MyAchingKnees.com will sometimes post information that has no direct link to Chronic Joint or Knee Pain. This is one of these posts. Vitamin D is one of nutrients that have recently received renewed scrutiny. We believe that not only advanced doses are supplementation are necessary for optimal health, but optimal health helps reduce the damage of free radicals from oxidative stress and therefore helps out entire body combat the resulting inflammation. So our overall health has an indirect or direct affect on chromic joint pain.
How Much Vitamin D do you need?
When you get your 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level, the normal range is usually reported as 32 to 100 ng/ml. However, researchers are now beginning to believe that desired level of vitamin D should be over 50 ng/ml and some are recommending that it should be greater than 60 ng/ml. Depending on your level of vitamin D you will need to first get your level into the desired range. However, I would at least recommend that you try to achieve a blood level above 50 ng/ml.
Your personal physician should actually prescribe the amount of increased vitamin D that you will need to bring your vitamin D up to the proper level. It should then be rechecked to be sure that this goal has been accomplished. I work with the members of my online medical practice at www.drraystrand.com to achieve this goal through email or phone consultation and bloodwork that I can order for them. Once you have achieved this goal, you then should supplement with 1,000 to 1,200 IU of vitamin D3 daily.
Low Vitamin D levels increase Cardiovascular Risk
A report in the Archives of Internal Medicine (June 11,2007) added more evidence in the link of low vitamin D levels and heart disease. These researchers measured the 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D levels in over 15,000 women. Those women who had the lowest levels of vitamin D had significantly higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and elevated triglyceride levels (the other fat in the blood other than cholesterol). These are all risk factors for heart disease and strokes.
These researchers again pointed out the fact that low vitamin D levels carry a significant risk factor to our health. They concluded that current intake of vitamin D is far to low for optimal health. This is why I recommend that my patients should get their vitamin D levels checked and act accordingly. First, to bring their vitamin D levels back up to the recommended level (at least greater than 50 ng/ml) and second, to maintain these levels by taking at least 1,000 to 1,200 IU of vitamin D in supplementation.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Leaness Laws from Yahoo -
I pulled the below of the Yahoo News site. I am not posting it because I agree with everything. I posted it because many of you have read the same thing and this is a topic to dicuss, as well as the issue of being overweight complicates chronic joint pain, particularily in the knees.
On May 11, the White House announced it was targeting a new threat to America ’s health and security. It wasn’t some rogue nation or terrorist organization, or a newfound disease or environmental threat. It was a class of chemicals that are making Americans fat. They’re called endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs. And chances are you’re eating or drinking them right now.
The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity released a report called "Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation." In the report they list endocrine-disrupting chemicals as a possible reason for increased obesity in the country and describe how scientists have coined a new term for these chemicals — "obesogens" — because they "may promote weight gain and obesity."
MyAchingKnees Comment: Childhood, teenage hood and adult hood obesity IS a problem in the United States. The more likely culprit is the terrible education in nutrition we provide our children and the highly processed, low nutrition foods we market and consume.
What does this mean for you? It means that weight gain is not just about calories-in versus calories-out.
No, America ’s obesity crisis can’t entirely be blamed on too much fast food and too little exercise. We have to consider a third factor: the obesogens. They’re natural and synthetic compounds, and many of these chemicals work by mimicking estrogen — the very hormone that doctors DON’T want women taking anymore (as a large clinical trial linked hormone therapy to increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, blood clots and abnormal mammograms).
MyAchingKnees Comment: What my concern is that this gives another excuse for people to rationalize why they are fat,...why their knees ache,..etc.
Why traditional diets don’t work anymore
Because high school biology was likely a while back, here’s a quick refresher: The endocrine system is made up of all the glands and cells that produce the hormones that regulate our bodies. Growth and development, sexual function, reproductive processes, mood, sleep, hunger, stress, metabolism and the way our bodies use food — it’s all controlled by hormones. So whether you’re tall or short, lean or heavy — that’s all determined in a big way by your endocrine system.
But your endocrine system is a finely tuned instrument that can easily be thrown off-kilter. "Obesogens are thought to act by hijacking the regulatory systems that control body weight," says Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D., curators’ professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri . That’s why endocrine disruptors are so good at making us fat — and that’s why diet advice doesn’t always work — because even strictly following the smartest traditional advice won’t lower your obesogen exposure. See, an apple a day may have kept the doctor away 250 years ago when Benjamin Franklin included the phrase in his almanac. But if that apple comes loaded with obesity-promoting chemicals — nine of the ten most commonly used pesticides are obesogens, and apples are one of the most pesticide-laden foods out there — then Ben’s advice is way out of date.
The obesogen effect is the reason why traditional diet advice — choose chicken over beef, eat more fish, load up on fruits and vegetables — may not work anymore. This is why we’re calling for a New American Diet.
MyAchingKnees Comment: Here's why diets don't often work: We starve ourselves through a period of time and our bodies are not getting the nutrients it needs. When you come off the diet you eat and eat to make up for the lack of nutrients. When you are on a diet of reduced caloric intake it is even more important to supplement with the highest quality nutritional supplements you can get.
See, while digging up all of this research on obesogens we’ve discovered some good news: There’s no reason why all of our favorite foods — from steak to burgers, from pasta to ice cream — can’t be part of a reasonable weight-loss program. We just need to get rid of old thinking. We can reverse the obesogen effect if we simply adopt these four simple laws of leanness:
Leanness Law No. 1: Know When to Go Organic
The average American is exposed to 10 to 13 different pesticides through food, beverages and drinking water every day and nine of the ten most common pesticides are EDCs. But according to a recent study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, eating an organic diet for just five days can reduce circulating pesticide EDCs to non-detectable or near non-detectable levels.
Of course, organic foods can be expensive. But not all organics are created equal—many foods have such low levels of pesticides that buying organic just isn’t worth it. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) calculated that you can reduce your pesticide exposure nearly 80 percent simply by choosing organic for the 12 fruits and vegetables shown in their tests to contain the highest levels of pesticides. They call them "The Dirty Dozen," and (starting with the worst) they are celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries (domestic), nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach, kale/collard greens, cherries, potatoes and grapes (imported). And you can feel good about buying the following 15 conventionally grown fruits and vegetables that the EWG dubbed "The Clean Fifteen," because they were shown to have little pesticide residue: onions, avocado, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mango, sweet peas (frozen), asparagus, kiwi fruit, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe (domestic), watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potatoes and honeydew melon.
MyAchingKnees Comment: The same lack of quality in "food grade" supplements, exists in foods. With non-pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplements you face the same exposures to toxins like you do foods.
Leanness Law No. 2: Don’t Eat Plastic
This ought to be a no-brainer. Indeed, you’re probably already thinking, Well, I don’t generally eat plastic. Ah, but you do. Chances are that you’re among the 93 percent of Americans with detectable levels of bisphenol-A (BPA) in their bodies, and that you’re also among the 75 percent of Americans with detectable levels of phthalates. Both are synthetic chemicals found in plastics that mimic estrogen — essentially, artificial female hormones. And like pesticides, these plastic-based chemicals trick our bodies into storing fat and not building or retaining muscle. Decreasing your exposure to plastic-based obesogens will maximize your chances both of losing unwanted flab and of building lean muscle mass. Here’s how: 1) Never heat food in plastic containers or put plastic items in the dishwasher, which can damage them and increase leaching. BPA leaches from polycarbonate sports bottles 55 times faster when exposed to boiling liquids as opposed to cold ones, according to a study in the journal Toxicology Letters. 2) Avoid buying fatty foods like meats that are packaged in plastic wrap because EDCs are stored in fatty tissue. The plastic wrap used at the supermarket is mostly PVC, whereas the plastic wrap you buy to wrap things at home is increasingly made from polyethylene. 3) Cut down on canned goods by choosing tuna in a pouch over canned tuna. And get any canned and jarred foods from Eden Organic, one of the only companies that doesn’t have BPA in its cans.
Leanness Law No. 3: Go Lean
Always choose pasture-raised meats, which, studies show, have less fat than their confined, grain-fed counterparts and none of the weight-promoting hormones. Plus, grass-fed beef contains 60 percent more omega-3s, 200 percent more vitamin E and two to three times more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, a near-magic nutrient that helps ward off heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and can help you lose weight, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) than conventional beef. If you must choose a conventional cut of beef, choose lean cuts top sirloin, 95 percent lean ground beef, bottom round roast, eye round roast, top round roast or sirloin tip steak. Bison burgers and veggie burgers are also great substitutes when grass-fed beef isn’t available. And select sustainable lean fish with low toxic loads (meaning low levels of toxins like mercury and PCBs). A study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that even though the pesticide DDT was banned in 1973, the chemical and its breakdown product DDE can still be found today in fatty fish. Bigger fish eat smaller fish, and so carry a much higher toxic load.
Avoid ahi or bigeye tuna, tilefish, swordfish, shark, king mackerel, marlin and orange roughy — and focus on smaller fish like anchovies, Atlantic herring and mackerel, and wild-caught Alaskan salmon. Choose farmed rainbow trout, farmed mussels, anchovies, scallops (bay, farmed), Pacific cod, Pacific Halibut, Tuna (canned light) and mahimahi. Also, when you cook the fish, broil, poach, grill, boil or bake instead of pan-frying — this will allow contaminants from the fatty portions of fish to drain out.
Leanness Law No. 4: Filter Your Water
The best way to eliminate EDCs from your tap water is an activated carbon water filter. Available for faucets and pitchers, and as under-the-sink units, these filters remove most pesticides and industrial pollutants. Check the label to make sure the filter meets the NSF/American National Standards Institute’s standard 53, indicating that it treats water for both health and aesthetic concerns. Try The Brita Aqualux ($28, brita.com), Pur Horizontal faucet filter ($49, purwaterfilter.com) and Kenmore ’s under-sink system ($60, kenmore.com). However, if you have perchlorate (a component of rocket fuel!) in your water (you can find out by asking your municipal water supplier for a copy of its most recent water-quality report) you’ll need a reverse osmosis filter. But for every five gallons of treated water they create per day, they discharge 40 to 90 gallons of wastewater, so make sure it’s necessary before purchasing one.
MyAchingKnees Comment: The bottom line is that the consumer needs to be responsible, and, do their own research when it comes to diets, foods, potential toxins and nutritional supplements. A successful diet, where unnecessary weight is dropped, will work wonders on chronic knee pain, especially if you have an active lifstyle where that excess weight is magnified onto your joints and knees during physical activity.
On May 11, the White House announced it was targeting a new threat to America ’s health and security. It wasn’t some rogue nation or terrorist organization, or a newfound disease or environmental threat. It was a class of chemicals that are making Americans fat. They’re called endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs. And chances are you’re eating or drinking them right now.
The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity released a report called "Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation." In the report they list endocrine-disrupting chemicals as a possible reason for increased obesity in the country and describe how scientists have coined a new term for these chemicals — "obesogens" — because they "may promote weight gain and obesity."
MyAchingKnees Comment: Childhood, teenage hood and adult hood obesity IS a problem in the United States. The more likely culprit is the terrible education in nutrition we provide our children and the highly processed, low nutrition foods we market and consume.
What does this mean for you? It means that weight gain is not just about calories-in versus calories-out.
No, America ’s obesity crisis can’t entirely be blamed on too much fast food and too little exercise. We have to consider a third factor: the obesogens. They’re natural and synthetic compounds, and many of these chemicals work by mimicking estrogen — the very hormone that doctors DON’T want women taking anymore (as a large clinical trial linked hormone therapy to increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, blood clots and abnormal mammograms).
MyAchingKnees Comment: What my concern is that this gives another excuse for people to rationalize why they are fat,...why their knees ache,..etc.
Why traditional diets don’t work anymore
Because high school biology was likely a while back, here’s a quick refresher: The endocrine system is made up of all the glands and cells that produce the hormones that regulate our bodies. Growth and development, sexual function, reproductive processes, mood, sleep, hunger, stress, metabolism and the way our bodies use food — it’s all controlled by hormones. So whether you’re tall or short, lean or heavy — that’s all determined in a big way by your endocrine system.
But your endocrine system is a finely tuned instrument that can easily be thrown off-kilter. "Obesogens are thought to act by hijacking the regulatory systems that control body weight," says Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D., curators’ professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri . That’s why endocrine disruptors are so good at making us fat — and that’s why diet advice doesn’t always work — because even strictly following the smartest traditional advice won’t lower your obesogen exposure. See, an apple a day may have kept the doctor away 250 years ago when Benjamin Franklin included the phrase in his almanac. But if that apple comes loaded with obesity-promoting chemicals — nine of the ten most commonly used pesticides are obesogens, and apples are one of the most pesticide-laden foods out there — then Ben’s advice is way out of date.
The obesogen effect is the reason why traditional diet advice — choose chicken over beef, eat more fish, load up on fruits and vegetables — may not work anymore. This is why we’re calling for a New American Diet.
MyAchingKnees Comment: Here's why diets don't often work: We starve ourselves through a period of time and our bodies are not getting the nutrients it needs. When you come off the diet you eat and eat to make up for the lack of nutrients. When you are on a diet of reduced caloric intake it is even more important to supplement with the highest quality nutritional supplements you can get.
See, while digging up all of this research on obesogens we’ve discovered some good news: There’s no reason why all of our favorite foods — from steak to burgers, from pasta to ice cream — can’t be part of a reasonable weight-loss program. We just need to get rid of old thinking. We can reverse the obesogen effect if we simply adopt these four simple laws of leanness:
Leanness Law No. 1: Know When to Go Organic
The average American is exposed to 10 to 13 different pesticides through food, beverages and drinking water every day and nine of the ten most common pesticides are EDCs. But according to a recent study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, eating an organic diet for just five days can reduce circulating pesticide EDCs to non-detectable or near non-detectable levels.
Of course, organic foods can be expensive. But not all organics are created equal—many foods have such low levels of pesticides that buying organic just isn’t worth it. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) calculated that you can reduce your pesticide exposure nearly 80 percent simply by choosing organic for the 12 fruits and vegetables shown in their tests to contain the highest levels of pesticides. They call them "The Dirty Dozen," and (starting with the worst) they are celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries (domestic), nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach, kale/collard greens, cherries, potatoes and grapes (imported). And you can feel good about buying the following 15 conventionally grown fruits and vegetables that the EWG dubbed "The Clean Fifteen," because they were shown to have little pesticide residue: onions, avocado, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mango, sweet peas (frozen), asparagus, kiwi fruit, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe (domestic), watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potatoes and honeydew melon.
MyAchingKnees Comment: The same lack of quality in "food grade" supplements, exists in foods. With non-pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplements you face the same exposures to toxins like you do foods.
Leanness Law No. 2: Don’t Eat Plastic
This ought to be a no-brainer. Indeed, you’re probably already thinking, Well, I don’t generally eat plastic. Ah, but you do. Chances are that you’re among the 93 percent of Americans with detectable levels of bisphenol-A (BPA) in their bodies, and that you’re also among the 75 percent of Americans with detectable levels of phthalates. Both are synthetic chemicals found in plastics that mimic estrogen — essentially, artificial female hormones. And like pesticides, these plastic-based chemicals trick our bodies into storing fat and not building or retaining muscle. Decreasing your exposure to plastic-based obesogens will maximize your chances both of losing unwanted flab and of building lean muscle mass. Here’s how: 1) Never heat food in plastic containers or put plastic items in the dishwasher, which can damage them and increase leaching. BPA leaches from polycarbonate sports bottles 55 times faster when exposed to boiling liquids as opposed to cold ones, according to a study in the journal Toxicology Letters. 2) Avoid buying fatty foods like meats that are packaged in plastic wrap because EDCs are stored in fatty tissue. The plastic wrap used at the supermarket is mostly PVC, whereas the plastic wrap you buy to wrap things at home is increasingly made from polyethylene. 3) Cut down on canned goods by choosing tuna in a pouch over canned tuna. And get any canned and jarred foods from Eden Organic, one of the only companies that doesn’t have BPA in its cans.
Leanness Law No. 3: Go Lean
Always choose pasture-raised meats, which, studies show, have less fat than their confined, grain-fed counterparts and none of the weight-promoting hormones. Plus, grass-fed beef contains 60 percent more omega-3s, 200 percent more vitamin E and two to three times more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, a near-magic nutrient that helps ward off heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and can help you lose weight, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) than conventional beef. If you must choose a conventional cut of beef, choose lean cuts top sirloin, 95 percent lean ground beef, bottom round roast, eye round roast, top round roast or sirloin tip steak. Bison burgers and veggie burgers are also great substitutes when grass-fed beef isn’t available. And select sustainable lean fish with low toxic loads (meaning low levels of toxins like mercury and PCBs). A study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that even though the pesticide DDT was banned in 1973, the chemical and its breakdown product DDE can still be found today in fatty fish. Bigger fish eat smaller fish, and so carry a much higher toxic load.
Avoid ahi or bigeye tuna, tilefish, swordfish, shark, king mackerel, marlin and orange roughy — and focus on smaller fish like anchovies, Atlantic herring and mackerel, and wild-caught Alaskan salmon. Choose farmed rainbow trout, farmed mussels, anchovies, scallops (bay, farmed), Pacific cod, Pacific Halibut, Tuna (canned light) and mahimahi. Also, when you cook the fish, broil, poach, grill, boil or bake instead of pan-frying — this will allow contaminants from the fatty portions of fish to drain out.
Leanness Law No. 4: Filter Your Water
The best way to eliminate EDCs from your tap water is an activated carbon water filter. Available for faucets and pitchers, and as under-the-sink units, these filters remove most pesticides and industrial pollutants. Check the label to make sure the filter meets the NSF/American National Standards Institute’s standard 53, indicating that it treats water for both health and aesthetic concerns. Try The Brita Aqualux ($28, brita.com), Pur Horizontal faucet filter ($49, purwaterfilter.com) and Kenmore ’s under-sink system ($60, kenmore.com). However, if you have perchlorate (a component of rocket fuel!) in your water (you can find out by asking your municipal water supplier for a copy of its most recent water-quality report) you’ll need a reverse osmosis filter. But for every five gallons of treated water they create per day, they discharge 40 to 90 gallons of wastewater, so make sure it’s necessary before purchasing one.
MyAchingKnees Comment: The bottom line is that the consumer needs to be responsible, and, do their own research when it comes to diets, foods, potential toxins and nutritional supplements. A successful diet, where unnecessary weight is dropped, will work wonders on chronic knee pain, especially if you have an active lifstyle where that excess weight is magnified onto your joints and knees during physical activity.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Arthritis - Information from Doctor Ray Strand
Readers of this site are no stranger to Doctor Ray Strand, author of several books including "Living by Design" and "What Your Doctors Don't Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You". Dr Strand specializes in Nutritional approach to degenerative diseases like Chronic Joint Pain, Arthritis, Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis among a host of all degenerative diseases. His recommendations are what I go by in addressing my and my families nutritional needs to combat the oxidative stress that causes degenerative disease. Here is wisdom from Ray Strand on Arthritis.
www.raystrand.com
Arthritis is a degenerative process of the joints. Though it is not a disease that will typically shorten one's life, it will certainly cause significant pain if left untreated. Rheumatoid arthritis can be severely disabling as well.
There has been great interest among researchers for the past 20 years involving the role of oxidative stress in the development of arthritis. Most studies have not separated rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis) when looking at free radical reactions and these diseases. Information provided here is consistent with a comprehensive review article written by Dr. Henrotin in 1992 regarding oxidative stress and how it is involved in inflammatory joint disease. Several recent studies have further established oxidative stress as being the plausible cause of these diseases, thus supporting my recommended treatment.
When researchers study joint fluid extracted from an inflamed joint, they note a significant increase in the number of excessive free radicals. In contrast, fluid from a normal joint, has no free radicals present. Studies have shown a significant increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in those individuals who have low levels of vitamin E, beta-carotene, and selenium. Research has further indicated low levels of vitamin D and vitamin C in patients suffering severe joint disease and in those whose disease progresses much more rapidly than the norm.
Many different factors may be contributors of increased oxidative stress within the inflamed joints. One such factor is a significant inflammatory response within the joint space, especially in those with rheumatoid arthritis. This is an autoimmune disease wherein one's own immune system is essentially attacking the joints. It is this inflammatory immune response that creates all the destructive oxidative stress within the joint. Neutrophils (a type of white cell) are a predominate cell in this inflammatory response and has been shown to release a significant amount of free radicals within the joint space. This causes a marked rise in oxidative stress.
The destruction of the joint in rheumatoid arthritis is also due to the release of certain enzymes within the joint space. These enzymes are under the control of certain cytokines called IL-1 and TNF-a (interleukin 1 beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha). The levels of IL-1 and TNF-a in the joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients are very high. They too create tremendous amounts of oxidative stress. Certain cells from the cartilage of an inflamed joint (called chondrocytes) have also been found to actively generate free radicals. These different sources of increased free radical production cause heightened oxidative stress within the inflamed joint. This overloads the antioxidant defense system of the joint space. The synovial fluid (joint fluid), which is usually very thick becomes thin and all components of the cartilage become damaged as the process of joint destruction begins taking place.
I was taught in medical school that autoimmune diseases were the result of an overactive immune system since the body was essentially attacking itself. Consistent with my training, almost all of the medical therapies that physicians offer patients with an autoimmune disease are based on this premise. This is why most of these patients are placed on chemotherapeutic medications, which primarily suppress the immune system. Medications like Methotrexate, Plaquinil, and Immuran are just a few of the potent medications that are used. Corticosteroids like Prednisone are also used not only because of its strong anti-inflammatory qualities but also because they suppress the immune system. Even though these therapies may help to slow down the damage caused by this autoimmune process, they have serious side effects and can cause significant harm to the patient.
Since specializing in Nutritional Medicine, I have seen amazing results in my patients with autoimmune diseases who are using an aggressive nutritional supplementation program. My only explanation for such unbelievable results in my patients is the fact that they are not dealing with an overactive immune system, but rather a confused immune system.
The immune system is intended to be our reliable protector. It is always checking for self (one's own body) while it is looking for non-self (any foreign substance or abnormal cell). When the immune system finds a virus, bacteria, or foreign body it destroys and eliminates it from the body. However, in autoimmune diseases the immune system actually attacks itself rather than a foreign substance. If it attacks the joint space, a person is diagnosed as having rheumatoid arthritis. If it attacks the bowels, it manifests as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. When the connective tissue is attacked, a person might end up with scleraderma or lupus. If the myelin sheath around the nerve is the target, multiple sclerosis (MS) ensues.
In the case of autoimmune diseases, I believe one's immune system is not able to distinguish self from non-self. Being confused, the body is essentially destroying itself. In addition to treating my patients who are usually already taking traditional medicine with attempts to suppress and shut down the immune system, I administer potent nutritional supplements. In doing so, I am not only building up their NATURAL antioxidant defense systems, but also I am building up their own NATURAL immune system. I find this helps my patients on both sides of the disease.
I believe their immune system becomes less confused and begins to recognize "self" again. This means the immune system more readily identifies outside invaders--not attacking "self" as much. In addition, my patients' antioxidant defense system is also built up to balance out the tremendous number of free radicals being produced. This brings the root cause of the damage--oxidative stress--back under control. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that I place my patients on the most potent antioxidant combination available.
Am I promoting alternative medicine? Absolutely not. I never take my patients off of their medications until they've experienced significant improvement. Nutritional supplementation is always used in tandem with their present medical regimen. They not only tolerate their medications better, but I believe the nutritional supplements actually enhance the pharmaceutical effect the drugs.
My goal is to have patients improve so much that their rheumatologist or primary care physician is able to decrease or eliminate some or all of their medications. I can't emphasize this enough. No one should stop taking the medications that have been prescribed to him or her by the specialist. Almost all physicians desire to get their patients off of these potent and potentially dangerous medications. However, this decision must involve the personal physician.
www.raystrand.com
Arthritis is a degenerative process of the joints. Though it is not a disease that will typically shorten one's life, it will certainly cause significant pain if left untreated. Rheumatoid arthritis can be severely disabling as well.
There has been great interest among researchers for the past 20 years involving the role of oxidative stress in the development of arthritis. Most studies have not separated rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis) when looking at free radical reactions and these diseases. Information provided here is consistent with a comprehensive review article written by Dr. Henrotin in 1992 regarding oxidative stress and how it is involved in inflammatory joint disease. Several recent studies have further established oxidative stress as being the plausible cause of these diseases, thus supporting my recommended treatment.
When researchers study joint fluid extracted from an inflamed joint, they note a significant increase in the number of excessive free radicals. In contrast, fluid from a normal joint, has no free radicals present. Studies have shown a significant increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in those individuals who have low levels of vitamin E, beta-carotene, and selenium. Research has further indicated low levels of vitamin D and vitamin C in patients suffering severe joint disease and in those whose disease progresses much more rapidly than the norm.
Many different factors may be contributors of increased oxidative stress within the inflamed joints. One such factor is a significant inflammatory response within the joint space, especially in those with rheumatoid arthritis. This is an autoimmune disease wherein one's own immune system is essentially attacking the joints. It is this inflammatory immune response that creates all the destructive oxidative stress within the joint. Neutrophils (a type of white cell) are a predominate cell in this inflammatory response and has been shown to release a significant amount of free radicals within the joint space. This causes a marked rise in oxidative stress.
The destruction of the joint in rheumatoid arthritis is also due to the release of certain enzymes within the joint space. These enzymes are under the control of certain cytokines called IL-1 and TNF-a (interleukin 1 beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha). The levels of IL-1 and TNF-a in the joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients are very high. They too create tremendous amounts of oxidative stress. Certain cells from the cartilage of an inflamed joint (called chondrocytes) have also been found to actively generate free radicals. These different sources of increased free radical production cause heightened oxidative stress within the inflamed joint. This overloads the antioxidant defense system of the joint space. The synovial fluid (joint fluid), which is usually very thick becomes thin and all components of the cartilage become damaged as the process of joint destruction begins taking place.
I was taught in medical school that autoimmune diseases were the result of an overactive immune system since the body was essentially attacking itself. Consistent with my training, almost all of the medical therapies that physicians offer patients with an autoimmune disease are based on this premise. This is why most of these patients are placed on chemotherapeutic medications, which primarily suppress the immune system. Medications like Methotrexate, Plaquinil, and Immuran are just a few of the potent medications that are used. Corticosteroids like Prednisone are also used not only because of its strong anti-inflammatory qualities but also because they suppress the immune system. Even though these therapies may help to slow down the damage caused by this autoimmune process, they have serious side effects and can cause significant harm to the patient.
Since specializing in Nutritional Medicine, I have seen amazing results in my patients with autoimmune diseases who are using an aggressive nutritional supplementation program. My only explanation for such unbelievable results in my patients is the fact that they are not dealing with an overactive immune system, but rather a confused immune system.
The immune system is intended to be our reliable protector. It is always checking for self (one's own body) while it is looking for non-self (any foreign substance or abnormal cell). When the immune system finds a virus, bacteria, or foreign body it destroys and eliminates it from the body. However, in autoimmune diseases the immune system actually attacks itself rather than a foreign substance. If it attacks the joint space, a person is diagnosed as having rheumatoid arthritis. If it attacks the bowels, it manifests as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. When the connective tissue is attacked, a person might end up with scleraderma or lupus. If the myelin sheath around the nerve is the target, multiple sclerosis (MS) ensues.
In the case of autoimmune diseases, I believe one's immune system is not able to distinguish self from non-self. Being confused, the body is essentially destroying itself. In addition to treating my patients who are usually already taking traditional medicine with attempts to suppress and shut down the immune system, I administer potent nutritional supplements. In doing so, I am not only building up their NATURAL antioxidant defense systems, but also I am building up their own NATURAL immune system. I find this helps my patients on both sides of the disease.
I believe their immune system becomes less confused and begins to recognize "self" again. This means the immune system more readily identifies outside invaders--not attacking "self" as much. In addition, my patients' antioxidant defense system is also built up to balance out the tremendous number of free radicals being produced. This brings the root cause of the damage--oxidative stress--back under control. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that I place my patients on the most potent antioxidant combination available.
Am I promoting alternative medicine? Absolutely not. I never take my patients off of their medications until they've experienced significant improvement. Nutritional supplementation is always used in tandem with their present medical regimen. They not only tolerate their medications better, but I believe the nutritional supplements actually enhance the pharmaceutical effect the drugs.
My goal is to have patients improve so much that their rheumatologist or primary care physician is able to decrease or eliminate some or all of their medications. I can't emphasize this enough. No one should stop taking the medications that have been prescribed to him or her by the specialist. Almost all physicians desire to get their patients off of these potent and potentially dangerous medications. However, this decision must involve the personal physician.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Quality Products - Stick with Pharmaceutical Grade
MyAchingKnees.com received a question on pharmaceutical grade supplements to the effect that the reader has not heard of pharmaceutical grade nutritional products or nutritional optimizers like Glucosamine.
The below video explains the science and manufacture of the supplements I take not only to help my aching knees reduce the joint pain, but supplements I take as a baseline product.
To contact me about these supplements, click here.
The below video explains the science and manufacture of the supplements I take not only to help my aching knees reduce the joint pain, but supplements I take as a baseline product.
To contact me about these supplements, click here.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Oxidative Stress and Inflammation - Health Nugget from Doctor Ray Strand
Another Health Nugget from a subscription I have to Dr Ray Strand's Bionutrition Newsletters and Health Nuggets. Doctor Strand is one of this Country's foremost Doctor's practicing Nutritional Medicine. His book, "What Doctor's Don't Know About Nutritional Medicine May be Killing You" is an absolute must have for anyone serious about a healthy lifestyle or simply understanding how nutrition, both bad and good, affect your body and therefore your health. This Health Nugget talks about Inflammation. Although not in this Health Nugget, Doctor Strand is the authority that convinced me to get on a pharmaceutical grade Omega 3 Fatty Acid to reduce the ratio of Omega 6's to Omega's 3 and therefore help combat inflammation. The Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Glucosamine (Procosa II) have absolutely been a God send to my knees and even my back pain. If you would like to sign up for Doctor Strand's newsletters and Health Nuggets, visit his site here.
Oxidative stress and inflammation is an underlying factor in the development of numerous age-related diseases. In clinical trials, vitamin D has been shown to suppress what is referred to as pro-inflammatory cytokines. This offers additional protection against conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis, pre-diabetes, heart failure, stroke, and heart disease.
It has become evident that those individuals who live in higher latitudes contract multiple sclerosis at much higher rates than those living where they get sunshine throughout the year. Scientists have identified specific vitamin D receptors in the white matter of the brain. The reduction in inflammation, which is the result of adequate vitamin D, may play a role in protecting you against developing multiple sclerosis
Oxidative stress and inflammation is an underlying factor in the development of numerous age-related diseases. In clinical trials, vitamin D has been shown to suppress what is referred to as pro-inflammatory cytokines. This offers additional protection against conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis, pre-diabetes, heart failure, stroke, and heart disease.
It has become evident that those individuals who live in higher latitudes contract multiple sclerosis at much higher rates than those living where they get sunshine throughout the year. Scientists have identified specific vitamin D receptors in the white matter of the brain. The reduction in inflammation, which is the result of adequate vitamin D, may play a role in protecting you against developing multiple sclerosis
Friday, July 16, 2010
Divided FDA Panel – Diabetes Drug Avandia Stays on the Market
On Wednesday 14 July 2010, The FDA Panel voted to keep Avandia , a routine drug used to treat Diabetes, on the market overcoming serious concerns that Avandia increases the risk for heart attacks and strokes.
In a closely watched debate and vote, 12 of 33 members of the FDA panel voted to withdraw Avandia from the market. Ten voted to keep the drug available but with restrictions; and, 7 voted to add further warning labels or revisions to the labels. Three voted to allow sales without any changes.
This vote was after the panel concluded that there was sufficient information to be concerned about increased risks of heart attacks and strokes, but insufficient date on the increased risk of death. MyAchingKnees.com comment: WHAT?
Furthermore, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg (aka the Hamburglar) will make the final decision about Avandia’s future.
MyAchingKnees.com comment: Avandia is a drug used to treat Adult On-set Diabetes, otherwise known as Diabetes Type II. Which is a degenerative disease and in fact becoming an epidemic in our view, caused by terrible nutrition (bad eating habits) combined with less and less nutritious foods being consumed AND a lack of nutritional supplementation. If I was a Type II Diabetic, I would work to change my nutritional habits and take the highest grade pharmaceutical grade supplements I could obtain, contact me if you are interested in knowing what the highest rated pharmaceutical grade supplement available is.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Osteoporosis and the Importance of Vitamin D - Health Nugget from Doctor Ray Strand
I subscribe to Dr Ray Strand's Bionutrition Newsletters and Health Nuggets. Doctor Strand is one of this Country's foremost Doctor's practicing Nutritional Medicine. His book, "What Doctor's Don't Know About Nutritional Medicine May be Killing You" is an absolute must have for anyone serious about a healthy lifestyle or simply understanding how nutrition, both bad and good, affect your body and therefore your health.
Osteoporosis is epidemic in the US and Canada and yet physicians seem to focus primarily on calcium supplementation and medication. However, it is a well-known fact that you cannot even absorb calcium from your diet without adequate levels of vitamin D. The most potent vitamin D is vitamin D3. Our nation is in the midst of realizing that over 90% of the population is seriously deficient in vitamin D. This becomes a critical health issue especially when you consider how critical this nutrient is in helping to build and maintain bone density. One interesting report even showed that elderly people with the highest levels of vitamin D suffered far fewer falls and were less frail.
Anyone who has been diagnosed or is concerned about osteopenia (early thinning of the bone) or osteoporosis needs to have their vitamin D blood levels checked. As mentioned in a previous "Health Nugget", the best test is a 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level. You want to have a blood level greater than 50 ng/ml. You can order this blood test at www.drraystrand.com or ask your personal physician to order it for you from your local lab.
Osteoporosis is epidemic in the US and Canada and yet physicians seem to focus primarily on calcium supplementation and medication. However, it is a well-known fact that you cannot even absorb calcium from your diet without adequate levels of vitamin D. The most potent vitamin D is vitamin D3. Our nation is in the midst of realizing that over 90% of the population is seriously deficient in vitamin D. This becomes a critical health issue especially when you consider how critical this nutrient is in helping to build and maintain bone density. One interesting report even showed that elderly people with the highest levels of vitamin D suffered far fewer falls and were less frail.
Anyone who has been diagnosed or is concerned about osteopenia (early thinning of the bone) or osteoporosis needs to have their vitamin D blood levels checked. As mentioned in a previous "Health Nugget", the best test is a 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level. You want to have a blood level greater than 50 ng/ml. You can order this blood test at www.drraystrand.com or ask your personal physician to order it for you from your local lab.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Prescription Medications - Another Recall
Just when I was talking to some people about the dangers of prescription medicines and their side effects, another re-call comes out,....this time about Coumadin (Warfarin) a blood thinner. Make no mistake, I believe sometimes prescription medicines are necessary,...I just think sometimes we go to them too quick and not investigate or try less invasive possible solutions.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Monday it is recalling eight production lots of its anti-clotting drug Coumadin because the amount of the active ingredient in the drug could change.
The company said the recall is a precaution, and no side effects have been reported. Bristol-Myers Squibb is recalling a total of 144,672 1-milligram tablets of Coumadin, all of which were distributed in the U.S. The recall includes five production lots of Coumadin hospital unit doses and three lots of physician samples. All the tablets were distributed in blister packs. No bottled medicine or other doses are involved.
The New York-based company said the amount of isopropanol in the tablets could change over time. Isopropanol, or isopropyl alcohol, is used to keep the drug's active ingredient in a crystalline state. The changing levels of isopropanol could increase or reduce the amount of the active ingredient in the tablets.
Coumadin, also called warfarin, is a common blood thinner that is used to treat or prevent blood clots after surgery. Bristol-Myers Squibb said the risk of clots could increase if the level of active ingredient decreases, and if there is too much of the ingredient, patients face a greater risk of bleeding.
The tablets have expiration dates between June 2011 and November 2012.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Monday it is recalling eight production lots of its anti-clotting drug Coumadin because the amount of the active ingredient in the drug could change.
The company said the recall is a precaution, and no side effects have been reported. Bristol-Myers Squibb is recalling a total of 144,672 1-milligram tablets of Coumadin, all of which were distributed in the U.S. The recall includes five production lots of Coumadin hospital unit doses and three lots of physician samples. All the tablets were distributed in blister packs. No bottled medicine or other doses are involved.
The New York-based company said the amount of isopropanol in the tablets could change over time. Isopropanol, or isopropyl alcohol, is used to keep the drug's active ingredient in a crystalline state. The changing levels of isopropanol could increase or reduce the amount of the active ingredient in the tablets.
Coumadin, also called warfarin, is a common blood thinner that is used to treat or prevent blood clots after surgery. Bristol-Myers Squibb said the risk of clots could increase if the level of active ingredient decreases, and if there is too much of the ingredient, patients face a greater risk of bleeding.
The tablets have expiration dates between June 2011 and November 2012.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Reader Question on Joint Pain Meds and Nutrition
MyAchingKnees.com received the following question/comment from Gerry in St. Louis: "I can understand that there is a difference in quality of joint pain reduction substances like Glucosamine, between food grade and pharmaceutical grade and even the difference in food grade and pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplements, but what does nutritional supplements have to do with chronic joint pain? And why can't I get everything I need from the Multi-Vitamin I get at Wal-Greens?"
Gerry, our bodies are constantly fighting oxidative stress which produces free radicals that harm our health at the cellular level and is manifested through many different degenerative diseases or magnifying a degenerative disease. The end product is often inflammation that sometimes is noticed as joint pain, or it could be cardio-vascular issues, or a host of other health issues.
Not only is the way supplements are manufactured, but the levels of the ingredients as well are at issue. By the way, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, not only to see what quality of supplements are on the market, but to understand how nutrients (vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants) all affect our health.
The Recommended Daily Allowance is way too low across the board to provide our bodies with the nutrients needed to fight oxidative stress. All these nutrients, in advanced levels are necessary to work in synergy to provide optimum cellular health.
Ask yourself this? How much do I spend eating out at restaurants each month? Usually the answer is $100 or more, as most people spend much, much more eating out than they would providing their bodies with a monthly supply of pharmaceutical quality nutritional supplements needed for base cellular health.
I talk to people all the time that think nothing of spending $100 eating out, but would not spend less than half that with a quality nutritional supplement.
So, addressing chronic joint pain in a nutritional manner, in our view, is about getting the advanced nutritional supplements that your body needs for optimum cellular health AND addressing your joint issue with the optimizers, Glucosamine and Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
Gerry, our bodies are constantly fighting oxidative stress which produces free radicals that harm our health at the cellular level and is manifested through many different degenerative diseases or magnifying a degenerative disease. The end product is often inflammation that sometimes is noticed as joint pain, or it could be cardio-vascular issues, or a host of other health issues.
Not only is the way supplements are manufactured, but the levels of the ingredients as well are at issue. By the way, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, not only to see what quality of supplements are on the market, but to understand how nutrients (vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants) all affect our health.
The Recommended Daily Allowance is way too low across the board to provide our bodies with the nutrients needed to fight oxidative stress. All these nutrients, in advanced levels are necessary to work in synergy to provide optimum cellular health.
Ask yourself this? How much do I spend eating out at restaurants each month? Usually the answer is $100 or more, as most people spend much, much more eating out than they would providing their bodies with a monthly supply of pharmaceutical quality nutritional supplements needed for base cellular health.
I talk to people all the time that think nothing of spending $100 eating out, but would not spend less than half that with a quality nutritional supplement.
So, addressing chronic joint pain in a nutritional manner, in our view, is about getting the advanced nutritional supplements that your body needs for optimum cellular health AND addressing your joint issue with the optimizers, Glucosamine and Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Drugs Withdrawn from the Market
When a drug's risks exceed its benefits, the federal Food and Drug Adminsitration may ask a company to withdraw it from the market, or a company may do so on its own. But not before damage has been to done to the consumers. Here is a list of some of the drugs removed from market, what they were used for, and why they were taken off the market.
Lotronex (Alosetron). Used to treat diarrhea, pain, cramps, and the feeling of an urgent need to have bowel movements caused by irritable bowel syndrome. Withdrawn in 2000 for the risk of intestinal damage from reduced blood flow.
Rezulin. Used as a anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory. Withdrawn in 2000 due to severe liver toxicity.
Propulsid (cisapride). Used for night time heatburn. Withdrawn in 2000 due to the risk of fatal heart rhythm abnormalities.
Baycol. Used to treat high cholesterol, withdrawn in 2001 due to a risk of severe damage and sometime fatal damage to muscle.
Vioxx. Use for chronic joint pain and arthritis taken off the market in 2004 because of a greatly increased risk of stroke and heart attacks.
Bextra (Valdecoxib) a drug used for the relief of joint pain, fever, swelling, and, tenderness and pain caused by osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Removed from the market in 2005.
MyAchingKnees.com comment: Boy, I am glad I did not succumb to either Vioxx or Bextra in my search to reduce my chronic knee pain.
Tysabri (Natalizumab) was used to prevent episodes of symptoms and slow the worsening of disability in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Taken off the market in 2005 due to life threatening side effects, but return to the market in 2006.
Cylert used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, withdrawn from the market in 2005 due to liver problems including death.
Permax. Used to treat Parkinson's Disease. Taken off the market in 2007 due to causing heat valve damage.
Raptiva (Efalizumab)is used to treat chronic (long-term) plaque psoriasis which is a skin disease in which red scaly patches form on some areas of the body, in patients who cannot be treated with medications that are applied to the skin. Removed from the market in 2009 due to the risk of brain infections.
Mylotarg designed to treat paptients with acute myeloid leukemia, this drug was removed in 2010 due to an increase chance of liver disease.
Some, maybe not a majority, but again some of the people on these drugs or the physicians prescribing them just cannot see the forest because of the trees. They are too quick to reach for the PDR and prescribe some medication to treat the symptoms of people with degenerative disease.
Hey, I have a suggestion, rather then looking through the PDR for some new drug just listed, keeping turning those pages to page 3476 (PDR 64th Edition, 2010) and tell your patients to first build their health through pharmacuetical grade nutritional products and treat the cause of degenerative disease and not the symptoms.
Lotronex (Alosetron). Used to treat diarrhea, pain, cramps, and the feeling of an urgent need to have bowel movements caused by irritable bowel syndrome. Withdrawn in 2000 for the risk of intestinal damage from reduced blood flow.
Rezulin. Used as a anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory. Withdrawn in 2000 due to severe liver toxicity.
Propulsid (cisapride). Used for night time heatburn. Withdrawn in 2000 due to the risk of fatal heart rhythm abnormalities.
Baycol. Used to treat high cholesterol, withdrawn in 2001 due to a risk of severe damage and sometime fatal damage to muscle.
Vioxx. Use for chronic joint pain and arthritis taken off the market in 2004 because of a greatly increased risk of stroke and heart attacks.
Bextra (Valdecoxib) a drug used for the relief of joint pain, fever, swelling, and, tenderness and pain caused by osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Removed from the market in 2005.
MyAchingKnees.com comment: Boy, I am glad I did not succumb to either Vioxx or Bextra in my search to reduce my chronic knee pain.
Tysabri (Natalizumab) was used to prevent episodes of symptoms and slow the worsening of disability in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Taken off the market in 2005 due to life threatening side effects, but return to the market in 2006.
Cylert used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, withdrawn from the market in 2005 due to liver problems including death.
Permax. Used to treat Parkinson's Disease. Taken off the market in 2007 due to causing heat valve damage.
Raptiva (Efalizumab)is used to treat chronic (long-term) plaque psoriasis which is a skin disease in which red scaly patches form on some areas of the body, in patients who cannot be treated with medications that are applied to the skin. Removed from the market in 2009 due to the risk of brain infections.
Mylotarg designed to treat paptients with acute myeloid leukemia, this drug was removed in 2010 due to an increase chance of liver disease.
Some, maybe not a majority, but again some of the people on these drugs or the physicians prescribing them just cannot see the forest because of the trees. They are too quick to reach for the PDR and prescribe some medication to treat the symptoms of people with degenerative disease.
Hey, I have a suggestion, rather then looking through the PDR for some new drug just listed, keeping turning those pages to page 3476 (PDR 64th Edition, 2010) and tell your patients to first build their health through pharmacuetical grade nutritional products and treat the cause of degenerative disease and not the symptoms.
Aspartame - Sweet Poison
MyAchingKnees.com received this from a friend via e-mail. I know the dnagers of Aspartame first hand as my late wife had chronic joint pain in neck and muscle twitches,...not to mention lethargy and tremlbing.
Sweet Poison!
In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.
By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick she just knew she was dying ...
She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest
daughter's name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of. She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.
On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS. I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda?
She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment. I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e-mailed her article my friend, a lawyer, had sent.
My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but, she sure felt a lot better.
She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home. Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind.
In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda.....and literally dying a slow and miserable death.
When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspar tame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life.
If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on 'ASPARTAME,' marketed as 'Nutra Sweet','Equal,' and 'Spoonful.'
In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.
I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous:
When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood
alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid,
which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.
Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is!
Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis,
especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers.
The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition.
We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas....In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia.
During a lecture, I said, 'If you are using ASPARTAME (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, Cramps, Vertigo, Dizziness, Headaches, Tinnitus, Joint pain, Unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!'
People were jumping up during the lecture saying, 'I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?'
Yes!
Yes!
Yes!
STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels!
Many products are fortified with it!
This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts,had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence!
Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple
SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you
crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight! These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.'
Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT
store it IN our body!
Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the 'diet
products' and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.
Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics.
We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.
Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, Seizures, Depression, Manic depression, Panic attacks, Uncontrollable anger and rage.
Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children
diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their
behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet.
So called 'behavior modification prescription drugs' (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being 'poisoned' on a daily basis with the very foods that were 'better for them than sugar.'
It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the we ll-known Gulf War Syndrome.
Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy.
Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should
NEVER be given artificial sweeteners.
There are many different case histories to relat e of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.'
Herein lies the problem:
There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included in 100
different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets.
Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a 'piece of the Aspartame pie.' I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is.
And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American
Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New York Times.
These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products.
Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants.
The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed.
It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're informed now!
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!
Sweet Poison!
In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.
By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick she just knew she was dying ...
She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest
daughter's name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of. She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.
On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS. I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda?
She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment. I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e-mailed her article my friend, a lawyer, had sent.
My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but, she sure felt a lot better.
She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home. Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind.
In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda.....and literally dying a slow and miserable death.
When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspar tame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life.
If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on 'ASPARTAME,' marketed as 'Nutra Sweet','Equal,' and 'Spoonful.'
In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.
I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous:
When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood
alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid,
which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.
Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is!
Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis,
especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers.
The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition.
We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas....In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia.
During a lecture, I said, 'If you are using ASPARTAME (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, Cramps, Vertigo, Dizziness, Headaches, Tinnitus, Joint pain, Unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!'
People were jumping up during the lecture saying, 'I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?'
Yes!
Yes!
Yes!
STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels!
Many products are fortified with it!
This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts,had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence!
Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple
SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you
crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight! These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.'
Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT
store it IN our body!
Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the 'diet
products' and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.
Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics.
We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.
Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, Seizures, Depression, Manic depression, Panic attacks, Uncontrollable anger and rage.
Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children
diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their
behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet.
So called 'behavior modification prescription drugs' (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being 'poisoned' on a daily basis with the very foods that were 'better for them than sugar.'
It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the we ll-known Gulf War Syndrome.
Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy.
Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should
NEVER be given artificial sweeteners.
There are many different case histories to relat e of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.'
Herein lies the problem:
There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included in 100
different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets.
Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a 'piece of the Aspartame pie.' I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is.
And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American
Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New York Times.
These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products.
Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants.
The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed.
It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're informed now!
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Athletes Search for Best Supplements
MyAchingKnees.com has been talking to several people who work in specialized aspects of law enforcement (SWAT Units) about their nutritional needs and problems areas,...such as chronic joint pain from the abuse they put on their bodies.
It is remarkable to see just how many educated, fairly young people, late 20's to early 40's, make two big mistakes: 1 - take way too much NSAIDS to put off the pain caused by the demands on their bodies and the chronic pains they think are inevitable, and 2 - concerned with only taking "body building" or "sports" supplements without regard to their basic nutritional needs which is the first step in their bodies defenses against degenerative diseases, some of which are the cause of joint pain.
The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) has long been a antagonist of nutritional supplements simply because there is no safeguard or guarantee for 'off the shelf' (OTC) supplements. Tests, both by the USOC, their International sister organization the IOC, as well as other organizations have revealed not only toxins but elements of baned substances in these OTC supplements.
Well, that was before the USOC and their Athletes became aware of pharmacuetical grade nutritional supplements. That not only meet the NSF and USP certifications for disinegration, potency and purity, but also have a guarantee.
Click on this link to see what Olympic caliber Athletes, some Medal Winners, are taking and why.
It is remarkable to see just how many educated, fairly young people, late 20's to early 40's, make two big mistakes: 1 - take way too much NSAIDS to put off the pain caused by the demands on their bodies and the chronic pains they think are inevitable, and 2 - concerned with only taking "body building" or "sports" supplements without regard to their basic nutritional needs which is the first step in their bodies defenses against degenerative diseases, some of which are the cause of joint pain.
The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) has long been a antagonist of nutritional supplements simply because there is no safeguard or guarantee for 'off the shelf' (OTC) supplements. Tests, both by the USOC, their International sister organization the IOC, as well as other organizations have revealed not only toxins but elements of baned substances in these OTC supplements.
Well, that was before the USOC and their Athletes became aware of pharmacuetical grade nutritional supplements. That not only meet the NSF and USP certifications for disinegration, potency and purity, but also have a guarantee.
Click on this link to see what Olympic caliber Athletes, some Medal Winners, are taking and why.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Creatine - No Need to Use It
"Hi Joe. First of all, creatine is not a fundamental nutrient that gives you better health. Creatine supplements are sometimes used by athletes, bodybuilders, and others who wish to gain muscle mass.
As far as side effects on health, the Mayo Clinic states that creatine has been associated with asthmatic symptoms and warns against consumption by persons with known allergies.
There is less concern today than there used to be about possible kidney damage from creatine, although there are reports of kidney damage; patients with kidney disease should avoid use of this supplement. Similarly, liver function may be altered, and caution is advised in those with underlying liver disease although studies have shown little or no adverse impact on kidney or liver function from oral creatine supplementation.
In theory, creatine may alter the activities of insulin. Caution is advised in patients with diabetes or hypoglycemia, and in those taking drugs, herbs, or supplements that affect blood sugar. Serum glucose levels may need to be monitored by a health care professional, and medication adjustments may be necessary.
Long-term administration of large quantities of creatine is reported to increase the production of formaldehyde, which has the potential to cause serious unwanted side-effects. However, this risk is largely theoretical because urinary excretion of formaldehyde, even under heavy creatine supplementation, does not exceed normal limits.
Extensive research over the last decade has shown that oral creatine supplementation at a rate of 5 to 20 grams per day appears to be very safe and largely devoid of adverse side-effects while at the same time, effectively improving the physiological response to resistance exercise, increasing the maximal force production of muscles in both men and women."
MyAchingKnees knows several body builders who once did but now do not use Creatine as they have developed chronic joint pain in their knees and elbows which they have attributed to use of Creatine both in normal recommended doses and in advanced doses.
It is really amazing that athletes will spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars in body building supplements, some of which are very hard on their bodies, and do not concern themselves with a quality baseline nutritional supplement that provides, in the necessary advanced doses, all the vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants necessary for optimal health. These same people will spend $75 or more twice a month on dinner, but be content to spend $10 a month on a low rated Nutritional Supplement. Again, amazing.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Nutritional Supplements are NOT all the Same
What prompted this article was one media personality, that I listen to and watch
regularly, has been promoting a Nutritional Supplement that is not only manufactured under food grade standards, not Pharmaceutical grade standards, but is also rated low in the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.
Are the supplements you take guaranteed? Are they manufactured under Pharmaceutical Grade Good Manufacturing Processes? Do they have a USP (U.S. Pharmacopoeia) brand on the bottle?
This video click here,, a National Agricultural Report, will explain differences in manufacturing standards
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting difference results. Your health is your responsibility,..don't entrust it to just anyone.
regularly, has been promoting a Nutritional Supplement that is not only manufactured under food grade standards, not Pharmaceutical grade standards, but is also rated low in the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.
Are the supplements you take guaranteed? Are they manufactured under Pharmaceutical Grade Good Manufacturing Processes? Do they have a USP (U.S. Pharmacopoeia) brand on the bottle?
This video click here,, a National Agricultural Report, will explain differences in manufacturing standards
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting difference results. Your health is your responsibility,..don't entrust it to just anyone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
