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Saturday, August 29, 2009

More Reject Western Medicine


His clients swear by the natural treatments, but many others are doubtful

After one consultation with Daryn Peterson, a selfdescribed natural-medicine doctor, Selena Lori decided to drop her $458-a-month health insurance.

She paid nearly that, $450 an hour, to hear Peterson’s alternative approach to wellness. He explained how toxins — whether in food or medication — cause all disease, and how he has bottled prevention and cure in his line of organic vitamins and supplements.

To buy that antidote, clients pay for his “natural health insurance,” which doesn’t cover hospitalization, prescriptions or tests but offers discounts on his natural medicine.

“It just made sense,” says Lori, who runs a restaurant employment Web site. “It was a real logical transition for me.”

Peterson, 37, says his products have cured cancer, AIDS, peanut allergies and heart failure. While he has no data to prove those assertions, he does have a loyal following of clients who discovered him on the Internet or through cable TV infomercials.

He and others who reject Western medicine have capitalized on growing American demand for organic products and holistic approaches to healing.

F. Catanza Rite, a Costa Mesa holistic healer, recently self-published a book asserting that biological age can be reversed and that cancer and diabetes can be cured by his seven steps, including absorbing energ y from the Earth.

Linda Gigliotti, a University of California, Irvine, registered dietitian, said that historically some American companies and health care practitioners have made unsubstantiated claims about their products. The Food and Drug Administration recently warned the maker of Cheerios to stop promoting the cereal as a way to lower cholesterol.

“These claims are not that unusual,” Gigliotti said. “It’s very sensational and people want false hope. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Check out the credential of the person making the claim.”

Lori’s indigestion and menstrual cramps sent her to Peterson. He listened attentively. He explained how chemicals poison the body and how doctors prolong illness rather than prevent it.

Lori dropped her Health Net policy and signed up for Peterson’s “natural health insurance” membership plan.

“I just couldn’t justify spending that without getting any results,” she said.

Lori and her partner, Emanuel Thomas, pay Peterson $116 a month for unlimited consultations and a 15 percent discount on Peterson’s 14 products. They typically spend $100 to $300 for vitamins, fiber and salt.

Lori, who lives in Tustin says her symptoms have all but disappeared. She doesn’t worry about forgoing preventive checkups to screen for cancer, for instance.

“Now that I understand how the body works, it wouldn’t necessarily be a priority of mine,” she said. “What I’ve learned from Dr. Peterson is how the body works if everything is properly processed. My chances of any thing happening have been eliminated.”

Peterson arranges for his clients to purchase catastrophic insurance if they’re worried about accidents, though he says a car ran over his legs and he recovered by mending the sprains himself.

During a recent consultation with Lori, Peterson told her that statistically, cancer patients who refuse chemotherapy or radiation live longer than those in remission. Dr. Frank Meyskens, an oncologist who heads UC Irvine Medical Center’s cancer center, said the statement makes no sense.

“If a patient with cancer is in remission, he has had something done to put him in remission — usually surgery, radiation or chemotherapy,” Meyskens said.

Peterson shrugs off skepticism. “If you call the Mayo Clinic the obvious reaction is, ‘He’s a quack.’ That’s just a stereotype I’m going to have to live with.”

Peterson meets with clients at his dining room table, wearing a white doctor’s jacket, his credentials displayed behind him. He has a diploma from Canterbury University in London, a doctorate in bioscience, which he said he completed online and in person. He also is board certified by the American Alternative Medical Association, a designation available for $285 to those with a traditional or “nontraditional” doctoral degree.

“When I first graduated from medical school, the Mission Viejo hospital actually referred many patients to me,” Peterson said. “After a year or so they stopped referring patients to me because they didn’t come back and they stopped buying drugs.”

Kelsey Martinez, a Mission Hospital spokeswoman, said the hospital’s medical director had never heard of Peterson.

Peterson’s most popular product, Multi Mega 100, costs $49.95 and contains high amounts of vitamins made from organic whole plants.

“Nothing we give to our patients could ever hurt you, there are never any side effects, you can never take too much, and the more you take, the better you’ll feel,” Peterson said.

Gigliotti, the dietitian, reviewed several of Peterson’s supplement labels including Multi Mega. “I would say that’s very pricey,” Gigliotti said. “Most of the items on there are water soluble. If the body does not have an immediate use for them, they’re going to be excreted. It’s expensive urine.”

Yet Peterson’s clients swear by his results.

Erin Taydus, who lives in Kentucky, has never met Peterson but discovered him online. A mechanical engineer, she said her ovarian cysts disappeared after using his products. “He’s wonderful on simplifying the whole process. There’s so much information out there,” said Taydus, 30. “We’re just giving the body tools so the body can do the job.”

Cid Martin, 44, of Irvine lived on junk food and soda until he read a motivational book that included a chapter on health. He said eating healthy, organic whole foods and taking Peterson’s supplements have given him abundant energy.

He was first treated by Peterson’s mother, Victoria Peters, who is also a natural medicine doctor. When Martin’s doctor could not treat a painful knot underneath his arm, he drank saltwater and fasted for three days. The knot disappeared.

“I haven't been to a doctor since.”

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Antioxidant-Rich Fruit & Veggies May Prevent Lymph Cancers


By Stephen Daniells, 21-Aug-2009

Increased intakes of antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables may reduce the risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, says a new study from the Mayo Clinic

Intakes of vitamin C, alpha-carotene, and proanthocyanidins were associated with reductions in the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma of 22, 29, and 30 percent, respectively, according to findings published in the International Journal of Cancer.

From a food perspective the researchers, led by Dr James Cerhan, report that yellow/ orange and cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, were found to confer the greatest risk reductions.

However, despite identifying individual nutrients, Dr Cerhan and his co-workers noted that the benefits would most likely be from dietary sources of antioxidants, and not from supplements.

“Most studies have not shown an association with supplemental intake of antioxidant nutrients, suggesting that any association is likely to be mediated through foods,” they wrote.

“This has mechanistic implications (potential synergies between antioxidants; other anti-carcinogenic compounds in these foods) and also suggests that prevention approaches will likely need to be targeted towards foods and food groups and not individual nutrients, particularly taken as supplements.”

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) is a cancer that starts in the lymphatic system and encompasses about 29 different forms of lymphoma. According to the American Cancer Society, over 50,000 new cases are diagnosed in the US every year.

Study details

In collaboration with scientists from the University of Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic researchers examined data from 35,159 Iowa women aged between 55 and 69 participating in the Iowa women's health study. Diets were analyzed using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire.

Over 20 years of follow-up, a total of 415 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma were documented. Intakes of 204 or more servings per month (about 7 servings per day) of all fruit and vegetables were associated with a 31 percent reduction in NHL risk, compared to intakes of less than 104 servings per month.

High intakes of yellow/orange vegetables (14 or more servings of per month) were associated with a risk reduction of 28 percent, as were four or more broccoli servings per month, compared to people who are no broccoli.

Considering the nutrients, in addition to the risk reductions associated with increased intakes of vitamin C, alpha-carotene, and proanthocyanidins, increased intakes of manganese from dietary sources was also associated with a risk reduction of about 40 per cent.

“To our knowledge, an inverse association with manganese has not been previously evaluated for NHL, and thus this will require replication,” they wrote. “Foods rich in manganese include whole grains, nuts, and leafy vegetables. However, we observed no clear association with foods that are major sources of manganese.”

Supplements have no effect

Cerhan and his co-workers reported no links between multivitamin use, or supplemental intake of vitamins C, E, selenium, zinc, copper or manganese.

“These results support a role for vegetables and perhaps fruits, and associated antioxidants from food sources, as protective factors against the development of NHL and follicular lymphoma in particular,” they concluded.

Source: International Journal of Cancer

Accepted Article, available online
“Antioxidant intake from fruits, vegetables and other sources and risk of non-hodgkin lymphoma: The Iowa women's health study”
Authors: C.A. Thompson, T.M. Habermann, A.H. Wang, R.A. Vierkant, A.R. Folsom, J.A. Ross, J.R. Cerhan

Monday, August 24, 2009

Do We Really Have Better Health Than Years Ago?


Written by Phillip LaVeque

There is the underlying assumption that modernity translates into better health. A corollary of this logic is that we can live our lives pretty much as we want because we can always buy a repair. You know, the car won't start, the TV is broken, the telephone is dead - no problem. Just call in an expert, spend some money and all is well.

People carry this over to their thinking about health. Our ticker falters, joints creak or an unwanted growth pops up - no problem. Buy some modern medical care. If that doesn't work, it's a problem of money, better insurance, more hospital funding, more research for the "cure," more doctors, better equipment and more technology. Right?

Wrong.

Don't take my word for it. Listen to the perpetrators themselves. The following is taken right from the pages of the Journal of the American Medical Association (July 26, 2000): "Of 13 countries in a recent (health) comparison, the United States (the most modern and advanced in the world) ranks an average of 12th (second fromthe bottom)..."

For example, the U.S. ranks:
· last for low birth weight
· last for neonatal and infant mortality overall
· 11th for post neonatal mortality
· last for years of potential life lost
· 11th for female life expectancy at one year, and next to last for males
· 10th for age adjusted mortality

The World Health Organization, using different indicators, ranked the U.S. 15th among 25 industrialized nations. (If ranked against "primitive" cultures eating and living as humans were designed, the whole industrialized world would be at the bottom of the heap.)

Some might say these dismal results are because of smoking, alcohol, cholesterol, animal fats and poor penetration of medical care. Not so. Countries where these health risks are greater have better overall health according to epidemiological studies. It's also not due to lack of technology. The U.S. is, for example, second only to Japan in the number of magnetic resonance imaging units (MRIs) and computed tomography scanners per unit of population. Neither can lack of medical personnel be blamed since the U.S. has the greatest number of employees per hospital bed in the world.

So what is the problem? Here are some clues as revealed in the same journal cited above:
· 12,000 deaths per year from unnecessary surgery
· 7,000 deaths per year from medication errors in hospitals
· 20,000 deaths per year from other hospital errors
· 80,000 deaths per year from nosocomial (originating in a hospital) infections
· 106,000 deaths per year from adverse effects of medications

That totals 225,000 deaths per year, the third leading cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer. Another study - we're talking just hospital related deaths here - estimates 284,000 deaths per year. An analysis of outpatient care jumps these figures by 199,000 deaths for a new total of 483,000 medically related deaths per year. And this assumes doctors and hospitals eagerly report all their mistakes. Think so?

The poor health ranking in the U.S. is in large part not because of lack of modern medical care, it is because of it! This does not deny that each person's life choices do not impact health as well. People cannot live with abandon and then expect anybody to fix it regardless of their technology and skills. You can imagine the frustration physicians must feel faced day-to-day with patients wanting a quick fix for a lifetime of unhealthy life choices. Be that as it may, it does not deny that modern medicine in and of itself is a huge risk to those who surrender to it.

Why do we not hear more about this? It is just too difficult to come to grips with the inevitable - and unbelievable - conclusion: When all the deaths (not counting the hundreds of thousands who are maimed or otherwise harmed but don't die) reported and not reported are tallied, medical intervention is arguably the leading cause of death in our country.

Time to splash some cold water on the rely-on-modern-medicine inebriation. And remember folks, the above are just cold statistics. Take any one of these numbers and humanize it to the real pain, suffering, financial devastation, grief and family disruption, and each one is a heart rending story deserving of anyone's deep concern and sympathy. It is a tragedy of a magnitude unequalled by anything in human history. And it's repeated every year. It makes 9-11, all the deaths in all U.S. wars, deaths by auto, homicides and everything else pale in comparison. (Not to minimize the tragedy of each of those things.)

The media should be shouting about medical risks from atop their broadcast towers. But there is mostly silence, just reports in obscure (to the public) medical and scientific publications. In the meantime, trusting people keep flocking to the slaughter. From just 1995 to 2002, pharmaceutical sales jumped from $65 billion to over $200 billion. That's about one prescription for each man, woman and child in the country every month. This escalation in medical dependency is paralleled in surgeries, lab tests, emergency room admissions, elective procedures and outpatient visits.

You can do something about it. Begin today to take control of your own health destiny. The philosophical paradigm of conventional, allopathic, symptom based, reductionistic, crisis care, episodic, after-the-fact medicine is seriously flawed ... and very deadly. Good and well meaning doctors are hamstrung by wrong philosophical premises. They are crippled every bit as much as those who once believed in a flat Earth. Trying to achieve health with modern allopathic medicine is like trying to fix computers with a hammer, just because that's the only tool you were taught to use or believe in.

Don't wait for the system to change. Old ideas die too hard. The mega-medical industry is not going to be quick in either admitting error or revamping itself. Your health is at stake. Think prevention and natural holistic cure. Study, learn, grow, be skeptical, change lifestyle, be self-reliant - be a thinking person. That's your best road to health.

Is Medicine Good Health?


by David P. Amrein

Orthodox Medicine has become the third leading cause of death in the US. I am not one of those who will lambaste the whole system and find nothing good about it, but the issues must be put on the table. How is it that this system, consuming 18% of the gross domestic product, is the third leading cause of death, and why are the people of the United States not healthier when so much money is spent on it?

Doubtlessly, great advancements have been made in medicine. When struck with a serious infection, who would want to be without antibiotics that can cure? Who would want to break a bone and be without means to have it fixed? But at the same time, this shows the most basic problem of orthodox medicine: it largely concerns itself with FIXING the body when everything has gone wrong.

In alternative medicine, we hold that a healthy lifestyle is the basis for health and that it CANNOT be replaced by anything that orthodox medicine (and, yes, also alternative medicine) could ever come up with. You could say that alternative medicine is bent on prevention, but that even is a misnomer, because it implies that you only live healthy to prevent disease. Maybe we have to get back into the mindset of just living according to what our bodies are made for, rather than only doing what we must, to not drop dead. And our body needs some exercise and nutritious, live food.

No Kisssing??? What's The World Coming To?