Articles

ADD & ADHD Drugs Linked to Heart Problems

A government advisory panel is recommending that drugs for attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactive disorder should carry a prominent warning about heart health risks.

The panel, convened to consider ways the drugs' effects on the heart could be investigated and made it's recommendation earlier this year based on a Food and Drug Administration analysis of more than 300 people who died while they were taking stimulant medication.

That's just the "REPORTED NUMBER". Thousands of drug related deaths per year are never officially reported.

Most recently the sudden death of 25 people using Ritalin or Adderall has prompted the Food and Drug Administration to require a "black box" warning be affixed to these drugs. A "black box" warning is required when drugs are deemed especially dangerous . We believe most pharmaceutical drugs are dangerous and use of them should be avoided whenever possible.

Those people with high blood pressure (stimulants frequently cause high blood pressure), heart murmurs, congenital or structural heart defects, or other cardiovascular problems should be especially concerned if a stimulant is prescribed for them.

Of the 25 people who died 19 were children.

According to Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatrist who writes books about ADD, "The recommendation was based on an upsurge in stimulant prescriptions, which the panel found alarming when coupled with 25 reports of sudden deaths in people taking these medications. In other words, it isn't that the drugs are more dangerous than we thought, it's that they're probably being too freely prescribed." A federal survey found that nearly 1 in 10 12- year-old American boys takes a stimulant.

There are an estimated 2.5 million children and 1.5 million adults taking these medications so 25 sudden deaths doesn't sound all that bad statistically unless it's your death or the death of your child or loved one.

We believe ADD and ADHD are just two more "diseases" created by the pharmaceutical industry to increase drug sales.

What are some non-drug ways to treat what is called ADD and ADHD?

Getting enough sleep, eating right, and getting lots of physical exercise can help with ADD (and of course every other symptom you may be suffering with). It's important that people diagnosed with ADD get help learning how to organize themselves and that they get plenty of positive human contact. They typically get a lot of criticism.

There is a new treatment that is showing promise in treating ADD type symptoms. It's called cerebellar stimulation. This treatment involves 10 minutes twice a day of exercises such as juggling, balancing on a wobble board and standing on one leg with eyes closed. This treatment is designed to stimulate a region in the back of the brain called the cerebellum.

We have a long track record of successfully treating people who have been diagnosed with ADD, ADHD and other behavior disorders. You don't need to run the risk of dangerous side effects of these drugs.

The sad thing about ADD and ADHD is that perfectly normal active kids are being diagnosed and drugged. Public schools encourage this practice as it makes it easier on teachers who are already faced with over crowded classrooms and often have to work with inadequate teaching materials.

We notice that most kids with ADD/ADHD symptoms have food sensitivities. Sugar, corn, and wheat are almost always sure bets. But there may be more foods in addition to these that cause sensitivities. We have found that using RNA, DHA, B-Vitamins, and Adrenal Support are very helpful. If you have concerns about ADD/ADHD symptoms make an appointment to come in or call about our next health lecture.

Vaccinations, Mercury, and Autism.

Attention Parents. You need to protect your children! You need to make educated choices when it comes to vaccinating your infants and small children. Health care providers are injecting the most toxic, non-radioactive element known to man into your children's blood stream and many of you are not aware of the dangers.

Before they attend first grade most children in the United States have received 21 vaccinations and have been exposed to 87 times the federal governments own safety guidelines for daily mercury exposure. Your newborn could receive its first hepatitis B shot in the first 12 hours of life. The number of recommended vaccinations for children up to 24 months has nearly tripled since 1988, according to

The National Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, the CDC recommends vaccination against 12 diseases. A child could receive as many as six shots during a single doctor's visit.

The mercury I'm talking about comes in the form of a preservative developed by Merck and used by Eli Lilly and many other pharmaceutical companies who manufacture vaccinations. It's called Thimerosal . It is nearly 50% ethyl mercury. It has been widely used as a sterilizing agent to prevent bacterial contamination from repeated insertion of needles into multi-dose vials of vaccine. There is more and more evidence that some children given vaccinations containing this preservative are being diagnosed with autism. The latest statistics show that 1 in every 166 children in the United States today are diagnosed

with Autism. ADD, ADHD, and other neurological disorders are also being considered connected to this high level of mercury poisoning in vaccinations.

More than 4,200 claims have been filed in the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program by parents alleging that their children suffered autism or other neurological disorders from mercury in their shots.

Why some, not all children have an adverse reaction to vaccinations?

There are many studies being conducted into the high rate of autism and vaccinations. One study being conducted now may indicate that some children are lacking the presence of enough Glutathione to enable them to detoxify mercury and other heavy metals. These toxins end up being stored in their organs, including their brains. The presence of Glutathione is required to maintain the normal function of the immune system. It exists in almost every cell in the body. Researchers are now finding that many autistic children have deficient glutathione levels in their systems.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzanegger signed a bill on September 29, 2004 banning the use of Thimerosal in California. The good news is that it passed. The bad news is that the bill does not go into effect until 2006 .

There is some evidence that Thimerosal has already been removed from most infant vaccinations but it's very unclear if that's factual information. It's very confusing and difficult to nail down which, if any vaccinations are now free of this dangerous toxin.

There is a tremendous amount of information out there and I strongly suggest that if you have infant children or are planning to start a family you need to take the time to research this very important, and potentially devastating vaccination risk.

There's growing controversy regarding the need to vaccinate children at all.

Here are some things you need to know before you vaccinate your child:

Factors that can increase the risk of adverse reactions are:

· A child not well at the time of vaccinations;

· A family history of allergies, vaccine reactions, convulsions, epilepsy, or any other neurological or immunological problems;

· A bad reaction to a previous vaccine;

· An allergy to one of the ingredients in the vaccine;

· Vaccinating a premature infant according to chronological not gestational age.

Prior to vaccination obtain the following information for your records, verified and signed by the vaccine administrator:

· Evidence that your child is healthy

· Evidence that your child is developing normally

· Time and date of administration

· Name of vaccine administrator and credentials

· The lot and batch number

· Written verification that the vaccination has been stored correctly at all times

· Request only single dose vials.

· Ask to see the original package and the insert containing information about the contents of the vaccines, including ingredients, preservatives, and additives.

· Ask your doctor to explain all the signs and symptoms of all adverse reactions so you may recognize them should they occur.

· Pain, hardness, redness, and swelling at the injection site

· Fever, unusual crying, restlessness, irritability, sleeping more or less than usual, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, sweating, chills.

· Difficulty breathing, convulsions, inconsolable screaming (high pitched scream)

· Loss of vision, hearing, swelling of lymph nodes.

· Collapse or shock-like state, brain damage.

· Confusion

· Language difficulties

· Disorientation

· Memory problems

· Mood alterations

· Combativeness

· Any unusual behavioral problems

If you suspect a reaction of any kind seek medical attention immediately. You know your child better than anyone else. If your doctor will not speak with you honestly about the risks of vaccinations, change doctors.

Less than 2% of Negative Reactions to Vaccinations get reported. Medical doctors rarely report them.

You can report a negative reaction to the "National Vaccine Information Center"

Please note: There has been no conclusive proof that mercury in vaccines cause neurological disorders but there is enough evidence pointing to this danger that the FDA and the CDC have recommended that it be removed from all infant vaccines. Sweden has refused to import our multi dose vaccines since the early 1980's.

Another interesting fact is that there are no reported cases of Autism in non-vaccinated Amish children.

For more information on this subject we recommend you pick up a copy of David Kirby's book Evidence of Harm . You can also visit the following web sites:

Be Very Afraid

If you are consuming Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated fats and oils you might as well be eating Tupperware.

WHAT THE FOOD INDUSTRY DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW.

Hydrogenation is Born

As if no further damage could be done to the already lifeless processed oil, way back in the 1930s, the boys at DUPONT figured out a way to harden the oil into a perfectly engineered non-food and called it margarine. Their only two criteria: spread ability and shelf life. ( Not your health ).

Margarine is another product removed from anything resembling human food, and actually is closer to the category of plastics. Since all the Essential Fatty Acids (usable fats) have been destroyed, and all the enzymes are long gone, there is nothing left to 'go bad' - it can't spoil.

The only reason hydrogenation is legal is that it has been around for so long . When it was invented, the effects weren't well understood. Now decades later, with billions in lobbying money in place, a few details like cancer and Alzheimer's aren't going to get in the way.

Here's a good way to think of hydrogenation. In the old days if you left a bag of potato chips open all night, next day the chips would be limp and soggy. Today we have potato chips that are crispy to perfection. You can leave them out on the counter for days and they'll still be perfectly crisp. Sealed potato chips in those round, perfectly stacked tubes will last a year or more! This phenomenon has nothing to do with food or nutrition. It is a masterful feat of plastics engineering . The potato chip has been completely soaked in hydrogenated oil, protected from the external environment - kind of like polymerizing a marlin you're gong to hang over the fireplace. Once inside the stomach, the chips continue to do what they were designed to do: resist breakdown. The food value for humans is in the negative.

Hydrogenated foods are toxic because they contain free radicals and our bodies don't have the ability to assimilate them.

In the body, hydrogenated foods contribute to:

-aging

-cancer

-tissue breakdown

-digestive disease

-clogged arteries

-arthritis

-Alzheimer's

-neurological diseases

- WEIGHT GAIN

The fiction that hydrogenated margarine is superior to butter can be seen for what it is: marketing hype . And the reason is what - no cholesterol? Please! Of course margarine contains no cholesterol - it's closer to a plastic than to a food.

Without artificial flavoring additives, margarine would taste like a Formica desktop.

Humans don't need foods to be that stable. Our digestive systems have about 12 hours to metabolize what we eat. If breakdown doesn't happen during that time, very likely we'll be wearing the stable residues for a long, long, time.

So start looking at labels. You'll see why they're printed in micro-fonts. When you see the word 'hydrogenated ' think plastic. When you see the words 'partially-hydrogenated' think plastic and free radicals.

We care more about your health than big business does. Read the labels. If you see anything listed that you're not sure of, don't eat it.

READ AND LEARN!! STROKE

About 5,500,000 stroke survivors are alive today. 2,400,000 are males and 3,000,000 are females. Data from GCNKSS studies show that about 700,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. About 500,000 of these are first attacks and 200,000 are recurrent attacks.

What is a Stroke?

A stroke is a sudden interruption in the blood supply of the brain. Most strokes are caused by an abrupt blockage of arteries leading to the brain (ischemic stroke). Other strokes are caused by bleeding into brain tissue when a blood vessel bursts (hemorrhagic stroke). Because stroke occurs rapidly it is also called brain attack. . When the symptoms of a stroke last only a short time (less than an hour), this is called a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mini-stroke.

The effects of a stroke depend on which part of the brain is injured, and how severely it is injured. Strokes may cause sudden weakness, loss of sensation, or difficulty with speaking, seeing, or walking. Since different parts of the brain control different areas and functions, it is usually the area immediately surrounding the stroke that is affected. Sometimes people with stroke have a headache, but stroke can also be painless. It is very important to recognize the warning signs of a stroke.

Stroke Warning Signs

•  Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.

•  Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.

•  Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.

•  Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.

•  Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

You Could Save a Life

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

You, as a bystander, can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

•  Ask the individual to SMILE.

•  Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

•  Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 911 immediately, and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

What causes a stroke?

Ischemic stroke can be caused by several different kinds of diseases. The most common problem is narrowing of the arteries in the neck or head. This is most often caused by gradual cholesterol (rancid) deposition. If the arteries become too narrow, blood cells may collect and form blood clots. These blood clots can block the artery where they are formed, or can dislodge and become trapped in arteries closer to the brain. Another cause of stroke is blood clots in the heart, which can occur as a result of irregular heartbeat, heart attack, or abnormalities of the heart valves. While these are the most common causes of ischemic stroke, there are many other possible causes. Examples include, the use of drugs, including prescription drugs, over the counter drugs, and street drugs, traumatic injury to the blood vessels of the neck, disorders of blood clotting, diabetes, obesity, and smoking.

Medical conditions that increase your stroke risk:

•  Previous stroke or "mini-stroke" (transient ischemic attack, TIA).

•  High blood pressure

•  Diabetes

•  Heart Disease

Controllable risk factors & life style choices:

•  Smoking

•  Obesity

•  Physical inactivity

•  Excessive alcohol intake

•  Drug use

More Stroke Stats

•  Stroke is the third leading cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer

•  Each year, about 700,000 people suffer a stroke. About 500,000 of these are first attacks, and 200,000 are recurrent attacks.

•  Stroke killed 275,000 people in 2002 (the most recent official statistics available) and accounted for about 1 of almost 15 deaths in the United States

•  At all ages more women than men have a stroke.

•  28% of people who suffer a stroke in a given year are under age 65.

•  Compared with whites, young African- Americans have a two- to threefold greater risk of ischemic stroke, and African -American men and women are more likely to die of stroke.

•  About 47 percent of stroke deaths occur out of hospital

•  On average, someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; every 3.1 minutes someone dies of a stroke

About 4.7 million stroke survivors (2.3 million men, 2.4 million women) are alive today.

•  Stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States

Source:

American Stroke Association These statistics came from the largest stroke study conducted so far in the U.S. and is titled Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucy Stroke Study. The complete study can be accessed online:

http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/36/4/720
and Washington University School of Medicine

What can you do to reduce your chances of stroke?

Have your heart rate variability tested.

IF you're a smoker, STOP. We can help you.

Find out if your cholesterol is healthy or rancid.

Let us help you lose those extra pounds.

Your good health and longevity is important to us. Call today and set up an appointment for a complete health assessment.

The Water We Drink

You turn the tap and fill your glass with water. It looks clear, it looks refreshing, you know water is good for you and they tell us that it's perfectly safe to drink. But is it really? If you are drinking "city water" you are getting much more than water. There is growing alarm about drugs, hormones, and other chemicals that are polluting our waterways and finding their way into the very water we drink.

Where do they come from? Pharmaceutical industries, hospitals and other medical facilities are obvious sources, but households also contribute a significant share. People often disperse of unused medicines by flushing them down toilets, and human excreta can contain a variety of incompletely metabolized medicines. These drugs can pass intact through conventional sewage treatment facilities, into waterways, lakes and even aquifers. Further, discarded pharmaceuticals often end up at dumps and land fills, posing a threat to underlying groundwater.

Farm animals also are a source of pharmaceuticals entering the environment, through ingestion of hormones, antibiotics and veterinary medicines. (About 40 percent of produced antibiotics are fed to livestock as growth enhancers.) Manure containing traces of such pharmaceuticals is spread on land and can then wash off into surface water and even percolate into groundwater.

Pharmaceuticals, and personal care products (PPCPs) that are excreted from or washed off the body naturally, end up in sewage that flows into sewer systems and septic tanks, but where do they go from there? Scientists are beginning to monitor the extent of these PPCPs in the aquatic environment and their consequences. What they are finding is that our current water purifications processes are only able to remove pollutants that are biodegradable. What's left are substances that find their way back into our drinking water.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) our water contains drugs and personal care products such as:

•  Anti-neoplastics (cancer drug)

•  Beta-blockers

•  Bronchodilators (asthma drugs)

•  Lipid regulators (cholesterol lowering drugs)

•  Hypnotics (Sedatives)

•  Antibiotics (infection drugs)

•  Antiseptics

•  Aspirin

•  Ibuprofen

•  Indomethacin (arthritis drugs)

•  Benzafibrate (cholesterol regulator drugs)

•  Carbamazepine (anticonvulsant)

•  Naproxen (pain killer)

•  Estrone (estrogen replacement therapy and birth control pills)

•  Potera, 2000 (a breakdown product of anti-cholesterol drugs

•  DEET (insect repellant)

•  X-ray contrast agents

•  Sunscreen agents

•  Caffeine

•  Synthetic musks (fragrances, soap, laundry detergent, cosmetics)

These are just a few of the pollutants in our water supply.
note: synthetic musk was created by DuPont, it's use is banned in Japan and other European countries.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in a different study revealed a list of compounds including painkillers, acetaminophen and ibuprofen, prescription medicines for cardiac disorders and hypertension, and female sex hormones use in birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy.

What do the scientists say?

What risk does chronic exposure to trace concentrations of PPCPs pose to humans or wildlife? Some scientists believe PPCPs do not pose problems to humans since they occur at low concentrations in water. Other scientists say long-term effects of pharmaceuticals and similar chemicals on humans are not known and advise caution. They are concerned that many of these drugs and chemicals have the potential of interfering with hormone production . Chemicals with this effect are called endocrine disrupters and are attracting the attention of water quality experts.

We know a lot more about the effects of PPCPs and other pollutants on aquatic life. For example, anti-depressants have been blamed for altering sperm levels and spawning patterns in fish and other marine life.

Every day, nearly 1 billion gallons of treated wastewater from an area that includes about 9 million people are discharged into deep waters off Huntington Beach, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Playa del Ray via three long undersea pipelines, called outfalls, operated by the two counties and the city of Los Angeles.

The wastewater is filtered and processed, but many contaminants remain and settle into the ocean sediment, where they are consumed by bottom-feeding organisms.

Excessive amounts of estrogens or estrogen mimics can create so-called inter-sex animals with both male and female genitals. Previously, scientists have shown that some fish with the altered organs were infertile.

The effect on humans, however, is largely unknown and unproven, though some studies have linked hormone-mimicking chemicals to reduced sperm counts, altered genitalia in baby boys and premature puberty in girls.

The facts are that drugs, hormones and other chemicals polluting our water supply are measured in parts per trillion.

So is there really any need to worry?

According to environmental engineer Glen Boyd, Tulane University, New Orleans, "The big unknown [is whether PPCP's in our drinking water] present a health concern now or in the future?" He notes that, although the number of peer-reviewed papers on the topic is limited, government agencies concerned with water quality in the United States and professional organizations serving the water and wastewater communities are beginning to acknowledge PPCPs as an emerging environmental issue.

The long-term outcome of humans ingesting sub-therapeutic doses of numerous drugs as well as any dose at all of substances not meant to be ingested remains a major, un-addressed issue. Christian Daughton, chief of the Environmental Chemistry Branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), predicts, "In areas of water scarcity, we'll see more and more reuse of treated sewage to meet drinking water needs, thereby increasing the likelihood that PPCPs will end up in drinking water." Extensive monitoring of the occurrence of PPCPs and their concentration trends over time is required to ensure safe water supplies in the future. Then toxicologists need to determine if the kinds and amounts of PPCPs in

our drinking water affect people. The subject will require collaboration and cooperation between the FDA and the EPA. The problem with that is, the FDA usually does not address environmental concerns and the EPA does not deal with drug issues .

Do you really think you can count on the EPA and the FDA to protect you from this very serious environmental unknown?.

You need to protect yourself and your family.

We suggest you only drink Kangen Alkaline Water.

Would you like to learn more about what's coming out of your tap? Check out some of the following web sites.

http://www.esemag.com/0502/drugs.html

http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/awr/july00/feature1.htm

Toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc.html

"Shocking Results Of New Study Reveals How To Lose Weight by Eating And Decrease Your Risk Of A Heart Attack By More Than 50%!!!"

Read on to find out why your low calorie diet may be setting you up for the nation's #1 killer...

Eat more, lose weight and decrease your risk of heart disease by over 50%? Sounds crazy.but it's true.

At least that's what the results of a 17 -year study of almost 9,800 people appearing in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has recently reported.

I know, I know - sounds too good to be true-like one of those infomercials that claims you can eat all you want and still lose 100 pounds in 3 days. Well, you're right, there is a catch. And, here it is:

You Must Exercise!

That's right.good old fashioned exercise.

Here's exactly what the study found:

"Despite widespread attention to diet calorie intake may not be a major factor in causing death by heart disease, according to a 17-year study of almost 9,800 Americans. Instead, losing excess weight - and exercising may do more to ward off death from heart disease," says Jing Fang M.D., and colleagues from the Albert Einstein college of Medicine in the Bronx, New York.

"The fact is that those who both exercised more and ate more nevertheless had low cardiovascular mortality," says Fang.

"Expending energy through physical activity may be the key to cutting the risks of heart disease and living a longer, and healthful life," she says.

The researchers studied data from 9,790 participants in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a national study from 1971 to 1975 that was funded by the U.S. government. Fang's group compared reports of physical activity, body mass index (BMI) and physical activity, caloric intake was unrelated to heart disease.

Those who exercised more and ate more were both leaner and had less than half the cardiovascular disease mortality than did those who exercised less, ate less and were overweight.

The study also found that subjects with the lowest caloric intake, least physical activity, and who were overweight or obese had significantly higher cardiovascular mortality rates than those with high caloric intake, more physical activity, and normal weight. The difference in mortality rates was 55%.

So, if you ate the least, exercised the least, and were overweight, you had a 55% greater chance of dying from heart disease.

An interesting fact is that people who were overweight at the beginning of the study did NOT decrease their risk of heart disease by decreasing the amount of food they atewithout exercising.

Dieting WITHOUT Exercise Had no Impact Whatsoever!

Researchers went on to say that the most practical lesson learned from this study is you should focus more on calorie expenditure than on reducing calorie intake. Exercising and burning calories may be one of the best ways to extend healthy life.

The Catch

Responding to the study Jack V. Tu, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and head of the Canadian Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Team (CCORT) says, "It suggests caloric intake is less important than physical activity. That supports those of us who've been saying that exercise is better for you than dieting. It suggests that if you eat more and maintain ideal body weight , it's O.K." Maintain ideal body weight? Yes, that's the Catch. Unfortunately, the findings don't mean that it's time to party at your favorite fast-food emporium.

Most Americans follow only half of this advice. They love to eat but hate to move their butts. "We want to encourage everyone we can to exercise," Tu says. "Having said that, we don't want people to go running out to McDonalds after they jog for 30 minutes. Doing that occasionally is fine. But you need balance. Some exercise, combined with moderate food intake, is the way to go."

But Wait..It Only Gets Better...
Taking Drugs for Depression is Dangerous.
Exercise is a Safe and Effective Alternative.

Researchers have found that walking for 30 minutes (longer is better) each day quickly improved depressed patients' symptoms. Antidepressant drugs are highly addictive and have potentially deadly side effects.
The results indicate that, in selected patients with major depression, aerobic training can produce a substantial improvement in symptoms in a short time.

Previous studies have suggested that exercise is a potent mood-booster, and most research indicates that regular activity is a better depression treatment than psychotherapy or medication.

Exactly why is unclear, but exercise does influence certain mood-related hormones, and it is also believed to enhance people's sense of control over their lives.
In one study that compared exercise with antidepressants among older adults, investigators found that physical activity was the more effective depression-fighter.

As you can see, the evidence has been piling up for a long, long time. Exercise is clearly one of the major pieces in the puzzle to living a longer, happier, healthier life
But, the sad fact is, fewer than one-third of U.S. adults get the recommended amount of exercise each day.What's worse is that 40 percent are almost completely sedentary.

The embarrassing truth is, when the World Health Organization studied health around the world, the United States was found to spend the most on health care, yet ranked second to the last in overall health.

The fact of the matter is clear: We have become a nation of self-imposed sickness and disease.

The answer is not leading a sedentary lifestyle, waiting 'till you are sick, and then looking for a wonder drug or surgery to fix years of neglect.

There simply is no magic bullet. Nope, the answer is to take care of what you've got.before you lose it.
Starting an exercise program now can ad countless HEALTHY and HAPPY years to your life. More importantly, not starting one can prematurely end your life. I know that's a little "heavy", but it IS the harsh reality we all must face. Now or later.

Now you know what you must do, but just hold on one second..

WARNING:
Read This Before Exercising!!!

Here's what to do BEFORE starting your new exercise program: The first thing you should do before starting your new exercise program is have a complete biomechanical evaluation to make sure all your muscles and joints are working properly.
In particular, exercising on a malfunctioning or unbalanced spine can lead to back pain, neck pain, headaches, sciatica, numbness and tingling in your arms and legs, shoulders, elbows, hips and knee pain and even herniated discs and premature arthritis.

Even though exercise is necessary to decrease heart disease and improve overall health,it is an added stress on your body and must be taken seriously . You don't want to simply trade heart disease for a life of debilitating pain.

A complete Chiropractic pre-workout evaluation can determine if it is safe for you to begin working out.or.if you need a few simple treatments to get you ready to make sure you avoid serious injury.
We can also show you what exercises to avoid and if you need a modified program or can go all out.
It is important to know that personal trainers and gym owners (unless they are Chiropractors) do not have the training to do this complete biomechanical evaluation. For that reason, we recommend getting a complete biomechanical evaluation BEFORE you begin your exercise program. It can save you a lot of pain and suffering.

The bottom line is : Exercise should be an integral part of your life. The trick is incorporating it into your every day routine. When it becomes a habit you begin to look forward to it. JUST DO IT!

.. And don't forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us with your questions. We're here to help.

Medheads - People who take multiple prescription drugs on a daily basis and, as a result, suffer from brain fog. They can be young (ADHD, depression drugs), middle-aged (cholesterol drugs, diabetes drugs) or elderly (Alzheimer's drugs, osteoporosis drugs, etc.). These are the people you see on the road who drive for ten miles with their turn signal on, who swing wide into the left lane before making a right turn, and who take four full seconds to accelerate after the traffic light turns green. Medheads, not to be confused with Deadheads, who are actually a lot more fun to talk to.

Black boxer - A consumer who takes drugs that are so dangerous, the FDA requires the drug packaging to carry a large black box warning about severe harm or death. Black boxers usually don't care about the long-term harm to their health, they just want the pain (or other symptom) to go away so they can get back to watching prime-time television in relative comfort.

Drug madvertising - The practice of allowing drug companies to advertise patented chemicals directly to consumers in order to create demand for drugs that everyday people frankly do not understand. Every country in the world bans the practice of Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) drug advertising... except the United States, of course, where consumers are subjected to a never-ending barrage of ridiculous drug ads showing happy, healthy people popping purple pills they would never consume in real life. Of all industrialized nations in the world, only the U.S. (with the ever-caring support of the Food and Drug Administration) endorses drug madvertising.

News repeater - Not be confused with a news reporter, a news repeater is a person who gets paid to pretend to be a member of the press, but who actually just regurgitates whatever health / medical news the drug companies and the FDA are peddling this week. New miracle breast cancer drug discovered! Vitamin E may kill you! Sunlight is deadly! Don't trust Canadians (or their pharmacists)! Deadly, dangerous Chinese herbs may have possibly killed someone somewhere! Drug companies need billions of dollars in drug profits to find the cure for cancer! Evidence-based medicine is credible! These are the type of headlines constructed by news repeaters.

Fictitious disease - A fabricated disease invented for the sole purpose of creating a new market for patented drugs. ADHD is the prime example of a fictitious disease, and the psychiatric community is now well-practiced at labeling human behaviors "brain chemistry imbalances that need to be treated with chemicals." Other fictitious diseases include high cholesterol (it's not a disease, it's just a symptom), hypertension (also not a disease, but rather a symptom), and even osteoporosis (not a disease, just fragile bones caused by dietary and lifestyle habits that can be easily reversed).

Diseasification - The process of spreading the fictitious diseases through the population. This is how drug companies get rich: by manufacturing disease and convincing people they now suddenly suffer from it. See "Spontaneous Mass Diagnosis," below. Diseasification is greatly aided by drug madvertising (mass propaganda) designed to change the way people think about health and disease. Fear of public speaking used to merely be a fear. Now it's a disease, and there's a drug to treat it. Menopause used to be menopause. Now it's a disease, too. The former head of Merck, a man named Gadsden, once said he wished to expand the drug market to healthy people, so he wouldn't be limited to selling drugs only to sick people. He wanted people to take drugs like they chew gum. What a visionary!

Spontaneous mass diagnosis - The process of redefining health in order to instantly label as many consumers as possible with a fictitious disease. Spontaneous mass diagnosis works by moving the goalposts that define a disease state. A "normal" level of LDL cholesterol used to be 130. Last year, a panel of corrupt medical decision makers with under-the-table financial ties to drug companies spontaneously decided that "normal" LDL cholesterol should be 100.

Overnight, ten million more Americans were suddenly afflicted with the fictitious disease of high cholesterol. And the treatment for this spontaneous disease? Statin drugs, of course. The aim of Big Pharma is to make sure everyone fits the definition of at least one disease, because the prescription drug lords know that once a person gets on one prescription drug, the inevitable side effects will create other health problems that need to be treated with even more drugs. Instant
recurring revenue! Now that's a clever marketing plan!

The Wall - Short for Walgreens, one of the top street corner pharmacies in America. The Wall is where medheads and black boxers go to buy dangerous drugs to treat their fictitious diseases because they've been subjected to spontaneous mass diagnosis.

There are alternatives to taking drugs.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A MEDHEAD!

Your Thyroid and You

Your thyroid is one of the most important hormone producing glands in your body. Your thyroid plays a big role in your metabolism. Your thyroid makes a hormone called Thyroxin. This hormone travels through the blood and lands in the cells of your body. Once it gets there it tells the cell to "make energy".

Almost every cell in your body is affected by thyroxin so if this hormone is not working right then you can have a symptom in any part of your body.

Basically it starts the metabolism. Metabolism has to do with, diet, exercise, adrenal function and other things but the thyroxin is the signal to tell it to work.

The thyroid also makes a hormone called calcitonin. It tells calcium to go to your bones. So you can eat all the calcium you like but if it doesn't know to go to the bones then it ends up in other places such as the kidneys (kidney stones), the gall bladder (gall stones), the arteries (plaque), or the joints (arthritis, bone spurs and degenerated joints).

What if your thyroid tests are normal?

When you test for thyroid in the blood it tells you if there is the hormone in the blood but not if it is getting to the cells. So you can have plenty in the blood but it is not being used. You see, the cells themselves may be blocked with toxins.

What if the thyroid tests are not normal?

The thyroid itself may be blocked with endocrine disruptors (toxins). The pituitary (the gland that tells the thyroid to work) may also be blocked by toxins.

What about iodine, kelp or other thyroid supplements?

Many people take iodine or kelp to help the thyroid and this is good BUT.that is simply thyroid food. If the thyroid is blocked with toxins then it is like giving food to a person whose jaw is wired shut.

Why do toxins like the thyroid?

Because endocrine disruptor toxins are attracted to fat cells and endocrine glands have a lot of fat cells. Also, the thyroid is so close to the surface of the body (in the neck) that it can be more so affected by the elements. Women spray cologne (which contains toxins) on their thyroid every day. You should consider changing that.

Common thyroid symptoms:

• Memory loss
• Weight gain
• Cold hands and feet
• Dry skin
• Constipation
• Hair falling out
• Osteoporosis
• Chronic neck pain

Remember the thyroid hormone goes to most of the cells in the body so the thyroid can be the main cause or partial cause of any symptom you have, including weight gain.
If you think your thyroid has been affected by toxins come on into the office for a complete, noninvasive evaluation.

Mammograms cause breast cancer, and other scary facts you probably never knew.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among American women between the ages of 44 and 55.

The most common method for "early detection" is mammography. A mammogram is an X-ray picture of your breast that can reveal tumor growths otherwise undetectable in a physical exam. Like all x-rays, mammograms use doses of ionizing radiation to create this image. Radiologists then analyze the image for any abnormal growths. Despite continuous improvements and innovations, mammography has garnered a sizable opposition in the medical community because of an error rate that is still high and the amount of harmful radiation used in the procedure.

The American Cancer Society Recommends :

" Women age 40 and older should have a screening mammogram every year, and should continue to do so for as long as they are in good health."

If you think about it, common sense will tell you that there is something wrong with the idea of once a year going to an x-ray clinic to have your breasts squished and blasted with radiation.

Is mammography an effective tool for detecting tumors? Some critics say no. In a Swedish study of 60,000 women, 70 percent of the mammography-detected tumors weren't tumors at all. These "false positives" aren't just financial and emotional strains, they may also lead to many unnecessary and invasive biopsies. In fact, 70 to 80 percent of all positive mammograms do not, upon biopsy, show any presence of cancer.

At the same time, mammograms also have a high rate of missed tumors, or "false negatives". Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, in his book, The Politics of Cancer, claims that in women ages 40 to 49, one in four instances of cancer is missed at each mammography. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) puts the false negative rate even higher at 40 percent among women ages 40-49. National Institutes of Health spokespeople also admit that mammograms miss 10 percent of malignant tumors in women over 50. Researchers have found that breast tissue is denser among younger women, making it difficult to detect tumors. For this reason, false negatives are twice as likely to occur in pre-menopausal mammograms.

Many critics of mammography cite the hazardous health effects of radiation. In 1976, the controversy over radiation and mammography reached a saturation point. At that time mammography technology delivered five to 10 RADS (radiation-absorbed doses) per screening, as compared to 1 RAD in current screening methods. In women between the ages of 35 and 50, each RAD of exposure increased the risk of breast cancer by one percent, according to Dr. Frank Rauscher, then director of the NCI.

According to Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. one estimate is that annual radiological breast exams increase the risk of breast cancer by two percent a year. So over 10 years the risk will have increased 20 percent. In the 1960s and 70s, women, even those who received 10 screenings a year, were never told the risk they faced from exposure. In the midst of the 1976 radiation debate, KODAK, a major manufacturer of mammography film, took out full-page ads in scientific journals entitled About breast cancer and X-rays: A hopeful message from industry on a sober topic.

Despite better technology and decreased doses of radiation, scientists still claim mammography is a substantial risk. Dr. John W. Gofman, an authority on health effects of ionizing radiation, estimates that 75 percent of breast cancer could be prevented by avoiding or minimizing exposure to the ionizing radiation this includes mammography, x-rays and other medical and dental source.

Since mammography screening was introduced, the incidence of a form of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma insitu (DCIS) has increased by 328 percent . Two hundred percent of this increase is allegedly due to mammography. In addition to harmful radiation, mammography may also help spread existing cancer cells due to the considerable pressure placed on the woman's breast during the procedure. According to some health practitioners, this compression could cause existing cancer cells to metastasize from the breast tissue.

Cancer research has also found a gene, called oncogene AC that is extremely sensitive to even small doses of radiation. A significant percentage of women in the United States have this gene, which could increase their risk of mammography-induced cancer. They estimate that 10,000 oncogene AC carriers will die of breast cancer this year due to mammography.

The risk of radiation is apparently higher among younger women. The NCI released evidence that, among women under the age of 35, mammography could cause 75 cases of breast cancer for every 15 it identifies. Another Canadian study found a 53 percent increase in breast cancer mortality in young women given annual mammograms. Dr. Samuel Epstein also claims that pregnant women exposed to radiation could endanger their fetus. He advises against mammography during pregnancy because "the future risks of leukemia to your unborn child, not to mention birth defects, are just not worth it". Similarly, studies reveal that children exposed to radiation are more likely to develop breast cancer as adults.

While the number of deaths caused by breast cancer has decreased, the incidence of breast cancer is still rising. Since 1940, the incidence of breast cancer has risen by one to two percent every year. Between 1973 and 1991, the incidence of breast cancer in females over 65 rose nearly 40 percent in the United States

The majority of health experts agree that the risk of breast cancer for women under 35 is not high enough to warrant the risk of radiation exposure. Similarly, the risk of breast cancer to women over 55 justifies the risk of mammograms. The statistics about mammography and women between the ages of 40 and 55 are the most contentious. A 1992 Canadian National Breast Cancer Study showed that mammography had no positive effect on mortality for women between the ages of 40 and 50. In fact, the study seemed to suggest that women in that age group are more likely to die of breast cancer when screened regularly.

Burton Goldberg, in his book, Alternative Medicine, recommends that women under 50 avoid screening mammograms, although the American Cancer Society encourages mammograms every two years for women ages 40 to 49. Trying to settle this debate, a 1997 consensus panel appointed by the National Institute of Health (NIH) ruled that there was no evidence that mammograms for this age group save lives; they may even do more harm than good. The panel advises women to weigh the risks and decide for themselves.

In his book The Hope of Living Cancer Free , Francisco Contreras, M.D. say's
"Since a mammogram is basically an x-ray (radiation) of breast, I do not recommend mammograms to my patients for two reasons: 1) Few radiologists are able to read mammograms correctly, therefore limiting their effectiveness. Even the man who developed this technique (mammography) stated on national television that only about six radiologists in the United States could read them correctly. 2) In addition, each time the breasts are exposed to an x-ray, the risk of breast cancer increases by 2 percent."

O.K. SO WHAT'S THE ALTERNATIVE TO MAMMOGRAM SCREENINGS?

While screening is an important step in fighting breast cancer, is there an alternative to annual mammograms? The answer is yes. There are new thermographic technologies . Thermographs are able to detect cancers at a minute physical stage of development. Thermography does not use x-rays, nor is there any compression of the breasts. Also important, new thermography technologies do not lose effectiveness with dense tissue, decreasing the chances of false-negative results.

Some doctors are now offering digital mammograms. Digital mammography is a mammography system in which x-ray film is replaced by solid-state detectors that convert x-rays into electric signals. Though radiation is still used, digital mammography requires a much smaller dose. The electrical signals are used to produce images that can be electronically manipulated; a physician can zoom in, magnify and optimize different parts of breast tissue without having to take an additional image.

It's your body. It's your decision. Your best defense against breast cancer is making sure you maintain optimal health. We want nothing more than to help you become as healthy as possible.

For more information regarding mammography risks see:

The Politics of Cancer by Samuel S. Epstein, MD page 539
Death by Medicine by Gary Null PhD, page 23
Under The Influence Modern Medicine by Terry A Rondberg DC, page 122

Drugs Cause Liver Damage?
No Kidding!

An article appeared in the L.A. Times the other day and guess what? They are going to conduct a study to try to understand why certain prescription drugs and some over-the -counter drugs can cause severe liver damage and sometimes complete liver failure, which leads to, you know what, death . Isn't it nice that the medical community is finally getting around to researching this undisputed link? Yes, medical doctors are willing to admit that pharmaceuticals are basically toxic to the liver and can cause serious damage including sudden death . The study will to attempt to find out why some people drop dead and others don't . Here is a quote by Dr. Paul B. Watkins, a liver expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and chairman of the liver network's steering committee. "We're trying to understand why two perfectly healthy people can be taking the same drug, and one suddenly turns yellow and dies." Good question. Of course these drugs can also cause serious damage to the liver but that can be handled by ripping out the old one, that's after a compatible donor liver can be located. Then you can expect to spend the rest of your life on organ anti-rejection drugs. Here is another quote. "Severe liver injury has a very high mortality rate", says Dr. Leonard B. Seeff, a liver expert at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Md. "But aside from the obvious risk factors like drinking too much alcohol or getting viruses, which weaken the liver, we can't predict who is going to develop liver damage from taking drugs." Sounds like they've been playing Russian Roulette to me. What do you think?

Side Note: The Dangers of Acetaminophen

More than half of all cases of acute liver failure are caused by overdoses of acetaminophen, which accounts for more than 56,000 emergency room visits, 2,600 hospitalizations and an estimated 458 deaths each year.

Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in popular over-the-counter drugs such a Tylenol . The standard recommended dose of acetaminophen is 1,000 milligrams four times a day, or 4 grams a day. It's easy to exceed that - people may end up in the emergency room after taking 6 to 8 grams for three days. We recommend 0 milligrams daily. There are natural ways to treat symptoms that eliminate the risks associated with pharmaceuticals.

Source: L.A. Times September 26, 2005

Latest Obesity Statistics
USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions

· 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese
· Eight out of 10 over 25's Overweight
· 78% of American's not meeting basic activity level recommendations
· 25% completely Sedentary
· 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

Obesity Related Diseases

· 80% of type II diabetes related to obesity
· 70% of Cardiovascular disease related to obesity
· 42% breast and colon cancer diagnosed among obese individuals
· 30% of gall bladder surgery related to obesity
· 26% of obese people having high blood pressure

Childhood Obesity Running Out of Control

· 4% overweight 1982 | 16% overweight 1994
· 25% of all white children overweight 2001
· 33% African American and Hispanic children overweight 2001
· Hospital costs associated with childhood obesity rising from $35 Million (1979) to $127 Million (1999)

Childhood Metabolic and Heart Risks

· New study suggests one in four overweight children is already showing early signs of type II diabetes (impaired glucose intolerance)
· 60% already have one risk factor for heart disease

Surge in Childhood Diabetes

· Between 8% - 45% of newly diagnosed cases of childhood diabetes are type II, associated with obesity.
· Whereas 4% of Childhood diabetes was type II in 1990, that number has risen to approximately 20%
· Depending on the age group (Type II most frequent 10-19 age group) and the racial/ethnic mix of group stated
· Of Children diagnosed with Type II diabetes, 85% are obese

SOURCE: http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/statistics-obesity.htm

Grocery Store? Drug Store? OR DISEASE CENTER? ...
Read about how they are counting on your poor choices.

Grocery Store or Disease Center?

The next time you run into your neighborhood market take a moment to notice exactly what they are selling. They are basically selling two types of things: 1) processed foods and beverages that cause disease, and 2) prescription drugs that treat the symptoms of those diseases. It's a brilliant sales and marketing scheme. You buy the stuff located in the front of the store and get diseased, and then you become a customer for drugs sold in the back of the store. It's a brilliant, strategic, plan implemented to retain customers and increase sales to those poor unsuspecting folks.

Look at how the store is laid out: the pharmacy is located in the back of the store so if you need to get at least one prescription filled or you're getting it filled for a friend or loved one you are forced to walk through aisles loaded with high impulse junk food. You must first walk past soft drinks, chocolate bars, snack food, high sugar cereals. These shelves are intentionally stocked with the most high profit (low nutrition) items available.

And if you make your way to the check out stand without picking up one of these products you find yourself in the check out line with Snickers bars and M & Ms staring you in the face. Along side the usual small refrigerators stuffed with carbonated soft drinks.

When you think grocery stores are getting the message that we want alternative choices they sell products that claim to be healthier for people with diseases but actually cause them to get more diseases. Have you ever looked at the ingredients in meal replacement drinks for diabetics? The first three ingredients are water, sugar, and sucrose. If you're not diabetic already this kind of product will help you on your way.

Virtually all typical, grocery stores in America sell a vast array of foods that increase your chances of developing chronic diseases. Look at all the products that contain refined white flour. These would be most breads, cookies, crackers, pastries, and pastas. Refined white flour strips the body of essential nutrition, leaving it deficient in B vitamins as well as minerals like magnesium and zinc. These are the vitamins that are essential to children in order to build a healthy nervous system and avoid behavioral disorders later in life. These are the same nutrients vital to pregnant women to prevent having babies with birth defects.

This brings me back to the question Grocery Store or Disease Center? These same grocery stores sell foods containing chemicals that have been proven to cause cancer (sodium nitrate) along with one of my favorite heart disease promoting ingredients (hydrogenated oils). Then there are the carbonated soft drinks that set us up for osteoporosis and bone loss. Not to mention weight gain. So you can see how one might consider the corner grocery store a disease center. Most of the products on the shelves are actually "disease in a box" rather than real food.

Even when you do your best to choose more natural foods such as fruits and vegetables you know they were grown from soil depleted of nutrients and full of pesticides. Washing them will only remove the residue on the surface.

We shouldn't lay all the blame on grocery stores. They don't produce the food products that are poisoning Americans. Big food companies are spending the big bucks on marketing research to make sure they can cash in on the latest nutrition buzz.

Do their food products deliver when it comes to the nuances of good nutrition?

Let me tell you about a lawsuit filed against several food-company giants, including Kraft Foods, General Mills and Kellogg's. Ms. Jennifer Hardee of California filed the suit March 24 in San Diego, seeking class-action status and listing the reduced sugar versions of Post's Fruity Pebbles (Kraft), General Mills' Cocoa Puffs and Trix, and Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.

It seems that Ms. Hardee was shopping for her daughter and noticed that the manufacturers of many new products, especially cereals, were trumpeting reduced-sugar content and discovered that these claims were intended to trick consumers.

Ms. Hardee claims that implying such products are lower in carbohydrates and therefore healthier, because they are lower in sugar, is fundamentally deceptive. That's because more often than not, the companies remove the sugar only to replace it with other highly refined carbohydrates. The result, similar carb content, similar caloric content, and similar nutritive value.

The following quote should amuse you. "Consumers wanted less sugar, so we gave them less sugar. The product has the same nutritional benefits the previous version did." This quote was given to the Wall Street Journal by a General Mills spokeswoman.

She undoubtedly meant that in a positive way. But applied to General Mills' Cocoa Puffs, it could certainly be interpreted otherwise.

Lets take this a step further. Nutrition value aside (and I can't imagine a bowl of Cocoa Puffs providing any measure of what I would consider good nutrition) what could General Mills possibly have on it's mind when it presents the new variation of it's Cocoa Puffs cereal emblazoned with a huge inscription claiming "75% Less Sugar".

As reported in the Wall Street Journal , the original product contained 13 grams of sugar and 13 grams of other carbohydrates per serving. The new version has only 3 grams of sugar, but it now has 23 grams of other carbohydrates. The 26 grams of total carbs per serving is unchanged, and it's a good guess that along with the processed white flour the "other carbohydrates" are mostly in the form of corn syrup, which leaps from seventh to second place on the package's ingredients on the new, less sugar variation. Does that make any sense to you?

Sugar by any other name is usually corn syrup. Do these food giants really think we are unaware that corn syrup is only another form of added sugar? Maybe they are just gambling that shoppers who do understand will never actually look at the list of ingredients?

It all comes down to the mighty buck. The pressure for profits whether it be a grocery store chain or a big food giant is intense. But should those profits be gained by providing a constant supply of foods containing poisons to the American public who are already hands down the most obese and diseased people of the developed world?

If we stop buying these products that we know are causing us harm and if we insist that toxic ingredients such as aspartame, monosodium glutamate, food additives, hydrogenated foods, and chemical preservatives like sodium nitrite that directly causes cancer are outlawed we will be going a long way toward protecting ourselves, our children, friends and loved ones.

Read labels. If you see an ingredient that sounds like something you might find in a laboratory don't eat it. And remember sugar by any other name is probably some form of corn syrup or chemical.

Will You Be Ready When the Big One Comes?

We've all watched the News coverage of the disasterous hurricanes pummeling the Gulf Coast. It has become all too obvious that should a disaster hit closer to home we need to be as self sufficient as possible. It could take days for state and federal help to arrive. That's why FEMA, The United States Coast, Army Reserves all recommend that we plan on sustaining ourselves unaided for at least 72 hours after a disaster hits. There is no doubt we will encounter a major earthquake in Southern California at some time in the future. Will you be prepared? Don't know where to start? We've put together some guidelines to help you plan how to survive what we all hope will never happen.

What to do during an Earthquake

Stay Calm! Try to get to a doorway. Be careful not to get your fingers caught in the door jam should the door fly shut. If you can, get under a piece of heavy furniture like a desk. Keep away from windows. If you are outside try to get away from buildings and power lines. If you are driving pull over and wait for the shaking to stop. Avoid parking under overpasses. If you are in a high-rise building try to get against an inside wall. Do not use elevators. If you are in a department store do not run to the exit. Try to get away from any displays or other objects that may fall on you.

What to do after an Earthquake

Check yourself and others for injuries. Provide first aid for anyone who needs it. Check water, gas, and electric lines for damage. If any are damaged, shut off the valves. Check for the smell of gas. If you smell it open windows and doors and leave immediately. Report it to authorities. Use someone else's phone. Turn on the radio. Don't use the phone except for emergency. Stay out of damaged buildings. Be careful around broken glass. This is why you should have sneakers or heavy boots near by. If you are at school or work, follow the emergency plan or the instructions of the person in charge.

Disaster Supplies

• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Portable, battery-operated radio and extra batteries
• First aid kit and manual
• Emergency food and water (plan on at least 1 gallon per day per person)
• Non-electric can opener
• Essential medicines
• Cash and credit cards
• Sturdy shoes. Keep a pair of sneakers under your bed at home, at work, and in your car.
• A copy of your insurance policy
• Personal hygiene products, tooth bushes, toothpaste, soap, combs, etc.
• Entertainment: Games, books, a deck of cards
• A list of emergency phone numbers
• Current photos of your loved ones for posting on the internet if necessary.

You can assemble this yourself or you can buy survival kits already assembled.

You can order kits on the internet. A company called www.quakekare.com has a good selection of kits for home, office, or automobiles. A kit for a family of four can be purchased for just over $100.00. You can also purchase meals ready to eat (MREs) at your local Army-Navy stores. They'll last three years and require no water, refrigeration or heating. Each meal provides 1,200 calories and costs about $8.00 each.

If you put your own kit together it's a good idea to check it every six months. You might use the time we change our clocks as a reminder. Change out the water and add fresh batteries.

Make arrangements for pets

Talk to your neighbors who have pets. Agree to provide aid to each other's pets if you are not home when a disaster strikes. Pets may not be allowed into emergency shelters for health and space reasons. Contact your local humane society for information on local animal shelters. Keep current pictures of your pets in your survival kit for posting on the internet if necessary.

Teach family members how and when to turn off gas, electricity, and water

Make sure that family members know how to respond after an earthquake. Teach family members how and when to turn off gas, electricity, and water. Teach children how and when to call 911, police, fire department and which radio station to tune to for emergency information.

Make a plan to reunite with family

Chances are you may not all be together during an earthquake. Take the time now to pick a place you will reunite after the earthquake. It's a good idea to designate a family member or friend who lives outside the area to be your contact. It's sometimes easier to call long distance than local after a disaster. Make sure everyone keeps that number with them. You can also program a number in your cell phone of the person you would want to have notified in case of emergency and title it ICE (In case of emergency).

Insurance

Make sure you have enough insurance to cover fire, flood, and structural damage. Keep your policies in a safe fireproof container. Keep a copy with your emergency supplies. Call your insurance agent immediately to report any damage. Even if you have not had time to properly assess all the damage call immediately. Claims are usually handled in the order they are reported. Take photos. Note: Homeowner's policies don't usually cover flood damage. Make sure you understand your policy.

Obesity, Paying the Price

It's common knowledge that obesity in this country has reached epidemic proportions. Being over weight is both dangerous and costly . People who are obese are putting themselves at dangerous risk of developing heart disease and diabetes and many other devastating health problems. 112,000 deaths a year are associated with obesity. Obese patients add an estimated $75 billion a year to the nation's medical bill . We all pay the price for the estimated 60 million American's who are seriously overweight.

We all understand the health risks and medical costs associated with obesity but until recently there has been very little information coming forward about the impact of being overweight and the negative impact that can have on us. Some economists estimate that obese people could be spending tens of thousands of extra dollars a year because of their weight. Experts say that obese people spend more on diets, items such as larger-size clothes or extra-sturdy furniture. Some airlines are now requiring that severely obese passengers purchase two tickets.

Recent studies have revealed that obese people spend more on out-of-pocket medical costs than thinner people. They have lower income, are less likely to hold managerial jobs, are often passed over for promotion, receive less frequent pay raises, and are more likely to miss work. They are less likely to be married and more likely to get divorced. When they marry, their spouses generally earn less than non-obese people. They inherit less wealth from their parents , who are more likely to be overweight themselves.

Researchers also discovered that obesity's financial burdens aren't distributed evenly between the sexes. While both men and women who are severely obese make less money at work than people of normal weight , women suffer a bigger wage penalty. This summer, researchers at New York University found that an increase of 10% in a woman's body mass decreased her income by 6%. The more weight gained the more impact it has on income.

Experts say it's difficult to sort out the relationship between obesity and wealth. Obese people are poorer than the non-obese, but no one can pin point exactly why. Does being poor cause people to become obese, or does being obese keep people poor? What does seem clear is that the economic situation faced by seriously overweight people can make it harder for them to make the exercise; diet and lifestyle changes that promote weight loss. For many, their financial situation makes it prohibitive for them to take advantage of weight loss programs, personal trainers, and gym memberships.

The number of Americans who are considered obese has doubled in the last 25 years, according to the Centers of Disease Control, and now accounts for more than 30% of the population. The number of morbidly obese people (generally defined as 100 pounds or more overweight) has grown to 9 million.

The fact that obese people earn less money on the job and inherit less money from their parents may make a small difference each year but it adds up over time and becomes a much bigger problem. Obesity is an epidemic that simply can not be ignored.

If you think you're over weight, we can help you. Come in and talk to us about our Weight Loss for Life program. We would like nothing more than to share in your weight loss success.

Good Fish, Bad Fish

Most of us are aware of the tremendous benefits associated with consuming Omega-3 fatty acids, including, lowering triglycerides, general heart benefits, improving brain functioning, as well as helping with diabetes, strokes, depression, arthritis, allergies, circulation problems, ADHD, Alzheimer's, skin disorders, gout, and many others.

It sounds simple enough. Make sure you eat fish at least twice a week. But unless you're living under a rock you have heard about the danger of eating fish containing high levels of mercury.

Based on personal experience with colleagues, it seems to me that many doctors are as confused about this issue as patients are," said Dr. Emily Oken, who practices medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in Boston.

"The fact is we need good protein sources that are beneficial and low in saturated fat and without contaminants" says Dr. Jane Hightower, a San Francisco internist who has detected excessive mercury levels in many of her patients, particularly those who eat swordfish, said consumers might have to resort to omega-3 supplements to get the benefits of fish without the risks. Hightower also reports that "If the polluting industries, the fishing industry, government officials and our political representatives cannot resolve this mercury problem in our air, water and fish, the supplement industry will be left to resolve it for the consumer".

Mercury is a natural element found in the Earth's crust, but when released into the air through smokestacks, it spreads globally and accumulates in tissues of animals, particularly fish. Coal-fired power plants, largely in Asia, are the largest sources of man-made mercury emissions.

O.K., so we understand that there are tremendous benefits to be gained by including fish, high in Omega-3's in our diets. But we also have concern about the dangers of consuming toxic amounts of mercury. How to enjoy the best of both worlds?

Choose your fish wisely. Generally, the darker the fish meat, the higher the mercury content. The FDA warns against consuming swordfish and shark as well as king mackerel and tilefish, found on the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico.

Salmon is generally low in mercury and high in fatty acids, but some farmed salmon contains high concentrations of other contaminants like PCBs.

The following fish are considered good, low mercury choices:

Sardines, herring, canned light tuna, cod, haddock, tilapia, sea bass and shrimp .

Small fatty fishes such as sardines and herring are especially beneficial because they contain a lot of fatty acids.

So now you have the knowledge and can enjoy a delicious, healthy source of Omega-3 fatty acids with reduced risk of mercury toxins.

New Study Shows Diet Soft Drinks Make You Fat

A new study shows that people who drink diet soft drinks don't lose weight. They actually gain weight.

The findings come from a study conducted by Sharon P. Fowler, MPH and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. The data collected from eight years of research was reported at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego last June.

Here's what Fowler had to say about the study. "What didn't surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity. What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher."

When the researchers looked closely at the data they found that nearly all the obesity risk from soft drinks came from diet sodas.

"There was a 41% increase risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day, " says Fowler.

Fowler's team looked at seven to eight years of data on 1,550 Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white Americans aged 25 to 64. Of the 622 study participants who were of normal weight at the beginning of the study, about a third became overweight or obese.

For regular soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:

· 26% for up to ½ can each day

· 30.4% for ½ to one can each day

· 32.8% for 1 to 2 cans each day

· 47.2% for more than 2 cans each day.

For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:

· 36.5% for up to ½ can each day

· 37.5% for ½ to one can each day

· 54.5% for 1 to 2 cans each day

· 57.1% for more than 2 cans each day.

Fowler is quick to note that a study of this kind does not prove that diet soda causes obesity. More likely, she says, it shows that something linked to diet soda drinking is also linked to obesity.

"One possible part of the explanation is that people who see they are beginning to gain weight may be more likely to switch from regular to diet soda", Fowler suggests. "But despite their switching, their weight may continue to grow for other reasons. So diet soft-drink use is a marker for overweight and obesity."

Nutrition expert Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center offers the following possible explanation. "You have to look at what's on your plate, not just what's in your glass. People often mistake diet drinks for diets. A lot of people say, 'I am drinking a diet soft drink because that is better for me.' But soft drinks by themselves are not the root of America's obesity problem," she says. "You can't go into a fast-food restaurant and say, 'Oh, it's OK because I had a diet soda.' If you don't do anything else but switch to a diet soft drink, you are not going to lose weight."

Fowler offers another theory as to why drinking diet soft drinks could put people at risk for weight gain. She points to a recent study where rat pups were fed artificial sweeteners and discovered that it made them crave more calories than rat pups fed real sugar. This may be what happens to humans when they offer our bodies the sweet taste of diet drinks, but give them no calories.

"If you offer your body something that tastes like a lot of calories, but it isn't there, your body is alerted to the possibility that there is something there and it will search for the calories promised but not delivered, "Fowler says.

Perhaps our bodies are smarter than we think.

"People think they can just fool the body. But maybe the body isn't fooled," says Fowler. "If you are not giving your body those calories you promised it, maybe your body will retaliate by wanting more calories. Some soft drink studies do suggest that diet drinks stimulate appetite."

We highly recommend that you avoid soft drinks all together. If you really want to provide your body with what it needs, drink plenty of bottled or purified water, fresh juice (dilute with water to reduce calories), or herbal teas. Adding a few drops of Stevia Clear to your water can provide variety, satisfy your desire for something sweet, while providing a safe dietary supplement at the same time. For example you can come in and pick up a bottle of Lemon Drop, Grape, or Root Beer flavored Stevia, add to carbonated water and you can enjoy a healthy soft drink alternative.

Why Fad Diets Do More Harm Than Good

When there is $35 billion annually up for grabs in the weight loss industry those folks promoting their products want you to believe that they have the magic pill, magic ab machine, creams that remove fat cells, and yes, the perfect diet program book. Not all diet books are bad but fad diet books that cause rapid weight loss when followed, can set you up for big trouble down the line.

The sad truth is that 95% of those who go on such diets fail.

Most people who go on one of these diets do in fact enjoy a reduction in scale weight but at what cost? These diets are rarely sustainable over the long term and may in fact do more harm than good.

The main problem with most of these diets is that they result in muscle loss, in preference to fat loss. Rapid weight loss signals your body to shift into starvation mode. Our bodies are preprogrammed to respond by storing fat and using muscle for energy. That's exactly the opposite of what you should be doing if you want to reach your ideal weight and keep it off.

Muscle determines the overall metabolic rate of the body, so if muscle is lost, the metabolic rate will be reduced. This means that when dieters return to a normal pattern of eating again, the lower metabolic rate will result in rapid weight gain.

The other problem with having a low level of lean muscle tissue is the feeling of fatigue, when doing simple exercises or other physical tasks. The muscles and the liver both store energy supplies, in the form of glycogen.

This situation has developed simply because most people are looking for an easy way to lose weight that delivers quick results. The weight loss industry continues to misguide people into believing that the desired results can be achieved with minimum effort.

The truth is that achieving and maintaining a healthy target weight requires life style changes. These changes include regular exercise , sensible healthy food choices, and a change in attitude.

Why Dieting Can Make You FATTER!!!

Calling those fad diets "weight loss programs" is the first mistake. They are in fact weight reduction programs which if followed can produce rapid weight loss. But it is in fact a road map to dehydration and loss of muscle tissue. These diets are not sustainable.

If you were to become ill and bed bound you would achieve similar results within 48 hours, especially if you have a complaint like food poisoning. How much weight do you think is lost in the form of excess unhealthy adipose fat tissue? Very little indeed, instead you would see:

DEHYDRATION

70% of the body is made up of water. It is easy to design a dehydration diet that results in losing 10 pounds of water within several days. Many naïve slimmer's are encouraged by these rapid results. The down side of this is that simply dehydration by 2-3% of body weight can result in a 7% drop in physical performance.

LOST MUSCLE TISSUE

If you lose weight too quickly, much of the weight loss will be muscle tissue. Your goal should be to lose no more than 2 pounds of weight per week. If you lose more than that, 30-40% of the weight lost will be muscle.

Keep in mind. Muscle burns Fat. Muscle is five times more active metabolically than fat tissue. That's why you've heard of body builders who eat amazing amounts of food and still maintain lean, muscular bodies.

EXERCISE AND HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES MUST BE THE FIRST PRIORITY

The purpose of an exercise program is to lose fat without losing muscle and without reducing metabolic rate. The exercise needs to be customized to your fitness level and to a specific goal of fat loss.

Together aerobic exercise and resistance training are the ideal combination of exercise to achieve fat loss and it should be part of your lifestyle.

AEROBIC EXERCISE

Aerobic exercise metabolizes calories and raises the metabolic rate. (You may want to invest in a Heart Rate Monitor to learn how to exercise in your Target Zone. 180 minus your age is a good Target Rate). If you aren't currently exercising regularly subtract your age from 170. The heart rate needs to be raised to your Target Rate comfortably for 30 - 40 minutes at least 3 times per week. By exercising aerobically, calories will be burnt at a rate of 300+ per hour depending on your weight and fitness level.

Here's something to think about. Just 1 pound of body fat has around 4,100 calories. This should give you a rough idea of just how long it will take you to shed those extra pounds permanently. But consider how long it took you to put them on. It's normally years or even a complete lifetime of abusing your body.

The most important thing is to incorporate an exercise program that you can maintain as part of your new healthy life style.

This is where a little experimentation may come in. Every body is different and responds to different methods of exercise. It's been my experience that exercising in your target heart zone for 30 - 40 minutes at least three days a week provides good results. If you have lived most of your life as a couch potato the most important thing you can do is just get up and start moving.

A motivation factor to keep in mind is that aerobic exercise will raise your metabolic rate for up to 24 hours after you have finished your training session. You'll be burning extra calories and helping your metabolism to operate more efficiently.

Resistance (or weight) Training

Inactive people lose about 10% of their muscle mass every 10 years after the age of 25. However with regular resistance training it is possible to regain this muscle mass. Resistance training should be carried out at least 2 - 3 times per week for around 30 to 45 minutes. Increasing your muscle mass will cause you to burn more calories even while you are sitting or sleeping.

You don't need to worry that you'll develop a body that resembles a body builders, as these men and women spend many hours in grueling weight sessions and follow strict diets to achieve the physiques that they have.

You also need not worry that should you need to stop training for what ever reason the muscle you have built will not turn into fat. It will naturally break down and shrink in size which is called hypo-trophy but it will not turn to fat. And once you have build a strong body through resistance training it's much easier to regain the muscle mass once you begin your training again.

If you chose to begin a resistance training program keep in mind that muscles weigh more than fat. Your body weight could stay the same or you could even gain scale weight. It's important not to be alarmed, the weight will come off, however if it does not, your overall ratio of body fat compared to lean muscle tissue, will certainly be in a healthier ratio.

HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES

This is where you can really achieve a change in your life style. It's so much more important to focus on selecting foods that fuel your body and make you feel more healthy and have more energy than just focusing on losing fat. The best way to gain over all health and as a result lose fat is in food choices. If you have spent most of your life feeding your body fast foods and processed non-foods. These changes will require that you trust that removing those types of foods from your life can be done painlessly with a little education and planning on your part.

The simplest way to begin is to adopt a whole food diet. Avoid fat, sugar, additives, preservatives, processed, and refined foods. Substitute sea salt for table salt.

Replace them with natural foods with a high fiber and water content (fruit and vegetables) more food can be eaten to appease the appetite without gaining weight. You'll be amazed how filling these foods are.

If you would like to start your new healthy life style with help from us please ask about our new Life Changing Healthy Eating Program. It includes training in, choosing foods, portion sizes, blood sugar management and one on one counseling to make sure you reach your target goals. We also provide a maintenance program to guarantee your life long success. We're here to help and like nothing more than supporting you in your goals for a healthy life.

Are Your Beauty Products Putting Your Health At Risk?

If you got out of the shower this morning, applied a little deodorant, foundation, sprayed a little hair spray, and a little spritz of perfume, you just poisoned yourself a little bit. If you repeat this routine every day you are accumulating toxins by the bucketful.

There is a very good chance that the beauty and hygiene products you are innocently putting on your body contain a tricky little chemicals called phthalates (THAY-lates). Phthalates are a family of chemicals used in everyday household products, especially beauty products like nail polish, lipstick, and perfumes.

Phthalates have been shown to cause a wide array of health problems, from liver and kidney failure to heart, lung and blood pressure problems. The most worrisome aspect by far is the phthalates' effect on the reproductive development of fetuses and infants, particularly the reproductive tracts of males.

Phthalates are metabolized in humans once ingested or absorbed through the skin. In pregnant women, phthalates pass through the placenta to be absorbed by the fetus. In nursing women, phthalates are found in breast milk, which means infants are ingesting these chemicals as they develop. In male fetuses - and infants especially - the phthalates have been shown to cause testicular atrophy and reduced sperm count, among other serious health problems.

What exactly are Phthalates?

Phthalates are plasticizers. In cosmetics, they are used to add texture and luster to the product. Ninety percent of the world's plasticizers are used to soften PVC (vinyl) and make it pliable. The other 10 percent have been used in many kinds of manufacturing for 30 years, beginning with medical products like IV bags, gloves and blood bags, but also paints, lubricants, adhesives, toys, food containers, and, of course, cosmetics.

Other names for phthalates are DEHP, DEP, DBP, BBP, DCP, DOP, and DINP. But you won't see these listed under ingredients since the FDA DOES NOT REGULATE THE USE OF PTHALATES IN COSMETICS AND BEAUTY AIDS , manufacturers are not required to disclose them as ingredients.

According to FDA spokesperson Kimberly Rawlings, "Phthalates were shown to be safe for topical use in 1984, and there have been no further studies by the FDA on this subject since then."

Phthalates have been used extensively since the early 1970s. The biggest commotion over phthalates came in 1998, when the Danish government issued a well-publicized ban on toys containing phthalates. Lego, the Danish toy maker, quickly responded by reformulating its toy factories to phase out the use of phthalates in the production of its toys.

Non-toxic alternatives are readily available. The same big companies that produce phthalates-laced beauty products also make similar products without phthalates. L'Oreal markets Jet Set nail polish without DBP but puts the phthalate in it's Maybelline brand.

Some household name products that have been tested positive for Phthalates are: Aqua Net Professional Hair Spray; Degree Original Solid Deodorant; Nivea Cream lotions; Elizabeth Arden's Red Door fragrance; Calvin Klein's Eternity perfume.

Without public pressure there will be no incentive for the $20 billion-a-year cosmetics industry to phase out all phthalates. And women who continue to douse themselves in Christian Dior's Poison may be helping the perfume live up to it's name.

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN HURT YOU!!!
Learn How Dupont Found A Way To Turn What You Eat Into Plastic.
Perpetual Shelf Is Born...

Be Very Afraid

If you are consuming Hydrogenated or Partially Hydrogenated fats and oils you might as well be eating Tupperware.

WHAT THE FOOD INDUSTRY DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW.

Hydrogenation is Born

As if no further damage could be done to the already lifeless processed oil, way back in the 1930s, the boys at DUPONT figured out a way to harden the oil into a perfectly engineered
non-food and called it margarine. Their only two criteria: spread ability and shelf life. ( Not your health ).

Margarine is another product removed from anything resembling human food, and actually is closer to the category of plastics. Since all the Essential Fatty Acids (usable fats) have been destroyed, and all the enzymes are long gone, there is nothing left to 'go bad' - it can't spoil.

The only reason hydrogenation is legal is that it has been around for so long. When it was invented, the effects weren't well understood. Now decades later, with billions in lobbying money in place, a few details like cancer and Alzheimer's aren't going to get in the way.

Here's a good way to think of hydrogenation. In the old days if you left a bag of potato chips open all night, next day the chips would be limp and soggy. Today we have potato chips that are crispy to perfection. You can leave them out on the counter for days and they'll still be perfectly crisp. Sealed potato chips in those round, perfectly stacked tubes will last a year or more! This phenomenon has nothing to do with food or nutrition. It is a masterful feat of plastics engineering . The potato chip has been completely soaked in hydrogenated oil, protected from the external environment - kind of like polymerizing a marlin you're gong to hang over the fireplace. Once inside the stomach, the chips continue to do what they were designed to do: resist breakdown. The food value for humans is in the negative.

Hydrogenated foods are toxic because they contain free radicals and our bodies don't have the ability to assimilate them.

In the body, hydrogenated foods contribute to:

• aging
• cancer
• tissue breakdown
• digestive disease
• clogged arteries
• arthritis
• Alzheimer's
• neurological diseases
• WEIGHT GAIN

The fiction that hydrogenated margarine is superior to butter can be seen for what it is: marketing hype . And the reason is what - no cholesterol? Please! Of course margarine contains no cholesterol - it's closer to a plastic than to a food.

Without artificial flavoring additives, margarine would taste like a Formica desktop.

Humans don't need foods to be that stable. Our digestive systems have about 12 hours to metabolize what we eat. If breakdown doesn't happen during that time, very likely we'll be wearing the stable residues for a long, long, time.

So start looking at labels. You'll see why they're printed in micro-fonts. When you see the word 'hydrogenated' think plastic. When you see the words 'partially-hydrogenated' think plastic and free radicals.

We care more about your health than big business does. Read the labels. If you see anything listed that you're not sure of, don't eat it.

NOTE:

Foods Almost Always Made With Partially Hydrogenated Oils
Cake mixes, biscuit, pancake and cornbread mixes, frostings
Cakes, cookies, muffins, pies, donuts
Crackers
Peanut butter (except fresh-ground)
Frozen entrees and meals
Frozen bakery products, toaster pastries, waffles, pancakes
Most prepared frozen meats and fish (such as fish sticks)
French fries
Whipped toppings
Margarines, shortening
Instant mashed potatoes
Taco shells
Cocoa mix
Microwave popcorn

Many Brands of these Foods are Made with Partially Hydrogenated Oils
(Check the list of ingredients!)
Breakfast cereals
Corn chips, potato chips
Frozen pizza, frozen burritos, most frozen snack foods
Low-fat ice creams
Noodle soup cups
Bread
Pasta mixes
Sauce mixes

Foods that usually do not contain Partially Hydrogenated Oils
Whole foods, fruits and vegetables

Read the ingredients

Vaccinations, Mercury, and Autism.

Attention Parents. You need to protect your children! You need to make educated choices when it comes to vaccinating your infants and small children. Health care providers are injecting the most toxic, non-radioactive element known to man into your children's blood stream and many of you are not aware of the dangers.

Before they attend first grade most children in the United States have received 21 vaccinations and have been exposed to 87 times the federal governments own safety guidelines for daily mercury exposure. Your newborn could receive its first hepatitis B shot in the first 12 hours of life. The number of recommended vaccinations for children up to 24 months has nearly tripled since 1988, according to

The National Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, the CDC recommends vaccination against 12 diseases. A child could receive as many as six shots during a single doctor's visit.

The mercury I'm talking about comes in the form of a preservative developed by Merck and used by Eli Lilly and many other pharmaceutical companies who manufacture vaccinations. It's called Thimerosal . It is nearly 50% ethyl mercury. It has been widely used as a sterilizing agent to prevent bacterial contamination from repeated insertion of needles into multi-dose vials of vaccine. There is more and more evidence that some children given vaccinations containing this preservative are being diagnosed with autism. The latest statistics show that 1 in every 166 children in the United States today are diagnosed

with Autism. ADD, ADHD, and other neurological disorders are also being considered connected to this high level of mercury poisoning in vaccinations.

More than 4,200 claims have been filed in the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program by parents alleging that their children suffered autism or other neurological disorders from mercury in their shots.

Why some, not all children have an adverse reaction to vaccinations?

There are many studies being conducted into the high rate of autism and vaccinations. One study being conducted now may indicate that some children are lacking the presence of enough Glutathione to enable them to detoxify mercury and other heavy metals. These toxins end up being stored in their organs, including their brains. The presence of Glutathione is required to maintain the normal function of the immune system. It exists in almost every cell in the body. Researchers are now finding that many autistic children have deficient glutathione levels in their systems.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzanegger signed a bill on September 29, 2004 banning the use of Thimerosal in California. The good news is that it passed. The bad news is that the bill does not go into effect until 2006 .

There is some evidence that Thimerosal has already been removed from most infant vaccinations but it's very unclear if that's factual information. It's very confusing and difficult to nail down which, if any vaccinations are now free of this dangerous toxin.

There is a tremendous amount of information out there and I strongly suggest that if you have infant children or are planning to start a family you need to take the time to research this very important, and potentially devastating vaccination risk.

There's growing controversy regarding the need to vaccinate children at all.

Here are some things you need to know before you vaccinate your child:

Factors that can increase the risk of adverse reactions are:

· A child not well at the time of vaccinations;

· A family history of allergies, vaccine reactions, convulsions, epilepsy, or any other neurological or immunological problems;

· A bad reaction to a previous vaccine;

· An allergy to one of the ingredients in the vaccine;

· Vaccinating a premature infant according to chronological not gestational age.

Prior to vaccination obtain the following information for your records, verified and signed by the vaccine administrator:

· Evidence that your child is healthy

· Evidence that your child is developing normally

· Time and date of administration

· Name of vaccine administrator and credentials

· The lot and batch number

· Written verification that the vaccination has been stored correctly at all times

· Request only single dose vials.

· Ask to see the original package and the insert containing information about the contents of the vaccines, including ingredients, preservatives, and additives.

· Ask your doctor to explain all the signs and symptoms of all adverse reactions so you may recognize them should they occur.

· Pain, hardness, redness, and swelling at the injection site

· Fever, unusual crying, restlessness, irritability, sleeping more or less than usual, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, sweating, chills.

· Difficulty breathing, convulsions, inconsolable screaming (high pitched scream)

· Loss of vision, hearing, swelling of lymph nodes.

· Collapse or shock-like state, brain damage.

· Confusion

· Language difficulties

· Disorientation

· Memory problems

· Mood alterations

· Combativeness

· Any unusual behavioral problems

If you suspect a reaction of any kind seek medical attention immediately. You know your child better than anyone else. If your doctor will not speak with you honestly about the risks of vaccinations, change doctors.

Less than 2% of Negative Reactions to Vaccinations get reported. Medical doctors rarely report them.

You can report a negative reaction to the "National Vaccine Information Center"

Please note: There has been no conclusive proof that mercury in vaccines cause neurological disorders but there is enough evidence pointing to this danger that the FDA and the CDC have recommended that it be removed from all infant vaccines. Sweden has refused to import our multi dose vaccines since the early 1980's.

Another interesting fact is that there are no reported cases of Autism in non-vaccinated Amish children.

For more information on this subject we recommend you pick up a copy of David Kirby's book Evidence of Harm . You can also visit the following web sites:

Attention Cave Dwellers!
Are You Getting Enough Sun?

Now that we are headed into Sunny Summer days I am noticing those anemic looking folks out for their walks covered head to toe with sun protection. 10" brim hats, long sleeve shirts, long pants, and even gloves. Sunglasses are a very good idea but this obsession with protecting our skin from the Sun's UV rays may be keeping us from enjoying a very important opportunity to protect ourselves from the risk of vitamin D deficiencies.

Who would have thought that NOT enough sun could be bad for you ?

Simply put, exposure to the sun helps our bodies make vitamin D. Ultraviolet rays from sunlight trigger vitamin D synthesis in the skin, creating vitamin D for our bodies to use. Vitamin D assists with the absorption of calcium, with bone calcification, and with the re-absorption of calcium in the kidneys. A deficiency in this important vitamin can cause serious health problems, and vitamin D deficiencies are becoming more common than most of us realize. Common vitamin D deficiencies cause the bone disorder known as rickets, or osteomalacia, which is a weakening or softening of the bones, and it can lead to other health problems as well. Most of these illnesses have been more prevalent in third world counties but are now being increasingly diagnosed in North America. This can be directly attributed to the deterioration of our diets. Processed Wheat and Sugar have replaced foods that provide vitamin D. We have also been taught to live in fear of the suns harmful rays.

Vitamin D deficiency occurs from dietary insufficiency, malabsorption of the vitamin by the intestines (Poor Digestion), and LACK OF EXPOSURE TO THE SUN . Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency can include persistent nonspecific bone pain and muscle weakness, numbness around the mouth or in the extremities, abnormal heart rhythms, or spasms of the hands or feet. It can also lead to osteoporosis, or bone fractures from minimal trauma. (Blue Haired Lady Syndrome)

A recent study released by the Lancet reports that higher levels of vitamin D help provide protection from the risks of some cancers such as breast, prostate, colon, and even skin cancer.

O.K. so we all don't live in Southern California or Florida.

Sunlight exposure from November through February in Boston is insufficient to produce significant vitamin D synthesis in the skin. We, Californians have had our share of rainy days this past season. What to do? Focus on eating foods rich in natural vitamin D such as:

Egg yolks, fatty fish like sardines, mackerel, salmon, and herring: fish liver oils: shrimp: chicken liver; and oysters. Another good source of vitamin D is in certain nuts like Walnuts, Hazelnuts. Combined with sesame oil and apricot kernel oil you'll be doing a lot towards making sure you're getting the Vitamin D you need. An easy way to get your vitamin D from the nuts and oils listed above would be to stop in and pick up a bottle of Biotics Research Mixed EFA's ™. One or Two Tablespoons per day provide most of your Daily vitamin D requirements. The Sun can help with the rest.

How much sun?

An initial exposure to sunlight (10 - 15 minutes) allows adequate time for Vitamin D synthesis and should be followed by application of a sunscreen with a SPF of at least 15 to protect the skin. Ten to fifteen minutes of sun exposure at least two times per week to the face, arms, hands, or back without sunscreen is usually sufficient to provide adequate vitamin D.

Now you know. Fun in the Sun can also be good for your health.

American's Think Doctors Are Influenced by Drug Companies' Gifts

Americans seem wary of doctors' and scientists' ties to industry and strongly believe the news media should do a better job of disclosing the corporate connections of quoted scientists, according to a new survey commissioned by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

According to the telephone poll of 1,026 randomly selected adults, 74 percent think reporters should disclose whether university scientists quoted in articles receive funding from companies that have a financial stake in the topic at hand. Only 13 percent said that the media need not disclose such ties. According to CSPI, the news media routinely fail to make that kind of disclosure.

The poll also asked people to agree or disagree with statements regarding doctors receiving gifts from drug companies. Sixty-four percent agree that the medical judgment of doctors can be influenced by such gifts; 62 percent agree that those gifts should not be allowed. Only 11 percent believe the gifts should not be banned.

"Letting physicians accept trips and other gifts from drug companies is a prescription for inferior medical care, and the public clearly believes that those gifts can skew doctors' judgment," said CSPI executive Director Michael F. Jacobson. "The public's perception suggests a crisis of confidence in the medical community that I hope spurs further limits on gifts from pharmaceutical firms to doctors."

In addition, the poll found that 64 percent believe that it is important to have university scientists who do not have financial relationships with corporations. Currently, many scientists, especially those whose research relates to matters being addressed by government regulatory agencies, receive industry funding. And, two-thirds of respondents agreed with the following statement: " Overall, science is driven by the financial interests of business and industry."

The survey was conducted by TNS Intersearch, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent.

Source: Center for Science in the Public Interest Press Release July 11,2003

“Shocking Results Of New Study Reveals How To Lose Weight by Eating And Decrease Your Risk Of A Heart Attack By More Than 50%!!!”

Read on to find out why your low calorie diet may be setting you up for the nation’s #1 killer…..

Eat more, lose weight and decrease your risk of heart disease by over 50%?  Sounds crazy…but it’s true.
    At least that’s what the results of a 17 –year study of almost 9,800 people appearing in the American Journal of  Preventive Medicine has recently reported.    

I know, I know – sounds too good to be true—like one of those infomercials that claims you can eat all you want and still lose 100 pounds in 3 days.  Well, you’re right, there is a catch.  And, here it is:    

You Must Exercise!    

That’s right…good old-fashioned exercise.    

Here’s exactly what the study found:
“Despite widespread attention to diet calorie intake may not be a major factor in causing death by heart disease, according to a 17-year study of almost 9,800 Americans.  Instead, losing excess weight – and exercising may do more to ward off death from heart disease,” says Jing Fang M.D., and colleagues from the Albert Einstein college of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. “The fact is that those who both exercised more and ate more nevertheless had low cardiovascular mortality,” says Fang.    

“Expending energy through physical activity may be the key to cutting the risks of heart disease and living a longer, and healthful life,” she says.    

The researchers studied data from 9,790 participants in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a national study from 1971 to 1975 that was funded by the U.S. government.  Fang’s group compared reports of physical activity, body mass index (BMI) and physical activity, caloric intake was unrelated to heart disease.        

Those who exercised more and ate more were both leaner and had less than half the cardiovascular disease mortality than did those who exercised less, ate less and were overweight.    

 The study also found that subjects with the lowest caloric intake, least physical activity, and who were overweight or obese had significantly higher cardiovascular mortality rates than those with high caloric intake, more physical activity, and normal weight.  The difference in mortality rates was 55%.    

So, if you ate the least, exercised the least, and were overweight, you had a 55% greater chance of dying from heart disease.    

An interesting fact is that people who were overweight at the beginning of the study did NOT decrease their risk of heart disease by decreasing the amount of food they ate without exercising.

Dieting WITHOUT Exercise Had no Impact Whatsoever!

Researchers went on to say that the most practical lesson learned from this study is you should focus more on calorie expenditure than on reducing calorie intake.  Exercising and burning calories may be one of the best ways to extend healthy life.

The Catch

Responding to the study Jack V. Tu, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and head of the Canadian Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Team (CCORT) says, “It suggests caloric intake is less important than physical activity.  That supports those of us who’ve been saying that exercise is better for you than dieting.  It suggests that if you eat more and maintain ideal body weight, it’s O.K.”  Maintain ideal body weight?  Yes, that’s the Catch.  Unfortunately, the findings don’t mean that it’s time to party at your favorite fast-food emporium.

Most Americans follow only half of this advice.  They love to eat but hate to move their butts.  “We want to encourage everyone we can to exercise,” Tu says. “Having said that, we don’t want people to go running out to McDonalds after they jog for 30 minutes.  Doing that occasionally is fine.  But you need balance.  Some exercise, combined with moderate food intake, is the way to go.”

But Wait……It Only Gets Better…..
Taking Drugs for Depression is Dangerous.
Exercise is a Safe and Effective Alternative.

Researchers have found that walking for 30 minutes (longer is better) each day quickly improved depressed patients’ symptoms.  Antidepressant drugs are highly addictive and have potentially deadly side effects. The results indicate that, in selected patients with major depression, aerobic training can produce a substantial improvement in symptoms in a short time.
Previous studies have suggested that exercise is a potent mood-booster, and most research indicates that regular activity is a better depression treatment than psychotherapy or medication.
Exactly why is unclear, but exercise does influence certain mood-related hormones, and it is also believed to enhance people’s sense of control over their lives.
In one study that compared exercise with antidepressants among older adults, investigators found that physical activity was the more effective depression-fighter. As you can see, the evidence has been piling up for a long, long time.  Exercise is clearly one of the major pieces in the puzzle to living a longer, happier, healthier life.
  But, the sad fact is, less than one-third of U.S. adults get the recommended amount of exercise each day.. What’s worse is that 40 percent are almost completely sedentary.
The embarrassing truth is, when the World Health Organization studied health around the world, the United States was found to spend the most on health care, yet ranked second to the last in overall health.
The fact of the matter is clear:  We have become a nation of self-imposed sickness and disease.
The answer is not leading a sedentary lifestyle, waiting ‘till you are sick, and then looking for a wonder drug or surgery to fix years of neglect.

There simply is no magic bullet.  Nope, the answer is to take care of what you’ve got…before you lose it.
   Starting an exercise program now can ad countless HEALTHY and HAPPY years to your life.  More importantly, not starting one can prematurely end your life.  I know that’s a little “heavy”, but it  IS the harsh reality we all must face.  Now or later.

     WARNING:
     Read This Before Exercising!!!

Here’s what to do BEFORE starting your new exercise program: The first thing you should do before starting your new exercise program is have a complete biomechanical evaluation to make sure all your muscles and joints are working properly.
  In particular, exercising on a malfunctioning or unbalanced spine can lead to back pain, neck pain, headaches, sciatica, numbness and tingling in your arms and legs, shoulders, elbows, hips and knee pain and even herniated discs and premature arthritis.
   Even though exercise is necessary to decrease heart disease and improve overall health, it is an added stress on your body and must be taken seriously. You don’t want to simply trade heart disease for a life of debilitating pain.
A complete Chiropractic pre-workout evaluation can determine if it is safe for you to begin working out…or…if you need a few simple treatments to get you ready to make sure you avoid serious injury.
  We can also show you what exercises to avoid and if you need a modified program or can go all out.
  It is important to know that personal trainers and gym owners (unless they are Chiropractors) do not have the training to do this complete biomechanical evaluation.  For that reason, we recommend getting a complete biomechanical evaluation BEFORE you begin your exercise program.  It can save you a lot of pain and suffering.
The bottom line is: Exercise should be an integral part of your life. The trick is incorporating it into your every day routine.  When it becomes a habit you begin to look forward to it.  JUST DO IT!

…. And don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us.  Contact us with your questions.  We’re here to help.

Calcium Carbonate?  You Might As Well Eat Rocks…

I was standing in line at the market the other day and I picked up Oprah Winfrey’s Magazine.  I was flipping through it when I saw an article that caught my eye.  The article was written by her nutritionist.  She was advising the use of Calcium Carbonate as a good source of Calcium.

I was stunned.

Here is a woman who is probably making hundreds of thousands of dollars advising one of the richest women in America and she obviously hasn’t got a clue about Calcium Carbonate.  What else do you suppose she knows nothing about?

Calcium Carbonate is essentially Lime Stone

You might as well go chew on a Rock. Your body has to go through 12 steps to process Calcium Carbonate and if your digestive system is not functioning well you won’t absorb much, if any Calcium at all.

TUMS ARE NOT VITAMINS!!!!!

It’s so ironic that they add Calcium Carbonate (Lime Stone) to Tums.

Those crazy scientists! 

So here you are taking something to coat your digestive acids, which you need to break down the things you put in your stomach and you are also adding a substance that will not be absorbed into your bones as advertised.  You might ask, where does it go? 

A great home for calcium that you ingest but that does not get absorbed into your bones is between your  joints………..
You’ve created a great source for arthritis and you’ve starved your bones, which sets you up for osteoporosis.

Want to take advantage of a GREAT SOURCE FOR CALCIUM?

And here we come full circle to what Mother Nature knew long ago.  If you want to build and sustain strong bones EAT PLENTY GREEN LEAFY VEGATABLES, LEGUMES, NUTS, AND SARDINES.

ENGAGE IN WEIGHT BEARING EXERCISE AT LEAST 4 DAYS A WEEK.

Lady’s, not to worry, you will not end up looking like the Hulk or Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Women are not predisposed to building huge bulky muscles.  By using light weights and multiple repetitions you can enjoy the benefits of improved overall strength and denser bones.  If the neighborhood gym or YWCA doesn’t appeal to you there are circuit-training facilities designed for women only.  There are also sports like tennis, jogging, or speed walking that can provide excellent benefits as well.

And if you really feel the need to take a calcium supplement you can come in to our office and we’ll find a good absorbable calcium that meets your individual needs.  We have seven different types to chose from depending on your over all health and age.

Are You Prisoner to Your Allergies?

In most people the immune system can tell the difference between a threat, like a virus, and some harmless substance like food or pollen, also called “allergens”.  When your immune system is unable to discriminate, it attacks the harmless food, pollen, animal dander, or whatever, as if it was a threat to your health.  Allergies range from mildly annoying to life threatening.  Once you are exposed to an allergen that your body considers a danger, your immune system releases a chemical called “histamine”, which is why medical doctors prescribe antihistamines.

If you have allergies, you already know how it feels.  You may have symptoms like hives, itching, difficulty breathing, sneezing or a runny nose, and headaches.  Some people experience symptoms like stomachaches, migraine headaches, leg and joint pains, excessive fatigue and irritability, or pallor and dark circles under your eyes.  And why not, you’re probably not getting quality sleep.  There’s an indication that bed wetting in children may also be associated with allergies.  If you have allergies you are likely to have sinusitis and more frequent colds because allergens can block and swell your nasal passages and sinus cavities. 
         
If your nose resembles Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, you are likely allergic to house dust mites, feathers, animal dander or fungi, you will probably have symptoms such as sinus infections or nasal polyps, and your nose may run all year long. 

If you are allergic to wind-borne pollens from trees, grass, weeds or fungi, your nose may itch, as well as your eyes, the roof of your mouth, and your throat.  Springtime for most means a wonderful new beginning; a time to enjoy the flowers, the lushness of new leaves on the trees.  For allergy sufferers Spring time means, sneezing, tearing, red eyes, runny nose, headaches, irritability, lost appetite, feelings of depression, or difficulty sleeping.

If you have food allergies you may be sensitive to allergens in nuts, legumes, seeds, and shellfish.  An allergic reaction to milk can cause breathing difficulties. 

BEWARE OF FOOD ADDITIVES

One of the worst food additives for people with food allergies is monosodium glutamate (MSG).  Another translation for (MSG) is manufactured free glutamic acid.

 It’s not a real food and does not have a real taste.  Therefore, most people with a sensitivity to MSG have no way of knowing it’s there.  Instead of having an actual taste, there is a vague sensation that nerves are firing.  Glutamic acid is a neurotransmitter.  It carries nerve impulses to nerve cells called glutamate receptors and triggers responses that leave the person who has ingested MSG with the perception that the food being ingested with MSG has a bigger, longer lasting taste than it would have had if MSG had not been present.  MSG is toxic.  It can cause brain lesions, and endocrine disorders including gross obesity and reproductive disorders. Besides allergic reactions it is also linked to learning and behavior disorders, retinal degeneration, mood swings, seizures, migraine headaches, irritable bowels, and more.  I could write pages and pages about the effects of MSG and why even if you don’t have allergies you should take all precautions to avoid ingesting it.

ALLERGY INFORMATION:

1. Dark colored cats are four times more likely than light colored ones to cause intense allergic reactions.
2. Ease the pain of a bee sting by using ½ tsp. Meat tenderizer (like Adolph’s containing Papain) with enough water or vinegar to make a paste and apply to sting until pain is gone.
3. If a bee sting causes feelings of faintness, shortness of breath, or a rash develops, go to an emergency room immediately. You may be experiencing a serious allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.
4. Some people with ragweed allergies may have a “cross-reaction” to fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, or honeydew.
5. Some people with tree pollen allergies might have a “cross-reaction” to fruits like cherries, apples, pears and peaches.
6. If your child misses school due to allergies, he or she has company….9,999 others are also absent on a typical day for the same reason.
7. If you have a moustache and you have allergies, you could have a problem.  It holds pollen right under your nose ready for you to breathe it in.  So, add that hair to your shampooing sessions.
8. Love flowers but hate the sneezes? Look for low-pollen plants such as hibiscus, periwinkles, azaleas, and roses. Symptoms often attributed to roses are usually due to grass pollen.
9. If you are planning to have your house fumigated, be sure pyrethrum is not used.
10. Fight allergy-causing mold by painting indoor walls that are likely to be damp with mold inhibiting paint, or by adding mold inhibitor to standard paints.
11. Did you know that there are allergy-free rooms at some hotels?  Ask about them.
12. Put your child’s favorite stuffed toy in your freezer during the day to kill dust mites.
13. Leave a room that was just dusted or vacuumed for at least three hours to allow airborne dust to resettle.
14. Remember to empty the drip pan under your refrigerator regularly.  The combination of food particles and standing water is irresistible to mold.
15. Hay fever sufferers should wash their hair at night to remove any pollen and keep it from settling on pillows and bedding.
16. To help reduce molds and mildew run a night light continuously in dark closets.
17. 20 percent of the population is affected by allergy related disease.
18. Between 1 and 2 percent of adults have food allergies.
19. Food allergies are caused by eight foods: milk, egg, wheat, peanut, soy, nuts, fish and shellfish.

Urgent Message to EVERYONE Who Drives A Car ……..
“How Big Insurance Companies Are Winning
  The Battle Against Car AccidentVictims….
  Leaving Policyholders Disabled, Broke, And in Constant Pain…”  

Don’t Stop Reading Because You Haven’t Been In A Car Accident…26% of All Drivers Were Involved In A Car Accident Over The Last Five Years.  When It Happens To YOU…Be Prepared!

If you haven’t noticed yet, money buys policy and makes laws in America.  The more money big business throws at politicians, the more rules are “bent” in their favor.
In many states they actually have a policy called “pay for play.”  It is actually accepted for contractors to be awarded big contracts based on the size of their political contributions!

Insurance companies have been playing an “undercover” game of pay for play for a long time.
The big difference is ….. when contractors are awarded jobs as political favors…it takes money out of the pocket of someone who really deserves it.  When insurance companies play this game …lives are ruined.
     Especially when it involves car accident injuries.  Here’s why:

• There are approximately 6.4 million car accidents each year.
• There are about 3 million car-related injuries a year, 2 million permanent injuries.
• Nearly 43,000 people died in car accidents in 2002, Reports the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
• About 26% of drivers have been involved in a car crash in the last 5 years.
• Almost ALL Americans will be involved in at least one motor vehicle accident at some time in their life.

So what do insurance companies do with all these accidents and injuries they don’t want to pay for?  Besides political lobbying, they fund research and fight
Every Single Claim.
Here’s what Dr. Arthur Croft, one of the worlds leading experts on whiplash and car accident injuries says about the situation:
     “So it seems quite clear that the playing field is not level.  It’s the Fortune 500 against the doctors and their patients, and the score is about 3-1...This juggernaut of non-science has spent literally billions of dollars fighting even relatively insignificant claims.  They seem finally to have impressed attorneys that it simply is not worth their effort to pursue such claims.  The insurance industry has funded their own research, couched beneath a veneer of science.  They send the principles of this work as expert witnesses to refute injury in low-speed impact cases.  The companies carefully forbid the publishing of any work that fails to serve their interest, thus denying any fair peer-review from within the scientific community.”

Insurance Companies Use This Information To Deny Claims and Refuse Paying for YOUR Treatment!

Another BIG Insurance Company Myth Is If You Don’t Have Damage To Your Car….You Can't Be Injured.  Simply NOT true.
The amount of damage to your car doesn’t accurately reflect the amount of injury to YOU.

Studies show that injuries can occur at impact speeds of less than 5 miles per hour, when there is little or no damage to the car.
Simple physics (completely ignored by profit minded insurance companies) proves you can actually be injured WORSE when your car has No damage. When it flies into a million pieces the energy is absorbed by the flying parts not by the driver.
Most people don’t realize even though they walk away from a minor car accident “without a scratch” there is a good chance, if left untreated, it is likely they could develop a serious problem later in life…causing a lot of pain and suffering.

So, if you get into a little “fender bender”, how do you know if you are injured?  What should you do?

Simply put, whiplash is when your car gets struck and your body moves faster than your head can react.  Your muscles, ligaments, discs, nerves and spinal joint get stretched out and injured.  Sometimes some of these neck structures are actually torn.
Many times these injuries are not felt for hours or days…other times your body reacts immediately. Muscles form a protective cast around the area by tightening up and going into spasm.
This spasm acts as a protective “cast” so you don’t move your neck too much and make the injury worse.

Spasm also removes the normal curve of your neck and can lead to permanent arthritic changes…if left untreated.

The best thing to do at this point is ice the area in 20-minute intervals and give us a call as soon as possible.

Chiropractic care is EXTREMELY important for the care of whiplash injuries because it helps restore the spinal curves and normalize motion in the injured area.  If these curves are not restored and proper motion is not brought back to the area, there is a chance of chronic neck and back pain.

The important thing to remember is there is a good chance you have been injured in a car accident and should have a complete chiropractic examination -- even if there is NO damage to your car and you don’t have any immediate pain or symptoms.  If you don’t, you may be setting yourself up for constant pain and suffering in the future.

And don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us.  Contact us with your  questions.  We’re here to help, and don’t enjoy anything more than participating in your life long good health.

The Hidden Reasons Why American Kids Are Too Fat

Ever wonder why American kids are the fattest in the world.  First off they eat dead food without enough enzymes.  If you don’t have enzymes in your food (cooked food doesn’t) your body will make enzymes FROM YOU.    

Your child would be better off just taking some Catalyst 7 with each meal. Catalyst 7 is a supplement that contains high potency enzymes for enhanced digestion and absorption.

Don’t stop reading it gets worse! 

Fluoride in water weakens your child’s bones and suppresses their thyroid and their metabolism.  The chlorine in the water also suppresses the thyroid, the metabolism, and the immune system.

The added estrogen in the meat and chicken you buy at the market actually makes them grow breasts, and I’m not just talking about the boys!

I met a young boy who got fat when he moved to America from New Zealand, in fact the whole family did. The main difference is the meat and chicken they consumed in New Zealand didn’t contain added hormones. The meat there actually tastes different.
         
What can a parent do?
 
Of course there are the logical things, make sure your children get plenty of exercise by, walking, running, and riding their bikes.

Drink filtered water, it seems simple enough but many kids don’t drink enough water. I actually saw a soda machine in a school. Why stop there, maybe they should have cigarette machines and cocktail waitresses in the cafeteria.

Make sure you drink water from a good water filter.  If you want especially great water try Penta Water. It is expensive but for those of you, who don’t like water, try Penta Water. It’s worth the extra pennies and it’s especially great for children involved in sports.

Eat REAL food: Non –Estrogen and Antibiotic injected meat & chicken, fresh fish, vegetables, eggs, and fruit.  

Of course limit sugars bread and bread products.  Fruit juice should be diluted with water. 
Now for the things you may not think of yourself. If you want less deadly fattening, obesity causing, body-altering hormones in your food then eat as much hormone free anti-biotic free foods as possible. Years ago this was not so possible but you can get these today at stores such as Trader Joes and Wild Oats so there is no more excuse not to.

Be sure to use good quality sea salt.

Chlorine is in your shower water!

Many people do know enough not to drink unfiltered water. The problem is you get more chlorine in your shower than from your drinking water. The shower water turns the chlorine into a gas so you can breath it in. Chlorine clogs up your thyroid. A slow thyroid creates a slow metabolism.  You can protect yourself with a shower filter. They aren’t that expensive. You can come in and pick one up for as little as $65.00.

Don’t destroy the body with antibiotics. Children should take Flora Synergy, 2 per day for good intestinal health; they come in chewable form and taste great.
Mycelia blend for immune system, again it tastes great and children love it.

If your kids will swallow pills, it is never too early to get digestive aids such as Catalyst 7. 1 or two per meal.

“A Fresh New Look At The Whole
 High Carb - Low Carb Dilemma…”

It seems like I can’t turn on the TV, listen to the radio… or… go anywhere these days without hearing the high carb – low carb debate.
No matter what side of the debate you’re on… if you’d like to lose weight and stay healthy… reading this will be one of the most important things you ever do. Here’s why.  
Not too long ago, I was in a diner and a man in the booth next to me ordered a hamburger with no bun. He made the mistake of saying it a little too loudly.
It wasn’t two minutes before a woman craned her neck around from the booth on the other side to lecture this poor, unsuspecting man about all the dangers of not eating carbs.

I listened quite intently because I happen to know quite a bit about nutrition. And, as I listened to this verbal volley between them…

I laughed!

Not because it was funny, because it was sad. Sad to hear that, just like most people stepping up on their high carb – low carb soapboxes these days, neither of these two really knew what they were talking about.
My guess is they did what most people do and read the first chapter of a nutrition book and “assume” the rest. 

When It Comes To Your Health
That Can Be VERY Dangerous!

The main problem I find is most people…. and advertising… label all carbs the same. You want to lose weight?  Simple… cut out carbs. The problem with that is…

All Carbs Are Not Created Equal!

Here’s the “skinny” on carbohydrates:  There is an important measurement called the glycemic index (GI).  The glycemic index is a measurement system developed to help
diabetic patients manage their blood glucose levels. In a nutshell: Low GI foods (such as most fruits and vegetables) prompt a slow increase in blood sugar levels, while high GI
foods (such as processed baked goods and starchy foods) produce a quick spike in blood sugar levels. A steady intake of high GI foods promotes a gradual insensitivity to insulin – the precursor of Type 2 diabetes.

Study Links High GI
Foods To Deadly Cancer…

Now there is a new study that found a steady intake of high GI foods might be associated with one of the most deadly types of cancer.  How?

Cancer Cells Eat Sugar!

Research from over 70 years ago found that cancer cells need glucose (sugar) to grow and reproduce. All cells need glucose for growth, but it was observed that cancer cells use 4-5 times as much as normal, healthy cells.  They are actually unable to reproduce without it.
New research from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found 174 cases of colorectal cancer from a sample of 38,000 women. Next, researchers estimated their glycemic load (GL) by looking at dietary information obtained from food-frequency questionnaires. They looked at information from their prior eight years.
The researchers concluded: "Dietary glycemic load was statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer."           
So what is glycemic load? Glycemic load increased when foods are high on the glycemic index scale and also have high amounts of carbohydrates.

The Vicious Weight Gain Cycle…

Another study looked at the difference between children who ate their morning oatmeal instant versus unprocessed.  It was no surprise (to me at least) that the children who ate instant oatmeal also ate more food throughout the rest of the day.
This is because instant or processed oatmeal had a higher glycemic index.  The higher glycemic index causes the food to be digested faster, spiking blood sugar, leading to a blood sugar crash and hunger. 
The worst part about eating foods with a high GI is:  They actually make you hungrier than foods with a low GI. Accordingly, you end up eating more. So, you eat more food with a high GI… then more foods with a high GI… you're caught in a vicious cycle that can only lead to weight gain and all of the other health problems that come along as the pounds increase.
So, as you can see, the issue is a little more complex than just eating or not eating carbs.

Putting The Pieces Of The Puzzle Together…

Now that I’ve completely complicated the matter for you… what’s the solution?  The solution is to stop thinking the old simplistic way and become aware of the glycemic index of the foods you are eating.  Many foods are obvious such as all the processed junk out there.  Some of these “obvious” ones are the whites, white bread, rice and pasta.  And, of course, anything that contains table sugar.
But, there are other foods that are not processed, that have relatively high glycemic indexes.  Not too long ago this would have been difficult and time-consuming to figure all these foods out… but not now.

Now It’s As Simple As Logging On The Internet!

There are websites where you can search for just about every possible food imaginable and it gives their glycemic AND glycemic load.  It couldn’t be easier… which means… THERE ARE NO MORE EXCUSES!!!
           
The Next Big Thing:

Everything in this country, whether good or bad, seems to go in fads and cycles.  New becomes old… then… sooner or later… that exact same old becomes new again.  I don’t know about you, but I haven’t heard an original song on the radio in years.  
           
Clothes, fashion and haircuts are no different.  Even investment trends and scams.
Accordingly, the low carb - high carb debate is nothing new.  Been seen many times before.
 I’m just hoping the next big thing will be awareness of the glycemic index.  It is a much more complete model that will save countless lives.
 It’s well known that we are slowly killing ourselves with the processed food we gobble down day in and day out – from either lack of knowledge or sheer laziness.

Well, You now Possess The Knowledge!

 I hope you put it to good use!
….And don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us with your questions. We’re here to help, and don’t enjoy anything more than participating in your lifelong good health!
ADDICTED TO SUGAR?

If you just can’t seem to kick the sugar addict, face it you are addicted.  There are some things you can do.
Eat a lot of protein especially in the morning.  Eat several protein meals throughout the day.

Take Amino Gest – one or 2 every 1 or 2 hours and 3 at bed.

We have some special Sugar Craving Remedies that can take the edge off.

A scoop of Greening Power in water 2 to 3 times a day.  Basically this is dehydrated vegetable juice.  Juicing is great but who has the time.  Greening Power solves that problem.

Pure Body Clear Take 3, two times day because as you detox you want the body to dump the toxins.

Many sugar addicted people have weak adrenal glands, if this is you then adding Core Licro Blend at  30 drops 4 times a day could really help.

I have seen people get headaches while they go through this process but it is worth it.  If you make an appointment we can help you get through the process more easily with specific energy craving treatments.  Call for an appointment today.

Attacking Asthma

It is hard to believe that about one out of every 15 kids in the U.S. has asthma.  Every year, asthma results in 25% to 30% of all emergency room visits for children. Worse than that, these facts are even more frightening when you consider that medicine has no cure for asthma, drugs to treat it are dangerous and toxic, and the disease itself is scary for kids and parents.

Where is Asthma coming from?

• From birth to age two or three most infants and kids get from 6 to 14 ear infections.
• Almost all of these are treated with antibiotics.
• This treatment for each infection insures another one while also increasing the odds that the infant will become asthmatic.

Preventing Asthma

Eat enough good fat from nuts and fish.  Fish and nut oils are also good.
We use:
            Mixed Essential Fatty Acids, from Biotics
            Black Current Seed Oil from Standard Process
            Neuro Mins (also great for the brain) from Martek.

Also, you need to increase the good bacteria. Our favorite product is Flora Synergy from Energetic.  It comes in chewable forms that your children will love.

If your child is catching colds and developing ear infections and you understand the dangers of anti-biotics you may want to try something natural.
We recommend the following:

Pleo Not is a homeopathic formula that helps with bacterial problems. 4 drops every hour.

Core Olive Leaf from Energetix. This is a very good broad-spectrum herbal formula. We have seen good results that help with bacteria, fungus, or practically any type of invader. 30 drops every hour.

Inflamma chord, this is a great homeopathic remedy for inflammation. 30 drops every hour.
Core Mycelia Blend. A powerful immune system enhancer made from medicinal mushrooms.

Core Berbarine Blend. Herbalists have used berbarine for ear aches and colds for years.  30 drops every hour.

THE TRICK IS TO START EARLY AND DO IT OFTEN! Doing this every hour or so for the first 2 days then 3 times a day for the next few days and when your child is  doing better go down to 2 times a day.

I wrote this in priority so if for one reason or another you don’t want to use all those things try the first three products.

When the body begins to beat colds and infections naturally, the battle is half won.  This natural immune function may simply make antibiotics unnecessary.

Breast feeding is important; as that isone of the ways a baby develops a strong immune system. Children who get ear infections, and are sick several times a year are often the ones who end us with asthma. It is just the same problem (a weakened immune system) in a later stage.

ADULTS AND CHILDREN BOTH WHO GET COLDS AND FLUS RESPOND WELL TO THIS PROGRAM.

Having these products on hand in your home first aid kit is a great idea because as I said before THE TRICK IS TO START EARLY AND USE THE PRODUCTS OFTEN!

What if your child already has Asthma?

Eliminate all milk products from their diet.
Eliminate wheat from their diet such as bread, cereals, pasta, cakes, cookies, crackers, etc.
Eliminate sugar, Sneaky words for sugar are corn syrup, sucrose, glucose, lactose, anything that ends in “ose”.
Soda is the worst.  Diet sodas are just as bad. Drink filtered water.
Eat lost of steamed vegetables, fish, meats, eggs, and nuts.

The Supplements.  This can vary from person to person but here is a good start:
Pulmonest by Marco Pharma.  This is what is known as a lung drainer.  It gets the lungs to eliminate waste. 30 drops 2 times a day.

Pure Body Clear gets the body to eliminate waste in general.  2 pills2 times a day.

Core Micro Blend this is adrenal support. The adrenal glands help decrease inflammation and asthma is basically too much inflammation.s 30 drops 2 times a day.

Flora Synergy This increases the good bacteria in your intestines and forms the immune system. 

Depending on how long the condition has been present, this process may take several years to get completely better. But as soon as possible as you see your child improve see your pediatrician and talk to him/her about weaning your child off drugs.

If your child continues to catch colds try the Pleo Not, Core Olive Leaf,  and Flora Synergy products every hour.

Remember diet is very important see above.

Your doctor may be great and want to do as little drugs as possible and instead, work on the diet and use natural products, but some aren’t so open minded.  Some deny the dangerousness of the drug side effects that are written right on the package.  Some don’t want to study and learn about non-drug options. Many don’t know about or want to study about diet and the impact it can have on your child’s health.  A possible reason for this might be that their diets may not be all that great either.

Most supplements in the stores are useless for this condition.   Since pediatricians have seen all kinds of parents using “vitamins” that fail to help their kids, their attitude is understandable.

Children actually make their immune system stronger by actually experiencing the outside world and developing their own immunity.  Antibiotics bypass the natural method of building a strong immune system.

If every time your children get sick you give them an antibiotic they never get to develop their immune systems.  It’s as if every time they had trouble with other children YOU fought their battle for them and they would never learn to take care of themselves.

If you have asthma for too long and take antibiotics for too long it can lead to a weakened immune system and therefore many more dangerous health conditions.

Natural herbs, homeopathics, and whole food vitamins don’t bypass the immune system. They assist it.

Your immune system is similar to a muscle in that it gets stronger when your use it and weaker when you don’t.  When you get over a cold naturally you get stronger for the next time.  However, when you get over it with an antibiotic you get weaker for the next time.

People are getting hooked on antibiotics and other pharmaceutical drugs.  They may be more dangerous than street drugs because with street drugs you at least know that they are bad for you, and most people don’t take them.

But with these killers you are told they actually are helping; and almost every one is taking them.  Don’t be the drug industries’ next victim.  Drugs should be used for crisis such as an acute appendicitis, meningitis, but if used as a way of life, your life will be a short miserable one.

I hope this article helped you understand asthma and the dangers of antibiotics.  However, there are many more things we can do to assist your child’s health improvement.  It can be faster and more dramatic if we actually see him/her. If you have a question please call us and I will be happy to talk to you to see if coming in would be helpful.

New Study Finds Possible Breast Cancer Link To Antibiotic Use…Are You At Risk?

If you have taken… or… frequently take antibiotics… a recent study in the Journal of American Medical Association may make you think twice before filling your next prescription.

When they are used improperly… they put the entire human race at undeniable risk.  That’s no exaggeration.
We all know about the emergence of “super bugs” that are antibiotic resistant… and could… someday… threaten our very existence.  These “super bugs” become antibiotic resistant by improper and overuse of the antibiotics themselves.
It’s a little game of survival of the fittest that’s being won by the germs.  The more we try to kill them with antibiotics… the faster they mutate… like cockroaches… leaving our drugs helpless against them.

How do they become “super bugs?” 

Bacteria are highly adaptive. They can actually "teach" one another to resist antibiotics. When one develops resistance to an antibiotic, it can pass that resistance to similar and even unrelated strains. They do this by passing plasmids, which are DNA-containing organisms, from one to another. Some researchers have suggested this is the reason some microbes that once caused diseases only in animals are now also infecting and killing humans.
Here’s a scary statistic:  As much as 80% of the total antibiotic production in the U.S. is used in agriculture.  That’s not just dairy animals, but on every type of livestock and poultry. What's crazy is a large percentage of it is not even used for illness, but to promote growth. 
A University of Maryland study released last spring supported the conclusion that agricultural antibiotic use may be introducing new antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria into the human population.
Now it seems like antibiotic use has a bigger… more immediate and devastating problem…

Causing Breast Cancer
           
Here’s the story:  Several years ago, a study in Finland reported a link between breast cancer and antibiotics.  This study spurred researchers at the University of Washington at Seattle to examined data collected on more than 10,000 women enrolled in a large health plan in Washington State to further investigate this link.

Two groups were studied. One group consisted of 2,266 cases of women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Almost 8,000 subjects made up the second group of randomly selected women with no breast cancer.  Researchers used the health plan database to determine the number of antibiotic prescriptions for each woman, as well as the total number of days that each of them used antibiotics over an average period of 17 years.

The Results Were Clear:
The risk of breast cancer was doubled among women who received 25 or more prescriptions for antibiotics of any variety, when compared to women who took no antibiotics at all. The group of women who received between 1 and 25 prescriptions increased their risk by one and a half. And a high rate of cumulative days of antibiotic use was associated with a sharply increased risk of death due to breast cancer.

Doctors And Patients Must Re-Think
Their Usage (Over Usage!) Of Antibiotics

For many years, patients have been demanding… and… doctors have been prescribing antibiotics like candy.  Most prescriptions for antibiotics are taken for conditions they do not even help.  Many times they are given casually and repeatedly as  “insurance” against possible infection. This practice has not only brought us “super bugs,” but now the possibility of doubling a women’s rate of breast cancer. 
The logical question is…

What’s Next?

What devastating disease will researchers discover is being caused by the overuse of this one-time miracle drug? Will they find antibiotics are causing an equally tragic condition in men?  One can only wonder.

What Can You Do To Avoid
Unnecessary Antibiotic Use?

The key here is “unnecessary.”  Everyone (both men and women) should not be demanding antibiotics for every little sniffle.  The harsh truth is: antibiotics don’t work for most of the illnesses you get (such as the common cold) and time is often the best healer.
           
When your doctor does prescribe you antibiotics… question him or her.  Ask why they should be taken. 
           
The real answer is to live a healthy lifestyle and boost your immune system naturally before you get sick.

Simple measures can go a long way, such as eating properly, getting adequate sleep, reducing stress, exercising, taking natural supplements to boost the immune system and yes, routine care by a doctor skilled in natural health care.

When we get sick around here (which is almost never) we take:

Pleo Not. It is a homeopathic formula that helps with bacterial problems 4 drops every hour.

Core Olive Leaf from Energetix.  This is a very good broad-spectrum herbal formula.  We have seen good results that help with bacteria, fungus, or practically any type of invader.  30 drops every  hour.

Flora Synergy.  This increases the good bacteria in your intestines and forms the immune system.  2 per hour and 10 at bed.

Inflamma chord. This is a great homeopathic remedy for inflammation. 30 drops every hour.

Core Mycelia Blend.  A powerful immune system enhancer made from medicinal mushrooms.

Core Berbarine Blend. Herbalists have used berbarine for ear aches and colds for years.  30 drops every hour.

THE TRICK IS TO START EARLY AND DO IT OFTEN!  Doing this every hour or so for the first 2 days then 3 times a day for the next few days and when your are doing better go down to 2 times a day.

I wrote this in priority so if for one reason or another you don’t want to take all those products I have listed, try the first three products.

The days of abusing yourself and then taking the “magic” pill are long gone.  Health care must enter a new era of natural prevention or we will face the consequences down the road.  As we are finding out…that road is not as long as we once thought.

The answer is not scurrying to research and find new and more powerful antibiotics to stay ahead of the “super bugs.”  That will only lead to more powerful and serious side effects.  The answer lays in your body’s inborn ability to produce the most powerful and natural antibiotics… and…fight off sickness and disease all by itself.  All you have to do is take care of it before you get sick… step out of the way… and let it work.

…And don’t forget, if you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, talk to us. Contact us with your, questions. We’re here to help, and don’t enjoy anything more than participating in your life long good health.  

The Demise of Trans Fat

In spite of America’s addiction to junk food we have won a very important battle with the packaged food industry.  Effective January 2006, all foods containing trans fat must list the percentage of trans fats on their labels. Mounting pressure from consumer advocates and even medical specialists persuaded the Food and Drug Administration to rule that labels should list trans fats along with the saturated fats.

Before we jump up and down and shed tears of joy, food labels, even if they declare that a foodstuff contains no trans fats per serving, can actually contain small amounts of the fat.  Under the new labeling regulations, any food with less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving can declare its contents as zero.  So much for truth in labeling.

But the bottom line is that major junk food manufacturers got the message. 

You may be saying, “So what’s a little trans fat in my chocolate cream filled cookies, fish-shaped crackers, or classic potato chips?”

Well take a minute to understand exactly what trans fats are made of.  Simply put, PLASTIC.  That’s right.  In the 1930’s those whacky scientists at Dupont figured out a way to use the huge quantities of cottonseed oil produced as a byproduct of the cotton-grower-industry.  Manufacturers used “partially hydrogenated” oils rich in trans fats as a substitute for lard and as a cheap butter-like spread: margarine. 

They created a trans fat miracle for the packaged food industry.  The use of partially hydrogenated oils causes margarine to stay hard at room temperature and increases the shelf life of products containing them.  That makes sense, as partially hydrogenated oils are closer to Tupperware than actual food. Here’s a good example of partially hydrogenation.  If you open a bag of potato chips that do not contain partially hydrogenated oils and leave them out over night, the next day they will be a soggy mess.  If you open a bag of chips containing partially hydrogenated oil they will still be relatively fresh the next day.  If you open one of those tubes with the perfectly stacked chips inside and reseal it with the plastic lid you can expect those chips to still be crisp as long as one year later.

If you are a manufacture of junk food or an owner of a grocery store this is a very good thing.  Products can sit on your shelf for extended periods of time.

We should be thankful for small battles won when it comes to our nutrition and good health.  Some of the larger junk food manufactures have begun reducing or eliminating trans fats in their process.  To get a sense of the changes taking place in the packaged food industry, go down any aisle at your local grocery store and you will probably find a product that’s had its recipe reformulated to remove or reduce trans fats. 

A trip to the breakfast section will produce a selection of toaster pastries and breakfast bars that have had trans fats greatly reduced or eliminated.  The chip section will reveal an even more significant selection of junk food with trans fats removed, including potato chips, corn chips tortilla chips, popcorn and other crunchy items.  In the frozen food section you’ll find breaded chicken, kids’ meals and thin-crust pizza. Even the makers of Crisco, the mother of trans fat vegetable shortening is offering a trans-free formulation.

So how are these manufacturers able to transition so easily?  Actually it’s become quite a challenge for them.  One thing we do know that to compensate for trans-fats they are in many cases switching to saturated fats also know as fully hydrogenated fats.  While saturated fats are still terribly unhealthy they still remain in the food group vs. the plastics group.  Your body has a better chance of dealing with a real food, even a very bad real food.

There are still many reasons to be cautious of reformulated packaged food.  These food giants aren’t going to give up easily.  One example is the Kellog Co. announcement that they are partnering with Monsanto to reformulate its products using a type of soybean that contains low amounts of a chemically unstable oil.  Monsanto is the same company who’s genetically modified soybeans are banned in most of Europe. Other companies are looking to specialty liquid oils, many of them newly developed and still in the research phase.

What causes the junk food industry to rethink the use of   partially hydrogenated oils in their recipes?  In 1990 a troubling research paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Two Dutch scientists fed trans fat to 59 men and women for three weeks.  They determined that the trans fats had a profound negative effect on the health of the men and women’s cholesterol.  The authors’ conclusion: Trans fats are “at least as unfavorable” as saturated fats.  Studies since have confirmed that the use of trans fats do other harmful things as well, such as raising the levels of blood triglycerides and inflammatory proteins, which are linked to increase heart risk, or increasing the risk of diabetes.

Harvard scientists have estimated that maybe 30,000 people die prematurely each year from eating trans fats.

Bottom line.  Foods containing trans fats or new packaged foods containing little or no trans fats are still filled with empty calories.  These are non- nutrition foods and should be avoided completely.  If you want to avoid disease, obesity, and poor health you need to eat whole foods as close to nature as possible.  Once you get used to eating natural foods, prepackaged, chemically engineered foods will lose their appeal.

If you would like to learn more about partially hydrogenated oils please ask for a copy of
If it’s plastic, don’t eat it from our June 2005 News Letter.

We want nothing more than to help you enjoy good health.  Talk to us about our nutrition and weight loss programs. We can help guide you along the path to better, healthier choices.

If you’ve ever experienced a “HOT FLASH” you know it’s nothing to laugh at.  Has anyone ever explained to you exactly what’s going on?
It’s not such a mystery and it can be treated naturally, without drugs.
Read on, Anatomy of a Hot Flash  

If you’ve experienced Hot Flashes you know that they are no joking matter.  They leave you soaked in sweat and feeling dazed.  It’s like a wild fire burning from inside out.  They tend to come on rapidly and last from one to five minutes.  They range in severity from a fleeting sense of warmth to a feeling of being on fire.  Some women have just a few during a week; others get them day and night.

For many American women, hot flashes (vasomotor symptoms) are common around menopause. The average age of women at menopause in the United States is 51.  In 1990, 5.8 million women in the United States were in the 50-54 menopausal age zone. By 2000, there were nearly 9 million women in that age range.  Their numbers are expected to swell to a bit more than 11 million by 2011 before declining slightly by 2016. That’s a lot of bodacious baby boomers flaming up at any given moment.

So what exactly is a hot flash anyway?

It’s all about hormones.  Hormones travel all through your body delivering messages to every cell and every organ.  When we talk about hot flashes we can narrow things down to the ovaries, the pituitary, and the hypothalamus.

The pituitary is a gland that is located at the base of the brain immediately beneath the hypothalamus. It’s about the size of a garbanzo bean. The pituitary receives messages in the form of hormones from the ovaries. Once the pituitary has received these messages it passes them along to the hypothalamus. Guess what the hypothalamus’s job is?  The hypothalamus produces hormones that regulate thirst, hunger, body temperature, sleep, moods, and sex drive.  In some women as the ovaries begin to wear out they stop communicating with the pituitary which stops sending along the messages to the hypothalamus.  The hypothalamus keeps sending out messages back to the ovaries but does not get a response so it keeps working harder and harder thinking it needs to be regulating temperature but isn’t getting the feed back that things are o.k. so it creates heat which causes hot flashes and night sweats.

Some women go through menopause without ever experiencing a hot flash but for those who do the question is how to manage them?

Many ordinary doctors suggest Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).  This can be a combination of synthetic estrogen, progesterone, and even testosterone.  The key here is that these are “synthetic” hormones.  The problem with this approach is that research is showing that the risks out number the benefits. One of those risks is breast cancer.  They have also determined that early reports of HRT reducing heart disease have no basis in fact.  

Another cause of hot flashes that you should consider is blockages in the hypothalamus, pituitary, ovaries, and adrenals.  What causes these blockages?  Three things, endocrine disruptors, lack of nourishment to those organs, weakness in the organs from overwork.   The temperature control hormones are just not getting through to the glands.  The good news is that you have a back up system.  It’s called the Adrenal glands.  Healthy adrenals can take over the job of the ovaries.  That’s if  you have HEALTHY ADRENAL GLANDS.  What if you don’t?
There are natural approaches to strengthening the Adrenal glands.  We can support the organs using the correct herbs or formulas and detoxify the area from the endocrine disruptors. And we can help you make changes to your lifestyle so you are not continually overworking these organs and glands.

What we do to help:
Hot flashes:

Increase adrenal function.  Sounds like a broken record.  I am always telling you to increase adrenal function because YOU CAN’T FIX ANYTHING WITHOUT FIXING ADRENAL FUNCTION.

Hot flashes are a late stage problem and require more intervention.  Often you need pituitary support, thyroid support, ovary support, and natural progesterone creams.  Usually you need to detoxify the liver as well.  We also have physical treatments that can help.  This is not something you can fix yourself.  Call our office today and set up an appointment for a complete evaluation.  We like nothing more than to help you live a symptom free life.

FDA Warns of Suicide Risk

The antidepressant Paxil may raise the risk of suicidal behavior in young adults; GlaxoSmithKline and the Food and Drug Administration recently warned doctors in a letter sent to them.

The warning letter was accompanied by changes to the labeling of both Paxil and Paxil CR, a controlled-release version of the drug, also called paroxetine.

According to the letter, recent analysis of clinical trial data on nearly 15,000 patients
treated with both Paxil and dummy pills revealed a higher frequency of suicidal behavior in young adults treated with the drug.

The FDA reported that there were 11 suicide attempts among the patients given Paxil in the trials. Only one of the dummy pill patients attempted suicide.  Eight of the 11 attempts were made by patients between the ages of 18 and 30.  All trial patients suffered from psychiatric disorders, including major depression.

In 2004, the FDA ordered strong warnings about the pediatric risk of suicidal tendencies put on antidepressant labels, and began analysing whether adults face a similar risk.

All antidepressants now carry warnings on their labels cautioning patients and doctors of the risk of suicidal behavior.

The Problem May Be Your Mother!!!

People typically go to a chiropractor to have their spine adjusted so that nerves flow freely to organs and muscles.  This makes your body healthier, reduces pain, and gives your body better function.

The Confusion:

Usually people come in with some sort of pain, they ask, “Is it my muscles or is it my bones that are causing my problem?”

Good Question!  If a muscle is too tight or too loose it can let the spine go out of place.
However, if a bone is out of place it can pinch on a nerve and make the muscle too tight or too loose.  You can also have weakness in a body organ such as your kidney, liver, adrenals, or stomach and that can weaken an area or cause pain because an acupuncture meridian is blocked.

There is another component that very few people know about.  The problem may be
YOUR MOTHER!

I’m sure a lot of you are agreeing with me right now but its NOT THAT MOTHER.  It is your DURABLE or HARD MOTHER, which is the English translation for the Latin term, DURA MATER.

The DURA MATER, or DURABLE MOTHER is a wrapping that surrounds your entire brain and nervous system.  As it spreads out to your body it covers your muscles (that cover is known as fascia – NO, NOT YOUR FATHER). This continuous system also covers your organs and can be found as far down as your toes.  The white of your eye is made up of this substance.

Your MOTHER is everywhere. She protects your brain and your nervous system.

As you can see the Dura Mater is a coating.

The next important thing you need to know is that your MOTHER continually expands and contracts.

What happens if your MOTHER stops working or stops expanding and contracting to some degree the way she was designed to?

Could that put pressure on your nerves? YES
Could that put pressure on your muscles? YES
Could that put pressure on your organs? YES

Your muscles may bother your nerves, your nerves may impinge on your muscles or organs, and your organs can misalign your nerves or muscles. These systems DO NOT affect your MOTHER.  But your MOTHER can, will, and does affect your nerves, muscles, and organs.

That’s why in this office we use an adjustment technique that is designed to affect your MOTHER.
A common question asked is, “How did my Mother get so messed up?”

To answer is you need to understand a little more about your Mother.  The main place where your Mother is attached is on the INSIDE of you HEAD.

Here’s an example of how much your Mother is holding your nervous system together:
If you took your brain and nervous system out of your Mother and plopped them on the table they would fall apart under their own weight, like Jell-O that didn’t set up.

Your head is made up of a bunch of bones, 22 to be exact, and they continually expand and contract. You might think this expansion and contraction has to do with your breathing but it does not.  In fact, after you die the bones in your head will continue to expand and contract for a short amount of time.  If you hold your breath, you head bones still expand and contract.

What makes your head expand and contract?  You guessed it, Your MOTHER!

What would happen if the bones in your head got so locked down that they didn’t expand and contract fully? Mother is attached is on the INSIDE of you HEAD.

Here’s an example of how much your Mother is holding your nervous system together:
If you took your brain and nervous system out of your Mother and plopped them on the table they would fall apart under their own weight, like Jell-O that didn’t set up.

Your head is made up of a bunch of bones, 22 to be exact, and they continually expand and contract. You might think this expansion and contraction has to do with your breathing but it does not.  In fact, after you die the bones in your head will continue to expand and contract for a short amount of time.  If you hold your breath, you head bones still expand and contract.

What makes your head expand and contract?  You guessed it, Your MOTHER!

What would happen if the bones in your head got so locked down that they didn’t expand and contract fully?

If your Mother can’t expand and contract in your head she can’t expand and contract around your nerves, muscles, and organs.
This is a loss of function.  The muscles, nerves and organs won’t function as well.
The reason you Mother loses the vital ability to expand and contract is because the bones in your head get stuck.
Which is why in our office, we always address misalignment in the head.

You might ask:  “How do your bones get misaligned?”

Your first misalignment was probably at birth.  Your head was squeezed through the birth canal; the doctor likely compressed your head and twisted your neck.  Or worse he might have used forceps.  That was big trauma.  It could only have been worse if you had been born in the middle of a car accident!

Since that time you have likely had many bumps, bruises, and falls.  Each one un-noticeable on it’s own.  Over time their accumulated affects start creating problems.  The body can’t just work it out on it’s own.

Your Mother can cause stress.  You already knew that.

When one side of the brain is crunched the other side becomes dominant.  When that happens, brain waves tend to increase in frequency.
Lower frequency = relaxed
Higher frequency = stress

When your Mother doesn’t give you space you become STRESSED!

When the frequencies get too high the body goes into EMERGENCY MODE.  It’s all about survival, people tend to get “what’s in it for me” attitudes.  They become more fearful, they get upset easily, and they become self-oriented.  They go into pure SURVIVAL MODE.

If you have been a patient or read some articles in our newsletter you know I am a firm believer in treating the stress glands (the adrenals).  You cannot get better unless your adrenals are functioning well.  You also know that toxins and poor diet affect your adrenals.  And now you see how your Mother can affect your adrenals.

Your stress is real. Most people have situations in their lives that cause stress.  It’s compounded exponentially if your Mother can’t expand and contract fully. Remember compression on the brain increases brain frequency and creates it’s own stress.  It’s like you are living in a transparent straight jacket that you can’t see and don’t even know you are wearing.  The truth is, you probably are.

In this office we have always known about your Mother and how it can affect your entire body.  I have attended many seminars and workshops studying techniques that address the Dura Mater.  That’s why we get such good results with most people we treat.

Call our office today and set up an appointment for this very safe and effective treatment.
and your body can behave normally.

TYLENOL, Safe and Effective?  Maybe Not

While the potential of adverse health effects is well known among prescription pharmaceuticals, there are also dangers associated with over-the-counter (OYC) medications such as acetaminophen, or better known as Tylenol.

The July 5, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association states that Tylenol may damage the liver even at recommended doses.  The highest recommended dose of Extra Strength Tylenol sharply increased liver enzymes in healthy adults in the clinical study an early sign of possible organ damage. Although overdoses of Tylenol can harm the liver the study is the first to spot hints of trouble in healthy people taking the pain reliever as directed.

Acetaminophen is one of the most widely used pain-relievers in the U.S. and can be found in more than 100 products including the prescription drugs Darvocet and oxycodone-acetaminophen (Percocet).  Chronic use of these drugs can cause liver and kidney damage and gastrointestinal bleeding.  An overdose of acetaminophen may be fatal.  Combining alcohol and Tylenol can cause immediate liver failure.

Because OTC drugs do not require a prescription, many mistakenly believe that these medications are completely safe.  On the contrary, it has been found that those people who have used acetaminophen on a regular basis nearly doubled their risk of kidney cancer.

The FDA is currently reviewing proposed package labeling changes warning of the risks associated with acetaminophen use.

We find that most people who come to our office who have been using products like Tylenol are using them for relief from their symptoms.  In our office we search for the causes of those symptoms and treat those causes.

Believe us.  You do not want to fall into the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit Gap!!
Come See Us Today and Save $3,600.00 Per Year Later!

If you take prescription drugs now you will probably be taking more drugs later.  If you depend on Medicare Part D for your prescription drugs you need to know about a fun little surprise that is in store for you. By the way, the pharmaceutical industry is hoping you stay on this path as it provides a continuous supply of customers to support their corporate pressure in maintaining high profits.  $602,000,000.00 (that’s 602 BILLION DOLLARS) was spent on pharmaceutical drugs in 2005. 48% of that was spent in North America.

It’s highly likely that by the time you retire you will be without medical and prescription drug coverage through your previous employer.  If you find yourself without the finances to pay for your own personal medical and prescription drug coverage with it’s high premiums you are very likely to end up depending on the government sponsored Medicare Part D drug program.

We, Americans, like to think that the government will be there to take care of us when we need them.  The truth is, the Medicare Part D drug program is not a safety net.  The perceived protection is terribly misleading.

Here’s what you get.  An average program (which is what 99% of Medicare Part D participants depend on) will be paid a total of $2,250.00 in prescription drug benefits. You still pay co-payments, which can average $40.00 per month per prescription or more depending on the drug.  If you are prescribed a drug like Procrit, a typical one-month supply costs approximately $1500.00.  Keep in mind your allowed benefit is $2,250.00 for the entire year. You’ll eat that up in six weeks.

Here is what the average American doesn’t know about this drug plan unless you have experienced what is called the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Part D benefits gap aka. ” Doughnut Hole”.  Once you have spent your allowable $2,250.00 you enter the doughnut hole.  That’s where none of your prescription drug expenses are covered.  NONE, NADA. Now you are paying OUT OF POCKET, which means out of YOUR pocket.  You will not qualify for any more benefit until you have spent $3,600.00 of your own money.  Once you spend $3,600.00 dollars of your hard earned money you will qualify for what is called catastrophic coverage.  You are then expected to pay only 5% of your drug expenses.

You might say, $3,600.00 isn’t all that much?

This is not a one-time event.  If your drugs include prescriptions for hypertension, thyroid, antidepressants, Estrogen, Cholesterol, Diabetes, just to name a few, you will probably be taking them for the rest of your life.

This means you start over every year.  $2,250.00 covered and the rest is on you.  If your drugs are expensive you can easily be looking at $3,600.00 per year out of your own pocket. 

The average life span in the United States is 77.6 years.  Let’s say you retire at 65 and you live to be 78.  There is a good possibility that you will end up spending $46,800.00 or more of your out of pocket money on drugs before you die. And you’ll still be sick.

Social Security has a program that people with limited income can apply for but it’s very difficult to qualify for it.  You must meet a monthly income minimum and you cannot have combined savings, investments, and real estate (other than your home) valuing more than $11,500.00 if you are single, or $23,000.00 if you are married and living with your spouse.  Even if you meet these guidelines there is no guarantee you will qualify for this benefit.

If you have better things you would like to spend $3,600.00 on per year, we think we can help you improve or preserve your health for the future for a fraction of what you will pay if you choose the path of pharmaceutical drugs.  We can help you avoid the “DOUGHNUT HOLE” and we enjoy nothing more than helping you obtain your goals of a long and healthy life into your golden years.
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