Category: Natural Health

Chemotherapy drugs kill cells in the body. That is what they are designed to do. The hope is that they will kill cancer cells… however, they kill other cells in the body as well. New research indicates that the risk of damage from chemotherapy may be higher than the medical community believed.

Breast cancer chemo side effects elevated

“Chemotherapy drugs may cause more serious side effects for breast cancer patients under age 64 than once thought, a U.S. study released on Tuesday said. Researchers mined insurance claims for 3,526 women who had intravenous chemotherapy for breast cancer and tallied problems serious enough to require emergency care or a hospital stay. Their review found more than 8 percent of women underwent treatment for a fever or infection compared with less than 2 percent reported in an earlier review of clinical trials. Other problems also occurred more frequently than previously estimated, said the study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. For example, 5.5 percent of women were reported to have low blood counts that could raise the risk of infection or bleeding, the new study showed. The rates were less than 1 percent or 2 percent in clinical trials. Overall, 16 percent of women in the new study had at least one of eight side effects that required emergency care or hospitalization. Side effects also included blood clots, dehydration, nausea and diarrhea. All of the women were 63 or younger.”

Again, I believe natural, non-destructive therapies are best… but these are decisions YOU must make with your healthcare provider. YOU are the person most responsible for YOUR personal health!

I had an instructor in my natural health classes while I was working on my doctorate that said, “Eat your colors for good health!” That advice sounded odd, but it stuck with me! Now, there’s a new study that demonstrates the truth or this advice!

Yellow veggies contain natural medicines that prevent blindness, eye degeneration

“New research appearing in the journal Archives of Ophthalmology reveals that women with diets high in yellow vegetables have a lower risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Pigments found in pumpkin, corn, egg yolks and some leafy green vegetables were found to reduce the risk of AMD for women under 75 years old. The pigments lutein and zeaxanthin in particular were found to reduce the risk possibly by absorbing blue light that can damage the back of the retina. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin examined the diets of 1,787 women 50 to 79 years old and took blood samples and color photos of their retinas. Women under 75 with diets high in yellow veggie pigments were found to have a lower risk of developing intermediate-stage AMD. However, the researchers could only prove a weak link between the pigments and advanced-stage AMD.”

Generally, a broad spectrum of vegetables is preferable in your food choices. (No pun intended!)

“‘These findings further demonstrate the healing potential of plant-based medicine provided by nature,’ explained Mike Adams, a holistic nutritionist and creator of the Honest Food Guide. ‘Each color found in fruits and vegetables is actually a different medicine. While yellows and oranges are wonderful for nervous system protection, blues and greens offer anti-cancer benefits and cardiovascular protection. To be healthy and avoid disease, eat natural foods containing all the colors of the rainbow.'”

A Traditional Chinese Medicine remedy, Berberine, has been found in studies to be very effective in lowering and controlling blood sugar… and, as an added benefit, it seems to help decrease weight as well!

Traditional Chinese Remedy Proves Effective in Lowering Blood Sugar

“Berberine, found in the roots and barks of some plants, has been documented in Chinese literature as being able to lower glucose levels in diabetics. Now scientists have found that studies on rodents support this claim. Writing in the journal Diabetes, they added that berberine reduced the animals’ body weight, suggesting it could also be used to treat obesity… The researchers found that a dose of the compound, given orally, caused blood sugar levels to go down, led to fewer fats circulating in the bloodstream, made insulin work better and lowered the animals’ body weights… The team believes the plant product is “turning on” an enzyme found in body tissue, which improves the body’s sensitivity to insulin, in turn lowering blood sugar levels and reducing the level of circulating fats. Professor James said: ‘This is a very nice example of how there is validity to some of these traditional medicines.'”

Again, encouraging news that Allopathic medicine is “wising up” to natural remedies!

People are becoming more sensitive to what they put into their body… as in what they eat and drink. That’s good! However, we also need to be aware that our body can be impacted by other means. A new study indicates that a baby’s brain development can be adversely affected by the use of ultrasound. They do say that it can still be a good tool if medically necessary… but it calls into question the use of ultrasound just to see the baby and to have pictures to pass around at work!

Ultrasound scans can affect brain development

“Exposure to ultrasound can affect fetal brain development, a new study suggests. But researchers say the findings, in mice, should not discourage pregnant women from having ultrasound scans for medical reasons. When pregnant mice were exposed to ultrasound, a small number of nerve cells in the developing brains of their fetuses failed to extend correctly in the cerebral cortex. ‘Our study in mice does not mean that use of ultrasound on human fetuses for appropriate diagnostic and medical purposes should be abandoned,’ said lead researcher Pasko Rakic, chairman of the neurobiology department at Yale University School of Medicine. However, he added in a telephone interview, women should avoid unnecessary ultrasound scans until more research has been done.”

It is common knowledge that smoking isn’t healthy… and now there is more research into what happens to the body when you are exposed to other’s “second-hand” smoke from cigarettes. Now, it appears a study has found a link between osteoporosis and “second-hand” smoke.

Passive smoke ‘bone risk boost’

“Second-hand smoke increases the risk of the bone disease osteoporosis, researchers have found. The US/Chinese study showed exposure to passive smoking boosted pre-menopausal women’s osteoporosis risk threefold. An International Osteoporosis Foundation meeting in Toronto, also heard men, as well as women, increase osteoporosis risk by smoking. Experts said the studies added to understanding of the link between smoking and the bone disease.”

From a Naturopathic point of view, we are very interested in the body’s energy fields and many Naturopaths study the flow of energy through the body. This has long been considered somewhat “voodoo,” or “new age,” and has not been taken very seriously by Allopathic practitioners. Now, medical science is beginning to research the areas in which the body’s flow of energy, and energy fields (such as electricity) effects on the body, and how they can be useful!

To heal a wound, turn up the voltage

“It may sound like something out of Frankenstein, but electric currents applied to the skin could potentially speed up wound healing. Ironically, though the phenomenon was reported 150 years ago by the German physiologist Emil Du Bois-Reymond, it has been ignored ever since.

Now Josef Penninger of the Austrian Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna and Min Zhao of the University of Aberdeen, UK, have demonstrated that natural electric fields and currents in tissue play a vital role in orchestrating the wound-healing process by attracting repair cells to damaged areas. The researchers have also identified the genes that control the process. ‘We were originally sceptical, but then we realised it was a real effect and looked for the genes responsible,’ Penninger says. ‘It’s not homeopathy, it’s biophysics.'”

He still sounds as though he believes homeopathy is in the realm of “voodoo,” though! I guess “baby steps” toward accepting natural remedies are better than none at all!

“Flavanol-rich cocoa could offer powerful cardiovascular benefits for the nearly 78 million baby boomers in the United States today, suggests a new study published in the August issue of the Journal of Hypertension. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that drinking a standardized flavanol-rich cocoa beverage improved several measures of blood vessel function, especially among older study participants. Flavanols are the natural compounds in cocoa that are increasingly being linked to promising circulatory benefits – including improved blood flow and a reduced tendency to form damaging clots.”

Flavanol-rich cocoa improves blood vessel function in aging baby boomer study participants

So, if you love chocolate, you now have an excellent “excuse” to continue to consume it (in moderation, of course!)

“Fatty acids commonly found in dairy products have successfully treated diabetes in mice, according to a researcher at Penn State. The compounds, known as conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), have also shown promising results in human trials, signaling a new way of potentially treating the disease without synthetic drugs.”

Compound In Dairy Products Targets Diabetes

Once again, modern synthetic drugs, rife with side effects, have been shown to be AS EFFECTIVE as a natural treatment which is readily available… taking CLA supplementation! Not only does CLA aid in preventing cancer, according to research, it now appears to aid in diabetes treatment!

“Early human trials indicate that when administered for longer than 8 weeks, CLA improves the body’s misregulation of insulin and lowers the level of glucose in the blood in patients with adult onset, or Type-2 diabetes, the most common form of this disease… ‘And compared to the synthetic drugs used to treated this disease, CLA does not cause weight gain and may in fact decrease overall body fat,’ says Vanden Heuvel, who has been granted a patent on the new method of treating diabetes with CLA.”

How you can patent a treatment with a natural food is beyond me… but, these are the days we live in!

“A British man who received radioactive iodine treatments for an overactive thyroid was recently detained at the Orlando airport and strip-searched after he set off an airport alarm. After the 46-year-old man was extensively questioned by security guards, he remembered the medical treatments he’d received six weeks before, and was released after providing medical documentation.”

Patients set off airport bomb detectors after radioactive iodine therapy

Hyperthyroidism, as a result of Grave’s Disease, is usaully treated by Allopathic Medicine by killing the entire thyroid by using a huge dose of radiation. Killing an organ is a terrible way to treat a disease! And now, the treatment will also get you hassled in airports! There are, of course, natural alternatives to this destructive treatment:

For instance, you could use the herb, Bugleweed (Lycopus). Bugleweed has a has long been used for treating thyroid conditions, and modern research studies supports their use as well. The herb inhibits iodine metabolism and reduces the amount of hormone that is produced by thyroid cells. Leaf extracts of bugleweed is more active than root extracts. An oral preparation can be prepared as a tincture (alcohol extract) rather than a tea. In one study using laboratory animals, bugleweed tincture resulted in a significant decrease in thyroid hormone levels. (Please remember, however, that if you have been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, you should work with your healthcare provider to treat your condition.) Bugleweed is widely used in Europe as an herbal treatment for early-stage Graves’ disease, often in combination with lemon balm.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis,) is often recommended along with bugleweed for treating Graves’ disease. Studies show that lemon balm causes a decrease in blood and pituitary levels of TSH after a single injection, reducing thyroid hormone production.

Taking natural sources of iodine, including Kelp (Laminaria) can also be a tremendous aid in thyroid therapy. The herbal pharmacologist Daniel Mowrey, Ph.D., author of The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine and Herbal Tonic Therapies, notes that in the traditional Japanese diet, which consists of a great deal of kelp, thyroid disease is practically unknown. However, among Japanese who have become Westernized and eat little or no kelp, thyroid disease is statistically on the rise.

Physical exercise is a great preventative for a lot of sub-health conditions. Now there is evidence that it can be a benefit in avoiding diabetes as well!

Weight lifting can help overweight teens reduce risk of diabetes

“Teens at risk of developing diabetes can prevent or delay its onset through strength training exercise, a University of Southern California study has found. Research led by Michael Goran, PhD, professor of preventive medicine in the Keck School of Medicine of USC, showed that overweight Latino teenage boys who lifted weights twice per week for 16 weeks significantly reduced their insulin resistance, a condition in which their bodies don’t respond to insulin and can’t process sugars properly. Insulin resistance is common in obese children and is a precursor of diabetes. The findings were published in the July issue of Medicine and Science of Sports Exercise… The researchers chose to focus on Latino teens because they are at particular risk for diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about half of all Latino children born in 2000 are expected to develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.”