HealthBeat News

Category: Drugs and Alternatives

  • Natural Cancer killer — 10,000 times stronger than Chemo

    A New Cure For Cancer?

     

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Hard on the heels of our most recent HealthBeat News article Dr. Myatt, Have You Heard About… a reader wrote to us about an email he had received that talked about a “Natural Cancer killer — 10,000 times stronger than Chemo” and went on to accuse: “Billion-dollar drug company hides astounding discovery of a natural cancer killer.”

    Our reader was rightly skeptical and wanted to know what the real story was in all this hoop-la.

    Graviola, also known as paw-paw – is the latest marketing poster-child for some very big internet marketers and these hyperbole-filled advertisements have been making the rounds – offering everything from the substance itself to “free reports” that just happen to tell you how to buy graviola. (Hint: you can buy it from the same outfit offering the “free report” of course…)

    Doesn’t this sound like a wonderful, even miraculous substance? After all, other websites (and advertising emails) claim that it not only “cures all cancers” but that it kills intestinal parasites, calms nerves, reduces blood pressure and helps arthritis, heart and liver and boosts the immune system. Wow – what great stuff!

    So what’s the truth?

    The truth, sorry to say, is that while graviola, or more correctly some very specific isolated compounds found in graviola may show some promise that could be realized with further research and work, it is not the cure-all that the marketers are so breathlessly touting it to be.

    I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again – THERE IS NO ONE-PILL MAGIC BULLET, natural or otherwise, that will allow you to ignore the basic principles of good health and still avoid or beat disease. Without a proper diet and good basic nutrition including a full compliment of vitamins, minerals and trace minerals, without proper rest, exercise, fresh air and clean water, you can take all the magical, miraculous herbs you like – you will be deluding yourself if you think that any one herb will make up for the lack of a solid health foundation.

    Why is it that the very people who are so rightly distrustful of Big Pharma’s one-pill drug solutions to disease are so quick to believe the advertising hype of a one-pill herbal solution to disease?

    For more information on the graviola story you may want to read a very interesting article written back in in 2003 by the highly respected medical writer Ralph W. Moss, PhD – it can be found here: A Friendly Skeptic Looks at Graviola

    Graviola may prove to be a useful part of a carefully considered natural supplementation plan – but it is NOT a one-herb cure-all.

    For more information about herbal treatments for cancer please see Dr. Myatt’s Medical White Paper Nutritional and Botanical Considerations in the Systemic Treatment of Cancer – it’s fully referenced, and free.

  • Antibiotics: Three Strikes, You’re Out

    Antibiotics: Three Strikes, You’re Out

     

    By Dr. Myatt

     

    Antibiotics are powerful medicines that fight bacterial infections. Used properly, antibiotics can save lives. They either kill bacteria outright or keep them from reproducing. Your body’s natural defenses can usually take it from there.

    Antibiotics do not fight infections caused by viruses, such as colds, flu, most coughs, bronchitis, most sinus infections and sore throats (unless caused by strep).

    If a virus is making you sick, taking antibiotics may do more harm than good. Each time you take antibiotics, you increase the chances that bacteria in your body will be able to resist them. Later, you could get or spread an infection that those antibiotics cannot cure.

    Antibiotic-fed hormone-raised meat is another source of antibiotic exposure.

    Meet Some of the “Super-Bugs”: Potentially Lethal Gang-Banger Bacteria So Bad They Defy Antibiotic Treatment

    “Super Bugs” — lethal bacteria that are antibiotic-resistant — are increasing at an alarming rate. Bacteria-halting antibiotics which used to be “wonder drugs” are all but powerless against these new Bad Boys.

    MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a bacteria that has gone from a “controllable nuisance” to a serious public health threat.

    One percent of all hospital stays, or 292,045 per year, are associated with MRSA. MRSA accounts for some 14,000 deaths per year.

    Symptoms of MRSA can include sepsis (blood poisoning), cellulitis, Infection of the heart valves (endocarditis),
    Pneumonia, Toxic shock syndrome, Organ failure and death.

    VRE (Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci) caused about one of every three infections in hospital intensive-care units in 2004 according to the Centers for Disease Control.

    Infection with VRE can cause fever, urinary tract infections, sepsis (blood poisoning) and infection of surgical sites.

    C-Diff (clostridium difficile) occurs when competing good gut flora are wiped out by antibiotics. The current Hospital infection rate for this bug is 25% higher than for MRSA.

    C-diff include attacks the lining of the large intestine, damaging the colon and producing toxins. Symptoms of C-diff include watery diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain and cramping (often severe), nausea with or without vomiting, and weight loss. C-diff can also lead to pseudomembranous colitis (areas of infection and pus pockets in the bowel) and bowel perforation.

    C-diff is one of the most common hospital-acquired infections. It is resistant to most antibiotics.

    What’s My Point?

    Over-use and misuse of antibiotics has resulted in antibiotic-resistant “Super Bugs” that can cause serious infections and even death. Much of this resistance is avoidable.

    Here are some protective steps you can take.

    1.) Take antibiotics judiciously. Many doctors will prescribe antibiotics when they are not necessary because they believe the patient wants to take them.

    I’ve had conversations like this at medical conferences:
    They, “Do you prescribe antibiotics for colds?”
    Me, “no, do you?”
    They,”yes.”
    Me, “why?”
    They, “Because patients think they need them and if I don’t prescribe them, they will go to another doctor to get them.”

    In other words, docs hand these out to please you (placebo) even when they are unnecessary.

    So… stop playing doctor and demanding antibiotics for every sniffle, cough and even sinus infections. (most sinus infections are caused by fungi, not bacteria). Read Nurse Mark’s HealthBeat News article I Feel A cold Coming On – Better Get An Antibiotic! Ask your doctor, “Do I really need to take an antibiotic?” If you don’t sound like you are pressing for one, your doctor will probably level with you and say, “no, you don’t really need one for this condition. It is probably not a bacteria infection.”

    2.) Strengthen your immune system. I like formulas such as my Immune Support.

    A good multiple vitamin/mineral formula contains immune-enhancing nutrients including vit. C, beta carotene, zinc, and selenium.

    3.) Use natural antibiotics as a “first choice” for non-bacterial infections and mild bacterial problems. Save the “big guns” antibiotics for big problems and they are more likely to serve you well.

    For UTI’s (Urinary Tract Infections / bladder infections): D-mannose
    For MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant bacteria: Allimax, AlliUltra

    4.) Eat antibiotic-free and hormone-free meat. This costs a little more but the health (and taste!) benefits are worth the money. How can you put a price-tag on your good health?

    Finally, enjoy the HealthBeat News article we wrote about antibiotics and the rise of superbugs some time ago: Antibiotics For Everything! A pill For Every Ill!

     

     

    REFERENCES

    Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. Antibiotic Resistance and the Threat to Public Health. Committee on Energy and Commerce
    Subcommittee on Health United States House of Representatives,
    Wednesday, April 28, 2010. [overuse of human and animal antibiotics]
    http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/2010/04/t20100428b.html

    Hadley J. Sharp, BS; David Denman, MD; Susan Puumala, MS; Donald A. Leopold, MD. Treatment of Acute and Chronic Rhinosinusitis in the United States, 1999-2002. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;133(3):260-265. [most sinus infections not bacterial]

    L. Clifford McDonald, Matthew J. Kuehnert, Fred C. Tenover, and William R. Jarvis. Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci Outside the Health-Care Setting: Prevalence, Sources, and Public Health Implications.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol. 3, Issue 3, July-Sept 1997.

    Janet M. Torpy; Cassio Lynm; Richard M. Glass. Clostridium difficile Colitis. JAMA. 2009;301(9):988 (doi:10.1001/jama.301.9.988).
    http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/301/9/988

  • B Vitamins – The Stress Vitamins?

    B Vitamins – Are They Best For Stress?

     

    By Nurse Mark

     

    We live in a stressful world – of that there is no doubt. So, what can we do about it? Is there some vitamin or herb that we can take that will help us to handle the daily demands that stress places upon our bodies?

    Many people have heard that the B Vitamins are “Stress Vitamins” and indeed, many vitamin formulas include varying amounts of different B Vitamins and tout themselves  as being “Stress Formulas.”

    So, what’s the scoop?

    Ann recently wrote to ask about this:

    B-12 and B-6 – Would both of these be recommended / helpful during high stress periods?  Thank you

    And Dr. Myatt replied:

    Hi Ann:

    Thanks for your question about B complex vitamins and stress.

    The body needs B vitamins — ALL B vitamins, not just B6 and B12 — every day.

    These are “water soluble” vitamins and they “exit” the body quickly so they need to be replaced through food and supplements every day. And yes, stress increases the body’s need for these important nutrients.

    Do you need more B6 when under stress?

    I don’t recommend taking an isolated B vitamin or two because the entire B complex works together. If a person needs extra B vitamins, take an entire B complex supplement. Learn about the B complex vitamins here.

    If you are taking Maxi Multi as directed (3 caps, 3 times per day), then you are already getting optimal daily doses
    of all B complex vitamins. The potencies of B complex vitamins are generous in Maxi Multi; you shouldn’t have to take
    an extra supplement.

    If you are taking a different multiple, then all bets are off and you might want to add our B complex supplements to your program. I’d take one cap, 2 times per day with breakfast and dinner (minimum), or add a third one in at lunch. Because they are water soluble vitamins, they should be taken several times per day to keep blood levels optimal.

    The one exception to the “don’t take B vitamins separately” rule to consider when under stress is vitamin B12.

    Vitamin B 12 is poorly absorbed orally, which means you probably won’t be getting much of a dose from your multiple or even a B complex formula.

    For B12, I recommend a sublingual (dissolves under the tongue) which goes into the bloodstream directly.

    B-Extreme is a sublingual formula that has all 4 forms of vitamin B12. It is the only B12 product I’ve found that contains the two rarer forms of B12, adenosylcobalamin and hydroxocobalamin in addition to the more common methylcobalamin and cyanocobalamin.

    One of these per day will help ensure that your entire B complex vitamin supply is healthy and helping your nerves function properly even when stress is higher.

    The B vitamins will help keep your body healthy during stress, but they don’t usually produce any notice calming effect to help you handle the stress mentally. For calming anxiety during the day and improving sleep at night, my recommended formula is called “Kavinace.”

    Kavinace is an amino acid formula supports the body’s production of the calming neurotransmitters including GABA.

    THIS STUFF WORKS! Start with just one cap. If you don’t notice the desired effect, increase to 2 caps per dose. This can be used during the day to help with stress or at bedtime to improve sleep.

    Hope this helps, Ann. Let me know how it goes!

    In Health,
    Dr. Myatt

  • B.A.M. and Immune Boost Limited Availability

    B.A.M. and Immune Boost Will Be Available In Limited Quantities

     

    Many of our regular customers have been calling to ask what’s going on with Dr. Myatt’s B.A.M. and Dr. Myatt’s Immune Boost formulas. They have noticed that the “Buy Now” button is no longer available on the product description page for these products, and they have been removed from the Natural Pharmacy page.

    Here’s what happened:

    As regular readers know, the natural supplement industry (that’s us…) is under relentless pressure from the FDA, directed by their masters in Big Pharma.

    They have discovered that obvious attacks on supplements often backfire when the public (that’s you…) get’s wind of them and objects.

    So, they use the many other tools at their disposal to harass and frustrate and just generally make life miserable for anyone wanting to sell natural (non-drug company) remedies.

    In the case of these formulas, the FDA is now requiring the manufacturer to perform more extensive testing of each batch – with all the mountains of paperwork that go along with that.

    Now, more stringent testing of supplements is not necessarily a bad thing, and we are not really opposed to that even though these products have always met the most stringent standards possible for purity and potency – Dr. Myatt’s standards! As we’ve written before, Dr. Myatt is known as “The Dragon Lady” in the supplement industry because of her strict and unyielding quality standards, and nobody, but nobody messes with “The Dragon Lady!”

    No, stringent testing of supplements is fine by us.

    The problem is, all this testing and paperwork comes at a price. and the manufacturer of our formulas gave us a choice: we could either continue to order these products in our customary smaller lots (to ensure that we always have the freshest possible products for you) and pay a significantly higher price, or order in much larger quantities – in which case the price increase would not be so great.

    Since Dr. Myatt hates to have to increase prices she reluctantly made the decision to not stock these – but to wait until there was sufficient demand for them to allow her to order the larger quantities, thus shielding our customers from these price increases as much as possible.

    The time has come now that we are receiving enough requests for these and we are considering placing our order.

    For those who would like to replenish their supplies of these great formulas, now is the time to let us know how many of each you would like to reserve.

    When you are thinking about how many to order please remember that 1.) these are top quality tinctures and have a great “shelf-life” and, 2.) you may want to order a few since it may be a while before we place our next order for these products.

    So, please call or email us to tell us how many of each of these to reserve for you – Dr. Myatt would like to be these items available for you in September so you must let us know your wishes soon!

  • Are You Really At Risk For Dangerously High Potassium?

    RE: Your “High” Potassium:

     

    By Dr. Dana Myatt

     

    This is the second time in two days that someone has called me about their “high potassium” (and concerned about the supplements they are taking), so I’m going to answer it publicly in HealthBeat. Other people may wrongly believe their potassium is high and may double-wrongly believe that it is caused by one of their supplements. Here’s the REAL scoop.

    Phyllis asked this question:

    “I have taken red yeast rice to reduce cholesterol, 2 capsules a day, not 4. It worked marvelously but my potassium levels spiked way up (5.8).  How much potassium is in red yeast rice?  Perhaps I should only take 1 capsule a day since the drop in my cholesterol was 60 points? Don’t want another issue with high potassium.”

    PHYLLIS: With good results like that, I suggest you stick with your 4 caps per day of Red Yeast Rice. Of course, I don’t know “how high” your potassium was, what other numbers may be “off,” or who’s brand of Red Yeast Rice you are taking. But overall, it sounds like you are doing well with this.

    Earlier this week, Lori called and said her potassium was elevated and her doctor told her to stop Maxi Multi’s. She didn’t know for sure how much the elevation was but thought it was “a little.” A daily dose of Maxi Multi’s contains 99mg of potassium.

    Why You Probably Don’t Really Have “High Potassium”

    Do you have any idea what the normal reference range for potassium is, how high is worrisomely high, or what the recommended daily intake is for same? No? I didn’t think so.

    Problem is, your conventional doctor doesn’t seem to know this, either. In fact, your doctor is probably the true “guilty party” in your misplaced belief that your potassium is “too high.”

    How High Is “Too High”?

    The normal reference range for potassium varies from lab to lab, but it is usually about 3.0-5.8. Even numbers a little bit higher than this don’t usually mean anything unless there are other physical findings or lab values that are “off.”

    Now I’m Going To Spank Your Doctor

    If a modest elevation of potassium is the ONLY “outside-the-range” lab number, then the cause of the elevation is IN VITRO HEMOLYSIS. (Def: “in vitro” = in the test tube and “hemolysis” = breakage of red blood cells)

    That’s right, when blood is drawn, improper drawing technique (like too small a needle), improper mixing and handling, prolonged storage before processing and extremes of temperature can cause  some of the red blood cells to break. Red blood cells contain potassium. This is an extremely well-known and common lab phenomenon — that’s why we have a name for it!

    EVERY DOCTOR IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS PHENOMENON. It is baby-doc simple. Unfortunately, it appears that many either didn’t learn it, are seeing patients too fast to remember even the simple stuff, or skipped a couple of days of med school when laboratory medicine was being taught. For shame.

    Why Potassium is Important

    Potassium is needed for normal heart, neurological, muscle, kidney and adrenal function as well as acid-base balance and body-water balance.

    Deficiencies can cause muscle weakness, fatigue, weakness in general, heart rhythm disturbances, irritability, mental confusion and problems with nerve and muscle conduction. Low potassium levels are highly associated with elevated blood pressure.

    Why Your Supplements AREN’T Causing High Potassium

    Recommended daily intake of potassium for adults is 1,900mg to 5,600mg. Deficiencies of potassium are common and are caused by low dietary intakes, excessive sweating (up to 3,000mg per day can be lost) and certain drugs that increase excretion.

    By law, nutritional supplements can only contain a maximum of 99mg of potassium per serving. That’s a minuscule amount compared to the recommended daily adult intake! (Hard as it is to believe, “Lite Salt” contains over 610mg potassium per 1/4 tsp.)

    Because of this crazy and unjustified restriction on the potassium content of supplements, I recommend using potassium salt as a form of supplementation for those who need higher doses. You won’t find meaningful doses in supplement form.

    People with normal kidney function CAN HANDLE almost ANY AMOUNT OF EXCESS POTASSIUM.

    Unless you have something wrong with your kidneys, are on a drug that causes potassium to be retained or have some other medical condition, “too much potassium” from diet and supplements is nearly impossible.

    Bottom Line on “High Potassium”

    In the absence of kidney disease, other health problems or interfering drugs, a mild elevation is caused by — Repeat after me — “in vitro hemolysis.”

    If you have another disease that is elevating potassium, your potassium levels will be more than a “little” elevated AND your doctor will find other lab values and physical signs of a medical problem.

    No kidney disease; no problems from the minuscule amounts of potassium you are getting in your supplements. The potassium intake from many common foods is quite a bit higher than your supplements. http://www.pamf.org/patients/pdf/potassium_count.pdf

    Ask (or more to the point, REMIND) Your Doctor

    If your doc is reviewing your lab work, there are other numbers that will be elevated in addition to potassium if you have a kidney or other health problem. Your doc should know in half a heart-beat that if your only lab abnormality is a wee elevation of potassium in the absence of other abnormalities, the problem was a “lab funk” and means nothing.

    SO… if your doc says your potassium is elevated, ask if there are any other indications of health problems. Ask if any medications you are on could cause this. Ask if the elevation is small or more than small. THEN ask if it could be “in vitro hemolysis.”

    He/she might turn a bit red in the face, but it will save YOU from undue worry, mistakenly stopping a valuable supplement, or having a repeat blood test that you don’t need.