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  • Age And Experience VS Youth And Enthusiasm

    The Adventures Of Cuddles The Poodle Teach Us How Age and Experience Beats Youth and Enthusiasm…

     

    A wealthy old lady decided to go on a photo safari in Africa, and took her faithful but aging poodle named Cuddles along for the company.

    One day the poodle started chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovered that he was lost. Wandering about, he noticed a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

    The old poodle thought, “Oh, oh! I’m in deep doo-doo now!” Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settled down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard was about to leap the old poodle exclaimed loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?”

    Hearing this, the young leopard halted his attack in mid-strike. A look of terror came over him and he slunk away into the trees. “Whew!”, said the leopard, “That was close! That old poodle nearly had me!”

    Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree figured he could put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he went, but the old poodle saw him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figured that something must be up. The monkey soon caught up with the leopard, spilled the beans and struck a deal for himself with the leopard.

    The young leopard was furious at being made a fool of and said, “Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!

    The old poodle saw the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thought “What am I going to do now?” – but instead of running, the dog sat down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hadn’t seen them yet, and just when they came close enough to hear, the old poodle said:

    “Where’s that darned monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!”

    Moral of this story…

    Don’t mess with the experience of years… age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm!

    Audacity and brilliance develop through age and experience.

  • More Well-Meaning But Misleading Emails

    By Nurse Mark

     

    I’ve often written in HealthBeat News about the volumes of well-meaning but misleading and even silly emails that are forwarded to us. AIDS infected gas pumps, gang initiation headlight flashing, coughing or drinking water to save yourself from heart attack, and on and on…

    These various warnings and exhortations are invariably attributed to very official sounding sources – Mayo or Cleveland Clinic, the Surgeon General, famous doctors of all stripes, impressive-sounding “institutes” or universities, major corporations… And just as invariably a little bit of quick research exposes them for what they are – well-meaning but often goofy advice masquerading as a “public service announcement.”

    There is usually a grain of common sense or truth in these spam emails, but it is often a very small grain indeed. Here is yet another example of a “public service” email that has been making the rounds for as long as I can remember.

    WARNING FROM SHELL OIL COMPANY DO NOT DELETE, PLEASE READ
    Please send this information to ALL your family & friends, especially those who have kids in the car with them while pumping gas. If this were to happen, they may not be able to get the children out in time.
    MUST READ, EVEN IF YOU DON’T OWN A CAR.

    Shell Oil Comments – A MUST READ! Safety Alert! Here are some reasons why we don’t allow cell phones in operating areas, propylene oxide handling and storage area, propane, gas and diesel refueling areas. The Shell Oil Company recently issued a warning after three incidents in which mobile phones (cell phones) ignited fumes during fueling operations

    Notice some things about this email that are common to most of this type:

    • Lots of ALL CAPS warnings and orders to not delete, and must read.
    • A demand that you forward the email to everyone you know.
    • The invocation of an official-sounding source for the information.
    • A complete absence of verifiable references.
    • A warning of horrible consequences if the advice is ignored.
    • An emotional appeal – “It’s for the safety of the children”…

    Now to be fair, there is some common sense in this “public service announcement” – just enough in fact that it might, possibly be plausible. And that’s how these things take on a life of their own, filling up endless email in-boxes. Even though they may contain some crumbs of good sense, they are still spam.

    So, to do yourself and everybody in your email address book a favor, here is how you can find out if these emails are real or made-up.

    www.Snopes.com is a great resource for debunking emails such as this, and there are others.

    Alternately, just copy the subject line of the email into your favorite search engine like Google or Yahoo or Bing and you’ll likely see dozens of entries indicating whether it is true or bogus. That’s what I did for the email above and here is what I found:

    Snopes says “Bogus”.

    BUT – remember, there are crumbs of common sense in most of these emails that make the whole email seem more believable.

    Pumping gasoline and diesel fuel DOES generate static electricity – in automobiles and other vehicles this is dealt with through the metal to metal contact of the fuel filler nozzle and the filler neck of the car which grounds the car.

    In airplanes it is dealt with by always attaching a grounding wire to the airplane during refueling.

    When refilling portable cans, they should be always placed on the ground when being filled to help dissipate any static buildup and the filler nozzle should be kept in contact with the can as much as possible. I have had experience with military and industrial refueling depots where grounding wires were provided for that purpose.

    The “4 safety rules” mentioned in the email are worthwhile however:

    To sum it up, here are the Four Rules for Safe Refueling: (With comments by Nurse Mark)

    1) Turn off engine (Well, duh! – Like leaving it running is going to save you time somehow? For a fast getaway maybe?)

    2) Don’t smoke (Well, double duh! We do know that gas and diesel are flammable, right? That means they are easy to light and burn… so don’t play with matches while refueling either!)

    3) Don’t use your cell phone – leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off (Not because it will somehow cause a spark, but because you really don’t need any distractions while you are refueling – like noticing if the filler handle fails to shut off and pours gas all over your shoes and the pavement, for example… and if you are silly enough to do that you are probably silly enough to then try to light a cigarette…)

    4) Don’t re-enter your vehicle during fueling. (Well, duh! again… see #3 above… that gas on the ground is expensive!)

  • Thoughts On Spirituality

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Spirituality and religious faith are important to many of our Wellness Club members, customers, and HealthBeat News readers.

    Dr. Myatt has long recognized the importance of spirituality in healing and wellness, and in fact she has taught and lectured on this subject and has produced 2 very popular videos:

    In The Body/Mind Connection Dr. Myatt describes the Body/Mind Connection in terms of easy-to-understand physiology. She explains how thoughts become translated into flesh via the endocrine and nervous system. She also explains how we can draw upon that knowledge to change unproductive habits, heal our bodies, and create new circumstances.

    In Remembering Who You Are Dr. Myatt explains that recognition and remembrance of our true nature has always been the goal of both science and religion. It is a necessary component of the healing process, whether of body, mind, or spirit. Drawing from well-accepted scientific principals, plus wisdom from a variety of the worlds great religions, she will lead you on a journey of remembrance that may prove to be the most valuable tool of your entire existence.

    With this in mind, we thought our readers might enjoy this combining of of wisdom from two rather different belief systems, expressed in familiar sayings from each:

    If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

    Be here now.
    Be someplace else later.
    Is that so complicated?

    Drink tea and nourish life;
    With the first sip, joy;
    With the second sip, satisfaction;
    With the third sip, peace;
    With the fourth, a Danish.

    Wherever you go, there you are.
    Your luggage is another story.

    Accept misfortune as a blessing.
    Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems.
    What would you talk about?

    The journey of a thousand miles begins with
    a single “Oy Vey”

    There is no escaping from karma
    In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited.
    And whose fault was that?

    Zen is not easy.
    It takes effort to attain nothingness.
    And then what do you have? Bupkis.

    The Tao does not speak.
    The Tao does not blame.
    The Tao does not take sides.
    The Tao has no expectations.
    The Tao demands nothing of others.
    The Tao is clearly not Jewish.

    Breathe in.
    Breathe out.
    Breathe in.
    Breathe out.
    Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.

    Let your mind be as a floating cloud.
    Let your stillness be as a wooded glen.
    And sit up straight.
    You’ll never meet the Buddha with such rounded shoulders.

    Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
    Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
    Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
    You might want to see a specialist.

    Be aware of your body.
    Be aware of your perceptions.
    Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

    The Torah says, Love your neighbor as yourself.
    The Buddha says, There is no self.
    So, maybe we’re off the hook

  • Got Charley Horse? Get Fast Relief!

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Charley Horse:
    A popular North American colloquial term for painful spasms or cramps in the leg muscles, typically lasting anywhere from a few seconds to as much as a day.

    We’ve all had them. As kids and as teenagers during or following strenuous sports, as adults after a hard day of labor, or just for no good reason at all – when you least expect it a muscle rebels, going into a painful cramp. It’s not always leg muscles either – hands and feet cramp, intercostal muscles (the muscles between your ribs) cramp, shoulder muscles cramp. In reality, any muscle can cramp and often for no apparent reason.

    And boy, do they hurt!

    So what can be done?

    Common advice involves gently stretching the affected muscle. Personally I’ve never had much luck with that one…

    Dehydration is sometimes blamed. Drink lots of water and “sports drinks” we’re told. Yeah, maybe – or maybe not. Still, staying well-hydrated is important, even if it isn’t the entire answer.

    “Electrolytes” are often blamed. There may be some truth in that, though the solution to the problem does not lie in the consumption of sugar-laced, artificially-flavored, chemical-filled neon green or blue “sports drinks” – no matter how compelling that TV ad with the basketball player sweating green stuff was…

    Minerals are essential to the effective and correct functioning of our muscles. That is why Dr. Myatt formulated her Maxi Multi Optimal Dose Daily Multivitamin to include generous amounts of all the necessary minerals and trace minerals needed for good health.

    However, minerals each have different functions and effects on our muscles and their potential to cramp.

    For example, back in the bad ol’ days before Big Pharma gave us The Little Purple Pill and other PPI drugs, sufferers from peptic ulcers would often take an alkali such as bicarbonate of soda to relieve the symptoms, and wash it down with milk. This caused the calcium in the milk to precipitate out, while the phosphate was digested. This often caused “milk-and-alkali tetany” resulting in cramps of the wrists and hands (carpal spasm) or legs (pedal spasm) caused by an electrolyte imbalance. The treatment? Don’t do that! (and correct your GERD naturally, once and for all, without drugs! Learn how here.)

    Then there’s Potassium – necessary for correct muscle function, too much or too little can cause heart arrhythmia.

    We all know that calcium is important for bone health – but it’s also vital to the normal function of virtually every cell in our bodies. Too little calcium or too much calcium can be very problematic though – too much and arrhythmias can develop, too little and muscles become irritable and cramps can occur.

    Lowly sodium – salt – is vital to our continued good health. Too much though and muscle weakness can occur. Too little and muscular spasms and cramps can happen. Hypernatremia (too much sodium) is usually not caused by eating an excess of salt, but rather by a relative deficit of free water in the body. For this reason, hypernatremia is often synonymous with the less precise but better known term, dehydration. Hyponatremia (too little sodium) can be cause by drinking too much water or by medical conditions that cause the body to retain water.

    Fortunately most people regulate these important minerals quite naturally – in fact, we have a fairly narrow range within which these minerals must be balanced and our bodies maintain this range quite nicely for us. We almost never hear of anyone needing to supplement sodium – quite the opposite, conventional medicine is constantly warning us away from this important mineral.  Many Americans are not getting optimal amounts Calcium and potassium from diet and for that reason Dr. Myatt includes an optimal dose of calcium and the maximum allowed dose of potassium in Maxi Multi Vitamins.

    Magnesium is another story. 57% of the US population does not meet the US RDA for dietary intake of magnesium. Too little magnesium quickly leads to muscles being hyper excitable and prone to cramps. Dr. Myatt formulated Maxi Multi vitamins with a generous amount of magnesium, but because our diets are so deficient in this mineral and because our muscles need so much of it even that sometimes isn’t enough – especially after strenuous physical activity. A painful “Charley Horse” is often the result.

    But there is a quick “first aid” treatment that you can do when a Charley Horse strikes.

    The topical form of magnesium — magnesium oil — is quick, clean and convenient, working in a fast-acting manner to relive muscle aches and pains.

    Yes, it really works!

    There is still very little medical research on magnesium oil. We discussed it previously in HealthBeat News – Magnesium… Oil? To Relieve Muscle Cramps? – and not much has changed from that article except that Dr. Myatt and I have been using it personally for almost every ache and pain and cramp you can imagine. And it really works!

    Dr. Myatt had a foot cramp in bed one night. She rubbed some magnesium oil on, and the cramp disappeared.

    I had a “side stitch” – a painful spasm of an intercostal muscle – that was bugging me after a run one day. Dr. Myatt saw me trying to stretch it out and suggested I try magnesium oil. You guessed it – I rubbed some in and the cramp quickly eased up and disappeared.

    Dr. Myatt developed a sharp spasm in a pectoral (chest) muscle after some gardening – but an application of magnesium oil chased it away promptly.

    I’ve been having a bit of a cranky hip after my morning runs – but I rub in some magnesium oil before and after my run and that crankiness isn’t so cranky any more.

    I know, I know – these are all “personal testimonials” – not scientific evidence or proof. But while we are waiting for conventional medicine to discover this handy, safe treatment for common cramps, why not try some for yourself – and send us your story. Tell us how it worked for you, for your kids (or grandkids) or your teammates.

    Oh, and here’s a tip: Our magnesium oil comes in a pump spray bottle – very convenient. But, because this is a very concentrated salt solution, not an oil, residue of it will dry on the spray head and block it. Try rinsing the spray head under running water for a moment after each use to keep the nozzle clear and ready for the next use. If it gets really blocked, try soaking it in plain tap water and pumping plain tap water through it to clean the spray head.

    Learn more about magnesium oil or place your order for a bottle here.

     

    References and further reading:

    “Nutrient Intakes Percent of population 2 years old and over with adequate intakes based on average requirement“. Community Nutrition Mapping Project. 2009-07-29.

  • Potassium Iodide – Protect Your Thyroid From Nuclear Fallout

    When Children Play With Matches…

     

    Update: April 12, 2013

    US Government confirms “North Korea now has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles.” The Defense Intelligence Agency report goes on to say “DIA assess with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles. However, the reliability will be low.”

    Hmmm… they say they are pretty sure that the North Koreans can hit us with nukes as they have promised to do, but that their missiles aren’t reliable.

    It used to be that they didn’t have missiles capable of reaching the mainland of the USA, but now apparently they do – they just aren’t all that “reliable.” So, does that mean they could fall short, or that their aim could be off? Could they shoot for Los Angeles and hit Portland? Either way, remember, our winds tend to travel from west to east…

     

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Radiation worries… Again.

     

    Having been subjected to the macabre annual spectacle of bellicose saber-rattling, posturing and threats from a petulant and perpetually angrily offended North Korea over the last few weeks, with the predictable “show-of-force” response by the US military, we are only left to hope that the post-adolescent “Dear Leader’ will not allow himself to be worked up into such a frenzy that he does something very foolish, and , if he does do something terribly foolish that the rest of the world will not respond in kind – that is, foolishly.

    After all, we all drink the same water and breathe the same air eventually.

    Even North Korea’s long-time friend and protector China is showing signs of alarm at the antics of the well-fed rulers of this starving but nuclear-armed state.

    Now instead of threatening to immediately lob nuclear-tipped missiles at the US west coast and Texas the regime has announced it’s intention to re-activate a broken-down Cold War-era nuclear reactor in a bid to make more plutonium so they can build more bombs. The mothballed reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear plant was shut down many years ago because it was obsolete and not working properly; it’s Soviet scientists and technicians went home and it’s cooling tower was demolished – an appropriate move since it was malfunctioning and beyond repair anyway.

    So, let’s see: a dangerously obsolete, malfunctioning, incomplete nuclear reactor, long inoperative and “mothballed’, being forced back into service by a regime hell-bent on having a nuclear arsenal with which to hold the world ransom. What could possibly go wrong?

    This causes me to think of a child playing with matches – which might not be so bad on it’s own, but my mental image is of a child playing with matches in the middle of a fireworks factory, next door to an oil refinery. This is something with the potential to not end happily or well…

    Like the child playing with matches, I don’t think North Korea really wants to hurt itself – but accidents happen.

    Nuclear accidents.

    As we saw with the Fukushima disaster in 2011, nuclear accidents a half a world away affect us here. After all, we all drink the same water and breathe the same air eventually. Fukushima showed us very clearly that global wind and water currents will bring those poisons to us soon enough.

    During the Fukushima disaster people around the world wisely stocked up on thyroid-protective Potassium Iodide or “anti-radiation pills” as they are sometimes erroneously called. So many stocked up that supplies ran low and panic buying ensued, with price gouging by unscrupulous sellers. We refused to raise our prices here at The Wellness Club and we did our best to maintain supplies for our customers – though we did sell out eventually. Should there be another nuclear accident we are now re-stocked and we will hold our prices as before. But my suggestion is that if you were not able to lay in a supply of this thyroid-protective supplement before, please consider obtaining your supply now, before something bad happens.

    If you did obtain your Potassium Iodide and have some on hand good for you – store it carefully (away from heat and humidity) and it will keep almost forever – it is a mineral after all and doesn’t really go bad no matter what the “expiry date” on the package says. Similarly, if you want to get a supply now to have on hand “just in case” you can do so without worrying that it will somehow “expire’ and your money will be wasted. Minerals like potassium, iodide, sodium, and the like are, well, minerals – they don’t go “bad” over time.

    Please click here to learn more about Potassium Iodide and it’s ability to protect your thyroid gland from the effects of radioactive fallout from a nuclear disaster.

    And for those who might have forgotten how the Fukushima disaster played out, here are some of our HealthBeat News articles from that time:

    Nuclear Disaster Still In The News

    HealthBeat Special – 3/25/2011 – Radiation Fears Not Subsiding

    Fukushima – Worse Than Chernobyl?

    Iodine For Nuclear Radiation Protection

    Nuclear News Updates

    The Japanese Gift That Keeps On Giving – Radioactive Fallout From Fukushima

     

    And let’s all pray for maturity, wisdom, and tolerance on the Korean peninsula so that no one feels compelled to ‘push the button”!