Category Archives: Disease

Go for the Cure Instead of Stop the Cause – Misused Money in the Fight Against Breast Cancer?

Most of us have been affected by breast cancer. Whether you are a survivor, know someone who has had it (my mother) or have a friend who has or did have it, breast cancer is a devastating disease. Major corporations such as the makers of Campbell’s soup have jumped on the “Go For The Cure” bandwagon to help raise money to find a cure for the dreaded disease. Is this money going to the right place? Could it go to a better cause and help more people?  I think so.

According to all of the research I have seen, environmental toxins are one of the main causes of many cancers. I would spend the money trying to eliminate environmental causes of breast cancer.  The other area would be to teach about simple dietary habits that would reduce the risk.

Lab Testing – What Test When

Lab Testing Protocols (PDF)

Lab Testing Protocols – PowerPoint

Here is the PowerPoint and PDF of the presentations that I did in Denver and Boulder, Colorado this past weekend October 27 and 28, 2007.  Hope the information helps you find your way to optimal health.

My Next Speaking Engagements

I lecture quite often but the next three weeks are going to be busy. My tour starts this Wednesday in Rancho Cordova, California near Sacramento and I will be talking about environmental toxicity testing as well as how it affect obesity. From there I head to Boulder on Saturday and Denver on Sunday to start my 6 city tour with Clinical Nutritionist and Author Robert Crayhon.

My talks there and in Stamford, CT (November 3rd), Boston, MA (November 4th) , Bethesda, MD (November 10th) and the LaGuardia Marriott in NYC (November 11th) will all be about the subject of laboratory testing. Even though I do these talks all over, none of my material will be a re-hash of old stuff. All of it will be fresh with some interesting insights into why not to do genetic testing as well as information about a host of disorders and disease and what testing would be most beneficial.

Men, Before You Get A Biopsy – Run This Test First

In America, thousands of men get prostate biopsies after getting a PSA (prostate specfic antigen) test that registers over 4.0. Problem is, 80% of the biopsies show no cancer which is means that the test was highly non-specific, which quite high for any type of procedure. Because this is an invasive procedure, having an 80% failure rate is unacceptable. There is an alternative.

If your PSA is between 4-10, and you are over the age of 40 a free-PSA is the next step and should become the standard of care. If you are under 40 and your PSA is over 2, all bets are off and there may be a need for a biopsy. PSA comes in two types, one is bound to proteins, the other is free.

The higher the percentage of free-PSA, the lower the likelihood that there is prostate cancer present. If the free-PSA is under 10%, then there is a high likelihood of cancer. If it is over 25%, there is a 5% chance that it is cancer if you are between 40-64 and 9% if you are between 65-75.

If your doctor insists on doing a biopsy before doing a free-PSA and you fit in the categories above, find another doctor.

Must See Movie on DVD – Thank You for Smoking

Last night I watched the movie “Thank You for Smoking” and it was hilarious. It may be fiction but it so illustrates how companies that sell dangerous products like cigarettes can spin the truth and keep in business. Toxins in your environment like bisphenol A and phthalates have industry spokespeople and paid “scientists” try to make you believe that their chemical poisons are safe despite evidence to the contrary.

Aaron Eckhart does a great job as the lead character Nick Naylor who is a lobbyist for the tobacco industry. The moral dilemma’s he avoids and the way he deals with his enemies is both funny and quite scary. Worth the 1 1/2 hours, but make sure the kids aren’t around as there is some rather racy language.

 Thank You for Smoking (Full Screen Edition)

Quercitin and Sports – A Way to Help Fight Off Illness

Doctor at Appalachian State University did a study on endurance athletes and found remarkable benefits to the nutritional supplement quercetin. Giving 40male cyclists either a placebo or 1 gram of quercetin daily, they found that the ones given the placebo had nine chest infections after two weeks of rigorous training and the quercitin group only had 1. This is a major improvement and should be studied in bigger groups.

In lab studies, quercetin, a flavonoid found in fruits, berries and tea, bound itself to bacteria and viruses, stopping them from duplicating. This may be why quercetin supplementation may be beneficial this winter when you’re trying to avoid catching a cold. I would suggest combining it with about 1,200 IUs of vitamin D and 1,000 mgs of vitamin C each day. I know I will.

Drug Reactions Up….. Way Up

In 1998, 5519 people died from side effects due to prescription and non-prescription drugs. In 2005 the number sky rocketed to 15,107. And these numbers may be underestimating the effect. So why the rise?  Here are a few reasons.

First off, the number of prescriptions given by doctors has gone up quite a bit but not by as much as the number of adverse reactions have. There have been a number of drugs pulled from the market recently because of adverse effects but they only account for less than 1 percent of total reports of side effects. The real reason is that so many people are on an unconscionable number of drugs and the interaction possibilities have not been throughly looked into.

In my consults with physicians, I have heard list of drugs people are taking that just makes me shudder. One person was on two antidepressants, thyroid medication, NexiumTM, blood pressure meds, a statin drug and Depakote (an antiepileptic drug). Their complaint to their doctor?  They felt like hell. Well no kidding. How can any physician stand by and put their patient on this array of meds without wincing and feeling guilty about turning their back on the Hippocratic oath they took when they graduated from medical school.

More work needs to be done to educate physicians how not to prescribe drugs instead of being sent on trips and being bribed by the pharmaceutical industry to prescribe more drugs. This is a cover-up mentality that does nothing to address causes of disease. More research dollars should be spent on prevention of disease not on covering it up.

A recent study showed that people with type 2 diabetes had improved blood sugar control just by simply exercising three times a week. How many other such suggestions should find their way into a physicians discussion with their patients?  A whole lot of them but instead of doing that, it’s easier to throw a pill or two at the patient even if it eventually may harm them.

Antioxidants Are Not Always a Good Thing

You’ve all heard the comment “you can get too much of a good thing” well it does come up with antioxidant use. Scientists from the University of Utah found that mice who had the gene mutation known as alpha-B crystalline produced too much glutathione in response to abnormal clumps of protein in the heart which led to heart failure. The over use of antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids are also known to be a problem with people with congestive heart failure as they need more oxidation around the heart and not less.

What this study suggests is that some people can overdose themselves with antioxidants under the impression that all oxidation is bad, it isn’t. To live we need a good amount of oxidation. It is part of how our immune system works, how we create new cells, hormones, neurotransmitters and a whole array of biochemical actions.

The key here is the way and the types of antioxidants you take. Because of the stressful and toxic world we live in, we need to be taking a variety of antioxidants daily. Things like freeze-dried Acai, Coenzyme Q10, and Vitamin C should be in everyone’s daily routine. A whey protein drink  is another good idea. What is a bad idea is the overuse of IV glutathione, something that should only be used rarely in my opinion and not for every disease and syndrome like some people who claim to be scientists do.

Doing IVs is a pharmacologic intervention that should only be used when a person is in clear and present danger from excessive oxidative stress. Oral co factors like the ones I mention above is a way to get your own body to produce the needed antioxidants like glutathione in a natural and safe manner. Train your body to be more efficient, don’t intervene and cover up a problem. It’s the smart thing to do.

Healthcare Policy on Obesity Needs Changes

The blog Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review came our with an interesting write-up on the troubling epidemic about obesity and the pressure it is putting on our health care system. As a lecturer in the field of health and obesity I have seen how our nation has become lazy and unwilling to do what is necessary to take back our health. Health care practitioners I lecture too have expressed utter frustration when trying to get people to change their habits. They just don’t want to be bothered. They would rather take a drug, or pop a few vitamins under the assumption that is all that is necessary to help them get healthy.

Health should be defined as not just the absence of disease but as the vibrance that comes with optimal health. We need to stop having the mind set that we don’t need to be responsible for our own health and that of our children. Making those who abuse their bodies by overeating, not exercising and having bad health habits pay more for their health care is the first step in reversing the growing obesity trend. If you want to abuse yourself, it will cost you more.

I don’t want to continue to pay higher and higher medical insurance bills for those of you who refuse to take care of themselves. That is a form of welfare that I am tired of supporting. Many of those people would scream and yell if they had to pay for people on welfare but would think nothing of taking subsidies from people who actually try to keep themselves healthy.

Heart Attacks and Cholesterol – Public Policy That Makes No Sense

I have touted the book Overdosed America by Dr. John Abramson over and over. It is shocking to me that so few people, especially doctors, know that high cholesterol and heart attacks are only correlated through the age of 40. Lowering weight, eating right, not smoking and exercising have more benefits and reduce heart attack risk more than statin drugs by far. Too low cholesterol increases the risk of other fatal diseases and over use of statin drugs does little but enrich the pharmaceutical industry.

On his blog site, Dr. Abramson has reviews of his book listed which are well worth reading. Here is one such review from the San Diego Union Tribune:

“Abramson, who has a background in statistics and health policy, took the time to read the full 284-page version of the panel’s 2001 report, rather than the 11-page summary that most doctors saw. The results of his careful analysis are enough to shock a healthy heart into failure. He notes that data from the venerable Framingham study – a large, long-term study of risk factors for heart disease – show that elevated total cholesterol levels correlate with an increased risk of death only through the age of 40. Even more astounding is the finding that the risk of death from causes other than coronary heart disease increases significantly with lower total cholesterol levels for both men and women after the age of 50. And that doesn’t even touch on the question of the long-term side effects – both known and unknown – of the statins themselves.”

Buy two copies of the book which is in paperback and give one to your doctor. Physicians need to know that prescribing statin drugs to all but a small percentage of individuals is bad medicine, morally wrong and just plain harmful. Statin drug prescriptions is an industry not true medicine.