Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients articles from April 2001

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients archives from April 2001

Letter from the Publisher.(issue on orthomolecular medicine and naturopathy for treatment of mental depression and schizophrenia)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2001... It is no small pleasure to be putting together a special issue devoted to mental health, schizophrenia, and depression. Although I hardly claim to have expertise in orthomolecular medicine, a form of megavitamin therapy particularly appropriate...

New Hope, New Haven for the Mentally III.(metabolic treatment for mental illness)
April 1, 2001... The fall into the labyrinth of mental illness leaves both family and physician often helpless in acquiring biological therapeutic support that has been brought forth by the renowned physicians of our time: Dr. Carl Pfeiffer, Dr. Abram Hoffer,...

Schizophrenia and Orthomolecular Medicine.
April 1, 2001... For 30 years the Canadian Schizophrenia Foundation has provided vital information, support and hope for effectively treating schizophrenia and related disorders. What is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is not a split personality. It refers to...

Brain Diseases.(excerpt from "New Way of Looking at Diseases of the Brain")(Excerpt)
April 1, 2001... Neuroscientist Rodolfo Llinas, a professor at New York University Medical School, believes that multiple mental and physical disorders are caused by a lack of synchronicity between the cerebral cortex and the thalamus. According to his theory,...

Heroin.(inhalation of heroin vapors causes progressive spongiform leukoencephalopathy symptoms)
April 1, 2001... Dr. Arnold Kriegstein and colleagues from Columbia University and other New York medical centers say that the inhalation of vapor from heated heroin, a practice known as "chasing the dragon," creates the symptoms of a rare brain disorder called...

Lithium.(health aspects and potential for therapeutic use)
April 1, 2001... Until the early 1900s, commercial table salt contained 84 minerals and trace elements. Lithium, an important nervous system regulator, was among them. Then, salt distributors learned that sodium chloride on its own tasted saltier than the...

Music & Alzheimer's.(music therapy as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease)
April 1, 2001... A music therapy program raised melatonin levels and improved behavior and sleeping problems in 20 male Alzheimer's patients. The Alzheimer's patients underwent music therapy for 30-40 minutes, 5 days a week for one month. Blood samples were...

Panic Disorder.(symptoms and treatment options)
April 1, 2001... The severe anxiety of panic disorder creates a number of physiological responses that often make it difficult to diagnose. Cardiological symptoms (tachycardia, chest pain), gastrointestinal complaints (epigastric pain and irritable symptoms),...

Schizophrenia & Orthomolecular Treatment.
April 1, 2001... Dawne suffered from hallucinations, delusions, irritability the inability to concentrate, and seizures, for ten years before she was finally diagnosed as schizophrenic at age 22. She didn't believe the diagnosis, partly because she didn't...

Animal-Assisted Therapy.(for mental illness)
April 1, 2001... The beneficial psychological effects of companion animals on people have been long recognized. Hospitals and nursing homes are incorporating these benefits into their healthcare programs by using well-socialized dogs in Animal-Assisted...

Vitamin B-3 and Schizophrenia.
April 1, 2001... Many schizophrenic patients or their families call me seeking an orthomolecular physician, or preferably, psychiatrist. I refer them to the closest physician, often practising hundreds of miles from their home. Many are helped. Some are not,...

Maintaining Mental Health & Well Being with an Integrated Health Care Approach.
April 1, 2001... Since the 1900's the field of quantum physics has been behind a host of technological breakthroughs. In medical applications, quantum principles have contributed to the development of MRI scanners and the surgical laser. Quantum physics...

Can Chinese Herbs Help Clients with Depression?
April 1, 2001... Depression is a mood disorder characterized by feelings of sadness, discouragement, and despair. All of us have experienced such feelings at one time or another, perhaps after a death, a major disappointment, or other trauma. This is a natural...

Homeopathy: A Highly Effective Alternative to Antidepressants.(for treatment of mental depression)
April 1, 2001... (Excerpted from our book Prozac-Free: Homeopathic Medicine for Depression, Anxiety, and Other Mental and Emotional Problems. Prima Publishing, 1999) Depression is Epidemic Chances are if you're not taking antidepressants, someone you...

Depression: An Anthropological Perspective.
April 1, 2001... Despite decades of increasingly powerful pharmaceuticals and treatments, the condition of depression continues to plague an increasing number of people in developed nations. Yet, many non-Euro-American cultures do not suffer from this disorder....

The Dangerous Art of Self-Treating Depression.(discussion of G-Jo Institute's Acugenics treatment for mental depression)
April 1, 2001... I recently had the opportunity to research the subject of self-treating depression. This is one of the nastiest health disorders one can suffer. Depression - that is, when "feeling blue" turns into blackness...for days on end, with little or no...

St. John's Wort: Quality Issues and Mechanism of Action.
April 1, 2001... The clinical evidence supporting the efficacy of St. John's wart in the treatment of mild to moderate depression is now very strong. But our understanding of its mode of action and the phytochemicals in the plant which are responsible for its...

Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary.
April 1, 2001... Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology is the term describing the unity of mental, neurological, hormonal and immune functions with its many potential applications. PNIE addresses the influence of the cognitive images of the mind (whatever its elusive...

Behavioral Abnormalities Associated with Various Heavy Metal Toxins.
April 1, 2001... Behavioral Abnormalities Associated with Various Heavy Metal Toxins presented by Extended Health Psychiatric Disturbances Social Deficits, Social Withdrawal Mercury...

Structural and Functional Abnormalities Associated with Various Heavy Metal Toxins.
April 1, 2001... Structural and Functional Abnormalities Associated with Various Heavy Metal Toxins presented by Extended Health Physiological Impairment Brain and Central Nervous System...

Withdrawal & Mania: The Yin & Yang of Psychiatric Disease in Chinese Medicine.
April 1, 2001... Until this century and the adoption of Western medical divisions, [1] there was no specifically psychiatric specialty within professional Chinese medicine. Rather, psychiatric disorders were simply lumped in with the so-called miscellaneous...

L-Arginine for interstitital cystitis.
April 1, 2001... Fifty-three patients with interstitial cystitis were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 500 mg of L-arginine 3 times a day or placebo for 3 months. Twenty-one of 27 patients in the L-arginine group and 25 of 26 in the...

Hypothyroid heart.
April 1, 2001... Data on thyroid status, aortic atherosclerosis, and history of myocardial infarction were obtained at baseline in a random sample of 1,149 women (mean age, 69 years) participating in the Rotterdam Study (Rotterdam, The Netherlands). Subclinical...

Vitamin B6 and cardiovascular disease.
April 1, 2001... In a multicenter case-control study of 750 patients with vascular disease of the coronary, cerebral, or peripheral vessels and 800 control subjects, elevation of total homocysteine (tHcy) (above the 80th percentile) was found to be a risk...

Intravenous magnesium for neuropathic pain in cancer patients.
April 1, 2001... Twelve patients with neuropathic pain due to malignant infiltration of the brachial or lumbosacral plexus were treated with magnesium sulfate at a dose of 500 (n = 6) or 1,000mg (n = 6), given intravenously over 10 minutes. Both doses were well...

Hydration improves the course of labor.
April 1, 2001... One hundred ninety-five women with uncomplicated pregnancies, who were in spontaneous active labor with dilatation between 2 and 5 cm, were randomly assigned to receive 125 ml or 250 ml of intravenous fluids per hour. The incidence of...

Relieving headaches with pressure, heat, and cold.
April 1, 2001... Fifteen patients (mean age, 37 years) with recurrent migraine or tension headaches were studied. During three headache episodes, the patients used a headband designed to produce pressure on the head. Heat or cold was also applied by inserting...

Hip protector prevents hip fractures.
April 1, 2001... Some 1,801 ambulatory but frail elderly individuals (1,409 women and 392 men; mean age, 82 years) were randomly assigned, in a 1:2 ratio, either to a group that wore a hip protector or to a control group. The hip protector (KPH Hip Protector,...

Insulin to treat cancer?
April 1, 2001... The authors of this report review evidence that cancer cells secrete insulin and insulin-like growth factors I and II, which play a role in energy production and growth stimulation, respectively, in cancer cells. Insulin is apparently taken up...

The Hegemonic Medical Model and Alternative Models.
April 1, 2001... Summary Since the 18th century and with the objective of monopolizing medical practice, the Hegemonic Medical Model or MMH (Modelo Medico Hegemonico: E.L. Menendez, 1984) has opposed alternative systems, from the medical practices of...

Probiotics and Austism.
April 1, 2001... Abstract The theory of casein and gluten-derived exorphins and their influence on autism via gut disbiosis is well known. This theory has given rise to a demand for foods and supplements, which are both casein- and gluten-free. However, as...

Pelvic Mechanics and Prolotherapy.(second of four parts)
April 1, 2001... Part Two This is the second of a four part series prepared for The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. It will cover some of the basic concepts current in modern Orthopedic Medicine. Future sections will deal with the tools for...

Some Real Causes of Heart Disease & Cancer.
April 1, 2001... First a bit of medical history. In 1879 Louis Pasteur was a low paid chemistry teacher in a college to train teachers in Paris. He had had a stroke that left him dragging his left foot and with little use of his left arm. He had one of the few...

Alkylglycerols: Mysterious Immune Stimulators From the Deep.
April 1, 2001... What if there was something that would fight off colds and flu, boost the immune system and protect against serious illnesses including cancer -- and what if it was all natural? Alkylglycerols are just that. One of the most promising and...

Vitamin B-3 Does Not Cure Tranquilizer Psychoses.
April 1, 2001... The Tranquilizer Dilemma These drugs were introduced to world psychiatry early in the 1950's by Dr. H. Laborit, a surgeon in France, because he wanted a lytic cocktail, a substance that reduced the pre-surgical anxiety of his patients. He...

Letters to the Editor.(anti-fungal drugs over Ritalin for treatment of autism in children; sleep apnea syndrome treatment)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2001... Anti-Fungal Drugs More Helpful than Ritalin in Autistic Children Editor: I really enjoy the many articles, comments, letters, advertisements and other information I read each month in TLfDP. Congratulations on the job you have been...

PC-SPES for Prostate Cancer.(herbal preparation for prostate cancer treatment)
April 1, 2001... PC-SPES is an herbal preparation that has became popular as an alternative treatment for prostate cancer. The name of the product is derived from the abbreviation for "prostate cancer" and from the Latin word for "hope." PC-SPES contains eight...

You Don't Have to be Sick.(using alternative medicine to stay healthy)
April 1, 2001... On the Edge by Burton Goldberg Alternative Medicine Magazine Health Letter to My Grandchildren Looking back over the 25 years I've spent researching alternative medicine and better health, I'm concerned about the well-being of my...

Transformation with Flower Essences.(Flowers That Heal)(Review)
April 1, 2001... Flowers That Heal by Patricia Kaminski Newleaf, an imprint of Gill & Macmillan Ltd, Goldenbridge, Dublin 8 Available from Flower Essence Services, Phone 530-265-0258; Fax 530-265-6467; website: www.floweressence.com Softbound...

Emotional Stability -- Naturally.(7 Weeks to Emotional Healing)(Review)
April 1, 2001... 7 Weeks to Emotional Healing by Joan Mathews Larson, PhD The Ballantine Publishing Group 1999, hardback, $24 US/$37 Canada, 375 pp. For almost 20 years now the author of 7 Weeks to Emotional Healing has pioneered a biochemical...

Mental Illness and Nutrient-Based Therapy.(Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders, 2d ed.)(Review)
April 1, 2001... Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders (2nd edition) Eva Edelman Borage Books, 3762 West 11th Ave., #188, Eugene, Oregon 97402 USA Phone 541-683-8720; fax 541-345-9249; email: info@BorageBooks.com ...

A Chinese Medical Textbook and Clinical Manual that Sets New Standards for the Profession.(Chinese Medical Psychiatry: A Textbook and Clinical Manual)(Review)
April 1, 2001... Chinese Medical Psychiatry: A Textbook & Clinical Manual by Bob Flaws and James Lake, MD Orders: 800-487-9296; www.chinesemedicalpsychiatry.com Hardcover, 500+ pages, 2001, $108.00 Even though the earliest references to the...

The Beginnings of Orthomolecular Psychiatry.(Vitamin B-3 and Schizophrenia)(Review)
April 1, 2001... Vitamin B-3 & Schizophrenia by Abram Hoffer, MD Quarry Health Books, P.O. Box 1061, Kingston, Ontario K7L 4Y5 Canada Phone 613-548-8429; fax 613-548-1556; E-mail: info@quarrypress.com Softbound; ISBN 1-55082-079-6; 1998; 160...

An Alternative View for Treating Mental Disorders.(The Food-Mood-Body Connection)(Review)
April 1, 2001... The Food-Mood-Body Connection by Gary Null Seven Stories Press, 140 Watts Street, New York, New York 10013 USA www.sevenstories.com Hardback, ISBN 1-58322-031-3, 2000, 485 pp., $35 (US)/$49.95(CDA) "I have been studying...

Knight or Priest -- Two Physician Paths.(Physician: Medicine and the Unsuspected Battle for Human Freedom)(Review)
April 1, 2001... Physician: Medicine and the Unsuspected Battle for Human Freedom by Richard Leviton Hampton Roads Publishing Co., Inc., 134 Burgess Lane, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 USA, 804-296-2772 Softcover, 480 pp., 2000, $16.95 ...

Homeopaths Conduct Groundbreaking NIH Fibromyalgia Study.(National Institutes of Health)
April 1, 2001... With conventional fibromyalgic treatment losing ground and providing little benefit, a groundbreaking, two-year grant has been given to Arizona homeopaths to study treatment of the disease. The Society for the Establishment of Research in...

Fluoridation Receives Setback.(fluoridation aggravates thyroid conditions)
April 1, 2001... Fluoridation, which has won wide acceptance as a preventative of tooth decay in children, received a setback in October, 2000 at the 19th International Physiological Congress. Dr. T. Gordonoff of Bern, Switzerland said fluoridation of...

King County, Washington, Signature Report.(adoption of ordinance for improving publicly-funded mental health care)
April 1, 2001... An Ordinance improving customer service and performance measurement for clients in the publicly-funded mental health system; and adding a new chapter to K.C.C. Title 2. January 31,2001 -- Ordinance 13974 Proposed No. 2000-0294.2 ...

US Court of Appeals Affirms Decision Allowing Pharmacies to Continue to Advertise and Solicit Compounded Prescriptions.
April 1, 2001... The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case of first impression, affirmed summary judgment for the plaintiffs and against the Food & Drug Administration and held that the advertising and solicitation restrictions contained in the Food and...

Steve Lieberman Named New President and CEO of Integrative Therapeutics, Inc.
April 1, 2001... Integrative Therapeutics Inc. has named Steve Lieberman as the company's new President and Chief Executive Officer. Lieberman will direct Integrative Therapeutics Inc.'s operations from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Integrative Therapeutics, Inc,...

Integrative Medical Arts Introduces Guide to Drug-Herb and Drug-Nutrient Interactions.(IBISmedical.com's Interactions database will be available online and as a CD)
April 1, 2001... Integrative Medical Arts, a division of IBISmedical.com has introduced Interactions [TM], an online and CD-based authoritative, professional reference guide to interactions between prescription and over-the-counter medications and herbs and...

Chinese Medical Psychiatry Website Launched.(Blue Poppy Press launches www.chinesemedicalpyschiatry.com)
April 1, 2001... Blue Poppy Press has launched a new Website at www.chinesemedicalpsychiatry.com to go along with its forthcoming book, Chinese Medical Psychiatry which will be released in January 2001. Co-authored by Bob Flaws and James Lake, a board-certified...

Naturopathic Medical School Appoints Arizona Naturopathic Physician of the Year as President.(Paul Mittman)
April 1, 2001... Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences' Board of Trustees voted unanimously to offer the position of President/CEO of Southwest College of Naturopatbic Medicine & Health Sciences to Paul Mittman, ND, DHANP. This selection...

Naturopathic Medical College's Board of Trustee/Faculty Member Testifies in Front of White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine.(Konrad Kail testifies)
April 1, 2001... Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine's Konrad Kail, ND testified in front of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) on December 4,2000. Dr. Kail was asked to speak on the medical and cost effectiveness...

Copper-Bottomed Answers to Mad Cow Disease? There May Be a Simple Explanation for BSE.(copper-contaminated feed may be a cause for mad cow disease)
April 1, 2001... The most interesting aspect of France's BSE scandal is that it makes no sense at all. Britain stopped exporting contaminated cattle feed to Europe in 1991 (though it continued sending it to the third world until 1996). In most other European...

Current Health News You Can Use.(eggs and health; cat allergy; reasons not to get flu shots; exposure to sunlight during pregnancy may be a determining factor in a baby's final adult height; creatine prevents damage from brain injury; urine color as a diagnostic marker for urinary tract infection; vegan diet and increased homocysteine levels; aspirin side effects; "Food Pyramid" found to be invalid; food irradiation and the FDA)
April 1, 2001... This column will highlight recently published articles in the major peer-reviewed medical journals that have practical relevance for you. If you have access to e-mail you can receive the most recent and expanded weekly version of this column....

The War on Cancer.(vitamins and stomach cancer prevention; Endostatin clinical trial results fail to impress; therapeutic uses of honey; hydrazine sulfate wrongly blamed for patient's death; complementary and alternative medicine therapy in the U.S.; cancer trial terminology; life satisfaction contributes to longevity; passing of Helen Coley Nauts)
April 1, 2001... Vitamins Can Prevent Stomach Cancer It was a pleasant surprise to see the National Cancer Institute stating that vitamin C and beta-carotene may prevent stomach cancer. This was the conclusion of a randomized clinical trial carried out in...

Major Breakthrough for CAM Practitioners in Community Health Centers.(complementary and alternative medicine)
April 1, 2001... An October 2000 Program Assistance Letter (PAL) from US Assistant Surgeon General Marilyn Gaston to community health clinics nationwide will facilitate access to CAM for the 10 million Americans who are grantees of programs funded by the US...

Employer Survey: CAM Inclusion Rises.(rise in complementary and alternative medical insurance coverage among self-insured employers)
April 1, 2001... For the third consecutive year, the National Survey of Employer Sponsored Health Plans by William Mercer and Associates has reported increases in CAM coverage among the nation's self-insured employers. Employer's Acup Acup Chiro Chiro...

Drugs, Drugs and More Drugs.(American Hospital Association report on American medication use)
April 1, 2001... A brief report picked up by AHA News, an electronic publication of the American Hospital Association, concluded that 51% of American adults take two or more medications of some kind daily. Most of these are prescribed medications: 46% take at...

Dancing Between the Poles: Evidence-based Medicine and CAM.(complementary and alternative medicine)
April 1, 2001... The impact of two medical delivery trends in the 1990s, for "evidence based medicine" (EBM) and "complementary and alternative medicine," are examined in tandem in this study. The authors used depth interviews of 25 general practitioners in the...

Eisenberg, Pelletier and Greenfield Consulting with Federation of State Medical Boards.(David Eisenberg, Kenneth Pelletier, and Russell Greenberg will act as consultants for integrative medicine)
April 1, 2001... James Winn, MD, executive vice president of the Federation of State Medical Boards, announced in late October that the FSMB has selected three outside consultants to assist the organization in reviewing its CAM policies. The three are: David...

Are They Actually Sick? Do They Get Better?(Tzu Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine releases patient demographics and early treatment outcomes report)
April 1, 2001... The Vancouver, BC-based Tzu Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has released preliminary findings about the integrative clinic's patient demographics and early outcomes of treatment. The clinics services include herbal...

Dioxin: A Universal Toxin -- Part 1.
April 1, 2001... In issues #210 and #211 of the Townsend Letter this column dealt with some of the health and environmental risk factors associated with plastics. A discussion about the hazards of plastics would be incomplete without a follow-up discussion of...

Vitamins for Treating Schizophrenia.(folic acid, niacin, vitamin B6, and vitamin C for treatment of schizophrenia)
April 1, 2001... There are four vitamins whose nutriture may be particularly relevant to the schizophrenic syndrome: 1. Folic Acid Folic acid deficiency occurs in 10 to 30% of hospitalized psychiatric patients. [1] In addition to psychosis, the...