Heart of Home

I got an article published on Natural News.

1. “The cause of most disease is in the poisonous drugs physicians superstitiously give in order to effect a cure.”
–Charles E. Page, M.D.

2. “Medicines are of subordinate importance because of their very nature, they can only work symptomatically.”
–Hans Kusche, M.D.

3. “If all the medicine in the world were thrown into the sea, it would be bad for the fish and good for humanity”
–O.W. Holmes, (Prof. of Med. Harvard University)

4. “Drug medications consists in employing, as remedies for disease, those things which produce disease in well persons. Its materia medica is simply a lot of drugs or chemicals or dye-stuffs in a word poisons.  All are incompatible with vital matter; all produce disease when brought in contact in any manner with the living; all are poisons.”
–R.T. TraIl, M.D., in a two and one half hour lecture to members of congress and the medical profession, delivered at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

5. “Every drug increases and complicates the patients condition.”
–Robert Henderson, M.D.

6. “Drugs never cure disease. They merely hush the voice of nature’s protest, and pull down the danger signals she erects along the pathway of transgression. Any poison taken into the system has to be reckoned with later on even though it palliates present symptoms. Pain may disappear, but the patient is left in a worse condition, though unconscious of it at the time.”
–Daniel. H. Kress, M.D.

7. “The greatest part of all chronic disease is created by the suppression of acute disease by drug poisoning.”
–Henry Lindlahr, M.D.

8. “Every educated physician knows that most diseases are not appreciably helped by medicine.”
–Richard C. Cabot, M.D. (Mass. Gen. Hospital)

9. “Medicine is only palliative, for back of disease lies the cause, and this cause no drug can reach.”
–Wier Mitchel, M.D.

10. “The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine.”
–William Osler, M.D.

11. “Medical practice has neither philosophy nor common sense to recommend it. In sickness the body is already loaded with impurities. By taking drug - medicines more impurities are added, thereby the case is further embarrassed and harder to cure.”
–Elmer Lee, M.D., Past Vice President, Academy of Medicine.

12. “Our figures show approximately four and one half million hospital admissions annually due to the adverse reactions to drugs. Further, the average hospital patient has as much as thirty percent chance, depending how long he is in, of doubling his stay due to adverse drug reactions.”
–Milton Silverman, M.D. (Professor of Pharmacology, University of California)

13. “Why would a patient swallow a poison because he is ill, or take that which would make a well man sick.”
–L.F. Kebler, M.D.

14. “What hope is there for medical science to ever become a true science when the entire structure of medical knowledge is built around the idea that there is an entity called disease which can be expelled when the right drug is found?”
–John H. Tilden, M.D.

15. “The necessity of teaching mankind not to take drugs and medicines, is a duty incumbent upon all who know their uncertainty and injurious effects; and the time is not far distant when the drug system will be abandoned.”
–Charles Armbruster, M. D.

16. “We are prone to thinking of drug abuse in terms of the male population and illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. It may surprise you to learn that a greater problem exists with millions of women dependent on legal prescription drugs.”
–Robert Mendelsohn, M.D

Dr. Dean Ornish, head of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, is a well-known author advocating lifestyle changes to improve health.  Dr. Ornish is also affiliated with the University of California at San Francisco.  He recently reported on the Gene Expression Modulation by Intervention with Nutrition and Lifestyle (GEMINAL) study.  This study indicated that making positive changes in one’s diet, exercise, and stress management can effect more than a person’s weight.  Dr. Ornish’s study was published in June 16, 2008 edition of the journal <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.

The study followed 30 men who had opted out of conventional treatment for low-risk prostate cancer.  The men decided, before they were recruited to take part in the study, not to undergo treatments such as surgery, radiation, or hormone therapy normally advocated for the disease.  The men were closely monitored for tumor progression through the duration of the study.

Instead, for three months, they made changes in their lifestyle:  They ate a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products.  They exercised moderately, walking for half an hour a day.  Each day they spent an hour practicing stress management methods such as meditation.  Additionally, the men participated in support group sessions.

As the study progressed, the men lost weight, lowered their blood pressure and cholesterol, and generally saw improvements in their health.  Previous studies gave evidence of lowered prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels with dietary changes.

Biopsies taken at the beginning and end of the study demonstrated some more significant changes.  About 500 genes evidenced changes in activity at the end of the study. 48 disease preventing genes were turned on.  453 genes which promote disease, like breast and prostate cancers, were turned off.

Dr. Ornish expressed excitement over the results in a Reuters interview.  The implications of this study go beyond men and prostate cancer.  People are not doomed by their genetics.  They can make positive changes fairly quickly.  In three months genetic changes can be made through the choices we make in food, exercise, and the way we handle stress.

This is an area of study that merits further investigation, the researchers concluded.

Resources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080617/hl_nm/genes_lifestyle_refile_dc
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/105/24/8369
http://ict.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/5/3/206?ijkey=44d190d5a94164235a7954f510e07f8261fcb531&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16094059?dopt=Abstract

A Dutch woman decided to will her body to science when she was 82 years old. When she turned 111, she contacted the researchers, worried that she was too old to be of interest to them. On the contrary, they assured her, because of her age, they were especially interested in her.

Over the next four years, she submitted to testing twice. The results showed her above average, even for people aged 60 to 80 years of age. There were essentially no signs of cognitive decline or memory loss.

Gert Holstege, a neuroscientist at the University Medical Center Groningen, in The Netherlands examined her body after she died at 115 years of age. The results are reported in the August issue of the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

To the surprise of the examiners, the woman’s brain showed no sign of Alzheimer’s. They found no signs of atherosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries. Very few brain abnormalities were evident. almost no deposits of so-called beta-amyloid, which are characteristic in Alzheimer’s brains. Other abnormalities present, including “neurofibrillary tangles,” were too mild to cause significant mental impairment. In fact, the number of brain cells she retained was similar to that expected in healthy people between 60 and 80 years old.

Scientists were amazed at these findings, because they showed that Alzheimer’s and dementia are not inevitable as people age.

On the Spanish island of Minorca, a man recently died at the age of 114. Reports speak of him riding his bicycle to tend to the family’s orchards until he was 102. He is survived aby a brother, who is 101, a nephew who is 85, and two daughters, aged 81 and 77. All seem to live an active health-filled lifestyle.

Scientists tested the family’s DNA for two markers associated with healthy bones and longevity. The markers were not found. Gil Atzmon, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York informs us that some 10 to 20 genes have been identified as related to longevity thus far.

These findings lead scientists to believe that longevity may be more complicated than a singe gene, or group of genes.

As of yet, no particular diet or lifestyle has a proven association with longevity. Yet some clues have been uncovered that point us in the direction of factors which can contribute to a longer, healthier life.

In the 1930’s, Cornell University researchers found that rats fed a lower calorie diet than their litter mates lived 40 percent longer. The increased life span occurred regardless of the age of the rats at the time of their diet change.

A mother’s nutrition while she is pregnant and nursing can have a profound effect on her offspring’s life span. Scientists at Cambridge University in England found that mice fed a high protein diet during pregnancy and a low protein diet while nursing had pups that lived fifty percent longer than those whose diets were reversed.

Happily married couples tend to live longer, claims a study from the University of Chicago. Linda Waite reported that married men were found to live, on average, 10 years longer than non-married men, and married women lived about four years longer than non-married woman.

A May 2, 2006 article in the American Journal of Medicine reports that walking is a factor in health and longevity. In their study, patients in their 70’s who were in good health were challenged to walk a quarter mile. Those who completed the course were more likely to survive the next six years without disability. Those who walked slower were at higher risk of death and disability than the faster walkers, but still ahead of those who could not finish.

As a matter of fact, additional studies show that walking or other exercise three or more times a week is a hedge against Alzheimer’s.

Staying mentally and physically active throughout life is the best way to keep the mind sharp.
Individuals with high mental stimulation had reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia by nearly half by building and maintaining a reserve of stimulation. Another study showed that after five weeks of memory-based exercise, participants increased brain chemistry markers in a direction that was opposite to that seen in Alzheimer’s. The change was concentrated in the hippocampus, one of the first brain regions to be affected in dementia.

Currently, there are more than 80,000 Americans 100 years of age or older, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That number is expected to rise to more than 580,000 centenarians by 2040. The hope is that these centenarians might live long, healthy, and happy lives.

References:

http://www.livescience.com/health/080609-oldest-brain.html
http://www.livescience.com/health/080508-long-life.html
http://www.livescience.com/health/060524_longevity_research.html
http://www.livescience.com/health/060502_walk_health.html
http://www.livescience.com/health/060125_delay_dementia.html

The demands on a woman’s body during pregnancy often leave her feeling depleted, physically and emotionally. Depression is common among pregnant women. Concerns have been raised about possible harm from antidepressants which night affect both mother and child. Mothers-to-be and their health care providers often look for other choices than pharmaceuticals.

Researchers at China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan noted a possible reason why many women experience depression during pregnancy, reports Reuters Health. Depression is often associated with lower levels of Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

Dr. Kuan-Pin Su and colleagues presented their findings in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Dr. Su supplemented subjects’ diets with 3.4 grams Omega 3 each day. Control subjects received an olive oil derived placebo. At 6 and 8 week follow up testing, the Omega-receiving women scored lower on depression measuring scales than the placebo group. These scores indicated less depression. Two thirds of the women consuming the PUFAs showed significant improvement, the study said, compared with 27 per cent of the control group. Many became free from depression altogether.

The best news came when researchers noted the absence of negative effects on either mothers or their newborn babies. A few mothers experienced minor stomach upset the first few days while their systems got used to the new substances.

Many pregnant women are deficient in a variety of nutrients, including Omega 3 PUFAs. In an effort to provide for the baby’s needs, a woman may lose 3 percent of her brain mass during the last trimester. This loss is thought to be responsible for post partum depression. The diminished supply of Omega 3 PUFAs can have far-reaching effects on both mother and baby beyond perinatal and post partum depression. Deficiencies in these PUFAs can lead to pre-eclampsia, prematurity, and low birth weight babies.

The American Chronicle reports that Omega 3s consumed during pregnancy are also beneficial for the baby. EPA and DHA, components of Omega 3 oils, make up nearly 70 percent of the developing baby’s brain, nervous system, and the retinal tissue of the eyes. The article summarizes findings presented in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The need for these PUFAs, the article goes on to say, begins even before conception. Omega 3 oils are required to produce healthy and vigorous eggs and sperm.

The Chronicle article suggests salmon and fish oil as good sources for these essential Omega 3 oils. Yet, there are concerns about mercury contamination in fish, points out an article from Reuters Health. The solution recommended by the researchers: avoid farm raised fish and large long-lived fish like swordfish and tuna. They also call for lowering levels of environmental contamination with mercury. Over-all these researchers suggest that mothers-to-be should eat at least two servings a week of fish lower in mercury.

According to The World’s Healthiest Foods Omega oils are best absorbed from whole foods. If you choose to use supplements: “remember that these oils are highly sensitive to damage from heat, light and oxygen. Choose a certified organic product that has been refrigerated and is packaged in a dark brown or green glass jar and be sure to store the product in your refrigerator or freezer.”

Nutrition Data gives a comprehensive list of food sources for Omega oils. Most of those listed at the top are concentrated oils, fats, and salad dressings, beginning with flax seed oil. Within the top ten, these concentrated oils begin to be interspersed among food sources:

• Whole flax seed appears first among the actual food sources with 22,813 milligrams per 100 grams – far above the others.

• The next highest source from food: chia seeds with 17,552 milligrams per 100 grams.

• Foods following these include English walnuts (9,079) and butternuts (8,719). Black walnuts offer 2,006 and beechnuts contain 1700 milligrams per 100 grams. Toppings of nuts in syrup (2,420) and pecans (1031) are also on the chart.

• Surprisingly high on the list we find familiar spices like clove (4,279), oregano (4,180), marjoram (3,230), and tarragon (2,955). Other spices offering more than 1 gram in 100 grams of mass include: Spearmint (2,792); yellow mustard seed (2,680); basil (1509); saffron (1,248); sage (1,230); rosemary (1076), and bay leaf (1050). Of course, we do not use these in large quantities, but we see how they can add more than flavor to our meals.

• Fish are numerous at the top of this list. Among the fishes we first encounter caviar (6,789) and mackerel (5,134). Finally, at number 58, we come to Atlantic native red sockeye salmon with skin, which has received so much press, weighing in at 2,865 milligrams per hundred grams of fish. These are followed by another variety of mackerel (2,670), shad (2,649), wild Atlantic salmon (2,586; farmed - 2,260; canned - 1,480), herring (2,418 and kippered - 2,365), and sardines (1,480). Note that varieties and sources for the same species of fish can have widely differing amounts of nutrients.

• Among soy foods we find: tofu dried (2,024) and fried (1,346); roasted soybeans (1,694); soy flour (1,458); and raw soybeans (1,330).

These are the stellar sources which offer more than one percent of their substance as Omega 3 oils. Many other foods are considered good sources, even with a lower density of the nutrient. The World’s Healthiest Foods recommends cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collard greens and brussels sprouts as good sources in addition to many of those listed above.

Pregnancy is a good time to take extra special care of yourself, even if you fall short at other times. Indulge in the sheer delight of sampling the vast variety of nutrient dense foods. Your body – and your baby – will reap abundant benefits.

On the sad news of Senator Kennedy’s brain cancer, perhaps we need to ponder some of the choices we make for our health care:

Did Statin Drugs Cause Senator Ted Kennedy’s Brain Tumor?

by Byron Richards at NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) Legions of well wishers look on as Senator Ted Kennedy struggles for his life, fighting against one of the most difficult types of brain tumors. Few men have had such an impact on the laws made in the United States. As a powerful member of the Senate HELP committee Kennedy has been a primary force shaping almost all health-related legislation for decades. Ironically, it may be the drugs he has so adamantly promoted that are the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to his brain tumor.

Few Americans receive the preferential care given to an important Senator like Kennedy. It is interesting to note what the “finest” care enables a person to receive. He is being treated at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, arguably one of the best hospitals in the world – the same place he had surgery for a significantly blocked carotid artery in October of 2007.

Now that the public’s attention will be diverted onto treating his cancer problem, not too many are going to explain that the care for his carotid artery problem could be a primary reason for his brain tumor suddenly emerging. Indeed, in Kennedy’s situation the fox and the hen house are the same hospital – do you really expect them to take a close look at his situation when such an evaluation is self incriminating? And on the larger scale such an evaluation could lead to millions of Americans dumping their statin drugs in the trash.

Senator Kennedy’s Health History

Kennedy is no poster child for health, fitness, or a healthy lifestyle. He is overweight and out of shape and has been for a long time. Eight months ago doctors found his left carotid artery mostly blocked and performed surgery to clean out the plaque. It took many years of abuse to create that problem. In all fairness to his doctors, Kennedy is not a very healthy patient. On the other hand, that is what doctors are for – treating patients who aren’t healthy and getting them back to real health.

We know from publicly disclosed information that Kennedy was taking both blood pressure medication and statin drugs to lower cholesterol. We can assume that as part of the “finest medical care” his treatment to lower cholesterol was quite aggressive following his carotid artery surgery – now the “gold standard” of care being pushed on countless Americans. This means lowering cholesterol to abnormally low physiological levels, based on the idea that if a person can’t make much cholesterol then it can’t form plaque. Virtually no attention is given to the potential risks of starving the cholesterol synthesis system throughout the body – which is the core survival system of any person.

Kennedy was also on blood pressure medication. Most doctors think they have done their patients a real favor when they use enough drugs to get their numbers looking better on paper. Unfortunately, blood pressure medication typically reduces the flow of nutrition and oxygen to your brain, resulting in acid pH and an environment readily suitable for cancer growth. There is a huge difference between having normal blood pressure because you are healthy (meaning blood gets to your head properly) and good blood pressure numbers artificially produced with drugs (meaning blood doesn’t get to many areas of your body properly, including your brain). There is no short cut to real health.

Statins and Cancer

Statins cause cancer for a variety of reasons, a fact that is consistently covered up by the 20-billion-dollar-a-year statin industry – with the help of Senators from both sides of the political aisle, like Kennedy, who actively support the Big Pharma agenda. In fact, Big Pharma tries to promote statins as a cancer-protective drug based on the ability of statins to kill cancer cells in test tubes. They do this in test tubes because they are so toxic. In your body a dose required to kill cancer cells would kill you first.

Statins interfere with normal immune function in multiple ways. They are so effective at suppressing your immune system that they have been researched as immune-suppressing options for organ transplant patients. That is not good news for anyone having to fight the flu or combat cancer.

Statins interfere with core survival systems that are “branches” in the normal production of LDL cholesterol. Such interference in health is a major side effect of statins – and widely ignored by prescribing physicians. For example, selenium-containing genes are reduced/blocked by statins, including the production of cellular glutathione – your cell’s most important antioxidant that protects against cell mutations that can lead to cancer.

Important anti-cancer nutrients such as vitamin D and coenzyme Q10 are also reduced by statins. And a primary anti-cancer cell-modulating substance known as isoprenoids are reduced by statins. Isoprenoids in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are the reason eating these foods is associated with less cancer. Blocking your body’s natural production of them with statin drugs is not a good idea.

Brain cells are weakened by statins, as every brain cell has a naturally higher level of cholesterol in its cell membrane so it can live longer (brain cells do not split and divide like other cells).

Thus, super high levels of statins are immune toxic, cripple your body’s natural cancer defense system, and weaken nerves. The longer a person stays on these high doses the worse the problems become – as damage is cumulative and insidiously progressive over time. When combined with blood pressure medication this creates an environment within the nervous system ripe for cancer growth, a fact that simply cannot be denied based on the timing of Kennedy’s problems.

When a person develops cancer while taking a statin the statin is never blamed – even though it is an obvious causative agent that cannot possibly be ruled out. The risk for cancer is especially true when cholesterol levels are being suppressed to abnormally low levels that virtually no person who is healthy possesses. The “finest” medical care money can buy enables an individual to be poisoned by statins and the brightest medical minds on earth don’t seem to have a clue what they are actually doing to people such as Senator Kennedy.

Kennedy and Health Freedom

Ironically, in the case of Kennedy his health care is a direct result of the health policies he has forged. He is one of the most anti-vitamin and anti-natural health senators. He has now slid down the health ladder to the point he has no options but surgery, toxic drugs, or FDA-sanctioned experiments. Can the cancer be killed before his body gives out? He has very aggressive cancer and poor underlying health – not a good combination.

No place on the internet will he find a credible explanation of what vitamins he should be taking right now, which ones would support his medical options, and which ones would help him recover from his treatments most effectively. You would think he would like to know which nutrients would help turn off the inflammatory gene signals in his brain that are driving the spreading of his cancer. He certainly won’t get that information from his doctors. At least he might like to know what to do if his medical treatments are successful enough that he has some time to try to fix himself.

I’d be happy to post such information on my website, but the FDA won’t allow it. Indeed, it is Kennedy and mostly Democratic members of the Senate and House (along with a large number of Republicans) that are adamantly opposed to Americans understanding how to be healthy or how to use natural health options to support medical care to increase their likelihood of a positive outcome – even though the science behind such support and benefit could help millions of Americans without any side effects.

While Kennedy is being praised by friend and foe alike for his health policies that provide care to the less fortunate – it is overlooked that such plans carry with them the sacrifice of health freedom under the false pretense of “safety” and strict governmental public health enforcement.

Hillary Clinton has always seen eye to eye with Kennedy on health freedom suppression and a desire to excessively regulate vitamins. Dick Durbin, Obama’s fellow senator from Illinois and national co-chair of his campaign, is at the very top of the list of vitamin-hating senators. The Democratic Party motivation behind such health freedom suppression is to have an iron grip on “herd mentality” and public health initiatives – and health freedom and access to natural health options are not compatible with this unspoken objective.

Republican politicians also favor this iron grip on public health, but for somewhat different reasons – historically to forward the sales of Big Pharma at the expense of any potential competitors. Although under the Bush administration a similar political control agenda (forced vaccinations in a pandemic flu, etc.) have blurred any differences between Republicans and Democrats on core health freedom issues. There is no candidate in serious contention for president that actively stands for and supports health freedom.

What we have is a Big Pharma model of health that Kennedy is in no small part responsible for. His own actions have drastically limited his access to solutions that actually work and could help him. Does he care? Probably not, after all he has the “best” health care that money can buy. However, there are millions of Americans who do care and are being denied their right to helpful information and safe and effective remedies. This issue should be central to a national debate on health care.

For more information on the science and side effects of statins read my article, The Statin Scam Marches On and Chapter 19 – Death by Statin, in my book, Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America:

http://www.wellnessresources.com/conten…

http://www.wellnessresources.com/Books/…

About the author: Byron J. Richards, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist, nationally-renowned nutrition expert, and founder of Wellness Resources is a leader in advocating the value of dietary supplements as a vital tool to maintain health. He is an outspoken critic of government and Big Pharma efforts to deny access to natural health products and has written extensively on the life-shortening and health-damaging failures of the sickness industry. www.wellnessresources.com askbyron@wellnessresources.com

Over a year ago, researchers presented a solution for world hunger: a switch of even half of North America’s and Europe’s farming regions to organic methods could produce enough food to feed the current world’s population.  This shift has the added benefit of improving the environment.  Talk about an amazing insight!

We, who have encouraged consumption of organics for years are not surprised by this revelation.  Yet, who is listening?  When will we see the shift made?  Don’t hold your breath.

An article in USA Today last May reported on the UN presentation.  With all the concern over food shortages and  world hunger, how far has anyone progressed on this initiative?

One study, by the University of Michigan, found hat a global shift to organic agriculture would yield at least 2,641 kilocalories per person per day and as many as 4,381 kilocalories per person per day, researchers reported.  The world’s farmers’ current production yields 2,786 kilocalories per person each day.

Of course, the other side of the coin, as we have seen in the Mayanmar debacle, is the political powers-that-be.  It is amazing how fingers point at this small country, but as we look at our own country’s handling of natural disasters over the past several years, can we say that the politicians handled them in everyone’s best interest?

I also have a hard time believing that such a small country contributes significantly enough to the world rice market that rice prices have quintupled in the past couple of months.

“World rice production in 2007 was approximately 645 million t. At least 114 countries grow rice and more than 50 have an annual production of 100,000 tons or more. Asian farmers produce about 90% of the total, with two countries, China and India, growing more than half the total crop.”

A chart of rice production by country from that same site shows Mayanmar contributing only 4 percent of the production from Asia.  Asia does indeed provide ninety percent of the world’s rice.  I imagine a good portion of rice is also consumed on that contintent.  The chart also shows that world wide production of rice has doubled in the last 35 years.

ROGER DOBSON

If you’re thinking of asking your beloved to marry you, make sure that you utter your declaration of love into his or her left ear; it may increase your chances of hearing a heart-lifting “yes”. New research suggests that declarations of love, jokes, or words of anger are best remembered when they are heard through the left ear, while instructions, directions and non-emotional messages have more impact on the right side.

It is all to do with how our brains process information. Although the left and right hemispheres, or sides, of the brain are similar structures, they have specialised functions. The left side, it is suggested, is more logic-based and dominant, while the right is the more imaginative side, more visual, intuitive, emotional and spatially aware. Because the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, the left ear has been shown in some research to be the route to the emotional side of the brain, and the right ear to the non-emotional, logical side.

But it’s not just ears that are affected. The right eye has been shown to be best for processing colours, the right foot is the most vulnerable to tickling, the left cheek the more favourable one to kiss, and the left side is the favoured one for holding babies. Support for the idea comes from a number of psychological and brain scanning studies, and from research based on patients with brain injuries or structural changes.

The different hemispheric roles are, for example, more pronounced in patients who have no corpus callosum, the structure that connects the two hemispheres. And studies of stroke patients have shown that those who suffer left-side damage tend to have more problems with speech and language than those who have right-side damage. Here is a round-up of the latest research that delves into the mysteries of how the two halves of our brains work.

TELLING JOKES

You’ve got to laugh, especially if the joke comes through the left ear. Ongoing research at the University of California shows that the right hemisphere seems to be more involved in the processing of punch lines when volunteers were exposed to jokes. The researchers say: “Results suggest that joke-relevant information was more active in the right hemisphere.”

CRADLING BABIES

Research suggests that 70 to 85 per cent of women cradle babies on the left, irrespective of handedness. According to research at Sussex University, they do so because it helps them to better understand their child’s emotional and physical needs. According to the researchers, the left position directs important infant responses to the right side of the mother’s brain, the hemisphere used for emotional response. “Left-sided cradling provides an advantage in the bonding process by giving the mother fast intuitive access to the baby’s requirements,” they say.

WHISPERING SWEET NOTHINGS

Loving words - and angry ones - are likely to have the biggest impact through the left ear. The research at Sam Houston University of America, based on 1,120 people, showed that the subjects were able to recall more emotional words connected with love and anger when they were delivered though the left ear. When emotional words were presented in the left ear, the percentage of recall accuracy was 69 per cent compared with 56 per cent for the right ear.

A NOSE FOR SMELLS

Aftershave and flowers may have the biggest effect on a woman’s left nostril. In research at the University of Pennsylvania Smell and Taste Centre, different smells were presented to the left and right sides of the nose of 60 left or right-handed people. Results show that the biggest impact, seen only in women, was when the smells were presented to the left, possibly because of its link to the more emotion-sensitive side of the brain.

FANCY A LITTLE TICKLE?

With the help of special tickling apparatus, researchers tickled the left and right feet of volunteers to assess reactions. The volunteers rated the strength of the tickle sensation and results show that the right foot was significantly more sensitive than the left, irrespective of both hand and foot preference.

FINDING RELIGION

When researchers in the United States played religious or spiritual words into the left ears of volunteers, they found that recall accuracy was 66 per cent, compared with 54 per cent for the right ear. The reverse was found for non-religious words. Researchers say that when religious words are heard in the left ear, the signals travelled to the right hemisphere, which is more receptive to non-logical thought. “One explanation is that it is the right hemisphere that performs functions normally not associated with logic and reason,” says Dr Teow-Chong Sim, who led the study.

HOT SALES PITCHES

The left ear may be best for salesmen. In research at University College London, three sales teams used one of three headsets - left, right, both ears - for a day’s selling of insurance by telephone. Sales were markedly influenced by the choice of headset. “People who chose to wear the left earpiece significantly outsold the others wearing right and stereo headsets. When sales are analysed in terms of individual differences in personal preference for type of headset, those who chose the left ear had an advantage.”

Exactly why is not clear, but one theory is that sale staff who opt to use their right ear may be more likely to use logic for selling, while those who use the left may have a more intuitive and responsive relationship with clients

PICTURE APPRECIATION

If you want to increase your appreciation of fine art, wink at the pictures. Studies indicate that the right hemisphere, and the left eye, best remembers pictures. Researchers at the University of Tromsø, Norway, showed a set of 1,500 pictures of animals, human faces, artefacts, landscapes and art paintings to the central vision of volunteers, and then to each eye separately. Memory for the images was then tested up to six days later. Results show that images that had been presented to the right hemisphere were better recognised than those shown to the left.

ANYONE FOR ATHLETICS?

Sprinters are best kicking off with their right foot. Research at the University of Calgary shows that those who start with their right foot at the rear had an overall 70 millisecond advantage over those with a left foot at the rear. The researchers say the results are consistent with the theory that the left hemisphere, which controls the right foot, is more involved in the control of movement. “The right-foot-rear response-time advantage found in the present study suggests that teachers and coaches in these events should emphasise a right-foot-rear stance for their athletes,” say the researchers.

FACE RECOGNITION

The right hemisphere is better than the left at processing faces, but not if they are blurred. In research reported in the journal Perception, famous and non-famous faces were presented to the left and right visual fields. Half were blurred and half unblurred.

Blurred famous faces were responded to significantly faster when presented to the left visual field than when presented to the right visual field.

TEST A FRIEND

Watch the direction of a friend’s gaze when you ask him or her these questions

1. Name a county that borders Cornwall.

2. Name three synonyms for “walking”.

3. What direction does the Queen face on a two pence piece?

4. Name three synonyms for “intelligence”.

Most people will look to the right when thinking about language-related questions (the even- numbered questions) and look to the left when thinking about the spatial questions (the odd- numbered questions). These eye movements are thought to be a consequence of the two sides of our brains processing different information.

Developed by Concordia College, Minnesota

by Dani Veracity

You may want to think twice before eating your next sandwich on white bread. Studies show that alloxan, the chemical that makes white flour look “clean” and “beautiful,” destroys the beta cells of the pancreas. That’s right; you may be devastating your pancreas and putting yourself at risk for diabetes, all for the sake of eating “beautiful” flour. Is it worth it? Scientists have known of the alloxan-diabetes connection for years; in fact, researchers who are studying diabetes commonly use the chemical to induce the disorder in lab animals. In the research sense, giving alloxan to an animal is similar to injecting that animal with a deadly virus, as both alloxan and the virus are being used specifically to cause illness. Every day, consumers ingest foods made with alloxan-contaminated flour. Would they just as willingly consume foods tainted with a deadly virus? Unless they had a death wish, they probably would not. Unfortunately, most consumers are unaware of alloxan and its potentially fatal link to diabetes because these facts are not well publicized by the food industry.

How does alloxan cause diabetes? According to Dr. Hari Sharma’s Freedom from Disease, the uric acid derivative initiates free radical damage to DNA in the beta cells of the pancreas, causing the cells to malfunction and die. When these beta cells fail to operate normally, they no longer produce enough insulin, or in other words, they cause one variety of adult-onset type 2 diabetes. Alloxan’s harmful effects on the pancreas are so severe that the Textbook of Natural Medicine calls the chemical “a potent beta-cell toxin.” However, even though the toxic effect of alloxan is common scientific knowledge in the research community, the FDA still allows companies to use it when processing foods we ingest.

The FDA and the white flour industry could counter-argue that, if alloxan were to cause diabetes, a higher proportion of Americans would be diabetic. After all, more consumers consume white flour on a regular basis than are actually diabetic. This point is valid, but it does not disprove the alloxan-diabetes connection. While alloxan is one cause of adult-onset type 2 diabetes, it is of course not the only cause. As the Textbook of Natural Medicine states, “current theory suggests an hereditary beta-cell predisposition to injury coupled with some defect in tissue regeneration capacity” may be a key cause. For alloxan to cause injury to an individual’s beta cells, the individual must have the genetic susceptibility to injury. This is similar to the connection between high-cholesterol foods and heart disease. Eating high-cholesterol foods causes heart disease, especially in people who have family histories of heart disease. The link between alloxan and diabetes is as clear and solid as the link between cholesterol and heart disease.

If you’ve been eating white bread for years and you have a family history of diabetes, all hope is not lost for you. Studies show that you can reverse the effects of alloxan by supplementing your diet with vitamin E. According to Dr. Gary Null’s Clinicians Handbook of Natural Healing, vitamin E effectively protected lab rats from the harmful effects of administered alloxan. Now, you’re not a lab rat, but you’re a mammal and vitamin E is definitely worth adding to your daily regimen of nutritional supplements, especially if you have a history of eating foods made with white flour and are at high risk for diabetes.

Even if you are already diabetic, some simple changes to your diet can help treat your diabetes. First of all, stop eating foods made with white flour. Even though you already have diabetes, vitamin E supplements can still help you, as can many common foods. Garlic, for example, does wonders for diabetes. As Dr. Benjamin Lau states in his book Garlic for Health, “When fed garlic, the rabbits’ elevated blood sugar dropped almost as much as it did when they were given the antidiabetic drug tolbutamide. Researchers postulated that garlic may improve the insulin effect.”

If you can’t handle the taste of natural garlic, you can take it in widely available supplements. Aloe vera is a traditional diabetic remedy in the Arabian Peninsula, and its therapeutic characteristics are now gaining worldwide acceptance in the treatment of diabetes. According to both human and animal research studies, aloe vera lowers blood glucose levels by an unknown mechanism. According to the Clinicians Handbook of Natural Healing, this natural hypoglycemic effect extended over a period of 24 hours. Adding onions to your diet (along with the garlic) can also significantly reduce your blood sugar level. Additionally, as Dr. Michael T. Murray writes in The Healing Power of Herbs, studies show that ginseng controls glucose in both diabetic humans and diabetic laboratory animals.

It all comes down to asking if putting yourself at risk for diabetic coma, blindness, limb amputation and death is worth eating white bread. If you’re willing to risk your quality of life and your life itself, then go ahead and eat all the foods made with white flour you want. However, if you want to stop poisoning yourself with alloxan, a known toxic chemical, then make a few simple dietary changes. Eat groceries made with whole-grain wheat flour, not processed white flour.

The experts speak on alloxan

Animal experiments have shown that animals which have their Beta cells destroyed by alloxan are able to regenerate Beta cells after a few months when taking GS [gymnema sylvestra], a herb grown in India. The Beta cell is the cell that produces insulin. Diabetics needing insulin treatment (Type 1) have been able to decrease their insulin after GS therapy.
A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products That Work By James Howenstine MD, page 112

In the mid-1980s, however (when herbal remedies again were popular), pata de vaca’s continued use as a natural insulin substitute was reiterated in two Brazilian studies. Both studies reported in vivo hypoglycemic actions in various animal and human models. Chilean research in 1999 reported the actions of pata de vaca in diabetic rats. Their study determined that pata de vaca was found to “elicit remarkable hypoglycemic effects,” and brought about a “decrease of glycemia in alloxan diabetic rats by 39%.” In 2002, two in vivo studies on the blood sugar-lowering effects of pata de vaca were conducted by two separate research groups in Brazil. The first study reported “a significant blood glucose-lowering effect in normal and diabetic rats.”…
The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs by Leslie Taylor, page 382

When beta cells in the pancreas fail to secrete enough insulin, the body loses its ability to metabolize carbohydrates and to reduce glucose levels in the bloodstream. Researchers believe that some people have weak free radical defenses in these beta cells, and that free radical damage to DNA in beta cells, resulting in dysfunction or cell death, helps cause maturity-onset diabetes. It is known, for example, that many chemicals—including alloxan, paraquat, and certain chemotherapeutic agents—can stimulate excessive production of oxy radicals in the nuclei of beta cells.
Freedom From Disease by Hari Sharma MD, page 94

…nearly two decades later, researchers at RNT Medical College in India induced diabetes in rabbits with intravenous injections of alloxan. When fed garlic, the rabbits’ elevated blood sugar dropped almost as much as it did when they were given the antidiabetic drug tolbutamide. Researchers postulated that garlic may improve the insulin effect by either increasing the pancreatic secretion of insulin or by releasing bound insulin.
Garlic for Health by Benjamin Lau MD PhD, page 22

Commercial yeasted breads, even the whole-grain varieties, often have other problems. They typically contain flour bleach, which forms alloxan, a compound known to cause diabetes in animals by destroying the beta cells of the pancreas (Clinical Nutrition Newsletter, Dec. 1982). …
Healing With Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford, page 452

Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus is generally recognized to be due to an insulin deficiency.1 Although the exact cause is unknown, current theory suggests an hereditary beta-cell predisposition to injury coupled with some defect in tissue regeneration capacity. Causes of injury are most likely hydroxyl and other free radicals, viral infection, and autoimmune reactions. alloxan, the uric acid derivative used to induce experimental diabetes in animals, is a potent beta-cell toxin, causing destruction via hydroxyl radical formation.
Textbook of Natural Medicine Volumes 1-2 by Joseph E Pizzorno and Michael T Murray, page 1197

In this study, mice received intraperitoneally melatonin in doses ranging from 100 to 450 mg/kg. Results showed that such treatment proved plasma glucose increase due to alloxan-induced pancreatic toxicity.
The Clinicians Handbook Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 88

Bleached white flour. Not only have the bran and germ been stripped away, but bleached flour also contains a substance from the flour bleach (alloxan) which causes diabetes in animals. Unbleached white flour should also be avoided since it is stripped of essential nutrients.
The Enzyme Cure by Lita Lee with Lisa Turner & Burton Goldberg, page 123

When fed garlic, the rabbits’ elevated blood sugar dropped almost as much as it did when they were given the antidiabetic drug tolbutamide. Researchers postulated that garlic may improve the insulin effect by either increasing the pancreatic secretion of insulin or by releasing bound insulin.
Garlic for Health by Benjamin Lau MD PhD, page 22

Aloe vera also exhibits a hypoglycemic effect in both normal and alloxan-induced diabetic mice. A small human study shows benefit in diabetics. Five patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes ingested half a teaspoonful of aloe 4 times daily for 14 weeks. Fasting blood sugar in every patient fell from a mean of 273 to 151 mg/dl with no change in body weight. The authors concluded that aloe lowers blood glucose levels by an unknown mechanism….
Textbook of Natural Medicine Volumes 1-2 by Joseph E Pizzorno and Michael T Murray, page 587

Results of this study showed that rats given vitamin E before being administered either streptozotocin or alloxan provided protection against the diabetogenic effects of each. It was also observed that rats with a depleted antioxidant state due to a vitamin E and selenium-deficient diet showed increased diabetogenic susceptibility to normally nondiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin.
The Clinicians Handbook Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 312

Noting that the dried sap of the aloe plant to be a traditional diabetic remedy in the Arabian peninusla, this study examined its ability to reduce blood glucose levels in 5 non-insulin-dependent diabetics and in Swiss albino mice made diabetic with alloxan. Results showed that the intake of 1/2 teaspoon of aloes daily for 4-14 weeks signficantly reduced the fasting serum glucose level fell in all patients. Fasting plasma glucose was significantly reduced in diabetic mice by glibenclamide and aloes after 3 days.
The Clinicians Handbook Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 369

This study examined the effects of exudate of Aloe barbadensis leaves (oral administration of 500 mg/kg) and its bitter principle (ip administration of 5 mg/kg) on plasma glucose levels of alloxan-diabetic mice. Results showed that the hypoglycemic effect of a single oral dose of aloes on serum glucose level was insignificant in while that of the bitter principle was highly significant and extended over a period of 24 hours.
The Clinicians Handbook Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 369

Ginseng exerts numerous pharmacological effects in humans and laboratory animals, including … improved glucose control in humans and diabetic (alloxan-induced) rats; ….
The Healing Power of Herbs by Michael T Murray ND, page 269

by Dana Ullman

History reveals that the AMA was dictatorially led for the first half of the twentieth century by George H. Simmons, MD (1852-1937) and his protégé, Morris Fishbein, MD (1889-1976). Simmons and Fishbein both served as general manager of the organization and as editor of its journal, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). While these two leaders provided substantial benefit to the organization and to medical doctors, their methods of doing so have been severely criticized, with some historians referring to them as “medical Mussolinis.”

When George H. Simmons began in 1899 what became a twenty-five-year reign as head of the AMA, it was a weak organization with little money and little respect from the general public. The advertising revenue from the medical journal was a paltry $34,000 per year. Simmons came up with the idea to transform the AMA into a big business by granting the AMA’s “seal of approval” to certain drug companies that placed large and frequent ads in JAMA and its various affiliate publications. By 1903, advertising revenue increased substantially, to $89,000, and by 1909, JAMA was making $150,000 per year. In 1900, the AMA had only 8,000 members, but by 1910, it had more than 70,000. This substantial increase in advertising revenue and membership was not the result of new effective medical treatments, for there were virtually no medical treatments from this era that were effective enough to be used by doctors today or even just a couple of decades later.

Some critics of the AMA have called their seal-of-approval program a form of extortion because the AMA did no testing of any products. When George Abbott, owner of a large drug company, Abbott Biologicals (known today as Abbott Laboratories), did not provide “blackmail” money to the AMA and when none of his products were granted AMA approval, Abbott went on the offensive. He arranged for an investigation of the AMA president that revealed that Simmons had no credible medical credentials, that he worked primarily as an abortion doctor for many years, and that he had had sex charges brought by some of his patients as well as charges of negligence in the deaths of others. After this meeting, the drugs made by Abbott Laboratories were regularly approved, and the company was not required to place any ads.

Simmons was shrewd enough to have the AMA establish a Council on Medical Education in 1904. This council’s mission was to upgrade medical education — a worthy goal. The formation of the council seemed a good idea to homeopaths because surveys in JAMA itself had consistently shown that the graduates of the conventional medical schools failed the medical board examinations at almost twice the rate of graduates of homeopathic colleges. However, the AMA developed guidelines to give lower ratings to homeopathic colleges. For instance, just having the word “homeopathic” in the name of a school had an effect on the rating because the AMA asserted that such schools taught “an exclusive dogma.”

In 1910, the same year that the Flexner report was published, the AMA published “Essentials of an Acceptable Medical College”, which echoed similar criteria for medical education and a disdain for non-conventional medical study. In fact, the AMA’s head of the Council on Medical Education traveled with Abraham Flexner as they evaluated medical schools. The medical sociologist Paul Starr wrote in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book: “The AMA Council became a national accrediting agency for medical schools, as an increasing number of states adopted its judgments of unacceptable institutions.” Further, he noted: “Even though no legislative body ever set up … the AMA Council on Medical Education, their decisions came to have the force of law”. With the AMA grading the various medical colleges, it became predictable that the homeopathic colleges, even the large and respected ones, would eventually be forced to stop teaching homeopathy or die.

In 1913, Simmons and the AMA went on the offensive even more strongly by their establishment of the “Propaganda Department,” which was specifically dedicated to attacking any and all unconventional medical treatments and anyone (MD or not) who practiced them. In this same year, Simmons hired Morris Fishbein, MD, as a publicity man for the AMA.

In 1924, Simmons was forced out of the AMA due to the many scandals around him, and he took home all his personal files and burned them, though Simmons was again wise enough to have trained his replacement, Morris Fishbein. Fishbein’s specialty was publicity and the media, and he used the media to attack anyone who provided a real or perceived threat to conventional medicine. Besides severe attacks against anyone who practiced unconventional medical treatments, Fishbein and the AMA were also initially extremely antagonistic to those conventional medical doctors who supported pre-paid health insurance.

Fishbein was a medical doctor who never practiced medicine. He was, however, an effective advocate for conventional medicine and a vocal critic of unconventional treatments. Shortly after he became head of the AMA, he wrote several books sharply critical of “medical quackery.” He called chiropractic a “malignant tumor,” and he considered osteopathy and homeopathy “cults.” While Fishbein certainly provided benefit to the general public by warning them about some of the medical chicanery that existed at the time, he lumped together everything that was not taught in conventional medical schools and considered all such modalities quackery. When one considers that the vast majority of medicine practiced in that era was inadequately tested and dangerous to varying degrees, Fishbein’s obsessive fight against certain treatments provided direct benefits to the physicians he was representing.

Fishbein’s frequent and strident attacks on “health fraud” were broadcast far and wide, in part through his own newspaper column, syndicated to more than 200 newspapers, as well as a weekly radio program heard by millions of Americans. His influence on medicine and medical education was significant, and it is surprising how few medical history books mention his influence or his questionable tactics. Time magazine referred to him as “the nation’s most ubiquitous, the most widely maligned, and perhaps most influential medico.”

There are also numerous stories about Fishbein’s efforts to purchase the rights to various healing treatments, and whenever the owner refused to sell such rights, Fishbein would label the treatment as quackery. If the owner of the treatment or device was a doctor, this doctor would be attacked by Fishbein in his writings and placed on the AMA’s quackery list. And if the owner of the treatment or device was not a doctor, it was common for him to be arrested for practicing medicine without a license or have the product confiscated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Although Fishbein denied these allegations, he and the AMA were tried and convicted of anti-trust violations for conspiracy and restraint of trade in 1937. Further, Fishbein wrote numerous consumer health guides, and his choice of inclusion for what works or what doesn’t work was not based on scientific evidence.

Fishbein extended Simmons’s idea for the AMA seal of approval to foods, and by including a significant amount of advertising from food and tobacco companies, he was able to make the AMA and himself exceedingly rich. In fact, under his reign, the tobacco companies became the largest advertiser in JAMA and in various local medical society publications. In fact, Fishbein was instrumental in helping the tobacco companies conduct acceptable “scientific” testing to substantiate their claims. Some of the ad claims that Fishbein approved for inclusion in JAMA were: “Not a cough in a carload” (for Old Gold cigarettes), “Not one single case of throat irritation due to smoking Camels,” “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette,” “Just what the doctor ordered” (L&M cigarettes), and “For digestion’s sake, smoke Camels” (because the magical Camel cigarettes would “stimulate the flow of digestive fluids”).

By 1950, the AMA’s advertising revenue exceeded $9 million, thanks in great part to the tobacco companies.

Coincidentally, shortly after Fishbein was forced out of his position in the AMA in 1950, JAMA published research results for the first time about the harmfulness of tobacco. Medical student Ernst Wynder and surgeon Evarts Graham of Washington University in St. Louis found that 96.5 percent of lung cancer patients in their hospitals had been smokers. Very shortly after the AMA withdrew its seal of approval for Morris Fishbein, he became a high-paid consultant to one of the large tobacco companies.

This article is based on an excerpt from the book “The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy” (Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2007) by Dana Ullman, MPH

About the author: Dana Ullman is the author of seven leading books on homeopathy and the website www.Homeopathic.com