Cleansing Blog

Remember that old medical line about taking two aspirins and calling the doc in the morning?

Well, it seems that taking two aspirins could lead to far more trips to the doctor’s office than previously thought.

Aspirin — along with other over-the-counter drugs, including Tylenol, ibuprofin, and others — may not be the (nearly) harmless talismans that many of us believe.

Nowadays, before reaching for an aspirin or Tylenol to take care of a raging headache or an injured muscle, I ask myself if I really need them.

But I wasn’t always so hesitant.

If I stayed up too late, I’d pop an aspirin to avoid the next day’s potential headache. If I suspected that I’d caught a bug, I’d take a few tablets as a kind of preemptive strike.

I’d had too much to drink, my remedy was two Tylenols with two big glasses of water before going to sleep. I was convinced that a couple caplets could chase away even the worst hangover.

Then I learned that that many medical experts believe that the Food and Drug Administration would probably not approve trials of aspirin or acetaminophen today.

Apparently, while most of the 80 or so over-the-counter drugs are safe for general use, there is a risk of severe side effects — including gastrointestinal bleeding and liver and kidney failure. In fact, some believe that the FDA most likely wouldn’t approve these drugs today, even with a prescription.

In the past, the FDA issued a warning on the dangers of over-the-counter painkillers. They wanted the public to understand that OTC drugs can be far more hazardous than most of us realize.

Used appropriately, these drugs are essentially safe enough. The problem is that a lot of people exceed the maximum dosages, and overdoses kill a few hundred people each year.

The FDA has posted a helpful buying guide that includes information on deciphering labels, understanding drug interactions, information on childrens’ medications and taking over-the-counter drugs while pregnant or breastfeeding.

The bottom line: Hangovers and sore muscles are tolerable. Permanent damage to one’s liver or other organs is not.

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A device that delivers two short magnetic pulses may help decrease the severity of migraines, according to a study conducted by researchers from Ohio State University-Columbus and presented at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Boston. The study was funded by NeuraLieve, manufacturer of the device.

Researchers studied 164 patients who suffer from migraine with aura, a specific type of migraine that is foreshadowed by certain sensory effects including tingling, numbness, or visual disturbances such as flashes of light or zigzags. The participants were instructed to hold a device, approximately the same size and weight as a hair dryer, to their heads and pull the trigger when they experienced an aura coming on. For half the participants, this was a sham device that did nothing. For the other half, it was a device that delivered a magnetic pulse known as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Patients recorded the symptoms and intensity of their migraines, with follow-up entries at 30 minutes and one, two, 24 and 48 hours after that.

Two hours after aura onset, 39 percent of participants who used the TMS device reported being pain free, compared with only 22 percent of those in the placebo group.

“This is very significant,” said researcher Yousef Mohammad, who sits on the board of NeuraLieve. “This is a much better response than is achieved with any other method or medication that we have.”

Previous studies have found TMS to be effective when applied by health professionals, but the current study is the first to show that a TMS device can be effectively used by the patients themselves, such as in their own homes.

“I believe that TMS will become an important treatment option, particularly for migraine with aura sufferers who want to avoid medications,” said researcher Richard Lipton.

Researchers believe that TMS functions by suppressing the abnormal electrical brain activity that causes migraines.

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A recent survey of U.S. doctors found that nearly two out of three believe it is permissible to use placebos. Fully 50 percent of U.S. doctors prescribe placebos to their patients. Surveys of physicians in Israel, Denmark, and Great Britain all had similar findings.

This research has prompted well-known author Dr. Sally Satel to denounce the use of placebos as “disquieting, even unethical.”

However, studies have indicated that placebos are effective up to 70 percent of the time. A review of many prescription drugs reveal efficacy rates that are in fact much lower than that of the placebo. Placebos provide an opportunity to integrate the mind-body connection into the practice of medicine, and to harness its health benefits.

Integrative medicine has been dismissed time and again as “the placebo response.” Yet patients now flock to the doors of integrative physicians. They know that the mind-body connection is vital to health. Treating patients by merely “following the numbers” of cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, and PSA readings, appears to be significantly less effective and fails the test of scientific scrutiny more often than does a more holistic, integrative approach.

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New research shows that to get an optimal vitamin D supplement from the sun at a minimal risk of getting cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM), the best time of sun exposure is noon.

That means that common health recommendations given by authorities in many countries — that sun exposure should be avoided for three to five hours around noon and postponed to the afternoon — could be wrong and may even promote CMM.

This is in part because the action spectrum for CMM is likely to be centered at longer wavelengths than that of vitamin D generation.

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Scientists are still trying to unravel the many mysteries of the brain. But although there is still a lot to learn, several studies have indicated a few ways to help keep your thinking organ in shape, now and as you age.

1. Eat Your Brain Food

A diet of junk food can also junk up your brain. Fake “foods” like trans fats can negatively affect the brain’s synapses. But a balanced diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids can give the synapses a boost and help fight against mental disorders from depression to dementia.

2. Hit the Gym

Since exercise is a mild stressor to your body, eating up the energy needed by your brain, it triggers the release of chemicals called growth factors that make the brain’s neurons stronger and healthier. Half an hour every other day will do it, according to experts.

3. Mind Benders

Give your brain a workout, too, with brainteasers, crossword puzzles and memory games. Studies have shown that using these tools to stay mentally active can reduce the risks of developing dementia by building and maintaining a reserve of stimulation in your brain.

4. Memory Tricks

Keeping information stored in your memory banks and retaining that memory with age may also be a simple matter of mind control. Confidence in your cognitive abilities could actually affect how well your memory functions, particularly for the elderly.

5. Give it a Rest

Sleep gives your brain a chance to replay the memories of the day and consolidate them for long-term storage. One study suggested that the brain can do its reviewing much faster when you’re asleep than when you’re wide awake.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9L5MJYfi2A

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(NaturalNews) A clinical study on patients who have suffered a heart attack found that a partially purified extract of Chinese red yeast rice, Xuezhikang (XZK), reduced the risk of repeat heart attacks by 45%; revascularization (bypass surgery/angioplasty), cardiovascular mortality, and total mortality by one-third; and cancer mortality by two-thirds.

The multi-center, randomized, double-blind study, was conducted on almost 5,000 patients, ranging in age from 18-70 over a five-year period at over 60 hospitals in the People’s Republic of China. Corresponding author David M. Capuzzi, M.D., Ph.D, director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program at Jefferson’s Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine and Zonliang Lu, M.D., Ph.D, from the Fuwai Hospital at the Chinese Academy of Medical Science report their findings in the June 15th edition of the American Journal of Cardiology.

“It’s very exciting because this is a natural product and had very few adverse side effects including no abnormal blood changes,” said Capuzzi. “People in the Far East have been taking Chinese red yeast rice as food for thousands of years, but no one has ever studied it clinically in a double-blind manner with a purified product against a placebo group until now and we are pleased with the results. However, people in the United States should know that the commercially available over-the-counter supplement found in your average health food store is not what was studied here. Those over-the-counter supplements are not regulated, so exact amounts of active ingredient are unknown and their efficacy has not been studied yet.”

The study looked at patients who had suffered a heart attack in the previous year. Study participants were given two 300-milligram XZK capsules or a placebo and tracked over a five-year period. The XZK capsules contained a combination of lovastatin, lovastatin hydroxyl acid, ergosterol and other components.

“I think it is surprising that a natural product like XZK would have this great an effect,” said Capuzzi. “If further testing and study prove true, my hope is that XZK becomes an important therapeutic agent to treat cardiovascular disorders and in the prevention of disease whether someone has had a heart attack or not. But it is important to recognize the fact we do not know exactly how Chinese red yeast rice works. The exact ingredients from the XZK capsules have not been isolated and studied yet. Still the results were so profound, even out performing statins prescribed in numerous western populations, that further study should certainly be investigated.”

The study was sponsored by Beijing Peking University WBL Biotech Co. Ltd (WPU), in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. Dr. Capuzzi has no financial interest in this company.

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Maj. Gen. Bert Stubblebine (USA ret.) and Dr. Rima E. Laibow, MD, Natural Solutions Foundation, provide their analysis of the potential for a weaponized avian flu pandemic.

Health News avian flu, Health, pandemic

(NaturalNews) Men’s risk of gout increases along with consumption of sweetened soft drinks and fructose, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of British Columbia and Harvard Medical School, and published in the British Medical Journal.

In the disease known as gout, excess uric acid accumulates in the blood and is then deposited in the form of uric acid crystals around the body’s joints, leading to swelling and extreme pain. It particularly tends to affect men over the age of 39.

The incidence of gout in the United States has doubled over the course of the last several decades. According to the recent study, this increase might be linked with a corresponding increase in fructose and soft drink consumption.

Researchers gave food frequency questionnaires to 46,393 men who had no signs of gout, then followed those men for 12 years. In that time, 755 cases of gout developed.

Men who consumed five or six servings per week of sugar-sweetened soft drinks had a 29 percent higher chance of developing gout when compared with men who consumed less than one serving per month. Men who consumed one serving per day had a 45 percent higher risk, while men who consumed two or more servings per day had an 85 percent higher risk of developing gout.

The researchers also observed that as the contribution of fructose to the diet increased, so did the risk of gout. Compared with men who acquired less than 4.5 percent of their calories from fructose, men who acquired between 4.5 and 5.3 percent had a 41 percent higher risk of developing gout. Men who got between 5.4 and 6.6 percent of their calories from fructose had in 84 percent higher risk, while men who got more than 6.6 percent of their calories from the sugar had a 102 percent higher risk of developing the disease.

The researchers noted that fructose is known to increase uric acid production within the body.

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(NaturalNews) I recently received great news from the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) that after a long fourteen year battle between OCA, public interest and family farmer groups against Monsanto’s Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), Monsanto has announced on August 6th that they will sell off their controversial rBGH. This is very good news since rBGH has been fed to cattle since the early 1990’s and has been implicated in a wide array of health issues, some very serious ones for both the animals themselves and anyone who consumes anything from the animals who are fed rBGH.

rBGH is said to be responsible for a number of health issues ranging from premature puberty in children to colon, prostate and breast cancer to increased antibiotic residues and elevated levels of a potent cancer tumor promoter called IGF-1.

rBGH is a genetically engineered variant of the natural growth hormone produced by cows. It is manufactured by Monsanto and sold to dairy farmers under the trade name Posilac. This hormone forces cows to increase milk production by about 10%, but it also increases the incidences of mastitis, lameness as well as reproductive issues.

Another health concern, especially in regards to women is how this genetically modified hormone can interfere with a woman’s sensitive hormonal system and could also affect human reproduction as it is currently doing to cow’s reproductive systems. Could rBGH be at least partly responsible for the greatly increase in human fertility in the past thirty years? It certainly seems possible given the current evidence of reproductive issues in cows fed rBGH. Countries like Canada and many European nations have banned the import of U.S. milk unless it specifically says “No rBGH”

The fight is not over yet as Monsanto has been pressuring state legislatures to force dairies to use Posilac (rBGH). They also want to prevent these dairies from telling the public that they’re rBGH free.

Here is an announcement from the Organic Consumers Association:

“Monsanto has been lobbying state legislatures and departments of agriculture around the country to harass dairies that won’t use Posilac. Monsanto wants to take away dairies’ right to tell consumers they’re rBGH-free. Please go to the following OCA state action centers to learn more and take action: (http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.cfm) .”

Man made chemicals and genetically modified foods pose very serious health issues to your family. This is why it’s very important to learn what chemicals and ingredients are being put into packaged and processed foods in order to take greater control of your health and life and to help avoid serious health issues.

My Chinese Health and Fitness video goes into more details about some other dangerous food ingredients and chemicals that are being put into packaged and processed foods that you definitely want to avoid and keep out of your body as much as possible. It also contains much more information on nutrition, breathing, meditation, physical training and more. Click on the link below to visit the video website and learn more about other chemicals to avoid and more.

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