Category: The Best Years In Life

by Tony Isaacs

(NaturalNews) In the earlier article "An Amazing Discovery in Turkey", the first of this series of articles about oleander, I described how Doctor H. Z. Ozel discovered an age old remedy for cancer and other conditions in rural Turkey in the early 1960`s and, after successfully treating thousands of patients over the past 40 years, Dr. Ozel patented the medicine and it was entered into FDA trials. Unfortunately, after passing phase I trials, the patented medicine known as Anvirzel has languished for lack of funding (many consider the patent, based on an age old remedy and common plant to be a weak one) and inter-company squabbles; and it may be many years, if ever, before this promising cancer fighter reaches the market as an FDA approved medicine.

The good news is that you do not have to wait for the approved medication, because you can make your own oleander extract at home on your stovetop, based on the original patent by Doctor Ozel and the folk remedy that has been used for thousands of years. Oleander is a naturally growing plant found all over the southern and southwestern United States and throughout much of the world, and if it isn`t growing naturally near you, you can order oleander plants from many mail-order nurseries on the internet (there are also at least three sources of a commercial supplement version I am aware of, but that will have to wait for a subsequent installment in this series).

Yes, you can make your own oleander remedy, known as "oleander soup" at home about as easily as a large pot of beans, and for that, you can thank a personal injury lawyer by the name of Edward F. Hensley, from San Antonio, Texas, whom I call the "Father of Oleander Soup".

In 2002, Ed`s mother was diagnosed with liver and lung cancer, small cell, and a sister with Hepatitis-C. Ed`s sister, Catrina (Cat), began researching and networking with her friends for answers to the doctor`s prognosis that Betty Hensley only had a few months to live. After contacting one of her old friends, she was told about a clinic in Honduras she could contact and discuss a new cancer drug, which was being made in San Antonio. Cat made a few calls and found who to order the drug from. It cost $1500.00 for a six-week supply of what was called Anvirzel. Cat, Ed, and their brother John put up the initial funds and the drug was ordered.

Betty had been seeing an oncologist in San Antonio, who advised of the risks of chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, and the fact that in her advanced stage, it would have only a small chance of extending her life, and a big chance of serious side effects, including destroying her immune system. Even so, she did try chemo for several weeks, with no result. When the Anvirzel arrived, she began injecting it with Cat`s help, following the instructions provided by the medical doctor in Honduras. After three weeks she went in for new scans with her oncologist. The new films showed the tumors in both her lungs and her liver were shrinking. Her doctor could not directly participate in the injections, but agreed to research the drug.

When the six week supply was about gone, and Betty was very sore at the site of her injections, Ed began researching what this new drug was made of, and what its long term usage was going to entail, and cost. The FDA had a letter posted on its site, warning about the drug, made from the oleander plant, saying it was unproven and should not be used. Yet, the clinic in Honduras was reporting many successful cures of several types of cancer, including juvenile brain cancer.

Ed was determined to find out what was in the drug and went to the U.S. Patent office web site and researched using the term Anvirzel. After several searches, Ed found the patent. It was about 39 pages of legalese, written in the language of patent attorneys, who charge $400 per hour for writing patents, which only lawyers and scientists dare to read.

After several weeks of part time study, the patent began to make sense. It was simply a very confusing, overly detailed, and exaggerated method of making a soup out of the leaves and stems of a common plant, oleander. No problem. Ed had huge oleander plants in his back yard, which were very healthy ornamentals with beautiful flowers year-round. Making the soup was as simple as getting a soup pot, some clippers, an electric hot plate, and a place to cook. Ed`s wife, Carol, would not permit him to cook it in her kitchen, so Ed was resigned to his outside store room – a 10×18 foot building storing yard tools and seasonal sports equipment. After burning several pots of soup because the heat was too high, Ed turned down the heat and boiled the water and oleander clippings for four hours. Then he took out the leaves and stems, and strained the remaining broth using paper towels and plastic strainers. Per Dr. Ozel`s method in the patent, he allowed the broth to cool before straining. He then slow boiled the broth until only about one fifth of the original liquid was left in the bottom of the 12-quart pot.

Ed measured the specific gravity with an anti-freeze gauge, which showed the measurements on a small scale. It was where Dr. Ozel recommended in the patent, about as thick as chicken soup broth. Next, 10 feeder mice were purchased and given the new liquid, which Ed named "oleander soup", as their only source of liquid for two weeks, with all the mouse food they could eat. The mice gained weight, were kind of lazy, but remained alive and looking well.

Ed`s mother was about out of her supply of Anvirzel at that point, so Ed took a bottle of the soup to Betty`s house for a comparison with her drug. It looked the same. It tasted the same. The new soup was fresh, not freeze dried and re-constituted, and according to Betty, tasted fresher. Ed went first and tried some, about a teaspoon. Betty then tried it, taking a teaspoon full. She declared she liked the fresh version better, and that was that. She took oral doses three times a day with meals, with diarrhea the only side effect, which subsided after a week.

Her tests three weeks later were surprising, showing the tumors were still shrinking and were almost gone. A month later, she had no tumors at all. Betty quit taking the soup after another month, after her doctor declared she was free of cancer.

Sadly, about eight months later, feeling healthy, and energetic, Betty flopped down on her bed for a nap, and felt her collar bone snap. Tests showed cancer in the bone, and it was aggressive. Her oncologist referred her to another doctor who recommended some strong new chemotherapy, and discouraged her from going back on the oleander extract. In two months the chemo had slowed the bone cancer, but had also destroyed her kidneys. She died a month later of kidney failure, never taking another drop of the oleander soup or Anvirzel, which had previously saved her life. But she trusted her oncologist, who was very nice and very persuasive. Thankfully, Betty did live to be 88 years of age. She had been a heavy, two pack a day smoker since Ed`s father gave her a cigarette when she was 18. He died at 61 from coronary disease, directly related to his heavy smoking.

Catrina had been dealing with Hepatitis-C, a serious liver condition, which often leads to liver cancer. She began making her own oleander soup and took it, hoping it would stop her condition. It did. In less than two months, her Hepatitis-C was gone. Her liver enzymes were normal. It has not returned in over two years. She has shared the recipe with doctors from Mexico who are treating poor patients with aids, cancer, Hepatitis-c, and psoriasis. A friend of hers reports her rheumatoid arthritis symptoms have gone using the homemade remedy. She laughs when describing the scene in her kitchen, with a big pot of boiling leaves, and two Mexican brothers, medical doctors, standing there taking notes on how to cook something not nearly as difficult as "boracho beans" or chicken mole, two favorite Mexican dishes.

Later in 2003, Ed was surfing the Internet, looking for sites that referenced "Anvirzel". He found the Minnesota Wellness Directory site, and read their remarks about how good the prospects were for this new extract made from poisonous oleander leaves. Ed e-mailed the host the recipe and a short summary of his research. After the host, David, researched the concept and the soup recipe, including getting opinions from his herbalist and medical friends, he published the recipe on his site in his June 2003 newsletter, with warnings about its use.

Not one of his friends reported a problem with the soup, and many of them reported that their cancers and other disorders were improved.

Live long, live healthy, live happy!

CoQ10 is a powerful cancer fighter.

Researchers in Tokyo gave rats a carcinogen that promotes colon cancer. The rats were divided into three groups. One group was fed a regular diet. The second group got a low dose of CoQ10. The third got a medium dose.

The results were amazing.

Both of the groups that received CoQ10 had reductions in abnormal crypts (an early sign of colon cancer) of up to 77%. Ultimately, the results of this study suggested that CoQ10 held cancer in check even when exposed to this carcinogen.1

Another study done at the University of Texas at Austin documented 10 cases of cancer patients who unexpectedly survived when treated with CoQ10.2

It works by blocking the free radicals that can ultimately damage the DNA in your cells. It also helps re-energize the immune system cells that get suppressed by cancer. It restores their ability to fight back and attack the cancer cells.

Researchers in Denmark studied a group of breast cancer patients. They gave them CoQ10, plus a combination of other antioxidants and essential-fatty acids. The result?

The entire group had a partial remission of the cancer. But here’s where things get very interesting…

Two of the patients received larger doses of CoQ10 (390 mg). Their tumors disappeared.

Here’s what the researchers said regarding one of the patients:

“After three months, the patient was in excellent clinical condition and there was no residual tumor tissue.”3

Remarkable isn’t it?

Yet CoQ10 is one of the most overlooked nutrients. The government doesn’t even have a recommended daily intake for it. And in my practice, I’ve found that most of my new patients are deficient.

The only natural source of CoQ10 is red meat, especially organ meat. But today’s commercially-raised, grain-fed beef is a poor source.

Even worse, many popular drugs – especially cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins – cause your levels of CoQ10 to plunge.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1 Sakano K, Takahashi M, et al. Suppression of azoxymethane-induced colonic premalignant lesion formation by coenzyme Q10 in rats. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2006 Oct; 7 (4): 599-603
2 Folkers K, Brown R, Judy WV, Morita M. Survival of cancer patients on therapy with coenzyme Q10. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1993 Apr 15;192(1): 241-5
3 Lockwood K, Moesgaard S, Folkers K. Partial and complete regression of breast cancer in patients in relation to dosage of coenzyme Q10. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1994 Mar 30;199 (3):1504-8

CoQ10

by Tony Isaacs

Recently it was revealed that a handful of the activist agencies behind the petition to the EPA to regulate nano-silver as a pesticide have received funding from pharmaceutical giant Merck, which annually has hundreds of billions of dollars in profits from patented antibioics which many believe are less effective, less safe and far more expensive than colloidal nano-silver products.  Now, further investigation has discovered that the initial revelations may just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Merck and other pharmaceutical companies' funding of the groups who support the EPA petition.

The actual source of the funding that was first revealed in emails and colloidal silver blogsites was the John Merck Fund was set up in 1970 by Serena Merck, the widow of Merck Pharmaceuticals CEO George W. Merck, in honor of their short-lived son John. The recipients of funding who are signees on the petition to the EPA were identified as:

Funding To Activist Groups	Total Donated	Time Frame
Center for Food Safety	$1,305,000.00	1999 – 2005
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy	$490,000.00	1992 – 2003
International Center for Technology Assessment	$247,500.00	1999 – 1999
Consumers Union of the United States	$90,000.00	2000 – 2001
Greenpeace	$80,000.00	2000 – 2002
Friends of the Earth	$45,000.00	1992 – 2000

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) which along with its sister organization the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA), initiated the EPA petition and enlisted the other groups which signed off on the petition, received the second largest amount of funding of any group from the John Merck Fund – second only to the huge total of the Tides Center/Tides Foundation, whose total funding of almost $2.7 Million dwarfs the combined total of $1.75 Million given to the CFS and the ICTA and CFS.

Tides Foundation & Tides Center

$2,693,000.00

1989 – 2005

   http://www.activistcash.com/foundation.cfm?did=138

As it turns out, the top funding recipient Tides Foundation and Tides Center are also actively involved in the petition to regulate silver, as well as the source of funding and support to several of the other groups who signed the EPA petition.  When one goes to the Tides Center website, their position is apparent to one and all with the posting of a press release urging support of the EPA petition:

http://www.tidescenter.org/news-resources/news-releases/single-press-release/article/epa-petitioned-to-stop-sale-of-260-products-containing-nanosilver/index.html

Information on Tides Center's website and other web searches found the following Tides Center/Tides Foundation connections to groups not listed as Merck funding recipients:

    *     Center for Environmental Health (a project of the Tides Center)
    *      Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (previous funding and connections with the Tides Foundation)
    *      Clean Production Action (a Tides Center project)
    *      Food and Water Watch (receives donations from the Tides Foundation)
    *     The Loka Institute (has no current offices but was previously provided office space and a mailbox in Washington. DC by the International Center for Technology Assessment in their offices)

In addition, a $200,000 grant for 2006-2007 from a second Merck Foundation, the Merck Family Fund to another petitioner, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, was discovered.

A quick internet search reveals that Merck is not the only pharmaceutical company which provides funding to the Tides Foundation and Tides Center, as this listing of the top funding recipient from the Pfizer Foundation demonstrates:

Funding To Activist Groups	Total Donated	Time Frame
Tides Foundation & Tides Center	$300,000.00	2003 – 2004

The Tides Foundation is described by Activistcash.com as quickly becoming "the 800 pound gorilla for activist funding." As reported on ActivistCash:

The Tides foundation was established in 1976 by California activist Drummond Pike, Tides does two things better than any other foundation or charity in the U.S. today: it routinely obscures the sources of its tax-exempt millions, and makes it difficult (if not impossible) to discern how the funds are actually being used.

In practice, “Tides” behaves less like a philanthropy than a money-laundering enterprise (apologies to Procter & Gamble), taking money from other foundations and spending it as the donor requires. Called donor-advised giving, this pass-through funding vehicle provides public-relations insulation for the money’s original donors. By using Tides to funnel its capital, a large public charity can indirectly fund a project with which it would prefer not to be directly identified in public. Drummond Pike has reinforced this view, telling The Chronicle of Philanthropy: “Anonymity is very important to most of the people we work with.”

Due to the efforts of many foundations to keep their funding activities anonymous, it is difficult to determine the true scope of pharmaceutical company funding for the Tides group as well as the individual activist groups.  Given the information outlined above, one can only wonder what other pharmaceutical funding is linked to these groups and shudder to think of how many activist groups have been corrupted by funding from Big Pharma and other companies with agendas that are anything but in the public interest.

It is easy to see how such subterfuge can corrupt decision making, the same as can paid lobbyists and political funding.  Obviously it would be in the distinct public interest to require full disclosure of funding sources for every organization which petitions a government agency or legislative body to see where there might be funding sources who would stand to benefit as a result of the desired action or legislation.

Similarly, it would also be in the public interest to require full details of all the activities and efforts of lobbyists, including expenses and the details of each meeting held by lobbyists with government officials.  While we are at it, we would also be a better informed and better served citizenry if every elected official's vote on any measure included donations and links to any companies or other entities affected by such legislation.

Granted, such reforms are a tall order, but until we see such altruistic change all the talk about true transparency in government is merely lip service – and the words from our own lips will continue to have little chance of reaching those whose ears are captured by the special interests who have bought off and otherwise rigged the process in their favor.

By Tony Isaacs

In recent years, statistical cancer death rates have been showing decreases for some cancers in some parts of the world, which has led some people to optimistically report that cancer is getting easier to beat.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.

As noted in “Hiding the Truth about Losing the War on Cancer”, statistics can be manipulated and often have been by those with vested interests in maintaining the illusion that we are turning the corner, or that a cure is just around that elusive corner, in the decades long and mostly failed war on cancer.

The statistics which tell the real story are those which clearly show that the incidence of cancer continues to grow alarmingly, as does the expected worldwide cancer deaths.  Between one in two and one in three people are now expected to encounter cancer in their lifetimes.

According to the World Health Organization's "World Cancer Report", considered to be the most comprehensive global examination of the disease to date, cancer rates could further increase by 50% to 15 million new cases in the year 2020.

Many people, including this author, believe that a great deal of the credit for declining death rates is a result of more people looking outside the failed mainstream therapies box and relying on natural and alternative means to address their cancers.  As the aforementioned WHO report also noted, there was “provides clear evidence that healthy lifestyles and public health action by governments and health practitioners could stem this trend, and prevent as many as one third of cancers worldwide.”

The good news is that, thanks to websites like this one and the writers and natural health advocates who are spreading the good word, an increasing number of people are learning about, and turning to, natural and alternative therapies.  The bad news is that alternative, non-mainstream, non-toxic and non-invasive therapies continue to be repressed and misrepresented in mainstream studies.  The further bad news is that even those who do learn the truth about alternatives are often finding cancer is getting harder to avoid and beat.  Though this article is primarily about cancer, the same is true for heart disease and other major chronic illness, and for pretty much the same reasons:  we continue to become exposed to more and more toxins and pollution, live unhealthy lifestyles and eat diets that are less nutritionally sound.  As a result, our immune systems and our vitality continue to decline – and regardless of any treatment, herb or therapy, mainstream or otherwise, it is our immune system, nature’s first line of defense against illness, that is the most important key to beating and avoiding cancer.

People do not beat and avoid cancer nor get other illnesses due to a deficiency in chemotherapy or deficiencies in mainstream medicine.  They get cancer and become ill because toxins and diseases beat their immune systems.  As data from the CDC and other have shown, our immune systems are becoming progressively weaker, the same as male sperm count is progressively declining.  In 1981, Dr. H. F. Pross did a study of the average Natural Killer (NK) count of average Americans.  NK count is measured in lytic units (LU), and Dr. Pross found that the average LU count in 1981 was 152.  In 1991, Dr. R. B. Herberman did a similar study and found that the LU count had dropped to 135.  In 1997, Dr. Gerald See did another study and found the count had dropped to 108.  In other words, we are dropping  at about the rate of 1 LU per year.  Which means that the average LU count in 2009 is likely to be somewhere around 96 – which would be an alarming drop of 37% in less than three decades!

Other than earlier detection and including some easily remedied forms of cancer that were once considered simply pre-cancerous conditions, little real progress has been made by the use of mainstream invasive and toxic therapies of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation – all which have been shown to increase the spread of cancer and weaken the body to pave the way for further cancer, particularly the latter two (chemo and radiation).

Most people are likely unaware that virtually all chemotherapy drugs are themselves classified as Class 1 carcinogens!  And radiation merely destroys our bone marrow that is the heart of our immune system.

A strong immune system from proper diet and nutrition, a healthy lifestyle, elimination of stress, and proper supplementation and nutrition, is still the best way to avoid and beat cancer, especially when buttressed by herbal immune boosters and cancer fighters.  But it takes diligence and effort – more so now than ever before.

Cancer and the world we live in have changed a lot during the past 50 years and for that reason we do not seem to see the same successes with some of the famed treatments of prior decades, like the outstanding Budwig Diet protocol, Essiac tea, Hoxsey, Gerson, etc.  Cancer appears to be getting harder to avoid and harder to beat once acquired.  That is likely due to a number of factors.

One problem, and a very big one, is one we will likely have to live with for centuries:  the amount of radiation now found in virtually every square inch of the earth's surface as a result of the atmospheric atomic bomb blasts that spewed millions of tons of radioactive material into our environment.  Two time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling warned of millions of deaths and injuries that could be expected as a result of atmospheric bomb tests.  He was rewarded by having the State Department pull his passports.  A pre-eminent Russian scientist and later Nobel Laureate himself, Andrei Sakharov, predicted between half a million and one million deaths for every 50 megatons of atmospheric bomb tests (ultimately the tests of the United States and Russia combined to produce fallout equivalent to 40,000 Hiroshimas).  Instead of having his passports pulled, Sakharov received a free trip and vacation from the state – an exile to a Siberian Gulag for the next 20 plus years, that is.

In addition to the radiation from nuclear bomb tests that will stay with us for ages, we are increasingly being bombarded with microwaves and high power transmission lines, which industry is recently beginning to lose their decades long cover up of the dangers they have known such technology presented.

Add to that the fact that our industrial age has added no fewer than 80,000 unnatural chemical compounds to our environment, less than 1,000 of which have been tested individually in any way for safety and almost none of which have been tested in combination with one another.

Next, you have about 20,000 FDA approved medications (both prescribed and over the counter) which have been mostly poorly tested for safety individually, scarcely tested for carcinogenic/mutagenic short or long term dangers, and almost none of which have been tested in combination with each other.  Over 95% of all FDA approved medications have known side effects by themselves. In combination, one can only imagine what short and long term side-effects could result – and one is reminded that many chronic conditions are years in the making.  Some cancers, for example, take eight years after they have gained a foothold to grow to the size of a pinhead (after which, the doubling rate increases their size much faster).

Then there are the foods and nutrition we tend to consume (or not consume as the case may be).  The food products on the grocers shelves have by and large had the nutrition processed out and additives processed in for added shelf life, flavor, color and texture.  The ones that claim to be "enriched" with vitamins and minerals are enriched mostly with synthetic petro-chemical vitamins and crushed rock minerals – not natural ones or ones that have been pre-digested by plants to be bio-available for human benefit.

Our fruit and vegetables are picked early and artificially ripened/preserved with chemicals – plus they often contain pesticides and/or herbicides and come from over-farmed soils which severely lack the major and trace minerals needed for optimum nutrition. Increasingly, our major food crops are being genetically modified to enable them to withstand more and more of such pesticides and herbicides. Increasingly, vital enzymes and other natural compounds are being destroyed by irradiation to “protect us” from natural crops.

Our mineral depleted and over-farmed soils usually they have just a few petro-chemical synthetics added back to the soil which produce the best growth, but lack the best nutrients.  Pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals have killed off the vital soil micro-organisms needed to convert what minerals do remain to usable forms to be taken up by the plants.  Those micro-organisms which do remain seldom have adequate time to perform their vital roles thanks to over-farming and lack of proper crop rotation.

Today, most of us are deficient in most vital trace minerals needed for optimum health and many major minerals and vitamins as well.  Thanks to the totally overboard scares about the danger of exposure to the sun, most of us are woefully deficient in Vitamin D3 – instead slathering on sunscreens which block out the beneficial rays, let in the harmful ones and contain carcinogens to boot.  Most of us are similarly lacking in iodine, and many are lacking in selenium which, besides many other health benefits, is an important co-factor for iodine to be properly utilized.  While many people diligently supplement with calcium via milk or supplements, as many as 95% of us are deficient in magnesium – and without magnesium being consumed/supplemented on a 1 to 2 or 1 to 3 ratio with calcium, the calcium does not work.

In great part, cancer is a defense mechanism where the cells mutate to protect themselves from a heavy metal, chemical compound, or other irritant/toxin.  One of the things they do is form an outer protective shell which prevents the body's natural immune system from recognizing and killing off the cancer cells.  Some have observed that this protective layer is getting thicker in many forms of cancer, possibly as a result of all the added toxins and other factors listed above.  The end result is that cancer is more hardened against attack and is harder to recognize and defeat by immune systems that are most often in less than optimum condition to begin with.

In addition, the body's great toxin removal organ, the liver, is also often compromised and operating at far less than peak efficiency.  Instead of a toxin removal organ, many people have developed fatty livers which are fat and toxin storage organs and which have bile ducts that fail to eliminate toxins but instead serve to recycle them through the bloodstream.

Perhaps the best of all the Mexican Clinics is the one established by Harry Hoxsey's protégé and partner, Mildred Nelson, an angel of healing who passed on in 1999.  In her later years, she observed that their clinic was still having wonderful results with most forms of cancer, but cancers which once had been able to cured in only three weeks or so were taking up to six month or longer.  I believe that what she observed is a perfect illustration of what I outlined above.

My own anti-cancer protocol (see “A Natural Anti-Cancer Protocol”) may be overkill for many people.  But I think it takes more than just one cancer preventative or cancer fighter these days.  That is why the wonderful Budwig protocol, once an almost sure cancer beater, is still an essential part of what I recommend, but far from the ONLY element.

With declining immune systems in an increasingly polluted, poorly nourished, overmedicated and toxic world, cancer is not getting easier to avoid and neither is it getting easier to beat.  Cancer may be easier to beat than most people think, but that is only because most people still do not know a fraction of what good diet, nutrition, herbal supplementation and alternative treatments have to offer.

The more people who educate themselves about alternatives to ineffective and toxic therapies, the more that will be saved.

by Tony Isaacs

I agree that Budwig is wonderful and consider it an essential part of the natural anti-cancer protocol I put together.  It has indeed achieved wonders and is something I recommend for just about anyone trying to beat cancer or avoid it.

However, cancer and the world we live in have changed a lot during the past 50 years and for that reason we do not seem to see the same successes with treatments like Budwig, Essiac, Hoxsey, Gerson, etc.  Cancer appears to be getting harder to avoid and harder to beat once acquired.  I believe that is likely due to a number of factors.

One is the amount of radiation that now found in virtually every square inch of the earth's surface as a result of the atmospheric atomic bomb blasts that spewed millions of tons of radiactive material into our environment.  Two time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling warned of millions of deaths and injuries that could be expected as a result of atmospheric bomb tests.  He was rewarded by having the State Department pull his passports.  A pre-eminent Russian scientist and later Nobel Laureat himself, Andrei Sakhorov, predicted between half a million and one million deaths for every 50 megatons of atmospheric bomb tests (ultimately the tests of the United States and Russia combined to produce fallout equivalent to 40,000 Hiroshimas).  As a result he was exiled to a Siberian Gulag for the next 20 plus years.

Add to that the fact that our industrial age has added no fewer than 80,000 unnatural chemical compounds to our environment, less than 1,000 of which have been tested individually in any way for safety and almost none of which have been tested in combination with one another.  Then you have all of the microwave transmissions, power lines and cell phones.

Next, you have about 20,000 FDA approved medications (both prescribed and over the counter) which have been mostly poorly tested for safety individually, scarcely tested for carcinogenic/mutagenic short or long term dangers, and almost none of which have been tested in combination with each other.  Over 95% of all FDA approved medications have known side effects by themselves. In combination, one can only imagine.

Next comes the foods and nutrition we tend to consume (or not consume as the case may be).  The food products on the grocers shelves have by and large had the nutrition processed out and additives processed in for added shelf life, flavor, color and texture.  The ones that claim to be "enriched" with vitamins and minerals are enriched mostly with synthetic petro chemical vitamins and crushed rock minerals – not natural ones or ones that have been pre-digested by plants to be bioavailable for human benefit.

Our fruit and vegetables are picked early and artificially ripened/preserved with chemicals – plus they often contain pesticides and/or herbicides and come from over-farmed soils which severely lack the major and trace minerals needed for optimum nutrition.  Usually they have just the major petro chemical synthetics added back to the soil which produce the best growth, and which have either killed off the vital soil micro-organisms needed to convert what minerals do remain to usuable forms to be taken up by the plants, or else have not been given those micro-organisms adequate time to perform their vital roles thanks to over-farming and lack of proper crop rotation.

Today, most of us are deficient in most vital trace minerals needed for optimum health and many major miinerals and vitamins as well.  Thanks to the totally overboard scares about the danger of exposure to the sun, most of us are woefully deficient in Vitamin D3 – instead slathering on sunscreens which block out the beneficial rays, let in the harmful ones and contain carcinogens to boot.  Most of us are similarly lacking in iodine, and many are lacking in selenium which, besides many other health benefits, is an important co-factor for iodine to be properly utilized.  While many people diligently supplement with calcium via milk or supplements, as many as 95% of us are deficient in magnesium – and without magnesium being consumed/supplemented on a 1 to 2 or 1 to 3 ratio with calcium, the calcium does not work.

Besides all of the poor nutrition we consume as part of our fast food, processed food, microwavable meals SADS diet, we have also largely adapted to sedentary lifestyles which further impair our immune systems – nature's vital first line of defense against cancer and other illness.

In great part, cancer is a defense mechanism where the cells mutate to protect themselves from a heavy metal, chemical compound, or other irritant/toxin.  One of the things they do is form an outer protective shell which prevents the body's natural immune system from recognizing and killing off the cancer cells.  Some have observed that this protective layer is getting thicker in many forms of cancer, possibly as a result of all the added toxins and other factors listed above.  The end result is that cancer is more hardened against attack and is harder to recognize and defeat by immune systems that are most often in less than optimum condition to begin with.

In addition, the body's great toxin removal organ, the liver, is also often compromised and operating at far less than peak efficiency.  Instead of a toxin removal organ, many people have developed fatty livers which are fat and toxin storage organs and which have bile ducts that fail to eliminate toxins but instead serve to recycle them through the bloodstream.

Perhaps the best of all the Mexican Clinics is the one established by Harry Hoxsey's protege and partner, Mildred Nelson, an angel of healing who passed on in 1999.  In her later years, she observed that their clinic was still having wonderful results with most forms of cancer, but that cancers which once had been able to cured in only three weeks or so were taking up to six month or longer.  I believe that what she observed is a perfect illustration of what I outlined above.

My anti-cancer protocol may be overkill for many people.  But I think it takes more than just one cancer preventative or cancer fighter these days.  That is why the wonderful Budwig protocol is an essential part of what I recommend, but far from the ONLY element.

For more information: Contact Utopia Silver and ask for “A Natural Anti-Cancer Protocol” By Tony Isaacs

By Tony Isaacs

Is the current Swine Flu epidemic the next great worldwide flu?  It appears to be still too early to make that call, but the current outbreak appears to be rapidly spreading and the next pandemic is overdue.  While this particular flu does not appear to be as deadly as the HN51 avian flu that has had the world nervously watching for the past few years, or the horrific Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-19, it nevertheless appears to be a potent killer and it is chilling to note that the new flu evidently contains four different influenza strains, including an avian flu (along with two swine flu strains and one influenza A strain).

NOTE: Since it appears that the new hybrid swine flu may be spreading rapidly, taking immediate steps to begin boosting and modulating the immune system is especially important.  In the the horrific Spanish Flu pandemic, mankind was exposed to a strain of flu that was new and which we had no natural antibodies for.  As a result, the healthiest and most robust were even more susceptible than the weak, very young and aged as their strong natural immune systems literally poured a biochemical cascade of immune cells and immune system bio-chemicals such as interferon, interleukin, monokines and cytokines into the lungs to try to combat a pathogen the body did not recognize.  The result was often that the lungs were literally eaten up.

To beat and avoid the flu, you should first of all do endeavor to do the things that help protect against virtually all diseases and illnesses:  get plenty of rest, exercise, quit smoking, eat a nutritious diet, avoid stress and, above all, to make your body's natural first line of defense, your immune system, strong and robust.

Avoid the Flu with Daily Vitamin D and Boosting the Immune System:

When it comes to avoiding influenza, perhaps nothing is as important or effective as getting adequate daily amounts of Vitamin D. A group of scientists from UCLA published a remarkable paper in the prestigious journal, Nature which confirmed two other studies in recent years that the natural steroid hormone known as Vitamin D was, in effect, a potent antibiotic. Instead of directly killing bacteria and viruses, Vitamin D increases the body's production of a class of proteins called antimicrobial peptides. The 200 known antimicrobial peptides directly and rapidly destroy the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, including the influenza virus, and play a key role in keeping the lungs free of infection.

Vitamin D does not exist in appreciable quantities in normal human diets. The best form, by far, of Vitamin D is naturally occurring Vitamin D3, which is produced by sun exposure on the skin. A single, twenty-minute, full body exposure to summer sun will trigger the delivery of 20,000 units of vitamin D into the circulation of most people within 48 hours. However, thanks to all the scare stories about avoiding too much sun and today's modern lifestyle of living, working and shopping in enclosed buildings, the vast majority of people do not get nearly enough Vitamin D3 .

To make sure that you have enough Vitamin D in your system, get daily sunshine whenever possible and supplement with at least 2000 mg of Vitamin D3 regularly when you cannot. The several hundred daily units the U.S. government recommend as "adequate intake" is woefully inadequate and it should also be noted that the paltry 100 mg of Vitamin D in a fortified glass of milk is not only so small as to be virtually useless, it is also not a naturally occurring form Vitamin D and thus much less beneficial or bioavailable to begin with.

The best immune booster of all in my opinion is oleander.  Oleander extract was proven to have six times the immune stimulating activities of the most powerful patented immune stimulators known to man in European studies in 1986-87 – which is no doubt a large reason that it has been so effective against cancer, HIV, hepatitis-C and other conditions.

Note:   The raw oleander plant is quite toxic, but that is not the case when it has been properly boiled and strained according to exact instructions.  No one should attempt to make their own oleander remedy without knowing what they are doing (See Oleander Soup) and the best bet would be to purchase oleander in supplement form, such as Sutherlandia OPC.

Some of the other very best immune boosters are:

·        Echinacea (Forget the flawed mainstream studies!)

·        Pau d’arco

·        Suma

·        Astragalus

·        Medicinal mushrooms

·        Beta glucans

·        Aloe vera

·        Alkygycerol

·        Lactoferrin

·        Bovine colostrums

·        Glutathione

·        Mangosteen

Be Sure to Add Natural Anti-Virals:

The next thing you should do, is to also take one or more good natural anti-viral agents, ESPECIALLY if the Avian Flu is involved.

The best natural pathogen destroyers are:

·        Colloidal Silver

·        Garlic

·        Olive leaf extract

·        Oil of wild mountain oregano

·        Grapefruit seed extract

A top quality colloidal silver (like that made by CureZone sponsor Utopia Silver) will usually knock out the flu bug in short order.  Be sure to take plenty (two to four ounces twice a day).

As noted by Colloidal Silver blogmaster Steve Barwick:

“Not only has colloidal silver been demonstrated to decimate many of the viruses associated with deadly viral flu infections, but it has also been proven to decimate most of the well-known bacterial pathogens that cause serious secondary infections during a viral infection, including the following:

Streptococcus pneumonia

Corynebacterium diphtheriae

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Klebsiella pneumoniae

Haemophilus influenzae

Bordetella pertussis;

Mycobacterium (Tuberculosis)

Inflammatory conditions of the eyes, ears, nose, and throat

Spring Catarrh

Pneumococci Pneumonia

It is these secondary bacterial infections that often kill the infected individual, once the flu virus has sufficiently weakened the body.”

Use Magnesium and Other Immune System Modulators:

Like anti-virals, immune system modulators can play an important role in both warding off and beating the flu as well as in protecting the body from an excessive response from its own immune system.  One of the very best natural immune system modulators is magnesium – and it has been estimated that as many as 95% of the people in the U.S. are deficient in magnesium, which plays a vital role in modulating the immune system.  Magnesium is at the heart of the inflammatory process, and deficiency in magnesium contributes to an exaggerated response to immune stress.  As mentioned earlier, what made the 1918-1919 human Spanish Flu pandemic so virulent was the viral triggering of cytokine-mediated lung inflammation. Magnesium literally puts the chill on inflammation and plays a crucial role in natural and adaptive immunity.

Other powerful immune modulators include:

Curcumin
Blackseed Oil (Nigella Sativa)

Fight Infection with Plenty of Vitamin C:

Vitamin C helps prepare the body for an aggressive attack of influenza of any type. If vitamin C levels are low, the body will be more vulnerable to complications. Also, an attack of the flu will lower already dangerously depleted vitamin C levels. Whole food vitamin C is often better tolerated than pure ascorbic acid in addition to the fact that whole food vitamin C comes with the necessary.  Take at least 1000 milligrams daily to be prepared for the flu season.

At the first sign of cold or flu symptoms, take 500 milligrams of vitamin C with bioflavonoids or rose hips four to six times a day. The bioflavonoids and rose hips strengthen the vitamin C’s infection-fighting power by 35 percent, according to experts. Start taking Vitamin C as soon as you can. There are no adverse effects from taking high dosages of vitamin C. If you experience diarrhea, reduce the dosage of Vitamin C. Use bioflavonoids along with vitamin C for their synergistic effect.

Guard Against the Spread of Flu and Airborne Viruses:

The fourth thing you should do is endeavor to stop the spread of airborne viruses during the flu season:

Use colloidal silver in humidifiers and spray misters.

Nothing destroys pathogens like colloidal silver, as recognized by the Hong Kong metro subway system, which uses a colloidal silver spray to protect the 2.5 million daily users against the spread of colds and flu through contacts with common surfaces.

Use essential oils to prevent the spread of viruses.

·        Protect yourself from others by gargling daily with 1 drop each of the essential oils of tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) and lemon in a glass of warm water; stir well before each mouthful. Do not swallow.

·        Mix a blend of essential oils to use in your diffuser or for use in steam inhalation.

Blend together:

·         ravensare – 3 parts

·         naiouli or eucalyptus – 1 part

·         lemon – 1 part

·         rosewood – 1 part

·         lavender – 1 part

Ravensare and naiouli have antiviral properties, while the other essential oils in the blend act as antiseptics while at the same time providing a wonderful aroma.

·        Diffuser Application – Add about 50 drops of the above blend to your diffuser at a time.

·        Fumigate the house with oils to help prevent the spread of flu. Put 2-3 drops on a radiator to evaporate or add 10 drops of essential oils to a small plant spray filled with water. Spray the room frequently.

Another option is the famous Vinegar of the Four Thieves Formula

During the time of the Black Plague a family of perfumers robbed the dead. As perfumers they knew well the antiseptic essential oils, and they infused them in vinegar and rubbed them on their bodies; by doing so they protected themselves from certain death. The doctors of the time used the same herbs and essential oils to to protect themselves while tending so many who were contagious. They wore big cloaks over their heads that reached down well below their shoulders. Attached to the cloak over the nose and mouth was a 10 inch long canoe-like shaped beak full of antiseptic herbs and essential oils.

Here is the famous Vinegar of The Four Thieves recipe; it is sometimes called Grave Robber's Blend. Use it wherever you would normally use disinfectants.

Place a small handful each of dried lavender, rosemary, sage, rue and mint in a large jar, and cover completely with organic apple cider vinegar. Cover tightly and set for six weeks. Strain into a spray bottle. Whereas no home can be made to be sterile, spray the powerfully antiseptic Vinegar of Four Thieves recipe in areas of concern, such as on cutting boards and door knobs, always making sure to avoid your eyes.

Note:  The above sprays are not technically disinfectants (disinfectants have to be registered with the EPA as pesticides), but sprays with anti-bacterial properties.

Wash your hands frequently with a good germicidal cleanser.

To help prevent contracting or spreading the flu via contact, frequently wash and cleanse your hands with a good germicidal cleanser.  Note, be careful to read the ingredients – most commercial germicidal cleansers contain tocopherol, a known carcinogen.  A far better bet would be Colloidal Silver skin bars or else spraying your hands with colloidal silver from a hand sprayer.

Though no one can guarantee that any measures will afford 100% protection against virtually any, the above steps should help everyone avoid and beat the Swine, Avian or any other kinds of flu.

by Tony Isaacs

I just returned from a trip to Utopia and then a weekend at my beloved pasture.  While in Utopia I took part in a natural health seminar (my part of the presentation was a talk on beating and avoiding cancer naturally) that included three segments by a good friend of mine, Dr. Ken O'Neal. Doctor Ken, as he is known, is an MD for 30 years and for the past 10 years plus also a naturopathic doctor because he realized that mainstream medicine and the prescription drugs he had been taught were not curing anyone, just managing their symptoms and making them sicker in the long run.  It was a great way to make money but he wanted to heal people . . .

One of Doctor Ken's segments dealt with digestive enzymes and the vital role they play in our health.  Until the advent of modern farming and food preparation most people got ample digestive enzymes from the plants they picked and ate – consuming a great deal of them more or less ripe from the vine.  A ripe fruit or vegetable freshly picked contains the most digestive enzymes it will ever have.  Only a couple of hours off the vine will result in significant deterioration.  Pick a fruit or vegetable that is less than ripe and then ship it via cold storage to your local grocers and it may have less than 10% of the enzymes of a fresh picked ripe fruit or vegetable.  Add to that  our over-farmed and mineral-depleted soils,  the lack of time between crop plantings and lack of sufficient micro-organisms which convert available minerals to bioavailable forms the plants can utilize and the end result is crops that have far less available nutrients and enzymes than those decades ago.

Digestive enzymes play key roles in our health by enabling our bodies to digest and utilize all the nutrients we ingest to the greatest extent possible.  Moreover, these enzymes also play a key role in the elimination of toxins and the digestion and removal of scar tissue that builds up inside all of us as we age.  I am not sure how many of you may have seen my article on the valuable role houseplants can play in eliminating toxins and providing fresh oxygen but what I did not know when I wrote the article was that it was digestive enzymes in the plants that enabled them to remove toxins.

When it comes to our bodies, there are at least 45 essential nutrients that the body needs to carry out normal bodily functions – and likely more when you include all the vital trace minerals. Essential means that the body cannot manufacture them and they must come from outside sources.

There are at least 13 kinds of vitamins and 20 kinds of minerals, in addition to fats, carbohydrates and water that are required for proper metabolic function. When food is consumed it gets broken down for absorption and transported by the blood stream.

Nutrients, including enzymes, work synergistically which means they cooperate with each other acting as catalysts. This promotes absorption and assimilation. The importance of digestive enzymes resides in the fact that the human body cannot absorb nutrients in food unless digestive enzymes break them down.

The body progressively loses its ability to produce enzymes with major drops occurring roughly every ten years of life. At the beginning it may not be that noticeable, however, later on you will discover that you cannot tolerate or enjoy certain foods like you did before. This may also be accompanied by a feeling of reduced stamina. Yes, you're running low of enzymes.

Noted alternative health voice Jon Barron noted the important role digestive enzymes play in anti-aging in his report on digestive enzymes:

Dr. Howell, in his book on enzyme nutrition, puts it quite clearly when he says that a person's life span is directly related to the exhaustion of their enzyme potential. And the use of food enzymes decreases that rate of exhaustion, and thus, results in a longer, healthier, and more vital life.

Enzymes are proteins that facilitate chemical reactions in living organisms. In fact, they are required for every single chemical action that takes place in your body. All of your cells, organs, bones, muscles, and tissues are run by enzymes.

Your digestive system, immune system, blood stream, liver, kidneys, spleen, and pancreas, as well as your ability to see, think, feel, and breathe, all depend on enzymes. All of the minerals and vitamins you eat and all of the hormones your body produces need enzymes in order to work properly. In fact, every single metabolic function in your body is governed by enzymes. Your stamina, your energy level, your ability to utilize vitamins and minerals, your immune system — all governed by enzymes.

As it happens, they are produced both internally (most notably in the pancreas and the other endocrine glands) and are present in raw foods that we eat. At birth we are endowed with a certain potential for manufacturing enzymes in our bodies, an enzyme “reserve,” if you will. Nature intended that we continually replenish that reserve through proper nutrition and eating habits. Unfortunately, that just doesn't happen. Let's take a look at why.

Most people believe that when you eat a meal it drops into a pool of stomach acid, where it's broken down, then goes into the small intestine to have nutrients taken out, and then into the colon to be passed out of the body — if you're lucky. Not quite.

What nature intended is that you eat enzyme rich foods and chew your food properly. If you did that, the food would enter the stomach laced with digestive enzymes. These enzymes would then "predigest" your food for about an hour — actually breaking down as much as 75% of your meal.

After this period of "pre digestion," hydrochloric acid is introduced. The acid inactivates all of the enzymes, but begins its own function of breaking down what is left of the meal.

Eventually, this nutrient rich food concentrate moves on into the small intestine. Once food enters the small intestine, the pancreas reintroduces digestive enzymes to the process. As digestion is completed, nutrients are passed through the intestinal wall and into the blood stream.

That's what nature intended. Unfortunately, most of us don't live our lives as nature intended!

To read the full report, see: http://www.jonbarron.org/anti-aging-program/04-01-1999.php

At the aforementioned seminar, Dr. O'Neal provided a handout which explained the many benefits that a good regimen of systemic enzyme therapy from diets and supplementation could provide.  Here, with product references removed, is what it said:

Major Functions of Systemic Enzyme Therapy

Fights Inflammation:

Inflammation is the cause of pain associated with many different conditions like arthritis, fibromyalgia, and sports injuries; including muscle sprains, sciatica, and chronic back pain.  Systemic enzymes are a healthy alternative to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and aspirin.

    * Helps reduce joint and muscle inflammation
    * Acts as a natural pain reliever
    * Helps reduce C-Reactive proteins, a marker for inflammation
    * May lower inflammation by removing toxins and debris in the circulatory system
    * May reduce the inflammation associated with Sjogren's syndrome

Fights Fibrosis:

Fibrosis is a type of scar tissue formation containing fibrin (a type of protein) that can form masses or webs throughout the tissues, muscles, and organs.  Excess fibrous tissue is marked by the body as “foreign proteins”.  When there is a build up of excess fibrin, systemic enzymes can help reduce these so called “foreign” proteins, which may help:

    * Fight the aging process by removing the buildup of fibrin
    * Reduce Fibromyalgia symptoms by reduction and removal of fibrin buildup
    * Reduce Endometriosis by removal of fibrin buildup
    * Reduce Uterine Fibroid Tumors by removal of fibrin buildup
    * Reduce Pulmonary Fibrosis by removal of fibrin buildup
    * Reduce Chronic Fatigue Syndrome pain
    * Reduce thickening of the blood (fibrin deposits), increasing circulation
    * Unclog the microcirculation system, increasing circulation
    * Reduce spider veins and wrinkles
    * Reduce formation of scar tissue
    * Increase penile functionality
    * Reduce post-operative scar tissue, increases healing capabilities

Immune System Modulation:

When the immune system is run down too low, digestive enzymes can help increase the immune response, produce more Natural Killer cells, and improve the efficiency of the white blood cells, all leading to improved immunity.  They can also help:

    *Speed healing
    *Balance the entire body synergy
    *Increase the body’s defense mechanism by modulating our immune system
    *Prevent the rejection of transplanted and health-restoring organs and tissues
    *Modulate the cell-signaling pathway that triggers immune activation

Fights Blood Contamination:

Blood can become contaminated with toxins when the liver is over burdened and its capacity to cleanse the blood becomes diminished as a result.  Another way contamination can occur is when excess fibrin builds up in the blood causing it to become too thick.  This creates the perfect environment for blood clots to form. When systemic enzymes are taken, they can stand ready in the blood and take the strain off of the liver by helping to:

    *Clear excess fibrin from the blood and reducing the stickiness of blood cells, which in turn helps minimize one of the leading causes of stroke, heart attack, and blood clots.
    * Break down dead material small enough so it can immediately pass into the bowel.
    * Maintain a normal blood flow by helping to prevent blood clots and platelet aggregations within blood vessels
    * Assist in the liver’s detoxification process
    * Improve functionality of white blood cell receptors and their ability to fight off infection.
    * Reduce clogging of the microcirculatory system
    *Improve homeostasis

Fights Viruses:

Viruses have an exterior protein coating that is used to bond itself to the DNA in our cells so they can replicate and possibly cause harm.  Systemic enzymes can disrupt this outer protein wall and render viruses inert by inhibiting replication.

Digestive enzymes which include Serrapeptase content can help:

    *Improve anti-virals, kills the virus
    * Internal filters clean the circulatory system
    * Lower viral loading

I might also add that Dr. O'Neal explained one reason that digestive enzymes, particularly pancreatic enzyme that contain chymotrypsin, are so effective as a tool in fighting many cancers, such as pancreatic cancer:  they help break down the protective coating cancer cells encapsulate themselves in.

So, digestive enzymes important?  It surely made a believer out of me!

Live long, live healthy, live happy!

Tony Isaacs

Sources included:

Dr. Ken O'Neal and his handouts from the Utopia Texas Health Seminar
Jon Barron

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by Tony Isaacs

Two large studies published online last week in the New England Journal of Medicine have found that the PSA blood test used to screen for prostate cancer saves few lives and can lead to risky and unnecessary treatments for 95% of the men who are screened.

Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, was quoted in the New York Times as saying that the two studies — one in Europe and the other in the United States — are “some of the most important studies in the history of men’s health.”

The PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test, which measures a protein released by prostate cells, does what it is supposed to do — indicates a cancer might be present, leading to biopsies to determine if there is a tumor.  Most of the cancers tend to grow very slowly and are never a threat and, with the faster-growing ones, even early diagnosis might be too late.  Until the release of the results of the two new studies, it has been difficult to know whether finding prostate cancer early saves lives. Both studies have confirmed that in most instances it does not.

The findings, which are the first based on robust, independently audited evidence, and randomized studies, confirmed some longstanding concerns about the wisdom of prostate screening and indicated that the practice of widespread prostate screening may result in far more harm than benefits.  Prostate cancer treatment can result in impotence and incontinence when surgery is used to destroy the prostate, and, at times, painful defecation or chronic diarrhea when the treatment is radiation.  In addition, many believe that the practice of cancer biopsies often leads to the spread and more rapid development of cancer.

The European study, the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), commenced in the early 1990's and involved 182,000 men in eight countries – Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland – with an overall follow-up of up to 12 years.  The other study, by the National Cancer Institute, involved nearly 77,000 men at 10 medical centers in the United States.  Although both studies are continuing, the results so far are considered significant and the most definitive to date.

In both studies, participants were randomly assigned to be screened — or not — with the PSA test and in each study the two groups were followed for more than a decade while researchers counted deaths from prostate cancer, asking whether screening made a difference.

In the European study, for every man whose death was prevented within a decade of having a PSA test 48 men were told they had prostate cancer and needlessly treated for it, and the study found that there were only seven fewer prostate cancer deaths for every 10,000 men screened and followed for nine years.

The American study, found no reduction in deaths from prostate cancer after most of the men had been followed for 10 years.  Instead, by seven years the death rate was 13 percent lower for the unscreened group.

Sources Included: NY Times, NEJM, ScienceDaily

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by Tony Isaacs

(NaturalNews) A new study suggests that chemicals known as perfluorinated chemicals, which are pervasive in food packaging, pesticides, clothing, upholstery, carpets and personal care products, may delay pregnancy. Other studies and evidence have indicated that the chemicals are responsible for far greater harm than just delayed pregnancy.

The Latest Study

"These widespread chemicals apparently lower the fertility in couples trying to get pregnant," said lead researcher Dr. Jorn Olsen, chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at UCLA`s School of Public Health who headed the study. The report is published in the Jan. 29 online edition of Human Reproduction. And it follows on the heels of a report linking another common plastic chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), to developmental problems in fetuses and infants.

For Olsen`s study, his team collected data on 1,240 women who participated in the Danish National Birth Cohort. Danish women in the study who had high levels of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) took longer to get pregnant.

The researchers took blood samples from the women and interviewed them on how long it took them to become pregnant. The researchers found that blood levels of PFOS ranged from 6.4 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) to 106.7 ng/ml. For PFOA, levels ranged from 1 ng/ml to 41.5 ng/ml. Olsen`s group then divided the women into four groups, depending on how much of the chemicals were in their blood.

Women in the three groups with the highest levels of PFOS took from 70 percent to 134 percent longer to get pregnant than women with the lowest PFOS levels, the team reported. It took women with the highest PFOA levels 60 percent to 154 percent longer to get pregnant compared with women with the lowest levels of this chemical. Why these chemicals would delay pregnancy isn`t known, Olsen said, but they may affect hormones involved in reproduction.

Recent animal studies have found these chemicals may have a variety of toxic effects on the liver, immune system and developmental and reproductive organs, he noted. In addition, previous studies by the same researchers found that PFOA may affect the growth of fetuses and two other studies linked PFOA and PFOS to impaired fetal growth.

After decades of evidence of harm from these chemicals, in 2006 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally had commitments from eight manufacturers of PFOA to voluntarily reduce emissions and product content of PFOA and related chemicals in the United States and overseas by 95 percent by 2010, and to work toward eliminating emissions and product content of these chemicals by 2015. This action was brought on because the chemical was associated with "systemic and developmental toxicity."

Sources of PFOA

Food, drinking water, outdoor air, indoor air, dust, and food packagings are all implicated as sources of PFOA to people. Contaminated food and drinking water are thought to be the largest contributors, while consumer products such as impregnation sprays (textile treatments), treated carpets, and coated food contact materials are considered as minor.

PFOA is also formed as an unintended byproduct in the production of fluorotelomers and is present in finished goods treated with fluorotelomers, including those intended for food contact. Also, fluorotelomers can be metabolized into PFOA. In an U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) study, fluorotelomer-based paper coatings (which can be applied to food contact paper in the concentration range of 0.4%) were found to contain 88,000-160,000 ppb PFOA, while microwave popcorn bags contained 6-290 ppb PFOA. Toxicologists estimate that microwave popcorn could account for about 20% of the PFOA levels measured in an individual consuming 10 bags a year if 1% of the fluorotelomers are metabolized to PFOA. Fluorotelomer-based paper coatings are used in direct food contact because of their lipophobicity; the coatings give papers resistance to oil soaking in from fatty foods. Fluorotelomer coatings are used in fast food wrappers, candy wrappers, and pizza box liners. PAPS, a type of paper fluorotelomer coating, and PFOA precursor, is also used in food contact papers.

From Sludge to Food

PFOA can form as a breakdown product from a variety of precursor molecules. PFOA precursors can be transformed to PFOA by metabolism, biodegradation, or atmospheric processes. The OECD identified 615 chemicals that potentially break down to form PFCA. However, not all of these chemicals have the potential to break down to form PFOA. A majority of waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) that have been tested output more PFOA than is input, and this increased output has been attributed to the biodegradation of fluorotelomer alcohols.

PFOA and PFOS were detected in "very high" (low parts per million) levels in agricultural fields for grazing beef cattle around Decatur, AL. The approximately 5000 acres of land were fertilized with "treated municipal sewage sludge, or biosolids." PFOA was also detected in the blood of the cattle. The water treatment plant received process wastewater from a nearby perfluorochemical manufacturing plant. 3M says they managed their own wastes, but Daikin America "discharged process wastewater to the municipal waste treatment plant." If traced to meat, it would be the first time perfluorochemicals were traced from sludge to food.

On February 15, 2005, the USEPA`s Science Advisory Board (SAB) voted to recommended that PFOA should be considered a "likely human carcinogen."

On May 26, 2006, the USEPA`s SAB addressed a letter to Stephen L. Johnson. Three-quarters of advisers thought the stronger "likely to be carcinogenic" descriptor was warranted, in opposition to the USEPA`s own PFOA hazard descriptor of "suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity, but not sufficient to assess human carcinogenic potential."

Evidence of Harm versus Industry Denial and Coverup

In what has been a consistent pattern of denial the American Council on Science and Health, an organization which is widely perceived to be an industry mouthpiece and which admits to receiving industry funding but refuses to disclose sources and amounts, labeled the idea that "PFOA Causes Low Birth Weight Babies" as #4 on their Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2007, arguing that "PFOA affecting birth weight by four ounces does not imply any real harm to the babies – they were all of normal weight."

Although the chemical industry would have us believe that any health issues will soon become moot because these chemicals are being phased out in the United States due to their toxic effects, they remain in the environment and in the body for decades, and have been linked to developmental and numerous other problems. In 2003-2004 99.7% of Americans had detectable PFOA in their blood serum. However, concentrations of PFOA in US blood serum have declined by 25% in recent years. Despite a decrease in PFOA, the related chemical PFNA, a longer chained perfluorinated carboxylic acid, is increasing in the blood of US consumers.

Facial birth defects, an effect observed in rat offspring, occurred with the children of two out of seven female DuPont employees from the Washington Works facility from 1979-1981; however, DuPont does not accept any responsibility from the toxicity of PFOA. With other highly exposed populations, a 2000 3M epidemiology study recorded statistically significant increases in cholesterol, triglyceride, and triiodothyronine levels and a statistically significant decrease in HDL with increasing levels of PFOA. A 3M funded study found workers who were highly exposed to PFOA had twice the odds of dying from prostate cancer and stroke when compared to other workers at the same plant.

In response, 3M`s spokesman said, "nothing in this study changes our conclusion that there are no adverse health effects from PFOA."

A DuPont report on the rate of occurrence of carcinoid tumors at their Washington, WV plant gave "preliminary evidence for a cancer cluster." DuPont responded by stating that they did not have any reason to believe the increase from the Washington Works plant was due to any specific chemical. In a May 2008 preliminary report released by West Virginia University (WVU), PFOA was linked to liver, thyroid, immune system, and cholesterol changes considered harmful in the population around DuPont`s Washington, WV plant. In a quick response to the release of the WVU report, DuPont`s spokesman highlighted the preliminary nature and the legal issue of the industry dominated C8 Science Panel being the only court appointed authority on study results. The C8 Science Panel also criticized the WVU release, labeling the graphs as "simple" that related PFOA to several blood tests because they did not represent a thorough data analysis. In October 2008, when the C8 Science Panel released findings, PFOA was only linked to high levels of cholesterol.

Despite DuPont asserting that "cookware coated with DuPont Teflon non-stick coatings does not contain PFOA," residual PFOA was also detected in finished PTFE products including PTFE/Teflon cookware. Additionally, a New York State Department of Health study detected PFOA in the gas phase coming from new nonstick cookware and microwave popcorn bags in research funded by a 2005-2006 $17,700 grant from the Consumers Union.

In the face of all the evidence of PFOA harm to humans, DuPont`s position continues to be that the data does not prove PFOA causes health effects.

On December 13, 2005, DuPont announced a settlement with the EPA in which DuPont will pay $10.25 million in fines and an additional $6.25 million for two supplemental environmental projects without any admission of liability.