Author: Wellness Club

  • The Drug Pushers in Your Neighborhood

    The latest Drug Pushing targets our children…

    No, it’s not meth, or crack cocaine, or marijuana – these drugs are far more insidious and worrisome. You see, these drugs are being pushed onto our children with the blessings of our own government!

    That’s right – these drug pushers are not sleazy, violent underworld characters or drugged up gangbangers – no, these are legal, licensed, tax-paying, fee-paying corporations that are doing everything in their power to convince ever-more Americans that they should, they must use these toxic chemical concoctions. They have (like any smart drug pusher) developed the "connections" that they need to ensure that they can operate with impunity: the cocaine drug lord has the local cops "in his pocket" to keep him safe. The drug companies have politicians – senators, representatives, bureaucrats, lobbyists, judges, lawyers, doctors – that have been bought and paid for and can be depended on to help quell any opposition to the agenda of "drugs for everyone" and ensure that the legal climate favors the use of drugs over any other therapy – such as natural, herbal remedies or even proper diet and simple exercise.

    No doubt you have seen the recent headlines in nearly every media outlet – the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children as young as age eight be considered as fair game for a life-long prescription of statin drugs. All they have to do is be a bit overweight, or demonstrate a raise blood pressure, or show a blood sugar test that indicates they might be at risk for developing diabetes, and WHAM! – out comes the prescription pad and BAM! – little Johnny is put on kiddie-statins, and THANK YOU MA’AM! – says Big Pharma as they watch the profits roll in…

    No matter that most of today’s kids are not overweight because of a statin deficiency, but because of their sedentary lives and miserable diets of junk and sugar. All that sugar and inactivity is certainly raising their little blood pressures and they are undoubtedly showing high blood sugars on lab test. But it’s not profitable to do anything about that – and besides, that would cut into the profits of the giant Soft Drink Industry and Junk Food Industry – where it is profitable to use that as an justification to push a drug on them.

    These are drugs that:

    1. Hopefully won’t cripple or kill them with it’s side effects (rhabdomyolysis can be lethal – remember, the heart is a muscle!)
    2. Hopefully won’t stupefy them in these critical growing years (cholesterol is a vital ingredient for the formation of brain and nerve tissue and of the neurotransmitters that control thought, mood, and emotion)
    3. Certainly won’t do anything about the terrible diet and near-total couch-potato inactivity of so many of today’s kids.

    So, doctors are now being advised to start "screening" children as young a 2 years, prescribing statins as young as 8 years, and following the bouncing ball as Big Pharma, the AMA, and the AAP scheme to lower the "acceptable" cholesterol levels to ever-more dangerous levels. That’s right, as cholesterol levels drop, risks of hemorrhagic stroke (the kind that doesn’t respond to those "miraculous" clot-busting drugs) and other medical emergencies rise! (to say nothing of developmental disorders that we will discover as we deprive growing kids of an essential nutrient!)

    All this will do is perpetuate the belief that our lives must be modulated and controlled through the ingestion of an appropriate (according to Big Pharma) "Pill For Every Ill" from cradle to grave – that we have no ability to control our own circumstance – that we simply are not capable of pushing ourselves away from potato chips or soda pop, and that it is not possible for us to increase our physical activity in any meaningful way.

    To be fair, this will do one very important thing: it will ensure the continued decline of the health of America, and will guarantee the profit picture of Big Pharma for generations to come. And doesn’t that make it all worthwhile?

    Pssst! Wanna try some of these pretty pills little girl?

  • Do you suffer from headaches, earaches, tenderness of the jaw muscles, or dull, aching facial pain?
  • Does your jaw lock or stray to one side when you open your mouth?
  • Do you have clicking or popping noises when you open and close your mouth?
  • Do you have ringing or a fullness in your ears?
  • Many people, especially as we age, develop unexplainable symptoms such as headaches, jaw pains, ringing in the ears (tinnitis) and other problems that are frequently written off by conventional medicine as "just getting old".

    Many doctors, unable to find a cause with lab tests or scans or other "billable" diagnostics will write prescriptions for "painkillers" or "muscle relaxants" and sadly advise their patient that "you’ll just have to live with this…"

    Well, you don’t have to "just live with it"!

    Recently we told you about an holistic dentist whom we have come to trust and respect for the safe removal of toxic mercury amalgams. (See our HealthBeat Article "How Can I Have Mercury Amalgams Safely Removed")

    Dr. Del Nichols is also very expert in the diagnosis and treatment of Temporomandibular Joint disorders – the very thing that often causes otherwise unexplained headaches and other problems.

    So, if you are suffering from any of the following symptoms:

    • Pain in or around the ear that may sometimes spread to the face.
    • Earaches, congestion or ringing in the ears.
    • Headaches, Neck and shoulder pain.
    • Clicking, popping or grating sounds when opening and closing the mouth.
    • Tender jaw muscles.
    • Tired jaws or pain when chewing.
    • Limited jaw opening or pain when you yawn, chew or open your mouth wide.
    • Jaw joints that don’t feel quite right – a feeling as if they are "locked, "stuck" or they "go out".
    • Dizziness or fainting.
    • Difficulty swallowing or closing teeth together.
    • Worn, cracked or sensitive teeth.
    • Facial pain or pain behind the eyes.
    • Numbness in the hands.
    • Back Pain.

    You need to consider whether you might have a Temporomandibular Joint disorder. More information on this subject and about how Dr. Del treats these problems can be found on our Temporomandibular Joint disorders web page.

  • More "Dangerous Drugs"…

    It seems that every day brings yet another drug warning – and you can be sure that the FDA doesn’t issue these warnings lightly, since they affect the profit picture of the drug companies and thus the budget of the FDA (who relies upon "fees" from the drug companies for it’s income…).

    Today’s little tidbit was first found not in general news or health news headlines where you might expect to find such a significant health warning, but in financial news – CNN Money – presumably because this will undoubtedly affect share prices for Bayer and Johnson and Johnson, two of the biggest of the ‘Bigs" in the pharmaceutical industry.

    It turns out that two common antibiotics, Cipro and Levaquin, have been causing people to develop tendonitis or even to rupture tendons. Ouch! That sounds like a really, really good reason for the FDA to require prominent "Black-Box" warnings, and with any luck that may also cause doctors to be a little less "liberal" in their prescribing habits with these potent drugs.

    You see, these drugs are considered to be "broad-spectrum" antibiotics, meaning that they can be effective against a very wide range of bacteria. Cipro became a household word during the 2001 anthrax attacks since it is effective against the anthrax bacteria. Because they work so well on so many different bugs, doctors have gotten into the somewhat lazy habit of prescribing a course of one or the other of these drugs for almost any and every infection that they see in their practice.

    "Got the sniffles / a chest (lung) infection / an earache / a bladder infection / a sore throat? Here (scribbles on prescription pad) – this antibiotic will help. Next!"

    Not only does this expose an awful lot of people to the potential side effects of these drugs, which include neurological problems in addition to the tendon ruptures that the "Black Box" warns about, it is creating whole new breeds of "superbugs" – bacteria that have learned to be resistant to what used to be considered the most powerful and potent antibiotics available.

    Hmmm… I guess that we’ll have to look to those wonderful, altruistic scientists that are employed by our ever-benevolent pharmaceutical companies to develop some new "Super-Antibiotics" to deal with these ever-evolving super-bugs, right?

    Sounds like good business to me… could there be a plan in there  somewhere? Let’s see: promote the antibiotic so that it will be overused and lose it’s effectiveness against the resistant "superbug" bacteria it creates, requiring the development of newer antibiotics which can be promoted and overused, creating new superbugs which will need yet newer and more powerful antibiotics what can be… well, you get the picture.

  • Happy Independence Day To All!

    It was with immense pride and pleasure that I climbed the steps to raise this flag this morning…

    As I look over the news headlines today I am reminded that "freedom isn’t free" – I hope you will join me in taking a moment to remember all those who have sacrificed to bring to us and to preserve and safeguard the freedoms that make this country great.

    Respectfully,

    Nurse Mark

  • Chemicals That Give Life and Chemicals That Kill

    The human organism is a wild and wonderful place – we are a veritable chemical soup of minerals, acids, electrolytes, proteins, and fats. (well, proteins and fats are acids…) This does lead to a whole lot of confusion though, and sometimes outright deception by those who would have us believe that such-and-such spooky-sounding chemical must be bad for us…

    Here is a case in point: Dave knows, correctly, that formaldehyde, which is a breakdown product of Aspartame the artificial sweetener is not very good for us – after all, it is used to preserve cadavers, right? (see our recent HealthBeat Article Is Nutrasweet (Aspartame) Safe?)

    Dave writes:

    I have a nephew who is a chemical engineer and he tells me Aspartame, when warmed up equals formaldehyde. Ill bet that’s as safe as all the other garbage the AMA says we need. I’m still wondering what good nicotinic acid does for me. That’s what niacin is isn’t it?

    Well Dave, Aspartame is a spooky chemical, and your nephew is right. Formaldehyde, while it occurs naturally in very minute amounts in the human body, is not something we want to ingest.

    This is much the same situation as the sodium benzoate and citric acid or ascorbic acid combo that is present in so many soft drinks – and breaks down into benzene, a known and potent carcinogen. Yet another well-meant chemical offering with unintended and poisonous consequences.

    But that leaves us with the $64,000 question: which "chemicals" are good for us, and which are not?

    Here is a "Pop Quiz":

    Which of the following chemicals are unsafe for humans?

    • Strontium
    • Deoxyribonucleic acid
    • Boron
    • Muriatic acid
    • Selenium
    • Cyanocobalamin
    • Ascorbic acid

    How did you do? Let’s look at each of these ominous-sounding chemicals:

    • Strontium – Safe or Not? Answer: Safe
      No, not the radioactive fallout stuff, this trace mineral is essential to strong, healthy bones. Read more about why we need strontium here.
    • Deoxyribonucleic acid – Safe or Not? Answer: Safe
      In fact, this rather ominous sounding chemical is essential for life as we know it – it is the fancy name for what we all know as DNA – it contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms, including us.
    • Boron – Safe or Not? Answer: Safe
      Another trace element vital to good bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis. Boron is an important part of Dr. Myatt’s Cal-Mag Amino – find out more here.
    • Muriatic Acid – Safe or Not? Answer: Safe
      "Now wait just a minute" you’re saying, "That stuff is nasty – it will burn you!" Yep, you’re right – it is nasty stuff – but it is also essential to your ability to digest food. Also known as hydrochloric acid, it is produced naturally by a healthy stomach, and a deficiency of this important chemical can lead to all sorts of problems. Learn More about gastric acid and digestive health here.
    • Selenium – Safe or Not? Answer: Safe
      Another trace element that we need in just the right amount – too much and it can be toxic, too little and we become deficient and unhealthy. AKA l-selenomethionine which sounds even scarier! Learn why selenium is so important here.
    • Cyanocobalamin – Safe or Not? Answer: Safe
      Despite the ominous sounding name containing the cyano (cyanide) root, this is a chemical name for vitamin B12 – even the FDA says we must have adequate intakes of this important vitamin to keep healthy. Read up about B12 the essential energy vitamin here.
    • Ascorbic acid – Safe or Not? Answer: Safe
      That one was easy, right? Just another name for vitamin C, and a name that we all recognize. Did you know that it is also used as a food additive to prevent oxidation, and it is also used in the making of plastics? Vitamin C is essential for health – find out why here.

    Like many things, these and a lot of other nasty sounding chemicals have some very important uses and functions within our bodies. As with most things, they need to be in the right place at the right time and in the right amount in order to be beneficial rather than harmful.

    So, pyridine-3-carboxylic acid, AKA nicotinic acid, AKA Niacin, AKA vitamin B3 is the only substance (dare we say "drug"?) that has been proven to reduce mortality from elevated cholesterol levels. It also improves microcirculation. Read about how the Coronary Drug Project found that niacin was the only “drug” that actually reduced mortality.

    Not bad for a spooky-sounding chemical, right?