Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients articles from October 2001

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients archives from October 2001

Letter from the Publisher.(mad cow disease)
October 1, 2001... Mad Cow Disease is not new to the readers of this publication and is no longer news to most of the public. But two headlines in the August 14th New York Times should raise eyebrows in both groups. "Doctors Test Therapy for a Brain Malady: 2...

About the Cover.
October 1, 2001... Barbara Williams, our cover illustrator, has set a lovely table of sushi - delicious to the eyes and taste. As inviting as this Japanese meal may be, sometimes our food poses risks to our health. What toxic elements and pesticides are we about...

Health Concerns & GMO Food.(genetically modified)
October 1, 2001... Genetically-engineered food entered the marketplace in 1996. An estimated 60-70% of all processed foods now contain genetically-modified ingredients. An internet article by journalist Barbara Keeler and Shirley Watson, DC, CCN, Director of...

Stevia.
October 1, 2001... The Japanese National Institute of Health began studying stevia, the Paraguayan plant also known as 'honey leaf,' in 1970, after the government banned artificial sweeteners. A good quality stevia leaf, grown in Paraguay, is said to be 30 times...

How Safe Are Genetically-Engineered Crops?
October 1, 2001... The biotech industry claims that its genetically-engineered crops produce higher yields with less damage to the environment due to pesticides. It also claims that these crops pose no risk to health. An article distributed online by the...

McDonald's French Fries.(contain beef flavoring even though they are fried in vegetable oil)
October 1, 2001... The food industry uses the term "natural ingredients" on labels to protect secret recipes. For some consumers, however, that euphemism can hold unpleasant surprises. Such is the case with the French fries that the fast-food chain McDonald's...

Male Hormones in Water.(androstenedione, the result of bacterial biotransformation of pollutants, can pollute rivers and streams)
October 1, 2001... Over 20 years ago, ichthyologist W. Mike Howell of Samford University (Birmingham, Alabama) and a graduate student noticed abnormalities in mosquitofish that inhabited a polluted Florida creek. All of the fish had a gonopodium, along, thin fm...

Organic Boom in Baja.(California)
October 1, 2001... According to an article by the Hartman Group, "The organic market is hot -- double-digit growth, increased customer awareness, growing market penetration." At one time, organic food was the province of small natural food stores. Now, grocery...

Theories on the Cause of Mad Cow Disease.
October 1, 2001... Mad cow disease is a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is also found in humans (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), sheep (scapie), and other animals. Each year, about 250 people die...

Iodine Deficiency in China.
October 1, 2001... The human body needs tiny amounts of the mineral iodine throughout life to prevent the development of goiter and other thyroid conditions and to prevent low IQs and more severe mental retardation in the form of cretinism (characterized by...

Food Poisoning.(affects 76 million people each year)
October 1, 2001... According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food poisoning, caused by improper cooking or handling that results in contamination with pathogens, causes 5,000 deaths, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 76 million illnesses each...

Chemical Contaminants in Food.(American Civil Liberties Union and Edye Merzer sue Frito-Lay Inc.)
October 1, 2001... According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article, the American Civil Liberties Union has taken up a fight against Frito-Lay Inc. after Edye Merzer, a Massachusetts psychologist, decided she could no longer financially afford to continue her...

Charting the Mainstream.
October 1, 2001... Consumer Views of Healthcare Decline, Healthcare Premiums Increase, Physician Dissatisfaction, Staffing Issues, Reporting Medical Errors and a Blue Shield Guided Imagery Program Consumer Views of Healthcare: Getting Worse The Harris...

The War on Cancer.(alternative and complementary treatment of cancer)(Friday, November 16)
October 1, 2001... An Innovative Cancer Course in Philadelphia In November, I will help teach a course on complementary and alternative approaches to cancer at the Center for Integrative Medicine (CIM) in Philadelphia. The CIM is part of Thomas Jefferson...

Using Ginseng Wisely.
October 1, 2001... With Scotty Pippin touting it on TV, you know that Ginseng (Radix Panacis Ginseng, Ren Shen) has entered American culture for good. Ginseng is probably the best known of all Chinese medicinals. However, few Americans understand how to use this...

In Which I Argue Vigorously Against Common Cannibalism.
October 1, 2001... As longtime readers of this colunm know, I consider food -- what we eat, and especially what we don't eat -- to be the most important factor in determining our health. By far! Two food groups, in particular, are the worst culprits in...

Mad Cow Disease, A Case Report Overview of Homeopathic Diagnosis by EAV (Electroacupuncture by Voll).
October 1, 2001... Homeopathy is so widely misunderstood that I feel it necessary to preface this article with the statement that the body's reaction to a homeopathic remedy is the reaction to the energy of that remedy, not to the physical material. Four proofs...

Organic Fruits and Vegetable Products from Cuba.
October 1, 2001... Cuba is so far behind, it is ahead. When the Russian economy collapsed and its multi-billion support for Cuba evaporated, Cuba couldn't buy enough pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other products for its agricultural industry. Now for years...

Autoimmune Disease Risk for Teachers Revealed.
October 1, 2001... Teachers are more likely to die from an autoimmune disease than other professionals, according to US researchers. They hope the finding will boost efforts to unravel the causes of multiple sclerosis and other disorders in which the immune...

NIAID Researchers Identify New Drugs to Treat "Mad Cow"-Like Disease in Mice.(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
October 1, 2001... Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have identified a new class of compounds that slows the development of a "mad cow"-like prion disease in mice, they reported in the February 25 issue of Science....

Hypochlorhydria: A Review, part 1.
October 1, 2001... I am grateful you published my letter "Optimum Digestion and a Vital Diet Necessary for Treating Porphyria" (in the July, 2000 issue) because it draws attention to what is often a 'blind spot,' hypochlorhydria. Because hypochlorhydria (low...

Dietary Considerations for Patients with Chronic Illnesses and Multiple Chronic Infections: A Brief Outline of Eighteen Dietary Steps to Better Health.
October 1, 2001... Abstract There are a number of considerations when undergoing therapy for chronic illnesses including whether to use allopathic or conventional Western medical approaches as well as integrative nutraceutical supplements and an appropriate...

Is Organically Grown Food More Nutritious?
October 1, 2001... This article is a summary of a review article entitled "Effect of Agricultural Methods on Nutritional Quality: A Comparison of Organic with Conventional Crops" by Dr Worthington which appeared in Alternative Therapies, Volume 4, 1998, pages 58-...

Living Foods.
October 1, 2001... Since 1960, hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world have improved their health by following the wheatgrass and living foods programme developed by Dr. Ann Wigmore of Boston, Massachusetts. People with health problems such as...

Universal Oral Vaccine.(colostrum)(The Immune Milk Saga, part 3)
October 1, 2001... Part 3: How to Obtain Properly Prepared Colostrum Ordinarily the simplest way to obtain the proper antibodies and complement required for your particular medical condition would be to purchase products manufactured by a company that has...

Probiotic Applications: Pulse and Rotation.
October 1, 2001... Probiotics: Viable single or mixed culture of microorganisms which when applied to animal or human, beneficially affects their host by improving the properties of the indigenous microflora. [1] Over the last decade, other definitions have...

Shark Cartilage: Research Status.
October 1, 2001... The Shark Cartilage Renaissance A decade ago, shark cartilage became the focus of intense public interest, concerning its use as a dietary supplement for the nutritional support of cancer and arthritis. Amidst hyperbolic claims of efficacy,...

Letters to the Editor.(Soy Controversy: Reply to Mr. Bill Sardi)(Reply and Commentary to the Nutrasweet Company's Senior Medical Consultant)(Etiology of Mad Cow Disease)(The Ongoing Arsenic Enigma)(CoQ10 Enzyme Most Effective Melted in Hot Coffee or Tea with Fat)(GHB Illegal for Medical Use)(Benefit from Avoiding Food Allergens)(Open Letter to Congress)(Injectable Liver Extract Available for MS and ALS)(Soy Controversy Fueled by Author Inaccuracies)(Study Maligning Vitamin C Flawed)(Sacred Cow/Mad Cow)(Shaken Baby Syndrome)(Ten Top Reasons For Opposing Food Irradiation)(Who is Behind The Negative News Reports On Vitamin C?)(Mad Cows or Mad Scientists?)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2001... Soy Controversy: Reply to Mr. Bill Sardi Editor: On March 26, 2001, following the publication of our reply to his comments in the Townsend Letter, I received an email from Mr. Bill Sardi requesting a "timely" response to 12 questions,...

Peanuts for Sale?(research article on the potential anti-cancer benefits of peanuts was supported by a grant from the Peanut Institute)
October 1, 2001... A report was published recently in a peer-reviewed medical journal, with the following title: "Peanuts as a source of beta-sitosterol, a sterol with anticancer properties." [1] That quasi-sexy title was followed by an abstract pointing out that...

Support Health Care -- Not Drugs.
October 1, 2001... After extensive media coverage of older Americans bussing down to Mexico for cheaper prescription drugs, Congress is trying to come up with a compromise: a bill that will not curtail the profits of the pharmaceutical corporations (who are very...

Mad Cows, Mad People.(overview of mad cow disease and its effect on the meat industry)
October 1, 2001... Virtually everything you read about Mad Cow disease in the mainstream media is intended to protect not the public's health, but the economic viability of the $400 billion meat industry. Alternative Medicine, May 2001 "Beef is...

Glandular Growth Hormone vs Recombinant Human Growth Hormone -- Have We Gone Mad?
October 1, 2001... Developments in science and the marketplace, along with recurrent questions about safety and efficacy have taken a toll on wellness products. This is for a good reason. People get hurt or die when safety and efficacy are disregarded. The FDA...

Misinformation on Diet & Heart Disease.(review of Diet and Heart Disease: It's Not What You Think . . .)(Review)
October 1, 2001... Lee Clifford, MS, CCN [*] Diet & Heart Disease: It's Not What You Think... Stephen Byrnes Published by Wendell W. Whitman Co., Warsaw, Indiana 46580 USA Softcover (ISBN: 1-885653-14-X), 96 pp., 2001, $9.95 Available from:...

How to Eat if You Want to Die of AIDS.(review of Eat Up: Nutrition Advice and Food Ideas for People Living with HIV and AIDS)(Review)
October 1, 2001... Eat Up: Nutrition Advice and Food Ideas for People Living with HIV and AIDS Charlie Smigelski Tufts University; 1997 As a journalist who has written extensively about HIV and AIDS, as well as a practitioner who has worked closely...

Individualizing the Diet.(review of The Metabolic Typing Diet)(Review)
October 1, 2001... The Metabolic Typing Diet by William L. Wolcott Doubleday, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036 USA 2000, 428 pp, ISBN 0385496915 The author explains why some people thrive on a vegetarian diet while others feel awful; and some...

The Fatty Acid Fiasco.(review of Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol)(Review)
October 1, 2001... Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol Mary G. Enig, PhD Bethesda Press, 12501 Prosperity Drive, Suite 340, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904 USA; 301-680-8600; fax 301-680-8100;...

Lifestyle Strategies by Blood Type.(review of Live Right 4 Your Type)(explanation of influence of blood type on diet and disease survival)(Review)
October 1, 2001... Live Right 4 Your Type Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo with Catherine Whitney G.P.Putnam's Sons, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 USA Hardback, 2001. $24.95, 377 pp. Several years ago in his popular book Eat Right 4 Your...

Primary Prevention for the 21st Century.(review of The Detox Solution)(Review)
October 1, 2001... The Detox Solution by Patricia Fitzgerald Illumination Press, P.O. Box 269, Santa Monica, California 90406 USA; www.the detoxsolution.com 2001, softcover, $19.95 US/$29.95 Can, 436 pp. Every day we become more aware of the...

Contesting the Fat-Free Craze.(review of Eat Fat, Lose Weight: The Right Fats Can Make You Thin)(Review)
October 1, 2001... Eat Fat, Lose Weight: The Right Fats can Make You Thin Ann Louise Gittleman, MS with Dina R. Nunziato, CSW Keats Publishing, 4255 West Thuhy Ave., Lincolnwood, Illinois 60712 USA Softbound, 1999, ISBN 0-87983-966-X, 176 pp, $16.95 Eat...

New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct: Are Its Policies and Performance Becoming a Political Liability?(overview of medical regulation in New York State)
October 1, 2001... "But I am not guilty," said K., "it's a misunderstanding. And if it comes to that how can any man be called guilty. We an all simply men here, one as much as the other." "That is true," said the priest, "but that's how all guilty men...

The Healing Power of Homeopathic Animal Medicines Part 1: From Dog's Milk to The Saliva of a Rabid Dog.
October 1, 2001... Animals Heal Far More Than They Harm The mere mention of a cow these days sends chills up the spine of many a farmer, tourist, or non-vegetarian, especially in the United Kingdom. Attacks by grizzlies and sharks terrify hikers and swimmers...

Mental Health Effects of Patterns of Food Intake: Nutrients and Toxins/Additives.
October 1, 2001... Mental symptoms and mercury Clinical signs, subjective symptoms reported, and urinary mercury excretion were studied in 348 patients selected by odontologists or internists as amalgam-free referents, or as subjects with unexplained...

Safety Issues in Herbal Medicine: Adulteration, Adverse Reactions and Organ Toxicities.
October 1, 2001... Adverse Reactions The potential for an herbal product to cause adverse reactions can be assessed either from the perspective of the phytochemical content of the plant or from published case reports. A Phytochemical Perspective ...

What's in the Beef?(interview with Howard Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy.)(discussion of health aspects of additives in beef)
October 1, 2001... "Meat kills. It is the number one cause of death and disease in America," states Howard Lyman, a fourth-generation cattle rancher and co-defendant with Oprah Winfrey in a legal suit brought against them for making disparaging remarks about meat...

Food and Supplementation Benefits and Risks in Carcinogenesis -- Part 1.
October 1, 2001... Whole food, grown on organic, nutrient-rich and chemical-free soil in a clean environment, provides the body with a synergistic array of thousands of known and unknown antioxidants, nutrients and powerful nutraceutical compounds. These...

Soy Isoflavones in the Management of Breast Cancer Survivors: A Judgment Call.
October 1, 2001... Breast cancer is one of the most important health problems facing Western women today. Approximately 180,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States this year and 45,000 women will die from the disease each year. Risk factors for...

Is it Healthy to Eat Meat and Poultry?
October 1, 2001... The decision of whether to eat animal meat and poultry is often made on religious or ethical grounds. We will examine the issue on the basis of human health. Benefits Animal muscle tissue consists primarily of protein with a varying...

The Last Word.(benefits of the usage of animal glandular supplementation)
October 1, 2001... My apologies to Melvyn Werbach, MD whose writings normally fall on this page (you'll find "Nutritional Influences on Illness" on page 170). And I must admit that I am not one to usually have the "last word." However, knowing that the topic of...