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Prescription Pain Trap

Unfortunately, most doctors specializing in the treatment of arthritis, joint pain, muscle pain, and autoimmune diseases affecting the musculoskeletal system never even consider food in the diet as a contributing cause in the development of these conditions.

I was formally trained in rheumatology at the VA hospital in Houston, TX, and I can say that diet and nutritional recommendations to patients were discouraged and in most cases frowned upon by our attending physicians. It was actually this experience that prompted me to dig deeper into the connection between autoimmune disease and food.

Over the past 10 years, I have treated thousands of patients with arthritic conditions. The most single effective therapies have always been diet and exercise. The paradox with exercise... It is harder to stick to an exercise program if it constantly flares up the arthritis.

The problem with food...

Everyone reacts uniquely based on their own unique chemistry. But it only makes sense that if drugs can target inflammation as a treatment, why can't food. After all, isn't food a drug of sorts?

I have found that medical research greatly supports this connection, but more importantly, I have found that patients get better after eliminating inflammatory foods from their diets. What foods should we avoid to help recover from arthritis? Depends on the person. Everyone is unique.

Don't Fall Into the Prescription Pain Trap:


Health

Antibiotics Losing the Fight Against Deadly Bacteria

A lab technician holds a bacteria culture
© Getty ImagesA lab technician holds a bacteria culture that shows an infection of E.coli, one of the bacteria strains that can become superresistant to antibiotics
Our last line of defence against bacterial infections is fast becoming weakened by a growing number of deadly strains that are resistant to even the strongest antibiotics, according to new figures given to The Independent on Sunday by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

The disturbing statistics reveal an explosion in cases of super-resistant strains of bacteria such as E.coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, a cause of pneumonia and urinary tract infections, in less than five years.

Until 2008, there were fewer than five cases a year in the UK of bugs resistant to carbapenem, our most effective intravenous (IV) antibiotic. New statistics reveal how there have been 386 cases already this year, in what the HPA has called a "global public health concern". Doctors are particularly concerned because carbapenems are often the last hope for hospital patients suffering from pneumonia and blood infections that other antibiotics have failed to treat. Such cases were unknown in the UK before 2003.

Evil Rays

Best of the Web: Corruption of science: Popular Science magazine implies that sensitivity to evil wi-fi is imaginary, mocks community of Wi-Fi refugees in hills of Appalachia

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© Jarek Tuszynski/Wikimedia CommonsTelescope at National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Banks, Virginia
It's safe to say that most of us have come to accept, if not embrace, the abundance of wireless technology in our everyday lives. Not so for certain Americans who believe they suffer from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, or EHS. According to the BBC, five percent of Americans think that exposure to electromagnetic fields created by Wi-Fi and mobile phones are causing them to suffer headaches, muscle spasms, burning skin and chronic pain. And some of these people are seeking refuge in the secluded mountains of Appalachia.

Towns like Green Bank, West Virginia are part of the U.S. Radio Quiet Zone, 13,000 square miles of wireless free land created to keep transmissions from interfering with radio telescopes like those owned by the military and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Some of those who believe (and we keep saying "believe" because there is some controversy about the medical validity of the claims) they feel ill effects from Wi-Fi have sought refuge in these hills.

Health

Maggots Heal Chronic Diabetic Wounds After Other Methods Fail in Study

Medical Maggots
© Monarch Labs via Bloomberg Medical-grade maggots are fly larvae grown in a lab and germ-free.

Maggots healed the wounds of diabetic patients where traditional medicine had failed, according to a report that suggests the ancient therapy may offer an alternative for clearing severe ulcers.

Medical-grade versions of the fly larvae, placed on the sores of 27 diabetic patients, helped close the wounds in 21 cases, said Lawrence Eron, associate professor at the University of Hawaii's John A Burns School of Medicine, in Honolulu, and an author of the report. Some of the wounds had been open for as long as five years, he said.

Maggot therapy, a medical technique since Biblical times, declined after antibiotics came into use in the 1940s. The treatment is now undergoing a resurgence as a potential cheap alternative for patients with wounds infected with drug- resistant bacteria. The findings were presented today at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, in Chicago.

"There's this yuck factor that permeates not only patients' views of using maggots, but especially the medical profession -- and I was no exception to that," Eron said in a telephone interview. "But when I saw the results of what these maggots do, and what they accomplished, I became very enthusiastic."

Light Saber

An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer

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© Jessica Kourkounis for The New York TimesDr. Carl June examined re-engineered T-cells last week in his Philadelphia lab.
A year ago, when chemotherapy stopped working against his leukemia, William Ludwig signed up to be the first patient treated in a bold experiment at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ludwig, then 65, a retired corrections officer from Bridgeton, N.J., felt his life draining away and thought he had nothing to lose.

Doctors removed a billion of his T-cells - a type of white blood cell that fights viruses and tumors - and gave them new genes that would program the cells to attack his cancer. Then the altered cells were dripped back into Mr. Ludwig's veins.

At first, nothing happened. But after 10 days, hell broke loose in his hospital room. He began shaking with chills. His temperature shot up. His blood pressure shot down. He became so ill that doctors moved him into intensive care and warned that he might die. His family gathered at the hospital, fearing the worst.

A few weeks later, the fevers were gone. And so was the leukemia.

People

Best of the Web: Study concludes Gulf War syndrome involves real brain damage

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© D. W. Holmes II, US Navy
For the last twenty years, veterans of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 have been complaining of a range of ailments, including pain, fatigue, and problems with memory and concentration. And for just as long, the causes have remained uncertain and there has been a tendency by the military to attribute the complaints to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Now a long-term study at the University of Texas in Dallas has used a new technique to measure blood flow in the brains of sufferers and has detected "marked abnormalities" in brain function that can probably be attributed to low levels of exposure to sarin nerve gas. This abnormal blood flow has persisted or even worsened over the eleven years of the study.

"The findings mark a significant advancement in our understanding of the syndrome, which was for years written off by the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs as a form of combat stress rather than an objectively diagnosable injury," reports the Dallas Observer.

People

Neurotransmitter-Regulated Immunity

lymphocyte cells
© Picture by Mauricio Rosas-Ballina, courtesy of Kevin TraceyGreen labelled lymphocyte cells are capable of producing acetylcholine
Nerve signals control T cell responses, helping to explain inflammation and stroke.

Neurotransmitters may play a bigger role in immunity than scientists had realized. In two papers published today (September 15) in Science Express, immunologists identify neurotransmitters as key players in two previously mystery-shrouded defense mechanisms: how the nervous system body puts the brakes on an overenthusiastic inflammatory response, and the reasons behind post-stroke infections.

"These connections between the brain and immune system in both health and disease are very intriguing," said Lawrence Steinman, a professor of neurology at Stanford School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. The findings could have implications for the treatment of inflammatory disorders and stroke patients, he added.

Comment: The simple to learn techniques that comprise the Éiriú Eolas program stimulate the vagus nerve naturally, efficiently and effectively.


Bacon

Could THIS Be the Hidden Factor Behind Obesity, Heart Disease, and Chronic Fatigue?


Dr. Stephanie Seneff is a senior scientist at MIT and has been conducting research there for over three decades. However, she also has an undergraduate degree in biology from MIT, and a minor in food and nutrition. She's affiliated with the Weston A. Price Foundation and will be speaking at their November Dallas conference, and so will I. Dr. Seneff has a wealth of information in an area that many are not very knowledgeable about, and that is the importance of sulfur.

Sulfur deficiency is pervasive, and may be a contributing factor in:
  • Obesity
  • Heart disease
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Chronic fatigue
  • And more
She also believes conventional medicine is seriously confused about cholesterol, which is closely interrelated with sulfur. Furthermore, healthy cholesterol and sulfur levels are also highly dependent on your vitamin D levels! Here, she discusses the importance and the intricate relationships among these three factors.

Comment: Read also: DMSO - The Real Miracle Solution


Cow

Best of the Web: Why Humans Crave Fat

Junk food aisle
© UnknownQ: Why do we eat this junk?
A: Because we're supposed to be eating animal fat, but we won't let ourselves!
It is an indisputable fact that humans crave fat.

"Why Can't I Stop Eating Fatty Foods?"

French fries, onion rings, donuts, and everything else that comes out of a deep-fryer. Corn chips, potato chips, Cheetos, Fritos, Doritos, Tostitos, and all the other oil-soaked, salt-coated starches in the snack aisle. Oreos, buttered toast, salad dressing. Cheese, mayonnaise, and Alfredo sauce. The list goes on, and on.

Decades of diet propaganda, telling us over and over again that fat will kill us, have been unable to break us of our 'fat tooth'. Why do we crave fat so much?

It's because animal fat is the primary constituent of the evolutionary human diet. "Low-fat" diets just make us crave fat more keenly - and anti-animal-fat propaganda makes us binge on unsatisfying substitutes.

Target

Soy: Dark Side of a "Health Food"

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© tropicaltraditions.com
We have been trained to think soy products are healthy through decades-old marketing and advertising. But have soy and soy-based products and additives been proven to be safe and healthy? Some warn not to feed infant soy formula to a baby, others say it may effect fertility and hormonal problems and cause premature puberty in girls. A lot of small farmers will not feed soy to their chickens. Soy beans are genetically modified.

Last year a lawsuit was filed to stop the feeding prisoners large quantities of soy because of their health consequences. In the wake of the dietary change, prisoners began to suffer from a variety of health problems. "We have heard from over two hundred prisoners in the state of Illinois," said Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation. "The most common complaint is digestive disorders, including severe constipation, debilitating diarrhea, vomiting and extreme pain after eating," said Fallon Morell. "Skin problems, thyroid disorders and endocrine disruption leading to breast development are also common."

Comment: For more information about the serious health issues associated with soy consumption read the following articles:

Confused About Soy?: Soy Dangers Summarized
The Truth about Soy
The Dark Side of Soy
Not Soy Fast
Genetically Modified Soy: The Invisible Ingredient 'Poisoning' Children
Food Myths: Bamboozled By The Soy Hype
Is Soy the Ticket to Good Health or Infertility? Here's the Scoop