Townsend Letter: The Examiner of Alternative Medicine back issues from November 2007:
Letter from the publisher.
Nov 01, 2007; ... Indian summer, with its last remnants of sunshine and heat fading away into brisk afternoons and changing leaves, has always been a favorite time of year for me. Each autumn, we celebrate the change of seasons by wearing costumes on Halloween. Yes, most folks like to dress up for the party ...
James Forsythe, MD cleared of any wrongdoing.
Nov 01, 2007 ... Well-known Nevada medical oncologist and anti-aging physician James Forsythe MD, HMD was cleared today of any wrongdoing in a thirty-month federal investigation and criminal indictment by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Attorney's office into the use of human growth ...
End fluoridation, say 500 physicians, dentists, scientists, and environmentalists.
Nov 01, 2007 ... In a recent statement, over 500 professionals urged Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted. They cite new scientific evidence that fluoridation, long-promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. Signers include a Nobel ...
Food allergies mean back-to-school jitters for millions of students and their parents: life-altering epidemic now afflicts one in 25 Americans.
Nov 01, 2007 ... The incidence of food allergy has skyrocketed, doubling in the last ten years, and scientists aren't sure why. More than 12 million Americans--one in 25--are caught up in this life-altering epidemic. Among them are 2.2 million school-age children. For them, as well as for their parents, ...
Care advised with natural cold remedies: ConsumerLab.com finds few products with proper quality and directions.
Nov 01, 2007 ... Autumn is the beginning of "cold season"--the period from now through early spring when people are most likely to develop a cold. But based on ConsumerLab.com's tests of sixty-six products with ingredients that may help prevent or treat a cold, people reaching for a natural remedy have a ...
Journal of Medical case reports: a message from Editor-in-Chief, Professor Michael Kidd.
Nov 01, 2007; ... Dear Colleagues, The Journal of Medical Case Reports was launched in February 2007. It is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal, accessible online (http://news.biomedcentral.com/t/1470124/1702608/330215/0/). I encourage you to consider submitting your next case report to the ...
Migraine triggers.(Shorts)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Identifying factors that trigger migraines can be very helpful in preventing headaches. While some factors such as hormonal changes or weather shifts cannot be avoided, others can. Schedule changes (e.g., skipping a meal, oversleeping, or not sleeping enough) and environment factors (e.g., ...
Manual muscle testing and chiropractic.(Shorts)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Manual muscle testing (MMT) and applied kinesiology (AK), a related chiropractic technique, are the subject of a 2007 literature review by Scott C. Cuthbert and George J. Goodheart Jr. of over 100 studies (Chiropractic & Osteopathy. 2007, 15:4). Chiropractors use MMT to diagnose spinal ...
Chiropractic and migraines.(Shorts)
Nov 01, 2007; ... An Australian study, led by chiropractor Peter J. Tuchin, found that chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) significantly reduced migraine frequency, duration, disability, and medication use in chronic migraine sufferers. The study, published in Journal of Manipulative and ...
Migraine drugs.(Shorts)
Nov 01, 2007; ... An unsettling number of migraine sufferers may be using opioids or barbiturates to treat their headaches, according to a Harris Interactive online survey. The survey, commissioned by the National Headache Foundation in the US, polled 502 adult migraine sufferers, 101 neurologists, and 100 ...
FDA amendments S. 1082 and H.R. 2900.(Shorts)(Food and Drug Administration)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Back in 1992, the US Congress passed the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, requiring drug and medical device manufacturers to pay a fee that helps fund the drug-and device-approval process. That act comes up for reauthorization every five years. As the Senate and House discussed this year's ...
Chiropractic and high blood pressure.(Shorts)
Nov 01, 2007; ... A chiropractic adjustment that realigns the atlas vertebra (C-1) lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension, according to a pilot study by researchers at the University of Chicago. The atlas vertebra, which supports the head, is held in place with muscles and ligaments. George ...
Migraine prevention and supplements.(Shorts)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Supplementation with nutrients involved in energy metabolism can reduce the frequency of recurrent migraine headaches, according to numerous studies. Most of the studies involve the use of single nutrients--riboflavin, magnesium, or CoQ10--and tend to have less than 100 participants ....
Connective tissue and energy conduction.(Shorts)
Nov 01, 2007; ... "All of the body structures are united and supported by the fascial components," writes Dick Larson, PhD, LAc, Certified Advanced Rolfer, in his 1990 article for the American Journal of Acupuncture. Fascia is fibrous connective tissue found under the skin (superficial fascia) and the ...
Chiropractic.(Shorts)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Chiropractic takes many forms. All forms use spinal manipulation, but the philosophy and intention that underlies its use vary, depending upon the type of chiropractic school. Schools that adhere to the philosophy of Daniel David Palmer, the father of chiropractic, teach that correcting ...
Nine steps to a successful blog with blogger.com.(Web Page Potpourri)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Why create a blog? Don't you have a lot to say? Perhaps you want to write about alternative medical practices that otherwise have a hard time seeing the light of day. For those not yet "in the know," a blog is a website that allows you to post content in chronological order. The word ...
Special report on OAM & NCCAM, re: unconventional cancer treatment, 1992-2007, Part Two.(Townsend's New York Observer)(Office of Alternative Medicine and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine )(Interview)
Nov 01, 2007; ... This is Part Two of a special report about the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). Part One appeared in Townsend Letter's August/September 2007 double issue. That column featured an interview with Frank Wiewel, ...
New book examines health care cost challenges.(Pathways to Healing)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Alice Rivlin is a Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, a well-known liberal think tank. Joseph Antos is the Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy at The American Enterprise Institute, a well-known conservative think tank. You wouldn't generally expect to find ...
New test may help patients avoid unnecessary chemo.(War on Cancer)
Nov 01, 2007; ... The use of adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for breast cancer is often presented as one of oncology's great success stories. The early use of chemotherapy is based on the assumption that such treatment will eliminate any remaining tumor cells (called micro-metastases), thereby ...
Food allergies are a frequent cause of migraines.(Literature Review & Commentary)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Sixty patients with frequent migraines were studied. The mean duration of migraines was 18 years for the women and 22 years for the men. Most patients had other symptoms, including lethargy, depression, anxiety, flushing, dizziness, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, or rashes. Each ...
Glucose dysregulation as a cause of migraines.(Literature Review & Commentary)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2007; ... A five-hour glucose tolerance test was performed on 74 patients who suffered from migraines in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon fasting state. Six were classified as diabetic, and 56 (76%) had a curve consistent with reactive hypoglycemia (i.e., serum glucose less than 65 mg/dl or a drop ...
Intravenous magnesium for acute headaches.(Literature Review & Commentary)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Forty patients (mean age, 38.2 years) presenting at a headache clinic with an acute headache (16 with migraines without aura, nine with cluster headaches, four with chronic tension headaches, and 11 with chronic migrainous headaches) received 1 g of magnesium sulfate in a ten-percent ...
Thiamine for headache induced by spinal anesthesia.(Literature Review & Commentary)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2007; ... In a 1947 report from Italy published in abstract form in the Journal of the American Medical Association, intravenous administration of 5-25 mg of thiamine effectively relieved acute headache and vertebral column pain resulting from spinal anesthesia. In most cases, the injection was ...
Low-dose riboflavin may prevent migraines.(Literature Review & Commentary)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Forty-nine patients with migraines were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, daily treatment with 1) a combination of riboflavin 400 mg, magnesium 300 mg, and feverfew 100 mg or 2) "placebo" (riboflavin 25 mg) for three months. The proportion of patients achieving a 50% ...
Fluoride as a cause of arthritis.(Literature Review & Commentary)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2007; ... A 52-year-old man presented with neck immobility and worsening joint pains of seven years' duration. Radiographs revealed axial osteosclerosis. Fluoride levels were elevated in serum, urine (26 mg/L; normal, 0.2-1.1 mg/L), and iliac crest bone, and he was diagnosed with skeletal fluorosis ....
Anticonvulsant therapy causes vitamin D deficiency.(Literature Review & Commentary)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Seventy-two adults (aged 18-54 years) and 78 children and adolescents (aged ten to 18 years) on long-term anticonvulsant therapy were randomly assigned to receive low-dose (400 IU/day) or high-dose (4,000 IU/day for adults, 2,000 IU/day for children/adolescents) vitamin D for one year. In ...
Vitamin C deficiency and post-herpetic neuralgia.(Literature Review & Commentary)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2007; ... A 78-year-old man had an eight-month history of postherpetic neuralgia that had failed to respond to antidepressants and anticonvulsants. His appetite was poor, and he bruised easily and had swollen gums. The patient's plasma vitamin C concentration was below normal. He was treated with ...
Feverfew and migraine headaches.(Phytotherapy Review & Commentary)(Clinical report)
Nov 01, 2007; ... In 1973, at the suggestion of a friend, and apparently based on the advice of a traditional Welsh healer, a Welsh woman Mrs Anne Jenkins tried taking three fresh leaves of feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) each day in an attempt to rid herself of severe and recurrent migraines. After ten ...
Aspirin with a "G": considerations in headache treatment.(Optimizing Metabolism)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Introduction "Make sure the electricity stays on and the pipes don't rupture." This request for property managers is also given to medical students. Make sure headaches are not a sign of imminent neuro-electric or vascular-plumbing damage. Since the head is somewhat of a ...
As the 40 pound steel weight plunged towards my head, I asked, can pain be turned off instantly by using Neuromuscular Reflexes?
Nov 01, 2007; ... Trigger Points Frequently Cause Pain Areas of reduced circulation in muscles are called trigger points. They are painful when pressed. (1-7) They cause or aggravate many types of pain disorders, (5-7) including low back pain, sciatica, (2, 3, 17) headache, (1) migraine, (1) TMJ ...
Journey to self-healing.
Nov 01, 2007; ... I was in the second trimester of my first pregnancy, working full time as a receptionist for North Sound Bank and commuting a great distance. It hadn't been a particularly easy pregnancy. I was sick a great deal of the time, but from what I had read, that was normal, especially in the ...
The causes of epilepsy from a holistic point of view.
Nov 01, 2007; ... In epilepsy, potentials of the central nervous system are released in batches in large quantities: these can lead to convulsions and also to small eruptions and failures of the motor system or sensory nerves. Depending on where in the brain the potentials are released, other symptoms apart ...
The application of SANUKEHL Serra in the treatment of restless legs syndrome and multiple sclerosis.
Nov 01, 2007; ... The SANUKEHL preparations manufactured by SANUM-Kehlbeck contain specific polysaccharides from the cell membrane of microbes (Schneider 2001). Due to their small molecule size, they act as haptens or antigen absorbers in the organism (Cornelius 2001). In many cases, the pathogenic toxins ...
Headache alternatives: Drug-Free therapies for preventing, reducing, and ending the pain of migraines and other headaches.
Nov 01, 2007; ... Sooner or later, 90% of all Americans suffer from headaches. Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising, considering how many types of headaches there are, including tension, sinus, cluster, and migraine. Unfortunately, for many people, headaches are not a temporary inconvenience, but a chronic ...
Guided Digital Medicine[TM] and the solution to migraine and chronic headaches.(Report)
Nov 01, 2007; ... This article is based on the novel medical system--Guided Digital Medicine[TM], which operates diagnostically and therapeutically on the most fundamental level of the body--Energy. Its author, Savely Yurkovsky, MD, is internationally known as a teacher and expert in Bioenergetic Medicine ....
Vaccination: an updated analysis of the health risks--Part 2.(Report)
Nov 01, 2007; ... In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the reasons why we should challenge the assumption that vaccines are safe and effective. These reasons include the adverse effects associated with vaccines, the unsound principles on which they are based, questions about whether vaccinations have ...
A new "light" on color light therapy: visual color therapy and the effect on disease conditions.
Nov 01, 2007; ... Abstract Looking at rainbows has always affected me in a wonderful way: I have found rainbows both exciting to look at and yet quite relaxing. My interest in color was reawakened in high school physics class and then expanded in college physics. As a chiropractor, I use ...
Commentary on post-vasectomy progressive aphasia.(Letters to the Editor)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Considering the millions of young men who have undergone elective vasectomy in recent years, I welcome the report by Weintraub et al. (1) on progressive aphasia following such surgery. I have reviewed and emphasized the potential medical and immunologic sequelae of voluntary ...
Conquering cancer against medical advice.(Letters to the Editor)
Nov 01, 2007; ... The name of this article is also the name of my book. Almost three years ago, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I couldn't believe it. Not me, I said. I'm one of the healthiest people I know. My entire adult life has been devoted to the teaching of holistic health. I was living in Los ...
Unrefined salt vs. industrial grade sodium chloride.(Letters to the Editor)
Nov 01, 2007 ... [Editor's Note: Author Vivienne Bradshaw-Black received the following email in regards to her article, "Unrefined Salt Vs. Industrial Grade Sodium Chloride," which appeared in Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, February 2004. Her response follows the query.] I read ...
Does selenium supplementation cause diabetes?(Editorial)
Nov 01, 2007; ... The latest installment of the apparently endless series of widely publicized "taking nutritional supplements will kill you" articles is a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, (1) which concluded that supplementing with 200 mcg of selenium per day for several years may ...
A natural prescription for baby boomers.(The New Yoga for Healthy Aging)(Book review)
Nov 01, 2007; ... The New Yoga for Healthy Aging by Suza Francina Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th St., Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442; www.hcibooks.com Quality paperback; c. 2007; $16.95 US/$21.95 CAN; 382 pp. Yoga, it turns out, is an ideal form of exercise for ...
Water cure.(Obesity Cancer Depression: Their Common Cause and Natural Cure)(Book review)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Obesity Cancer Depression--Their Common Cause & Natural Cure by F. Batmanghelidj, MD Global Health Solutions, Inc., 2146 King's Garden way, Falls Church, Virginia 22043 703-848-2333; Fax 703-848-0028; www.watercure.com ISBN 0-9702458-2-3 ...
Mineral connections.(The Earth's Gift to Medicine)(Book review)
Nov 01, 2007; ... The Earth's Gift to Medicine by K-G Wenzel, MD and RJ Pataracchia, ND Foreword by Dr. Abram Hoffer; Publisher's Preface by Helke Ferrie; Translated from the German by Claudia Rank. KOS Publishing Inc., 1997 Beechgrove Road, Alton, Ontario, Canada LON 1A0; ...
A primer for managing migraines.(What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Migraines: The Breakthrough Program that Can Help End Your Pain)(Book review)
Nov 01, 2007; ... What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Migraines: The Breakthrough Program that Can Help End Your Pain by Alexander Mauskop, MD and Barry Fox, PhD Warner Wellness, Time Warner Book Group, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 Softcover; c ....
Migraines and acupuncture.(Acupuncture & Moxibustion)(Clinical report)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Keywords: Chinese medicine, acupuncture, migraine headache, electroacupuncture [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A migraine is a type of periodic headache that lasts four to 72 hours and is throbbing, moderate-to-severe in intensity, unilateral, worse with exertion, and ...
Natural Rx for migraines.(Pain Free 1-2-3!)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Migraine headaches are usually easily preventable and treatable using natural therapies. Once again, however, almost all that patients hear about are expensive medications--because they are expensive. In this month's column, we will review migraine headaches, discuss how to prevent and ...
Know your remedy, know yourself.(Healing with Homeopathy)(Report)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Knowledge often contains the power to create change. In homeopathy, knowing what your constitutional homeopathic medicine or remedy is about--and experiencing that understanding personally on a deep level--can help you integrate and enhance the effects of the medicine. ...
Calendar of events.(Calendar)
Nov 01, 2007 ... OCTOBER 19-21: OZONE THERAPY & UVB THERAPY COURSE with Frank Shallenberger, MD, HMD, in Reno, Nevada. Topics: A complete oxygen/ozone therapy course from theory to practical application. (i) Ozone therapy--biochemistry, immunology, physiology, autohemotherapy, intestinal insufflation, and ...
Migraine headaches in women.(Women's Health Update)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Women account for about three-quarters of the 28 million Americans who experience migraine headaches. Attacks can begin at any age, but they typically start during childhood or adolescence when they appear almost equally in boys and girls. By early adolescence, however, the prevalence ...
Supplements to treat headaches: headaches can often be prevented or relieved by the proper nutritional supplements. We will review the three supplements that have gathered the most supporting data for their efficacy.(Nutritional Influences on Illness)
Nov 01, 2007; ... Magnesium [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The reactivity of vascular and other smooth muscle cells is highly dependent upon the ratio of calcium to magnesium. (1) A chronic magnesium deficit disturbs that ratio, producing a state of neuromuscular hyperexcitability. (2) It is ...