Alternative Health, Alternative Medicine

Excellent skeptical websites, while you wait for the upcoming Skeptics Circle

2010-01-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

I will give you some links that are very much on the subject of skepticism and the consequences of rejecting it.

Here"s an article Mike Combs wrote in the midst of witnessing a homeopath"s attempt to claim the Randi Challenge prize. No matter how different the claims may be of those who say they want to be tested by Randi, it seems they all use the same rhetoric, objections, and dodges. If you"ve seen one claimant, you"ve pretty much seen them all. His summary is titled "Anatomy of a Claimant".

This article also appeared in the February 2000 issue of The North Texas Skeptic

Mike Combs also examined a future world where the skeptics have lost. It"s called "Condemned to Repeat It".

Curtis Wolf from Skeptically Thinking did an original research that he called Better Living through Sound and Light. He attended a lecture on meditation that turned out to be the New Age movement at its zaniest. Go read the interesting article and you will know why you don"t need to waste a Saturday afternoon the way Curtis did.

Curtis also has previous quarterly issues. Read about how he experienced The Amazing Randi in Jacksonville!, when he gave a rousing call to arms for skeptics to fight pseudoscience and promote reason. For more information about James Randi, take a look at his website.

Skeptics Circle will be up tomorrow.

Dangers of radiation in the home

2010-01-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

The best Swedish site for news on technology, in my opinion, is www.idg.se. Today they have an article on radiation in the home. The article is based on an interview with Maria Feychting professor in epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet. The article discusses the danger of the radiation associated with products that are becomming increasingly common in ordinary homes. I am speaking of mobile phones, routers, wireless keyboards and mice, bluetooth headsets and dect phones.

The conclusion of the article, briefly put, is that there are no scientific evidence that this radiation causes any harm. It is a fact that studies showing potential dangers of radiation get much more attention than studies which show zero effects, even though the latter type are much more common. Furthermore, most of the studies which have shown slight biological effects of radiation have subsequently been replicated with contrasting results i.e. the latter studies did not find any effects.

I think that one of the reasons why some people are so afraid of these things is the fact that they radiate, and we all know that radiation is bad right? No, not necessarily so. Radiation can be your friend to. If it were not for the radiation from the sun we would not be alive. Similarly, seeing involves the capture of radiation by photoreceptors in the back of your retina. In fact we are all rich sources of radiation which you can see for yourself if you have a camera that pick up infrared wavelength.

But isn"t that different? Sure some sorts of radiation are more dangerous than others. Cosmic rays which arive from outer space are extremely rich in energy, and alot of that type of radiation would be bad for you. Similarly, X-rays will slightly increase the risk of cancers because it is rich in energy. But what about the radiation from all those home devices? This radiation is lower in energy than normal visual light, so you are very unlikely to get cancer from this type of radiation. These devices actually emit microwaves, just like your microwave oven. The difference is that the radiation is not contained within a box, and also the power is 10,000 smaller than in an ordinary microwave oven (for a dect phone it is 100,000 times smaller). If you want a different point of view on these issues, you can visit this page.

The article also gives some quick answers to the following questions:

1. Does radiation from mobile phones cause cancer: False

2. Will using a bluetooth headset reduce the amount of radiation you are exposed to: True (because a bluetooth headset has a much lower effect than the mobile phone)

3. A dect phone emits more radiation than a mobile phone: False

4. A 3G phone radiates more than a GSM mobile phone: False

5. More wireless devices in the home will make it more dangerous: False

6. A new router radiates more than an old router: False

7. It is dangerous to have your mobile lying next to you when you are sleeping: False

8. The mobile will emit less radiation if you hold your hand over it: False (actually it will radiate more becuase that is necessary in order to communicate the station.

9. Even the good old cable hardware emits radiation: True (anything with a current in it, a cable for instance, will generate a magnetic field which is also basically a form of radiation.

I want to end with a personal reflection on an issue which I think is highly relevant yet often forgotten. Mobile phones, which as mentioned is the device which has the highest effect and thus the highest radiation, has been around for about two decades now. In spite of their popularity, there has not been any increase in cancers in this timeperiod. This "natural experiment" shows that if mobile phones have any effect at all on the human body, that effect have to be very subtle. Pretend for a moment that there has been a slight increase in some obscure form of cancer, or other type of disease, that is a result of mobile phone radiation. Even such a necessarily slight effect would pale in comparison to the enourmous benefits of being able to call ambulances, fire fighters and the police from almost anywhere on this planet. Hurray for mobile phones!

I am the monkey king

2010-01-29T19:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was sitting down to eat breakfast, and turned on C-SPAN as I occasionally do. This should tell you two things about me. One, I am such a television addict that I don"t even eat breakfast without it on, and, two, I"m really a nerd.

The topic for the last hour or so of Washington Journal was Intellegent Design. The first guest was a reporter who talked a bit about ID in general and Kansas"s recent decent back into the Middle Ages. The next guest was the scientific laughingstock Michael Behe, which is when I turned the set off in disgust. Watching the archive on the C-SPAN website (yes, really, I"m a nerd) there was a third guest, Matthew Chapman, a descendant of Charles Darwin who wrote Trials of the Monkey. There are, apparently, no actual scientists in Washington.

The best part of the show is the people who call in. It"s a strange combination of laughing at all nutty people out there, and being frightened that, really, there all these nutty people out there. Today was no exception. One caller:

It"s really frightening to see how far our country has fallen with this debate. There was a time in our country when the Bible was taught in schools... I"m thirty-five years old, and since I"ve graduated from high school, the public school system has become a war zone. And there"s nothing wrong with teaching Intelligent Design. In fact, if anything I think maybe it"s going to educate students and educate children to maybe look into the Bible, maybe look into some other form of religion and find a meaning. There"s too many children out there, they don"t know why they"re here. If you"ve got something like evolution they just assume, "Well i guess I"m just evolving. So-and-so is bad, i guess since we evolved from monkeys we"re just going to continue to go down that slippery slope."

That"s at 1:52:40 in the stream, if you want to hear it.

One of the things that the big name ID proponents always say is that ID isn"t a religion, since it doesn"t say anything about the designer. On the other hand, in every case I"ve seen, when cornered about who the Designer is, the ID proponent always says something like, "Well, in my opinion, it was the God of the Scriptures." It"s pretty clear that that "God of the Scriptures" line is code for "fundamentalist Christianity." Behe himself has said that the mysterious Intelligent Designer was God. So yet again, we see that ID is just fundamentalist Christianity wrapped up in sheep"s clothing.

But what I found interesting about the above caller"s rant was the fact that the problem with evolution isn"t that it"s wrong, but that believing in it will rob your life of "meaning." Yet again, we see that when these fundamentalists are confronted with an aspect of the material world, of reality, that contradicts their preferred interpretation of some aspect of the Bible, they actually disbelieve the reality, rather than their supernatural beliefs. That"s why you can"t have an intellectual debate on this topic with proponents of ID. Even if you present them with mountains of evidence supporting evolution, they won"t believe it. And that"s because mountains of evidence supporting evolution is exactly what we have.

New Matter At Kidney To Control Blood pressure

2010-01-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

During more than 40 years, the researchers anticipates about existence of a natural hormone of is earning safely can release excess of sodium from body and can be exploited to arrange blood pressure or cures hypertension in more effective and safely. Now drugs reducing body sodium rate also has serious side effects because this drugs also lessens potassium rate. Recently the researchers from Cornell and the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research ( BTI) has developed a new tekhnik to detect a hormone from urine manusia-suatu derifat from acid xanthurenic-yang likely can control sodium rate without influencing body potassium rate. Acid xanthurenic is metabolite from degradation of tryptophan amino acid formed at cytoplasm and mitochondria. Based on invention done by this Frank Schroeder, the researchers knows that besides steroid hormone ; aldosterone activating kidney to did process reabsorpsi sodium and mengekresikan potassium surely there are other hormone triggering kidney to work on the contrary: mengekresikan sodium and imbibition of potassium. Many researchs which has been done to find hormone as in in urine but man urine consisted of mixture various hundred molecules and hardly difficult to be done insulation, because of probably because hormone intended hardly easy to broken at the time of chemical analysis process by the way of conventional.

At its(the research Schroeder develops its(the invention through approach of nuclear magnetic paramagnetic quadrupole ( NMR) spectroscopy through urine purified parsially. Till Now NMR only be applied to analyse from matter which has been purified. Through this tekhnik enables NMR to identify component without isolating them, its(the example at urine and result of his(its is found [by] 3 new component. Hereinafter each the component synthesis and hypodermic at mouse then this mouse urine monitored. Two of component identified is derifat from acid xanthurenic, capable to increase sodium rate at mouse urine ( increases its(the ekresi) but still take care of potassium rate remain to constant. Differs from aldosterone which is a hormone, this new component its(the structure more looking likely is acid amino-derifat neurotransmitter dopamin and serotonin so that possibility also has other role in body. Now the component in the process of further research what look like there is other function for body and whether they influence blood pressure directly.

Elderberry As Alternative Medicine

2010-01-29T18:48:00.000-08:00

Elderberry As Alternative Medicine

Elderberry is an alternative medicine that has been used for centuries since the times of Hippocrates. This herb is derived from the fruit of the black elder plant to treat colds, influenza and sinus. In Israel elderberry is sold as Sambucol an herbal medicine for flu and colds symptoms.

It is an effective treatment for upper respiratory infections.
It is a laxative and cleanser for the intestines.
It is an immune system booster.
Its inner bark is a remedy for epilepsy.

Elderberry is available as capsules, tablets, extract, tea and tinctures. This herb is usually safe and has few known reactions with prescribed drugs. To make a tea from the flowers add 3 to 5 g of the petals to 250 ml of boiling water and steep for 15 minutes. Drinking this tea can ease twitching and eye inflammation. Very often this herb is used in combination with Echinacea to boost the body�s immunity.

Elderberry can reduce the duration of a cold or flu. However, the leaves, bark, raw berries and seeds are highly toxic due to their cyanide content. Elderberry is a powerful alternative medicine but caution must be exercised.

Survival of genetic homosexual traits explained

2010-01-29T17:03:00.000-08:00

Italian geneticists may have explained how genes apparently linked to male homosexuality survive, despite gay men seldom having children. Their findings also undermine the theory of a single �gay gene�.

From the newscientist:

The researchers discovered that women tend to have more children when they inherit the same - as yet unidentified - genetic factors linked to homosexuality in men. This fertility boost more than compensates for the lack of offspring fathered by gay men, and keeps the �gay� genetic factors in circulation.

The findings represent the best explanation yet for the Darwinian paradox presented by homosexuality: it is a genetic dead-end, yet the trait persists generation after generation.

�We have finally solved this paradox,� says Andrea Camperio-Ciani of the University of Padua. �The same factor that influences sexual orientation in males promotes higher fecundity in females.�

Relative differences
Camperio-Ciani"s team questioned 98 gay and 100 straight men about their closest relatives - 4600 people in total. They found that female relatives of gay men had more children on average than the female relatives of straight men. But the effect was only seen on their mother�s side of the family.

Mothers of gay men produced an average of 2.7 babies compared with 2.3 born to mothers of straight men. And maternal aunts of gay men had 2.0 babies compared with 1.5 born to the maternal aunts of straight men.

�This is a novel finding," says Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist and commentator on sexuality at Stanford University in California. �We think of it as genes for �male homosexuality�, but it might really be genes for sexual attraction to men. These could predispose men towards homosexuality and women towards �hyper-heterosexuality�, causing women to have more sex with men and thus have more offspring.�

Camperio-Ciani stresses that whatever the genetic factors are, there is no single gene accounting for his observations. And the tendency of the trait to be passed through the female line backs previous research suggesting that some of the factors involved are on the male �X� chromosome, the only sex chromosome passed down by women. �It�s a combination of something on the X chromosome with other genetic factors on the non-sex chromosomes,� he says.

Immune system
Helen Wallace, of the UK lobby group GeneWatch, welcomes the new research that moves away from the controversial single-gene theory for homosexuality. �But it�s worth noting that the data on the sexuality of family members may be unreliable, so more studies are likely to be needed to confirm these findings,� she says.

Even if the maternal factors identified by Camperio-Ciani�s team are linked with male homosexuality, the research team�s calculations suggest they account for only about 14% of the incidence.

Their findings also support earlier findings that when mothers have several sons, the younger ones are progressively more likely to be gay. This might be due to effects changes to the mother�s immune system with each son they carry.

But Camperio-Ciani calculates the contribution of this effect to male homosexuality at 7% at most. So together, he says, the �maternal� and �immune� effects only account for 21% of male homosexuality, leaving 79% of the causation still a mystery.

This leaves a major role for environmental factors, or perhaps more genetic factors. �Genes must develop in an environment, so if the environment changes, genes go in a new direction,� he says. �Our findings are only one piece in a much larger puzzle on the nature of human sexuality.�

Really Delayed Ambulance Chasing

2010-01-29T14:39:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I was in a minor vehicular accident when traffic ahead of me slowed to a complete stop on the highway. A pickup truck swerved across three lanes and cut in front of me; my eye still on the truck, I failed to notice that the cars ahead had stopped, so I wound up rear-ending a fellow motorist at about five miles per hour as I failed to come to a complete stop. The total damage done was a slight scratch on my front bumper and a tiny imprint the shape of my car in the poor guy"s fender. Neither party was injured, so the police didn"t even file a full report, just a non-investigated accident form for the both of us as a way of formally exchanging information.

Fast-forward to today, nearly four months later.

When I got home from class, I was told that someone had called about my insurance. Since the other driver had (about a month after the accident) apparently smelled money and tried to claim an injury, I figured that this was about the resolution to that case.

Nope. It was a chiropractor"s office.

They were trying to convince me to schedule an appointment in the event that I was having "headaches, backaches, or other pain problems" as a result of the "accident." "It can take several weeks or months for problems to develop," noted the woman on the phone. "This is because at the time of the accident your body is full of all kinds of chemicals."

Right. It still is, as a matter of fact, and I bet I know more about them than she did. Moving on.

I was polite to her; there was no reason to be otherwise, and I declined her offer to make me an appointment for a chiropractic evaluation.

This is all just a story--an anecdote. But I"ve never seen any other "doctors" having to resort to cold-calling patients from accident records to solicit them as patients. Chiropractors have more in common with ambulance-chasing lawyers than with physicians; the only way most of them are going to get any business is with colorful advertising or by dubious phone-farming.

In retrospect, it might"ve been somewhat humorous to suggest that I had developed allergies or diabetes since the accident. I wonder what the representative on the phone would"ve told me if I asked what they could do about it at the office?

Bank with a bank that represents your ethical concerns

2010-01-29T12:45:00.000-08:00

The UK Co-operative Bank has had a unique Ethical Policy since 1992, which has given their customers a say on what types of businesses they do, and don"t, finance. In the last 16 years, over �900 million of their customers" money has been withheld from businesses whose activities conflict with the policy. Issues have ranged from human rights to animal rights, the arms trade to the environment.

Shine can use Therapy Bipollar

2010-01-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

One of psychological problem of which still unable to be comprehended public is trouble bipolar. This trouble in the form of change of mood in brief tempo, sometime sorrowful, happy, and disappointed. Trouble bipolar can be classified into four categories that is bipolar I, II, mixture and siklotimik. Trouble bipolar I is trouble bipolar which most commonly happened. This condition attributed to one or more head episode. Trouble bipolar I more head episodes than depressions.

As for trouble bipolar II is condition associated with one or more depression episode. Trouble type experiencing more this is depression episode.

Differs from trouble bipolar II, trouble bipolar mixture between depression episodes and head episode there is no order. Can emerge head episode beforehand or former depression episode. As for type siklotimik is change between changing depression episodes and head very quickly and change of mood which abrupt.

Trouble bipolar will affect in all life aspect. They which is not got correct treatment would often clashs with couple, ugly achievement in sekolah,kehilangan work, alcohol usage, even tebersit idea or suicide business.

" If depression episode have been hardly ekstrem, they will have mind about death or suicide. This episode usually is not recognized vinicity area," said psikiater from Sanatorium Dharmawangsa dr A Kusumawardhani SpKJ.

To overcome trouble bipolar, various healing efforts can be done for example pharmacology therapy ( with drugs) and therapy psikososial. Both this efforts shall each other complement to get maximum result.

" Therapy psikososial for trouble bipolar is not alternative therapy, but a supplement," says Profesor Myrna M Weissman from Columbia University.

Besides, there is other method, namely with [light/ray] therapy. a newest study lays open [light/ray] therapy can lessen depression symptom at woman with trouble bipolarTerapi [light/ray] is one of road(street to lessen depression because winter. Still, effective [light/ray] therapy passed to depression patient and not depend on season.

Research to trouble bipolar publicized in a health journal lays open, benefit terapis this inar also felt at trouble patient bipolar, with change of mooddari depression to sweet.

Why is the News Gazette violating it"s own policy?

2010-01-29T08:50:00.000-08:00

The News-Gazette has a policy of not printing "letters published elsewhere". So why did they publish David Smith"s noxious letter? I"ve found it published at least in part in at least five different locations:

the Illinois Review blog

the Freeport, IL Journal Standard

the St. Louis Suburban Journal

the Galesburg, IL Zephyr

this Family Research Council press release

So Alabama really is filled in inbred rednecks!

2010-01-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

Stunningly, Alabama voters rejected a bill that would have removed the segregation-era language from their state Constitution. Seriously. The overwhelming rejection is supposedly due to some people saying the repeal could lead to higher taxes. Why? Because, in Alabama, public education is a gift of the state, not a right of every child in the state. I guess the population of Alabama realy is made up of a bunch of dumbfucks.

Not to be content with keeping segregation alive, now a state legislator want to ban all books with gay content from public libraries, including university libraries. It only includes books that "promote homosexuality" in order to protect children from the "homosexual agenda." I"m not really sure how many children in Alabama (the few that can actually read, thanks to the public schools) are reading about homosexuality in university libraries.

In the Bible, it"s very easy to read David and Jonathan as gay lovers. ("After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself." 1 Sam 18:1) Also, when Jesus heals the servant of a centurion (Matthew 8:5-13), the terms in Greek and Latin used for "servant" both have a sexual conotation. Not only did Jesus heal him, but held up the centurion as an excellent example of faith. That"s a pretty strong "promotion" right there. So I guess we"ll have to get rid of the Bible, as well.

McFetus

2010-01-29T06:04:00.000-08:00

Pharyngula (now at his new server) has an interesting little question and pic up on his blog. I suspect the anti-choice coalition people have some magic soul detector that can answer the question for us though.

Peppermint 100% Pure Essential Oil - 30 ml Aromatheraphy

2010-01-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

. If you want your home allways health this aromatherapy can make one of alternative.Peppermint oil has been cultivated since ancient times, having been found in Egyptian tombs as far back as 1000 BC. Peppermint oil can assist in nervous disorders, the respiratory tract, for muscle aches and pains and for skin problems. Its cool, minty, fresh, sweet scent is not only refreshing, but stimulating as well. Aroma therapists use Peppermint in treating asthma, nausea, colic, cramps, colds, fevers, fainting, headaches, mental fatigue, flatulence and nausea
Peppermint oil may also help to lessen or eliminate apathy, shock, migraines, nervous stress, vertigo and faintness. It is useful in general respiratory disorders as well as dry coughs, sinus congestion, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and cholera. It is known to relieve pain from toothaches, aching feet, rheumatism, neuralgia, muscular pains and painful menstrual cycles. Note: May cause irritation on sensitive skin.

Public health care policy

2010-01-29T01:31:00.000-08:00

Imagine that you"re interested in health care or public health. Or, perhaps, imagine you"re a MD MPH PhD-candiate doctor working in an emergency room department in an urban hospital (though who would be that crazy?). In that case, you really should be reading Ezra Klein"s blog. He has two really great blog posts today that I just must highlight. From the first:

Consumer-driven health care controls costs by pushing more spending onto the consumer so that they can afford less care. It rations by income. It"s not even deceptive about this: That"s literally what "skin in the game" means. When you"re paying more for your care, your price sensitivity increases, which in turn makes you both less able and willing to pay for care, which in turn will make you more likely to purchase valuable care and discard bad care.

That, at least is what advocates hope will happen. Whether you believe them depends on whether you believe consumers can make smart care decisions, and whether you believe wasted care can be cut out by bluntly disincentivizing all care. But the cost controls here have nothing to do with innovation; they have everything to do with increasing financial exposure so we"re less willing and capable to purchase medical services.

And from the second:

The LA Times reports that uninsured adults in Los Angeles are waiting more than a year for gallbladder and hernia surgeries. Indeed, the Harbor-UCLA medical center just told the county"s clinics to simply stop referring non-emergency gallstone, hernia, orthopedic, or neurosurgery patients till the hospital worked through its year-long backlog.

The clinics, predictably, are responding by sending these patients to emergency rooms, further overwhelming ERs with patients in terrible pain, but not technically suffering from an emergency. Yet. So they"re being turned away, though no doubt going into debt or having their wages garnished as they attempt to pay off the bills. Meanwhile, In the absence of the necessary surgeries, we"re holding these folks together with belts and trusses -- literally

On the other hand, if you"re the most powerful man in the world, here"s your view on health care in this country:

People have access to health care in America. After all, just go an emergency room.

I feel healthier already. Don"t you?

Kan vand optage pyramideenergi?

2010-01-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

Pyramideforskere er enige om, at vand er i stand til at optage og videregive pyramideenergi. N�r denne energi overf�res til vand b�r det kunne konstateres i form af v�sentlige �ndringer i vandmolekyler i en pyramide.

Vandet bliver opladet ved at placere det i en plasticsk�l, enten under, i midten eller p� toppen af pyramiden, og n�r vandet er opladet, har det de samme evner til at �virke� som en pyramide.

Vand som indeholder pyramideenergi skulle have en �get fordampning, f�les mere k�ligt og smage friskere og renere end almindeligt vand.

Efter sigende skulle pyramidevand v�re velg�rende, og have en kurativ virkning. Folk og k�ledyr, som har drukket det, siges at f�le sig bedre tilpas og se bedre ud. K�ledyrenes h�rlag bliver mere blankt. Burfugle synger bedre og fuglenes farvede fjer bliver klarere i farven. Vi har modtaget rapporter om, at ledbet�ndelse, som blev behandlet med omslag af pyramidevand, blev lindret, og at vandet i andre tilf�lde eliminerer smerter og andre problemer i forbindelse med ledbet�ndelse. Pyramidevand p� s�r, brands�r, hudafskrabninger, l�sioner, moderm�rker, sk�nhedspletter, erstatningsv�v, negler�dder, vorter og forskellige hudproblemer tilsyneladende modsvarer de ellers anvendte behandlingsmidler. Kilde: Toth og Nielsen uden dokumentation.

Borg Jensen er endnu mere sv�vende og begejstret:

K�ledyr af alle arter snakker, pludrer og synger mere af livsgl�de. En glad fugl f�r hurtigere sk�nne fjer. Med andre ord, farverne f�r �knald�.� Ogs� akvarister kan if�lge Borg Jensen have gl�de af det behandlede vand. Man b�r dog kun tils�tte akvariet en liter pyramidevand i d�gnet, ellers risikerer man, at fiskene f�r chok. �Det vil holde Deres akvarie renere,� skriver han. �Sorte mollier vil yngle hyppigere uden nedv�rdigelse. Fiskene vil blive mere aktive og nogle vil forandre karakter.�

Tanken om, at sorte mollier f�ler nedv�rdigelse ved at yngle, vil sikkert komme som en overraskelse for de fleste akvarister, men det er da rart at vide, at man kan stive fiskenes selvf�lelse af med lidt pyramidevand. Man skal i �vrigt v�re en s�rdeles t�lmodig iagttager for at kunne fastsl�, om ens fisk p� et givet tidspunkt �ndrer karakter og i hvilken retning. Har man ikke den forn�dne t�lmodighed, kan man nok klare sig med en smule selvsuggestion.

Er det muligt at p�vise nogen forskel mellem pyramidebehandlet vand og almindeligt postevand?

Tror du p� pyramidevandets evner?

Og hvis p�standen er rigtig, hvad kan man s� anvende pyramidebehandlet vand til?

Der er en rigtig god artikel om pyramideenergi p� Skeptica, som kan anbefales at l�se for interesserede.

Atrium Bruising, Risk Stroke

2010-01-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

Normal HEART beaten 60�100 times per minute with regular rhythm. This can be known with touching aortae at wrist.
Heart rhythm sometimes something doesn"t beat time his(its normal, ticks quicker, accompanied asphyxia, confused, worn-out, and or chest pain in bone. Pulse below(under 60�100 per minute also need to be taken heed also. Because, it is possible that is indication of atrium bruising trouble ( FA).

FA is one of heart rhythm trouble that is very often is found. This disease diagnosis easy to be known even with simple physical examination by an even a medical doctor. This trouble arisings from existence of electrical impulse hardly quickly and spasmodic.
As a result, atrium pulse and also ventricle ( main room of heart) becomes hardly quickly and not regular. The elderlies having age 65�85 years is group of high berisiko of atrium bruising. At the age of this usually disease, as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coroner heart, disparity of heart spillway, heart-failure often is met. The disease is one of the cause of the happening of heart rhythm trouble.
one of atrium bruising cause is existence of magnification at left gallery and or right atrium causing bothers passing from gallery to room.
� They suffering heart rhythm trouble usually has chronical have been disease. Calls just of heart trouble or hypertension. The disease can cause heart rhythm trouble because longer, atrium increasingly big,
There are some therapy which able to be done patient FA, covers rhythm control or business is returning heart rhythm to normal rhythm, drugs usage, like sotalol, disopiramid, amiodaron, the existing at most applied. Besides, there is speed control. This therapy is controling business to control heart rhythm speed that is below par the to reside in between 60�100 times per minute. Besides, can with drugs and without drugs.
� Besides the therapy, thing which able to be done was cure its(the base disease is formerly. If s(he suffers hypertension, yes its(the hypertension is formerly cured,� explicitly Aulia. Risk generated from this heart rhythm trouble is stroke tromboemboli. Patient with heart rhythm trouble FA has case of stroke fivefold is compared to them having normal heart rhythm.
� As a result, happened deceleration of blood stream in left atrium ( left gallery of heart), what can cause the forming of blood clot ( thrombus) in heart cavity,� its(the papar. If slow blood stream, automatically blood streaming into brain will be pursued causing triggers the happening of stroke.

Young Clan also Can
Research result done in Western countries to show, heart rhythm trouble is suffered [by] 2,1 % man and 1,7 % woman. Whereas data in intensive coroner ward ( ICCU) RSUPN DR CIPTO MANGUNKUSUMO ( RSCM) there are 6,72 % patient experiencing FA, among others 4,72 % with infarct miokard acute ( heart attack).
In general, FA of course susceptible experienced by the old ages. But, do not mean young clan protected from this trouble. More than anything else if often feel palpitating, accompanied confused, worn-out taste, and also chest pain in bone.
He adds, usually, patient FA is having age is young triggered by factor stres, cigarette, and also alcohol. Only that need to be remembered, not all palpitations can told suffers heart rhythm trouble. � If s(he palpitated because surprising, that is fair thing. Heartbeat becomes is quicker from the usual, later also will return is normal again,

The Last Disappointment, Part 2

2010-01-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

This is the second post on this book that I wanted to make, and I"m still not out of the Preface. Feser"s entire thesis in this book is that he can make a logical argument for the existence of God. Which is pretty amazing considering the diversity in beliefs, rituals, and claims about the religious supernatural. So here"s how he gets around that:

...I should make it clear at the outset that this is not a defense of an amorphous ecumenical something called "religion," but only and specifically of the classical theism and traditional morality of Western civilization, which, I maintain, are superior -- rationally, morally, and socio-politically superior -- to absolutely every alternative on offer."

The amount of sheer arrogance in that statement is mind-boggling. Realize that when Feser is talking about the "classical theism of Western civilization", he"s basically talking about conservative Christianity. Also realize that Feser bases his book almost entirely on two things: Platonic ideals and the Arisotelian final cause. The two are entirely unconnected.

Feser"s argument is basically that you can logically prove God exists and that he is a being of pure Being. I may or may not deal with the absurdity of that statement in a later post, if I get around to it. But nothing in Feser"s claim is exclusive to Jehovah. It applies to YHWH to about the same degree as Vishnu. But Feser disregards all the other possibilities out of hand because they"re not Western enough. Ooooh, scary foreign philosophies.

It"s also an unfair statement because the God in Feser"s logical argument isn"t the God of Western Civilization, i.e. Christianity. There really isn"t a religion in the world that says God is a being of pure Being and stops there. No, they all carry the baggage of specific supernatural claims with them. God is triune, transubstaniation, demonic possession, an angel that wields a sword of fire that turns every which way. You can"t have just a vague, hand-waving claim about God that you say proves how superior "Western civilization" is without also claiming all the supernatural baggage that comes with the dominant religion of Western Civ.

In other words Ed, Quetzalcoatl called while you were out and, man, is he ever pissed.

How to Heal : Animal & Pet Alternative Healing & Medical Diagnosis

2010-01-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

How to Heal : Animal & Pet Alternative Healing & Medical Diagnosis

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Miscellenia

2010-01-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

Lots of little things to say, so I"m squashing it all into one post.

Canada

I always get an overload of what"s going on in Canada in the weeks right after I move back up for university. Part of what contributes to the overload is the dearth of information on Canada that Americans receive, but that"s not the main subject here. The point here actually relates to what happened 5 years ago on this date, when the World Trade Center was attacked, prompting the US to launch its war on terror.

It"s taken a while, but it seems with the recent terrorist plot over the summer, Canadians have finally broken out of their "It can"t happen here" mentality. Canadians just didn"t give the world anything to hate them about, and thus had been relatively safe from international terrorists. But it seems that this new breed of terrorist cares less about what people did, and more about what people are. Canada was targeted simply because it was a secular/Christian country, which to the mind of a Muslim wacko means it must be destroyed. In the end, it"s just good to see that Canadians have woken up to this kind of threat without anyone having had to die.

All of this is not to say I support the actions taken by the US in the "War on Terror," but I support the goal of stopping terrorism. I just feel that it"s better fought by fixing the root causes--mainly the impoverished state of many of these people, and secondly their perverted religious values--than attacking the symptoms. What the US is doing is like trying to cure Strep Throat by taking a throat lozenge, when they should be taking an antibiotic.

Chiropractors

A little personal anecdote here that I kept out of my last post because I wanted to keep that one anecdote-free. Back when I was around 6 years old, I developed sharp, shooting pains in my right arm for seemingly no reason. My mother took me to a doctor and later a physical therapist, but neither could figure out what was wrong. Getting a bit desperate, she approached the father of my best friend, who happened to be a chiropractor.

She"d heard of chiropractors, and was rightfully wary of their claims to be able to treat anything, but he assured her that he was a "Straight" chiropractor, a group trying to distance themselves from the mainstream ones. He also commented that what I had sounded like a simple pinched nerve, and that he should be able to fix it easily. My mother, figuring that it couldn"t hurt (Chiropractors actually do have pretty good safety records), decided to let him try. After a single session with him, the pain in my arm decreased drastically. After a few more sessions, it vanished entirely.

Was it a placebo effect? Maybe, but I"ve never been one to be susceptible to it, and I"d already tried other treatments which had no effect. But anyways, this personal experience is why I"m trying to get the word out about the good chiropractors, and also why you might have reason to doubt my judgment about them (If I might have a bias in a certain area, I feel that others should know that so they can make an informed decision).

Autism

Something"s off in my brain, but no psychiatrist has ever been able to pin it down. I seem to lack many basic human instincts with regards to socializing, approach things a bit too logically and literally, have an almost savant-level ability in mathematics, and am prone to fits of depression. Describing it like that, I seem to fit many of the characteristics of having autistism (even leading my mother to highly suspect it at one point), but the rest of the story doesn"t fit, and no psychiatrist thought that autism was an apt descriptor for me.

The biggest problem with the theory of me being autistic is that my early development didn"t fit autistic patterns at all. At first, I was normally sociable, and my sensory and verbal development were normal (though occuring at a faster rate than many, most likely due simply to my aptitude for learning). I had no problems with repetitive behaviors, and the only problem with my education is that it was always too slow for me.

It wasn"t until second grade that I diverged drastically from normal development. I slowly withdrew from social activities, my instincts leading me towards isolation over socialization. My mind also started thinking critically about more things, and I rejected things like fashion trends as pointless and illogical. I went from hanging out with friends during recess to simply wandering around, waiting for it to be over.

I can"t remember what was going on in my mind at the time to cause it, and no one else could figure out any reason. The only theory I have is that it was a subconscious response to bullying I experienced (they always pick on the smart ones, among others); I avoided socialization to avoid the discrimination. But the problem here is that I don"t remember experiencing any bullying until a while after this, after my family had moved to a different city and I was the "new kid" in addition to being the "smart kid."

In the end, I don"t know what I am. Most likely, I simply don"t fit into any established category of mental or developmental disorders, and am just off somewhere on my own (more on this planned for a future post). My experiences looking into autism, however, and the rough similarities between it and my condition have led me to have a lot of sympathy for autistics. Hopefully we"ll be able to forge a world that excepts all of us, including autistics and those who, like me, are just plain weird.

The problem with debunking bad science...

2010-01-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

... is you need to not fuck it up.

If you"re going to flame science papers for bad mathematics, you better not do it yourself!

Junkfood Science quotes Dr John Ioannidis as follows:
"the probability that the research finding is true is only 1.5".

Sandy seems unimpressed by this figure she quotes.

[No, I didn"t quote-mine there and leave off an important word like "percent"... the quote continues " � hardly any higher...".]

I don"t know about you, but I"m very impressed by a probability larger than 1.

Having something occur more than 100% of the time seems quite dramatic enough to me.

Exactly how much more often than "occurs 150% of the time" would it take to make you guys think the effect was strong?

Maybe Junk Food Science should check the quote, because statisticians tend to get a bit skeptical when probabilities don"t come between 0 and 1.

In normal circumstances, I wouldn"t post something like that here, I"d put it in comments on the original blog, but junkfoodscience doesn"t seem to allow comments. Doesn"t even give an email address. Since I can"t say it to them quietly, I will say it to everyone loudly.

Social Environment of Obesity Trigger

2010-01-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

Newest research mentions that obesity can disseminate out of one to others.

Study which dirilis The New England Journal of Medicine lays open, the relation of social intertwining in each people can cause risk to obesity.

The study also suggests that someone still seen thin, hence doesn"t reside in around people who to suffer obesity.

� What visible on the surface of that becoming man who is having obesity is likeliest changes things correlating body size. One would thinks not problem to be big because anyway people in vinicity also big,� express researcher from Harvard Medical School in Boston Dr Nicholas A Christakis.

Body mass index ( BMI) or body weight ratio and body height is measurement to determine all subjects and test statistic complex. This size applied to determine how obtaining weight which its(the information can be gotten from friend, blood brother, couple, even from neighbour. Altogether can give effect to increase of someone body weight.

This thing is based on invention steming from study to 12067 mans that is is each other has chain the relation of social. Evaluation done out of 1971 to 2003 as part of The Framingham Heart Study.

Research identifies kluster from people who to have obesity problem in life of its(the real social environment along the length of the study time line. Kluster is extended to to become three level of separation.

During time line, possibility that they will become fat around 57% if they had friends who also has obesity problem. If blood brother or couple experience this thing ( obesity), someone risk which will experience obesity would more increases around 37% and 40%.

� Its(the social effect I am very strong taste, before the people realizes,� express writer assistant Universitas of California, San Diego Dr james H Fowler

Active Motrhers Rely on Bowtrol Colon Cleanser

2010-01-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

They say a mother�s work is never done and most active mothers would agree. With taking the kids to school, soccer practice, doctor�s appointments, shopping for groceries, keeping the house clean, and trying to fix good, nutritious meals for the family, most active mothers do not want or need something like irritable bowel syndrome to inhibit their activity and make things for difficult. That is why so many active mothers use Bowtrol Colon Cleanser

Most active mothers know that you can�t take care of your family if you are not taking care of yourself. Part of being healthy is maintaining a clean colon for good functioning of the gastrointestinal system. This provides proper intake of nutrients to the body, giving the body enough energy to function and keeping the immune system active and ready to ward off ailments and disease. The process of being healthy requires two or three bowel movements per day to shed toxins that build up in the colon. That�s where a quality, natural product like Bowtrol Colon Cleanser can come in. By using Bowtrol Colon Cleanser fecal matter can be expelled in a more effective manner. Bad bacteria that is building up in the colon and preparing to attack the body can be discharged. The result is better health.

Irritable bowel syndrome can be a real bummer. Imagine trying to concentrate on fixing a creative and healthy dinner for the family when all you can think about are abdominal cramps. Add to that feeling boated and knowing that you suffer from water retention. It makes everything much harder to accomplish. How can you think about taking care of your family when you feel so lousy? And don�t even think about the diarrhea. Having to run to the bathroom every few minutes is not only uncomfortable but it is downright inconvenient. Getting all of that stuff out of your body that causes such problems is a solution that no one can argue with. One very effective way of doing that is to use Bowtrol Colon Cleanser. Add Bowtrol Colon Cleanser to healthy eating habits, making sure that you have enough fiber, whole grains, vegetables and fruits and reducing the intake of fat and processed sugar is a great first step towards colon cleanliness and colon health. Something all busy and active mothers need. Health colons and healthy lifestyles lead to happy families, and a sure way to improve your colon health is use of Bowtrol Colon Cleanser.

For more information NATURAL COLON CLEANSING

Easy Acne Cure

2010-01-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

In this article you will learn an easy acne cure you can rely on to give you a beautiful complexion everyday for the rest of your life. This cure is working for thousands of acne sufferers around the world and is taking the natural health community by storm...

Requiring no expensive cleansers or topicals endorsed by celebrities, requiring no fad diets or fasting on apples for three days, and requiring no other time wasting acne "cure" advice that leaves you with an empty wallet and 2 months worth of acne "trying it out".

This easy acne cure works. And it works within 3-7 days. Before I go on I should add that although this method may seem "too simple", it is worth trying just because the results are so good. Anyway, here it is...

Easy Acne Cure - Step 1: Avoid vegetable oil. It causes inflammation (a known acne trigger) on a hormonal level (hormones being the no.1 reason for acne!) Sunflower oil is the main culprit, and is found mainly in pasta sauces, pesto and as cooking oil. DO NOT eat these IF you want clear skin.

By simply avoiding vegetable oil you will see an amazing difference in your skin- I can guarantee this!

Easy Acne Cure - Step 2: Get more nutrients into the body. When the body has an inefficient amount of nutrients it will start to act strangely...and one way it acts strangely is by giving you acne! So get LOTS of nutrients into your body now and start seeing possibly the best acne clearing results you will ever see in light-speed time!

Easy Acne Cure - Step 3: Check for and kill any fungi or yeast infections. These are a major hidden cause of your acne and should be eliminated asap. When I got rid of my infection, wow, my skin really didn"t go back to getting acne again.

So now you know what it takes to clear up your acne for good. No more cleansers or other expensive cures, just the beautiful complexion you deserve. This easy acne cure is all you need.

Find out more on how to cure your acne with these acne secrets

Stroke: Stroke Damage Treatment- Paralysis and Energy Healing

2010-01-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

Stroke: Stroke Damage Treatment- Paralysis and Energy Healing

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Sign of the tomes

2010-01-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

(click image to embiggen)

Does the Pill encourage teenage sex? No.

2010-01-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

Apologies, this is likely to be a long one

Executive Summary

You"re a busy person, Gentle Reader, so here"s the scoop: after a discussion over at Illinipundit, I went looking in the peer-reviewed literature to find out whether or not access to oral contraception increased sexual activity in teenagers. Basically, I was trying to find out whether making oral contraception available encourages teenagers to have more sex. I couldn"t find much of anything specifically limited to the Pill, but found quite a lot on contraception in general.

The undeniable conclusion is that access to contraception does not increase sexual activity in teenagers. Similarly and not surprisingly, access to sexual education about contraception also does not increase sexual activity in teenagers. If anything, comprehensive sexual education delays the onset of sexual activity and increases the use of contraception and condoms.

Background

Over at Illinipundit, there was a discussion about a public middle school in Maine with a health clinic that decided to proscribe birth control pills to its sexually active students. Some quick factoids from the NY Times article: there are about 500 students in the school, 135 have the parental permission required to use the clinic, 5 of those were sexually active, and they were all either 14 or 15 years old.

The scope of the teen pregnancy problem is stunning: over 40% of teenage girls are pregnant at least once by the time they"re 20. (Kirby) Furthermore, a quarter of sexually active teenagers contract an STD each year. (Kirby)

In the discussion at IP D. Boon asked this:

I would really like to see some of these studies that show the prevalence of The Pill has not led to increased sexual activity at a young age. I have no qualms about saying abstinence only education is probably a not effective, but I"ve head the opposite about the pill.

Now, I"m pretty sure the research shows that access to contraception does not increase sexual activity in teenagers, but most of what I could remember was about condoms, not the Pill. So I went to look for the actual information.

D. Boon and redstatewannabe both also said that contraception being made available would constitute an "endorsement" of the situation. It was never really explained what that meant, specifically, but I take it to mean that it would have the effect of encouraging teenagers to have sex at a young age.

Methodology

Google Scholar. Really, that"s about it. I searched for various combinations of "oral contraception", "the pill", "birth control", "contraception", "sexual activity", "teenager", "adolescent", and similar terms. I found several of what looked like good papers, read them, and followed their references to papers they cited.

I want to make it clear this wasn"t an exhaustive or comprehensive search. Google Scholar isn"t the best database out there, and finds lots of extraneous stuff. I"m a scientist and engineer; the databases I usually use don"t index this sort of social science material. I know there are other databases like Pubmed and Medline, but I don"t know how to use them. I also want to make it clear that I"m not a social scientist, so I"m generally relying on the analysis of the authors (I really don"t understand how p-values and statistical significance work). Nor did I want to spend more than an hour or two (or five, by now) on this, so I limited myself to less than a dozen papers.

My search was limited to published, peer-reviewed information and their citations. I specifically did not want to rely on any press reports because they almost inevitably over-simplify the science or get it plain wrong.

Findings

In short, neither access to contraception nor sex ed that discussion contraception hasten the initiation of sexual activity. (Committee, Kirby) Everything I found supported that conclusion. It was unanimous. Kirby even describes the amount of evidence supporting this conclusion as "overwhelming."

I was not able to find data specifically limited to the Pill, but part of that may be due to the fact that there are currently at least thirteen different contraceptive methods available, including three different formulations of the Pill. Most studies looked at contraception generally, one I found looked specifically at the effect of condoms on behavior, in the context of HIV prevention.

One thing that became clear is that access to contraception isn"t enough. Access to information and education is also very important. Zabin found that access to a health clinic that sounds very similar to the one in Maine (access to sexual education, counseling, and access to contraception and medical services) actually resulted in a significant delay in the onset of sexual behavior. Quoting the study:

While the changes in the age at first intercourse are not large, they are substantial enough -- in the direction of delay -- to refute charges that access to such services as those provided by the program encourages early sexual activity... The project appears to demonstrate that if students in junior high schools are given access to nearby services and if they are offered information and continuity of care, they will use such services, and at levels comparable to those shown by older teenagers.

It usually takes about a year for an adolescent female to seek contraceptive services after the onset of sexual activity. (Committee) The Zabin study found that with one year"s access to the program, a female student was about twice as likely to have sought out such services before becoming sexually active, and the percentage at six months was 70%. In other words, it is important that sexual education and contraceptive access start before the onset of sexual activity. The median age for this onset in the Zabin study was about 15. (Admittedly, this was a study in an urban high school, were it is likely to be younger than elsewhere.)

Guttmacher et al. did a study on the effect of the condom distribution program started in 1991 in all New York City schools. This was done in the context of HIV prevention, but their results should be relevant in this discussion of sexual activity as well. They found:

Clearly, making condoms available at school does not lead to increases in sexual activity.

Furthermore,

higher-risk students reported getting a condom from school in significantly higher proportions than lower-risk students.

There was also some concern raised in the IP discussion about the confidentiality of these medical services. Several commenters felt that not informing parents that their children were sexually active was a violation of their "parental rights." According to the Committee report:

The primary reason adolescent"s [sic] hesitate or delay obtaining family planning or contraceptive services is concern about confidentiality.

In other words, the best way to make sure teenagers do not use birth control or condoms is to tell their parents. I understand the concern here, but a parent"s rights over an adolescent are not absolute. It is the moral and ethical duty of any health care worker to care for his patient"s medical needs first; the abrogated rights of a third party are a secondary concern. This isn"t to say they"re unimportant, as in the case of mandatory reporting of rape or abuse, but a teenager above the age of consent has some medical privacy rights.

Conservatives have been pushing for abstinence-only sex education for some years now. There"s even a new TV ad pushing parents to tell their children to not have sex. Personally, I think this is stupid. Not only does it completely ignore the existence of gays and lesbians, not only is it a practice that isn"t used by 90% of the American population, and not only is it the only instance I know of where mandated ignorance is a form of education, but there"s this to consider:

About 26% of adolescent couple trying to abstain from intercourse will become pregnant within 1 year. [Committee]

Conservatives usually inflate and distort condom failure rates when they try to claim they"re ineffective, but they never cite the failure rate for their abstinence programs. Over one quarter of abstinent teenage couples get pregnant within a year, and that"s not counting the couples that fail at abstinence and don"t get pregnant!

Lastly, I just want to point this out to parents that still look down on sex education and contraception. This has got to be one of the most frightening statistics I"ve seen:

First intercourse was nonvoluntary for 9 percent of teen females. This percent was higher among those who were younger at first intercourse. (Abma)

If that doesn"t make you think "Holy crap!", what does? I"m not quite sure if the use of the word "nonvoluntary" means some of these girls were just pressured into having sex as opposed to out-and-out rape, or if that"s just scientific jargon for rape, but it"s a stunning percentage. One in ten.

Mind you, that"s just for first intercourse. One in four women will be raped in their lifetime. I can"t find statistics that break it down any further, but women between 16 and 25 years old are at more than three times the risk of women in any other age group, and about 20% of women are raped by the time they"re college-aged. It"s sort of out of the scope of this blog post, but remember that women are not the only ones at risk. Six percent of rape victims are men, and in about 10 percent of both rape attempts and sexual assaults, men are the victims.

Conclusions

The literature conclusively states that access to contraception does not hasten the onset of sexual activity. Access to a comprehensive sex ed program as well as contraception actually seems to delay sexual activity in teenagers, if they get it early enough.

References

Abma, J. C., G. M. Martinez, W. D. Mosher, and B. S. Dawson. "Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing." Advance Data from Vital Health and Statistics. Series 23. Number 24 (2004).

American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence. "Contraception and Adolescents." Pediatrics 104. 1161 (1999).

Guttmacher S., L. Lieberman, D. Ward, N. Freudenberg, A. Radosh, and D. Des Jarlais. "Condom Availability In New York City Public High Schools: Relationships to Condom Use and Sexual Behavior." American Journal of Public Health. 87. 1427. doi:10.1542/peds.104.5.1161 (1997).

Kirby, D. "Emerging Answers: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy (Summary)." Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (2001).

Mosher, W. D., G. M. Martinez, A. Chandra, J. C. Abma, and S. J. Willson. "Use of Contraception and Use of Family Planning Services in the United States: 1982�2002." Advance Data from Vital Health and Statistics. No. 350 (2004).

Zabin, L. S., M. B. Hirsch, E. A. Smith, R. Streett, and J. B. Hardy. "Evaluation of a Pregnancy Prevention Program for Urban Teenagers." Family Planning Perspectives 18. 119 (1986).

U.S. Attorney scandal

2010-01-28T06:44:00.000-08:00

A commenter over at It"s Matt"s World had just doesn"t seem to understand why anyone is so upset about the recent firing of all those US Attorneys. Yes, they are political appointees of the President, but they work in the Department of Justice. The DOJ is not the political enforcer of the President"s political party.

Digby, quoting Kevin Drum in today"s Washington Monthly, puts it well:

the only serious argument that Purgegate is a scandal is related to the reason for the Pearl Harbor Day massacre. If seven U.S. Attorneys were fired that day for poor performance, that would be fine. If they were fired for insufficient commitment to Bush administration policies, that would be fine too. But there"s considerable reason to believe that at least some of them were fired because either (a) they were too aggressive about investigating Republican corruption or (b) they weren"t aggressive enough about investigating Democrats.

That"s it. That"s the argument. David Iglesias: Didn"t bring indictments against some local Democrats prior to the 2006 election. John McKay: Failed to invent voter fraud cases that might have prevented a Democrat from winning the 2004 governor"s race in Washington... And this all comes against a background that suggests the Bush Justice Department has initiated fantastically more investigations of Democrats than Republicans over the past five years.

Although there wasn"t any fellatio involved (that we know of) this leads to a suspicion that somebody was obstructing justice, which last I heard was still a crime.

He also links to this article in Washington Monthly, showing that at the local level, the DOJ has instituted seven times more investigations into Democrats than Republicans.

Skeptics� Circle #7 is up

2010-01-27T20:56:00.000-08:00

It"s time again, the seventh skeptic"s circle is up and running on Thoughts From Kansas. Some good skeptical reading there from the usual suspects about quackery, religion, science and society. Support the skeptic"s circle, visit Thought from Kansas and read a solid set of posts. Great round-up.

Marketing and Medicine: Part Two

2010-01-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

Last entry, I mentioned that there are at least 14 different formulations produced with the Tylenol brand name to help treat cough, cold, and flu symptoms. Here"s a piece of valuable information. There aren"t anywhere near 14 different drug ingredients on the market for cough, cold, and flu.

Any pharmacist can tell you that all these products are just rehashings and reformulations of the same five or six different drugs in different combinations with fancy new labels. And Tylenol isn"t the only corporation using this strategy; they all are. Pfizer has half a dozen different Sudafed products to capitalize on the popularity of the brand. Wyeth"s Robitussin is the same deal.

There are five big drug classes used to treat cold and flu symptoms: Pain relievers/fever reducers, antihistamines, decongestants, cough suppressants, and expectorants. Most of the multi-symptom cold products contain Tylenol, otherwise known as acetaminophen, as a pain-reliever and fever reducer. You"ll see a lot more combination products with acetaminophen than you will other pain relievers like ibuprofen because acetaminophen has fewer gastrointestinal side-effects and isn"t as likely to interact with other medications. And no matter how many different "cough" products you see marketed, there are only two FDA-approved "cough" ingredients commonly available OTC, those being dextromethorphan and guaifenesin. Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant available in a wide variety of products, commonly those tagged with "DM," like Mucinex-DM, but you"ll rarely find it by itself. Guaifenesin is an expectorant, which thins secretions in the lungs and chest to make them easier to cough up.

The attentive reader (or those living outside the U.S.) will note that I didn"t mention codeine, because getting codeine cough syrup without a prescription in the States is practically impossible because of how much paperwork and hassle is involved in selling it. It"s more abusable, honestly doesn"t work any better than dextromethorphan, and a huge pain in the ass for both pharmacists and the chains they work for.

So no matter how many cough medicines are on the shelves, they all contain more or less the same thing in different boxes. And it doesn"t matter what the box looks like; all that matters are the active ingredients listed on the back.

My personal favorite "misleading" branding/packaging in the Tylenol line is either Tylenol Sore Throat liquid or Tylenol Severe Allergy. The sore throat liquid is a great source of amusement for me because Tylenol itself is an excellent treatment for a sore throat; there"s no need to add anything else to it. But many people think that medication for a sore throat or to stop a cough needs to be a liquid so that it can coat the throat. This is totally false. Liquids might have a soothing effect on the throat, such as hot tea, but as long as the acetaminophen dosage is the same, it doesn"t matter whether you drink it or swallow a tablet. It"s all going into your bloodstream before it does any real work, although the liquid might theoretically work slightly faster because liquids are absorbed more quickly. That has more to do with what goes on in your intestinal tract than anything involving your throat.

The "severe allergy" product amuses me because the only ingredient in the product that will do anything to reverse an allergic reaction is diphenhydramine, otherwise known as Benadryl. If you"re having a truly "severe" allergic reaction, you need an EpiPen or steroids like prednisone. Benadryl is just not going to cut it.

Combination products with three or four different ingredients are a "shotgun" approach to symptoms. True, you"re probably covering all the potential problems, but you"re also probably taking at least one medication that you don"t need. Tylenol PM is my least favorite product on the pharmacy shelf; it"s a combination of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine. Acetaminophen, flat-out, does not cause drowsiness. It plays absolutely no role in helping you sleep. It"s the diphenhydramine that knocks many people out. Again with the Benadryl. I always tell people looking for the Tylenol PM to get a box of generic diphenhydramine instead. It"s going to have the exact same effect, it"s cheaper, and you"re not taking unnecessary acetaminophen, which can be toxic to the liver. True, most people aren"t going to even approach a toxic dose of acetaminophen by taking Tylenol PM, but if you start combining cold products without reading the labels it"s pretty easy to approach the 4 grams/day limit. The manufacturers know this, too, which is why a lot of packaging carries text that says "acetaminophen warning" now.

So be pharmsavvy and ignore the front of the box. Flip it around, check the ingredients, and ask your pharmacist for help selecting individual products for specific symptoms instead of assuming that just because something says "cold and flu" that it"s the magic remedy you"re looking for.

DCVDP

2010-01-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

In this post, the Infidel David asked if there really was such a thing as Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. Could I make this stuff up? From their website:

ID-proponents and public imagination against Science

2010-01-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

The theory of evolution has overwhelming scientific support and it"s standard and basic of all biological sciences (Palaeontology, Genetics, Zoology, Molecular Biology and other fields). There are no "major gaps" in the theory of evolution and fact is that Darwinism is accepted by every serious biologist in the world.

Opponents of evolution want to make a place for ID by spreading confusion and by creating a widespread impression that the scientific consensus has a doubtful foundation. Paul over at NYT.com did a wonderful job cutting through the confusion and getting into the heart of matter (via via). There"s no controversy about the validity of evolutionary theory � it�s all about religion and public imagination.

Scientific truth is determined by peer review, not public opinion and in The Seattle Times there�s an editorial called The philosophy of intelligent design where the difference is explained:

A scientific hypothesis must be falsifiable to fail. The theory of evolution, for example, postulates complex life arising from simple life. If the geological record showed otherwise � that the further one went back, the more complex life was, or that unrelated species repeatedly appeared as if from nowhere � that would falsify the theory.

Intelligent design implies that God did it. That may be true. Certainly, millions of Americans believe so. But intelligent design is not a scientific theory because there is no set of facts that would disprove it. No matter what science says tomorrow, a believer in intelligent design could say, "Yes, that"s the way God did it."

If someone wants to change the theory of evolution they need to come up with some hard Science to prove it. They can"t because their arguments don"t hold up.

Presidential science adviser John H. Marburg III, who told The New York Times that intelligent design "is not a scientific concept," said Bush believes it should be discussed as part of the "social context" in science classes.

Teaching ID theory in classroom will introduce some kind of laissez-faire amongst students and it will undermine real Science. Students will not need any efforts to understand Science, they can just point to ID and say "Well, the Creator did it � I don"t need to understand it", when something becomes to complicated.

It"s shocking too that ID is already being taught in classroom and accepted as a possible explanation of human existence and some school board has already revised its science curriculum to allow the teaching of creationism.

If the White House will spread this to the entire world, then we need not worry about terrorist bombs - we will have "intelligent design" to take us back to Stone Age. And that would be a quite foolish thing to do.

Alternative Medicine Acceptance On The Increase

2010-01-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

Alternative Medicine Acceptance On The Increase

The use of alternative medicine is increasing and in Australia it has become an integral part of our healthcare. With our multi-cultural society alternative medicine has become more acceptable to many Australians. Practitioners of alternative remedies often learn homeopathy, kinesiology, chiropractics, reflexology, body works, osteopathy, aromatherapy, iridology, electro-magnet therapy, nutritional therapy, naturopathy and acupuncture.

Alternative medicine believes that our bodies have the innate powers to do the healing. It requires the patient willing to take make some life style changes over long period. This is important to help with the prevention and treatment of the ailment. If it is only a cover up for life long symptoms then alternative medicine is no better than conventional medicine.

Final

2010-01-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

�yurveda (pronounced Aa-yer-vay-da), said to
be a world medicine, is the most holistic or comprehensive
medical system available. Before the
arrival of writing, the ancient wisdom of healing,
prevention, and longevity was a part of the spiritual
tradition of a universal religion. Healers gathered
from the world over, bringing their medical
knowledge to India. Veda Vyasa, the famous sage,
preserved the complete knowledge of �yurveda
in writing, along with the more spiritual insights
of ethics, virtue, and Self-Realization. Others say
�yurveda was passed down from God to his angels,
and finally to humans.

Tips To help You Lose Weight

2010-01-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

A study just published by scientists from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) should have some women reaching for the tape measure. The study has shown that women with a waist measurement of 34 inches (86 cms) or more have almost double the risk of developing womb cancer. More than 6000 British women are diagnosed with womb cancer every year, and about 1000 die from it. This adds to earlier research showing an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes for women with large waists. Don�t kid yourself that it won�t happen to you. There are all sorts of other reasons to lose weight. This is not a vanity issue � it is a health and happiness issue. Being overweight is likely to lead to pain, discomfort and ill health.

You may be saying you know all that, but dieting doesn�t work. I agree that dieting doesn�t work, so try making some minor changes in your life. Here are some ideas:

1. Taking a zinc supplement can reduce a craving for chocolate.

2. Keeping a food diary can help you eat better. Write down everything you eat. You may be surprised at the junk or the quantity you actually eat.

3. Don"t order a large portion in a restaurant and think it"s OK because you"ve ordered a "lite" drink or used a no-calorie sweetener.

4. Skipping meals makes it more likely that you"ll overeat later. Eat 5-6 small meals a day to maintain your blood sugar levels and minimise mood changes.

5. If you"re trying to lose weight, motivate yourself by doing it for a good cause and get your friends to sponsor you.

6. So you over-ate, don"t let that be an excuse to give up. No one succeeds all the time.

7. Eat with a naturally slim friend and watch them carefully. They probably eat slowly, chew their food well and stop eating while they"re talking. Copy this way of eating in your life.

8. Snack from a plate, not the packet -- it is easy to feel you should finish the packet. Put what you need on a plate, and put the rest of the pack out of sight.

9. If you always want a second helping, make your first helping smaller, so that you can have that second helping without putting on weight.

10. Get yourself even more motivated by finding more reasons to lose weight. Did you know, for example, that there�s a direct link between obesity and some of the common eye conditions that cause blindness?

11. If you like these tips you can get more by installing our Google gadget on a personalised Google homepage.

VAXA, Diabin, Natural Diabetes Treatment, Diabetes Diet Supplement, Homeopathic Medicinal

2010-01-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

The good medicine for deabetic, details read this description:
Eating too many of today"s overly processed foods strains your body"s proper control of blood sugar levels and often leads to insulin insufficiency and erratic secretion of insulin - precursors to diabetes. The ingredients in this formula support the body"s ability to naturally: Help use insulin more efficiently. Help regulate proper glucose metabolism. Help increase insulin sensitivity within the circulatory system. Help rebuild damaged pancreatic tissues.
Diabin is a natural diabetes treatment that is formulated to provide extra nutritional support for maintaining appropriate blood sugar levels, and helps the body maintain appropriate Insulin sensitivity. 30-Day MONEY BACK Guarantee! 60 Capsules.

Free money

2010-01-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

No, really, I"m not kidding. I use my Discover credit card for pretty much everything. It"s easier than writing a check, and safer than carrying cash. As long as you pay the bill off every month, and electronic bill paying has made that easier than ever, there"s no down side. Plus, you get cash back. For Discover, it"s 0.25% on your first $1,500 of purchases a year ($4), then 0.5% on your next $1,500 ($8), then 1% after that. Hmm, I actually thought it was more than that.

I just found a much better deal. Chase has Cash Plus Rewards Visa program that offers 1% back on all your purchases, but 5% back on all grocery, drugstore, and gas purchases. It"s four times better than Discover right out of the starting gate.

Say you spend $50 a week at the grocery store. With Discover, that means that you"re getting back about $9 per year. Not a huge amount, but that"s a couple of free movie rentals. With the Chase card, you"re getting back $130 a year, which is nothing to laugh at. That means gas is thirteen cents cheaper a gallon. I"ve heard of people driving across town to save five cents per gallon.

Mind you, you"d better have the financial self-discipline to pay off the bill on time, in full, every month. If not, don"t bother. Use cash.

UPDATE 2006-07-31: That link doesn"t seem to be working anymore. Try this one instead.

Hey -- I"m open minded

2010-01-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

You might assume that I"m closed-minded about "alternative" treatments. For instance, I"ve always suspected that acupuncture was a bunch of nonsense. I mean, how the heck does it work?

But, here"s a scientific double blind study on acupuncture and arthritis in the knee.

Newsweek article

This study indicates that it works! (in the knee, at least, for a while)

Great! I"ll now be less skeptical about acupuncture. I think it should be further studied and, when proven, be adopted by medical doctors.

I still seriously doubt that acupuncture is the "heal all" often claimed and I REALLY doubt those charts linking a spot on the big toe to your spleen (or whatever).

My main point is that there is proven medicine and unproven treatments. The unproven treatments should be studied and proven before it is called medicine.

Powerline Vertical Knee Raise PVKC83W

2010-01-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

Product Description
This freestanding VKR / Chin / Dip combo machine is exactly what you need to bulk up your arms and shoulders while you lose inches and rip your abs. Do knee raises, leg raises and oblique bends. Grab the dip handles to develop massive triceps. This machine has it all
Detail click image above.....

Transitions

2010-01-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

I"m on call, waiting for a c-section to go. My thesis is written (actually halfway through draft 2), my paper (about the thesis work) is also written, mostly. My presentation for my defense is done. What else to do, but blog?

You know, it"s kind of funny. With fellowship winding down (IF they will ever let me defend so I can graduate...), I"ve been reflecting on the past.

Transitions are always an odd time. I"ve had plenty of them... you"d think I"d be used to it by now. But I think you never really get used to packing up your life and moving it halfway across the country. One of the weird things about medical training is that you have ~3-4 times you pack up your life and move sort of built into the training.

Anyway, this has me feeling kind of introspective, thinking about this and other transitions. I moved a lot as a kid. By the time I was in 9th grade, I had been in 9 different schools in 7 different cities, spread up to 5000 miles in distance. Thanks, BP! So, again, I should be used to this by now.

So, in some ways, this is like almost any move: Rediculously expensive, stressful (it takes a lot to get things organized to move me+2 cats), etc. But mostly, it"s not like my other moves. Just a month into the fellowship here (back in August, 2006), I decided that these people were not very nice (the MFM division, not the patients... there are a few nice attendings, but for the most part, I"m treated worse here than I was as a resident), and that I wouldn"t be staying. I flirted with an ICU fellowship and a PhD, but decided not to do them primarily because I don"t want to have to be here any more. So, unlike most of my other moves, there"s a sense of relief. A sense of "Thank goodness I can drive away on June 28 and it will all be over, and I"ll never be under the control of those people ever again."

Also, this time, I have movers who are going to show up on June 27th and pack up all of my crap. I"m looking forward to that being a lot easier than packing it up myself, throwing it in a UHaul and driving it 2600 miles across the country.

However, the rituals of moving, the sorting through my stuff, getting immunization records, tb records, licenses, credentialling is so reminiscent of other transisions, it"s just hard not to feel like it"s happening again.

It"s weird, sort of. My ability to get settled in this fellowship was hampered by the fact that I was still suffering the effects of a terrible incident from residency. Something I"ve realized wasn"t really my fault, even if I was one of the primary "dramatis personae", as it were. And, so I find myself feeling anxious. Anxious, partly because just the fact that I"m at another turning point in my life is so reminiscent of how terrible I felt the last time in my life I was in this place. And a little anxious because I keep thinking of that... that.. thing. (Although a little known secret... trying to not think about bad stuff doesn"t help... but in a weird way, just letting yourself think about it kind of does).

And I"m anxious for all the normal reasons... will my new job be nice? Will people like me there? Will I like the people there?

Having said that, I"m not abnormally anxious, and in general, I"m really looking forward to working wiht and for people who will not (I hope) do things like cancel my defense 4 hours prior to the event, after I"ve already had to make an emergency call switch because they rescheduled it 4 days prior to the date..and then reschedule it ("with a 95% certainty") for 2 weeks away.

Sorry, another non-medical post. I guess I"m in a more personal mood right now. I"ll get over it. Maybe.

(picture credit)

Sometimes they make it too easy...

2010-01-27T03:13:00.000-08:00

Here"s an advertisement for a "debate" some Creationists are hosting, found via The Panda"s Thumb. Take note if you see anything odd (you might need a full notebook for this).

Darwin or Design?

Part I: Sept 29-30

Sponsored by Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity (PSSI)
� USF�s Sun Dome
Friday night, Sept 29, at 7:00 p.m.
Dr. Michael Behe, author of Darwin�s Black Box
Dr. Ralph Seelke, research scientist in microbiology
Dr. Jonathan Wells, author of Icons of Evolution

Note: High school and college faculty and students will be admitted free of charge with appropriate ID.
The admission fee for all others is $5. For more information, call (813) 974-3111.

� Radisson Hotel Ballroom, Lectures with Open Forum Saturday, Sept 30, 10:00 a.m. until noon*
Drs. Michael Behe, Ralph Seelke and Jonathan Wells
* 12600 Roosevelt Blvd., St. Petersburg - www.radisson.com/stpetersburgfl
Note: Complimentary coffee and tea served. A free-will donation will be requested to help with expenses.

Part II: November 3-4

Co-Sponsors: PSSI and The Campus Humanistic Society
� The Great Debate: Darwin or Design?
Friday evening, Nov 3, at 7:30 p.m.
Grace Family Church in Tampa**
Featuring: Dr. Stephen Meyer, Ph.D. in philosophy of science, Cambridge University
and Dr. Donald Duh, professor (emeritus) at Whatever State University
** 5101 Van Dyke Rd, Lutz, FL � www.gracefamilychurch.org

� Exploring the Evidence of Design, Saturday, Nov. 4 Calvary Baptist Church, 9:00 a.m.-noon
Christ Community Church, 1:30-4:30 p.m.***
Featuring: Dr. Stephen Meyer of the Discovery Institute, Dr. Walter Bradley, Dean of Engineering at Baylor University and co-author of The Mystery of Life�s Origin, and Dr. Thomas Woodward, professor at Trinity College and author of Doubts about Darwin and Darwin Strikes Back
*** Calvary Baptist, 110 N. McMullen Booth Rd, Clearwater � www.calvarybaptist.org; Christ Community, 6202 N Himes Ave, Tampa, (813) 879-2077 � www.tampaccc.org

Where to begin? How about the part that got me laughing out loud when I first read through it: Dr. Donald Duh(ck), professor (emeritus) at Whatever State University. I mean, are these people trying to look like jokes? To be fair, this was actually a draft that got accidentally released and published, but reading it reveals explicitly how little they care about a serious debate. Other things revealing their nefarious intentions:

The first part is sponsored by the Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity, which sounds good, but on a ~~close inspection~~ brief glance at their homepage, they"re revealed to merely be Creationist lapdogs.
Look at the three people speaking. Behe and Wells have both written books trying to debunk Darwinism (not Evolution, the strawman of Darwinism they"ve created). Seelke at first looks like he might be legit, but his homepage shows that he"s written a number of papers attacking evolution. So, not one person on the evolution side of the issue is speaking in the entire first part.
The co-sponsors for the second part are PSSI (covered above) and the "Campus Humanistic Society." Let"s look at the Campus Humanistic Society... Oh, wait, it apparently doesn"t exist. It"s apparently a fake organization put on the poster in order to make it appear that Humanists are sponsoring the debate. And, in the vein of "Evolutionists," they"ve gone and added an extra suffix to "Humanist" to make it look stupid (or maybe that wasn"t intentional, in which it serves to make them look stupid). This kind of reminds me of a Creationist editor over at Wikipedia who used words like "scientifical."
The debate is hosted at the Grace Family Church. Big conceit to neutral ground there, eh?
Oh look, the next item is at the Calvary Baptist Church and the Christ Community Church. If possible, even more neutral. *eyeroll*
And again, all the people listed for the next series of presentations are known Creationists.
In the end, the only person there actual on the side of ~~Evolution~~ Darwinism is Dr. Donald Duh(ck). They sure picked a lunker there to balance out so many Creationists, eh?

Ibogaine- Natural Healing with an Herbal Alternative to Rehab

2010-01-27T02:19:00.000-08:00

Ibogaine. Funny word, yes but many people may ask themselves what is Ibogaine, and what does it do, and why is it important, well let"s begin with what it is.

Ibogaine is an herbal product made from an indigenous African plant, Tabernanthe iboga, which for centuries has been used by the native tribes for spiritual journeys and introspection. It has a hallucinogenic component but is not addictive whatsoever.

In 1962, a New York based heroin addict named Howard Lotsof took Ibogaine believing it to be some new kind of recreational drug. Much to his surprise some 30 hours later Lotsof realized that he was not experiencing heroin withdrawal, and further had no desire to seek drugs. He began to casually experiment and found similar results with other heroin users. Twenty years later Lotsof set about trying to bring Ibogaine to market as a cure for addiction, he formed a company, applied for patents and began conducting more in depth research into the how"s and whys of Ibogaine and its potential to be an alternative therapy in the addiction battle.

The next question one may ask is "What does Ibogaine do?" The answer to this question is a complex one, since addiction and its treatment are complex issues.

In a study conducted in 1994, determined Ibogaine to be a competitive inhibitor of MK-801 binding to the NMDA receptor complex. MK-801 has been shown to attenuate tolerance to opiates and alcohol. MK-801 has also shown a blockade of "reverse tolerance" of stimulants. Ibogaine"s effects on dopamine, a substance hypothesized to be responsible for reinforcing pleasurable effects of drug abuse, and the dopamine system were found in subsequent studies. Yet another study conducted in 1992 found that Ibogaine binds to the Kappa opiate receptor. Thus we begin to see a broad spectrum of mechanisms by which, Alternative medicine like Ibogaine may moderate use of substances so diverse as opiate narcotics, stimulants and alcohol.
Now while this may be the scientific reasons, patients that have used this alternative medicine, report that while Ibogaine has a clinical effect on the body, its hallucinogenic constituates allow the patient to enter an "awake dreaming" state, this can allow them to examine the root cause that fuels the need for drugs. Patients can then receive appropriate counseling and therapy for these issues, which is always a part of the aftercare process.

Ibogaine represents a revolution in treating one of the largest epidemics worldwide, but as with all alternative medicine, the government and the pharmaceutical super machine have done everything in their collective powers to vilify yet another herbal medicine. Most believe that it is because it is in the best interest of big government and big business to do so, if word got out that there were natural products that could cure addiction in mere hours the government (through taxation) and the pharmaceutical giants (through loss of sales) would stand to lose billions, never mind that helping those afflicted with a disease (and yes, addiction is a disease and a lifelong one for most) is the right thing to do.

Ibogaine is yet another example of how natural products have the potential to cure one of the largest plagues that mankind has ever known.

About the Author
In 1995, Deborah Gez created Moriah Herbs, and brought more than 30 years of experience to the field of herbal medicine. Moriah Herbs is a leader in aromatherapy, essential oils and herbal healing.

Check out http://www.moriahherbs.com or http://www.moriahherbs.blogspot.com

Where is the outrage?

2010-01-26T20:48:00.000-08:00

The election is tomorrow, and I will either shut up about politics for a while, or I"ll curl up in the fetal position for the next four years. But one thing I just don"t seem to get is that the Republican party is mounting what appears to be a coordinated attack on our country and no one is paying attention.

In Ohio, a swing state (surprise), it took a judge to prohibit Republicans from challenging voter elegibility actually inside the polling locations. They were planning to mount these challenges in primarily minority neighborhoods, which would likely go slanted toward the Democrats.

In Florida, they are dressing up as gay ACT-UP activists from San Francisco and claiming that a vote for Kerry is a vote for gay marriage and gay adoption.

In Michigan, Republicans are calling voters and posing as Democrats. The pre-recorded message asks voters to "remember to legalize gay marriage by supporting John Kerry" and that "Gay marriage is a right we all want. It"s a basic Democrat principle."

In a number of swing states, Republican firms have destroyed Democratic voter registration forms.

In West Virginia, calls to Democrats from the Eastern Panhandle Republican Headquarters falsely told the voters that they were not registered, and would not be able to vote in this election.

And then in Alabama, there"s this:

Kos has a great blog post up (the last two came from there) with even more outrageous examples of these nearly-treasonous activities.

And no one is reporting on this! This is a direct attack on our government and our way of life, and it"s basically being ignored or treated as business as usual. The level of cynicism and lust for power on the part of the Republican party that it shows is simply astounding.

Nightfall

2010-01-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

"Is anyone here a doctor?" you call out.

You hear a few affirmations, one of which manages to push his way to the front. He comes up and gives Infophile a cursory examination before proclaiming to the room, "This man... has been shot!" Consistent with the laws of narration, a bolt of lightning can be seen and heard striking outside immediately after this statement.

"Um, that wasn"t much of an examination. I don"t even see a bullet wound on him. Are you sure you"re a real doctor?" you ask.

"Of course I am!" the man replies indignately. "I"m Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, also known as the father of homeopathy. And this makes me particularly well-qualified to examine this individual as he"s not only been shot - he"s been homeopathically shot. That is, he"s been shot by no bullets at all!" Another bolt of lightning.

"We really have to start screening these things, at least to get rid of the obvious psychos," a fellow skeptic comments. "A modern woo is bad enough, but here"s someone who thinks he"s a woo who"s been dead for over 150 years."

"Hmph, crazy am I?" Hahnemann says. "If you"re so certain who the crazy one is, then how about you take a look outside?"

Another skeptic rolls her eyes and replies, "Fine, fine. But do you mind telling us in advance what you expect us to see? If you don"t make a prediction beforehand, you can come back and claim later that anything odd we see was what you"d expected."

"Just look," he says. "Trust me, it"ll be enough to assuage your doubts."

"Um, I think we have a problem here..." you hear from a skeptic who"d gone off to check outside during the previous exchange.

"What is it?" you ask.

"I think it"s Bigfoot... and he"s being abducted by aliens."

You"re about to rush out to confirm for yourself (a claim like this just has to be confirmed firsthand), but when Hahnemann starts to speak, you just have to stop to hear whatever he has to say next: "So you see! It"s already too late. When your eyes were distracted from the actual world, we staged a coup. It now works according to our rules!" Hahnemann breaks into a maniacal laugh as his body fades away. As it vanishes, a ghost-like apparition breaks out of it and disappears through a wall.

"...Okay, did anyone else just see his body disappear and a ghost rush out?" you ask timidly. You hear grumbled assent from the rest of the skeptics assembled. "...Right. So, what next?"

"Well, do we really have to do anything?" one skeptic asks. "If homeopathy actually works, couldn"t that be a good thing?"

"Sure," another replies, "until someone uses its principles to kill someone by shooting them with no bullets."

"Okay, well what about other alternative medicine? What if stuff like "Traditional Chinese Medicine" actually works?"

"Okay, that might not be so bad, but we"re going to get some of the negative claims of alties along with it. Now you can expect that everyone who had mercury-containing vaccines will actually become autistic, or that morning-after pills will actually do nothing."

"And what about woo that contradicts other woo? What"s going to happen in those cases?"

"I"ll tell you what"s going to happen," a new voice says, as a figure steps out of the shadows on stage. "Reality will be torn apart, until there no longer is such a thing as an objective reality. It"s how many of them already see the world, and soon enough it will be the case. By my estimates, we have only tonight to fix things. After that, it"ll be too late."

"Wait a second... you"re Infophile!" a nearby skeptic exclaims at the newcomer.

"Heh, not quite. I"m his alter ego, Nate Black. Back in January, Infophile received word of an attempted coup by the other faction, so he set up plans to counter it, the primary of which being me. I was created for this very moment, such that even if Infophile were taken out of the picture, someone would be around who knew what was happening.

"So, here"s the situation. Woos have struck at the foundation of reality, and it"s now determined by the popularity of ideas. Simply put, the argument from popularity actually works now. Many like-minded woos have grouped together so that in certain areas, their beliefs will take form."

"Wait, hold on," one skeptic says. "You"re going to have to excuse me if I"m a bit skeptical of all of this. Woo taking over the world in one night? Seems very far-fetched, even taking into account the Bigfoot abduction sighting and the ghost of Hahnemann."

"Perfect. Keep up that attitude and we might have a chance. The firmer your grasp on reality, the better you"ll be able to fight back. But just remember, now isn"t the time to get stuck in an Ivory Tower of skepticism. Tonight, we have to fight.

"Now, there"s a ton of varied woo out there that we"re going to have to fight, so we"re going to have to split up to take on the woo we"re each best capable of fighting. Don"t worry about traveling; I"ve got "connections." You"re probably best at predicting where the woos are going to start to group, so you tell me where you think you"ll need to go."

They could be going after the media...

They"re going to be trying to take over education.

Fuckwit

2010-01-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

I mentioned this guy"s blog in a previous post.

I"ve changed my mind. He might have some interesting political opinions, but he"s an asshole.

Maybe not so tradtional, after all

2010-01-26T14:11:00.000-08:00

Stephanie Coontz has an editorial in todays New York Times about how our fixation on marriage as a deep and overriding emotional bond may be misplaced. She makes the argument that it is not the historical view of marriage, and that it may be costing us other relationships, traditionally viewed as more important than one with a spouse:

Until 100 years ago, most societies agreed that it was dangerously antisocial, even pathologically self-absorbed, to elevate marital affection and nuclear-family ties above commitments to neighbors, extended kin, civic duty and religion.

Weirdly, the change in our view of marriage that began in the 1950s may actually be detrimental to society as a whole:

By the early 20th century, though, the sea change in the culture wrought by the industrial economy had loosened social obligations to neighbors and kin, giving rise to the idea that individuals could meet their deepest needs only through romantic love, culminating in marriage. Under the influence of Freudianism, society began to view intense same-sex ties with suspicion and people were urged to reject the emotional claims of friends and relatives who might compete with a spouse for time and affection.

The right-wings fetishization of "traditional" marriage isn"t about returning to some historically accurate version of a bond that has been changed by the homosexual activists. If that were the case, they"d be arguing in favor of arranged marriages, which were the standard in the Western world for thousands of years, and exist in more traditional cultures to this day. Rather, it"s about being holier-than-thou.

Deepak Chopra, �quantum�, and Ig Nobel prizes

2010-01-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

For all science fans out there who have not heard about the Ig Nobel prizes yet, I hereby order you to go and buy the book: The Ig Nobel Prizes: The Annals of Improbable Research! The Ig Nobel prizes are dealt out annually at Harvard University, for indisputably ingenious research. Forget stem cells and neutrinos, and instead read about how pigeons have been trained to discriminate between paintings by Picasso and Monet, how scientist have created a computer program that detects when your cat walks on your keyboard, the optimal way of dunking your biscuit, or about solid evidence for the already well known fact that if you drop your sandwich it will fall with the butter side down!

One man who has been honored with an Ig Nobel Prize is my great idol, Deepak Chopra. The official statement said the following: "Deepak Chopra of the Chopra center for well being, La Jolla, California, for his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic happiness".

Physicists stand beside with saliva dripping out of their mouths while Deepak take their theories to new unimaginable heights. Here are a few quotations that illustrate the creativity of Deepak Chopra when it comes to the implications of quantum physics.

(1) "The most important routine to follow is transcending: the act of getting in touch with the quantum level of yourself"

(2) "Quantum health is based on the idea that we are always, forever, in transition.

(3) "The universe consists of a "field of all possibilities" called the "field of pure potentiality", and also the "quantum soup"

Deepak Chopra has also founded the American academy of quantum medicine where he educates his victims in "quantum nutrition". On a blog to which he contributes Deepak himself has observed that "Skeptics generally leap to the conclusion that I am naive, self-deluded, or simply unread in the sciences", and that "Skeptics believe that doubt is a positive attribute". I would sign under to both of these statements. Doubt is a valuable virtue when people like Chopra are inventing (and earning tons of money on) concepts such as "quantum nutrition", "quantum health", or the "quantum level of yourself".

I find this to be an ideal place to quote Carl Sagan, a man who can hardly be accused of being narrow minded: "Be open-minded, but not so open minded that your brains fall out"

Out-Roving Rove

2010-01-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

I"ve kept my blog pretty non-political so far, not so much out of an active decision but out of having nothing good enough to write about. An article I read in Newsweek today has given me just that. It talked about Karl Rove"s nefarious strategies, and what Democrats have been doing wrong in relation to them. It didn"t, however, go into what Democrats really should be doing. I"ve been relatively disappointed with the Democrats lately, but they"re still a vast improvement over the Republicans, so I"m here to go into what I think they should be doing.

First, let"s go over what Rove does that"s so successful. Instead of attacking the enemy"s weakness, he attacks their strength--generally with lies. When up against Gore in 2000, he turned Gore"s championing of the internet around and made it look like Gore was exaggerating about it, painting a picture of him as a big exaggerator (this didn"t stop Gore from winning the election (which a total recount of all votes in Florida showed), but then they just stole it anyway). When up against Kerry in 2004, he attacked Kerry"s reputation as a war hero by manufacturing the Swift Boat scandal, which was composed of people who weren"t in Kerry"s boat but had connections to the Bush administration claiming that the people who were in Kerry"s boat, the official record, and even the Vietnamese who hated Kerry were lying about what transpired.

So, onto what Democrats should do this time:

When Rove attacks your strong points, fight back.

If the Republicans try to bring up the Iraq war and characterize you as cut-and-runners, accept the subject but reject their analysis of it. Go into detail about all the screw-ups the Republicans have made over there, and if they try to challenge you about what you"d do to change things, don"t go into detail. (It"s not as intellectually honest as I"d prefer, but this is politics, not science.) Characterize them as the ones who created and are perpetuating a problem, and say that if people want to actually fix the problem, they should vote democratically.

Of course, don"t entirely evade the question of what you"d do in Iraq, but also be sure to challenge them on what they"re going to do. If they give the old "Stay the course" line, respond that "This course has lead the country into ruin. Do you want to go further in that direction?" As for what you"d do, give general platitudes as Nixon did in relation to pulling out of Vietnam. Say general political crap like "Reach out to Sunnis," "Train Iraqi soldiers to take care of their own country," and "Slowly reduce American presence." The public doesn"t want to hear about the details and probably won"t understand them anyway.

Attack the Republicans" strong points.

The Republicans have three major appeals these days: to the wealthy, religious, and pseudo-patriotic. The wealthy aren"t a good target here as they"re few in number, and their major contribution (money) has already been given by the campaigning stage. Rather, attack their religious and patriotic appeal. But importantly, this shouldn"t be done with lies, but with inconvenient truths.

First, for the religious appeal. They do a good job (way too good) of voting with the religious right on many issues, so that"s not a good aspect to attack. Instead, depict the candidates acting in blatantly non-Christian manners. Bring up scandal stories of them doing drugs as kids (easy to show with Bush himself), political corruption (ditto), and lying (ditto again), all very un-Christian actions. And of course, don"t do any of that yourselves.

Secondly, their pseudo-patriotic appeal. I use the "pseudo" prefix as a lot of what they do is faking it. They simply say that following them is patriotic rather than prove it. Point this out. Also harp on how this is a democracy, government by the people. It"s patriotic to do our job in watching the politicians. Use a tagline like "Patriotism is obedience in a dictatorship. In a democracy, it"s vigilance." You might even want to point out how the whole Plame Affair constitutes treason, and there"s good reason to believe some top officials were behind it.

Attack the Republicans" weak points.

This one is pretty obvious, and the Dems have already been doing a lot of it. Keep up with old talking points like how no net jobs have been created since Bush took office (meaning we have just as many, if not fewer, jobs today as we did back then, despite increasing population). Their disregard for the environment is another big one (use some of the publicity created by Gore"s recent movie for this). Last but not least, their attempt to subvert science is really bad. It shows that these guys aren"t invested in finding the truth and doing the best thing with it; they"re invested in advancing their political agenda.

Acne & Wrinkles at My Age?

2010-01-26T07:12:00.000-08:00

Puberty brought bouts of acne. In your 20s, finding Mr. or Mrs. Right was of chief consequence. When the 30s hit, you worked to raise little Johnnie or Suzie to be a model kid. Now that your hitting the fabulous 40s, you should be coasting through life, right. Well, why are you suddenly dealing with the cosmetic double whammy of acne and wrinkles? Even your insurance company figures that you should have gotten rid of acne by the age of 25.

The number people over 30 needing acne treatments has climbed to the extent that a report published in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology recommends raising the age for insurance coverage of the acne drug tretinoin to at least 40. The authors of the report, Drs. Steven Feldman and Alan Fleischer, add that many insurance companies refuse to pay for tretinoin prescriptions for patients older than 25.

Cosmetic Catch 22 Even if your insurance company leaves you to fend for yourself, you still have options for freeing yourself from acne and wrinkles. At first, coping with acne and wrinkles may seem like a cosmetic catch 22. Do you dry your skin with acne cleansers containing benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, and worsen your wrinkles? Or, do you smear on the moisturizer to smooth the wrinkles, but cope with the zits brought on by the extra oil or sensitivity to a new product?

There�s a smarter way to handle acne and wrinkles.

1. Interpret the acne

2. Allow your skin to improve as you use self-awareness to remove zits.

Interpret the acne

While dealing with acne and wrinkles, target the acne first because acne is an autoimmune disease. Having an autoimmune disease means that your thoughts, emotions, and/or environment are affecting you in an adverse way and require immediate attention. Thus, acne may reveal that you need to relax more, change your eating habits, reframe your interpersonal dialogue, stop dating that jerk from the office and/or make another beneficial alteration to your lifestyle.

Zits arrive on your face to report on some unpleasant activities within your body and life. Once you get feedback from these zits, you can take action to send the zits away while augmenting your health in the process.

Acne is usually an indication various hidden or overlooked health problems. Here�s a sample of the questions you should ask yourself when dealing with acne so that you can unravel the mystery behind your zits. Are you:

Regular?

About 70% of your immune system is located in your intestines. If this area is blocked with waste, your immuno-defenses are down. So, instead of waste leaving your body via the rectum, it chooses to leave through the skin. Waste leaving the skin can cause an infection that presents itself as acne.

Tense?

Tension likewise reduces the vigor of the immune system. Take a few deep breaths throughout the day to calm your body. Take a long walk in the fresh air to wind down.

Eating nutritionally?

Cases of acne have been improved with consuming foods containing zinc, essential fatty acids, vitamin A and a host of other nutrients. All of these vital nutrients are available in leafy green vegetables, fruits and olive oil.

Worried about unresolved issues?

Not resolving personal issues creates conflict and tension in the body. Again, these issues most be addressed to avoid undue stress within the body.

Exercising daily?

Exercise reduces stress and gives you an opportunity to subconsciously contemplate challenges that you may be facing. Physical activity also keeps your muscles and intestines toned, which keeps encourages regularity.

Changing pillowcase frequently?

Using a dirty pillowcase aggravates an acne condition. Your face naturally secretes oils during the night. These oils are sticky. So if you pillowcase if dirty, you are allowing your face to collect extra waste during the night, which could further clog your pores.

Moving or changing your job/career?

New demands or feelings of lose can sometimes accompany change. Transfer these emotions into something constructive by writing in a journal or envisioning how these changes are going to benefit you. Find comfort in these changes and opportunities for new beginnings.

Experiencing excessive facial hair growth and erratic periods?

Conditions such as acne, excessive facial hair, and erratic periods could indicate an androgen disorder or other underlying hormonal imbalances. Your doctor can provide you with a series of endocrine tests to ascertain your hormone levels and what corrective actions you should take. Ricardo Azziz, M.D, who serves as Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Director of the Center for Androgen-Related Disorders at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, estimates that 80 percent of women with excessive androgen levels suffer from an endocrine disorder called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Dr. Azziz adds that women with PCOS often have insulin resistance and are at increased risk for developing Type II diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

Once the acne is under control you can move on to the wrinkles. Another reason for treating the zits first is because if you alter your lifestyle in such as way as to free yourself from acne, and you doing this in a healthy and patient fashion, you will actually lessen the number of wrinkles you have.

Health is wholeness and beauty is a reflection of robust health. You�ll never buy robust health in a jar. It is a mind, body, spirit and environmental support system that garners full-bodied health. Lets look at want you actually need from a �beauty cream�.

Face Cream Education There are five basic ingredients in any given anti-aging or anti-wrinkling cream.

1. The oil or moisturizer

2. The preservatives to keep the cream from spoiling.

3. A scent or flavor

4. A color

5. The active ingredient.

Only one of these components is essential, the oil. The preservative is only needed to keep the cream useful. Your face does not need preservation because the skin is alive. Since some people have allergies to scents and colors in cosmetics, the body says that these two ingredients are not necessary. The active ingredient is usually the latest cosmetic drug or multivitamin that is supposed to lift or dramatically reverse your age by 5-20 years.

Researchers S. Jay Olshansky, Leonard Hayflick and Bruce A. Carnes bluntly comment on the antics of cosmetic companies in their report No Truth to the Fountain of Youth, published in the June 2002 edition of Scientific American. The authors warn everyone aiming to reverse the signs of times on their face that, �� anyone purporting to offer an anti-aging product today is either mistaken or lying�.

I bet you are thinking, �Won�t that oil make acne worse?� The answer is not if you are using the right oil. Some essential oils such as bergamont, lavender, lemon, neroli, sandalwood, tea tree and ylang ylang have cleansing and antibacterial properties which help combat acne infections. Other essential oil like geranium, clary sage and orange regulate the production of oil on the face. When mixed with a carrier oil such as jojoba or camellia, these essential oils are ideal moisturizers.

Nothing that you put on your face will truly change your appearance. Creams are useful, but they are only one instrument in an orchestra of anti-aging concerts. Health starts on the inside. If you want to improve your beauty start with how you treat yourself and feed yourself. I mean not only what foods you eat but what thoughts you eat.

You may eat thoughts of the sort, �I can�t��, �I had a stressful day�, �I�m tired of��, �I can�t wait until��, �I�m getting old�, �My body isn�t as healthy as it used to be�. The menu is endless. If you want to look young and healthy, you have to think young and healthy thoughts. Here�s steps to jumpstart your quest:

Start by changing your thinking. Develop your own youth model, i.e. with steps you�ll take to maintain your vitality and stick to it.

Enjoy nutritious foods. A study in the Journal of American College of Nutrition found that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and using olive oil every day could help keep wrinkles away. The researchers found that people who ate a diet rich in green leafy vegetables, beans, olive oil, nuts and multigrain breads, while avoiding butter, red meat and sugary goodies, were less predisposed to wrinkling. Researchers believe that antioxidant vitamins, such as A, C and E, which are found in fruits and vegetables, may help protect the skin from environmental damage.

Use a gentle cleanser each day.

Steam your face everyday for 5-15 minutes, especially if your have acne. The steam removes waxy build-up on the skin while it stimulates circulation. This combo of benefits cleans to pores to reduce the possibility of acne while firming up the skin and facial muscles.

Exfoliate your skin daily.

Moisturize your face in the morning and evening with natural oils. In addition to the acne fighting oils listed above, you can mix essential oils such as frankinsense, myrrh, neroli and rose to help encourage the growth of new skin cells. You can create a moisturizer by diluting 1-3 of your favorite essential oils in a carrier oil such as jojoba or camellia oil in a ration of 1 part essential oil to 3 parts carrier oil.

Massage your face daily when you apply your facial oil.

Lie down on an incline bench for 5-20 minutes each day to let the blood flow to your head.

Wear a sunhat in the sun.

Give yourself a light skin peel once a month.

Finally, forty can still be fabulous and your beauty-plan a lot less enigmatic. Just remember the basics, interpret the messages of your zits, and educate yourself about wrinkle creams- you don�t need them.

Naweko San-Joyz is creator of the Acne Messages program, the only acne program to combine the latest scientific research and ancient wisdom to deliver an acne cure as unique as the acne sufferer. As there are millions of people with acne, there are a millions cures, find your unique cure with Acne Messages. ISBN: 0974912204 available at Amazon and Noixia.com, Home of Six Billion Natural Cures for Acne

What distinguishes the best arguments for god from those of the ordinary believer?

2010-01-26T05:16:00.000-08:00

Atheists are often derided for arguing against the dumb arguments for God that we encounter every day. (Well, it makes sense - those are what we"re hit in the face with. Those are the ones in the media, in things like school board meetings, in everyday conversations, and the ones that show up in our blog-comments.)

But many of us get slammed for not engaging with the arguments of the sophisticated theists. I"ve seen a couple of supposedly sophisticated arguments before, and not been impressed.

Now, Greta Christina takes on the best arguments for God.

(Well, they"re framed as "questions for atheists", but they"re basically a list of "but what about this?" arguments for God.)

And one thing really stands out. I can see the difference now.

What distinguishes the best arguments for god from those of the ordinary believer?

They"re not in ALL-CAPS, 14-point purple Comic Sans, they"re correctly spelled, and they show a passing acquaintance of grammar... apart from that, well... they"re pretty much just slightly more polished versions of exactly the same arguments we see all the time.

That"s it.

That"s all they got.

I am sad.

Pushed into a church wedding?

2010-01-26T04:33:00.000-08:00

(via friendlyatheist ) On Oz Atheist, a reader, JP, asks:

Hi

i found this blog through a google - like you i am not religious but that hasnt stopped a big problem - i am due to be married and both families are pushing for a full trad church wedding (and trad dress etc) and i dont like it - i feel cornered and trapped and not sure what to do. Do you have any advice you can give me?

If you have some good advice, maybe you could drop in on the thread there and pass it on.

help For Internal Scarring

2010-01-26T04:28:00.000-08:00

I received this email query today:

I wonder if you can offer me any advice.� My dad has recently finished chemotherapy and radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer.� Fortunately it was caught early for this sort of cancer and he is doing extremely well.� However, he has internal pains when he turns - especially in bed and after a large meal.� He has been told that is normal and is the result of scar tissue around the internal area blasted with radiotherapy as scar tissue is less stretchy/ flexible etc than normal tissue.

So, is there anything you could recommend to ease this?� I wonder if there"s any product that he could take to improve the stretch or condition of internal scar tissue?

This was my reply:

Sorry to hear about your dad. I�d recommend zinc� and vitamin E. It�s not a quick cure though and he might not see nay improvement for a month, but well worth doing. People are often short of zinc anyway and it helps fight infections etc. etc.

Edumacation in Kansas

2010-01-26T02:42:00.000-08:00

Go read the new Kansas Teacher"s Guide for Intellegent Design. Put out by the Kansas State Board of Edukation.

UPDATE: The Squire has posted his response to his current pet creationist. It"s worth a read. I"m not sure I"ve ever seen as good a bitch-slap in letter form before. Plus, he quotes me, apparently under the impression I know what I"m talking about.

Bad Chinese Morality in Skin Cream

2010-01-26T02:22:00.000-08:00

Would you like to smear your face with a dead chinese? An investigation by the Guardian has discovered that a Chinese cosmetics company is using the skin of executed Chinese prisoners in their beauty products. Having a dead chinese in your skin cream is bad chinese morality and sickening!

Agents for the firm have told would-be customers it is developing collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments from skin taken from prisoners after they have been shot. The agents say some of the company"s products have been exported to the UK, and that the use of skin from condemned convicts is "traditional" and nothing to "make such a big fuss about".

With European regulations to control cosmetic treatments such as collagen not expected for several years, doctors and politicians say the discovery highlights the dangers faced by the increasing number of Britons seeking to improve their looks. Apart from the ethical concerns, there is also the potential risk of infection.
MPs on the Commons select health committee are to examine the regulatory system and may launch an investigation and question ministers about the need for immediate new controls. "I am sure that the committee will want to look at this," said Kevin Barron, its Labour chairman. "This is something everyone in society will be very concerned about."

Plastic surgeons are also concerned about the delay in introducing regulations to control the cosmetic treatments industry. Norman Waterhouse, a former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: "I am surprised that we are taking the lead from the European commission, because this is bound to delay action on this important area which is increasingly a matter for concern. It seems like a bit of a cop out to me."

It is unclear whether any of the "aesthetic fillers" such as collagen available in the UK or on the internet are supplied by the company, which cannot be identified for legal reasons. It is also unclear whether collagen made from prisoners" skin is in the research stage or is in production. However, the Guardian has learned that the company has exported collagen products to the UK in the past. An agent told customers it had also exported to the US and European countries, and that it was trying to develop fillers using tissue from aborted foetuses.

The beauty products from the skin of executed Chinese prisoners

An ambigram

2010-01-26T01:46:00.000-08:00

Hemant mentioned that he wanted a "flying spaghetti monster" ambigram tattoo.

That struck me as a pretty tricky thing to do, so I had a go at just making "Spaghetti Monster" just to see if it was possible. It"s a quick and dirty attempt with no artistic merit, but I think it"s adequate as a proof-of-concept that an ambigram something like what he wants should be quite doable in the hands of a more accomplished artist with the time to attempt it.

The Atheist "A" was just something I tossed in at the last moment (I noticed it on my blog as I was about to upload a first attempt and wondered if I could work it in. The answer was "yeah, sort of").

Herbal Medicines for Cataracts

2010-01-26T00:47:00.000-08:00

The lens, one of the eye"s primary focusing mechanisms, is located just behind the pupil. A normal lens is transparent, allowing light into the eye. Cataracts, however, renders a lens cloudy, making it difficult for the necessary light to enter. Although cataracts typically start in only one eye, both eyes usually become affected with time, causing either largely diminished sight or total blindness. Cataracts usually develop gradually many people don"t realize that they have the condition until they struggle to pass a vision test.

Cataracts is one of the world"s most common vision problems. In fact, approximately 16 million people worldwide are blind because of cataracts.

Age plays a significant role in the formation of cataracts-many people develop some clouding of the lens after age 60. Yet age isn"t the only cause. Diabetes mellitus, family predisposition, long-term use of corticosteroid drugs, and overexposure to ultraviolet rays can all lead to cataracts.
An eye injury can also cause cataract formation later in life. In rare instances, infants are born with cataracts or develop the condition shortly after birth.

Signs and Symptoms

Blurry or distorted vision in one or both eyes, which sometimes worsens in bright light

Appearance of "halos" of light around bright lights or lighted objects

Impaired night vision

Conventional Medical Treatment

An ophthalmologist tests for cataracts with a complete eye examination, a slit-lamp examination, and perhaps, ultrasonography to further evaluate the opacity of the lens. If the diagnosis is cataracts, glasses and contact lenses may be able to offer temporary help.

If your lack of vision begins to interfere with everyday activities, your physician may recommend cataract surgery. Under general or local anesthesia, the clouded lens is removed from the eye and, in most cases, replaced with an artificial one. The surgery, done on an outpatient basis, typically takes one hour. More than 98 percent of all cataract operations result in improved vision.

Complementary and Alternative Treatments

Nutrition and Supplementation
An important factor in cataract prevention is drinking water. Drink lots of filtered water; avoid fluoridated and chlorinated water. Eliminate dairy products and saturated fats, which promote the formation of free radicals and can damage the lens. Use only cold-pressed oils. Medical journals report an association between cigarettes and cataracts, probably because smoking generates free radicals.

Nutritionists recommend the following daily supplements:

Most Important

copper (3 mg)-important for proper healing and, along with manganese, retards the growth of cataracts
manganese (10 mg taken separate from calcium)
glutathione (as directed on label)-helps maintain a healthy lens; slows the progression of cataracts
vitamin A (25,000 to 50,000 IU; do not exceed 8000 IU if you are pregnant)-vital for normal vision
mixed carotenoid formula (as directed on label)-a precursor of vitamin A
vitamin B1 (thiamine) (50 mg)-important for intracellular eye metabolism
vitamin C with bioflavonoids (3000 mg 4 times daily)-a free radical destroyer
itamin E (400 IU)-helps arrest and reverse cataract formation
zinc (30 mg, not to exceed a total of 100 mg from all supplements)-protects against light induced damage

Also Recommended
selenium (400 mcg)-destroys free radicals
riboflavin (50 mg)-a deficiency has been linked to cataracts
(Consult your healthcare provider regarding the duration of treatment)
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Acupuncture In treating cataracts, the acupuncturist usually pinpoints Bladder 1, Stomach 1, Large Intestine 4, and Triple Warmer 6, along with related auricular points and associated points, following a complete diagnosis.
Acupressure Cataracts can be treated by firmly massaging the acupressure points around the eye socket and on the cheeks, forehead, and temple.
Chinese Herbal Therapy The herbal formula Dendrobium Moniliforme Night Sight Pills also may be prescribed for cataracts. Because Traditional Chinese Medicine attributes most eye disorders to liver dysfunction, an herbalist may also prescribe tonics to strengthen this organ and improve the flow of chi within the liver meridian.

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Stay Warm & Lose Weight with Cayenne Pepper!

2010-01-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

How cayenne pepper and other natural remedies can help you reach your target weight goals.

Did the holiday rush leave you with no time to stick to your normal exercise and diet routines? You�re not alone-- most people gain weight during the holidays no matter how hard they try to avoid it.

But did you know that adding a dash of cayenne pepper to your everyday life can be a great way to help you lose weight naturally? Not only that, cayenne pepper aids circulation, which will help your body stay warm during the winter months. This is especially beneficial for those who suffer from cold hands and feet.

Cayenne also has essential vitamins and nutrients, including vitamin C, which helps protect you against colds and flu. The fiery pepper is also an excellent source of vitamin A through its concentration of carotenoids, including beta-carotene.

Beta-carotene is not only a potent antioxidant, but can be converted in the body to vitamin A, a nutrient essential for healthy epithelial tissues-- including the mucous membranes that line the nasal passages, lungs, intestinal tract and urinary tract and serve as the body"s first line of defense against invading pathogens.

Studies have shown that Beta-carotene is also helpful in reducing symptoms of asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, beta-carotene is an antioxidant which is useful in preventing free radical damage that can lead to atherosclerosis, colon cancer, and diabetic complications, like nerve damage and heart disease.

Another widely studied component in the cayenne pepper is capsaicin. This substance is what lends cayenne pepper its characteristic heat. Research has marveled at its pain-reducing effects, cardiovascular benefits, as well as its ability to help prevent ulcers. Capsaicin also effectively opens and drains congested nasal passages.

With so many health benefits and a low cost, what are you waiting for; add some spice into your life and lose weight with cayenne pepper.

How has EcoSlim helped others?

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�After my baby was born I just could not shake off the extra weight that I gained. The [EcoSlim] slimming drops helped me to control my appetite and I had lots of energy! I am so glad that there is something natural that is good for me AND it helps me to loose weight. I have only been taking the slimming drops for three weeks and I am already buying new clothes! My husband says he can see the difference in all the places that count!� -Lillian, UK

�After my first baby, I could not lose the weight I put on in all the wrong places. My eating patterns were terrible and I felt more miserable by the day. �After using EcoSlim and Mindsoothe, I can really say that I have things under control again. My mood and my confidence levels are fantastic and I can eat sensibly again. All my old clothes are starting to fit again. The best is that I am not dieting like I used to - just eating normally� so I know I will be able to keep this up. Thank you for a wonderful product!� -Heather, Port Elizabeth

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Sickest in 35 years

2010-01-25T20:51:00.000-08:00

December 16, 2008

Article from: The Australian

A SICK girl suffered brain damage after her father refused to take her to hospital because he distrusted conventional medicine, a court has been told.

The 11-year-old had been suffering from a heart infection for two weeks before her parents finally took her to hospital, the Brisbane District Court was told on Tuesday.

She was gravely ill when she was admitted to Toowoomba Base Hospital in September 2006.

Her temperature was 42 degrees celsius, she had been hallucinating and was weak, pale and could no longer walk.

The court was told her mouth was peeling, black and clogged from the alternative medicine her 45-year-old father had been giving her in extremely high doses.

The doctor who finally examined the 11-year-old told the court the girl was as "sick as the sickest person I"ve ever seen in my 35 years as a doctor".

Prosecutor Belinda Merrin said it was the father"s distrust of conventional medicine that had caused him to delay seeking treatment.

Instead, he had been relying on the glyconutrient dietary supplement Mannatech to cure his daughter.

The court was told the girl"s mother asked him on a number of occasions to seek medical treatment, but had not pushed the issue for fear her estranged partner would deny her access to her children.

When the girl was admitted to hospital she underwent an emergency heart bypass and valve replacement.

She spent some time in a coma after surgery because of bleeding on the brain, and it was a year before she was eventually allowed to go home.

She now uses a wheelchair and has severe, ongoing cognitive and fine motor skills problems. The father has pleaded guilty to one count of grievous bodily harm.

The mother has pleaded guilty to a charge of child cruelty.

None of the family members can be identified.

Judge Tony Rafter will sentence the parents later on Tuesday.

Often the proponents of Spurious Complementary & Alternative Medicine claim that their products are safe and can do no harm. While they may not be able to do direct harm, the above is a sad example of how the use of SCAM can prevent real treatment from being sought and/or provided with devastating results.

Don"t be fooled. If sick, get help from a doctor that practices evidence-based medicine. Natural does not mean effective, particularly when it"s just sugar.

"The presence of belief, does not indicate the existence of truth."
"There is only one truth. How we interpret that truth is called belief."

poetic PZ

2010-01-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

"...your finest thoughts are made from well-ordered meat" - PZ Myers

What a fantastic way of putting it.

(Yeah, yeah, I know, you all read Pharyngula already. Tough.)

HRT & Hearing Loss

2010-01-25T08:13:00.000-08:00

there have ben concerns about the safety of hormone replacement therapy for some time. It has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer, for example.

I"m now 58 but haven"t used HRT at all. The newest research linking the use of HRT to hearing loss makes me glad I made this decision.

People ask me what I"ve done instead. The answer is very straight forward: I have a life that is full of projects and interests, I exercise regularly and I use Neways Wild Yam & Chaste Berry Cream (Subvene).

HRT is for people who want a pill or poion to fix their lives, rather than realising that menopause symptoms are a sign of an inbalance, not just in your hormones but in your lfe.

Carcinogens in natural foods - the Ames test

2010-01-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

I have previously written about the difference between natural foods and "unnatural foods" in terms of how much carcinogens they contain. I did one post on "Irrational fear of pesticides", and another post that I called "natural foods contain more carcinogens than unnatural foods".

Just now I found a video clip from Physics for Future Presidents, a UC Berkeley lecture series that you can watch for free online, in which Richard Muller, an entertaining physicist explains what this is all about. Watch and enjoy.

Ethical Health

2010-01-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

I"m really excited to be associated with www.ethical-junction.org. The site is undergoing a major revamp and I am sponsoring the health section. As well as this, I will be contributing to their newsletter - my first article is entitled "What is ethical health", being a moderator on the health forum and lots more.

I am delighted that the guys behind Ethical Junction recognise how well our beliefs and business practices coincide. This is how they describe what they do:

"Our Network provides information on positively screened ethical companies, organisations, products and services, linking you through to the ethical, environmental and sustainability markets."

Alopesia,

2010-01-25T06:14:00.000-08:00

HAIR is not only crown for woman, also man. Its proof, many bald head mans tries having immeasurable way to grow hair.
Nonton film Samson and Delilah have ever? Samson which is strong and heroic is told to loses its(the strength after the lover, Delilah, behind back gets a haircut it. Even possibly � less sensible�, implicit impressed what a hair also able to become pride for a man.

Then, how if because certain factors, someone must lose partly or all its(the hairs? Condition of baldness or alopecia of course must be stood is wise and when needed is searched root cause of his(its that can be overcome before increasing hard. Alopecia very often happened in scalp.
Its(the case can take place step by step until all scalp losing of its(the hair ( alopecia totalis) or only was pocks in scalp. � Baldness of something is caused [by] internal factor, disease metabolik, and factor eksternal, like treatment product of imprecise hair and usage of chemistry material,� says derma tologist from home Sakit Umum ( RSU) Bekasi dr Bambang Dwipayana SpKK.
Internal factor, according to Bambang, related of genetic aspect and androgen hormone. That is because of the man usually has special baldness pattern because relating to testosterone hormone. Derivable baldness generally happened failure effect of body in forming new hair, not because of losing of abundant hair.
� Baldness of a more regular happened at man, while woman usually only talent carrier ( recessive). Lowering of baldness, especially is caused combination of gene. For example, half from father and half again from mother as talent carrier,� he said. A number of disease metabolik and autoimun also able to become baldness source.
Calls just of alopecia areata, disease caused by mistake of immune system ( body defence). His(its normal, immunity protects body from infection and disease attack. But, at case alopecia areata, immured system exactly groans hair follicle which is place of growing of hair. As a result, hair shaped in some head areas becomes hardly easy to scale off.

Even at hard case, patient can lose all hair in leading, face, and body. Dandruff, infection of mushroom, heavy infection like typhus and therapy of cancer with chemotherapy and radiotherapy also able to generate kerontokan hair. � Even tentative, if not is handled carefully, might possibly become permanent, like at pengidap lupus which late is cured,� papar Bambang.
Treatment trend and hair coloring that is becoming sophisticated also partakes share in quickening hair damage, especially for they allergic to element of chemicals in treatment product of hair. Initially, it is possible that only drought and broken, but then excessive usages can cause hair shaped root become fragile and moults since in its(the root.
� People must allert if kerontokan had more than 100 piece of hair per day. Possibly is required special handling before increasing hard,� express Bambang. Then, how interrogating in order not to until happened kerontokan or baldness? Generally womankind is more � champion� and more telaten in the case of taking care of hair. But, all important recognized its(the pemicu factor.
Rate stres which is high can have an in with hormone. Possible everyday behavior seems to trifling also able to become its(the source, for example combing overweening hair, excessively paints hair, usage of hairspray and excessive hairdryer, and presentation of sunshine.

Yeah, but what about Chip?

2010-01-25T06:12:00.000-08:00

Wow, that was quick:

Lance Bass and his boyfriend, Reichen Lehmkuhl, have called it quits, People magazine reported on its Web site Monday.

Bass, who was part of the boy band "N Sync, revealed earlier this year that he is gay and was in a relationship with Lehmkuhl, a former Air Force captain and winner of season four of CBS" "Amazing Race."

Internet Joke

2010-01-25T05:10:00.000-08:00

Customer: "I want to download the Internet. Do I need a bigger hard disk?"

A Pox on My House

2010-01-25T03:26:00.000-08:00

10 things about chicken pox (may also apply to other minor illnesses):

1) On the list of uncomfortable places to have chicken pox, the inside of your nose would have to rate fairly highly. The inside of your ear is another uncomfortable one. At least the pox are small (although they"re not smallpox! Ha!).

2) Valtrex makes me nauseated.

3) Why do I have a cough and wheezing with my pox? That hardly seems fair.

4) If you try hard enough you can convince someone somewhere to let you come to work.

5) If you have an excuse to not work, you should try to use it.

6) I will continue to have arguments with my mother on a regular basis about whether or not I take adequate care of myself. I will always pretend to find this argument annoying, but actually secretly enjoy having it. My mother wins all arguments.

7) The result of the above argument will often be a fruit-based care package from Harry and Davids. This time, its apples, oranges, and pears. Thanks mom! (My mom still believes the internet is a "series of tubes"... she probably won"t see this).

8) There may not be a good way to scratch the inside of your ear canal.

9) Despite the fact that I"m a doctor, I continue to do things that may not be a good idea (see #"s 4, 6, and 8).

10) There are no great medicines for itching, either systemic or topical.

11) When itchy and tired, I will blog about things that are of no interest to anybody but myself.

Homeopathic help for hyperactive kids

2010-01-25T01:03:00.000-08:00

Article courtesy of Native Remedies

There are a number of factors that can affect normal concentration and a person"s ability to remain centered.

Children�s bodies are made to move around and their naturally enquiring minds may jump from one thing to the other. However, some children find it more difficult than others to settle down and pay attention and this does not always go down well in the classroom.

It stands to reason, therefore, that by supporting harmony and balance in the brain and soothed nerves, we can create the best climate for concentration to take place. Similarly, if the body�s systems are balanced and functioning as they should, cognitive, emotional and behavioral conditions for concentration are at optimal levels.

The Natural Way

Homeopathic remedies have a long history of use in supporting mental, physical and emotional health, preferring a holistic approach to the suppression of symptoms. Homeopathy operates on the principle of �like treats like�, using minute amounts of proven, homeopathically prepared ingredients to support the body to heal itself. Due to the unique homeopathic manufacturing methods, homeopathic remedies are very safe and do not interact negatively with prescription or other OTC medicines. As a result, homeopathic remedies can make all the difference without compromising health.

What is BrightSpark?

BrightSpark is a safe, non-addictive, natural remedy containing 100% homeopathic ingredients especially selected to temporarily relieve hyperactivity, distractibility and impulsiveness in children.

How has BrightSpark helped others?

"You"ve got me shaking my head with surprise and amazement� After 1 day, I swear I thought I was imagining it... but I could tell BrightSpark took the "edge" off my son"s personality!" -C.M., MA, USA

�I tried the BrightSpark and Focus Formula as a last resort for my 4-yr-old son when he was about to be removed from his pre-school if his behavior didn"t improve. I absolutely could not believe the difference in behavior and impulse control after he began these supplements. Within a week he was like a different child! The difference was dramatic. I was shocked when the school recently told me my son was one of the best kids in the class! Outbursts and problems are rare now and quality of life has improved for the whole family. I couldn"t be more thankful for these products.� -Leia, OH, USA

�My 5 year old son was diagnosed �I had done a lot of research on natural ways to help him. I came across your website and have had him on the BrightSpark along with the Focus Formula. We have also done a lot of diet control, natural vitamins � I can"t tell you the how much your products have helped him� He is doing much better in school� he is back to our loving, caring, humorous little boy. We were dealing with hitting, kicking, spitting, talking back and very hyper before. He has changed so much and I can"t tell you how happy we are along with the rest of his family. ...We can"t thank you enough. I can"t figure out why the doctors don"t recommend these types of products for people. Thanks again!� -Lori, NY, USA

Get more info on BrightSpark for Child ADD and ADHD

Related Products:
* Focus Formula� is a herbal remedy used to support concentration, attention and normal energy levels in children and adults.

New Strategies for Autism

2010-01-25T00:42:00.000-08:00

New Strategies for Autism David A. Steenblock BSc, MSc, DO

Such a mysterious disease-condition-behavior! Most scientists and physicians seem to be totally baffled by the condition. Almost fifty years ago (1951) the medical definition was "The condition of being dominated by subjective, self-centered trends of thought and behavior." (Dorland"s Medical Dictionary 23 edition.) The 28th edition of the same medical dictionary (1994) changed it to, "autistic thinking; preoccupation with inner thoughts, daydreams, fantasies, delusions, and hallucinations; egocentric, subjective thinking lacking objectivity and connection with reality. The self often predominates to the total exclusion of that which is not self. Seen in schizophrenia, some forms of depression, and a variety of other mental disorders."

The term autism was first introduced in 1943 by Kanner to indicate the condition wherein children, despite excellent motor skills (normal motor milestones and facile use of hands) and retentive memory, fail to mature socially, i.e., to form any emotional bonds with parents and other individuals, and often to learn speak. There are thought to be two general types of autism. In one group, the child is seemingly well until 18 to 24 months at which time an alarming regression in their development occurs and they may stop speaking and begin to lose interest in their surroundings and interactions. Often these developmental regressions begin to occur shortly after some type of stress such as a DPT shot or other immunization, injury, fever, toxin, infection (such as Kawasaki"s), etc.

With the other type of autism, the child appears to be abnormal from the first months of life. The level of activity is reduced, the child cries little and is indifferent to his or her surroundings. According to many authorities the outcome of childhood autism is discouraging. One third of the patients never speak, another third acquire a rudimentary language devoid of communicative value, and in the remainder, an affected, stilted, colorless speech develops. As many as a third of these patients as they grow older will manifest signs and symptoms of a variety of cerebral diseases.

So much for the books! In my experience, most of these children have a variety of problems which all come together to cause the behavioral and speech difficulties. In my opinion and experience, once the various problems are sorted through and corrected, these children do have a chance to become much more normal than heretofore thought possible.

The recent discovery that secretin helps a number of these children is a good example that shows that we have a tremendous amount of knowledge yet to be learned about this condition. Of considerable interest in this regard is that in general at this point the information I have been receiving is that secretin may be most beneficial for those children with abnormal bowel functions. Hypocretin (a part of the secretin molecule) is a newly discovered neurotransmitter and acts by stimulating the hypothalamus and other brain centers. My idea that secretin injected into the body breaks down to hypocretin and this then is what is causing the beneficial results may not be correct or it may be part of the answer. On the other hand secretin acts on the pancreatic ducts to cause copious secretion of a very alkaline pancreatic juice that is rich in bicarbonate. Secretin is secreted by the S cells that are located deep in the glands of the mucosa of the upper portion of the small intestine. The chemical structure is similar to that of glucagon, GLI, VIP, and GIP. Its half life is 5 minutes and augments the action of CCK in producing pancreatic secretion of digestive enzymes. It decreases gastric acid and may cause contraction of the pyloric sphincter. The secretion of secretin is increased by the products of protein digestion and by acid bathing the mucosa of the upper small intestine. Normally the acid passing from the stomach to the upper small intestine will act to stimulate the secretion of secretin which then releases the alkaline pancreatic juice which neutralizes the acid entering the upper small intestine. As the pH is changed from acid to alkaline, the secretion of secretin is shut off and pancreatic juices also stop flowing. In autistic children this feedback mechanism and the secretion of secretin may be impaired. This would explain the persistently acid pH"s of the stool contents of these children and would explain the benefit of the secretin when given by injection. If secretin is not normally being produced by the S cells or is not being regulated by the stomach acid content then the pancreas will not secrete the alkaline pancreatic juice in response to protein digestion products. The stool contents will become persistently acid and this acid will wreak havoc on the intestine"s inner walls. Persistently lower stool pH"s (more acid) will cause damage to the delicate inner intestinal mucosa which will increase the permeability "openness" of the mucosa. Bacteria, yeast, food and all of their various metabolic breakdown products will be able to pass much more easily into the blood and lymphatics of the intestine. All of these become "toxins" and are carried to the brain or enter into the intestine"s wall and undergo a chemical war with the body"s defense system. This war that develops in the intestinal walls between the entering toxins and the white blood cells of the body may well release a variety of "biogenic amines" "cytokines" and indoles, skatoles, polyamines, etc. all of which can pass into the blood and also the CSF (via the intestinal lymphatics and Bateson"s paravertebral shunt). From there these toxic substances become readily available to interact with a "predisposed brain."

Autistics are also predisposed to allergies and this predisposition may partially explain why so many siblings have autism. Many parents observe that autistic episodes are often worsened when their child eats certain foods such as wheat, milk, sugar, eggs, corn, etc. High levels of certain food derived polypeptides are found in the urine and their immune complexation with IgG antibodies as well. High levels of immune complexes, anti-nuclear antibodies and other markers of chronic infection and vasculitis are often found if looked for (blood tests). These children often suffer from recurrent middle ear infections and fluid in the middle ear. Frequently they have been given multiple antibiotics and have developed chronic intestinal yeast infections which neither they, their parents or their doctors have noticed or tried to diagnose. Often these children suffer from colic during the first year of life (long thought to be caused by food allergies), or from diarrhea, constipation, and mal-odors. These various bowel problems need to be investigated and treated. I generally recommend the Great Smokies Lab for this test (comprehensive stool exam and parasitology test). Follow up tests should be done every three months to be sure that these infections have been corrected.

Hyperactivity is often a problem which gets worse with the ingestion of certain foods or exposures to the smell of chemicals, or perfumes. These people often have seizures (epilepsy) which can be brought on by certain foods, or sugars and often suffer from the development of a red and hot face and/or ears due to food allergies. Sometimes they have food cravings or are very "picky" or may refuse to eat anything but a few of their favorite foods. They often are of small statue and look somewhat younger than they are- possibly due to malnutrition. Of interest is that the speech centers of the brain require iron and zinc or they don"t develop during their critical times of development. Both of these can be severely depleted by an acute infectious process such as autistic children often have had as a precipitating event.

A predisposed brain is what these children have in that they have subtle brain injuries that have occurred in utero, at birth or secondary to some other subsequent trauma. A good bibliography for this is found on the web at http://nodulus.extern.ucsd.edu. which is the web site for the Laboratory for Research on the Neuroscience of Autism. Unfortunately, up to recently, these subtle brain injuries were not recognizable by the diagnostic tests that were available. Since the tests doctors used on these children didn"t show up the problems, it was thought that they didn"t have any injuries. (Another tribute in the hall of shame to the ego of doctors.) Finally, diagnostic tests such as 3-D, 3 headed SPECT scans, PET scans, MRI spectroscopy and functional MRI are beginning to show that many if not all of these children do have subtle brain injuries.

Some of these injuries occur by genetic errors. Cell proliferation, migration, growth and differentiation are all regulated by genetic codes which if there are errors present will result in abnormal development or lack of development of critical parts of the brain such as the cerebellum.

Other factors include various toxins such as xenobiotics which are foreign chemicals which when breathed in or swallowed or absorbed will damage the brain. For example, alcohol ingestion by a pregnant woman can result in the loss or damage of a type of cerebellar cell called the Purkinje cell. Loss of Purkinje cells occurs when a pregnant woman takes various drugs such as the anticonvulsant valproic acid. This and ingestion of thalidomide have been associated with the development of autism.

Viruses can infect the rapidly divided brain cells especially of the cerebellum which results in a smaller structure which has been associated with autism. Viral infections can do a tremendous degree and a great variety of types of brain maldevelopment and disturbed neural connections all of which could result in autism.

Trauma is a very serious problem for babies and children and can be due to a number of different events. Birth trauma is associated with lack of oxygen (hypoxia), pressure changes on the brain, hemorrhage into the brain, shear stress, ischemia-reperfusion injury, free radical production, etc. Changes in the inner blood vessel wall involving the endothelium secondary to these traumatic events can create permanently spastic microvessels which in turn causes chronic hypoxia. The trauma can also trigger the production of a variety of genetic changes including the induction of early-response genes, heat shock genes, metallothionin genes, etc. in the endothelium and in the neurons and glia cells of the injured areas. These damaged tissues in turn can react with white blood cells to induce the production of autoantibodies. These antibodies can then continue to be produced forever and always be in the system causing inflammation and vascular spasm. These autoantibodies may also be directed at the various decarboxylases present at the terminal nerve synapses. Glutamate decarboxylase and histidine decarboxylase are found close together in these synapses. Autoantibodies can penetrate through the neurons to reach these sites and inactivate these enzymes. If this happens the glutamate decarboxylase would no longer be able to convert the glutamate that is being released by the neurons to glutamine. Glutamate would remain in the extracellular spaces and contribute or totally cause the hyperactivity, seizures and loss of attention of these children. The inactivation of histidine decarboxylase could result in more histamine being present which would help explain the allergic and chemical sensitivities these children have. Both of these decarboxylase enzymes are vitamin B-6 and magnesium dependent enzymes and when these children are given supplemental vitamin B-6 and magnesium, often you see improvements in their conditions. Vitamin C is also helpful and this may be due to a variety of reasons including more rapid detoxification of xenobiotics, decrease in histamine levels, a decrease in adrenalin levels, a decrease in stress hormones, improvement in capillary permeability (less), improvement in connective tissue construction, etc.

The endothelium is the inner lining of the blood vessels and in this condition, may well be the key factor involved with causing the symptoms. Correction of the damage these brain endothelial cells have suffered from trauma, hemorrhage, viruses, xenobiotics, intestinal bacterial and yeast metabolites, etc is vitally important since these damages will remain fixed in these cells forever unless actively corrected. To do this a variety of tests need to be done. These include the Great Smokies quantitative plasma amino acids, quantitative urine amino acids, serum and urine minerals, urine organic acids (Great Plains Laboratory, Wichita, Kansas), fatty acid profile, Great Smokies comprehensive stool and parasite test, TORCH viral panel, Epstein-Barr comprehensive panel, Herpes VI, food allergy panels IgE and IgG4, ANA, interleukin 6 and11, interferon alpha, interferon gamma, ESR, C-R-P, haptoglobin, Adrenal stress panel, chemistry panel, thyroid panel. These may look overwelming and there is no way that I would order all of these to be done at one time. Start with the comprehensive stool test and allergy tests since these are things you can change around with the food choices you are making.

After you get the diet changed around and the bowels cleaned up, and you have tried the secretin a few times, start to look at the other tests and begin to correct the abnormalities you find with these. About this time you should begin to think about the use of hyperbaric oxygen and magnetic therapy. Both of these seem to be quite helpful at changing the health of the endothelial cells and thus the brain"s blood vessels. Results can be seen within a few days with these therapies. A magnetic bed can be used every night and is helpful. In my experience, static magnetic field treatments using 3000 gauss given for a total of 150 to 200 hours will generally produce a long term very positive effect and daily hyperbaric oxygen treatments for a total of between 60 and 180 treatments also have been shown to be quite helpful.

For more information, contact Dr. Steenblock directly at 1-800-300-1063

Posted by Derrick Walker
Alternative Medicine-Live!

Christmas Stress

2010-01-25T00:02:00.000-08:00

It�s sad that many of us associate Christmas with stress rather than happiness. This can be because we are not with the people we want to be with. It can be because we are with people we don�t want to be with. It can be because we feel there is too much to do, or not enough money to do what we want.

Quite a few years ago I decided I would answer the question - have you had a nice Christmas? - truthfully. Instead of saying something non-commital, I told people the truth - I"m not a fan of Christmas and I find it stressful. I was amazed at the number of people who looked totally relieved and said something like "I feel like that it - it"s wonderful to find someone who also feels like that." Now things are more in the open, but still many of us feel the pressure to enjoy it.

If you flinch at any mention of Christmas prior to mid December, my defence is that I write a monthly column for my local newspaper and they"ve asked me to write about Christmas and stress for the December edition (out next week).

Maodungching Cardyherb Capsules (K253) Chinese herbal medicine

2010-01-24T22:52:00.000-08:00

This medicine can make as one of alternatif medicine. This medicine can helps maintain cardiovascular function and a healthy circulatory system
Safety Information
Do not use if pregnant.

Indications
A single herb remedy for blood stagnation in the heart and blood vessels causing angina pain, respiratory distress, numbness in the limbs and poor blood circulation. Use as a treatment and preventative in heart disease, including atherosclerosis, stroke, and embolism.

Ingredients
Pubescent holly root

Directions
As a dietary supplement, take 3 capsules 3 times a day.

Legal Disclaimer
This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

8 or 9 Day weeks

2010-01-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

I"ve got a lot on at the moment with the revamp of http://www.healthandgoodness.com and the introduction of http://www.mytherapypractice.com, and lots of other projects. I was talking to a business colleague who asked me if I had 8 or 9 days in my week!

One of the best systems I know for managing time is that advocated by Steven Covey in his book/tape: First Things First.

If you"re not familiar with it have a look at this review:

http://www.healthandgoodness.com/ManagingLife/FirstThingsFirst.htm

happy managing your life!

Anne"s Anti-Quackery & Science Magazine

2010-01-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

(Click on the photo to enlarge it)

It�s my first edition, so please don�t be too hard on the design.....

Look inside and read about:

A real shock if you think chiropractic is safe
Chiropractic and spinal manipulation is considered to be totally safe, but a serious side effect is stroke.

The Chiropractic War on Public Health
About the chiropractic anti-vaccination movement and how chiros are getting more patients by joining the anti-vaccination lecture circuit.

Homeopathic arguments are like diluted water
Homeopaths have come up with quite a few arguments that homeopathic works. Almost all homeopaths have the "I have seen it work" argument as the foundation of their belief in homeopathy.

What is the paranormal in homeopathy
If there is an effect of homeopathy, then it"s quite unknown to science.

Prince Charles and Quackery
The Prince"s opinion should carry no weight at all and he should have been given the same reception as Tom Cruise received when expressing his views about Psychiatry and Science.

Uncritical piece on Adam Dreamhealer
Most people with a little sense of critical thinking would shake their heads.

Battle between Science and Quackery
Hulda Clark, the number one quack in Canadian Quack Watch and her assistent Tim Bolen fights science with quackery

Smart people believe weird things, they do
Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for no smart reasons (said by Michael Shermer).

The 11th Meeting of the Skeptics" Circle
The hottest topics about quackery and especially anti-vaccinationism, creationism, other pseudoscience, religion, history, and a few others to round out the list.

Excellent Scientology information
Clambake.org is fighting against The Church of Scientology

I found this entertaining link to the magazine cover generator over at Radagast�s Home.

He found it over at Boing Boing, -a directory of wonderful things.

High Learning

2010-01-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

How you ended up there you can"t quite describe, but you find yourself seated in a large auditorium, with class currently in progress. The professor has a large runestone on display, and is explaining to the class:

"I have here the Kensington Runestone, one famous example of hoaxed history. It was found in 1898 near Kensington, Minnesota. The text on it suggests that Scandinavian explorers reached the middle of North America sometime around the 14th century, but there are significant doubts as to its validity. Now, let"s see if you"ve done your homework. Can anyone tell me what one of the reasons for doubting its authenticity is?"

A student raises her hand, and when the professor calls on her she speaks up, "Didn"t the couple who found it admit that it was a hoax?"

"Oh, no, you"re getting it mixed up with the Ica stones," the professor replies. "Those were the stone carvings of humans mingling with dinosaurs that have been touted by creationists as evidence that humans and dinosaurs once lived together. Of course, as you mentioned, they were admitted to be a hoax."

"But that doesn"t prove they really were a hoax!" another student speaks up.

"Really?" the professor says. "An admission of guilt won"t do it for you?"

"It could have been coerced, or they could have been lying because they didn"t like the conclusion it led to," the student says.

You decide to speak up, "If an admission won"t do it, even in addition to the fact that the fossil record supports the view that humans and dinosaurs never coexisted, then what evidence would you need to believe it"s a hoax?"

"More than you"ve provided," the student says. "Besides, can we really trust all this evidence coming from so-called experts? Science has a long record of ignoring possible avenues of research just because they don"t fit in with their pre-conceived ideas, so how can we expect them to be right? And it"s not like they can answer the really important questions anyways."

You glance to the professor, but he seems to be alright with allowing this discussion to continue amongst the students. In the time you spared doing this, another student speaks up, "That"s right! I still haven"t seen scientists testing out the role of various types of vibration in mediating the body"s overall wellness!"

Explain that before science can test a proposition, it needs to be made specific enough and be falsifiable. Vague notions of "Wellness" are untestable.

Explain that scientific tests of notions that go against the popular consensus occur all the time. They"re just ignored because they don"t coincide with what woos want to believe.

Agrimony As Alternative Medicine

2010-01-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

Agrimony As Alternative Medicine

Today agrimony is not used much as an alternative medicine. This herb has a long history for medicinal uses by many cultures and civilizations. The ancient Greeks used it to treat eye problems. The Anglo Saxons used this herb for wounds, snakebites and eye complaints. In traditional Chinese medicine it is a remedy to staunch bleeding.

It is a treatment for bladder infections, bladder leakage and bladder inflammation.
It is used by the Chinese to expel tape worms from the human body.
It is a remedy for digestive disorders such as diarrhea, mucous colitis, indigestion, stomach ulcers, and stomach ache.
It is effective against liver disorders and jaundice.
It is a treatment for hemorrhoids.
It is used to treat profuse menstruation and other internal bleeding.
It is powerful as a relaxant to ease tension and nervousness.
It is used to treat high blood sugar level.
It lowers the uric acid levels in gout and rheumatism sufferers.
It is a topical treatment for skin disorders such as sunburn, insect bites and scrapes.

Agrimony is available as dried leaves, tinctures and extract. An infusion is made by steeping 1 teaspoonful of dried leaves into 250 ml of boiling water and steep for 10 to 15 minutes. The tea can be drunk up to three times a day. Agrimony tea can also be used as vaginal douche, skin wash or mouth wash. Standard dosage is 2000 to 6000 mg a day.

Agrimony is generally safe with few side effects. However, do apply sunscreen if you are taking this herb as it may increase sunlight sensitivity in some people. Pregnant and nursing women must avoid using it. For those with liver or kidney problems they must not take this herb. It is also not recommended for those taking aspirin or drugs for high blood pressure. This herb can also affect the absorption of some supplements such as copper, zinc and iron. Agrimony is an alternative medicine that we do not use much nowadays but it still has its place in history.

Kudzu As Alternative Medicine

2010-01-24T13:43:00.000-08:00

Kudzu As Alternative Medicine

Kudzu this weedy Japanese vine has proven to be an effective alternative medicine.

It is one of the fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.

It normalizes blood pressure.
It helps to prevent heart disease and cancer
It relaxes muscles
It fights microbial inflammation and infections.
It is used to treat alcoholism, dysentery and fever.

Kudzu is usually taken as a tea. You can make a tea with kudzu leaves or root. It is often used in cooking and as an animal feed. Kudzu is not that well known as an alternative medicine outside Chinese medicine.

The Secret of Water and Ice

2010-01-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

Are you aware that our bodies are getting more and more susceptible to illnesses and diseases? Most of us do not realize the severity of this situation until it is too late. As a Complementary Medicine provider we are very concern with this trend. Most illnesses can be controlled or arrested with a proper diet and regular exercise. However, you may still be afflicted with a serious ailment due to stress or environmental conditions.

All is not lost, as we have developed a therapy that can help to relieve and heal effectively. Known as �Hydrotherapy Ice�, it is proven to be very effective for people suffering from Arthritis, Rheumatism, Sciatica, Back Pain, Stress, high blood pressure right up to the dreaded disease we know as Cancer.

Hydrotherapy Ice combines all our natural elements together to harmonize our body and to promote general health, emotional, as well as spiritual well being.

With elements such as ionized alkaline water, potassium salt, floral essence (Seri Wajah Aromatherapy Essence), sulphur, ice and together with an ozone machine, UV light and water circulation, Hydrotherapy Ice is able to treat diseases effectively including cancer with minimum cost. All of us know that cancer is life threatening and to date there is no treatment that can really treat cancer effectively. Here you are able to witness how this therapy can successfully overcome various obstacles to help fight and overcome cancer.

You will be able to observe the drastic and apparent changes both emotionally and physically during the treatment process, amongst which are :

Changes in the colour of water (Depending on illness)
Changes in temperature
Changes in the energy level of patient
Changes in smell

Hydrotherapy Ice can provide you with the vital key to breaking the stress cycle of everyday modern life. In today�s busy world you can be prone to stress related illnesses which can cause a range of physical and psychological problems e.g. high blood pressure, insomnia, depression and the list is endless. Unfortunately stress not only affects the mind but more importantly your immune system. A strong immune system is the answer to combating viruses, bacteria and infection. It can help you overcome minor infections ranging from the common cold right up to deadly diseases.

This form of therapy stimulates your endorphins which in turn helps you to control pain and alleviate tension. It has the remarkable ability to improve circulation of blood flow which takes oxygen and nourishment to all your cells and tissues. Good circulation helps clear the body of toxins. Detoxing regularly improves your immune system.

This form of therapy offers you an excellent way to regain and maintain a healthy and painless body. Hydrotherapy Ice is able to adapt and complement your current treatment concept, anywhere in the world.

In this country (Malaysia) alone, we have more than 3,000 members and therapists who have found this technique very effective in treating degenerative diseases as well as the new H5N1 virus.

The general consensus of our practitioners is that the scientific theories in Science Chemistry, Physics and Biology allow them to understand how this therapy helps our body to regain health and total wellness.

Too many, not only does it helps to raise the standard of healthcare in our society, it is more affordable and it also provides them with a business opportunity and a lucrative career.

The New Testament and �Russian scandal�

2010-01-24T11:20:00.000-08:00

There are many ways in which The New Testament is a great book. It has been read by many people (to say the least), it gives many people guidance in their lives and has done so for many years, and it also serves as historical evidence for the character named Jesus.

It is on this last point that I want to expand here. Having recently listened to two different courses from the always fabulous "Teaching Company", one exclusively about The New Testament, and one on "The foundations of western civilization P1", I have been fueled in my skepticism towards these books as any more than a fiction which one can interpret and then depending on who you are, help you do good things or bad things. (By the way, feel free to send comments and point out if I make any blatant mistakes � I have never read the book in their entirety)

Jesus was never famous during his lifetime it seems. Apart from the bible he is barely mentioned in any historical documents. So what we know about Jesus we know mainly from the gospels in The New Testament.

Mark, which is generally regarded as the earliest of these gospels was written, according to most historians, about 70AD, that is almost 40 years after the death of Christ (the exact year of this event is also very uncertain). 40 years in an age where very few people had access to any written sources and where perhaps even fewer could read. This means that the story of Jesus must have been passed on verbally for about 30 years or so.

Anyone who have ever played Chinese whispers (I just saw that this game also goes under the name of "Arab phone" or "Russian scandal" =)), knows that this is a problem. In Chinese whispers a message is passed along in a ring eventually coming back to the person who formulated the message. The final message is compared to the original message and there is invariably an astounding difference between the two.

The normal way to play this game is to have a group of children passing along a short message, say ten words or so, with little personal significance and hence little motive amongst the children to change the message in any way. In contrast, The New Testament is a rather long message, and the people who have passed it along have had every reason to alter the story to make Jesus sound better and greater than he actually was (does anyone seriously believe that he can turn water into wine?). What would 30 years of Chinese whispers with people who would have a strong interest in changing the story do to tales about Jesus? Well, let"s just say that it would be no less of a miracle should the story be accurate and precise.

2009 Technical Info on IVMT or Meyer"s Cocktail

2010-01-24T06:20:00.000-08:00

Updated 2009 - The Myers� Cocktail as a health alternative for the following acute & chronic conditions - Please note that it is Strongly Recommended that this treatment option should only be administered by a fully-licensed qualified & experienced Physician (DO or MD). It should further be noted that a New Specialty in Integrated Medicine has been created, as a result of the US Noble Prize scientist, Linus Pauling, based on his extensive scientific peer-reviewed research studies and findings on Vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
Of course, over the years, the German"s and the Swiss scientists and doctor"s have developed some very interesting treatment "integration" protocols in the use of combining specific Pharmaceuticals, with "Pharmaceutical-grade" Phytomedicinals, Nurticeuticals & Nutritional Support, for a variety of Pain, Immune, Neurological, Cancer and Chronic disease(s) applications.

This New shift in paradigm is now referred to as: Ortho-Molecular Medicine.

* Fibromyalgia Syndrome
* Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
* Depression
* Acute-Chronic Pain & Muscle Spasm
* Asthma
* Urticaria
* Rhinitis
* Sinusitis
* Congestive Heart Failure
* Angina
* Senile Dementia, including Alzheimer"s
* Invest in your Wellness, it"s your True Wealth & Future ...

Intravenous micro-nutrient therapy (IVMT)
and specifically use of the �Myers� Cocktail�,is a popular approach among Complementary and Alternative Medicine physicians. Interest in and use of IVMT is growing as evidenced by the number of clinics across the US offering IVMT as a principal treatment. While no exact figures currently exist, members from a wide range of national medical associations including The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM), The American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA), the American Academy of Pain Management (AAPM), the Great Lakes College of Clinical Medicine (GLCCM) and the International Society of Ortho-molecular Medicine (ISOM) report using IVMT. Data obtained by an on-line survey of members of these organizations in support of this application suggest that IVMT is widely used for a variety of conditions, most often fibromyalgia (FMS), with consistently positive results; survey data pertain to some 12,000 patient experiences. Despite its popularity, no controlled trials of IVMT efficacy, and only one trial investigating the mechanism of action of the Myers� Cocktail have been conducted.

The exact mechanism of action of IVMT is unknown apart from the effects of the individual constituents. Lonsdale, et al. examined the hypothesis that Myers� Cocktail improves cellular energy and attempted to support this by measuring erythrocyte ADP/ATP ratios before and after treatment. The results, however, did not support this hypothesis.
Much of the benefit of Myers Cocktail in the treatment of FMS is believed to be derived from the magnesium content.
Magnesium administered intravenously has been shown to ameliorate pain in a number of conditions. Magnesium is important for over 300 different enzyme reactions, and in healthy states, magnesium levels are second only to potassium intracellularly. Magnesium has been found to be low in the serum and erythrocytes and high in the hair of FMS patients, suggesting some imbalance of magnesium regulation in this population.
Gaby hypothesizes that the reduced levels of intracellular magnesium found in FMS patients plays a role in the etiology, and in order to adequately replenish the cells with magnesium, it is necessary to attain extremely high levels in serum, possible only with IV administration. Reed found parenteral magnesium therapy to have a beneficial effect in treating two groups of patients; those with acute sprains, contusions, or soft tissue injuries, and those with chronic muscular complaints including myofascial pain, relapsing soft tissue injuries and fibromyalgia.

Migraine headache"s appear to share some features with FMS such as irregularities of serotonin, the extensive dysregulation in pain modulation and generalized hyperalgesia.
Like FMS patients, migraine patients have been found to have reduced red and mononuclear blood cell magnesium levels.
Two double-blind studies have shown that chronic oral magnesium supplementation may reduce the frequency of migraine headaches and one pilot study demonstrated that IV magnesium can resolve an acute migraine. Magnesium concentration plays a role on the modulation of serotonin receptors, nitric oxide synthesis and release,
and a variety of other neurotransmitters.
Although FMS is associated with serotonin irregularities, studies investigating the use of SSRIs have demonstrated limited effect.
Based on research to date, some conjecture can be made regarding the role of magnesium, however the possible role of the other constituents of the IVMT solution have not been investigated extensively. Nonetheless, vitamin B-12 injected intramuscularly has been used experimentally to treat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a syndrome closely associated with FMS. In one un-blinded trial, 2,500�5,000 mg of vitamin B-12, given by injection every two to three days, led to improvement in 50�80% in a group of people with CFS, with most improvement appearing after several weeks. It is felt that oral or sublingual administration would not achieve the effects seen with injectable B-12.

IVMT Safety

IVMT is a safe treatment, as it is very simply the administration of vitamins and minerals using either standard IV infusion or bolus technique (syringe injection).
The potential for adverse reactions from IVMT lies mainly in the method of administration rather than the substance administered, i.e. any type of IV therapy holds some risk of local (hematoma, thrombosis, phlebitis, thrombophlebitis, infiltration, extravastion, local infection, venous spasm) and/or systemic complications (septicemia, circulatory overload, pulmonary edema, air embolism, speed shock, catheter embolism).
These complications are rare, and are avoided by using proper technique and by screening patients for whom IV therapy is contraindicated.
There exist reports of allergic reaction to the thiamine (B-1) used in the solution, most often manifested as a hypersensitivity reaction.

Complications are best avoided by the pre-administration and observation of an intradermal injection of a small amount of thiamine. Otherwise, there are no known serious side effects of IVMT.
Providers of IVMT have not observed other known toxic effects of vitamin and mineral excess.

Legend: D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine & Surgery) - May Specialize in OMT (Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy) or
Bio-Dynamic OMT (NeuroMusculo Skeletal Integration Therapy)
and/or Osteopathic Cranial Therapy and/or Ortho-Molecular Medicine or Meyer"s Cocktail Treatments, and/or Mind-Body Medicine and/or ReHab/Sports Medicine and/or may be a Nutritional Medicine Specialist.
M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) - May specialize in Meyer"s Cocktail Treatments, or Complimentary/Alternative Medicine (CAM), or
Nutritional Medicine Specialist.
MD"s are not formally trained in OMT, NMS Integration Therapy,
or Osteopathic Cranial Therapy and must have completed basic and advanced formal classes, lectures, instruction and workshops
by a certifying AOA (American Osteopathic Association) organization.

Welcome to the blogolution

2010-01-24T05:37:00.000-08:00

How cool is it that WILL has a blog?

It needs to be said

2010-01-24T03:15:00.000-08:00

I would just like to say to the rest of the country, on behalf of all Texans, I apologize.

You know who I"m talking about.

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE AND SUPERBUGS

2010-01-24T02:01:00.000-08:00

This is a major health problem that threatens to become catastrophic. Medical and health authorities keep warning us but we seem rather complacent. I will deal with this apparent indifference in another article on �paralysis by analysis" later. For now, let us just look at the mounting evidence. And why, pray tell you say, should I give a rat�s hind end about this? Because, it will affect you and your family as much as a nuclear war. There is no escaping it. You must prepare and there are ways. We will enumerate some very positive solutions. But first, let us look at the evidence.

"How big a problem?

What happened to antibiotics? Once considered the universal answer to infectious disease, we now know the effective life span of these once-miraculous drugs is limited. The problem, simply, is that we "got complacent," says Barry Kreiswirth of the Public Health Research Institute, who makes a living analyzing strains of tuberculosis that resist as many as nine antibiotics."

SOURCE: http://whyfiles.org/038badbugs/scope.html

"Cases Of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Worry Experts

One bacteria of concern, Staphylococcus aureus, is a common cause of infection in hospitalized patients. In recent years, experts have become very concerned about the increased incidence of strains of the bacteria that fail to succumb to all but a few antibiotics. This is known as antibiotic resistance, and most experts think that it is due to worldwide overuse of antibiotics. As the theory goes, if all the bacteria causing an infection are not eradicated with an antibiotic, then the remaining bacteria become stronger and more resistant to future use of the same antibiotic.
Eventually, this can lead to strains of bacteria that show resistance to antibiotics held in reserve for such cases, such as vancomycin. This raises the specter of infections for which no antibiotic treatment may be available, putting patients" lives at great risk. The CDC reports a case in April 1999, of a 63-year-old woman in an Illinois hospital with a Staph infection. The woman had kidney failure and had already received the antibiotic vancomycin, which should kill most strains of Staphylococcus aureus."

SOURCE: http://www.mercola.com/2000/jan/9/antibiotic_resistant_bacteria.htm

"Losing War On Bacteria

These "superbugs" won"t be fooled by the same old antibiotics, in part because for years doctors overprescribed existing antibiotics and, in turn, patients clamored for the drugs even when they weren"t needed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that diseases such as gonorrhea, malaria, tuberculosis and childhood ear infections all are becoming harder to treat because of increasing levels of antibiotic resistance. Doctors often are required to use a potent antibiotic to treat sick patients, when in the past, a mild medication would do. That threatens to make the stronger medication more open to resistance in the future, which one day could rob physicians of a vital weapon against disease."

SOURCE: http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20040621-103723-7985r.htm

"Drug-Resistant Bacteria in US Meat

Three new studies suggest the interaction among animals, people and microbes may not be as simple and predictable as previously believed.
Two of the studies uncovered significant amounts of drug-resistant bacteria in chicken and meat taken from US supermarket shelves. The third demonstrated that such bacteria can persist in the intestinal tract days after a person ingests them.
Researchers say the findings bolster the arguments of public health experts who want to limit the use of antibiotics in livestock. The drugs are used to treat sick animals, but in the US they are also routinely given to boost the nutritional benefits of animal feed and promote growth in food animals.
The concern with this practice is that the needless use of antibiotics gives a survival advantage to drug-resistant strains of the bacteria behind foodborne illnesses and other infections."

SOURCE: http://www.mercola.com/2001/nov/3/resistant_bacteria.htm

"Super-Resistant Superbugs

Infections we thought we had conquered once and for all are coming back because of a new breed of germs that doctors call "superbugs" -- bacteria that are resistant to almost all antibiotics. The latest culprit is called MRSA, a staph bacteria that triggers infections so virulent they can - and have - turned deadly within days."

SOURCE: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/30/60minutes/main614935.shtml

"How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?

How do bacteria pick up these drug-fighting habits? In some cases, they don"t. Some bacteria are simply making use of their own inherent capabilities. However, there are many bacteria that didn"t start out resistant to a particular antibiotic. Bacteria can acquire resistance by getting a copy of a gene encoding an altered protein or an enzyme like beta lactamase from other bacteria, even from those of a different species. There are a number of ways to get a resistance gene:"

SOURCE: http://health.howstuffworks.com/question561.htm

SOME SOURCES TO CHECK OUT FOR ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY SOLUTIONS, THERAPIES, TREATMENTS, ETC.

http://www.rifeenergymedicine.com/vema.html

http://www.rifeenergymedicine.com/superbugs.html

http://www.oxygenmedicine.com/vaccinealternatives.html

http://www.oxygenmedicine.com/vitamincstory.html

Naturopathic Medicine Schools Integrate Various Healing Methods

2010-01-24T00:19:00.000-08:00

The promotion of good health, rather than the curing of disease, is a growing concern of a more health-conscious public today. Naturopathic medicine plays an important role in the general health of the population, and naturopathic medicine schools are receiving greater recognition now than ever before.

The practice of naturopathy takes into consideration the influence of nutrition and exercise on a patient"s physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing, while the main focus of traditional Western medicine has been to discover what has gone �wrong� with or how to �fix� a diseased body.
Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are those medical and health care practices and therapies not considered to be part of conventional medicine. However, these practices and therapies have evolved due to understanding gained through well-designed scientific studies and research, adoption of therapies by conventional medicine, and changing approaches to traditional health care. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is found in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is the government agency working for greater recognition of alternative and complementary healthcare treatments and practices in the U.S. through research and dissemination.

Complementary and alternative medicines are not parallel entities. Complementary medicine is often combined with traditional medical therapies to promote total health. Alternative medicine, on the other hand, replaces conventional medicine with complete and independent alternative medical systems of theory and practice developed long before conventional medicine. Alternative medicines include homeopathic medicine, Chinese medicine, naturopathy, Ayurveda, mind-body medicine, manipulation (chiropractic, massage), energy therapies (placing of hands), bioelectromagnetic-based therapies (use of electrical current), and others.
Today, hospitals and physicians are more often practicing the integration of complementary and alternative medicine into conventional Western medicine. Hospitals and health maintenance organizations are recognizing the many benefits of CAM therapies, insurance companies are covering some CAM therapies, and integrative medicine centers are forming close ties with medical schools and teaching hospitals.

To learn more about Naturopathic Medicine Schools, search our site for more in-depth information and resources.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved by SchoolsGalore.com, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc.

Notice: Publishers are free to use this article on an ezine or website, provided the article is reprinted in its entirety, including copyright and disclaimer, and ALL links remain intact and active.

Michael Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. in association with SchoolsGalore.com. Visit our Natural Healing Directory and find Colleges, Universities, Vocational Schools, and Naturopathic Schools at SchoolsGalore.com; your educational resource to locate schools.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Bustamante

Right change

2010-01-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- Senator John McCain portrayed himself as the candidate of "right change". "The choice is between the right change and the wrong change," he said.

"No matter what you"re buying, you should always count your change. Senator McCain thinks it"s very important that you get the right amount of money back," an aide explained. "Also, check down the back of your sofa. I found a dollar fifty three last week. When elected, Senator McCain plans to check every sofa in the White House. Do you have any idea how much the last Hundred Years War cost? And wars are apparently more expensive nowadays. If everyone in America found a dollar fifty three every week, umm... how many people live in America? Let"s say a trillion? Okay. Oh wow, is that a penny on the ground? Senator McCain! Senator McCain! I found another one!"

My Obstetric Philosophy (moms and babies and midwives, oh my!)

2010-01-23T21:24:00.000-08:00

Back when I wrote this post about forceps, there were many commenters who took exception to the fact that I like forceps, and at least one who asked how I incorporate midwife sensibilities into my practice.

I want to make a couple of things clear.

1) Intervention is my job.
2) I make no apologies for liking my job.

Modern obstetrics has come a long way. Used to be, way back in the day before we could intervene, 10% of moms and 10% of babies would die in labor. That"s a pretty startling statistic considering that now the perinatal death rate is around 1/1,000 and the maternal death rate is now 1/10,000.

What has changed those statistics? Largely intervention. The ability to provide a safe cesarean section; the ability to provide anesthesia; the ability to augment or induce labor when necessary; and the ability to perform a quick and safe operative delivery when necessary.

Fetal monitoring? That hasn"t changed much (in the ~40 years since fetal monitoring was introduced, the perinatal death and cerebral palsy rates haven"t changed). But we"re stuck with it, thanks to the lawyers. And I do think that in certain circumstances (emergent c-section for unremitting fetal bradycardia) that monitoring does help avoid fetal injury, but that those circumstances are rare enough that studies can"t be efficiently powered appropriately to show those differences.

So what does a high risk obstetrician do? Mostly we watch, and we wait for the right time to intervene. Largely this is restricted to initiating the delivery of the baby (we"re still working on other interventions). My training? Learning when to watch and when to act. (And how to ultrasound, but that"s another post).

And I love to act.

Not that I love that people need emergency c-sections, forceps, etc. But I still enjoy performing them. I remind the residents that every single intervention we make has risks (including inducing labor), and therefore, every intervention we make needs to have benefit either for mom or for baby.

And within those guidelines, I think that mothers should have the birthing experience that they want, to the greatest extent possible (although I"m a bit of a dinosaur because I don"t believe in c-section on demand). If this includes an epidural for any particular mother, that"s fine with me. If she doesn"t want to be distracted by the intense pain of labor and wants an epidural, that"s fine. Epidurals don"t increase the risk for c-section, they have risks of a few uncommon complications, but overall, they"re pretty safe. I wouldn"t ask someone to forgo pain medicine for a broken bone, and I have no intention of undergoing a colonoscopy without drugs, so if a woman experiencing the most severe pain of her life wants/needs an epidural, it"s fine with me. If a woman wants to not have an epidural and wants to be in the jacuzzi, that"s also fine with me (assuming there are no medical contraindications... if she has severe preeclampsia and a cardiomyopathy, then she should probably stay in bed). I won"t push epidurals on anybody (unless they have a medical indication for one, and there are some medical indications for them), but I also won"t try to talk anybody out of one, either (unless they"re not in labor yet, or similarly disqualified for an epidural).

Where do midwives come in? I love midwives. I love their philosophy in labor. Let each woman have as normal a laboring experience as possible. I was trained to manage labor by midwives. I actually think that in most circumstances, most women who have otherwise normal pregnancies would be better served by having their labors managed by midwives with an obstetrician back up in case there"s a need for a c-section or other major intervention. Aside from the fact that I may medically not qualify for midwife care if/when I ever have a baby, I would love to be taken care of by a midwife (I actually have one picked out already, if I happen to live here or where I was a resident). Midwives are trained to expect the normal. Which, when someone has a normal pregnancy is perfect. They"re also trained to recognize the abnormal. Obstetricians, on the other hand (and possibly unfortunately) are trained to expect the abnormal, be prepared for disasters.

I honor midwives with my moniker, but at heart, I"m an intervener. My job is the stat section, the forceps, the induction of labor. My job is intrapartum management of cardiomyopathy and preeclampsia. My job is watching and adjusting the insulin of diabetics. My job is to do. And I love to do. And I love my job.

(photo credit)

Your Sinister Public Broadcasting Network

2010-01-23T20:32:00.000-08:00

I just got a moment to look at the Discovery Institute"s take on the PBS special set to air tonight regarding intelligent design, and I couldn"t help but burst out laughing:

The trailer for the program shows that PBS has turned to the usual suspects to advance their agenda.

The usual suspects. Their agenda.

I wonder what Mr. Rogers, Elmo, and the Teletubbies have to say about PBS"s leftist atheist agenda?

LIFEWAVE Energy Patch, what are the credentials?

2010-01-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

I received a comment from Susan on the topic about wearing the Lifewave Patches:

Susan said: I have indeed worn them. Frankly, your opinion is just that ... opinion. Mine comes from personal experience and the patches have made a huge difference in my life. I am not a pushover, or one of those "poor seniors" you so willingly underestimate. I am an open-minded person that is willing to look into things and form my own opinion, rather than just dis them with no real experience. You probably have problems with all kinds of "out of the box" healing methods. A healing is a healing ... and I experienced new found energy and healings in ways you wouldn"t even understand, and with that a new lease on life. I am glad there are Lifewave patches. In fact, while I never do mlm"s I did this one because of my personal experience. So if there are any open-minded people out there ... come to my website, which I am proud to say is www.lifewave.com/suzanrae

Are you trying to say that your belief that they work somehow constitutes proof that they do? Here"s how things work: When someone asserts that something that violates the known laws of physics works, the burden of proof is on them, not the people who say, "I don"t believe it."

The people who are selling these things have to prove that they do work.

An internet search of Google turns up hundreds of hits on "Lifewave Energy Patches". I did not have time to check every one, but almost all the first hundred were from people who sell the product. They all praised the product with different combinations of promotional material (apparently supplied by Lifewave) citing the same studies and the same testimonials. Very suspicious.

I came to Susan"s website to explore her information about "Studies and Scientific information" and here are some:

An Introduction to the LifeWave� Technology by inventor David Schmidt

David Schmidt is the inventor of the Lifewave Patch technology and President of the company. I didn"t succeed in providing his curriculum vitae (Is there anyone out there able to provide his curriculum vitae?), it remains a mystery. But worldwidescam have uncovered an interesting version of Mr. Schmidt"s early years in an article called: Lifewave History - This is the story of how the LifeWave technology came to be.

When David Schmidt and his pals at Lifewave decided to chicken out of the $1,000,000 challenge offered by the James Randi Educational Foundation, Mr. Randi took a closer look at the Lifewave patches and posted some comments of his own on the JREF web site:
A New and Exciting Applicant.

A short synopsis of LifeWave� patches by Dr. Steven Haltiwanger, MD CCN

Next I found a link to this putative study website, a study done by a Dr. Steven Haltiwanger, MD CCN (the CCN is for "certified clinical nutritionist").

This is what Mr. Randi discovered about Dr. Steven Haltivanger:

Curious about the qualifications of Dr. Steven Haltiwanger, MD, CCN (the latter a nutritionist degree), listed by LifeWave, I found that he"d studied under Dr. Hans Nieper, a German doctor/oncologist who described certain varieties of cancer as the result of "tachyon field turbulence of the geopathic zone," and ran on endlessly about "energy fields" and "harnessing useful energy from space," which he referred to as the "tachyon field." Dr. Haltiwanger prescribed extracts of mistletoe and Dionaea muscipula as remedies to treat cancer; that last substance is the Venus Fly Trap plant....

Looking for the accompanying photo of Dr. Nieper, I went to the site, where I found him in such esoteric company as Harold Puthoff and Andrija Puharich (both sponsors of Uri Geller) and Eugene Mallove, Tom Bearden, Evan Soule and Jean-Louis Naudin � these last four deeply involved in "free-energy" machines. I"m sure you can find many other quack-artists in that population.

I also found the doctor is "Adjunct Professor of the Capital University of Integrated Medicine". An institution that is, according to
Quackwatch.org, a "nonaccredited school headquartered in Washington, D.C., .... Its offerings include "Doctor of Integrated Medicine" and "Master of Integrated Health Science" ... It appears to have closed in 2003. "

And Dr. Steven Haltiwanger seems to Google up on any web pages that have something to do with Lifewave products.

A Real World Study by Joseph A. Goodson, MS, ATC

Even more suspicious is the "study" done by Joseph A. Goodson, Head Athletic Trainer, Moorehouse College, Atlanta, GA. Moorehouse College, according to their website, does not have a Physiology Department. Further searching reveals Mr. Goodson is not head of the Athletic Training Department since there appears to be no such thing. Goodson is listed as Head Trainer of the football team and only because there is an Assistant Trainer. The basketball team has its own "Trainer". So we are left with a "study", done by someone with no academic credentials using only 44 subjects and of course the "study" does not appear in any peer reviewed journals.

Common people might say even if they don"t work, and they are just a placebo, what"s the harm? But if they are placebos, as I think they are, and then they are sold under false pretences. There may be people who have legitimate medical problems who are foregoing REAL medical care in lieu of using these things.

And guess what...It"s an MLM! We can all get rich by selling this and (most importantly) getting others to sell it for us! We will we be super athletes and rich too!

To everyone with an "open mind" about these patches I say...*Save your money*

More Lifewave Drivel at Randi"s website.

Health News-18: "Chinese Salad can Combat Cancer"

2010-01-23T17:50:00.000-08:00

A Chinese herb - more than 2000-year-old-eaten as salad in many countries has been given a new twist to develop a compound to combat cancer. According to researchers at the University of Washington, the new compound is more than 1200 times more specific in killing certain kinds of cancer cells than currently available drugs, and paves the way for more effective chemotherapy drug with minimal side-effects. The compound is based on the common anti-malarial drug artemisinin, which is derived from the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua L).

Courtesy: The Times of India, Chennai, Oct.16, 2008 (Short Cuts).

Grateful thanks to The Times of India, Chennai.

Betelgeuse: Evidence for God

2010-01-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today in my astrophysics class, we were discussing stellar masses and densities. We looked at both ends of the spectrum, from the dense-as-rock Sirius B to the ultra-low-density Betelgeuse.

Exactly how low-density is Betelgeuse? Well, let me put it this way: You"ve probably often heard that Saturn has a density low enough that it could float in water given a large enough body of water. Well, Betelgeuse is light enough that in could float on air. In fact, its density is only 1/10,000th that of air.

Hell, the thing"s essentially a vacuum, barely more dense than the average nebula or interstellar dust. The odd thing is, interstellar dust and nebulae don"t radiate light like we know Betelgeuse does, so how can Betelgeuse do it? How can something that, as we"ve shown, is essentially nothing, be so bright?

This is an obvious contradiction in astrophysics we have here. In fact, there"s one, and only one, way to explain this miraculous light: God did it. And not just any god, the Christian God, also known as YHWH or Yahweh in the Old Testament or the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. He"s obviously capable of doing it, and it makes perfect sense that he would: A huge beacon to his glory.

See how ridiculous the argument from large numbers sounds when taken out of the context of biology? The same easily-apparent flaws in this argument apply just as well to Intelligent Design:

"Essentially zero" - The density of Betelgeuse is so low it"s taken to be essentially zero. This completely ignores the fact of how frakking huge it is (larger than the orbit of Jupiter). When you multiply this size by the density, you get a mass of around 20 times that of our sun. Get it? Small number X really large number = large number. Similarly to how even a low probability multiplied by billions of years of time can become quite likely.

Of course, ID tends to have other problems that make it even worse than the argument-from-Betelgeuse. The big one here is that they generally get the science wrong so they get an even lower number than reality.

"...therefore, God." - They"ve "proven" that Betelgeuse can"t generate light on its own, so they immediately jump to God. And of course, not just any god, but their God. There"s no serious consideration that it could be another god doing it, or even - heaven forbid - some other scientific explanation.

Yellow mustard

2010-01-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

An approach to healing based on this �law of similars,� Hahnemann
decided, should be called �homeopathy� from the Greek roots homoios (like)
and pathos (suffering). Yet whether spelled �homeopathy� or �homoeopathy�
(a version popular in the nineteenth century and still encountered occasionally),
the notion that like cures like was not an entirely new concept. As a
hunch about nature�s way of healing, it is as old as the human race and has
been applied in every form from the ancient Roman�s faith in the power of
raw dog�s liver to ward off rabies to the seventeenth-century Englishman�s
use of pomegranate seeds to relieve toothache to the eighteenth-century American�s
trust in yellow mustard seed as a preventive of yellow fever. For that
matter, the still popular recommendation of �the hair of the dog that bit you�
as the surest hangover remedy might be thought of as homeopathy

Six random things

2010-01-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

*is stirred from sleep by a metallic canine*

Rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (let"s pretend this one doesn"t exist, okay?)
5. Let each person know they"ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

In any case, here we are:

1. I haven"t stopped reading skeptical blogs, I just don"t have time to post anymore.

2. The reason I haven"t had time to post is that I"m deep into graduate school, studying astrophysics.

3. To keep sane in what spare time I have, I mostly occupy myself with video games.

4. I do still get ideas for posts every once in a while, but I"m never able to get myself to sit at the computer long enough to write them without being dragged into work I still have to do.

5. I have a book open to where I need it for work next to me at this moment, and my work in another window.

6. Okay, something that doesn"t have to do with work... I got a new girlfriend a bit over a month ago.

Okkult leg med Tarotkort

2010-01-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

En l�ser skriver i Ekstrabladet i dag:

"Jeg kender til flere familier, der er g�et i opl�sning p� grund af kortene. Det er velfungerende mennesker, der tager store og sm� beslutninger, alt efter hvilket kort det tr�kker, og fral�gger sig ansvar, hvis et kort taler for det...

N�r s� familie og venner er spillet v�k, neds�tter de sig som professionelle kortl�ggere med specielle evner som probleml�sere med sort magi. Den d�rlige karma breder sig som ringe i vand, og det er meget skr�mmende og kultagtigt."

Min kommentar:

Det er simpelthen for dumt at lade tarotkort styre �ns liv og de beslutninger, der tr�ffes.

Hvordan kan det v�re kommet s� vidt, at veluddannede mennesker ikke bruger deres sunde fornuft?

Et andet eksempel er virksomheder der bruger astrologi, som v�rkt�j ved ans�ttelsen af medarbejdere.

Review of Vitamin E

2010-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that exists in eight different forms. Each form has its own biological activity, the measure of potency or functional use in the body. Alpha-tocopherol is the most active form of vitamin E in humans, and is a powerful biological antioxidant. Antioxidants such as vitamin E act to protect your cells against the effects of free radicals, which are potentially damaging by-products of the body"s metabolism. Free radicals can cause cell damage that may contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Studies are underway to determine whether vitamin E might help prevent or delay the development of those chronic diseases.

What foods provide vitamin E?

Vegetable oils, nuts, and green leafy vegetables are the main dietary sources of vitamin E. Fortified cereals are also an important source of vitamin E in the United States. The table of selected food sources of vitamin E suggests foods that contain vitamin E.

What is the Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin E for adults?

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is the average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97-98%) healthy individuals in each life-stage and gender group. The 2000 RDAs for vitamin E for adults, in International Units (IUs) are: 22 IU for men and women over age 19 including pregnant women, and 28 IU for lactating women.

The RDA for vitamin E is based on the alpha-tocopherol form because it is the most active, or usable, form. Unlike other vitamins, the form of alpha-tocopherol made in the laboratory and found in supplements is not identical to the natural form, and is not quite as active as the natural form.

The National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine states that most North American adults get enough vitamin E from their normal diets to meet current recommendations. However, they do caution that low-fat diets can substantially decrease vitamin E intakes if food choices are not carefully made to enhance alpha-tocopherol intakes.

When can vitamin E deficiency occur?

Vitamin E deficiency is rare in humans. There are three specific situations when a vitamin E deficiency is likely to occur. It is seen in persons who cannot absorb dietary fat, has been found in premature, very low birth weight infants (birth weights less than 1500 grams, or 3 1/2 pounds) and is seen in individuals with rare disorders of fat metabolism. A vitamin E deficiency is usually characterized by neurological problems due to poor nerve conduction.

Who may need extra vitamin E to prevent a deficiency?

Individuals who cannot absorb fat may require a vitamin E supplement because some dietary fat is needed for the absorption of vitamin E from the gastrointestinal tract. Anyone diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, individuals who have had part or all of their stomach removed, and individuals with malabsorptive problems such as Crohn"s disease may not absorb fat and should discuss the need for supplemental vitamin E with their physician. People who cannot absorb fat often pass greasy stools or have chronic diarrhea.

Very low birth weight infants may be deficient in vitamin E . These infants are usually under the care of a neonatologist, a pediatrician specializing in the care of newborns, who evaluates and treats the exact nutritional needs of premature infants.

Abetalipoproteinemia is a rare inherited disorder of fat metabolism that results in poor absorption of dietary fat and vitamin E. The vitamin E deficiency associated with this disease causes problems such as poor transmission of nerve impulses, muscle weakness, and degeneration of the retina that can cause blindness. Individuals with abetalipoproteinemia may be prescribed special vitamin E supplements by a physician to treat this disorder.

Current Issues and Controversies about Vitamin E

Vitamin E and heart disease

Preliminary research has led to a widely held belief that vitamin E may help prevent or delay coronary heart disease. Researchers are fairly certain that oxidative modification of LDL-cholesterol (sometimes called "bad" cholesterol) promotes blockages in coronary arteries that may lead to atherosclerosis and heart attacks. Vitamin E may help prevent or delay coronary heart disease by limiting the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol. Vitamin E also may help prevent the formation of blood clots, which could lead to a heart attack.

Observational studies have associated lower rates of heart disease with higher vitamin E intake.

A study of approximately 90,000 nurses suggested that the incidence of heart disease was 30% to 40% lower among nurses with the highest intake of vitamin E from diet and supplements. The range of intakes from both diet and supplements in this group was 21.6 to 1,000 IU (32 to 1,500 mg), with the median intake being 208 IU (139 mg).

A 1994 review of 5,133 Finnish men and women aged 30 - 69 years suggested that increased dietary intake of vitamin E was associated with decreased mortality (death) from heart disease. But even though these observations are promising, randomized clinical trials raise questions about the role of vitamin E supplements in heart disease.
The Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) Study followed almost 10,000 patients for 4.5 years who were at high risk for heart attack or stroke. In this intervention study the subjects who received 265 mg (400) IU of vitamin E daily did not experience significantly fewer cardiovascular events or hospitalizations for heart failure or chest pain when compared to those who received a sugar pill. The researchers suggested that it is unlikely that the vitamin E supplement provided any protection against cardiovascular disease in the HOPE study. This study is continuing, to determine whether a longer duration of intervention with vitamin E supplements will provide any protection against cardiovascular disease

Vitamin E and cancer

Antioxidants such as vitamin E help protect against the damaging effects of free radicals, which may contribute to the development of chronic diseases such as cancer. Vitamin E also may block the formation of nitrosamines, which are carcinogens formed in the stomach from nitrites consumed in the diet. It also may protect against the development of cancers by enhancing immune function. Unfortunately, human trials and surveys that tried to associate vitamin E with incidence of cancer have been generally inconclusive.

Some evidence associates higher intake of vitamin E with a decreased incidence of prostate cancer and breast cancer. There is evidence that vitamin E may reduce the size of cysts in women with fibrocystic breast disease, which is a risk factor for breast cancer. However, an examination of the effect of dietary factors, including vitamin E, on incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer in over 18,000 women from New York State did not associate a greater vitamin E intake with a reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

A study of women in Iowa provided evidence that an increased dietary intake of vitamin E may decrease the risk of colon cancer, especially in women under 65 years of age. On the other hand, vitamin E intake was not statistically associated with risk of colon cancer in almost 2,000 adults with cancer who were compared to controls without cancer.

At this time there is limited evidence to recommend vitamin E supplements for the prevention of cancer.

Vitamin E and cataracts

Cataracts are growths on the lens of the eye that cloud vision. They increase the risk of disability and blindness in aging adults. Antioxidants are being studied to determine whether they can help prevent or delay cataract growth.

Observational studies have found that lens clarity, which is used to diagnose cataracts, was better in regular users of vitamin E supplements and in persons with higher blood levels of vitamin E. A study of middle aged male smokers, however, did not demonstrate any effect from vitamin E supplements on the incidence of cataract formation. The effects of smoking, a major risk factor for developing cataracts, may have overridden any potential benefit from the vitamin E, but the conflicting results also indicate a need for further studies before researchers can confidently recommend extra vitamin E for the prevention of cataracts.

What is the health risk of too much vitamin E?

The health risk of too much vitamin E is low. A recent review of the safety of vitamin E in the elderly indicated that taking vitamin E supplements for up to four months at doses of 530 mg or 800 IU (35 times the current RDA) had no significant effect on general health, body weight, levels of body proteins, lipid levels, liver or kidney function, thyroid hormones, amount or kinds of blood cells, and bleeding time.

Even though this study provides evidence that taking a vitamin E supplement containing 530 mg or 800 IU for four months is safe, the long term safety of vitamin E supplementation has not been tested. The Institute of Medicine has set an upper tolerable intake level for vitamin E at 1,000 mg (1,500 IU) for any form of supplementary alpha-tocopherol per day because the nutrient can act as an anticoagulant and increase the risk of bleeding problems. Upper tolerable intake levels represent the maximum intake of a nutrient that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects in almost all individuals in the general population.

Some food sources of vitamin E

Vegetable oils, nuts, and green leafy vegetables are good dietary sources of vitamin E. Food manufacturers fortify many foods with vitamins and minerals. It is important to read the nutrition facts panel of the food label to determine whether a food provides vitamin E.

Wheat germ oil, 1 Tb: 26.2 IU ~ 90% of Daily Value (DV)
Almonds, dry roasted, 1 oz: 7.5 IU ~ 25% DV
Safflower oil, 1 Tb: 4.7 IU ~ 15% DV
Corn oil, 1 Tb: 2.9 IU ~ 10% DV
Turnip greens, frozen, boiled, 1/2 c: 2.4 IU ~ 8% DV
Mango, raw, 1 fruit: 2.3 IU ~ 8% DV
Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 oz: 2.1 IU ~ 8% DV
Broccoli,frozen, chopped, boiled, 1/2 c: 1.5 IU ~ 6% DV
Kiwi, 1 medium fruit: 0.85 IU ~ 2% DV
Spinach, frozen, boiled, 1/2 c: 0.85 IU ~ 2% DV

Information provided by
National Institutes of Health

Article Created: 2001-02-26
Article Reviewed: 2001-02-26

Prius, schmius

2010-01-23T07:36:00.000-08:00

There"s an interesting discussion going on in the comments section at Eschaton. Basically, what is the minimum price to which gas would have to rise to force major changes in your lifestyle?

A number of people have written about how great Prius"s are. A little bit about the other hybrid cars, but mostly about the Prius. I"ve always thought the gas/electric combo is a great idea. It"s a really nifty technology at least. Then I did the math...

The milage for a Prius is 60 highway/51 city. Let"s average that and say 55. For the Saturn Ion with an automatic transmission it"s 32/24 for an average of 28. The Honda Civic is a bit better at 38/32 for an average of 35. Let"s say you drive 10,000 miles a year, which I think is reasonable unless you have an 80 mile commute. (How anyone can live in California is beyond me.) Say half that is highway, and half that is city driving. The Prius will use 182 gallons of gas per year. The Ion will use 357 per year (327 for a manual trans.) and the Civic comes in at 285 gallons. With gas around $2.30 a gallon, that means the Ion will cost $403 more per year to run, and the Civic $239. Hardly chump change. So the Prius looks like a good deal.

Uh oh, but look at the base prices for these cars. (This is a simplistic analysis, so I"m not bothering with any options.) The Saturn starts at $12,000, the Civic at $13,300 but the Prius costs a whopping $21,000! Even if gas prices rose to $5 per gallon, it would take 10 years to make up the difference in purchase price for a Saturn, and 14 years for the Civic.

Compared to an SUV, sure, the Prius is probably a great price and you"d save a lot each year on gas. But it"s not fair to compare the Prius and the Ford Monstrosity. If you compare it to similar sedans, the Prius is not an economical choice. Believe me, I wish it were, but the math just doesn"t work out. This is just one case where economy doesn"t pay.

Understanding Breast Cancer

2010-01-23T05:06:00.000-08:00

In the US, breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 30 and 50. Rarely diagnosed before a woman reaches 25, the number of incidents rises with age, peaking at menopause and decreasing once menopause had passed.

Recommendations For Wellness

Do monthly breast self-examination. If you dont know...

Read Article

Technology stuff

2010-01-23T02:53:00.000-08:00

Hey, did you know the Chinese have a cell-phone battery that can last a lifetime?

(line break in link now fixed)

Alternative Healthcare Pioneer and Immunologist, Dr. Myron Wentz

2010-01-22T22:05:00.000-08:00

To watch a video of a message from Dr. Wentz in Windows Media format or Quicktime click the appropriate links.

Hello, I�m Dr. Myron Wentz, the founder of Sanoviv Medical Institute. Sanoviv is a state-of-the-art healing center, hospital and research facility; it could change your life forever.

I have spent the last 40 years studying the intricacies of human cells: what makes them grow and flourish and what makes them degenerate and eventually die. By cultivating human cells in a healthy laboratory environment, free of toxins and with the proper nutrients, I learned what was necessary to grow healthy human cells. Moreover, I discovered that it is possible to reverse degeneration and disease.

Encouraged by my successful research in human cell culture, I began to imagine creating a healing center that addresses an individual�s health at the cellular level. This center would employ the newest advances in diagnostics, treatment, nutrition and detoxification. I set out to create the hospital of the future. This is what I envisioned:

A beautiful, immaculate, non-stressful environment that honors the relationship between the mind and body in achieving health;

A place that employs only toxin-free building materials and furnishings, free of Electromagnetic Fields and toxic chemicals.

A research hospital where the finest medical minds work together with you to properly diagnose any illness and to design a treatment plan to reverse the degeneration and cellular damage that may have already occurred.

A place where your cells are flooded with the vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and phyto-nutrients they need to repair and heal.

And so I created Sanoviv Medical Institute.

The results we are achieving in battling degenerative diseases are astounding.

Our guests have experienced everything from Cancer remissions to elimination of their reliance on medication, insulin, pain killers and other treatments that merely masked their symptoms but did not address the root cause of their illness.

I urge you to visit Sanoviv, whether you are in good health and would like to stay vibrant and healthy or are suffering from an illness, such as:

We will create a diagnostic program and treatment plan that is designed to fortify the body�s natural ability to heal itself.

On our web site you can see and hear the testimonials of those who have had remarkable results at Sanoviv and are eager to tell the world about the transformation in their health and their new outlook on life.

If you, a friend, or loved one need or want to achieve the highest quality of health in the most advanced hospital in the world, please take the first step today.

Watch our virtual tour, review the photos of our facility, and then take a moment to call us or fill out the contact form on our web site. One of our health professionals will respond quickly to your needs. I hope you"ll agree with me that Sanoviv models the future of healthcare.

Give yourself or your loved ones the greatest gift of all: a vibrant, quality life free from pain and disease.

David Letterman is gay!

2010-01-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

David Letterman brought up Ann Coulter"s recent accusations against Bill Clinton for being gay. Remember that Letterman has a child with a woman he"s not married to. He must be gay, too, then.

In an interview this week on CNBC, conservative pundit Ann Coulter claimed that Bill Clinton is a homosexual. And while the former president admits he once told Coulter that he�s gay, it was simply a polite excuse to explain why he wasn"t hitting on her bony ass. Bill Clinton, only gay when it comes to evil, crazy, bitches.

I"ve never done this before, but here"s the clip from You Tube:

Unfounded health scares, facts against fears

2010-01-22T20:06:00.000-08:00

ACSH publish unfounded health scares, based on questionable, hypothetical, or even nonexistent scientific evidence.

This report summarizes some of the most noteworthy scares according to ACSH:

01) Pediatric Vaccines and Autism
02) PCBs in Salmon and Cancer
03) Cell Phones Cause Brain Tumors
04) Nightlights and Leukemia
05) Chemicals in Cosmetics
06) Mercury in Seafood Causes Neurological Problems in Humans
07) Cheeseburgers and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
08) Antibiotics Cause Breast Cancer
09) Teflon Causes Health Problems in Humans
10) Soda Causes Esophageal Cancer
11) Dishonorable Mention
12) Deodorants, Antiperspirants Cause Breast Cancer
13) Plastics Cause Cancer

The purpose of this roundup of unfounded health scares is to encourage consumers to be skeptical the next time a report publish the discovery of new chemical threat or miracle cure.

Common sense is still popular.

Tom Cruise Website

2010-01-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

A new satirical website TomCruiseIsNuts.com about a mizguided zealot.

Cruise site gets to the nut of the matter

Doctors & Drug Companies

2010-01-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

over the last week I"ve posted two interesting articles on my web site http://www.mytherapypractice.com relating to drug companies and doctors and initiatives being taken by some doctors themsleves to change this. The information makes frightening reading - for example there"s one drug rep for every 15 doctors in the USA - drug companies would not be paying them if they didn"t think they were value for money.

Here"s a site which explains why patients should be concerned and what they can do about it:

http://www.nofreelunch.org/patients.htm

Kelp As Alternative Medicine

2010-01-22T15:45:00.000-08:00

Kelp As Alternative Medicine

Kelp the common seaweed is often used as an alternative medicine. From various studies it is shown to have the following health benefits:

1. It helps to lower blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

2. Kelp is used to reduce an enlarged prostate in men.

3. It eases pains in joints and inflammatory tissues in people with rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis.

4. Kelp improves pigmentation in the eyes and nose

5. It can prevent or reduce hair loss.

6. Kelp is often used for the prevention of goiters (enlarged thyroid glands).

7. It prevents the body from absorbing harmful radioactive heavy metals created by nuclear power plants such as strontium 90.

8. It strengthens fingernails

Kelp is available as tablet, tea, capsule, tincture and powder. Asian people especially the Koreans and Japanese eat a lot of seaweed rich in kelp. I enjoy eating dried seaweed as a snack. Maybe this is one way for me to gain the benefits of kelp as an alternative medicine.