'Vegemite' toast spread banned from U.S.?

According to New Zealand website Scoop, Vegemite, the popular New Zealand-based toast spread, is being confiscated and denied entry into the U.S, supposedly because the vitamin-packed food contains the B-vitamin folate.

Folate, or folic acid, helps prevent spina bifida, a birth defect.

The article is actually a press release from the New Zealand Trust, a consumer group campaigning against the proposal to regulate natural health products in Australia. It reads:

Government proposal linked to US ‘Vegemite Police’

Reports of ‘Vegemite police’ confiscating the popular toast spread at United States borders proves the Government’s proposed new rules for natural health products would cause ridiculous problems for completely safe products.

The New Zealand Health Trust, a consumer group campaigning against the proposal to regulate natural health products under an Australian regime, says that the rules already in place in the US and Europe show how crazy the regulators have become under the new system.

“We have had arrests in France for selling Vitamin C tablets, and now American authorities are searching travelers for Vegemite because it contains a vitamin B supplement Folate – currently being considered for addition into New Zealand breads as a preventative for spina bifida in children,” said Amy Adams, spokesperson for the Trust.

“If New Zealand were to adopt Annette King’s proposal we would be in the same boat and could see totally harmless products banned or regulated off the shelves,” Ms Adams said. “The regulators are behaving like Vegemite is a risk to people’s health.”

“This is actually a very serious problems for people in the US and Europe. And if we’re not careful we could end up facing the Police Anti-Garlic Squads or risking Illegal Ginger raids.”

The Government is still trying to introduce legislation enabling the new regime, despite all political parties except Labour having indicated they will not support it.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Vegemite | Folate | Nutritional Supplements | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Four dead after receiving flu shots; Alzheimer's caused by the common cold?

Though four people died just after receiving flut shots, Israeli officials are quick to say there is "no direct link." Of course. Yeah, right. How many times will people fall for this one? "Vaccinations will start (again) this evening," Health Minister Yaacov Ben-Yizri said, before himself receiving an inoculation live on television to demonstrate its safety." The program was re-started less than five days after the fourth man dropped dead two hours after receiving his shot.

A new theory is making the rounds that viruses related to the common cold are the real culprit for the memory loss of Alzheimer's disease.

Drink up! A drink or two a day keeps the heart surgeon away. The statistics in this study are staggering (if you'll pardon both the alliteration and the pun) — From 1986 to 2002, 106 of the 9,000 men followed had heart attacks. Of these men, eight were among the 1,282 who drank about two drinks a day, nine were among the 714 who had over two drinks a day, and 28 were among the 1,889 men who did not drink at all.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Vaccines | Heart Attack | Flu Shots | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Lawmakers distrust CDC on vaccine studies

Finally, it seems, lawmakers are listening to parents concerned over the safety, or lack of safety, in vaccines routinely given to children.

For years, parents and concerned members of the medical establishment have been concerned that vaccines, many of which contain or contained mercury, a toxin even in tiny amounts, may have contributed to the rapid rise in autism in the U.S. and U.K. in the past 15 years.

Fox News reports that Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., a medical doctor, has said he will reintroduce his bill — the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Assurance Act of 2006 — when the 110th Congress convenes next year.

"It's an important issue. As a physician, I've been surprised and frankly embarrassed about the overall lack of good research into vaccine safety," Weldon told FOXNews.com.

The legislation would create a separate agency outside of the CDC to oversee vaccine safety issues, including research. Other legislation introduced by other House and Senate sponsors addresses linkages between vaccines and autism-related disorders.

While the CDC says recent studies indicate no link between autism and childhood vaccinations, even one that contained mercury, the opposite position is supported by many in the medical establishment, including the American Academy of Pediatrics.

With such conflict, the debate is raging over how limited current research really is and whether the government is doing enough to fund better studies.

In 2005, Dr. Frank DeStefano, acting chief of immunization safety for the CDC told FOXNews.com, "Autism is a serious developmental disability and has a great effect on the individual and their families, and there is great impetus of need among families and society and the government to find out what is causing autism and what can be done to prevent it."

However, he said, the current body of evidence on the safety of vaccinations is strong.

“Our judgment is that vaccines are safe and the evidence today indicates that vaccines are not linked to autism," said DeStefano.

Still, Weldon questions whether the CDC's conclusions are based on enough sound, objective research, particularly in the area of mercury. Up until 2000, mercury-based thimerosal was used in all childhood vaccines as a preservative. Many blamed it for an increase in emerging autism cases.

Pharmaceutical companies stopped using thimerosal six years ago upon the recommendation of the federal government, even though the government never gave official acknowledgement that mercury levels in vaccines could cause developmental problems in children.

Government officials said that infants had not been exposed to high enough levels of mercury through the thimerosal, but its removal was done as "a precaution."

I applaud Rep. Weldon and others in calling for legislation protecting children from unsafe and untested vaccines.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Vaccines | Children's Health | Dave Weldon | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

NYC proposal to ban trans fats stuns restaurant industry

The city of New York's health department has unveiled a proposal to ban from use in the city's 24,600 food service establishments any ingredients that contain artificial trans fats — partially hydogenated oils.

Once found in almost every processed food, trans fats are still commonly found in some shortenings, margarine and frying oils, and is heavily used in foods from pie crusts to french fries to doughnuts.

Their danger is not questioned, but the NYC restaurant industry is against a ban, the AP reported.

"Labeling is one thing, but when they totally ban a product, it goes well beyond what we think is prudent and acceptable," said Chuck Hunt, executive vice president of the city's chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association.

Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard University School of Public Health, praised New York health officials for considering a ban, which he said could save lives.

"Artificial trans fats are very toxic, and they almost surely causes tens of thousands of premature deaths each year," Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard University School of Public Health said. "The federal government should have done this long ago."

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Trans Fats | Partially Hydrogenated Oils | New York City | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Woman 'psychologically rejects' husband's penis transplant

A Chinese man became the first penis transplant recipient recently, but after two weeks, doctors removed the organ after his wife suffered "psychological problems."

Surgeons led by Dr. Hu Weilie at Guangzhou General Hospital performed the transplant in September, 2005. The penis was donated by the parents of a 22-year-old brain-dead man.

The microsurgery was a success, doctors said. The man was able to urinate with the penis, and sexual function was expected to be restored after further healing.

His wife, however, "psychologically" rejected it, and after fourteen days the penis was removed.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Penis Transplant | Microsurgery | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Fresh spinach contaminated with E. Coli

Several U.S. restaurant chains announced on Monday they had removed spinach from their menus, after it was recently linked to more than 100 cases of E. coli.

The National Restaurant Association, an industry trade group, said last week it recommended that restaurants remove "fresh and fresh-processed spinach and other fresh produce items that include spinach" from their menus.

That statement came a day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to eat fresh spinach until further notice. The vegetable was linked to 109 cases of E. coli infection in 19 states, including the death of one adult in Wisconsin.

Some restaurants have completely stopped serving any leafy-green salads.

The outbreak of E. Coli has been tracked to a single supply source, Natural Selection Foods. The problem is, according to Jim Prevor's Perishable Pundit blog, is that Natural Selection Foods packages spinach and other vegetables for other companies and brands, including Dole, Natural Selection Foods, Pride of San Juan, Earthbound Farm, Bellissima, Rave Spinach, Emeril, Sysco, O Organic, Fresh Point, River Ranch, Superior, Nature’s Basket, Pro-Mark, Compliments, Trader Joe’s, Ready Pac, Jansal Valley, Cheney Brothers, Coastline, D’Arrigo Brothers, Green Harvest, Mann, Mills Family Farm, Premium Fresh, Snoboy, The Farmer’s Market, Tanimura & Antle, President’s Choice, Cross Valley and Riverside Farms.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Spinach | E. Coli | Food Safety | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Carnival food: Fried Coca-Cola on a Stick!

It's not like Americans don't already have the most unhealthy diet in the world.

Now comes... Fried Coca-Cola on a stick!

Vendor Abel Gonzales, Jr. deep-fries Coca-Cola-flavored batter. He then drizzles Coke fountain syrup on it. The fried Coke is topped with whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry, IBS reports.

He plans to peddle his concoction at the State Fair of Texas, which opens Sept. 29 in Dallas.

Gonzales last year sold 25,000 fried peanut butter, banana, and jelly sandwiches.

The State Fair of Texas was also the birthplace, in 1942, of the corn dog.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Obesity | Fried Coke | Coca-Cola | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Over one billion Earthlings are overweight, 300 million obese

The International Congress on Obesity meeting this weekend in Sydney, Australia warns that an obesity pandemic threatens to overwhelm health systems around the globe with illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.

Paul Zimmet, chairman of the meeting of more than 2,500 experts and health officials, said in a speech, "This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world. It's as big a threat as global warming and bird flu."

More than 1 billion adults are overweight and 300 million of them are obese, putting them at much higher risk of diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, stroke and some forms of cancer, according to the World Health Organizagtion.

Overweight people now outnumber the undernourished in the world, Zimmet said. I understand the point he is trying to make, but "overweight" does not equal "well nourished." People become overweight not by eating nourishing foods, but from eating too much of the wrong foods, and from lack of exercise.

People in poorer nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America are quickly learning the bad habits of those in the wealthier nations. Thailand's Public Health Ministry, for instance, announced Sunday that nearly one in three Thais over age 35 is at risk of obesity-related diseases.

"We are not dealing with a scientific or medical problem. We're dealing with an enormous economic problem that, it is already accepted, is going to overwhelm every medical system in the world," said Dr. Philip James, the British chairman of the International Obesity Task Force.

Read the story.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Obesity | Heart Disease | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

9-year old dies after mosquito bite

A 9-year-old Middleboro, Mass., boy died from Eastern equine encephalitis Thursday, IBS reported.

On August 18, John Fontaine developed a fever. He was hospitalized two days later. He died two weeks later, on August 31.

A spraying program that began on August 8 reduced the mosquito population by at least 60 percent, officials said. Officials said they believe Fontaine was infected after the spraying.

Only two other confirmed EEE cases have been seen in Massachusetts this year, a 52-year-old woman from Lakeville, Mass., and a 23-year-old man from Acushnet, Mass.

Symptoms of EEE infection in humans include high fever, mental confusion, headache, stiff neck and lack of energy. The symptoms usually appear five to seven days after infection.

Inflammation and swelling of the brain, called encephalitis, is the most dangerous complication. Encephalitis can worsen quickly and patients may go into a coma within a week. According to state health officials, about three of every 10 human cases is fatal.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Mosquitos | Encephalitis | Death | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Childhood obesity linked to below normal I.Q.

Children who are very obese by age four have a higher likelihood of having lower I.Q. scores, a new study shows.

Daniel J. Driscoll, M.D., Ph.D, says the study indicates "a sense of urgency to really address the obesity problem — the younger the better.

"It’s right to worry about heart disease in 20-30 years, or hypertension in 20 years, and diabetes in 10 years," Driscoll says. "But there could be consequences now."

Driscoll’s team studied 18 people who had been morbidly obese (more than 150% of the ideal weight for their height) by age four.

"We’re not talking about a little baby fat," Driscoll says. "We’re talking about a very select group."

Those who were obese at age four had an average IQ of 77, which classifies them by the "archaic" method as "moron." Tests of their siblings who were not obese at age four showed an average IQ of 106. A score of 100 is average.

Read more about the study.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Obesity | Children | IQ | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

South metro Atlanta poisoned by toxic chemical

South metro Atlanta stinks. The birds and wild animals have fled, and pets are getting sick and refusing to go outside.

That's the story told by The Citizen of Fayette County, Georgia.

Though Phillips Service Corp. and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division deny it, over 600 residents claim that since Memorial Day a sickening, onion-like small has surrounded the Phillips factory. Residents and those traveling through north Fayette and south Fulton still report the smell, which is believed by many to be the chemical odorant and restricted use pesticide MOCAP. The stink is apparent in a 40 square mile zone around the plant.

MOCAP is extremely toxic to birds and aquatic life, and is a strong dermal irritant. Lifestock and humans should not come into physical contact with the substance.

Pets and humans are experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, skin irritation and problems breathing. Many small pets have died. Reports of usually healthy commercial beehives say entire colonies of bees have died or fled.

This story is getting little local and no national exposure. Why not?

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Poison | Cancer | Safe Drinking Water | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

One day's headlines tell us how toxic, dangerous, and deadly our world is

A quick look at today's headlines reminds us how toxic and deadly our world really is:

• Human body parts used for transplants are being recalled after the FDA shut down a "body harvester" who couldn't be bothered to work in a sterile environment while carving up corpses. Body parts from people who died of cancer are showing up as transplant organs, too.
• Recently withdrawn from the worldwide market, Bausch & Lomb's contact lens solution increased the risk 20-fold of developing the Fusarium keratitis, a serious bacterial infection that can in certain cases lead to permanent vision loss.
• Nearly a quarter of all American women have genital herpes, as do 11 percent of American men
• West Nile virus is back with a vengeance this year, especially in Texas, where the cure — massive spraying of toxic chemicals — may be worse than the disease.
• Canada today confirmed its fifth case of Mad Cow Disease this year. Of course, the cow's carcass didn't make it into the food chain. Of course not.
• One and a half million people in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have the parasite-caused disease clonorchiasis. Also, last week, 70 people in Beijing became sick after eating contaminated snails.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Toxic | Cancer | Illness | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Overweight Baby Boomers may die prematurely

A new study contradicts a previous one that said that being "a little bit" overweight might be a good thing. A study of a half million AARP members (age 50+) conducted by the National Cancer Institute indicates that "those who were somewhat overweight had a mild, 20 percent to 40 percent increased risk of dying prematurely compared with people of normal weight."

This contradicts a recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control which said that showed that while being grossly overweight can be deadly, being moderately overweight was no indicator of premature death.

The new study was based on a larger population, and corrected sampling errors critics of the CDC study said were inherent in the government study. The CDC refuses to comment on non-CDC studies.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Obesity | Cancer | AARP | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Tasty! FDA approves virus as food additive

Your bologna has a second name, spelled V-I-R-U-S.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved as a safe food additive the spraying of bacteria-kililng viruses on cold cuts, hot dogs and sausages to combat common microbes that kill hundreds of people a year, CNN reported.

Manufactured by Intralytix, Inc., the combination of six viruses is designed to be sprayed on ready-to-eat meat and poultry products, including sliced ham and turkey, said John Vazzana, president and chief executive officer.

The FDA says the special viruses, called bacteriophages, are meant to kill strains of the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium.

The company also plans to seek FDA approval for another bacteriophage product to kill E. coli bacteria on beef before it is ground, Vazzana said.

Read more about bacteriophages at Wikipedia.


Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Bacteriophage | Food Additive | Meat | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Cancer-causing water; Morning-after pill to go OTC; Anti-obesity vaccine on the way

One of the most common industrial pollutants in drinking water has been declared a carcinogen. TCE is found in about 60% of the Superfund sites still needing cleanup in the United States.

In a surprise move, the FDA is considering allowing the "morning after" birth control pill to be sold over-the-counter. Religious "pro-lifers" are already complaining.

Can't lose weight 'cause you can't push away from the table? Fear not... there's a vaccine coming just for you.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Obesity | Cancer | Safe Drinking Water | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Schools fail nutrition report card; 23 states get an F

Almost half of all states received a failing grade in a school foods report card issued Tuesday by a nonprofit group that evaluated school nutrition policies.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, based in Washington, D.C., gave an F to 23 states and a D to eight others after evaluating school policies regarding foods and beverages sold in campus vending machines, school stores and school fundraisers.

Only one state, Kentucky, scored an A, or actually, an A-.

Five states got a B+ — Nevada, Arkansas, New Mexico, Alabama and California. New Jersey, Arizona and Tennessee each got a B, and four others — Louisiana, West Virginia, Connecticut and Florida — earned a B-.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Obesity | America's Health Crisis | School Lunches | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Diabetes rate doubles in U.S.; Americans not even in top 25 of "healthy" countries

Today's headlines screamed out: "Diabetes rate doubles over last 30 years: Higher incidence of type 2 blamed on obesity, lifestyle changes."

Blamed on obesity? Like that tells us anything....


How about:

• In 1967, Americans ate 114 pounds of raw or refined sugar and a trifling amount of other sweeteners per year, per person. In 2003, the amount of sugar eaten per person jumped to 142 pounds, plus an additional 61 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup, a sugar product now used to sweeten everything from ketchup and soda pop to ranch dressing.
• Since 1950, soft-drink consumption per capita has quadrupled, from about 11 gallons per year to about 46 gallons in 2003 — nearly a gallon a week per person.
• The calories from those soft drinks alone account for 16% of the calories an adult consumes, and over 20% of the average teenager's calories come from soft drinks.
• Per person, in 2003 Americans consumed about 8.3 pounds of broccoli and barely 25 pounds of dark lettuces (not that iceburg crap we've been conditioned to think of as "lettuce").

In the 1970s, the incidence of diabetes was the lowest, at 2.0 percent among women and 2.7 percent among men. By the 1990s, the corresponding rates had climbed to their highest points: 3.7 percent and 5.8 percent.

Are we burning off those calories? According to the A.C. Nielsen Co. in 1998, the average American was watching 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day (more than 52 days of nonstop TV-watching per year). In 2001, average daily TV watching exceeded four hours. By age 65 the average American will have spent over nine years glued to the tube.

But we exercise more, right?

• Over 60% of American adults are not regularly active
• 25% of adults are not active at all
• Only 19% of high school students are active for 20 minutes or more per day

But surely, we're the healthiest country in the world, right?

• On average, the citizens of 29 countries are less overweight than those of the United States, including New Zealand, Mexico, Finland, Israel, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Peru, Sweden, Belgium and Brazil
• Infant mortality rates in several countries are substantially less than the rate in the United States, including Hong Kong (2.3 deaths per 1,000 live births), Japan (3.0 deaths), Sweden (2.8 deaths), France (4.1 deaths), Germany (4.3 deaths), Spain (3.4 deaths), Czech Republic (4.2 deaths), Italy (4.7 deaths), Canada (5.4 deaths), Australia (5.0 deaths), the United Kingdom (5.2 deaths) and Cuba (6.5 deaths)
• Today, 28 countries have healthy life expectancies that exceed the United States, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and Japan. The highest, Japan, exceeds the United States by more than five years, meaning that the average newborn child in Japan can expect to have more than five additional years in which to enjoy a healthy, active life.

But hey... We're Number One! in number of McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Taco Bell, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, ad nauseum.

Sources:
MSNBC; U.S. News & World Report; TV Free America; Sourcebook for Teaching Science; Surgeon General's Report on Exercise, 1996, as discussed at Mahoning County District (Ohio) Department of Health; United Health Federation, quoting March of Dimes and World Health Organization statistics

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Obesity | America's Health Crisis | Diabetes | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Medical system called "in crisis," "in shambles"

Like you need another one more reason to stay healthy?

The American emergency medical system is in crisis, says the Insitute of Medicine, as reported in today's Medical News Today.

[I]t is seriously short of resources, fragmented and splitting at the seams. Ambulances are commonly turned away from emergency departments, it is not unusual for patients to have to wait for hours and/or days for a bed. The whole system would fall apart if it had to deal with disasters or outbreaks.

"We were at capacity at 9 a.m. this morning, and we'll stay that way probably until 3 a.m. tomorrow," Dr. Robert Fuller, clinical chief of emergency medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, said Wednesday.

Emergency rooms are overwhelmed.

"We're like a series of pans of water, all connected and all nearly full," Fuller said. "Throw a bucket of water into one, and we'd all overflow."

The IOM report said among the problems are:

• Emegency rooms are seriously overcrowded
• Patients have to wait for a long time to be admitted
• Ambulances are often turned away from emergency departments
• A chronic shortage of specialists to provide care many emergency rooms
• Ambulance transport to emergency medical services is generally fragmented, chaotic and inconsistent

To see the original press release and the IOM's original reports, visit the National Academies website.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health News | Emergency Room | Emergency Medical System | Hospital | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Splenda -- How sweet it isn't: If artificial sugar is so splendid, how come we aren't thin?

Time magazine's current issue has an article about the dangers of Splenda you should read.

Here are some comments about Splenda and the call for hearings on its dangers, written by my friend Elwood Richard, founder of NOW Foods:

From El Richard:

Citizens for Health is asking for support for their petition for a public hearing on Splenda. I agree that objective technical information should be presented not only on Splenda, but every new chemical product that is introduced into our food supply. The Time magazine article (see link) gives some background on Splenda.

Splenda is one of the chemicals about which my biochemistry professor warned us. He said that the carbon chlorine bond is a very strong bond, and that as the carbon linked entity goes thru a host of reactions, the chlorine will remain attached in most of them. Eventually it is likely that some of the carbon chlorine bonded products will metabolize into one of the many toxic carbon chlorine compounds.

As with every novel chemical product that is proposed for introduction into our food supply, the firm owning the patent has a large financial interest in getting approval, and will have a good amount of contract research showing its safety. The public needs to be protected by having good independent research to assure that the contract research is valid.

A public hearing gives independent researchers a chance to be heard.

Elwood Richard, Founder
Now Foods

Read about Splenda at Citizens for Health

Read the Time article titled "How Sweet It Isn't: If artificial sugar is so splendid, why aren't we thin?"

Medicine | Health | Splenda | Artificial Sweeteners | Time Magazine | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Three trains in, three trains out

You'd think that once you've heard something several hundred times, you'd get used to it, but that's not always the case.

One question I used to ask of my clients and patients is "How regular are you?" Even though more than a few women thought I was inquiring into their menstrual cycles, I still preferred asking the question this way instead of a more direct question like "How often do you poop?"

To provide health advice knowing the answer to the second question is important, but knowing the answer to the first question is even more important, as it provides a window into the mindset of the person with health issues.

It seems many people have no idea what "regular" should be, so they think that whatever is currently normal to them is "regular." I haven't had many people, even those who knew they were chronicly constipated, say there weren't "regular." They would answer the question with, "Oh, I go every other day," or "Once a week."

Usually I'd pry just a little bit further, and discover that their infrequent eliminations were indeed "regular" for not only them, but their entire household. Each time I talk to someone who thinks having a bowel movement every three to five days is "normal," I'm amazed, no matter how many times I hear it.

I know... modern medical authorities play down the need for regular, consistant bowel movements, and instead offer the "warm fuzzy" advice that "Whatever is regular with you is okay — if you feel you need help, try [insert name of over-the-counter laxative] for a few days."

But that's just not right. One early mentor of mine put it this way: "Three trains in... three trains out." If you eat a meal, you need to elimate the remains of a previous one. Otherwise, eventually, you're gonna have a back-up in the "train yard." When those trains get backed up, the toxic load that they're packing spills over, back into the bloodstream. Those food remnants that your body needs to eliminate end up poisoning you, over and over again. It's no wonder cancer is rampant, and colorectal cancer is the third-leading cancer-killer of women in the U.S.

Just think of all the chemicals, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colors, etc., that most people consume each day. Soft drinks, doughnuts, coffee, hormone-saturated meats and milk... each item carries not only a "food value" (if it has any value at all), but also a toxic factor that your body was never meant to have to deal with.

Simply put, if you don't move that toxic sludge out of your system quickly, it is reintroduced through the colon wall back into your bloodstream, where the toxins are then carried throughout your body to lay seige against your organs and tissues, before finding their way back to the colon via the liver, your body's now-overworked poison-processor.

As you can imagine, it doesn't take long for constipation to cause your body to go into toxic overload.

Diets high in fiber and increased water consumption are the keys to avoiding constipation and toxic overload. If you're already constipated, you can begin to reverse the damage by using herbs for detoxification and by increasing your fiber and water intake. Avoid toxic foods, which, for starters, you should consider anything you can buy through a drive-through window.

Changing your lifestyle will change your bowel habits, which in turn will change your life for the better.


— David Ross, ND, CNHP

This article appeared in the May, 2006 In Touch newsletter

Lung cancer may be fueled by sex hormone estrogen

Lung cancer affects women with almost as much frequency as it does men, and it seems more non-smoker women may end up with lung cancer than non-smoker men.

Nearly 72,000 American women will die of lung cancer this year. That's more than are killed by breast, ovarian, uterine and cervical cancers combined.

Men's lung cancer rates have been steadily falling since 1991. Women's rates have stayed the same.

Why?

Dr. Kathy Albain, a lung cancer specialist at Loyola University Health System, and University of Pittsburgh pharmacologist Jill Siegfried, a pioneer in the field, think they know the answer.

Estrogen.

These researchers believe estrogen may act as a fuel for lung tumors just like it does for many breast tumors, and that blocking estrogen with the same drugs that breast cancer patients use might also work in the lungs.

An alternative to drugs to reduce unchecked estrogens in a woman's body may be as simple as rubbing a cream containing progesterone onto her skin. Progesterone is the "other" sex hormone, the one that men and women both share.

Research has shown that many estrogen-caused diseases in women may be slowed or eliminated with a progesterone regimen.

I've personally seen dozens of women find benefit in using a progesterone cream to stop insomnia, night sweats, moodiness and other PMS and menopause symptoms, as well as to balance blood sugar irregularities.

Progesterone cream should be purchased in a tube, not a jar, as excess air and light may cause the naturally-occuring hormone to break down prematurely. Progesterone cream is available over-the-counter without a prescription.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health | Lung Cancer | Sex Hormones | Estrogen | Progesterone | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Doctor donates blood to his own patient during surgery

This heart-warming story just crossed my desk and made me smile.

A heart surgeon on a mercy-mission in El Salvador stopped surgery on his eight-year old patient so he could donate his own rare-type blood.

Dr. Samuel Weinstein said he had his blood drawn, ate a Pop-Tart and returned to the operating table about 20 minutes later to watch as his blood helped the boy survive the complex surgery.

"It was a little bit surreal," Weinstein said Friday from the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, where he is chief of pediatric cardio-thoracic surgery.

Bravo, Doctor! Bravo!

Dr. Weinstein was in the news last winter, too. He and his associates performed heart surgery of four seriously ill Iraqi children.

Medicine | Health | Rare Blood Type B | Heart Disease | Samuel Weinstein | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

Saturated fats not only affect cholesterol levels, but can raise risk of diabetes and cancer

Experts have warned for years that we should eat less saturated fat, which has a direct relationship to LDL ("bad") blood cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.

Research now suggests tha saturated fat also affects insulin function, potentially raising the risk of diabetes, cancer, ovarian disorders and other health problems.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health | Nutrition | Cholesterol | Fat | Cancer | Diabetes | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

A drink a day keeps the cardiologist away

Daily alcohol consumption reduced the risk of of heart disease for men by an amazing 41%, a recent study of more than 50,000 people found. But interestingly, only for men.

Women's risks were reduced by drinking, but oddly, it made no difference if they had one drink, or if they drank every day. Their risk of heart disease went down 36%.

Once a week male drinkers cut their chances of heart disease by only seven percent.

The findings were published in the British Medical Journal. The Danish researches said this ndicates the amount of alcohol consumed is more important than drinking frequency.

Professor Morten Gronbaek, of the Centre for Alcohol Research, Copenhagen, said: "Among women alcohol intake may be the primary determinant of the inverse association between drinking alcohol and risk of coronary heart disease whereas among men, drinking frequency, not alcohol intake, seems more important.

"A limitation of our study is that only 35% of the invited people participated. People who choose to participate may have a different risk profile and be in better health than those who decline. However, the observed incidence of coronary heart disease did not differ from that of the general population."

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health | Nutrition | Health Benefits of Alcohol Consumption | Heart Disease | HerbBlurbs.com | AltHealthNews.com

AIDS: Wishing it away

Two AIDS stories in the news today come crashing together.

CNN reports that a growing shortage of doctors, nurses and medical workers is hampering the fight against AIDS in the developing world. The 209-page annual World Health Report from the World Health Organization says that "the global shortage approaches 4.3 million health workers."

Meanwhile, the 87-page report from the U.S. Government Accounting Office looking into the $15 billion U.S.-funded "President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)" blasted the fact that most of the money is being spent on a required "ABC" strategy that encourages abstinence until marriage, being faithful thereafter and using condoms in high-risk sexual encounters, says the San Jose Mercury News. Critics say the abstinence program is eroding other preventative programs.

Most of the 20 countries receiving the PEPFAR money reports that the required ABC strategy is hampering their efforts and "presents challenges to their ability to respond to the local epidemiology and cultural and social norms."

The abstinence "policy is basically unworkable. This shows the problem very clearly and starkly," said Paul Zeitz, director of the Global AIDS Alliance.

Fifteen billion U.S. tax dollars to tell people in other countries they shouldn't have sex. It's a crazy world we live in!

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health | Nutrition | Sex | AIDS | Abstinence | Weight Loss | Government Accounting Office | World Health Organization

Living together makes women fatter, men healthier

Co-habiting seems to make men healthier, and women fatter, studies from the U.K. and Australia have shown.

After moving in together, men tend to eat healthier, leaner foods, while women tend to gravitate towards creamier, more fatty foods. Men begin to eat not only less meat, but less food generally. Women do the opposite. The BBC reported that the researchers said each partner is tries to please the other, moving more towards the partner's former eating preferences.

A U.S. study of 9,043 women showed that marriage itself is a leads to weight gain, and getting out of a marriage leads to weight loss.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health | Nutrition | Eating | Diet | Weight Gain | Weight Loss | Relationships | Living Together

Fluoride causes cancer: Colgate's dental editor accused of fudging study results

I've been talking for years about the dangers of fluoridation, and also about the dangers inherent in allowing medical and research people who work for private companies to also publish in medical journals.

This week brings us a story that combines the worst of both issues.

A Harvard-related journal on Wednesday published a study that indicates that young boys who drink fluoridated tap water are at greater risk for a rare bone cancer.

The study is expected to intensify debate over fluoridation and mean more scrutiny for Harvard's Dr. Chester Douglass, who has been accused of doctoring the findings to downplay a cancer link.

"It’s the best piece of work ever linking fluoride in tap water and bone cancer. It’s pretty damning for him [Douglass]," said Richard Wiles of the Environmental Working Group, which filed a complaint with the National Institutes of Health against Douglass.

Douglass, who is an epidemiology professor at Harvard’s School of Dental Medicine, moonlights as as a paid editor of the Colgate Oral Care Report, a newsletter supported by the toothpaste maker. Talk about a conflict of interest!

The National Institutes of Health, which provided Douglass and his students a $1 million grant, and Harvard are investigating whether Douglass misrepresented research findings last year when he said there was no link between ingested fluoride and bone cancer, despite extensive research to the contrary by one of his doctoral students.

That student, Dr. Elise Bassin, wrote in yesterday’s Cancer Causes and Control that boys who drink water with levels of fluoride considered safe by federal guidlines are five times more likely to develop osteosarcoma than boys who drink unfluoridated water, the Boston Herald reported.

Douglass wrote a letter to the editor, which was published in the same issue, downplaying Bassin's study, calling it a "partial view of this ongoing study," and urging readers to be "especially cautious" when interpreting the findings. It's a blatant attempt at sleight of hand. Apparently, he's not a very good magician, though, because most everyone can see through this.

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health | fluoride | Medical Studies | Harvard School of Dental Medicine | Chester Douglass | Elise Bassin | National Insitutes of Health | Colgate Toothpaste | Conflict of Interest

Prevent breast and ovarian cancer with soy, fruits, and green tea, say new studies

Soybeans, fruits and green tea contain powerful antioxidants that help reduce a woman's risk for breast and ovarian cancer, according to studies presented at this week's annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Also it's now "official": Vitamin D lowers risks for these cancers.

As expected, because it's SO typical, cancer doctors tried to downplay the results of the studies: "None of the four studies warrant a public health change," Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, a medial oncologist at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif.

Read more....

Medicine | Health | Alternative Health | Fruits | Soy | Green Tea | Nutrition | Vitamin D

Doublespeak: Doctor says "vaccine is working" though 80% of those with mumps were vaccinated

A mumps epidemic is sweeping across the Midwest, especially hitting hard in Iowa and Nebraska. Sixty-six percent of those who have been diagnosed with mumps have been fully vaccinated for mumps, and another 14 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine. It's hitting across all ages and social levels.

Yet in a near-perfect rendition of Orwellian doublespeak, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, Iowa's state epidemiologist, says, "The vaccine is working. The vaccine certainly was made to cover this particular strain, because it's a fairly common strain of mumps." She said the vaccine is 95% effective.

In spite of evidence to the contrary, that 80% of those sick have been vaccinated, she said, "The vaccine is working. It's 95% effective."

Read the article....

Medicine | Health | Mumps | Epidemic | Vaccines | Vaccinations | Immunization | Disease

Chili peppers kill prostate cancer

A recent article in the U.S. medical journal Cancer Research reports that capsaicin, the ingredient in hot chili peppers — habanero and jalapeno — that makes them hot, kills up to 80% of prostate cancer cells, and that tumors treated with capsaicin were smaller than those not so treated, the BBC reports.

Said Dr. Soren Lehmann, who led the study: "Capsaicin had a profound anti-proliferative effect on human prostate cancer cells in culture. It also dramatically slowed the development of prostate tumours."

Yet, believe it or not, the "Prostate Cancer Charity" in the UK responded to the news by saying, "...we caution men with prostate cancer in the UK against upping their weekly intake of the hottest known chilis."

Chris Hiley, head of policy and research at The Prostate Cancer Charity, added: "...For now, if men with prostate cancer want to improve their diet they should avoid fatty foods, eat less red and processed meat, increase their fish intake and enjoy a wide and plentiful range of fruit and vegetables every day."

Why? Because there is no "approved drug" made from capsaicin. It's just more proof that the medical profession doesn't want you well. They want you just sick enough that you have to take their overpriced and often dangerous medicines.

Think I'm exaggerating? Here's more from Hiley: ""This is interesting laboratory-based work on cells but we don't yet know how, if at all, it might help men with prostate cancer. Eventually, it may be possible to extract the capsaicin and make it available as a drug treatment. But for now... [insert quote from two paragraphs up].

The industry doesn't want you visiting your local herb shop for a $10 bottle of capsicum / capsaicin / pepper pills, or growing your own hot peppers in your garden. They want you hooked on $200 a month pharmaceuticals.

Prostate Cancer | Hot Pepper | Jalapeno
Habanero | Capsaicin | capsicum

Drug trials critically injure volunteers

Six men are in serious or critical condition today after suffering violent reactions on Monday while taking part in pharmaceutical drug research. They remain in the intensive care unit of Northwick Park Hospital in London, reports the BBC.

Drug-maker TeGenero AG yesterday told family members yesterday that a dog had died in preliminary tests, and today denied that report, says lawyer Ann Alexander, who represents one of the sickened men.

Ms Alexander added: "These are ordinary health people who have been involved in a clinical trial and unfortunately everything seems to have gone wrong. I think the most scary thing for the families... is that they don't know what the outcome is going to be."

TeGenero called the reactions to their drug TBN1412 "shocking developments." The drug is designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis and leukaemia. This is the first time it has been tested on humans.

All six volunteers had to be admitted to intensive care within hours of taking the drug. One patient was described as lifeless, unable to move, and puffed up "like the Elephant Man."

Demonization of kava kava continues

Do-gooders are now blaming unemployment and "lazyness" among aboriginal Australians on the use of the relaxing herb kava kava.

Though tribal leaders say alcohol and hard drugs are much more serious problems among the aborigines, reformers are using buzzwords such as "dangerous" and "dreadful problem" in discussing kava kava.

"The impact of kava on some communities is similar to alcohol and drugs," a government health adviser says. "People feel dispossessed, are unemployed, have a lack of education and look to substances to occupy themselves. It affects our young people mentally and physically."

Is he saying kava is the problem, or that the rampant depression over unemployment and lack of education lead people to use kava as a means of temporary escape? I guess they'd rather people face up to their horrible poverty with a clear mind.

Australia | Aborigines | Herbalism
Societal Problems | Kava | Alcohol Abuse

Red wine prevents tooth loss, gum disease

Drink up!

Wine is good for your teeth and gums, according to research scientists as University Laval in Quebec, Canada.

Red wine contains antioxidants known as polyphenols, which are already known to reduce cholesterol. It is now also believed polyphenols prevent gum disease by reducing inflammation that arises from periodontitis.

Periodontitis is a common cause of tooth loss because it affects the bones as well as the gums, loosening teeth.

Nutrition | Antioxidants | Polyphenols
Periodontitis | Inflammation | Wine

Aspirin-Plavix combination ineffective at preventing heart disease, stroke

A major study has found no benefit, and perhaps harm, from mixing the anti-clotting drug Plavix to aspirin.

Plavix alone has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of a second heart attack, so it was assumed adding asprin to the regimen would further decrease the chance of another heart attack.

A trial involving more than 15,000 high-risk patients showed there was no benefit from the combination, researchers report.

"The absence of a clear benefit, in terms of clinical outcome, coupled with the increased rate of bleeding... argues against the use of dual therapy in this patient population," wrote Dr. Marc Pfeffer of Harvard Medical School and Dr. John Jarcho of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Drugs | Medicine | Heart Disease
Aspirin Therapy | Plavix | Medical Research

Mad Cow found in Alabama

A cow from an Alabama farm that had tested "inconclusive" over the weeked for Mad Cow Disease was today confirmed positive for the illness.

"We received a positive result from a Western Blot Confirmatory test conducted at our USDA laboratories in Ames, Iowa, on samples from an animal that had tested inconclusive on a rapid screening test performed on Friday, March 10," said John Clifford, chief veterinary officer of the U.S. Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Wikipedia says Mad Cow Disease, or Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease of cattle, which infects by a mechanism that surprised biologists on its discovery in late 20th century. The disease is not spread by microbes as are most diseases, but by a protein. People can contract the disease; it is thought to be the cause of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), sometimes called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD), a human brain-wasting disease.

Transmission can occur when healthy animals consume tainted tissues from others with the disease. In the brain these proteins cause native cellular prion protein to deform into the infectious state which then goes on to deform further prion protein in an exponential cascade. These aggregate to form dense plaque fibers, which lead to the microscopic appearance of "holes" in the brain, degeneration of physical and mental abilities and ultimately death.

Mad Cow Disease | Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease | Alabama | Prion | Brain Disease

Medical Madness

• Scientists work on "trauma pill" to wipe out unpleasant memories
• Doctors say over-the-counter cough syrup useless
• U.S. emergency health care is ailing, says study
• New drug acts as marijuana in the brain
• 50% of British hospital patients suffer malnutrition
• Man tells how he "died" 32 times

One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• Flu pandemic "unlikely" this winter
China slaughters population to control flu outbreak
• The drip-method torture by bird-flu propaganda
• Eliminating bird flu fears
• Fears of global flu pandemic overplayed
• Bush's bird flu plan an assault on liberty, free enterprise
• Only one case worldwide suspected of being passed person-to-person; only 70 dead worldwide in two years
• 460 people sickened by nasal flu vaccine
• No evidence that wild bird migration spreads avian flu
• Doubts over bird flu tests raised; UK parrot did not have avian flu
• Experts unsure bird flu vaccine works, but "it's all we've got"
• Experimental "pre-pandemic" vaccine for avian flu to be available January, 2006

It's Only Natural

• Studies look to sea for cystic fibrosis treatment: Inhaled saline solution works where drugs failed, doctors say
• Curry fights prostate cancer
• Yogurt bacteria may soon fight HIV
• Revealed: Vitamin D prevents cancer
• More vitamin D linked to better lung health
• Coffee stimulates short-term memory

The Politics of Health

• Colombia plans law to require teenagers to carry condoms
• Whole Foods Markets switching to all wind power in U.S.
• LA's tap water supplier pays $31,160 to drink bottled brand
• Expert says bioterrorism dangers overstated

Women's Health

• "The Pill" causes reduction in women's sex drive
• Are women jogging their way to saggy breasts?
• Drinking tea cuts ovarian cancer risk
• Three million girls undergo female genital cutting every year
• Pregnant women warned to avoid Paxil; may cause birth defects

The Needle and the Damage Done

• Throw out cough syrup, get a vaccination, physicians recommend
• Russian researchers making flu vaccine pill