A Five-Pronged Natural Approach For Chronic Joint Pain & Inflammation -- Anti-Aging Barron Report

A Five-Pronged Natural Approach For Chronic Joint Pain & Inflammation -- Anti-Aging Barron Report

A Five-Pronged Approach to Chronic Joint Pain and Inflammation

Joint pain is an interesting animal. Everyone has it at some point. For many people, it's only an occasional problem -- easily taken care of by a single aspirin or some Ben Gay (or buy some Essential Relief^™ for that matter). For others, though, it's a chronic problem, reducing them to a lifetime of dependency on high doses of NSAIDS or prescription drugs.

Over the years, I've formulated and recommended a number of products for pain. Years ago, before they were all the rage, I recommended Glucosamine and Chondroitin sulfate. Also, over the years, I've recommended CMO (cetyl myristoleate), MSM, Fish oil, Boswellia, and Proteolytic Enzymes, among others.

Why so many things?

Because no one solution works for everyone! That's so important, I'm going to repeat it one more time. No one solution works for everyone!

Glucosamine and Chondroitin

I don't care what advertising statements you've read or how hard someone has tried to sell you a magic bullet, no one formula works for everyone. Each person is unique. Their bodies are different. And the causes of joint pain and cartilage destruction are varied.

If Glucosamine and Chondroitin already work for you, then this report is not for you (necessarily). If CMO does the trick, same thing. If you're happy with Proteolytic Enzymes or Essential Relief^™, this probably is not for you (most likely). But if they haven't worked, or if you still suffer from chronic pain, and the only help you've been able to find is from daily doses of aspirin or prescription drugs, or if you're concerned about more than just the pain issue and are looking to prevent further degradation of your joints, then read on.

Updating a Formula

Messing with a successful formula is always a risky proposition, but so is thinking that good enough is good enough.

Back in 2005, I developed a formula which incorporated some extraordinary new research on natural pain relievers -- 3 substances that not only relieved pain, swelling, and stiffness, but that when used in combination also helped rebuild damaged joints and tissue.

This formula offered a three pronged approach to systemically relieving chronic joint pain and inflammation.

1. It incorporated ASU to increase aggrecan levels, thereby helping to repair and rebuild damaged cartilage in the weight bearing joints.
2. It made use of the unique ability of the undenatured type II chicken collagen found in UC-II™ to train the body's immune system to stop attacking joint cartilage.
3. And it made use of ginger's ability to directly reduce pain and inflammation.

This formula worked so well that even though it was not inexpensive, it became one of the best selling formulas at Baseline Nutritonals, and had one of their highest reorder rates. And on top of that, it not only was successful at relieving pain, it also turned out to be spectacular at protecting against periodontal disease. Which brings up the question: why mess with success?

The answer is that it only works for about 68% of the people who use it (keeping in mind that glucosamine and chondroitin only work for about 30% of the people who use them). Now economically, 68% is a huge hit for Baseline, but as a formulator, I obsess over the 30% who are being left behind. I realize that nothing will work for 100% of people, but what about 80-85% -- rates we see for formulas like Essential Relief^™ pain oil?

Anyway, ever since the formula was released, I've been looking for ways to improve its rate of effectiveness. One of the problems, of course, with changing a formula is that there's only so much room in a capsule. If you put something new in, you have to take something old out to make room for it. The trick, then, is making sure that the trade off produces a more effective formula, not just a different formula; and after two years of constant experimentation, I've been able to do that with this formula. I've found a way to add two ingredients to the formula that early research indicates may produce an effectiveness rate approaching 80-85%. The two new ingredients are CMO (a special Omega-9 fatty acid variant) and 5-LOXIN® (a very special boswellia serrata extract).

With that in mind, let's look at the formula from top to bottom.

1. Avocado Soy Unsaponifiables (ASU)

In order to understand what ASUs are (apologies to Arizona State University) and how they work, we need to make a minor detour and talk about aggrecan. In fact, this discussion should help tie together some of the supplements that you may already be familiar with. Aggrecan is the acronym for a small bio-chemical molecule called, oxymoronically, the large aggregating chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan. Specifically, an aggrecan molecule consists of a protein backbone which is attached to up to 150 chondroitin sulfate chains and 60 keratan sulfate chains. Aggrecan is abundant in the human body and represents up to 10% of the dry weight of cartilage -- keeping in mind that's quite substantial since articular cartilage (the cartilage found at the end of long bones) contains up to 75% water. As many as 100 of these aggrecan monomers will then interact with hyaluronic acid molecules to form a single massive chain called an aggregate, which is a key component of joint cartilage.

Aggrecan plays a crucial role in the functioning of articular cartilage (the cartilage found in joints), primarily working to maintain high levels of hydration in the cartilage -- thereby keeping the cartilage healthy and functional. As a side note, it is the presence in aggrecan of large numbers of chondroitin sulfate chains that is primarily responsible for the osmotic pressure that results in articular cartilage being 75% water.

When at rest, such as sitting down and watching TV, the osmotic swelling in the articular cartilage is at a maximum. However, when walking or standing, the weight of the body is transferred to the articular cartilage found at the ends of the long bones. At this point, your weight compresses the cartilage, literally squeezing water out of it. This continues until the osmotic swelling generates a force equal to the compressive force on the cartilage generated by your weight. When you sit down again (reducing the load), the compressive force is removed, and the cartilage once again swells to its full extent. The more aggrecan present, the better able your body is to perform this function. Note: the reason people supplement with chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine sulfate is actually to increase aggrecan levels. They are components of aggrecan, and it is aggrecan that lies at the core of cartilage health. But as it turns out, there may be a more efficient way to increase aggrecan levels.

Bottom line: maintaining high levels of aggrecan is essential for optimizing joint health. (As a side note, aggrecan plays a major role in brain and spinal cord development and function too.)

A French Discovery on Osteoarthritis

Several years ago, researchers from the University Hospital in Liege, Belgium reported in the August 2003 issue of The Journal of Rheumatology that a phytosterol/sterolin extract concentrated from the oils found tightly bound to avocado and soybean fibers could significantly boost production of aggrecan, thereby helping slow down and even repair some of the damage caused by osteoarthritis -- in as little as nine days.

It should be noted that although eating avocado and soybean oil separately does indeed enhance aggrecan production (somewhat); it is only these special compounds found in ASU extract (made up of one-third avocado and two-thirds soybean unsaponifiables) that restore aggrecan synthesis blocked by the inflammation-causing compound interleukin-1-beta. In addition, ASUs also reduce levels of several other inflammatory factors such as MMP-3 production. In other words, ASU is not the same as avocado and soy oil. It is specially extracted from the fiber of avocados and soy. The problem is that before extraction, the ASUs are so tightly bound to the fiber, that they are mostly unusable by the human body.

ASU has been sold in Europe in a purified form for several years now as a prescription drug. As such, it has a number of studies supporting its effectiveness. For example, in a double-blind trial, 260 individuals with arthritis of the knee were given either a placebo or purified ASU at 300 or 600 mg daily. The results over 3 months showed that use of ASU significantly improved arthritis symptoms when compared to a placebo.

What It Means for Arthritis

If you've tried Chondroitin sulfate, Glucosamine sulfate, MSM, CMO, whatever, and none of them have worked for you, then ASUs offer an exciting alternative.

Note

To make room for the two new ingredients, I had to pull out some of the ASU. Previously, I included 1000 mg a day of ASU in the formula. This was approximately three times more than anyone else used in their ASU products, and it definitely improved the effectiveness of the formula -- not so much in helping with joint pain, but in its ability to help protect against periodontal disease. In the end, though, the primary purpose of this formula is to help with joint pain, so I decided to drop the ASU down to the commonly used level of 333 mg a day, which allowed me room to add the CMO and 5-Loxin® -- thereby significantly increasing the efficacy of the formula when it comes to joint pain with only a small loss in periodontal benefit.

Placebos As A Treatment Option? Natural Health Blog

Placebos As A Treatment Option? Natural Health Blog

Pla-ce-bo: A substance having no pharmacological effect but given merely to satisfy a patient who supposes it to be a medicine. (Dictionary.com)

We may have to rethink the above dictionary definition of the word placebo since it now appears that these pills can improve symptoms even when the patient knows they contain no medicine.

A recent study conducted by scientists at Harvard University proves that placebos can be effective treatment tools without having to deceive patients. The researchers split the 80 volunteers -- all of whom suffered from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) -- into two groups. The first group acted as a control and was given no treatment of any kind. The second group was provided with pills to take twice a day, but the researchers explained that these were similar to sugar pills. The subjects were never led to believe that there was any active medication in the pills, and the bottle was even marked placebo.

At the end of the three-week study, around 35 percent of those receiving no treatment reported improvement in their symptoms. Stunningly though, a whopping 59 percent of the subjects taking the placebos reported an improvement in their symptoms. And, perhaps even more importantly, the placebo takers rated their physical improvement similar to the amount of improvement typically reported by those taking standard IBS drugs!

IBS is a chronic condition that is characterized by abdominal pain and bloating, diarrhea, and/or constipation. There is no known cause, so doctors typically treat the symptoms as they appear with suggested lifestyle changes and medication. Two drugs have been FDA approved for IBS, but they are both last resort sorts of treatments, used only if nothing else has worked due to rather unpleasant side effects. Lubiprostone, or Amitiza, may help women with IBS who suffer from constipation, but it frequently causes nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, which leaves users no more comfortable than they were before. The other option is Alosetron, or Lotronex, which was actually banned for a time because of the serious complications it caused, but now is available again only for those in specific protocols. It may cause severe constipation, bloody diarrhea, worsening of abdominal pain, fever, dizziness, and a host of other problems.

Needless to say, if a harmless placebo can do the trick -- whether it's because of the power of positive thinking or the reassurance of carrying out a medical routine endorsed by a health care provider -- that is a better option than taking a prescription drug that may have you feeling worse than the original illness. Numerous earlier studies have shown that between 30 and 40 percent of patients taking placebos report improvements to their conditions, but that was when they were deceived, when they were not aware they were not being medicated. But remember, the latest study showed that you can almost double that rate of improvement if you tell patients that they are taking a placebo!

And the findings, perhaps not surprisingly in an often over-medicated American society, are not just pertinent for IBS sufferers. Research last year published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that placebos have essentially the same effect as commonly prescribed antidepressants on people with mild to moderate cases of depression. Instead of always reaching for that trusty prescription pad, physicians may need to take another look at placebos as a treatment option, especially now that they seem to be working well without any form of deception to create an ethical dilemma…and in fact, working even better when no deception is used.

But obviously an even better option would be to stay away from medicines, real or fake, when possible, because in either case, you're only dealing with symptoms -- not actually eliminating the underlying problem. When it comes to dealing with IBS, for example, check out Jon Barron's newsletter on Crohn's, IBS, and Ulcerative Colitis.

5 Triggers That Could Be Making Your Allergies Worse

To keep your immune system from over reacting, you will first need to figure out just what is causing it to go into overdrive. Here are five immune system stressors that may be contributing to the release of histamines in your body.

• Your diet: Adopting an anti-inflammatory diet is one of the first steps to take during allergy season. If you eat foods that are high inflammatory foods, your seasonal allergies can be worse especially if you're already sensitive to a particular food. For me that would be sugar, and that can be a big problem, because I love my sweets. There are two types of foods that can cause an inflammatory reaction that will exhaust your immune system. The first type are the foods you can't digest well; ones you may not even know you have a problem with. The most common food allergies are wheat, milk, eggs, and peanuts. When your body is sensitive to a certain food it puts your immune system into a fight mode so that when seasonal allergies come along it over reacts because it's still in that heightened state from trying to fight off the food allergies. This will cause your allergies to spiral out of control. If you follow a diet that minimizes inflammation in your body and creates little or no stress on your immune system, then your body won't react so violently to external allergies. The second type of inflammation causing foods affect everyone and you don't have to have food sensitivities, and these include saturated fats, processed foods, and heavily refined carbohydrates. Daniel Monti, MD, director of the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and author of "The Great Life Makeover", says to cut out all of these products, especially during allergy season, and instead eat lots of fruits, veggies, and whole (gluten-free) grains. So how can you tell if there are underlying food allergies that are making your seasonal allergies worse? Eliminate one food at a time that you think is causing the problem, let's say for a week or so. Then, on the eighth day, bring that food back into your diet and watch for things like increased mucus, asthma-like symptoms, skin rashes, gas, bloating, heartburn, headaches, fatigue, or mood changes. If you see any of these symptoms, or you just don't feel as well as you did when you were off of that food, eliminate that food from your diet. Keep repeating this process with any other foods you think is causing your problem. You won't see immediate results once you've eliminated a food from your diet, and two to four weeks may pass before you do notice any relief. Also, if you are allergic to the food, you may be able to add it back into your diet once allergy season is over.
• Stress: Research has linked overwhelming stress from work, family, money problems, and just the stress of life in general, to numerous chronic health problems and diseases. But, they have also discovered that stress can make your allergies worse, because the hormones and other chemicals released during long periods of stress, causes damage that triggers the immune response. Your body uses nutrients, including antioxidants and vitamins, to keep your bodys' defenses up against stress. But, when stress becomes a constant thing, the body will need more nutrients to keep it going. The more stress we have, the more likely we are to make very poor food choices and not get the sleep we need. When you look at all these factors, it's no wonder our immune systems are off balance! Getting regular exercise, enough sleep, and practicing mind-body techniques like yoga and meditation, will help you to manage the stress you face every day. Taking a daily multivitamin and eating five to nine servings or more of fruits and veggies a day will also help your immune system to build up the supply of nutrients it needs to fight stress.
• Your home: Just like you, there are many of the things that trigger your allergies that consider your home a sanctuary. There are an unbelievable 52% of US households that have at least six detectable allergens, all of which can find their way into your body, this is stated in a report from the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Some of those allergens that can be detected include animal dander, dust mites, mold, scented candles, cleaning products, and cigarette smoke. I rather imagine these allergens don't spark much of a histamine reaction in a healthy immune system, but if your immune system is hypersensitive, like it is when you have an autoimmune disease, they'll set off a number of alarming symptoms. Luckily, you can eliminate those possible reactions by doing a few simple things. The first thing you can do is to use a saline nasal rinse once a day, maybe twice if you're have a rough day. A saline nasal rinse will flush out any allergens in your nasal passages. You can purchase a nasal rinse in any drugstore or you can make your own by adding a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of baking soda to a quart of boiling water. Let the solution cool to body temperature before you put it in a neti pot to flush your nose. If the rinse burns, then you should add more baking soda. There are four other common household irritants that can compromise your immune system.
  
  
  
  • Dust Mites: The key to controlling this little microscopic creatures is to give them fewer places to live. If it is possible, you might want to consider replacing your carpet with hardwood and you also might want to think about limiting upholstered items and fabric hangings like wall tapestries or drapes. To kill dust mites you will want to enclose your pillows, mattresses, and box springs in allergen proof covers, wash bed sheets, mattress pads, and blankets in 130 degree water every week. I also put all my pillows, bed and throw, in the dryer for about 45 minutes, once a week, the heat is what kills them. Now here's a trick I didn't know about, if you have stuffed animals, and who doesn't, every six weeks you will need to wash them in hot water or you can stick them in plastic bags and freeze them overnight to kill off the mites.
    
    
    
  • Animals: Pets are one of the largest contributors to household allergens, including proteins found in their dander, dead skin flakes, urine, and saliva. Cats are actually worse than dogs because their dander is lighter and it clings to everything, which makes it more likely to breath in and cause your immune system to "attack" it. The thing about your pets dander is that it can linger a lot longer, so by swapping your carpet for hardwood, keeping your pets off upholstered furniture, and investing in a HEPA air filter, which reduces dander in the air and can make a difference
    
    
  • Mold: One of the best ways to reduce mold in your house is to keep the temperature around 68 degrees and the relative humidity about 35 percent; you can pick up a humidity gauge to monitor this. Mold tends to grow in potting soil, especially if it's too moist, keep all indoor plants on the dry side and ban plants from the bedroom, where you spend up to a third of your time. You might want to place a dehumidifier in damp basements or crawl spaces during the summer, which can improve overall air quality throughout the entire house. Now for the last of the household allergens that can send your immune system into overdrive,
    
    
    
  • Airborne chemicals. Try using natural cleaning products or better yet make your own. Here are some of the homemade products I use: for my furniture I mix 1/4 c. of vinegar to 3/4 c. oil (olive, vegetable, or lemon), for a general cleaner I will sprinkle plain baking soda on the surface and use a wet sponge or cloth to clean, after cleaning, rinse out your sponge or cloth and wipe the surface until all baking soda residue is gone. I use this on my tubs and sinks as well instead of soft scrub. For my windows I mix 1/2 c. rubbing alcohol with 1 c. of vinegar in a spray bottle and then I fill the bottle with water until it's full. You will also want to avoid synthetic fragrances in scented candles, detergents, and deodorant; and if you smoke or live with smokers, this would be a good time for everyone to stop.
• Antibiotics: You use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections like strep throat, urinary tract infections, and some sinus infections, antibiotics succeed when it comes to fighting bacteria, but they can wreck havoc on the good bacteria that live in your intestines. Did you know that 70% of your immune system is stimulated by the good bacteria in your intestine? If you have taken antibiotics any time for anything there is probably a good chance that your immune system is imbalances. Taking a probiotic daily will help in countering any loss of healthy flora, but be sure that you find a brand with self-stable lactobacillus, while you're on antibiotics and for at least three months after you finish your prescription. There is research that supports this regiment: A study published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy found that people with grass pollen allergies who took probiotics experienced fewer allergy symptoms than those who didn't. You might even want to consider taking a probiotic year round for your overall gut health, especially if you're middle-aged or older.
• The outdoors: I don't know anyone who has seasonal allergies, who spends much time outside during the allergy season. There are many different types of pollen that are the obvious offenders but there are also other irritants like pollution and diesel fumes, that can act like a chronic irritant on the mucous membranes of the nasal passages and the body has to work harder to eliminate them. To deal with these outdoor irritants, reach for your saline nasal rinse. Here's something to think about if you are wanting to get out of the house during the seasonal allergy time. Most plants pollinate in the morning, which is why the pollen count is higher during the first part of the day. So the best time to do that gardening, running errands or exercising would be in the afternoon. But better yet, a good time to go out is right after a storm. After all, I'm sure that many of you have been told that rain cleans the air and not only that but the pollen count is almost zero. While you can't expect it to rain every day to wash away the pollen, the next sure way to get your seasonal allergies under control is to tend to your immune system. Strengthen it with good healthy food and plenty of sleep, but the most important thing is to give it a rest. If your immune system isn't always rushing around trying to keep you healthy, there is a good chance it won't care about a little nose full of pollen and mold spores.

I know from experience just what it's like to have allergies and a compromised immune system. I had never had allergy problems until I was in Austin, Texas and got what they call cedar fever, another words I was allergic to the cedar pollen. I became so sick that I was taken to the hospital because I had stopped breathing because I was so congested. Anyway, after I got over that I ended up having allergic reactions to everything that pollinates, trees, flowers, bushes, anything. I also found out that my fibromyalgia will trigger sinus infections and what feels like an allergic reaction to something. Because I have four autoimmune diseases my immune system is in a constant state of alert and rarely gets a break. It takes me several months to get over an allergy attack where it would take someone with a normal immune system a couple of weeks.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Ordering Fake Medications From Online Pharmacies -- Natural Health Blog

Ordering Fake Medications From Online Pharmacies -- Natural Health Blog

Need meds? These days, you don't need to go any further than your computer. There are tons of websites catering to those who want to order their drugs -- everything from Accutane to combat acne to Zyrtec to control your allergies -- from the comfort of their own home. But are these medications the real thing?

In many cases, unfortunately, the answer is a resounding no. There has been a tremendous surge in the production of counterfeit drugs in the past decade. In 2009, there were close to 1,700 seizures of counterfeit medications around the world, which was triple the number that took place as recently as 2004. The World Health Organization estimates that more than half of the medication purchased through certain websites have been confirmed to be bogus. Studies taking place in Africa and Southeast Asia, where the counterfeit problem has been around the longest, have shown that approximately 15 to 30 percent of the drugs sold are phonies. By the United Nations' estimate, fully half of the anti-malarial medicines sold in Africa are counterfeit.

Of course, it's hard to tell just how bad the situation is in many nations because the regulations and enforcement vary so much from place to place. So although the numbers might look terrible in one country, it could be that their government is stringent and not a lot of the counterfeits are getting through to the public, whereas another country that reports almost no seizures may simply be too permissive and truly have a wide open market for these fakes.

Counterfeit drug smuggling has been treated with a slap on the wrist or less in most countries, which has also allowed the trade to thrive. But now that counterfeits have become so pervasive, the powerful pharmaceutical industry is fighting back. Most likely motivated more by lost profit than genuine concern for the welfare of the public, they have leaned their political muscle on the governments of numerous countries to create harsher penalties for distributing fake medicines and to become more aggressive in cracking down on those in the counterfeit trade.

If these counterfeit drugs were only harming the big pharmaceutical companies by eating away at a portion of their multibillion-dollar profits, it might be illegal but not so upsetting. However, since these fakes are not undergoing any sort of corporate or governmental safety process, they may not chemically resemble the products they are supposed to be. Some have been found not to possess the active ingredient of the medicine they are being passed off as and others have too much or too little of it. Then again, all of the component ingredients may be wrong or in the incorrect dosage. And there is also the possibility of contamination.

In other words, as questionable as the original pharmaceutical drug may be, these counterfeits are likely to be totally ineffective, or worse, may make you sick. And in the case of counterfeit antibiotics and antivirals, by not thoroughly treating the illness, they have also caused drug resistance to increase in certain germs. In the most extreme cases, people have even died after taking fake medications.

So why would anyone take the risk? Most people are unaware of how rampant counterfeit medications are so they don't realize they may not be receiving the real thing. And with weak economies persisting in many nations, the exorbitant price of drugs makes finding a bargain online more appealing.

Nowadays, it's getting harder and harder to tell the authentic goods from the fakes any more. As counterfeiters have gone from operating mostly in developing countries to setting up shop in better-regulated spots such as Great Britain and Canada, their technology has improved as well. Not only do the pills look exactly like the genuine article, but in some cases they are able to perfectly copy the holograms that appear on packaging to ensure authenticity.

To protect yourself -- whether you have purchased over-the-counter medicine or prescription drugs and whether it was bought online or at your neighborhood pharmacy -- always look it over before you first use it. If it is something you've taken before, make sure it appears the same. If the medication is new for you, check it out online by comparing pictures and descriptions. Examine the packaging carefully to spot any sign that it might have been tampered with. But again, as mentioned earlier, the better counterfeiters can perfectly replicate packaging and pill appearance, so a visual examination may not accomplish that much. Your safer option is to only order from the internet if you know the company you are ordering from. And if your country certifies online pharmacies, make sure you order only from certified sites. If the website is located in the United States, it will be licensed by the state board of pharmacy where the website is operating if it is legitimate. If you start taking a drug and it doesn't seem to be effective or you are experiencing unusual side effects, discontinue it immediately and bring it to a pharmacist or your physician for evaluation. They will let the FDA know so no one else can be harmed by this counterfeit.

And of course, an even better option is follow the Baseline of Health Program so you minimize the chances of ever needing pharmaceutical drugs in the first place.

Beth Levine
Jonbarron.org

Japan halts vaccines from Pfizer, Sanofi after deaths of four children

Japan halts vaccines from Pfizer, Sanofi after deaths of four children

(NaturalNews) The deaths just keep mounting all across the world: Children are collapsing into comas and then dying, just minutes after receiving combination vaccines that have been deceptively marketed as "completely safe." Last year, Australia temporarily banned flu vaccines in children after they were found to have caused vomiting, fevers and seizures (http://www.naturalnews.com/029586_A...).

Today the damage from vaccines is emerging in Japan, where the health ministry has suspended the use of vaccines from Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis following the deaths of four children there who died within minutes after receiving these vaccine shots.

All four children received combination vaccines, where multiple shots are combined into one high-potency injection. MMR is another example of a combination vaccine shot that combines vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella. There is very strong evidence that vaccines are far more dangerous when given in combination than when given one at a time (http://naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=60825...). (http://www.naturalnews.com/030678_M...)

The great vaccine damage cover-up

What will now happen in Japan is that a group of vaccine safety experts will meet to discuss the vaccines, and no doubt most of the members of that group will be paid off by Big Pharma. Within a day or two, a statement will be issued that states there is "no causal relationship exists between vaccines and child deaths" and the vaccine program will continue as usual. The ongoing deaths of children will be ignored or explained away as "mere coincidence."

How many coincidences does it take to make a pattern? If you're one of the brainwashed vaccine zealots,there is never a pattern. ALL deaths are automatically considered "coincidence," no matter how many occur or how frequently they appear. A true scientist, of course, would observe the pattern and realize there is a cause-and-effect phenomenon taking place. But then again, vaccine zealots are nothing like real scientists. They are propagandists.

This is how the vaccine industry operates every day: Lie to the public that the vaccines are 100% safe and effective, then deny any hint of vaccines causing damage to anyone. It's a double-layer deception. First, there's the deception that vaccines are safe (they aren't, and the vaccine industry refuses to subject them to scientific clinical trials versus non-vaccinated children in order to prevent this truth from coming out), and secondly that vaccines don't damage anyone. That's yet another lie: Vaccines cause untold damage to the neurology of children and adults alike.

Children are routinely killed by vaccines, and vaccines are being pushed in the false context that presumes vaccines are the only way to protect children from infectious disease in the first place. Nutrition actually works better, and it doesn't kill children. But that's not the choice presented to parents. The choice is either vaccination or non-vaccination. The choice is never presented as vaccination or vitamin D supplementation, is it?

The real cost in human suffering

If vaccines are so safe, then why do so many healthy young children suddenly collapse into autism in the hours or days following vaccination? Why is this neurological damage a global phenomenon that almost always occurs in children who are vaccinated? Why are non-vaccinated children so much healthier, more vibrant, more intelligent and more immune to infectious disease?

The vaccine industry doesn't want you to ask these questions. You're supposed to just accept their propaganda, take your shot, and keep coming back for more, year after year. If your child gets autism, it your fault, not theirs (according to them). If your child collapses into a coma and dies,you have no legal recoursebecause the U.S. Supreme Court has made it illegal to sue for damages from vaccine companies (http://www.naturalnews.com/031453_S...).

The entire medical system has been configured tosuppress vaccine lawsuits and deny the evidence of vaccine damage and death. The court system denies justice to anyone whose children are damaged or killed by vaccines. And parents who question the safety of vaccines are ridiculed by doctors and even called "baby killers" by Bill Gates, who has funneled tens of billions of dollars into mass vaccination campaigns despite the fact thatvaccines are killing children.

Of course, the vaccine industry claims its vaccines are saving far more children than they are killing (they claim their vaccines kill exactly zero children, by the way -- a number that is an obvious lie). But even this argument falls flat when you consider that using nutrition to enhance immune function is far more effective than using vaccines. Even the Nobel prize winning Luc Montagnier, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus, says you can cure AIDS with a strong, healthy immune system (http://naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=BAFF5...). Much the same is true with nearly every other common infectious disease: Strong immune function resists infection far better than any vaccine.Vitamin D, for example, also works to prevent tuberculosis. The CDC has never admitted it publicly, of course, because the CDC is a political organization that protects the profits of the vaccine makers.

When it comes to what's real versus what's just corporate propaganda, one thing is certain: Scientific facts have never stood in the way of vaccine profits. The vaccine industry has becomean unstoppable death machinebased on non-existent science and arrogant quackery. It has become a huge profit center for the medical industry, of course, because much of the damage caused by vaccines results in future medical care profits that feed the drug companies (http://naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=BAE7F...).

What's clear from all this is that vaccines are great at one thing: Population control.

"The world today has 6.8 billion people... that's headed up to about 9 billion. Now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent."- Bill Gates (http://www.naturalnews.com/029911_v...)

As of this week, the population of children in Japan has been reduced by four. And more vaccine-induced deaths are no doubt happening all across the world that go unreported or are intentionally censored out the medical records.

Sources for this story include:

Bloomberg.com: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/031616_vaccines_Japan.html#ixzz1G0rxhGgX

Meditation As A Natural Alternative To Medications -- Natural Health Blog

Meditation As A Natural Alternative To Medications -- Natural Health Blog

If breathing is good for you (and it is), then paying attention to your breathing is even better. That's the conclusion reached by several studies investigating the benefits of a practice known as mindfulness meditation -- a practice in which you sit quietly for ten minutes while focusing on your breathing and body. You don't judge any thoughts that arise; you merely notice them. The practice helps you to be "be here now," as Dr. Richard Alpert (a.k.a Ram Dass) so succintly described back in the hippie era.

According to a recent article in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, mindfulness meditation boosts mood and relieves anxiety. The authors reviewed 39 studies involving 1,140 patients. Their conclusion: mindfulness meditation is especially effective for people suffering from mood problems like generalized anxiety disorder and recurring depression. It also helps those suffering from anxiety related to illnesses like cancer. In fact, a related study just published in theArchives of General Psychiatry concluded that mindfulness meditation is just as effective as antidepressants in preventing relapses of depression. Said researcher Stefan Hoffman, professor of psychology and Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, "I was skeptical at first. I wondered, 'Why on Earth should this work?' But it seems to work quite well."

It's rather surprising that anyone should be surprised at meditation's benefits, given the history of clinical evidence attesting to it. Back in 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn started teaching mindfulness meditation to patients to help them cope with pain and stress. Among other things, his research found that the practice sped up eczema healing time by 400 percent. Even earlier, in 1975, Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard University published The Relaxation Response, based on studies showing profound physical and emotional benefits from what's essentially a meditative breathing technique. .

In the intervening years, there have been many such studies and claims, and they keep rolling in. According to the Transcendental Meditation (TM) website, for instance, just 20 minutes of practice twice a day will reduce stress, improve health, enhance creativity, promote work success, and ultimately, create world peace. TM costs a tad more than simple mindfulness -- $1500 for the first fourth-month course, with recommended advanced courses offered at regular intervals. But then, the meditators haul out the data. "More than 600 scientific studies verifying the wide-ranging benefits of the Transcendental Meditation technique have been conducted at 250 independent universities and medical schools in 33 countries during the past 40 years," says the website.

Unlike mindfulness meditation, TM uses mantra rather than breathing as the focus of attention, but both techniques essentially train the mind to be quiet. In the case of mindfulness meditation, a study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 2008 showed that the technique prevents relapses of depression as well as maintenance antidepressants do and do a better job of improving quality of life. As an added plus, according to the study, MBCT (minfulness based cognitive therapy) is more cost effective than anti-depressant therapy -- or TM, for that matter. Mindfulness meditation was also shown to reduce fatigue and depression for upwards of six months among MS patients who participated in a Swiss study. Patients reported many areas of improvement after just eight weeks including reduced anxiety, diminshed depression, and significant improvement in quality of life.

Why does meditation work? Some researchers say that by training the mind to focus on the present moment, meditators limit the impact of regrets about the past and worries about the future and this reduces stress. Meditators also increase their ability to keep things in perspective -- whether suffering a debilitating medical condition or dealing with a life crisis. And naturally, such effects show up in the brain's physiology.

In fact, a recent study of changes in brain structure in meditators shows not only that the brain changes because of meditation -- it also gets larger and changes structure. Before and after MRI scans of the brains of 16 people who engaged in an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program showed increased grey-matter density in areas associated with learning, memory, self-awareness, compassion, and introspection. At the same time, they showed decreased grey-matter density in the amygdala, an area highly correleated to stress and anxiety. Among the control subjects who did not participate in mindfulness meditation, no such changes were found. According to the study's main author, Britta Hölzel, Ph.D., a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany, "Other studies in different patient populations have shown that meditation can make significant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facilitate this change."

In spite of its undeniable benefits to mental and emotional health, not everyone suffering from anxiety or depression will benefit from mediation. In the case of severe depression, adjunct therapies may be needed. And for patients afflicted with psychosis, meditation can actually set off episodes, so it needs to be used with care. And then, there are those who sit down to meditate and find themselves instead wriggling about and thinking about monkeys. For them, another possible alternative to medications is neurofeedback, which essentially helps patients to align their brain waves with meditative states. A technician attaches electrodes that measure brain activity to the patient's scalp while the patient watches images on a computer screen. If the brain is producing the desired types of waves, the patient gets pleasing images and sounds. After a while, the patient learns how to alter her brain waves to the desired frequency and this helps reduce stress, increase focus, and improve mood. First developed in the 1960s and 70s, neurofeedback has been found effective in treating conditions including ADHD, depression, autism and anxiety.

The bottom line is that for depression and anxiety -- unless based in psychosis -- there are great alternatives to medication available. Just switch one letter -- the "c" in medication -- to a "t", and you've got one of the best of those alternatives.

Alternative Cancer Therapies For Breast Cancer -- Natural Health Blog

Alternative Cancer Therapies For Breast Cancer -- Natural Health Blog

Hearing that you have cancer is a scary thing, no doubt about it. When it's breast cancer especially, many women want to follow the most "protective" of treatments and opt for major surgery with the wish that all signs of the disease will be cut away. But now, thanks to new research, women may not feel they have to resort to such extreme measures any longer.

The study, orchestrated by a lead researcher at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, took place at 115 hospitals across the country over a period of five and a half years. Its initial findings, presented at several medical conferences, have already influenced prominent hospitals such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the University of Chicago Medical Center to revise their surgery recommendations.

Appropriate for women who are in the early stages of the disease and where evidence of its spread are limited to only one or two nearby lymph nodes, the research is showing that there is no need for more radical surgery that removes much greater amounts of tissue as well as an average of 17 nodes. Instead of advising women toward axillary lymph node dissection -- an extensive surgery in which the lymph nodes in the armpit region are almost completely removed -- surgeons are guiding their patients toward a much less invasive procedure.

This would affect the treatment of tens of thousands of women in the United States alone every year. It is conservatively estimated that approximately 25,000 women in America are diagnosed with breast cancer that has spread into the lymph nodes.

There has been a rise in the number of women across the country who choose to have breast tissue with no evidence of cancer -- including entire healthy breasts -- removed preventatively along with the cancerous areas over the past number of years (bilateral prophylactic mastectomy). The incidence of this at Memorial Sloan Kettering, for example, has gone from 7 percent in 1997 up to 24 percent by 2005. Hopefully the new findings will turn these numbers around.

The researchers compared 446 women who received a lumpectomy, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy or some other kind of drug treatment to 445 women who underwent the more radical axillary lymph node dissection. Having the more extensive surgery did not improve survival rates or lessen the recurrence of cancer over a period of five years. Both groups of patients had similar statistics: Approximately 92 percent in each group were still living five years post-surgery and approximately 83 percent of both groups had encountered no return of the cancer.

Yet, interestingly, where the numbers differ is in complications. Of those who had the major surgery, 70 percent experienced complications such as painful underarm swelling and wound infection. Only 25 percent of the lumpectomy group showed any signs of complications. It is common for women who undergo axillary lymph node dissection to have numbness, pain, and severely swollen arms for quite some time after surgery. The procedure can also lead to nerve damage and limited mobility of the arms and shoulders because of injury around the lymph nodes.

The lymph nodes are the filters of the lymphatic system in the body. Their job is to fight off bacteria, viruses, abnormal cells, and basically anything else that doesn't belong and remove it from your system. They are a vital part of the body's immune response and are predominantly located around the neck, the underarms, and the groin.

Removal of extra breast tissue and lymph nodes doesn't eliminate the underlying cause of cancer--just one place that it might manifest. Cancer is fundamentally a disease of the immune system. In your body, as part of the normal metabolic process, you produce anywhere from a few hundred to as many as 10,000 cancerous cells each and every day of your life. But a healthy immune system has the ability to recognize each and every one of those aberrant cells and remove them from your body. That means that regardless of what you choose to do in terms of surgery or chemotherapy, you really want to think about putting yourself on a regimen that optimizes your body's ability to prevent the cancer from reoccurring, rather than opting for unnecessary radical surgery. Statistically, you have nothing to lose taking this option -- and everything to gain.