Healthy skepticism

What the heck is going on? I was so proud for living here, in Canada, where people’s rights are respected. Not anymore.
I have the right to chose what I believe is good for me and my family. I don’t want or need Big Pharma to tell me what I have to put into my body.
If I don’t want to give my kid antibiotics, I want to have the option of a natural way to enhance his immunity by giving him natural supplements. But it looks like the big pharmaceutical companies are feeling that their profits are not big enough, so they decided to change the legislation.

Here comes Johhhnnnyyy!!!!

A new law being pushed in Canada by Big Pharma seeks to outlaw up to 60 percent of natural health products currently sold in Canada, even while criminalizing parents who give herbs or supplements to their children. The law, known as C-51, was introduced by the Canadian Minister of Health on April 8th, 2008, and it proposes sweeping changes to Canada’s Food and Drugs Act that could have devastating consequences on the health products industry.

Among the changes proposed by the bill are radical alterations to key terminology, including replacing the word “drug” with “therapeutic product” throughout the Act, thereby giving the Canadian government broad-reaching powers to regulate the sale of all herbs, vitamins, supplements and other items. With this single language change, anything that is “therapeutic” automatically falls under the Food and Drug Act. This would include bottled water, blueberries, dandelion greens and essentially all plant-derived substances.

The Act also changes the definition of the word “sell” to include anyone who gives such therapeutic products to someone else. So a mother giving an herb to her child, under the proposed new language, could be arrested for engaging in the sale of unregulated, unapproved “therapeutic substances.” Learn about more of these freedom-squashing changes to the law at the Stop51.com website: http://www.stopc51.com

New enforcement powers allow Canadian government to seize your home or business

At the same time that C-51 is outlawing herbs, supplements and vitamins, it would grant alarming new “enforcement” powers to the thugs enforcement agents who claim to be “protecting” the public from dangerous unapproved “therapeutic agents” like, say, dandelion greens. As explained on the http://www.Educate-Yourself.orgwebsite ((http://educate-yourself.org/cn/canadian…), the C-51 law would allow the Canadian government’s thugsenforcement agents to:

• Raid your home or business without a warrant
• Seize your bank accounts
• Levy fines up to $5 million and a jail terms up to 2 years for merely selling an herb
• Confiscate your property, then charge you storage fees for the expense involved in storing all the products they stole from you

C-51 would even criminalize the simple drying of herbs in your kitchen to be used in an herbal product, by the way. That would now be categorized as a “controlled activity,” and anyone caught engaging in such “controlled activities” would be arrested, fined and potentially jailed. Other “controlled activities” include labeling bottles, harvesting plants on a farm, collecting herbs from your back yard, or even testing herbal products on yourself! (Yes, virtually every activity involving herbs or supplements would be criminalized…)

There’s more, too. C-51 is the Canadian government’s “final solution” for the health products industry. It’s a desperate effort to destroy this industry that’s threatening the profits and viability of conventional medicine.

Natural medicine works so well—and is becoming so widely used—that both the Canadian and American governments have decided to “nuke” the industries by passing new laws that effectively criminalize anyone selling such products. They simply cannot tolerate allowing consumers to have continued access to natural products. To do so will ultimately spell the destruction of Big Pharma and the outdated, corrupt and criminally-operated pharmaceutical industry that these criminally-operated governments are trying to protect.
Join the rally to protest C-51

On May 9th, 2008, Canadian citizens will be gathering at the Calgary Federal Court to protest C-51 and help protect their access to natural health products. Call 1-888-878-3467 to learn more, or visit the action page of Health Canada Exposed at: www.stopc51.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization.
Source: www.globalresearch.com

I am totally and utterly disgusted. We have the option of buying natural products; nobody forces us to do it. And we do buy them because they are better than the drugs that have a gazillion of side effects which makes you think twice if you are going to take them or not.
Comm’on, you turn on the TV and at least one commercial is about drugs. If you pay a little bit of attention, by the end of the peachy-nice-living-on-could-nine presentation, the voice will tell something like:”the side effects include” and a long list follows. Then you put in balance two options: deal with your illness or face the risk of dying of hemorrhage or other nasty side effects of the drug? I am not absurd, there are situations when you have to take drugs and not follow the natural way. But for minor cases, why would the government take our right to chose? Just because the big pharmaceutical companies want more money?

I remember when a few years ago, some guys started the ‘organic’ business. The hell broke loose, with the food giants screaming bloody murder and the small ‘organic’ entrepreneurs forced to fight the bureaucratic system trying to sell their products.
Now it gained popularity because it is better for your health to eat meat without hormones and antibiotics, or vegetables not treated with pesticides.

Shame for the Canadian government for even taking into account the proposal dubbed Bill C-51 and damn you for getting your conscience bought with dirty money. Would you go so far as to ‘criminalize’ parents for giving natural products?
What about criminalizing parents who sexually abuse their kids??!!
What’s wrong with this freaking society??!!!!!!!

• Leave a comment... (0)

As a child I remember hearing once in a while that somebody died because of botulism, and without knowing at that time if that was a poison or an infection, but knowing that in almost all the cases it was associated with fish, I developed a slight paranoia fish- related.
Later on, after I took some courses in Bacteriology, I found out that botulism is caused by Clostridium botulinum (C. botulinum), which is a bacterium that inhabits rivers, soil, and the guts of mammals, fish, and shellfish worldwide. These bacteria secrete a neurotoxin (nerve poison) so deadly that a few billionths of a gram could kill you. This is botulin toxin, one of the most dangerous substances known. Botulism is the condition of having been poisoned with botulin toxin.
The most common botulism occurs via food, not only fish. Most food-borne botulism is attributed to home-canned foods and it can also be transmitted by foods that are not heated, or not heated thoroughly, before eating. Almost every type of food has been associated with outbreaks of botulism, but the most commonly implicated foods are vegetables, particularly “low-acid” (i.e., higher pH) vegetables such as beans, peppers, carrots, and corn. Botulism has been related to honey as well, this being the main reason for not recommending honey to infants.

All right, so we know that botulin toxin is dangerous, and even more, it can be developed into a biological weapon.
In February 28, 2001, there was an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, titled ‘Botulinum Toxin as a Biological Weapon’
An abstract from the article, reads:

“Botulinum toxin poses a major bioweapon threat because of its extreme potency and lethality; its ease of production, transport, and misuse; and the need for prolonged intensive care among affected persons. An outbreak of botulism constitutes a medical emergency that requires prompt provision of botulinum antitoxin and, often, mechanical ventilation, and it constitutes a public health emergency that requires immediate intervention to prevent additional cases. Timely recognition of a botulism outbreak begins with an astute clinician who quickly notifies public health officials.
Botulinum toxin is the most poisonous substance known. A single gram of crystalline toxin, evenly dispersed and inhaled, would kill more than 1 million people, although technical factors would make such dissemination difficult. The basis of the phenomenal potency of botulinum toxin is enzymatic; the toxin is a zinc proteinase that cleaves 1 or more of the fusion proteins by which neuronal vesicles release acetylcholine into the neuromuscular junction.
It is regrettable that botulinum toxin still needs to be considered as a bioweapon at the historic moment when it has become the first biological toxin to become licensed for treatment of human disease. In the United States, botulinum toxin is currently licensed for treatment of cervical torticollis, strabismus, and blepharospasm associated with dystonia. It is also used “off label” for a variety of more prevalent conditions that include migraine headache, chronic low back pain, stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, achalasia, and various dystonias.
Terrorists have already attempted to use botulinum toxin as a bioweapon. Aerosols were dispersed at multiple sites in downtown Tokyo, Japan, and at US military installations in Japan on at least 3 occasions between 1990 and 1995 by the Japanese cult Aum Shinriky . These attacks failed, apparently because of faulty microbiological technique, deficient aerosol-generating equipment, or internal sabotage. The perpetrators obtained their C botulinum from soil that they had collected in northern Japan.”

After this long introduction let’s get to the question: knowing all that, are you still interested in trying Botox injections to get rid- temporarily- of wrinkles?
I had a friend who tried it and I was not impressed with the results. After getting Botox injections you look like you are wearing a mask; you can’t smile let alone laugh.
Even if it’s a cheapest alternative to an expensive plastic surgery, it is still bringing the question: is it worth poisoning yourself for the sake of looking a little bit younger?

Recently, FDA ( Food and Drug Administration) warned over Botox’s side effects, including possible deaths. Although the FDA has never formally approved that use for the drugs, some other countries have.
The warning includes both Botox Cosmetic and its competitor, Myobloc, both of them using botulinum toxin to block nerve impulses, causing them to relax.
In rare cases, the toxin can spread beyond the injection site to other parts of the body, paralyzing or weakening the muscles used for breathing and swallowing, a potentially fatal side effect, the FDA said.
The FDA said the deaths it is investigating so far all involve children, mostly cerebral palsy patients being treated for spasticity in their legs.
However, the FDA warned that it also is probing reports of illnesses in people of all ages who used the drugs for a variety of conditions, including at least one hospitalization of a woman given Botox for forehead wrinkles. The agency warned that patients receiving a botulinum toxin injection for any reason — cosmetic or medical — should be told to seek immediate care if they suffer symptoms of botulism, including: difficulty swallowing or breathing, slurred speech, muscle weakness, or difficulty holding up their head.
The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen petitioned the FDA to strengthen warnings to users of Botox and Myobloc — citing 180 reports of U.S. patients suffering fluid in the lungs, difficulty swallowing or pneumonia, including 16 deaths.

• Leave a comment... (0)

If you asked ‘what is the link?’ I am going to tell you right away.

Let’s start by saying that mozzarella is a big and profitable business in Italy, with an annual turnover of $500 million. Out of 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella cheese produced each year, about 16% is exported.
The water buffalo herds, the source of milk for making mozzarella, are concentrated around the city of Naples, in the Campania region.
The Naples mafia, or Camorra, is heavily involved in waste disposal in the Campania region around the city of Naples (Do you remember Tony Soprano’s main business? Waste disposal, right?), on agricultural land used for pasture.
Toxic waste contaminates buffalos’ food. The result?
In about two weeks interval, Italy was confronted with two problems: Brucellosis – found in herds- and dioxins- found in mozzarella cheese.

First problem: Brucellosis
Brucellosis is an illness characterized by fever, night sweats, extreme tiredness, loss of appetite, weight loss, headache, and arthralgia (pain in the joints). It is caused by an infection with bacteria of one of the Brucella species. The infection occurs worldwide. Areas currently listed as high risk are the Mediterranean Basin (Portugal, Spain, Southern France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, North Africa), South and Central America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
Anyone can get brucellosis if they are infected with bacteria of one of the Brucella species. Persons at highest risk for brucellosis are those who work with animals that are infected, such as veterinarians and ranchers, and persons who consume raw milk or cheeses or ice cream made with raw milk.
Brucellosis is spread to humans through contact with tissues or bodily fluids of animals who are infected with Brucella bacteria, and although direct person-to-person spread of brucellosis is extremely rare. Mothers who are breast-feeding may transmit the infection to their infants. It can also be transmitted through food to humans, causing severe intermittent fever - though the milk which produces the cheese is perfectly safe when it is pasteurized.

A preventive measure to avoid being infected with Brucella bacteria is to not consume raw milk or anything made with raw milk.
Treatment for Brucellosis: antibiotics.
Usually, doxycycline and rifampin are used in combination for 6 weeks to prevent reoccurring infection. Depending on the timing of treatment and severity of illness, recovery may take a few weeks to several
months. Mortality is low (<2%), and is usually associated with endocarditis

According to Italian papers, the Brucella bacteria had been present in herds for the past 10 years, spreading to about 30% of them, and the local vets who are supposed to test and put down infected animals have been intimidated by the Camorra - who also controls some of the farms. As an extreme measure, the Italian government will start the slaughter of 32,000 buffalo, infected with Brucellosis. In the coming weeks, armed police will accompany government vets to help with the cull and it’s going to cost Italian government closer to $97 million.

Second problem: Dioxin
Most people heard about dioxins in relation to the plastic containers heated in microwave (myth or not, it’s not up to debate right now)
Dioxin is the name generally given to a class of super-toxic chemicals, the chlorinated dioxins and furans, formed as a by-product of the manufacture, molding, or burning of organic chemicals and plastics that contain chlorine. It is the nastiest, most toxic man-made organic chemical; its toxicity is second only to radioactive waste.
Dioxin is a powerful hormone disrupting chemical. By binding to a cell’s hormone receptor, it literally modifies the functioning and genetic mechanism of the cell, causing a wide range of effects, from cancer to reduced immunity to nervous system disorders to miscarriages and birth deformity. Because it literally changes the functioning of your cells, the effects can be very obvious or very subtle. Because it changes gene functions, it can cause so-called genetic diseases to appear, and can interfere with child development. There is no “threshold” dose - the tiniest amount can cause damage, and our bodies have no defense against it.
Dioxin accumulates in the fat cells of the animals, and re-appears in meat and milk. Dioxin is virtually indestructible in most environments, and is excreted by the body extremely slowly.

The contamination in mozzarella cheese emerged during checks last week. Dioxins were found at higher than permitted levels at some mozzarella producers.
The French agriculture ministry on Friday ordered shops to withdraw the imported buffalo mozzarella as a precautionary measure. But it later reversed the decision.
Italy says it has traced the farms at the source of the contamination, and destroyed their milk.
Japan and South Korea imposed an import ban on the cheese.
Italian officials told the European Commission that 130 mozzarella production sites had been checked and dioxins above the EU limit had been found at 25 of them- which I would say it’s pretty scary, considering that it’s almost a quarter of the total production sites.

To be objective, we have to mention that dioxins could be found not only in mozzarella, but also in beef and pork, and this, only if we don’t want to touch the subject of many chemicals around us that we are happily using without realizing how much damage they bring to our health, among them chlorine bleach and all the bleached products, including food like flour (that’s exactly the reason for buying unbleached flour).

• Leave a comment... (0)

If not, what are you waiting for?
Maybe you have never heard anything about it or maybe you are just very skeptical that all that hype surrounding this root may be true.
And who can blame you? There are so many new super foods you are bombarded with, almost on a daily basis, that it’s becoming more and more difficult to trust something, let alone try it.

I have used maca root for about two years, and for me and my husband it only brought benefits, not only increasing our sexual drive, but bringing us the most precious gift of all: our son.

Known as “Peruvian Ginseng!”, “A Miracle Product!”, “The 21st Century Food!”, the little root vegetable that grows at high altitude- 14 000 ft above sea level- in Peru, is quickly gaining the attention and interests of a growing number of people daily.
Peruvian maca root’s main fame lies in it’s ability to increase the sexual urges and fertility rates of men and women. But there are numerous other benefits and attributes of Peruvian maca root that also are well known such as it’s ability to make people more energetic, stronger and have more endurance, and to make them feel better emotionally. Peruvian maca root is renowned for relieving the symptoms of menopause and andropause and correcting hormonal imbalances in men and women as well. As a woman approaching menopause, I can tell you that the emotional change I experience almost every day it’s overwhelming. Buts of depression alternating with insane rage, lack of patience, etc.
I have interrupted my intake of maca due to negligence mostly, but today I placed again an order and hopefully I will be able to keep my emotions under control.

According to scientific literature Peruvian maca root is amazingly rich in amino acids, phytonutrients, fatty acids, vitamin and minerals. Maybe because of the volcano enriched soil where Peruvian maca root grows and the rarified air and amazingly pure atmosphere around that area, Peruvian maca root has an abundance of trace minerals, and even some that scientists have not even classified yet. Peruvian maca root is truly a powerhouse of nutrition and energy and life giving ingredients, and a few spoonfuls of this powder every day can be a most beneficial supplement for you to take. If you are not taking a vitamin or mineral supplement, but you are taking Peruvian maca root, you will probably not be missing many essential nutrients from your diet. There is so much nutrition and goodness in this humble little tuber root that it is like a once a day supplement itself. Scientists have discovered that Peruvian maca root has the ability to regulate, support, and balance the hormonal systems of both men and women for optimal function. One of the very great things about Peruvian maca root is that it is not “gender specific” and works equally well at the hormonal changing benefits for both sexes equally.

Maca is an adaptogen, and by definition, adaptogens are substances that raise the physical body’s state of resistance to diseases through physiological health and emotional health improvements. Peruvian maca root somehow supports and rejuvenates overwhelmed, tired adrenal glands eventually resulting in much greater energy, stamina, clarity of mind and spirit, and the ability to handle stress. It should be pointed out that adaptogens work gradually and at their own speed, so the changes may take a little while to notice according to the make-up and physiological state of each individual. But continued, and persistent use of Peruvian maca root does promote phenomenal and profound changes in the hormonal, physical, and emotional states of people.

As I have already mentioned, today I placed an order. This time I am going to give it a try to gelatinized version, which does not contain starches and it’s much better for your digestive system.
Personally I like maca’s taste, although I have heard people complaining about it. It tastes somehow like backed sweet potato.

Bottom line: if you have not tried maca root yet, please do yourself a favor and try it. Preferably in the powder form, not capsules. Mix the powder in your morning smoothie and you get a nutritious and fast breakfast.

• Leave a comment... (0)

Most people will have a New Year’s resolution related to losing weight, eating healthier, being more active, etc.
Wait a minute! Did I say ‘eat healthier’? Yes I did.
Now this is when we step into uncharted territory.
Why? Because all the health gurus are going to tell you that eating less fat, meat, and more vegetables and fruits will make you feel better and all together be healthier.
But somehow all is forgotten about engineered foods, found all around us.
I remember reading about the seeds irradiated in space by some Chinese scientists, seeds that eventually yielded bigger crops. At that point I am pretty sure that most people clapped their hands in ecstasy thinking about how easy would be to feed more population with less food basically.
But those seeds were genetically modified at that point.

Moving back to North America, in the USA, over 80% of all processed foods contain genetically engineered components.
You will say that it’s easy then to avoid them: steer clear of processed foods.
But the problem is that genetically engineered foods are found in everything we eat: rice, corn, wheat; in soybeans and soy products; vegetable oils, vegetables and fruits; dairy products including eggs; meat, chicken, pork and other animal products.

We don’t know what we are eating because nowhere on the label is anything mentioned about genetically engineered food.

We know that cows are treated with growth hormone (rbGH), which will affect the milk.
The milk from cows injected with bovine growth hormone has much higher levels of the hormone IGF-1 that risks breast, prostate, colon, lung and other cancers, and it has lower nutritional value.
I was talking the other day with our secretary and she said that back in time, when she grew up at a dairy farm, they drank the milk fresh from the cows, cows not injected with hormones. The milk was not supposed to be good for 10 days or a week, because it did not have any chemicals added. Now it’s a different story; they treat milk to increase the shelf life.
The treatment of poultry and animals with hormones and antibiotics is standard procedure these days, unfortunately and it costs lots extra to buy ‘organic’ meat coming from animals not treated.
But… what did they eat?
If they were fed animal by-products (they were not apparently, or so it’s the claim made by the organic growers) it still not clean meat. Of if they were fed corn or other grains coming from genetically engineered seeds…. we are back to square one.
Disease-resistant crops may promote human viruses and eating these products may produce toxins associated with Alzheimer’s, diabetes, allergies, kidney disease and cancer.

What people seem to fail to understand is that as soon as you genetically modify something, the long time effect of this modification is unknown.

FDA and other regulating bodies, in bed with the big agribusinesses, like to say that GM crops are the same with ordinary seeds, when in fact they are not.
Agribusiness giants like their money and I have serious doubts that they would cave in and accept how dangerous GM are. On the contrary, they funded studies to prove they are safe. Really?
How objective a testing funded by this industry could be?
The most probable scenario (not unknown to other industries like the pharmaceutical one for example) is that the study funded by agribusiness would fail to investigate the impacts of GM food on liver, kidney, gut function (studies on rats showed smaller than normal liver and kidney and bigger pancreas), on the immune and endocrine system, in blood composition (studies on rats showed a decrease on the white cell counts), would fail to present the effects on the unborn as well.

Furthermore, they would cook the books.
How could they cook the books?
By diluting the GM component of feeds used, limit the duration of feeding trials, keep sample sizes too low for statistical significance and ignore animal deaths and sickness.
And most important: hide the negative results.

I took an introductory genetic course, enough to make me understand the implications of genetically modified foods.
The picture is like this: you take a seed and genetically modify the DNA. That will trigger changes in the natural functioning of the resulting plant. The inserted gene can become truncated, fragmented, and different than the original design, expressing a new GM protein maybe different than the one intended, with characteristics that may be harmful, even if the industry claims that transgenes are destroyed by our digestive system.
In reality and contrary to industry claims, transgens are not destroyed by the digestive system and the surviving foreign DNA can be transported by blood to internal organs, may proliferate over time, and get into cells DNA, possibly causing chronic diseases.
Another aspect not to be ignored: Antibiotic Resister Marker (ARM) genes are attached to transgenes prior to insertion to allow cells to survive antibiotic applications. They potentially can cause antibiotic-resistant super-diseases and these is already fact not fiction (see my article on hospital superbugs).

To the industry claim that there are no harmful effects claim I would give the example of the L-Tryptophan epidemic. L-tryptophan, an essential amino acid, was identified as the cause of the 1989 epidemic of Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome [EMS] in country-wide litigation against Showa Denko K. K., a major Japanese petroleum corporation that manufactured and sold L-tryptophan in the U. S.
L-tryptophan was sold as a food supplement during the late 1980s to induce sleep “naturally,” because this amino acid produces serotonin in the brain, similar to the calming role of milk as a sleep inducer.
Showa Denko’s pills had several unique contaminants that were likely to be responsible for the epidemic. In addition to that, the manufacturer was genetically engineering bacteria to produce the L-tryptophan more economically. Genes had been inserted into bacteria’s DNA in order to produce high concentrations of several enzymes used in its production.
EMS is a painful and progressive, multi-system disease which causes permanent scarring and fibrosis to nerve and muscle tissues, continuing inflammation, and provokes a permanent change in the body’s immune system. EMS is a serious systemic illness characterized by elevations of white blood cells known as eosinophils and by severe muscle pain.

Probably there is an international conspiracy of big agribusiness to control the world food supply, therefore our moaning over the health hazards of GM food fall on deaf ears.
The worries are dismissed and the pink fluffy picture of big crops and happy farmers showed to us.
The giants who are currently controlling our future existence are: Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Agrisciences, Syngenta in Switzerland (from the merger of the agriculture divisions of Novartis and AstraZeneca) and - Germany-based Bayer CropScience AG (division of Bayer AG) with its Environmental Science and BioScience headquarters in France.
Just reading the names will get your skin to crawl.

• Leave a comment... (0)

Years ago I worked in a bacteriology laboratory identifying various pathogens and I remember my boss always reminding me two things: wash your hands for at least one minute and don’t wave the loop (the gizmo used to culture bacteria).
At that time I was concerned about E.coli, S.aureus and mostly anthrax. But somehow I rested assured that there was medication around and apart from some diarrhea and other unpleasant short lived symptoms, everything would be fine.
It seems not to hold true anymore. Today we are worried about the nasty hospital superbugs, resistant to even the strongest antibiotics.
These superbugs are having a very unnerving habit: to morph into something more and more dangerous.
Disease Control and Prevention. Health Canada reports that superbug infections cost $24-33 million annually to manage and that rates of infection and colonization have doubled annually for each of the past five years.

The scientists seemed to agree that the over-prescription of antibiotics and the increased presence of antibiotics in meat and fish contribute to bacteria developing resistance to the drugs.

It’s seems to be a circle of death: antibiotics over-prescribed and meat treated with antibiotics weaken our immune system- we are more susceptible to mutant strains resistant to common antibiotics- to combat them we need stronger antibiotics which will weaken our immune system even more- bacteria will adapt and morphed to fight the antibiotic.

Let’s review the most dangerous superbugs:
- MRSA- Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
- VISA/VRSA- Vencomycin-Intermediate/Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
- Clostridium difficile

C. difficile (Clostridium difficile) usually occurs during or after the use of antibiotics. Main symptoms include: diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain and nausea. Found in feces, it is usually spread through contaminated surfaces such as toilets, bedpans, handles and common chairs.
It is treated with….antibiotics.

MRSA is a potentially lethal bacterium that causes infections in humans and is difficult to combat because it has developed a resistance to certain antibiotics, among them being methicillin.
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus usually strikes in hospitals, where conditions suit it, but it can occur in otherwise healthy people who have not been recently hospitalized or had a medical procedure involving surgery, dialysis or catheters which tend to be a breeding ground for MRSA.
S. aureus is a bacteria normally found on the skin and mucus (nose). Most S. aureus will cause infections, like the ones normally occurring when we get a cut and it’s not properly disinfected. The bacteria move from the surface of the skin into the wound and as a normal response the white cells fight the intruders. To be on the safe side we are using over the counter antibiotic ointments like Polysporin. Again, antibiotic.

To fight MRSA the chosen antibiotic would be vancomycin, until recently when new strains of MRSA showed antibiotic resistance even to vancomycin.

Hence the new and ‘improved’ strain: VISA or vancomycin resistant S. aureus.
Treatment for this strain: the new antibiotic platensimycin.

So, to treat two highly antibiotic resistant bacteria strains we have to use stronger and stronger antibiotics.
Or, maybe start reconsidering the whole antibiotic strategy and switch to phage or maggots therapy.
Disgusting as it may sound, maggot therapy seems to be very effective.
It’s a type of biotherapy involving the introduction of live, disinfected maggots into the non-healing skin and soft tissue wound for selectively cleaning out the necrotic tissue within a wound and promote wound healing.

Phage (bacteriophage) therapy involves the use of viruses (bacteriophages) that invades only bacterial cells causing the bacterium to burst and die, thus releasing more phages.
The theoretical benefits of phage therapy:
- less side effects
- don’t stress liver
- a small dose is sometimes sufficient
- they are specifically designed to match the bacteria

What can we do to prevent the spread of these nasty superbugs?

Apparently become cleaner.
Wash our hands more often using warm water and lots of soap and disinfect with alcohol rather then using other chemicals that will only make the bacteria to morph into something new.

I am not going to touch the stringent subject of how the contracts are given to shady companies for cleaning the hospitals even if I believe it’s one of the reasons for the hospital mess. Maybe next time.

• Leave a comment... (4)

I had a routine check yesterday evening and to my big surprise I found out that my blood pressure was 144/101.
My whole life I have had low blood pressure, on the range of 80/60 and I am puzzled about the huge jump.
I did gain some weight compared to 10 years ago, but not that much, probably around 5 kg. Could it be too much for my petite frame?

According to the literature, high blood pressure is a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher and once high blood pressure develops, it usually lasts a lifetime. High blood pressure is called the silent killer because it usually has no symptoms. Some people may not find out they have it until they have trouble with their heart, brain, or kidneys. Apparently it can be treated and controlled.

Things that can raise blood pressure include:
· Eating too much salt- I do eat salty but not that much
· Drinking too much alcohol- It’s not the case
· Not getting enough potassium in your diet- That may be true, although I started eating bananas
· Not doing enough physical activity- That is definitely a problem
· Taking certain medicines- Which ones?
· Having long-lasting stress- That is the most probable reason
· Smoking (smoking can cause a temporary rise in blood pressure)- I don’t smoke

It boils down to dealing with stress in a better way and starting working out again.
Stress- I guess I have to restart meditation and yoga
Exercise- I need more discipline, that’s for sure

I am not taking any birth control pills, any hormone replacement therapy and I am not postmenopausal.
I can conclude that it’s the stress factor.
Before panicking I will go tomorrow to have another quick blood pressure check. Maybe it was just a fluke.
Regardless the result, I am going to treat it like a wake-up call and start doing something before it’s too late.

• Leave a comment... (0)

Vitamin D is the only vitamin that’s also a hormone and the only vitamin that you can manufacture on your own when your skin is exposed to the sun.
But in the darker winter months, especially here in BC -where it’s pissing rainy three quarters of the year-, you need to boost the vitamin D intake somehow. Latitude has a negative influence as well, so for us, Canadians, it’s a double whammy.
Hence the need of supplements and/or better-balanced meals.
Actually according to some new findings, you can’t get the necessary amount of vitamin D exclusively from food.

Numerous studies linked the vitamin D deficiency with various medical conditions.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women with a lack of vitamin D, will deplete the baby from this vitamin as well.
Some signs of vitamin D deficiency:
- tooth decay
- trouble sleeping or insomnia
- lack of energy
- nervousness
- insulin production affected, hence worsening diabetes

But how much do you need daily?
The new guidelines recommend 1,000 IU a day for older people and those with dark skin. Some researchers think levels of up to 2,000 IU a day should even be considered.
What is known- so far- is that the safest dose of vitamin D is 1000 IU.
Over 2000 IU is too much and can lead to kidney problems- including kidney stones- and bone and muscle deterioration.
As much as you would like to keep it all natural and food related, it’s almost impossible to get this amount from food.
You have to use supplements.

One of the major sources of vitamin D is fish. Tuna, salmon and sardines are coming highly recommended.
But, you cant’ eat too much tuna due to the high concentration of mercury. And how much can you munch on sardines? I bet that after eating fish three times a week, you start feeling nauseous only when you smell it.
I love sushi for example, and if I don’t have it for, let’s say a month or two, I feel like I could eat sushi every day. But as soon as I eat two days in a row, I have a different opinion.

Now let’s analyze how much vitamin D you find in some foods:
Food Vitamin D IU
Salmon (3.5 ounces) 360
Tuna, canned (3 ounces) 200
Sardines, canned (1.75 ounces) 250
Milk, cow’s (1 cup) 100
Milk, soy (1 cup) 100
Margarine (1 tablespoon) 60
Fortified cereal (about 1 cup) 40
Egg (1 whole) 20

Do the math now and find out how much you have to eat every day to get your proper vitamin D intake… like 2 cans of sardines, 2 cups of milk (but lots of people have lactose intolerance and some studies showed that milk is not good for adults), 10 eggs (say good bye to your good cholesterol), 2 cups of fortified cereals and the rest could be margarine (yuck).

Or if you have the stomach to do it: code liver oil.
One tablespoon provides about 1,400 IU of vitamin D.

I remember when I was in daycare, eons ago, our caregivers used to give us once a week a teaspoon of fish oil, not sure what kind, followed by a slice of lemon with sugar.
It was quite disgusting that fish oil.

In conclusion, sometimes you have to admit that we have to use vitamin supplements and it does not make you less righteous food wise.

• Leave a comment... (0)

No, I am not talking about drowning, I am talking about the water we drink.
Everybody is familiar with the 8-glasses-of-water-a-day advice, right?
Actually it’s not an advice, it’s a dangerous medical myth.
A myth is a myth until it’s debunked; at that point it becomes a corollary of human stupidity.

One of my colleagues drinks about seven liters of water every day. That’s about 6 liters more than I do.
And he is totally convinced that it’s not only healthy, it also helps achieving his weight loss target by burning carbohydrates.

I have a feeling that this ‘water-burning-carbohydrates’ it’s just another myth, waiting to be debunked.

Now, let’s see what are the water functions in the body:

- Regulates body temperature
- Moisten tissues (mouth, eyes, nose)
- Protects body organs
- Lubricate joints
- Helps prevent constipation
- Flushes out waste products
- Carries nutrients and oxygen to cells
- Helps dissolve minerals and nutrients

Water makes about 60% of our weight. We are truly weird beings, made of 60 per cent water and 90 per cent bacteria.

We lose water every day through breath, perspiration, urine and feces. Therefore it makes sense to replenish the water supply by consuming foods and beverages that contain water.
If you exercise, you may need to drink more fluids, depending on how much you sweat. And by fluids, I mean sport drinks that contain sodium, to replace the sodium lost through sweating, and reduce the chances of developing hyponatremia, which can be life-threatening.
It makes sense that under various conditions (humid, hot environment, breast-feeding, some health conditions like vomiting and diarrhea) you should drink more water than you normally would do.
But there are no scientific studies to prove that drinking 8 glasses of water a day has any added benefits vs. drinking only 4, for example.
Even more, I found a very interesting data on daily fluid intake by American adults before and after the ‘8 x 8’ revolution.
It shows that after the adoption of 8-glasses-of-water-daily, the intake of soft drinks, alcohol and juices doubled!
No wonder the rate of obesity.

It’s better to listen to your body and your common sense.
When I tried to increase my water intake to meet the minimum 8 glasses a day, I felt sick and vomited. Probably it was my body response to too much water.

Conclusions:
- Fluids come from various sources: soups, fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, beer, wine, water
- Drink water when you feel thirsty
- Stop drinking water if you feel nauseous, it’s a sign you had too much

• Leave a comment... (0)

I had a routine MRI a month ago and looking for a thing, the technician found the other, namely a chronic, severe sinus infection.
My doctor was puzzled ‘with such a big sinus infection you should have screamed in pain, what the heck is happening?’
If I recall correctly, it was sometimes in the spring time when I had a bad cold; I kept coughing for almost two months. Normally I suffer from migraines, I have had them since I was in school, eons ago. Therefore that cold came and went like a normal one, or so I thought.
I was left with a constant nasal congestion, postnasal drip and some persistent headaches, thought to be my normal migraines.

My doctor gave me some antibiotic, thinking that it might have been a bacterial infection. It did not help at all; everything was still there, the postnasal drip, the pressure, the nasal congestion.

Finally I remembered about the nasal cleansing I used to do when I was practicing yoga.
And I thought that I should give it a try.
But before that, I did some inhalations: boiling water + lots of sea salt + some baking soda. It helped a lot; almost immediately I could feel the relief from the pressure; even the headache was almost gone.
I could not believe the wonderful feeling of breathing almost normally.
Next step: I bought a Sinus Rinse made by NeilMed. It consists of premixed packets of pharmaceutical grade Sodium Chloride and Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda). Although you don’t need a prescription, you have to ask the pharmacist because it’s behind the counter.
Great product, I would highly recommend it to everybody suffering from sinusitis.
Just follow the instructions step-by-step.

Some people recommend daily nasal cleansing, to wash away excess mucus, allergens and bacteria. That will keep a normal amount of mucus capable of fighting infections. Maybe before going to bed I should add this to the routine: nasal cleansing followed by teeth brushing.

To help my sinusitis and my son’s cold symptoms (stuffy/runny nose) I started again using essential oils.
Normally I use an oil burner (the ceramic type with a candle) and add a few drops of lavender, tea tree, oregano and thyme. I did not have any eucalyptus.

Oregano Oil
Considered ‘the nature purifier’, it contains powerful anti-microbial compounds. It’s recommended especially for respiratory and sinus conditions.
I am not very fond of the smell, but hey, it’s healthy.

Thyme Oil
This is a very potent oil, with lots of benefits. It fights infections, boosts immune system and it can be mixed with other essential oils.

Tea Tree Oil
This is a popular antiseptic oil, known probably by everybody.

Thanks to the mixture I made, my son seems to sleep quite well, breathing much easier than yesterday night.

• Leave a comment... (0)