Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients articles from May 2005

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients archives from May 2005

Letter from the publisher.(Editorial)
May 1, 2005... It is not often that I walk away from a medical meeting with the certainty that here is information I can use, tinker with, worry about, and imagine the possibilities. The Society for Orthomolecular Health-Medicine (OHM), run by Richard Kunin,...

Bee venom therapy.(Shorts)
May 1, 2005... The venom in the sting of a honey bee has anti-inflammatory effects that reduce pain and swelling associated with arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, and other inflammations. In his article "Bee Venom Therapy," Glenn Rothfeld, MD, suggests that...

Cholesterol, diet & heart disease.(Shorts)
May 1, 2005... In their article "The Role of Cholesterol and Diet in Heart Disease," public health scientists Alice Ottoboni, PhD, and Fred Ottoboni, MPH, PhD, explain the fallacies that underlie the hypothesis that cholesterol and high-fat diets cause heart...

Chronic inflammation.(Shorts)
May 1, 2005... Inflammation is the body's self-protective response to irritation or injury, but it creates serious problems when the process becomes chronic. Scientists have begun to recognize that tissue damage results when the inflammatory response does not...

National Institutes of Health conflict of interest.(Shorts)
May 1, 2005... The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the "steward of medical and behavioral research for the Nation." Doctors rely on the NIH for unbiased, accurate information; but, current practices have jeopardized the NIH reputation. In his...

Regulating supplements.(Shorts)
May 1, 2005... After 13 years of development, the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses finalized its international guidelines for vitamins and minerals in November 2004. Robert Verkerk, PhD, executive director of Alliance for...

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).(Shorts)
May 1, 2005... Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is providing researchers with new tactics for treating people with cardiovascular disease. VEGF is a cytokine that helps regulate vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and endothelial cell survival....

Does vitamin E cause congestive heart failure?(Literature Review & Commentary)
May 1, 2005... Some 3,994 patients aged 55 years or older with vascular disease or diabetes were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, 400 IU/day of vitamin E (RRR-alpha-tocopheryl acetate) or placebo for a median of 7.0 years. The incidence...

Is rheumatoid disease caused by an infection?(Literature Review & Commentary)
May 1, 2005... The author of this report has found amebas of the genus Naegleria in synovial tissue and other tissues of patients with rheumatoid disease. These amebas have also been found to a lesser extent in tissues of healthy humans. Treatment of active...

Lowering C-reactive protein and lipid levels with diet.(Literature Review & Commentary)
May 1, 2005... Forty-six healthy, hyperlipidemic men and women (mean age, 59 years) were randomly assigned to one of three weight-maintaining diets for one month: 1) a diet very low in saturated fat, based on milled whole-wheat cereals and low-fat dairy foods...

More on diet and C-reactive protein.(Literature Review & Commentary)
May 1, 2005... Eleven patients with diabetes participated in a crossover study (2 weeks on each of 2 different diets), and 13 other patients with diabetes participated in a 6-week randomized trial of the same diets. The two diets had a similar content of...

Treating sleep terrors in children.(Literature Review & Commentary)
May 1, 2005... Forty-five children (mean age, 7.3 years; range, 3.2-10.6 years) experiencing a mean of 6.6 sleep terror episodes per month were randomly assigned to receive L-5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) (n = 31) or to serve as an untreated control group (n =...

Coenzyme Q10 increases survival after cardiac arrest.(Literature Review & Commentary)
May 1, 2005... Forty-nine patients with a witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac origin, who were in a coma after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) despite restored spontaneous blood flow, were treated with hypothermia and were...

Cold comfort for people with diabetes.(Literature Review & Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Two potato meals containing 50 g of carbohydrate were fed to 9 subjects with varied insulin sensitivity, at mean temperatures of 83.6 degrees C for hot potato and 26.0 degrees C for cooled potato. Cooled potato resulted in a significantly lower...

A new view of cancer's origins.(The War on Cancer)
May 1, 2005... Gastric cancer originates from bone marrow-derived cells. So states a paper published in late 2004 by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), Worcester, Massachusetts. This paper provides a radically different view...

Rhodiola: the Arctic adaptogen.(Phytotherapy Review & Commentary)
May 1, 2005... General Information Rhodiola rosea (Sedum roseum) is found in Arctic regions including Alaska, northeastern Siberia and northern parts of Europe. The botanical name alludes to the rose-like odor of the rootstock when freshly cut. The use...

POPs treaty.(Health Risks and Environmental )(Persistent organic pollutants)
May 1, 2005... Pollution in the Great Lakes during the 1960s became a serious enough threat to warrant cooperative action between the United States and Canada. The focus was on reducing the prevalence of toxic pollutants including untreated sewage, industrial...

True North Health Center practices upstream medicine.(Pathways to Healing)
May 1, 2005... When you walk in the door at True North Health Center, in Falmouth, Maine, you enter a large room with a skylight, a number of trees, and a waterfall. With 7,500 square feet, the facility has room for ten exam and treatment rooms, a patient...

Chinese medicine & coronary heart disease (CHD).(Chinese Medicine Update)
May 1, 2005... Keywords: Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, cardiology, coronary heart disease (CHD), coronary artery disease (CAD) ********** Coronary heart disease, also called coronary artery disease (CAD), refers to athero- and...

Negative emotions and proinflammatory cytokines.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)
May 1, 2005... Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology describes the unity of mental, neurological, hormonal and immunological functions, addressing the impact of cognitive images of the mind (whatever its elusive definition) on the central nervous, endocrine and...

Stress and inflammation.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)
May 1, 2005... Molecular and biochemical bases for central nervous system-immune interactions include immune cytokines which activate immune function and also recruit central stress-responsive neurotransmitter systems in the modulation of the immune response...

Immunity and stress.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Meta-analysis of stress/immunity literature showed a very significant inverse relation of stress to immune function including decreased proliferative response to mitogens (p Stress of interpersonal events was significantly more important...

Stress and anti-inflammatory signals.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)
May 1, 2005... Of 50 healthy adults, parents of cancer patients experienced more psychological stress than parents of healthy children (p Miller GE, Cohen S, Ritchey AK. Chronic psychological stress and the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines: a...

Inflammation and stress.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)
May 1, 2005... In response to psychological or certain physiological stressors, an inflammatory process may occur through release of neuropeptides (especially substance P or other inflammatory mediators) from sensory nerves and the activation of mast cells or...

Inflammatory dermatoses and the mind.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... It is only recently that Western physicians are rediscovering the link between thought and health. The spectrum of causative factors in inflammatory dermatoses are often multifactorial. Stress and negative thoughts are major factors in...

Infections, immunity and stress.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Immune function is mediated by the release of cytokines (nonantibody messenger molecules) from a variety of immune and endothelial cells. Cytokine release stimulates the inflammatory response, induced by hormonal changes elicited following...

Helicobacter pylori and stress.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The oral cavity is suspected to be involved in the transmission of H. pylori, a cause of gastritis and ulcers. Saliva was collected from 17 undergraduate volunteers before, during, and after exposure to a stressful video showing graphic...

Mononucleosis and psychosocial factors.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Twenty-eight hospitalized and 22 outpatient students ill with mononucleosis were psychologically evaluated. In men, significant correlations were present with a broken love relationship in the prior month (p Roark JE. Psychosomatic factors...

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and emotional support.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Forty-nine Swedish, male, hemophiliac, HIV-infected men were identified in 1986. After personal interview, an "availability of attachment" score was calculated based on the strength of their social support systems. Followed 4 years,...

Colds and social support.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Two-hundred-seventy-six healthy volunteers age 18-55 were interviewed and followed for susceptibility to cold viruses. The subjects were separated by history into those with 1-3 types of social ties v. those with >6 types of social ties. Each...

The stress of caregiving in chronic illness.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Sixty-nine spousal caregivers of demented relatives >5 years duration were contrasted to 69 sociodemographically matched controls. Caregivers had significantly increased incidence of infectious illness and depression, significantly less sleep...

Infections in schizophrenia caregivers.(Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary)
May 1, 2005... A nurse interviewer, blind to the patient's symptoms, caregiver burden, and psychosocial status, administered the Health Review questionnaire to 70 schizophrenia caregivers. A second interviewer, blind to caregiver health status and patient...

Heavy metals in Ayurvedic preparations.(Ayurvedic Science Updates)
May 1, 2005... An interesting piece of news appeared on 17th December 2004, in the English daily Hindustan Times titled "Some Ayurvedic Drugs Toxic--USA study finds high level of Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic" and reported by S.Raj Gopalan from Washington. This...

Update on Dr. Jennifer Daniels: are state medical boards biased against racial and ethnic minorities?(Townsend's New York Observer)
May 1, 2005... I devoted my first column in Townsend to Dr. Jennifer Daniels (Feb./March 2004). New York's Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) had indefinitely suspended her license to practice in 2001--punishment for her refusal to submit to a...

The concept of inflammation and its relationship to acupuncture.(Acupuncture and Moxibustion)
May 1, 2005... The Western medical term inflammation has very specific meanings, classically involving 'calor,' 'rubor,' and 'dolor' as part of the definition. This older definition has been expanded in recent years to include changes in blood markers such...

Inflammation and heart disease: a holistic perspective.
May 1, 2005... The amount of insulin within the body determines the amount of fat-maker message. Hormones, like insulin, carry information to the body cells. Hormone information always concerns how cells direct energy expenditure. Insulin carries information...

A multifactorial approach to heart disease.
May 1, 2005... We have reached a point in today's society where every illness needs to be viewed from the standpoint of multifactorial disease. Where we once may have been able to address heart disease and other illness with an "if this-then that" approach,...

Shy-Drager Syndrome (MSA) reversal through alternative medicine.
May 1, 2005... In the June 2001 issue of the Townsend Letter For Doctors and Patients my first case study about a successful treatment of Shy Drager Syndrome (also known as MSA or multi-system atrophy) was published. In that issue I had written the story of...

Annapurna: a skeptic ventures into the mysteries of self-healing.
May 1, 2005... Although I consider myself open-minded, when it comes to unconventional treatments I definitely have a "prove it to me" attitude. As a Registered Nurse, I know that I can easily access medical care and get a shot or pill or surgery to treat...

Klenner protocol first step for MS control.(Letters to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Editor: In this letter I hope to convey the course of my illness and response over the last year. I make four recommendations that I think reflect a basic protocol that anyone with the diagnosis of MS can take. There will be individual...

Prostaglandin role in inducing and suppressing inflammation in MS.(Letters to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Editor: In the January 2005 issue of the Townsend Letter I gave the details of the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) by Dr. Frederich Klenner. A patient cured of MS by Klenner, Dale Humpherys, has had several letters to the Editor. He...

The link between adrenal fatigue and DNA methylation.(Letters to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Editor: Adrenal function is vital to life: without cortisol we die. This fact has been known since the 1930s when it was described by Banting and Best. Glucocorticoids are essential for maintaining carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism....

An in-office evaluation of four dietary supplements on natural killer cell activity.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Editor: I wanted to submit a few clarifications to a study I published in the Feb/March 2005 issue entitled "An In-Office Evaluation of Four Dietary Supplements on Natural Killer Cell Activity." In this study I found that one particular...

How emotional conflicts affect our bodies.(Letters to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Editor: Whenever we develop physical or emotional/mental symptoms, we begin to look for where our lives took a wrong turn and how we came to be sick. We ask ourselves what the connections are between our life history and our illness. The...

Is aspartame safe?(Editorial)(Editorial)
May 1, 2005... There is a great deal of controversy regarding the safety of the artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet[R]). On the one hand, according to the Council of Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association, the available evidence...

Natural remedies for psychiatric conditions.(BookCorners)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs by Ethan Russo, MD The Haworth Press, Inc. 10 Alice Street, Binghampton, New York 13904 USA; 800-429-6784; sales@haworthpress.com Softcover, 2001, $29.95, 352 pp. In the late 1980s the selective...

Practitioners of the green.(BookCorners)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... Herbal Voices: American Herbalism Through the Words of American Herbalists by Anne Kathleen Dougherty, MA Published by the Haworth Integrative Healing Press[R], 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, New York 13904 USA; 800-429-6784 ...

A natural guide to fighting infection.(BookCorners)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... The Antibiotic Alternative by Cindy L.A. Jones, PhD Healing Arts Press, One Park St., Rochester, Vermont 05767 USA; www.InnerTraditions.com Softcover, c.2000, $14.95, 242 pp. Pharmaceutical drugs are in the news these...

Oxygen homeostasis.(BookCorners)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... The Principles and Practice of Integrative Medicine, Volume III, Dysoxygenosis and Oxystatic Therapies by Majid Ali, MD Canary Press, 140 West End Avenue, Suite 1H, New York, New York 10023 USA, www.canary21.com Softcover, 2004,...

The paleoecology of pinworms.(Medical Anthropology)
May 1, 2005... I remember my first exposure to pinworms. I was participating in a field school practicing anthropological observation skills in a remote area of British Columbia. We had been sleeping outside for months, on the ground, and I discovered that a...

Oxygen governs the inflammatory response and adjudicates man-microbe conflicts.(Oxygen Homeostasis)
May 1, 2005... Life is an unending injury-healing-injury cycle. Injury is inevitable in an organism's struggle for survival. Healing is the intrinsic capacity of the organism to repair damage inflicted by that injury. Inflammation--in my view--is one aspect...

Using liquid remedies for greater flexibility in homeopathic prescribing and case management.(Healing with Homeopathy)
May 1, 2005... After more than 20 years of homeopathic practice, one gets to the point of doing things one's own way based on cumulative experience. For the first 10 years of practice we innovated very little. We practiced classical, single dose homeopathy...

The anti-infective and anti-inflammatory effects of glutamine.(Therapeutic Nutrition)
May 1, 2005... Messenger molecules, growth factors and other effectors of immune cell function are made up of soluble elements that modulate immune response. Examples of such factors include glutamine (an essential substrate for cell division and energy...

Web Page Potpourri--health data mapping: a column devoted to informative integrative health resources on the internet.
May 1, 2005... Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have moved to the web, enabling sophisticated display of health data. If you have interesting data to map, let me know; I'd be happy to share ideas on some tools to help get the job done. Maps and...

Antibiotic-sensitive infections in CFS/Fibromyalgia.(Highly Effective Treatments for Pain and Fatigue)(chronic fatigue syndrome)
May 1, 2005... Many infections have been found in CFIDS. That people may have not just one, but several simultaneously, is significant. It suggests that although these infections may be a trigger, in most patients the immune system is suppressed, setting...

Considerations in the prevention of seasonal allergic rhinitis.(Naturopathic Perspectives)
May 1, 2005... As this issue covers the role of inflammation in several disease aspects, the authors thought it fitting to apply this topic to seasonal allergic rhinitis, otherwise known as 'allergies' or 'hay fever'. Seasonal allergic rhinitis, or for that...

Calendar.(Calendar)
May 1, 2005... APRIL 25-30: CLINICAL HERBAL MEDICINE TRAINING FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS in Ashland, Oregon. Under the supervision of Master Herbalists Donald Yance, CN, AHG and Chanchal Cabrera, M.Sc., MNIMH, AHG, students undergo intensive experiential...

Breastfeeding support: improving quality and quantity of breast milk.(Women's Health Update)
May 1, 2005... Most pediatric health advisory organizations and practitioners recommend exclusive breastfeeding for all infants during the first four to six months after birth, with breastfeeding continuing for a minimum of 12 months. Exclusive breastfeeding...

Some nutritional influences on inflammation.(Nutritional Influences on Illness)
May 1, 2005... One year ago, this column reviewed some of the vitamins and minerals that affect the inflammatory pathways. This month we will examine the evidence for anti-inflammatory effects from supplementation with certain other nutrients. ...