Blog archives for reference

Apologies if some of the links in these blog archives are no longer current.

The importance of enough sleep

This study in older men regarding new onset of ("incident") high blood pressure, is applicable to all ages and most health conditions.
We repair our bodies during sleep.
Sleep before midnight is very valuable.
Worth making it a priority.

http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/58/4/596.abstract

On vitamin D 3 and dementia

Beta amyloid accumulates in the Alzheimer dementia affected brain, doesn't do it any good.
The healthy brain's macrophage (big eater) cells gobble it up. This process, deficient in AD, is apparently restored by cholecalciferol.
Yet another good reason to get out in the sun.
See 5th abstract down, pp 51-62, at..

http://www.j-alz.com/issues/29/vol29-1.html

Information you'll probably never need

Desperate situations may require desperate measures, but these ones are easy.
Doses of 1gm vitamin C, 300mg alpha lipoic acid, 200mg vitamin E and 200mcg Selenium all twice a day, are suggested as part of emergency radiation protection.
The link below is to an interesting 5.1MB pdf, but above is the basic information.

http://www.doctoryourself.com/Radiation_VitC.pptx.pdf

Good for Californians, good for everyone everywhere.

Local volunteers and global donors needed, to support legislation just to know what you're eating.
Incredible, isn't it, that food labelling is presently so slack, hiding GMO ingredients.
This has to change.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/05/01/genetically-engineered-foods.aspx?e_cid=20120501_DNL_art_2


Too much of a good thing

American soils have plenty of selenium. Australian soils are short of it. Our food chain follows.
The rule that supplementation will confer benefit only if intake of a nutrient is inadequate, while definitely not universal, appears to apply to Selenium.
What level is adequate? There's the rub¹. RDAs are worked out from existing knowledge with a prudential margin. They're likely to be way behind the latest information, as with any consensus position.
1. http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-the3.htm

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2961452-9/abstract

Menstrual period pain and vitamin D

A small number of women involved and only a short time of observation. No information as to when and whether a repeat dose might be useful. Lots of problems not answered by this study.
HOWEVER, where there's smoke there's fire.
Could end up being useful.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/GeneralOBGYN/31388

(It was) Fairtrade Fortnight in Oz, how about USA?

Enjoying your coffee or cocoa?
Any idea where it was sourced, or who got their income from growing it?
Here's an organization devoted to justice in that area, having their annual publicity fortnight.
Maybe check them out.

http://www.fairtrade.org.nz/

Showing your AGE affected DNA?

Sugar sticks to things, including our DNA.
More sugar, more advanced glycation endproducts, more trouble.
Note on lines 8-9 of the abstract below, the healthy volunteers with more vitamin B6 had less affected DNA.
More vitamins, less trouble.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22231921

Rotate between different classes of antibiotics.

Your resident bacteria have increased rates of resistance to an antibiotic, for up to 12 months after a course of any of that class of antibiotic.
The greater the number or duration of antibiotic courses prescribed in the previous 12 months, the greater the chance of this.
Best to ask what you can do other than take antibiotic, and if you need repeated courses ask if they can rotate between different types.

http://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c2096

Cannabis relieves pain, could be available.

This is a relatively safe drug, here shown to be effective in people with chronic pain already on opioids.
The hemp plant has lots of other uses as well. Surely it is possible to grow it in secure establishments.
It deserves serious consideration.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22048225

Another excellent resource - on vitamin D

If you've any health concerns, there may be something here for you.
The 2000 IU/day dose for avoiding influenza is just 2 capsules. If you search the site with "dose" they have lots of suggested doses per condition.They want to see levels steady throughout the year, without rapid fluctuations.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health-conditions/

Best 4 indicators of early cognitive decline.

http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_10_signs_of_alzheimers.asp has good info. The best 4 in recent research are under results in the abstract on page 2 of the paper below.
Now is the time to introduce comprehensive nutritional treatment. Vitamin E for example, consists of eight substances (alpha-, beta-, gamma, and delta-tocopherol; alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocotrienol.) Alpha tocopherol alone has been inconsistent, probably as it reduces absorption of dietary gamma T.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2318-12-3.pdf

Or your lower back? Epidural injections can help here.

The abstract, introduction and discussion parts of this paper will give you a lot of the information.
People with facet joint pain or sciatica were excluded, leaving those who had pain possibly from discs.
Caudal injections helped more than half of these people with chronic low back pain which had resisted previous treatments.

http://www.painphysicianjournal.com/2011/january/2011;14;25-36.pdf

Sore neck? Read on

"No important differences in pain were found between SMT and HEA at any time point."
Spinal manipulation therapy and home exercises were equally effective and both better than just swallowing pills.
Jaw problems and low blood sugar are also worth considering as possible aggravating factors.

http://www.annals.org/content/156/1_Part_1/I-30.full

Maybe better to leave our germs alone

Paraben antiseptics are also weak oestrogens.
In breast tissue they were found more near the armpit, probably from underarm deodorants. That's where more breast cancers are found, so questions are being asked about a possible connection.
Probably better to avoiod them.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jat.1786/abstract

Raw (milk) action

Some judge has denied people have the right to consume the milk from their own cow.
Something is distinctly wrong in the state of Wisconsin, and apparently in most of North America.
Please consider helping Support Michael Schmidt.

http://www.hfnn.ca/index.php?showArticle=18653

The Raw Milk Institute

This won't be news for you if you subscribe to Dr. Mercola's newsletter.
Perfectly good food, if properly produced and handled. Should be legal everywhere.
Worth some effort to ensure this.

http://rawmilkinstitute.net

Latest dampener on prostate screening.

Half of the men in the control arm did have at least one PSA test. This would reduce but not eliminate any benefit in the active arm of this study.
About prostate cancer screening, the jury is still out, but any benefit is very likely to be small and counterbalanced by bad effects.

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/gca?submit=Get+All+Checked+Abstracts&gca=jnci%3Bdjr500v1

Electronic cigarettes apparently acceptable

In this Italian study, 22 of 40 volunteers who didn't want to stop smoking, actually did end up reducing it.
"Participants would enthusiastically recommend the e-Cigarette to friends or relatives who wanted to stop/reduce smoking."
The full study report is here...

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/786/abstract

Dangers of self diagnosis.

These people probably had some health concern for them to consider taking supplements.
Their efforts were off the mark sufficiently often for whatever they had wrong to catch up with them and influence the statistics.
Iron deficiency in women after their menopause, needs investigation for gastro-oesophageal bleeding.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21987192

More from New Zealand on cervical dysplasia

From the land where the Cartwright Commission of Inquiry¹ in 1988 dealt with unethical research on this subject, new evidence emerges.
CIN 2 resolved without treatment in 2/3rds of the young women whose doctors considered delay was safe. None of them got cancer of the cervix.
Folate isn't enough² but I wonder if that figure would have been higher if comprehensive nutritional advice had been given.

1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartwright_Inquiry#Green_experiments
2.http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/4/2/155.short

http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378%2811%2900814-3/abstract

Men and fitness, chickens and eggs.

Middle aged men whose fitness increased, subsequently died less during this study. Increased fitness and death were inversely related.
Perhaps the men with (eventually) lethal diseases were less able to get fit.
Association doesn't prove cause and effect.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/124/23/2483.abstract

NRDC taking on the FDA on BPA

Don't you just love acronyms.
The National Resources Defense Council sounds like a worthy cause. They have forced the government to do their duty, clearly something which wasn't going to happen any time soon.
While on that subject, if you're not already an avaaz petitioner consider looking at them at http://www.avaaz.org/en/

http://www.nrdc.org/media/2011/111207.asp

A Blog about a blogger.

I was just asked to renew my subscription to the HealingWell Newsletter, and had a look at Peter's blog.
You may like to do likewise.
Good guy.

http://blog.healingwell.com/2011/11/3-healthy-lessons-i-learned-at.html

Science proves yoga benefits

Shreelaxmi Hegde and co-workers have shown what was always obvious. Yoga helps people.
The malondialdehyde is a nasty from oxidative damage of polyunsaturated oils. If you take a supplement of the latter, it's a good idea to also supplement with vitamin E to protect the oil from oxidation.
Vitamin E is recycled by vitamin C, and that in turn by glutathione and that finally by lipoic acid. These antioxidants are team players.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/10/2208.abstract

Hooray for the Raw Milk Freedom Riders

See also http://rawmilkfreedomriders.wordpress.com/home/
Good stuff if you can get your hands on it.

http://www.hfnn.ca/index.php?showArticle=18184

Interested in your germs?

This is pretty readable and very interesting. We've about 100 trillion germs apiece and they obviously have a large role in our health.
If you are buying a probiotic, look for one with a lot of different organisms rather than just one or two.
Feed them well. They like fruit and vegetables.

http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.119-a340

Insecticide madness - dementia actually

Xenobiotics abound - chemicals foreign to us and often disagreeable. Deltamethrin is supposed to be one of the safest insecticides, but rat brain obviously doesn't like it.
The Nrf2 protein it increases is to protect the brain, and is even touted as a treatment for human neurodegenerative dieases.
See http://www.news.wisc.edu/10564, which is a bit more interesting than the reference below...
Use mechanical methods against insects whenever possible.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20137388

Another call to action.

Hi everyone,

I hope you don’t mind receiving this e-mail. I am sending it to everyone in my e-mail address book and to anyone I think can help Dr. Burzynski fight the injustice he has endured in order to bring the world effective cancer treatments. The Texas Medical Board and the FDA in the USA have taken Dr. Burzynski to the highest court in the land in order to stop him curing people of some of the most aggressive cancers such as Glioblastoma Multiforma using non-toxic antineoplastons. I viewed the Dr. Burzynski movie; a documentary movie about Dr. Burzynski’s 40 years of research and success with cancer treatment and about the corruption at the highest level of government to stop this noble doctor from saving lives and bringing the world his amazing treatments. The legal action taken against him is unprecedented, which only confirms that they are seriously threatened by this man’s discoveries. Apparently, the FDA policy is that they would not approve a cancer treatment from an individual, it has to be a major pharmaceutical company, for obvious financial reasons.

While they were bleeding Dr. Burzynski financially through legal action, they stole his patents, raided his hospital and stole patient files and research files. Now they are at it again, this time stopping him from using FDA approved drugs off label which when used in combinations appropriate to the genetic makeup of the person and their cancer cells, amazing success was achieved, with rapid shrinkage of tumours. I urge you all to watch and buy the Burzynski movie and share this information with your friends. All funds raised go towards research and to pay for legal expenses. Without our help, Dr. Burzynski could lose his licence, his hospital and all future research will be halted. The world would have to wait a long time for an effective cancer treatment to be developed. Please do not ignore this call for help!

Kind regards,Miryana Baran ( who relayed the message from Renee TrimbleDirector, Public RelationsBurzynski Clinic9432 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas 77055(713) 335-5697)

ps: This story has so far had a happy (hopefully) ending -see updated note under the video.

Also see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCrsn8ziGWU

https://www.burzynskimovie.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126

Antioxidants work in teams

Fatty liver is the most common liver disease in the world, affecting 20% of people in USA.
In this condition vitamin E plus alpha lipoic acid was better than either alone (combined with a diet.)
Very refreshing to see this sort of work being done in mainstream medicine.

http://download.abstractcentral.com/ACG2011/proofs/38.html

Curing your new diabetes rapidly

These people had type 2 diabetes for less than 4 years, but lost it in a week!
The treatment was a 600kcal per day diet. Not an easy ask, but it shows it can be done.
An excellent way to start if just diagnosed with diabetes.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21656330

Vitamin D and breast cancer prevention

Carole Baggerly talking to Dr. Mercola about an all too frequent scenario - her own.
Enough vitamin D and breast cancer down to 50%!!
It's enough to bring a tear to one's eye.

http://www.grassrootshealth.net/

And I like to nag or harp, on my soapbox

Hale Dwoskin has some nice little exercises here, for helping one to "get connected."
I'd like to push once again for people to learn about our banking system and credible alternatives, at Paul Grignon's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkc3Bx2lmy0 video.
We need more than just protest.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hale-dwoskin/occupy-wall-street-lessons_b_1016350.html

And I like Ted too

You probably know him already. My son just introduced us.
This post is just in case, like me, you need new horizons opening up to wile away the (otherwise boring) hours.
I dream (when I have a minute.)

http://www.ted.com/pages/about

I like Jamie Oliver

Adolescent nutrition is an extremely important cause. http://www.jamieoliver.com/school-dinners is recommended reading.
The reference below is work showing diet and mental health go hand in hand. This is not new information. The Alexander Schauss book "Diet, Crime and Delinquency" was written in 1981.
Action is happening now.
Please consider getting behind it.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0024805

How to give vitamins a bad name

In the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention "SELECT" Trial, 400 IU of alpha tocopheryl caused a small increase in prostate cancer.
Natural vitamin E is a mixture of different tocopherols. The absorption of important dietary gamma tocopherol was probably inhibited by the alpha tocopherol dose.
Vitamin E plus selenium didn't cause a definite increase in prostate cancer, and is the combination recommended anyway. Vitamin E should always be taken as natural mixed tocopherols.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/306/14/1549.short

Good food for the next generation

The National Birth Defects Prevention Study interviewed women about their diets before and during pregnancy.
The Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) and the Diet Quality Index (DQI) were calculated.
Anencephaly, spina bifida and cleft lip were all associated with poor diet.

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/archpediatrics.2011.185

Work for all ages together

These young people are acting for everyone, including our children's children.
Our present world systems and habits are far from ideal. http://www.occupytogether.org/ and http://www.moneyasdebt.net/ are good places to start.
There's no time like the present.This still applies no matter how far in the future you are reading this blog archive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/25/occupy-wall-street-protest?fb=optOut

Reassurance for us geriatrics

"The complaint of forgetting things from one second to the next, generally considered part of normal aging, was not associated with cognitive impairment."
I know. Most of you young fry couldn't care less.
Well, I personally was very happy to hear this.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03543.x/abstract

Listeriosis information I didn't know

"Unlike other many other kinds of food-borne pathogens, listeria bacteria can continue to grow despite the cold temperatures of a refrigerator."
The time between when you consume it and when you get sick is longer than it is for many other bacteria, so people may continue to develop illness days or weeks after eating the contaminated food.

http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/index.html

Blame the germs at all costs.

Very little concession to host factors in bacterial vaginosis, in this article.
"Professor Bradshaw said cure rates for bacterial vaginosis were “dismal”, with her previous research showing almost 60% of women had the condition again within 12 months of treatment."
Maybe something to do with their immune system?

http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/articles/B1/0C072EB1.asp

Long chain fatty acids for long life.

Military evidence - soldiers dying of suicide had less DHA. This omega 3 oil is essential for our brain structure and function and is hard to come by.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid#Plant_sources has lots of info.
Emulate a whale today.

http://article.psychiatrist.com/dao_1-login.asp?ID=10007556&RSID=88506320850075

Kids in rural areas in Europe and raw milk

They had less hay fever and asthma, than kids on boiled milk.
Healthy cows produce good food, for calves and human kids.
Organic or biodynamic farms are likely to have healthy cows.

http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749%2811%2901234-6/abstract

From my daughter's Facebook friends

"A study found that an average Australian walks about 1440km a year. Australians drank on average 93.4 litres of alcohol a year. That means that on average, Australians get about 15.4km to the litre. Makes you damned proud to be an Australian."

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/staff/magi/personal/humour/General_Audience/The%20Affluence%20of%20Incohol.html

Interesting reading on neuroscience

Something out of the ordinary, may have an article of interest and not too technical.
16 page pdf, 12.4MB
Hope you enjoy.

http://www.medical-neurosciences.de/fileadmin/user_upload/microsites/studiengaenge/neurosciences/cns-2011-v4i3.pdf

RED ALERT: FDA Set to Ban Your Supplements

I apologise for harping, but Dr. Mercola has a convenient draft letter at the foot of his article.
Massive public outcry is very simple these days. Avaaz.org The World in Action, is a wonderful example.
Let's tell them.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/13/fda-to-ban-new-supplements-and-classify-them-like-food-preservatives.aspx?e_cid=20110913_DNL_art_1

Have you ever met a tight arsed chocaholic?

People in these studies who ate chocolate got less coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.
Probably because they were more laid back, but it sounds as though eating chocolate did no harm either.
Good news.

http://www.ntkinstitute.org/news/content.nsf/NTKPaperFrameSet?OpenForm&pp=1&id=FCEE635CDD28F05285257531001B38E8&newsid=852576140048867C852578FE0028B381&locref=ntkwatch&u=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=21875885

Something for Australians

And Figians.
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Enterprises is owned by a couple of very good friends, who are absolutely honest and ethical.
They are also very innovative, and the SAFE Carbon Program is about helping farmers improve the soil. Soil organic matter, of which 58% is carbon, is one one any nation's most important natural resources.

http://www.safe.com.au/

Fight the good fight.

It's no fanciful idea. The regulatory authorities really are actively working all the time, against anything likely to reduce pharmaceutical company profits.
Everyone can help protect natural treatments. Just contact your politician directly and sign petitions.

http://www.naturalnews.com/033482_FDA_dietary_supplements.html

If physical exercise were a drug, it would be hitting the headlines.

This quote related to cancer treatment, is right on the money.
Dr. Josef Issels is dear to my heart, having saved a good friend who was dying of melanoma. He was way ahead of his time in many ways, including in recommending exercise. People would be brought to his clinic on stretchers and a few weeks later would be climbing the hills near the Ringberg Clinic.
Gordon Thomas co-produced the film "Go And Climb A Mountain" for the BBC after they investigated the Issels Clinic results. Pressure should be put on the BBC to dig it out of the archives and put it up on the net.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14417084

Modified citrus pectin, by EcoNugenics, worth a look

This study is in vitro, in a laboratory rather than an intact human.
Nevertheless, it is impressive stuff.
One would need to have all the nutrients in place, to get the most advantage. Cars without oil don't respond well to a foot on the accelerator.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/11/59

We each have unique chemistry

This was brought home forcibly to the great Professor Roger J. Williams, when he had a very nasty "idiosyncratic" reaction to morphine.
The day will come when such unpleasant and dangerous reactions to drugs will be predictable and avoidable, through laboratory tests using one's own cells.
Even more importantly, unique requirements for greater than normal amounts of individual nutrient substances, can be detected with the same tests.
Search "SpectraCell Laboratories."

http://bioinst.cm.utexas.edu/Nutrition_Clinic.pdf

The perfect drug - another contender

PPIs join NSAIDs and benzodiazepines in the list of drugs which cause or worsen the very disease they are meant to treat.
Good for buisness.

http://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-50

Fry those dust mites

Can you leave a car closed up in the sun all day?
This will heat sterilize pillows and duvets (doonas) easily and cheaply.
These researchers did the whole house, with good effect on asthma. The online pdf has all the details.

http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749%2801%2920911-7/abstract

Smart Indians

They use loads of tumeric in curries.
They don't spend as much of their time in cars and buildings either, probably.
Help yourself today, to prevent future Alzheimers.

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-study-finds-vitamin-d-may-94903.aspx

It was Fluoride Awareness Week (when this entry was written).

I know this is a well worn theme in this blog, but just in case you need convincing...
Dr. Susheela is very well qualified to speak on the subject. She makes a lot of sense.
If you get an upset tummy or are weak and tired, a urinary fluoride level over 1mg/litre would make removal of the source of fluoride a worthwhile therapeutic trial.

http://www.shiatv.net/view_video.php?viewkey=58573df0f94a372dca9d

Some interesting reading on toxicity and beyond

Despite the protestations, hormesis is the same as homeopathy (in low potencies.)
It reminds me of John Ott's work on the benefits of UV/full spectrum light. UV was a dirty word for a long time, now being restored to respectability on account of vitamin D.
U-shaped curves everywhere.

http://gettingstronger.org/hormesis/

Latest dampener on mammography

The second research article, full text available free. This quote is from their conclusions at the end.

“Our study adds further population data to the evidence of studies that have used various designs and found that mammographic screening by itself has little detectable impact on mortality due to breast cancer,”

http://www.bmj.com/sevendays?rangedays=

Growing vegetables

This woman is out there doing it. She has raised some eyebrows, copped some flack.
Surreptitious vegetable gardening, mixed in with your flowers, won't get unwanted attention. It can look good.
Why waste a chance to enjoy tasty and nutritious home grown produce.

http://oakparkhatesveggies.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/short-but-not-so-sweet/

Something I pay for, happily.

Most of my reading is from free-to-web sources, but this one is worth spending a little money on.
This month the article is on back pain, and their approach is excellent.

http://naturalhealthdossier.com/

Very good review of acne - gut - brain connections

For acne, I think food intolerance and zinc deficiency first.
This full article is free, and is an excellent read, of general interest quite apart from acne.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038963/

Whey protein for weight loss

200 lb people got 200 extra calories, lost 2 lb, in this experiment.
Overconsumptive undernutrition - big words, makes big people. If we aren't getting the vitamins, minerals and other nutritional substances we need, our body says "keep eating until you do."
Quality of food is really important. Teaching one's children how to cook at home, would be a good start.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/early/2011/06/15/jn.111.139840.abstract

Resveratrol accolade

Enjoying red wine gives a little and Kennedy et al gave 250 and 500mg doses. They showed increased blood flow in the frontal cortex of the brain.
Resveratrol reduces inflammation, mimics calorie restriction effects on metabolism, has anti cancer effects and has multiple beneficial effects on metabolic syndrome. - It appears to be an all round good guy.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/91/6/1590.full

Lactoferrin supplements can be useful

This bactericidal and immune modulating substance is secreted in milk, tears, saliva, pancreatic juice, etc.
It is also released from white blood cells.
It helped the mice and could help you. One human application has been in helping eradicate Helicobactor pylori.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19125673

Where there's smoke...

Miller and Goldman have created quite a flurry with their correlation of immunization and infant mortality, which went the wrong way.
Maybe a time for non-action, and definitely for better nutrition.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21543527

One example of a generally valuable action.

People with type 2 diabetes aren't alone in having compromised anti-oxidant status.
Just about any chronic condition is likely to benefit, as did these people with diabetic eye damage.
In these toxic times, anti-oxidant supplementation is good insurance.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21218388

A little light reading on tomatoes

An "archive of tomato samples unique in California and perhaps the world" was analyzed for conventional v. organic difference.
Organic farming methods produced higher levels of quercetin and kaempferol, flavonoids useful for our health.
Eat organic, if you can.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/jf070344%2B

Our banking system is bringing us down.

Misunderstood, very dangerous and totally unnecessary.
Paul Grignon's cartoons explain the system, its defects and possible solutions. It's vitally important to understand, so we can all put appropriate pressure on our elected representatives in government.
Otherwise we're in for trouble.

http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

Ground breaking research on heart disease

Our heart can heal.
This probably seems self evident, but it has been assumed that death and scarring are the only thing possible for the bit of muscle which dies in a heart attack.
Maybe not.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10188.html

I'm not paronoid, but read on...

I'm appalled.
This latest post by Dr. Mercola on the trials and tribulations of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski really shows up the medical establishment in an extremely bad light.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/11/burzynski-the-movie.aspx

A watery tale - very interesting

Believe it or not, it is reasonably hard to take pure water into our body.
That doesn't mean the chemicalized stuff from an average tap is better. This is not suggesting chlorination, fluoridation and the like are healthy.
A tiny bit of coffee is a simple way to make water easier to absorb, but read on...

http://www.hydration.net.au/page/shop/info_page/a/infopage_id/e/28/a/infopage_parent_id/e/26

Self tests re sleepiness, sleep apnoea

Most people with sleep apnoea don't know they have it or don't know how important it is in their health problems.
Do you catch up with a sleep-in on weekends? Are you trying to do too much?
Maybe decide on priorities and prune inessentials, get more sleep.

http://www.umm.edu/sleep/epworth_sleep.htm

The heart's code - just what is it?

Paul Pearsall's book is derived from the experiences of heart transplants recipients.
Alex Loyd, N.D., Ph.D., and Dr. Ben Johnson, MD, DO, NMD are about reprogramming one's heart of hearts - what we really believe, rightly or wrongly.
I've only just bought "The Healing codes" so as yet cannot speak from my own experience, but their free "heart issues finder" is an interesting exercise.
It seems a bit like "A Course in Miracles" and judging from the testimonials, is a good journey.

http://thehealingcodes.com/

Putting cholesterol in its place

Apolipoprotein (apo) B is more use, but hardly ever measured because statin drugs (ostensibly for cholesterol lowering) must be pushed.
Inter-cellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1 and the like are also worth looking at. See for example http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11726042

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16476102

Gin soaked (golden) raisins for arthritis

Just search gin soaked raisins if you can't watch videos on line.
Millie covers 9 golden raisins with gin, leaves soaking for a week and has a teaspoon a day. One of my patients has found good relief with it.
My favorite is cumquats, sugar and cheap brandy, left for a year or more. I'm not claiming any health benefits and you need to have a sweet tooth to enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK9rF8D8yS8

Lets hear it for freedom from ANY religious dogma

Christian, Muslim, whatever.
I'm not an atheist. I'm able to conceive that creation by a higher intelligence and Darwinian evolution can coexist. Love for each other is for me the highest religion.
Hanging on my wall is the following...

"To welcome another with love and affection is the highest religion.
To find God in your own heart is to experience the highest religious truth.
And to carry that awareness with you seeing the same divinity in others is to manifest it in your daily life."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zm9saD19bY&feature=digest

Eat fat, get lean. Sweet carbohydrates are fattening.

Refined carbohydrates also cause heart disease.
Carbs increase insulin, which increases fat accumulation.
This is a long lecture, but it is presented as 10 short sequential videos, making it easy to watch in convenient blocks.
It is very good.

http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/health-and-lifestyle/health-professionals/news-and-events.aspx

Swedish results for immediate prostate cancer surgery

They found 25 fewer prostate cancer deaths after an average of 12.8 years, in 347 men - compared to initially waiting to see what happened.
This was in cancers considered to be the least severe.
The benefit was confined to men under 65, and in them 7 needed to have surgery for 1 extra survival.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1011967

Fluoridation of drinking water - poisonous, little value

"When it comes to fluoridating drinking water, Ontario and Quebec couldn't be further apart. Ontario has the country's highest rate of adding the tooth-enamel-strengthening chemical into municipal supplies, while Quebec has one of the lowest, with practically no one drinking fluoridated water.

But surprisingly, the two provinces have very little difference in tooth-decay rates, a finding that is likely to intensify the ongoing controversy over the practice of adding fluoride to water as a public health measure."

For the full story, see the reference below...

http://www.hfnn.ca/index.php?showArticle=16784

Feed your germs well

Prebiotics are feed for the friendly germs ideally inhabiting our bowel (some of the 100 trillion there.)
Breast milk supples them automatically, being 9% prebiotic oligosaccharides. The study below showed it's worth supplementing with them otherwise - and don't stop after infancy.
Good bowel germs are essential to good health.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/138/6/1091.short
See also the intestinal flora page of this site.

IQ deficits in school-age children

Articles 3-5 in this issue, together pointing the finger at pregnancy exposure to organophosphate pesticides.
If you can't peel it, wash it - and not just a quick dowse under the tap, but with detergent and a scrubber.
Agricultural sprays aren't designed to come off fruit in the next shower of rain.
Insects in the home can be hunted with a vacuum cleaner rather than sprayed.

http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/aop.action?catName=Ahead%20of%20Print

Exercise benefit in breast cancer

From the famous Women's Health Initiative study of postmenopausal women, a definite benefit of regular exercise even if started after diagnosis.
By the way, this study was stopped early because of progestogen increasing breast cancer, not oestrogen. Progestins are synthetic progesterone look-alikes, and are bad news.
Oestrogen alone actually reduces the risk of breast cancer

http://cancerprevention.aacrjournals.org/content/4/4/522.abstract

Electromagnetic smog – safe?

"Regarding long-term effects (of mobile phone transmission towers at some distance,) data are scarce and the evidence for the absence of long-term effects is limited. Moreover, very little information on effects in children and adolescents is available and the question of potential risk for these age groups remains unresolved.

Where data are scarce, the absence of evidence of harm should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence that no harm exists."

Quote WHO 2010.

A prudent attitude to electromagnetic field exposure is eminently sensible. If a clock is needed in a bedroom, consider battery or mechanical rather than mains powered. Wi fi transmitter devices can usually be unplugged when not in use. Remove plugs from electric sockets whenever it is convenient.

http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/12/09-071852/en/index.html

Clinical treatment guidelines - often very misleading

16% of 25 million people who have diabetes in the United States, have damaged nerves from it - a big problem.
4 years work, assessing 2200 medical articles on painful diabetic neuropathy, eventually using 79 of them, to produce guidelines for doctors on its treatment - a big job.
Pregabalin got level A rating, based on at least 2 positive studies where at least 80% of the people in the study completed it.
Sounds good, but then we read "The level of evidence is not driven by the effect size of the drug... pregabalin has a small effect.. but still should be offered if clinically appropriate."
So much for using guidelines.

http://www.neurology.org/content/early/2011/04/08/WNL.0b013e3182166ebe.abstract

Earthing v. leading an insulated life

Have you ever been zapped by a car as you alighted? Static electricity at work.
Getting ones shoes off and reconnecting with the ground, even if just concrete, is proposed as important for health.
Sounds reasonable.

http://www.earthinginstitute.net/index.php

AGEs are worth avoiding

People with 50+ yrs type 1 diabetes and high plasma concentration of 2 advanced glycation end-products — carboxyethyl-lysine and pentosidine — were apparently 7 times more likely to have complications than those with lower levels.(from Medscape review)
This was despite good sugar control, and it probably applies to everyone.
Perhaps look into AGE blockers such as the Lypospheric ones (see http://www.livonlabs.com)

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/4/968.full

Pear shaped actually no better.

Central "apple-shaped" obesity, with high waist-to-hip circumference ratio, was thought to be more dangerous than the above.
Not so, apparently.
BMI,(weight divided by height squared) was a more reproducible measurement than any using a tape around the middle.
Excess fat anywhere, increases other risk factors - hypertension, diabetes, lipid abnormalities and inflammation.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2811%2960105-0/abstract

Biodiversity importance in times of change

Mark Tully of the Blue Hills Poultry Stud in Queensland, had 200 breeds of chooks, some quite rare.
That was before January 10th, when his property was flooded.
No one can know which breeds will fare better in future conditions. The more variety we maintain the more secure our future.
If you have the capacity, consider having a rare breed of some domestic animal. 190 have become extinct in the last 15 years alone, and another 1500 are currently on the brink of extinction.

http://freespace.virgin.net/a.wood/Poultry.html

Potassium accolade, even if it's a surrogate.

More potassium, 20% less strokes, but why?
"More fruits and vegetables, in particular those that are very rich in potassium--including bananas, tomatoes, oranges, apricots, and most legumes--is probably best", says Dr Pasquale Strazzullo of the University of Naples. "The most practical advice we can give is that people should have five or six servings of fruit and vegetables a day,"
Maybe not if kidney disease or some medications - would need to check.

http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/abstract/57/10/1210

Slow down, smell roses, enjoy good old food

And protect the future food supply from dangerous biotech monopoly.
Genetically engineered everything is the way it's heading, with no regard for unknowable long term consequences on our health.
Even if you can't grow it, can you eat it?

http://www.slowfood.com/

The "evidence base" in medicine is shaky

Evidence based medicine would be very nice, if the "evidence" were believable.
Unfortunately is isn't. Most studies are paid for by drug companies, people don't get negative studies published easily, and here the peer review process has been shown to be dodgy.

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/170/21/1934?etoc

You've caught the flu - have you?

"Modest accuracy" but nothing to help tell just how accurate, in the medical literature.
Sudden fever and cough and your doctors educated guess, don't have much to back them up.
There are a number of viruses responsible for "flu like" illness, as there are for common colds - not just influenza a and b.

http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/content/abstract/9/1/69

Vitamin C for your 2-4 "common" colds per annum

You've about 200 choices of virus, so yet another vaccine is mercifully unlikely.
In this survey of the medical literature, vitamin C came out tops for prevention. Echinacea purpurea was supported best for treatment.
Vitamin C used intravenously is just in another class altogether. I use it mainly for people with more serious virus infections such as glandular fever and hepatitis.

http://www.cfp.ca/cgi/content/abstract/57/1/31

See also the intravenous vit C page on this holistic doc site.

Dr. Mark's Blog is very interesting

This 1 hour video of Dr. Gerald Pollack's lecture on Water, Energy, and Life gets very practical at the end - fascinating stuff.
Dr. Mark Sircus' blog is free. The lecture on the pyramids is another good one, and quite short.

http://blog.imva.info/medicine/secrets-life

The great salt furphy exposed

Traded and valued for millenia, demonized by modern medicine for the sake of the 10% of the population who are salt sensitive, now exonerated.
People in this study with type 2 diabetes, lived longer the more salt they consumed.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2011/02/01/dc10-1723.short?rss=1
See also http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/feb15/salt/smith.html

Cochrane collaboration - statin controversy

"There was evidence of selective reporting of outcomes, failure to report adverse events and inclusion of people with cardiovascular disease."
These in drug trials of statins in supposedly primary prevention.
The Cochrane collaboration is a very good place to look for answers to medical questions. Their volunteer reviewers are genuinely independant, and in this review it shows. They concluded that low risk individuals will spend a lot of money for very little if any benefit.
See http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004816/frame.html

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/cardiovascular-risk.html

Homeopathy OK - Nobel Prize Winner Luc Montagnier

The Health Freedom News Network has just published a really good explanation of homeopathy.
They have a lot of links to references.
It is a very good resource, as well as the interesting story about Dr Montagnier, the French virologist who won the Nobel Prize in 2008 for discovering the AIDS virus.
Wikipedia has an interesting article on Dr. Montagnier, as well.

http://www.hfnn.ca/index.php?showArticle=16018

Sniffer dogs pick bowel cancer

Poor dogs. What a job!
I assume they're well rewarded, and they do pick it accurately, even in early stages.
Researchers are already thinking of inventing a machine to do breath tests for bowel cancer, and put the dogs out of a job, however.

http://gut.bmj.com/content/early/2011/01/17/gut.2010.218305.full

Sam Queen and designed2win.com

This guy is very very good. He is a creative lateral thinker and has put a lot of things together which make sense.
Having a checkup through the Institute for Health Realities can be good value for money.

http://designed2win.com/why.html

Antioxidants help male infertility, and possibly you

Zinc and magnesium were also included apparently, for these men. The treated couples had over 4 times the chance of success.
It's a wake up call to everyone.
Get into those red, orange, purple, yellow and of course green vegetables, fruits and berries.

http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab007411.html

Save the honey bee ( and humanity.)

Earthworms and bees - tireless unpaid labourers, hard to replace, vital to our survival.
Please read up on "colony collapse" but don't swallow the idea that it is just due to some infection or other. It is a very new phenomenon and man made.
Please consider signing this petition. (if it is still collecting signatures)

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/?cl=901285057&v=8134

Pesticides and herbicides also poison humans

Years ago, Dr. C J M van Tiggelen was struck by the frequency of pre-senile dementia in Gippsland farmers who typically were very careless when using blackberry sprays.
Now French farm workers exposed to pesticides are showing cognitive decline.
Using such things, be very careful.

http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2010/10/18/oem.2009.047811.abstract

Flu shots all round?

34 studies in 34,000 healthy 16-65 year olds. 1-3 chances in 100, of it helping, depending on whether the prevalent virus strains matched expectations. No fewer days off work nor less complications.
Overall, pretty useless, unless you want a sore arm.

http://www.cochranejournalclub.com/vaccines-for-preventing-influenza-clinical/

Porphyrin metabolism hiccups

A patient asked for my opinion on an article in the latest Nexus magazine, and showed up yet another area of profound ignorance on my part.
If you've unexplained symptoms, this may end up being a useful area to look at.

http://www.healthcallsus.net/hh_porphyria.html

Blessed be, all who read this
blog archives - Christmas 2010

Old sol, rainfall and 6 inches of topsoil - all life on earth depends on them. The sun appearing to stand still at the "solstice," was revered by the ancients.
Many gods were considered born at this time. Subscribing to any religious faith or not, it's a wonderful time to connect to the source of our physical being.

http://tribes.tribe.net/solarmythologynastrotheology

Laryngeal reflux - not this Christmas please

Laryngeal reflux symptoms include an urge to clear the throat, sore throat, hoarseness, cough and sensation of something stuck in the throat.
This can be without obvious burning up behind your breastbone.
Zinc deficiency may be the cause. The taste test for this is reasonably accurate. See also the page on zinc metabolism.
By the way, it's still raining here.

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/acid-reflux.html

Reading for a wintery day - bee pollen benefits

It's supposed to summer in Australia, but today is cold and wet.
Half way down this excellent read on bee pollen, "cernilton" is mentioned as very good for "preventing and reducing common virus infections and related infectious conditions (due to its interferon activity)."
If you have prostate problems, it might help that too.

http://www.alternativescentral.com/beepollen.htm

It's hardly ever too late - start exercising now

The Otago exercise program of strength and balance training has the runs on the board.
This was in people with average age 81.
Much better to start earlier. Why not now?

http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/39/6/681.abstract

Non event - saturated fat and cardiovascular disease

It's been a sacred cow that saturated fats are bad - but no longer.
21 studies, of over 300,000 people, with over 11,000 cardiovascular illnesses, and no association found with saturated fat intake.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20071648?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=2

Animal exploitation v. "all my relatives"

In a sweat lodge, one addresses "all my relatives," meaning humans, animals, rocks and trees - the lot.
One of the health newsletters has just promoted vitamin K2 for cardiovascular and bone health. Eggs are a good source. They suggested go "cage free."
I'd suggest having a (caged) chook as a pet. They are productive and even nice to cuddle, as long as you have something under them - not house trained.

http://www.humanemyth.org/cagefree.htm

"Electrical Device for Cancer Treatment Polarizes Audiences" (of oncologists)

The cat is amongst the pigeons. Hulda Clark died recently, but her type of work is becoming mainstream.
The device is only being tried on really hopeless cases so far, but watch this space.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100607/Positive-phase-III-clinical-trial-data-of-NovoCures-NovoTTF-device-for-recurrent-GBM-presented-at-ASCO.aspx

GMO food guides are available, even if labelling is not

For Canada go to http://www.scribd.com/doc/2345138/Greenpeace-shoppers-guide-to-GMOFree-Food.
For USA, see the link below...

http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/

"Active surveillance" in prostate cancer

Quality-adjusted life-years (years of life in a preferred health state) came out least with immediate radical prostatectomy operation, best with yearly repeat biopsies +/- radiation if disease progressed.
Up to 40% of newly diagnosed prostate cancers meet the criteria for active surveillance, but currently less than 10% of men go that way.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/ProstateCancer/23663

Now it's genetically modified mosquitoes on the loose.

In Australia we have enough trouble with introduced rabbits and cane toads, without the unknowns of GM insects.
It would be really useful to have a crystal ball and see the future, but I'd just be cautious.
Read about it and see what you think.

http://www.hfnn.ca/index.php?showArticle=15457%20%29

Thumbs down to root canal filling from Dr. Mercola

I've also had teeth removed instead.
Dr Josef Issels saved a good friend years ago, who was dying of cancer. One part of the treatment was removal of some teeth.
Dr. Issels' work was later confirmed by an American professor, who showed that a proportion of root canal filled teeth had very toxic bacterial products.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/16/why-you-should-avoid-root-canals-like-the-plague.aspx

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie - a new book on PSA screening

Professor Simon Chapman warns in his book that the evidence for routine prostate cancer screening is minimal, while the risks of unnecessary treatment “are known and very real”.
Screening certainly diagnoses it earlier, but that doesn't often translate into any useful end result, such as getting cured.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/opinion/10Ablin.html

Candida versus molybdenum - and pain

I think of candida when people have itch, but acetaldehyde from it can lead to chronic pain as well (and many other symptoms.)
Molybdenum deficiency impairs detoxification of acetalhehyde.
The conventional view re this element can be read at http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/molybdenum/. This is obviously missing a lot of people who could respond to supplementation, as in the forum post below.

http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1205183

Ever eat watercress? Maybe we all should.

Cancers can only grow past a certain point if our body supplies them with a blood supply.
Watercress interferes with this process, at least in the short term.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20546646

Apologies to asprin - resurrected ? (see earlier post)

"When the study population was stratified by aspirin use, people on asprin carrying the A/− allele had significantly higher odds of heart attack compared with G/G homozygotes. In patients not taking aspirin, there was no statistical difference between genotype in the rate of myocardial infarction."
Researchers just reported this - a genetic marker for a group of people who do benefit from asprin.
They have a slight variation in their "platelet endothelial aggregation receptor 1" (PEAR1)

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/cardiovascular-risk.html

Germs matter - breaking news from Spain

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on Crohn's was just presented there a week ago.
Two thirds were helped by rifaximin-EIR, an antibiotic which stays in the bowel, not into the bloodstream.
The middle of three doses was best, the highest worst. Our bowel germs are very important for our health, and probiotics are often a good start in improving it.

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/inflammatory-bowel-disease.html

Juice an apple or two a day, with the skin left on.

Anxiety, agitation, and delusions were improved in demented people.
This took just a 4oz glass of apple juice twice a day.
A good quality juicer, such as a Champion, is a great investment for every aspect of our health

http://aja.sagepub.com/content/25/4/367.abstract

Smoke free legislation and acute coronary events

From 17 studies, "There is now a large body of evidence supporting a reduction in acute coronary events following the implementation of comprehensive smoke-free legislation, with the effect increasing over time from implementation." (Studies with longer data collection following legislation produced greater estimates of risk reduction)

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/cardiovascular-risk.html

Vitamin K assessment yet again

Further to my earlier note on vitamin K, a surrogate marker for overall vitamin K status in bone is measurement of circulating undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC).
This is from page 5 of a dissertation on "vitamin K and osteoporosis" at http://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/
If you've any questions about this, please use the contact page or start your own page at the bottom of the musculoskeletal chest pain page.

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/upper-back-pain.html

Old safe drug, new discovery - nitroglycerine

Glyceryl trinitrate to you - presumably the earlier name reeked of explosions, so in medical use, this is it.
It's an old, safe, cheap drug.
A very positive placebo controlled trial was reported at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 2010 Annual Meeting on October 18, 2010.
It improved bone density dramatically.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2741715/

A light hearted bit on seagull droppings

Have you ever had to eat a picnic meal with a seagull hovering in the wind close by and eyeing off your food?
It turns out that they are dangerous as well as hungry.

http://www.livescience.com/environment/seagulls-carry-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-100922.html

Lypo-Spheric GSH, a wonderful new product

To prove that this isn't an affiliate sales letter, you will have to copy and paste http://www.livonlabs.com/ to read about this supplement.
Further to the earlier post "A wonderful story of recovery due to vitamin C, I've had some very positive experience with people using this glutathione preparation.

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/fibromyalgia-pain.html

Non-GMO day on the 10th of the 10th of the 10th

Genetic modification introduces proteins completely new to our immune systems, with a wide variety of possible deleterious effects.
"Foods" with inbuilt insecticides are being touted even.
Dangerous experiments and very difficult to count the cost to a populations health.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/09/jeff-smith-interview-gmo-week.aspx

Cow milk only good for calves?

If you're looking into this question, check out milk as the calves get it, unpasteurized.
This is definitely not the same as your average supermarket variety.

http://www.rawusa.org/facts.html

Curcumin from tumeric curry spice, in a capsule

Traditional Indian spice, good for your brain etc etc etc.
It's worth experimenting with, for the colour, the taste and your health.
And you can get it (Cumerone 1200® actually - an extract) in a capsule.

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/164/9/898.full

Latest on mammograms for breast cancer detection

In Norway women aged 50 to 69 were invited to undergo screening mammography every 2 years.
Older women were not invited, but had 8% less deaths from breast cancer anyway, compared to screened women with 10% less than unscreened women of the same age range.
They described this as a "modest benefit" (of screening.)
Both age groups benefited from improved medical and surgical care.
"The decision about whether to undergo screening mammography is, in fact, a close call...it must be left to informed individuals to decide,"

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/breast-pain.html

"KIF6 Polymorphism" predicts coronary events, results of statin treatment.

You will probably be able to have this test and know whether Statin drug therapy will be of use to you.
It is an independent cardiovascular risk factor as well.

http://www.holistic-doc-pain-support.com/cardiovascular-risk.html

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