Archive for November, 2009

Anti-aging and longevity is one of the most interesting fields of research. The triage theory of aging is one of the most comprehensive explanations of how we accelerate aging. 

Bruce Ames, Ph.D., a biochemist with the University of California at Berkeley and Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, presented his theory in the Nov. 21, 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Accelerated Aging

Aging is accelerated when diets are deficient in vitamins and/or minerals.  Dr. Ames found that vitamin and /or mineral deficiencies can cause DNA damage to both human cultured cells, and test mice.

This would account for conditions that were once seen in only mature people showing up at earlier ages.  From all accounts it is a product of a poor diet high in calories, low in nutrition.

Lifespan

Dr. Bruce Ames says there is a known triage between organs.  It works like this if you’re short iron; you take it out of the liver before taking it from the heart.  The heart is vital to your immediate survival.  By taking it from the liver the damage will not show up for many years. Nature is smart it keeps you from keeling over, because you’re deficient in an essential nutrient. So the place it goes is to less vital organs for a supply of the missing nutrient.

It will impact your lifespan, but it may take 20 years for a problem to show up.

Short on micronutrients

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of nutrients is not sufficient.  This is based on acute needs. The long term needs of optimal health are not being met.  The American way of eating is causing deficiencies that are contributing a whole host of conditions.  Heart failure is a sometimes a lack of certain B vitamins. Almost all diseases are coming from a lack of micronutrients.

According to Dr. Ames DNA damage occurs because of a deficiency of micronutrients.  This makes sense since cells are dependent on the fuel you give them.

Conclusion

Aging is accelerated by nutritional deficiencies.  The best health insurance is a diet that is nutrient dense.  If you are looking for the fountain of youth, look no further than your kitchen.

Energetic research has a place on a health website. The future of medicine is going to be dependent on this research. While allopathic medicine takes the mechanical view of the human body, it is proving that this is not the optimal course. Energetic research centers on subtle energy. It is the scientific study of energy flows and storage.

History of This view

What is not widely understood is that this view has been studied and used for centuries. It has gotten lost in the material world of modern medicine. The allopathic view is that you can manipulate the body though the use of chemicals, and man made aids. From the earliest time man understood there were unseen forces that governed our lives. From the prospective of quantum physics there are laws that illustrate this.

Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naturopathic medicine, Polarity Therapy, acupuncture, are based on energy flow. Charka balancing acknowledges this phenomenon. There is evidence for the effectiveness of these approaches. When you assess health and disease from an energetic perspective you bring in a new dimension. It explains things in a new and very helpful way. From the beginning healing looked at the physical manifestations of disease as an outward sign that there was disharmony in the organism.

Usefulness of This Approach

The usefulness of this approach is not understood by western medicine. It refuses to acknowledge that we are animated beings, that every organ is supported by subtle energy. When you correct bioenergy disturbances you can see that imbalances in the system are related to illness. We know that cells operate on voltage to perform. A person’s cells may have insufficient voltage (cell’s internal electric fields) to be effective. All matter is animated by subtle energy; human health is supported by this energy.

The natural direction of healing will be to utilize therapy that can amplify the natural energy of each cell. Cells will heal and function fully when their amplitude is corrected. The practical application of this will lead the way to new healing modalities. As science advances along this path the integrated model of medicine with take a leap forward.

Our view of the universe will be reflected in this change of consciousness. The future is going to be written, and our connection to this understanding will alter the course of medicine.

Nursing homes are jumping on the psychotropic drug bandwagon. Thousands of elderly are being drugged. This is a vulnerable population that has a problem with eliminating these drugs from their systems. When anyone in their senior years are administrated a toxic drug their body has a harder time to break it down. In the elderly decreased clearance of these drugs from the body has been noted. With the increased chance of drug interaction and accumulation of toxins the elderly are put in harms way.

Drug Use in the Elderly

There are no safe psychiatric drugs, and the elderly are placed in harms way by the use of these. Psychiatric drugs obtain results by causing changes in the brain. Psychotropic drugs dull awareness, cause emotional numbing, and cognitive dysfunction. Just what aging patients need more of is to walk around with dull senses. The portion of the American population that is over the age of 65 is increasing. Psychiatric problems are thought to be more common in the geriatric populations. The capacity for drugs to help with these problems is slim to none. Yet, the use of these agents for this population is growing.

Consequences

Psychotropic drug use in nursing homes is troubling. The elderly respond differently to psychotropic drugs. They are more sensitive to pharmaceuticals in general. There are problems with absorption, distribution, elimination, and clearance of these drugs in the elderly. There are biological reasons why these drugs are problematic for the geriatric population. The elderly display greater sensitivity to the effects of medication even at reduced doses. There are a greater number, and severity of side effects. A lower dose does not eliminate this problem.

These side effects are not only magnified, but become more dangerous in the elderly. One of the major side effects is orthostatic hypotension. This is also known as postural hypotension. In plain language it is a dizzy spell. A person’s blood pressure suddenly drops when they stand up. These occurrences are most pronounced after resting, and the incidence increases with age. 

The elderly are usually reclining or sitting thus this is a particularly troubling side effect. The other significant side effects are confusion, cognitive decline, dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, tachycardia (heart rhythm disturbance), and blurry vision. Other possible ones are confusion, disorientation, impaired memory, worsening of irritability and agitation. Glaucoma can be precipitated, peripheral neuropathy, and weight gain may occur.

Candidates for Drug Intervention

Anyone is a candidate for the misuse of drugs. The elderly are just more vulnerable. They can be drugged without giving their consent, and without a legitimate psychiatric diagnosis. A psychotropic drug can be given for any number of reasons. People in nursing homes have every reason to become easily annoyed.

This is the population that suffers the most from malnutrition. A lack of B complex vitamins could account for any number of symptoms that this population displays. This can account for depression, and cognitive decline. Many patients who are given antipsychotic drugs have not been formally diagnosed with any kind of psychosis. The misuses of psychotropic drugs are a nationwide problem in both the nursing home setting, and the psychiatrist’s office.

In testimony before Congress some years ago, Food and Drug Administration scientist Dr. David Graham estimated that thousands of nursing home residents die each year from antipsychotic drugs that are used for patients who are not mentally ill. Graham is known for blowing the whistle on Vioxx, the painkiller tied to heart attacks, his warning on the psychotropics issue has not done much to curtail its use.

A New York researcher Christie Teigland, who has analyzed medical data on 275,000 nursing home residents with dementia, found that those on psychotropic drugs were more likely to fall or experience general decline than others.

When taken off the medication, the patients improved, she said.

“These residents come alive,” said Teigland, of the nonprofit New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging. “It’s like they become functional individuals again.”

Why the Increased Usage

These are a prescription for perceived behavior problems. With the drug companies on your side you can bully people into behaving, without the use of force or effort. That is why the two most vulnerable groups’ children and the elderly seem to be signaled out. This shows that we have lost touch with ethics. With the pharmaceutical companies leading the way we fall in line like sheep. The only people that have a say in the use of these drugs, are not speaking up. We must be the protector of those that are being harmed by the use these pharmaceutical agents