Health Plus Letter Vol. 5, No. 14

The Health Plus Letter
August 9, 2007, Vol. 5, No. 14
By Larry Trivieri, Jr. – founder & publisher
http://www.1healthyworld.com

You can read all back issues of The Health Plus Letter at http://www.1healthyworld.com/ezine.

Table Of Contents
New This Issue
Quote of the Day
Fast Fact
Why the Health Care Debate Is A Fallacy
Mobilizing Your Own Stem Cells With Intermittent Hypoxia by Dr. David Steenblock
Self-Care Tips for Dealing With Anxiety
Recommendations
Medical Freedom

New This Issue

Welcome to another issue of The Health Plus Letter. This week, I’m sharing another article on the innovative work Dr. David Steenblock. This time David shares with us the impressive health benefits that can be achieved by inducing intermittent hypoxia (he explains what this is in his article below). Also included is my opinion on why I strongly believe the current debate about our nation’s health care is significantly flawed, and why universal health insurance, as currently proposed, is a very bad idea. You’ll also find self-care tips for effectively dealing with anxiety, since there seems to be a lot of that going around these days.

As always, please continue to send me your comments and suggestions. And please spread the word about The Health Plus Letter by passing it along to your friends and inviting them to subscribe.

Quote Of The Day

“I do not seek. I find.”

— Picasso

Fast Fact

Each cell in your body has an estimated 6 to 8 feet of DNA.

Unabashed Plug

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Why the Health Care Debate Is A Fallacy

In recent months, thanks in large part to filmmaker Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko, there has been a lot of talk about a need to address our nation’s health care problems. For the most part, the debate has been focused on whether or not the United States should join the ranks of other Western nations that provide some type of universal health care for their citizens.

One the surface, such a debate seems not only reasonable but also timely. After all, over 40 million Americans lack health insurance and the cost of health care in this country continues to spiral upward, making it increasingly unaffordable for many people, which is why medical bills are now the number one cause of personal bankruptcy filings in the US. Additionally, health care costs are increasingly having a negative impact on companies that offer their employees health insurance coverage. (Employee health insurance was one of the major reasons cited by General Motors last year when GM announced a massive lay-off and restructuring plan.) In fact, many economic experts argue that American companies face an increasing financial disadvantage compared to their competitors outside of the US that do not have to offer health insurance plans to their employees due to the fact that they already receive it from their governments.

Moore, and those who agree with him (including many among the current crop of presidential candidates, particularly the Democrats), argue that it is high time that the US join the rest of the Western world by placing complete control over our nation’s health care in the hands of the federal government (which already plays a large role due to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs). Moore also argues that doing so would eliminate the greed and financial considerations that dictate how insurance companies handle health insurance claims.

Presumably, Moore also believes that universal coverage provided by the government would greatly eliminate similar greed and price gouging by Big Pharma. I don’t know, because I haven’t seen Sicko and have no intentions of doing so, due to Moore’s well-documented history of spinning facts in service of his own personal and political agenda. It’s said that Sicko is more even-handed in this regard, but as a writer guided by a desire to let the facts speak for themselves, I am loathe to support Moore based on his past transgressions. Moreover, I have no interest in being lectured to by an obviously obese man who is doing little to take responsibility for his own health condition.

Many in the natural health field, including luminaries such as Dr. Joseph Mercola, whom I greatly respect, are hailing Sicko as an important “must-see” film because of how it documents the greed and flaws that are so much a part of our nation’s current health care system. I respectfully disagree with them because of one very important consideration. Which is the fact that the so-called solution Moore and those who parrot the Sicko party line are calling for would, if implemented, be utterly disastrous.

Let’s consider a few facts so that you can see why I make that claim. Within a decade or so of the federal government first getting involved with health care in 1965, when Medicare and Medicaid where signed into law by Lyndon Johnson as part of his “Great Society” program, health care costs that had previously been paid for by US citizens from out of their own pockets skyrocketed an average of 600%. (I am citing this fact from memory, since I don’t have the statistics in front of me. I came upon it three years ago by chance when researching a book project at the time.) Since most of that price increase was paid for by the government, most people did not complain. However, in actuality, it was and continues to be by we the people who pay for the entire cost of these programs of socialized medicine through our tax dollars (along with monthly co-pays by everyone covered by Medicare/Medicaid).

Since that time, such programs have become increasingly bureaucratic and inefficient, while at the same time becoming an increasingly lucrative gravy train for Big Pharma. In short, as a direct result of this (to me) ill-advised experiment in socialized medicine, our nation’s health care system has become increasingly more expensive while at the same time ever more ineffective. Does anyone actually believe that this situation will change if the federal government takes over health care completely? I certainly don’t.

But increased costs and decreased efficiency are just the tip of the iceberg as to why I am opposed to universal health care. For what Moore and others are calling for is, in actuality, a complete subsidization of a health care system that is not only already close to being broken, but also extremely fatal.

Do we really want our taxes dollars completely paying for a health system in which prescription drugs kill at least 100,000 people and hospitalize another one to two million each year?

Do we really want our tax dollars completely supporting a system in which hospitalization alone is a primary cause of death (another 100,000 or so people every year) and serious infection? (You can find these and other grim and documented statistics by doing an Internet search for the comprehensive report Death By Medicine by Gary Null, et. al.)

Do we really want to have our tax dollars completely subsidize Big Pharma, which is already one of the most rapacious industries benefiting from its all-too-cozy relationship with Congress, the White House, and our nation’s health regulatory agencies?

In other words, do we really want to pay even more for a system that already costs $2 trillion annually, and that is not working, and which causes the deaths of nearly 800,000 people each year (again, see Death By Medicine)?

And there is another thing to be aware of should universal health care become the law of the land. It will inevitably result in the increased marginalization and perhaps the complete elimination of many of the natural and more effective health care alternatives, since none of these alternatives will be covered under such a universal health care system. (For how and why this is likely, I strongly recommend you read the essays on this topic by health journalist Peter Barry Chowka – see www.naturalhealthvillage.com.)

All of the points I’ve raised above are enough for me to reject any and all calls for universal health care. Yet none of them are my primary reason for doing so. That reason has to do with self-responsibility, a trait that is becoming less and less regarded by too many Americans, who instead prefer to look to the government and other entities outside of themselves to take care of them. This welfare state mindset is the antithesis of the principles on which the United States was founded. Unfortunately, ever since our nation first began to explore socialist programs, more and more of our citizens have begun to look to government on all levels to care and provide for them. And in doing so, of course, they surrender their power while abdicating their responsibility for themselves. So its no wonder that, decades later, we find ourselves as a nation that is chronically sicker and getting sicker.

I certainly don’t expect the views I am expecting to be accepted by a wide audience. Yet, among those who still do take responsibility for themselves, I think what I am saying will make sense. As for the rest, most likely they have accepted as fact (when it is anything but) that illness is an inevitable result of growing older and that there is little that can be done to prevent it from striking them at some point in their lives, which is why they must have health insurance that is ideally paid for by someone other than themselves. When the truth is that health is a choice which, once made, can lead to a long and vital life free of all of the chronic degenerative diseases that plaque our society and yet which are extremely rare in other parts of the world, where sound dietary and lifestyle principles are still followed.

And that’s my rant for the moment. Thanks for reading it, whether you agree with me or not.

P.S. At no time in my adult life (I’m now in my early 50s) have I ever had or sought health insurance.

Mobilizing Your Own Stem Cells With Intermittent Hypoxia by David Steenblock, MS, DO

Did you ever notice how much better you feel when you go up in the mountains? Did you ever breathe in that thin air and wonder why you felt so good? You are actually getting less oxygen, but cleaner, fresher air. This combination of less oxygen, with clean air for short periods of time can do amazing things. It is also the entire foundation of a relatively new and little known branch of medicine called “Adaptive Medicine”. Doctors who specialize in this, help your body ward off and prevent the challenging stressful events and diseases that come your way on a daily basis. Many people have recurrent illnesses or chronic diseases that modern drug-orientated medicine could not solve for them. But there may be an answer for this type of person, and it is also the answer for those of us who just want to become healthier overall and more resistant to injuries and infections while warding off the ravages of aging. This therapy enhances your body’s defenses, its nonspecific resistance, its metabolic efficiency, and its repair processes by mobilizing your own stem cells.

The therapy is called intermittent hypoxia and we now have an altitude simulator in our office that creates intermittent hypoxia. Call and ask for an appointment for a session – just say you’re calling for a session in the CVAC™ (cyclic variation in altitude conditioning). In your session, you will sit comfortably for 20-60 minutes in the altitude simulator (which is reminiscent of a space capsule) while a trained technician is standing by (see photo above). For optimum results, daily or every other day sessions are done.

What does the CVAC™ session accomplish? Experience and scientific data suggest that the use of CVAC™ causes a surge of your own stem cells from your bone marrow. These stem cells are released from the bone marrow by the intermittent high altitude environment produced in the CVAC™ which triggers the kidneys to produce more of a special stem cell-stimulating hormone called erythropoietin. This hormone as well as various growth factors (e.g., VEGF and BDNF) released during the CVAC™ session enhances the health of the entire body through a process called “high-altitude adaptation” or “pre-ischemic conditioning” or “intermittent hypoxia training” which are all essentially the same thing.

Stem cells, erythropoietin, VEGF, BDNF and more are stimulated to be produced and released by an intermittent hypoxic session, and all stimulate the formation of new capillaries throughout your body. New blood capillaries make your body more “energy efficient” since more blood can be delivered to the tissue at any point in time. This increased “capillary density” of the tissues is one of the big reasons so many people who are vitally interested in improving their athletic abilities are rushing to get in line to have intermittent hypoxia sessions. Of course, aging and inactivity go hand in hand and this inactivity contributes to a loss of tissue capillaries. This loss of blood vessels produces inefficient metabolism which contributes to the aging process by the production of free radicals (damaging scavenger molecules) that are released when the tissue tries to burn its fuel without enough oxygen (due to the decreased number of capillaries). Regular use of the intermittent hypoxia creates more blood capillaries, increases the efficiency of metabolism and decreases the quantity of free radicals produced because your tissues actually become healthier!

The substance ubiquitin is also stimulated to be produced. As a part of our daily living, certain substances within our cells are damaged by biological “rusting” (oxidation) or denaturation due to a variety of insults. The substances that are damaged no longer work correctly and this creates further deterioration of your body’s tissues. Ubiquitin is a protein found in cells that “tags” a damaged substance for intracellular destruction. Thus, ubiquitin’s job is to search out damaged proteins within the cell and to escort them to the garbage disposal unit of the cell (the lysosome) or to correct the damaged molecule right where it is. Thus CVAC sessions can help your precious cells purify and cleanse or repair the damaged molecules that have been accumulating in your tissues from the drugs, poisons, infections, injuries, stresses, etc. that have been affecting you over the years and now causing your chronic health problems.

By itself, intermittent hypoxia training (IHT)is an amazing but very simple procedure! It consists of breathing low levels of oxygen for a few minutes then alternatively breathing normal levels of oxygen for a few minutes. This is done repetitively for 20 minutes to an hour daily or every other day for a few weeks. A great Russian scientist by the name of Felix Meerson, MDhas done the bulk of research on this subject and was honored by the International Oxidative Medical Association in Colorado Springs in 2000 for his lifetime of work. I was the organizer of this meeting and President of the Association at the time, and I can tell you it was a great meeting during which Dr Meerson pointed out the great benefits to a person doing intermittent hypoxia training. To the present day, it has been used throughout the world extensively for:

1) Altitude pre-acclimatization – (useful for people having to climb mountains)

2) Chronic lung diseases like bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and asthma

3) Angina, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure

4) Hypertension

5) Diabetes mellitus

6) Parkinson’s disease

7) Emotional disorders

8) Radiation toxicity

9) As a prophylaxis of certain occupational diseases

10) Athletic and sports conditioning.

CVAC™ goes one step further than the mere use of intermittent breathing of low levels of oxygen. When you are in the chamber, the pressure around your body becomes much less very rapidly as if you are suddenly transported to the top of a mountain. This creates two effects. The first, of course is the intermittent breathing of low levels of oxygen but the second and more exciting new feature is the actual cycling pressure effects on your body. It actually flexes and tightens every cell of your body and all of its tissues in a rhythmic fashion so that your whole body is given an overall “Internal Massage”.

Intermittent hypoxia can reduce swelling in swollen tissues, increase blood supply to various organs, improve the circulation, decrease or eliminate angina, reduce high blood pressure, help detoxify and improve lymphatic drainage, while “toning” the autonomic nervous system and improving oxygen transport to tissues that are not getting enough oxygen.

I have had patients report cessation of their asthma, bronchitis and angina with the use of intermittent hypoxia. I once used this therapy to help train an overweight and totally out of shape bicyclist for a major race and in three months it had helped him so much he almost beat a world-class champion! The race was 12 miles and my guy finished within two minutes of this world-class athlete! He also lost 40 pounds and never felt so good in his life.

Instead of asking what conditions a CVAC™ session would be helpful for, it is better to ask what conditions it should not be used for: Cancer, colds, or other conditions where the ear tubes (eustachian tubes) are partially or totally blocked, abscesses and sinus infections are probably all best avoided. Most all other conditions should be helped with intermittent hypoxia. Indeed, there are hundreds of studies showing benefit from intermittent hypoxia conditioning. It is safe, easy to do, inexpensive, and most of all beneficial for overall health and well-being!

To learn more about Dr. Steenblock’s innovative approaches for treating disease, as well as the work that he is doing with adult and umbilical stem cells, contact: Personalized Regenerative Medicine, 26381 Crown Valley Parkway Ste 130, Mission Viejo, CA 92691 (800) 300-1063 www.strokedoctor.com

Self-Care Tips for Dealing With Anxiety

Anxiety is a sense of fear and, in some cases, a feeling of impending doom. The term anxiety disorder refers to a category of disturbances that includes generalized anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. A panic attack is an acute anxiety episode that may be accompanied by sweating, shortness of breath, hot or cold flashes, heart palpitations, and other forms of discomfort. Anxiety disorders occur in people of all ages, but appear to be more common among women. The exact cause is complex, involving constitutional factors, emotional stress, biochemical imbalances, and environmental triggers.

The occurrence of an anxiety or panic attack is often unpredictable, but it may be associated with certain situations such as driving a car. Anxiety is an emotion that may feature excessive worry, sleep disturbances, shakiness, ritualistic behavior, fear of being alone or in public places, impatience, easy distraction, and great apprehension concerning the welfare of loved ones. Associated physical symptoms include racing pulse, heart palpitations, shortness or rapidity of breath, sweating, dry mouth, numbness and tingling of the hands and feet or cold/clammy hands, lightheadedness or dizziness, fatigue, trembling, indigestion, and diarrhea.

What To Consider

In women, hormone imbalances can cause anxiety. Therefore, hormone assessment is essential. Amino and fatty acid imbalances can also play an important role in triggering anxiety attacks.

Self-Care Tips

Diet: Assess your diet to reduce excessive consumption of stressor foods such as refined sugars, honey, maple syrup, or cow’s milk products. Consume vegetable soups, broths, and a wide variety of green and yellow vegetables. Add more complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, beans, seeds, and nuts.

Nutritional Supplementation: The following supplements have all been shown to help reduce feelings of anxiety by calming the nervous system: calcium, magnesium, vitamin B complex, 5-HTP, pantothenic acid, and adrenal and kidney glandulars. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), an amino acid, can also affect mood by increasing levels of the brain neurotransmitter serotonin (a mood regulator).

Flower Essences: Flower essences can prove very helpful in managing and helping to eliminate anxiety. Use Aspen for apprehension, foreboding, and fear of unknown origin while mimulus is for fear of known things, shyness, and timidity. Red chestnut is used for excessive anxiety and over caring for others. Rescue RemedyÒ (combination formula) is for general stress from anxiety, and Rock Rose is helpful for coping with terror and panic from known fear.

Herbs: Panax ginseng has a tonic effect on the adrenal glands, improving blood flow to the brain and reducing the stress associated with mental/emotional issues. Valerian root, an herbal tranquilizer and muscle relaxant, is another good agent for calming the nervous system. It helps balance mood swings and is not habit forming. Valerian-hops combination formulas are good daytime sedatives because they don’t interfere with reflex actions. Passionflower is another mild sedative that helps reduce anxiety, high blood pressure, nervous tension, and muscle tension, and encourages deep, restful sleep. St. John’s wort, a highly popular remedy for depression, has proven effective for anxiety and mood swings as well.

Homeopathy: Aconite, Actaea rac., Drosera, Calc carb., and Sulfur are all useful homeopathic remedies for dealing with anxiety.

Hypnotherapy: Self-hypnosis helps to impart to the mind imagery designed to bring about deep levels of relaxation.

Meditation: Develops the mind’s ability to stop anxiety at its source.

CAUTION: If your symptoms persist despite the above measures, seek the help of a qualified health professional.

(The above information is adapted from Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, co-written and edited by Larry Trivieri, Jr.)

Unabashed Plug

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Unabashed Plug

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Recommendations

Website Links
http://tinyurl.com/ywwuu9 - This link takes you to a news article from England showing how lifestyle choices are largely causing the rise in cancer rates. It follows that making healthier choices reduces the risk for cancer (as well as all other diseases).

http://tinyurl.com/2xd65c - This link will take you to an excellent expose by the Los Angeles Times regarding the way that Big Pharma bribes doctors to do their bidding.

http://www.naturalhealthvillage.com - As mentioned above, this is the highly instructive website of health journalist Peter Barry Chowka. Well worth regular visits!

Medical Freedom

Please contact and support the following organizations dedicated to protecting our health freedoms.

Citizens for Health - http://www.citizens.org

Alliance for Natural Health – http://www.alliance-natural-health.org (The leading organization fighting to preserve health f/r/e/edom in England and the EU.)

Institute for Health Freedom – http://www.ForHealthF/r/e/edom.org

International Advocates for Health Freedom (IAHF) – http://www.iahf.com

And to learn how corrupt and extensive Big Pharma’s monopoly is, visit http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/online/research/index.html the website for the Campaign Against Fraudulent Medical Research. In particular, read their in-depth report The Pharmaceutical Drug Racket that you will find th/e/re.

That’s all for this week.

Health and Blessings!

Larry Trivieri, Jr. (larry@1healthyworld.com)

Disclaimer: The Health Plus Letter is a weekly eZine published by Larry Trivieri, Jr. and Library of Health, LLC (dba www.1healthyworld.com) 1514 Genesee Street, Suite 52, Utica, NY 13502. It is made available without charge for information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical care. If you are experiencing a health problem, seek prompt medical attention.

The Health Plus Letter is fully compliant with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

Legal Notice: The information in this eZine may be freely and widely disseminated so long as full attribution is made as follows: The Health Plus Letter, August 9, 2007, Vol. 5, No. 14. Copyright © 2007 by Larry Trivieri, Jr. All rights reserved.

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