizens would be better off improving their immune system naturally through proper nutrition than to receive a deadly swine flu vaccine.

3 Reasons to Avoid the Flu Shot

2011-10-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

Anthony Gucciardi
GreenMedInfo.com
October 1, 2011

Flu shots are becoming the most widely recommended vaccine on the planet, with The Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) changing their flu shot recommendation from children between 6 months and 5 years old demographic to virtually everyone except those between the ages of 19-49 who are in perfectly good health. Even within this category there is a barrage of organizations warning against avoiding the ubiquitous flu shot.

The fact of the matter is that seasonal flu shots are simply not backed by reputable science, and a number of major studies have even shown that the seasonal flu shot is not effective at all in preventing the flu. Adding fuel to the fire, this ineffective shot comes with pages of nasty side effects that will certainly make you reconsider getting one this year. Here are 3 major reasons you, your family, and the medical establishment should reconsider flu shots as effective flu prevention tools:

1. Seasonal flu vaccines have been found to only be 1% effective

A new major study has numerically determined the effectiveness of the flu shot to be 1%. This means that despite the H1N1-loaded flu jab, there is still a 99% chance that you will not be protected against the flu. The reason for this, despite the faulty science behind the development of the vaccine, has to do with flu strains. It is extremely challenging, to the point of guessing, which flu strain will affect your area. With such a wide selection, it is very rare (about 1%, according to the study), for it to be the correct strain.

The researchers from the study stated:

“The corresponding figures [of people showing influenza symptoms] for poor vaccine matching were 2% and 1% (RD 1, 95% CI 0% to 3%)” announced the study authors. In other words, you would have to vaccinate 100 people to reduce the number of people affected by the influenza virus by just one.

The findings do not stop there. The researchers also highlighted other findings about the flu vaccine, which topple the mainstream concept of their safety and effectiveness:

“Vaccination had…no effect on hospital admissions or complication rates.”
“Vaccine use did not affect the number of people hospitalized or working days lost.”
“The analysis howed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions…”
“There is no evidence that [influenza vaccines] affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission.” — Meaning vaccines do not affect transmission of disease, what they are designed for.
“In average conditions (partially matching vaccine) 100 people need to be vaccinated to avoid one set of influenza symptoms.”

2. Flu shots have been linked to killer nerve disease

Even government health officials have confirmed the link between the H1N1-containing flu shot and the killer nerve disease known as Guillain-Barre Syndrome. A government agency known as The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a warning over the connection following the phony swine flu pandemic. The news came after mainstream media reported on the fact that even 50% of doctors were refusing the H1N1 vaccine over health concerns.

Neurologists around the world were even warned about the safety of the vaccine by Professor Elizabeth Miller, head of the immunization department for UK’s Health Protection Agency.

The vaccines used to combat an expected swine influenza pandemic in 1976 were shown to be associated with GBS and were withdrawn from use,” she wrote in a letter to neurologists.

3. Vitamin D is over 800% more effective with no side effects

A major clinical trial performed at the Division of Molecular Epidemiology in the the Department of Pediatrics at the Jikei University School of Medicine Minato-ku in Tokyo found that vitamin D was extremely effective in preventing and reversing influenza. Led by Mitsuyoshi Urashima, the study involved 334 children, half of which were given 1200 IUs per day of vitamin D3. This is actually a very low amount of vitamin D, with many natural health experts recommending around 5,000 IUs per day for most individuals. If the researchers used a higher amount like 5,000 IUs, the findings and subsequent percentage would most likely be even more profound.

What the study found was that 31 of 167 children in the placebo group contracted influenza over the 4 month duration of the study, while only 18 of 168 children in the vitamin D group did. This is in comparison to the flu shot being effective in 1 out of 100 participants, with countless side effects.

This means that vitamin D is 800% more effective in preventing the flu than vaccines at 1200 IUs daily. The percentage could likely climb into the thousands if the dosage was upped to the recommended 5,000 IUs per day, and perhaps even higher beyond that.

There is simply no reason to receive a flu shot when natural alternatives like vitamin D exist. Deadly nerve disease, narcolepsy, and overall ineffectiveness are but a few of the negative aspects of the flu shot. Spread the word about flu shots during Vaccine Information Week, starting October 1st.

Is Your Multivitamin Toxic?

2011-09-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

by Sayer Ji, founder of GreenMedInfo.com

[previously published in the Well Being Journal and Mercola.com]

In episode #11 (season 2) of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a woman poisons her husband with the chemical sodium selenite. Strange as it may sound, this exotic murder weapon, and it’s close cousin, sodium selenate, are listed as “nutrients” on the labels of most mass-marketed vitamins. Even though both sodium selenite and selenate are classified as dangerous and toxic to the environment by regulatory bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Union, they are the primary forms of this mineral - selenium - sold on the mass market today. In fact, most mass-market vitamins contain chemicals that the EPA does not allow in our public drinking water at levels above 50 parts per billion per liter. According to the EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) standards, the highest allowable level of selenium in public drinking water is 50 parts per billion (equivalent to 50 micrograms, dry weight). To get a sense of how small an allowable limit this is, 50 parts per billion is equivalent to a tablespoon of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool.

How can vitamin manufacturers advertise something as being a “nutrient” when the EPA—out of concern for our health—has barred it from our drinking water at all but exceedingly minute levels? Have sodium selenite/selenate really been shown to be toxic? A brief perusal of toxicology reports from the Hazardous Substances Databank (toxnet.nlm.nih.gov) and PUBMED (pubmed.gov) shows that both forms can be carcinogenic and genotoxic and may contribute to reproductive and developmental problems in animals and humans. The question is not whether these minerals have toxicity, but rather at what level they overwhelm our capacity for their detoxification and/or biotransformation into non-toxic metabolites?

A word should be said here about the differences that exist between inorganic minerals and biologically active ones:

The selenium that is found in foods like brazil nuts, mustard seeds, and fresh produce grown in selenium-rich soil is infinitely different from the biologically inert forms being put in some multivitamins. In fact, sodium selenite/selenate can cause cancer, whereas the selenium found within food, or laboratory chelated forms like selenomethionine, have all been shown to prevent and combat cancer.

The basic principle that explains this difference is that when you isolate a nutrient or vitamin out of the food complex within which it is naturally found, and where it is inseparably bound to thousands of known and unknown food factors (e.g., enzymes, protein chaperones, glyconutrients, etc.) it is no longer as beneficial to life. This is especially true in the case of vertebrate mammals who are equipped to get their minerals from the plants they ingest or through the biotransformation of inorganic minerals to organic ones by microflora in their gastrointestinal tracts.

The primary reason that sodium selenite/selenate are preferred by some vitamin manufacturers over safer, more beneficial forms like chelated or yeast-grown selenium is because it is more profitable to use raw materials of lower quality.

“You get what you pay for” is a saying that almost always rings true for dietary supplements. Buying industrial waste products, or chemicals that are considered hazardous waste, and repackaging them as “dietary supplements” can be extremely profitable.

Indeed, this is not the first time in American history that such a hoax has been perpetrated on the public. The FDA-approved use of fluoride in our drinking water and the use of radioactive cobalt-60 culled from nuclear reactors for the IRRADIATION of conventional food illustrates how industrial waste products with known toxicity are eventually converted into commodities or technologies “beneficial to health.” Whereas initially these substances have very high disposal costs for the industries that excrete them into our environment, the liability is converted — through the right combination of lobbying, miseducation and “checkbook science” –- back into a commodity, with the environment and consumer suffering health and financial losses as a result.

Unfortunately, inorganic forms of selenium are not the only problem with mass-market vitamins. Take the multivitamin Centrum, for instance, whose manufacturer Wyeth is one of the most powerful pharmaceutical companies in the world. This vitamin contains the following chemicals:

Chemical: Amount Found in Centrum/ EPA Maximum Allowed Limit in 1 Liter of Drinking Water

1) Sodium selenite : 55 mcg/ 50 mcg

2) Nickelous sulfate: 5 mcg/ 100 mcg

3) Stannous chloride (tin): 10 mcg/ 4 mcg

4) Ferrous fumarate (iron): 18 mg/ .3 mg

5) Manganese sulfate: 2.3 mg/ .05 mg

6) Cupric sulfate: .5 mg/ 1.3 mg

In the left hand column above you will see the quantities of inorganic minerals found within each dose of Centrum. In the right hand column are the maximum quantity allowed by the EPA in one liter of drinking water. In the case of stannous chloride (tin), ferrous fumarate (iron) and manganese sulfate there are significantly higher doses in Centrum than are considered safe for human consumption in a liter of water. Although the others listed are at levels well under the EPA’s allowable limit, it is simply amazing that they are found in a product for human consumption at any quantity given their known toxicity.

So, if these chemicals are toxic, how can they be marketed as beneficial to our health?

As of today no law forbids the use of these substances in dietary supplements, despite laboratory research demonstrating their toxicity in animals, and epidemiological and occupational data demonstrating their actual or potential toxicity in humans. This is due to the widespread acceptance in the U.S. of a chemical and drug industry-friendly “weight of evidence” standard for toxicological risk assessment. Rather than using the “precautionary principle,” which dictates that a substance that is suspected of being harmful should be duly regulated in order to minimize the public’s exposure, the “weight of evidence” paradigm requires that a panel of government appointed experts must evaluate all available toxicological data, and must come up with a consensus that the evidence, unequivocally, demonstrates the substance in question poses a serious health risk. Until such an assessment can be made, a number of substances with obvious toxicity are “innocent until proven guilty” and can be portrayed by irresponsible and/or uneducated manufacturers as being beneficial to human health. It is sad and ironic that at a time when smaller dietary supplement manufacturers are being accused of being “unregulated” and having poor quality standards (even when they are incurring great costs by using vastly superior ingredients) that massive pharmaceutical companies, who have every resource at their disposal, are allowed to market toxic chemicals to consumers under the banner of USP (United States Pharmacopeia) or “pharmaceutical grade” quality, and get away with it.

Ultimately, we need to use common sense in our purchasing decisions and realize that sometimes companies will intentionally mislead the public—with the complicity of regulatory bodies like the FDA—and will advertise a product that has no health benefits; or worse, may actually detract from our health. The fact that Centrum may or may not be “the #1 doctor multivitamin brand” is irrelevant, considering that one does not ordinarily go to a doctor to seek wise counsel on nutrition. It is simply not their specialty.

The irony is that billions of dollars in health care cost —and the suffering these costs represent— could be saved every year if Americans took the simple step of taking a good multivitamin every day. It is advisable to look for product manufacturers that use high quality ingredients, including those from whole foods, as they are easier for our bodies to absorb and to utilize and therefore contribute more significantly to filling the voids in our diet.

Sub-Arachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH)

2011-09-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

by J. Michael Pece

I am recovering from a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage. What is a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage you ask? Its when a blood vessel underneath the skull and the membrane and the brain ruptures. Thus leading to bleeding in the brain . Bleeding in the brain can destroy brain tissue causing a variety of problems for the patient.

Mine occurred August 4, 20011. I was walking around my front yard, near an ditch, in the early morning when suddenly I fell unconscious and hit my head, apparently on a rock. I do not remember the incident. It was during a heat wave, here where we live, and the temperature was around 110 degrees. I lay unconscious for about three hours in the blazing sun, until a neighbor, who lives about 1/4 mile away noticed our dogs were loose and in his workshop. Since we never let our dogs loose, he immediately came over to see why they were loose. He found the front door opened and a man separated from our yard by a 10 foot fence screaming for him to help me. He then found me lying on the top of the ditch unconscious and bleeding from the back of the head.

My neighbor called 911 and soon the EMT's and the fire truck were on the scene attending me. Thank God for neighbors.

I was taken to the nearest hospital and immediately had a CT scan done. It showed bleeding in the brain. I was still unconscious and had no idea what was going on, I've only been told later. My wife was called by the EMT's at work and she immediately came to the Hospital ER to see me. The Emergency Department doctors tried to stop the bleeding and stabilized me, but could not. They then told my wife that I would need to go to a hospital which treated brain hemorrhages and had a Neurosurgical team on board.

An ambulance was called and I was taken to another hospital renown for their neurological department and actually was where I had gone as an outpatient for 2 1/2 years after my previous traumatic brain injury.They took and MRI and CT scan and saw the bleeding and began working to stop the bleeding. The choice was to use a coagulating drug to try and stop it or do surgery. They tried the drug first. I became conscious enough that I could tell the doctors that my head hurt tremendously.
And they began giving me morphine and when that did not work they gave me a combination of painkillers which immediately knocked me out again.my wife went home to tend to the dogs after the doctors told he they wouldn't know anything until early morning.

The next morning my wife called the hospital at 6:30 am, and was told by the nursing staff that the bleeding had been stopped by the drugs, but I was still unconscious.
I have absolutely no recollection of August 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th. On the fifth day I began to remember consciousness. On the sixth day the hospital sent me to an in-house
rehabilitation clinic. There I underwent Occupational therapy (how to dress,, brush your teeth, comb your hair, etc), Speech therapy, and physical therapy.

My main lasting effect was dizziness. I was extremely dizzy.After an brain hemorrhage after effects can be things such as dizziness, loss of speech, loss of movement, headaches, loss of memory, and loss of self. Luckily I just suffered from dizziness, loss of memory and difficulty speaking certain polysyllable words. I left rehab with a walker to help me get around and a shower chair for taking showers without falling.

This week I went to the Neurosurgeon for my 6 week follow up and he said my most recent CT scan did not show any bleeding and he felt relatively sure that the chances of a re-occurrence was as close to zero as possible provided I did not fall and hit my head again.

Today my speech is almost back to normal, my dizziness is getting better as time goes on, and I have no head aches. I was lucky.

I was lucky the first hospital was only 10 minutes away and they recognized they could not help me besides stabilizing me, and transferring me to the best Neurological Hospital in the city where we live. I was lucky a neighbor found me when he did or I would have died of exposure to the heat, I was lucky that I was transferred to the best Neurological hospital in our city, I was lucky I will have no lasting effects from this brain hemorrhage. For all of this I am thankful. Most of all I am lucky to be married to such a wonderful wife who nursed me back to health and cautioned me against doing "too much" or doing the wrong things.

Having a brain bleed is nothing to be shy about. Signs are headache, stiff neck, confusion, inability to speak, inability to walk and total confusion. If you ever have these symptoms get help at a hospital immediately. In my case having a brain hemorrhage caused by a head trauma there is a 46 - 75% chance of permanent vegetative state, or mental deficits or death. Luckily I was in that 25% that recover.

If you want to learn more about Sub-arachnoid Hemorrhage or other brain bleed strokes Google PubMed,WebMD, or Medscape and learn about this potentially deadly experience.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup Propaganda

2011-09-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

By Dr. Alan R. Gaby

I received a packet of glossy brochures and a small booklet the other day from the Corn Refiners Association, along with a Dear Doctor cover letter. The purpose of the mailing was to explain to me, the doctor, that much of the negative press surrounding high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) lacks scientific merit, and that this "versatile sweetener" is pretty much the same as sucrose.

The cover letter started off comically enough: "Because you are a trusted source of information about nutrition . . . ", like nobody knows that medical doctors are considered so uninformed and so biased regarding nutrition that nearly three-quarters of patients won’t even tell their doctor what nutrients and herbs they are taking.

But, flattery is like a foot in the door, so I read on. The letter was signed by the president of the Corn Refiner’s Association and also by a cardiologist/professor with a university affiliation. The letter did not disclose the cardiologist’s conflicts of interest, but a Medline Search revealed that he has received research funding and consulting fees from PepsiCo, one of the biggest users of HFCS in the world.

The main point of the information packet was that HFCS is nutritionally the same as sucrose (table sugar). Emphasizing that point was considered so important that it was stated at least 17 times in the mailing.

As discussed below, HFCS and sucrose are not the same, which might be why so much effort was made to convince doctors otherwise. As a corollary to the main point, the packet sought to dispel the "myth" that "sugar is healthier than HFCS." The use of the word "healthier" is particularly amusing, since almost no one on the planet considers sugar to be a health food.

A more appropriate framing of the argument would have been to claim that HFCS is no more likely to give you diabetes, make you fat, raise your triglyceride and uric acid levels, cause nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or give you stomach aches and diarrhea than sucrose is. While there is a great deal of research that contradicts such claims (as discussed, for example, in my review article on the adverse effects of dietary fructose), at least those would have been claims that could have been debated honestly.

The Corn Refiner’s Association argues that HFCS and sucrose are pretty much the same, because they both consist of about 50% fructose and 50% glucose.

In actuality, HFCS consists of 55% fructose and 42% glucose, while sucrose consists of 100% sucrose (which can be converted by intestinal enzymes to 50% fructose and 50% glucose). The difference in the relative proportions of fructose and glucose in these two sweeteners (1.31:1 versus 1:1) may not be insignificant. Fructose malabsorption is a common cause of gastrointestinal symptoms that mimic irritable bowel syndrome.

Fructose malabsorption tends to occur primarily when the fructose concentration of a meal exceeds that of glucose, because glucose enhances the intestinal absorption of fructose. HFCS, which contains fructose in excess of glucose, is more likely to cause gastrointestinal symptoms than is sucrose, which is converted to equal parts fructose and glucose.

The fact that HFCS consists mainly of two monosaccharides, while sucrose is a disaccharide, may also not be insignificant. In order to be absorbed as its constituent monosaccharides, sucrose must first be hydrolyzed by intestinal mucosal disaccharidase enzymes. Thus, the absorption of fructose from sucrose might be considerably slower than the absorption of the free fructose present in HFCS. That possibility is supported by studies in which serum fructose concentrations increased to a greater extent after feeding free fructose than after feeding the same amount of fructose in the form of sucrose.

Fructose is the most powerful reducing sugar of all of the edible sugars. Reducing sugars promote the glycosylation of tissue proteins, which is a factor both in the complications of diabetes and in the aging process.

The human body has elaborate mechanisms to prevent serum fructose concentrations from rising to any great extent, but these mechanisms can be overwhelmed by feeding large quantities of free fructose. Exposure to the large amounts of free fructose that are currently being consumed is unprecedented in human evolution, and there is no reason to believe that humans are equipped to handle this new stressor.

There are still significant gaps in our knowledge regarding the consequences of consuming large amounts of free fructose. According to my reading of the scientific literature, the effects of HFCS are somewhere between slightly worse than the effects of sucrose and seriously horrible.

Alan R. Gaby, M.D., is an internationally recognized authority on nutritional therapies. Dr. Gaby has recently completed a 30-year project, a textbook of Nutritional Medicine.

Dr. Gaby received his undergraduate degree from Yale University, his M.S. in biochemistry from Emory University, and his M.D. from the University of Maryland. He is a contributing medical editor for Alternative Medicine Review. Dr. Gaby was a professor of nutrition at Bastyr University in Washington.

Could zinc be a cure for the common cold? Taking supplements could shorten illness length by 40 per cent

2011-07-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

By Jenny Hope

It is medicine’s holy grail, eluding doctors and scientists for centuries.

But remarkably, the cure for the common cold could be no more complicated than a mineral supplement.

Taking high doses of zinc can cut the length of colds by almost half, according to research. The evidence emerged from the combined results of 13 trials which tested the ability of zinc lozenges, which dissolve in the mouth and are widely available, to fight off colds.

But zinc supplements could help shorten the symptoms of the common cold

Three of the studies showed taking daily doses of zinc acetate higher than 75 milligrams – seven times more than is generally recommended – as soon as symptoms began, shortened colds by an average of 42 per cent.

Five others, using other types of zinc salt at doses greater than 75mg, resulted in a 20 per cent reduction. But five studies of doses lower than 75mg showed no benefit at all.

Zinc supplements can cause side effects such as a bad taste in the mouth, stomach upsets and nausea in some people. But the researchers found no evidence that the lozenges caused any long-term harm. In the EU, the recommended daily dose of zinc is 10mg for adults.

Zinc supplements: The mineral's health benefits have long been known, but its effects on the common cold have not been clear until now.

Zinc is important for the immune system and eating too little in the diet is known to increase the risk of infection. The latest findings confirm research at Cardiff University’s Common Cold Centre into whether non-medical remedies are effective.

These studies also showed zinc may shorten the duration of symptoms. More than 200 viruses are capable of causing the common cold, which is why it is almost impossible to gain complete immunity.

Colds strike an average of 930,000 Britons on any day in winter. People typically suffer at least 200 colds over their a lifetime – amounting to around two to three years of coughing and sneezing.

The idea that zinc lozenges might be effective against colds stems from an accidental observation in the early 1980s. Doctors saw that the cold of a three-year-old girl with leukaemia vanished when she dissolved a zinc tablet in her mouth.

Since then a number of studies have looked at zinc’s effects on colds, with inconclusive results.
Pugh

The latest findings, reported in the Open Respiratory Medicine Journal, point to mixed results caused by hugely different doses in the previous studies. The researchers, led by Dr Harri Hemila, of the University of Helsinki in Finland, wrote: ‘Many trials with daily zinc doses of over 75mg have found significant reduction in the duration of colds.

‘Since a large proportion of participants remained without adverse effects, zinc lozenges might be useful as a treatment option for the common cold. More research is needed to find optimal compositions and treatment strategies.’

Zinc deficiency is very common, with less than half of Britain’s population eating even half the recommended daily allowance.

It is not stored in the body, although can be found in tissue and bones. It aids the immune system, helps wounds heal, is important for proper taste and smell, and vital for male fertility. It may slow sight loss caused by age-related macular degeneration.

Rich sources include shellfish, lamb, liver, steak, pumpkin seeds and whole grains.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2018987/Common-cold-cure-Zinc-supplements-shorten-illness-length-40.html#ixzz1TL3eBsDv

Walnuts Are Drugs, Says FDA

2011-07-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Written by Michael Tennant
Thursday, 21 July 2011 10:10

Seen any walnuts in your medicine cabinet lately? According to the Food and Drug Administration, that is precisely where you should find them. Because Diamond Foods made truthful claims about the health benefits of consuming walnuts that the FDA didn’t approve, it sent the company a letter declaring, “Your walnut products are drugs” — and “new drugs” at that — and, therefore, “they may not legally be marketed … in the United States without an approved new drug application.” The agency even threatened Diamond with “seizure” if it failed to comply.

Diamond’s transgression was to make “financial investments to educate the public and supply them with walnuts,” as William Faloon of Life Extension magazine put it. On its website and packaging, the company stated that the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts have been shown to have certain health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and some types of cancer. These claims, Faloon notes, are well supported by scientific research: “Life Extension has published 57 articles that describe the health benefits of walnuts”; and “The US National Library of Medicine database contains no fewer than 35 peer-reviewed published papers supporting a claim that ingesting walnuts improves vascular health and may reduce heart attack risk.”

This evidence was apparently not good enough for the FDA, which told Diamond that its walnuts were “misbranded” because the “product bears health claims that are not authorized by the FDA.”

The FDA’s letter continues: “We have determined that your walnut products are promoted for conditions that cause them to be drugs because these products are intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease.” Furthermore, the products are also “misbranded” because they “are offered for conditions that are not amenable to self-diagnosis and treatment by individuals who are not medical practitioners; therefore, adequate directions for use cannot be written so that a layperson can use these drugs safely for their intended purposes.” Who knew you had to have directions to eat walnuts?

“The FDA’s language,” Faloon writes, “resembles that of an out-of-control police state where tyranny [reigns] over rationality.” He adds:

This kind of bureaucratic tyranny sends a strong signal to the food industry not to innovate in a way that informs the public about foods that protect against disease. While consumers increasingly reach for healthier dietary choices, the federal government wants to deny food companies the ability to convey findings from scientific studies about their products.

Walnuts aren’t the only food whose health benefits the FDA has tried to suppress. Producers of pomegranate juice and green tea, among others, have felt the bureaucrats’ wrath whenever they have suggested that their products are good for people.

Meanwhile, Faloon points out, foods that have little to no redeeming value are advertised endlessly, often with dubious health claims attached. For example, Frito-Lay is permitted to make all kinds of claims about its fat-laden, fried products, including that Lay’s potato chips are “heart healthy.” Faloon concludes that “the FDA obviously does not want the public to discover that they can reduce their risk of age-related disease by consuming healthy foods. They prefer consumers only learn about mass-marketed garbage foods that shorten life span by increasing degenerative disease risk.”

Faloon thinks he knows why this is the case. First, by stifling competition from makers of more healthful alternatives, junk food manufacturers, who he says “heavily lobb[y]” the federal government for favorable treatment, will rake in ever greater profits. Second, by making it less likely that Americans will consume healthful foods, big pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers stand to gain by selling more “expensive cardiac drugs, stents, and coronary bypass procedures” to those made ill by their diets.

But people are starting to fight back against the FDA’s tactics. “The makers of pomegranate juice, for example, have sued the FTC for censoring their First Amendment right to communicate scientific information to the public,” Faloon reports. Congress is also getting into the act with a bill, the Free Speech About Science Act (H.R. 1364), that, Faloon writes, “protects basic free speech rights, ends censorship of science, and enables the natural health products community to share peer-reviewed scientific findings with the public.”

Of course, if the Constitution were being followed as intended, none of this would be necessary. The FDA would not exist; but if it did, as a creation of Congress it would have no power to censor any speech whatsoever. If companies are making false claims about their products, the market will quickly punish them for it, and genuine fraud can be handled through the courts. In the absence of a government agency supposedly guaranteeing the safety of their food and drugs and the truthfulness of producers’ claims, consumers would become more discerning, as indeed they already are becoming despite the FDA’s attempts to prevent the dissemination of scientific research. Besides, as Faloon observed, “If anyone still thinks that federal agencies like the FDA protect the public, this proclamation that healthy foods are illegal drugs exposes the government’s sordid charade.”

Today is My Birthday

2011-07-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday. I was born under the sign of Leo. Today I am sixty years of age. My seventh decade of life. Some days I feel like I'm in my thirties some days I feel like I'm in my seventies.

But I'm thankful to be alive at sixty.

I've learned much in my sixty years and want to give back as much as I can to others.

This past year has been especially tough for me. My father passed away at age 84, last July 1st. I was hospitalized for my blood sugar being out of control in January, for Pulmonary embolisms, last July, and diverticulitis in December/ January of this year. Each of which took something out of me.

My father lived a full life and taught me much, both good and not so good. But each with it's own lesson to be learned.

My illnesses made me wiser, and to appreciate how fragile our health really is.

I am re-dedicating myself to try and teach what I have learned and to listen to learn from others. To learn to appreciate what life offers us in all of its glory.
To see the beauty in the world and the people around us and to listen in the quietness of life to God as he whispers his words to live by.

Yes today is my birthday. I will use this day as a new beginning to love life, to appreciate more, to complain less, too see more, to feel more and to live more.

The Whole Wheat Hoax

2011-07-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

By Jim Healthy on 07/22/2011

Is whole wheat bread more healthful than white bread?

The vast majority of shoppers — including those with a high "health IQ" — think so. And that’s just what food marketers want you to believe. But the truth may knock you for a loop.

You see, many “whole wheat” products are just as bad as white bread — and some are even worse.

Keep reading and I’ll blow away the smoke that may be clouding your eyes so you can “hokum-proof” your whole grain purchases and bring home the real McCoy.

Why whole grains are better for you

True whole grain foods and products are bursting with nutty, chewy flavor and loaded with health-protective fiber. They’re so much better for you than the familiar white bread and white flour baked goods most of us grew up with.

Did you realize that munching white bread and foods baked from it have the same effect on your blood sugar as eating table sugar straight from the sugar bowl? Both break down into glucose as soon as they are digested, which requires extra insulin to get them out of your bloodstream.

Whole-grain bread, on the other hand, digests far more slowly because its natural fiber slows the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose, so your blood sugar remains stable and receives a steady energy release instead of a sudden spike-and-drop.

In a study published in Diabetes Care, Italian researchers noted that diets high in refined carbs throw blood sugar and metabolism into chaos. But the problem is resolved when refined carb foods are swapped out for whole grain.

Improve your blood sugar by 600%

Researchers at the Creighton Diabetes Center in Nebraska found that when people ate a breakfast cereal made from fiber-rich barley, their blood sugar remained 600% lower than when they ate oatmeal — which is thought to be one of the best "slow carbs" you can eat. Reason? Barley is high in a particular type of fiber called beta-glucan that’s super-effective at slowing the conversion of carbs to glucose.

Consuming too many refined carbohydrates is the number one cause of weight gain and Type 2 diabetes. And with a whopping 30% of the US population predicted to develop diabetes very soon, everyone should take steps to protect themselves.

Choosing whole grain foods and products can really help. In fact, you can reduce your diabetes risk by 40% just by replacing some of the fast carbs in your diet with whole grains, a recent Harvard study showed. And if you’re already experiencing blood sugar problems, whole grain foods are some of the best medicine in Nature’s pantry.

But how can you make sure the “whole grain” products you’re buying are the genuine article? It isn’t always easy. Let me illustrate…

Can you ace this quiz?

Three shoppers walk into a grocery store looking for the most healthful bread.

One sees a loaf labeled “Whole Wheat Bread” and drops it in her cart.

The second shopper spots a loaf of “Multigrain Bread” and heads to the checkout register.

The third shopper picks a loaf of bread that’s “Made with whole grains” and decides she’s made a smart choice.

So which shopper left the store with the truly healthy loaf?

The answer: None of the above.

This isn’t a trick question. Rather, it illustrates the trickiness of food marketers who intentionally create confusion about what’s healthful in your supermarket.

Take it with “a grain of truth”

You see, food manufacturers are well aware you want to make healthier choices when shopping. They also know that white bread is falling out of favor with consumers.

But the economics of the supermarket haven’t changed. It’s still very expensive to put a true whole-grain loaf of bread on the shelf. Why? It spoils much faster than baked goods made with white flour. Here’s why…

Whole-grain products use the whole grain, including the germ, bran, and the oil. These elements are where the vitamins, minerals, and life-sustaining nutrition reside — and also what attract insects during transport and storage. By spoiling so quickly on the shelf, whole-grain baked goods require frequent replacement.

This was a big problem for millers and bakers in the old days until they came up a solution: Refine away these “problem” aspects and: “Voila!” The flour and bread resisted spoiling. Insects and weevils didn’t bother with them. Even mice weren’t interested because they couldn’t live on them.

This bizarre effect was demonstrated by Dr. Roger J. Williams, the noted biochemist who discovered pantothenic acid (vitamin B5). In late 1960s, Dr. Williams fed white flour to one group of rats and whole-grain flour to another. The white flour rats became malnourished, sickly, and two-thirds of them died, while the whole-grain rats flourished.

Good for profits; bad for health

Refining whole grains into white flour removes 80% of their 20 known nutrients. And while baked goods made from white flour won’t sustain health or life, they do stick around on grocery shelves longer. This makes them great for profits, but a poor source of nutrition.

After Dr. Williams’ rat experiment made headlines, consumers began to shun white bread in favor of loaves made from whole grains. Food manufacturers sniffed the trend and responded by adding brown coloring and a little bran to white flour and labeling the resulting bread “whole wheat.”

To this day, many consumers remain confused. But commercial bakers couldn’t fool Dr. Williams’ rats. In a follow-up experiment, he fed 33 different brands of refined-flour bread — including rye, pumpernickel, and ersatz “whole wheat” — to another group of rats. They didn’t fare any better than the white bread group.

Don’t fall for the “health food hype”

Some food marketers seek to profit from health trends by making a quick buck from confused consumers. So here’s how to crack the “code words” they use on the labels of bread and baked goods. When they say their bread is…

“Whole wheat bread.” Translation: This bread’s flour may or may not be made from whole grain wheat. Don’t rely on the product name. Look at the ingredients list. If the first ingredient is whole wheat flour, that means the flour is legally required to be ground from whole grains of wheat. It’s not refined or enriched. It’s the good stuff.

If the ingredient is listed simply as wheat flour or flour, then it’s refined flour, according to the standard of identity for flour — and refined flour has been denuded of its nutritional benefits. Refined white flour may have brown food coloring and a bit of bran added to make it appear healthful.

If the ingredient is listed as enriched flour, the bran and germ have been removed and other nutrients have been added, but it’s not anywhere near as healthful as true whole wheat flour.

“Multigrain.” Translation: This means there’s more than one type of grain in the product, but this is no guarantee that any of those grains are in fact “whole.”

“Made with whole grain.” Translation: There’s an insignificant amount of whole grains in the product, but they want you to believe it’s enough to be an actual health benefit. It usually isn’t.

Whole-grain shopping savvy

Here are some helpful tips when shopping for whole grain products…

Choose bread and other products labeled “whole grain.” Even better: Look for products labeled “100% whole grain.” We love Ezekiel bread products made by Food for Life. You’ll often find them in the freezer section because they are indeed a “whole” food.

Search the packaging for the “100% Whole Grain” stamp from the Whole Grains Council.

But be careful: Products emblazoned with the Whole Grain Council’s “basic” stamp only provide half a serving of whole grains, so pass them by.

Why not go “whole” hog?

While you’re tracking down the superior health benefits of whole grains in the bread aisle, why not go “whole grain” throughout the entire store?

You can easily incorporate whole grains at any (or every) meal to improve your blood sugar … control your weight … and improve your cardiovascular health.

Enjoy old favorites such as oats, barley, and brown rice often — and don’t hesitate to experiment with adventurous “new” whole-grain foods. For starters:

Quinoa is a complete protein.
Teff is gluten-free, and high in fiber.
Amaranth is high in iron.
Farro has twice the fiber and protein of whole wheat.
Millet is high in manganese, magnesium and phosphorus.

They all cook up in water just like oatmeal, and each one offers unique nutritional benefits. The variety of whole grains is so great that you may need a lifetime to get to know them all. But my guess is that you’ll love them at first bite.

For convenience, cook up a large batch of whole grains and freeze portions individually for later use.

The “whole” truth — and nothing but

One thing you can count on: As soon as American consumers change their illin’ ways and decide to eat more healthfully, some huckster will always figure out a way to make a buck off shoppers’ best intentions.

By remembering the key concepts explained above, you can outsmart these marketeers and bring home whole grain goodness time and again.

Happy shopping — and eating!

14 facts about the brain

2010-04-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Your body contains at least 60 trillion cells. Yet your brain contains 'only' 60 billion cells, just 0.001% of the total. Proof that the 'mind' isn't just inside your skull.

Each cell carries, on average 7000 connections to other cells. Therefore the number of cell networks in the brain is 42 thousand billion, or 42,000,000000,000 pieces of information your brain can, store.

Yet your brain only weighs 3 pounds and uses just 10-23 watts of energy per day. That is less than the energy in three bananas.

Each year you will lose about 3.3 million brain cells. But that is less than 0.00000006% of the total. And nearly all of it is replaced, right on up until old age.

There is no truth in the myth that we only use 10% of brain power. The entire brain is being used every day, even if some areas of the brain are there only for storage or for back-up functions.

Super memory. The brain is capable of storing 10 trillion bits of information about you and your life experiences.

The brain can make its own 'heroin'. Endorphins are released in the Hypothalamus after vigorous physical exercise, injury, meditation, laughter and chocolate. Endorphins are up to 19 times stronger than morphine. By contrast, heroin is only 7 times stronger than morphine.

Being happy is good for the brain. Happy states trigger dopamine release, a feel-good chemical. Personal fulfillment increases neuroplasticity, slows down aging and improves memory.

Why is adolescence so difficult? One main reason is that, between puberty and early adulthood, the brain is being rebuilt. There is massive growth in the pre-frontal cortex (Headmind); connections between cell networks are being hard-wired (making emotional life-lessons more intense); and there is a temporary loss of connection between the brain's emotional centres (the limbic system) and the intellectual centers - which means that teenagers lack the capacity to make good decisions.

New experiences are vital for improved brain function. Getting out of the rut and going for new horizons increases cell growth, delays aging and improves cell connectivity. The same goes when you let go of the past and exercise forgiveness.

Binge-eating. Emotional self-neglect can lead to food cravings and over-eating. So-called stress triggers an increase in Cortisol in the blood stream, which stimulates Insulin release. High insulin levels are associated with a craving for sugary foods and foods high in carbohydrates.

Regular sex (at least twice a week) improves daily moods, reduces pain thresholds, cuts the risk of a heart attack, decreases menstrual pain and promotes sleep. This is because enjoyable sex fosters high endorphin release.

Love and sex can be addictive. Falling in love, like sexual infatuation) is similar to taking cocaine: the hypothalamus triggers a cascade of dopamine. One problem is that, once the dopamine wears off, a 'down-mood' sets in, leading to further cravings.

The brain also contains a bonding chemical: Oxytocin. During labour, female brains produce large amounts of oxytocin, which stimulates contractions and smooths the passage of the baby down the birth canal. Oxytocin also creates a primal, intense bond with the child. Adults in love (or during ecstatic sex) also release high levels of oxytocin.

Posted by John Eaton on April 18, 2010 at 06:50 PM in Addictions, Aging, Brain, Cellular memories, Happiness, Health, Psychology, The Brain | Permalink

How Scientific Is Modern Medicine Really?

2010-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

by Dana Ullman
Expert in homeopathic medicine

Doctors today commonly assert that they practice "scientific medicine," and patients think that the medical treatments they receive are "scientifically proven." However, this ideal is a dream, not reality, and a clever and profitable marketing ruse, not fact.

The British Medical Journal's "Clinical Evidence" analyzed common medical treatments to evaluate which are supported by sufficient reliable evidence (BMJ, 2007). They reviewed approximately 2,500 treatments and found:

• 13 percent were found to be beneficial

• 23 percent were likely to be beneficial 13 percent were found to be beneficial

• Eight percent were as likely to be harmful as beneficial

• Six percent were unlikely to be beneficial

• Four percent were likely to be harmful or ineffective.

• 46 percent were unknown whether they were efficacious or harmful

In the late 1970s, the US government conducted a similar evaluation and found a strikingly similar result. They found that only 10 percent to 20 percent of medical treatment had evidence of efficacy (Office of Technology Assessment, 1978).

Doctors like to point to the "impressive" efficacy of their treatments in real serious diseases, like cancer, and doctors (and drug companies) are emphatic about asserting that anyone or any company that says (or even suggests) that they have a treatment that might help people with cancer are "quacks." However, do they maintain this same standard when evaluating their own treatments? Even a recent issue of Newsweek highlighted the fact that "We Fought Cancer, and Cancer Won" (Begley, 2010). Despite the truly massive amounts of money that doctors, hospitals and drug companies are effectively extracting from patients, employers, insurance companies and governments, we are certainly not getting our money's worth.

Even when there is "proven efficacy of treatment" in studies, the bigger question is how common is this proven efficacy utilized in medical care today? Be prepared to be shocked.

"Quackery" is commonly defined as the use of unproven treatments by individuals or companies who claim fantastic results and who charge large sums of money. Although modern physicians may point their collective finger at various "alternative" or "natural" treatment modalities as examples of quackery, it is conventional medical treatments today that are out-of-this-world expensive, and despite real questionable efficacy of their treatments, doctors give patients the guise of "science."

I certainly realize that many of us have benefited greatly from modern medicine, but I also realize that many of us have been hurt greatly from it too. The challenge for all of us is to determine how can we make modern medicine more "scientific," more effective and more safe. I have previously made clear that my own point of view on this subject is that we must develop a more "integrative model" of medicine and healing and that we should utilize various Naturopathic and homeopathic methods as a way to honor the Hippocratic tradition of "First, do no harm."

Sadly, however, it seems that too few doctors understand or respect this Hippocratic dictum.

Today in America, every man, woman, and child is prescribed around 13 prescription drugs per year (and this doesn't count the many over-the-counter drugs that doctors prescribe and that patients take on their own) (Kaiser, 2006). Just 12 years earlier, Americans were on average prescribed less than eight drugs per person, a 62 percent increase! The fact of the matter is that drugs are not tested for approval in conjunction with other drugs, and the safety and efficacy of the use of multiple drugs together remains totally unknown.

This practice of "polypharmacy" is increasing substantially, and Big Pharma is pushing it hard and benefiting from it in a big big way.

According to a 2008 nationwide survey, 29 percent of Americans used at least five prescription medications concurrently (Qato, Alexander, Conti, 2008), while just three years previously, 17 percent took three or more prescription drugs (Medscape, 2005). Even conservative publications such as Scientific American can no longer deny the increasing serious problems from pharmaceuticals. A recent article highlighted the fact that there has been a 65 percent increase in drug overdoses leading to hospitalization or death just in the past seven years (Harmon, 2010).

Are Our Children and Elders Safe? Not at all.

We all want drugs given to infants to be as safe as possible, but mothers and fathers will be surprised and perhaps shocked to know that very few drugs are ever tested on infants. A 2007 study of over 350,000 children found that a shocking 78.7 percent of children in hospitals are prescribed drugs that the FDA has not even approved for use in children (Shah, Hall, Goodman, et al, 2007). If this isn't shocking enough, a survey in England found that 90 percent of infants were prescribed drugs that were not tested for safety or efficacy in infants (Conroy, McIntyre, Choonara, 1999).

There is almost a 350 percent increase in adverse drug reactions in children prescribed an off-label drug than children who were prescribed a drug that had been tested for safety and efficacy (Horen, Montastruc, and Lapeyre-mestre, 2002). Doctors are committing "medical child abuse" on a regular basis (I wrote a more detailed article about this subject, here).

An even stronger case can be made for the epidemic of "elder medical abuse" due to the much larger number of drugs prescribed to and for our senior citizens. It is no wonder that so many of them have become mental zombies, while Big Pharma profits big time and insurance companies simply raise their rates.

If we were living a lot longer and the quality of our lives was improved by medical care, one could make a case for why today's medical care is providing more benefits than problems, but this is simply not true.

Although we are commonly told that we are living longer than ever now, this is simply a clever, even tricky, use of statistics. The fact of the matter is that there has been a considerable reduction in deaths during the first five years of life ... and this reduction in deaths has resulted primarily from a medicinal agent called "soap," not from the use of any specific conventional pharmaceutical agent.

Ultimately, an American who was 40 years old in 1900 and an American who was 40 years old in 2000 has a similar chance of living to 80 years old today.

Big Pharma, Big Bucks, and the Guise of Science

Adherents of conventional medicine have consistently asserted that its methods are scientifically verified, and they have ridiculed other methods that are suggested to have therapeutic or curative effects. In fact, conventional physicians have consistently worked to disallow competitors, even viciously attacking those in their own profession who have questioned conventional treatments or provided alternative modalities. More recently, medical organizations simply work with insurance companies to help them determine what should and shouldn't get reimbursed, a clever way to kill competition bloodlessly.

And yet, strangely enough, whatever has been in vogue in conventional medicine in one decade has been declared ineffective, dangerous and sometimes barbaric in the ensuing decades. Surprisingly, despite this pattern in history, proponents and defenders of "scientific medicine" tend to have little or no humility, continually asserting that today's cure is truly effective ... and in any case, strongly asserting that any "alternatives" to this ever-changing treatment are quackery, sheer quackery, whether they know anything about these alternative treatment modalities or not.

The good news about conventional medicine and one of its remarkable features for which it should be honored is its history of consistently and repeatedly disproving its own treatments. The fact that only a handful of conventional drugs have survived 30 or more years is strong testament to the fact that conventional medicine is honorable enough to acknowledge its mistakes. But then again, because drug patents only last for a certain limited period of time, there are real substantial benefits when drugs have a relatively short lifespan. Big Pharma can charge big money during this time-frame, and then, let go of it when it goes off-patent, at which time a new, high-priced drug is conveniently developed to replace it. Like the fashion industry, medical fashion changes with rapidity, supporting a powerful economic arms race.

In 2002, the combined profits ($35.9 billion) of the 10 largest drug companies in the Fortune 500 were more than the combined profits ($33.7 billion) of the remaining 490 companies together (Angell, 2004, 11).

The only reason these drug companies did not maintain this shocking financial advantage is that the oil companies' profits have increased considerably with the Iraq War, thus raising the 490 non-drug companies' profits slightly higher. But then again, one would assume that the profits of 490 of the largest companies in the world would be substantially more than just 10 companies in one commercial field.

This economic information is important, even essential, because learning how to separate the "science" of medicine from the business of medicine has never been more difficult. The combined efforts of the drug companies and the medical profession, which together may be called the "medical-industrial complex," have been wonderfully effective in convincing consumers worldwide that modern medicine is the most scientific discipline that has ever existed.

Physicians today rarely run drug companies. Instead, businessmen run them. It is, therefore, not surprising that Marcia Angell, MD, a Harvard professor of medicine and former editor of the famed New England Journal of Medicine, wrote:

Over the past two decades the pharmaceutical industry has moved very far from its original high purpose of discovering and producing useful new drugs ... Now primarily a marketing machine to sell drugs of dubious benefit, this industry uses its wealth and power to co-opt every institution that might stand in its way, including the US Congress, the FDA, academic medical centers, and the medical profession itself. (Levi, 2006)

There is big big money to be made in drug sales, and brilliant marketing has led too many of us to ignore or excuse this bully side of medicine.

The New York Times recently uncovered the fact that Pfizer admitted to paying $20 million in the last six months of 2009 alone to 4,500 doctors to "consultation" and to speak on their behalf (and this doesn't include payments to doctors outside of the US) (Duff, 2010). It seems to be time to stop calling them "drug companies" and call them "drug pushers."

Yes, a gorilla is in the house, but anyone who refers to him as a gorilla is usually called a quack or a crank. This gorilla was not born yesterday; he has been growing for generations. A part of his self-defense propensities is to eliminate competing forces, whether the other side seeks cooperation or not. Any competitive force is frequently and soundly attacked.

The history of homeopathy shows this dark side of medicine. From 1860 to the early 20th century, the AMA had a consultation clause in its code of ethics that members were not allowed to consult with a medical doctor who practiced homeopathy and weren't even allowed to treat a homeopath's patients. At a time in medical history when doctors bloodlet their patients to death and regularly prescribed mercury and various caustic agents to sick people, the only action that the AMA considered reprehensible and actionable was the "crime" of consulting with a homeopath.

In fact, the entire Medical Society of New York was kicked out of the AMA in 1881 simply because this state's medical organization admitted into its membership any medical doctors who utilized homeopathic medicines, no matter what their academic credentials were. They only rejoined the AMA 25 years later (Walsh, 1907, 207).

This King Kong, however, is not a monster to everyone. In fact, this big gorilla is wonderfully generous to executives, to large sales and marketing forces, to supportive politicians and to the media from whom he buys substantial amounts of advertising (and thus, an incredible amount of positive media coverage). And this gorilla is wonderfully generous to stockholders. While it may seem inappropriate to criticize profits, it is important and appropriate to do so when profits are unbelievably excessive, when long-term efficacy hasn't stood the test of time, and when common use of more than one drug at a time is rarely if ever scientifically tested for efficacy.

Although these observations just mentioned may seem harsh and offensive to some people, they are made with the concurrent acknowledgment that most of us know someone whose life was saved or at least whose health was significantly restored by conventional medical treatments. I myself am the son of a fabulous father who was a physician and insulin-dependent diabetic. In other words, I would not be alive today if it were not for some important conventional medical discoveries such as insulin.

We should not "throw the baby out with the bathwater," nor do we want to ignore the bathwater in which we place our babies. Most of us also know someone whose health has been seriously hurt, or whose life was cut short, by modern medical treatments.

Drug companies defend their large profits by asserting that they spend tremendous amounts of money on research and development, but they tend to hide the fact that they spend approximately three times more money on marketing and administration. And the obscenely high profits of the drug companies take into account all known expenses. Ultimately, drug companies are wonderfully creative in convincing us all that their drug treatments are "scientific," and too many of us actually believe them.

It is therefore important to understand what is truly meant when drug companies and the media assert that drugs are "scientifically proven."(to be discussed in PART II)

(NOTE: This article focuses on the issue of the amount of "science" in medical care today. I predict that many commenters below will choose to attack me or the subject of homeopathy, even though THIS is not the subject of this article. I sincerely hope that commenters will stick to the subject at hand. For those of you who wish to comment on homeopathic medicine research, I urge you to do so at articles on that subject.)

References
Angell, M. The Truth about Drug Companies. New York: Random House, 2004. This fact is extremely startling, but the source is reputable: Marcia Angell, MD, is former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Begley, Sharon. "We Fought Cancer, and Cancer Won," Newsweek, September 15, 2008. http://www.newsweek.com/id/157548

BMJ, 2007. http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/about/index.jsp; http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/about/knowledge.jsp

Conroy S, McIntyre J, Choonara I. Unlicensed and off label drug use in neonates. Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition 1999;80:F142-F145. doi:10.1136/fn.80.2.F142

Consumer Reports, "High Anxiety." January 1993, 19-24.

Darwin, F. (ed.). The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1903.

Dima M. Qato; G. Caleb Alexander; Rena M. Conti; Michael Johnson; Phil Schumm; Stacy Tessler Lindau. "Use of Prescription and Over-the-counter Medications and Dietary Supplements Among Older Adults in the United States." JAMA. 2008;300(24):2867-2878. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/300/24/2867

Horen B, Montastruc JL, and Lapeyre-mestre M. "Adverse drug reactions and off-label drug use in paediatric outpatients." Br J Clin Pharmacol. 54(6); Dec 2002, 665-670. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2125.2002.t01-3-01689.x.

Harmon K. Prescription Drug Deaths Increase Dramatically, Scientific American. April 6, 2010. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=prescription-drug-deaths

Kaiser Family Foundation, Prescription Drug Trends, June 2006. http://www.kff.org/rxdrugs/upload/3057-05.pdf

InfoPlease.com. www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004393.html, 2007.

"Levi, R. Science Is for Sale," Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 2006, 30:4, 44-46.

Medscape, More Americans Take Prescription Medication. May 3, 2005.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/500164

Office of Technology Assessment, 1978. http://www.fas.org/ota/reports/7805.pdf

"Roberts, W. H. Orthodoxy vs. homeopathy: Ironic developments following the Flexner Report at the Ohio State University," Bulletin on the History of Medicine, Spring 1986, 60:1, 73-87.

Shah SS, Hall M, Goodman DM, et al. "Off-label Drug Use in Hospitalized Children." Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161(3):282-290.

Walsh, J. J. History of the Medical Society of the State of New York. New York: Medical Society of the State of New York, 1907.

Wilson, Duff. Pfizer Gets Details on Payments to Doctors, New York Times, March 31, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01payments.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Dana Ullman, MPH, is America's leading spokesperson for homeopathy and is the founder of www.homeopathic.com. He is the author of 10 books, including his bestseller, Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines. His most recent book is, The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy. Dana lives, practices, and writes from Berkeley, California.

Vitamin D Supplementation Associated With Reduced Cardiovascular Risk

2010-04-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

There is a simple blood test which your doctor can order for you to determine your Vitamin D level. Have this done and if your levels are lower than the range, then supplement with Vitamin D-3 under the guidance of your doctor, preferably a Naturopathic doctor who understands supplementation.
Dr. Mike

By Walter Alexander

ATLANTA -- March 22, 2010 -- Vitamin D supplementation should be considered for individuals with deficient levels, based on evidence that normalising those levels reduces cardiovascular risk, researchers said here at the 59th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).

Joseph Muhlestein, MD, Intermountain Medical Center, Murray, Utah, and colleagues analysed data from 27,686 Utah residents who were followed for an average of 1.3 years. Data showed that patients with very low levels of vitamin D were 77% more likely to die, 45% more likely to develop coronary artery disease, and 78% more likely to have a stroke, as compared with individuals with normal vitamin D levels.

To test for causality, Dr. Muhlestein evaluated data from 9,491 of these patients with low initial vitamin D levels and with at least 1 recorded follow-up level. A total of 4,507 (47% of individuals) increased their vitamin D level to >30 ng/mL.

An adjusted Cox regression analysis tested for association between last follow-up vitamin D levels and death, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction (MI), congestive heart failure (CHF), stroke, and renal failure.

Significant differences in coronary artery disease (P = .04), heart failure (P = .04), and renal failure (P = .0001) were found when patients with very low vitamin D levels (10-19 ng/mL; n = 1,256) were compared with those with higher levels (>= 44 ng/ml ; n = 1,670). A strong trend towards increased death was also revealed (P = .06).

"Our data suggest that normalising deficient vitamin D levels is associated with reduced cardiovascular risk and suggest confirmation through clinical trials," said Dr. Muhlestein.

He noted further that a randomised National Institutes of Health primary prevention trial is ongoing with subjects receiving 2000 IU/day of vitamin D. He cautioned in an interview, however, that sometimes patients who are deficient need up to 5000 IU/day to normalise their vitamin D levels.

[Presentation title: Supplementing Deficient Vitamin D Levels is Associated with Reduced Cardiovascular Risk]

My 10 Favorite Supplements

2010-04-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

As a doctor there are certain supplements which I find to be especially beneficial for people. These are not supplements which treat all conditions or just one condition. These are supplements which I find to be especially valuable in maintaining health. Of course there are other supplements which are extremely valuable in treating various conditions and I do not mean, by not having them on this list, that they are not of value. It's just that for the patients I've seen, these seems to be most helpful.

Some of these you may not have heard of, but I suggest you find out about them and see if they need to be worked into your supplement schedule.

So here goes: My 10 Favorite Supplements.

1.Reduced Glutathione: Glutathione is a sulfur bearing amino acid which is invaluable in protecting, detoxing the liver. The liver detoxes the liver in Phase 1 and Phase 2. Without going into too many details, Phase 2 is the final detoxification step the liver takes and there are six pathways it uses to remove toxins from the body. Each pathway uses a different molecule to activate the pathway. The most important pathway is the Glutathione pathway. This pathway detoxes up to 60 % of all toxins. It detoxes alcohol, chemicals and bacteria and if you do not consume enough Glutathione from fruits and vegetables, the Pathway will fail to operate efficiently and you will become toxic. You can take Glutathione orally, by injection or by IV. Orally you absorb about 25% of the dose, so you must take a high enough dose for it to work. I suggest 200mg a day. It must be "reduced glutathione" or it will not work. Look on the label and make sure it says "reduced". This is a critical supplement for anyone who drinks alcohol, has hepatitis B or C, or is overly toxic and wants to detoxify. Very important.

2.Alpha Lipoic Acid: ALA is very important as it is both water soluble and fat soluble. This means it is easily absorbed and can build up some level in your fat cells for use later. It is essential for detoxifying and protecting the liver. It is used in Germany as a prescription medication for use in diabetic neuropathy. It can be used with Glutathione to help with liver conditions, especially Hepatitis C. The only negative is after taking it your urine will have a unique smell like "maple syrup". This means it has been absorbed and is being used. I recommend 600 mg a day for most people, but have had patients on as much as 3,000 mg a day, depending on their condition. It is very safe and very useful.

3.Calcium - D- Glucurate. This is another supplement which helps the liver in Phase 2 detoxification. Cal.-D-Glucurate provides glucuronic acid for the Glucuronidation Pathway (one of the six Phase 2 pathways). It detoxifies excess estrogen. Many women have too much estrogen which leads to menstruation problems, fibrocystic breasts and sometimes breast cancer. Female sex hormones (Estrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone) all need to be in certain ratios at different times of their menstrual cycles. Often estrogen becomes too high, screws up the ratio and problems occur. Calcium D-Glucurate will provide the necessary glucuronic acid for the Glucuronidation Pathway to be able to break down estrogen so the ratio's are better balanced. I recommend 500 mg three times a day if this is something you need.

4.Garlic: Ah, yes, the old stand by...Garlic. My father swears by its miracle healing powers. Garlic can act as an antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, lower blood pressure, help strengthen the cardiovascular system, lower cholesterol, and keep vampires away. There is almost nothing this wonderful herb cannot do. It is recommended to use the odorless kind such as Kyolic, or someone will accuse you of drinking alcohol and trying to hide the smell under garlic (this happened to me one time) and follow directions on the bottle for dosage as different dosages are used for different conditions.

5.Andrographis: I discovered this wonderful herb accidentally while using it in Chinese Medicine. It is unparalleled in fighting off colds and flu. When you first get symptoms, start taking andrographis three times a day for the first two days. Generally the cold or flu is stopped in it's tracks. I've never seen anything like it. We try to keep some around the house for good measure. There are other things it can do, but I use it solely for colds and flu.

6. Curcumin: Curcumin comes from the Indian spice Turmeric. It is an orange supplement with many excellent attributes. First it protects the liver. Including protection from cancer of the liver. If you have hepatitis, cirrhosis, toxic liver, curcumin is definitely for you. Studies are showing it can be used for other types of cancer also. It is a powerful anti-oxidant and will protect the body from the ravages of free radicals. It is an anti-inflammatory as effective as Prednisone only without the side effects which Prednisone brings along with it. It helps with digestion and with its anti-inflammatory properties can be used for colitis. Crohns disease and other bowel diseases. Lupus, Sjogrens disease, Fibromyalgia, RA, OA basically any inflammatory disease will benefit from this herb. It is an excellent supplement to keep in the house.

7.Reveratrol: Comes from red grapes and a few other plants, but more and more is learn frequently of this miracle supplement. It is anti-aging, anti-cancer, strengthens the body and mind and for immune suppressed people it can help improve the immune system. It will also decrease the "bad" cholesterol (VLDL VDL) and INCREASE the good cholesterol (HDL). It is an immune modulator. I had a patient with major depression, severe type 1 diabetes, hormonal dysfunction whom I placed on resveratrol and she swore it helped her in all areas and made life a little more worth living. It can be used for many conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions, fibromyalgia and mental issues, amongst others.

8.Milk Thistle. My old favorite and stand by is Milk Thistle. It helped save my wife's life when she came down with auto-immune hepatitis. It help her liver function again. It is the only known herb or medicine than has been proven to help the liver grow new hepatocytes (regrow liver cells). It is also helpful for kidney health. It should be used by anyone with liver problems...whether by alcohol abuse, drug usage, hepatitis, toxicity, auto-immune problems with the liver. It is a miracle herb. You can also grow it in your yard, eat the leaves in a salad, and after it flower collect the seeds and grid them up and place in oatmeal, grits or salads. Save some for replanting, though.

9. Melatonin: This is a hormone which is naturally produced in the Pineal glad (located in the brain) which is used to regulate your circadian rhythm (your sleep- wake cycle). If you suffer from insomnia it is a wonderful way to go to sleep without drugs such as Ambien. It also will reset your biological clock when you travel through various time-zones on business or vacation. It is known to help in high doses with cancer, with ITP (low blood platelets), and other medical conditions. But for just sleep it is safe, not habit forming and reliable. You will not wake up groggy the next morning.

10. Vitamin D: Vitamin D is not really a vitamin. It is a pro-hormone which means it is converted into a hormone with powerful actions. New studies show it will fight off the flu and colds (it was recommended for people to take when the swine flu threatened the universe this year). It is anti-cancer and can be used in cancer therapies, it helps with asthma, osteoporosis (it helps get calcium into the bone), protects the skin from sun damage, improves cardiovascular health and as it is being studied more and more benefits are being found out about this pro-hormone. Make sure to use the Vitamin D3 and not Vitamin D1 or 2.

So this is my list of my 10 favorite supplements, some are minerals, some vitamins, some herbs, some hormone but all exceedingly important to good health. If you are curious about these, simply Google these to find out more information. MY goal was to get your attention to these, your job is to do the leg work.

Best of Health.

Dr. Mike

Artificial pancreas works in 11 patients: study

2010-04-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO
Wed Apr 14, 2010 2:55pm EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A test run of an "artificial pancreas" that monitors blood sugar and delivers both insulin and regulatory hormone called glucagon helped patients achieve near-normal blood sugar levels for more than 24 hours, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Health

The system -- made up of a glucose monitor, two pumps and a laptop -- is designed to better mimic the body's natural mechanism of controlling both high and low blood sugar.

In previous tests of artificial pancreas systems that deliver only insulin, some patients have developed dangerously low blood sugar, known as hypoglycemia.

Adding small doses of glucagon, a hormone released by the pancreas to raise blood sugar levels, helped overcome this, according to the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

After some adjustments to a sophisticated computer program that acts as the brain of the system, all 11 adults in the study had good blood sugar control without experiencing hypoglycemia, even after eating three high-carbohydrate meals.

"This is the first artificial pancreas device that has used both insulin and glucagon," said Dr. Steven Russell of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who helped lead the study.

The finding is the latest in what has become a race to develop a fully functioning artificial pancreas that can give patients with type 1 diabetes an automated way to control their blood sugar.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys its own ability to make insulin, rendering sufferers unable to properly break down sugar. People with the condition must frequently monitor and take insulin to regulate blood sugar and prevent diabetic complications such as eye damage, kidney failure and heart disease.

Devices like continuous glucose monitors, such as those made by Medtronic or Abbott Laboratories, that constantly track blood sugar and pumps that inject insulin help, but patients still risk hypoglycemia.

That is where glucagon comes in, Russell said. In people with type 1 diabetes, glucagon does not work properly. Building this into the system helps balance out both the highs and the lows of blood sugar control.

SURPRISE FINDINGS

The system was developed in the lab of Edward Damiano, a biomedical engineer at Boston University whose son David developed type 1 diabetes when he was a year old.

Damiano's team developed the brains of the device, the computer program that constantly analyzes blood sugar and calculates when diabetics need a dose of insulin or glucagon.

Initial tests of the system revealed a surprise. While the computer program was based on recommended doses of the fast-acting insulin Humalog, made by Eli Lilly and Co, they discovered that many diabetics in their study process insulin much more slowly than expected.

Tweaks to the computer program fixed the problem but the issue demonstrates the complexities of treating diabetes.

In February, British researchers tested a similar system on 17 children and found it kept their blood sugar levels within the normal range for 60 percent of the time.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has teamed up with Johnson & Johnson's unit Animas, which makes insulin pumps, and DexCom Inc, which makes continuous glucose monitoring devices, to develop and test an artificial pancreas system.

Generation 'could die before their parents' as avoidable health complaints soar

2010-04-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

I had written an article last year about the baby boomers were going to die younger than their parent and for many reasons. We were the first generation to begin getting so many vaccines (which decreases your immune system, we were the first generation who's food were laced with pesticides, herbicides, chemicals, artificial flavorings , we were the first generation raised with microwave ovens for cooking our foods, the air is dirtier, the water almost undrinkable, and scientists keep playing around with various man-made virus's and bacteria to make weapons of mass destruction. I will wager that the average baby boomer will die 10 years before the age their parents died. All you have to do is check the obituary section of your newspaper and see how many people in their 40's and 50's are dying of cancer, heart attacks, and chronic diseases, etc.

Now the British Medical System is saying the children of Britain will be dieing even earlier for various reasons.

We are the only animal on earth who will soil their own bed and wallow in it. It is no wonder life expectancy is dropping and will dive over the next decade.

Read the article and learn and if you so choose go back and read my original article.

Dr. Mike

By Daily Mail Reporter

Today's children could die at a younger age than their parents as preventable diseases reach epidemic levels, the UK's leading hospitals warned today.

Doctors from Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital said the number of avoidable health complaints such as obesity and tooth decay were booming.

As a result they were spending an increasing amount of time dealing with avoidable conditions.
tooth decay

Around £1m and hundreds of hours are being spent each year on treating health complaints such as obesity and tooth decay

Dr Steve Ryan, medical director at Alder Hey, said: 'It just shouldn't be happening.

'These children should not be suffering from these problems and they should not be here at this hospital.

'People are starting to say maybe this is a generation where children will be dying before their parents.'

Alder Hey is one of Europe's biggest childrens hospitals, providing care for more than 200,000 children each year.

One of the areas most affected is the dental department. More than half of the 1,000 dental operations carried out each year are on children under the age of six.

Research has shown people with gum disease and tooth decay have a higher risk of heart disease.

Meanwhile between 500 to 1,000 children a year end up in hospital because they are exposed to their parents' smoking.

Another report predicted that eight out of 10 men and almost seven in 10 women will be overweight or obese by 2020.

BBC's Panorama programme 'Spoilt Rotten? claims around £1m and hundreds of hours of treatment time are being spent each year treating obesity, tooth decay, alcohol abuse and health complaints associated with passive smoking.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1265600/Generation-die-parents-avoidable-health-complaints-soar.html#ixzz0l5ZmsJfm

Supplements Are Exempted From Codex Language in Food Safety Bill

2010-04-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

What this article means is the US will not follow the Codex Alimentarius which is the law in Europe to regulate over the counter supplements. The theory is that the CA would regulate and standardize all vitamins, minerals, amino acids and supplements for sale in Europe. The idea had been that the US would also join the treaty. The theory sounds like a good idea as it makes sure you are getting what you pay for in the quantity you pay for, but in fact the CA can ban supplements even when it meets all the requirements. It means supplement sales would be regulated by the government. They would decide what supplements you could buy and take that decision completely away from the consumer. This is already happening in Europe.

Many people in the US have been fighting instituting this law here and it looks as if it has been defeated thanks to the Senators Harkin and Hatch. One of the problems Americans still face is unscrupulous manufacturers who take advantage of the self policing our supplement industry does. Many of these unscrupulous manufactures hide behind the pretense of selling by Multi-Level Marketing in which inferior products are sold by Ma and Pa Kettle and who have to buy their multi-level products and then try to sell them to their relatives, only to lose whatever money they invested. Even some OTC supplements are inferior. The consumer must be ever watchful and careful. They must learn about the companies and buy only from respected companies who try very hard to sell a good product. Remember cheaper is not better. Also purchasing your supplements from a Naturopathic Physician is safe because they sell only "Doctors" Brand supplements which absolutely meets high standards and costs about the same.

Read the article and learn about the Codex Alimentarius Act and when it comes up for passage again, perhaps you will be one who stands against it, too.

Dr. Mike

The FDA Food Modernization Act (S. 510), also referred to as the “Food Safety” bill, has been modified to exempt dietary supplements from language that otherwise creates a slippery slope toward U.S. harmonization with Codex Alimentarius. ANH-USA worked to protect the natural health community from this dangerous provision that threatened access to high quality, therapeutic supplement doses by working with key senators to modify the language, now for the second time.

The most worrisome provision of the bill initially required the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) to recommend that U.S. foreign Herbal supplements trading partners harmonize with Codex. This odd language was no doubt very intentional. How could we recommend harmonization to other countries if we rejected it for the U.S.? So in effect we were committing ourselves to a much more restrictive regulatory regime for supplements.

As the Senate moved forward with the Food Safety bill, Senator Harkin (D-IA), committee chair, working closely with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), promised to see what could be done to make absolutely clear this legislation was not intended to impact our access to dietary supplements. At that time, Senator Harkin modified the Codex provision, asking the FDA to consider “whether and how” to recommend U.S. foreign trading partners harmonize. This was a very important change and a tremendous show of support from both Senators, but we were still concerned that the inclusion of Codex language in the bill could be used to support future U.S. harmonization with Codex standards on dietary supplements.

ANH-USA worked with our allies in the Senate over the past several months to include additional language providing stronger protection for supplements. New language has now been added specifically stating, “Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the regulation of dietary supplements.”

The Codex Alimentarius was initially developed to establish international food safety standards and regulate ingredients of food products. However, there is great concern that if the U.S. harmonizes with Codex standards, which are expected to follow Europe’s increasing ban on supplements, our access to supplements will be lost and even our food standards may be compromised. Although ANH-USA considers the new exemption a huge victory, it only applies to dietary supplements. The U.S. is still at risk of harmonization with other Codex food standards.

ANH-USA is especially grateful to Senators Harkin and Hatch for their leadership, continued dedication to the natural health community, and most recently, their show of support protecting our supplements from Codex harmonization. The Senate is expected to take up the Food Safety bill any day now. As the legislative process moves forward we will keep our members up to date on our efforts and where appropriate, we’ll ask for your help to protect supplements from increased government intrusion. The House version of the Food Safety bill, already passed, is especially worrisome. We will continue to make every effort, with your help, to ensure that the House version does not become law.

The Hidden Dangers Of Black Mold

2010-04-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

By Allison Kanaley Trudell
Published February 06, 2008

I have personally just experienced the joy of living in a rental home with black mold. I noticed one of our floors was buckling and called a plumber to check for a water leak under the house and he found four different leaks. The leaks must have been going on for years. A toxic cleanup crew was called in and all the floors and walls were ripped out cleaned with a bleach solution, dried for a week with high intensity heaters and finally put back together. One half of our house was sealed off with barriers to prevent the spread of the mold so we only lived in half of our house. It took two months of construction work to clean up and rebuild the damaged part of the house. The cost was over $13,000. In the meantime our dogs , my wife and I suffered severe allergies, coughing, headaches while the work was going on.

My advice is to stay on top of the condition of your house and called for help as soon as you suspect mold. Black mold is quite dangerous and quite expensive to remove, so the sooner you find it and get help for removing it, the better off you'll be.

I hope you enjoy this article.

Dr. Mike

Black mold - the often invisible, toxigenic substance - can grow inside homes, schools, and the workplace undetected for years and fueled by damp conditions. Exposure to mold increases the risk of health problems such as asthma, allergies, and even depression. According to a 1999 Mayo Clinic Study, nearly all chronic sinus infections sinus infections, which afflict 37 million Americans and are often mistaken for the common cold, are a result of mold exposure. Allergic reactions to molds are not seasonal, and can happen throughout the year. Use the following guide to find out how to spot mold as well as how to determine if your chronic health condition was caused by mold exposure.

Silent, Often Invisible, and Dangerous

Molds are often referred to as black mold, although color and composition vary. Some molds can be seen and touched, even ingested, and that can cause irritation. Generally speaking, mold grows where the air is humid. Most will not cause harm, but in large quantities, or when the conditions are right for the mold to produce toxins, adverse health conditions can result. Mold hides in places like cabinets, basements and crawl spaces, in drywall, and areas with water damage. Bathrooms and kitchens can be breeding ground for mold spores, because of water use and lack of proper ventilation. It may appear as mildew on a shower curtain. Yet some of the most dangerous types of mold are invisible, are airborne and go undetected, thereby lengthening exposure time and causing the most harmful health problems associated with mold.

Toxins can affect the body’s central nervous system as well as the immune system, and molds are in the toxin category. When the body is confronted with toxins, its functions are compromised, specifically those located in the frontal cortexfrontal cortex, where problem-solving, memory, and impulses are controlled.

Black mold - the often invisible, toxigenic substance - can grow inside homes, schools, and the workplace undetected for years and fueled by damp conditions. Exposure to mold increases the risk of health problems such as asthma, allergies, and even depression. According to a 1999 Mayo Clinic Study, nearly all chronic sinus infections sinus infections, which afflict 37 million Americans and are often mistaken for the common cold, are a result of mold exposure. Allergic reactions to molds are not seasonal, and can happen throughout the year. Use the following guide to find out how to spot mold as well as how to determine if your chronic health condition was caused by mold exposure.

Silent, Often Invisible, and Dangerous

Molds are often referred to as black mold, although color and composition vary. Some molds can be seen and touched, even ingested, and that can cause irritation. Generally speaking, mold grows where the air is humid. Most will not cause harm, but in large quantities, or when the conditions are right for the mold to produce toxins, adverse health conditions can result. Mold hides in places like cabinets, basements and crawl spaces, in drywall, and areas with water damage. Bathrooms and kitchens can be breeding ground for mold spores, because of water use and lack of proper ventilation. It may appear as mildew on a shower curtain. Yet some of the most dangerous types of mold are invisible, are airborne and go undetected, thereby lengthening exposure time and causing the most harmful health problems associated with mold.

Toxins can affect the body’s central nervous system as well as the immune system, and molds are in the toxin category. When the body is confronted with toxins, its functions are compromised, specifically those located in the frontal cortex frontal cortex, where problem-solving, memory, and impulses are controlled.

Who Is Affected By Mold?

Some people, simply because of genetic and chemical factors, are more sensitive to mold than others. Small amounts of mold may trigger a reaction in one person, and have no visible effect on another person in the same living space and under the same exposure. Age and general health can also be factors in reactions to mold. The elderly, those with compromised immune systems, those who already suffer from respiratory illnesses, and children may be more affected by mold than a healthy adult.

Physical signs of mold exposure can range from itchy, water eyes to asthma and airway problems. The body reacts to a mold that may not otherwise be toxic by exhibiting allergy-related symptoms, such as an irritated throat, coughing, or a runny nose. For some people, the reaction may be more severe, causing nausea, fatigue, sinus infections or trouble breathing. In more extreme cases, fungus can produce volatile organic compounds, which can affect the central nervous system and cause headaches, dizziness, difficulty concentrating difficulty concentrating and decreased attention span, according to www.toxic-black-mold-info.com. The Environmental Protection Agency also has information on mold and how to combat it and protect yourself and your home.

Documentation of the dangers of mold, the result of studies being undertaken by countries around the world, is pointing toward an increase in the prevalence of the health problems mold can cause, particularly in children.

When a child’s immune system, which is still maturing, is exposed to mold or anti-gensantigens, his or her body may react abnormally, creating problems with development. According to the National Institute of Environmental Sciences extreme exposure can result in death.

The Mold You Breathe

Taking in certain kinds of black mold through the nasal passages could kill cells needed for the body’s sense of smell, according to a 2006 study at Michigan State University’s Center for Integrative Toxicology. Researchers used mice for the study, and found that a toxin from the black mold spores caused damage to the nose and the front part of the brain, where the sense of smell registers.

The toxin found in black mold, also known as Stachybotrys chartarum, also irritated the nasal passages of the mice, which are similar in cell structure cell structure to humans. Since memory is triggered by the human body’s sense of smell, the potential for memory loss as a result of exposure to black mold logically follows.

Several infants died in Ohio in the mid-1990s from lung damage after they were found to be living in homes with high levels of mold. Their bleeding lungs were believed to have been damaged by something toxic in the air of their homes.

Mold May Affect Your Mood

A link between the body’s exposure to mold and depression was the topic of a study released in August 2007 by a research team at Brown University Brown University and published by the American Journal of Public Health.

While the researchers didn’t establish a direct connection between mold and the onset or risk of depression, they did find that people living in damp, moldy homes were more likely to suffer from depression, likely due to the health issues they faced as a result of their exposure to mold (fatigue, cold symptoms), and a mental health aspect: the perception of a lack of control over their housing environment, according to the study.

Methods for Preventing and Dealing With Mold
The best way to arm yourself against the health dangers of black mold is to do a visual inspection of your home (and then your workplace). Your nose may give you the first sign that there is a problem, however. Musty odors are a good sign that there is mold living somewhere.

If you do find mold, clean with a bleach solution and make sure the area is properly ventilated. Install fans in the bathrooms, and repair any pipes that leak. Windows, especially those in older homes, are notorious for mold build-up; the first sign of a problem may be condensation on the glass. Clean kitchen areas and bathrooms occasionally with a bleach solution. Use a humidifier in rooms where the air is moist, especially in the basement. And be sure to change the humidifier’s filter regularly, as mold can build up quickly on a damp surface. Empty the water between uses to prevent mold from building up on the water’s surface.

Black mold - the often invisible, toxigenic substance - can grow inside homes, schools, and the workplace undetected for years and fueled by damp conditions. Exposure to mold increases the risk of health problems such as asthma, allergies, and even depression. According to a 1999 Mayo Clinic Study, nearly all chronic sinus infections, which afflict 37 million Americans and are often mistaken for the common cold, are a result of mold exposure. Allergic reactions to molds are not seasonal, and can happen throughout the year. Use the following guide to find out how to spot mold as well as how to determine if your chronic health condition was caused by mold exposure.

While the researchers didn’t establish a direct connection between mold and the onset or risk of depression, they did find that people living in damp, moldy homes were more likely to suffer from depression, likely due to the health issues they faced as a result of their exposure to mold (fatigue, cold symptoms), and a mental health aspect: the perception of a lack of control over their housing environment, according to the study.

If you do find mold, clean with a bleach solution and make sure the area is properly ventilated. Install fans in the bathrooms, and repair any pipes that leak. Windows, especially those in older homes, are notorious for mold build-up; the first sign of a problem may be condensation on the glass. Clean kitchen areas and bathrooms occasionally with a bleach solution. Use a humidifier in rooms where the air is moist, especially in the basement. And be sure to change the humidifier’s filter regularly, as mold can build up quickly on a damp surface. Empty the water between uses to prevent mold from building up on the water’s surface.
Other places where mold is likely to grow: in areas that have flooded, water pipe leaks, leaky roofs, condensation on walls and ceilings (look for discoloration), windows, rust, peeling paint, tile grout, gutters, and warped wood. Homes with many house plants could be susceptible to mold growth; be careful not to over water. Check the ventilation of home appliances home appliances, such as dryers, which should be vented outside.

Air purification and filtration systems, which can range from reasonably priced to expensive depending on how elaborate the system is, are another option for homeowners and business owners. Central air conditioning with air filtration air filtration attachments are also available.

Mold tests are available at most home improvement stores, and allow for the testing of both air and tangible mold samples. But they may not give the whole story. There are companies who specialize in air quality diagnosis and rehabilitation, but they can be expensive. The Toxic Black Mold Information Center recommends trying to find the source of the mold on your own before taking any further steps.

7 Best Bone-Building Foods

2010-04-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

By Jill Weisenberger, MS, RD, CDE, LifeScript Nutrition Expert
Published February 19, 2009

Women start to lose bone mass in their 30s. But a good diet will lower the risk of a weak skeleton. Here are 7 foods that are great for your main frame. Plus, you can make up for diet deficiencies with supplements.

1. Seeds
Think of bone-building minerals and calcium first comes to mind. Our skeleton is largely made of calcium, but other minerals play a key role too. In fact, 50% of the body’s magnesium resides in our bones. Low levels are linked to fragile bones and calcium loss, research shows.

All seeds are good magnesium sources, but pumpkin seeds outshine the rest.

Here are a few ways to eat seeds:

# Measure a 1-ounce portion to take to work for an afternoon pick-me-up.

# Sprinkle a tablespoon or two onto your mixed green salad.

# Toss some with green beans or sautéed spinach.

2. Nuts
Bones aren’t hard and brittle; they’re living organs with live cells and fluids. Every day, bone cells break down and build up. That’s how they remain strong and heal after a break.

Walnuts – rich in alpha linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid – decrease the rate of bone breakdown and keep bone formation constant, according to a 2007 Nutrition Journal study. Brazil nuts are also great sources of magnesium.

So grab a small handful for a snack or sprinkle a couple tablespoons into your oatmeal. Keep in mind that nuts are high-fat and high-calorie, so limit your daily serving to one ounce – about 1/4 cup. Other foods with alpha linolenic acid include: flaxseed oil, ground flaxseeds, walnut oil, soybeans, soybean oil and canola oil.

3. Oysters
Long touted as an aphrodisiac, the oyster is our best source of zinc, a mineral important in immune function, normal growth, taste, smell, wound healing and dozens of enzymatic reactions in the body. One of those chemical reactions aids in the formation of bone collagen, the protein framework of bones that makes them somewhat flexible.

Enjoy oysters steamed, boiled, baked and in stews. A word caution about raw oysters: They may be contaminated with the bacteria vibrio, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

Women start to lose bone mass in their 30s. But a good diet will lower the risk of a weak skeleton. Here are 7 foods that are great for your main frame. Plus, you can make up for diet deficiencies with supplements, but how much do you know about them? Test yourself with our quiz…

4. Leafy Greens
Make green your new favorite color. Your salads and steamed greens are packed with bone-building nutrients, particularly calcium, magnesium and vitamin K.

Vitamin K is critical in forming bone proteins and cuts calcium loss in urine. Too little of this fat-soluble vitamin increases risk of hip fractures, research shows.

Just one cup of raw or a half-cup of cooked greens provides several times the recommended intake of 90 micrograms per day. Here are a few ways to sneak some extra greens in today:

# Add lettuce to your sandwiches. Even iceberg has vitamin K.

# Slip spinach leaves between layers of noodles in homemade lasagna.

# Start your dinner with a salad of spinach or mixed greens.

# Try dandelion greens or Swiss chard for dinner.

5. Beans
Have beans for supper tonight, especially pinto, black, white and kidney beans. You’ll get another good boost of magnesium and even some calcium. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends at least 2-1/2 cups of beans and other legumes (peas, lentils) weekly.

Bean-eaters reduce their risk of cancer, heart disease and obesity. Problem is, most people don’t know what to do with them. Here are a few ideas:

# At the beginning of the week, open and rinse a can of beans, and store them in your refrigerator. Each night, toss a heaping spoonful into your mixed green salad.

# Top nachos with red beans.

# Mix any canned bean into vegetable soups.

# Add black beans or kidney beans to pasta salads.

# Instead of coleslaw or potato salad, take a bean salad to your next potluck supper.

6. Fish
When it comes to bones, calcium is nothing without vitamin D, which we need so our bodies can absorb calcium. As with vitamin K, vitamin D deficiency also is linked to hip fracture. In fact, 50% of women with osteoporosis who were hospitalized for hip fracture had signs of vitamin D deficiency, according to a scientific review by the American Medical Association.

The best fish? Salmon. A small serving of salmon – only 3-1/2 ounces – gives you 90% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin D. If you want a double-whammy of bone-building nutrients, don’t just look to fresh fish. Canned salmon provides vitamin D and calcium… as long as you eat the bones. (Don’t worry, they’re soft.)

7. Dairy
Many of us forget about milk once we outgrow crazy straws and strawberry powder, but bones don’t stop developing in our teens. We add bone mass even in our 20s, but only if we consume enough of the nutritional elements.

Once we reach menopause and begin to lose estrogen, our bones lose calcium more rapidly than at any other time in our lives. Here again, calcium and vitamin D can help delay the loss of bone mass.

More Dos and Don’ts for Strong Bones

Do eat fruits and veggies. You’ve been told this over and over, but it’s worth repeating. Higher consumption means greater bone mineral density. Researchers can’t say why, but fruits and vegetables are loaded with an array of nutrients that build strong bones.

Do exercise. Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Weight-bearing exercises like running, dancing and lifting weights stress your bones in a good way. This signals your body to make more bone cells.

Don’t drink too much. Alcohol can inhibit the formation of new bone cells.

Women start to lose bone mass in their 30s. But a good diet will lower the risk of a weak skeleton. Here are 7 foods that are great for your main frame. Plus, you can make up for diet deficiencies with supplements, but how much do you know about them?

The Great Medical Waste: PSA Testing

2010-04-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

Times Topics: Prostate Gland

EACH year some 30 million American men undergo testing for prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme made by the prostate. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1994, the P.S.A. test is the most commonly used tool for detecting prostate cancer.

The test’s popularity has led to a hugely expensive public health disaster. It’s an issue I am painfully familiar with — I discovered P.S.A. in 1970. As Congress searches for ways to cut costs in our health care system, a significant savings could come from changing the way the antigen is used to screen for prostate cancer.

Americans spend an enormous amount testing for prostate cancer. The annual bill for P.S.A. screening is at least $3 billion, with much of it paid for by Medicare and the Veterans Administration.

Prostate cancer may get a lot of press, but consider the numbers: American men have a 16 percent lifetime chance of receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer, but only a 3 percent chance of dying from it. That’s because the majority of prostate cancers grow slowly. In other words, men lucky enough to reach old age are much more likely to die with prostate cancer than to die of it.

Even then, the test is hardly more effective than a coin toss. As I’ve been trying to make clear for many years now, P.S.A. testing can’t detect prostate cancer and, more important, it can’t distinguish between the two types of prostate cancer — the one that will kill you and the one that won’t.

Instead, the test simply reveals how much of the prostate antigen a man has in his blood. Infections, over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen, and benign swelling of the prostate can all elevate a man’s P.S.A. levels, but none of these factors signals cancer. Men with low readings might still harbor dangerous cancers, while those with high readings might be completely healthy.

In approving the procedure, the Food and Drug Administration relied heavily on a study that showed testing could detect 3.8 percent of prostate cancers, which was a better rate than the standard method, a digital rectal exam.

Still, 3.8 percent is a small number. Nevertheless, especially in the early days of screening, men with a reading over four nanograms per milliliter were sent for painful prostate biopsies. If the biopsy showed any signs of cancer, the patient was almost always pushed into surgery, intensive radiation or other damaging treatments.

The medical community is slowly turning against P.S.A. screening. Last year, The New England Journal of Medicine published results from the two largest studies of the screening procedure, one in Europe and one in the United States. The results from the American study show that over a period of 7 to 10 years, screening did not reduce the death rate in men 55 and over.

The European study showed a small decline in death rates, but also found that 48 men would need to be treated to save one life. That’s 47 men who, in all likelihood, can no longer function sexually or stay out of the bathroom for long.

Numerous early screening proponents, including Thomas Stamey, a well-known Stanford University urologist, have come out against routine testing; last month, the American Cancer Society urged more caution in using the test. The American College of Preventive Medicine also concluded that there was insufficient evidence to recommend routine screening.

So why is it still used? Because drug companies continue peddling the tests and advocacy groups push “prostate cancer awareness” by encouraging men to get screened. Shamefully, the American Urological Association still recommends screening, while the National Cancer Institute is vague on the issue, stating that the evidence is unclear.

The federal panel empowered to evaluate cancer screening tests, the Preventive Services Task Force, recently recommended against P.S.A. screening for men aged 75 or older. But the group has still not made a recommendation either way for younger men.

Prostate-specific antigen testing does have a place. After treatment for prostate cancer, for instance, a rapidly rising score indicates a return of the disease. And men with a family history of prostate cancer should probably get tested regularly. If their score starts skyrocketing, it could mean cancer.

But these uses are limited. Testing should absolutely not be deployed to screen the entire population of men over the age of 50, the outcome pushed by those who stand to profit.

I never dreamed that my discovery four decades ago would lead to such a profit-driven public health disaster. The medical community must confront reality and stop the inappropriate use of P.S.A. screening. Doing so would save billions of dollars and rescue millions of men from unnecessary, debilitating treatments.

Richard J. Ablin is a research professor of immunobiology and pathology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the president of the Robert Benjamin Ablin Foundation for Cancer Research.

What Are They Spraying Us With?

2010-04-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

I have been following the chemtrail issue since 1996 when it first became noticeable in Arizona. Some days the sky is simply full of widening chemical spray that eventually turns a clear, sunny day into an overcast day. I have written about this previously. This was an excellent article I found and wanted to publish it to get the information out to as many people as I can.

Folks LOOK UP! What you are seeing is NOT contrails they are chemicals being sprayed by the government for whatever reason which they will not tell us. The two main chemicals are aluminum and barium. If you go get your hair tested for toxic chemicals you will most likely find that you are high in aluminum and barium. That is not coincidence, it is from the aerial assault we endure day after day with no explanation from the government. Write your Congress critter and your Senator and demand answers. But most of all...LOOK UP and see for yourself.

Dr. Mike

By Michael J. Murphy
4-11-10

What would you do if you were told that toxic substances being sprayed into the sky are falling to the ground and decimating eco-systems around the world? This very claim, made by concerned citizens outside the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting last month in San Diego, sparked my interest to investigate further.

The AAAS meeting hosted several top geo-engineering scientists who gathered to discuss the "plausibility" of implementing various geo-engineering programs throughout the world. One of the options addressed was the stratospheric aerosol geo-engineering (SAG) , AKA chemtrail program, where scientists discussed the "plausibility" of spraying aerosol aluminum, barium and other particles into the sky to block the sun as a means to "reduce" the Earth's temperature. When asked specifically about the potential risks associated with using aluminum in the program as an aerosol, scientists replied by stating that they have not studied much about the risks associated with aluminum and added that something terrible could be found tomorrow that they haven't looked at. When probed further about the deployment of existing aerosol programs, the scientists stated that no aerosol spraying programs have been deployed to date.

The concerned citizens I met outside the meeting were claiming quite the opposite. They came in protest after witnessing airplanes that they believe are regularly spraying aerosols into the upper-part of the sky. Many from this group have tested and found extremely high levels of aluminum, barium and other substances in their soil, rain, water and snow. Ironically, the substances that they reported finding are the same substances the scientists are "considering" implementing in the various aerosol spraying programs discussed at the meeting. They also believe that these substances are leading to the destruction of eco-systems and are coming from already deployed SAG programs. Due to the severity of this issue and my desire to know the truth, I was led to Shasta County in the Northern part of California to investigate not only the claims of what is being reported in the sky, but also claims of what is in the rain, water, snow and soil from what many residents are saying is the result of SAG programs.

The first stop on this trip led me to Dane Wigington's beautiful 2000 acre property overlooking Lake Shasta. As we toured his breath-taking land, he pointed to multiple trails that blanketed the sky. He claimed the trails are present on most days above Northern California. Wigington referred to this as a "moderate spraying day". Like many other residents in Shasta County, Wigington moved to the area to get away from the heavy pollution of Southern California that he grew up with as a child. His dreams of living off the land and becoming one with nature are now coming to a grinding halt as he is focusing his time and energy on the issue of geo-engineering.

Wigington became concerned about SAG when he began to notice dramatic changes in the solar power that he uses to supply his home and property. Owner of one of the largest residential solar systems in Northern California, he began to notice very high declines in solar power. It can be decreased by as much as 60 percent on what he calls "heavy spraying days". Wigington said, "The trails are literally blocking the sun". He also went on to say that he regularly samples the fine dust layers on top of his solar panels and other outdoor surface areas and frequently finds very high levels of aluminum and barium. Wigington believes that these are a product of SAG programs.

At the same time as finding decreased solar power, Wigington also began to witness dramatic changes on his property as the trees, grass, insects and wildlife started dying. This led him to get his first rain test just four years ago. The results were shocking as they found aluminum levels at 7 ug/l or 7 parts per billion. Although aluminum can be found around the world in smaller quantities, geo-hydrologists told him that this number was quite high. Since that time, he has had aluminum tests escalate as high as 50,000 percent to 3,400ug/l. That is literally toxic rain. These results prompted him to get additional pH tests from two USDA soil scientists which yielded more shocking results. The pH of the soil was 6.6 in one area and 7.4 in another. This is over 11 times the normal alkalinity of the soil which should be in the range of 5.0 to 5.5. It is important to note the tests were taken in the forest far removed from any highway or industry.

When asked what these changes can do to the ecosystem, Wigington replied by saying that it is devastating. He went on to say, "if this continues, we can only expect to see things get much worse. Not only are we seeing our trees dying here, but also a major decline in our wildlife and fish". As a matter of fact, Wigington stated that according to The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the salmon run, once seen in abundance in this area has declined from 769,868 in 2002 to 39,530 in 2009. That is over a 90 percent decline. Amazingly enough, this decline started occurring about the same period of time when residents began to see a dramatic increase in what they believe to be SAG programs. Wigington's efforts to get these issues and test results addressed has been largely ignored by government agencies and officials.

After a closer look at Wigington's property, my initial awe of the beauty and breath taking views led to sadness, frustration and anger over the contamination that is literally destroying the eco-system. This led me to investigate further by seeking an expert in biology. I packed up the car and headed north to the breathtaking town of Mt. Shasta. Mt. Shasta has been known for its beauty, clean air and as being the source of water for some bottled water companies. Many travel from around the world to mountain climb and vacation in this beautiful part of Western America.

Francis Mangels, BS in Forestry, Masters in zoology and a retired soil conservationist and wildlife biologist who worked for the U.S. Forest Service for over thirty five years, welcomed me into his beautiful home in the town of Mt. Shasta to discuss the "hidden" crisis that is occurring. Mangels alerted me to the rapid decline of fish in the nearby rivers and streams. Mangels brought me to a nearby creek that had an abundant supply of fish just a few years ago. Because the primary diet of the fish in the creek is aquatic insects, he performed a standard sample method to measure the amount of insects present. The samples he had performed before the alleged aerosol spraying campaign had yielded an average of 1000 aquatic insects. Our sample yielded only 31. This is over a 96% decline from samples taken just a few years ago. Mangels stated that because the fish live off of the insects, they are literally starving. This rapid decline is likely due to changes in the chemistry of the water. The only changes that Mangels is aware of are the dramatic increases of aluminum, barium and strontium which he believes is from SAG programs.

We also took time to test the pH of nearby soil and snow which contained over 10 times the alkalinity of the normal pH. Mangels has evidence that this drastic change in pH is also due to the massive increases of aluminum. He stated that forests, fields and farm ecologies thrive in acidic soils. Aluminum acts as a buffer that increases alkalinity and can decimate ecologies in large amounts. Mangels also pointed out that snow on Mt. Shasta was tested and sent to theEnvironmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) who found results that contained 61,100 ug/l or parts per billion of aluminum and 83 ug/l of barium. The normal amount of aluminum in the snow at Mt. Shasta is 0.5 ug/l. Drinking water allowable is 50ug/l. That means that the snow on Mt. Shasta has tested at 1200 times more poisonous than water standards allow for aluminum. Mangels said, "Mountain climbers that come from around the world are drinking the poisonous water from the snow on the mountain". Mangels went on to say that government action is required at just 1000 ug/l of detected aluminum. Although he alerted several government agencies of these findings, no governmental action has been taken to date.

Mengels brought me to several other locations around the town of Mt. Shasta where he tested the soil, rain, water and snow that also yielded tests that revealed the pH to be over ten times the normal alkalinity. He went on to say that these types of changes in soil, water and snow are very uncommon except in other areas around the world where people have been witnessing what many believe to be spraying from SAG programs. Mengels also stated that these changes have produced an "ecological crisis" and will have horrible consequences if continued. Mengels said, "Losses to our economy will be incredible and are on their way as we speak. Tree growth will be decreased which will result in the loss of logging jobs. It is also causing the decline of naturally occurring plant and grass growth that occurs in the normally acidic soils of grazing pastures, resulting in the demise of our grazing industry, fishing industry, and worst of all, basic agriculture in Northern California."

What is amazing is that these tests and many others throughout the world are largely being ignored by the very governmental entities that are required to address them. Some politicians, like Mt. Shasta City Council member Ed Valenzuela may choose to ignore the issue. Valenzuela was made aware of the mass contamination at a city council meeting where he stated that the city did not want to sample the water for aluminum because the request was a "can of worms" that would, "open a Pandora's box" that the city would have to pay for. Although several local citizens volunteered to pay the $22.00 cost of the test at an EPA lab, both Republican Committee Chairman Russ Porterfield, and Valenzuela voted no to having the water tested. The mayor Stearns wanted the test, but was overruled by a 3-2 vote. This response is not uncommon as Mengels has presented this issue and his scientific data to over 15 local and federal agencies including Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer's office. To date he has received no response or action.

Is it a coincidence that the substances found in the rain, snow and soil in this region and around the world match the exact substances that scientists are "considering" implementing in various geo-engineering campaigns throughout the world? If not, then why have agencies and officials largely ignored these findings that are destroying our planet's eco-system? Could it be that officials are fearful of exposing a massive cover-up of a world-wide ecological crime? Or is it the belief that this issue is simply too large and too complicated a problem for them to tackle? Whatever the reason for this ignorance, we need to demand that our questions and shocking test results get addressed not only in Shasta County, but in every part of the world. Our future on this planet is dependent on this issue being addressed.

Because this movement has come under attack from those who appear to be protecting the many political and corporate interests associated with SAG, it is essential that all of us around the world get involved by testing the rain, snow, soil and various outdoor surfaces and reporting the results to our elected officials and local environmental agencies. We must also reach out and educate all those involved with SAG who might be unaware of the environmental implications associated with their programs. Testing for pH changes and metals is simple and can be performed almost anywhere at a nominal price.

Simple testing instructions and more information about geo-engineering programs can be found on the internet at www. geoengineeringwatch.org. Biologist Francis Mengels can be contacted by e-mail at bioguy0311@sbcglobal.net for more information on this issue, the tests he has performed and suggestions on testing procedures. Please take action by testing, reporting and demanding answers on this ever so important issue. Both nature and humanity depend on it. For more information, please contact me at whtagft@hotmail.com or visit my blog: http://truthmediaproductions.blogsot.com.

Diabetes epidemic threatens cardiovascular disease gains

2010-04-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

The March, 2006 issue of the journal Diabetes published the finding of researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University of a large increase in the number of diabetes-related deaths and illnesses in New York City, including a significant rise in heart attacks among diabetics. This trend could threaten the decrease in cardiovascular disease and related deaths this country has experienced over the past few decades.

Drs Jing Fang and colleagues examined New York hospitalization and death records for individuals age 35 and older for the periods of 1989 through 1991, and 1999 through 2001. They found that during the intervening decade, mortality from stroke, cancer and all other diseases except diabetes declined, and that mortality from diabetes increased by 61 percent. The percentage of heart attacks among diabetic patients rose from 21 percent to 36 percent with the number of diabetics who suffered heart attacks doubling during this time period. This resulted in the number of heart attacks documented in New York City remaining stable over the period examined in the study. Additionally, days spent in the hospital following a heart attack declined for all but diabetic patients, for which time spent increased by 51 percent.

Senior author Dr Michael Alderman, who is a Medicine professor of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, commented, “Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., and the leading cause of death among people with diabetes is coronary heart disease. We expected to see an increase in hospitalizations due to heart attacks among diabetics, but we were surprised by the magnitude of the increase and the sharply rising trend indicated by these findings.”

Dr Fang, who is currently with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, observed, “Over the past 30 years, the U.S. has achieved dramatic reductions in illnesses and deaths from coronary heart disease. But if this upsurge in diabetes-associated deaths and illnesses continues, it may put an end to the progress we've made in combating illness and death from coronary heart disease."

Protocol

Diabetes

* Lipoic acid protects LDL against oxidation and is beneficial in preventing and treating Syndrome X and diabetic complications such as neuropathy. As little as 150-300 mg daily of lipoic acid may be sufficient in healthy individuals. Diabetics usually take 150-300 mg of alpha-lipoic acid 3 times daily. For the last 30 years, German practitioners have used high doses of lipoic acid to improve insulin sensitivity and diabetic conditions.
* Carnosine interferes with the toxic glycation process, thereby preventing the formation of nonfunctioning structures in the body known as AGEs. Diabetics have greatly accelerated rates of glycation compared to nondiabetics. A suggested dosage is 1000 mg daily.
* Essential fatty acids protect the plasma membrane insulin receptors and reduce CRP. Type II diabetics should supplement with high quality fish oil which includes at least 400 mg of EPA and 1000 mg of DHA from fish oil.
* Carnitine improves blood glucose management and increases insulin sensitivity and glucose storage, essential for fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Deficiencies correlate with diabetic neuropathy. A suggested acetyl-L-carnitine dosage is between 300-1000 mg daily.
* Chromium regulates blood glucose levels, fights insulin resistance, lowers HbA1c, aids in weight loss, and inhibits glycation. A suggested dosage is 500-1000 mcg daily.
* DHEA deficiency is associated with a higher rate of insulin resistance and diabetes. A suggested dosage is 15-75 mg, taken early in the day (50 mg represents a typical daily dose). For a discussion relating to caveats surrounding DHEA supplementation and proper dosing based upon individual blood tests, refer to the Therapeutic Section of this protocol.
* CLA aids weight loss and may improve insulin sensitivity. A suggested CLA daily dose is three or four softgels per day of 1000-mg (78%) CLA capsules.
* Magnesium lowers blood glucose levels, increases insulin sensitivity, and calms the SNS. Use at least 500 mg of elemental magnesium daily.
* Silymarin improves hepatic glucose control and reduces free-radical activity. A suggested dosage for Syndrome X patients (those not yet diagnosed with diabetes) is a supplement that provides 250 mg a day of silibinin and 60 mg of silymarin. Diabetic patients often take 2-3 of these silibinin/silymarin capsules each day.
* N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) protects beta cells against free-radical destruction. A suggested dosage is 600 mg daily.
* CoQ10 enhances beta cell function and glycemic control and protects against heart disease. A suggested dosage is 100-300 mg a day.
* Vitamin C lowers blood glucose levels, inhibits glycation, prevents accumulation of sorbitol, strengthens capillaries, aids wound healing, and protects against free radicals. A suggested dosage is 1-3 grams daily in divided doses.
* Vitamin E reduces oxidative stress, enhances insulin sensitivity and glucose transport, and prevents complications arising from inflammation. Antidiabetic value has been observed using from 400-1200 IU of alpha tocopherol vitamin E daily along with a supplement that provides at least 200 mg of gamma tocopherol.
* Bilberry reduces blood glucose levels. A suggested dosage is 100-200 mg 3 times daily. (The bilberry extract should be standardized to contain 25% anthocyanidins.)
* Biotin aids in metabolism of macronutrients, enhances glucose utilization, and is beneficial in diabetic neuropathy. A suggested antidiabetic dosage is 8000-16,000 mcg daily.
* Vitamin K appears to play a role in insulin's response to glucose. Vitamin K is nontoxic at the recommended 10-mg daily dose.

http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-042.shtml

Growing Fresh Air with 8 Powerful Plants

2010-04-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

Janelle Sorensen

What do you do when you become allergic to the air? When your lungs begin to shut down because the air is too contaminated? Kamal Meattle suffered from this fate and guess what his solution was? Grow new air. Based on years of NASA studies, other scientific research, and 15 years of his own testing, Meattle discovered that three common houseplants, used strategically throughout a home, could vastly improve the indoor air quality.

Here's the breakdown:

Areca Palm is "The Living Room Plant" - This plant is a daytime oxygen factory and Meattle recommends having 4 shoulder height plants per person.

Mother-in-Law's Tongue is "The Bedroom Plant" - This plant is an evening oxygen factory and Meattle recommends having 6-8 waist-high plants per person.

Money Plant is "The Specialist Plant" - This plant is the filter that removes formaldehyde and other volatile organic chemicals from the air.

If maintained appropriately, Meattle claims you could live inside a bottle with a cap on top and these three plants would generate all the fresh air you need.

Not looking to live in a bottle? These plants will certainly still improve your indoor air quality (even if you don't have quite so many). And, if you're not satisfied with just three options, other new research has identified five "super ornamentals" that demonstrated high effectiveness of contaminant removal.

These include the purple waffle plant (Hemigraphis alternataa), English ivy (Hedera Helix), variegated wax plant (Hoya cornosa), Asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus) and the Purple heart plant (Tradescantia pallida).

Of the 28 plants tested, these five were effective at reducing levels of a number of common household VOCs, including benzene, toluene, octane, alpha-pinene and TCE. The work, funded by the University of Georgia's Agricultural Experiment Stations, was published in the August 2009 issue of HortScience.

Ready to grow your own fresh air? NASA studies recommend that you use one good-sized houseplant in a 6 to 8-inch diameter container for every 100 square feet of your home. Though, additional research is being done to identify exactly how many of each type of species is necessary for remediation (as in Meattle's work). You should also be sure to keep the foliage clean and dust free (so the leaves can do their job). And, keep the top of soil clean and free of debris, as in some cases, that's where the bulk of the filtering is taking place.

The healthier your plants, the more vigorously they'll grow, and the better they'll clean the air for you.

Read more: http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/growing_fresh_air_with_8_powerful_plants/#ixzz0jrVR72wW

This Antioxidant Can Smash Insulin Resistance and Autoimmune Disease

2010-03-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

Dr. Joseph Mercola

Physician and author
Posted: March 26, 2010 08:38 AM
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I first became aware of the alpha lipoic regimen by Dr. Burt Berkson in the late 90's. Early on in his career, while an internist, he was given several patients who were expected to die from hepatitis C. His job was more or less to simply baby sit them in the ICU and watch them die.

But Dr. Berkson was a rebel at heart and he simply couldn't do that. Instead he called an associate at the National Institutes of Health and found out how he could treat them. He learned that alpha lipoic acid had some impressive experimental support. Remarkably, although these patients were expected to die within a few weeks, they all completely recovered!

However not all went well for Dr. Berkson. As he made his superiors look foolish, they simply could not tolerate that so rather than embrace his findings, they actively suppressed the results and made his life miserable for showing them up.

This was a pivotal moment in Dr. Berskson's career and caused him to make choices that eventually led to where he is at now. Since then, Dr. Berkson has lectured all over the world on this topic, and published a study on the use of antioxidants for the treatment of hepatitis C.

His first book, The Alpha-Lipoic Acid Breakthrough was published in 1998.

As many of you already know, I am not fond of recommending many supplements, but I do believe that antioxidants make sense for many of us.

Why You Need Antioxidants

Your entire body, including your DNA, is under endless, daily assault from a variety of sources, from poor diets to pollution. Think of your cells, including your brain cells, each getting hit by free-radicals thousands of times a day. This violent process is called "oxidation," which damages your cells.

Enter antioxidants. They include vitamins and other nutrients that target free radicals.

Food, particularly fruits and vegetables, is a powerful source of these valiant protectors, and your body produces some itself. Their role is to limit the damage to your cells, which can slow down disease and signs of aging.

In the case of alpha lipoic acid, your body does produce it in minute quantities, but most of it comes from your diet. Some of the best natural sources include grass-fed red meat and organ meats.

The Benefits of Alpha Lipoic Acid

Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) has many functions, but it's one of the most effective free radical scavengers, and the only one known to easily get into your brain.

It also has the ability to regenerate other antioxidants such as vitamins C, E, and glutathione. So, when your body has used up these antioxidants, if there's ALA around, it helps regenerate them.

You may not know this, but glutathione is another very important antioxidant. You can get it from supplements, but the only form that works effectively is the reduced form, which is difficult to absorb when taken orally. It is much more cost effective to supplement with precursors, or items like alpha lipoic acid that regenerates glutathione.

Alpha lipoic acid also recycles coenzyme Q10 and NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide).

But, if that wasn't enough, this powerful antioxidant is also:

* A great modifier of gene expression to reduce inflammation

* A very potent heavy metal chelator

* An enhancer of insulin sensitivity

The benefits of ALA can appear near miraculous. For example, according to Dr. Berkson, Russia has successfully used ALA intravenously to reverse ischemia reperfusion injuries by injecting it right after a heart attack or a stroke.

And people with diabetes or metabolic syndrome tend to do much better when taking lipoic acid, as it enhances insulin sensitivity.

There's even been quite a bit of research showing it can restore T cell function. T cells are a type of white blood cells that are of key importance to your immune system, and are at the core of adaptive immunity, the system that tailors your body's immune response to specific pathogens.

What Health Conditions Can be Treated With Alpha Lipoic Acid?

Clinically, alpha lipoic acid seems to be a useful supplement in treating hepatitis C. It can also be used for painful nerve conditions in diabetes, and may help slow down the aging process itself through its reduction in free radicals.

Dr. Berkson uses ALA along with low dose naltrexone (LDN) for the reversal of a number of more serious health conditions such as:

* Lupus

* Rheumatoid arthritis

* Dermatomyositis (an inflammatory muscle disease)

* Autoimmune diseases

Most of his patients normalize in about one month on this combination of ALA and LDN.

What is Low Dose Naltrexone?

Naltrexone (generic name) is a pharmacologically active opioid antagonist, conventionally used to treat drug and alcohol addiction -- normally at doses of 50mg to 300mg. As such, it's been an FDA approved drug for over two decades.

However, researchers have found that at very low dosages (3 to 4.5 mg), naltrexone has immunomodulating properties that may be able to successfully treat cancer malignancies and a wide range of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's, fibromyalgia, and Crohn's disease, just to name a few.

As explained on the informative website www.lowdosenaltrexone.org, when you take LDN at bedtime -- which blocks your opioid receptors for a few hours in the middle of the night -- it is believed to up-regulate vital elements of your immune system by increasing your body's production of metenkephalin and endorphins (your natural opioids), hence improving immune function.

Can Alpha Lipoic Acid Help Your Workout?
Alpha lipoic acid can be a potent aid when you exercise vigorously.

In my interview, Dr. Berkson gives an anecdotal story about a friend - an international weight lifting champion -- who regularly uses ALA prior to meets.

Unfortunately, there are no set guidelines on dosage and timing. It can be highly individual, and is something that requires a little bit of trial and error in order to get it just right.

But if you suffer from any of the conditions listed above or diabetes it would certainly seem like a useful supplement to consider.

Spring is here, at last

2010-03-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

After a particularly harsh winter, spring has arrived here in Arizona. We had a very wet winter in which we received our annual amount of rain in two months. Snow Bowl, the ski area north of Flagstaff reportedly received 25 FEET of snow this winter. The Salt river is running rapidly through downtown Phoenix, for the first time which I remember.

But now the weather has turned springlike. Temperatures hover around 80 degrees and nights are in the mid fifties. I can wear shorts during the day and go barefoot.It is time to welcome back life as the desert plants put forth their new green leaves, the jojoba has their small berries on them, the bougainvillea is in bloom. The mountains behind our house are covered in green, in contrast to the red and brown rock of winter.

Coyotes are singing again at night, most likely to attract mates, rabbits run to and fro as if they are on some important mission, the chipmunks run ahead of me as I walk down the driveway. Many of the birds which I had not heard since last summer are back, singing their various songs as if welcoming back to the area. Baby birds are flying from the nests. In fact we have had two cactus wrens get into our front porch by crawling into a small hole in the rafters thinking it was the hole into their Saguaro home. Hummingbirds are at the feeder sipping the sugary water we provide. At sunrise, in our Ficus tree, the birds erupt into a cacophony of various songs as they awaken from their slumber and welcome the rising sun.

The Brittle-bush is ablaze in yellow blossoms which attract honey bees by the hundreds. In some areas of Phoenix people have been attacked by swarms of the "killer" honey bees. Welcome to spring. Spring training baseball is happening across the valley as players get into shape for the long season ahead, and the fans turn out to sit in the sun and cheer their favorite team on.

The various types of doves that live here each have their own songs; there are the mourning doves with their sad , mournful song, the Inca doves with a brighter song, another unidentified dove which sings a song like "Secretary of state" over and over. The Gambel quail run in pairs or as a family and are quite comical to watch as confusion seems to be their guide, especially as they try to keep the babies from running hither and fro.

So spring is here. It is time to welcome nature back into your life and enjoy the very show that is put on if you simply watch. I love spring and enjoy watching. You can learn so much by simply being and watching.

Curcumin 'could slow liver disease'

2010-03-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

Kayi korma curry Photo: YUKI SUGIURA

The substance - which gives the curry spice turmeric its bright yellow color - has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine - practiced on the Indian subcontinent - to treat a wide range of gastrointestinal disorders.

Previous studies also suggested it has anti-inflammatory properties and works as an antioxidant.

The latest study, published in the journal Gut, looked at damage to the liver caused by progressive inflammatory illnesses, including primary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis.

These conditions can be triggered by genetic faults or autoimmune disease, causing the liver's bile ducts to become inflamed, scarred and blocked.

The damage to the tissues can be irreversible and cause progression to liver cirrhosis, which can be fatal.

Experts from Austria and the US studied tissue and blood samples taken from mice with chronic liver inflammation.

The samples were looked at before and after adding curcumin to their diet for a period of four or eight weeks.

Being fed curcumin led to fewer blockages of the bile duct and less damage to cells in the liver and scarring, the research found. No such effects were seen in mice fed a normal diet.

There were no extra benefits if the mice were fed curcumin for eight weeks rather than four.

A separate study, by Manchester and Newcastle researchers, also published in Gut, related to research on more than 4,600 people, assessing their risk of primary biliary cirrhosis.

Smoking increased the risk by 63% while hair dye increased the risk by 37%, the experts found.

Previous bouts of urinary infection, psoriasis and shingles also increased the risk as did autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid and coeliac diseases.

People in the study were not asked how often they dyed their hair and it is unclear which part of the hair dye may be responsible for the effect, the experts said.

However, previous studies have noted a link between cirrhosis and a chemical found in cosmetics called octynoic acid, which is used in hair dye and nail polish.

John McCain's effort to control vitamins and supplements

2010-02-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

By Ann Shibler

Thursday, 11 February 2010 12:04

Most are familiar with those commercials on television promoting prescription drugs that supposedly offer relief from a variety of ailments, if one would only pressure one’s doctor to obtain them. They have become a source of great entertainment and amusement to some, the kicker coming at the end of each commercial when the FDA-approved medication’s obligatory litany of warnings and dangerous side effects is recited: “Tell your doctor if....” and “Side effects may include.....” Some of the warnings are mild like diarrhea and constipation, some list serious effects like cancer or tuberculosis, and others admit that sometimes even death can result.

The point here is that these are all FDA-approved drugs being advertised and used extensively. Drugs that can cause serious diseases like lymphoma. Drugs that can kill. The FDA’s dismal safety record is well documented; even PBS ran a Frontline special that investigated and exposed the FDA’s unsafe drug record, the influence of Big Pharma inside the FDA, and lack of long-term testing and medical review of many, many dangerous drugs. The FDA seldom removes a drug from the market even after it proves to be harmful or deadly, however they do post quarterly reports with details of the latest potentially dangerous side effects of drugs currently under investigation.

Nonetheless, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) wants this same FDA, with its dismal safety record, to regulate dietary supplements. The Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA), S. 3002 (text of this bill posted on Senator McCain's website), that McCain has introduced with one cosponsor, would repeal key provisions of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) to “more effectively regulate dietary supplements that may pose safety risks unknown to consumers.”

Under attack by the DSSA is the once-protected field of supplements, as they have always been considered food. Potencies would have to be reduced to comply with what appears to be a plan modeled after the European Food Safety Authority. A new list of “Accepted Dietary Ingredients” would be “prepared, published, and maintained by the Secretary,” in the future. That’s a bit like being handed a blank check and told to fill it out later as one wishes. It could certainly be used to severely limit access to, and even production of, hundreds of life-sustaining and essential mineral, herb, and vitamin products.

All ingredients contained in each supplement would have to be disclosed at the time the company registers all of its “manufactured, packaged, held, distributed, labeled or licensed,” products with the FDA. An onerous burden would be placed on the shoulders of suppliers and retailers of dietary supplements, as they would have to “obtain written evidence” from the seller that the product is registered as required by law, and keep that documentation on file. Monetary penalties for non-compliance “may, in addition to other penalties imposed in this section, be fined not more than twice the gross profits or other proceeds derived from the manufacture, packaging, holding, distribution, labeling, or license of such dietary supplement.” Those are very broad dictates and most likely subject to even broader interpretation.

The McCain bill would change existing mandatory serious adverse reporting regulations, requiring minor adverse effects to be reported as well so that the FDA could arbitrarily pull supplements off the shelves or reclassify them as drugs. This immediate recall authority would be granted to the “Secretary upon determination,” that there is a “reasonable probability” that the product is “adulterated” or “misbranded.” Adulterated in this bill takes on a whole new expanded definition: “A dietary supplement which contains a new dietary ingredient shall be deemed adulterated under section 402(f) unless there is a history of use or other evidence of safety.” The development of new products that contain newly discovered nutritional components may be entirely quashed.

The hypocritical contrast between the regulation of drugs that can kill and the proposed hyper-regulation for food products -- vitamins, minerals, herbs -- is as plain as the nose on everyone's face.

A Pandora’s box of intended and unintended legal complications and government harassment of nutritional supplement manufacturers and sellers could very well be unleashed if this bill is passed. There are already existing laws on the books that protect consumers from misbranded, fraudulent, or contaminated products. Granting the FDA additional regulatory authority over nutritional supplements seems a bit suspicious, especially considering the influence the enormous pharmaceutical industry has wielded over the research, development, and approval process inside the FDA. Let’s face it, the FDA has been no friend and often has been positively antagonistic toward the nutritional supplement industry. Therefore one wouldn’t set the wolf to guarding the sheep without dire consequences.

In this perverted overly-regulated country, food is now toxic, and drugs and chemicals are safe for ingestion, no matter the harm that results. This inversion should remind us that those who best have the consumers health and safety interests at heart are the consumers themselves. It is big government that has a proven track record of not protecting the public. And it is big government that is seeking to take away yet another individual freedom, the right to choose one’s own treatment. (Where is the pro-choice crowd on this one; the ones that claim, “my body, my choice?”)

Contact your federal legislators and urge them not to cosponsor, support, or vote for such a power-grabbing, bill. Let them know Americans want unrestricted access to nutritional supplements, and the government out of their health choices.

Sen. McCain described his bill as a “no brainer.” For constitutionalists it’s a “no brainer” that it should be rejected for the dictatorial, power-grabbing, choice-limiting attack on the nutritional marketplace and individual freedoms that it is.

Peaceful

2010-02-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

What do you find peaceful for your body and soul? A hot cup of chamomile tea? Birds singing outside your window? Flowers? A hike?

Finding peace is extremely important for a healthy life. With all the stresses of our day to day modern living, the stress itself will cause our health to deteriorate. Studies show stress will lead to cardiovascular problems like heart attacks, strokes, cancers, depression and other mental conditions, diabetes and many other diseases. We must all find our place of Peace if we are to enjoy health.

For me, rain is peaceful. Of course, right now I am in Arizona for medical reasons, but we have had an extraordinarily wet winter. I love to sit on the porch and listen to the rain. I relax. I feel the stress leave my body and my body relaxes,I breathe in deeply. The desert smells cannot be explained to people who have never had the opportunity to smell the oils being released by the creosote (Larrea tridentata) plant. When water hits its small oil rich leaves the fragrance is one you won't forget and if you leave living in the desert you'll always want to smell that fragrance again. The air is cleansed of the desert dust and smells vibrant.

Another peaceful thing for me are the animal life around our house. Birds sing in many languages here, each it's own offering to the universe. At night the coyotes group together and sing in unison as if they are having a fraternity party. One group will sing for 30 seconds or so, then another group from another direction will answer. I love to lay in bed and listen to their songs. We have rabbits, chipmunks, crazy Gambel Quail who run hither and yon and act as if they can't make up their minds where the are going. The other day we saw a Coatimundi and two of her young. These animals are related to the raccoon, but larger. We have sparrows, cactus wrens, Inca doves, mourning doves, grackles,and birds I have not identified yet all singing.

Another peaceful thing for me are the plants. This is especially important since I am a retired Naturopathic Doctor. We have many cacti (of course), Ocotillo, Saguaro cactus(the master of the desert and home of the cactus wrens), bougainvillea, Jojoba bushes with their oil bearing seeds, mesquite trees, Palo Verde trees, Brittlebush with their February yellow flowers, desert sage, Aloe, creosote bushes and their fragrance, each contributing their part to the natural environment.

Our home in Mexico is even more amazing with plants. Beautiful wild flowers blooming all year, fruit trees and wild blackberries and raspberries, honey suckle to give off its fragrance at night. Both places are wonderful to me. Each has its own peacefulness that I recognize and honor.

Find out what it is which brings you peace. Recognize it, savor it, use it and you'll find your health will improve. Health is more than a lack of disease, it is a state of being in balance. Peace helps bring balance.

Hiding

2010-01-25T11:14:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of my wearing of contact lenses. My eyes have not adjusted to them, thus most things I look at are blurry to various extent. I decided that I no longer wanted to wear eyeglasses after 30 some odd years of wearing them. It's a part of my evolution as a human. I have not had a haircut in three years and thus have a ponytail down my back. I wanted to see what I looked like with a pony tail and it really isn't too bad. I decided I no longer wanted to shave, so I grew a gray beard. It is neat and close to my face, not one of those bushy type beards you sometimes see from men from the North Pole. Then I decided to cut the glasses. Some people wear glasses to "soften" their faces. That is what I was told by the first Optician that fitted me with glasses back in the 1970"s. My face needed to be softened, whatever that means. Well, no more, my face is now going to be in its full hard glory! No more softening for me! I've softened through my various careers and now intend to be myself.

Some people wear eyeglasses as a fashion statement. I've never thought of eyeglasses as a fashion statement, but I suppose the young generation do. They even wear "fashion eyeglasses" with just glass lenses without corrective lenses. That seems to me to be a bit desperate for attention. People do what people do, I guess.

Then there are people like my 83 year old father. They wear glasses only because they have to. Their generation never thought of them as "fashion statements" or to "soften" their faces, they wore them to see. Every few years he would go to the ophthalmologist to get his eyes checked and get a stronger pair of lenses. That is simply what glasses were needed for; to help you to see.

A final group of people wear glasses in order to "hide". Some people may be shy, or timid, or have phobias and they use their glasses to hide behind. Like the people who wear sunglasses all the time, indoors and outdoors. It makes them feel safe. It may make them feel a little important but I think it is mainly to feel safe. By wearing glasses there is an barrier between your eyes and the other persons eyes. The eyes open to the soul, and people who know how to read the eyes can see into others souls and know what type of person they truly are. They will know the person; not the person we try to project. I know at times in my life I felt confident that my eyeglasses were on to protect me from someone who seemed more in tuned to life. I felt it helped hide me. So I think many people use glasses for hiding from others. They may be insecure, may have hurt someone and are afraid others might find out if you see into their souls. It is in my opinion an act of survival for some of these people with eyeglasses.

Former Secretary of State Marilyn Albright has written a book entitled "Read my Pins", in which she wears lapel pins based on her mood, what her dominant personality that day is, or what she hopes to accomplish that day. I think some people wear eyeglasses the same way. They wear different ones for different moods, what they are trying to express on a subconscious level. It is a sense of hiding. I don't like hiding. I refuse to hide. If I am mad at someone I should let that person know. If I am distrustful of someone, why hide it. Be yourself. Put yourself out there and read the world and be read. It will help make you a more honest person.

Some might say, my growing a beard is in a sense of hiding, but it is not. I am not hiding my eyes...come look into my soul...tell me what you see. Growing a beard is simply me being me. In my life I have had a beard four times: once in College before graduating, again after I got out of the Navy (my wedding pictures have me with a beard), third, when I quit my corporate career, I celebrated by growing a beard, and now this one. So it is actually a part of my growth in life. I feel myself growing after six years of severe head trauma stagnation, and I think I'm coming out and thus want to let my beard come out also.

It's funny what little things can tell about a person.

2008, NO reported deaths from vitamins, supplements. How many died from Pharmaceutical Drugs?

2010-01-22T08:54:00.001-08:00


So all the M.D.'s. researchers and Pharmaceutical liars keep telling the public how dangerous vitamins, minerals, amino acids or herbs are to the poor unknowing, useless eating public. Here is an article from the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service which states in 2008, there were NO DEATHS from the use of vitamins, supplements, amino acids or herbs in the US. No interaction with pharmaceutical drugs.

These numbers come from 154 million people taking these vitamins and supplements equating a total of 56 billion doses by Americans in 2008, and NO DEATHS.
I wonder how many people died from taking their M.D. prescribed Pharmaceutical poisons in 2008. The last count was 100,000 people died of medicinal drugs and the count is rising. Statistics, anyone?

No Deaths from Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids Or Herbs Poison Control Statistics Prove Supplements' Safety Orthomolecular Medicine News Service 1-20-10

(OMNS) -- There was not even one death caused by a dietary supplement in 2008, according to the most recent information collected by the U.S. National Poison Data System. The new 174-page annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers, published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, shows zero deaths from multiple vitamins; zero deaths from any of the B vitamins; zero deaths from vitamins A, C, D, or E; and zero deaths from any other vitamin. Additionally, there were no deaths whatsoever from any amino acid or herbal product. This means no deaths at all from blue cohosh, echinacea, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, kava kava, St. John's wort , valerian, yohimbe, Asian medicines, ayurvedic medicines, or any other botanical. There were zero deaths from creatine, blue-green algae, glucosamine, chondroitin, melatonin, or any homeopathic remedies. Furthermore, there were zero deaths in 2008 from any dietary mineral supplement. This means there were no fatalities from calcium, magnesium, chromium, zinc, colloidal silver, selenium, iron, or multimineral supplements. Two children died as a result of medical use of the antacid sodium bicarbonate. The other "Electrolyte and Mineral" category death was due to a man accidentally drinking sodium hydroxide, a highly toxic degreaser and drain-opener. No man, woman or child died from nutritional supplements. Period. 61 poison centers provide coast-to-coast data for the U.S. National Poison Data System, which is then reviewed by 29 medical and clinical toxicologists. NPDS, the authors write, is "one of the few real-time national surveillance systems in existence, providing a model public health surveillance system for all types of exposures, public health event identification, resilience response and situational awareness tracking." Over half of the U.S. population takes daily nutritional supplements. Even if each of those people took only one single tablet daily, that makes 154,000,000 individual doses per day, for a total of over 56 billion doses annually. Since many persons take more than just one vitamin or mineral tablet, actual consumption is considerably higher, and the safety of nutritional supplements is all the more remarkable. If nutritional supplements are allegedly so "dangerous," as the FDA and news media so often claim, then where are the bodies? Those who wonder if the media are biased against vitamins may consider this: how many television stations, newspapers, magazines, and medical journals have reported that no one dies from nutritional supplements? Reference: Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Green JL, Rumack BH, Giffin SL. 2008 Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System (NPDS): 26th Annual Report. Clinical Toxicology (2009). 47, 911-1084. The full text article is available for free download at http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/Portals/0/2008annualreport.pdf . Vitamins statistics are found in Table 22B, journal pages 1052-3. Minerals, herbs, amino acids and other supplements are in the same table, pages 1047-8. For Further Reading: Download any Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers from 1983-2008 free of charge athttp://www.aapcc.org/dnn/NPDSPoisonData/AnnualReports/tabid/125/Default.aspx Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information:http://www.orthomolecular.org The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource. Editorial Review Board: Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. Damien Downing, M.D. Michael Gonzalez, D.Sc., Ph.D. Steve Hickey, Ph.D. James A. Jackson, PhD Bo H. Jonsson, MD, Ph.D Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D. Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. Erik Paterson, M.D. Gert E. Shuitemaker, Ph.D. Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D., Editor and contact person. Email: omns@orthomolecular.org

Suicide and the Soldier

2010-01-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

Suicide And The Soldier
By Gary Kohls, M.D.
1-22-10

Smarthealthchoices blogspot is a concrete anti-war website secondarily to health articles. As a child of the 1960's, during the VietNam war was a poster I had which said simply:

War is not healthy to Children and other Living Things

I have never changed my position on war. It is stupid, it is ignorant, it settles nothing-only makes more enemies, destroys innocent lives and soldiers lives and bankrupts countries. As the singer for the group WAR (Edwin Starr) bellowed in their song entitled "WAR" in the early 1970's , "WAR, Humph, what is it good for? Absolutely, NOTHING!" It is as true to day as it was then.

The author of this article is a doctor who pretty much explains what is happening to our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read it closely, every word. Understand what he is saying because it is true. Remember the wars our government have lined up to fight in the near future include: Iran, Jordan, Yemen, Pakistan, Nigeria and perhaps Saudi Arabia. These clown leaders we keep electing have nothing but was in their minds for pulling the economic system out of bankruptcy and to keep the opium supply flowing into the US from Afghanistan, and capture oil and gas fields for their Texas buddies.

Please understand that "War is not healthy to children and other living things". Period.


Nine years ago, the Cheney/Bush/Rove/Rumsfeld administration started, by a series of treasonous lies, its so-called endless wars on the nebulous "terrorism", much of which was provoked by decades of anti-Muslim/pro-Israeli US foreign policies. According to the US Department of Defense more US military personnel have taken their own lives since 2001 than have been killed in action (KIA) in either Iraq or Afghanistan. In 2009 alone, more than 330 active servicemen and women have committed suicide - more than those KIAs in Afghanistan and Iraq. And this number doesn't count the veterans who have killed themselves following their discharge. The suicide rate in the US military, prior to 2001, was lower than that for the general US population. In the years since 2001, the suicide rate for active duty personnel is nearly double the national average. When military campaigns result in suicide numbers that exceed those killed by enemy combatants, there should be a massive hue and cry demanding to know the reasons why. And the reasons behind the secret decisions to send our previously mentally healthy soldiers "into harm's way" to become unnecessary mental health casualties must be questioned. It needs to be pointed out again that the official Pentagon figures only keep track of completed suicides that occur in active duty personnel but these numbers are artificially low and always have been. Indeed, many Vietnam vets say that there should be another Wall in DC just to honor and/or lament the ones who died after that atrocious war ended. Likewise, the numbers of suicides are just as deceptively low as are the KIA count, which does not number as KIA those who died after clearing Iraqi or Afghani air space en route to military hospitals in Europe. Also not included in Pentagon figures are the large numbers of veterans who take their own lives following discharge. These are veterans who "come home crazy", justifiably angry, understandably hopeless about the endless struggle to return to normalcy, instead finding a toxic, nearly bankrupt nation (largely because of consistent and excessive military spending over the decades) where life does not have the same meaning for them compared to what they experienced in the camaraderie of the combat zone. Those soldiers, who all-too-frequently have gradually become psychologically and spiritually damaged, return to civilian life totally changed. They return to unsuspecting and unprepared loved ones, who are often secondarily traumatized by the soldier. Those loved ones often can't understand (and sometimes don't want to hear about) the painful hellish realities that their soldier almost didn't survive. On top of the underestimation of completed suicides among active duty soldiers and discharged veterans, the Department of Defense apparently makes no attempt to measure the incidence of suicidal thinking or unsuccessful suicide attempts. The exact figures are obviously not known, For an estimate of such suicidality, it has been suggested that one might just multiply the incidence of successful suicides by 5 or 10. One PTSD-related study of Vietnam-era veterans showed that 20% of that study group were chronically plagued by a preoccupation with suicidal thinking. An example of this sobering reality is Tim O'Brien, the honored author of a number of award-winning novels about the Vietnam War, including "The Things They Carried", "Going After Cacciato" and "In the Lake of the Woods". O'Brien still suffers from intermittent suicidal thinking. As another indication of the hidden consequences of being in a kill-or-be-killed warzone, many historians estimate that there may have been as many as 200,000 Vietnam veterans who committed suicide after they came home from the war. The KIA/MIA number in that war was "only" 58,000. There are obviously plenty of reasons to build another Wall or two. It should come as no surprise that the suicide rate among demobilized veterans from the Gulf Wars may now be as high as four times the national average! And it is apparently climbing. The US Department of Veteran Affairs calculates that over 6,000 former service personnel (from all wars) commit suicide every year. What is this saying about what will probably go down in history as another of the many useless, senseless and nation-bankrupting wars? Many of these discharged men and women came home understandably depressed, sleep-deprived, irritable, malnourished, angry, demoralized and, on top of all that, perhaps even feeling guilty about the gruesome sights, sounds and smells that they had seen or been responsible for. Only the most ethical soldiers refused to obey illegal orders under fire, perhaps saving their souls in the process. An alarming number of combat soldiers are being given brain-altering psych drugs to numb their emotional pain, artificially stimulate their understandable low mood, quell the equally understandable nervousness or produce a chemically-induced semi-coma that might simulate sleep. Along with these prescription drugs, these troubled soldiers might be, like their civilian counterparts back home falsely-labeled with a mental illness diagnosis or two and be told that they need to stay on drugs for the rest of their lives! In reality civilians and soldiers alike may only be experiencing a situation of "overwhelm" of known etiology that is likely to be temporary and therefore treatable without brain-altering drugs. Many psychiatric drugs are known to actually increase the incidence of suicidal thinking and usually cause many other adverse effects that can be misinterpreted as mental illness symptoms. These widely used psych drugs, whether legal or illegal, are also well known to produce various degrees of altered thinking (called "spell-binding" by psychiatrist Peter Breggin in his recent book titled "Medication Madness"). These drug effects include altered impulse control, rage reactions, worsening depression, drug-induced mania, insomnia or irrational behaviors such as criminal or antisocial behaviors. Many psych drugs can cause dependence and addiction, so that serious withdrawal symptoms can occur when a patient tries to cut down or quit the medication, good for the pharmaceutical industry but very bad for patients and their brains. These withdrawal symptoms are often misdiagnosed as a "relapse" of the patient's "mental illness" whereas the symptoms may have never been seen prior to the use of the drug. How crazy-making must it be for physically and spiritually-wounded veterans, who thought that they were defending their country, being willing to die for democracy, and then finding out too late that they had actually been fighting and killing and dying for thousands of corporate war profiteers like Halliburton, Gulf Oil, Blackwater, the big financial institutions, the weapons-makers, the gun-runners and the reflected glory for ChickenHawk politicians and talking heads like Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Ashcroft, Wolfowitz, Rove, Limbaugh, Hannity and numberless others who never experienced the horrors of war themselves? So now we are saddled with tens of thousands, in dramatically increasing numbers, of seemingly expendable, increasingly unpatriotic and very angry young men and women who are newly haunted by unseen demons, coming home to a country that is said to be undergoing what is euphemistically called a "jobless recovery" by guilty Wall Street cheerleaders who, for the benefit of their satisfied investors, went along with another highly profitable war that changed forever the lives of the duped soldiers. And now they can find no work, may not be able concentrate well enough to handle college and may have finally tumbled to the fact that they had been deceived by their military recruiters who had promised valuable work experience in the military, a college education but made no mention of the psychological costs of going to war. Often these soldiers came back to find out that their homes had been repossessed by a corrupt banking industry that had been rescued of their reckless, unethical and criminal activities by multi-billion dollar bailouts with no bail-outs for the grunts who worked so hard doing what they thought was their patriotic duty. Too often they returned to find their marriages on the rocks and their family on food stamps. Is it any wonder that many ex-soldiers have simply lost the will to live? It seems to me that any ethical person who is still thinking, who is trying to read between the lines, who cares about the survival of his faltering nation and perhaps has sworn to defend the US against its domestic enemies, knows that it is time to stop the hemorrhage that is bleeding the US dry at a rate of $450,000,000 per day (450 million dollars a day!!) down a seemingly bottomless Pentagon pit, a pit that is also "disappearing" thousands of previously healthy young uniformed American men and women, many of whom look like they might wind up permanently disabled in body, mind and spirit. Most Americans don't think continuing these useless and senseless wars is worth the huge costs we all will bear costs that are known and unknown, current and future - whether the wars are ultimately declared "won" or "lost". Most Americans in their heart of hearts know that we can't afford to continue spending massive amounts of money that our nation doesn't have on destructive wars when so many human needs are being left unmet. It's time to cut our losses, declare victory and bring the troops home before more damage is done to them and our nation. Dr. Kohls is a recently retired physician who practiced holistic mental health care and came to understand the importance of psychological and spiritual trauma (and the mostly neurologic disorder called posttraumatic stress disorder (and its variants) as a major root cause of what are most often instead called "mental illnesses of unknown etiology". If the reader is interested in exploring those realities, a number of videointerviews on the topic are available online at www.iHealthTube.com. Many of the videos are also on YouTube.

Vioxx and the danger to humans

2010-01-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

January 20, 2010

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that Vioxx may have contributed to 27,785 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths between 1999 and 2003. The estimate is based on the number of prescriptions issued for Vioxx between 1999 and 2003.

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David Graham, the associate director for science in FDA's office of drug safety, made the estimate based on 92.8 million U.S. prescriptions for Vioxx between 1999 and 2003. It's part of a study Graham conducted in cooperation with Kaiser Permanente.

Merck pulled Vioxx, a popular pain reliever widely used by arthritis patients, off the market in September, saying it was "putting patient safety first" but the Wall Street Journal reported earlier that company officials had fought for years to protect the highly profitable drug and to keep news of the health risks quiet.

Vioxx was a big moneymaker for Merck, generating about $2.5 billion in yearly sales.

In his study, Graham's team examined records for 1.39 million members of Kaiser Permanente, including 26,748 who took Vioxx and 40,405 who were on Pfizer's Celebrex, another COX-2 inhibitor.

The study found that high doses of Vioxx, or rofecoxib, tripled risks of heart attacks and sudden cardiac death. Graham planned to present the findings at an epidemiology conference Aug. 25, but his supervisors said the results were "too preliminary" and recommended that the study be submitted first to a medical journal so it could undergo peer review or be presented at the conference with an alternative FDA opinion.

When the study was presented Aug. 25, the abstract said, "[T]his and other studies cast serious doubt on the safety of rofecoxib ... and its use by physicians and patients" at doses exceeding 25 milligrams. "When Graham submitted a revised, final version to FDA on Sept. 30, FDA's announcement of the study's release did not mention specific data on cardiovascular risks.

About 20 million Americans had taken Vioxx by the time Merck withdrew it.

The company responded to the latest report by saying there is "no reliable way to estimate the actual events."

"Because heart attacks and strokes occur in the general population, one cannot say that if someone had an event while taking Vioxx, that Vioxx caused it," a Merck spokesman said.

Clinic Floor collapses under weight of dieters

2010-01-15T07:34:00.000-08:00

Weight Watchers clinic floor collapses under dieters

The floor of a Weight Watchers clinic in Sweden collapsed beneath a group of 20 members of the weight loss program who were gathered for a meeting.

Published: 7:35PM GMT 14 Jan 2010

As the dieters queued to see how many pounds they had shed, the floor beneath them in the clinic in Växjö, in south-central Sweden, began to rumble, according to a report in The Local, Sweden's English-language newspaper.

"We suddenly heard a huge thud; we almost thought it was an earthquake and everything flew up in the air.

"The floor collapsed in one corner of the room and along the walls," one Weight Watchers participant told the Smålandsposten newspaper.

Soon, the fault lines spread around the room, and other sections of the floor gave way.

Luckily, all of the dieters escaped uninjured and managed to move the scales to the corridor, which was not damaged in the accident, and were able to complete their weekly weigh in.

The cause of the floor's collapse remains under investigation.

Single Payer - What You Were Not Permitted to Hear Discussed:

2009-12-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

Bolding and italicizing done by editor.

by Judy Moriarity


http://www.hr676.org/

The simplistic bill not written by lobbyists or awash with cross references. A mere 27 pages.

http://www.pnhp.org/nhibill/nhi_bill_final.pdf

This was a major reason why many voted for him. The promise of affordable health care. Finally, the insurance companies would be out of the picture. Insurance companies who are responsible for many a families financial ruination. Why, as far back as the President's days as state senator, he was championing 'Single Payer', as the only way to go. Things 'change' when you enter Foggy Bottom. The real world of corporate occupied territory - hits you upside the head. The President, while still feebly wishing for Single Payer now sees it as an impossibility.

Instead the White House health team has had innumerable meetings, with insurance/drug/hospital lobbyists and their CEOs. Why, as the President stated,' you'd have to start from scratch' with Single Payer. In reality - Single Payer, would merely consist of expanding Medicare. Everybody in - Nobody out. While these bills (Senate - House) are thousands of pages long (written by industry lobbyists) with numerous cross-references, the Single Payer Bill, with many co-sponsors is a mere 27 pages of easily understood language for the work a day citizen.

*********

Single Payer - would end the monopoly of insurance along with the greed of Big Pharma. Recall, that the President promised, during the campaign, that we would have transparency in Washington. Everyone (health bill) would have a seat at the table. Why the entire discussion would be shown on C-Span. It didn't quite turn out that way. To date everything has been down in secret - in the shadows.

The fact is, hundreds of doctors and nurses, showed up at the supposed 'open' meetings in March -'09, to discuss all options for true health reform. All options, except 'Single Payer' that is. The only people at the Baucus Finance Committee hearing were industry hacks. Nobody representing 'Single Payer' was permitted at the table. Doctors and nurses were scattered throughout the audience. As one by one the doctors & nurses stood and attempted to champion Single Payer - the 'reform', most desired by the medical profession (not small % of AMA who don't represent mainline physicians/surgeons) Senator Baucus called police to arrest them.

Thus, they were jailed! Our nation's doctors and nurses. This is the 'freedom' that our military is fighting for? Now common sense might dictate, that who would know better about medical care, than those who have spent years becoming educated - and working in the field? Dedicated people, who have tens of thousands in loans to repay, and thanks to the insurance industry - some are paying upwards of $80,000 for malpractice insurance. With cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments to physicians; why they'll have to refuse these patients, or close up shop? Out here in the real world, taxes are rising by the day, along with electric ( thank you Congress) food, rents, and of course, prescriptions. Not for the Washington gang - they've seen to feathering their health care nests/ for life. Hmm - maybe we should import some witch doctors eh?

Our illustrious leaders aren't subjected to the same rigors/ training for their field. Their corporate masters see to this expense (campaign donations/ cocktail fund raisers etc). They should carry malpractice insurance, which would go a long way in covering the damage they've done to citizens (nation) due to their ineptness - incompetence - negligence in reading bills. The town hall meetings showed citizens just what their elected officials really thought of them - nothing! Somewhere along the line - they lost sight of just whom it is they are employed by?

Somewhere along the line ,they determined, that upon being elected, the job, was to feather their own nests, and see to lobbying/ board appointments for family members?

Single Payer: Automatic enrollment for everyone. Complete service covering all necessary medical care and drugs. Free choice of doctor and hospitals who remain independent and negotiate their fees. Public non-profit processes and pays the bills. The entire system is financed through progressive taxes (not high cost premiums - high cost drugs. Once upon a time our family doctor spent all the time in the world with us. He didn't have to spend HOURS, dealing with some GED dropout in a distant cubicle, leafing through a volume of TESTS not eligible for payment, drugs too expensive. In the real world this is called 'rationing'.

Medical care for all was a non- starter. from the git go. Big Pharma & Private Insurers wouldn't hear of it. Republicans scream - Canada, we can't become a Canadian system. A buy into Medicare, for those age 55 to 65? It might result in the possibility of this large group negotiating lower drug prices and better service at a lower cost? Oops! Private Insurers - Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it. Republicans again warned of Canada! How about a Public Option - only to Americans who wouldn't be covered by employers or by Medicaid? Coverage would be pegged to Medicare rates. But - darn it, private insurers and Big Pharma said 'No'. Compromised Public Option - open to approximately 6 million Americans, not otherwise covered?

The Congressional Budget Office - says this shrunken public option, has no bargaining power, and would attract those needing lots of medical care. But even the House's shrunken public option, is too much for private insurers and Big Pharma. - even as small as 4 million! It still contains the word 'public'! Not acceptable to industry. In rides Lieberman. The paltry public option was not allowed a vote to debate. Good ole Joe - from Insurance Capital -Connecticut, he didn't disappoint his corporate puppet masters. It's hard to remember just what party Joe belongs to - not that it matters. Hey, look at our circumstances. Everyone always thought that the Democratic Party was the Party of the working man - the disenfranchised, the voiceless and powerless. Well this theater of the bizarre has sure disproved that MYTH.

All this supposed wrangling for citizens is bad burlesque. Our private for profit health system, designed to fatten profits of private health/Big Pharma, is turned over to our private for profit health care system -except now, these private health insurance companies and Big Pharma will be getting 30 million added customers - PAID for by the rest of us. Other Secret Dealings: The White House aided by Senator Harper (D-Del) worked hard to crush an amendment pushed by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to allow for the reimportation of pharmaceutical drugs from Canada.

The White House persuaded Democrats to oppose this! Huffington Post reported memo/ that the White House and Pharmaceutical lobby 'secretly' agreed (July) to a deal they'd been denying. It said that the White House agreed to oppose any Congressional efforts to use the government's leverage to bargain for 'lower' drug prices or importing drugs from Canada. They also agreed not to shift some drugs from Medicare Part B to Medicare D- which would have cost Big Pharma billions in reduced reimbursements. And they say this isn't about money! All 300+ American will be forced to sign on to one option or the other. The insurance companies will be handling the large spillover (some 30 million) of new customers.

It's a government/corporate partnership from top to bottom. Always was. Insurance companies decided to call in their markers (thus the avoidance of citizen's numerous faxes - phone calls - protests) to get the necessary votes. Industry (insurance - Big Phama) will still be exempt from both tort reform and antitrust laws. This permits price fixing, collusion, market allocation. This is illegal in every other industry under antitrust laws.

Truth be told - private insurance companies, don't give a rat's azz about the poor, the jobless, the hungry, the hurting;and will charge them the highest premiums they can. Loan sharks in $4000 suits and $200 silk ties. The President keeps saying that the average family will 'save $2,500 a year - and will not have to change health insurance plans. Meantime the Congressional Budget Office reports that user fee taxes passed through to customers will result in appreciably higher premium costs. They also report that millions will lose their current plans.

The Real Wheeling & Dealing: As Dr (Senator) Colburn said, "There is no bill - all of this is a decoy. The real 'bill' is being worked on in secret behind closed doors. We have no idea of the details. I suspect that the bill, was hammered out in the White House. The AP asked for records of health interests who had met with Health Advisers (staff) at the White House. They found that there were hundreds of meeting with Big Pharma - Drug companies - Hospital CEOs and Medical Device honcho. Only the Big guys attended these high powered meetings with Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarett (top adviser) - Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel (Rahm's brother) Axelrod and 18 others. Congress/ Pelosi / Reid and Baucus with his new 'squeeze' were all merely for our entertainment. That's my opinion on this mess. The White House sure as heck wasn't going to trust the buffoons in the House and Senate to handle this DEAL - are you kidding! We're talking real money here, billions in profits and oh, future campaign donations..

IMPORTANT NEWS FOR DOCTORS

BLOOMBERG NEWS - FEB 9-2009 -- Few paid attention to this gem/ in reference to the STIMULUS BILL - "Right mix of tax breaks and cash infusion to jump start the economy. NO ONE from either party is objecting to health provisions slipped in without discussion. These reflect the work of Tom Daschle." What health provisions?

It appears that this $800 billion dollar stimulus bill that was 'hurried' through Congress in record time, contains some striking 'Big Brother' health care language. This jobs bill requires electronic tracking of the medical records of ALL Americans. All your private data will be stored on a government data base - including a history of your diseases, pharmaceuticals, treatments, surgeries, mental health and ER visits.

Under the NEW provisions found in this (jobs) bill, all US doctors will now be stripped of autonomy and forced to follow the medical guidelines. It means that doctors can NO longer make their own decisions about patient needs or treatment protocols. From now on ALL health care decision will be controlled by a "HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY" of the Federal Government.

The Bill goes further. A new bureaucracy - the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology will monitor treatment to make sure your doctor is doing what the Federal Government deems appropriate and COST effective.

The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor (pg 442-46). These provisions in the Stimulus Bill are virtually identical to what Daschel presented in his book "Critical: What We Can Do About Health Care Crisis". According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and 'learn to operated less like a solo practioner'. Hospitals and doctors who are not "meaningful users' of the new system wil face penalties. 'Meaningful User' isn' described in the bill?

This will be left to the Health and Human Services Secretary (pg 518-540-541). Seniors (over 65) should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age. The Stimulus Bill will apply a cost-effective standard set by the Council (464). This board approves or rejects treatment using a FORMULA that divides the cost of treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit (except if you're an aging Senator - President - or Supreme Court Justice -jm) Stimulus Billl will affect every part relating to health care from medical and nursing education to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid.

Hiding Health Care Legislation in a Stimulus Bill is intentional. Daschle (who has advised White House team - jm) attributed the failure of the Clinton Health Care Overhall to DEBATE and DELAY. Daschle wrote (2008) that the next president should ACT QUICKLY - before CRITICS have time to mount an opposition.

"If it means attaching a HEALTH CARE PLAN to the Federal Budget - so be it", he said. "The issue is too important to be STALLED by SENATE PROTOCOL"

We can now understand the RUSH to get the Stimulus Bill passed in record time. God help us, if someone ( Legislators) took the time to read it! It's evident that no great deluge of JOBS has been realized. And as Daschle advised - Sneak it in anywhere - before there can be any debate or discussion. So much eh for Representative Democracy. This explains the Christmas rush - and lack of debate on the most important legislation since the NEW DEAL. Keep the people in the dark like mushroom and feed them manure! "We're late we're late no time to wait........."

Profits take precedence. RATIONING - With an unelected board deciding from some FORMULA (this is what we've been brought to ) the message appears to be/ Since you are no longer usual as worker bees / accept the decisions of the BOARD that expensive surgeries, treatments, and medications are a waste of time (MONEY). I'm surprised they haven't labeled this supposed health reform (really insurance lottery win) ICE FLOE INC.

As Ricky said to Lucy 'you've got some 'splaining to do".

LASTLY - We are being told that this health reform is a 'work in progress'. That there are GOOD parts which should excuse any qualms we might have. This would be the announcement that this BILL covers pre-existing conditions. The President has stated that "Everyone would be covered - all those with pre-existing conditions or medical problems. We will end the practice of denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions.. The days of cherry picking who to care for and who to deny are over". June 15-2009

To understand this you have to check out the cross references given in the Obama bill. This means you have to find out (as referenced) the meaning of 'pre-existent condition exclusion" as defined in Section 2701(b)(1)(A) of the Pubic Health Services Act. The section numbers referenced in Obama's bill for Public Service Act are the old numbers. The Public Service Act has been amended with new numbers. The full text is 1,476 pages long.

Not to bore you with the maze of bureaucratic cross references of terms in the bill - suffice to say: Paragraph 2 in Part A does several things/ Section 2702. First paragraph two in Part A says that the prohibition against pre-existing condition exclusions DOES NOT APPLY to benefits offered in the policy in the "COVERAGES" Section, which means when the policy is written PRE-EXISTENT CONDITION EXCLUSIONS will be allowed to be written into the sections defining coverage. In short, insurers will STILL BE ALLOWED TO EXCLUDE PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS FROM COVERAGE.

The Devil's in the details!Paragraph two also says in Part A that policy writers for the government will be allowed to make the insurance you buy cover CERTAIN ailments, and not cover others/ one of which just may be a condition you happen to have - which is PRE-EXISTING.

What paragraph two says in Part B is that policy writers for the government will be allowed to LIMIT the amount - level - extent - or nature of the treatment you get for certain ailments.

So, who will be writing your insurance policy? According to the President's Plan, a NEW bureaucracy ( recall health plan language buried in the Stimulus Bill) known as the "Health Benefits Advisory Committee. These folks will be 'appointed' (27).

How many have to be a treating doctor: ONE. So we'll have this gaggle of people with NO medical backgrounds - or intimate knowledge of the various treatments - or medicines, which besides prolonging life (we're not talking of 90 yr old patients in a coma), will greatly relieve needless suffering/pain. It is simply inhumane, to determine the quality of a person's life, by some abstract formula most likely drawn up by those who will profit.

In this the 21st century no person should suffer intolerable pain due to cost or the insanity of being thought a drug addict, due to a Drug War, that is safest targeting the sick - dying rather than Drug Warlords.I note that they wheeled Senator Byrd into the late night Senate mayhem to vote. What is he - 100? Nobody is denying him the best of care. A number of the Senators are well beyond 65 - ah but then they are excluded from the nonsensical care they are voting for the nation. So much for "I was SICK, I was HUNGRY, I was a STRANGER.........begone from Me I know you not".

JM jdthmoriarty@yahoo.com

The "New" healthcare Plan for Insurance Companies

2009-12-25T09:26:00.000-08:00

"Dr. my arm hurts when I bend it this way". "Well don't bend it that way".

How the new health care bill will work as so written.

Bolding and italicizing by editor.

by, Judy Moriarity

This is the information you need to TRULY understand the 'hidden' life-altering details, of this so-called Health Reform Bill - in reality it has little to do with providing quality -affordable care, and everything to do with sweetheart deals, worked out months ago with Big Pharma - Insurance Companies - Hospitals - HMOs - and dozens of lobbyists. Left out are the people - who bear the brunt of obscene costs. Doctors pay special heed to last paragraphs, describing laws already passed in an unrelated bill and how it will greatly affect your practice and decisions for your patients. Thus far (in the Senate Bill alone), there are 2,074 plus pages. The printed bill weighs 70.8 lbs = $1.2 bill per page. The lobbying (67 Lobbyists for every legislator!) has won all they've sought. Monies spent $3.3 billion. Our newest form of 'representative democracy' are these sweetheart deals worked out (buying votes) behind closed doors. Senator Baucus of Montana, who had doctors/nurses arrested (March) when the supposed 'everybody at the table' hearings went on, got special favors for his citizens. In Libby Montana, there are many asbestos related illnesses, due to the mining there. These sick citizens, will be granted 'special access to Medicare benefits, that are not available to other states, who are suffering the toxic pollutants of corporate hucksters (chemical plants, mega dumps, incinerators, coal plants etc). Phew, and to think, the mining company might have had to pay these health costs. Per usual, taxpayers will instead pay the bill.Nebraska - Massachusetts - Vermont- Louisiana have been given more Medicaid monies than other states. Millions more. Folks in Florida, will receive special attentions to their Medicare Advantage plans (covers extra costs). What about Arizona? Oh yeah, we have two bought for and paid in full Senators of the Insurance Companies Kyle and McCain. Editor Nebraska has the rest of us picking up their Medicaid costs - for life! There's not a single thing in this 'reform' that will actually deliver a single medical treatment or surgery. Except for Senator Sanders of Vermont. He thought of the people in his request for funding of clinics across the nation. Clinics were people aren't put in a beggarly position in seeking help. Maybe we should have a bidding process instead of elections? We'd sure make out better - we couldn't do worse. This 'reform' is just more money, in the form of higher premiums (millions of more customers) to insurance companies. The people - unable to afford Cadillac coverage, will get Medicaid on steroids. Having (gov coverage) doesn't mean you can get health care. If you've never been on cannery row - with a toothache or strep throat, looking for a dentist/doctor; who will take your 'po' man's card' - you soon will. Big deal. So 30 million more will get a Masters of the Universe Health Card. Take that to your dialysis treatment. That's what your junk coverage will look like. You dragging up one street after another looking for care. And you can't blame the doctors with ten plus years of education/training. We only pay gladiator sports figures - golfers - rappers - loud mouth TV/radio jocks -silicon inflated, air head starlets, military contractors, and politicians the big money. Washington shills, while seeing to their own salaries, with yearly cost of living increases - pensions - life long (Cadillac taxpayer subsidized health insurance - lots of choices, no worry over pre-existing conditions) lobbying jobs for family members etc --don't feel that physicians, many with huge loans to repay, are deserving of adequate pay for their work. Heck Rostenskowski (felon) is laying back on easy street with his $176,000 pension. While a few bucks more in SS will break the bank, (not trillions to the banksters) Rostenskowski is getting (they all do) a $9,000 dollar COST OF LIVING increase. They get these yearly. While the people on fixed incomes (social Security) will received no cost of living increase next year! Editor There will be just two National Private Plans - one a non-profit, overseen by the Office of Regulatory Management. Senate leadership reports, that states will have to police any problems.. Good luck. California was not able to perform when battling Anthem BlueCross when they denied coverage to 1,770 policy holders. It was a no-win(cost wise) for California, as Blue Cross had the right to contest 'each' case individually. This would have tied up the courts for years. Instead (yawn) they were fined a mere million - walking around money for these bloated charlatans. "We're right in the middle of a /&%#!+ reptile zoo and somebody's giving booze to the GD things!" Hunter Thompson Aren't you sick and tired of being compared to a car (buying insurance). Politicians tell us that this 'mandate' is the same thing! Not one state requires everybody to buy auto insurance. There are states that require people who 'wish' to operate a licensed vehicle on public roads to buy insurance. AARP got themselves a billion in extra Medicaid payments. Doctors/hospitals in Montana - North Dakota - South Dakota (gang who met in secret) Utah; will get paid extra monies under a special formula in the bill. This bill is not about 'health reform' - but a massive expansion of new customers for the insurance industry. Millions of 'mandated' customers will see a great expansion of insurance companies profits. Insurance companies will see tax credits directly payable to them/400 billion transferred to insurance companies. President Obama meantime announced that he is standing up to the special interests. Huh? There will be no public option - no Medicare buy-in. This was no deal anyway, with an individual paying $7,500, and a couple $15,500.00. There is no tort reform, and the insurance companies will continue to be exempt from anti-trust laws. Medications will continue to skyrocket as re-importation of drugs from Canada is out. Broken hip - take two aspirins and stay off that leg. Thus, drugs manufactured here and sent to Canada, will not be re-imported which would save citizens millions, if not billions per year. We will continue to pay 6-10 times for more drugs than the other industrialized nations. While this is being made to look like an act of Congress - in fact, this deal, was hammered out in July-Aug 2009, with the real wheelers & dealers in this 'health' bill - (White House health advisory staff). The only 'reform' in this bill (unread); is the mandated millions, who will be forced to buy 'junk (poor quality) insurance. Sort of like presenting your child's Spider Man Club Membership for services. Good luck. This mandated collection of monies will be the job of the IRS - with those citizens who refuse, suffering fines (increased in this bill). Citizens will be forced to pay 8% of their income (so far) to private insurance companies, whether they want to or or not. Of course unlike the well paid (full Cadillac coverage) political hacks in Washington (yearly raises); out here in the real world - wages have stagnated. Temporary work at $8-$10 bucks an hour isn't living - its trying to exist. Vacations in Hawaii - Martha's Vineyard - river rafting, Yellowstone, etc. Not out here. Few now get vacations. Sick time? While Senator Kennedy was paid in full for his two years of illness - work a day people go to work sick. To get a day off means a doctors excuse. Cost, $91.00 for that office visit. Perverse times we live in. War = Peace Prize, and the forced payment of an inferior product = freedom. Paid for by taxes (lots of them) on the middle class. The insurance plan you have now, through your employer, will most likely cause them to cut back (due to costs) on benefits, increase co-payments. While these taxes start as soon as the President signs this 'bill' - benefits ( such as they are) will not be realized until 2014. What's the bum's rush? For us - this is comparable to paying multiple taxes on a used Corvair ($578 billion in new taxes according to Chief Accuracy -Congressional Budget Office); and not being able to drive it. In the meantime, you'll be paying registration, inspection fees, insurance and gas. * Medicare will be cut by some $500 billion. This is called 'savings & addressing waste' by the pro-reform folks. I'm still wondering where the $2.3 TRILLION, that Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said couldn't be accounted for (Defesne Dept), on Sept 10,2001? In the tragedy of Sept 11 - nobody thought to look into this?? TRILLIONS!! Monies for home health care will be cut along with money for hospice care. Others - with more common sense, see it for the rationing it is. Drug companies - besides benefiting from no re-importation of drugs - have also gotten an agreement to keep generic version of expensive bio-tech drugs from ever coming to fruition. High costs will prevail. The Congressional Budget Office reports that this drug deal (spawned in the White House - July) will save Big Pharma 100 + million over the next decade. Other economists, project these profits could be 4 to 5 times 100 million. Unlike other countries / ours, being a profit driven enterprise, is not about the health of citizens; but more and more profits (new mansions - bonuses -Ivy league colleges for the kids - corporate jets - exotic vacations etc). Who can forget President Bush remarking that 'everyone in America has medical care -they have the emergency room.' President Bush - like many from wealthy families, or professional politicians, don't have a clue as to life in the real world. He is certainly unaware - that there are documented cases - of people dying while waiting hours and hours for care. One pool soul (age 47) died of an obstructed bowel on the floor of a California ER. The janitor mopped up the blood around her as she lay dying on the floor. The person with cancer, in need of dialysis, an MRI or special treatments etc, isn't going to get it in the ER. They sure won't get the heart valve replacement that Barbara Bush (86), received last year (also stomach surgery) - or the specialized treatment of Senator Kennedy/ along with his receiving full pay, for his 2 yrs of sick time. They won't get a month's 'REST' in the hospital like Strom Thurmond or specialized care like Alan Specter - Dodd - Clinton/ in the best of hospitals. People in days gone by carried insurance to cover any crisis / i.e. illness, accident, house fire, liability etc. No more.. The insurance companies now have legions of drone workers, whose only job is to deny claims. This is usually done under the guise of some vague pre-existing condition. This can range from having acne in your teenage years to athletes foot. This is comparable to carrying fire insurance on your home - only to be told, when submitting a claim, that it has been brought to their attention (insurance carrier) that neighbors report, that a marsh mellow roast, was held by your son's boy scout troop, in the backyard 15 yrs ago - therefore adding to the risk on your property! Glad to have Washington looking out after us poor souls!

WEIRD, wild and decidedly offbeat research findings have emerged in 2009.

2009-12-19T05:51:00.000-08:00

Ghosts, masturbation and weird findings

From: AAP
December 16, 2009 4:13PM

Among the most bizarre medical discoveries were:.

- Pulling a tick off the wrong way can lead to meat allergy. An Australian doctor found the link while studying rising cases of the allergy among people who live on Sydney's tick-prone northern beaches. "I now tell everybody I see who lives anywhere near ticks to use `Aerostart' (spray-on engine cleaner) or another high-alcohol substance," said Dr Sheryl van Nunen. "Stun the tick before you scrape it out and it can't inject what it injects."

- Serial coffee drinkers are more likely to feel "the presence of dead people", British researchers found. They asked students about their caffeine intake and those with the highest were also most likely to report seeing, or hearing, things that were not there.

- British scientists have created a custom-made bacteria that glows green when it comes into contact with chemicals leaked by buried explosives, meaning it can be used to safely detect the presence of landmines.

- A UK study found men who reported more frequent masturbation and sex during their 20s and 30s went on to have an increased risk of prostate cancer. However this was at odds with Australian research prompting claims "bashful" Brits may have skewed the result. "Men who haven't got the disease ... are less likely to admit to high levels of self-satisfaction," said Melbourne's Professor Graham Giles.

- They provide relief from the body's aches and pains but they can also burn, doctors from an Adelaide hospital's emergency department warned after treating a string of "wheat bag" injuries.

- The first US case of "cannabinoid hyperemesis" was recorded in the medical literature. The syndrome was first described in 2004 in 20 South Australian men. Sufferers experience nausea and vomiting as a result of chronic cannabis use, but these ill effects are relieved by taking a very hot shower. "Grown men, screaming in pain, sweating profusely, vomiting every 30 seconds and demanding to be allowed to use the shower. It's a very dramatic presentation," an Adelaide-based doctor said.

- US surgeons successfully restored a woman's sight by pulling out one of her teeth, placing a lens inside the tooth and then implanting the tooth in her eyeball. The technique can only be used when a person has a scarred cornea on an otherwise healthy eye.

- Australian medicos found a new use for saline solution. The hospital staple is very effective at removing a leech from an eyeball. A Sydney hospital treated a woman who had a leech "tucked up underneath her upper eyelid". "Our little fellow started off at about half a centimeter and by the time we removed it, it was about 2cm long - it had quite a good lunch," said doctor Toby Fogg.

- Caffeine does temporarily dull the body's ability to feel pain, according to a US study that looked at how long cyclists could maintain maximum exertion.

- A study of children taken to emergency departments in Australia and New Zealand has found boys were over-represented, even when accounting for their higher accident rate. "All of the nurses in my department think it is because males are the weaker sex," said Dr Jason Acworth.

- A 62-year-old cancer survivor was temporarily denied entry into the US because the drug he was taking had wiped out his fingerprints. The journal Annals of Oncology issued a travel warning for the drug capecitabine, which lists inflammation of the hands and peeling palms among its side effects. "Patients ... may have problems with regards to fingerprint identification when they enter US ports or other countries," it warned.

- Brain scans on 30 Brisbane-based mums showed that some experienced a "natural high" when looking at photos of their crying child, while for others the same scenario inspired feelings of "disgust".

- A paper in the Journal of Clinical Practice listed cases of people who drank up to nine liters of cola a day. One man was confined to an electric scooter as a result. Another saw his GP for muscle weakness, and admitted to drinking more than four liters a day during a trip to the Australian outback. Excess soft drink consumption can cause "mild weakness to profound paralysis", researchers warned.

- Many smokers feel more compelled to quit when asked to ponder the impact of their habit on their pet's health, a US study revealed.

- Having a hook worm in your stomach was found to be an effective treatment for coeliac disease. The parasite reduced the sensitivity of the immune system, which would otherwise malfunction and attack the stomach lining. Despite the "yuck factor", 20 study participants opted to keep their hookworm at the end of an Australian trial.

- Research into a 17 per cent jump in Australian men who sought tests for prostate cancer found the cause was Sam Newman. The controversial AFL identity went public with his diagnosis in early 2008, and it had a similar impact on prostate cancer testing as Kylie Minogue had on breast screening following her 2005 diagnosis.

- A testosterone patch designed to pep up a woman's sex drive received the thumbs down in a study published in the UK's Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin. The side effects included acne, excess hair, breast pain, weight gain, insomnia, voice deepening and migraine. "Significant numbers" of women placed on a placebo patch reported an increase in sex drive.

Vitamin D and the H1N1 virus

2009-12-18T07:12:00.000-08:00

Vitamin D might be just as important as vaccine to prevent effects of H1N1 swine flu, researchers say

Canada NewsWire

11-27-09

TORONTO, Nov. 26, 2009 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- The world's leading vitamin D experts say that raising your levels of "the sunshine vitamin" this winter might be the best way to help your body naturally raise its resistance to all forms of the flu virus - including the H1N1 swine flu virus.

That's the message vitamin D advocate Dr. William Grant wants you to take to the bank.

"I'm a little hesitant to say it will reduce your risk of being infected, but it certainly will reduce your risk of dying from the complications, such as pneumonia, if you are infected," says Grant, founder of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center - a vitamin D research and advocacy group.

Grant is concerned that epidemic vitamin D deficiency in Canada -- 97 percent of Canadians are vitamin D deficient in the winter due to Canada's northerly latitudes and relatively weak sunlight 4-6 months of the year -- means that Canadians could be more susceptible to flu virus in the winter.

Grant points to research suggesting:

- Higher vitamin D levels assist the body's innate immune system. Some

studies suggest taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D/day will decrease your

risk of seasonal flu. (Recent research suggest up 10 10,000 I.U. of Vitamin is safe. editor)

- The groups most affected by the H1N1 swine flu virus have been those

most likely to be vitamin D deficient: pregnant women, obese people,

those with Type II diabetes and children with neurological disorders.

- Many of the deaths associated with the H1N1 virus have been pneumonia

related, which means anything that would assist your body's innate

immune system would make you less likely to be affected.

The worldwide vitamin D research community now recommends getting your vitamin D levels checked with a calcidiol test and maintaining vitamin D levels of 40-60 ng/ml.

November is Vitamin D Awareness Month in Canada. For more information about the benefits of vitamin D visit:

www.vitaminDsociety.org

www.GrassRootsHealth.org

SOURCE: Vitamin D Society

SOURCE: FLU VIRUS UPDATE

CONTACT: Michelle Di Rocco, (416) 360-6522 ext 251, michelle@punchcanada.com or Danna Barak at

danna@punchcanada.com

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

2009-12-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

The first cousin of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Both are horrible conditions to have. They hold hands and take turns torturing you, laughing at you, scoffing at your failures, teasing you with fear, chasing you and making all your enemy.

With PTSD you get to relive the moment of your TBI again and again. Anything which you recognize surrounding the moment of your TBI will cause extreme anxiety and fear in you. PTSD will awaken you at night sweating, screaming, striking out at some incident which occurred when you brain was injured. Over and over you relive it. There are no specific medications to stop PTSD, you must treat it through psychotherapy, and getting back in the saddle.

My TBI was caused when I ran out of gasoline on a freeway in Phoenix one dark night and was attacked by four young males. My PTSD exhibited itself with me waking up at night fighting for my life swinging at people who were there, yelling at people who weren't there, sweating and shaking. I also became deathly afraid of riding in a car. I quit driving and my wife drove. That made it worse as I no longer had control of the steering wheel and I felt she stopped too slowly and drove too fast. I was afraid of the car in the next lane coming over into our lane a hitting us.

I used to go to Los Algodones, Mexico for my dentist. After my head injury I had my two front teeth knocked out, so the next weekend we drove over to Mexico to see my dentist and have teeth placed back in. It is just outside Yuma, Arizona. After we finished getting the teeth placed in, my wife and I decided to stop in Yuma for lunch. We exited the freeway and was on the exit ramp waiting for the light to change so we could go. Traffic was back up in the two lanes with the last car in the lane next to us even with our car. Suddenly a women came barreling down the exit and slammed her brakes on at the last second. With tires screaming she slammed into the rear of the car next to us. With my TBI and PTSD just starting a week earlier this set me back quite a bit. I honestly though I would either lose control of my emotions or have a heart attack. It enhanced my fear of driving. This is what PTSD will do for you.

In my previous post I wrote about the results of TBI, but PTSD is tougher to list. Some people will relieve their traumatic experience and try at all cost to avoid similar situations. Other see enemies everywhere and may try to take them out. Other will do as in TBI and self-medicate to get the experience out of their minds. Some escape into the jungles of urban city life, living on the street.

Some people with PTSD get in trouble with the police because of their fear of authority.The police do not understand this and will arrest these unfortunate people for so many charges, they patients may never see the light of day, except for the one hour in the exercise yard. They will be charged with resisting arrest, assault and battery on a police office, failure to follow an officer's command, under the influence of something, running from the police, spitting on the ground, not standing up straight to the officer, not having an I.d. and the charges keep piling up. It doesn't matter to the police, their job is to arrest people and pile the charges on. The damaged person then get to spend their time in jail or prison without any health care, all because they were injured and received no medical care.

It's a shame. We've lost too many of our citizens for this (TBI and PTSD). It's time for medical doctors, social workers, insurance company's to provide the help needed to help these injured people turn their lives around and become productive citizens in our society, again.

Traumatic Brain Injuries

2009-12-15T06:41:00.000-08:00

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) are injuries which are much more common than usually understood. Today we have our troops, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan being injured by Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's) which often cause brain injuries through concussions and penetrating head wounds caused by shrapnel. For years the US. Army and the U.S. Marines failed to acknowledge these injuries or treat them, or provide medical disability payment to them. Many of our veterans with head injuries became homeless through the years. As more information has become public and public demand has demanded diagnosis and treatment, more of our soldiers are now being treated.

Warfare is not the only cause of TBI's. Any blow to the head can cause damage to the brain and result in TBI's. Causes in everyday life include: car accidents, assaults, falls, items falling on unprotected head, strokes, in other words anything that hits the head can cause brain injury. It is estimated that there are 2,000,000 TBI's occurring in the U.S. every year.

Results of head injuries depend on blunt force, location of the injury, how quickly the patient is seen in a hospital and treatment. The results of TBI's are varied and usually life changing. One thing that happens in a concussion to the head is what is called "contra-coup". Our brains float in a liquid to help protect it. When a blow happens to the front of the head (frontal lobe) the brain will slam to the back of the head (occipital lobe) and can cause damage in both places. Thus the damage may be much more extensive than first thought.

Some of the results will include:

Immediate/Short/long term memory loss. Usually immediate and short term memory loss.
Agitation.
Depression.
Anxiety.
Anger and aggression.
Fatigue and exhaustion.
Fall asleep at any time.
Inability to understand simple words or conversation.
Inability to learn new information.
Inability to understand your surrounding, and may become lost easily.
Insomnia.
Misunderstand conversations.
Inability to concentrate.
Runaway mind. The mind will hop from one thought to another, ceaselessly.
Change in personality.
Withdrawal from every day life.
You will most likely lose your friends as they can't understand your changes.
Inability to work and support your family.
Inability to take care of personal hygiene.
Inability to do daily activities.
Seizures
Changes in vision and hearing.
Hallucinations including vision, hearing, vision or smell.

And the list goes on and on, again depending on which part of the brain is injured.

One of the major problems with having a TBI is being diagnosed properly and treated properly. There is no one test to diagnose you. Often CT scans are "normal", EEG's are "normal"most of the medical tools used for helping doctors diagnose problems are not effective with head injuries. There are often no outward signs of an injury. The doctor, usually a Neurologist, will run the patient through many different physical exams to see what type of damage there is. Things like holding your hands out to watch for tremors, walking to see if you waver or hold onto the wall, memory tests, psychological tests to find out where the brain deficits may be and then perhaps the diagnoses of TBI can be made.

Then the problem occurs, which type of treatment? I suffered a TBI in 2003, through an assault. It took three years and several Neurologists, psychiatrists and psychologist to get my brain somewhat under control. After three years and many different medication trials one of my Psychiatrists found a combination of medications which slowed my brain down. Three years of insanity. What combination which works for me may very well not work for someone else. The Psychiatrist and Neurologist will have to find the correct combination for you. This takes a lot of time. So be patient.

In the meantime, people with uncontrolled TBI symptoms will self-medicate. This means the patient with the runaway mind will try anything to stop the madness and the fire in the brain. Patients will use alcohol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, Oxycontin, vicodin, Valium, marijuana, almost anything to quieten the brain. Some will become drug addicts while waiting for their doctors to find the right combination to help their injury. I used wine to quieten my brain and over did it. Since my doctors found the right combination for me, I have not had any alcohol in three years. Caretakers of patients with TBI's need to be aware of this and not become facilitators of this abuse. The self-medication only compounds the problem and causes a longer time period for the medicines to be found to help the patient. But the carry away message is the TBI patient WILL self medicate!

For those who wonder, why, as a Naturopath physician I did not use Naturopathic medicine for treatment, the answer is I did. A doctor friend of mine had a hyperbaric oxygen chamber which I used several times a week for several weeks (no change), I went through physical therapy to try and get my balance back, I tried homeopathic medicine, I tried different brain supplements and vitamins, I tried nutrition. I tried IV Vitamin/mineral therapy, nothing worked for me. I then found wine which worked short term to shut my brain off but caused many other problems. This is why I ended up with the medical doctors as I am not convinced Naturopathic doctors are quite able to deal with this type of injury.

One must be honest and give the best information and advice you can and that was my experience.

Person's with TBI's need not be feared. They need understanding. Some of the troops coming back from the war zone will cause crime. They've been in a war where anything goes. They may have an undiagnosed brain injury and they may act out their anger, aggression on others. We need to make sure each soldier coming back is screened for TBI and treated as necessary. We need to have our new health care program (if we get one) to include good treatment for civilian TBI patients.

It is a complete life changing event for the patient for their families, for their friends and we need to have understanding and help for those of us who have suffered so much.

Watching

2009-12-14T08:52:00.001-08:00

We had a Pacific storm blow through Arizona yesterday and when the sun came up this morning the sky was still cloudy. Slowly over the next hours the sky cleared and the heavy cloud levels broke up into a beautiful blue sky. I watched as the clouds separated and more and more blue appeared. At this moment, at 10:18am, there are no clouds. Just beautiful blue sky.

I sat in my office and looked about the early morning world. In the arroyo outside my office window, a rabbit hopped up the side then paused. All that I could see was a small white cotton tail sitting there as he decided what he wanted to do next. He blended in with his surroundings so well. On my side of the arroyo is a large Jojoba bush. It is probably twenty feet around and 10 feet high. There is a pair birds that over the past few weeks which have been scouting the bush out and seem to be ready now to build their nest for the winter, the Jojoba bush is full of seeds which are made into Jojoba oil for cosmetics. What a versatile bush.

There is a fence, about eight feet high outside one of my window looking out back of the room to the north. All types of birds come and land there and sing their songs. They can't see me as this particular window has two sets of screens on it it, thus I can look out, but they can't see me. I see doves, Cactus Wrens, Pigeons, Sparrows, Cardinals and some birds I cannot identify, but they all love sitting in the sun outside my window and sing me a song. Such a wonderful stage.

Yesterday, my wife and I drove into town to go to a hardware store to purchase some brackets. On the road leading out from our house stood a lonely coyote; standing proud and unafraid. He watched us as we approached, and when we got up to about twenty feet of him, he galloped off into the desert. At night we are serenaded by groups of coyotes. It sounds as if they are having a keg party and the longer it goes on the more robust the songs become.

This morning around sunlight, I opened the front door to let the dogs out, and there was a large beetle crawling over the threshold of the door and was slowly making his way outside, too. I suppose he had been in the house all night catching his food and was now heading back to his den to sleep his hunt off.

We have a large Ficus tree in the backyard and the best description of it is it is an apartment building for many types birds. Sparrows spend part of the year here in the ficus tree and raise their children. They are an argumentative type. They love to debate issues with each other and can get quite carried away. Then there are the doves in the tree, they are quiet and peaceful neighbors and bother no one.

We have several large Saguaro Cactus in our yard and they are home to cactus wrens. The wrens dig holes into the cactus and build their nests. The holes will remain cool in the summer heat as there is so much water stored in a saguaro. It is funny to watch them as they check each others homes out to see if it is empty, and if so, they will quickly take it over. The holes do not bother the cactus as in response the cactus wrens eat bugs which may harm the cactus. So it is a symbiotic relationship.

One morning while sitting on our front porch and having my cup of coffee, four young coyotes came prancing by, look at me on the porch , seemed to say "Howdy do" and continued on their way. Life gets along well here. Each do their own thing. Live and let live. It is a shame man cannot do the same. Let others live their lives, acknowledge it and let go. Humans have a long way to catch up with the wild animals. Makes you wonder which is really the wild one.

By observing, even the smallest of things you can learn much. It can help make your life more peaceful, less stressed, and more knowledgeable. Life lives all around us, we can enjoy it if we but take the time to observe. Even in what the frontier people of the old west called the "most useless land" they had observed, the Sonora Desert is full of life, funny and charming activities, if one will just observe.

Coffee truths and Lies

2009-12-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Coffee is a much misunderstand drink. There are many scientific studies indicating the dangers of drinking coffee. There just as many scientific studies refuting the dangers. The issue concerns caffeine in the coffee and whether caffeine is harmful to people. Coffee, like all other foods are full of phytonutrients. Some which may be bad for you individually, but when added with other phytonutrients can synergistically become helpful for you. This is one reason for the confusion about coffee.

The other reason is Medical Doctors like to brag that theirs is "Scientific Medicine", backed up by scientific studies. What this list can help show you, as each of these statements came from "Scientific Studies" that science is a very easily manipulated task. Much depends on WHO is paying for the study, or WHO is actually doing the study. There are M.D.'s who get paid for having nothing to do with a faulty study, just to sign his name on the study that he conducted it. Modern medicine is NOT "Scientific" medicine. That term is a lie which many M.D.'s like to hide behind to try and make their medicine seem to be the best. It is actually far from it. They are guessing just like every other healer in the jungles.

When I taught Epidemiology and research in Medical School, I always taught my students that when you start to read a study find out first who has an interest in the findings and who financed the study. That will go a long way in its findings.

I just want to list of some of these arguments and let you decide what is best for you. The following would be true for any scientific study you wish to research.

1. Coffee causes heart disease.

2. Coffee has no effect on heart disease.

3. Coffee causes ulcers.

4. Coffee does not cause ulcers.

5. Caffeine's effects are addictive.

6. Caffeine is not addictive.

7. Pregnant women should avoid caffeine.

8. Caffeine has not effect on pregnant women.

9. Caffeine is an early risk for osteoporosis.

10. Caffeine has no relation to osteoporosis.

11. Caffeine causes cancer.

12. Caffeine does not cause cancer.

13. Caffeine adversely affects the health of children.

14. Caffeine has the same effect on children as adults.

15. Caffeine has no health benefits.

16. Caffeine is well known for helping with asthma and may be helpful in allergies.

After reading the findings of these "Scientific Studies" do you have any better understanding of whether coffee is good or bad for you? This will apply to any of the "Scientific Studies" of Pharmaceuticals, medical procedures and the other weapons the M.D. like to wield about like a light saber. All have about the same "Scientific "basis as the coffee results I've shown above.

Welcome to "Scientific Medicine".

Abuse/Addictions

2009-12-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

Addictions to various substances is an epidemic in the United States. People become addicted to street drugs, pharmaceutical medications, alcohol, food, sex and many other various addictive behaviors. It is a very difficult behavior to break once you have become addicted.

One of the ways that is growing the fastest are people who have had Traumatic Brain Injuries or TBI's. A TBI can occur from a automobile accident, a fall, an assault, sports injury or for the many soldiers we now have coming home from unjustified wars with TBI and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). When you have a TBI your brain functions differently. It is like a computer that has been corrupted by a virus. It will not operate the way it is designed to do. Think of memories as being stored in computer files. When a TBI happens it is like a virus has attacked your computer and corrupted the files of your computer. The files may still be there, but you cannot access them. Sometimes you can open the files but most of the time you cannot, thus you lose your memory. Usually it is your short term memory that is the problem. Long term memory may stay intact, but you cannot access the file where what you had for dinner last night is stored. Thus you cannot remember. It is extremely frustrating.

You may not recognize people, or places, or memories of your marriage. It is very troubling to the person and the family with a TBI or PTSD. You may not remember the route back to your home, thus you can easily get lost.

If a TBI victim is picked up by the police and asked where he/she was on the night of June 24, 2009, you can forget it. The person will not remember, and chances are they will then be arrested and begin their journey through the hell of the "Justice" system. I wonder how many people who are in jail or prison who are innocent and are locked behind bars because of memory loss due to a TBI.

It takes Neurologist a long time to determine which part of the brain is damaged, how much damage has occurred and how best to treat it. If you are a patient with a TBI be prepared for a long journey through many classes and types of pharmaceuticals as the doctors try and find the right combination of medications for you. It is a slow process. What works for one patient will not work for another. In the mean time the patient's brain is often running in overdrive, hopping from random thought to random thought. The short term memory is a major problem and strange activities may become part of daily life. You see things. You hear things. You feel things, that may not be there, but they are real to you. Paranoia runs deep. Your life and your families life has now been altered.

While waiting for the doctors to come up with some sort of help for you almost 100% of TBI/PTSD patients will self medicate. It will happen. Self medication means the patient will try anything to try and slow the brain down, to bring some peace to his mind, to just feel normal again, if only for a few minutes.

This is where addictions will take place. Some people try alcohol and become abusers of alcohol; some will try cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, barbiturates (valium, ativan), some may become addicted to Oxycontin. Anything that the patient thinks may help, they will try until the doctors can find the combination's of medications needed to slow the brain down and make the patient feel sort of like their old selves. By doing so, you will then become addicted.

Now you have at least two problems: a brain injury and addiction to something. You've just compounded your problem. In this phase a person can lose their job (If they haven't already done so, their marriage, their home, their dignity, their sense of self. Many people who are homeless and sleep on the street have a brain injury which is untreated. They are not lazy, they are sick and untreated. Their lives ruined often by an occurrence they could not control and no one reached out to help them.

This is where you can end up if you become addicted to some substance with a TBI.

I had an abuse problem, after my head injury in 2003. I treated my runaway brain, my lost memory files which I could not open, by drinking wine. It slowed my brain down. I would tell my wife, I just want a "little peace", just for a while and the wine did that for me, while the doctors looked for medications for me. After a while the wine became all consuming. The broken brain will compensate and soon you will need more and more of the substance which you are using to keep the brain quiet.

I went through a 9 week Intensive Alcohol rehab class (3 hours a day three days a week for 9 weeks) which helped somewhat. The participants were nurses, engineers, students, IT workers. In other words your neighbors.

The problem with these classes is they try and push you into Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.). Each of these programs think the twelve step program is the cure-all for the addiction. The problem is they only treat two parts of your problem: The mental and the spiritual. They ignore the physical and and the emotional parts which are usually where the addictions spring from. Either from TBI, mental abuse from parents, spouses, sometimes actual physical mental conditions (bi-polar, schizophrenia, depression, etc). Only 1/2 of the possible causes are treated and I feel they are the two least important.

I went to a few of the A.A. meetings and was appalled at them. It was a total waste of time and total crap. I am not afraid to say so. We do not know how to treat abuse/addictions in the US. To treat them effectively you must treat all four parts of the body: Mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. Healing and detoxing the body is just as important as sitting around a meeting, smoking cigarettes and bragging about your last episode of stupidity.

I, to this day, will not recommend A.A., C.A., N.A. or any of the other "A's" to anyone. They are a group of people who learned to be dependent (addicted) on each other and the group. You substitute one addiction for another. Why do they push "90 meetings in 90 days?" The meetings I attended, the people sat around and talked about how drunk they got two weeks ago before calling their sponsors to come help them out. The men and women of the groups were each trying to pick each other up for the night (another addiction). Before you could speak you had to stand up and say, "Hi, my name is William and I'm an alcoholic", or I'm Rochelle and I'm a drug addict".

And that my dears is what keeps people coming back to A.A. for support. That is their hook. Keep the people repeating, "I am an addict", "I am an alcoholic". I am not a human being with value, I am just a drunk who needs this group.

I found that to be so disgusting that I left and never went back. A person is much more than an "alcoholic' or and "drug addict" as they make you identify yourself. This is a way they control you and brain wash you into staying that person. They tell you once an addict, always an addict. There is no hope but for our meetings. As long as you get to wear that label you will be that person. It is a self perpetuating myth. The truth of the matter is A.A., N.A., C.A. and all the other "A's" need you much more than you need them. I told my intensive alcohol group therapy that I would not attend their A.A. meetings after trying a few out. They never pushed me to go again.

Once my doctor was able to find the right combination of medications to help my runaway brain, I no longer had a desire to drink wine. I have not had any in over three years and I'm quite content. Having a drink does not cross my mind.

My advice is don't rely on the superficial Alcoholic Anonymous groups who will keep you addicted to drugs and alcohol. The A.A.'s own reports indicate that only 2% of their members stay sober for any length of time. This is not a very promising therapy, if you ask me. Don't waste your time with these people who are actually dependent on you to keep coming back because they cannot handle their own problems.

Oh, by the way, it is reported when Bill Wilson (Bill W. the founder of this organization) was on his death bed, his last wish was for.....a beer.

Give your doctors a chance and then you can have a chance to some sort of life with a TBI and without the alcohol , drugs or parasitic support groups.

Clostridum Difficile

2009-04-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Published: April 13, 2009

I suffered with C. diff several years ago and can attest to the virulence of the bug. It seemed to affect every bodily system, finally resulting in colitis. I was on a 50 day round of Flagyl in order to kill off the spores and that in result damaged my liver resulting in hospitalization for liver failure. It is not a nice bug to catch, but as this article states it is becoming more prevalent, it is becoming more virulent and doctors are not diagnosing it until too late. The fatality rate is rising and the treatment takes longer. Please be aware and get treatment (and ask your doctor if it could be clostridium difficile) as soon as symptoms arrive. Dr. Mike

Earlier this year, Harold and Freda Mitchell of Como, Miss., both came down with a serious stomach bug. At first, doctors did not know what was wrong, but the gastrointestinal symptoms became so severe that Mrs. Mitchell, 66, was hospitalized for two weeks. Her husband, a manufacturing supervisor, missed 20 days of work.

A local doctor who had worked in a Veterans Affairs hospital recognized the signs of Clostridium difficile, a contagious and potentially deadly bacterium. Although the illness is difficult to track, health officials estimate that in the United States the bacteria cause 350,000 infections each year in hospitals alone, with tens of thousands more occurring in nursing homes. While the majority of cases are found in health care settings, 20 percent or more may occur in the community. The illness kills an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people annually.

“It’s been the worst thing I’ve ever tried to get through in my life,” said Mrs. Mitchell, who remains weakened by the ordeal. “I really did think I was going to die.”

What is so frightening about C. difficile is that it is often spurred by antibiotics. The drugs wipe out the targeted illness, like a urinary tract or upper respiratory infection, but they also kill off large portions of the healthy bacteria that normally live in the digestive tract. If a person comes into contact with C. difficile, or already has it, the disruption to the beneficial bacteria creates an opportunity for the harmful bacteria to flourish.

The public health community has been sounding the alarm for years about the overuse of antibiotics and the emergence of “superbugs” — bacteria that have developed immunity to a wide number of antibiotics. But the C. difficile problem shows that the threat is not generalized or hypothetical, but immediate and personal.

“One of the things that we counsel consumers about is to make sure that an antibiotic is really necessary,” said Dr. Dale N. Gerding, an infectious disease specialist at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University in Chicago. “There are many good reasons for taking an antibiotic, but an illness like sinusitis or bronchitis winds up being treated with antibiotics even though it will go away by itself anyway.”

Even appropriate use of antibiotics can put a person at risk. Dr. Gerding said his own adult son came down with a C. difficile infection after taking antibiotics for tonsillitis.

The typical treatment for C. difficile is another course of antibiotics, typically the drug vancomycin. But the situation can quickly turn tragic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported on several cases of pregnant and postpartum women who developed life-threatening C. difficile infections after being treated for minor infections. In some instances, a C. difficile infection can be treated only by emergency surgery to remove the patient’s colon. Doctors say many patients report that they continue to suffer from regular bouts of diarrhea even after the infection is gone. About 20 percent of patients with the infection suffer a relapse, and C. difficile support groups have emerged on the Internet.

In the case of the Mitchell family, Mr. Mitchell had been taking antibiotics for another health problem, and the treatment apparently led to his C. difficile infection. Mrs. Mitchell probably contracted the illness from her husband. The spores from C. difficile are hardy, and contaminated surfaces must be scrubbed down with bleach to eradicate the germ. Doctors say Mrs. Mitchell’s illness is unusual because most people are protected by their own bacterial flora and wouldn’t be vulnerable to C. difficile if they had not been taking antibiotics, even after close exposure. The risk of contracting C. difficile outside the health care setting remains low, at about 7 cases per 100,000 people, studies show.

C. difficile is not a new illness, but it appears to be spreading at an alarming rate. The rate of C. difficile infection among hospital patients doubled from 2001 to 2005, according to an April 2008 report from the C.D.C. The rise in C. difficile cases around the world is linked with the growing use of all antibiotics, particularly a class of drugs called fluoroquinolones, which came into widespread use around 2001. The use of acid-suppressing drugs, including proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec, also may be a risk factor, although studies have been contradictory.

In addition to becoming more common, C. difficile is also becoming more deadly. Several years ago, the mortality rate from a C. difficile infection was around 1 to 2 percent. But today, various studies estimate that the death rate is 6 percent. The reason is that a hypervirulent strain has emerged that emits higher levels of toxins than earlier strains.

Many patients are far more familiar with another superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which can cause a severe and potentially deadly skin infection. MRSA started off primarily as a hospital-based infection but has become increasingly common in the community.

Hospitals may become more motivated to control C. difficile if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decides to withhold reimbursement for cases of hospital-acquired C. difficile infections. The system already withholds reimbursement for certain other preventable hospital infections.

In addition to careful use of antibiotics, patients and hospital visitors should always be vigilant about hand washing, and visitors should not sit on a patient’s hospital bed or use a patient’s restroom if it can be avoided. Patients should always report severe diarrhea symptoms to a doctor, particularly if they have taken antibiotics recently.

“Up until about 2002, this was a very mild disorder and very few people ever died from it,” said Dr. Perry Hookman, a gastroenterologist and associate professor of medicine at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. “But in the past few years the bugs have become hypervirulent, more severe and now it’s a global threat.”

Grape-seed extract kills laboratory leukemia cells

2009-04-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

PHILADELPHIA – An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract.

The investigators, who report their findings in the January 1, 2009, issue of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, also teased apart the cell signaling pathway associated with use of grape seed extract that led to cell death, or apoptosis. They found that the extract activates JNK, a protein that regulates the apoptotic pathway.

While grape seed extract has shown activity in a number of laboratory cancer cell lines, including skin, breast, colon, lung, stomach and prostate cancers, no one had tested the extract in hematological cancers nor had the precise mechanism for activity been revealed.

"These results could have implications for the incorporation of agents such as grape seed extract into prevention or treatment of hematological malignancies and possibly other cancers," said the study's lead author, Xianglin Shi, Ph.D., professor in the Graduate Center for Toxicology at the University of Kentucky.

"What everyone seeks is an agent that has an effect on cancer cells but leaves normal cells alone, and this shows that grape seed extract fits into this category," he said.

Shi adds, however, that the research is not far enough along to suggest that people should eat grapes, grape seeds, or grape skin in excess to stave off cancer. "This is very promising research, but it is too early to say this is chemo-protective."

Hematological cancers – leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma – accounted for an estimated 118,310 new cancer cases and almost 54,000 deaths in 2006, ranking these cancers as the fourth leading cause of cancer incidence and death in the U.S.

Given that epidemiological evidence shows that eating vegetables and fruits helps prevent cancer development, Shi and his colleagues have been studying chemicals known as proanthocyanidins in fruits that contribute to this effect. Shi has found that apple peel extract contains these flavonoids, which have antioxidant activity, and which cause apoptosis in several cancer cell lines but not in normal cells. Based on those studies, and findings from other researchers that grape seed extract reduces breast tumors in rats and skin tumors in mice, they looked at the effect of the compound in leukemia cells.

Using a commercially available grape seed extract, Shi exposed leukemia cells to the extract in different doses and found the marked effect in causing apoptosis in these cells at one of the higher doses.

Thet also found that grapeseed extract did not affect normal cell, though they do not know the reason.

The researchers then used pharmacologic and genetic approaches to determine how the extract induced apoptosis. They found that the extract strongly activated the JNK pathway, which then led to up-regulation of Cip/p21, which controls the cell cycle.

They checked this finding by using an agent that inhibited JNK, and found that the extract was ineffective. Using a genetic approach – silencing the JNK gene – also disarmed grape seed extract's lethal attack in leukemia cells.

"This is a natural compound that appears to have relatively important properties," Shi said.

Source: American Association for Cancer Research

Rainbow upon the Lake

2008-12-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas, 2008.

Merry Christmas to all.

This morning after our puppies had opened their gifts and eaten their doggie treats from the stocking, which had been hung by the fireplace with care, I went up to our second floor patio to look at our world. At this time of the year we usually have heavy fog which is burned off by the sun between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. It is a beautiful experience watching the sun burn off the fog. Slowly the sun becomes brighter and brighter, the sky bluer, the fir and spruce trees across the meadow in front of our house begin taking form. Large birds begin assembling in their respective places in the trees to begin catching the morning sun rays as they throw off the chill of the night.

Slowly, as the fog lifts you can see the top of the mountains which lie across the lake to our north. As the mountains come into view the lake is still hidden. The sun rises higher and the view of the shore near our house comes into view. Then quicker and quicker the shape and contours of the lake come into view. Within minutes the lake shimmers in the morning sun, the herons can be seen far out in the center of the lake slowly circling as they search for their morning meal. The sky becomes a deep Mayan blue and the world is once again awakened for the new day.

This Christmas morning the magic of the unveiling new day occurred around 10:00 a.m. As I stood on the patio I looked toward the lake and there, before my eyes, a rainbow appeared in the lake. Then a second rainbow appeared simultaneously a couple of hundred yards beyond the first rainbow. As I watched, the colors became more intense. In the water, from the left were colors as follows: purple, blue, green, yellow and finally a reddish/orange brown. As I write this the rainbow is still upon the lake and it's colors still intensifying.

The second rainbow lost it's colors after about 30 minutes and then ghostly images appeared in the water. It looked as if ten or fifteen human like figures stood shoulder to shoulder looking in our direction or perhaps looking at the rainbow, still intensely colorful. I saw nothing that could have been reflecting in the water.

These entities looked like the "watchers" as they silently stood in place gazing. At times they seemed to be moving or dancing upon the water. Who were they?Were they water spirits come to view the spectacular lake rainbow? Their dancing continued for 30 minutes or so seemingly enjoying this Christmas morning, a dance of joy. Perhaps they were Christmas angels providing a special gift for my wife and I to enjoy.

How did this occur? Was there a rainbow from the sun over our house and the end of it in the lake. Are we in the middle of the rainbow, which we can't see above or around us, but can only see where it ends? Is the rainbow on the lake where the pot of gold is located? Is the rainbow and entities in the lake a sign to us? Who or what were these figures who appeared to be watching? A sign of peace and goodwill for us to understand that the madness of the world may be about to meet its match?

I have lived 57 years and have never seen such a phenomenon. Perhaps it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If so, I am thankful on this Christmas day, this day of peace and goodwill to others, that my wife and I were able to experience such a joyful phenomenon.

May peace, forever more, be in all our lives.

Actual Costs of Manufacturing Pharmaceutical Drugs

2008-12-21T13:02:00.000-08:00

From JUDICIAL REFORM INVESTIGATIONS / justice@court.to

Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the Active ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. We did a search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in past issues of Life Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made in other countries.

In our independent investigation of how much profit drug companies really make, we obtained the actual price of active ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in America. The chart below speaks for itself.

BRAND NAME	CONSUMER PRICE 100	COST OF GENERAL ACTIVE INGREDIENTS per 100 tab/cap	PERCENT MARKUP
Celebrex 100 mg Claritin 10 mg Keflex 250 mg Lipitor 20 mg Norvasc 10 mg Paxil 20 mg Prevacid 30 mg Prilosec 20 mg Prozac 20 mg Tenormin 50 mg Vasotec 10 mg Xanax 1mg Zestril 20 mg Zithromax 600mg Zocor 40mg Zoloft 50mg	$130.27 $215.17 $157.39 $272.37 $188.29 $220.27 $44.77 $360.97 $247.47 $104.47 $102.37 $136.79 $89.89 $1,482.19 $350.27 $206.87	$0.60 $0.71 $1.88 $5.80 $0.14 $7.60 $1.01 $0.52 $0.11 $0.13 $0.20 $0.024 $3.20 $18.78 $8.63 $1.75	21,712% 30,306% 8,372% 4,696% 134,493% 2,898% 34,136% 69,417% 224,973% 80,362% 51,185% 569,958% 2,809% 7,892% 4,059% 11,821%

More Corporate Lies and Chicanery!

2008-11-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the U.S., has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch and then labels them as raised without antibiotics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label, but the company has sued for the right to keep using it.

Poultry farmers regularly treat chickens and other birds with antibiotics. But scientists have become increasingly concerned that the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

After Tyson began labeling its chicken antibiotic-free, the USDA warned the company that such labels were not truthful, because Tyson regularly treats its birds' feed with bacteria-killing ionophores. Tyson argued that ionophores are antimicrobials rather than antibiotics, and are not used on human patients.

Tyson suggested a compromise which was eventually accepted by the USDA -- they would use a label reading "raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans."

Tyson's competitors: Perdue Farms Inc., Sanderson Farms Inc. and Foster Farms sued, and in May 2008, a federal judge ruled in their favor and told Tyson to stop using the label. Not long after, USDA inspectors discovered that in addition to using ionophores, Tyson was regularly injecting its chicken eggs with gentamicin, an antibiotic that has been used for more than 30 years.

The agency told Tyson that based on the new discovery, it would no longer consider the antibiotic-free label "truthful and accurate." Tyson objected again, claiming that because the antibiotics are injected before the chickens hatched, the birds can truthfully be said to be "raised without antibiotics."

Tyson has filed a lawsuit against the USDA, claiming that the agency had improperly changed the definition of "raised without antibiotics" to include the treatment of eggs.

Authors note, "another of the sick-assed crap pulled on the American people by big corporations! Boycott Tyson's Chickens!"
Sources:
Natural News November 9, 2008

Today, I watched a honeybee

2008-11-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Today is the day before Thanksgiving. In Mexico Thanksgiving Day is not celebrated; perhaps the Mexican people have their own Day Of Thanksgiving. Perhaps, many of the people in Mexico do not feel such a holiday is worthy as there is much need here.

Today, the day before the United States Day of Thanksgiving, I was sitting on our second floor patio, overlooking the lake and enjoying the warm tropical sun, even though the air temperature was 53 degrees. I currently have bronchitis and laryngitis so I felt the sun would be healing therapy.

Directly below our patio is a large lemon tree. It reaches the second floor so it must be 10 or 12 feet tall and 20 feet or so in circumference. It is a "mature" tree, just as I am a "mature" human. The tree has a hundred or so lemons on it. Some are as small as apple seeds, some the size of pennies, some the size of fully mature fruit. The tree is life in miniature. The fruit is of all sizes, shapes, quality and color. Just as in our life. It is home to birds, spiders, caterpillars, various bugs, butterflies, moths and honeybees. In the summer we hang our canary cage on one of its limbs and it becomes a singing lemon tree.

Our tree blooms all year; even now during the cool months of late fall the tree is blooming. It bloomed and produced all summer during the tropical wet season. Now it has decided to try and produce during the cool, dry season. Such hope! Such optimism! Such life! I picked one of our lemons, peeled and ate the fruit and juice, while enjoying the sun. The juice was very tart, thus I knew it had a high quantity of vitamin C. It was slightly bitter, so I knew it possessed healing levels of limonene. Therefore, it should be helpful for my bronchitis and laryngitis.

While I munched on my fresh lemon, I leaned over the iron railing a saw a solitary honeybee working over the blossoms. A single bee, out on his own, working at a task nature had placed upon him. He was working in spite of the cool temperatures, infrequent blossoms and other obstacles. He worked patiently and deliberately. He went from blossom to blossom and stayed as long as it took for him to gather the nectar. At this time of year, the winter spiders have set their traps between twigs and leaves to gather their food to tide them through the winter months. I watched as the honeybee, deftly dipped under a web and escaping it's entrapment continued to the next blossom. To continue his work.

Since he was the only honeybee I saw, all the nectar gathering, all the rewards of his work would be for he and his hive. Bringing home the bacon, so to speak.

It reminded me of people who work at jobs that they have been directed to and they go do their jobs day after day, in spite of obstacles. Sometimes they work by themselves, sometimes when the "conditions" are not conducive, sometimes when they don't feel well, sometimes when all others have quit for the season. They do it because just as the honeybee does, there is work to do. So they do it. They do it for themselves and their families.

Honeybees are the unsung heroes of the natural world, they contribute so much to other species and gather so little respect. They are dying out (a massive die-off) as a species now, due to bacterial/viral infections, pesticides and the maniacal Genetically Modified Foods (GMO's) foods. When the honeybees are all gone, then we'll know how important they were for us. Just as the Navajo wise man asked, "When all the prairie dogs are gone, who'll sing for the rain?"

Our unsung heroes of our society; the traveling salesperson, the factory worker who produces widgets for sale, others who produce tangible items for our use, teachers-who used to be able to actually teach, instead now act as baby sitters, the small farmer who provided most of our food, the waterworks persons who have one of the most important jobs in the country which is providing clean and safe drinking water supply from an ever decreasing source, the herb collectors who could help keep people healthy, instead of just treating symptoms as doctors now do; these unsung heroes have fallen by the wayside. They no longer count in our new hero-worship. They have been cast in the waste bin of life. Producers are now an antiquated bunch. Useless, as the honeybee, in this new world which has come into being.

The new heroes in the US are now the military and Blackwater mercenaries proudly fighting in unprovoked and unnecessary wars wherever they feel the need, killing men, women and children who have done nothing wrong but are then named "insurgents" after their deaths, military types using drone aircraft to fire missles at Afghan wedding parties-killing all- and then tout statistics of killing "enemy combatants", police who use their tasers on anything that moves, laughing as if it is a game, instead of "talking" with someone, torturers on our government payroll who kidnap innocent people and torture them for years in the name of the United States people, the bankers who steal as much a they can while producing absolutely nothing out of nothing but they keep the goods, the stock traders who sell and make money from selling bundles of nothing to each other so all the vermin can make lots of money while those who are retired and trusted these rats watch their retirement disappear into overseas banks, the Congresscritters and Senators who receive most of their pay from lobbyists and then vote for laws to help only the lobbyists, while ignoring the poor and disappearing middle-class. The Treasury Secretary, who came from the same den of vipers on Wall Street, demands (and receives) unlimited amounts of money to spend as he sees fit to help his buddies in the treasury banks continue to make their billions from the taxpayers, sports "stars" who are paid multi-millions of dollars while contributing absolutely nothing to society and while these "stars" arrogantly ignore laws and common sense (some who see nothing wrong with raising pit-bulls to tear each other apart while these "stars" bet money on the winner! The media, especially Fox and CNN who are nothing more than paid government shills who will not or cannot tell the truth-what is really happening-to anyone. These are today's heroes. None of these creatures produce anything of value to anyone but themselves. They never have. They never will. They simply take. And if their lips are moving you can be sure they are lying!

My little honeybee that I watched this morning, goes about his life doing what he loves and helps many other species survive. Even when conditions are not good for him, he goes out each day and provides his way in the world as nature intended. He does not do harm to others, he does not steal, he does not lie. He shares what he produces for the good of the tribe. I respect him. I love him. I am thankful for him and what he contributes to the world.

I cannot say the same for the for the latter day "heroes" I mentioned above. They are the vermin of the earth. For them, I will not be celebrating Thanksgiving this year. I do not cheer their success. I will continue to be thankful each day as it unfolds and I will continue to watch as nature works its magic in small sequences and which never fails to amaze me. For this I am thankful.

Alzheimer's Disease Natural Treatment

2008-11-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

From Life Extension Foundation
www.lef.org

Neurofibrillary tangles, which are made of a protein called tau, are bundles of twisted filaments found within neurons. Tau is normally responsible for helping cells to function correctly; it delivers various substances throughout the cell. In people who have Alzheimer’s disease, tau becomes abnormally shaped and twists into pairs of helical filaments that gather in tangles. Because of the tangles, the neurons lose their ability to function, and the neurons eventually die. No one knows why this happens but there are probably several overlapping causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

There are many choices of both drugs and nutritional supplements available for patients with Alzheimer's disease. In light of new evidence that oxidative stress and inflammation are central to Alzheimer’s disease, people at risk of Alzheimer’s (or those who have early dementia) are advised to take supplements that reduce inflammation and oxidative damage. These include:

Curcumin—900 to 1800 milligrams (mg) daily
EPA/DHA—1400 mg daily of EPA and 1000 mg daily of DHA
Vitamin E—400 international units (IU) daily (with 200 mg of gamma-tocopherol)
Vitamin C—1 to 3 grams daily
Ginkgo biloba—120 mg daily
Acetyl-L-carnitine arginate—750 to 2000 mg daily
CoQ10—100 to 600 mg daily
N-acetylcysteine—600 mg daily
Aged garlic—1200 mg daily
Vinpocetine—15 to 20 mg daily
Green tea extract (93 percent polyphenols)—725 mg daily
B vitamins—A full complement of B vitamins (including folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12) to lower homocysteine. Specific suggested doses include 1000 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B12, 250 mg of vitamin B6, and 800 mcg of folic acid.
Niacin—Up to 800 mg daily. Start slowly and take with food to avoid flushing.
Melatonin—1 to 3 mg each night
DHEA—15 to 75 mg daily. Have blood tested in 3 to 6 weeks to determine optimal dose.
Huperzine—50 mcg up to four times per week
Blueberry extract—500 to 2000 mg daily. If you eat blueberries, you don’t need to take this much blueberry extract.
Grape seed extract—100 mg daily

Breakthrough With Alzheimers?

2008-11-07T06:51:00.001-08:00

From Life Extension Foundation
http://www.lef.org/

B vitamin prevents memory loss in animal model of Alzheimer’s disease
An article in the November 5, 2008 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience revealed the discovery of researchers at the University of California, Irvine of a protective effect of nicotinamide, otherwise known as niacinamide (a form of vitamin B3), against memory loss in mice bred to develop a condition that mimics human Alzheimer’s disease. Nicotinamide is a member of a group of compounds known as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, which have been shown to enhance memory. The compounds have been demonstrated to exert a protective effect on the central nervous system in rodent models of Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
For the current research, Kim Green, Frank LaFerla and their associates used mice bred to develop brain deposits of amyloid beta as well as phosphorylated tau protein, which forms neurofibrillary tangles that occur in human Alzheimer’s disease patients. The team added nicotinamide daily to the drinking water of four-month-old Alzheimer’s mice and normal mice, while other groups of mice received untreated water for four months. Cognition testing to evaluate short term and long term memory in areas of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease was conducted at the beginning and end of the study.
The team found lower levels of phosphorylated tau in the brains of the Alzheimer’s mice that received nicotinamide, as well as an increase in proteins that strengthen the brain’s microtubules along which information travels within the brain’s cells. "Microtubules are like highways inside cells,” Dr Green explained. “What we're doing with nicotinamide is making a wider, more stable highway. In Alzheimer's disease, this highway breaks down. We are preventing that from happening."
While untreated Alzheimer’s mice demonstrated memory loss by the end of the experiment, those that received nicotinamide performed at the same level as the normal mice. Even in normal mice that received nicotinamide, cognition was slightly enhanced. "This suggests that not only is it good for Alzheimer's disease, but if normal people take it, some aspects of their memory might improve," noted Dr LaFerla, who is a professor of neurobiology and behavior at UC Irvine.
"Nicotinamide has a very robust effect on neurons," Dr Green added. "Nicotinamide prevents loss of cognition in mice with Alzheimer's disease, and the beauty of it is we already are moving forward with a clinical trial."
“The results presented here suggest that nicotinamide has a potential as a novel, safe and inexpensive Alzheimer’s disease therapy, either alone or in combination with amyloid beta-lowering therapies,” Dr Green and colleagues conclude.

How to Manage Your Cholesterol Without Taking Dangerous Statin Drugs

2008-10-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

One of the worse frauds thrust upon patients by doctors is that high cholesterol causes heart disease. This is wrong. The basis for this lie is due to a long continuing study in Massachusetts called the Framingham Study. This study showed a connection between high cholesterol with a higher incidence of heart attacks. Reseachers and drug companies took this information and built an entire medical program around this connection. Pharmaceutical companies invested billions of dollars to find drugs to lower the levels of this demon called cholesterol.

Eureka, they found one.

It was based on a Chinese supplement made from Red Rice Yeast. This yeast which grows on the rice had been used for three thousand years in China for cardio vascular disease and it's health promoting effects. The drug companies took this supplement, changed its chemical structure a little, so they could patent it, since you cannot patent a natural substance. They then put this "new" drug on the market as the statin class drugs called Lipitor, Zocor and the other "or" drugs. In the best of Chutzpah, the drug companies then turned around and sued the supplement companies, which had been selling the red rice yeast for many years, for selling a drug and they won in court! Red Rice Yeast was removed from the market. Some Naturopathic Doctors continued to prescribed and provide this product to their patients.

But by changing the chemical structure of the red rice yeast so they could then patent it, they made a perfectly safe supplement used for thousands of years into a dangerous "new" drug. This new statin drugs causes such side effects as muscle pains, to muscle destruction, to kidney failure, to liver failure. But hey, that's okay the drug companies were making billions of dollars off these drug. A little damage to the patient was apparently "acceptable collateral damage".

They then sent their drug reps to teach MD's that cholesterol was the source of heart attacks and all the doctors had to do was prescribe Lipitor or Zocor or another statin and the risk would be reduced. "Oh, yea, the reps would say, we're having a convention in Maui, all expenses paid, for the top 10% of prescribers of our drug" or they would say, "we need an experienced doctor to write a research article for us (which was already pre-written for them) and we'll pay you a $10,000 honorarium". To help this scam out, the American Medical Association (AMA) passed a new recommendation, a few years ago, that the "healthy" level of total cholesterol in the blood would be reduced from 200 mg/DL to 180 mg/DL. Thus with this new recommendation...even more people can be placed in the risky category and placed on a statin drug. This will ensure more profit for the drug companies and more "lecture fees" and "free conventions" for the MD's.

What a scam.

Cardiovascular diseae is not a single component disease. There are many factors, more than is actually known by researchers, as to what caues cardiovascular disease and heart attacks in particular. The main cause of cardiovascular disease is INFLAMMATION! Not cholesterol! Plaque that builds up in arteries causing constriction are made up of many things: fibrin, calcium, dead cells and yes cholesterol. But if you listen to the drug companies the only cause is cholesterol and "We have the perfect drug for it!".

To prevent heart attacks you must stop the inflammation, not lower cholesterol.

Inflammation causes damage to the intima (inner lining) of the blood vessels which cause the blood flow to be turbulent, similar to rapids in a river. The body wants to stop this turbulence by laying a coat of "plaque" so the blood will flow smoothly again. If the inflammation is not addressed, the new plaque will become nicked by inflammatory agents (free radicals) and the blood will once again be turbulent. The body responds by laying down another layer of plaque.

As long as the underlying cause (inflammation) is not addressed the turbulence, plaque buildup will continue until the blood vessel is blocked (occluded) and a heart attack or stroke is initiated.

Cholesterol management
Elevated cholesterol is associated with a greater-than-normal risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. While antioxidants can inhibit cholesterol from oxidizing onto the linings of the arteries, knowing and controlling your cholesterol levels is still an important step in preventing cardiovascular disease.
The following nutritional supplements offer synergistic benefits to assist dietary modification to help maintain healthy total serum cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels for those already within healthy range.

In a later article I will address how to control the CAUSE of heart disease...inflammation.

For now, I would like to try and help those who are still drinking the kool-aide and believe cholesterol is the root of all cardivascular evil. The following information is from Life Extension Organization http://www.lef.org/ and contains their recommendation for controling cholesterol the safe way. Without the use of the physically damaging statin drugs. LEF has excellent research into disease processes and also the best supplements you can purchase. I am not associated in any way with LEF... but I've used their information and products through my medical career.

Good reading. My comments are written in italics.

Elevated cholesterol is associated with (associated with, not the cause of) a greater-than-normal risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. While antioxidants can inhibit cholesterol from oxidizing onto the linings of the arteries, knowing and controlling your cholesterol levels is still an important step in preventing cardiovascular disease.

The following nutritional supplements offer synergistic benefits to assist dietary modification to help maintain healthy total serum cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels for those already within normal range:

Policosanol, take one tablet twice per day with meals: one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Or Sytrinol, one capsule twice daily. (or red rice yeast)

Fiber, 4 to 6 grams before any high-fat meal. (especially, water soluble fiber such as oats, pectin)

Chitosan, three to six 500-mg chitosan capsules and one 1000 mg ascorbic acid capsule right before a high-fat meal.

Niacin, 1500 to 3000 mg a day (if tolerable).

Artichoke extract, 300 mg, 3 times a day. (keeps the liver healthy in producing and controlling cholesterol)

Garlic, 600 to 4800 mg a day.

Curcumin, 900 to 1800 mg a day. (Helps the liver and stops inflammation)

Gugulipid, 140 mg 1 to 2 times a day. (regulates blood sugar and thus controls cholesterol)

Green tea, 750 mg a day of green tea, 93% polyphenol extract.

Perilla oil, 6000 mg a day. We suggest taking six 1000-mg gel caps daily. If triglycerides are high, consider taking 4-8 softgels of fish oil (EPA/DHA).

Vitamin E, 400 to 800 IU daily (do not use Dl-Alpha vitamin E! Use vitamin E with D-alpha and tocotrienols and tocopherol)

Soy protein extract, 2 heaping teaspoons (5 to 6 grams) of soy powder daily.

Selenium, 200 to 600 mcg daily.

Herbal Cardiovascular Formula, two-six capsules daily with food in divided doses. (A Life Extension Supplement)

If you are interested in keeping your cholesterol with "acceptable" ranges the above will help you to do so.

Resveratrol May Improve Liver Health and Regulate an Obesity-Controlling Hormone

2008-10-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Resveratrol, a flavonoid from red wine has received a lot of attention from naturopathic physcians in the past 10 or 12 years. It seems maybe science is catching up. Resveratrol has been used as an anti-oxidant, helps control blood sugar for diabetics, and appears to reduce the profliferation of cancer. I have also used it to help people with the eye condition calle Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). It strengthens blood vessels and helps with circulation of blood thus bringing nutrients and oxygen to cells which have been deprived.

Now a study is out concerning the use of resveratrol in fatty liver disease which seems to be caused by too high of alcohol consumptions and also poor diet. As a bonus, reseachers may have found a link in reducing the body's ability to make certain fats and to help burn it as energy instead of storing it.

Researchers report that the polyphenol resveratrol may stop the development of fatty liver disease, a condition associated with frequent alcohol consumption, and that it may influence the activity of an obesity-controlling hormone known as adiponectin.

The study authors divided mice into groups and fed all the animals a low-fat diet. One group of the mice consumed a diet supplemented with resveratrol, one group was supplemented with resveratrol plus alcohol, one group with only alcohol, and a control group consumed only the low-fat diet without alcohol or resveratrol.

The results indicated that resveratrol activated two molecules involved in cell signaling and the breakdown of fats in the liver: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). Alcohol is known to inhibit these molecules, leading to fat build-up and fatty liver, but resveratrol activated AMPK and SIRT1 in the livers of alcohol-fed mice.

Another interesting finding of the study was that the increased activation of AMPK and SIRT1 caused by resveratrol in alcohol-fed rats also was accompanied by changes in the levels of other molecules that control fat metabolism, including adiponectin, a hormone produced by fat cells, which helps to control obesity. By triggering these changes, resveratrol may stop fat from accumulating in the liver through reducing the production of fat and increasing the burning of fat already present.

According to the scientists, “Our study suggests that resveratrol may serve as a promising agent for preventing or treating human alcoholic fatty liver disease.”

Reference:
Ajmo JM, Liang X, Rogers CQ, Pennock B, You M. Resveratrol alleviates alcoholic fatty liver in mice. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2008 Oct;295(4):G833-42.

Quercetin Studied for Its Immune-Boosting Effects

2008-10-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

I have long used quercetin to stop inflammatory processes and for long-term relief of allergies. It is remarkable in that it produces no side effects and is absolutely safe. For respiratory allergies it takes 1 to 2 weeks for it's full effects to take place. Onions have high quercetin content so be sure to include them in your diet during "allergy season". An interestint point to make is it works so well that the OTC drug NasalCrom is made from quercetin. I recommend by-passing the drug and take the safer, less expensive supplemental form. I usually prescribed 1 to 2 grams (1,000mg - 2,000mg) and day in divided doses for my patients.

The following is a new study of yet another use for this special flavonoid. It has immune-boosting effects.

In a new study, quercetin was able to significantly strengthen immunity in animals exposed to the flu virus, consistent with the results of a human study released last year where the flavonoid had similar immune-enhancing effects.
Past studies have linked exercise stress to an increased risk for influenza. The flavonoid quercetin also has been reported to inhibit infectivity and replication of a broad spectrum of viruses and may offset the increase in susceptibility to infection associated with stressful exercise.

To further investigate quercetin’s possible anti-viral activities, researchers examined the flavonoid’s effects in mice that underwent stressful exercise then were exposed to influenza virus. The animals were assigned to one of four groups: exercise-placebo, exercise-quercetin, control-placebo, or control-quercetin. The exercise consisted of having the mice run until they were fatigued (approximately 140 min) on a treadmill for three consecutive days.
Quercetin (12.5 mg/kg) was administered through a stomach tube for 7 days before the mice were exposed to the virus. At 30 minutes after the last bout of exercise or rest, mice were intranasally inoculated with influenza virus. Mice were monitored daily for morbidity (time to sickness), symptom severity, and mortality (time to death) for 21 days.

Exercise stress was associated with an increased susceptibility to infection (morbidity, mortality, and symptom severity on days 5-7). However, quercetin made the animals less susceptible to viral infection after stressful exercise. The exercised mice not fed the quercetin experienced an increased susceptibility to infection of 91 percent, while quercetin was found to offset infection risk by 63 percent.

The illness rate in the mice that exercised and took quercetin was approximately equivalent to those that did not exercise, suggesting that quercetin supplementation stopped the immunity-lowering effects of the intense exercise.

According to the researchers, “These data suggest that short-term quercetin feedings may prove to be an effective strategy to lessen the impact of stressful exercise on susceptibility to respiratory infection.”

This study builds on an earlier human study where quercetin reduced illness and maintained mental performance in physically stressed subjects. Trained cyclists consumed 1,000 mg per day of quercetin (plus niacin and vitamin C) for five weeks. Another group of 20 cyclists were given a placebo. After three weeks, subjects rode a bicycle three hours per day for three days to the point of exhaustion.

After the exercise period, approximately 45 percent of the placebo-consuming cyclists became ill, while only 5 percent of the quercetin group suffered any illness. Furthermore, when given an alertness test, the quercetin-consuming subjects better maintained their ability to react after exhaustion. (Nieman DC, et. al. Research presented at the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, Charlotte, N.C., February 9, 2007.)

Reference:
Davis JM, Murphy EA, McClellan JL, Carmichael MD, Gangemi JD. Quercetin reduces susceptibility to influenza infection following stressful exercise. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2008 Aug;295(2):R505-9.

Natural Treatment for Bacterial Infections

2008-10-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

Bacterial infections are occasionally life-threatening health concerns. Older and newly emerging antibiotic-resistant infections are an increasing danger for children, the elderly, and people who have chronic diseases. Bacterial infections can disrupt normal intestinal flora, reduce nutrient and mineral supplies, and compromise immune responses. A healthy immune system can prevent or neutralize bacterial infections.

When dealing with a possible bacterial infection, it is impossible to tell, short of laboratory tests, which pathogen is causing the problem. Therefore, it is important to visit a physician for proper testing and, if necessary, to obtain prescription antibiotics. In addition, many nutrients have been shown to help strengthen the immune system and inhibit bacterial infection.

Nutrients that have been demonstrated to inhibit bacterial activity or enhance the immune system include:

Lactoferrin—300 milligrams (mg) daily
Oregano oil—400 to 1000 mg of essential oils daily
Garlic extract—600 to 1200 mg of Kyolic garlic daily
Norwegian shark liver oil—200 mg of active alkylglycerols
Bromelain—500 mg before each meal
L-arginine—900 mg daily
L-glutamine—1 to 2 grams (g) daily
Cranberry extract—500 mg daily
Probiotics—Follow directions on label.
Whey protein—1 to 2 scoops daily
Green tea extract—725 mg daily
Garlic bulb powder—1800 to 9000 mg of Pure Gar daily (if you already have an infection)

lifeextension@lefbc.com

Life Expectancy Drops To 69.3 Years In The US

2008-10-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Makes a person ashamed of what is going on in the United States!


10-22-8

(Reuters) -- What is the average life expectancy of Americans? For a long time it has been the low seventies for men and upper seventies for women. So it comes as a shock to learn that the average life expectancy for Americans has dropped to 69.3 years, according to the America's Health Rankings report, issued at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting. This figure is exceeded by 28 other countries, including Britain, France and Germany and is about five years less than the life expectancy in Japan. According to Dr. Reed Tuckson, this dismal number reflects increasing obesity, fewer people quitting smoking (although only 20.8 percent of Americans smoke today, down from almost one-third in 1990), and increasing numbers of people without health insurance. Officials made no mention of the increasing consumption of processed foods containing refined sweeteners, processed vegetable oils and toxic additives, and certainly did not allow even a whisper about the almost complete absence of nutrient-dense foods such as organ meats, shellfish and butterfat and eggs from grass-fed animals from the American diet (December 13, 2005). Nor does it mention the failure of the health care (sic) system, the chemicals added into the food system, GMO "Frankenfoods" in the supermarket with out any scientific testing for harm, the tainted colorless sky (chemtrails with barium and aluminum) and the poisonous water (MBTE, percholrate amongs other nasties). It doesn't count the stress that everyday people are under trying to purchase daily necessities, the drugs being pumped in to us and the mercury containing vaccines (thimerosol) which turn our children into medicated autistic kids. There is much that lends support to this report and the situation will only become worse!

My View of Life

2008-10-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today is October 1st.

The US is in a meltdown of unprecedented proportions. Wall Street Security Traders and bankers are twisting arms for the US taxpayers to bail them out of their scams, while those who perpetuated these frauds scramble to protect their loot. Banks are holding onto their money, refusing to loan any money-even to each other. Gasoline is in short supply in the southeast apparently due to a hurricane three weeks ago, gasoline prices are as high as they've ever been, food prices continue to rise at ridiculous rates, unemployment is soaring even as the government understates the real unemployment levels, crime is soaring through the roof in the US cities as people desperately try to survive. The government responds by building more prisons and criminalizing most all behavior. Yet, instead of tackling these problems the US government continues to threaten other countries with air strikes in Pakistan, the illegal wars continues in Iraq and Afghanistan, continued threats on Iran, trying to pull off a coup d'etat in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela against popularly elected Presidents; the scams on the US people continue forward, AND beginning today the US Army is stationing battle hardened troops on US soil (for the first time since it was banned after the Civil War) in order to respond to "terrorist attacks", disasters or civil unrest (by US citizens) or for any national emergency the "President declares" in his infinite wisdom. But...

here in Mexico life is still peaceful. Fall has arrived. The monarch butterflies will be here at the end of the month. They must be somewhere in northern Mexico, right about now, on their annual migration. Last year they appeared in our yard October 31 for All Hallows Eve. The rains have slowed to a couple of times a week. This week the days have been sunny, cool with a deep blue sky. The winds pick up in the evenings allowing our wind chimes to sing their wonderful songs. I lay in bed at night and can hear the chimes singing merrily in the night down on the first floor beneath my bedroom, as the sheer curtains blow gently. Yesterday morning it was 38 degrees at 7:30 in the morning as we took our garbage to the street for pickup. The nights are cool enough for the need of two blankets and a two dog-night. Day temperatures are now in the mid-60's.

The apple trees are turning red and yellow, the pear trees are blooming with their white flowers, yet the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off. We picked the rest of our peaches last week; peeled them and put them in the freezer for winter pies. Two weeks ago, I harvested our pears and made pear preserves. The pears were exceedingly juicy this years and so sweet! We are now harvesting fennel seeds, parsley, borage (with its beautiful blue star flowers), to be dried and used later. We have very tall and beautiful hyssop plants, which have bloomed all summer with their beautiful, purple blossoms attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. We will harvest these next week and make lozenges out of them for sore throat this winter, if needed. Our epazote grew furiously in the wet summer and now have gone to seed and small epazote plants are springing up in the garden. Sunflower heads have been harvested and are being dried for planting next spring. The roses are still blooming their beautiful, fragrant blossoms. Sunlight is moving south and the shadows grow longer on the north side of the house. Nature continues and the seasons change.

Across the lake and along the highways the Cosmo's are blooming. The pink hue covers the north shore peninsula and as seen from our balcony adds a sharp contrast to the blue water and green mountains whose top is often covered by white clouds.

Last week we had a new visitor. A Black Witch Moth took up residence in our living room. This moth is huge! Ours was probably 6 or 7 inches wing-tip to wing-tip. It is so large you actually hear the wings flapping. When it flies, it looks like a bat which causes confusion for some people. It is large but completely docile. It does not bite or sting or threaten to take all your money (or securities). It just spent the day on one of our adobe walls under a painting and slept until night to go visiting wherever a Witch Moth visits.

This morning, in anticipation of the cooler nights which are soon to be here, my wife and I gathered dried kindling from along the road in front of our house. The early, cool morning felt like the fall mornings we had in our cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains a number of years ago. We placed the kindling in the garage, next to our hoard of firewood and now await our first fire of the autumn.

We haven't left our house in two weeks. We are completely content to be at home. We sit on the balcony overlooking the lake and we feel the sun warming our skin as the wind whispers through the trees. As I sit in the sun on the porch I may pick over black beans or peruana beans for our evening meal, or smoke our dinner on the grill. We watch the Great White Herons circle above us and over the lake looking for their meal, and also before a storm, the herons take flight in great numbers to circle high above us riding the thermals seemingly enjoying the shear joy of life. We listen to the roosters crowing and the donkey braying off in the distance and the sheep come each day to fatten up on the grass which has been nurtured by the summer rains. A flock of turkeys strut down the road (some times being led by a rooster) nibbling on the grass seeds and insects, a mother duck leads her ducklings along the road in single file while teaching them how to survive. We leave our windows and front door open and sparrows invite themselves into the house to feast upon the seed thrown out of the cage by our two canaries. They eat their fill and then fly out the window again. This seems to make the canaries happy.

So while the world as we knew it crumbles into the dust of history, we enjoy our simple life. We enjoy the simple joys that life really offers, you can too, if you will simply take the time to notice. The feel of the sun on your skin on a cool day, the smell of fresh roses, the taste of newly harvested peaches or pears, the sweet sounds of life around you, the happiness you feel when you awake in the morning and the sun shines through your window and a gentle breeze blows. The smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen as you awaken. Of living your life with joy with the person you love. The letting go of the past and embracing the present.

I don't know what the future holds, but I know this...I refuse to live my life in fear. I refuse to allow others to control me. I honestly do not care what anyone thinks of me. I refuse to allow my happiness to be controlled by events I cannot change. I refuse to drink the Kool-Aid being offered by the government and controlled media.

And for today...

I am content.