Month: January 2013

by Joseph Bova

(NaturalNews) In the last few weeks there has been significant talk of the so called “flu epidemic” that is sweeping the nation. The majority of what you’re hearing about in the media deals with death rates from the disease. Along with these details comes an assortment of statistical analysis from every big name organization you can think of. However, how accurate are the statistics and what is the truth behind the flu related deaths the media scares us with? (The following information was taken directly from the governmental website for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.)

When people hear about influenza related deaths, they are influenced into thinking that these deaths are directly caused by the flu. However, as stated by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, “Seasonal influenza-related deaths are deaths that occur in people for whom seasonal influenza infection was LIKELY a contributor to the cause of death, but NOT necessarily the primary cause of death.” So what does this mean? It means that the flu related deaths are nothing more than speculation. In fact, continuing through the website you can find information regarding how the CDC calculates the number of influenza deaths. “Many seasonal flu-related deaths occur one or two weeks after a person’s initial infection, either because the person may develop a secondary bacterial co-infection (such as bacterial pneumonia) or because seasonal influenza can aggravate an existing chronic illness (such as congestive heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).” Therefore, it seems that the real problem is not focusing on the flu virus. The problem is that people have very weak immune systems and extremely poor health in general. This is part of the reason why as stated on the CDC website, 90 percent of those who die from influenza related disease are over the age of 65. At that point in our lives, our bodies in general are starting to deteriorate so we must make sure we do everything we can to keep them thriving.

Another important fact that can be found on the CDC website is that the CDC does not believe that influenza is the cause of most pneumonia and influenza related deaths. “Only a small proportion of deaths in either of these two categories are estimated to be influenza-related. CDC estimated that only 8.5% of all pneumonia and influenza deaths and only 2.1% of all respiratory and circulatory deaths were influenza-related.” This is a very interesting point that makes you wonder, why is there such an immense amount of publicity about the seriousness of influenza related deaths when the CDC states on their website that about 2.1 percent of respiratory deaths are influenza related?

So what should you take away from this information? Well for one, do not stress about getting the flu. We know stress depresses your immune system and that is definitely not going to help your chances at beating the flu. If you do end up getting the virus, make sure you take care of yourself with proper sleep, liquids and vitamins. Try taking vitamin D3, zinc, vitamin A and selenium among others. All of these have been shown to boost immune response in individuals. Secondly, the problem with this sudden influx of influenza infections is most likely due to our nation’s poor nutritional lifestyles, which create incapable immune systems. Let’s start focusing on creating healthy bodies rather than short cuts to try and “beat” the flu.

Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22797987
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23272110

by P. F. Louis

(NaturalNews) An article in the Huffington Post blog a couple of years ago warned readers to avoid all sunlight all the time. The co-founder of the Melanoma Research Alliance and Broadway producer formed this alliance after her own experience with melanoma on the bottom of her foot.

Maybe she used to go into Central Park or onto the roof of her apartment building and do headstands for several hours daily, or she spent way too much time in tanning parlors. There’s no other way a Manhattanite would get melanoma on the bottom or her foot if sunlight is the sole culprit for skin cancers.

Despite the unlikelihood of getting too much sun on the bottom or her feet while hailing cabs and riding elevators in Manhattan, the author ended her article with this advice: “Prevention is uncomplicated: grab that sunblock and floppy hat when you head outdoors, even in the winter.”

Instead of realizing there may have been another cause for her skin cancer, she promoted carcinogenic sunblock creams and added to the sun phobia that deprives many of the health benefits from sunlight.

Sunlight’s benefits
(1) Let’s start with the obvious. Sunlight is the initiator of vitamin D3 creation in our bodies. Sunshine’s UVB rays interact with the cholesterol in our skin that ignites a process to create vitamin D from our kidneys and liver. This doesn’t happen without sunlight.

Exposing more bare skin to sunlight is necessary for 20 to 30 minutes at least three or four times weekly. Glass windows and windshields block UVB rays while letting in UVA rays, which can be harmful.

One irony is that most sunscreens block only UVB rays, thus inhibiting vitamin D3 production. As a pre-hormone, vitamin D3 has many internal health functions.

Vitamin D3 production from sunlight has its own shut-down mechanism, safeguarding you from overdosing vitamin D. But if you wash the exposed skin with soap too soon, you may wash away the skin’s oils that have just begun the vitamin D process.

Tip: Use soap only where the sun didn’t shine. Options for D3 without sunlight include supplements, of which too much is remotely possible, and UVB tanning beds.

(2) Dr. Johanna Budwig promoted daily sunlight exposure in conjunction with her famous Budwig Diet for curing cancer. She had become aware of sunlight’s electromagnetic contribution to the dietary elements of her successful cancer cures.

(3) During long periods without sunshine, many get depressed. It’s called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Besides feeling gloomy, people experiences low energy.

SAD results from an extended period of no sunshine. But it can be ameliorated during those periods with bright full spectrum lights or blue light to mimic the sun’s rays. (http://www.naturalnews.com)

(4) A substance in our bodies called melatin may be able to convert sunlight into metabolic energy. There are studies looking into this.

(5) Sunlight exposure was discovered to reduce the need for pain medication, stress, and anxiety among post operative patients in one hospital that conducted a study in 2005.

(6) A 2012 neuroscience study determined that those who had six hours of sunlight exposure during the day were more alert in the evening.

(7) A 2011 dermatological study observed the sunlight exposure helps burn subcutaneous fat, which is unattractive but doesn’t necessarily affect cardiovascular health adversely.

However, sunlight also helps reduce visceral fat indirectly. Vitamin D deficiencies have been associated to higher visceral fat production, which leads to obesity and subsequent health threatening diseases, including diabetes and cardiovascular issues.

Caveat: So it’s wise to avoid sunburn by developing a tan through gradual exposure times. A solid tan will protect your skin better than sunblocks.

Sources for this article include:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-black/
Budwig cancer curing diet http://www.naturalnews.com/027452_cancer_fat_diet.html and
http://www.naturalnews.com/027539_cancer_diet_cure.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder
http://www.drgangemi.com/2011/05/sun-vitamin-d-sunscreen/

by Sayer Ji

Flu vaccines, according to the best scientific evidence available today, will only work against 10% of the circulating viruses that cause the symptoms of seasonal epidemic influenza. Additionally, flu vaccines have been found to elicit inflammatory reactions that may harm the human heart, the developing fetus, and the fragile immune systems of our infants. So, do the theoretical benefits really outweigh the known harms?

In a recent article, The Shocking Lack of Evidence Supporting Flu Vaccines, we addressed the surprising lack of empirical evidence supporting the use of flu vaccines in the prevention of seasonal influenza, in children under two, healthy adults, the elderly, and healthcare workers who care for the elderly.

The reality is that vaccines not only do not work as advertised, but they represent a significant health threat, likely on the same order of magnitude as influenza itself, due to their well-known role in compromising immunological self-tolerance (autoimmunity), as well as by eliciting a wide range of adverse health effects associated with the use of adjuvants, preservatives, foreign animal DNA and cell byproducts, adventitious viruses, and other so-called “inactive ingredients,” including even the unnatural route and method of antigen administration itself.[i]
Basic Virology Facts Reveal Trivalent Flu Vaccines Are At Best 10% Effective

But it shouldn’t take expensive, elaborate, time-consuming research to grasp the obvious limitations in effectiveness of flu vaccines from the perspective of this fundamental fact of influenza virology:

“Over 200 viruses cause influenza and influenza-like illness which produce the same symptoms (fever, headache, aches and pains, cough and runny noses). Without laboratory tests, doctors cannot tell the two illnesses apart. Both last for days and rarely lead to death or serious illness. At best, vaccines might be effective against only Influenza A and B, which represent about 10% of all circulating viruses.” (Source: Cochrane Summaries).

Indeed, if facts like these were not so commonly ignored or denied, and it was the actually clinically-confirmed, unequivocal “evidence” that drove the so-called “evidence-based” medical system into its annual, seasonal influenza-induced, frenzy of pro-vaccine propagandizing and proselytizing, we might look at this ritual of mass vaccination as something other than just a profit-, policy-,  and, for the masses, faith-based indoctrination, which sadly it has become.
“Science-Based” Medicine Unwilling To Look At Empirical Evidence On Vaccine Harms

Similarly, were those self-avowed “skeptics,” and would-be advocates of “science-based medicine,” who claim vaccinating is always safer and more effective than not vaccinating, to acknowledge research indicating the limitations and increasing failings of vaccination, as well as the value of natural influenza flu alternatives,* they might someday earn the right to use powerful-sounding words like “Science” and “Evidence” in their crusade against your access to the empirical truth and your right to bodily self-possession, i.e. your right to make free and informed decisions for yourself to engage or disengage from medical interventions, that carry a known risk of harm and even death.

The reality is that many top biomedical journals cannot and will not suppress the truth concerning the many unintended, adverse health effects of vaccines. This would, after all, be both immoral and illegal, especially when human lives, and particularly the lives of our most vulnerable, our children, are on the line. In other words, by publishing empirical research that shows vaccines are not safe and effective a priori, many thwart the party line, as represented by the policies and official statements of the CDC, the FDA, and the ACIP, and many online skeptic bloggers (anti-anti-vaccine groups, if you will; most whom fail to grasp the foolishness of such a dialectic, since they rarely take a critical look in the mirror) who claim those refusing vaccines, or educating about their harms, are guilty of crimes, or have blood on their hands.
Flu Vaccines Found To Increase Heart Attack Risk

For example, a concerning study published in 2011 in the International Journal of Medicine revealed a fact rarely addressed by conventional health authorities, or the mostly uncritical mainstream media, namely: flu vaccines result in inflammatory cardiovascular changes indicative of increased risk for serious heart-related events such as heart attack.[ii]

Titled, “Inflammation-related effects of adjuvant influenza A vaccination on platelet activation and cardiac autonomic function,” their study concluded:

“Together with an inflammatory reaction, influenza A vaccine induced platelet activation and sympathovagal imbalance towards adrenergic predominance. Significant correlations were found between CRP [C-reactive protein) levels and HRV [heart rate variability] parameters, suggesting a pathophysiological link between inflammation and cardiac autonomic regulation. The vaccine-related platelet activation and cardiac autonomic dysfunction may transiently increase the risk of cardiovascular events.”

The four main areas of concern mentioned above are:

Platelet Activation: An indicator of increased risk for pathological clotting and/or obstruction of a blood vessel, e.g. heart attack, embolism or stroke.
Sympathovagal imbalance towards adrenergic  predominance: An indication of disturbed autonomic regulation within the heart.
Elevation of C-Reactive Protein: An indicator of inflammation-mediated cardiovascular disease risk.
Reduced Heart Rate Variability: An indicator of increased heart disease risk.

Flu Vaccines Found To Adversely Affect Pregnant Women

This study is not, however, the first to raise concern over states of pathological inflammation caused by flu vaccines, and vaccines in general.  In 2011, the journal Vaccine published a study titled, “Inflammatory responses to trivalent influenza virus vaccine among pregnant women,” which found that flu vaccination causes measurable increases in inflammation in pregnant women which may increase the risk of preeclempsia and other adverse outcomes such as preterm birth.[iii]  In this study both CRP and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels increased to concerning levels between one to two days after vaccination.   Should we be surprised, considering flu vaccines still contain highly inflammatory, neurotoxic and immunotoxic heavy metals, such as mercury-based thimerosal? Even when the precautionary principle is employed, and mercury-based adjuvants removed in tacit recognition of its profound dangers, aluminum hydroxide is then used to replace it, injected directly into the bodies of healthy infants in the name of synthetically modifying and “improving” their immunity (see: Can We Continue To Justify Injecting Aluminum Into Children?).

And so, despite the fact that vaccine-induced disruption and dysregulation of a pregnant woman’s immune system could compromise her pregnancy, resulting in birth defects[iv] and miscarriage (which is a well-known phenomena within the veterinary field: vaccine-induced abortion), the CDC has defied both common sense and the precautionary principle by urging pregnant women to receive flu vaccines, without informing them of their true risks.
Infants At Risk of Pathological Inflammation Following Vaccines

Just as disturbing is the CDC’s recommendation that all infants, six months or older, receive flu vaccines on top of an already burgeoning vaccination schedule, which begins at the day of birth with the STD vaccine containing hepatitis B surface antigen, despite clear evidence that infants experience cardiorespiratory complications and C-reactive protein responses as a result of all vaccines, administered either singularly or simultaneously in combination.  One 2007 study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found that 85% of newborn infants experienced abnormal elevations of CRP when administered multiple vaccines and up to 70% in those given a single vaccine. Also, overall, 16% of infants were reported to experience vaccine-associated cardiorespiratory events within 48 hours postimmunization. [v]

Suffice it to say, vaccinating against the flu (or any pathogen) is not as safe and effective as we are being told. But please do not adopt my opinion on the matter as your own. Do your own research, and feel free to review some of the underreported and/or otherwise suppressed research on vaccination we have collated at our Vaccine Research and Education page.

*Never mind the timelessly and often cross-culturally confirmed and reconfirmed evidence contained within “orally transmitted” traditional, plant-based medical systems, used the world over.
Resources

[i] GreenMedInfo.com, Adverse Health Effects of Vaccination

[ii] Gaetano A Lanza, Lucy Barone, Giancarla Scalone, Dario Pitocco, Gregory A Sgueglia, Roberto Mollo, Roberto Nerla, Francesco Zaccardi, Giovanni Ghirlanda, Filippo Crea. Inflammation-related effects of adjuvant influenza A vaccination on platelet activation and cardiac autonomic function. J Intern Med. 2010 Sep 1. Epub 2010 Sep 1. PMID: 20964738

[iii] Lisa M Christian, Jay D Iams, Kyle Porter, Ronald Glaser. Inflammatory responses to trivalent influenza virus vaccine among pregnant women. Vaccine. 2011 Sep 20. Epub 2011 Sep 20. PMID: 21945263

[iv] Margaret A K Ryan, Tyler C Smith, Carter J Sevick, William K Honner, Rosha A Loach, Cynthia A Moore, J David Erickson. Birth defects among infants born to women who received anthrax vaccine in pregnancy. Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Aug 15 ;168(4):434-42. Epub 2008 Jul 2. PMID: 18599489

[v] Massroor Pourcyrous, Sheldon B Korones, Kristopher L Arheart, Henrietta S Bada. Primary immunization of premature infants with gestational age<35 weeks: cardiorespiratory complications and C-reactive protein responses associated with administration of single and multiple separate vaccines simultaneously. J Pediatr. 2007 Aug ;151(2):167-72. Epub 2007 Jun 22. PMID: 17643770

by Dr. Mark Sircus

“As soon as flu vaccinations start next month, some people getting them will drop dead of heart attacks or strokes, some children will have seizures and some pregnant women will miscarry.” ~ New York Times 2009

With flu cases in this city up tenfold from last year, the mayor of Boston declared a public health emergency on the 9th of January. Right behind them the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared that influenza has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with 7.3% of deaths last week caused by pneumonia and the flu. U.S. health authorities say the flu arrived about a month earlier than usual this year, and the flu strain making most people sick—H3N2—has a reputation for causing fairly severe illness, especially in the elderly and increasingly in the young.

Nothing is said, of course, about the year-by-year weakening of the population (through numerous and ingenious ways like poisoning of the public water supplies with fluoride, the immune depression from yearly flu vaccines, increasing exposures to toxins in the environment, toxicity from pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors, as well as accumulating nutritional deficiencies), all of which make unsuspecting individuals increasingly vulnerable to complications from the flu and from the flu vaccines that deliver a yearly toxic blow.

Dr. Charlotte Ingle is telling her cancer patients, “We would advise that all cancer and hematology patients receive the vaccine unless they have contraindicated allergies regardless of whether or not they are receiving chemotherapy. We have advised the patient that they should have a flu vaccine as well as the pneumonia vaccine.” This is not bad advice—this is medical insanity that will lead people closer to death’s door. But that is what most pharmaceuticals do, so we should not be surprised.

In the olden days, medically speaking, pediatricians and general practitioners understood that you don’t vaccinate a child who is already ill, even if they simply have a bad cold or light flu. It is obvious Dr. Ingle does not know or remember this medical wisdom and that vaccines do have a depressing effect on the immune system. In suggesting that her patients who are already struggling for their lives expose themselves to dangerous vaccines that can bring on the flu and even more complications, she is leading them closer to, not further away from death. Last I checked, that’s not what doctors are supposed to be doing. Truth be told—vaccines hold the potential power to kill the cancer patient before the cancer does.

The mercury in the flu vaccine would be contraindicated for cancer patients because the shot’s toxicity from heavy metals adds to the chance that cancer will continue and get worse. People with weak immune systems should not get vaccines that contain live viruses, mercury or any vaccine for that matter. Fatal infections have been caused by giving live-virus polio, measles, and smallpox vaccines to patients with weak immune function.

Living with cancer increases your risk for complications from influenza (“flu”). If you have cancer now or have had cancer in the past, you are at higher risk for complications from the seasonal flu or influenza, including hospitalization and death. This is especially true if you are having surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. Cancer patients should be on a radical protocol of medicinals that can quickly increase their resistance to infection. Allopathic medicines are more than worthless in this regard.

Flu (seasonal influenza) is NOT to be mistaken for the common cold. Although the flu may seem like a minor illness, it is a serious respiratory infection that can lead to severe complications and even death. That’s the official word from the Centers for Disease Control and they are correct especially if you do not treat it appropriately.

“People tend to underestimate the effects of flu (and doctors underestimate the dangers of vaccines), but it puts several hundred thousand people in the hospital every year. It can kill up to 50,000 people every year, and there are certain groups—people with underlying medical conditions, the elderly and the very young—who are at risk for severe illness from flu,” said Dr. Michael Jhung, a flu expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although it varies widely from year to year, the government and the medical establishment makes a point of scaring the public enough so they are herded in large numbers into getting their dangerous and unnecessary flu shots. They do not want the public to understand anything about the flu and what to do about it; they only want you to silently and obediently comply and get your flu shot.

“This is a bad year. There’s no question about it,” said Dr. William Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Hanage also admits the poor percentage of people for whom vaccines are effective. It’s a bad year because doctors simply ignore treatments that make sense. They are correct to warn about the dangers but they fail to give the whole picture:

More than half a million U.S. children yearly have bad reactions or side effects from widely used medicines that require medical treatment and sometimes hospitalization.

The study appears in October’s 2009 Pediatrics. It’s based on national statistics on patients’ visits to clinics and emergency rooms between 1995 and 2005. The number of children treated for bad drug reactions each year was mostly stable during that time, averaging 585,922.

There is no unequivocal scientific support to the belief and/or propaganda that flu vaccines are safe and effective. And there is a conspicuous absence of conclusive evidence as to the effectiveness of influenza vaccines in children under two, healthy adults, the elderly, or healthcare workers who care for the elderly.

We have to conclude from hard medical data the obvious: It makes no sense to treat the complications of influenza with drugs backed by no evidence supporting their benefit while at the same time offering a range of dangerous side effects.
Natural Allopathic Emergency Medicine

An intelligent protocol against influenza involves the use of the basic emergency room and intensive care medicines that are an integral part of Natural Allopathic Medicine. Magnesium chloride, iodine, sodium bicarbonate, selenium, vitamin C and vitamin D3 (if possible through sun exposure) are all medicines that help patients resist and even avoid dangerous complications from the flu. So does breathing retraining as this aids in increasing CO2 and O2 levels, and of course the application of full hydration therapy is essential.

The primary symptoms of a cytokine storm (what kills the patient with influenza) are high fever, swelling and redness, extreme fatigue and nausea. In some cases the immune reaction may be fatal. To stop the cytokine storms and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)[1] that can lead to death, we have to turn away from the orthodox medical responses of using vaccines and drugs like Tamiflu. In Dec. 2012 the FDA approved Tamiflu for use in two-week-old babies. Now people are clamoring for this drug and shortages are being reported; all this despite the fact that Tamiflu has been shown to cause adverse effects and at best only shortens a bout of the flu by about one day.

Nutrient deficiency is one of the main reasons for a cytokine storm in response to a virus like H1N1, along with heavy metals and other chemicals that are flooding out of the cells when one has the flu. Many naturopaths have always seen the flu as a detox dump because as the body detoxifies, it is not uncommon to experience flu-like symptoms. (Some people also make a direct relation with Chemtrails painting the skies with Ethylene Dibromide and the flu epidemic.)

Data from clinical trials involving patients with sepsis-induced ARDS have shown a reduction in organ damage and a trend toward improvement in survival (survival in ARDS is approximately 60%) after administering a variety of free radical scavengers (antioxidants).

Anti-inflammatory therapy, antioxidant therapy, full hydration and increasing the CO2 and thus O2 levels of the blood and tissues constitutes a natural form of treatment that can make a difference starting from the first hours that treatments are applied.
Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)

“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘Flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely anyone who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks. I have since that time treated all cases of ‘cold,’ influenza and ‘la gripe’ by first giving generous doses of bicarbonate of soda, and in many, many instances within 36 hours the symptoms would have entirely abated,” wrote Dr. Volney S. Cheney to the Arm & Hammer Company.
Vitamin D Will Protect Against the Flu

One of the greatest triggers of influenza, the swine flu and deaths from pulmonary deficiency is vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D reduces the risk of dying from all causes including the flu. Researchers from Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York found that giving supplements of vitamin D to a group of volunteers reduced episodes of infection with colds and flu by 70% over three years. The researchers said that the vitamin stimulated “innate immunity” to viruses and bacteria.
Iodine

“Extremely high doses of iodine can have serious side effects, but only a small fraction of such extreme doses are necessary to kill influenza viruses,” writes Dr. David Derry of Canada.[2] In 1945, a breakthrough occurred when J. D. Stone and Sir McFarland Burnet (who later went on to win a Nobel Prize for his Clonal Selection Theory) exposed mice to lethal effects of influenza viral mists. The lethal disease was prevented by putting iodine solution on mice snouts just prior to placing them in chambers containing influenza viruses. Dr. Derry reminds us that a long time ago students in classrooms were protected from influenza by iodine aerosol therapy. Aerosol iodine also is effective against freshly sprayed influenza virus.
Selenium

Selenium is a strong antioxidant anti-inflammatory that can also be used. Protection against reperfusion injury, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, vascular surgery, are all alleviated with selenium injections as would cytokine storms provoked from out of control infections.

The clinical investigations in sepsis studies indicate that higher doses of selenium are well tolerated as continuous infusions of selenium as sodium selenite (4,000 μg selenium as sodium selenite pentahydrat on the first day, 1,000 μg selenium/day on the nine following days) and had no reported toxicity issues. In view of this new information, Biosyn introduced the 1,000 µg dose vials for such high selenium clinical usage.

Selenium is important because selenium-deficient mice developed much more severe lung pathology after infection with influenza virus than did selenium-adequate mice. In another study, when selenium-deficient mice were infected with a mild strain of influenza virus, the virus mutated to become a more virulent strain, one that caused severe lung pathology even in selenium-adequate mice.

Selenium is also an antidote to mercury having the highest affinity with it than any other atom. So selenium does double duty lowering mercury toxicity and this is important because mercury toxicity is known to provoke influenza.
Magnesium Chloride

Magnesium chloride (magnesium oil) has always been and remains my favorite medicine that affects overall physiology in a very positive and direct way. Dr. Raul Vergini says, “Magnesium chloride has a unique healing power on acute viral and bacterial diseases. It cured polio and diphtheria and that was the main subject of my magnesium book. A few grams of magnesium chloride every few hours will clear nearly all acute illnesses, which can be beaten in a few hours. I have seen a lot of flu cases healed in 24-48 hours with 3 grams of magnesium chloride taken every 6-8 hours.”
Vitamin C

Intravenous vitamin C is a wonderful treatment when people are on the edge between life and death with the power to bring people back from the brink. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) contributes a wide range of benefits. It is known to perform many critical functions within the body involving detoxification, tissue building, immune enhancement, pain control, and controlling or killing pathogenic organisms. It is also known to be helpful for wound and bone healing, healthy skin and eyes, fighting infections, stress control, toxic exposure, and repairing damaged tissue of all types.
Cannabinoid Medicine

Dr. Ben Whalley, at the department of pharmacy at the University of Reading, said tests in animals had shown the marijuana compounds effective at preventing seizures and convulsions while also having fewer side effects than existing epilepsy drugs. At the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., rat nerve cells were exposed to a toxin that is typically released during strokes. Cannabidiol reduces the extent of damage reported the National Academy of Sciences. More effective than vitamins C or E, strong antioxidants such as cannabidiol (CBD) will neutralize free radicals without the accompanying high with regular marijuana used for recreational and other medical purposes. All forms or marijuana have anti-oxidative, neuroprotective, immunomodulation, analgesic and anti-inflammatory actions.

Beyond these core physiological protective mechanisms, something as simple as smoking marijuana is ideal for the pain and discomfort of influenza. With or without the “high,” cannabinoid medicine offers safe pain relief even as it heals and protects. It should be put into wide use in hospitals as well as in the home for routine treatment against the worst ravages of the flu.

Dr. Ester Fride strongly recommends the use of cannabinoids in pediatric medicine so what I am saying for adults above applies to children. She notes that “excellent clinical results” have been reported in pediatric oncology and in case studies of children with severe neurological diseases or brain trauma, and suggests that cannabis-derived medicines could also play a role in the treatment of other childhood syndromes, including the pain and gastrointestinal inflammation associated with cystic fibrosis.
Conclusion

There are nine things to do if you have the flu or are living in an epidemic area (all of the United States) that are put forth in this essay. Five of these things are emergency room ‘natural medicines’ that are injectable so there is no excuse for doctors and hospitals not to be using them. The rest of us can self-administer these medicines orally and apply them topically and even nebulize several of them for rapid, safe and even legally administered effect.

Of course there is always more but these nine should keep you and your nurse, if you are lucky enough to have one, extremely busy. It’s good to remember that pure water is the most basic medicine and it is not as easy as it seems to stay fully hydrated. Also for fifty dollars one can purchase a Russian designed breathing apparatus, which you should have in your house anyway, that will slow your breathing down. It really is extremely difficult to die when one is breathing slowly!

In the emergency room medicines have to be safe while delivering an instant lifesaving burst of healing power. The idea when used at home is to constantly be administering these medicinals during waking hours. The power and speed of these medicines and the flexibility of their administration methods make them ideal especially because of their extremely low-toxicity profiles. As usual the key to their use is in the dose given.

Few if any people need to die from the flu if they are treated correctly. In Treatment Essentials, dosages and concentrations and methods of application options are covered. When one learns about the above emergency room medicines, and how to use them, one gains a lot of medical power and wisdom to overcome diseases. (Treatment Essentials should be available in early February)
Resources

[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001164/

[2] http://www.thyroidscience.com/reviews/derry/Derry.flu.iodine.9.19.09.pdf

by J. B. Bardot

The Best Years in Life) The adrenal glands are located in the body just above the kidneys. Their job is to produce and release certain regulatory hormones. These hormones control the “fight-flight” reactions of the body’s central nervous system and respond to highly charged emotional situations. The other function of the adrenals is to manufacture steroids and sex hormones. Along with helping to manage stress, the various hormones produced help control blood pressure, blood sugar, fluid balance and a myriad of metabolic functions. The main cause of adrenal dysfunction also called adrenal fatigue is stress, of all kinds, ranging from emotional reactions to life’s challenges, to responses by the body to illnesses and nutritional deficiencies. Testing for adrenal dysfunction is necessary to help avoid the more serious adrenal failure whose onset can arise from long term, unchecked stress creating adrenal dysfunction. Checking the health of your adrenal glands can be done on your own with a few self tests and with the help of a trained healthcare practitioner.

Adrenal Testing Methods and Tools

· Seek a practitioner who has been trained to recognize and treat adrenal fatigue. Many conventional doctors are not familiar with testing for adrenal fatigue, being only able to administer blood tests that indicate adrenal failure, known as Addison’s Disease.

· Ask your holistic health practitioner to administer blood, urine and saliva tests to determine the condition of your adrenal glands.

·  Use a home saliva test several times during the day to check cortisol levels as well as DHEA, epinephrine and nor epinephrine, whose levels can help determine the health of your adrenals and appropriate treatments.

· Self screen for adrenal fatigue using the blood pressure test known as Ragland’s sign. You need a home blood pressure monitor to do this test. Take your blood pressure when sitting down. Then stand up and immediately repeat taking your blood pressure. They first number or systolic pressure should rise at least 8-10 mm. If it drops, this is an indicator of adrenal dysfunction.

· While looking in a mirror, shine a flashlight into one eye. The pupil should contract. If after 30 seconds with the light shining in your eye, the pupil dilates, this likely indicates adrenal fatigue.

· Check for tenderness in the mid-back where the ribs attach to the spine in the region of the kidneys. Pain in this region is another indicator of poorly functioning the adrenal glands.

· Notice other aspects of your health and how you are feeling. Some other common symptoms of adrenal gland fatigue are low blood sugar and low blood pressure, extreme fatigue and reduced mental alertness, chilliness, depression, weight loss, hair loss, digestive disorders, craving salty foods, muscle and joint pain, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and the list goes on.

Because the symptoms for adrenal fatigue mimic symptoms of other disorders and conditions, especially those of thyroid disease and menopause, it is important to have medical assistance to confirm a proper diagnosis.

Sources:

TreatingandBeating.com
http://www.drrodger.com/adrenalfatigue.html
Integrative Psychiatry
http://www.integrativepsychiatry.net/adrenal_fatigue.html
Safe Menopause Solutions.com

by Dr. Mark Sircus

For purposes of cellular detoxification and tissue purification, the most effective form of magnesium is magnesium chloride, which has a strong excretory effect on toxins and stagnant energies stuck in the tissues of the body, drawing them out through the pores of the skin. Chloride is required to produce a large quantity of gastric acid each day and is also needed to stimulate starch-digesting enzymes.

According to Daniel Reid, author of The Tao of Detox, magnesium sulfate, commonly known as Epsom salts, is rapidly excreted through the kidneys and therefore difficult to assimilate. This would explain in part why the effects from Epsom salt baths do not last long and why you need more magnesium sulfate in a bath than magnesium chloride to get similar results. Magnesium chloride is easily assimilated and metabolized in the human body.

In addition to its functions as an electrolyte, chloride combines with hydrogen in the stomach to make hydrochloric acid, a powerful digestive enzyme that is responsible for the breakdown of proteins, absorption of other metallic minerals, and activation of intrinsic factor, which in turn absorbs vitamin B12.

Using other magnesium salts is less advantageous because these have to be converted into chlorides in the body anyway. We may use magnesium as oxide or carbonate but then we need to produce additional hydrochloric acid to absorb them. Many aging individuals, especially with chronic diseases who desperately need more magnesium, cannot produce sufficient hydrochloric acid and thus cannot absorb the oxide or carbonate.

Chloride is a highly important and vital mineral required for both human and animal life. Without chloride, the human body would be unable to maintain fluids in blood vessels, conduct nerve transmissions, move muscles, or maintain proper kidney function. As a major electrolyte mineral of the body, chloride performs many roles, and is rapidly excreted from the body.

Magnesium chloride solution was not only harmless for tissues, but it had also a great effect over leucocytic activity and phagocytosis; so it was perfect for treatment of external wounds. – Dr. Jean Durlach

Dr. Jean Durlach et al., at the Université P. M. Curie, Paris, wrote a paper about the relative toxicities between magnesium sulfate and magnesium chloride. They write, “The reason for the toxicity of pharmacological doses of magnesium using the sulfate anion rather than the chloride anion may perhaps arise from the respective chemical structures of both the two magnesium salts. Chemically, both MgSO4 and MgCl2 are hexa-aqueous complexes.

However MgCl2 crystals consist of dianions with magnesium coordinated to the six water molecules as a complex, [Mg(H2O)6]2+ and two independent chloride anions, Cl-. In MgSO4, a seventh water molecule is associated with the sulphate anion, [Mg(H2O)6]2 +[SO4. H2O]. Consequently, the more hydrated MgSO4 molecule may have chemical interactions with paracellular components rather than with cellular components, presumably potentiating toxic manifestations while reducing therapeutic effect.”

MgSO4 is not always the appropriate salt in clinical therapeutics. MgCl2 seems the better anion-cation association to be used in many clinical and pharmacological indications.[1] -Dr. Jean Durlach et al.

Researchers studying the ionic fluxes in the two directions between the mother and the fetus found that there was a greater positive effect when MgCl2 was used and that MgSO4 could not guarantee the fetal needs in sodium and potassium exchange like MgCl2 could. They also found that MgCl2 interacts with all the exchangers in the cell membrane, while the effect of MgSO4 is limited to paracellular components without interaction with cellular components. Dr. Durlach summarized saying, “MgCl2 interacts with all exchangers while the interaction of MgSO4 is limited to paracellular exchangers, and MgCl2 increases the flux ratio between mother and fetus while MgSO4 decreases it.”

High-dosage, tocolytic magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) administered to pregnant women during preterm labor can be toxic and sometimes lethal for their newborns.

Chloride vs. Chlorine

The mineral supplement chloride is very different from the gas chlorine. Elemental chlorine is a dangerous gas that does not exist in the free elemental state in nature because of its reactivity, although it is widely distributed in combination with other elements. Chloride is related to chlorine however, as one of the most common chlorine compounds is common salt, NaCl. Chloride is a by-product of the reaction between chlorine and an electrolyte, such as potassium, magnesium, or sodium, which are essential for human metabolism. Chloride salts are essential for sustaining human metabolism and have none of the effects of isolated chlorine gas.
Magnesium Chloride, Bromide & Iodine

Dr. David Brownstein promotes the use of magnesium chloride as a supplement “synergistic” to treatment with iodine. Chloride competes with bromide at the renal level and increases the renal clearance of bromide,[3] thus magnesium chloride is ideal for magnesium supplementation. Some patients require up to two years of iodine therapy to bring post loading urine bromide levels below 10 mg/24 hr, if chloride load is not included in the bromine detoxification program. Dr. Brownstein says, “As with using any nutritional supplement, a comprehensive holistic treatment plan provides the best results. Magnesium is an important part of the iodine treatment plan. Magnesium deficiency is very common. Magnesium is nature’s relaxing agent. Magnesium levels (via red blood cell magnesium levels) should be assessed and supplementation instituted. Magnesium supplementation will likely ensure optimal results with iodine.”

Resources:
[1] Magnesium Research. Volume 18, Number 3, 187-92, September 2005, original article

[2] Mittendorf R, Dammann O, Lee KS. Brain lesions in newborns exposed to high-dose magnesium sulfate during preterm labor. Department of   Obstetrics and Gynecology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, USA.J Perinatol.2005 Dec 1; doi:10.1038/sj.jp.7211419.

[3] Rauws, A.G., Pharmacokinetics of Bromide Ion-An Overview. Fd. Chem. Toxic., 21:379-382, 1983

[4] Iodine, the Rest of the Story; David Brownstein M.D.;
http://vrp.com/articles.aspx?ProdID=art1860&zTYPE=2

by John Phillip

(NaturalNews) Thousands of research studies over the past decade have heralded the critical importance of eating a diet filled with flavonoids from a variety of brightly colored vegetables and fruits to help prevent and even treat many chronic illnesses. Most plants and fruits rely on flavonoid compounds for protection against the environment and to propagate and flourish. These same properties support human health by altering genetic expression and specifically targeting essential metabolic processes to ward off diseases such as cancer, dementia and the most prevalent killer of men and women, cardiovascular disease.

[Sponsor Protocol: Cardiovascular Healing & Rebuilding Protocol]

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health developed a study to analyze a specific sub-class of flavonoids, called anthocyanins, that has been shown to help dilate arteries, counter the buildup of plaque and provide other cardiovascular benefits. Publishing in the journal Circulation, the scientists found that women who ate at least three servings of blueberries and strawberries per week had significantly fewer heart attacks. Blueberries and strawberries contain high levels of anthocyanins that have shown cardiovascular benefits in past research studies.

Anthrocyanins from eating berries dramatically reduces heart attack risk in a large sampling of women

Lead study author, Dr. Eric Rimm noted “Blueberries and strawberries can easily be incorporated into what women eat every week… this simple dietary change could have a significant impact on prevention efforts.” The researchers developed a cohort of 93,600 women nurses, aged between 25 and 42 who completed dietary questionnaires every four years for a period of 18 years.

Over the course of the study review period, 405 women experienced a heart attack. The study team found that women who consumed the most blueberries and strawberries had a 32 percent reduction in their risk of heart attack as compared to women who ate the berries once a month or less. Interestingly, the results did not change in women who otherwise ate a diet rich in other fruits and vegetables, providing solid proof that the flavonoids provided by the berries were responsible for the heart attack risk reduction benefits.

The study authors concluded “We have shown that even at an early age, eating more of these fruits may reduce risk of a heart attack later in life.” The study results were independent of other risk factors, such as age, high blood pressure, family history of heart attack, body mass, exercise, smoking, caffeine or alcohol intake. While this study was conducted using a large sampling of women, eating between three and five servings of fresh berries each week can dramatically lower heart attack risk for men and women alike.

Sources for this article include:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/127/2/188
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130114152954.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/aha-sbm011013.php

by P. F. Louis

(NaturalNews) Not everyone needs a reason to eat chocolate. But it’s always nice to know there are valid health reasons that support this pleasure. Even then, it’s no excuse to understand which type of chocolate has the most health benefits value.

A December 2012 UK study with 300 patients in 13 hospitals used theobromine, extracted from cacao, to successfully stabilize chronic coughing. The amount used was 1000 mg of theobromine twice daily for two weeks. A dark chocolate candy bar high in cacao or cocoa contains around 450 mg of theobromine per ounce. [1]

Since the average dark chocolate bar is three ounces, it would take slightly over 2/3 of the bar to provide that amount of theobromine. By the way, the only differences between cacao and cocoa are the spelling and pronunciation. [2]

Unfortunately, the coughing symptoms returned for most patients after the theobromine dosing was stopped. But another study in London, England determined that theobromine was more efficacious for coughing the codeine, which is what’s normally prescribed for chronic coughing. [3] That’s

Most candy consumers lean toward the types of chocolate that have less health benefits with more health hazards. That’s the cheap stuff – milk chocolate heavily sweetened and sold in convenience stores.

The kind that supports healthy chocolate eating is dark, minimally sweetened organic chocolate. Your healthy chocolate candy bar of choice should be no less than bitter-sweet chocolate without flavorings or fillings, and it should contain at least 70% cacao or cocoa. If it is raw chocolate, it is all the better.

The higher the cacao level the better, because it’s the cacao beans that contain the extremely high antioxidant health benefits. As a matter of fact, the antioxidant level or ORAC (oxygen radical absorption capacity) of cacao is at the top of the common food list’s ten top ORAC values.

Here’s a 2008 US department of Agriculture/Journal of American Chemical Society ORAC score list per 100 grams:

1)Raw cocoa powder* 95,500
2) Raw cacao nibs* 62,100
3) Roasted cocoa powder 26,000
4) Organic Goji Berries* 25,300
5) Acai Berries* 18,500
6) Dark Chocolate 13,120
7) Milk Chocolate 6,740
8) Prunes 5,770
9) Raisins 2,830
10) Blueberries 2,400

As you can see, the difference between raw cacao and even Goji berries is phenomenal. Even milk chocolate with all it’s pasteurized milk and abundant sugar has a higher ORAC rating than blueberries. [4]

You can purchase raw cacao nibs or powders online or at good health food stores. There are different ways to make this bitter food more palatable, such as grinding to make a cacao liquor or sprinkling into coffee or onto yummier foods.

Raw cacao appears to provide more magnesium than any other single food source. Magnesium is called the master mineral since it’s involved with over 300 metabolic functions in our bodies. Most westerners are magnesium deficient.

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Other minerals prominent in raw cacao nibs or powders are sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese. There is also a high sulfur content, which helps build tissue and protect the liver. Cacao contains mono-unsaturated oleic acid, similar to healthy cold pressed olive oil.

[Sponsor Products: IntraMax Super Therapeutic Vitamin, Mineral, & Herbal Formula, MSM]

This should debunk dark chocolate fat fears. But be wary of heavily sweetened chocolates with commercial milk or confectionery fillers. The amount of caffeine in cacao is also highly exaggerated. But the theobromine mentioned earlier, an effective antimicrobial, is somewhat of a stimulant. [5]

Research has established that cacao (without sugar) helps protect against diabetes 2 (http://www.naturalnews.com/021961.html). Extensive research has also established that cacao and dark chocolate promote heart and arterial health. (http://www.naturalnews.com).

So enjoy cacao nibs on deserts or in beverages, or have some strong dark chocolate with green tea for delicious health benefits.

Sources for this article include:
[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com
[2] http://vegetarian.about.com
[3] http://www.everydayhealth.com
[4] http://bestsuperfoods.wordpress.com
[5] http://bestsuperfoods.wordpress.com