Migraines, Visual III !

Can you tell, I am having fun with the add a picture part of blogging?

My Migraines: a Visual II !

My Migraines: a Visual, I!

milk +leaky gut = migraine

Migraines

The homeopathic from Luyties, #233 works on my migraines every time! There are two things I want you to remember from this blog, and that is one of them. A bottle that will last years only costs me $8.49. But this is treating the symptoms. If you get migraines, consider the cause. It could be underlying food allergens that can be eliminated or managed. That is the second thing I want you to remember. Food, especially your favorite foods, can cause a lot of problems for people if they have a leaky gut. What is leaky gut? Let me explain and these visuals can help.

Cheese, milk, and beef....anything bovine... triggers migraines in me.

I was raised on a dairy, do you have any idea how sad this fact is for me? But there again, that very fact, being raised on a cow dairy, explains how this food allergen got set up in my body. As I began to take those prescribed antibiotics DAILY for YEARS (for recurrent urinary tract problems), microscopic tears occurred in my gut, and as well, eradicated the digestive enzymes necessary to digest the overabundance of milk, beef and cheese, from living on a dairy, I had in my daily diet. All those bovine proteins had to go somewhere, and they did to places like my joints and my brain.

Digestive enzymes, taken when eating the beef products, can actually avoid the migraine completely. It works for me, it works for a lot of people. For example, if I am with friends and we are having burgers, ( I do so love a good greasy burger with friends!) I can chew up a few papaya tablets before or even during or even after eating the burger and the beef will be digested and not go through little microscopic tears and pockets in my gut, to then lodge in various places in my body, including my brain, thereby causing the migraine later.

And even after eating the offending food allergen, any person with food allergies can take digestive enzymes in between meals, for several days or weeks, to remove the offending food allergens lodged in their body. I have done this too. And it works. This is managing symptoms.

But if I don't do any of this, and I still get the migraines, I still have options.

Do you get these kinds of auras? This kind of a picture before the headache strikes?

The moment I get the auras. sort of like this drawing, or my vision gets fractured, and starts to go to black, I grab my homeopathic Luyties #233 and put four under my tongue.

The real trick to homeopathic medicine working, is to not talk or eat or drink anything for at least fifteen minutes. If I follow this, when the auras strike, I will not get the headache. If I do take the homeopathic medicine, when I get the headache, (because I didn't have the medicine handy), the headache will go away within about 20 minutes.


Yes, a variety of things can trigger migraines, but if you routinely get migraines, is it not worth checking out food allergens? Your wholistic health care practitioner undoubtedly practices any nutritional counseling. If so, they know about food allergy tests, from a variety of medical laboratories, to detect the underlying food allergens that could be triggering your migraines. You can order these from them, and although you will have to pay out of pocket for the test, it is well worth it! The actual knowledge and peace of mind to know exactly what is bothering you and how often you can or cannot eat the offending product. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

An important point to remember, is that your gut can heal to where you can eat the offending food again, without it triggering problems. You may only be able to eat it every 2-3 days, but at least that is a workable plan, and sooo much better than the debilitating symptoms created by food allergens wandering around in your body, looking for a place to call home. These are symptoms that include but are not limited to severe joint pain, ADD, ADHD, and migraines!

Yes, my mother has migraines, and yes, my dear daughter does as well. So, you say, the tendency to get migraines is inherited. OK. I will agree with that. However, tendency or not, I don't get migraines when I leave out all food allergens, in particular anything bovine (beef) from meat to milk, cheese and butter. And I would not have found this out without my food allergy panel from http://www.usbiotek.com/. You can find out more at not only their website, but also http://www.gdx.com/

There were two points I wanted you to remember from this blog. The fact you could have underlying food allergens creating the symptoms was but the second point. The first point was homeopathic migraine medicine works to eliminate the symptoms when they hit. What if you do nothing else after reading this blog but go to your healthfood store and buy it, all for about 9 dollars? Your life will probably be made considerably easier and better. (Remember, Luyties #233 is what I keep with me.) If it works for me, and many others, it might work for you and all you can do is try it.

Important things to know about homeopathics is that they

1. are controlled by the FDA,
2. there is so little of any active substance in them that it can be taken with pharmaceuticals with no fear of cross action, or interference, or side effects, and
3. you can call the wholistic pharmacists at http://www.peoplesrx.com/ to confirm this.

So again, if you get migraines often, what do I want you to consider? Get a food allergy panel ordered by your wholistic health care practitioner. Food can be eliminated and/or managed. That is one. Two is, keep a bottle of homeopathic migraine medicine around always for when the symptoms first strike.

Now, to today's inspiration. It comes from Lisa Nichols, and you probably saw her on The Secret, the movie. Since stress can trigger migraines, consider this thought:

Giving yourself permission to fill your tank is not an indulgence. It's what you need to rejuvenate and recharge. This isn't optional. You need to fill yourself up so you can continue to serve others and stay in action.

(If I am not eating any offending food allergans, stress or not, I don't get migraines. )

Sunburn!

There is absolutely NOTHING that beats aloe vera for sunburn. NOTHING!

Make sure you get the real plant....keep one always growing on your patio or in your yard.

Keep the unused leaf in the fridge. The cooling healing touch to your skin is unbelievable.

Right now I am slapping some on myself. If the gel seems to dry out, and there is still pulp, just dig your fingers in. More sap will flow.

Yes, I used 45 spf, no I didn't reapply as soon as you should ! Or I wouldn't be smearing aloe on myself right now.

This is truly one of God's miracle drugs. And I thank Him.

"Me Too" Drugs, Heartburn and Papaya

Many people use Papaya for heartburn, including myself. we thereby completely bypass any prescription pharmaceutical, as well as the incurred cost or side effects. Nexium is the 'me-too' heartburn drug of Prilosec. It is essentially Prilosec with the inactive ingredients removed, given a new patent, and marketed as if it were better. Studies were slanted to make it look better by giving patients in the study higher doses of Nexium than that of Prilosec. Let's see, what do you and I call this? We call it lying.

We are covering THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES, by Marcia Angell, MD., the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.

What are "me-too" drugs? Chapter five, p 75

..."In the five years 1998 through 2002, 415 new drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), of which only 14 percent were truly innovative. A further 9 percent were old drugs that had been changed in some way that made them, in the FDA's view, significant improvements. And the remaining 77 percent? Incredibly, they were all me-too drugs--classified by the agency as being no better than drugs already on the market to treat the same condition. some of these had different chemical compositions from the originals; most did not. but none were considered improvements. So there you have it. Seventy-seven percent of the pharmaceutical industry's output consisted of leftovers."

p. 76 third paragraph

"Sometimes it's simply a matter of extending the life of a blockbuster drug that is going off patent by making a virtually identical drug and shifting users to the new one. The drug just has to be different enough to qualify for a new patent."

Dr. Angell goes on to say this is exactly what happened when the patent forPrilosec (heartburn), was about to expire and was replaced with Nexium. P. 77 Paragraph two. The active part of the Prilosec molecule, omeprazole, was taken out, patented, and renamed Nexium. "(it wouldn't have done to call it "Half-o-Prilosec" but that is what it was)" and promote it as an improvement over Prilosec, just in time to switch people over before the Prilosec patent expired."

She adds, p. 78, paragraph 3, that in studies between Nexium and Prilosec, that AstraZeneca used higher doses of Nexium than of Prilosec to achieve results slanted to look like Nexium was better than Prilosec.

Instead of any of these, you could try chewing papaya tablets before dinner, or even once you get heartburn. I have a nurse friend who first told me about this. She has been doing this for years. Now, the head of a nursing home wing, when her employees complain about heartburn (trying to get out of work and be sent home) she tells them to chew up a handful of papaya tablets. She says, next thing you know, they are out buying some papaya tablets as well.

Many people use papaya tablets, or other digestive enzymes, for heartburn. I rarely get heartburn, but on the few occasions I do, I use it as well. You can buy a little roll to keep in your purse or pocket, for around $2, and just give it a try. I bet it works for you too ;-)

Joke of the Day

My husband and I seriously saw this in the want ads, while we were out driving around looking for garage sales today. The ad was for office space, and it listed all the amenities included in the rental price. It started with 'Live Receptionist"....versus what, a dead one?

More Truth about Drugs

From Dr. Marcia Angell's book, THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES,what have we learned so far? We have learned that medical doctors, the very ones we entrust our lives and the lives of our children to, are taught about pharmaceuticals in school and out of school, by drug companies. We have learned that what is being taught is often not based on science but on flimsy studies. We have learned that what is being marketed as education, to our beloved, respected, medical doctors, is only what the pharmaceutical company needs them to know in order to turn a greater profit.

We have found, to keep turning a profit, as older (and effective) drugs are coming closer to expiration of their patent (to go to generic), drug companies have to create new ones to warrant a new patent. Then these are marketed as the newest and greatest to your medical doctors.

And we are being told this by one of the most reputable sources we could ever have--a woman who, as editor in chief for the New England Journal of Medicine--saw it all become worse and worse before her eyes.

According to Dr. Angell, the newest, is often not the greatest at all.

For me, the point is less that it is costing you more money (direct and through raised insurance premiums), the point is that these newest and best, often aren't that at all.

Chapter Six, p. 96

In an independent study done on a variety of hypertensive drugs (high blood pressure) with 42,000 people at more than six hundred clinics, this is what was found:

"To nearly everyones' surprise, the old-time diuretic turned out to be just as good for lowering blood pressure, and actually better for preventing some of the devastating complications of high blood pressure--mainly heart disease and strokes." ".....less likely to develop heart failure than those treated with Norvasc. ......less likely to develop heart failure, strokes and a number of other complications than those treated with the ACE inhibitor. As for Cardura, that part of the trial had to be stopped early, because so many people who received that drug developed heart failure. The director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute was unequivocal in his conclusion: "ALLHAT (the study) shows that diuretics are the best choice to treat hypertension, both medically and economically."

Considering I was on an ace inhibitor and had heart failure, well.... you can tell this matters to me.

Of course, I find myself thinking, well, heck why doesn't someone try doing what I did: drink at least half your body eight in water EVERY day, increase magnesium (to counter high calcium in your cells) and see how your blood pressure changes, increase potassium (to counter high salt in your cells) and see how your blood pressure changes, try some biofeedback and some acupuncture.

Why not? Well, number one, it doesn't make money for the pharmaceutical companies so your medical doctor isn't going to find out about it, is he (or she)?

Number two, the majority of the world with high blood pressure doesn't have Dr. Witter, a holistic chiropractor, http://www.thewittercenter.com/, or Dr. Manso, a holistic medical doctor, http://www.drmanso.com/ telling them these things work. This is why I keep telling you to get holistic every bodies: chiropractic, medical, pharmacy, acupuncture. They have access to information and tools that your traditional medical doctor simply does not.

I am not a doctor, so find doctors who have the information you need and who can diagnose and recommend to you what to do. Even a pharmacist can't tell you to go off your pharmaceutical or to prescribe on for you. Only a medical doctor can do that.

If you are thinking of going off your heart, blood pressure, pharmaceuticals without telling your medical doctor--I had this quite a lot working at the health food store--why not call the pharmacists at Peoples pharmacy in Austin FIRST--ask them your options and ask them to consult with your current medical doctor NOW, while you look for someone holistic. http://www.peoplesrx.com/

I know what it is like to have horrible side effects from an ace inhibitor that my cardiologist told me weren't side effects at all, yet totally went away when I went off the medications! I know where you are at. Luckily I had Dr. Witter and Dr. Manso.

Don't play Russian Roulette with your heart and your body! That is what pharmacists are for! Consulting with you, consulting with medical doctors. This is what they do!

I have worked for medical doctors. Doctors call pharmacists routinely to find out more about a certain pharmaceutical they know little about. Today there are so many pharmaceuticals (new patents, more money), doctors have to call pharmacists, when the pharmaceutical is not in their regular field (according to THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES, no one has marketed to them about it).

Just remember, Peoples Pharmacy just also happens to have a vast amount of knowledge about natural ways to heal as well, including supplements and herbals. In other words, I am trying to tell you to call Peoples ASAP before going off your pharmaceutical without telling your current medical doctor and before finding a holistic medical doctor.

Recipe of the Day

Jicima (Mexican Potato, you can find in season at most food markets)

Peel and Slice. Place in a bowl. Sprinkle lime juice, salt, and good, fresh chili powder (all to taste) over it. Toss. Serve. Great snack food for anyone, kids included ;-)

Brain Images: Simply Amazing

Hit this link. It is simply amazing!

http://amenclinics.com/bp/spect_rotations/

This is an interactive page. Click on normal brain. Then click on the other brains, those ruined by alcohol, head injury, etc. and you will be simply amazed as you watch them rotate. Those empty spaces are area that are not functioning.

Dr. Daniel Amen is truly the leader in treatment for any type of ADD, ADHD, head trauma, or substance abuse. If you or someone you love has any psychiatric problem not responding to traditional treatments the way you would like, after checking out brain scans, click around on his website, maybe buy a book. Curtis and I, divorced, got back together and remarried because of reading his book called Healing ADD. Or better yet, if you can afford to fly to any of his clinics, do so.

Inspiration of the day: I gotta tell you, inspiration of the day doesn't get any better than those brain scans! You gotta see them, and know Dr. Amen can make incredible differences in brain function through supplements, and pharmaceuticals. Check the brain of the 15 year old murderer....that explains why he would do that...and know there is help! Or, just look at the brain before and after gratitude. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! that is inspirational!

Easy Recipe: Grilled Chicken

Soak Chicken in Seal able plastic bag with Paul Newmans' Italian salad dressing (nope he has no high fructose corn syrup, yeah!) Place in a pan, in a fridge overnight. Next day, remove from pan, discard drippings. and grill! It's that simple ;-)

Joke: If you are going on a car trip this summer with small children, this is a good one ;-)

What do you call a song sung in an automobile?A cartoon.

THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES: why do drugs work, chapter 6

I am quoting this book again, because it is so good, and I doubt you are going to buy it. So when I find paragraphs that grab me, I will include them and you can choose to read them or not. I figured after what I have written covering this book you must be thinking the second sentence in her first paragraph. So I will let Dr. Angell's own words answer you.

THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES

by Marcia Angell, M.D.

Chapter Six, first two paragraphs, pp. 94-95

How do we know prescription drugs are any good? You might answer that doctors wouldn't use them if they weren't. Doctors, you might say, know what works by experience and so do their patients. But experience can be highly misleading. The assumption that a drug works if a patient gets better does not allow for natural variations in the illness, for the placebo effect (the tendency of both doctors and patients to imagine a drug is working), for all the other times when the drug might fail, or for the possibility that another drug might have worked better. That is why clinical trials are required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Only by testing drugs in large numbers of people under rigorously controlled conditions can we really know what works and how well it works. "

"Okay, you might say, I'll buy that. Still, we know drugs work because otherwise the FDA would not approve them. After all, drug companies can't bring new drugs to market until they have carried out clinical trials to show they're safe and effective. But that raises another problem. Can we believe those trials? After all, that crucial last stage of research and development is usually sponsored by the company that makes the drug, even if the early research was done elsewhere. is there some way companies can rig clinical trials to make their drugs look better than they are? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Trials can be rigged in a dozen ways, and it happens all the time."

If you want to buy the book, go to http://www.amazon.com/Truth-About-Drug-Companies-Deceive/dp/0375760946/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214517434&sr=8-1

You can get used copies for only a little over five dollars. This was a New York Times bestseller.

Make a Plan for Great Health

Inspiration: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.






Think about this: you probably have insurance, and your insurance probably covers chiropractors. For now, take just this one step toward planning for really great health. Find a chiropractor, or chiropractic office, who also practices acupuncture, and nutritional counseling. If you can't find that, just find a chiropractor. They are far more common in communities everywhere than are acupuncturists, wholistic medical doctors and wholistic pharmacits. Ask around amongst your friends, make the calls using your insurance list.

Remember the big wholistic four for truly great health are chiropractor, acupuncturist, wholistic medical doctor, wholistic pharmacist. You can fudge wholistic on chiropractor and acupuncturist, because they are inherently wholistic, but you can't fudge wholistic on medical doctor or pharmacy.

Your new chiropractor/acupuncturist/nutrionist will probably know of a good local (within fifty miles) wholistic medical doctor, and even perhaps a wholistic pharmacy. If not, for pharmacy, unless you are urgently sick, you can always use http://www.peoplesrx.com/ They ship anywhere, to anyone, and overnight. Nobody does wholistic pharmacy better than Peoples. They will tell you if this drug is depleting you of vitamins, enzymes, etc. and make sure you get them.

Remember, for today, I am helping you make a plan to succeed at really great health.

When it comes to medical doctors, nobody does wholistic medical better than Dr.Gilbert Manso. http://www.drmanso.com/ And he does phone consultations. If you are in question about a procedure or a drug, call and schedule an appointment for a second opinion. As well, your chiropractor (you have gotten one by now) is a marvelous second or third opinion. Check my blog about their education.

I may seem redundant about this big four wholistic healthcare practioners, I know I have said it in previous blogs, but there is a reason.

Even if you are not 'sick' like I was, having wholistic healthcare practioners always in your back hip pocket, is literally like money in the bank. They keep you well. and if you are well, you are not wasting money on being sick. That is their job. Their primary job is not to take away symptoms nor even to eliminate the source of the symptoms (which is what they do well and why we all go to them in the first place). Wholistic healthcare practioners, when used regularly...when you don't have symtoms, keep you well! That saves you money.

For example, I was talking to one chiropractor who listed the chiropractors she knew who had their children receive absolutely NO innoculations, yet received routine chiropractic adjustments. The kids never got sick, and certainly never those illnesses the innoculations were meant to avoid.

This is not an argument for or against innoculations. This is to point out the value of chiropractic--routine chiropractic adjustments at least once a month, as well as the supplements and herbals and dietary style they reccomend, stemgthems you rimmune system and thereby, keeps you well!

Consistently, if I get sick with whatever germ is floating around, , I have not been taking my herbals and supplements as I should, and without a doubt, have gone more than two moths without an chiropractic adjustment.

And I want you well.

Don't you? So at least make a plan to succeed at great health by getting a really good chiropractor. Use them for a full year, and then decide for yourself.

The majority of one chiropractic office I know in downtown Houston is cash only patients. These are patients who have no medical insurance and limited funds. Why do they use chiropractic? They have heard by word of mouth, obviously not the marketing propaganda of the pharmacuetical companies, that chiropractic keeps you well.

What? I hear you saying, knee jerk, inherent reaction inside of your soul, "Oh, but truly my current medical doctor is trained to keep me well."

Really? What makes you think that? Because he or she is nice, takes time to talk to you (excuse me, isn't that their job?), is on your medical insurance plan, is used by your friends, family, neighbors, and wears a lab coat?

Hum.

What do medical doctors have in their medical bag of tricks except for pharmacy and surgery? As valuable as these are, used judiciously at the right times, what about them keeps you from having the symptoms that force you to need them in the first place? NOTHING!

Remember we are starting you on a plan to succeed at great health, and that means not getting sick, nor needing surgery or pharmacueticals, in the first place.

And while we talk about pharmacy, I am compelled, to bring you one paragraph a day, from THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES byMarcia Angell, M. D., former Editor in Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, your doctors' favorite professional journal. The situation is even worse than I thought before I began the book. These are her reccomendations for medical schools so as not to incur bias amongst STUDENTS toward pharmcuetical companies often flimsy studies. !!!!

Page 251, paragraph one: "The medical profession meeds to take full responsiblity for education its members. There are a few simple steps to make this happen.

• First, medical schools should teach students about drugs, not leave such educaton to industry-sponsored programs and teaching materials. Many of our best schools have virtually eliminated the pharmacology courses that used to teach the basic principles of drug actions and uses.
• Second, teaching hospitals should regard drug company represetnatives just as they do other sales people, who are not allowed to traipse around at will, promoting their wares and offering gifts and meals to medical students and doctors in training.
• Third, the profession needs to take responsiblity for continuing medical education. Just as there should be no private clinical research indistury, there should be no private medical education industry hired by the drug companies. This would mean that continuing medical education would be less well financed, but it can be made much less expensive without any loss of quality.
• Finally, professional associations should be self-supporting. If breaking their dependence on drug companies means increased membership dues, so be it. Meetings would benefit by being more modest, serious, and purposeful. But if doctors want to to to a resort in Hawaii for a meeting, let them pay for it.

And these are medical schools, where we think our medical doctors are being taught all the latest and greates, but instead are simply being pushed whatever the drug companies want them to prescribe to in turn create the companies the greatest profits. And these drugs educated/marketed to your doctor as a medical student, are often 'me too' drugs, or off label drug usage, with flimsy to no scientific backing AT ALL!

Back to my inspiration for the day, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I don't like worrying about all that political medical pharmacy propaganda stuff any more than you do. That is why I do everything natural--acupuncture, chiropractic, supplements, herbs--I can to keep myself well. And right now I am fat and don't work out and I bet I am still healthier than you, by lab results, and aches and pains, and illnesses, than you are!

The fact I don't like worrying about this pharmacy stuff is why I delegate all that pharmacy worry to those four individuals who have the education to deal with it: wholistic chiropractor (they do have to take an actual class in school an are not taught by drug companies) , wholistic acupuncturist (dittto--and they can create powerful fresh herbal elixirs, often with fewer side effects, in place of pharmacy) , wholistic pharmacist, and wholistic medical doctor.

You can do the same! Do it! Start your plan to have great health always, by getting at least one of the big wholistic four--a chiropractor-today! Give it a full year, you will thank me for it.

Recipe of the Day: Remember our goal this year, is no high fructose corn syrup.

Sweet Southern Iced Tea As simple as this is for southerners to make, yesterday I had a conversation with some folks who said, if you are from the north it is just hard, because we know nothing about it. Well, this is how I make sweet tea with sugar. Place three family sized tea bags in a medium sized pan, filled half full with good tasting water, filtered, spring, etc. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn off heat, and let steep. While all this is going on, put two cups of sugar in a four cup, glass measuring cup. Add water to cover. Stir. Microwave on high for two minutes. Take out of microwave, stir again to make sure crystals are dissolved. Pour sugar mixture into a large, plastic gallon jug. Add the now steeped tea (without the bags). Fill to the top with filtered or spring water. If you want to get real inspired, and you have some around, now is the time to throw in some lemon slices and/or fresh sprigs of (washed!) mint. Stick that sucker in the fridge and wait for mealtime or when the moment just moves you and you say, "Wow, it's hotter than Hades, I sure do want some iced tea." Pour over a glass full of ice. The purpose of that thick mixture you just made will become clear to you: it is to melt the ice in a totally delicious fashion! And honey, I have no idea how or why it happens, but even with tea fresh from the fridge, poured on top of ICE, in an air conditioned house, and that ice will still melt, and what seemed so dark and too sweet will now be perfect! And if it isn't, play around with it, (less or more sugar, etc.) till it fits your own family and is your own perfect concoction!

Joke: This was a real headline!

Lack of brains hinders research: The Columbus Dispatch, April 16

Drug Companies Market Medical Doctors in Other Countries

Hit this link: http://marketingoverdose.org/documents/ci_pharma_2007.pdf to learn exactly how.

Here is a quote: "Medical representatives....offer cash, refrigerators, color televisions, laptops, PCs, moble phones, ovens, phone bills, cars, tuition for their children, and lots more."

Synopsis: Book, The Truth About Drug Companies

In yesterday's blog, I told you about Marcia Angell, M.D.s book, The Truth About Drug Companies, How they Decieve Us and What to Do About It. Since I know for a fact that most of you are too busy to buy the book, much less read it, I am going to give you a synopsis of pertinent points.

• Overall Dr. Angell, editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine for 20 years, tells us that pharmacuetical companies are bypassing any kickback to doctor laws by hiring third party consulting firms, often marketing firms, which then hire 'consultants', who are medical doctors. The information the third party consulting firms (marketing firms) and the consultants (medical doctors) disperse is called educational, and not marketing. Doctors attending the education (marketing) seminars for necessary continuing education (often a four course meal at an elegant restuarant--or waaaay more), are called consultants as well. All are paid in one form or another. Thus, the bypass. According to Dr. Angell, on p. 149 of her book, the government, knows about it and accepts it. Drug companies do this to the tune of around 35 billion dollars a year.
• And this might all be alright if the information (marketing) were actually all for approved of uses for drugs. It is not. All companies want and need what they call blockbuster drugs, drugs that make a fortune. If they have a drug that works, for its' FDA approved use, but services only an few thousand people, they make it a blockbuster drug by educating (marketing) it to doctors for off label uses, which have flimsy to no studies done supporting off label use. Often, ususally, the marketing firms prepare papers supplied by drug companies, then pay $100 doctors for adding their names to the study.
• Example: Nuerotonin It's FDA approved of use was as the last resort to treat epilepsy when other drugs failed to control seizures in 1994 (p. 158) (I can relate to this ya'll, I have had epileptic type seizures before I discovered an increase in magnesium completely eliminates them.) Later it was approved to treat shingles as well. These are not blockbuster uses.
• With no proper clinical trials, Parke-Davis implemented a campaign, called a "publications strategy" to get Nuerotonin prescribed for a variety of vague conditions like pain and anxiety of various forms, and also as the sole treatment for epilepsy. (Let me again remind you that magnesium is used for all of the these with little to no side effects and at very little cost, about $7/month by wholistic healthcare providers. If you have a vague condition, why would your medical doctor not have you try magnesium supplementation first?--answer, pharmacuetical marketing)
• Parke-Davis paid academic researchers (via education --ie marketing--firms) to put their names on minimal research based journal articles (remember, Dr. Angell was editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, she knows what she is talking about). p. 159 "the articles themselves were so small or poorly designed that few valid conclusions could be drawn from them. Some of the articles contained no new data at all, just favorable comments about Neurontin.
• P. 159 "In a progress report to Park-Davis, the education company lamented, "Author interesed; still playing phone tag." Then in caps, "[OUR COMPANY] HAD DRAFT COMPLETE, WE JUST NEED AN AUTHOR." " (Now remember ya'll, there are no substantive studies done to support the claim that Nuerontin helps pain)
• Parke-Davis medical liaisons (marketing reps) were prepped with " "When we get out there, we want to kick some ass. We want to sell Neurontin on pain, All right?" " p. 159. (Pain, hum, why not chiropractic, or acupuncture, or even arctic cod liver oil and magnesium or digestive enzymes inbetween meals, which helps lots of folks. Hum... why? Could it be, oh yes, 35 billion dollars of off books pharmacuetical marketing to your favorite medical doctors?)
• In addition, Parke-David sponsored 'educational" (marketing) meetings and conferences all over the country, where the 'authors" (NOT!) of the papers would describe the success ofthe drug for off-label uses. (remember ya'll, there are still no substantive studies done on any of it) "Dozens of doctors were allegedly paid tens of thousands of dollars each to speak to other physicians about using Neurontin for more than a dozen unapproved uses." P. 160 both doctors presenting the marketing and doctors in the audience were paid as consultants. (and recieved continuing education credits)
• Result? Neurontin became a blockbuster, selling $2.7 billion in 2003 alone, with about 80 of it being used for unapproved of uses, including biplar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, restless legs syndrome, hot flashes, migraines, and tension headaches. p. 160, last paragraph
• "In fact, Neurontin has become a sort of all-purpose restorative for chronic discomfort of almost any type--yet there is almost no good published evidence that it works for most of these conditions."

Does your medical doctor, marketed to by pharmacuetical companies, say something similar to you about any herb or supplement you take that you swear makes all the difference in the world? I can promise you, from experience, traditonal western medical doctors act like they know, but they know absolutley NOTHING about your herb or supplement or the Physicians Desk reference for Herbs and Supplements, (based primarily on years of reliable study by the German government). Buy Dr. Angells' book--it is only about $10 at www.amazon.com Turn to pages 160 and 161, and highlight that paragraph. Pull it out and say, "well, I guess that is like Neurontin, huh?" You won't make a friend, but neither will he or she try to intimidate you again.

• The only reason we know about this is that a whistle blower brought it to court. P. 161 (think of how much this goes on with all drugs, off label use, all the time that no whistle blwer ever brought to court?)

If you want proper education about side effects and off label uses you might be taking your medication for, get yourself a really good wholistic pharmacist like http://www.peoplesrx.com As well, ask them what other patients, customers, have had luck with naturally, for similar symptoms. And if you have to take a pharmacuetical, and if you still haven't found wholistic medical doctor, nor wholistic pharmacist, ask your pharmacuetically marketed to medical doctor "Is this a FDA approved of use?" "No? Before I take it, I want to see the studies backing up it's off label usage, you do have those, right?"

And remember, you can get a prescription and, unless in urgent need (remember Neurontin was used off label 80% of the time for vague reasons), do some investigation on your own before taking it. And http://www.peoplesrx.com is an excellent source. Or just ask your won pharmacist. He or she can't tell you to take or not to take the pharmacuetical but they can tell you what it's FDA approved usage is.

You can choose not to take the pharmacuetical. You can choose to find another medical doctor. You can choose so many different ways to heal. That is why I emphasis using acupuncture, chiropractic, medical and pharmacy....there are just soooo many ways to heal. Think about Albert Saenz (previous blog) who tried all avenues of healing before finding that acupuncture completley eliminated his foot pain. Just because the pharmacuetical company won't make money off you finding another way to heal, just because your medical doctor won't make money if you get well (I went from 9 medical doctors down to one), remember, it is not their life, it is yours. Keep it that way!

Today's Inspiration

Today's inspiration: "there's no one like you!"

Be treated that way! Get the big holistic 4 working for you: one, acupuncturist, chiropractor, medical doctor, pharmacist. Read in my previous blogs what I mean by holistic medical doctor, etc. and then get all of them, in what ever order you can. This will increase so many more options for your health that you will never regret doing this.

Fun

It's important to have fun in life. That is why I always include jokes and recipes as a daily big four to remind you of the big four you need in your life for really great health: holistic chiropractor, holistic medical doctor, holistic pharmacist, and holistic acupuncturist.

Today's joke is from Reader's Digest http://www.rd.com/

Times Have Changed
-- Cyndy Hinds

Trying to explain to our five-year-old daughter how much computers had changed, my husband pointed to our brand-new personal computer and told her that when he was in college, a computer with the same amount of power would have been the size of a house.Wide-eyed, our daughter asked, “How big was the mouse?”

Susan Wiggs' Rosemary Cake

Ya'll, I totally stole this from my favorite author, Susan Wiggs http://www.susanwiggs.com/ I haven't even tried this cake yet. But if it is half as good as her books, it's excellent. I am trying it soon! I just read this recipe--I am on her mailing list--and I just had to share it with you. BTW, Susan's books are relationship stories, which means they are romances, but involve all kinds of relationships including parents and children. Having a masters from Harvard in MATH, of all things, it also means she makes her stories a little more complex than the average relationship/romance novel. I love them for a good, at the beach type, summer read, or if you are very sick, recuperating, lying prone in bed. In fact, her books are kinda like this cake----a little more complex than the average, huh? Who would have thought of rosemary? Let me know if you like the books or the cake ;-)


Rosemary Olive Oil Cake – you’ll love the subtle flavors of rosemary and orange.:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup triple sec, Cointreau or Grand Mariner
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
3 teaspoons lemon zest
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange or lemon marmalade
Rosemary sprigs and powdered sugar, for garnish Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil and flour a bundt pan.
Beat the eggs, sugar, olive oil, milk, liqueur, orange juice, and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients, including 1-2 teaspoons chopped rosemary, and beat well. Pour into bundt pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until it tests done. Place on a rack to cool. Run a knife around the edges and invert on a plate. Warm the marmalade in the microwave and drizzle over the cake. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Happy reading,

THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES

This is a great book! The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It. the author is the former Editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, Marcia Angell, M.D. You can buy it paperback for about 10 bucks. If you want to understand better why your western trained medical doctor doesn't really have the best tools at his disposal to help your health, this is a great first start. Click here to buy it:
http://www.amazon.com/Truth-About-Drug-Companies-Deceive/dp/0375760946/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214318449&sr=8-1

Let me quote the first page of her preface:

I show that, contrary to its public relations, the industry discovers few genuinely innovative drugs, spends less than half as much on research and development as on marketing and administration (these two are inexplicably combines in drug company annual reports), and consistently has profit margins ar above those of most other Fortune 500 industries. The argument that it needs to charge ever-higher prices to cover its research costs is simply not true. I also show how drug companies put most of their efforts into turning out higher-priced versions of existing medicines (called "me-too" drugs) and persuading us to take more and more of them. (emphasis mine.) And I describe how the pharmaceutical industry uses its immense wealth and power to co-opt nearly every institution that might stand in it's way--including the U.S. congress, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the medical profession itself.

Recipe of the Day:
My own Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1/3 cup expensive, $16 a bottle balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves crushed
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt (or six twists on a sea salt grinder)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pepper (or 12 twists on a black pepper grinder.

Shake like mad in a lidded jar, and shake well again before serving.

Going Once, Going Twice ...

JOKE from http://www.rd.com/

Three women, obviously old friends, had just finished having dinner at the table next to me. When the waiter came with the bill, one said, "Give it to me."
"No. You got it last time," said another. "It's my turn."
The waiter stood there, unsure of what to do -- until the third woman said, "I'm the biggest tipper." He handed her the check.

The Big 4

Just remember four....

4

• holistic chiropractor
• holistic medical doctor
• holistic pharmacist
• holistic acupuncturist

Get these ASAP. And while you find them, start the other big four ( Each health care practitioner will start you on them sooner or later, and probably sooner.)

4

• arctic cod liver oil
• magnesium
• digestive enzymes (with and in between meals)
• probiotics

4

Every day I give you four things to remind you of the Big 4 always.

• blog, medical news you can use
• joke
• inspiration
• recipe

Whole health 4 you! Hold up your hand and fold over your thumb. Four. You can always remember it.

Depressed? Just get a Dog

This whole blog is the day's inspiration in and of itself. A friend's Mom, living with a once robust husband who now has Alzheimer's, got a dog and it has made her very happy. I have lived with someone with Alzheimer's and what you experience is grief, because that person you knew and loved is no longer there, or very rarely there.

This got me to thinking.

Did you ever realize that dog and God are the same letters in reverse? I bet you have known this all along LOL, but I didn't. Now here's the comparison. In life, aren't dogs just another version of God's unconditional love for us?

Granted you have to have the right personalities of dogs and owners, but I have to tell you, even a couple of chihuahuas who used to irritate me like mad when I was healthy and well, were my best friends when overcoming fibromylagia, brain surgery and breast surgery, with their warm little bodies curled up against mine, keeping me prone even when I didn't want to be. How did they know to calm down and come and lay with me for hours and hours, never once coming near an incision? How did they know to do this? Only God could have instilled that kind of loyalty and unconditional love in them.

The following story is true. It was a surprise little inspirational blessing to my life, told confidentially, by a business acquaintance as we sat drinking coffee a few years back.

The man I was talking to is a very emotionally and spiritually strong man, successful in his field. A few years prior, he had had everything taken from him, and he gave up on life. Depressed, he had decided to find a way to kill himself, and he went for a walk to figure out how.

On the walk, he ran across an abandoned, bedraggled, almost dead dog. He decided he had to save the dogs' life first, before killing himself. He took the abandoned dog home, and in mending the dogs' body, the dog's loving heart healed his own, and the once suicidal man decided to live.

Because the dog had turned his once depressed life around, the man recognized that dog was a gift from God. He wound up starting an unofficial abandoned dog savior club. He loves matching abandoned dogs found anywhere by anyone, with people who are lonely, or going through a lot of grief. Matching the lost with the lost. Like he told me then, if you have a dog jump up on you in the morning, needing to pee or poop, you are going to get up and face the day, rather than face the thought of stepping in, and having to clean up, pee or poop later on LOL.

"And of course, dogs are so much more", he added. "They give you this unconditional, God-like, love. You can come home and tell them all your troubles, and they listen."

So if you are depressed, or lonely, or know someone who is, remember this man's story. Drop by your local animal shelter ...just have a little looksie...it can't hurt you ;-) You just may find a best friend, direct from God!

Joke of the Day

Reader's Digest again: http://www.rd.com/ Hope you can read it. It says, "let me guess, the great American blog." Since you are reading this blog, and I am writing it, I thought this was rather hilarious.

Don't Regret the Past

Inspiration: this is from the book I have quoted before, and I just love: THE 100 SIMPLE SECRETS OF HAPPY PEOPLE by David Niven, Ph.D. page 35
Secret number 29;
Don't think "what if"
Spending your time imagining what would have been if you could have changed some little thing, some little decision in your life, is counterproductive and leaves you unhappy. Think about how you can improve for the future, but don't waste your present thinking about how you could have changed the past.

If we could, my friend Mary Ann, and I would have gone to Dr. Manso http://www.drmanso.com/ YEEEAAARRRSS ago, way back in the late 80's or early 90's.... Mary Ann lived only blocks from Dr. Manso's previous office in Houston. She worked only blocks from where his office is now. We often think about how if only we had known about him then, we could have avoided the conditions which created oh so many of the illnesses and and for sure, our hysterectomies. If only, if only, if only. When you are here, right now, woulda, coulda, shoulda, doesn't do any body any good. Just pick up where you are and thank God, you are being introduced to new and better ways to heal your body and keep it well, NOW!

God Bless!

Fish Oil Study

Here is the study from http://www.sciencedaily.com/ . All fish oil is not the same. You get more of the good stuff you need from ARCTIC cod liver oil. And make sure it is pharmaceutical grade. This will be boring for most of you, but several of you are totally medical, and a handful of you are worried about taking Cox II drugs, and don't believe it till you read a study for yourselves, so here goes ;-)

Fish-Oil: A Novel Anti-Inflammatory Mechanism
Fish-Oil: A Novel Anti-Inflammatory Mechanism
Fall 2005
FISH-OIL: A NOVEL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MECHANISM
Inflammation is a critical defense mechanism, protecting an organism from pathogens and tumor formation. These processes require tight regulation, and when uncontrolled can result in tissue destruction and contribute to chronic conditions with inflammatory pathogenesis including autoimmune disease, atherosclerosis, asthma, and Alzheimer's disease. Molecules with important roles in inflammation include pro inflammatory leukotrienes and prostaglandins. These are produced from conversion of the omega-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA), via the enzymes cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase. In contrast, it has long been known that omega-3 fatty acids enriched in fish oils have beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.1 Similar to AA, the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA) are substrates for COX and lipoxygenase. Therefore, it has been proposed that EPA and DHA may suppress the pro-inflammatory activities of AA and its metabolites via both competition for the same enzymatic pathway, and the induction of products with lesser inflammatory activity.2 One EPA derivative termed Resolvin E1 (RvE1) has received recent attention, and the discovery of its receptor provides evidence for a novel mechanism underlying its anti-inflammatory activity.
RvE1 was first described in mouse exudates during the resolution phase of inflammation, and is reportedly synthesized in human cells from EPA by a novel transcellular mechanism.3,4 In this proposed pathway, EPA is converted to 18R-Hydroxy-EPA by aspirin-suppressed COX-2 in endothelial cells. This precursor is then transferred to adjacent leukocytes where it is transformed into RvE1 in the presence of 5-lipoxygenase. Administration of RvE1 suppresses leukocyte infiltration, and proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine production in models of colitis and peritonitis.5,6 A new report by Arita et al. suggests that these anti-inflammatory activities may occur via a mechanism that includes RvE1 binding to the cell surface receptor Chem R23.7
Chem R23 is a 7 transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor highly expressed in monocyte-derived antigen-presenting cells (APCs), and to a lesser extent neutrophils and lymphocytes.7,8 Radiolabeled RvE1 binds specifically to Chem R23-transfected CHO cells, but not to mock-transfected controls. It stimulates pertussis toxin-sensitive MAP kinase phosphorylation and NFkB inhibition in Chem R23-transfected HEK cells, indicating a necessary activation of the Gi/o subtype of G protein. Administration of RvE1 suppresses both pathogen-induced dendritic cell IL-12 production and trafficking in spleen. The effects on IL-12 production are inhibited by Chem R23 siRNA, providing strong evidence that RvE1 acts through the Chem R23 receptor.7
Figure 1. The omega-3 fatty acid derivative RvE1 and the protein Chemerin both bind the G protein-coupled receptor Chem R23 and yet have differing effects on cellular activities. Line thickness corresponds to the relative activity of each ligand.
Interestingly, Chem R23 is also a peptide receptor. It binds to the protein Chemerin, a distant member of the Cystatin family and mediator of APC chemoattraction.7,9 Competition studies suggest that both RvE1 and Chemerin bind to a similar region of Chem R23, and yet exhibit differences in their effects on cells (Figure 1). G protein activation by Chemerin is approximately 3 fold that of RvE1, while RvE1 is approximately 10 fold more potent in its ability to block TNF-a-induced NFkB inhibition.7 It also appears that Chemerin acts as an inducer of cell migration, while RvE1 has negative effects on this activity.6,9 The mechanisms are unclear, although it has been proposed that G protein-coupled receptors might adopt different conformations depending on the ligand, thus resulting in different signaling properties and activities.4
The identification of a specific receptor mediating the anti-inflammatory activities of fish oil-derived omega-3 fatty acids or their derivatives could result in novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of chronic inflammatory disease.

References
von Schacky, C. & J. Dyerberg (2001) World Rev. Nutr. Diet. 88:90.
Prescott, S.M. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259:7615.
Serhan, C.N. et al. (2000) J. Exp. Med. 192:1197.
Flower, R.J. & M. Perretti (2005) J. Exp. Med. 201:671.
Arita, M. et al. (2005) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102:7671.
Bannenberg, G.L. et al. (2005) J. Immunol. 174:4345.
Arita, M. et al. (2005) J. Exp. Med 201:713.
Vermi, W. et al. (2005) J. Exp. Med. 201:509.
Wittamer, V. et al. (2003) J. Exp. Med. 198:977.