Fl - A Difficult Halogen for People to Understand

UPDATE: 28 March, 2011
As more people move to add sea vegetables to their diets to help aid protection from radioactive fall out, be aware that hijiki is very high in arsenic.

Seaweed and toxins

Title: Halogenated Compounds from Marine Algae
Authors: Maria Teresa Cabrita ¹, Carlos Vale ¹ and Amélia Pilar Rauter ²
Affiliations: ¹ IPIMAR, Av. de Brasília, 1449-006 Lisboa, Portugal E-Mails: cvale@ipimar.pt (C.V.); tcabrita@ipimar.pt (M.T.C.)
² Centro de Química e Bioquímica/Departamento de Química e Bioquímica da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Ed C8, Piso 5, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal; E-Mail: aprauter@fc.ul.pt (A. P. R.)
Abstract: Marine algae produce a cocktail of halogenated metabolites with potential commercial value. The structure exhibited by these compounds goes from acyclic entities with a linear chain to complex polycyclic molecules. Their medical and pharmaceutical application has been investigated for the past two decades, although other properties like antifouling are not to be discarded. Many compounds were discovered in the last years but the need for new drugs keeps this field open as many algae species are poorly screened. Apart from the biotechnological potential, the ecological role of marine algal halogenated metabolites has somehow been overlooked. This new research field will provide valuable and novel insight into the marine ecosystem dynamics as well as a new approach to understanding biodiversity. Furthermore, understanding interactions between halogenated compounds production by algae and the environment, including anthropogenic or global climate changes, is a challenging target for the coming years. Research has been more focused on macroalgae than on phytoplankton. However, phytoplankton is a very promising material as the bottom link of the marine food chain with very quickly adaptation to environmental changes, which undoubtedly has consequences on the secondary metabolism. This paper summarizes current knowledge and revises recent progress and presents trends on the role of marine algae as producers of halogenated compounds.
Keywords: marine algae; halogenated compounds; biotechnological applications; ecological role

From 3 March, 2009 -
In the periodic table of elements one finds the halogen family at an atomic weight of 9.

The halogens are five non-metallic elements found in group 17 of the periodic table. The Halogens are: Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine, Astatine. The term "halogen" means "salt-former" and compounds containing halogens are called "salts". All halogens have 7 electrons in their outer shells, giving them an oxidation number of -1. The halogens exist, at room temperature, in all three states of matter:

Solid- Iodine, Astatine
Liquid- Bromine
Gas- Fluorine, Chlorine

Fluorine is the most electronegative and reactive of all elements, and this property is one of the reasons why it easily displaces Iodine. Iodine is critically necessary for health.

The fluoride ion is highly toxic. Los Alamos National Laboratory recommends that no one be exposed to more than 1ppm Fl- in any 8-hour time period. Cumulative exposure to Fl- may result in the hardening of the Pineal Gland, is considered to be the electro-magnetic foci of the human body, and the gland that is directly involved with the production of melatonin. Vitamin B12 is also a substance that seems to be related to health of the Pineal gland.

Fluoride Excess is cumulative and there is a danger of ingesting fluoride in any so called "natural form" as is found in the current trend for Pink Himalayan Salt, which is known to contain many other heavy metals, some not at all necessary for human health.

People who live in areas where the drinking water has a naturally high fluoride level may consume too much fluoride—causing a condition called fluorosis. Fluoride accumulates in teeth, particularly permanent teeth. Chalky white, irregular patches appear on the surface of the tooth enamel. The patches become stained yellow or brown, causing the enamel to appear mottled. The teeth may also become pitted.

Fluoride also accumulates in bones. Rarely, consuming too much fluoride for a long time results in dense but weak bones, abnormal bone growths (spurs) on the spine, and crippling due to calcium accumulation (calcification) in ligaments.

(Some of the material found in this post on Fl- comes from the Merck Index and Merck Manual)

Fluoride in salt, water, pharmaceuticals, dental products, pesticides and herbicides, chemicals used in war and any other form continues to cause a myriad of health problems.

See also
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/01/salt-may-be-health-scam.html
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/02/melatonin-offers-protection-from.html
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/01/pregnancy-and-nutrition.html
and other posts related to Fluoride via the search window.

Push for Statin Use Unfounded

I can remember over a decade ago when I first started alerting people to the severe risk of statin drugs.   Even so Big PhRMA has continued to blur your vision in more ways than one.  In their effort to boost profit over health, while aiming its marketing to an end with everyone taking these sometimes deadly drugs.

Just last week I talked with a neighbor who had been taking statins for a decade, and suffering terrible leg cramps. He added that no one can figure out what is causing his complaint.

I tried to explain muscle cell wasting and kidney failure as it is associated with statins.  He said he would ask his doctor when he went in soon to go over his 24 drugs.

Then today I learn from another troubled person pushed on to the statins stairway by her cardiologist. She has no history of heart disease and a cholesterol on 210 (not worth a wink).  Meanwhile she complains of back pain, asthma, sinus infections, skin problems, and allergies.

She'd heard many times about the problems and side effects of statins.  Once off them she has no more of these troubling symptoms.

Perhaps it is time for you to think about whether or not you too might not want to be taking these drugs.

Uffe Ravnskov MD PhD has a book that reviews the medical studies which supposedly show that cholesterol is the cause of heart disease.  He shows that they do no such thing. This is a medical myth.  Neither cholesterol consumption nor cholesterol blood levels cause heart disease.  Similarly, many medical studies demonstrate that anti-cholesterol drugs work very well to reduce blood cholesterol levels, however, this treatment does not prolong life and makes most people sick with adverse side effects.  See "Fat and Cholesterol Are Good for You" 

Statins and All-Cause Mortality in High-Risk Primary PreventionA Meta-analysis of 11 Randomized Controlled Trials Involving 65 229 Participants

Kausik K. Ray, MD, MPhil, FACC, FESC;Sreenivasa Rao Kondapally Seshasai, MD, MPhil;

Sebhat Erqou, MD, MPhil, PhD;Peter Sever, PhD, FRCP, FESC; J. Wouter Jukema, MD, PhD;

Ian Ford, PhD; Naveed Sattar, FRCPath 
Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(12):1024-1031.
Background  Statins have been shown to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality among individuals with clinical history of coronary heart disease. However, it remains uncertain whether statins have similar mortality benefit in a high-risk primary prevention setting. Notably, all systematic reviews to date included trials that in part incorporated participants with prior cardiovascular disease (CVD) at baseline. Our objective was to reliably determine if statin therapy reduces all-cause mortality among intermediate to high-risk individuals without a history of CVD.
Data Sources  Trials were identified through computerized literature searches of MEDLINE and Cochrane databases (January 1970-May 2009) using terms related to statins, clinical trials, and cardiovascular end points and through bibliographies of retrieved studies.
Study Selection  Prospective, randomized controlled trials of statin therapy performed in individuals free from CVD at baseline and that reported details, or could supply data, on all-cause mortality.
Data Extraction  Relevant data including the number of patients randomized, mean duration of follow-up, and the number of incident deaths were obtained from the principal publication or by correspondence with the investigators.
Data Synthesis  Data were combined from 11 studies and effect estimates were pooled using a random-effects model meta-analysis, with heterogeneity assessed with the I² statistic. Data were available on 65 229 participants followed for approximately 244 000 person-years, during which 2793 deaths occurred. The use of statins in this high-risk primary prevention setting was not associated with a statistically significant reduction (risk ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.83-1.01) in the risk of all-cause mortality. There was no statistical evidence of heterogeneity among studies (I² = 23%; 95% confidence interval, 0%-61% [P = .23]).
Conclusion  This literature-based meta-analysis did not find evidence for the benefit of statin therapy on all-cause mortality in a high-risk primary prevention set-up.

Olive Oil Builds Bones

UPDATE: 17 August - Oil Gets Low Grade

...many of the imported oils failed to meet international and U.S. standards for EVOO. Worse, sensory panelists found that some oils tasted rancid, fusty and musty. Apparently, they had oxydized–or deteriorated, like the above-mentioned 1989 Taurus–and were adulterated with cheaper oil and/or made from poor quality or overripe olives. California-produced oils did better; only 10 percent failed the tests. Some of the best-known brands didn’t qualify as EV: Bertolli, Pompeian, Colovita, Carapelli, Newman’s Own, Mezzetta and Mazola. Even Rachael Ray’s EVOO underperformed. McEvoy Ranch and Caliornia Olive Ranch were the top scorers, but turning in a not too shabby performance was Kirkland Organic, which comes to you courtesy of humble Costco. READ more

Is it true that the less expensive olive oils on the market are inferior to the expensive ones?

Unfortunately, the best quality olive oils are also usually the most expensive. The best quality oil is an extra virgin olive oil made from organically grown olives.
Extra virgin olive oil is made from the first pressing of the olives, contains the lowest level of acidity (the marketplace standard for labeling is less than 1%), the best taste, and the highest level of antioxidant phytonutrients. The next best after extra virgin would be virgin olive oil. While it is also made from the first pressing of the olives, it has less antioxidants, more acidity (up to 2% is allowed), and a taste that is not as rich as extra virgin olive oil.
You'll notice that "pure" olive oil and "light" olive oils are less expensive, but in this case you get what you pay for. These olives oils are by no means as beneficial (let alone flavorful) as extra virgin olive oil.
"Pure" olive oil is actually refined oil that is created through chemical processing. One method of refining olive oil involves the use of a strong sodium hydroxide solution to "wash" the oil; other methods involve steam distillation of the oil. All refinement methods expose the oil to heats of at least 140-160˚F (60-71˚C).
"Light" olive oils are only light in terms of their taste and color; they are not lower in calories or fat. To a certain extent, the richer and deeper shades of color in an olive oil correspond to the concentration of polyphenol phytonutrients in the oil. These polyphenols may be the most heart-supportive nutrients that olives have to offer. Once they are processed out, the oil may become classified as "light," but light and other refined olive oils are nutritionally inferior to extra virgin and virgin olive oils because of this more extensive processing.
The other consideration would be whether or not to buy organic olive oil. There's no question about organic olive oil being your best choice. Although the nutrient richness of the organic oil may not be vastly greater than the nutrient richness of non-organic oil, the presence of toxic residues is likely to be very different. You're very likely to get fewer toxins in the certified organic oil-especially pesticides and fungicides. from WHFOODS.

Olive Oil and Health

UPDATE: 10 May DHA “appears to be a vital constituent of marrow” and enhances bone mineral content

UPDATE:20 April, 2010 MORE HEALTH BENEFITS FROM OLIVE OIL
More on Fats

How olive oil helps 'switch off' genes which lead to conditions including heart disease and arthritis
By Jenny Hope, 20th April 2010

Olive oil's health-giving benefits stem from its ability to help 'switch off ' genes that inflame conditions ranging from heart disease to arthritis, claim researchers.

Their discovery shows how the much-praised Mediterranean diet can suppress chronic disorders.

Spanish researchers identified almost 100 genes whose inflammatory activity is dampened by consumption of olive oil, in particular extra virgin olive oil.
Spanish researchers have found a whole new use for olive oil, in particular extra virgin olive oil

Spanish researchers have found a whole new use for olive oil, in particular extra virgin olive oil

Greeks are the biggest consumers of olive oil in the world - eating 20 times more than Britons - while Italians eat ten times as much.

Eating healthy mono-unsaturated fats such as olive oil is known to lower the risk of heart disease.

In Britain, which has one of the highest heart attack rates in the world, much higher levels of animal or saturated fats are eaten.

In the study, 20 patients with metabolic syndrome, which puts them at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, were asked to eat breakfast foods covered in two types of olive oil.

One was extra virgin olive oil high in phenol compounds - natural antioxidants - while the other type of oil had low levels of phenols.

The volunteers had to avoid drugs, vitamins and other supplements for six weeks before the study started.

Dr Francisco Perez- Jimenez, from the University of Cordoba, said: 'We identified 98 differentially expressed genes when comparing the intake of phenol-rich olive oil with low-phenol olive oil.

'Several of the repressed genes are known to be involved in pro-inflammatory processes, suggesting the diet can switch the activity of immune system cells.'

Olive oil contains omega-6 fats, a form of 'healthy' polyunsaturates known to block the body's response to inflammation in chronic conditions such as heart disease and arthritis.

But the latest study, whose findings are published today in the science journal BMC Genomics, provides a gene-related explanation for some of the anti-inflammatory effect.

Dietitians say a Mediterranean diet also appears to improve vascular function - the flexibility of cells lining the walls of blood vessels, particularly in the heart and circulatory system.

Eating meat increases the risk of bladder cancer, according to research by scientists at the University of Texas.

Xifeng Wu, the 12-year study's lead author, said: 'People who eat a lot of red meat, particularly well-done red meat, seem to have a higher likelihood of bladder cancer.'

More than 10,000 Britons are diagnosed with bladder cancer every year.

OLIVE OIL BEAUTY BENEFITS - "Truly one of the world's best beauty secrets. It is a natural, hypoallergenic, inexpensive way to moisturize skin. It also provides valuable antioxidants, like Vitamins A and E that can help repair and renew skin that has been damaged from the sun, air pollution, and cigarette smoke. The antioxidants in olive oil help to stimulate health skin cell growth and return skin to a firmer, smoother, and healthier state. Olive oil can be applied to your face and body and helps to keep skin well-moisturized. You can use it as either a night cream or daily moisturizer. Just be sure to apply it to damp skin. Olive oil can also be used as an eye makeup remover, just add a drop or two to a cotton pad it gently removes eye makeup without irritating the delicate skin around the eye area. Over time, it can even help to smooth our under eye wrinkles."

ORIGINALLY POSTED 22 Feb, 09
Olive oil has women bone-preserving properties
by S. C.

A study from the Harokopio University of Athens (Greece) determines that adherence to a dietary pattern close to the Mediterranean diet, with high consumption of fish and olive oil and low red meat intake, has a significant impact in women skeletal health.

Results suggest that this eating pattern could have bone-preserving properties throughout adult life.

Diet is one of the modifiable factors for the development and maintenance of bone mass. The nutrients of most obvious relevance to bone health are calcium and phosphorus because they compose roughly 80% to 90% of the mineral content of bone; protein, other minerals and vitamins are also essential in bone preservation.

Traditional analysis has focused on the relation between a specific nutrient (e.g. calcium) and bone health. But, researchers of the Harokopio University of Athens, Greece, carried out a study in two hundred twenty adult Greek women, which is valuable for the understanding of the effect of meals, consisting of several food items, in skeletal mass.

Scientists examined whether adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, rich in plant foods and olive oil, low in meat and dairy products, and with moderate intake of alcohol, or other dietary patterns, have any significant impact on bone mass maintenance in adult Greek women. They determined that adherence to a dietary pattern with some of the features of the Mediterranean diet, i.e., rich in fish and olive oil and low in red meat and products, is positively associated with the indices of bone mass.

Teatro Naturalle, by S. C. 22 February 2009 TN 1 Year 1

Yummy Pie oh my, its perfectly pi

UPDATE: 28 June, 2011

A new trend seems to have come along form the mathematically minded, Tau.

The music of Tau

'Tau day' marked by opponents of maths constant pi

Tau Day revellers suggest a constant called tau should take its place: twice as large as pi, or about 6.28 - hence the 28 June celebration.  Read complete article

ORIGINAL POST 2009

I am one of those probably odd people who likes math. I really loved geometry, so I'm willing to celebrate!

and see this too

Pie and pi: Happy 3/14, also known as pi day

By John Matson in 60-Second Science Blog

Hot on the heels of square root day, a loosely conceived mathematical celebration that fell on March 3 (3/3/09), comes today's pi day. The present "holiday" celebrates the yearly agreement between the calendar (3/14) and the first three digits of pi (3.14...), the ratio of circumference to diameter for a circle. (Europeans, we're terribly sorry: your preference for day/month notation precludes the celebration of pi day, as there is no 31/4—April has just 30 days.)

A follower of SciAm on Twitter, firesignth, clued us in to pi day and its culmination, pi second, which arrives at 1:59:26 today. At that moment, one numerical representation of the date and time, 3.1415926, aligns with pi out to seven decimal places.

Whereas square root day enthusiasts were encouraged to eat radishes and other roots cut into squares (or, three-dimensionally speaking, cubes, as one astute commenter pointed out), pi day enthusiasts should indulge in pie, of course, which brings the double benefit of being both a homophone of the word pi and a circle. (Just how closely your pie's circumference/diameter ratio comes to pi depends on the precision of your baking.)

While celebrations such as square root day and pi day may seem contrived, one could argue that any way to generate excitement around math is a good thing. In a survey of 11- to 13-year-olds spearheaded by the Raytheon Company, 84 percent of children reported a preference for cleaning their rooms, eating their vegetables or going to the dentist when the alternative was doing math homework. And just this week, in a lecture at Columbia University, 1979 physics Nobelist Sheldon Glashow lamented the mathematical illiteracy of American youth. "If you have not taught a course in physics for poets"—as Glashow has—"you cannot believe the level of mathematical incompetence of the average college graduate," he said.

But if general mathematical cheerleading or feting the famous ratio isn't enough to get you in a celebratory mood, feel free to observe Talk Like a Physicist day instead, an amalgamation of pi day and Albert Einstein's birthday—the great physicist was born 130 years ago today.

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=happy-314-also-known-as-pi-day-2009-03-14

Natural treatment and leg ulcers

I read a lot of studies and every time I get one of the medical news letters I read on a daily basis I cringe when I scan the title given to some study or another.

Deep in my soul I know this is just a piece of the bottom fish scavenger mentality to keep a payroll going with no defined requirement for a usable outcome to improve health.

It reminds me of a time when I was doing a psych rotation during my college days was caring for patients enrolled in a study. This shrink had the idea that he could prove that people had a serious mental disorder by having them put their hand and forearm in a bucket of ice. He would then observe the person's pupils and so "prove" that they had or did not have this mental disorder.

It is also like breast cancer research for the cure. I was told there would be a cure over 35 five years ago. What are we still doing? We are inflicting more breast cancer on women because we can't get it through our thick skulls that mammography causes breast cancer and the drugs don't really work.

If all this worked then the statistics of cure would be one hell of a lot better.

Anyway, it is a well proven fact that leg ulcers can be cured with raw honey.

It is inexpensive, you don't need maggots, and it is fast.

Using certain pure essential oils makes it go a lot faster, and this prevents and heals any infection.

Debridement comes with easy - however possibly painful - soap and water cleansing, along with air drying or a far infrared lamp to dry, heal and promote circulation.

You do have a choice. You just need to know how to get the information.

Natural Health News, along with our associated organization web sites, is a top choice for resources. If there isn't something you are looking for, then just ask.

Maggot therapy hope 'premature'
Maggots may not have the miracle healing properties that have been claimed, a UK study suggests.

Researchers comparing maggots with a standard "hydrogel" in treating leg ulcers found little difference.

Recent excitement over using maggots to speed up healing and even reduce MRSA infections in leg ulcers seems to have been premature, they said.

The British Medical Journal study is the first to compare maggots with standard treatment.

Leg ulcers can be very difficult to treat and after use of high-compression bandages only about half are healed within 16 weeks.

One common treatment is to use a water-based gel to keep the wound moist and promote the natural healing process.

Maggots, or larval therapy, are another option - but it can be more tricky to place them in the wound and they have to be specially ordered which takes a few days.

The theory has been that maggots are effective because they "clean out" dead tissue - a process called debridement - stimulating healing and getting rid of bugs such as MRSA in the process.

But although larval therapy is being used more and more, it has only been tested in one randomised controlled trial of 12 patients, the team said.

Healing

In the latest study, 270 patients with leg ulcers from around the UK were treated either with maggots or hydrogel and progress followed for up to a year.

There was no significant difference in the time it took the ulcer to heal between the two treatments or in quality of life.

Maggots were not more effective than hydrogel treatment at reducing the amount of bacteria present or in getting rid of MRSA and were, on average, associated with more pain.

The only benefit seemed to be that the dead tissue in the wound was cleaned out more quickly

A separate study looking at cost-effectiveness estimated there was little to choose between the two therapies.

Study leader Professor Nicky Cullum, deputy head of health sciences at the University of York, said the resurgence in interest in using maggots had been "premature".

"The ulcers treated with larval therapy did get cleaner - which is not surprising as they're an active debriding agent - but that rapid cleaning did not lead to rapid healing."

She said it would be up to clinicians to decide which was the most appropriate for their patients, but in general there was no extra benefit from maggots over standard therapy.

"It comes down to the aim of treatment. If for some reason rapid debridement is important, then you would choose larval therapy - for example if someone was having a skin graft.

"This will help them make more informed decisions."

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7953091.stm
Published: 2009/03/20 © BBC MMIX

Honey

THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE AND DIABETES and A Massage Technique for Diabetes

Coconut Oil Components Confound HIV Charge

I have for quite a number of years volunteered for the Medical Advisory Board at Keep Hope Alive.

KHA has been a forerunner in the education of thousands internationally about building immunity, especially when it comes to HIV and AIDS. They publish Positive Health News, and I placed an excerpt here about lauric acid which they published in 1997.

It seems to have taken a heck of a long time for mainstream medicine to catch on.

MARY ENIG Ph.D. ON NATURAL COCONUT OIL FOR AIDS and OTHER VIRAL INFECTIONS On July 19, 1995, Enig was quoted in an article published in The HINDU, India’s National Newspaper as stating that coconut oil is converted by the body into “Monolaurin” a fatty acid with anti-viral properties that might be useful in the treatment of AIDS. The staff reporter for The HINDU wrote about Enig’s presentation at a press conference in Kochi and wrote the following:

“There was an instance in the US in which an infant tested HIV positive had become HIV negative. That it was fed with an infant formula with a high coconut oil content gains significance in this context and at present an effort was on to find out how the “viral load” of an HIV infected baby came down when fed a diet that helped in the generation of Monolaurin in the body.”

The reporter commented on Enig’s observations that “Monolaurin helped in inactivating other viruses such as measles, herpes, vesicular stomatitis and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and that research undertaken so far on coconut oil also indicated that it offered a certain measure of protection against cancer-inducing substances. "

In another article published in the Indian Coconut Journal, Sept., 1995, Dr. Enig stated:

“Recognition of the antimicrobial activity of the monoglyceride of lauric acid (Monolaurin) has been reported since 1966. The seminal work can be credited to Jon Kabara. This early research was directed at the virucidal effects because of possible problems related to food preservation. Some of the early work by Hierholzer and Kabara (1982) that showed virucidal effects of Monolaurin on enveloped RNA and DNA viruses was done in conjunction with the Center for Disease Control of the US Public Health Service with selected prototypes or recognized strains of enveloped viruses. The envelope of these viruses is a lipid membrane.”

Enig stated in her article that Monolaurin, of which the precursor is lauric acid, disrupted the lipid membranes of envelope viruses and also inactivated bacteria, yeast and fungi. She wrote:“Of the saturated fatty acids, lauric acid has greater antiviral activity than either caprylic acid (C-10) or myristic acid (C-14). The action attributed to Monolaurin is that of solubilizing the lipids ..in the envelope of the virus causing the disintegration of the virus envelope.” In India, coconut oil is fed to calves to treat Cryptosporidium as reported by Lark Lands Ph.D. in her upcoming book “Positively Well” (1).

While HHV-6A was not mentioned by Enig, HHV-6A is an enveloped virus and would be expected to disintegrate in the presence of lauric acid and/or Monolaurin. Some of the pathogens reported by Enig to be inactivated by Monolaurin include HIV, measles, vercular stomatitis virus (VSV), herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), visna, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Influenza virus, Pneumonovirus, Syncytial virus and Rubeola. Some bacteria inactivated by Monolaurin include listeria, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Groups A, B, F and G streptococci, Gram-positive organisms; and gram-negative organisms, if treated with chelator.

Enig reported that only one infant formula “Impact” contains lauric acid while the more widely promoted formulas like “Ensure” do not contain lauric acid and often contain some hydrogenated fats (trans fatty acids). A modified ester of lauric acid, Monolaurin (available in capsules), is sold in health food stores and is manufactured by Ecological Formulas, Concord, CA.

ENIG ON A THERAPEUTIC DOSE
Based on her calculations on the amount of lauric acid found in human Mother’s milk, Dr. Enig suggests a rich lauric acid diet would contain about 24 grams of lauric acid daily for the average adult. This amount could be found in about 3.5 tablespoons of coconut oil or 10 ounces of “Pure Coconut Milk.” Coconut Milk is made in Sri Lanka and imported into the United States. It can be found in health food stores and in local grocery stores in the International Foods section or in specialty grocery stores that sell products imported from Thailand, the Philippines or East India. About 7 ounces of raw coconut daily would contain 24 grams of lauric acid. 24 grams of lauric acid is the therapeutic daily dose for adults suggested by Mary Enig based on her research of the lauric acid content of mother’s milk. (1)

1. Positively Well, by Lark Lands Ph.D. Her new book discusses lauric acid and suggests many treatment options for persons with AIDS or CFIDS and may be ordered by calling 905-672-7470 or 800-542-8102

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON THE ANTI-VIRAL EFFECTS OF LAURIC ACID
Mary Enig cites 24 references in her 7 page article on “Lauric Acid for HIV-infected Individuals,” a few of which are as follows:

1. Issacs, C.E. et al. Inactivation of enveloped viruses in human bodily fluids by purified lipids. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1994;724:457-464.

2. Kabara, J.J. Antimicrobial agents derived from fatty acids. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 1984;61:397-403.

3. Hierholzer, J.C. and Kabara J.J. In vitro effects on Monolaurin compounds on enveloped RNA and DNA viruses. Journal of Food Safety 1982;4:1-12.

4. Wang, L.L. and Johnson, E.A. Inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes by fatty acids and monoglycerides. Appli Environ Microbiol 1992; 58:624-629.

5. Issacs, C.E. et al. Membrane-disruptive effect of human milk: inactivation of enveloped viruses. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1986;154:966-971.

6. Anti-viral effects of monolaruin. JAQA 1987;2:4-6 7. Issacs C.E. et al. Antiviral and antibacterial lipids in human milk and infant formula feeds. Archives of Disease in Childhood 1990;65:861-864.

Note: Enig’s article in the Indian Coconut Journal has 41 reference cites. To obtain a complete set of both articles she wrote, see our order form on the last page of this newsletter.

Common ingredient offers AIDS protection
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
Wed Mar 4, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A cheap ingredient used in ice cream, cosmetics and found in breast milk helps protect monkeys against infection with a virus similar to AIDS and might work to protect women against the virus, researchers reported on Wednesday.

The compound, called glycerol monolaurate, or GML, appears to stop inflammation and helps keep away the cells the AIDS virus usually infects, the researchers said.

While it does not provide 100 percent protection, it might greatly reduce a woman's risk of being infected, and she could use it privately and without hurting her chances of pregnancy, the researchers reported in the journal Nature.

And it costs pennies a dose, Ashley Haase and Pat Schlievert of the University of Minnesota reported.

"For years, people have used the compound as an emulsifying agent in a variety of foods ... it is in breast milk," Schlievert told reporters in a telephone briefing.

GML is being considered as an additive to tampons because it interferes with bacteria, particularly those that can cause a potentially fatal infection called toxic shock syndrome.

If it can be shown to work safely in women, GML might provide the first easy route to a microbicide -- a gel or a cream that women could use vaginally to protect themselves from infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes AIDS.

HIV infects 33 million people globally and has killed 25 million. It is transmitted sexually, in blood and breast milk. In Africa, it is most commonly passed during heterosexual contact.

PROTECTING WOMEN

AIDS experts say many victims are married women whose husbands will not use condoms and who are often trying to have children. They need a safe and private way to protect themselves.

A microbicide (pronounced my-CROW-buh-side) might also protect men who have sex with men.

Haase and Schlievert's team tested GML, carried in KY jelly, in macaque monkeys. They put the gel into the vaginas of the monkeys and then applied SIV, a monkey version of HIV.

Four out of five monkeys never became infected and tests showed GML affected the immune response.

HIV is particularly hard to fight because it infects the very immune cells the body uses to attack a virus. When HIV infects an area such as the vagina, the CD4 T-cells rush to defend against it. The body sends out signaling chemicals called cytokines to call in more T-cells.

HIV can then infect them all and spread through the body.

GML appears to stop the cytokine call for help and stops so many T-cells from rushing to the area, Haase and Schlievert said. This in turn reduces the opportunity for HIV to take hold.

"This result represents a highly encouraging new lead in the search for an effective microbicide to prevent HIV transmission that meets the criteria of safety, affordability and efficacy," they wrote.

Even if it was only 60 percent effective, such a gel could prevent 2.5 million HIV cases over three years, they said.

They said they plan to study their gel in more monkeys for longer periods of time to ensure the gel is not simply delaying infection rather than preventing it.

(Editing by Will Dunham)Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited.

Other articles:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=111339
http://www.lauric.org/

High Cost and Waste: US Health Care System

The concept that health care in the US is costly and wasteful is a decades old evaluation of the system. Over the 40 years I have been involved in mainstream medicine I have heard this argument and discussion more times than you would like to know. Yet little has changed. And I am not too sure the stimulus health plan will much of anything to increase quality, increase access or reduce costs.

It is an odd thing to think that back in the first few years of the 1970s when I started grad school and undertook a program leading me to the nurse practitioner arena, the reason I went in this direction was to increase patient education, improve access to care and focus on prevention.

Now here is the same discussion four decades later: American College of Physicians Issues New Policy on Nurse Practitioners in Primary Care

Why are we having the same discussion? I knew 40 plus years ago what my role was and so did the physicians I worked with (not under). When I was teaching this discipline I knew and so did my students. We were a pretty independent bunch and we practiced in and independent way.

These days it is much more controlled, but the costs aren't the result of tort lawyers.

Drugs are it, labs tests are us, and layer upon layer of bureaucracy at the insurers requires an entire staff of people who do nothing but billing.

Where is that universal claim form we were told we'd see, that would keep costs down?

Oh, yes, I've heard the electronic records story before too. I guess there isn't much I haven't heard.

So why is it that only 80% of health care isn't working after all this time?

Maybe the reason why I switched to natural health care only.

US health system is plagued by high cost and waste: experts
by Jim Mannion

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States has one of the world's most advanced but also most complicated health care systems, plagued by widespread waste and costs that have escalated as the US population ages, experts say.

Venturing where others have failed, President Barack Obama is now proposing to spend 634 billion dollars on reforms aimed at expanding health care coverage among the nearly 46 million uninsured Americans.

How he should do it -- and whether it should be done at all -- are likely to be the subject of fierce debate. But, in the words of one economist, the system he inherits is "an administrative monstrosity."

Economist Henry Aaron, in a 2003 paper, called it "a truly bizarre melange of thousands of payers with payment systems that differ for no socially beneficial reason, as well as staggeringly complex public systems with mind-boggling administered prices and other rules expressing distinctions that can only be regarded as weird."

Following are some aspects of the system revealed in a review of the scientific literature by the Rand Corp., a non-partisan think tank, and posted on the website www.randcompare.org.

First, Americans are living longer but two of every three are overweight or obese, one in 10 have diabetes, and about a quarter of the population between the ages of 45 and 54 suffer from hypertension.

More than half are covered by insurance provided by their employers, but it is not required and the quality of coverage varies widely. Nearly 16 percent of Americans have no insurance at all.

Meanwhile, US spending on health care is growing faster than the economy as a whole.

It hit 2.1 trillion dollars in 2006 and was projected to reach 2.25 trillion dollars by 2007, an annual increase of 6.7 percent, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It could reach 4.3 trillion dollars a year in a decade.

"By 2017, about 20 cents of every dollar spent in the US economy will be spent on health care," Rand said.

The federal government in 2006 covered about a third of US healthcare spending, mainly through its health insurance programs for the poor and elderly -- Medicaid and Medicare.

Payments by private insurances companies accounted for another 34 percent, while out-of-pocket payments by individuals amounted to 14 percent of the total. The remainder came from state and local funds and other private funds.

On average, Americans spend about six percent of their after-tax income on health care, although in the case of the poor or elderly the share is larger.

Among the trends driving up health care spending, the Rand survey found, are lengthening life spans, the spread of obesity, and technological innovations that push back mortality but at a higher cost.

Technological advances alone account for over half the increase in overall US health spending, according to an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.

"Certain technological changes, for example some vaccines, may reduce spending. However, in general new technologies tend to increase the number of health services that an individual receives, thereby increasing costs," Rand said.

At the same time, the US system is seen as wasteful compared to those of other countries.

The United States spends significantly more on administrative costs than countries with single payer systems -- seven percent compared to 1.9 percent for France, for example, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

And private insurance companies have higher administrative costs (14 percent) than public insurance programs like Medicare or Medicaid, which come in at three to five percent of the total, the literature shows.

"Practitioners and hospitals, in their interactions with multiple payers, are encumbered by numerous billing requirements, a multitude of formulars and clinical care guidelines, and patients with different covered benefits," Rand said.

Studies also have shown that one-third or more procedures performed in the United States were of questionable benefit, according to the think tank.

A 2008 study that compared health care systems in developed countries found that US patients reported waiting less time to get an appointment to see a specialist, but also more problems with the cost of the care and the efficacy of procedures.

Within the United States, however, patients covered by Medicare consistently gave higher marks for the care they received than did those insured by private companies, according to surveys funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Copyright © 2009 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

Green Living: Another non-toxic tip for your healthy home

Instead of buying a small bottle of a spendy rinse agent at about $4 for your automatic dishwasher try this inexpensive and non-toxic substitute - White Vinegar.

Weighing in for a gallon of this safer home cleaning standard at under $4, who would choose the other product.

Simply fill your rinse agent dispenser with white vinegar and it will be released automatically in the rinse cycle every time your dishwasher runs.

You can do the same for your laundry by adding one-half cup white vinegar to the rinse water and reduce or eliminate fabric softener. It will also remove more soap residue from your clothes, making them whiter or brighter.

NOTE: Jet Dry contains citric acid and sulfamic acid (descaling agents) and both compounds can cause burning if ingested. Keep both liquid and powder forms where children can find them.

Water Tower Antennae

Birds have historically been adaptable to pollution. Now with ever increasing electro-magnetic pollution (ElectroSmog) from cell phone towers, WI-FI and DTV, even birds cannot sustain.
As the crow flies: birds flee

Green Living: Clean Food

Green Living is a subject I've been engaged in for a very long time. While I know this is a trendy topic now and a lot of people are trying to get on the band wagon and convince you they are "experts", little seems to be available to really help you if you are outside an urban center with lots of resources or in some tropical location.

If you can't afford going organic there are things you can do, and be healthy. This suggestion comes from a newsletter I receive, and yes peeling food is a helpful process.

Better yet, make a donation to our non-profit organization and receive a copy of our food cleaning 'Healthy Handout'(c)

Youll learn how you don't need to purchase veggie wash products, but how you can make your own and use it to clean a wide array of foods, more than fruits and vegetables.

"If you can't afford organic produce, you can still enjoy great health. If you can't buy organic produce, I would still encourage you to buy non-organic fruits and vegetables and enjoy a full array of different types.

However, I'd also recommend taking some additional steps with the non-organic produce that you purchase. It would be important to wash your non-organic fruit and vegetables well, using a natural bristle brush to lightly scrub the surface, so that you can remove some of the pesticide residues that may be present.

You may also want to peel conventionally grown cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes, and apples. This peeling recommendation is due to two factors. First, the outermost surfaces of fruits and vegetables may be the most affected by pesticide spraying. Second, the above types of produce often have petroleum-based wax coatings that may work against your best health. (The situation with the peeling of non-organic produce is exactly opposite from the situation with organic fruits and vegetables. With organic produce, you almost always want to keep the peels and skins intact because they are among the most nutrient-rich parts of any food.)

Do you have a farmer's market near you? If so, you may want to buy your produce there. Even if the produce you find there is not certified organic, chances are that it may contain less pesticide residues than produce available in larger grocery stores that do not focus on locally grown foods. Many small farmers don't go through the process of organic certification but still grow their produce with minimal, if any, agricultural chemicals."

In 2006, the Environmental Working Group released an updated report that identified foods in the conventional, non-organic food supply that contained the highest number of pesticide residues. The worst offenders, which were nicknamed the "dirty dozen," include:

# Apples
# Bell peppers
# Celery
# Cherries
# Grapes (imported, especially grapes from South American countries)
# Lettuce
# Nectarines
# Peaches
# Pears
# Potatoes
# Spinach
# Strawberries

EWG released an updated version of their report "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce" in 2006 in which they reported on pesticide residues found on 43 popular fresh fruits and vegetables. This report was based upon an analysis of over 100,000 U.S. government pesticide test results. The following are the 12 fruits and vegetables that they found least likely to have concentrated pesticide residues:

# Asparagus
# Avocados
# Bananas (fungicides are used in Bananas, NHN note)
# Broccoli
# Cabbage
# Corn (frozen)
# Kiwi
# Mangoes
# Onions
# Papaya
# Pineapple
# Sweet peas (frozen)

And from our main domain, posted since the early 1990s -

- from Citizen Petition.
When you eat bananas, melons, or oranges from the supermarket you are ingesting ethyl alcohol, isopropanol, oxidized polyethylene, shellac, propylene glycol, silicone, and sulfur dioxide.
When you eat tomatoes, avocado, peaches, and plums, you are ingesting 2-6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline, botran, ammonia compounds, and dimethylpolyoxane. (see www.garynull.com for information on aniline containing substances)
When you eat sweet potatoes, onions, parsnips, and beets you ingest fungicides imazilil, benomyl, and thiabenzadole. These substances are cancer causing as well as sources of birth defects, mutations, and immune system damage. They cannot be removed by peeling and are used to allow longer shelf life (not fresher or safer food).THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD WAX

Stop GMO Corn NOW!

UPDATE: 18 February
Please realise that it has been proven that GM products do alter tissue in the human boy and the long term effect of this alteration is unknown.
EU court attacks GM crop secrecy

Europe's top court has ruled that EU governments have no right to conceal the location of field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops.

The European Court of Justice was responding to a case brought by Pierre Azelvandre in Alsace, eastern France.

He wanted to know where GM field trials had taken place in his local area.

The only EU-approved GM crop is a strain of corn developed by the US firm Monsanto. But GM trials for research are legal, under strict controls.

The court in Luxembourg ruled on Tuesday that "information relating to the location of the release can in no case be kept confidential".

It said "considerations relating to the protection of public order and other secrets protected by law... cannot constitute reasons capable of restricting access to the information listed by the [EU] directive, including in particular those relating to the location of release".

On Monday, the European Commission failed in a bid to force the governments of France and Greece to allow Monsanto's GM corn to be grown in their countries.

Opponents of GM crops say more scientific data is needed, arguing that their long-term genetic impact on humans and wildlife could be harmful.

The biotech industry says the crops are as safe as traditional varieties, and that they would provide plentiful, cheaper food.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7896813.stm
Published: 2009/02/18 12:29:39 GMT
© BBC MMIX

Genetically Engineered Crops Creating More Pesticide Addiction in U.S.
According to a recent (December 2008) global summary report from the Worldwatch Institute:
1) The U.S. leads the world, by far, in genetically engineered crop production and consumption.

2) The widespread planting of crops genetically engineered to resist specific pesticides (which allows farmers to apply more pesticides to their
crops) has created 15 new species of plants known as "superweeds" that are resistant to commonly used pesticides. In 2008, these superweeds were discovered on hundreds of thousands of acres of U.S. farmland.

3) Due to the presence of these new superweeds, GM crop production has already led to a $60 million annual increase in pesticide use in the U.S.
Most of that money goes to the same companies that developed the GM crops that were supposed to reduce pesticide use in the first place.

Respond by this Friday, 6 Feb.
February 3, 2009

Tell USDA "NO" on new untested genetically engineered corn

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has given preliminary approval to Event 98140 corn, the first of a new generation of pesticide-promoting, genetically engineered (GE) crops designed to survive spraying with multiple herbicides. This latest petition to deregulate a new, untested, and complex GE crop poses food safety, environmental, and agronomic concerns that were not adequately evaluated by the previous Administration's USDA. APHIS has failed to adequately address a range of health and environmental risks in its draft environmental assessment (EA), including novel food safety concerns, increased pesticide use and increased prevalence of herbicide-resistant weeds.

To make matters worse, the USDA has limited the opportunity for public input, by only accepting comments until this Friday, February 6th!

Speak out now! Tell USDA to put the brakes on this approval, and prepare and publish a thorough Environmental Impact Statement before making a decision. Visit the Center for Food Safety's True Food Network at http://ga3.org/campaign/PioneerCorn TODAY to learn more and take action.

Thanks for all your support for family farmers and a sustainable future for all!

Sincerely,
The Farmers and Staff of Organic Valley Family of Farms

The Red Dress, Heart Month and Women's Health

"Heart Disease Doesn’t Care What You Wear -- It’s the Number 1 Killer of Women."

The primary goal of The Heart Truth campaign is to raise awareness that heart disease is the number one killer of women.

To support this goal, The Heart Truth campaign launched the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in February 2003.

A longtime friend of mine, about age 67, was found dead on the floor in her home just under two weeks ago. She had a good doctor but still her damaged heart probably just quit.

Another very dear friend of mine, and younger than I am, has been dealing with heart failure for a couple of years. Her doctor is described as rude and demeaning of her choice of more natural care which the doctor disdains. Still my friend seems to be doing fairly well.

Because I've spent over 30 years in the health care industry in various levels of nursing, administration and education I've known for quite some time that male focused mainstream medicine does not usually do studies on health issues that affect women. The treatments also are based on how men are affected as are the symptoms listed as warnings for heart attack. Only very recently has this started to change.

But, having the enquiring mind that I do, and the fact that I am an inveterate proponent of public health and natural care, I am just wondering this: Has anyone ever looked at the effect of Annual Screening Mammogram and the increase in the rate of heart disease in women?

It is a fact that radiation from x-ray exposure is cumulative and has a deleterious effect on thyroid, heart and breast health. Breast cancer is a side effect of mammogram. Heart disease and thyroid imbalance are side effects of radiation treatment for breast cancer.

What might your thoughts be?

Which Side Are You On?

Just about every day we are blasted with media hype and junk science that vitamins do not help you stay healthy.

Yet as Heart Month passes along in 2009 we just learn that cardiologists believe vitamins and supplements are a great benefit to people with heart health concerns. Yes, a whopping 75% of cardiologists endorse taking dietary supplements.

Now mind you - at the same time - your government, in the clutches of Big Pharma - wants to keep you from these health enhancing products.

"O baby its a wild world!"

Nearly three-quarters of cardiologists recommend taking dietary supplements to their patients, according to new research from the “Life…supplemented” Healthcare Professionals Impact Study.

WASHINGTON, D.C., FEBRUARY 3, 2009 — February may be American Heart Month, but keeping your heart healthy is a year-round proposition. Eating a nutritious diet and exercising regularly are two pillars of heart health. However, a new study shows that nearly three-quarters of cardiologists would add another recommendation: taking dietary supplements.

In fact, 73 percent of cardiologists believe this regimen—healthy diet + vitamins and other supplements + exercise—is essential for a healthy heart, according to new research from the "Life...supplemented" Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study. The study also showed that 72 percent of the nation's cardiologists recommend dietary supplements to their patients, and more than half (57 percent) take supplements themselves, with the most popular being multivitamins, omega-3/fish oils and vitamin C.

"Dietary supplements play an important role in a well-balanced health regimen, filling nutritional gaps and helping to promote overall health," says William Cooper, M.D., medical director of cardiovascular surgery at WellStar Kennestone Hospital, assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Emory University and advisor to the "Life...supplemented" campaign. "For those at high risk for heart disease, there's evidence that consistent use of certain supplements may help as part of a preventative program."

For example, Dr. Cooper points to the benefits of omega-3 fatty acid/fish oil supplements to help reduce inflammation, lower triglyceride levels and contribute to a healthy heart. He also recommends multivitamins, noting that the first step to heart health is maintaining overall health, and is a strong advocate of the benefits of fiber and phytosterol supplements for cholesterol-lowering effects. Other supplements to consider for heart health include antioxidants, like vitamins C and E, B vitamins, coenzyme Q10, calcium, potassium and magnesium. A healthy diet complemented by appropriate vitamins, minerals and other supplements is part of a long-term effective solution. In fact, 54 percent of cardiologists believe dietary supplements can play an important role in improving or maintaining the health of their patients.

If all this information sounds confusing, don't be afraid to ask a doctor for guidance. Sixty-two percent of cardiologists agree that one of their roles as a healthcare professional is to provide information to patients on dietary supplements. The ones they are most often asked about include omega-3/fish oil (80 percent), coenzyme Q10 (58 percent), vitamin E (39 percent), multivitamins (36 percent), and glucosamine and/or chondroitin (35 percent). A good way to start the conversation is to visit www.lifesupplemented.org and take "My Wellness Scorecard." It's a free, fast, fun interactive wellness assessment tool that helps identify realistic and personalized steps people can take toward better health. Take your results to your physician to develop a wellness regimen that works for you.

While a well-balanced wellness regimen that includes a healthy diet, vitamins and regular exercise is the foundation for long-term health, there are other steps you can add to help protect your heart:

Talk to your doctor; don't be afraid to ask questions. Form a partnership with your physician to set realistic goals for your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Engage in stress-reducing behaviors, such as yoga, meditation and massages, and be sure to get a good night's sleep on a regular basis.

Don't smoke. Research concludes that smoking is not good for your health or your heart.

Methodology: Results from the 2008 "Life...supplemented" HCP Impact Study went public in November 2008 and comprise three separate surveys — 300 cardiologists, 300 dermatologists and 300 orthopaedic specialists. Margins of sampling error at a 95 percent confidence level are ±5.7 percentage points for each of the specialty groups of healthcare professionals surveyed (dermatologists, cardiologists and orthopaedic specialists). A nominal honorarium was given to each healthcare professional completing the survey. Ipsos Public-Affairs conducted the survey online. The first "Life…supplemented" HCP Impact Study of primary care physicians, OB/GYNs and nurses was conducted online in November 2007.

About the "Life...supplemented" HCP Impact Study: The study is part of the "Life...supplemented" consumer wellness campaign, which is dedicated to driving awareness about the mainstream use of dietary supplements as an integral part of a proactive personal wellness regimen that combines healthy diet, supplements and exercise. The study evaluates the personal attitudes and use of dietary supplements by healthcare professionals and whether their attitudes toward supplements affect their clinical behavior and recommendations to patients. The "Life...supplemented" campaign is managed by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the leading trade association for the dietary supplement industry. For more information: www.lifesupplemented.org.

Media Contacts: CRT/tanaka
Kelly Bucher
757.640.1982 x28
kbucher@crt-tanaka.com
Erin Schaal
301.926.9261
eschaal@crt-tanaka.com
CRN
Erin Hlasney
202.204.7684
ehlasney@crnusa.org Video



As a cardiothoracic surgeon and director of cardiovascular surgery at Wellstar-Kennestone Hospital, Dr. Cooper believes that supplements play an important role in a well-balanced health regimen.

Nearly three-quarters of cardiologists recommend taking dietary supplements to their patients, according to new research from the “Life…supplemented” Healthcare Professionals Impact Study.

Related Link
www.lifesupplemented.org/

Costs and Cancer Care: Ruinous

Mainstream medicine costs are driven by the high cost of insurance and the high cost of pharmaceuticals for the most part.

I received a comment on my post Cancer Responds to Love and Natural Medicine and found it to be very positive, but long, and have posted it on my web site.

Related to the cancer issue and mainstream medicine is this about cost, and who ends up paying.

This also pertains to the discussion I had with Katherine Albrecht, and you may still review that program.

Some related links to health care issues may be found here -

Cost of Cancer Care Can Be Ruinous — Even for the Insured

Nick Mulcahy
Medscape Medical News 2009. © 2009 Medscape

February 10, 2009 – Cancer patients with private health insurance are at risk for huge medical debts, personal bankruptcy, and delaying or forgoing treatment.

These findings come from a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Cancer Society, which details the lives and illnesses of 20 patients and their struggles to maintain affordable health insurance and to pay for health care.

"A lot of the time, for a variety of reasons, people with cancer fall through the cracks, and [the heath insurance system] just doesn't work as well as it should. It just does not work," said Drew Altman, PhD, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, in Menlo Park, California. He was speaking at a press conference in Washington, DC, to unveil the report, entitled Spending to Survive: Cancer Patients Confront Holes in the Health Insurance System.

The report details major fault lines in health-insurance plans and business practices that leave individuals at risk for financial and personal catastrophe.

For example, high cost-sharing, caps on benefits, and lifetime maximums are all insurance practices that leave cancer patients vulnerable to high out-of-pocket healthcare costs, says the report. Some of the patients profiled in the new report amassed more than $100,000 in medical bills, despite having an insurance policy throughout treatment.

High out-of-pocket expenses are not uncommon. For instance, although the median total out-of-pocket treatment cost for breast cancer patients is $2616, 1 study found that 5% of privately insured breast cancer patients had total out-of-pocket costs that exceeded $31,000, said the report.

"If you get cancer, you may as well kiss everything good-bye," said prostate cancer survivor Tom Olszewski, a 62-year-old retiree from Texas. He talks about the medical costs and consequences of cancer in a video that accompanies the report.

Furthermore, new and more costly treatments are expected to increase the cost of cancer treatment further, added the report.

The patients in the new report were selected to illustrate typical phone callers to the American Cancer Society's Health Insurance Assistance Service. The service helps families navigate the healthcare system.

"Cancer patients too often find out that their insurance doesn't protect them when they need care the most," said John R. Seffrin, PhD, national chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, in a statement.

Too Sick to Work and Other Problems

Among the pitfalls for the insured is the fact that employment-based health insurance can run out for those too sick to work. Cancer patients who are unable to work can usually continue employer-sponsored insurance coverage for up to 18 months. However, the individual must pay the full premium — an additional cost that can be burdensome for patients typically living on a reduced income, noted the report.

Punitive medical underwriting is another major obstacle for cancer patients. Adequate and affordable coverage is often unavailable to cancer survivors and cancer patients, including those with good long-term prognoses, who lose or change jobs or somehow lose insurance.

Government Programs Also Problematic

High-risk pools designed to help cancer patients are not available to all and may be cost-prohibitive, notes the report. Not all states offer coverage through high-risk pools and, when this coverage is available, it is often much more expensive than other plans in the market.

When cancer patients are too sick to work, they may qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance income. After 2 years of receiving this income, patients can qualify for Medicare coverage.

However, these waiting periods can mean that some cancer patients — those who are too ill to work and have limited incomes — have no insurance coverage during that time, adds the report.

Furthermore, tight eligibility restrictions exclude many cancer patients. For example, cancer patients with low or limited incomes who are unable to afford comprehensive private insurance may still not qualify for Medicaid because of their income levels.

"While public programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, are a crucial source of coverage for millions of Americans, limits on eligibility prevent these programs from providing a safety net for many cancer patients," noted the report.

Delaying Treatment

A 2006 public poll found that 5% of insured cancer patients reported delaying or forgoing treatment because of costs, according to the report.

One cause of delayed treatment can be pre-existing-condition exclusions. A full year of continuous coverage is required under the federal HIPAA rules that govern pre-existing-condition exclusions for employees who switch to a new employer, noted the report.

The report chronicles the trials of Michael Courtney, a 41-year-old auto mechanic from New York with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. He switched employers after his diagnosis and chose the same insurance company that he had at his previous job. However, he learned that the insurer was able to consider his cancer a pre-existing condition because he did not have 12 months of continuous coverage prior to changing jobs.

In the end, Mr. Courtney decided to delay his treatment for 3 months until he exhausted his pre-existing-condition exclusion period.

Hepatitis: Dialysis with herbs effective treatment

I have had a hard copy of this article in my archives since 2005. I think it is important to put out this information as we do know that the typical mainstream treament with interferon leads to kidney and liver failure in many cases. It may also not be as effective as IV Vitamin C therapy.

Dialysis with herb extracts found effective in treating hepatitis
M. Dinesh Varma

In sessions over six months, patients eliminated Hepatitis B virus from the body

CHENNAI: Dialysis with a combination of herbs has proven to be effective in the treatment of acute Hepatitis B viral infection in research undertaken at a Chennai hospital.

When the extracts of the combination of herbs, the principal plant being `tulsi' accompanies by neem and phyllantus, was infused into patients using the same dialysis procedure adopted for those with renal failure, the patients recorded substantial drop in viral load.

At the completion of the dialysis sessions phased over a period of over six months the patients had eliminated the Hepatitis B virus from the body.

"The research combined ancient Ayurvedic healing principles with the dialysis procedures of modern medicine in an immunologic setting," said P. Ravichandran, chief nephrology consultant, Kidney Diseases and Institute of Organ Transplanation, St. Thomas Hospital.

The dosage of herbal medicine for each dialysis session was determined by an Ayurvedic physician at the hospital.

The successful adoption of reverse osmosis technology to facilitate herb extracts to bypass the skin barrier and reach bloodstream is the culmination of over three years of research. The infusion was able to stimulate T cells to produce natural interferon to bring down the viral load, said Dr. Ravichandran.

This holds significance as the success rate of treatment with expensive interferon injections is only about 30 per cent.

A pivot case study in the research was that of a 27-year-old patient who got infected with Hepatitis B at a blood donation camp.

A blood test revealed the condition to be thrombocytopenia, where the blood count is as low as 30,000 compared to the normal range of 2-4 lakhs because the normally protective spleen begins to annihilate platelets.

The patient's condition was so critical that he was initially referred to radiation oncologist, K. S. Sekar for a schedule of low dose splenic radiation.

It was only after platelet count improved to over one lakh that he was cleared for herbal dialysis.

After a series of dialysis schedules, the viral load dropped from 21 lakh to 1250 copies while haemoglobin picked up from 8.1 pre-treatment to 13.

Though the patient returned to work, a relapse three months later brought him back to the hospital. After the second schedule of herbal dialysis, a blood test returned negative for hepatitis virus.
© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu
Date:08/08/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/08/08/stories/2005080813940400.htm

Drugmaker's Dollar Daze

For several years I served as a resource person for a hospital based support group for people with CFIDS and FMS (Fibromyalgia).

During that time I worked jointly with an area massage therapist and a physician to develop and review the outcomes of a therapy program I designed.

My remedies are called the Heart Leaf Remedies. This package especially for FMS includes an herbal tincture with flower essences, 6-4 Remedy; our exclusive biosupplemente formula; our special magnesium based formula; a special massage oil, a salve for trigger points, and a special clay for healing baths. The basket of supplements was accompanied by a Tai Chi exercise video. Another of my remedies is called ADVENTURX and while it was developed for sports it has been helpful for people with FMS.

Several people chose to let the physician follow their progress and some were eventually relieved of the diagnosis.

Then about two or three years ago I came face to face with Lyrica, learning about its severe and very risky side effects first hand. And there is Cymbalta that has an atrocious set of statistics from the premarket studies.

Of course there is a great deal you can do to improve your health naturally if you are living with CFIDS and FMS.

And it is not drug related.

More of the story -

Drugmakers' push boosts 'murky' ailment
By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON – Two drugmakers spent hundreds of millions of dollars last year to raise awareness of a murky illness, helping boost sales of pills recently approved as treatments and drowning out unresolved questions — including whether it's a real disease at all.

Key components of the industry-funded buzz over the pain-and-fatigue ailment fibromyalgia are grants — more than $6 million donated by drugmakers Eli Lilly and Pfizer in the first three quarters of 2008 — to nonprofit groups for medical conferences and educational campaigns, an Associated Press analysis found.

That's more than they gave for more accepted ailments such as diabetes and Alzheimer's. Among grants tied to specific diseases, fibromyalgia ranked third for each company, behind only cancer and AIDS for Pfizer and cancer and depression for Lilly.

Fibromyalgia draws skepticism for several reasons. The cause is unknown. There are no tests to confirm a diagnosis. Many patients also fit the criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome and other pain ailments.

Experts don't doubt the patients are in pain. They differ on what to call it and how to treat it.

Many doctors and patients say the drugmakers are educating the medical establishment about a misunderstood illness, much as they did with depression in the 1980s. Those with fibromyalgia have often had to fight perceptions that they are hypochondriacs, or even faking their pain.

But critics say the companies are hyping fibromyalgia along with their treatments, and that the grantmaking is a textbook example of how drugmakers unduly influence doctors and patients.

"I think the purpose of most pharmaceutical company efforts is to do a little disease-mongering and to have people use their drugs," said Dr. Frederick Wolfe, who was lead author of the guidelines defining fibromyalgia in 1990 but has since become one of its leading skeptics.

Whatever the motive, the push has paid off. Between the first quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2008, sales rose from $395 million to $702 million for Pfizer's Lyrica, and $442 million to $721 million for Lilly's Cymbalta.

Cymbalta, an antidepressant, won Food and Drug Administration approval as a treatment for fibromyalgia in June. Lyrica, originally approved for epileptic seizures, was approved for fibromyalgia a year earlier.

Drugmakers respond to skepticism by pointing out that fibromyalgia is recognized by medical societies, including the American College of Rheumatology.

"I think what we're seeing here is just the evolution of greater awareness about a condition that has generally been neglected or poorly managed," said Steve Romano, a Pfizer vice president who oversees its neuroscience division. "And it's mainly being facilitated by the fact the FDA has now approved effective compounds."

The FDA approved the drugs because they've been shown to reduce pain in fibromyalgia patients, though it's not clear how. Some patients say the drugs can help, but the side effects include nausea, weight gain and drowsiness.

Helen Arellanes of Los Angeles was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in September 2007 and later left her job to go on disability. She takes five medications for pain, including Lyrica and Cymbalta.

"I call it my fibromyalgia fog, because I'm so medicated I go through the day feeling like I'm not really there," Arellanes said. "But if for some reason I miss a dose of medication, I'm in so much pain."

A single mother of three, Arellanes sometimes struggles to afford all her medications. She said she is grateful that a local Pfizer sales representative occasionally gives her free samples of Lyrica "to carry me through the month."

The drugmakers' grant-making is dwarfed by advertisement spending. Eli Lilly spent roughly $128.4 million in the first three quarters of 2008 on ads to promote Cymbalta, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Pfizer Inc. spent more than $125 million advertising Lyrica.

But some say the grants' influence goes much further than dollar figures suggest. Such efforts steer attention to diseases, influencing patients and doctors and making diagnosis more frequent, they say.

"The underlying purpose here is really marketing, and they do that by sponsoring symposia and hiring physicians to give lectures and prepare materials," said Wolfe, who directs the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases in Wichita, Kan.

Similar criticisms have dogged drugmakers' marketing of medicines for overactive bladder and restless legs syndrome.

Many of the grants go to educational programs for doctors that feature seminars on the latest treatments and discoveries.

Pfizer says it has no control over which experts are invited to the conferences it sponsors. Skeptics such as Wolfe are occasionally asked to attend.

The drug industry's grants also help fill out the budgets of nonprofit disease advocacy groups, which pay for educational programs and patient outreach and also fund some research.

"If we have a situation where we don't have that funding, medical education is going to come to a screeching halt, and it will impact the kind of care that patients will get," said Lynne Matallana, president of the National Fibromyalgia Association.

Matallana founded the group in 1997 after she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. A former advertising executive, Matallana said she visited 37 doctors before learning there was a name for the crushing pain she felt all over her body.

A decade later, her patient advocacy group is a $1.5 million-a-year operation that has successfully lobbied Congress for more research funding for fibromyalgia. Forty percent of the group's budget comes from corporate donations, such as the funds distributed by Pfizer and Eli Lilly.

Pfizer gave $2.2 million and Lilly gave $3.9 million in grants and donations related to fibromyalgia in the first three quarters of last year, the AP found. Those funds represented 4 percent of Pfizer's giving and about 9 percent of Eli Lilly's.

Eli Lilly, Pfizer and a handful of other companies began disclosing their grants only in the past two years, after coming under scrutiny from federal lawmakers.

The message in company TV commercials is clear. "Fibromyalgia is real," proclaimed one Lyrica ad. Researchers who've studied the condition for decades say it's not that simple.

Since the 1970s, Wolfe and a small group of specialists have debated the condition in the pages of medical journals. Depending on whom you ask, it is a disease, a syndrome, a set of symptoms or a behavior disorder.

The American College of Rheumatology estimates that between 6 million and 12 million people in the U.S. have fibromyalgia, more than 80 percent of them women. It's not clear how many cases are actually diagnosed, but Dr. Daniel Clauw of the University of Michigan said pharmaceutical industry market research shows roughly half are undiagnosed. People with fibromyalgia experience widespread muscle pain and other symptoms including fatigue, headache and depression.

After 30 years of studying the ailment, rheumatologist Dr. Don Goldenberg says fibromyalgia is still a "murky area."

"Doctors need labels and patients need labels," said Goldenberg, a professor of medicine at Tufts University. "In general, it's just more satisfying to tell people, 'You have X,' rather than, 'You have pain.'"

While Goldenberg continues to diagnose patients with fibromyalgia, some of his colleagues have stopped, saying the condition is a catchall covering a range of symptoms.

Dr. Nortin Hadler says telling people they have fibromyalgia can actually doom them to a life of suffering by reinforcing the idea that they have an incurable disease.

"It's been shown that if you are diagnosed with fibromyalgia, your chances for returning to a level of well-being that satisfies you are pretty dismal," said Hadler, a professor at the University of North Carolina, who has occasionally advised health insurers on how to deal with fibromyalgia.

Hadler said people labeled with fibromyalgia are indeed suffering, not from a medical disease but from a psychological condition. Instead of drugs, patients should receive therapy to help them "unlearn" their predicament, he said.

Research by the University of Michigan's Clauw suggests people with fibromyalgia experience pain differently because of abnormalities in their nervous system. Brain scans show unusual activity when the patients experience even minor pain, though there is no abnormality common to all.

Clauw's work, however, illustrates the knotty issues of drug company funding. He has done paid consulting work for the drugmakers, and he's received research funding from the National Fibromyalgia Research Association, which receives money from the drugmakers.

While Clauw acknowledges that Lyrica and Cymbalta do not work for everyone, he has little patience for experts who spend more time parsing definitions than helping patients.

"At the end of the day I don't care how you categorize this — it's a legitimate condition and these people are suffering," Clauw said.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Propecia and PSA

While there is quite a lot of evidence that the PSA is a very outdated and inaccurate test for this men's health concern, it contiues to be the most commonly used lab test for prostate cancer screening.

On 5 February, Johns Hopkins reports that the hair loss drug Propecia may inaccurately reflect PSA status.

Propecia and Your PSA February 5, 2009
By Johns Hopkins Health Alerts; www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com

If you're a man who takes the hair-growth drug Propecia, you should let your doctor know before you have your next PSA test, as it could affect the accuracy of the results.

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test measures an enzyme produced almost exclusively by the glandular cells of the prostate. It is secreted during ejaculation into the prostatic ducts that empty into the urethra. PSA liquefies semen after ejaculation, promoting the release of sperm.

Normally, only very small amounts of PSA are present in the blood. But an abnormality of the prostate can disrupt the normal architecture of the gland and create an opening for PSA to pass into the bloodstream. Thus, high blood levels of PSA can indicate prostate problems, including cancer.

A blood test to measure levels of PSA was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1986 as a way to determine whether prostate cancer had been treated successfully and to monitor for its recurrence. Today, however, PSA tests are FDA approved for prostate cancer detection and are widely used to screen men for the disease.

Now research suggests that the hair-growth medication Propecia (finasteride) significantly lowers a man's PSA level, producing misleading results and potentially masking the presence of prostate cancer.

Propecia is the same medication as Proscar, which is used to control benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The difference is the dosage -- 5 mg per day for Proscar vs. 1 mg for Propecia. Proscar is known to artificially lower PSA levels by about half, and doctors interpreting PSA results in these men compensate by doubling the PSA value. But Propecia's impact on PSA level has not been formally studied until now.

The researchers in the study which was reported in the journal Lancet Oncology (Volume 8, page 21) assigned 355 men age 40-60 to take either Propecia or a placebo (inactive pill) for 48 weeks. For analysis purposes, the men were grouped by age: 40-49 and 50-60. By the end of the study period, PSA levels among men in the younger group had dropped by an average of 40%; in the older group, PSA declined by an average of 50%. Among men taking the placebo, the PSA levels of the younger men had not changed, and the levels of the older men had risen by an average of 13%.

Bottom Line: If you use Propecia, be sure to let your physician know so that your PSA results can be adjusted accordingly.
© 2009 Medletter Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.