HealthBeat News

Author: Wellness Club

  • Could This Supplement Be Causing My Symptoms?

    Could This Supplement Be Causing My Symptoms?

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Many of our regular readers and visitors to our website know that Dr. Myatt has been working closely with a highly-respected reproductive immunologist and infertility specialist in New York. Dr. Jeff Braverman contacted Dr. Myatt almost a year ago – he is a conventional (allopathic) infertility specialist, but he had heard of some successes with natural remedies and supplementation and was intrigued. He wanted to know more, to know how he could apply natural solutions to help his infertility patients conceive. He and Dr. Myatt have been collaborating since then, and Dr. Myatt has formulated some specialty products with Dr. Bravermans requirements and patients in mind. It has been a match made in heaven – Dr. Braverman has related his successes to us and it is clear that the combination of allopathic, high-tech, cutting edge fertility treatments and holistic, natural fertility-enhancing and health-improving strategies is a good mix indeed.

    Still, there arise questions and problems. This is not limited to infertility treatment; we get occasional calls or letters from customers with similar complaints that seem to have begun after newly starting other supplements.

    One problem we run into is that often people do not consider that there could be an interaction between drugs and supplements. If there is such a caution with a supplement you may be sure that Dr. Myatt has listed it on the web page that describes the supplement!

    Another problem is that people often don’t think to tell one doctor about the problems being treated by or the drugs that have been prescribed by another doctor. This is the age of specialization of course, and a patient may think what business is it of the infertility specialist to know about my stomach problems?

    Well, it can be of vital importance, as you will see from my answer to this person below. This highlights just why it is so very important, in this age of specialization, to have a doctor (like Dr. Myatt) who will oversee and coordinate your medical care, ensuring that nothing is missed – that even if the bone doctor doesn’t know or care what the kidney doctor is doing, and neither of them care what the allergy doctor has prescribed, someone will be there to make sure nothing is missed and that treatments for one condition do not adversely affect another condition.

     

    Here is a letter that recently arrived here:

    Good morning Dr. Myatt, hope all is well.

    Per the suggestion of Dr. Braverman, my husband has been on 2 Maxi Flavone’s a day since New Year’s Eve.  Do you know if the herbs in Maxi Flavone will or can disrupt an ulcer?  My husband was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer 3 months ago and currently on Nexium.  Since the past 4 days of him taking it, he wakes up with pretty bad stomach pains.  I’m not sure if the Maxi Flavone’s are irritating it again as he was feeling much better until he started taking these?

    Thank you,

    ~Andrea

    And here is my reply to Andrea:

    Hi Andrea,

    While it is extremely unlikely that Maxi Flavone is causing a return of your husbands stomach pains, it is impossible for us to say with absolute certainty since there is so much else about your husbands medical condition that we don’t know. Because of this, if he feels that the Maxi Flavone has caused him to experience stomach discomfort he should discontinue it until he has spoken with his own doctor and with Dr. Braverman about this.

    There are a great many things that can cause an exacerbation or return of stomach pain. Nexium is a drug that is approved for short-term use (4 to 8 weeks), generally for GERD and healing of erosive esophagitis. It is not intended for long-term use, though your husband’s doctor will most likely be very happy to continue to prescribe it indefinitely.

    Perhaps a better solution to your husbands complaints of stomach pain would be to correct the cause of the problem instead of masking the symptoms with a drug like Nexium. Does anyone really believe that GERD and ulcers are caused by a Nexium deficiency?

    Here is some very useful information that may be of interest to you and your husband both – Dr. Myatt and I have written extensively about this subject and have resolved (we can’t use the “cure” word – conventional medicine and Big Pharma have that one trademarked – only they are allowed to “cure”) many patients complaints of GERD and ulcers without resorting to the use of acid-blocking drugs.

    What’s Burning You? The REAL Cause of Heartburn, Indigestion and GERD (and How To Correct It) By Dr. Dana Myatt

    Would You Like Some Pneumonia With Your Acid Blocker Pill? By Nurse Mark

    Help – I’m Hooked On Acid Blocking Drugs! By Nurse Mark

    Again, there is nothing in Maxi Flavone that we know could cause an exacerbation (worsening) of gastric ulcer symptoms or pain – but if you or your husband feel that it may have contributed to the return of his stomach pain then you should stop using it until you have consulted with his gastroenterologist.

    If you wish to take a more holistic and natural approach to your husbands stomach / ulcer / digestive problems, Dr. Myatt is available for inexpensive Brief Phone Consultations and for more intensive and in-depth Alternative Medicine Consultations .

    One final note: Dr. Braverman recommended the Maxi Flavone for your husband in order to improve certain aspects of his nutritional status, thus enhancing his fertility too. When he is using acid blocking drugs such as Nexium his ability to properly digest and assimilate food and nutrients is being altered and his nutritional status is most likely significantly compromised. Improved nutritional status, that is having all the essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients necessary for proper health and body function will be very important to your work with Dr. Braverman.

    Hope this helps,

    Cheers,

    Nurse Mark

  • From The Mouths Of Babes…

    Each year at this time we wish each other a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year and we express our hopes for a year filled with peace, brotherly love, and tolerance for our fellow men.

    Dr. Myatt, Nurse Mark, and everyone here at The Wellness Club extend those same wishes and hopes to all of our readers, patients and customers – may this be the year that you find your greatest happiness and the best health ever!

    Having said all that we realize that most folks, while they wish the same blessings on others that we do, are (like us) perhaps more pragmatic and practical – as might be demonstrated by this little story that arrived in my inbox the other day:

    A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with a class of 6-year-olds. After explaining the Commandment to “Honor thy father and thy mother,” she asked, “Is there a Commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a beat one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.”

  • Please, Doctor, Tell Me The Pill That Will Make Me Slim!

    Please, Doctor, Tell Me The Pill That Will Make Me Slim!

    By Dr. Myatt

     

    Nurse Mark Forward: We get many, many inquiries about “magic formulas” that folks read and hear about. These come-on’s are most especially targeted at the overweight and almost universally promise “effortless” weight loss – all one needs to do is drink the magic tea or swallow the magic supplement and then sit back and relax while “a new, slim, healthy you” emerges as “the pounds drop away” at a satisfying rate. Ha! For those who really believe such stuff, I just happen to have a nice piece of ocean-front property in Arizona that I could make a great deal on!

    For the rest of you, here is Dr. Myatt’s recent reply to one of our patients who had the good sense to question the hyped-up claims for weight loss products that she’d been recently bombarded with.

     

    Hi Jo:

    Miracle cures for overweight don’t exist, although I know hope springs eternal in the mind of most dieters. Ads are filled right now with products that promise “two pounds a week weight loss without diet changes or exercise.” Yeah, right. In your dreams. And mine.

    Ever notice how all these “miracles” come in waves, one promise following another? Hoodia, irvingia, fucoxanthin, starch blockers, cha de burge tea and on and on the recent list goes. In my twenty-one years of medical practice (yup, 21 as of 2010!) I have never once had a patient who lost weight simply by taking a pill of anything. Even thyroid replacement in a patient who is truly thyroid deficient doesn’t magically make fat go away. Diet and exercise are still the mainstays of weight loss.

    In the midst of all this disappointing hype, however, there really are several supplements that can improve weight loss / dieting success when used correctly. Here’s the scoop.

    Chromium, an essential trace mineral, has been found to be indispensable when a person is chromium deficient, but it has little effect when someone isn’t deficient. People who are diabetic, hypoglycemic or insulin insensitive (syndrome X) fall into the category of those most likely to benefit from additional chromium. Instead of expensive testing, I recommend 1,000mcg of chromium per day for a two-month trial. Chromium at this dose is safe and effective. Find Chromium here.

    Modifilan, a product made from a specific type of seaweed, helps keep metabolic rate from dropping during dieting. Although it contains fucoxanthin, a substance purportedly helpful in weight loss, I believe the “real magic” is the bio-available iodine which promotes normal thyroid function.

    This product is also a potent detoxifying agent and detox is crucial during weight (fat) loss. Many toxins are stored in fat cells and these will be released as fat is released. Modifilan helps bind up these toxins so they don’t simply “re-intoxicate” and make you feel crummy during weight loss. This double-duty benefit can be a real boon to dieters. Find Modifilan here.

    Chitosan, a fibrous material derived from the outer shell of crustaceans, binds up fat and prevents if from being absorbed. Not only that, but it is also useful for binding many types of toxins. It does this “bind up toxins” so well that newer research shows it to be useful for those with damaged kidneys. I have even used it successfully in kidney patients on dialysis and the result was that they needed less dialysis! It also helps lower cholesterol levels (as all fiber does).

    Back to weight loss. If 6 caps of chitosan are taken with a high-fat meal, some of the fat will be carried out of the body instead of winding up on your hips. This allows for some high-fat “cheats” without consequence.

    I don’t recommend chitosan with every meal, because it can also bind up the good fats and fat-soluble vitamins that we need. But using it once a day or taken with high fat meals can be most helpful.

    One note. Chitosan was promoted several years ago for weight loss (as oh-so-many products are), but this one didn’t sell well. It is becoming increasingly harder to find chitosan for this reason. Don’t let its lack of availability fool you. This really is one product that can serve a dieter well, both for detoxification and fat-binding. Find Chitosan here.

    Myatt bread and Myatt muffins, with their off-the-charts fiber content, no flour or grains, ease and speed of preparation and great flavor and texture, are a dieter’s best friend. I recommend that you eat one or better yet two of these per day. They will help you feel satisfied and make a great bread substitute. In your case, they will also help keep your cholesterol in check.

    Here is the recipe for Myatt Bread

    Here is the recipe for Myatt Muffins

    I pre-mix the dry ingredients to make 20 servings, then keep the pre-mix in the freezer. Doing it this way, I can whip out a muffin or fresh bread in under five minutes including cooking time. Yes, you read that right. (Use your microwave oven. It’s a wonderful kitchen appliance and all the “scare stories” you may have heard are unfounded). Or bake ’em the “hard way” in the oven and waste energy if you prefer. Whatever.

    The recommended ingredients can be found here:

    For bread:

    Recommended ingredients:

    Psyllium

    Flax seed

    For blueberry muffins, also add these ingredients:

    Red Alert

    E-Z- Fiber

    Remember that you need a high-quality, optimal dose multiple vitamin/mineral supplement all the time, but especially when cutting calories or carbs. A deficiency of any single nutrient can slow metabolic processes and delay weight (fat) loss. I’m partial to my own Maxi Multi, one of the most complete daily supplement available. Find Maxi Multi here.

    __________

    Non-supplement stuff.

    Exercise is an important factor in weight loss, not only for its calorie-burning benefit but also because it increases metabolism. A muscular person at rest burns more calories than a fat person at rest. Exercises also decreases appetite and increases “feel good” hormone levels. This serves as a natural appetite suppressant and anti-depressant. Most people who are successful with weight loss and long-term maintenance rely on exercise as an important part of their program. Weight training is especially important for those over 50 in order to re-build muscle mass.

    ____________

    There you have it, my highest recommendations for supplemental nutrition that can aid you in your weight (fat) loss attempts. Please keep me posted about your progress and let me know if you have other questions.

  • Are You a Deer In The Headlights?

    Are You a Deer In The Headlights?

    By Nurse Mark


    It was late and dark and the highway was like glass, covered in powdery snow and ice. I was driving a 1/2 ton truck and pulling a powerboat on a trailer, traveling at about 50 mph. Suddenly, just outside the illumination of my headlights, I caught a glint of reflected light. Just one heartbeat later, a deer leaped onto the road in front of my truck.

    With several tons of inertia on ice, I knew only too well that a sharp swerve or hard braking would spell disaster. I tried my best to slow and move aside as much as I could.

    I will never forget the look in that poor creature’s eyes.  I could almost hear it’s thoughts: “Uh… oh, what to do … Should I jump left? Should I jump right? Maybe straight up? Uh, Uh, what to do, what to do?” I could see it wavering; a bit to the left, a bit to the right, but it never actually moved – it stood, transfixed.

    Then came the sickening whuuuuump! I had slowed and moved across to the other lane, but not enough to save the animal. My quick decision to brake and swerve as best I could had surely saved me and my truck. The impact crumpled my right front fender, but I was able to continue my trip because my radiator was not damaged. The deer did not fare as well.

    The poor deer’s indecision — paralysis actually — cost it its life. Had it moved in either direction instead of standing paralyzed it would likely have survived. I felt terrible for the animal, but was glad to be safe myself.

    Why tell this painful story?

    Because we have been seeing that “Deer-in-the-headlights” look a lot lately since Dr. Myatt has recently been overwhelmed with stage 4 cancer patients in her practice. (For those of you who don’t know, Stage 4 is very advanced cancer – “Stage 5” is the funeral service…)

    Conventional medicine pretty much gives up on stage 4 cancer patients and treats them as “hopeless,” “terminal,” and “palliative” or “hospice.” But we don’t give up, and as a result we get plenty of referrals from other so-called “hopeless cases” – patients of ours who have confounded the predictions of their conventional doctors and are now referring friends and acquaintances to us when they too are turned away, given up on, and all-but-abandoned by conventional medicine.

    We also hear a lot from folks who have just been given that most terrifying of diagnoses: cancer.

    Cancer is a word that strikes fear into the heart – for we intuitively know that despite the grandiose claims made by the drug companies, conventional medicine does not have a very good track record when it comes to most cancers. Cut, burn, and poison are the treatments offered, and despite a few high-profile success stories (think Lance Armstrong), the results are more often disappointing (think Patrick Swayze).

    People fear that the diagnosis will sentence them to a lingering and painful illness, punctuated by mutilating surgeries, nauseating drug treatments, and debilitating radiation exposures – none of which offer much of a promise of extended life though they do promise to make whatever life remains feel longer…

    So we take on cancer patients.

    And many — I’d say most — exhibit that very same terrified “Deer-in-the-headlights” look of indecision.

    You see, they have been “researching” on the internet. They have been reading how-to-cure-your-cancer books written by cancer survivors. They have talked to their friends, their family, their neighbors, their hairdresser, their dog groomer, their postman, their accountant – none of whom is a cancer expert, but each of whom is more than willing to offer their own treatment advice based on something they heard or read somewhere that someone else claimed to work.

    Apple cider. Alkalinizing. Juice Fasting. Veganism. Carrot juice. Celery juice. Pineapples. Green apples. Saunas. Exercises. Detoxification. Enemas. Bloodletting. Blood infusions. Vitamins. Coral Calcium. Energized water. Ionized water. De-ionized water. Magnetically aligned water. Oxygenated water. Hydrogen peroxide. Silver ions. You name it, someone is promoting it.

    The list of “guaranteed cures” is as endless as the people that are happy to assume the role of cancer expert and recommend them.

    So the poor person freezes with that “deer-in-the-headlights” look of indecision. Too many choices, too many promises – how can they all be right? Which one is right? How to know? What to do? How to do it?

    If they don’t come to us, many of these people will stand, transfixed, like the deer – not really doing anything, or doing little bits of this and little bits of that and little bits of every other idea and treatment that they hear; but not ever deciding one one thing, one path to follow.

    Like the deer in the headlights, indecision will cost them their life.

    When they do come to us we have our work cut out if we are to help them: Not only must we research and determine the best course of treatment for each individual patient (oh, come now; you really didn’t think that there was one magic, secret, fail-proof, natural herbal cure for cancer did you?) we also have to find a way to cut through all that mesmerizing, overwhelming information overload that these patients come to us filled with.

    “I heard that…”
    “But what about…”
    “I read in this book…”
    “I found on the internet…”
    “I got this email that says…”

    The reality is that there are exceedingly few treatments that Dr. Myatt has not heard of and researched to determine it’s merits. If something works, it is in our arsenal. If it doesn’t work, no matter how promising the advertisement or book sounds, we won’t waste precious time with it.

    Then when we have recommended a course of treatment we must deal with the nay-sayers:

    “My doctor / oncologist / chiropractor / massage therapist / pharmacist / veterinarian says that this is a dangerous treatment / herb / supplement / diet…”
    “My neighbor says that your idea can never work and I should try…”
    “I read that a diet like this can cause (insert organ or body part here) damage…”
    “I have a book that says (insert herb or vitamin or other remedy here) will work and that your recommendation won’t…”

    All the while, time’s a-wasting! The clock is ticking, and when the cancer is to that 4th and last stage, time is short – and precious.

    For every cancer treatment, no matter how unusual, unconventional, or even outlandish, there is at least one person – if not more – who will swear that it has cured their cancer. Whether the claim of cure is accurate or the cure was a coincidence is something we’ll often never know, since many of these treatments, remedies, and cures and backed up not with peer-reviewed scientific research but by testimonial.

    “Ah, but the government / conventional doctors / pharmaceutical companies are suppressing it!” people will say – and they may be right. Even so, if there is any shred of credibility to a treatment, Dr. Myatt and her research team will know about it – she is very good at separating truth from fiction in these matters!

    So, if you have cancer, do something! Don’t be that deer in the headlights; don’t allow yourself to be gripped by indecision. Pick a program. Chart a course. Choose your doctor and let your doctor do his or her job helping you to find your best strategy for treatment. Then do it whole-heartedly!

    That’s not to say that if compelling evidence of the need to do something different comes along you must not change – it just means that you must not succumb to the temptation to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, all the while really doing little indeed. Asking questions of your doctor is fine – but stopping treatment or delaying treatment while waiting to have each concern of every other well-intentioned outsider answered is simply a waste of precious time. Time is something that most stage 4 cancer patients just don’t have.

    And remember: While I’ve talked about cancer patients here, this same advice goes for anyone who has been given any serious diagnosis: cardiac, diabetic, viral, renal, whatever. Even people wanting simply to lose weight or improve their overall health succumb to this “deer in the headlights” syndrome!

    Research is fine, but only action will change your health.

    P.S. Remember that reading one or two books constitutes “secondary knowledge,” and that actual medical practice and experience constitutes “first-hand knowledge.” Dr. Myatt and I both recommend that anyone with a life-threatening medical condition work with a skilled holistic practitioner who can bring this first-hand knowledge to your case. A little bit of second-hand knowledge is a shaky platform from which to make life-and-death medical decisions.

  • Vitamin D – An Old Friend Finding New Respect

    Vitamin D – An Old Friend Finding New Respect

    By Nurse Mark

    Vitamin D, once dismissed as little more than “the sunshine vitamin” important only for healthy bone development in children, is suddenly finding new respect – even within the conventional medical world, which is normally quick to pooh-pooh anything natural or vitamin-related as unimportant compared to Big Pharma’s patented toxic offerings.

    Vitamin D is suddenly receiving positive press on a number of fronts, and Dr. Myatt and Nurse Mark have just returned from a major medical conference where a number of speakers admitted that vitamin D is actually misnamed; for it is more akin to a hormone than a vitamin.

    Long known for it’s relationship to calcium and for it’s importance in preventing rickets in children (osteomalacia in adults) new research is linking vitamin D to a wide range of other health issues: it may be a major factor in the pathology of many cancers as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more.

    There is even evidence that vitamin D, taken in supplement form at 2000 to 5000 IU (International Units) daily, is highly protective against the H1N1 influenza virus (and presumably all other influenza viruses as well!)

    So, how can you be sure you are getting enough of this newly respected “wonder-vitamin”? Well, they don’t call it “the sunshine vitamin” for nothing! Perhaps our most important source of vitamin D is from within our own bodies – given adequate exposure to sunlight our own skin produces vitamin D for us in healthy amounts.

    Just how much sun and how much vitamin D? Medical scientists have found that the skin produces approximately 10,000 IU of vitamin D in response to as little as 20 to 30 minutes of unprotected summer sun exposure. Amazingly, that is 50 times more than the US government’s recommendation of 200 to 400 IU per day! (Which is why the acronym ‘RDA’ – which the government claims stands for ‘Recommended Daily Allowance’ – actually means ‘Really Dumb Advice’!)

    But, you say, you live in Boston, or Seattle, or Nome in Alaska, and the sun goes away in November and isn’t seen again until April (I’m kidding – sort of – I know it really does peek through the gloom of winter once or twice during that time…) or if you live in Minnesota where it’s just too cold to expose any skin for much of the winter – what then?

    Well, vitamin D can be obtained from food too. Since rickets in children is such a crippling but preventable condition, governments have long encouraged the “fortification” of dairy products and breads and cereals with token amounts of vitamin D. In the United States and Canada, for example, fortified milk typically provides 100 IU per glass – a far cry from the 10,000 IU of vitamin D made by the skin in response to sunlight! Most kids love milk, but try getting a hundred glasses into a kid; at 16 glasses per gallon… well, you do the math!

    Other foods high in vitamin D include fish liver oils: cod liver oil contains around 1,360 IU per tablespoon. Mom was right – and now you know why it was good for you to gag down that awful stuff!

    If you don’t care for cod liver oil (and who does?) maybe you like fish better: Herring is the vitamin D champ, with a 3 ounce portion providing around 1383 IU – other fishes lag behind with catfish providing 425 IU from that 3 ounce serving and salmon giving 360 IU from a 3.5 ounce portion.

    Don’t care for fish at all? Well, a whole egg will serve up a whopping 20 IU of this important vitamin…

    You say you are a vegetarian? You’d better be sure you are getting plenty of sunshine, because other than tiny amounts that may be found in UV-irradiated mushrooms, there just aren’t any vegetable sources of vitamin D.

    What to do? Should you just throw your hands in the air and accept the negative health consequences of vitamin D deficiency? No! You can easily achieve meaningful, health-restoring vitamin D levels with supplementation. The Wellness Club offers vitamin D in both capsules of 5000 IU per tab and liquid form that provides 2000 IU per drop. Either of these supplements makes it easy to tailor a daily dosage to your individual needs.

    How can you know how much you should take? The Vitamin D Council, a non-profit group dedicated to vitamin D research and education recommends people take 5,000 IU per day for 2–3 months, then perform a vitamin D test. They then suggest adjusting the dosage so that blood levels are between 50–80 ng/mL (or 125–200 nM/L) year-round.

    But wait – that sounds like big dose – and didn’t someone once tell you that too much vitamin D can be toxic? Maybe they did, but research does not support that concern. One source found that in adults, a sustained intake of 50,000 IU daily could produce toxicity within a few months and 40,000 IU per day in infants has been shown to produce toxicity within 1 to 4 months. That is ten times the recommended dose – so just don’t do that! And, if you are using high doses of vitamin D, vitamin D testing is good insurance and will allow you to fine-tune your dosage to your actual needs. Be careful though, since not all testing is the same and lab references and standards vary – be sure that you are comparing ‘apples to apples’ and obtaining useable results when you are tested.

    The 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test (25(OH)D blood test) is a test that measures the amount of calcidiol circulating in the blood. This is the most accurate measure of the amount of vitamin D in the body. The Wellness Club offers this testing too – from a lab that adheres to standardized references and values so that you know what you are getting when you receive your results.

    Sources:

    http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D