Health & WellnessS


Heart - Black

Eliminating the competition: Consumer Reports issues propaganda report against dietary supplements

Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
Tue, 09 Aug 2016 16:08 UTC
dietary supplements
As you may have noticed, there's an ongoing campaign aimed at regulating supplements as drugs.1 This would allow the drug industry to eliminate the competition of the supplement industry, thereby increasing its own profits.

The primary talking point is that supplements are not regulated as drugs, so they are therefore unsafe. Strangely, prescription drugs kill many more people than car accidents — making them one of the most dangerous products on the market.

Yet, the pharmaceutical agents continue lobbying for drug regulations to be enforced upon supplements to ensure our "safety." The obvious motivation here is to give pharmaceutical companies a whole new product line as they have been struggling to innovate new successful drugs.

Can you imagine a day when the vitamins you consume will only be available by prescription? And at drug prices? In the U.S., sales of dietary supplements totaled nearly $37 billion in 2014, while the number of supplement users in the U.S. has reached 68 percent of the population.2

In February, I exposed how the Canadian Broadcast (CBC) News, The New York Times and PBS/Frontline all appeared to be part of this coordinated campaign against supplements.3

In November 2015, CBC News published a report in which they accused a number of supplement makers of failing to live up to label claims. By the end of January, the news agency was forced to retract its report as their lab tests were proven inaccurate.

Comment:

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Stock Up

Air pollution associated with risk of lung cancer, faster death

Lisa Rapaport
Reuters
Tue, 09 Aug 2016 14:55 UTC
Air pollution
Exposure to air pollution has long been associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, and a new study suggests it might also be tied to a faster death from the disease.

Researchers examined cancer registry data on more than 350,000 people diagnosed with lung cancer in California and found patients who lived in communities with higher than average levels of air pollution typically died sooner than their peers who lived in places with cleaner air.

Patients with lung cancer may be a new subgroup of people susceptible to the health impacts of air pollution, since exposures after diagnosis may impact how long they live, said lead study author Sandrah Eckel, a researcher at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Worldwide, lung malignancies kill about 1.6 million people a year, causing nearly one in five cancer deaths, Eckel and colleagues note in the journal Thorax.

Comment: The study includes this interesting data:
Previous studies have suggested that non-smokers may be at greater risk for air pollution-related lung cancer incidence/mortality than current smokers. While smoking is an important risk factor, previous data suggest that, at diagnosis, only 39% of patients with lung cancer are current smokers (drops to 14% at 5 months after diagnosis).
It also begs the question: how many of those 39% got lung cancer from some cause other than smoking? If you smoke and get cancer, your cancer is considered smoking-related. But it makes sense to consider that some smokers get lung cancer for the same reason that non-smokers get it. In fact, given the data above, it's possible that smoking is not even the leading risk factor for lung cancer. See:

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Heart

Flashback Glutathione recycling for autoimmune disease

Dr. Datis Kharrazian
Drknews.com
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:10 UTC
Glutathione
© drshel.com
During the past couple of years I continued my investigations into taming autoimmune disease and addressing the mechanisms that underlie it (and will always continue to do so). I found some approaches that looked promising and began experimenting with them with my patients, as well as recruiting other practitioners I know to work with the same principles. I came across a few discoveries that have produced profound results. One is the concept of glutathione recycling.

Glutathione and stress

In the thyroid book I introduced glutathione, our body's most powerful antioxidant, and how integral it is to modulating the immune system. Ideally the body makes sufficient glutathione to help keep everything running smoothly, however it becomes depleted in the face of extreme or chronic stress.

Modern life bombards us with stressors, the most common being ongoing insulin surges from sugary, high-carb diets, immune aggravation from food intolerances, chronic gut infections (too much bad bacteria or parasites), hormonal imbalances, lack of sleep, and of course our hectic, information-overloaded lifestyles.

Many people suffer from all of the above on a daily basis and also may smoke, drink too much, or even overtrain athletically, compounding an already precarious situation. Of course autoimmune disease itself is a significant stressor, further depleting the body's precious supply of glutathione.
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Candle

World Renowned Holistic Dr. Sebi dies mysteriously after arrest, while in custody

Erin Elizabeth
Health Nut News
Sat, 06 Aug 2016 12:13 UTC
Dr. Sebi
We have written articles on the amazing Dr Sebi before. He rose to even more fame after his patient Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez died (he also treated the late Michael Jackson), in what some call a mysterious car accident, after leaving his facilities.

Comment: Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Sebi. May he rest in peace.

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Syringe

Acupuncture found to be more effective in reducing pain than IV morphine, with significantly fewer side effects

Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo
Sat, 06 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
acupuncture
A truly groundbreaking study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine titled, "Acupuncture vs intravenous morphine in the management of acute pain in the ED," reveals that acupuncture -- one of the oldest techniques to treat pain -- is more effective, faster in relieving pain, and with less adverse effects, than intravenous morphine.

The study was conducted over the course of a 1-year period at the Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital in Tunisia, a tertiary care facility with over 100,000 Emergency Department (ED) visits per year.

300 ED patients with acute pain were included in the study: 150 in the morphine group (administered up to 15 mg a day) and 150 in the acupuncture group. The two groups were comparable in terms of age, sex, and co-morbidities, with the only significant difference being that there were more abdominal pain patients in the morphine group and more low back pain cases in the acupuncture group.

Comment: Why acupuncture works:

Acupuncture has been proven to impact numerous chronic health conditions. Evidence suggests that it activates the body's own opioid system, and may also work by stimulating the central nervous system to release natural chemicals that alter bodily systems, pain and other biological processes.

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Health

A medical medium speaks about the stages of Epstein-Barr virus and chronic fatigue syndrome

Joe Martino
Collective Evolution
Sun, 07 Aug 2016 16:56 UTC
epstein barr virus
In an age where millions of people are flocking to the internet and seminars to discover the latest about health because they feel doctors may not be up to date, The Medical Medium stands out as a popular go to for many.

With a radio show on Hay House, Anthony William draws from his astounding connection to a 'high-level' spirit, as he calls it, and shares incredible health information to many. In his book Medical Medium: Secrets Behind Chronic and Mystery Illness and How to Finally Heal Anthony talks about the unknown reasons behind some of the many popular illnesses that plague people today. He also provides great insight into how one can treat and heal their bodies back to a healthy state - something that is rather refreshing in this day and age.

Dr. Alejandro Junger, who wrote the forward in William's book, writes "As a man of science, I have been taught to the point of indoctrination that I must only trust what I can observe, measure, test, and reproduce." A typical view of western medical professionals. Interestingly, Dr. Junger also has a fascination with healers. Those who appear to perform amazing feats of healing like bringing sight back or instantly healing a disease. How do these things work? Dr. Junger does what many health professionals need to do more of, question the status quo and keep an open mind.

Comment: More on DIY immune boosting and inflammation eradication that may come in handy in the above conditions:

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Pills

Five common medications that kill sleep

Pamela Bofferding
Ready Nutrition
Sun, 07 Aug 2016 16:23 UTC
insomnia woman
© Unknown
We all know how critical sleep is in our lives and we've all suffered from the occasional restless night. You're probably aware that caffeine and alcohol can affect your ability to get a good night's sleep, but there are also several other medications you might not be aware of that can lead to sleep disturbances. When it comes to fitful sleep and bad dreams, the monster may be in your medicine cabinet!

5 Common Medicines That Cause Sleeplessness
  • Cipro: This commonly prescribed antibiotic (full name ciprofloxacin) belongs to the category of fluoroquinolones, which are used to treat urinary tract infections and gastroenteritis. Cipro is extremely effective as an antibiotic, but it has also been linked to vivid, violent dreams in adults and agitated sleep walking in young children.

  • Comment: A fluoriquinolone, Cipro has been associated with some very nasty side effects including tendonitis, tendon rupture, peripheral neuropathy, C. difficile infections, liver injury, DNA and mitochondrial damage. Sleep disturbance would be the least of your worries with this medication.


Comment: More on insomnia:

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Coffee

Common questions about coffee

John Summerly
Prevent Disease
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 16:09 UTC
coffee heart
Nearly eight out of 10 people are coffee drinkers, according to the National Coffee Association's 2016 report. And like anything that's part of our daily ritual, we have burning questions -- like, is coffee good for you or bad for you, or both? USC experts weigh in.

Over the years coffee has been blamed for causing everything from high blood pressure and high cholesterol (and thus heart disease) to pancreatic cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, and bone loss. The main focus has been on caffeine, one of the most extensively studied substances in food. But in nearly every instance early research linking coffee or caffeine to health problems has been refuted by better subsequent studies. "Not guilty" has repeatedly been the verdict. The pendulum has swung so far that some researchers now suggest that coffee may actually have health benefits.

Comment: This article lends some levity to the coffee debate:

Coffee confusion: Is coffee good or bad for you?



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Heart

Massage therapy helps treat the most common mental health problem


PSY Blog
Sun, 07 Aug 2016 20:33 UTC
massage therapy
Just five sessions of Swedish massage is enough to improve the symptoms of anxiety, new research finds. Levels of cortisol — known as the stress hormone — were also reduced. People who took part in the study also saw reduced depression symptoms.

Comment: See also: The Health & Wellness Show: Body Work: The Issues in Your Tissues

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Bacon n Eggs

Are foods labelled with health claims any better than those without?

Natasha Longo
Prevent Disease
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 15:42 UTC
all natural label
Foods carrying health claims have only slightly better nutrition profiles than products without, and they often carry a greater percentage of food additives, preservatives and artificial sweeteners.

Publishing its findings in Nature an Oxford University Study found foods carrying health claims had, on average, lower levels, per 100 g, of energy (29.3 kcal), protein (1.2g), total sugar (3.1g), saturated fat (2.4g), and sodium (842mg) but higher levels of fibre (0.8g).

A comparable model was seen in foods with accompanying nutrition claims. When the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (FSANZ NPSC), which was designed to regulate health claims, was used, 43% of foods passed.

Foods carrying health claims were more likely to pass than foods carrying nutrition claims or foods that did not carry either type of claim.

Comment: Sticking with fatty meat and veg that don't come in boxes or cans will reduce "label confusion".

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