The Health Plus Letter February 16, 2010 Vol. 8, No. 5 By Larry Trivieri, Jr. – founder & publisher
Table Of Contents Quote of the Day Fast Fact The Principles of Holistic Medicine Medically Caused Death In America: An Exclusive Interview With Dr. Barbara Starfield By Jon Rappoport Self-Care Tips For Preventing and Managing Infection Protect Your Access To Nutritional Supplements Which Are Again Under Attack Recommendations Medical Freedom Contact Information
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Quote Of The Day
“A little knowledge that ACTS is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.”
-- Kahlil Gibran
Fast Fact
Each human cell contains about 2 meters (6.6 feet) of DNA supercoiled on itself such that it fits within the cell nucleus.”
Source: The Cambridge Factfinder – David Crystal, Editor
Unabashed Plug
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THE PRINCIPLES OF HOLISTIC MEDICINE
Holistic medicine's comprehensive definition of health is at odds with our predominant health care system, which is based almost entirely upon the diagnosis and treatment of disease symptoms. While conventional medicine is unsurpassed in treating acute life-threatening illness and injuries, its reliance on pharmaceutical drugs and surgery has left it largely a failure in terms of handling chronic conditions. As a result, over 100 million Americans now suffer with some type of chronic illness, driving the cost of health care in the U.S. above $2 trillion a year. Further compounding this problem is the fact that most physicians trained conventionally are taught little, if anything, about maintaining and enhancing health, or even preventing disease. This is in stark contrast to the approach taken by holistic physicians, who primarily focus on determining all of the multiple factors that contribute to illness and then helping their patients to understand and effectively deal with the underlying imbalances that are the causes of their disease. Throughout this process, the chief objective remains the creation of optimal health.
Informing holistic physicians' approach to health care are twelve principles of holistic medicine that have been established by the Board of Trustees of the American Holistic Medical Association. Each of these principles is outlined below.
1. Holistic physicians embrace a variety of safe, effective diagnostic and treatment options, including: a) education for lifestyle changes and self-care; b) complementary diagnostic and treatment approaches; and c) conventional drugs and surgery.
This first principle reflects the fact that optimal outcomes in diagnosing and treating disease are often the result of combining the best of both conventional and complementary medicine and teaching patients how to live a holistic lifestyle. The need for the synthesis of these options is seen in the recent draft document for establishing curriculum guidelines for teaching complementary and integrative medical principles and applications to physicians in specialty training in family practice residencies. The committee of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, which developed these guidelines, believes this step to be essential for the 470family practice training programs in the United States. A 1996 editorial in American Family Physician, the professional journal of the 60,000-member AmericanAcademy of Family Physicians, stated: "If alternative medicine manages to help re-focus the physician's role as a healer rather than a dispenser of medical technology ... it will help to accomplish the goals that we in family medicine have strived for all along." An accompanying article in the same edition of the journal reviewed ways in which family physicians could begin to integrate aspects of alternative medicine into their practice.
2. Searching for the underlying causes of disease is preferable to treating symptoms alone.
This second principle of holistic medicine is bolstered by a 1987 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), in which researchers found that 40 percent of a large group of hypertensive patients maintained a normal blood pressure without drugs after losing an average of five pounds in body weight, reducing their sodium intake, and limiting alcohol consumption to one drink per day. According to Robert Anderson, M.D., a founding member of the AHMA, and the first president of its sister organization, the American Board of Holistic Medicine, pursuing the answer to why patients have high blood pressure results in 75 to 80 percent of patients being able to go off their medications, while the remaining 20 percent are able to reduce their dosage levels. "By losing weight, reducing sodium and alcohol intake, adopting a modest exercise program, paying attention to their attitude, and engaging in a regular program of deep relaxation or meditation, most patients can maintain a normal blood pressure without drugs," Dr. Anderson states. "Similar results can often also be achieved for most patients suffering with other forms of chronic illness. Moreover, many patients would prefer making such lifestyle changes rather than taking medications. The cost savings alone would make many consider this worthwhile, and surely it is the responsibility of the medical profession to look at these simplest solutions first."
3. Holistic physicians expend as much effort in establishing what kind of patient has a disease as they do in establishing what kind of disease a patient has.
This 100-year old dictum from one of the revered fathers of American medicine, William Osler, M.D., emphasizes the multiple factors underlying the incidence and development of many diseases. In a group of women diagnosed with breast cancer, for instance, a recent study showed that the risk of recurrence of their cancer is nine times greater in women who are under high levels of stress compared to those whose stress levels are low. Failure to recognize the importance of stress and deal adequately with it greatly reduces the chances of a favorable outcome.
Further supporting this third principle is the fact that the internal healing capacity of the patient is the key to the presence or absence of disease. This basic medical truth was recognized in the late 19th century by Dr. Claude Bernard, the father of modern physiology, who pointed out that exposure to most bacteria, viruses, and toxins resulted in illness in only a portion of the population. Patient resistance to illness was, in his opinion, the consideration of first importance. A modern example of Bernard's tenet can be found in cases of tuberculosis. Recent research has emphasized this fact to reveal how lifestyle impacts intrinsic resistance and immunity, and how it changes outcomes. Among the major lifestyle factors are attention to nutritional consumption, physical exercise, smo/king, substance abuse, deeply held beliefs and attitudes, and protecting against accidents and trauma
4.Prevention is preferable to treatment and is usually more cost-effective. The most cost-effective approach evokes the patient's own innate healing capacities.
The most common first option chosen by conventional physicians in response to most types of chronic illness is the prescribing of drugs. In cases of elevated blood pressure, these drugs include diuretics, beta-blockers, or angiotensin-converting-enzyme-inhibitors. While such drugs can often result in symptom relief, they do not alter the underlying causes related to hypertension. But when unmanaged stress is recognized as a major contributing factor, a brief course in biofeedback/relaxation training greatly enhances a patient’s ability to handle stress, reducing or normalizing blood pressure in the process. Many aspects of life improve for patients who develop this skill, such as improved immunity, faster reaction time, better hearing and pain tolerance, and a decrease in headaches, migraines, insomnia, ulcers, adrenaline, cortisone, cholesterol, and muscle tension. Similar results occur when attention is given to diet and nutrition, since it takes five to seven times the normal amount of nutrition to build and repair than it does to maintain proper physiological function.
5. Illness is viewed as a manifestation of a dysfunction of the whole person, not as an isolated event.
Nonconventional healing systems in various parts of the world have recognized the importance of the “whole person” to a much greater extent than Western allopathic medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine, for instance, has for 5000 years recognized the importance of a balance of movement (a variety of martial arts), diet, herbal remedies, and the unimpeded flow of qi or life force energy as being essential for optimal health. The concept of the whole person has also been a core belief in Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India and south Asia, for several thousand years.
The superiority of treating the whole person instead of an isolated disease is illustrated by comparing conventional and holistic approaches to treating cataracts, a common experience for elderly people in the United States. "Lens implant surgery is the largest single-issue medical expenditure for Medicare, and is the common approach undertaken by conventional physicians," Dr. Anderson explains. "Yet a cataract is much more than a disease of the eye. It is a manifestation of elevated free-radical activity which has been developing in the body of the patient for many years due, at least in part, to decreased antioxidant levels." By incorporating better nutrition, exercise, smoking cessation, avoidance of extreme bright sunlight, and antioxidant supplementation into the treatment protocols of their patients, holistic physicians are able to reduce the risk of cataracts by as much as 70 percent.
6. A major determining factor in the healing process is the quality of the relationship established between physician and patient, in which the patient is encouraged to take responsibility for his or her health.
The quality of the relationship developed between patient and physician is among the most powerful influences on the eventual outcome of a medical disease or psychological condition. A high quality relationship inspires willingness, confidence and enthusiasm, and a sense of trust and satisfaction, all of which enhance healing. In the trusted relationship, a patient knows that the physician deeply cares and will focus his or her best thinking and expertise in addressing the cause and best methods of treating the patient's condition.
Participation in decision-making, working cooperatively with one's physician and members of the health care team, and being highly informed about what is happening, contributes to a heightened sense of autonomy on the part of the patient. Long-term prospective studies in Europe have demonstrated much lower incidences of heart disease and cancer, for instance, in autonomous persons compared to those whose world-view makes them more dependent and allows their beliefs and attitudes to be determined by external factors. The much healthier autonomous group espoused the belief that health "is an inside job,” and were therefore more willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure their well-being.
In recognition of this dynamic, a curriculum for continuing medical education for physicians was suggested in JAMA in 1997. The four topics proposed for medical training were designed to enhance awareness about: 1) physician beliefs and attitudes; 2) physicians' emotional responses and feelings during patient care; 3) challenging clinical situations; and 4) physician self-care. The authors of the proposed curriculum suggested that physicians, through the enhancement of their personal awareness, can improve their clinical care abilities, their own personal work relationships, and their level of personal satisfaction as health care providers. Such a curriculum speaks to what physicians are, whereas conventional medical education is limited to addressing what physicians know and what they do.
7. The ideal physician-patient relationship considers the needs, desires, awareness and insight of the patient, as well as those of the physician.
"The beliefs, experience, and education of the patient will influence his or her desires and degrees of awareness regarding medical choices, and also influence his or her physician," says Dr. Anderson. "If the physician and patient both believe in a given approach, it will be much more effective. This is an important point to consider, given that in many clinical situations a wide variety of choices are frequently present."
8. Physicians significantly influence patients by their example.
A cartoon hanging on the wall of Dr. Anderson’s waiting room shows a 300-pound, cigar-smoking physician tilted back in his chair, asking a shivering, half-clad skinny patient across the desk, “Are you eating properly and getting plenty of exercise?” The totally ridiculous comparison has tickled thousands of his patients over the years. "In all walks of life, what we do speaks more loudly than what we say," Dr. Anderson points out. "Therefore, physicians need to be aware of the influence their actions can have on their patients, both positively and negatively, bearing in mind Hippocrates injunction, 'Physician, heal thyself.' At the same time, patients would do well to ask themselves if their health care providers are living the healthy lifestyle they espouse. If they're not, it may be time for the patient to consider seeking someone else to guide them in their health care needs." 9. Illness, pain, and the dying process can be learning opportunities for both patients and physicians.
Dr. Anderson recalls the great shock of disbelief he experienced the first time a cancer patient in declining health said to him, "I'm glad I got my cancer.” She was a woman who was slowly losing her battle with breast cancer, yet as a result of her ordeal she had discovered some valuable life lessons. She had learned to appreciate every moment of her days: the incredible beauty of nature as she slowed her pace to pay attention; the wonder of moments of intimacy with her husband; her finite but previously unrecognized inner resources in dealing with the pain and fatigue of the cancer; the joy of plumbing the mysteries and meaning of life itself; and the ability to use her experience in helping others in similar circumstances. "She taught me that the quality of life in our brief span of life is perhaps our most important consideration," Dr. Anderson says. "After my experience with her, at least half a dozen other cancer patients have shared with me the same sentiments. All have learned things about themselves that overshadowed even their desire to prolong their lives." When both patients and physicians are able to recognize the healing potential inherent in pain, disease, and dying, miraculous resolutions in their lives can occur. And if death proves inevitable, usually it comes more peacefully and with greater acceptance on the part of everyone involved. On the other hand, sometimes the recognition of the gifts and lessons involved during the disease process can mobilize our innate healing abilities, even to the point of spontaneous remission.
10. Holistic physicians encourage their patients to evoke the healing power of love, hope, humor, and enthusiasm, and to release the toxic consequences of hostility, shame, greed, depression, and prolonged fear, anger, and grief.
Extensive research documents the detrimental effects of hostility, depression, and anxiety in chronic disease conditions such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, to name just a few. One study, for example, found that among a group of patients undergoing angioplasty for threatening coronary artery disease, the risk for restenosis (the recurrent closing down of the artery) was 250 percent greater in patients found to have high levels of hostility, compared to patients with low hostility levels. Another study of 2,000 male employees of Western Electric, all of whom were initially f/r/e/e of heart disease, found that the rate of coronary heart disease over the next ten years was 32 percent greater among those whose psychological tests showed great hostility. A third study found that when volunteers were asked to recall the last time they became extremely angry, measurements of their hearts' pumping ability decreased 12 percent in only 15 minutes. Such studies clearly reveal that negative emotions and attitudes are poisonous and toxic to the physical, mental, and emotional function of us all.
On the positive side, the therapeutic benefits of humor and laughter have also been repeatedly shown. One study, for instance, showed that volunteers who viewed humorous videotapes strengthened their immune systems within 30 minutes. According to Dr. Anderson, children laugh an average of 400 times a day; adults only 15 times a day. "No doubt that is one reason that adults are far more prone to chronic illness than children are," he says.
11. Unconditional love is life’s most powerful medicine. Holistic physicians strive to adopt an attitude of unconditional love for patients, themselves, and other practitioners.
"Unconditional love, released through the act of forgiveness, is the most important tool for self-empowerment, development of positive attitudes, and optimism, all of which contribute to better therapeutic outcomes," Dr. Anderson says. A growing number of studies demonstrates the healing power of love and intimacy.
12. Optimal health is much more than the absence of sickness. It is the conscious pursuit of the highest qualities of the physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social aspects of the human experience.
The principle emphasis of western medicine has been the intervention in disease processes, primarily through the use of drugs or surgery. Holistic medicine adds a two-fold question to this conventional approach: What has caused the patient's condition to develop; and what can be done to help him or her reverse that cause? In addition, what fundamental changes can the patient undertake to limit further degeneration, reverse the degenerative process, cure the disease, and pursue optimal health with the highest quality physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social experience of life itself?
"In nearly every instance in which an individual commits to a significant change in diet, exercise, or other health practice, there is an incremental improvement in their state of health, even at an advanced age," Dr. Anderson reports. Illustrating his point is the case of one of his patients, a 64 year-old woman who developed widespread ovarian cancer. Surgery removed most of the tumor, but significant amounts of the cancer remained. She refused chemotherapy. Respecting her choices, Dr. Anderson responded to her request that he help her to get well. Together they developed a comprehensive strategy to enhance her immunity, evoke her determination and will, improve all aspects of her lifestyle, and enhance her spiritual life, including forgiving a large number of people. One of her life's greatest pleasures was attending opera. As part of her recovery, she saved her money to fulfill a lifelong dream and was able to hear some of the greatest stars of opera perform for three nights at La Scala, the classical home of opera in Milan, Italy. Later, surgery showed her cancer to be totally gone. She eventually died of completely unrelated causes after eight years of enjoyable, satisfying life, having finished doing what she wanted to do in this life/time, while overcoming an aggressive cancer that could have taken her life a year after its discovery.
Medically Caused Death In America: An Exclusive Interview With Dr. Barbara Starfield By Jon Rappoport
On July 26, 2000, the US medical community received a titanic shock to the system, when one of its most respected and honored public-health experts, Dr. Barbara Starfield, revealed her findings on healthcare in America.
The landmark Starfield study, “Is US health really the best in the world?”, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, came to the following conclusions:
Every year in the US there are:
12,000 deaths from unnecessary surgeries;
7,000 deaths from medication errors in hospitals;
20,000 deaths from other errors in hospitals;
80,000 deaths from infections acquired in hospitals;
106,000 deaths from FDA-approved correctly prescribed medicines.
The total of medically-caused deaths in the US every year is 225,000. This makes the medical system the third leading cause of death in the US, behind heart disease and cancer.
The Starfield study is the most explosive revelation about modern healthcare in America ever published. The credentials of its author and the journal in which it appeared are, within the highest medical circles, impeccable. Yet, on the heels of Starfield’s astonishing findings, although media reporting was extensive, it soon dwindled. No major newspaper or television network mounted an ongoing “Medicalgate” investigation. Neither the US Department of Justice nor federal health agencies undertook prolonged remedial action.
All in all, it seemed that those parties who could have taken effective steps to correct this mind-boggling situation preferred to ignore it.
On December 6-7, 2009, I interviewed Dr. Starfield by email.
What has been the level and tenor of the response to your findings, since 2000?
My papers on the benefits of primary care have been widely used, including in Congressional testimony and reports. However, the findings on the relatively poor health in the US have received almost no attention. The American public appears to have been hoodwinked into believing that more interventions lead to better health, and most people that I meet are completely unaware that the US does not have the ‘best health in the world’.
In the medical research community, have your medically-caused mortality statistics been debated,or have these figures been accepted, albeit with some degree of shame?
The findings have been accepted by those who study them. There has been only one detractor, a former medical school dean, who has received a lot of attention for claiming that the US health system is the best there is and we need more of it. He has a vested interest in medical schools and teaching hospitals (they are his constituency). They, of course, would like an even greater share of the pie than they now have, for training more specialists. (Of course, the problem is that we train specialists—at great public cost---who then do not practice up to their training---they spend half of their time doing work that should be done in primary care and don’t do it as well.)
Have health agencies of the federal government consulted with you on ways to mitigate theeffects of the US medical system?
No.
Since the FDA approves every medical drug given to the American people, and certifies it as safeand effective, how can that agency remain calm about the fact that these medicines are causing 106,000 deaths per year?
Even though there will always be adverse events that cannot be anticipated, the fact is that more and more unsafe drugs are being approved for use. Many people attribute that to the fact that the pharmaceutical industry is (for the past ten years or so) required to pay the FDA for reviews---which puts the FDA into a untenable position of working for the industry it is regulating. There is a large literature on this.
Aren't your 2000 findings a severe indictment of the FDA and its standard practices?
They are an indictment of the US health care industry: insurance companies, specialty and disease-oriented medical academia, the pharmaceutical and device manufacturing industries, all of which contribute heavily to re-election campaigns of members of Congress. The problem is that we do not have a government that is free of influence of vested interests. Alas, [it] is a general problem of our society—which clearly unbalances democracy.
Can you offer an opinion about how the FDA can be so mortally wrong about so many drugs?
Yes, it cannot divest itself from vested interests. (Again, [there is] a large literature about this, mostly unrecognized by the people because the industry-supported media give it no attention.
Would it be correct to say that, when your JAMA study was published in 2000, it caused amomentary stir and was thereafter ignored by the medical community and by pharmaceuticalcompanies?
Are you sure it was a momentary stir? I still get at least one email a day asking for a reprint---ten years later! The problem is that its message is obscured by those that do not want any change in the US health care system.
Do medical schools in the US, and intern/residency programs in hospitals, offer significant primary care" physician training and education?
No. Some of the most prestigious medical teaching institutions do not even have family physician training programs [or] family medicine departments. The federal support for teaching institutions greatly favors specialist residencies, because it is calculated on the basis of hospital beds. [Dr. Starfield has done extensive research showing that family doctors, who deliver primary care—as opposed to armies of specialists—produce better outcomes for patients.]
Are you aware of any systematic efforts, since your 2000 JAMA study was published, to remedy the main categories of medically caused deaths in the US?
No systematic efforts; however, there have been a lot of studies. Most of them indicate higher rates [of death] than I calculated.
What was your personal reaction when you reached the conclusion that the US medical systemwas the third leading cause of death in the US?
I had previously done studies on international comparisons and knew that there were serious deficits in the US health care system, most notably in lack of universal coverage and a very poor primary care infrastructure. So I wasn’t surprised.
Has anyone from the FDA, since 2000, contacted you about the statistical findings in your JAMA paper?
No. Please remember that the problem is not only that some drugs are dangerous but that many drugs are overused or inappropriately used. The US public does not seem to recognize that inappropriate care is dangerous---more does not mean better. The problem is NOT mainly with the FDA but with population expectations. Some drugs are downright dangerous; they may be prescribed according to regulations but they are dangerous.
Concerning the national health plan before Congress—if the bill is passed, and it is business asusual after that, and medical care continues to be delivered in the same fashion, isn’t it logical toassume that the 225,000 deaths per year will rise?
Probably---but the balance is not clear. Certainly, those who are not insured now and will get help with financing will probably be marginally better off overall.
Did your 2000 JAMA study sail through peer review, or was there some opposition to publishing it?
It was rejected by the first journal that I sent it to, on the grounds that ‘it would not be interesting to readers’!
Do the 106,000 deaths from medical drugs only involve drugs prescribed to patients in hospitals,or does this statistic also cover people prescribed drugs who are not in-patients in hospitals?
I tried to include everything in my estimates. Since the commentary was written, many more dangerous drugs have been added to the marketplace.
106,000 people die as a result of CORRECTLY prescribed medicines. I believe that was your pointin your 2000 study. Overuse of a drug or inappropriate use of a drug would not fall under thecategory of "correctly prescribed." Therefore, people who die after "overuse" or "inappropriateuse" would be IN ADDITION TO the 106,000 and would fall into another or other categories.
‘Appropriate’ means that it is not counter to regulations. That does not mean that the drugs do not have adverse effects.
Some comments from the interviewer:
I’m aware there are reports, outside the mainstream, which conclude far more than 225,000 people in the US die every year as a result of medical treatment. For example, see the work of Carolyn Dean, Trueman Tuck, Gary Null, Martin Feldman, Debora Rasio, Dorothy Smith.
This interview with Dr. Starfield reveals that, even when an author has unassailable credentials within the medical-research establishment, the findings can result in no changes made to the system.
Yes, many persons and organizations within the medical system contribute to the annual death totals of patients, and media silence and public ignorance are certainly major factors, but the FDA is the assigned gatekeeper, when it comes to the safety of medical drugs. The buck stops there. If those drugs the FDA is certifying as safe are killing, like clockwork, 106,000 people a year, the Agency must be held accountable. The American people must understand that.
As for the other 119,000 people killed every year as a result of hospital treatment, this horror has to be laid at the doors of those institutions. Further, to the degree that hospitals are regulated and financed by state and federal governments, the relevant health agencies assume culpability.
It is astounding, as well, that the US Department of Justice has failed to weigh in on Starfield’s findings. If 225,000 medically caused deaths per year is not a crime by the Dept. of Justice’s standards, then what is?
To my knowledge, not one person in America has been fired from a job or even censured as a result of these medically caused deaths.
Dr. Starfield’s findings have been available for nine years. She has changed the perception of the medical landscape forever. In a half-sane nation, she would be accorded a degree of recognition that would, by comparison, make the considerable list of her awards pale. And significant and swift action would have been taken to punish the perpetrators of these crimes and reform the system from its foundations.
In these times, medical schools continue turning out a preponderance of specialists who then devote themselves to promoting the complexities of human illness and massive drug treatment. Whatever the shortcomings of family doctors, their tradition speaks to less treatment, more common sense, and a proper reliance on the immune systems of patients.
The pharmaceutical giants stand back and carve up the populace into “promising markets.” They seek new disease labels and new profits from more and more toxic drugs. They do whatever they can—legally or illegally—to influence doctors in their prescribing habits. Some drug studies which show negative results are buried. FDA panels are filled with doctors who have drug-company ties. Legislators are incessantly lobbied and supported with pharma campaign monies.
Nutrition, the cornerstone of good health, is ignored or devalued by most physicians. Meanwhile, the FDA continues to attack nutritional supplements, even though the overall safety record of these nutrients is good, whereas, once again, the medical drugs the FDA certifies as safe are killing 106,000 Americans per year.
Physicians are trained to pay exclusive homage to peer-reviewed published drug studies. These doctors unfailingly ignore the fact that, if medical drugs are killing a million Americans per decade, the studies on which those drugs are based must be fraudulent or, at the very least, massively incompetent. In other words, the whole literature is suspect, unreliable, and impenetrable.
At the same time, without evidence, doctors off-handedly tout their work with great confidence. Some years ago, a resident at a major New York hospital harangued me about the primacy of controlled studies. She boasted, in passing, that the hospital’s heart-bypass surgery team was considered the best in the city, and one of the best in the country. I asked her for a reference. Was her statement a combination of folk-wisdom and rumor, or was there a proper study that confirmed her opinion? A bit chagrined, she admitted it was hearsay. I was sure she would repeat her tune, however, many times.
Claiming evidence where there is none, and denying the evidence that the medical system does great harm, are apparently part of the weave of the modern Hippocratic Oath.
Self-Care Tips for Preventing and Managing Infection
Infection refers to the growth of disease-causing organisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi) anywhere in the body. The organisms grow in colonies that are invasive and multiply. They can damage cells through a variety of routes, such as directly, through release of toxins, or through allergic reaction. Many of the symptoms of the infection are usually a result of the immune system mounting a response to these foreign colonies.
Symptoms: Redness, inflammation, pain, swelling, and formation of pus-filled pockets (abscess) at the site of the infection. If fever and painful joints occur, this may be a sign of an infectious disease that is spreading throughout the body and a doctor must be seen at once.
Special Note:Be Careful with Antibiotics
When used appropriately, antibiotics are effective for serious or life-threatening bacterial infections. Their indiscriminate use, however, is ill-advised. First, although they are often prescribed for such conditions, antibiotics do not work against viruses or inflammatory conditions. Second, they kill not only harmful bacteria, but also beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract (mouth to anus) which can lead to digestive and intestinal problems (notably Candida albicans yeast overgrowth) if not remedied. Third, indiscriminate use of antibiotics has produced multiple-drug-resistant bacterial strains and is in danger of rendering antibiotics ineffective against life-threatening infections.
If you suspect you have a bacterial infection, ask your doctor to take a culture of saliva or tissues or fluids from the infected area. If it is a bacterial infection, samples of different antibiotics can be placed in the growing bacteria to determine which will be the most effective in killing that specific bacteria; this is called a sensitivity test. If you do take antibiotics, be sure to supplement with acidophilus during and after the course of treatment. Self-Care Approaches
Diet: Increase dietary garlic and unflavored yogurt. Increase diluted orange juice, apples and apple juice, grapes and grape juice, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, plums, figs, cabbage, onion, kelp, and raw honey. During infection and recovery time, avoid refined sugar as this may depress natural immune response. Drink plenty of filtered water. Nutritional Therapy: According to Garry Gordon, M.D., the following can be effectively used as an antibiotic replacement, particularly if used at the first sign of any cold or flu or other infectious process: vitamin A (400,000 IU daily for five days), liquid garlic extract (up to two 4-ounce bottles a day) or the equivalent in high-quality garlic in capsules or tablets, and vitamin C to bowel tolerance. This protocol is to be used only under a physician’s guidance. The dosages are for an average 175-pound adult and should be scaled down proportionately according to weight. The vitamin A should be taken for a period of at least three days, but no more than five days. Caution: Vitamin A at such high doses can cause headaches in about 1% of those using it. Should this occur, either decrease the dose or use a natural remedy like feverfew or a homeopathic remedy for headaches.
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) found in the oil of linseed, evening primrose, and certain fish, among other sources, also have antibacterial properties. Bromelain, an enzyme compound found in the pineapple plant, is an anti-inflammatory and has been shown to be as effective as antibiotics in treating pneumonia, bronchitis, kidney infection, and staph infection of the skin, among other infections.
Alan R. Gaby, M.D., has found that acute infections respond well to an intravenous injection of a “cocktail” composed of magnesium chloride hexahydrate, calcium glycerophosphate, hydroxocobalamin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), dexpanthenol, B complex, and vitamin C. This is a modification of the nutrient cocktail popularized by John Myers, M.D. Aromatherapy: For fungal infections, use cedarwood. For infected wounds, use frankincense, tea tree, patchouli.
Flower Essences:Flower essences for accompanying emotional/mental states. Crab Apple; Rescue Remedy. Rescue Remedy Cream® on unbroken skin.
Herbs: Herbs such as echinacea, goldenseal, and garlic can prevent and treat infection. In small amounts taken regularly, they boost resistance; larger doses combat specific infections. Berberine, an alkaloid component of certain plants, notably goldenseal, Oregon grape, and barberry, is a strong antimicrobial. Goldenseal is one of nature’s most potent antibiotics that also stimulates immune response. Its effects have been demonstrated against Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, E. Coli, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, among others.
Echinacea can be taken internally as a tea or used externally as a poultice or wash on infectious sores. Echinacea has a broad spectrum of beneficial effects on the immune system, and has proven effective in treating infections in general, including colds, flu, upper respiratory infections, and urinary tract and genital infections.
Stress must be treated as it has a direct impact on immunity. In addition to working with a stress management program, use adaptogenic herbs such as Siberian ginseng. Also, select the appropriate herb(s) most suited for the particular sight of infection: garlic for the lungs, bearberry for bladder infections, myrrh topically for the skin.
Grapefruit seed extract is a multipurpose antibiotic for bacterial infections and can be applied topically or taken orally. Olive leaf extract has with antibacterial and antiviral properties; useful for a range of infections. Tea tree oil is an antiseptic that assists in fighting a broad range of infectious microorganisms and is one of the best skin disinfectants, helpful for acne and other skin infections.
Hydrotherapy: Constitutional hydrotherapy (apply one to two times daily depending on severity of infection).
Juice Therapy: Carrot, celery, beet, cantaloupe.
(The above information is adapted from Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, co-written and edited by Larry Trivieri, Jr.)
Protect Your Access To Nutritional Supplements Which Are Again Under Attack
As I reported last issue, Senator John McCain has filed a new bill that attacks your access to supplements. Senator McCain’s bill is called The Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA). It would repeal key sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). DSHEA protects supplements if 1) they are food products that have been in the food supply and not chemically altered or 2) if they were sold as supplements prior to 1994, the year that DSHEA was passed. If a supplement fits one of these two descriptions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot arbitrarily ban it or reclassify it as a drug. McCain’s bill would wipe out even the minimal protections contained in DSHEA. It would give the FDA full discretion and power to compile a discreet list of supplements allowed to remain on the market while banning all others. Please take action to prevent this from happening. Protect your access to supplements by contacting your senators today and asking them NOT to co-sponsor the Dietary Supplement Safety Act but rather to oppose it.
Website Links http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdhwb2ugK_U – Here you will find a ten minute audio interview with Gregg Braden that I highly recommend you listen to because of its fascinating implications.
http://neuroprotectivelifetsyle.com – This is the blog of my friend and collaborator Kerry Friesen, MD, whom I wrote about last issue. Read it to get an idea of some of the projects Kerry and I are working on and will be making available to you this spring.
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 freedom in England and the EU.)
Institute for Health Freedom – http://www.ForHealthFreedom.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, NY13501. 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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