> Flu shots can make lung function worse
In 1998, a study of 262 adults in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial evaluated the effect of flu shots in asthma patients. Subjects kept a record of daily respiratory symptoms, medications, doctor visits and peak expiratory flow (PEF) before and after the vaccination. PEF readings measure of how well the lungs are functioning - an increase in PEF means lung function has improved, and a decrease means that lung function has gotten worse. Of the 255 patients with paired data, approx. 7% had worse lung function after they got a flu shot. In fact, 11 saw a reduction in PEF greater than 20% and 8 had a decline of >30%.
> Flu shots don't protect children with asthma
Vaccinating asthmatic children against influenza is unlikely to protect them from attacks and may even worsen their condition. Researchers found asthma-related emergency department visits are significantly more likely among children who have received a flu shot. Two groups of 400 asthmatic children were compared. One group received the vaccine, the other did not. Those who were vaccinated were found to be almost twice as likely to seek assistance at an emergency department because of their asthma.
Getting the H1N1 shot doesn't mean you won't get sick
From Section 12.1 of the Novartis 2009 H1N1 package insert: Mechanism of Action
"...antibody titers (after) vaccination with inactivated influenza H1N1 virus vaccine have not been correlated with protection from influenza illness." In plain language, having an H1N1 antibody after getting an H1N1 shot has no correlation with not getting sick.
Health Tips
Vitamin D Level: The only way to know for sure if your levels are sufficient is a blood test. Ask your doctor to order 25-OH Vitamin D. This is important because often, physicians order 1,25-Vitamin D instead. This is an incorrect test. Your 25-OH level needs to be between 60-80ng/mL. Many reference labs report antiquated ranges.
Your level must be consistently above 50ng/mL. Below this level, your body is unable to store any of the vitamin and you are using it as quickly as you are taking it in. Adequate levels are the same for children and adults.
As we approach winter, this is the most important parameter for avoiding the flu.
Another supplement that is good for those who may not be able to take large doses of vitamin D is NAC, which stands for N-acetyl cysteine, a natural derivative of the amino acid L-cysteine and a precursor to the antioxidant glutathione. NAC is an anti-inflammatory, an immune-boosting power, and supports liver function. It will not necessarily prevent the flu, but studies show it will decrease the severity of the symptoms. is particularly helpful in thinning lung mucus. Normal doses of NAC are 1500mg per day for liver support and prevention.
ORDER SUPPLEMENTS and 25 OH test, high potency Vitamin D or NAC
Monday, November 30, 2009
Health Bill: Good or Bad?
Clear evidence of GRAFT in Health Bill Debate
West Va. Chamber of Commerce Plays Dirty With Health Care Reform
The cost of just getting the health care bill passed is raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill. Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu eventually voted yes to debate the bill, but only after the Senate apparently added $300 million dollars in federal spending for her state. And she is a Democrat. It turns out getting support from Republicans may cost billions of dollars. Could one particular tax loophole benefiting one state have anything to do with a potential “yes” vote? (source: ac360)
West Va. Chamber of Commerce Plays Dirty With Health Care Reform
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce is playing dirty with health care reform. It's pressuring its homestate Democratic senators, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, to block health care legislation unless the Obama administration ends what the Chamber calls a "war on coal."Healthcare reform: Is this bill better than nothing?
"...whatever bill this Congress is able to pass will probably set the cause of single payer health care back because it "would leave in place an inefficient, exploitive insurance industry that is dying by its own hand, even as [the bill] props [the industry] up with enormous future profits through subsidized mandates."Devastating Consequences of the Corporate Health Insurance Bill
Wading through the endless debate over health care has exhausted the patience of most Americans — the zigzags, obscure language, and long-winded discussion is inherently repulsive.
But now the dust is starting to settle, and the Congressional vision for health care in the U.S. is emerging. Instead of being “progressive,” it will amount to a massive, corporate-inspired attack on American workers, the elderly, and the poor.
Longterm Damage from Thimerisol
"Now, a new study shows that administration of thimerosal leads to long lasting neurological impairment in rats, specifically by altering the neural process of handling noxious stimuli.
Analysis also shows that significant amounts of mercury from thimerosal accumulates in the rat brain and remains long term. The mercury is not readily cleared, as was previously believed.
Analysis also shows that significant amounts of mercury from thimerosal accumulates in the rat brain and remains long term. The mercury is not readily cleared, as was previously believed.
Though mercury readily leaves the blood stream, it does not leave the body. It is now recognized to accumulate in brain tissue."
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Making Sense of "Green Living"?
As some one who has been teaching and writing about Green Living since 1989 it seems funny that all of a sudeen there is a raft of writers who fancy them selves to be active greenies.
I usually get quite a laugh when I read some of the articles because they generally are too shallow and give too few facts. Either the writer did not delve far enough into the data before coming up with their article, or they really have no actual experience with that about which they are writing.
This particular UK article got a "2 thumbs up" from the little ol'GL critic, "moi".
Top 10 green living myths
I usually get quite a laugh when I read some of the articles because they generally are too shallow and give too few facts. Either the writer did not delve far enough into the data before coming up with their article, or they really have no actual experience with that about which they are writing.
This particular UK article got a "2 thumbs up" from the little ol'GL critic, "moi".
Top 10 green living myths
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Better to Rethink Mammogram
UPDATE: 1 December
The US Government has known since the 1960s and perhaps before that mammogram causes breast cancer, they just failed to tell you so an industry could be created on false findings.
Mammogram Radiation May Put Some Women at Risk
By Julie Steenhuysen
Reuters
CHICAGO
The Basic Problem With Screening Mammography
Reservoir of Silent Disease
The basic underlying problem with screening for breast cancer with mammography
is the "reservoir of silent disease". A series of autopsy studies show that indolent breast cancers are common in the population. These early cancers, called DCIS, are silent and rarely cause clinical disease. The most impressive study was from Denmark in 1987. The Danish group used specimen radiography on autopsy samples, which most closely approximates what screening mammography does, searching for and finding small clusters of calcifications. The Danish team found breast cancer in one out of five women, most of which was DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ).
One out of 5 women show breast cancer at autopsy, yet only 2 to 3 women per 10,000 die from breast cancer annually. (20% vs .03%) This indicates a disconnect between the huge reservoir of silent and clinically insignificant disease, and the much smaller numbers of invasive breast cancer presenting clinically.
DCIS in 18% of the Population
Current screening mammography technology detects >60,000 cases of DCIS annually, and this is only a small fraction of total DCIS which is present in one out of five women in the population. DCIS is ductal carcinoma in situ, an early form of cancer with good prognosis, a 98% five year survival with no treatment. I expect future refinements in xray technology to allow detection of even greater numbers of DCIS cases which have small calcifications. Ultimately the technology will catch up and replicate the Danish autopsy findings.
Do we really want to be detecting DCIS in one out of five women, and submit all these women to biopsy and lumpectomy? This is exactly what is advocated by the corporate-government-media sponsored mammography screening programs.
Just Stop Calling It Cancer
Recently, an NIH panel has asked pathologists to stop calling DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). Here is the NIH Consensus statement: "Because of the noninvasive nature of DCIS, coupled with its favorable prognosis, strong consideration should be given to elimination of the use of the anxiety-producing term “carcinoma” from the description of DCIS. "
Less is Better
I beg to offer a differing opinion more in line with the US Preventive Task Force revisions. The detection of massive numbers of cases of DCIS results in harmful over-treatment of the population with little benefit in terms of reduced mortality from breast cancer. This opinion is echoed by Dr Laura Esserman in a recent JAMA article on the limitations, and disappointing benefits of screening mammography.
Cancer Prevention With Iodine Supplementation
The discovery of a large reservoir of silent disease is a wake-up call that something is dreadfully wrong. Rather than screen the population for small calcifications, called DCIS, generating massive numbers of lucrative procedures with biopsies and lumpectomies that have little impact on overall mortality, I suggest a better approach.
The evidence is overwhelming that Iodine deficiency causes breast cancer, and Iodine supplementation prevents and treats breast cancer. Iodine supplementation is a less expensive and more effective alternative to the corporate-government-media sponsored runaway train called mammogram screening.
Radiation Exposure Causes Breast Cancer
Iodine tablets are available from Natural Health News, just contact us to order.
Larry King had a discussion last evening about the mammography controversy. One of his guests was the TV OB-GYN Lisa Masterson who was very aggressive in her defense of this practice.
Listening to the other guests and Masterson discuss this topic it made it so very clear how graduate education seeks to make one believe that certain things are written in stone, and should never change. And so once you've received your diploma and later a license if you are in a licensed profession, you will often go to great ends to defend what you were taught rather than look to see if there might be something else more effective.
As a person with an investigative mine I did look for all of the options and I will continue to support the science behind the dark side of mammogram that no one seems to want you to know. And I will encourage thermography.
There are at least 45 articles here on Natural Health News addressing the issue of mammogram, and specifically the issue that it is known to increase breast cancer.
I think Dr. Susan Love is correct when she says the focus needs to be on prevention and finding out why so many younger women are getting breast cancer.
Of course there are many factors such as hormones, cell phones, fluoridated water, vaccines, environmental toxins, BPA, pharmaceutical drugs, cosmetics....and I am sure you can think of several others.
Instead of outrage, and of course knowing that Big Insurance will take this chance to limit screening as a cost cutting action, get more knowledgeable about the real facts on this issue. And demand better methods of screening that detect sooner and do not increase your exposure to radiation that also can cause severe thyroid and heart problems.
There are some 22 articles regarding thermography, ultrasound and Breast Self Exam here and more here.
http://leaflady.org/mammography_risk1.html
http://www.leaflady.org/breast_thermography.htm
http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/natural-notes/1631-not-pretty-in-pink.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/ap_on_bi_ge/us_med_mammogram_advice
The US Government has known since the 1960s and perhaps before that mammogram causes breast cancer, they just failed to tell you so an industry could be created on false findings.
Mammogram Radiation May Put Some Women at Risk
By Julie Steenhuysen
Reuters
CHICAGO
Low-dose radiation from mammograms and chest X-rays may increase the risk of breast cancer in young women who are already at high risk because of family history or genetic susceptibility, Dutch researchers said on Tuesday.UPDATE: 29 November
They said high-risk women, especially those under 30, may want to consider switching to an alternative screening method such as magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, which does not involve exposure to radiation.
"Our findings suggest that low-dose radiation increases breast cancer risk among these young, high-risk women, and a careful approach is warranted," said Marijke Jansen-van der Weide of the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands.
"I should recommend to be careful with radiation before 30 and to think about alternatives," Jansen-van der Weide, who presented her findings at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago, said in a telephone interview.
For the study, Jansen-van der Weide pooled data from six published studies that involved 12,000 high-risk women from Europe and the United States.
The team found that of the 8,500 women who had been exposed to radiation from chest X-rays or mammograms before the age of 20 or those who had had five or more exposures were 2.5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than other high-risk women who had not been exposed. read full story
The Basic Problem With Screening Mammography
Reservoir of Silent Disease
The basic underlying problem with screening for breast cancer with mammography
is the "reservoir of silent disease". A series of autopsy studies show that indolent breast cancers are common in the population. These early cancers, called DCIS, are silent and rarely cause clinical disease. The most impressive study was from Denmark in 1987. The Danish group used specimen radiography on autopsy samples, which most closely approximates what screening mammography does, searching for and finding small clusters of calcifications. The Danish team found breast cancer in one out of five women, most of which was DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ).
One out of 5 women show breast cancer at autopsy, yet only 2 to 3 women per 10,000 die from breast cancer annually. (20% vs .03%) This indicates a disconnect between the huge reservoir of silent and clinically insignificant disease, and the much smaller numbers of invasive breast cancer presenting clinically.
DCIS in 18% of the Population
Current screening mammography technology detects >60,000 cases of DCIS annually, and this is only a small fraction of total DCIS which is present in one out of five women in the population. DCIS is ductal carcinoma in situ, an early form of cancer with good prognosis, a 98% five year survival with no treatment. I expect future refinements in xray technology to allow detection of even greater numbers of DCIS cases which have small calcifications. Ultimately the technology will catch up and replicate the Danish autopsy findings.
Do we really want to be detecting DCIS in one out of five women, and submit all these women to biopsy and lumpectomy? This is exactly what is advocated by the corporate-government-media sponsored mammography screening programs.
Just Stop Calling It Cancer
Recently, an NIH panel has asked pathologists to stop calling DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). Here is the NIH Consensus statement: "Because of the noninvasive nature of DCIS, coupled with its favorable prognosis, strong consideration should be given to elimination of the use of the anxiety-producing term “carcinoma” from the description of DCIS. "
Less is Better
I beg to offer a differing opinion more in line with the US Preventive Task Force revisions. The detection of massive numbers of cases of DCIS results in harmful over-treatment of the population with little benefit in terms of reduced mortality from breast cancer. This opinion is echoed by Dr Laura Esserman in a recent JAMA article on the limitations, and disappointing benefits of screening mammography.
Cancer Prevention With Iodine Supplementation
The discovery of a large reservoir of silent disease is a wake-up call that something is dreadfully wrong. Rather than screen the population for small calcifications, called DCIS, generating massive numbers of lucrative procedures with biopsies and lumpectomies that have little impact on overall mortality, I suggest a better approach.
The evidence is overwhelming that Iodine deficiency causes breast cancer, and Iodine supplementation prevents and treats breast cancer. Iodine supplementation is a less expensive and more effective alternative to the corporate-government-media sponsored runaway train called mammogram screening.
Radiation Exposure Causes Breast Cancer
Iodine tablets are available from Natural Health News, just contact us to order.
************************
ORIGINAL POST 11/17Larry King had a discussion last evening about the mammography controversy. One of his guests was the TV OB-GYN Lisa Masterson who was very aggressive in her defense of this practice.
Listening to the other guests and Masterson discuss this topic it made it so very clear how graduate education seeks to make one believe that certain things are written in stone, and should never change. And so once you've received your diploma and later a license if you are in a licensed profession, you will often go to great ends to defend what you were taught rather than look to see if there might be something else more effective.
As a person with an investigative mine I did look for all of the options and I will continue to support the science behind the dark side of mammogram that no one seems to want you to know. And I will encourage thermography.
Mammogram accounts for finding 10% of all breast cancer cases. The woman herself discovers the other 90% of breast cancer cases.
Although the numbers are recorded separately from other breast cancers by the American Cancer Society, DCIS, Ductile Carcinoma in Situ accounts for 40% of all breast cancer detected by mammogram. DCIS is abnormal (sometimes called pre-cancerous) cells confined to the milk ducts of the breasts. (source:leaflady.org)
There are at least 45 articles here on Natural Health News addressing the issue of mammogram, and specifically the issue that it is known to increase breast cancer.
I think Dr. Susan Love is correct when she says the focus needs to be on prevention and finding out why so many younger women are getting breast cancer.
Of course there are many factors such as hormones, cell phones, fluoridated water, vaccines, environmental toxins, BPA, pharmaceutical drugs, cosmetics....and I am sure you can think of several others.
Instead of outrage, and of course knowing that Big Insurance will take this chance to limit screening as a cost cutting action, get more knowledgeable about the real facts on this issue. And demand better methods of screening that detect sooner and do not increase your exposure to radiation that also can cause severe thyroid and heart problems.
There are some 22 articles regarding thermography, ultrasound and Breast Self Exam here and more here.
http://leaflady.org/mammography_risk1.html
http://www.leaflady.org/breast_thermography.htm
http://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/natural-notes/1631-not-pretty-in-pink.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/ap_on_bi_ge/us_med_mammogram_advice
Friday, November 27, 2009
Who Really Benefits in the Health Overhaul
Health overhaul: Understanding the pros and cons
WASHINGTON – Maybe you've been reading the health care bill in your spare time. Then perhaps you can answer this question:
If Congress makes history and puts a bill on President Barack Obama's desk by Christmas, how long before the uninsured get medical coverage?
If you said three years or more, you'd be right. Yet many people don't realize that to keep costs down, lawmakers made compromises that might not appeal to consumers.
"There's going to be a long period of great expectations and very modest deliveries," said economist Robert Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute public policy center. That's assuming Democrats prevail.
Photo courtesy Jeff Rense
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Senate health care bill: MUST READ
UPDATE: 31 March, 2010 -
A comment: "Approved by the FDA a class II implantable device is an “implantable radio frequency transponder system for patient identification and health information.” The purpose of a class II device is to collect data in medical patients such as “claims data patient survey data standardized analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of data from disparate data environments electronic health records and any other data deemed appropriate by the Secretary.”-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since 2006 I have posted 24 + articles here at Natural Health News regarding electronic health records. Some recent articles include:
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/11/electronic-health-records-your-data-at.html
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/06/electronic-records-and-data-mining-and.html
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/11/microchip-included-in-health-bill.html
*******************************************************
Obama Health Plan
By Sue Blevins and Robin Kaigh from the November 23, 2009 edition
WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK - "There is no such thing as a little freedom," said Walter Cronkite. "Either you are all free, or you are not free."
Whether you're for or against federal efforts to help people buy health insurance, you should know that the reform bill before the Senate would mandate a healthcare system that is definitely "not free."
What most of us know about the Democratic bill is that it requires nearly all Americans to have health insurance. What most of us don't know is that it requires us to buy a minimum level of insurance approved by the federal government, and forces health plans and providers to share our personal health information with the federal government and other entities.
If this bill becomes law, we could each be assigned a national beneficiary ID number or card (possibly an electronic device). And our personal health information will flow electronically to the US secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) – and many others – without our consent.
Sound farfetched? Buried in the Senate bill's 2,074 pages are provisions that actually permit and foster such things. Freedom and privacy are often lost in the fine print – which is why we've been studying the Senate bill since it was released Nov. 19 to help uncover the facts. Here are five highly invasive provisions Americans should know:
1. MANDATORY INSURANCE- Bill text: "Sec. 1501. Requirement to Maintain Minimum Essential Coverage.... An applicable individual shall for each month beginning after 2013 ensure that the individual, and any dependent of the individual who is an applicable individual, is covered under minimum essential coverage for such month."
Translation: Uncle Sam will now serve as your national insurance agent and force you to buy "minimum essential coverage" – or else you'll have to pay an annual fine.
However, what Congress considers "minimum essential coverage" and "essential health benefits requirements" includes comprehensive coverage that many neither need nor want. Plus, those who prefer to carry catastrophic-only coverage won't have a free range of options for such coverage.
Bottom line: In a free society, the government should not force citizens to buy any product nor should the government mandate citizens' level of health-insurance coverage.
Rather than imposing penalties to coerce people into government-sanctioned health insurance, Congress should offer incentives to help those who wish to buy insurance but find it unaffordable.
Congress could allow everyone to deduct the full cost of health insurance (and provide tax credits for those with no tax liability), while offering assistance to those who can't afford insurance and subsidize high-risk pools for those with preexisting conditions.
Helping those in need is a much better way to reform our nation's healthcare system than overhauling the entire system and putting Big Brother in charge of deciding what is acceptable coverage for nearly every American.
2. ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGES- Bill text: "Sec. 1104. Administrative Simplification…. (h) Compliance. – (1) Health Plan Certification. – (A) Eligibility for a Health Plan, Health Claim Status, Electronic Funds Transfers, Health Care Payment and Remittance Advice. – Not later than December 31, 2013, a health plan shall file a statement with the Secretary, in such form as the Secretary may require, certifying that the data and information systems for such plan are in compliance with any applicable standards (as described under paragraph (7) of section 1171) and associated operating rules (as described under paragraph (9) of such section) for electronic funds transfers, eligibility for a health plan, health claim status, and health care payment and remittance advice, respectively."
Translation: Requiring everyone to buy federally sanctioned health insurance, and then forcing qualified plans to comply with Administrative Simplification requirements, provides the government and health industry with power they would not be able to exercise in a free market.
Administrative Simplification rules are a product of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. They lay the foundation for a nationally linked database of personal health information. A federal "Nationwide Health Information Network" (NHIN) is well under way in the United States, without assurances that individuals will control their personal health data.
Bottom line: Americans should be able to contract privately with the insurance companies of their choice. Patients should be able to decide whether to have electronic or paper medical records, and not have the government require electronic records, which are then included in a nationally linked database.
3. REAL-TIME HEALTH AND FINANCIAL DATA- Bill text: "Sec. 1104. Administrative Simplification…. (4) Requirements for Financial and Administrative Transactions. – (A) In General. – The standards and associated operating rules adopted by the Secretary shall – (i) to the extent feasible and appropriate, enable determination of an individual's eligibility and financial responsibility for specific services prior to or at the point of care.... (i) Eligibility for a Health Plan and Health Claims Status. – The set of operating rules for eligibility for a health plan and health claim status transactions shall be adopted not later than July 1, 2011, in a manner ensuring that such operating rules are effective not later than January 1, 2013, and may allow for the use of a machine readable identification card."
Translation: Administrative Simplification rules are being expanded to gather real-time financial and health data on individuals through a tracking ID, possibly a "machine readable" ID card (electronic device).
Bottom line: Moving forward with real-time data collection without an ethical patient consent provision means everyone loses their health-privacy rights. Congress needs to enact strong patient consent provisions for all health data, especially data collected "real-time."
4. HEALTH DATA NETWORK- Bill text: "Sec. 6301. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research.… (f) Building Data for Research. – The Secretary shall provide for the coordination of relevant Federal health programs to build data capacity for comparative clinical effectiveness research, including the development and use of clinical registries and health outcomes research data networks, in order to develop and maintain a comprehensive, interoperable data network to collect, link, and analyze data on outcomes and effectiveness from multiple sources, including electronic health records."
Translation: Your personal health information may soon be studied by government scientists. Washington is creating a new research center that plans to use patients' electronic health records for conducting research and creating disease registries. The data network is comprehensive and includes use of electronic health records.
Bottom line: Federal funds should not be used to collect data electronically and conduct research on patients' personal health information without their consent.
5. PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION- Bill text: "Sec. 6301. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research…. (B) Use of Data. – The [Patient-Centered Outcomes Research] Institute shall only use data provided to the Institute under subparagraph (A) in accordance with laws and regulations governing the release and use of such data, including applicable confidentiality and privacy standards."
Translation: Think your health privacy is protected? It's not. This language refers to "applicable confidentiality and privacy standards," but HIPAA's so-called privacy law permits individuals' personal health information to be exchanged – for many broad purposes – without patients' consent (See 45 CFR Subtitle A, Subpart E – Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information; section 164.502(a)(1)(ii) "Permitted uses and disclosures").
Bottom line: Trust is a must for ensuring quality healthcare. Thus, as stated above, Congress needs to pass a strong, ethical patient consent law that ensures patients have control over the flow of their personal health information.
WHAT ABOUT THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED?
All told, the national mandatory health-insurance bill puts the federal government in charge of individuals' insurance choices and data privacy. This philosophy of governing is the opposite of America's founding principle: consent of the governed.
Without health freedom and privacy rights, Congress is opening the door for many wrongs to be committed – all in the name of covering the uninsured.
Sue Blevins is president of the Institute for Health Freedom in Washington. Robin Kaigh is an attorney and medical-privacy advocate in New York.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1123/p09s04-coop.html
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Vitamin A deficiency
"What our research shows is that many women are simply not getting enough of this vital nutrient because their bodies are not able to convert the beta-carotene."
These researchers are proving that what we have said for years and years is factual. To be able to realize the full benefits of vitamin A you must beable to convert betaCarotene to A, and a high percentage of folks cannot.
This is particularly important now with the flu cases in process as vitamin A will boost your immunity and protect your lungs.
We have always preferred a betaCarotene and fish oil blend with food extracts high in A and the A components.
These researchers are proving that what we have said for years and years is factual. To be able to realize the full benefits of vitamin A you must beable to convert betaCarotene to A, and a high percentage of folks cannot.
This is particularly important now with the flu cases in process as vitamin A will boost your immunity and protect your lungs.
We have always preferred a betaCarotene and fish oil blend with food extracts high in A and the A components.
In a presentation at the 2nd Hohenheim Nutrition Conference this month in Stuttgart, Germany, Dr Georg Lietz of England's Newcastle University reported that many women in the UK could be at risk of vitamin A deficiency due to genetic variation.
Vitamin A's fat soluble property means that the vitamin can accumulate in the body. Concerns regarding potential toxicity have led to the suggestion that much of our vitamin A requirement could be met by consuming beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A when needed.
Dr Lietz and his colleagues examined the gene that encodes an enzyme known as beta-carotene 15,15'-monoxygenase (BCMO1) in 62 female volunteers. The enzyme is responsible for the conversion of beta-carotene into vitamin A, a process that varies in up to 45 percent of healthy individuals. The team found that 47 percent of the women had a genetic variation that reduced their ability to convert beta-carotene.
"Vitamin A is incredibly important – particularly at this time of year when we are all trying to fight off the winter colds and flu," noted Dr Lietz, who is affiliated with Newcastle University's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. "It boosts our immune system and reduces the risk of inflammation such as that associated with chest infections. What our research shows is that many women are simply not getting enough of this vital nutrient because their bodies are not able to convert the beta-carotene."
"Worryingly, younger women are at particular risk," Dr Lietz added. "The older generations tend to eat more eggs, milk and liver which are naturally rich in vitamin A whereas the health-conscious youngsters on low-fat diets are relying heavily on the beta-carotene form of the nutrient."
Dr Lietz and his associates' research was described earlier this year in the Federated Association of Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Journal. The scientists plan to assess whether body composition also affects the ability to convert beta-carotene into vitamin A.
Flu vaccine put on hold in Canada
Higher than usual number having anaphylactic reactions with Swine Flu Vaccine. Anaphylaxis is a serious reaction.
GlaxoSmithKline has advised doctors in Canada to stop using a batch of its swine flu vaccine, amid reports of severe side-effects in some patients.This is five times the expected number. None of the patients reportedly suffered long-term ill-effects.
The batch of some 170,000 doses was put on hold because of the reported higher than usual number of patients having anaphylactic reactions.
This may include breathing problems, raised heart rate and skin rashes.
The pharmaceutical company said it was investigating the reports, which could lead to the withdrawal of the batch.
The reports say one in 20,000 people suffered adverse reactions to the batch of GlaxoSmithKline's Aperanix vaccine.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8376534.stm
Published: 2009/11/24 14:11:50 GMT
© BBC MMIX
No flu shot mandate for doctors
Dcotors no being mandated to take H1N1 vaccine. A good move, but not sure I agree with the reliance on hand sanitizer. Soap and Water washing frequently is vital.
AMA meeting: No flu shot mandate for doctors; hand sanitizer pushed
The AMA will study if there's any benefit from requiring all health professionals to receive influenza vaccine.
By KEVIN B. O'REILLY AND DAMON ADAMS, amednews staff. Posted Nov. 23, 2009.
Houston -- The AMA House of Delegates rejected a proposal to mandate vaccinations for health care professionals but approved other policy to prevent the spread of seasonal flu and influenza A(H1N1).
AMA meeting: No flu shot mandate for doctors; hand sanitizer pushed
The AMA will study if there's any benefit from requiring all health professionals to receive influenza vaccine.
By KEVIN B. O'REILLY AND DAMON ADAMS, amednews staff. Posted Nov. 23, 2009.
Houston -- The AMA House of Delegates rejected a proposal to mandate vaccinations for health care professionals but approved other policy to prevent the spread of seasonal flu and influenza A(H1N1).
A resolution by the Infectious Diseases Society of America said the AMA should back universal seasonal and H1N1 flu immunizations unless health professionals have medical contraindications or religious objections. In October, New York state announced that it was requiring all health professionals to get the H1N1 immunization, but the mandate was suspended later that month due to vaccine shortages.
"It is our ethical duty to do no harm and prevent transmission of disease to patients," said Michael L. Butera, MD, an alternate delegate who spoke on behalf of IDSA. "Despite educational efforts, we have 40% to 70% immunization rates that are woefully inadequate." Mandates may be "the only way to achieve" the goal of universal vaccination, he said.
But delegates balked at the idea of a vaccination mandate, saying that requirements should be a last resort and can be counterproductive if implemented poorly. The house directed the AMA to study the ethical and scientific intricacies of the issue further.
Delegates said hand sanitizer dispensers should be available in well-trafficked areas and urged large gathering places to develop plans in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.
Physicians briefed on H1N1
During a session at the Interim Meeting, two CDC officials briefed delegates on the latest epidemiological data on H1N1 and how best to manage the disease. They addressed hospitalization rates, vaccine availability, dosing and vaccine testing.
Most cases of H1N1 have not required hospital care. But the highest hospitalization rates have been for children through age 4, said Anthony E. Fiore, MD, MPH, a medical epidemiologist in the CDC Influenza Division. Among hospitalized adults, 70% have an underlying medical condition. If a patient appears to have the virus, treatment should be started as soon as possible. "We encourage people not to delay treatment awaiting laboratory confirmation."
Physicians and other health care professionals need to take precautions to make sure they don't get sick, said Michael Bell, MD, associate director for infection control at the CDC Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. Most exposure risk in hospitals is from sick workers, not patients. He cited an example of a resident at an Ohio hospital who infected 166 people with the virus.
To prevent the spread of H1N1 in physician practices, sick workers should stay home, and ill patients should be kept away from noninfected patients. Dr. Bell recommended vaccination for doctors and their staffs, saying it doesn't make sense to put patients at risk by skipping shots.
Health care personnel who develop a fever and respiratory symptoms should be excluded from work for at least 24 hours after the fever subsides, the CDC said. Workers who develop acute respiratory symptoms without fever should be allowed to work unless assigned to areas with severely immunocompromised patients. In those cases, workers should be reassigned temporarily or excluded from work for seven days from the onset of symptoms.
Meanwhile, CDC officials on Nov. 12 said about 22 million Americans had been sickened by H1N1 and about 4,000 had died, including 540 children. About 42 million doses of vaccine have been created.
"The amount coming out will increase rapidly in the next few weeks," Dr. Fiore said.
In a Nov. 10 letter to doctors, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, said no serious adverse events attributed to the vaccine had emerged in clinical trials on more than 3,600 patients. She encouraged physicians to report any vaccine-related problems to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
Colette R. Willins, MD, a family physician in Westlake, Ohio, and a delegate for the American Academy of Family Physicians, was among the physicians at the AMA Interim Meeting who voiced frustration about not receiving H1N1 vaccines yet.
"They keep telling us to watch for it," she said. "I can't even get my staff vaccinated."
The print version of this content appeared in the Nov 30, 2009 issue of American Medical News.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
MS breakthrough
UPDATE 11/27: Multiple sclerosis 'blood blockage theory' tested
US scientists are testing a radical new theory that multiple sclerosis (MS) is caused by blockages in the veins that drain the brain. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8374980.stm
**********
What Paolo Zamboni, a professor of medicine at the University of Ferrara in Italy, learned in his medical detective work, scouring dusty old books and using ultra-modern imaging techniques, could well turn what we know about MS on its head: Dr. Zamboni's research suggests that MS is not, as widely believed, an autoimmune condition, but a vascular disease.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/researchers-labour-of-love-leads-to-breakthrough-in-treating-ms/article1372414/
Morphine Could Encourage Cancer Spread
Morphine 'might spread cancer'
Laboratory tests suggest morphine could in fact encourage the spread of cancer, for which it is routinely prescribed to relieve pain from surgery and tumours.
US scientists say the opiate promotes the growth of new blood vessels which deliver tumours oxygen and nutrients.
Speaking at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Boston, they also claim to have found a drug which counters this effect.
Cancer Research UK said more tests were needed before any changes in treatment.
Dr Patrick Singleton from the University of Chicago told the meeting of experts that in laboratory tests, morphine not only strengthened blood vessels but also appeared to make it easier for cancers to invade other tissues and spread.
But he said this could be overcome by a drug - methylnaltrexone or MNTX - developed in the 1980s to prevent morphine-related constipation but only recently approved in the US. It appears to work without interfering with the pain-relieving properties of the opiate.
'Long history'
In mice with lung cancer, MNTX inhibited the apparent tumour-promoting effects of opiates, and reduced the spread of cancer in the mice by 90%.
"If confirmed clinically, this could change how we do surgical anaesthesia for our cancer patients," said Dr Singleton, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center and principal author of the research.
"It also suggests potential new applications for this novel class of drugs which should be explored."
The tests were started after his colleague, anaesthetist Jonathan Moss, noted that several patients receiving this kind of opiate blocker survived longer than might be expected after surgery.
Dr Laura Bell of Cancer Research UK said the drugs had a long history of providing effective pain relief.
"Research in this area is in the early stages, so it's too early to tell whether opiate-based painkillers have an effect on cancer growth.
"Much more research would be needed to justify changing the way opiates are used to treat people with cancer."
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8367301.stm
Published: 2009/11/23 01:40:55 GMT © BBC MMIX
Laboratory tests suggest morphine could in fact encourage the spread of cancer, for which it is routinely prescribed to relieve pain from surgery and tumours.
US scientists say the opiate promotes the growth of new blood vessels which deliver tumours oxygen and nutrients.
Speaking at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Boston, they also claim to have found a drug which counters this effect.
Cancer Research UK said more tests were needed before any changes in treatment.
Dr Patrick Singleton from the University of Chicago told the meeting of experts that in laboratory tests, morphine not only strengthened blood vessels but also appeared to make it easier for cancers to invade other tissues and spread.
But he said this could be overcome by a drug - methylnaltrexone or MNTX - developed in the 1980s to prevent morphine-related constipation but only recently approved in the US. It appears to work without interfering with the pain-relieving properties of the opiate.
'Long history'
In mice with lung cancer, MNTX inhibited the apparent tumour-promoting effects of opiates, and reduced the spread of cancer in the mice by 90%.
"If confirmed clinically, this could change how we do surgical anaesthesia for our cancer patients," said Dr Singleton, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center and principal author of the research.
"It also suggests potential new applications for this novel class of drugs which should be explored."
The tests were started after his colleague, anaesthetist Jonathan Moss, noted that several patients receiving this kind of opiate blocker survived longer than might be expected after surgery.
Dr Laura Bell of Cancer Research UK said the drugs had a long history of providing effective pain relief.
"Research in this area is in the early stages, so it's too early to tell whether opiate-based painkillers have an effect on cancer growth.
"Much more research would be needed to justify changing the way opiates are used to treat people with cancer."
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8367301.stm
Published: 2009/11/23 01:40:55 GMT © BBC MMIX
The Real Thanksgiving
Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World
By Jack Weatherford
(NY: Ballantine Books, 1989. 288 pp. $15.00, ISBN-10 0449904962)
Native American Studies/ American History
“Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492, but America has yet to be discovered.” Jack Weatherford’s provocative book “Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World” seeks to change that.
He makes the reader aware that the average American today knows more about ancient Egypt “than we know about the pyramid builders of the Mississippi.”
It comes as a bit of a surprise to realize the truth of his statement, but even here in Lake County where the Pomo have lived for 10,000 years, most folks in Lake County probably could tell you more about the pyramids of ancient Egypt than they could tell you about the Pomo people.
Granted, the Pomo did not build pyramids, but they did build a society that thrived for thousands of years – here in the same place we are living today – not thousands of miles away. As a young nation, not even 400 years old, we have much to learn from our elders.
“Indian Givers” explores what modern society has learned from the native peoples throughout the Americas, even if we have not given them full (or any) credit for the original knowledge.
Some of this will not come as any surprise to the reader – particularly in the area of agriculture. It is well known that many new foods were introduced to the earliest European settlers by the natives, corn and potatoes perhaps being the most well known. The immense diversity of foods may come as a shock, however, as well as their impact, not just on the pilgrims, but around the globe.
In recent years there has been a resurgence of using herbal remedies but the surgical skills of the Aztecs far surpassed simply knowing which bark made good aspirin or could be used to prevent malaria. Weatherford claims that the Aztecs’ obsidian knives would equal the surgical steel of today and is only bettered by the precision of lasers.
The Aztecs knew how to perform a variety of surgeries, from the mundane to brain surgery, although Weatherford acknowledges they most likely had such advanced knowledge because they practiced human sacrifice.
Perhaps the most surprising knowledge Weatherford maintains we gained from the native peoples is in the arena of politics. He argues that the fledgling American government bore more resemblance to the League of the Iroquois than the Greek Senate or English House of Lords and that the Founding Fathers learned the practical potential of liberty from a variety of tribal communities.
Going a step further Weatherford proposes that the first person to suggest that the colonies form a united body of some sort was the Iroquois chief Canassatego in July of 1744, 32 years before the Declaration of Independence.
The scholarship in “Indian Givers” is well documented but not ponderous as to detract form the story telling style of Weatherford. Overall it's an excellent read, and as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, it may just inspire you to give thanks for the wealth of knowledge we have gained from the Aztecs, Iroquois and countless other tribal communities whose histories and knowledge ought be remembered.
Geri Williams
(NY: Ballantine Books, 1989. 288 pp. $15.00, ISBN-10 0449904962)
Native American Studies/ American History
“Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492, but America has yet to be discovered.” Jack Weatherford’s provocative book “Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World” seeks to change that.
He makes the reader aware that the average American today knows more about ancient Egypt “than we know about the pyramid builders of the Mississippi.”
It comes as a bit of a surprise to realize the truth of his statement, but even here in Lake County where the Pomo have lived for 10,000 years, most folks in Lake County probably could tell you more about the pyramids of ancient Egypt than they could tell you about the Pomo people.
Granted, the Pomo did not build pyramids, but they did build a society that thrived for thousands of years – here in the same place we are living today – not thousands of miles away. As a young nation, not even 400 years old, we have much to learn from our elders.
“Indian Givers” explores what modern society has learned from the native peoples throughout the Americas, even if we have not given them full (or any) credit for the original knowledge.
Some of this will not come as any surprise to the reader – particularly in the area of agriculture. It is well known that many new foods were introduced to the earliest European settlers by the natives, corn and potatoes perhaps being the most well known. The immense diversity of foods may come as a shock, however, as well as their impact, not just on the pilgrims, but around the globe.
In recent years there has been a resurgence of using herbal remedies but the surgical skills of the Aztecs far surpassed simply knowing which bark made good aspirin or could be used to prevent malaria. Weatherford claims that the Aztecs’ obsidian knives would equal the surgical steel of today and is only bettered by the precision of lasers.
The Aztecs knew how to perform a variety of surgeries, from the mundane to brain surgery, although Weatherford acknowledges they most likely had such advanced knowledge because they practiced human sacrifice.
Perhaps the most surprising knowledge Weatherford maintains we gained from the native peoples is in the arena of politics. He argues that the fledgling American government bore more resemblance to the League of the Iroquois than the Greek Senate or English House of Lords and that the Founding Fathers learned the practical potential of liberty from a variety of tribal communities.
Going a step further Weatherford proposes that the first person to suggest that the colonies form a united body of some sort was the Iroquois chief Canassatego in July of 1744, 32 years before the Declaration of Independence.
The scholarship in “Indian Givers” is well documented but not ponderous as to detract form the story telling style of Weatherford. Overall it's an excellent read, and as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, it may just inspire you to give thanks for the wealth of knowledge we have gained from the Aztecs, Iroquois and countless other tribal communities whose histories and knowledge ought be remembered.
Geri Williams
Yearly influenza vaccinations: a double-edged sword?
Influenza vaccinations
Summary - Yearly vaccination against seasonal influenza viruses is recommended for certain individuals at high risk of complications associated with influenza. It has been recommended in some countries, including the USA, that all children aged 6—59 months are vaccinated against seasonal influenza. However, it has been shown—mainly in animals—that infection with influenza A viruses can induce protective immunity to influenza A viruses of other unrelated subtypes. This so-called heterosubtypic immunity does not provide full protection, but can limit virus replication and reduce morbidity and mortality of the host. This type of immunity might be relevant to human beings when a new subtype of influenza A virus is introduced into the population, such as the new influenza A H1N1 virus responsible for the present influenza pandemic and the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses that are causing an ever increasing number of human infections with high mortality rates. Preventing infection with seasonal influenza viruses by vaccination might prevent the induction of heterosubtypic immunity to pandemic strains, which might be a disadvantage to immunologically naive people—eg, infants.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(09)70263-4/fulltext
CDC Estimates of 2009 H1N1 Influenza Cases, Hospitalizations and Deaths in the United States, April – October 17, 2009
"Ever wonder why reports of the number of H1N1 cases, deaths and hospitalizations are all over the boards? It is because the CDC uses a "statistical modeling" method to estimate total numbers! These are ESTIMATES, and by their own admission, "It may never be possible to validate the accuracy of these figures."
http://cdc.gov/h1n1flu/estimates_2009_h1n1.htm
Summary - Yearly vaccination against seasonal influenza viruses is recommended for certain individuals at high risk of complications associated with influenza. It has been recommended in some countries, including the USA, that all children aged 6—59 months are vaccinated against seasonal influenza. However, it has been shown—mainly in animals—that infection with influenza A viruses can induce protective immunity to influenza A viruses of other unrelated subtypes. This so-called heterosubtypic immunity does not provide full protection, but can limit virus replication and reduce morbidity and mortality of the host. This type of immunity might be relevant to human beings when a new subtype of influenza A virus is introduced into the population, such as the new influenza A H1N1 virus responsible for the present influenza pandemic and the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses that are causing an ever increasing number of human infections with high mortality rates. Preventing infection with seasonal influenza viruses by vaccination might prevent the induction of heterosubtypic immunity to pandemic strains, which might be a disadvantage to immunologically naive people—eg, infants.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(09)70263-4/fulltext
CDC Estimates of 2009 H1N1 Influenza Cases, Hospitalizations and Deaths in the United States, April – October 17, 2009
"Ever wonder why reports of the number of H1N1 cases, deaths and hospitalizations are all over the boards? It is because the CDC uses a "statistical modeling" method to estimate total numbers! These are ESTIMATES, and by their own admission, "It may never be possible to validate the accuracy of these figures."
http://cdc.gov/h1n1flu/estimates_2009_h1n1.htm
Helpful resource and commendation for our quality blog
Dear Natural Health News,
Pathology.org is the largest up to date informational database consisting of general health and disease information. The only way to combat disease and promote healthy living is to provide the public current information on health and diseases. Pathology.org consists of breaking news in the health world and offers the information needed to take preventive and combative measures to fight disease. Your website seems to be a very credible resource and would beneficial to us in the fight to combat the contraction and spread of disease. You can aid us in this fight by simply making our site available to your vast public.
Thank you for your time, effort, and work you have done, we look forward to any thoughts you may have.
Pathology.org is awarding you as top resource.
(Kia)
Pathology.org is the largest up to date informational database consisting of general health and disease information. The only way to combat disease and promote healthy living is to provide the public current information on health and diseases. Pathology.org consists of breaking news in the health world and offers the information needed to take preventive and combative measures to fight disease. Your website seems to be a very credible resource and would beneficial to us in the fight to combat the contraction and spread of disease. You can aid us in this fight by simply making our site available to your vast public.
Thank you for your time, effort, and work you have done, we look forward to any thoughts you may have.
Pathology.org is awarding you as top resource.
(Kia)
Saturday, November 21, 2009
FLU INFO RESOURCES
UPDATE: 11/21/09
Tamiflu resitance reported in North Carolina
Tamiflu-resistant swine flu spreads 'between patients'
Tamiflu resitance reported in North Carolina
Tamiflu-resistant swine flu spreads 'between patients'
One of 32 Tamiflu related articles from Natural Health News
WAVE Vaccine Ingredient Information and News
Tamiflu dangers reported
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada has asked Swiss drug maker Roche AG to warn consumers of possible health risks linked to its influenza drug Tamiflu, the health department said on Wednesday.
Ottawa took the step after receiving international reports of side-effects such as hallucinations and abnormal behavior, including self-harm. The reports include cases involving children and teenagers, primarily in Japan.
"Health Canada has requested that the manufacturer ... update the Canadian prescribing information for Tamiflu to include this new information," the department said in a statement.
According to Health Canada, there have been 84 reports as of November 11 of Canadian patients having adverse effects when using Tamiflu. Ten of those cases involved fatalities...
--------------------------------------------------------
Additional updates 11/12/09
--------------------------------------------------------
These new resources are from reliable colleagues, posted 11/08
Origianl post date: Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Vitamin U Well Known to Herbalists for Decades
I would call this progress but I'd be much happier if Dr. Gary Peltz would have given credit to the long time use of Vitamin U by herbalists and traditional naturopaths for a good hundred years if not more.
I'd also be happier if I knew Peltz wasn't going to try to create a patented DRUG from Vitamin U at his company, SandHill. As my mentor in Oriental Medicine told me many times, they medical people just do not understand how the herbs work.
I was reading about this in the 1950s and it was in my ND education in the 60s-70s. I also taught about it to my students when I had a Natural Healing school.
Ever wonder why sauerkraut and other fermented cabbage products have been used for healing over so many years?
MORE ON THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF CABBAGE 1, 2
Common herbal medicine may prevent acetaminophen-related liver damage, says researcher
ScienceDaily (2009-11-18) -- A well-known Eastern medicine supplement may help avoid the most common cause of liver transplantation, according to a new study. The finding came as a surprise to the scientists, who used a number of advanced genetic and genomic techniques in mice to identify a molecular pathway that counters acetaminophen toxicity, which leads to liver failure.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117184535.htm
http://www.leaflady.org/sauerkraut.htm
http://www.leaflady.org/healing_that_gut_feeling.htm
Comment: You know, I've never actually heard of this vitamin... You know, I've never actually heard of this vitamin u before. It's pretty interesting considering I do know a little bit about fermented foods but I didn't know it was all this helpful. This was definitely an interesting article, thanks for the info! (John) 11/20/09
I'd also be happier if I knew Peltz wasn't going to try to create a patented DRUG from Vitamin U at his company, SandHill. As my mentor in Oriental Medicine told me many times, they medical people just do not understand how the herbs work.
I was reading about this in the 1950s and it was in my ND education in the 60s-70s. I also taught about it to my students when I had a Natural Healing school.
Ever wonder why sauerkraut and other fermented cabbage products have been used for healing over so many years?
This post is ranked in the top 10 out of 6 Million
MORE ON THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF CABBAGE 1, 2
ScienceDaily (2009-11-18) -- A well-known Eastern medicine supplement may help avoid the most common cause of liver transplantation, according to a new study. The finding came as a surprise to the scientists, who used a number of advanced genetic and genomic techniques in mice to identify a molecular pathway that counters acetaminophen toxicity, which leads to liver failure.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117184535.htm
http://www.leaflady.org/sauerkraut.htm
http://www.leaflady.org/healing_that_gut_feeling.htm
Comment: You know, I've never actually heard of this vitamin... You know, I've never actually heard of this vitamin u before. It's pretty interesting considering I do know a little bit about fermented foods but I didn't know it was all this helpful. This was definitely an interesting article, thanks for the info! (John) 11/20/09
A different approach to weight loss
This is the first of three reports that we are releasing on our 90 Day Weight Loss Project here at The Oake Centre for natural health education.
Please feel free to contact us for more information and with any questions you may have.
Many people know that stress in a factor in weight gain. Stress of course can be from many sources including lifestyle, work, lack of exercise, sedentary work and lifestyle situations, food allergy, chronic illness, environmental toxins and many more concerns that might not always be identifiable.
With the approach we are investigating in this project, cause isn't the focus. While cause can be important the use of this different approach, we believe, makes it possible to focus on results, regardless of cause.
What is the Neuroliminal process -
Some years ago I joined a professional discussion group that was established by the Safe Harbor Project through its website.
Through this group I met one of the pioneers of orthomolecular medicine. Orthomolecular medicine is an approach that began as a non-drug treatment approach in mental health and psychiatry. During this time several other applications for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease were validated.
I recall reading many articles about orthomolecular approaches in the late 1960s when I was working in a psychiatric facility. It made much more sense to me but it wasn't very popular. Now the interest in other than drugs for health is catching on.
Would you be surprised to learn that most mental problems are caused by the stress of unsuspected allergens? It's true! Both EEG BF (Biofeedback) and NT (Neuroliminal Training) may help resolve this stress. This reaction is also called “inflammation” and now it is being noticed as very important in health.
Wanting to see for myself, but really to determine how this process could be of benefit to my clients and those who read my articles, subscribe to my newsletter, attend my educational programs and others I contacted the inventor and that's how this project began.
I've just completed the first month of the 90 day trial. I have to say that the reactions have been interesting. One thing I noticed early on was that I experienced a real craving for fat. This lasted about two days and since then I have noticed no real cravings for any particular food.
I also noticed that I did not need to eat as much, so smaller portions were as filling and satisfying as larger ones. This is important to me because I grew up in a family that has a heritage in the Deep South and loved to serve enough food for Cox's army. And they expected that you'd eat it.
However, over the last few years I learned through a simple home testing process I offer in my work that I had a very wide range of food allergies. I also was dealing with tremendous stress on a daily basis. No matter what approach I tried little seemed to change. Once things calmed down to a manageable and quiet roar, I sought out this program.
So far I haven't seen too much in the way of lost pounds, although I did get past a major obstacle and broke a weight barrier that even with a great fitness program did not seem to budge.
I seem to be less reactive now to foods when I test those on my allergy list. Usually if a food bothers me I itch behind my right ear or experience ringing sounds in my ears (tinnitus). Now I experience far fewer of these reactions.
Whether this is a positive outcome of the program or not, I notice better motivation for holding to the plan I set up in my fitness program.
Now as I am just starting in to phase 2, look for our next report in mid December.
The Neuroliminal process is easy to use. You'll need to have a CD player that has the repeat function. Just set this up so it plays while you sleep, and listen to the subliminal messaging. And no, it doesn't interfere with sleeping. In fact, I think my sleep has gotten better.
In this process, as with biofeedback, blood flow to the brain improves, especially as allergic reactions are removed, the Theta brain wave (T operates between 4 and 8 cycles per second. Theta is associated with intuition, and allows us to access our subconscious. It is activated during dream sleep and deep meditation states. Theta is also associated with healing and creative thinking.) is lowered and SMR (Sensorimotor Response or Low Beta Brainwave - B has the highest frequency, and the SMR brain wave is usually thought of between 12-15 Hz, with most people between 13-13.5. This is associated with our normal, everyday waking state. Beta helps in logical thinking, analysis, and active attention. Stress can throw the frequency to the higher ranges of beta.) is raised.
Safety is important in any approach to health and wellness. With NT, Dr. Bate found that the force that seems to inhibit and even frighten persons using Neuroliminal Training is the “Hawthorne Effect”. This effect is well known in science and education, teaching and training, and seems to be an unconscious effort to “protect” the mind from “unknown” dangers.
It's been discovered that sound can be used to elicit responses in the brain; the brain becomes "entrained", which means it starts to resonate at the same frequency as the sound. When this happens, it can change the brain wave patterns in your brain. Studies have shown that with continued use, sound therapy techniques can eventually “rewire” the brain to a more balanced state, with long lasting results. These results also have been reported to raise IQ in other studies.
Dr Bate tells me that using “ NT doesn't really raise IQ, but lowering allergy stress seems to clear thinking process.” At least that's what he thinks, and he adds that “ in school, ADD/ADHD kids actually get about a 15 point raise in the few that have been tested before and after” their using the NT process.
The majority of participants in prior studies reported results after the fourth or fifth weeks. In today's hurried world this may benefit overall health because it helps you slow down and become more patient.
DISCLAIMER: NT has a range of applications in addition to weight loss and allergy relief. These include PTSD, Depression, ADD and ADHD, Autism, Asperger's, Epilepsy, Insomnia, Schizophrenia and others.
Neither Neuroliminal Training nor EEG BF (aka Neurofeedback, NF) are "magic". There are NO instant "cures". The process may may take a month or more before any noticeable progress or improvement is seen. Both EEG BF and NT work to do the same thing (change brain waves), and both are slow. One night's sleep corresponds roughly to one half hour session of EEG BF. The primary difference is that Neuroliminal Training is inexpensive, much simpler and easier to do, and yet just as effective.
Neither Neuroliminal nor EEG BF (NF) solves 100% of all "brain problems". The "average" success rate for EEG BF (NF) clinics is about 85+%. Subliminal Training may be somewhat higher.
Progress is individual for both Neuroliminal Training or EEG BF (NF), as always, when dealing with human brains (conscious or unconscious). There are no dangerous or long lasting harmful side effects possible from Neuroliminal Brain Wave Training.
Please feel free to contact us for more information and with any questions you may have.
Many people know that stress in a factor in weight gain. Stress of course can be from many sources including lifestyle, work, lack of exercise, sedentary work and lifestyle situations, food allergy, chronic illness, environmental toxins and many more concerns that might not always be identifiable.
With the approach we are investigating in this project, cause isn't the focus. While cause can be important the use of this different approach, we believe, makes it possible to focus on results, regardless of cause.
What is the Neuroliminal process -
Some years ago I joined a professional discussion group that was established by the Safe Harbor Project through its website.
Through this group I met one of the pioneers of orthomolecular medicine. Orthomolecular medicine is an approach that began as a non-drug treatment approach in mental health and psychiatry. During this time several other applications for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease were validated.
I recall reading many articles about orthomolecular approaches in the late 1960s when I was working in a psychiatric facility. It made much more sense to me but it wasn't very popular. Now the interest in other than drugs for health is catching on.
Would you be surprised to learn that most mental problems are caused by the stress of unsuspected allergens? It's true! Both EEG BF (Biofeedback) and NT (Neuroliminal Training) may help resolve this stress. This reaction is also called “inflammation” and now it is being noticed as very important in health.
Wanting to see for myself, but really to determine how this process could be of benefit to my clients and those who read my articles, subscribe to my newsletter, attend my educational programs and others I contacted the inventor and that's how this project began.
I've just completed the first month of the 90 day trial. I have to say that the reactions have been interesting. One thing I noticed early on was that I experienced a real craving for fat. This lasted about two days and since then I have noticed no real cravings for any particular food.
I also noticed that I did not need to eat as much, so smaller portions were as filling and satisfying as larger ones. This is important to me because I grew up in a family that has a heritage in the Deep South and loved to serve enough food for Cox's army. And they expected that you'd eat it.
However, over the last few years I learned through a simple home testing process I offer in my work that I had a very wide range of food allergies. I also was dealing with tremendous stress on a daily basis. No matter what approach I tried little seemed to change. Once things calmed down to a manageable and quiet roar, I sought out this program.
So far I haven't seen too much in the way of lost pounds, although I did get past a major obstacle and broke a weight barrier that even with a great fitness program did not seem to budge.
I seem to be less reactive now to foods when I test those on my allergy list. Usually if a food bothers me I itch behind my right ear or experience ringing sounds in my ears (tinnitus). Now I experience far fewer of these reactions.
Whether this is a positive outcome of the program or not, I notice better motivation for holding to the plan I set up in my fitness program.
Now as I am just starting in to phase 2, look for our next report in mid December.
The Neuroliminal process is easy to use. You'll need to have a CD player that has the repeat function. Just set this up so it plays while you sleep, and listen to the subliminal messaging. And no, it doesn't interfere with sleeping. In fact, I think my sleep has gotten better.
In this process, as with biofeedback, blood flow to the brain improves, especially as allergic reactions are removed, the Theta brain wave (T operates between 4 and 8 cycles per second. Theta is associated with intuition, and allows us to access our subconscious. It is activated during dream sleep and deep meditation states. Theta is also associated with healing and creative thinking.) is lowered and SMR (Sensorimotor Response or Low Beta Brainwave - B has the highest frequency, and the SMR brain wave is usually thought of between 12-15 Hz, with most people between 13-13.5. This is associated with our normal, everyday waking state. Beta helps in logical thinking, analysis, and active attention. Stress can throw the frequency to the higher ranges of beta.) is raised.
Safety is important in any approach to health and wellness. With NT, Dr. Bate found that the force that seems to inhibit and even frighten persons using Neuroliminal Training is the “Hawthorne Effect”. This effect is well known in science and education, teaching and training, and seems to be an unconscious effort to “protect” the mind from “unknown” dangers.
It's been discovered that sound can be used to elicit responses in the brain; the brain becomes "entrained", which means it starts to resonate at the same frequency as the sound. When this happens, it can change the brain wave patterns in your brain. Studies have shown that with continued use, sound therapy techniques can eventually “rewire” the brain to a more balanced state, with long lasting results. These results also have been reported to raise IQ in other studies.
Dr Bate tells me that using “ NT doesn't really raise IQ, but lowering allergy stress seems to clear thinking process.” At least that's what he thinks, and he adds that “ in school, ADD/ADHD kids actually get about a 15 point raise in the few that have been tested before and after” their using the NT process.
The majority of participants in prior studies reported results after the fourth or fifth weeks. In today's hurried world this may benefit overall health because it helps you slow down and become more patient.
The program isn't expensive, order here,
and it comes with a money back guarantee.
DISCLAIMER: NT has a range of applications in addition to weight loss and allergy relief. These include PTSD, Depression, ADD and ADHD, Autism, Asperger's, Epilepsy, Insomnia, Schizophrenia and others.
Neither Neuroliminal Training nor EEG BF (aka Neurofeedback, NF) are "magic". There are NO instant "cures". The process may may take a month or more before any noticeable progress or improvement is seen. Both EEG BF and NT work to do the same thing (change brain waves), and both are slow. One night's sleep corresponds roughly to one half hour session of EEG BF. The primary difference is that Neuroliminal Training is inexpensive, much simpler and easier to do, and yet just as effective.
Neither Neuroliminal nor EEG BF (NF) solves 100% of all "brain problems". The "average" success rate for EEG BF (NF) clinics is about 85+%. Subliminal Training may be somewhat higher.
Progress is individual for both Neuroliminal Training or EEG BF (NF), as always, when dealing with human brains (conscious or unconscious). There are no dangerous or long lasting harmful side effects possible from Neuroliminal Brain Wave Training.
Copyright © TOC 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Health Coaching would have alerted you sooner to FDA finding on Plavix and acid drugs
FROM Heartwire: Cardiologists Shocked by New FDA Alert on Clopidogrel-PPI Interaction
I am shocked that cardiologists are shocked because all they had to do was to take just a little time to review the literature and do a drug interaction profile. Had they done this, something that takes about 5 minutes, they would have been able to know that the acid blocking drugs interfere with the P450 detox pathway and also proetin digestion. Additionally they could have learned about the nutrient depletions and related problems from both of these drugs. Not to overlook the risk of silent bleeding as well,..
Are things so bad that this is the level of health care we are getting because Big PhARMA and Big Insurance is behind obstruction of health reform?
Previously posted articles, related issues -
Resolve Acid Reflux with Care, Naturally
Natural Blood Thinning
**********************************************************************************
Recently, Dr. Mehmet Oz told Larry King on CNN about how health coaches can solve America's health crisis. Even five years ago it would have been hard to imagine that prevention and wellness would be considered in the mainstream.
CHI has been offering health coaching for several decades in a very unique way that has led us to the place where we seeking a patent.
If you were learning about natural health approaches to health problem you might not be at risk for this drug interaction problem and you'd be saving a lot of money at the same time.
If you are looking for in depth information about your prescription drugs and what you can safely use in their place you might wish to use our services. We have many patients who use this service and get the information they need to protect their health and learn how to advocate for their own health as well as how to ask the right questions when they see their health care provider.
We also offer this service to health care professionals and law firms.
I am shocked that cardiologists are shocked because all they had to do was to take just a little time to review the literature and do a drug interaction profile. Had they done this, something that takes about 5 minutes, they would have been able to know that the acid blocking drugs interfere with the P450 detox pathway and also proetin digestion. Additionally they could have learned about the nutrient depletions and related problems from both of these drugs. Not to overlook the risk of silent bleeding as well,..
Are things so bad that this is the level of health care we are getting because Big PhARMA and Big Insurance is behind obstruction of health reform?
Previously posted articles, related issues -
Resolve Acid Reflux with Care, Naturally
Natural Blood Thinning
**********************************************************************************
Recently, Dr. Mehmet Oz told Larry King on CNN about how health coaches can solve America's health crisis. Even five years ago it would have been hard to imagine that prevention and wellness would be considered in the mainstream.
CHI has been offering health coaching for several decades in a very unique way that has led us to the place where we seeking a patent.
If you were learning about natural health approaches to health problem you might not be at risk for this drug interaction problem and you'd be saving a lot of money at the same time.
If you are looking for in depth information about your prescription drugs and what you can safely use in their place you might wish to use our services. We have many patients who use this service and get the information they need to protect their health and learn how to advocate for their own health as well as how to ask the right questions when they see their health care provider.
We also offer this service to health care professionals and law firms.
FDA says heartburn drugs can interfere with Plavixhttp://www.leaflady.org/Drugs.htm
By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Business Writer Matthew Perrone
WASHINGTON – Federal health officials said Tuesday a popular variety of heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke.
The Food and Drug Administration said the stomach-soothing drugs Prilosec (20 mg average price $132/mo) and Nexium (20 mg average price $211/mo) cut in half the blood-thinning effect of Plavix (75 mg average price $211/mo), known generically as clopidogrel.
Regulators said the key ingredient in the heartburn medications blocks an enzyme the body needs to break down Plavix, muting the drug's full effect. Procter & Gamble's Prilosec is the over-the-counter version of AstraZeneca's Nexium, which was first approved in 2001.
"Patients at risk for heart attacks or strokes who use clopidogrel to prevent blood clots will not get the full effect of this medicine," the agency said in a statement.
Plavix is marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. With global sales of $8.6 billion last year, it's the world's second-best selling drug behind Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor.
Because Plavix can upset the stomach, it is often prescribed with stomach acid-blocking drugs.
The FDA says patients who need to reduce their acid should take drugs from the H-2 blocker family, which include Johnson & Johnson's Mylanta and Boehringer Ingelheim's Zantac. FDA scientists say there is no evidence those drugs interfere with Plavix's blood clotting.
Nexium and Prilosec are part of a class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors, but FDA regulators said they don't have enough information to say whether other drugs in that class shouldn't be used with Plavix.
"There's not enough data to tell us how those drugs interact with," the enzyme that activates Plavix, said Mary Ross Southworth, FDA's deputy director for safety of cardiovascular products. "There are ongoing studies looking at those other drugs."
The FDA said the warnings on Plavix have been strengthened based on a 150-patient study submitted by Sanofi over the summer.
Information about the drug interaction between Plavix and certain heartburn medications is not new. Researchers reported last year that taking Plavix with Nexium significantly increased patients' chances of being hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke or chest pain.
In January, Sanofi and Bristol-Myers updated Plavix's labeling to advise against using it in combination with certain heartburn drugs.
A Sanofi spokeswoman said Tuesday that the company has bolstered that language labeling.
"We've strengthened the label to say that these drugs should be avoided altogether, not just discouraged," said Noelle Boyd, Sanofi's senior communications director.
Fluoridation a top cause of infant death
Fluoridation causes more premature births, one of the top causes of infant death in the USA. It poses the greatest risk to poor non-white mothers and babies. This is the finding State University of New York researchers from data spanning 1993 to 2002.http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/fluoridation-increases-infant-death-rates/5/30387
Research in Chile in the 1970s also showed fluoridation caused an increase in infant death rates. Chile stopped fluoridation as a result.
A baby born at least 3 weeks early is classified as premature - accounting for about 12 percent of US births.
To ensure fluoridation was the culprit, and not some other factor, the researchers recorded fluoridation residence status (under or over 1 ppm) and adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, neighborhood poverty level, hypertension and diabetes.
The data came from the NY Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System, which collects comprehensive information on patient characteristics and treatment history. The research was conducted within the university's Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health.
"For the Ministry of Health to continue promoting fluoridation when there is this kind of evidence that it is real health risk is inexcusable" says Mark Atkin, Fluoride Action Network (NZ)'s co-representative on the Fluoridation-free NZ Coalition, adding "Only a few months ago we had further confirmation that fluoridation increases teenage male bone cancer rates. As has been said before, those who continue to promote fluoridation do so at the risk of future legal action against them."
Electronic Health Records, Your Data At Risk
I started posting articles about electronic health and medical records in 2006 on Natural Health News. I am not in favour of this push in the arena of cost savings in the US health system. To date little has been shown to indicate any effective improvment in healthcare delivery or cost savings, yet most of the stimulus investment is for hardware and unproven, SAFE, software.
I discussed this issue in an interview with Dr. Katherine Albrecht back in February.
Once again we hear about electronic health records in a New York Times article -
I discussed this issue in an interview with Dr. Katherine Albrecht back in February.
Once again we hear about electronic health records in a New York Times article -
The nation is set to begin an ambitious program, backed by $19 billion in government incentives, to accelerate the adoption of computerized patient records in doctors’ offices and hospitals, replacing ink and paper. There is wide agreement that the conversion will bring better care and lower costs, saving the American health care system up to $100 billion a year by some estimates.And from Susan Heavey at Reuters -
But a new study comparing 3,000 hospitals at various stages in the adoption of computerized health records has found little difference in the cost and quality of care.
“The way electronic medical records are used now has not yet had a real impact on the quality or cost of health care,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the research project.
The research is to be presented on Monday at a conference in Boston. It is a follow-on study to a survey of hospitals’ adoption of electronic health records, published this year and financed by the federal government and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Dr. Karen Bell, a former senior official in the Department of Health and Human Services and an expert in health technology, said she was not surprised by the research. “Very few hospitals today are effectively using the capabilities of electronic health records,” she observed...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) Nov 20 - New electronic record systems installed in thousands of U.S. hospitals have done little to rein in skyrocketing healthcare costs, Harvard University researchers said in a study released on Friday.
A review of roughly 4,000 hospitals from 2003 to 2007 found that while many had moved away from the paper files that still dominate the U.S. healthcare system, administrative costs actually rose, even among the most high-tech institutions.
Advocates of such technology have been pushing for greater use of computerized health records to prevent costly errors and allow greater coordination among caregivers and patients. But adoption has been slow, prompting Congress to offer $19 billion in incentives as part of an economic stimulus bill.
The results, published in The American Journal of Medicine, come as the Senate presses ahead with legislation to expand access to healthcare. While the bill does not provide funds to buy necessary equipment, it does aim to facilitate their use and boost standards.
President Barack Obama has pointed to greater utilization of e-health records to help generate savings at a time when the nation's healthcare costs far outpace inflation.
But lead author Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and his team found so far the savings are not there.
"Our study finds that hospital computerization hasn't saved a dime, nor has it improved administrative efficiency," said Dr. Himmelstein, who oversees clinical computing at Cambridge Hospital in Massachusetts. "Claims that health IT will slash costs and help pay for the reforms being debated in Congress are wishful thinking."
National government standards for many health IT products are due next month. But even with the passage of the stimulus bill's funds, many experts expect it to take years before most Americans have an electronic health record.
The researchers found administrative costs increased slightly from 24.4% in 2003 to 24.9% in 2007, with facilities that computerized the most quickly seeing the largest jump. Hospitals with the highest costs tended to be smaller, for-profit, non-teaching ones in cities, they added.
Computerized records have yet to prove more efficient "because the commercial marketplace does not favor optimal products," creating programs to focus more on codes and billing than doctors' needs and patient care, they said.
Electronic records did show some improvements in tracking the quality of care delivered in cases of heart attacks, but it was unclear if those measures actually translated into improvements in patients' health, they said.
The researchers analyzed data from the industry's Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, hospital reports on costs incurred through the Medicare insurance program for the elderly and the 2008 Dartmouth Health Atlas, which compiles government health data.
Their study was released by the nonprofit Physicians for a National Health Program, which backs a single-payer U.S. health insurance.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Headphone risk to pacemakers
PEOPLE with pacemakers know to keep magnets and electronic devices, such as cellphones, away from the implant to avoid interference. But now it seems even the tiny magnets in headphones pose a risk.
It's still safe to use them, says Kevin Fu at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who carried out the study. Just don't keep them in breast pockets.
Fu and colleagues tested eight different headphones by holding them near the implants of 100 people. They found that in nearly a third of cases the magnets interfered with the device (Heart Rhythm, DOI: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2009.07.003).
Headphones containing neodymium were the most problematic, as the magnetic fields generated were very strong for the headphones' size, says Fu.http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427346.500-headphone-risk-to-pacemakers.html
How About Political Reform over Health Reform
62% Disconnect between insured and uninsured in the US
and as you think about this Big PhARMA wants another 9% price increase as Medicare expects payment and service cuts.
Following on this I am distressed to learn that so many people with chronic health problems have to cut drugs because of cost or no insurance, but no one in mainstream medicine is there to educated them about what natural remedies can replace the drugs and help them get well. (This is why we designed our services and educational programs.)
See NYT article on this topic
and as you think about this Big PhARMA wants another 9% price increase as Medicare expects payment and service cuts.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. drug manufacturers have been raising their prices at the fastest clip since 1992, industry analysts say.At the same time, Michelle Obama calls for healthcare reform but you have to ask what her definition is. Mrs. Obama is a former hospital executive and this discussion hasn't even begun to go past drugs and insurance. We aren't even close to discussing health care except some hairbrained idea to change doctor pay as a best bet to curb costs when the number of primary care doctors is decreasing over income.
Wholesale prices for brand name prescription drugs have increased by about 9 percent in the last year, even as the industry has agreed to support Obama administration healthcare reforms that would cut the nation's drug costs by $8 billion, The New York Times reported Monday.
Drug makers say they need to raise prices to plow money back into research and development to find new drugs, contending they need to replace popular drugs whose patents will soon expire. But critics say the manufacturers are trying to raise the price bar before Congress passes reform measures aimed at curbing future drug spending.
"When we have major legislation anticipated, we see a run-up in price increases," Stephen Schondelmeyer, a University of Minnesota pharmaceutical economics professor, told the newspaper.
Joseph Newhouse, a Harvard University health economist, told the Times a similar pattern of unusual price increases happened in 2006 just before Congress added drug benefits to Medicare, when prices shot up by their widest margin in the six previous years.
"Price adjustments for our products have no connection to healthcare reform," said Merck spokesman Ron Rogers.
Following on this I am distressed to learn that so many people with chronic health problems have to cut drugs because of cost or no insurance, but no one in mainstream medicine is there to educated them about what natural remedies can replace the drugs and help them get well. (This is why we designed our services and educational programs.)
See NYT article on this topic
Niacin Beats Zetia
Once again vitamins top the list for better health.
AP report
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Originally posted September 2007
If vitamins don't help you why this?
Imagine this: a patent on a common B vitamin known for a very long time to reduce your cholesterol. Health freedom fighters have been warning of vitamin control almost as long as B3 has safely reduced your cholesterol, raised HDL, reduced LDL and those deadly triglycerides.
Merck wants you to shell out big bucks for their new drug under the guise of an added chemical that will "inhibit an often intolerable niacin side effect called flushing".
They don't tell you that there is a form or two of niacin (B3) that does not cause flushing, nor do they tell you that the flushing is an indicator that the benefit of B3 is actually doing something to benefit your health when you experience the flushing.
Niacinamide is one form of niacin that is "flush-free". You do have to take higher amounts of this form and it may take longer to get the desired result.
Inositol hexanicotinate is a second option which promotes liver health and achieves LDL reduction.
You might get either of these starting at $8.00 - $12.00.
And in case you want that tingly niacin, start out with 100 mg. tablets and work up slowly to a higher, more therapeutic dose over time. This is usually what I suggest and it gives your body a better chance to adapt to the changes forthcoming.
Not sure what enormous amount Merck plans to market this new product for but you can bet it won't be inexpensive. (The cost of 500 mg dosage of Niaspan is $25.97 for 30 capsules. Note that the chemicals required to allow for extended release have been reported to be problematic, so I'd opt for just plain B3)
AHA: Niacin Bests Ezetimibe
Boosting HDL cholesterol with extended-release niacin (Niaspan) is a more effective way of slowing atherosclerosis in high-risk patients on long-term statin therapy than seeking additional LDL cholesterol reductions by adding ezetimibe (Zetia), researchers here reported.Anthony DeMaria, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, noted that "this is a small trial with a small number of cardiovascular events."...
"This trial doesn't quite put the nail in the coffin for ezetimibe, but it pushes it way down on the list of medications for cholesterol-lowering therapy," he said.
Jim Stein, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, had even stronger advice for colleagues:
"Doctors need to stop using so much ezetimibe. Using this drug is not practicing evidence-based medicine. It is taking a path of least resistance -- the easy way out of getting numbers to targets. But we don't treat numbers, we treat patients, and are obligated to use drugs that are proven in clinical trials to reduce things they care about -- heart attacks, strokes, and death -- and to do so safely."...
READ COMPLETE ARTICLEPrimary source: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMoa0907569
AP report
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Originally posted September 2007
If vitamins don't help you why this?
Imagine this: a patent on a common B vitamin known for a very long time to reduce your cholesterol. Health freedom fighters have been warning of vitamin control almost as long as B3 has safely reduced your cholesterol, raised HDL, reduced LDL and those deadly triglycerides.
Merck wants you to shell out big bucks for their new drug under the guise of an added chemical that will "inhibit an often intolerable niacin side effect called flushing".
They don't tell you that there is a form or two of niacin (B3) that does not cause flushing, nor do they tell you that the flushing is an indicator that the benefit of B3 is actually doing something to benefit your health when you experience the flushing.
Niacinamide is one form of niacin that is "flush-free". You do have to take higher amounts of this form and it may take longer to get the desired result.
Inositol hexanicotinate is a second option which promotes liver health and achieves LDL reduction.
You might get either of these starting at $8.00 - $12.00.
And in case you want that tingly niacin, start out with 100 mg. tablets and work up slowly to a higher, more therapeutic dose over time. This is usually what I suggest and it gives your body a better chance to adapt to the changes forthcoming.
Not sure what enormous amount Merck plans to market this new product for but you can bet it won't be inexpensive. (The cost of 500 mg dosage of Niaspan is $25.97 for 30 capsules. Note that the chemicals required to allow for extended release have been reported to be problematic, so I'd opt for just plain B3)
Merck niacin drug controls cholesterolSee http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/08/arthritis-drugs-pose-cancer-risk.html
By LINDA A. JOHNSON, AP Business Writer2 hours, 11 minutes agoAn experimental cholesterol treatment touted by drugmaker Merck & Co. significantly reduced artery-clogging fats in late-stage testing, but it got a mixed reception from Wall Street analysts Tuesday.
The drug, called Cordaptive, can both raise good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol. It combines an extended-release form of the B vitamin niacin with a chemical to inhibit an often intolerable niacin side effect called flushing — redness, burning and tingling of the face.
At a European cardiology conference Sunday, Merck for the first time reported results of a major study of Cordaptive. The 24-week study, which included about 1,600 patients, found that compared with dummy pills, Cordaptive produced an 18 percent drop in levels of LDL-C, or "bad" cholesterol; a 26 percent drop in another type of blood fat called triglycerides, and a 20 percent increase in levels of HDL-C, or "good" cholesterol.
Those results were about the same whether or not patients were also taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins. Among study patients taking Cordaptive, 29 percent had moderate flushing or worse, versus 56 percent of patients taking just extended-release niacin and 6 percent of those taking a dummy pill.
Analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities said the safety profile for Cordaptive, which is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval, wasn't perfect but is "not problematic."
"I think that the FDA will be predisposed to approve it," Brozak said, given the many people with heart disease or uncontrolled cholesterol, which contributes to hardening of the arteries.
Joseph Tooley, an analyst at A.G. Edwards Pharmaceutical Group, wrote that Cordaptive appears as safe as niacin and that its reduced flushing differentiates it from existing products.
But Cowen and Co. analyst Steve Scala wrote that Cordaptive's safety profile "trended less favorably" than extended-release niacin, with measures of substances in the blood that can indicate potential liver damage, muscle damage and blood-sugar problems a little worse for Cordaptive than the extended-release niacin.
"We think there's no difference between those, especially given the size of the trial," responded Dr. John Paolini, head of the Cordaptive product development team at Merck. "Most importantly, there were no cases of hepatitis" or symptoms of liver damage in the patients.
Any worrisome changes in blood levels of enzymes were temporary and ended when patients stopped taking Cordaptive, he said.
Niacin has been used to control cholesterol for decades, and an extended release version, called Niaspan, has been on sale for years. The flushing problem, however, has prevented many patients from reaching the most effective dose and caused many others to stop taking niacin or Niaspan altogether, Paolini said in a telephone interview from the conference in Vienna.
In a statement Tuesday, Abbott Labs, maker of Niaspan, countered that facial flushing is generally a temporary side effect, which can be easily managed with aspirin.
Cordaptive would beef up Merck's cholesterol franchise, a key area because its statin drug Zocor, which had been Merck's top seller, has seen sales plunge since it got generic competition a year ago. Merck and partner Schering-Plough Corp. jointly market two other cholesterol drugs, Zetia and Vytorin.
Scala forecast $150 million in Cordaptive sales in 2008, with revenue growing to $700 million in 2012. Banc of America Securities analyst Chris Schott predicted $665 million in 2011 sales.
Morgan Stanley analyst Jami Rubin agreed that sales could top $700 million by 2011, but noted that Abbott Labs is developing a concentrated version of its niacin drug.
Merck shares fell 13 cents to $50.04 in trading Tuesday.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Microchip included in Health Bill ?
UPDATE: 3/30/10 - Current speculation is that the chip provision has been removed, or at least reference to mandatory compliance. It is prudent,IMHO, to be diligent in your observations, and fail to yield to diversionary tactics so this does not become and oversight.
ORIGINAL POST:11/15/09
Microchipping included in Healthcare Bill ?
ORIGINAL POST:11/15/09
Microchipping included in Healthcare Bill ?
“Buried deep within the over 1,000 pages of the massive US Health Care Bill (PDF) in a “non-discussed” section titled: Subtitle C-11 Sec. 2521— National Medical Device Registry, and which states its purpose as:
"The Secretary shall establish a national medical device registry (in this subsection referred to as the ‘registry’) to facilitate analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data on each device that—‘‘(A) is or has been used in or on a patient; and ‘‘(B) is a class III device; or ‘‘(ii) a class II device that is implantable.”In “real world speak”, according to this report, this new law, when fully implemented, provides the framework for making the United States the first Nation in the World to require each and every one of its citizens to have implanted in them a radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchip for the purpose of controlling who is, or isn’t, allowed medical care in their country.
waysandmeans.house…
No Guillain-Barre They Say...
Guillain-Barre Syndrome is not so rare. And what makes this story so disturbing is that mainstream media has been promoting the CDC mantra that the H1N1 vaccine was not going to cause this adverse effect. The lasting effects may remain for years, such as in the many cases of post-polio syndrome following that vaccine.
Perhaps CDC pundits are speaking too soon and out of both sides of their mouths, and not based on all the facts you need to know.
Swine Flu Vaccine Information
Vaccine Side Effects
Perhaps CDC pundits are speaking too soon and out of both sides of their mouths, and not based on all the facts you need to know.
Swine Flu Vaccine Information
Vaccine Side Effects
Teen Gets Illness After H1N1 Shot
By JoNel Aleccia, msnbc.comHealth writer
updated 9:57 a.m. PT, Thurs., Nov. 12, 2009
A 14-year-old Virginia boy is weak and struggling to walk after coming down with a reported case of Guillain-Barre syndrome within hours after receiving the H1N1 vaccine for swine flu.
Jordan McFarland, a high school athlete from Alexandria, Va., left Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children Tuesday night in a wheelchair nearly a week after developing severe headaches, muscle spasms and weakness in his legs following a swine flu shot. He will likely need the assistance of a walker for four to six weeks, plus extensive physical therapy.
“The doctor said I’ll recover fully, but it’s going to take some time,” the teenager said.
Jordan is among the first people in the nation to report developing the potentially life-threatening muscle disorder after receiving the H1N1 vaccine this fall. His alarming reaction was submitted via msnbc.com's reader reporting tool, First Person, by his stepmother, Arlene Connin.
Increased cases of GBS were found in patients who received a 1976 swine flu vaccine, but government health officials say they've seen no rise in the condition associated with the current outbreak.
So far, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have received five reports of GBS in people who received the H1N1 vaccine since Oct. 6, not including Jordan’s case, said Dr. Claudia J. Vellozzi, deputy director for immunization safety.
Out of about 40 million doses of H1N1 vaccine available to date, that’s a far lower rate of GBS than the 1 case that develops in every 1 million people who receive the regular flu vaccine.
"It's much less than we'd expect," she said, adding that many cases go unreported.
In 1976, about 1 additional case of GBS developed in every 100,000 people who were vaccinated against the swine flu, according to the CDC.
Jordan's parents said doctors diagnosed the teen with GBS, a rare muscle disorder that develops when a person’s own immune system attacks the nerves, causing muscle weakness, difficulty walking and sometimes paralysis and death.
Hospital officials didn't dispute that the boy had GBS, but refused to comment on the boy's condition or treatment, even after his family granted permission.
“They don’t want to create a fear or panic in the community,” said Jordan's stepmother, Connin.
Connin and Jordan’s father, Calvin McFarland, both 38, believe the shot sparked the illness that came on 18 hours after the boy’s vaccination.
No clear link
But Vellozzi said there’s no clear link between the new vaccine and the disease.
“We know that GBS and other illnesses occur routinely in the U.S.,” Vellozzi said, noting that 80 to 120 cases are diagnosed each week in the general population.
“There are events that follow vaccination. That’s what they are, they happened to follow vaccination.
GBS is among the most severe adverse events being tracked with updated systems developed by the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the American Academy of Neurology in order to monitor the rollout of the H1N1 flu vaccine.
So far, CDC officials have received about 1,700 reports of adverse events linked to the new shot, Vellozzi said. Of those, only about 4 percent, or 68, were coded as serious. That’s on par with reports regarding seasonal vaccine.
While any harmful side effect can be devastating for an individual, when it comes to larger public health issues, the H1N1 virus is considerably riskier than the vaccine, experts say.
“The H1N1 illness is making lots of children very ill," Vellozzi said. "There’s lots of illness and lots of death."
So far, more than 4,000 people have died from H1N1 infection in the U.S., according to latest estimates by the CDC.
Since the start of the H1N1 vaccine campaign, the CDC has repeatedly warned that certain conditions, such as miscarriage, heart attack and even GBS occur regardless of immunization, and officials have urged the public not to blame the vaccine for the illnesses, but to report promptly any suspected side effects.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Arthritis drugs pose cancer risk
A different approach for arthritis, musch more natural that immnosuppressive drugs. If you're seeking consultation regarding arthitis, this service may be of help to you.
Originally posted August 2009
FDA: Arthritis drugs pose cancer risk
NB: **TNF Blockers - For 20+ years I have warned people about the RA drugs and other immune suppressing drugs used in alleged auto-immune disorders and cancer risk. I would wonder just how many people have suffered or or now suffering from iatrogenitically induced cancers.
Nettle seems to be the most effective herb in reducing tumour necrosis factor, alpha and interleukin 1b cytokines which in addition to helping blood it is extremely anti-inflammatory. It makes strong bones and has many other health promoting properties too.
And I also wonder why it is when those of us who are well versed in natural health are aware of the RA connection to wheat, gluten and gliaden allergy, why food allergy testing is not considered first in mainstream medicine. Read article below about niacin...
And since any product causing death is illegal under US law, why are these drugs on the market or being allowed to be marketed with warnings?
Collagen Ingredient Tests Positive for Joint Health Support---------------------------------------------------------------------
November 2009
A patented collagen ingredient may be twice as effective as glucosamine and chondroitin supplements for joint health, according to the results of a randomized, double-blind study.
The undenatured type II collagen known as UC-II might reduce pain, stiffness and immobility associated with osteoarthritis, according to findings published in the International Journal of Medical Sciences.
The new study compared a daily dose of UC-II (40 mg) with a combination of glucosamine (1,500 mg of glucosamine HCl, USP Grade) and chondroitin (1,300 mg, USP Grade).
Looking at markers of joint health in 52 volunteers experiencing joint pain and stiffness in the knees from osteoarthritis, researchers led by Siba Raychaudhurl, MD, from the University of California Davis report that the effects were superior to those recorded in previous clinical investigations for glucosamine and chondroitin.
"The clinical benefits we saw in osteoarthritic patients taking UC-II, showing significant overall improvement in conventional osteoarthritis efficacy measures, are positive clinical indicators that UC-II is highly effective at supporting joint health," said Raychaudhurl. "While the overall benefits were impressive, it is important to note that reduction in pain and stiffness were seen as early as 30 days after taking UC-II."
The researchers assessed the physical function, stiffness and pain in the knees of 52 volunteers with an average age of 58.8 following 90 days of supplementation.
Compared to the established ingredients in the joint health market, the UC-II product was found to reduce pain during exercise by 20%, compared to eight percent for glucosamine and chondroitin.
Using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index as a measure of arthritis symptoms, the WOMAC score was found to have decreased by 33% and 14% in the UC-II and glucosamine plus chondroitin groups, respectively.
"Similar results were observed for visual analog scale (VAS) scores," added Raychaudhurl and co-workers. "Although both [UC-II and glucosamine plus chondroitin] reduced the VAS score, UC-II was found to be more effective with a 40% decrease after 90 days as compared to 15.4% in glucosamine plus chondroitin groups," they added.
International Journal of Medical Sciences 6(6):312-321, 2009
Originally posted August 2009
FDA: Arthritis drugs pose cancer risk
By Susan Heavey – Aug 4-------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Blockbuster prescription drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions can increase the risk of potentially deadly cancer in children and teenagers, U.S. health regulators said on Tuesday in ordering stronger warnings on such medications.
The Food and Drug Administration, which urged greater caution with so-called TNF blockers last September, said an analysis of 48 reported cancer cases in children using the drugs "showed an increased risk of cancer, occurring after 30 months of treatment on average."
Eleven of the reported cases were fatal, the FDA said.
Anti-TNF drugs include Johnson & Johnson's Simponi or golimumab, and its Remicade or infliximab; Abbott Laboratories Humira or adalimumab; UCB SA's Cimzia or certolizumab pegol, and Amgen Inc and Wyeth's Enbrel or etanercept.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that can strike young people, causing pain, stiffness and swelling.
It affects about 20 million people worldwide.
The drugs are used to treat other inflammatory conditions, including the bowel disorder known as Crohn's disease.
TNF (tumor necrosis factor) blockers make billions of dollars for manufacturers, but it is unclear how much they earn specifically from sales for children and teens. Not all of the drugs are approved for use in children for all related conditions.
Last year, Abbott's Humira earned $4.5 billion worldwide, while Amgen and Wyeth's Ebrel earned $1.2 billion. J&J's Remicade had 2008 sales of $3.7 billion. Its newer drug, Simponi, was approved earlier this year. UCB's Cimzia, launched in 2008, had about $14.4 million in global sales.
The drugs already carry the strongest warnings possible about the risk of possible serious infections. A new caution about cancer in younger patients will be added to the so-called "black box", the FDA said.
EVALUATING THE CANCER RISK
The FDA said in a statement on its website that its year-long analysis of the increased cancer risk in children showed about half the 48 cases involved lymphoma, which targets the immune system.
Rates for cancer cases with J&J's Remicade "were consistently higher compared to expected background rates for lymphomas and all malignancies," the FDA said. Cancer rates for lymphoma were also higher for Amgen and Wyeth's Enbrel, but rates for all cancers were similar to background rates, the FDA said.
The FDA did not calculate cancer rates for Abbott's Humira and UCB's Cimzia "because of minimal use in pediatric patients." J&J's Simponi was not approved at the time of the time of the analysis.
The FDA said it had "identified new safety information related to the occurrence of leukemia and new-onset psoriasis" that would also be included on the drugs' labeling.
The FDA said it had reviewed 147 reports of leukemia in adults and children using TNF blockers, including 30 deaths.
While rheumatoid arthritis patients may already be at greater risk for the white blood cell cancer, "there is a possible association between treatment with **TNF blockers and the development of leukemia in all patients treated with these drugs," the FDA said.
The FDA also reviewed 69 cases of psoriasis and said it found a possible link between the skin disorder and use of TNF blockers.
Brian Kenney, a spokesman for Johnson & Johnson's Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc unit, which makes Remicade and Simponi, said the company would work with the FDA to adopt the new warnings.
Amgen and Wyeth also said in a statement that they would revise their product warnings and continue evaluating risks and benefits of Enbrel. Representatives for Abbott and UCB had no comment.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Andre Grenon)
NB: **TNF Blockers - For 20+ years I have warned people about the RA drugs and other immune suppressing drugs used in alleged auto-immune disorders and cancer risk. I would wonder just how many people have suffered or or now suffering from iatrogenitically induced cancers.
Nettle seems to be the most effective herb in reducing tumour necrosis factor, alpha and interleukin 1b cytokines which in addition to helping blood it is extremely anti-inflammatory. It makes strong bones and has many other health promoting properties too.
And I also wonder why it is when those of us who are well versed in natural health are aware of the RA connection to wheat, gluten and gliaden allergy, why food allergy testing is not considered first in mainstream medicine. Read article below about niacin...
And since any product causing death is illegal under US law, why are these drugs on the market or being allowed to be marketed with warnings?
When you think of what B vitamins can do for your health, the first thing that comes to mind is probably increased energy, better nerve function or sharper attention and focus. It’s not likely, however, that you’d rank any of them among nature’s greatest anti-aging secrets—which is why you might be surprised to learn that at least one member of this family of nutrients has emerged as a real-life fountain of youth.
That vitamin is niacinamide—a unique form of vitamin B3 that plays a key role as the co-enzyme, NAD or NADP, in hundreds of your body’s enzymatic reactions. Most of niacinamide is converted in cells and tissues to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). Niacinamide converts twice as readily to NAD/NADP as does niacin. Research has shown that a special life-extending protein—called silent information regulator 2 protein, or Sir2p—which is able to “silence” genes related to cellular aging is NAD-dependent.1
But that’s not all—research also shows that niacinamide supplementation can pack a powerful punch against the inflammation and joint destruction that accompanies many forms of arthritis, too. This B vitamin is able to mediate the activity of interleukin-1 (IL-1), the inflammatory cytokine that’s implicated in degenerative osteoarthritis—while inhibiting levels of nitric oxide (NO), high levels of which can contribute to cartilage destruction.2-3
Even diabetics can benefit from extra doses of niacinamide. In type 1 diabetics, supplementation with this form of B3 has been shown to slow down the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells, enhancing their regeneration and boosting pancreatic function.4 Clinical research also reveals that niacinamide can aid with metabolic control—lowering insulin doses and reducing damaging glycosylated hemoglobin levels among diabetic patients.5-6
Finally, niacinamide has been shown to provide significant benefits against stress, anxiety and sleep disruption—delivering all-natural relief that’s comparable to prescription sedatives.7-10 Add in its abilities to inhibit histamine release in bronchial asthma, its anti-mutagenic actions and its ability to minimize infarction in rats during the critical hours following a stroke and there seems to be no limit to this powerful B vitamin’s benefits.11-13
Bear in mind, however, that not just any B3 vitamin will do—you’ll have to take niacinamide specifically to get the unique spectrum of results. Luckily, you can order niacinamide readily and easily by contacting us.
References:
1. Imai S, Armstrong CM, Kaeberlein M, Guarente L; Transcriptional silencing and longevity protein Sir2 is an NAD-dependent histone deacetylase. Nature. 2000 Feb 17;403(6771):795-800.
2. McCarty MF, Russell AL. Niacinamide therapy for osteoarthritis—does it inhibit nitric oxide synthase induction by interleukin 1 in chondrocytes? Med Hypotheses. 1999 Oct; 53(4):350-60.
3. Kroger H, Hauschild A, Ohde M, Bache K, Voigt WP, Erlich W. Enhancing the inhibitory effect of nicotinamide upon collagen II induced arthritis in mice using N-acetylcysteine. Inflammation 1999 Apr;23(2):111-5.
4. Kolb H, Bukart V. Nicotinamide in type 1 diabetes. Mechanism of action revisited. Diabetes Care. 1999 Mar;22 Suppl 2:B16-20.
5. Pozzilli P, Visalli N, Ghirlanda G, Manna R, Andreani D. Nicotinamide increases C-peptide secretion in patients with recent onset type 1 diabetes. Diabet Med 1989 Sep-Oct;6(7):568-72.
6. Vague P, Vialettes B, Lassmann-Vague V, Vallo J. Nicotinamide may extend remmision phase of insulin-dependent diabetes. The Lancet. Mar 1987 ltr
7. Akhundov RA, Sultanov AA, Gadzhily RA, Sadykhov RV; [Psychoregulating role of nicotinamide]. Biull Eksp Biol Med. 1993 May;115(5):487-91.
8. Mohler H, Pole P, Cumin R, Pieri L, Kettler R. Nicotinamide is a brain constituent with benzodiazepine-like actions. Nature. 1979 Apr 5;278(5704):563-5.
9. Kryzhanovskii GN, Shandra AA. Effect of diazepam and nicotinamide on convulsive activity of various types]. Farmakol Toksikol. 1985 Jul-Aug;48(4):21-5.
10. Akhundov RA, Zagorevskii VA, Voronina TA. [Nootropic activity of nicotinamide and its structural analogs]. Biull Eksp Biol Med 1990 Oct;110(10):384-6.
11. Werbach M. Nutritional Influences on Illness, 2nd ed., 1993 pp 114-115, 117, 19.
12. Pero RW, Axelsson B, Siemann D, Chaplin D, Dougherty G; Newly discovered anti-inflammitory properties of the benzamides and nicotinamides. Mol Cell Biochem 1999 Mar;193(1-2):119-25.
13. Ayoub IA, Lee EJ, Ogilvy CS, Beal MF, Maynard KI; Nicotinamide reduces infarction up to two hours after the onset of permanent focal cerebral ischemia in Wistar rats.Neurosci Lett 1999 Jan 4;259(1):21-4.
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