Month: May 2012

by: Craig Stellpflug

(NaturalNews) Autism was once thought to be a psychological disorder because of the lack of eye contact that is hallmark in the child with autism. But autism cannot be treated and cured with psycho-therapy or psychotropic drugs.

by: Willow Tohi

(NaturalNews) More than thirty million people in the U.S. suffer from migraine headaches. That means that there is a migraine sufferer in twenty five percent of households, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders. Traditionally, sufferers use prescription drugs – 2.5 times more than the amount non-sufferers use – to help them get through it. However, even with the prescriptions, most experience an inability to function normally while having a migraine. The American Academy of Neurology says migraines range in severity and often come with a variety of symptoms from pulsating and throbbing pain, to light and sound sensitivity, to nausea and vomiting. There are a variety of triggers, including:

Migraine & Headache Protocol
Membrane Complex
Magnesium Oil

by: D Holt

(NaturalNews) After the scandal of Thalidomide, it was said that important lessons were learned, and that it should never happen again. Now it comes to light that another set of drugs are causing birth defects, and have been since the seventies.

Detox Protocol
Colloidal Gold

by: John Phillip

(NaturalNews) Systemic inflammation is a primary factor in the development and progression of many chronic conditions ranging from heart disease and stroke to diabetes, dementia, and cancer. Most people have no idea that their risk of these conditions is dramatically increased, as disease-causing chemical messengers are continually released throughout the body as a result of low level inflammation. These messengers or cytokines can be life-saving in the case of a cut or burn, but when released as a result of poor diet and lifestyle activities, cause increased body temperature, hormone disruption, and disease.

Flax Oil

The current treatment of diabetes is among the least successful in medicine, despite billions of dollars spent on research. Many scientists make a career of studying diabetes. Medicine has succeeded in making diabetes very expensive for the patient while making the disease a cash cow for the numerous businesses that cater to the diabetic. We should expect to see some improvement in diabetic treatment, but in fact the basic protocols haven't changed much in twenty years. Is research getting close to a solution? In my opinion as a practicing pharmacist, the answer is no.

For fifteen years I was the pharmacy manager for an independent neighborhood drug store. I saw the results of many people over the long term as they were introduced to the "sugar-med treadmill." After prolonged consumption of their diabetic medications, their health did not improve. This was disturbing to me. The long term diabetics all seemed to have the same group of symptoms: they were overweight (due to hyper-insulinemia), edematous (having swelling under the skin), and they all suffered from poor exercise tolerance and had a generally unhealthy appearance. Many of them had peripheral neuropathy (malfunction of nerves), often associated with pain in their hands and feet. Only rarely did they believe their diabetes treatment was actually improving their health.

My interest in the lack of results from standard treatment of diabetes came into sharp focus when pain in my feet led to my being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. From my observations at work, I already knew that the drug treatments for peripheral neuropathy were questionable. Introducing amitriptyline, gabapentin and Lyrica, which are sedatives and pain killers, made the people sleep a lot. Medically, it's obvious that sedating nerves doesn't solve anything. When such patients step up to daily long term narcotics and finally get some pain relief, they still haven't solved their problems.

Current medical practice relies on the HgbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) level as a measure of blood sugar over several months. The glycated hemoglobin is caused by high levels of sugar binding to hemoglobin inside red blood cells. When it builds up, this means that the body's biochemicals and organs are being damaged by too much sugar. It was interesting to note how many of the diabetic patients were in the normal range (i.e. HgbA1c < 6.5) but were still in agony over their feet. The problem was that seeing a normal value of HgbA1c, the doctor would hesitate to change the treatment. Apparently, severe foot pain wasn't a symptom that needed attention.

I decided to explore the whole HgbA1c issue. The biggest argument you see in diabetes is that diabetes is a 'disposal' issue. A high level of blood sugar is a type of metabolic malfunction that needs to be corrected. Blood sugar has a geography problem. The body seems driven to urinate the sugars out of the body instead of jamming the sugars across supposedly malfunctioning membranes and burning the sugars intracellularly. Medical practice can apply insulin and many types of drugs to insure that the body's tissues metabolize the sugars. Most current diabetic research is targeted at 'breaching the barrier' and making the supposedly malfunctioning membranes more permeable to carbohydrates. When those extra sugar calories are crammed into cells you get advanced glycation end-products (AGE's) that are a threat to the body.

In 2005, a UK researcher named Paul Thornalley wrote a paper detailing how many diabetic symptoms are due to a deficiency of thiamine (B-1).[1] Elevated blood sugar promotes a type of toxicity in the kidneys that causes thiamine to be excreted by the kidney at a rate much higher (sixteen to twenty-five times higher) than normal, leading to an acute deficiency of thiamine. From other studies, it is known that deficiencies in all B vitamins, as well as vitamin C and D are common in diabetics.[2] This can cause most of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes, which include: polyneuropathy, nephropathy (kidney damage), retinopathy (eye damage) and eventually heart failure. This raises the question of whether the symptoms are from diabetes or acute beriberi?

When I was diagnosed with type II diabetes, I immediately balked at taking the standard diabetic drugs. My doctor wanted to place me on statins, metformin and Byetta, all of which I refused to take. Having researched Dr. Thornalley's theory of diabetes being an acute thiamine deficiency, I started a regimen of vitamin and mineral supplements. Although the pain in my feet was quite severe, I wanted to avoid the regular drug regimen because it relied upon taking lots of pain killers that don't cure the problem. I reasoned that when the body's B vitamin levels are depleted due to high blood sugar, replenishing body stores through diet alone is difficult, so supplementation will be necessary.

I started taking a dietary supplement of thiamine (benfotiamine, 250mg 4x/day). I also added of vitamin B-6 (250mg/day) and pyridoxal 5 phosphate (P5P, 100mg/day) magnesium (aspartate, citrate, malate, or chloride) and acetyl-l-carnitine (1000 mg/day) depending on the severity of my peripheral neuropathy symptoms. More recently I've learned of the importance of taking vitamin C to reduce inflammation and prevent oxidation from high blood sugar levels.[2] My doctor did not approve of my self-treatment but was curious. I told him that I was willing to go back to the standard of care if this didn't work.

"Positive factors for treating type 2 diabetes are magnesium, exercise, weight control, chromium, dietary fiber, the B-vitamins, vitamin E, vanadium, vitamin C, and complex carbohydrates. I have been using the positive factors for the past 40 years. When patients followed such a program, the results are very good." Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD [3]

The most overt of the neuropathy symptoms started to subside rapidly. Within a week, the shooting pains in my ankles were mostly gone. All of the other symptoms of numbness of the toes and overall pain of the feet including the "boot effect" (the feeling that you have your boots or socks on) were mostly gone in three weeks. Now I know this treatment may not be a cure for diabetes. But it is a valid and reasonably inexpensive way to control the symptoms, which are held at bay as long as you keep your thiamine levels high. If you quit taking thiamine and the other B vitamins, the symptoms come roaring back.

I looked for the inevitable deterioration of my health that had been predicted. Ignore your blood sugar levels at your peril I was told. I was going to have kidney problems, my pancreas would stop cooperating and my vision would become blurry as the elevated sugars damaged my retinas. But the only sign of an active problem was the neuropathies in my feet which were quite painful at times: numbness of my toe area and shooting pains in my foot joints. I also had the feeling that the circulation of my feet was poor as my feet were always cold.

After two years I finally got blood tests. I still felt very good having lost some weight, with no vision problems, and my energy level and psychological attitude were all fine.I was actually afraid to look at the results and finding out that I had finally outsmarted myself and got hurt. There is a quite a propaganda machine built around the treatment of diabetes. As I drove over to retrieve my blood tests I did a mental check of how I felt. I decided I couldn't have a lot wrong with me as I just felt too good. My blood tests were amazingly free of problems related to elevated blood sugar, and I had few other related discernible health defects. This thiamine treatment did not change my HgbA1c (which is currently 9.1, and that is high) or my resting blood sugars (fasting blood sugars still between 180-190, and those also are high). Values like these are supposed to indicate a poor quality of health. My recent blood tests indicated:

Creatinine, urine 86.7mg/dl. Scale 20-370; low normal.
Microalbumin/Creatinine ratio 9.2mg/GCr. Scale 0-30; low normal.

Creatinine and microalbumineria values are the so called "Canary in the Coal Mine" indicators. The kidneys are supposed to go first when Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) have started your march to health failure because you didn't keep your HgbA1c values within range. I think my two-plus years is long enough for this to play out. I had my eyes checked for sugar damage to my retinas. I have no sugar damage to my eyes whatsoever. I am 61 years old and have 20-25 vision in both eyes. Jonathan Wright, MD, is among those who have noted that skin tags may be connected to diabetes; interestingly enough the skin tags on my arms have all disappeared.

However, my health hasn't failed due to hyperglycemia, although it is still a problem. In my case, the unusual positive results are evidently due to my nutritional approach. I substituted supplements of several essential nutrients for pharmaceuticals and stayed in relatively good health. And I continue to try supplementing with other nutrients such as antioxidants which are known to help prevent diabetes. [2] This suggests that the health issues are actually caused by nutritional deficiencies that can be easily prevented.

I am hoping this simple (and non-toxic) experiment on myself will lead the field to discussing the validity of substituting vitamins in diabetes treatment. The treatment of diabetes as it now stands is complicated and expensive. I am spending about $130/month on supplements, and during this two year experiment I have not given my doctor a single dime for advice on how to regulate my HgbA1c value. I imagine I've saved more than twice that amount by avoiding paying for drugs and doctor visits. Is this justified? If my health remains good and I have no other serious problems, I believe it is.

If all diabetics would supplement with B vitamins and vitamins C, D, and E, and minerals such as calcium and magnesium, they would lessen their problems with insulin and blood sugar, and the other serious symptoms of diabetes.[2] The reason is that most people in our society, especially including diabetics, have deficiencies of these essential nutrients that are known to be related to diabetes. But this essay is also an attempt to unseat some basic tenets of the medical fiasco known as diabetes. The prevalence in 2011 of type II world-wide according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is 346 million, and some 3.4 million people dies in 2004 as a consequence of the disease. The WHO predicts that the deaths attributable to diabetes will double between 2005 and 2030. [4] With this kind of projection a "Manhattan Project" kind of response seems necessary.

So what is the intellectual problem that seems so intractable to the medical research community? The standard treatments to lower blood sugar and HgbA1c were recently tested in medical trials. The ACCORD trials were meant to validate once and for all that the closer a patient got to a HgbA1c level of 6% the healthier a person became. Instead there was 22% increase in mortality from heart failure.[5] This unexpected value caused the FDA to terminate the trial midstream. Is it possible that the HgbA1c value should not be a primary goal in evaluating diabetes treatments?

If you go to PubMed and enter the keywords "thiamine deficiency" and "diabetes" you will get dozens of references that describe how many symptoms of diabetes are caused by a thiamine deficiency it generates. Deficiencies of B vitamins and other essential nutrients are important in diabetes.[2] This should be required reading for all doctors who treat or research diabetes. Currently in conventional management of diabetes, supplement based nutrition therapy is utterly neglected. The National Diabetes Fact Sheet reported that in 2007, the direct medical costs of diabetes nationally was estimated at $116 billion (USD). [6]

Diabetic patients can feel overwhelmed by a diagnosis of hyperglycemia, but are often comforted by the complicated explanations and sudden increase in activity and attention directed at them. The possibility that they are being misled just doesn't come up. Even if patients decide to do their own research it can be confusing. The cause of diabetes is basically unknown, but they are told that with some major alterations to one's lifestyle and lots of drugs liberally applied they can lead a relatively normal life. However for the truly curious, a large block of mainstream nutrition ideas of which the doctors are mostly ignorant can be freely accessed on the internet. When a patient presents this alternative information to the doctor today, they are comforted and told that they are already getting the cutting edge treatment. But even three years after the revelations of the ACCORD trials there has been no major correction of the type II treatment protocols that addresses the unexplained mortality issues revealed by the trials.

Even if my vitamin arguments are only partially correct, the implications for mainstream medicine are staggering. These ideas need wide discussion the field, because patients with diabetes need some new ideas.

For further reading:

Melvyn R. Werbach's Nutritional Influences on Illness contains a valuable review of research indicating the therapeutic value of supplements, and their specific dosages, for diabetics. Third Line Press, 2nd Edition, 1996 ISBN-10: 0961855053; ISBN-13: 978-0961855055.

Endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine (University of Kentucky) J. W. Anderson is perhaps the world's leading researcher on fiber and diabetes. http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_anderson.html

As much a book about fiber as it is about overconsumption of sugar, The Saccharine Disease by T. L. Cleave (1975) is available in its entirety for free online at http://www.cybernaut.com.au/optimal_nutrition/information/library/saccharine_disease.pdf and also at http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/Cleave/cleave_toc.html

References:

1. Thornalley PJ: The potential role of thiamine (vitamin B-1) in diabetic complications. Curr Diabetes Rev, 2005; 1:287-298

2. Brighthope IE (2012) The Vitamin Cure for Diabetes: Prevent and Treat Diabetes Using Nutrition and Vitamin Supplementation. Basic Health Publications ISBN-13: 978-1591202905.

3. http://www.doctoryourself.com/diabetes.html

4. World Health Organization. Diabetes. Retrieved from [ http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/index.html ]

5. Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes Study Group, Gerstein HC, Miller ME, Byington RP, et al: Effects of intensive glucose lowering in type II diabetes. N Engl J Med, 2008; 358: 2545-2559.

6. National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011. Retrieve from: www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2011.pdf

(Much of this article is drawn from Lindsey SL Substituting vitamins and supplements for pharmaceuticals in type 2 diabetes J Orthomolecular Med 2012, 27:1; p 5-8. We thank the Journal for permission to reprint it here in edited form .)

by: Ethan A. Huff

(NaturalNews) The biggest threat to America today is not terrorists or global warming, but the mass genocide of Americans who die every year at the hands of the corrupt U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a recent report, investigative reporter Jon Rappoport uncovers the dirty truth that FDA-approved drugs kill at least 100,000 people every single year — the FDA actually lists this figure on its own website — and the agency is doing absolutely nothing about this disastrous trend.

by Capt. Randall

Few things strike fear into the hearts of men like the invisible terror of nuclear radiation. While the mention of a mushroom cloud sealed the sales pitch to invade Iraq a decade ago, today the subject of radiations whether from electromagnetic fields like cell phones, medical equipment, depleted uranium weaponry or Fukushima ( the elephant in the room ) has oddly been removed from mainstream conversation.  One would think public health bulletins and information covering preventive measures would appear? The silence is deafening.

Radiation Exposure Protocol

   Radioactive particles, ionizing radiation and Electro-Magnetic Fields all have the common affect of displacing electrons and breaking molecular bonds. Basically, electrons are bumped out of orbit from a molecule turning it into a positively charged electron-hungry "free radical" or electron-rich bonds between molecules come under attack resulting in the destruction of DNA, fatty membranes and other cell structures…. garden variety OXIDATION!

    So depending on the energy levels, exposure and type of radiation, molecules are damaged and torn apart which translates into ruptured red cells, decreased oxygen delivery, impairment of the nervous system, opportunistic infections and developing cancers. Higher up the scale, victims suffer burns or are scorched to cinders. Even radiations at their lowest levels generate free radicals and begin to shift the electrical charge terrain of the body which will eventually result in disease.

   We are struck constantly by background cosmic radiation, telecommunication waves, EMFs from electrical appliances and the all familiar photons and radiant heat that are sunshine and easily overcome them.  To help unravel the puzzle, fish, birds and animals seem to be more or less immune to radiation as evidenced by thriving wildlife around the abandoned reactor at Chernobyl. So how can animals survive where humans quickly exceed dangerous levels of exposure?….Animals can produce Vitamin C in massive quantities on demand! Flooding the system with antioxidant electrons sponges-up free radicals and protects remaining structures from …oxidation.

   Since one can be irradiated or actually ingest radioactive elements like uranium, iodine, cesium, or strontium, two slightly different approaches are needed. High antioxidant intake (like Vitamin C in multi-gram not milligram quantities ) limits the damage from waves of energy or charged particles passing through the body.   Radiation emitting elements lodged in lungs or glands are exponentially more dangerous and require the addition of chelators like clays, chlorella and zeolites to help remove them.

   Iodine supplementation pre-loads the thyroid so that radioactive iodine is refused when encountered. Zinc, selenium and sulfur help displace unwanted glowing elements. Potassium, magnesium and bicarbonate act as pH buffers and facilitate oxygen penetration so cells can maintain energy production. Plant based antioxidants like curcumin, astragalus, astaxanthin and resveratrol absorb oxygen radicals so are protective. Bee propolis, manufactured by honey bees from tree sap resins and many essential oils and extracts can be added. While antioxidant supplements have great ORAC strength, don't overlook larger quantities of less powerful food sources in fruits, berries and vegetables. It's an aggregate total of electrons and electron storing substances that is required to offset the sum of the oxidative insults. Think QUANTITY!

     Reviewing past articles  ( "Healer's Grail", "Healer's Compass", "Healer's Toolbox" and "Toxic?" )  should make apparent the fact that oxidation causes the dissociation of all molecular constructs and is at the root of disease. The affects of radiations are little different from those of acids, oxygen, toxins and various other electron hungry oxidants and free radicals. Life persists because it resists oxidation and maintains its appearance for a time with electron abundance, overwhelming energy. 

Capt. Randall is the author of Forbidden Healing and an independent health researcher and organic farmer. He studied chemistry and biology at the University of Florida. His interests range from marine science to archaeology and ethnobotany.

by: Linn Cole

(NaturalNews) Cancer. Heart disease. High blood pressure. Obesity. Diabetes. Premature aging. What we take for granted as hallmarks of life in the most affluent country on Earth have been popularly linked to everything from genetics to fast food. What if the real answer is so straightforward it's as near at hand as the closest bottle of Coke? Mounting research pinpoints both cane sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as definitive agents in all of the "epidemics" this generation has become painfully familiar with.

Chromium GTF

by: Ethan A. Huff

(NaturalNews) The bipartisan Congressional committee currently investigating the secret dealings between the Obama administration and Big Pharma prior to the passage of the massive health care overhaul is set to release pertinent new details as to what these dealings entailed. In a recent memorandum, the committee unveils the names of some of the key figures involved with these secret negotiations, and promises to release even more shocking details in the coming weeks.

Fast forward a few decades and blueberries are now widely revered as a superfood.  In fact, investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, studying the link between disease and nutrition, believe that eating just one cup of blueberries every day prevents cell damage linked to cancer. 

Uniquely American, blueberries are native to North America and are rarely found in Europe. They grow naturally in the woods and mountainous regions of the United States and Canada.

Blueberries are full of antioxidants and flavonoids that help prevent cell damage.  Antioxidants work by neutralizing free radicals, atoms that contain an odd number of electrons and are highly unstable.  Free radicals can cause the type of cellular damage that is a big factor in cancer development.   

Blueberries are rich in one particular type of flavonoid called anthocyanins.  These compounds are water soluble pigments that are red, violet or blue depending on their pH level.  Apples and blueberries both get their beautiful colors from anthocyanins. 

In plants, anthocyanins act as antioxidants and protect the plant from oxidative damage.  In cells, they perform a similar function. 

According to Laura Newton M.A.Ed., R.D., an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at the UAB and a licensed dietician who often works with cancer patients, many studies suggest that antioxidants like anthocyanins may help prevent the free-radical damage associated with cancer. 

But blueberries do even more.  They are also rich in vitamin C, which supports the immune system and can help the body to absorb iron.  An important consideration for cancer patients is that "vitamin C also helps to keep blood vessels firm, offering protection from bruising," Newton says.

Blueberries have such a reputation for health and healing that food companies are adding blueberries to lots of packaged products as an advertising hook.  But don’t be fooled by products with fake blueberries.

As with any fruit, blueberry juice and other processed products may contain some nutritional value but are often missing the soluble and insoluble fiber that blueberries provide.  They may also have added sugars or high fructose corn syrup, which actually feeds cancer and defeats the health benefits of the fruit.

Fresh, raw blueberries provide the most health benefits.  An average serving size of raw blueberries is one cup and contains about 80 calories.

For additional research on the health benefits of this remarkable berry explore the GreenMedInfo blueberry research page on the topic which covers 60 potential disease applicationsl, including triple negative breast cancer: