Archive for September, 2011

Type 2 diabetes has natural interventions, which work remarkably well and are easy to implement.  With an estimated 366 million of people worldwide who have this condition you would think there would be a better understanding of this approach. The biggest challenge is for the public to understand that pharmaceutical companies have tried different medications to halt the disease and haven’t succeeded. They are dealing with a condition that they have not had much success with. 

Diabetes Epidemic

The International Diabetes Federation described the number of cases as “staggering,” every seven seconds one person succumbs to this condition. The federation is asking for concrete measures to stop the epidemic, urging officials focusing on chronic disease at the United Nations to target ways to prevent cases and to invest in more research. Yes, what we need is more research, we don’t have enough already. We can spend the next decade looking for the magic bullet.

It is estimated that health systems spend $465 billion annually fighting the disease. That includes both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. If that isn’t enough money to find the cause, which is right in front of their faces then lets go for broke.

Real Problem

The abnormalities that they are looking for is in our food supply, the diagnosis and current treatment are not the answer. Our flagging health is due to the deterioration of our food supply. Food orchestrates a complex balance of hormonal, neurochemical, and electrical signals. What makes us think we can face our deteriorating health with pharmaceuticals? As long as we ignore the warning signs that all point to lifestyle, it will be increasingly difficult to stem the tide.

Type 2 Diabetes Causes

The rise in diabetes is not due to an aging population as the medical experts claim. Diabetes is thought to be a disease of middle age, with obesity playing a part in the development of this condition. Yet, younger people are now in this group. Medical strategies haven’t consistently offered substantial improvement for diabetics.

The global number of diabetics more than doubled in the last three decades according to a study published in the medical journal Lancer. We try to manage the disease with diet, exercise and medication. With all that diabetes still results in kidney disease, blindness, heart disease, more cases of cancer, and amputations.

In the last three decades our lifestyle has been altered. This trend started earlier with the advent of pre-packaged foods, larger portions, lack of sunshine, technology advances that translate to less activity. There are multiple causes and none of them are a drug shortage. Insulin resistance is part of the culture. There are very few people who aren’t affected by this way of life. This is becoming a world wide occurrence because we export our way of eating and farming methods.

To say it is because people are living longer is an insult to our intelligence. Healthy adults who are concerned about what they put into their bodies are much less likely to develop diabetes. We are putting the cheapest “foods” on everyone’s table. Virtually everything in most people’s diet was never eaten 40 to 50 years ago. We can document that insulin resistance is a product of our diet, no amount of research will change that fact.

The Challenge

The challenge that we have is we got to deal with this crisis now. Health care will bankrupt America. Curing today’s health care cost crisis means we need natural solutions. What is essential to realize is for survival purposes we have to prevent and reverse these conditions on our own.

How to Reverse Diabetes

The Journal PLoS ONE reported the discovery by Salk Institute for Biological Studies researchers that fisetin a flavone found in abundance in strawberries, and in other fruit and vegetables, helped type 1 diabetes in mice. They found Kidney enlargement and urinary protein decreased along with anxiety-related symptoms which are a central nervous system complication that occurs in human diabetics. Type 1 diabetes is harder to reverse, this shows that diet is key.

Diabetics are advised to cut fat, reduce saturated fat and include plenty of carbohydrates in the diet. It is essentially a carbohydrate-centered diet. They may say whole grains, however this is how to feed diabetics a diet that will increase fat. When visceral fat accumulates, the inflammatory signals causes the muscle and liver to stop responding to insulin. Now we are developing insulin resistance. Nice going, since the reduction of carbohydrates improves all the diabetic markers and symptoms. Isn’t it time to look to natural intervention to reverse this condition

Heart disease prevention and reversal is dependent on lifestyle. So many of our body’s critical functions dependent on micronutrients for normal muscle and nerve functions. To keep the heart rhythm steady, immune system functioning, and blood sugar levels in the normal range, sufficient nutrients are needed.

Causes of Heart Disease

The most common ones are thought of as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, family history, and stress. The problem with all these things on the front burner, we are overlooking some clearly important data. Basic research shows that high cholesterol in of itself isn’t a reliable marker. There is a gap in our basic understanding to what is going on is causing untold misery.

Ischemic Heart Disease

Ischemic heart disease is a condition of recurring chest pain or discomfort that occurs when part of the heart doesn’t get oxygen and nutrients.

Ischemic heart disease is also referred to as coronary artery disease or coronary heart disease. The coronary arteries are the blood vessels that pump oxygen-rich blood to the heart. When blood flowing through the coronary arteries is blocked, completely or partially, you are develop ischemic heart disease. This blocking of the arteries leads to a lack of oxygen-rich blood to the heart, which in turn leads to chest pain, called angina, and even myocardial infarction, or heart attack.

The epidemic of ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a phenomenon of the 21st century. It isn’t that it is a new disease, but it has reached epidemic proportions. In the united States heart disease didn’t exceed tuberculosis until the early 20th century.

Standard Thinking

Ischemic heart disease can be treated successfully with lifestyle changes, medicines, and surgical procedures. Even better, you can reduce your risk of ischemic heart disease by following heart-healthy practices, such as eating a low-fat, low-sodium diet, being physically active, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Another View

Heart disease is a multi-dimensional pathological condition. These are some facts: stress and infections cause Cortisol to be released, and when released in excess, can suppress immunity, cause hypertension, create insulin resistance, bring on metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. cortisol is a “stress hormone,” which is responsible for many of the long-term health consequences.

Heart Disease is a Deficiency State

According to the national Institutes of Health magnesium keeps heart rhythm steady, keeps blood sugar levels in the normal range,  promotes normal blood pressure, and maintains vascular health. A healthy heart is attainable and the way to do it is to become a healthy person.

There are three forms of vitamin K that promote arterial health. Vitamin K1 is the form of vitamin K that is found in green vegetables and is tightly bound to the plant fiber. Vitamin K2 is found mostly in meats, dairy, and egg yolks. The very foods that we are told to avoid. The best source is grass fed beef and dairy. CoQ10 which is needed for heart health is found in red meat.

PQQ may be the first new vitamin to be identified in over five decades. It’s been found to have antioxidant and neuroprotective properties as well as contributing to mitochondrial health. Mitochondrial damage and depopulation is thought to be a major factor in some diseases, particularly those involving energy-intensive organs like the brain, heart, and liver.  This is found in parsley, green peppers, papaya, spinach, carrots, cabbage and apples.

Herbs

Silymarin know as milk thistle is protective for those at high risk for cardiovascular disease. In animal studies silmarin’s antioxidant properties were shown to reduce oxidation of (LDL). It also inhibits inflammation and inhibits arthrosclerotic activity. Turning research into reality is up the consumer.

Reversal of Heart Disease

Regenerative medicine is based on the deep-seated belief that the body including the heart can and is the process of creating functional tissues by repairing and replacing cells. All abnormalities afflicting previous generation never were on the grand scale of what we are facing now. Even modest vitamin or mineral deficiencies can increase the incidence of age-related diseases, which includes heart disease.

Heart Disease isn’t a shortage of statins, or any othe pharmaceutical, it is a product of both our food supply and lifestyle.

Melanoma causes, prevention, and management are known. There are natural strategies that can prevent and reverse melanoma. The truth is melanoma isn’t different from other types of cancers. It is dependent on your internal environment. The sun may have very little to do with the development of this condition. When you think melanoma, you think sun exposure. The fact that the rates of melanoma have gone up by 3.1 percent a year since 1992, may reflect changes in both our lifestyles, and a liberal use of suntan creams.

Suntan Lotions and Creams

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the ingredients in sunscreens marketed today have been used for many years and the agency does not have any reason to believe these products are not safe for consumer use.

The list of ingredients can vary from one brand to the next: the list of approved ingredients. Aminobenzoic acid-carcinogen implicated in cardiovascular disease, Avobenzone-carcinogen, Dioxbenzond-skin toxicity, carcinogen, and hormone disruptor, Diazolidinly Urea-carcinogen, affects the endocrine system, central nervous system and compromises the immune system, Methylparaben-interferes with  genes, Octocylene-affects liver, and carcinogen, Octyl methoxycinnamate-carcinogen, disrupts liver function, Oxybenzone-carcinogen and causes vascular disease, Phenoxyethanol, carcinogen, endocrine disrupter, Titanium dioxide-carcinogen when in nanomaterial form, and Zinc Oxide, toxic to the reproductive system.

Then there is retinyl palmitate a form of vitamin A, which is found in about 41% or sunscreens and is a photocarcinogen, which means it is a cancer-causing agent when exposed to sunlight. In a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study, researchers applied creams contain retinyl palmitate to animals’ skin, and then exposed them to sunlight. The study showed an increased incidence of skin cancer in these animals.

These are the safe ingredients; I hate to speculate on what is not considered safe. After all the research and development (R&D) money spent to withdraw these products would have shareholders in the company looking for new investments. The real benefit from suntan products comes from the commercialization. and sales.

Real Protection

Real protection doesn’t come from an over zealous application of chemical containing suntan lotions. The ozone level may be disappearing, but that may not be as applicable in terms of skin cancer. What is missing in the skin cancer guidelines is the many integrative solutions.

Facts

A new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that patients with decreased core muscle density were more likely to see their melanoma spread to other organs. They found it isn’t how old you are but how frail you are. Younger patients in poor health can have worst outcomes than older patients who are fit. What they found it was the underlying vitality of the patient that predicted the outcome.

Deficiencies of micronutrients are frequently found in cancer patients. There are some reports that blood levels of folic acid is 60 to 85% lower in people with cancer. There is conclusive evidence that a folic acid deficiency increases metastatic activity in cultured melanoma cells.

There are numerous studies and clinical evidence that high doses of melatonin can prevent and reverse melanoma. Melatonin suppresses ultraviolet (UV)-induced damage to skin cells. It shows strong antioxidant activity in skin cells exposed to UV light. There are a few studies that seem to suggest that selenium in vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Kale and Brussel sprouts helps your body target melanoma.

Vitamin D especially vitamin D3 fights melanoma. There are many  articles and clinical trials that show the positive effect Vitamin D3 has on killing melanoma cells.

There is a hidden gem that hasn’t been given much coverage. Dr. Dianne Godar of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had this to say: UVB light appears to be protective against melanoma. This is because your body produces Vitamin D in response to the UBA radiation. Dr. Godar points out the well know fact that the melanoma epidemic began long before sunbed usage, and that the dramatic melatonin increase occurs primary in indoor workers, not outdoor workers.

Low vitamin D levels actually predict melanoma, and all-year tans protect against melanoma. Melanoma patients who get sun live longer than those who don’t.

Conclusion

We are meant to survive in the environment that has sustained us for thousands of years. The sun sustains life on this planet. Never before in the history of man was the sun’s image so tarnished. If anything our contact with the outdoors is less then ever. We have withdrawn from our natural surrounding.

These are the factors that have a direct roll in the melanoma epidemic: One, is our reliance on pharmaceuticals (suntan lotion), two, the standard American diet which causes deficiencies of micronutrients, lack of adequate sunshine. From an evolutionary perspective sunshine is essential.