The Health Plus Letter
August 7, 2008 Vol. 6, No. 17
By Larry Trivieri, Jr. – founder & publisher
http://www.1healthyworld.com
Table Of Contents
New This Issue
Quote of the Day
Fast Fact
The Burzynski Breakthrough for Cancer (Part 2)
The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide: A Conversation with Larry Trivieri, Jr (Part 2) by Philip Domenico, PhD.
Inflammation and Heart Disease
Recommendations
Medical Freedom
Contact Information
New This Issue
Welcome to another issue of The Health Plus Letter. This week, I’m continuing the article I began last issue on the impressive work by Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski and the successes he’s had treating cancer using the antineoplaston therapy he developed. Also in this issue is the conclusion of an interview between myself and Dr. Philip Domenico, based on Phil’s interest in The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide, a book I co-wrote with Dr. Susan Brown.
You’ll also find an article on the serious risk chronic inflammation poses for heart disease.
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
“The only thing I know that truly heals people is unconditional love.”
-- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, MD
Fast Fact
Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning “to yoke,” and is a practice intended to yoke, or unite, one’s physical body with one’s spiritual nature.
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The Burzynski Breakthrough for Cancer (Part 2)
Antineoplaston Therapy And How And Why It Works
“The body itself has a treatment for cancer.” This statement by Dr. Burzynski is what underlines his approach to treating cancer.
Dr. Burzynski holds such a belief because of the many years he has devoted himself to studying antineoplastons (the class of peptides and other amino-acid derivatives) that he discovered. Based on his research, he has proven that antineoplastons are natural substances that are found throughout the human body, and that one of their main purposes is to inhibit the growth of cancerous cells and tumors. His research has also shown that the amount of antineoplastons in the bodies of people with advanced cases of cancer is only two to three percent of the amount typically found in the bodies of healthy people. Based on his discoveries, Dr. Burzynski initially theorized that, if an additional supply of antineoplastons were administered to cancer patients, their cancers should start to reverse, or at least halt their progress.
Antineoplastons are found primarily in the blood and urine, and can be extracted from both of these substances. But because of the amount of antineoplastons many cancer patients require, Dr. Burzynski applied his knowledge as a biochemist to successfully create synthetic antineoplastons, which is what his patients receive. These antineoplastoins can be administered both orally and intravenously. As they are introduced into their bodies, many cancer patients start to notice improvements in as little as a few weeks, just as Neil Dublinsky did.
The Biochemical Defense System: Your Body’s Key To Fighting Cancer
According to Dr. Burzynski, the reason antineoplaston therapy is often successful when both conventional and other alternative cancer treatments aren’t is because of how the antineoplastons go to work to improve the functioning of what he calls the body’s biochemical defense system, or BDS.
At a lecture he presented at the World Research Foundation Congress in 1990, Dr. Burzynski explained, “The mechanism of defense in this system is completely different than in the immune system. It is a reprogramming of defective cells. It’s no longer killing of the cells, but changing the program inside the defective cell, which means that the cell will begin to function normally. In the case of cancer…if all the cells will be reprogrammed and function normally, then, ultimately, we won’t have cancer.”
Put another way, the BDS instructs defective and abnormal cancerous cell to once again turn back to normal, healthy cells.
“The cell develops according to the program for cellular differentiation,” Dr. Burzynski adds. “Millions of cells are differentiated in the human body evry day, bringing up the possibilities of errors in the program for differentiation. Taking under consideration such large numbers of cells undergoing differentiation, it is more than likely that a significant number of these cells will develop toward neoplasia [cancer].”
To help you better understand this model of cancer treatment consider what happens when a computer is affected by a computer virus. The virus contains faulty information which, once it is introduced into the computer’s hard drive, begins to corrupt normal programs with “bad” information. If the virus is not caught and dealt with in time, the computer hard drive can “die.”
Similarly, cancer can be likened to a similar faulty program or “virus” that spreads among health body cells, turning them into abnormal cells. These cells then turn cancerous and, if left unchecked, can literally kill you.
Just as computer hard drives that are affected and corrupted by computer viruses can be restored to normal by antivirus computer programs, so too are corrupted cancer cells turned back to normal once antineoplastons reprogram them with “good” information. In the case of the human body, prevention and successful reversal of cancer to a large degree depends on how well the biochemical defense system is able to function. Antineoplastons are the substances that make proper functioning of the BDS possible.
Without an adequate supply of antineoplastons, however, the BDS starts to malfunction, leading to the development of cancer cells that otherwise would be normal, healthy cells. The more compromised the BDS becomes due to a lack of antineoplastons, the more quickly cancer cells are apt to develop and spread, eventually forming dangerous tumors. In addition, as this process continues, the body also continues to lose its ability to effectively deal with environmental and food-borne carcinogens, as well as viruses, bacteria, and other cancer-causing agents, leading to the further development and spread of cancer throughout the body.
Antineoplastons Fight Cancer In More Than One Way
Unlike chemotherapy drugs, Dr. Burzynski’s research has shown that antineoplastons help to fight cancer in more than one way. This is important, because of how resistant to defeat cancer cells become once they secure a foothold in the body. Just as importantly, antineoplastons are non-toxic and therefore do not cause any of the horrific side effects that patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation often experience.
One of the ways that antineoplastons work is by preventing the amino acid glutamine from bonding with the proteins of cancer cells. Without glutamine as part of their protein mix, cancer cells become less stable, and therefore less resistant to the body’s disease-fighting mechanisms.
Antineoplastons are also able to insert themselves into cellular DNA. Carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) are also able to do this, which is one of the ways they trigger healthy cells to become cancerous. This ability of antineoplastons to enter the DNA strand enables them to shield DNA from invading carcinogens, thus preventing carcinogens from damaging and altering healthy cells and tissues in the body. Certain chemotherapy drugs are also able to accomplish this. However, because such drugs also bind with healthy cells and are highly toxic, they indiscriminately destroy normal cells along with cancer cells.
A third way that antineoplastons work is by acting as molecular “switches”. One of the things that make cancer cells so resistant to most types of cancer treatment is the fact that, once they become cancerous, their normal programming is altered. All of your body’s healthy cells have a pre-programmed life span. At the end of this life span, normal cells die off to be replaced by new cells. This process of programmed cell death is called apoptosis.
Cancer cells are resistant to the process of apoptosis. Instead of dying off as normal cells do, they continue to live and spread, causing other cells to also become cancerous. In addition, unlike normal cells, cancer cells lose their ability to differentiate. (This differentiation process is what enables your body to produce cells specific for each or your body’s organs and tissues.) It is this twofold process of abnormal cell life and non-differentiation that, left unchecked, results in the growth of cancerous tumors that increasingly burden the body, causing cancer patients to grow increasingly weak and ultimately die.
Antineoplastons literally turn off this abnormal life process in cancer cells, forcing them to die through apoptosis by making them differentiate so that they resume their normal life cycle. Yet, while they trigger the death of cancer cells through apoptosis, they do not harm healthy cells or inhibit normal cell growth, specifically targeting only cancer cells. Conventional chemotherapeutic cancer drugs also attempt to achieve apoptosis in cancer cells. The difference is that such drugs also kill off healthy cells at the same time, one of the primary reasons they cause so many debilitating side effects.
Finally, antineoplastons also turn off the genes that scientists now know trigger normal cells to become cancerous. Such genes are called oncogenes. In healthy people, oncogenes are kept at bay by other genes called tumor suppressor genes. When tumor suppressor genes fail to properly do their job, the activity of oncogenes increases. Today, the conventional cancer establishment is working to develop new drugs that will inhibit oncogenes. But there is no guarantee that such drugs will work, and it is also likely that, even if they do, they will still cause negative side effects. Meanwhile, Dr. Burzynski’s research has already proven that antineoplastons not only turn off oncogenes but, at the same time, also turn on and boost the activity of tumor suppressor genes. Because of these abilities, antineoplastons are able to restore the normal balance in the body’s gene expression, which in turn helps to prevent and reverse cancer, all without side effects.
A Leading Oncologist Validates Dr. Burzynski’s Work
As I mentioned above, the National Cancer Institute, based on its investigators own examination of Dr. Burzysnki’s patient records, officially stated that antineoplaston therapy is effective as a treatment for brain cancer. In addition, Dr. Burzynski’s work is also hailed as a breakthrough cancer treatment by scientists and medical institutions throughout Europe, Japan, and other parts of the world.
Just as significantly, in 1996 Dr. Burzynski’s antineoplaston therapy gained further credibility with Dr. Robert E. Burdick, a highly respected oncologist and faculty member of the University of Washington Medical School evaluated of 17 brain cancer patients who were undergoing antineoplaston therapy. In a written statement, Dr. Burdick first commented on the abysmal track record conventional cancer treatments have for brain cancer. Here is what he wrote:
“It is very rare, currently, to ever get a complete remission or cure in a patient who has malignant brain tumor using our standard modalities of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy…As a rough estimate, neurosurgeons do well to cure one in every 1,000 brain-cancer patients they operate on. Radiation therapy slows the growth of adult tumors, gaining perhaps one month of life and again may result in a cure of only one in 500-1,000 patients, those cures being in the pediatric age group [young children]. Similarly, chemotherapy research, despite 30 years of clinical trials, has not resulted in the development of a single drug or drug combination that elicits more than an occasional transient [temporary] response in primary brain tumors. (emphasis added).”
Against this dismal background of conventional medicine’s “success” in treating brain cancer patients, Dr. Burdick reviewed the cases of 17 brain cancer patients treated by Dr. Burzynski. Based on his evaluation, he reported that seven patients had achieved complete remission, with one of them achieving a second complete remission after he’d stopped his treatment only to have his brain cancer reoccur. Nine of the other patients achieved remission of 50 percent or more, and the final patient’s cancer had stabilized.
As a result of his findings, Dr. Burdick wrote, “I am very impressed with the number of complete and partial responses that I have seen here, compared with the number of responses that I have seen in my personal experience [as an oncologist]. The responses here also are far in excess of any prior series of patients published in the medical literature…the response rate here is an astounding 81 percent, with an equally astounding 35 percent complete remission rate. Such remission rates are far in excess of anything I or anyone else has seen since research on brain tumors began (emphasis added). It is very clear the responses here are due to antineoplaston therapy and are not due to surgery, radiation, or standard chemotherapy.”
Based on such a glowing evaluation of antineoplaston therapy by such a distinguished oncologist, shouldn’t this therapy be widely available as a primary treatment for brain cancer?
Not according to the U.S. government. Rather than support Dr. Burzysnki’s work, they have repeatedly tried to put him in jail!
(Continued next issue.)
(For more information about antienoplaston therapy, visit www.burzynskiclinic.com and www.burzynskipatientgroup.org.)
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The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide: A Conversation with Larry Trivieri, Jr (Part 2) by Philip Domenico, PhD.
Dr. Phil: The food tables in your book are very detailed, and distinguish among mild, medium and high acid or alkaline foods. I believe that the real problems and solutions rest at the extremes. Foods that are mildly acid forming, like stevia, Swiss chard, spinach, peas, tomatoes, black tea, balsamic vinegar, milk, beans, butter, clams, dates, figs, prunes, and mayonnaise aren’t so much the problem when it comes to pH balance. It is more so the prevalence of carbs and meat, I presume, that really tilts the balance. Yes? No?
Larry: What it really comes down to is the overall percentage of alkalizing and acidifying foods we eat during the day. For example, red meat, as you pointed out, is highly acidifying. I happen to enjoy eating red meat on occasion and have no intention of eliminating it from my diet. So when I consume a food such as red meat that I know is highly acidifying, I limit myself to a moderate portion and increase the amount of alkalizing vegetables I eat with that meal. It really isn’t difficult to enjoy the foods we like while still eating in a way that improves the body’s pH values.
Dr. Phil: With regard to vinegars, it looks like umeboshi and apple ciders are the way to go. Vinegar is known for its many health benefits and practical uses. Yet, should we consider using only alkaline-forming vinegars for all these purposes?
Larry: I tend to shy away from “only use” recommendations. Different vinegars add different flavors to food dishes, so enjoy the ones you like. Again, it comes down to moderation and seeing that the overall composition of your meals is alkalizing.
Dr. Phil: The nut thing is a bit hard to fathom. Walnuts are on the top of my list for health benefits, yet they are high acid forming. On the other hand, chestnuts and cashews are alkaline forming, but do not pack the same nutritional punch. Please advise.
Larry: I agree with you that nuts in general are very healthy and nutritious foods even though walnuts and a few other nuts are acidifying. So I recommend them as healthy snacks and so forth. Given the high quality nutritional benefits that walnuts provide, I wouldn’t be too concerned about eating them regularly. Like any other food that is acidifying, just be sure that you eat enough alkalizing foods to buffer whatever acid is produced when walnuts are eaten.
Dr. Phil: Most people know that berries are super foods. Should people eat them regularly with acid-forming foods to neutralize the pH effect?
Larry: Actually, I think berries should be eaten away from other meals, for the most part, since, like most fruits, they are so quickly digested by the body while other foods take much longer to be digested. But yes, I definitely recommend making berries a part of one’s daily diet due to the many healthy benefits they provide.
Dr. Phil: Your tables indicate that all seeds, except cottonseed, are alkaline forming, with pumpkin seeds being the only high alkaline former. What a pleasant surprise! I bought a pound of organic, raw (shelled) pumpkin seeds on the cheap, added some sea salt, and now I can’t stop eating them. Are the known health benefits of seeds connected to this alkaline-forming effect?
Larry: Definitely so, at least to some extent, because all alkalizing foods help to support the body’s health. But seeds are also very rich in many different nutrients that are also vital to health. Pumpkin seeds, for example, are good sources of zinc, which is why they are often recommended to men to support the health or the prostate gland. While alkalizing foods are good for the body, I don’t recommend that we make a food’s effect on pH the sole criteria for whether or not we choose to eat it. As your questions indicate, many acidifying foods offer a wealth of health benefits, so I’m all in favor of including them in one’s diet. The key is to ideally create meals that have an overall alkalizing effect on the body and also contain nutrient rich foods that the body can make use of in many other ways.
Dr. Phil: I really can’t believe how acid forming soy products are. Only the fermented forms (miso, tamari) are alkaline forming. Forget about replacing cow’s milk with soy milk (cow’s milk is only mildly acidic). In contrast, whey protein powder is mildly alkalizing. Is whey a better choice than soy powders for added protein?
Larry: I personally do not believe that non-fermented soy products are healthy for most people, and therefore do not recommend them. So yes, I definitely recommend whey over soy as a source of healthy protein. I also find it interesting that the Asian cultures where fermented soy foods are used generally have lower incidences of chronic degenerative disease compared to the US. At least, this was the case until fairly recently. Now, indications are that the same types of illnesses are on the increase in Asia and have been ever since traditional Asian eating habits started to be replaced with eating habits more akin to the standard American diet.
Dr. Phil: Here’s my favorite topic. Sea salt is highly alkalizing, while iodized table salt is highly acid forming. I use only sea salt, but not the white (leached out) stuff. A good sea salt is grey looking. I’m a big salt freak, and I am not happy that the “food police” are lumping all salts together as bad for you. What is your take on all this?
Larry: I completely agree with you. Salt as it is found in nature is very healthy. One of the reasons this is so is because sea salt contains a wealth of trace minerals that are essential for good health. The problem, as you pointed out, is that common table salt no longer contains these trace minerals. The “food police” and other advocates of salt-free or low-salt diets are ignoring this important point. It not salt that is bad; it’s the adulterated salt that most people use, which is a completely different story.
Dr. Phil: What about lite salt? Lite salt typically contains potassium chloride, effectively cutting the sodium content in half. But is this the right form of potassium to be ingesting? What are your thoughts on supplementing with other forms of potassium (citrate, gluconate) to help alkalize the body?
Larry: Susan and I point out in our book that potassium supplements are very useful for helping to restore acid-alkaline balance in the body. Additionally, many people unknowingly are deficient in potassium, as well as other minerals, so potassium and other mineral supplements can be very useful for regaining and maintaining good health. As for lite salt products – they may be an improvement on common table salt, but I prefer sea salt due to its much higher composition of important trace minerals.
Dr. Phil: I don’t often recommend potatoes to people who are trying to lose weight, but maybe an occasional baked potato with skin or a yam can’t hurt, given their alkalizing effects. Sweet potatoes are especially alkaline forming and full of nutrients. Perhaps this is a better way to load up on carbs before physical activity than with pasta or French fries. Do you agree?
Larry: Overall yes, although most people would do well to limit their overall consumption of starchy foods. That said, yams, sweet potatoes, and potatoes with their skins intact are healthy foods and certainly far more nutritious than refined carbs.
Dr. Phil: For summer refreshments, I highly recommend alkaline-forming fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, kiwi, mango, and pineapple, rather than highly acid-forming soft drinks, diet or otherwise, or milk shakes. Did I mention the difference in calories as well? What is it about soft drinks that make them so acidic?
Larry: Where do I begin? The short answer is that soft drinks are essential poisonous to the body. Don’t drink them.
Dr. Phil: Maybe we are not accounting for people’s addictions. However, there’s hope for these folks, since being in pH balance energizes the body and helps people get off the caffeine kick. However, high alkaline-forming fruits are also full of carbs. I guess some carbs are better than others. Your thoughts?
Larry: There’s no need to guess, Phil. Some carbs definitely are better than others as the charts and tables in our book make clear. The unhealthiest carbs, as we’ve discussed, are refined carbs, which unfortunately are very prevalent in many peoples’ diets. Overall, carbs from whole grains are much healthier choices, as are yams, potatoes, fruits.
Dr. Phil: Regarding flour, only oat flour is alkalizing. What foods do you recommend here, particularly breakfast foods?
Larry: While it’s true that only oat flour is alkalizing, certain other flours, such as amaranth, buckwheat and millet, are only mildly acidifying so people really have a number of options when it comes to using flour. As for breakfast foods, there are many options available. I personally like to start my day with some protein, so a typical breakfast for me might start with a glass of fruit juice followed twenty minutes later by a vegetable omelet (minus cheese) or a small serving of chicken with green vegetables. For people who like cereal for breakfast, puffed brown rice cereal or with almond milk is a nice option.
Dr. Phil: On a day-to-day basis, how can a person gauge the pH effects of their diet?
Larry: An early indication of pH imbalance is increased respiratory rate. Another is body odor, from all the strong acids excreted through the skin. The more acidic an individual’s body becomes, the more fatigue, inflammation and infection may be experienced. One can monitor the effects of an “alkalizing” diet by these yardsticks. It is also easy to measure daily changes in acid-alkaline balance by testing the pH of the first morning void urine. How do to so is explained in my book.
Dr. Phil: Frankly, most people I show the list of high acid- and alkaline-forming foods are disappointed. They wonder how anyone could forgo all the tasty foods for boring or disgusting ones. I'm sure you are familiar with the problem.
Larry: I agree that this is a common reaction. However, as I said earlier, I’m not suggesting that people stop eating the foods they enjoy. Rather, I’m recommending that they try to eat meals that have an overall alkalizing effect on their bodies. As my book shows, this isn’t difficult to do and, aside from unhealthy junk foods, which are highly acidifying, does not require eliminating most foods that people enjoy. By no means am I advocating a diet of nuts, seeds and sprouts. In fact, Susan and I even included a fast food table so that people who live on such foods can at least minimize their acidifying effects.
Dr. Phil: The way I see it, people are not about to give up their comfort foods and addictions. That's why I advocate dietary supplements to help support the health of people with bad habits. It may not be ideal, but it's much easier to pop a pill for health. Certainly, I would rather they pop nutrients than drugs. What dietary supplements do you recommend for pH balance?
Larry: I agree that dietary supplements are important for good health. The fact of the matter is that even if we are able to obtain organic foods for all of our meals, today’s food supply does not contain the same abundance of essential nutrients that the foods are ancestors ate did. This is primarily due to the fact that the mineral content of our farmlands has been diminishing since the early 20th century. Without rich mineral content, farmlands are unable to yield crops that are as nutrient rich as crops grown a century ago. Therefore, nutritional supplementation is very important for maintaining good health.
There are a number of supplements that can be used to balance the body’s pH levels.and this too is discussed in The Acid Alkaline Food Guide. Some of the most effective supplements in this area are magnesium, calcium, potassium vitamin C and vitamin D. Multimineral formulas can be very helpful for this purpose too, as can green drink powders.
Dr. Phil: Obviously, you prefer natural over synthetic supplements, but indulge me for a bit. Which mineral supplements work, and which do not work to alkalize the body?
Larry: The key to choosing mineral supplements that help to alkalize the body is to look for organic sources of these minerals, since the organic forms are preferable as alkalizers. Beyond that, I recommend that people monitor their morning urine pH level on a regular basis to see whether the minerals and other supplements they are taking are resulting in a shift towards alkalinity. If they are, then the urine testing should reflect this within a few days to a week.
Dr. Phil: How long will it take to reach a steady alkaline state?
Larry: The answer to this question depends on the health of each person to begin with. Obviously, the more acidic a person is prior to beginning to eat meals that are predominantly alkalizing, the longer it will take for him or her to achieve acid-alkaline balance. In general, however, if people faithfully follow the recommendations in my book, they will begin to notice their pH shifting within a few days, just as you have. This is one of the reasons we recommend using pH strips to monitor morning urine. As people see their pH values improving, they are more apt to stick with the program, as it were.
Reference: Dr. Susan E. Brown & Larry Trivieri, Jr., The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide, Square One Publishers, Garden City Park, NY, 2006
Inflammation And Heart Disease
Surely you know of the connection between cholesterol and heart disease. But you may not be aware of another, more serious threat to your heart: chronic inflammation.
Physicians and other health experts have long linked chronic inflammation in the body with certain health conditions, such as arthritis, edema, and inflammatory bowel disease. In recent years, however, scientists have come to understand that inflammation is a major contributing factor to a wide range of other health conditions, including heart disease, as well as diabetes and certain types of cancer. In fact, the link between inflammation and heart disease is not new. It was actually first proposed as a major cause of heart disease in the late 1800s by a German physician named Rudolph Virchow. Dr. Virchow’s view came after he examined the hearts of people who had died of heart attacks and other cardiovascular illnesses. His examinations revealed heart and arterial tissues that resembled bruised and infected flesh.
Despite Dr. Virchow’s findings, little attention was given to further researching the role that inflammation might play in cardiovascular illness. In recent years, however, modern medicine has returned to exploring the connection between inflammation and heart disease.
As a result of recent research, physicians have found that most cases of heart disease are due to a combination of unhealthy cholesterol and chronic inflammation. In many cases, however, chronic inflammation alone can be enough to cause heart attack and other types of heart disease, which explains why cholesterol screening alone is not enough to detect approximately 50 percent of people who are at risk for heart disease.
Here’s how chronic inflammation can lead to a heart attack or other cardiovascular event. When inflammation is triggered in your body, your immune system releases various immune system cells. In cases of chronic inflammation, the production of these cells remains ongoing and the cells can eventually migrate into the arteries. There, they can start consuming fatty deposits, changing from stable cholesterol plaques to unstable lesions known as vulnerable plaque. In 1998, the American Heart Association published a paper that stated that 85 percent of all heart attacks and strokes are due to this vulnerable plaque. The following year, research published by the Harvard University Physicians’ Healthy Study found that chronically elevated inflammation levels increased the risk of heart attack by 300 percent, and the risk of stroke by 200 percent. Based on such findings, it now seems clear that chronic inflammation has joined unhealthy cholesterol levels as a major cause of heart disease.
Understanding Inflammation
Inflammation is a natural healing reaction by the body in response to various occurrences, such as injury, exposure to infectious microorganisms, and exposure to allergy-causing substances known as allergens. Inflammation that occurs as a result of such circumstances is a good thing because of how the body’s inflammatory response helps to properly repair injured bones, joints, organs, and tissues, and to help mount a defense against invading microorganisms and allergens. In a state of overall good health, the inflammatory response is only temporary. Once the body has the circumstances that trigger inflammation under control, the inflammatory response subsides.
Such incidents of normal, healthy inflammation are known as acute inflammatory responses. One common example of an acute inflammatory response is the process that occurs when you cut yourself. When a cut occurs, your body’s immune system immediately directs various healing agents to the site of the cut in order to seal it off and protect it from possible infection. Should potentially harmful microorganisms be present at the wound site, immune cells go to work to attack and eliminate them, while other immune cells work to rid the site of cellular debris and waste byproducts caused by the cut.
During this process, the area of the body surrounding the cut will usually redden and swell to some extent. Sensations of heat and pain may also be experienced. Depending on the severity of the cut, a temporary loss of or impairment of function in the affected body area may also occur. But once the healing process is underway, a healthy immune system recognizes that its job is done and puts an end to the inflammatory response. At this point, symptoms such as swelling, heat, and pain, also begin to subside, and full function of the body area begins to return.
Most cases of acute inflammation are short lived, usually lasting only for a few days or less. But when the inflammatory response continues beyond the originally intended purpose of the body, the stage is set for potential health problems that, if left unchecked, can develop into serious, and in some cases even life-threatening, health issues. Such ongoing inflammation is known as chronic inflammation.
Unlike acute inflammation, which is usually accompanied by the pronounced noticeable symptoms mentioned above, chronic inflammation is usually of a more low-grade nature and is ongoing or recurring. Additionally, the symptoms of chronic inflammation aren’t always noticeable. When they are, they most commonly occur as pain and swelling that are continuous or which flare up intermittently.
In some cases, there are no obvious symptoms of chronic inflammation. Yet, though patients may believe themselves to still be healthy, within their bodies internal scarring caused by an ongoing inflammatory response can be taking place. This, in turn, can cause a cascade of internal events that can lead to serious degenerative disease. Often, however, it can be years before such degeneration become noticeable. For example, internal scarring of the arteries and other blood vessels, which is a common result of chronic inflammation, can lead to sudden heart attack without any warning signs.
Causes of Chronic Inflammation
One of the primary causes of chronic inflammation is an unhealthy diet, especially one that is high in sugar and processed foods, as well as foods that are fried, barbequed, or overly browned (such as toast). Such foods, when consumed, unleash what are known as advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, into the bloodstream. AGEs are formed by an unnatural binding of sugars with proteins and fats. In addition to triggering inflammation in the body, they also generate free radicals, and have been linked to atheriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and high blood pressure, as well as other health conditions such as cataracts, dementia, diabetes, joint pain and stiffness, and kidney disease.
While an unhealthy diet is one of the main causes of chronic inflammation, there are other causes that might also be involved. These include undetected infections by certain types of bacteria, viruses, and other harmful microorganisms, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, and exposure to environmental toxins. Obesity, which is becoming epidemic throughout the United States, is another major risk factor for chronic inflammation.
Protecting Yourself From Chronic Inflammation
Perhaps the most important step you can take to protect yourself from chronic inflammation is to eat a healthy diet. By following a diet that is high in fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean, healthy meats, fish, and poultry, and by avoiding unhealthy cooking methods, you can minimize your risk of developing chronic inflammation due to AGEs. Regularly drinking fresh-squeezed vegetable juices can further diminish your risk, due to the potent anti-inflammatory properties that such juice contains. Regularly drinking juice can neutralize free radicals that can trigger inflammation, and improve your body’s ability to rid itself of toxins, another cause of inflammation.
In addition to eating healthy foods, also make it a point to exercise regularly – at least 20 to 30 minutes three or more times a week. You can also consider supplementing your diet with fish oil capsules, which are rich in omega-3, a type of essential fatty acid that has been shown to have significant anti-inflammatory properties. Finally, if you are concerned that you might be at risk for chronic inflammation, schedule a visit with your physician, who can determine your body’s inflammation level using a few simple blood tests. By managing your cholesterol levels and keeping inflammation in your body in check, you can do a great deal to minimize your risk for heart disease.
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Recommendations
Books
In Balance for Life by Alex Guerrero. Actually, I am the author of this book, since Guerrero wound up being a con artist who took advantage of my publisher and didn’t contribute anything to it beyond the recipe section (which is very good). Despite that, I’m very proud of this book, especially as it’s been hailed as one of the best overviews for the general public on the importance of acid-alkaline balance for good health by a number of leading experts in this field.
The Healer Within by Roger Jahnke. This is an excellent book about the many health benefits of Qigong written specifically for Western readers. Roger is someone I know and greatly respect, who has been practicing Qigong for decades and is today one of the leading Qigong teachers in the U.S.
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 there.
That’s all for this week.
Health and Blessings!
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
Contact Information: Due to the inordinate amount of spam my email account receives, I no longer use it to receive emails. To contact me, please visit www.1healthyworld.com/contactus
Disclaimer: The Health Plus Letter is a weekly eZine published by Larry Trivieri, Jr. and Library of Health, LLC (dba www.1healthyworld.com) 3 Greenwood Court, Utica, NY 13501. 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.
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