| Worst Pills, Best Pills Articles - June 2009 - For Subscribers |
| A Review of Lubiprostone (AMITIZA) Hypothyroidism: A Consumer’s Guide The BOTOX Label Gets Ready for its Close-up Alpha-Blockers for Prostate Enlargement: Drug Interactions |
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Sunday, June 14, 2009
WorstPills.org - your expert, independent second opinion for prescription drug information
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Healthy Legacy: Safer Products, Made Safely | Clean Water Action
Healthy Legacy: Safer Products, Made Safely
Toxic Products: Threats to Water & Health
Majority of Chemicals not Tested
Awareness is growing about the presence of toxic chemicals in our consumer products and the risks these chemicals pose to our health and the health of the environment. Over 80,000 chemicals are in production in the U.S. Very few have regulations governing their release to the environment or are subject to monitoring. In addition, less than ten percent of these chemicals have been tested for their effect on human health.
Toxins in Consumer Products
Due to improved detection methods, we are discovering new chemicals in our air, water, sediment and biota. Examples include: flame retardants, plasticizers, pesticides, fluorinated surfactants and others. These chemicals are used in our electronic equipment, baby bottles, personal care products, non-stick pans, plastic children's toys and many other products. As science has improved we're finding toxic contaminants in common products we use everyday. And they are making their way from products into our environment and our bodies.
Impacts on Water & Health
Water Contamination
Just as mercury containing products contributed to mercury pollution in the Great Lakes and other waterways, consumer product chemicals provide an equal threat to the health of our waters. While contamination from products containing mercury has decreased in the Great Lakes by 96% due to mercury product bans, concentrations of flame retardants increased exponentially between 1980 and 2000, doubling every three years.
Municipal sewage treatment facilities are a major source of water contamination from many types of chemicals. Chemicals from personal care products for example, are rinsed down the drain or excreted as waste and end up at sewage treatment facilities. These facilities are not designed to specifically remove these chemical compounds and as a result, many are released into the environment. Other sources of environmental contamination are industrial manufacturing releases and the release of chemicals from consumer products.
Hormone Disruption in Fish & People
Certain chemicals disrupt the hormone system and examples of this disruption have been observed in fish below municipal sewage treatment outflows. Effects included reduced reproductive ability and intersex gonads (female ovary tissue was found distributed throughout the male testes). Hormone disrupting chemicals include phthalates (found in vinyl children's toys) and bisphenol A (used in may baby bottles and reusable water bottle.
These hormone disrupting chemicals also impact humans. Bisphenol A and phthalates harm reproductive and developmental health and they do so at low levels. Children and fetuses are at greatest risk because exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals during critical times in development can result in life long adverse health impacts.
Additive Effects of Multiple Chemical Exposure
Other chemicals promote cancer development in fish. A recent study by Oregon State University found juvenile rainbow trout exposed to a known carcinogen and then exposed to PFOA (a chemical commonly used in non-stick cookware) developed liver cancer in 60 to 70 percent of the trout sampled. In contrast, only 10 to 30 percent of trout exposed only to the carcinogen developed cancer. This demonstrates how exposure to multiple chemicals can have an additive effect, in this case doubling the trout's incidence of cancer. People are similarly exposed to thousands of different chemicals and their combined impact on our health is unknown.
Healthy Legacy Coalition
Clean Water Action Alliance is determined to help Minnesotans achieve a healthy legacy. Working with 29 organizations from across the state in the Healthy Legacy Coalition, we promote healthy lives by supporting the production and use of everyday products without toxic chemicals. We advocate for consumer education, business leadership, and protective policies to advance safe alternatives in Minnesota.
Solutions
Current policies and practices are failing us. To leave a healthy legacy for our children, we need safe products and safe ways to make them. We have to stop using some toxic substances, develop new processes and substances that prevent harm, and protect future generations by making a transition to safe products and production.
Many companies are already beginning to use safer substances to make products. Many cities and states are beginning to require them. Minnesota can take action too with laws phasing out toxic chemicals and investment in initiatives that pave the way to safer products and a thriving economy.
Take Action: Create a Healthy Legacy for Minnesota
South St. Paul ECFE parents attend Healthy Home Party
Educate your community: Host a free Healthy Home Party in your home, church, school or other organization. At Healthy Home Parties you learn about products that contain chemicals of concern, their safer alternative and steps you can take in your home and community to create a healthy environment. Contact Kim LaBo to schedule a party in your community.
Use your purchasing power: Research products before you go to the store and buy non-toxic products. By purchasing safe products you can influence what products stores sell.
Tell your legislator to support protective policies: Contact your state legislators and let them know you want people and products to be free of toxic chemicals. Support Healthy Legacy's efforts to phase out toxic chemicals here in Minnesota.
Support the creation of safe chemicals: Encourage businesses to develop and use safer chemicals. Learn how green chemistry can help us transition to safer chemicals.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Cancer - 650,000 Lives Miscalculated: Alternative Health Newsletter
Cancer - 650,000 Lives Miscalculated: Alternative Health Newsletter:
Cancer - 650,000 Lives Miscalculated
Date: 6/8/2009
Posted By: Jon Barron
On May 27th, the American Cancer Society announced that 650,400 U.S. cancer deaths were avoided from the early 1990s through 2005. The headline on their release was Cancer Death Rates Steadily Declining. As might be expected, the media promptly picked up the story, and ran it over and over again with virtually identical headlines:
If you read the stories, you learned tidbits of information such as:
- The decline in cancer death rates has been greater for some groups than for others
- People with more education generally had bigger declines in their cancer death rates
- Access to cancer screening and medical care is part of the reason for that discrepancy
But overall, what you learned from reading the story or listening to it on the news is that 650,000 lives have been saved over the last 15 years and that the drop is driven in large part by better prevention, increased use of early detection practices, and improved treatments for cancer.
This is thrilling, exciting, and, oh yes, absolutely unsupported by the evidence at hand. With that in mind, let's take a look at the results presented in the actual study.
Cancer mortality trends
Let's begin by looking at the trend lines presented in the study.
The first thing we notice is that the lines track the time between diagnosis and death. The more time that elapses between the two events, the more favorable the curve. But, and this is something the medical community brags about, if you are detecting cancer early in its development through more frequent screening, then by definition you will have a longer time between diagnosis and death even if your treatment makes not a whit of difference in the final outcome. Thus earlier detection will create a more favorable graph even if you aren't living longer. Add to that the fact that some drugs such as Avastin are now extending survival by several months with some cancers (even if it does cause perforations in the colon), and the graph looks even better. So off the top, the claims that 650,000 deaths have been prevented represents, at least to some degree, a distortion of reality.
The next thing we notice is that mortality rates in the US really did peak in the early 90's and have dropped every year since. In fact, since 2000, the incidence and mortality rates for cancer in men have dropped about 1.8% a year -- in women, about .5% a year. Incidentally, this brings up a major red flag in the study: the disparity between men and women. But we'll talk more about that later. For now, though, let's focus on the overall trend line. I'm sure you're all familiar with the expression, "You can't see the forest for the trees." Unfortunately, this is an example, where the researchers decided not to show you the whole forest, but instead focus your attention on the prettiest trees. When you look at the bigger picture, it's nowhere near as pretty.
Source: US Mortality Data, 1930-2006, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2009.
Taking a longer term, whole forest perspective, we can now see that mortality rates for cancer have actually increased geometrically over the last 75 years, with only the smallest of dips in the last 15. In fact, cancer rates have climbed between 800 and 1700% during this timeframe, depending on whose statistics you use. This is a number that far transcends any increase that might be accounted for by population increase, the aging of the population, or even better detection. But most important of all, this huge increase in mortality rates happened during a timeframe in which the medical establishment prevented anyone outside their fraternity from providing care for cancer patients -- under fear of imprisonment. In fact, even today, it is still illegal in half the states in this country for even a medical doctor to use any form of treatment not sanctioned by the medical community. The bottom line is that if the medical community wants to take ownership of the downturn in cancer deaths since the early 90's, they must also take ownership of the half century before then when mortality rates climbed through the roof. If you do that, you're no longer talking about 650,000 lives saved; you're talking about millions of lives lost. But that's a much less sexy news headline.
Mortality trends by types of cancer
As we delve deeper into the study's data, we can see that overall cancer death rates decreased in men by 19.2% between 1990 and 2005, with decreases in lung (37%), prostate (24%), and colorectal (17%) cancer rates accounting for nearly 80% of the total decrease. Among women, overall cancer death rates between 1991 and 2005 decreased by 11.4%, with decreases in breast (37%) and colorectal (24%) cancer rates accounting for 60% of the total decrease. An interesting anomaly is that the percentage of deaths from lung cancer in women (the single largest killer of women at 27%) did not decrease during that timeframe. In fact, it increased. This too is an important red flag that we will discuss further in a moment.
But first we need to challenge one of the study's underlying assumptions. Is the drop in cancer mortality (such as it is) actually driven in large part by better prevention, increased use of early detection practices, and improved treatments for cancer? Or are there other possible explanations for the drop that are just as likely…if not more so? Let's take a look at the key cancers and see.
Lung cancer and smoking
Every year the Gallup Organization takes a survey of the smoking habits of the adult American public. They have been doing this for 60 years. The first ever Gallup poll on this question, back in 1944, showed that 41% of Americans reported smoking. Today, that figure is about 21%. This is great news with five caveats.
- Most of that drop has been among men. At one time, smoking was almost exclusively a male dominated sport. Today it is a coed activity. This fact alone accounts for the fact that cancer mortality rates have dropped so much less in women than men -- particularly as can be seen in lung cancer. And that, of course, explains why lung cancer mortality rates have not dropped equally in women for men and women as we discussed above.
The negative health effects of smoking usually take several decades to hit -- as do the benefits of quitting smoking.- The prevalence of smoking is no longer dropping and seems to have leveled off at about 21% in the US. But with many more movie stars and rock musicians taking up the habit and serving as role models for young people around the world, it may be poised to begin moving upward once again.
- Smoking rates are increasing significantly around the world -- particularly in developing countries such as China, where as many as 70% of all adult men now smoke heavily. This means another huge spike in cancer rates worldwide will be coming over the next 20-30 years, starting now.
- Medical treatments for lung cancer are pretty much futile. In fact, even using all medical treatments available, average five year survival rates for lung cancer patients is only about 15%. Any drop in deaths from lung cancer has to come from reductions in smoking, not treatment.
Incidentally, according to the CDC, smoking is responsible for about 157,000 deaths from lung cancer annually in the United States -- but is actually responsible for 443,000 deaths of all kinds each year. Now it's true that most of those deaths are related to cardiovascular issues and non-cancerous lung diseases such as emphysema and COPD. On the other hand, a noticeable number of cancers such as lip, tongue, and throat cancer are closely connected to smoking. But these aren't major statistical killers. What about colon cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer? Death from these cancers has dropped noticeably too. Does the decline in smoking affect those mortality rates too?
Colon cancer
Surprise, surprise, surprise! A study from the American Cancer Society found that indeed there is a substantial connection between smoking and colon cancer. Male smokers were found to have a 34% higher risk of dying from colon cancer. Female smokers in the study had a 43% higher risk of death. That means that a 50% reduction in smoking rates in the US would have a substantial impact on colorectal cancer rates, the second leading cause of deaths from cancer in men and women combined.
This would substantially explain why the mortality rates from colorectal cancer have dropped so significantly over the last few years -- but not completely. Is improved medical care the only explanation for the rest of the drop? Not at all! As it turns out, as smoking has declined in the US, there has been a concomitant rise in the popularity of dietary supplements. In fact, during the last decade the use of alternative medicines, particularly herbal products, has increased considerably. In 2001, Americans spent $4.2 billion on herbs and other botanical remedies -- rising to an estimated $6 billion in 2008. In fact, a conservative 50% of Americans now use supplements of some kind on a daily basis. Perhaps this too has some impact on the reduced mortality rates from cancer. I realize the medical community would disagree, and in fact, it was not even mentioned in the American Cancer Society Study cited at the top of the newsletter. But a reasonable person might ask if a sea change in the nutritional habits of 50% of the country might have some impact on health and mortality rates? It's certainly a possibility.
In any case, we can explain the biggest part of the improvement in mortality rates in the two leading cancer killers (lung and colon) as having nothing to do with medical care at all. Does that mean that improved medical care has had no impact? Not at all! There's no question that discovering colon cancer at a very early stage and removing it can pretty much end that manifestation of the cancer. And thus you remain cancer free until such time as your body chooses to manifest the cancer again -- either as colon cancer or some other form. The problem is that simply removing the cancer, or poisoning your body with chemotherapy drugs does not change the underlying conditions in your body that caused the cancer to manifest in the first place.
Think about this for a moment since your doctor won't -- if you don't change the underlying conditions that caused your body to manifest cancer in the first place, the odds that it will manifest cancer again sometime down the road are high. Surgery, radiation, and chemo do not change underlying conditions. They merely work on the immediate manifestation.
Let's continue.
Prostate cancer
For years, it was thought there was no connection between prostate cancer and smoking, but in fact there appears to be one. It's not necessarily that large, and it's certainly not enough to account for the entire drop in prostate cancer deaths seen in men. So we need to look elsewhere.
And it would seem that the primary factor in the increased incidence of prostate cancer is the tremendous increase in chemical estrogens released into the environment. In addition, as testosterone levels drop with age, there is, in many cases, a concomitant rise in estradiol levels -- the major reason that many older men develop breasts. What makes estradiol so insidious is that it has a particular affinity for prostate tissue. And just as with women and breast tissue, estradiol stimulates cell growth in men too (in their prostates) and is potentially cancerous. This, then, is one of the main factors involved in the dramatically increased incidence of prostate cancer. Estradiol stimulates the BCL2 gene, which is the gene responsible for stopping cell death. What at first glance sounds like a positive is, upon closer inspection, not. When cell death in prostate tissue is blocked, cell growth continues unabated, becoming a major contributing factor in the enlargement of the prostate and the development of prostate cancer.
And that's why exposure to xenoestrogens (petroleum based chemical estrogens, potent in amounts as small as a billionth of a gram) offers a likely explanation as to why the incidence of prostate cancer has increased so dramatically over the last few decades; but what explains why the mortality rates have dropped? Is there any explanation other than improved medical care that can explain it? And the answer, once again, is yes. We've already mentioned the huge increase in the sale of herbal and dietary supplements. And in fact, men's prostate formulas containing ingredients such as Saw palmetto, Nettles, Pygeum Africanum, and pollen extract account for a large chunk of those sales. So once again, a reasonable person must ask if millions of men suddenly using such formulas might have some impact on the incidence and mortality rates vis-a-vis prostate cancer. And again, one must answer, "It's certainly a possibility." And once again, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation get to pick up the pieces -- thus accounting for a small part of the improvement.
Breast Cancer
As with prostate cancer, the primary factor in the huge increase in breast cancer we've seen over the last few decades is exposure to chemical estrogens in the environment. And once again, improved medical treatment is not the only viable explanation for the drop in mortality rates. Sales of all-natural progesterone crèmes have literally exploded since Dr. John R. Lee published his first book on the subject over a decade ago. A reasonable person must once again assume that this has had in impact.
You trust your doctor, don't you?
Before I conclude this newsletter, there's one other thing I should mention. When it comes to doctors being on the right side of supplements and lifestyle impacting your health, it's worth noting that they are, at best, late comers to the game -- and at worst, frequently on the wrong side of the issue. Let me give you an example immediately at hand. As we've explained in some detail in this issue, smoking is one of the primary factors determining both the incidence and mortality rates from cancer. So what's the problem? Doctors are opposed to cigarettes, are they not?
And the answer is yes, they are "now." But back just a few decades ago, when the alternative health community was screaming about the dangers of smoking, the medical community…not so much. In fact, for a time, many medical doctors were actually promoting cigarette smoking as an aid to weight loss. Let me repeat that. For a time, many medical doctors were actually promoting cigarette smoking as an aid to weight loss. And it wasn't just doctors. The American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society refused to take an anti-smoking position until it was literally forced upon them. For those of you who are old enough think back. Remember?
Quite simply, doctors are experts when it comes to doctoring. They are not experts when it comes to diet, nutrition, supplements, and alternative therapies. Asking a doctor for advice or impartiality when it comes to these issues is like asking an National Football League owner what he thinks of professional soccer. The bottom line is that there are many things that doctors do well. If you're in an automobile accident, you want a medical doctor to put you back together, not an herbalist. But when it comes to issues of diet, environment, and supplements as they relate to health, the medical community is at best woefully ignorant, and at worst highly biased against giving you the information you need to optimize your health.
650,000 deaths avoided -- not necessarily
When it comes to cancer, we live in very barbaric times what with doctors choosing to cut, burn, and poison it out of your body. A hundred years from now, people will be appalled when they read how we treated cancer in 2009. And in fact, some very interesting therapies such as vaccinations that stimulate your immune system to fight cancer are in testing and right around the corner. The future may be closer than we think. But for now, the medical community is doing so badly. As the study itself points out, cancer still accounts for more deaths than heart disease in persons younger than 85 years of age. It is only by distorting the numbers, as we have seen, that the medical community gets to claim 650,000 lives saved. When dealing with medical statistics, I am always reminded of Benjamin Disraeli, the former Prime Minister of England, who was reportedly fond of saying, "There are three kinds of lies in the world: lies, damn lies, and statistics."
Unfortunately, when dealing with cancer, playing games with statistics can lead to death -- as it often does in the US and throughout the world. If you don't want to be just another statistic, you might want to look at alternatives. If you have not already done so, you might want to listen to my talk on the issue, Cancer, the Big Lie.
FYI - homework 4
The Six dimensions of health care performance, do not apply for websites. A website has different elements of functionality and usefulness other than overall "health care performance." All the performance elements would be based on the proper enacting and using the information on the website. If I miss-read or skip steps in any health recommendations the performance measures of safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity will be dismal regardless of what the website says or provides. The elements of quality are different for websites to be more than purely subjective. Website impact on my health would regard the monitor radiation effects on my eyes, the keyboard and mouse effects on my hands for example regarding carpal tunnel syndrome. Each individual experience will bring a different quality of Health Care Performance. If I viewed the website in the library or on a big flat plasma screen the quality of the experience will be substantially different. However, another class conducted a "survey" of 30 students with the question "What is a Quality Website?" This resulted in the attached Pareto Diagram where 1) Functionality, 2) Aesthetics, 3) Truth and 4) Simplicity were the top four rated elements of Quality. I returned to the original article "What's New (Or Improved) In Health Sites" published at the Wall Street Journal website: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123128697040459161.html where I selected from their additional health websites listed: QualityHealth.com—Offers health-risk assessments, symptom checker, and personalized lists of questions to ask your doctor based on conditions and symptoms. Allows users to create blogs and join online communities. 1) Functionality - is great. Each click works, I can find and use things easily. They have a "Symptom Checker" where you can click on the part of the body that is hurting where a list of symptoms comes up to read and review. It's very simple and easy to use, where I can get detailed information about symptoms, causes and solutions with references. There is also an alphabetical drug database which includes important topics such as Foods to Avoid, Storage & Disposal, Warnings and Side- effects. This data does NOT have a list of references so I tend to wonder if it is promoted or supported by drug sales. 2) Aesthetics - this website is easy to read. The colors are pleasing to my eye and I was able to make the text size larger very easily. They have some ads in the normal places on the top and right-side down the margins, but nothing too annoying or excessive. The videos did include intro-commercials I've seen before, somewhat annoying, but not excessive. The allergy video came with all sorts of ads for assorted allergy drugs. But the Video included homeopathic techniques so it's not only one perspective. I did click on a few other sites listed in this article and closed it after the ads got too annoying. This site does have a membership option where I can get newsletter and coupons for my needs, but I did not see if I can also adjust the colors and format to my taste as well. Often members can shut-off ads for a fee. 3) Truth – As mentioned easier there are references posted with information given. The website is a registered member of the Health On the Net Foundation designed to "promote the effective and reliable use of the new technologies for telemedicine in healthcare around the world." www.hon.ch was created to protect citizens from misleading health information. I was impressed to see so many different perspectives, and even surprised by many homeopathic videos. 4) Simplicity – accessing the information was easy. I could find data easily, and most the tools and menus were self-explanatory. It was easy to navigate and the site map, about and other features are within website standards. Equally addressing the "health care performance" terms as well:
Weakness – I was not able to find several drugs that were advertised on their website. You think they would be careful only to advertise things that they provided detailed information about. It's not clear where the drug data comes from and when advertised drugs are not listed I tend to feel there is something deceptive here which makes me more skeptical on everything else I found. Though talking about Green Tea and Yoga for Allergies was inspiring. |
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
LedgerGermane - links about politics, cover ups, mind control and really weird shit
LedgerGermane - links about politics, cover ups, mind control and really weird shit: "Singularity University is going to be 10^9 (ten to the ninth) and Mike Simpson the president of ISU had an addition to it which is a very important one where he said 10^9+ (ten to the ninth plus) meaning how do we affect a billion people positively in ten years."
Monday, June 01, 2009
Gabriel Cousens M.D. discusses Swine (H1N1) Flu
| Gabriel Cousens M.D. on the Swine H1N1 Flu Virus "Although the war between the light and the dark has already been won, there are still some battles to be fought. Please keep a positive attitude and be at Peace" Gabriel Cousens M.D. Full Preparation, Prevention and Protection Protocol Below Dear Friend, Although everything is possible, the emergence of the swine flu pandemic can only happen if this is a genetically engineered virus. As in the past with the avian flu pandemic in limiting serious amounts of the population, we pray this will also fail. There is one of the 72 names pronounced: nun lamed kaf, which is specific for nullifying plagues. Gabriel encourages all people who get this to spend a little bit of time each day repeating this mantra with visualizations of this virus dying out and their attempt at creating a pandemic failing and visualizing the whole world being healthy and happy. The previous protocol for protecting against the viral flu that the Tree of Life has put out in the past is very effective against this human bird swine flu and for protecting the immune system combined with adequate sleep, live food, good hydration, and a loving attitude. This protocol applies to building the immune system against all flus. Previous vaccination programs have been between 0 and 14% effective according to the CDC and 1% effective according to Israli research. Israeli research has also shown that vaccinations compromise the immune system. Research at John's Hopkins over a 10-year period showed that 5 consecutive flu vaccinations resulted in 10 times greater amounts of Alzheimer's Disease, which fits with research by Russell Blaylock M.D. Neuro Surgeon, which suggests that one single vaccination can cause brain inflammation that can last up to 2 years. Gabriel recommends people have some level of preparedness and in advance an overall flu protocol. Gabriel also recommends getting a bio-photon machine, which neutralizes viruses and vaccinations. These are available through the Tree of Life Dispensary. Please contact our pharmacy (866 394 2520 ext 202/218) and order your supplies from the flu protocol ASAP! Although the war between the light and the dark has already been won, there are still some battles to be fought. Please keep a positive attitude and be at Peace. Gabriel sends blessings of health, peace, and joy to everyone. Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, M.D., M.D.(H), Diplomat of Ayurveda Healthy Lifestyle Support Resources Call the Dispensary for Nutritional support 520 394 2520 ext 202 or 218 Call Reservations for Detox, Education in Food Prep & Farming and info on Medical Whole Person Healing 866 394 2520 ext 201/216 Other Great Online Educational References: www.naturalnews.com
EMAIL US IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PDF OF THIS FILE 1. The key is to lead a healthy/happy lifestyle which builds the immune system. Leading as low stress, love-filled, and conscious a lifestyle as possible is the most important protector and builder of the immune system. 2. This includes adequate sleep—there is an estimated 100 million in the U.S. who are sleep deprived. Seven to eight hours is usually adequate, especially if it includes the hours between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am, when the immune system most actively rejuvenates itself. 3. Drinking high quality water about ½ the body weight in oz or so is urinating every 1-2 hours. Chapter 29, "Living Water," in Spiritual Nutrition gives a good description of safe, high energy water with an activated-distilled approach which is the most practical way to get the most pure water. 4. Adequate nutrition. 5. 15-30 minutes of sunlight per day.
In protecting oneself against avian bird flu it is imperative that we counter the destructive affects of the virus. To do this we suggest taking vitamins, minerals, and herbs that are collectively: (a) Anti-viral (b) Anti-oxidant (c) Anti-inflammatory (d) Anti-immune (e) Anti-cytokine storm (f) Alkalinizing (g) Adrenal building.
The Avian flu viral infection has five components that affect us: 1. Cytokine storm à inflammation of the lungs. This is the main cause of death. 2. Effect of the virus on the cells. 3. Free radical overload as a result of viral infection that weakens people and suppresses the immune system. 4. The weak immune system before-the-fact is further compromised by the virus itself. 5. Adrenal exhaustion, potentially leading to a fatal case of hemorrhagic adrenals.
A proper approach to prevention and treatment needs to take into account all these factors.
Although an Avian bird flu pandemic is only a possibility, pandemics have occurred throughout history, and we should be prepared [ourselves, well beyond the approach of governmental organizations, which do not address any of the main preventative measures discussed here.] The following is a list of some of the major pandemics to make the point and possibility clear.
1485 Flu-like malady in England where hundreds of thousands were sick. Many died. 1580 first recorded epidemic in Europe which came to Asia and Africa. 1700 Pandemics 1729-30 1732-1733 1781-1782 1830 1831 1833-1834 1847-1848 1878 Fowl plague, now called the avian influenza. 1889-1890 Russian flu spread from Russia to America. 1900 Major epidemic 1918 and 1920 Between 20 to 100 million died. 1924 First outbreak of the avian flu. 1957-1958 Pandemic – 1 million people worldwide 1968-1969 Hong Kong Flu – 34,000 Americans 1976 Swine Flu – Never really broke out. More people died from the vaccinations than the flu. There were 25 Deaths from the Guillain-Barre Syndrome. 1997 H-5 N-1 Bird Flu There have been approximately 120 cases.
THREE LEVELS OF ACTION As in many aspects of late, preparation is the key to success. This approach covers what to do in three separate situations, which we code:
It is very important that we maintain a certain amount of awareness about this. In terms of preparation at the Green Level, the best thing we can do is: don't take a vaccination. The research is not definitive, but very suggestive that not only do vaccinations not help, but they can even hurt us. To be specific, there is research that shows that vaccinations actually decrease your ability to cope with viruses. That is a significant statement. Research by Dr. Haim Deninberg of Hadaza University in Jerusalem found that people that have been given flu vaccines had lower antibody levels against the three major strains of flu than those who had not been vaccinated. In other words, it in fact weakened the immune system. Flu shots may actually be creating a pattern of dependence. Some research in Finland showed two groups of elderly people given the flu shot had an only 1% lower incidence of flu than the placebo group. [CHECK THIS SOURCE] There are a lot of additional dangers to vaccinations. Vaccines contain toxic metals and compounds such as formaldehyde, mercury, and aluminum phosphate. Other things that are in various vaccines are: monkey kidneys, antibiotics, calf serum, and chick embryo. These are all foreign proteins which can cause an adverse reaction in the recipient. The reaction is something for children we definitely know of, but the Guillain-Barre occurs in primarily adults. We must consider the Guillain-Barre Sydrome, an auto-immune response of the nervous system which may leave one completely paralyzed from the neck down or cause death. I actually treated someone for a complete paralysis. What we find is that when immunity to a disease is acquired naturally, a possible re-infection is only 3%; whereas where a vaccination is administered the re-infection rate is up to 80%. Finally, regarding our children, vaccines have been associated with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and autism. We need to be very careful about this whole picture.
once we understand that vaccinations are not the key and may weaken our defense system, or actually cause irreversible disease or death, we are more free to go to the fundamentals of health and building the immune system. it takes us back to something fundamental, which is our strategy.
This involves choosing to lead a really healthy, low-stress life, with lots of herbal and anti-viral foods such as: Garlic; shitake mushroom; aloe vera; onion; ginger; spirulina; cruciferous vegetables; elderberries; berries. We want to have Vitamin C, A, E; the minerals zinc and selenium; lomatium; astragalus; St. John's Wort; Echinacea; licorice; lemon balm; green tea; grapefruit seed extract[1]; and cat's claw. We want to keep our stress low, be at peace with the world, get plenty of hydration, and lymphatic protection.
This all means that although there are no guarantees, we are providing the maximum sort of protection for ourselves on all levels.
GREEN LEVEL
THE KEY APPROACH TO THE BIRD FLU IS PREVENTION. At the Green Level, this means a healthy diet. This is going to be an 80-100 percent live-food diet; a diet that inhibits free-radical production; enhances enzyme production; inactivates viruses; and is high in certain nutrients that build the immune system. One of the most important nutrients is Vitamin C. We want to have a diet that is high in vitamin C, and we recommend at the Green Level to certainly have lots of vegetables and fruit, and be taking a highly-potent C. The type that I recommend is a whole-food C, such as Pure Radiance C, Camu-Camu, or Acerola berries. The diet should be a low-glycemic diet that is high in vegetables, leafy greens, and sea vegetables. Also included are: Green superfood powders; grasses; sprouts; the superfoods: bee pollen, cacao, maca, spirulina (which has specific anti-viral effects), chlorella, blue-green algae (which has stem cell stimulants in it and anti-viral qualities), and goji berries. For some cayenne pepper works good as a carrier. Although garlic is not the best for meditation, garlic can be used at the Yellow Level, as it has potent anti-viral effects. Aloe vera, which has anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial properties and is a very high-ormus containing food.Noni is good, as well. These are extremely good anti-viral, immune-stimulating foods.
Other excellent foods and herbs at the Green Level include: Oregano; Cloves; Paprika; Thyme; Peppermint; Lemon Balm; Curcurum; Green Tea; Ginger is extremely good and has many antiviral qualities to it; St. John's Wort is also a very powerful antiviral herb; and Una de Gato.
Natural Cellular Defense (NCD) has specific anti-viral, antioxidant, and alkalinizing qualities. Studies show that it removes pesticides and heavy metals from the body, strengthening the immune system and making it an excellent Green Level supplement. I recommend 10 drops 3x/day at the Green Level. At the Yellow Level, 15 drops 4x/day, and at the Red Level, 3 drops each hour.
We should avoid all poultry products. Obviously the issue of poultry is akin to Mad Cow Disease—we would not be talking about Avian Bird Flu if the people were not exploiting the bird population. One way to make it clear is: don't eat the birds, or, "chicken and turkey are for the birds, they are not for human beings."
It is important to be well hydrated with clean water. This keeps the system from getting congested and keeps the lymph going. A lifestyle that moves the lymph is important. One of the best and easiest ways to support lymph circulation is rebounding. Moderate exercise is also good for the immune system.
There are certain nutrients that are in the Green Level that are important. Zinc[2] may be the most important antioxidant known, and effects over 300 enzymes. A diet that is high in pumpkin and sunflower seeds is good. Zinc turns out to be extraordinarily important for protection and for healing/treatment of Avian bird flu. One of the dangerous aspects of the Avian bird flu is what we call the cytokine storm. This is an imbalance between Thymic Hormone-1 and -2, which results in inflammation and edema of the lungs and is the major cause of death in Avian bird flu. Zinc corrects the imbalance between TH-1 and TH-2. Zinc re-establishes the hormonal balance that prevents and ameliorates the cytokine storm. There is good evidence that zinc salts also potentiate ten-fold the anti-viral action of the human cytokine interferon Alpha. Zinc is an essential component of the specific SOD enzymes, which can significantly reduce mortality rates, following a lung infection. Zinc also decreases the severity and duration of viral and other infections. While it does not kill viruses and bacteria, zinc does stop them from reproducing, and is therefore useful to support the immune system. Zinc quickly dissolves and moves throughout the body fluids - especially saliva and nasal secretions - increasing the strength of the lung epithelial airways, so that they will become less inflamed. Unfortunately today there is a deficiency of zinc around the world, so we may want to add into the Level Green diet a zinc supplement. Generally, we recommend the Angstrom zinc supplements, because zinc is absorbed through the mouth, which is better than gut absorption. At the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, we use Mother Earth's zinc. I recommend a teaspoon, 1-3 times/day to be held in the mouth. This is good in terms of just a tablet, around 25-50 mg/day is important. 50 mg is closer to a therapeutic dose.
Selenium is an important preventative nutrient at the Green Level ½ tsp 2x/day. There are natural sources of selenium, such as Ashitaba or 3 Brazil Nuts per day. You do need to be mindful of excessive selenium consumption.
Vitamin C is one of the other major protective nutrients. It is a super antioxidant. Under viral attack we get many free radical problems. It is a cofactor for enzyme reactions, and it inactivates viruses, and inhibits lung inflammation, and obviously, the cytokine storm. In oxidating environments Vitamin C increases the release of superoxides and nitric acid to counter the free radicals. Vitamin C is one of the most important things we can use to protect us. The average dose at the preventative level is 3 grams/day of the Pure Radiance C and up to 8,000 mg per half hour if there is actually an infection, so this is a large range of C. At the Red Level, one can use Vitamin C up to bowel tolerance (where one gets gas and slight diarrhea), and then slightly decrease the amount.
B-12[3] is another very important nutrient. B-12 has been shown to minimize the negative effects of the cytokine storm. [Cytokine storms are really the key physiology to focus on, in terms of the people dying from Avian flu.]
Vitamin A is another crucial nutrient. We get that in all our leafy greens, and we have a source of A to be used in an acute way that we can go up to 100,000 IU. We have to be careful with A—the beta carotenes will do it in a preventive way. The Vitamin A stimulates the [ ] in the upper respiratory tract.
N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) and Thio-Dox makes glutathionine, which is a powerful immune stimulant and antioxidant to take preventatively at the Green Level.
YELLOW LEVEL The Yellow Level requires deeper attention. We want to keep to moderate exercise. We want to start to apply some of our herbal combinations. One is garlic. You can soak it in lemon juice 24-48 hours, or you can take allicin concentrates. You may want to take Echinacea preventatively; the mushrooms[4] Reishi, Shitake, and Maitake; Agaricus blazei; cordyceps;licorice root is very antiviral. Astragalus - known as loco weed - is specifically good for avian flu at the Red Level. Increase your amount of aloe vera. Russian Immune is also a good tonic. These are more specific Yellow Level preventatives. They really begin to protect the system in a good way.
RED LEVEL During this time, the Green Level and Yellow Level diet of Phase 1 and 1.5 is where we are.[5] At the Red Level you may want to consider a green juice fast to best help your system alkalize.
At the Red Level, we are adding a whole other level of input by adding some very specific treatment protocols, which we have outlined. Vitamin C becomes 8,000 mg every 30 minutes;B-12 is already on board.
Our Red Level protocol includes a set of supplements, one of the primary ones is Sambucol, which has been shown to knock out a whole variety of flus—20 percent by day one and up to 90 percent by day three. One should take it at the beginning of the flu. Sambucol is a commercial name for elderberry.
One of the things that we heard about the flu epidemic in 1917 was that many people died from hemorrhagic adrenals, due to adrenal stress. So we are adding Quantum Adaptogen at the Green Level once to twice a day depending, Yellow Level 1-2 tabs 2x/day, and at the Red Level, 3 tabs 3x/day. At the Yellow Level, we add Russian Choice Immune 1 cap 2x/day and at the Red Level 3 caps 4x/day. Supreme Protector 1 cap/day at the Yellow Level, 2 caps 3x/day at the Red Level. Also for adrenal support, Tachyon Siberian Ginseng called OS Gin, 1 drop/day. You can also use OS 25. Yellow 1 drop 2x/day, and then 1 drop 4x/day at the Red Level.
Immutol at the Yellow Level 1 cap 2x/day and 3 caps 4x/day at Red Level.
Illumination, which has star anise (what Tamiflu is made from). We start with 1 teaspoon/day at the Green Level. 1 teaspoon 2x/day at the Yellow Level, and 1 teaspoon 4x/day at the Red Level. It is excellent for the immune and adrenal system.
Flumonia, which has a special formulation with Lomatium in it, is used primarily at the Red Level 1 drop/hour. It is specific for SARS and Avian bird flu.
The Allicidin, from a garlic concentrate, 1-2 drops in the nose 2x/day with a squirt in the nose of Peaceful Mountain Sinusitis or Cold and Flu. At the Red Level, 1-2 drops in the nostril 4x/day, 1 squirt each nostril per hour.
Vitamin E has antiviral factors. Initially at the Green Level use 400 IU, and then at the Red Level going up to 800-1600 IU.
At the Red Level, Argentum 23, 1 tsp 5x/day can be used. It is specifically anti-viral and antibacterial. At the Red Level you can take Argentum 23 in a nebulizer, which we do offer at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. Appropriate amounts are 2.5 - 5 cc twice daily all the way up to hourly.
One of the great things that has been known for hundreds of years and has been used in various plagues is aromatherapy. We have designed one called Mighty Mite, which at the Yellow Level would be 5 drops daily. At the Red Level 5 drops up to 4x/day. It may have a hard effect on the liver, and should only be used for 4-7 days in a row. Another aromatherapy we have developed is Lung Lover, made from frankincense, myrrh, clove, ravensara, hyssop, eucalyptus globulus.
OTHER PREPARATIONS FOR A YELLOW OR RED LEVEL EVENT There are things you may also want to prepare for your protection.
A good water supply – if everyone is sick there may be a water shortage. If you are on electricity, you water supply may go down in the event of an outage. As a backup, you may want to have a Katadyn hand-pump water filter and a Steripen, which uses ultraviolet light.
Toilet paper
Wind-up AM/FM Radio to keep up with what is going on, such as the Eton Grundig FR300, or others available at Radio Shack or Red Cross.
Stay off the Streets. You don't have to be in a panic, but be very much at peace. Stay off the streets because quarantines will be in effect. According to the CDC, there is no real difference between in symptoms between regular flu and avian flu in the initial stages. You do not want to be in a place where you are quarantined with other sick people who actually have the Avian bird flu.
CONCLUSION The estimates are that if Avian flu were to become a plague, 1% of the population in the U.S. might die, and estimates are up to 30% of the population would get flu symptoms. Estimates are that up to one billion would die in the world. Using these very simple nutritional and life style approaches, we do not have to be a part of that 1 billion people.
Following this approach, you have a very good chance of either protecting yourself completely against the flu or minimizing its effects on you.
May all those who receive this be blessed with this knowledge and information, and know that we can do something about this possibility. Preparation leads to prevention and protection.
MENTIONED APART FROM THE REST OF THE TEXT:
Immune Builder by Mushroom Science (shitake, maitake – a blend of _______ mushrooms Host Defense by New Chapter – Another excellent mushroom blend (shitake, maitake, reishi, lion's mane Influenzium (sp?) – A homeopathic Thiodox + NAC
FURTHER RESOURCES
[4] There are some excellent mushroom combinations for the Yellow Level listed in the chart following this discussion. [5] See Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. for a detailed investigation of a vegan/live low-glycemic index diet and a food phases chart for guidance. [6] For a thorough discussion of oxygen therapies including rectal ozone, see Flood Your Body With Oxygen by Ed McCabe. |
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