Traditional Naturopath

Can you say, “No thanks!?” Well, the FDA is close.

FDA Close to Approving The Sale of Cloned Milk, Beef

From Dr. Mercola’s Blog: “Over the past three years, there’s been hints here and there about a crazy plan by the FDA to approve the sale of milk and meat made from cloned animals. A final and likely positive decision is expected by year’s end, according to news reports. In the past two weeks, advocacy groups have filed petitions with the FDA asking the agency to review one kind of cloned farm animal at a time in an attempt to slow down the approval process considerably. Many folks fail to realize, however, if the FDA chooses to review cloned animals as it allegedly does prescription drugs — remember the spray-on viruses for processed meats? — it’ll be a ‘rubber stamp’ process at best. So far, American consumers aren’t buying it either, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Surveys by Gallop and the Pew Institute show consumers oppose animal cloning and wouldn’t buy meat and milk from Frankenstein-like creations even if the FDA and the government said it was safe. No wonder, so many more consumers by the day are flocking to healthier organic foods, suppliers are having an increasingly difficult time keeping up with the demand.”

“Older women who take potassium citrate supplements can increase their bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis, according to new research appearing in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Dr. Reto Krapf of the University of Basel in Switzerland and colleagues conducted a study of 161 post-menopausal women whose average age was 59. Krapf split the women into two groups: The first received a daily supplement of potassium citrate for up to 12 months, and the second was given a daily supplement of potassium chloride for up to 12 months. The researchers hoped to prove that potassium citrate — a base chemical — could raise acidic body pH in the participants, which is generally caused by poor lifestyle and dietary choices. Potassium chloride was used in the control group because it is a neutral chemical that does not affect body pH. After six to 12 months, the researchers conducted bone mineral density tests on the participants’ lower spine and hips. The group taking the potassium citrate (base) supplements experienced a one percent increase in bone mineral density in the lumbar spine area, as well as a one percent increase in bone density in the hips. Conversely, the group taking the potassium chloride (neutral) experienced a one percent loss of bone density at both test sites.”

Potassium supplements boost bone density in women, prevent osteoporosis

“The researchers also found that the women taking potassium citrate lost less calcium through their urine than those taking potassium chloride. According to Krapf’s team of researchers, the typical American diet is far too high in acidic foods that lower the body’s pH, including dairy products, refined grains and meat products. An acidic body pH forces the body to pull alkaline calcium from the bones to help buffer the high levels of acid, which results in bone loss and can cause other health disorders such as cancer. Americans also consume too few alkaline foods, such as fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, which raise the body’s pH to healthier levels, Krapf said.”

Chemotherapy is poison that is pumped into a patient in an attempt to kill cancer cells. However, the poison is indiscriminate and kills cells in organs that it is not intented to kill… like the brain. Researchers have found that chemotherapy can affect brain function for ten years after the chemotherapy treatments are completed!

Chemo has long-term impact on brain function

“Chemotherapy causes changes in the brain’s metabolism and blood flow that can last as long as 10 years, a discovery that may explain the mental fog and confusion that affect many cancer survivors, researchers said on Thursday. The researchers, from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that women who had undergone chemotherapy five to 10 years earlier had lower metabolism in a key region of the frontal cortex. Women treated with chemotherapy also showed a spike in blood flow to the frontal cortex and cerebellum while performing memory tests, indicating a rapid jump in activity level, the researchers said in a statement about their study. ‘The same area of the frontal lobe that showed lower resting metabolism displayed a substantial leap in activity when the patients were performing the memory exercise,’ said Daniel Silverman, the UCLA associate professor who led the study. ‘In effect, these women’s brains were working harder than the control subjects’ to recall the same information,’ he said in a statement.”

“Black Tea” is what we southerners think of as “regular tea.” Now, southerners add a tremendous amount of sugar to it… which is NOT good, but the tea known as “plain ol’ tea” is actually “black tea.” Studies now indicate that this tea reduces stress.

Black tea may speed up recovery from stress

“Drinking black tea could reduce stress hormone levels and help ease the burden of heart disease, says the first randomized clinical trial into the effects of the beverage on stress. ‘This has important health implications, because slow recovery following acute stress has been associated with a greater risk of chronic illnesses such as coronary heart disease,’ said lead researcher Professor Andrew Steptoe from University College London. The researchers, from UCL and Unilever Research Colworth, found that drinking four cups of black tea every day for six weeks reduced blood levels of the stress hormone cortisol by 20 per cent more than the placebo group, backing up the ‘old wives tale’ that tea helps people relax. ‘Drinking tea has traditionally been associated with stress relief, and many people believe that drinking tea helps them relax after facing the stresses of everyday life,’ said Steptoe. ‘However, scientific evidence for the relaxing properties of tea is quite limited. This is one of the first studies to assess tea in a double-blind placebo controlled design.’

There is an organization that is offering “free mental health screenings” for SAD (seasonal affective disorder.) “SAD” is supposed to be brought on by the lack of sunlight during fall and winter months, and its symptoms include sleeping and eating in excess, extreme fatigue, weight gain, depression or irritability, and lack of interest in socializing and enjoyable activities. What the screenings really seem to do is sell drugs!

Free mental health screenings designed to promote psychiatric drug use, health author says

“Consumer advocate Mike Adams, author of ‘Take Back Your Health Power,’ calls the free mental health screenings “a thinly veiled patient recruiting scheme organized and funded by drug companies,” and urges patients who believe they are experiencing SAD to seek the advice of a qualified naturopathic physician for safe treatment options. ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder is really just sunlight deficiency,’ Adams said. ‘If you suffer from the symptoms of SAD, all you need is more sunlight or light therapy, not prescription drugs.’ In addition to getting more sunlight, SAD sufferers can consume specific foods and supplements for enhanced brain health, including fish oils that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, raw nuts, oily fish, raw fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.”

Be on the lookout for MORE “sneaky” methods to sell you prescription drugs! They are getting inventive!

When it is a re-packaged drug that claims to shrink cancer tumors, of course! This should be criminal. An old drug called “Taxol” is being “re-branded” as “Abraxane” and is being sold as a drug to shrink cancer tumors at $4,200.00 per DOSE! Yes, that is per dose, not per bottle!

Hope, at $4,200 a Dose

“CHARGING $4,200 a dose for a new version of an old cancer drug has helped make Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong a billionaire. The drug, Abraxane, does not help patients live longer than the older treatment, though it does shrink tumors in more patients, according to clinical trials. And the old and new medicines have similar side effects. An independent review of Abraxane published in December in a cancer research journal concluded that the drug was old wine in a new bottle. Still, Dr. Soon-Shiongs company, Abraxis BioScience, has promoted Abraxane as a major advance in treating late-stage breast cancer that is, for patients who have not responded to other treatments and are now close to death and is seeking approval for patients to use it earlier in their treatment. And, in at least one way, Abraxane is a breakthrough: it costs about 25 times as much as a generic version of the older medicine, which is best known by its brand name, Taxol. Because of the odd economics of the cancer drug market, though, Abraxanes price does not seem to be hurting its popularity. About 20,000 people have now been treated with the drug, and Dr. Soon-Shiong expects its sales to approach $200 million this year. By 2010, Abraxanes annual sales could reach $1 billion, analysts say.”

Now, as to side effects? Well, the article says that, “Both Abraxane and Taxol can kill white blood cells, leaving patients open to infection, as well as damage nerves in the hands and feet. Taxol causes more damage to white blood cells, while Abraxane causes more nerve damage.”

This is a very, very dangerous drug. And, to charge such monsterously high prices to do this kind of damage to people that already have such advanced conditions is inhuman, in my humble opinion!

The chemical compound used in many “air fresheners” DO NOT “refresh the air” they cause reduced lung function!

Chemical in many air fresheners may reduce lung function

“New research shows that a chemical compound found in many air fresheners, toilet bowl cleaners, mothballs and other deodorizing products, may be harmful to the lungs. Human population studies at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, found that exposure to a volatile organic compound (VOC), called 1,4 dichlorobenzene (1,4 DCB) may cause modest reductions in lung function.”

“A study in California, conducted by Loma Linda University researchers, found that the high vitamin E content of pecans might reduce the risk of heart disease by slowing blood oxidation.

The researchers split 23 men and women between the ages of 25 and 55 into two groups. One group was placed on the American Heart Association’s “Step I” diet while the other group was placed on a pecan-enriched version developed by the scientists, in which pecans made up 20 percent of the diet’s calories. After four weeks, both groups traded diets.”

Pecans found to lower risk of heart disease, reduce LDL oxidation

“Blood analysis of the participants found that the pecan-enriched diets reduced unwanted lipid oxidation in the blood by 7.4 percent compared to the Step I diet, which could potentially lower risk of heart disease. The study results, published in the August issue of Nutrition Research, theorized this may be due to the pecans’ high vitamin E (gamma tocopherol) content, which is thought to protect fats from oxidation, since oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol is linked to atherosclerosis, arterial blockage, heart attacks and strokes. ‘We concluded that even though the pecan diet was high in unsaturated fats, which one may think would increase blood oxidation, that did not happen,’ said lead author Dr. Ella Haddad, researcher at the Seventh-day Adventist institution’s School of Public Health. ‘We found the opposite result: the pecan diet showed reduced oxidation of blood lipids.’ ‘These data provide some evidence for potential protective effects of pecan consumption in healthy individuals,” concluded Haddad.’