D. Mail 7.10.08 "DOES BREAST CANCER SCREEING DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD?"
Interview by Thea Jourdan.
Michael Baum, Emertitius Prof. of Surgery at University College, London writes: (shortened)
Each year I dread Breast Cancer Awareness month because all it does is scare women, without any evidence that it contributes to a drop in breast cancer mortality. I have grave doubts about breast cancer screening. It causes far more problems than it solves & I speak as someone who was initially enthusiastic about it, setting up the first breast screening centre in S.E. England in 1987.
It misdiagnosed many women & didn't catch many aggressive tumours. Many women became more anxious about breast cancer & I spent a lot of time reassuring them. I resigned from the screening committee in 1997 over the issue of consent. I didn't believe women were being given a fair & informed choice, because they were not getting all the facts about the failings of screening.
Screening picks up latent cancers & anomalies that would not cause any problems if left alone.
The Cochrane Collaboration, a research organisation, said between 20-50% of screening-detected cancer are 'over-diagnosed'. So at least a quarter of women told they have breast cancer would have died from other causes if the cancer had not been detected. Yet these women undergo invasive procedures such as biopsy & suffer unnecessary misery. The biopsy may reveal borderline abnormalities which are unlikely to lead to cancer, yet fear of litigation means they cannot be ignored. So women often undergo surgery that if left alone the 'cancer' may never have caused them harm. Many undergo mastectomy. Women with no symptoms & borderline changes can end up having a breast removed for no good reason. Screening makes it more likely you will lose your breast unnecessarily. Women should be given all these facts to make their own decision on screening.
Imagine if the annual budget for breast screening of around £75 million was spent instead on prevention & cure.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
St. John's Wort treats major depression
Over many years of clinical and educational work in the areas of medicine and natural health care I have seen very good results from using properly prepared extracts of St. John's Wort. This has been in contrast to so many so-called studies about this herb in an effort to downplay effectiveness.
In 2003 I wrote on this issue.
In 2005 I reported on this issue.
And for those of us who now, in the northern hemisphere, are heading into the darker, colder months, I mention St. John's Wort (SJW) in this article from 2004.
Amidst all the work that has shown SJW to be effective for depression and mood elevation among its other benefits I was subjected to a substantial amount of verbal attacks for my position from psychologists and others in mainstream medicine who have a vested interest in promoting drugs, while denigrating natural therapies.
Needless to say, SJW is not fluoride based like the majority of SSRI anti-depressants and it has few if any of the serious side effects similar to these pharmaceuticals. The herb did not push tryptophan out of favor either.
Additionally SJW is a nervous system nutritive and it acts as a very potent form of natural interferon which reinforces its anti-viral benefits.
For excellent quality spagyrically prepared SJW extract please contact us.
In 2003 I wrote on this issue.
In 2005 I reported on this issue.
And for those of us who now, in the northern hemisphere, are heading into the darker, colder months, I mention St. John's Wort (SJW) in this article from 2004.
Amidst all the work that has shown SJW to be effective for depression and mood elevation among its other benefits I was subjected to a substantial amount of verbal attacks for my position from psychologists and others in mainstream medicine who have a vested interest in promoting drugs, while denigrating natural therapies.
Needless to say, SJW is not fluoride based like the majority of SSRI anti-depressants and it has few if any of the serious side effects similar to these pharmaceuticals. The herb did not push tryptophan out of favor either.
Additionally SJW is a nervous system nutritive and it acts as a very potent form of natural interferon which reinforces its anti-viral benefits.
For excellent quality spagyrically prepared SJW extract please contact us.
St. John's Wort effective for depression
Tue Oct 7, 2008
The herbal remedy St. John's Wort effectively treats symptoms of major depression, an analysis of previous studies found on Wednesday.
St. John's Wort extracts tested in the different trials were better than placebos and as effective as standard antidepressants with fewer side effects, the researchers reported in the Cochrane review, a journal that analyses medical and scientific studies.
"The studies came from a variety of countries, tested several different St. John's Wort extracts, and mostly included patients suffering from mild to moderately severe symptoms," Klaus Linde of the Center for Complementary Medicine in Munich, Germany wrote.
The herb works in a similar way to some prescription antidepressants by increasing the brain chemical serotonin, involved in controlling mood.
The Cochrane review analyzed 29 studies that together included 5,489 men and women with symptoms of major depression and compared the remedy's effectiveness with placebos and standard treatments.
The researchers found that St. John's Wort extracts were not only effective but that fewer people taking them dropped out of the trials due to adverse side effects.
They also noted that results were more favorable in German-speaking countries where doctors often prescribe the remedy and cautioned against using the remedy without medical advice because the extracts can affect other drugs' work.
In Germany such herbal treatments are also more controlled for content, unlike in many other markets where the quality and content of herbal products may vary considerably.
"Using a St. John's Wort extract might be justified, but products on the market vary considerably, so these results only apply to the preparations tested," Linde said.
Depression is a leading cause of suicide and affects about 121 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Standard treatments include Prozac, which U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co introduced in 1987.
The treatment, which belongs to a class of compounds called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), is now off patent and widely available generically as fluoxetine.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Maggie Fox)
Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Flu deaths? Now really
The argument proferred here makes little sense.
Flu is caused by a virus. Pneumonia is more likely than not bacterial in origin. Staph aureus is a bacteria.
The "hard-to-treat complications" are not eneumerated so we cannot determine what might connect these to flu virus. I also don't quite follow the connection from flu to staph infection. Perhaps this is from wrongly administered antibiotics that do not treat a virus.
There are many serious problems with flu vaccines and this is a poor argument to convince you to take this jab.
You should be asking many more questions rather than follow blindly.
More vitamin C, vitamin A and home made chicken soup with garlic, onions, and carrots just might give you more of a healthy boost than a drug. Years ago it was proven that chicken soup did fight colds and flu because of the amino acid cysteine found in goodly amounts in the soup.
The idea of chicken soup must be a good one because its being given to some young pandas in china to help them boost their immune systems.
Flu is caused by a virus. Pneumonia is more likely than not bacterial in origin. Staph aureus is a bacteria.
The "hard-to-treat complications" are not eneumerated so we cannot determine what might connect these to flu virus. I also don't quite follow the connection from flu to staph infection. Perhaps this is from wrongly administered antibiotics that do not treat a virus.
There are many serious problems with flu vaccines and this is a poor argument to convince you to take this jab.
You should be asking many more questions rather than follow blindly.
More vitamin C, vitamin A and home made chicken soup with garlic, onions, and carrots just might give you more of a healthy boost than a drug. Years ago it was proven that chicken soup did fight colds and flu because of the amino acid cysteine found in goodly amounts in the soup.
The idea of chicken soup must be a good one because its being given to some young pandas in china to help them boost their immune systems.
Jump seen in staph-linked flu deaths in kids
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer, Mon Oct 6, 2008
More children have died from flu because they also had staph infections, according to a new government report that urges parents to have their kids get the flu shot.
The number of deaths wasn't high — 73 during the 2006-07 flu season — but there was more than a fivefold increase in hard-to-treat complications. And preliminary figures indicate deaths rose again during this past winter's flu season.
Public health officials say the numbers underscore the importance of a brand new recommendation that all children, from 6 months through 18 years, get routine flu shots. Before this year, shots were recommended for kids under 5 years.
More than half the children who died were between ages 5 and 17 and had been healthy until they got the flu.
Parents shouldn't panic, "but it's an important message to say even healthy children develop complications and die almost before anything much can be done for them," said Dr. Gregory Poland, a Mayo Clinic infectious disease specialist. He was not involved in the federal study, but has worked with a federal vaccine advisory committee and has consulted for vaccine makers.
Flu season is just beginning, and this year's vaccine should be widely available this month.
While few children die from the flu virus, it puts about 20,000 U.S. kids in the hospital each year.
Only 6 percent of the children studied who died had been fully vaccinated against the flu. Two doses are recommended each flu season for children ages 6 months to 8 years who have not been vaccinated previously; for older kids, just one dose a year is needed.
The study, appearing in the October edition of Pediatrics for release Monday, is based on an analysis of reported flu deaths from the 2004-05 through 2006-07 seasons. Flu deaths in children during those seasons totaled 47, 46 and 73, respectively.
The percentage of those who also had bacterial infections jumped from 6 percent to almost 36 percent. Most had staph infections, and 60 percent of those involved the dangerous MRSA bug, which is resistant to antibiotics.
More recent data suggest flu deaths among children have continued to rise, with 86 tallied for the 2007-08 season in a preliminary report last month, said Lyn Finelli, the study's lead author, who is a researcher for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Preliminary information also suggests there has been no drop in fatal flu-staph cases in children, and those could still be on the rise too, she said.
Staph germs commonly live in the nose or skin without causing illness; more than one-fourth of U.S. children and adults carry them.
These bugs can become deadly when they get into the bloodstream, sometimes through wounds. The flu is thought to make people more susceptible to bacterial infections like staph, Finelli said.
Details on how children in the study died were not available, but some developed bacterial pneumonia, seizures and shock.
Finelli said parents should take children to the doctor when they have flu symptoms and signs of other complications. These could include extreme fatigue, no thirst, or in older children complaints about feeling very ill.
___
On the Net: American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.
Cleaning Chemicals and Health
In all the years I have been following the issue of antibiotic resistance and increased infection rates I have seen few articles addressing the cleaning methods and chemicals used in health facilities.
This article may raise some issues but does little to accurately respond to the problems.
Most cleaning chemicals used in health cacilities are bacteriocidal and therefore have the same risk of becoming ineffective because of resistance.
Other factors are associated with the type of equipment used, such as the string mops in this photo from the BBC article. Generally it is the same mop used over-and-over during the day or a shift (8 hours). This practice does little to stop spread of bacteria. It is similar to the issue of hand washing and how bacteria is known to spread if you fail to wash your hands after working -on any level - with a patient before going to another patient.
A lot more understanding of why the thinking is wrong with this approach is needed.
Change has to address all of the factors in the process. There are better options than string mops.
This article may raise some issues but does little to accurately respond to the problems.
Most cleaning chemicals used in health cacilities are bacteriocidal and therefore have the same risk of becoming ineffective because of resistance.
Other factors are associated with the type of equipment used, such as the string mops in this photo from the BBC article. Generally it is the same mop used over-and-over during the day or a shift (8 hours). This practice does little to stop spread of bacteria. It is similar to the issue of hand washing and how bacteria is known to spread if you fail to wash your hands after working -on any level - with a patient before going to another patient.
A lot more understanding of why the thinking is wrong with this approach is needed.
Change has to address all of the factors in the process. There are better options than string mops.
Hospital cleaning chemical fears
Hospitals have been warned not to over-dilute cleaning chemicals amid fears that this could boost antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
A US study published in the journal Microbiology found bugs that survive disinfectant contact can become harder to kill.
They evolve new defences which allow them to "pump" cleaning chemicals and antibiotics out of their system.
A UK expert said it was important that cleaning guidance was followed closely.
Biocides can be used in very very high concentrations, and provided this happens, then bacteria will be killed, and therefore not have the opportunity to acquire this resistance
Dr Adam Fraise
Birmingham University Hospitals
The NHS has recently met a target for the reduction of MRSA cases, but the rise of antibiotic resistance remains a problem.
Doctors have been told to use antibiotics sparingly, as overuse can allow harmful bacteria to develop resistance, but the new research suggests that some cleaning chemicals may also cause a problem.
The researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Detroit exposed Staphylococcus aureus bacteria to low concentrations of a wide range of antiseptic and antibacterial solutions, many of which are in common use in hospitals and the home.
They found that because the bacteria were not killed by the chemicals, they began to mutate into new strains.
These strains frequently had a higher number of "efflux pumps", a feature found on the surface of their cells which allows them to get rid of toxic molecules.
These were not tailored just to remove the disinfectant molecules, but also designed to get rid of some antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin.
No watering down
Dr Glenn Kaatz, who led the study, said that if bacteria in hospitals were exposed to "biocides" - antibacterial chemicals - repeatedly, they could build up this resistance, and even contribute to hospital-acquired infections.
However, Dr Adam Fraise, a consultant in infection control at Birmingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said that the important thing was for cleaning staff to use chemicals in the recommended concentrations, and not to water them down more than required.
He said: "Biocides are not like antibiotics, in which the dose has to be kept at a level which is non-toxic to the patient.
"They can be used in very very high concentrations, and provided this happens, then bacteria will be killed, and therefore not have the opportunity to acquire this resistance.
"There are guidelines for cleaning staff about this in the NHS, and they need to be followed.
"However, there is an argument that you should be using these chemicals sparingly anyway around the ward, as there is some debate whether they are actually any more effective than simple detergents at reducing hospital infections."
BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7650508.stm
Published: 2008/10/05 23:01:07 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Consider Acupuncture
I was pleasantly surprised when I received this article from a young Korean fellow who seems to often read Natural Health News.
I hope it helps readers and please share the information, as I encourage you to so with all articles on this BLOG.
My thanks to Albertus for the article.
I hope it helps readers and please share the information, as I encourage you to so with all articles on this BLOG.
My thanks to Albertus for the article.
The Benefits of Ancient Chinese Health Remedies
With increasing concern over the use of pharmaceuticals, more people are turning to alternative therapy such as the ancient Chinese practice of compunction to find relief from certain health problems. Acupuncture has become so popular, in fact, that many insurance companies provide coverage for treatments.
Acupuncture is known to have been used by ancient cultures thousands of years ago, and the practice was first described in a medical text known as the Classic of Internal Medicine, published somewhere between 305 and 204 BC.
The Chinese have already impressed the world with health remedies such as the popular green tea and the somewhat-obscure red yeast rice, and the acupuncture is in no position to be overlooked. The theory behind Chinese medicine, and acupuncture itself, is based on holistic principles which involve treating the whole person, rather than a single organ or condition. Ancient Chinese medical theory states that diseases are caused when four factors—called Yin, Yang, Qi, and Blood—become imbalanced. Traditional Chinese medicine involves redressing the balance to improve health.
Acupuncture involves the use of fine needles along the body's pressure points to improve the balance and flow of these four factors. There are approximately four hundred defined pressure points on the human body, and treating any given condition involves stimulating a specific set of pressure points.
A wide variety of conditions can be treated using acupuncture, including the following:
- Neck, shoulder, back, or hip pain
- Headaches and migraines
- Arthritis and arthritic pain
- Sports injuries
- Anxiety, depression, insomnia, and stress disorders
- Weight problems, and smoking addiction
- Menstrual problems and menopause
In particular, acupuncture is a safe, natural way of relieving symptoms of pain, anxiety, and stress. It can provide physical and physiological benefits for people who have not been able to obtain relief from symptoms using medication, and it does so without the use of any type of medication. Just as important, when carried out by a skilled acupuncturist there are no harmful side effects of this treatment.
The way in which acupuncture works isn't yet known, but there's no doubt that it does work, and provide considerable benefit, for many people.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Highly promoted energy drinks and Lance Armstrong
Advertising and marketing pays, but is the price worth the cost?
Please see other posts in this blog on energy drinks via the search box and read my response to this latest celebrity campaign.
Please see other posts in this blog on energy drinks via the search box and read my response to this latest celebrity campaign.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Avoid Mobile Use While Pregnant
In 2000 I prepared a report for the planning commission of the small town where I lived in the Cascade foothills. The reason for this was a plan by one of the major land owners in the area to erect a cell phone mast tower across the street from the school and directly behind a daycare center.
Much of the data I presented was directly related to behavioral issues in children exposed to mast towers, cell phones, WI-FI and related EMF identified in the many studies reported up to that time.
This tower was not erected, however the members of the planning commission all focused on what the loss of convenience would do to them. They were already complaining about lack of coverage is out very forest covered community.
The loudest supporter of this tower was the school district. I presented the same data to the school board and no one seemed to be concerned with the children.
Of course, who knows what the future will bring. I tired to stop new antennae placed on a water tower directly above a children's playground, in a neighborhood with a high incidence of heart attack in 2003. Again, another college town lauding itself for being so wirelessly connected.
My word for the wise is to not take the industry propaganda so glibly.
Read also -
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6374317/Science-and-the-truth-in-mobile-telecommunication-research
Much of the data I presented was directly related to behavioral issues in children exposed to mast towers, cell phones, WI-FI and related EMF identified in the many studies reported up to that time.
This tower was not erected, however the members of the planning commission all focused on what the loss of convenience would do to them. They were already complaining about lack of coverage is out very forest covered community.
The loudest supporter of this tower was the school district. I presented the same data to the school board and no one seemed to be concerned with the children.
Of course, who knows what the future will bring. I tired to stop new antennae placed on a water tower directly above a children's playground, in a neighborhood with a high incidence of heart attack in 2003. Again, another college town lauding itself for being so wirelessly connected.
My word for the wise is to not take the industry propaganda so glibly.
Mobiles linked to kids' bad behaviour, Monday, September 8, 2008
Using mobiles while pregnant could cause problems for children Pregnant women who use their mobile phones could be causing their children to have behavioural problems, according to a new study.
The claim comes after a 15-year study into mobile health issues, which will be debated at the Radiation Research Trust Conference in London, beginning today.
Independent body Powerwatch published 'Mobile Phones and Health – 15 Years of Research' ahead of the summit and called on the Government to do more to warn of the potential dangers.
It claims there is 'overwhelming' evidence from a number of studies suggesting a link between mobile usage and brain tumours.
And children, who are said to be more susceptible to electromagnetic radiation because of their thinner skulls, are at particular risk, according to the research.
Those children who are exposed to mobile radiation before they are born because of their mothers' mobile use or early on in childhood are said to have an 80% boost in behavioural problems.
Powerwatch spokesman Graham Philips said: "We strongly recommend that the Government actively discourage use by children, including making public advice leaflets readily available in NHS waiting rooms across the country.
"Research into monitoring health effects around mobile phone base stations is now urgently overdue and the Government should allocate funding for this for the protection of the general public."
Debate about the safety of mobile phones has raged for years and other scientists have dismissed the latest claims as lacking supporting evidence.
Professor Patricia McKinney, epidemiologist at the University of Leeds, said the report "pulls together and interprets a highly selected sample of the published literature on the topic of the risks of mobile phone use", adding that it was a "biased appraisal".
Latest data suggests there are more than 70 million mobiles being used by Britain's 60 million people.
http://www.metro.co.uk/mobile/article.html?Mobiles_linked_to_kids'_bad_behaviour&in_article_id=298487&in_page_id=63
Read also -
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6374317/Science-and-the-truth-in-mobile-telecommunication-research
Mobile Phones and Mercury
We have been writing about the risks and hazards of EMF for a decade or so by now and as each day passes much more information is divulged about the negative effects of mobile phones and other EMF conveniences.
I am amazed at just how limited the information is that most people have about these items.
Yesterday I made a drive to pick up some special yeast I use in one of my products at a store about 50 miles from where I live.
A big cell tower greets you as you drive into town and an even larger one sits near the store where I needed to go. The first tower caused me some dizziness as I drove by but the second was worse. After I got out of my car and started to walk to the store I was not only so dizzy I could barely walk, but severely nauseous too. This is a college town and it might have been that I felt more like a drunk co-ed on Saturday night. Needless to say, my EMF rebalancer didn't quite to the best rebalancing yesterday.
Now it appears that MRI and microwave radiation emitted from mobile phones significantly release mercury from dental amalgam restoration. Further research is needed to clarify whether other common sources of electromagnetic field exposure may cause alterations in dental amalgam and accelerate the release of mercury.
It might be worthwhile to keep some vitamin C tablets (500mg) handy since vitamin C helps bind up this heavy metal.
It is also a caution to me much more aware of what using mobile phones and WI-FI or microwave ovens mean to your health. Remember that the after effects usually don't show up for 8-12 years.
I am amazed at just how limited the information is that most people have about these items.
Yesterday I made a drive to pick up some special yeast I use in one of my products at a store about 50 miles from where I live.
A big cell tower greets you as you drive into town and an even larger one sits near the store where I needed to go. The first tower caused me some dizziness as I drove by but the second was worse. After I got out of my car and started to walk to the store I was not only so dizzy I could barely walk, but severely nauseous too. This is a college town and it might have been that I felt more like a drunk co-ed on Saturday night. Needless to say, my EMF rebalancer didn't quite to the best rebalancing yesterday.
Now it appears that MRI and microwave radiation emitted from mobile phones significantly release mercury from dental amalgam restoration. Further research is needed to clarify whether other common sources of electromagnetic field exposure may cause alterations in dental amalgam and accelerate the release of mercury.
It might be worthwhile to keep some vitamin C tablets (500mg) handy since vitamin C helps bind up this heavy metal.
It is also a caution to me much more aware of what using mobile phones and WI-FI or microwave ovens mean to your health. Remember that the after effects usually don't show up for 8-12 years.
Mercury release from dental amalgam restorations after magnetic resonance imaging and following mobile phone use
Pak J Biol Sci. 2008 Apr 15;11(8):1142-6.
Mercury release from dental amalgam restorations after magnetic resonance imaging and following mobile phone use.
Mortazavi SM, Daiee E, Yazdi A, Khiabani K, Kavousi A, Vazirinejad R, Behnejad B, Ghasemi M, Mood MB.
Department of Medical Physics, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
In the 1st phase of this study, thirty patients were investigated. Five milliliter stimulated saliva was collected just before and after MRI. The magnetic flux density was 0.23 T and the duration of exposure of patients to magnetic field was 30 minutes. In the 2nd phase, fourteen female healthy University students who had not used mobile phones before the study and did not have any previous amalgam restorations were investigated. Dental amalgam restoration was performed for all 14 students. Their urine samples were collected before amalgam restoration and at days 1, 2, 3 and 4 after restoration. The mean +/- SD saliva Hg concentrations of the patients before and after MRI were 8.6 +/- 3.0 and 11.3 +/- 5.3 microg L(-1), respectively (p < 0.01). A statistical significant (p < 0.05) higher concentration was observed in the students used mobile phone. The mean +/- SE urinary Hg concentrations of the students who used mobile phones were 2.43 +/- 0.25, 2.71 +/- 0.27, 3.79 +/- 0.25, 4.8 +/- 0.27 and 4.5 +/- 0.32 microg L(-1) before the amalgam restoration and at days 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Whereas the respective Hg concentrations in the controls, were 2.07 +/- 0.22, 2.34 +/- 0.30, 2.51 +/- 0.25, 2.66 +/- 0.24 and 2.76 +/- 0.32 microg L(-1).
PMID: 18819554 [PubMed - in process]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18819554?dopt=AbstractPlus
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Monsanto Reprimanded for Trying to Take Over the World's Food Supply
United Nations Reprimands Monsanto for Trying to Take Over the World's Food Supply
The President of the United Nations General Assembly condemned Monsanto for profiteering in his opening remarks last week. President H. E. M. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann noted that the global food crisis is worse than ever. In his remarks at the UN in New York City, he cited World Bank figures, which now blame 75% of the food crisis on the current mass transfer of food crop production towards biofuels. According to Brockmann, the world's food supply "has been subordinated to the economic aims of a handful of multinational corporations that monopolize all aspects of food production, from seeds to major distribution chains, and they have been the prime beneficiaries of the world crisis. A look at the figures for 2007, when the world food crisis began, shows that corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill, which control the cereals market, saw their profits increase by 45 and 60 per cent, respectively."
The President of the United Nations General Assembly condemned Monsanto for profiteering in his opening remarks last week. President H. E. M. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann noted that the global food crisis is worse than ever. In his remarks at the UN in New York City, he cited World Bank figures, which now blame 75% of the food crisis on the current mass transfer of food crop production towards biofuels. According to Brockmann, the world's food supply "has been subordinated to the economic aims of a handful of multinational corporations that monopolize all aspects of food production, from seeds to major distribution chains, and they have been the prime beneficiaries of the world crisis. A look at the figures for 2007, when the world food crisis began, shows that corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill, which control the cereals market, saw their profits increase by 45 and 60 per cent, respectively."
Vitamin C and risk of coronary heart disease
The effort to convince the public that vitamins are hazardous avoid competent medical studies proving otherwise.
You can decide for your self but in my opinion I would certainly add vitamin c to my daily regimen of supplements if not already doing so. It has been known for a very long time that vitamin C is an antioxidant that can prevent cardiovascualr and other disease. It also is one of the best supplements to use to prevent such conditions as 'stones', cataracts, calcium deposits, bone spurs and macular degeneration...more. Vitamin C is also very important for bone health.
The US RDA is 60 mg. daily. This is an arbitrary dose based on some spurious research that this minute amount of vitamin C prevents scurvy.
In reality you require about 3000 mg daily for basic needs since humans, unlike animals, cannot manufacture their own vitamin C. And since this is a water soluble vitamin is is better to take it in divided doses through out the day.
In disease states higher amounts are necessary. Mineral ascorbates are a better choice than plain ascorbic acid, although the cost is higher. Our food based vitamin C blend is available in bulk, C5 or C5+.
We offer a Healthy Handout© to help you determine your level of need for daily vitamin C with a donation to Creating Health Institute.
Health writer Bill Sardi comments on the negative press surrounding vitamin C in his article 'Who is Behind The Negative News Reports On Vitamin C?'
You can decide for your self but in my opinion I would certainly add vitamin c to my daily regimen of supplements if not already doing so. It has been known for a very long time that vitamin C is an antioxidant that can prevent cardiovascualr and other disease. It also is one of the best supplements to use to prevent such conditions as 'stones', cataracts, calcium deposits, bone spurs and macular degeneration...more. Vitamin C is also very important for bone health.
The US RDA is 60 mg. daily. This is an arbitrary dose based on some spurious research that this minute amount of vitamin C prevents scurvy.
In reality you require about 3000 mg daily for basic needs since humans, unlike animals, cannot manufacture their own vitamin C. And since this is a water soluble vitamin is is better to take it in divided doses through out the day.
In disease states higher amounts are necessary. Mineral ascorbates are a better choice than plain ascorbic acid, although the cost is higher. Our food based vitamin C blend is available in bulk, C5 or C5+.
We offer a Healthy Handout© to help you determine your level of need for daily vitamin C with a donation to Creating Health Institute.
A 16-year study on the relationship between Vitamin C consumption and heart disease in women shows that Vitamin C supplement users reduce the risk of of non-fatal heart attacks and fatal heart disease by 28%, compared with non-users. The abstract follows.
Vitamin C and risk of coronary heart disease in women.
Osganian SK, Stampfer MJ, Rimm E, Spiegelman D, Hu FB, Manson JE, Willett WC.
Department of Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
[Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2003 Jul 16;42(2):246-52].
Users of Vitamin C supplements lower cardio-vascular disease risk
Our objective was to prospectively examine the relation between vitamin C intake and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women.Results from prospective investigations of the relation between vitamin C intake and risk of CHD have been inconsistent. The lack of clear evidence for a protective association despite a plausible mechanism indicates the need to evaluate further the association between vitamin C intake and risk of CHD.In 1980, 85,118 female nurses completed a detailed semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire that assessed their consumption of vitamin C and other nutrients. Nurses were followed up for 16 years for the development of incident CHD (nonfatal myocardial infarction and fatal CHD).During 16 years of follow-up (1,240,566 person-years), we identified 1,356 incident cases of CHD. After adjustment for age, smoking, and a variety of other coronary risk factors, we observed a modest significant inverse association between total intake of vitamin C and risk of CHD (relative risk [RR] = 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57 to 0.94). Among women who did not use vitamin C supplements or multivitamins, the association between intake of vitamin C from diet alone and incidence of CHD was weak and not significant (RR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.59 to 1.26). In multivariate models adjusting for age, smoking, and a variety of other coronary risk factors, vitamin C supplement use was associated with a significantly lower risk of CHD (RR = 0.72; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.86).Users of vitamin C supplements appear to be at lower risk for CHD.
The full text of this paper is available at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12875759&dopt=Abstract
Health writer Bill Sardi comments on the negative press surrounding vitamin C in his article 'Who is Behind The Negative News Reports On Vitamin C?'
The news media features a report published in Science magazine that high-dose vitamin C in a test-tube causes DNA damage that could lead to cancer. It's not news, since test-tube studies do not correlate with tests conducted in living systems and the dual role of vitamin C as both a pro-oxidant (rusting agent) and anti-oxidant (cell preservative) has been published in scientific journals for some time now. But it's a heralded news story that Reuters Health and the Associated Press embellish with sensational headlines.
Instead of saying "Dual nature of vitamin C in cancer explored," the headlines read "Vitamin C Found to Promote Cancer-Causing Agents." It's yellow journalism at its worst; since a quick search on Medline reveals that high-dose vitamin C did not reveal any toxic by-products in human studies.
The toxic effect is only observed in test tubes.
The lead university researcher, Ian Blair of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Cancer Pharmacology, is conveniently outside the country, so he can't easily respond to questions. Ian Blair, covers his story by saying, "Absolutely, for God's sake, don't say vitamin C causes cancer."
But the headlines read otherwise.
The University of Pennsylvania is the originator of Oncolink, a prestigious online resource of cancer information. But who sponsors Oncolink? Hidden behind the whole affair are Oncolink's sponsors --- the pharmaceutical companies. AstraZeneca, Amgen, Ortho Biotech, Pharmacia, Pfizer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Are the drug companies using a major university as their shill to spread misinformation about vitamins?
It is becoming more obvious that misinformation about vitamins, minerals and herbal products is being planted in the news media and published in medical journals in a calculated fashion. The reason is that more and more Americans are taking health care into their own hands and relying less and less on doctors and drugs to cure their ills.
The big secret is that the biological action of virtually every prescription drug can be duplicated with nutritional supplements at far less cost and with fewer side effects. The only way to counter the growing demand for natural remedies is to confuse the public with misinformation.
And the misinformation campaign is working.
The natural products industry reports their growth has leveled off. Vitamin C sales were off by 19.2 percent last year according to a report in Natural Foods Merchandiser.
In the past months dubious negative reports have been published on garlic, St. John's wort, and products containing ephedra. A characteristic of all these reports is their emphatic conclusion that all previous research, which confirmed the validity of these natural remedies, is to be discarded because the latest scientific report reached a contrary conclusion.
Last year the news media made a front-page headline story out of a presentation on vitamin C at the American Heart Association meeting. The study wasn't even published and hadn't undergone peer review, but the news agencies were quick to release a factitious story that high-dose vitamin C could clog arteries in the neck (the carotids). Vitamin C does not clog arteries, but it does strengthen and thicken the walls of arteries via its ability to promote collagen formation.
How do these non-news stories get front-page coverage? It's simple. Public relations agencies have bragged at seminars how they can take a presentation at a medical meeting and get it aired on television and published in newspapers.
These publicity agencies do the dirty work of planting misinformation in the news media. It's propaganda, not news.
The natural products industry is mounting its own public information campaign, to counter negative news stories, and has hired their own agency, Hill & Knowlton of Washington, D.C., to air its side of the story.
There are simply no standards of journalism being upheld here. Bad science gets front-page coverage regardless of whether it is true or not. Journalists aren't checking on the validity of medical reports, and they aren't interviewing opposing views. In the case of the recent vitamin C report, reporters did not interview the National Nutritional Foods Association, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the Vitamin C Foundation, or the American Healthcare Products Association.
But how long can the public be fooled?
Why are the pharmaceutical companies so afraid of a simple vitamin? It's because high doses of vitamin C virtually eradicate the risk of developing cataracts, eliminate the need for blood pressure medication, reduce the need for anti-allergy drugs, reduce the risk of gall stones, and produce many other health benefits. The drug companies can't invent and patent a molecule as efficacious as vitamin C.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Cereal in a Box: UPDATED
Breakfast in the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) is usually cold cereal poured into a bowl from a cardboard box, skim milk and juice. Kid's cereals are most know for all the added sugar, coloring or synthetic vitamins added. Other boxed cereal sold today often include high fructose corn syrup. Not lagging behind in the sweetness category are the same type of products in the health food aisle or store, but in this instance the sugar is organic.
Not such a great choice if you are looking for something to keep you going strong until lunch time.
And quick cooking, instant or microwave oatmeal don't count in my healthy category either. But whole grain cereal is easy to 'cook' in a thermos bottle overnight.
I hope you'll take a harder look at your kitchen cupboard after reading this excerpt from a 2002 conference, presented by Sally Fallon, and do a little more research.
UPDATE
Not such a great choice if you are looking for something to keep you going strong until lunch time.
And quick cooking, instant or microwave oatmeal don't count in my healthy category either. But whole grain cereal is easy to 'cook' in a thermos bottle overnight.
I hope you'll take a harder look at your kitchen cupboard after reading this excerpt from a 2002 conference, presented by Sally Fallon, and do a little more research.
Dry breakfast cereals are produced by a process called extrusion. Cereal makers first create a slurry of the grains and then put them in a machine called an extruder. The grains are forced out of a little hole at high temperature and pressure. Depending on the shape of the hole, the grains are made into little o's, flakes, animal shapes, or shreds (as in Shredded Wheat or Triscuits), or they are puffed (as in puffed rice). A blade slices off each little flake or shape, which is then carried past a nozzle and sprayed with a coating of oil and sugar to seal off the cereal from the ravages of milk and to give it crunch.
In his book Fighting the Food Giants, Paul Stitt has told us that the extrusion process used for these cereals destroys most of the nutrients in the grains. It destroys the fatty acids; it even destroys the chemical vitamins that are added at the end. The amino acids are rendered very toxic by this process. The amino acid lysine, a crucial nutrient, is especially denatured by extrusion. This is how all the boxed cereals are made, even the ones sold in the health food stores. They are all made in the same way and mostly in the same factories. All dry cereals that come in boxes are extruded cereals.
The only advances made in the extrusion process are those that will cut cost regardless of how these will alter the nutrient content of the product. Cereals are a multi-billion dollar business, one that has created huge fortunes.
With so many people eating breakfast cereals, you might expect to find some studies on the effect of extruded cereals on animals or humans. Yet, there are no published studies at all in the scientific literature.
The Rat Experiments
Let me tell you about two studies which were not published. The first was described by Paul Stitt who wrote about an experiment conducted by a cereal company in which four sets of rats were given special diets. One group received plain whole wheat, water and synthetic vitamins and minerals. A second group received puffed wheat (an extruded cereal), water and the same nutrient solution. A third set was given only water. A fourth set was given nothing but water and chemical nutrients. The rats that received the whole wheat lived over a year on this diet. The rats that got nothing but water and vitamins lived about two months. The animals on water alone lived about a month. But the company's own laboratory study showed that the rats given the vitamins, water and all the puffed wheat they wanted died within two weeks---they died before the rats that got no food at all. It wasn't a matter of the rats dying of malnutrition. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves of the spine, all signs of insulin shock.
Results like these suggested that there was something actually very toxic in the puffed wheat itself! Proteins are very similar to certain toxins in molecular structure, and the pressure of the puffing process may produce chemical changes, which turn a nutritious grain into a poisonous substance.
Another unpublished experiment was carried out in the 1960s. Researchers at University of Michigan were given 18 laboratory rats. They were divided into three groups: one group received corn flakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the corn flakes came in and water; the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats eating the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. But the rats receiving the corn flakes and water died before the rats that were eating the box! (The last corn flake rat died the day the first box rat died.) But before death, the corn flake rats developed schizophrenic behavior, threw fits, bit each other and finally went into convulsions. The startling conclusion of this study is that there was more nourishment in the box than there was in the corn flakes.
This experiment was actually designed as a joke, but the results were far from funny. The results were never published and similar studies have not been conducted.
Most of America eats this kind of cereal. In fact, the USDA is gloating over the fact that children today get the vast majority of their important nutrients from the nutrients added to these boxed cereals.
Cereals sold in the health food stores are made by the same method. It may come as a shock to you, but these whole grain extruded cereals are probably more dangerous than those sold in the supermarket, because they are higher in protein and it is the proteins in these cereals that are so denatured by this type of processing.
There are no published studies on the effects of these extruded grains on animals or humans, but I did find one study in a literature search that described the microscopic effects of extrusion on the proteins. "Zeins," which comprise the majority of proteins in corn, are located in spherical organelles called protein bodies. During extrusion, these protein bodies are completely disrupted and deformed. The extrusion process breaks down the organelles, disperses the proteins and the proteins become toxic. When they are disrupted in this way, you have absolute chaos in your food, and it can result in a disruption of the nervous system.
UPDATE
Some cereals more than half sugar: report Thu Oct 2, 2008
Some breakfast cereals marketed to U.S. children are more than half sugar by weight and many get only fair scores on nutritional value, Consumer Reports said on Wednesday.
A serving of 11 popular cereals, including Kellogg's Honey Smacks, carries as much sugar as a glazed doughnut, the consumer group found.
And some brands have more sugar and sodium when formulated for the U.S. market than the same brands have when sold in other countries.
Post Golden Crisp made by Kraft Foods Inc and Kellogg's Honey Smacks are more than 50 percent sugar by weight, the group said, while nine brands are at least 40 percent sugar.
The most healthful brands are Cheerios with three grams of fiber per serving and one gram of sugar, Kix and Honey Nut Cheerios, all made by General Mills, and Life, made by Pepsico Inc's Quaker Oats unit.
"Be sure to read the product labels, and choose cereals that are high in fiber and low in sugar and sodium," Gayle Williams, deputy editor of Consumer Reports Health, said in a statement.
Honey Smacks has 15 grams of sugar and just one gram of fiber per serving while Kellogg's Corn Pops has 12 grams of sugar and no fiber.
Consumer Reports studied how 91 children aged 6 to 16 poured their cereal and found they served themselves about 50 to 65 percent more on average than the suggested serving size for three of the four tested cereals.
Consumers International, which publishes Consumer Reports, said it would ask the World Health Organization to develop international guidelines restricting advertising and marketing of foods high in sugar, fat or sodium to children.
However, the group noted that breakfast cereal can be a healthful meal and said adults and children alike who eat breakfast have better overall nutrition, fewer weight problems, and better cognitive performance throughout the day.
Kellogg said it was working to make its food more nutritious.
"Kellogg recently reformulated a number of our cereals including Froot Loops, Corn Pops, Rice Krispies, Cocoa Krispies and Apple Jacks in the U.S. with improved nutritional profiles," a company spokeswoman said by e-mail.
"To put Consumer Reports' information in perspective, yogurt contains more sugar and sodium than a serving of Honey Smacks cereal (25 grams of sugar vs. 15 grams of sugar in Honey Smacks)."
Consumer Reports, like other groups, compares the sugar content of food with its fiber, mineral and vitamin content. Many cereals are fortified with vitamins and minerals.
Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Eric Walsh, Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.
Bureaucratic bungling effects reservation women
Wednesday Oct 1, 2008
Struggling to help women on reservations
By LJ Anderson
Bernadine Healy, MD, former director of the National Institutes of Health, described the Indian Health Service (IHS) in 2004 as "everyone's worst nightmare of what government healthcare would look like. The system is riddled with crumbling facilities, mindless regulations, ancient equipment, and far too few nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and dentists." When it comes to the care of Indian women who have suffered sexual assault, the current IHS is all that and more.
One in three American Indian women (34.1 percent) experience rape in their lifetimes as compared with 18 percent of white women and 19 percent of African American women, according to a Department of Justice study. Despite this high rate, there are few nurses trained within the IHS as sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs), training which includes use of a police rape kit to gather forensic evidence and instruction on how to care for a rape victim in a respectful and medically appropriate manner. One report found that 44 percent of IHS facilities had no SANE-trained staff available. Other necessary care such as STD screening is also not being done.
Charon Asetoyer is executive director and founder of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center (www.nativeshop.org) on the Yankton Nakota Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Q: What challenges face reservation-based Indian women who seek post-rape care?
A: At the local level, there are no standardized sexual assault policies and protocols within Indian Health Service emergency rooms. In some service units, there are protocols and procedures, but this is a federal agency that needs to be standardized - especially for Native American and Alaska Native women.
We also have a situation in which 44 percent do not even have [forensically] trained staff. If you don't have a rape kit done on a woman who has been raped, you don't have any forensic evidence. There needs to be trained SANE nurses able to do rape kits in every single reservation and Alaskan native village. You've got villages in Alaska where the plane only comes in on Wednesday. If you were raped on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, you have to wait that long - and they expect you not to bathe and wash away the evidence. That is totally unrealistic.
[Jurisdiction-wise] the Oliphant case was a blow to Indian country in that it took away our right to have law enforcement jurisdiction over non-tribal members. If a non-Indian comes onto Indian land and commits a rape or any other crime, the tribal law enforcement or the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not have the jurisdiction to arrest that person. It is left to the discretion of the FBI as to whether they want to pursue an investigation or bring that case into federal court.
Q: Why do American Indian women receive less comparable care than women outside of the reservation?
A: Tribal leadership has their plate full just trying to keep our IHS facilities open - even though the incidence of sexual assault and rape is so high within the Indian community. But it is a top priority for victims and women. Even though health care is a right guaranteed to us through treaty, the IHS still has to work on financial authorization from Congress. We receive less than half of what every other American is afforded for health care, and this has allowed the IHS to deteriorate to the level that it is now. The doctors do an incredible job with the resources that they have, but they don't have resources necessary to improve the health status for us.
Also, if you are a rapist and know that you can go into an area with impunity and not be held accountable, you are going to commit that crime as often as you can get away with it. They know, "They can't arrest me. I'm not Indian." And if you don't have a team to do a rape kit, collect the forensic evidence and get it into the lab, it will be pretty hard for the FBI to come down and do an investigation - let alone, get that into court.
Q: How does your agency help with this situation?
A: We run a shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and we recently purchased transitional housing for women not wanting to return to the environment that they came out of. We do policy work, run a men's re-education group, and provide a number of services for victims of sexual assault.
(The recovery from rape) is a lifelong healing process, and reservations all over the country are starting up shelters and groups to address the historic trauma that women carry around with them once they have been sexually assaulted. Since the IHS does not provide resources, it's up to community based organizations to fill those gaps. There are few mental health services on reservations to address the caseload that exists, so there are people in trauma who are not getting services - and that sets a person up for self-anesthetizing and alcoholism. If you were to interview the majority of young women who drink on any one reservation, you are going to find that they have been sexual assaulted at some point in their lives. It's a way of numbing yourself from that reality. I think when women in other communities become aware of this, they're outraged. When people become aware, they want to know how they can help.
LJ Anderson writes on health every Wednesday. She can be reached at lj.anderson@yahoo.com or www.ljanderson.com.
This E-mail was posted by: Larry Kibby - lkibby1@citlink.net
Elko Indian Colony, Nevada
Struggling to help women on reservations
By LJ Anderson
Bernadine Healy, MD, former director of the National Institutes of Health, described the Indian Health Service (IHS) in 2004 as "everyone's worst nightmare of what government healthcare would look like. The system is riddled with crumbling facilities, mindless regulations, ancient equipment, and far too few nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and dentists." When it comes to the care of Indian women who have suffered sexual assault, the current IHS is all that and more.
One in three American Indian women (34.1 percent) experience rape in their lifetimes as compared with 18 percent of white women and 19 percent of African American women, according to a Department of Justice study. Despite this high rate, there are few nurses trained within the IHS as sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs), training which includes use of a police rape kit to gather forensic evidence and instruction on how to care for a rape victim in a respectful and medically appropriate manner. One report found that 44 percent of IHS facilities had no SANE-trained staff available. Other necessary care such as STD screening is also not being done.
Charon Asetoyer is executive director and founder of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center (www.nativeshop.org) on the Yankton Nakota Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Q: What challenges face reservation-based Indian women who seek post-rape care?
A: At the local level, there are no standardized sexual assault policies and protocols within Indian Health Service emergency rooms. In some service units, there are protocols and procedures, but this is a federal agency that needs to be standardized - especially for Native American and Alaska Native women.
We also have a situation in which 44 percent do not even have [forensically] trained staff. If you don't have a rape kit done on a woman who has been raped, you don't have any forensic evidence. There needs to be trained SANE nurses able to do rape kits in every single reservation and Alaskan native village. You've got villages in Alaska where the plane only comes in on Wednesday. If you were raped on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, you have to wait that long - and they expect you not to bathe and wash away the evidence. That is totally unrealistic.
[Jurisdiction-wise] the Oliphant case was a blow to Indian country in that it took away our right to have law enforcement jurisdiction over non-tribal members. If a non-Indian comes onto Indian land and commits a rape or any other crime, the tribal law enforcement or the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not have the jurisdiction to arrest that person. It is left to the discretion of the FBI as to whether they want to pursue an investigation or bring that case into federal court.
Q: Why do American Indian women receive less comparable care than women outside of the reservation?
A: Tribal leadership has their plate full just trying to keep our IHS facilities open - even though the incidence of sexual assault and rape is so high within the Indian community. But it is a top priority for victims and women. Even though health care is a right guaranteed to us through treaty, the IHS still has to work on financial authorization from Congress. We receive less than half of what every other American is afforded for health care, and this has allowed the IHS to deteriorate to the level that it is now. The doctors do an incredible job with the resources that they have, but they don't have resources necessary to improve the health status for us.
Also, if you are a rapist and know that you can go into an area with impunity and not be held accountable, you are going to commit that crime as often as you can get away with it. They know, "They can't arrest me. I'm not Indian." And if you don't have a team to do a rape kit, collect the forensic evidence and get it into the lab, it will be pretty hard for the FBI to come down and do an investigation - let alone, get that into court.
Q: How does your agency help with this situation?
A: We run a shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and we recently purchased transitional housing for women not wanting to return to the environment that they came out of. We do policy work, run a men's re-education group, and provide a number of services for victims of sexual assault.
(The recovery from rape) is a lifelong healing process, and reservations all over the country are starting up shelters and groups to address the historic trauma that women carry around with them once they have been sexually assaulted. Since the IHS does not provide resources, it's up to community based organizations to fill those gaps. There are few mental health services on reservations to address the caseload that exists, so there are people in trauma who are not getting services - and that sets a person up for self-anesthetizing and alcoholism. If you were to interview the majority of young women who drink on any one reservation, you are going to find that they have been sexual assaulted at some point in their lives. It's a way of numbing yourself from that reality. I think when women in other communities become aware of this, they're outraged. When people become aware, they want to know how they can help.
LJ Anderson writes on health every Wednesday. She can be reached at lj.anderson@yahoo.com or www.ljanderson.com.
This E-mail was posted by: Larry Kibby - lkibby1@citlink.net
Elko Indian Colony, Nevada
October Pink Promotions
I am on overload with all the pink stuff being pushed at shoppers these days. I guess it will be all month long as we again are bombarded with Race for the Cure.
I happened to watch Oprah yesterday, which is not on my regular schedule. Some of the comments were good, but so much was left out of the discussion. Too often ignored is information that is helpful to people dealing with this very stressful health issue.
We at Creating Health Institute would be very grateful if we could get donations for our year-long women's health initiative from Komen or other corporate programs that promote Komen. Donations for this effort go a long way to help women learn what their rights are, how to ask key questions, and also how to prevent cancer or recover faster, and many related issues.
We are for women supporting other women, but we aren't for false hope and mis-information. We are also for women understanding that they often overlook nurturing themselves and this lack of nurturing self is a key factor in the development of breast cancer according to Louise Hay. (Recall that Oprah often has Louise as a guest.) This is a spiritual link to disease and one almost non-existent in industrialized health care.
One overlooked piece of information you did not hear on Oprah is that you do not have to lose your hair if you are taking chemo. This can be prevented with the addition of specific supplements to your program just several days before each treatment.
Another issue that was excluded, and most likely because it is outside the standard - one-size-fits-all cancer protocols. This screening tool is much more effective than all of the options discussed (mammogram-MRI-ultrasound) on the program, and it is not based on radiation or radio frequency (RF), most promoting cancer, with ultrasound the lesser of the three.
Surely you did not hear that mammography does not save or extend lives and is not a justifiable practice. For some reason mammography-centric medicine has completely overlooked the much safer thermal and infrared imaging technologies. And further, no comments are made regarding the dangers of X-RAY exposure (mammogram and MRI).
So how much money do insurance companies and consumers pay out for radiation treatment of breast cancer? This practice results in only a less than 1% chance of improving survival. Is this worth such a large investment when so many medical claims are denied and there is virtually zero coverage of preventive practices? from the Lancet 2000; 355: 129-134. Source
Do you know that it takes 8-12 years for a "tumor" to be detected by mammogram?
The screening tool you need to know about is THERMOGRAPHY.
You should also know - something we have written about before - is that commercial yogurt is not a health food. These products are loaded with additives and the light types contain aspartame which is known to be carcinogenic. So are pink lids worth the price or the risk?
In your effort to not be swayed by massive marketing of pink lids on toxic products join the campaign to stop Yoplait from using rGBH hormone laced milk to make their synthetic goop.
Yoplait touts its yogurt as being healthy for women, but what's inside is anything but.
The reality is that Yoplait yogurt is made with milk from cows that have been injected with a synthetic hormone called recombinant bovine growth hormone (called rBGH or rBST). Research indicates that there are numerous health concerns linked to the consumption of dairy from cows injected with rBGH - and breast cancer is one of them.
The bottom line is that rBGH is unsafe - and unnecessary. In fact, the use of rBGH has already been banned in Australia, Canada, Japan, and all 27 countries in the European Union. In addition to the many companies that offer rBGH-free products, big-box stores and food and beverage chains like Wal-Mart, Publix, Kroger, Starbucks, and Chipotle have committed to reducing or completely eliminating dairy products made with rBGH from their stores. If these companies can do it, Yoplait can too.
In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and in solidarity with millions of women, ask Yoplait to do the right thing and put a lid on rBGH.
And then of course there is the reality of exactly what cold, processed cereal is (which I have on my nutrition pages) and how it degrades health. How many cereal brands on the grocery aisle are displaying pink ribbons on the box this month?
We liked the mention of SELF-EXAM which you should do monthly.
We didn't like the exclusion of the impact of the high use of hormonally based products like birth control pills and the increase in cancer in young women. Perhaps this is part of the hormonal roulette played by these pharmaceuticals given for too many reasons and the severe nutritional deficiencies they cause.
We also didn't like the fact that 'cure rates' haven't changed substantially over the years, and as some say, "the evidence points to the fact that it takes 1200 women being screened for 14 years to save one life from breast cancer while scores suffer."
Yes, do stand up to breast cancer, but stand up for your rights and demand better prevention and much safer screening.
Our "Pink Fact Sheet" is available with your donation. All funds are tax deductible and solely support our women's health education programs.
"Conflict of Interest in Sponsoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month?
Screening mammography critic, Samuel Epstein MD, irritates the establishment every time he points out that in 1984, the American Cancer Society created the October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month sponsored by money from the Astra-Zeneca Company, the maker of Tamoxiphen, the best selling breast cancer drug. In addition, Astra-Zeneca also manufactures industrial chemicals that cause breast cancer. Some consider this a conflict of interest.
Epstein also points out that past ACS advertisement promised early detection results in a cure nearly 100% of the time. Even more seriously, the Awareness Month advertisements avoid any reference to information on avoidable causes and prevention of breast cancer." Read full article.
We also offer a wonderful bath salts blend that many women undergoing chemo and radiation use to reduce stress of the treatments.
And don't forget, vitamins do help! Just make sure you are purchasing non-soy based synthetic vitamin E such as is sold at Costco, Walmart, or other chain stores, or even in health stores. The same goes for B complex vitamins. Other supplements that help in prevention are selenium, iodine and thyroid support.
20% Reduction in Breast Cancer Risk Associated with Vitamin E Supplementation was observed by researchers among women that used vitamin E supplements and had a low dietary intake of vitamin E. Researchers also noted a 20% risk reduction in breast cancer risk in women who used supplemental vitamin B and had low dietary vitamin B intake.
The Shanghai Breast Cancer Study was conducted in Shanghai, China from 1996-1998 (Phase I) and 2002-2004 (Phase II). Study participants in phase I were aged 25 to 64 years old and in phase II 20 to 70 years old. It was a large population-based, case control study with 3,454 incident breast cancer cases and 3,474 controls. Researchers used unconditional logistic regression models to determine adjusted odds ratios for breast cancer risk associated with vitamin supplement use.
The researchers stated, "This study suggests that vitamin E and B supplements may confer protection against breast cancer among women who have low dietary intake of those vitamins."
Dorjgochoo, T., et al. “Vitamin Supplement Use and Risk for Breast Cancer: the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study” Breast Cancer Res. Treat., 2007, Oct. 5;
This report included references to green tea and soy. These are two items that I find from my research that should not be used in very large quantity. There are reports that green tea is linked with pancreatic cancer. Many reports regarding soy tel of its impact on lowering thyroid function (and immunity) and promoting breast cancer because it is so very estrogenic. The processing also does not add to its benefits, especially soy milk that is replete with toxic additives or the question of GMO ingredients. Just say NO to 'Silk'.
New Scientific Options for Preventing Breast Cancer
* Vitamin D, pomegranate, and curcumin may help promote breast health and reduce breast cancer risk.
* These foods contain an abundant variety of polyphenols, healthful compounds that regulate cell growth and metabolism.
* These compounds may act synergistically to promote breast health, so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
* Research suggests that some of these compounds may even enhance the effects of chemotherapy and other drugs and treatments used for breast cancer.
* Although the mechanisms of action are not fully understood, most of these compounds are potent antioxidants and appear to promote apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Some of them also block inflammation, new blood vessel growth to the tumor, and even metastasis or tumor spread.
* Because of their long history of use as foods and supplements, these compounds appear to be safe, although more studies are needed to determine optimal combinations, dosages, and mechanisms of action.
* Several experts consulted encourage increased intake of these foods to promote breast health as well as overall health.
Vitamin C and Cancer
Look for more cancer focused posts this month as it is again the time when the Pink Campaigns are in full swing.
Just like vaccination, many in medicine want you not to believe that nutritional supplements such as vitamin C can help you prevent or treat cancer. The same anti-vitamin campaign has been engineered to alter your perceptions about vitamin E and vitamin A.
Of course for those of us that know how to interpret the studies and understand the nature of vitamins and other naturally based health support, we do have to act to correct misinformation.
Again today vitamin C is being attacked by an oncologist. He may believe in his work and we appreciate that. We do, however share a different point of view.
This quote is startling: "Studies in which vitamin C pills were given to treat cancer failed to show a benefit."
If you search for support of vitamin C for cancer what you find is that it is intravenous administration of vitamin C that is effective, not the pills. There are now some studies associated with the FDA and NIC that involve the use of IV C for cancer therapy.
This is one way to slant your thinking, especially since these studies often refuse to name the product used to come up with their often fallacious findings. This article might also raise the issue that Novartis funded the work to further support the use of their drug, Gleevec. Also notice that this study involved Petri dishes in a lab.
And the writer ends with this - "But a study at the U.S. National Institutes of Health published in August showed that injections of high doses of vitamin C greatly reduced the rate of tumor growth in mice."
Vitamin C may blunt effect of chemotherapy
By Will Dunham, Oct 1, 2008
Vitamin C supplements may undercut the effectiveness of cancer drugs including Novartis' Gleevec, a U.S. study published on Wednesday showed.
When used on human cancer cells treated with a form of vitamin C in lab dishes, chemotherapy drugs killed 30 percent to 70 percent fewer tumor cells than usual, the scientists wrote in the journal Cancer Research.
Dr. Mark Heaney of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and colleagues also implanted human cancer cells into mice, and found that when mice got vitamin C supplements two hours before chemotherapy, the tumors grew more quickly.
They tested five common chemotherapy drugs including Gleevec, also known as imatinib.
"The vitamin C didn't neutralize the effects of the chemotherapy drugs, but it blunted their effects," Heaney said in a telephone interview.
The other drugs were doxorubicin, cisplatin, methotrexate and vincristine. They work in different ways to combat tumors.
"Vitamin C is something everyone needs to have in their diet or you develop scurvy. But I don't recommend taking supplemental vitamin C during that period of time that my patients are receiving chemotherapy," Heaney added.
Heaney said it did not appear that the antioxidant properties of vitamin C were the culprit. Rather, it may be the protective effect vitamin C has on mitochondria -- which generate energy for a cell -- within cancer cells, he added.
Chemotherapy drugs damage mitochondria in cancer cells.
"When mitochondria are damaged, they can send signals to the cell to die. And that's, we think, one of the ways that the chemotherapy drugs exert their beneficial effects. And vitamin C helps to preserve the health of the mitochondria," Heaney said.
By protecting the mitochondria, vitamin C prevents chemotherapy agents from working to their full potential.
Heaney acknowledged that a study looking at cancer cells in laboratory dishes or in mice is not the final word on the subject, and said more research is needed.
The findings are the latest development in the controversy over vitamin C and cancer. The notion that vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, could be used to treat cancer was advanced in the 1970s by American scientist Linus Pauling, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1954.
Studies in which vitamin C pills were given to treat cancer failed to show a benefit.
But a study at the U.S. National Institutes of Health published in August showed that injections of high doses of vitamin C greatly reduced the rate of tumor growth in mice.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and Xavier Briand)Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.
Studies in support of vitamin C and Cancer benefit are numerous, some are here:
Vitamin C and Cancer
Is Vitamin C Harmful to Cancer Patients?
Vitamin C and Cancer
Vitamin C and Cancer (2)
We offer food based vitamin C powder (C5), 4 oz. minimum.
Also available with a donation is a copy our home vitamin C cleanse "Healthy Handout©".
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." - George Bernard Shaw
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Pain Promotes Disease State
If you understand that any condition ending is "itis" means inflammation, this report is reasonable. Arthritis means inflammation of the joints.
It doesn't go far enough in terms of identifying what creates the state and degree of pain.
Pain is interpreted individually based on socialization, culture, education and many other variables.
Some researchers have identified emotional states associated with arthritis and other health issues. Perhaps this is a step beyond the physical and mental components of health and moving forward toward the recognition of emotional and spiritual factors in today's industrialized medicine.
It doesn't go far enough in terms of identifying what creates the state and degree of pain.
Pain is interpreted individually based on socialization, culture, education and many other variables.
Some researchers have identified emotional states associated with arthritis and other health issues. Perhaps this is a step beyond the physical and mental components of health and moving forward toward the recognition of emotional and spiritual factors in today's industrialized medicine.
Study: Pain causes osteoarthritis
Sept. 30, 2008 ROCHESTER, N.Y., (UPI) -- Pain is not just a symptom of osteoarthritis, it causes the disease, say researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
A study, published in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, revealed that pain signals originating in arthritic joints -- and the biochemical processing of the signals as they reach the spinal cord -- worsen and expand arthritis, causing disease at both ends.
In addition, the researchers found that nerve pathways carrying pain signals transfer inflammation from arthritic joints to the spine and back again.
"Until relatively recently, osteoarthritis was believed to be due solely to wear and tear, an inevitable part of aging," said Stephanos Kyrkanides, an associate professor of dentistry at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
"Recent studies have revealed, however, that specific biochemical changes contribute to the disease, changes that might be reversed by precision-designed drugs. Our study provides the first solid proof that some of those changes are related to pain processing, and suggests the mechanisms behind the effect."
Furthermore, if joint arthritis can cause neuro-inflammation, it could have a role in conditions like Alzheimer's disease, dementia and multiple sclerosis, the researchers suggest.
Health Privacy: You Have None
There has been a push to place your health records in electronic form for several decades. Our organization has always spoken against this plan and HIPAA. It is an important issue at this time, once again, because candidates for presidential office are in favor of electronic health records as a cost control action.
And you might ponder why Microsoft and Google are at odds with each other to get you to (hastily) post your medical records on their servers.
There is money to be made!
And you might ponder why Microsoft and Google are at odds with each other to get you to (hastily) post your medical records on their servers.
There is money to be made!
"A federal agency, not Congress, took away your right to control your health information. Your right to control the use and disclosure of your personal health information was eliminated in 2003 by regulatory changes made to HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA is a complex 1,500 page set of rules covering things such as the transfer of health insurance when you change jobs. (Read more about HIPAA and the Elimination of Consent)."Become educated and just like the current bailout nightmare, vote against this type of legislation.
CHILLING NEWS ABOUT HEALTH PRIVACY: You Have None.
Is there anything in your health record that you would not want to share with others? Prescriptions for anti-depressants, anxiety, cancer, long-ago abortions, AIDS or HIV, testing for the Alzheimer gene, your child’s Autism or ADD, sexual impotency prescriptions, hospital admissions, or anything else?
You assume your most personal health information is private, right? It's not.
Like most Americans, you probably believe:
* What you tell your doctor is totally private
* If you sign "privacy notices" at a doctor's office, a pharmacy, a hospital or a lab, you health records will not be used or disclosed without your permission
* No one can look at your sensitive health records, prescriptions or tests without your permission
NONE of these assumptions are true. Your right to decide who can see and use your sensitive, personal health information was eliminated in 2003. See how.
Who Can See and Use your Health Records?
Over 4 million businesses, employers, government agencies, insurance companies, billing firms, and all their business associates that may include pharmacy benefits managers, and pharmaceutical companies as well as marketing firms and data miners. See a sample chart here.
Patient consent is no longer required to share health records, no matter how embarrassing or intensely personal the contents may be. While your doctor may wish to protect your information, once the records are sent out of their offices, they can no longer control who cna see or use your information.
Whose Health Records are Vulnerable?
Employees: Today, laws governing access to health records expose employees to the possibility of employment discrimination. Thirty-five percent of Fortune 500 companies admitted to looking at employee’s health records before making hiring and promotion decisions (65 Fed. Reg. 82,467). As employers seek to reduce health insurance costs, little prevents them from viewing employees’—and employee’s families—health records to get rid of capable employees with costly health conditions. Employment should be based on who can do the job—not what's in our health files.
Women: Women are particularly vulnerable to discrimination in employment, insurance and in the financial and credit arena. Women have specific, sensitive health issues that have nothing to do with what kind of job they can perform or whether or not they should get credit or insurance.
Children: In the age of genetic testing, how will information about our children’s health affect their futures? Should they be denied entry to college because they tested positive for a cancer gene or were treated for depression as a teenager? Should they be turned down for a job because they have a grandparent who had Alzheimers? Without privacy, our children’s health records could deny them the future they deserve.
Seniors: After a lifetime of health treatment, seniors’ health records contain a wealth of information that could harm them, their children and their grandchildren. Should a grandmother’s Alzheimer’s disease keep her grandchildren from getting a job? Should a widower’s depression over the death of a spouse keep him from getting auto insurance? Should a diagnosis expose a senior to drug company marketing disguised as "education"?
Consumers: As health records are spread over electronic networks, banks, insurance corporations, and lenders can access our most personal health records. Should homeowners pay higher interest rates because they are cancer survivors? Should drivers be denied automobile insurance because they have a medical condition? Without privacy, consumers’ health histories expose them to real financial risks and threaten their livelihoods.
How Did This Happen?
A federal agency, not Congress, took away your right to control your health information. Your right to control the use and disclosure of your personal health information was eliminated in 2003 by regulatory changes made to HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA is a complex 1,500 page set of rules covering things such as the transfer of health insurance when you change jobs. (Read more about HIPAA and the Elimination of Consent).
The changes mean that millions of strangers, as well as employers, can use your health records for reasons that have nothing to do with your treatment or improving your health care. In an era of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Personal Health Records (PHRs), the problem gets much worse.
Electronic health records are supposed to save lives and money -- how can you be against progress?
We're not. In fact, privacy is the key to progress with Health Information Technology (HIT). The potential benefits of electronic health systems cannot be realized unless Americans have confidence that ironclad privacy protections are in place for online health records, databases, and networks. As Americans realize how open their records actually are, they will avoid treatment and be much more selective about important information they share with their doctors. Patient Privacy Rights applauds the smart use of technology in medicine and the healthcare industry.
Bottom line: No one should have to choose between privacy and health.
The Who, What & Why’s of Dietary Supplements
09/25/2008
WASHINGTON—The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and the Natural Products Association (NPA) hosted the Dietary Supplement Caucus this week on Capitol Hill for a briefing on the "The Who, What & Why’s of Dietary Supplements." More than 50 members of the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as various congressional committees attended the briefing, which featured presentations by CRN, NPA and Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ).
Among the highlights were:
Data presented from the 2007 CRN Consumer Confidence Survey and the 2007“Life...supplemented” Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study, showing 150 million American take dietary supplements annually, including 68 percent of adults.
Further, 72 percent of physicians and 89 percent of nurses take supplements, with roughly 80 percent of each group recommending them to patients. Other data included geographical supplement usage and lifestyle trends among users.
The dietary supplement industry posted its best growth in 2007, 5.9 percent, since 1998, according to NBJ, which indicated omega-3, probiotic and superfruit supplements were the primary drivers; ranked in terms of sheer volume, not growth rate, multivitamins and sports formulas reigned supreme. NBJ further noted the important influence of two key regulatory milestones, the final good manufacturing practice (GMP) rules and the implementation of the serious adverse event reporting (SAER), as well as the monumental acquisition in 2007 of the faltering Leiner Health Products by NBTY.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), chairman of the Subcommittee on Health within the Energy and Commerce Committee and co-chair of the Dietary Supplement Caucus, discussed the importance of dietary supplements as key components of prevention and wellness. He also said dietary supplements and prevention would play important roles in the policy discussion during healthcare debates in Congress next year.
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT), co-chair of the Dietary Supplement Caucus, noted, “The reason the supplement market has grown is due to supplement consumers using the products. And [what we see in this industry is] a terrific movement toward people taking care of their own health.”
The results from the Lewin Group studies, performed on behalf of the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA), were presented by Joan Davanzo, Davanzo & Dobson, who was affiliated with Lewin Group at the time of the studies. She reiterated the cost savings potential found for omega-3s ($3.2 billion), calcium/vitamin D ($16.2 billion), folic acid ($1.4 billion), and lutein/zeaxanthin ($3.6 billion), adding in stats for reduced hospitalizations for each ingredient/pair.
WASHINGTON—The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and the Natural Products Association (NPA) hosted the Dietary Supplement Caucus this week on Capitol Hill for a briefing on the "The Who, What & Why’s of Dietary Supplements." More than 50 members of the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as various congressional committees attended the briefing, which featured presentations by CRN, NPA and Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ).
Among the highlights were:
Data presented from the 2007 CRN Consumer Confidence Survey and the 2007“Life...supplemented” Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study, showing 150 million American take dietary supplements annually, including 68 percent of adults.
Further, 72 percent of physicians and 89 percent of nurses take supplements, with roughly 80 percent of each group recommending them to patients. Other data included geographical supplement usage and lifestyle trends among users.
The dietary supplement industry posted its best growth in 2007, 5.9 percent, since 1998, according to NBJ, which indicated omega-3, probiotic and superfruit supplements were the primary drivers; ranked in terms of sheer volume, not growth rate, multivitamins and sports formulas reigned supreme. NBJ further noted the important influence of two key regulatory milestones, the final good manufacturing practice (GMP) rules and the implementation of the serious adverse event reporting (SAER), as well as the monumental acquisition in 2007 of the faltering Leiner Health Products by NBTY.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), chairman of the Subcommittee on Health within the Energy and Commerce Committee and co-chair of the Dietary Supplement Caucus, discussed the importance of dietary supplements as key components of prevention and wellness. He also said dietary supplements and prevention would play important roles in the policy discussion during healthcare debates in Congress next year.
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT), co-chair of the Dietary Supplement Caucus, noted, “The reason the supplement market has grown is due to supplement consumers using the products. And [what we see in this industry is] a terrific movement toward people taking care of their own health.”
The results from the Lewin Group studies, performed on behalf of the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA), were presented by Joan Davanzo, Davanzo & Dobson, who was affiliated with Lewin Group at the time of the studies. She reiterated the cost savings potential found for omega-3s ($3.2 billion), calcium/vitamin D ($16.2 billion), folic acid ($1.4 billion), and lutein/zeaxanthin ($3.6 billion), adding in stats for reduced hospitalizations for each ingredient/pair.
Beware! Flu Shot Propaganda Now on Fast Track
"It is now 30 years since I have been confining myself to the treatment of chronic diseases. During those 30 years I have run against so many histories of little children who had never seen a sick day until they were vaccinated and who, in the several years that have followed, have never seen a well day since. I couldn't put my finger on the disease they have. They just weren't strong. Their resistance was gone. They were perfectly well before they were vaccinated. They have never been well since. "---Dr. William Howard Hay
There are quite a few articles located on Natural Health News addressing vaccine issues. Should you have a greater interest, use the search function to locate them.
As one homeopathic MD I knew some years ago stated, "It's always the kids that get the vaccines that always seem to be sick."
Yes, there are risks to flu shots. Ask your health care provider exactly what they are beyond soreness at the injection site.
In the northern hemisphere we are moving into the colder fall and winter months, the time of year when you are bombarded with pressure to get a flu shot.
This campaign targets pregnant women, babies, children and adults, people with selected health issues and others.
This year, according to the FDA, six vaccines are available to protect against influenza virus types A and B including
* Afluria, for adults 18 years of age and older
* Fluarix, for adults 18 years of age and older
* FluLaval, for adults 18 years of age and older
* Fluvirin, for people 4 years of age and older
* Fluzone, for people 6 months of age and older
* FluMist, for people ages 2 to 49
Of the 146 million doses for this flu season, and in all years, efficacy of flu vaccine is always low. Often the efficacy is no more than 45 percent.
Vaccines for this year contain the following strains:
* an A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1)-like virus
* an A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2)-like virus
* a B/Florida/4/2006-like virus
Critics state that the death toll from flu may be inflated and the majority of deaths result actually from pneumonia, which causes symptoms similar to that of flu. In many cases people who have received the jabs are the ones who are getting ill. Other concerns about the nasal spray like FluMist is that is makes you contagious for several weeks.
The pneumonia shot isn't one I'd take either. Using vitamin A (cod liver oil is best as is a product blending vitamin A with beta-carotene) helps protect your respiratory system. Vitamin C and garlic are also antibacterial and antiviral. Adequate hydration is critical as is sound nutritional practice.
Vaccine ingredients
For more information on prevention, see Cold & Flu.
Remember, anyone providing flu shots or other vaccines is required by law to explain to you the risks and benefits of the treatment, including, but not limited to, what the ingredients are and what they do and what problems they can cause.
And some additional information for you to consider from Herbal Legacy -
For commentary on vaccines and children, please see this long but worthwhile letter from a mother.
And more here -
There are quite a few articles located on Natural Health News addressing vaccine issues. Should you have a greater interest, use the search function to locate them.
As one homeopathic MD I knew some years ago stated, "It's always the kids that get the vaccines that always seem to be sick."
“There is no evidence that any influenza vaccine thus far developed is effective in preventing or mitigating any attack of influenza. The producers of these vaccines know that they are worthless, but they go on selling them anyway.”
- Dr. J. Anthony Morris (former Chief Vaccine Control Officer of FDA)
Yes, there are risks to flu shots. Ask your health care provider exactly what they are beyond soreness at the injection site.
In the northern hemisphere we are moving into the colder fall and winter months, the time of year when you are bombarded with pressure to get a flu shot.
This campaign targets pregnant women, babies, children and adults, people with selected health issues and others.
This year, according to the FDA, six vaccines are available to protect against influenza virus types A and B including
* Afluria, for adults 18 years of age and older
* Fluarix, for adults 18 years of age and older
* FluLaval, for adults 18 years of age and older
* Fluvirin, for people 4 years of age and older
* Fluzone, for people 6 months of age and older
* FluMist, for people ages 2 to 49
Of the 146 million doses for this flu season, and in all years, efficacy of flu vaccine is always low. Often the efficacy is no more than 45 percent.
Vaccines for this year contain the following strains:
* an A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1)-like virus
* an A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2)-like virus
* a B/Florida/4/2006-like virus
Critics state that the death toll from flu may be inflated and the majority of deaths result actually from pneumonia, which causes symptoms similar to that of flu. In many cases people who have received the jabs are the ones who are getting ill. Other concerns about the nasal spray like FluMist is that is makes you contagious for several weeks.
The pneumonia shot isn't one I'd take either. Using vitamin A (cod liver oil is best as is a product blending vitamin A with beta-carotene) helps protect your respiratory system. Vitamin C and garlic are also antibacterial and antiviral. Adequate hydration is critical as is sound nutritional practice.
Vaccine ingredients
For more information on prevention, see Cold & Flu.
Remember, anyone providing flu shots or other vaccines is required by law to explain to you the risks and benefits of the treatment, including, but not limited to, what the ingredients are and what they do and what problems they can cause.
And some additional information for you to consider from Herbal Legacy -
The CDC has a goal to vaccinate an astonishing 261 million people this year!
Why the push? The CDC claims that 36,000 people die each year from the flu, and that getting the vaccine will prevent you from getting the flu, therefore saving your life.
How much of this is true? Do you need the vaccine? Is it safe or effective?
Let's take a look at the numbers first - do 36,000 people die from the flu each year?
According to the Centers for Disease Controls own Vital Statistics (the exact same website that claims that 36,000 people die from the flu each year), 1100 people died from the flu in 2004, 1812 in 2005 and 860 people died in 2006 from the flu. This has actually spiked dramatically - deaths in 2001 were only 257. Of those deaths attributed to the flu, very few are actually determined for sure that they are tied to influenza.
So why does the CDC claim that 36,000 people die from the flu each year? Apparently researchers with the British Medical Journal wondered the same thing when they asked, "Are US flu death figures more PR than science?" They concluded that the numbers are inflated to scare the public and sell more of the vaccine (3).
Consequently - they come up with the 36,000 based on two things - 1) a flu epidemic in Hong Kong that killed about 34,000 people, and 2) by combining flu deaths with pneumonia deaths (which is completely different from the flu and even if the flu vaccine did provide immunity against the flu it would not provide immunity against pneumonia).
Despite the outright false data and the numbers, if the flu shot is effective then you want to get the shot, right? Let's take a look at that question: Is the flu shot safe or effective?
If it were effective then certainly health care workers (HCWs), who are exposed to the flu and other diseases every day, would line up to get their vaccine. According to the Journal of Internal Medicine, that isn't the case. The overall vaccination rate among HCWs is just 38%. The study concluded that "The overall influenza vaccination rate among HCWs in the United States is low. Interventions seeking to improve HCW vaccination rates may need to target these specific subgroups" (4).
Regarding the effectiveness of the shot, it is important to know how the manufacturers determine what strains of flu to put in that year. They travel to Asia early in the year and collect data, then guess as to which three flu strains will work their way across the ocean for the beginning of the flu season.
According to the Think Twice Institute:
"Flu 'experts' often guess wrong. For example, in 1994 they predicted that Shangdong, Texas, and Panama strains would be prevalent that year, thus millions of people were vaccinated with a flu shot that contained these viruses. However, when winter arrived, the Johannesburg and Beijing strains of influenza circulated through society. The vaccine was ineffective. This happened again in 1996, and again in 1997. More recently, the vaccine created for the 2003-2004 flu season contained flu strains that did not circulate through society that year. Officials were once again forced to admit that millions of people were vaccinated with an ineffective vaccine."
But what if they guess right for the year and the flu vaccine does contain the correct strains? We'll answer that with a question: Do you know what is in your flu vaccine? You may not want one even if they do guess right, simply because of the ingredients.
Here are some of the ingredients:
· Chick embryos
· Three flu viruses that were collected in Asia in last January or February
· Formaldehyde (that's right - the stuff they embalm humans with and classified as a known cancer-causing substance by the International Agency for Research on Cancer)
· Thimerosal - a mercury based preservative which can lead to brain injury, autoimmune diseases and autism, and frequently aluminum substances that may contribute to Alzheimer's
· Sodium Phosphate or Sodium Chloride
· Gelatin
While we are not offering medical advice of any kind, we believe it is your right to know all of the above information and then make an informed decision about getting a flu shot.
For commentary on vaccines and children, please see this long but worthwhile letter from a mother.
And more here -
Monday, September 29, 2008
Pain Relief Short Changes Women
I am not surprised that this type of bias still exists after so many years and so many more women in health care.
It tells me that we really need a greater overhaul of medical education and the medical industry that people are willing to address.
And I am sure that it isn't an issue just for people with cancer.
There are many natural options for people experiencing pain that are as, if not more, effective that pharmaceuticals that may also promote addiction. The key to this, however, remains making the relief of pain tailored to the person's needs and also to include properly addressing the emotional component of what they are facing and living with every day.
It tells me that we really need a greater overhaul of medical education and the medical industry that people are willing to address.
And I am sure that it isn't an issue just for people with cancer.
There are many natural options for people experiencing pain that are as, if not more, effective that pharmaceuticals that may also promote addiction. The key to this, however, remains making the relief of pain tailored to the person's needs and also to include properly addressing the emotional component of what they are facing and living with every day.
Sex bias seen in control of cancer pain Fri Sep 26, 2008
How well pain is managed in people with cancer apparently differs between men and women, new research hints.
Dr. Kristine A. Donovan, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, and colleagues examined pain severity and the adequacy of pain management in 131 cancer patients newly referred to a multidisciplinary cancer pain clinic.
Men and women did not differ significantly in terms of worst pain scores, least pain scores, or pain interference. However, average pain in the last week and pain right now were significantly higher in women.
In addition, the average total daily dose of pain-killers was significantly greater for men (130 versus 66 milligrams morphine equivalent value).
Women were also significantly less likely than men to receive prescriptions for high potency opioids (33 percent versus 51 percent).
Women were also significantly more likely than men to report inadequate pain control, as indicated by scores on a standard pain management scale.
These findings, Donovan and colleagues conclude, highlight the need to improve the treatment of pain in cancer patients and to "more closely examine physician and patient-related factors that may hinder adequate pain management."
SOURCE: The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, August 2008.
Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.
Statins Anti-Aging?
Reducing the effects of aging are simple and effective through the use of supplements and foods. A very expensive drug known to have extremely dangerous side effects is not one I would include on my list.
Historically there was very little atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis when people were still able to purchase raw milk, and especially milk that had not been homogenized. Once homogenization began the incidence if "clogged arteries" rose quickly.
I suppose this is one reason why I oppose any legislation making USDA cloned dieticians the resource for nutrition information.
Simply one might make an effort to increase the amount of vitamin C they take daily, The benefits of this vitamin alone could never be matched for health benefit by a statin drug.
Another helper is to mix unsweetened applesauce with yoghurt and enjoy a small serving daily. This combination makes your arteries more flexible and offers the benefit of improving gut health and providing some potassium and fiber.
Cod liver oil, olive oil, coconut oil and yes! even butter will help too by providing essential fatty acids that promote utilization of necessary fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Just make it a point to avoid highly processed foods and those loaded with preservatives and artificial sweeteners.
Historically there was very little atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis when people were still able to purchase raw milk, and especially milk that had not been homogenized. Once homogenization began the incidence if "clogged arteries" rose quickly.
I suppose this is one reason why I oppose any legislation making USDA cloned dieticians the resource for nutrition information.
Simply one might make an effort to increase the amount of vitamin C they take daily, The benefits of this vitamin alone could never be matched for health benefit by a statin drug.
Another helper is to mix unsweetened applesauce with yoghurt and enjoy a small serving daily. This combination makes your arteries more flexible and offers the benefit of improving gut health and providing some potassium and fiber.
Cod liver oil, olive oil, coconut oil and yes! even butter will help too by providing essential fatty acids that promote utilization of necessary fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Just make it a point to avoid highly processed foods and those loaded with preservatives and artificial sweeteners.
Statins 'prevent artery ageing'
Drugs given to heart patients to lower cholesterol may have an additional benefit - keeping their blood vessels feeling younger.
Advanced heart disease patients have arteries which have effectively aged faster than the rest of their bodies.
University of Cambridge scientists, writing in the journal Circulation Research, say statins may be able to hold back this process.
They hinted the same drugs might also prevent damage elsewhere in the body.
Statins are seen as a key tool in the fight against heart disease, and in low doses have been made available "over-the-counter" at pharmacies.
While it has been known for some time that they can lower cholesterol levels, this did not fully account for the benefits experienced by some patients, and evidence is growing that they can boost the function of the cells lining the heart arteries.
The Cambridge study adds to this evidence, and may shed light on how statins do this.
Cells in the body can only divide a limited number of times, and in patients with heart disease, the rate of division in these arterial cells is greatly accelerated - dividing between seven and 13 times more often than normal.
As the cells "run out of " divisions, they can suffer DNA damage, and do not work as well.
One of the important roles of these cells is to keep the artery clear of fatty "plaques" which can expand and block them, causing angina or heart attack.
Cancer clue
The research found that statins appear to increase levels of a protein called NBS-1, which is involved in the repair of DNA within cells. This means they may be able to hold off the effects of old age in the artery wall for a little longer.
Professor Martin Bennett, who led the research, said: "It's an exciting breakthrough to find that statins not only lower cholesterol but also rev up the cells' own DNA repair kit, slowing the ageing process of the diseased artery.
"If statins can do this to other cells, they may protect normal tissues from DNA damage that occurs as part of chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer, potentially reducing the side-effects."
Professor Peter Weissberg, the British Heart Foundation's medical director, added: "Too much cholesterol in the blood induces a repeated cycle of damage and repair in the blood vessel wall which results in a heart attack if the repair mechanism is inadequate.
"Statins protect against heart attacks by reducing cholesterol levels and subsequent damage to the vessel wall - this research has shown they may also enhance the blood vessels' natural repair mechanisms."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7637937.stm
Published: 2008/09/28 23:13:23 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
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