Townsend Letter back issues from June 2009:
Letter from the publisher.(Editorial)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Obama's Medical Financing Overhaul Like you, I receive the usual handful of magazines and journals devoted to alternative, complementary, holistic, integrative, and naturopathic medicine. When I look over the editorial pages, I see the usual erudite discussion reviewing the pros ...
In memoriam: Thomas Dorman, MD.(In memoriam)
Jun 01, 2009; ... I was shocked and dismayed, as were all of us who knew him, to hear of the death of my dear friend and colleague Thomas Dorman, MD, on March 10, 2009, at the age of 72. Tom was one of the most influential and important persons whom I have had the honor to know. The news sent me reeling, ...
'The doctor who lived': holistic psychiatrist defeats Maryland board.(maryland board of physicians)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Alice W. Lee-Bloem, MD, ABHM, a holistic psychiatrist practicing in Olney, Maryland, has successfully defeated the Maryland Board of Physicians and protected her legal right to continue practicing orthomolecular psychiatry and energy medicine. After a raging two-year battle in ...
Can environmental factors trigger autism?(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... A new study from Cornell University has found that environmental factors associated with spending excessive time indoors because of a rainy climate, such as that found in the Pacific Northwest, may trigger autism in children who are genetically predisposed to this condition. ...
Consumerlab.com finds large variations in CoQ10 supplements.(coenzyme Q10)
Jun 01, 2009 ... A report by ConsumerLab.com on supplements containing the antioxidant coenzyme Q10 shows the difficulty for consumers in determining an appropriate dosage. CoQ10 is among the most popular and fastest-growing supplements in the US, with $413 million sold in 2007, up over 8% from the prior ...
Alternative strategies for reducing blood pressure.(Shorts)(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... "Only about one-third of patients achieve optimal [blood pressure] control using drug therapy," says Richard Nahas, MD, CCFP, in a clinical review for Canadian Family Physician. Clearly, prescription medicine alone is not enough to reduce hypertension in most people. As a result, ...
Hawthorn for heart treatment.(Shorts)(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Hawthorn (Crataegus) refers to several species of shrubs and small trees that have been used to treat cardiovascular ailments for centuries. Hawthorn strengthens the force of the heart muscle's contraction and lengthens the refractory period. As a result, cardiac output and blood flow ...
Obesity and cardiometabolic risk.(Shorts)(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Two August 2008 studies in Archives of Internal Medicine contradict the belief that obesity automatically increases the risk of heart disease. In the first study, Rachel P. Wildman, PhD, and colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys ...
Pycnogenol eases venous insufficiency.(Shorts)(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Pycnogenol, a patented water extract of French maritime pine bark (Pinus pinaster ssp. atlantica), contains bioflavonoids that reduce venous insufficiency. Edema, pain, varicose veins, and leg ulcers characterize chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a condition in which venous blood ...
Dartmouth report on slowing health care costs.(Shorts)
Jun 01, 2009; ... For decades, Dartmouth Atlas Project researchers have tracked Medicare expenses throughout the US and studied the reasons behind regional variations in per capita spending. In a February 2009 perspective paper for New England Journal of Medicine, Elliott S. Fisher, MD, MPH; Julie P. Bynum, ...
Insulin resistance, hypertension, and nutraceuticals.(Shorts)(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Most people do not realize that insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, characteristic of metabolic syndrome, and high blood sugar can contribute to the development of hypertension. Eating large amounts of simple sugars (such as sucrose, fructose, and/or glucose) has produced hypertension ...
More evidence for placebo effect.(Shorts)(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... "The placebo effect has been described as a nonspecific psychological or psychophysiologic therapeutic effect, but this may not be correct and the response may be a crucial synergistic adjunct to any cardiovascular therapy," states the writing committee for a 2005 American College of ...
Lowering blood pressure with device-guided breathing.(Shorts)(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Hypertension lessens with a slow breathing practice (fewer than ten breaths per minute), especially when exhalations are lengthened. This pattern of breathing, known as pranayama or yoga breathing, calms sympathetic nerve traffic. (The sympathetic nervous system increases heart rate, ...
Samueli Institute proposes new national wellness initiative.(Pathways to Healing)
Jun 01, 2009; ... In late December 2008, a group of 25 science, health, and policy experts assembled in Washington, DC, to offer the Obama transition team their thoughts on health-care reform and to comment on a white paper developed by the Samueli Institute (Alexandria, Virginia). Approximately 125 people ...
Complementary and alternative cancer treatments in Germany.(War on Cancer)
Jun 01, 2009; ... I recently published an 82-page online report, "Complementary And Alternative (CAM) Cancer Treatments In Germany" (available at www.cancerdecisions.com). In 1998, I was made an honorary member of the German Society of Oncology (DGO), the first American to be so honored. (The occasion was ...
Red Yeast Rice Saves Lives.(Report)
Jun 01, 2009 ... Some 4,870 patients (mean age, 58 years) with a previous myocardial infarction were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 300 mg of Xuezhikang (a partially purified extract of red yeast rice) twice a day or placebo for a mean of 4.5 years. The daily dose of Xuezhikang used ...
Coenzyme Q10 Improves Results of Coronary Bypass Surgery.(Report)(Brief article)
Jun 01, 2009 ... Thirty patients scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery were randomly assigned to receive 150-180 mg per day of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) or no CoQ10 (control group) for 7 to 10 days preoperatively. Compared with the control group, the CoQ10 group had significantly fewer ...
Coenzyme Q10 for Heart Failure: the Controversy.(Report)(Brief article)
Jun 01, 2009 ... As a component of the electron transport chain, CoQ10 plays a key role in energy production, and is therefore essential for all energy-dependent process, including myocardial contraction. Myocardial concentrations of CoQ10 are significantly lower in patients with congestive heart failure ...
Nattokinase for Hypertension.(Report)(Brief article)
Jun 01, 2009 ... Eighty-six patients with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure of 130-159 mm Hg) were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 1 capsule per day of nattokinase (2,000 fibrinolytic units per capsule) or placebo for eight weeks. Compared with placebo, ...
Don't Push the Vitamin D Too Hard.
Jun 01, 2009 ... This study examined the relation between serum vitamin D and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) in normal subjects after oral administration of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) or after exposure to ultraviolet-B irradiation. Values for serum vitamin D and 25(OH)D were aggregated from six studies ...
L-Glutamine for Acute Pancreatitis.(Brief article)
Jun 01, 2009 ... Forty-four patients (mean age, 43 years) with severe acute pancreatitis (two-thirds of cases due to biliary disease, 23% due to alcohol) were randomly assigned to receive, beginning after hospital admission, standard parenteral nutrition (control group) or an isonitrogenous, isocaloric ...
Can B Vitamins Prevent Dementia?(Brief article)
Jun 01, 2009 ... Some 5,442 female health professionals (aged 40 years or older) who had cardiovascular disease or at least three cardiovascular disease risk factors were randomly assigned to receive daily 2.5 mg of folic acid, 50 mg of vitamin B6, and 1 mg of vitamin B12 or placebo for a mean of 5.4 ...
Iodine, Pregnancy, and Quality Control.(Brief article)
Jun 01, 2009 ... Iodine content was measured in 60 randomly selected nonprescription and prescription prenatal vitamins marketed in the US that listed iodine as an ingredient on the label. Twenty-six percent of the products that included potassium iodide and 40% of the products that contained kelp actually ...
I took up art.(Cartoon)
Jun 01, 2009 ... "I TOOK UP ART TO DISTRACT ME FROM MEDICINE, ONLY TO FIND THAT ...
Letter to editor: study shows cognitive function improvement with Amyloban 3399.
Jun 01, 2009; ... Amyloban 3399 is a dietary supplement for brain health made from the mushroom Lion's Mane [Hericium erinaceum]. It contains ingredients that stimulate growth of nerve cells and protects nerve cells from toxicity of neuronal toxins. This 2-month clinical trial was performed in 2008 at the ...
Healing the pain of financial loss.(Healing with Homeopathy)
Jun 01, 2009; ... The Financial Crisis Hits Home This is a tough time for a lot of folks. Most of us have taken a significant financial hit, or know others who have, and are wondering how long it will take for the economy to turn around. Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme scandal devastated the ...
Need a new idea for getting together with holistic friends?
Jun 01, 2009 ... As more and more people turn towards holistic health and wellness, they begin to re-examine the way they spend their leisure time. Activities they may have enjoyed with friends may no longer fit their new lifestyle. Also, as a result of people moving within their communities in different ...
Fever.(Cartoon)
Jun 01, 2009 ... " ... and I think I might have a ...
Cardiovascular disease.(Disease/Disorder overview)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including hypertension, coronary heart disease (CHD), myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, heart failure, and stroke, affects approximately 1 in 3 Americans. According to the American Heart Association, CVD is the underlying cause of death in 1 out of every ...
Clearing up the cholesterol confusion.
Jun 01, 2009; ... Every time I hold one of my subscriber seminars around the country, the subject of cholesterol comes up - again and again. Obviously, it's a source of great interest as well as confusion for many of you. The confusion part is this: you get one message from me, another from your doctor. ...
Lipitor-associated memory loss: analysis of 662 cases of cognitive damage.(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Abstract Objective: To obtain and examine MedWatch reports of cases of cognitive impairment associated with Lipitor (atorvastatin). Methods: FDA database MedWatch reports of atorvastatin-associated adverse events were searched for terms that included the word amnesia ....
Clinical efficacy of systemic enzyme support.
Jun 01, 2009; ... Clinical observations and literature review both affirm the conviction that providing "systemic enzyme support," using Wobenzym N or Wobenzym PS, is an essential component in successfully managing inflammation disorders and other conditions with immune system dysregulation. In ...
The argument for a vegetarian diet part two.
Jun 01, 2009; ... In Part 1 of this three-part series, we examined some of the misconceptions about protein that may dissuade people from a vegetarian diet. We also discussed the functions of protein, the body's protein requirements, the assessment of protein quality, and the negative aspects of meat ...
Control of cigarette cravings with cranial electrotherapy stimulation.(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Keywords: cigarette cravings; control of cigarette cravings, nicotine addiction, cranial electrotherapy stimulation, CES Abstract This study evaluated the efficacy of cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) to control cigarette cravings. Cigarette smokers who craved ...
Vein Lite: a Chinese herbal formula for cardiovascular problems.(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Introduction Proper circulation is vital to one's health because it drives many of the body's processes. The circulatory system transports blood throughout the body. It regulates cellular oxygen levels. It controls lymphatic movement. Even the brain is partly dependent on good ...
A follow-up on chelation and bioresonance testing article.(Letter to the editor)
Jun 01, 2009; ... In my article, "The Best Heavy Metal Chelator: Rise ... for Sentencing" (Townsend Letter, Issue 306, January 2009), I shared my clinical experience concerning the fact that all pharmaceutical and natural chelators pose unpredictable health risks that are out of the therapeutic control of ...
Defending the sale of supplements by holistic physicians.(Letter to the editor)
Jun 01, 2009; ... There have been concerns expressed and even legislation written about physicians' selling supplements in the office for profit. The American Medical Association has questioned the ethics of this practice, although many integrative medical societies support it. While I agree that there is a ...
Estrogen, BH4, the heart, and the FDA.(Letter to the editor)
Jun 01, 2009; ... The Townsend Letter's April issue had a column about women's health [Tori Hudson, "Essential Concepts and Updates in HRT, Breast Cancer, and Osteoporosis"] in which it was mentioned that estrogen seemed helpful for the heart in younger women but harmful for the heart in older women. One ...
Heart disease practice guidelines: the blind guarding the henhouse.(Editorial)
Jun 01, 2009; ... For more than 20 years, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have provided clinical practice guidelines, which consist of recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease. In recent years, some of these ...
The Case for Ascorbate.(Vitamin C: The Real Story)(Book review)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Vitamin C: The Real Story, by Steve Hickey, PhD, and Andrew W. Saul, PhD Basic Health Publications, Inc., 28812 Top of the World Drive, Laguna Beach, California 92651; 949-715-7327 www.basichealthpub.com Paperback; [C]2008; $18.95; 193 pp. As ...
A New Classic on Nutrition.(Food and Nutrients in Disease Management)(Book review)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Food and Nutrients in Disease Management edited by Ingrid Kohlstadt, MD, MPH CRC Press; www.ctcpress.com [C]2009; Hardcover; $149.740 pp. There are some books that have "classic" written all over them, destined to take up a permanent position ...
Taylor's Stroke and Insight.(My Stroke of Insight)(Book review)
Jun 01, 2009; ... My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD Viking, Penguin Croup (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 [C]2008; 184 pp; $24.95 US; $27.50 Canada. On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, age 37, had a hemorrhagic stroke. "Within four ...
Vitamin D - Superstar.(Sunshine and Vitamin D - A Comprehensive Guide to the Benefits of the 'Sunshine Vitamin )(Book review)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Sunshine and Vitamin D - A Comprehensive Guide to the Benefits of the 'Sunshine Vitamin' by Frank Murray, foreword by Ronald L. Hoffman, MD Basic Health Publications Inc., 28812 Top of the World Drive, Laguna Beach, California 96251, 949-715-7327 ...
Environmental links to heart disease.(Environmental Medicine Update)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), according to the American Heart Association, are the leading cause of death in the US. Cardiovascular disease and the term heart disease are often used interchangeably and could mean that a patient suffers from atherosclerosis, hypertension, arrhythmias, ...
Interval exercise as treatment for cardiovascular diseases?(Exercise is Medicine)(Report)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Aerobic exercise benefits are well established, and it is easily the most prescribed exercise modality among physicians. Aerobic exercise has been convincingly shown to improve all measures of cardiac health. This month, however, we want to focus on a less-known exercise modality called ...
Managing hypertension with food and nutrients.(Optimizing Metabolism)(Interview)
Jun 01, 2009 ... I think food and nutrients should be on every doctor's prescription pad and accompany every prescription for medical management of hypertension. OK, I am a physician nutrition specialist, so my statement holds bias. So then let me rephrase it as a question: Why aren't food and nutrients on ...
Ordeal of Christine Maggiore, HIV dissenter, ends with her untimely death - part two.(Townsend's New York Observer)
Jun 01, 2009; ... When Christine Maggiore consented to a test for HIV antibodies during a routine medical exam in 1992, the odds favored a negative result. She had been in a heterosexual relationship, monogamous and fairly lengthy. She didn't take recreational drugs, by injection or in pill form. She wasn't ...
Natural approaches to heart health.(Pain Free 1-2-3!)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Below are 3 sections on treating key heart issues naturally. I hope you and your patients find them helpful. Feel free to use these as patient instruction sheets as well. Cholesterol Background It is important to recognize that even though cholesterol gets ...
Calendar of events.(Calendar)
Jun 01, 2009 ... CANCELED: AMERICAN BIOLOGICS' 21[ST] INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM - INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE, scheduled for July 21-24, in Budapest, Hungary is being postponed until 2010. For more information, see www.amencanbiologics.com. The DANUBE RIVER CRUISE on JULY 25-AUGUST 1, however, has NOT been ...
New research in vitamin D and cardiovascular disease: expanding our approach beyond lipids and blood pressure.(Women's Health Update)
Jun 01, 2009; ... In 2008 atone, there has been a steady stream of published studies on the influence of vitamin D deficiency in cardiovascular disease, peripheral artery disease, blood pressure, endothelial function and cardiovascular mortality. If we didn't have enough reasons already to increase our ...
The influence of vitamins on cerebrovascular disease.(Nutritional Influences On Illness)
Jun 01, 2009; ... Vitamin B Complex Certain members of the vitamin B complex may reduce stroke risk by lowering the levels of the amino acid homocysteine. In recent years, however, the etiologic importance of homocysteine has been disputed. For example, in a randomized trial, 6 months of ...