Medical Articles by Dr. Ray

Aug

2013

Treat Causes, not Symptoms

By Ray Schilling | Anti-aging medicine, Arthritis, Asthma, Diabetes, Fitness, Gastrointestinal Disease, heart attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Insomnia, Nutrition, Obesity, Pain, Prevention, Stroke, Weight loss

Introduction

In this article I describe that physicians should treat causes, not symptoms. When you see a physician about a health problem, he or she generally listens to your symptoms and examines you. This leads to a diagnosis and the treatment of your symptoms. Medicine has been evolving since, anti-aging medicine has become more prominent and comprehensive medical practitioners have started to treat differently. Some examples below best explain the new approach. This is important as many general practitioners continue to treat symptoms and neglect to search for causes.

Big Pharma and the status quo

Big Pharma is trying to keep the medical system in the “status quo” (the way it is), because they make big money by having general practitioners try out different ineffective medications (this way the profits keep on coming in.) One example is the cholesterol story. High cholesterol only causes 50% of heart attacks, but physicians continue to prescribe statins whenever they detect high cholesterol levels to prevent a heart attack. But high cholesterol could be a cause from hypothyroidism (when the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone). Diet can also play a role, if the patient eats too many helpings of fatty meats and drinks alcohol regularly. Just prescribing statins to lower cholesterol is not the answer, treating the cause is!

I am going to describe 5 clinical examples where physicians usually treat symptoms instead of the causes. If you are in a hurry, just read example 3 below (gastritis and duodenal ulcer). After that you can skip forward and read the conclusion, where I will summarize what I think we should learn from this.

Treating Symptoms Not Effective, Find And Eradicate Causes

1) Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease where autoantibodies attack the joint surfaces. It is a multifaceted disease and typically requires a rheumatologist to order detailsed tests and formulate the treatment. The standard treatment for RA is summarized in this link. Before engaging in these toxic treatments, it is very worthwhile to study this link and see, if any of your food components may have triggered your arthritis. Various agents in the food can contribute to the development of autoantibodies, such as wheat, soy, MSG, even salicylates. An elimination diet approach could pinpoint if there is any food component that may be the cause of your RA.

Hormonal deficiencies in RA patients

Dr.Lichten treated many RA cases and found (Ref.1, p. 85 and 86) that many patients had hormonal deficiencies. He points out in particular that these patients often lack DHEA. DHEA is known to treat immune deficiencies and T cell responses were observed to raise 10-fold after DHEA supplementation; IGF-1 levels (an indirect measure of human growth hormone) increased and muscle mass improved when exercised as well along with DHEA replacement. RA patients responded well to relatively low doses of DHEA (25 mg daily for women and 50 mg daily for males). When other hormone tests are done to look for deficiencies, Dr. Lichten found sometimes thyroid deficiencies requiring hormone supplementation.

Sex hormone deficiencies often present in RA patients

Similarly, when saliva tests are done to look for sex hormone deficiencies, there may be progesterone and/or estrogen deficiency in women and testosterone deficiency in males that needs to be replaced with bioidentical hormones. In RA patients there may be adrenal gland deficiency setting in, which can be diagnosed by a four-point saliva cortisol hormone test. Only these cases of true hormone deficiency will benefit from small doses of cortisol (the original bioidentical human hormone) given four times per day.

Here is a summary of the usual recommendations for home remedies for treating rheumatoid arthritis. Using electro acupuncture can be very useful for controlling chronic pain, but you still need to work out the cause for your particular case of RA.

2) High Blood Pressure

Most cases of high blood pressure (hypertension) are simply there without a particular cause. It used to be called “essential hypertension”, a fancy name meaning “essentially, we do not know the cause”. The doctor will start treatment with drugs to bring high blood pressure down. Before that the doctor is supposed to ask you to make a good effort to change your life style (cutting out additional salt, exercising, weight loss), but this is often glossed over and drugs are used right away. Drugs for hypertension are not harmless; here are some of the side effects.

Medical textbooks unclear about causes of high blood pressure

The medical textbooks are not very clear on what causes high blood pressure. With renal causes (narrowing of a renal artery) a stent can be placed, the cause is treated and the blood pressure normalizes. As indicated, essential hypertension is the name for the majority of other cases of high blood pressure where officially no cause is known. Patients are usually put on life-long antihypertensive medications, often several drugs in combination, to bring the blood pressure down to 120 over 80.

Factors that contribute to high blood pressure

Despite the notion that we do not know the cause of high blood pressure, we do know that a number of factors can contribute to developing high blood pressure: too much salt in the diet, too much nicotine from smoking and too much alcohol consumption.

A lack of nitrates from green vegetables can cause high blood pressure as well. Nitrates are necessary for the body to produce nitric oxide, a powerful messenger that dilates blood vessels lowering blood pressure. It is produced every second by the lining inside the walls of your arteries. Greens and vegetables, particularly beets, provide nitrates for nitric oxide production.

Nitric oxide and omega-3 fatty acids

Nitric oxide, along with omega-3-fatty acid and prostaglandins are important in relaxing the arterial walls, thus lowering high blood pressure. We also know that in diabetes and obesity high blood pressure is very common, because inflammatory substances circulate in the blood, which interfere with the normal production of the blood pressure lowering nitric oxide.

Treating high blood pressure with the conventional drugs will mask the real underlying causes.

The DASH diet

The DASH diet has helped a lot of people to get their blood pressure under control. However, the critical point in that diet is the limitation of the amounts of grains. In my opinion, wheat and grains, starches and sugar are all empty calories and only stimulate your appetite because of the high leptin and gliadin content from wheat and wheat products. According to the cardiologist, Dr. William Davis, cutting these out will cure not only many cases of hypertension, but also diabetes and obesity. Many physicians criticized him, but in my opinion his work is on solid researched ground. If a patient honestly gives lifestyle changes a try, many side effects and deaths from antihypertensive drugs could be avoided.

3) Gastritis and duodenal ulcer

You see your doctor, because lately you regurgitate acidy stomach contents. You may be diagnosed with gastritis and get a prescription for an acid suppressive drug. But before you take proton pump inhibitors (PPI) study the side effects here. The interesting part is that many chronic gastritis cases are associated with a bacterium called H. pylori. Unfortunately, cimetidine, ranitidine and particularly PPI’s treat the acid problem (the symptomatic treatment of acid suppression). But on the longer term the triple therapy encourages H. pylori to grow more, particularly in the stomach. H. pylori undermines the lining of the stomach and the duodenum. This interferes with the protective mucous production, which protects you from gastritis and ulcers.

Breakdown of the mucosal barrier

Dr. Murray explains that the cause of gastritis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer is the breakdown of the mucosal barrier (Ref. 3, p.73-75). The symptomatic treatment of the H. pylori infection with triple therapy (2 antibiotics and a PPI) is the conventional medical treatment, but in many cases it does not cure H. pylori. Some patients develop diarrhea from a Clostridium difficile super infection as a result of the antibiotics from the triple therapy requiring even more expensive antibiotics for that condition. This only happened, because the physician treated the patients’ symptoms instead of the cause. The cause of gastritis and duodenal ulcers is a weakening of the lining in the stomach and the duodenum resulting in a breakdown of the mucous barrier.

Too much wheat consumption can be a cause

In some people dietary habits play a role, like too much cereal and wheat consumption with too little alkaline vegetables in the meals to neutralize the acid formation (see Ref. 2 for more details). However, when a simple licorice compound (DGL, which stands for deglycyrrhizinated licorice) is given, the symptoms from gastritis, acid reflux, and ulcers in the stomach or duodenum disappear. DGL supports the lining of the stomach and duodenum and re-establishes the defense against the acidy milieu. Not only that, but after a few weeks of DGL treatment all of the findings on endoscopy such as inflammation and ulcerations disappeared.

DGL restores the stomach lining

Dr. Murray states that he has not encountered a case of gastritis or ulcer that would not have responded. It appears that the cause of gastritis and ulcers in the stomach and duodenum is not from too much acid, not from H. pylori infection, which appears to just be a concomitant infection, but actually is due to a breakdown of the barrier in the lining of the stomach and duodenum, which responds to DGL. The other interesting thing is that you can buy DGL in the health food store; the dosage is two to three chewable tablets on an empty stomach three times per day. According to Ref. 3 the patient has to take DGL 8 to 16 weeks, after which there is a full therapeutic response. Pepto-Bismol is another coating substance that is available over the counter and works well for minor stomach upsets.

4) Chronic back pains and insomnia

Many people see their chiropractor for chronic recurrent back pains and their physician for insomnia to get sleeping pills. It all depends what the underlying causes are of back pains and insomnia. If there is a misalignment in the spine, a chiropractor doing manipulation would be a reasonable approach and the back pain symptoms often disappear. However, thyroid deficiency, adrenal gland insufficiency or adrenal gland fatigue may also be the cause of back pains and muscle cramps. Unless the physician treats the underlying cause (in the case of hypothyroidism treatment with thyroid hormones), the back pains stay.

Muscle pain in fibromyalgia patients

In fibromyalgia where muscle pains are all over the body, the standard treatment with antidepressants and pain pills just will not do it on the long-term. These patients require a detailed work-up with analysis of the hormonal status. Often, they are suffering from a lack of thyroid hormones, a lack of sex hormones (in women a lack of estrogen and progesterone, in men a lack of DHEA and/or testosterone). But they may also have weak adrenal glands and a lack of growth hormone. An anti-aging physician (A4M) can order the appropriate tests and treat the underlying causes.

Insomnia in fibromyalgia patients

Fibromyalgia patients often have insomnia (sleep disorders). Dr. Lichten (Ref.4) recommends GABA in small doses (125mg to 250 mg) at bedtime along with 500 mg of L-tryptophan. He also recommends 4000 IU – 5000 IU of vitamin D3 (as often insomnia patients are deficient in vitamin D3) as well as 500 mg to 1000 mg of magnesium. If this alone is not sufficient, melatonin, 1 mg to 3 mg at bedtime will be beneficial. Dr. Lichten cautions that GABA leads to tolerance quickly, so the patient should take GABA only 5 days out of 7 to allow the body’s receptors to recover. This alternative approach to treat insomnia prevents addiction to sleeping pills (hypnotics).

5) Asthma symptoms

Not every case of asthma needs steroid inhalers and salbutamol or other bronchodilator inhalers as treatment. Low thyroid hormone levels can also cause asthmatic symptoms of wheezing and shortness of breath. It is important to listen to the patient’s symptoms, but the treatment will only be successful when the cause is treated. Dr. David Derry described in this link how many of his severe asthma patients had iodine deficiency and low thyroid hormones and no longer had to see him when iodine treatment and desiccated thyroid hormone replacement was given as treatment. This goes against what the standard recommendation for asthma treatment is, but it seems to get patients unhooked from dependence on steroid inhalers.

Steroid dependency from anti-asthmatic inhalers can suppress the adrenal glands and lead to adrenal gland insufficiency.

Corticosteroid inhalers in asthma treatment can suppress the stress response

The adrenal glands are vital for coping with stress as the more stress you are under, the more your pituitary gland produces ACTH hormone, which in turn stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. However, a significant percentage of patients with asthma that been on corticosteroid inhalers for a long time, experience a suppression of the pituitary gland and the adrenal glands cannot produce the required stress hormones; in other words, adrenal fatigue or adrenal insufficiency can set in.

This is an example where corticosteroid inhalers control asthma symptoms, but they undermine the stress hormone circuit to the point where the patient experiences another disease (called a “iatrogenic disease”, a disease from the side-effects of drugs). Treatment of adrenal fatigue is described in this link.

Conclusion

Medicine can become quite complex as these examples show. Many times physicians tell their patients that they do not know the cause of their symptoms. However, this is not always true, but conventional medicine continues to hold onto the old dogmas. With the third example above (gastritis and duodenal ulcer), until the mid 1980’s the original theory in medicine was that too much acid production would be the cause of these conditions and treatment concentrated on suppressing acid production. Then the new theory came up that H. pylori, a bacterium would be the cause of chronic inflammation, which together with too much acid would cause the condition. That is why physicians now treat it with the triple therapy, a good deal for Big Pharma, but a bad deal for many patients.

DGL, a simple licorice compound can strengthen the lining of the stomach

Patients still do not experience a cure, but develop a worsening of their conditions as H. pylori growth proliferates, particularly from the PPI’s, which undermines the lining of the whole stomach. As pointed out above DGL, a simple licorice compound, which is available in health food stores, can strengthen the lining of the stomach and duodenum, which at the same time gets rid of the H. pylori problem without any other drugs.

The problem with conventional medicine is that in many cases physicians still treat symptoms instead of treating known causes. Big Pharma supports this, as it is expedient for them to protect their multi-billion-dollar industry. Patients should ask their physicians to treat the causes of their diseases rather than the symptoms.

References

2. William Davis, MD: “Wheat belly. Lose the wheat, lose the weight, and find your path back to health.” HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 2011.

3. Michael T. Murray, ND: “What the drug companies won’t tell you and your doctor doesn’t know”. Atria Books, New York, 2009.

Jul

2013

Flossing and Brushing Saves Your Heart

By Ray Schilling | Dentistry, Health, heart attack, Heart Disease, Infectious Disease, Nutrition, Prevention

It was not until about the mid 1990’s when it became apparent that gum infections and severe tooth decay could cause inflammation in the blood measurable by using the CRP marker (C-reactive protein). As this link shows Dr. Joseph Muhlestein at the University of Utah demonstrated in 1996 that chronic gum infection could cause a heart attack. He isolated the bacterium Chlamydia pneumoniae in 79% of patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery, while samples from heart transplant patients isolated this bacterium in only about 5%. The new thinking was that bugs that multiply in diseased gums could migrate into the blood and cause platelets from the blood to clump together and block coronary arteries causing heart attacks. Harvard University researchers have confirmed this. In the past it was known that a bad tonsillitis with an aggressive bacterium, Streptococcus viridans, could cause subacute endocarditis, a dangerous infectious disease of the heart valves, which can be responsible for sudden death in younger persons. Neglected cavities in teeth can also harbor this bacterium. Another study in 2009 showed that two particular strains of bacteria in infected gums, Tannerella forsynthesis and Preventella intermedia, were associated with an increased risk for heart attacks; but it was more the overall burden of bacteria in the infected gums than the specific bacteria strains that mattered most.

Flossing and Brushing Saves Your Heart

Preventing heart disease by brushing and flossing

With this background it is easier to understand that we need to take good care of our teeth and gums, if we want to maintain good health. As a start most people should see their dental hygienist (who usually works in a dentist’s office) twice a year. The dental hygienist will probe the depth of gingival pockets with a periodontal probe. A normal depth measures up to and including 3 mm. Deeper pockets than that usually indicate that the patient did not floss regularly. One needs to floss at least once per day, better twice per day and it should not bleed after flossing (initially when a person flosses for the first time the gums tend to bleed a bit).

The hygienist will do scaling of plaques on the tooth enamel. Any cavity that is detected will be brought to the attention of the dentist. At the end of the scaling procedure fluoride is applied, which puts a coating on the tooth surfaces to prevent tooth decay.

When deeper pockets (6 mm or more) are detected a trial of subgingival root brushings has shown to have a very beneficial result within only 14 days.

Periodontal pockets were improved and bacterial counts of periodontal infections were shown to have improved as well.

Oral care and cavity prevention in the population

It has been accepted for quite some time that a combination of brushing and flossing are the best methods to control dental plaque, which is the precursor for cavities.

In order to test the knowledge of adults in families with small children these authors from the School of Public Health of the Maryland University investigated Maryland’s adult population knowledge regarding caries prevention. It turns out that there were deficiencies in knowledge about the prevention of dental caries and the importance of fluoride to create strong, decay resistant enamel.

A randomized, prospective study is planned in Hong Kong which will start teaching oral hygiene to kindergarten children aged 3 and will be reinforced several times later to instill good dental hygiene behaviors into these children’s health routine as outlined in this link. Not only is it important to teach brushing and flossing, but also food habits with cutting down on sugary and starchy snacks as these foods make the saliva acidy promoting caries producing bacteria in the plaque.

This English study shows that a primary school based caries prevention program reduced caries by 35% when sugar intake was limited in the interventional group and brushing of teeth was done twice per day along with flossing.

An addition to flossing for those with narrow tooth intervals or those with braces is a waterpik system. This can be used to clean food residues from the spaces between your teeth and from gum pockets. Flossing once or twice per day is still needed to remove plaque to avoid tartar build-up. Before bedtime it is advisable to floss first, then use a waterpik, then use your electric toothbrush with a fluoridated toothpaste. During the day use the waterpik after meals followed by brushing with an electric toothbrush with non-fluoridated toothpaste. Water Picks are also called “water flossers”; they are easier on your gums.

Other measures helpful in preventing tooth decay

Xylitol is a natural sweetener originally derived from birch. Sugarless gum often is sweetened with Xylitol. This study has shown that chewing Xylitol containing gum can effectively reduce caries. This paper describes that the increased saliva production from chewing gum provides a slightly alkaline environment for teeth. This helps to clear out sugar faster from the oral cavity after a meal, inhibits bacterial growth, neutralizes the pH in plaque that is on the acidy side after sugar consumption. The authors concluded that chewing Xylitol gum is a useful addition to the other known preventative measures of dental decay prevention, such as brushing and flossing teeth.

The techniques the dentist is using to treat plaque and dental decay have been refined by a new technique describe in this Australian publication as a minimum intervention caries prevention program.

The four methods used in minimum intervention dentistry are described here.

1. Recognition: to recognize potential caries factors early through lifestyle factor analysis and saliva testing.

2. Reduction: alter the diet and lifestyles to increase the pH of the saliva, which will reduce the risk factors for caries.

3. Regeneration: to arrest and reverse minimum lesions at the earliest stage. Use agents such as fluorides and casein phosphopeptides-amorphous calcium phosphates to achieve this.

4. Repair: when a cavity is present, a technique of “conservative caries removal” involves using bioactive materials to allow healing of the dentine layer of the tooth.

Reduction of cariogenic bacteria

I already mentioned above that alkalization of saliva by chewing Xylitol gum could significantly help prevent tooth decay. It does so by raising the pH, while chewing on sugary foods or starchy foods lowers the pH (making it more acidy). Growth of caries producing bacteria, which are called “cariogenic bacteria” is stimulated by acidy saliva and inhibited by alkaline saliva. For this reason people whose diet consists of a lot of vegetables and greens will have more alkaline saliva and are less prone to develop cavities. The worst foods to get cavities are sugar in its many disguises and starchy products (candies, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, bagels, cookies, cakes).

What can cause bacteria from the mouth to appear in the blood? One common condition is periodontitis, which is a chronic inflammatory condition of pockets of the gums around the teeth. This originates from neglecting your teeth and not flossing. Smokers are more afflicted by this as well. Dental procedures called scaling and root planing are often done for chronic periodontitis. This study from January 2013 shows that there is about the same amount of bacteria that leak into the blood following these procedures when compared to flossing.

Sometimes a dentist will recommend using a short-term antibiotic to reduce the leakage of bacteria into the blood, particularly with people who have heart valve problems or had porcine heart valve replacement in the past. This publication from 2009 also describes that dental flossing causes bacteria to be shed into the blood (bacteremia).

Conclusion

Dental self-care should be taught to children at an early age to educate them to brush their teeth twice a day and floss them at least once per day. At the same time they need education what causes cavities in terms of food intake and that fluoride can help make teeth more cavity resistant. They should avoid sugar in pop, candies and cookies etc. Parents best teach by example! Regular visits to the dentist’s office will safe money on the long term. Regular scaling by a dental hygienist every 6-month will remove plaque from which cavities develop when bacteria thrive in them and produce acids that affects the enamel. Minimum intervention dentistry discussed above (4 methods used) can prevent your teeth from decaying. Regular flossing will keep your gums healthy and reduce the colonization of the mouth with bad, cariogenic bacteria. With all this in place you likely will keep your teeth for a long time and not need dentures or tooth implants because of lost teeth. At the same time you will prevent your immune system being overwhelmed by mouth bacteria, which could have lead to a heart attack had you neglected your teeth. As mentioned in the beginning, a CRP blood test is a useful tool to rule out chronic infection.

More information on:

1. Tooth decay: http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/dentistry.php#Tooth_Decay

2. Heart attacks: http://nethealthbook.com/cardiovascular-disease/heart-disease/heart-attack-myocardial-infarction-or-mi/

Reference: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/your-guide-gum-disease

Last edited Nov. 7, 2014

Jul

2013

Our Endangered Food

By Ray Schilling | Allergies, Arthritis, Cancer, Diabetes, Health, Heart Disease, Nutrition, Obesity, Prevention, Weight loss

This is about our endangered food. Our grandparents ate foods that were healthier and more pure than today’s mass produced food. Beef came from grass-fed cattle; milk came from cows that grazed on pastures; bread was baked from the old Emmer wheat or Einkorn wheat. Geneticists were not around yet, so their food was safe from adulteration.

The adulterated modern wheat

Fast forward to the late 1990’s. Now farmers around the world are growing 19 different Clearfield wheat varieties. Researchers produced them by hybridization from exposure to toxic chemicals in the 1960’s and 1970’s. At that time GMO (genetically modified organisms) regulations were not around yet. Hybridization with grasses using exposure to a toxic substance like sodium azide produced modern wheat. Technically this forced chemical hybridization is different from genetic engineering although in both cases there are significant genetic changes of the chromosomes in the plant. The end result with regard to wheat hybridizations were wheat varieties that grow under adverse conditions and that have much faster growing rates, higher yields and are easier to harvest because they grow only to a about 2 feet height instead of 4 feet.

Chromosomal changes of the new wheat

When compared to the older Emmer and Einkorn types of wheat there have been significant chromosomal changes. Einkorn (Triticum monoccocum) has 14 chromosomes; Emmer (Triticum diccocum) has 28 chromosomes. Modern wheat, the Clearfield variety has 42 chromosomes, like spelt. The hybridization process for Clearfield wheat by BASF is summarized in this link. Here is a discussion with Dr. Davis, the author of the book “Wheat Belly” (Ref.1), which reviews the history of modern wheat

Modern wheat has much more gliadin content

The point of mentioning all this here is that modern wheat with many more chromosomes than the original Einkorn wheat has also much more gliadin content, which is the protein that makes celiac disease sufferers sick when they eat wheat. However, despite the significant chromosomal changes of modern wheat, which his grown in 99% of the world today no safety test were done to show that it is harmless to your health. There were no animal experiments and no human exposure trials with proper controls to show that exposure to the modern wheat varieties is safe on the long-term.

The manufacturer mixes wheat into processed foods

It turns out now in hindsight that it is not only the person with celiac disease that has to fear modern wheat. The increased concentration of gliadin in modern wheat is the protein that splits the sealant between gut cells and sensitizes your body to produce autoantibodies. The food processing plants mix wheat into soups, baby food, lip stick, sauces and a host of other foods. This increases the gliadin concentration that your system has to cope with, if you do not read labels and eliminate it. You have to be a detective in the supermarket and constantly read labels to look for wheat and avoid it, at least I do.

Modern wheat can cause antibodies against gliadin

The reason is that even low doses of wheat over a long period of time cause leaky gut syndrome and cause antibodies against gliadin. Soon after the formation of autoimmune antibodies against your own tissues form that attack your gut cells (causing irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease and ulcerative colitis); joint cells (causing rheumatoid arthritis), thyroid cells (causing Hashimoto disease) and it can even cause colon cancer.

Remember, there have never been any clinical trials to show that modern wheat is safe.

Our Endangered Food

Alternatives to wheat

Oats used to be thought safe to eat for celiac disease patients, provided they are not contaminated with rye, wheat or barley.

As this publication shows there can still be prolamins in oats, which are different from gliadin, but may be toxic for celiac patients. Another paper showed that there are different levels of gliadin- and glutenin-like avenins in different varieties of oats. These are subunits of prolamin. It depends on what type of avenins or prolamins are in the content of an oat variety. A label on an oat package may proclaim that it is entirely gluten free. But the question remains whether the manufacturer tested the oats before they reached the shelves of the grocery store.

Are “gluten free oats” safe to eat for celiac patients?

For a celiac patient it would not be safe to eat these types of oats as labeling requirements for avenins or prolamins do not yet exist. So, the label “gluten free oats” may be misleading as oats containing prolamins or avenins still could make celiac patients sick.

So, what are safe gluten substitutes? Rice, corn, soy, chickpeas, sweet potatoes and nuts. A helpful reference can be found through this link.

As we will discover below, unfortunately in the US most rice, corn and soy is now GMO food and celiac patients will likely react much more to these as they are more sensitive and will likely produce autoantibodies easier. So stick to organic rice, organic corn and organic soy (often the package will mention” free of GMO”).

GMO foods to avoid

It is interesting that the US and Canada did not pass a law that GMO foods should be labeled. This is changing rapidly as people realize that in Europe many countries have required all GMO foods to be labeled as such. Here is a publication that shows that the GMO labeling campaign is gaining momentum.

Genetically modified corn and soy contains the Bt toxin; it has been found in babies as mentioned in this article. Bt toxin damages the small bowel (the ileum) through Cry1Ab (the protein produced in genetically modified corn and soy), which disables the absorption of vitamin B12. This in turn will cause anemia (historically the cause of pernicious anemia was found to be due to a lack of vitamin B12 absorption).

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) detoxification enzymes

Drs. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff stated about the effects of Roundup in a publication dated April 2013 that glyphosate’s inhibition of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, which is a crucial detoxification enzyme complex in the liver has been overlooked when studies were done regarding toxicity in mammals. The CYP enzymes in the liver is important to metabolize and eliminate estrogens and also helps to detoxify xenobiotics, which are estrogen-like substances as residues from insecticides and other chemicals. Thus, glyphosate (=”Roundup” produced by Monsanto) amplifies the damaging effect of environmental toxins and chemical residues from non-organic food that we eat. The build-up of estrogens and xenoestrogens has been shown to be responsible for many cancers (atypical Hodgkin’s lymphoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer etc.).

The ten most common GMO foods in the US

Here is a summary of the 10 most common GM foods in the US : Sugar beets, cotton seed oil, corn, canola oil, milk, aspartame (from genetically modified bacteria), zucchini, yellow squash, soybeans, papaya. You see that genetic engineering invaded almost all of our food.

Why is that of any concern?

The problem is that it is extremely difficult to conduct safety studies for human consumption. It likely takes three generations of feeding GMO food before diseases develop. In the case of humans the reproductive cycle is 30 years. This would mean that it could take up to 90 years to obtain meaningful human safety study results. From a commercial point of view researchers perceived that 90 years was too long. Instead they opted for the standard rat or mouse model of 90 day testing. Researchers used this test model instead as a “test for toxicity for mammals”. However, typically this does not show any change between GMO food compared to regular food as it is too short an observation time. I have described this earlier in this blog. In this recent publication pigs fed GM crops were found to have severe stomach inflammation and the female GMO fed pigs developed a 25% larger uterus than the non-GMO-fed controls.

The approval process for GMO foods is flawed

The 20-year approval process for GMO foods is flawed according to this review. Belgium researchers found virus particles in GMO foods that they did not expect to be there. Farmers feed this in feedlots to milk producing animals and beef cows. There is transmission of these particles into milk and beef. But the FDA, USDA and other official food safety agencies continue to state that GMO foods are safe. A significant proportion of the US public disagrees about the safety testing process regarding GMO foods. The public wants clear labeling of all GMO, so they have a choice of what they buy. We should have a choice whether we get organic food with no chemicals, no antibiotics and no GMO. Or whether we buy the cheaper regular food.

Remember, you are what you eat.

Conclusion

Originally researchers modified wheat by hybridization to “save” the world from hunger. The production worldwide has improved tremendously so that this objective has been reached. However, since then genetic engineers have worked on adulterating the rest of our foods. The purpose was mostly with the aim to make farming on a large scale easier. In both instances researchers never performed safety testing on animals and humans. It is only now that it is becoming apparent that there are flaws with regard to food safety testing. This is true for both wheat and GMO foods.

Leaky gut syndrome and autoimmunity

With wheat it is the higher concentration of gluten and gluten-like substances that are the problem. This causes a leaky gut, a breakdown of the gut/blood barrier. It also causes autoimmunity and colon cancer. GMO foods may transmit viral particles and Bt toxin. This can cause autoimmune diseases and fertility problems. But it also can interfere with the liver’s detoxification system. This in turn can cause cancers. The full health impact is not clear at this point. It may take another 70 years for wheat show the full ramifications. And it likely will take another 80 years for GMO foods to find out all the consequences. Some people have decided not to be part of this mass experiment and rather buy organic foods. I belong to this group.

More information on genetically modified food: http://nethealthbook.com/health-nutrition-and-fitness/nutrition/genetically-engineered-foods/

Reference

1. William Davis, MD: “Wheat belly. Lose the wheat, lose the weight, and find your path back to health.” HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 2011.

Jul

2013

Low Cost Cervical Cancer Screening

By Ray Schilling | Cancer, Infectious Disease, Prevention, Women’s Diseases

Introduction

Recently a low cost cervical cancer screening method was developed in India. About 25% of all invasive cancers of the cervix in the world are contributed from India as screening for cervical cancer is not practiced there on a large scale. Many screening methods for cervical cancer became more elaborate over the years as I describe here.

However, these screening methods are expensive. They require a doctor who does the Pap test (or takes a swab for DNA testing) and a cytological laboratory. In addition, this service requires a gynecology service back up for positive cancer cases. In the Western world these services are in place and are responsible for improved cervical cancer survival rates.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) guidelines

The ACS guidelines state that cervical cancer screening should begin 3 years after the initiation of sexual intercourse. Women benefit from screening every year for the first 3 years. If 3 consecutive screening results were normal, then a Pap test once every 2 or 3 years would suffice. Because of the Pap test the incidence of cervical cancer has continually dropped in the Western world as seen in this image. Compare this to the next link, which shows India as the main part of the undeveloped countries as a graph on top of the graph for cervical cancer incidence of developed countries.

Cervical cancer is due to a chronic HPV infection

With the new insight that cervical cancer is due to a chronic HPV infection, mostly due to strains 16 and 18 there are shifts in screening methods even in the Western world as DNA tests for HPV can identify a high percentage of cases that would otherwise go on to develop cancer of the cervix. However, due to cost issues with regard to DNA testing for HPV the Pap test is still the method of choice in many Western countries including the US.

HPV16 and HPV18 were very prevalent in the cervical cancers found, not only in premalignant lesions, but also in advanced cervical cancer as this study showed. The authors concluded that vaccination with the HPV vaccine (e.g. Gardasil) would have a significant impact on the prevention of cervical cancer, particularly in a country like India where a regular screening program is not yet in place.

An inexpensive test for cervical cancer screening

In 2009 there was a publication in the New England Journal of Medicine that investigated three screening methods for cervical cancer, the familiar Pap test (cytology testing), human papilloma virus (HPV) testing and visual inspection after staining with 3-5% acetic acid. In Western medicine the Pap test is done first and if suspicious cancer cells are detected, this is followed up with colposcopy where acetic acid staining is done and a biopsy is taken from the suspicious area. After this one-time test in 1999 the patients of this study received follow-up again (10 year follow-up).

The direct DNA test for HPV

The direct DNA test for HPV caused a 52% reduction of deaths from cervical cancer in comparison to the control group. The other two test methods, done as a single test (cytology testing and acetic acid visualization) did not result in reduced mortality when compared to the untreated control group after 10 years. However, a 15-year follow-up of a one-time screening with the acetic acid test showed a reduction of 31% in the cervical cancer death rate (reduction from 16.2 women per 100,000 to 11.1 women per 100,000) as reported recently at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology. Shastri and co-workers, the authors of this study, estimate that this would translate into prevention of 22,000 cervical cancer deaths annually in India and if instituted across the developing world it would save 73,000 lives annually.

Is cervical cancer screening effective?

A meta-analysis of several randomized studies regarding the effectiveness of cervical cancer screening in reducing mortality from invasive cervical cancer was published in May 2013 and found that cancer screening is indeed very effective.

In most studies Pap tests (cytology testing) or DNA tests for HPV led to a 62% to 65% reduction of mortality from invasive cervical cancer 10 to 15 years later. The protective effect from screening lasted about 5 years. However, the practice of doing Pap tests or DNA/HPV testing every 1, 2 or 3 years is safer than waiting 5 years between tests as there is a cumulative protection to the point of preventing almost 100% of cervical cancer over the years with regular testing.

Staining with 3-5% acetic acid and visual inspection

For India and other development countries the inexpensive visual inspection method to screen for cervical cancer after staining with 3-5% acetic acid is better than not doing any screening at all. A nurse can readily learn this type of screening. Only patients with positive or questionable screening results receive a referral to a treatment center. The best results were possible through a combination of this screening method and vaccinating girls with an HPV vaccine. This leads to a more complete prevention program for cervical cancer in these countries that could otherwise not afford screening. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is helping to reduce the cost of the HPV vaccine to about $4.50 from about $170 in the US, which will allow mass vaccination in development countries in the near future.

What other cervical cancer prevention is available?

As pointed out earlier it is now evident that most cases of cancer of the cervix are due to chronic HPV16 and HPV18 infections. Teens can acquire these and the HPV viruses linger on unnoticed within the affected cervical cells. However, 10 to 15 years later they can manifest themselves as cancer of the cervix . This long latency period allows the physician to screen for this before it becomes invasive and is more difficult to treat. What has become more evident only in the past few years is that other human tissues can get infected with papilloma virus as well and turn cancerous over the years.

Cancers that can occur from sexual contact

Oropharyngeal cancer, anal cancer, penile cancer, vulvar and vaginal cancer and even some forms of throat cancer and lung cancer can develop from intimate contact with a person who is HPV positive. Researchers confirmed that oral cancer is now more than 70% related to HPV infection rather than to cigarette smoking or alcohol as in the past. Sexual practices have changed over the past decades with oral sex being more common. This likely is the reason why HPV caused more oral cancers in recent years.

Finger pointing is not constructive

Finger pointing is not uncommon when it comes to a rational discussion of HPV transmission, but it has become apparent that males are often the ones who may be spreading HPV unknowingly through promiscuous sexual activities. Both heterosexual and homosexual activities will spread HPV. But the more promiscuous a woman is, the more she will also contribute to HPV infections in the population.

HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix

When the pharmaceutical industry developed the HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix many religious groups have spoken out against vaccination, as this would “encourage promiscuous behavior”. I look at this question from the point of view that lives can be saved down the road by preventing several cancers as indicated, and that is what counts on the long-term. In this context it makes a lot of sense that not only females get a vaccination, but also males to interrupt the infectious chain and this trend can now be seen as it is adopted by several jurisdictions.

Conclusion

Cervical cancer screening is still very necessary doing a Pap test or a DNA/HPV test. Screening is necessary more often than every 5 years as pointed out. Most women need a Pap test every 2 to 3 years. HPV vaccination with Gardasil and Cervarix for boys and girls prior to sexual relations is very preventative, but still does not mean that screening should be stopped. Cervical cancer is the cancer that has the longest medical history of moving from a very prominent deadly disease (back in the 1960’s) to a cancer that can now be cured and prevented.

References

Causes of cervical cancer: http://nethealthbook.com/cancer-overview/cervical-cancer/causes-cervical-cancer/
HPV vaccine: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cervical-cancer-vaccine/WO00120
Review of cervical cancer: http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/cancer_cervicalcancer.php#topoftable

Last edited Nov. 7, 2014

Jul

2013

The Inconvenient Truth About Convenience Foods

By Ray Schilling | Diabetes, Health, heart attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Hormones, Nutrition, Obesity, Prevention, Stroke, Vitamins and supplements

When your grandmother grew up there was very little convenience food, maybe ketchup and yes, there was processed cheese and coke. There were also bread and butter.

Now we go through a large grocery store and the center of the whole store is occupied by convenience food, row after row.

What is convenience food? It is pre-cooked or processed food that sits on a shelf waiting to be bought and consumed. You may be able to just eat it the way it is (power bars, fruit yoghurt snacks, ice cream, breakfast cereals etc.) or you just have to microwave it for a minute or two (ready made meals, pizzas). Even, if you make a fresh salad, you top it with a salad dressing that has been processed and may contain chemicals that are not necessarily healthy for you.

This blog is meant to make you think and get educated as a consumer. As a physician I am guided by what is healthy for you, but at the same time food needs to be interesting and taste good and be affordable.

As fat, carbohydrates and protein are the main food groups that we eat, I will deal with each of these categories first followed by vitamins and minerals, which we also need.

Fats and oils

Many convenience foods are full of saturated fatty acids, which contribute to the overall calorie count of the package and are one of the main reasons why we gain weight and deposit fat into our arteries in preparation for a heart attack or stroke down the road. As you may know the worst form of fat is hydrogenated fat, also known as “trans fat”.

It contains free radicals from the hydrogenation process, which damage your cells and interfere with normal body metabolism. Read labels and avoid any foods that have a long shelf life as this is due to hydrogenated fats and chemicals known as food preservatives.

This food group also contains sausages and other processed meat; I wrote a separate blog about this recently.

If you eat cheese, reduce your saturated fat intake by buying cheese with only 18% fat (such as Cantenaar cheese, Jarlsberg light, skim milk mozzarella and goat cheese). Avoid the rich 45% type cheeses. The best oil in your kitchen would be an organic cold pressed olive oil. It figures prominently in Mediterranean cooking.

The Inconvenient Truth About Convenience Foods

Sugar, starch and other carbohydrates

A large portion of snacks from the mid section of the grocery store contains all forms of sugar: high fructose corn syrup, sugar, honey, agave syrup, maple syrup etc. You may think that a harmless fruit juice would be healthy until you see from the ingredient list on the label that it contains 5 to 6 teaspoons of sugar per cup (250 ml) of juice.

Unfortunately our body is not equipped to process all the sugar that the food industry wants us to consume and we develop insulin resistance; the liver converts the excess sugars into fat and deposits it into our arteries and as fat deposits between our guts (visceral fat) and as subcutaneous fat in the thighs, around the hips and the waist. It is no secret that a lot of obesity is related to overconsumption of sugar containing convenience foods (snacks and sugar-laden drinks).

Often low calorie alternatives contain aspartame or sucralose (Splenda). Aspartame is an excitotoxin damaging your brain cells and sucralose was developed in the 1950’s as an insecticide. We do not want to replace disease-promoting sugar with toxins as sweeteners. Safe alternatives for sugar are xylitol, mannitol, and stevia.

What is sometimes overlooked is the fact that your body digests bread, starchy foods such as potatoes, and pasta, rice and flour products like pizza or cookies within 30 minutes into sugar that is as harmful to your pancreas as plain sugar or high fructose corn syrup. The body reacts with the same overproduction of insulin converting the excess sugar into fat and depositing it in your body as described above. Much of the obesity wave we see in the past 3 decades is due to baked goods like bagels, bread, pasta and pizza. It is much better to enjoy your stevia-sweetened coffee without any bakery pieces to go along with it.

Protein in meats, dairy products and sausages

You would think that a healthy cut of meat from the grocery store would be a good source of protein for you. You probably did not think that it could be contaminated with a superbug when you bought it. This is especially true for ground meats like hamburger meat. If you bought a portion of organic meat you can be more certain that you are buying a qualitatively superior product. I discussed this whole issue of superbugs in meat and meat products in this blog recently.

We need to be aware of the agroindustry, the feedlots and what they fed the animals. I only buy organic meat and organic dairy products as my source of protein. I avoid sausages altogether because of the food additives that they contain, which are cancer causing.

The problem with prepared meats like chicken nuggets and others is that they contain breading and food preservatives and they have been deep fried, which makes these items an unhealthy choice.

What are some of the problems with dairy products? Despite the allegations that bovine growth hormone would be harmless to your health, your body thinks otherwise. Your body has hormone receptors that are very specific and bovine growth hormone can block them so your own human growth hormone from the pituitary gland cannot function properly. This is why I would recommend only organic milk products. You may have heard that in many European countries bovine growth hormone is banned for that reason.

Next the fat content of dairy products needs to be monitored: go for low-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt. While we are talking about yoghurt, stay away from fruit yoghurts that have all kinds of sugar and food additives mixed in. Add fruit of your choice and stevia, if you need a sweet taste.

Vitamins and minerals

The more foods are processed, the less natural vitamins and minerals stay behind. Particularly vitamin C and the B complex group are affected, but also magnesium, which is an important co-factor to enzymatic reactions within our cells. Often processed foods contain too much salt with sodium displacing potassium from the cells resulting in a lack of energy and high blood pressure.

Your best prevention is to stick to as little processed food as possible and to eat organic. If you eat enough organic greens and vegetables, there is an ample supply of vitamins and minerals. Prepare your own soups as canned products are high in sodium; another unwanted additive is often sodium glutamate (MSG), which comes under many disguised names. It belongs to the group of excitotoxins like aspartame and is not welcomed by your brain cells.

Public Awareness

Lately there has been more of public interest and awareness to the detrimental effects of convenience foods. Alarming reports about the increase in the obesity rates, the rise in diabetes type 2 even in children have been in the media for some time. The publications are not only North American, but also European, as can bee seen in this link.

New legislation is being introduced in many states of the US regarding school snacks and vending machines in schools.

Not all food news is bad. Recently it was reported that fish oil could protect against the effects of junk food. Omega-3-fatty acids contained in fish oil are helping to rebalance the ratio between omega 3 and omega 6-fatty acids in food, which often is disbalanced towards an overabundance of omega-6 fatty aids in processed foods. Rebalancing the omega3/omega6 ratio in food helps to normalize the metabolism of the brain and prevents hardening of arteries.

What you can do to get healthy food

It starts when you buy food. Read labels and look for calories, sugar, fat and sodium content. You may be surprised how many stores carry organic foods now. The price may not be that much more. There is a useful app for your cell phone, Buycott, that you may want to download. This way you can scan items in the store and find out what ingredients are contained in a particular food item and which company produces it.

With meats it is particularly important to buy organic (because of superbugs and also because of the aspect that feed lot animals often receive antibiotics and hormones). Stick to organics also with vegetables and greens (xenoestrogens in non-organic greens that block hormone receptors). Milk products also need to be organic because of the bovine growth hormone facts mentioned above.

When you eat out, things become more difficult unless you find an organic food restaurant. You can always prepare your own salad for lunch with organic greens and a lean protein food, which you keep refrigerated until you are ready to consume it. On weekends a portable picnic in a park can be a great way to relax and socialize, especially in summer.

More information about nutrition: http://nethealthbook.com/health-nutrition-and-fitness/nutrition/

Last edited Nov. 6, 2014

Jun

2013

Aging And Lack Of Hormones Matter, Not Evolution

By Ray Schilling | Anti-aging medicine, Cancer, Health, heart attack, Heart Disease, Hormones, Men's Health, Osteoporosis, Women’s Diseases

Aging and lack of hormones matter, not evolution. Recently a story went through the media regarding the findings of a research group from McMaster University, Hamilton/Ont. that described that as men were dating younger women evolution took fertility away from aging women. It sounds to me that this research, which included computer modelling was mainly driven by sociological observations. Some older males may seek out female partners that have the same age as their daughters, which seems to be considered “socially acceptable”. Contrary to that successful relationships of older females with younger partners are often met with less tolerance!

Hormones are important for behaviors

It seems that medical facts like hormonal changes that are behind behaviors have not been taken into account. The following blog provides you with a background of hormonal changes for both sexes as we age. I also describes how to reset the clock for males and females alike to an age between 30 and 35, which creates a “level playing field”. It is a 101 on bio-identical hormone replacement.

Depleting hormones due to aging

Both men and women experience a slow decrease in hormone production beyond the age of 30, but the depletion occurs somewhat faster in women than in men. As a result women get menopause at the age of 45 to 55 (cessation of periods and postmenopausal symptoms) and men get into andropause (the male equivalent of menopause) at the age of 55 to 65. The main symptom of andropause is erectile dysfunction. These are acceptable simple physiological facts that endocrinologists knew since the 1950’s to 1960’s. Common sense would suggest that replacing missing hormones with bioidentical hormones should bring the body chemistry back to normal. However, this is not what conventional medicine has done.

Synthetic hormones are not bioidentical hormones

Instead, Big Pharma got wind of how powerful hormones were, and they developed hormone-like substances that could be patented and produced on a large scale. What they did not disclose initially was the fact that non-bioidentical hormones with side-chains and chlorine or fluoride atoms in the molecules would cause heart attacks, strokes and blood clots. An example of this is Premarin, an estrogen concoction that is derived from pregnant mares and Provera, a “progesterone-unlike” synthetic product, both of which were used for HRT (“hormone replacement therapy”).

Aging And Lack Of Hormones Matter, Not Evolution

Results of the Women’s Health Initiative (using synthetic hormones)

As there were conflicting reports about the benefit of hormone replacement after menopause in the medical literature, the National Institutes of Health funded a large study (the Women’s Health Initiative) to clarify what was going on with regard to side effects and effects of HRT. Unfortunately, the researchers used synthetic non-bioidentical hormone products in these studies (Premarin and Provera) instead of bioidentical estrogen and progesterone. The results of the Women’s Health Initiative were devastating. In 2002 doctors were warned that Premarin and Provera used as HRT would cause increased heart attack rates and breasts cancer, which led to premature death.

Results of the Women’s Health Initiative confused hormone therapy

Overall, the placebo group did better than the experimental group and this is why the trial was prematurely stopped. Due the wide publicity regarding the negative results of the Women’s Health Initiative postmenopausal women feel confusion about what to do. Either they do not see their physician for hormone replacement. Or conventional doctors advise them that they should use only small amounts of Premarin. Their physician also tells them not to take HRT for more than 5 years for fear that it may cause breast cancer. Medico-legal considerations are at play and the whole issue of HRT after menopause has been politicized.

Facts about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT)

The key with menopause or andropause is to accurately determine what the hormone levels are, which requires saliva hormone tests, not blood tests. The results are compared to what is normal for a 30- to 35-year-old person and missing hormones are replaced with bio-identical hormones as originally suggested by Dr. John Lee some time ago. Briefly, he mentioned 3 fundamental rules in bioidentical hormone replacement: first, only replace those hormones that are missing; secondly, use bioidentical hormones instead of synthetic hormones and thirdly, use the smaller doses that are enough to replace the normal hormone levels that the body had around your mid-thirties, don’t over treat. He also stated that there is a need to address lifestyle issues like poor diets, excessive alcohol intake, stress and insulin resistance (from obesity). His recommendations are still valid today, as hormone facts have not changed.

Replace hormones that are missing with bioidentical hormones

So, the physician or naturopath needs to use common sense and replace what is missing with bio-identical hormones (not with synthetic hormone-like drugs that make the patient sick). If people do this properly, a normal sex life persists in both males and females and both age at a much slower pace without the development of heart attacks, strokes or osteoporosis. When people rebalance hormones, adopt a proper diet and do regular exercises, diseases like diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, heart attacks, strokes, arthritis or high blood pressure do not develop. In other words, this is a way to prevent disabilities and you are able to enjoy an active life in vibrant health.

More info on bioidentical hormone replacement

Eventually all of us, male or female succumb to the hormone deficiencies that come with aging. As long as males still produce testosterone, males will have a normal sex drive. But 10 or 20 years beyond the point where their partners entered menopause erectile dysfunction will eventually set in. Just taking Viagra is no substitute for the missing testosterone and other hormones. If we do not pay attention to hormone restoration, the biological clock is ticking and the diseases I mentioned above will start to occur and lead to premature death. On the other hand with male hormone restoration (bioidentical testosterone) the body chemistry and physiological functions return to how they were in his 30’s. The same is true for female hormone restoration (using estriol/estradiol and progesterone).

Bioidentical hormone replacement in Europe

The irony is that a small number of physicians back in the 1960’s and 1970’s in Europe used bioidentical hormone replacement. It was amazingly successful. One of these doctors is Dr. Hertoghe, an endocrinologist in Belgium. They were able to show then that women could regain their sexual desire and their vitality with bioidentical hormone replacement (BHRT). For some reason (could it be greed?) Big Pharma and various government agencies were able to get the upper hand and suppress this knowledge. They spread the word that hormones that come factories would be of “higher quality” than bioidentical hormone creams from compounding pharmacies. Fortunately, these lies have been exposed in numerous publications and the information is now more easily accessible through the use of the Internet.

Safety of bioidentical hormones

But Big Pharma still tries to intimidate and twist the truth! Here is a recently published prospective study over 3 years involving 300 women from Texas (Women’s Wellness Center, Tyler, Texas, USA) that showed anti-inflammatory effects and anti-anxiety effects with bioidentical hormone replacement. It also showed that no biochemical changes took place that would have caused changes in fibrinogen levels. Bioidentical hormones do not affect clotting, do not cause inflammation, heart attacks cancer. This confirms what Moskowitz had stated in 2006 about the safety of bioidentical hormones.

Testosterone is mostly bioidentical

Male testosterone products from Big Pharma are by and large hormone preparations that are actually bioidentical testosterone. It is with women’s hormones that Big Pharma made substantial chemical modifications so that the final products did not fit the estrogen and progesterone receptors, causing heart attacks, blood clots and breast cancer.

Bioidentical hormone replacement and saliva hormone tests

Both women and men should get a saliva hormone panel test measuring DHEA-S (storage form of DHEA), estradiol, testosterone, progesterone and cortisol from one sample test tube when they become hormone deficient. Typically, the physician should test women first around the age of 35 to 40. Similarly, a man needs testing around the age of 45 to 55. This provides a baseline hormone level. The treating physician or naturopath can then decide, whether bioidentical hormone replacement is necessary. If so, only what is missing is replaced with bioidentical hormone creams from a compounding pharmacy. The hormone levels are titrated to the level around the age of 30 to 35. Thi is according to the principles by Dr. Lee. For A4M physicians this is a routine that is familiar. Your regular physician will likely feel uncomfortable, but many naturopaths will feel very comfortable doing this.

Discussion of the evolutionary study of McMaster University

It may sound intriguing to rationalize that older men like to date and marry younger women. In my medical opinion these researchers got it wrong. Hormone weaknesses manifest themselves perhaps 10 years later in men than in women. In some men testosterone production may even diminish only 20 years later. Older men may not find a sex partner the same age, if women do not use bioidentical hormone replacement. The McMaster team should have done their research including a control group.

Older women on bioidentical hormone replacement preserve their sex drive

This group should consist of men and women who used bioidentical hormone replacement. Researchers likely would notice that older women preserve their sex drive with bioidentical hormones. The sex drive of these older women would be comparable to women in their 30’s. Also, the “aging clock” would have slowed down in these women on bioidentical hormone replacement. This in turn would probably have resulted in a different behavior pattern among the older males.

References

1. Why choose bioidentical hormones: http://www.empowher.com/menopause/content/bioidentical-hormones-vs-synthetic-hormones-what-s-difference

2. Anti-Aging Medicine for Women and Men: http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/antiagingforwomenandmen.php

3. Menopause: http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/menopause.php

4. Andropause: http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/malemenopauseandropause.php

5. 2009 Postgraduate Medicine article on the bioidentical hormone debate: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19179815

Last edited June 29, 2013

Jun

2013

Electro-Acupuncture Is Twice As Effective As Conventional Acupuncture

By Ray Schilling | Abdominal Pain, Arthritis, Gastrointestinal Disease, Other neurological conditions, Pain, Substance abuse

I am discussing here that electro-acupuncture is twice as effective as conventional acupuncture. Imagine that you had lower back pain and your doctor said that physically everything was OK. Would you consider traditional Chinese acupuncture? According to Ref. 1 chances are that 70% of patients with back pain will get better with a few visits to an acupuncturist. In 1972 Dr. Ulett’s laboratory at the University of Missouri succeeded in getting the first NIH research grant for the study of acupuncture in the US. During these studies they found remarkable facts, the most important perhaps that electrical stimulation of acupuncture needles resulted in a doubling of the effectiveness of traditional Chinese acupuncture. After extensive research Dr. Ulett stated: ”The ancient practice of traditional Chinese acupuncture is now obsolete” (Ref.1). The much simpler, but more effective electro-acupuncture using electrical skin pads instead of needles replaced traditional Chinese acupuncture.

The science of electro-acupuncture

In 1958 news came from China that they were doing major surgeries with patients staying awake and pain free only with the use of electro-acupuncture. In other words no chemical anesthesia was necessary to make patients comfortable. Professor Ji-Sheng Han from the Beijing Medical University observed that only electrical stimulation was powerful enough to produce the pain relief that was necessary to allow general surgery. Dr. Han conducted systematic experiments to study the phenomenon of electro-acupuncture and published this in Ref. 2. One of the experiments consisted of two rabbits. Electro-acupuncture anesthetized the donor rabbit. The vet removed spinal fluid from the first rabbit and transferred it into the second rabbit (the recipient rabbit) that did not receive further treatments.

The second rabbit was pain free and the vet performed surgery

The injection of spinal fluid made the second rabbit pain free to the point where the vet could performed surgery on it without pain. Other researchers such as Dr. Pomeranz found that the brain released endorphins in response to electro-acupuncture, powerful morphine-like substances. It was the endorphins that were responsible for making the recipient rabbit of Dr. Han’s experiment pain free. Other experiments of Dr. Pomeranz showed that naloxone, a morphine and endorphin blocker also blocked the analgesic effect previously found by transferring spinal fluid. These lines of experiments also explain why some patients did not respond to electro-acupuncture, as they have a deficiency in the pain control system of their brain lacking endorphin release. Dr. Han did 30 years of experimentation and also observed patients very closely.

Placebo effect investigated by Dr. Han

Dr. Han also investigated the placebo effect and found that this can explain about 30% of healing. However, the remainder of the 70 to 75% response to electro-acupuncture in his opinion was due to the procedure. He was able to explain that traditional Chinese acupuncture points were merely spots on the body where electric currents penetrate the skin easier. When internal nerves pick up the electrical signals the also transmit to the spinal cord and to the brain. The electrical impulses then switch over in the brain and spinal cord to nerves that go to other areas of the body. This explains how electrical impulses can travel from conducting polymer pads applied over acupuncture points, release neuropeptides in the brain and help the body to heal. Functional MRI studies confirmed that certain frequencies stimulate the brain through electro-acupuncture or traditional Chinese acupuncture to give pain relief.

Electro-Acupuncture Twice As Effective As Conventional Acupuncture

Electro-acupuncture produces stronger signals in the brain

These types of studies have also shown that electro-acupuncture produces stronger signals in the brain than traditional Chinese acupuncture.

Beside pain relief many other applications exist for electro-acupuncture. Addiction medicine makes use of electro-acupuncture in weaning people from morphine or heroine etc. The health professional can use this method to treat psychiatric illness, particularly depression. It is useful in relieving nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy with cancer treatments or associated with pregnancy without affecting the pregnancy. However, this may also be useful as an adjunct to treating high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

One area where clinical hypnosis and electro-acupuncture have a closely relationship is called “conditioned healing” (Ref.1). For instance, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in soldiers who returned from battle or in rape victims researchers showed that hypnotherapy treatment while using electro-acupuncture for 30 minutes at the same time can be useful in alleviating the symptoms these patients experience.

A few case studies using electro-acupuncture

Here are a few case studies that illustrate the use of electro-acupuncture with regard to patients (modified Ref.1). A treatment consists of a 30-minute session where the patient is either sitting or resting comfortably on an examining table. Treatments initially are often given twice per week until the pain is only about 50% of the original pain (severity of pain is scored on a 0 to 10 scale in the beginning). From that point on the visits are reduced to weekly sessions. Most clinical problems require three to 12 sessions. If the pain goes away, but returns after a few weeks, repeat sessions can be scheduled, which often lead to pain relief in a shorter time interval than was the case with the original problem. Chronic problems can be treated on an ongoing basis once per month, if there was a clinical response, but the pain reoccurs.

A 53-year-old painter with left shoulder pain

A 53-year-old painter with left shoulder pain, which radiated into the left chest, had problems with painting above his head. His physician did heart studies, but everything was OK. He was told that this was due to a muscle spasm in the shoulder muscles. One electrode was placed over the hoku point (also called LI-4 acupuncture point), which is located over the first interosseous muscle between the thumb and index finger, the other electrode over the area of pain in the left shoulder. Only seven treatments, twice per week for 2 weeks were given, then treatments with weekly intervals were administered. This approach cured his shoulder problems, and he could return to paining.

A 39-year-old woman with lower back pain

A 39-year-old woman came to the office complaining of lower back pain, which radiated into her right leg to the knee area. After tests she was told that she had spinal stenosis with sciatica (irritation of the sciatic nerve). No surgery could be done for this. She was given twelve electro-acupuncture treatments with one electrode placed below her right knee (ST-36 acupuncture point) and another electrode placed over her right lower back over one of the BL acupuncture points. She was almost pain free for about two weeks, but the pain came back after the last treatment. Since then she has been getting ongoing monthly electro-acupuncture visits with about 80% pain relief. Keep in mind that spinal stenosis is a condition for which regular medicine has nothing to offer other than symptomatic pain medication, which she did not want.

A 30-year-old schoolteacher with anxiety attacks

A 30-year-old schoolteacher suffered from anxiety attacks and agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) for several years. The therapist used conditioning with electro acupuncture to treat this woman. She received a series of treatments with electro-acupuncture over both interosseous muscles (hoku acupuncture point or LI-4) for 30 minutes during which time she was also listening to a relaxation tape with music in the background and suggestions for self-hypnosis. The physician taught her how to do self-imagery at home. Subsequently she did this for 10 minutes two or three times per day. Several weeks later she was able to control her anxiety attacks and overcome her fear of open spaces. In the beginning she rated her symptoms as 8 to 10 in severity on a scale from 0 to 10. At the end of the sessions, she only had occasional symptoms with a 1 to 2 rating on this scale.

A 50-year-old man with cluster headaches

A 50-year-old man with cluster headaches who had been investigated extensively by a neurologist without any other underlying cause was treated with electro-acupuncture. The electrodes were placed on acupuncture points of the head. Within only 4 sessions most of the headaches were gone. After 8 sessions he had no more headaches. However, a few weeks later his cluster headaches returned, but with ongoing monthly treatments he is able to prevent them from recurring. He did not like the side effects of all the pain medications, so he rather goes for his monthly booster electro-acupuncture treatments.

Take-home message regarding electro-acupuncture

Many people never considered traditional Chinese acupuncture for fear of needles. However, extensive research by Dr. Han and Dr. Ulett showed that electro-acupuncture with electrically conducting polymer pads or with EKG pads will replace the acupuncture needles. Not only is this method needle free, but also the weak electrical impulses that are used with electro-acupuncture treatment double the effectiveness of the older acupuncture method.

Many acupuncturists use both methods of acupuncture, but Dr. Ulett who used traditional acupuncture in the past has completely abandoned it and uses electro-acupuncture with the HANS machine instead. It is a complementary medical treatment, which has been authorized by the FDA.

More on pain conditions: http://nethealthbook.com/neurology-neurological-disease/pain/

References

2. J.S. Han: “The Neurochemical Basis of Pain Relief by Acupuncture”. Vol. 2. Hu Bei Science and Technology Press, Beijing, 1998 (784 pages).

Jun

2013

Breast Cancer Due To Stress

By Ray Schilling | Cancer, Health, Hormones, Stress management, Women’s Diseases

The medical profession is of the opinion that breast cancer is multi-factorial, where genetics, body weight, hormonal and other factors play a role in causing it (details see Ref. 1). The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (United States) showed in May 2012 that girls from families of lower socioeconomic status have a higher risk of breast cancer later in life. The study also showed that girls from families with a higher socioeconomic status had a low risk of breast cancer later in life.

The same cohort of women was the subject of another study, which was just published in April of 2013. In this study the question was asked whether stress in career women could cause a higher rate of breast cancer. Using 1957–2011 data showed that 297 of the 3682 White non-Hispanic women of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study developed breast cancer. Details of the study showed that the peak of the age for breast cancer to develop was around 55 to 65. Women working with the lowest job authority had the lowest rate of breast cancer. High job authority, being the “boss”, was associated with a 1.57-fold (range 1.12 – 2.18-fold) increase in breast cancer. There was also a striking difference between the lengths of job stress exposure, 5 years versus 15 years with both groups, high and low job authority. The lowest risk of breast cancer was for the low stress group of women who worked under these conditions only for 5 years, followed by the same group who had worked there for 15 years. Slightly above that latter group was the breast cancer risk for the 5-year employed high job authority. The highest group of breast cancer risk, rising above all other groups, was the group with high job authority, exposed to this for type of stressful situation for 15 years (see Fig. 1 of the above link). The researchers interpreted their data to say that the majority of the breast cancer risk in these groups of women was due to the stress hormone (cortisol). Minor contributions were thought to be due to the carcinogenic effect of estrogens.

Breast Cancer Due To Stress

Review of the literature regarding this study

Dr. Lee had been publishing about estrogen dominance for many years (Ref. 2 and 3). When women age, their ovaries do not produce as much progesterone during the luteal phase as in younger years and above the age of 30 to 35 anovulatory cycles are common. During anovulatory cycles ovulation (=release of an egg) does not occur and there is no formation of a corpus luteum that would produce progesterone for 2 weeks. The end result is that there is a lack of progesterone as a woman ages. This has been discussed in detail in Ref. 3. Dr. Lee called this disbalance of estrogen and progesterone “estrogen dominance”. This is one of the important causes of breast cancer as explained in Ref.2. This can be caused by aging, xenoestrogens from exposure to artificial fertilizers, insecticides and cosmetics, but also taking the birth control pill for prolonged periods of time. However, stress by itself can also produce a state of estrogen dominance. Dr. Lee explained (page 180 of Ref. 2) that the cortisol-binding globulin (CBG), which binds both cortisol and progesterone, is a storage form for both of these hormones. As a person is under chronic stress the CBG is increased binding both cortisol and progesterone. This means that less of these hormones are preliminarily available in their free form for body consumption as CBG binding is a storage form for these hormones. The free progesterone, which is the only biologically active progesterone portion, is lowered as a result of stress causing estrogen dominance. If estrogen is not opposed by progesterone, it is cancer causing for breast tissue and the uterine lining, which translates into being at risk for breast and uterine cancer. Only supplementation with bioidentical progesterone cream as described in Ref. 3 will rebalance the hormones (progesterone/estrogen balance) and reduce the cancer risk. The symptoms of estrogen dominance according to Ref. 4 (p. 29) are fatigue, weight gain, less ability to handle stress, headaches, mood swings, loss of sex drive, irregular periods, uterine fibroids, fibrocystic breasts, fluid retention (particularly around the ankles), irritability and depression.

Practical recommendations for women in stressful jobs

Above the age of 35 it is wise to have a saliva hormone test done, checking the levels of 5 hormones (cortisol, DHEAS, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone). This establishes the baseline values for these hormones. The relationship between the levels of these hormones determines whether they are balanced or not. For instance, if the ratio between progesterone and estrogen (divide the level of progesterone by the level of estrogen) is less than 1 in 200 the patient has estrogen dominance (see Ref. 5). You may need to get a naturopathic physician or an A4M physician who is knowledgeable in interpreting these results and treating the patient with bioidentical hormones. Some women may need to start bioidentical hormone replacement at this point if a hormone deficiency is noticed.

In order to counterbalance stress you need to schedule some time for yourself regularly where you can relax, do yoga exercises, meditation, and/or self-hypnosis. Make sure you get enough sleep. Avoid alcohol, if you can as it interferes with a restful sleep, or reduce alcohol to the absolute minimum. Alcohol causes decreased hormone production of both ovaries. It also weakens the adrenal glands contributing to hormone disbalance. Usually the first hormone to show a decline with stress and aging is progesterone. It has to be measured by the saliva test. Ref. 2 and 3 explain why: progesterone is fat-soluble and is transported through the blood in its free form through red blood cells. However, a progesterone blood test measures the serum progesterone level after the red blood cells have been spun down in the centrifuge, which leads to misleading results; only the saliva test gives reliable results in terms of bio-available progesterone levels. Many conservative physicians blindly insist on blood progesterone levels, which will lead to false results. This is why you need a naturopathic physician or A4M physician to help you with the proper interpretation of the test results.

If saliva progesterone levels are low, progesterone cream (bio-identical, as explained below) is applied daily in a concentration that will normalize the levels. Physicians who have been influenced by drug company representatives may suggest to use Provera (or another progestin, which are synthetic hormone substances) as a “supplement”, but this is known from the Women’s’ Health Initiative to cause breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes.

Do the proper monitoring tests with saliva testing and only substitute what is missing with bioidentical hormone creams. Otherwise a low fat, low refined carbohydrate diet, exercise and other good health habits as I have summarized in this link will be very beneficial to prevent stress as a cause of breast cancer. Ref. 6 is also a useful text written for the layperson explaining what to do when stress leads to adrenal fatigue.

References

A review of the causes of breast cancer: http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/causesofbreastcancer.php
Dr. John R. Lee, David Zava, Ph.D. and Virginia Hopkins: “What your doctor may not tell you about breast cancer”. 2002 Hachette Book Group, New York,NY, USA.
Dr. John R. Lee: “Natural Progesterone”. 2^nd edition. Jon Carpenter Publishing, 1999 Charlbury, England.
George Gillson, M.D., Ph.D.: “You’ve hit menopause. Now what? 3 simple steps to restoring hormone balance” 2^nd edition, 2004, Rocky Mountain Analytical Corp., Calgary, AB, Canada.
John R. Lee, M.D. and Virginia Hopkins: “Dr. John Lee’s Hormone Balance Made Simple- The Essential How-to Guide to Symptoms, Dosage, Timing, and More”. Wellness Central Hachette Group USA, New York, NY 10017. Published 2006. Page 57 discusses saliva testing and states: “The healthy ratio of progesterone to estradiol is at least 200 to 1 and can go up to 1,000 to 1 in women using transdermal (delivered through the skin with cream, gels, oils) progesterone.”
James L. Wilson, ND, DC, PhD: “Adrenal Fatigue, the 21sty Century Stress Syndrome – what is it and how you can recover”; Second printing 2002 by Smart Publications, Petaluma, Ca, USA

Last edited Nov. 6, 2014

Jun

2013

Toxins In The Bathroom

By Ray Schilling | Allergies, Asthma, Cancer, Hormones, Prevention

This article is about toxins in the bathroom. In the past I never looked at labels on shower gel, hair conditioner or liquid soap. But one day I read that the cosmetic industry uses parabens as a disinfectant in many body care products including cosmetics. That’s when I found out about my major supply of hair care products contained various parabens, like methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben or heptylparaben.

Toxins in the bathroom: Hair care and body care products

Officially, toxicity tests have shown that these substances are safe on the short term. What this means is that in short term experiments (usually up to 90 days) rats did not die from exposure to them. But long-term studies to see whether they would die from cancer have never been done. However, long-term exposure can lead to skin rashes in sensitive individuals (contact dermatitis, rosacea). This is still fairly harmless. Much more concerning are the effects of long-term exposure, which is what happens when we apply these chemicals to our skin every day. Researchers showed that breast cancer specimens (what the surgeon cuts out during surgery) contain parabens, which can be measured in the lab.

Parabens have estrogen-like hormone activity

Further experiments have shown that parabens have estrogen-like hormone activity in animals and humans. They belong into the group of “xenoestrogens”. What this means is that they act like weak estrogens, and this can be cancer causing. In women estrogens are in balance with progesterone, but when parabens or other xenoestrogens are introduced, the estrogens get the upper hand, which can cause breast cancer and uterine cancer. In men where traces of estrogen and progesterone are also present, balanced with the more dominant testosterone, this hormone balance gets disturbed by parabens, and prostate cancer can develop. Why don’t we hear about this more often? Because it is a slow process that may take 20 to 30 years.

Prostate cancer can be due to long-term exposure to parabens

By that time nobody thinks that breast cancer or prostate cancer could be the result of long-term exposure to parabens. For years the cosmetic industry argued that parabens would be just applied to the skin, not taken internally and for this reason they should be safe. The problem in this sentence is the word “should”. Parabens are absorbed through the skin and enter the bloodstream directly exerting the xenoestrogenic effect. Some parabens occur naturally in very small amounts such as in barley, strawberries, currants, vanilla, carrots, and onions, but they are absorbed by the gut and get destroyed by the liver in the so-called “first pass effect”. I went to the health food store and studied labels. I was able to get clean products (shampoo, conditioner, body wash), which do not contain parabens.

Toxins In The Bathroom

Toxins in the bathroom: Toothpaste

This is a topic, which may get your dentist annoyed. Here are the ingredients to watch for:

Fluoride in toothpaste

1. What most people expect to be in a toothpaste is fluoride. The representative of the toothpaste company told the dentist that fluoride would make the enamel of teeth more resistant against tooth decay. Advertisements also pass this on to the consumer. What is not passed on to you is the fact of fluoride toxicity, which occurs when fluoride gets absorbed into the body. This has the name “skeletal fluorosis”. Stomach and bowel irritation including irritable bowel syndrome and joint pains are part of this syndrome. In growing children, the enamel of teeth may show discoloration, the bone of adults can get brittle causing wrist fractures.

Displacement of magnesium by fluoride

Fluoride displaces magnesium on a cellular level and this causes metabolic problems in the kidneys and brain as many enzymatic reactions need magnesium as a co-factor. The thyroid can also become hypothyroid, particularly, if iodine was low to start with (fluoride can replace iodine in the body). If you feel you need to brush your teeth once per day with a fluoridated toothpaste, use regular, non-fluoridated toothpaste in between. You can also protect your body by taking iodine capsules once or twice per day to saturate your system with healthy iodine, which makes you more resistant to bromide, chlorine and fluoride toxicity.

Sodium lauryl sulfate

2. Another ingredient on the label is often Sodium lauryl sulfate: this chemical is used to improve the texture of the toothpaste and make it foam up when you brush your teeth. The side effects are irritation of the mucous membranes, may cause canker sores, redness and irritation of the skin around the mouth. It is interesting to note that it also causes fish to die when the wastewater enters the ocean or water streams.

Triclosan

3. This substance has antibacterial and antifungal properties and as such lends itself to prolong the shelf life of body care products (see this review). Manufacturers frequently use triclosan in deodorants, toothpaste and mouthwashes. The FDA did safety checks on triclosan because it is an endocrine disruptor in animals and in humans. It also can cause hay fever, antibiotic resistance and can combine with chlorine from chlorinated water. This causes release of chloroform, which is a known cancer causing substance. Many manufacturers have voluntarily abandoned the use of it.

Saccharin and aspartame

4. The manufacturers of toothpastes often use artificial sweeteners in toothpaste to add sweetness. Although originally thought to cause bladder cancer, saccharine has been cleared of this around 2000 when it was shown that although causing bladder cancer in rats, it was safe in humans. Diabetics have used saccharine safely for over 50 years. Aspartame, however, is more problematical: there was an intensive investigation by the FDA whether or not aspartame would cause cancer in humans. As this review shows there were methodological flaws in some of the cancer studies so that the FDA finally decided to keep the previous recommendations the same that it was safe to use in diet drinks etc.

Aspartame belongs into the group of excitotoxins

Other researchers disagreed and came to the conclusion that there were interest groups that interfered with the science of investigating safety of aspartame. Aspartame belongs into the group of excitotoxins, substances that can excite the brain and can also cause an existing cancer to metastasize. At this point in time, it is much safer to cut out all aspartame from your diet including your toothpaste.

FD&C blue dye No. 2

5. This blue food coloring agent has been around as food additive since 1906. The FDA approved this coloring agent back then. However, because of renewed health concerns this food coloring was re-reviewed. According to this reference the time exposure in animal experiments was not long enough (page 13 to 19 of this link), but serious complications such as significant brain tumors in rats and borderline higher frequency of bladder tumors and breast cancer were noted. The FDA elected to keep it listed as a safe food coloring agent. Hyperactivity in children is another observation that is of concern to parents. It simply is not worth to use blue, number 2 in toothpaste. Read your labels and leave it out!

Toxins in the bathroom: Hair dyes

With the baby boomers turning grey as they get older, there is an interest in hair coloring. But of course people of any age group may like to change hair color and experiment! Study labels of different products. You will notice in quite a few of them the familiar parabens as a disinfectant. Other toxins are ammonia, benzene, PPD (p-Phenylenediamine), toluene, coal tar. You find details of these ingredients and their side effects in this link (note a lot have been shown to be cancer producing). The bottom line is: avoid cancer-producing chemicals like the ones just listed. Instead buy your permanent herbal hair color in the health food store or health food section.

Toxins in the bathroom: Cosmetics

Phthalates

In 2010 this Mexican study showed malformations in rodents after exposure of the mother to phthalates. Asthmatic children were also found in another study to have absorbed higher levels of phthalates than children that had no asthma. As a result phthalates have been illegal in many European countries, but not yet in Canada and the US. What should you do about this?

Use a skin product with hyaluronic acid in it

For wrinkles use a product that consists of hyaluronic acid. (I found “Pure Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum” from Complementary Prescriptions (Carson City, NV) and Yu InfiniSerum, a cream manufactured by Nutrazyne Research LLC, Highland, UT). Between both of those non-toxic skin applications you likely will not need any other cosmetics on your skin. If you feel you do, insist on natural ingredients that do not irritate your skin. Do you really need a lipstick? If you do, do not take one that contains lead or other cancer producing metals as was discussed recently on the news.

Toxins in the bathroom: Mouthwash

Many people feel they have “bad breath” and they need a mouthwash. This is good marketing for companies that produce mouthwash. However, the truth is you need to have your gums looked at, brush your teeth regularly and floss your teeth. If you suffer from constipation, increase your fiber intake and consider colonics. If you still think you have bad breath, use a natural mint product (read the ingredients). Why do I not like mouthwashes? They kill your mouth bacteria that are naturally there; this can disbalance the rest of your gut bacteria as you swallow part of the mouth flora when you eat or drink fluids. If you still want to use a mouthwash, use one without alcohol and without any carcinogens or parabens. Also read this 2009 news item. It is as valid as it was then.

Toxins in the bathroom: Underarm deodorant

Here is an article that points out the danger of antiperspirants and breast cancer. The lesson to be learnt from this is that the propellants of sprays can be deadly when overused. So, use deodorants that are sticks to put or roll on. Next there is the aluminum content, which needs to be “0”. Aluminum is one of the substances responsible for Alzheimer’s disease when exposure to it occurs over longer periods of time. Manufacturers often smuggle parabens in as antifungals/antibacterials.

Hormone disruptors

They are hormone disruptors and xenoestrogens causing breast and prostate cancer. So, no propellants, not parabens, no aluminum! Triclosan is another substance that manufacturers like to add to the ingredients. I mentioned already before that triclosan releases chloroform, which is a carcinogenic substance. To choose the right deodorant it is important to read labels carefully, so you can make informed choices. Look for “aluminum free deodorant”. Next make sure that none of the bad chemicals described above are in the ingredient list. Read this info to educate yourself. Your best bet to find the right product is to go to the health food store or health food section of a store, as they usually carry a selection of natural, non-toxic products.

Conclusion

We owe it to our bodies to protect them from the chemicals that manufacturers produce. They have no concern about their customers’ health. You may ask yourself why cosmetics, toothpaste or other personal care products need to contain carcinogenic substances. It is up to the consumer to make the right choices. And we do have many health-oriented choices available to us now. My hope is that through education we will influence the market to become more health-oriented.

May

2013

What We Can Do About Superbugs

By Ray Schilling | Gastrointestinal Disease, Health, Infectious Disease, Nutrition, Prevention, Vitamins and supplements

Introduction

This article is about what we can do about superbugs. Several decades ago nobody talked about superbugs. Then came stories of “flesh-eating disease” or necrotizing fasciitis. Since 2001 it became obvious that these cases have become more common. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was often the underlying cause.

Antibiotics for weight gain in cattle

Government bodies accuse physicians of overprescribing unnecessary antibiotics for viral colds and flus. All physicians had to attend educational programs as part of the continuing education programs to use antibiotics only sparingly. But the frequency of these serious infections often requiring amputations and mutilating surgeries continued to escalate. Research into the phenomenon of increasing superbugs took place already in the 1970’s. In 1977 the FDA came to the conclusion that antibiotics were used widely in the US by the agroindustry for weight gain in livestock (pigs, cattle, chicken, turkeys). Although masked as protecting animals from infections, the real motivation of the farmer was to increase profits. The FDA recommendation in 1977 to change the practice of feeding livestock antibiotics did nothing to change that.

Farmers continued to use the old antibiotic feeding practice

After a court review in 2012 a New York court ordered the FDA to do something about the same problem. The answer was a lame recommendation of a voluntary program to downsize the use of antibiotics in livestock, requiring a vet and a prescription for antibiotics. The problem with this is that farms had no mandatory checks of livestock by trained inspectors. The ruling about antibiotic reduction contained no penalties for farmers who continued the old antibiotic feeding practice. Fast-forward to an American citizen who visited India recently as told in this story.

Superbugs are all over the world

It is clear that superbugs are all over the world. It is also clear from this article (and other literature I have reviewed) that 80% of today’s antibiotics are fed to livestock, not to treat infections, but because of their effect on weight gain in livestock and the associated larger profits. The result is that we are looking at farming practices that produce deadly superbugs. Next we are reading headlines about a recall of meat meat and meat products.

Here is an interesting list from the Environmental Working Group, which shows what percentage of meats in your neighborhood grocery store is contaminated, and these are the numbers for superbug contaminations: The worst is ground turkey with 81%, pork chops with 69%, ground beef with 55% and chicken breasts, wings or thighs with 39%.

What We Can Do About Superbugs

Wash meat thoroughly

This shows how important it is to wash meat thoroughly and to cook it long enough to kill the superbugs. It is also extremely important to frequently wash your hands when you prepare meat. This avoids colonizing your skin surface with superbugs. The first step is for a person to have skin surface flora with superbugs. The second step is to get a small abrasion or a skin sore where a superbug can enter. The final step is that this bug multiplies under the surface of the skin and starts a serious infection. If the immune system is not in top shape to eradicate these bugs right away, the next step may be flesh-eating disease or toxic shock syndrome.

Solutions to stay on top of Superbugs

In northern Saskatchewan, one the provinces of Canada, an 8 year community based study was done to see whether it would be possible to reduce community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) by a combination of hand washing and education regarding appropriate antibiotic use. Using this program it was shown that in the time period of 2006 to 2008 the infection rates went down from 242.8 to 129.3 infections/10,000 population, which is almost half of the infection rate from before.

Hospital associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

What can physicians and nurses do about hospital-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (HA-MRSA) and other superbugs in the hospital? In a hospital it is extremely important that HA-MRSA free patients do not get exposure to this superbug . Their immune system is already weak from the underlying disease. This is how they got into the hospital. At Stanford University a robot was developed that emits pulsating ultra violet light to kill any leftover superbug after the initial cleanup with scrubbing using bleach and germicidal solutions. Support staff treat the isolation rooms with the double treatment and robots disinfect the operating rooms overnight. So far tests have shown a complete eradication of the superbugs with these methods.

Breaking the chain of infection

Since about 2005 the major food production animals have been shown to be colonized with superbugs (MRSA) as this publication shows.

With 80% of the world’s production of antibiotics still going into the agroindustry for weight gaining purposes, it is high time that international “laws with teeth” apply. The WHO needs to get action in this and the public needs to put pressure on politicians to achieve this. Medical history has shown that infectious epidemics can be cured by breaking the chain of infection. In the example regarding superbugs the story of interrupting the chain of infection is exactly the same here: As shown in this study from Stanford University MRSA bugs are not contained in organic foods. So, by attempting to eat 100% organic, which can be challenging at times, you can intercept the infectious cycle involving MRSA and other Superbugs.

Attempt to eat mostly organic foods

You do not get exposed to the meat from food production animals treated with antibiotics for growth purposes. In the meantime, you are protecting yourself by keeping fit, taking vitamins and supplements all with the hope that the immune system stays strong from this. By eating organic meats and meat products you also keep your body free of toxins that would weaken your immune system and set you up for getting autoimmune diseases down the road.

The end result is that people who follow this example avoid colonization from exposure to superbug-infected meat products. At the same time this prevents exposure to other toxins that a manufacturer of organic food can not use. Here is a story of a company that produces meat products without antibiotics (organic meats).

Conclusion

You can interrupt the infectious cycle of superbugs by eating organic foods. Make sure your immune system is strong by exercising, supplementing with vitamins and minerals. Wash your hands with soap and clean water, particularly after handling meat or meat products. Do not take antibiotics for a long time unless there is a specific reason of bacterial infection that requires it. Do not consume meats from animals that were fed antibiotics. Read food labels!

References

1. Stick to organically grown meats: http://www.helpguide.org/life/organic_foods_pesticides_gmo.htm

2. Super bugs in hospitals: http://patients.about.com/od/atthehospital/a/hais.htm

3. Useful 2008 article : hand washing, reducing antibiotic use in humans and in animal feed are the solution to combat superbugs. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/080401_mrsa

Last edited May 25, 2013