Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients articles from August 2005

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients archives from August 2005

Letter from the publisher.(chemical toxicity)(Editorial)
August 1, 2005... There are perhaps no office appointments more challenging to a physician than a new patient visit with someone claiming to have "chemical sensitivity." For most physicians the chemical sensitivity patient is bereft of hope or happiness,...

Institute for Health & Healing inspired by compassionate care.(Pathways to Healing)
August 1, 2005... The Institute for Health & Healing (IHH) in San Francisco is one of the best-known integrative medical centers in the country. It includes in-hospital services, a clinic, library, self-care programs, classes and a store. The clinic combines...

A conversation with MCS researcher, Martin Pall, PhD.(Interview)
August 1, 2005... Dr. Pall is Professor of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences at Washington State University. He is currently writing a book called Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses." How did you become interested in researching this group of...

Gus J. Prosch, Jr., MD: November 17, 1930 to June 7, 2005.(In Memoriam)(Obituary)
August 1, 2005... It was sometime in 1981 when I received a most peculiar telephone call. A "Dr. Prosch" was on the phone, and he wanted to talk to me about driving up from Birmingham, Alabama to visit me at my home and office in Franklin, Tennessee. ...

Paul Keene (1910-2005).(Obituary)(Obituary)
August 1, 2005... For many of us seeking good quality whole foods in the mid-20th century, Paul Keene, owner of Walnut Acres in Penns Creek, Pennsylvania, was a treasure. Keene offered a modest mail order arrangement, with a simple catalog of organically-grown...

Ampligen & chronic fatigue.(Shorts)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. has completed a Phase III Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) trial of Ampligen, a double-stranded RNA drug. In vitro studies indicate that Ampligen may modulate the immune system as well as act as an antiviral agent....

Chlorella.(Shorts)
August 1, 2005... Chlorella, a fresh-water, one-celled, green algae, contains nutrients that aid detoxification. Taken as a supplement, chlorella helps remove dioxin, lead, mercury, and other toxins from the body. Its polysaccharide membrane can absorb large...

Fibromyalgia & fibrosis.(Shorts)
August 1, 2005... In an article posted at his web site, William Wong, ND, PhD, says that the pain of fibromyalgia stems from the formation of fibrous scar tissue in contractile (voluntary) muscles. Fibrosis binds the tissue and inhibits blood flow, resulting in...

Medical journals & drug companies.(Shorts)
August 1, 2005... Richard Smith, who edited the British Medical Journal (BMJ) for 25 years, wrote an essay that describes how pharmaceutical companies use medical journals to promote their products. Journals depend upon the advertising money received from drug...

Natural products research.(Shorts)
August 1, 2005... Some scientists are criticizing the pharmaceutical industry's shift away from natural products research to combinatorial and diversity-oriented synthesis programs. Instead of identifying individual organic compounds and determining their mode...

Elevated nitric oxide/peroxynitrite hypothesis.(Shorts)
August 1, 2005... Martin L. Pall (School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington) has proposed a hypothesis to explain the puzzling, sometimes overlapping symptoms of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), chronic fatigue...

CFS & antiviral pathways.(hronic Fatigue Syndrome)(7th International Conference on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Researchers at the 7th International Conference on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Other Related Illnesses (October 8-10, 2004, Madison Wisconsin) reported that people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) often display a dysfunction...

Robert Sinaiko, MD wins.(Shorts)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... The California Medical Board dropped all action against Robert J. Sinaiko, MD, on February 17, 2005. His medical license is clear and in good standing. The Medical Board accused him of "departure from the prevailing standard of practice." Dr....

Cromolyn sodium blocks food-allergic reactions.(Literature Review & Commentary)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Thirty-five children (aged 1-15 years) with atopic dermatitis due to food allergy were treated with oral cromolyn sodium (also called sodium cromoglycate). The initial dose was 100 mg/day; this was increased progresively to 200-600 mg/day,...

Low-dose riboflavin may prevent migraines.(Literature Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... Forty-nine patients with migraines were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, daily treatment with 1) a combination of riboflavin 400 mg, magnesium 300 mg, and feverfew 100 mg, or 2) "placebo" (riboflavin 25 mg) for 3 months....

Progesterone for osteoporosis: mixed results.(Literature Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... Eighty-nine postmenopausal women with osteoporosis or at least 3 risk factors for osteoporosis were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 1 of 4 treatments for 2 years: 1) 500 ml/day of soymilk containing 76 mg/day of...

Another homocysteine-lowering vitamin.(Literature Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... Mice were fed diets containing 0, 10, or 35 mmol of choline per kg of diet for 3 weeks. At the end of the diet period, a methionine load was administered. Two hours after the methionine load, choline-deficient mice had plasma homocysteine...

Bias against vitamins?(Literature Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... A large multicenter trial reported in 1999 that vitamin A given intramuscularly at a dose of 5,000 IU 3 times per week for 4 weeks decreased the risk of the combined outcome of bronchopulmonary dysplasia or death in extremely-low-birth-weight...

What might mend a broken heart? Maggie may.(Literature Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... Nineteen patients (mean age, 63 years) who presented with left ventricular dysfunction after sudden emotional stress were studied. Clinical presentations included chest pain, pulmonary edema, and cardiogenic shock. Only one patient had...

Eat breakfast to lose weight.(Literature Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... Ten women (mean age, 25.5 years; mean body mass index, 23.2 kg/[m.sup.2]) were randomly assigned to eat or to omit breakfast daily for two weeks. After a two-week washout period, each person switched to the alternate breakfast assignment for an...

Berberine lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels.(Literature Review & Commentary)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Forty-three hypercholesterolemic patients were randomly assigned to receive 500 mg of berberine twice a day (n = 32) or placebo (n = 11) for 3 months. In the berberine group, compared with baseline, the mean serum cholesterol level fell by 29%...

Chronic fatigue and chemical sensitivity.(Web Page Potpourri)
August 1, 2005... I strongly suspect that a significant portion of chronic fatigue with neurocognitive impairment is caused by infection. Look below for information on how to subscribe to a high-quality listserv on this subject. Toxins are another key factor in...

Mercury rising.(Health Risks and Environmental Issues)
August 1, 2005... Lewis Carroll's reference to the Mad Hatter in his classic book, Alice in Wonderland, memorialized the strange behavior of hat makers who were exposed to mercury in the preparation of felt hats. "The 'mad' symptoms that the Hatter displayed...

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), acupuncture & its related modalities.(Acupuncture and Moxibustion)
August 1, 2005... Keywords: Chinese medicine, acupuncture, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), seven star needling, cupping, electro-acupuncture ********** Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) refers to long-standing severe fatigue without substantial muscle...

Reflections on ASCO 2005.(The War on Cancer)(American Society of Clinical Oncology)
August 1, 2005... I have just returned from the 41st annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Twenty-five thousand oncologists converged on Orlando, Florida, to present their latest work and to learn about the progress that has been...

Willow bark versus NSAID.(Phytotherapy Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... Given the safety concerns over the COX-2 inhibitor drugs, it is interesting to find that standardized willow bark compared well with a conventional treatment for arthritis. In a randomized, double-blind, parallel group trial, the therapeutic...

Sage is well named.(Phytotherapy Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... A team of British scientists has undertaken a series of investigations on plants which may improve memory and might therefore be relevant to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). One of the herbs they chose for investigation was sage,...

Does milk thistle increase hepatic clearance of drugs?(Phytotherapy Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... A common misconception concerning milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is that, since it is a liver herb, it is likely to increase the metabolism and clearance of many drugs due to enhanced hepatic detoxification. This is certainly fueled by in...

Ginkgo in Down Syndrome.(Phytotherapy Review & Commentary)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... The drug donepezil, which is used in Alzheimer's disease (AD), recently achieved good results in four adults with Down Syndrome (DS). Similarities between the neurobiology of AD and DS have also been noted. This prompted two Italian scientists...

Licorice and testosterone revisited.(Phytotherapy Review & Commentary)
August 1, 2005... A previous article in this column (No. 205/206 August-September, 2000) examined an Italian pilot study that claimed to demonstrate licorice consumption lowered testosterone in men and asserted that licorice should be avoided by men with low...

Multiple chemical sensitivity: towards the end of controversy.
August 1, 2005... There are nine well accepted paradigms of human disease. The tenth may explain the features of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and a group of related illnesses including chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FM) and post-traumatic...

The national prevalence of chemical hypersensitivity, the medical diagnosis of multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), and potential overlaps with asthma.
August 1, 2005... Abstract A national population study, using a random sample of 1,057 geographically weighted cases, was conducted to determine the prevalence of chemical hypersensitivity, the medical diagnosis of multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), (1)...

The Allergy & Environmental Health Association (AEHA).
August 1, 2005... AEHA is a national registered charity operated by volunteers with branches in cities across Canada. Together we strive to promote awareness of environmental conditions that may be harmful to human health and to bring individuals together for...

H.R.2792: the Access to Medical Treatment Act (AMTA); AMTA should have a subtitle: Safe and Equal Access to the best in health care.
August 1, 2005... American Association for Health Freedom (AAHF) is pleased to announce that Access to Medical Treatment Act (AMTA) has been introduced in the House by Rep. Burton and Rep. DeFazio. AAHF has been the leading advocacy group for this crucial...

New ergonomic insole with "foot-in-the-sand" technology[c].
August 1, 2005... A vast array of after-market insoles has been merchandised through the years. Most of these consist of a bed of cushioning foam with only hints of accommodation for foot anatomy. Other than extremely expensive orthotic insoles, commercial...

Chemical sensitivity in the military.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... Editor: An important organization to note is the Global Recognition Campaign for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and other Chemically-Induced Illnesses, Diseases & Injury affecting civilians and military personnel. We have a website at...

Multiple chemical sensitivity and perfume.
August 1, 2005... Editor: Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) affects millions of Americans, as well as millions of people in other countries where artificial perfumes and pesticides are used. Perfumes are the most ubiquitous of hazardous waste chemicals,...

Variance in chemical exposure tolerance.(Letters to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... Editor: In 2002 I wrote an article trying to help explain why one person may have a low tolerance for a chemical and others may not. (1) Very recent research from Canada may demonstrate a relationship between deficiencies of enzymes and...

Everyone is affected by electromagnetic radiation.(Letters to the Editor)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Editor: May I express my thanks to Rose Marie Williams for her well-researched and informative articles on cell phones in the June and July 2005 issues. I would like to make one correction to an assertion attributed to my...

Vegetarian diet for arthritis.(Letters to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... Editor: Inflammatory diseases are caused mainly, perhaps entirely, by products formed from arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is acted on by two enzymes--cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase. Cyclo-oxygenase converts it to the inflammatory...

Rick Santee, microscopist, arrested by medical gestapo.(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... Editor: Rick Santee is a very competent darkfield microscopist. He often attended health expos and worked in the offices of many alternative physicians here in southern California. The work is called "live cell blood analysis." He would...

Iodine: a lot to swallow.(Editorial)
August 1, 2005... Recently, a growing number of doctors have been using iodine supplements in fairly large doses in their practices. The treatment typically consists of 12 to 50 mg per day of a combination of iodine and iodide, which is 80 to 333 times the RDA...

The many faces of MCS.(BookCorners)(Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: How Chemical Exposures May Be Affecting Your Health)(Video Recording Review)
August 1, 2005... Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: How Chemical Exposures May Be Affecting Your Health A video produced by Alison Johnson and Richard Startzman 2004, 60 min., MCS Information Exchange, 3 Larrabee Farm Road, Brunswick, Maine 04011 USA ...

Body wisdom.(BookCorners)(Ask Anything and Your Body Will Answer)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... Ask Anything and Your Body Will Answer by Julie J. Nichols, PhD & Lansing Barrett Gresham NoneTooSoon Publishing, 893 S. McClelland, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102 USA; 801-363-1747; www.inawareness.com Softbound, ISBN 1-893969-00-2,...

How to live with chronic illness.(BookCorners)(You Don't LOOK Sick!)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... You Don't LOOK Sick! by Joy H. Selak and Steven S. Overman, MD, MPH The Haworth Medical Press, 10 Alice St., Binghamton, New York 13904 USA; 800-429-6784 Softcover, c.2005, $14.95, 145 pp. Chronic diseases are difficult to...

Essential reading for people with CFS, allergies & chemical sensitivities.(BookCorners)(Breaking Out of Environmental Illness)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... Breaking Out of Environmental Illness by Robert Sampson, MD & Patricia Hughes, BSN Bear & Company, Inc. Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504 USA Softcover, 1997, $14.00, 258 pp. A child psychiatrist who included alternative approaches...

AIDS in the US, early period (1981-87): interview with Michael Ellner, president, HEAL.(Townsend's New York Observer)(Health Education AIDS Liaison, an organization advocating non-toxic therapies for AIDS)(Interview)
August 1, 2005... The viewpoint has been so firm that HIV is the only cause and will result in disease in every patient, that anyone who challenges that is regarded as "politically incorrect"; I don't think--as a matter of public policy--we gain by that,...

Unreal estate: the new anthropology of home ownership.(Medical Anthropology)
August 1, 2005... The subject of human habitat, settlement and shelter is one that has intrigued anthro-pologists for decades. For modern, Western people the explosion of interest in real estate in the past decade represents a deep-seated desire to embrace...

Nutritional support for healthy brain function.(Therapeutic Nutrition)
August 1, 2005... Introduction The fundamental cause of nearly every cognitive and neurodegenerative disorder remains unknown, but all forms of cognitive decline demonstrate both neuronal and cerebrovascular abnormalities. Current thinking has focused on...

Clinical uses of Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang.(Chinese Medicine Update)
August 1, 2005... Keywords: Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang (Supplement the Center & Boost the Qi Decoction) ********** In Chinese medicine, treatment is primarily based on each patient's personally presenting pattern(s)...

Music.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... In 2 randomly selected groups of healthy college students, mean sIgA increase was 32 mg/dl in the group experiencing 17 minutes of focussing on immune system imagery and a music tape vs. a rise of 16 mg/dl in quietly sitting controls (p ...

Immunity and laughter.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Thirty-nine women viewed sad (Peege) and humorous (Cosby) videotapes in random-order crossover style and either inhibited or expressed laughter and weeping. Moods and sIgA were repeatedly measured. Two independent observers reading the results...

Benefits of biofeedback.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)
August 1, 2005... Forty-one adults completed 8 psychological instruments measuring mood, stress, health status and phagocytic activation capacity--the respiratory burst or capacity to utilize O2 for synthesis of bactericidal substances. A significant correlation...

These things are stressful; these things help us manage the stress.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Stress events which have been shown to lead to immune system changes include divorce, unemployment, anxiety, loneliness, sleep deprivation, marital unhappiness, overcrowding, high intensity sound, bereavement (death of spouse and wives with...

More on examinations.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Salivary IgA determinations were done in 15 healthy undergraduates five days before exams, during exams and fourteen days following their last final exam. sIgA levels were lower during exams (p Jemmott JB, Magloire K. Academic stress, social...

The stress/immunity theory has its critics.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... In this meta-analysis of 24 stress studies and ten relaxation studies vis-a-vis immunity, objective measures of immunity were insignificantly related to stress and relaxation with the exception of greater interleukin-2 receptor expression on...

Another meta-analysis.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... This meta-analysis of stress/immunity literature showed a very significant inverse relation of stress to immune function including decreased proliferative response to mitogens Con-A and PHA (p Herbert TB, Cohen S. Stress and immunity in...

Parachute jumpers.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)
August 1, 2005... In 45 first-time parachutists, the psychological stress increased sympathetic adrenal hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, cortisol, heart rate, respiratory rate and fear ratings (p Schedlowski M et al. Psychophysiological, neuroendocrine...

Interferon and interleukins in Alzheimer's caregivers.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Natural killer (NK) cell reactions to incubation with recombinant interferon-[gamma] or recombinant interleukin-2 were measured in 28 former and current caregivers of patients with AD and 28 matched controls. The response of both present and...

Examinations and skin testing.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Sixteen final-year psychology undergraduate students about to take their final examinations and 14 controls from research and administrative staff with a similar age distribution were randomly recruited to complete the 30-item Recent Perceived...

Alzheimer's caregivers.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... The cell adhesion molecule, L-selectin (CD62L), serves a crucial role in the migration of naive T lymphocytes and is typically shed on cell activation. Twenty Alzheimer's caregivers, mean age 73.5 had their lymphocytes and catecholamine levels...

Matriculating at West Point.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Ninety-five randomly selected 18 year-olds from a pool of 583 consenting first-year West Point cadets had blood drawn at registration into the Academy program, at the end of the first 6 weeks of cadet basic training, following winter holidays...

Caregivers for the demented.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Sixty-nine spousal caregivers of demented relatives of more than 5 years' duration were contrasted to 69 sociodemographically matched controls. Caregivers had significantly increased incidence of depression and infectious illness, significantly...

Unavoidable stress.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... One-hundred five adult men were randomly exposed to controllable or uncontrollable stress (noise), and compared to no-noise controls. NK cell activity was determined before and after each of three 20-minute exposures to noise, and 24 and 72...

Dermatomyositis.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... This is a case history of a dermatomyositis patient treated with Transcendental Meditation and visual imagery without drugs for 294 days during which the patient recovered, a low-probability event without conventional therapy. Regression...

Stress and the immune system.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function)
August 1, 2005... This meta-analysis of >300 studies on stress from 1960 to 2001 encompassing 18,841 subjects describes a relationship between psychological stress and parameters of the immune system in human participants. Acute stressors (lasting minutes) were...

Mental arithmetic and the immune system.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary: The Immune System and Mind Function )
August 1, 2005... The role of the autonomic nervous system in secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) responses to laboratory challenge was explored in a study in which sIgA and cardiovascular activity were recorded at rest and during mental arithmetic and paced...

Homeopathic care of autistic children (Part I).(Healing with Homeopathy)
August 1, 2005... (This material is excerpted from our new book, A Drug-Free Approach to Asperger Syndrome and Autism: Homeopathic Care for Exceptional Kids.: Edmonds, Washington: Picnic Point Press. 2005) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An Epidemic of Autism...

The Beljanski Approach: outside the box.
August 1, 2005... The job of the physician is to alleviate and, if possible, eradicate disease. However, accomplishing this is often very difficult as most treatments for cancer also come with significant adverse effects, often making it impossible to truly...

Calendar.(Calendar)
August 1, 2005... AUGUST 18-21: WILD MUSHROOMS TELLURIDE 25th ANNIVERSARY in Telluride, Colorado. An educational conference on the study and cultivation of wild mushrooms. CONTACT: Fungophile, phone/fax 303-296-9359 AUGUST 18-21: 13th ANNUAL WORLD CONGRESS...

Vaginitis: two common causes bacterial vaginosis and atrophic vaginitis.(Women's Health Update)
August 1, 2005... Bacterial Vaginosis [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common cause of vaginal complaints and abnormal vaginal discharge and odor. BV consists of a significant polymicrobial overgrowth in which the bacteria act...

Nutritional influences on capillary fragility.(Nutritional Influences on Illness)
August 1, 2005... A number of disorders can cause capillary fragility, a condition in which weakness of the capillary wall leads to leakage of blood components, causing spontaneous discoloration of the skin and easy bruising. In more serious cases, hemorrhages...