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  • A Special Look At Women’s Health

    Although men and women are susceptible to many of the same diseases, the causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of women’s health concerns can vary greatly from those of men. Because these differences have finally been recognized by modern medicine, a special "Women’s Health Month" has been designated to help educate and inform physicians and the general public.

    Women’s Health Concerns

    Heart disease is the #1 killer of women, although for many years it was mistakenly thought that women were less susceptible to heart disease. Cancer is # 2, with lung cancer (not breast cancer), being predominant. Stroke, diabetes, and osteoporosis are also major women’s health concerns. Menopause and peri-menopause aren’t diseases, but female hormone changes can cause many uncomfortable side effects and may predispose to other illnesses (such as osteoporosis) and premature aging. SO, let’s explore some simple ways to prevent common women’s health problems. (Don’t worry, gentlemen—- I’ll have plenty to say about men’s health in upcoming newsletters!) …..

    What Women Need: The Basics

    1.) A High-Quality Daily Multiple Vitamin/Mineral Supplement

    Optimal (not just minimal) doses of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants should be the foundation of every good health program. Such optimal doses of nutrients are virtually impossible to obtain from diet, even a "good diet," because modern food processing and agricultural practices have left our food supply depleted. In addition, we are exposed to many more pollutants, stresses, impure water and contaminants in our environment, increasing our need for these protective antioxidants.

    Taking vitamins is a wise health and prevention measure. Deficiencies of vitamins and minerals cause many diseases. Adding vitamins and minerals in supplemental form is an inexpensive "insurance policy" against some of the worst diseases of modern times. Consider just a few reasons to take a good multiple vitamin/mineral formula:

    A deficiency of antioxidant vitamins and minerals (especially beta carotene, vitamins C & E, and selenium) is associated with higher incidence of cancers of the colon, breast, prostate, mouth, lungs and skin. Some researchers believe that antioxidant vitamin and mineral deficiencies may be related to higher incidence of all cancers.

    A mineral deficiency, especially magnesium and potassium but also calcium, is associated with high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmia.

    Deficiencies of vitamins E, C, B6, B12, folic acid (a B vitamin), and bioflavonoids are associated with cardiovascular disease. The connection between vitamin E and heart health is so well established that conventional medical cardiologists are instructed to recommend vitamin E to their patients.

    Healthy bones, and the prevention of osteoporosis, depend on sufficient levels of minerals, including calcium, magnesium, boron, zinc, copper, B vitamins, and vitamin D.

    Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and diabetes (high blood sugar) occur more frequently in people who are chromium deficient. After diabetes is present, low levels of vitamins A, C, E, plus zinc, selenium, choline, bioflavonoids and B complex vitamins are associated with more complications from the disease.

    This list could go on for pages, but you get the idea. Deficiencies of key vitamins and minerals are correlated with disease. The best health insurance may not be an expensive medical policy, but the addition of sufficient vitamins to fill in the gaps in our day-to-day nutritional status.

    2.) Essential Fatty Acids

    Essential Fatty Acids, especially Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids, are an absolute requirement in the human diet, hence the term "essential." The American diet is grossly deficient in Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids. Flax and fish oil are the primary sources of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids.

    Deficiencies of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids contribute to subtle body-wide inflammation which in turn is associated with over 60 known diseases including: overweight and obesity, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, stroke, allergies, asthma, autoimmune disease, neurological disease, psoriasis and eczema, high blood pressure.

    The list above mentions only a few of the 60+ diseases associated with Essential Fatty Acid deficiency! Daily supplementation of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids is one of the healthiest choices one can make to prevent these many Essential Fatty Acid deficiency-associated diseases. The Essential Fatty Acids are SO important that the U.S. Government officially recommended in 2003 that Americans get more Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids in their diet.

    3.) Extra Bone Nutrients. (Calcium/magnesium/vitamin D and boron)

    Vitamin D and magnesium are two extremely common American dietary deficiencies. In addition to their importance for heart-health, these nutrients, together with calcium, are also needed to keep bones strong and prevent or reverse osteoporosis. Women also have a higher requirement for calcium than men.

    In elderly women, death from complications of hip fracture are nine times more common than death from breast cancer, yet few people realize the potential seriousness of this disease. Although osteoporosis is more common in post-menopausal women, it also occurs in men and in all age groups. White and Asian women are at greatest risk because their bones tend to be less dense to begin with. The current guidelines recommend 1,000mg per day of calcium (and corresponding amounts, about 1/2, of magnesium) for pre- and peri-menopausal women and 1,500mg per day for post-menopausal women.

    Beyond the Basics: Female Hormone Balance

    Those areas of women’s health that pertain to the sex hormones and female sex organs vary greatly from those of a man. Maintaining the correct balance of female sex hormones is one of the unique and most important aspect of a women’s health.

    Normal weight is crucial to hormone balance. Fat cells manufacture estrogen. This can lead to an excess of estrogen in both men and women. Maintaining normal weight is important for balanced hormones. This is believed to be the reason that hormone-related cancers (breast, uterine, endometrial) are seen more frequently in overweight and obese women.

    Although synthetic and horse-urine derived hormones have been the standard in conventional medicine for years, such forms of hormone replacement therapy are unsafe. Higher risk of heart disease and hormones-related cancers are the most worrisome side effects of conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Most holistic physicians prefer to use natural HRT (nHRT), an alternative that actually reduces the risk of heart disease, hormone related cancers, osteoporosis and premature aging.

    Those seeking self-help measures should try the following approach to hormone balance. If symptoms persist (hot flashes, depression, loss of libido, skin aging, bone loss, elevated cholesterol or heart disease), then consultation with an holistic physician and determination of a customized natural hormone Rx. should be considered.

    Herbal Help for Hormone Balance

    • Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) has long been used in traditional medicin
      e for relief of menstrual cramps and hot flashes. Western medical studies have confirmed Black cohosh’s estrogenic effects.
    • Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis) has known estrogenic effects coupled with the ability to stabilize blood vessels. This "stabilization" is believed to be partly responsible for menopausal hot flash relief.
    • Chasteberry (Vitex angus-castus) helps normalize sex hormone levels by acting on the pituitary gland and hypothalamus.

    Natural Progesterone for Osteoporosis Prevention

    Natural hormone precursors are being discovered to be safer and more effective than synthetic hormones. Many studies have shown that progesterone is more important than estrogen in preventing and reversing osteoporosis. Symptoms of progesterone deficiency include: fluid retention, bleeding between periods, polymenorrhea (abnormally frequent periods – every 2-3 weeks), hypermenorrhea (heavy periods), endometriosis, fibrocystic breasts, ovarian cysts. In a post-menopausal female, symptoms can include hot flashes and fluid retention.

    Dr. Myatt’s "Healthy Woman" Protocol

    DIET AND LIFESTYLE RECOMMENDATIONS

    • Diet: eat a diet high in nutrient-rich foods.
    • Achieve and maintain a normal weight.
    • Exercise regularly. 30 minutes, 3 times per week minimum.
    • Don’t smoke! The climacteric (menopause) occurs sooner in women who smoke. (Heart disease and cancer risk are also greatly elevated by smoking).

    Primary Support

    • Maxi Multi optimal dose multiple vitamins: 2 capsules, 3 times per day with meals OR Nutrizyme with iron: 1 tab, 3 times per day with meals (ONLY for women who have been told by their doctor to take iron for anemia).
    • Max EPA (fish oil): 1-2 caps, 3 times per day with meals. (take the higher dose if you do not eat salmon, mackerel or herring at least twice per week). Flax oil is also beneficial but requires a biochemical conversion in the body, which is deficient in many people, so fish oil is more certain.
    • Cal-Mag Amino: as needed to increase calcium intake to 1,500mg per day (post menopausal) or 1,000mg per day (pre and peri-menopausal). Maxi Multi contains 1000mg calcium & 500mg magnesium. Post menopausal females take 3 caps per day with meals in addition to Maxi Multi.

    Additional Support for Hormone Balance

    • Black Cohosh Plus+ : 1-2 capsules, 3 times per day as needed. When symptoms improve, decrease the dose to the smallest amount needed to maintain wellbeing.
    • Natural Progesterone Cream one pencil-eraser sized dab of cream, rubbed into the wrist, inner thigh or abdomen, 1-2 times daily or as needed to control hot flashes. Decrease the dose when symptoms subside and maintain the lowest dose needed to maintain wellbeing.

    In Summary

    Given a little bit of proper care and attention, your body will serve you well for many years. I guarantee you’ll be delighted at the improved health, energy and vitality you will experience from making a few small changes in your diet, supplements and lifestyle.

  • Health Freedom Restrictions Predicted by Country’s Founding Fathers

    Dr. Benjamin Rush and Thomas Jefferson, signers of the Declaration of Independence (in case you forgot), knew 200+ years ago that our health freedoms were in danger of restriction. They said:

    "The Constitution of this Republic should make special provision for Medical Freedom as well as Religious Freedom… To restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others will constitute a Bastille [prison] of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic."
    Benjamin Rush, M.D., signer of the Declaration of Independence

    "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves: and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform them."
    Thomas Jefferson, signer of the Declaration of Independence

    Today, the FDA wants to restrict your health freedom and doesn’t believe you are smart enough to make your own decisions. Many "FDA approved" drugs have been found to be dangerous and even lethal, their approval later withdrawn (or not — recent examples include Vioxx and Ketek), while many vitamins and herbs have been "outlawed" even though they continue to be found safe after hundreds of years of use.

    Instead of taking safe and effective supplements off the market because they are making "health claims" that do not meet FDA approved standards, wouldn’t it be more "American" (in the old, Declaration of Independence sense of the word), to require labels which state: "these health claims are supported by scientific evidence but have not been approved by the FDA." Then you and I would know that the claims made were not blessed with Holy Water by the FDA (which only means a company has $$$, not good science).

    As free adult Americans, shouldn’t we be allowed this choice?

    In Health,
    Dr. Dana Myatt (who still believes in American Democracy and the U.S. Constitution)

  • Taking Good Health to Heart

    The heart is an indispensable organ that moves blood through thousands of miles of blood vessels every minute. Without a functioning heart, the body can live little more than five minutes. The heart is a muscle, and, like skeletal muscle, grows stronger when more is demanded of it. Also like skeletal muscles, the heart requires sufficient protein intake to rebuild and regenerate itself. The heart also requires adequate blood flow to bring nutrients and oxygen to itself. When atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing) of the arteries occurs, the heart muscle may not receive sufficient oxygen and nutrients to fully perform these functions.

    Atherosclerosis and its complications (coronary heart disease and stroke) account for 20% of all US deaths each year. Overall, heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. But, “take heart”! There are many simple measures you can take to avoid being part of this statistic.

    Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations

    • Eat a nutritious diet that is high in nutrients and fiber. Fruits and vegetables are the primary sources of minerals and phytonutrients (“Plant nutrients”) that protect the heart. They also contain meaningful amounts of fiber.
    • Get regular aerobic exercise (with your doctor’s clearance if you are overweight, over 30 or deconditioned). Exercise improves circulation and heart muscle pumping ability. it also helps the body use excess calories and cholesterol for energy.
    • Maintain a normal body weight. Each excess pound of fat is supplied by miles of blood vessels. This increased demand puts more workload on the heart.
    • Don’t smoke. Smoking accelerates the development of atherosclerosis. It can also cause blood vessels to spasm, mimicking a heart attack.
    • Practice stress reduction techniques and anger management. people with ‘hot tempers” are at higher risk for cardiac events. (Presumably because adrenaline stimulates heart function – a useful pathway if you need to run away from a tiger but over stimulating to the heart if you are sitting in traffic!).
    • Take a high quality multiple vitamin/mineral supplement. (Hint: the nutrient levels your body needs will NOT fit into a “one per day” tablet or capsule. Expect to be taking 6 to 9 caps per day to achieve optimal doses of nutrients). B complex vitamins (All, but especially B6, B12, folic acid), magnesium, potassium, antioxidants (vitamin C, E, and selenium) and bioflavonoids are particularly important to the heart.

    Primary Support

    • Maxi Multi: 3 caps, 3 times per day with meals. This daily "multiple" contains high potency antioxidants. Optimal (not minimal) doses of antioxidants (ACES), magnesium, B complex vitamins, and bioflavonoids are particularly important for the heart. Take additional B complex vitamins if your multiple does not contain optimal doses. B vitamins, (especially B6, B12, and folic acid) lower homocysteine levels, an independent risk for heart disease that many researchers feel is more important than cholesterol levels.
    • Max EPA (fish oil): 1-2 caps, 3 times per day with meals to prevent or reverse inflammation. Take higher doses as directed if your hs-CRP tests are elevated. Flax oil is also beneficial but requires a biochemical conversion in the body, which is deficient in many people, so fish oil is more certain.
    • CoQ10: 50-300mg per day. This powerful antioxidant, produced by the body, diminishes with age. It is especially valuable for all types of heart disease. CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING DRUGS deplete CoQ10. (Amounts will depend on the severity of the disease. Lower doses may be used for health maintenance; higher doses in cases of arrhythmia, angina, and atherosclerosis).
    • Magnesium: 2 taps, 3 times per day with meals (Target dose: 500-1500mg per day. Maxi Multi contains 500mg).
    • Grape Seed Extract: 1 cap, 3 times per day with meals. (Target dose: 150-300mg daily). Proanthocyanidins in grape seed extract act as a potent antioxidants and ACE inhibitors. They also help prevent platelet aggregation (blood cells sticking together) and protect blood vessels from damage.

    Additional Support

    For Atherosclerosis:

    For High Blood Pressure:

    For Arrhythmia:

    For Heart Failure (CHF):

    Heart disease can be serious. Fortunately, the heart is very responsive to good care and many heart ailments are reversible. If you have a heart problem, it is best to work with an holistic (integrative) physician who can help you discover the cause of any existing heart problems and make specific recommendations. Never stop taking heart medication without the guidance of a physician. Bottom line: Be kind to your heart and it will keep you “ticking.”

  • FDA Declares BPA Safe!

    It looks like the plastics industry has gotten to the FDA – no surprise really, considering the amounts of money involved – and FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach now assures us that he just can’t find any evidence of danger from bisphenol A — BPA — in plastic products such as baby bottles.

    It seems that "Andy" is one of those people who could be tied to a tree and have endless streams of fact paraded before him and still refuse to be confused by it.

    His mind has been made up for him by the chemical industry and he will not be swayed by mere fact – even fact in the form of a report from the U.S. department of Health and Human Services which clearly states “[T]he possibility that bisphenol A may alter human development cannot be dismissed,”. We covered this report in a previous HealthBeat News article.

    Nope, better to dismiss that one and go with the study that was funded by the chemical industry – after all, who would know better if those chemicals are safe than the people who make ’em, right? Yep, the same nice folks who brought us DDT, The Bhopal disaster, and Agent Orange…

    Well, we’re not buying it Andy. BPA is a nasty, toxic chemical. No amount of exposure to it is an "acceptable risk."

    This stuff is ubiquitous – it is everywhere, not just in clear plastic bottles. So I for one will do my best to avoid the exposures that I can see in the hope that the exposure that I cannot know or avoid will not prove to be too toxic.

    And say, why must baby bottles (and so many others) be made from BPA containing plastic anyway?

    Mankind did just fine for an awfully long time with good ol’ glass…

  • George says: "Buy More Products!"

    We get lots of feedback on our articles – some of it just very brief notes thanking us for being outspoken and honest.

    George wrote recently in response to our article: EXPOSED: FDA’s Self-Critical Report is a PR Scam to say:

    Great report and Magnífica Información. Thanks. Keep them coming…it is always nice and instructional to hear from you.
    George

    and then added:

    (George….thanks for the congratulations however ….buy more products)

    I was a little confused, but Dr. Myatt wasn’t – she wrote George back to say:

    Thanks for the thanks and glad you enjoyed the article!

    Yes, it would be great if people who enjoy our newsletter actually purchased product from us, but I’ll also thank you to notice that, unlike most "health letters" I receive, we really don’t try to use HealthBeat as a sales vehicle. In fact, I think we do a really poor job of "pitching" anything. I’m simply hoping that a portion of our readership will come to trust our holistic medical integrity by reading HealthBeat and some will eventually convert to patients and/or customers. So far, it’s been working. (Even without your help! 😉 )

    In Health,
    Dr. Myatt