August 2008 Health in the News Archive

[ Monthly Index of New Briefs ]

Amazing that this is considered a “theory.” For years, those of us in the homeopathic/complementary field have preached that intestinal bacteria are crucial to maintenance of our health. We take probiotics, we avoid antibiotics whenever possible, we eat food which is nourishing and avoid food that is loaded with chemicals and empty fat and carbohydrate calories. It is good to see that this information is beginning to appear in mainstream literature. Perhaps it will finally be picked up by our allopathic colleagues as well, so that they too can learn how to help patients heal in a way that supports and nourishes their bodies.

At first glance, this looks like a great idea – promote the growth of nerve fibers to replace those that have been damaged in a stroke. But when we look a little deeper, what is it that we are actually doing? We are attempting to inhibit the production of protein which keeps nerve growth in check. We are not supporting growth of anything in any particular location; we are taking away the brakes. So what happens when you take the brakes away from a vehicle? If it is on level ground, nothing back happens. If it happens to be on a hill, pretty drastic things can happen, can’t they? Do we really want to risk producing neuroglioblastomas instead of having the after-effects of a stroke? Perhaps there is another way. If we stimulate the blood supply to the brain, perhaps this could help our own bodies build the nerve cells (or the new connections) which they need, without removing the very substance which prevents their growing wild. BrainAdvantage™ therapy has the potential to stimulate new growth without removing the brakes upon which our system of checks and balances depends.

Finally, recognition from the “establishment” that there might be something to all the work done by Linus Pauling, a Nobel Prize laureate. Many of us have been using high dose vitamin C with excellent results in improving health and decreasing oxidative stress, sometimes slowing tumor growth and sometimes even causing them to disappear. I am glad to see that the idea is now being researched more formally. Our medicine needs to come out of the dark ages, out of the state of mind which says “We never did it that way, therefore it’s wrong” into a state of mind which says “We never did it that way, but there is some theoretical basis for which this might work; let’s investigate it.” We administer vitamin C intravenously as part of our nutritional IV therapies.

When we are young, we build up bone for the rest of our life. A preponderance of babies deficient in vitamin D sets us up for some ugly problems down the road. Researchers are also linking vitamin D deficiency with other chronic diseases like diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and cancer.

The American medical establishment is behind the curve on this one. The Canadian Pediatric Society for example now recommends that pregnant women take 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day (10 times more than the 200 IU/day the National Institutes of Health recommends for pregnant women in the USA). According to the Canadian press, the Canadian Pediatric Society acted "to protect babies from a litany of illnesses later in life."

Just several generations ago, it was not uncommon to give babies cod liver oil. Today, doctors might think in terms of a vitamin D supplement. Don't wait for your pediatrician to bring up the subject of vitamin D deficiency.

This news item gives the public a rare view into one reason why American medicine is so often focused on treatment with pharmaceutical drugs and why so many doctors are unaware of other treatment modalities.

It stands to reason that if drug makers design the medical curriculum, doctors will become drug pushers. It's that old expression: if you are a hammer, then you see everything in life as a nail.

I'd be more concerned if this story were about a rise in bacterial meningitis because parents were avoiding the Hib vaccine. Unlike bacterial meningitis, measles is typically an innocuous childhood disease. When a child catches measles, the infection typically runs it course and then that person is immune for life – adult cases of measles are much more serious. A vaccine robs people of that lifelong immunity, and leaves them unprotected as adults since the vaccine confers immunity for approximately 8-10 years.

This news story didn't mention the vaccine is far from perfect. Studies confirm a high percentage of measles among vaccinated subjects. The Institute of Medicine has found evidence that this vaccine can cause anaphylaxis, thrombocytopenia, and acute arthritis. Other research has associated the vaccine with adverse effects on the nervous system gastrointestinal tract, and joints. I see no reason to vaccinate every child against measles or mumps – these are relatively innocuous childhood diseases against which natural, lifelong immunity is established by infection. Let Nature run its course.

Rather than clean up the commercial feedlot practices which contribute mightily to the down steam flow of E.coli, salmonella, antibiotics and other contaminants, the FDA is voting to "sterilize" our vegetables. For those who enjoy the benefits of raw spinach and other vegetables, it won't be raw anymore when it has been irradiated. The delicate enzymes and nutrients that make raw food so valuable will be "zapped away" along with the potential germs.

Organic food is supposed to be exempt from irradiation. Food which has been irradiated is supposed to carry a little sign that looks completely innocuous, like a flower.

Kroger Co, one of the nation's largest retail grocery chains, said last year it was rejecting the synthetic hormone. So too has Wal-Mart, Starbucks and Dean Foods. And for more than a decade the European Union also has rejected imports of meat derived from hormone-treated cattle.

Consumer pressure to stop the use of this hormone reflects a growing concern among parents that it is better to be safe than sorry.

Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., has been on the forefront of the battle to cease the use of this synthetic hormone. In his book, What's In Your Milk?, he makes 3 key points: rBGH milk is supercharged with high levels of a natural growth factor (IGF-1) which is readily absorbed through the gut. Excess levels of IGF-1 have been incriminated as a cause of breast, colon, and prostate cancers. And IGF-1 blocks natural defense mechanisms against early submicroscopic cancers.

Scientists have long known that arsenic is linked to cancer. And now we see evidence of its contribution to the obesity epidemic.

With this kind of information getting into the mainstream news, it is harder to ignore that toxicity in our environment can have a huge impact on our health. Arsenic was associated with development of type II diabetes as early as the 1950s, when a patient was given IV arsenic for a sexually transmitted disease. Two primary sources of arsenic: non-organic chicken and groundwater naturally contaminated with arsenic – and heavy metals.

We are capable of eliminating the body burden of toxins and heavy metals. Perhaps the refusal of the medical establishment to consider therapy, and the refusal of the insurance establishment to cover the cost of reducing the body burden, is at least partly responsible for rising health care costs. The epidemic of diabetes goes hand-in-hand with higher rates of heart disease, strokes, amputations, and disability. At the Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine, we provide detox therapies and chelation.

The FDA's finding is based largely on the strength of two industry-funded studies that found no problems. This underscores what many critics have said is an all too cozy relationship between the FDA and the industries it is supposed to regulate.

But consumers would rather be safe than sorry. Several retailers, including Wal-Mart and Toys R' Us, announced that they were phasing out baby bottles that used BPA. I've seen "BPA-free" water bottles now at REI sporting goods stores.

This is being called a major victory for consumers. However, it is interesting to note how Monsanto is positioning its products in this time of high global food prices. Spokesperson Chavis positioned the new face of Posilac as a "green" alternative for farmers, saying the drug allows big savings in terms of feed and land.

"As the environmental pressure on agriculture gets greater, this allows dairy producers to produce more milk with less (sic) cows thereby reducing the overall carbon footprint of milk production," Chavis said.

Meanwhile, Monsanto is going to focus even harder on genetically modified foods which many of us physicians feel represents a huge threat to human health.

More than half of the U.S. soybeans and corn that make up roughly 70 percent of pre-packages grocery store items come from genetically engineered ingredients. Recently, rBGH has been tested on catfish and tilapia to increase growth.

The medical community is becoming increasingly aware of the damage chemicals do to human health, and Environmental Working Group has documented what is inside all of us, the "body burden." This event demonstrates the need for us to rely less on government agencies to protect us, and to rely more on self-education. An excellent new book I recommend is The Autoimmune Epidemic by Donna Jackson Nakawzawa. This particular book got attention from homeopathic and holistic physicians because it looks at the linkages between environmental contaminants and the rise in all manner of autoimmune diseases. The book got endorsements from head people at the National Institutes of Health and John Hopkins – both mainstream organizations.

Fat is not necessarily a bad thing. We need fat for energy, hormone production, cellular membranes, organ padding, and certain saturated fatty acids are also needed for important cellular signaling and stabilization processes in the body.

But as this data points out, we've increased consumption of the "bad" fats – vegetable oils and hydrogenated oils (trans fats) which harden cell walls and make them less able to take nutrients in and let out metabolic waste – toxins.

Good fats and fish oils need to be in our diet. And nutrition writers would do well to have a better understanding of naturally-occurring saturated fat found in grass-fed red meat that mankind has eaten for centuries. It has no strong links with disease, while industrially produced trans fats do. I stress grass-fed because healthy red meat, eggs and come from animals fed their natural diet. Unhealthy saturated fat comes from grain fed animals.

Our nurses use FirstLine Therapy to help our patients separate the nutrition hype from reality and learn how to eat good foods that the whole family will enjoy. Want to live without chronic disease? Let us teach you how to build a strong foundation with every bite you take.

I think this misses the bigger picture. The amount of information coming out about the benefits of Vitamin D – the sunshine vitamin – is virtually snowballing. We have escalating rates of cancer and chronic disease, and studies show that low levels of vitamin D is to partly blame.

Because people have been told to fear the sun, there is a widespread vitamin D deficiency today. About 90 percent of the vitamin D in your body is made when your skin is exposed to sunlight.

This bill also does not address the sunscreen toxicity issue. A March 2008 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control revealed that 97% of Americans are contaminated with a widely-used sunscreen ingredient called oxybenzone that has been linked to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage.