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How Valid Are Medical Treatments
I’ll sometimes receive feedback from readers about the lack of research on some of the things that I recommend. These same people will trust that what the medical profession is saying is a recommended treatment MUST be valid. Well, get ready to have that bubble popped. Only 15% of current medical treatments have been proven by a controlled clinical trial. This fact has been validated by the US Government’s Office of Technology Assessment and Duke University Research Sciences.
Let’s examine the treatment for glaucoma, for example. Dr. David Eddy, a cardiologist, attempted to discover where the current treatment for glaucoma originated. He searched back to 1906 and could not find a single controlled study conducted that validated the recommended treatment. Rather, the entire treatment was just handed down from generation to generation. Dr. Eddy found the same problem, that there were no controlled studies, for treatment of blocked femoral and popliteal arteries. He even found that standard practices often do not match whatever research that does exist.
Dr. Cindy Romero reports that if one were to look at the Physician’s Desk Reference, which is the bible for drug information, one would find a significant number of drugs for which the mechanism of action is “unknown.” While there will be speculation as to how the drug is working, there will also be a list of known side effects from using the drug.
My approach is to give you as much research as I can and to make recommendations that will either do no harm or point out the known warnings. When you compare my healthy living recommendations to the numbers of drugs in the marketplace that have been withdrawn due to dangerous side effects, I think you’ll better understand the wisdom of my approach.
Restore Your Hearing Naturally
This next recommendation falls into what I just spoke about. There is only one place in the country using the approach I’m going to write about to restore age-related hearing loss. Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD, has been administering bioidentical aldosterone (a hormone produced in the adrenal gland) at his clinic in Tahoma, Washington, to men who were either losing or had lost a significant percentage of their hearing. He has found that his patients can regain much of their lost hearing. One 87-year-old had a 30- to 50-decibel increase in one ear and 20- to 30-decibels in the other after taking aldosterone for six weeks.
So…if you can’t hear what I’m saying (just kidding).
The Right Grains Are Good For Your Heart
You may have read recent reports stating that staying away from wheat products may be beneficial to your health. The part that’s usually missing in this advice is for you to stay away from enriched wheat products verse whole wheat products. A study reported in the online journal Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases analyzed seven studies involving more than 285,000 participants. The study found that eating 2 1/2 slices of whole wheat bread each day reduced risk of a heart attack by 20%.
Be careful when reading the labels of products. Manufacturers can be sneaky by putting words like Spring Wheat or Spring Wheat White Bread in the list of ingredients. They will also contain Whole Wheat when they just put some whole wheat flour in the product, while most of the rest is enriched flour. The simple way is to look for 100% Whole Wheat on the label.
Also, don’t forget that when you are eating rice to make sure it is brown rice and not white or enriched white rice. (Reported Prevention October 2007)
Natural Ways To Stop Workout Soreness
There are times the day after an exercise workout when you may be a little (or a lot) stiff or sore. There are some natural ways to prevent this soreness. One study, reported by Patrick J. O’Connor, Ph.D., professor of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, found that 4 to 10 ounces of coffee (for a 140 pound woman) blocked the pain-stimulating chemical found in the muscles. Either a caffeine pill or a cup of coffee before a workout cut discomfort about 50%, versus 10 to 30% by taking a drug such as ibuprofen.
A second option, reported by Martin H. Ehlich, MD, MPH, Internist and licensed acupuncturist, Beth Israel Medical Center, NYC, found that taking curcumin (a common cooking ingredient and medicinal herb) had a potent anti-inflammatory effect in exercise-damaged muscles. He recommended looking for pills that contained 95% curcumin and following the label’s recommended dosage. Don’t take curcumin if you are taking blood thinners.
A third option is taking a homeopathic remedy called Arnica Montana. I’ve been using Arnica for years both before and after I’ve done strenuous exercise, like skiing or spending a day digging in the garden. Just follow the label instructions and you’ll ward off soreness.
My niece, Carrie, got to experience the power of Arnica recently. I was visiting Carrie and she talked about being sore the day after she went to the gym and worked out. I bought her a bottle of Arnica (being the good uncle) at a health food store and she used it the next day – low and behold – no soreness for Carrie! She’s been using it ever since.
The person who does my final editing for the Teplitz Report, Pamela Brothers Denyes, read about Arnica and had this to add. “Arnica is also great for warding off bruising. Last July I had facial surgery to remove a basal cell carcinoma above my right eye (fair blonde that I am!). I asked the nurse whether my surgeon recommended using arnica or other herbs for abating bruising on the face in such cases. While my doctor did not know of it, the nurse said that the plastic surgeon in the next-door surgical unit did recommend it, and carried both under-tongue lozenges and post-surgical cream. She procured them for me before the doctor started the surgery.
I took the first lozenge after the first cut, and another lozenge as each of the MOHS surgery (layer-by-layer) was completed. Before "covered" I had the nurse put the cream near the wound. When I began to care for the wound I, too, used the cream, as well as continued the lozenges for several days. When I returned to the surgeon for stitch removal, he could not believe how little bruising there had been and how rapidly the scar was healing! Indeed, I had almost NO bruising from a procedure that bruises the entire eye and cheek of most patients! I was impressed--and hooked on arnica!
Stop Getting Catalogs And Save Some Trees
It seems like the Post Office is mostly delivering bills and catalogs to our homes. Would you believe, 19 billion catalogs a year are shipped? If you’re like me, you toss most of them and just browse a few. Yet each catalog represents trees that were cut down and energy expended in the paper-making, printing and shipping operations. While a number of companies are now using recycled paper in their catalogs, there are too many catalogs going into landfills.
Now you can do something about it. There is a website, www.catalogchoice.org, where with just a few clicks you can stop unwanted catalogs from coming to your home or office. Save your catalogs for about one month as you will need to enter the names of the ones you want to stop receiving. Just imagine the impact if we all eliminated just 25% of the catalogs coming to our mailbox.
There’s Safer Farmed Shrimp Coming
Shrimp is the most popular seafood, with the average American eating 4.4 pounds per year. About three-fourths of our shrimp is farmed and comes from Asia and Latin America, where standards are often lax and where the FDA inspects less than 2% of all imported seafood.
Now a supermarket chain, Wegmans, is forcing the industry to change. Working in conjunction with an organization called Environmental Defense, Wegmans has been selling only fresh farmed shrimp that meets rigorous health and environmental requirements. These standards have eliminated the use of antibiotics, pesticides and fungicides while avoiding damage to wetlands and treating waste water.
Hopefully, other supermarket chains will follow suit and adopt these as standards for the industry to follow.
Shiatsu Helps Patients In Hospice
A study published in the International Journal of Palliative Nursing reported the results of the use of Shiatsu therapy on clients attending hospice day services. Over a five week period even clients with advanced progressive diseases received one shiatsu session per week. Four interviews were conducted before, during and after the five weeks of treatment. A fifth interview was conducted four weeks after the treatments ended.
The participants reported significant improvements in energy levels, relaxation, confidence, symptom control, clarity of thought and mobility. These benefits lasted different lengths. Some lasted a few hours and others lasted past the five weeks of treatments.
You don’t have to wait to begin to apply the benefits of Shiatsu to stopping lower back pain. I’ve created a downloadable video of my showing you how you can do the 2-minute lower back Shiatsu treatment on yourself or someone else. You’ll be amazed as to how fast you can experience relief from your lower back pain. There is a special price for Teplitz Report Subscribers for this month only. I'm also including FREE my special 24-page Report on Eliminating Lower Back Pain & Suffering (valued at $24.97). You can go here to find out more about Shiatsu, but be sure to click here to get this specially priced package!
That's it for this month!
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