As we all know, there’s no place like home. What you might not know is that the home has an impact on physical and mental health. So it should be free from hazards  such as pest infestation, poor ventilation, or water leaks. Your home should be a place of safety – in other words, the one place where you and your kids are protected from harm.

When it comes down to improving health and safety, we tend to focus only on diet and exercise. We don’t even take into account our immediate environment, which is a huge mistake. Since you and your family spend a great deal of time in the home, do your best to make it lively and safe. By lively, we mean it's full of life and energy, and promotes good health. Here’s what you need to do.

Prevent Scald Injuries from Hot Food and Drink

Kids below the age of 5 are at high risk of burn injuries. More often than not, these burns are the result of scalding from hot liquids. Your child can spill hot cocoa on themselves. The hot drink burns the skin just like fire. The body can even get into shock due to the heat. In serious cases, scalding injuries can even be life-threatening. You need to ensure that your family isn’t exposed to hot tap water and similar sources of hot fluid, like hot food and drink.

Supervise the youngsters in the kitchen and dining area. Plus, create a kid-free zone when you serve hot foods and beverages. Youngsters shouldn’t have access to the stove, fireplace, curling iron, space heaters or radiators. If one of your children gets burnt, apply immediate first aid. Place the burnt area under cool running water for at least 20 minutes. Never use ice or creams made of greasy substances. Actually, don’t use anything that can get stuck to the skin.

Get Dust Under Control

The average home collects about 40 lbs. of dust in just one year. Just imagine what allergy problems and health problems that dust can cause. Breathing in high concentrations of dust reduces lung function, not to mention that it can aggravate asthma, and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. The point is that you still need to dust electronics and furniture so as to prevent dust buildup. Dust is a risk for the entire family.

This might come as a surprise to you but dust comes frequently from the inside. You generate part of that detritus by smoking. Dust is also made up of food debris, decomposed insects, fibers from carpets, and particulates from cooking. Needless to say, it’s not something that you can afford to take lightly. Given that your home is a magnet for dust, regular and efficient cleaning is of the essence.

Be Prepared For Fire

You may think that it will never happen to you, that you’re the only person in the world protected against fire. Yet the likelihood that a house can catch fire and burn to the ground is high. No matter how careful you are with fireplaces, smoking, and so on, your home can easily catch fire. So it’s a good idea to install a smoke alarm and take out home insurance. The homeowner’s insurance will pay for fire damage to your humble abode if it’s necessary to make repairs.

Speaking of property insurance, search for the best policy. Shopping around will save you lots and lots of money. States generally offer information on typical rates. So, if you’re interested in taking out home insurance in Florida, you can get an idea of the price range and the number of insurers. Nevertheless, prevention is better than cure. It’s better to stop a problem from happening than to correct it. Besides adding a smoke detector, you’ll want to maintain the electrical cords and get a fire extinguisher.

Think About Getting a Pet

Every family needs a pet. Feeding and caring for a pet encourages kids to be more responsible. Also, it boosts their self-esteem and social skills. A dog or cat provides unconditional love. You’re never lonely and get to stay healthy. Animals like dogs need daily exercise to stay healthy. And they make you feel safe. You can go out for a jog in the middle of the night if you like. No one is likely to target you if you have a dog by your side.

How to get a pet:

If you still need a reason to adopt a dog or a cat, keep this in mind: pets improve the immune system. A pet acts like a probiotic in the sense that they help you develop healthy bacteria that can elevate the immune system. So you are less likely to get sick or have to spend your time swallowing pills. Most importantly, pets can smell cancer. Some studies suggest that dogs have the ability to detect melanoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, and more. Their senses are incredible.

Be Cautious About Vacations

It may seem like the only time you get to relax is when you’re on vacation. Yet it’s difficult to chill out when you are worrying about what might happen back home. Burglars wait for the right opportunity to break into your home. If you’re far away, they won’t hesitate to try something. So be sure to secure the doors, lock the windows, and add some security cameras. This will give you peace of mind. And it's better not to let everyone know that you’re on holiday on Facebook.

Last but not least, if you’re gone for about a week or so, put a temporary stop on deliveries such as mail. Make the request at least 30 days in advance. The postal service will hold the mail and have it delivered to you as soon as you get back. As well, you might want to invest in a home monitoring system. Maybe it will be helpful, maybe it won’t. There’s no way of knowing.

The last five years have seen a remarkable increase in interest in CBD products, mainly stimulated by the discovery of its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and neuroprotective effects. There is so much potential in the product, and we are starting to really understand the science behind CBD. Possible therapeutic uses of cannabidiol for several conditions are now being explored, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory diseases.

The Endocannabinoid System

How can one substance do so much? The answer lies within the workings of our own body’s endogenous cannabinoid system, or ECS. This system, only discovered in the 1990s (by analyzing the cannabis plant, hence the name), consists of endocannabinoids, cannabinoid receptors, and the enzymes that synthesize endocannabinoids.

According to Jahan Marcu, Ph.D., director of experimental pharmacology and behavior at the International Research Center on Cannabis and Mental Health in New York City: “The ECS helps us eat, sleep, relax, forget what we don’t need to remember, and protect our bodies from harm.” There are actually more ECS receptors in the brain than there are for opioids and serotonin (the receptors upon which most antidepressants work). ECS receptors can also be found in the liver, pancreas, intestines, ovaries, bone cells, and more.

Our bodies produce endocannabinoids that bind with ECS receptors by the billions every day. “We always thought the ‘runner’s high’ was due to the release of dopamine and endorphins. But now we know the euphoria is also from an endocannabinoid called anandamide,” says Joseph Maroon, M.D., clinical professor and vice chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. People who are extremely happy are found to have more endocannabinoids than do unhappy people. They can also tolerate pain better.

How Does the ECS Work?

The ECS mainly works like this: Endocannabinoids are produced by the body and act as “communicators” between bodily systems. The goal of this system is to create homeostasis, or stability, in the body. For instance, if you have an injury, the ECS will work to regulate your internal organs, nerve cells, and hormones to minimize pain and damage.

In order to do this, there must be receptors to take up the compounds and “translate” as healing throughout the body. So far, two types of receptors, CB1 and CB2, have been identified by researchers. Both types can be found throughout the body, but CB1 is more prevalent in the brain and nervous system and CB2 in the immune system.

Different types of cannabinoids interact with these receptors differently. THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana, creates swirling thoughts and colorful hallucinations when it activates these receptors. However, marijuana produces very low CBD. Whereas hemp, a different subspecies of the same plant, produces high THC and low CBD.  In both subspecies, there are at least 110 natural cannabinoids (that we know of) in the cannabis plant, and most of them act much the same way as our body’s own endocannabinoids. Two are particularly important: CBDa and CBDn.

Detailed Science behind CBDa

CBDa is the precursor to CBD, as in the CBD found in CBD oil. Found in the raw flowers and leaves of hemp plants, CBDa is the unadulterated version of CBD. It must go through the process of decarboxylation, or decarbing, which removes the acid (the “a” in CBDa) before it becomes CBD. The two compounds are similar, but up until recently, CBDa was thought to be an inactive compound which was “activated” by the decarbing process. More recent studies have shown CBDa in a better light, particularly in how it affects the COX-2 enzyme.

That is, CBDa doesn’t bind with ECS receptors; rather, it works as an inhibitor to certain enzymes which also play a part in the ECS system. COX-2 is an enzyme that is created by inflammation, and too much of it degrades the number of cannabinoids in the body. Regular over-the-counter analgesics such as Tylenol target this enzyme for pain relief and to counter inflammation. However, CBDa has also been shown to be a selective COX-2 inhibitor (similar to Tylenol, but more selective, thus, it has less side effects). This protective effect allows its activated cousin, CBD, plus the body’s own cannabinoids, to bind with ECS receptors and promote healing.

For Sleep: CBDn

CBDn, or CBN, is another cannabinoid entirely, though THC is really its “parent.” It exists in hemp plants, and it can also be formed when THC degrades through exposure to oxygen. In either case, CBN has no (or extremely mild) psychoactive properties. However, one thing it excels at is making you sleepy. Studies show that taking 5 mg of CBN is the equivalent of taking 10 mg of Valium (which, by the way, is the largest standard dose of Valium).

CBN binds mostly to the CB2 receptor, which is associated with the immune system. Thus, research suggests that it has a large role to play in the fight against cancer. CBN seems to, according to current research, specifically fight tumor growth and metastasis in a number of different types of cancer. For breast cancer in particular, CB2 receptors are expressed in 3 out of 4 breast tumors. When these receptors are activated, they start in motion apoptosis (cell death) of cancer cells, which shrinks tumors and keeps metastasis at bay.

The science in full is complicated, of course, and we’re still learning not only about the healing properties of CBD, but the ECS system itself. Research is growing rapidly, with studies being undertaken all over the world.  For example, there is a new cannabis research center at UCLA and significant programs in Israel. It’s an exciting time to be a researcher, as the cannabis plant – a plant that has been cultivated and treasured as far back as ancient Greece and China – is finally getting its fair due in the medical sciences.

The most important thing to know is that CBD is a highly nuanced product with the science behind it growing rapidly. If you want to try it, be sure to purchase from a reputable company with quality products. GüüdMfg produces specific products for night and day, allowing you to find the perfect solution for your needs.

Tom Williams is part of the team at GüüdMfg, where their goal is to create the highest quality CBD products available anywhere.

 

 

 

 

Different couples have different ways of keeping their relationship healthy and romantic. It takes time to form a bond with your partner and to build trust, and even if some of you may want it to happen overnight, unfortunately it doesn’t. It takes time and work for a relationship to grow strong and healthy, and you have to be willing to put in some effort. The following habits strong couples have can help you maintain your connection and have a healthy twosome.

You should choose your battles

All couples have arguments, but it is important to know when to argue with your partner and when to calm yourself down and drink a cup of coffee. There will be times when you will have to bring the problems to the forefront, discuss them and find solutions, those times will ask you to work hard together.

Not all battles are important; choose them wisely if you do not want to turn every discussion in an argument. The people who have a healthy relationship solve their issues without starting a fight with their partners.

Show your appreciation

When in a relationship you may not consider it important to tell your partner how important they are. You may think it but you may not remember to tell them. This is something that occurs in both romantic and other type of relationships and people have to learn to show their loved ones how special they are.

You should tell, and most important show your partner that you love him or her and you appreciate their presence in your life. You can do it with a text you send them from time to time, with a flower bouquet, with cards, with some kind words before going to sleep or with other similar gestures.

Communication is important

The key to a happy relationship is communication. You may have heard people say that it is one of the essential qualities of a healthy relationship but you may not have taken it seriously. Now it is the moment you to know, that the couples, who vocalize their thoughts are happier, and you should do your best to communicate better with your partner. One of you may not know how to communicate properly, or how to communicate at all. You have to learn together how to say “I love you” and how to share your opinions, and to offer each other compliments.

Do not sweep the bad under the rug. If there are problems to deal with, you should discuss them and see what solutions you can find. If you want your relationship to grow, you need to truly share your feelings and talk about them. Sometimes you may feel uncomfortable, other times you may feel awkward, but in the long run it will  be worth it because it will help you build a strong relationship.

Spend quality time together

It is a reason why everyone considers quality more important than quantity. When it comes to building a strong relationship, it does not matter how much you spend together, but the quality of the moments. The small things are the ones that make the difference, there’s a difference between having the breakfast at your table in the kitchen, versus having your breakfast in bed prepared by your partner to surprise you.

Distractions are good to some extent, zoning out together also has its role, but you have to make sure that you still engage and spend quality time together if you want to maintain a happy relationship.

Sex helps you flourish the relationship

Do not be shy to talk about sex, it is one of the important aspects of your life. The thing with sex is simple, the more you have it, the more you want it and if someone tells you something else it’s not true. The less you have it, you guessed, the less you want it, and in time the less you’ll feel connected with your partner. You should do your best to keep the sex life as interesting as possible, and it takes more than trying the kitchen.

If you want to spice up your relationship, you should check together the items you find in an online adult toy store, place some of them in the cart and try them to keep your sex life alive.

Spend some time apart

It’s important to spend time together, but it’s also important to spend some time apart and define yourself as individual beings. You are not only a partner in your romantic relationship, but you are also a person with your own passions, hobbies, friends and preferences, you should spend time alone to do your own things and to remain independent.

If you’ll spend too much time together you can end up in an unhealthy co-dependency. The best way to avoid this is to establish some boundaries and to maintain your autonomy. Spend time with your friends and family, do the activities you like, and you will find easier to build a long-lasting partnership.

No comparisons

If you’ll look on the other side the grass will definitely be greener. Even if it might not be, you will see it this way. You may compare your dressing style, job or home with the one of other people, but when it comes to your relationship, it is not a smart thing to do it. Social media is not helping you because it brings to front page the photos and videos people are posting to share their happy life. But remember, this is only a piece of their life, a piece they are willing to show.

A happy couple will not look the other side to check the colour of the grass, they are happy with what they have and they do not need comparisons. Do not get caught up in a negative mood, there will be times when you will hate your job, your house, your friends, and your partner will probably get on your nerves, but you have to remember that nobody is perfect and they have positive qualities, this is why you are in love.

Findings in water research have radically altered our understanding of healthy water and its relationship to the body. It has been revealed that water in its primordial healthful state is a crystalline liquid gel (H302). The molecules within the gel are energetically balanced, organized in a symmetrical geometric coherent arrangement, and wholly fit to efficiently serve the body’s water needs. Furthermore, water has ‘memory’ that stores energetic imprints of everything it encounters on its journey. Testing shows the innate properties and energies that render water biologically useful, are diminished or completely lost when its memory fills with incoherent energy patterns and when water is moved through straight pipes or processed by man made systems. For water to be entirely healthful, its memory must be clean and its innate properties, coherence and balanced energies restored.

Water As Nature Intended – For Life

Clayton Nolte, a water researcher and inventor for over 30 years, claims: “No water treatment developed by humans can remake water to match Nature’s original blueprint, because the blueprint and associated tools belong to Nature.” Therein lies the rationale in Nolte’s water-modifying invention that processes regular tap or bottled water (even as little as one teaspoon of water), under conditions where natural phenomena almost immediately remakes the water into healthful H302 water. The characteristics of his ‘biomimetic’ device create the same conditions as occur in Nature when water is restored to its original healthful design; such as when water rushes down a mountain stream or through a water current.

Nolte calls his invention a “water structuring” technology to correspond with the term, “Structured Water.” Water scientists apply that term to distinguish wholly healthful water (H302) which has a defining set of characteristics not found in any other water (H20). Cell hydration and waste removal with water that is not Structured Water can take days and involves the transport of far less than what water is engineered to carry. Whereas, the physical features of the Structured Water molecule make it instantly absorbable and able to immediately enter and exit the cell. Structured Water hydrates the cell instantly, is governed by a mandate to release only beneficial information to the cells, and has an immense storage capacity. The importance of clearing water’s memory to free up its storage capacity is underscored by Structured Water scientist and researcher Dr. Carly Nuday. She describes the storage capacity of a single water molecule as “exponentially greater than the capacity of small solid state crystals that are capable of storing the entire Library of Congress.”

In contrast to ordinary water (H20), the Structured Water molecule has an abundance of oxygen, bio-photons and negative hydrogen ions. The oxygen contained in Structured Water is stable oxygen, which means it does not dissipate immediately. Such oxygen helps create an environment that supports aerobic (health promoting) bacteria and is adverse to anaerobic (cell damaging) viruses, pathogens, bacteria and parasites. Bio-photons- also referred to as life-force energy, strengthen the body’s immune system. The abundant hydrogen in the Structured Water molecule “fuels” the body and is in perfect balance. Structured Water is naturally driven to maintain a potential hydrogen (pH) of 7.2 –7.5, which is the proper pH life depends on for sustained vitality. Structured Water also carries a full repertoire of life enhancing minerals.

Rejuvenation and Anti-Aging

The finest naturally occurring waters that are regarded as “healing water” are Structured Waters. Structured Water has been found to reside in only one other place: healthy cells. Research shows the greater the structuring of the water around the cells and DNA of our body, the healthier the body. Water is actually part of the structure of each cell and Structured Water is associated with proper cellular functioning. Washington University Bio-Engineer professor and Structured Water expert, Dr. Gerald Pollack explains: “The water inside your cells is absolutely critical for your health. If you have pathology of an organ, it’s not only the proteins inside the organ that are not working, but also the water inside that organ. That near-protein water is not ordered in the way it should be.” (Excerpt from Dr. Pollack interview with Dr. Marcela’, January 29, 2011.)

As a precursor of dis-ease, the loss of Structured Water in the body has diagnostic value. Researchers at the University of Southern California successfully showed that the loss of organizational structure in cell waters served as reliable predictors of pre-pathological conditions – undetectable diseases that eventually produce symptoms over time.

Dr. Alexis Carrel, Nobel Prize winner in medicine, explains water’s intimate connection to health and longevity this way: “The cell is immortal, it is merely the fluid in which it floats that degenerates. Renew this fluid at regular intervals, give the cells what they require for nutrition, and as far as we know, the pulsation of life can go on forever.”

Taking care to properly serve the body’s need for healthful water takes on greater importance in view of Dr Gerald Pollack’s declaration that, in terms of molecular count, water molecules make up over 99% of the body. In her 2014 review of paradigm-shifting discoveries in water science (Water Codes: The Science of Health, Consciousness, and Enlightenment) Dr. Carly Nuday concludes the body’s water creates and stores individual consciousness, stores karma, and reflects evolution of both the individual and collective unconscious. Further, the body’s water intelligently computes information in the body’s water system and is, in fact, the perceiver and the thinker; which makes each individual “ the single, most malleable computer.”

Formally Sanctioned Human Medical Trials

The quality of water produced using Nolte’s invention has been verified by Structured Water experts and the water’s profound benefits have been demonstrated in testing on humans and in agricultural applications. Toronto’s Dr. Raman Gokal, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Nephrologist has planned studies to investigate the usefulness of the structured water made with Nolte’s device, for dialysis and kidney disease patients (his area of specialty). The studies will be both cellular (in vitro) and clinically based. These are the first ever formally sanctioned human medical trials with Structured Water. Dr. Gokal anticipates “the outcomes could have far ranging implications for the benefit of mankind”. The trials will be overseen by Dr. Sandip of Manchester University NHS, and will consist of kidney function evaluation, hydration, and mitochondrial function. A fundraiser has been initiated to finance the studies1.

Structured Water from Your Tap

Natural Action Technologies (NAT) manufactures devices that house Nolte’s water structuring technology. NAT’s wide range of Structured Water Units make Structured Water conveniently available when traveling and in homes, swimming pools, spas, farms, business and industry. Vibrancy Water, a Canadian company that has sold NAT’s units since 2009, specializes in units that include L-8 Transceiver Technology that is added to the units by Nolte. L-8 Transceiver Technology was developed for remediation of technologically-made electromagnetic fields (EMFs). EMFS are known to be biologically destabilizing and are generated in the operation of household (AC) electricity, cell phones, and wireless technological devices. L-8 Structured Water is engineered to meld the bio-energy field of the consumer – human, animal or plant, with Earth’s bio-energetic field. This depth of grounding protects against EMFs and enhances accessibility to vitalizing planetary frequencies. L-8 Structured Water also has the potential to make a beneficial change to the fields generated by EMF emitters.

1 Dr. Gokal’s venture has a goal of $100k by June 1, 2019 to initiate these studies. Payments are being raised through the Natural Action Foundation (NAF). NAF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed to establish a global think-tank to investigate and provide solutions for environmental problems -- most importantly pollution problems -- with water and air. For more details, and to contribute, visit https://naturalaction.com/manchester-university-of-england-research-medical-trials/#learn

Visit https://www.vibrancywater.ca to learn more about the remarkable properties and benefits of Structured Water, the complete line of NAT Structured Water units sold by Vibrancy Water and related research. Email info@vibrancywater.ca or phone 416-222-2368 1-888-993-9123. #vibrancywater #structuredwater #getstructured #H302

Integrative health options are increasingly becoming part of the daily health practices of many Canadians. Amongst Canadian cancer patients, between 34% - 80% of individuals are using complementary therapies but many are still making these choices without the input of their oncological medical practitioners. Canadian practices are in line with global trends toward including complementary therapies, with nearly 40% of cancer patients worldwide accessing them as part of their treatment, women more than men. The most popular among them include natural health products, mind-body therapies such as yoga and meditation, and physical therapies such as massage and acupuncture.

But how accessible and approachable is Integrative Medicine for Canadian cancer patients? Lynda G. Balneaves, RN, PhD, Associate Professor and CIHR New Investigator, UBC School of Nursing, writes that while there has been a significant paradigm shift in the practice and inclusion of Integrative Medicine as complementary to mainstream medical protocol, it is far from being available and offered to most Canadians battling cancer.

Provincial health insurance programs do not provide funding for these therapies, which cumulatively can cost in the thousands, making it accessible only to those who can afford it or who have supplementary insurance plans. The result is that patients and families struggle emotionally and financially with making these choices. Medical practitioners remain hesitant at best, and oppositional in most cases, to consider or include complementary therapies as part of their patients’ treatment. There is a considerable lack of accessible information available to the average person on the results of published studies relating to the impact and success of complementary therapies. Due to lack of knowledge of the range and benefits related to incorporating Integrative Medicine, patients are hesitant to be open with their physicians. Combined with deep concerns about contraindications and potential interactions associated with such therapies, physicians and policy makers are still resisting their inclusion.

But cancer patients are making the paradigm shift take place in conventional care in spite of it all. While nearly 40% of patients using complementary therapies have not disclosed their practice to their doctors, centres across Canada are beginning to introduce it into their programs.

Patients can now access complementary therapy based programs, such as yoga, mindfulness-based stress reduction, art and music therapy, as part of their complementary care services at such facilities as the Juravinski Cancer Centre and Hospital in Hamilton, Ont., InspireHealth in Vancouver, B.C., and the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Que.

With patients moving forward with utilizing CAM therapies, it seems only natural that physicians address the trend as part of conventional medicine. Marja J. Verhoef PhD, in her article for Cancer Knowledge Network  writes:

“Complementary treatments are increasingly being integrated in conventional medicine, and the body of evidence for these treatments, continues to grow. New evidence has facilitated the development of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and it is expected that such guidelines will facilitate treatment decision-making and have the potential to improve the patient-provider relationship.”

Furthermore there is a small but dedicated group of integrated health teams of cancer care practitioners offering scientifically grounded, evidence-informed natural cancer care, to strengthen the immune system, to support the body’s inherent healing ability, and to help sustain wellness during aggressive cancer treatments. A new centre in Canada – the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC) is helping pave the way. Headed by Dr. Dugald Seely, OICC patients have the opportunity to receive naturopathic medical care, integrative medical care, nutritional guidance, physiotherapy, massage and lymphedema therapy, acupuncture, yoga therapy, and counseling services. Senior naturopathic doctors (NDs) at OICC have specialized training in oncology and have earned the designation Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncologists (FABNO).

With Integrative Medicine seeing the patient as a whole person – the mind, body, and spirit - it comes as no surprise that the trend towards its acceptance is moving forward. The question remains how can conventional medicine, complementary care and policy makers, find the common ground to treat cancer patients from a holistic and more integrated perspective.

References:

The Cancer Knowledge Network is dedicated to giving cancer survivors, their loved ones, and medical professionals access to online knowledge-based resources that fill the gap between scientific text and day-to-day living. Follow them  at www.cancerkn.com

The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre is paving the way for Integrative Oncology care in Eastern Canada. Through clinical practice, research and education, the OICC strives to assess and reduce possible causes of cancer while exploring innovative integrative treatments.
Address: 29 Bayswater Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 2E5
Phone: (613) 792-1222
Toll-free: 1 (855) 546-1244
Email: info@oicc.ca
The OICC is a regional centre of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.

Juravinski Cancer Centre
699 Concession Street
Hamilton, Ontario L8V 5C2
1-905-387-9495

Jewish General Hospital
3755 Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road
Montréal, Québec H3T 1E2
Tel: 514-340-8222
https://www.jgh.ca

When an insider breaks ranks with pharmaceutical orthodoxy, it is time to take notice. "Whistleblower" may be an overused term, but the article that follows might be well worth readers' consideration before standing in line for their next prescription refill. - Andrew W. Saul, OMNS Editor

I'm a registered pharmacist. I am having a difficult time with my job. I sell people drugs that are supposed to correct their various health complaints. Some medicines work like they're supposed to, but many don't. Some categories of drugs work better than others. My concern is that the outcomes of treatment I observe are so unpredictable that I would often call the entire treatment a failure in too many situations.

How It Started

In 1993, I graduated with a BSc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of New Mexico. I became pharmacy manager for a small independent neighborhood drug store. Starting in the year 2000, nutrition became an integral part of our business. The anecdotal feedback from the customers who started vitamin regimens was phenomenal. That same year, my PharmD clinical rotations began with my propensity for nutritional alternatives firmly in place in my mind. On the second day of my adult medicine rotation, my preceptor at a nearby hospital informed me that he had every intention of beating this vitamin stuff out of me. I informed him that probably wouldn't happen. Three weeks later I was terminated from my rotations. The preceptor told my supervisor at UNM that there were acute intellectual differences that couldn't be accommodated in their program. What had I done? I was pressuring my preceptor to read an article written by an MD at a hospital in Washington state that showed if a person comes into the emergency room with a yet to be diagnosed problem and is given a 3,000-4,000 mg bolus of vitamin C, that person's chance of dying over the next ten days in ICU dropped by 57%! [1]

One would think that someone who is an active part of the emergency room staff might find that an interesting statistic. His solution to my attempting to force him to read that article was having me removed from the program.

Pecking Order

The traditional role of the pharmacist in mainstream medicine is subordinate to the doctor. The doctor is responsible for most of the information that is received from and given to the patient. The pharmacist's responsibility is to reinforce the doctor's directions. The doctor and the pharmacist both want to have a positive treatment outcome, but there is a legally defined 'standard of care' looking over their shoulder.

The training that I received to become a PharmD motivated me to become more interested in these treatment outcomes. After refilling a patient's prescriptions a few times, it becomes obvious that the expected positive outcomes often simply don't happen. It's easy to take the low road and blame it on "poor compliance by the patient." I'm sure this can explain some treatment failure outcomes, but not all. Many (indeed most) drugs such as blood pressure regulators can require several adjustments of dose or combination with alternative medicines before a positive outcome is obtained.

Wrong Drug; Wrong Disease

One drug misadventure is turning drugs that were originally designed for a rare (0.3% of the population) condition called Zollinger-Ellison syndrome into big pharma's treatment for occasional indigestion. These drugs are called proton-pump inhibitors (PPI). [2] After prolonged exposure to PPIs, the body's true issues of achlorhydria start to surface. [3]

These drugs are likely to cause magnesium deficiency, among other problems. Even the FDA thinks their long-term use is unwise. [4]

The original instructions for these drugs were for a maximum use of six weeks . . . until somebody in marketing figured out people could be on the drugs for years. Drug usage gets even more complicated when you understand excessive use of antibiotics could be the cause of the initial indigestion complaints. What you get from inserting proton pump inhibitors into this situation is a gastrointestinal nightmare. A better course of medicine in this type of case might well be a bottle of probiotic supplements (or yogurt) and a few quarts of aloe-vera juice.

Many doctors are recognizing there are problems with overusing PPI's, but many still don't get it. An example of this is my school in NM had a lot of students going onto a nearby-impoverished area for rotations. They have blue laws in this area with no alcohol sales on Sunday. The students saw the pattern of the patients going into the clinics on Monday after abusing solvents, even gasoline vapors, and having the doctors put them on omeprazole (eg. Prilosec), long term, because their stomachs are upset. This is medicine in the real world.

Reliability or Bias?

Mainstream medicine and pharmacy instill into their practitioners from the beginning to be careful about where you get your information. Medical journals boast of their peer review process. When you discuss with other health professionals, invariably they will ask from which medical journal did you get your information. I actually took an elective course in pharmacy on how to evaluate a particular article for its truthfulness. The class was structured on a backbone of caution about making sure, as one read an article, that we understand that real truthfulness only comes from a few approved sources.

I was never comfortable with this concept. Once you realized that many of these "truthfulness bastions" actually have a hidden agenda, the whole premise of this course became suspect. One of my preceptors for my doctoral program insisted that I become familiar with a particular medical journal. If I did, she said, I would be on my way to understanding the "big picture." When I expressed being a little skeptical of this journal, the teacher told me I could trust it as the journal was non-profit, and there were no editorial strings attached.

Weirdly enough, what had started our exchange over credibility was a warm can of a diet soft drink on the teacher's desk. She drank the stuff all day. I was kidding around with her, and asked her if she had seen some controversial articles about the dangers of consuming quantities of aspartame. She scoffed at my conspiracy-theory laden point of view and I thought the subject was closed. The beginning of the next day, the teacher gave me an assignment: to hustle over to the medical library and make sure I read a paper she assured me would set me straight about my aspartame suspicions, while simultaneously demonstrating the value of getting my information from a nonprofit medical journal. It turned out that the article she wanted me to read, in the "nonprofit medical journal," was funded in its entirety by the Drug Manufacturers Association.

Flashy Pharma Ads

As I read the literature, I discovered that there is very decided barrier between two blocks of information: substances that can be patented vs. those substances that can't be. The can-be-patented group gets a professional discussion in eye-pleasing, four-color-print, art-like magazines. This attention to aesthetics tricks some people into interpreting, from the flashy presentation method, that the information is intrinsically truthful.

The world's drug manufacturers do an incredibly good job using all kinds of media penetration to get the word out about their products. The drug industry's audience used to be confined to readers of medical journals and trade publications. Then, in 1997, direct-to-consumer marketing was made legal. [5]

Personally, I don't think this kind of presentation should be allowed. I have doctor friends that say they frequently have patients that self-diagnose from TV commercials and demand the doctor write them a prescription for the advertised product. The patients then threaten the doctor, if s/he refuses their request, that they will change doctors to get the medication. One of my doctor friends says he feels like a trained seal.

Negative Reporting on Vitamins

A vitamin article usually doesn't get the same glossy presentation. Frequently, questionable vitamin research will be published and get blown out of proportion. A prime example of this was the clamor in the press in 2008 that vitamin E somehow caused lung cancer. [6]

I studied this 2008 experiment [7] and found glaring errors in its execution. These errors were so obvious that the experiment shouldn't have gotten any attention, yet this article ended up virtually everywhere. Anti-vitamin spin requires this kind of research to be widely disseminated to show how "ineffectual" and even "dangerous" vitamins are. I tracked down one of the article's original authors and questioned him about the failure to define what kind of vitamin E had been studied. A simple literature hunt shows considerable difference between natural and synthetic vitamin E. This is an important distinction because most of the negative articles and subsequent treatment failures have used the synthetic form for the experiment, often because it is cheap. Natural vitamin E with mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols costs two or three times more than the synthetic form.

Before I even got the question out of my mouth, the researcher started up, "I know, I know what you're going to say." He ended up admitting that they hadn't even considered the vitamin E type when they did the experiment. This failure to define the vitamin E type made it impossible to draw a meaningful conclusion. I asked the researcher if he realized how much damage this highly quoted article had done to vitamin credibility. If there has been anything like a retraction, I have yet to see it.

Illness is Not Caused by Drug Deficiency

If you've made it this far in reading this article you have discerned that I'm sympathetic to vitamin arguments. I think most diseases are some form of malnutrition. Taking the position that nutrition is the foundation to disease doesn't make medicine any simpler. You still have to figure out who has what and why. There are many disease states that are difficult to pin down using the "pharmaceutical solution to disease." A drug solution is a nice idea, in theory. It makes the assumption that the cause of a disease is so well understood that a man-made chemical commonly called 'medicine' is administered, very efficiently solving the health problem. The reality though, is medicine doesn't understand most health problems very well. A person with a heart rhythm disturbance is not low on digoxin. A child who is diagnosed with ADHD does not act that way because the child is low on Ritalin. By the same logic, a person with type II diabetes doesn't have a deficit of metformin. The flaw of medicine is the concept of managing (but not curing) a particular disease state. I'm hard pressed to name any disease state that mainstream medicine is in control of.

Voltaire allegedly said, "Doctors are men who pour drugs of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, into human beings of whom they know nothing."

Maybe he overstated the problem. Maybe he didn't.

References:

1. Free full text paper at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1422648/pdf/20021200s00014p814.pdf
Also: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1422648/?tool=pubmed

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2777040  and  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1697548

3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21509344 and  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21731913

4. https://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm245275.htm

5. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa070502#t=articleResults

6. Media example: https://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Nutrition-Vitamins/2008/8-02-29-VitaminEMay.htm.
OMNS' discussion at: https://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n18.shtml

7. Original article at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2258445/?tool=pubmed orhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2258445/pdf/AJRCCM1775524.pdf

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Ian Brighthope, M.D. (Australia)
Ralph K. Campbell, M.D. (USA)
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (Canada)
Damien Downing, M.D. (United Kingdom)
Michael Ellis, M.D. (Australia)
Martin P. Gallagher, M.D., D.C. (USA)
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James A. Jackson, Ph.D. (USA)
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Erik Paterson, M.D. (Canada)
W. Todd Penberthy, Ph.D. (USA)
Gert E. Schuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)
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Jagan Nathan Vamanan, M.D. (India)

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