The Health Plus Letter
September 3, 2009 Vol. 7, No. 18
By Larry Trivieri, Jr. – founder & publisher
Table Of Contents
New This Issue
Quote of the Day
Fast Fact
Ouch! My Trip To The ER Without Health Insurance (Part 1)
More Proof the FDA Protects Big Pharma Interests, Not Your Health
Self-Care Tips For Preventing and Reversing Varicose Veins
Recommendations
Medical Freedom
Contact Information
New This Issue
Welcome to another issue of The Health Plus Letter. In my first article this week, you’ll find out why you haven’t heard from me in a while. I’m also sharing two recent actions on the part of the FDA that show where their true allegiances are (hint: not with us!), and providing self-care tips for treating and preventing varicose veins.
As always, if you like what you read, please feel free to share this issue with others and invite them to join you as a subscriber to the Health Plus Letter. Thanks for reading!
Quote Of The Day
“I am cognizant of the fact that there are powerful forces at work in this country that would dominate us, substituting a kind of regimentation for the competitive system which has made America great among nations. They would attempt to destroy individual thinking and initiative, cherished ever since our Founding Fathers established this country in defiance of Old World tyranny. I believe that we must continue to retain the wealth of spirit of our forefathers, for if we don’t we shall find ourselves dominated in everything we do by a mighty few and shall become serfs in fact if not in name”
-- Claude M. Bristol. (From his book, The Magic of Believing, which was written in 1948.)
Fast Fact
The national obesity rate climbed to 26.1 percent in 2008, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Unabashed Plug
Protect Yourself From Energy Pollution With the BioElectric ShieldTM. Energy pollution is all around us in the form of harmful electromagnetic frequencies and radiation (EMFs and EMR) emitted by power lines, cells phones, computers, and many other so-called modern conveniences. By wearing the BioElectric Shield pendant, you can protect yourself from the harmful effects of EMFs and EMR. To obtain a BioElectricShield, visit http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=408491. To learn more about how and why the BioElectric Shield works, see my article about it at http://www.1healthyworld.com/ezine/vol4no9.cfm.
Ouch! My Trip To The ER Without Health Insurance (Part 1)
Long-time readers of this newsletter may recall that it was a kidney stone that was responsible for my initial interest in alternative medicine. I developed one 22 years ago and only managed to pass it after consulting with a practitioner of homeopathy. Upon passing the stone, I also experience a noticeable rebalancing of my body’s energies and felt better than I had in months. That spurred me to read whatever I could about alternative healing methods, and to begin seeking out practitioners of various alternative therapies so that I could experience their treatments firsthand. This self-education process eventually prepared me to co-create Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide with Burton Goldberg, who became my mentor and friend. Through Burton, I went on to meet and interview literally hundreds of leading alternative practitioners, as well as interviewing their patients past and present. And I’ve been writing about alternative medicine and its therapies ever since.
Based on what I’ve learned, I’ve been able to take care of my health mostly on my own and, aside from an occasional cold, have been in overall good health for many years. Which is why I was so surprised to wake up a few weeks ago with a mild pain in my side that I knew immediately was a sign that I’d developed another kidney stone. To confirm this, I worked the acupressure points for the kidneys on my hands and feet. Sure enough, the ones on my left hand and foot were very tender. How did this happen? I wondered. Having gone through the experience once before, I decided to spend the day fasting and drinking lots of water, while regularly working the acupressure points. Being a Sunday, this was easy enough to do and the day progressed accordingly. By late evening, my symptoms had remained pretty much the same and I felt that, if I stayed the course, I would be able to pass the stone on my own.
Then things took a dramatic turn for the worse. The pain greatly intensified and suddenly I felt the urge to vomit. Which I did repeatedly over the next hour as the pain continued to worsen. Based on my original experience two decades earlier, I knew this was a sign that the stone was moving out of my kidney. Grin and bear it, Larry, I told myself. To little avail. The pain grew worse and worse and though it was now well past midnight, it was impossible for me to gain any relief no matter how much I tried. And sleep was out of the question too. Clearly this was a different situation that my first stone had been. And so, very reluctantly, at 3 in the morning, I drove myself to the emergency room.
Doubled over in pain, I told the admitting nurse what I was experiencing and he promptly left his desk, leaving me to wait for another 15 minutes before returning to start typing my information into the computer. When I told him I had neither a personal physician in the area (where I live I have not found an integrative physician and so have gone without one) and also did not have health insurance (by choice, since no plan available in this area covers alternative medicine), he looked at me like I was crazy and then kept inputting his data. Typing with one finger.
Finally, that ordeal was over, and I was taken into the ER itself. And so began my 20 hour-long adventure within the world of modern medicine.
I was taken to a small room and told to change out of my clothes into a hospital gown. As I did so, the nurse left, and said someone would be right with me. Still in great pain, I gingerly lay down on the hospital bed and waited. And waited and waited and awaited. One hour later, someone finally came in to see me. Seeing how much pain I was in, she immediately sprang into action, and from that point on my care was excellent, and everyone in the hospital who attended me was genuinely caring and skilled. Blood was drawn, I was asked to pee, and then I was administered a non-narcotic pain medicine via IV in one arm, while fluids were administered via IV in my other arm. The pain medicine went to work fast and within five minutes I was pain free and finally able to sleep. So I did. Another hour or so passed, then I was awakened for another check of my condition. Since I was no longer in pain, I was told to rest and that someone would soon be back to take me into x-ray. Thank you, I said, and fell back asleep.
Sometime later, I was awakened and, still in bed, wheeled into the radiology department, where, instead of receiving x-rays or a sonogram (either one of which I would have requested if I’d had my wits about me, which, being groggy, I didn’t), I received CT scans. Then I was taken back to my room and fell back asleep until 8 am, at which point the day shift came on board. Around 8:30, a new nurse came into my room to ask if I was in pain – I wasn’t – and to let me know that I had “a very large stone and we are waiting for one of our urologists to see you.” Two more hours passed and I was still pain free and getting a sense that maybe I ought to ask to go home, where I could call some of my holistic doctor friends around the country to see what they suggested. Instead, the nurse returned to tell me that none of the hospital’s four urologists were available to see me that day. Instead, they’d made arrangements for me to be taken to a nearby hospital so that an urologist there could attend me. I said okay and started to get up to get dressed. Then I was told I was to be transported by ambulance. I refused this, against their initial objections, on the grounds that I didn’t have insurance and felt well enough to drive myself to the other hospital (which was less than a mile away; I later found out that, had I accepted ambulance transport, I would have been charged $750.00 for that brief ride). Initially, they objected to this, but I insisted, and they finally relented, so long as I promised to go directly to the other hospital’s ER with no stops in between. I promised and left.
Once in my car, I got a strong inner nudge that I should just go home, call my doctor friends around the country, and do all I could on my own to start dissolving the stone. I ignored this nudge and drove to the other hospital as instructed. And have been regretting my doing so ever since…
(To be continued next week.)
More Proof the FDA Protects Big Pharma Interests, Not Your Health
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has long been in the pockets of Big Pharma and other special interests opposed to the public’s right to access non-drug-based health care methods of their choice. Sadly, however, most people today believe that the FDA lives up to its mandate to protect them. While there are certainly many dedicated and conscientious scientists and researchers employed by the FDA who are attempting to do just that, their efforts are often thwarted at the FDA’s administration level, due to the cozy and incestuous relationship between FDA higher ups, including many of its commissioners, past and present, and the special interest groups the FDA is charged with regulating.
What follows are two recent examples of the FDA’s abuse of its power at the expense of we the people who fund its operations with our tax dollars. The first was forwarded to me by my friend Dr. Garry Gordon, who wrote: “This is sad. We find out that the Commissioner of FDA was a director of Henry Schein, a major supplier of amalgam to the dentists. She has chosen to protect her stock value and ignore the mercury health risk to children.”
FDA’s Sharfstein Covers Up Mercury-Neurological Harm Nexus (6 August 2009)
FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein has given his seal of approval to major mercury exposure for millions of America’s children and unborn children – and to covering up both the neurological risks and the flawed rulemaking process.
Despite admitting that amalgam causes mercury exposure -- and despite knowing that mercury causes neurological harm to developing brains -- Sharfstein rejects putting on contraindications for amalgam, rejects putting on warnings on amalgam and even rejects a requirement that dentists tell patients that amalgam is mainly mercury.
Sharfstein even withdraws FDA’s website warning that dental mercury can cause permanent neurological harm to children and unborn children. Sharfstein’s rule actually says FDA wants to stop a decline in amalgam sales. At Joshua Sharfstein’s FDA, commerce trumps safety.
When the Republicans ran FDA, to their real credit, they put this warning on the FDA website: “Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses.” Upon assuming power, the Democrats withdrew this warning, covering up the fact that mercury from amalgam causes permanent harm to young children and kills unborn babies. Is this the change we Americans voted for?
Washington is famous for the revolving door -- those in the party out of power takes highly paid corporate positions, then returns to government to bail out their benefactors. The new FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, worked in the Clinton Administration, then went out and became a director at the dental products colossus Henry Schein, earning a quarter million dollars a year for the handful of hours it takes to be a director. Corporations do this because they know the other party will return to power, at which time the corporations will call in their chits.
Upon becoming Commissioner, Dr. Hamburg owned between $250,000 and $500,000 of Henry Schein stock. Certainly the Harvard-educated Hamburg knew the amalgam rule had the potential to affect her stock value. She could have done the right thing -- recuse herself from the rule. Instead, she worked on the rule for a while, then recused herself gradually, first by “deciding not to participate,” then finally “recusing.” Certainly her next-in-command, Deputy Commissioner, Joshua Sharfstein got the message that there was more at stake than good government.
On what date did Hamburg sell her Schein stock? What work did Hamburg do on the rule before she recused herself? What work did she do protecting amalgam from regulators while at Schein? Through her lawyer, Hamburg refuses to answer any of these questions. Ironically, Sharfstein heads a new a FDA “transparency task force.” A perfect first project would be to expose the Hamburg-Henry Schein links.
Joshua Sharfstein had the opportunity to protect children from amalgam, to save unborn babies and nursing babies from mercury exposure, and to warn us all that amalgam exposes us to toxic mercury. He came to Washington as a child advocate, but changed his stripes once he saw the revolving door game in action. Throwing his reputation out the window, Joshua Sharfstein chose to ally with the amalgam industry and cover up the mercury, turning his back on the children of America.
Just as Margaret Hamburg has embarrassed President Obama for bringing back revolving-door government, Joshua Sharfstein has embarrassed the President for deciding not to reduce the use of mercury in oral health care. If ever a President entered office as an inalterable opponent of mercury, it is Barack Obama, who wrote a law banning mercury exports and who is working for a treaty to phase out man-made mercury by a date certain. But at FDA, his appointee Sharfstein is sabotaging the President’s policies by hiding the mercury from Americans and hence keeping amalgam sales going into the indefinite future.
FDA doesn’t even defend its rule on the science. FDA admits it does not know if mercury fillings are safe for children six and under, or for nursing mothers whose mercury goes through the breast milk, or for pregnant women whose dental mercury No, it’s not science -- it’s about commerce. FDA wants Americans to keep buying amalgam.
The children of America have lost. Another generation will be mercury toxic.
Need further evidence on who won? Just yesterday (Aug. 5), Henry Schein’s CEO Stanley Bergman offered this salute to Dr. Hamburg:
“I would like to extend on behalf of the company, our Board and our shareholders our sincere thanks to Dr. Margaret Hamburg, who has served as the Director of Henry Schein Company's Board since 2003. Dr. Hamburg left our Board following her confirmation as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. We would like to thank Dr. Hamburg for the insight she shared with the Henry Schein Board throughout the years and wish her continued success.”
Hamburg claims she broke her ties with Schein three months ago. But Schein’s CEO issues his thank-you the day after the FDA rule was published in the Federal Register. Margaret Hamburg may not be in the hip pocket of Henry Schein Inc, but Schein’s CEO sure thinks she is. And he has the evidence to show it: a rule that allows Schein to sell amalgam to anyone, a rule that covers up the mercury, a rule that contains propaganda to be used by Schein to defend against the upcoming class action suits.
FDA bans mercury in all veterinary products. The new FDA, under Margaret Hamburg and her Sancho Panza, Joshua Sharfstein, have decided that children don’t merit the protection FDA gives horses and dogs.
The Washington bigshots have direct access to Joshua Sharfstein. So should you: his e-address is JMSharf1@fda.hhs.gov Why not write him yourself? Talking points follow:
Questions to consider asking Deputy Commissioner Sharfstein
(1) Dr Sharfstein, why, under your rule, are children less important than horses and dogs when it comes to mercury exposure?
(2) Why did you Democrats withdraw FDA’s website warning that dental mercury can cause neurological harm to children and unborn children, which the Republican Commissioner agreed to last year?
(3) Will your new “transparency task force” disclose the details of your boss’s ties with Henry Schein, or will she be allowed to cover it up like you cover up the risks of ental mercury?
(4) Does President Obama know that you approved a rule that will keep Americans from learning that amalgam is mainly mercury, and does the President know about Commissioner Hamburg’s conflict of interest with Henry Schein?
Charles G. Brown, National Counsel
Consumers for Dental Choice
www.toxicteeth.org
This next item was sent to me by Deborah A. Ray, MT of the American Association for Health Freedom, an organization I strongly support. (To find out more about AAHF, visit www.healthfreedom.net.)
FDA Attacks Natural Thyroid Millions Depend On
We have learned that Time-Cap Labs, producer of a generic version of the brand name drug Armour, a natural and bioidentical thyroid replacement, has been ordered by the FDA to stop production. The FDA has decided to classify the company’s product, available for over a century, as an unapproved new drug. Since the new drug approval process is prohibitively expensive for a non-patentable substance, the FDA is in effect banning the natural product. The purpose? Presumably to protect the profits of other, inferior drugs that have been FDA approved.
According to statistics by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and other medical organizations, approximately twenty-seven million Americans have a thyroid disorder. Thyroid consumer advocate Mary Shomon projects that 2 million of these patients take either Armour Thyroid or a generic equivalent.
Armour and other "whole" natural thyroid preparations (including Westhroid and Nathroid as well as Time-Cap Lab’s Thyroid) are bio-identical, complete hormone preparations, containing "T4" "T3" "T2" and "T1" in the same proportions made by the human thyroid.
The FDA approved preparations Synthroid (T4), Cytomel (T3), and Levethyroxine (T4) include bio-identical molecules, but are not complete or totally bio-identical as they do not contain "T2" or "T1". It’s no wonder so many people feel much better with the balanced natural products that have been available for generations.
As famed physician Dr. Jonathan Wright observes: “Natural thyroid has never killed or severely harmed anyone since first use in the 1890s, prior to the FDA itself. It is a mainstay not only in the treatment of hypothyroidism but also in ‘healthy aging’ therapy. That the FDA should even be its thinking of requiring a new drug approval for a safe, 100 plus year old natural treatment is outrageous.”
We will report further as soon as we confirm more of the facts, and as always, we’ll let you know how you can get involved.
Self-Care Tips for Preventing and Reversing Varicose Veins
Varicose veins is a condition characterized by enlarged, swollen, elongated, and/or twisted and bent veins. In the initial stages of varicose veins, the affected veins become more tense and stiff. This is discernible by touch, but cannot be seen. As the condition progresses, the veins become more enlarged and twisted, appearing as bluish, blackish elevations above the rest of the surrounding skin. Other symptoms, which are not directly related to the size or degree of the varicose veins, can include aches in the surrounding area, leg fatigue, itching, burning, or heat that seems relieved by elevating the legs or wearing stockings that compress the legs. The most common sites of varicose veins are the back of lower leg, the calves, and along the inside of the lower and upper legs.
In addition to varicose veins that occur on the legs, other types of varicose veins include varicocele (varicose veins in the scrotum), hemorrhoids (varicose veins in the anus), and esophageal varices (varicose veins in the esophagus).
The primary causes of varicose veins are nutritional deficiencies, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, smoking, regular standing for extended periods at a time, pregnancy, and hormonal changes at pregnancy or menopause.
Self Care
Aromatherapy: Add cypress as bath oil to baths. Lavender, juniper, rosemary, and lemon essential oils can be massaged around the affected areas (do not massage the veins directly).
Diet: Eat an organic, whole foods diet that emphasizes lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as plenty of pure, filtered water. The following foods can be especially helpful: fresh organic berries and cherries, organic citrus fruits, buckwheat, millet, garlic, and onions. Also eat plenty of fish and minimize your red meat intake. In addition, avoid unhealthy fats, refined carbohydrates, sugar, salt, alcohol, fried foods, processed and refined foods, and milk and dairy products.
Herbs: Combine equal parts of the tinctures of hawthorn, ginkgo, prickly ash, and yarrow and take one teaspoon of this mixture three times a day. Topically, you can also apply a lotion made of ten parts distilled witch hazel and one part tincture of horse chestnut to help ease any discomfort. Cayenne pepper and ginger root are also recommended.
Homeopathy: Useful homeopathic remedies include Calc fluor., Hamamelis, Pulsatilla, Calc carb., andCarbo veg.
Hydrotherapy: Cold compresses applied to the affected veins can soothe painful symptoms.
Juice Therapy: Excellent juicing remedies include the following combinations: carrot, celery, and parsley; carrot, spinach, and turnip; carrot, beet, and cucumber; carrot, celery, and spinach; and watercress.
Lifestyle: Wear support stockings and exercise regularly. Walking barefoot as much as possible can also help.
Nutritional Supplementation: Recommended nutrients include vitamin C with bioflavonoids, vitamin B complex, vitamin, B6, vitamin D3, vitamin E, calcium, folic acid, magnesium, lecithin, essential fatty acids, proteolytic enzymes (taken away from meals), and rutin.
(The above information is adapted from Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, 2nd edition, edited and co-written by Larry Trivieri, Jr.)
Recommendations
Books
The Magic of Believing by Claude M. Bristol. Written more than half a century ago, this is one of the best books I’ve ever read on the subject of the mind and its ability to create our experiences. Far more than simple theory, Bristol shares personal techniques that he himself developed after many years of research, and I’m finding that they are very effective.
The Bartimeous Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. I read and recommended the first of the novels in this trilogy a few years ago. As I recuperated from my kidney stone ordeal, I wound up reading the remaining two volumes. Both were excellent. This is one of the finest works of the imagination that I’ve read in many years.
Website Links
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108604 - Go to this link and read about the chilling, draconian scenariosalready being enacted by various state governmentsunder the ruse of public safety in the event of another outbreak of swine flu.
http://tinyurl.com/mfujs9 - Here’s one important fact that is not being widely discussed in the debate over Obamacare. If any of the health care plans currently being considered pass, the IRS will gain even more authority to intrude into our lives! Our Founding Fathers must be turning over in their graves!
http://tinyurl.com/mpxgsw- I don’t always agree with Dr. Andrew Weil, but of late he’s been writing a number of posts on HuffingtonPost.com that I wholeheartedly second the motion on. This link is to his latest, and it will also take you to his previous posts (click on the Blogger’s Index icon), all of which are well worth reading.
Medical Freedom
Please contact and support the following organizations dedicated to protecting our health freedoms.
Citizens for Health - http://www.citizens.org
American Association for Health Freedom – http://www.healthfreedom.net
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, 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.
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, September 3, 2009, Vol. 7, No. 18. Copyright © 2009 by Larry Trivieri, Jr. All rights reserved.
To Subscribe Or Unsubscribe to The Health Plus Letter, please visit http://www.1healthyworld.com/lists
