Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients articles from February 2002

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients archives from February 2002

Adventure and Research in the Rainforest. (Book Corner).(The Last Sorcerer: Echoes of the Rainforest)
February 1, 2002... The Last Sorcerer: Echoes of the Rainforest a novel by Ethan Russo, MD Published by The Haworth Integrative Healing Press, 10 Alice St., Binghamton, New York 13904 USA Softcover, 2002, 368 pp. The greatest number and diversity...

Letter from the publisher.(alternative medicine in hormone therapy and immune system support)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Many of you will be reading this issue during the President's Week holiday. It has been quite a while since the January issue -- we enjoyed a lengthy winter break and look forward to a new season of Townsend Letter issues. The current issue is...

Corsello and patients vow to fight OPMC decision to revoke medical license.(Serafina Corsello)(New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Serafina Corsello, MD, has vowed to continue her fight against the New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) to win back her medical license. Dr. Corsello's license was revoked by the OPMC in what critics call a "kangaroo...

National Vaccine Information Center releases smallpox report opposing bioterrorism forced vaccination plan.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) has released a comprehensive report on smallpox and smallpox vaccine critical of model state legislation initiated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) militarizing the public health...

Scientists find fluoridation outdated and question its morality.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Journal of the Canadian Dental Association Fluoridation may be immoral with benefits exaggerated and risks minimized, reports Howard Cohen, PhD, and David Locker, BDS, PhD, professor and director of the Community Dental Health Services...

Nature's Life honored in National "Green Pages" local business recognized for addressing social problems.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Nature's Life has been listed in Coop America's National Green Pages [TM] 2002, an honor roll of socially and environmentally innovative companies. Each company listed in the Green Pages is pioneering cutting-edge solutions to today's most...

Inactivate anthrax spores with non-toxic heat: Innovative technology tested at environmental company.(Precision Environmental Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Today, reporters, politicians and ordinary citizens are all asking the same question: "Is my mail safe?" Because of this fear, suspicious mail has been piling up in post offices and mailrooms across the country. Mail from New Jersey, from...

CPR: Campaign for patients rights.(New York Office of Professional Medical Conduct challenges non-conventional practice law)
February 1, 2002... When FAIM and coalition supporters passed the New York health freedom law in 1994 [L.1994,C.558], permitting "non-conventional" methods, we knew that eventually the Office of Professional Medical Conduct, OPMC, would test and try to overturn...

Tofu may lower lead levels in blood.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Eating lots of tofu may reduce levels of lead in the blood, new study findings suggest. Researchers are not exactly sure how tofu lowers lead levels, but they suspect that calcium in the soy-based food may keep the body from absorbing and...

Adrenals & fatigue. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Fatigue, weakness, and exercise intolerance are the primary signs of hypoadrenalism. Low blood pressure, dizziness upon standing, heart palpitations, and a tendency toward low weight are other signs. In his November 2001 newsletter, Dr....

Artificial butter flavoring risk. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been investigating the incidence of lung disease among workers exposed to the artificial butter flavoring used in microwave popcorn. NIOSH reported that, since 1992, 8...

FDA raids Florida alternative cancer clinics. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Over 100 agents from the FDA, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office raided the Medical Center for Preventive and Nutritional Medicine's two alternative cancer clinics in Tampa and St....

Too clean? (Shorts).(bacteria's link to immune system health)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Some of the bacteria and worms that industrialized societies have targeted as being illness-causing may actually have roles in maintaining health. For example, Helicobacter pylori, which is a known risk factor for stomach ulcers and cancer, may...

Nyvatex Health-Mat. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... While traveling the world in search of underground oil reserves, John C. Ledbetter noticed a correlation between the strength of the earth's natural electric field and the health of the people inhabiting the area; the stronger the field, the...

Supporting endocrine function with herbs. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In an article for Nature's Herbs newsletter, botanist James A. Duke, PhD offers herbal, food, and supplement suggestions for dealing with adrenal, thyroid, and sexual hormone deficiencies. Dr. Duke prefers using food and herbs because, he says,...

Synthroid. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In July 2001, the Food and Drug Administration considered pulling the thyroid medication Synthroid off the market for safety reasons. The agency was concerned that the pills' potency varies from the amount stated on labels. Instead of receiving...

Vaccinations & Ascorbic Acid. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In his article "Vaccinations, Inoculations and Ascorbic Acid," C. Alan B. Clemetson, MD suggests that some of the severe reactions in infants after vaccination may be due to elevated histamine levels. Elevated histamine levels in tissue cause...

Vascular Birthmarks. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Every year, about 400,000 infants in the US are born with or soon develop vascular birthmarks. These birthmarks vary from small port-wine-colored stains on an unobvious part of the body to noticeable, disfiguring growths on the face. About 10%...

Preventing colds. (Shorts).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Chris Gupta (mbgupta@uwo.ca) shared some cold remedies in a recent email to TLfDP. Taking a gram or two of vitamin C at the first sign of a cold and repeating the dosage every hour thereafter for as long as the symptoms persist is recommended...

Literature Review & Commentary.(tardive dyskinesia)(epilepsy)(menopausal symptoms)(osteoporosis)(testosterone)(chronic hives)(heart disease)(antiinflammatories)
February 1, 2002... Melatonin effective against tardive dyskinesia Twenty-two patients with schizophrenia and tardive dyskinesia were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 10mg of melatonin or placebo each night at 8 p.m. for six weeks. After...

Hormones, health and evolution. (Medical Anthropology).
February 1, 2002... ********** Hormone levels have changed over the course of evolution in humans with dramatic effects on health. In this column I'll explore these changes and point to some of the health problems that were avoided by the behaviors of our...

Slow Food USA. (Health Risks and Environmental Issues).(nonprofit organization preserves social and environmental traditions of dining)
February 1, 2002... While attending the Second World Conference on Breast Cancer in Canada July 1999, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Jennie Burke from Australia who recognized the value of proper digestion in maintaining good health. In one of our discussions...

Prolactin secretion & Chinese medicine. (Chinese Medicine Update).
February 1, 2002... Prolactin is a hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary in both men and women. Although it is believed to have many different functions in both sexes, according to Richard E Blackwell, "it is generally regarded as the one hormone that is...

Clinical trials and the "Therapeutic Misconception". (The War on Cancer).
February 1, 2002... Faced with a dire prognosis, some cancer patients turn to clinical trials. But how well do they, or their doctors, understand the purpose of such trials? Not very according to a recent survey {Lancet 2001;358:1772-77}. Oncologists questioned...

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), cardioprotection and whole foods. (Medicinal Properties in Whole Foods).(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2002... ********** In developed nations, the leading overall cause of mortality in women is coronary artery disease (CAD) (1) and the risk of the disease increases dramatically after menopause. The loss of estrogen protection has been hypothesized...

Homeopathic Animal Medicines: Part 3. (Healing with Homeopathy).
February 1, 2002... Sea Animals as Homeopathic Medicines Homeopathy has barely scratched the surface in discovering, proving, and utilizing medicines made from the animal kingdom. This is even more true of sea life. We love the water world and make it a point...

Bioterrorism: Is there a role for herbal treatments? (Phytotherapy Review & Commentary).
February 1, 2002... The terrorist attacks of September 11 combined with anonymous letters containing anthrax spores have raised the very real possibility of bioterrorism. In the December 2001 issue of the Townsend Letter, several articles addressed this issue and...

Novel anti-viral strategies against bioterrorist agents. (Quantum Medicine Update).
February 1, 2002... Terrorists have been experimenting with engineered viruses that will not respond to medical treatment or vaccinations. Daunting technical obstacles stand in the way of utilizing alternative methods to enhance the immune system against...

Clinical human studies with vanadium compounds.
February 1, 2002... INTRODUCTION Vanadium compounds in animals are able to reverse the illness and restore-normal carbohydrate metabolism through three mechanisms. First, vanadium revives and rejuvenates nonfunctional beta cells and restores them to normal...

The wild yam scam when not to believe the unbelievable.
February 1, 2002... ********** Topical wild yam herbal cream for hormonal problems is a 'novel' herbal remedy. It has no traditional or scientific support, no reasonable clinical evidence, does not conform to common sense and basic arithmetic, and specific...

Urinary growth hormone clinical value and applications.
February 1, 2002... Background Growth hormone (GH) is arguably the most important anti-aging hormone. It consists of approximately 191 amino acids with molecular masses between 20-22,000 Daltons (20-22kDa). There are several (some researchers claim 7)...

Treating hypothyroidism naturally.
February 1, 2002... Natural vs Synthetic Natural thyroid treatment has been used since the 1800's and synthetic hormones have been used since 1959. Since, the introduction of synthetic thyroid hormones; we have been bombarded with information from its...

Anti-hypertension protocol using shark cartilage and Cordyceps sinesis.(herb in Chinese medicine)
February 1, 2002... It's one of the greatest unsolved mysteries physicians learn in medical school. If high levels of the enzyme renin are a primary cause of hypertension then why are 40% of low-renin patients also hypertensive? In finding effective therapies...

Rethinking hormone therapy strategies: Rationale for homeopathic hGH and IGF-1.(human growth hormone)(insulin-like growth factor-1)
February 1, 2002... A new paradigm for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is that healthy aging represents balanced signaling within the neuroimmuno-endocrine system. That means for every hormone signal there is a balanced response by another hormone signal. An...

A child's inheritance: The modern miasm identification and treatment strategy.
February 1, 2002... Our children are being born into a world more toxic at every level than could ever have been imagined -- whether they get it in utero from a mother with metal toxicity, (1) or from a well-meaning doctor, that is their inheritance. We've known...

The neonatal immune system and risk of allergy a delicate balancing act, positively influenced by probiotics and fatty acids.
February 1, 2002... Abstract Type 1 allergic hypersensitivity now affects 1 in 7 children born in Western countries. It is now recognized that the correct and balanced development of the neonatal immune system plays a pivotal role in the risk of allergy...

General preventative maintenance of the immune system: Brief overview from a behavioral and nutritional perspective.
February 1, 2002... The understanding that we can help ourselves to stay fit or to favor natural healing is well established for a number of conditions. We exercise to help maintain muscle, heart and lung function. We know we should stop smoking to prevent lung...

Women's health risks associated with orthodox medicine - Part 2.
February 1, 2002... Conventional medicine would have us believe that only its treatments have passed the kind of careful scientific scrutiny needed to prove their safety and effectiveness. But this is not necessarily the case, as revealed by our review of the...

Oxygen, carbon dioxide and the krebs cycle: A metabolic typing perspective. (Letters to the Editor).(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2002... Editor: As we all know, oxygen plays a central role in the oxidation process, the intracellular creation of energy in the form of ATP. Oxygen is alkaline-forming in the blood, while carbon dioxide -- which is produced as a by-product of...

The FDA's irrational exuberance. (Letters to the Editor).
February 1, 2002... Editor: The FDA just approved Xigris - a new one billion dollar blockbuster drug to treat septic infections. The report of a large clinical trial showed the new drug reduced deaths from Sepsis by 20%, at a cost per patient treated of...

Antioxidants for safer testosterone supplementation. (Letters to the Editor).
February 1, 2002... Editor: The intent of this letter is provide additional empirical knowledge to the recent advances in the biochemistry of testosterone metabolism. Within the last few years, it has it become increasingly probable that certain oxidized...

Nose, eye, throat & urinary infections: Old fashioned simple, safe and effective cures! (Letters to the Editor).
February 1, 2002... Editor: Looking back over three-quarters of a century, I can remember many with chronic sinusitis, some suffering so terribly for so long that they at last must resort to surgery to open up nasal passages -- and afterward - their serious...

Neuromuscular disorder following severe upper respiratory infection. (Letters to the Editor).
February 1, 2002... Editor: I am writing to you to see if anyone can offer suggestions for a patient I am treating. This is a mid-50's white female with a 4-to-5-year history of nonspecific neuromuscular disorder which seemed to follow a fairly-severe upper...

Ear candles. (Letters to the Editor).
February 1, 2002... Editor: I work in a health food store where we sell ear candles all the time. Every person that I have talked to about these have had nothing but good things to say! They actually have been excited when they learn that we carry them. ...

Wrong persons are on trial. (Letters to the Editor).
February 1, 2002... Editor: I would like to see the public better informed on Third Stage of Labor. I have asked my own Provincial Government, now up for re-election...to put in an Moratorium on Immediate Cord Clamping and interference with the child's...

Respect for tissue. (Editorial).(minimizing pain in medical treatments)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
February 1, 2002... Many years ago, I saw a patient who, during the review of systems, reported having had a hemorrhoidectomy performed by my father, a general surgeon. "I was really scared," he remarked, "because all of my friends who had that operation couldn't...

In memoriam: Dr. Lendon Smith.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
February 1, 2002... Our dear friend and long-time supporter, Dr. Lendon H. Smith, MD, died recently at the age of 80 from complications after heart surgery. Dr. Smith was a wonderful addition to our October Symposium this year and many years past where he mixed...

Interview with Nicholas Perricone, MD on aging skin and ALA.(alpha lipoic acid)(Interview)
February 1, 2002... Perricone: ALA is a universal antioxidant: it goes everywhere in the cells, it's metabolic, because it increases cellular energy, therefore it increases repair, and it goes to the cell membrane and all that. It's also a powerful...

Profile of the holistic cancer therapist W. Douglas Brodie, MD, HMD. (Medical Journalist Report of Innovative Biologics).
February 1, 2002... This is the 30th year that W. Douglas Brodie, MD, HMD, of Reno, Nevada has practiced anticancer medicine using innovative and integrative methods of healing. Correctly identified today as an American holistic cancer therapist, Dr. Brodie came...

New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct: Are its policies and performance becoming a political liability?
February 1, 2002... The institution of medicine has a great deal invested in the perpetuation of the myth of objective evaluation. It underpins the cognitive and social authority of its practitioners and legitimates powerful vested interests, not only in medicine,...

The Emerging Science of Glyconutrition. (Book Corners).(Sugars That Heal)
February 1, 2002... Sugars That Heal By Emil I. Mondoa, MD, and Mindy Kitei The Ballantine Publishing Group; www.ballantinebooks.com Hardcover, ISBN 0-345-44106-0, 2001, 262 pp., $22.00 US, $33 Canada It is unusual for a book to appear that...

A Clear and Present Danger. (Book Corners).(Aspartame Disease, An Ignored Epidemic)
February 1, 2002... Aspartame Disease, An Ignored Epidemic by H.J. Roberts, MD Sunshine Sentinel Press, P.O. Box 17799, West Palm Beach, Florida 33416 USA Order: 800-814-9800; fax 561-547-8008. $75 plus $10 s/h, Florida residents add $4.50 sales tax...

Aging Well. (Book Corners).(Longevity)
February 1, 2002... Longevity by W. Lee Cowden, MD, Ferre Akbarpour, MD, and Russ Dicarlo with Burton Goldberg AlternativeMedicine.com, Inc. 1650 Tiburon Blvd., Tiburon, California 94920 USA; www.alternativemedicine.com 2001, softcover, $14.95, 441 pp....

How Chemicals Affect Our Brains and Bodies. (Book Corners).(Hormone Deception)
February 1, 2002... Hormone Deception NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc., 4255 West Touhy Ave., Lincolnwood (Chicago), Illinois 60712 USA Hardcover, 2000, $24.95US/$36.95CAN, 431 pp. by D. Lindsey Berkson, foreward by John R. Lee, MD Alarms have...

Calendar.
February 1, 2002... FEBRUARY 9-10: SEROYAL SEMINAR - CELLULAR & INTRACELLULAR DRAINAGE WITH UNDA NUMBERS with Dickson Thom, DDS, ND in Seattle, Washington. CONTACT: 630-227-9827 or 888-737-6925 (US); 905-508-2050 or 800-263-5861 (Canada): sales@seroyal.com;...

Postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy: Understanding the benefits and the risks. (Women's Health Update).
February 1, 2002... By the year 2015, nearly 50% of the women in the United States will be menopausal. Between 1990 and 2020, the menopausal population in the US will double. This dramatic increase in the number of menopausal women, is changing the way health care...

How diet influences immune function. (Nutritional Influences on Illness).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Doctor Werbach has teamed with Michael Murray ND again for the second edition of Botanical Influences on Illness, their acclaimed sourcebook for clinicians practicing herbal medicine, which is twice the size of the original edition. ...