Mark Schauss: Discussing Real Life Health Issues and More

The world is a lesser place now with the passing of a dear friend and one of the best people I have ever known in my life, Marie Fairchild. She was an extraordinary human being, a gifted nutritionist, a master in the use of Chinese herbs and one of the people who helped me keep looking for an answer for my daughter Tasya. I have known Marie for over 10 years and my life is far better because of her. Her smile, one you could hear over the phone, was contagious and helped me through my toughest days.

She helped so many people over the years her legacy will live on for a long time.

Marie, may you rest in peace knowing you will never, ever be forgotten.

Mark Schauss - Boulderfest 2008 Presentation

This weekend I had the pleasure and honor to speak at Boulderfest 2008 put on by Crayhon Research. Here is the PowerPoint presentation I gave this past Thursday, July 17th.  Also, to all the attendees, I was energized by all of your care and interest in helping people. It is inspiring!!!

I usually don’t like to tout specific products but a new one from Crayhon Research has made me stand up and take notice. The new supplement is PhosSerine-DHA Supreme. There is lots of research about PS and DHA and brain function but this is the first product where the two are uniquely combined in a powder form (put into a capsule). The research on the benefits of this combination on ADHD children is compelling and will be added to my daughter Tasya’s regime today.

One of the other reported benefits to the use of this unique product is its use to boost memory. I am going to start using it myself if for no other reason than remembering where I put my car keys.

Considering the failure of drugs to treat children with ADHD and other neurological disorders, I for one would always go the natural route. Safer and usually more effective. As I see results (or not) with Tasya, I will post them up here.

Toxicity talk from Bellevue, Washington

Here is the Powerpoint Presentation I did in Bellevue, Washington on June 26th, 2008 to the Puget Soung Functional Medicine group. Many thanks to Dr. David Musnick for inviting me to speak.

Peltier Electrolytes

Here is a presentation I did on the benefits of Peltier Electrolytes, a formula available through health care practitioners and Crayhon Research.

Pretty sad to read an internet news article entitled “Don’t let a hospital kill you” but that is becoming the state of affairs in our for-profit medical world. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 99,000 people die each year because of infections acquired in the hospital”. This is an unacceptable number.

Sloppiness, a “this kind of thing happens” mentality and a focus on profit instead of patient care are just some of the reasons why this is happening in America. The article linked to above from CNN.com lists a few things to help prevent the infections that are killing people when they go to the hospital. Well worth reading before your next visit.

The Newest Finding in the Use of Laboratory Testing in Inflammation

I just gave a talk in Boulder, Colorado at the Healing Journey Seminar on the use of laboratory testing and inflammation. For those of you interested in the subject, I’ve uploaded the Powepoint presentation. Enjoy!

Anyone who’s done a mock draft knows that it isn’t a science, it’s a guessing game. No general manager of an NFL team tells the truth and the “so-called experts” honestly are guessing as well. Here is my best guess and this Saturday I’ll see how well (or more likely bad) I did.

1 – Jake Long OT – Miami Dolphins – I got this one right since they already signed him.

2 – Chris Long DE – St. Louis Rams – He fits their system best.

3 – Glenn Dorsey DT – Atlanta Falcons – Beast of a man who will improve their defense immediately.

4 – Darren McFadden RB – Oakland Raiders – Raider fans cheer for this explosive running back.

5 – Ryan Clady OT – Kansas City Chiefs – They need line help and he provides it.

6 – Vernon Gholston – DT – New York Jets – Hopefully his career follows his workouts.

7 – Leodis McKelvin – CB – New England Patriots – The lost Asante Samuel and need to replace him.

8 – Matt Ryan – QB – Baltimore Ravens – They can’t believe their luck getting a new QB.

9 – Sedric Ellis – DE – Cincinnati Bengals – More help for their beleaguered defense.

10 – Keith Rivers – LB – New Orleans Saints – This guy can play and they need linebacking help.

11 – Devin Thomas – WR – Buffalo Bills – An instant upgrade to their offense.

12 – Branden Albert – OG – Denver Broncos – This guy can be a great guard or tackle in the NFL.

13 – Chris Williams – OT – Carolina Panthers – Happiness in Pantherland when he falls to them.

14 – Jeff Otah – OT – Chicago Bears – Him or Mendenhall at RB but I think they have bigger needs in the offensive line.

15 – Rashard Mendenhall – RB – Detroit Lions – They have so many needs but this is a solid pick (at least its not a WR).

16 – Derrick Harvey – DE – Arizona Cardinals – Another happy team with their pick.

17 – Phillip Merling – DE – Kansas City Chiefs – Replacing Allen on the D-Line was the purpose of this pick

18 – Mike Jenkins – CB – Houston Texans – Surprise pick but a definite need.

19 – Dominque Rogers-Cromartie – Philadelphia Eagles – No one saw this coming but it makes sense.

20 – Ketwan Balmer – DE – Tampa Bay Bucs – More defense equals more wins.

21 – Limas Sweed – WR – Washington Redskins – Returner and receiver is just what the Skins need.

22 – Felix Jones – RB – Dallas Cowboys – Everyone saw this one coming from miles away.

23 – James Hardy – WR – Pittsburgh Steelers – They need weapons and he is one of them.

24 – Calais Campbell – DE – Tennessee Titans – Boost the defense in this round, offense in the next one.

25 – Dustin Keller – TE – Seattle Seahawks – Matt Hasselback throws a party now that he has a top TE to throw to.

26 – Marcus Harrison – DT – Jacksonville Jaguars – Solid pick.

27 – Ryan Clady – OT – San Diego Chargers – His drop surprises many, Chargers are happy.

28 – Kenny Phillips – S - Dallas Cowboys –  Why not?

29 – Dan Connor – LB - San Francisco 49ers – Now they have a solid LB corps for years with Patrick Willis.

30 – Chad Henne – QB – Green Bay Packers – They either trade him for more picks or get a backup to Aaron Rogers.

31 – Tyrell Johnson – S – New York Giants – Real value pick.

Incontinence drugs like Detrol, have now been linked to memory problems and other psychological ills.  According to this article on MSNBC.com, “The people who took the drugs had a 50 percent faster rate of cognitive decline compared to those who didn’t take any.” That is pretty staggering if you ask me. Other drugs in the same class, known as anticholinergics also have similar effects.

So what does Pfizer, who makes Detrol say? Here is a quote from Ponni Subbiah, Pfizer’s vice president of medical affairs, “Detrol has been on the market since 1998. It has been prescribed more than 100 million times worldwide.” further more he states “the frequency of events and the role of Detrol in their causation cannot be reliably determined,” Huh? So basically they say that despite what the research tells us, lots of people are taking it and there is no way you are ever going to prove that it’s bad. Pfizer’s mind-numbing denial just goes to show how they clearly think money over health of their customers. I guess they must be working on a brain enhancing drug to make up for the brain numbing effect of Detrol. I think that maybe they have the people working at Pfizer on Detrol in order to come up with the kind of nonsensical comments they make.

My favorite part of the article was the following comment - “Our message is to be careful when using these medicines,” said U.S. Navy neurologist Dr. Jack Tsao, who led the study. “It may be better to use diapers and be able to think clearly than the other way around.”  I would add that it might behove you to try some GPC (glycerophosphocholine) or PS (phosphatidyl serine) to boost brain function as well

It just keeps coming it seems, the pharmaceutical industry has stooped to levels even I didn’t think possible. Merck was just found to have paid academic scientists to put their names on papers they didn’t write. Who wrote the papers? Company hired medical writers of course.

According to Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, JAMA’s editor-in-chief, “The manipulation is disgusting. I just didn’t realize the extent.”  I think her use of the word disgusting pretty much sums up my opinion of this revelation. The article about this scandal is in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association. You can read the two articles, one by Ross, Hill, Egilman, and Krumholz and the other by Psaty and Kronmal. 

One JAMA report says internal company data showed in 2001 that Vioxx patients in two Alzheimer’s studies had a higher death rate than patients on dummy pills. Merck didn’t publicize that “in a timely fashion” and provided information to federal regulators that downplayed the deaths, the report said. It’s time to reign in the industry through Congressional legislation.

Lest you think that only Merck is guilty of this deception, think again. I am sure that you will see more of this cropping up in the coming months. In my opinion, this type of behavior is driven by executives of pharmaceutical companies need to impress Wall Street and fluff up their balance sheets instead of having patient’s health in mind.

Here is the result of a paper done by Choudry, et al published in JAMA about how pervasive the industry’s hooks into medicine is:

“Eighty-seven percent of authors had some form of interaction with the pharmaceutical industry. Fifty-eight percent had received financial support to perform research and 38% had served as employees or consultants for a pharmaceutical company. On average, CPG authors interacted with 10.5 different companies. Overall, an average of 81% (95% confidence interval, 70%-92%) of authors per CPG had interactions. Similarly, all of the CPGs for 7 of the 10 diseases included in our study had at least 1 author who had some interaction. Fifty-nine percent had relationships with companies whose drugs were considered in the guideline they authored, and of these authors, 96% had relationships that predated the guideline creation process. Fifty-five percent of respondents indicated that the guideline process with which they were involved had no formal process for declaring these relationships. In published versions of the CPGs, specific declarations regarding the personal financial interactions of individual authors with the pharmaceutical industry were made in only 2 cases. Seven percent thought that their own relationships with the pharmaceutical industry influenced the recommendations and 19% thought that their coauthors’ recommendations were influenced by their relationships. ^“

^{What is truly sad is how many people have suffered health and financial wise due to the greed and immoral behavior by the pharmaceutical industry.}