I keep files on articles about Conventional Medicine (COM) and Alternative Medicine. No surprise I am a fan of natural alternatives, but I thought I would share snippets of what I have on file. The first is from Natural News discussing medical research and may show you why I think Conventional doctors are drug pushers buying in to what they are told by the manufacturer's reps. I know doctors are busy, no time for research on their own, etc. it feels wrong that they are so trusting of drug companies.
John Ioannidis is one of the world's most important experts on the credibility of medical research. He and his team of researchers have repeatedly shown that many of the conclusions biomedical researchers arrive at in their published studies are exaggerated or flat-out wrong.
However, these studies are what doctors use to prescribe drugs or recommend surgery. Ioannidis asserts that as much as 90 percent of the published medical information relied on by doctors is flawed or incorrect.
(Now excuse me, but to me, even 25% flawed or incorrect is enough to kill people, or make them sicker but 90%????)
The Atlantic reports:
His work has been widely accepted by the medical community ... Yet for all his influence, he worries that the field of medical research is so pervasively flawed, and so riddled with conflicts of interest, that it might be chronically resistant to change -- or even to publicly admitting that there's a problem."
Further, it is commonly believed that modern medical treatments, including drugs, are "scientifically proven." In reality, this is a "profitable marketing ruse," according to a Huffington Post article by Dana Ullman. He reports:
"The British Medical Journal's "Clinical Evidence" analyzed common medical treatments to evaluate which are supported by sufficient reliable evidence (BMJ, 2007). They reviewed approximately 2,500 treatments and found:
13 percent were found to be beneficial
23 percent were likely to be beneficial
Eight percent were as likely to be harmful as beneficial
Six percent were unlikely to be beneficial
Four percent were likely to be harmful or ineffective.
46 percent were unknown whether they were efficacious or harmful"
(Wow, 46 % unknown? Looks like the only good news is the 13% who benefit. Now if you could invent a product but only 13% of your widgets WORKED, how long do you think you would be in business?)
Then a bit from Dr. Mercola:
A new study recently compared patient-physician relationships and relief of symptoms between alternative medicine (CAM) and conventional primary care (COM). The study was part of a Swiss evaluation.
Researchers looked at more than 6,000 patients. The study included patients of 77 non-certified CAM physicians and of 71 conventional physicians. The patients completed a questionnaire which asked questions about symptom relief, patient satisfaction, and quality of patient-physician interaction.
According to Biomed Central:
"CAM physicians treated significantly more patients with chronic conditions than COM physicians.
CAM Patients had significant higher healing expectations than COM patients.
General patient satisfaction was significantly higher in CAM patients, although patient-reported symptom relief was significantly poorer, The quality of patient-physician communication was rated significantly better in CAM patients." The study concluded that more effective communication patterns by complementary and alternative medicine could play an important role in allowing patients to maintain more positive outcome expectations.
Perhaps the alternative medicine patients (CAM) may have had significantly poorer symptom relief because some herbal/natural remedies take longer for effect.
Then there is the new book, explosive in its revealing some ugly truths about the "war on cancer". Cancer funding skyrockets - ALONG WITH cancer rates followed by exaggerated claims of progress. Dr. Samuel Epstein is professor emeritus of Environmental/Occupational Medicine at the Univ. of Illinois School of Public Health and chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition. His latest book "National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society: Criminal Indifference to Cancer Prevention and Conflicts of Interest" argues that the NCI and ACS have spent tens of billions of taxpayer and CHARITY (emphasis mine) dollars focusing on treatment to the exclusion of prevention! His previous book "The Politics of Cancer" is also quite jolting if you actually believe they are sincere in this war they declared. Neither of these institutes, or any office of government concerned with public health steps out to tell people what causes cancer, with the exception of cigarettes and look how long THAT took! (Decades)
It would not take the average person all that long to research what is KNOWN to cause cancer, diet and environmental changes ANYone could make to reduce their risk factors. The criminal shame of it is that these agencies/institutes stand to lose billions if people stop getting cancer on their own. Some decent education is past due and unfortunately will never come from these sources.
Going back to smoking as an example - how long does it take a smoker to GET cancer? Years, sometimes decades and decades. But - huge but - it is the same thing for almost ANY cancer. It doesn't always just suddenly pop up but rather has been going on long before symptoms or discovery. By the time it is discovered it's been brewing quite a while. The need to educate people about their diet and lifestyle contributing to any disease, let alone cancer, is crucial. Yet who is doing this??? I am doing whatever I can, as are other "natural/alternative" practitioners. Preventative health care and nutrition is available - who is on board with this? Sadly few from the looks of disease and obesity rates in this country.
There are many, many doctors who are treating cancer(s) with "alternatives" - they are subjected to nasty searches, getting files impounded, going to court, and other ridiculous treatments for actually curing people. The NCI and ACS want these doctors gone! If natural cures are working, what would happen to those billions of dollars?
I could do a whole blog on this - and may (again) soon. Let us all really look at the assumptions we have been programmed to accept about conventional medicine being the one and only way to go. Clearly the time has come for some honest investigation - and folks, we are on our own with this because the government and media are not operating in our best interest, but pandering to the big money, who, after all, own them!
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Sunday, June 26, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
You are NOT your Brain! (Book review)
I love learning about the brain. My goodness it is an important organ to understand, n'est pas? So getting the opportunity to review Jeffrey Schwartz, M.D. and Rebecca Gladding, M.D.'s book "You Are NOT Your Brain" for TLC book tours is a great idea! The sub-title "The 4-Step Solution for changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life" reveals this has something for everyone. Who among us doesn't want to end bad habits and unhealthy thinking?
So let's jump into some of the salient points.
I love "Biology is not destiny". This thinking strangles any power to change things we want to change in a nanosecond. As the author(s) point out "We think, "I am these thoughts, I am these urges, this is WHO I am." Some feel that even if they seek out treatment and improve, the fact that they have been depressed, anxious or addicted in the past means they will always be THAT person, the one with the problem. Or they worry that the symptoms are destined to recur." No kidding, huh? If this shoe isn't fitting you, I'm sure it fits somebody you know. Stay with me.
To change ANYthing requires awareness, effort, patience and dedication. There is a huge tendency to give in to short-term rewards at the expense of long-term gains. (I deal with this issue when counseling people with food addictions. In fact, I have a client I am giving this book to now that I've finished it.)
"If biology is not destiny and the brain is constantly sending out false messages, then it follows that you are not what your brain is trying to say you are. " Getting a clear understanding of the deceptive messages flowing out on auto-pilot is so key - and this book gives you a very easily understood, clear and concise way to identify the nonsense (crap) your brain spews out.
It also makes understandable, for example, how the brain works when someone is recovering from a stroke. Bless our brains! Neuroplasticity allows another area of the brain to take over for the damaged part, which simply speaking is how stroke victims CAN and do recover over time. "If one action is repeatedly needed or requested, the brain is "taught" that they new function is important and that previously allocated brain areas need to be redirected for novel uses." If this was not true, no stroke victim would ever recover, nor would Gabby Giffords, the congresswoman in Texas who was shot. She is not exactly "bouncing" back into functionability, but when you think of the damage done in her brain, the progress thus far is remarkable.
So before you go thinking I'm only addressing the physicality of the brain, oh no, no limitations here. Thought patterns and habits are deeply entrenched but all is not lost on them either. You need not be a victim of those deceptive thoughts and bad habits any more than a stroke victim is stuck forever in a wheelchair.
Learning about the parts of the brain, and how they function in producing thoughts is not a chore and the authors do a top notch job of explaining WHY you need to know this. I personally don't think anything beats knowledge for empowerment - how about you? Freak out much? Get stressed? Bummed out? Cravings get the best of you? Depressed or angry, feeling out of control?
Learn what is going on in your brain. Seriously.
The four steps you will learn about will help with a myriad of things you encounter in life but certainly are critical to making any changes by using your mind to change your brain. In a nutshell (pg. 87)
Step 1: RELABEL - Identify your deceptive brain messages and the uncomfortable sensations; call them what they really are.
Step 2: REFRAME - Change your perception of the importance of the destructive brain messages; say why these thoughts, urges, and impulses keep bothering you: They are false brain messages (It's not ME, it's just my BRAIN!).
Step 3: REFOCUS - Direct your attention toward an activity or mental process that is wholesome and productive - even while the false and deceptive urges, thoughts, impulses, and sensations are still present and bothering you.
Step 4: REVALUE - Clearly see the thoughts, urges, and impulses for what they are, simply sensations caused by deceptive brain messages that are not true and that have little to no value (they are something to dismiss, not focus on).
I'd call this valuable simplicity - anyone can do it. And should. We all want to be loved and appreciated for who we are and this has to begin with how we feel about ourselves. Our internal dialogue can be a mess. This book sure has the potential to help us. Which can spill over into our relationships. What do we bring to the table in any relationship? A healthy, emotionally stable, confidence? It is certainly the ideal - just as being physically healthy and fit is ideal - this latter one a little easier to pull off actually. I've certainly written enough blogs about loving yourself first so you have love to give others - and also so you don't have an emotional hole the size of the Grand Canyon you NEED to have filled by somebody else. That just can't be done, sorry. We have to fix our own holes.
But everything begins with understanding our own selves and that incessant chatter in our heads. Most of it can be trash and it's important to know that. If you can't tell what's what in your head anymore, this could be your ticket to a brain cleanse.
There are gobs of self-help books out there - some better than others of course. I always wonder just how successful they are in actually helping people or changing people. This book has a lot of potential to help, great points, exercises for you to do, lessons on the brain sort of, which are really excellent. I personally wish the authors would not have written (how many times?) "you'll read more about this in Chapter 16" or whatever. Maybe it's my love of simplicity and order that made me wonder why their editor didn't subscribe to that in editing? I'm sure it would have shorten the length of the book which I think is a good thing due to the current attention spans of people anyway.
Alas, I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. If you are struggling to make changes this one just may help you!
(I'm not paid for book reviews, just so you know - and Amazon Associates canceled everyone in Illinois from their Associate program so I can no longer link you all to the books I talk about! Nothing personal that I did or didn't do, mind you, but rather our wonderful Governor and his new creative tax programs! You have to hand it to Illinois - we've had more Governors in prison for all kinds of creativity than any other state. Lovely distinction. I won't elaborate on our political history. Oh sure Weiner's weiner was a tsk tsk scandal, but in Illinois we have bona fide crooks.)
So let's jump into some of the salient points.
I love "Biology is not destiny". This thinking strangles any power to change things we want to change in a nanosecond. As the author(s) point out "We think, "I am these thoughts, I am these urges, this is WHO I am." Some feel that even if they seek out treatment and improve, the fact that they have been depressed, anxious or addicted in the past means they will always be THAT person, the one with the problem. Or they worry that the symptoms are destined to recur." No kidding, huh? If this shoe isn't fitting you, I'm sure it fits somebody you know. Stay with me.
To change ANYthing requires awareness, effort, patience and dedication. There is a huge tendency to give in to short-term rewards at the expense of long-term gains. (I deal with this issue when counseling people with food addictions. In fact, I have a client I am giving this book to now that I've finished it.)
"If biology is not destiny and the brain is constantly sending out false messages, then it follows that you are not what your brain is trying to say you are. " Getting a clear understanding of the deceptive messages flowing out on auto-pilot is so key - and this book gives you a very easily understood, clear and concise way to identify the nonsense (crap) your brain spews out.
It also makes understandable, for example, how the brain works when someone is recovering from a stroke. Bless our brains! Neuroplasticity allows another area of the brain to take over for the damaged part, which simply speaking is how stroke victims CAN and do recover over time. "If one action is repeatedly needed or requested, the brain is "taught" that they new function is important and that previously allocated brain areas need to be redirected for novel uses." If this was not true, no stroke victim would ever recover, nor would Gabby Giffords, the congresswoman in Texas who was shot. She is not exactly "bouncing" back into functionability, but when you think of the damage done in her brain, the progress thus far is remarkable.
So before you go thinking I'm only addressing the physicality of the brain, oh no, no limitations here. Thought patterns and habits are deeply entrenched but all is not lost on them either. You need not be a victim of those deceptive thoughts and bad habits any more than a stroke victim is stuck forever in a wheelchair.
Learning about the parts of the brain, and how they function in producing thoughts is not a chore and the authors do a top notch job of explaining WHY you need to know this. I personally don't think anything beats knowledge for empowerment - how about you? Freak out much? Get stressed? Bummed out? Cravings get the best of you? Depressed or angry, feeling out of control?
Learn what is going on in your brain. Seriously.
The four steps you will learn about will help with a myriad of things you encounter in life but certainly are critical to making any changes by using your mind to change your brain. In a nutshell (pg. 87)
Step 1: RELABEL - Identify your deceptive brain messages and the uncomfortable sensations; call them what they really are.
Step 2: REFRAME - Change your perception of the importance of the destructive brain messages; say why these thoughts, urges, and impulses keep bothering you: They are false brain messages (It's not ME, it's just my BRAIN!).
Step 3: REFOCUS - Direct your attention toward an activity or mental process that is wholesome and productive - even while the false and deceptive urges, thoughts, impulses, and sensations are still present and bothering you.
Step 4: REVALUE - Clearly see the thoughts, urges, and impulses for what they are, simply sensations caused by deceptive brain messages that are not true and that have little to no value (they are something to dismiss, not focus on).
I'd call this valuable simplicity - anyone can do it. And should. We all want to be loved and appreciated for who we are and this has to begin with how we feel about ourselves. Our internal dialogue can be a mess. This book sure has the potential to help us. Which can spill over into our relationships. What do we bring to the table in any relationship? A healthy, emotionally stable, confidence? It is certainly the ideal - just as being physically healthy and fit is ideal - this latter one a little easier to pull off actually. I've certainly written enough blogs about loving yourself first so you have love to give others - and also so you don't have an emotional hole the size of the Grand Canyon you NEED to have filled by somebody else. That just can't be done, sorry. We have to fix our own holes.
But everything begins with understanding our own selves and that incessant chatter in our heads. Most of it can be trash and it's important to know that. If you can't tell what's what in your head anymore, this could be your ticket to a brain cleanse.
There are gobs of self-help books out there - some better than others of course. I always wonder just how successful they are in actually helping people or changing people. This book has a lot of potential to help, great points, exercises for you to do, lessons on the brain sort of, which are really excellent. I personally wish the authors would not have written (how many times?) "you'll read more about this in Chapter 16" or whatever. Maybe it's my love of simplicity and order that made me wonder why their editor didn't subscribe to that in editing? I'm sure it would have shorten the length of the book which I think is a good thing due to the current attention spans of people anyway.
Alas, I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars. If you are struggling to make changes this one just may help you!
(I'm not paid for book reviews, just so you know - and Amazon Associates canceled everyone in Illinois from their Associate program so I can no longer link you all to the books I talk about! Nothing personal that I did or didn't do, mind you, but rather our wonderful Governor and his new creative tax programs! You have to hand it to Illinois - we've had more Governors in prison for all kinds of creativity than any other state. Lovely distinction. I won't elaborate on our political history. Oh sure Weiner's weiner was a tsk tsk scandal, but in Illinois we have bona fide crooks.)
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Hemp - A WOW food nutritionally!
Seriously. Hemp. This little seed contains all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life. It truly IS the most nutritionally complete food source in the world.
Yes I know, it comes from the plant cannabis sativa. Horrors. This seed is not "pot" and you won't get high eatting it (my apologies to those who find this depressing news) but we don't grow this plant in this country - well, at least legally - for the obvious of reasons. Which is really a shame since this plant can provide an unbelieveable amount of nutrition. We import thousands of pounds of hemp seeds from Canada. This makes it a bit costly at first glance. Stay with me.
How many of you eat flax seed, or take flax seed oil? Hemp seed is the highest known essential amino acid plant in the entire plant kingdom. It IS the King! It is the premier plant-seed provider of globulin starting material - meaning that eating hemp seeds will insure the immune system has the resevoir of immunoglobulin resources needed to make disease destroying antibodies.
I know. Calm down. This is so exciting you are wanting to leave this blog this second to go out and score yourself a bag of these seeds. Read on -
"One out of two Americans will die from the effects of cardiovascular disease (CVD), one in four will die from cancer. Researchers believe cancers erupt when immune system response is weakened. Pioneers in the fileds of biochemistry and human nutrition now believe CVD and most cancers are really disease of fatty degeneration caused by the continued over-consumption of saturated fats and refined vegetable oils that turn essential fatty acids into carcinogenic killers. And if this is not scary enough, more Americans are succumbing to immune deficiency diseases than ever before. Sadly, it is ignorance of human nutritional needs that will cause this overwhelming majority of Americans to die slowly from these afflictions - the greatest killers in affluent nations." (Lynn Osburn, http://www.ratical.com/)
You can find recipes to include hemp seeds all over the internet, or you can just throw it on stuff. I put two tablespoons on my oatmeal, cereals, salads, veggies, add it to just about anything, as you would flax seeds. I put it in banana muffins, breads, you name it. Because I eat this regularly, and chia seeds as well, I do not take fish oil any more. (Been reading some controversial information on fish oil - like it gets rancid very easily and other not-so-good tidbits, so I'm happy to have a good "food" source replacement that is probably much better for me in the long run.)
You can also get hemp milk - I alternate my almond, coconut and hemp milk whenever I need milk. It's quite good - though I will admit I do not drink a glass of milk, just use it on cereals and in recipes. Being off of cow's milk is a blessing for my digestive system.
Good things come in little packages, right? So far you've heard about chia seeds, and now hemp seeds. They are both powerhouses. It is my goal to eat well and avoid any and all drugs for symptoms and diseases I can totally prevent through diet and exercise. Hope you'll join me!
Yes I know, it comes from the plant cannabis sativa. Horrors. This seed is not "pot" and you won't get high eatting it (my apologies to those who find this depressing news) but we don't grow this plant in this country - well, at least legally - for the obvious of reasons. Which is really a shame since this plant can provide an unbelieveable amount of nutrition. We import thousands of pounds of hemp seeds from Canada. This makes it a bit costly at first glance. Stay with me.
How many of you eat flax seed, or take flax seed oil? Hemp seed is the highest known essential amino acid plant in the entire plant kingdom. It IS the King! It is the premier plant-seed provider of globulin starting material - meaning that eating hemp seeds will insure the immune system has the resevoir of immunoglobulin resources needed to make disease destroying antibodies.
I know. Calm down. This is so exciting you are wanting to leave this blog this second to go out and score yourself a bag of these seeds. Read on -
"One out of two Americans will die from the effects of cardiovascular disease (CVD), one in four will die from cancer. Researchers believe cancers erupt when immune system response is weakened. Pioneers in the fileds of biochemistry and human nutrition now believe CVD and most cancers are really disease of fatty degeneration caused by the continued over-consumption of saturated fats and refined vegetable oils that turn essential fatty acids into carcinogenic killers. And if this is not scary enough, more Americans are succumbing to immune deficiency diseases than ever before. Sadly, it is ignorance of human nutritional needs that will cause this overwhelming majority of Americans to die slowly from these afflictions - the greatest killers in affluent nations." (Lynn Osburn, http://www.ratical.com/)
You can find recipes to include hemp seeds all over the internet, or you can just throw it on stuff. I put two tablespoons on my oatmeal, cereals, salads, veggies, add it to just about anything, as you would flax seeds. I put it in banana muffins, breads, you name it. Because I eat this regularly, and chia seeds as well, I do not take fish oil any more. (Been reading some controversial information on fish oil - like it gets rancid very easily and other not-so-good tidbits, so I'm happy to have a good "food" source replacement that is probably much better for me in the long run.)
You can also get hemp milk - I alternate my almond, coconut and hemp milk whenever I need milk. It's quite good - though I will admit I do not drink a glass of milk, just use it on cereals and in recipes. Being off of cow's milk is a blessing for my digestive system.
Good things come in little packages, right? So far you've heard about chia seeds, and now hemp seeds. They are both powerhouses. It is my goal to eat well and avoid any and all drugs for symptoms and diseases I can totally prevent through diet and exercise. Hope you'll join me!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Survival - Could you survive?
Survive what (?), you are probably asking. Well, you pick. Economic collapse. Food shortage. Global castastrophe. There are seminars and books out there offering advice on what you need, what you should do to prepare for just about any scenario. Are these all crazy kooks and doomsayers? I don't think so. I'm hearing too many comments from people I really respect, reading words of preparedness from so many sources to just blow it off any more. Besides, I'm married to an Eagle Scout - you know their motto, Be Prepared.
So hubs, the scout, and I took a webinar not long ago on "preparing". It was called "Be Prepared, Not Scared". It offered many suggestions and I'll pass them along here - just in case.
Get out of DEBT.
Change liquid savings into silver and gold.
Re-evaluate your stocks and mutual funds.
Store grain - food storage is critical. (I'm ready with my chia seeds and more!)
Prepare a First Aid kit.
Have things to barter with if a currency collapse (coffee, sugar, salt and ammo) (freaked me out!).
Grow as much food as you can.
Get any dental work done you've been putting off and get a new (and extra) pair of glasses now.
Learn how to and get equipment for filtering water.
There is more, of course, but I'm not sure how many of you are interested in this preparation stuff. I am taking the approach of being ready (as much as I can be) for anything. Instead of making this some fearful doom and gloom thing, I'm taking all this of this on as an opportunity to learn survival skills, become really good at creating meals from stored food supplies, growing more veggies in the garden, and learning to sprout. I am learning to make some great recipes from dried lentils and rice. Basically, I'm having fun with this - just like with my Zumba classes - just do it! What is the worst thing that could happen? That I may need my new found skills? Meantime, I'm learning and having an adverture.
Anyone doing any prep work besides me and scout?
So hubs, the scout, and I took a webinar not long ago on "preparing". It was called "Be Prepared, Not Scared". It offered many suggestions and I'll pass them along here - just in case.
Get out of DEBT.
Change liquid savings into silver and gold.
Re-evaluate your stocks and mutual funds.
Store grain - food storage is critical. (I'm ready with my chia seeds and more!)
Prepare a First Aid kit.
Have things to barter with if a currency collapse (coffee, sugar, salt and ammo) (freaked me out!).
Grow as much food as you can.
Get any dental work done you've been putting off and get a new (and extra) pair of glasses now.
Learn how to and get equipment for filtering water.
There is more, of course, but I'm not sure how many of you are interested in this preparation stuff. I am taking the approach of being ready (as much as I can be) for anything. Instead of making this some fearful doom and gloom thing, I'm taking all this of this on as an opportunity to learn survival skills, become really good at creating meals from stored food supplies, growing more veggies in the garden, and learning to sprout. I am learning to make some great recipes from dried lentils and rice. Basically, I'm having fun with this - just like with my Zumba classes - just do it! What is the worst thing that could happen? That I may need my new found skills? Meantime, I'm learning and having an adverture.
Anyone doing any prep work besides me and scout?
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