- BASIL AND SPICE HEALING AND WELLNESS

Tuesday

09Feb2010

5* Product Review: TWIST DHEA Cream (Feb 2010)

Feb 9, 2010

Over 35? Would you like to have more energy? Softer skin? Less abdominal fat? A better night’s sleep? Improved muscle tone? Clearer thinking? Better immunity? Better bone density? Can you believe the cure may reside in one pump of Twist DHEA Cream, rubbed into your side daily? Sounds easy and non-invasive, doesn’t it?

As it turns out, Dehydroepiandrosterone, commonly known as DHEA, is receiving a lot of favorable press lately … and for good reason. High levels of DHEA are associated with good health, helping us feel and look our best as we age. DHEA is a basic building block or precursor to most of the hormones we produce. The book I just finished, Stay Young & Sexy with Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement, by Dr. Jonathan V. Wright and Lane Lenard, gives as clear an explanation of the importance of hormones as any I’ve read. So helping our body be able to produce these hormones simply makes sense.

On the other hand, low levels of DHEA are associated with an increased risk of death from all causes, and can be linked to increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer. Low levels of DHEA are also associated with disease … adult-onset diabetes, autoimmune disease, metabolic syndrome, asthma, obesity, and many more.

This cream was invented by an Ob-Gyn physician specializing in bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. Why a cream and not a pill? If taken as an oral supplement, DHEA (or at least most of it) is quickly removed by the liver. An absorbable skin cream puts the bio-identical DHEA back where we use it – the skin.

Testimonials for the product on the website, www.twist25.com, indicate some people have experienced results in a matter of a few weeks. If you’re convinced, go to the website and order a jar. The cost is only $39.95, and it appears to me one jar will last a while. I just recently began using it, but if it does half of what it’s claimed to do my life with have a new “Twist” forever (forgive the pun).

This product was provided by TWIST to the reviewer.

Lynette Fleming Is Coauthor of Lunch Buddies: Buddy Up for a Better Diet

Book Review: Lunch Buddies by Lynette Fleming and Susan Dudra

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Tuesday

09Feb2010

FirstLook: Stay Young & Sexy With Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement

Feb 9, 2010

Review By Lynette Fleming

Have you lost any friends to breast cancer? Worried you might be next? Has your doctor offered to prescribe Premarin or Fosamax for the issues plaguing you before, during or after menopause … but you’re wondering about the risks? Want to look and feel your best as you age? Tired of traditional medicine and pharmaceuticals with their detrimental side effects and risks? BHRT to the rescue!

Women (and men) have been searching for the fountain of youth for eons and, except for the ancient Chinese, in all the wrong places. Have you ever heard that if you take in too many vitamins, you urinate them out? Well, as it turns out, the secret to youth is found in the urine of our young people. People urinate out lots of good stuff, including hormones, vitamins, minerals, and so on. Way back in the 11^th century, medieval Chinese scientists and chemists had no way of knowing any of the individual hormones, but guessed that all of the substances that “power” the human body are found in human urine.

Today’s scientists have found that human urine actually does contain every hormone known to be secreted by the human body, and a wide variety of minerals too. Many of you are probably disgusted right now, but remember … since the 60s, millions of women have been taking Premarin, pills containing hormones concentrated from pregnant mare’s urine. Which do you think would copy nature better … human urine or horse urine?

Dr. Wright suggests that in order for modern BHRT to catch up with “comprehensive medieval Chinese BHRT,” we process human urine. And if we do so, we could end the financial woes of many school districts and universities across the United States. A little bit of this “recycling” would not only help millions of middle-age adults, but also our troubled educational system.

So it wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that in ten years (or even less) you may be touring a university or high school to view the separate (male and female) high-tech filtration and purification installations which will clean up and extract the myriad of hormones in ultra-pure concentrated form, which will then be divided by compounding pharmacists into individualized daily doses for older men and women. Sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, doesn’t it?

Until that happens, today’s BHRT is synthesized from starting material in the Mexican yam and/or soy plants. Although incomplete, it is much safer than medicines commonly prescribed as menopausal hormone replacement therapy. This book offers compelling evidence not to take traditional HRT “therapeutic” drugs, like Prempro and Premarin.

The Women’s Health Initiative found that after four years of treatment with Prempro, the women who took it had a 26% increase in invasive breast cancer. As a bonus, Prempro increased the risk of heart disease … a 29% increase overall and an 81% increase during the first year of use. Premarin was found to increase the risk of stroke, and Prempro doubled the risk for all types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. I still remember the nurse practitioner who counseled me as I headed into menopause, recommending that I take HRT drugs, if not for the hot flashes, to keep my mind. Boy, am I glad I didn’t take her advice. My grandma kept her mind until her death at 99 ½, and never took Prempro or Premarin, and my 80-year-old mom’s mind is so sharp, a company just offered her a part-time job.

This book explains the real science behind BHRT so we and our medical practitioners can decide if it is best for us. The reasons for looking into it are many, including managing our hormones, extending our youthful years, cutting our risk of osteoporosis and heart disease and cancer, and even our risk of Alzheimer’s disease. When I first heard about it, I thought its purpose was just to get through menopause, but I was wrong.

Its benefits are much, much greater than that. This more than 400-page book is filled with compelling reasons not to take HRT medications. Whether you partake in BHRT should be decided by you and your health practitioner. Reading this book will rocket boost your understanding of the controversy, politics, and the benefits of BHRT. As it turns out, if BHRT can survive the attacks of the global pharmaceutical industry and its partner politicians, the fountain of youth in our future may very well be a fountain of urine.

Stay Young & Sexy With Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement: The Science Explained (Smart Publications/Dec 2009) By Jonathan V. Wright and Lane Lenard

Lynette Fleming Is Coauthor of Lunch Buddies: Buddy Up for a Better Diet

Book Review: Lunch Buddies by Lynette Fleming and Susan Dudra

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Monday

08Feb2010

Michelle Duggar 2010: 19 Kids--3 Tips From An OBGYN

Feb 8, 2010

Linda Burke-Galloway, M.D.--

The Universe is speaking to Michelle Duggar and hopefully she’ll take a moment to listen. Duggar is a 43 y.o. housewife whose life is chronicled on TLC’s TV reality series, The Duggars. While it’s admirable to watch Duggar and her husband, Bob, navigate life raising a plethora of children, pregnancy and giving birth is not an entirely benign act.

The February 8^th issue of People Magazine ("The Duggar Baby: Her Fight for Life") gave an exclusive account of Duggar’s most recent delivery that was complicated by both preterm birth at 25-weeks and pre-eclampsia. If the truth be told, both mom and baby are lucky to be alive. Duggar had delivered her 18^th child just six months prior to conceiving her 19^th. Her body did not have ample time to heal. Profound changes occur in the heart, lungs and kidneys of pregnant women. The body has more fluid circulating and the lungs have less air present at the end of each breath. The gallbladder also does not process fat properly and some pregnant women develop gallstones which is exactly what happen to Duggar. She had a gallstone attack and developed pre-eclampsia that warranted an emergency cesarean section. Her premature baby weighed 1lb 6oz.

It is not clear whether Duggar has received properly counseling from her ob healthcare practitioner, so let me jump in.

Ms. Duggar, you are 43 years old and have what’s known in obstetrics as Advanced Maternal Age. This condition predisposes you to several high-risk conditions including pre-eclampsia, preterm labor and a host of other issues.
You’ve carried 19 children in your uterus and its muscles are stretched to the max. Post-partum hemorrhage lies high on the list as a future complication.
You’ve also had a cesarean section and now have the potential to have a placental abruption (early placenta separation from the uterus) as well as a placenta accreta (the placenta sticks to the uterine incision and is extremely difficult to remove).

The Bible says to go forth and multiply and you’ve followed directions well. Now pat yourself on the back and give your body a well deserved rest. You escaped serious harm because of Divine Intervention and a skilled medical staff. Please, do not push the envelope.

Linda Burke-Galloway, MD, MS, FACOG is a board-certified ob-gyn physician who is a champion of patient safety and is on a mission to keep pregnant women from falling through the cracks of our imperfect healthcare system. For over twenty years she has provided clinical services to high-risk pregnant women in medically underserved communities. She served our country through the National Health Service Corp, is a medical malpractice consultant for the U.S. Human Health Services and the federal government has also sought her expertise in reducing obstetrical malpractice cases in high-risk communities. Dr. Burke-Galloway has worked for the State of Florida Department of Health for over thirteen years in direct patient care. She is the author of The Smart Mothers Guide to a Better Pregnancy and is the Pregnancy Expert for LifeScript.com. She is a graduate of City College of the City University of New York, Columbia University School of Social Work and Boston University School of Medicine. She lives with her husband in Central Florida and is the proud mother of two sons. Dr. Galloway is the author of The Smart Mother's Guide to a Better Pregnancy (Red Flags Pub/ 2008). You'll find Dr. Galloway online at www.smartmothersguide.com

10 Ways To Announce Your Pregnancy

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Saturday

06Feb2010

Health News 2010: Green Tea, Pistachios May Reduce Lung Cancer Risk

Feb 6, 2010

Suzy Cohen R.Ph.--

Dear Pharmacist,

Could you give us quick tips that can help improve health? Don’t get me wrong, I love your informative columns, I just wish you could talk about more topics in each column so I could find myself in them more frequently. --T.D. Gainesville, Florida

Answer: Great idea, as a journalist, I get press releases about new studies every few minutes and there are always interesting topics. I’ll share some news that I’ve received in the last 3 weeks. Here goes:

--Fish oils aren’t just for your heart. They reduce symptoms of psychosis and may prevent the onset of full-blown schizophrenia or psychosis in people with emotional disturbances according to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Omega 3 fatty acids nourish the brain, they are inexpensive and well-tolerated.

--Curcumin can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. It works even better when taken with vitamin D3. Speaking of curcumin, it is known to lower blood sugar and prevent kidney damage associated with diabetes!

--Pomegranates may prevent breast cancer, especially the type that is estrogen-driven. They contain a compound called “ellagitannin” which gets broken down in the body to “urolithin B” and it acts like our “aromatase blocking” drugs (think tamoxifen, raloxifene).

--You won’t remain healthy for very long if you don’t get up and jog, go to spin class, Pilates or Zumba! Two well-designed studies now prove that excessive body weight increases a person’s risk for stroke, and nearly double the risk of developing cancer.

--Drinking “white tea” helps encourage weight loss!

--Green tea may reduce risk of lung cancer. People who do not drink green tea appear to have a 5-fold increased risk of lung cancer! In a related new study, pistachios were found to increase gamma tocopherol (vitamin e) and slash the risk of lung cancer, without causing any weight gain.

--Apples, more specifically, “apple pectin” was shown to increase the number of friendly bacteria (probiotics) in the gut. So they improve digestion.

--If you are counting calories, you may be mislead. A new study found that nutrition labels on restaurant and packaged food labels may be grossly underestimated.

--The controversy persists about non-stick cooking pans which contain PFOA. For the first time a study found that people who have higher blood concentrations of PFOA have higher rates of thyroid disease. Newer brands of non-stick cookware are PFOA-free if you are concerned.

--Men with the highest blood levels of the B vitamin folate are 50 percent less likely to experience depression compared to men with the lowest levels according to the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

--A drug company is making a prescription pill to help you live to 100, by targeting longevity genes. Natural supplements target the very same genes and I’ll tell you about those in my new book Diabetes Without Drugs due out in a few weeks.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Any products mentioned or information within this column is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Suzy Cohen, R. Ph., is a licensed pharmacist with nearly 20 years of clinical experience. The author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist (HarperCollins, July '07) and Drug Muggers; she is "America's Most Trusted Pharmacist," and has helped millions of patients in various clinical settings, such as retail, hospital, nursing home pharmacies, and through her nationally syndicated column, "Dear Pharmacist." A former spokesperson for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Suzy Cohen is a member of the Institute of Functional Medicine, The Association of Natural Medicine Pharmacists and The American Pharmacists Association. You can subscribe to Suzy's free weekly newsletter or ask her a question at her DearPharmacist website.

A Pharmacist's Tips for Cold and H1N1 Flu Survival

Love: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

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Thursday

04Feb2010

TX Pediatrician: Goodbye MMR Vaccine Study (2010)

Feb 4, 2010

Ari Brown, M.D.--

Most of you reading this post have not been following this story for as long as I have. However, you may be familiar with the buzz it created.

To get you up to speed: A small report on 12 patients was published in the British medical journal, The Lancet, back in 1998 regarding a concern that the combination Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine (MMR) was associated with autism. While the results of the study were not conclusive or statistically significant, the media reports on that study WERE significant. Parental fear about the MMR vaccine led to vaccine refusal, dropping immunization rates, and an eventual resurgence of measles. In 2004, 10 of the 13 original researchers on that paper (comically, there were more researchers involved than patients), withdrew their claim that there was a possible connection between MMR vaccine and autism. They said in a statement, "In this paper, NO CAUSAL LINK was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient...now is the appropriate time that we should together formally retract the interpretation of the data suggesting a link." This was a partial retraction of the study, however, because 3 researchers continued to stand by their study.

In February 2009, this now famous MMR study received another critical blow. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a report that examined this study in relationship to families suing for vaccine injury compensation. The special master, George Hastings, presiding over the case had this to say, "Unfortunately, the [family] have been misled by physicians who are guilty, in my view, of gross medical misjudgment."

Last week, after more than a year of investigation, Britain's General Medical Council found the lead researcher on the paper to be guilty of 30 charges of medical misconduct. And the other two steadfast researchers on that MMR paper were also found guilty of medical misconduct. So, when the editor of The Lancet medical journal yesterday said enough already and formally retracted the 1998 MMR vaccine study from the published record, my response was...finally, what took you so long!

I can't tell you how many hours I have spent explaining this ongoing saga to families who hear bits and pieces of this study and the aftermath of it. And, then more time having to encourage them to protect their kids from very real, very serious infectious diseases.

Time to close this ugly chapter of poor medical research that gets published and irresponsible journalists who bought into it. Goodbye MMR study.

Ari Brown, M.D., FAAP, is a pediatrician, book author, child health advocate, and a mom. Dr. Brown completed a bachelor’s degree in child development from the University of Texas at Austin. She completed her general pediatric residency at Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Brown is Board Certified and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She works full-time in private practice in Austin, Texas.

Dr. Brown’s passion to educate families about children’s health led her to co-author the books, Baby 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice for Your Baby’s First Year and Toddler 411. She has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, and ABC News. She serves on the advisory board for Parents Magazine and hosts a message board at their website, Parents.com.