7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat by Dr Mercola
Ferriss of The Four Hour Work Week has posted an exclusive excerpt from Drs. Michael and Mary Eades’ newest book, The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle.
The two doctors note that no matter how the story spins from the denizens of the anti-fat camp, one piece of their advice remains staunchly constant: “You should sharply limit your intake of saturated fats.” But will saturated fats really increase your risk of heart disease and raise your cholesterol? In a word, no. In fact, humans need them, and here are just a few reasons why:
1) Improved cardiovascular risk factors
Saturated fat plays a key role in cardiovascular health. The addition of saturated fat to the diet reduces the levels of a substance called lipoprotein (a) that correlates strongly with risk for heart disease. Research has shown that when women diet, those eating the greatest percentage of the total fat in their diets as saturated fat, lose the most weight.
2) Stronger bones
Saturated fat is required for calcium to be effectively incorporated into bone. According to one of the foremost research experts in dietary fats and human health, Dr. Mary Enig, Ph.D., there’s a case to be made for having as much as 50 percent of the fats in your diet as saturated fats for this reason.
3) Improved liver health
Saturated fat has been shown to protect the liver from alcohol and medications, including acetaminophen and other drugs commonly used for pain and arthritis.
4) Healthy lungs
For proper function, the airspaces of the lungs have to be coated with a thin layer of lung surfactant. The fat content of lung surfactant is 100 percent saturated fatty acids. Replacement of these critical fats by other types of fat makes faulty surfactant and potentially causes breathing difficulties.
5) Healthy brain
Your brain is mainly made of fat and cholesterol. The lion’s share of the fatty acids in the brain are actually saturated. A diet that skimps on healthy saturated fats robs your brain of the raw materials it needs to function optimally.
6) Proper nerve signaling
Certain saturated fats, particularly those found in butter, lard, coconut oil, and palm oil, function directly as signaling messengers that influence metabolism, including such critical jobs as the appropriate release of insulin.
7) Strong immune system
Saturated fats found in butter and coconut oil (myristic acid and lauric acid) play key roles in immune health. Loss of sufficient saturated fatty acids in white blood cells hampers their ability to recognize and destroy foreign invaders, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi.
Chiropractor Orem UT Acupuncture Health saturated fats
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Swine Flu Deaths
Despite Anti-Vitamin D Bias, CDC Stumbles on Deficiency Link to H1N1 Deaths
vitamin D, flu, swine flu, flu vaccine, swine flu vaccineSo far, Swine flu, H1N1, has killed thirty-six children in U.S. and analysis of CDC data indicates Vitamin D deficient children at higher risk of death.
The CDC did not realize they discovered this. However, anyone familiar with the Vitamin D literature will recognize it.
Almost two-thirds of the dead children had epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or other neurodevelopmental conditions like mental retardation.
All of these neurological conditions are associated with childhood Vitamin D deficiency. Exacerbating the problem further, many of these kids take anticonvulsant drugs, which lower Vitamin D levels.
58 million American children are Vitamin D deficient; 7.6 million are severely deficient.
When researchers looked at more than 6,000 American kids (age one to 21) who were carefully selected to be representative of the average American child. 9 percent of the kids had 25(OH)D levels less than 15 ng/mL and 70 percent had levels less than 30 ng/mL.
Chiropractor Orem UT Acupuncture swine flu vitamin D
vitamin D, flu, swine flu, flu vaccine, swine flu vaccineSo far, Swine flu, H1N1, has killed thirty-six children in U.S. and analysis of CDC data indicates Vitamin D deficient children at higher risk of death.
The CDC did not realize they discovered this. However, anyone familiar with the Vitamin D literature will recognize it.
Almost two-thirds of the dead children had epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or other neurodevelopmental conditions like mental retardation.
All of these neurological conditions are associated with childhood Vitamin D deficiency. Exacerbating the problem further, many of these kids take anticonvulsant drugs, which lower Vitamin D levels.
58 million American children are Vitamin D deficient; 7.6 million are severely deficient.
When researchers looked at more than 6,000 American kids (age one to 21) who were carefully selected to be representative of the average American child. 9 percent of the kids had 25(OH)D levels less than 15 ng/mL and 70 percent had levels less than 30 ng/mL.
Chiropractor Orem UT Acupuncture swine flu vitamin D
Huge Study Shows Soda's Undeniable Link to Obesity
Huge California study concludes soda consumption undeniably linked to obesity
by: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Much like Big Tobacco once did with nicotine, the soda industry and high-fructose corn syrup producers of America have maintained a ridiculous state of flat-out denial about the links between soda consumption and obesity. "Sodas don't make you fat," they insist. Meanwhile, as Americans guzzle down insanely large quantities of soda and liquid sugar with each passing year, rates of obesity and diabetes continue to steadily climb. Surely diet must have something to do with it, right?
Thanks to a new California study, soda companies can no longer hide behind the defense of uncertainty when it comes to links between soda consumption and obesity. This massive study questioned the soda consumption habits of 43,000 adults and 4,000 adolescents and concluded this: Drinking one or more sodas a day increases your chances of obesity by 27 percent. A whopping 62% of adults who drink at least one soda each day are overweight or obese.
The study also found that Californians are gulping down sodas at an unprecedented rate: At least one soda is consumed daily by 41 percent of children, 62 percent of adolescents and 24 percent of adults. Through the study, another shocking statistic was revealed: The average California teen consumes 39 pounds of liquid sugar a year solely from soda consumption.
Sadly, the study didn't look at rates of diabetes and bone loss -- the phosphoric acid in sodas causes osteoporosis, even in males -- but there's little doubt that a similar correlation exists between soda consumption and those diseases, too. The whole issue of aspartame and diet sodas also wasn't looked at in this study, but that's yet another important area of investigation that will probably be delayed for many years until the number of people drinking diet soda who get diagnosed with brain cancer can no longer be denied.
We've been warning about this for years
The interesting thing about all this is that the champions of natural health have been warning society about this for years. Whether you're talking about myself and NaturalNews, or Dr. Julian Whitaker, or even going back to Weston Price, we've all been shouting about the dangers of widespread cola consumption long before it appeared on the radar of mainstream consciousness.
Now, in the thick of a disastrous epidemic of obesity and diabetes, more mainstream health authorities are finally starting to put the pieces together and realize just how bad sodas are for public health. There's now no question about it: When soda consumption goes up, so do rates of obesity. And with higher obesity rates, you automatically get greatly increased rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, depression and other diseases that are very expensive to treat.
Ultimately, that means that soda consumption greatly increases the health care costs of any nation, because higher soda consumption leads to higher rates of diseases that are expensive to treat. I'm guessing that for every dollar a consumer spends on soda, another dollar's worth of long-term health care cost is created at the same time. Except those costs are paid directly by the consumer; they're paid by the taxpayers and health insurance customers.
That's why reforming health care necessarily requires doing something drastic to reduce soda consumption across first-world nations. You can't have both affordable health care and a nation full of soda guzzlers.
How to reduce soda consumption
Greatly reducing the consumption of sodas is easier than you think. It just takes some political backbone... and a willingness for politicians to stop pussyfooting around with the issue in an effort to please the rich, powerful soft drink corporations.
It's time to start treating soft drink companies as what they truly are: The enemies of public health and financial parasites that drain public coffers through increased health care costs caused by their products. Their ads promise happiness, but their products deliver disease.
The first step to reducing soft drink consumption is to ban all soda advertising. In fact, that might be the only step that's necessary. Simply reveal that sodas are a clear and scientifically-proven hazard to public health, and declare that in order to protect our nation's youth, products that pose a clear and imminent hazard to public health will no longer be allowed to be advertised in any form: Not on television, magazines, sporting events or even through internet advertising. They are still free to have their own websites, of course, where they can describe their products. They just can't advertise on someone else's website.
But what about free speech? Doesn't the U.S. Constitution guarantee free speech for all individuals? Indeed, it does, but in my opinion -- and I know that far better-informed Constitutional lawyers would probably disagree with me on this -- there's nothing in the Constitution that guarantees freedom of speech to corporations. That "right" has been invented through a loose interpretation of what the Constitution really says.
I don't believe that corporations should have the same rights as individuals, because the free speech of one person is all too often completely drowned out by the "free speech" of a multi-billion dollar corporation that can buy virtually unlimited air time on television.
Can't we just tax sodas instead?
Another popular suggestion is to tax the heck out of sodas, thereby making them more expensive in order to discourage consumers from buying them. If you believe in levying new taxes on the poor, this is a great idea, because poor people buy and consume far more soda than wealthy people, making a "soda tax" largely a tax on the poor.
I strongly disagree with the idea of using new taxes to shape consumer behavior. Why? Because the current tangle of government taxes and subsidies is so complex and confusing that it has long since lost any attachment to common sense. For example, there are currently subsidies on sugar and corn. Yet one of the sweeteners used in soft drinks is high-fructose corn syrup, which is derived from corn. If a new soda tax passes, it means our government would simultaneously be in the business of providing subsidies to corn while taxing another product that uses an ingredient derived from corn. The overhead of tracking and collecting all these taxes is an enormous waste of government resources.
It's far better to just deny these soda companies the ability to use the media to influence teens and adults into buying and consuming their products. With no advertising, soda consumption would plummet, and the obesity epidemic would begin to turn around. Health care costs would ease and we'd be on our way to a healthier generation of future adults in America.
The mainstream media: Running on disease
The mainstream media, of course, would have a tissy fit with this idea. A significant portion of their advertising revenues come directly from companies that sell sodas and sugary drinks, putting them in the business of promoting products that directly harm children and teens.
But that's business, and the media doesn't feel any special responsibility to protect people from dangerous products that just happen to be paying their salaries. That's why they'll openly advertise dangerous, deadly pharmaceuticals designed to treat the very diseases caused by other products they advertise, like junk foods and soda.
There's a lot of money to be made from selling harmful products the people, and just like everybody else, the mainstream media wants its piece of the action. If you ban the advertising of harmful foods and beverages, many newspapers, magazines and television shows would collapse in weeks. It is precisely the advertising expenditures of high-margin junk product companies that keep the media afloat. Never forget that... especially when you're reading an article about sodas in the mainstream media.
Choose one: Children or corporations
At some point, America has to make a decision: Do we, as a nation, continue to sacrifice the health of our children in order to keep our powerful corporations flush with cash? Or do we sacrifice the profits of powerful corporations in order to save the health of our children?
That's really the only choice we have on this issue. We cannot protect both children's health and the profits of the corporations selling products that harm them.
Right now, the status quo has chosen to sacrifice the children in order to protect the corporations. That has been the stance of the FDA, Senators, Congressmen (and women) and even the mainstream media. To heck with the children, they say. We've got to keep this economy running, even if it means selling poison to our kids!
That's a stupid, short-sighted stance. But it's business as usual in America today: Sacrifice the future in order to create the illusion of wealth in the present. But even if all these soda-pumping corporations continue to rake in more profits, is the nation really economically better off?
I think not. The long-term health care costs of treating diseases caused by soda consumption equal or outweigh any short-term benefits derived from the economic activity of selling sodas. While it may seem like a net gain in this fiscal year, in the long haul it's a net loss to the nation.
When our political leaders begin to demonstrate an understanding of those concepts -- and they begin to act in accordance with the long-term interests of the nation -- we might have a future that can be salvaged out of the health care mess that exists now. We can, of course, turn this nation around and eliminate virtually all obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic degenerate diseases, but doing that will require making courageous decisions that directly violate the profiteering interests of some of the most powerful corporations in the world.
This will likely never happen. Poisoning children generates far too much profit to see it stopped. The media makes money, the politicians get campaign contributions that keep them in office, and the corporations selling their harmful products get to pocket obscene profits from doing so.
And so we end up with a nation of fat children and fat-cat adults who rake in the profits from soda companies even while wondering why their own kids have diabetes and can't concentrate in school. If it weren't so sad, the whole thing would be truly laughable. We are doing this to ourselves. We are poisoning our own children and calling it "profitable." And We the People of the United States of America continue to let this happen, day after day, year after year, even as we go bankrupt from the whole sickening charade.
I have a message for every newspaper, television station, sporting event and website that accepts advertising from soda companies: You are part of the problem! By agreeing to promote these products that directly harm the health of your readers, you are promoting a culture of disease and death.
Greed is powerful in the western world, and it often overshadows compassion. In a world where compassion took precedence over greed, no one would dare advertise sodas and sugary drinks. But we don't live in that world; we live in the world of ingrained American greed and blatant pass-the-buckishness. Some of the wealthiest people in the world have accumulated that wealth primarily by pushing products that harm or kill children. It's true for Big Pharma, Big Tobacco and the junk food giants, too.
Sources for this story include:
LA Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/boo...
California Center for Public Health Advocacy:
http://www.publichealthadvocacy.org...
Orem Ut, Chiropractor, acupuncture, sports injuries, health, weight loss
by: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Much like Big Tobacco once did with nicotine, the soda industry and high-fructose corn syrup producers of America have maintained a ridiculous state of flat-out denial about the links between soda consumption and obesity. "Sodas don't make you fat," they insist. Meanwhile, as Americans guzzle down insanely large quantities of soda and liquid sugar with each passing year, rates of obesity and diabetes continue to steadily climb. Surely diet must have something to do with it, right?
Thanks to a new California study, soda companies can no longer hide behind the defense of uncertainty when it comes to links between soda consumption and obesity. This massive study questioned the soda consumption habits of 43,000 adults and 4,000 adolescents and concluded this: Drinking one or more sodas a day increases your chances of obesity by 27 percent. A whopping 62% of adults who drink at least one soda each day are overweight or obese.
The study also found that Californians are gulping down sodas at an unprecedented rate: At least one soda is consumed daily by 41 percent of children, 62 percent of adolescents and 24 percent of adults. Through the study, another shocking statistic was revealed: The average California teen consumes 39 pounds of liquid sugar a year solely from soda consumption.
Sadly, the study didn't look at rates of diabetes and bone loss -- the phosphoric acid in sodas causes osteoporosis, even in males -- but there's little doubt that a similar correlation exists between soda consumption and those diseases, too. The whole issue of aspartame and diet sodas also wasn't looked at in this study, but that's yet another important area of investigation that will probably be delayed for many years until the number of people drinking diet soda who get diagnosed with brain cancer can no longer be denied.
We've been warning about this for years
The interesting thing about all this is that the champions of natural health have been warning society about this for years. Whether you're talking about myself and NaturalNews, or Dr. Julian Whitaker, or even going back to Weston Price, we've all been shouting about the dangers of widespread cola consumption long before it appeared on the radar of mainstream consciousness.
Now, in the thick of a disastrous epidemic of obesity and diabetes, more mainstream health authorities are finally starting to put the pieces together and realize just how bad sodas are for public health. There's now no question about it: When soda consumption goes up, so do rates of obesity. And with higher obesity rates, you automatically get greatly increased rates of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, depression and other diseases that are very expensive to treat.
Ultimately, that means that soda consumption greatly increases the health care costs of any nation, because higher soda consumption leads to higher rates of diseases that are expensive to treat. I'm guessing that for every dollar a consumer spends on soda, another dollar's worth of long-term health care cost is created at the same time. Except those costs are paid directly by the consumer; they're paid by the taxpayers and health insurance customers.
That's why reforming health care necessarily requires doing something drastic to reduce soda consumption across first-world nations. You can't have both affordable health care and a nation full of soda guzzlers.
How to reduce soda consumption
Greatly reducing the consumption of sodas is easier than you think. It just takes some political backbone... and a willingness for politicians to stop pussyfooting around with the issue in an effort to please the rich, powerful soft drink corporations.
It's time to start treating soft drink companies as what they truly are: The enemies of public health and financial parasites that drain public coffers through increased health care costs caused by their products. Their ads promise happiness, but their products deliver disease.
The first step to reducing soft drink consumption is to ban all soda advertising. In fact, that might be the only step that's necessary. Simply reveal that sodas are a clear and scientifically-proven hazard to public health, and declare that in order to protect our nation's youth, products that pose a clear and imminent hazard to public health will no longer be allowed to be advertised in any form: Not on television, magazines, sporting events or even through internet advertising. They are still free to have their own websites, of course, where they can describe their products. They just can't advertise on someone else's website.
But what about free speech? Doesn't the U.S. Constitution guarantee free speech for all individuals? Indeed, it does, but in my opinion -- and I know that far better-informed Constitutional lawyers would probably disagree with me on this -- there's nothing in the Constitution that guarantees freedom of speech to corporations. That "right" has been invented through a loose interpretation of what the Constitution really says.
I don't believe that corporations should have the same rights as individuals, because the free speech of one person is all too often completely drowned out by the "free speech" of a multi-billion dollar corporation that can buy virtually unlimited air time on television.
Can't we just tax sodas instead?
Another popular suggestion is to tax the heck out of sodas, thereby making them more expensive in order to discourage consumers from buying them. If you believe in levying new taxes on the poor, this is a great idea, because poor people buy and consume far more soda than wealthy people, making a "soda tax" largely a tax on the poor.
I strongly disagree with the idea of using new taxes to shape consumer behavior. Why? Because the current tangle of government taxes and subsidies is so complex and confusing that it has long since lost any attachment to common sense. For example, there are currently subsidies on sugar and corn. Yet one of the sweeteners used in soft drinks is high-fructose corn syrup, which is derived from corn. If a new soda tax passes, it means our government would simultaneously be in the business of providing subsidies to corn while taxing another product that uses an ingredient derived from corn. The overhead of tracking and collecting all these taxes is an enormous waste of government resources.
It's far better to just deny these soda companies the ability to use the media to influence teens and adults into buying and consuming their products. With no advertising, soda consumption would plummet, and the obesity epidemic would begin to turn around. Health care costs would ease and we'd be on our way to a healthier generation of future adults in America.
The mainstream media: Running on disease
The mainstream media, of course, would have a tissy fit with this idea. A significant portion of their advertising revenues come directly from companies that sell sodas and sugary drinks, putting them in the business of promoting products that directly harm children and teens.
But that's business, and the media doesn't feel any special responsibility to protect people from dangerous products that just happen to be paying their salaries. That's why they'll openly advertise dangerous, deadly pharmaceuticals designed to treat the very diseases caused by other products they advertise, like junk foods and soda.
There's a lot of money to be made from selling harmful products the people, and just like everybody else, the mainstream media wants its piece of the action. If you ban the advertising of harmful foods and beverages, many newspapers, magazines and television shows would collapse in weeks. It is precisely the advertising expenditures of high-margin junk product companies that keep the media afloat. Never forget that... especially when you're reading an article about sodas in the mainstream media.
Choose one: Children or corporations
At some point, America has to make a decision: Do we, as a nation, continue to sacrifice the health of our children in order to keep our powerful corporations flush with cash? Or do we sacrifice the profits of powerful corporations in order to save the health of our children?
That's really the only choice we have on this issue. We cannot protect both children's health and the profits of the corporations selling products that harm them.
Right now, the status quo has chosen to sacrifice the children in order to protect the corporations. That has been the stance of the FDA, Senators, Congressmen (and women) and even the mainstream media. To heck with the children, they say. We've got to keep this economy running, even if it means selling poison to our kids!
That's a stupid, short-sighted stance. But it's business as usual in America today: Sacrifice the future in order to create the illusion of wealth in the present. But even if all these soda-pumping corporations continue to rake in more profits, is the nation really economically better off?
I think not. The long-term health care costs of treating diseases caused by soda consumption equal or outweigh any short-term benefits derived from the economic activity of selling sodas. While it may seem like a net gain in this fiscal year, in the long haul it's a net loss to the nation.
When our political leaders begin to demonstrate an understanding of those concepts -- and they begin to act in accordance with the long-term interests of the nation -- we might have a future that can be salvaged out of the health care mess that exists now. We can, of course, turn this nation around and eliminate virtually all obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic degenerate diseases, but doing that will require making courageous decisions that directly violate the profiteering interests of some of the most powerful corporations in the world.
This will likely never happen. Poisoning children generates far too much profit to see it stopped. The media makes money, the politicians get campaign contributions that keep them in office, and the corporations selling their harmful products get to pocket obscene profits from doing so.
And so we end up with a nation of fat children and fat-cat adults who rake in the profits from soda companies even while wondering why their own kids have diabetes and can't concentrate in school. If it weren't so sad, the whole thing would be truly laughable. We are doing this to ourselves. We are poisoning our own children and calling it "profitable." And We the People of the United States of America continue to let this happen, day after day, year after year, even as we go bankrupt from the whole sickening charade.
I have a message for every newspaper, television station, sporting event and website that accepts advertising from soda companies: You are part of the problem! By agreeing to promote these products that directly harm the health of your readers, you are promoting a culture of disease and death.
Greed is powerful in the western world, and it often overshadows compassion. In a world where compassion took precedence over greed, no one would dare advertise sodas and sugary drinks. But we don't live in that world; we live in the world of ingrained American greed and blatant pass-the-buckishness. Some of the wealthiest people in the world have accumulated that wealth primarily by pushing products that harm or kill children. It's true for Big Pharma, Big Tobacco and the junk food giants, too.
Sources for this story include:
LA Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/boo...
California Center for Public Health Advocacy:
http://www.publichealthadvocacy.org...
Orem Ut, Chiropractor, acupuncture, sports injuries, health, weight loss
Monday, September 14, 2009
Should I Exercise During Pregnancy?... The Answer is YES! Read Below:
Have You Heard the Latest on Exercise During Pregnancy?
pregnant, pregnancy, exercise, babyPhysicians should recommend low to moderate levels of exercise to their pregnant patients, even if they have not exercised prior to pregnancy, according to a new report.
Exercise can strengthen and improve overall musculoskeletal and physiologic health as well as pregnancy related symptoms.
Exercise such as aerobics, impact and nonimpact activities, resistance training and swimming:
* Eases back and other musculoskeletal pain
* Lowers maternal blood pressure
* Reduces swelling
* Improves post-partum mood, including sadness
Sources:
Eurekalert August 3, 2009
Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons August 2009; 17(8):504-14
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
It should come as no surprise to find out that exercising during pregnancy is helpful both for you and your baby. After all, exercise is an essential element of a comprehensive physical and mental health program.
Timing and Intensity of Your Program May Affect Nutrient Intake and Birth Weight
Previous studies have shown that, in general, women who exercise throughout their pregnancies have larger placentas than their more sedentary peers.
The volume of your placenta is a general marker of its ability to transport oxygen and nutrients to your fetus, so it stands to reason that having a large, healthy placenta will lead to a healthier baby.
However, they also found that women who exercised at the same rate throughout their pregnancy, or boosted the intensity of their exercise regimen later in pregnancy, gave birth to infants who were lighter and had less body fat than women who slowed down in the final trimester.
That said, none of the babies born to women who exercised moderately or intensely through the ninth month were considered low birth weight. (Low birth weight is associated with developmental problems in childhood and may be linked to heart disease and other health problems later in life.)
The findings, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2002, indicated that regular weight-bearing exercise is beneficial for both mother and baby, and that the amount of benefit varies with the timing and amount of your exercise.
In short, if you are healthy and your pregnancy is normal, regular exercise can do nothing but improve your and your baby’s health. Avoiding physical movement for fear of causing harm is contra-intuitive and not based on reality, unless you have some form of medical condition that is putting your pregnancy at risk.
What’s a Healthy Amount of Exercise During Pregnancy?
As just mentioned above, the amount of benefit has been found to vary with the timing and amount of exercise. Slowing down a little during your ninth month may be beneficial, but what about the amount of exercise?
How much exercise is “just enough?”
Previous research has found that exercising either too much or too little can raise your risk of having a low birth weight baby.
According to one previous study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, pregnant women who exercised three to four times a week seemed to have the best chance of having a healthy weight baby. Exercising more than four times a week, or less than three, was linked to lower birth weight (but not dangerously low birth weight).
As specified in the study above, particularly beneficial exercises during pregnancy include:
* Aerobics
* Both impact and nonimpact activities
* Resistance training (weight training)
* Swimming
Avoid Back Pain and Leg Cramps with Regular Exercise
For years, expectant mothers have considered back pain, hip soreness and leg cramps to be more or less unavoidable during pregnancy. But research suggests that these aches and pains can be avoided with proper conditioning and physical exercise.
When you are pregnant you’re carrying around extra weight and your weight distribution is altered. Therefore, your muscles must work harder to accomplish your normal gait pattern when you walk. Exercising during your pregnancy will help keep your muscles conditioned to handle the increasing weight, and can be very beneficial for both preventive and rehabilitative management.
As a result of the decrease in aches and pains, this practice will likely also reduce the amount of pain-relief drugs taken during pregnancy. This, in and of itself, is good, considering that no drugs have been 100 percent proven to be safe during pregnancy.
Other Health Benefits of Exercising During Pregnancy
Aside from optimizing your baby’s nutrient supply and avoiding annoying aches and pains during pregnancy, exercising during this time has other health benefits, including:
* Reduced risk of gallstones, which is a fairly common problem for many pregnant women. Serious cases may even require surgical intervention, which is far more risky during pregnancy.
* Reduced risk of preterm birth. The risk of delivering a baby during the first 37 weeks of pregnancy, known as preterm birth, has been found to be reduced in women who engage in vigorous activity such as jogging or bicycling.
All-Natural Post Partum Depression Relief
Depression and mood-swings are common phenomena that affect many pregnant women. Changes in your hormone levels, and physical/emotional/mental stresses related to all the changes that are currently taking place in your life are contributing factors.
Even if you’re elated about being pregnant, depression may still affect you, and may take you completely by surprise.
In recent years, conventional medicine has started prescribing antidepressants to pregnant women, both as a preventive measure and as treatment. This is a major mistake that can cause significant harm both to you and your unborn child.
Fortunately, exercise is one of your most effective tools for mental- and emotional health as well.
Dr. James S. Gordon, a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression and anxiety, states that physical movement can:
* Improve your mood
* Relieve your anxiety
* Alleviate your symptoms of depression
So sticking to your exercise regimen while you are pregnant can go a long way to insulate you from the pre- and post-partum depression episodes that plague so many pregnant women. Numerous studies have found that exercise is at least as good as, or better, than antidepressants for depression.
The main reason for this is because physical exercise changes the level of serotonin in your brain. It also increases your levels of endorphins, your “feel good” hormones.
If you are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, I hope you’ll take this advice to heart and exercise, not just for you, but also for the benefit of your baby.
pregnant, pregnancy, exercise, babyPhysicians should recommend low to moderate levels of exercise to their pregnant patients, even if they have not exercised prior to pregnancy, according to a new report.
Exercise can strengthen and improve overall musculoskeletal and physiologic health as well as pregnancy related symptoms.
Exercise such as aerobics, impact and nonimpact activities, resistance training and swimming:
* Eases back and other musculoskeletal pain
* Lowers maternal blood pressure
* Reduces swelling
* Improves post-partum mood, including sadness
Sources:
Eurekalert August 3, 2009
Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons August 2009; 17(8):504-14
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
It should come as no surprise to find out that exercising during pregnancy is helpful both for you and your baby. After all, exercise is an essential element of a comprehensive physical and mental health program.
Timing and Intensity of Your Program May Affect Nutrient Intake and Birth Weight
Previous studies have shown that, in general, women who exercise throughout their pregnancies have larger placentas than their more sedentary peers.
The volume of your placenta is a general marker of its ability to transport oxygen and nutrients to your fetus, so it stands to reason that having a large, healthy placenta will lead to a healthier baby.
However, they also found that women who exercised at the same rate throughout their pregnancy, or boosted the intensity of their exercise regimen later in pregnancy, gave birth to infants who were lighter and had less body fat than women who slowed down in the final trimester.
That said, none of the babies born to women who exercised moderately or intensely through the ninth month were considered low birth weight. (Low birth weight is associated with developmental problems in childhood and may be linked to heart disease and other health problems later in life.)
The findings, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2002, indicated that regular weight-bearing exercise is beneficial for both mother and baby, and that the amount of benefit varies with the timing and amount of your exercise.
In short, if you are healthy and your pregnancy is normal, regular exercise can do nothing but improve your and your baby’s health. Avoiding physical movement for fear of causing harm is contra-intuitive and not based on reality, unless you have some form of medical condition that is putting your pregnancy at risk.
What’s a Healthy Amount of Exercise During Pregnancy?
As just mentioned above, the amount of benefit has been found to vary with the timing and amount of exercise. Slowing down a little during your ninth month may be beneficial, but what about the amount of exercise?
How much exercise is “just enough?”
Previous research has found that exercising either too much or too little can raise your risk of having a low birth weight baby.
According to one previous study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, pregnant women who exercised three to four times a week seemed to have the best chance of having a healthy weight baby. Exercising more than four times a week, or less than three, was linked to lower birth weight (but not dangerously low birth weight).
As specified in the study above, particularly beneficial exercises during pregnancy include:
* Aerobics
* Both impact and nonimpact activities
* Resistance training (weight training)
* Swimming
Avoid Back Pain and Leg Cramps with Regular Exercise
For years, expectant mothers have considered back pain, hip soreness and leg cramps to be more or less unavoidable during pregnancy. But research suggests that these aches and pains can be avoided with proper conditioning and physical exercise.
When you are pregnant you’re carrying around extra weight and your weight distribution is altered. Therefore, your muscles must work harder to accomplish your normal gait pattern when you walk. Exercising during your pregnancy will help keep your muscles conditioned to handle the increasing weight, and can be very beneficial for both preventive and rehabilitative management.
As a result of the decrease in aches and pains, this practice will likely also reduce the amount of pain-relief drugs taken during pregnancy. This, in and of itself, is good, considering that no drugs have been 100 percent proven to be safe during pregnancy.
Other Health Benefits of Exercising During Pregnancy
Aside from optimizing your baby’s nutrient supply and avoiding annoying aches and pains during pregnancy, exercising during this time has other health benefits, including:
* Reduced risk of gallstones, which is a fairly common problem for many pregnant women. Serious cases may even require surgical intervention, which is far more risky during pregnancy.
* Reduced risk of preterm birth. The risk of delivering a baby during the first 37 weeks of pregnancy, known as preterm birth, has been found to be reduced in women who engage in vigorous activity such as jogging or bicycling.
All-Natural Post Partum Depression Relief
Depression and mood-swings are common phenomena that affect many pregnant women. Changes in your hormone levels, and physical/emotional/mental stresses related to all the changes that are currently taking place in your life are contributing factors.
Even if you’re elated about being pregnant, depression may still affect you, and may take you completely by surprise.
In recent years, conventional medicine has started prescribing antidepressants to pregnant women, both as a preventive measure and as treatment. This is a major mistake that can cause significant harm both to you and your unborn child.
Fortunately, exercise is one of your most effective tools for mental- and emotional health as well.
Dr. James S. Gordon, a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression and anxiety, states that physical movement can:
* Improve your mood
* Relieve your anxiety
* Alleviate your symptoms of depression
So sticking to your exercise regimen while you are pregnant can go a long way to insulate you from the pre- and post-partum depression episodes that plague so many pregnant women. Numerous studies have found that exercise is at least as good as, or better, than antidepressants for depression.
The main reason for this is because physical exercise changes the level of serotonin in your brain. It also increases your levels of endorphins, your “feel good” hormones.
If you are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, I hope you’ll take this advice to heart and exercise, not just for you, but also for the benefit of your baby.
Warning: Swine Flu Shot Linked to Killer Nerve Disease
A warning that the swine flu vaccine has been linked to a deadly nerve disease has been sent by the UK Government to senior neurologists in a confidential letter.
The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, was leaked to The Daily Mail, leading to demands to know why the information has not been given to the public before the vaccination of millions of people, including children, begins.
It tells the neurologists that they must be alert for an increase in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the vaccine. GBS attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breathe, and can be fatal.
The letter refers to the use of a similar swine flu vaccine in the United States in 1976 when:
* More people died from the vaccination than from swine flu
* The vaccine may have increased the risk of contracting GBS by eight times
* The vaccine was withdrawn after just ten weeks when the link with GBS became clear
* The U.S. Government was forced to pay out millions of dollars to those affected
Concerns have already been raised that the new vaccine has not been sufficiently tested and that the effects, especially on children, are unknown.
The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, was leaked to The Daily Mail, leading to demands to know why the information has not been given to the public before the vaccination of millions of people, including children, begins.
It tells the neurologists that they must be alert for an increase in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the vaccine. GBS attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breathe, and can be fatal.
The letter refers to the use of a similar swine flu vaccine in the United States in 1976 when:
* More people died from the vaccination than from swine flu
* The vaccine may have increased the risk of contracting GBS by eight times
* The vaccine was withdrawn after just ten weeks when the link with GBS became clear
* The U.S. Government was forced to pay out millions of dollars to those affected
Concerns have already been raised that the new vaccine has not been sufficiently tested and that the effects, especially on children, are unknown.
6 Diseases You Thought Were In The Past, But Aren't
September 10 2009
Many think of bubonic plague, leprosy and polio as diseases of the past -- things that might have had a part in history, but aren't around any longer. But these diseases are still very much with us.
Pneumonic/Bubonic Plague
The pneumonic and bubonic plagues are caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the difference being that pneumonic plague can spread from person to person -- without infected fleas.
The pneumonic form struck China earlier this year, and bubonic plague still persists in the United States, in the Southwest. Wild rats and fleas carry the disease, and when in proximity to humans, fleas will spread it to them rather than simply among rats.
Polio
Polio is still a problem in many countries. It can cause paralysis, in the legs and even the lungs.
But more often it has only subtle signs, so it is difficult to determine who has the virus, making it tricky to eradicate. Complicating matters is that symptoms of polio can often mimic those of other viruses.
Chagas Disease
The disease is spread by the bug known as the kissing bug and the assassin bug. It bites its human victim, defecating and causing an itch, which becomes Chagas disease when the victim scratches the area, allowing the infection to enter the body.
About 8 to 9 million people in Latin America are infected, and 400,000 people in the United States have the disease. The infection attacks the heart, but over the course of many years. Five percent of people will develop symptoms early on, such as liver or spleen enlargement. But the other 95 percent will show no signs for 20 or 30 years.
Leprosy
Leprosy is among the oldest of human diseases. The disease attacks skin and ultimately nerve cells. It is caused by a bacterium similar to the one responsible for tuberculosis.
The most common cause within the United States is exposure to armadillos, whether through eating them, having a farm of them or hunting them.
Hookworm
Hookworm still plagues many living in rural poverty throughout the world. The hookworm parasite, which lives in soil, causes severe anemia in its victim and the infection can prove difficult to get rid of.
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is still around, even if it isn't as deadly as it once was. But TB still poses a major problem for doctors. It's an insidious, slow-onset disease. Ultimately, patients can develop a persistent fever and lose energy and weight. Patients may not know they have the disease, and they can spread it to other people during that time.
Tuberculosis has become more of a threat than it once was with the development of forms that are resistant to the drugs typically used to treat the disease. Because of this, tuberculosis is still fatal to 40 to 50 percent of people who catch it.
Sources:
ABC News August 14, 2009
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
Before you get frightened, it’s worth mentioning that most of these diseases, although not entirely eradicated, are quite rare. But by implementing just two of my most recommended lifestyle changes, you can further reduce your chances of contracting two of the more common diseases in this rare bunch.
Polio Linked to Sugar Consumption
For example, were you aware of the polio-sugar connection? Few people are, but there’s plenty of research showing that consuming refined sugar increases your risk of contracting polio.
According to one such study, a substance produced during the sugar refining process, such as deoxysugars, may be responsible for polio.
Even if the poliovirus is present in a population, you’re not likely to get it unless you consume large quantities of refined sugar.
One of the most potent clinical examples I can share that supports this surprising conclusion comes from animal experiments done over 50 years ago.
Researchers repeatedly tried to infect rabbits with polio but were unsuccessful until they lowered the rabbits' blood sugar levels with insulin injections, which likely crippled the rabbits’ immune systems and allowed them to contract polio.
As many already know, I firmly believe that sugar is actually more damaging to your health than cigarettes, and my clinical experience supports this view.
Polio, and other infections, only tend to cause complications when your immune system is weakened, which can easily happen through poor nutrition, stress, and lack of sleep.
The polio vaccine is not the ultimate solution to prevent this disease.
In fact, one polio outbreak that occurred in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2002 was traced to a strain of oral polio vaccine (OPV) that mutated back to virulence.
This is one example showing that acquiring the disease you’re being vaccinated against is one risk of getting vaccinated.
As opposed to loading up on vaccines, limiting your sugar intake is one of the most potent actions you can take to drastically improve your overall health, as it helps keep your immune system strong, which in turn will reduce your risk of any number of diseases.
Vitamin D – One of Your Most Potent Strategies Against TB
A number of recent studies have confirmed the vital role vitamin D plays in increasing your body’s natural capacity to ward off autoimmune diseases, including preventing and treating tuberculosis.
One of the most important functions of vitamin D, which was not at all known until the 21st century, is that it turns on genes in your DNA that are responsible for producing hundreds of antimicrobial peptides that can destroy not only bacteria, but also viruses and fungi.
How good is that?!
To this day scientists haven’t been able to create effective anti-viral drugs, but your body can make them for free by simply exposing your skin to healthy amounts of sunshine or UVB from a safe tanning bed.
Although nearly one third of the world’s population carries the tuberculosis bacteria, only about 0.2 percent of those infected with tuberculosis (TB) actually develop a clinically significant infection. This fact indicates that something other than the bacteria is responsible for developing the disease.
Several studies have appeared in the last decade, indicating that vitamin D is one of the major keys that dictate whether you will actually develop the disease. These studies have all come to the conclusion that vitamin D deficiency sets off the disease if you are a carrier of the bacteria.
One previous study was able to show an astonishing 100 percent resolution rate by treating TB patients with 10,000 units of vitamin D daily (compared with the 400 units usually advocated by conventional medicine).
Researchers have discovered that your white blood cells convert the vitamin D that your skin produces from proper sun exposure into an active form, which helps form a protein that kills the tuberculosis bacteria.
Therefore the more severe your vitamin D deficiency is, the higher your risk of developing the active form of TB.
I’ve written quite extensively on the many health benefits of vitamin D. In fact, one recent meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials concluded that supplemental vitamin D significantly reduces mortality from ALL diseases!
For a refresher on this essential nutrient, I recommend viewing my free one-hour video lecture on vitamin D.
For more information about optimal vitamin D levels, and the best way to safely and effectively raise your levels, please see this previous article.
Ten Steps to Optimal Health and Disease Prevention
When you take steps to optimize your health, you’re also implementing effective measures that will help prevent disease of all kinds.
Remember, disease is a dis-ease – a lack of harmony and balanced functioning inside your body, and a sign that something is askew.
Following these guidelines – which are based on basic tenets of health – will help you optimize your health, and by doing so, minimize your risk of developing disease.
1.
Address your emotional traumas and manage your stress
2.
Get optimal exposure to sunlight
3.
Drink plenty of clean water
4.
Limit your exposure to toxins
5.
Consume healthy fat
6.
Eat a healthy diet that’s right for your nutritional type (paying very careful attention to keeping your insulin levels down)
7.
Eat plenty of raw food
8.
Optimize your insulin and leptin levels
9.
Exercise
10.
Get plenty of good sleep
Posted by Dr Dallas Makin, Chiropractor in Orem Ut, acupuncture, sports medicine, health and wellness.
Many think of bubonic plague, leprosy and polio as diseases of the past -- things that might have had a part in history, but aren't around any longer. But these diseases are still very much with us.
Pneumonic/Bubonic Plague
The pneumonic and bubonic plagues are caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the difference being that pneumonic plague can spread from person to person -- without infected fleas.
The pneumonic form struck China earlier this year, and bubonic plague still persists in the United States, in the Southwest. Wild rats and fleas carry the disease, and when in proximity to humans, fleas will spread it to them rather than simply among rats.
Polio
Polio is still a problem in many countries. It can cause paralysis, in the legs and even the lungs.
But more often it has only subtle signs, so it is difficult to determine who has the virus, making it tricky to eradicate. Complicating matters is that symptoms of polio can often mimic those of other viruses.
Chagas Disease
The disease is spread by the bug known as the kissing bug and the assassin bug. It bites its human victim, defecating and causing an itch, which becomes Chagas disease when the victim scratches the area, allowing the infection to enter the body.
About 8 to 9 million people in Latin America are infected, and 400,000 people in the United States have the disease. The infection attacks the heart, but over the course of many years. Five percent of people will develop symptoms early on, such as liver or spleen enlargement. But the other 95 percent will show no signs for 20 or 30 years.
Leprosy
Leprosy is among the oldest of human diseases. The disease attacks skin and ultimately nerve cells. It is caused by a bacterium similar to the one responsible for tuberculosis.
The most common cause within the United States is exposure to armadillos, whether through eating them, having a farm of them or hunting them.
Hookworm
Hookworm still plagues many living in rural poverty throughout the world. The hookworm parasite, which lives in soil, causes severe anemia in its victim and the infection can prove difficult to get rid of.
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is still around, even if it isn't as deadly as it once was. But TB still poses a major problem for doctors. It's an insidious, slow-onset disease. Ultimately, patients can develop a persistent fever and lose energy and weight. Patients may not know they have the disease, and they can spread it to other people during that time.
Tuberculosis has become more of a threat than it once was with the development of forms that are resistant to the drugs typically used to treat the disease. Because of this, tuberculosis is still fatal to 40 to 50 percent of people who catch it.
Sources:
ABC News August 14, 2009
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
Before you get frightened, it’s worth mentioning that most of these diseases, although not entirely eradicated, are quite rare. But by implementing just two of my most recommended lifestyle changes, you can further reduce your chances of contracting two of the more common diseases in this rare bunch.
Polio Linked to Sugar Consumption
For example, were you aware of the polio-sugar connection? Few people are, but there’s plenty of research showing that consuming refined sugar increases your risk of contracting polio.
According to one such study, a substance produced during the sugar refining process, such as deoxysugars, may be responsible for polio.
Even if the poliovirus is present in a population, you’re not likely to get it unless you consume large quantities of refined sugar.
One of the most potent clinical examples I can share that supports this surprising conclusion comes from animal experiments done over 50 years ago.
Researchers repeatedly tried to infect rabbits with polio but were unsuccessful until they lowered the rabbits' blood sugar levels with insulin injections, which likely crippled the rabbits’ immune systems and allowed them to contract polio.
As many already know, I firmly believe that sugar is actually more damaging to your health than cigarettes, and my clinical experience supports this view.
Polio, and other infections, only tend to cause complications when your immune system is weakened, which can easily happen through poor nutrition, stress, and lack of sleep.
The polio vaccine is not the ultimate solution to prevent this disease.
In fact, one polio outbreak that occurred in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2002 was traced to a strain of oral polio vaccine (OPV) that mutated back to virulence.
This is one example showing that acquiring the disease you’re being vaccinated against is one risk of getting vaccinated.
As opposed to loading up on vaccines, limiting your sugar intake is one of the most potent actions you can take to drastically improve your overall health, as it helps keep your immune system strong, which in turn will reduce your risk of any number of diseases.
Vitamin D – One of Your Most Potent Strategies Against TB
A number of recent studies have confirmed the vital role vitamin D plays in increasing your body’s natural capacity to ward off autoimmune diseases, including preventing and treating tuberculosis.
One of the most important functions of vitamin D, which was not at all known until the 21st century, is that it turns on genes in your DNA that are responsible for producing hundreds of antimicrobial peptides that can destroy not only bacteria, but also viruses and fungi.
How good is that?!
To this day scientists haven’t been able to create effective anti-viral drugs, but your body can make them for free by simply exposing your skin to healthy amounts of sunshine or UVB from a safe tanning bed.
Although nearly one third of the world’s population carries the tuberculosis bacteria, only about 0.2 percent of those infected with tuberculosis (TB) actually develop a clinically significant infection. This fact indicates that something other than the bacteria is responsible for developing the disease.
Several studies have appeared in the last decade, indicating that vitamin D is one of the major keys that dictate whether you will actually develop the disease. These studies have all come to the conclusion that vitamin D deficiency sets off the disease if you are a carrier of the bacteria.
One previous study was able to show an astonishing 100 percent resolution rate by treating TB patients with 10,000 units of vitamin D daily (compared with the 400 units usually advocated by conventional medicine).
Researchers have discovered that your white blood cells convert the vitamin D that your skin produces from proper sun exposure into an active form, which helps form a protein that kills the tuberculosis bacteria.
Therefore the more severe your vitamin D deficiency is, the higher your risk of developing the active form of TB.
I’ve written quite extensively on the many health benefits of vitamin D. In fact, one recent meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials concluded that supplemental vitamin D significantly reduces mortality from ALL diseases!
For a refresher on this essential nutrient, I recommend viewing my free one-hour video lecture on vitamin D.
For more information about optimal vitamin D levels, and the best way to safely and effectively raise your levels, please see this previous article.
Ten Steps to Optimal Health and Disease Prevention
When you take steps to optimize your health, you’re also implementing effective measures that will help prevent disease of all kinds.
Remember, disease is a dis-ease – a lack of harmony and balanced functioning inside your body, and a sign that something is askew.
Following these guidelines – which are based on basic tenets of health – will help you optimize your health, and by doing so, minimize your risk of developing disease.
1.
Address your emotional traumas and manage your stress
2.
Get optimal exposure to sunlight
3.
Drink plenty of clean water
4.
Limit your exposure to toxins
5.
Consume healthy fat
6.
Eat a healthy diet that’s right for your nutritional type (paying very careful attention to keeping your insulin levels down)
7.
Eat plenty of raw food
8.
Optimize your insulin and leptin levels
9.
Exercise
10.
Get plenty of good sleep
Posted by Dr Dallas Makin, Chiropractor in Orem Ut, acupuncture, sports medicine, health and wellness.
Autism Rates Going Up, Why?... Read this..
ASDA pair of studies on autism rates show that somewhere around one percent of all U.S. children currently have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The rate is even higher among 6 to 11 year olds and among boys.
Among all children aged two to 17, one in 100 currently have an ASD, which is considerably higher than the previously estimated rate of one in 150. There was a 100 percent increase in parent-reported ASD rates compared to 2003.
One possible explanation for some of the increase is the expansion of the ASD classification within the public schools to include not only full-blown autism, but also milder forms of ASD such as Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome. But it is difficult to believe that this accounts for the entire increase.
One possible answer is the Hepatitis B vaccine, which also contained 25 micrograms of mercury containing thimerosal. Only 8 percent of infant children received the Hep B vaccine in 1992, when that birth cohort showed an ASD rate of 60 per 10,000.
By 1994, the number of children receiving Hep B vaccine had reached just 27 percent -- and the cohort showed an ASD rate of 66 per 10,000. The Hep B coverage rate rose to 82 percent by 1996, when that cohort's ASD rate exploded to around 100 per 10,000, or one in 100.
Sources:
Huffington Post August 11, 2009
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
If you’ve been following this issue you will be very aware that autism is on the rise.
For a number of years the accepted rate of autism was about one in 150, but for awhile now I have been stating that the incidence is far higher than that, and now we finally have statistics to support that.
Overall, the 2007 survey results from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) reveals a 100 percent increase in parent-reported cases of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), compared to their 2003 survey.
According to this latest data, the odds that your infant will develop some form of ASD are now one in 63. And if you have a boy, the chances are a staggering one in 38.
That’s 2.6 percent of all male children in the U.S.!
Among all children aged two to 17, out of the 82,000 respondents, one in 100 reported that their child currently has an ASD. This is far higher than the previous CDC estimate of one in 150.
A similar British study puts the overall U.K. rate at one in 83.
These numbers sadly support the surprising findings earlier this year, when the journal Epidemiology published a study showing a sevenfold increase in autism cases in California, between the years of 1990 to 2006.
In 1990, 6.2 of every 10,000 children born in California were diagnosed with autism by the age of 5. By 2001, that had risen to 42.5 in 10,000.
I still remember that 25 years ago. when I first started practicing, the incidence of autism in the United States was only one in 100,000! This is clearly an epidemic happening in massive proportions right before our very eyes.
What’s Causing These Out of Control Autism Rates?
Many researchers are now advocating for a shift in autism research to focus on environmental factors such as pesticides, viruses and chemicals in household products rather than genetics.
It makes no rational sense that funding for studying the genetic causes of autism is 10 to 20 times higher than funding for environmental causes. Because although genetics play a role in an estimated one percent of cases, the other 99 percent are still a mystery to conventional scientists.
Likewise, to suggest this massive increase could be due to relaxed diagnosis criteria seems to be grasping at straws.
So what is the explanation?
The Common Thread Among Those With Autism
Dr. Klinghardt, one of my primary mentors and a pioneer in natural medicine, discussed the toxic origins of autism in an extensive interview with me late last year. You can watch a snippet of it here, or join my Inner Circle to get access to the entire interview.
One topic discussed is the fact that in most people with autism, their pathways of detoxification have become overwhelmed by both man-made and microbial toxins.
The toxins that are at the top of this list are:
1.
Mercury and other metals, such as aluminum. The major route of exposure here is from vaccines, and also from eating contaminated seafood.
2.
Viruses and microbes, such as mold. Children with autism not only have overwhelmed detoxification pathways and often heavy metal toxicity, but, according to Dr. Klinghardt, they also have a silent, daily toxin production in their body caused by toxic microbes.
3.
Electromagnetic Fields (EMF). These come not only from cell phones and cordless phones, but also from electrical outlets and WI-FI. Dr. Klinghardt considers EMF “synergistically causal," partly because it potentiates the production of toxic microbes and endotoxins.
We already know that children are now born toxic due to the increasing toxic load of their mothers. We know that the childhood vaccination schedule has gone from requiring 10 vaccinations in 1976, to now including 36 injections before your child reaches 12 months of age.
We also know that the use of cell phones and other WiFi equipment has exploded, and according to some experts, like Dr. Klinghardt, EMF exposure increases the toxicity of many already hazardous substances.
For example, in a small study performed by Dr. Klinghardt, he showed that autism can actually be predicted based on the EMF levels of your sleeping quarters while you are pregnant!
He found that if you sleep in strong electromagnetic fields during pregnancy, your child will likely begin to exhibit neurological abnormalities within the first two years of life, such as:
*
Neurological dysfunction
*
Hyperactivity
*
Learning disorders
What About Vaccines?
Once you’ve reviewed the available data, it’s also virtually impossible to ignore the dangerous impact of our overzealous vaccination schedule.
According to Lee Grossman, President and CEO of Autism Society of America (ASA):
"A person with an autism spectrum disorder has a number of underlying and seemingly unnoticed immunological, inflammatory or mitochondrial issues happening, and there could be any number of factors that trigger this, and it is certainly plausible that vaccines are one of those triggers."
As discussed in the article above, the increased use of the Hepatitis B vaccine also coincides with a rise in autism, and the Hep B vaccine contained 25 micrograms of thimerosal – a mercury-containing ingredient that has long been thought to be a contributing factor to autism due to its potent neurotoxic effects.
According to the CDC's National Immunization Survey, 8 percent of infants received the Hep B vaccine in 1992. At the time the ASD rate was 67 in 10,000. Four years later, at which time 82 percent of infants received the Hep B vaccine, the ASD rate rose to about 100 in 10,000.
Recent studies have shown that the Hepatitis B vaccine can damage myelin in those with certain genetic factors. For example, one recent study found that children who received the vaccine were 50 percent more likely to develop "central nervous system inflammatory demyelination" than children who did not receive the vaccine.
GlaxoSmithKline’s Engerix B brand of the vaccine was shown to be the worst of the bunch, increasing the risk of demyelination by 74 percent. It also nearly tripled the risk of developing multiple sclerosis in genetically susceptible people.
As you can see, there are likely a wide variety of potential factors involved, and we need to know what all of these exposures in combination mean to the health of our children if we ever want to turn this tide of autism around.
One Contributing Factor You Can Remedy Right Now
Another major contributor to autism that has recently been appreciated is vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women.
The vitamin D receptor appears in a wide variety of brain tissue early in the fetal development, and activated vitamin D receptors increase nerve growth in your brain. It is my personal belief that this may be the single largest contributing factor to autism and that it is a deficiency of sun exposure to the pregnant mom, and subsequently to the fetus, that puts the child at a massively increased risk of developing autism in the first place.
Fortunately, this is one risk factor you can do something about right now.
I believe one of the most important changes that could radically reduce autism is to make certain that ALL pregnant women normalize their vitamin D levels to 50-60 ng/ml.
What to Do and Where to Turn if You Have an Autistic Child
Lee Grossman of the ASA was quoted as saying,
"Now, many people believe that autism is associated with environmental triggers, and my message is: 'Wake up.'
If this doesn't wake people up, then I don't know what will.
I'm hopeful that this unfortunate statistic, and the terrible growth in autism, will finally get people to act to do something about autism. And by that, I mean the fine folks in government who are not responding in the ways that they should."
I hope so too.
But I’m not holding my breath for sanity to sweep across government any time soon. And if you’re waiting for conventional medicine to come up with some “cure,” you may be waiting for a long time.
Fortunately, there are other options, many of which are turning out to be effective.
I am collaborating with some of the leading experts in autism, including Dr. Klinghardt, and participating in the THRiiiVE think-tank that will provide basic resources for those afflicted with autism.
During the most recent THRiiiVE summit in October, 2008 we created the Top 10 Prioritized To Do List for people with autism.
I have detailed the entire list in this past article, so please, if your child or someone you know has autism, take a few minutes to review it.
As part of the program, Dr. Klinghardt recommends the following three steps that should be urgently addressed in children with autism:
1. Lower microbial burden: Reduce microbial overgrowth in your child’s body through dietary changes (less starch and sugar at minimum) and lower overall stress. Also, consider testing for mold (in your house) and Lyme (in his or her body) but only after “provocation treatment.”
2. Lower incoming toxic burden: Do whatever you can to establish a mold, dust, toxin and smell-free environment for your whole family and THEN establish a detoxification program. Please remember hidden toxins like fluoride, and look carefully at ALL your cleaning products.
3. Lower EMF burden in your child’s home and bedroom: Your child’s health will be optimized with daily sun exposure (healthy EMF) and nightly avoidance of man-made (harmful) EMF.
Posted by Dr Dallas Makin, Chiropractor, Acupuncture, Detox in orem UT
Among all children aged two to 17, one in 100 currently have an ASD, which is considerably higher than the previously estimated rate of one in 150. There was a 100 percent increase in parent-reported ASD rates compared to 2003.
One possible explanation for some of the increase is the expansion of the ASD classification within the public schools to include not only full-blown autism, but also milder forms of ASD such as Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome. But it is difficult to believe that this accounts for the entire increase.
One possible answer is the Hepatitis B vaccine, which also contained 25 micrograms of mercury containing thimerosal. Only 8 percent of infant children received the Hep B vaccine in 1992, when that birth cohort showed an ASD rate of 60 per 10,000.
By 1994, the number of children receiving Hep B vaccine had reached just 27 percent -- and the cohort showed an ASD rate of 66 per 10,000. The Hep B coverage rate rose to 82 percent by 1996, when that cohort's ASD rate exploded to around 100 per 10,000, or one in 100.
Sources:
Huffington Post August 11, 2009
Dr. Mercola''s Comments
If you’ve been following this issue you will be very aware that autism is on the rise.
For a number of years the accepted rate of autism was about one in 150, but for awhile now I have been stating that the incidence is far higher than that, and now we finally have statistics to support that.
Overall, the 2007 survey results from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) reveals a 100 percent increase in parent-reported cases of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), compared to their 2003 survey.
According to this latest data, the odds that your infant will develop some form of ASD are now one in 63. And if you have a boy, the chances are a staggering one in 38.
That’s 2.6 percent of all male children in the U.S.!
Among all children aged two to 17, out of the 82,000 respondents, one in 100 reported that their child currently has an ASD. This is far higher than the previous CDC estimate of one in 150.
A similar British study puts the overall U.K. rate at one in 83.
These numbers sadly support the surprising findings earlier this year, when the journal Epidemiology published a study showing a sevenfold increase in autism cases in California, between the years of 1990 to 2006.
In 1990, 6.2 of every 10,000 children born in California were diagnosed with autism by the age of 5. By 2001, that had risen to 42.5 in 10,000.
I still remember that 25 years ago. when I first started practicing, the incidence of autism in the United States was only one in 100,000! This is clearly an epidemic happening in massive proportions right before our very eyes.
What’s Causing These Out of Control Autism Rates?
Many researchers are now advocating for a shift in autism research to focus on environmental factors such as pesticides, viruses and chemicals in household products rather than genetics.
It makes no rational sense that funding for studying the genetic causes of autism is 10 to 20 times higher than funding for environmental causes. Because although genetics play a role in an estimated one percent of cases, the other 99 percent are still a mystery to conventional scientists.
Likewise, to suggest this massive increase could be due to relaxed diagnosis criteria seems to be grasping at straws.
So what is the explanation?
The Common Thread Among Those With Autism
Dr. Klinghardt, one of my primary mentors and a pioneer in natural medicine, discussed the toxic origins of autism in an extensive interview with me late last year. You can watch a snippet of it here, or join my Inner Circle to get access to the entire interview.
One topic discussed is the fact that in most people with autism, their pathways of detoxification have become overwhelmed by both man-made and microbial toxins.
The toxins that are at the top of this list are:
1.
Mercury and other metals, such as aluminum. The major route of exposure here is from vaccines, and also from eating contaminated seafood.
2.
Viruses and microbes, such as mold. Children with autism not only have overwhelmed detoxification pathways and often heavy metal toxicity, but, according to Dr. Klinghardt, they also have a silent, daily toxin production in their body caused by toxic microbes.
3.
Electromagnetic Fields (EMF). These come not only from cell phones and cordless phones, but also from electrical outlets and WI-FI. Dr. Klinghardt considers EMF “synergistically causal," partly because it potentiates the production of toxic microbes and endotoxins.
We already know that children are now born toxic due to the increasing toxic load of their mothers. We know that the childhood vaccination schedule has gone from requiring 10 vaccinations in 1976, to now including 36 injections before your child reaches 12 months of age.
We also know that the use of cell phones and other WiFi equipment has exploded, and according to some experts, like Dr. Klinghardt, EMF exposure increases the toxicity of many already hazardous substances.
For example, in a small study performed by Dr. Klinghardt, he showed that autism can actually be predicted based on the EMF levels of your sleeping quarters while you are pregnant!
He found that if you sleep in strong electromagnetic fields during pregnancy, your child will likely begin to exhibit neurological abnormalities within the first two years of life, such as:
*
Neurological dysfunction
*
Hyperactivity
*
Learning disorders
What About Vaccines?
Once you’ve reviewed the available data, it’s also virtually impossible to ignore the dangerous impact of our overzealous vaccination schedule.
According to Lee Grossman, President and CEO of Autism Society of America (ASA):
"A person with an autism spectrum disorder has a number of underlying and seemingly unnoticed immunological, inflammatory or mitochondrial issues happening, and there could be any number of factors that trigger this, and it is certainly plausible that vaccines are one of those triggers."
As discussed in the article above, the increased use of the Hepatitis B vaccine also coincides with a rise in autism, and the Hep B vaccine contained 25 micrograms of thimerosal – a mercury-containing ingredient that has long been thought to be a contributing factor to autism due to its potent neurotoxic effects.
According to the CDC's National Immunization Survey, 8 percent of infants received the Hep B vaccine in 1992. At the time the ASD rate was 67 in 10,000. Four years later, at which time 82 percent of infants received the Hep B vaccine, the ASD rate rose to about 100 in 10,000.
Recent studies have shown that the Hepatitis B vaccine can damage myelin in those with certain genetic factors. For example, one recent study found that children who received the vaccine were 50 percent more likely to develop "central nervous system inflammatory demyelination" than children who did not receive the vaccine.
GlaxoSmithKline’s Engerix B brand of the vaccine was shown to be the worst of the bunch, increasing the risk of demyelination by 74 percent. It also nearly tripled the risk of developing multiple sclerosis in genetically susceptible people.
As you can see, there are likely a wide variety of potential factors involved, and we need to know what all of these exposures in combination mean to the health of our children if we ever want to turn this tide of autism around.
One Contributing Factor You Can Remedy Right Now
Another major contributor to autism that has recently been appreciated is vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women.
The vitamin D receptor appears in a wide variety of brain tissue early in the fetal development, and activated vitamin D receptors increase nerve growth in your brain. It is my personal belief that this may be the single largest contributing factor to autism and that it is a deficiency of sun exposure to the pregnant mom, and subsequently to the fetus, that puts the child at a massively increased risk of developing autism in the first place.
Fortunately, this is one risk factor you can do something about right now.
I believe one of the most important changes that could radically reduce autism is to make certain that ALL pregnant women normalize their vitamin D levels to 50-60 ng/ml.
What to Do and Where to Turn if You Have an Autistic Child
Lee Grossman of the ASA was quoted as saying,
"Now, many people believe that autism is associated with environmental triggers, and my message is: 'Wake up.'
If this doesn't wake people up, then I don't know what will.
I'm hopeful that this unfortunate statistic, and the terrible growth in autism, will finally get people to act to do something about autism. And by that, I mean the fine folks in government who are not responding in the ways that they should."
I hope so too.
But I’m not holding my breath for sanity to sweep across government any time soon. And if you’re waiting for conventional medicine to come up with some “cure,” you may be waiting for a long time.
Fortunately, there are other options, many of which are turning out to be effective.
I am collaborating with some of the leading experts in autism, including Dr. Klinghardt, and participating in the THRiiiVE think-tank that will provide basic resources for those afflicted with autism.
During the most recent THRiiiVE summit in October, 2008 we created the Top 10 Prioritized To Do List for people with autism.
I have detailed the entire list in this past article, so please, if your child or someone you know has autism, take a few minutes to review it.
As part of the program, Dr. Klinghardt recommends the following three steps that should be urgently addressed in children with autism:
1. Lower microbial burden: Reduce microbial overgrowth in your child’s body through dietary changes (less starch and sugar at minimum) and lower overall stress. Also, consider testing for mold (in your house) and Lyme (in his or her body) but only after “provocation treatment.”
2. Lower incoming toxic burden: Do whatever you can to establish a mold, dust, toxin and smell-free environment for your whole family and THEN establish a detoxification program. Please remember hidden toxins like fluoride, and look carefully at ALL your cleaning products.
3. Lower EMF burden in your child’s home and bedroom: Your child’s health will be optimized with daily sun exposure (healthy EMF) and nightly avoidance of man-made (harmful) EMF.
Posted by Dr Dallas Makin, Chiropractor, Acupuncture, Detox in orem UT
10 Ways Exercise Helps YOU Lose Weight
A recent Time magazine article, "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin," is misleading at best. Exercise is critical to losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight, especially when paired with healthy eating habits.
Countless studies, numerous experts who study exercise, and the millions of people who have lost weight all attest to the fact that working out works.
1.
Exercise zaps belly fat
Regular moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise has the greatest impact on reducing abdominal fat -- the dangerous fat that increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
2.
Exercise controls calories
You need to burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight. Regular exercise uses up excess calories that would otherwise be stored as fat.
3.
Exercise keeps lost pounds MIA
Ninety percent of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off for a year do about an hour of physical activity a day.
4.
Exercise boosts metabolism
You'll lose fat when you diet without exercising, but you'll also lose muscle, which means you'll burn fewer calories. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism and the more calories you'll burn.
5.
Exercise does more than the scale shows
If you gain 3 pounds of lean muscle and lose 4 pounds of fat, you've actually experienced a 7-pound improvement in your body condition, despite the scale only showing 1 pound of weight loss.
6.
Exercise curbs emotional eating
Working out has been proven time and time again to help regulate mood, which has a direct effect on people who eat when they're stressed or upset.
7.
Exercise creates a healthy chain reaction
Healthy habits tend to cluster together. When people make positive changes, like getting more exercise, they tend to work on other health improvements as well, such as eating better.
8.
Exercise brings on the fun
Rock-climbing is more exciting than eating a celery stick. That's why it's sometimes easier to be active to stay slim than to maintain a strict diet.
9.
Exercise stops hunger
People who exercise and diet are actually less hungry than those who only diet, according to at least one study.
10.
Exercise increases energy
Regular physical activity increases stamina by boosting your body's production of energy-promoting neurotransmitters. That gives you even more motivation to get moving and shed pounds.
Countless studies, numerous experts who study exercise, and the millions of people who have lost weight all attest to the fact that working out works.
1.
Exercise zaps belly fat
Regular moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise has the greatest impact on reducing abdominal fat -- the dangerous fat that increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
2.
Exercise controls calories
You need to burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight. Regular exercise uses up excess calories that would otherwise be stored as fat.
3.
Exercise keeps lost pounds MIA
Ninety percent of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off for a year do about an hour of physical activity a day.
4.
Exercise boosts metabolism
You'll lose fat when you diet without exercising, but you'll also lose muscle, which means you'll burn fewer calories. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism and the more calories you'll burn.
5.
Exercise does more than the scale shows
If you gain 3 pounds of lean muscle and lose 4 pounds of fat, you've actually experienced a 7-pound improvement in your body condition, despite the scale only showing 1 pound of weight loss.
6.
Exercise curbs emotional eating
Working out has been proven time and time again to help regulate mood, which has a direct effect on people who eat when they're stressed or upset.
7.
Exercise creates a healthy chain reaction
Healthy habits tend to cluster together. When people make positive changes, like getting more exercise, they tend to work on other health improvements as well, such as eating better.
8.
Exercise brings on the fun
Rock-climbing is more exciting than eating a celery stick. That's why it's sometimes easier to be active to stay slim than to maintain a strict diet.
9.
Exercise stops hunger
People who exercise and diet are actually less hungry than those who only diet, according to at least one study.
10.
Exercise increases energy
Regular physical activity increases stamina by boosting your body's production of energy-promoting neurotransmitters. That gives you even more motivation to get moving and shed pounds.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Which Cell Phones and Wireless Devices Emit the Most and Least Radiation?
Read this Awesome report by Dan Shapley:
A new report allows you to see how much radiation your device emits, and calls for the government to tighten regulations on allowable radiation -- particularly to protect children.
On the heels of independent studies that suggest worrying links between cell phone radiation and tumors, including rare childhood brain cancers, the Environmental Working Group has released a new online consumer guide listing cell phones and other wireless devices that emit the most and least radiation.
While the government collects data about radiation, it doesn't require cell phone manufacturers to report it. Before the Environmental Working Group released this report, it required a fair amount of research at the FTC Website -- with the model or ID number of your phone in hand -- to figure out the specific absorption rate for each device. The Environmental Working Group says that the allowable radiation in U.S. wireless devices was set in 1992 and is outdated, based on subsequent research.
As with most environmental exposures, children are most at risk for adverse health effects, so consult this guide particularly when choosing a phone that a child may use. (Seven in 10 children use cell phones, and half use them daily.)
The industry group for the wireless industry, CTIA, responded to the report with a statement by John Walls, vice president of public affairs, which the group has also used to respond to concerns about radiation from cell phone towers: "Since we are not a scientific organization, with respect to the matter of health effects associated with wireless base stations and the use of wireless devices, CTIA and the wireless industry have always been guided by science, and the views of impartial health organizations. The peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices do not pose a public health risk. In addition, there is no known mechanism for microwave energy within the limits established by the FCC to cause any adverse health effects. That is why the leading global heath organizations such as the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration all have concurred that wireless devices are not a public health risk."
If that doesn't allay your concern, consider this information from the Environmental Working Group:
Tips for Reducing Cell Phone Radiation
Use a land line whenever possible.
Use a hands-free headset whenever using a cell phone (Bluetooth devices can also emit radiation, but at much lower levels.)
Keep your phone switched off whenever possible, particularly in areas with low reception (radiation increases as the device attempts to make a weak connection).
Text, rather than talk, to reduce radiation near the brain (texting lowers radiation to the head, relative to a cell phone conversation).
10 Cell Phones and Wireless Devices That Emit the Least Radiation
1. Samsung Impression (SGH-a877) [AT&T]
2. Motorola RAZR V8 [CellularONE]
3. Samsung SGH-t229 [T-Mobile]
4. Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) [AT&T]
5. Samsung Propel Pro (SGH-i627) [AT&T]
6. Samsung Gravity (SGH-t459) [CellularONE, T-Mobile]
7. T-Mobile Sidekick [T-Mobile]
8. LG Xenon (GR500) [AT&T]
9. Motorola Karma QA1 [AT&T]
10. Sanyo Katana II [Kajeet]
10 Cell Phones and Wireless Devices That Emit the Most Radiation
1. Motorola MOTO VU204 [Verizon Wireless]
2. T-Mobile myTouch 3G [T-Mobile]
3. Kyocera Jax S1300 [Virgin Mobile]
4. Blackberry Curve 8330 [Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS]
5. Motorola W385 [U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless]
6. T-Mobile Shadow [T-Mobile]
7. Motorola C290 [Sprint, Kajeet]
8. Motorola i335 [Sprint]
9. Motorola MOTO VE240 [Cricket, MetroPCS]
10. Blackberry Bold 9000 [AT&T]
A new report allows you to see how much radiation your device emits, and calls for the government to tighten regulations on allowable radiation -- particularly to protect children.
On the heels of independent studies that suggest worrying links between cell phone radiation and tumors, including rare childhood brain cancers, the Environmental Working Group has released a new online consumer guide listing cell phones and other wireless devices that emit the most and least radiation.
While the government collects data about radiation, it doesn't require cell phone manufacturers to report it. Before the Environmental Working Group released this report, it required a fair amount of research at the FTC Website -- with the model or ID number of your phone in hand -- to figure out the specific absorption rate for each device. The Environmental Working Group says that the allowable radiation in U.S. wireless devices was set in 1992 and is outdated, based on subsequent research.
As with most environmental exposures, children are most at risk for adverse health effects, so consult this guide particularly when choosing a phone that a child may use. (Seven in 10 children use cell phones, and half use them daily.)
The industry group for the wireless industry, CTIA, responded to the report with a statement by John Walls, vice president of public affairs, which the group has also used to respond to concerns about radiation from cell phone towers: "Since we are not a scientific organization, with respect to the matter of health effects associated with wireless base stations and the use of wireless devices, CTIA and the wireless industry have always been guided by science, and the views of impartial health organizations. The peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices do not pose a public health risk. In addition, there is no known mechanism for microwave energy within the limits established by the FCC to cause any adverse health effects. That is why the leading global heath organizations such as the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration all have concurred that wireless devices are not a public health risk."
If that doesn't allay your concern, consider this information from the Environmental Working Group:
Tips for Reducing Cell Phone Radiation
Use a land line whenever possible.
Use a hands-free headset whenever using a cell phone (Bluetooth devices can also emit radiation, but at much lower levels.)
Keep your phone switched off whenever possible, particularly in areas with low reception (radiation increases as the device attempts to make a weak connection).
Text, rather than talk, to reduce radiation near the brain (texting lowers radiation to the head, relative to a cell phone conversation).
10 Cell Phones and Wireless Devices That Emit the Least Radiation
1. Samsung Impression (SGH-a877) [AT&T]
2. Motorola RAZR V8 [CellularONE]
3. Samsung SGH-t229 [T-Mobile]
4. Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) [AT&T]
5. Samsung Propel Pro (SGH-i627) [AT&T]
6. Samsung Gravity (SGH-t459) [CellularONE, T-Mobile]
7. T-Mobile Sidekick [T-Mobile]
8. LG Xenon (GR500) [AT&T]
9. Motorola Karma QA1 [AT&T]
10. Sanyo Katana II [Kajeet]
10 Cell Phones and Wireless Devices That Emit the Most Radiation
1. Motorola MOTO VU204 [Verizon Wireless]
2. T-Mobile myTouch 3G [T-Mobile]
3. Kyocera Jax S1300 [Virgin Mobile]
4. Blackberry Curve 8330 [Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS]
5. Motorola W385 [U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless]
6. T-Mobile Shadow [T-Mobile]
7. Motorola C290 [Sprint, Kajeet]
8. Motorola i335 [Sprint]
9. Motorola MOTO VE240 [Cricket, MetroPCS]
10. Blackberry Bold 9000 [AT&T]
Most Common Cause of Fatigue that is Overlooked by Most.
Your adrenal glands are each no bigger than a walnut and weigh less than a grape, yet are responsible for one of the most important functions in your body: managing stress.
“The adrenals are known as ‘the glands of stress,’” writes James Wilson in his book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. “It is their job to enable your body to deal with stress from every possible source, ranging from injury and disease to work and relationship problems. Your resiliency, energy, endurance and your very life all depend on their proper functioning.”[1]
When your adrenal glands are fatigued, a condition known as adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion, your entire body feels it and suffers from extreme exhaustion as well.
It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of adults experience adrenal fatigue during their lifetimes, yet it remains one of the most under-diagnosed illnesses in the United States.[2]
The Optimal Function of Your Adrenal Glands
Your body has two adrenal glands, located just above each of your kidneys. As part of your endocrine system, your adrenal glands secrete more than 50 hormones, many of which are essential for life and include:
Glucocorticoids. These hormones, which include cortisol, help your body convert food into energy, normalize blood sugar, respond to stress and maintain your immune system’s inflammatory response.
Mineralocorticoids. These hormones, which include aldosterone, help keep your blood pressure and blood volume normal by maintaining a proper balance of sodium, potassium and water in your body.[3]
Adrenaline. This hormone increases your heart rate and controls blood flow to your muscles and brain, along with helping with the conversion of glycogen to glucose in your liver.
Together, these hormones and others produced by your adrenal glands control such body functions as:[4]
Maintaining metabolic processes, such as managing blood sugar levels and regulating inflammation
Regulating your body’s balance of salt and water
Controlling your "fight or flight" response to stress
Maintaining pregnancy
Initiating and controlling sexual maturation during childhood and puberty
Producing sex steroids such as estrogen and testosterone
Ironically, although your adrenal glands are there, in large part, to help you cope with stress, too much of it is actually what causes their function to break down.
In other words, one of your adrenal glands most important tasks is to get your body ready for the “fight or flight” stress response, which means increasing adrenaline and other hormones.
As part of this response, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your digestion slows, and your body becomes ready to face a potential threat or challenge.
While this response is necessary and good when it's needed, many of us are constantly faced with stressors (work, environmental toxins, not enough sleep, worry, relationship problems and more) and therefore are in this "fight or flight" mode for far too long -- much longer than was ever intended from a biological standpoint.
The result is that your adrenal glands, faced with excessive stress and burden, become overworked and fatigued. Some common factors that put excess stress on your adrenals are:[5]
Anger, fear, anxiety, guilt, depression and other negative emotions
Overwork, including physical or mental strain
Excessive exercise
Sleep deprivation
Light-cycle disruption (such as working the night shift or often going to sleep late)
Surgery, trauma or injury
Chronic inflammation, infection, illness or pain
Temperature extremes
Toxic exposure
Nutritional deficiencies and/or severe allergies
Signs and Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue
When your adrenal glands become depleted, it leads to a decrease in certain hormone levels, particularly cortisol. The deficiencies in certain adrenal hormones will vary with each case, ranging from mild to severe.
In its most extreme form, this is referred to as Addison’s disease, a condition that causes muscle weakness, weight loss, low blood pressure and low blood sugar, and can be life threatening.
Fortunately, only about four persons per 100,000 develop Addison’s disease, which is due to autoimmune disease in most cases but can also develop after very severe stress.[6]
At the other end of the spectrum, as well as in between, lies adrenal fatigue (also known as hypoadrenia). Though the symptoms are less severe than in Addison’s disease, symptoms of adrenal fatigue can be debilitating. As Wilson writes:
“Non-Addison’s hypoadrenia (adrenal fatigue) is not usually severe enough to be featured on TV or to be considered a medical emergency. In fact, modern medicine does not even recognize it as a distinct syndrome. Nevertheless, it can wreak havoc with your life.
In the more serious cases of adrenal fatigue, the activity of the adrenal glands is so diminished that the person may have difficulty getting out of bed for more than a few hours per day. With each increment of reduction in adrenal function, every organ and system in your body is more profoundly affected.”[7]
Classic signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue include:
Fatigue and weakness, especially in the morning and afternoon
A suppressed immune system
Increased allergies
Muscle and bone loss and muscular weakness
Depression
Cravings for foods high in salt, sugar or fat
Hormonal imbalance
Skin problems
Autoimmune disorders
Increased PMS or menopausal symptoms
Low sex drive
Lightheadedness when getting up from sitting or lying down
Decreased ability to handle stress
Trouble waking up in the morning, despite a full night’s sleep
Poor memory
Additionally, people with adrenal fatigue often get a burst of energy around 6 p.m., followed by sleepiness at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., which is often resisted. A “second wind” at 11 p.m. is then common, which often may keep you from falling asleep until 1 a.m.[8]
Further, those with adrenal fatigue often also have abnormal blood sugar levels and mental disturbances, such as increased fears and anxiety, and rely on coffee, soda and other forms of caffeine to keep them going.
As the names implies, the most common symptom of adrenal fatigue is unrelenting fatigue, a feeling of being run down or not able to keep up with your daily demands. And because fatigue is such a common symptom, the syndrome is very often missed or misdiagnosed by physicians.
The Common Medical Test for Adrenal Function Cannot Diagnose Adrenal Fatigue
Adding to the problem of misdiagnosis is the fact that doctors typically use an ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) test to check for problems with your adrenal glands. However, the test only recognizes extreme underproduction or overproduction of hormone levels, as shown by the top and bottom 2 percent of a bell curve.
Symptoms of adrenal malfunction, meanwhile, occur after 15 percent of the mean on both sides of the curve. So your adrenal glands could be functioning 20 percent below the mean, and your body experiencing symptoms of adrenal fatigue, and the standard test won’t recognize it.[9]
The test that will recognize adrenal fatigue, in all of its stages, is a salivary cortisol test. This is an inexpensive test you can purchase online and do at home, as no prescription is needed. However, if you suspect you have adrenal fatigue a knowledgeable natural health care provider can help you with diagnosis and treatment.
Natural, and Simple, Steps to Recover From Adrenal Fatigue
It takes time to burnout your adrenal glands, and as you might suspect it also takes some time to recover. You can expect:
Six to nine months of recovery time for minor adrenal fatigue
12 to 18 months for moderate adrenal fatigue
Up to 24 months for severe adrenal fatigue[10]
The good news is that natural treatments are very effective for this syndrome, and with time, patience, and the tips that follow it is possible to recover.
Probably the single most important area is to have powerful tools and strategies to address the current and past emotional traumas in your life. Prayer, meditation and meridian tapping techniques can be very helpful here. If you were to focus only on one area it would be best to concentrate in this area as this really is the central key to restoring your adrenal health.
Listen to your body and rest when you feel tired (this includes during the day by taking short naps or just laying down)
Sleep in (until 9 a.m. if you feel like it)
Exercise regularly using a comprehensive program of strength, aerobic, core, and interval training
Eat a healthy nutrient-dense diet like the one described in my nutrition plan, according to your Nutritional Type
Avoid stimulants like coffee and soda, as these can further exhaust your adrenal glands
Further, to maintain proper adrenal function it is imperative to control your blood sugar levels. If you are eating the right foods for your Nutritional Type, your blood sugar levels should balance out, and the following guidelines will also help:
Eat a small meal or snack every three to four hours
Eat within the first hour upon awakening
Eat a small snack near bedtime
Eat before becoming hungry. If hungry, you have already allowed yourself to run out of fuel (low blood sugar), which places additional stress on your adrenal glands
Treating adrenal fatigue requires a whole-body approach, one that addresses the excess stress and unhealthy lifestyle habits that wore out your adrenals in the first place.
Interestingly the very first step in normalizing sex hormones, either male or female, is to first address the adrenal hormone system. For example if you were to only measure female hormones and then replace them with bioidentical hormone therapy, you will virtually be guaranteed to fail because the weakened adrenals will never allow the hormones to equilibrate properly.
Because your adrenal health is so important to your overall health and well-being, I highly recommend you work with a knowledgeable natural health care practitioner to find out if you have adrenal fatigue and then remedy it.
At The Health and Wellness Institute of Utah we specialize in treating the adrenal glands, safely and effectively!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 3, 2002.
[2] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 6, 2002.
[3] MayoClinic.com Addison’s Disease http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/addisons-disease/DS00361/DSECTION=causes (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[4] National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “Adrenal Gland Disorders” http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/Adrenal_Gland_Disorders.cfm (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[5] Understanding Adrenal Function August 27, 2000, Mercola.com http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/08/27/adrenals.aspx (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[6] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 7, 2002.
[7] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 7, 2002.
[8] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[9] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[10] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)
“The adrenals are known as ‘the glands of stress,’” writes James Wilson in his book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. “It is their job to enable your body to deal with stress from every possible source, ranging from injury and disease to work and relationship problems. Your resiliency, energy, endurance and your very life all depend on their proper functioning.”[1]
When your adrenal glands are fatigued, a condition known as adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion, your entire body feels it and suffers from extreme exhaustion as well.
It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of adults experience adrenal fatigue during their lifetimes, yet it remains one of the most under-diagnosed illnesses in the United States.[2]
The Optimal Function of Your Adrenal Glands
Your body has two adrenal glands, located just above each of your kidneys. As part of your endocrine system, your adrenal glands secrete more than 50 hormones, many of which are essential for life and include:
Glucocorticoids. These hormones, which include cortisol, help your body convert food into energy, normalize blood sugar, respond to stress and maintain your immune system’s inflammatory response.
Mineralocorticoids. These hormones, which include aldosterone, help keep your blood pressure and blood volume normal by maintaining a proper balance of sodium, potassium and water in your body.[3]
Adrenaline. This hormone increases your heart rate and controls blood flow to your muscles and brain, along with helping with the conversion of glycogen to glucose in your liver.
Together, these hormones and others produced by your adrenal glands control such body functions as:[4]
Maintaining metabolic processes, such as managing blood sugar levels and regulating inflammation
Regulating your body’s balance of salt and water
Controlling your "fight or flight" response to stress
Maintaining pregnancy
Initiating and controlling sexual maturation during childhood and puberty
Producing sex steroids such as estrogen and testosterone
Ironically, although your adrenal glands are there, in large part, to help you cope with stress, too much of it is actually what causes their function to break down.
In other words, one of your adrenal glands most important tasks is to get your body ready for the “fight or flight” stress response, which means increasing adrenaline and other hormones.
As part of this response, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your digestion slows, and your body becomes ready to face a potential threat or challenge.
While this response is necessary and good when it's needed, many of us are constantly faced with stressors (work, environmental toxins, not enough sleep, worry, relationship problems and more) and therefore are in this "fight or flight" mode for far too long -- much longer than was ever intended from a biological standpoint.
The result is that your adrenal glands, faced with excessive stress and burden, become overworked and fatigued. Some common factors that put excess stress on your adrenals are:[5]
Anger, fear, anxiety, guilt, depression and other negative emotions
Overwork, including physical or mental strain
Excessive exercise
Sleep deprivation
Light-cycle disruption (such as working the night shift or often going to sleep late)
Surgery, trauma or injury
Chronic inflammation, infection, illness or pain
Temperature extremes
Toxic exposure
Nutritional deficiencies and/or severe allergies
Signs and Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue
When your adrenal glands become depleted, it leads to a decrease in certain hormone levels, particularly cortisol. The deficiencies in certain adrenal hormones will vary with each case, ranging from mild to severe.
In its most extreme form, this is referred to as Addison’s disease, a condition that causes muscle weakness, weight loss, low blood pressure and low blood sugar, and can be life threatening.
Fortunately, only about four persons per 100,000 develop Addison’s disease, which is due to autoimmune disease in most cases but can also develop after very severe stress.[6]
At the other end of the spectrum, as well as in between, lies adrenal fatigue (also known as hypoadrenia). Though the symptoms are less severe than in Addison’s disease, symptoms of adrenal fatigue can be debilitating. As Wilson writes:
“Non-Addison’s hypoadrenia (adrenal fatigue) is not usually severe enough to be featured on TV or to be considered a medical emergency. In fact, modern medicine does not even recognize it as a distinct syndrome. Nevertheless, it can wreak havoc with your life.
In the more serious cases of adrenal fatigue, the activity of the adrenal glands is so diminished that the person may have difficulty getting out of bed for more than a few hours per day. With each increment of reduction in adrenal function, every organ and system in your body is more profoundly affected.”[7]
Classic signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue include:
Fatigue and weakness, especially in the morning and afternoon
A suppressed immune system
Increased allergies
Muscle and bone loss and muscular weakness
Depression
Cravings for foods high in salt, sugar or fat
Hormonal imbalance
Skin problems
Autoimmune disorders
Increased PMS or menopausal symptoms
Low sex drive
Lightheadedness when getting up from sitting or lying down
Decreased ability to handle stress
Trouble waking up in the morning, despite a full night’s sleep
Poor memory
Additionally, people with adrenal fatigue often get a burst of energy around 6 p.m., followed by sleepiness at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., which is often resisted. A “second wind” at 11 p.m. is then common, which often may keep you from falling asleep until 1 a.m.[8]
Further, those with adrenal fatigue often also have abnormal blood sugar levels and mental disturbances, such as increased fears and anxiety, and rely on coffee, soda and other forms of caffeine to keep them going.
As the names implies, the most common symptom of adrenal fatigue is unrelenting fatigue, a feeling of being run down or not able to keep up with your daily demands. And because fatigue is such a common symptom, the syndrome is very often missed or misdiagnosed by physicians.
The Common Medical Test for Adrenal Function Cannot Diagnose Adrenal Fatigue
Adding to the problem of misdiagnosis is the fact that doctors typically use an ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) test to check for problems with your adrenal glands. However, the test only recognizes extreme underproduction or overproduction of hormone levels, as shown by the top and bottom 2 percent of a bell curve.
Symptoms of adrenal malfunction, meanwhile, occur after 15 percent of the mean on both sides of the curve. So your adrenal glands could be functioning 20 percent below the mean, and your body experiencing symptoms of adrenal fatigue, and the standard test won’t recognize it.[9]
The test that will recognize adrenal fatigue, in all of its stages, is a salivary cortisol test. This is an inexpensive test you can purchase online and do at home, as no prescription is needed. However, if you suspect you have adrenal fatigue a knowledgeable natural health care provider can help you with diagnosis and treatment.
Natural, and Simple, Steps to Recover From Adrenal Fatigue
It takes time to burnout your adrenal glands, and as you might suspect it also takes some time to recover. You can expect:
Six to nine months of recovery time for minor adrenal fatigue
12 to 18 months for moderate adrenal fatigue
Up to 24 months for severe adrenal fatigue[10]
The good news is that natural treatments are very effective for this syndrome, and with time, patience, and the tips that follow it is possible to recover.
Probably the single most important area is to have powerful tools and strategies to address the current and past emotional traumas in your life. Prayer, meditation and meridian tapping techniques can be very helpful here. If you were to focus only on one area it would be best to concentrate in this area as this really is the central key to restoring your adrenal health.
Listen to your body and rest when you feel tired (this includes during the day by taking short naps or just laying down)
Sleep in (until 9 a.m. if you feel like it)
Exercise regularly using a comprehensive program of strength, aerobic, core, and interval training
Eat a healthy nutrient-dense diet like the one described in my nutrition plan, according to your Nutritional Type
Avoid stimulants like coffee and soda, as these can further exhaust your adrenal glands
Further, to maintain proper adrenal function it is imperative to control your blood sugar levels. If you are eating the right foods for your Nutritional Type, your blood sugar levels should balance out, and the following guidelines will also help:
Eat a small meal or snack every three to four hours
Eat within the first hour upon awakening
Eat a small snack near bedtime
Eat before becoming hungry. If hungry, you have already allowed yourself to run out of fuel (low blood sugar), which places additional stress on your adrenal glands
Treating adrenal fatigue requires a whole-body approach, one that addresses the excess stress and unhealthy lifestyle habits that wore out your adrenals in the first place.
Interestingly the very first step in normalizing sex hormones, either male or female, is to first address the adrenal hormone system. For example if you were to only measure female hormones and then replace them with bioidentical hormone therapy, you will virtually be guaranteed to fail because the weakened adrenals will never allow the hormones to equilibrate properly.
Because your adrenal health is so important to your overall health and well-being, I highly recommend you work with a knowledgeable natural health care practitioner to find out if you have adrenal fatigue and then remedy it.
At The Health and Wellness Institute of Utah we specialize in treating the adrenal glands, safely and effectively!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 3, 2002.
[2] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 6, 2002.
[3] MayoClinic.com Addison’s Disease http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/addisons-disease/DS00361/DSECTION=causes (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[4] National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “Adrenal Gland Disorders” http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/Adrenal_Gland_Disorders.cfm (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[5] Understanding Adrenal Function August 27, 2000, Mercola.com http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/08/27/adrenals.aspx (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[6] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 7, 2002.
[7] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 7, 2002.
[8] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[9] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[10] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)
Approaching Epidemic: Brain Damage from Mobile Phone Radiation
Awesome article about new studies confirming links between cell phone and cancer. Do you want to take the risk of getting cancer? I don't! Read below:
By Dr Mercola:
A collaborative team of international EMF activists has released a report detailing eleven design flaws of the 13-country, Telecom-funded Interphone study.
The exposé discusses research on cell phones and brain tumors, concluding that:
There is a risk of brain tumors from cell phone use
Telecom funded studies underestimate the risk of brain tumors
Children have larger risks than adults for brain tumors
The Interphone study, begun in 1999, was intended to determine the risks of brain tumors, but its full publication has been held up for years. Components of this study published to date reveal what the authors call a ‘systemic-skew’, greatly underestimating brain tumor risk.
The design flaws include categorizing subjects who used portable phones (which emit the same microwave radiation as cell phones,) as ‘unexposed’; exclusion of many types of brain tumors; exclusion of people who had died, or were too ill to be interviewed as a consequence of their brain tumor; and exclusion of children and young adults, who are more vulnerable.
Ronald B. Herberman, MD, Director Emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute has stated,
“Based on substantial evidence, especially from industry-independent studies that long term exposure to radiofrequency radiation may lead to increased risk for brain tumors, I issued a precautionary advisory last year to faculty and staff of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
Since then, my particular concern about exposure of children to radiofrequency has been supported by a report from Dr. Lennart Hardell. Some of my scientific colleagues have expressed skepticism about the reported biological effects, especially DNA0A damage by radiofequency radiation, because of the absence of a demonstrated underlying molecular mechanism.
However, based on the precautionary principle, I believe it is more prudent to take seriously the reports by multiple investigators that radiofrequency can damage DNA and increase the risk for brain tumors, and for industry-independent agencies to provide needed funding for detailed research to ascertain the molecular basis for such effects.”
Lloyd Morgan, lead author and member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society says,
“Exposure to cell phone radiation is the largest human health experiment ever undertaken, without informed consent, and has some 4 billion participants enrolled.
Science has shown increased risk of brain tumors from use of cell phones, as well as increased risk of eye cancer, salivary gland tumors, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia.
The public must be informed.”
After a break in the media about the dangers of cell phones, the issue will likely regain momentum with the release of this brand new report.
An International Expert Conference on Cell Phones and Health is scheduled to take place on September 13-15 in Washington D.C., and a yet to be formally announced Senate hearing on cell phone safety is also in the works by Senator Arlen Specter, according to Microwave News.
With the ever-increasing, widespread use of wireless communications, it is imperative to understand the risks inherent in the use of the technology, yet the government has been very slow to respond, no doubt in large part due to industry pressure. (In fact, the cell phone industry is expected to boycott the upcoming conference.)
Ever growing scientific research corroborates the suspicion that information-carrying radio waves transmitted by cell phones and other wireless devices can:
Cause brain tumors
Harm blood cells and cause cellular changes
Damage your DNA
Cause nerve-cell damage
Accelerate and contribute to the onset of autism , and trigger Alzheimer’s disease
Damage your eyes
Cause sleep disruptions, fatigue and headaches
A quote from Chris Woollams, one of the endorsers of the new report, sums up the issue well:
“In a world where a drug cannot be launched without proof that it is safe, where the use of herbs and natural compounds available to all since early Egyptian times are now questioned, their safety subjected to the deepest scrutiny, where a new food cannot be launched without prior approval, the idea that we use mobile telephony, including masts, and introduce WiFi and mobile phones without restrictions around our 5 year olds is double-standards gone mad.
I speak, not just as an editor and scientist that has looked in depth at all the research, but as a father that lost his beloved daughter to a brain tumor.”
Researchers Keep Finding Links Between Cell Phone Use, Brain Damage and Cancer
Last year, a well-circulated Swedish study found that people using cell phones doubled their risk of developing brain cancer and acoustic neuroma (a tumor that damages your hearing nerve).
The study also showed that people who started using cell phones before the age of 20 were more than five times as likely to develop brain cancer.
The European Parliament responded by voting 522 to 16 to urge ministers across Europe to impose stricter limits for exposure to radiation from mobile and cordless phones, wi-fi and other radiation-generating devices -- in part because children are particularly vulnerable to the risk.
Dr. Gerd Oberfeld, M.D., the Speaker for Environmental Medicine for the Austrian Medical Association in Vienna, Austria says:
"The scientific data show, with a high degree of confidence, that mobile phone exposure is associated with an increased brain tumor risk.
The age group below 20 years is facing the greatest risk, which for malignant (deadly) brain tumors is about 400 percent, compared to non-exposed.
When we take the long latency period of up to some decades into account, and the fact that large parts of our society, and especially more and more teenagers and even children are using mobile phones on a daily basis, we may well expect a brain tumor epidemic.
From a public health perspective there is an urgent need not only for a wake-up call for our society, but for measures that are able to combat this public health threat effectively, now.”
The cell phone industry’s standard comment has been that "the peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices do not pose a public health risk."
This report exposes that statement for the lie that it is.
In fact, there’s no shortage of evidence showing that cell phone use (and other wireless devices) can be dangerous to your health, and to your child in particular.
As this new report points out, even some of the industry’s own research found that cell phones caused brain tumors, and subsequent industry-funded studies from 2000 to 2002 also showed an elevated risk of brain cancer.
One such study reportedly found a 20 percent increased risk of brain tumor for every year of cell phone use!
And, if you remove the Telecom industry funded research, then the weight of the evidence overwhelmingly shows that cell phones cause health problems, including, but not limited to:
Brain tumors
Eye cancer
Testicular cancer
Salivary gland tumors
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Leukemia
Fortunately more and more people are beginning to take the warning signs seriously.
In 2005, the British-based National Radiological Protection Board suggested children younger than age 8 should not be given a cell phone as it risks exposing their young bodies to harmful radiation. Last year Toronto's department of public health followed suit, warning that because of possible side effects from radio frequency radiation, children under 8 should only use a cell phone in emergencies, and teenagers should limit calls to less than 10 minutes.
The U.K., Belgium, Germany, France and Russia have also introduced precautionary policies regarding cell phone usage due to potential health risks.
Few people realize this, but brain cancer has surpassed leukemia as the number one cancer killer in children, and many scientists believe this is directly linked to the exponential increase in cell phone use and other wireless devices.
Australia has seen an increase in pediatric brain cancers of 21 percent in just one decade. This is consistent with studies showing a 40 percent brain tumor increase across the board in Europe and the U.K. over the last 20 years.
These statistics are consistent with many of the scientific research findings.
Another example is the 2003 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives (the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). They found that rats exhibited serious neuronal brain damage following exposure to radiation from a cell phone, at levels comparable to what you would experience during normal use.
The nerve cell damage was observed in several places within the rats’ brains, including the cortex, hippocampus and basal ganglia.
The authors concluded,
"Intense use of mobile phones by youngsters is a serious consideration. A neuronal damage of the kind described here may not have immediate, demonstrable consequences, even if repeated. In the long run, however, it may result in reduced brain reserve capacity that might be unveiled by other later neuronal disease or even the wear and tear of aging."
What Can You Do?
Remember, the damage from cell phone exposure can take many years to surface. There are rarely any initial symptoms, just like smoking and lung cancer. Are you really willing to risk the chance of developing brain cancer because you don’t want to sacrifice the minor inconvenience of using your cell’s speaker phone, or using a safe headset?
This should be of particular concern if you have children, since, just like smoking, WiFi does not discriminate between user and bystander.
By Dr Mercola:
A collaborative team of international EMF activists has released a report detailing eleven design flaws of the 13-country, Telecom-funded Interphone study.
The exposé discusses research on cell phones and brain tumors, concluding that:
There is a risk of brain tumors from cell phone use
Telecom funded studies underestimate the risk of brain tumors
Children have larger risks than adults for brain tumors
The Interphone study, begun in 1999, was intended to determine the risks of brain tumors, but its full publication has been held up for years. Components of this study published to date reveal what the authors call a ‘systemic-skew’, greatly underestimating brain tumor risk.
The design flaws include categorizing subjects who used portable phones (which emit the same microwave radiation as cell phones,) as ‘unexposed’; exclusion of many types of brain tumors; exclusion of people who had died, or were too ill to be interviewed as a consequence of their brain tumor; and exclusion of children and young adults, who are more vulnerable.
Ronald B. Herberman, MD, Director Emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute has stated,
“Based on substantial evidence, especially from industry-independent studies that long term exposure to radiofrequency radiation may lead to increased risk for brain tumors, I issued a precautionary advisory last year to faculty and staff of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
Since then, my particular concern about exposure of children to radiofrequency has been supported by a report from Dr. Lennart Hardell. Some of my scientific colleagues have expressed skepticism about the reported biological effects, especially DNA0A damage by radiofequency radiation, because of the absence of a demonstrated underlying molecular mechanism.
However, based on the precautionary principle, I believe it is more prudent to take seriously the reports by multiple investigators that radiofrequency can damage DNA and increase the risk for brain tumors, and for industry-independent agencies to provide needed funding for detailed research to ascertain the molecular basis for such effects.”
Lloyd Morgan, lead author and member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society says,
“Exposure to cell phone radiation is the largest human health experiment ever undertaken, without informed consent, and has some 4 billion participants enrolled.
Science has shown increased risk of brain tumors from use of cell phones, as well as increased risk of eye cancer, salivary gland tumors, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia.
The public must be informed.”
After a break in the media about the dangers of cell phones, the issue will likely regain momentum with the release of this brand new report.
An International Expert Conference on Cell Phones and Health is scheduled to take place on September 13-15 in Washington D.C., and a yet to be formally announced Senate hearing on cell phone safety is also in the works by Senator Arlen Specter, according to Microwave News.
With the ever-increasing, widespread use of wireless communications, it is imperative to understand the risks inherent in the use of the technology, yet the government has been very slow to respond, no doubt in large part due to industry pressure. (In fact, the cell phone industry is expected to boycott the upcoming conference.)
Ever growing scientific research corroborates the suspicion that information-carrying radio waves transmitted by cell phones and other wireless devices can:
Cause brain tumors
Harm blood cells and cause cellular changes
Damage your DNA
Cause nerve-cell damage
Accelerate and contribute to the onset of autism , and trigger Alzheimer’s disease
Damage your eyes
Cause sleep disruptions, fatigue and headaches
A quote from Chris Woollams, one of the endorsers of the new report, sums up the issue well:
“In a world where a drug cannot be launched without proof that it is safe, where the use of herbs and natural compounds available to all since early Egyptian times are now questioned, their safety subjected to the deepest scrutiny, where a new food cannot be launched without prior approval, the idea that we use mobile telephony, including masts, and introduce WiFi and mobile phones without restrictions around our 5 year olds is double-standards gone mad.
I speak, not just as an editor and scientist that has looked in depth at all the research, but as a father that lost his beloved daughter to a brain tumor.”
Researchers Keep Finding Links Between Cell Phone Use, Brain Damage and Cancer
Last year, a well-circulated Swedish study found that people using cell phones doubled their risk of developing brain cancer and acoustic neuroma (a tumor that damages your hearing nerve).
The study also showed that people who started using cell phones before the age of 20 were more than five times as likely to develop brain cancer.
The European Parliament responded by voting 522 to 16 to urge ministers across Europe to impose stricter limits for exposure to radiation from mobile and cordless phones, wi-fi and other radiation-generating devices -- in part because children are particularly vulnerable to the risk.
Dr. Gerd Oberfeld, M.D., the Speaker for Environmental Medicine for the Austrian Medical Association in Vienna, Austria says:
"The scientific data show, with a high degree of confidence, that mobile phone exposure is associated with an increased brain tumor risk.
The age group below 20 years is facing the greatest risk, which for malignant (deadly) brain tumors is about 400 percent, compared to non-exposed.
When we take the long latency period of up to some decades into account, and the fact that large parts of our society, and especially more and more teenagers and even children are using mobile phones on a daily basis, we may well expect a brain tumor epidemic.
From a public health perspective there is an urgent need not only for a wake-up call for our society, but for measures that are able to combat this public health threat effectively, now.”
The cell phone industry’s standard comment has been that "the peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices do not pose a public health risk."
This report exposes that statement for the lie that it is.
In fact, there’s no shortage of evidence showing that cell phone use (and other wireless devices) can be dangerous to your health, and to your child in particular.
As this new report points out, even some of the industry’s own research found that cell phones caused brain tumors, and subsequent industry-funded studies from 2000 to 2002 also showed an elevated risk of brain cancer.
One such study reportedly found a 20 percent increased risk of brain tumor for every year of cell phone use!
And, if you remove the Telecom industry funded research, then the weight of the evidence overwhelmingly shows that cell phones cause health problems, including, but not limited to:
Brain tumors
Eye cancer
Testicular cancer
Salivary gland tumors
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Leukemia
Fortunately more and more people are beginning to take the warning signs seriously.
In 2005, the British-based National Radiological Protection Board suggested children younger than age 8 should not be given a cell phone as it risks exposing their young bodies to harmful radiation. Last year Toronto's department of public health followed suit, warning that because of possible side effects from radio frequency radiation, children under 8 should only use a cell phone in emergencies, and teenagers should limit calls to less than 10 minutes.
The U.K., Belgium, Germany, France and Russia have also introduced precautionary policies regarding cell phone usage due to potential health risks.
Few people realize this, but brain cancer has surpassed leukemia as the number one cancer killer in children, and many scientists believe this is directly linked to the exponential increase in cell phone use and other wireless devices.
Australia has seen an increase in pediatric brain cancers of 21 percent in just one decade. This is consistent with studies showing a 40 percent brain tumor increase across the board in Europe and the U.K. over the last 20 years.
These statistics are consistent with many of the scientific research findings.
Another example is the 2003 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives (the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). They found that rats exhibited serious neuronal brain damage following exposure to radiation from a cell phone, at levels comparable to what you would experience during normal use.
The nerve cell damage was observed in several places within the rats’ brains, including the cortex, hippocampus and basal ganglia.
The authors concluded,
"Intense use of mobile phones by youngsters is a serious consideration. A neuronal damage of the kind described here may not have immediate, demonstrable consequences, even if repeated. In the long run, however, it may result in reduced brain reserve capacity that might be unveiled by other later neuronal disease or even the wear and tear of aging."
What Can You Do?
Remember, the damage from cell phone exposure can take many years to surface. There are rarely any initial symptoms, just like smoking and lung cancer. Are you really willing to risk the chance of developing brain cancer because you don’t want to sacrifice the minor inconvenience of using your cell’s speaker phone, or using a safe headset?
This should be of particular concern if you have children, since, just like smoking, WiFi does not discriminate between user and bystander.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Avoid This if You Want to Keep Your Thyroid Healthy
This is a great post written by Dr Mercola:
Why is the thyroid important? It controls your metabolism... and therefore, your weight! Are you having problems losing weight? Then read this post...
Bromides are a common endocrine disruptor. Because bromide is also a halide, it competes for the same receptors that are used in the thyroid gland (among other places) to capture iodine. This will inhibit thyroid hormone production resulting in a low thyroid state.
Iodine is essential for your body, and is detected in every organ and tissue. There is increasing evidence that low iodine is related to numerous diseases, including cancer. Various clinicians and researchers have found iodine effective with everything from goiter to constipation.
Bromide can be found in several forms. Methyl Bromide is a pesticide used mainly on strawberries, found predominantly in the California areas. Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is added to citrus drinks to help suspend the flavoring in the liquid. Potassium Bromate is a dough conditioner found in commercial bakery products and some flours.Sources:
If you are like most people, you probably haven’t spent much time thinking about how much bromine you’re absorbing from your car upholstery or your Mountain Dew. But bromine toxicity is a definite danger from some surprising sources, and it can wreak havoc on your health.
Bromines All Around You
Bromines are common endocrine disruptors, and are part of the halide family, a group of elements that includes fluorine, chlorine and iodine. What makes it so dangerous is that it competes for the same receptors that are used to capture iodine.
If you are exposed to a lot of bromine, your body will not hold on to the iodine that it needs. And iodine affects every tissue in your body -- not just your thyroid.
You are already exposed to far too much chlorine and bromine. Bromine can be found in a number of places in your everyday world, including:
Pesticides (specifically methyl bromide, used mainly on strawberries, predominantly in California)
Plastics, like those used to make computers
Bakery goods and some flours often contain a “dough conditioner” called potassium bromate
Soft drinks (including Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Sun Drop, Squirt, Fresca and other citrus-flavored sodas), in the form of brominated vegetable oils (BVOs)
Medications such as Atrovent Inhaler, Atrovent Nasal Spray, Pro-Banthine (for ulcers), and anesthesia agents
Fire retardants (common one is polybromo diphenyl ethers or PBDEs) used in fabrics, carpets, upholstery, and mattresses
Bromine-based hot tub and swimming pool treatments
According to van Leeuwen, who has extensively studied the effects of sodium bromide on thyroid function:
“Although the bromide ion is widely distributed in nature, the main route of exposure in humans stems from bromide residues in food commodities as a result of the abundant use of bromide-containing pesticides, like methylbromide and ethylene dibromide, for soil fumigation in intensive horticulture and for postharvest treatment.”
One clinical consequence of overexposure to bromine is suppression of your thyroid, leading to hypothyroidism, which will be discussed shortly. Another is bromide toxicity.
Bromine -- The Bully of the Halide Group
When you ingest or absorb bromine, it displaces iodine, and this iodine deficiency leads to an increased risk for cancer of the breast, thyroid gland, ovary and prostate -- cancers that we see at alarmingly high rates today. This phenomenon is significant enough to have been given its own name -- the Bromide Dominance Theory.
Aside from its effects on your endocrine glands, bromine is toxic in and of itself. Bromide builds up in your central nervous system and results in many problems. It is a central nervous system depressant and can trigger a number of psychological symptoms such as acute paranoia and other psychotic symptoms.
In fact, in an audio interview, physician Jorge Flechas reported that, between 1920 and 1960, at least 20 percent of all hospital admissions for “acute paranoid schizophrenia” were a result of ingesting bromine-containing products.
In addition to psychiatric problems, bromine toxicity can manifest as the following:
Skin rashes and severe acne
Loss of appetite and abdominal pain
Fatigue
Metallic taste
Cardiac arrhythmias
Baby Boomers might recall a popular product from the 1950s called Bromo-Seltzer. These effervescent granules, developed by the Emerson Drug Company of Baltimore, were used to treat heartburn, upset stomach, indigestion, headaches and hangovers.
Bromo-Selzer’s original formula contained 3.2 mEq/teaspoon of sodium bromide -- hence the name. The sedative effect probably explained its popularity as a hangover remedy. Bromides were withdrawn from the American market in 1975 due to their toxicity.
Bromo-Selzer is still on the market, but no longer contains bromide.
Bromines in Your Bread Box: Potassium Bromate
The ban on bromines have not prevented them from sneaking into your foods and personal care products.
You probably are not aware of this, but nearly every time you eat bread in a restaurant or consume a hamburger or hotdog bun you are consuming bromide, as it is commonly used in flours.
The use of potassium bromate as an additive to commercial breads and baked goods has been a huge contributor to bromide overload in Western cultures.
Bromated flour is “enriched” with potassium bromate. Commercial baking companies claim it makes the dough more elastic and better able to stand up to bread hooks. However, Pepperidge Farm and other successful companies manage to use only unbromated flour without any of these so-called “structural problems.”
Potassium bromate is also found in some toothpastes and mouthwashes, where it’s added as an antiseptic and astringent. It has been found to cause bleeding and inflammation of gums in people using these products.
Sodium Bromate and BMOs
Mountain Dew, one of the worst beverages you can drink, uses brominated vegetable oil as an emulsifier. Not only that, it contains high fructose corn syrup, sodium benzoate, more than 55 mg of caffeine per 12 ounce can, and Yellow Dye #5 (tartrazine, which has been banned in Norway, Austria and Germany.)
A weapon of mass destruction -- in a can.
Even drinking water can be a source of bromide. When drinking water containing bromide is exposed to ozone, bromate ions are formed, which are powerful oxidizing agents. Such was the case in 2004 when Coca Cola Company had to recall Dasani bottled water.
Sodium bromate can also be found in personal care products such as permanent waves, hair dyes, and textile dyes. Benzalkonium is used as a preservative in some cosmetics.
Finally, bromine and chlorine were the most common toxic elements reportedly found in automobiles, according to the blog of David Brownstein, MD (March 2007). They showed up in the seats, armrests, door trim, shift knobs and other areas of the car.
Think about how much time you spend enclosed in your outgassing Chevy… windows up with no air circulation.
The United States is quite behind in putting an end to the egregious practice of allowing bromine chemicals in your foods. In 1990, the United Kingdom banned bromate in bread. In 1994, Canada did the same. Brazil recently outlawed bromide in flour products.
What’s taking us so long? Another case of our government protecting big industry -- instead of protecting you.
Iodine Levels and Cancer Risk
Iodine levels have significantly dropped due to bromine exposure; declining consumption of iodized salt, eggs, fish, and sea vegetables; and soil depletion. In the U.S. population, there was a 50 percent reduction in urinary iodine excretion between 1970 and 1990.
What’s this doing to our country’s health?
The Japanese consume 89 times more iodine than Americans due to their daily consumption of sea vegetables, and they have reduced rates of many chronic diseases, including the lowest rates of cancer in the world. The RDA for iodine in the U.S. is a meager 150 mcg/day, which pales in comparison with the average daily intake of 13800 mcg/day for the Japanese.
There is a large body of evidence suggesting that low cancer rates in Japan are a result of their substantially higher iodine levels. Iodine has documented antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties.
A strong case can be made that your iodine RDA should be closer to what the Japanese consume daily, if breast cancer rates are any indication. Low iodine can lead to fibrocystic breast disease in women (density, lumps and bumps), hyperplasia, and atypical mammary tissue. Such fibrocystic changes in breast tissue have been shown to reverse in the presence of iodine supplementation after 3-4 months.
If you are interested in being tested for iodine deficiency, the urine iodine challenge test is the best way to assess your iodine level.
Bromine and Your Thyroid
Adding to the negative health effects of bromine, the damage to your thyroid health deserves special mention.
As stated in the first part of this article, bromine exposure depletes your body’s iodine by competing with iodine receptors. Iodine is crucial for thyroid function. Without iodine, your thyroid gland would be completely unable to produce thyroid hormone.
Even the names of the different forms of thyroid hormone reflect the number of iodine molecules attached -- T4 has four attached iodine molecules, and T3 (the biologically active form of the hormone) has three--showing what an important part iodine plays in thyroid biochemistry.
Hypothyroidism is far more prevalent than once thought in the U.S. The latest estimates are that 13 million Americans have hypothyroidism, but the actual numbers are probably higher. Some experts claim that 10 to40 percent of Americans have suboptimal thyroid function.
Many of these folks may actually have nothing wrong with their thyroid gland at all -- they may just be suffering from iodine deficiency.
Seven Tips for Avoiding Bromine and Optimizing Iodine
Trying to avoid bromine is like trying to avoid air pollution -- all you can do is minimize your exposure. That said, here are a few things you can do to minimize your risk:
Eat organic as often as possible. Wash all produce thoroughly. This will minimize your pesticide exposure.
Avoid eating or drinking from (or storing food and water in) plastic containers. Use glass and safe ceramic vessels.
Look for organic whole-grain breads and flour. Grind you own grain, if possible. Look for the “no bromine” or “bromine-free” label on commercial baked goods.
Avoid sodas. Drink natural, filtered water instead.
If you own a hot tub, look into an ozone purification system. Such systems make it possible to keep the water clean with minimal chemical treatments.
Look for personal care products that are as chemical-free as possible. Remember -- anything going on you, goes in you.
When in a car or a building, open windows as often as possible, preferably on opposing sides of the space for cross ventilation. Utilize fans to circulate the air. Chemical pollutants are much higher inside buildings (and cars) than outside.
Avoid Unfermented Soy
Another major contributor to thyroid dysfunction that I did not discuss above is unfermented soy. Soy isoflavones can wreak havoc on your thyroid.
Kaayla Daniel's groundbreaking book, The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food is a powerful exposé that reveals the truth about the soy myths that have infiltrated our culture.
It's ironic that soy has become so accepted as a health food when, as Dr. Daniel states, thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid- and hormonal dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility--even cancer and heart disease.
So if you want to keep your thyroid healthy, you’ll definitely want to avoid unfermented soy products of all kinds, including soy milk.
Why is the thyroid important? It controls your metabolism... and therefore, your weight! Are you having problems losing weight? Then read this post...
Bromides are a common endocrine disruptor. Because bromide is also a halide, it competes for the same receptors that are used in the thyroid gland (among other places) to capture iodine. This will inhibit thyroid hormone production resulting in a low thyroid state.
Iodine is essential for your body, and is detected in every organ and tissue. There is increasing evidence that low iodine is related to numerous diseases, including cancer. Various clinicians and researchers have found iodine effective with everything from goiter to constipation.
Bromide can be found in several forms. Methyl Bromide is a pesticide used mainly on strawberries, found predominantly in the California areas. Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is added to citrus drinks to help suspend the flavoring in the liquid. Potassium Bromate is a dough conditioner found in commercial bakery products and some flours.Sources:
If you are like most people, you probably haven’t spent much time thinking about how much bromine you’re absorbing from your car upholstery or your Mountain Dew. But bromine toxicity is a definite danger from some surprising sources, and it can wreak havoc on your health.
Bromines All Around You
Bromines are common endocrine disruptors, and are part of the halide family, a group of elements that includes fluorine, chlorine and iodine. What makes it so dangerous is that it competes for the same receptors that are used to capture iodine.
If you are exposed to a lot of bromine, your body will not hold on to the iodine that it needs. And iodine affects every tissue in your body -- not just your thyroid.
You are already exposed to far too much chlorine and bromine. Bromine can be found in a number of places in your everyday world, including:
Pesticides (specifically methyl bromide, used mainly on strawberries, predominantly in California)
Plastics, like those used to make computers
Bakery goods and some flours often contain a “dough conditioner” called potassium bromate
Soft drinks (including Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Sun Drop, Squirt, Fresca and other citrus-flavored sodas), in the form of brominated vegetable oils (BVOs)
Medications such as Atrovent Inhaler, Atrovent Nasal Spray, Pro-Banthine (for ulcers), and anesthesia agents
Fire retardants (common one is polybromo diphenyl ethers or PBDEs) used in fabrics, carpets, upholstery, and mattresses
Bromine-based hot tub and swimming pool treatments
According to van Leeuwen, who has extensively studied the effects of sodium bromide on thyroid function:
“Although the bromide ion is widely distributed in nature, the main route of exposure in humans stems from bromide residues in food commodities as a result of the abundant use of bromide-containing pesticides, like methylbromide and ethylene dibromide, for soil fumigation in intensive horticulture and for postharvest treatment.”
One clinical consequence of overexposure to bromine is suppression of your thyroid, leading to hypothyroidism, which will be discussed shortly. Another is bromide toxicity.
Bromine -- The Bully of the Halide Group
When you ingest or absorb bromine, it displaces iodine, and this iodine deficiency leads to an increased risk for cancer of the breast, thyroid gland, ovary and prostate -- cancers that we see at alarmingly high rates today. This phenomenon is significant enough to have been given its own name -- the Bromide Dominance Theory.
Aside from its effects on your endocrine glands, bromine is toxic in and of itself. Bromide builds up in your central nervous system and results in many problems. It is a central nervous system depressant and can trigger a number of psychological symptoms such as acute paranoia and other psychotic symptoms.
In fact, in an audio interview, physician Jorge Flechas reported that, between 1920 and 1960, at least 20 percent of all hospital admissions for “acute paranoid schizophrenia” were a result of ingesting bromine-containing products.
In addition to psychiatric problems, bromine toxicity can manifest as the following:
Skin rashes and severe acne
Loss of appetite and abdominal pain
Fatigue
Metallic taste
Cardiac arrhythmias
Baby Boomers might recall a popular product from the 1950s called Bromo-Seltzer. These effervescent granules, developed by the Emerson Drug Company of Baltimore, were used to treat heartburn, upset stomach, indigestion, headaches and hangovers.
Bromo-Selzer’s original formula contained 3.2 mEq/teaspoon of sodium bromide -- hence the name. The sedative effect probably explained its popularity as a hangover remedy. Bromides were withdrawn from the American market in 1975 due to their toxicity.
Bromo-Selzer is still on the market, but no longer contains bromide.
Bromines in Your Bread Box: Potassium Bromate
The ban on bromines have not prevented them from sneaking into your foods and personal care products.
You probably are not aware of this, but nearly every time you eat bread in a restaurant or consume a hamburger or hotdog bun you are consuming bromide, as it is commonly used in flours.
The use of potassium bromate as an additive to commercial breads and baked goods has been a huge contributor to bromide overload in Western cultures.
Bromated flour is “enriched” with potassium bromate. Commercial baking companies claim it makes the dough more elastic and better able to stand up to bread hooks. However, Pepperidge Farm and other successful companies manage to use only unbromated flour without any of these so-called “structural problems.”
Potassium bromate is also found in some toothpastes and mouthwashes, where it’s added as an antiseptic and astringent. It has been found to cause bleeding and inflammation of gums in people using these products.
Sodium Bromate and BMOs
Mountain Dew, one of the worst beverages you can drink, uses brominated vegetable oil as an emulsifier. Not only that, it contains high fructose corn syrup, sodium benzoate, more than 55 mg of caffeine per 12 ounce can, and Yellow Dye #5 (tartrazine, which has been banned in Norway, Austria and Germany.)
A weapon of mass destruction -- in a can.
Even drinking water can be a source of bromide. When drinking water containing bromide is exposed to ozone, bromate ions are formed, which are powerful oxidizing agents. Such was the case in 2004 when Coca Cola Company had to recall Dasani bottled water.
Sodium bromate can also be found in personal care products such as permanent waves, hair dyes, and textile dyes. Benzalkonium is used as a preservative in some cosmetics.
Finally, bromine and chlorine were the most common toxic elements reportedly found in automobiles, according to the blog of David Brownstein, MD (March 2007). They showed up in the seats, armrests, door trim, shift knobs and other areas of the car.
Think about how much time you spend enclosed in your outgassing Chevy… windows up with no air circulation.
The United States is quite behind in putting an end to the egregious practice of allowing bromine chemicals in your foods. In 1990, the United Kingdom banned bromate in bread. In 1994, Canada did the same. Brazil recently outlawed bromide in flour products.
What’s taking us so long? Another case of our government protecting big industry -- instead of protecting you.
Iodine Levels and Cancer Risk
Iodine levels have significantly dropped due to bromine exposure; declining consumption of iodized salt, eggs, fish, and sea vegetables; and soil depletion. In the U.S. population, there was a 50 percent reduction in urinary iodine excretion between 1970 and 1990.
What’s this doing to our country’s health?
The Japanese consume 89 times more iodine than Americans due to their daily consumption of sea vegetables, and they have reduced rates of many chronic diseases, including the lowest rates of cancer in the world. The RDA for iodine in the U.S. is a meager 150 mcg/day, which pales in comparison with the average daily intake of 13800 mcg/day for the Japanese.
There is a large body of evidence suggesting that low cancer rates in Japan are a result of their substantially higher iodine levels. Iodine has documented antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties.
A strong case can be made that your iodine RDA should be closer to what the Japanese consume daily, if breast cancer rates are any indication. Low iodine can lead to fibrocystic breast disease in women (density, lumps and bumps), hyperplasia, and atypical mammary tissue. Such fibrocystic changes in breast tissue have been shown to reverse in the presence of iodine supplementation after 3-4 months.
If you are interested in being tested for iodine deficiency, the urine iodine challenge test is the best way to assess your iodine level.
Bromine and Your Thyroid
Adding to the negative health effects of bromine, the damage to your thyroid health deserves special mention.
As stated in the first part of this article, bromine exposure depletes your body’s iodine by competing with iodine receptors. Iodine is crucial for thyroid function. Without iodine, your thyroid gland would be completely unable to produce thyroid hormone.
Even the names of the different forms of thyroid hormone reflect the number of iodine molecules attached -- T4 has four attached iodine molecules, and T3 (the biologically active form of the hormone) has three--showing what an important part iodine plays in thyroid biochemistry.
Hypothyroidism is far more prevalent than once thought in the U.S. The latest estimates are that 13 million Americans have hypothyroidism, but the actual numbers are probably higher. Some experts claim that 10 to40 percent of Americans have suboptimal thyroid function.
Many of these folks may actually have nothing wrong with their thyroid gland at all -- they may just be suffering from iodine deficiency.
Seven Tips for Avoiding Bromine and Optimizing Iodine
Trying to avoid bromine is like trying to avoid air pollution -- all you can do is minimize your exposure. That said, here are a few things you can do to minimize your risk:
Eat organic as often as possible. Wash all produce thoroughly. This will minimize your pesticide exposure.
Avoid eating or drinking from (or storing food and water in) plastic containers. Use glass and safe ceramic vessels.
Look for organic whole-grain breads and flour. Grind you own grain, if possible. Look for the “no bromine” or “bromine-free” label on commercial baked goods.
Avoid sodas. Drink natural, filtered water instead.
If you own a hot tub, look into an ozone purification system. Such systems make it possible to keep the water clean with minimal chemical treatments.
Look for personal care products that are as chemical-free as possible. Remember -- anything going on you, goes in you.
When in a car or a building, open windows as often as possible, preferably on opposing sides of the space for cross ventilation. Utilize fans to circulate the air. Chemical pollutants are much higher inside buildings (and cars) than outside.
Avoid Unfermented Soy
Another major contributor to thyroid dysfunction that I did not discuss above is unfermented soy. Soy isoflavones can wreak havoc on your thyroid.
Kaayla Daniel's groundbreaking book, The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food is a powerful exposé that reveals the truth about the soy myths that have infiltrated our culture.
It's ironic that soy has become so accepted as a health food when, as Dr. Daniel states, thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid- and hormonal dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility--even cancer and heart disease.
So if you want to keep your thyroid healthy, you’ll definitely want to avoid unfermented soy products of all kinds, including soy milk.
Another Shocking Warning About Swine Flu Vaccine from German Health Expert
The swine flu vaccine has been hit by new cancer fears after a German health expert gave a shocking warning about its safety.
Lung specialist Wolfgang Wodarg has said that there are many risks associated with the vaccine for the H1N1 virus. The nutrient solution for the vaccine consists of cancerous cells from animals, and some fear that the risk of cancer could be increased by injecting the cells.
The vaccine can also cause worse side effects than the actual swine flu virus.
Lung specialist Wolfgang Wodarg has said that there are many risks associated with the vaccine for the H1N1 virus. The nutrient solution for the vaccine consists of cancerous cells from animals, and some fear that the risk of cancer could be increased by injecting the cells.
The vaccine can also cause worse side effects than the actual swine flu virus.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Why swine flu vaccines just don't add up: Doing the (fuzzy) math
This is a Great article that we need to think about!..
Tuesday, September 01, 2009 by: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews
Here's a seventh grade word problem for you: If swine flu has infected one million people and killed 500, how many people might be expected to die if it infects 150 million people (assuming no major changes in the virus)? The correct answer, of course, is 75,000 people, and that's within the range of the number of swine flu deaths now being publicly predicted by the White House.But there's another part to this word problem: How many vaccine shots and hand washings does it take to boost vitamin D levels in the average person?
The question, of course, makes no sense. Vaccine shots don't boost vitamin D levels any more than eating pork infects you with swine flu. So why is the official advice on swine flu protection essentially limited to "wash your hands, get your vaccine shot and cough into your elbow?" (Seriously. I'm not making this up.)The Associated Press has distilled swine flu advice to "10 things you need to know." None of those ten things include boosting your nutrition, getting more vitamin D or taking anti-viral medicinal herbs. They do, however, include hilarious explanations like "If you develop breathing problems, pain in your chest, constant vomiting or a fever that keeps rising, go to an emergency room."
Emergency room in a pandemic?Whatever for? They don't bother to mention that in a pandemic scenario that strikes you with constant vomiting, the entire emergency room is likely to be overrun with other people joining you in a hospital room vomit fest.Nor do they mention some other important math: The very limited number of anti-viral medication courses available in the U.S. The last time I checked, that was roughly 50 million courses. If the U.S. population is roughly 300 million people, and there are 50 million courses of anti-viral meds available, how many Americans will have no access to those meds? (Ahem... 250 million people...)
Here's an even more interesting brain buster for you: If each vaccine shot generates $25 in revenue for drug companies, and the U.S. government orders the production of 160 million vaccines, how much money is Big Pharma making off the pandemic? That answer is roughly $4 billion in net revenues.But even that doesn't count all the repeat business from the future victims who suffer neurological side effects from the vaccines and have to be institutionalized and subjected to high-dollar medical care for years on end.
In all, a mass vaccination program could end up generating over ten billion dollars in revenues for drug companies.
These numbers just don't add upNow let's look at some serious statistics: If one million people have already been infected with swine flu, and 500 have died, that's a fatality rate of 1 out of 2000 people. Depending on which research you believe, vaccines might at most be credited with preventing 1% of flu deaths during any given flu season (and that's being very generous to the vaccine). So here's the question:How many people have to be vaccinated with the new swine flu vaccine to save ONE life from a swine flu fatality?(Notice, carefully, this question has never been asked in the mainstream media. That's because the answer isn't exactly what most people want to hear...)This question is easy to answer, actually. If the vaccine were 100% effective (that is, they prevented every death that would have otherwise occurred), they could be credited with saving 1 life out of 2000, right? Because that's the normal death rate for this particular virus (these figures are widely quoted by AP, Reuters and the White House, by the way). But no vaccine is 100% effective. As I mentioned above, seasonal flu vaccines might -- at a stretch -- be credited with preventing 1% of the deaths that might otherwise have occurred. With this 1% effectiveness factor calculated back into the formula for swine flu (assuming the same 1% effectiveness factor), it turns out that you would have to vaccinate 200,000 people to save ONE life from swine flu.That puts a whole new perspective on the vaccine push, doesn't it? 200,000 vaccines costs taxpayers roughly $5,000,000, and it subjects 200,000 people to the potential side effects of these vaccines which have never been subjected to any long-term testing whatsoever.It all begs the question: Is it really worth it?Is it worth spending $5 million and exposing 200,000 people to potentially dangerous vaccine side effects in order to prevent ONE death from swine flu? And why isn't anybody breaking down the numbers on this issue and providing a serious cost / benefit analysis as I'm doing here?
Let's be generous to the vaccine...Vaccine pushers might argue that the vaccine is far more than 1% effective at preventing swine flu deaths. In their wildest dreams, they might imagine a death reduction rate of, say, a wildly optimistic 10%. But even considering that, is it worth it? If the vaccine stops 10% of deaths that would have otherwise occurred, that still means you'd have to vaccinate 200,000 people to prevent the deaths of ten people.I'm going to throw out a wild guess here and suggest that far more than 10 people will be killed by the vaccine itself, completely nullifying any net reduction in total deaths. Mathematically, you see, mass swine flu vaccinations make absolutely no sense given the very low rate of fatalities being observed right now.
Just do something!Of course, public health policy is never based on sense. It's based on politics. And the politics demand that "they DO something!" That's what the public wants: Do something! It doesn't matter if doing something is worse than doing nothing... they just want to see some action.It's the same story with breast cancer screenings (almost completely useless), prostate cancer screenings (now proven to be far more harmful than helpful) and of course ADHD screening tests (which are only designed to trick parents into drugging their kids). Much of western medicine, it turns out, is complete hokum. We would all be better off without the screenings and without the vaccinations altogether.There's a highly credible book on this subject by authors Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea. It's called What if Medicine Disappeared? (http://www.amazon.com/What-Medicine...)This book argues quite persuasively (and with the citation of many convincing studies) that western medicine offers virtually no net gain in quality of life to the very people it claims to serve. Doctors, hospitals, vaccines and cancer clinics could all disappear tomorrow and most people would actually be far better off. Of course, no one disputes the value of having emergency rooms to handle acute trauma and accidents, but when it comes to preventive medicine and protecting quality of life, western medicine is a near-total failure.When it comes to swine flu vaccines, any honest look at the math reveals that 200,000 people will have to be vaccinated with a largely untested experimental vaccine in order to prevent the death of one person (or ten people, if you really believe in vaccines). Remembering that more than one person in 200,000 will almost certainly be killed by the vaccine itself, it really makes you wonder: What's the point of all this?The point, of course, is to sell vaccines. It's the one math problem that everybody understands: To make money, you have to sell a product, and there's no better way to sell vaccines to 160 million people than to scare them into begging for injections that are statistically opposed their own self interests. But I suppose anything is possible in a country where state governments can punitively tax the poor by convincing them to play the lottery. People who play the lottery are very likely to be the same people getting vaccine shots: It's like a lottery on your health, except that your odds of "winning" are far worse than your odds of winning something in a state lotto.Let's see: You have a 1 in 1 chance of being injected with foreign viral matter, and yet you only have a 1 in 200,000 chance of your life being saved by it. Allow me to put this into perspective: You have a 40 times greater chance of being struck by lightning at some point in your life than having your life saved by the swine flu vaccine. (Source: National Weather Service statistics.)Mathematically speaking, getting a swine flu injection and hoping it will save your life is more foolish than buying a lotto ticket with your last dollar and hoping you'll scratch off a multi-million dollar winning ticket.And buying a lotto ticket doesn't risk the health of your nervous system, by the way. You can always earn back a buck, but restoring your nervous system after it's attacked by a rogue vaccine can take years or decades. Some never recover. (Thousands died from the 1976 vaccines.)Pop quiz: What's the actual cost of vaccinating 160 million Americans with an unproven, experimental swine flu vaccine?Answer: $1.6 billion plus countless victims with strange neurological disorders, comas and sudden death -- all of which will be written off as "coincidence" by the vaccine pushers.
Free flu shots for the unemployedAs this article was about to go to press, I couldn't help but notice a new announcement by CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. The powers that be are so desperate to get all Americans injected with this experimental vaccine that CVS and Walgreens are now offering free swine flu vaccine injections to anyone who doesn't have a job!That's right: Just show up, prove you're unemployed, and you get jabbed at no charge. (Who said losing your job didn't have some benefits, huh?) Conspiracy theorists might suggest this is a clever way to clear the streets of "useless eaters." Just lure the jobless into some experimental vaccine program, inject them and send them on their way. Next, will retailers start handing out free Soylent Green too?
Additional sources for this story include:National Weather Service:http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov...
Associated Press:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...
Newsday:http://www.newsday.com/business/cvs...
Tuesday, September 01, 2009 by: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews
Here's a seventh grade word problem for you: If swine flu has infected one million people and killed 500, how many people might be expected to die if it infects 150 million people (assuming no major changes in the virus)? The correct answer, of course, is 75,000 people, and that's within the range of the number of swine flu deaths now being publicly predicted by the White House.But there's another part to this word problem: How many vaccine shots and hand washings does it take to boost vitamin D levels in the average person?
The question, of course, makes no sense. Vaccine shots don't boost vitamin D levels any more than eating pork infects you with swine flu. So why is the official advice on swine flu protection essentially limited to "wash your hands, get your vaccine shot and cough into your elbow?" (Seriously. I'm not making this up.)The Associated Press has distilled swine flu advice to "10 things you need to know." None of those ten things include boosting your nutrition, getting more vitamin D or taking anti-viral medicinal herbs. They do, however, include hilarious explanations like "If you develop breathing problems, pain in your chest, constant vomiting or a fever that keeps rising, go to an emergency room."
Emergency room in a pandemic?Whatever for? They don't bother to mention that in a pandemic scenario that strikes you with constant vomiting, the entire emergency room is likely to be overrun with other people joining you in a hospital room vomit fest.Nor do they mention some other important math: The very limited number of anti-viral medication courses available in the U.S. The last time I checked, that was roughly 50 million courses. If the U.S. population is roughly 300 million people, and there are 50 million courses of anti-viral meds available, how many Americans will have no access to those meds? (Ahem... 250 million people...)
Here's an even more interesting brain buster for you: If each vaccine shot generates $25 in revenue for drug companies, and the U.S. government orders the production of 160 million vaccines, how much money is Big Pharma making off the pandemic? That answer is roughly $4 billion in net revenues.But even that doesn't count all the repeat business from the future victims who suffer neurological side effects from the vaccines and have to be institutionalized and subjected to high-dollar medical care for years on end.
In all, a mass vaccination program could end up generating over ten billion dollars in revenues for drug companies.
These numbers just don't add upNow let's look at some serious statistics: If one million people have already been infected with swine flu, and 500 have died, that's a fatality rate of 1 out of 2000 people. Depending on which research you believe, vaccines might at most be credited with preventing 1% of flu deaths during any given flu season (and that's being very generous to the vaccine). So here's the question:How many people have to be vaccinated with the new swine flu vaccine to save ONE life from a swine flu fatality?(Notice, carefully, this question has never been asked in the mainstream media. That's because the answer isn't exactly what most people want to hear...)This question is easy to answer, actually. If the vaccine were 100% effective (that is, they prevented every death that would have otherwise occurred), they could be credited with saving 1 life out of 2000, right? Because that's the normal death rate for this particular virus (these figures are widely quoted by AP, Reuters and the White House, by the way). But no vaccine is 100% effective. As I mentioned above, seasonal flu vaccines might -- at a stretch -- be credited with preventing 1% of the deaths that might otherwise have occurred. With this 1% effectiveness factor calculated back into the formula for swine flu (assuming the same 1% effectiveness factor), it turns out that you would have to vaccinate 200,000 people to save ONE life from swine flu.That puts a whole new perspective on the vaccine push, doesn't it? 200,000 vaccines costs taxpayers roughly $5,000,000, and it subjects 200,000 people to the potential side effects of these vaccines which have never been subjected to any long-term testing whatsoever.It all begs the question: Is it really worth it?Is it worth spending $5 million and exposing 200,000 people to potentially dangerous vaccine side effects in order to prevent ONE death from swine flu? And why isn't anybody breaking down the numbers on this issue and providing a serious cost / benefit analysis as I'm doing here?
Let's be generous to the vaccine...Vaccine pushers might argue that the vaccine is far more than 1% effective at preventing swine flu deaths. In their wildest dreams, they might imagine a death reduction rate of, say, a wildly optimistic 10%. But even considering that, is it worth it? If the vaccine stops 10% of deaths that would have otherwise occurred, that still means you'd have to vaccinate 200,000 people to prevent the deaths of ten people.I'm going to throw out a wild guess here and suggest that far more than 10 people will be killed by the vaccine itself, completely nullifying any net reduction in total deaths. Mathematically, you see, mass swine flu vaccinations make absolutely no sense given the very low rate of fatalities being observed right now.
Just do something!Of course, public health policy is never based on sense. It's based on politics. And the politics demand that "they DO something!" That's what the public wants: Do something! It doesn't matter if doing something is worse than doing nothing... they just want to see some action.It's the same story with breast cancer screenings (almost completely useless), prostate cancer screenings (now proven to be far more harmful than helpful) and of course ADHD screening tests (which are only designed to trick parents into drugging their kids). Much of western medicine, it turns out, is complete hokum. We would all be better off without the screenings and without the vaccinations altogether.There's a highly credible book on this subject by authors Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea. It's called What if Medicine Disappeared? (http://www.amazon.com/What-Medicine...)This book argues quite persuasively (and with the citation of many convincing studies) that western medicine offers virtually no net gain in quality of life to the very people it claims to serve. Doctors, hospitals, vaccines and cancer clinics could all disappear tomorrow and most people would actually be far better off. Of course, no one disputes the value of having emergency rooms to handle acute trauma and accidents, but when it comes to preventive medicine and protecting quality of life, western medicine is a near-total failure.When it comes to swine flu vaccines, any honest look at the math reveals that 200,000 people will have to be vaccinated with a largely untested experimental vaccine in order to prevent the death of one person (or ten people, if you really believe in vaccines). Remembering that more than one person in 200,000 will almost certainly be killed by the vaccine itself, it really makes you wonder: What's the point of all this?The point, of course, is to sell vaccines. It's the one math problem that everybody understands: To make money, you have to sell a product, and there's no better way to sell vaccines to 160 million people than to scare them into begging for injections that are statistically opposed their own self interests. But I suppose anything is possible in a country where state governments can punitively tax the poor by convincing them to play the lottery. People who play the lottery are very likely to be the same people getting vaccine shots: It's like a lottery on your health, except that your odds of "winning" are far worse than your odds of winning something in a state lotto.Let's see: You have a 1 in 1 chance of being injected with foreign viral matter, and yet you only have a 1 in 200,000 chance of your life being saved by it. Allow me to put this into perspective: You have a 40 times greater chance of being struck by lightning at some point in your life than having your life saved by the swine flu vaccine. (Source: National Weather Service statistics.)Mathematically speaking, getting a swine flu injection and hoping it will save your life is more foolish than buying a lotto ticket with your last dollar and hoping you'll scratch off a multi-million dollar winning ticket.And buying a lotto ticket doesn't risk the health of your nervous system, by the way. You can always earn back a buck, but restoring your nervous system after it's attacked by a rogue vaccine can take years or decades. Some never recover. (Thousands died from the 1976 vaccines.)Pop quiz: What's the actual cost of vaccinating 160 million Americans with an unproven, experimental swine flu vaccine?Answer: $1.6 billion plus countless victims with strange neurological disorders, comas and sudden death -- all of which will be written off as "coincidence" by the vaccine pushers.
Free flu shots for the unemployedAs this article was about to go to press, I couldn't help but notice a new announcement by CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. The powers that be are so desperate to get all Americans injected with this experimental vaccine that CVS and Walgreens are now offering free swine flu vaccine injections to anyone who doesn't have a job!That's right: Just show up, prove you're unemployed, and you get jabbed at no charge. (Who said losing your job didn't have some benefits, huh?) Conspiracy theorists might suggest this is a clever way to clear the streets of "useless eaters." Just lure the jobless into some experimental vaccine program, inject them and send them on their way. Next, will retailers start handing out free Soylent Green too?
Additional sources for this story include:National Weather Service:http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov...
Associated Press:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...
Newsday:http://www.newsday.com/business/cvs...
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