Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients articles from June 2001

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients archives from June 2001

Letter from the Publisher.
June 1, 2001... If any topic were to epitomize the eclectic, diverse, limitless approaches of natural medicine, detoxifying the bowel would certainly stand high in the minds of most practitioners. There seems to be no end to the strategies one can conjure up...

Would You Like to Improve Your Health?
June 1, 2001... Click www.standardprocess.com This new website from Standard Process Inc. is a comprehensive tool for health education. Equipped with literature about the latest health trends; frequently asked questions in the industry; upcoming...

United Plant Savers Receives $42,000 for Botanical Sanctuary.
June 1, 2001... United Plant Savers (UpS) recently received two grants totaling $42,000. One grant for $22,000 was from the Outagamie Charitable Foundation of Appleton, Wisconsin for building a selfguided medicine trail at UpS's 378 acre botanical sanctuary...

Infinite Axis Launches Intramedicine.com, an Integrative eMed Resource Site.
June 1, 2001... Infinite Axis, a leading Internet development firm is launching Intramedicine, Inc. (www.Intramedicine.com) a webbased eContent-licensing site that provides scientifically valid clinical research and education on integrative medicine to the...

The American Association of Oriental Medicine Announces Formation of the Chinese Herbal Medicine Coalition.
June 1, 2001... Mission is to Promote and Ensure Safe, Effective and Responsible Use of Chinese Herbs in the US The American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM), an organization representing the professional Oriental Medicine community, has announced...

Federal Judge Calls FDA's Decision on Folic Acid Health Claim Arbitrary, Capricious and Abuse of Discretion.
June 1, 2001... In another victory for the Pearson v. Shalala plaintiffs, the US Food and Drug Administration was ordered to draft "one or more appropriately short, succinct and accurate disclaimers" to accompany a health claim for folic acid that was...

Fructus Crataegi (Hawthorne).
June 1, 2001... Botany: The largest division of the plant kingdom is Magnoliophyta, formerly Angiospermae. There are over 250,000 species forming the predominant portion of the earth's vegetation. They are the flowering plants. There are over 50 orders...

The War on Cancer.
June 1, 2001... The AACR Meeting From March 24 to 28, 2001, I attended the 92nd annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Over 14,000 scientists from every part of the world gathered to review the...

Health Risks and Environmental Issues.
June 1, 2001... Hidden Dangers of Carpeting Wall-to-wall carpeting complements the decor of a home or business, muffles noise in the classroom, adds comfort and warmth, and provides a sense of security where young children crawl and play. However, there is...

Charting the Mainstream.
June 1, 2001... Congressional CAM Caucus, CAM Providers and Community Health, Changing Nursing's Image, Sagging AMA Membership, Lundberg Speaks Out, Conventional Physicians and Patients Using CAM Congressional Caucus on CAM Formed Supporters of...

How Do You Treat Intestinal Gas?
June 1, 2001... Andrew Gaeddert[C] It is natural to have gas in the colon. It is usually expelled during a bowel movement. However, some people have an excessive amount of gas, and are bothered by it throughout the day. Intestinal gas is primarily...

Homeopathy & Acute Childhood Diarrhea.
June 1, 2001... In 1994, Jennifer Jacobs, MD and colleagues replicated their 199l Nicaraguan study involving the use of homeopathy in the treatment of acute childhood diarrhea. Although the principal investigators were the same in both studies, a different...

Preventing Food Poisoning.
June 1, 2001... Preventing food poisoning is a matter of cleanliness and good hygiene during food preparation, adequate cooking of animal foods, and a healthy immune system. Disease-causing bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella are found in meat, poultry,...

Lotronex.
June 1, 2001... In March 2000, Lotronex, a drug for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) developed by Glaxo, went on the market and was expected to reach sales of $1 billion a year. Glaxo had paved the way for the drug with a massive educational campaign about the...

Low-Fat Diet & Diabetes.
June 1, 2001... After completing 9 years of medical training (4 years in med. school, 3 years in internal medicine, 2 years in endocrinology), Diana Schwarzbein, MD, was hired by a Santa Barbara, California medical clinic to treat Type II diabetics. In the...

Obesity Virus.
June 1, 2001... Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have identified a link between adenovirus 36 (Ad-36) and human obesity Although five animal viruses are known to cause obesity in animals, no such virus had previously been identified in...

Zonulin & Permeable Gut.
June 1, 2001... University of Maryland researchers reported finding high levels of zonulin, a human protein that regulates intestinal permeability, during the acute phase of celiac disease in the April 29, 2000, issue of the Lancet. In celiac disease, the body...

Irritable Bowel Syndrome & Gastrointestinal Disorders.
June 1, 2001... Biofeedback for Irritable bowel syndrome Eleven patients with irritable bowel syndrome were treated for 12 weeks with an integrated program including 6 thermal biofeedback sessions, education about normal intestinal function, teaching of...

A Case of School Phobia and Recurrent Stomach Flu.
June 1, 2001... Seven year-old George had a tough time starting kindergarten, On the first day of school, he begged his mother to let him stay home. After much gnashing of teeth on the part of his distressed mom, George arrived at his classroom two minutes...

The Ethnobotany of Gastrointestinal Disorders: Mexican Asteraceae.
June 1, 2001... Gastrointestinal disorders are commonly treated with herbal medicines in a wide variety of cultures. The plant family Asteraceae (Compositae) has contributed among the largest number of plants to the pharmacopoeias of many cultures including...

Goatein[TM] Provides Optimal Amounts of Absorbable Protein.
June 1, 2001... As quoted by world-famous clinical nutritionist and chiropractic physician Bernard Jensen, PhD, DC, of Escondido, California, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), under its heading of Dietetics and Hygiene, states: "The goat...

Phytotherapy and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
June 1, 2001... Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can be a difficult disorder to comprehend and treat. One reason for this is that the diagnosis is only conclusively arrived at after exclusion of other known disorders. Hence, it is likely that IBS includes a...

Bee Well: Holistic Physician Ralph Golan, MD Discusses an Unusual Treatment for a Case of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
June 1, 2001... Longtime holistic physician Ralph Golan, MD, author of the classic book, Optimal Wellness: Where Mainstream and Alternative Medicine Meet, has been in the pages of this magazine before. In October, 1998 we published an interview with Dr. Golan,...

Vaccine Scene 2001 Update and Overview.
June 1, 2001... In our office we are frequently asked our opinion and position on vaccination for both children and adults. This monograph is an attempt to express a minority view and position that is contrary to current government, public and medical opinion...

Chinese Medicine, Candida Cleanse, Diet and Hypnotherapy Reverses Shy-Drager Syndrome also known as MSA (Multisystem Atrophy).
June 1, 2001... Shy-Drager Syndrome is a rare progressive neurologic disorder that is terminal. The NIH reports about 100,000 cases of this disease in the United States. It is a progressive disorder of the central autonomic nervous system. Discovered only in...

Attacking and Defending Hair Mineral Analysis.
June 1, 2001... The recent JAMA article, January 3, 2001, Assessment of Commercial Laboratories Performing Hair Mineral Analysis, has attracted worldwide attention, not all for the right reasons. Once again, US Governmental researchers twisted facts and...

Pelvic Mechanics and Prolotherapy.
June 1, 2001... This is the fourth and last article in this series dealing with contemporary issues in orthopedic medicine. Pars Pro Toto This is a Roman expression used in common logic when a part of a subject is used as a substitute for whole. [1]...

Uninvited Dinner Guests.
June 1, 2001... All US residents are now exposed to parasites originally seen only in underdeveloped countries or exotic locations due to: increased business/pleasure travel to these areas, changing immigration patterns (influx of foreign...

Herbs and the Alphabet Soup of Hepatitis.
June 1, 2001... Over ninety percent of chronic hepatitis sufferers in Japan, some 1.5 million people, are taking a safe, natural medicine, used by conventional physicians there and proven effective in hundreds of papers and studies. This natural medicine,...

Letters to the Editor.
June 1, 2001... Healing the Gallbladder Blues Editor: On the New Moon of June in 1996, while reading The New Times, a Seattle-based monthly publication, my left arm suddenly began to tingle for some unknown reason, my inner voice was asking me to dial...

Why You Should Avoid Microwave Cooking.(review of health concerns and side effects of microwave cooking)
June 1, 2001... Is it possible that millions of people are ignorantly sacrificing their health in exchange for the convenience of microwave ovens? Over 90% of American homes have microwave ovens used for meal preparation. Because microwave ovens are so...

Drug Interactions: Let the Buyer Beware.(overview of interactions between Seldane, Nizoral, Sporanox, erythromycin, Biaxin, and Propulsid)
June 1, 2001... 'There are many prescription drugs that are reasonably safe when taken alone, but which can result in serious and sometimes fatal reactions when taken in combination with certain other drugs. An example is the non-sedating antihistamine...

Editorials.(National Foundation for Alternative Medicine investigates alternative treatments)
June 1, 2001... To: Members of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy From: Berkley Bedell I appreciate this opportunity to give you my beliefs in regard to the steps that need to be taken to bring better health,...

Pros & Cons of GI Treatments.(Natural Ways to Digestive Health)(Review)
June 1, 2001... Natural Ways to Digestive Health Stephen Holt, MD M. Evans and Co., Inc., 216 East 49th St., New York, NY 10017 USA, Phone 212-688-2810. Softbound, ISBN 0-87131-909-8, (c)2000, 330 pp., $19.95 As gastroenterologist Stephen...

Managing IBS Symptoms.(25 Natural Ways to Relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome)(Review)
June 1, 2001... 25 Natural Ways to Relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome James Scala Keats, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc., 4255 West Touhy Ave., Lincoinwood, Illinois 60712 USA Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects about 20% of US adults....

A Look at Parasites.(The Parasite Menace)(Review)
June 1, 2001... The Parasite Menace Skye Weintraub Woodland Publishing, PO Box 160, Pleasant Grove, Utah 84062 USA Softbound, ISBN 1-885670-88-5, 208 pp.. [c] 1998, $12.95 Parasites, disease-producing microorganisms and helminths (worms), are...

HMOs -- Business Masquerading as Medical Care.(Saving the Soul of Medicine)(Review)
June 1, 2001... Saving the Soul of Medicine Margaret A. Mahony Robert D. Reed Publishers, 750 La Playa, Suite 647, San Francisco, California 94121 USA; 650-994-6570 Hardcover, 2000, $21.95, 363 pp It's clear the minute one begins this book...

Persecution of Innovative Therapies.(Politics in Healing: The Suppression and Manipulation of American Medicine)(Review)
June 1, 2001... Politics in Healing: The Suppression and Manipulation of American Medicine Potomac Valley Press, 1421 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Suite 811, Washington DC 20036 USA, 800-898-0639 Daniel Haley Controversies that surround nontoxic...

New Validation for sprouts.(Unbelievably Easy Sprouting)(Review)
June 1, 2001... Unbelievably Easy Sprouting by Elizabeth Baker Drelwood Communications, 1754 N.E. Mesford Rd. #63, Poulsbo, Washington 98342 USA; 360-697-9381; $14.95 With multitudes of books coming out in print, it is easy to assume that subject...

Natural Remedies for GI Complaints.(Healthy Digestion the Natural Way)(Review)
June 1, 2001... Healthy Digestion the Natural Way by D. Lindsey Berkson, DC John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, New York 10158-0012 USA; www.wiley.com Softbound, ISBN 0-471-34962-3, (c)2000, 256 pp., $16.95 (US)/$24.95 (CAN) ...

A IO-Step Program to Optimize Your Memory.(The Memory Solution)(Review)
June 1, 2001... The Memory Solution by Julian Whitaker, MD with Peggy Dace Avery Publishing Group, 120 Old Broadway, Garden City Park, New York 11040 USA; 800-548-5757 1999, softcover, $13.95 US, 278 pp. As we grow older, it's often the small...

Current Health News You Can Use.(health issues and the media; antibiotics for ear infection treatment; National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and National Library of Medicine create database; Prevnar vaccine does not prevent ear infections; X-rays and low back pain; gluten sensitivity may cause severe headache; CT scans may cause cancer in children; good bacteria and ear infection prevention; stress can cause wrinkles)
June 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....

G-Jo Acupressure.(body and mind therapy review)
June 1, 2001... In Which I Use My Nose to Treat My Gut, And Look Strange in the Process The primary difference between me -- Natural Health Educator -- and mere mortals is less about the health problems that affect us than what we do about them. We each...

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
June 1, 2001... The disease category of chronic fatigue syndrome (also called chronic fatigue immune deficiency syndrome, CFIDS) has only recently entered the Chinese medical literature where it has begun, in a growing number of patients, to replace the...

New Breakthroughs in Treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
June 1, 2001... Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is estimated to affect 1520% of adults. Also known as leaky gut syndrome, some IBS sufferers have constipation (difficult or infrequent bowel movements); others have diarrhea (frequent loose stools, often with an...

High Blood Pressure -- Lifestyle Factors, Dietary Considerations, Selected Botanicals and Supplements.
June 1, 2001... Hypertension is the most common chronic disease in older women and a significant risk factor for stroke, heart attack, congestive heart disease, and kidney disease. Beginning at age 50, hypertension is more common in women than in men and even...

Irritable Bowel Syndrome.(alternative treatment options)
June 1, 2001... Irritable bowel syndrome refers to a chronic intestinal disorder marked by recurring symptoms of abdominal pain and alteration of bowel habit. Nutritional influences on this syndrome are due primarily to the effects of macronutrients as well as...

Literature Review & Commentary.(review on doctor negligence on folic acid concentration testing; germinated barley for treatment of ulcerative colitis; kava as a potential cause of hepatitis; ipriflavone ineffective against osteoporosis; hemorrhagic shock treatment questioned; evaluation of flaxseed for treatment of cyclic mastalgia; neurodegenerative diseases and glutathione concentrations; probiotics for Helicobacter pylori infection treatment)
June 1, 2001... Doctor negligence The authors retrospectively reviewed all laboratory tests for serum or erythrocyte folate that were ordered in 1996 at 3 hospitals in Denver, Colorado; an urban public teaching hospital, a Veterans teaching hospital, and...