Archive Year 2005 month 11

QUESTION:

Hello,

I am a 53 year old Naturopathic student. I just finished a class in Iridology.

My instructor advised me to look into cell salts to address the combination of cramp rings and a mental spike in the iris. This indicates great mental activity (which I guess any serious student might have!) and stress on the body from the mental effort. She feels I need more sodium to support the mental activity of studying hard. When I look at the various cell salts, I am not sure which one fits that picture.

In addition, my bloodwork shows a need for more iron and magnesium (not calcium, though). I have been detoxing lead for two years, and my chiropractor feels that the low iron picture may be from liver working very hard on detoxing the heavy metals. Two years ago, I was very tired and suffered with tendonitis and bursitis. At this time, I don't feel any particular symptoms, however. I have a great amount of energy'

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QUESTION:

Aloha,

I am female, 52, and moving into perimenopause. I am 140lbs, 5'9" and have always been active and physically fit. My hips are small, my arms & legs are small, I am thin and yet my stomach has been growing and growing for the last 18 months. I have started Natrum Mur.6X cell salt for water retention, but my mid section keeps growing. We moved to Hawaii 2 years ago, and my diet changed "TOTALLY" but I am trying to utilize the healthier diet of this sunny climate verses the heavy foods of a cold climate where I use to live.

I am lost as to what to do. I have looked at many solutions and am stuck.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Tummy [name changed for privacy]

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Question:

Hi Ben,

When I was diagnosed with Celiacs, my naturopathic physician recommended the Intestinal Repair Capsules, which I have ordered from you in the past. They really work.

I have been diagnosed for 1 year. In addition to taking Intestinal Repair Complex, I walk for an hour every day, I have been eating more organic foods and reading labels to abstain from any gluten products. I feel MUCH better.

However,   I have since moved from my naturopath and I still suffer from flare-ups (especially when under stress) and have not yet lost the weight gained while ill. I know most celiac patients I have talked to have lost 30 lbs once they got their disease under control. I have not lost any weight and yet am very careful about what I eat.

I also still suffer from severe hunger spells which I

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What Is The Difference Between A Naturopathic Physician And A Naturopath

A licensed naturopathic physician (N.D.) attends a four-year graduate level naturopathic medical school after completing a minimum of 3 years undergraduate pre-medical studies. A naturopathic physician is educated in all of the same basic sciences as a M.D. but also studies holistic and nontoxic approaches to therapy with a strong emphasis on disease prevention and optimizing wellness. In addition to a standard medical curriculum, the naturopathic physician is required to complete four years of training in clinical nutrition, oriental medicine, homeopathic medicine, botanical medicine, psychology, and counseling. A naturopathic physician takes rigorous professional board exams prior to being licensed in a jurisdiction that regulates the practice of naturopathic medicine. A licensed N.D. belongs to a regulatory body that oversees standards of practice, complaints and discipline. Read More

Breastfeeding is becoming popular once again - and I am thankful for that on numerous accounts. I will address the pros of breastfeeding at some point soon - as I am a huge proponent for it. Both of my sons have been breastfed. Our first for 1.5 years and our second is only 5 months old so he has about another year yet.

The summary by Reuters shown below demonstrates breastfeeding reduces the risk of developing diabetes type II in the mother.

Before we get to the summary by Reuters, another breastfeeding research article points out yet another positive of breastfeeding - this time in the recipient. A breastfed individual has reduced risk of developing obesity later in life.

Yet another review shows that breastfeeding decreases the chances of longterm chronic illnesses in life for the recipient as well. The review from Pediatric clinics of North America.

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Glucosamine and chondroitin have been heavily studied by many researchers. Trial after trial, study after study has shown effectiveness of these two supplements. Now the big guns of the National Institute of Health wanted to see what they could find out - are you ready?

They found glucosamine and chondroitin to be significantly effective in providing joint pain relief. Surprised? I'm not but I'm glad that it confirms the point home to those who question them. Having seen numerous patients on these two supplements, I have become a firm believer in the potent effects of glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate.

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 13, 2005 ­­ — The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) said today osteoarthritis patients should welcome the results of a new clinical trial sponsored by the National

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Summary:

• Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch increases risk of life-threatening blood clots.
• Exposes women to 60% higher levels of estrogen which pose higher risk of some cancers.
• Not very effective in women over 198 pounds.
• No evidence of being better than oral contraceptives.
• 7% of women on Ortho Evra gained 10 pounds or more during the clinical trial.

Source: Provided by Public Citizen on 11/11/2005

Statement of Dr. Sidney Wolfe, Director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group

More than two months ago, we warned readers of our online Web site, www.WorstPills.org, and the 180,000 readers of our Worst Pills, Best Pills newsletter not to use the dangerous new birth control patch, Ortho Evra (Ortho-McNeil), because of the increased risk of life-threatening blood clots in people using this product.

The new warning' Read More

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Using antibiotics more than 10 times in childhood increases the likelihood of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), a cancer that affects the body's lymphatic system, new research suggests.

Dr. Ellen T. Chang of the Northern California Cancer Centre in Fremont and her colleagues also found a marginally increased NHL risk among heavy users of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), but no association between the disease and any other types of medication.

Given the rising incidence of NHL, Chang and her team note in the American Journal of Epidemiology, a number of studies have investigated whether certain medications increase the risk of the disease. But results have been inconclusive, with only strong immunosuppressive drugs consistently being tied to NHL. Because a number of medical conditions also may be associated with NHL, they add, the question of whether the drug or the

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Via the FDA:

Today, FDA requested manufacturers of Advair Diskus, Foradil Aerolizer, and Serevent Diskus to update their existing product labels with new warnings and a Medication Guide for patients to alert health care professionals and patients that these medicines may increase the chance of severe asthma episodes, and death when those episodes occur. All of these products contain medicines belonging to the class known as "long-acting beta 2-adrenergic agonists" (LABA), which are long-acting bronchodilator medicines.

The information in FDA's proposed changes to the'

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Taken from the NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER newsletter:

A word of caution: Yes this flu vaccine contains potentially harmful levels of mercury - especially in younger children, babies and lightweight adults. However, if one has a severely depleted immune system [immunocompromised], the benefits likely outweigh the risks. Ask your doctor.

Key points:

• It is of interest to note that the EPA considers any material that has greater than 200 ppb of mercury to be hazardous waste. The flu vaccine, as well as tetanus booster, has thimerosal levels that exceed this value by 250 times or 50,000 ppb mercury.
• Giving a 3 yr old child the flu vaccine will raise their blood level of organic mercury beyond what the CDC has defined as a chemical poisoning.
• The current flu vaccine will deliver a

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My family and I live on a dirt road that has a lot of traffic and are wondering if there are any health issues associated with breathing in a lot of dirt that we should be concerned with.

Thank you,
Del

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Del -

Dust is not the best thing in the world to be breathing long term as it is a lung irritant. However, your lungs do a great job overall in lifting the dust back up and out via cilia and mucous - it is actually called a muco-ciliary ladder.

Yet there are issues with lung diseases associated with longterm dust exposure.

The best resource I can point you to is PubMed which provides medical research.

Go there and in the search bar type in "dust" - you will get about 23000 medical research articles. You can narrow it down any way you like - such as "dust AND"

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My friend went to our local health food store after we read your site about lowering cholesterol with natural things like red yeast rice and bought some. The man there did his own research on his computer and told her it was not safe..........any input for me here about safety??

We both have recently been told to lower our cholesterol levels and want to do it without drugs from the doctor.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

My friend also has breast cancer if there is a connection or danger here to be considered with this product.

Sincerely,
Betty

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Betty,

Thank you for your good question.

Red yeast rice is the natural form of Lovastatin - which is a statin drug designed to lower cholesterol by inhibiting the formation of cholesterol via the HMG-CoA pathway.

This pathway

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FDA Fails to Protect Public from Mad Cow Disease - Again

New Proposed FDA Regulations Fail to Protect the Public from Mad Cow Disease - Again.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new proposed rules in October to address the spread of mad cow disease in the United States. Unfortunately, these new rules continue to put the public at risk. The new rule would only require the exclusion of the brains and spinal cords of cattle 30 months of age and over from use in animal feed. This would still allow younger cattle, blood and blood products, some cattle fat, plate waste and poultry litter contaminated with cattle meat and bone meal, to be fed to cattle.

Despite the knowledge that mad cow (or BSE) is spread through animal feed contaminated with such materials, FDA still refuses to take the only step known to stop

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I am a recipient of Dr. Dan's Alternative Fuel Werks newsletter. He recently sent out this information on Biodiesel and winter weather. I am dreaming to get a biodiesel vehicle in the coming months - likely a converted Volkswagon Passat - hopefully. The Passat has excellent mileage and high ratings on Consumer Reports - problem is...expensive.

From Dr Dan: